Chapter Text
nobody tells evie that the museum had been broken into, she finds out on her own. well, not really on her own. it’s jay who tells her, wicked smile gone and replaced with a pair of sad, scared eyes that she hadn’t seen since before they left the isle.
she remembers her heart dropping in her chest and the pain of perfect apple red digging into her palms. she thinks that it was the first time she felt truly angry and it becomes clear to her that mal is a shitty person and an even worse queen. the minute she is put into a position of power she breaks promises and hearts. now, mal will always mean something to her. evie loved her from the moment she met her. even though the mal she thought she knew was gone, evie would never hurt her.
jay was angry too, she could see that, he was very easy to read when you knew him as well as she did. evie could only imagine how carlos felt, he had felt so passionate about getting children away from their abusive families and into a safe home, and he knew that the small shelters they had built wouldn’t last forever. thin steel walls never keeped out cruella, after all. she knows he still has nightmares, jay told her about it nearly every morning since they had gotten there. at the beginning mal had cared, she had cared so much. but now it seemed like it was just ben and mal, her three best friends long forgotten, side characters even though they had come to auradon together.
evie loved ben, she really did. he was sweet and naive and caring which the four of them appreciated since the only place they found that was in each other. even if nothing ever got done the way it should, at least he was trying, right? jay didn’t see him the same way, always tightening his grip on her or carlos when the boy-king came around, like he was going to take them away like he did to mal. carlos thought he was kind, but he still felt like more could be done.
but when the her and her boys sat quiet in evie’s dorm, (mal had moved to ben’s room, it made the three of them cry, like they had truly lost her) they all agreed this wasn’t out of their hands just yet. they could still talk to mal, or figure something else out.
well, it turned out mal was not changing her mind after the scepter being stolen, in fact she brushed it off with a laugh like the only option was to close off their childhood home. evie had to keep jay from tearing apart ben when he saw them leaving mal’s/ben’s office, for he was convinced this wasn’t mal’s decision but ben’s. he was king after all.
the whole kingdom was freaking out once a maid accidentally slipped to the paparazzi that the scepter was gone. but, maleficent was still locked up in her little cage and uma was still lost at sea. everybody thought it had been uma, of course, but the three older vks knew better, and so did the new younger ones. carlos and jay had been busy babysitting the twins because celia and dizzy were currently on a bakery tour paid for with audrey’s money. the princess had fallen in love with the girls the minute she met them, and her and evie had made up over the past months. in fact, audrey and evie had spent so much time together bonding over their parental figures that the two princesses had been in the middle of deciding to share a room before the scepter had gone missing.
before they had gone with audrey, dizzy had begged them not to send them back, saying that they didn’t steal anything (even though evie had caught jay the other day teaching squirmy how to get extra chocolate at meal times). evie had reassured them that there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that they didn’t do it.
jane’s birthday was today, and the party was cancelled because of the missing scepter. carlos had been so upset because him and jane were really good friends and he knew how excited she had been for that. the only good thing that happened was that lonnie had texted them saying that she’d bring the swords if they needed to kick anybody’s ass today, it made the three of them smile at least.
even though the twins were literally adorable in every way, their moods were still sour. evie had researched about a thousand ways to overrule a royal decision, and none of them would work in their situation. jay suggested that maybe they just find out who stole the scepter and take them down, and carlos agreed with him. evie hated hurting people, but she would if people she loved were at stake or she was provoked.
“do you think there’s a spell, for like, tracking it?” jay props his chin on his fist, “it’s not like maleficent is stupid, i bet if we get mal’s spell book we could find it.”
evie shakes her head, “even if there was, the museum is probably closed and there’s no way we can ask for the spellbook without sounding super suspicious.” she looks outside the window to where carlos and the twins are chasing dude around, evie smiles softly. “i’m scared that whoever has it will come after us, maybe it’s an auradonian that thinks we don’t belong or something.” she turns to him, smile gone. “who do you think it is?
jay shrugs and leans back to stretch, “i’m not sure, if i don’t say uma will i get beheaded?” he means it as a joke but it falls flat because who knows at this point. evie prays they don’t go after uma because in her heart she knows that the teal haired girl would never do something like this, she has her own power and she doesn’t need anybody else’s. evie and uma could’ve been friends, even though her and mal were enemies. evie will be the first to admit she wished she had tried to talk to her, because truly even uma and her crew deserves to be in auradon.
“i think it would be better for everyone if uma was on our side, but mal would never agree, and neither would uma.” jay nods in agreement before reaching out to squeeze her knee for comfort, the two teenagers smile for a moment before they go back to worrying in silence.
jay speaks up after a minute, “the only way to get her back is if we had something she wanted. as far as we know she hates us and everything here so there goes that plan.”
evie perks up, “what if harry and gil were here? maybe if she saw how happy they were we could get her too.” she knows that she wouldn’t have come to auradon without carlos, jay, or mal. and it wasn’t like they didn’t deserve to be here, the twins always ask about harry because he took care of all the kids of the wharf, and gil was a ray of sunshine. ben was right when he said uma was a leader, they needed her here in auradon, to make a change.
jay seems hopeful before it simmers out, “she wouldn’t even think about coming unless her whole crew and ship were here, and auradon isn’t ready for pirates.” she laughs and nods in agreement, auradon certainly wasn’t ready for pirates, especially uma’s.
she hears the back door open and the sound of laughter, this makes both jay and evie smile again, “there’s lemonade on the counter!” she calls as she stands up to help them, and jay follows her.
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it’s an hour before lonnie calls her asking if the twins could come over to her dorm because audrey was bringing the girls. evie of course said yes, she knew how much the two of them loved babysitting, no matter the child. they tell carlos their thoughts, because he thinks twice about things whereas evie’s heart is too big and jay is too impulsive. “say we went to the isle, harry would never agree. he doesn’t trust us and he’s already lost uma, he won’t let himself lose gil too.” they both nod because he’s right, of course.
“but what if it’s the only way? at least if we tried we’d know.” evie’s voice does that stupid hopeful thing that makes jay’s heart melt, she can see it right on his face.
“nothing’s happened yet, eve. it’s probably just someone playing a prank or something. It seems scary but it probably isn’t.” carlos is always the voice of reason between them, so she trusts his words and allows herself to relax a little. she reaches for the remote and messes with it before it turns to the channel that always plays movies. evie knows this one, it’s about the blonde girl that likes to wear pink and goes to law school. audrey had shown her it and now it’s her favorite movie.
carlos sits next to her, his head on her shoulder and jay soon follows to sit next to him. and for a while it’s calm. jay tells her how the blonde girl reminds him of evie and carlos likes her dog. evie tells them how ugly she thinks the clothes are for everybody except for the main character. of course, nothing is ever that simple, because just when carlos starts to drift off and jay is already long gone, the channel switches abruptly startling evie and knocking carlos awake.
it’s just changed to the news channel, which manages to calm her down a little before she sees the panicked reporter in front of a bunch of sleeping people in the background. carlos’ eyes widen next to her and he shakes jay awake. evie reaches for his hand to squeeze as the reporter says something about ‘mysterious spell’. her heart is beating so fast as she turns to the boys with the look in her eyes that tells them everything.
⋆¸*ೃ☼
evie’s forgotten how cold it is on the isle. there’s no sunlight, so it shouldn’t surprise her, and even though they were wearing dark clothing to disguise themselves, the rags seemed thin and perfect for air to creep in and chill their bones. however, the rags were from auradon so that was impossible. carlos was shaking, but not out of the temperature, it was because he was scared. scared of his mother and the pirates they would have to face because the last time they were here the weak link had been kidnapped. carlos feared he would be the weak link if he wasn’t careful.
she’s scared too, because this can’t fail. this is what she truly is here for, to save the forgotten children of this wretched place. and although she swore she’d never stay, if mal closes the barrier she just might. the air feels heavy as they near the docks, the telltale smell of seafood thick with slightly moldy bread and wine. evie was strong now, she had to be. she had to handle this like a leader, because she was now. jay and carlos were older and stronger, but she prayed their strength would be wasted. all she wanted today was to somehow convince uma’s boys to help them find her, and the more she thought about it the less likely it seemed.
carlos said they should stop at the fish restaurant first, before storming right into their home base. and if carlos said it, it had to be right. as the large sign comes into view, jay draws near to her, and suddenly she misses the safety of being behind mal. today she is exposed, anyone could kill her and she would be so unprepared. the other day when they visited, they stayed in the plaza close to auradon where it was safe. now there was nothing keeping them safe, not anymore.
curious looks were thrown their way, but jay’s demeanor was threatening even when he was hidden, so nobody bothered them. they neared the entrance of the shoppe, and she looked at them one last time before going inside, her boys following in suit. heads turned their way but the only two that she cared about was the one with curly black hair, a hook in hand and his sunshine. somebody leaned over to tell him what evie assumed to be three ominous figures. as harry turned around, he caught his eye and lowered her hood, not blinking once.
beside him, gil’s eyes flickered with recognition and a small frown settled over his usually smiling face. harry, however, had a dark smirk settle over his face that the three reformed vks knew was the kind you’d see before you died. “well, well, well.” his footsteps pounded on the creaky floor as everything was silent. “didn’t think you’d ever come back here.” he pouts mockingly, “jay, did you miss me that much?”
jay growls but evie shakes her head, “i need to talk to the two of you-” she gestures to the door. “-outside.” harry laughs in response but gil stands up and walks to him.
“if this is about auradon, the whole crew already sworn off your fuckin’ program.” evie shakes her head again. “no? well i’m sorry we don’t do business with traitors.” everybody in the restaurant laughs as evie’s face burns with embarrassment.
“mal wants to close the barrier.” carlos shoved evie behind as he interrupted to spare his friend any more anxiety. the shoppe goes quiet again so he tries to fill it, “forever.” evie appreciates his efforts but he probably just landed them in even hotter water than before. she watches harry’s face as it changes emotions about six different times before he takes carlos’ arm and motions to gil. he takes the three of them outside and they stop in the alley, where evie shrugs off her cloak so it hangs in her arm. jay takes off his hood and tries to look as menacing as possible.
harry’s voice is quiet as he talks, it’s still threatening but it’s not as loud and strong as it was. “why’d she do that?”
evie clears her throat and speaks up from behind carlos, “somebody has her mom’s scepter and they’ve already cast a sleeping spell. she thinks this is the only option.
jay speaks up next to her, “we’ve tried to talk to her but she doesn’t listen.”
“you better not be lying to me, princess blueberry, i promise i have no problem hooking you, even if you are princey’s advisor.”
gil hums in agreement and even though his hands fiddle like he’s nervous, his voice and posture are solid. “why do you need to talk to us?”
evie inhales, here comes the cold water. “we need uma’s help, she’s the only person that i trust enough to do this.” gil is confused and harry’s face is neutral on the surface but evie knows he’s thinking. “we can’t find her, but if we have something she wants, we think we will be able to get her here.”
a beat of silence passes before harry bursts out laughing, clutching his midsection. “you think i’m going to lead you right to my captain just for you to lock all of us away? auradon really has rotted your brain, even more than i thought.” gil’s lips are pressed together, unimpressed and calculating.
jay’s fists tighten next to her, but he presses words through gritted teeth. “evie thinks she knows where uma could be, and even if she was lying just to capture uma, nobody but her has magic, you guys could get away so easy once we found her.” evie will thank him indefinitely later, she knows how much he dislikes harry. the blue eyed boy’s laughter dies down but his eyebrows are furrowed now with a deadly look that scares her a little.
carlos speaks up, “i’ve never made a promise i didn’t keep, and i know that doesn’t mean anything to you, but i promise this is real, we won’t capture uma, or you, for that matter.” gil smiles at him, and when gil smiles, you can’t help but smile back.
“how do we know you’re not lying?” it’s gil this time that speaks and evie pretends she doesn’t hear the vulnerability in his voice because it’s too painful. harry nods at his statement, and evie hopes this doesn’t end the way most things on the isle do.
jay answers him, “if anytime you want to leave, i’ll drive you back here myself.” evie recognizes it as a true promise, the very same one he gave to mal before cotillon. she lets herself smile softly.
it takes a minute of reassurance before gil was beaming and harry seemed to be having a hard time saying no to that face. “wait here.” his voice is stern as he takes gil by the hand back into the restaurant. evie slips back on her cloak before wrapping her arms around carlos and jay.
“thank you.” she whispers before pressing a kiss onto each of their forehead. she knows that jay doesn’t like pirates. (well, gil less so but she knows he doesn’t like harry) and she knows that although carlos is strong he hates conflict. he was brave, they both were and she loved them for it.
when the other two came back, harry had a small satchel tied around his waist and gil’s smile had gotten bigger as he chittered on about how excited he was. harry had a hand around his shoulder as they walked to where carlos had stowed the car. it wasn’t the limo, but it would fit the five of them just the same.