Chapter Text
"The rest of the year in detention! A full year of this!"
Uliana is fuming. In fact, she's never been this mad. Even to her friends, she's intimidating. Morgie and Hook have to run to keep up with her, and even the usually cocky young pirate doesn't dare interrupt her furious rambling. They stride into the forest and straight to their lair. It's late; they have only just come out of their first evening of detention, Hades and Maleficent have disappeared somewhere (probably in the girl's room), but Uliana isn't about to let the nocturnal hour or the absence of two of her group stop her. She has a revenge to plan.
And she knows exactly where to start.
In the past 24 hours, since they've been discovered in Merlin's office, she's noticed something strange. Red and Chloe are nowhere to be seen. They haven't been to class, or at recess, their rooms seem deserted (she checked), and she overheard Bridget and Ella wondering where they might be. This complete disappearance, right after the cookbook showdown, feels suspicious.
But if they think they can hide eternally, they're wrong. She's a sea witch; she has her way of knowing things.
"What are you waiting for? Light it!" she barks at the boys the moment they reach the lair.
Hook and Morgie light the fire that she uses to communicate with the spirits. Without Hades' hellfire, the process takes longer, as the flames struggle to grow in the damp atmospere. Uliana is pacing and grumbling as they struggle. At last, though, the fire is strong enough for the familiar streaks of magical smoke to come pouring out of the altar.
The two boys watch as the sea witch casts her spell, then unscrews a tiny vial in her pocket and pulls out two hairs — red and blue — which she throws into the fire. They don't dare ask where she got those. The smoke intensifies, and rises in the lair, filling up the whole room, but giving no answer. Soon Hook and Morgie have to cover their mouths and noses with their sleeves.
"I think it's not working, Uli!" Morgie wheezes.
The sea witch is getting increasingly frustrated. She screams in rage, dropping from her levitation and back in front of the altar.
"I can see that!" she screaches at Morgie before turning back to the altar. "Come on, why aren't you working? Find them!"
In what looks like one final effort, the smoke twists, tangles over itself, gathers in one huge floating smoke ball, and explodes. There's a ring similar to that of a nuclear energy, and for a fleeting second, they can see the faces of Red and Chloe on the staircase of Merlin Academy, holding a small object which they click before disappearing. Then the smoke clears and the image disappears. Morgie and Hook turn to Uliana, coughing. The sea witch is panting and has to steady herself on the side of the altar, but she has the firm, determined look of someone who isn't about to give up.
"They're gone", she admits through gritted teeth. "They're nowhere within reach. The last time they were anywhere in this realm was yesterday night. The thing they were holding, did you see what it was? Ugh, useless", she mutters as the boys shake their heads. "Okay. Again."
She straightens herself, turns back to the altar, and casts her spell again. It's easier this time, now that she knows where and when to search. Again, the smoke fills the room, and this time, the image is clearer, more stable. The three of them watch the scene taking place before their eyes.
"This belongs to you", Chloe says, her voice weirdly distorted by the effects of the smoke, pulling an object from inside her coat and handing it to Red.
The rebel takes it and looks at it for a moment before raising it between them. This time, the three villains can clearly see what it is — a golden pocket watch, rather large in size. They watch on, in search for more clues, as Red asks, "Ready?", and Chloe responds "Ready", resting a hand on the pocket watch, on top of Red's hand. They click it, the air around them seems to distort, there's a golden aura around them, and then they're gone.
"A pocket watch!" Morgie exclaims. "It was a pocket watch."
"I saw that, idiot!" Uliana snaps back. "The question now is where did it take them."
She starts pacing again, thinking out loud.
"Did they change realms? That would explain that my detection spell didn't pick up on them. But they didn't feel like they came from another realm, I would have sensed their aura. Of course they might have simply teleported, but then how can they evade me?"
"We could ask Maddox", Hook suggest casually.
He's sitting in an armchair with his feet on the armrest, polishing his hook. He doesn't look at Uliana as he speaks, but when she stops pacing, indicating that he's got her attention, he shoots her a side glance.
"Maddox?" Uliana repeats warily.
"The son of the Hatter", Hook explains. "He's a freshman."
"Huh! That explains it, I don't talk to freshmen. What use would he be?"
Hook takes his feet of the armrest in one smooth, graceful movement and stands, leaning on the back of the armchair, looking at her with a slight smirk.
"Well, he's got this whole thing with clocks and time and all. Maybe he would know what that thing was."
Uliana stares at him. The boy returns her gaze.
"Fine. Let's ask him."
Hook kicks himself off the armchair with a smug grin.
***
Maddox Hatter is a quiet kid, not in a shy way, but rather in a calm and composed way. He doesn't waste words, and when he speaks, he speaks in a matter-of-fact, to-the-point tone. He doesn't particularly stand out, neither as a popular kid nor as an outcast. His classmates are used to his demeanour and he gets along well with them, without being particularly close to any of them. He doesn't particularly enjoy high school, but he doesn't actively hate it either; he's just getting through it. Sure, he's got a bit of a weird obsession for hat fashion and clocks, but compared to some of the grandiloquent personalities around him, he remains in the range of "fairly normal".
In short, Maddox Hatter isn't a particularly noticeable kid.
Therefore, it comes as a huge surprise to him when, late at night, the self-proclaimed Queen of the School, Uliana, and two of her crooners come knocking at his door.
The moment he opens the door, he is faced with wide, friendly grins. A vague sense of dread and unease awakens inside of him. The reputation of these three preceeds them.
"Hi!"
Uliana's grin makes him think that this girl just never learnt how to be friendly. She feels like an alien trying to learn how to copy human behaviour. It's somewhere between sad and uncanny — at any rate, not encouraging.
"We, ah, wanted to pay a visit to our dear friend Maddel!"
"Maddox", Hook corrects her.
Uliana laughs, in a demonstration of what is probably meant to be humor but just looks maniacal instead.
"Maddox, Maddox, of course." She snaps out of it and leans towards him, glancing around the corridor. "Can we come in?" she whispers in a secretive tone.
No matter how wary he is of these three, and how weirdly they're acting, Maddox knows what's good for him, and saying no to Uliana definitely doesn't fall under that category. He shrugs indifferently and steps back to let them in. The three bullies sneak into his room quickly, closing the door behind them.
Maddox' room looks more like an inventor's lab than a student's dorm. Every flat surface, from the floor to the top of the shelves, is littered with gears, springs, wires, crystals. Many of his attempted or half-finished creations look like some sort of clock or watch, ranging from wrist watches to huge cuckoo clocks. There's a sun dial on one side of the bed, leaving just enough space on the matress for the boy to curl up at night. Uliana looks around, then raises her eyebrows appreciatively. Hook smirks at her.
"Told ya."
"Hey, it's a little birdie!"
Morgie has picked up the bird figure from the cuckoo clock and is showing it to the others.
"Um, please don't touch stuff", Maddox requests, holding out his hand towards the bird.
All of a sudden, he has a sinking feeling that this might be exactly why they came — to destroy his stuff, or worse, mock him because of it. It would be pretty fitting to what he knows of Uliana to act all friendly only to stab you in the back the next second. But to his surprise, when Morgie glances questionningly at his leader, she gives him another grimacing smile and nods.
"Go on Morgie, give it back to our friend", she prompts.
Somehow, this makes her even scarier.
Morgie makes bird noises — he can imitate a bird surprisingly well, Maddox notices — and flies the little figure gently into the younger boy's palm. Maddox sets it back on the workbench (aka, his desk) and, in one smooth, all-encompassing look, makes sure that everything else is still in order.
"Look at this", Uliana orders behind him.
He turns around to find she is pointing at a sheet of paper Morgie is holding, with such childish pride radiating from him that it's impossible to doubt he is the author of the drawing. The picture, remarkably elaborate, is that of a pocket watch.
"Please", Hook adds, elbowing the girl.
Maddox takes the drawing from Morgie and studies it carefully, but he can't see anything special about it. Somewhat confused, he looks up at the other three.
"Well?" Uliana insists.
Maddox wonders if they're stupid.
"It's a pocket watch", is his tranquil response.
"I can see that!" Uliana snaps.
Hook seems to decide it's time to step in. He kicks himself off the side of the shelves where he's been leaning and steps in front of Uliana.
"We just saw someone click it and disappear", he explains. "As in, fully disappear, untraceable."
The boy's apprehension melts away as his curiosity is peaked. Distrustful as he is of the three teens, he can't resist the call of mistery.
"Untraceable by a detection spell?" he clarifies.
Hook nods.
"Well, there could be magic infused into the pocket watch. They could have changed realms…"
"Why would they do that? And which realm would they go?" Uliana interrupts, in a tone that indicates she's thought about this before, and hasn't found the theory satisfying — in blunter words, she thinks he's stupid, judging by the mixture of exasperation and impatience.
Maddox shrugs and goes on, ignoring the interruption.
"…or they could have travelled through time."
"Oh, oh, because it's a watch!" Morgie exclaims, raising his hand as if begging a teacher to call on him.
Uliana's eyes light up with an obsessive spark.
"Time travellers? Yes, that's it! That would explain why they felt so off", she thinks out loud.
She steps towards Maddox, who doesn't budge, though he leans away from her slightly.
"Can you find out where they went?"
"Not from a picture. I'd need some traces of the magic they used."
"Traces?"
He grabs a device on his desk that looks like a very complex wrist watch. It has several small dials, tiny hands and buttons all around.
"This can trace and measure magical activity. Do you know where they were when they used it?"
"Yes! Yes we do!" Morgie exclaims happily.
"Alright, let's go", Maddox decides, stuffing the magic tracer in his pocket.
The four of them creep out of the room and Maddox follows the other three to the courtyard, where Uliana indicates an outside staircase.
"There. They were standing right there."
Maddox pulls out the tracer and starts configurating it.
"The sooner after the magic was used, the better", he explains, carefully tweaking buttons. "When did they use it?"
"Yesterday evening."
Maddox grimaces as he holds up the tracer.
"That's almost too late. It would take really powerful magic to leave readable traces even— woah!"
The tracer whirrs and its hands start turning so fast the device heats up. Beeps and whistle sounds emanate from it with an intensity that Maddox has never seen it produce, then the device stabilizes, and it does so with such certainty and precision that Maddox finds himself thinking it knows that magic. And then I know that magic. Yet it's not a magic that he's ever encountered; the values are completely unfamiliar to him. No, that knowledge feels different, instinctive, more intimate. It's like a deep, emotional recognition.
Maddox Hatter, what's going on with you? It's not like him to get caught up in emotional speculation. He's got a mystery to solve. And behind him, Uliana is getting impatient.
"Well? Did it work?"
Maddox nods.
"Where— When did they go?"
"Here", he replies, reading the values. "But not now. About thirty to thirty-five years in the future."
"That's it?"
Uliana lets out a cry of rage.
"You don't know when, or who they were, or how we can get to them? God, why am I surrounded by so much incompetence?"
"That's what I've got. Take it or leave it."
"Ugh!"
Uliana turns on her heel and storms away. Hook rolls his eyes and follows her — Maddox gets a fleeting feeling that eye roll wasn't meant as an insult to him, but an expression of annoyance towards her. Morgie looks between the two of them and Maddox with visible uncertainty. Eventually, he gives the other boy a sorry look.
"That's really the best you can do? She's gonna be in a horrible mood for days if we don't find them. And when she's in a bad mood, she's mean to me…"
"Isn't she always mean to you?" Maddox notes, cocking an eyebrow.
Morgie shrugs.
"Ehh. Sometimes she's nice."
He pauses.
"When she needs something from me, mostly."
Another pause.
"And when other people are mean to me. But that doesn't happen anymore. Everyone's too scared of her."
No wonder, Maddox thinks. Then he thinks, I have some thoughts about your understanding of friendship. But he's not going to dig into that now. He nods in understanding, then glances at the tracer again.
"Don't tell her this yet, but I think I might be able to replicate the magic. To take us to them. Emphasis on might."
"You mean… Time travel?"
"Ideally. I'm not sure, though, so don't get your hopes up."
Morgie doesn't seem to have heard the last part of his sentence. His eyes have gone from "sad puppy" to "overexcited golden retriever". He's bouncing on the balls of his feet, giddy with excitement.
"That's so cool! We're going to time travel! Even Uli's magic can't do that!"
"I said maybe", Maddox insists.
"Time travel! Time travel!" Morgie chants, happily jumping around.
"Shh! It's past curfew, if people hear us we're gonna get in trouble!"
The boy quiets down, but continues chanting "time travel, time travel, time travel" under his breath. Maddox gestures him back towards the dorms, and the boy follows. There's something about him that decidedly screams golden retriever. Even when he turns into his corridor, leaving Morgie to climb the stairs to the junior's dorms, he can still hear him whispering to himself:
"Time travel, time travel, time travel…"