-FTRS Oneshots-

Short Excerpt From Bruised, Battered, and Heartbroken

"Don't touch anything Jocelyn!" Harlow hissed. Jocelyn looked at Harlow who, literally a second later after saying not to touch anything, was adoring a cauldron. 

Hypocrite...

"I could say the same for you!" Jocelyn muttered. That grabbed Harlow's attention and she quickly looked away, towards a small lamp. 

The lamp of Darlene. 

Jocelyn ran towards the lamp, and Harlow called out to her, but it was too late. 

She stepped on a stone marked with an octopus and the floor caved in below her, revealing...

Nothing. 

"What are you talking about? There's nothi-"

Jocelyn was immediately cut off by water starting to pour in. She could see little fishes swimming around, and one hit her face. 

Harlow ran towards the pool and started chanting quietly in Latin. Black light outlined Jocelyn and she was lifted out of the pool. She spit out the seawater and squeezed her hair and cape to get rid of the excess water. 

But it was still filling up. Soon, it would fill up the entire hall, and Jocelyn and Harlow weren't prepped for swimming. 

"Hurry! We need to make a bridge!" Jocelyn exclaimed. Harlow grasped Jocelyn's outheld hands and they both started chanting. Plank by plank, a bridge started building up above the pool of water. But it was going slower than the water. 

Finally, the bridge finished when the pool was almost to the top, and Jocelyn and Harlow sprinted across the rickety bridge. It was almost 12 feet long and 3 feet wide, and the planks were slow short that Harlow slipped on her cape. Jocelyn quickly hauled her up and they made it past the bridge. 

"Now, don't step on any booby traps again." Harlow panted. Harlow took a step forward and openings poked in the walls. 

Jocelyn raised an eyebrow, "You were saying?"

Green shields appeared on both of them as they chanted, and arrows started firing from the holes. The shield sparked before reflecting the arrows, leaving Harlow and Jocelyn unharmed. They quickly made it to the other side, now only a few feet away from Darlene's lamp. 

This time, they both looked on the floor and then at the ceiling. 

There was nothing. 

Water was filling up the room fast. It had already stretched across the entire room. They didn't have much time and would have to go much faster. 

"Quick! Rub the lamp!" Harlow called to Jocelyn. 

Jocelyn grabbed it carefully using a handkerchief and rubbed it with her cape. Blue smoke started pouring out of the lamp, spreading around Jocelyn. Darlene snaked out of the opening, looking like she was in the middle of a spa day that Jocelyn had just interrupted. 

"Hello- Ah! Jocelyn and Harlow! It's been a while!" Darlene exclaimed. 

"Darlene we don't have much time. We need to get out of here first." Harlow said. 

"I can do that." Darlene clapped her hands and soon they were outside. 

But swimming in the middle of the ocean. 

Jocelyn pointed up quickly before her eyelids started drooping. She had already inhaled much of the water (due to the fact that Darlene had just dropped them in the ocean with no warning) and was starting to drown. 

Suddenly, darkness took over Jocelyn's vision. 

---

Jocelyn's eyesight glowed red. She carefully opened her eyes and saw a palm tree leaf right above them. She didn't feel really wet, nor dry exactly, but at least she wasn't dead. 

She tilted her head to see Harlow sitting on a rock talking to Darlene. She sipped what looked like a coconut with a bright pink straw and dropped it quickly when she saw Jocelyn. 

"You're alright!" she exclaimed and hugged her. Harlow quickly retracted from the hug and rubbed her hands. I felt a smile creeping up on my face but put it away. 

Right now, they needed information. 

"Jocelyn, darling, take a seat." Darlene snapped her fingers and Jocelyn sat up straight and a coconut popped up in her hands. She took a sip before setting it in her lap. 

"So what did you need me for?" Darlene asked. 

Jocelyn took a breath, "So you see, the other day, my sister got this creepy look on her face and she kinda, uh, lost it," Harlow glared at Jocelyn, "She said something about evil rising again? I was wondering if you would know anything about this." 

Darlene paled and sat back in her stone, "Uh...Well..."

"What is it?" Jocelyn and Harlow asked, leaning in closer. 

Darlene's eyes became misty, " Darkness will rise again. There's no stopping it." she said, her voice sounding almost robotic. 

Darlene's eyes cleared again and Jocelyn and Harlow looked at each other with worry. 

Suddenly Darlene cried out. 

Black shadows snaked from behind Jocelyn and Harlow, grabbing their wrists. They both thrashed in their clutches, but they couldn't break free. Another shadow darted towards Darlene, bringing her back down. She slipped into her lamp and the shadow covered it. Then both the shadow and the lamp disappeared. 

Jocelyn immediately cursed under her breath, struggling under the iron grips of the shadows, which seemed almost impossible. If any of this was really happening, which for sure it was, then there was only one reason. 

Magic. 

No witch should be this strong. The closest it can get was a fairy, like Alva. But that obviously wouldn't be possible, Alva was gone. So then there was only one question left. 

What was it?

The shadow curled around Harlow and the last thing Jocelyn saw before darkness overtook her was the look on her sister's face. A look that she would never forget since it was the first time it had ever happened. 

I love you. 

---

Jocelyn opened her mouth to scream. 

Well tried. 

Her mouth was glued together, she couldn't even open her eyes. Her body was frozen in the spot. She tried to move her arms, but it barely moved, on inching in the spot. It was like she was stuck in a glass mold that fit her perfectly, leaving her no space to move, not even to breathe that much. She used all the might she had to open her eyes, and it worked. 

But the first thing she saw was...green. Everything was green, a clear green, like the color of clear green slime. But it wasn't slimy or wet. It was completely solid. 

She couldn't see much through the stuff, but she did notice that it was perfectly cubed. She tried a few spells, hoping to make some progress, but no. 

She was stuck in the spot. 

There was no hope. 

Well, there was a little. AG would worry. She would send an entire search party looking for her. They would be reunited. Jax and Gilly would help, everyone would be looking for her. 

Right?

Of course, they would. They were her friends, they wouldn't give up on her!

Jocelyn felt a smile creeping up on her face, before remembering she couldn't move much, so the smile didn't show up. 

But the thought was enough the make her feel warm inside, in the spot that had once been dark and cold, there was a new light. 

A hope. 

A hope that she would be free. 

A hope that she had people. Friends. 

A hope, that everything would be alright.