Break This Down [D3]

2 - Royal Meeting

"Hey, hey." I heard as I came to. I locked eyes with Carlos and smiled softly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am now." I nodded, struggling to sit up. Carlos helped me up slowly, watching me carefully. Once I was sitting up, I punched his shoulder harshly.

"Ow!" He yelped.

"I told you guys to be careful!" I snapped. "You know what the opposite of careful is? Nearly letting Hades off the Isle."

"Mal got him back behind the barrier, it's okay now." Carlos said, rubbing his shoulder. "You pack a wicked punch."

"Yeah," I nodded with a glare. "Where's Ben? He needs to know that fact."

"He and Mal are headed to his castle." Carlos answered. "Beast is calling a meeting tomorrow, he wants you there."

"Did Doug carry me all the way to Evie's?" I asked, looking around the room at Carlos's belongings.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I was just as surprised as you are."

"Well," I sighed, getting off of Carlos' bed. "I supposed I should get some things together and head over to Ben's."

"I'll go with you." He offered.

"No," I shook my head. "You have VK's to look after."

"Right." He sighed. I walked out of Carlos's room and into Evie's, grabbing my already packed duffle bag from her closet. As I walked out of Evie's room, a girl about the age of 12 stopped me, fanning out some tarot cards.

"I'm Celia." She introduced with a smirk. "Pick a card."

I grabbed one and handed it back to her. She piled up her cards before taking mine in her hand. She placed a hand above it and smirked again, flipping it to show me my card.

"You're in for a wild ride." She laughed. I furrowed my eyebrows at the journey card, wondering what she was talking about. She held her empty hand palm up, looking at me with an adorable smile.

"I think I like you." I nodded, handing her some money. She counted it with wide eyes.

"I think I like you, too." She smiled. I wrapped an arm around her and walked her downstairs.

"Ozzy?" I turned and met Dizzy's eyes. She squealed and launched herself at me, hugging me tightly. "It's so good to finally meet you! I love your hair."

"It's nice to meet you too." I wheezed. "And thank you."

"You better go before it gets too late, O." Evie chimed, peeking her head out of her sewing room.

"I'm trying." I said, wiggling out of Dizzy's arms. Before I could get too far, I ran into two identical boys. "You two must be Squeaky and Squirmy."

The two boys smiled at me widely, and I returned their smiles. I pat their heads and turned around to face Carlos.

"Can we keep them?" I asked. Squeaky and Squirmy hugged my legs and pouted at Carlos.

"I don't think I like how much they like you." Carlos said, shifting his weight. I pat the twins' heads again before shuffling to the door.

"Well, I like them." I announced. "So we have to keep them."

"Ben's!" Evie yelled, throwing a pillow at me.

"I'm going!" I huffed. "Such a mom."

"Go before she throws something more solid." Doug warned.

"See you guys soon."

--------

"I think we all know why we're here." Adam started the meeting off. I adjusted my blue dress as I glared at a clueless Ben. He shrugged at his father, and I glared harder. "The people are in a panic about Hades. He almost got out."

Ben laughed and turned his head away from his dad, irritating me.

"Who knows what he would've done if he had escaped." Fairy Godmother chimed.

"We can't risk having another villain on the loose." Adam pressed.

"I really feel like this is my fault." Mal said. "I'm supposed to protect Auradon."

"You did." Ben comforted, grabbing Mal. "You do protect Auradon."

"Every time we open the barrier, we're exposed to danger." I stated.

"Maleficent, Uma, Hades." Adam listed. Ben was about to retort, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. He turned around, read the text he received, and his shoulders dropped.

"Maleficent's scepter and the queen's crown have been stolen." Ben informed, turning around.

"Uma!" Adam insisted.

"We don't know that, dad." Ben defended.

"When the people hear this, they won't want to leave their houses." Belle said. "What do we tell them? Mal... What do we do? How do we keep evil out of Auradon?"

"I think that there's only... one way to guarantee their safety." Mal started. "And, I think that there can't be anymore going in and out. I think that we have to close the barrier... forever."

Adam, Belle, and Fairy Godmother nodded, agreeing with Mal's plan. Ben looked to me and I slowly nodded.

"I don't like that idea, but I think it's the best bet at keeping Auradon safe." I said.

"No." Ben denied, walking into another room.

"Son." Adam called.

"No." Ben shook his head.

"Ben." Mal followed after him and I sighed.

"All those kids..." I trailed off. "They don't deserve to be stuck on that island."

"Son." Adam called, walking toward Ben and Mal. "Mal's right."

"I just don't think that we would forgive ourselves if something terrible happened." Mal concluded. I excused myself from the meeting, walking out to the beach beside the castle. My eyes scanned the calm waters, searching for any sign of the daughter of Ursula. With this new development of Maleficent's scepter and the queen's crown being stolen, I couldn't help but have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. After all, the main focus of the royal guard was to find and capture Uma, and since the night of Cotillion, no one has seen her.

I blinked, letting the thoughts of Uma leave my head. I took a breath and turned on my heel, heading back to Ben's castle. I gathered my things and started the long, but absolutely needed- walk back to Evie's.