I knew as soon as Carlos showed me the image on the website, what we had to do.
It was clearly recognizable, there wasn't anything I'd ever seen like it.
Not even in that dreary leaflet I found from the Auradon Museum a few months ago.
Luckily enough, it was something I recognised - from a hazy memory in the back of my mind, but a memory nonetheless.
Naturally, Auradon things come to Auradon people, so as soon as I saw the crystal-like rock that greatly resembled the one that Ben produced from the shimmering waters of the Enchanted Lake oh so long ago, I knew exactly what we had to do.
(Fun fact: when this crystal first showed up in the movie, I was expecting it to come back, or be important. Was that just me?)
That, and the fact that none of us could actually swim to go and get it.
It consisted of luring Ben down to the lake, feeding him some sob story, and convincing him to fetch us the item we needed.
In order to do that, I had to catch his attention. What better wsy to do that than to appear as Mal right in front of him?
Every evening, Ben stands at his office window, staring out into that sunset he loved so much.
Then, I show him my purple hair, which seems very specific to me as Auradonians are too boring to have interesting hair colours, and we wait for him to come to us.
Pity my plans never seem to go my way.
<><><>
Of course something important was scheduled for that night. When does anything ever go right for me, after all?
And of all things, it's the night when the new Villain kids get here?! One of the only events that is critical for Ben to attend.
I groaned in frustration as the Limo containing however many New VKs drove out of sight.
I don't know what we're going to do now. We could look for him ourselves, but given our current standing with officials like Fairy Godmother, who is, without a doubt, also there, I don't believe that can be the best plan of action at this moment.
There's also the possibility of trying to find someone else willing to fish the shell out of the water. Unfortunately, how many souls are actually pure? One of the only (legal) things I ever learnt from my mother's teachings is that everyone has a bad side.
Some just choose to keep it hidden.
Besides, who in their right mind would jump in a lake, looking for some magic item just because a group of strangers told them to?
Jay and Carlos continue to whisper to each other and me, about whether I'm sure that this is the same crystal, or whether I'm certain that the Limo was carrying VKs towards the school and not someone else - namely Ben - away from it.
"Yes I'm sure," I growled back at them. "I knew Ben was arranging for another batch of kids from the Isle, but I didn't think he'd do it so soon."
They stayed silent after that.
It had only been a few minutes since I gave up hope of my plan working, yet I was already listing possible 'plan B's in my head. Would it accept me if I used my charm to transform into Ben? Who else in Auradon could be considered innocent enough to get the shell? Would it be possible for Carlos to get it without drowning?
He immediately voiced his wish to' keep ahold of his life, thank you very much'.
I blinked. "You're right, sorry Carlos. What in Auradon was I thinking?!" Risking my friend's life? Not even my mother would be evil enough for that!
Okay, so maybe she would, but it's not like there's anyone else on earth that matters to Maleficent enough anyway. Except maybe Diablo. Certainly not me.
Carlos sighed, and stood up.
"It's okay, Mal. I know you're stressed out. We'll find a way to get Evie back, I promise."
I looked into his swirling brown eyes, and slowly nodded. He's right.
He gave me a soft smile, and held out his hand.
I grabbed it, and he pulled me up.
"Let's go get that shell."
We walked off, into the dark cover of the trees, searching for a way to save my friend, oblivious to the cries from Jay, who we had left on the floor.
<><><>
"The woods don't seem safe to be trudging through at this time," Carlos comments, keeping pace with me.
He's not wrong.
We can't exactly see where we're going, and both of us have tripped up on various tree roots and other rubbish scattered along the forest floor.
Carlos grasped my arm, as to not loose me in the suffocating darkness, while Jay grips his.
Again, Jay asks, "Why can't you just set one of your arrows on fire?"
This time Carlos answers for me. "Like Mal said before, that would be the perfect way for Auradonians to catch us." I don't look back, but I hear him grumble.
Not even my dragon sight is being very helpful in this situation.
I highly doubt that I have many more vision capabilities than Carlos or Jay at this moment.
I don't know what it is - pollution, maybe? But it's the most I can do to prevent them smacking face-first into a tree.
Which they still manage to do.
I have to smack Jay on the arm to get him to stop laughing and taunting Carlos, calling him 'tree hugger', because I saw it well before either of them did.
The gentle glow of a torch loomed closer, illuminating the bark of the trees in the distance.
It slowly shines closer, and I deduce that we have company.
It's only a single beam of light, meaning its only a single person. However, that could easily be nearly as bad.
What if it's an Auradon guard?
What if it's Fairy Godmother?
What if it's... Ben?
That worry is soon washed from my mind when I hear the gentle whisper of a female voice, again, courtesy of dragon senses.
By that point in time, both the boys had seen the light too. I felt them freeze, Carlos' grip tightening on my sleeve.
"Mal?!" Jay hissed. "Mal, who is that?"
He continues to hiss at me, and digging my nails into my palm is all I can do to keep myself from yelling at him to 'shut up!' as I try to concentration.
Eventually, Carlos hits him for me, and Jay falls into silence.
It was just when I caught the hint of something blue, when it hit me.
Something launched itself at my shins, digging sharp claws into my thighs.
I let out a hiss of pain, and reached down to pry the creature from my legs, careful to keep my eyes on the splash of light in the distance.
As soon as my fingers made contact with its fur, the creature released me, and instead darted back towards the light. In its pale glow, I made out faint stripes of purple and pink, decorating the creature's fur.
"Chelsea!" cried the girl's voice in relief. "Thank the Gods you're okay! Ben would've killed me if I had lost you!"
Wait- Ben cares that much about Chelsea? Sure, he never seemed to have that much of a problem with her, but he has proclaimed to me multiple times that he's a 'dog person'.
Just as the girl's light began to retreat, Carlos trod on a twig.
How stereotypical.
The crack rattled through the air, and the light quickly snapped back towards our direction.
Hurriedly, I shoved Carlos and Jay behind a tree, while I jumped behind my own.
I tried to steady my breathing, knowing that if the girl had any sort of enhanced senses, we would be dead.
However, by some miracle, the light retreated, and the shadow of the tree on the floor was engulfed in darkness once more.
I heaved a sigh of relief, and glanced towards the tree, behind which Jay and Carlos were concealed.
The former had his back pressed against the trunk of the tree, head turned up toward the sky, breathing heavily while the latter swung his head around comically, no doubt searching for me, who he must have assumed had hidden behind the same tree. Like we would all fit behind that.
I risked a glance around the tree, just to make sure the girl had gone, and was met with complete darkness, bar the few feet in front of me, which I could actually see.
Carefully, I took a step towards the boys, weary of the dry leaves on the forest floor, which would for sure create a noise if I trod on them.
I continued to make my way rowards the boys, occasionally turning my eyes towards the dark abyss where a light glowed mere seconds before. Just to make sure.
It appears that sneaking up on Carlos maybe wasn't the smartest idea; I put my hand on his arm, hoping to steady him, or at least calm him a little, but instead caused the opposite.
He practically jumped out of his skin, and typically, landed on a second twig.
The sound once again rattled through the woods, and I thanked my lucky stars that the girl with the light was long gone.
Until the world around me suddenly lit up.
"Gotcha- Mal?"
I looked over to the girl, who apparently wasn't gone.
However, just as I was about to explain, something shoved past me, and one of the boys darted forward, wrapping his arms around the girl.
She looked just as surprised as I was.
When he finally pulled away, he lifted her chin and looked deep into her eyes, which shone with the pain of a thousand tears.
"What are you doing here?" he asks her.
She frowns, before raising an eyebrow, and returning the question, just like we all expected her to do.
"I could ask you the same question."
End of chapter.
So. I'm pretty happy with this chapter.
One of the boys ran forward to hug the girl, who was looking for Chelsea.
I didn't mention names, because I want you to guess which of the two girls it is.
I'm annoying like that.
So take a guess -->
See you in the next chapter. :)