(3) The Isle of the Lost

-Chapter 11: Fairy Cottage-

"We did it! Together!" Evie says, grinning. "That's what we've been talking about." I say, putting an arm around my girlfriend. Uma and Mal look at each other. "I guess my shell likes you..." Uma says, smiling lightly at my sister. She then reaches a hand behind the charm on the necklace and takes out the ember. "Why don't you hold on to that?" She asks, handing me my ember. I grin, taking it and feeling the power of it in my palm. "Thank you, Uma." I say, smiling.

Celia runs to the window, peering outside before grinning at us and looking at Mal. "Hey, it's your bae." She says, winking. Mal immediately springs up and runs out the door as we follow. Once outside, I see a few figures walk up to us. Including three new ones. "Jane! Ben! Doug!" Evie calls, grinning. They run to us and Ben immediately engulfs Mal into a hug. "Where'd you come from?" I ask Jane as I hug her. "I hid from the spell in the enchanted lake." She says, hugging me back. "And you?" Evie asks as she hugs Doug. "I actually left to visit my dad yesterday and came back when I heard. I found Jane when I visited her party place." He explains.

Once we all let go, Carlos looks at us. "What happened to you guys? You look shaken." He says, making the others look at our group. "Oh, boy." Mal says, chuckling. "Let's see..." Uma starts, pretending to think. "We found Audrey's diary." She says before nodding to Mal. "We came back here to find Dizzy and the twins asleep." She says, nodding to Evie. "I found Y/N asleep and spelled on the floor." She says, frowning and making everyone look at me. "Evie woke me with a true love's kiss." I say, smiling. "Then we got barricaded inside the house by Audrey." Uma adds. "Then we all combined our magic to spell it away." I finish, nodding.

There is silence for a bit before Jay speaks. "Wow. Okay. Very eventful." He says, nodding. "Are you okay?" Ben asks Mal. She nods, smiling. Ben then looks at Uma and smiles at her. "I always knew you'd be part of the solution." He says. Uma rolls her eyes as Mal looks at her Fiance properly. "What is this...?" She asks, touching his chin where a beard appears to be now. "Oh, yeah." He replies, lifting his chin for a better look. "I could get used to this..." Mal says, grinning. "You like it?" He asks. "I love it." Mal replies.

I step forward, lifting a brow. "What about those?" I ask, pointing to his teeth where fangs appear to show. "No..." Mal says, chuckling lightly. "I like them." Ben replies. I roll my eyes, turning around and see Uma lift Audrey's diary up. "Right." I say, nodding. "Back to business." Evie says.

"Okay, so we all think that Audrey could be at Fairy Cottage. We have no idea where it is." Uma says, shrugging. "Did she ever take you there?" I ask Ben, knowing he was her boyfriend for a while. He nods, sighing. "Every Fairy Godmother's Day." He replies. "Where is Fairy Godmother when you need her?" He asks. I shrug, sighing. "Wish I knew." I turn around to ask Jane to see her and Carlos speaking and the boy giving her a gift. I smile, leaving them be and standing next to Evie instead. "You know, maybe we should start tapping into that witch side of you." I mutter to her.

She raises her eyebrow, looking at me. "What? A princess isn't enough?" She teases. Ben gave her back her royal title. Therefore, she is officially a princess. Not for long though, cause soon she's gonna be a Queen. Alongside me.

"Oh no. You're more than enough. I'm just saying that maybe being able to do spells isn't a bad idea. Especially since we're in Auradon." I say, making her nod. "Only if you're the one teaching me." She says, smirking. "Deal." I reply, shaking her hand playfully.

"Doug! Go with Jane." Ben randomly says, making Evie and I look. "We need to find Fairy Godmother." He adds. Doug nods, stepping next to the girl before I stop them. "Hold up. They might need some muscle." I say, causing Doug to give me a look. "Hey." He says, glaring playfully. "Sorry." I say, chuckling a little. "Well, I'll go." Gil says, stepping up. He may not be the brightest....but with Jane and Doug as the brains to his muscles, they'll be fine.

"Yeah, actually, I would feel better." Carlos says, stepping up. I nod, chuckling. "I would too." I say. "Same." Mal says. Doug sighs, grinning. "Actually, I would too." He gives in. Gil laughs, wrapping his thick arms around both of the smaller figures. "All right, man. Let's do it" He says. "Let's go Jane!" Doug calls as she gets pulled away by Carlos. "Be careful, okay?" He says. Jane nods, smiling and fiddling with her new necklace which says 'Jarlos'. "I will." She says, turning and following the other two.

__________________________

As day turns into night, we follow Ben to fairy cottage to see the dim lights inside. I have Evie's hand grasped tightly in mine as we silently sneak towards the building. The crunching of leaves and our heavy breaths being the only sounds present in the silent air. "This way." Ben whispers, weaving through trees until a small cottage is clearly visible. We reach the gate and the king pulls it open, wincing at the small squeak that is heard when he does. Once wide enough, we all scramble through before standing behind Ben at the door before he uses his strength to kick the door open.

BANG. The door flies open and we all rush inside, arms and weapons out, ready for a fight....but none is needed. In fact, it was empty.

Jay rushes upstairs, but soon after, he returns. "She's not upstairs." He says. I walk around, noticing how neat everything is. Maybe she wasn't here....?

Suddenly, soft banging is heard from a closet in the corner of the room and I rush up to it, peering into the window on the door. I don't see much, only a small mop of blonde hair moving around. I open the door, knowing Audrey isn't blonde, and instead, I see a frightened boy. A frightened, curly haired, blonde haired boy. I see Chad.

"Chad?" I ask, confused. He looks at me, eyes far away and lost. "I want my mommy." He says, like the child he is. "Did Audrey do something...?" I ask, moving to help him up. He recoils, eyes wide. "No." He says, hiding. I look behind me at the others who are all looking  at our exchange. "Uh, no, it's okay." I say, moving slowly towards him. "What happened, Chad?" I ask, making sure my movements are slow. Chad narrows his eyes, looking at my face intently before gasping. "Y/N...Y/N!" He says, jumping up and gripping the sides of my jacket. I'm sure my eyes are wide because I have no idea what to do. Chad glances behind me before letting go. "Ben! Your face..." He says, looking at the king's beard.

Chad looks behind the king now and notices the wide open door. "She's gone?" He asks, looking at us. The others nod and I smirk at how he's acting. "The door is open....I'm free...." He says before gasping loudly. "Freedom!" He shouts before running and dashing out the door. "Freedom!" I hear him shout again before he's gone.

I look at the others who are all looking at each other. "Ooookay..." Uma drawls before smirking. "I can't be the only one who found that funny." She adds. I smirk, chuckling. "I did too." I say. Harry cackles as Mal laughs along. We're all getting along for once.

"I'm going to check out the cottage one last time." Jay says, running upstairs again. I settle by Uma and Evie as Mal walks over. They start chatting while we wait and I notice Ben smile at us. I excuse myself from the girls and walk over to him. "How on earth did you guys end up teaming up?" He wonders. I laugh, shaking my head. "Promises were made. With the opportunities we have now? I'm looking forward to expanding and achieving so much more." I say, smiling. With the VK program running? It's only a matter of time before we can do more.

Jay returns downstairs and grins. "Nothing upstairs. Just old belongings." He says, jumping the last few steps. "Alright, we're all set?" I ask. They all nod and we file out one by one before gathering outside. Uma and Mal walk in front, Evie and I behind them, followed by Ben, Celia, Harry, Jay, Carlos and Dude.

An unlikely group, but with similar goals.

Word Count: 1484