𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 . . . drēm
༢ ͎۪۫ ༊ ❛ 𝗆𝗈𝗏𝗂𝖾 𝗍𝗐𝗈 ﾉ 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝖼𝖾𝗇𝖽𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗌. ❜
▇ ¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚ ╱ 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏 ❜
. . . ➾ ˗ˏˋ smoothies , the isle , disappearing ࿐ྂ

     𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘, Ashlynn and Parker walking on either side of her. The three were deep in conversation when a shout echoed from down the corridor. Ashlynn turned to see Hunter hurrying towards them, a smoothie in each hand.

      Hunter stumbled over himself, quickening his pace to avoid a full fall, but ended up running straight into Elizabeth. The strawberry smoothies splashed all over her shirt.

     Elizabeth's mouth fell open, her eyes widening in shock as she froze, staring down at the mess. Slowly, she lifted her head to glare at Hunter, who gave her an awkward smile.

      "Oh . . ." Parker paused, stepping away from Elizabeth as he looked down at her outfit.

      "Thirsty?" Hunter mumbled, his smile fading as he saw how she didn't find this the slightest bit funny. "Sorry . . ."

      Ashlynn turned to look at Elizabeth's shirt, a gasp escaping her mouth before she quickly covered it as Elizabeth shot her a glare. Clearing his throat, Hunter held the cups back up to her shirt, trying to scoop the smoothie into them. "Surely we can get most of it back in the cup."

      "You can't be serious." Ashlynn muttered.

      "Hunter," Elizabeth gritted, looking down at her perfectly ruined shirt. "Stop. Just stop."

      With that, Elizabeth held her hands away from her shirt, spinning around to walk away from the two, leaving a small trail of strawberry smoothie dripping from her shirt.

     Ashlynn rounded on Hunter, her eyes blazing. "Honestly, Hunter! Can't you be more careful? You know how much Elizabeth loves that shirt."

     Hunter's shoulders slumped. "I didn't mean to, Ash. It was an accident."

     "An accident that you made worse by trying to scoop the smoothie back into the cup!" Ashlynn exclaimed, exasperated.

     Parker, the ever sweet and considerate friend, placed a gentle hand on Ashlynn's shoulder. "I'll go check on her," he said softly.

     Parker quickly jogged down the hallway, catching up to Elizabeth just as she reached the restroom. "Elizabeth, wait," he called out.

     Elizabeth paused, her shoulders tense, but she didn't turn around. "What?"

     Parker approached her cautiously, holding out a pack of tissues. "I thought you might need some help cleaning up."

     Elizabeth sighed, finally turning to face him. "Thanks, Parker." Parker smiled gently.

      As if on cue, after Elizabeth had gone and changed her clothes, she was met by Evie who had a sad expression on her face. Elizabeth furrowed her brows, grabbing onto Evie's hand, noticing the look on Evie's face. "E, what's wrong?"

      "Mal went back to the Isle."

      "This is my fault." Ben sighed as he paced and back and forth in his office, holding the ring he had given Mal in between his fingers, along with the note she had left, crumpling it up in his hand as tears formed in his eyes. "This is my fault. I blew it."

      Ben looked between Elizabeth and Evie, shaking his head. "She's been under so much pressure lately and instead of being understanding, I went all beast on her." Ben continued, leaning against the desk as he raised his voice. "I have to go there and apologize. I have to go there and beg her to come back."

      "Ben, you'll never find her!" Evie exclaimed, shaking her head as Ben looked up at her. Ben slowly turned to look at Elizabeth for her agreement, though she shook her head as well, tears forming in her own eyes.

     "Evie's right," Elizabeth said softly. "The Isle is massive, and it's not like Auradon. You can't just show up and expect to find her. Plus, you need to understand how the Isle works. It's dangerous, and not everyone will be thrilled to see you."

     Ben's shoulders slumped. "I just . . . I need to make things right."

     Elizabeth stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm. "We understand, Ben. But rushing in without a plan will only make things worse. I need you to take me with you, Ben. To take us with you."

      "Yes." Ben said quickly, turning around from the window to look at Elizabeth. "Are ━ Are you sure?"

     Elizabeth nodded, looking down at the ground. "Absolutely. Mal means a lot to all of us. We can't let you do this alone. Besides, if we go together, we stand a better chance. We'll need to be careful and prepared. This isn't Auradon; the rules are different there."

      Ben turned to look at Evie, seeing if she was going to agree with Elizabeth. "She's my best friend." Evie began, nodding as a tear fell down her cheek. "And we'll bring the boys, too, because there is safety in numbers and none of us is really . . . popular over there right now."

      "Thank you ━"

      "But let's get two things straight." Evie cut him off. "You have to promise me that we won't get stuck there again."

      Ben nodded, his eyes looking into Evie's before his gaze trailed over to Elizabeth. "I promise."

      "And you're definitely, definitely not going looking like that." Elizabeth added, crossing her arms as she looked Ben up and down ━ taking a step back. "We need to blend in, and you look way too royal right now. We'll need disguises, something that won't draw attention."

     Evie nodded in agreement. "She's right. We can't afford to stand out. We need to look like we belong there, or we'll never make it past the docks."

     Elizabeth's eyes were determined. "We'll gather what we need, come up with a solid plan, and then we'll go. But Ben, you need to promise us something else."

     Ben looked at her, desperation in his eyes. "Anything."

     "Promise us you'll listen to us and follow our lead once we're there. We know the Isle better than you, and we can't afford any mistakes."

     Ben swallowed hard and nodded. "I promise. I'll do whatever it takes to bring her back."

     Elizabeth smiled faintly, squeezing his arm. "Good. Now let's get to work. We don't have much time."