♝♗

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓:

𝐷 𝑂 𝑂 𝑀 𝐴 𝑁 𝐷 𝐺 𝐿 𝑂 𝑂 𝑀

"Jax is here? In Auradon?" Allie couldn't decide between being shocked or happy. But after a little while, she was left with fright. She was afraid of what would happen if the rulers discovered her friend. She understood why they kept it from her for all those months, one false move and she'd be forced to go straight to the king and queen with new information. Though she'll admit that it hurt that he'd been there for a while without her knowing, before reminding herself that it was safer that way. She was just thankful that thanks to Jane, she no longer had to live with that curse.

"He won't be for much longer if anyone sees him," Wyc mentioned, "And now that everyone's awake? He's a sitting duck."

Jane was quick to try and bring some optimism to the group, "Not if Jax gets to Harry in time, he and the villain kids could help him get back to you guys."

"We would, he's our friend," Gil nodded in agreement.

"He's our family," Wyc got defensive, "I'd like to know more about this pirate boyfriend, why hasn't Jax mentioned him before? Why didn't he tell us any of this? And why the hell would he sacrifice going home for this guy?" But Wyc knew why Jax risked it, the dumbass fell in love. He knew that he just didn't understand it. Wyc didn't like admitting it, but he's never been in love before, he didn't know what it was like, so he didn't understand why Jax would leave to go find him.

And that was when Binx decided to get on everyone's nerves. "I know why he didn't tell us," The werecat motioned to Wyc, Allie, and himself. He swayed playfully around all of them, like a cat toying with a mouse. "Blondie over here wasn't even allowed to know Jax was around, but us?" He gestured to himself and Wyc, "Pff, do you know how much pressure and doubt we would've put on the kid?" He kept swaying, "If I knew about this pirate dude, I would've said that I expected it from Hatter, and that's exactly what he didn't want. He didn't want us to doubt him, he didn't want us to think that the mission escaped his head every now and then so he could get laid." As he said those last words, Jane and Gil exchanged a glance, remembering where they found the werecat when the kingdom was asleep. "But what I don't get is why he never told you," He finally landed in front of Ruby, his tone teasing. "Oh, yeah, I know that look. You've worn it very few times but I know that's what you look like when you're caught off guard. Your brave little Hatter was getting attached to something from this place. If you knew that," He wagged his finger as if scolding a child, "He'd probably lose your trust. And I'm sure he thought that you'd just be devastated when you learned that your little followers aren't as loyal as you thought they'd be." He grinned at the inconvenience and the fact that someone kept something from Ruby.

Nevertheless, Ruby's face remained stoic. She showed no anger from his words, and that scared a few of the others, but not Binx, no, Binx was much too arrogant to be properly frightened of Ruby. "That's another matter at hand, right now all I'm concerned with is getting him back and getting out of here together. Now you can keep making these spiteful revelations or you can make yourself useful and help find him before I leave you behind to rot so that the locals can have themselves a new werecat rug come next blood moon." She lowered her voice an octave and displayed no emotion to her threat, and instead waited for Binx to back down. His eyes already flashed with hints of fear by the time she uttered the word 'useful' and 'blood moon'. And as expected, he didn't say a word as he walked backward until he was far enough from her personal space. Binx was always testing her patience and the one who always competed to lead. The others saw him as just rebellious in nature, but he never strayed too far, she just had to put him in his place every now and then.

Once things quieted down, Jane pipped up, "The thing is," everyone turned to her, "Jax was dead set on getting Harry back, he asked me to tell you guys that you should leave without him if he wasn't back on time."

Ruby stopped to think for a few seconds before sighing, "He really is a fool if he thinks we're just going to leave him behind." And that was that, with that sentence, she had decided they were all going, or none of them were.

The next few minutes were met with them bickering over how to infiltrate the palace, pull Jax out, and portal their way home.

"We should just go out there and grab him, Allie can do her portal thing and boom, we can go home."

"Don't say boom, Wyc. It's never good," Ruby muttered.

"And it doesn't work that way, Wyc." Allie walked further into the small circle they had formed. It always irked her how many times they forgot how the portals worked. "I don't make portals, I find them." She reminded him. "I can't just open one up from the ground wherever I go, it takes time to sense naturally weak spots in the ground that can act as a portal. And that's not the worst of it, I can't move from that spot. So, whenever I decide to open it, I have to stay in place to keep it open or else it closes in on itself as fast as possible. And then, I'd have to find a new one." Allie stressed. "But the hard part is standing there, keeping it open, once it closes, it closes for good."

"Okay, how long does it take for you to find a new one?" Wyc questioned. Allie only looked at him like she was doubtful that he really wanted to know. "Seriously, I'd like to know." He emphasized.

"Usually two hours, maybe one if I'm quick, I think I've found a few spots around the garden, but the second I get too close to it, it might open, so they might not all be right. This isn't exactly a science."

Jane was about to intervene, to tell them that she could help in whatever way she could until she felt the wand in her hand start to get warmer and warmer before it started to shine bright. It only took the rest of them to notice. She knew what this was. And it only got brighter the more they looked at it, "Oh no," She mumbled, "It's my mom, she's trying to find her wand." She said, recognizing the locator spell her mother was using. She looked up at the Wonderlanders regrettably, knowing she had to leave them.

And Ruby understood, it didn't make things easier, but she understood, "Go, don't get in trouble because of us." She glanced at Gil who was annoying the hell out of Binx in the corner right of their little square spot in the garden. "Take the pirate with you, I'm sure he'd like to see his friends again."

Jane agreed. "If I find Jax or he finds me, I'll be sure to let him know where you are." Ruby gave her a quick nod before Jane started leaving, pulling Gil out with her.

Ruby watched them leave, heard Gil loudly ask where they were going to now, and as her friends placed themselves behind her, watching with her as the fairy and the pirate made their way through the garden maze, she couldn't help but wonder if her plan wouldn't be carried out. "You're just gonna let those two leave? How do you know they'll keep their mouths shut?" Binx asked her, his voice filled with worry instead of the usual malice it would be laced with.

"I don't," Ruby admitted. All this time, she had belief in her plans, she had spent years calculating and formulating a brilliant design. She never once questioned it. But her agenda never intended to include Jax finding love here. So, for the second time in her life, she had doubt a plan of hers would work.

♝♗

When the barrier lowered, he couldn't believe his eyes. He kept looking between Uma and the newfound bridge that connected their island of misery to that squeaky cleaned and berry-filled kingdom. He didn't know if he should trust it, though the first rule of being a pirate was to never trust anything that looked too good to be true, Harry decided to break it for the second time in his life. The first time he broke it was when he fell in love with Jax.

Harry was happy for a moment. For a moment, he forgot his boyfriend left to go where he truly belonged. He forgot he was doing it for the people he considered family. He forgot he said goodbye.

But then, when the excitement died down, and the party moved to the big backyard of the palace where the royals would usually gather to play croquet and take pictures in the beautiful gazebo. Harry couldn't remember the last time when the people of the Isle of the Lost actually celebrated something. Something good at least. This was all new to him, though he didn't care to let others know. Which was why he resorted to leaning on one of the outside brick walls of the castle in his constant aloof state. The wrong person might think he was planning the demise of his enemies with the face he displayed.

"Hey, Hook! What's with the doom and gloom? We're free, man." A pirate from his crew yelled at him through the crowd as she and her friends danced.

"You should be celebrating!" Another one called out.

But Harry wasn't in the celebratory mood. No, he'd try that tomorrow, because at the moment he was grieving for his relationship. He silently cursed at himself to hold his tongue. He shouldn't be complaining. Jax had suffered enough, not only being taken from his home but being separated from the only people he had left of it was hard enough on a kid. He should be happy that his love was on his way home. He could revisit his memories and think back to their happy moments whenever he'd like, for Harry would rather remember him as happy than have him around engulfed in his own sadness. He'd miss him until the oceans were dust and the sun was no more, and so he smiled at the thought of him as he leaned his head back thinking back on those simple days of just him and his Hatter in that musty dark ship.

Little did he know that as the sun went down, the very person that was going through his mind was there, watching him from behind the trees that lead into the forest.

♝♗

The party was getting smaller by the hour, most of the Lost kids were returning to the island to get their things so they could settle down in the dorms of Auradon Prep. For a bunch of villain kids, they were certainly excited to start the new school year. As for the actual villains, it was decreed that they would stay to live on the Isle, but they were allowed to cross the bridge whenever they saw fit. It could be worse, at least with the barrier removed, the sun actually showed up on the land, it wasn't infested in dark and stormy clouds, and there was a good chance of fresh air. The adults that lived in Auradon started retreating to their own palaces or houses, with only the locals remaining. And the rest of the party were the teenagers, Uma's pirates, and the heroes of the day. They were so hyper from their latest adventure and the adrenaline of risking their lives was still coursing through their veins.

Harry, however, was still sulking far away from the excitement. He had settled on a new leaning spot, the archway that led into the forest which featured the path to the Enchanted Lake that they were all talking about earlier. He was lost in his thoughts, so it was easy for a hand to wrap around his arm and pull him into the woods. It took him a second to focus again and aimed his hook at the perpetrator's neck.

"Whoah, watch where you point that thing," The voice muttered, shrugging the hook out of his way. Harry knew that voice.

As Harry's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the woods, he saw the large build and the shiny hair he's been used to seeing for the past few years of his life. "Gil? What the bloody hell-"

"No time to talk, we gotta go," Gil was leading Harry deeper into the forest, the music and the people's laughter got fainter the further they got. Soon enough, Harry could hear the frogs croaking and the small buzzes that came from the insects and bugs all around them.

It felt like they had been walking for a while, and the next thing Harry knew, he was standing in the berry bush clearing that he, Gil, Jay, and Carlos were hours earlier. This part of the forest had more clearing to it, so the moon gave them some type of light and he could make out the figures of two people away.

"What are we doing here?" Harry whispered to his friend.

"It's alright," Gil calmed him down, he could tell Harry was on edge. Gil moved to the center of the clearing, in the light, and called out, "Jay? Guys, I've got him."

Harry's face shrugged in confusion as Jay walked out of shadows, but soon his expression changed when he saw who he was there with. His eyes burned because of the tears that he held back because the next person to come out of the shadows was his dear Hatter. He scoffed out a laugh, almost like this was a surprise gift he never expected.

Jax had this huge smile on his face, one that Harry hadn't seen a lot in his time with him. They both crossed over to get to each quickly and Harry had his arms wrapped around the Wonderlander. It lasted maybe a minute because Harry started to think about what terrible forces would have to have taken part in driving Jax away from his family again. "You're here." Harry pulled apart from him but still held onto his hands. "You're here." He repeated, taking a good look at Jax, worried he might find some kind of clue on his face or that he might guess what was wrong from his expression. But as always, Harry couldn't read Jax. It was something the pirate had gotten used to, the many mysteries of his boyfriend, but that didn't mean he liked it. "But if you're here, then what-"

Jax had his answer before Harry could even properly question him. "Jane had felt Carlos turn to stone. She also felt Ben but apart from those two she couldn't tell if anyone else was like that, I didn't know if you were like that, I had to find you just in case."

"You left yer friends behind because I might have turned to stone?" Even when Harry said the words out loud, there was an unknown feeling in his gut. A good unknown feeling.

"I had to know you were okay."

"And you sent Gil to get me?"

"It had to be someone you could trust. I was thinking Uma, but I'm guessing it wouldn't have started or ended pretty." He explained rapidly before his voice got louder and he intentionally looked towards Gil and Jay. "Lucky for me, whilst I was hiding in the neck of the woods, those two came out of nowhere looking very cozy." Gil was casual whilst Jay flipped him off before they both retreated to the shadows to give the pair some privacy. They left shortly after. "I knew you'd trust Gil at least if I sent him. As I said, I had to know you were okay"

"I was. I-I am. Jax, I love you, thank you, but you need to go back to them, what if you get spotted here? What if you already were?" His heart sped up, he couldn't live with himself if something happened to Jax because of him.

"Relax, everyone's got the Isle of the Lost on their minds right now, not Wonderland. I've got tonight." Jax cleared his throat. "I figured we should have a proper goodbye."

"Jax, I love you. You know that. But you can't expect me to say goodbye to you again."

"Then don't." Was heard not far from them, it was clear neither of the boys said it because the voice belonged to their captain. Uma appeared exactly from where Harry had followed Gil.

"Uma-"

"Quiet, Hatter." She snapped at him. "I don't want or expect any apologies from your end, you've already done that. Right now, all I expect is that you treat Harry the way he deserves to be treated." Both boys looked at each other and then back to her. "Harry, if you really don't want to say goodbye again, then leave with him."

"Uma, I could never leave you behind." Harry stepped forward in front of her. "You know that."

"You're not leaving me behind. I've got some work to do here. Gotta make it right and good for all those kids on that island, I have to make sure there are plenty of people that'll look after them and that those same kids will look after each other when I'm gone."

"What do you mean when you're gone?" Harry asked, scared that he would lose his friend.

"I want to go to Wonderland."

"Jax's eyes widened, and they glanced at him, being the only Wonderlander. "Why?" He asked her.

"I'm not planning on going back to that island, not in this lifetime. But do you really expect me to stay in the place that imprisoned my friends and I before we were even born? I don't want people that didn't do anything about innocent kids living in garbage and darkness to be my new neighbors. The Isle is free, I'll stay for a while to make sure it stays that way, but then I want out. I'm not gonna make a new home in Auradon, never had one to begin with."

"So, you want to come live in Wonderland?"

"You owe me as much."

Jax only silently nodded, agreeing with her.

"But it won't be for a while, we'll discuss the details later." She turned to Harry, "But you, you should go with him. Come on, Harry, you know you want to." She smiled sadly at him.

Harry didn't answer her, he didn't say anything in fact, which resulted in Jax and Uma both stare at him. Harry considered it, leaving behind the Isle wasn't as difficult if Uma wouldn't be there in the future. Gil was finding his own path, and apparently with Jay. His sisters wouldn't miss him, and he doubted his father would even notice his absence. Harry didn't really fit into the world of Auradon either, and he knew that the second that he stepped foot there when they were all under that sleeping curse. He saw himself somewhere darker than his previous home if he stayed on the land. But all in all, he loved Jax. He wanted to be with him. Harry was about to tell them his answer, but he never got the chance.

The next thing he knew, there were lights shining in front of all of them, making Harry squint his eyes.

"The hell-" He heard Uma say.

Harry was thrown to the ground, he heard someone else hit the floor. "Stay down!" He heard. The voice was demanding and unknown to him. But he figured out who it was from the next thing they said, "Jackson Hatter, you are to be brought before the king of Auradon to face punishment for your multiple crimes against the kingdom."

With that, Harry and Uma looked from their spots on the ground, they were pushed down but no one was keeping them there. All the lights were on Jax now, who didn't quite have any emotion on his face. Like he expected this to happen. Harry, however, voiced his opinion loudly.

"Let him go! The barrier was lifted and he was part of the Isle! You can't do this!" All the while, he was being held back by two royal guards, pushing him away from the one that arrested his boyfriend. He had chained Jax's hand from behind and was moving him out of the clearing. "Get back here! You can't do this!"

Uma was also being kept from helping, as a royal guard was holding her back. "Get off of me!"

It took the royal guards five minutes to let go of them, as they were sure their superior was long gone with the Hatter boy by then. Harry and Uma were angry, a bit more centered, but definitely still angry as they watched the rest of the guards leave.

Harry gulped as the last guard left, still looking at that same spot. "We have to get ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To help my boyfriend break out of wherever the hell they're keeping him in."

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believe it or not, this chapter was wayyyy longer so that means I'll be updating very soon!

Okay, so we got another look at the Wonderlanders!

- yes, Allie's special power is all about portals, but contrary to popular belief, she doesn't make them, she finds them. I felt it was the right approach, it's also a call on her mom, after all, as a child Alice did find a portal to Wonderland: the rabbit hole. I figured, why not do that as Allie's gift only ten times cooler?

- This is also why in Allie's moodboard you'll find keys, it's because she's literally the key to getting back home. (the moodboard is in the first book in her character chapter)

- Ruby doesn't like it when Wyc says 'boom'. She has good reason for it.

- Ruby being a hella badass putting Binx in his place. I'm so in love with her.

- if anyone's curious, 'blood moon' has a different significance for the Wonderlanders, they don't experience time the way Auradon does, and they don't have the same type of moon either. don't even ask me cuz i don't even know, i felt it better to leave a small mystery that i may tackle one day, all i know is they have different suns, moons, time, it's a lot guys, wonderland is weird

- yes, Jay and Gil were totally having a rendevous in the woods, it's my book, what the heaven right? Besides, you've all seen their chemistry in the third movie, tell me that didn't happen or will happen when they go on vacation together to tour the world? pff, their own ship name is 'Gay' (either that or Jil)

- Uma wants to go to Wonderland.

- I can honestly say I didn't expect that myself, I didn't plan it, I wrote that as I was legit writing this chapter on the spot. But I'm digging it

- Jax got captured. Yikes. Thoughts?

no mundanes allowed

- polaroized