CHAPTER 12

The Welcome Party

I’ve never been to a fairy party, but I imagine this is what it would look like. The grounds of Fairy Tale Reform School are twinkling with hundreds of paper lanterns hanging from tree branches, floating on the lake, and lighting the path to a beautiful, blue tent. Inside the tent, members of the royal court are on hand to officially welcome Prince Sebastian, Beauty, and AG to Enchantasia.

Students from FTRS are dressed in their cleanest uniforms and shiniest shoes, while the Dwarf Police Squad patrols the lake to make sure there are no unwelcome visitors. The dwarves look sort of knightly in their flashy, new uniforms. With the sun dipping behind the lake and a sky ablaze with pinks and reds, I have to admit that FTRS looks even prettier than one of those fancy magical postcards.

And Rumpelstiltskin wants nothing more than to see this world I have grown to love wiped from existence.

“Stop worrying in public, Ms. Cobbler,” Professor Harlow says as she sweeps by me in a gold gown that has a jewel-encrusted bodice. The look would be very fairy-tale princess if she wasn’t also wearing a black cape. “Those frown lines will give you premature wrinkles.”

“But…” I start to protest.

“No buts,” Harlow says. “We’ve done a sweep of the grounds, and we’ve got those ridiculous dwarves here for extra protection. Angelina is safely hidden, and I’ve cast spells that will keep intruders from walking onto FTRS grounds this evening.” She leans closer, practically wrapping me in her cape.

“Act normal. If he is looking for that book and watching us, we can’t look frightened.” I start to protest. “Drink chamomile tea with your friends, and calm down. There will be plenty of work to do tomorrow when this fanfare is over.” She gives a look of disdain to a fairy flying balloons to the tent. Just as Harlow enters the party, Jax exits. I see him notice me, and I pretend to be fixing a paper lantern that looks crooked.

“Hey.” Jax comes up beside me.

“Hey,” I say back.

“Nice party,” Jax says lamely. “Great decorations.”

“Yeah. Beautiful lanterns.” I hear crickets in the distance and someone tuning their violin. I have no clue what to say to my best friend right now.

Jax sighs. “Thief, this is silly. I hate fighting with you.”

I drop the lantern. “I hate fighting with you too.” I jab my finger at his frilly collar. “But you started it.”

He jabs his finger at my poufy shoulder. “Me? You did!”

“No, you did!”

Jax puts up a hand to stop me. “Can we just forget this fight ever happened? I think we both said some things we wish we didn’t.”

“True.” A group of partygoers carrying mini paper lanterns skip down the path past us. “I just can’t stand the thought of you not trusting me.”

“I do trust you,” Jax insists. “It’s him I don’t.” He nods in the direction of the castle, where Jack is lurking near an exit, looking around. I know that doorway he’s near. It’s the only exterior entrance to the dungeon. Hmm…

“I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he’d be down in the dungeon.” I try to sound nonchalant. “Why don’t we go ask him?”

Jack grins devilishly. “With pleasure.”

The two of us approach Jack together. “Hey. What are you doing?”

Jack doesn’t blink an eye. “I was in the dungeons. Why?”

“What were you doing down there?” Jax demands.

Jack rolls his eyes. “For the love of Grimm, what do you think I’m up to, Prince?” he asks Jax. “If you must know, I was bringing Raza and Tessa crumb cakes and tea.”

“Ha!” I nudge Jax.

Jack looks at me strangely. “They’re pretty upset about missing the welcome party since they helped plan it.”

Wait. “Why are they missing it?” I ask.

“Didn’t you hear?” Maxine walks over with Ollie, Jocelyn, and Kayla. “I told Rapunzel how mean Tessa and Raza were to AG in the RLW meeting, and she banned them from the party and gave them detention instead.” She looks proud of herself, and she should be.

“Wow, I had no idea my sister could be so mean,” Jax marvels.

“Rapunzel is your sister?” Jack does a double take.

We’re interrupted by the sound of trumpets and violins, which begin to play as Beauty and Prince Sebastian arrive at the party. Beauty and AG are wearing gorgeous blue gowns, and the prince is in a navy dress jacket with gold buttons. Headmistress Flora follows them.

Jack pulls me aside. “Have you seen my mirror anywhere? The last time I saw it, that duck had it.”

I pull it out of a handy pocket I sewed into the crinoline under my uniform. “Peaches had it again. You didn’t tell me it was magical.”

Jack’s eyes widen. “You got it to work for you?”

“Yes, and it showed me Anna. You were right,” I whisper. A Tom Thumb Catering cart wheels by us. “She looks so sad. I think she wants to leave, and he won’t let her.”

I notice Jax watching us and stop talking. I don’t want to fight with him again.

Jack nods. “Like Mum. We have to save them.” He takes my hand. “Listen, I think I have an idea of where they might be.” He hesitates. “I saw something in the mirror the other day—my mum being made to work in Cloud City.”

Angelina had mentioned the harp was in Cloud City. “What makes you think they’re there?”

Jack looks at me strangely. “It’s where I went when I climbed the beanstalk last time. Remember?”

“Oh right.” I hear a rumble in the distance. Maybe thunder? Strange, the sky is a clear blue.

He scratches his chin. “We just have to find a way up there.”

Another rumble of thunder makes the actual ground shake. A few Pegasi bust out of their barn and take flight. A flock of birds zooms by overhead.

“Wow, that’s some storm brewing!” Maxine says.

Ollie sniffs the air, licks his finger, and puts it up into the wind. “Funny, but I don’t smell a weather change.”

“If it’s not thunder, then what is that sound, pirate?” Jocelyn asks.

“Gilly!” AG comes running out of the tent toward me, her face flushed with excitement. “Are you coming in? Mother said I could invite my friends to sit at our table. There’s room for all of you,” she tells the others. “It sounds like it’s going to rain. Good thing we have the tent.”

Another rumble sends Jax, Maxine, and I colliding into one another. It’s quickly followed by a wave of earth-shaking sounds, each one making the ground move more than the time before. Something is definitely not right here.

The ground begins to crack, a line zigzagging from the lake to the castle.

“Earthquake!” AG cries as she and Jack reach for each other to keep from falling.

Kids are screaming as we run to get out of the way. Royals and commoners alike are streaming out of the tent as ogres trip over chairs to get away. We dive for cover behind a stone wall near the school, and I watch in horror as a large green weed begins to grow out of the crack at an alarming speed. It’s not an earthquake. It’s a beanstalk!

I’ve never seen an actual beanstalk before. Sure, I’ve read about them in Happily Ever After Scrolls and heard tall tales from kids who swear they’ve seen one, but nothing could have prepared me for the monstrous plant growing before my eyes. Dozens of electric-green roots burst through the ground near the party tent and quickly wind together into something that looks like a giant tree trunk, stretching and weaving as they grow taller and taller. Smaller branches and leaves burst from the stalks, pushing their branches sideways and breaking whatever is in their path.

“The giants are coming! The giants are coming!” a girl shouts as she runs by us frantically.

I look up, but with the low pink clouds, I can’t see the top of the stalk. Maybe it’s just a beanstalk. Not every stalk leads to giants, do they?

The Dwarf Police Squad is already directing people away from the stalk as the branches begin to twist and grow around the tent. Rapunzel and Snow are guiding students to safety while Wolfington, Harlow, and Flora start to shoot commands at the stalk to keep it from growing. Their spells don’t seem to be working. Snap! A thorn on one branch punctures a tent wall, causing the left side to come crashing down.

“We have to do something,” says Maxine.

“Look! My parents! They’re okay!” AG points to Beauty and Prince Sebastian hurrying a group of fairies out of the way of a falling branch. I can hear Prince Sebastian calling AG’s name. She stands up to run to them, but Jack holds out a hand to block us all from leaving.

“Wait!” says Jack.

“Why would we wait?” Jax demands. “People need help, and AG’s parents are looking for her.”

“Wait!” Jack watches the stalk closely. “You’ll get trampled.”

“Trampled?” I ask worriedly.

ROARRRRRRRRR!

I know that roar. I’ve heard it before.

ROARRRRRRRRR!

“It’s a giant!” Maxine cries as two giants start descending the beanstalk, which now reaches all the way into the sky.

Jack grabs my hand. “We have to go! This is our chance—the beanstalk will lead us straight to Cloud City!”

His voice is washed away by the sound of a giant stepping onto the ground, making things shake further. Seconds later, the school’s extra-loud new warning siren goes off. It whirs as Miri’s mirrors on the great lawn flash a deep ruby red. “Fairy Tale Reform School is under attack!” Miri announces. “I repeat, Fairy Tale Reform School is under attack! Defend your school!”

A second giant is right behind the first one. The two stumble around the grounds aimlessly, looking sort of stressed by all the little people taking aim at them. I’m slightly in awe of the sight of them. As tall as a castle turret, with feet as large as Blackbeard’s ship, these giants look different from the ones I encountered in the Hollow Woods. Their teeth aren’t all yellow, and if I’m not mistaken, one is wearing a rather civilized dress shirt and vest. I see something fly through the air toward us.

“Duck!” I cry as a trident narrowly misses taking off AG’s head. I watch her face twist angrily as a hair sprouts from her chin. She quickly calms her breathing, and the hair disappears.

I can see now that mermaids are aiming their tridents and spears at the giants with little success. Their weapons keep bouncing off them and onto the ground. Madame Cleo, posed on a rock with fiery-red hair, uses her magic mirror to conjure a whirlpool that whips at such a frantic speed I worry the rest of the mermaids will be washed away. Instead, the first giant gets caught up in the tidal wave and starts to fall. Everyone cheers, but the victory is short lived. The giant stumbles backward and falls into the Pegasus barn.

My throat constricts. Where is Maximus? Is he okay? I look up and breathe a sigh of relief. He’s already in midflight. The sky is full of Pegasi and flying carpets, which hopefully means none were still in the now-crushed barn.

“Those clumsy giants could destroy the school with one wrong move,” Jocelyn shouts as the second giant trips and squashes the vegetable garden with one footstep. “Is anyone still inside the school?”

“Peaches, Wilson, and the fairy pets are,” Maxine realizes at the same time I do.

“And Tessa and Raza are in the dungeon. Right, Jack?” Jax says. “Jack?” We turn to look for him, but he’s gone.

ROARRRRRRRR! The giants are now pointing at the castle.

My eyes move from where Jack was just standing to the beanstalk and back to the school.

Anna.

Wilson. Peaches.

Anna.

The RLWs I can’t stand.

Anna.

I feel pulled in two completely different directions. I look at my home-away-from-home one more time. We can’t hope the giants are stopped before they get to the castle walls. We have to get everyone out in case they do.

Jax is watching me, waiting for me to say the right thing. This time I do.

“We have to go inside and get everyone out.” I whistle for Maximus, and like magic, the Pegasus lands at my feet. Jax climbs on behind me. “But first we need to make a stop at my dorm room. I think I’m going to need my bow and arrow.”