Lonnie's Warrior Sword

  “But,” Jay said on their first day of training as they stood before a giant rocky cliff near the Enchanted Lake, “we can train for the elimination round. Now, I’ve watched a ton of reruns over the years, so I know this show backward and forward. They always use the elimination round to test for strength, balance, and power. Which means there’s usually a swinging component, a climbing component, and a balancing component.” He pointed to the top of the cliff. “We’ll start with climbing.”

  Lonnie glanced upward and snorted. “You’re kidding, right? You want me to just climb that?”

  Jay shook his head. “Of course not.”

  Lonnie sighed in relief.

  “I want you to climb that wearing these ten-pound weights.” Jay opened his bag and took out two giant metal disks, which he began to strap around Lonnie’s waist.

  “What?” Lonnie asked. “You’re crazy! That’s twenty extra pounds!”

  “Exactly,” Jay said. “Extra pounds. So if you get used to climbing with these weights on, when you get to the competition and have to climb something without the weights, it’ll be easy. It’ll feel like you’re flying!”

  Jay finished securing the giant disks to Lonnie’s waist and let go. Lonnie nearly toppled to the ground from the weight. She felt like an elephant. “This is impossible,” she whined.

  Jay leaned back and crossed his arms. “You’re right. What was I thinking? You’re just a girl. Girls can’t do this. It’s too hard. Now, maybe if you were a guy, this would be different, but—”

  Before Jay could finish, Lonnie was already three steps up the rocky cliff. There was nothing that motivated Lonnie more than being told she couldn’t do something. Lonnie was determined to be a barrier breaker, just like her mother.

  “Slow down!” Jay called after her. “You’ll burn out if you go that fast.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do!” Lonnie yelled down. “I don’t take orders from you!”

  She continued to climb up the rocky wall with the speed of a sprinter off the starting block. But within a few minutes, Lonnie realized that Jay was right. She was getting really tired. And before she could even get halfway to the top, she’d burned out. It was those weights. They were killing her! She finally gave up and climbed back down. When she landed beside Jay, he was smirking. He’d clearly manipulated her with that whole “Girls can’t do this” remark.

  “Lesson number one,” he said smugly. “Never act out of emotion. Act out of confidence. It’s much more reliable.”

  Lonnie grunted, even though she knew he was right. “Is that your philosophy for flirting with girls?”

  Jay grinned. “You know it!” He turned serious again. “Your first mistake was letting me upset you and using that as your fuel. And lesson number two: sometimes speed is your enemy. Yes, the obstacle course is always about the top times, but you won’t qualify at all if you fall off or burn out. Know when to take it slow.”

  Lonnie nodded, fighting to catch her breath. Jay was good. Really good. She was grateful he had agreed to train her. And at that moment, she vowed to do whatever he said, certain that if she had any chance of winning this thing, it would be with Jay’s help.

  In the days leading up to the competition, Lonnie spent long hours climbing trees in the forest, swinging from branches, shimmying between buildings, walking barefoot across hot coals, dodging dragon cannons on the tourney field, and balancing on spinning logs.

  All the while, Jay and Lonnie brainstormed ideas for how to sneak out of Auradon Prep during the Study Lock-In weekend without anyone noticing and get all the way to the Imperial City, which was clear on the other side of Auradon.

  By the end of the week, they were fresh out of options. They’d gone through every possible scenario they could think of and were quickly running out of time. All competitors for this year’s Auradon Warrior Challenge were supposed to be in the Imperial City for the elimination round the next morning, and Lonnie still had no way to get there. They couldn’t drive, because neither one of them had access to a car (and Lonnie had promptly rejected Jay’s suggestion that he steal one). There was a high-speed Royal Express train, but neither of them could afford the ridiculously expensive tickets. And a boat would take far too long.

  By Friday night, Lonnie was starting to lose hope of ever getting to the Imperial City.

  “Do you think we should just give up?” Lonnie asked as they sat in the middle of the R.O.A.R. arena after an especially grueling day of training. “I mean, I do have a lot more studying to do.”

  “No way!” Jay said, jumping to his feet. “We’ve come this far. We can’t give up. Besides, you’ve been doing so well. I really think you have a chance at winning this thing!”

  Lonnie sighed. “I know. But I can’t win if I can’t get there!”

  Jay started to pace, clearly lost in thought. “If only we could magically poof our way to the Imperial City.”

  Lonnie’s head immediately shot up. “Did you say poof?”

  Jay stopped pacing. “Yes. I realize it’s a very un-VK thing to say. Please don’t tell the other guys on the team.”

  But Lonnie wasn’t thinking about the word itself. She was thinking about the idea that the word had just inspired.

  Would it work? she thought, her heart pounding wildly. Could I really convince her to do it?

  “Lonnie,” Jay said, plopping back down beside her. He cocked an eyebrow. “What are you thinking? Are you going to ask Mal to use her spell book? Because I’m pretty sure they put that thing in the museum.”

  Lonnie shook her head. “No.”

  “Jane, then? Because to be honest, she’s still new at the whole magic thing, and I’m not sure I’d really trust her to—”

  “Not Jane.”

  Jay threw up his hands. “Then who?”

  “Are you forgetting?” A sly smile spread across Lonnie’s face. “Mal and Jane aren’t the only ones at Auradon Prep who can do magic.”

  I have a new plan for getting to the Imperial City. It just requires a little…poof.

  As she headed toward the study room on the first floor of the dorm, Lonnie started to hear a strange noise. It sounded like someone chanting something. Lonnie crept closer to the room at the end of the hall. The door was closed, which was strange, as the study room was a common area and was usually open. It was also where she could usually find the person she was looking for.

  Lonnie froze when she saw puffs of pink smoke slithering out from under the closed door, and she jumped back in surprise.

  What is going on in there? Lonnie wondered.

  Then, a moment later, Lonnie heard a gruff voice say, “Forget it, you piece of tin!” followed by a loud thump, as though someone had thrown something hard against the wall.

  Now Lonnie was even more nervous about making her request. But she knew she couldn’t back down. So she gently rapped on the door and waited.

  “Who is it?” someone called out in a sharp voice.

  “It’s Lonnie. Can I come in?”

  There was a pause, and for a moment, Lonnie worried that she might not be allowed inside, but then the door swung open and Jordan stood there, looking frustrated.

  “What?” Jordan asked.

  Lonnie immediately noticed the unusually chaotic state of the study room, Jordan’s favorite place to do homework. The furniture had all been moved around and the curtains had been drawn. Swatches of silk fabric had been strewn about and littered the floor. Lonnie scanned the room, taking in the mess, before her gaze finally landed on a small metal object near the wall. It was Jordan’s genie lamp.

  “What’s going on in here?” Lonnie asked hesitantly.

  Jordan crossed her arms and pouted. “Nothing.”

  Lonnie chuckled. “It’s clearly not nothing. Why is your genie lamp on the floor?”

  “Shhh!” Jordan said, her eyes darting suspiciously into the hallway. Then she grabbed Lonnie by the arm and pulled her into the study room, shutting the door behind them and locking it.

/>   Once they were alone, Jordan huffed, “The darn thing is broken.”

  Lonnie’s eyes widened as all her hopes of getting to the Imperial City sank into the pit of her stomach. She knew Jordan was hesitant to use magic in the first place, but if the lamp didn’t even work, then this whole thing was pointless. “Your lamp is broken?”

  “Well, no,” Jordan admitted. “Not really. But it’s useless. I really, really need to get out of this stupid promise I made to Ben, but it won’t grant my wish.”

  “What promise?”

  Jordan sighed. “It’s no big deal. I just promised him I would produce a documentary about Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos so he could use it to bring more VKs to Auradon Prep.”

  “That sounds awesome!” Lonnie said. “That’ll definitely help him convince the rest of the royal council.”

  Jordan shot her an uneasy look. “Yeah, well, I don’t have the time. So I need to get out of it.”

  “Why don’t you just tell Ben you don’t have time?”

  Jordan sighed. “Because I already said yes. And I don’t want to bail on him. He’s really counting on this documentary, but I’m just…” She glanced nervously at Lonnie out of the corner of her eye. “I’m just swamped with exams and everything.”

  Lonnie wasn’t sure why, but she was getting a strange vibe from Jordan. Maybe it was the chaotic state of the room, or maybe it was the way she was kind of shifting from foot to foot, as if she were standing on one of those beds of hot coals that Jay had been making Lonnie walk across all week. Lonnie almost felt like Jordan wasn’t telling her the whole truth. She had a sneaking suspicion Jordan was holding something back.

  “Jordan—” Lonnie began, but Jordan hastily cut her off.

  “Anyway, so I was trying to wish myself free of my commitment, but this stupid lamp wouldn’t grant my wish.”

  “I didn’t know genies could grant themselves wishes.”

  Jordan sighed and sat down on the couch, looking defeated. “They can’t. That’s the problem.” She gestured to the mess around the room. “I was trying to find a loophole. Spells. Incantations. Spirit dances. But nothing worked.”

  Lonnie sat down next to Jordan. “That is frustrating.”

  “You have no idea.”

  Lonnie nodded. “You’re right. I don’t. We don’t have any magic in my family. Sometimes I wish we did, though.”

  “No, you don’t,” Jordan replied. “It just complicates things. Not to mention magic is totally frowned upon. But this is really important, so I figured it was worth the risk. But honestly, what’s the point of being a powerful genie when you can’t help yourself out of a tiny little problem? I mean, I can use this lamp to grant three wishes to anyone in the world…except myself.”

  Lonnie perked up, remembering the reason she’d come in here. “Wait a minute. I might have a solution.”

  Jordan looked over at Lonnie, seemingly intrigued. “I doubt it, but what?”

  “Remember that story your father always likes to tell about Aladdin using his third wish to set your dad free?”

  “Yeah,” Jordan said warily. “What about it?”

  “That’s it!” Lonnie said, jumping up from the couch. “That’s the solution.”

  “My dad can’t grant me wishes, either,” Jordan said. “And Aladdin is all the way out in—”

  “Not Aladdin. Me!”

  “You?”

  Lonnie beamed. “Yes! I can make your wish for you. If you grant me three wishes, I’ll use one of them on you.”

  Of course, she didn’t even need two wishes. She only needed the one. She needed to get Jay and herself to the Imperial City during the Study Lock-In without Fairy Godmother finding out.

  Jordan still looked skeptical. “Wait, what do you need to wish for?”

  Lonnie glanced over both her shoulders to make sure she wasn’t going to be overheard. Then she leaned in and asked Jordan, “Can you keep a secret?”

  Jordan flashed a mischievous grin. “Of course.”

  Lonnie smiled back at her friend with a twinkle in her eye. “Ever heard of the Auradon Warrior Challenge?”

  “Yes,” Jordan replied warily.

  “Well, it’s sort of a long story, but basically I need to get to the Imperial City this weekend to compete in the challenge so I can prove to the Imperial Council that I’m worthy of my mother’s sword. Except I have no way of getting there.”

  “And you want me to help you get there?”

  Lonnie nodded toward the lamp still lying on the floor. “You and your lamp, yes. I mean, I know you’re not supposed to use magic, but I thought, I don’t know, maybe you’d make this one exception. For me?”

  Jordan was silent for a long time. Lonnie figured she was thinking it all through. “So if I grant you three wishes,” she finally said, “and poof you over to the Imperial City, then you’ll save one of your wishes for me?”

  Lonnie grinned. “Absolutely. I’ll set you free from your commitment to Ben.” But a second later, Lonnie had a thought. “Wait a minute. If you don’t have time to make the documentary, why don’t you just use your wish to magically finish it?”

  Jordan considered that for a moment before throwing the question back at Lonnie. “Why don’t you use your wish to just get your mom’s sword?”

  Lonnie thought about that. She supposed if Jordan agreed to let her use the lamp, she could just wish to win the competition or wish to get the sword. But that felt like cheating. She really wanted to earn the sword. The same way her mother had earned the sword, and the same way Lonnie had earned her spot on the R.O.A.R. team. By proving herself. She just needed to be able to get there to do it.

  “Because I don’t want to win that way,” Lonnie finally replied.

  Jordan smiled. “And neither do I.”

  Lonnie immediately understood. It was exactly the way she felt. If Jordan used magic to make a great documentary, it wouldn’t really be hers.

  “So do we have a deal?” Lonnie asked, sticking out her hand.

  Jordan shook it. “Deal.” Then she got to her feet and strolled over to her backpack and began putting her belongings back into it. “Sooooo…when do we leave?”

  “Oh,” Lonnie said, surprised. “Are you coming?”

  “Duh,” Jordan said. “I can’t grant you a wish and not see it through. What if something goes wrong?”

  Lonnie quickly decided she liked the idea of having one of her close friends with her. It would be like a road trip…except they’d be poofing instead of driving. “We leave tomorrow morning. Before breakfast.”

  “Perfect,” Jordan said, continuing to throw things in her backpack. “I’ve always loved that show. I used to watch it with my dad all the time.”

  Lonnie was about to leave to get started with her own packing when something Jordan said stopped her. She’d been worrying about it all week. Everyone seemed to watch this show. Which meant everyone would be watching it this weekend, too. And everyone she knew would recognize her.

  “Jordan?” Lonnie said meekly.

  Jordan looked up from her duffel bag. “Yeah?”

  “I think I might need one more thing.”

  She laughed. “Well, you still have one more wish, so whatever you want!”

  Lonnie bit her lip. “Actually, this is more of a personal favor.”

  Jordan lifted one eyebrow.

  Lonnie shuffled her feet, feeling anxious about what she was going to ask. But she knew it needed to be done. Especially if she wanted any hope of getting away with this crazy plan without getting caught. She sighed and said, “Can you do my makeup for the challenge? I need a whole new look.”

  Jordan is the queen of the makeover. I know she’s going to give me a fierce new look. I told her to think “warrior chic.”

  “Are you sure that’s not too much eye shadow?” Lonnie asked the next morning as she sat in her dorm room with a giant makeup bag open on the bed next to her.

  Jordan rolled her eyes and plunged her brush back into the tin of
purple powder. “No,” she said resolutely. “Now, close your eyes.”

  Lonnie closed her eyes and felt the tickle of the brush on her lids as Jordan applied yet another layer of pigment. “Because it feels like it might be too much.”

  “Do you want to be recognized by all of Auradon?” Jordan asked.

  “No.”

  “Then let me do my job.”

  Lonnie sighed and allowed Jordan to finish her makeup. Jordan hadn’t let Lonnie look in the mirror since they’d started. She said no one should look upon a work of art until it was finished. So Lonnie had no idea what Jordan had been doing with her face. All she knew was that it had been taking forever, and it was way more makeup than she’d ever worn in her life. She was starting to worry about what she would see when she did look in a mirror.

  “And now for the final touch,” Jordan said, digging something out of her bag. A moment later, she pulled out a blond wig and placed it on Lonnie’s head, tucking in Lonnie’s dark hair around the edges.

  “A wig?” Lonnie asked. “Is that really necessary?”

  “Yes,” Jordan said. “You asked me to make you look older and different. This will do it. And if you don’t want to automatically be identified as Mulan’s daughter, you need to change everything about your appearance.”

  Lonnie sighed. “Well, just make sure it stays on. I’m a warrior. I do flips and stuff.”

  Jordan rolled her eyes. “I got it. I got it.”

  After every strand of Lonnie’s long dark hair was tucked under the wig and Jordan had applied a layer of lip gloss and mascara, she finally held up a mirror for Lonnie to look at her reflection.

  At first, Lonnie didn’t believe what she was seeing. She was convinced Jordan had given her some kind of magic mirror. Maybe even Evie’s magic mirror. Because there was no way that was her reflection in the glass. The girl staring back looked nothing like her! While Lonnie normally had a soft, natural look, this girl was wild and fierce, with dark painted eyes, deep purple-tinted lips, and a sleek blond bob.