Hiya!

Thank you so much for coming back or coming by to read this story. It means a lot to us that it's held your interest so long, and we've been trying to pump it out for you guys. I know it's a small window for caring about certain fandoms so, you know thank you.

And to Mary, Alexnobody, Redwood Dreams who might be Rachel P, thank you so much for commenting lately! We really appreciate the feedback and your thoughts on things.

Much appreciation

-Twisted

He glances around the barren space.

What had this been, once upon a time?

Before the barrier forever changed the land under it?

He shakes his head, ridding himself of the absent musings.

What was important was figuring out how one of the witches managed to find a cave or hovel so deep underground.

His eyes squint as he searches for the faintest telltale shimmer of gathering magical energy.

It had been around here somewhere.

Just like it had been at the cliff near the docks.

Or where the docks had once been.

He was almost certain that energy belonged to Ursula, and he feared the only way to reach that den would be underwater.

He shakes his head.

As much as it pained him to think about, it wasn't the current objective.

He needed to focus.

He had to do what he could, while they still had a chance.

He'd noticed the lack of young children.

But hearing T speak of who was missing from the meeting with Hades-

It was yet another check on his list of suspicions, along with Uma's discovery of a group of young ladies hiding out with small children.

But the key, he felt in his bones, was the villains missing from the meeting.

Mim, Morgana, Ursula, Gothel, Queen Narissa, and the late Evil Queen were all powerful wielders of black magic.

Mim and Morgana especially.

The only good thing about powerful witches was that they normally didn't work together. Well or otherwise.

But something was bothering him about this situation. About how quickly things had moved.

How fast the younger children vanished.

While he'd dabbled with dark magic in the past, it had been centuries since he'd touched it.

And as loathed as he was to admit it, he was feeling vastly unprepared.

He takes a deep breath before he lets out a weary sigh.

What he wouldn't give for his tower of magical tomes right now.

A glimmer catches his eyes and he immediately snaps all his attention to it as he calls out for T.

T's head shoots around before he darts to him, "S'up?"

"This is where the magical energy is gathering, but it's faint, so they must be deep underground." He quickly explains.

"There's a sewer system beneath us." T offers stiffly, "fuck knows what condidtion its in though." He gestures to the torn asphalt around them.

A sewer system?

That could work, not that any witch would set up in a volatile location like that.

Still.

"Can we get in there?"

T's silent for a long moment before he lets out a deep sigh of relief, his shoulders going slack. "Yeah," he nods before he turns north. "this way."

His head tilts to the side as he quickly follows the suddenly more confident teen.

He absently pulls his side pouch up and rummages through it.

If there was a witch in the sewers, he was going to have to fight her.

There would be no room for error.

Not if-

Please, he prays silently to any god listening, please let him be wrong.

The idea of using children to power dark magic was a thing beyond evil.

But everything was pointing to that.

And it was up to him to stop whatever plan the witches may have concocted.

His gaze drifts to T.

Well that wasn't completely true, knowing the teen it would be up to them.

He doubted he'd be able to convince T to stay behind, short of spelling him to sleep.

And that was a boundary he was not willing to cross, currently.

Not that it wouldn't be ironic.

T stops and looks down with a curse, "should'ah fuckin' hit up Medusa's," he grumbles, before he looks up with a frown, "this is the closest for 'least half a mile." He quickly looks around. "I can try to pry it. We passed a fuck ton of loose-ish rebar."

"As much as this could be a physics lesson, today we'll skip it." He nods as he pushes his sleeves up, "take a step back please."

He smiles when T jumps back without hesitation before he weaves the energy in the air until he can pry the manhole lid from under the debris and flip it over.

He releases his invisible grip on the spell before he walks forward to peer into the darkness.

"T-"

He takes a slow breath as he studies the teen.

He hated this.

More than anything did he wish to send him back to the ship.

Back to safety.

It pained him.

Hurt him to know the potential damage this undertaking could cause.

But given his options-

T was the best suited for the task at hand.

Had already witnessed-

Experienced the worst of what humanity had to offer.

Was already touched by the darkness poisoning the Isle.

Not that those were reasons to bring him into a situation such as the one he knew they were about to walk into.

Perhaps they were even reasons to send him away.

But this was important.

Important to the survival of everyone on the Isle.

He couldn't afford the vanity of believing he would be able to overcome whatever was waiting for him.

He needed someone he could trust.

And, unfortunately for T, he trusted him a great deal.

He couldn't have the luxury of protecting T from this.

Meaning he must ask the impossible, knowing T would never turn him down.

"Yeah?" He asks as he steps forward and looks down the hole. "Want me to scout it?"

"No, I was merely wishing this wasn't a life or death situation so I could send you back to your family." He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Tch," T crosses his arms. "Ancient or not I ain't leavin' ya to deal with this alone. The Isle's goin' ta shit an' we need you. More importantly Uma needs you. 'Sides," he eyes him, "Family don't leave family."

Family doesn't leave family.

It warmed his heart to know T counted him among family.

That they all seemed to do so.

"So, if you're like worried I ain't gonna follow your lead-"

"Dear boy, I was only wishing I didn't trust you so much right now." He quickly pulls a few pebbles from his bag, "Because I trust you more than I believe you understand. I knew you'd never allow me to go down there alone, sent off or not. But you should not have to witness what we will be walking into. No one should." He shifts just enough to meet T's shrouded eyes,

"Let me be very clear. This will be one of the most dangerous situations you've ever found yourself in. It will certainly be horrendous. I do not know what plan the witches have for the children, but I know enough to want all of you as far from this as possible. I want to protect you all from the evilness of this act."

He takes a deep breath as he rests a hand on T's shoulder.

"But I am not so stubborn that I will turn away the help I know I will need."

T's silent for a moment, "Our- Frollo used to tell her about what witches were capable of. And-" he lets out a deep sigh, "can't say I'm prepared for it, and I know this might fuck me up. But, this is my choice as much as it is yours. I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't try to stop this. Whatever this is." He pauses, "It means," he frowns, "thank you. For trustin' me."

At least he wasn't pulling T into this blindly.

"You have more than earned it." He nods before he looks back to the hole in the ground, " and know, that whatever happens, I will do everything in my power to protect you, and if we survive, help you overcome whatever this does. Whatever happens, you will not be alone with it."

He nods, "I can live with that."

Hopefully they both could.

His free hand fists around the two pebbles.

Adam.

It did no good to dwell on the past, but it did give him something to look forward to.

Punching an old friend and being completely justified in it.

T cocks his head before he shrugs. "No point in sittin' here then. I can't- Somethin' bad is 'bout to go down-" his nose crinkles. "An' I don't like the smell o' it."

His eyes narrow curiously.

Smell, huh?

He shakes his head.

That was going to be something to look forward to at a much later date.

"The air is nearly shimmering for me, though I can not say it is pleasant either."

More like catching glimpses of black holes, only for them to vanish the moment he tried to focus on them.

"Here," he offers the slightly warm stone to T, "take this and keep it in a pocket as close to your chest as you can."

T shifts, "should I just slide it in the bindings?"

"It needs to be secure, wherever you decide to keep it." T was taking this very seriously if he was willing to ask such a question. "But the closer the better." He slips his own into an inner pocket, "It will help with the dark, and will shield you from most fatal intended attacks, should I not be fast enough to block for you."

T nods as he takes the stone and turns sucking in his breath, he struggles for a moment before he removes his hand from his shirt, "safest it's gonna be." He states firmly as he crosses his arms.

"I am not sure who has made a lair down here, but we are guaranteed a fight. If it comes down to it, I know you'll-"

He squeezes his eyes shut.

Children should never have to take a life.

"-be able to do what needs to be done while I play distraction."

It was the smartest, and safest, strategy.

Play up his hero card.

The big idiot who came to the Isle all alone.

For foolish reasons in the eyes of everyone.

Everyone but himself and a few trusted others.

T studies him for a moment, before he nods. "I-" he frowns as a shiver runs down his spine, "I don't like what I think is on the line. Consider it done."

"I can not prepare you for what we'll find."

T nods, "I can hold my shit together long enough to do what needs to be done."

"I know you can."

And that knowledge hurt like a sword through his stomach.

T turns to look down at the darkness of the sewer, "any wise words?"

"Stay silent and in my shadow until you can gain the advantage," he whispers before he sits on the edge of the hole.

"Heard," He nods. "It's bout ten feet down."

"Thank you for the warning-" He sighs, "Let Uma know we're going to start using her rainbow code."

"Got it." T whips out the notebook and starts writing for a short moment. "Done." He shoves the notebook back into his messenger bag.

He nods, "Once we're in, not a single sound."

T looks him up and down, "I think I can manage."

A small smile tugs at his lips despite himself. He was unable to help his slight amusement at T's incredulous tone before he nods.

Of course T could manage it.

He rolls his lips over his teeth before he lowers himself into the hole until he's hanging from his fingers.

He, however, was not a young man anymore.

He looks up when hands grip around his wrists to find the opening blocked by T's silhouette.

Ah.

He smiles as he finds himself lowered even further.

He nods before he lets go, only to drop maybe a foot or two before he finds the alarmingly squishy floor.

He moves before he can give it much thought, making space for T to follow.

It hadn't taken long to talk above the surface, but it had been a necessary conversation to have before they journeyed down in the twists and turns of the collapsing tunnels that had once been a functioning sewage system.

But now he was feeling the rush.

The urge to move faster.

That dangerous surge of adrenaline that could either make you stronger in any given situation, or get you killed.

"S'up?" Beam eyes her with concern.

She glances up at the clearing orange sky with a frown before her eyes settle back on the Urchin leader, "Bad feelin'."

More like a strange sensation. Like a low pitch humming that just wouldn't go away.

But every time she tried to focus on it, it stopped.

He clicks his tongue, "Was 'fraid ya were gonna say that."

"Wish I didn't have to." She sighs.

"You an' me both." He shakes his head. "Is Psycho alright?"

"As far as I know," She frowns, wishing she had a better answer.

Beam eyes her curiously.

"T put 'im to sleep." She explains with a roll of her eyes.

Not that she disagreed with Harry needing the rest, not after the way the girls saved from Evil Queen described the spell he'd been hit with.

He lifts an eyebrow, "Seriously?" He frowns, "What'd he do?"

"Dart him." She sighs.

Beam's head whips towards her in concern, "Wait, he seriously just shot 'im? Why?"

She scoffs, "he'd like people to think he was annoyed."

Beam stares at her blankly, "Ratshit."

She shrugs, "normally I'd be pissed, but I'm just glad he's sleeping."

Besides, she had plenty of other things to be pissed about.

"Normally?" He groans as he pulls a hand down his face, "Is that, like, common?"

"Not usually," She sighs, "jus' think he was on edge."

He snorts, "Shadow''s always on edge."

She sighs, "well, it was a rough situation."

Beam lets out a low exhale, "how rough?" He looks towards the cabin in concern.

She bites her lip before she looks out across the deck.

"Hook and his sisters ain't really the close type."

"An' one o' them showed up?" Beam lifts his brow.

"One o' them showed up with T's trust." She sighs, still unsure how to deal with it.

Beam grimaces, "yep. That checks." He rolls his eyes. "For a paranoid shit, kid gets 'round."

"Yes he fuckin' does."

At least she wasn't the only one thinking it.

But even as frustrated as the whole situation was, she catches her lips curving into a small smile.

She hadn't expected her conversations with Beam to be so easy.

Talking about the different views that came with leadership was a welcomed change.

She loved her family like nothing else, but Beam-

Beam was a leader.

In many ways far superior to her.

How many were under him?

And even he didn't know how long he'd been at it.

He beams at her, "sure it ain't nothin' the Kraken can't handle."

Handle?

It was a little too late for that.

By the time she'd been filled in on what happened, Harriett was gone.

Slipped away during the retrieval of the rest of the groups on the Isle.

"I should have talked to Harriett, but she's as bad as T when it comes to dodging conversations."

Beam lifts a brow, "You an' Shadow are clearly tight, can't ya get'im to tell ya about it?"

"When he and Yensid make it back."

"Right," Beam sighs as he turns back to the Isle with a serious expression and studies it for a moment before his lip twitches and he turns to her. "We should get Lil' Writer to make us all those damn straws while he's gone."

She snorts before she can cover it, "like that would stop him-" she tilts her head to the side, "though that ain't ah bad idea in the long run."

"Right? Win-win-" He pauses, "win."

"I'll add it to her list of chores."

He pats her back, "Jus' say'in." He shrugs, "we're pickin' up her an' Bruiser next, right?"

"Yep, soon as James and Big Murph get all the new supplies secured in the hold." She drums her thumbs against the rough wood, "I know she's lookin' steady now, but I don't think I'll ever get how fast the last storm came on us out of my head."

"True," he nods as his eyes drift to the sky for a long moment before he turns back to her, "Definitely lookin' forward ta those swimmin' lessons."

She smiles as she pulls out her notebook, "Last I checked, Gil was saying Deez was nearly done. Once this uneasiness is gone we'll start 'em up."

It was seriously getting hard to shake the growing hum.

"Dope," He nods as he taps his thumbs against the rail.

Her smile falters as she catches T's hasty handwriting.

A single word.

Red.

"S'wrong?" Beam asks in concern.

She swallows the heat in her throat she slides the notebook closer to Beam.

He frowns, "In position for what though?"

"I really wish I knew."

He clicks his tongue, before he rests a hand on her shoulder, "Can't be too stupid, not with the ol' wizard."

"He came here, didn't he?"

It was the only thing she could think about.

He was a great guy.

A hero.

A teacher.

An advisor.

But the only reason she knew those things was because he gave up his life in Auradon to come to this sea gods forsaken Isle.

Why do that?

Why give up such wonderful things for a place like this.

It didn't seem smart to her.

She hated that she'd had the thought, but now it was stuck in her head.

Beam's eyes narrow as his frown deepens, "I s'pose that's a good point." He shakes his head. "But he's got magic now, an' Shadow has a horseshoe shoved up 'is ass."

She snorts.

"They'll be fine." He shrugs, "An' if they ain't- we throttle 'em. You get the ol' man though."

"Can I get that in writing?" She snorts again as she turns just enough to hold out her hand, "Cause I'm makin' out in that deal."

He beams again, "got a pen?"

She chuckles as they slap their hands together and then go back to watching the sea.

Despite the growing hum attempting to drive her insane, it was nice to know Beam had her back just as much as she had his.

It was more than she'd hoped for.

And certainly more than she'd expected.

So as much as she hated this.

Hated waiting.

She was glad she wasn't alone.

Heya Bitches!

I know this is nowhere near the time we'll be posting this shit-

I write the questions in advance now- mostly due to my lack of personal responsibility. For any of you kids out there who feel like you don't have your shit together- Remember I'm 31, well, I guess 32 when y'all fucking read this, and my life is a chaotic shit show.

It's fun.

Really.

10/10 Recommend.

-this is getting written 12/30/21 so yeah. It's like that. Merry belated blah blah blahs. Eitherway, let's just say it's been a fucking month since we touched this book and it's gonna take me a hot minute to get back into the swing o' things.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnyways-

*Slaps Face*

Right.

Game time.

Ready?

No.

That's okay, me neither.

The fuck?

Anyone else super fucking paranoid about what T and Yensid are about to get into?

Any thoughts about what shit's about to go down?

Better question, how many of you are going to disembowel us if that pit in the bottom of your stomach is right?

There's definitely a new storm on the horizon and it ain't lookin' too good, is it?

Dead.

Dark just told me I shot my questions load early.

We were supposed to be revising Chapter 29-

Something I totally fucking forgot-

Because we originally- (Ha! The fucking irony. Like this isn't our seventh or whatever draft of this stupid book. Valve can't count to three, and apparently we can't count to six) had T knock out Harriet's ass along with Hook's and had her brought to the ship.

This is, of course, going to fucking snowball into a fuck ton of revisions-

Which yay ← Sarcastic AF

*Blinks*

Wait- where the hell was I?

Oh yeah, breaking up a serious line of questioning with a bunch of unnecessary bullshit-

So, ya know, jus' doin' what I do best.

What did you think about Yensid's thoughts?

Grave enough for you?

Trust me when I say Dark earned her moniker in this book-

Seriously yo, if you thought the last four got grim... They ain't got shit on Burdens and Reps.

(Fuck it feels good being back in this story again)

Annnnnnnnnnnyways

Yeah, so what did you think about Yensid's intro on this one? I mean, besides the seriously (fuck I hope 'seriously') foreboding-ly ominous vibes?

You're welcome by the way for the ADHD fuelled rant-

Gods know some of you probably needed a bit of- I don't know? The opposite of this chapter (Hopefully. Maybe. The dream really...)

But yeah...

What'd you think about T and Yensid's talk?

Anyone surprised by the level of trust Yensid has in T?

*Raises hand*

But then Dark made some really great points that I can't remember and voilà a chapter was born.

So bout Uma and Beam tho-

What do y'all think about their interactions?

I don't really have a feel out for how ya'll are feelin' 'bout Beam yet (only know your opinions up to chapter 5 right now) but are you liking him?

Relieved Uma has someone to share her burdens with?

We know we fucking were.

She's only six-fucking-teen.

My life was a fucking nightmare at sixteen and all I had to take care of was my sister.

Can you imagine being that age and responsible for over fifty other kids' lives?

I want to vomit just thinking about it.

But, seriously yo-

Even on the ship things are starting to get restless.

And just when you thought the storm was over...

Much love and appreciate a n

-Twisted