Stolen Waters (Descendants Jay x OC)

Chapter 22

Syl snapped awake, shaking. She jumped up before she realized where she was. The sunlight was streaming through the windows into her dorm, where she was half laying half sitting on her bed, a nest of papers surrounding her.

Slowly she sank back down onto her pillows. It was just a dream, she told herself. But what did it mean? Syl shook her head. She was getting paranoid. It was probably just a dream. The door burst open, and Syl jumped back up in fright.

Evie came in, dragging Mal behind her. Evie looked at her. "Oh, sorry if I scared you. We really need to do Mal's fitting."

"No problem," said Syl, scooping up the papers around her. "I fell asleep a little while ago anyway."

"Did we wake you?" asked Mal as Evie started digging through her rack of dresses trying to find Mal's cotillion dress.

"No, I just woke up a minute ago," Syl said, getting off her bed and placing the neat stack of papers on her desk. There were three different sections of their dorm. Sylphrenia's was pristine; everything was in order, and they were all in neat stacks or tucked away in her closet. Evie had made herself at home in her space. A bejeweled periodic table of the elements dominated a wall, and her worktable hosted spools for fabric, her sewing machine, an assortment of multi size boxes, colored pencils, and pages of clothing designs. Beside the worktable, Evie's handmade dresses hung on a rack.

Mal's corner of the room was much messier, but her newest addition was an aquarium tank beside her bed. It held a lizard, and it bore a sign that said: DON'T FEED MY MOM. Syl had petitioned the council for months after winter break, and finally, they had allowed Mal to keep her mother, as a lizard, with her.

"Here you go," Evie said, coming up with Mal's cotillion dress. "Just stand up on the... Syl, could you get the platform?"

"Sure," Syl said, dragging the fitting platform over to the middle of the room. Evie pulled the dress over Mal's blond locks. Sylphrenia did not like that Mal had changed her hair, officially making her a princess. Syl was starting to get worried that Mal was going to break. She had officially disconnected from everything that made her her, and soon, Mal was going to miss being herself.

Evie pulled the masterpiece of a dress tight in the bodice and pinned it.

Mal squawked. "Evie. I cannot breathe. Syl, tell her."

Sylphrenia shrugged at her as Evie lifted up Mal's arm. "Well, you can breathe after Cotillion," Evie said, smiling.

Mal let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, well, I sincerely doubt that. I have like twenty more events directly behind it, and I can't even remember what a single one of them is right now." Syl looked at the girl sympathetically as Mal glanced longingly at her leather jacked, hanging on a hook above the TV.

"Evie," Mal said distantly.

"Huh?" Evie held a measuring tape across Mal's gown.

"Do you ever wonder what we'd be doing right now if we were still back on the Isle?" asked Mal.

Evie laughed, not really paying attention to Mal's question. "That's funny, she said, turning. "Well, would you look at who's on TV!" She grabbed the remote, cranked up the volume, and listen to the television while studying some of her sketches.

Behind her, Mal plopped down next to Syl in a sea of yellow tule. Together, the girls watched an old clip playing on the screen. In it, Mal was sporting a beaded sheer dress with a shawl and a delicate gold headpiece. Aladdin in a cream colored suit and hat, and Jasmine in a long sheer turquoise dress, greeted Mal and Ben. Servers placed a meal in the center of a room filled with cushions and candles. Aladdin escorted Mal to her seat while Ben lead Jasmine to hers. Aladdin and Ben sat down across from each other, and a waitress uncovered a silver dish.

Mal picked up a piece of meat. She bit into it and gagged, but covered it up with a quick smile. When no one was looking, Mal spit it out into a napkin, which she stashed behind her, and beamed at her company. Watching the TV, Mal blanched. Syl patted her shoulder.

"It isn't that bad," she said, and Mal smiled gratefully at her.

The news reporter began to speak. "Six months ago, no one thought King Ben and his girl from the wrong side of the bridge would last."

"Yeah, no kidding," Mal mumbled.

The news reporter continued. "I don't know her secret, but Mal is fitting in beautifully now!" Footage played of Mal at the press conference earlier that day. She smiled and waved with her white lace gloves. "Mal must be counting down the days till the Royal Cotillion, where she will officially become a lady of the court."

Mal's eyes opened wide, and Syl internally winced. She knew that Mal wasn't ready to join the court, as stressed as she already was.

Mal scooted around her bed and took the etiquette book The Lady's Manners from her bedside table. Syl watched, interested, as Mal pulled her spell book from under her pillow, opened it, and incarnated: "Read it fast, at lightning speed, remember everything I need." She quickly turned the pages of The Lady's Manners and was able to magically absorb the book's facts.

Evie walked over to Mal. "Well, I know Mal's secret to fitting in, and Ben wouldn't like it one bit." She crossed her arms. "Haven't you guys had enough secrets between the two of you?"

Mal looked up from The Lady's Manners. "You saw what I was like before I started using the spell book, okay?" she said. "I was a complete disaster!" She resumed flipping through the pages of the book.

"Well, personally, as your best friend, I strongly believe you should put this spell book in the museum along with my mirror. Syl, tell her."

Syl shrugged. "Hiding it from Ben isn't the most ideal. You should tell him. He could help you learn how to be yourself while still being a lady of the court."

Evie pointed at Syl. "See, we both think you should let go." She grabbed Mal's spell book, and Mal pouted at Evie before shutting The Lady's Manners. "Don't give me that face," said Evie. "Put that pout away."

Mal frowned.

"You know we're right," added Evie.

"Don't you ever miss just running wild and breaking all the rules?" Mal asked.

Evie grinned. "Like stilling, lying, and fighting?"

Mal smiled dreamily at Evie's words. "Yeah!"

Evie's grin faded. "No!" she protested, breaking Mal out of her fantasy.

"What-" Mal started.

"Why should we?" Evie laughed. "M, come here!" She took Mal's hands and led her off the bed and toward the TV. "Look at where we are! We're in Auradon! And we're Auradon girls now." Evie stared at the screen where a video was playing of Ben and Mal, who were feeding each other chocolate covered strawberries.

Syl stared at it. "But you guys aren't," she said.

Evie and Mal turned around to look at her. Syl cocked her head at them. "But you aren't. Mal, don't forget who you are." She turned to Evie. "And neither are you. Because when you do..." Syl trailed off. Her advice had been for her friends, but it was also for her too. She hadn't only forgotten the last winter, but as she looked back farther into her memories, everything was unclear, fuzzy, and disorienting. She had lost who she was, and now all she could do was move on, while trying to remember.

Evie sighed, realizing what Syl was trying to say. She turned back to Mal. "That is our past. Don't let this overwhelm you, but you have to realize. We have changed." She swiveled to Syl. "For the better," she said, a bit forcefully, and Sylphrenia let the subject drop.

Evie moved over to her worktable. "Please, just leave the past in the past, okay? Besides, have you seen the shoes?" Evie lifted a pair of blue and gold high heeled shoes off her worktable. "I mean, can we talk about the shoes?"

"Those are severe," said Mal.

Evie turned to Syl, silently urging her to say something. "Yeah, Auradon really does have the best shoes," she said, and Evie smiled.