Chap 4

"So you really want to stop your mom?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, I do." Red said seriously.

"Why?" Chloe continued, "If she takes over you'll be the next Princess of Auradon."

"And if I'm the next Princess of Auradon, it's only a matter of time before she tries to turn me into her mini-me. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Been there." Drac said sliding his hands into his pockets.

"Done that." Camilla finished, picking at her nails.

"Okay, I accept your mission." Chloe said holding her chin up high and taking the lead as they left the courtyard.

"Mission?" Red asked, questioning the knight in shining armor talk.

Camilla followed after the redhead while Drac hung back. He took one more look at the banners and a knot formed in his gut. The MA emblazoned on everything didn't take a genius to figure out. Merlin Academy. The place where his mother said she studied magic. And he wasn't sure if in this realm she was a student here, but he wasn't risking it. He looked down at himself, he was still wearing the plum purple and lime green Isle clothing he'd been in when he visited his mom, his usual stuff. With a snap of his fingers green magic coated him. Like when you lit a paper on fire and the edge burned. Only it was green, it started where he snapped then went up his hand, his arm then over the rest of him. His purple outfit burned away and a darker grey jacket took its place. It zipped diagonally and the smaller side had studs over it, in fact, it looked a lot like Mal's jacket from when they saved Ben from the pirates. Right down to the tattered black material over his shoulders except it continued across the upper portion of his back and down to his elbows. Below that the gray sleeves had lime and indigo splatters partially matching the lime shirt he wore underneath. His purple pants turned black with tears where more indigo shone through. This was more like what he wore in his spare time, a combination of his dad's colors and his mom's. He wiggled his fingers seeing his purple fingerless gloves had changed to indigo too, the only thing still the same were his favorite black boots. But at least this way if he ran into a younger version of his mom, he wouldn't look so much like her - and he wouldn't be covered in dragon emblems.

He brought up the back of their group getting a once over from Camilla, and a small hum which he took to be her approval. He wondered if in her realm she got along with Evie, they both seemed to have an eye for fashion.

Chloe lead them to the main entrance where they spotted other students for the first time. Chloe was way too friendly and Red and Camilla had to reign her in a few times as she waved and almost introduced herself to others.

"Oh of course!" she said skipping over to the sign once she noticed it. "Merlin Academy. That's what Auradon Prep used to be called. Before Beast united all the kingdoms to create Auradon."

"How do you know all this?" Red asked suspicious.

"I love history, don't you?" Chloe asked with a shrug and a smile.

"Nuh-uh." Red shook her head.

"History in Wonderland, under a tyrant queen is probably just all about. . . the tyrant queen." Camilla pointed out and Red gave her a finger gun and clicked her tongue like she hit the nail on the head.

They continued into the school, both Drac and Camilla were familiar with Auradon Prep but Merlin Academy was. . . golder, in a way. Not that the stone walls and pillars were painted gold, but where Auradon Prep had dark wood paneling and gold and blue banners everywhere, Merlin Academy had sconces with glowing fires, candles in the chandeliers, fireplaces lit and braziers in the corners. Instead of using electricity, they used magic, and the candlelight and fire cast a warm golden glow over the ivory marble walls. All around them students were doing magic, having their school books carry themselves. Quills writing essays as the students spoke them aloud. For Camilla it was a culture shock, for Drac it was a dream. Back in Auradon he'd been the only one to study magic, both light and dark, so he could take Fairy Godmother's place in the royal court. While Uma became principal Drac was going to advise the king and queen like Fairy Godmother had. Him being the only one to learn magic was a unique, one of a kind role, something he had always seen as special about himself. But something about being around others studying magic, about a community, made Drac crave it. Unique was nice, but it was lonely. Maybe when he returned home and Mal returned from her voyage they could talk to Uma about making Auradon Prep a more magical academy again.

Red found what must have been the student center and Drac saw a poster that moved with magic.

"No way." Chloe said as she noticed it too. "Castlecoming. That's where my parents fell in love. It's like the biggest event of the year."

"Sorry, I'm busy changing history."

Camilla drifted out of their conversation as she noticed a newspaper sitting on a small table where no one was sitting. She picked it up and glanced at the headline 'Cruella Outdoes Baroness Yet Again.' 'The Future of Fashion?' the photo had a picture of Cruella standing on top of a car with her arms wide while the photo of the Baroness was much less lavish as she stood stiffly on the steps outside the venue with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Remember what your mom said about being humiliated at her first dance? This must be what she meant."

"And if someone did some horrible prank to her. . . " Red put the pieces together.

"Maybe that's what turned her into such a terrible dictator." Chloe shrugged.

"Evil isn't born." Drac spoke up catching their attention, "It's made."

Camilla kept looking at the picture of young Cruella. She and her mother had been reconciling, getting better, until. . . life gave her a reason to turn back to bad. Camilla had too, in a way, needing to go back to the Isle instead of staying in Auradon.

"That must be why the watch sent us back to this moment in time." Red said, "It's before my mom turns into. . . my mom."

"Great. Now how do we stop that?" Chloe questioned.

"By figuring out who's going to do the prank that ruins her life."

"But doesn't that risk changing too much?" Drac asked as they kept walking through the school. "If your mom never turns evil, you might never be born, someone who is good might turn evil, and when you go back to your time things are worse."

"Well why else would we be here?" Red asked scoffing.

"To learn maybe." Drac said catching up to her as her pace increased, renewed with a sense of determination. "Maybe there's something going on here that you're meant to learn and bring back to the future with you. Something that will stop your mom without changing the past."

"Well then keep your eyes peeled. But until then, I'm going to do what I can to stop that prank."

"Late for class?" a voice called from above and they all looked up and saw a man with a brown beard wearing dark blue robes. "Stay right there."

"Oh my gosh it's Merlin." Chloe fangirled bouncing on her feet.

Drac grinned still looking up at his idol, "He looks so much younger then the last time I saw him." He marveled as Chloe turned to him curiously, Drac shrugged, "I helped him fight off Madam Mim. It was no big deal."

But Chloe looked impressed as Merlin reached the main floor and joined them.

"Actually, we're not students. I mean, well we are, but we think that we've been sent -"

"Sent from another place." Red took over cutting off Chloe's babbling as Camilla pulled her back. It was clear the princess wasn't comfortable with lying as Chloe began to play with the ends of her curly brown hair.

Meanwhile, Red smiled over exaggeratedly, "We're transfer students."

"Well, I'm Principal Merlin, so I should have received papers." he began patting his pockets until he pulled out a scroll, "Dear mum - no, that's not it. Ah!" he pulled out a lit candle, "That's. . . not safe, not safe at all."

Drac chuckled, the Merlin he knew was more put together then this, but young Merlin had a sort of clumsy charm that even got to Camilla, as she held a hand over her mouth to hide her small grin.

"Well, I'm sure it'll turn up eventually. I founded this academy to be an educational institution -for all. But um." he noticed Chloe's sword at her side and pulled out his wand, "You must know that we have a 'no swords' policy in the classroom." with a flick the sword dissolved from her side. "I've transported it to the Stardust room which will be your dormitory, and for the lad, we have an opening in the Nova room across the hall. We'll settle you in after school, but first let's get you to class. I teach honors alchemy in the room next to my office. Right this way!"

He turned and led them through the corridor before pivoting on his foot, "So sorry, it's this way, this way. Follow me! The marble in these archways –" Merlin explained in a tour-like fashion and Drac stuck close to his side hanging on every word. Camilla was behind him and ahead of Chloe and Red.
"What was that?" she heard the brunette whisper, "The Auradon code of conduct forbids lying, especially to teachers."

Red smirked. "Good thing this isn't Auradon yet."

"We have no swords in these stones." Merlin joked as Drac laughed and the principal led them to the classroom. "Welcome to Alchemy!"

Behind them other students filed through the door and made their way to desks that already had bubbling cauldrons on them surrounded by the ingredients the students would need for that day's lesson. Drac had never studied alchemy before, only his own magic abilities and how to advance them. Now he got to sit in on an alchemy class taught by Merlin! His eyes were wide with awe and his face hurt from grinning.

"All right class let's get started!" Merlin called attention, "We have two new transfers here today, so let's at least pretend this is an honors class. Um, Bridget and Ella, split up and help these two get sorted won't you?" he said turning to a girl with pink hair and another who's tattered clothes immediately told Camilla she must be Cinderella. Her brown hair matched Chloe's but it was cut shorter and she wore a triangle bandana to keep it out of her face – or to keep the dust off her hair when she did her chores.

Merlin then turned to her and Drac, "Will the two of you be alright on your own?"

Drac nodded like his head was about to fall off, "Yes sir." he replied and rushed to grab a seat at the last empty table left.

"Teacher's pet much?" Camilla asked in a whisper sitting next to him. Drac was already looking at the open book on the desk and sprinkling things into the cauldron.

"I'm just used to it. Merlin helped Fairy Godmother teach me magic back at Auradon Prep."

Her brows lifted as she looked over the strange plants and vials, "In my Auradon magic is retired."

"It is in mine too, but they made an exception for me."

"With your lineage I wonder why." she said glancing around being sure not to mention names that might make them suspicious to the people around them.

He tensed up a bit but tried to hide it, "I just proved myself I guess."

She wondered what he meant but let it go. Then he changed the subject. "So did you run with your brother's crew? Or does Carlos have different friends where you're from?"

Camilla felt a pain in her chest hearing his name but took a deep breath, "He hung out with Mal, Jay and Evie if that's the question." she said as Drac reached in front of her to grab a pod that looked like an oddly shaped watermelon and began to squeeze it into the concoction. Camilla slapped a hand over her nose and mouth at the first whiff she got and looked away as it made some disgusting noises. "What about you?"

"Same." Drac said focusing on squeezing, "Mal's shadow is a hard one to crawl out of. But, in time, I made my own name for myself on the Isle."

"And. . . Carlos?" she asked hesitantly.

"What about him?" Drac asked eyes still on their work.

"He's still. . . with you guys?"

Drac chuckled, "Betrayal isn't Carlos' style. He's too loyal of a friend. We know we can count on him. Why? Is he not in your realm-" Drac cut himself off as he turned to Camilla for the first time seeing the deep sadness in her eyes as she played with a leaf that had fallen off the pods. He slowly put down the one in his hands, he reached out to touch her shoulder, but pulled his hand back, "You don't mean. . . I mean. . . nothing happened to him in your realm did it?"

She turned to him and the shimmering tears in her eyes told him all he needed to know. Her realm had lost Carlos. He felt his heart drop. He couldn't fathom what life would be like without him, Carlos was the one closest to his age in their crew, one of his best friends, aside from CJ. They'd been through so much together, laughed together while causing mischief on the Isle, then everything that they'd been through since Ben allowed them to go to Auradon.

"I'm so sorry." he barely got out in a whisper.

She inhaled a shaky breath, "It's fine." she said, but it wasn't. "It's fine." she repeated in a smaller voice this time then cleared her throat, "What the heck are we even making anyway?"

Drac looked at the heading of the recipe in the text book, "It looks like a memory potion. Once it's brewed you add a person's hair to it, then a person drinks it and they see the recent memories of the other."

"Hmm." Camilla hummed and started passing Drac ingredients in the order he needed them. She glanced over her shoulder at Bridget and Red and looked over the girl head to toe in pink. Her dress was covered in hearts and instantly she elbowed Drac. He turned around and saw the shock on Red's face and looked back at Camilla. Words didn't need to be exchanged for them to know they were thinking the same thing. That had to be the Queen of Hearts before she turned bad.

For the rest of class they kept glancing back as the girl offered Red cupcakes and the redhead kept looking stunned as she spoke to her young mom.

Merlin walked about the class checking on the brews. He was exceptionally impressed by Drac and Camilla's - well Drac's really, Camilla hadn't been doing much. He announced to the class that they could bottle and keep one vial of the potion while another vial had to remain for him to grade. Drac corked theirs and slipped it inside his jacket just as Bridget wrapped her arm over Red's shoulders and with her free hand grabbed her tray of cupcakes. They followed them out of the classroom, Chloe and that Ella girl following them.

"It's really not a secret recipe. A little butter, flour, sugar, and a lot of positivity." Bridget sang as they made their way outside and back to the courtyard, which was now full of students. "Honestly, it always works for me. That's why I got enough to go around, for everyone I see." Bridget offered the tray to anyone who walked by with a big smile on her face.

"Sometimes I make mistakes. And sometimes, I burn the cake. But I still believe that all will be okay."

"'Cause the sun shines a little more brightly. When you take things a little more lightly. It's all gonna turn out nicely. With just a taste of your heart." The people who ate the cupcakes started turning pink, either their clothes or their jewelry or their hair would change as Bridget passed out more sweets. "It's likely, you'll fall into something spicy. Just mix it up, you'll keep finding, that life is sweeter when you are."

"Hey Fae." Bridget said walking up to Fairy Godmother.

"Yes, I'm here for a spell. Even though it never really works out well for me. And a wave of my wand and it's, "Whoopsie!"" she bit the cupcake and her magic wand turned pink.

"It's Tiana and Naveen!" Bridget pointed out as the couple walked over to them hand in hand.

"Call us Navana." they smiled.

"She's like a magnet."

"He's so attractive, it's all fantastic."

"'Cause we're flying high together now that we are side by side." Naveen spun her as they held hands, twirling Tiana against his back and his arms wrapped around her as she looked up over her shoulder and smiled at him.

"Charming." Bridget smiled as he skated by and took a cupcake she offered.

"That's just a name people know me by. Crowned Prince isn't the way I ride. If you wanna roll together, it could be a vibe."

He jumped and as his board spun it turned pink before he landed perfectly.

"Okay." Red grinned with a nod.

"That's my dad." Chloe reminded her.

She cringed, "Oh."

"The sun shines a little more brightly! When you take things a little more lightly! It's all gonna turn out nicely. With just a taste of your heart. It's likely you'll fall into something spicy. Just mix it up, you'll keep finding. That life is sweeter when you are."

"So you're friends with everyone?" Red asked surprised.

"Oh, gosh no. My only friend is Ella. But, with time, and a few more treats. . . they will be."

Drac smiled at her positivity. Then his eyes flashed green and he felt a chill ripple through him. Looking over his shoulder he saw a bunch of students wearing darker colors entering the courtyard, from the way the other students fled and moved out of their way he knew someone evil was coming.

The others noticed too and turned. Camilla straightened her posture and crossed her arms looking ready for a fight. Thankfully the kids looked more like bullies trying to intimidate them rather then curse them or kill them so Drac felt pretty confident that they weren't going to find any trouble he couldn't handle.

He was surprised though when the villains parted for more then one leader.

"Look for a hand, find a golden hook. Captain of the seas, I got 'em all shook." a young James sang as he announced himself.

"Son of Morgana, serpentine. Mordred's the name, better run and hide." a boy with snake eyes followed.

Drac's stomach dropped when he caught a hint of a blue flame. "Hades here from the fiery depths."

"Sharp as a thorn, I'm Maleficent." he swallowed nervously as his mother appeared and from her sharp nails bolts of green magic shot from her tips.

"Now for the hottest, the goddess of darkness. Here she comes, Uliana!" Mordred sang just as he and Hook were parted by a pair of tentacles.

"I'm not your everyday villain." she strutted through tossing her green and blue dreadlocks behind her shoulders, "I'm taking souls for a living." she pinched her necklace and the shell there glowed menacingly. "Got a torturous mind, full of evil designs." She ran a hand through Mordred's hair and he looked ready to swoon. "I could grind up your bones in a minute."

Uliana parted from her crew and walked right up to where Bridget and Ella were. Red, Chloe, Camilla and Drac stood behind the pair ready to back them up. Bridget was the one they were here to protect after all. But Maleficent, Hades, Mordred and Hook all did the same behind Uliana.

The sea witch extended one arm to the side, "Down in the darkest depths of the sea." Then the other. "The scariest things are scared of me." She pointed to herself. "Say, 'Uliana,' and watch them flee." She rose her hands into the air and her tentacles followed.

"She's Ursula's baby sister." Bridget told them.

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"The sun shines a little more brightly."

"The dark is a little enticing." The villains-to-be pushed further toward the cluster of other students merging the groups.

"It's all gonna turn out nicely. With just a taste of your heart. It's likely -"

"-we'll make it all much more frightening." As the two groups circled each other Drac spun and found himself face to face with his mother. She hissed at him and his instincts acted before he could think. He leaned forward into her face as his eyes glowed green and she leaned back looking shocked, her eyes were wide and he could already see her calculating. Thankfully, the motion of the two groups parted them as others moved between them, unknowing of what had just happened. Drac turned and continued as if nothing had happened, though the back of his mind was already spinning with worst case scenarios.

"Just mix it up, you'll keep finding. That life is sweeter when you are. Seeing things brightly, when you take things a little more lightly. Just mix it up, you'll keep finding. That life is sweeter when you are."

Quick Poll: Who is your favorite character?

Red, Chloe, Camilla or Drac?