𝔅𝔢 ℭ𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔚𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔉𝔬𝔯 by Hufflepuff1700

22. 𝔅𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔗𝔬 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℑ𝔰𝔩𝔢...𝔄𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫

"Do I have to go?" I chuckle as I finish packing up my bag, "Yes, Liam. You have to go to the party." He pouts, "I don't want to." I raise a brow and smirk, "It's at the Enchanted Lake." He blinks at me, "...Fine." Liam puts on his shoes and we head to Evie's castle, where we're meeting the VKs to carpool to Jane's birthday party.

We get there and find Mal exiting the castle, smiling at us when we hear a lighting bolt and turn to see a punk-like dressed Audrey appearing through pink smoke - wearing the Queen's crown and holding Maleficent's scepter. I immediately pick up Liam protectively as I share a look with Mal. Audrey looks straight at Mal, "Oh, I was hoping you were home."

Mal chuckles, but there's no humor behind it, "Is this a joke? What are you doing with the crown and the scepter?" Audrey replies as if it was obvious, "Well, I wanted them, so I took them. And you, of all people should understand that, Mal." She then leans down and inhales the magic emanating from the magic crystal in the scepter.

I keep quiet and back away to keep Liam from her as Mal tries to stop Audrey, "Wait, Audrey, stop! Don't use that." Audrey retorts, "I thought you liked spells." Mal looks at Audrey in disbelief as she looks back to the scepter, "Okay, Audrey, you're better..." Audrey cuts her off, "Quiet!"

Mal tries to reason with her, "It's not a toy. It's dangerous." Audrey spins around, "I want to be dangerous. My life was perfect until you stole it. And then Auradon turned its back on me." She begins to walk away, "Well, it's time for a little payback." Mal tries to stop her, "Audrey, wait!"

Audrey spins around and uses the scepter to spell Mal, laughing wickedly as she does so. Liam and I look over and see Mal as an old hag, Liam grimacing and whispering, "Ew." I nudge him and shake my head as Audrey taunts Mal, "You think Ben will love you now, you old hag? You'll pay the price of what you did and so will all of Auradon!"

Jay, Carlos, Evie, and Celia rush out, surprised to see Audrey in her new attire and accessories. She says, "So long, suckers!" She then spins and disappears in pink smoke, Jay then moving to help Mal, but exclaiming when he sees her new look, "Whoa! Uh, you might wanna think of a spell for that." I roll my eyes at him, "Nice one, Jay."

Mal tells him, "There's no spell that can reverse the curse of the scepter." Carlos says, "Well, that's a shame." Mal says, "Forget about me. Audrey's out for revenge. And all of Auradon is in danger." Evie asks, "What should we do?" Mal announces, "The only thing more powerful than the scepter...is Hades' ember."

Jay says, "Oh! Like he's just gonna hand it over, after you blew him back to the Isle." Evie says, "And no one knows where his lair is." Celia speaks up, "I do. I'm his errand rat. I've got the key at my dad's." Mal points to her, "You're coming." Celia groans, "But I just got here."

"Mal?" We turn to see Dizzy and the twins at the door, who scream when they catch sight of Mal. Liam nods, "I know, right?" I cover his mouth and turn away to hide my amused smile, proud of his humor. Evie steps to them and says, "Dizzy, stay here to take care of the twins. We'll be right back and everything will be just fine."

I frown, remembering Audrey casts a sleeping spell on Auradon at Jane's party. Focusing on Liam, the VK I'm responsible for, I ask him, "Do you want to stay here with Dizzy and the twins? Or do you want to come with me?" He replies, "I want to go with you. I'm not scared of the Isle, but I'll feel safer with you." I smile and nod, "Okay. Just stay close to me, got it?"

He nods and I turn back as Mal asks Evie and I, "How bad is it?" We exchange looks and Evie tells her, "You age...beautifully." Mal nods satisfied as Evie says, "Now, let's just get you into something fabulous." Mal nods, "Okay."
Evie and I begin to walk away, "Come on."

We then stop when we remember Mal can't walk as fast. I put Liam down and go to her and take her left hand as Evie takes her right, the two of us helping her, "Okay." I nod, "Oh, yeah, there we go." Mal nods, "Okay." Evie says, "Almost there." Liam shakes his head, "This is sad." I purse my lips, "Remind me to have a talk with you about timing."