Fairy Godmother had called a meeting for the next day and Lonnie was the first one to arrive at the command center. The only other person there at the moment was Fairy Godmother. "Good morning Lonnie." She said with a small smile.
"Good morning ma'am." Lonnie said with a smile of her own as she sat down.
Fairy Godmother hesitated a moment and then said, "Jane told me that Will was there when you transformed to fight Chaka and as a result he knows all of your identities."
Lonnie nodded. "I didn't have a choice. If I hadn't he would have killed us. In fact if not for Will the monster would have killed me." She replied evenly.
Fairy Godmother took a deep breath. "I do understand that. I'm not finding anything in the records we acquired from the schools on the new transfers to say he isn't trustworthy." Fairy Godmother noted. "And of course you're right that it was unavoidable. Let's just hope we don't have too many of these incidents in the future."
Next Mal and Ben showed up. They had been laughing about something but Lonnie didn't know what. At the bottom of the stairs Ben wrapped his arms around Mal's waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck and they exchanged a quick kiss on the lips before they went to sit together, Mal practically on Ben's lap.
Then Evie and Doug came into the command center. The two were talking animatedly about their chemistry experiment and Evie laughed as she placed her hand on his arm to steady herself. Then she sat down and Doug went up to the consoles, blushing slightly.
Next were Jane and Carlos who were talking softly about some of the construction needed to make room for the Auradon Battlezord in the mountain area with the Auradon Megazord. The two of them joined Doug at a console to continue with their conversation as they waited for everyone else.
"No way." They heard Audrey say with amusement as she descended the stairs. "You really did that?"
"I really did." Jay said and then laughed. "Man, I missed off Mrs. Gothel big time. Didn't speak to me for a week." The two of them appeared at the bottom of the steps and then pretended innocence in front of Mal and Evie. "Oh, hey guys."
"You did not just tell her about that." Mal said with a mock glare.
"Not at all." Jay said nonchalantly as Audrey sat next to Ben and Jay sat next to her. Once seated he wrapped an arm around the brunette's shoulders.
"Tell her about what?" Lonnie asked but another look from Mal silenced Jay and she decided she'd have to see if Audrey would talk later.
The last to show up was Jordan, Ally and Aziz. It was hard not to notice that Ally and Aziz were standing pretty close to each other. However at the moment both Aziz and Jordan were telling Ally about some of the adventures their father's had shared.
"Funny you should be talking about that." Fairy Godmother noted. "Because Agrabah is exactly where I'm sending all of you."
"Wait, what?" Jane was startled to hear about that. "Why?"
"I've recently been in contact with your father Aziz." She said as she looked to the silver ranger. "Apparently your mother has found a couple of scrolls, far older than anything we have here that might shed some light on Sermaya and his origins."
"Really, they did?" Aziz seemed a bit shocked.
"Why don't they just bring them here?" Carlos asked.
"In truth Jordan's father offered to do just that, but I thought it might be better to head over there ourselves, just in case Sermaya gets wind of this information." Fairy Godmother answered. "Granted he might be able to handle himself but its best if we don't have to test that theory out."
"When are we supposed to leave?" Mal asked. Part of her hoped to avoid another swimming class. She was getting the hang of it but she was starting to think she just didn't like swimming.
"This afternoon after school." She answered, privately dashing the purple haired girl's hopes. "This is being officially classified as a school errand and you've been appropriately excused as such."
Audrey laughed a bit. "It's a good thing you're the head mistress. If a teacher tried to do this I bet it would draw your attention." She noted.
"It probably would at that." She agreed. "That's one of the reasons it was decided that I would work with Zordon to head this up so long ago, because this kind of coverage might have become necessary."
"You've been headmistress that long?" Carlos asked and when Audrey, Lonnie and Jane shot him looks that he didn't understand the meaning of he simply shrugged and added, "What?"
"I'll explain it later." Evie said with a shake of her head. Most of them knew better than to ask an adult, especially a lady, their age unless they really had to. It was just the polite thing to do, one of the lessons that it seemed her mother had fully agreed with given her vanity.
"I'll see you off at the gates this afternoon." Fairy Godmother said. "I'm sure Aziz and Jordan know how to get there, since they were born in Agrabah, but I'll give you some instructions just in case."
"Well this might work out." Evie said. "Next semester in sustainable living we'll be covering desert lifestyles. I can get a head start sort to speak."
"Just what you need E, another chance to get ahead of the curve." Mal teased her chosen sister as they stood up and she lightly pushed her shoulder. "Alright, I guess we should head to class. See you at swim practice." She said to her chosen siblings and Fairy Godmother.
Lonnie saw Will at his locker on her way to second period. They had wanted to spend a bit of time over the weekend on a performance, an idea inspired by Lonnie after she had realized Will liked to play several instruments including the saxophone and the guitar but apparently that was going to have to wait. She walked up and leaned against the locker next to it. "Hey." She said softly.
He turned and smiled at her. "Hey." He replied. "Have a nice first period?"
"Yeah, the stuff of dreams." She answered sarcastically and they both shared a small laugh. "Look, Fairy Godmother has an errand for us to run after school today and it seems like it will take a few days. We're going to have to postpone our project for a while." Fairy Godmother hadn't mentioned whether or not she was aware that Will was helping them with the research project now that he knew about their identities but she didn't want to be the one to mention it if she didn't know already.
"Ah, the call of responsibility." Will said with a small wink, indicating he was reading in between the lines enough to get her meaning. "No problem, we'll work on it another time then."
"I kind of wish you could come along." Lonnie said somewhat absentmindedly as she wasn't sure she would admit so easily to this if she were paying full attention. "I mean we wouldn't be in a position to work on our stuff, but at least we'd still be able to spend time together."
"I enjoy spending time together with you too." Will told her sincerely as he reached up to move a piece of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "We'll do that when you come back though, don't worry ab out it."
The day went fast and lunch came. For once it was Ally, Aziz and Jordan who had reached their table first. "Are you two excited to be going back home?" The blonde asked them in her slight British accent.
"I haven't been home since just after I found out about Mal and the others." Jordan answered. "It will be something new now that I know so much more about things my father had to have known for a long time."
"Me neither." Aziz said. "I wonder how my parents even feel about me being a power ranger."
"I'm sure they're okay with it." Ally said to him. She had asked her mother not long ago about it and Alice had told her that while she wouldn't have necessarily wished it upon her daughter she never the less understood all the good she could do with it and that she could accept that. "They might not like it exactly but I think they'll be okay with it."
Jordan frowned a bit. " I guess we Auradon kids are lucky in that regard." She mused. "Our parents know and accept it. But Jay, Carlos and Evie's parents probably wouldn't be happy about it even if they knew about it." They actually had no proof one way or another rather Jafar, Grimolde the Evil Queen and Cruella DeVil knew about their kids or not. " And we all know how Mal's mother feels about this latest path of hers." They could all feel for their leader there, even if none of them cared for Maleficent personally.
"What do you think they'll think of Jay?" Ally asked the two of them. Jafar had been the prime enemy for Aziz's parents Aladdin and Jasmine and Jordan's father. She remembered seeing Audrey's grandmother react to Mal's presence, though at that time the brunette princess had not helped that. In time of course Audrey had gotten past her differences with Mal but to her knowledge grandmother had not. Aurora's thought on that hadn't been voiced to her that she knew of.
"They haven't expressed any problems to me." Aziz said.
"I haven't heard anything either." Jordan added with a shrug.
They saw Ben approaching, and for once it was without Mal. Ally suspected that was the effect of not having the same class as the purple haired girl and her chosen siblings were getting out of swim class now. He had Lonnie with him.
"I feel kind of bad about it though." Lonnie said regretfully. "I was looking forward to what Will and I were going to try to do. I mean arranging a life musical hip hop performance for the talent show at the end of next month, it's just so cool."
"You just wanted to spend time with Will." Jordan teased as they sat down.
"Yeah, I did want that too." Lonnie agreed. "Something about him…no guy has ever gotten my curiosity sparked the way he does."
"You'll still have time." Ben assured her. He set down his tray and then took out his iPhone to see if Mal had texted him yet. Sure enough he had. "Looks like we're down two for lunch, Audrey wants to spend the break packing and she convinced Evie to join her. Mal and the guys will be here in a few minutes." He informed.
"I can't imagine doing something like that without magic." Jordan poked fun at everyone.
"That's something most of us have learned to have to cope with." They heard Jane say as she sat down with Doug. She technically had magic at her disposal but was untrained and her mother had lectured constantly about using it in emergencies only. It went without saying that packing wasn't an emergency. Doug seemed mildly disappointed when Ben told him Evie wouldn't be coming to lunch.
"Dude, if you want to spend time with her you've got to ask her." Aziz said. That caused Jordan to smirk a bit since his interest in Ally wasn't exactly something that he put on public display. That was one thing she gave Lonnie and Will, they weren't exactly holding back about their interest.
"Yeah, I know. You're right." Doug agreed. "It's just kind of hard. I mean, I personally don't even know what she even sees in me."
"Don't sell yourself so short." Lonnie advised him as she opened up her bottled orange juice. "You're very intelligent, which is something she is clearly into. You're sweet, and that's something that Evie just hasn't had enough of in her life. You're braver than you give yourself credit for when you consider what you know about life recently and you face it without the extra protection that we use."
"She's right about those last two big time." Ben said to him as he started to mix the sauce with the noodles for his spaghetti. "This isn't small time stuff man, but you handle it well. And being a good person, it's something that Mal still hasn't entirely adjusted too either. They all need to see that."
Jane understood Doug's concerns. She knew she was smart enough as she had spent years helping her mother establish the command center; at this point no one knew it better than her. She also had a hard time questioning her bravery as she continued her journey as the white ranger. But she still feared she wasn't pretty enough for Carlos, or anyone else if it came to it. She also knew that as much as Carlos seemed to like her that confidence problem also affected him too. We're definitely no Mal and Ben or Audrey and Jay. She reflected quietly but kept her peace.
"Hey Bennie-boo." Mal said with a teasing lilt to her voice as she sat came up behind him. Then she sat next to him and kissed him on the lips before she opened up her strawberry milk.
"Hi." Jane said with a smile at Carlos.
"Hey." He replied with a smile of his own. He offered her an extra apple he had gotten and she took it happily.
"How was class?" Jane asked him.
Carlos laughed. "Your mom is trying to teach us the dog paddle." He revealed. "Jay is getting a huge laugh out of that."
Jay laughed as he picked up one of his fries. "Yeah, the son of dog hater Cruella DeVil learning to swim likes a dog." He teased his friend. "It's classic."
"You're just enjoying the fact that Audrey isn't her to scold you for that." Lonnie noted with a giggle.
"That wouldn't stop him completely anyway." Mal replied. Carlos agreed with that assessment. Then she leaned forward a bit. "I think we should ask Fairy Godmother to let Will come with us." She revealed.
No one seemed to object to that declaration and Lonnie even perked up a bit at that. "Any reason why?" Ben asked her curiously as he took her hand.
Mal squeezed softly. "Look, we're going for something very important here. If Sermaya realizes this and if Paradias realizes this then they could try to divide and conquer us, all in effort to get these scrolls or whatever they are." She looked to each of her team mates seriously. "We need to have someone who can stick by those things full time if we that happens."
"He shouldn't be the only one to guard them if it comes down to that Mal." Aziz reminded Mal as seriously. "I agree with you one hundred percent but this can't be something he has to do alone."
"What choice do we have?" Jordan asked. "Will knows who we are because Lonnie wasn't left a choice. Doug knows of course, and we could bring him along. No offense though but he's not really a fighter or anything." She did have the grace to look at Doug apologetically.
He shrugged it off though. "You're right; I'm not exactly the most reliable in a fight. I can shoot a blaster as well as anyone but that's about it." He agreed. "Still, maybe any port in a storm…"
"We'll have to mention it after school then, before we leave." Mal said. She looked to Doug. "We can ask her about you too, I doubt Evie will mind if you're along after all." She added with amusement, and that caused him to blush.
After lunch the team met at the gates. "I think we should take Doug and Will with us." Mal said to their headmistress. This surprised Audrey and Evie since no one had had a chance to tell them about their conversation at that point.
"If you feel you need Doug with you that's perfectly fine." Fairy Godmother agreed with her simply enough. "But why do you need Will with you guys?"
"Insurance, mom." Jane answered. "If Paradias or Sermaya find out what we're doing they might attack. If they do it together we're going to have to all split up and all be on the battlefield. Doug can't keep the scripts safe on his own."
"I think he could." Evie tried to say encouragingly to the boy she was developing strong feelings for.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Evie." Doug said to her as he brushed her arm with his hand. "But I admit it, truthfully. If it came down to that I can't keep these scrolls safe on my own." He looked to Fairy Godmother. "Will already knows who they are so this mission doesn't have to be a big secret to him, and he already proved he can take care of himself and other people."
Fairy Godmother could see the logic behind what Jane and Doug had said and she nodded. "Alright, someone go and get him then." She conceded.
Audrey held out her hand. "Give me your satchel Lonnie." She said. "And go get Will."
Lonnie smiled broadly at her friend. "Thanks." She said and ran off, seemingly pretty happy. Audrey and Jay exchanged knowing smiles, as did Mal and Ben.
"I kind of wish I could let Snow know I was leaving for a while." Evie said. "I mean in person. We're trying to build our relationship and here I am going around the world like this."
"She knows you have responsibilities as a power ranger." Ben reminded the blue haired girl reassuringly. "Just as mom knows Mal and I have to do this regardless of what we might want to do."
Lonnie found Will heading toward his room and she all but bounced up to him. "How would you like a trip to Agrabah?" She asked with a broad smile.
Will laughed a little at her enthusiasm. "Plan on smuggling me along in one of your bags?" He asked her teasingly. "I'm sure that Jordan could probably create a magical duplicate in order to take my classes for me."
Lonnie giggled at his jokes. It was kind of hard for her to realize how just being around him made her feel so happy, it was certainly an amazing feeling. "No smuggling required, not that you'd fit in any of bags anyway, even Audrey's." she shook her head. "Mal, Doug and Jane managed to convince Fairy Godmother that you should come with us, in case we need someone to help keep the scrolls safe if we get drawn into fights. So Fairy Godmother would excuse you from classes just as she's doing for us."
Will nodded a bit. "My sister will be spending the weekend with Callie at the Charming castle, and my other plans already got cancelled earlier." He said with a small wink at Lonnie. "So why not? Let me get a few things."
"I'll walk with you." Lonnie said. "But we have to hurry." The two continued on to Will's dorm. He tossed his books on one of the tables and pulled out a duffle bag. Lonnie looked at one of the dressers as he grabbed some clothes. "What is this?" She indicated a trophy.
"A trophy." Will said neutrally but had to laugh at the look she gave him.
"I figured that one out just fine." She promised with a mocking glare. "I meant what is this for? It's first place for something called anbo-jitsu, but I've never heard of it."
"A form of martial arts." Will answered her as he came and stood beside her. "It's unique among the forms because you have to fight blind. Your weapons and your hearing are your guides to find your opponent."
She was pretty sure her mother and father had never heard of this one either. Lonnie turned to look at him. "How does that work?" She asked softly.
"The weapons have a device or a spell on them, depending on preferences, which resonate a sonic whine when you're close to your target. You have to listen for the noise and guess where to strike." Will explained to her.
"Would you be willing to teach me?" She asked him curiously.
Will nodded as he stroked her hair softly. "Absolutely." He replied. "As soon as we get our hip hop act together I'll start teaching you."
"Something else to look forward too." Lonnie replied with a small smile and the feeling of a blush rising to her cheeks. "You should get things together so we can meet the others." She added to distract herself.
Will nodded. "You're right." He agreed and then went back to packing.
Lonnie turned back to the trophies. "Mountain climbing. Kayaking. You have a lot of trophies." She noted fondly.
"You'd find those two trophies in my sister's room too." Will said a bit more easily now that the romantic connection had been buried for the moment. "She and I won the kayaking trophy together and my sister entered a mountain climbing tournament after I did."
Lonnie turned to look at him. "I don't have any siblings." She revealed. "In fact, none of us do as far as we know. Except Evie, she being Snow White's half-sister but they didn't grow up together or even meet each other until recently." She leaned back against the dresser, careful not to bump the trophies. "What is that like?" She asked.
"Depends on the day." Will answered with a shrug. "There are days she pretty much drives me crazy. But I love her all the same." He zipped up his bag. "When it comes down to it, I'd do anything for her, as you probably remember from the first day of school."
"I remember." Lonnie confirmed as the two of them left his room to go meet with the others. They walked in companionable silence until they reached the rest of her team. Evie, Jane and Audrey gave him smiles as they approached, as did Ally and Mal though the two girls were a little more reserved. Jay and Ben both exchanged fist bumps with him. Doug and Carlos both said hi. Jordan was a kind of unreadable but that was normal, but her body posture didn't show any signs of hostility.
"So we're ready to go then?" Fairy Godmother asked.
They heard someone else approaching and turned to see Gregory coming toward them. He already had a duffel in hand as he came up to them. "I heard you guys were going to Agrabah, and this just came from my father that was supposed to go to Agrabah." He explained as he held up a manila envelope and gave a sheepish grin, as if he were kind of embarrassed about this. "Is it okay if I go with you?"
"We could deliver it for you." Jay pointed out.
Audrey pointed to the top, where there was a royal seal. "It needs to be delivered by someone in his family or an authorized person. We're not authorized." She explained to him gently. The royal protocol seemed to annoy him slightly but didn't press it.
Fairy Godmother hesitated only a moment before nodding in agreement. Unlike Will, Gregory did not know who they were and hoped to keep it that way. She only hoped Ben, the rangers, Doug and Will would be able to work together to keep that secret. "Alright. I'll get you two excused when I return to the office." She said.
"Thank you ma'am." Gregory said with a slight bow.
"Yes, thank you." Will agreed.
Fairy Godmother took out her iPhone and sent them information over a map app that Jane and Doug had designed a long time ago, before they really knew what it was for or that Jane would be a power ranger herself.
Carlos opened and smiled. "Cool, it's giving us the direct route we need to go in order to get to Agrabah." He said, sounding impressed. The compliment made Jane blush a little though he was to engrossed in the new app to notice it.
"Looks like we're going to have to skirt the Badlands." Ally noted. "Good thing we don't have to go too deep into it."
"It's not too far in and only to reach the river that will take us to Agrabah." Aziz assured her gently. He had taken the path hundreds of times growing up although of course this was the first time he had taken it as a power ranger. "Hey, if nothing else I'll be there to protect you."
Mal and Audrey exchanged glances and tried to contain their smirks. The line was kind of cheesy and not one that either of the strong willed girls would have tolerated easily, even from their boyfriends. But Ally seemed to be assured by that and she responded with, "I know you will." To the two of them it showed how attracted to him she really was.
"One of us will text you when we get to the boat mom." Jane promised her. "And again when we get to Agrabah."
"And I'll text you when we have the scrolls or whatever they happen to be." Mal promised. She thought some of Jane's assurances came from the fact she was her mother.
"Please be careful." Fairy Godmother said to them. "We don't know what kind of problems that you'll find while running this errand." She hugged Jane before the now thirteen teens headed out of the school and toward the Badlands.