𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚

𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳

A/N whew! this was a long one. I shouldve split it into two maybe but whatever. Have fun reading!

Evie had never felt so helpless in her life. When her mother had her locked in a closet in their old castle for days, when Doug died, when she fell in love with her best friend's husband and felt like the worst human being in the world, she was desolate, but nothing came close to this. Nothing came close to losing all three of her children at once. And she was going to lose her fourth if she didn't calm herself down.

Ben had been found unconscious at the beach with a stabbed leg and no Radley in sight, so as Royal Advisor, all responsibility fell to her to issue orders. They were still stuck at the tents, all parents coping with their loss, as the fog outside was still too thick to see out of.

Lonnie was inconsolable, having been sobbing quietly for hours in Jay's arms. It was heartbreaking to see such a strong, optimistic person get broken down to their core. A stoic, always-up-for-battle Jay just sat there trying to be brave for his wife, yet the absolute look of sheer terror on his face gave him away.

Uma and Harry were in one corner, with Harry still trying to convince Uma not to run out to find their twins. This resulted in a nearly full-blown fight that would've ended badly if Carlos didn't intervene.

Jane had fallen asleep in a corner so Carlos covered her with a blanket and handed Emily off to Dizzy, Freddie and Enzo, who were nursing wounds of their own but were otherwise okay. He tried to be of use to the search party of guards, being the only one who didn't lose a child. He spent a lot of time consoling Evie too, his best friend. Ben would be okay, so would Max, Desiree and Radley, he kept repeating to her, unsure of how much of it would be true.

"General," Evie called softly as the head guard, who was standing at the entrance of the tents, marched toward her with great respect. "Updates please."

"No sign of the children or the fog clearing, your majesty." The General admitted somberly. "The residents of Auradon were told to stay indoors and inspect their latches. The armies of the different states are on high alert, especially the ones closest to the Auradon-Isle border and from AnZhou."

Evie nodded, then thanked the guard and went back to thinking. A thousand and one things were swarming her brain that she had to take care of, though all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and blame herself for what her children might be going through right now. It was her fault, her fault for not watching out properly, her fault for calling the guards away in the first place.

Just as the tears began to form again, somebody placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see her husband balancing on one leg with a pained yet comforting expression on his fair face. At once, relief flooded her. The dam reopened, and the tears flew as she clutched onto his now sitting form for reassurance.

"We'll fix everything, Ev, I promise."

//Scene Change//

Mal had managed to get Moxie to find something sharp and after much coaxing and instructions, she had gotten her hands free. First step, check. Now, they needed to get out of the basement and reassess escape points.

There were two options: One, she escape with Moxie and hope the Auradonian Army would come and finish the job and get the royal children back to where they came from. Two, she help the children break free, which is a greater risk, not to mention she'd have to face Ben and Evie afterwards. The first option seemed the best, but, god, her friends' kids were up there. If she thought right, it was Max, Princess Desiree, Prince Radley, Jay's two children and the Hook twins up there. She might have lost contact with Evie and Jay for obvious reasons, but she sure as hell wasn't going to leave their children here to die. Especially not with Maleficent.