𝙼 𝙰 𝚈 𝙱 𝙴
stave ii 🃏 chapter 14

( third person narration )

𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨
𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣
𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝
𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

When Quinn was called over to Ben's office, she had no clue what it was for. Hopefully, she didn't do anything stupid that could prevent her from performing at Cotillion or worse, get her kicked out of Auradon.

She brushed off her yellow skirt before knocking on Ben's door. The king bidded her in, so she lightly opened it and closed it behind her.

"Hey, Ben," she said from her spot near the door, "You wanted to see me?"

Ben nodded. "Of course," he smiled, gesturing her over.

Quinn smiled in return, standing in front of Ben's desk. She folded her hands in front of her. "What's up?" she asked.

"So, Maxine Hatter told me about you performing at Cotillion," Ben started, "I just, wanted to know how the whole 'song process' was going." He smiled.

Quinn nodded. "It's going good," she said, "Yeah, I finished writing the song yesterday, so."

Ben hummed, "What's it about?"

"Falling in love," she stated bluntly, "Yeah, I got inspired about you and Mal and stuff." Quinn lied right through her teeth, but frowned when she saw Ben's face fall. She suddenly remembered. "Wait," she started, "Aren't you supposed to be on a date with Mal right now?"

"Um . . . "

The door knocked. Ben sighed in relief. "Can you get the door?" he asked kindly.

Quinn stood up, walking over to the large door before opening it. On the other side stood Evie, in her usual tiara and leather jacket with a frown etched to her face. This made Quinn's frown deepen.

"Evie?" she asked, letting the blue-haired girl in and closing the door behind them.

"Mal's gone back to the Isle."

Quinn blinked. Hard. "What?"

Evie handed Ben a crumpled up note. Quinn peered over the king's shoulder, only catching bits and pieces of the letter. It said that Mal was going back to the Isle of the Lost?

"Ben..." Evie trailed off, handing Ben the golden ring that Mal had worn on the infamous Coronation day. Ben read the letter with a newfound speed, mumbling to himself.

He, too, realized that Mal was back on the Isle of the Lost.

"This is my fault," Ben said, "This is my fault. I-I blew it. She'd been under so much pressure lately, and instead of being understanding, I just went all Beast on her."

That's when the realization hit Quinn. Ben and Mal must've fought at their date. That's why he was back so early. The blonde nearly exploded at the next sentence that rolled off Ben's tongue.

"I have to go there and apologize. I have to go there and-and beg her to come back."

Quinn frowned. "Ben, that's the stupidest idea ever," she said, pacing, "You have no idea where she might be—"

"She's right," Evie interrupted Quinn, a sad look etched onto her face, "You have to take us with you."

"What?!"

"Yes!"

Quinn crossed her arms at how quick Ben was to agree. "Uh, are-are you sure?" he asked. It was nice that Ben cared about the VKs' feelings about going back to the Isle.

"No!"

"Yeah."

Quinn scoffed at Evie's answer, "Are you serious?"

"Q, she's our best friend," the blue-haired girl answered, taking a couple of steps back, "And we'll bring the boys, too, because there's safety in numbers, and none of us is really too popular over there right now."

"Thank you," Ben said, still clutching Mal's note.

"But let's get two things straight," Evie faced Ben again, "You have to promise me that we won't get stuck there again."

"I promise," Ben replied.

"And there's no way you're going looking like that," Evie said.

Ben adjusted his suit a little. Evie sent him a small smile before taking Quinn's wrist and dragging her out of Ben's office. One thing was for sure, there was no way Quinn Cora Hearts was going back to the Isle of the Lost.

Evie speedily pulled Quinn to her dorm. She shut the door behind her before digging through Quinn's clothes that were temporarily sitting in Evie and Mal's dorm.

"Evie are you insane?" Quinn half-exclaimed, "You want to go back to the Isle of the Lost?"

Evie chucked a pair of ripped jeans and a red leather jacket. "It's the only way to bring her back," she flung a long-sleeved t-shirt at the blonde, "Besides, Ben's going either way and there's no way we're letting him wander around the Isle by himself!"

"Can't we just stop Ben from going?! Let Mal come back by herself. E, you know she'll come around!" Quinn said.

"Quinn, he's the king for crying out loud!" Evie said, her eyes still searching through Quinn's things, "He's going to somehow get there eventually! It's better we go with him now, or he sneaks out to look for Mal by himself!"

"Okay, but here's the thing, what about, hm, I don't know, our parents, Uma, and everyone else who hates us for leaving! Uma and her pirates will have Ben captured faster than you can say 'Shrimpy" Quinn said, "and let's not forget about the fact that Mal is going to be furious for taking Ben to the Isle of the freaking Lost!"

Evie finally looked up, sighing. "Quinn, It's better that we go and Ben gets captured than us not going at all," the blue-haired walked over to the blonde, "Look, Mal's our friend. It's also our fault that she left. None of us recognized the immense pressure she was under. Q, I know it's going to be tough, but please, come with us. We owe it to Ben and Mal."

Quinn wanted to say no, but something in Evie's hazel eyes told her that she had to go. She needed to do this for Mal and Ben. Plus, who knows, maybe Quinn will run into someone who isn't as bad as she thought.

Quinn sighed. "Fine," she said, "But let's make this clear. This was your idea."

• • •

The Isle of the Lost had a darn, gloomy reputation. But if you looked close enough, bursts of sunlight and energy shined through the slums of the place. Tucked away in a small beauty parlor, two beams of energy shone.

Scarlet had never really liked sweeping Curl Up and Dye, but listening to music while dancing with your best friend was something that made the sweeping a lot easier.

Scarlet, daughter of the mighty lion Scar, and Dizzy Tremaine were like two peas in a pod. Both enjoyed their jobs and both liked to look on the bright side of things. Sure, they had the street smarts gained from living their entire lives on the Isle, but they were still bright beams of energy. Ones that annoyed their parents/grandparents.

Scarlet had just noticed Mal, daughter of Maleficent, in the doorway. She beamed, gave the blonde a hug, just as Dizzy noticed the older VK.

"Mal!" Dizzy also beamed.

"Is Quinn back?!" Scarlet asked, still hugging Mal.

"Or Evie?"

Mal snorted, tapping on Scarlet's shoulder, signaling that she was done with the hug. "As if," Scarlet rushed back to her best friend's side as Mal gazed at the paint-covered room, "I, um, forgot that you guys don't open till midnight. Place looks good."

"Doesn't it say that it doesn't open until midnight on the door?" Scarlet whispered to Dizzy, who shrugged in response.

"So what is your deal? Has your grandmother given you two any customers yet?" Mal asked.

Scarlet shrugged, going back to sweeping the floors while Dizzy explained. "Ah, just a witch here and there," she said, "Mostly, it's a lot of scrubbing and scouring and sweeping."

"Way too much sweeping," the curly-haired girl remarked.

"Sounds like the old Cinderella treatment."

"Yeah, she's gone from Wicked Stepmother to Wicked Grandmother," Dizzy explained, still holding her broom.

"That's not really much of a switch," Mal commented, turning to the lion's daughter, "Hey, Scarlet, you used to do Quinn, right?"

"Half blonde, half red," Scarlet clarified, eyeing Mal's washed-out purple tips, "No offense, but it doesn't really work on you." She turned to Dizzy, "Diz, you got any ideas for Mal?"

Dizzy gave Mal a good look, before leading her to one of the salon chairs. Scarlet also walked over to the chair, examining Mal's current beauty state.

The brown-haired girl took a chunk of Mal's hair. "Scarlet's defiantly not wrong," she said, "The washed-out blonde with purple tips? The best of no worlds."

Scarlet chuckled, grabbing one of Mal's hands. She frowned at the blush pink color they were painted. "Okay, this would've probably worked in Auradon, but here, we call that color 'bored-to-death pink,'" she chuckled, "We're out of purple, but I've got other options."

Dizzy crooked an eyebrow, "How far can we go?"

Mal shrugged. "The works?" she said, "I mean, whatever makes me feel like me, but, you know . . . way worse."

Dizzy squealed in excitement before picking up an oversized pair of shears, making Mal's smirk turn into a worried look.

So the girls washed, dyed, cut, dried, and straightened her hair. Dizzy was mainly in charge of doing Mal's hair, leaving Scarlet to take care of Mal's nails.

The titanum blonde curls were transformed into straight purple hair with bangs. The previous bored-to-death pink nails were replaced with jet black ones, complimenting her outfit.

Dizzy and Scarlet turned the paint-splattered leather salon chair, letting Mal gaze at her new reflection in the cracked mirrors.

"Hey! There I am," Mal smiled at the two.

"Voila!"

"Voila," Mal repeated, pulling out money from her back pocket. Scarlet's eyes grew wide when the purple-haired girl handed the both of them a bill.

"For us?" Scarlet asked, beaming.

"Yeah," Mal said, "You earned it."

Scarlet and Dizzy turned to each other, squealed in delight, and skipped over to the cash register. Normally, customers never really paid much. Mal's gesture meant the world to the kids.

But their happiness was now long gone. Harry Hook had entered the salon for his usual errands. Errands, being, taking the little amount of money that Dizzy and Scarlet had acquired from the small amount of customers that paid.

"Fork it over, you runt," Harry demanded of Dizzy. The girl frowned, handing the money she'd just earned.

Scarlet's giddy demeanor didn't falter. "Oh, hey Harry," she looked behind him, "Is Harriet here?" Scarlet and Harriet had gotten along much better than Harry and Scarlet did.

"You two, furball," the pirate turned to the curly-haired girl.

The curly-haired girl scowled. "A 'please' would've been nice," she said, handing over the money, "Can I get you anything else?" She crossed her arms.

A silver hook pointed to the metal cash register. "The rest of it," he ordered, putting the money into his mouth.

Dizzy frowned, pressing a couple of buttons before the cash register opened. She took the couple of bills her and Scarlet had earned. Dizzy looked at the money, then looked at Scarlet, who gave her a solem nod. The brunette handed the pirate all the money they had.

"Thank you," Harry muttered, proceeding to exit the Salon, before—

"Still running errands for Uma," Mal remarked, "or do you actually get to keep what you steal?"

Harry turned around, smirking at Mal's presence. Scarlet tried to hide her snicker, for Mal and Harry used to date a while back.

"Well, well, well," the pirate said, "What a nice surprise."

Mal nodded, "Hi, Harry."

"Just wait until Uma hears you're back," Harry took a couple of steps closer to the girl, "She's never gonna give you back your old territory."

"Oh, well, that's okay," Mal looked away for a moment, before bringing her eyesight back to Harry, "Because I will be taking it."

The brunette chuckled, bringing his hook to Mal's hair as Dizzy and Scarlet watched the entire scene unfold.

"This is so fun to watch," Scarlet muttered.

"I could hurt you."

Mal grasped the hook. The girls slightly flinched at the royal's swiftness. The purple-haired girl fake-pouted, placing her pink bubble gum at the tip of the cold metal. "Not without her permission, I bet," she cooed.

Harry just smiled, bringing the gum that covered his hook to his mouth. He pushed a plethora of objects that covered the metal table that held the cash register. Scarlet scooted back a little, breathing a sigh of relief when the pirate left.

"Great. More sweeping."

• • •

"This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea."

Quinn repeated this same mantra to herself as she gazed at her reflection in the dorm bathroom mirror. She was dressed in red leather for the first time in forever. Her pants were black and ripped, decorated with a belt and chains, containing various charms on them. The jewelry was gold, and the headband was also gold.

The Hearts girl picked up her red lipstick, a shade that she hadn't used in six months. She cautiously uncapped it. Why is this so hard?

No more thinking. Thinking would lead to doubt. Doubt would lead to worry. Worry would lead to fear. The last thing that the VK's (with the exception of Ben), needed right now. All they were doing was getting Mal from the Isle and going back to Auradon.

So just put the freaking lipstick on and be done with it. Quinn shrugged before slowly applying the red makeup to her lips. She was sure to fill in every last pink section of her lips. Quinn looked like a completely different person. The question was, is this who she was?

The bathroom door, which was only opened a little, was swung open by Evie. The blue-haired girl was dressed in her set of blue leather.

"You ready, Q?" she asked, slipping on her red fingerless gloves.

Quinn blinked. "Yeah," she capped the lipstick, taking her own gloves off of the bathroom sink, "yeah, let's go."

The duo's heels quietly clicked against the blue carpet. They grabbed their small bags as Evie dimmed the lights and Quinn opened the door.

Percy was on the other side of the door, smirking.

Quinn rolled her eyes as Evie slightly jumped. "What are you doing here?" Quinn asked, "Go away."

The brunette only smirked in response, causing Evie to huff. "Get lost Pan," Evie muttered. She also wasn't happy with Percy cheating on her best friend.

He eyed the duo's sets of leather. "Why are you two dressed like you're going to the Isle of the Lost?" Percy asked.

Quinn rolled her eyes for the second time, "It's none of your buisness."

"Oh, but it will be," Percy took a step closer to the duo, "The pressure got to old Mal, didn't it."

"What do you know?" Quinn said with a scoff.

"I know Mal ran away from Auradon and went back to the Isle of the Lost," he smirked, "I overheard Ben talking to you two. I'm sure that Fairy Godmother, the Beast family, and the press would love to know that Mal chocked and ran away to the Isle of the Lost." Evie and Quinn gave each other a look of worry, "And, uh, Beastie ran to the Isle of the Lost too to go save her."

Quinn turned to Evie. "Get Mal's spellbook," Evie nodded, walking away as Quinn turned back to Percy, "So blackmail's your game? What do you want?"

"Take me to the Isle with you, and maybe I won't rat you two out," Percy insisted.

"What's in it for you?"

The brunette shrugged, "New faces, old enemies."

Evie walked back to the duo, "Mal took her spellbook with her."

Quinn heaved a sigh facing Percy, "Fine."

• • •

When the boys found out that Percy was tagging along on the trip to the Isle, they weren't too happy. No one needed any more tag-alongs for where they were going. They also weren't too happy that Quinn was willingly bringing her ex-boyfriend with her.

But when Quinn said that they might as well "leave Percy to rot on the Isle," Carlos and Jay didn't mind Percy going to the Isle.

Quinn was surprised at how fast it took Evie to throw something together for both Percy and Ben. It took her less than an hour to make two sets of leather for the two of them.

The VK's, plus Ben and Percy all ran down the steps that would lead them to the limousine, which was to transport them to the Isle of the Lost.

Ben tossed Jay various objects. "Jay, keys," the keys jingled through the air as Jay caught them, "Remote."

Evie's voice stopped all of them. "Wait!" everyone stopped and turned to the blue-haired girl, "Something's wrong."

Everyone's faces turned into looks of worry. Quinn frowned as Evie just reached forward to adjust Ben's blue beanie.

"You called all that attention for that?" Percy asked.

"Fasion is fasion," Evie insisted.

"Shotgun!"

Everyone's attention was turned to the ground, where a talking Dude sat. Everyone, except for Carlos and Quinn raised their eyebrows.

"Did he just—"

"Talk?" Carlos finished, "Yeah. I know. Tell you later."

Quinn sharply exhaled as the group made their way to the car. No one was too happy with visiting the Isle of the Lost. Sure, their current epitomes were ones of urgency, but deep down, none of them really wanted to visit the Isle of the Lost.

But what had to be done, had to be done.

things are gonna happen ahhh 👀

buckle up kids, shit's about to get real

edit: yes, i'm aware i haven't updated this book in a year but you can't blame a girl who's busy

i also lwk haven't been active on wattpad in almost a year so 😭😭😭😭

thanks for bearing with me. :)
until next time.

~crrashingwavves