"Hey Icy." Sera greets, waltzing inside Brit and mine's room like she owns the place. Neither of us acknowledge her, continuing with our examination of Evie's newest dress design she'd dropped off earlier. It's one of her original designs for my Cotillion dress that she modified to match my dad's side of my heritage.
"What, ya'll just gonna ignore me?" Sera whines, dropping onto my bed with a loud sigh. "Then I won't share my amazin' news with ya, Icy."
"If you're talking about Ben's newest proclamation that he's only told the VK's, you can't." Brit says, looking up at Sera. "He told me too, remember? And he also said to keep it a secret until we can ensure it's actually going to happen."
Sera rolls her eyes. "Yeah... but tellin' people is way more fun than keepin' it under."
"Sera..." Brit warns. "Ben said if you spilled, you won't be able to participate."
Sera's nose scrunches up. "But... but..."
"Sera." Brit's tone turns hard. "This is a huge opportunity, and we can't risk losing anyone involved."
"Siiiiigh." Sera groans, flopping back on my bed and sliding off onto the ground like a slug. "Fine. But when we're allowed to tattle, I'ma be the first one to tell Icy, got it?"
"Deal." Brit looks back at the sketch. "I hope she makes this dress sometime. It's so pretty."
"Are we just going to pretend that conversation didn't happen?" I ask curiously, setting the sketchbook by what was salvaged from my birthday presents. Only Sera's diary journal thing, Maira's snow globe, of course my invitation to the fencing team, and one of the gloves from Jay. Last I heard from Brit, Mal was trying to re-do the painting of Carlos and I.
Sera glances up at me from the ground. "Considering y'all're upside-down right now, I'd rather focus on that."
I roll my eyes and drop to the floor with her, sitting with my legs crossed. Sera sits up, leaning against the bed.
"I know you guys can't tell me what it is, but can you at least tell me if it's related to anyone in my family?"
Brit and Sera exchange a glance, silently debating what will give something away and what won't.
"Um... it concerns... a lot of people..." Brit says hesitantly, winding her hair around one finger nervously. "On... um... Auradon..."
"And the Isle." Sera adds. "And that's all we's sayin', so shut up, Icy."
I raise my hands in surrender. "Fine, fine! I won't pry. If it's this huge, anyway, I'll find out soon enough."
Sera locks eyes with Brit again. "Yeah... like, in the next couple days, sooooooon..."
"Sera!" Brit hisses, swatting her knee. Sera laughs and scrambles up, sprinting from my room. Brit blows hair out of her face, glancing at me.
"Stay. No questions. Don't talk to any VK's!" Brit orders, then she races after Sera. "GET BACK HERE! BEN TRUSTS US, SERA!!"
I snort, shaking my head as I climb back on my bed and reaching to my journal. Since Sera gave it to me, I've had quotes from all sorts of movies. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Princess Bride, along with the Princess Diaries (no idea how Sera knew about this one) and some quotes from the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. There's also been a couple songs, like Sabrina Carpenter's "Smoke and Fire". One of my personal favorites.
I open it up to today, having to pass a bunch of pages I've filled with my flowing handwriting and sketches I've done the past few weeks while at my mom's castle, and in Atlantica. Today's quote shimmers in the corner, appearing as "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."
I roll my eyes. "I thought these were supposed to be hard, Sera." I mutter under my breath. Unhooking my pen form the spine of the journal, I neatly write Percy Jackson, Battle of the Labyrinth next to the quote. Nothing happens, but I know that just means I got it right.
(When you get it wrong, the whole journal turns into whatever the quote was about. Bad day for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and a quote about the Monster book of Monsters.)
My best sketches come when I'm not really paying attention to what I'm thinking about, so I wonder inside my head what in the world Ben's newest idea could be. If it's something to do with the Isle and Auradon, the only thing I can think of would be the barrier coming down. But I know that's never happening, because... well, it'd be really dumb right now, what with Uma and Ares, Pitch, Gothel, and Cruella still being angry about losing.
What else could they be talking about?
My mind wanders to when Brit, Dizzy, and Gil first came here with the Queen of Heart's daughter and Radcliffe's son. Those two went back to the Isle after Uma's takeover, as far as I know. But Brit...
It's hard to imagine her as the shy, closed-off girl she was when she came here. Then, she hid behind her hair and kept her hands in her pockets at all times, with her back hunched in a permanent stay-away-from-me tone.
Now, she rarely wears her hair in front of her face. She still wears her jacket, but rolled up to her elbows with her shoulders back, her amber eyes glinting in a mischievous way. And then, her only friends might have been Gil, Sera, and Arson. Now, she's friends with just about everyone in Auradon. I can't think of anyone here who can truthfully say they don't like Brit.
I suppose it helps that she started dating Gil after the whole boys-into-Beasts thing. Gil hasn't changed much since he came here, just smiling a lot more and asking about Uma and Harry a lot less. Arson, too, just seems more like himself here.
Sera, I can't say Auradon has had an effect on her. More like she's had an effect on Auradon. Like Brit, I can't really think of anyone who can say Sera is someone they hate. Sure, she annoys the heck out of half the planet's population, but that's just who she is. Plus, her violence towards others has spread, and capture the flag games are hardcore now.
Endora, even though she wasn't invited here, has changed the most, I think. From what I heard from Carlos, on the Isle, Dori was reserved and secretive, only ever leaving her house when she had to. Here, she'd be considered popular if not for Audrey's tantrum-throwing.
The door to my room opens, snapping me out of my haze, and Brit walks in, her face flushed and happy. She stops short when she sees me.
"Oh! Ellie! Did I interrupt a doodle moment?" She asks worriedly.
I laugh and look down at my journal. "Nah. I'm almost done, anyway."
"Oooh, can I see?" I nod, and she runs over, leaping onto my bed and landing neatly next to me. After I hand my book to her, she examines my newest drawing.
"Wow." She whispers, fingering the picture of herself, Sera, Arson, Gil, and Endora. All five of them are smiling, with Brit in the center since she's smallest, Gil to her right with Dori standing next to him, her hand on his shoulder. On Brit's left is Arson, with Sera standing behind him, her arms around his neck in her version of a hug. None of it's in color, but the shading makes me think I'll leave this one in granite.
Brit looks up, a huge grin on her face. "This is amazing, Ellie! Did you draw this just now?"
"Yeah." I fold my legs underneath me. "I was trying to figure out what you and Sera were scheming about, and you guys popped into my head. You know, how you came here. What you were all like, and how you are now."
Brit's grin fades to a more pleased smile. "I was pretty shy when I got here, wasn't I?"
"For good reason." I give her a side-hug. "Being friends with your dad's sworn enemy probably helped."
Brit laughs. "Yeah, Quentin met Dad once. It was really funny watching Quentin bully Dad for... well, everything he did to me."
"Quentin's a good friend."
"He is." Brit agrees. She closes the notebook and hands it to me. "But I'll tell you something. Ben said he's going to proclaim his newest... proclamation... whatever... tomorrow. And you're not far off in your guess."
"I haven't even guessed anything!" I protest.
Brit just winks and taps my notebook gently before standing. "I came back to tell you---Sera and I, because I was chasing her, are now caught in a courtyard game of tag. So far Arson, Ben, Lonnie, Jay, Carlos, and Dori are playing. Wanna join?"
I smile and stand. "Sure. Why not?"
It's not until we're both outside that I realize what Brit told me.
Are more kids coming from the Isle?
And if so... who?
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I. AM. LOVING. "Good to Be Bad". IT IS AMAZING!!!! AH!!
So, I posted something about it on EMUFF, but I think I'm going to, while waiting for D3 to come out, (since there's only 3 chaps of Ellie's Flame left) I'm going to go back between D1 and D2 so I can write "Wicked World". Sera and all the current characters of mine won't be there, since they didn't come until after D2. Just Ellie again, and with only her mom's powers!
I won't be posting it here, because that'll get super confusing, and long, and.. blegh. I'll be posting Wicked World chapters on EMUFF, so keep a lookout for 'em!