Sera's POV

It's been about half an hour since we got here, and Icy still hasn't shown up. Uma, Mal, and Celia are inside with Doug and Evie. I'm pretty sure Doug and Evie are in her studio, talking about mushy human emotions. I can hear Celia and Uma are eating Jane's birthday cake, while Mal paces.

Me? I'm still outside. From what I can gather, I guess they were still playing tag when Brit collapsed. Hector doesn't know any healing magic, but Arson has been taking an elective class from the nurse at school because he likes being able to help people. So probably Hector went off to not distract my brother, and decided to use his magic to make Brit a bracelet. She liked that on the Isle. She used to hide them under a loose floorboard in her room so her dad wouldn't find them.

Then I'm guessing the second wave of spells hit.

Of course, all of this is guessing. But since I was raised to be freakishly accurate and have amazing senses, I'm 99% sure I'm right.

I'm sitting criss-cross (applesauce, Ar would always add happily), facing the house, wishing Icy would show up and say something to get my mind off of Ar when I hear it. My head whips up, watching in awe as planks of wood fly past me and stick themselves against the house. One catches me in the back, sending me sprawling face-first into the grass.

I sit up, spitting dirt out of my mouth. "Okay." I grumble, standing. "Now I'm mad."

I look behind me just as another plank comes for the mini-castle. I hit the dirt quickly, and it rushes over my head.

"STOP SENDING WOOD AFTER ME!" I shout angrily, scrambling to my feet. One bonks my head, and when my hand jumps up I'm surprised to see blood on my fingers.

Woah... I can bleed? Mind blown.

(Yes, of course I'm being sarcastic. It's not like I was raised on the impression that I was an undefeatable machine.)

"Um, ow!" I complain. One more whaps me in the back. I stumble forward, falling into Evie's studio through the open door just as the last few planks block every available exit.

"STUPID---PRINCESS---SCEPTER---STUPID!" I scream, lunging for the planks. I punch the wood multiple times, but nothing happens.

"Sera?" Mal's voice rings through the house. Following it, I find them all in the main area, clustered in a circle.

"I thought you were outside." Doug says.

"I was." I grumble, touching the spot on my head. "Stupid wood. What is going on?"

Mal shakes her head. "Audrey." She flings her hands out, her eyes flaring green. Man, I love it when she does spells. They always have such fun outcomes!

"You've caused my friends pain and fear, we've had enough, now disappear!" She cries.

We wait.

Man, no fun outcomes.

"You guys, I'm sorry, my spells aren't working!" Mal yells, rubbing her hands together. "Audrey's magic is getting stronger!"

I hear a really weird pulsing from next to me, and turn to see Uma's seashell necklace glowing golden.

Okay, maybe that kind of shiny would be okay.

Uma steps forward and grabs Mal's hand. Like an unspoken agreement, together they raise their hands in the air, repeating Mal's spell at the same time as each other.

For a minute... nothing happens.

And then all the planks fall off of the exits as one, piling on top of one another.

"YEAH!" I cheer. "FUN OUTCOME!!"

Evie laughs, focusing on Mal and Uma. "You did it." She says, sounding smug. Just a tad. "Together. This is what I've been talking about."

Uma smiles. A real smile. Yeesh, I shuddered there, a real smile on Shrimpy's face is so outta whack.

"I guess my shell likes you." Uma says to Mal.

Mal laughs, and Uma reaches inside her shell necklace, pulling out a teensy blue stone and putting it into Mal's hands. "Why don't you hold onto that?"

Mal, still holding the stone, puts her fist out. Uma smirks slightly and fist-bumps her while Celia moves towards the door. She peers out, then turns to us with a grin on her face.

"Hey." She says all sing-songy to Mal. "It's your bae."

Mal gasps and pushes in front of the rest of us, running for the door. All of us follow her outside, and I have to do a double-take when I see Mal hugging a bearded boy tight. And that Jane is here as well, holding what looks like a water pistol.

Waaaaait a second.

"Jane!" I yelp. She flinches. "Your party was at the Enchanted Lake, right?"

"Um. Yes."

"Is that lake water?" I point.

She looks down. "Yes, but I'm all out."

I deflate just as fast as I inflated. Stupid balloon analogies. "Oh."

"Did you find Arson?" Icy asks, coming over to me. Even after traipsing through the woods, she still looks awesome. Black-white-blue hair neatly arranged and her leather outfit not with a speck on it. Even her blue nail polish hasn't chipped! Meanwhile I'm sure I have red-eye, stuffy-red-nose, and tear tracks on my face.

"He's a statue." I say shortly. Icy's whole expression changes, and I can tell she wants to give me a hug. Her arms even raise a teensy bit, before dropping back down like she can already tell it wouldn't help right now. I need to look strong, not weak.

Everyone else is busy greeting one another, nobody but me surprised to see Jane. Or question Ben's beard and... are those fangs? Ohhh, don't tell me Beasty is related to Dracula. Because I met him once on the Isle, and he freaked me out so bad.

Ben finally makes eye contact with Uma. "I always knew you'd be part of the solution."

"I didn't." I volunteer. Everyone kind of laughs.

"What is this?" Mal asks, rubbing his beard.

"Yeah, what is that?" I mutter to Icy.

She sighs. "Long story. He was a Beast, Jane used Enchanted Lake water on him, and he turned into... that." She waves her arms in his direction. I nod, and she narrows her eyes at me. "Okay, you just missed a huge joke opportunity. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Don't say your fine, Sera. I know you're not."

My head tilts to one side. "Hey, I said that to you."

She grins, nodding. "I was wondering if you'd remember. You said that to me after I found out Hades was my dad, while we were on our way back to Auradon to take down Uma."

"I'm assuming you'll repeat the rest of whatever I said to me?"

Her grin grows. "Holding in your feelings won't make the problems end faster. I reworded that sentence to fit the situation."

I snort. "Fine, so I'm not fine. But it's fine. I just really hate not being able to protect what family I have left."

Her mouth quirks downward sadly. "Well, even if Arson is under the spell, as soon as we defeat Audrey, he'll come out of it. Or, heck, we can just go get some lake water if worst comes to worst. And think of it this way---No matter how many family members have ditched you in the past, you'll always have us here to have your back."

"You, Ellie, might be the most ideal friend in the world." I decide, side-hugging her.

She laughs. "Hey, you used my real name."

I let go of her in horror. "Oh, no, did I? We must repair this quickly. TIME MACHINE, HO!"

She cracks up. 

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First things first: I changed my profile because as much as I love Keeper, I wanted a new profile that was something I love right now. And I freaking LOVE Jasmine in the new live-action Aladdin, so she'll be my profile for a little while. I'll probably change it to "Legacy" when the book comes out in a few months. 

Second: I wish I could invent a way to become a kid again. Watching Aladdin this past Saturday, it really made me feel the Disney magic I don't feel very often but I felt every day when I was little. I want to be little again, when the world was just do this, laugh at that, don't worry about a thing and live life however you want. 

Nowadays... my backpack is so heavy there's a spot on my spine that won't stop aching... *groan*. 

Anways. I hope you guys liked this chapter of Ellie! We're creeping closer and closer to the end of D3... mwahahahaaaaa you have no idea (Well except for one fan whose name I can't find for some reason in my inbox) what's coming after D3... mwahahahahahaaaa.