Escape from the Isle of the Lost

by Melissa de la Cruz

  Jay didn’t see Mal and Ben anywhere, but he knew they wouldn’t miss this.

  Carlos and Jane were standing at the head of the group. It was tradition for the juniors to coordinate and judge the quest, so while Jay was sad Carlos couldn’t participate, he knew his friend had had a blast putting everything together. He’d heard Carlos and Jane laughing over the list many times leading up to this night.

  “Okay!” said Jane, holding up a hand to get everyone’s attention. “You guys know the rules. There are no rules! First one back to the goalpost with everything on the list wins!”

  Jay pulled his motorbike up next to Lonnie’s horse. They had agreed to work together as a team. “What’s on the list?” he asked.

  “Um, let me see,” Lonnie replied. “First: ‘Bring back a shard from Cinderella’s glass slipper.’ That’s in the museum, isn’t it?”

  “No, that’s the whole one. We need a piece from the one that broke,” said Jay. “That would be in Cinderella’s castle.”

  “Yes!”

  Groups of seniors were already beginning to break away from the tourney field, laughing and cheering as the quest began in earnest, while Jay and Lonnie continued working on their game plan. Chad’s parents, Cinderella and Prince Charming, lived in a castle in nearby Charmington, Jay remembered. It wouldn’t be too hard a ride, although Jay was starting to think that maybe a horse and a motorbike weren’t the best modes of transport.

  “Should we drive instead?” asked Lonnie.

  “For sure,” said Jay with a grin. “I know where they keep the royal limo.”

  They dismounted and bolted to the car. Once Jay was at the wheel, they sped out of the school grounds, a motorcade of electric carriages filled with rowdy seniors right behind them.

  “So, do you know what you’re going to do after?” Jay asked as they zoomed up the main road.

  Lonnie was still studying the list. “After we win this thing?”

  “No, after graduation.”

  “I think I’m doing a gap year,” she said as she folded the map.

  “Is that some Northern Wei thing?”

  “No, silly. It’s an Auradon thing. Some kids delay going to college to see the world.”

  “Oh, cool.”

  “This is our exit,” she said, pointing to the sign. “Anyway, I’m still not sure if I’m going to college or going pro.”

  “Pro?”

  “There are some professional R.O.A.R. teams coming to recruit at Auradon Prep soon. You should meet them too!” she said. “That way you’ll know all your options.”

  Jay considered it. He hadn’t counted on his hobby becoming a profession, but it sounded like a worthy idea. “When will they be here?”

  “Next week. Will you remember this time?”

  “I’ll try,” he said. “Will you remind me?”

  She laughed. “Fine. And I think we’re here,” she said, as they pulled up to a towering castle in the woods.

  he next meeting of the Royal Council didn’t involve scones, mostly because it was after dinner, but Ben’s disappointment was assuaged when he noticed that Mrs. Potts was serving dessert instead. Pies and pudding en flambé. Yum. He shared a conspiratorial wink with Mal.

  His parents were already at the table with Fairy Godmother. After exchanging a few pleasantries and going over the notes for the upcoming trade meeting, Ben steered the conversation back to the decision about Mal’s official itinerary.

  “Do we really need to discuss this right now?” King Beast yawned.

  “Yes, we do,” said Ben. They were already late for the Senior Quest, and if this meeting didn’t wrap up soon, he and Mal had no shot at the trophy—or bragging rights.

  “Sending Mal to the Isle of the Lost doesn’t seem like a terrible idea,” said Queen Belle gently. “She is from there, and they are our people too.”

  Fairy Godmother scraped up the last bit of her pudding en flambé. “I agree with Belle,” she said. “It’s not a terrible idea—I just worry it might be a dangerous one.”

  “Mal will have her friends with her. She’ll be perfectly safe,” said Ben.

  “I promise, nothing will happen,” said Mal. “In fact,” she continued, looking to Ben for encouragement, “I would like to use my trip to help with the initiative of bringing more VKs over to Auradon. I think hearing it directly from me and my friends will help these kids understand how their lives can really change for the better.”

  “I totally agree,” said Ben. “It’s time to bring more kids from the Isle to the mainland, and Mal can help us do that.”

  “The longer they stay isolated and influenced by their parents’ evil deeds, the harder it will be for them to ever acclimate to life on Auradon,” said Mal. “I should know. When we were brought here, our parents tried to get us to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand.”

  “How can we forget?” said Fairy Godmother.

  “But now Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos are some of Auradon Prep’s top students,” Queen Belle reminded them. “The others will be like them.”

  “I still have my doubts,” said Fairy Godmother.

  “Please, trust us,” said Mal.

  “Trust her,” said Ben. “As king, I believe this is the right thing to do.” He checked his watch. If they made it out of here in the next few minutes, they still had a fighting chance at winning the quest.

  “The king has decided, then,” said King Beast. “Hear, hear. Mal will be visiting her homeland.”

  Fairy Godmother nodded. “Hail to the king. And congrats, Mal. I know you’ll have a wonderful trip.”

  “Good job, son,” said his mother. “And well done, Mal.”

  Ben was relieved they had reached consensus so quickly. “Great! Now that we’ve all agreed, I’ve outlined the plan,” he told them. “Mal and her team can meet with Dr. Facilier of Dragon Hall and liaise with him to drum up interest in the program. Once we receive all the applications, we’ll select four new worthy candidates.”

  Fairy Godmother pulled out a feathered pen and began scribbling notes. “We’ll have the royal press issue a proclamation with the dates of Mal’s visit.”

  “Excellent,” said Ben.

  “Mal, remember that, this time, you will be traveling as Auradon’s representative,” said Fairy Godmother.

  “I won’t fail you,” said Mal.

  Ben looked at the dates Fairy Godmother proposed. “Oh!”

  “What?”

  “That’s the same weekend that we’re having the meeting to discuss the new NAFFA trade agreement,” said Ben.

  “That’s right. The National Association of Far Far Away,” said King Beast. “Everyone from Agrabah to Camelot will be there.”

  Ben turned to Mal. “I won’t be able to come to the Isle of the Lost with you. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Mal said, giving him an understanding look.

  “No one said ruling was easy,” Ben said with a sigh.

  “That’s okay,” said Mal with a wicked smile. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You know what is easy?”

  Ben raised an eyebrow.

  “Winning the Senior Quest! We have to move. The first teams are already at Cinderella’s castle! Let’s go!”

  As Mal and Ben zoomed out of the room, Fairy Godmother turned to the king and queen. “Senior Quest? What’s that?”

  But Belle and Beast only smiled mysteriously. There were some traditions that were best kept secret.

  ome on,” said Evie, tiptoeing along the castle walls. She and Doug had crossed the moat by bringing down the drawbridge. Now all they had to do was get inside.

  Evie picked the lock and swung the door open.

  “You do that so well,” said Doug, a little nervously.

  “You can take a girl out of the Isle, but you can’t take the Isle out of the girl,” said Evie with a smile. She was never embarrassed about where she came from.

  They went inside. The castle was empty, since Cinderella and Prince Charming had agreed
to let the kids use their castle for the scavenger hunt and were away visiting Prince Charming’s father—the King—and the Grand Duke. The servants had been given the day off in preparation as well. Even though Evie and Doug were sneaking in, it was mostly to avoid the other senior teams. Cinderella just asked that everyone take their shoes off at the entry.

  Doug led the way up the grand stairs, the two of them padding lightly in their socks, and quickly found Cinderella’s closet. Evie stopped to admire the light-blue gown that Cinderella had worn to that famous ball, where she captured the heart of her prince. She touched its silk folds reverently. “Did I tell you?” she asked Doug. “I had an idea to expand my business. I’m going to design everyone’s caps and gowns for graduation.”

  “That’s perfect! Everyone is going to want an Evie’s 4 Hearts original,” Doug said, kneeling down to look at rows and rows of boxes of glass slippers.

  “I hope so!” said Evie, admiring Cinderella’s many tiaras.

  “You can’t graduate without one!” said Doug with a smile. He held up one of the shoe boxes. “Where do you think she keeps the shards of the original shoe?”

  Evie tried to think. If she were Cinderella, where would she keep her mementos? They searched everywhere, going up to the attic filled with her old brooms and the basement where the castle cooks kept the cauldrons. But there was no sign of the broken shards of the original glass slipper.

  “Maybe we should move on to the next item on the list?” asked Doug.

  “Hold on!” Evie said excitedly, as she realized the twist. “Cinderella doesn’t have the shards of the slipper. She’s not sentimental. After all, she sent the remaining one to the museum. Prince Charming was the one who picked it up when she left it at the ball. I bet it’s in his closet!”

  They ran to Prince Charming’s closet.…But another quest team had already beat them there.

  Ben was looking through the shelves while Mal was pulling out the cape rack. “Oh, hey!” said Mal. “You guys are here too!”

  “Slipper shards?” asked Doug.

  “Nothing yet,” said Ben.

  Mal turned to Evie. “Guess what? The Royal Council approved my visit to the Isle! We’re all going back to recruit more kids to come to Auradon!”

  Evie squealed, and the two of them hugged.

  “You know, when the new kids come over, we should do something fun, truly celebrate them. Maybe not just the marching band, but an entire parade. A really big welcome!” said Evie.

  “That’s a great idea,” said Doug.

  “I like it,” said Ben. “Certainly for their first day of school. But we’re going to bring the new kids over during the summer, so that they have time to get used to Auradon.” He turned over a treasure chest full of medals. “No shards here.”

  Mal and Evie looked through the prince’s collection of crowns. “But where will they stay? The first-year dorms are being remodeled this summer,” said Mal.

  “We’ll find a place!” said Evie cheerfully. She picked up one of the golden crowns and checked underneath it. “Except we can’t seem to find any shards of glass.”

  Mal peeked beneath an ermine coat, where she discovered a safe. “Look!”

  The safe was already open, and there was a note on the floor in Jay’s handwriting. “‘Left you some shards, but the crown is ours!’” Mal read. “He got here first, that thief!”

  She reached into the safe and found the velvet bag where Prince Charming kept the shards of his true love’s glass slipper. Mal picked up a shard and carefully put it in a plastic pouch. Evie did the same. Then the two teams went their separate ways. Now they just needed to steal a banana from Tarzan’s pal Terk’s refrigerator.…

  t was close to midnight. Carlos and Jane sat at the edge of the tourney field near the goalpost, a plastic trophy between them. He checked the list he and Jane had put together for the quest, and wondered how much longer it would take for the teams to arrive. He was starting to get a little hungry.

  “Don’t worry, they’ll be here soon. It’s not an impossible quest,” said Jane with a reassuring smile.

  They had spent months talking to all the respective parties, negotiating use of locations, and making sure everyone was in on the joke, while keeping things secret from the school administration. Jane had sent long letters to every prince and princess in the kingdom, begging them for access to their treasures, reminding them of their own glory years at Auradon Prep, while Carlos had been the one to keep track of the number of teams playing and make sure that there were enough objects for everyone to collect.

  He looked down at the list again:

  Collect a shard from Cinderella’s glass slipper.

  Pluck a flower from Aurora’s rose garden.

  Cut off a lock of Rapunzel’s hair.

  Steal a banana from Terk.

  Bring back one of Rajah’s collars. (Jasmine’s tiger had quite a collection.)

  Pick an apple from Snow White’s orchard.

  Take a slice of birthday cake from Mad Hatter’s tea party.

  Grab a thingamabob from Ariel’s collection.

  Bake a beignet using Princess Tiana’s recipe.

  Kiss a prince.

  Hum “Be Our Guest” when you get to the finish line.

  “I think I hear something. They’re here!” said Jane excitedly. She stood up and craned her neck.

  Mal and Ben burst out of Ben’s carriage. Mal was holding up a fork while Ben was balancing a plate of beignets in one hand and carrying his backpack in the other. The two of them were humming loudly to the tune of “Be Our Guest.”

  At the same time, Evie and Doug raced to the goalpost from the other side. Evie was holding up a rose while Doug held a satchel of scavenger-hunt objects. They were humming just as loudly, with Evie occasionally bursting into giggles.

  It looked like first place would come down to these two teams, but at the last minute, Jay and Lonnie burst from the hedges. Lonnie was carrying a basket with all the items on the list, apples and bananas piled high on top.

  All the teams reached the goal line at the same moment, and Mal noticed Evie and Lonnie bolting toward Ben, which reminded her that she too needed to fulfill the second-to-last item in front of the judges: Kiss a prince. All three girls hurriedly leaned in to kiss Ben on the cheek almost at the same time. Almost, that is, because Mal kissed him first. “We win!” said Mal, cheering. “Yay, us!”

  Carlos shook his head. “Nope, you all lose.”

  “What?” they chorused. Mal did a double take, Evie looked affronted, and Lonnie frowned and looked as if she were about to go into battle.

  But Jane only laughed and motioned to Chad, who was right behind them. Chad was kissing his own hand. “DONE!” he crowed.

  “Ben is a king,” said Jane. “The quest is to kiss a prince. And well, Chad is kissing a prince, all right.”

  The group groaned in unison, and Carlos handed Chad the trophy and the gift certificate. “Try the gray stuff. It’s delicious,” he joked.

  “I don’t think they serve that at Ariel’s Grotto,” said Jane. “I think that’s Mrs. Potts’s recipe.”

  “Oh, right,” said Carlos. “Congratulations, Chad!”

  Chad screamed in delight and danced around the goalposts, hoisting the trophy up in the air as they all looked on with amusement. The rest of the teams arrived, singing and showing each other the treasures they’d scored.

  “Congratulations, everyone!” said Jane. “You are all winners!”

  “Midnight eats from Snow White’s Snack Shack?” Carlos suggested, as his stomach was growling now.

  A cheer went up from the crowd of seniors, and they all piled back into their carriages, laughing and high-fiving as they went.

  Over the late-night meal, they relived the highlights of the quest. Evie and Doug showed off the scratches on their arms from the thorns from the rose garden, while Jay and Lonnie laughed about how loudly Jay screamed when Rajah caught him sneaking away with one of the tiger’s jew
eled collars.

  When the laughter died down and the crowd at Snow White’s trendy new restaurant began to disperse, Mal cleared her throat and leaned in toward her friends. “So, the Royal Council said we can go back to the Isle of the Lost next weekend to talk to the kids there. Sound good to everyone?”

  “Oh! Wonderful!” said Evie.

  “Back to the Isle? For sure!” said Jay, who was always up for an adventure.

  Only Carlos looked hesitant.

  “Carlos?” asked Mal.

  “In,” he said with a nervous smile. “Always.”

  “It’ll be okay,” said Evie, placing an arm around his shoulder. “This is just what you wanted—for everyone to hang out and make the most of our time together.”

  “Right, thanks for reminding me,” said Carlos.

  Jane looked a bit worried, but he squeezed her hand. “It’ll be all right,” he said. “Maybe my mom will be at the spa.”

  “By the way, it was the best Senior Quest yet! Thanks, you guys, for putting that together,” said Evie to Carlos and Jane.

  “Wait till you see what we have prepped for graduation!” said Jane.

  “We have something planned for graduation?” asked Carlos.

  “You’ll see!” said Jane.

  Carlos beamed. Jane was the best. And, actually, her birthday was coming up in a few months.…He’d organize something! She was always doing nice things for everyone else, and he wanted to do the same for her. He’d think of something special—he knew he would.

  es, that was definitely rock music coming from under the depths of the sea. Loud, angry rock music. Uma swam closer to the sound. She recognized it. There was only one resident of the Isle of the Lost who liked playing music at those ear-shattering decibels.