Mal's Perspective
Mal was suffering through her math homework when Evie'd asked her to do it. And given her thirteen leather jackets to apologize for touching her stuff. What villain could resist a lucky number? So, she sat in the closet, eyes glowing green. There was a knock at the door.
"Come in, Ben," Evie called.
The prince stepped in, grinning from ear to ear, with a teddy bear in his arms. A teddy bear the size of a person. "For you, Evie," Ben said, handing it to her. Mal didn't know why she felt a weird pang of jealousy. She barely even knew Ben and he was so completely and totally...Auradon-y. "I'm so glad you asked me to come see you."
"Yeah..." Evie began, glancing at the closet. Mal remembered why she was here. And it was not feeling jealous over some random prince. No matter how cute his little freck—"I had to..."
Mal checked the spellbook. "Since lying is so uncouth," she read, "this fool's next words shall be the truth." Mal felt the spell jump out of her and she gasped, seeing a weird image in her mind of strawberries and water and...and it was over before she realized what it was.
"Oh, I remember," Evie continued. "How do you and the princes keep not-so-spontaneously 'running into me' all the time?"
"I track you using your phone, even your messages. That's how I knew Mal broke your sewing machine," Ben said flatly. Mal tried to fight the urge to chuckle when Evie gasped. The look on her face was priceless. Ben's eyes focused and he put a hand over his mouth. He uncovered his mouth, trying to regain his calm and composure. "I...I don't know why I said that, Evie, please forgive me."
"No, it's...well it's not fine, you need to stop," Evie said with finality. "But I expected something like that. I'll have to use less swan liver or something and work out the kinks with the next one. Then I can fix you."
"Huh?"
"Nothing." She threw the bear to her bed. "Please leave now, I'll see you at the coronation. Don't try to find me before then."
"Not tonight!?" Ben asked. "Please meet me tonight, at the very most tomorrow morning, we could do anything you want—anything..." He grabbed her arm and Evie looked up at him in panic.
"Let go of me, Ben," Evie commanded.
He did, but he desperately said, "please, Evie, I need to see you before then, we could go shopping, I told you we could take the royal jet anywhere you want, Arendelle has these crystal lightshows—"
"Leave, Ben," Evie commanded.
But he stayed put. "You said you want a castle, we could go shopping for castles, as many as you want—" He was even starting to creep Mal out now. Something didn't seem right about him. Mal flipped for another spell.
"Foolish prince caught in her loom, time for you to leave this room," Mal chanted. Her eyes shut and she got another flash of a feast turning into a sandwich. Ben's face gave her a disappointed look and she felt...ashamed? Weird. Then she opened her eyes to see what was going on now. Ben's eyes glowed green and he turned to leave. But there was one more thing to do. "Since lying is so uncouth, this fool's next words shall be the truth." She left the closet at the same moment Ben closed the door to their dorm. "What's wrong with him, what are you fixing?"
"The love curse I cast on him," Evie said blankly, staring in Mal's general direction but not seeming to really perceive her. "I cursed most of the royal guys and I have to work out the dosage before they get dangerously obsessive." Her eyes focused and she gasped, glaring at Mal. "How dare you use a spell on me."
"All's fair in love curses and war, I guess." Mal realized something then, a surge of possessiveness rising up in her mind. "Wait, how did you even know how to use a love curse? Were you reading my spellbook?"
"No, we saw what happened over an ugly jacket. I know how selfish you are," Evie said. She sat on her bed and crossed her legs, but Mal still stood over her. "Fine, it was a note in the library. Told me everything I needed and where to get it. I'm so not making you one, though."
"You don't think that's a little suspicious?" Mal asked.
"No," she shrugged, reaching for her brush and mirror, "should I?"
"I guess we'll see." She closed her spellbook and made to leave the room.
"See what?" Evie called, fixing her two braids before brushing the rest of her hair.
"The library," Mal said, leaving the room to investigate whatever this was. She had this strange feeling in her gut that something was wrong.
Wes's Perspective
Wes and Vivianne watched Mal through an enchanted mirror while Reggie sulked on the altar.
"Is there anything for her to find in the library?" Vivianne asked.
"No," Wes said. "I didn't even step foot there when I left the note, they really haven't needed many nudges so far."
"It's probably best I push her off the roof just in case," Vivianne joked.
"That may draw more suspicion than her little investigation," Wes laughed. "'Splattered fairy-dragon pushed by...let's investigate what it was.'"
"It's not like she's an AK, they'll probably be happy she's gone," Viv said. "Come on, I'm bored."
"If you wanna do something fun, fine," Wes considered it. "You can push her down a flight of stairs maybe..."
"Boring," Vivianne complained, shifting on her shelf. "We've done that before, remember?"
"He was right about you," Reggie said.
"Mopey finally speaks," Wes turned to the other witch. "A lot of people have a lot of negative things to say about me, that's not specific."
"Evan East," Reggie clarified. He always looked so sad nowadays. Good. He deserved to be miserable. "Your cousin...from the Cursed Academy."
"Yes, I'm aware of who my cousin is." Wes laughed. "Did you also know his mom and my mom are sisters and that makes her my aunt? Shocking. And I'm not talking about the lightning hands."
Reggie didn't acknowledge that. "He used to say you and your mom were too impulsive and violent. That he and his mom were the real schemers in the family. I admired his intelligence."
"Sounds like him." Wes shrugged. "Shame you don't have schemers in your family, but at least you had Gio to pull your strings. You were a much better manipulator back when she could do something other than scream incoherently about..." He waved his hand around and green fire flared in the room's candles. "Hallucinations. Should I cast that curse on you, too?"
"Don't get my hopes up, Wes," Vivianne said amusedly. "I'd love to torment him."
"We have time for that later," Wes said. "He just gave me an idea. Remember when we set up that little surprise?" Vivianne grinned wickedly and she nodded. "Illudio," Wes chanted the spell and smoke rippled around him. When it cleared, he was taller and more handsome. He still had the green eyes and black hair, but it was less wild and elegantly styled. Even his skin warmed a bit more than his usual ghostly pallor. The black leather he usually wore from head to toe also morphed into a deep green, velvet suit. "Is this how Evan looked?" He turned to Reggie, taking the other boy's surprise as confirmation. Even his voice was perfect with the illusion. "I haven't seen him recently because his scheming hasn't gotten him off the Isle. Do you need me to look at you like I'm judging you to sell it?" He set his face in an imperious scowl. "Close? Should I make the nose a little more crooked?"
Reggie went back to ignoring him and Wes shrugged.
"You look weird," Vivianne grimaced.
"I look like I didn't live in a dungeon half my life and go weeks without food," He waved a hand and his ring morphed into a more subtle shape with a smaller gem. "Please excuse me while I divert our dear dragon friend," Wes announced, speaking with more formality. "I shall not tarry, my companions. Apporime."
When the smoke faded, he was in Auradon Prep's library. And, just in time, Mal arrived. He let her search around for a while, examining a history book until she circled back near him. He dropped the book as she passed and she stumbled, righting herself. He knelt down to pick it up, smiling up at her before he stood again. "I apologize, my purple-haired friend," he said kindly. "I did not mean to risk harming you."
"You'd need more than a book to do that," she said. She began to walk away, then she turned back around. "But can you tell me something?"
"It depends on what that something is," Wes said, feigning ignorance.
"I had a friend who got their hands on something magic," Mal whispered. "Do you know who might've given it to her? I'm worried about her."
Wes looked around nervously. He took a moment to pretend to hesitate. "It sounds as if she's found the Spells for Cash guy. He's a shady character that does magic out of the library in a secret room. But it might be dangerous for a young lady out on her lonesome to seek him."
"Yeah, I can handle myself," Mal said. "Where should I...seek him or whatever?"
"I really shouldn't—" he began, but Mal cut him off.
"Last time I'll ask nicely. Where?" Mal demanded. She most definitely had Wes's glare game beat, the glowing eyes and the way she held her jaw really sold it.
"Okay," Wes said, pretending to be intimidated. "Rose tapestry. Pull it aside and there's a faint chalk outline around a few bricks behind it. You'll want to write down how you're supposed to knock."
Reggie's Perspective
Wes was gone. The past few weeks had been awful with Vivianne and Wes's torment and constant malicious attitude. But, with him gone...Reginald had moved from the altar and was seated underneath a few shelves and jars full of spell ingredients. With a glance, he saw Vivianne lounging at the top of the shelf with her eyes closed. Reggie looked behind himself at the jars and saw the one he needed. It had dozens of brown things that looked like very large cherry pits. Giant Ozian Poppy Seeds.
He had to try and he couldn't let himself lose his nerve. Reggie reached up, knocking the jar off the shelf so it shattered and sent the seeds rolling across the ground. "Oops," he said. He dropped to the ground, reaching for them.
"What are you doing?" Vivianne asked. In an instant, she was on the floor glaring at him.
Reggie looked up with an innocent expression, reaching for the seeds. The lessons with Wes came back to the front of his mind. He felt the energy inside the seeds when he touched them, a drowsy feeling coming over him. "Grow and trap her," he said, hurriedly pulling on the seeds' energy and pushing it back into them in a spell. Vivianne seized him by the throat, lifting him up in the air. Her claws even cut his skin, but clay dripped from the slashes instead of blood. It was then that he remembered he wasn't in a real body. A "golem" Wes had called it.
"What did you..." Vivianne began. The seeds expanded impossibly fast, roots growing and wrapping around both of her legs. "You idiot!" She let go of him, slashing at the roots with her claws as she was wrapped up all the way to her ankles. It didn't seem like her magically-enhanced speed was faster than the magically-enhanced growth of the poppies. Reggie pulled against the vines, escaping their reach.
"Wes has to be stopped," Reggie said. "If these put him to slee—"
Vivianne reached to slash at him, but the roots had bound her limbs and restricted her movement. "You really think this is gonna stop him?" She hissed when the roots got tighter, green bulbs expanding above the two of them. "Not happening." She threw a crystal at him with her enhanced strength and it smashed a hole through Reggie's throat that revealed the clay he was composed of. He barely even felt it.
The bulbs finally opened, revealing scarlet petals outlined by orange. The black anthers grew, red pollen forming around them. "I suppose we'll see then, won't we?" Reggie asked. The pollen rained down on them, sending a spicy scent through the air. Vivianne sneezed, covering her own nose. But, eventually, of course, she fell asleep. The roots tightened around her, ready to feast on her while she slept. But it didn't seem to affect Reggie. He realized he couldn't even remember the last time he inhaled a breath. So he ran. Straight out of the cave and into the woods to find someone who'd help him.
Mal's Perspective
Mal pulled back the tapestry. There was faded orange chalk around three bricks behind it. She knocked twice on the middle brick, once on the right, three times on the left, then knocked with both hands on the middle brick. She felt a rumbling sensation through her hands and an orange flash of light appeared. When it faded, there was a doorway.
Looking furtively around, she opened the door. She smelled something spicy. It was dark. Very dark. And she felt something something weird fall on her cheeks. Assuming it was dust, she decided to use a spell.
"The dark is no need to feel fright, in my hand appears a light," Green light began to shine from her palm, revealing...giant flowers with red and orange petals growing from the walls. They had black pollen all over their anthers. Mal wiped her face and gasped when she saw that it was black pollen that'd fallen onto her face. She began to feel drowsy. "Soooo...not gonna stick around for whatever comes next."
She turned around, reaching for the door. "No leaving, Mal, nyxherre," she heard from the other side and the door disappeared into bricks. That voice. The guy from the library.
"What is this?" Mal tried to yell, but she stumbled. "Some kind of trap?"
"Clever. Too clever for me to let you poke around, I'm trying to have fun."
Mal meant to ask him who he was. But it was harder and harder to keep her eyes open, much less speak. She fell into a deep, dark sleep as the pollen rained down on her.
Wes's Perspective
When Wes arrived back at the cave, grinning and prepared to reveal Mal was taken care of, he saw the poppies overtaking the cave and knocking down jars of his precious ingredients. Vivianne was asleep on the ground, tangled up in the roots. And Reginald's awful, traitorous face was nowhere to be seen. Wes stopped inhaling, considering how to fix this. His ring began to glow.
"Ignacia," he held out a hand and a ball of fire appeared in his hand. "Flammas destro florial zik benin." A wave of fire spread through the cave, climbing from the floor to the ceiling. It didn't harm Vivianne, the ingredients, the potions, or the scrolls of spells on the shelves. Only every bit of plant-life from the poppies. The flowers themselves, the roots, the pollen in the air, the seeds, everything.
No poppy seeds meant no way to make a powder to hasten when she'd awaken. And if he tried to collect more this time of year, he'd fall asleep himself. But no seeds also meant no protection potion during the process of getting the darned seeds. If she was only exposed to the pollen for ten minutes at most, Vivianne would be asleep for days, possibly weeks. Maybe he could do some magic with time to make that pass in hours. But that was far less important than the unkillable VK golem running through the woods to tattle on him. He grabbed a compass from one of his shelves. He took a garnet from another shelf.
"Gemtrass manís manìs," Wes chanted, throwing it up. The crystal sharpened to a thin point in the air, allowing him to catch it and replace the needle of the compass with it. "Adino te recuvro Reginald Hart." The needle glowed red, pointing in a new direction. Wes followed it, striding through the woods to locate his lost creation.