A Fox Surrounded in Darkness (Twisted Wonderland x Encanto f!reader)

Chapter 64

Your Pov...

⦓Harveston- Outside the Assembly Hall⦔

"Welcome back, everybody!" Mrs. Marja greets us as we return to the assembly hall.

"Thanks, Meemaw," Epel smiles at his grandma. "Were ya waitin' for us out here?"

"Ah had half a mind to pop on over to Kokko Market to let y'all know I was done," Mrs. Marja admits.

"Ooh, lemme see," Epel exclaims.

"Sure thing, chicken wing," Mrs. Marja agrees. "But ya can't just stand out here in the cold! All of y'all come inside and-"

"Well, if it ain't Marja and Epel!" A man comes out of the assembly hall as Mrs. Marja opened the door. "Howdy!"

"Howdy, Mayor," Epel greets the man. "Nice to see ya!"

"Whoops, don't wanna leave your Night Raven College friends outta the conversation now," the mayor looks at the rest of us. "Hello, everyone, and welcome to Harveston."

"Hello, sir," we all greet the man.

"It's nice of him to take the time to speak more clearly for our benefit," Sebek whispers.

"I suppose a mayor does get used to that after interacting with people from other regions," Jade whispers back.

"It's good to see you back in town, Epel," the mayor turns his attention back to Epel. "Are you joining the sledathon?"

"Yessir," Epel confirms, proudly. "The rest of my team hasn't done the race before, so we're just doing it for fun. Your team won three years in a row, so I doubt we'd beat you, but we'll have a good time anyway!"

"Three times in a row?" I was surprised. "He's that good?!"

"Actually, something's come up..." the mayor sighs. "I just got word that one of my teammates got injured."

"What?!" Epel was shocked. "How! Did they take a spill during sledding practice?"

"He slipped on an apple peel," the mayor states.

"...What," Epel was taken aback.

"He was eating an apple during his work break and wound up slipping on his own peel," the mayor explains.

"That's not as cool as I wanted it to be," Epel frowns.

"That is a weird way to get hurt," I try to cover up my laugh.

"I've heard of slipping on a banana peel, but never an apple peel," Sebek comments.

"That's Harveston, I suppose," Jade shrugs.

"I thought the sledathon winners were supposed to be blessed with good luck," Idia was confused.

"Anyway, long story short, we can't participate in the race this year," the mayor says.

"WHAT IN TARNATION?!" Mrs. Marja exclaims.

"I know we're going to disappoint the townsfolk, and I'm very sorry about that..." the mayor sighs.

"Well, there's nothing you can do about an injury," Epel shakes his head in disappointment. "We'll do our best to place as high as we can..."

"THAT AIN'T GONNA CUT IT!" Mrs. Marja shouts, shocking all of us. "'As high as you can'?! Ah don't think so! It's first place or nothin', bub!"

"First place?!" Epel repeats in exasperated disbelief. "You seriously can't expect that..."

"Our goal post has just shifted considerably..." Jade grins.