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Chapter Text

Right before the establishment of the United States of Auradon, King Beast and Fairy Godmother created the Isle of the Lost and the Barrier around it.They caught all the major villains and imprisoned them inside.
Their sidekicks couldn’t be left to roam free, of course, and some of them even went with their masters voluntarily.
The minor villains followed soon after.
Common thieves, charlatans, swindlers or prostitutes couldn’t be tolerated in Auradon either.
Then the unconforming and unsavoury.
And finally, the magic users and supernatural creatures who refused to forsake their gifts and heritage.

The Isle was full and Auradon was safe.

The villains were locked up tight, harmless without their magic. And as a treat, they were given immortality. A sentence for life with no mercy at all?
Please.
True punishment lasts an eternity.

But „immortal“ doesn’t mean „young till the end of times“.

And that’s the last straw that will break the villains minds.
Because they would rather die than spend an eternity withering and getting old.

One day, the Evil queen sees wrinkles when she glances into her mirror. Her heart flutters in her chest – this is not possible. This cannot be happening. She is the fairest of them all, the most beautiful person on this godamned Isle-
She storms out of her decaying castle for the first time in years. She doesn’t care for Maleficent’s ire anymore, her beauty is at hold! She slips on her best robe, that one that hides her in the shadows so well it seems she never even existed, the cape falling deep into her face.
She doesn’t spare a glance for her young daughter.

Age spots appear on Mother Gothel hands. She screams and screams and screams, for all of the Isle to hear. Her tiny daughter, barely understanding what is happening, silently cries in the corner. She doesn’t want her mother to scream; why is she so angry? Is it something Ginny did?
But Mother Gothel doesn’t stop screaming.
Maybe that gut wrenching sound is what attracts the Evil Queen to Mother Gothel’s door: Alike to alike, a crow to a crow.
Just as a moth seeks light on a suicidal mission, those two seek their beauty.
Neither of them cares for little Ginny still shaking in the corner.

Cruella de Vil finds a white hair, in the part of her hairdo that was supposed to be black as night. Black as her heart, small as it may be.
Her blind fury leaves Hell Hall in debris and her son bloody.
Maybe his blood will restore her lost youth? Maybe the blood of a maiden, or that of a descendant of the Gods?
She rides out in her car.
She will find someone who can give her her beauty back.

Maleficent is experiencing the horrors of being human for the first time. Her back aches constantly, her knees refuse to cooperate. The migraines stick with her like a pitch. Maybe that’s because there is no nature on the Isle? No wildlife, not a single tree?
She misses her wings.
But the worst thing is that she is still a fae. She cannot stand the touch of iron, she cannot lie. She can’t even tell her daughter what is happening without freaking her out beyond repair.
She wonders if her daughter is fae, too. But then, she doesn’t care enough to find out. That girl will have to prove herself, sooner or later. Every child carrying the blood of the dragon does.
She has to get out of here.

Ursula’s tentacles are cramping. Again. And the worst thing is that she can’t even change to her human form. Not while she is under the barrier, not while her very core is collapsing on itself every time she tries to do so.
Not while she is in danger of vanishing, because the prayers of mortals don’t reach her on the Isle.
She pounds the water, harder and harder, and the waves shake the boats and flood the port.
Good. Now they’ll know she is here and they’ll know her name.

Gaston’s muscles are atrophying and he would sell his soul to stop it. Or the souls of his children.
He’s lucky, really, that he lives near several beings who are more than happy to accept such payment.

Yzma’s years are catching up on her. She is not happy, and when she is not happy, bad things happen. She meets Cruella de Vill and is thrilled to join her in her mad race against time itself.

And Captain Hook discovers with terror that the Isle kids are now in the age of Peter Pan. Including his beautiful daughters and his son and heir. Sometimes, he can’t recognize them, and it’s driving him mad.
He has to get out of there, away from his kids.
Before he tries to kill them.

In less than a year, the villains break the barrier and flee the Isle.
They leave their kids behind.
And the children don’t mind it very much.

Chapter Text

When the day of the departure comes, the villains are ready. They’ve spent year and day in mad search for something, anything, to breach the Barrier. They’ve even joined forces with each other to do so, can you believe it?
They’ve cooperated for a year and a day and they’ll be so happy to never see each other again. They’re the villains, the lone wolves and the threats waiting in the shadows.
Soon, they’ll have their Nevermore.
But first, they have to shake off the annoying, filthy and loud beings that are apparently their kids.
No big deal, right?
Oh, Evil…

Maleficent watches as the girl cries, her nose wrinkled in disgust. This child is supposed to be the blood of dragon, the descendant of the fair folk? Maybe her child is not fae after all.
She crouches down to her level anyway.
„Listen, you ungrateful child,“ she says, „This is a chance to prove yourself! If you can escape from this prison, I’ll know that I was right to claim you as mine! If you can break free, I’ll know that you deserve the mark on your arm. You’ll make me proud. Do you understand?“
The child wipes it’s tears and nods. Maleficent puts her hand on it’s – her – shoulder.
„Prove that you are the blood of the Dragon, my child. Have fun, be bad, and make your Maman proud.“
She strokes her daughter's hair in a carefree motion. She is not crying anymore. Good.
But before Maleficent leaves, she gives her daughter two more gifts:
She reveals her her full fae name, with a warning: No one else may know your true name, child! Remember that!
And she leaves her her old spellbook. She has it memorized, anyway.

The Evil Queen leaves her daughter without much fussing: It’s unladylike, anyway. And besides, no one is stealing the title of the fairest of them all, not even her daughter! She takes her mirror with her, it’s her most prized possession, and it doesn’t work under the Barrier anyway.
But she doesn’t leave the young princess empty-handed: She leaves her her very own make-up kit and a collection of old, dusty tomes full of knowledge long forbidden outside the barrier.
„Because,“ she says, „Good looks are not a lady's only weapon. Few clever words or a well-chosen spell may do the work as easily as your sweetest smile. Remember that, my child,“ she adds, as she packs the last of her robes, „And make something of yourself. You are royal, meine kleine Prinzessin, you are better than those common brats running around the streets. Oh, and a sharp dagger won’t go amiss either!“
Evie nods, engraving each world to memory: She will be beautiful and she will be smart. When she hits, she won’t miss.
When the Evil Queen leaves, Evie sits back with perfect posture, a sweet smile on her lips and not a single tear. She taught her well.

Before Gaston departs to the port, he visits Ursula with his oldest son in tow. He is the payment the sea witch has requested for her service. Gaston doesn’t care what happens next. He doesn’t say goodbye to either of his children, and the boys don’t wish him farewell either. They are busy crying in the arms of their Mother and their uncle LeFou.
Gaston doesn’t care for their tears, nor for the pleas of his wife and oldest friend. The adults are leaving and the children are not; the children should stay here, where they know it best. Is it too hard to understand?

Before Ursula leaves, she gifts her daughter her first follower and worshiper.
She considered taking her daughter with her for a while, she really did, but the girl has no gills nor tentacles. Only two useless, human legs. She would die in the depths of the ocean, surely.
It is only for her own good, really, to stay here, on the Isle, under the Barrier. Better half a life than death. Ursula can’t be bothered to care for offspring too weak to withstand the ocean anyway.
So she leaves her daughter with the Gaston’s boy on the Isle.
„Use him well,“ she says to her daughter, „And remember your name. Don’t let the others forget who you are, for you are descendant of the Gods and the sea. Don’t make me regret giving life to you.“
She slides into the water without a glance backwards, feeling the cold water all over her body. Soon, she will be free. Soon.

Cruella de Vill tries to take her son with her, because who else would fluff her furs and wash her car and mop the floors? Do the laundry, dust her collection of fashion awards? Jasper and Horace? Those two idiots? Please.
But that runt hid himself too well, she must acknowledge after hours of screaming, whistling and turning the remains of Hell Hall to ruins. That mutt doesn’t know what is good for him, she thinks, and besides, she can just make another child to do the dirty work for her.
Or steal it, that may be easier.
But she will concern herself with that when she is out.
For now, she settles for forcing Jasper and Horace to leave their kids on the Isle, too.
If she can’t have her child, no one can have theirs!

Judge Frollo hands his daughter a Bible before he leaves her. „Read, my child, and pray,“ he preaches as if he is still in the church and not on the Isle of the Lost.
„Pray, and one day you may be forgiven.“
For surely, she must be a sinner after a life here. After a life surrounded by villains, supernatural creatures and cheap women.
Renunciation and praying will soon purge her from her sin.
Only then will her soul be free.
And so he leaves.

Captain Hook doesn’t try to take his children with him, but he won’t leave them empty-handed. He may be a pirate, but he is an Enghlishman, and he has his standards. He designates three ships from his fleet to be left on the Isle. His children watch as he does so, looking at him and his men somewhat suspiciously. He doesn’t blame them, but that doesn’t mean he is pleased by that.
But they don’t look angry or afraid. Only determined to fight and survive.
That will be good for them.
He gives Lost revenge to his son and heir. It’s the fastest ship in his fleet, just after Jolly Roger. (He can’t take Harry with him, because the boy still looks like Peter Pan. He is afraid that he might accidentally kill him in a fit of rage or panic.) So instead, he gifts him a ship and a hook. A home and a weapon.
He designates another ship for his oldest, a ship that is promptly renamed Red Temptress by the overjoyed girl. Harriet doesn’t protest being left on the Isle, and he doesn’t inquire why. Because half of the pirates still believe that a woman on a ship is a bad omen. So he leaves his daughter here and gifts her a compass to guide her, should she ever find herself at the sea.
The ship for his youngest remains unnamed. But he leaves CJ behind anyway, because she looks even more like Peter Pan than her brother ever did, and because one day, she will be a woman too. His last gift for her is a telescope from fine gold that will show her the world.
Now he has work to do, men to command, fleet to prepare and major villains to argue with.
What a joy.

The Huns of Shan Yu’s army leave their kids behind willingly. They have no desire to take their untrained little ones to a war they may not survive.

Prince Hans leaves his children, because he won’t need heirs if he isn’t ever going to die. And his sons are just bastards, anyway…
So he leaves them with those parting words: „That is the world, cruel and unjust. And if you expected something else, well, then you need to grow up.“
But he stops in between the doors, guilt and doubts sneaking upon him momentarily. He shakes them off quickly, though he does wish his children good luck before he leaves.

Lady Tremaine actually tries to take all her children and grandchildren with her, but when her daughters show up on the meeting point without their babies?
Her patience runs thin.
She handed them a life of riches and prosperous marriage options on a silver platter, and what do they do? Destroy all her hard work? Ignore her wishes, leave her grandchildren on the Isle of the Lost?
Well, if that is their wish…
In a majestic shouting match, which leaves several villains nerby nearly trembling, she sends her daughters back to the decaying Tremaine manor.
She is not too old yet, and she can secure a much better life for herself without dragging two frankly useless old maidens like deadweight.
To think, neither of them managed to secure a match with a disgraced prince or a powerful sorcerer-!
The Tremaine sisters are the only adults left on the Isle.
They don’t leave their manor, ever.

Other parents just don’t care for their children at all, Mother Gothel lead among them. She never wanted children, and can’t wait to never see another loud, smelly baby human again. She will be better on her own.

As for some of the more lonesome villains… Well, there is no „Team“ in „I“.

In the end, only two children board the fleet: Dr Facilier’s little daughters, Celia and Freddie.
„How dare you propose I part from my girls and leave them in this hellhole, you mad woman!“ he yells into the surprised face of Cruella de Vil.
„Don’t worry, my little princesses, daddy won’t leave you here,“ he whispers into his daughter's ears. They believe him, and they grip his hands tightly. The shadows of the crowd float around them, thick like honey.
„Don’t look at my daughters like that,“ the Shadowman snaps at a pirate who mutters something about „double bad luck“, „Or you’ll find a fate much worse than death once we cross the Barrier.“
No one dares to argue with him after that.
And so, Celia and Freddie wave goodbye to the place they grew up in and everyone they knew. Dr. Faciler tries not to think about that aspect of leaving very much.

Moments later, the adult villains and two little girls break their way through the Barrier. And just as the last ship sails through, just as the last siren swims into the free ocean, the invisible force snaps back in place again.

The villains are free and their descendants are left to roam the Isle of the Lost.

Chapter Text

--- Uma Triskelion ---

„So… I’m yours now, right?“ asks the boy, seemingly uncertain with himself. Which is weird, because he has just watched his father sell him to the old sea witch, and the sea witch gift him to her daughter.
To Uma.

„Yeah,“ Uma answers, and then she says it once more, in case the boy needs to hear it one more time. He doesn’t look very bright, after all. „Yeah, I guess you are.“ A smile appears on her lips with those words, that thought. She repeats it one more time, more for herself than for him. „You are mine.“
She likes that sound.

Because he is hers now: It feels almost like having a friend. Either way, he is a part of her gang now. Or a crew, maybe. Hers to protect and to order around a bit, maybe. They're gonna have fun.

„And my Dad is not coming back?“

She doesn’t deem that question worthy of an answer, so she just huffs.

„Your Ma isn’t either?“

„Nope.“

She has watched Ursula’s tentacles slide under the surface and then again, as she slipped under the glittering dome of the Barrier. Never to be seen again.
Uma sure hopes her dear Ma isn’t coming back.

The same goes for most of the adults from the Isle, really. They are rude and loud and smelly. They keep demanding bigger portions and better food and they can’t keep their hands to themselves. They spill their drinks on the table, and when they get drunk, they fight and she has to clean up their blood.
She is happy to see them gone.
But is the boy? Her boy? He seemed upset. What is his name?

„What's your name?“ she asks, because names are important. They have power, her Mama said.

„I’m Gil,“ says the boy, „Gil LeGume, son of Gaston.“ He plays with his hands nervously, notes Uma. Why is he nervous? He has nothing to fear now, the adults are gone! They are free, as free as they can be!

„Gil,” she mutters, trying to etch his name into her memory. „Gil.“ She omits his surname and the name of his father. She makes sure he notices that.
He doesn’t belong to his father anymore.

„What are we going to do now?“ asks Gil. He looks at her as if she knows the answer, as if she knows what to do. It makes her feel good, but it also scares her a little. She swallows that unwelcome feeling. „Now we wait for Harry,“ she grins at him, „Would you like something to eat while we wait?“

Gil nods eagerly, but then he stops. „Harry Hook?“ he asks.
„The one and only,“ Uma's smile grows wider, „Heard of him already?“
„Yeah. Dad said to keep away from him, he did. Said he’s wild she-devil’s spawn that will only drag me to the depths of sin and sea to kill me and keep my soul.“
Uh. Uma didn’t know that Gaston was capable of using such a big words. Besides, he did also sell his son for a bit of makeover from her Ma…
He’s a hypocrite.
Her smile falters for a bit, but then it returns with dangerous intensity.
„Well, your Dad isn’t here anymore, is he?“
Gil shakes his head: He is not.
„Then what does his opinion matter to you?“

Uma watches as the boy struggles to find the right words. But when he finally does, she is satisfied: „It does not. Your does.“
She likes him already.
„Would you like the food now?“
„Yes.“ She practically hears the „please“ in his voice.

……….

--- Harry Hook ---

Harry Hook stands on the pier, observing the seemingly solid Barrier his father has just sailed through. He cocks his head to the side just a bit: is it really solid? Could he touch it? If so, how does it feel? Did it hurt to go through it? Does the air taste different on the other side?

He feels a hand in his hair, ruffling it.
„Hey!“ he screams as he tries to correct his hairstyle. (It’s a lost battle.)
„Well, little brother?“ asks Harriet Hook, „We have made our choice, haven’t we?“
They had. Their father doesn’t know, but they choose to stay here.

Sometimes, Harry thinks he truly is mad, just like his father is. Sometimes, he thinks that Harriet and CJ are, too. Other times, he knows it. Because why else would they choose to stay here?

Harriet glances into the distance, too, and clasps CJ’s hand, so she doesn't fall down the pier.

„Remind me, why?“

Harriet, of course, doesn’t answer. He didn’t expect her to do so. He knows his reasons – reason, a young sea witch with sharp tongue and sharper smile called Uma – and he knows his father’s reasons too.
He knows that he looks like Peter Pan to him, that probably every Isle child does at this point.
They all know that there would be nothing waiting for them aboard their fathers fleet but pain and fear. Probably also a pretty bit of nasty work that would otherwise go to slaves and captives. Not to mention what could meet the other children…
(There is a reason why none of the port kids and young pirates tried to sneak onboard. They could have done so easily, but would it be worth it? So instead, they decided to stay on the Isle, in the port with him, Harriet, CJ and Uma.)
He shudders at the image of young pirates slaving away Cinderella style.

„Because now the port is ours.“
It is CJ who answers his question, her voice clear like a bell that chimes midnight. Girl sure has her priorities in order.
„It indeed is, starfish,“ he says, tearing his eyes off the horizont and looking at his little sister. „Now the question is, what will we do with it?“

„Well,“ interjects Harriet dryly, „I, for one, think that we should secure our ships before it’s too late.“

Harry curses. She is right. But he has no crew yet, what is he supposed to do?
He takes out his hook and looks around frantically – what is he supposed to do?

„Easy, Harry. I’ll talk you through it. And you too, CJ. For the right prize, of course!“ Harriet pretends to think hard while Harry frowns at her. „I know!“ she snaps her fingers and smiles brightly, „You should call me Your Majesty Supreme Ruler Of the Port And The Best Captain Ever for a week!“
Harry sticks out his tongue and CJ mimics his gesture.
„Or should it be two?“ says Harriet with fake concern.
They are quick to accept her terms after that.
„Great! Now race me to the Red Temptress!“ she shouts and they run, their wild laughter ringing in the air.

………

--- Evie Grimhilde ---

„You can come out,“ she whispers to the closet, „She is gone now.“

„Is she really?“ whispers the boy who is hiding there and he sounds like he doubts her. But why would he think that? Has she ever lied to him before? She doesn’t remember ever having an actual conversation with him.
„Yeah. One million percent gone. Watched her cross the Barrier few minutes ago.“

A face peers through a slit in the door: „You can’t have a million percent. Just a hundert, that's a maximum. Mama said that and she knows her math.“

Well, if that’s what makes him talk… „How do you know your Mama ain’t lying? Meine Mutti says your Mama has lost her marbles long time ago.“
He sends her a weird look.
„It was also written in a book. From Auradon, you know. It gotta be right.“
She notices that he doesn’t defend his mother’s sanity, and she tries to give him an encouraging smile. Cruella is not here anymore.

But... he has a book? A textbook? An actual textbook from Auradon?

„...Can I have a look at your textbook?“ she asks, hope shining brightly in her voice.

„And can I stay at your place?“ the kid shoots back. He has some confidence in him. She looks at his thin face and dark, sunken eyes. He is biting his lower lip, forcing himself to look at her. His black-and-white curls are blocking his sight partially.
She turns towards the window, the one with a view at Hell Hall. Or rather what is left from it. It is not a happy view at all.

„Don’t worry,“ says the boy, as he notices what is she looking at, „I keep my stuff hidden elsewhere. I may be my mother’s son, but I’m not crazy in that way.“

That settles the deal.

„You may stay,“ she allows, „But you gotta help me with keeping this place running. We gotta live from something other than pure air and good looks, you know?“ Because as the boy crawls out, she notices that he is quite cute, under all that blood and filth.

She sticks her hand out to him and he takes it cautiously.
„I’m Evie Grimhilde von Schwarzwald,“ she says, „Your new ally.“
„I’m Carlos de Vil and it’s a deal,“ he answers.

Great!

Now she will need to treat his wounds before her new ally catches some nasty infection and dies of it!
With some luck, she won’t have to do so for a while again, now that Cruella is gone.

She remembers the screams she used to hear from across the street. If only that gave her nightmares, what did it do to Carlos? She swears to take good care of him, better than his mother did, anyway.

She may as well start right now. And as she works, Carlos studies her actions the entire time, occasionally even asking questions about it. She is happy to answer him.

She has a feeling that this will be a happy cooperation.

--- Mal of Moors ---

Mal sits at the railing of the balcony of her mothers place, the tears long dried from her face. She has her mother’s spellbook in her hands – no, it is hers now. Only hers. She won’t let anyone else have it, she needs it-
Because her mother told her to get out of here.

Her mother told her her true name and dared her to escape this prison. To make her Maman proud.
Mal has every intention of doing exactly that, even if she has no idea how. Not yet anyway. But she has time, loads of it in fact, now that the adults are gone. She has all the time in the world.

She repeats her true name over and over again in her mind, the few syllables of immense power taking over everything else in her brain. She imagines how it sounded when her mother said it: A beautiful, rich sound that made her heart flutter and her breath stop. It carried darkness and light, nature and wildness and chaos and destruction and resurrection, like any true Unseelie name does. It was beautiful and it was hers.
She fell in love with that sound.

„Mal?“ The sound of the nickname is as dull as Jay’s steps behind her. Careful, lifeless, not nearly real enough.
But when she turns around, her oldest and truest ally is there.

Huh. She will have to reevaluate her sense of reality, it seems, after the experience of hearing her name for the first name ever and seeing her mother leave the Isle soon after that.

„What’s up?“ She asks as she flicks her hair around. She has to do it, because there is no wind on the Isle to do the effect for her, nor raging whirlwind nor a gentle breeze. It sucks.

Jay answers her after a short pause: „Eh, nothing. I’m just kidna bored, so I came to visit you.“
It is clear, then. He has no idea what to do with his life without Jafar ordering him around. (Not that she is so much better off. But she wouldn’t admit that. Well, neither does he…)
„But you look as if your bees have flown away.“

„I have no bees.“
He sticks his tongue at her and she sticks hers back. She watches as he takes a seat besides her, his feet dangling in the air.
„Fine, you moron. You win. I’m upset, a little bit angry and a lot hungry. You satisfied?“

„...That just sounds like your regular personality.“ She punches him into the shoulder.

They sit for a while, absorbing the strange stillness of the Isle without any adults on it, the strange emptiness that has so suddenly appeared in their lives. Mal has a feeling that if she called out, no one would answer. So empty is the market.

They spit down a bit, but it is no fun with no one around to spit on.
Eventually, they leave: There is bound to be some real good food left, right?
They couldn’t have taken it all, surely, there simply wasn’t enough room on the fleet.
But even if they did manage that... There is a supply run scheduled not in three days. They have survived worse.

Chapter Text

--- Celia Facilier ---

Celia turns to face the Isle, or rather, the Barrier, as the Isle itself is obscured by it. Hidden completely, utterly disguised.
It looks as if her home of nine years has never existed.

The place looks empty and dead.

And yet, it is full of children she has known her entire life:
Dizzy Tremaine, who would do her hair and let her practice her fortune telling in return.
Her cousin Anthony, who has once stolen her backpack, but gave it back once his grandma has scolded him for behaviour unworthy of future lord.
Harry Hook, the slightly crazy pirate boy who used to nick pennies from Dizzy's shop and push Freddie around.
His sisters, CJ, Freddie's accomplice in mischief of all kinds, and Harriet, who could fight off grown men and sing the little ones to sleep just as easily.
Uma, who would feed them leftovers from her mother's restaurant and then laugh while Harry pushed them and spooked them. (She found it hilarious.)
The mysterious, blue-haired girl who never left her castle as long as Celia remembered.
Carlos de Vil, who would silently point her to the right formula when she was lost.
Jay, the thief who has pickpocketed from her father more than once.
Mal, daughter of Maleficent, with her mean pranks and meaner smile.
Claudine Frollo, Ginny Gothel, Sammy Smee and their twin brothers, Luca and Marigold and Desiree and Nera and Sisi and Yzla and Zevon and Jones and Belladonna…

So many names.
So many children.
Lost souls of the Isle of the Lost.

She won't forget them.
She won't.

She will remember them.
And she will get them out.

Freddie joins her by the rail.
„I miss them already,“ whispers her sister, „Do you?“
„Yeah,“ she can't say more, because she may break into tears otherwise, and one does not cry on the Isle.
„I wish CJ and Zevon could be with me right now,“ continues Freddie quietly. Because one of the adults may hear her otherwise.
And then they may be tempted to harm them despite Shadowman's threats and Celia has no desire to find herself in the water below.
Even if it is so much clearer than the sea on the Isle. She wonders how much would Uma and the siren children love this ocean, so full of life and colour.
But she can't swim, so she keeps quiet.

„Don't worry,“ she only mouths those words, „We will get them out. I swear, I promise. They won't be trapped forever.“
Her sister moves her lips in silent „I swear“, too.
The shadows around them move in unison. Just for a moment, there is a strange smell in the air: Fresh graveyard dirt, sweet honey and a hint of cinnamon. Celia hears an echo of haunting laugh in her ears.

She shakes her head and the sensations disappear.
Moments later, the Shadowman joins his daughters, shielding them with his body from the crowd and it's shadows alike. Both girls lean into the familiar, warm shape of his body. Their Daddy is here, and so everything will be alright.

Celia locks the thoughts of the Lost children in the back of her head. But just as she swore, she doesn't forget them. Ever.

It seems that this time around, the Faciliers won't be the only ones with friends on the other side.

--- Uma Triskelion ---

„Uma, Uma, we have a ship!“ he shouts as he runs into the Chipp Shoppe. His hook is wildly swinging around and it costs Uma a great deal of self-control not to flinch away from it.
„Come look at it, it's beautiful!“ Still, she can't help but grin wildly at his excitement.

She hops down from her stool to greet him, and also to stop him from ruining her restaurant with his hook. But he freezes before she can get to him. A whirlwind of expressions breezes through his face and in a moment, he positions himself between Uma and Gil, showing the point of his weapon in front of the other boy's face. She watches as Gil frowns.

And she must smile at Harry's attitude.

„Who is that?“ her crazy pirate – Is Harry hers? – asks. He looks at her for an answer, but he doesn't remove his weapon from Gil's face.

„That's just Gil, Harry, chill,“ she says, „and you are not allowed to hook him. He is mine,“ she adds after a moment of consideration. Better safe than sorry, right?
Both boys frown at that. Gil, she suspects, because he has just been faced with a very real possibility of being hooked alive by the unhinged pirate.
And Harry because he was just denied that possibility.

Harry pouts at her:„Not even if he tries to harm you? Or he steals from us?“ But he puts his hook down, even if he looks heartbroken by that. Uma thinks about it for a while: There is a chance that Gil may try that, even if he doesn’t look like it. Appearances are deceptive and voices can lie. She has only known him for an afternoon, after all.

„Fine,“ she allows, „You are allowed to hook him if he tries that. But you have to ask me first.“ Because Gil is hers, and not even Harry can harm what is hers.
„As you command.“
That’s it. Harry is crazy.
But does she care?
„And Gil won’t try anything, will you, Gil?“ Uma turns to him. He is shaking his head so hard it practically falls off. Her laughter resonates through the restaurant.
Harry moves to her side. He still watches the bigger boy as a prey, no, not a prey, a predator that he is determined to hunt down anyway.

„What can he do?“ he asks and Uma can see how his stare travels up and down Gil’s body. There is still a hint of distrust in his voice.

She shrugs – she doesn’t actually know yet. So instead, she leans onto Harry’s shoulder and gestures to Gil:„Why doesn’t he tell us himself?“ Why, indeed?
It amuses her, how red slowly creeps into Gil’s cheeks, and how he casts his eyes down to mumble his answer: „I… I can fight, I guess. Also hunt. And… I can sew a little.“ He unsticks his eyes from the dirty, sticky floor to look at her. „Is that enough? I can learn to do more, if you want?“

Oh, depths… How did Gaston manage to screw up his son’s confidence so much? Now he is hers and she will have to restore it!

She does her best to smile at him, and drives her elbow into Harry’s ribs so he will do the same.

„I think we can work with that,“ she says because that is as close to praise as one can get on the Isle.
But it’s alright, because Gil smiles back at her.

And Harry sticks his hand in front of his face. Again. The sleeve of his too-long coat is hanging from his wrist, swinging wildly as he shakes his hand.
„Can you fix that for me?“ he asks and Uma bursts into laughter again.
He is so much!

--- Anthony Tremaine ---

The drawing room of the Tremaine manor is filled to the brim with his sisters and cousins. Anthony can hardly move. In fact, he can hardly breathe. And it’s quite hard to hear his own thoughts in all that racket.
But surprisingly, no angry grandmother spitting fire and venom comes down the hall to tell them off.
Seems like he will have to do it himself.
But before he can draw enough air into his lungs, his cousin Dulcia scrambles onto the armchair, the one their grandmother loves so much. Luckily, she is not here anymore, and even more luckily, Dulcia doesn’t give a fuck.

„Shut the fuck up, you barmy trollops!“ she shouts at the top of her lungs, „Grandma is out for not more than hours and this place has already gone to the dogs!“

The room falls silent.

Anthony watches as several of the younger girls hang their heads down in shame.

He would pay real money to see his cousin yell at… At anyone, really. If he had the money.

„There is no need for such foul language under this roof, young lady,“ he rises and says with his best impression of their grandmother. It makes Dizzy, Angelina and Annabella collapse in fit of giggles.
It has pretty much the opposite effect on Dulcia.

She immediately returns back to her holier-than-thou tone. Anthony is sure he has heard her practice with grandma more than once. „I was not finished talking, Anthony, you royal dickhead." Only Dulcia… „Now, if you'll allow me…“

He bows down, and he means it as a joke only partly.
„Of course, dearest cousin,“ he says, „The floor is yours. Or, well, the armchair, I suppose." That addition sends the girls into giggles again. And Dulcia only shows him her middle finger before she proceeds with her speech.

„Anyway, we need to coordinate ourselves, make sure to take care of eachother-“ she sends a pointed look towards Agnes, who is holding their youngest relatives. „And we need to stay safe. We need to decide what to do next.“

In a minute, the room is filled with whispers and nervous shuffling. What to do now? Now that there are no adults on the Isle, only descendants? (And his mother and aunt, Anthony adds.)
Now that they are free?

Dulcia jumps down from the armchair and stomps loudly on the floor. It makes Dizzy flinch, notes Anthony, and he pulls the girl closer to him.
Now Dulcia has the full, undivided attention of the Tremaine tribe.
She smiles like the devil himself.

„I propose we lock mom and aunt into the attic!“

The room erupts into chaos again.

Oh, well…

Angry shouts and sobbing sounds from down the door. His mother and his aunt… They are useless anyway.

And now that he thinks about it, locking them in the attic isn't such a bad idea…

And so, they do it.

By night fall, Anthony and Dulcia have a schedule for Curl Up And Dye and housekeeping duty drawn. As the midnight strikes, they are ready to welcome their new, better – freerer – life.

The midnight strikes and the Tremaine children cheer, their mothers long forgotten.

--- Harriet Hook ---

She and Sammy Smee sit on board of her new ship. Harry and CJ bolted out to the port as soon as she helped them secure theirs. The tiny prats…
She doesn't doubt that Harry ran immediately to Uma, he is far too enamored with her not to do that. And CJ is probably trying to find Zevon somewhere. And process the fact that Freddie is here no more.

Sometimes she hates that she knows her siblings so well.

„So, how are you, Your Supreme Majesty Of The Port And The Best Captain Ever?“ asks Sammy, and she shows them a middle finger.
„Captain is fine,“ she says, „The rest applies only to my siblings.“

A pause. She hears the waves underneath the hull of her ship. The cries of wild birds, as trapped by the Barrier as the children are, fill the evening.

Will they ever be able to escape, or was this their only chance?

She tries to chase the traitorous, barren thought from her head.

„Assuming that you still wanna be my first mate?“ she tilts her head and winks at them. The thoughts refuse to leave her alone.

„Of course I want to, Captain, what else would I do?“

Well, she will take what she gets. Even if it looks like no other option has ever even occurred to Sammy. She smiles at them and it hurts her cheeks.

„No, seriously, Harriet, what's wrong?“ asks her new official first mate. And she doesn't know how to answer.
Because everything is wrong.

But still, there is no one else around, and she would trust Sammy with her life. Why not her secrets, then?

So she confesses to every doubt and worry that is gnawing at her bleeding heart:
She doesn't want to rule the port.
She doesn't know how to take care of her younger siblings, not really.

She fears that she will never get out of there.
She fears that she has condemned the other Descendants to the same fate, in a misguided attempt to ensure their safety.

Because what if they'll never get out? What if they'll stay there, imprisoned and without magic, forever?
She doesn't want to be responsible for that.
She doesn't want to rule the port, much less the Isle. (This entire, fucked-up piece of land in a sea of misery. The Lost souls, forgotten Descendants of the Dark, the Evil and the Supernatural. She doesn’t want to– But does she have a choice?)

When she finishes carving her heart up, Sammy lays their hand on her shoulder.
„Well, if this isn't ironic, I don't know what is,“ they say with exaggerated sympathy in their voice and Harriet promptly fails to keep her face straight.

They both burst into hysterical laughter.

But before the night comes, the skeleton of Harriet's new crew – her old gang – is awaiting her commands.
Because it isn't like she has a choice.

„Hey Captain,“ Sammy nudges her into the ribs, „I’m going for the twins now, they should be hanging around the beach right now. They promised to bring me some shells, you know?“
„Sure thing, go,“ she nods absentmindedly before jumping up to her feet: She has forgotten about CJ! She can’t leave her alone on the Isle! What if she falls into the ocean and drowns – again and again, under the curse of immortality? What if she injures herself? What if someone else injures her?
She curses out loud – she has no idea where CJ could be. She could be antagonizing half of the Descendants right now for all she knows!
Bloody depths and seven seas!
„I need to find CJ,“ she proclaims and bolts to the port, only stopping to grab her sabers.
She might need them.

„Soo...,“ Sammy leans to the closest crewmember, „How long do you think it will take her before she checks CJ’s new ship?“
„I don’t know,“ whispers the boy back, „But I’m taking bets.“
The children huddle closer, always ready to bet on their Captain.

If Harriet had seen them right now, she would be very angry.
But she is busy running through the Isle and screaming her sister’s name.

Chapter Text

--- Carlos de Vil ---
As the dark envelops the Isle, Carlos de Vil sneaks outside.
Oh no, the girl, Evie, banished princess von Schwarzwald, didn’t kick him out. Yet. But he would rather not overstay his welcome.
So he slips through the door and heads towards his hideout. Because if he brings her the textbooks he promised her, she won’t feel inclined to dissolve the alliance, right? Right?

Sure, she was kind enough, but he knows better: Sweet words mean nothing on the Isle.

He lays his feet on the ground gently, as not to make any noise. It wouldn’t do any good for someone to follow him now, would it? His steps are no louder than the rustle of the fur cloaks his mother loved to drag around Hell Hall.
Well, he did have a lot of practice over the years.

Carlos de Vil moves through the Isle as a ghost, as a phantom. His white hair shines as brightly as his dark eyes in the dimmed light of the stars, and he looks remarkably like his mother. It sends a child, night asleep in the shadows, running.
The maddening inhuman spirit, the child of infamous Cruella de Vil.
He is careful not to look onto any surface that may show him his reflection.
He doesn't want to see his mother, not while her whistling still rings in his ears.
(Will it ever stop?)

He gets to the hideaway without any disturbances.

He halts at the entrance: Should he gather all of his textbooks and show them to her? Should he take all of his most valuable possessions into her castle?
No. Not yet, at least.
Better have some aces hidden up one's sleeve.
...Or a few moderately dangerous inventions. But you get the point.

He selects just a few of the textbooks about the topics he thinks may interest her, though he has frankly no idea what that may be.
He hopes that she will be pleased with a chemistry guide that is just about five years old – ages younger than the outdated tomes he has seen at her place. He would bet that they still support the concept of aether…
Which is shameful, really.
Evie deserves better than that.

In less than thirty minutes, he is back at Evil Queen's – no, Evie's – castle. He opens the door, pleased that it doesn't croak, and closes it behind himself.
He picks up a slight rustle somewhere to his left: soft breathing, the sight of metal against leather, the swish of air around the barred dagger.

He catches the slim wrist with his hand before it reaches his neck. His second hand, the one that is armed with the bejewelled boxer Jasper gave him, shoots towards the attacker's brow.

It is a miracle that he manages to stop himself before he ruptures the princess's perfect eyebrow.

Oddly enough, she seems unfazed by that.

„Don't you do that ever again!“ she hisses into his face, „I was worried about you!“

She doesn't remove the dagger.

He slowly puts down his fist, still clenched tightly.

„You have just disappeared into the night! I was worried that someone got you, or that you were not going back-!“ she clears her throat. „Just… Don’t do that again. And if you want to leave, you just have to say so!“

„Uh. I didn’t wanna. To leave, I mean.“ He fights to keep looking at the girl – because looking down would be a sign of weakness – and to puzzle his distorted thoughts into meaningful sentences. Which is harder than it sounds. „But I’ve brought you the textbook you wanted! See?“ See?!

The girl visibly beams at that, and she even puts the dagger down. Fucking finally. He was starting to feel slightly nervous about that.

„Books? Show me!
So he does as she asked. He pulls out the first book and is fully prepared to lay it before her on the floor, before she redirects him to a slightly wonky table in the next room. Yeah, that would probably work better. So he pilles the books on the desk, while the princess watches his every move.

Then she reads the covers and squeals in delight at the sight.

Honestly, reletable.

He hopes that he will be allowed to stay with her.

„I think that I can ignore that you've sneaked out. But just this once! And only because you've brought me books! Understood?“ she tries to sound stern, but the fact that she has yet to stop cooing at the books is kind of ruining the effect. He replies anyway: „Understood, Miss Princess Your Royalness.“

Yeah, that makes her look up.
And she is frowning.

„Don't call me that!“ she says and she sounds a little bit confused. „It's not even a proper title!“ Then she notices his smile.
„You moron!“ she cries out, but she doesn't try to reach him. Nor does she throw a book at him. Simply put, she does nothing to harm him. That's good.
That's very good.

So he shuts up and leaves his new ally to admire the treasure in peace. While she takes her time, he does his best to absorb as many details about the room as he can: The mirrors (so many fucking mirrors...!), the half-empty shelves with books and scrolls and bottles of something that must have been potion ingredients once. Also few skulls, human and magical alike. All mixed up and unlabeled. Seems like the Evil Queen wasn't a big fan of proper scientific procedures.
Or home design. That carpet, honestly!

Finally, Evie pulls herself from the books.
„I’ve prepared a room for you, in case you wanna stay. It’s right across from mine.“
He honestly didn’t expect being offered as much as a closet to sleep in. That’s what Cruella gave him, anyway, and she was his mother. Why would this strange girl do more for him than his own mother ever did?
Maybe because Cruella de Vil is a crazy bitch, insists the voice in his head.
„I got nightmares. I might wake you up that way.“ He hates talking to people.

But Evie only smiles, and it doesn’t look even a little bit fake.
„Oh, I have nightmares too, and oftentimes, I can’t even fall asleep,“ she admints with impossible grace, „So when you wake up, you can just come and we will be awake together!“

...He is fairly sure she is lying at this point. But, as she leads him to his new room, complete with an already-done bed with a blanket and even a pillow…
He can’t find it in himself to care

--- Harry Hook ---

Harry runs the last few metres to his ship. Honestly he didn't plan to, as it's undignified, but his excitement got the better of him. He can't wait to show Lost Revenge to Uma!

He practically jumps onboard and then skips on his tiptoes a few times, before he remembers that he has guests over – Uma! And the new boy, Gil.
So he turns around to face them.
Uma stopped Gil from boarding and they are both standing on the pier. Uma is holding her hand in front of the boy, to physically stop him from moving.
But she bounces with excitement a little.

„Asking for your permission to board!“ she shouts, grinning from ear to ear. For some reason, that makes his heart beat faster. Is it because she looks and sounds like a proper pirate that way? Is it because she is about to enter Lost Revenge for the first time?

Anyway, he sprints back to her.
„Permission granted!“ he says a little breathlessly and he even extends his hand to her, like a proper English gentleman.
And she takes it!
With a giggle, Uma boards the Lost Revenge. His ship – their ship, if she accepts it.

He really hopes she does.

Only because he needs a crew and he would have no one rather than Uma, the fierce daughter of sea witch and sea goddess, the girl who has run with him since forever.
Yes, only because of that.
No other reason.
Totally.

„Come on, Harry, show us around!“ she nudges him and he realizes he has been frozen over for a while.
So he jumps up and down once more and grabs Uma’s hand again. After a moment of hesitation, he loops his hook through it's holder and closes his palm around Gil’s wrist, too.
He can always just shove him over the railing if he tries something. No need to get his hook dirty.

Then he proceeds to drag them around the ship until they can't see because of the dark and their throats are sore because of the excited shouts and loud laughter.

There is only one place that he doesn't show them: the Captain's cabin. He doesn't know why, really. Maybe because it feels like the previous Captain of this ship is still there, or like his father will emerge from the door any second… A chill runs down this back.
So he turns around, banishes the stupid idea, which is now complete with a horrifyingly accurate deception of his (drunk) father, and shoves Uma and Gil into first mate's quaters.
If they notice, they don't say anything.

He suspects that Uma is just filling that away, to confront him later.

He is not sure about that Gil boy, but he thinks that he might not have noticed. He looks mind-blown by simply being on a ship, and he stares around like a particularly starstruck puppy - not that Harry has seen a puppy before, but he imagines that they look a lot like Gil right now.
Gil is actually kind of adorable, decides Harry, and probably not a threat. Probably. Just like a puppy.

„Do you have any sewing kit here?“ Gil's voice pulls Harry back to reality. „You know, so I could fix your coat right now? It seems kind of dangerous, just flying around your hands like that.“
It… does?
Harry looks at his sleeves in wonder.
They don't seem all that dangerous to him.
Also, what's a sewing kit?

He asks aloud and listens carefully as Gil attempts to enclear the concept of sewing kit.
He must say that it does sound useful, but still - clothes with holes in them look so much cooler, like they have survived a real battle!

He ignores Uma, who is trying to stifle her laughter the whole time.

He is pretty sure he doesn't have a sewing kit though. Maybe a needle, if he looked hard enough, but the rest of the mysterious instruments Gil has just described?
No way.

So he proposes the obvious solution: „We can just make a raid for it! Surely Tremaines have this sewing kit – or Cruella! Can we raid Cruella's?“

He would love to get a go at Cruella's property. He has hated that bitch from the first time she wandered into the port and managed to insult everyone and everything in hearing range... And beyond. Including pirates in general, the odour of seawater and the humidity that is ruining her hairdo, the wonky rotten piers and Captain Hook himself. Also him, his sisters and Uma.
Unforgivable, really.

So he is practically entitled to that little bit of revenge.

Besides, there is no one to stop him from getting it.

„Sure, Harry,“ says Uma almost immediately. But then she bites her lip and frowns: „Doesn't she have a kid though? Scrawny something, little younger than us, surprisingly fast?“

Harry frowns too; he remembers seeing a boy that resembled Cruella a little too much. Still, that's no matter: „We can take him!“ He rises to his feet - he really wants to raid that madwoman's lair.

„I know that we can, Harry!“ Uma doesn't bother standing up. „But it can wait until the morning, no? We wouldn't even find it in the dark!“

Harry sits back, because she probably has a point, and she turns towards Gil: „Besides, sewing kits tend to be kind of tiny, don't they?“

The boy nods:„Yeah, they do. But Cruella's may not be…“
Harry interrupts him before he can finish:„Yeah! Because she is a fashion-crazy bitch that is practically begging to be raided!“

Uma looks at him as if he is one of the rude, stupid customers at Chipp Shoppe. (He hates that.)
„...In the morning. She is begging to be raided in the morning.“ He sits down and Uma smiles at him, reaching for his hand. She stops just few milimetres away from his skin.
„Come on, show us the Captain's quarters,“ she says, and what can he do but to obey?

So they enter: There are no adults to stop them. (No Captain to chase them out and yell at them and throw things at them.)
The port is theirs. They are going to be the rulers of this small world. Soon, very soon.

But for now… After a while of quiet mumbling about the immortality of the may beetle, they fall asleep, curled up together quite happily.

The three of them, in Captain's cabin on Lost Revenge.
Harry likes that.

--- Jay ---

There is no „Team“ in „I“, Jafar always said. Every man for himself, in independence there is power. Relationships would just drag you down, so don’t get attached.
Jafar proved that statement by leaving the Isle, by leaving Jay.

But who cares, right? There is no team in I and now he won’t be held by the ground by his father’s greedy fingers. There is nothing better than freedom.
And now Jay is free.

Then why is he still hanging out with Mal?

Probably because she has wicked cool ideas, he decides, as she leads him around the building that was intended to be a school. Not that it ever actually worked: The adults didn’t particularly care about teaching someone else’s offspring how to be better than them and the kids didn’t really care about the concept of school and education in general.
Especially that part that involved being under the authority of a villain that was not their parent.
So, most of the Isle kids were homeschooled. The luckier ones anyway.
Jay doesn’t remember ever setting foot in that building.

Nor does he plan to attend school any time soon.
He is really glad that the adults are gone.

Luckily, Mal doesn’t plan on that either, as she turns around to grin at him.
She holds a spray can in her hand.
„Come on,“ she says, „Let’s get this ruin a new facade!“
She tosses him another can and he catches it with one hand, shaking it.

Because while the Isle kids have never attended school, they still know where it is. This building represents Auradon, that strange, outlandish force that tries to control their lives.
This makes it a perfect place for a message.

Soon, it’s done: Their slogan, „Rotten to the core“, in big bold letters. It takes the most prominent place on the building, shining into the distance. Anyone can see it.
That’s a proclamation of their presence, their power.
Maleficent silhouette with elegant script all across it: „A mistress of all that’s Lost and damned.“
That is Mal’s way of saying „I own this miserable place.“.

He doesn’t have the artistic tendencies his ally does, so he just lets her draw Jafar’s emblem for him. No words, just the snake. He thinks it’s cooler that way.

Besides, he doesn’t need words for everyone to know that he is far superior to them.
And in case they need some convincing, his fist will be more than enough.
It’s simple.

Mal scoffs at him, and he rolls his eyes. She is over complicating this. Besides, didn’t they want to go grab some food?

And he knows a place nearby.

„Let’s go to Frollo’s,“ he says, „He must have left some ingredients behind, we can help ourselves to something.“
Mal doesn’t look entirely convinced – she has never liked Frollo. Which is understandable, really, because the sour man despised literally everyone on the Isle. Especially women, foreigners, supernatural creatures and magic users. And yet he also managed to make every single customer pay in his restaurant. Somehow.
Jay strives to have this man’s skill in taking other people’s money one time.

„We won’t have to pay for it anymore,“ he adds, „And we get to destroy his kitchen a little in the process.“

„I’m sold,“ she nods and steps out, „But no destroying when we can spray paint instead.“

That’s probably smart. Means that they can use the kitchen later, should they wish to do so.

In a minute, they are in. Jay lays his finger on his lips – silence! Judge Frollo may not be here, but his daughter still is.
Sure, she wouldn’t be a real threat, but is it worth the trouble?
No.
He is far too hungry for that.

Mal rolls her eyes, but obeys. Surprise surprise!
So they cook in silence.

They leave the house about an hour later, a good haul of fresh food in their arms. The kitchen is a little dirty and messy, but unburned. Honestly, what else could Claudine want?

Jay’s and Mal’s emblems glow over the kitchen unit.
„That’s a real glow-up,“ says Mal, and, well, it is. Way better than the doomy-and-gloomy religious aesthetics Frollo had going on.

They walk through the Isle to Maleficent’s Castle, to crash there for the night.
No one dares to disturb them.

If only because Harriet Hook managed to catch her sister before the girl got to execute the second part of her masterplan for the day.
--- The Villains ---
Ursula took off as soon as she could, as soon as she was out of the Barrier.
Out of the miserable place she has left her daughter in.
But Uma wouldn't survive the depths of the sea that welcome Ursula so tenderly, so lovingly…
The same water would fill her child’s lungs and claim her weak, mortal body for good.
So she dives deep into the ocean alone. Finally, finally… All the space around her, the seven seas at her disposal! She feels the magic fill her veins and the thoughts and prayers of mortals – those poor, unfortunate souls – reach her core.
She feels like herself again.
She won't be caught again, she won't.
Not if she has a say in it.

With Ursula, or, well, in very respectful distance from the infamous sea witch, left all the creatures and beings that could survive in the water. Those who could magically transport away didn't wait either. And why would they? After the years they've spent imprisoned together, even another minute would be too much.
That's the reason why those who could fly disappeared into the sky as soon as they saw the first glimpse of land.

Maleficent envies them. So much that she considers knocking some of them down into the waves just because.
(Because how dare they fly when she can't?!)
But she constrains herself. No need to make enemies so early on into her newfound freedom.
To indulge herself, she petrifies some port-rat of a man that sneered at her too obviously.
And she sets Judge Frollo on fire.
She has wanted to do that for so long!
Only then she conjures the poison-green flames around herself and vanishes to the emptiness between worlds that will lead her home.
Her maniacal laugh hangs in the air long after that.
She leaves her henchman and goblins behind – they’ll find her later. Because if they don’t, then she will find them and won’t like that.

That… That madwoman just set herself ablaze.
On the board of his ship!
And Judge Frollo is still fucking burning!
Captain Hook feels a vein on his temple pulse at that. The audacity!
He banges his head agains the nearest surface before he calls for his crew to put the fire off.
Why did he agree to this again?
Oh. Right.
Because the Evil Queen promised him his weight in gold for his service.
And because then she promptly threatened to drown him in that exact same melted gold when he didn't agree fast enough.
He can't wait to see that bitch of.
Also because he didn’t want to kill his children. But they are safe now, and he is free.
A cry for help pulls him out of his thoughts: seems like another murder attempt. Only the fifth today.
If they won't shut up soon, he can promise that it won't be the last.

Lady Tremaine decidedly doesn’t plan to shut up. Why, she is having quite a lovely conversation right now! She ignores the hateful stares and maniacal muttering of the pirates around. They say that a woman on the ship is bad luck?
Please.
She will show them bad luck, though, if they don’t regain their manners immediately! She is a lady, after all, and she deserves their respect, not...This.
She distracts herself with elaborate plans: She needs a new identity, that much is clear. She can’t be Lady Tremaine anymore, as that would get her sent to that wretched place instantly.
Easy then: She just needs to marry well.
So she checks her make-up and hairdo in the mirror and continues chatting with the Evil Queen.

Finally, the first ship of the fleet touches the beach. It is remote enough that no one will notice the sudden exodus of the villains and other inhabitants of the Isle, but positioned neatly between two major Auradon cities, in which the lost souls may neatly disappear.
In some cases, quite literally.

They scatter off, looking over their shoulders the whole time. A dagger to the back, a neat little magic trick that would have them enslaved forever, an uninvited companion…
They would rather not.
And as they take their leave on the mainland, the fleet splits up: The different crews may have accepted Captain’s Hook leadership, but there were far more pirate Captains who have fallen into the custody of the Auradonian government and were promptly sent to the Isle.
But one ship is already on the horizon, and Captain Hook is very certain that that ship belongs to him. He curses loudly: He shouldn’t have trusted Jack Sparrow to steer his ship! That man has no boundaries!
So the Jolly Roger leaves to pursue the stolen ship and wild song sings in Captain Hook’s veins: This is the life he was born to live! The sea, the wind, the adrenaline rush of treasure hunt and killing…
Maybe one day his children will experience this joy, too.

Dr Facilier waits until everyone else has moved from sight before he ushers his daughters from the dubious cover of a barred reef onto the soft sand of Auradon. He doesn’t wish to be followed.
He doesn’t wish to be seen.
The shadows cling to him as he takes his daughters hands and guides them to the edge of the woods. The girls are silent, their eyes wide open. They see real nature, real trees and real stars for the first time in their short lives. A smile appears on his lips – they are free. They’ll get to enjoy these wonders as much as they can.
„This is the taste of freedom, babygirls,“ he whispers, „Savour it. Make it yours. Make the most of yourself, because I know you can.“
Celia and Freddie look at eachother, then at him. They nod and his smile grows wider. They are free.
Behind them, their shadows – newly awakened and still weak – shrug their shoulders before they follow them to the forest.

--- The Crown Prince Ben Florian of Auradon ---

Somewhere far from the secluded beach, little prince Ben sleeps undisturbed in his soft bed. He has only a vague understanding of the Isle of the Lost, and indeed, he prefers not to think about it. Or talk about it – his father said it isn’t proper to bring up such topics in polite society.
He has no idea that the villains have children of his own age.
He has no idea that at this very moment, the Villains have escaped their prison.
No, for little prince Ben, Auradon is the safest place in the world.

And it will stay like this for quite some time to come. Because, as we have already stated, the villains have no desire to get caught for a second time. One won’t step twice to the same river, they say. One must learn from their mistakes, they say, only the learning makes the master.

Well, the villains have had eleven years to learn.

And so, for now, he dreams of Turney matches and his mother’s library.
Auradon is the safest place in the world, after all. Full of heroes and princes and princesses and good fairies…

Not even one awful, disturbing villain in sight.

Chapter Text

--- Harry Hook ---

The sound of a fist banging loudly on the cabin door wakes him up. Who on the seven seas-!

Whoever it is, they deserve to be punched. The sun is barely up!
And waking a pirate before a proper sunrise should be a crime punishable by death.
Or, you know, the non-death that exists under the Barrier. The one that you survive.

Because it still hurts like a bitch, to die.

He untangles himself from equally sleepy and grumpy Uma and moves to unlock the door.
Gil didn't wake up yet.

Harry is fully prepared to punch whoever stands on the other side.
So he barely stops himself before knocking his little sister out.

„Hi, Harry!“ she greets him and waves, „Good morning, Uma!“ she shouts over his shoulder. Uma mumbles something that may as well be a greeting as a curse.

Harry suppresses the urge to slam the doors into CJ's face and go back to sleep.
„What do you want, you little imp?“ he asks instead, the irritation clear in his voice.

CJ lets herself into the Captain's cabin of Lost Revenge and he doesn't care enough to stop her. Not that she would listen to him, anyway. So he rubs the sleep from his eyes and follows her inside, trying to make sense of her long-winded explanations.

How can she be so cheerful in the morning?!

Is she even human?
He knows that she isn’t sane. Because he isn’t either.
But at least he has the sensibility to sleep while he can!

„Why aren't you on your ship?“ he interupts her, „And have you named it yet? Every proper ship needs a name, you know? Something that will strike the fear into the hearts of your enemies-“

„Oh, I know!“ sing-songs CJ, „That's why I haven't named her yet! But when I do, my ship will be feared across the seven seas and beyond!“ She pulls a face at him: „Not like ‚Lost Revenge‘!“

That audacity!

Uma, apparently in agreement with him, throws a pillow at the girl and it hits her in the face. So Harry picks it up, to hit his annoying little sister once more.
She deserves it.

„And do you have a crew yet, little sister?“

„Oh, do you?“

But before he can answer, Uma speaks up: „He has me. And Gil. Which is more than you will ever have.“

CJ stomps her feet and her eyes shine: That's unfair, Uma! Low-blow!

Harry laughs.
„Well, it's not your fault that Uma is one of a kind, and sea goddess to that! I'm sure you will find a decent crew anyway, starfish!“

Because there is no one better than Uma on this Isle. Or in the world, really.
And Gil probably isn't so bad either.

She sticks her tongue at him.

„Now, why did you wake me up? Explain it in as few words as possible,“ he prompts her in the best commanding tone he can muster. Which is not as good as Harriet’s, yet, but she has had more practice. And he is getting there.
What boggles him though, is how can Uma have that down. Almost like she has been born to command - which is probably very possible. With her being a goddess and all. He has a theory that Uma can do whatever she desires and be good at it.
CJ scrunches up her face, obviously thinking hard, as she counts on her fingers.
What did she do?

„I-need-you-to-get-the-crocodiles-from-my-ship-because-Harriet-is-being-a-killjoy-and-didn't-let-me-set-them-on-Mal-yesterday-but-now-the-crocs-are-angry-at-me,“ she exclaims without taking a single breath, as if she thought that the faster explanation, the better.

Well, not really.

It just makes Harry low-key want to feed her to said crocs.

„We don't have all day,“Uma reminds him, finally rising from bed and looking for the accessories she put aside the night before.
Harry tears his gaze off her. He has to explain the art of croc-wrestling to his little sister.

Before CJ leaves, he gives her one more piece of advice: „Next time, just stock them at Harriet’s! She would love that!“
As much as one would love waking up to find a pack of barely tamed wolves in their living room, he is sure.
But what is a little prank between siblings?

Now he gets to raid Cruella’s, finally!

...And then they’ll have to gather an actual crew, because if CJ beats him and builds her own crew before him…
Well, neither she nor Harriet will ever let him live it down.

--- Evie Grimhilde ---

Evie sits by the window in her room and reads one of the textbooks Carlos brought her previous night. That one about chemistry. From Carlos de Vil, her new ally and apparently, also a roommate.
She doesn’t mind that very much – it is nice to have some company after the six years she has spent in this castle alone with only her mother. Carlos is way nicer than her.
He didn’t remind her to keep proper posture even once!

She looks from the window, to give her eyes a break. Her Mother taught her that: It wouldn’t do for a princess to wear glasses.

She notices three figures making their way to the Hell Hall, way too casually for her not to spot that. No one walks that confidently on this side of the Isle!
Well, Maleficent used to, but she was still kind of lurking in the shadows. Fae do that, apparently, because Mal tends to do the same when she is walking alone.
„Hey, Carlos?“ she speaks up, „There are some people walking to your house. They look like pirates.“

The boy looks up from his own book – he has been reading one of hers, laying on the floor – and comes to the window.

He peeks out: „Oh, that’s Uma and Harry Hook,“ he says, „The other boy is Gil, son of Gaston. No idea why he is with them though: He doesn’t usually run with them. I wonder what they might want at Hell Hall.“

Yes, she wonders about that too: What might a bunch of pirates want at Cruella’s?

„Do they come by often?“ she asks, because it’s not like she knows how it works on the Isle all that well. Thanks a lot, Maleficent.
„No,“ he shakes his head, and his curls fall in front of his eyes. „Never. Let's find out what they want!“ Suddenly, the boy is offering her his hand. To help her up, presumably.
She just stares at him: „Wha- What?“ she stamers out. She hasn’t been out of the castle for six years! She can’t go out, or Maleficent will-

„Come on, Princess. Those are just pirates, nothing to be afraid of.“

Oh. Right. Maleficent is not here anymore. There is no one to impose the exile on her.
Unless Mal takes it on herself, but, well, how much damage can an eleven years old half-fairy do under the Barrier?

Hopefully not much.

Surely not worse than her mother did.

So Evie takes Carlos’s hand. She will go out with him, to meet the pirates – Maybe they just wanna chat a little?
But first she takes her dagger.
She knows enough about the Isle not to leave her home without it.

Turns out they’ve wanted a sewing kit. Huh.
Well, the boy with the hook – Harry, she reminds herself – also seems particularly interested in raiding Cruella’s property. Well, she can sympathize with that.

But will they be able to find anything in the ruin that once was Hell Hall?

„I’ve got plenty of sewing supplies at home,“ she offers, „If you want them.“
All of them, including Carlos, send her a weird look.
What?
What did she do?

Yeah, Carlos seems perplexed at her offer. „Why would you do that?“ he mouths at her. And why would she offer him shelter against his mother? Maybe because that’s the decent thing to do?
Or maybe because kindness is the fastest way to gain allies, who knows…, she adds as an afterthought.
Harry, on the other hand, looks perfectly ready to reject her. That is, until Uma drives her sharp elbow into his ribs.

„What do you want for it?“ the girl asks bluntly.

The bigger boy, Gil, stares at her expectantly, while Harry longingly eyes the Hell Hall.

„You can raid my mother’s place later,“ pipes up Carlos, „Though I would be surprised if you manage to destroy it more than she already has.“ A smile appears on the pirate's lips and he lifts his hook, as if to a toast. It catches the light. „Challenge accepted,“ he says, and suddenly, Carlos is smiling too.

Both of them are insane.

And Uma apparently is too, because she looks at Harry with a very confusing mix of fond exasperation and pride in her eyes.

...Why did she leave her castle again?

„Do you have any books?“ she asks, because, well, they did ask what she wanted in return. And knowledge is power.

They look at each other.

„Not exactly,“ Uma answers, „I’ve got some scrolls from my Ma, but these are in Ancient Greek. So unless you speak that, they are out.“ Evie promises herself to get her hands on some dictionary and teach herself another dead language. The most useful tidbits of knowledge and magic are written in dead languages, you know?
„And Harry has some maps. We are not letting you take them, though. You could just study them how your heart desires, as long as they stay on Lost Revenge.“
She turns to the other boy: „Gil doesn’t have any books, do you Gil?“
He just shakes his head silently. Gaston was not a big fan of reading.

„So? What do you think, Princess?“

Does everyone on this goddamn Isle know who she is?
She will have to get as much information out of Carlos as she can. Very soon preferably.

„I think that it’s a deal,“ she answers, „Now, if you would be so lovely as to wait for me here…“ She moves to fetch the sewing kit, as per the agreement, but Gil expresses a wish to go with her.
She cannot allow that, to invite another stranger into her home in just two days. She has at least seen Carlos out of her window…
So she leaves without him.

„I can show you where Cruella kept her clothes,“ stage-whispers Carlos as soon as Evie gets out of hearing range. „She couldn’t have possibly taken all of her coats, furs and gowns with her.“ He lowers his voice a bit more: „Would be a real shame if something happened to them…“

Harry’s eyes shine with an unearthly light of delight.

--- Claudine Frollo ---

Claudine wakes up with the first light. As opposed to most of the pirates, Judge Frollo definitely was a morning person. He has installed this habit, among others, in his daughter too. So, before anything else, Claudine recites her morning prayers, which take quite some time.
Then she descends downstairs, to make herself a cup of tea and maybe a breakfast.

And then she swears.

The kitchen is in shambles!
Well, not really, but above the stove there is now a giant silhouette of Maleficent and king kobra, spray painted in a style that every Isle kid recognizes.
Mal, daughter of Maleficent.
Jay, son of Jafar.
They've been in her restaurant, in her home, and they've taken her food.
And neither of them has cleaned up after themselves!

Fuck them, she thinks, but then she scolds herself. One shouldn't swear, she knows, but one also shouldn't wake up to find one's kitchen covered in graffiti!
Few curse words must be allowed in such situations, surely.

She liberates a moderately moldy pastry from the mess that was left in the cupboard and washes a cup to make herself some tea. Breakfast first – there is no way she is cleaning all this first thing in the morning.
Or, at all. She eyes the cloth with disgust: she may want to burn that. Not only is it filthy, but it was clearly used by fae; and father has said that fae are foul and grungy creatures that shouldn't be tolerated in polite society.

Claudine thinks that's bullshit. If only because there is no polite society on the Isle, no matter how much they would have pretended there is.

But she also doesn't like Mal.
At all.

So she burns that disgusting thing and uses it’s flames to make herself the tea. Efficiency, right? Besides, the tea tastes a bit better, less bitter like that. It tastes like a promise of satisfaction.

When Claudine has drunk it all, she takes the cup and throws it against the wall. It shatters into pieces, all over Mal’s logo: Some tea leaves stick where Maleficent’s face should have been.
She will need to get rid of those ugly emblems.
And she will need to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

She will need an alliance, a strong one. One that could stand up to Mal, daughter of Maleficent and hellion extraordinaire.

But she has no real reputation for herself. She doesn’t have much to offer, either: She can pray, but her prayers are never answered – otherwise, she wouldn’t be here now. She can recite entire passages of the Bible, but no one cares for that except for her father. And he is gone. Even though he has insisted that the sacred text is the ultimate protection and victory, it just makes others, like Mal, more angry. And less likely to pay.
Oh, and she can cook. Great.

Lord may guide my steps, she thinks, and may he let me stumble upon a potential ally.

Claudine walks through the streets, which are still too empty and too quiet. She keeps flinching at every shadow, expecting an attack around every corner.
But it never comes.
She wonders where the little ones are, too. She hasn’t seen any kids running around yet, and she knows only the Facilier girls have escaped. Maybe they are still sleeping, with no one who would drag them out of bed? Maybe they are already awake, and trying to get their greedy little hands on as much unspoiled food left in abandoned homes as possible?
Either way, it’s not Claudine’s problem right now.

She keeps strolling, hoping for a miracle, clearly. She mutters a string of prayers under her breath.

She changes directions and heads towards the port: she was getting dangerously close to Maleficent’s old territory, which is Mal’s turf now. She would be damned before she set a foot in there.

She finishes her third Pater Noster and grows bored of it; she switches to Hail Mary.

Then she almost bumps into someone: A girl in torn clothes that identify her as a child of some pirate or another, probably as old as Claudine is. She is dragging a child along and muttering something under her breath.
She sounds pissed off, but she looks capable. Like a survivor.

Claudine doesn’t excuse herself, and neither does the girl: This is the Isle, after all. Instead, Claudine asks: „Where are you going?“
„None of your concern,“ the girl scoffs at her, tugging at the child's hand again. So eager to leave.
Well, not so fast, thinks Claudine.
„It is my concern, because I’m Claudine Frollo, daughter of Judge Frollo, and I’m proposing an alliance to you, right now.“

Claudine watches as the gears shift behind the pirate’s eyes: she fears that she may reject her.
But God has sent her into her path, so surely she must accept.
And indeed, the girl cocks her head, the child at her side momentarily forgotten.
„I’m Desiree Freeman, and I’m listening,“ she says and a stone falls off Claudine’s heart.

One ally is better than none, and pirates always have ties to more people. She may be able to get into the good graces of the Hook siblings, or another wanna-be Captain, through Desiree. Pirates are definitely strong enough and crazy enough to defer Mal.

She is also aware of the bad blood between Mal and Uma and Harry Hook. All the better.

She guides Desiree to her place – such important matters shouldn’t be discussed in the open, and she still has some food left.
People are more trusting and open with their bellies full, she has discovered a long time ago.

--- Desiree Freeman ---

Well, that little nun sure has some guts in her. To offer an alliance just like that…
But she also has a restaurant – hopefully still stocked – so Desiree follows her without complaint.

If she is offering an alliance, surely she will offer food, no? And Desiree is not one to turn down free meal.
Not when she didn't eat anything halfway decent for three days straight and her little brother is barely holding up.

She was going to ask Uma for some leftovers from Chipp Shoppe, but she couldn't find her, and she sure as hell wasn't going to touch Uma's stuff without asking.
Antagonize Uma, and you have Harry at your throat; defer Harry, and Harriet is going to get you.
Either of those three is scary enough, but together? They are absolutely terrifying.
And very deadly.

And you don't want to add CJ to the mix.

On the other hand, if she came to them with one ally already on her side, they may feel more inclined to help her.
May.
Because there is no real telling what the fuck are the Hook siblings gonna do.

So she gladly accepts a pastry and a cup of tea, immediately handing it to her brother.
She has watched Claudine prepare it, so it can't (shouldn't) be poisoned.

She has, of course, noticed the tags on the wall. They are kind of hard to ignore.
But Claudine tries hard to ignore them, and fails at it, so she does, too.
Although now it's obvious why she was so eager for an ally.

„Trouble in paradise, eh?“ she can't resist the opportunity to tease the girl a little, as she points to a picture with a broken frame that Mal and Jay must have knocked down.
The Garden of Eden.

Surely better place than the Isle of the Lost, if a little boring.

And Claudine clearly must want this alliance a lot, because she doesn't even scold her for that little joke.
Or maybe she has a sense of humour, which would be the real surprise of the day.

Her brother has wolfed down the meal, and left nothing for her. She can't resent him for it.
Instead, she stretches out her hand, palm up: I want more food, now.

„This is no paradise, but rather hell on earth. There is nothing but problems here.“ Uh. Clearly she doesn't have the sense of humour after all. But she hands her the food anyway, which is all that matters, really.

Though if she wants an alliance with her, with the pirates, she may want to loosen up a little. Or the port will eat her alive.

Well, that would at least be fun to watch, if nothing else.

Desiree takes a bite of her pastry: it crumbles on her lips. Her brother climbs on her lap and she feeds him another bite.

„And you want me to take care of those problems. In exchange for what?“

Desiree can't claim Frollo's creperie for herself, she can't really protect Claudine either. But sure as hell can she come to Uma and Harry and hope for the best.

„In exchange for my cooking skills and intercession in Heaven.“

„Too bad I don't believe in your God, Claudine.“
Not when literal Gods and Goddesses escaped the Isle just the day before, not when there still is Uma, living and breathing in the port.
„What else do you have to offer?“

Claudine mutters something. Desiree would almost suspect that those are curses, but that would be impossible. Then she clears her throat, looks her in the eye, and states: „I've got myself and this restaurant. I'm willing to do whatever you want me to.“

„That is a bold claim, girl. You sure?“ she asks. Why is she giving her time to think? Shouldn't she leap at this chance, take her word?
„You sure?“ echoes her brother. He sounds sleepy, so she holds him closer: hopefully, he will fall asleep a bit later, not now. But he didn't sleep this night…

„I'm sure,“ replies Claudine.

„Are you ready to be a pirate, Claudine? A part of a crew? A mere crewmate, not the one in charge?“ A pause. „Because I can't do what you want from me.“
Claudine draws in a sharp breath, something lurking in her eyes, her hands too tightly clenched on the kitchenware. Desiree wraps her arms around the boy in her lap, around his head and ribs. She doesn't believe that Claudine would attack him, but she can't know she won't either. This is the Isle, after all.
„But I can take you to someone who can.“

Claudine puts down the pan she was holding, and Ralph wiggles his way out of her arms.
„Pirates. Pirates are the best,“ he announces proudly, „I'm gonna be a pirate someday. Like my papa and Harry Hook.“

Yeah, Harry is his role model. Desiree thinks she should be worried about that, but really? Harry is a survivor and a leader. She actually admires him a lot.
She just likes Uma and Harriet even better.

„Who do you have in mind?“ Claudine stalks closer to her and Desiree squares her shoulders.
„Because if that would make me safe, I would sign my soul over to the devil himself. I can handle a few roguish freebooters, I should think.“

...She has no idea what is waiting for her, has she?
Well, she has had her chance.

„Harriet has her crew already and no use for two stray girls like us, and CJ is too little. We have to go to Harry and Uma, that is our best bet.“

Claudine nods.
„Harry Hook, son and heir of the old Captain Hook, and Uma Triskelion, daughter of Ursula, the so-called sea Goddess and sea witch. Sounds good to me. Let's go.“

She really has no idea. Poor girl – it's gonna be so hilarious.

„Don't mention Ursula. Uma doesn't like it,“ pipes up Ralph, and Desiree must agree.
Only then they leave to find them – hopefully, either Uma or Harry will have good mood today.

Desiree heads to Lost Revenge, the ship that will with a little luck welcome them as her crew.
She is a pirate, above all, and she yearns to be a part of a crew.
Crew is better than family – crew is chosen, crew is for life. Crew is a promise of freedom and belonging. She knows that she can have that, under Harry and Uma, Uma and Harry.
Still, she doesn't let go of her brother's hand.

Chapter Text

--- Carlos de Vil ---

Carlos sits in Evie’s room in the Castle Across the Way. He would like to continue reading, but the view is kind of distracting.
Because, against all odds, the pirates actually managed to destroy the Hell Hall more than Cruella ever did. Which is very impressive, that much he must admit.
And so, here he is, watching smoke rise out of the former living room.

He has mixed feelings for that: On the one hand, he is so very glad to see that, to know that he will never once have to clean that hellish place cellar to attic – on the other hand what if Cruella actually comes back?
She won’t, he assures himself, she is a master of disguises and brighter than she lets on. She isn’t coming back.

He just doesn‘t know if he believes that – that wishful lie, as Cruella has been the only constant in his life so far. But still, the sight is beautiful.

Of course, the pirates have liberated quite a few of his mother’s possessions: Several fur cloaks for the winter, one absolutely hideous ball gown in turquoise blue (why his mother has owned that monstrosity he has no idea), and, for some reason, also several bear traps. (He is so glad to see those gone.) Oh, and quite a few shiny trinkets of Cruella's disappeared in Harry’s bottomless pockets.

He finds himself violently not-caring for that.

Evie watched the chaos unfold with a bewildered expression on her pretty face: she was presumably regretting leaving her castle at all. He must say, meeting the pirates probably isn't the best first experience.
Still, it could have been worse. She could have met his mother, for example.
He imagines his mother's reaction to the utter destruction of her home (by a few pirate-kids, no less) and it sends a shiver down his spine. He wants to hide from the world, from her.
But she is not here to hurt him.
She is not.

There is only Evie, the beautiful princess with gentle hands and voice like jingle bells. The girl who has just set foot outside her castle for the first time in forever.
But she must be recovering from that ordeal: she sits across from him and stares at him intently. What could she want?

Oh no, evil, is she kicking him out?
Surely she is: who would want a useless runt like him? A child that turns his back at his own mother the minute she is gone?
Unloyal.
Ungrateful.
Incompetent, stupid, good-for-nothing mutt.

He forces his breath out of his lungs and tries to stand up – his knees refuse to cooperate.
He hates that feeling.
Desisting to meet her eye, he folds his trembling hands in his lap. At least he can look decent, if nothing else.
He feels her soft hand cover his own. Soon after, soothing words reach his mind: well, not really soothing, but truthful, and not hurtful at all. She just wants to know what the fuck is going on.

Alright, she didn't use the exact phrase, because she is a princess and princesses don't swear, but that is what she meant.
He is fairly sure of that.

„Why did they call me a princess? Why did you?“
„Is that not who you are?“
„Oh, I am a princess. Meine Mutti ist die Königin, so I must be a princess. But how do they know?“
Carlos must stop and think for a while: Why wouldn't they know? The Evil Queen and by extension Evie herself are widely recognised around the Isle. But Carlos doesn't remember the reason for that, if there even is one.
So he goes for compliment:
„It's not that hard to recognize the fairest of them all, is it?“

Evie blushes.

He is getting better at this whole „talking to other people“ thing, right?

„But how do they even know I exist?“

He frowns and his brow furrows: Again, why wouldn't they know? The beautiful, alluring and mysterious girl that never leaves her castle has become an urban legend a long time ago.

He tells her so.

„Oh, really?“ she asks, leaning forward, „Tell me more. What do the rumours say about me?“

Is he imagining it, or does she sound a bit worried? Almost self-conscious?
Oh, well, if she wants to hear that…

„They say your mother killed you a long time ago and what we see in the window is just a pretty figurine.
They say you are nothing but a hallucination, meant to lure us to the claws of the Evil Queen.
They say she keeps you away, to slave for her, like Snow White did.“
That one hits a bit close for his liking.
Evie grows paler and paler with each sentence. It's her fault, for being so damn curious – or maybe Carlos still sucks at this whole communication thing.
„They say you've never existed at all, that you are just a pretty idea, meant to torment us some more.“

„But- But literally none of this is true!“ she protests, stuttering. „Those are lies!“

...And what did she expect, when she asked for the Isle rumours?

He decides that he is better off not answering that.

He watches as Evie slowly breathes in and out, trying to calm herself. Surprisingly, it works. It never did for Cruella.
So evidently, Evie is better at anger management than his mother. Another upside to living with her, Carlos thinks.
Meanwhile, she asks again: „Tell me all you know about the Isle: Who is the strongest player, who runs with whom, how does the food barge work, and who is most and least likely to try and kill us.“

Asks? More like commands him to answer, in her own sweet-talk way. Carlos doubts that he will be able to deny her anything anytime soon, at least while he is living under her roof practically for free. The princess holds the upper hand in this alliance.

„Where do you want to start?“

„Start with those who are most likely to lead.“

Smart suggestion. He can do that.

He tells her about Mal, the daughter of Maleficent, and her ally, Jay, son of Jafar – two of the few descendants that claim their ancestry so proudly. They have a tendency to do whatever the fuck they want at any given moment and also huge superiority complex – which, fair enough, their parents probably encouraged. Still, it makes them a total pain in the ass and an utter wild card. Not ideal material for an alliance.

He talks about the Tremaine children, especially Anthony and Dulcia, and how they manage to control the kids around them with the same terrifying accuracy their grandmother used to, balancing each other’s temperaments almost perfectly.

The Treamine family would make for a good alliance.

Then he moves onto the port and the pirates inside it: He makes sure to mention slight craziness they all possess, the Hook siblings maybe more than others. He mentions Uma, too, though he is not really sure what her place among the pirates is yet. She has spent her time in her mother’s restaurant or running around with Harry, while he was locked up in the Hell Hall. But he is sure that she will be a significant player: A daughter of a sea Goddess and sea witch famous for making bargains? A pirate by choice?
Still, the port is far too chaotic for his liking.

Evie reminds him that it is also strategically important: It’s good to have access to the food barges first, and with some of the pirates on their side, they may have a better chance on getting the best dibbs.
Fair enough. The princess has a good mind.

He mentions the child of Shan Yu: although he doesn't know much about them, they are a descendant of a general and a leader. There are plenty of young Huns in need of exactly that.

Then the twins and triplets of the Queen of Hearts: while still young, they have clearly inherited their mother's tastes: He doesn't particularly wish to be beheaded again. No, they should be very wary of the little Hearts.

Carefully, he includes the names of his cousins; but there is not much more to share. His mother didn't want him to have anyone else besides her.
He hates her for that.
Still, she couldn't have taken everything from him, and she couldn't quite forbid Jasper's and Horace's kids from spending time at Hell Hall. Maybe Evie could take them in also?
Better to save that discussion for a moment when he has better footing: for a moment when he has already proven himself valuable enough. Until then they will have to manage: fortunately, the De Vills have always been… crafty.

So he talks and talks for hours, until he can’t speak anymore. He tries his best, but it doesn’t seem like she will be satisfied with his answers anytime soon.
He can live with that.

--- Uma Triskelion ---

Uma walks into the port with her hands free and her head held high.
Harry carries only his hook that he swings wildly around - on the other side from her, luckily. Still, it makes the other kids almost jump out of their way and she doesn't need to take out her sabers even once.

On the other hand, Gil's arms are loaded: he bears the bear traps as if they weighed nothing, and he didn't even grunt when Uma put some heavy fur cloak at the top of them.
Uma is impressed, and Harry is, too, she knows.

Behind them trail Gonzo and Jonas: they were hanging around the Hell Hall for some reason – maybe they were hiding from Harriet? – and all the racket Harry was causing attracted them as surely as a shiny lure. No pirate can resist a promise of destruction and gold… She is no exception, either.
They took part in destroying Cruella's former home quite enthusiastically, while the de Vil boy watched them with a strange gleam in his eyes. (Harry had the time of his life, and that's all that mattered to Uma.)

So in return, she crammed their arms with everything she or Harry have deemed important or pretty.
Now, they are moving their treasures to their home. Lost Revenge awaits, still in need of a crew.
But she is sure that half of the port kids would happily sell their hand to get to a crew, so she doesn't make a fuss about it.
Harry will get his crew soon enough.

As they near Lost Revenge, she recognizes that there is already a small group waiting for them: Desiree, casually chatting with some other girl as she keeps eye on her brother. The little rascal himself, running around the pier, so close to the edge she fears he may fall off, off and into the water (and drown): Then she would have to drag out his limp body and hand it to Desiree; then she would have to wait with her for the life to return back to the boy's cold body.
She would rather not.

And… Wait, is that really Claudine Frollo? Really?
Yeah, looks like it.
But what is she doing in the port?
She lounges next to Desiree, trying so hard to seem confident and strong, but Uma sees the tension in her body.

She proceeds to ignore her.
Harry probably will, too, until they'll know what's on her mind and why she came here.

„Salve, Desi!“ shouts her friend, subtly and yet completely ignoring Judge Frollo's daughter.
Uma's lips twitch into a smile.
But… Names have power. And she respects Desiree enough to give her that courtesy.
„Use her proper name!“ she whispers only loud enough for him to hear, not anyone else. She won't put him down in front of anyone. Then she raises her voice to greet Desiree too: „Hi, Desiree!“

She misses the gears that shift behind his eyes, still too focused on Desiree and Claudine.

„Sure thing, love,” Harry says as if it were the most normal thing to say, „I’ll try to remember it next time.”
Why… Why did he do it? Doesn’t he know names have power? Doesn’t he know how important they are, how essential? How she would literally fade out of existence were she not remembered? Her mama warned her again and again: Names have power; don’t let them ever forget yours.

So why would he do that to her?

But it doesn’t feel entirely wrong either. So she shrugs it off (just for this once!) and looks around: Harry has since moved to the edge of the pier and is kicking the pebbles down for some reason or another: Desiree has to call her baby brother to her, so he wouldn’t try to copy Harry. The other kids, including Claudine are staring onto the ground and wisely pretending they heard nothing.
Good for them.

„So what are you all waiting for? Get the booty onboard!” She commands the pirates behind her, just maybe a little more loudly and aggressively than she needed to. But who cares. There are worse things she could do.
(Push Harry into the water and watch him drown.(Not really). Have them introduced to the nine-tailed cat for not obeying her fast enough. Slash their throats just because.)
(She doesn’t do any of those things.)
They move to obey her without protest: surely hoping to claim a bit of the loot for themselves when she and Harry are not looking. Well, they’ll have a lot to look forward to if they try.
Subconsciously, she touches her saber.

Harry has apparently grown bored with his activity and moved back to her. He gives the permission to board his ship to Gonzo and Jonas with a simple gesture. When they are not looking anymore, she punches his arm lightly: he has the audacity to ask what that was for, as if he didn’t know-
Anyway.
The argument is interrupted by Claudine Frollo and her not-so-subtle cough. Uma and Harry turn to stare at her as one: What the fuck does she want? Desiree glares daggers at her too and moves towards them slightly. Uma’s gesture freezes her in her place.

It’s Harry who breaks the silence: „Well, if this isn’t sour man Frollo’s glorified kitchen maid. What is she doing in the port, where all the sin lives and thrives, I wonder?”
Claudine looks like she has just swallowed a lemon.
Uma leans against Harry and continues the game: „Maybe she came to drown herself in the sea rather than live in this place, abandoned by God and her dearest Father?”
„Maybe she wants a taste of real life, now that Frollo is out.”
„I think that she came to turn as all into goody-two-shoes Catholics.”
„Well, she is not gonna succeed, in that case. It’s a pirate’s life for me.”
„For me, too. That would be a fool’s mission. So maybe she came just to see us: It has been ages since we have been to Frollo’s Creperie. She must have missed us!”

Claudine very much looks like she wants to retort, at least verbally, or else she is gonna blow, but Desiree’s murder glare is keeping her firmly silent. Still, the sight is highly amusing.

„Maybe, maybe. Sounds plausible to me. Or maybe she came to give her God’s meaningless blessings to our ship?”

„Ehm, Harry? Uma?” interrupts Gil softly, „Maybe you could just ask her?”
If he didn’t look so confused, she would have shouted him to the edge of the world and back.
„Gil!” Harry half cries out, half whines, before turning to Claudine again: „All right, what do you want?”

To Uma’s surprise, Claudine takes a few breaths before answering: „I want to join your crew.” Her voice reeks of contempt and disdain more than Uma thought possible for her, but her words don’t ring false.
She hears Harry take a sharp breath besides her.
But before either of them can react, a wave of proclamations rises all around them.

Desiree. Jonas. Gonzo. Bonny. Marya. Diego with Hunter and Ivy in tow. Declan. Issa. Even Desiree’s little brother.

(When did they all get there?)

„Uma?” Harry breathes out and she looks at him. For a moment, she is lost in the deep blue of his eyes that holds more dangers than the sea ever did. She thinks that he is lost, too.

But in no time he regains his footing and raises his hook to the air. „To Lost Revenge’s crew!” he shouts and the pirates echo, creating a tsunami of sounds and excitement.
She joins in, naturally.
Then she draws her sabers and runs a blade across a blade, creating a hissing sound that attracts the attention of the newly-founded crew.
„This is your friendly reminder that if you do something we don’t like, you are sharkbait!” she announces with a smile on her lips. The pirates, crazy as they are, return to cheering as Harry cackles.

A crew.
Her crew.
Lost Revenge.

„I’m also a part of the crew, right?” asks Gil quietly a bit later, when they have boarded the ship.
„Of course you are, silly,” she answers just as Harry says: „Why are you even asking?”

--- Mal of Moors ---

Mal is sitting in her room and pondering. Well, sitting: More like hanging down from her bed upside down. Of course, she could sit on the bed or even on the wonky chair she has, but have you ever tried that?! It’s boring!
She is also reading, more or less. Probably less than more, since the letters keep swimming in front of her eyes even though she is also holding the book - The Spellbook! - upside down, that is, the right side up for her to read right now.

She feels like nothing makes sense.

And Jay is not here to distract her: he left a while ago to hang out with Jade. The traitor. What is she supposed to do now? Be bored all by herself? Actually read the Spellbook and figure out how to get from this Isle, as she should?!

Nah.

She carefully sets down the Spellbook, even though she wants to yeet it at the wall, and swings up on her foot.
She needs to do something - now.
Like, right now.
Or she will probably crawl out of her skin.
So she stalks out into the disturbingly empty streets, which hold absolutely no one she could annoy and/or bully right now. Shame.
And she ran out of spray paint just yesterday…
It’s Jay’s fault, anyway, for making her paint the king-cobra for him.

She wanders through the Isle for a bit. Every time she thinks she has seen someone, they disappear into the shadows. They don’t want to play with her at all. Kill joys.
Even Anthony Tremaine does one hundred eighty turn once he sees her.
She scowls to herself at the Lost children’s cowardry.

Why is everyone avoiding her today? (Maybe they just know better than to appear in the field of vision of a bored fae… They’ve learned the hard way, after all.)

So Mal heads to the so-called school once again. Because there is nothing better to cool your flaming temper on than a building that represents Auradon, right?
Only this time, she enters it, for the first time in her life.

She didn’t think this day would come.
But alas, there she is, looking for something, anything, interesting enough to intrigue her for more than few seconds.

She walks through never-visited hallways that are practically covered in gaudy Auradonian propaganda posters. She rips down one with Fairy Godmother’s face on it, just for the brief satisfaction. „Try to be good, for goodness sake!” it says.
As if.
As if she would actually consider listening to this piece of shit advice rather than simply destroying the poster. Along with Fairy Godmother herself, preferably.

The layers and layers of dust swirl around her ankles. It doesn’t bother her, as she has walked through worse substances in her short life. Like blood. Or iron - sha had to walk on iron barefooted, once.
She hates iron.

She peeks into a few class rooms and immediately backtracks: There is nothing of interest here. Just more garish posters, some chairs and tables in surprisingly good condition and a thing she recognizes as a blackboard. As she said, boring. Unless she would decide to burn this whole place from the ground…
No, that would probably destroy the outer wall also, and she needs that one for messages.
Which sucks.
She could do with a bit of meaningless arson right now.

But maybe she will find something, If she just keeps walking and looking- she enters the room that is marked as the Art Classroom, just because. There is no one to stop her, or to put her down if she likes it. Still, she can’t help but carefully look around and scan her surroundings, even though she knows she is alone.
And if she decides to liberate a few of the art supplies… If she takes some of them into her custody… Well, who cares?
(There is no Maleficent to shame her for her interest anymore.)
(Thank Evil.)

She sneaks out of the room again, looking over her shoulder the whole time. (What if Maleficent is here, after all, hidden in the shadows, watching her and waiting for her to slip?)

She continues down the hall, showing a rude gesture to the posters: These have King Beast’s face and the inscription „Try to have a Good day!”. Which would actually be a lot easier without freaking Beast’s face all around.

Another door catch her attention: According to the tag on them, it was intended to be the Headmasters office. She would like to know who was supposed to be the Headmaster… She enters anyway.
Looking around, she takes in the stark office: The ever-present propaganda, the table and chair that do not wingle even a little, the clean (!) sheets of paper on the desk, and the… The computer?!
She has never seen one before: Maleficent didn’t trust modern technology and the Auradonians didn’t throw out many of their gadgets anyway. But she knows enough about them, from the kids of the more modern villains. Especially the de Vil kids don't shut up about them. After a bit of poking around, she manages to set the machine running.
After another round of clicking, pushing random keys and a lot of swearing she actually manages to figure out how the fuck this hellish device works and open the first program she sees.

It’s a registry of the Villain kids born on the Isle.

More of an attempt of a registry, she realizes as she scrolls down through it. There is barely any information available, besides the kid’s name, age, and the name of the parent that claimed them as theirs. Which means that she won’t learn her Father’s name today… (Why does it stung? Why does she care? Her Mama said he was only a lowly human, not worthy of their attention… She shouldn’t care.)
She reads through the names and dates, recognizing most of them. Still, there seems to be something off…

There is not nearly enough names. She doesn’t see half of the Tremaine cousins. Jade. CJ Hook. Yzma’s kids. Not even one of the Huns. Barely a handful of the pirates. Not a single kid below the age of seven.

That’s the time when the school was founded. That’s the time they were abandoned for good.

Well, who cares?
Now they’ve been abandoned once again, and they are freer than they could have imagined.

She wonders if no one in Auradon bothered to check the registry in that time. If it didn’t occur to them, to monitor the Isle kids even once. Surely, it must have been suspicious, when the entries suddenly stopped, no?

No, why is she even thinking that?
She know that Auradon doesn’t give a fuck about the children of the Isle of the Lost. Otherwise, they would send them enough food to survive without malnutrition, enough clothes to survive the winter without frostbite and enough medicine not to experience unnecessary deaths from infected wounds.
No, she knows how much are they worth in the eyes of Auradon.
She just doesn’t like it.
Even though she knows she shouldn’t care.

She finds a field that let’s her type in a message and send it: To Auradon, presumably.
She spends the next few hours like that: Typing in messages, fiery cries of outrage, words of contempt and silent threats, promises of violence and revenge.
They may have been forgotten by the world, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t here anymore.

She wonders if her words will ever be read.

--- Desiree Freeman ---

Once the crew of Lost Revenge settles, Desiree finds herself being pulled away by Uma. She doesn't question it, as Uma shoves her into first mate's quarters.

„Why is Claudine here? I saw her talking with you - why is she here?”
„She asked me for an alliance, and I thought that a person like Claudine might be beneficial to the crew.”
„Oh?” Uma prompts her for a more detailed answer and Desiree lists her all the reasons she has come up with so far:
She can cook - seeing as Uma is probably the only one of the crew who can cook a half-decent meal so far, having another person to take over that duty would free up her hands. Desiree dances around the words, not really sure how much of that train of thoughts she can share: instead, she mentions the fact that Claudine can make crepes, too. Uma seems to have a soft spot for them.

No one would expect Claudine Frollo to be a pirate, so she might be able to get some valuable information and news from the other parts of the Isle.

Uma nods appreciatively at that. She was always hungry for knowledge and entertainment both.

Claudine is a daughter of one of the most famous villains, and as such, she should have some tatus, too.

And honestly, every crew can use another pair of hands.

„I understand why you brought her here,” Uma says finally, „But if she proves to be more trouble than she is worth? Then you’ll go with her.”

Desiree pales.
„Is there… Is there some time limit to that?”
Gods, she hopes there is one.

Uma taps at her chin: „We shall make it half a year, shall we?”

That might not be that bad, just a short probation period to overcome to get a crew for her and her brother. Speaking of with: „What about my brother, Uma? Can he stay here?”
„Yes - what else am I supposed to do? Set your toddling brother loose on this fucking Isle? Don’t think so. In fact, where are the other port kids?” She mock-asks rather fiercely and Desiree is reminded why she wanted to be a part of her crew so much.

„No idea, Uma. But I can go looking for them, if you want?” she answers, guessing correctly where Uma’s mind is going.
The sea witch nods, so Desiree continues: „I’ll take the de Vils too, they know their way around.”
„Excellent. Don’t tell Harry where you are going yet, not even if he asks. Just tell him you are running an errand for me: It won’t even be a lie,” Uma flashes her a smile, „Anyway, before you go: Is this a deal? Do you accept my terms?”

She doesn’t really have any other choice, does she? Not if she wants to be in a crew with Harry Hook and Uma in charge. Not if she wants her brother to be under their protection, too.

„Yes, Uma,” she says, settling the deal with the soul-stealer's daughter. As if her soul ever mattered - now she has a crew.

And she knows that Uma will protect what is hers. Or Harry’s: she is not sure that those two can differentiate between that.

Chapter Text

--- Audrey Rose ---
„Smile, Audrey Rose!”
„Mind your posture!”
„Step a bit closer to the prince, would you, dear?”
„Take his hand!”
„Turn your head a bit to the left, Prince Ben!”
„Smile!”
„For Goodness sake, just smile, Audrey Rose, it’s not that hard! And straighten your back: you are bowing like a common peasant!”

Audrey hates royal photoshots.
But she smiles and obeys regardless; her cheeks and shoulders are starting to hurt. Her feet, too, from the unusually high high-heels she is forced to wear.

„It will be over soon,” sounds her father’s voice in her head.
„Just bear it, my little princess,” chimes in her mother and Audrey remembers the kiss on her cheek she has received at this point, „It makes your Grandma Leah happy.” (Can Grandma Leah even be happy? Nothing Audrey ever does seems to satisfy her.)
„It is your royal duty as the heir. You should be proud of that opportunity and make your kingdom proud.” Grandma Leah’s voice drowns out her parent’s words, even in her memories.

Beside her, Ben tears his gaze from the spot they are supposed to be artfully staring at. He looks at her and whispers under his breath: „We will sneak out into the gardens as soon as we are done. Jane, Chad and Lonnie are already waiting for us.”
Audrey flashes him a smile, the first real one in an hour, before the adults reprimand them and they return to the pointless staring and looking pretty and majestic.

But her thoughts stay far away from the flashing lenses, blinding lights and her Grandma’s laconic remarks.

Slying away to Lonnie is always the best part of those gatherings: Lonnie is her best friend, but they see each other so rarely, since she lives so far away, and more rarely even without supervision.
She brings cookies and sweets, since Grandma and Grandpa don’t let her have any; Ben does that too, slipping her a piece of chocolate or a finger cake whenever they are not watched.
But Lonnie brings her weapons, too, and lets Audrey practice with her. Neither Ben nor Chad do that, and she isn’t really allowed to see any other boys regularly. Or any other girls, for that matter. Which sucks high time, but she isn’t allowed to say that.
She wouldn’t be allowed to see Lonnie either, but her Mum and Dad stood their ground for once and even Grandma Leah was intimidated by Mulan.

Some distant part of her brain registers the commands and obeys them automatically, adjusting her body slightly just as they tell her. She feels like the fake smile is a forever part of her face now.

Belle and Beast come in.
„Now, didn’t we torture the children enough?” asks the Queen, which earns her a frown from Leah. Audrey can sympathize with Belle's sentiment: She just can’t show it, as she is still smiling.
But Ben doesn’t have such hesitations: „Yes, Mama, we have been there for hours! And there is this book in the library I haven’t finished yet…” He can play his mother, that much must she admit.
But it works: They are dismissed with a reminder to come back for a short interview in two hours. As if they could forget.

They start running as soon as they get out of the sight of the adults. In minutes, they stand in the garden, breathless, their cheeks red. Audrey has her uncomfortable slippers in her hands and Ben’s pants are a bit muddy: they’ll have to change into clean clothes for the interview. But they would have to do that regardless of the state of their clothes, so Audrey doesn’t make herself a heavy head from that.

Now she gets to see Lonnie!

Their friends should be waiting in the little altar in the middle of the rose maze, Ben assures her, and luckily, both of them have the maze patterns memorized. They won’t waste their precious time wandering around, lost. Hopefully, they won’t have to search for their friends either: Jane knows the royal gardens as much as they do and if they actually managed to get lost, Lonnie wouldn’t hesitate to cut them free of the rose bushes via her sword.

Finally, they reach the altar with a sight so sweet Audrey wants to sing: Flowers and song birds and cookies and fizzy drinks and their friends just talking and laughing. No one to tell them off. At least not anyone she could spot right away, and that counts for something.
So Audrey drops her shoes onto the ground and grabs Ben’s hand instead; then she starts running towards them, with giggling Ben not a step behind.
She collapses into Lonnie’s arms in a totally unladylike manner.

„Lonnie! I’ve missed you so much!”
„I've missed you too, poison-flower,“ answers Lonnies as soon as she can breathe again.

Audrey closes her arms around her shoulders again and then she gives her a kiss on the cheek - it takes Lonnie a great deal of self-control not to wipe her skin right away, but Audrey greets her friend like this every time. She is used to it by now.
Then Audrey turns to greet Jane and Chad too; a soft melody without words is forming in her throat. She doesn't hold it inside.
Capturing the fairy in her arms, she searches for the familiar smell of blooming flowers and waterfalls and the gentle, almost incomprehensible humming that she associates with her friend's magic.
But it's gone.
It's gone.

The song freezes on her lips.

But Jane seems to be alright, she notes as she pulls an arm length from her. So she doesn't question it.
It's not polite to talk about magic, after all.

So Audrey catches herself and starts humming again - and if any of her friends notice that she's stopped for a moment, they don't bring it up.
It's impolite and improper, after all.

--- Li Lonnie ---
Lonnie does notice her friend's stammer, and while she personally wouldn't have anything against bringing it up, Auradon apparently does. And Lonnie knows better than to antagonize Auradon.
So she does the next best thing.
She distracts her.

...As soon as the princess finishes greeting everyone, of course.

Lonnie watches as Chad kisses Audrey's knuckles, in a gesture that is considered cute and gentlemanly. It freaks Lonnie out, but Audrey just giggles, and then moves to hug Jane (again?!) and fake-kiss her cheeks. Gross.

Why do they do that, Lonnie will never understand.

But now that the courtesy is out of her way, Audrey is facing Lonnie again and demanding her weapon. Better give that to her, no? Lonnie takes out the weapons – the fake ones, those that she brought for the princess to train with.
Her dad helped her with the selection, and he has recommended a new sword for Audrey. Still a faux one, of course, as Li Shang would never give a real weapon to a ten years old girl.
...Not unless that girl was his own daughter anyway.

„Can we fight now?” asks Audrey, bouncing on her toes a little.
„And have you stretched yet, princess? I don’t want you injured.” If Audrey was injured, it would be Lonnie's fault and they’d probably never be allowed to see each other again. And Lonnie won't have that, so a little warm-up for the bloodthirsty princess it is.
Audrey pouts at her, but obeys, which makes Ben giggle.

Anything that gets the princes and princesses of Auradon to smile is a good thing in Lonnie’s books.
She takes a look at her friends while she struggles to take of her boots and do a few warm-up moves all at once: Ben is folding an origami from a paper napkin - „That’s for Audrey,” he stage-whispers when he notices her looking, „After I finish this one, I’ll make one for Jane and for you, too, if you want.” Yeah, she would like that very much. „I’d love that,” she tells him, „It’s beautiful.” And the prince smiles at her, drinking up her praise as a flower would water, as a dry land would spilled blood.

Anyway, Chad and Jane seem to be engaged in some kind of conversation that does not include Jane at all; the fairy only nods along, not even trying to speak up anymore: This is starting to get ridiculous. She will have words with them afterwards.
But now, Audrey: „Show me, what you got, poison-flower,” she challenges and Audrey leaps at her.

Lonnie doesn’t really attack at first, only dodging and blocking Audrey’s attacks, letting her let go of the energy she has nowhere to use. But after a while… After a while, she stops holding herself back too much.

And so they fight: Just two girls who have no better way of venting out their anger and frustration with a life that is expected of them.
The princes cheer them on, even though Chad doesn’t stop his ongoing flood of words. And Lonnie suddenly remembers: Chad has two young sisters, twins. And judging by his endless rant, most of his parents' energy and focus shifted to the girls.
…Which definitely does not mean she won’t give him a lesson about behaving appropriately towards the shy fairy.

Audrey exploits her lapse of attention and hits her rather hard into the ribcage. Fuck - that’s gonna bruise. Now that’s what she gets for trying to help everyone. (Not really. That’s what she gets for not paying attention to her opponent in a fight - she is lucky Audrey has only the dull faux sword.)

„Sorry - are you hurt?” Audrey lets go of the weapon, which falls into the grass with a soft thud; she and everyone else rush to her side. Why, though? It’s only gonna bruise a little, nothing serious, it doesn’t even hurt that much-
Really, these kids are so soft, so sheltered, and yet so broken, in thousand little ways-

(Ben, the crown prince of Auradon, who knows nothing, really, and who would do anything to make his friends happy. Just a boy who doesn’t know how to react to a simple compliment: is he not used to praise at all?)
(Audrey, daughter of Sleeping Beauty who fights as viciously as if nothing else mattered. What if it doesn’t, not to her?)
(Jane, a fairy in a land that prohibited magic - she hates the look on her face, when she says that she’s so sorry, but she can’t heal her. She hates it, when she realizes that Jane doesn’t have access to her magic anymore.)
(Chad, who probably doesn’t have anyone else to talk to, all year round. Chad, who used to show her photos of his pets and who would listen to Jane babble about any new little spell she has learned-)

No. She can’t do that.

Lonnie breaks down crying.

Audrey hugs her, whispering apologies, and kisses her brow: Lonnie recoils from the touch of her lips and pulls herself together, still sniffing a little.

„I just… It hurts a bit,” she lies through gritted teeth, „Maybe we could take a little pause?”
„Of course,” Audrey agrees immediately and lets go of her: Ben and Chad help her up like the gentlemans they were taught to be and lead her to sit on a bench in the altar. Audrey settles against her side, hugging her again, and Lonnie finds herself liking it: As long as Audrey doesn’t attempt to kiss her again, they’re good. She hugs her back.

„Here, I’ve made this for you,” Ben presents her with an origami dragon, just a little messy because of the material used, „Do you like it?”
„It’s very cool and I love it,” she says sincerely and he blushes.
„I’ve made a rose for Audrey - do you think I should make her a dragon too? Or maybe not, Maleficent used to transform into one. Oh, and I made a heart one for Jane! Do you think she will like it?”
„I’m sure they’ll love it, too,-” „I certainly will, Benny,” interrupts Audrey. „Anyway, will you make one for Chad, too? I think he would like one as well,” Lonnie manages to get out before she buries her face in Audrey’s hair: Against her will, her ribs are actually starting to fucking hurt.

--- Celia Facilier ---
There are only two rooms at the place they’re currently staying: their home on the Isle was an entire apartment above an arcade their father run. But she doesn’t complain: Why would she? She’s in Auradon!

She’s in A-U-R-A-D-O-N!

And the other Isle kids are not - she refuses to think about that too much. Or rather, she refuses to acknowledge these thoughts. She knows what her Daddy would say: „Oh, but don’t worry about that, babygirl! Everything has its time and its space, and we cannot change that. Believe me, I’ve tried. So put these thoughts away, my darling daughter, and lock them tight: You might take them out once you are actually strong enough to act upon them. For now, hush!”

Still, she wishes she could help her allies (friends) under the Barrier, or at least send them some better food, because, dear Gods and monsters, sacred shadows, the food!

There is actually food, enough for all of them to eat until they can’t anymore: Not that her dad actually allowed that. He claimed that if she and Freddie eat too much, they’ll become sick. Sounded false to Celia’s ears, but who is she to argue with Dr. Facilier?

Anyway, Dr. Facilier went out to run some errand or another around two hours ago and left her to watch over Freddie with strict instructions: Do not leave and do not enter the other room.

But… They are bored. And they are Isle kids. Neither the villains nor their children have ever been any good at obeying rules, laws and instructions.
So Celia and Freddie should most certainly not be punished nor blamed for entering the forbidden premises.

She winks at her sister, and Freddie gets up from her game: she was playing pretend, and the dragon, who was played by Freddie's very talented shadow, was just about to eat the princess. No prince in sight. Only a witch that might or might not have made a deal with the dragon and-
Oh. Right.
They've wanted to explore the other room, haven't they? Better get to it before Daddy comes back.

Celia cracks the door open and peeks through; Freddie slots her head just below her chin; her hair is tickling Celia and making her cough.

Nothing seems out of usual, just an ordinary dark room, pitch back, in fact. So dim that it cannot possibly be natural.
Celia blinks and a pair of gloving orbits blinks back at her.

„Hi there!“ greets Celia politely, „are you one of my father's Friends?“
„A Friend from The Other Side?“ adds Freddie, her voice full of awe.

The eyes without pupils or irises blink again. In confirmation, perhaps?
Celia enters the room, entranced by the sight, by the smell, by the low, music-like humming that wasn't there just moments before.
„Do you see what I see? Do you hear it, too?“ she asks her sister and she confirms: She does. This is real. Celia takes another step into the dark, into the unknown.

„Wait, Celia!“ cries the younger (if only by a couple of minutes) girl, „Wait!“
What- Why-
„If those are- If those are the friends on the other side, should we just come in, empty-handed?“
„But they are calling us, they want us to come in- Don't you hear them? Don't you want to-?“
„Well, yeah, but-“
„Are you scared, little sister?“ Celia asks, finally tearing her eyes of the strange, welcoming darkness, to look at her sister. She doesn't look frightened, she certainly has looked far more terrified during some infamous gang fights on the Isle. Then why is she protesting so much?
Oh. Celia's stare slips past her sister's shoulder, and there it is: their shadows, back at the wall where they definitely shouldn't be, vehemently pointing at their pack of tarot cards and the stash of fresh(!) fruit their father brought.
Oh.

„You know what? Maybe you are right. Maybe we shouldn't come in empty-handed, after all.“

And right at the clue, an apple comes rolling; the stash of cards flies at them. Celia snatches the precious cards while Freddie picks up the apple. „Thank you, shadows!“ she whispers and the shadows bow; Celia just smiles, before she takes her sister's hand to finally enter the dark room.

They kneel before the glowing orbits, not letting go of each other's hands.

„Show yourself, Friends!“

„Show yourself!“ the room echoes.

„We are Celia and Frederique Facilier-“ „We mean no harm!“ „We came in peace-“ „We came to know-“

„We know you,“ the dark room booms and blazing silhouettes appear along the walls.
„We do know you, little ones, indeed.“

Freddie grips Celia's hand harder. Because, well, the Friends…

„Don't worry, little ones, we are not interested in harming you, either.“

Oh, thank Evil. If they got themselves harmed by the Friend on the Other Side… Daddy would kill them. After eliminating every threat possible, of course.

„We brought you gifts, see?“ pipes up Freddie, and Celia's blood freezes in her veins: They mean no harm, yet. That might change easily, though, just few wrong words…
„It's an apple, a real one, and fresh, even! It's so good! Not rotten, not moldy, not even sour!“ Freddie continues ranting about new-found wonders of food - which they had deserved all along, just to be absolutely clear - and the Friends chuckle. Celia finds herself dragged into the conversation soon. It's fun.

And the Friends do not mind listening, nor do they threaten them or harm them. Instead, they share quite a few interesting tidbits from the Other Side.

When Dr. Facilier comes home, he finds his daughters in the room he specifically forbid them to enter.
And what did he expect, really?
So he bursts the door open, let's the light in, and comes to rescue his precious kids.
Only to see them engaged in an animated conversation with several of his most dangerous Friends.

Oh, Gods and monsters and everything that is sacred…
Why did his daughters have to take after him?

Finally, one of the Friends notices him: „Oh, Facilier!“ it says, „Long time no see!“
„Beautiful daughters you have here!“ adds another, „And what darlings they are!“

With his breath bated, he waits for the inevitable, the „Would be a shame if something happened to them,“ that he is certain the Friends are going to pull. And then? What could he do then but to obey their every wish to keep his daughters safe?

But it doesn't come.
Instead: „We find ourselves… drawn to them. We would like to offer our friendship and our protection. We would like to make a deal.”

„You can’t do that!”

„Can’t we, Facilier? Can’t we? Look at your daughters, look at them: See how happy they look, how much they enjoyed our little chat? We rather like them, too.”

„We like you too!” beams one of his daughters and the other one immediately slams her hand on her mouth. He’s just glad that at least one of his daughters has a modicum of common sense, at this point.

„See?” The Friends speak up again, in unison, before one leading voice breaks off of the group: „There is nothing you can do, Facilier. They belong to us, to the shadows, just like you did, if not more. After all this time you spent with us in Shadowland? They barely pass for humans, anyway.”

One of the beings reaches out to his daughters, only to caress their hair gently.
„We like your Friends, Daddy,” says one of the girls, „Can we be friends with them, too?”

„I don’t think you have any other choice.” He’s surprised that a heart attack doesn’t claim him now and there. But then again: His girls are going to be powerful, and that's all that matters in the end.

--- Chip Potts ---

Chip wanders through the castle: he ought to be working, but really, he has worked enough in his life and no one bothers to check up on him, anyway. Besides, this is just a side gig now - he’s going to get his university title and another fucking job, one that he did not do since the time he could form long-term memories.

Anyway.
He hears some steps coming down the corridor, and it could be anyone. Lumiere. Worse yet, his mother. Or King Beast - no, not really. He almost never comes to these parts of his ridiculously huge castle, you know, to the parts where people actually work.
So Chip takes a sharp turn, to avoid as much human interactions as possible.

After another half an hour or so of mindless wandering and sweet procrastination, he hears a suspicious sound, a faint beeping of an incoming message that isn’t being answered. He checks his phone, but no, he’s good.
Then what-?

He follows the sound to what seems like a long abandoned office with longer-yet outdated computer. No nametags on the table, no sign on the door either. Fuck this non-system.

But he has nothing better to do - Well, he technically does have something to do, but does he want to do it? No. - And the sound is getting annoying. Like might-curse-this-entire-castle-if-it-doesn’t-shut-up-soon annoying.
But regrettably, Chip has no such power, and so he crouches down on the creaky chair.

He reads through the flood of messages:

„You might have forgotten about us, but we won’t forget about you. Ever.”

„WHY DON’T YOU HEAR US? WHY DO YOU IGNORE OUR CRIES?”

„You should fear that moment that we are free, because- Because there are no words for what we want to do.”

„WHY DON’T YOU SEE US? WHY DO YOU TURN YOUR BLIND EYE ON OUR SUFFERING?”

„Last week, I watched exactly three people be beheaded. The Hearts were suspiciously calm, for what is happening here. I wonder what is coming.”

„Have you ever tasted a food that tastes so good that you want to cry? Yeah, me neither. But the opposite?”

„DOES IT FEEL GOOD? DOES IT FEEL GOOD? TO PRETEND NOT TO KNOW?”

„One day, I swear, one day-”

„How many times have you died?”

„DO YOU EVEN CARE?!”

„What if the real villains were free all along?”

„TRY TO BE GOOD FOR GOODNESS SAKE!”

Chip slowly closes the program and turns off the sound.
He doesn’t know what is going on.
He doesn’t like it.
But then also, he is not paid nearly enough for this.

He exits the office and closes the door behind himself carefully.
This is not his concern or responsibility.

Maybe he should tell someone, though… But who? Everyone would just ask what was he doing there and why wasn’t he working… The people and their stupid questions…

Maybe he should just hide in one of the giant walk-in wardrobes and try to learn something for the test he is writing next week.
Yeah, that sounds like a solid plan.
Right?

Chapter Text

--- Harriet Hook ---

„Harriet! Harriet! Uma keeps bringing stray kids to my ship! What do I do?”

Of course that her little brother comes whining to her. And just as she was trying to get some work done, too!

„Whatever did you just say? I didn’t hear anything,” she says, even though she heard everything perfectly.
„I said that Uma keeps bringing stray kids to my ship, what do I do?”
„Still don’t hear anyone talking at me, especially not my little brother, who is not allowed to call me only by my name for another four days, now, do I?” She turns to ignore him and maybe also to sort out her thoughts a little.

So Uma’s taking care of some of the little port rats… That would explain why her crew found barely a half of those she knows of. And hey, if Uma wants the kids she can damn well keep them!

„Come on, Hettie, you can’t mean it!”

Oh, but she absolutely can.
Besides, she has a barge day to plan - the first one without adults around, too.
And if he calls her Hettie one more time, she’s throwing him over the rails.

„Fine, Your Majesty Supreme Ruler Of the Port And The Best Captain Ever, as Your Royal Annoyance wishes!”

…He did get it mostly right. Colour Harriet surprised: she didn’t actually think either of her siblings would follow through. But it’s fun. Even if his sulky tone is way off.

„Yes?” she smiles sweetly, finally looking at him, „You can come onboard, by the way.”

He comes, showing her a rather rude gesture, and her crew scatters from his way. Cowards.
With no further hesitations, he poises beside her, his brand-new hook still in his hand and very clearly on display. The space around them is suspiciously devoid of curious pirates: Her brother is treating them with yet another murder glare. Nice job on that, she must say.

„So what do I do?” he asks again, quite cleverly omitting any kind of salutation.

„Did it occur to you that you could just say „no” to her?” she asks in return. Because she is fairly certain it did not occur to her idiotic little brother.

And just as she thought: He looks at her, absolutely astonished, his eyes wide. „But… But that would make Uma sad!” he protests.

Right.
Why is she bothering with this again?

„And that’s a problem exactly… Why?” interjects CJ. Harriet doesn’t have the strenght to wonder how the fuck did she get there.
„First of, you don’t simply get on a ship without Captain’s permission. And you damn well know that, Calista Jane!” she scolds her little sister.

„But Sammy let me!”

Harriet halfheartedly shouts towards her first mate that they have no business letting other people onboard; „I know that, Captain, but CJ’s terrifying!” sounds the troublesome answer.

Seven seas….

„Thanks!” CJ calls back, giving Sammy thumbs-up and far too sharp smile; Harriet wishes she could sew her mouth shut.

But there Harry is, usurping their attention in the most barbaric way she has ever seen: He’s dragging his hook alongside the railing, threatening to dig into the wood. She smacks his hand away: „This happens one more time and I’m breaking your arm,” she threatens and both of her siblings know she would follow through. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop them from arguing:

„Why can’t you say no to your venefica marina, dearest brother?”
„Tace atque mori.“
„Stultissime!”
„Amove te!”
„Ignave amareture!”
„Quiet, you two! You are arguing like mechanical monkeys! At least be creative, if you are going to argue on my ship… Now answer the question, Harry! I would love to hear your reasoning.”

The space around them is still empty, the pirates knowing better than to get too close to arguing Hook siblings, so Harriet and CJ are free to enjoy the view of their blushing and stuttering brother in peace. CJ lifts her hand to get a high five and Harriet indulges her - after she very obviously rolls her eyes, of course.

After a good few minutes of letting him drown in his feelings, Harriet deems it enough, partially because CJ was giggling the whole time and she doesn’t have nerves for that.
„Stop this pitiful display,” she says and Harry immediately shuts up: That’s a first. She whacks CJ’s head, so she would be quiet too.

„Now, if you really don’t want to disappoint Uma-” He shakes his head rather forcefully. „-Then I suggest you claim some solid building near Lost Revenge and just house them there. That way you can keep watch over them - someone should be watching the little ones almost constantly, both to stop them from injuring themselves and possibly dying and to stop them from attempting thievery. Oh, but choose a house distant enough so you won’t hear their cries and racket onboard. Only seeing range, not hearing range. Got it?”

He seems to be taking it in stride, so she continues:

„Make sure you have enough supplies for them, you’ll need to grab food for them today too.”

„Figured that much.”

„Tell Uma that they’re her responsibility and that she’ll need to take care of them.”

„But I don’t want that! They’re going to hog all her attention! Figure out something else for me!”

Her. Brother. Is. Fucking. Insufferable.

And CJ’s too, that giggling little monster.

„Then just tell someone else to do that. You are the Captain. You give the orders.”

His face brightens considerably („Oh, wait! You are right!”) and CJ inserts herself into the conversation again: „You are not pretty enough to be this stupid,” she sights, her hand over her heart, and Harriet has to stiffle her laughter. While Harry holds the point of his hook in their sister’s face. Their little sister, who is cackling at him.

Oh, dear Gods…
No. It’s fine. Everything is fine.

Cj nudges her ribs and Harriet collapses on Harry’s shoulder, laughing.
Yeah, who cares?

Finally, she manages to calm herself and return to the matter at hand:„Now, get your crew ready, frater care; we will need to play the messengers and get Auradon’s precious trash on the Isle, now that everyone else is gone.”

...You didn't really think that the Auradonians would deliver them the goods personally, did you?
Ha. As if. They just shove the makeshift floaters and rafts through the Barrier, not caring much beyond that. And Harriet hates them for that. Maleficent’s stupid goblins used to fish them out and drag the loot onland, but they’re gone, along with their ghastly Mistress. She hates the goblins and Maleficent, too. She- She doesn't want to think about her father.
So the young pirates…
So the Red Temptress and Lost Revenge will sail for the first time.

„On it,” Harry salutes carelessly and takes his leave.

„Do I get to sail too?” asks CJ and Harriet has to list the reasons why seven-years-old menally-unstable little minx without a crew definitely shouldn’t sail. And why she definitely shouldn’t kill anyone at the barge, while we are at it.

Harry interrupts that conversation, shouting from the port and blowing her an air-kiss: „Thank you, Hettie! You are the best!”

Harriet sights.
„Correction: You are allowed and welcome to to try and kill Harry,” she states dryly. CJ pumps her fist in the air: she has unleashed a monster, hasn't she?

Harriet stops paying attention to her little sister in favour of commanding her crew again; on the other side of the port, Harry has reached Lost Revenge:

„Uma, darling, we ride with the tide!” he exclaims before he is even properly on board, as he sees his friend arguing with Jonas and Gonzo, Gil at her side. In a moment, he's right next to her, taking care to show off all of his weapons: „Any problem there, gentlemen? No? Didn’t think so. So go prepare the ship, because didn’t you hear me? We ride with the tide!”

The pirates shuffle their feet, but remove themselves from his reach. Smart. So he turns to Uma: What was that?
But she ignores his unspoken question.

„I think that you’ll need to give them clearer instructions, those idiots are unsurprisingly inept,” she grumbles. He nods, as this is probably a smart suggestion. Anyway:
„The kids ain't going, and they ain't staying on Lost Revenge anymore: We will find a nice place for them somewhere near.“ In sight, but not in hearing range. Unless they'd be shouting bloody murder, of course.
„You won't be staying onland with these little brats you’ve collected, will you, Uma?”

„Damn right I won’t,” she confirms, „I couldn’t miss our first sail for the world, now, could I?”
Wide, satisfied smile grows on his face - They aint stealing Uma from him anytime soon. But Harriet still said that someone needed to watch them?
„I’m thinking of leaving Claudine and one of the de Vils with them, if you don’t need them for anything else.”
Oh. Right. Uma has it covered.

--- Jay ---

Jay’s so looking forward to the shipments - he just hopes he won’t have to fish his loot from the water himself, without the goblins around. For one thing, he can’t swim. For another, there are bloodthirsty sharks around. And crocodiles.
And yeah, Jay doesn’t particularly wish to die today.

Which may be the reason why he let Mal tag along without any fuss. She knows his rules, though, and likely wouldn’t be interested in any further cooperation anyway.

There is no team in I.

That applies twice as much when it comes to getting his hands on as much food and shiny valuables he can.

So there he is, sitting at a roof close to goblin wharf, looking out for any sign of the incoming shipments: Not that he can see all that much with the Barrier and all. He can hardly make out the blurry line of horizon and something that might or might not be Auradon.
„Down with Auradon,” he thinks and throws a chunk of broken roof tile in that vague direction: It lands in water, but with a satisfying splash. Small mercies.

„Oh, great idea! I was just starting to get bored with your silent observations, but here you are!” beams Mal, before she picks up a small pebble and promptly throws into the slowly gathering crowd.
„You shouldn’t have missed, though!”

Jay shrugs: this works too. He tosses his own pebble into the air and catches it again:
„I bet you you can’t hit Anthony Tremaine!” he challenges.
„Only if you are aiming for Dulcia!” comes the swift answer.

Naturally, the Tremaines start to throw things at them too, but neither of the girls has very good aim and Anthony doesn’t bother. Beside Jay, Mal gleefully cackles:this is her kind of fun!

But before she can aim again, wobbly rafts float through the Barrier, pushed through by imperceptible force, and two ships enter their field of vision: „Oh, look what we have there!” she proclaims, „The band of wanna be pirates and Shrimpy, too!”

Jay wonders if she has ever met Harriet Hook, because damn, that girl scares even him.

They watch as the pirates struggle to navigate in the space between the Barrier and the rocky Goblin wharf, desperate to get the supplies onboard before they sink. Or before the sharks and/or crocodiles get a bite.

Jay sees Harriet throw one of the reptiles off a raft before they lift it on board: and damn, that girl has some biff.
He checks if Mal has seen it, but no. The fairy is too busy trying to provoke the Tremaines into a proper rumble. Yeah, if that were anyone else than the Tremaines with level-headed Anthony, the wharf would have been bloody by now.
Hell, if she provoked the Hearts or the Hooks like that, there would have been dead bodies laying around.

And Jay would have enjoyed every minute of it.

Another more or less waterproofed package is lifted onboard and Jay whistles loudly. Unfortunately, not loudly enough to get the attention of any of the pirates. If he is not counting CJ, that is. The youngest Hook sister has found her way into the middle of the crowd, several younger pirates trailing behind her. And he definitely did catch her attention:

„Don’t whistle at my siblings!” she shouts through the racket, „ Or we are feeding you to the sharks!”

Jay laughs at the girl, as he is fairly certain he could take her in a fight right now.

The crowd stirs with impatience, whispers arising all over the place: The activity on the sea has stopped, all trash Auradon deemed to give them to survive fished out. And yet, Red Temptress and Lost Revenge remain in place.

Jay feels his own stress levels rise to a dangerous level. Surely the pirates do not mean to take all of the supplies for themselves? The pirates do not show any indication of hitting the pier and his heart beats faster and faster.

If he is about to go hungry and poor for the next two weeks…
He almost misses the goblins,disgusting as they were.

He jumps on his feet and throws a decently sized chunk of concrete at the ships. It doesn’t hit, but it’s the thought that counts.

Several of the kids mirror his action and the rocks are raining to the sea. Thump, thump thump! If only they could hit the ships, too!

Soon, the ships start moving - towards the Goblin Wharf, thank Evil!

Mal jumps down and forces her way through the crowd.

Soon, the pirates start unloading the loot; not all of it, though, Jay notes.

But what now? Harriet’s standing in front of the Isle children, giving some kind of speech to them. Boring.
On the other hand, CJ seems to… CJ seems be actively trying to murder her brother?

This is going to be so entertaining, Jay thinks before jumping down and following his ally. Because of course that Mal is naturally drawn to the chaos, and where could one find more chaos than where the Hook siblings are?

He weaves through the crowd, purposefully ignoring Harriet and the icy-cold stares the Tremaines are giving him.

…And Mal thinks that it would be good idea to attack Harry and Uma while they’re distracted by CJ. Of course she does.

Doesn’t she realize that the two of them have two crews very likely to back them up right now?

He’s so not letting her drag him into her mess.

But before he can sneak off and try to nick something from the preoccupied pirates, CJ spots Mal. Or more accurately, Mal gets in the way of her latest assassination attempt. Lovely. Why does his ally have to be so fucking dumb sometimes?

„You don’t get to kill my brother,” screeches the youngest Hook, „Only I’m allowed to do that!”

And that’s the only warning Mal gets before CJ attacks.

Jay is now positively certain that the insanity runs in the Hook family: Harriet did just fight off crocodile with her bare hands. And she’s somehow managing to keep the crowd from rioting, which is admirable at least and also requires balls from titanium.
Harry did just laugh at CJ trying to give him the one-way ticket. Multiple times.
And CJ? Well CJ’s currently fighting Mal as if she had no fear of God.

Which, come to think of it, she probably hasn’t. Neither of those two, that is.

Jay slowly backs away, only tripping Uma in solidarity with Mal’s suffering. He’s sure to disappear immediately after that, though, as he still doesn’t wish to die today. But he is skilled in evading unwanted attention: He escapes without any trouble, even managing to nick a bejeweled charm from some pirate or another.

He can still hear the sounds of the wild fight behind him. And God damn him, he hears laughter.

--- Anthony Tremaine ---

Anthony Tremaine loves politics. Smooth words, smoother smiles, subtle shows of power. Occasional threats of death, too. Anthony is still an Isle kid, after all.
And what Harriet Hook and her pirates are pulling off right now? Now, that's certainly something.

If only he knew if they were doing it intentionally.

But! They're actually managing to keep the Isle children from rioting at the mere sight of food!

He watches as the the youngest Hook tries to kill her brother, and has to discourage one of his cousins from attacking him and/or Dulcia in the same manner; he catches the problem child and hands it to Dizzy. The dagger goes to him, though.
(Where did Della get the weapon, anyway?)

Dizzy coos at the little one, holding her at her hip, and Anthony turns his attention back to Harriet.

„You call yourselves leaders,” she shouts, looking through the crowd - she catches Anthony’s eye and he can barely stand her glare, „But what I see is just a bunch of cowards, too weak to be even considered for that title!”

A rock comes flying on her and she doesn’t even flinch as Sammy bats it away. The children boo at her.
„What the fuck is your problem, Harriet?” shouts Dulcia and while Anthony agrees, it was still bloody fucking stupid thing to do of his cousin. Considering the two fully armed pirate crews and CJ Hook and all that.

„No one wants to hear you babble nonsense, you crazy freebooter!” Mal breaks off of her fight, only to be attacked with renewed viciousness by CJ. That’s what she gets for insulting Harriet in the hearing range of her siblings, thinks Anthony. She’s lucky she doesn’t have Harry on her throat, too. Oh, at least Dulcia was’t the only one with stupid comments around.

„Must you antagonize the pirates so much, Dulcia?” he whispers, „They’re quite literally holding our food hostage right now.”

„Yeah, and I want to know why the fuck they’re doing that.”

„The fuck, the fuck!” repeats Della with great delight and Anthony just sights:
„Please, don’t curse in front of the children so much, Dulcia. We won’t hear anything else for the next few days, at the rate you are going.”
„Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Of course that that is her answer. „Oh, and little one? If you want to repeat that nasty word, you’ll have your pretty little mouth sewn shut before you can get halfway through.”
„Or we’ll let Mommy and Auntie babysit you,” adds Anthony and the girl hides her face into Dizzy’s hair. Dizzy glares at him - maybe he was a bit harsh.

Meanwhile, Harriet has stopped arguing with Clay Clayton (read: shouting the poor boy to hell and back with an impressive array of very creative curses and solid show off of weapons at both sides) and is now glaring at Dulcia and him.

Oh, sweet heaven…

„My problem, Treamaines, is the fact that your relatives are the only children I see,” she states, „Where are the others? Where are the kids that are barely old enough to walk? I know how many of the youngest ones left, and trust me, I don’t see nearly enough of those that were left behind!”

The crowd goes silent.

„How dare you call yourselves leaders when you have no idea where the children of the territory you have so proudly claimed are?”

„And where are the children of the port?” Dulcia challenges and Harriet’s eyes flash red; Harry and Uma reach for their weapons, an action which the rest of the pirates repeat. Even CJ stops her fight with Mal for a moment to glare at them.

„The children of the port are safe and accounted for,” answers Harriet with a dangerous edge in her voice and Anthony whispers to his cousin to drop the subject, for God’s sake.
„Can you say the same for the rest of the souls on this cursed Island?”

They can’t.

Love doesn’t exist on the Isle: Why should they care for children who do not share their blood? Why do the pirates care, why does Harriet?

Why should they care for the children that were abandoned by their parents for a war or a life of adventure on the sea and land alike? Why should they care for the ones who were given up under the raging fury of one Cruella de Vil? And about the ones who… About those who simply… weren’t wanted?

None of them were wanted, Anthony would say, some just were despised more than others.

„We are claiming the territory around our manor!” shouts Dulcia over the whispering crowd and smug-looking pirates, „Any child that calls these streets home is now under our protection!”

„Wait, we are?” whispers Anthony. While he agrees that the children should be accounted for, if nothing else, he sees no reason why he should be the one adopting the little rascals with sticky fingers. His cousins are quite enough, thank you very much.

„Yes, we are,” whispers Dulcia back with fiery glare, „I’m not letting Harriet Hook one-up us. Now back me up!”

…Alright then. They have to present united front after all. And he too doesn’t want to feel inferior to Harriet, even if he is aware that she has quite masterfully and shamelessly manipulated them into claiming at least some of the Isle kids.
(He should have stopped her when she started talking, shouldn’t he? Hooks are nothing but trouble.)
(He just hopes that someone else will follow their example.)

„Any additional child seeking our protection should come to Curl Up and Dye,” he says, „And we’ll search the streets for the youngest ones.”

„That’s the talk I like, cousin,” states Dulcia smugly as the whispers around them rise again, „Anyway, how would you feel about an alliance with the Hearts?”

„The Hearts? I don’t really want them as allies.”

„And do you want them as enemies?”

He glances over where the eldest prince and princess of Hearts - the twins - are standing, heavy swords over their shoulders, stains of color suspiciously close to that of blood on clothes. He considers the wide margin of free space the other kids leave them, despite their relatively young age.

„Yeah, fair enough,” he says, „Did they request?”
„They did. Said they liked our salon and would be displeased if we didn’t consider them friends and allies.”
„Alliance with the Hearts it is.”
„They live close by anyway and surely wouldn’t mind if we, ehm, took care of their land.”
Anthony smiles at his cousin: „We would have to be careful, though. No swift moves.”
She smiles at him, too: „Gain their trust and keep them happy, I know. We should get the goods now.” She points to the pile of food and other supplies.

Anthony considers the size of the pile: There should actually be enough for all of them, now that the adults are gone. Or most of them, anyway: They’ll need to remember to grab something for mum and aunt, too.
They should probably know who else claimed any of the children first, though.

He says so to Dulcia. Hopefully, some of his sisters and cousins kept count?

Turns out Dizzy did:

Helena Sinclair, vicious and headstrong little thing: Pretty, too, and always ready to fight, just like her mother. Although she’s probably as old as Dizzy is, and not a child of a major villain, she has already established herself over the Isle.

That one scary Hun, in Dizzy’s words: Anthony will need to lecture her about the importance of knowing one’s enemies later, for now he can only assume who that was.

And most surprisingly, Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen, backed up by Carlos de Vil. This is going to be interesting.

--- Evie Grimhilde ---

She didn't want to leave her castle. She really didn't want to.
But she also didn't have a choice: the vultures that Maleficent commanded to take food to her and her mother took off with the adults, and honestly, Evie can understand that.

So here she is, at the Goblin wharf, her back to the wall.
She hopes that Mal won't spot her.
She tries to ignore the mumbling around her.

Why is everyone so loud? Do they have to shuffle their weapons around so much? It clings sharply every few seconds and it startles Evie every time.
Do they have to move around so much?
Oh, and the horrible thuds of all the things they're throwing-

She glances at Carlos, to see if this is normal on the Isle. But her ally seems to be relatively at ease, at least compared to how she's feeling. He keeps looking over the crowd, though, as if he's searching for someone.

Oh, and now he has noticed her looking. That shouldn't have happened-

„It's all right, princess,“ he says, „Just focus. Breathe. I'll point you out all the kids we've talked about, if that's alright?“

But how is she supposed to focus, with all that racket around? With so many people she has no memories of meeting before?

Carlos looks at her silently, before holding out his hand: „Ehm, would you like me to hold your hand?“ he asks, „Jasper and Horace insisted that touching other people is calming. They used to hold onto each other when Cruella was mad. They-“ His voice breaks and she can imagine how that sentence was supposed to go: They've never offered Carlos the same comfort.

She latches onto his hand regardless: it feels like the only solid thing in the world right now. The sharp edge of his boxer digs into her skin. She sees their fingers turning white, but Carlos doesn't even acknowledge it. He instead starts talking and pointing to the crowd. Evie wants to remind him that pointing at other people isn't polite, but she doesn't. He might stop talking then.

By the time the pirates bring out the supplies, she is mostly able to control her mind again. One of the pirates stands in front of the crow:

„That's Harriet Hook,“ explains Carlos, „Older sister of Harry, you know him already, and CJ - that's the little girl attacking Harry right now.“

Evie makes a disturbed noise: why is she attacking her brother? But Carlos keeps talking without much care.

„She's one of the oldest on the Isle, and she's scary as hell. Also probably mad, though less than Cruella, I hope. She ran a gang down in the port, now she has a crew, presumably. You don't want to piss her off, or any of them, really,“ he pauses, looking at their still-joined hands, „We should probably listen to what she has to say, though.“

So they do: Evie can focus on her raucous voice quite easily. And as the pirate Captain speaks, she can feel a blush creep into her cheeks: she has forgotten about the little Isle children, too.

How could she?

She listens as Harriet argues with the Tremaines and lets go of Carlos's hand.

She is going to claim the territory around her castle, and the children in it, too, Mal be damned.
The fairy is too busy fighting CJ to notice, anyway.

„We are adopting the children who live around us,“ she tells Carlos.
„Wait, we are? Why?“ She ignores his question.
„There is plenty of room in my castle anyway.“
„...Alright?“

She clears her throat and tries to speak over the crowd: it takes her several times to get her volume right.

„The Castle Across the Way is open to any children in need!“ she announces. Carlos sights, before speaking up too: „Any children from the neighborhood who are not hell-bent on taking advantage of our hospitality, that is. We have our means to deal with our enemies!“

„...We do? And why would someone do that?“ It's Evie's turn to whisper dubious questions to her ally.

„Of course we do, princess - between your poisons and my inventions? I hope they come to get a taste of that.“

Suddenly, she remembers that he is a son of Cruella de Vil. It's a rather uncomfortable reminder.

„Besides, this is the Isle. We are the children of villains, dark mages and creatures. You should always expect the worst.“

She supposes he is right. Even if she doesn't like it.

The attention of the crowd has shifted away: the pirates have retreated on their boats and left the supplies up for calls.

She contemplates the fact that she will have to dive into the crowd too and another wave of nausea rises in her stomach. She would have preferred for the vultures to stay here, to never come out of her safe castle-
No. This is not true, she knows. She's just positively terrified by the people.

Carlos reaches for her hand again: she hopes he won't notice the tremble.

„Hey, Evie,“ he says, „Do you think we could take in Harry and Jace, too?“
„Of course we can - I did just say that, didn't I?“
„You'll like them, I promise!“
„I said yes, Carlos!“
„Oh. I… I honestly didn't expect that,“ he admits.
Of course he didn't. Fuck Cruella.

„They're just over here - I'll call them here, so they can help us grab the goods.“

Evie gestures for him to go ahead and he lets go of her hand. She misses it immediately.

„You know what, Evie? We got it. You… You just calm down and wait here. You look, like, super-pale right now, and like you're about to pass out, so…“

Yeah, she feels like that, too.

„And it's freaking me out, so…“

„I can do it,“ she protests halfheartedly, but he waves her of. She's grateful for that.

Carlos dives into the crowd and Evie sits on the dirty ground, not even caring about the disgusting substances she could get on her skirt that way. That was enough excitement for the day, she thinks.

Chapter Text

--- Claudine Frollo ---

The port is so loud.

Even with the adults gone, Claudine’s head is just cracking.

And the worst part? No one else even acknowledges the clamor.

The crying children.
The awful ditties and chants the pirates seem to love.
The everpresent whistling.
And the waves - Claudine would never have thought that an ocean can be so noisy all the time. Or the ships on it, but that goes hand in hand.

In fact, she has heard several of the pirates comment on the unnatural stillness.
Maybe they’ve gone permanently deaf, she thinks, from a lifetime among sailors.

Damn it, yesterday the Hook siblings were arguing and she heard it from halfway across the port! And no one else seemed to notice!
…Or are they just so used to their shouting that it is not worth acknowledging? She wouldn’t be surprised at this point.
She is starting to regret her decision to come here, though.

„Move! The time’s running and what are you lot doing? Getting your beauty sleep on deck?! Well, bad news everybody, it wouldn’t help you anyway! Now get to work!”

…And here comes Uma, barking orders left and right. Great.

The crew of Lost Revenge scrambles to their feet and Claudine wishes she could just disappear out of sight: She knows it’s unlikely, though. Uma seems to have eyes everywhere. Maybe when there’s a bit more chaos, or when she’s more distracted?

But before Claudine can hatch a plan or at least start praying, Uma turns right to her, her turquoise braids flying around her face.

„Claudine,“ she says, „It’s time we claimed back what was yours. You on?“

She would be eternally damned if she left her home in the filthy hands of a fae and a thief. So she nods: One sharp motion is all it takes.
Uma holds her stare for a moment and Claudine feels as if her very soul is at stake. No wonder her father hated Ursula and her daughter so much. They're sea witches, after all, and claim to be Goddesses. That heresy!

The sea witch smiles and Claudine can just see the word forming on her lips: Deal?

Deal?

Claudine should have known better than to ally herself to a god-damned sea witch.

But at the end, that's not what Uma says:

„Well then, better get to it: You said they've left their emblems on your wall?“ Uma doesn't wait for an answer, she rarely does; instead, she starts commanding again. Claudine is starting to feel like this is just how things work with her.
„Then you need to get rid of it. Paint it over, scrub it away with your bare nails for all I care – but the wall will be clear by the time I stop by to put Lost Revenge's insignia in its place.“

Better an insignia of a crew she pledged herself to than emblems of those two despicable encroachers.

She nods: She has no other choice, not really.

„Am I supposed to go alone?“ she asks. Because what if Mal and Jay come back? What if somebody else tries to break into her home?

„Not a chance,“ Uma answers, with a nasty grimace that indicates that she's thinking of vastly different possibilities than Claudine.
„Desiree's coming with you. Gonzo, too.“

The two indicated pirates immediately move to them.

„Any other questions?“

„No, please and thank you,“ spits Claudine out in the least vengeful manner she can muster: Desiree hits her shoulder, while Uma seems only amused.
Well, fuck her.

Claudine takes her leave and Desiree and Gonzo stalk after her, saluting to Uma on their way out. As they are leaving, Claudine can still hear Uma’s sharp voice, giving out commands to the rest of the crew:

„De Vils: I need you to be at Harry's hand - he wants to inspect the ship and you are the most competent people we have for that task. Which is kind of sad, considering half of the others grew up on some ship or another.”

A pause.

„Yes, that was a fucking insult, Issa. Take it. Anyway, you and Marya are on kitchen duty. Try not to poison us all.”

Was that another insult? Probably. It’s not like Claudine is the one being insulted right now, so it doesn’t really move her.

„Jonas, you try to make the deck at least presentable if not clean. And no, that’s not a permission for you to do the bare minimum and then go back to sleep.”

Claudine can imagine the nasty glare poor Jonas received at this point; she’s glad that Uma’s voice is starting to fade with the distance.

„The rest of you scout the port for anything useful: Mind your distance from Harriet’s, though, and none of you dares to set foot to Chip Shoppe!”

Well, if they need to be reminded not to trespass…

Claudine gladly walks out of the earshot – finally – and heads to her home.
„Hey, Claudine,” Desiree nudges her into her ribs, „Will you cook something for us? Issa and Marya are both absolutely catastrophical in the kitchen!”

„How is that my problem?”

„Well, if you don’t cook then you’ll have to eat whatever those two produce!”

„I don’t mind. Fasting is a way to a free soul.”

„She’s kidding, right?” mutters Gonzo, „ She’s gotta be kidding.”

Claudine just huffs rather than commenting out loud: To be honest, she’s not sure of her thoughts on that matter herself. She only knows that her father used to say that.

But then again, her father used to say an awful lot of bullshit.

„But come on, Claudine!” Desiree practically whines, „Why would you starve yourself when you don’t have to?”

That’s… That’s a solid point, actually.

„Fine. I’ll cook for you,” she agrees, and the smiles Desiree and Gonzo give her? They actually feel genuine.

--- Uma Triskelion ---

Uma walks through the port and the Isle towards Claudine’s: Gil shadows her closely, as he did for the last few days. She finds that she doesn’t mind that.

They walk past a group of children - children of the port, her children? - playing some game and singing. Subconsciously, Uma starts humming the melody too.

„I like your voice,” says Gil.
Uma stops and turns away from him: Must he point out her voice? Her Ma didn’t like it, called it awful and the singing wasteful. Princesses sing, and princesses lose their voice.
(Ursula forgot that sirens sing, too.)
„Please, don’t stop,” he says softly, „Did you stop because of me?”
She needs to think of her answer, though: If she just said yes, it may hurt him. Gil is absurdly sweet, for an Isle kid, she has discovered.

„I didn't,“ she answers finally, „I just didn't feel like singing anymore.“
Hopefully, he will let it be now.

And he does: he just starts whistling a melody on his own. Though it's a bit rough, it brings a smile to Uma's lips.

They reach Claudine's and Uma doesn't bother knocking. As she walks in, Claudine practically snaps her neck as she turns to face her. Uma smirks as the girl tries to wipe the near-permanent scowl from her face: she's getting better at it.

„Ahoy, Uma, Gil,“ the others greet them.
„There's the wall,“ adds Claudine, „Do your thing.“

Surprisingly, Gil glares at Claudine: that is probably the thing that stops Uma from cursing her to the darkest depths of sea and beyond.

So she just shakes her head and grabs the spray paint. Soon, the insignia of Lost Revenge proudly shines in a place that once belonged to Judge Frollo. Ah, the sweet, sweet satisfaction…
Uma knows exactly how much Frollo would despise it.

But the job's not done yet:
„Come here, Claudine,“ Uma orders and she stalks closer. Not giving her a chance to talk, Uma continues:
„I need you to write your name here, too.“

Claudine snatches the can from her hand and then hesitates.

„Aye, you do know how to write, Claudine, don't you?“ sounds from the door.
Harry. Harry is here!

She whirls around to look at him.

„Salvete, everyone,“ he greets them before walking over to her.
„Uma.“

From the corner of her eye, Uma sees Claudine spray-painting her name with sure hand. Somehow, she manages to make her name look sharp, instead of the mess of curls it should have been. Good for her.
Anyway. Harry is speaking to her.

„You free now, Uma?“ he asks, „I need you to come with me.“
„You asking or commanding, Hook?“
He tilts his head: „Depends.“
„On what?“
„Would you actually listen if I told you that it was a command?“
„Depends,“ she shrugs with an easy smile she wouldn't dare to add a week ago.
„Fair enough,“ he says, „I'm asking, then: will you come with me? To Harriet's?“

What could Harriet want, though? And why would Harry drag her along?

„...She wanted to talk about yesterday and she wanted me to come like, an hour ago I think?“ he says, looking quizzically at the pocket watch he keeps. Uma has no idea how he can even tell time from that thing. But!

„And you are telling me that just now?!“

„You are welcome to leave, you know?“ says Claudine. Desiree pokes her in the ribs.
„Just a suggestion, of course,“ she grumbles in a slightly less abrasive tone.

„But they've wanted to leave anyway?“ questions Gil Desiree, „Why are you mad at Claudine for saying it?“

„You don't give suggestions to your Captain that way. Or to your first mate. You just don't.“

„She's right, of course,“ says Uma, already thinking of a thousand different things.
„Now let's go.“

She sends one last glare at Claudine and Harry flicks his hook at her. As they exit, Uma hears Gil scramble after them and knock something down: the curses that follow are fairly colourful for a girl raised by Judge Frollo.

--- Harriet Hook ---
Almost two hours after she had asked him to come, her brother is finally here.
And he dragged Uma with him. Of course he did.

She motions for them to come aboard.

„Who's that?“ chimes a way too cheerful voice behind her.

Seven seas-!

„How the fuck did you get there, Calista?!“

If she says Sammy let her, she's throwing her off deck- Nah, scratch that. Both of them will be jumping voluntarily.

„Didn't I tell you you can't board my ship without my permission just yesterday?!“

„Yeah, yeah, whatever. But who's that?“

Harriet decides that she doesn't have the nerves to argue with her little sister right now and looks the way she's pointing. A boy, a big one, shadowing Harry and Uma. Neither of them seem to mind that.

„... That's a very good question actually.“

But first:
„Sammy, come here! Harry finally decided to join us!“

Her first mate follows her to the small office that is in Captain's quarters, an easy smile on their lips: „Finally, I see. How long has it been, exactly? An hour?“

„Almost two, actually,“ answers CJ and both Harriet and Sammy jump, Harriet placing a hand over her heart. She didn't notice the girl following them, too.

„How did she get here?“ Sammy asks faintly and CJ pouts.
„How long has she been there?“
Well damn if she knew.
...At least now she knows that her first mate is innocent?

„Are you not happy that you see me?“

No, no. Harriet isn't particularly thrilled about that right now. And neither is Sammy, judging by their expression. But before they can answer, Harry, Uma, and the strange boy enter the office.

„Why is CJ here?“ asks Harry instead of greeting.

„Who's that?“ shoots CJ right back, pointing at the stranger. Rude, CJ, pointing at people is rude-
Harriet groans and hides her face in her hands; Sammy pats her back sympathetically. Thank gods for her first mate.

She listens to the introductions Uma makes – apparently, the sea witch has managed to pick up a son of Gaston, somewhere, though she doesn't say that little fact about his parentage outright. Interesting.
The boy waves quite awkwardly and CJ waves back, something shining in her hand.
Sammy moves to take the blade from her and Harriet ignores her offended protests.

Uma's patience is running short too, because she barks at CJ to shut up. Harriet would be offended on her sister's behalf, but, yeah, she should have hidden her weapon better, so…
Anyway, Uma's now asking why they're here.

„No idea why you came,“ answers Harriet, „I asked for Harry.“

„Well yeah, but you have Sammy here! So I can take Uma!“ protests Harry before Uma herself gets the chance to argue.

„That's fair though, Captain.“

Great. And now her first mate is siding with her brother. Harriet absentmindedly reaches out to prevent CJ from reclaiming her dagger and continues the conversation, pretending that everything is fine.
„I want to know if everything is good by you. Do you have enough supplies? Is Lost Revenge holding together – the ship, the crew? Are you supervising the children?“

„Yeah, whatever. Did you really call me here just because of that? Was it so urgent that it couldn't wait?!“

„Hettie actually wanted to talk about barge day,“ chimes in CJ in her annoyingly sing-song voice.
The fact that she is right doesn't make up for the fact that she called her that nickname in Harriet's eyes. She decides that CJ is not getting her dagger back today.

„Wait, that makes so much more sense-“ mumbles Harry. CJ practically glows with satisfaction, so Harriet avoids further dramatic by actually stating what she needs.
For few minutes, she discusses it with Harry, Uma and Sammy: All things considered, it was a success.
They've managed to pull out all supplies before any of them sank beneath the waves.
No one important died, at least what she knows of.
Neither did the crocodiles eat anyone, which would be far worse. On the other hand, lot of people were wounded, but nothing they hadn't handled before.

And the other Descendants were suitably impressed.

As she said, all in all, success.

They should do it the same the next day, shouldn't they?

Besides, sailing in between the Barrier and the rocky coast is better than not sailing at all. Red Temptress and Lost Revenge deserve to sail – they deserve to sail, to be free-
Harriet swallows the bitterness and shoos the unhelpful daydreams away.

Predictably, CJ whines about not being allowed to sail, too. For gods sake, she doesn't even have a crew! How many times will she have to say that to get it through to her?!

„Have you named your ship yet?“ asks Harry and CJ denies, reminding him of the subject at hand in her best stern voice. Harriet hears Sammy's stifled chuckles.

„Why did both of your ships sail, anyway?“ asks the boy – Gil – with a mildly confused expression.

Before anyone else can answer, Uma does: „Why wouldn't they? We're pirates. We live for the waves, and this was our first proper chance to actually sail!“

Harriet finds herself nodding along: nothing can compare to the feeling of waves beneath your feet, the thrill of freedom-
If only they could truly be free, free of the Barrier, too.

But Uma isn't done yet: „Besides, it was easier to fish all the supplies from the water in time with two ships and two full crews working on them. One ship probably wouldn't catch it all.“

Yep. Still a valid answer. Which only seems to confuse Gil further, it seems?

He speaks slowly, making sure to pronounce himself clearly: „Why not just wait on the place before the supplies float through? Why wait until the last moment to sail over there?“

Harriet almost bursts out laughing as Harry and CJ gap at him; she controls herself in favour of actually answering his question, in the most offended voice she can muster.

She manages to answer exactly in unison with everyone else:
„But… But the drama!“

--- Carlos de Vil ---

Carlos walks through the port towards the place he thinks Lost Revenge is staying at: he hopes to find his cousins there.
Evie is just a step behind him; from time to time, he looks at her just to check if she's still with him. It took quite some effort to persuade her to actually go to the port, even if an alliance with the pirates has been her idea.

A small child scatters from their way and he hears them mutter „Another devil?“ under their breath. Good to see that his cousins have managed to make a reputation for themselves in the port – or is it still his mother's influence?

Carlos doesn't want to think about Cruella.

Finally, they reach Lost Revenge. Before they can even greet, a pirate Carlos doesn't know shouts out into the insides of the ship.
„Devils! Your cousin's here! And a princess, too! Come and get them!“

Carlos inwardly snickers at being more well known than Evie, a literal princess.
Quick glance tells him she is surprised they recognised her – well, didn't he tell her so? It's not like one can mistake a girl with blue hair for anyone else.

His cousins practically bounce off the ship, a shock of black-and-white hair just like his own.
Just like Cruella's.
But she is not here anymore, and Ivy and Diego are actually hugging him.

After the reunion, Carlos asks them where their Captain is, figuring out it may be a good way to kick off the alliance.

„Why, on Red Temptress along with his sisters and Uma, of course, discussing god knows what,“ says Ivy, already almost walking away, „Let me take you there.“

His cousins chatter away among themselves, and Carlos tunes it out in favour of checking up on Evie. He'll have enough time to catch up with them later.
The princess looks pale, but she is not shaking and she is walking steady. Her eyes focus easily on him when she catches him staring, and she blushes.
...Well that's awkward.
But better that her having another anxiety attack or a proper psychotic episode, Cruella-style?

No, Evie wouldn't. She's not Cruella, she's just nervous from getting to know the Isle for the first time in forever. Which is understandable, really.

They arrive to another ship, which looks almost exactly like Lost Revenge, but is not, in fact, Lost Revenge, as Hunter assures him.
He better not be kidding.

Diego shouts towards the pirates on board, and moments later, Sammy Smee comes out:
„Hya, devils!“ they say, „Harriet gives you permission to come onboard and Uma wants to know if you are finished with your work already.“

„Are you finished? What did she ask you to do anyway?“ Carlos whispers as he watches his cousins awkwardly shuffle their feet.
„...Eh, mostly? From, like, eighty percent we are definitely done?“
„Uma won't notice, though: she knows barely anything about ships or mechanics.“
„Harry might.“
„He might also forget what we were supposed to do.“
„That's fair. What if Uma tells him though?“
„Hey, what are the chances? Besides, I wanna know how this goes!“

Well that looks like Carlos has a missed quite a lot.

„Move, then!“ he nudges them forward and helps Evie climb onboard too.

As they reach the deck, Diego tells him: „They're all yours, Carlos. Do your magic words,“ he grinns.

„Evie is the one with magic words,“ he answers, but smiles at him too. Evie just nods tightly. He has no doubts she is rehearsing some kind of speech in her head.

CJ Hook dances from the Captain's cabin and before he can react, she drags him and Evie inside.

What the hell is she doing here anyway?

He was not prepared to deal with CJ too today!

Harriet glares at them, for interrupting her absurdly important discussion, presumably.
„Well?“ she asks, „ What do you want?“

He hears Evie take a shaky breath, and then she starts speaking:
„I… We need your help. I've claimed the territory around my castle, and I've invited the children in. I want to help them, take care of them, I really do! I just… We are not really sure what to do. Carlos also thinks that way too little of them turned up?“

Carlos let Evie discuss the children with Harriet and Uma, choosing to watch CJ try to provoke Gil to some reaction instead.
Honestly, it's far more entertaining.

But he still keeps an ear on the negotiations: what if Evie needs help, after all?
Luckily, everything seems to be in order.

Untill this question falls: „And what's in for us for our help?“ and Evie blacks out, after making literally the most inappropriate and improportional offer possible.
How did she even come up with it?!

„Mirrors,“ Carlos states, „We have far too many of them. For your help, you can have it.“

Evie let's out a low, betrayed whine: but hey, getting rid of them will be better for her in the long run?
Actually, who cares.
He won't meet Cruella at every other step through the Castle Across the Way, and that's what really matters.

The pirates light up, even Harry and CJ.
„Mirrors?“
„Can we have the mirrors?“
„We absolutely need them!“

Of course. Promise the pirates something shiny and they'll forget everything else.

So they agree on the conditions: Both Red Temptress and Lost Revenge will send few crew members to look out for the lost little ones, and either Harriet or Uma will help them sort it all out, with the other one checking in after a week or so.
In return, the pirates will get five mirrors.

All in all, a pretty good deal.

For him anyway.

„I'm looking forward to our future cooperation!“ says Evie with a smile that may melt even a heart of stone. As long as the person has a heart, they'd be touched by it.
And sure enough, the pirates offer crooked smiles in return.

CJ waves them at their way out.

His cousins are still waiting for them, to accompany them home, they say.

So they go.

„...Dude, did you just bribe them into helping you with a mirror?“ asks Diego.
„It was absolutely awesome!“
„Mirrors. Plural, as in more of them,“ grumples Evie, „Five! Five of my mirrors!“

Yes, Carlos's day is already brighter at this prospect.

„You still have, like, another fifteen of them,“ he says, reaching out for her hand, „It's not that bad deal, right?“

„Twelve. I only have twelve others.“

Discreetly, behind her back, Carlos flips the bird at Ivy and Hunter, who are practically dying in a fit of giggles.

If they don't shut up soon, he'll come back and super-glue Cruella's favourite portrait to the wall of their cabin. Let's see like they'd like to wake up to that image!

Chapter Text

--- Celia Facilier ---

Somewhere in Auradon, a security camera flickers black.
There is nothing wrong with it, it's not broken. Nor damaged, not even a little.
But for the next few minutes, it will only show darkness.

Don't stare too hard into it, though: It may give you nightmares that will haunt you till the end of your days if you do.

It won't have such an effect on Celia and Freddie Facilier.

Celia rattles the can of spray paint in her hand and passes it to Freddie before grabbing another one from her backpack. Pitch black, neon green. They've wanted blood red too, but unfortunately, spray paint is really hard to come by in Auradon. Which is a shame.
How are they even communicating with each other if they don't spray paint the messages?
…Come to think of it, Celia didn't see any messages in Auradon yet.
Maybe the people here are just weird.

„Ready?“ she asks and Freddie nods.
„I'll write and you'll decorate the message!“

Celia inscribes the first word and Freddie starts carefully tracing the edge of the letter „Y“ with her neon green paint. It's a good system, since Freddie has always had a steadier hand Celia and thus can correct any shaky edges her sister might have left.

With each word added on the wall, the shadows around them stir, eyes seemingly appearing out of nothing and disappearing again.

Steps echo through the darkness, but Celia has few more lines to finish. She will have enough time to do that and grab her dagger.
There.
All finished.
The can drops down with a clank and Celia swirls around, the weapon at the ready.
See? She knew she could do it.
In just a breath, Freddie joins her, her own weapon on display.

„Oh, come on, girls,“ sounds the honeyed voice of the Shadowman, „What did I tell you about weapons and their use in Auradon?“

The girls tuck their daggers away, specifically not looking at their dad.
„Sorry Daddy, we know,“ says Freddie as she hides the weapon right there where she can reach it easiest anyway.
„No killing in Auradon. The people here don't come back, like they did on the Isle,“ dutifully finishes Celia.
Dr. Facilier nods proudly, and Celia grimaces: Her dad may say what he wants, but she will believe it when she sees it. People lie all the time, after all.
They die all the time, too, and as long as there is a body, they come back, too.
Celia is not giving her weapon up.

„What are you doing out there anyway? All alone in the dark?“

„But we are not alone, Daddy – the Friends are here with us, don't you see?“

And he does: how could he not? How could he ignore them? He knows the Friends far too well for his liking.
And Celia and Freddie are getting to know them, too.

„Besides, didn't you always say that Auradon is safe? Safer than the Isle anyway?“ questions Celia. Because he did say that.

He can't deny it.

Still, one could never be too careful, Celia thinks, touching her dagger to make sure it's still here.

„Don't worry, Facilier,“ echoes through the air, „We are watching them.“

The sisters bow their heads, both to show their gratitude and to hide their wide, mischievous smiles. They miss their father's horrified expression.

When they look up, he is smiling again, his hands moving fluently as he speaks:
„Now, let's get you two home, shall we?“

The girls nod and move to pack their things: Celia is surprised when she cannot find the can of black paint she dropped earlier. She looks up and sees it in the hand of her father.

Her eyes flicker between him and the wall; he is reading the message they wrote. Does he like it? Does he think it's pretty?
The Friends asked them for nice calligraphy and correct spelling, after all.
So Celia and Freddie made sure to double check their draft.

„YOUR TIME IS RUNNING UP“

That's what they wrote.

A warning to Auradon. A delicate threat in honour of the Hook siblings. And all of their fellow lost children, really.

Dr. Facilier sights, and Celia watches in shock as another message appears underneath it in his elegant, spider-like cursive.

„ARE YOU READY?“

He turns around and gives her back the can; Celia takes it without a word.
And just like that, Dr. Facilier takes his daughters' hands, and they disappear into the shadows. The darkness around them welcomes them, with its heat and its sweet, sweet smell. The sisters don't know why their father grips their palms with so much force: they don't know what he fears.

(He fears that if he let go, his little girls may be lost to the Shadowland forever.)

(But they've grown up on the Isle of the Lost: How could they get more lost than that?)

Celia and Freddie do not fear the shadows. The Shadows are the Friends, and the Friends are power. Everyone knows that the more power, the better.

--- CJ Hook ---

CJ Hook has no idea what is happening in Auradon. Nor does she care, not really.

But if she knew that Freddie and Celia are threatening the almighty, holier-than-thou kingdom in her name, she would be delighted. And proud, too.

Alas, she has no way of knowing that. She has more urgent problems anyway.

Like the snake that is slithering through her hair and hissing quietly in her ears every now and then. Unfortunately, it has no original ideas, nor anything interesting to say.

It only hisses. Ssshame.

CJ hisses back at it.

Then she remembers that she should be quiet, otherwise Mal may hear her and then spot her. And she can't have that, can she?

Anyway.
Mal.
She is walking around the courtyard of the Bargain Castle, which she left embarrassingly unguarded. Really, CJ can spot at least five places perfect for some kind of trap or a fence of razor wire at the very least. And she has been hiding there for less than five minutes!

The snake hisses again.
His sibilation makes as much sense as the blaber Mal is muttering under her breath.

Seriously, what language is it even in?
CJ knows lot of languages: English. French. Latin. A bit of Dutch and Spanish. And she knows how to swear in at least another four.
She, however, does not recognize this one.

CJ watches, entertained, as Mal bites her hair in frustration and frowns at the book she is holding. Before CJ can think of it, she mimics her gesture, nearly biting the poor little snake's head off.
He probably wouldn't appreciate that.

„Sorry, buddy,“ she whispers, „I got distracted. But see that fairy here? Can you bite her for me? I hear fairies are tasty.“

Actually, she didn't hear that, as she doesn't know anyone who has ever eaten a fairy, but she figures the snake wouldn't care.

The snake doesn't answer. Rude.

When Mal lets out a frustrated screech, CJ nearly falls down from her hiding place.
Seriously, that was horrific. Like nails across the board.
…Do all fae scream like that, or is Mal special that way?

CJ looks at the rude fairy with renewed interest: she can even see the title of that oh-so-offending book now!

„The Spellbook.“

Wow.
Very creative.
And utterly useless, under the Barrier.

The snake slips down to her neck and tightens around it gently. She removes it, quite unbothered.

But Mal mustn't be as stupid as she looks: she tucks the worhless drivel away in her pocket – How has she have so big pockets?! The jacket must be custom-made. CJ needs a coat with even bigger pockets than this, like, right now. – and leaves.

Finally.

„See, my scaly friend?“ CJ whispers, „The annoying fairy is leaving. Now let's get you to her warm, warm bed and hope that you give her a heart attack when she comes back. That's what she gets for trying to attack my siblings, you know?“

The snake nods its head, almost as if it understands, and looks deep into CJ's eyes. She tells it to shove it and keep it's creepy hypnotic tricks for Mal.

Time to get moving.

CJ ignores the spider webs and smears of almost-fluorescent molds that seem to dance in front of her eyes. Twirling and whirling in melody that shouldn't exist. Tempting her. Taunting her.

She screams at the suddenly-bare walls, flinging her fist into it and then flinching at the pain. Her blood smears next to the mold: she hasn't even noticed she was bleeding. Weird.

Anyway.
Who cares about that?
She is alone in the Bargain Castle, and she is here for revenge.

Staring blankly in front of her and forcefully not looking at the still-dancing stains of colour, she finds Mal's room quite easily.
It has a sign with her name on the doors.
Fun fact: Mal's scribbles worse than an angry cat would.

She enters without another thought.

„Well here we are, my good mate,“ she tells the snake, „Your time to shine.“
The serpent doesn't even hiss in answer. Loutish, ignorant vermin!

For a moment she contemplates cutting the snake's head off, just because the sight of bloody corpse may freak Mal out more than plain old boring still-alive snake. But then again, by the time Mal comes back, the snake would be alive anyway. Good for him.
CJ decides that beheading the snake would not be worth the effort.

She waves good bye to the snake and giggles: She is not done yet!

She takes out her dagger, different one from the one Harriet took from her – she will need to remember to go on Red Temptress and steal it back – and kicks Mal's wardrobe open.

Wow.
That girl sure owns a lot of clothes.
Shame that none of them are actually pretty.
Shame that not an hour later, exactly half of them will be missing it's left sleeve, cleanly ripped off by cutting the seams. And if she simply decides not to wear them, well, the other half of the clothes will be improved with a good dose of poison ivy.

What a shame, really.

An hour later, CJ leaves the room to help herself to a snack from Mal's stocks.
She throws one of the kitchen knives onto the mold in the corner. It makes a very satisfying sound as it finds its target.

Here.
That's what you deserve for making me see things.
Freaking mold, by the gods!

For today, CJ Hook leaves the Bargain Castle, quite satisfied with her day.

Next time, she will bring some poison, too, to lace Mal's food with it.

--- Mal of Moors ---

Mal has given up on reading and memorising her Spellbook, for now. She has even tried to perform a low-power good-luck spell, but surprise, surprise! It didn't work!

Of course it didn't: she didn't even expect it to. But still, the disappointment is burning bright in her, only overshadowed by her burning hatred for-
For everything, really.

For this stupid island and the damned Barrier around it.
For the Beast who claims to be a King, who is the reason she is stuck here in the first place.
(For her Mother, for abandoning her here.)
(For herself, for not being strong enough.)

So she is on her way to find Jay and drag him out to annoy the Tremaines with her some more. You know, like you do.

Only she can't fucking find him!

He is not at Jafar's Junk Shop. Not that she can blame him, the crammed emporium never failed to make her feel suffocated. Why should it be any different for Jay?
However, he's not at Nasira's either: nor is Jade, for that matter.

He must have decided to visit his fellow deserted desert dwellers, then: She has no idea why he even associates with them, let alone actually finds their company. Like, voluntarily.
Doesn’t he always say that there is no team in I?
…For that slogan, he seems to spend an awful lot of time with them.

Not that she cares what he does in his free time. Not at all.
Absolutely not.

She barges into their hideout without bothering to knock, as Jay should have expected her anyway.

She is immediately welcomed by Jade screaming into her face to fuck off. Delightful.

„Lovely seeing you too, Jade,” she answers, „Is Jay there? I want him to go out with me. Right now.”

„He’s busy!“

Now, that just wouldn’t do! Mal prepares to push past Jade and get another answer - the one she wants - but it’s not necessary. Lucky desert dwellers, really.

„No, I’m not,” says Jay himself, already standing up and moving towards her. Looks like he is up to no good after all. Good for him.
„You lot are just arguing anyway: I could come back a week later and you would be no closer to the actual solution. So I’m out, thank you very much.” With that, he slips around her and into the empty street. Still, Mal can hear the others quite clearly: One girls is accusing another of having a crush on the second-in-command of the Huns. And it’s apparently affecting their alliance options? No wonder Jay left. Who has time for crushes? Or alliances? Those things are useless and villains can’t love anyway.

„What did you have in mind, Mal?” he asks, effectively stopping her rant over the uselessness of love and goodness in general.

„I have wanted to go visit the Tremaines, but I won’t go until you tell me what in the world was that.”
With all that talk about individuality, he really has a lot to explain.

„Oh, that? Nothing to worry your head over.”

„That was not what I heard. I heard an alliance talk. Why do you need an alliance anyway?”

Jay huffs, as if he was offended. Well if he took it as an insult, all the better.
„I don’t need any alliance,” he says, stressing the „I”.

Mal only arches eyebrow at him, not even slowing down her walk. He’s not lying - yet. He better not start.

„…But it wouldn’t do to stay alone, undeclared, would it?”

…Yeah, she has no idea what the fuck is that supposed to mean. But then again, she doesn’t really care. One last question, though:
„Why didn’t this happy-go-lucky group of yours stand up yesterday at the barge, then?”

He has the audacity to laugh at her.
„Why the hell would we do that, Mal?” he says, using “we” instead of “they”, which throws her off way more than she would care to admit.
„The real power is behind the scenes, in the shadows, don’t you know that?”
She does know that.
„Besides, it wouldn’t be any fun like that, now, would it? I wouldn’t be able to just run around with you anymore, causing chaos left and right. I would have, like, actual responsibilities! That would suck!”

Fair enough, she supposes.
That’s what one gets for caring for other people.
Other people are like chains around your ankles and clippings on your wings. Unwelcome and holding you down.

She shrugs, and adjusts her weapon-of-choice in her hand.
„Now let’s go find the Treamines!” she says as she takes off into the still too quiet and too empty streets.

--- Anthony Tremaine ---

Anthony was having a good day. He really was. Right up until the thrice-damned purple-haired fairy showed up and decided to poke him in the face with her freaking fighting staff.

What a bitch. Snotty bragging demon-child.

And Jay of Agrabah is with her too, trying to impress Dulcia with his flirting and hopefully failing.
Hopefully.

Anthony bats away Mal's staff, as she was getting too close to his eye for his liking.

‚It's not worth it to start a fight with a fairy,‘ he chants in his head, ‚It's not worth it to start a fight with a being that would make your life hell over the smallest insult.‘
On the other hand, punching her would be extremely satisfying.

She pokes him into the shoulder instead.

Jay continues to hit on his cousin despite the fact that Anthony can see she's this close to snapping: She lifts her hand to her bun every now and then. Now, that may look as a nervous habit, but Anthony knows damn well that her hat-pin could easily kill a man. Good for her.

He watches with certain satisfaction as Jay backs away when he notices her gesture: he doesn't shut up, though.
What a pity.

…And now Mal is annoyed because he apparently hasn't been paying her enough attention.

And where is Dizzy? She was supposed to go with them: they're visiting the Hearts and they need every edge. And, well, everyone likes Dizzy. It's useful.
So where the fuck is she?

They didn't leave her back home with the others and the kids, did they?

Mal pouts at him.

„You are no fun, Anthony,“ she says, „But don't worry, I'll take care of it.“

One walk through the Isle.
One freaking calm walk through the Isle.
Is that so much to ask?

„Do you want to fight? First blood, loser has to give any jewellery and weapons they have to the winner?“

No, thank you.

Also, he is fairly sure they did take Dizzy with them: he vividly recalls her enthusiastically waving at- was that Zevon? What was Zevon doing in their territory? Doesn't he usually run with CJ Hook and Freddie Facilier?
Oh. Wait. That would explain it.
Freddie left and CJ has been acting up a bit more than usual ever since.
He doesn't envy Harriet right now.

„Aww, come on-“

‚You don't start fights with a fairy, you don't start fights with a fairy-‘

„Are you afraid you will lose, lordling?“
She reaches out to pat his head; she has to stand on her tippy toes to even reach.
Anthony doesn't flinch away.
Au contraire: He hopes that the bitch will burn herself on his iron-pierced ears.

She does.

Her scared, pained yelp is delightful.

Jay immediately lunging at him in response is not delightful at all, thank you for asking.
…At least Jay is not a fairy, though? He doesn't have the ability to hold grudges that last more than lifespans.

Anthony struggles to ready his sword and shield in time, just barely managing to block the blunt force of Jay's first attack.

But before a proper fight can break out and before the girls can even get involved, a metal rumble sounds through the alley along with heavy steps.

The Hearts are there.

Dizzy with them: that answers where she disappeared to, at the very least.

„Jared, Rosa,“ he greets the prince and princess of Hearts and shoots a grateful glance to Dizzy, „fancy seeing you there.“

At the sight of the heirs of Wonderland and their heavy swords, Mal swears rather profusely and flees, Jay only mock-curtseying before he follows.

„It's a pleasure for us, too,“ answers Jared, while his twin sister fake-kisses Dulcia's cheeks. „Dizzy insisted on going to the Edge of the World instead of just hanging out and talking gossip at our caste like every other day: Isn't she a dear?“

Dizzy is a fucking treasure, that's what she is.

„I've just thought that on such a nice day, it would be a pity to pass up an opportunity to go out with friends-“ she says sweetly, even managing to bring a blush to her cheeks.
Good job, Dizzy.

Anthony smiles at her and Dulcia pulls her younger sister in gor a brief hug, not letting go of her after that.

„What with the hairstyle, Anthony,“ pipes Rosa up, changing the topic of conversation completely, Wonderland-style, „Is that a new trend?“

„What?“

Dulcia subtly holds up her dagger as a mirror for him-
Anthony bites his tongue not to swear at his reflection.
That fae-bitch messed up his hairdo!

--- The Villains ---

Just like that, the new normal is established for the abandoned children and their parents alike.

Just like that, some Villains gladly forget the ones they've left behind; for others, more willpower is required, as the thoughts of their Descendants do sneak up on them once in a blue moon.

Those treacherous thoughts are gladly magiced away.

The time flows around the Villains, just as unforgiving as it was under the Barrier.

But now, the Villains are free of it.

Now, you might think: That's insane, dangerous, maybe even fatal for what is good in the world!
You might be thinking that correctly. On the other hand, you may also be forgetting something.

The Villains will not go under the Barrier again. They simply won't.

And so, they're careful, covering and hiding, working from the shadows if they dare to operate at all.
Maybe they'll grow bolder in the times to come; maybe they won't. That's written only in the stars and in the shadows beyond them, and only the Faciliers can read those.
And they won't tell.

And so for now, the only signs that something may be amus with the Isle of the Lost, are the graffiti that appear every now and then.

„IT'S A SCARY WORLD OUT THERE,“ reads one of them, written in a way that make Rapunzel faint when she sees it. The double-looped o and the sharp ypsilon? Those are eerily similar to the ones Mother Gothel used to write.

But Mother Gothel is under the Barrier, isn't she? It must be just a prank.

Just like all the other messages that have appeared and will appear across the Auradon.

And they are, kind of. Well, it depends on your definition of „prank“ and „fun“, really.

For example, Celia, Freddie and their Friends think that spray-painting „DISHONOR TO YOU! DISHONOR TO YOUR FAMILY!“ at the walls of any hero's home King Beast visits is plenty fun.

King Beast doesn't agree.

Neither does Dr. Facilier, but he has entirely different reasons.

Chapter Text

--- Celia Facilier ---

The shadows elongate and shorten again and again and again, like they always do. And in the presence of two little girls, those shadows grow darker and stronger too. Sentient to a degree, too: at least the Shadows belonging to Celia and Freddie Facilier do.

They follow the girls everywhere: they've done so since the girls exiled the Barrier.
How long ago was it?
They couldn't tell.
…And not only because they can't speak. Time simply flows differently in the Shadowrealm.

You could ask Celia, though, and she would give you an answer. Worryingly exact one, at that.
Two years, three months and five days. No more, no less.

She has been counting.

And if you gave her a watch to go with that question, she could give you the hours and minutes too.

She has learned a lot, over this time.

She and Freddie have learned that spray-painting is not, in fact, the primary mean of communication in Auradon about two months after they got there.
That didn't stop them from leaving passive-aggressive graffiti all over the place, though.
On the other hand, it did press them to get a mobile phones, which they acquired through completely legal means, and which are not wired to be virtually untraceable by the easily-bribed de Vil guy, thank you for asking.

They've learned to forge handwriting pretty solidly, though Freddie is better at it than Celia is; Celia is better at math, though. She knows her numbers inside out, and she can twist them in her favour, too.

And they've read cards over and over, more times than even Celia can tell. They've asked every question imaginable and then some more: sadly, even their magic can't see under the Barrier, and so the Facilier sisters are left to guess what is going on with the kids left underneath it. They hate that feeling of uncertainty, and so do their Friends.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated note, they've learned that they're incapable of wielding Fairy Godmother's wand, the hard way.
…Just a fun fact, you know?

And today, they're going to make their first voodoo doll.
Like you do.
Just as the cards predicted.

„Come on, girls,“ the Friends urge and the shadows stir impatiently. Celia doesn't roll her eyes, even though she wants to, because that would be rude, and one isn't rude to their Friends.

„Yeah, Celia, we need to hurry, or we might miss our window!“ adds Freddie. Celia hates it when her sister is right.

„I know, I know,“ she says, already moving faster and taking last few necessities (Weapons. Spray paint, just in case. A clean silver dagger, a cotton bag. The amulets that will alter their appearance if needed, and if encouraged by a bit of human blood. No flashlight: the Shadows wouldn't appreciate that.),
„The cards-“

„This ain't about the cards-“
„Well it actually kinda is. You saw the readings.“
„And I did the readings too! As good as you did, if not better!“
„Uh. Not possible.“
„It is so! And I read the same thing, which means-“

„Girls,“ the Friends chastise them gently, and before they can continue, Freddie draws in a sharp breath and finishes quickly:
„We are already coming, because otherwise dad might come home and try to stop us!“ She glares at Celia.

Oh, righ. He is out on business, or so he says, and while he usually comes home so late it's early, they have no guarantee he won't break the habit just to check on them.

So the sisters stop bickering and disappear into the night, their minds set firmly on their task: make a voodoo doll of King Beast.

…Yeah, their dad said no killing, but that doesn't mean they can't inconvenience him a little.

--- Arabella Triskelion ---
Somewhere far away, in the depths of the ocean, a little mermaid swims around. She is a curious little thing, just a child, just one of too many princesses of Atlantica.
The cold water curls around her as she wanders around, quite carelessly. Her lavender-colored tail shines through the dark water too brightly: she doesn't care for that, though, not yet. She doesn't care if she is spotted, she would welcome it, even. She would welcome someone, anyone, taking notice of her over her many sisters, cousins and aunts.

For now, she is just enjoying the feeling of free water and the magic that comes with it.
Even if she isn't allowed to use that.

But is she helps herself a bit now and there, where no one has to see?
The ocean won't tell on her.

She swims closer to the cave-ridden shore and light flickers on her tail: maybe that is what catches the attention of the voice that dwells in the shadows?
Or who knows, maybe they were waiting for Arabella all along.

„Oh, little mermaid, so far from home…“ deep, honeyed voice sounds through the depth and Arabella halts: who is this? Why are they calling her?
…Do they need help, maybe?
„I wonder what she is doing so far from home, all alone?“

They probably don't need help.
In fact, this is starting to sound a bit suspicious?

„Don't worry, little one, I'm not going to hurt you…“

Oh. It's probably alright, then.

At least Arabella thinks so, until a tentacle shots from from the opening of the cave and she freezes. Before she can think, the water whirls around her, forming a makeshift shield.

The tentacle freezes as well, mere inches of her shield.

„Oh…,“ the being, still hidden, breathes out softly, „A little sea witch?“

Arabella should let her magic die out and the shield fail. She should deny that she has any magic at all. She should turn around and flee, flee so far and so fast-
She doesn't do any of that.

„So what?“ she sticks out her chin to give herself some more courage; she tightens her fists and makes the water whirl even faster.
„So what? So what if I am the first sea witch in my family since Ursula and Morgana, what do you care?“

„I care, little one, because I am one too.“

„Are you, now? I thought there weren't any others left.“
She thought she was alone.

„I've been hiding for a long time,“ the being – the sea witch! – admits, „Isn't that what you have been doing, too?“

Arabella doesn't answer. She has said too much already. She should flee, she should bring the royal guards to the cave, she has already said too much. But… There is something holding her in place. Curiosity, maybe?

She drifts closer to the cave, the magic sliping from her a bit: she is not used to wielding it.

„You have been hiding, too, haven't you? A little sea witch, all alone, in a world that has forsaken magic? Oh, I wonder…,“ the voice continues, seemingly just thinking out loud.
„I might have known a girl a bit like you, you know? Her magic was stolen from her at the very moment she was born.“

Arabella drifts even closer to the cave, peeking inside. A cauldron, a mess of tentacles, head full of white hair, bowed down almost in shame or in mourning.

As if the woman has felt that she is staring, she turns around. Smile appears on her lips.
„But we are not here to think about her: We are here to focus on you, sweetie!“ she exclaims, „Now, what's your name?“

„Arabella. Arabella Triskelion of Atlantica.“

The sea witch clicks her tongue.
They look at each other in silence for a while, before Arabella gathers her courage to speak again:
„And who are you?“

Another click of the tongue.
„You may call me Teumessia,“ she allows. It's probably a false name, Arabella thinks, but that makes sense for a sea witch in hiding.

She doesn't stop to question why she might be hiding: she mustn't be dangerous, if she isn't on the Isle, after all.
She doesn't ask for her true name either, even though, or probably because, she knows that names have power.

She does, however, stop to chat with her for a while.
It's… It's freeing.
It's like she is allowed to be herself, with all that belongs to her, her magic and all her worries and resentments.

(„No magic in Auradon, Arabella, we don't use it anymore, don't you know?“)
(„Just…Go play with your cousins for a while. Be a good girl and do it for me.“)
(„Right. What is your name again?“)

And she finds herself stopping by the mysterious cave and the wise sea witch who is willing to share her knowledge more and more often in the future.

--- Dr. Facilier ---

Dr. Facilier returns home only to find his apartment suspiciously quiet, and, as it turns out when he comes to check on his daughters, also suspiciously empty. Great.
Just, great.

And the Friends are gone too: He isn’t sure if that’s good news or bad news anymore.

Anyway, lets not think about it too hard. He needs to find his kids before they manage to get themselves arrested or killed.

He stalks through the back allies, muttering a string of quiet curses under his breath. All of the adult villains have the good graces to remain hidden and not get caught and sent back to the Isle again. Ursula, quietly putting her cauldron back to work somewhere in the darkest, deepest corner of the sea. Maleficent, being her usual gloomy self in the Moors. Captain Hook, still chasing that mad Sparrow fellow and somehow managing to not get caught. Damn it, even the Evil Queen has been staying more undercover, and she is quite literally overthrowing Snow White off the throne of her former kingdom from behind the scenes and also managed to poison the last two winners of Miss of Auradon!
But no, not his daughters!
No, they think it’s a great idea to provoke King Beast left and right!
Do they have no regard for their personal safety?!

Their life on the Isle flashes before Facilier’s eyes, as well as any stunts they’ve pulled so far with the Friends on their side, and he comes to the terrifying conclusion that no, his daughters do not care.

He passes around the message his daughters have put up on the occasion of Esmeralda visiting King Beast a few months ago.

„VESTRA MAXIMA CULPA,” it reads.
„Your greatest mistake” in latin.
…Well, at least Celia and Freddie are learning languages?

Seems like the Auradonians couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it, too; he smirks at this thought. Or maybe they did and his stubborn kids just spray painted it again. Either way, good for them.

He picks up the pace again and soon, he is dragging his far too giddy daughters home, their Shadows dancing on the walls and the Friends hissing at him occasionally for interrupting their fun.
Look, he doesn’t really have anything that serious against spray painting ominous messages that will freak the so called heroes out, as long as they don’t get caught, and he can even sympathise with their desire to have a voodoo doll of King Beast, but forging an official declaration with his handwriting while they are still breaking and entering in his bedroom? That’s a bit too much, don’t you think?
He needs to give them a lesson about proper preparation of evil plans.

Finally, he manages to get them all home, only to find Helga freaking Sinclair lounging on his kitchen counter.

Can’t he ever get a break?

And she has helped herself to some of his wine, too. Sure, why not?

„Why are you here, Helga?” he asks bluntly, too tired for this bullshit.

She fake-pouts at him: „Aww, don’t be so rude, Facilier! Why, I’m here on business, of course!” She then turns to greet his daughters: „And what have you two been up to, little ones?”

They object that they aren’t little anymore, but overshare gladly. Of course they do.
And Helga praises them for their accomplishment. Of course she does.

He sends the girls away and asks her what was this super important business that couldn’t wait into the morning and caused her to break into his apartment.

„I need you to send some stuff on the Isle for me!“

„What's in for me?“

She flashes a rather sizable pack of money at him. That is starting to look like an acceptable deal.

„What is it, then?“

„Ehm, just a few little trinkets?“

He raises his eyebrow at her. The last time she said that, she sent her daughter a literal handgun.

„Look, no weapons this time! Not even explosives! And! You have helped me send it anyway!“

…Yeah, 'cos she gave him money. That is kidna the point of doing business.

„Anyway, it's just some books this time. Nothing to be concerned about.“

„Helga, the last book you sent was the definition of red library. Like, I have no idea where you even got it here in Auradon.“

She sends him a mildly confused stare: „…I stole it? From Belle? And I thought my girls would enjoy it?“

Dr. Facilier let's the disturbing discovery about Beauty's library slide in favour of pointing out that Helga's eldest daughter is, like, ten. Eleven at most.

„…Yeah, and?“

He didn't think it was possible for his eyebrows to rise that high.

„Your eldest daughter is ten. Do you think she will read it? Do you think she should?!“

„Eh, ehm, she will grow into it?“ she says in quizzical tone before waving his concerns away. „Anyway, I got them Encyclopedia Britannica this time! The very first edition, too!“

He is certain that she is just using the Isle as her personal vault at this point – shipping off the things she stole, not using them but gaining satisfaction from the fact Auradon is not using them either.
Well, who is he to argue? As long as he gets money from this, that is.

Plus, it's not even that hard to sneak stuff aboard the shipments meant for the Isle of the Lost: Auradon truly doesn't care about the Isle, so as long as gifts Helga and some of the other villains send aren't too blatantly obvious and are disguised at least a little, no one notices them. As for the disguise, wrapping them in trash bag is usually enough.
Sneaking them aboard undetected is even easier, with the Shadows and the Friends providing him with cover.

But he isn't going to tell her that.
He just gladly takes the money, and even manages to smile.
She hands over the absurdly heavy package of books, too. He should demand an excess fare.

Before she leaves, she turns to speak with Celia and Freddie one more time.
„What are you doing, girls?“ she asks.
„Playing with dolls,“ answers Celia sweetly, and, well, she isn't lying. Only that this sort of game contains several pins and hopefully a huge headache for the intended victim. (At least as big headache as his daughters are giving him. Hopefully way bigger.)

Helga cackles.
„You know what?“ she leans closer to the girls and whispers in conspiratory tone, „I'm sure his crown must be soo heavy! I bet his neck hurts all the time, from carrying it around so much. His shoulders, too…“

Freddie stabs a pin where the doll's deltoid muscles would be with far too much delight.

--- Uma Triskelion of Lost Revenge ---

She is sailing again.
Sure, it's only on the narrow strip of sea between the rocky shores of the Isle and the Barrier, but it's still sailing, isn't it? Isn't it?
She glares at the Barrier, first hatefully, then with something akin to longing. Sometimes, she imagines how do the seas behind it look, and this is one of the moments.

It's probably cleaner. Less bloody and murky. Less… Tamed?
Yes, even the sea seems suffocated by the Barrier to Uma.

„Uma? What are you looking at, love?“
She shakes her head at Harry, used to his nicknames already: she doesn't mind them, most of the time?

„Just… wondering.“
Hopefully, he will leave it at that.
He jumps up on the railing and steadies himself with one of the ships ropes hanging around.
„About the Barrier, huh?” he asks and looks at her, before turning to stare at the unclear horizon again. She only nods in response.
„Do you think we could take it down? Like our parents did?”

Probably. Possibly.
Uma likes to think they are better than their parents.
But then again, what if they are not?
What if they are not enough? Not bad enough for their parents, not good enough for Auradon. Not powerful enough to escape the Isle on their own. Not right now, at least, but one day-

„We could just slam out ship into the Barrier, see if that does something,” offers Harry, still glaring at the offending shimmer between them and open seas.

„I think Harriet already tried that.”

„Oh, yeah, right. That was after CJ set the crocodiles on the Red Temptress three times in a week? When one of them almost bit off Sammy’s hand?”

„I think it was after CJ bleached her hair-” Uma is actually pretty certain Harriet didn’t mind the crocodiles all that much. Sure, she was pissed that they nearly mutilated her first mate, but not in „Let me try and blast through the freaking Barrier right now so I won’t have to deal with my sister anymore” way.

„Yeah, that would do it,” agrees Harry easily as he jumps back on deck, „She was feeling stabby for weeks after that!”

Yeah, that was approximately around the time when the two crews agreed to take the barge-day duty one at time. Harriet insisted she just wanted one moment of peace every few weeks, with, like, relatable.

Still, only Red Temptress and Lost Revenge sailed: CJ's ship did not. That was one thing Harriet and Harry agreed on.
Not only didn't CJ have any stable crew or even properly named ship yet, she also had no attention span and they were afraid of letting her off their watch on the sea in the fear of her somehow getting herself killed.

Also, no one is sure if CJ even knew how to sail.

Anyway, the trash Auradon sent them to survive on is floating through the Barrier, so they have to get moving again.

It goes quickly: they have had enough time to get hang of it. Even the crocks have learned not to bother them, mostly, and the sharks were always quite respectful to Uma.

As they get all the packages on board, Uma and Harry quickly sort through them, setting stuff for their crew, Harriet and CJ. The Isle children don't protest this anymore: in fact, they have decided that waiting a bit for the pirates to bring the food and ripped clothes and whatever trash Auradon deemed to give them is more acceptable than taking a swim in the shark-infested waters to fish it out for themselves. Quite smart of them, Uma must say. She didn't expect that.

She slashes her dagger through another trash bag, only to reveal a complete, leather bound edition of Encyclopedia Britannica. A letter with familiar handwriting peeks out of the first book: Looks like the Sinclair children got another gift from their mommy.

Well, at least it's, like, marginally useful this time? The last book Helena got? She read the premise and just threw it back on deck of Red Temptress, with completely repulsed look on her face.
Uma didn't see the book, as it was Harriet's turn on the barge day, but she is fairly certain Harriet picked up that book and has been reading it for the past two weeks.

Oh, and it's definitely better than the handgun. Or the freaking katana. Or this weird little statue she sent in bubble wrap one time. Or-
You know what?
Uma has better stuff to do than listing this.

Now, they have pretty much all they need until the next barge day, so they decide to bring the ship to the pier.

The crew starts unloading it down, which, admitably, is a tremendous job, but better opinion than letting the others on Lost Revenge just like that.

Uma calls for Helena Sinclair to get her books, or get someone else to carry it for her, as the combined encyclopedias are probably heavier than her.

Suddenly, a head full of purple hair appears before her.
„Took you long enough, Shrimpy,“ sneers Mal, as if Uma had nothing better to do than listen to meaningless insults.
„What were you doing there for so long anyway, huh? Just staring at the water? Looking into the distance, wishing very hard? Did it work, Shrimpy? Did it work?!“

Look, Uma knows that Mal is just trying to provoke her into a fight at this point.
The problem is, it is working.

But before Uma can decide the best way to put her to her place, the annoying fairy is manhandled away by Gil. Lucky for her, really.

Chapter Text

--- Ben Florian Beast, the Crown Prince of Auradon ---

Ben is going to the SeaSide Festival with his parents, just as he does every year. But this visit is a tiny bit special, his mother said: She is taking a few of the Auradon children along with her. Like, commoner children. Non-royal, non-hero children.
But his mother would be disappointed if he put it like that.

Unfortunately, Ben doesn't know a better way to say it.

Anyway, the kids are with them in the royal limousine, stuffing themselves with chocolate. Ben doesn't mind that, in theory.
In practice, he minds this quite a lot, because if it weren't for these children, Audrey could travel along with him. As it is, he will meet Audrey at the beach. And Chad and Jane and probably some other kids, too. Melody and all her cousins, almost definitely.
Not Lonnie, though. Lonnie couldn't make it this time.

Soon, they arrive, right into the midst of celebrations. He has barely any time to greet his friends, but they get to sit together. Well, they have to sit really still and smile for the cameras and not talk at all (both not to disturb the program and not to worsen his father's nearly crippling headache), but it's better than nothing, isn't it?

At least the program is interesting.

Ben's favourite part definitely includes the young mermaids showing off their skills in synchronized swimming. Oh, and the ice cream. The ice cream is delicious.

Ben wonders why Audrey didn't have any.
Then he spots queen Leah hovering nearby and Audrey's definitely forced smile: that would explain it. Ben has decided that he doesn't like Audrey's grandmother quite some time ago.

He will try and steer Audrey away from her, to have some fun at least. This is supposed to be a joyful festival, after all!

Maybe saying that they need to properly greet Melody and her cousins will work?

Surprisingly, it does: Ben and Audrey disappear into the crowd before queen Leah and/or queen Belle with her little guests can follow. They stop to buy another ice cream, too.

Audrey gets that one that tastes like rose petals, for some reason. Ben gets vanilla.
…What? He likes vanilla!

Their ice cream cravings satisfied (for the time being, at least), they actually make their way over to Melody and her cousins. No matter how hard Ben tries, he can never keep their names straight! There is just so many of them, and all of their names start with an A! Well, except for Melody. But Ariel’s half-human daughter doesn’t count, does she?

Ben wipes of such impolite musings of his mind in favour to actually recalling their names. Hey, maybe Audrey knows them?
Oh, judging by the bright fake smile on her face, she probably does not.
Where is Lonnie when they need her?

Time for plan B, then.

„Greetings, everyone!” Ben calls out and dips into a polite half-bow, making sure his ice cream won’t fall off the cone in the movement. It looks like he’s toasting them. Beside him, Audrey giggles and mirrors him with much more elegant curtsey, raising her own ice cream. It has the same pale pink colour as her summer dress.
„Awesome festival!,” adds Ben, „You are really outdoing yourselves: I think it’s even better than last year!”

„And do you mean the festival as a whole, or just the ice cream?” asks amused Melody.

A slight blush creeps into his cheeks as he scrambles for a proper response, because of course he didn’t mean just the ice cream! Really!

But Melody just smiles and Ben finds himself pulled into conversation with the older princess, while Audrey drifts off to chat with some other heiresses of Atlantica.

Everything flows smoothly (Melody was telling Ben about her favourite book!), up until they hear raised voices from where Audrey is standing. What could be going on? People almost never argue in Auradon, let alone shout! Ben needs to check on Audrey and calm everyone down!

„Excuse me,” he cringes as he quite rudely interrupts Melody mid-sentence, „But I need to check on my friend. I’ll be right back.”

He’s already turned around, when Melody says: „Of course, little prince. It was a pleasure talking with you.” So he turns around again, to flash her a quick grateful smile, before taking off.

Ben approaches the group consisting of distressed Audrey, three wide-eyed heiresses of Atlantica and one who looks… angry? Irritated? She gestures around wildly, her dark-purple painted nails accidentally flying too close to his face to his liking. Her hair flips around in the wind, which does not seem to be messing with the hair of anyone else in sight. Weird.
Anyway.

„What seems to be the problem,ehm…,” Ben tries to project confidence as he frantically searches for the girl's name in his memory. Could it be Ariana? No, that’s Audrey’s cousin. Ava? Alessandra? Adelaide? Andrina? Wait, no, Andrina’s Ariel’s youngest sister, isn’t she?
„I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” Ben says and watches as the girl’s face further darkens and concludes that this wasn’t the wisest move. Did he manage to insult her? He didn’t want to do that!

„I’m so sorry,” he says again, quickly glancing at his feet in embarrassment, „ could you please remind me of your name and tell me what is the problem, so we can discuss it peacefully?”

She just glares at him.
Under the weight of her blank stare, he raises his hand to the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. He doesn’t like being glared at.
But… At least he did take the attention of Audrey, didn't he?

„My name, Your Royal Highness,” she practically spits out, „Is Arabella. Remembering my name is the least you could do, after what you and yours have done to me and mine, and yet, somehow, you still fail!”
Ben has no idea what she is talking about, but feels like he should. Is he missing something here? Why is she so angry? A cold wisp of wind hits him in the face as she raises her hands in exasperation.
„My name is Arabella Triskelion of Atlantica, and you will remember that!”

„I’m sorry, Arabella-” he tries again, wanting to ask what upset her, but she storms off before he can: She marches straight to the sea and dives into the waves.

So much for diplomacy.

He turns towards Audrey and the remaining princesses, asking what happened and why was she so upset?

But they just shrug: They’ve just been chatting aimlessly, complimenting the weather and the atmosphere here.
(Joyful and easy and sunny, with no villains and magic users who could darken the day.)
Neither of them remembers what could have upset her so much: in fact, they barely remember if she has participated in the conversation at all.
(Neither of them noticed that the wind has stopped as soon as Arabella has dived under the waves.)

And no one pays attention to the shadows that follow the upset mermaid along the shore, with no one who could possibly cast them.

--- Mal of Moors ---

Mal frowns at the ripped page of an Auradonian magazine that is laying on the street: It holds a photo of the royal family, the prince and his girlfriend or whoever that is, and the queen with a bunch of kids. Freaking goody two shoes, the lot of them, enjoying some festival or another while she is stuck here, under the Barrier.
The Barrier they installed.

She feels like she wants to scream.

How come these children are free and happy, enjoying sunshine and desserts and stuff? How come she is not? What did she do?!

She needs to get out of there, and she will.
She will breach the Barrier, she will set herself free and she will make her mother proud.
She will-

But not now. She’s not strong enough, knowledgeable enough just yet.
For now, she has other plans.

She picks up the paper and forces it into the nearest overflowing trash can, setting fire to it immediately after. She spits into the flames before taking off into the streets again.

…Say, have you ever heard about the Isle of the Doomed?

Because Mal did not, at least not until recently: she doubts anyone has. But, you see, she was bored and going through the school building, looking for supplies and stuff she could vandalise, as one does, and she has decided to, ehm, peruse the books and notebooks in what would be the headmasters office for one of her art projects.
…Fine. She just wanted the dry paper as a tinder: the weather has been miserable that time, but hey, arson IS a work of art. Especially if you manage to find enough chemicals to dye the flames. And if the fire is burning in the shape of Beast’s castle. Figures.
Anyway.

That book caught her eye so much that she has decided not to burn it immediately and instead took it home for further study, as one does.
Hey, don’t look at her like that! She was simply bored, and, as any half-decent villain could tell you, knowledge is power. Even if it’s just knowledge of the enemy's propaganda. Again, figures.

So Mal sat down and read through it. It’s not like she had anything better to do. Plus, it has paid off: There is apparently ANOTHER island under the Barrier. It’s supposed to be warded and magically protected and stuff, even though she has no idea how that would work, with the Barrier blocking magic and all that. All the more reason why Mal should go and see it for herself: so she can study it, of course.

The book also said that the Villains were absolutely forbidden to ever set foot on that island, which pretty much sealed the deal for Mal.

Like, how could it not?

Which means that Mal now needs a way to get on the Island. A ship, to be exact.
Which means the pirates.

Oh, Evil…

Mal wishes she could just teleport how her mother told her she could: Disappear in an inferno of raging poison-green flames and reappear whenever she desires, all that while cackling maniacally. That is essential, that evil laugh.
But no, she can't do it. Beast was being a dick about fourteen or fifteen years ago and now she can't have nice things.

So, right. The pirates.

Mal definitely can’t go to Uma and Harry and ask them to play chaffeurs for her. That’s simply unimaginable and very much beneath her. She does not make deals with the Shrimpy.

And Harriet? She’d just tell her to fuck off, as she doesn't have time for this bullshit, and she wouldn’t bother using nicer words. She might, however, add a very colourful array of other curses and death threats and Mal is not all that tempted to hear that and potentially make the mad pirate Captain follow through. Fighting with Harriet Hook would be… inconvenient. Mal is not a fan of that.

Which just leaves one ship she could use, unless she steals either Red Temptress or Lost Revenge and tries to sail all by herself. (She could sink or crash or simply fall overboard and drown: she'd never get from the ocean again.)
Yeah, Mal is not a fan of that either, and that’s not even considering the constant look-outs the two crews keep.

So CJ Hook it is.

Now she just needs to figure out one thing: How will she persuade CJ to go with her? And with what will she bribe her if she is hesitant? Because, you see, threatening her might not be the wisest move.
Whatever.
Mal will leave that as her ace up her sleeve.

And it might be nice to have someone else with her… Maybe Jay would go? He could never say no to a little bit of fun, could he?

Either way, she needs to ensure the transport first. It wouldn't do to show Jay some half-baked plan and just expect him to follow, now, would it?

So she needs to find CJ Hook first, but hey, that shouldn't be that hard. It's not like the youngest Hook makes any effort to not be the centre of attention wherever she goes.

--- CJ Hook ---

„Careful!” CJ shouts and her hands shoot up to her hair, which is Dizzy relentlessly tugging at. Honestly, it’s as if that girl doesn’t even work at a hair salon!

„I am careful,” Dizzy audibly sights and continues to run the brush through CJ’s hair, „And this would have been a lot easier if you didn’t keep jerking and if you ever bothered to brush your hair yourself every now and then.“
CJ’s quite offended by that - she brushed her hair just yesterday, it’s not her fault the wharf winds keep messing up her hairdo! - so she glares at Dizzy through the mirror.

„Honestly, CJ, I know what the sea water and sea wind can do to your hair, trust me, but this?” She pulls out a dart from her hair. „Why do you have weapons in your hair? I mean, I’m not even commenting on the blood and dried salt, but weapons? Seriously?”

Well, no one expects her to hide a weapon in her hair. Their fault, really, and her advantage. CJ decides not to comment. Plus, Dizzy has her hatpin, which is almost the same, so she has no right to brag here.
CJ sticks out her tongue at her.

„Have some class,” comments Anthony from where he is supervising the Hearts looking through the hair dyes, „And please, take any and all weapons off your hair the next time you go to a hair salon.”

„One more word,” CJ answers, „And I will use that dart to stick out your eyes and stab through your carotid artery so many times you won’t even be able to count it.”

„If you do that, you won’t get your hair done.”

Oh, wait. That is a solid point actually.
…Would Anthony be less upset if she used a dagger instead? A sabre? A garrote?
Hey, she could make a decent hairdo with a garrote! Stylish, yet practical! Thanks for the idea, Anthony!
She beams at him, that is, right until he finishes his little speech:

„And, you know, your sister has better death threats anyway. You need to work on that.”

She frowns at him again and Dizzy has the audacity to giggle. And they say CJ is the one without class here!

Either way, she returns to browsing through the Auradonian magazine the Tremaines keep at the salon for some reason (probably so that the Hearts could talk gossip all the time they spend there), while the Heart triplets loudly argue which shade of red would suit Kazimíra best and Anthony attempts to discourage Mečislav from getting his nose pierced, stating he is much too young for that.

If the twins came and heard Anthony talk to their younger brother like that, they'd certainly shout „Off with his head!“, CJ is sure.
Then again, the Hearts tend to respond with „Off with their head!“ to just anything. She's heard them use it as a greeting more than once.

Hey, there is a picture of Queen Belle in the magazine! She's standing by the sea with a bunch of random kids, CJ can practically feel the sun on her skin, hear the crashing of the waves on the beach…

One day, she will sail with her ship in a sea just as perfectly blue and clear as the one on the picture.

And she will take her revenge on the people who locked her here in the first place!

Wait!

Revenge… Sea…Beauty standing by it…A ship…

She knows how to name her ship!

„I know how to call my ship!“ she declares, jumping up from her seat.
She gestures wildly to the magazine, not noticing that Dizzy takes a careful step back. The Heart triplets snap their heads to her almost in unison. Maybe it's a triplet thing.
Anthony merely raises an eyebrow, as if CJ naming her ship isn't the most exciting thing that has happened on this cursed piece of land since… forever.

„…And are you going to share with us?“ he prompts.

„Yes, yes! My ship's gonna be called Dead Beauty! Awesome name, isn't it?!“

„Certainly,“ answers Anthony, while the Hearts produce much more satisfying dramatic gasps, Kazimíra going as far as faking a fainting at the news. See? That is how it's done!

„Absolutely flawless,“ one of them adds, and: „Perfectly Wonderladish,“ says the other one.

„Thank you!“ CJ beams at them, „It will strike fear to the hearts of my enemies, won't it? Especially Auradon?“

The Wonderland heirs offer her sharp smiles, while the Tremaines's smile are a bit more strained. She wonders why, but hey, not her problem.

„I'm off now!“ she announces to no one in particular, but maybe a bit more to Anthony, „I need to find my siblings and tell them I've named my ship!“

She darts to the door, not really keen on paying for her half-done hairdo, but Anthony's voice stops her before she can bolt. Shame.

„What?“ she turns around with a sweet, innocent smile on her face. Money? Payment? No, never heard of it.

Anthony stares at her for a bit and then just sights. He is sighting quite a lot, lately. Is that, like, an illness? Is he sick? Her sister would be sad if Anthony was sick!

„Are you sick, Anthony?“ she asks, her head cocked to the side.

„What? Sick? No, I'm not sick, why would you think that?“ he sounds actually genuinely confused.

„Well, you are always sighting and always making faces at me, and, you know, looking like that…“ she vaguely gestures towards his slightly bewildred expression.

He shakes his head.
„Nevermind, no. Whatever. Just, go. And give Harriet my greetings.“

CJ nods, shouting „Will do!“, and immediately bolts out into the streets towards the port.

When she nearly runs into Mal, she comes to halt: What is the fairy doing so near to the port? Is she planning something malicious?
Ha, Mal, malicious…

She tries to show the older girl of her way, but she doesn't budge. Shame. Fight it is, then: CJ takes out her sabres. (Shame she didn't get to get the garotte yet, she would have loved to try it out.)

„Calm down, freebooter,“ Mal says, and hey, what is it with people always ruining her fun these days? Usually, Mal is always up for a good fight: hey, what if she is also sick, just like Anthony? Neither of her siblings would be sad if Mal was ill-

So she asks her.

„What? No, I'm not sick! I never am! You are crazy for thinking that!“

CJ shrugs, as she doesn't care either way. But if she ain't sick, she's got no excuse for cowardice, has she now?
„You up for a fight then?“ she asks.

Mal stares at her for a bit, before smiling: „You see, normally, I'd say yes, no, I wouldn't even give you a benefit of the warning beforehand, but today, I have better plans.“

„Do your plans include standing in my way, oh mighty butterfly of darkness?“

„No,“ Mal shows her a sharp shark smile that would make most of the pirates proud. Not that CJ's gonna share that tidbit of information. She doesn't do compliments.
„But they do include you.“

„Oh. Do they include me killing you for standing in my way and then burning the Bargain castle from the ground?“ If so, there is a hope for this interaction yet.

„The Bargaining Castle is made of stone, you wouldn't succeed.“

Oh, but that is nothing but a minor inconvenience.
„I would have fun trying.“
And she could ask the de Vils for some explosives. Dynamit and nitroglycerin and TNT and stuff, or whatever are they using, don't have any problems with taking on a solid stone.
She bets the de Vils would love to help her, too, to test their work…

…Why is Mal snapping her fingers in her face?

„Listen here! Did the crock come and eat your brain instead of your hand?“

„…That's biologically impossible,“ CJ points out, because duh, the crocks can't eat her brain before eating her head, and she clearly does have her head. Besides, the crocks actually prefer hands, everyone knows that!

„Wharever,“ Mal waves it off, which, like, rude, before taking a deep breath and continuing:
„As I was saying, I'm going for an adventure, adventure on the sea. You know, sailing, exploring, wind in your hair, maybe some treasure at the end… And I want you to come with me!“

CJ takes a moment to process the fairy's words. Adventure? Treasure? Exploring, sailing? That would be great, sailing on Dead Beauty!

And Mal is already speaking again:
„So what do you say? Will you sail with me? Can I travel on your ship? Take you on an adventure?“

„Dead Beauty,“ CJ answers.

„What?“

„My ship is called Dead Beauty.“

„Oh. Cool.“
Seriously, that's the best she can do? One would say that the spawn of Mistress of Evil would have more sense for drama. Hopefully, her siblings will do better.
„And will the Dead Beauty sail?“

CJ gives it a thought.
On one hand, cooperation with the annoying purple-haired fairy that her brother loathes.
On the other hand: Sailing. Adventure.
Sounds like a deal for CJ.

„Sure,“ she shrugs non-commintally, which means „Absolutelly, when do we start?“

„Nice,“ Mal comments, which CJ interprets to mean „At your earliest convenience.“

One last thing: „We need to leave so my siblings wouldn't see,“ CJ points out, „They are absolute kill-joys and wouldn't let me sail.“

„Don't worry about that,“ says Mal, „I have the perfect distraction in mind. Will you be ready tonight?“

„I was born ready for an adventure!“

That earns her another sharp smile from the fairy.

„One last thing, though: you do know how to sail, right? I'm just making sure-“

Well, and now CJ is offended. She will tie Mal up to the mast for that.
But for now, she smiles and answers:
„Of course! I'm a pirate!“

With that, she takes off. She needs to get Dead Beauty ready.

--- Jay ---

It's already dark when Mal tracks him down: he needs to find a better hiding place. He greets her anyway and makes some room for her to sit on the roof besides him, which she would take without prompting sooner or later anyway. Not that he cares.

Not that he cares for that half-crazy half-baked plan she's telling him about right now, either.

On the other hand, adventure. Treasure and riches.
Jay doesn't really have a reason to say no to that.
Plus, he doesn't mind hanging out with Mal all that much, since sometimes, she has wicked ideas. Other times, her ideas need a bit of tweaking.

„So, let me get this straight: You want to find an island that is supposed to be under the Barrier-“

„The Isle of the Doomed.“

„Right, that,“ Jay nods. The Isle of the Doomed. Sounds very inviting.
„And you have asked CJ Hook to get you-“

„Us.“

„You have asked CJ Hook to get us here. And she said yes.“

Mal nods at him vigorously.

„What did you say to her? What did you bribe her with?“ Seriously, how did she get CJ Hook agree to anything? Jade and Reza have been trying to negotiate with the pirates for access to their maps, and the pirates are some stubborn bastards. Not to mention that Harry and CJ keep getting distracted, Harriet and Uma don't like talking to people, and Sammy won't go behind Harriet's back, which is actually understandable.
„Did you threaten her? Because that wouldn't be good. Like, the frog and the scorpion situation.“

She stares at him: „What? No. I didn't threaten her, nor did I bribe her. I have some standards!“ she chews at the insides of her cheeks with pained expression before throwing her hands up in exasperation: „Fine! I was planning to bribe her, but I didn't need to! She agreed completely voluntarily!“

That still doesn't make sense, but whatever.
Good for Mal if that worked.

„Where is this Isle of the Doomed anyway?“

„Well, ehm, it's…“

„Please, tell me you know where it is.“

„I, ehm, well, the instructions were kidna vague.“

Jay rolles his eyes, because of course they were. And of course, Mal decided to follow them anyway. And CJ decided to aid her. Why not.

It's okay, though.
Think of the riches and treasures.
Deep breaths.

Mal continues: „They were followable, though, just, long. Like, very long. As long as the list of my mother's enemies.“

Enormously long, then.

„And I didn't memorize it.“

That's fair.

„But I will bring it along so CJ can follow the route.“

„You want CJ Hook, CJ HOOK, to follow instructions?“

„…Yes? It's a map to a treasure. She's a pirate, of course she will follow that!“

Sounds reasonable enough. Count him in.

So they leave, first to collect some stuff that might be useful, and then to create the distraction Mal promised CJ. You know, fun things.

(Now, let's just hope that the elder Hooks won't have any objections against CJ taking of for adventure. Or against that distraction Mal came up with – he can very much see the pirates getting mad at that. Well, he can just pretend he doesn't know Mal in that case. Or fight by her side. Whatever.)

Neither of them notices the two figures standing in the shadows and listening in the whole time.

Chapter Text

Evie Grimhilde vom Schloss

When Jay and Mal leave, Evie is too stunned to speak at first: Surely, nothing what has been said can be meant seriously?
The Isle of the Doomed, the fact that Mal wants to sail there, cooperating with CJ Hook of all people… The horrendous distraction she came up with.

„…There is gonna be a full-on war, isn’t it,” she sights, and she knows she’s right even before Carlos tightly nods: The elder Hook siblings will raise hell if anything happens to CJ, not to mention the massive and fairly understandable fit the two of them and Uma would throw over fire in their port.
And also whatever happens if Jay sticks with Mal and the other descendants of Agrabah decide to throw their weight behind him, effectively pulling the rest of various Isle alliances in the bloodbath.

Evie is not particularly thrilled to see that.

Is there something that could be done to stop this?
She asks Carlos, but his answer is negative. Very discouraging, too:
„Would you like to say „No” to Mal or CJ?” he says, and sadly, he does have a point. But there must be something to be done?

Carlos appears as deep in thoughts as she is. Maybe he’s thinking of his cousins? They’re pirates of Lost Revenge, after all.

„We could tell your cousins, at least: give them a warning,” she suggests.

„Sounds fair,” he chokes out, „Warning would be nice. What would we tell them, though? That CJ, CJ who no one is sure if she can even sail, is taking off to an adventure with Mal and Jay? That they’re dead set on finding the Isle of the Doomed and we don’t know where it is?”

Oh, right. Not that Evie wouldn't love learning where the Isle of the Doomed is, and what's on it.

But also: What if they get to the port before the troublesome trio takes off?

…Yeah, it’s not like the pirates would believe them about CJ and Mal cooperating, is it? They’d have a point, too: The two of them actively try to kill each other at least once a week. Carlos thinks that it’s like some sort of twisted prank war for them: They also managed to drag in the Hearts for a while, and those were some of the worst weeks of Evie’s life. She shudders at the memory.

Still, it’s worth a shot.

„We should try anyway. We should try and get a look at the book Mal mentioned, too.”

Carlos sucks at his lips a bit before he begrudgingly answers: „…Fine. I’ll try to run into Mal and take a look at that book of hers; you go and talk to the pirates.”

„That’s so not fair! They’re your cousins!”

Carlos has the audacity to smile at her: „The pirates like you better anyway. And you can’t pickpocket for your life, let alone pickpocket from Mal.”

…Ok, those are valid points.

„Besides, I have better memory than you.”

„You so don’t!” And Evie will argue about that.

„I do!”

„Prove it, then!”

Before they can descend into rapid-fire argument, which would most likely include reciting the elements of Periodic Table and their properties, let’s be honest here, they’re interrupted by curses coming from the direction of the unofficial Agrabah territory: They glance at each other and Carlos immediately bolts to intercept the route from the market to the port.

Evie, too, picks up the pace, as much as she dares in her high-heeled shoes - hey, don’t look at her like that! Don’t judge! They’re cute and easy to come by, as not many Isle girls want them.
Which might or might not have to do with the fact that it's near impossible to run, let alone fight, in those.

Anyway.

Carlos catches up on her before she can reach the port, only by a street or two, though. And he’s all red, breathing heavily. He has run the entire way.

He lays a hand on her shoulder to stop her, and starts speaking as soon as he catches his breath, saying that he needs to recite the directions to her. Two minds are better than one and all that.

And before he can even finish speaking, the screams reach them.

Seems like Carlos wasn’t the only one running.

And won’t be the only one, either.

Evie sadly glances at her feet (at the almost-new boots on them) and sights before taking after her ally towards the port.

On the brighter side, the pirates might actually listen to them, now that they see that something is clearly happening.

…Or not.

As Evie arrives, Uma only glances from where she is yelling at the de Vil cousins, who are in turn yelling at her (she thinks they might be at fault there), and barks at her to get to work and help them, for evil’s sake, she won’t just stand around there and look pretty while her home is burning, will she?!

Evie had not planned to do that, thank you very much.

She tries to stand up for the de Vils, as she knows they’re completely innocent in this particular fire, but it takes only the sight of one Harry Hook rapidly approaching her to change her mind and start looking for a way to help.
Ivy takes the chance to slip off, stating that she goes to find a bucket for Evie, and everyone turns their attention back to the imminent threat.

„What are you doing there right now, princess?!” hisses Ivy as she thrusts the bucket in Evie’s hands, spilling a bit of water at her dress in the process.

„It’s about CJ,” Evie answers, already a bit dazzled from the heat and noise, „And Mal. They’re sailing away, on the Isle of the Doomed. This is just a distraction Mal came up with!”

Ivy looks at her for a long while, her dark eyes cold and judging. Evie feels her blood rush into her cheeks - it must be the heat, surely. Her eyes dart around, as she tries to identify every little sound from the overwhelming cacophony.
Lastly, Ivy suspiciously eyes her shoes.
„Carlos!” she calls out, „Are you sure that this princess of yours is okay? She’s talking nonsense and also dressed like this!”

„I'm perfectly fine, thank you for asking, and there's nothing wrong with my outfit!“ Evie defends herself as Ivy stares at her a bit more. Carlos reappears from the crowd, a bit of ash already smudged on his cheek and his hair more grey than black-and-white.
Both girls cringe at the same time: this will suck to wash out of their hair, so much-

Harriet snarls at them to get moving.

Evie instinctively stumbles back away from the elder Hook, and Carlos has to catch her arm to steady her. She consciously ignores Ivy’s snickers.

„But it’s about your sister!” she calls after the pirate Captain. She takes another step back as Harriet turns around, her eyes flashing a horrible shade of red. Evie can’t tell whether it’s just a reflection of the fire or not.

„Whatever she did,” Harriet practically growls, „It will be dealt with after the fire.”

„But-” Evie attempts to explain the situation once more, but Harriet cuts her off:

„After. The. Fire. Now, move!”

Evie doesn’t dare to protest anymore.

Carlos takes a cautious look around, and before they give the pirates a helping hand, he whispers: „After the fire, we’re telling Uma. No way I’m dealing with the Hooks.”

Evie remembers Harriet’s scolding stare, burning hotter than the flames, and, yeah, he has a point.
They’re telling Uma.
After the fire.

--- Uma Triskelion of Lost Revenge ---

Fire.
A fucking fire.
In her port!

And apparently, neither the de Vils nor Claudine Frollo had anything to do with it.

Whatever. She’ll figure out who is guilty and make them regret all their life choices after the fire is put out.

The smoke cuts and burns in her throat as she shouts orders around: she switches into gestures whenever the conditions allow.
Or whenever the smoke becomes too much and she starts coughing. We don’t talk about that.
Nor do we mention that on those occasions, either Harry or Gil (or both at once) mysteriously appear to guide her out of the thick smoke into cleaner air, stating that she had the crew take turns trying to extinguish the inferno that is wrecking (her) port, and she should follow her own orders.

She still gets back to the action as soon as she can breathe.

(Because she can’t allow anything to harm what she considers hers.)

And whenever her voice fails, well, Harry is right there, picking up the string of sharp commands and encouragements right where she left off, his own voice harsh and strident.
Throughout the commotion, Harriet and Sammy can be heard, ordering Red Tempress crew and the port rats around in a similar pattern.

Finally, finally, the smoke starts to thin out.
The piers of the port are thoroughly doused in water, as are most of the pirates and all the curious onlookers that came to the show and were intimidated into joining in the effort. Water drips from Uma’s braids in a quiet rhythm.

She takes a few breaths and looks for her crew in the crowd: Are they all alright? Unburnt, unharmed, alive? Where are Harry and Gil? Harriet and Sammy? CJ?

She notices that the sky is already pitch black.

The last bits of fire are put out, and suddenly, the port is oh so dark.

„Uma,” someone approaches her, unrecognisable under the sooth, ash and dim moonlight. Whatever. She doesn’t really care anymore.

The figure shakes off the ash of their hair to reveal the signature deep-blue hairdo.
Evie of the Castle. Of course. She has seen her here, hasn’t she? Talking with Ivy de Vil and trying to reach out to Harriet?
And what on the seven seas does she have on her feet?!

The girl follows her blank stare and visibly winces when she notices the state of her shoes, muttering something like „such beauty, wasted, ruined,” and, again, Uma doesn’t care.

„What do you want?” she asks, scanning the crowd behind her shoulder: She catches Harry’s eye and waves him over.

„I’ve got some… news for you,” Evie glances over her shoulder, „And I’d greatly prefer to discuss them with you alone.”

„Well, yeah, too bad. Spill the tea, princess.”

„At least not here in the crowd, then?”

Uma sights before making up her mind and signalling the change of plan to Harry:
„…Fine. Chipp Shoppe is not too far off and no one will disturb us here. Satisfied?”

They go to the former restaurant, followed by not only Harry Hook, but also Carlos de Vil. Sure, why not?

„Be quick,” Uma requests. She has a crew and some stray pirate kids to check over, and she’s not gonna dump that responsibility on Harriet.

„Ok, so…” Evie gulps as Uma impatiently drums her fingers on the bar, „It’s about CJ. We tried to tell you and Harriet, we really did-”

Uma sights, cutting her off: „Ok, CJ. What did she do this time? Is she alive?”

„Yeah, yeah. She’s alive, as far as I know, anyway.”
Another drum of fingers.
„She took off to the sea with Mal of Moors and Jay of Agrabah. They want to find the Isle of the Doomed.”

„Why should I believe you?”

„Well, have I ever lied to you before?”

Like, yeah, no, she hadn’t. Yet. She could also easily start anytime.
And of course, at this moment the boys slip into the room, Harry shadowed by Gil and Carlos by his too curious cousins, though those stopped in respectable distance. Good for them.

Harry asks what is going on, and the princess repeats her answer, word for word.
Including the „Why should I believe you” exchange. Oh, yeah, great minds think alike. And by that she means herself and Harry.

„Is this true, Uma?” he asks her, as if she knew.

„How am I supposed to know?!”

„You could always check if her ship’s here,” suggests Carlos, „She has named it, by the way.”

Harry whirls around and sticks the point of his hook to his face.
„You will tell me how you know this and where my little sister went,” he threatens, his voice as falsely calm as the sea before a storm. Uma pulls him back a little bit, mainly just so that Carlos could speak without the fear of his skin ripping on the hook with the tinies movement, and she notices that his eyes still burn with the horrible reflection of raging flames.

She leaves her hand where it is, on his arm, sending a glare towards the other pair, daring them to comment. They don’t.

Evie, the slightly better speaker of those two, launches into their tale, which Uma really tries to pay attention to, she really tries. But that’s kidna hard, as she can practically feel Harry lose it a bit more with each word.

Oh, gods and monsters…

„Why didn’t you stop them?! Why didn’t you say anything?! Why did you let them take my little sister away?!” Harry shouts at them, and she considers pulling him a bit more away from them, but then decides that nah, she doesn’t care. They shouldn’t have made such idiotic choices if they didn’t want to be yelled at by angry Harry. (She ignores both the fact that other choices would include them getting yelled at by Harriet/CJ/Mal, and the yelling would be the smallest problem, and the fact that Evie did attempt to speak with her alone. You know, like a coward.)

„We did try to tell Harriet, and she said to deal with it after the fire.”

„And CJ went voluntarily,” adds Carlos unhelpfully. He appears to regret the mistake when Harry shoves his favourite weapon back into his face and mumbles half-incomprehensible death threats that include his hook, lots of blood, some seagulls and for some reason also mirrors.

The de Vils snicker outside and Gil attempts to inconspicuously shus them; Uma’s patience wears thin.

„Enough,” she says, hitting into the hard wood to reinforce her words. Her voice is still cracked from all the thick smoke she inhaled.
„If this is true, we will get CJ back, you hear, Harry?”

„I assure you it is true.”

„Fuck off, princess. Harry, look at me. We will sail in no time: I’ll go check whether CJ’s ship’s here and tell Harriet what is happening. Or leave her a message, maybe. You get the crew gathered and ready; and Gil? You take some medical supplies and clean water onboard. You know where our stocks are.” She mentions vaguely towards the area and Gil nods.
„You will not take off without me.”

She forces herself into Harry’s field of vision and doesn’t flinch when he finally focuses on her with the absurd intensity only he can manage.

„Aye. Get the crew. Not take off without you. Savvy.”

He stalks towards the exit, sending the de Vils running towards Lost Revenge. He turns around in the door, flashing his hook towards Carlos and Evie and then looking at her.
„Be quick,” he requests. Uma doesn’t start arguing only because it’s his little sister on the line.

„I’ll go with him, Uma!” announces Gil, his arms already full. She nods in approval.

She’s just about to go out herself, but then Evie speaks again:
„We’re going with you,” she states, and, excuse me, what?!

„Why should we let you?” Uma sneers at her. Princesses don’t belong on the sea with the pirates.

„Well, we know where they want to sail to. Carlos read the directions, remember?”

What a nice way of saying “And you two have no fucking idea where you’d be going.”

„You could just tell me or write it down, now, couldn’t you?”
Uma thinks that this is an especially polite way of saying „You’ll do exactly that and then fuck off.”

Unfortunately, they don't share her opinion. That, or they don't get the message, because Evie stands up a bit straighter and calmly states her wish again. After Uma's unimpressed glare, she elaborates:
„If you were to go looking for them alone, Mal and Jay wouldn't get back. You'd just throw them into the sea for the sharks, never to rise alive again.“

…Yeah, well…
She isn't wrong.

„And I cannot allow that.“

Bloody princesses and their bloody moral values and conscience and stuff. Annoying, that's what those are. Uma would gladly drown these feelings and morals in the deepest trenches of the ocean, if she had any.

„The two of you?“

A nod.

„Fine. You'll behave, not make any trouble, and,“ she points towards Carlos, „not speak with your cousins for the time of the sail, and you'll find some better boots,“ she finishes pointing to Evie.

„What is wrong with my shoes?!“ she protests, and, oh, girl, everything. Including the fact that you don't have sealegs in them.

„I'll catch you some port rat so you can send a message to the Castle. Now let's go.“

Uma has work to do.

--- Jay ---

So. Turns out that CJ Hook cannot, in fact, sail.

It’s sheer luck more than anything else that they manage to sail out of the port at all: the blazing hot wind from Mal’s distraction helped push them from the sight efficiently enough, and a small handful of the baby pirates CJ collected kidna knew what they were doing. They were allowed to join Red Temptress or Lost Revenge on barge days, unlike CJ.

The longer Jay watches her, the more he thinks that her older siblings did have a point at that.

Regardless, Dead Beauty sails.
Moreso, she is heading in the right direction, as far as Jay can tell, anyway. She’s steered by the Smee twins at the moment: CJ left them by the rudder, stating she had important business to take care off.

Said business included tying screaming and scratching Mal to the mast.

No one of the rag-tag crew bats an eye at that. Not even when CJ manages to produce a rope practically out of thin air.
„Of course she has a rope. She’s a pirate,” Helena Sinclair sights as she scribbles into her notebook. Jay has no idea why she’s even here. Or why Helena is hanging out with CJ at all.
(There is a betting pool on the Isle. Jay saw Anthony and Dulcia Tremaine bet that Helena is “studying” and “psychoanalysing” CJ, whatever that means. Jade thinks that the two of them will end up dating. Jay largely doesn’t care, but it might have something to do with the fact that the two of them trade weapons and spar together, which is terrifying in itself. Harriet Hook doesn’t know about this particular betting pool, nor does Harry. Uma does, though: Jay’s just not sure if she’s actively participating.)

Another screech startles him: CJ has climbed up the mast, using Mal’s head as a footrest. She’s now hanging just above Mal’s head, one foot dug into the wood, the other dangling wildly, and the self-proclaimed Captain shouts mottos like “Let’s hoist up the sails!”,„We ride with the tide!”, and „Rampage and plunder!”

Jay is not sure what half of those words mean.

Occasionally, Mal gets fed up with her position, and tries to bite CJ’s free foot, which usually leads to the pirate lightly kicking her and some more teeth-snapping.

„Interesting,” mutters Helena Sinclair and notes it into her notebook. Jay promises himself to place a new bet, the same as the Tremaines did, once he gets back.

CJ kicks into the mast with renewed force, just inches shy of Mal’s face, and then jumps down, landing steadily in front of the fairy.
„Gimme the map,” she says, „So I can sail towards the treasure!”

„Both of my hands are tied! And besides, can you even read?!”

CJ places her hand on her chest in theatrical gesture: „Of course I can read! Better than you, too! Hettie taught me!”
Some baby pirates visibly flinch at the nickname and Jay makes a mental note to never ever call the elder Hook sister “Hettie”.

„Now, give me the map!”

„Will you untie me?”

„…I’ll consider it.”

„Why did you tie me up anyway?”

„Because I can!” sing-songs CJ, and, yeah, that checks out. Helena Sinclair agrees. As does Zevon. Wait, has he been here all that time?!
…Yeah, of course he was. Zevon and CJ are a well-known duo across the Isle.

„Now, gimme the map!”

Enough is enough, decides Jay.
„I’ll take the map,” he says, and two pairs of too intense eyes stab into him, CJ pouting that he’s ruining her fun. He ignores her as Mal navigates him to the page in her pocket and he discreetly loosens the knots a little: Mal twists her wrists in an entirely unnatural way and immediately digs her nails into the rope, like claws.

Jay pretends not to hear CJ asking Helena for his name.

And he definitely doesn’t flinch when CJ attaches herself to his arm and drags him towards the rudder, glaring daggers over her shoulder at Mal.
Sure, this is normal.

Helena gives either him or CJ thumbs up, and then reminds the pirates to clean the left-over rope from the way, as they don’t want anyone to stumble over it and into the sea, do they?
She then calmly gets up and catches up on him and CJ, taking the page with route-description off his hands.
Which leads to a shouting match and eventually a fight between her and CJ.

Good thing Jay nicked it back in the heat of their fight and the Smee twins are quite capable of taking instructions.

Also, CJ is using the thing she used to tie her hair up as a garotte.
Wait, no. It is, in fact, a garotte.
She has quite the impressive collection of other weapons, too.

And where on earth did Helena get a functional handgun?!

--- Harriet Hook of Red Temptress ---

This is fine.

Deep breaths, Harriet.

The world is not ending, the foundation of being itself is not going up in flames.
Only the port is - well, was.

But it’s okay, taken care of. Just take deep breaths. Ignore the scratchy residue of smoke in the air.

Harriet looks at the burnt wood of the pier - they’ll need to repair that, somehow - and she feels like she wants to scream. Or cry, or laugh till tears of helplessness and exhaustion flow from her eyes.
Either would go.

But she does neither.

She just barks at the gathered onlookers, who so graciously helped the pirates, though some had to be… encouraged („Get moving, or you'll end up pushed into the fire, to be burned alive!“), to get out of the port, and sends the young port kids to their respective hideouts. Shame that Uma disappeared pretty much as soon as the smoke cleared off, and that her brother followed after her. He always does, as undignified as that is from a Hook.
Anyway, where are they?

And where’s CJ?

She remembers Evie of the Castle mentioning something about her, in the midst of what appears to be a dastardly arson attempt at the port, no less.
So, what did CJ do?

Harriet hopes she didn’t get injured in the flames.

„CJ!” she calls out, „Calista Jane!” Her voice cracks from the strain and smoke. Fucking fire.
„Where are you, Calista?”

Even if CJ doesn’t hear her, someone will, and it will get to her little sister through the grapevine, eventually. They’ll know to send her to her at Red Temptress.

Which is where Harriet storms off to, her crew trailing after her.

It’s also where Uma’s message finds her, written on a dirty piece of paper in the other girl’s hasty scrawl.

Such damning information shouldn’t be revealed that carelessly.

Harriet screams when she reads the note: She screams at the poor kid that brought her the message and then at Sammy, when they push the kid off the door. She screams and screams until her voice is raw and her throat feels like it’s bleeding, which, let’s be honest here, doesn’t take much tonight.

Tears definitely don’t shine in her eyes, no, that is your own sight playing with you. And if you still think that her eyes are flickering and gleaming… Well, you are still seeing the bright red flames, dancing at the back of your eyelids.

Sammy reaches out to take the paper from her hand: they have to smooth it. She has crumbled it in her vicious grip. Teared it a little, too.

Harriet watches her first mate's face as they read the damning message; she can clearly see them tensing up, the signs of worry and distress creeping up their face.
She realizes that Sammy endured her yelling without as much as that.

„I'm… I'm sorry, Sammy. For yelling at you,“ she croaks out, barely loud enough to hear. No one but Sammy would even notice.

They nod, accepting her apology, however reluctant it was. Harriet Hook doesn't do apologies.

„It's fine, Captain,“ Sammy says, „Now, this: We should make a roll call, see who vanished with her. I bet she recruited my brothers, wouldn't you say?“

Harriet curses again, damning the name of her younger sister to hell and back.
Of course CJ would take the younger Smees, and of course they'd follow her. Why not? Some more kids to worry over.
How many others did follow the example?
This really calls for her to recount the entire port, if not the entire Isle, does it not?

Gods and monsters…

She then adds some more curses for brother, who took off after her without as much as a thought.
Because of course he did.
And if that seawitch of his didn't think to notify her, Harriet would be none the wiser.

She wants to call for her crew and sail after them, drag them both (all) home, alive and unharmed.
She wants to feel the wind in her hair and the waves under her feet: she'd be shouting at her crew, doing everything in her power to catch up to her siblings.

She could try anyway, couldn't she? Try to find them without the directions.
There can't be that much space under the Barrier, anyway.
She'd have a decent chance of finding them.

Harriet laughs bitterly, before saying: „Yeah, you're right. Let's make the roll call, figure out who is missing, and then I can figure out how to fix this mess. Tell the crew to gather, and let the port kids know.“

Sammy nods and leaves her cabin: Harriet herself takes few calming breaths before she follows. She sends runners to the other major Isle alliances, to figure out whether they're missing anyone, and then turns her attention to the port, momentarily locking the thought of her siblings at the back of her mind.
She ignores the vivid imagery that insists on showing her their bloody bodies.

She doesn't bother silencing the voice inside her head that promises a very painful death to the person responsible for this mess.
In fact, she agrees with the voice.

And she will happily listen to it: This escapade endangered the port and her younger siblings, after all.

Harriet cannot allow that.

Chapter Text

--- Mal of Moors ---

With a bit of effort and one broken nail, Mal manages to free herself from the ropes. She glares at the mast and slips away from it, as she has had more intimate contact with it than she ever wished.
She slips around the ship, looking for Jay and the page from her(!) book, which she intends to get back: She spots Jay with the Smee twins at the rudder.

She also spots CJ Hook, huddled together with Helena Sinclair and whispering about the treasures that await them in hushed voices. No one seems to mind the fact that they were fighting only minutes ago.
Well, sans for the kid who got licked by a bullet.

This is why Mal doesn’t like shotguns. Personal fights should stay personal.

CJ glares at her, but stays seated and continues plotting: Mal does her best to ignore the younger girl’s slightly unnerving glaze.

It’s fine.

The ship is sailing and everyone is alive.

And they’re headed for the Isle of the Doomed.

See?

Well, you don’t. Not over all that mist that has quite mysteriously arisen from the sea. It’s totally going to make Mal’s hair all wet and gross.
And when Mal arrives at the rudder, she finds CJ already there. Which is weird, but not weirder than most of the stuff the youngest Hook does, so Mal just shrugs. Oh, and she has also managed to acquire a tricorn hat in the meantime, to protect her wild hardo, presumably. Not that it’s worth protecting. It’s in worse shape than Mal’s own, which is a true feat, considering the fact that CJ has been by the Tremaines just today.

Mal demands her stuff back from Jay, but CJ, the little annoying sticky-fingered gremlin child, steals it right from her hands again.

„Nope!” she says, „I’m the captain, and I will guide my ship through these difficult times!”

Mal bares her teeth at her.
CJ flashes her own teeth and instructs Jay to take the rudder, stating that he’s stronger than the Smees combined and they need to be precise.

At least she does know how to read, concludes Mal bitterly as she watches the little Hook carefully study the torn page.

She protests this sort of treatment anyway.

CJ sinsongs something like „Enough rope at my disposal still“, „The sea looks welcoming today, doesn’t it? So very friendly and so very cold. Just dive in right from the plank! Your body will feed the fish!“ and finally, „I’ll give you the keelhaul treatment if you don’t step down to your place immediately, you lily-livered landlubber!“

Mal couldn’t tell you exactly what CJ said, though, because she couldn’t be bothered to listen to her anyway.
Or because she doesn’t know what most of it meant.
Whatever.

Still, she decides to sulk out of sight.
It wouldn’t do to arrive at the Isle of the Doomed as a mutilated corpse, now, would it?

And Mal likes some quiet sulking and plotting time.
…In moderate doses.

The ship jerks and trashes and generally makes a lot of noises Mal thinks a ship should not be making, but, oh, well.
In the worst case scenario, they die.
Worse stuff has happened.

CJ seems undisturbed by the sharp rocks around them and the panicked screams of some of her less resolute mates.

Jay, less so.
He needs to get his shit together if he wants to get to their destination.

Suddenly, the ship jolts and then comes to halt: the crew lets out wild cries of relief at being out of the sea and the labyrinth of reefs and skerries in it.

CJ jumps at the railing and attempts to disperse the mist with her cloak.
It doesn’t work, but the mist is not thick enough to obscure the ship anymore and CJ makes herself known anyway:
„Avast ye, mates, pirates!” she shouts, „After a tremendous journey, we have arrived at our destination! The Isle of the Doomed!”

CJ makes a dramatic pause, which is filled with relieved sights from all corners of the ship. Mal pays no attention to them, and neither does CJ.

„You stay here to guard the ship from all dangers and enemies!“ proclaims the young pirate Captain as she jumps down on the shore, „I’m off for the treasure!“

„Not so fast: We are going with you!“ Mal shouts after her, before she can bolt into the unknown and into the mist.

„ …Yes, of course we are,“ Jay sights and sprints after the pirate.

Mal herself climbs down onto the beach with a bit more care and strolls towards the pair leisurely, noting with pleasure that Jay gripped the girl around her shoulders so she wouldn’t run: she squirms and also tries to reach one of her daggers.

Mal takes it off her.

„I am in charge now,“ she says, „And you will listen to me.“

CJ shakes Jay off and takes a few steps away from him.
„Never ever. Not happening,“ she says, „I’m the Captain, and I have the ship, so you gotta obey me!“

„Well too bad I ain’t a lousy corsair, now, isn’t it? Too bad we are not on the sea anymore-“

„Thank god for that,“ mutters Jay, and Mal pays him no mind.

„-And too bad you left your crew on the ship.“

„I ain’t never outnumbered, and I could take both of you in my sleep! I could blow you down with my hands tied, I could pin you to the rocks, knock you out, and leave you for the tide! You'd be bleeding into the water and your body would feed the fish! I could make you dance with Jack Kerch on that tree over there, I could snap every single bone in your body while keeping you alive!“

„Sure you could,“ Mal smirks, „Wanna try? I’ll even give you the courtesy of going one on one.“
Meaning she will ask Jay to fight instead of her, probably. Her wrists still hurt from the ropes, after all.

„You are on-“ the pirate smirks and lunges at her, another dagger in her hand.

Then again, taking on CJ Hook might be very satisfactory.

Unfortunately, Jay catches her before she reaches her, which, yeah, the pirate doesn’t like that. Sucks to be her, really.

Mal ignores Jay’s muttering and circles around them, wondering whether she should take all CJ’s weapons away: On one hand, CJ can and will try to attack her again, which, let’s be honest, Mal doesn’t mind that much. Fighting with CJ is a right thrill.
On the other hand, who knows what dangers await them on the Isle of the Doomed?

Before she can decide, CJ, the slippery sea-thing she is, slips from Jay’s grip again and kicks him rather hard.

Must be a true trial, to be a boy, if only for moments like this: looking at Jay, Mal would say that even her iron allergy isn’t that bad.
Well, no, actually no. Do you even know how much stuff is made of iron?! Knives, daggers, fucking keys?!

Let’s not talk about keys.

Anyway, Jay hissing in pain and Mal dancing the dance of knives with CJ, that is the image Helena Sinclair calmly walks into, Zevon just a few steps behind her.

The snotty blonde bitch takes a seat on a nearby rock and pulls out her notebook, which causes Mal to stop fighting. Honestly! They have work to do here, and Helena is about to scribble down some poetry or what the hell is she doing?!

Mal ignores CJ pouting at her.

„What,“ smiles Sinclair, „I was merely of the impression we were in no hurry and taking a break in these lovely surroundings.“
Her voice is so sweet it makes Mal’s teeth hurt and she feels a sudden urge to snap Helena’s neck.
She decides not to go with this plan when she sees a metal necklace Helena is wearing. Mal is in no hurry to acquire burns, on the off-chance Sinclair got her hands on iron jewellery, just like Anthony Tremaine did the other time.

Mal looks at the small party around her, and snarls:
„Let’s go!“

Setting on the rocky and slippery path, she doesn’t bother to check if they’re following her.

--- CJ Hook of Dead Beauty ---

CJ sputters with rage at the fairy’s lack of manners.
To walk out of a fight, really? Just like that?
Not to mention all the other awfully disrespectful stuff Mal said.

CJ could take both Mal and Jay, just for the record. It’s very important that everyone knows CJ is one of the Isle’s best fighters and isn’t afraid of anything.

Well, except for the Kraken, maybe. But only because that monster could destroy her Dead Beauty in seconds if it wanted and CJ can’t approve of that, naturally.

CJ is startled from the vivid imagery of Dead Beauty being crushed to splinters by Zevon grabbing her elbow and Helena reminding her about the treasure chase they’re on.
Oh, yeah, the treasure!
What are they even waiting for?!

She tucks her weapon back into its holder and immediately chases after Mal: There’s no time to lose!

Unfortunately, the slippery path doesn’t agree. CJ in her hurry falls down, only narrowly avoiding falling head-first onto the rocks; she falls down on her knees rather hard, and, what’s worse, her red coat is now smudged by the mud.
While CJ inspects the damage, Helena and Zevon catch up on her, Zevon looking positively stabby as Helena has grabbed his arm for support and is also chattering about the awful weather.

Sinclair offers CJ a hand to help her up and CJ gracefully accepts.

„We will never talk of this,“ she says, and it may also mean something along the lines of „thank you.“

„Now let’s go, the treasure awaits!“

Now, CJ doesn’t really know what the treasure might be, but it must be worth something with how far away it is hidden. And she wants it anyway.

CJ sets off and immediately falls down again. Bloody sludge, making her fall all over!
This would have never happened on the sea!

„Not a word,“ she grumbles and grabs Zevon too, getting mud on his jacket. He sends her a murder glare which CJ succesfully ignores. He has nothing on her siblings’ savage stare-offs anyway.

„Move your bones, you rotten skeletons!“ Mal shouts somewhere from the mist, just outside of their seeing range.

„Wouldn’t kill her to wait a bit,“ mutters Helena, who despises the slippery muddy path just as much as CJ does.

„When I get to you, I’ll push you down and use your body as a sledge to get off this awful, harrowing ridge!“ shouts CJ back and Zevon kindly asks her to lay off the half-suicidal murderous death threats for a moment. CJ just as kindly decides to ignore that request.

They stumble up to catch up on the older pair anyway.

Both of them look rather grimy, too, CJ notes with delight. And the humid air is making Mal look like an angry, wet purple cat. Jay looks just like a regular wet cat, if a bit grumpy one. But he looks grumpy almost always, well, at least as far as CJ can tell, anyway.

CJ pushes past them, dragging Helena and Zevon with her:
„So? What are we waiting for?“

„Your untimely demise.“

„Mal. She has the ship. We need her to get back.“

Yes, CJ is just too awesome to harm, she knows. She ignores their further bickering, until Jay reminds her she doesn’t know where to go. CJ feels like this is a bit pointless, as they can’t really see anyway, but lets them go first, mainly because her allies insisted. And she doesn’t want to hear them complaining for the rest of the way. Plus, as they said, it will be useful to see where the most treacherous spots are on the path.

CJ effectively zones out for the rest of the journey, unfazed by all their falls and slip-ups. It just gets boring after a while.

On the other hand, the weird statue-like thingy suddenly growling at them isn’t boring at all. It looks like it’s guarding something, and, oh, yeah, right, probably the bridge behind it.
Finally, a worthy opponent!
It’s a pity it’s from stone, though, and as such can’t enjoy the experience of being defeated by CJ Hook properly.
Such a pity, really.

Wait, is it alive?

CJ experimentally pokes the beast with her sabre: It bares its stony fangs at her and its growl rumbles through the air and CJ’s chest.
She flashes her own teeth at it in return.

She also finds herself pulled away from the creature and behind Jay.
Which, like, unfair!
CJ has never fought a semi-sentient stone thingy before!

Naturally, CJ protests this sort of treatment.

Everyone else tells her to shut up.

„Look, I don't need to make your siblings more mad at me,“ adds Jay, „It will be bad enough already.“

CJ makes her best wide doe eyes at him:
„I wouldn't tell!“

Jay looks away from her and at the creature: Helena quietly gives her a few tips on how she could improve her „innocent little girl“ routine. Zevon notes that no one would fall for it anyway: CJ and Helena react by conjuring up tears to their widened eyes and wobbling their lips. Mal cackles and for some reason, an echoing „Boom!“ of stone hitting on stone can be heard.

Oh.
The creature repeated Jay's gesture and slammed itself into the forehead.
Cool.

CJ wonders what kind of stone it is, that it didn't crack.

„I am the mighty guardian of the Isle of the Doomed-“ the creature says.

„Yeah, yeah. That’s where we are going, so you should step aside and let us on that bridge,“ answers Mal, and CJ giggles. Jay pushes her further back as the beast makes a mildly terrific grimace, its jaws open in a silent roar. Unfair, CJ wants to see.
…Does it have larynx and pharynx and nasal cavities and stuff? Does it even breathe?

Wait, what does a stone-creature-thingy eat?!

CJ peeks out to ask this question.

It just blinks at her, which sounds like emery paper, and continues with its earlier sentence, as if it hasn’t just been talked to and asked a question. Rude.
It clearly mustn’t be very smart, CJ decides.

Oh, and it demands one secret for a passage, or whatever.

Well, one secret per person, as it clarified when Mal asked.

Why did she ask anyway?

„Because she is fae,“ clarifies Helena without prompting. She can read CJ too well: CJ decides she needs to throw Sinclair off her game a little. After the treasure is hers, though.

CJ pricks up her ears to hear what the others share, but to her great disappointment, she has already missed Mal’s. And Jay’s pretty shoddy, too. He only shares his favourite shortcut through the Isle. Though now that CJ thinks of it, it might be useful. You know, for friendly surprise assassinations.

Oh, and she has missed Zevon’s secret too.

„My turn?“ she asks.

„Yes.“

„Yes, and move already!“ That was the fae, if you couldn’t tell. Not really patient, is she?

„Sooo,“ CJ starts, thinking about what would be best to share-
But the beast doesn’t let her!
Would you believe the audacity?

„Not you, infernal child,“ it slowly pronounces, „You’ve already said enough.“

„Excuse me?!“

…And Jay sights and drags her towards the bridge.

Sure, why not.

So CJ kicks him into the shrin, because he shouldn’t have touched her and because she has some unfinished business. He doesn’t let go of her though.

He’s getting distressingly good at this game.

Which does not mean CJ couldn’t take him, by the way. She still has her weapons and her creativity. She just doesn’t want to right now, no, she wants to hear which secret will Helena spill for the aggravating guardian.

Helena looks at CJ and winks, then stares into the slightly creepy and definitely too big stony eyeballs.
„You are lonely,“ she says with a cold, calculated expression, before her face suddenly splits into a grin,„And I’m here to spill the tea!“

CJ realises that Sinclair is gonna have loads of fun gossiping and pulling long-lost wisdoms from the maybe-even-sentient boulder and decides to let her torture the creature in peace.

She shakes off Jay and follows Zevon on the bridge: She walks past Mal, who is hissing in pain, and ignores her. Which is not a problem, because Jay kneels by the fairy and takes off his shirt for some reason…
Wait, that makes zero sense.

CJ turns around, already on the bridge,which is all nice and swingy, just as a ship, so she can watch what the depths is going on.

Ooh.
The fairy burned her hands on the iron railing!
And he is giving her his T-shirt, so she can use it as gloves and still touch the railing for support!

Makes sense.

Even if it makes Mal a weakling, too.

CJ needs no railing to have her balance.

To prove this, she skips the next few steps – hey, the wood looked sturdy enough! – and she is immediately knocked over the railing by a blue-ish blur.

It’s fine, though. She caught herself. And she likes swinging on ropes and wooden handles and stuff.

„Hey, Zevon!“ she shouts, „I bet you that I can get over this chasm by swinging on my hands only!“

--- Harry Hook of Lost Revenge ---

Harry paces on the deck of Lost Revenge, from railing to railing. The path is never long enough.

The ship is never fast enough, Harry has never felt it as much as now.

He knows there is no way she could go faster, and it drives him insane.

He turns around and Desiree scurries from his way; he comes to halt as he sees Uma seated on the rails before him. What does she want?

„Calm down, Hook,“ she smirks at him, and doesn’t she know that’s impossible?
„You are gonna walk a hole in the deck if you continue at this rate.“

He turns his hook in his hands and stares at her, because surely she didn’t go out of her way just to tell him to calm down. She doesn’t flinch under his stare – she never does – and jumps down to stand in front of him.

Laying one hand on his hook, she continues:
„So apparently, we’re heading into this area of perpetual mist that is also a labyrinth of reefs and skerries. For Reasons,“ her voice is dripping with sarcasm, which sounds familiar and oddly comforting, „And Carlos can’t remember the right way through.“

„What?!“ He jerks away from her to glare at the offending de Vil.

Uma continues, completely unfazed:
„Which means I’m going into the water to see if I can figure out the way.“

He almost shouts at her again, but manages to stiffen his voice enough to not blast her eardrums.

She can’t mean it, can she?
Just diving into the water and hoping for the best?
What if something happens to her when she is out on the sea alone?!

Sure, she is the best swimmer on the Isle and a sea witch, goddess of the sea, but Harry is a pirate and pirates know that the ocean has no mercy.

„Uma-“ he says, and the „Please,“ gets stuck in his throat, choking him.
„Uma,“ he tries again, „At least take someone with you.“

„But how could anyone hope to keep up with me in the water?“

„They’ll… They can take the rowboat. At least you wouldn’t be alone. Or I can come with you!“

Anything better than leaving her to disappear in the thick mist that is claiming the sea around them all on her own.

„You stay on the ship, Harry,“ she decides, „Pull down the anchor, so I can find you, make sure she’s still ready for the sail when I get back.“

Well, Harry doesn’t want to do that.
He wants to argue with her, he wants to sail right now, at the highest pace they can manage, any damage be damned-
He wants to find his sister and get her home.

And the fastest, safest way is to let Uma do what she suggests, he realises. He looks at her with wide, betrayed eyes and clutches his hook to his chest as she promises she’ll be fine and back here before he knows it.

He grips the tip of his hook with his other palm, almost, just almost, hard enough to pierce the shin and draw blood as Uma asks for a torch („Not this one, you idiot! I’m going into the water, give me the electric one, the strongest one we have!“) and eventually climbs down and disappears from his sight.

Not for lack of trying on his part: he bends over the railing, hoping to see her teal braids just for a moment longer: the waves, he can barely see them, too, but they swing before his eyes and make his head swing and spin.

He finds himself violently jerked back by Gil.

Calling for the anchor to be brought down immediately, Harry starts stalking along the deck again, only barking orders at his crewmates when he thinks they’re not readjusting the sails fast enough.

Uma lied, he thinks, because every moment without her feels like an eternity.

The sea is strangely quiet, the mist muffling the sounds of the usually loud and boisterous crew. But they aren't in a good mood either. Harry can hear incomprehensible murmurs of Claudine’s prayers, the de Vils reassuring their cousin that everything will be fine, and Marya humming quiet, nervous melody.
But more importantly, his own ragged breaths: They sound too loud, and his heartbeat, too. It echoes through his ears, erratic, but strong.

He doesn’t notice the blood gently flowing from his palm.

Finally, after what Harry thinks might have been a thousand years, Uma comes back.

She’s alive.

She’s fine. Unharmed.

Harry moves to hug her, not caring that the crew might see or that she’ll get the cold water all over him. (He just wants to know she’s real, not a fragment of his imagination or a cruel trick of the seamist.) (She is real.)

„I’m back, Harry,“ she smiles at him, „And I know the way, so you can stop driving yourself crazy. It’s not far.“

Gil appears and places his jacket over Uma’s shoulders; Uma shrugs it off again and uses it to wipe a trail of blood from Harry’s fingers, which is weird. He didn’t know he was bleeding.
Gil just sights and ushers them both into the Captain's cabin.

Once Uma has changed into dry clothes, they set sail again, and just as she said, the journey isn’t that long. She stands by the rudder, giving directions, while Harry and Gil handle the ship. They need to be precise, in order not to damage the Lost Revenge.

Despite the odds, they manage. Uma has always had an uncanny connection to the sea and Harry is a good helmsman, if he can say so himself.
They land on the rocky beach of the Isle of the Doomed with only gentle scratches, vibrating through the body of the ship.

Harry must say this place does deserve its foreboding name.

And against the mist, he can see the silhouette of another ship. That should mean CJ made it, at least.

„Let’s go find my sister.“
With that, he jumps down to the beach, followed by Uma and Gil. Just a moment after them, two more bodies land: He whirls around to recognize Carlos de Vil and Evie of the Castle already on the ground and Ivy, Diego and Hunter climbing over the rails.

„Not a step,“ Uma warns them, „You’ll stay on the ship to look after her and to deal with this.“

By „this“ she apparently means the Smee twins, running towards Lost Revenge at neck-breaking pace, and all the kids following behind them.

„You should also look at CJ’s ship and inspect the damage. Gonzo and Jonas can go with you.“

The de Vils make a long face, as does Bonny. Claudine finally hides away her rosary.

„That was not a suggestion,“ Harry growls at them, which makes them disappear again, hopefully to gather their supplies.

Just moments later, little Smees collide into him and hug his waist: Harry looks at Uma, because can’t they see this is not the time?!
And don’t they know Harry Hook isn’t to be hugged?

He carefully tears their arms off himself.

Uma has already called for Bonny and looking at the twins’s faces, Harry calls for Marya too. Both of the girls take the infirmary duty, after all.

But first:
„Do you know where CJ went? Who was with her?“

The boys only silently point into the right direction and he doesn’t bother waiting for further answer.

He just sets off towards the hill, Uma and Gil beside him in just a few steps.
He pays no attention to Evie and Carlos following behind.

--- Anthony Tremaine ---

Anthony Tremaine did not plan to go to the port today. But alas, here he is, standing on the damaged pier in the strange quietness of half-abandoned port. Only one ship remains, Harriet’s Red Temptress: Lost Revenge and CJ’s ship vanished.

The sight seems so weird to Anthony…

He makes his way around the burnt-through areas of wood, not trusting them to support him, and asks for permission to board Red Tempress: He might not be a pirate, but this is basic etiquette, really.

He does deserve the permission, though not from Harriet herself, rather from Sammy, her first mate:
„You can go on, mate,“ they say, „Not sure if she’ll appreciate the company though.“

And why, yes, that is precisely why Anthony came. So she wouldn’t drive herself mad, alone.

He enters the ship and knocks on her door.

„What?!“ comes the irritated reply and the door flies open.
Anthony suddenly wonders why he decided to come here at all.

Her braids, usually tight and precise, are messy and undone; her eyes shine too much, especially in contrast to the dark bags below them. And when he peeks over her shoulder, he sees a horrible mess of books, textbooks, maps and plans.

„Oh, whatever,“ she decides, „Come on in.“

„Are all of those yours?“

„Some of them. Some of them not,“ she vaguely gestures around, „I took some of them from Sinclair, some of them from the Castle- Did you know Sinclair’s gone, too?“ An edge of panic creeps into her voice.
„CJ and Harry, Uma, the little Smees, all of the Lost Revenge crew, and at least ten or so of the younger port rats. That is, if anyone didn’t just fall off the pier in the chaos and drown, been eaten by the sharks and crocs, and I can’t even effectively check that, because Uma is gone! Trust me, I have tried-“

She collapses to lean on the table, pushing some of the battered papers away. Anthony notices angry scribbles and crosses all over them and decides not to question what she is doing any further.

She reaches out her hand and grabs a half-empty bottle of something that might not be just water and immediately raises it to her lips. She pauses half-way the motion, asking him if he wants some.
Then again, some questions might be in order.

„What is this and how long did you have that?“

„This is rum, my dear friend, and my beloved father left a few bottles lying around here when he left, you know? But this is only the second one I ever opened. This morning. I’m not my father, you know?“

Understandable.
The last day really sucked for Harriet.

He accepts the bottle and takes a swig, ignoring Harriet’s mean laugh when he grimaces at the vile taste.
Then he looks around for the cork, hiding the booze behind his back. She is doing herself no favours, drinking this, really. And if she drank half of it already… Well, he’d say she has had enough.

Over her protests, he promises her the help of his own alliance: his cousins can help to look over the little ones if nothing else, while she attempts to solve this mess, repair the port and not drive herself crazy thinking about her siblings.

„Fine,“ she snarls, taking the bottle from him and locking it in her cabinet, „I’ll send someone for your cousins. And maybe the Hearts would know what more about what CJ got herself into? Yzla? And I should contact the Huns, they have the only half-decent wood in their territory… What do you think they could want for it?“

Anthony shrugs, trying to come up with an answer, but Harriet just drums her fingers on the table:
„Then again, the promise of very painful death, or more of them, if they don’t cooperate might be enough. Now, let’s go.“

Yeah, Anthony would not wish to be at the receiving end of her „negotiations“ right now.

Chapter Text

--- Jay ---

To Jay’s surprise, they actually make it over the bridge. All of them, alive. Despite CJ’s insistence that „Walking is boring!“ and the weird… blue-ish and pink-ish somethings that kept trying to push them over the railing.
The demonic creatures almost succeeded, too: One of their attacks caught Jay off-guard and he almost fell, catching himself at the last possible moment. But that wasn’t the weird part, no. The weird part was Mal’s reaction. She dropped to her knees and let go of her makeshift protective gloves to help him climb back up and burnt herself in the process.

Jay still can’t believe that that happened.

But it did and there is proof.

Like right now: Mal hisses as she touches the bare stone wall with her finger tips.

…And arrows fly out of the wall. Great.

Jay dodges them and attempts to stop CJ from running her palm all over the wall. Seriously, it’s like that girl has no self-preservation instinct.

„But I wanna see if I can make the arrows appear too!” she protests, and, yeah, just as Jay said. She is off her rocker.

„This place is clearly booby-trapped,“ says Zevon, „We must be very careful. Do not touch anything and watch your steps.“

Jay rolls his eyes as the younger boy takes the lead, to show them how it’s done, apparently, and, please, Jay knew how to avoid booby traps almost since before he could walk. It just comes with being a thief on the Isle of the Lost.

Zevon promptly proceeds to stumble upon a wire.

Which makes a single dart dive straight into his neck while another flies over his head, and, for god’s sake, no!

No one was supposed to die!

Sure, he will be fine eventually, but still… It sucks. Jay didn’t want the younger boy to die on his watch.

And he doesn’t feel like carrying a dead body around: It’s not like something could happen to him while he is dead, no? Jay can just get his treasure and then stick around until Zevon wakes up again.
Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Besides, Mal is already way ahead, almost dancing through the corridor, light on her feet. It almost seems like she’s floating sometimes. Jay also notices she has stuck her hands into her pockets and makes conscious effort to not touch anything else.

But CJ has frozen before her partner in crime and refuses to move an inch.

„This was not supposed to happen,“ she whispers, „Not Zevon.“

„He’ll be fine, freebooter, and by the time he wakes up, we might be back at his side WITH the treasure!“ shouts Mal, her hands still hidden.
„What use would it be to stand guard over his body when no one else is around?“

CJ remains frozen in place.

„Treasures!“ sing-songs Mal, „Adventures!“

Jay nudges the young pirate to the back as gently as he can muster and watches her shake her head in abrupt motion, as if she wanted to knock some unwanted thoughts away.
Her wild curls hit him in the shoulder.

„We’ll come back for you,“ she promises to the still warm corpse and carefully moves around it, probably tempted by the vision of gold as anyone would be, glaring at Mal the whole time.

Jay follows after the two girls.

They walk through the depressing corridor for some time and Jay tries to not think about Zevon too much. The boy will be fine, eventually.

They don’t trigger any more traps, probably because Mal walks in the front and scouts the terrain: Every time she turns around to warn them about possible threats, Jay thinks her eyes are greener than the last time.
Jay has also gripped CJ’s hand in his own after the fifth time she reached out to touch the wall. („But there was such a cool bug, Jay!“; „Have you seen such weird moss before?“ and „But I wanna touch the shiny crystal button!“) After the last one, Jay’s patience ran thin and he is now dragging the annoyed little pirate along like a child. Particularly bothersome and foul-mouthed child that tries to stab him from time to time.

But that's fine. It's better than the booby traps, at any rate.
Jay thinks that CJ wouldn't have enough strength to drive a dagger into his ribcage from her current position anyway and she can't effectively reach his neck.

Doesn't make her any less annoying though.

Suddenly, Mal stops and raises her hand for them to stop, too. So Jay stops and holds CJ.

„There is a pit full of crocodiles and only a narrow plank over it,“ Mal informs, and, oh, joy.

„Crocodiles?“ CJ perks up, „Can I pet them?“

Oh, joy.

„No,“ says Jay at the same time as Mal says: „Go ahead.“

And for fuck’s sake, does neither of them posses any self-preservations instincts?
Apparently, no.
CJ worms out of his grip and runs ahead, almost toppling over to the pit full of freaking hungry and bloodthirsty reptiles. Jay is starting to wonder whether all treasures of the world would be worth dealing with this.

Mal catches her by the collar of her coat and pulls her back a few steps, muttering that unfortunately, they need CJ alive.

The little pirate turns back at him and gives him the new and improved version of puppy eyes. Jay imagines Harriet’s burning-ice irises glaring at him instead, which makes it way easier to say „No,“ to CJ.

CJ pouts at him:
„But look how cute they are!“ she says, „I bet I could tame them and bring them back home with me: They could live on Dead Beauty and guard it! And I’d even lend you one!”

„Crocodiles are cold-blooded beasts, ruthless reptiles, filthy…,“ complains Mal, which is a bold claim, considering that, you know, her own mother could turn into a dragon. Which is also a cold-blooded and ruthless reptile.

Anyway.

With one last pout, CJ caves in and runs over the plank with admirably light feet Jay is almost envious of. Mal rolls her eyes and follows at a much more sedate place, but still quite surely. The plank isn’t swinging as the bridge was, at least. It’s also not iron.

Jay himself runs after them before they can disappear behind the corner: the heights were never a problem for him. So the possibility of fall isn’t, well, possible.

…Narrow and dark enclosed spaces with no clear escape route, on the other hand?
Yeah, that makes Jay mildly uncomfortable, just like it would any Isle kid. Except for CJ Hook, who, as Jay is convinced by now, is incapable of feeling fear or just generally using her common sense. If she has any.
He says that because CJ is already almost out of sight, skipping forward with no care in the world.

Mal takes a deep breath and declares that she „Will not be one-upped by this crazy little freebooter with no respect towards her betters,“ and reluctantly follows after said crazy little freebooter.
Jay, left with no other viable choice, braces himself and steps into the corridor, careful not to lose Mal’s back from his sight. Because… Fine, because as long as he sees Mal, it means he isn’t trapped.

Jay hates feeling trapped.

--- CJ Hook of Dead Beauty ---

CJ actually doesn’t mind the dark and narrow corridor as much as her companions do. She has always enjoyed hiding in tight spaces, almost as much as she enjoyed sailing and the free ocean and sky around her.

What she doesn’t enjoy, though, are all the twists and turns. These are messing with her head.
And she has had enough labyrinths for today, thank you.

The Isle of the Doomed doesn’t agree. Stupid Isle and stupider labyrints, without a proper map, too!

CJ takes another turn. Then another. And another.
Her head is starting to spin.

She can still hear Mal and Jay behind her, whispering and hissing at each other, or could there be something else talking? What monsters could be lurking in the dark?
Just behind the nearest corner, tucked in the shadows and waiting for CJ to pass by?
Can she hear the heavy breaths and footsteps of something Other, or is it just her imagination?

What could be lurking in the dark on the Isle of the Doomed?

„All the worst monsters are humans,“ CJ whispers what her older sister once told her, „And I’m the scariest monster of them all.“
The sound fills the hallway, echoing back to CJ. She can pretend Harriet is there with her like that: A smile tugs at her lips.

She whispers the statement again.
And again.

Then she decides to test the limits of the echo, and what better way to do that than by singing?

And if Mal and Jay don’t agree… Well, that’s not her problem.
(Unless the fairy decides to attack her back out of spite, which is what CJ would do, but psst. Let’s not give her ideas. Besides, CJ is bouncing on her toes and moving targets are harder to hit.)

CJ thinks it’s quite weird when the echo repeats some of her words slightly out of tune and with something like disbelief, but brushes it off. The echo clearly doesn’t have musical hearing or taste in music, that’s all.

CJ doesn’t notice when the darkness starts to fade in favour of grim light nor the suspicious glimmers and shimmering in front of her.
Jay turns off his torch, which makes CJ blink in surprise and look up from the rather mesmerising pattern on the ground, only to come eyes to eyes with her mirror reflection.

„Hi!“ CJ waves at it.

The figure drops down dead.

„Wicked,“ observes CJ, „I look cool when dead.“

Mal arrives and prods at the lying figure with her boot: It passes right through. Wicked.
„Actually, you kinda do,“ admits Mal reluctantly, „And the red doesn’t look all that bad on your hair: You should consider dyeing it.“

CJ squeaks and protectively grabs her beautiful blonde hair before realising what the fairy said and taking a closer look. She watches with fascination as blood pools around the head of her mirror counterpart, not bothering to check if she herself is unharmed. She knows how bleeding feels.

It’s sticky and a bitch to wash out of the hair. Dizzy emphasised that a good few times.

Anyway.

She leans closer when an invisible beast takes a bite from the fake-figure-corpse-thing, wondering whether it will have properly placed inner organs, like Hettie taught her. And CJ has been studying the books her older sister and Sammy gave her!
…Sometimes.

Jay throws a knife where the monster should be and it clutters on the ground uselessly.

„Either it’s really fucking fast or this doesn’t exist at all,“ he says as he dives closer to the bloody not-body to get back his weapon.

„Of course, it’s just a phantasm, isn’t it?“ concludes Mal confidently, stepping through the not-CJ.

„Hey! You don’t get to walk through phantom me!“ screeches CJ in defence.

„It’s not real! It’s fake!“ yells Mal back.

Both of them ignore Jay sighting and muttering something about „How is this my life,“

Another reflection appears before Mal, but this one doesn’t die, no. CJ is quite envious of that as the mirror-person waves at Mal, her green eyes shining brightly with something that CJ could have described as happiness in another life. Stunned, Mal raises her hand too, stuck staring at her counterpart.

Her counterpart with wings and horns.

Maybe that’s how Mal would have looked like were she born outside of the Barrier, but who cares? She wasn’t and she shouldn’t look so heartbroken when invisible hands rip the wings from her counterpart, leaving them broken and bloody on the ground which doesn’t stain.

„How do I miss something I never had?“ whispers Mal reaching out to her reflection, „How?“

CJ doesn’t know the answer, but she knows that Mal has the same wishful expression her siblings get when gazing at the horizon. She also knows they refuse to talk about it, just as she refuses to think about the icy hands now clutching her heart and mind.

„It’s not real,“ she says instead, „Never was.“

„Yeah, it’s just an illusion,“ adds Jay, „You said it, the tiny freebooter said it. It never was real.“

Mal sniffles and bites her tongue: CJ briefly wonders what she wanted to say, but ultimately decides that she doesn‘t care enough. Especially when behind the not-fairy appears a figure CJ guesses might be Maleficent, though she remembers her a bit more scary.
A bit taller, too.
And that cape with bell-sleeves looks just gaudy.

„Hi, mom,“ breathes out Mal.

Huh, CJ did guess it right, then.

Better try if she is also an illusion. You know, just to be sure.
…Ok, yeah, she is. CJ's dagger drove cleanly through her entire chest without any resistance. Her wrist, too.
It looks funny, half-way disappeared in not-Maleficent phantom.

Mal doesn’t agree and harshly shoves CJ away, which proves that this Mal is real, at least. CJ was starting to get worried about that.
CJ stumbles a bit back and hey, look, the wraith talks!
Cool!

…Well, uncool, actually.

The not-Maleficent is a fishwife that insults Mal and all the Isle children and CJ won’t just stand here to be called useless, lowly and unworthy.

She tries to attack the apparition again, with a sabre this time, since it appears to be immune to daggers.

Jay drags her back. He is starting to get quite annoying with that. As is the fake Maleficent, now joined by the likes of old Captain Hook and what must be Jafar, since CJ doesn’t know anyone else with such an awful goatee. His eyeliner is passable, though.

CJ mockingly tips her hat towards her not-father and decides to take a look around the space while her companions tearfully reunite with their not-parents. Who knows, maybe some more interesting wraiths and apparitions will spark into existence for her?

She wanders around for a tiny bit, turning the deaf ear to whatever else is going on and looking into the corners and shadowy places whether she will see a glimpse of the treasures Mal promised. She doesn’t.
She does, however, see phantoms of her older siblings.

Terrifyingly real phantoms.

Down to every last hidden weapon, the cruel smirk they all have in common and even the still bleached ends of Harriet’s hair.

Not-Harriet glares at her and not-Harry sneers: CJ comes to halt before her older siblings.

Unsure what to do, she waves at them and greets them with an „Ahoy,“ but they just shake their heads.
„We’re disappointed,“ states Harriet, ice-cold.
„You are a disappointment,“ says Harry and his eyes burn.

„Not real,“ whispers CJ.

„Oh, very, very real,“ they correct, „Very real.“
„Just as real as our contempt for you.“
„Our loathing.“

„Not real,“ she wants to say, but no words come out. She digs her nails into her palms.

„You are not worth it.“
„The trouble we have with you!“
„All the time you cost us!“

But what if it is real?
CJ freezes in her place.

„You are just a wretched little girl.“
„A good for nothing scallywag.“
„Not worthy of the name Hook!“

CJ finally manages to find her voice, if not her words: she screams over the biting insults her older siblings are spitting at her and which still somehow find a way to her ears.
Hot tears trickle down CJ’s cheek.

She feels a hand on her shoulder, a real, material one which sends no shivers down her spine. Somehow, she manages to recognize Jay’s touch and Mal’s green eyes staring at her from distance.

„You can stop screaming now,“ notes the fairy dryly.
„It’s not real, remember?“ Jay squeezes her shoulder a bit and CJ jerks away from him.
„But how do you know?“ she asks him, „How?!“

Mal proceeds to run her staff through the air where Harry and Harriet should be standing, but that’s not what CJ has been asking, not really.

„How do you know?“ she asks again, and it means: „How do you know this is not what they think, how they feel about me?“
Tears flood her eyes again and she tries to blink them away.

„They don't hate you, CJ, I promise.“

But how can he promise such a thing?!

„I know that, I’m absolutely, unconditionally certain. Because if something happened to you, your siblings would raise hell. If anyone hurt you? Death would have been a mercy compared to what they’d have in store for them.“

CJ finds she can believe that.

--- Addie Agesilaos ---

Addie couldn’t help but to gape at the scene in front of him. He was always told that mortals fear death more than anything by his father, though he found it quite strange.
Death is, after all, the only guarantee life offers, so why fear it? It will come anyway.

But the group of children right there?

They seem entirely unfazed by the reminder of their mortality and he doesn’t know what to think of that, nevermind the boy currently lying abandoned in one of the corridors. Without proper funeral rites or even as much as a second glance.

Addie abandons this train of thoughts as he hears the youngest girl’s gut-wrenching screams at phantoms of two dark-haired kids with burning eyes that look vaguely similar to her. Her family, most likely, he realises.
Then he wonders why by the river Styx does The Dark One think that making a young girl cry like this might be a good idea.

Then again, The Dark One doesn’t really understand how humans work. Or human children. Or emotions, for that matter, beyond fear, hate, and other delightful things. Oh, and joy. Mostly from making mortals cover in fear, but it can enjoy charades, too.

Addie decides to politely suggest ending this particular charade to it, and the nightmares it conjured freeze on the spot.
Addie tries to not be too bothered about The Dark One muttering that this was the best fun they’ve had in ages and fails. He doesn’t understand why his father puts up with the other god, most of the time.

Addie watches the children argue about what to do next, shaken, but still quite keen on finding „the treasure,“ whatever they mean by that.
Oh, gold, probably.
Most mortals think gold is the ultimate treasure, his father has said, and he of all beings must know that.
So he decides to lead them to the treasury. Mainly to spare everyone the trouble of them accidentally stumbling into his actual home.

He’s so not going face to face with them, though, thank you. He conjures a line of sky-blue flames instead and lets it light the right way.

They follow the strange light without any hesitation. And both of the girls try if blue flames burn, too. (They don’t, not anymore.)
He’s starting to suspect that these kids are not okay.

But then again, he doesn’t really have a frame of reference, so what does he know?

He doesn’t have time to think upon this further, either, as his father’s minions appear by his side and inform him that there is another, even bigger, group of children nearing the bridge, and what are they to do?

„Hold down the fort, master said,“ Pain complains, panic clear in his voice, „But how? Nothing works-“

To escape his father’s annoying hanger-ons, Addie decides to take a look at the newcomers himself. Which is a totally reasonable thing to do. Instead of waking up his dad, you know.

So he cuts through the caves and corridors with practised ease, arriving at the bridge shortly. Seeing as no group is here yet, he positions himself neatly in the shadows and watches the blonde girls interrogate the Kidemónas. Or gossip with it. Somehow, she manages both. She also keeps fidgeting with something Addie is fairly sure is a handgun.

He double checks she can't see him. Just in case.

Then three figures cross the horizon and Addie cranes his neck to get a better view at the trio. They’re quickly cutting to the bridge without looking around, still supporting each other at the slippery ground.

As they near it, Addie can recognize one of the boys as the phantom The Dark One showed the little girl. The same dark hair, the same sharp eyes, red coat… Only the smirk is missing. Oh, and a hook in his hand (not instead of it), somehow still pristine clean. It occurs to Addie that this might be Captain Hook's son.
For a moment it feels like his eyes find Addie in the shadows and a wave of frost creeps up at Addie’s back.
He focuses on the others instead:

The girl at his side, dressed in colours of the sea. The mist swirls around her ever so slightly even though it should be deadly still.
She feels… familiar.
A bit like his father, but more alive, vivid. Wilder, too, and somehow… madder. Addie can’t really name who that girl is, but she isn't mortal, that much is obvious. No, she is like him.

His eyes quickly skip over the last of the trio – big boy that looks like he could crush skulls – and on the pair following behind them, a strange girl dressed in blue and a boy with the famous black and white de Vil hair, before focusing back on the first two.

The Hook boy and the godling girl.

They seem to be the leaders anyway.

They have reached the Kidemónas and the blonde girl by it; she’s called Sinclair, turns out, and as soon as she confirms where did the others go (CJ. The little Hook girl is called CJ.), the trio sets off on the bridge.

Kidemónas doesn’t stop them. It’s not really honouring its name and position, is it? It should sort out its priorities before the God of the Dead finds out about that.

They walk with sure steps over the swaying bridge and Addie presses deeper into the shadows. He feels a cold ocean breeze on his face.

Oh.
And Pain and Panic think it’s a brilliant idea to try and push children (descendants of greek gods!) off the bridge.
Sure.
Why not.
Hadie suddenly understands where his father’s constant headaches keep coming from.

„Sinclair! The gun!“ Hook barks out and Addie is grateful he can’t see his expression: his tone is more than enough. A blue blur attacks the other boy who barely dodges in time, well, more like is pushed out of the way.
„Now!“

The weapon rockets through the air straight to his hand, dim light catching on the barrel.

He fires without hesitation.

With ears full of Panic’s pained wails, Addie watches the Isle kids cross to his domain.

Chapter Text

*** Harry Hook of Lost Revenge ***

Harry fires at the creature that dared to attack Uma in his presence and smirks when it disappears from the sky.

He scans the horizon for any other threats, and sees none: That doesn't really mean much, with all the mist, so he keeps his finger tight on the trigger, ready to fire again on moments notice. He points the gun down though.

Are Uma and Gil alright? They better be, or someone, something, will pay-
His grip on his weapons tightens considerably as he moves to check on them.

„We are fine,“ Uma assures him as he tentatively touches her arm with the loop of his hook, just to make sure she is there-
The mist swirls around them and Gil flinches the tiniest bit when Harry turns his attention to him.

But they are there. They are fine. And he needs to find CJ.

„Harry?“ asks Uma suddenly.

„Yes?“ He turns around; his hook catches on the metal railing and the collision sounds through the fog like a strangely muted war cry, the sound of two swords clashing together, the rubble just after explosion.

„Give me the gun,“ she requests, and, ignoring Helena's protests in the distance, he does as she asked. He brushes his fingers against hers as he drops the weapon into her hand. Completely accidentally, of course.

„Let's go,“ he then urges, sneering towards the castle. He doesn't bother to check if Carlos de Vil and Evie of the Castle are following, because what do they matter to him?

The walk over the swaying bridge passes calmly for the pirates from this point, and soon, they stand on the other side of the chasm. They halt before the entrance to the dark, gloomy corridor.

Uma looks at it with open disgust, which makes sense in Harry's mind: She is a goddess of the sea, of course she doesn't like enclosed land-caves. It makes sense, really.
Harry himself isn't a fan, either. He is a pirate and he belongs on the open seas, not here.
But CJ is in there, so he needs to get over it and get in.

Simple.

Still, he hesitates.

And it's actually Gil who makes the first step, his shoulders straight. There is nothing to fear, his posture says, and Harry believes it. He follows into the darkness.

Uma doesn't step in until they wave her in: Harry waits until she reaches them and carefully puts his hand at the small of her back. She doesn't smack his hand away, as she usually would, and, actually, Harry doesn't like this development at all.

They walk pressed closely to each other, careful not to touch anything, and strain their eyes to see anything in the dim light.

Suddenly, Uma nearly topples over.

„Careful, lass,“ Harry murmurs before he fully processes what happened, and what she almost tripped over.

Zevon.

Zevon's body.

Zevon's corpse.

That's fine. It's totally fine. It's not CJ, is it?
No. She is all right, alive, unharmed. He just needs to continue going and find her. Get her home, as fast as possible.

He steps over Zevon's body, not thinking about him beyond that. People die and get back up all the time, so what's the deal anyway?

He notices he is the only one moving forward.

Turning around, he sees Uma pacing back and forth through the corridor, muttering „What if he isn't the first one?“ and „What if we missed someone?“

Harry refuses to entertain that idea any further, blocking it off his mind completely. They did not miss anyone. No one is lost to the ocean or the Isle of the Doomed. They just need to move-

Plain and simple.

He sees Gil picking the other boy up.

„What are you doing?“ he asks, disbelieving.

„I'm taking him with us?“ Gil answers, „So he wouldn't wake up alone?“

But that will slow them down! And if he didn't want to wake up alone, he shouldn't have get himself killed, should he?

„Besides, we might not come back this route, and I don't want to leave him here.“

Harry feels his eyes burning and the blood pulsing through his temples, but when Uma voices her agreement with Gil, he doesn't protest.
He just grits his teeth and holds his hook tighter and walks further into the unwelcoming halls of Doom Island, looking suspiciously at every shadow, because what if that what killed Zevon is still there?

He will destroy it, in that case.

But nothing jumps out of the shadows, no other living soul stalks the halls, as far as he is aware. Only he, Uma, and Gil.

Oh, and the crocodiles.

Sure.

Crocodiles.

Makes sense.

He almost runs over the chasm, entirely undisturbed by the reptiles underneath. Uma has no problem either, but she stops half-way through to help Gil cross, navigating him.
„Eyes on me,“ she tells him, „Don't look down.“
Oh, yes, Harry's eyes are on her too, but what else is he to do when they are balancing on a narrow plank, which she is now attempting to cross backwards?!

He wants to run to her and drag her away on solid ground, but decides he'd rather not be yelled at for not letting her do her own thing, so he stays.

His head spins and only when they cross completely, he realises it was because he stopped breathing for a minute.

But that's inconsequential.

They step into the darkness again, and it's pressing against them and falling and falling and falling, and he offers Uma his hook to hold onto and the corridor is spinning like a wreckage in a storm and he doesn't know where did they start and when did he and Uma start holding hands?

The darkness presses closer yet and he wants to scream.

„CJ!“ he calls out instead, because what if his sister is stuck somewhere in this wrecked labyrinth?!
„Calista Jane!“

But nothing answers, nothing but the echo, returning his call as surely as the ocean returns a corpse, washing it up on the shore.

„Calista, Calista, Calista–!“

The twisted imitation of his own voice is mocking him, he us sure.

„CJ-“ his voice breaks.

„I promise we will find her,“ Uma answers this time, squeezing his hand, and he wants to believe her so badly-

There is nothing else left to do but to continue walking.

Towards the light.

Towards the light…?

Yes, there is an exit from this circle of Hell!

Harry hurries towards it, only to freeze as soon as he reaches the free space.

This can't be true, it can't, it can't- can it?

He stares at the corpse of his little sister and an unwelcome idea enters his head: What if this is it? What if she doesn't wake up, this time?

For Harry, the world stops moving.

*** Uma Triskelion of Lost Revenge ***

A sliver of light appears before them and Harry immediately speeds up towards it, dragging her with him. She lets him, because she doesn’t want to let go of his hand-
No, because she doesn’t wish to be left behind in those dark, narrow corridors of Tartarus itself, that’s all.

Just like Harry, she sees CJ.

And just like Harry, she freezes on the stop.

Gil bumps into her back and she struggles to stay on her feet: Unlike Harry, she succeeds.
He, on the other hand, just, falls down on the floor. She feels it in her bones when his knees crash against the stone and her hand gets cold as soon as he lets go.
He raises his hands to his head, his fingers tangle in his dark hair as he attempts to cover his ears and his temples. Blocking away the unwanted thoughts and voices full of burning hatred and blind panic, even if it’s of no use.

Uma can hear them too, echoing through the space, as they attack Harry.

„What if it’s for real this time?“
„What if she won’t get up this time?“
„It will be all your fault–“

Uma quickly whips around to see how Gil is doing and then immediately kneels besides Harry.
(Gil is fine. He’s just behind her, he set Zevon down-)
(Harry is most definitely not fine.)

So she kneels down next to him and makes him stop looking at, at CJ, no, no don’t look there, Harry, don’t-, don’t listen to anything they say. Please, don’t trust it, look at me-

He does.

He looks at her, his bright eyes filled with tears and blood, and Uma is glad to see that at least. As long as she sees his eyes, he doesn’t see CJ.

She reaches out, to touch his arms, offer some comfort, and his eyes flicker away for a split second-
They don’t focus again and he gasps, flinching back. Tears roll down his cheeks; he doesn’t care enough to wipe them down.
Behind Uma, Gil gasps too, and crouches down next to them.

„You should probably take a look, Uma,“ he says, eyes fixed somewhere behind her shoulder.

She doesn’t want to take a look, but she does, because what good would it be, refusing to acknowledge the danger? Fighting an enemy she can’t see?

So she turns around, her palm still on Harry’s shoulder, only to face her own corpse, taking a prominent place in a pile of dead bodies. CJ. She, Harriet, Gil. Sammy Smee, the twins. Ivy, Hunter and Diego, Marya, Bonny, and Desiree, Gonzo and Jonas.
All dead.

„All your fault, Harry Hook,“ the voice insists, „All your fault.“

At this point, Uma wishes he’d just pass out. He looks so pale, he’s shaking-
It would be easier, anyway.

„What the fuck…?“ Uma whispers, looking at not-her corpse. She presses her fingers to her wrist, to check for pulse. It’s there, of course it is, she can feel her own heartbeat in her throat.
She checks for Gil’s and Harry’s pulse all the same.

„What the fuck?“ she repeats softly.

She gets up and walks over to the, well, whatever that is that looks like her body, and when she tries to touch it, her hand just- just goes straight through it. Not even like through water, no, there is no resistance whatsoever.

She tries again.

Then she goes back and tries to touch CJ’s corpse, which, as it turns out, is not material either. Turning around, Uma shouts into the empty space, her voice trundling back at her like a tsunami:

„WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON?!“

Of course, no one answers.
She can hear nothing but Harry, repeating the word „no,“ over and over again and Gil trying to reassure him that the scene simply can’t be real. Gil always had more common sense out of the two-
Oh, and the fucking omnious laughter. Fuck that, by the way. There is nothing funny there!

She turns around, to attempt to explain the situation to distraught Harry, or at least divert his attention. And of course, that’s when this whole motherfucking ordeal goes completely off-course and straight into the deepest abyss of Tartarus.

Of course, thinks Uma, somehow detached, as her world goes black and she starts screaming into the void.

*** Carlos de Vil von Schloss ***

Carlos isn’t really a fan of following Harry Hook – armed with a functional gun, no less – into the ruin of a castle that he is pretty sure holds some of the worst horrors of human existence.

On the other hand, he is not sure if he can deal with Helena Sinclair and the weird stone thing that apparently shares Helena’s interest in invasive personal questions for much longer either.

Not to mention that the creature is very creepy.

„How would you describe your relationship to your mother?“ asks Helena, as if she didn’t know that Cruella hardly ever behaved like a parent.

„What is your happiest childhood memory?“ Carlos regrets the minute Helena and this being met, because the world might never recover from this.

Evie gently attempts to persuade the pair to let go of this line of questioning, but they don't listen. Of course they don't. He is not sure if the stone being can actually hear that well, but he is certain that Helena Sinclair is physically incapable of obeying orders and suggestions that do not include at least three active death threats in a row.

„How do you feel when you look out of the windows of the Castle at the remains of your childhood home?“

„That's it,“ decides Carlos, „I've had enough. I'd rather die than discuss my so-called mommy issues for another minute, so let's go explore the Doom Castle, shall we?“

He doesn't wait for an answer, as at this point, he would go even alone. Luckily, he doesn’t have to, as Evie makes a sour face at the now-annoyed Helena and follows him onto the bridge.

„It will be your fault if he dies,“ she says, and, wow, thanks for the faith, Eves.

They get over the wavering bridge without major disturbances, though Evie’s shoes do get caught in between the planks a few times.To be fair, she did get shorter heels. She just doesn’t own any boots with flat soles, and the pirates refused to share.

So, they get over the chasm. Unattacked and unfollowed, though Carlos would bet Helena will follow sooner or later. Shame there is no one around who would take his bet…
Well, Evie, but the princess is strictly against gambling.

He misses his cousins.

Even more so when they stand before the entrance to the dark corridor that draws some decidedly unpleasant memories of Hell Hall. (Carlos sends a mental middle finger to Helena for reminding him of that place.)

„I guess we are going in,“ he sights.

„I guess we are,“ replies Evie with about equal level of enthusiasm, „Someone has to make sure they all get out of there, after all…“

So they enter the halls of the Doom Castle together, hand in hand.

Carlos suspiciously watches the shadows, stirring and moving, hiding whatever vile creature–
Still better than the ominous gleaming of bear traps, though.

…Yeah, that’s it. Carlos is going to strangle Helena once he gets out of here.

Evie’s hand twitches towards her the pocket where she keeps the wonderful concoction for dealing with unwelcome, mostly eight- or six-legged, guests of the Castle, and she starts muttering about all the absolutely fascinating creatures and plants and fungus that can be found in caves. However upsetting that imaginary might be, it’s also distracting, and that was the point, probably.

And it's a way more pleasant conversation than the previous one, so a win in Carlos‘s books.

…Ok, but out of all the creatures Evie just listed? Crocodiles are a surprise. Because of course there are crocodiles. A concerning number of people here shares an unhealthy fascination with these reptiles, Carlos thinks, half-hysterical. Such cute animals, these, so cuddly!
(They’d make for a good purse, that’s what Cruella would say.)

And of course, whoever designed this Doom Castle thought that making their guests walk over the chasm full of bloodthirsty reptiles is the perfect way to welcome them. Nevermind a railing. Or, you know, basic safety measures. Cruella would love it here.

Unfortunately, there is no other way to go, so it’s either the crocks or Helena’s questions again. Naturally, Carlos chooses the crocks. He won’t fall. Probably. Possibly.
Either way, there is no blood here, which means none of the others fell and got eaten. That’s the good news.

Carlos makes the first step on the plank and the unfortunate mistake of looking down, and, yeah, no. Crawling on all fours provides a more solid centre of gravity, however humiliating it might look, and he does not fancy a date with a solid set of sharp jaws, thank you for your generous offer.

Evie attempts to gracefully walk over, to protect the knees of her leggins presumably, but gives up not even half-way through. Honestly, same. Carlos is just glad she didn’t fall, as she looked wobbly for a second. As she nears the other end, he offers her a hand to help her up; she glares at him for a moment, but accepts.

„That was humiliating,“ she complains, „I hope I won’t need to do it again.“

Yeah, so does Carlos, but unfortunately, life is full of surprises.

„Still a better than a showdown with the crocks,“ replies Carlos, „Actually, maybe not for the Hooks.“

„I hate it when you are rights,“ Evie says, stifling a laugh over some Hook misadventure or another, which, yeah, is funny. Way funnier than another tour of this freaking pitch-black labyrinth, Carlos will tell you. He’d really love a chat with whoever designed this whole thing.

He’d also take the opportunity to introduce them to the miracle called „artificial lightning“.

Speaking of light.

There is appearing some at the end of the tunnel, and Carlos is self-aware enough to be about ninety percent sure that it doesn’t belong to heavenly gates.

It’s still there, regardless, and Carlos and Evie step into it quite gladly.

They immediately regret it.

„What the fuck is this?“ he asks, not bothering to specify:
Harry, yelling incoherently over what appears to be his sister’s body, tears streaming down his face.
Uma, with her head obscured by some kind of very freaky dark…cloud? And yelling profanities into the void as well. Uma once again, laing still in the pile of dead bodies Harry stumbles through in a disjointed and erratic attempt to get to her only to fail half-way through. And Gil, arguing with her and Harry, somehow, and even Gaston himself.
Oh, and Zevon, just stirring, just about to wake up.
Neat.

„I have no idea,“ Evie whispers back, „But… Fuck.“

„Language!“ shriek uncannily familiar voices of Cruella de Vil and the Evil Queen behind them, and a chill runs down Carlos’s spine as a malicious echo of laughter sounds through the air.

The Evil Queen holds up a mirror, which shows Evie her horribly twisted reflection, and she starts talking; Carlos does his best to ignore whatever insults she is spitting out.

„I missed my baby boy so much!“ exclaims Cruella at the same time.

Please, someone kill me now, thinks Carlos.

Why did he ever agree to this?

„We think this isn’t really real!“ pipes up Gil from his argument.

Zevon groans and his eyelids flutter.

„It better not be bloody real!“ shouts Uma, facing slightly off their direction. She sounds only mostly hysterical. Neat.

But still… What the fuck?

*** Celia Facilier ***

It’s daytime in Auradon, even though the night is rapidly approaching: The shadows grow longer and sharper and seemingly try to grab your ankles if you stand in one particular spot for too long; two twin-girls softly giggle at the sight.

They are sitting on a rooftop not too far away from the sea, close enough that they hear the sound of the waves if they listen.

They watch the ocean with rapt attention, looking past the shiny reflections of lights atop the surface. Looking for one shadow in particular.

„So, today?“ asks Freddie.

„Today,“ nods Celia, and their Friends stir in anticipation.
„Today,“ she confirms once more for them. The sisters wanted to be prepared, but the Friends have been getting… impatient with their hesitation. After all, how often does it happen, to find another magic-user here in Auradon? A magic user their age? One that clearly has some strong feelings boiling under her skin?

And so, there is only one thing left to do for the sisters.

Contact her.

Preferably not through spray-painted message on Ariel’s SeaSide Residence, however tempting that might be.

And talking about magic and, you know, the burning resentment for the magnificent kingdom of Auradon in the open to lure her in, to make her seek them out, is not a fine option either, mainly because their Father would have their necks if he heard. The Auradon guards couldn’t catch them if they wanted, but the sisters do not fancy being grounded for the rest of their lives.

According to Celia’s watches, they still have about five to seven minutes till the little sea witch shows up.

So Celia nudges her sister to give her the Cola she got for free – either via shoplifting or by a very persuasive acting and/or sweet talk skills, but for free anyway – „Gimme that,“ she says.

„I hate you,“ grumples Freddie, giving her the drink, „You could get your own, you know.“

„I know,“ smirks Celia, „But it tastes better when I don’t have to.“

Freddie smacks her into the shoulder and almost makes her spill the drink. Well, now Celia is very tempted to just dump the contents on her sister anyway.

Anyway.
Right.
The little mermaid. Better resume looking for her, before the Friends will reprimand them. Or take the matters into their own hands, which might include just transporting the sisters in the middle of the ocean, and that would be a thoroughly unpleasant experience.

A shadow shots through the waves; Freddie sees it first.

„We better get going,“ she announces cheerfully, „Would you be so kind as to keep in the background at first?“ she asks the Friends.

„We don’t want to scare her off,“ adds Celia, even though the Cards said she’d be willing to listen.

The Friends grumble, which means something like „Fine, but if something goes awry, this world will pay,“ and the sisters share a grin. They promptly proceed to jump off the roof and race towards the water-line, towards the rocks where the sea witch goes.

They get there just before her, with few moments to spare, and they, of course, use this time to get comfortable in the shadows.

The girl emerges from the waves and the water slides off her in neat shimmery pearls; the sisters feel a surge of magic when she transforms her lavender-coloured tail into legs. A shiver runs down Celia’s spine and Freddie grips her hand.

It’s almost time… Almost, but not yet.

She wills the shadow around them to grow darker.

The wind whips around the sea witch, threatening to tear their Shadows apart, if something like that was possible.
She is muttering under her breath, and looking around her to confirm she is alone. The sisters know that routine from heart, but hers needs a bit of work, still. Not that she would be able to spot them anyway.

And now, now’s the moment.

Celia squeezes her sister’s hand to convey that and their Shadows part from them, making their way to the sea witch while the girls stay hidden. It takes magic to greet magic, after all, and Shadows without anyone to cast them? That is bound to catch her attention.

The Shadows curtsey before her and she freezes in shock; the waves still with her, at least until she remembers to release them from her grip and to breathe again. Water is so much more tangible and noticeable then shadow, which is just a lack of light, really.
And a bit of paranoia never killed anyone.

Then again, the Auradon kids don’t know what true paranoia is, not like the Isle children do. Not like Celia and Freddie, who have daggers, poisoned darts, garrotes, some more daggers, a few vials of questionable substances and a Shadow magic on their fingertips at any waking moment.
So when the girl turns around, she doesn’t attack, she doesn’t run. She doesn’t even scream, not that Celia expected that. She’d need to answer quite a few unpleasant questions herself then. Instead, she asks who is there. Just like that.

The sisters slowly creep out of the dark, each step deliberate and precise to create and illusion of not-quite-walking.

„Just us,“ says Celia as her Shadow positions itself at her side.

„And who are you?“

„Your Friends,“ answers Freddie with just a tiny bit of the persuasive silky tone she has mastered so long ago, „If you’ll let us.“

The subtle shift in her expression and posture is clearly visible to the sisters and they know they have won.

Chapter Text

--- The outcasted children ---

Somewhere in the seven seas, a little mermaid swims, lost in her own world. Her name is Arabella Triskelion of Atlantica and her heart is boiling – it's hard to say if that's good or bad. Most things are hard to classify, like magic. And even though Arabella loathes that particular order of the world, she doesn't care right now.

She has magic.

And she has friends.

Celia and Freddie. They're magic, too, and they chose her. Her, Arabella, and no one else. They saw her and listened to her and talked to her, and that's quite enough for Arabella for now.

Her new friends, the Shadow witches, stalk through a dark alley, their Shadows too long to be natural. But it doesn’t matter, does it?
No one expects the Shadows to have a mind of their own just as no one expects two little girls to be the ones vandalising walls of Auradon kingdom.
And yet…

Yet, when Auradon wakes up again, there will be a new message for the world to see.
„MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO’S THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL?“
The grafiti asks. But if you glance at it just right… It might as well be saying „FAKEST“ instead.

The twins are proud of their work, their Friends are amused, and somewhere far away, the Evil Queen plots the demise of any girl that claims to be the fairest.

And when the third miss Auradon in row finds her untimely demise, well, that is just an unfortunate accident, isn’t it? She just had too much to drink, didn’t she? She had too much to drink and she slipped, that pretty, broken thing.

That’s just the order of things.

„That’s curious,“ notes another girl as she reads the paper about the fateful incident and twists her long blonde hair around her finger, „Very curious.“

„A lot of things in the world are curious, Ally,“ smiles her mother, „Care to elaborate?“

Of course Ally does.

She goes on and on about every word in that article, about what it means and what it could possibly mean if it was twisted just the right way. Accident, just like when she spills the milk in the tea shop. Acid. Cent. This isn’t getting her anywhere. Fairest. Afterstar. Afterlight?

—Cease, vanish. Die out.

Die.

Die or be killed.

(Ally‘s head is spinning a bit; the letters lost their form and dance in front of her eyes, showing her things she would rather not see.)

Die or be killed–
-villains-villlains-VILLAINS—!

„Ally honey, breathe,“ reminds Alice to her, „Breathe in and breathe out, just like we practised. That’s right, calm down and focus on nice things.“

Ally breathes in to protest, but Alice is faster: „Not the curious ones, honey. Just nice. Simple. How about the school choir? You and Jane wanted to join, didn’t you?“

And so the conversation continues, and, of course, it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Just like it doesn’t matter what colours the roses in royal gardens are or whether Mulan and Shang fend off another attack at their country or if another book of discutable literary quality mysteriously disappears from Belle's library. The world keeps spinning.

And on the Isle of the Lost, Harriet Hook keeps searching for her siblings. She holds onto the hope they are all right, they are fine, they haven’t been off all that long-

Only about a day.

A day she spent in the half-empty port, not looking where her sibling’s ships should be and mentally screaming at herself to do something, anything, what if something happens?

People stay away from her and kids scatter from her way; the Huns flinch under her stare and give her the wood she needs to repair the port and even Sammy and Anthony do not argue when she stalks away from it all.

She stands at the edge of the pier, at the far end of the port – the undamaged part, the spot where CJ’s ship should anchor – and stares away at the horizon, straining her eyes. What does she even hope to see? The clear canvas of the sails? God’s omen that would show her the way? Her father’s ship behind the shimmering Barrier?

No, not that. Clearly.

(She couldn’t see that if she tried. Her father is on another of the seven seas, finally closing in on Jack Sparrow, that traitor– She will know that soon enough.)

So naturally, she doesn’t see any of those things. No Lost Revenge or CJ’s ship. Only the foam of the waves that are breaking over and over again, just like her mind, just like her heart.

She swallows bitter tears – her throat is still raw.

She swallows the tears and gets back to work.

Yell commands and ask questions that don’t give you the answers you want and do not let the kids play with the sharp tools too much and no, do NOT try to sew your hand off, are you freaking insane?!

…Do not lose your mind and do not think too much, Harriet. It hurts.

Do not focus on the screaming you think you hear in the back of your mind, even if screams like this are the only thing that sounds through the Isle of the Doomed.

Don’t.

--- Addie Agesilaos ---

Yes, blood curdling screams, that is the only thing Addie can hear. He is accustomed to things most mortals wouldn’t even consider possible, but this… It is even worse than the little Hook girl a while ago.

At least there was only one of her screaming, however horrific or heartbreaking it might have been.

So Addie presses his hands to his ears and attempts to vanish in the shadows.
Neither of those work.

Oh, and the other blonde girl, the one that just lost her gun to the Hook, Sinclair, was it, apparently decided that tortured screams are way more interesting than further interrogating of the stone guardian of the bridge and is now marching over the chasm, unbothered by Pain and Panic. The Kidemónas waves at her as she goes, the traitor. Addie hopes his father won‘t learn that, for the creature’s sake.

Either way, why can’t all the kids just go away? Back where they came from?
…They are scaring Addie.

„Hey, you!“ Sinclair exclaims suddenly. Addie presses further into the wall: Surely she couldn’t mean him?
„Yes, you! You in the shadows, with the bright blue hair!“

…There isn’t anyone else like that, is there.

So he reluctantly steps out to the dim light and milky white mist.

„Great! So you are real!“ beams the girl, „I was starting to get slightly worried about that, as none of the others seemed to see you… Then again, none of them was really paying attention, were they?“

She says that as if that is a bad thing… Addie was quite happy to observe and not be disturbed and, y’know, talked to, thank you for asking.

„Anyway,“ the girl continues, „You have to help me find them. Someone has to save these idiots from themselves, you know?“

More like save them from The Dark One, if anything. Then again… The two girls did try to touch flames and the boy did shoot at Pain and Panic, so… Well, none of it seemed particularly safe to Addie, so the girl might have a point. But the Dark God is the bigger threat still.

„I’m Helena Sinclair. You?“

„I’m- I’m Addie Agesilaos, son of-“

„I don’t care,“ she snorts, interrupting his rather clumsy introduction, „No one here cares for parents anyway. Now, can you show me the way, or not?“

Yes, yes. Addie could do that, but… why? Why take another girl into his father’s realm?

Another scream cuts through the air, a different voice than before.

„This way,“ Addie says, disappearing into a hidden corridor. You know, one without deadly booby traps in it?

„Neat,“ Helena whistles appreciatively as she follows him, looking all around as if it were a tourist tour and not, how to put it nicely, gates to the Underworld? Tartarus? Hell? Whatever nightmarish realm Chernabog is from?

Well, at least she doesn’t stab him in the back. Based on his observations of the Isle kids, Addie was getting quite worried about that.
But no, she just stares.

It feels like she is staring holes into his back.

He cuts through the castle.

--- CJ Hook of Dead Beauty ---

At the opposite end of the cave system, CJ Hook grows bored with the treasury, which is a feat in itself.

…Fine, maybe „growing bored“ isn’t the best phrase. She simply can’t seem to focus properly, her wildly swirling thoughts are far too distracting for that. The voices of not-her-siblings way louder than Mal’s muttering and the clinging Jay causes as he inconspicuously stuffs his pockets full of gold. And jewels. Precious stones.

CJ idly picks up a blood-red ruby and slips it into her pocket too.

Barely-heard screams hanging in the air cause her to grow restless – they feel too familiar for comfort.

She wanders away, to get away from the sound, or maybe to get closer to it, she doesn’t really know.
She doesn’t bother telling her companions where she is going.

(They might try to stop her, and she can’t have that.)

(No one tries to stop her.)

--- Addie Agesilaos ---

No one stops Addie either as he leads Helena Sinclair to the antechamber containing the Dark One and five screaming teenagers.

Addie isn’t surprised.

There are few things the Gods love more than drama and irony. (Unless, of course, you are talking about his dad. He values his peace and correctly filled-out paperwork a great deal. Also, rock music.)

They arrive and Addie takes a deep breath, because, you know, he is about to ask the murderous demon-god to stop his fun. Tell me you wouldn’t be nervous in his place.

„…Fascinating,“ the Sinclair girl beside him whispers, utterly transfixed by the horrendous scene in front of them, and whips out her notebook.
Addie has decided that she enjoys human suffering.

He carefully backs away from her.

This, of course, places him too close to the other kids and The Dark One.

…There is no winning here, is it.

Okay, deep breaths. He is a descendant of the Greek Parthenon, the Dark one has no power over him. He wouldn‘t dare angering Hades, would he?
So Addie gathers his courage and faith – because belief is everything – and steps before the deity.

He doesn’t look it into the eyes as he speaks: „My father wishes for you to stop torturing mortal children without proper judgement. Especially still living ones.“ That sounds like something his father would say, doesn’t it?
„Especially other descendants of the Parthenon,“ Addie adds quietly with a careful glance to the sea-girl. (The air swirls around her and throws her braids wildly around her head as she rages.)

„The playthings smell of death anyway, little godling,“ Chernabog snorts, „But I suppose I can do you and your father the favour. Have fun, death-child.“

At this point, Addie wants you all to know the Dark God winking at him is utterly terrifying and is therefore completely understandable if he has frozen over for a few moments.
In fact, the whole room seems frozen as the Dark One snaps its fingers and dissipates the nightmarish phantoms, sending them back to whatever realm it conjured them from. Addie doesn't want to know, really, but he is rather relieved to see the pretend corpses – the insult to the sanctity of death – go.

Helena Sinclair, however, is not.
„Pity,“ she sights, and Addie carefully takes a step more away from her now that the Dark God is gone.

„I don’t bite, babyboy,“ she says, and it does absolutely nothing to help ease Addie’s mind. He is sure she’d find hundreds more ways to hurt him that do not include biting.

Anyway.

Speaking of biting.

The other kids at teens absolutely do seem feral enough to bite.
So Addie reassess all his life choices as he gulps back his fear and awkwardly clears his throat, only to find five – wait, no, six, and wasn’t that boy dead just moments before?! Six pairs of piercing eyes on him.

…Fuck.

--- Harry Hook of Lost Revenge ---

Harry’s eyes snap into focus at the new human – person – threat – in the room, and his hands reach for his hook and sabre instinctively.
He places himself in between Uma and the boy before he can even think of it, and, gods, it really is just a boy, isn’t it?

His head hurts.

His heart hurts, too, but we don’t talk about that.

„Where is CJ?“ he asks, replaying the memory of her vanishing corpse in his mind, „What did you do to her?! And who are you?! Talk!“

No one stops him from placing the tip of his hook at the boy’s throat.
No one stops him from yelling at him and demanding to be taken to his sister immediately.

But when he presses the weapon further into the kid’s neck… Uma appears by his side and tears his hand away. She was always against unnecessary killings – something her Ma said, she said.

„If you kill him now,“ she says, „He won’t talk for another day.“

She has a point.

„Relax.“

He allows himself to be pulled away a bit, still in easy reach of the boy and when by the seven seas did Helena Sinclair get there?!

„Besides, he will cooperate, won’t he?“ she continues, giving a glare that indicates that saying no might be an extremely bad idea.
…Then again, she looks like that most of the time. Which is why–

Anyway.

„Yes,“ the boy stammers out, „Yes, I mean, I will cooperate.“

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Helena Sinclair pouting.

„Take me to my sister, then,“ he demands, „Right now.“

They set off, they all do. Him, Uma, Gil, Evie and Carlos, as shaken as they are. Even Zevon, who was dead just moments before, but hey, death is a social construct anyway.

The journey passes in a blur for Harry.

He half-way expects CJ’s corpse to appear after every corner and it feels like his heart is going to jump right out of his chest. Only Uma’s hand on his keeps him grounded to this reality.

That one where she isn’t dead – her warm skin and the pulse beneath it is proof enough. And if she isn’t dead, neither is Gil, following in their footsteps. Neither is Harriet, abandoned in the port – let’s not think about Harriet. Neither is CJ.

He needs to see for himself though, hold his little sister in his arms and feel her struggling against his affection and drag her home.

He will get to do that.

Everything is fine.

(There is red-hot pressure behind his eyes.)

Just a few more turns, the boy reassures him. Few more steps and he will see CJ.

…The boy lied.

CJ is not there.

Only Mal and Jay and an absurd amount of gold and books and maps that he should probably care about, but no CJ.

„Calista Jane!“ He calls out. It feels like his throat will start bleeding soon, still raw from the smoke and all the screaming.
„CJ!“

Where is she?! What did they do to her?!
„Where is my sister?!“ he asks everyone and no one, and he isn’t shaking, he isn't.

Jay freezes with his hand above a jewellery set, then looks around.
„…Fuck,“ he whispers, „Fuck. Mal, we lost CJ.“

„What do you mean we lost CJ?“ Mal says, finally placing the book she was reading aside. She was reading while CJ disappeared and Harry will have her neck for that.
„Oh. Fuck.“

„Where did she go?!“

„…She didn’t tell us, man. Don’t kill us too badly.“

Harry is not taking requests on how to kill his enemies, thank you for asking. Besides, if he kills them now, they’ll be up and about for Harriet to have her turn. Or he might just leave them here to rot, with no way out. So.

That said, he is rather surprised to find Evie positioned between him and his targets before he can, you know, off them. It’s not like they even know where CJ is.

„If you kill them now, you’ll get blood on my clothes,“ the princess complains, and this is the one she is going with? Really?

„Get out of my way.“

Evie doesn’t buckle, and from behind Harry, another soft curse sounds from Carlos de Vil, who, you know, has a point. Evie should really move out of his way and reach if she knows what is good for her.
Apparently, she doesn’t know that, as she stays in her place and insists that he shouldn’t kill them right now. You know, like a self-sacrificing maniac. Bloody princesses.

Harry doesn’t have the patience to argue with those – he has a troubled little sister to find. And he can always just kill the freaking morons after.
So he storms off, making that as clear as he can. The death threat, that is.

That said, he is very glad that Uma and Gil catch up on him before he even leaves the room. He is way less amused when Zevon and the blue-haired boy join, but Uma waved them over, so whatever. Harry won‘t argue.

And this thing is a fucking labyrinth, by the way. Intertwined circles of hell. A man-eating monster behind every corner. Unearthly creatures in the shadows (The Facilier sisters would enjoy it, wouldn’t they? Was it why CJ was so tempted to get lost in these seven-damned halls?)

„CJ!“

Once again, only echo calls back to him.

Won’t let it stop him though, absolutely not. Not even if the new boy flinches and covers his ears, and, hey, won‘t that hurt his palms? Also, why the fuck is Helena still here? With that fancy little notebook of hers?
…Would it catch on fire if he held it to the boy’s hair?
Question for another time, he supposes. Or for right now, if Helena won't become less obnoxious with it asap.
Anyway.

„Calista Jane! CJ!“

He doesn’t even register it when the atmosphere around him shifts, but to be fair, it is rather subtle, and he is rather lost in his own head.

Somewhere down the corridors, a tiny steps sound, accompanied by a hummed song that he might have recognised as a lullaby Harriet used to sing to little CJ, alas twisted in anxious tune, twirly in all the wrong parts.
And it’s actually Gil that hears it first, though it is Uma that pulls Harry to stop and listen for himself. (Which she chose to do by putting her palm on his shoulder and leaving it here for… Reasons. He isn’t complaining.)

And really, the not-song grows louder, and so do the steps.

„CJ?“ Harry calls out one more time, carefully – what if it is just an illusion that will dissolve as soon as he permits himself to fall for it? It would be something that this place would pull, wouldn’t it?

The song humming stops and the steps pick up in a crescendo: moment later, a tiny pirate menace slams into him, almost knocking him down with the impact. She isn’t actually strong enough to do that, but the air leaves his lungs regardless.

She is here.

He closes his arms around her, unwilling to let go.

His little sister.

She is okay – is she? He can feel her heart beating rapidly behind her ribs, and he has no doubt she can hear his. When he presses her closer, she doesn’t wince, which means no bruises on the ribcage, or, heaven forbid, broken ribs – a miracle in itself. That’s good. His hand closes at the back of her neck.

„CJ…“

Now she looks up at him, tears on her little face, and his heart breaks a little.
„…You don’t hate me?“

Fine, by everything sacred, his heart breaks a lot. She shouldn’t look at him like that.

„Could never, starfish,“ he assures her feeling more exhausted than ever, as she sinks deeper into his embrace. They stay like this for quite the while.

Chapter Text

--- Evie Grimhilde von Schloss ---

To be perfectly honest, Evie is still processing the fact that she is, you know, alive. What with angry Harry Hook on the warpath and this hellish place that seems intent on making their lives the worst version possible.
…It would be worse without Carlos here, though. When the reflection of her mother appeared, to criticise her as she did a thousand times before, he held her hand and told her that beauty isn’t everything and that she is perfect as she is, anyway. In turn, she shielded him from Cruella, which, really, is the least she could do.

She seems to have a penchant for it, doesn’t she?
Shielding people with her own body.
Senseless martyrdom, Carlos calls it, with weirdly soft eyes, before he shakes his head and drags her away.

Like now:
„Really, E?“ he asks, „Must you?“

„I have no idea what do you mean whatsoever,“ she says, turning her nose up. He hasn’t been very specific, after all.

„Harry Hook almost killed you.“

Well, yeah, but…
„He didn’t! It was a calculated risk!“

She can see Carlos breathing in to answer. To argue. To say „There is nothing to calculate when it comes to the Hooks, they are complete wild cards, and you know it!“, but she doesn’t let him.
Instead, she tells him that maybe she was just gaining another allies, what does he know, and it worked out, didn’t it?
(She says this in a language she hopes Mal and Jay won’t understand.)

„Thanks for that, by the way.“
Ok, when the hell did Jay sneak behind her? And why is he touching her shoulder? (Is he trying to steal her necklace?! There is plenty of shiny stuff laying about! Also, books.)
She stares at Jay and takes a step back to Carlos; Jay just shrugs.

„Yes,“ sights Mal, „Your help wasn’t- Your help is appreciated.“

Blush creeps into Evie's eyes as she inches closer yet to Carlos; Mal's eyes flash green in displeasure.

„Why were you here, anyway?“ asks Carlos, irritated, but Evie can hear the curiosity in his voice.

„Aww, easy, man,“ says Jay, „Easy loot, you see?“
He grabs a fistful of necklaces and jewels and lets them flow between is fingers, then following an unknown impuls, he smiles and drapes one of them over Evie's throat:
„For your help,“ he says, „And for your trouble,“ he hangs one around Carlos's neck too.

Evie picks up the sapphire to examine it: it doesn't look like a fake, not really.
It shines and matches her hair rather nicely.

Unseen, Jay slips several more into his bottomless pockets: not that anyone would care, really.

„And you, Moors?“ interrupts Carlos again, „Why did you think it was a good idea to explore this– this, whatever it is, and take CJ, CJ Hook of all people, with you?!“

„Hey!“ Mal protests, „She went voluntarily!“

Like, yeah, Evie knew that, but she won't be the one to explain that to Harry and Harriet, will she?
She just hopes that Mal and Jay have some good cover story prepared – or, rather, Jay, as the fae's relationship with lies is a rather touchy subject.

„Really, she did! Also, did you see the books yet? They are utterly fascinating!“

Evie does see through Mal's attempt at misdirection. That said, books.

She walks over to the other girl, Carlos sighting and following behind. It's just a charade at this point, she knows; he is as curious as she is, really.
Just unwilling to show it.

„This Isle was forbidden to our parents-“

Well, Evie really wonders why.

„So I was hoping it might hold some clue on how to get out of there… Wanna look through it with me?“

You see, books.

Evie runs her finger along the dusty tomes, her breath caught in her lungs, and pulls one out on random. Carlos selects his own just a moment later and Jay audibly sights, returning to the gold and jewels.

It's fascinating, really.

And Evie will hold it against Carlos, how intriguing it is, at least when he tries to tell her it wasn't worth it at all.

That said, their lovely study session is interrupted by an angry god, because of course it is.

„Lord Hades,“ Evie curtseys, as, thanks to her mother, she is more than qualified to recognise the lord of the Underworld.

„Lord what?“ Mal and Jay stare at her blankly, which, fair enough, actually.

„Lord Hades?“ she tells them, „The god of the dead? The Underworld? Riches?“
No sign of recognition, though Jay does perk up a bit at the word „riches“.
„The underground guy that tried to murder baby Hercules?“

„Ooh.“

„Thank you for the lovely introduction,“ the god says, „now, what on earth are you doing here?“

…That is a very good question actually, especially as Evie supposes that the god wouldn’t accept whatever reason Mal and Jay had. Especially as by all accounts, it’s thievery, trespassing and graverobbing – does robbing the God of the Dead count as grave robbing?
It should probably.

Anyway. Think of an answer, Evie, fast!

The god saves her from telling an obvious and embarrassing lie – he sighs, rubbing his temples, and says: „You know what, I don’t want to know. Just get out.“

By the corner of her eye, Evie catches Mal inconspicuously tucking one tome under her shirt, to which Jay turns his eyes backwards and grabs another only to show her how it’s done, Evie presumes. That boy is a walking treasury already.

„Didn‘t you hear me?“ emphasises the god, „Get out!“

…Yeah. About that.

Evie is spared of further embarrassing herself by Jay who blankly states that they have no idea where the fuck they are and how the fuck to get out.
Yes, with the expletives.
Maybe Evie should have spoken herself.

Hades’s hair flames up as he grinds his teeth together and begrudgingly gives them the directions.

„Thanks, man,“ says Jay, swiping another necklace from a nearby pile, „Salutations, respects and all that jazz.“

„Jay!“
Carlos snickers at her scandalised gasp.

„Besides, what about the pirates? CJ, Harry, Uma, Gil? Zevon and Helena?“

A vein dangerously pulses at the temple of the god of the dead: „How many children exactly are there in my realm?!“

„If no one followed us, then ten,“ states Carlos after a quick mental count, „We are not sure where Helena is though actually?“

After a moment of consideration, Evie takes another step away from the god. You know, as any sensible mortal should even if according to all accounts, death doesn’t stick. Evie, for one, doesn’t fancy tempting fate.

„Pain! Panic!“

The scream echoes through the caves and this time, everyone takes a step back. Somehow, Jay ends up at the front of the group, his hand stretched in front of Mal, whose eyes are flashing green in annoyance.

With a snap, two demon-like creatures appear in the room, twitching and whining all the way:
„He shot, us, Lord Hades-“
„Yes, he did!“
„Nasty mortal boy-“
„Only because we touched his sea girl a little–“
„So touchy, these mortal boys–“

„Silence!“

The creatures snap their heels together and salute and they look kinda cute actually? Evie would like to pet them.

She tentatively leans forward and Carlos drags her back by her elbow; he doesn’t let go afterwards.

„There should be six other children in my realm, not counting my son.“

(Lord Hades has a son?!)

„Find them and lead me to them, we will see them out.“

Okay. That sounds like a solid plan.

…And the little things are gone, and Mal is pouting, because of course she is. And with the god successfully distracted, Jay drapes a string of granites over Evie’s neck.

--- Uma of Lost Revenge ---

Uma stands by and watches as Harry clutches his little sister in a hug as if she could dissolve any moment: She doesn’t make a move to interrupt their reunion, no, and she even stops Zevon and Helena from coming over.
She is sure the siblings wouldn’t appreciate being interrupted. And she would kill anyone daring to interrupt them before they got the chance.

She watches on, her eyes trained on Harry as eagle’s, and pays only half a mind to her surroundings otherwise.
What is there to see, anyway?
Gil at her back, Zevon and Helena few steps away, Helena holding the strange boy that looks like he wants to disappear into the darkness right now. And only cold stones and dark shadows otherwise.

Not a sound.

Not a living thing.

Until, of course, there are several of them.

The air around her crackles with…something and she whirls around, looking into the mostly annoyed faces of Evie, Carlos, Mal, Jay, and…

„…Uncle Hades?“

Uma knows of only one man with hair of blue flames, after all.

He blinks at her: He doesn’t recognise her, and why should he?

„Who are you?“

She looks him square in the eye and makes a split second decision: She is more than just her mother’s daughter. She will be more.
„I’m Uma,“ she says, „Uma of Lost Revenge.“
She sticks out her chin at him when he levels a judging stare at her.

„Fine, Uma,“ he says, emphasising her name, „Gather your humans and other beings and get out of there.“

„Okay, Uncle Hades.“ She has a feeling that the god was not exactly pleased by her honorific, which is exactly why she used it again.
His nostrils flare.

She pretends not to have seen it and turns to look at Harry, who has yet to lift his face from CJ’s hair. Valid, actually.

She turns back around.

„You will need to wait for that,“ she notifies the god. It is not up to discussion.

His eye twitches.
Uma pays no attention to that, not to snickering Jay and Mal or horrified Evie. Or Helena once again scribbling into her notebook.

She continues staring at him, eventually standing so so she could see both him and Harry at the same time: At one point, Harry absentmindedly reaches out with his hook and gives it to her to hold.

With the weapon in her hand, she waits some more. Harry will be ready to leave soon, she thinks.

She turns the weapon in her hands, uncarring, really, for anything else happening meanwhile.

Eventually, Harry looks up – well, looks up. He barely lifts his head up, still holding CJ close, and murmurs vaguely in her direction: „Uma? What’s going on?“

„We will be leaving soon,“ she tells him, „As soon as you are ready.“

And no, Hades doesn’t get a say in this. He should have locked his lair if he didn’t want people wandering in and out. And no, crocodiles and planks and freaky phantoms don’t count. Uma is suppressing those from her mind for now anyway.
(They will come later, as destructive as a tsunami. But not now, and that is what’s important.)

„Okay.“

She watches as he finally looks up and tucks CJ into his side: The girl clings to him like it’s the end of the world.

„Who are these people, Uma? What are they doing there?“

„Excuse me?!“
Yeah, no. Uma has no nerves for the princess’s feelings, or the fairy’s, or even the god’s, honestly, but at least the commotion did cause CJ to look up too.
She waves at Zevon and Helena.

„Get. Out,“ Hades repeats again,and didn’t Uma already tell him they are not moving until she gives her okay?
No?
Well, she tells him now.

He looks like he will kill someone soon, his hair burning high and licking the ceiling, and CJ giggles.
Of course she does.
She hides her face in her brother’s chest for a second again,and then registers the other person with burning hair in the room.

„Hey! Who is that?“ she asks, „And can we keep him?“

Before Uma can answer, scandalised princess pipes up: „CJ!“ she scolds the pirate as if it was any of her business, „You can’t just „keep people“!“

„…You can’t?“ asks Uma to similarly confused stares of her uncle and cousin, and, also, gods forbid, Mal.

Evie looks at her with pure disbelief, then looks around the room: A Greek god, two descendants of the Parthenon, a fae, and two Hooks.
„…You know what?“ says the princess eventually, „I’m not having that discussion right now.“

„Wonderful,“ states Hades dryly, „Now, would all of you just kindly shut up and get the fuck out?“

Uma levels a glare at him, before turning at Harry and checking if he and CJ are ready to leave. She chooses to ignore the way his hair flare up, since hey, she saw way more flames recently anyway. She wonders how the port is doing, and how Harriet is keeping it all together, alone.

She also chooses to ignore Helena Sinclair muttering something like „I wonder if I could make s’more over that,“ though that might be only because Uma has no idea what a s’more is.

„Yeah,“ Harry nods at her, still keeping CJ close, as if she’d vanish any moment, „We can go.“

„Tiny problem,“ pipes up Jay, raising his hand politely. His vest rings as he does so.
„We still have no idea where we are.“

Uma watches with some level of amusement and way lower sense of immediate doom as her Uncle’s eye twitches.
Neat.

Then the boy volunteers to see them out and Hades sights at that, closing his eyes for a moment.

„You do that,“ he says, „I am, well, I’m hopefully never going to see them again. Bye.“

Before he can walk away, CJ speaks up, her voice clear in the still dungeon, and Uma has to stifle her laughter. She is asking Harry if they can keep the flame-hair boy again. Evie looks like she is literally biting her tongue, and Mal just looks like a grumpy cat. She has something poorly hidden under her blouse.
„Yeah, sure, why not,“ shrugs Harry, „You need to ask him if he wants to come with us, though.“

Uma has an arising suspicion that at this moment, Harry would give CJ anything she asked for.

„Come with you?“ Hades’s son asks.

„Yeah! On the Isle of the Lost! Be a pirate like us! You get to meet my sister, too!“

(„There is even more of them?“ mutters Hades, loudly enough for everyone to hear. Uma is fairly sure that was the point – she has decided she likes her Uncle.)

„I mean, sure? It sounds dangerous, though?“

„It’s not! It’s fun!“

Incidentally, Carlos de Vil chooses this moment to fall into a coughing fit. Weird.

„…Okay?“ he doesn’t sound too sure of himself, really, but hey, that’s not Uma’s problem.

„Uma?“ Harry prompts,waiting for her input. That probably does make it her problem.

„Sure,“ she shrugs, „He can come.“
Then she turns directly to her cousin: „What’s your name?“

„Addie,“ he answers, and that pretty much closes the matter for Uma.

Not for Hades, though, which,valid enough, and surprisingly, also not for Evie of the Castle and Carlos de Vil:
„Right,“ Uma overhears Evie whispering, „Which one of them is in charge again?“
And Uma immediately neatly tucks that question away to all the other things from this day she doesn’t want to think about.

Harry moves closer to her and gently takes his weapon back: he doesn’t step away again.

„Are you sure about this?“ asks Hades, looking at his son with a questioning stare.

„…Yeah?“

„Fine. You better be back when mom comes visit, though. Or you will explain it to her yourself.“

„Okay.“

„And you,“ Hades turns to Uma, „You will make sure my son is alright. Am I clear?“
Uma isn’t too sure how Addie could be not okay on an Isle where death doesn’t stick, but hey. She isn’t gonna make this more difficult for herself.
„Sure, Uncle Hades,“ she answers instead, „And we are leaving now!“

And in almost no time at all, they are back at the beach, the crew greeting them enthusiastically. Uma even lets Desiree hug her, though the girl backs away after a noticeably short time, which certainly has absolutely nothing with Harry still standing too close.

Claudine bitches about another „false god“ being on board a bit, and Uma thinks it’s more for the show by now. She complains when Desi smacks her arm and gets out of sight when Harry glares at her.

Ivy, Diego and Hunter met them almost half-way on the beach and haven’t moved from Carlos since.

Now,the only concern is how to get the two ships back home.
Oh, well. Uma has faced worse. It doesn’t take too long to temporarily divide the crew and set sail, and thankfully, this journey is way calmer than the first one.

And Uma still refuses to think of today’s events.

--- Harriet Hook of Red Temptress ---

At some point, Harriet locked herself in her cabin, when the noises of the port became too much, and the voices in her head weren't helping at all.

She sits at her bed, back to the wall, and head in between her knees. Her hands tangled in her hair at her temples.

The voices in her head refuse to shut up. They tell her to go look for her siblings. Right now. To set the port ablaze again if that’s what it takes to get them back.
It almost makes sense in her mind.

A fire started this disaster. A fire took them away. Maybe, a fire could give them back.

Harriet digs her nails into her temples: She feels like she is fighting a losing battle.

„You all right?“

Oh, right. Anthony is here.
At some point, he has joined her in the cabin.
At some point, she must have let him come inside, she supposes.

She wishes that that could be what she can focus on.

„Harriet.“

Oh, yeah. He was asking something, no? What was it?
Oh, right.
He was asking if she’s all right.

Stupid question, really.

She lifts her head up and laughs, because how else could she answer?

„…I’m going to take that as a no,“ he answers, you know, like a sensible person, as he gets up from the table where he was pretending to look through her papers, and walks over to her.
You know, as if he actually cared and wanted to check on her.

Luckily, Harriet is spared from further questions and embarrassment: Someone, likely Sammy, knocks at the door and Anthony smoothly alters his course to answer it.
Thank fuck for his manners.

He doesn’t even open the doors entirely, which would let all the noises and colours assault Harriet’s mind at once: He and Sammy talk for a short while through the gap before Sammy quickly steps inside and shuts the door behind themselves.

„What is it?“ she asks, mentally preparing for another disaster. She just hopes the port is still standing, and that no one was fed to sharks. That all limbs are still in their place, as well as the heads, speaking of which, what if the Hearts decided to have some fun now that the port is half abandoned?
What if the Huns decided to take back their semi-voluntarily given resources?

She shouldn’t have taken a break at all.

She blinks, and when did Sammy get so close?

„It’s okay, Captain. Harriet,“ they say, „They are coming back. Your siblings. We can see the ships.“

She shots up immediately.
„Show me–“ she demands – she asks.

„On the pier where CJ’s ship usually stands.“

That’s about as much as it takes for Harriet to storm out of her cabin and down into the port. Behind her, the boys shrug and follow.
She doesn’t stop to check.

In fact she only realises when she is already at the pier, frantically scanning the horizon. She feels half-blind in her panic, and could she believe her own eyes anyway?
Sammy silently points her in the right direction, and really.
Two ships.

Closer than she expected, and also at the wrong side of the sea. Just saying.

The ships also take entirely too long to get there, Harriet thinks as she paces the pier, only the tiniest bit too close to the edge.
She fights down the stupid urge to leap into the water and swim to them. Just to do something.

(What if her siblings are not on the ships?)

„Relax,“ Anthony tells her, and how is she supposed to do that, really?!
…Okay. Him holding her hand helps, for some reason. Weird.
Anyway, let’s not think about that.

Thinking hurts.

Anthony and Sammy talk about something, most likely his cousins, and she doesn’t bother listening, and eventually, she tugs her hand off his hold again and paces the pier. Back and forth, back and forth.
She just needs something to do.
Just until her siblings get here. (They will, won’t they?)

She wants to scream.

Finally – finally – the ships hit the pier. Fucking finally.
She searches the decks for the familiar dark red, for her younger siblings.

Yes. Yes, here they are.

„Finally!“ she shouts, „Where were you so long?“

Her brother leans closer to the sea witch and presumably whispers something to her, then he walks over to the railing. Behind him, she can see Uma gripping CJ’s shoulder.

And also the Smee twins, bolting over to Sammy and clinging to them for dear life.
Harriet looks away, back at her brother.

„Ah, sister–“ he says as he climbs over the railing and jumps down, the coat flying behind him like arterial blood, „That’s what I get instead of greeting?“

„Fuck. Fuck, Harry,“ Harriet doesn’t do feelings, okay? She doesn’t know how to tell her brother that she missed him and that she is so glad he is back. That he brought their little sister home, too.
Instead, she can only hug him hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs and crack his ribs were he only a bit less used to this.

„Never do this again, yeah?“ she says, „That’s a command.“

„You know I don’t take commands from you, Harriet.“ He doesn’t let go of her either.

„And I hate that so much.“

„Sounds like a you problem to me, Ettie,“ he says, smiling, and she finally takes a step back. She also punches him into the shoulder for the nickname a bit.
Her eyes flicker over to the ship and to CJ:
„How is she?“ she asks.

„CJ?“

Well, who else? Harriet doesn’t bother answering and only nods instead.

„She’s fine. Just. Take it easy on her, yeah?“ Harry’s voice is all soft and serious and wrong .

„What happened?“

„Short version or long version?“

Look, Harriet knows her brother. If she asks for the long version, he will get distracted less than half-way through. And the short version, well, that usually covers all the wrong details.

„The relevant parts,“ she requests. She watches as he stares onto nothing and presumably sorts through the memories; she is getting more impatient with each beat of her heart.
„Harry–“

„Okay, okay. I’ve got it.“

Her eyes flickers between him and CJ.

„There was this weird demon-guy that showed CJ – showed her us telling her, well, all kind stuff. She didn’t tell me much, but – it really freaked her out, Ettie. I think it showed her us telling her that we hate her. This kind of stuff. Don’t be too hard on her–“
He doesn’t say „please,“ but she can hear it in his voice.

„Savvy.“

„Uma! CJ! You can come over now!“

And, of course, they, too, choose to jump instead of using the bridge their crewmates set.

„Hi, Hettie!“ CJ leans over the railing and waves, „Anthony says to give you his greetings!“

Harriet looks at CJ and then at Anthony, who is standing a few metres from her and unsuccessfully tries to not laugh.
„You don’t say,“ states Harriet dryly, before her lips break into a grin, „Now come here, you scallywag.“

CJ has the freaking audacity to jump directly into her arms and Harriet doesn’t mind it even a little bit.
She just holds her sister close as the pirates around them flow to wherever they are going.

„I’m so glad you are okay,“ she whispers to CJ just as she did to Harry, „Never scare me like that again.“
CJ nods into her shoulder and presses closer and then Harry is hugging them too, and Harriet definitely isn’t crying–

She closes her eyes shut and refuses to perceive the outside world for another few precious moments.

Chapter Text

--- Mal of Moors ---

Mal paces the room in the Castle, ranting all the way. She gestures around so much she almost hits Carlos de Vil in the face – not that she notices.

„I simply can’t go the the barge day!“ she complains, „Last time I went to the port, Harriet Hook literally beheaded me!“

„Well, that would be because you kidnaped her little sister and made her ferry you to the Doom Isle?“ suggests Evie, as if Mal was asking for her input at all.

„How many times do I have to tell you?“ laments Mal, „CJ went voluntarily! She wanted to go!“
A pause, for about a heartbeat.
„Besides, that was like ages ago!“

It definitely feels like ages ago to Mal, at the very least. And she doesn’t care for the fact that Evie and Carlos have been keeping count: They have an actual calendar in the Castle, would you believe that? I mean, who does that?

And neither does she care for Carlos, noting that „She gave your head back, so where’s the big deal anyway?“
(The deal is iron. The swords are made of iron. And getting beheaded by iron? Yeah, that hurts as fuck.)

What is worse yet, the two of them continue the conversation without her, which is an insult of the highest calibre, as far as she is concerned.
(„Do you think they’ll go back to the Doom Island, ever?“ asks the princess.
„They did promise to take Hades’ son back.“
„But Hook didn’t look like he’d like to see the place again: I’m not sure he even knows Uma made that deal.“
„Eh, have you seen him? If Uma tells him to sail, he will.“
„Very fair point.“)

So understandably, Mal dives right into another rant.
„Ugh!“ she groans finally, „This is all so unfair!“

She doesn’t get an answer, Not in the whole time she is speaking, not even vague „hmmm–“, which is very insulting if you ask her.
She looks at her companions:
Evie is listing through one of the books she and Jay brought from the Isle of the Doomed and making notes on a paper beside it, and Carlos… Seems to be doing something with numbers? For fun?

Weird.

„Were none of you even listening?! And where the fuck is Jay?“

„I got distracted about twenty minutes ago,“ answers the princess, the picture of perfect innocence and calmness.

„Ignoring you was a conscious decision,“ adds de Vil, not even bothering to look up from his numbers-thingy.

„Well, and Jay?“

„He climbed out of the window approximately five minutes after you started speaking,“ says Evie, and Carlos adds: „He even said that he is not leaving all the good stuff to the pirates just because of you, and also something about Jade. I think she’d just call him a coward and he’d die on the spot.“

Mal growls irritably and throws her hands up in the air. She is surrounded by idiots.

Oh, great. And now the bell by the gate rings, and it’s not Jay. It’s Helena fucking Sinclair, Mal can see her from her position, as can Evie. Her face falls apart with that sight.
A kid opens the door to the room, helpfully noting that Sinclair is at the gate and whether they should let her in.

„Tell her we are not home,“ states Carlos. He still didn’t put away his pen and paper.

The kid nods and bolts away, which, you know. Always nice. Mal does like people running from her.
(Still kinda weird that Carlos and Evie run for her on the Isle of the Doomed, you know?)

But before the kid could ever plausibly reach the gate, Sinclair yells back at her full lungs:
„Come on! I just want to talk! Just a friendly chat over some tea!“

To which Carlos mutters: „I’d rather die than have a friendly chat with her, she’d just try to talk about my so-called childhood trauma and parental issues again. And Evie’s, too.“
And Evie cheerfully adds that in that case, she’d make Sinclair’s tea with hemlock and coniine for better taste, whatever that is.

„Oh, come on! Don’t be mean, I can hear you talking! You are just trying to avoid confrontation, and we will be talking about that! It will be fun!“

From the facepalms Carlos and Evie are making, Mal guesses that it would be fun mainly for Sinclair.

Oh, and for her.

If she managed to stick by and listen in without Helena ever noticing her. Oh well.

„Okay,“ whispers Carlos, „I need y’all to pat yourself down and then search the room. It looks like she has bugs here.“

„Ew, bugs?“

„…The technical ones, Evie. Like radio waves and that stuff?“

„Oh, right! Like the ones you and your cousins can make?“

„Oh, I dearly hope not, as in that case I’d be forced to kill my cousins very painfully.“

…Yeah, no. Bugs. Ew. Mal doesn’t want any bugs on her, and fake ones sound even worse than the normal ones. Those are pretty friendly and sometimes shiny and have actual real wings.

Anyway.

She idly shakes her hair to get any bugs out of it, and Evie sights something about a haircut.

Mal would argue, but right in that moment, Sinclair shouts again:
„Hemlock? Coniine? I don’t know what that is, but give me a moment – I will be right back!“

„…Of course she will be,“ sights Evie while Carlos looks around the room and pokes at the shadows, muttering curses all the way, „Now, about your haircut, Mal?“

„…I’d actually really like to know what coniine is?“
It’s a better option, anyway, and it does get Evie talking.
So Mal spends the next several too-long moments listening to the witch princess going on and on about poisons. Mal’s attention increases exponentially with the descriptions of painful deaths.

All in all, Sinclair comes back all too soon.

„Okay!“ she yells, „I accept the deal!“

„What the fuck?“ Evie drops her perfect princess facade as she jumps up and leans from the arched window to yell at the blonde, „What did you just say?“

„I accept the deal!“ Helena Sinclair repeats with a grin worthy of a Cheshire cat, „You know, you make my tea with hemlock and I get to interrogate you and Carlos a bit? I went to Gothel! And she said it should give me about an hour before I die a very painful death?“
Evie looks like she is contemplating this. Why does she look like she is contemplating this?

„E?“ prompts Carlos.

„Yeah? Oh, yeah! I have some conditions!“

„Shoot, princess!“

„You get to interrogate only me, not Carlos, and you will stay in the Castle when the poison kicks in! And when you wake up, to tell me all about it!“

Evie’s eyes are shining far too much, and Mal decides to vanish the English way. Nice and quiet, without a goodbye.
She remembers Evie’s previous lecture all too well, and did you know that as the Hemlock poison inevitably chokes you to death, you will be conscious through it all?

So, yeah. Mal will just go find Jay, if you will excuse her.

--- Harry Hook of Lost Revenge ---

„What the fuck?“ sounds Harriet’s voice through, well, possibly at least half the Isle, and at that, Harry’s head immediately snaps towards his sister’s ship. As does CJ’s, with only a heartbeat of delay.
„Chill–,“ Uma hisses, and grabs Harry’s wrist. Wouldn’t do for him to jump to the shark-infested water, would it now?
He relaxes a bit at her touch.
And he is already holding CJ.

„What the fuck! Why on the seven seas is there a man here?! What the fuck?“

Harriet is the only one of her crew yelling loudly enough to be heard on-land, since she is just like that, but that’s fine. Her alarmingly rising voice provides all the commentary needed.
More than that, in fact, because what the fuck is a grown man doing out in the Isle waters? On his sister’s ship?

„He ain’t dead, you moron, I can feel his pulse, but why isn’t he waking up?? What the fuck?! What is he doing here?!“

Nevermind that if he were any threat, he’d find himself, well, dead, very soon after.
But seeing as his sister isn’t in any immediate danger, Harry relaxes further, and asks:
„A man? Here, on the Isle? What is he doing here?“

„Don’t know,“ Uma shrugs, „Probably came with the barges. We’ll see soon anyway.“

As Harriet directs her crew to lay the man down somewhere out of the way and get the rest of the barge, the two of them force their way closer to the edge of the pier; however much Harry strains his eyes, he can’t actually see what is going on.
Only that Red Temptress will be hitting the pier soon enough.

„Maybe the Faciliers caught someone,“ Harry thinks out loud, „Or Maleficent thought that it would be fun to send some poor unfortunate soul through the Barrier to drown for not inviting her to a cocktail party.
„Or maybe Auradon got their shit together and is sending in some criminal or other?“ Uma jokes, and Harry laughs.
„You are funny,“ he tells her.

Harry is briefly distracted by vague sounds of clamour and metal ringing behind his back, but he doesn't bother looking. He has more pressing concerns, doesn't he now?
His sister just fished a man out of the water-

And she is coming close and also Anthony Tremaine made way to the front of the pier. His cousins giggle and yet more gold and trinkets exchange hands, if Harry were to judge by the clamour. Anthony has it rather hard for his sister, and the children of the Isle are well aware of that.
Harry turns to glare at the Tremaine lord wannabe, which sends a few kids standing behind him almost running. Neat. Anthony stays – good for him. But then again, if he can stand Harriet's glares, he can stand almost everything.

He also glares right back, which doesn’t have much of an effect, besides making Uma snort in amusement and thus effectively locking Harry in a staring contest with the other boy nearly up until the ship hits the pier.

At that point, CJ wriggles out of his grasp and runs off to get the best out of the barges. Out of the fucking trash Auradon sends them – they deserve so much better!

„Let’s look at whatever the tide dragged in, shall we?“ asks Uma, and as much as she doesn’t expect an answer, Harry voices his agreement anyway.

„Permission to board, sister?“ he calls out then.

„Do make yourself useful!“ sounds the response, „And look after CJ!“

As if Harry intended to let his baby sister out of his sight for more than a heartbeat, what with a stranger suddenly here and also the Moors bitch possibly in the crowd.

„Hey, Harry,“ Uma throws him out of that wave of thoughts, „Do you really think your little sister should have a gun?“

His head snaps up, looking for Calista aboard the ship – possibly in the ropes – and his voice dips dangerously low: „She has what now?“

„Yeah, a gun. You should probably take it from her.“

„Calista Jane!“ She peek up from the ropes, or, more accurately, she hangs from the rope upside down, holding on by her knees. Like a bloody bat, that girl.
She is also very inconspicuously hiding her hands behind her back.
„What do you have, CJ?“

„Nothing!“ She presses her hands further in between her shoulder blades.

„What do you have, Calista Jane?!“ shouts Harriet, distracted by whatever she was doing by CJ’s whining.

„Give me that,“ Harry adds and grabs her arm before she can bolt – he needs to force her hands open, too, but Uma is right. CJ probably shouldn’t have a gun.
Not even Sinclair lets her play with hers.

He then promptly lays the weapon down in Uma’s outstretched hand: She practically asked for it, didn’t she?
And Harry has yet to find a reason not to give Uma what she wants.

CJ whines some more, but Uma has the gun now and isn’t giving it back, and it doesn’t look like his problem anymore.

„Climb down, CJ,“ he tells his sister instead, „Stop pouting and go help Harriet.“
Go annoy Harriet, more like. CJ has never once voluntarily helped anyone in her life.

„It’s your turn to look after her!“ shouts Harriet, and Harry makes a rude gesture towards her. Besides him, Uma sighs, probably anticipating another siblings’ argument, and starts directing pirates from both crews in unloading and dividing the Auradon shipments.
Harry briefly inclines his head towards her and mutters something that might or might not be „sorry,“; Uma doesn’t respond, she might not have heard him at all, but CJ cackles.

Harriet shouts something about fools in love at him in Latin – which Uma didn’t learn yet, thank gods – and CJ cheers louder.

„Mind your business!“ he defends himself, „And you climb down, CJ!“

She pouts at him before hoisting herself up to an upwards position and promptly backflipping down on deck: She lands on her feet, just barely, and Harry has to catch her, lest she falls and breaks her nose.

„Did you see?“ she looks at him with shining eyes.
„Yes. Work on your form some more.“

She pouts more, and more yet when Uma adds „Not on barge days, though.“
Harry doesn’t understand how Uma can know everything that is going on, but she does. She’s just awesome like that.

She returns most of her attention to the chaos on docks, and slowly walks down to the pier again, Harry with her. He keeps an eye on CJ, though.

Uma stops and starts talking with Rosa of Hearts.

„Harry!“ shouts CJ, „If I can find any more weapons, can I keep them!“

„Absolutely NOT–“ yells Harriet before CJ even finishes speaking.

„I did not ask you, did I now?“

Harry does not really see a problem with that, so he just shrugs, Go on, and, As long as Hettie doesn’t catch you.

„Thanks!“

Oh, and Uma and Rosa are talking at him and he didn’t notice. Great.
Rosa also looks positively murderous, which is neat, and CJ and Kazimíra probably shouldn’t be talking together too much. It never ends well.
It’s not his or CJ’s fault that the Wonderland heirs have frankly ridiculous options on teatime though.

He decides that as long as nothing is burning, everything is good to go, and returns his attention to Uma.
She’s still in deep discussion with Rosa, absently playing with the hilt of one of the daggers he gave her, and she is standing so very close to him. (He wants to put his arm around her waist and pull her closer yet.)

The other Wonderland twin arrives to his sister.

And from the other direction, an unknown man stumbles: Must be the thing Hattie fished out of the sea, mustn’t it?

He sways from side to side, not unlike a land-rat with sea sickness or the vague memory of Jolly Roger’s men drunk beyond all recognition.

He looks like he’s gonna fall.
Harry steps away from Uma, to catch the man before he gets to her and the wonderland twins.

Sure enough, he almost collapses atop of him, before pushing himself up and asking:
„Where am I? What happened?“ and „Why does my head hurt so much?“

Harry pushes the man further away.

„You are on the Isle of the Lost,“ and „I’m sure you deserve it.“

„Cruel boy,“ the man half-whines, his eyes not quite there, „Cruel boy in blood red cloak.“

With that, Harry grips his hook tighter, bringing it to the eye level, and reaching for a dagger. He also swiftly looks back at Uma, only to see her looking at them with cold eyes and her own weapons ready. Rosa and Jared are just behind her, unsheathing their giant swords, and the port is beginning to still.

„Wait!“ the man stammers, slurring his words together, „I know you! You are the Hook boy! Captain Hook’s son – your daddy put me here, you know? For having a bit of fun–“

Harry stands frozen.
Is this one of his father’s men? Someone from the other pirate crews? Or perhaps a rogue Auradon sailor?

Despite his racing thoughts, he keeps his hook pointed steady at his throat. Which does not seem to faze the drunk all that much.
Even with the point of the hook at his throat, and the dagger at the edge of his ribcage, his eyes dart away and around, as if nothing happened, and Harry feels pressure building behind his own eyes.
(Uma silently steps closer to him, weapons at the ready, and her presence is one of the very few things keeping him from killing the rat right now. It wouldn't do to ruin Uma’s dress just now.)

„Who are you–“ he hisses instead.

And despite the weapons, the man takes a shallow bow and introduces himself as Jack Sparrow, Captain Jack Sparrow.
„And you,“ he continues, „You must be Hook’s son. He bragged about you lot far too much – Harry, wasn’t it?“

Harry feels a pang of disgust at the slurred words and doesn’t bother confirming.

„Following in your papa’s footsteps, eh? A pirate Captain, like him?“

And Harry doesn’t confirm still.

Instead his mind freezes as he looks at Uma, now right besides him, and it takes him far too long to find his words.

„Actually,“ he says, and the words taste like metal, like blood rushing through your mouth with the final breath. Salt and metal, yes, and the truth, fae would say, were they listening.
His eyes flicker between her and Jack Sparrow; he closes them for a heartbeat, before he continues, looking deep in Uma’s eyes.
„She’s the Captain, I’m the first mate.“

„Are you sure?“

„Yes.“

(She didn’t ask for it, he knows. But she wanted it, didn’t she, the way she was commanding the crew – the way she talked – the way the ship listened to her–)

„Yes.“

„Good for you, mate, good for you,“ Jack Sparrow slurs out before he faints down-dead, but his words fade as the post erupts in hundreds voices of unearthly excitement.

--- Anthony Tremaine ---

Anthony Tremaine is sulking.

What else is he supposed to do, with the stunt Harry Hook pulled at the last barge day?
He gave Uma a ship. He gave Uma a ship as if it were nothing, and the whole Isle is talking about it.

It’s utterly inconsiderate of him, you know?

How is Anthony supposed to one-up this?
Hell, how is he even supposed to get near?

Nevermind that Harriet already has a ship–

Just. Couldn’t he hold his bloody tongue? Maybe wait for somewhere more private to make grand gestures of devotion?
…Of course he couldn’t. He’s a Hook, and they’re all drama queens.

All in all, Anthony would like to stab something, thank you for your consideration.

But no.

No, he is stuck listening to the Wonderland heir going on and on about how romantic it all was and the triplets sulking that the twins had first row view and all of them recounting the bets they made, won and lost, which is a torture on it’s own, because the Wonderland heirs have a very cross relationship with numbers.
To this day, Rosa is entirely convinced that dozen is less than ten, and Vladivoj refuses to acknowledge the existence of the number nine, because „seven ate nine, Anthony!“

Yes, that is his argument.

Yes, the existence is full of suffering.

At this point, Anthony would rather lie on his sword than attempt to explain maths to the Hearts, so there is that.

„Anthony!“ Dizzy runs up to him, „The man- the Jack Sparrow is there!“

„What does he want?“

„He wants to see mom and aunt, but I don’t wanna go there–“

„It’s okay, I’ll go with him,“ he assures her, all too happy to leave the Hearts in her and Dulcia’s care.

The man is swaying a bit, less than at the barge, but still enough to worry Anthony a bit, especially as he notes half-empty bottle of rum in his hand.

„Ahoy,“ Jack Sparrow greets, which sounds weird for some reason, „Heard you have actual adults there? So I just wanted to ask what the fuck is going on?“

Anthony doesn’t think it worth of an answer, only gesturing for the man to follow him to the depth of the Tremaine manor.

„Mother?“ he knocks at the door, „Captain Jack Sparrow is there and wants to visit you and Aunt Drizzella.“

„Come in, then!“ answers his mother, just as his aunt says that „she doesn’t want to speak with peasants.“

So Anthony opens the door, watches the adult pirate take a swig of rum that must have been Harriet’s hours before (given that he came with nothing), and give a very disrayed curtsy that pleases his mother and aunt anyway and resigns himself to a boring conversation. Again.

He idly wonders how Harriet is taking her brother’s proclamation and an adult pirate Captain in the port.

…Not too well, he would guess.

But then again, the Isle had it coming.

--- Harriet Hook ---

Her brother is an insufferable, gods damned fool.

There are no other words for it. Just– a fool.

What was he thinking?
Just giving up his ship, the ship their father gave him, and giving it to the sea witch of his?
Just like that?

„Come on, Harriet, we all saw it coming,“ Sammy tells her as he calmly deals out the winnings of the betting pools about her brother, „The only question was when. Oh, and how much drama would it be.“

„And if anyone dies in the process!“ quips up Helena Sinclair, happily collecting her winnings before waving at CJ and vanishing gods know where.

Depths. Harriet’s head hurts.

„Yeah, and that,“ agrees Sammy easily, „But come on, Harriet. It’s for the better. Your brother would likely forget half of the crew exists on the regular if she didn‘t remind him. And I don’t think he realises that, like, food is actually needed for the body.“

„I hate it when you are right,“ she mutters, and, „Meal times are a suggestion.“

„…Have you eaten today?“ Sammy waves the queued kids away, locking eyes with her.

„Maybe?“

„Harriet!“

„I’m not hungry.“

She could do with a shot, though, but guess what? Jack Sparrow, that fucker, stole it! Watched her brother practically confess his love and give away his ship and position, fell unconscious again, and then immediately asked if there was any rum left.

Harriet will need to find out who said that to him.

But for now, she might entertain herself by tracking down and killing Jack Sparrow. Death is a social construct too, haven’t you heard? And besides, it’s good for her nerves. Very calming.

(And if she visits Anthony before that, to complain to him a bit? Oh well. Who can tell?)

She finds Jack Sparrow just behind the corner of the Tremaine Manor, telling stories of his daring adventures to wide eyed CJ, Helena and the Hearts triplets. Oh joy. Oh gods. He’s telling them that he robbed a bank and got away by blowing away half the street, and Harriet really does not like the spark in her sister’s eyes.

„Yes! It all went boom and we run like hell and I don’t remember how we got to the sea but holy fuck, was it fun.“

„Can you teach me how to make bombs of that calibre?“ asks CJ with zero hesitation, and Jack Sparrow answers: „Hell yeah little Hook, can I!“
And gods and monsters, Harriet really fucking hates that man.

Chapter Text

--- Arabella Triskelion of Atlantica ---

Arabella is alone, as she is most of the time when she is under the water. Even when she is with her sisters and cousins and aunts: They don’t understand her, not really.

They are not like her.

The ocean doesn’t sing to them the way it does to her, the water doesn‘t respond immediately to their every thought.
They probably couldn’t do any actual magic if they wanted, maybe, just maybe, if it was a matter of life and death–

But no, no such things in Auradon, and her aunts and cousins?

They are happy singing once a year at the Sea Side festival – they are content being silent for the rest of the year.

When more and more magic gets locked away.

When they – the princesses of Atlantica, the patrons of the seven seas, descendants of the gods! – must sit with mortals and animals in the council of Sidekicks.

When their city and land gets sold out as nothing more that a cheap tourist attraction, a shiny thing to entertain bored mortal kings and queens, lords and ladies, rich new money and everyone else.

The insult, the disgrace!

Arabella seethes through her teeth, just barely avoiding hissing out and making a noise. She cannot afford anyone hearing her and coming to see, to ask questions: What is a young princess doing so late after dark? Don’t you have school to go into? No, don’t worry, let me take you to your chambers –

She cannot take this any longer – she must do something.

She must act, she had decided a long time ago. She must act, she tells herself, the now-familiar voice of the sea witch nagging at the back of her mind.

And she will act.

She told no one of her plan: Not the sea witch who has so kindly helped her and who might urge her to wait another few years or try to give her orders directions, not the Shadow sisters who have become her friends. They might’ve encouraged her, or they might have told her her effort was doomed from the start, fortune tellers as they are.

But Arabella didn’t want to hear either: She wants her destiny in her hands, for once.

She trusts them enough, but this isn’t about trust. This is about making impressions and rocking waves, and, by gods, this plan is hers and hers alone.

With that possessive thought, the water swirls around her, cold and wild, and it takes her a moment to yank the water and her emotions under her control. Deep breaths and careful flexing of her fingertips.

She must be smart about this.

She mustn’t be caught: Or must she?

A small current coils around her fingers, ready to spring forward at her mere wish.

She wants to create waves.

The water frees itself now – it always does – and Arabella doesn’t try to yank it back in. It’s pointless, anyway.

She can feel her pulse in her throat.

It hurts.

She just got to her grandfather’s home, she’s swimming through the ancient, disgraced walls. She can barely stand to look at them, the walls that are ogled by countless tourists every day.

She is still alone.

So alone.

Unnoticed.

Well, that ends now.

She swims closer and closer, whirlpool around her, and she reaches out her hand.

It’s too late to back out now, even if she wanted to. And she doesn’t want to.

She takes the trident.

Her fingers close around the ancient weapon, hand too small to fit around the handle, a greedy grip. Her knuckles go white with the strength of her grip, and the water whirled around, locking her fingers in the place.
Arabella doesn’t try to fight the water, she doesn’t know if she could but that’s not the point now, is it?

She laughs as she yanks the trident closer – the weapon is heavy and the water fights with her for control now, almost pulling her shoulder out of the socket.
Arabella hisses in pain and in frustration and narrows her eyes at the ancient artifact, and –

And then there is storm.

Her hair flay wildly around as the water gets pulled in every direction, and Arabella shrieks as the power runs through her – too strong, too much –
Whirlpool creates around her. The water tears her voice away. Her tears, if there are any, get swept just as fast.

Up above water, the runway pirate fleets are lucky to be far away, and the Seaside kingdom suffers.

It hurts.

Gods, it hurts so much.

Arabella tries to move her hand, sweep the storm further inland and towards Castle Beast, but her arm is trembling and the water is swirling in an erratic pattern,no longer locking her fingers in place.
The trident trembles in her hold, or maybe it’s just her. She is trembling.

She manages to complete the gesture and sends the raging storm wider and further away.

(It hurts. Everything hurts.)

She breathes in through the teeth and almost chokes on the saltwater around, sending her body into a convulsing fit of coughing.

Her tears join the salt water of the ocean even though she doesn’t want them to, and her fingers spasm around the trident uselessly for one last time; the trident tears out of her palm. The wild currents carry it further and further from her reach, and Arabella can do nothing but uselessly reach out her still trembling arm after it and look as the storm takes it away.

She should swim after it.

She should stop the currents and the storm, make it drop the weapon –

She should at least be able to stop the wild water from tearing at her hair and tail, but she doesn’t. She can’t.

She can’t even see anything right now, not the tiniest traces of gold glistening through the dark inferno she unleashed and failed to yield. She hides her face so she doesn’t have to see anything at all.
She doesn’t have the energy to swim away, and besides. Her kingdom hasn’t fallen that low yet, hopefully: The guards should be there any moment now.

She failed, there is nothing else to do.

Just. Wait.

That’s how her grandfather’s guards find her, a thief and a witch.

Just a princess in tears.

Which one is it, Arabella?

--- Uma of Lost Revenge ---

On the Isle of the Lost, in the Captain’s cabin of her ship, Uma wakes up with a gasp.
Something just happened, something big, she can just feel it. For just a moment, it was singing through her veins, and now it’s clawing uncomfortably at the edges of her mind.

„Harry,“ she says before she can think better of it, „Harry!“
(If there is just a hint of panic in her voice, she'd never admit that.)

Not too far from her, he stirs as he hears his name – the agitation in her voice, more like – and then blinks a few times to get used to the light of the fairy lights he somehow got for the cabin – for her, after their little adventure on the Isle of the Doomed.
The ship swings wildly, as if in a storm; „What is it, love?“ Harry Hook asks.

And Uma doesn’t know how to answer, she could just cry in frustration. She tries to makesense of the semi-familiar sensations and half-formed ideas screaming at her as Harry kisses her hand and waits for an answer.
The fact that her fingertips are tingling probably has nothing to do with his lips on her skin. No, definitely nothing.

She closes her eyes tightly and her hands shoot up to her temples. Thus, she misses the look of worry Harry gives her.

„I– Something happened,“ she says finally, „Something big. It’s calling me and I want it. I need it.“

„You’re not making any sense–“ Harry says, repressing a yawn.
She knows that, really, but it feels important enough to tell anyway.
Even if he probably thinks it was just a nightmare, though he won’t say that to her outright.
She glares at him. He takes one of her hands in his and rubs circles on her skin, as if in apology. Uma decides to accept it, and continues:

„I know! I doesn’t make sense to me either, but– I can feel it – Like magic,“ At least she thinks that is what magic is, because if not, then she is going crazy. Maybe she is going crazy either way. She takes a sharp breath to calm herself down and grabs at her sea shell necklace; it is glowing in between her fingers, reminiscent of the fairy lights.
It has never done that before.

Both of them stare at the jewel for a while – neither of them notices that this orb of light isn’t quite full.

Eventually, Uma shakes her head and finishes what she wanted to say:
„I think something powerful just went through the Barrier and it is screaming at me. I want it.“

At this point, she isn’t sure if she’s speaking the correct language, but Harry seems to understand: He hugs her and promises that she’ll get it, whatever it is, he’ll get it for her.

The pressure in Uma’s mind lessens as she calms down, eventually leaving but a memory.

The glow of the seashell necklace fades into the night and the storm dies down, with Uma asleep and Arabella exhausted beyond words.

The figure at the bow of the ship slowly fades back to ordinary barely-gilded shine mere heartbeats later, and the kids that saw it?

They decide to write it off as a hallucination, induced by gods-know-what, an interesting source of gossip and bets anyway. Most of them aren’t even surprised at the Revenge pulling improbable tricks.

It just does that, why should it not, with Uma and Harry Hook.

--- Li Lonnie ---

It’s not often that Lonnie is woken up in the middle of the night – well, it’s certainly less often now that she is attending Auradon Prep, what with her parents’ more unconventional parenting methods (otherwise known as borderline war training), a family dragon that still can’t differentiate levels of danger correctly, and an older brother.

Don’t ask on that one.

But, as a result of her training (and a whole bunch of rather ugly political bullshit Lonnie wishes she could forget), she is now Ben’s bodyguard. Yes, Ben, as in her friend Ben.

As in the crown prince of Auradon who is apparently required somewhere right now, and no, it cannot wait till the morning.
And no, Lonnie, we can’t tell you what is actually going on, that is on strictly need-to-know basis, and you know that.

Well, at least they did give her a moment to put on her clothes; she will need to go get her weapons in the school armoury, a room in which Fairy Godmother puts her and her brother’s confiscated weapons, among others.
Of course, it’s officially called „safekeeping“ and not „confiscating“, but Lonnie can tell a humiliation tactics when she sees one.
Besides, she knows for a fact that Audrey is keeping a sword in her room, and no one is bothering to „safekeep“ that.

Lonnie is seething the whole time she walks there, tired and already pissed off.

As she gets her weapons back from the unwilling guard, her brother walks in too: she doesn’t bother to greet him, only briefly waving at him. In turn, he messes up her hair, which she just put up in the ponytail.

She cannot reach his hair and wouldn’t hit him in the shoulder or push him with so many weapons around, so she just makes a face at him – fine, she sticks her tongue out at him, but no one’s here to see, really.

He laughs: „Love you too, little sister,“ he says, „Did they tell you anything?“

„Nothing.“ But it must be serious if they pulled out both of them.
„You?“

He shrugs, „Nope. Need-to-know basis bullshit, as always. But I saw guards coming through the dorms, they were arguing where is Adrian of Atlantica staying,“ his voice drops to a whisper, „Didn’t have the heart to tell them he graduated last year.“

Lonnie laughs as she receives the last of her weapons; she moves aside to wait for her brother.

Together, they walk to the aula.

Fairy Godmother greets them with furiously whispered „where were you so long?!“ and Ben with an apologetic smile.

Lonnie thinks that she exercises an extraordinary amount of self control by not snapping at the headmistress.

„Well, since you are finally here,“ continues the headmistress, „You will take the prince to Château de pétales – that’s the castle Queen Ariel and King Eric gifted the King as a seal of friendship. The one by the beach,“ she adds concedingly, as if they didn’t know that.

Lonnie breathes in fast, both at the underhanded insult and at the distance they’ll be expected to cover quickly in the middle of the night, even though that certain good fairy can literally teleport.
Her brother does the same.

„I’ll drive,“ he says to her, and she nods.

Fairy godmother pays no attention to them, furiously whispering away to her mobile phone.

Ben walks over to them, and before Lonnie can even ask what is happening, Ben answers: „I’m just as confused as you are, and I’m sorry for her. They’re all panicking, my parents and Fairy Godmother.“

Lonnie accepts the apology (as if there was any other option), and hugs her friend.

„Save the PDA for later,“ teases Shang; Lonnie and Ben immediately let go of each other.
„Ew–“ protests Lonnie while Ben just blushes and her insufferable brother laughs.

„Now children! This is no laughing matter!“ scolds Fairy Godmother, „And hush now – they're waiting for you!“

She doesn't clarify who "they" are, but Lonnie inclines her head in a bow, as does her brother.
There is a limo waiting for them in the school garages.

--- Celia Facilier ---

The sisters are dragged wide-awake by furiously stirring shadows and the whispers of the threads of future, rearranging themselves.

„Something’s wrong,“ they say in unison and their dad gives them a startled look.

The shadows stir again in a pattern that looks like a tornado if one closes their eyes a bit and the tension breaks; Freddie clings to Celia’s arm a bit, and Celia clings back, for just a heartbeat.

Something falls in the other room – the room with the altar – and the sisters know they have to go. They have to trust the Friends to take them, too; „Sorry, daddy, we have to go,“ Celia says before the darkness swallows them.
„We’ll try to be home soon,“ adds Freddie, just in time for the Shadowman to hear.

Then they’re encompassed in the familiar darkness, time and space non-existent around them, the whole world at their fingertips.

Celia stretches out her hand contently, up to her fingers and nails that are just a touch too sharp; she stretches her lips in a smile, too.

The moment of peace doesn’t last long – or maybe it does, one can never tell – but suddenly, Freddie’s elbow is in her ribs, and Celia remembers herself.

„What’s the deal?“ she calls out to the vast nothing.

Freddie’s hand finds her own and she takes it, grateful for the anchor.

„The deal?“ a booming voice answers.

„A favour,“ another voice echoes around them, vibrating through their very bones.

„A favour,“ repeats Freddie in her best silky voice, „What will be the cost of that favour?“

„A favour,“ Celia whispers almost soundlessly,squeezing her sister’s hand. Maybe if they hold eachother strong enough, their nails will pearce eachother’s skin: Maybe the Friends will consider that adequate prize.

Maybe not.

Suddenly, Celia finds herself staring in a pair of glowing eyes, entirely in-human, but what else is new? Friends are like that.

„Just trust our word, little Shadow Witches,“ they say, „And look what at what you should see.“

Celia stares into the orbs as she says: „What’s in for you?“

„It’s a favour,“ the darkness repeats, and the sisters know better than to take that at face value. Celia feels pressure at her fingertips and behind her eyes, and Freddie holds her hand tighter. The eyes blink as she bares her teeth at them, in a smile or in a threat, it’s for them to decide.

Something barely material pokes at her shoulder and the darkness vibrates with amusement before the voice answers: „Make sure she lives. She’s… too interesting to die just yet.“

„What’s in for you?“

„Make sure she lives.“

„What’s in for you,“ Celia repeats with more force in her voice, „We don’t work on good will and promises, and neither do you.“

Laughter echoes around again as the Facilier sisters negotiate with their Friends: A life for a life, an advice for an advice, an eye for an eye. Shadows to Shadows and dust to dust.

Celia’s head buzzes as she stumbles into the material world again – Freddie only just manages to pull her back in.

People are around, and the sisters do not wish to be seen.

Not by King Beast and his council, at any rate.

Celia smirks a bit as Beast’s hand shots up to his temple seemingly without impuls: It seems their old voodoo dolls are still worth playing with, after all.

But Beast isn’t the one they came for – not today, at least.

So the sisters huddle together as they watch: the king and the prince and Fairy Godmother and Arabella, and this is a trial, isn’t it?

It’s a trial, but at least she got one, at least she has a crime to show for it. (Shame she got caught, isn’t it?)

The sisters know of an entire island of children who got neither.

--- Ben Florian, the crown prince of Auradon ---

Ben’s eyes drift over to the corner for just a moment: he thought he saw some movement here, but it must me just his eyes playing trick at him. Middle of the night and all that, there is nothing moving in the shadows.

He catches himself before his thoughts run away again and looks at Arabella instead.

Arabella of Atlantica, he remembers her name, from the day on the beach, how long ago was it?

Doesn’t matter.

Arabella of Atlantica, here she stands, now. A thief and a witch.

She doesn’t cry anymore, though there are dryed up tears on her face – or maybe just saltwater. What does Ben know how mermaid transformation works?

Her eyes are terrifyingly blank and her lips are purple, though several shades lighter than her nails. So pale that it should be worrying, Ben thinks, but neither of the adults present seems to agree.

Lonnie stands half-a-step behind him and when he looks at her, she is scoffing. It’s hard to tell at whom.
Ben briefly touches her hand with his own anyway, an attempt to comfort. Lonnie seems to apperciate it, at least.

Oh, and he’s zoned out again: His father stopped speaking. Reading out the law? Her crimes? Ben couldn’t know. He should try to focus better.

So he looks at Arabella again: She lifts her head and locks eyes with him for a moment before glaring at his father and Fairy Godmother.
„I plead guilty,“ she admits easily, and something shifts in the room. A trick of light, really.
„I plead guilty,“ her voice grows stronger, „And I don’t feel remorse. Whatever you do to me, I’d do it again. No punishment of yours can be worse than staying still–“

She isn’t allowed to finish her speech, and Ben flinches when he realises it is his father who interrupted her; he can barely recognise his voice in that growl, and he doesn’t even bother speaking to her.

„I want her head.“

Ben wishes he could forget these words. Both Lonnie and Shang reach out to squeeze his shoulders as he tries not to listen to the rest of the rant.

Traitors and magic and witches and it’s for everyone’s good and to keep the kingdom safe and she feels no remorse, doesn’t she–

It’s late and he’s just tired, the headaches have been killing him lately, he doesn’t mean it–

„Father–“ he manages to say, finally. The combined clares of King Beast and Fairy Godmother shut him up quickly, and Ben wonders why he was called here?

Not for any input, that seems pretty clear.

He catches Arabella’s eyes and tries to give her a reassuring smile as his father and her grandfather argue about her fate. He tells himself not to mind the coldness of her expression.

„She is just a child!“ King Triton cries out, „For everything that is holy to you, have a heart!“

Ben watches Arabella stiffen, drawing her shoulders up and then forcing them straight again, and wishes he could do anything else, anything else than just watch and listen. He does not want to listen.

Alas, he has no choice.

Lonnie doesn’t let go of his hand when Arabella is sentenced to the Isle of the Lost.

When I am king… that thought runs through Ben’s head before he can silence it, branching up in more ways than he could count, and neither of which he should be thinking.

When I’m the king…