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By all accounts, Anthony Tremaine had never been close to his cousin. He loved her, or at least he assumed he did (love was a bit of a trivial word on the isle), but it was hard to feel especially attached to someone who was the complete opposite of what his life had been built around. Anthony was raised to be something special, told that the life he deserved (that of a lord, that of someone important) had been unjustly taken from him by the laws that kept him locked behind that damned magic barrier. He’d prided himself on being better than others on the isle, on being formal and polite (though his definition of politeness really just boiled down to thinly veiled insults and snark), on being a boy worthy of royalty.That mindset was what made it hard for him to properly bond with his cousin. Dizzy had managed to be happy and lively despite her life on the isle, and, though Anthony would never dare admit it, he envied her on some level. He’d wished, when the night was silent and he got some time to himself, that he could have been allowed to grow up as happy as she always seemed rather than holding himself to the same standards as Auradon royalty because that was the life that was rightfully his as his mother always said. He’d occasionally wonder if his life could have been different if he was raised by his grandmother like Dizzy was rather than by his mother. Sure, cleaning up his grandmother’s barber shop sounded like absolute hell (he’d hate to get his clothes dirty), but maybe it would spare him of feeling so trapped all the time.But none of that mattered now. The barrier had been officially opened and would stay open for the foreseeable future, the isle was free and so were its inhabitants, and despite the two not being close, Anthony found himself sticking close to Dizzy’s side once the two united at the middle of the bridge connecting the isle and Auradon. It beat following his grandmother, or god forbid his mother around, he figured, as he came to stand by her side, staying as close by as he could manage while maintaining the appearance that he didn’t particularly care what was happening around him.He was so focused on his appearance that he damn near jumped when Dizzy spoke to him. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Dizzy asked him, her voice slightly breathless and her eyes wide with awe. “I mean-“, she moved her hands in an excited gesture and slowed her walk for a moment to admire the joy of those around her, “this is huge! The barrier going down? I never even dreamed this would happen!” She squealed and reached out to grab Anthony’s arm, but promptly stopped the motion when he frowned disapprovingly at her. “Come on Anthony, you’re not even a little excited by all this?” She asked, giving him a tentative, hopeful grin.Anthony held his head high, his nose pointed just slightly into the air, as if the whole place was beneath him. “Excited? No.” He spoke politely and evenly, though his tone did little to hide his displeasure. For a moment he thought about telling her some half truth, about mouthing off about how he had no reason to be excited as entry to Auradon was what he was owed all along, but instead he found his voice dropping slightly lower as he told her the truth of the matter. “My mother nitpicks my behavior enough as is, I’m not exactly overjoyed about her having more reason to do so.” He nodded his head towards Auradon, which he now realized was a lot closer than it had been before, the thought making his stomach turn.Dizzy frowned. She wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that, so she just let the topic drop as they finally entered Auradon. Fairy Godmother, who had made her way to the front of the crowd of isle citizens, smiled brightly, making a sweeping gesture with her hands to indicate all of them. The various chatter and whispers of those from the isle stopped, their eyes training on Fairy Godmother with a mix of curiosity and distrust. Then, she cleared her throat and began speaking, the welcome speech soon dying on her tongue as several people began to shout questions, riling up the crowd which soon dissolved into somewhat of a confused mess.Anthony, who had sidestepped the crowd, had the decency to pull Dizzy along with him, closing his eyes with a sigh as he settled to wait out the noisy welcoming ceremony.