Straight on Til' Morning; Book 4 of the Love is Weakness(Carlos De Vil) series

Raven is Going to Flip

A girl with black and red hair braided into a ponytail, was led in by Evie. She was wearing a red leather jacket, black studded and fingerless gloves; red slashed leggings; and red leather boots. At her waist was a black leather sheath that held a small hatchet, the weapon of choice for the Princess of Hearts. Around her neck was her red heart pendant with a black flower painted on it. Her eyes, a piercing blue.

"Carlos." She said plainly, greeting him.

"Hartley." He returned, looking down in irritation.

Carlos then turned to Ben,

"This is a terrible idea." He exclaimed, in a lowered voice.

"She wants to help, man. She thinks it'll help her, you know, fight her own demons." Said Ben.

"Raven's going to flip the fuck out!" Countered Carlos.

"That's if Raven even remembers who she is by now." Interjected Hartley's sickly-sweet voice.

Carlos stopped and looked over at her, an angry expression on his face.

Hartley clarified,
"Neverland magic makes you forget. We may have a hard time getting her to come back, provided we find her at all."

"Hey, Princess." Harry cooed in a friendly voice, placing his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, Harry. Where have you been?" She asked her old crew mate, with a hint of amusement.

"Oh, never far." He quipped, with a smirk.

Tootles, then landed on Hartley's shoulder and began playfully and softly nipping her face.

"Oh, who's this? He's so sweet." She expressed.

"That thing, sweet?" Cried Jay, "It frigging hates us!"

"This may sound crazy, but I think that owl's a villain." Doug stated, warily.

"Alright, everyone is coming." Mal decreed, "Let's get everything we need."

"Dude, did you pick up a scent?" Asked Carlos, still reeling from the events of the day.

"Yeah. Lilies, and honey. It's faint... but it's there." Replied Dude, lifting his nose up towards the trees, "I see small specks of pixie dust on the leaves up there. I think they flew away with her."

"How did I not see them grab her?" Carlos mused, out loud.

"Shadow magic." Interjected Hartley.

"The--what now?" Carlos groaned, impatiently.

"Pan can remove his shadow, and use it to collect things... and people." Hartley explained.

"How do you know so much about Neverland?" Asked Doug.

"Well... I once knew a smart little boy," Hartley began explaining, directing her eyes briefly toward Carlos, "And he would collect books for me, wherever he could find them. He'd trade things for them, or steal them. I particularly liked the one he found on magic. It went into different potential magic from each domain. I probably read it a hundred times."

Doug looked at Carlos, understanding setting in.

Carlos raised his eyebrows, and his mouth had formed a thin line; but he kept his head down.

The group walked tediously, and the journey was torture. None knew where they were going, and Dude was beginning to get very tired. Eventually Doug came up with a plan.

"Mal, does your spell book have anything in it about location spells? "

"I think I saw one, a long time ago. Let me see." Said the future queen, pulling out her green, purple, and gold book that once belonged to Maleficent.

Ben looked at her incredulously.

"I know. I know. I shouldn't have stolen it from the museum, but I mean... all hands-on deck, right?" She defended.

Ben chuckled and pulled her in for a kiss. Mal's eyebrows went up in surprise.

"Still can't take the Isle out of the girl." Ben mused, lovingly. "You know... as the future queen, you could have just asked for it."

Mal wrinkled her brow.

"That honestly never even occurred to me..." Mal replied, sheepishly. "Old habits die hard, I guess."

Evie and Jay chuckled and shook their heads.

"Okay, I think I can do this with the stuff I have. I just need some herbs; and oil, and...Oh! I need something of hers." Said Mal.

"Harry?" Challenged Carlos, expectantly.

Harry grimaced, crossing his arms.

"Give it up, man." Carlos demanded plainly, holding out his palm.

Harry handed over Raven's necklace, begrudgingly.

"The search has gone on to turn bleak, help us find the one we seek." Mal recited.

The necklace began to glow a bright gold. It hovered in the air, on it's own, like a beacon pointing the way.

"There. Now we just follow it, and it should lead us to Raven." Explained Mal.

Many, many, hours passed as the group trudged north, and soon they would be near Sherwood Forrest. Carlos and the others were hoping to find answers there. The group had taken a series of breaks, but decided that now was the time to rest, much to Carlos' dismay. They voted to set-up camp for the night.

"Are you going to be alright?" Doug asked Evie when they were alone, sitting by the campfire that Jay had built.

"Why? Because we're camping?" She chuckled, "Listen, I know that I'm a princess, and I like my comfort and my fabulous things... but my roots are on the Isle. You think I never slept on the ground, or went cold or hungry?"

"I hate thinking of you going through that." Doug expressed, sadly.

"She's tougher than you think, man." Jay interjected, approaching the campfire. "This pretty little princess here...was one of the most bad-ass villain girls on the Isle. I wouldn't even cross her..."

Evie scolded Jay with her eyes, before turning back to Doug, afraid to see his reaction to her past self.

But, Doug simply gazed upon his girlfriend with love and pride, causing Evie to chuckle awkwardly in relief.

Little by little each member of the search party retired to their tents.