Chapter 23

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Evie's house- or small Castle was more like it- stood in the middle of an open field. Trees surrounded it, some of the paths made out of a combination of white stones and shells let to into the forest. Neatly organized bushes and flowers were placed around the building. The house itself was in the form of an L. Wisteria growing above the main entrance, the climbing plants with the purple flowers giving the stone building a gentle touch. All the way to the right, there was a greenhouse attached to the house. Glass walls and ceiling, but with the quick glance Myra got she could see there weren't any flowers inside. Instead she saw mostly mannequins and pieces of cloth. 
     As the group of seven walked up the front yard, where two white tables with a couple of white chairs stood, the frond door opened. Mal was the first one to run out, jumping in the arms of her King. As they talked some lovey-dovey bullshit Myra had no interest in, Gil had reached Uma. 
     The blue haired sea witch smiled as Gil and her exchanged a fist bomb, which is one of the closest things you can get to publicly showing affection on the Isle. Harry took it a little further, the two sharing something that slightly resembled a hug. Harry's hand on the back of Uma's head, pulling their foreheads together with Uma's hand resting on his hip. Once the two had let go Myra wasted no time before pulling her cousin into a hug.
     Uma let out a chuckle, "you okay?" 
     "Yeah." Myra answered before stepping back, holding her cousin on arm length. "I mean, beside from Beastie boy over there trying to kill us, I'm fine." 
     "He did what?" Uma's smile was gone, instead she glared at the King. Who's attention was still with his fiance. 
     Myra laughed shortly. "He was cursed," she waved it away. "Anyway, how did you manage to survive?" 
     Uma shrugged. "Maybe working together isn't the worst."
     Another smile made it's way up Myra's face, but before she knew it excitement took over. Myra grabbed a hold on Uma's shoulders, forcing the girl's attention to go back to her. "You have no idea what I found out about those two." The words were half whispered, not wanting all the others to turn their attention to their conversation. 
     "Let me guess," Uma started with a raised eyebrow. "Mal spelled him to fall for her?"
     "How did you know?" The blonde asked, clearly confused.
     "That Audrey chic? I read her diary. Turned out Benny-Boo used to be her boyfriend since they were kids until Mal spelled him."
     Myra gasped, "O my God, no wonder she wants revenge. What else did you find out?" 
     Before Uma could answer, Ben spoke up. His attention had been drawn to the two girls. Mal was still in his arms and just like him, she was smiling at the two. "I always knew you two'd be part of the solution." 
     This seemed to slightly fluster Uma, who didn't give a snarky remark or roll her eyes, but smiled at Ben. Myra let go of her cousin, who joined the royal couple. Right at that moment, Jay came standing beside Myra. 
     "I'm sorry." 
     The brunette wasn't looking directly at her, but he was talking to her. If he had been looking at her he could've seen the girls furrowed eyebrows. "For what?" 
     "About the squirrel thing. And the grapes. I just-" Jay glanced down at Myra. "Sometimes I forget all this used to be new to me too." Myra nodded her head that she understood, but she didn't understand what she had to do with an apology. "And-" As Jay continued, his brown eyes not looking away from her forest green ones, Lunch noticed his companion's  discomfort and crawled off her shoulders and onto the girl's hands. Curling his tail around her wrist in an attempt to distract her, which did calm her a little bit. "-I wanted you to know that if you've got any more questions about anything, you can ask me. And I won't laugh." 
     Again, Myra nodded, now with a careful smile on her lips. "Thanks." It was only one word, but for the first time Jay returned a genuine smile. A warm feeling stirred inside Myra's chest. She had missed his smile. Specifically this one, the one where his teeth showed slightly and his eyes turned smaller, a sparkle in them. It was different from the other times he smiled, sometimes it had felt to her as if this smile was only for her to see.
     Quickly Myra's own smile faded and she looked away. She couldn't let him do that. She couldn't let those feelings come back. She could not risk feeling the same pain she had the first time he had left. The feeling of her heart breaking a little more every day they didn't come back for her. Even now Myra knew she wouldn't be able to take it. Especially not when Uma and the guys weren't there with her anymore. Or any of the other Villain Kids that Mal had promised to set free.
     Myra didn't notice the slightly hurt expression in Jay's eyes as she turned away, but Uma did. 
     "Okay, so," Mal started, speaking to Ben, but loud enough for all of them to hear. "We all think that Audrey could be at Fairy Cottage. We have no idea where it is. Did she ever take you there?"
     "Every Fairy Godmother's Day." Ben answered, letting out a small sigh. "Where is Fairy Godmother when you need her?" This question was directed at Jane. The dark haired girl looked up, she was sitting in one of the white chairs, a sad look in her blue eyes. 
     "I wish I knew..." Jane had told Myra she was the daughter of the Fairy Godmother and that the woman had disappeared after Audrey's curses had hit the land. Myra felt sympathy for the girl, she clearly loved her mother. 
     When Carlos joined his girlfriend at the table Myra redirected her attention. Only for it to fall on a face she had never seen before. Beside Evie stood a guy. Long, light hair pulled to the back of his head in a ponytail. Red glasses stood on his nose. He wasn't a very big or broad young man, he was wearing shorts with a mint shirt and a grey vest over it. "Who's Ponytail?" Myra asked. The question not really directed to anyone in particular, but it did get the attention of Uma, the guy himself and Evie. 
     "This is Doug." Evie introduced him. "Doug, this is Myra." 
     Something seemed to click for the guy, because his mouthed made an O shape as he took half a step closer. "So, you are Myra. It's nice to finally meet you."  
     "Um... Thanks?" A small smile came on Doug's lips. Myra really didn't know what to do with that information, or why this guy was smiling. 
     "You're supposed to say 'it's nice to meet you, too'." Evie said in a gently tone. Which earned a confused look from Myra.
     "Why?" 
     "Because that's polite." 
     Myra let out a sigh and turned to Uma. "I'll never understand." She mumbled.
     "Mhm," Uma responded. "Don't take it personally though, Evie just woke him from a sleeping curse." 
     "You did?"
     "Yep." Uma answered for Evie. "Sung an entire song before she finally build up the courage to kiss the dude." 
     Evie glared at Uma, especially since she had not told her boyfriend about that part. But Myra only laughed before shooting a smile at the two. "Which is totally understandable." 
     "Thank you." Evie said with a small nod into Myra's direction. 
     "Myra." Mal attracting the girl's attention. "You're coming with me, Ben, Uma, Harry and Jane to Fairy Cottage. If Audrey is there we're gonna need your magic."
     For the first time Myra pulled an apologetic face, folding her arms over hert chest while her hair covered half of her face. "Yeah, not a great idea."
     "Why not?" Mal questioned.
     "Turns out the flute's magic was dampened inside the Isle. It's a lot harder to control out here." 
     Worry took over Mal's entire posture. "What do you mean? It's too dangerous to use?" 
     "Well... When I tried to get Ben to sleep when he went all beast on us I accidentally- kind of- maybe- put everyone to sleep." 
     Mal pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to process the news. "Well," she started. "Can't you just try?" 
     "Wow, yeah. Of course. I'll just walk right on in there, playing my flute and make every single person within reach fall asleep- Assuming my flute even works on Audrey. 'Cuz I remember you saying the only thing that works against your mum's staff is your d-" Myra swallowed, stopping herself before she could say it. She could see the panic in Mal's eyes right before she changed her sentence. "And Hades' Ember. If it doesn't that means all of you fall asleep and I'm left with a very powerful, very angry, evil princess." 
    "That's not going to happen." Mal didn't give up, but neither did Myra.
     "How are you so sure?" 
     "Because I know you can do this."
     "No. You hope I can do it." Myra crossed her arms over her chest. "You want me to do it. You do not know that I can actually control the flute's magic. Because I don't even know and last time I checked, it was me who has been teaching herself how to use this flute for the past year, not you." 
     "Myra, chill." Uma came in between. Myra hadn't noticed he voice rising and her pace quicken. But it was true that her words had started to blend together. Looking into Uma's eyes, the blue haired girl silently told her cousin to calm down again. This time Myra took a deep breath and  stepped back from Mal. Seeing she had calmed down, Uma spoke up. "What about this: Myra stays here and we take Gil instead. We'll have your Ember and my Shell, so that's a lot of magic. In the mean time, Myra stays here with Dog boy, Ponytail, Fashion girl, the Jock  and the kids. If we find the princess and something goes wrong, we'll still have a backup crew. In the mean time, Myra has time to practice the flute's magic and hopefully have enough control back to save our asses if necessary. Sounds good?" There was a short silence before the others started to agree all at the same time.

So that is how Myra ended up in a separate room on the first floor. Together with Doug and Carlos. The two boys had agreed to help her practice. Myra had practiced many times before, but always with the goal of controlling multiple people at once. Trying to advance the magic from the flute, make it stronger. Not to try power it down. She had never had any trouble with that before. 
     Right now, Doug was sitting in a big launch chair. It was set with dark blue velvet. The room itself wasn't very big, but it had a round window with a platform beneath it. A black pels from an animal Myra didn't recognize and cushions laying on top of it. Carlos sat in the window, Dude and Lunch beside him. The dog and the rat had started to get along pretty well. Dude was laying on his side with Lunch on top of him, both with open eyes to observe what the humans were doing. 
     Myra was standing on the other side of the room so she was able to see both the guys if she wanted to. Right now Myra was supposed to make Doug stand up, without Carlos doing the same. It used to be such an easy thing, one of the first things she ever succeeded in with on the Isle, but now it wouldn't work. 
     Again, Myra brought the flute to her lips. She played as quiet as possible, hoping the lack of volume would make it work on only one person. Her eyes were fixated on Doug in front of her. Once she saw the dull, white glow in his eyes she send her command. Stand
     Almost immediately the young man stood up from the chair, arms stiffly hanging by his sides. The dark blonde girl let her eyes slide from Doug to Carlos, hoping to see the guy still sitting. Her hope was in vain. In front of the window did not only stand Carlos, but also Dude with Lunch on top of him. The eyes of the animals staring in front of them with the same white glow. 
     Groaning Myra let the flute hang beside her again. The magic wore off quickly and the boys and animals snapped back to reality at the same time as Myra slumped down on the cushions in the windowsill. 
     "Wow," Dude spoke up after Lunch had jumped off his back. The dog shook out his fur before looking up at Myra. "You are really bad at this." Myra rolled her eyes, reaching down with her hand to let Lunch on.
     "Dude..." Carlos started, sending the animal a warning glare. "Remember what we talked about?" 
     "You mean about that rash on your-"
     "No!" Carlos interrupted Dude quickly with a nervous chuckle. "No. That other thing. A few months ago? In the limousine, remember?"
     "Just because I can talk doesn't mean I always should?"
     Carlos nodded. "Yeah, that one." 
     Myra appreciated Carlos' attempt of disciplining his dog's manners, but she knew Dude was right. "It's okay." She said as Lunch crawled back up her shoulder. "He's right. I suck at this. If something goes wrong at Fairy Cottage and we need to help our friends I'm useless." The girl let her head lean against the wall while staring out of the window. 
     "I'm sure that's not true," Doug started, also making his way to the girl. 
     "You don't even know me." Myra mumbled, knowing the boy's words of motivation held no real meaning.
     "I've heard enough to know you're a fighter." Doug said with shrugging shoulders. 
     Carlos nodded that he agreed. "I mean, you could always manage just fine before you got the flute. And don't forget when I blew that yellow smoke bomb up in your face. You really didn't need the flute to fight us." There was a hint of amusement in Carlos' voice as he remembered how Myra had attacked him with her sword at the docks. 
     A short, almost unnoticeable laugh escaped Myra as she also remembered. "That's true." 
     "See?" Cruella's son started, placing his hands on her shoulders to show support. "So, stop sulking and let's practice some more, yeah?"
     Myra let out a deep sigh, he was right, but she wasn't ready yet to continue. "Just give me a break, okay? 20 minutes?" 
     Carlos smiled at her, squeezing her shoulders. "Of course." And with that, Carlos walked out of the room, followed by Dude and Doug.  

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