But Fairy Godmother shook her head, her lips a tight line. She kept the wand trained on the four of them and herded them away from the shoreline. “Shush, I don’t want to hear it till we’re safely back at school!”
She bundled all the four villain kids into her van and drove them to Auradon Prep. They sat in silence in the backseats, miserable and scared.
“What do you think’s going to happen to us?” whispered Carlos from the third row.
“A lot of detention?” Mal whispered back. “That can’t be too bad, right? We’ll just have to bake a lot of cakes?”
“Hopefully she won’t send us back to the Isle of the Lost,” said Jay.
Evie squeaked. “She wouldn’t do that, would she?”
“She could,” said Mal.
“Oh no,” said Evie. “I don’t want to go back there.”
“But it’s home,” said Mal, trying to soothe her friend. “It won’t be that bad.”
“Mal, don’t you understand? Auradon is my home now,” said Evie, looking out the window at the array of lights from the sparkling castles that dotted the landscape.
Carlos nodded. He couldn’t go back to the Isle of the Lost, not after everything they’d seen and done in Auradon. The thought filled him with a heavy dread. He couldn’t go back to scrubbing his mother’s bunions. He wouldn’t.
“No talking back there!” said Fairy Godmother from the driver’s seat. “And no talking on your phones either!” With a flick of her wand, all their phones disappeared.
When they got back to campus, Fairy Godmother marched them in front of her, holding the wand at Jay’s back at the end of the line. The hallways were full of students heading to dinner. Carlos thought longingly of his life in Auradon, convinced this was the end of the tale. He hadn’t even been able to say goodbye to Dude. The school would not look kindly on thievery. Or was it grand larceny? Marine larceny? Worse, it was exactly what the good people of Auradon expected from a few villain kids. Except they weren’t villains anymore, not at all, and they were only stealing the boat so they could help a friend. But what was that saying? About the path to darkness? It was paved with good intentions….
A few students looked at them curiously, but no one said hello, as Fairy Godmother had a very angry look on her usually cheerful face.
One student wasn’t deterred, however—Jane spotted them on the way to Fairy Godmother’s office.
“Mom!” she said, stopping in her tracks. “What’s going on?”
Carlos’s heart lurched once more, this time with hope. Maybe Fairy Godmother would listen to Jane! Jane could make her understand they weren’t doing something evil.
He was about to answer her, but Fairy Godmother didn’t give him a chance. “Nothing, dear, get out of the way,” said Fairy Godmother, brushing off her only child, and striding to the front of the pack. “This doesn’t concern you.”
But Jane wouldn’t be dismissed so easily. She fell in step with the four friends. “What happened?” asked Jane. “Why’s my mom so mad?”
Jay looked glum. Mal shook her head. “I don’t want to get you in trouble too,” she said.
“Evie? What’s wrong? Are you crying?” asked Jane, as they kept walking up the stairs.
Evie sniffled but didn’t answer.
They reached the landing and Fairy Godmother unlocked the door to her office. She tapped her wand and motioned the villain kids to enter.
Jane caught Carlos’s sleeve before he disappeared behind the door. “Carlos? What’s the matter? What did you guys do?”
“Help us,” Carlos whispered urgently. “I think we’re going to be kicked out of here.”
“Kicked out?” said Jane, so aghast that she almost dropped her books. She stared at Carlos, shocked and wide-eyed at the very idea. “But you guys can’t leave!”
“We don’t want to,” he said, feeling as terrible as he looked.
“I’ll figure out something, I promise,” said Jane. “You guys aren’t going anywhere.”
He smiled his thanks and reached for her hand. Jane gave it a squeeze, but had to let go as Fairy Godmother pulled Carlos into the room.
It was too bad their little Auradon experiment was ending already, thought Carlos. He would have really liked to spend more time in Jane’s company.
Outside on the dock, Harry was gathering the pirates together, slapping backs, readying the crew for the voyage ahead. Their merry band was ready, polishing swords and greedy for treasure. Once they found that trident and they were off the Isle of the Lost, there was all of Auradon to pillage! The thought brought them all much wicked glee.
“I heard in Agrabah there are warehouses full of the Sultan’s gold,” said Desiree.
“Don’t forget the jewels we’ll find in the Summerlands by the dwarf mines,” growled Gonzo, his eyes going starry at the thought.
“Olympus is mine!” said Bonny.
Pirates. Harry smiled. They were itching for adventure. First, the trident; after, the world was theirs for the taking.
Inside, from the window of her small apartment above the fish shop, Uma felt a grim satisfaction as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The time had come. It was so close, she could feel it—this was the start of her revenge, the start of her ascendancy. No more tiny room, no more apartment drenched in fish stink. She didn’t need a fancy limousine to fetch her off the island, she would do it herself, cut her own deal, make her own way.
“I’m leaving, Ma!” she yelled, and a slender blue tentacle crept around from behind the door and splashed her with a few drops of water. It was the only goodbye she expected, the only one she needed. She was off to find herself; her past would soon be nothing more than a memory.
She clambered down the stairs, saying goodbye to it all: to that step that wobbled, and that patch of mold that could never be washed from the ceiling corner. She strode through the door and out onto the dock. Her ship lay waiting; the crew snapping to attention when she arrived in their midst.
Uma regarded them with pride. Just that morning she’d had nothing but slow-burning frustration and a jealous rage. But tonight she had so much more—she was captain of a ship, with a first mate and muscle to boot, as well as a crew of the toughest pirates on the island. Her name was Uma, and before long, everyone in Auradon would know who she was when she lifted that trident and demanded her freedom.
The first part of her plan had already worked perfectly. Sophie had crumbled like a piece of cake once Uma had threatened to set fire to the sorcerer’s hat, and she had given up the necklace’s secret location as soon as the flames had licked the brim.
“Ready?” Uma asked Harry.
In response, Harry gave her the usual pirate salute—which was no salute at all. He cocked an eyebrow and grinned. “Ready.” He raised his hook, which had been polished to a high shine. It gave him an air of malevolence that she quite liked.
“Gil?” she said.
“Yes, Shrim—Uma,” said Gil. “And, um, do you think we can grab dinner after this? I’m hungry.”