“I saw on the news,” said Fairy Godmother. “What a shame.” She nodded to the four villain kids holding out their talismans. “So there they are, huh? I’ve been expecting them.”
“Sorry, we got distracted by school,” said Mal.
“Absolutely understandable. It’s not as though I were looking forward to this task either,” said Fairy Godmother, shaking her head. “Oh dear, what a collection. You are all heroes for surviving their temptations.” She shuddered at the sight of the pulsing Dragon’s Egg. “They will have to be destroyed, of course.”
“The sooner the better, Fairy G,” said Ben. “It’s best for the kingdom.”
“I suppose we have no choice,” she agreed. “These dangerous objects cannot fall into their true owners’ hands, but destroying them could unleash a sudden wild magic—a powerful and uncontrollable blast.”
“A necessary blast,” he soothed.
“But sometimes the consequences of using such great magic remain unknown until much later.” Fairy Godmother sighed.
“Can we do it soon?” said Carlos, grimacing.
“What’s your hurry?” said Jay with a grin as he twirled the cobra staff like a baton.
Evie shook her head decisively, her dark blue hair bobbing over her shoulders. “I’ll be glad to be rid of mine. I feel like if I close my eyes I can still see all those awful things that Magic Mirror showed me.”
Mal scrunched her nose. She didn’t want to admit it, but the reason she had been procrastinating its destruction was because she found it strangely comforting to hold the Dragon’s Egg. She understood that it was evil, and why it had to be destroyed—but it was meant for her. It was part of her heritage, part of her mother. And so a part of Mal—a very small part, but there nonetheless—would lament its demise.
“Right, no time like the present,” said Fairy Godmother, and they followed her out of the office. She led the group toward the Museum of Cultural History, where her wand was once again kept safe and secure, floating in a crystal case.
“Bibbidi bobbidi boo,” said Fairy Godmother, and the case disappeared, allowing her to pluck her wand from the air. “Hold them out, please,” she ordered.
Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay stood in a semicircle, talismans balanced on their palms. Fairy Godmother scratched her head with her wand for a minute, thinking hard. Then with a flourish she waved the wand above the talismans, showering glittery sparks all over the room.
“Salagadoola mechicka boola,
Send this apple back to its tree!
Salagadoola mechicka boola,
Destroy this ring of envy!
Salagadoola means mechicka booleroo,
Stop this cobra from hissing forever!
And the thingabob that does the job
Says this Dragon’s Egg will hatch never!”
Fairy Godmother pointed her wand, shooting an arc of light over the talismans that wrapped around them like a mini tornado, and as the power grew, the room became hot with magic.
The light turned into a ball of flame that reached into the ceiling, and with a piercing, high-pitched noise that shattered every window in the museum and caused everyone in the room to put their fingers in their ears, the light burst through the roof and out into the sky, and the four talismans erupted in a huge explosion of sparkles that showered everyone in shiny, powdery dust.
When the smoke cleared, Fairy Godmother waved her wand toward the ceiling and fixed the hole, and then turned to the windows.
“Whoa,” said Mal, rubbing dust from her eyes and coughing.
“Do you like my hair this way?” Evie joked, and Mal realized they now all had frizzed hair that stood on end. Carlos’s was practically a Mohawk.
“Everyone all right?” asked Ben, wiping the glittery soot from his shoulders.
“Yeah, I guess,” said Jay, who was on the floor looking for his beanie, which had been knocked off his head by the force of the spell.
“I think we’re okay for the most part,” said Carlos, coughing and holding his sides.
“Mal, you look a bit woozy,” said Ben, concerned.
In truth, she felt as if she’d just been punched in the stomach by the loss of the Dragon’s Egg, but she gave him a brave smile. “Evie?” she asked, turning to her friend, who was a bit pale.
Evie nodded, but her smile was strained. The loss of their talismans had affected them all.
“Well, let’s hope the only damage was to the ceiling and windows,” said Fairy Godmother with an anxious smile. The pink bow around her neck was slightly singed. “Like I said, you never know what happens when this kind of wild magic is unleashed.”
“I’ll ask the council and all the kingdoms to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Thank you, Fairy Godmother,” said Ben.
Mal straightened her jacket, a troubled look on her face. “But what about the dome remote control that got left on the Isle of the Lost? If the goblins on the island ever get it to work, Cruella De Vil, Evil Queen, Jafar, and all their minions can still get off the Isle.”
“Hmm, that is a puzzle,” said Fairy Godmother.
But Carlos was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his face lit up with excitement. “I thought of that, and I was worried too, until I remembered something.” He held up a small black electronic device and fiddled with the buttons.
“What did you remember?” asked Jay, curious, and looking over Carlos’s shoulder.
“Codes can be reprogrammed. Even if they get the remote to work, they won’t have the new code to open the dome,” said Carlos with a grin. “I already took care of it.”
“Just like magic!” said Evie.
“Nope, just like science,” said Carlos, with a nod to Fairy Godmother, who strongly advocated that the residents of Auradon learn to live without depending on magic.
“So we’re safe now, right?” asked Evie hesitantly.
“Safe and sound,” said Fairy Godmother. “Except for the exams coming up.”
There was a communal groan as Ben and the villain kids remembered. You could save the kingdom, but you still had to pass Magical History.
The burst of magic that shot through the entire kingdom of Auradon was so strong and so unexpected that no one on the Isle of the Lost even noticed when the invisible barrier disappeared for a moment. (Well, it was invisible, of course.) It frizzed out of existence, and for that glorious minute, everyone who was trapped on that island could have escaped from it. Except no one knew, and so no one escaped, because no one noticed.
Except for the fish down below, who found it odd that something that had previously been on the other side of the barrier had now floated over to the Isle side. The side where the villains lived, the side where evil ruled, the side where, if anyone had any idea that this certain something was now within grasp, the entire ocean would soon fill with scoundrels of all sorts trying to get their hands on it.
And that is exactly what came to pass….
Because someone or something…did notice….
Someone with a big mouth.