The Archer's Legacy

★彡01|24 - "I think we should go."彡★

"What do you mean you saw it?" Jay asked as the group sat themselves down at the picnic blanket.

Y/n blew her hair out of her face, the front strands already dry enough to fall in front of her face, for they were uncombed. "When we were still on the raft," she started. "Everything sort of slowed down and it was as if I could only see the waterfall and the log. But when I asked if you saw it, you thought I had a sunstroke."

The four cringed at the accusation.

"Sorry about that." Evie smiled softly. "We should've guessed it was your power or something."

"It still saved me," Carlos piped in quietly. "Thank you."

Y/n looked at the boy's smile and, for a second, felt her insides get all tingly. Maybe I have been in the sun for too long, she frowned, brushing the thought off to smile at Carlos. "No problem."

Unbeknownst to her, Carlos experienced the same tingly-ness at that very moment. What's up with me lately? he thought, his eyes flitting away from Y/n's face as Mal started talking.

"It must be your power," the girl stated firmly, leaning back on her hands on the picnic blanket. "There is no other explanation for it. You can see the future."

Y/n bit the inside of her lip, contemplating the statement with narrowed eyes. It was the only probable explanation, but could've it really been that easy? It was even a bit ironic, considering that they were on that trip in the first place to get their minds off of the matter. Finally, she sighed, having come to the conclusion that there was no point in denying the obvious. "I suppose so."

All four, who'd fixed their eyes on Y/n in anticipation, felt awkward after the response. Luckily, Evie had her own opinion on the subject. "It doesn't matter right now," she said, smoothly averting the topic. "The food has been in the heat for long enough, we better eat before it gets too bad."

Jay nodded in agreement. "Right."

The other three agreed as well, reaching for the snacks in the middle of the blanket. Coincidentally, Y/n and Carlos were reaching for the same piece of fav./snack.

"Sorry," they both stammered as soon as both of them grabbed onto the piece.

Y/n managed a smile, brushing the thought of her tingling fingers to the back of her mind. "You can have it."

Carlos smiled, his eyes flitting away from Y/n and onto the snack as heat spread across his cheeks. "Thanks."

As Y/n grabbed the next piece of fav./snack in the pile, Evie, Jay and Mal shared looks, the latter looking a bit irritated while Evie and Jay bore expressions of curiosity and worry.

"Oh well," the girl in purple broke the silence a bit sharply. "Let's enjoy this while we can."

Y/n nodded, humming agreement. "Yeah, tomorrow ought to be pretty interesting."

"And the week after that, too," Mal added with a nod and a somewhat forced smile. "Who knows what feelings we are left with after the coronation." The girl sent pointed looks at Carlos while she emphasized the words, turning back to Y/n with a smile right after.

Y/n looked at the two with suspicion, her thoughts circling back to her argument with the Isle kids. She sighed, her spirits suddenly dampened. "I personally think you should free Ben from the love potion and abandon your parents' plan and leave the coronation next Friday with relief and nothing else."

The four blinked at her, not expecting her to be so blunt.

Y/n bit her lip, regretting that she didn't choose her words wiser. "I mean... I would feel guilty if I were to give up a country—" She paused, thinking back to the prophecy, in which it was stated that one wrong decision from her technically could ruin everything. Her heart weighed heavier in her chest as she continued. "—and I don't want you guys to have to live with that."

Evie heaved a sigh, putting a hand on her shoulder from where she sat on her left side (since Carlos was on the right). "Thank you, Y/n, we appreciate that you worry about us," she gazed around at the people who'd grown up beside her, with whom she shared a past and more experiences than one could count. "But, even though Auradon is the country where dreams come true, we don't have too much of a say in this."

Y/n sighed, nodding as she cast her eyes downwards. "I see. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Carlos piped in. "It's our..." He trailed off, gazing into the distance regretfully.

Y/n nodded again, all five of them thinking of the word left unsaid. Parents.

"I think..." Jay muttered, "I think we should go."

"Yeah."

"Probably."

Just like that, within a few minutes, the group had packed up their stuff, Mal had spelled the raft away, and they were on their way back to the school. Nobody spoke a word during that journey, all of them pondering their own thoughts.

Y/n was confused. She knew she'd been too blunt and that she was risking a lot by not reporting the group's plans to Fairy Godmother, but on the other hand she believed that she could somehow have an impact on them, as they had had an impact on her.

And then there was Carlos, of course. Every time she was near him, she felt all tingly and... nervous, in a way? But that whole nervousness wasn't bad, it was almost excitement-like, looking forward to the future but at the same time worrying that Carlos — and the rest of the Isle kids — may make the wrong decisions down the road if she didn't do anything. However, she didn't feel the tingly-ness around Jay, Mal and Evie, which just made her more confused the more she thought about it.

It was once that the possibility of having a crush crossed her mind, but she willed herself not to believe it, for it was still unsure whether or not the four were going to give up Auradon to villains, thus giving them an opening on the North.

Unbeknownst to her, Carlos was facing similar dilemmas. He knew what he wanted. He wanted to stay in Auradon and scratch all of his and his friends' parents' plans, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. He was too... afraid. Afraid to speak up in front of his mother and his friends, Mal in particular.

Then again, he was also afraid of hurting Y/n. The way she seemed to care for them so genuinely despite all of their flaws made his heart flutter and he just wanted to make sure she was safe and happy, which, lately, hadn't turned out well at all.

For a moment, he found himself wondering if the reason he wanted Y/n to be in control of her own feelings was so he would know that she cared for him, and the others, genuinely. And then, for a brief moment, he pondered what he truly felt about the girl. However, as soon as he started to come to the logical conclusion, he pushed it away. He couldn't let her get hurt because of his selfishness. No. As far as he was concerned, he had to keep his feelings tucked away and hidden in his heart where they could hurt nobody but him.

Without any of them noticing, the five had reached the dorms, nearly where they were to break off to go to their own rooms. "Hey, guys," Y/n started softly, clearing her throat, for she hadn't spoken for quite long. "Thank you. The getaway might've not gone as you planned it to, but I still appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Jay answered, him being the quickest of the four to recover from those kinds of situations and conversations.

Evie nodded along, finding it fitting to add, "We should do something like this again sometime."

Y/n smiled sadly. "Maybe when everything has blown over."

Evie's smile fell. "Right."

Y/n turned her eyes away from the four, glancing at her door briefly. "Well. Guess I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"See you tomorrow."

When the door closed behind the girl, Carlos let out a sigh.

"Carlos?" Mal questioned carefully, still remembering the look the boy had on his face when Y/n and him went to reach for the same snack.

"I'm fine," the boy assured. Yet everyone knew it was a lie.