Finally Heroes

Chapter Five

        We parked not far from where Celia had said Hades' lair was. I took the chance to get a good look around, realizing not much had changed since last time, when Mal and I stormed off in a huff and thought we were going to stay here. When we first left, after Ben had selected the five of us to come and integrate into Auradon's society, I thought I'd never come back, leave behind the horrible memories of this place. But somehow, I always kept getting pulled back.

My eyes kept moving around until they rested on Mal, who, peculiarly, had turned back to normal. How and when did that happen?

Mal also noticed as she clapped her hands together, fascinated with the lack of knots in her fingers.

"Hey! I'm me again."

"Duh!" Celia exclaimed. "Evil magic doesn't work here. Kind of the point."

"Oof, welcome back." Evie wrapped an arm around Mal's shoulders.

"Thank you." Carlos reached out and grabbed my hand as all of us followed Celia toward her father's secret club. She flashed an enthusiastic smile before pounding in rhythm on the door, relaying the secret knock for whoever waited on the other side. Thankfully, she got it right, and the door slid open. Still beaming, she beckoned us inside and led us down the stairs. Soft jazz music played from speakers as people sat around, gambling and playing games with each other. There were very few places on the Isle that actually allowed for people to have legitimate forms of fun, and even though I knew it was just a way for Dr. Facillier to make a quick buck, it brought me some comfort to think people had other things to do around here besides terrorizing others.

"Hey!" I smiled as Celia ran up to her Dad, who waited eagerly for her in the center of the arcade floor, arms opened wide.

"Daddy!" she squealed as he jumped into his arms. He laughed and spun his daughter around, making my heart melt. Some villains loved their kids, even if our parents hadn't. The two of them engaged in a little dance, their own sort of secret handshake, to finish off their greeting.

"Come here, you little rascal." Someone tossed Facillier his cane. As the pair wandered back to catch up, the five of us descended the stairs, splitting off to marvel at various games and attractions that had been set up. The woman running a dart throwing game offered me a warm smile, exchanging a silent pleasantry as we acknowledged each other's presence.

"Uh, guys?" I turned my head back at the sound of Carlos' voice. He was sat in front of an old television set, with footage of Auradon playing on the screen. "Come look at this."

I leaned against his shoulders as the others made their way over, paying careful attention to the broadcast Carlos had tuned to.

"There are rumors that Sleeping Beauty's daughter, Audrey, is behind the spell," the reported stated matter-of-factly. "We're trying to discover who is responsible for these vicious lies and which villain has perpetrated this evil."

I rolled my eyes. Of course they wouldn't believe it was Audrey, not in a million years. No matter how nasty she could be, even if they saw her commit the acts themselves, the people of Auradon would always find her innocent because there were enough villains to blame.

"We have an update?" Suddenly, panic crossed the reporter's face. "What? It's moving this way? It's moving this way."

Just before the camera cut out, I watched a mist of candy pink completely envelop the small piece of the world captured by the camera. Ironic, the color seemed to portray a sort of innocence, when thousands of people were being sent into an indefinite slumber. My eyes slowly moved up to Mal, whose jaw had dropped slightly. We needed to get this ember now, before Audrey could do any more damage to Auradon. Mal patted Celia's shoulder, and the six of us rushed up the stairs so Mal and her could get to Hades' Lair and get what we needed so we could go.

Of course, nothing's that easy on the Isle on the Lost. Really, all of us should have known what was going to happen if we left those bikes unguarded and outside, but there had been more pressing things on our minds when we'd arrived. And as a result, when we emerged, a certain set of pirates had jumped on our bikes, and were waiting, taunting us by revving the engines.

"Wow! Rookie mistake?" Carlos sighed, throwing one hand up in frustration.

"Long time, nay see." My heart stopped for a moment as my eyes met with the leader of the group, and I felt Carlos reach over and squeeze my arm. Somehow, through the haze of past-trauma's ghost, I straightened myself and stared down at the person who knew they'd gotten on my bike in particular.

"Get off my bike, Hook," I growled, starting to run after them.

"Catch me if you can, Hera!"

They rounded the corner faster than we could, disappearing into some alleyway. I grunted in frustration, throwing my hands up. We needed those bikes in order to get back to Auradon, and even through the thought of facing Harry down caused my stomach to churn, I knew my own personal struggle wasn't as important right now.

"Over the roofs," Jay suggested, looking up toward the metal rooftops.

"Cut them off," I concurred.

Evie, Carlos, Jay, and I all broke off into different directions, clamoring up various dumpsters and pipes to run along the roofs. A few residents poked their heads out the windows and shouted up at us, but I just chose to ignore it. The old Hera, the one that only knew life on the Isle, would have taken the time to stop and throw something at them or taunt them, but now, I knew I needed to hurry, for the good of Auradon.

I honestly never thought I'd be fighting for the good of anything.

The sounds of our engines grew louder, causing me to speed up, but the moment my feet touched on the ground, it was as though they suddenly disappeared. On the Isle of the Lost, that really didn't seem so improbable, but I highly doubted Harry and Gil were smart enough to figure out complex magic like that. Even Mal hadn't figured out a spell of that gravity, and she'd taken after her mother.

Jay, Carlos, and Evie quickly caught up with me, staring down the alley just like I had a moment ago. All of us had lost them, so continuing to run after where we presumed they went wouldn't do us any good. But we needed those bikes in order to get back to Auradon.

"What are we supposed to do now?" I whined, leaning my head against Carlos' shoulder. He hesitated for a moment, before reaching over and patting some of my hair. I laughed a little at his awkwardness, and thankfully, that lightened the mood a little.

"I guess all we can really do is wait for Mal and Celia," Evie sighed. "Once they get the ember, we get Mal to get them to give us our bikes back, and we get out of here." My fists started to clench as I straightened.

"This isn't fair," I growled. "They think they can just pick on us and push us around 'cuz we're not like them anymore."

"Not to mention that Harry—"

"--thinks he can just push me around because I used to be scared of him," I snapped, whirling around to glare at Jay. "The past isn't still the truth, I'm not afraid of him anymore. I still hate him for what he did, but that's not the same as being scared. He doesn't have the right to just get on my motorcycle like that and drive off, taunting and teasing me like he was just some childhood bully."

At this point, all my friends had backed up quite a few feet, not wanting to get caught in the storm I'd been brewing. I paused in my rant for a moment and looked around at them, slowly bringing my mind back to Earth. With a sigh, my shoulders slumped, and the three of them immediately rushed back to my side, wrapping their arms around me.

"God, I hate him," I muttered as I rested my head on Evie's arm.