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The four of them blew out the cake to another round of cheers. Someone turned on the lights, and Carlos realized they were in a perfectly normal-looking basement room, clean and bright. There was a chalkboard on one wall and rows of neatly arranged tables.
“Shall we begin with the cake? I had to bribe some hard-bargaining mice to sneak it out of the Auradon kitchens to the goblins earlier this week just for this,” said Yen Sid. “Yzla, bring over the plates, please. Maddy, will you do the honors?”
“Of course, Professor,” said the young witch, and set about cutting slices.
The four of them watched in stunned silence as the group obediently and graciously moved aside and sat patiently, waiting for their slices. Carlos caught Jay’s eye and shrugged.
Yen Sid motioned for them to take the nearest table. “At least they’re not here to attack us,” said Jay, who accepted his slice with a wink.
“Unless they want to kill us with sugar,” said Mal, looking forlornly at her piece. “I sure wish I hadn’t eaten that whole stale pudding now.”
The Anti-Heroes club members, who’d never had anything remotely this good, were gobbling up the cake as fast as Maddy could slice it. It was their first taste of real sugar, and a few of them were dizzy and ecstatic from the sweetness.
Harry and Jace walked up with triumphant smiles on their faces. “Told ye we wouldn’t spoil it, and we didn’t, did we?” said Jace. “Ye had no idea, right?” asked Harry eagerly as he licked some frosting from his upper lip.
“No idea,” said Carlos, suddenly feeling much fonder of them than before. They were slow and bumbling, but often eager to please. When he had been forced to throw that party for Mal, they had helped him decorate without complaint. Jace and Harry grinned and shuffled back to their seats, satisfied.
“Professor, can we ask what this meeting is about?” said Evie as she picked daintily at her slice of cake.
“In time, in time,” replied the professor, licking frosting off his mustache. “We have much to discuss, and it is better to do so on a full stomach.” He set his plate down on their table. “So tell me, how were you able to return to the island?”
“I drove,” said Carlos, his mouth full of cake.
“We stole the royal limousine,” said Jay. “It has the clicker that unlocks the dome and makes the bridge appear.”
“Clever,” said Yen Sid. “I’m sure your talents at thievery were helpful in that area.”
Jay beamed. “I guess so.”
“Although we ran into Prince Ben and he let us take the car anyway,” reminded Mal, rolling her eyes at Jay for taking all the credit.
“Yes, Ben was always a progressive thinker,” agreed Yen Sid. “And you are all well, I take it? Enjoying life on Auradon?”
“Yes, sir,” said Evie. “Very much so.”
The professor stroked his long gray beard. “Excellent, excellent. Do give Fairy Godmother my regards when you see her next.”
Evie promised to do so. “By the way, Professor, does my mother know you’re here in our basement? Is she part of this?”
Yen Sid chuckled. “Everything will be explained in time.”
Mal was fidgeting and looked impatient, and Carlos knew she was eager to put an end to this chitchat, but Yen Sid seemed determined to keep the conversation light.
“How are the Knights doing this season?” he asked the boys.
“So far we’re five and one,” said Jay. “We’ve won all our games except a loss to a strong team from the Imperial Academy. Li Shang doesn’t mess around.”
“In my day, the Olympus team was the force to be reckoned with—always difficult to beat the gods,” Yen Sid said, looking nostalgic at the memory.
“They still have a strong lineup, but a lot of the god kids enroll at Auradon Prep now, so maybe that’s why,” said Jay.
Carlos finished his cake and was bursting with curiosity. He couldn’t keep it inside anymore. “So, Professor, come on, tell us, what is this whole Anti-Heroes thing all about?”
“I can certainly explain,” Yen Sid exclaimed jovially. “After all, I founded it.”
In the past, the only way to get to Neverland was to fly. Just like the Isle of the Lost, there had been no usable bridge connecting the tiny island to the mainland, so the fairy court used to leave a bottle of fairy dust at the dock. Then visitors would sprinkle it on themselves while thinking happy thoughts, lifting into the air and floating to Neverland. When Ben was little, he had loved to travel by fairy dust, but when King Beast and Fairy Godmother decided that even this magic was against Auradon policy, a proper bridge was built.
Even so, Ben couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be flying anywhere that day.
