Chapter Text
~(Your/Name) POV~
The smell of the Bayou was never exceedingly pleasant. Considering its basically the swamp meant it was never going to be a sweet scent- however, today had been tolerable as it had been raining; the rain always made the air fresh, the waters more clear and the soil smell strongly. Therefore, I was able to take a comfortable seat outside my home as the atmosphere was not as pungent as usual. Despite the rain coming to a stop, I continued to wear my large crimson red sun hat which draped at the edges- almost touching my shoulders. The edges dipped so low in order to obscure the view of my face (my childhood had an awfully large part in that situation) meaning I almost didn't catch sigh of a dim emerald glass bottle bobbing along through the water weeds.
The bottle had a rolled up paper inside it- the types of messages in bottles you would hear of in story books- and seemed to adorn the graceful crest of Auradon Prep. My eyes instinctively widened when I'd realized this, meaning my whole body shot up into action too: my knees dragged me closer to the water, my arms went flailing around as I attempted to grab up the little message and desperate incoherent noises tumbled from my mouth- they were meant to be pleas that the bottle would float closer to my grasp. Thankfully, the glass gently nudged against my finger tips, allowing me to hoist the bottle up into my hands; light reflecting from the shield over the isle bounced off the dim bottle. My eyes temporarily gazed at the shield over the isle- it stopped all us villains from escaping the Isle of the lost and protected all the royals over the ocean, in Auradon.
The rolled up paper from the bottle was an odd yet pleasant beige with a wax blue seal- the letter showcased a lush italic font which was some of the most difficult writing I'd ever seen (it didn't help the fact that I had only learnt basic reading from my mother's old papers); the letter opened with a paragraph that just praised the reputation of Auradon and practically spat on the existence of the isle shrouded in darkness. A scoff tempted to escape my mouth- until I noticed the second paragraph opening:
"We cordially invite you to Auradon Prep"
My gaping jaw slowly shut, as the words replayed several times over in my mind- so King Ben wasn't lying when the VKs defeated Uma, he was actually inviting more kids from the Isle. One of my hands sub consciously rose to trace over my left eye- if i went to Auradon then i would have to make excuses about why i covered that half of my face with my hair or hat. However, being in Auradon meant having a better life over all: no danger of villainous kids or parents, no crime, better health and living conditions. So, with barely any energy left in my body, I hoisted myself up from the porch and prepared for the journey to Auradon tomorrow.
............................................
I'd made my way into the town centre earlier than the limo was planned to arrive- surprisingly, some of the other invited kids were crowding around with their parents! It was strange to see a villain trailing after their children in order to say goodbye to them. Among these villains, I managed to set eyes on Drizella Tremaine along with her sister and mother- Dizzy Tremaine excitedly bouncing as she awaited the limo to Auradon. Lady Tremaine was old enough to be classified ancient by now, her sickly green eyes bore into everyone's worst fear; she was a close friend of my mother. Dizzy eventually set eyes on me and rushed over in a blur of multi-colour ruffles, "(Y/N)! You were invited to Auradon to?" she excitedly enquired, giving me a hasty hug before her trio of guardians approached. My eyes hesitantly travelled up to Lady Tremaine's- barely. visible from beneath my hat-, "Lady Tremaine" I greeted, slightly bowing my head. Even on an isle of Villains, there was a hierarchy.
"(Y/N)" my name was spat out of the older woman's mouth, earning an internal flinch from me, "how is your mother? I haven't seen nor heard from her in months" the greying Tremaine made it sound more like a life threatening interrogation than general conversation. My hands began wringing together nervously, "well... unfortunately Madame Medusa had an incident with the... alligators in the bayou, she won't really be available anymore" I mumbled, mentally cursing out at my mother (not that I regretted her death, but because of how she treated me before her death). Lady Tremaine hummed suspiciously before turning her back to me, "I apologize for your loss" her tone wasn't in the least bit sincere but it was obvious that was the end of our conversation. A heavy sigh escaped me- what more could happen?
I violently flinched when a freezing object was pressed against the back of my neck- I even tried to jump forward, but I was held back by an oddly contrasting warmth around my wrist. "Well, well, well- look what we 'ave here" a familiar deep Scottish accent spoke lowly from behind me, his smirk practically visible in my mind after just hearing his voice. I pulled my wrist back, escaping from his light grasp and smiled up to the brunette man "Hi, Harry". It was no surprise to me that Harry had aged relatively well- and by that I mean that he definitely lived up to the attractive rumours spread about him. At that moment in time, his short brown hair was wild and barely swept over his eyes, his eyes were still an ocean blue: very fitting considering his pirate based attire. A blood red leather jacket and a shining silver hook in his hand- like father, like son.
"You've been invited to Auradon too? Or did you just come for a show?" I asked, knowing full well Harry could be up to either. His smirk was vibrant amongst the crowd of frowning villains, "I was invited" he stated, giving a slow look up and down at my appearance "but I'm not going" he assured. My brow raised, I was unfazed by his looks by now, "you're not? Why? What's the point of even coming to the pick up point if you aren't coming?" I crossed my arms over my chest- not angrily, but rather curiously. Harry hummed, "I was hopin' I would find you here, (Y/N)" he admitted, absent mindedly turning in slow circles around me; it was like he was trying to torment me or something.
"Well aren't you lucky. But why we're you looking for me? It's been a while and nothing has changed as far as I know it" I was almost being snarky, which was natural for a kid on the isle so Harry still acted as himself. He stopped temporarily, staring into the reflection of his artificial hook, "I was planin' on askin' ye' to stay- after all, us villain kids have no business in Bore-don" he raised a valid point. I'd heard of the struggles the original VK's had when they first transitioned to Auradon; the suspicion surrounding them, being ostracized and having no peace around the royals. Then of course with my own worries about my past and its scars. The offer to stay was increasingly enticing.
One of my hands rested on my hip while the other pointed at Harry's vicinity, "what's your game, Hook? I don't see you asking any other kids to stay behind- why would I waste my chance to have a better life?" the man gave me a sly glance, "because I'm staying?" he jokingly offered as an excuse. He quickly added on, "bein' there would be like livin' with our parents all over again: we'd be ridiculed" his accent turned deeper, like it raked through his entire being as his opinion became more enticing than the thought of Auradon. Within the next few minutes of one sided bargaining, a sleak midnight limousine had rolled up to the town centre and a chauffeur stepped out holding a list- the list obviously had the names of all the kids expected to go. I gave one look at the limo: it's shadowed Windows, it's comfortable leather seats revealed from the wide open door-- then I looked at the grinning Harry Hook: he held his hand out with a lopsided smile that reminded me of our childhood together.
My hand intertwined with Harry's before we bounded off so that we wouldn't even hear our names being called out.