Agatha woke, gripped with terror, wheezing for air. Peeking down at her black-and-green uniform, it took her a few frantic breaths before she realized she was still alive and sopped in sweat on a hard, thin mattress. She looked up, but her surroundings were washed out by blinding red-orange light.
Camelot, Agatha panicked, shielding her eyes.
I'm in Camelot.
She squinted into the fiery glow—
A fat face shoved into it, splotched with rouge and emanating bacon breath.
"I ate your breakfast and there ain't no more, so don't bother asking," Cinderella spat and trundled away.
Agatha jolted to her knees to see she was back at League Headquarters, the burnt-red glare coming from a sliver of sunrise through the cave hole. The muggy, dusty den was a hive of activity, with all thirteen League members packing up and stripping the cave bare, readying for a company move. On one side, Hansel and Gretel were magically storing furniture in Merlin's hat, Tinkerbell was stuffing a dozen satchels with snacks and tins of water, and Pinocchio and Red Riding Hood were scrubbing the last of the breakfast plates clean. On the other side, Yuba studied a spread of open storybooks, Princess Uma and the White Rabbit swept up scraps of black satin scattered on the floor, and Jack and Briar Rose pretended to be working while huddling over a notebook, finalizing their wedding guest list.
Amidst all this chaos, Hort slumped next to a moth-eaten curtain shrouding the far cave wall. He was eerily still, biceps folded over his chest. He met Agatha's gaze for just a moment, then narrowed his eyes coolly and glanced away.
Meanwhile, near Cinderella's mirror, Merlin was having an intense conversation with Tedros, who looked clean in taut white breeches and a cerulean shirt, the laces open down his smooth, bronzed chest, marred by a long scar near the heart. Agatha noticed Excalibur sheathed at the prince's waist, while Y/n was nowhere to be seen.
"What's going on?" said Agatha, approaching the prince.
Merlin turned to her. "Agatha, because of your quick thinking last night, you managed to hide your friends in the Celestium, from where I magically transported all of you to League Headquarters," said the wizard. "You took quite a blow to your head in the process, so you were hardly coherent and desperately in need of rest. Indeed, you and Tedros had broken into Evil's fortress and accomplished everything I'd asked: namely, to find Y/n and Excalibur and extricate them both safely. I know how dangerous both these missions were, but we had no choice. Only Y/n can destroy the ring, because only she can renounce her love for him. But now that we are in possession of Y/n, the ring, and the sword, she could finally send him and his Dark Army to their graves, and the three of you would be on your way to Camelot, your storybook closed."
Merlin paused. "But I'm afraid there's been a change of plans," he said to Agatha. "As you fell asleep last night, you whispered that our League wasn't safe—that 'they knew where we were.' I knew better than to question your babbling, given I'd witnessed the army of famous villains that chased you out of school. So we must move from our Headquarters immediately. The League will split up and hide throughout the Woods, while I escort you, Tedros, Y/n, and that surly, overmuscled Neverboy to a safe house where the four of you won't be found."
Agatha swallowed. "What about. . .Sophie?"
"She will be coming with us, but will be transported in the Celestium."
Agatha nodded. "How's Y/n taking everything?"
"She hasn't woken yet." Merlin pointed to the curtained cave wall. "She's through there, if you wish to converse with that she-demon."
"She's not a demon," Agatha said defensively. "She's just. . .inherited bad traits."
Tedros looked at her, puzzled. "You mean the whole blood thing?"
"Yes, among other things," Agatha said. "But no one knows who her father is."
"Well surely someone does," said Tedros.
"And that someone is right beside you," said Merlin. "Honestly, you'd have thought you two nitwits would have had the logical idea to ask the most powerful wizard of all—"
"Merlin," Agatha interrupted. "Who is Y/n's father?"
Merlin blinked, as if it was obvious.
"Why, Peter Pan, of course."