Chapter Three: Don't Know What I'm Feeling
The next morning, Rose woke up to see her girlfriend, fully dressed, sat at the table on the laptop. Bella and Mel were both awake, though still in their pyjamas as well, and Bella was eating a chocolate button while Mel was happily munching on some Pokemon food.
"Ben's meeting us in the castle stables at ten," said Emily, without looking in Rose's direction. "Apparently the cafeteria is open for breakfast or we can text Ben and he'll have Lumière bring us what we want."
"We're going to the cafeteria," said Rose, as she sat up, before looking over at Lupa and Cerberus, who were eating Pokemon food out of bowls next to the fireplace. "Have they..."
"I've already walked them, yeah," said Emily, smiling. "Met up with Penny as she was walking Bolt. Showed me a really nice route, it's a twenty minute loop about the school and it is beautiful. I'll have to show it you tonight, apparently it's even better at night."
Rose nodded, before getting out of bed. "I am going to have a shower then, do you wanna join?"
Emily just smirked before shutting the laptop and standing up. "Well, I can never resist that offer."
Hours later, they were dressed and walking into the stables. Bella was on Emily's shoulder, back in her pink dress, and Rose was carrying Mel, who was now wearing a safari set of clothing. Lupa and Cerberus had been returned to their Pokeballs, and both Rose and Emily had a different Pokeball in their hands.
"Ah, Emily, Rose," said Ben, smiling as he saw them walk in from where he was brushing his brown horse. "No Lupa and Cerberus?"
Evie was next to him, brushing her own white horse, and she smiled at them as well.
"They'll come out of their balls when we reach town," said Emily, smiling as she stepped over to a free part of the stables and pressed the button on the Pokeball in her hand. In a bright red light, a beautiful white horse with fire for a mane and a horn appeared in the free space.
Evie immediately gasped before saying "You have a unicorn?" with wide eyes.
"A Rapidash, but I can see why she gets mistaken for a unicorn," said Emily, with a smile, as she began stroking the Rapidash. "Her name's Beauty, by the way."
"I have a Rapidash as well," said Rose, pressing the button on her Pokeball. In another flash of red light, another Rapidash appeared next to Beauty. "His name's Capilet." Beauty immediately nuzzled into Capilet, as Rose began brushing him while Evie walked over. She was entranced by the Rapidash, and reached out to stroke Beauty's head, only to retract her hand before she touched.
"Do you need some saddles for them?" asked Ben, smiling as he looked at Emily and Rose. "You can borrow from here if you want to."
"Thanks for the offer, but Rose and I ride bareback," said Emily, smiling at him as she looked at Evie. "Beauty's very tame, Eve, you can stroke her if you want to."
"Same with Capilet," said Rose, with a smile of her own as she looked at Evie. Before turning to Ben. "Rapidash are stronger than your average horse. They love it as well."
"'dash!" said Capilet, as Rose climbed onto his back. With Mel settling down in front of her. "Rapid!"
Ben nodded as he watched Emily climb onto the back of Beauty, with Bella settling down in front of her, and Evie also got onto her horse. The four of them began making their way out of the stables.
The stable-hand at the City Stable almost fainted when she saw the two horses that looked to be on fire walk in. And seemed slightly uneasy as Emily and Rose led Beauty and Capilet into the same stall.
"Don't worry, ma'am," said Emily, as she looked at the stable-hand while Bella jumped back onto her shoulder. "They're not dangerous. But if you want, Rose and I can put them back in their balls? They'll be fine in there."
"It's fine," said the woman, letting out a small smile, after taking a deep breath. "I… I just didn't expect to meet a horse with fire for a mane today… Let alone two."
"They're magical creatures," said Rose, smiling as she scooped Mel into her arms. "Just don't touch the flames." At the wide eyed look she got, Rose laughed. "It's not dangerous, they just really don't like it." The stable-hand nodded.
At this point Ben and Evie had gotten off their horses, handed them off to other stable-hands and walked over to Emily and Rose just as Emily was reaching into her bag. She pulled out two Pokeballs and handed one to Rose. In bursts of red light, Lupa and Cerberus were brought out.
"Right, Mal is by Shell Bakery," said Ben, looking at his phone. "I think Dizzy is there? But I can barely read Mal's texts… they're full of weird abbreviations and pictures. Evie?"
"Dizzy's there on her own, apparently Chad was meant to be keeping an eye on her but he walked off. Something about Aubrey I think, Mal just uses Prissy and then the tiara emoji…" She frowned. "I think that means Aubrey… Anyway, he walked off and left Dizzy outside his aunt's bakery," said Evie, with a smile as she looked at the phone Ben had handed her. "This isn't that hard to understand, Benny Boo, you just refuse to learn emoji."
"Why can't she type normally?" whined Ben, looking at Evie. Before shaking his head. "Right, not the time." He looked at Emily and Rose, who were trying, and failing, to contain their smiles. "Shall we go?"
"You had me at bakery," said Emily, smiling. "Since this is basically France, does it sell crepes? Because I am suddenly craving them… Them and croissants."
"You're always craving some sort of sweet," said Rose, pushing Emily gently with a smirk. As they followed Ben and Evie out, leaving behind very confused stable-hands.
"Evie!" was the first thing Emily and Rose heard as they walked into the main square of the city with Evie and Ben. They both turned to see a young girl in a very colourful dress running towards them. Mal was stood at a table, with two guys, one of whom had a small brown dog in his lap, next to her. The girl barrelled into Evie with a grin as she said "I didn't know you were coming into town today!"
"Spontaneous choice," said Evie, as she hugged the girl. "We're showing Emily and Rose around." She looked at Emily and Rose. "Guys, this is Dizzy, my little sister. Dizzy, this is Emily and Rose, they're new to Auradon Central."
"Hi there," said Emily, with a smile as the five made their way over to the table. "I love your necklace."
Dizzy immediately began letting out a squeal before saying "Really?! I made it myself! I can make you something like it if you want…" As she said that, she noticed the owl necklace with the strange stone in around Emily's neck. "Though your current one is pretty too…"
"It's a Keystone," said Emily, with a smile as she fingered it. "A powerful relic from another Kingdom. Well, another world entirely." She smiled. "I wouldn't be opposed to having something else though, another necklace or whatever you want to make me."
Dizzy grinned, before looking at Evie. "Do you have any paper?"
"I don't leave home without it," said Evie, reaching into her heart-shaped bag and pulling out a pad of paper and pencils. "Why don't you sit at the table? Would you like something from the bakery?" Evie walked off with Dizzy, taking a seat at the table.
"Hey there," said one of the guys, the one with the dog in his lap, looking at Emily and Rose. "I'm Carlos." The dog barked. "And this is Dude." He motioned to the other guy. "That's Jay."
"'Sup," said Jay, looking at them with a nod of his head as he threw an apple up and down. An apple he had produced from under his hat.
"Pleasure to meet you," said Emily, with a smile. As Bella jumped off her shoulder onto the table, to play with Dude. Mel also joined them, while Lupa and Cerberus lay down underneath it.
"Where'd you get that apple from, Jay?" asked Ben, looking at him. "Did you pay for it?"
"It was a gift," said Jay, after biting into it. "For helping the fruit guy with a security issue."
"Sure, I believe you," said Ben, shaking his head. Before looking at Emily and Rose. "Are you two hungry? Anastasia does amazing stuff."
"I'm always hungry," said Emily, with a smirk. "I could honestly eat a mill…" She trailed off as she spotted a familiar looking old man with an eye-patch, holding a wooden cane with a raven cane-head, standing in the square, looking over at the group. A very familiar woman was stood next to him, making Emily frown.
Rose followed her girlfriend's gaze and frowned. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"Nah, I'll deal with Mother and Anthony Hopkins myself," said Emily, with a small smile. She looked at Rose. "Can you get me…"
"Two crepes and a croissant, of course," said Rose, nodding. She kissed Emily on the cheek. "Try not to get too annoyed. And actually listen to her. Promise?"
"Fine, I promise," said Emily, looking at Rose with a small smile. "Who knows, she may actually be amenable this time round." She walked off towards the two, taking a deep breath.
"Do I want to know why you're talking to Anthony Hopkins, mother?" asked Emily, walking over to the two at the back of the square. She looked at the man. "You seem awfully interested in my new friends."
"I'm more interested in you, Emrys," he said, looking at her. "You have grown into quite the interesting character, my grandchild." He smiled. "You think I look like Anthony Hopkins, huh? A lot of people in that home kept saying the same thing… Can't say I see myself."
"Take away the eye-patch, it's uncanny," said Emily, shrugging. Before frowning as she took in what her had just said. "Wait, grandchild? I'm your grandchild?" She took a deep breath. "Hela or Thor? Or even Loki, even after what he did to you and Midgard, you still consider him your child, if I'm remembering correctly."
Odin chuckled before nodding. "You are certainly your mother's daughter. She told me you'd have knowledge of things I'd kept secret from my own family." He smiled as he looked at her. "It is Thor, my sweet grandchild."
"I think this would be best discussed over dinner, Emily," said Athena, looking at Emily. "Maybe with Rose there."
"No," said Emily, looking at Athena, her voice slightly hardening. She shook her head. "I need some space right now. Just… I need space." She took a deep breath, before looking at Odin. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr Hopkins. I bid you adieu though." Without waiting for a response, she walked off.
Five minutes later, Rose was walking out of the bakery with a white bag in her hand, and Evie and Ben next to her. She immediately frowned when she saw the two adults had gone, and Emily wasn't with the group anymore, but their Pokemon still were. The moment Bella saw her, she jumped into her arms, letting out a worried "Pika pi…"
"Where's Em?" she asked, looking at Mal with a frown. "She'd never pass up desserts."
"She came up to us, told Bella and the others to be good and then took off," said Mal, looking at Rose. "She didn't say anything else though…"
Rose took a deep breath before muttering "What have you done this time, Athena?" while pulling out her phone. "Come on Em, please don't have turned it off."
Ben, Evie and Mal shared a look, they could practically feel the worry coming off Rose as she tapped away at her phone. Ben stepped over to her and asked "Everything alright, Rose? Who were those people?"
"The woman was her mother, Athena," said Rose, sighing as she looked at him. "And the guy, I believe, was a man called Odin…" She shook her head. "Something must have happened… I knew I should have gone up to them with her." She took a deep breath, before her phone beeped and she looked at it. A sigh of relief was let out as she said "She's fine, on the move quite quickly, but fine. Looks like she's heading out of Auradon Central though…"
"How do you know that?" asked Mal, looking at Rose, with a frown. "Did she text you?"
"Our phones aren't exactly normal phones," said Rose, with a small smile as she looked at Mal. "They can track the other Sp…" She trailed off as she looked at the phone. "What? That can't be right? It's picked up four more… In Albion?" She frowned. "What are they doing there?" As she said that, her phone beeped and Rose's frown deepened.
"Who's this they?" asked Evie, looking at Rose. "And what's the matter?"
"Mine and Emily's teammates at M.I.5," said Rose, with a smile. She turned to Ben. "Do you mind keeping an eye on Lupa and Cerberus? Emily has their balls and I need to get to Corona. She's gonna do something we both regret."
"We were actually heading to Corona tomorrow," said Ben, looking at Rose. "We could make the trip earlier, I'm sure the King and Queen won't mind. Plus I've always liked Corona."
"It is nicer than some of the other Kingdoms we've visited," said Mal, nodding as she stood up. "Beautiful art."
"Shame phones don't work in the forest…" said Evie, looking at them. "The trees block the signal or something. But it's only six hours away."
Rose frowned, before shaking her head. "I can get there faster on Capilet," she said, before scooping Mel into her arms as Bella jumped onto her shoulder. "You're welcome to go by yourselves, if you promise to bring Lupa and Cerberus."
"Of course," said Ben, nodding as he looked at her.
Rose took a deep breath as she looked at the two canine Pokemon and told them to be good for Ben, Mal and Evie before she ran off, with Bella and Mel in her arms.
"Well, we should get back to the school and pack," said Ben, looking at the others. Before deflating slightly. "I was hoping to invite them on a date this afternoon…"
"To the lake?" asked Mal, with a smirk, as she stood up.
"What's wrong with the lake?" he asked, looking at her, with a pout.
"Nothing's wrong with the lake," said Evie, shooting Mal a look as she joined them. "It's very romantic there." She turned to Dizzy. "Do you mind staying with Jay and Carlos, Dizz?" Dizzy looked up as she shook her head before returning her attention to the pad of paper. Evie laughed and looked at Jay and Carlos, fixing them with the Look. "Keep Dizzy safe."
"Yes, ma'am," said Jay, nodding as he pulled a pear out of his hat. "She's one of us."
Evie nodded, before walking off towards the stables with Ben and Mal. With Lupa and Cerberus following.
Meanwhile, Emily was making her way across the country on the back of Beauty. All she could think about was the idea that her mother had lied to her for so long… Thor was her father, the same Thor she had watched in films for years… She had felt a connection with him for some reason, but she had never understood why.
And that time she had gotten shocked… No, the time she hadn't gotten shocked when that SKUL agent tried to tase her. Now it made sense.
But it didn't change the fact that she had been lied to for sixteen years. OK, sure, her mother hadn't actually lied to her more than just dodged the question every time she asked…
She took a deep breath as she looked at her phone, which was showing her a route to Corona. She had done a bit of research and noticed that Rapunzel hadn't been found yet, and in her poor judgement, she decided that now would be the best time for that. Especially since she knew exactly where Rapunzel was being held.
She let out a small smile, before kicking Beauty gently, prompting her to speed up.
Hot on her tails, about ten minutes behind, was Rose, using her own Spy-Pod to track Emily's movements. She was worried about her girlfriend doing something she'd regret, and there was only one place in Corona Emily could be heading. And she would definitely regret that.
She was also wondering what had gotten her girlfriend so worked up. The last time they had seen Athena it had been before they had fell into that portal to Pokearth, and she and Emily had gotten into a big fight over how Athena had treated her sister, Annabeth. Rose had been amazed that Emily's bag still worked after that.
She took a deep breath as she noticed the blip that was Emily speed up and she made Capilet speed up to match the speed of her girlfriend.
"Why do you think Rose was so surprised when she saw Emily was heading to Corona?" asked Mal, as she sat on the bed in the bedroom she shared with Ben and Evie, in their quarters in the West Wing of the castle. "What's so important about Corona? Other than the Festival and art galleries."
Ben looked at her from where he was pulling suits out of his wardrobe and said "They both seem to know a lot than they're saying, so maybe it's something they know we don't. They'd tell us if it was important."
"Aren't you the least bit curious about it though?" asked Mal, looking at him. "What do they know? Why do they know it?"
"Maybe it's like Allie and her knights," said Evie, walking out of the en-suite holding a bag. "We were movies to them. It would make sense."
"And that is why you're the smartest VK," said Mal, with a small smile. "You're probably right. But in that case why hasn't Allie and her knights been to Corona?"
"Maybe they don't want to interfere?" said Ben, shrugging. Before looking at Mal. "You could help pack you know, we're not your slaves."
Mal rolled her eyes before waving her hands. Her eyes turned green as purple smoke poured out of her hands, causing things to float out of the wardrobes and drawers and into a nearby empty suitcase. "There, that's my share of the packing done," she said, before walking towards the window and throwing it open. She climbed onto the edge and said "You know what, I'll meet you there." Black wings sprouted out of her back as her eyes turned full on green. Before she jumped out of the window.