In Carlos's Room
FG's office was the first place Carlos ran to. It was closed. Then he had the idea to go to a crowded area where it would be impossible to attack him without making Wes and Vivianne's presence known. But, before he could get to a busy place, he got a text from...Jay's phone. When he opened it, he almost fainted at the sight of the picture. Dude was curled up, asleep, on the bed in Carlos's room. And a clawed hand was scratching him behind the ear. Carlos was so petrified that he lost hold of his phone. He left it on the floor, cracked, as he sprinted to his room.
When Carlos opened the door to his dorm, he saw Vivianne on his bed holding a snarling Dude so that he couldn't get close enough to bite. It was saying something that Dude, the most gentle dog Carlos knew, was so upset. The window above Carlos's bed was open. Vivianne smiled at Carlos, "what took you so long? Close the door. Lock it, too."
Carlos closed the door, locking it behind him. "Please let him go," Carlos said, holding up his hands in surrender.
"But he's so upset," Vivianne said playfully. It was like she was enjoying Carlos's fear. "He might try to bite me. Think he knows I have claws?"
"Dude, please, calm down," Carlos said calmingly. "If she puts you down, get out of the way."
"Get away from the door first," Vivianne said. Carlos crossed the room, standing near the closet seven paces away. Vivianne dropped Dude and he ran underneath Carlos's bed. In less than two seconds, Vivianne crossed the room. She pulled Carlos to the ground, holding him down by the shoulders and baring a sharp set of teeth. "Sorry, but...wrong place, wrong time, saw too much. On the bright side, one bite to the neck and you won't feel anything. Aren't we cats just so considerate?"
Carlos braced himself for something painful to happen, shutting his eyes tight. But it never happened. He perceived a bright red light shining in the room and curiosity got the better of him. Especially when the weight of Vivianne pinning him to the ground disappeared. Peeking around his shoulder, Carlos saw a black cat running across his bed and out of the window. Weird that she would leave all of a sudden. Carlos thought. Then he felt a tap at his shoulder. Weirder that someone is still here.
Carlos turned even more and saw a boy around his age with sandy hair and freckles standing over him with a hand extended. Carlos grabbed his hand and the boy helped him up to his feet.
"Uh, who are you?" Carlos asked.
A sad look passed over the boy's face. "What?" He asked. "You don't even remember me already?"
Carlos considered his face for a moment. There was nothing particularly familiar about it except...those brown eyes were...it couldn't be. "Dude?"
A smile lit up his face, "Yes!"
"But how-"
Dude cut him off excitedly. "So, I grabbed that evil lady's collar when she grabbed you. She was very mean when you were gone, she said she didn't have snacks and then she said you were gonna be a snack soon, so I think she just didn't wanna share. But, when I took the collar," he held up the collar he was holding in his hand, "this happened. And now I'm human. And I walk on two legs all the time instead of doing it for treats."
Carlos laughed a bit at the luck. "That was an amazing job, Dude, you saved my life." Dude smiled, his eyes dazzling. "You should keep that collar on, it's proof that Wes is here. And it'll let you help me with something."
The dog-shifter tried to wrap the collar around his neck, but the leather band didn't fit. So, he tied it around his wrist, staring at Carlos intently for instructions.
Wes would be coming for them soon...and he'd probably be a lot more dangerous than his familiar. But Carlos didn't know what to do. He usually deferred to Mal or Jay when it came to schemes and plans. It suddenly struck him that he shouldn't do this alone. If Wes appeared in his room that second, he could wipe Carlos out the way he did with his friends. And no one else would even know that he was in possession of Ben's body. Worse, with the body of the king, Wes would have an easier time getting Carlos off the board. He also had no idea how to stop whatever spell was affecting Ben.
"I've got it," Carlos announced. "We're going to Freddie. I'll have some more time to think while we're on the way and we can figure out how to save Ben together."
"Yes!" Dude said. "You've so got this, Carlos."
"Thanks," Carlos smiled. I hope you're right. He thought.
Freddie's Perspective
"Who?" Freddie called out when she heard a knock at her door.
"Carlos."
Freddie opened the door and was surprised when she saw Carlos standing with a complete stranger. She thought, at first, it was one of FG's surprise goodness tests. So she said, "who is this fine gentleman?"
"This is Dude," Carlos said. When Freddie didn't understand, Dude shifted. Red light surrounded him as he turned back into a dog, spinning around and barking before shifting back to human form. He held up the glowing collar helpfully.
"Get in," Freddie whispered, panic setting in. Carlos and Dude entered the room and Freddie shut it quickly. "I cannot believe you guys are doing magic right now. Especially after what happened to the rest of the VKs. Do you want to get sent back home?"
"That collar isn't ours. Someone else from the Isle is here...he's the reason Mal, Evie, Jay, and Doug are where they are."
Freddie paused for a moment. "Explain. Please." Another pause. "Alright, no way this is a goodness test. Explain right now, De Vil, or get out."
Carlos spoke extremely fast, his nerves and fear getting the better of him. "So, this guy, Wes, from the Isle, is here. I don't know how, but he is and I would bet that he's behind everything that's been going wrong lately. Jay's arrest, Mal's arrest, Doug's accident, Evie's curse, and the weird ghost thing that all the royals are here about. And he possessed Ben's body for I don't know how long. And he's probably the reason Ben has everyone looking for the Black Cauldron. So, that has to mean he wants it, right?" Before Freddie could answer, he continued. "And I saw him trying to jump...I caught him and Ben isn't safe, but, for right now, I'm not safe because they wanna get rid of me because of what I saw."
"Carlos-" Freddie started softly.
"And I just wanna make sure Ben's okay and let him tell everyone that Mal and Jay are innocent and finally let Fairy Godmother use magic to heal Doug so that he can wake Evie up and everything can go back to normal because it's a nightmare-" Freddie cut Carlos off with a tight hug, which was very uncharacteristic considering her usual "don't touch me ever" rule.
When Freddie let him go she said, "that was only in case this is a test. And...we'll find a way to help Ben."
"How?" Carlos asked, his voice breaking. "Nothing has worked. Even when there were five of us trying to free Jay, nothing worked. Now there's only two of us left and I don't know how long I have before Wes and his cat come after me.
Deciding to save the question of the cat for later, Freddie said, "follow."
The sun was setting, which made the timing perfect since the library was nearly empty when they arrived. Freddie ignored how Carlos kept fidgeting and looking over his shoulder. She stopped them in front of a tapestry of a rose in a quiet and deserted section of the library.
"Ever tell anyone about this and I'll make you regret it." Freddie pulled back the tapestry and knocked on the wall. She knocked twice on one section of the wall, three on another, and once on another, before knocking with both hands on the middle section. The wall flashed with orange light, a door appearing in its place. "Come on."
Freddie led Carlos and Dude into a small, cramped, and musty room with little more than a desk with a ton of drawers and stacks upon stacks of books. "What is this place?"
"It's a secret I discovered when I first started going to school here," Freddie said as she went to a drawer and dug through it. "From way back when Auradon Prep used to teach magic. My daddy told me about this place and how 'the cards led him where he needed to be.'" Freddie pulled out a small cloth bag before moving on to another drawer. "Wanna know my plan?"
"Most definitely," Carlos said.
"We go to King Flynn and Queen Elsa." Freddie went over the plan she'd brainstormed on the walk to the library. "They're sympathetic to outcasts and they're in Auradon because of the whole cauldron thing-that may not have even been caused by the cauldron. They're the only parents I think will speak to us VKs." Freddie finally found what she was looking for. A white marble ring that she showed to Carlos. "Then, the hard part. We convince them Ben is possessed and get them to help us put this on his finger."
"And that is?" Carlos asked.
"A ring my daddy made on the Isle. It was supposed to protect him from evil spirits in case he ever left the Isle and his Friends on the Other Side decided to pay him a visit. I've been working on it since I got here and I hope it'll help free Ben. What you described to me with how he was acting...had to be a spiritual possession of some kind. He didn't just change his appearance, he is Ben."
"That's an amazing plan," Carlos said, hope in his eyes. "Wait...but Wes has magic. What if he decides to attack when we get close?"
"That's why we need to convince Queen Elsa to help us," Freddie said. It was obvious, in her mind. "She'd turn him into a popsicle if he even tried."
Vivianne's Perspective
When Vivianne climbed back through the window in cat form, she found Wes on the ground rubbing his head. She approached him and nudged his leg with her nose. He looked at her expectantly, but she couldn't speak. She raised her head to show her empty neck and his eyes widened.
"Where is your collar?" He asked. Realizing she couldn't respond, he stared at her intently. His ring glowed, "transfiguro." Red flames surrounded Vivianne, their shapes shifting along with her body as she grew to human size and form. He rose to his feet."You know how quick transformation spells fade. Explain."
"I had De Vil in my grasp. Literally," she said. "His stupid dog took my collar and transformed, so I had to come back."
Wes didn't react, but Vivianne noted the glow from his ring. The world without her collar was a lot less intense. Smells, colors, sensations, and sounds were duller without amplified senses. Vivianne could barely even feel the temperature of the room rising until it became sauna-like.
"I followed him in the vents, though," she said. "Him and Freddie Facilier were plotting in a secret room in the library. They're gonna use a ring to expel your spirit from Ben's body-"
Green flames erupted from the candles around the room. "I'd like to see 'em try."
"They have my collar and a dog," Vivianne said. "He might not be as fast as me, but he'd be strong. And he'd still be faster than your spells. But he doesn't matter as much as their backup. They wanna bring the Snow Queen."
Wes clenched his hands, flames snaking between his fingers like snakes. "So, to make sure I have this right, you've failed and ruined everything. Cover blown. Plans wasted." He paced, the fire in his clenched hands spreading up to his jacket sleeves. "No way I can find the cauldron and get it activated before they send everyone in Auradon after me. We're doomed."
"Wes, I think-"
"A fox wouldn't have failed, you know." Wes said, just to be cruel. Vivianne was taken aback. Any other time, her claws would've shot out of her hands if Wes said something like that. But...no collar, no claws. "They're smarter and they can shapeshift. Crows are wise, dogs are strong, snakes-"
"It was-"
"The general consensus is that any witch who takes a cat familiar will be disappointed nine times. I thought everyone was wrong, but maybe they were right-"
"Shut up!" Vivianne said, fists clenched and teeth bared.
"Apporime." The amulet appeared at Wes's neck and the wand in his hand. "Transfiguro extensa." Flames, lightning, and those pathetic little bubbles surrounded the cat familiar. When they faded, Wes stumbled. Vivianne went to help him and he pulled away from her. "I'd estimate you have less than an hour. Human form, no powers, no shifting. Weakness and failure aren't an option anymore, Vivianne. Get the collar back and do it fast. If I have to go looking for it, I'm giving it to something else."
Vivianne's blood boiled. But she did want the collar back more than anything. With the collar, she could never be held over a fireplace. She could never be a hungry stray on the Isle. She turned to the door to leave, hating how loud her steps were without the grace that came with the balance of her cat and human sides. When she went to open the door, it swung open on its own. And, through the door, walked Chad Charming. Vivianne was nervous, unsure whether she should grab him or speak to him. She couldn't hear his heartbeat and breathing anymore to guess what he might do next and that was definitely not okay with her.
"Oh. Hey, gorgeous," Chad said with a smile. He entered the room, turning to who he thought was Ben. "You know I'm kinda sad you didn't come check on me. My life was in danger a few...wait," He turned back to Vivianne then back to Wes, appraising both of them. "Ben, why are you alone with such a smokeshow?"
"What are you hinting at?" Wes asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, nothing," Chad said nonchalantly. "I'm just glad you're not still hung up over Mal. And if you've got a new Greeneyes to keep you occupied, I support that. Cause I'm a good friend." Vivianne wanted so badly to punch him right in his smiling face. He probably wouldn't even fly back very far, though. She wondered how many times she'd have to try just to knock him unconscious. Maybe there were silver linings here.
But Wes laughed. So Chad laughed. What Chad didn't realize was what a cackle like that meant from Wes. Vivianne smiled, turning to the door and locking it. Chad continued approaching Wes until Wes placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Before Chad could react, Wes snapped in his face and said a sleeping spell. Letting him fall to the floor, Wes turned his gaze to Vivianne. "Go on. I've gotta clear my name."