Choosing Life

Chapter Sixty Five

Matt sighed as he made his way through the Isle. Yes, he was technically supposed to stay with his Aunt Yzla but he was big enough to explore the Isle on his own! If Queen Mal ran a gang by the age of seven according to his papa, then he could wander the Isle at the age of four.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best reasoning especially since mentioning Queen Mal always got his mama mad. But his mama couldn't read thoughts...that he knew of. But then again, his mama didn't care what he did. Neither did his mama's cousins. They all cared about his cousins on the Mim side though.

Matt had never met any of his cousins, but he had heard about them. Heard about all the magic they were doing since they were all older than him. Though, as his mama loved to point out, they were all girls. Magic was stronger on the Mim side of the family tree.

I don't know if I want magic if it makes you act like papa and mama, Matt thought as he hopped over a bit of garbage that was in his way. They spend all their time in their spell palace as auntie calls it.

A low growl from a nearby alley broke him from his thoughts and Matt froze as he saw an aged tiger roam out of the shadows.

"Hello man cub," the tiger growled and Matt knew he was face to face with Shere Khan. How could he not? His aunt had told him enough stories about the tiger that he could recognize him on sight.

"Nice...nice kitty," Matt said softly. "Please don't eat me."

"Oh? And why should I refuse fresh meat for myself, my wife and cub when it wanders so willingly into my territory?" Shere Khan asked, the low rumble in his voice causing Matt to shiver unwillingly. He knew his papa would be mad that he showed fear in front of an enemy but Matt couldn't help it.

He was, after all, only four!

Before Shere Khan could do anything, however, he was startled by a plush toy hitting him in the face. To be fair, Matt would have also been startled by a plush raccoon hitting him in the face since the kids of the Isle weren't exactly ones for stuffed toys.

Then again, Matt could only assume that since as had been mentioned, the only kids around his age that were still on the Isle were his cousins and they didn't exactly like spending time with him for him to figure out if they did enjoy stuffed toys.

"Get away from him!"

The young voice gave Matt a bit of hope that it was one of his cousins coming to rescue him, as sort of a 'blood bond' from one of the stories he'd read about in the makeshift library that had been set up...and then abandoned by whoever had been running it.

Not that Matt blamed whoever ran it. A choice between running a library on the Isle where no one seemed to live other than his family, Miss Locklyn, Miss. Shayla, and the crazy pirate crew by the docks as his mama called them, or getting to live in Auradon seemed like not much of a choice to him.

As the young girl stepped out of the shadows, Matt couldn't help the bit of disappointment that followed as he saw that she wasn't one of his cousins. He shoved the disappointment down, though. She could still be a new friend!

"Ah, Godling," Shere Khan said, eyeing the girl almost warily. "I thought all of your kind had vacated the Isle."

"Dad still comes back to make sure the Underworld runs smoothly," the girl said and Matt did his best to keep his surprise off of his face.

He had been rescued by the daughter of Lord Hades? Maybe if he made friends with her, his mama would be proud of him for making such a powerful ally especially after Liam had to leave.

His mama and papa weren't exactly happy with how he handled that.

Matt stared in shock from his spot behind Locklyn as she held Liam in her arms. Though to be fair, she also seemed rather shocked to see the people standing before them.