Pandora smiled softly, her shoulder pressed into the wooden doorway of the kitchen and a cold glass of water in her hand. Her eyes were fixed on the big couch in the sitting room. Dizzy, Squeaky, and Squirmy were all under the sleeping spell, a red blanket draped over them where they slept on the couch. Dizzy was asleep on one end, and the twins were cuddled up together on the other end. And Griffin and Dude had managed to snuggle down in the space in the middle, curled up together and fast asleep after their adventure in the woods.
A few feet away was the dining room table, where they were discussing a few plans and battle strategies. It was mostly Ben, Mal, and Uma doing most of the strategizing, with Harry, Carlos, and Amadeus throwing out a few suggestions here and there.
Out the window, Pandora could spot most of the others. Phoebe was grazing out in the yard. Celia, Evie, and Pavati were sitting and talking at one of the tables; Evie and Pavati were probably trying to distract the young girl from what was going on as best they could. Meanwhile, it seemed Lonnie and Aaron were practicing their sword fighting, and trading off with Jay and Herkie.
Wanting to do something, Pandora prepared a pitcher of ice water from the kitchen and took it outside, setting it down at one of the empty patio tables with several glasses. She smiled in greeting at the girls as she walked past and out toward the yard. She patted Phoebe on the neck as she passed before coming to a stop next to Jay and Herkie, casually watching Lonnie and Aaron duel.
"I brought out some water, in case you're all thirsty." she announced.
Aaron and Lonnie stepped away from each other, both breathing heavily from the effort but with wide grins as they lowered their swords.
"Sounds great." Aaron declared, wiping his forehead with his arm as they all turned to stroll back toward the house.
"Have they come up with a plan?" Jay asked Pandora, the two standing back slightly as the others poured cups of water.
"I overheard a bit. Ben gave them a description of the cottage. Sounds like there's only one front gate, and one door to the cottage, so she wouldn't be able to sneak out the back, unless she goes out a window. A couple people might stay by the gate to ensure no one can sneak past us while most of us are in the cottage. Everyone who has a sword will bring one, in case there's a fight. But most of the fight will probably hinge on Mal using the ember against Audrey and the scepter." Pandora explained briefly.
Jay nodded, his mind soaking up the plan. "You okay?" he asked, glancing over at her.
Pandora looked at him in confusion. "Yeah, I'm fine. My energy is normal since I took some from that tree."
Jay shook his head. "No, I mean with everything going on." he explained. "It's been a crazy few days for you."
Pandora looked at the ground, shrugging her shoulders. "Yeah…but it's been a bit too busy for me to over-think much of it. I'm just taking all this one thing at a time."
Jay nodded slowly. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, most of us have handled worse situations than this. I mean, we've fought angry dragons, giant octopuses, pirates,…"
Pandora snorted, making Jay grin.
"Well, excuse me for having a normal life instead of something out of an adventure novel." she joked. Jay laughed, nudging her with his elbow.
"Well, stick around and maybe your story's plot will get more exciting." Jay joked.
Pandora smiled softly, looking up at him. "You really want me to stick around?" she checked dubiously.
"Of course." Jay shrugged. "I've gotten rather used to you." he admitted playfully.
Pandora couldn't help her blush, or her widening smile. She probably looked like a dork.
The patio doors opened just then and the rest of the group poured out of the house. That's when Pandora realized that the sun was starting to set
Ben announced, "It's time to go."
It was a couple hours before they reached the cottage. Considering how far away Fairy Cottage was from Evie's, they obviously needed to take a car. And considering how many people were in their group, it took more than one car.
Most of the group rode in Mal's limo, which had room for about a dozen people. Ben drove, since he knew where the cottage was. Pandora drove her own car with Jay, Pavati, and Herkie as passengers, just trying to follow the limo as closely as possible since they couldn't use their cell phones to keep in touch.
They parked the cars at the edge of the forest, trekking the rest of the way on foot. By now, night had fallen, hopefully concealing their approach from Audrey. They snuck up to the small cottage, and most of the group entered the cottage to search for Audrey, leaving Pandora, Aaron, and Lonnie guarding the entrance to the garden in case Audrey tried to escape unseen.
It wasn't Audrey that came running out of the cottage, however. Apparently Sleeping Beauty's daughter had trapped some guy named Chad in a cupboard, and he bolted the first chance he got, much to several people's amusement.
Since the cottage was a bust, the rest of the group filed back outside, the group heading off into the woods. Pandora wasn't sure where they would look first. Maybe Audrey was somewhere nearby.
It was interesting to see Mal and Uma getting along as they headed into the woods. Especially since they'd been in each other's faces all day.
Clearly, Pandora wasn't the only one to notice.
"You know, someday you're going to have to tell me how you guys all got teamed up." Ben noted, glancing from Uma's gang to Mal's, his arm around his fiancé's shoulders.
"Actually, Mal promised to let all the kids off the Isle once this is all over." Evie explained with a smile.
Pandora noticed something was wrong in that brief second. She couldn't see Mal's face from behind, but she saw Ben glance at Mal in confusion, as if he knew something was wrong with that statement that no one else was privy to.
"I have to tell you guys something." Mal announced abruptly, sounding guilty.
Everyone slowed to a stop, watching Mal pace slightly, as if trying to work up the nerve to speak or figure out how to word her announcement.
"I lied to you." she finally announced, her words briefly hesitant as she forced them out. There was several moments of silence as everyone stared in confusion, and Mal gaped wordlessly for a moment before forcing herself to continue. "The kids won't be coming off the Isle."
"What do you mean?" Jay asked, confused as several people glanced among themselves.
"The program is shut down." Mal answered, her expression one of guilt but also determination. "And the barrier will be closed for good."
Pandora's mouth fell open and she glanced around. Lonnie, Herkie, and her Olympus friends stood off to the side, knowing this didn't really involve them. But everyone else was either shocked, or angry in Harry and Uma's place.
"For Auradon's safety." Ben explained quietly, proving he knew about this decision as well.
Pandora met Carlos and Evie's glances, both of them reflecting her own shock, but they were also hurt that their friend had kept this a secret. It also brought a thought to Pandora's mind, had Mal lied to her when she said she could meet her father? How could Pandora meet Hades if the barrier was closed for good?
Uma made it clear that she regretted trusting Mal, and basically called the future Queen selfish, only looking out for herself. And Harry, who had been so arrogant in the brief time Pandora had known him, actually looked…sad at the thought of being thrown back onto the Isle.
"You know what?" Celia spoke up, approaching Mal and Uma. "I actually thought you were brave." she announced, making it clear she had looked up to Mal. "But you're nothing but a chicken," she continued, her voice thick with tears, "too scared to tell me I was never going to see my dad again."
"Celia," Mal tried to speak just as Celia snatched the ember from Mal's hand. Mal's voice grew panicked as Celia walked away, dropping the stone into a bird bath as she left. A jolt of horror shot through Pandora's chest, her mouth gaping as their only hope of stopping Audrey sizzled out in the water.
Everyone stared with held breath as Mal tried to use her powers to bring the ember back to life, but to no avail. She turned to Uma, her expression desperate as if the other girl could fix this.
Uma pulled out her shell necklace and looked at it thoughtfully for a brief second before dropping it back against her chest.
"Bummer." she answered dully, making it clear she wouldn't help. "Let's go find Gil and get out of here." she added to Harry, starting to move past Mal.
Finally, Pandora couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Wait!" she called, making the pair pause. "Wait, just-Look, I know it's not my place to talk." she added, turning slightly to find everyone watching her. "And I'm not gonna stand here and defend Mal lying the way she did. In fact," she turned slightly, "I'm-I'm mad at you, too." she added to Mal. "You said you'd let me meet my father. Was that a lie, too?"
Mal looked down guiltily, and Pandora got her answer.
"I thought so." she went on. "But this is about more than Mal's lies right now. This Audrey person is slowly destroying Auradon. And yeah, you two might not care about that," she added to Uma and Harry, "but what's to stop her from only hurting Auradon? How do you know she won't go after the Isle next? Right now she's attacking Auradon as revenge against Ben and Mal. But she has to know Mal loves the Isle, too. It's where she came from. Maybe Audrey will destroy the Isle because that's where Mal came from."
Uma and Harry exchanged a glance.
"I don't agree with the decision to close the barrier for good." Pandora continued, glancing from Mal to the other three VKs who had become her friends the past couple weeks. "But it's not our decision. It's Ben and Mal's. And as King and Queen their first duty is to the safety of their people. And after…after Hades' attempted escape, closing the barrier probably sounded like the best option.
"But the danger right now isn't coming from the Isle. It's coming from Auradon. Audrey isn't some escaped villain. She's a scorned princess, born and raised right here in Auradon. So maybe that needs to be taken into account when the final decision about the Isle is made. Because is it really fair to permanently close the barrier, separating Dizzy, Celia, and the twins from their families? Or what about the kids trapped on the Isle with parents who abuse them? Are you prepared to leave them there like that?" she added to Mal, who again wouldn't meet her eyes. "Or the fact that Uma, Harry, and Gil are risking their lives helping us? You want to throw them back on the Isle as a thank you for helping save Auradon? How is that fair?"
"You're right." Ben agreed quietly, causing everyone to look at him. "And it's not a decision either of us wanted to make." he added, glancing at Mal once more. "Mal,…maybe after this is over we can talk about it more. Come up with a better solution. Because they're right, good and evil can come from anywhere. In this case, the evil came from within Auradon while the help came from the Isle. There has to be a better solution out there than simply closing the barrier again. And maybe,…maybe all of you can help us come up with that solution." he added, glancing from Jay, Carlos, and Evie to Uma and Harry.
Harry and Uma exchanged a dubious glance, clearly reluctant to be tricked again.
"How do we really know you're being genuine this time?" Uma asked, looking Ben in the eye.
"For what it's worth, Ben literally can't tell a lie." Lonnie called, breaking her silence. "It's almost painful to watch, him trying to tell a lie. He starts sweating and stuttering and turning tomato red." she added, and the King blushed as a couple people snickered.
"Ben's right." Mal spoke up quietly, regaining everyone's attention. "You're all right. I was wrong." she admitted. "Once this is over, we'll figure something else out. We can't abandon those kids." she added, meeting Evie's hurt eyes guiltily. "They deserve a chance to be here as much as we do. I can't be Queen of Auradon without being Queen of the Isle, too."
Ben nodded. "We'll discuss it further after Audrey's been stopped. Uma? Are you and Harry still with us?"
Harry glanced at Uma, who was appraising the King thoughtfully. Finally, she nodded. "I suppose so. But you better keep your word this time." she added threateningly. "You don't want to make an enemy of me."
"So, if Audrey's not here, do we know where she might be?" Jay asked, getting them back on track.
Ben looked thoughtful. "I don't-"
A loud scream of, "HELP!" shattered the quiet night.
Everyone exchanged horrified glances before they took off running into the forest in the direction of Celia's scream. The large group wove in and out of the trees, leaping over logs as they followed the sounds of Celia's continued shouts for help.
When they finally broke the tree line, they all slowed down, glancing around in search of the young girl. They found themselves in a large open lawn behind an enormous castle, just a bit smaller than Ben's castle. Considering the town they were in, it was clearly Aurora and Phillip's. Audrey's home.
They made a careful trek across the lawn, anyone with weapons holding them at the ready in case of an attack.
"Anyone see anything?" Jay asked quietly.
"I don't-"
"Mal!" Celia screamed, causing everyone's attention to jerk toward the stone balcony on the back of the castle. And there stood Audrey, holding Celia against her with one arm while her other hand held Maleficent's scepter.
Everyone tensed, knowing that one wrong move could put the young girl in more danger than she already was. Mal took a step forward, bringing her to the front of the group.
"Audrey, let Celia go. Your fight is with me. Let her go." Mal warned carefully.
Audrey smirked evilly. "Make me, Mal."
Then she raised her scepter and the fight ensued.
AN: Let the battle begin! Let me know what you all thought of this chapter, and the changes I made from the movie.
Just wanted to make a quick note, I know the fight in the movie was at Ben's castle. However, Fairy Cottage is most likely in Sleeping Beauty's kingdom, which according to a map of Auradon I found is called Auroria, which is at least a short distance from Ben's castle. And I doubt going from one to the other would be walking distance unless you walk all night. So, we'll just say the fight is at Audrey's castle.
And again, I've hit a mild case of writers block in regards to Pandora's meeting with her father, which will be happening within the next few chapters. So any suggestions would be wonderful.
Thanks!