The feeling of walking through the blue forest was the same as walking through Neverland for Sebastian. Instead of calmness, he only felt progressively more and more freaked out by the shadows crawling in from every angle. He clenched his hand tightly on his sword, the feeling less comforting than the magic awaiting his call.
He inhaled once, dipping his fingers in the stream running by, the water dancing over his fingers. He had a small scar along his palm from a sword class mishap with Tedros. The water softened it, making him calm.
He let go of the sword and cupped the water in his hands. He stood, letting the water hover in the air. The magic sighed in relief.
Sebastian let the water collapse and picked his way through the forest, walking slowly. He was so used to people jumping from every angle, but it had mostly been Laura. He laughed to himself. He forgot she could fly.
A branch cracked, and Sebastian instinctively flung up a hand in surprise. A flush of water sprung up to defend him, hovering right in front of Kendrick's face. Sebastian's heart sank as Kendrick's face descended into shock.
"You preach the morals of your kingdom," He snarled. He brandished a long sharp knife, and Sebastian let the water splash to the ground, and he reached for the hilt of his unused sword, feeling much more uncomfortable. "Yet you betray them yourself."
Sebastian clenched the sword. "You don't have to do this Kendrick, I thought we were supposed to be working together."
Kendrick let out a sarcastic laugh. "Really? I have seen the way you glare at me, the way you and your soldiers would whisper. You never trusted me, and never will. You think me a villain," His glare turned sinister. "You want a villain. I'll give you a villain."
The bushes began to rustle. Sebastian drew his sword, doubting its abilities as several nevers stepped out of the bush, heading straight for him.
He backed up against the tree, shaking; out of fear or anger, he couldn't tell.
A sudden heat passed over him, and he nearly jumped in surprise. He glanced upwards, and crouching, in the foliage, was Laura. He wouldn't have seen her if it weren't for the soft glowing orange light she had flickering over one finger.
He had to refrain from grinning. Backup.
"Alright, if you want to be a villain, bring it on." Sebastian twirled his sword once, only to drop it when Kendrick charged. He threw up his hands, and a wave followed it, drenching over the nevers. Before he could freeze it, three nevers threw down their kerchiefs. The others found themselves frozen to the ground.
Kendrick hacked at it with a knife, breaking it, and was about to charge, when Laura fell down from the sky.
She slammed to the ground, and Sebastian grinned. He had seen her pull that move a dozen times, and each time, it instilled fear. She looked up, her eyes and hands glowing. She glanced back at Sebastian and winked, throwing off her hood.
Kendrick charged at her, only to have her grab his arm with flaming hands and slam him to the ground. Two nevers charged off into the brush, leaving Kendrick and two nevers Sebastian didn't know.
Laura stepped back, her hand still flaming as she positioned herself next to Sebastian. Kendrick gestured his knife towards them and they pressed closer together, each one generating magic.
Kendrick snarled, his dark slimy hair falling in his face. "You want to go out this way? Fine, take your princess and kingdom, but be warned. It will be mine."
Kendrick walked off into the bush, his sidekicks following. Sebastian watched as they vanished.
Sebastian then realized how close he was to Laura. He could feel her chest moving against him. Their shoulders were pressing together. He didn't want to pull away; in fact, he wanted to get closer.
Laura looked up at him, and Sebastian didn't realize that he was admiring her brown hair and blue eyes. There were light freckles across her nose, presumably from all the time she had spent in the sun. Sebastian had a realization, that Laura was absolutely beautiful, despite what the other boys said about her, it was because of her personality, her willingness to help him, even when they were supposed to be enemies.
His eyes lingered on her full lips. He hadn't realized that they were getting closer, all he would have to do is lean down a couple of centimetres and he would be kissing her. He could feel his face begin to turn pink.
Her eyes widened as he got closer. She knew what he was going to do, but Sebastian watched as she didn't pull away. He was acutely aware of one of her hands tracing up his chest and looping around his neck.
She was about to pull him down when cries took up again, and both of them instinctively looked in the direction of the screams.
The moment was gone. The two of them took off jogging through the forest towards the noise. Sebastian almost laughed to himself. Laura was much more agile. While he tripped and stumbled over the branches, she leaped over them with ease, darting in between the blue trees like she had been doing it all her life.
They stopped outside a clearing, where Tedros was alone, surrounded by Hester, Kendrick, and the two other nevers.
"Where's Sophie?" Sebastian whispered.
Laura shook her head. "I don't know," She reached her hand out. "Hold on."
"Wait, what are you doing?" He asked.
Laura scoffed, and grabbed his arm, jumping into the air and flying onto a branch in the tree above them. She crouched, her balance remarkable.
Sebastian clutched onto the branch. "Why did you have to do that? I don't like heights."
Laura snickered. "We have an advantage now." She turned and let out a sharp whistle that bounced around the clearing. The nevers glanced around, distracted, as Laura fell to the ground behind Tedros.
Sebastian groaned, and followed, landing much less gracefully, but the intimidation was there.
Tedros glanced between the two, relief landing on his face, graced by shock when Sebastian's hands began to glow with water. "Since when are you this good at magic?"
Sebastian shrugged. "Since Laura's been teaching me."
Hester's demon rose above them, and Sebastian's eyes widened. This was going to be interesting.
Laura's fire flung up, distracting the nevers long enough for Sebastian and Tedros to charge.
Sebastian's water plummeted on the nevers, distracting Kendrick long enough for Tedros to disarm them. Sebastian watched as Laura lunged, grabbing Kendrick's, and the two other nevers, handkerchiefs and slammed them all to the ground.
They vanished into red sparks, leaving only Hester behind. Sebastian and Laura both stepped forwards, but Tedros waved them back. "She's mine."
Tedros clashed with her briefly, before he managed to grab her handkerchief, and sighed in relief.
"Sophie," He called out. "You can come out now."
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. So they were working together. None of the three noticed Hester's demon rising again, grabbing Kendrick's knife.
There was a flash, and then Agatha, who Sebastian thought wasn't even in the trial, was standing in front of Tedros, who had a shallow wound in his chest, and was covering herself with his shield.
Everyone stood in silence as the sun rose over them, and shouts began ringing, the sound of people racing into the woods.
"They did it! Tedros and Sophie won!"
The bush nearby mogrifyed into Sophie and Laura stumbled back into Sebastian in surprise. The shouts got closer, and people ran into the clearing, only to freeze as they took in the scene of Agatha and Tedros, and Sophie crouched nearby.
The two sides separated, and good and evil formed once more.