I never thought my power would show me this. This is who I am. Not a forgotten thing, not a toy. My name is Valia Targaryen, and I will take what's mine with fire and blood.
☕︎☕︎☕︎
BOOK 1 in THE FIRE series.
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Chapter 6 They're not evil nor good. ♛♛♛
That night, Valia, Mal, and Evie set out for Jay and Carlos's room to plot the wand heist. With its wide-screen TV and wood-paneled walls, dark plaid curtains, and high ceiling, Jay and Carlos's room was a sumptuous blend of old money and state-of-the-art technology, which typified Auradon. Carlos faced the wide-screen TV, playing a fun simulation video game with nunchakus while the girls walked over to Jay. Jay pulled French fries from his pocket.
"Jay," Mal said. "What are you doing?" "It's called stealing," Jay said, tossing the fries onto his bed to join the assortment of other items he'd stolen from the school already, which included a few gold rings, tokens, coin purses, a watch, and a half-eaten pizza. "What's the point?" asked Valia with a careless shrug. "Well, it's like buying whatever I want, except it's free," said Jay, pulling a laptop from his vest.
"Okay. So you could do that. Or you could leave all of this here and pick it up when we take over the world," said Mal with a wide smile.
"You sound just like your mom!" Evie told her. Valia chuckled. "Thank you!" Mal said to Evie.
"You do it your way, and I'll do it mine," said Jay. "Die, suckers!" Carlos shouted at his virtual foes in the video game. "Jay, come check this thing out!" he said, handing over the nunchaku. Jay took them and stepped in front of the TV. His biceps bulged as he swung the weapon. Carlos watched him, laughing and whooping as Jay fought off the animated attackers. "Guys!" said Mal. "Do I have to remind you what we're all here for?" "Fairy Godmother, blah, blah, blah," said Jay as he swung. "Magic wand, blah, blah, blah."
Evie laughed at him while Valia raised an amused brow. "This is our one chance to prove ourselves to our parents," said Mal.
Evie stopped laughing and faced Mal. Valia sighed. she had no parents to prove herself to. "To prove that we are evil and vicious and ruthless and cruel," said Mal.
Jay and Carlos stared at her, too. She had their attention.
"Yeah?" Mal asked them, looking at Valia for help. The white-haired girl nodded solemnly.
♛
"Closer," said Evie.
The mirror showed the state.
"Closer," she said again.
The mirror showed the town.
"Closer," she said once more.
"Can I go back to my game? I'm on level three," said Carlos.
"Stop!" said Valia. They peered at the mirror, which showed an old building lit by blue lights, with an engraved sign in front of it that read MUSEUM OF CULTURAL HISTORY. "It's in a museum," said Mal. "Do we know where that is?"
Carlos typed something on the laptop. "Two point three miles from here," he said, turning it so his friends could see. Then, he went back to playing his video game. Valia opened the door to the room and checked the hall. The coast was clear.
Jay, Mal, and Evie followed her down the hall. Jay called Carlos over his shoulder, and the white-haired boy stopped playing his game and ran out the door after his friends. The lawns of the prep school were dark as the gang made its way to the museum. After some walking, they eventually approached an impressive building marked MUSEUM OF CULTURAL HISTORY. It had tall, imposing stone pillars. "Check your mirror," Mal whispered to Evie.
"Is my mascara smudged?" asked Evie. She checked her eyes in the mirror.
"Yeah. Hey, while you're at it, why don't you see if you can find us the wand," said Mal.
"Sure," said Evie. She held out her mirror. "This way!" They followed Evie around to the back of the building. The group stopped at double doors and peered through their windows. A guard sat at the front desk, spinning in a chair. There were several monitors in front of him. On the monitors were iconic artifacts from all the famous fairy tales: King Beast's mystical rose, Cinderella's glass slipper, the Genie of Agrabah's lamp, and King Triton's trident.
The guard spun to face the doors, and Valia and her friends ducked. When some time had passed, they peeked back through the windows and studied a small spinning wheel on a pedestal that was a showcased display—Maleficent's spinning wheel.
"That's your mother's spinning wheel?" said Carlos. He and Jay laughed.
"Yeah, it's kinda dorky," Jay added. "It's magic," said Mal defensively. "It doesn't have to look scary." Mal flipped open her spell book, found a page, looked through the window at the guard, and began to incant: "Magic spindle, do not linger. Make my victim prick a finger...." Nothing happened to the guard.
"Impressive," said Jay, shaking his head.
"I got chills," said Carlos, mocking her. He and Jay chuckled.
"You know what?" Mal said, annoyed. She concentrated. Her eyes flashed green. "Prick the finger, prick it deep. Send my enemy off to sleep," she said. The guard stood and started walking toward the spinning wheel as if he was in a trance. He reached out his finger and touched the spindle. Then he yawned, sat next to the spinning wheel, curled up on his side, and fell asleep. Mal let out a laugh. "Not so dorky now," she said smugly. She tried to open the door. It was locked. She yanked a few times. Jay pushed everyone aside. "Stand back," he said. He backed up, ready to take a leaping kick at the door. Valia stared at the door, her purple eyes swirling with fire. Mal looked at her "you good?" she asked gently, but Valia didn't answer. the white-haired girl whispered loud enough for the others to hear, "Make it easy, make it quick, open up without a kick."
Jay ran at full speed and leaped to kick the door—just as it opened by itself. He landed on his butt inside the museum. Valia smiled, and she, Mal, Evie, and Carlos laughed and stepped over him. "Coming?" Mal asked Jay, mocking him this time. The gang passed the lobby and ran through the dark museum, with Evie leading the way as she consulted her mirror. "Upstairs," she whispered to them. They ran down a hall and up some stairs, then stopped short in a doorway to a room called the Gallery of Villains. On a pedestal, a wax figure of Evil Queen looked regal, sinister, and frightening—a powerful witch in her ultimate prime. "Mommy?" said Evie, her mouth slack.
Jay looked up at a wax figure of Jafar, who wore full Arabian regalia, cobra staff raised above his head in a terrifying pose. "Killer," said Jay, shaking his head.
Carlos gawked, terrified by the statue of Cruella with stone Dalmatians fleeing from her in terror. "I will never forget Mother's Day again," he said. Valia growled cloudy, "wheres your parents?" Evie asked her "they're not villains nor heroes," Valia answered. "and they're dead..." the gang at once felt pity and sympathy for their white-haired friend. She was a bit older than them but still not old enough. She had let them in her life without question and stepped up for them in teh times of need. But for what? that was the thought that ran through everyone, forgetting their terrifying parents. "Well, the wand's not here," said Jay. "Let's bounce. Let's go!" they all followed him back into the hall.
