𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓕𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓑𝓪𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓻 (𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀 𝓠𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷: 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓣𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮)

Perpetual Poison

The ribbon took them on a trek and a half through the woods. They had to run to keep up with it making Gil, Carlos and even Brooke herself who had grown up not only running from pirates but running around these woods themselves fall on several occasions. It was a lot harder to weave though trees than she remembered, it even looked harder for Harry, than she remembered; they weren't small anymore. There was way more of them to maneuver than there once was.

She wished she had put a slowing spell on the ribbon, but there was no going back now, it would probably be best if they got to Cece as quickly as possible anyway. Harry couldn't find it in him to laugh at his friends or even snap at them. Carlos and Brooke had brought Cece to the isle a couple of times. She was a heaven sent. She made then their own clothes. It was the first time the kids on the isle had anything of their own. She helped give them something new and completely their own.

Jay was internally panicking, what on earth had Audrey done to Cece that made them all run so far out? Either something was really, really wrong with Cece or they were running right into a trap. Jay couldn't find it in himself to care if they were running into a trap. It was worth it for Cece. He didn't know if she would do the same for him, he didn't even know what she would call him in terms of friendship. They had hung out just the two of them quite a bit, but he had never formally asked her out. She always seemed to laugh at him when he stuttered over his words or when he fell off her horse when she was teaching him to ride. Frankly he wasn't sure if she liked him or if she just found him as a good source of entertainment.

"Where is the ribbon taking us?" CJ asked thoroughly confused.

"Auradon is made up of a bunch of conquered kingdoms," Brooke slowed down as the ribbon did, seemingly trying to push though Audrey's magic haze. The magic hung so thickly in the air you could practically taste it. It tasted like cotton candy not a bad flavor but defiantly evil. Evil magic tasted really good, Brooke wouldn't elaborate on that point though, "My parents would have you believe the merger of kingdoms was completely ethical and voluntary, it wasn't. In most cases they were violent takeovers that made monarchs give up their kingdoms for the safety of their people and their own families. Snow White gave up her kingdom so Neil and Cece would be safe."

"Neil?"

She nodded, "Their older son, haven't seen him in a while now that I think about it," she shook her head. "This part of the forest was leading into Snow's kingdom where the dwarfs held her body after she was poisoned."

A question suddenly came to Carlos "How do we wake up someone that's gonna be in her state? She's probably gonna be completely unconscious not dreaming like Harriet was."

"Good Question," Brooke said but offered no answer nor solution.

They finally pushed though the barrier and saw the forest around them shimmered revealing Snow White, or rather Cece's, glass coffin. Carlos was right, she wasn't having a nightmare like Harriet was, she was dead asleep, but it was worse than that. She was deathly pale she had second degree burns around her mouth the skin traveling up to her eyes wasn't much better it was red and looked like her veins were trying to push through. There were dark purple bags under her eyes, a little further away was an apple with a bite taken out of it.

Jay lost his composure and ran towards her, "Do the light thing!" he exclaimed in a panic.

"I can't," Brooke said, "Carlos was right she's completely unconscious, it only worked on Harriet because I could see her eyes."

"What about true loves kiss?" Gil finally spoke up eating a berry off a bush. "I mean that's supposed to always work and since Jay had her ribbon, I'm gonna assume they're close."

They all looked to Jay, "What? No!"

Brooke grabbed his arm to stop him from backing up, "Come on what's the harm?"

He whisper-snapped, "You mean other than the hit to my dignity and emotional state if this doesn't work?" he had winced halfway through the sentence telling Brooke he could care less about his reputation or his dignity, right now he was afraid of Cece not liking him. They hadn't even really established what they were to one another and now he was just supposed to kiss her and hope for the best. Not to mention Cece was the kind of person that would kick him for kissing her in her sleep. "My ribs will also hurt because she'll kick me, and she had platforms on."

Harry looked inside the glass coffin, but Cece's feet were covered, "how can ya tell?"

"Because she always has platforms on."

"Jay come on if anyone can get away with kissing her in her sleep it's you. Not to mention you're the only one of us that it might work for," Carlos pointed out.

Jay sighed and ran a hand down his face, "Fine, fine but can I at least do this alone, so I'll be able salvage some of my pride when it doesn't work."

The boys and CJ cleared out without so much as a word, but Brooke stood beside him for a moment, "I'm just a lost girl, my idea of love is very childish so maybe take what I say with a grain of salt, but whatever you guys have I think it's real, it's true and it's more than enough. But like I said I'm just a lost girl, what does a child know of love?"

"You grew up a princess. You may like to pretend that you spent more time on Neverland than you did but I feel like you're more of a princess then lost girl now Brooke and princesses, they know quite a bit about true love. What you and Carlos have is true love, I don't know if we have that."

She took his arm and made him look at her, "Don't do that, don't compare your love story to ours. No two stories are the same. You're not Carlos, and Cece is not me, your story is gonna look a lot different but that doesn't make it any less powerful. Take your time," she tapped his arm once more and left him to his own devices.

Jay sighed and pulled the glass cover off he knelt beside the coffin and took Cece's hand in his, her pulse was faint and the burns around her mouth were getting worse running down her neck now. The dark circles under her eyes were getting darker and outline of her veins was even more ghastly than before. It was getting worse by the second, "Please let this work."

He leaned down and kissed her; his eyes were clenched shut and his breath stuck in his throat. A pulse of magic spread out around them. Brooke couldn't stop the smirk as she felt it rush past the five of them waiting in a clearing a few hundred feet from them.

He pulled back and Cece took a deep breath. Jay wrapped and arm around her back helping her sit up. She blinked and looked up a Jay confused for a second. The wounds were already rapidly healing but one pesky scar made its home on her jaw line. "Jay?" A smile spread across her face, "You saved me. I knew you'd save me."

"Really? Because I wasn't so sure," he said sheepishly.

She nodded, "You're my knight in shining armor." Knight not prince charming he noticed, something he would greatly appreciate in the coming weeks. He wasn't the prince of this land, and he didn't want to be. She leaned in and quickly kissed him again before holding out her hand so Jay could help her hop out of the coffin that swiftly dissolved as she got up.

Updated: August 13th, 2023