Happily ever after with a little flavor

[missrecalled_mods]

Sponsors for the ship? So... Sponsor'ship?

Rare had an hour seemed so long on the Isle, or carried so much hope. The King and Queen spoke to all who wished to speak with them, and to Yen Sid. At one point they even opened the barrier enough to go back to the ship where they conferred inside a silence spell with Sylvando. And once more for the King and Queen to return a few minutes later. Then back on the Isle they pulled a few individuals aside once more. Oddly, not those from the Isle this time. Aqua first. Then Lea. Then Æn'kae.

Finally the hour came to an end and the King and Queen called for everyone's attention. Mal stepped forward to address everyone.

"Alright, so here is how this is going to work," she told them without preamble, once she had their attention. The wind pulled at her purple hair, pulling it like a banner behind her. "Here are the terms by which we will take the people we will name to Auradon. Each person will be assigned a sponsor. If you want to change sponsors you may let us know once we are back in Auradon. Your Sponsor will be watching out for you. You need to check in with him, her, or them, regularly. How often that will be will be between you and your sponsor, but the sponsors will report to King Ben and myself. Behave and you'll get to stay in Auradon, and we will let you know when your probation is over and you no longer need to check in with your sponsor. Break the rules of Auradon, hurt anyone, steal.... depending on how bad the act and how many were harmed, we may, with your sponsor decide to give you a warning... or you may wind up back here. This is a chance to prove that the sorting magic was wrong, that you are good people. Or can become good people given the chance." Mal looked and sounded like she was clearly waiting to make her own judgments.

"As I list each name, please go to your sponsor if he, she, or they is here. If not, come stand with the king and I."

She took a deep breath. "Xion, your sponsor is Lea." she pointed to him, suspecting that she didn't actually have to, but it was good to set a pattern.

"Utau, you are with Sylvando, who is on the ship so come join us." Then a bit of a wicked grin. "He's also keeping an eye on Nadeshiko and Nagihiko, why not let him keep an eye on all three of you," she said, knowing she was throwing fuel on an explosion waiting to happen. But she trusted Sylvando to sort out which of the kids actually belonged on the Isle.

"River you are with Æn'ki. Hope you like animals," she said with a grin that wasn't all that softer than her last as she gestured to him.

"Morgana and Emporio, you are with Aqua," she added nodding to the woman with the blue hair. "Of course we understand if any of you want to stay..."

She turned to the Headmaster. Doctor F.... We're aware of you, and your efforts, I assure you. We'll be speaking with those heading to Auradon. But for now, stay where we can see you while the rest of you, those coming with us? You have ten minutes to get your stuff if you have any and say goodbyes to anyone if you want to. Goodbyes with the headmaster will be supervised so we can make sure he is being as good as he claims these days. Alright. Ten minutes, starting now!"


**************************************************

The gathering of belongings and saying of goodbyes was accomplished in the allotted ten minutes without much trouble. Getting everyone onto the boat, then equipped with lifejackets- thankfully the boat's owner was a bit over prepared so there were enough for everyone, if only just-, and reasonably settled for the trip back took a bit longer, however. The boat was a large catamaran, painted mostly in blue and purple pastels. The life jackets however, were the standard safety orange, and so stood out as sharply as they were meant to. The water was still rough so once everyone was equipped, Sylvando advised those unused to boat travel to settle down somewhere until they were in calmer waters.

Getting back to the mainland took time as well, though not quite as much as getting there had, as the tide was in their favor for the return trip. Still, there would be plenty of time for conversation, awkward silences, or angry glaring during the trip. And Sylvando himself wouldn't be adverse to conversation, provided it didn't interfere with the steering of the vessel. Those without their sea legs would also want to be careful walking around, as the boat-while large for a catamaran- wasn't large enough to prevent it from rocking.

Once they'd reached the harbor and the Bibbity Bobber had been secured in her berth, her passengers and crew disembarked and began the trek back up to the school. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of junk that had once been clearly blocking the road before the path to and from the harbor had been cleared. All of it was the sort of things one might expect to find in a modern city- cars, sign boards, fallen trees and lamp posts, etc- but there seemed to be too much of it for the simple vanishing of the populace to account for it all. Very odd.

Once they arrived at the school, they were led past the pretentious sign and statue of King Beast and directed into the lobby. There, they were issued phones and information sheets. On account of everyone being exhausted, no formal welcoming ceremony was planned for that evening, and those staying were directed to the dorms to get showered and settled in. Since that was sure to be a process in itself, Ben, Mal, Sylvando, the other sponsors, and anyone who still had the energy would likely be around for all that as well until everyone got settled. Thankfully the exhaustion had been anticipated, and it was announced that there was soup in the kitchen's refrigerator that had been premade and portioned out and needed only to be reheated for supper at each person's leisure.

The next morning however, proved that Auradon was still Auradon and couldn't really go without some kind of official welcome, as those who came down to the lobby would find a simple but tasty breakfast of muffins, fruit - provided by Malia-, tea, and coffee waiting for them along with the eternally chipper Sylvando, ready to answer any further questions they might have.


****************


Professor Yen Sid and the Headmaster stood and watched the ship through the barrier until they could no longer see it. Then the headmaster, looking bitter, turned on his heel, stalked back to the school, muttering under his breath about needing to speak with someone. He did not say who, but it did not seem like it was likely to be a pleasant conversation.

Yen Sid, on the other hand, turned to those who chose to remain. “Shall we get these supplies in before the humidity destroys them?” he asked, gathering his things into his bag before grabbing it and one of the boxes.

Comments

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Wherever he wants," Lea said. "There's still plenty of free rooms." OK maybe not exactly plenty, but still enough to deal with another small influx of people easily.

[nobodys_puppet]

"But... if this isn't Diatu or the Train... can't he stay with us?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"there's no way to get a third bed in here," he said. "So no. The room next door is still free though." He wasn't going to bother arguing that Roxas might not turn up. Mostly because statistics wouldn't be on his side, judging by their previous interdimensional adventures.

[nobodys_puppet]

"We could all sleep on the same bed... or I could sleep on the floor..."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"That wouldn't work for way too many reasons to get into," he said, setting his shoes aside and standing up to begin removing his jeans. As he usually slept in just a t-shirt and shorts, Xion would be familiar with his bedtime routine by now. "And neither Roxas or I would want you to have to sleep on the floor."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Then me and Roxas can share, we're smaller than you."

[misery_called_npcs]

"So then they were able to understand, you feel? After you hurt them?"

[elvendryad]

"Yes, they understood. They saw themselves from their victims' eyes. They felt what they inflicted." He eyed Yen Sid. "If they hurt, it was only because they caused that pain. I was not the one to draw a sword; I have none. I was not the one to shoot arrows; I make none, and I keep none, nor have I any bow. And unlike some of their prey, they left my forest with their lives. They most certainly understood exactly what they did."

[seacub]

Emporio frowns- not because he's upset with the other, but perhaps instead wary, and questioning about the idea of Weather Report appearing.

"...even with part of him in me?"

What happens, he thinks, if a person is brought without their will to Be?

[seacub]

"....I already said it though..?"

Now he's just incredulous. "...This is a lot of effort to reject the idea of an apology..."

[misery_called_npcs]

"And pain is the only way to teach such a lesson, you think?"

[aquawayfinder]

"Even with. These places can be odd that way. Has anyone mentioned Sora to you yet?" she asked with a warm smile. Having seen him on the Isle with Xion and Axel, it was possible.

[utauhoshina]

"Well then you know now not to bother in the future."

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea made a thoughtful sound as he considered that explanation, comparing it to what he knew. "There's elements of that on how I understand magic," he said. "But it's not as... essential, I guess is the right word, at least for humans. Can't really speak for moogles or other species since I never really looked into that. Using or tapping into magic for us takes effort and energy, the same as physical work. And just like you can hurt yourself by working your muscles to hard, you can hurt yourself by stretching yourself too thin magically. Headaches are the most common result of magical exhaustion, but pushing too hard beyond that point can make you limbs go temporarily numb, or even make you pass out. There's even one or two spells that take so much power to cast that if you're not in tip-top shape, casting them can actually kill you due to the shock of the sudden power drain."

"Thankfully, that's not something we have to worry about here, since I doubt anyone here knows those spells. But... well frankly, Mal seems like the kind of person who'd take any opportunity to stretch her limits as much as possible, and I don't mean in the healthy 'learning more about yourself' way. It's not a big deal now, from what I understand, but well... maybe we should keep an eye out. Quietly, of course."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"No," Lea said firmly, too tired to get into all the reasons why that wouldn't work either. "Why are you so insistent on Roxas staying in the same room with us anyway? It's not like him sleeping in this room as opposed to the one next door or even the one down the hall is gonna affect much of anything."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Because he keeps vanishing just when we find him!"

[elvendryad]

A slight pause again, but the question had certainly gotten him a funny bit of a look -- confusion, mostly. "I never said anything like that. Where are you getting that idea from?"

[seacub]

Oh-

Emporio winces. "Er...Xion did..."

Aqua might guess why that comes with a wince, given the name.

[seacub]

What in the...

"....why does it matter so much to you?"

It's just. Strange, he thinks. To have that much thought about someone's apology.

[queen_butterfly]

She nodded in agreement to that; his point had been taken. "I'll watch to see that she keeps doing well, when I see her. Perhaps if she needs to not for a while, I could try making the waters glow without being as charged?" So there was such thing as decaf magic water...?

[misery_called_npcs]

"I am simply trying to understand your point of view, since I clearly have it mistaken, please do me the favor of clarifying."

[aquawayfinder]

She sighed softly, ruffling his hair. "Can you tell me what she said? I will try to clarify."

[utauhoshina]

"Who said it did?" she snapped while the little devil one giggled.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"And how would him being in the same room stop that from happening?", Lea said, tossing his jeans to one side. He'd put them in the laundry tomorrow. "All that'd do is let us notice a little sooner."

[nobodys_puppet]

"If we're holding onto him at all times, like when we sleep, then he can't leave without us," she said, nodding. Xion logic at its finest.