Descendants – Better Together

Chapter Five: Like The Fog Has Lifted

Rose smiled at Mal as she jumped off Rapunzel's hair at the bottom of the tower, before walking over to Capilet, who had Mel on his back. Robin and Shinobi were stood nearby, with Ace perched on a tree. "Ace, can you fly above us, lead us to the city?" she asked, looking at the Pidgeot. He nodded, before taking off. As Rose returned her attention to Rapunzel, who was lowering herself slowly as she muttered something neither Mal or Rose could hear.

"So, do you think Emily is alright?" asked Mal, looking at Rose. "She seemed alright when she left with that woman, right?"

"If I know my girlfriend, and I do know my girlfriend very well, she has probably turned the tables on Gothel by now," said Rose, with a smile. "Emily is a very capable agent, she's done this sorta thing before. Remind me to tell you about the Landsdown Tech mission we ran sometime. Now that was an interesting mission…" Mal nodded, just as Rapunzel put her feet on the floor. Her toes wiggled slightly as they touched grass for the first time, and Rose smiled. "Right, we should get going if we wanna make it to the castle by nightfall." She looked over at Rapunzel, focusing mostly on the hair. "Any chance we can do something with your hair? We need to take Capilet, and I think that might caught in his hooves."

"I can put it into braids with magic, if you want," said Mal, looking at Rapunzel.

Rapunzel shook her head as her hair began to float by itself, rearranging itself into braids. Rose just smiled as Rapunzel said "Is that alright?"

"Prehensile hair, I shoulda guessed earlier," said Rose, with a smile. "It's great." She immediately climbed onto Capilet and held out her hand for Rapunzel, who she helped onto the back of the Rapidash.

Mal sprouted her wings again as they began making their way out of the tower clearing. Robin and Shinobi going ahead of them.

Meanwhile, Emily was riding Beauty across the bridge into Corona. The two guards outside immediately stopped her. "Excuse me, ma'am, but may I ask why you have this woman tied up on your… Horse?"

"Please, guard! She kidnapped me!" said Gothel, looking at them. "You have to stop her…"

"OK, two things, if I had kidnapped her, would I have made my way into town with her on the back of my horse?" asked Emily, looking at the guards. "And two, I'm with M.I.5. This is the woman who kidnapped your princess sixteen years ago." She reached into her bag as the guards readied their weapons and pulled out a black wallet. "Here, this is my I.D." She handed it to the guard with a smile.

He studied it for a moment before handing it back. "Oh, you're…"

"Yes, that's my name," said Emily, quickly, cutting them off before they could say her name. "Can you send word to the castle to have the Captain meet me at the gates, with manacles?"

"Yes, ma'am," said the guard, saluting after handing the wallet back. "You've been expected by the way, the King rang ahead."

Emily just nodded before making her way into the city of Corona.

They got funny looks as they rode through the city, heading up to the castle at the top of the hill the city had been built onto. Though between the flaming horse and the woman tied up on the back of said flaming horse, Emily couldn't blame the people for gawking.

It took ten minutes to get from the gates of the city to the castle gates. The Captain of the Guard was waiting for them inside the castle grounds, holding two sets of manacles. "We weren't expecting you M.I.5 folks till tomorrow morning," he said, looking at Emily as she got off Beauty. Bella had finally woken up and she jumped onto Emily's shoulder. "You guys from Albion like to get things done, eh? Where's the princess?"

"My partners are bringing her from what I gather," said Emily, with a smile. "I'd contact them but I don't think they got rid of the signal jammer yet. And they're still in the forest."

"Signal jammer?" asked the Captain, as he watched Emily untie Gothel and pulled her off Beauty. "What are you talking about?"

"Gothel here set up a signal jammer to keep people from finding her tower and to keep the princess from asking too many questions from what she saw on TV," said Emily, smiling as she pulled a key from her pocket and uncuffed Gothel, before handing her over to the Captain. He manacled Gothel as Emily looked at her. "I guess this is where we part ways. I doubt we'll ever see each other again." She smirked. "Not with where you're going at any rate."

"You will pay for this, little girl," said Gothel, looking at Emily, with a scowl.

Emily just let out a laugh before saying "I don't think so, ma'am. Turns out, Mother doesn't always know best," as she watched the Captain march Gothel into the castle. Before she took a Poke Ball out of her bag and pressed it against the side of Beauty, who disappeared in a red light. She turned to one of the guards. "If anybody my age arrives, can you tell them I've gone into town. I think I'm gonna go see what this place has to offer." He nodded as Emily began to walk off. Before she stopped and walked back, without turning. "Anything you'd recommend? Any restaurants? Cafes? Bakeries?"

"I'd definitely check out Monty's Sweet Shoppe," said the guard, with a smile. "It's the best bakery in the city."

"I guess that's our first stop then," said Emily, smiling. "Thank you, sir." She nodded at him, before walking out of the gates, with Bella on her shoulder.

Twenty minutes later, Emily was walking out of Monty's Sweet Shoppe with a bag of cupcakes in one hand, an actual cupcake in her other. Bella also had half a cupcake in her paws, pink frosting around her mouth as she sat on Emily's shoulder. Emily smiled as she bit into her own and walked over to the side, where she sat down on the wall. Bella swapped from the shoulder onto her lap, the cupcake completely gone. She frowned, before looking up at Emily with a "Pika?"

"Sorry, Bella, no more," said Emily, looking at the Pikachu. "You've already had one, if you have another then you will not sleep tonight…"

Bella pouted as she climbed off Emily's lap and sat on the wall with her back to her trainer. Just as Emily heard hoofsteps and turned to see a Rapidash walking up the road, with Rose and Rapunzel on his back. Mal was walking next to them.

"Roe!" said Emily, grinning as she stood up. "You made it then."

"So did you," said Rose, as she stopped Capilet in front of Emily and Bella. She turned to Mal. "I told you not to worry, Emily's great."

"I guess I should have had more faith," said Mal, with a smile. "What happened?"

"Tell ya later," said Emily, looking at Mal. Before turning her attention to Rapunzel. "Hi there, I'm Emily."

"Rapunzel," said Rapunzel, looking at Emily. "Where's mother?"

"Oh, your mother's fine," said Emily, with a smile. Before looking at Mal. "Can you keep Rapunzel company, I need to talk to Rose." She handed over the box of cupcakes. "I picked these up. Do not give Bella one, she's already had one."

"Roger that," said Mal, nodding as she took the box, eyeing the still pouting Bella. "Did you get them from Monty's?"

"A guard recommended the place, yeah," said Emily, nodding. Before leading Rose away from the two. Once she was sure they were out of earshot she looked at Rose and quietly said "How much did you tell her?"

"It was quite a long ride here," said Rose, also quietly, as she looked at Emily. "I told her we had been sent to rescue her from Mother Gothel, who had kidnapped her when she was young. And that she was a princess."

"OK, how did she take it?" asked Emily, looking at Rose.

"I'm not sure she believes me," said Rose, sighing. "Gothel conditioned her pretty good. And she hasn't seen anything that contradicts her raising yet."

"Touché," said Emily, nodding. "Well, there's a mural of her as a baby with her parents just up the street, we should take her past there as we go back up to the castle. It's starting to get late."

"And Ben and Evie should be here soon," said Rose, nodding as well. "That's a plan." She pressed a kiss to Emily's cheek. "I'm glad you're safe. Mal wasn't the only one worried. Even if this wasn't our first rodeo…"

Emily nodded before leading Rose back over to the group. "Right, shall we get going to the castle?" she said, as she looked at Rapunzel and Mal, who each had a cupcake. They both nodded, though Rapunzel seemed slightly apprehensive, and Rose got back onto Capilet, with Bella jumping on next to Mel. "Guess I'm not your favourite mother right now, huh?" said Emily, with a smirk. "Rose won't let you have another cupcake either."

"You've still got the remnants of the last one around your mouth anyway," said Rose, smiling as she pulled a tissue out of her pocket. "Let's clean you up, eh."

Soon enough, the group were walking through the city, with a few funny looks. Till they stopped in front of the mural of the King and Queen with their baby daughter in the Queen's arms. Rapunzel gasped before saying "Is that… Is that me?" as she looked at Rose. "You were telling me the truth?"

"Rose doesn't lie," said Emily, looking at Rapunzel. Before noticing the look Rose was giving her. "Well, rarely lies. And when she does it's usually for the greater good."

"I really am a princess?" asked Rapunzel, looking at Emily. "Mother really took me when I was younger? Why?"

"It's a long story, Rapunzel," said Rose, as she looked at the princess while they set off towards the castle. "And it's probably best told on the way up to the castle. It started when your mother got pregnant with you…"

The trip to the castle took ten minutes, and Rapunzel was silent as they walked through the gates. Where they saw Ben and Evie sat on the steps leading up into the castle, looking exhausted, while Lupa and Cerberus were running around, chasing each other in the courtyard. The two Canine Pokemon immediately stopped as they saw Emily and Rose and ran over, Cerberus jumping up Emily.

"Hey Cerb," said Emily, stroking him with a smile. "I guess you missed me, huh? At least one of my Pokemon is being nice to me." She looked over at Bella, who was now sat on Rose's shoulder as Rose stroked Lupa, and shook her head. Before noticing Mal had led Rapunzel over to Ben and Evie. "OK, down boy, I need to go over there now." Cerberus immediately got down as she reached into her bag and pulled out a Pokeball, which she threw to her girlfriend. Rose nodded and returned Capilet to the ball, before the two walked over to the group.

"Those two are crazy," said Ben, looking at Emily and Rose. "I don't think they like being in cars…"

"We do usually put them in their balls when we travel…" said Rose, frowning. "I am so sorry."

"That would be more my fault," said Emily, with a small smile. Before sighing. "I probably should have left their balls with you before I took off… But the news I got beforehand… Well, I wasn't thinking straight when I took off."

"I'm still not sure you're thinking straight now," muttered Rose, so only Emily could hear.

Emily shot her a look before looking at the others and saying "We should probably go inside. It's getting late." Everybody nodded, and Ben and Evie stood up, with Mal helping Evie up, before the three and Emily made their way into the castle. Rose went to follow, but noticed Rapunzel looking up at the castle frozen. She let out a small smile and said "Everything alright, Rapunzel?"

"My… My parents are inside?" she asked, looking at Rose. "And they're expecting me?"

"I assume the guards have informed them of your rescue," said Rose, nodding. "They're probably waiting." She gave Rapunzel a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'll be right there with you."

Rapunzel eyed Rose before nodding and making her way into the castle.

As soon as they walked into the entrance hall, Rose noticed the staff had immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Rapunzel. And Rapunzel froze, leading Rose to take her hand and lead her out of the hall.

Rose smiled as she walked into the throne room with Rapunzel in-hand. Emily smiled back, as Rose passed her and their Pokemon. At the end of the room were the King and Queen of Corona, neither of whom could take their eyes off Rapunzel.

"Rapunzel?" asked the Queen, looking at her. "Is that you?"

"You're my mom? And dad?" asked Rapunzel, as she let go of Rose's hand. "You're really them?"

"It's us, Rapunzel," said the Queen, looking at the lost princess. "It's really us."

Rose quickly joined Emily and quietly asked "Where are Ben, Mal and Evie?"

"Retired early, Ben and Evie were exhausted," said Emily, quietly. "You still think this was a bad idea?"

"Can't deny seeing them reunited is a good feeling," said Rose, sighing. Before looking at Emily. "But I also can't help but feel like something is gonna happen… Something bad."

Emily shook her head before looking over at the reunited royal family. "How can anything bad come from this?"

"You really don't recall the Amanda incident, do you?" asked Rose, shaking her head. "Let's hope it's not a repeat of that."

"Agents," said the King, bringing both Rose and Emily's attention to him as he stepped over to them. "I would like to thank the two of you and Queen Mal for reuniting us with our daughter."

"It was our pleasure, your majesty," said Emily, with a smile.

"I do have to say, we weren't expecting M.I.5. till tomorrow," he said, looking at her. "And we didn't expect Queen Mal, King Ben or Queen Evie to be with you."

"Well, we're not technically with the M.I.5. you're thinking of, sir," said Emily, looking at him. "We were M.I.5. but we're currently living in Auradon Central attending Auradon Prep. So technically, we're not M.I.5. at the moment."

"Though if you spoke to the people in charge they'd probably disagree, your majesty," said Rose, with a small smile. Before yawning. And then covering her mouth quickly. "I am so sorry, sir, it's been a long day."

"You should both retire then," said the King, with a smile. "One of the staff will show you and your animals to the room we set up for the two of you." He called one of the woman over and gave her orders. She nodded and led Rose and Emily, plus their Pokemon, out of the room.

Soon enough, they were relaxing on the bed of the room they had been set up in. Lupa and Cerberus were asleep in front of the unlit fire, with Mel and Bella (Both in their pyjamas) curled up in between them. "I'm still not entirely certain this isn't a repeat of the Amanda incident," said Rose, looking at Emily, who was setting up the laptop for them. Surprisingly, the room had electrical sockets next to the beds. "But I won't mention it again tonight."

"OK then," said Emily, with a small smile. Before flicking her wrist causing the Once Upon A Time Season Five boxset to appear in her hand in a poof of smoke. "Wanna continue our Once marathon?"

"I think we should probably talk, actually," said Rose, sitting up. "You need to process the news you got earlier."

"That Thor is my father?" asked Emily, taking a deep breath as she sent the boxset away, also in a puff of smoke. "That mother refused to tell me? That Odin AND Zeus decided that I couldn't grow up with my father?!" Her voice began to grow louder. "That I was forced to think my father didn't love me? That he had abandoned me to grow up in the Dumping Ground?!" She slipped off the bed and began pacing. "I had to grow up in a world I didn't belong in…" Before letting out a small smile as she looked at Rose. "One good thing did come from that though, we wouldn't have met if I hadn't. Well, two, if you count our Pokemon… Three if you count us being here…"

"It's not all bad then, is it?" said Rose, looking at her girlfriend. "We both knew Athena was lying to you about your father, the Olympians aren't exactly trust worthy."

Emily let out a small smile before nodding. "I shouldn't be surprised, no. Especially not what she did to Annabeth." She took a deep breath. "Can we just watch an episode of Once, please? I don't want to talk about this right now."

Rose nodded before saying "Of course, sweetie. Though I'm not sure Once will be good for you, not with where we are currently."

"Right, yes… Hades…" said Emily, sighing as she sat down on the bed. "You can't say it's a good portrayal of him though. You've met him."

"No, but they're using the Disney version of him."

"Do not get me started on Hercules…"

"You do realise Hades actually liked that film, right? I asked him about it a while back."

"Just because he liked it doesn't mean I have to."

Rose rolled her eyes before saying "Right, what shall we watch?" as she cuddled into Emily. "What films have you got in your bag?"

Clicking her fingers, Emily smiled as her eyes turned gold and her bag began floating towards the bed.

Later that night, Rose had fallen asleep and Emily was watching her with a smile on her face. She was having a hard time getting to sleep, a combination of a new place and all the thoughts going through her head, so she decided to slowly get out of bed. Walking over to the window, all she could think about was how much her life had changed since she had gotten to Auradon.

Three new soulmates and a father… Not something she could have predicted, though predictions were always more Apollo's expertise, never hers.

She let out a quiet chuckle as she looked out the window, their room was overlooking the courtyard and she could see guards standing there with lanterns. Emily sighed before turning to look at Rose again before muttering "I'm so sorry, Guppy, but I promise I'll be back in the morning." She reached into her bag and pulled out a pad of paper along with a pen, before scribbling a note down on the front page and leaving the pad on the table in the room.

She took one more, slightly longing, look at Rose, before walking out.