Evie's Perspective
When Evie woke up, she felt an overwhelming rush of citrus hitting her nose. Her eyes opened and she found herself in the library of Auradon Prep. Except...it was greener. The lights were out and candles lit with green flames illuminated the room. In the usual study area, all of the computers had been removed. In their places were cauldrons and books and jars.
"It woke her up," Vivianne announced somewhere behind Evie. Evie finally noticed the chair she was sitting in...and the fact that her skin had fused to the wood. She tried to pull away from the chair only to find that she was stuck, as if she'd been glued in place.
"Minor binding spell," Wes said, walking from behind Evie into her field of vision. He sat on a table in front of her. Vivianne followed him, sitting next to the witch with a green cloth in her hand. Wes turned to the familiar, "you know that cloth is coated in a potion of invigoration. I can take it back now."
"Nope." Vivianne held the cloth to her nose. "It's the only thing that masks all that valerian root. It smells awful."
"I'm sorry, but do you want our lives to be safe or our noses?" Wes asked. When Vivianne shrugged, he turned to Evie. "Sorry about the whole kidnapping thing."
Evie glared at him. "Apology not accepted."
"Cool. So, I need your help with something-"
"No way." Evie said definitively.
Vivianne sighed. "Might wanna wait to see what he has to say first." She paused, her head tilting. "Hmm, actually, don't. I wanna see what happens if you refuse."
Wes chuckled, "let's give her a chance to say yes," he said to the familiar. He turned back to Evie. "I wanna break my curse. You know, make Auradon safe for everyone again. I thought you'd be interested since I'm the only person that can do it."
None of this made sense. Evie could tell something was off. Especially when she looked at the way the cat familiar was staring at her. She remembered Carlos mentioning how she could hear and smell so much about a person that she was like a living lie detector. She tried to keep herself calm, breathing as evenly as possible. "What do you mean? Why?"
"Well, let's be honest. Not all decisions made in anger are for the best," Wes said casually. "Maybe using a curse to bring about the destruction of everyone was a bit excessive. And maybe the villains aren't entirely in control. They need to go back."
"What do you mean, 'aren't entirely in control?'" Evie asked, glancing at the door to the library. Vivianne wasn't wrong about the smell of valerian root. It was a disgusting odor, but Evie recognized it from the spell ingredients her mom kept back on the Isle. One of its most important uses was in protection spells.
"Not important." Wes stood from the table. "Do you want the curse broken or not?"
"Obviously," Evie said. "I just don't trust that you do. And I don't know why I'm even here. And how were you outside of the barrier? How did you get all the way to Charmington?"
"She seems hesitant, just do it," Vivianne said, still covering her nose with the potion-soaked cloth.
"Now, now, Viv, be patient." Wes reached for the jars on the bookshelves, pulling a few down. He set them on a table before turning to Evie. "You're here because I need one of the Evil Queen's spells in order to break the curse. She put a blood lock on the ink."
Evie heard the edge in his voice when he mentioned that. The way he seemed to be testing whether she knew what that was. She schooled a blank look over her face and continued to focus on keeping her breathing calm. "What's that?" She asked, feigning ignorance.
Wes tilted his head. "A powerful spell that hides what's written in the spellbook from outsiders. Only her or her relatives can read what's inside. I'd think you would've learned this from her since you're both witches."
"Nope," Evie lied. "My mom thought I could get farther in life with my beauty than with magic. And I think the kind of magic she uses is gross."
Vivianne chuckled. "That's a good way to describe it, right, Wes?"
The witch rolled his eyes. "It's an ancient art that's an honor to learn. But I should've guessed you wouldn't care, princess. Good thing you only need to be able to read. You know how to do that, right?"
"Yes," Evie said with a glare. "But I'm not helping you do anything. You're probably trying to make the curse even-"
"Can you please do it now?" Vivianne asked Wes, throwing her hands up. "Before I do something."
"Fine," Wes said. The familiar stood happily, grabbing a silver basin from another table and setting it in front of Evie. Wes retrieved some ingredients from the jars he'd pulled down. Throwing assorted powders and herbs into the water, he said, "aquim insighthio," causing the water to take on an inky blue color as it revealed a few of the dwarves in their cottage in Charmington. "Doug is Dopey or Doc's son? I wanna make sure I'm sending the right person into a volcano."
"WHAT?" Evie exclaimed, looking up at him. "You can't!"
"Of course I can," Wes said plainly. "I summoned you here without even leaving this room. I can send him to a volcano. Maybe the ones near Motunui?"
"Fine!" Evie said. "I'll copy whatever you want out of the book, just don't hurt anyone."
The image in the water disappeared and Vivianne sighed, taking the basin away. Wes placed the spellbook in front of Evie, waving a hand and sending it to the correct page. "Conjuro," A piece of paper and a pen appeared beside the book. "Do you write with your left or right hand?" Wes asked Evie. Evie nodded to her left and Wes used a spell to free it from the chair.
Looking at the page, Evie found a neatly-arranged spell. Easy enough to understand based on what her mother had taught her. The first page listed magical ingredients required for the ink. The second listed a complex arrangement of runes to be drawn with the ink. Flipping to the next page, she found an incantation on the left page and a description of the spell (along with warnings) on the right. It was a spell that could turn sources of positive magic for wielders of negative magic. But why?
"There are four pages," Evie said, trying to buy some time while she considered how to alter the spell so that it would still work...just not in a way Wes would like. "Why do you want to use good magic?"
"None of your business," Vivianne said.
"Don't worry, Viv," Wes said. "I'm using the Enchanted Lake to break the curse. Start writing."
Evie started with the list of ingredients, altering a few that were a little more...unsavory. Glimmerjay feathers instead of unicorn blood. Tanglyvine stems instead of a crushed Kappa shell. The mental math to get the ratios right with new ingredients was relatively easy after years of practice with her mother. When she passed the completed page to Wes, he scowled at it.
"Glimmerjays," he sighed.
"What?" Vivianne and Evie asked in unison, the familiar glaring when she noticed.
"They're migrating birds," Wes said. "Very fast and very hard to catch."
"Good thing I'm very fast and very good at catching things that fly," Vivianne said.
"Next page," Wes said.
"Wait," Evie said, putting down the pen. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. "I want to ask a question first before I copy the page. And I want a true answer."
Wes chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "Didn't take you for a detective. Fine," he smirked. "What would you like to know?"
Evie considered what to ask for a moment. Finally, she decided on the most pertinent question. "What happens after I finish these pages? Are you going to let me go?"
"No," Wes said plainly. "Until the spell is complete, you have to stay here in case you're copying things down wrong and we have to start over." When he saw Evie's face, he rolled his eyes. With a flick of a finger, the pen flew back into Evie's hand. "Boohoo. This is actually great for you, considering it's not particularly safe outside of the library. Next page."
Evie copied down the second page, altering a few sigils and switching the placement of others to create a second spell that could work in tandem with the first one. It was painstakingly slow since the runes were difficult to capture precisely and she had to find a way to arrange them so that they wouldn't look suspicious. It didn't seem to matter much when she handed the page to Wes, though.
Wes's face was impassive as he read it, but Evie could tell he was mildly confused. "Your mother uses ancient runes," he remarked. "Who even does that? They're so open-ended, you could probably blow yourself up trying to heat up a cup." He turned to Vivianne. "Can you find my textbook on them? I need to work on some interpretations."
"I'm sorry her runes aren't up to your standards," Evie said as the familiar left, "but I have another question. What are you planning to do after you break the curse and send the villains back? I have a sneaking suspicion it doesn't involve turning yourself in and getting back to your trial."
Wes tilted his head a bit. "I don't even think I know the answer to that question," he said. He leveled Evie with a gaze. "But our parents are a much bigger problem than I am, right?"
Evie turned back to her paper, copying down the next page as she continued to work on her plan. The incantation wasn't in the typical language she heard Wes use. Even when he summoned the paper and pencil, the dialect of his spells was different from the Evil Queen's. As he stared over her shoulder at what she was writing, Evie heard him call out to Vivianne.
"My book on Old Northuldran, too," the witch called to the familiar.
Evie turned in the page and Wes scrutinized it as she asked her final question. "What's that weird smell? It's like dirty gym socks, what is it?"
"Valerian root is in the ink on the doors and windows," Wes said, still focused on the paper in front of him.
Evie started copying the final page, detailing the instructions for the spell and its warnings. Adding in a warning of her own invention, she began, "I'm pretty good at making potpourri, I can make some little bags that'll mask it if you have any fragrant flowers."
"As if I'd let you anywhere near my ingredients," Wes said disinterestedly.
Evie tried a softer approach. "I was only trying to help. It smells horrible in here. I wish I had that cloth Vivianne has, it's messing with my nose."
"That's the one thing I will agree with the princess on," Vivianne called from somewhere behind Evie. It was impossible to see where exactly since most of her body was still bound to the chair.
"Fine," Wes said impatiently. "You two are such babies. Finish the page and you can do whatever that is." He finally looked up from the page. "Vivianne, since it's so important to you, bring her some of the fresh and dried flowers. Maybe some peppermint or sweetdew bark, too."
Evie couldn't believe her luck. She turned in the last page. "I'll start now if you let me out of this chair."
"Not happening-" Wes started.
"Let her outta the chair or I break it into splinters." Vivianne said, finally returning to Evie's field of vision with a set of books in hand. "I can't take it anymore, it's awful. And it's not like she'd go anywhere, it's not safe outside."
"She couldn't even get outside," Wes said. "The doors only let us in or out unless I tell them otherwise."
"Then let her go," Vivianne said.
"Fine," Wes said, reading the final page. "Nyxherre." Instantly, Evie was able to pull her limbs away. Finally free, she stood and approached the table where Vivianne had set aside a few jars full of fresh and dried flowers, dried petals, bits of bark, fragrant herbs, and leaves. "It requires a waning moonset," Wes said. "Quarter isn't specified, but we only have a couple days left. We've gotta get started with the ingredients."
"Sounds better than being cooped up in here," the familiar said.
"WHAT?" Wes exclaimed. Evie and Vivianne turned to him, the former hiding a bit of a smile. "Are you positive you know how to read correctly," he asked Evie.
"I'm not even gonna respond to that," Evie said, grabbing a pestle and mortar. She grabbed a handful of sweetdew bark and rose petals.
"What is going on? What's the problem?" Vivianne asked.
Wes's eyes were still glued to the page as he said, "It says we need the nautilus shell necklace."
"What's that?" Evie asked, hiding a smile as she bent her head and began crushing the ingredients she'd collected.
"Crazy Calamari's necklace." Wes said.
"Crazy Cal-do you mean Uma?" Evie wondered. When Wes nodded, she said, "how are you going to get it from her? Doesn't water beat fire?"
Vivianne rolled her eyes. "This isn't a video game. Wes always finds a way to come out on top."
"That's correct, Viv," Wes said. "And I think I know just how to get that necklace from her."
"How?" Evie asked innocently.
Wes cackled a bit before he said, "by asking nicely."