Seventeen is an awful number to end on, so I apologise.
Honestly Cloud, seventeen..
I have this weird thing where I like to end on either even numbers or multiples of five, so ending on seventeen is killing me..
All it took was a quick visit to each of our dormitories, along with Fairy Godmother's private quarters - her study, specifically.
A quick trip to Jay and Carlos' dorm enlisted of the three of us quickly grabbing a few of Jay's (not yet returned) phones, some spare clothes, Auradonian currency and, due to Carlos insisting, Dude.
It didn't matter how many times I told him that Dude would become an inconvenience, because dogs can't swim, and don't understand the meaning of stay hidden. Or any other English words.
Eventually, I gave in. Sighing, we moved towards the room I shared with Evie, Dude in tow.
In there, I searched frantically for Evie's Magic mirror.
Initially, she had given it to Fairy Godmother after Ben's coronation, but it was returned to its true owner after Uma's attempted infiltration of the museum.
I guess the authorities decided we were less of a threat than the others who could've gotten their hands on it in there.
However, it didn't surprise me when I couldn't find a trace of it. Auradonians are stupid, but not stupid enough to leave valuable magic items in the possession of 'known criminals'. I only got away with keeping my spellbook because it was hidden in my charms, which Fairy Godmother knew about, but didn't take.
Why didn't she take them? My experiences as Holly are still fresh in my mind; I highly doubt she'd be so careless to forget them.
That must mean that she left them on me purposefully - I guess she always did believe in us.
Finally, I grabbed a few more leather jackets, and the spare knife I used to carry with me during the day's before my charms, from under my bed, concealing it in the supple leather of my right boot. Just in case.
Done with the pink monstrosity that was my room, I pulled Carlos and Jay out, slamming the door behind me.
The three of us made our way up the stairs, towards the east wing, where Fairy Godmother stayed.
There was a surprisingly little amount of personal belongings in there. Nowadays, Jane lives in the school dormitories like the rest of us students, but apparently she grew up in this small apartment.
Photos adjourned the pastel blue walls, of a young Fairy Godmother, a young Jane, and a young man. Presumably Jane's father.
I could almost picture her running around the floor, playing with toys and spending time with a family who actually loved her.
I couldn't help but smile, softly and sadly, as the images flashed in front of my eyes.
I'm glad that there are at least some parents out there that love their children; are willing to support them, and won't force them to do something that is firstly, completely illegal, and secondly, not something they want.
Parents that are willing to give their children a chocolate chip cookie and a big glass of milk when they're down, just like Lonnie said when we first arrived at Auradon.
Both Belle and the late Beast said they would happily adopt me as their daughter, and although this made my heart swell with joy, it still wasn't the same as being loved by the woman who raised me. By Maleficent.
"Yes. That's Jane's father.." I glanced towards the voice, seeing Fairy Godmother's chocolate eyes trained on the same photo my own were just mere seconds ago.
"He was killed-"
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to-" she cut me off.
"No. I want to tell you. It's about time I opened up about this."
"But-"
"Why choose you?" She looked over to me, and for the first time, I saw the pain and guilt swirling in her irises. The same conflicted emotions I see reflected back at me every day in the mirror.
She turned back to the image of her family. "I don't know, Mal," a soft smile adourned her features. "Why did Belle sacrifice herself for her father? Why did Princess Jasmine trust Prince Aladdin?" She looked directly at me. "Why did you give Ben the love potion antidote?"
I didn't answer.
"Because it felt right." With that, she left me to my thoughts.
In the end, it wasn't much we took from Fairy Godmother's quarters: just a single item - one of the many spellbooks on the shelf in her private office.
At first, it had taken me completely off guard when she'd pressed it into my hands; the Fairy Godmother giving me one of her prized spellbooks?
It didn't matter to me that she had an entire shelf of them and, by the looks ot it, several duplicates, yet that didn't change the fact that she gifted me something so special.
My mother had only ever had one spellbook; a book of yellowing pages, protected by a sheath of worn leather, that she had kept in the safe in our dining room.
In stark contrast, this one was encased in a soft blue fabric, adjourned with the detailed crest of the Saunders family - Jane's family.
I briefly wondered if Fairy Godmother had given Jane a spellbook like this one.
I tucked it safely into my dragonheart charm, not missing the eyes of a certain woman following my actions.
If she didn't know, or had forgotten about them then, she definitely remembers them now.
When the boys finally reappeared by my side, I was pretty much ready to leave. I noticed that they had both grabbed a backpack. It was a good idea, despite them both being relatively empty.
"Ready to go?" I asked them.
Jay nodded, but Carlos hesitated, before turning on his heel and practically running back into the rooms of the apartment.
When he reappeared, he had a wooden frame clutched against his chest, over his heart.
I expected Fairy Godmother to be at least a little bit angry at my friend's jacking a photo of her daughter, but instead she just smiled softly, eyes twinkling. Eventually, Carlos too was ready to go.
Originally, that was to be the end of our little 'trip' around the school to collect belongings, but I decided that it wasn't yet time to leave. It wasn't that I was trying to delay our leaving - well, maybe I was - but the main reason was to make a detour.
A detour to the west wing.
The boys were seemingly fine with my wanting to visit the private quarters of Ben's family, so that's what we did.
There wasn't anything in particular that I wanted to take from there; I just wanted to be in there one last time, at least for now, despite the fact that he was most likely in his office. Which is on the other end of the school, adjacent to Fairy Godmother's.
Perhaps I'd grab a photo, like Carlos did.
I didn't take a photo. Sure, I intended to, but the room was perfect as it was. I wanted to keep the memory of what his room looked like in my head, his belongings undisturbed, stowed away in the safe that was my mind.
Instead, after digging through his wardrobe, I pulled out a beanie, striped with Ben's signature colours - blue and yellow.
Pulling it over my plum hair, I closed the wardrobe, swallowing the lump in my throat.
That was all. It was time to leave.
<><><>
It was relatively obvious that Triton didn't trust us, despite our returning his 'stolen' trident. I don't blame him though; 3 children of villains, one of which is a thief, returning something that was stolen mere hours ago.
Thankfully, though, he didn't question our methods.
Instead, he stood at the edge of the cliff, glaring down at us. He was currently in human form, on the legs that Fairy Godmother had granted him and the rest of the residents of Atlantic after the unity of the states of Auradon.
He held his trident in his left hand. It was still dripping water, the sunlight shining off it glared down at us, as if it knew we were responsible for its removal in the first place.
The King of the ocean frowned down at us, suspicion swirling in his grey irises. The silence was awkward, the three of us staring up at him expectantly.
Eventually, he let out a great sigh, before turning his back to us, looking over his domain, eyes resting on the black spot in the distance that was the Isle of Fate.
"You will regret this," he said, still not looking at us. "Those who cross these waters and dock on that Island rarely come back." His voice was gruff.
"I hope for your sake that you have a plan."
He snapped his fingers, the sound rumbling like it had been filtered through a megaphone.
It rolled down the cliffs, splashing into the water like a solid object before a boat pulled itself from the crashing waves below us.
"I wish you luck, Child of Maleficent, Child of Cruella Deville, Child of Jafar. I do hope this is not the end of your story."
.. The end!
Congratulations. You've just read a story with no true climax!
Yay.
I really wanted to cover more of Jane's past, and go into Ben's as well, but there wasn't time, as the characters are supposedly rushing to get this sorted out, and get their friend back.
You'll also notice that there were no two-part chapters in this story. That is because - dun-dun-dunnn! The whole thing is a 'part one', so to say. How fun!
Anyway, the sequel will be put into action after the summer break, and the first three chapters will be published at the same time, somewhere between the beginning of September and the end of October.
Until then, here's some things to think about:
How is Evie gonna get away?
Is she even on the Isle of Fate, or is the gang's assumption incorrect?
Who is the shadowed figure?
Why didn't Fairy Godmother take Mal's charms when she was first arrested?
Why were Ben and the AKs so eager to rescue the others?
What happened to Cruella and Jafar?
When is Cloud actually gonna be bothered to update?
See you in the conclusion to the Framed Trilogy
- Cloud 🍎