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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎:

𝐵 𝑅 𝑂 𝐾 𝐸 𝑁 𝐶 𝑌 𝐶 𝐿 𝐸 𝑆

Jax grunted as he put out the fire with the miniature extinguisher in his hands. "Shouldn't you be doing this in a more, I don't know, controlled environment?" He panted towards Wyc. The March Hare's son was an amateur inventor and had unfortunately decided to take his current project back to his dorm, resulting in a miscalculation that led to the small fire occurring.

Wyc scratched his head with a guilty expression on his face. "Yeah, usually I spend a lot of time in the mechanics' lab but," He paused, not knowing what to say and before he could think twice, all that came out of his mouth was, "I don't know man."

Jax caught on to Wyc's hesitation. It wasn't difficult, Wyc never says something that he doesn't mean. "What?" He went rigid, his back straightening and wanting to know what was wrong.

Wyc pursed his lips as he slightly banged the wrench in his hand against his work desk. "I- I didn't want to leave you here alone." He revealed.

Jax didn't know how he felt about that answer, "Really?" His voice wasn't surprised, well it was, just not in an amusing way as usual. It was much more soft with the question.

Wyc nodded slowly, "You've been dealing with a lot this year, constantly switching dorms, you've almost never stepped outside" He gestured towards the curtained windows, "And we've all got classes five days a week, pretty soon we'll be converted from students to staff because you know they'd never let us leave the area." His voice quieted at the end before walking up to the Hatter to let him know that this was serious, "Jax, you're practically isolated."

Jax wagged a finger at him, "I survived the Isle, my friend, this here," He presented the room with his hands, but both knew he was talking about his current situation, "It's almost a vacation." He boasted, a grin upon his face once more as he turned and picked something up from Binx's area, but Wyc couldn't tell what it was.

The March Hare's son sighed softly, walking behind Jax. "I wouldn't judge you if you were going through something, you know that right?" He asked gently.

Jax went stiff, "I know. Thank you, Wyc." He was a good friend, but Jax hated to share his feelings unless absolutely necessary.

If he had taken him up on the offer to talk things through, he probably would've fallen apart right there on the dark carpet beneath their feet. Jax had so much running through mind and heart that he couldn't even pick just one emotion to describe what he was feeling. His heart ached to have Harry back in his arms, to kiss his full lips and run his fingers through his dark curls. He missed him for company at night, to be encased in each other's arms. It was an unspoken promise to protect the other in that strong embrace throughout the night and beyond.

He felt guilty over leaving Uma to her own merits, while Jax knew that she could survive practically anything, it didn't excuse his abandonment. His soul hated itself for what it chose to do that night, to leave behind one of the few friends he made outside his people. Even if by some miracle that Uma eventually forgave him, he would never forgive himself for that atrocious act. And it was because of those two that the Hatter felt torn.

His heart was with Harry whilst his soul was with Wonderland. As much as Jax wanted to find his love, he also knew that it would be more dangerous to keep him around once the war would begin. He wanted Harry to be free, him and the Isle with all his soul, but he also knew that the Isle would be the safest place once that dreadful battle would commence. He just had to keep him there for the time being.

He kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong, filling his head with bad thoughts. But then something occurred to him, Binx was gone for the day, the werecat had gone off to wherever he spent his afternoons. And Ruby wasn't here, she was most likely in her bedroom trying to make sense of her own strategies for upcoming events. Jax saw an opportunity, an opportunity to get a more detailed explanation as to one of his biggest questions since arriving in Auradon.

Jax licked his lips worriedly, he didn't know if it were going to work, but out of the three of them, Wyc was most likely to tell him something. "You know something's been racking my brain since the week I got here." Jax only got a hum as a response, and then he figured to just rip the bandage off. "Could I ask, what the hell happened with Nate?"

The second he heard that name, Wyc tensed for a moment. It was only for a moment, but it was caught by both boys. He kept his head down as he unscrewed the back of an old radio box. "We told you, he left us." Was all that he muttered.

"Okay, yeah, that's what I don't get." Jax started, "The Nate that I remember would've never left us out to dry, he was raised in that aspect. He was taught to look after his people, his dad was a war hero that practically took a bullet for Ruby's parents. So, I don't have a clue as to why Nate would betray his own people."

That's when Wyc set his tools down and looked at hid friend, "Maybe it was because of his father." Jax raised his eyebrows at that. "He didn't want to be the next White Knight, he wanted something else, something different. He couldn't have it both ways, and besides," He sighed, "He was tired of all our quirks you could say. He wanted something normal." He said quietly.

"How'd it go down?"

Wyc sighed heavily, thinking back to all those years ago, he sat down on his working chair as Jax took a seat on the floor, his head being supported by Wyc's bed. "It was a few months after you were sent away," He started slowly. "At first it was little things, not hanging around us in public, like lunch or even in class. Then he's joining teams and making friends with these people," The inventor pursed his lips, "The royals thought they were finally winning over one of us, especially when he spilled our secrets. After that, we saw Nate for what he really was: a traitor."

Wyc scoured his brain for those painful memories, for those horrible times.

"I am sick and tired of the chaos, of the plans, it's exhausting. Let's just take a day, a break or something." Nate yelled at his friends.

At his words, Dot's face scrunched up in fury, "A break? We're trying to get home!"

"And we're failing!" He snapped. "This isn't Wonderland!" That was when he turned to their leader, "You aren't inline for a throne anymore! You have no power here, not over them, not over us, and certainly not over me." He stood his ground, waiting for Ruby to say something back, everyone expected her to at least, but she remained silent. "I think it's time we cut our loses. I don't even have a parent waiting for me. What's the point?"

That was when Lizzie stood from her seat, walking up to the boy yelling his heart out, "Neither do we," She motioned towards her and her little brother who was with Allie playing together in the corner, they were so young to be involved, but it was necessary. "Neither does Dot, but that doesn't mean we aren't loved there, we have a home and someone expecting us. You could be part of that-"

"Oh please, like they would ever let the son of a knight be raised alongside people like you."

"People like us? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Wyc questioned.

"It means, that even if I wanted a regular childhood in an actual house, I wouldn't get it, you guys are lucky, you aren't meant for bigger things." At those last words, the room was filled with scoffs.

"Is he serious? Tell me he isn't serious." Morris deadpanned as Binx kept rubbing his eyes, he wasn't even going to try and fight for Nate to stay. If the traitor wanted to leave them, then so be it.

Nate ignored him, and faced the last reminders he had of home, Wyc thought that maybe he was going to say something to implement that he felt guilty for his words and then goodbye. Wyc was wrong. "I'm moving out of our room," He told the werecat and the inventor. "A friend of mine on the tourney team told me his roommate was moving back home and said I was more than welcome to take the space. I like it here, it's peaceful and calm, it's-" He was cut off by the ever so quiet Drue Osmo.

"It's not home. I like calm as much as you, but there are places for that back home. Come on, Nate," They tried to reconcile, but Nate wasn't having it. He was sick and tired of going against Auradon only for him to end up with more pain than before. So, he aligned himself with them. "Think about what you're doing."

"I am." He nodded, forcefully. "I'm thinking that we can't make it back without a portal. So instead of wasting our time with the impossible, we enjoy the fact that they keep us here instead of the Isle of the Lost." He pointed to the ground.

"What? We should be thankful that they imprison us in a pastel castle rather than an island of villains? At least they aren't fake about it on the Isle." Dot practically spit at his feet.

Nate started to walk backward, "Just leave me out of it. I want to actually enjoy my youth now that I'm not fearing for it in Wonderland. I would've fallen in my parent's footsteps and died the same way. This is my chance to break the cycle."

"Then break it." It was the first that Ruby spoke since Nate began his debacle. Everyone in the room turned to look at the soon to be queen that was situated in the back.

"Ruby?" Wyc questioned as she walked forward, the kids parting to let her through as she emerged from them to face the traitor.

Ruby walked directly into Nate's view, "Break the cycle." She dared, "But know that this is you, switching to the side of the enemy. Whatever happens, we won't help you, we won't pity you, we won't protect you." She promised.

"I don't need your protection." He shook his head and left without another word.

"Later on, we barely spoke to each other. One night, we were helping Allie out with her portals and she managed to spark up the smallest sliver," He made a gesture by pinching his two fingers together in mid-air. "Just a tiny tear right in front of us, big enough to send a rock through," He laughed, "but it was hope." He nodded, remembering how it felt, how that spark of hope felt like for the first time. "And she thought that if he knew there was a chance, then maybe he'd come back to us, that all he was missing was the hope of getting home." His voice trailed off.

"We didn't notice that he had actually made himself quite comfortable around here. When he talked about the madness and the aspects of Wonderland, we just thought that he was letting out some steam, but he meant every word. Allie told him that we met up on Sunday's at exactly two am, said that he should pass by if he wanted to join us, she told him she was sure everyone would forgive him, that they missed him, and he was right, most of us were prepared to forgive. That night, the Auradon guards raided our group, they separated the younger ones from the oldest and we spent a month alone in specialized cells underneath the school until they were sure we'd learn our lesson about running away." He scoffed at those words. "After that, Allie completely cut off Nate," He banged his screwdriver angrily and repeatedly against the metal platform that covered most of his desk, "It was like he didn't exist to her. He had broken what little trust we had for him, and a bit of Allie's heart in the process."

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Later that afternoon, Jax expertly snuck into Ruby's dorm room. He had gotten accustomed to sneaking in and hiding in various parts of the school to get to his friends' rooms. When he arrived, the place was empty, so Jax got a move on placing the chess pieces to their rightful places and preparing coffee for his queen and himself. As always, he added just a dash (or more) of rum to his coffee. It reminded him of his pirate.

He made his way towards the window, spying on the residents on this campus. He sipped his coffee quietly when he noticed something disturbing. One by one, the students began to drop like flies. Either to the ground or the table they sat at, it didn't matter, they all eventually went down. Jax saw the dark purple mist that traveled the ground, most likely the cause for their drifting.

He stood there, watching them all fall to slumber before realizing something, Ruby was out there. Against his better judgment, Jax exited her room in a rush. He didn't hide, he didn't bend over to avoid detection, he just ran through the hallway until he made it to the entrance. A part of him almost didn't go through those doors, his paranoid side thinking maybe it was all a trap, to get Jax out in the open. But he shook his head, Ruby would do it for any of them, I have to show her that loyalty as well, even if it ended badly for him.

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Oof! That was a riot.

Let me know what you guys think!

Also, thoughts on the new characters introduced?? If you don't know them, please refer to the chapter I just published titled 'cast. ii'

Thoughts on Nate in this flashback??

What about poor Jax this year?

no mundanes allowed

- polaroized