Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

20 years ago, as a gift to his new bride, King Adam kicked off all of the villains, sidekicks, criminals, and anyone related to them onto the Isle of the Lost.

The Isle was literally and figuratively a hell hole.

Correction: It was worse than hell because the Hades siblings have testified that the Isle was worse than the Underworld.

But then, Connor and Coraline Hartz, twin siblings of the King and Queen of Hearts, when they turned 9ーa young age, I knowー, decided that they had enough of seeing all of the kids on the Isle suffer like they had and started to enact rules that would bring order to the Isle.

And if you didn’t follow their rules?

Well...

8-year-old Phobos yelped as he tripped over a barrel and crawled until his back was against a nearby building. He looked up at his mother, who was glaring down at him and snarling in anger. Her hand raised to strike him and Phobos immediately curled up to protect himself. However, he heard his mother’s yelp and something fall to the ground.

Shaking, he looked up and saw his mother on the ground, glaring at the two children who were standing above her, who didn’t seem much older than Phobos. Both of them had pale skin with mirrored heart birthmarks under either eye, heterochromic gray and amber eyes that were also mirrored, and wore black and red clothing that had hearts all over it, but the boy had black hair while the girl had ginger.

The boy snarled in anger as suddenly he held Maleficent down with her foot. The girl then walked toward the crowd that was gathering.

“Let Maleficent prove as an example of what happens if anyone is to go against our rules.” the girl said smoothly, her voice sounding like silk.

She then grabbed an axe from a nearby cart and walked toward Maleficent, causing Phobos to flinch from the ear-splitting sound of the axe being dragged against the uneven stone road. When the girl was next to Maleficent, she replaced the boy and the boy maniacally grinned as he picked up the axe with almost unnatural strength and then positioned to swing.

…let’s just say that anyone who disobeyed would lost their head over the situation.

And, while these tactics were morbid and brutal as hell, they did work, as conditions rapidly started improving: more food was actually being distributed evenly, crime rates went down exponentially, and no one dared to try to abuse anyone else, in fear of what the twins would do.

And, while the system is flawed, it has been constantly improving as the twins have gotten older.

And it is mine, and everyone else on the Isle’s, home.

But not for long.

You see, the Hartz twins had a plan to change everything.

A plan that involved overthrowing the Beastly King

But they didn’t account for a tiny little detail that would make their jobs easier.

Chapter Text

Even when Ben was younger, he always knew that, despite what all the textbooks and teachers said, the Isle was even more horrible place than it was described in school. Although his parents tried to “shield” him from the reality of the situation, that didn’t stop Queen Hestia’s loud shouting and pleading to save the poor children from the Isle from reaching his ears. The yelling from Queen Hestia was always followed up from a visit from either his mom or dad, insisting that everything was fine.

But it wasn’t fine.

Hestia continually reported murders, abuse, rape, and a whole slew of other activities done to both the innocent adults and the innocent children of the Isle.

And, from the sounds of it, something was causing an unending cycle of death and rebirth.

Yet, despite all that, his dad continued to ignore Hestia’s pleas.

But Ben wasn’t going to.

“-is it possible that you’re going to be crowned King next month? You’re just a baby!” King Adams voice interrupted his thoughts, causing Ben to swivel his head quickly over to his parents, who had walked into the room.

Speak of the devil and the devil will appear. The more sarcastic part of his brain said.

“He’s going to be 16, dear!” Belle said with a melodious giggle.

“Hey, Dad.” Ben said with a nervous smile as he wrung his hands.

“16? That’s far too young to be crowned king. I didn’t make a good decision until I was at least 42.” Adam said with a chuckle.

More like you never did make a good decision. Period. That rebellious sarcastic part of Ben’s brain said.

“Uh, you married me at 28.” Belle said, though she only sounded somewhat offended by what Adam said.

“It was either you or the feather-duster.” Adam said with this mix of seriousness and jokingness.

Ben nervously chuckled, forcing himself to laugh at the bad joke while his mother gave this look that screamed “you better be joking”.

“Kidding.” Adam reassured, wrapping an arm around Belle’s waist and kissing her forehead.

“Hey, Mom, Dad?”

Ben tried to move forward but was stopped by Lumiere, who shook his head. Sighing, Ben moved back and continued to wring his hands nervously.

“I’ve chosen my first official proclamation,” Ben could clearly see the curious and slightly confused look on his parents’ face as he paused to take in another calming breath, “I’ve decided that the children on the Isle of the Lost should be given a chance to live here in Auradon.” Ben flinched as he awaited the shouting that undoubtedly would follow.

Belle gasped while Adam looked confused and angry. Adam stepped forward, causing Lumiere to get up and leave, undoubtedly because of the uncannily familiar angry atmosphere that the King had that echoed how it was when he was a beast. However, much to Ben’s surprise, Adam just made a gesture for Ben to go on.

“I’m not an idiot, Dad. I’ve heard all of the reports of what's really going on on the Isle. All the rape, murder: everything! And, from what I can tell, something’s bringing them back eternally! No child deserves to grow up in an environment like that! Sure, let the actual villains stay there! But the innocent people on the Isle? Just let them get off of that place!” Ben said, all of his frustration and anger at his father bubbling up and finally showing through.

“They have been raised by their villain parents all their lives! They are all probably like their parents!” Adam said with a growl.

“Both us know that that's a load of bullshit, Dad!” The curse word left his mouth before he even realized it but he was too angry to care, “They’ve been abused for as long as they have lived! And, while things have apparently been getting better, that's only because two of the kids decided that they had enough of seeing their friends and family being abused every single day and decided to change it! Not because us, the supposed heroes did! A pair of 9-year-olds who had to grow up too fast to protect their friends and family! And, what’s worse is that Queen Hestia has been telling you for literal years to help-!” Ben ranted before being abruptly cut off by something hitting him across the face and sent him onto the floor.

Ben looked up horrified and saw his dad looking very pissed off as he glared down at him.

“Hestia knows nothing of how to rule a kingdom!” Adam growled angrily.

“Adam-”

Belle started to interject but was silenced by a glare by his dad. Ben’s vision began to cloud with tears and he felt his chest heave with suppressed sobs. However, his hand scrubbed them away as he got up and looked defiantly at his father.

“Get out.” he said, ignoring the hurt look that his father gave him.

“Ben, I-” Adam started to say, trying to step forward but something stopped him.

“Get. Out.” Ben growled, his fists tightening as he glared at Adam.

“But-!” Adam tried to say once more but was stopped by Belle going in between them, her eyes narrowed angrily.

“Adam, you heard him. He needs some time.” Belle said levely, an underlying tone of disappointment in her voice.

There was a staring contest between Belle and Adam as they glared at each other before Adam relented and, glancing once more at Ben, left the room. Belle and Ben stood there for awhile, both staring at the door. Belle then turned around and opened her arms for a hug. Ben’s stony resolve almost immediately crumbled as he wrapped his arms around Belle and he held her tightly as she rubbed comforting circles on his back.

And then he finally allowed himself to cry.

Chapter Text

“Mal, wake up! We’re going to be late for the meeting!” Mephistopheles’s voice complained loudly.

Mal groaned as she sat up in her bed, scrubbing her eyes. Yawning, she swung her legs over the bedside and stretched before she went over to her dresser and got her normal outfit, which consisted of a purple tank top, black jeans that were ripped on the knees, battered combat boots, her signature dark blue leather jacket with the green flames on the sleeves and the purple dragon on the back, and, finally, her headband that her step-mother had helped her make that had faux horns that were a mix of looking like her mother’s horns and her step-father’s horns.

Quickly checking her appearance in the mirror and then nodding in satisfaction, she then turned toward the door, unlocked, and opened it to see little Mephistopheles, or Misto, as he was called, looking up at her with a pout on his face, his draconic tail flicking back and forth impatiently. He was wearing a black and white dress that hand long sleeves and a striped skirt, white tights, and black mary janes.

“Come on! Everyone’s already awake!” he whined as he took her hand and started to drag her downstairs.

Mal chuckled as her younger half-brother pulled her along. As they walked downstairs, Mal saw that everyone else was already sitting at the table. In fact, even little Alastor, Mal’s cat that she got as a present from her biological father, was already there and being snuck food by Lilith. Chuckling, she sat down and was amused at the offended look that Lilith shot Alastor as the cat walked over to him.

“You traitor! I feel so betrayed!” Lilith said in an offended tone as she faux-gasped at Alastor.

The black-and-white tuxedo with one green and one blue eye stared at Lilith and lazily blinked at her as he sat down at Mal’s feet, warranting another gasp from Lilith and another offended look.

“How dare you!” she squeaked.

“Lilith, eat your food. Don’t you four have a meeting to go to?” Polly reminded Lilith with a small poke to her shoulder.

“Shit.” both Lilith and Mal said as they simultaneously remembered.

“Language.” George chided as the two began to eat rapidly, causing Misto to cackle while Velika chucked, as both of them had already eaten their food and were all ready to go.

Soon, Mal finished her food and got up, getting her dagger, and clipping it to her belt loop as Lilith jumped from her seat and ran toward the door, quickly saying goodbye before she rushed out the door to go get her friends, who she usually walked to and from meetings and school with. Velika lazily smirked as she pushed out from her chair and calmly walked toward the door.

“Shall we get going?” Velika asked calmly, opening the door.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Mal agreed with a nod.

The three said goodbye to their parents and started to head off toward the meeting, idle chatting about whatever was currently going on in school. They soon arrived, causing Misto to go hang out with his good friend Rum, who was the older son of Stromboli who wanted to be a rockstar when he got to Auradon and Velika went to go to meet up with the other Lieutenants. Smiling and chuckling, she then made her way through the crowd and sat down next to Uma, who was sharpening the sword that Coraline had given to her when she had won her ship, to wait for the meeting to start.

“Do you know what this meeting is about?” Mal asked curiously

“No clue. Both Jade and Coralline were being vague as fuck about it. All me and Freddie know is that this meeting is important.” Uma replied with a shrug.

Mal opened her mouth when a loud whistle pierced the air, causing all of the VKs to slowly stop talking and all gradually, as everyone had the feeling that this was going to be a long meeting. Mal looked up at the balcony and saw Connor and Coraline standing at the edge of the balcony with Dion, Hector, Shi, Ivy, Lilith, Millie, and Edith behind them.

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting. We had a few things to discuss before this meeting began.” Coraline said smoothly, gesturing at Connor and the generals.

“Let’s just cut to the chase then.” Pitch snapped at his sister, glaring at her.

However, his shoulders relaxed as he leaned back a bit, his fingers idly tapping a tune on the railing as his eyes swept over the crowd almost nonchalantly.

“In a little more than a week, Prince Ben is going to be crowned King of Auradon.” Rouge announced loudly, her voice smooth and calculated.

As he said this, he gestured to one of the posters that had been spread across the Isle to remind the denizens of the Isle of the event. However, all of them had been defaced in various ways, ranging from “fuck off” to devil horns to “fake bastard”. And, almost like clockwork, a bunch of the older kids―Mal could spot Zevon, Reza, Harriet, and Geoff being the loudest―started booing and jeering at the mention of Ben. However, the rest of the kids just whispered to each other and started talking. Though, the group that caught Mal’s attention was Hades’s kids, who all looked a mix of unsure and uneasy.

However, the pandemonium was quickly quashed by Shi’s falcon, Xianjie, loudly screeched before settling back down on his spot on Shi’s shoulder. Shi started to pet the falcon as the crowd quieted, xer unseeing eyes staring into nothingness.

“And, as you know, a common fear is that he will be just like his father, and Connor and I share this pessimistic fear. Because of this, it’s even more pertinent that we find a way off of this hellhole. So, if there are any suggestions or known ways of getting off the Isle that aren’t already known, please tell us, either now or in private.” Coraline continued as if she wasn’t interrupted, glancing over the crowd with a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“There’sawayofftheIsleviaanundergroundpassageinourdad’sshopI’msorrynoneofussaiditbefore.” A high-pitched and normally bubbly voice blurted out quickly and loudly.

Situated between Pyrros and Cherry was Hadie Papáaïdēs, the youngest child of Hades and Persephone. His eyes were downcast and he just radiated guilt and discomfort, as did all of his siblings, adopted and biological, though Dion, Cherry, and Etienne seemed to eminante it less than the others. Connor and Coraline both looked at each other confusedly before returning their confused looks to the family.

“What did you say, Hadie?” Coraline asked in confusion, as she, like most gathered, couldn’t understand what he said.

“Hadie was trying to say that there’s a path to the Underworld through a trapdoor in Hades’s shop. Something that he failed to mention was that the reason why we haven’t told anyone is because, being the land of the dead, we aren’t sure how people who have died a bunch of times will be affected by the travel through there.” Cherry explained loudly, her voice clear, calm, and confident in herself.

There was an eerie silence as the twins silently contemplated their options.

“Stay behind so that we can discuss this. And for everyone else: meeting adjourned.” Connor said evenly before abruptly turning and rushing off into one of the upper rooms, as he was probably conflicted.

Coraline looked after her brother with a look of clear pity before she gestured for the family to follow her upstairs, though Mal noticed that Mosi, Uma’s cousin, also followed them. Mal turned to comment the whole situation to Uma but she was already gone, undoubtedly going to hang out with her crew as she waited for Jade and Coraline with Freddie.

Sighing, Mal got to her feet, sweeping the dirt off of her pants, and started to go look for her significant others in thinning crowd. However, she knew the procedure of which one to finds, with the easiest being Jay while the hardest by far was Carlos.

“¡RETIRA ESO, IMBÉCIL!” Zevon’s voice loudly swore in Spanish.

“Goddammit.” Mal muttered under her breath.

Usually, where her cousin was, there was usually a fight involved, which usually dragged in Jay and anyone level-headed (and strong enough) to talk him down. Rolling her eyes, Mal made her way through the crowd and quickly found a giant circle of kids are muttering concernedly to each other.

On one side, being held back by Rick and being shushed by Westley, was Zevon, who was yelling in rapid fire Spanish. On the other side was Geoff, who looked mildly annoyed as he looked easy to fight with Reza trying to say something to calm him down. And, sure enough, Jay was one of the people who was looking on, though he looked extremely conflicted. Mal went over to him and leaned on his arm as they looked at the ensuing argument in a mix of English, French, and Spanish.

“So, what happened?” Mal asked, gesturing at the argument.

“Geoff offhandedly said, ‘Go away, you demon’ and Zevon thought that he was referring to one of his boyfriends.” Jay explained.

“What’s going on here?”

Everyone went dead silent as Harriet Hook came forward to the crowd, her one girlfriend, Henri, right behind her. Geoff immediately became extremely embarrassed, as he, as well as Harriet, were both lieutenants under the Hartz twins, while Zevon only looked slightly embarrassed but looked mostly annoyed.

“Geoff called me a demon.” Zevon immediately said with an indignant huff and a glare at said boy.

“I didn’t! I was calling Stan a demon!” Geoff protested immediately said before sheepishly smiling at Stan, who was being held by Grayson, “Sorry.”

Grayson shrugged and cuddled Stan closer. Harriet sighed and massaged the area between her eyes.

“Look. Just go home and chill for a bit. We have a long week ahead of us.” Harriet sighed as she looked tiredly at both of them.

The two teens looked sheepishly as they walked away, their significant others talking to them and somewhat lecturing for what they were doing. Mal giggled and then adjusted Jay’s vest before adjusting his beanie. Jay chuckled as well as he adjusted his vest and beanie before playfully adjusting her faux horns.

“So, shall we go find out where the other two members of our gay quartet are?” Jay asked with an amused smile.

The two then started to make their way to the exit when they spotted black-and-white hair (and one case of golden) in the crowd. Looking at each other, they then went to the group and were relieved when they saw that Carlos was with his other family members: his older cousin/brother Diego, his older sister Cadence, his older cousin Cande, and his younger cousin, Pauline. As they got closer, Mal noticed that Diego was holding Beelzebub on his lap as the cat happily purred and chirped at the attention he was getting.

“-you see what Zuberi did earlier?” Diego asked with a slight giggle.

“No, I didn’t. What did the little guy do?” Mal asked as she leaned on Carlos’s shoulder, an amused smile on her face.

Diego cheerfully beamed up at Jay and Mal before continuing to pet Beelzebub, who Jay kneeled down to pet as well.

“Well, he thought that it would be fun to wake Frankie up by slowly dragging them out of bed. Frankie only woke up when he started to drag her out the door.” Diego relayed with a slight giggle.

The whole group started to giggle, as all of them knew that Frankie’s hyena, Zuberi, still thought that he was a 57 ounce cub instead of a fully grown, 130 pound hyena. The laughter slowly died down as Mal placed a loving kiss on Carlos’s cheek while Jay placed one on Carlos’s calloused knuckles, causing Carlos to blush in embarrassment and bury his face in Mal’s chest.

“Hey, stop embarrassing my brother. Only I’m allowed to do that.” Cadence interrupted with a playful smile and her hand on her hip.

“I will embarrass him as much as I want.” Jay said just as playfully back at her.

“Anyway, Carlos, do you want to blow this popsicle stand and go find Evie?” Mal asked ruffling his hair.

“You’re both too young to be doing that.” Pauline reminded with a deadpan face.

Immediately, Diego died of laughter, startling Beelzebub, who look offended as she left the group.

“Wait, no, Beelzebub! I love you!” Diego whined, scrambling to his feet and following the cat into the crowd.

Mal chuckled as she wrapped an arm around Carlos’s waist and then gestured toward the crowd.

“Shall we?” She asked with a giggle.

Carlos nodded and the trio departed. And by departed, Mal meant that she and Carlos formed a chain behind Jay as he guided them through the crowd, as neither of them could see over the taller kids who had yet to leave. However, eventually, Mal spotted two familiar jolts of electric blue in the crowd as they approach Evie, Zevon, and Yzla.

“-again for helping me make hormones for Yzla.” Zevon was saying, his arm wrapping affectionately around his younger sister’s shoulders.

“It was no problem. Hormones are extremely hard to make, especially here.” Evie said with a gentle smile as she took Yzla’s hands into her own.

The Peruvian girl blushed before whispering something to Zevon, who smirked like a cat with a knife being pointed at it.

“Yzla wanted to say how pretty you were.” He said snarkily.

“ZEVON!” Yzla squeaked in embarrassment, shoving her brother in the chest as she huffed indignantly.

Evie laughed, as she knew that Zevon was only joking.

“It’s okay. But, don’t you two need to find your boyfriends and girlfriends?” she replied with a knowing smile.

Zevon’s smug looked turned into one of shock as he remembered.

“I’ve abandoned my boys.” He gasped dramatically as he ran off.

Yzla cackled as her brother ran into the crowd, shoving people out of his way. She then turned toward Evie and bowed respectfully.

“Thanks again for your help.” She said with a slight wave as she straightened out.

She then calmly walked into the crowd to find her girlfriends. As Evie waved after the girl, Mal took this opportunity to let go of Carlos and quietly sneak up behind her girlfriend before draping her arms over her shoulders.

“Being a Good Samaritan again, E?” She purred, nuzzling the crook of her girlfriend’s neck.

Evie chuckled and leaned her head against Mal’s, her hands reaching up and linking with Mal’s.

“I remember how desperate you were for hormones so it was the least I could do to help her out.” She said with a slight nostalgic sigh.

Mal hummed in agreement. She still had vivid memories of coming out to her family, and how all of them were so accepting and loving toward her about her wanting to be a girl. However, she knew that not all families were as accepting of trans kids as her and Carlos’s had been. However, in the middle of thinking about that, she noticed that Evie looked worried as her one hand started to twirl her heart choker.

“Is something wrong?” Mal asked, concerned for her girlfriend and she unwrapped her arms and turned Evie to face her, holding her hands tightly.

Evie sighed as her thumbs rubbed the backs of Mal’s hands before she met Mal’s eyes, her eyes filled with an indescribable sadness.

“It’s just that...I had a dream last night, and I’m so afraid for it to come true.” Evie replied with a sad look.

Mal was about to reply when Jay whistled to get their attention, causing both of them to startle a little and turn toward the two boys, who both giving shit-eating grins. The four of them then started to walk as they started to go home.

However, it wasn’t until they got home that Mal realized Evie never told her what her dream was.

Chapter Text

Evie woke up to clamoring from the streets as well as a knocking on the door. Blearily opening her eyes, she scrubbed sleep from her eyes as she quickly put on an outfit and went to the door. Standing in the doorway was none other than Dizzy Tremaine, who looked a mix of excited and nervous.

“Connor and Coraline called for an emergency meeting. Word around the street is that it’s something involving the Core 4.” Dizzy blurted out, looking extremely concerned for Evie’s health.

Evie felt her blood chill a little as Dizzy quickly tugged her through the clamorous streets to Bargain Castle. Looking up at the stone façade, Evie felt as if she was 9 once more, looking up in horror at the many villians’ heads who were on pikes on the edges of the castle as a warning to anyone who tried to defy the Hartz twins. However, she didn’t have much time to think about that as she was swept through the doors and ushered to the balcony of the Castle.

Connor was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself as he tugged at his hair while Coraline tried to soothe him as she held what looked like a bunch of papers in her hands. Dizzy immediately clung to Evie, as no one liked Connor when he was in a bad mood. Evie cleared her throat, causing the twin’s attention to lock onto her almost like wild animals waiting for the kill. Coraline then sighed as she walked toward Evie.

“We’ll explain what’s going on to everyone in a minute. Just sit tight, sweetheart.” Coraline said, taking Evie’s hands in hers before placing a motherly kiss on her forehead.

Evie nodded before sitting down, Dizzy sitting down next to her. Soon, Mal, Jay, and Carlos joined them, being accompanied by Lilith, Jade, and Cadence. The eight of them talked quietly to each other about what this could possibly be about, as it had been a long time since any of them had seen Connor and Coraline so on edge. However, Connor eventually loudly whistled to gain everyone’s attention, causing everyone to silence almost immediately.

“So, we know you’re wondering why there is an emergency meeting.” Coraline started to say slowly and carefully.

There was a murmur of agreement throughout the crowd.

“Well, we recently intercepted four letters from Auradon, aimed at four children: Genevieve, Mallory, Javed, and Carlos.” Coraline continued, pointing toward each child and holding up what Evie assumed was the respective letter for each person.

Immediately, the murmuring became louder but was silenced by Connor moving to center stage from where he was, putting his hands on the railing.

“As you may be wondering, the letters are asking the four to go to Auradon. And, our main question at this point is whether or not we should let them go to Auradon. I’m personally against it, as what if it’s a trap to get us out in the open before they decide to brutally use them to make an example of what happens when you defy Auradon.” Rouge explained calmly, though she got an edge to her voice toward the end of her sentence.

“But what if this is actually a chance for a new life in Auradon? Maybe Ben isn’t as bad as we all first thought?” Hermie called out immediately, as she always tried to think positively in contrast to her real life.

“And we could also use this to help the invasion!” CJ said, a wild grin on her face.

“How could we use this to help us? This sounds like a death trap!” Harry immediately protested, glaring at his little sister.

“Hush, Harry. Let CJ explain what she means.” Coraline said, glaring a little at Harry before her eyes softened as she gestured for CJ to continue.

“Well, the Core 4 could easily steal the wand as a distraction for the Coronation as we sneak into Auradon using the path that Hadie revealed yesterday! It’s perfect” CJ said with a bold grin as she got up onto a box she had brought and gestured wildly to help her illustrate her point.

Connor looked contemplative, as if he was extremely close to agreeing with what CJ suggested. Coraline then went up to her brother and put a hand on top of one of his as she looked at the crowd.

“As an additional precaution, we will send over one bodyguard with each person. And it’s a volunteer basis.” She said calmly.

“I’ll go!”

All sights went to Lilith, who was perched on the railing like a gargoyle, as she grinned in a way that showed off her razor sharp teeth.

“And who will you go for?” Coraline questioned, reaching into her jacket and pulling out a beat up notebook.

“Mal, of course! Can’t leave my step-sister hanging, after all. And Dax can watch over the crew while I’m gone!” She said, giving finger guns to her co-captain, who gave her a thumbs up.

“Alright, that’s one down. We need three more people.” Coraline said as she wrote down Lilith’s name.

“I’ll go, babe.” Jade said, holding onto her cousin’s arm and rubbing circles into it.

“For Jay, I’m guessing?” Coraline asked, her voice calm but her eyes pained from the idea of her girlfriend leaving, even if it was just temporary.

Jade nodded and pulled Jay close to her.

“I’ll go too. After all, this squirt can’t go anywhere without me.” Cadence chimed in, ruffling Carlos’s hair playfully, though she had this air of something that Evie couldn’t name.

Coraline nodded and noted down her name. However, Evie then realized that she wasn’t sure who could go with her, as she wasn’t comfortable with either Cherry or Dizzy going to Auradon with her.

“I’ll go for Evie.”

Evie was startled when she saw Rick raising his hand as Anthony, Zevon, and Westley looked startled at their boyfriend.

“You don’t have to! Me or Anthony could go instead!” Zevon protested, looking extremely concerned.

Anthony nodded in agreement but Rick shook his head.

“I can go.” he insisted.

“If Rick decided that he wants to go, that’s his decision.” Connor said firmly, though he also seemed unsure.

“Alright, so that covers everyone.” Coraline said as she noted down his name.

“So what now?” Geoff asked loudly.

Everyone started to murmur as Connor and Coraline quietly talked to themselves. However, everyone quieted down when the two stopped talking.

“For everyone who is not going to be going to Auradon, see us if you want to directly want to help out with the invasion. And for the people going to Auradon, pack your bags. The Auradonians aren’t giving us much time to actually prepare, but we have at least 2 days.” Coraline said, first looking at the crowd before glancing back at the kids.

As everyone started to talk to each other, Evie couldn’t help but feeling of dread as she thought about what was going to happen from here on out.

Chapter Text

Carlos couldn’t help but be surprised by the fact that Mal and the others were all able to go to sleep so easily, especially considering that they were going to start the ball rolling with a revolution that was easily greater than anything that their parents had accomplished.

So here he was: sitting up in bed as all of his significant others slept peacefully around him, his laptop sitting on his lap. Even though it was a relatively warm night, he had three or four blankets separating his legs from the laptop, as the last time he hadn’t done so he had gotten first degree burns on his legs. He worked on the laptop so often that Evie mentioned that she sometimes couldn’t fall asleep without hearing it going.

He was right about to finish typing up his journal when he heard a knock on the door. He felt Evie stir next to him but he hummed as he run his hands through her hair. She then sighed in her sleep and then turned over and clung onto Jay.

Carlos carefully removed himself from the cuddle of pile, making sure not to wake any of them up, and got up and went to the front door. However, as he approached the door, he saw that Cardinal was about to answer the door. He then gave a small little wave and let Cardinal answer the door, though he remained a few feet behind him so that he could see who was visiting.

Much to Carlos’s surprise, it was Étinne, zer golden hair braided loosely over zer shoulder. Ze seemed confused when zhe saw Cardinal, as zer eyebrows knit together.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to wake you up, Mr. Hartz. I just wanted to talk to Carlos about something.” zhe said, a weak smile crossing her lips.

“It’s fine. I was already awake. Why don’t you come in for something to drink? You must be tired.” Cardinal said gently, though he seemed very concerned about Étienne.

Zhe looked like ze was about to protest and instead nodded. The former King of Hearts smiled gently as he led the two into the living room as he went to go get something to drink. As they waited for Cardinal to return, Carlos couldn’t help but think about why zhe was here, and so late at night (or early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it).

Étienne and the Core Four weren’t always on the best of terms, especially considering that zer girlfriend was Mal’s ex and her self-proclaimed rival. So there was the ever so plausible possibility that this wasn’t a friendly visit and that it was Étienne trying to kill Carlos, as he had nearly killed zer a few times before Connor told him to knock it off. Maybe it was because zhe wanted revenge on Mal and was going to-!

“Here you go.”

Carlos snapped out of his racing, paranoid thoughts as he was handed a chipped tea-cup with card suits around the rim of the cup by Cardinal, who smiled and gave him a paternal kiss on the forehead. Carlos sniffed the cup and was relieved when it was cinnamon, one of the rarer teas on the Isle but still one that he definitely adored ever since he was a child. In fact, Cardinal seemed to horde them just for him, as he couldn’t stand the taste of tea due to the looping tea party he experienced where they drank nothing but tea.

“Anyway, Étienne, you said you wanted to talk about something to Carlos?” Cardinal asked as he took a sip of his coffee, giving a look that gave an obvious warning to Étienne not to try anything.

Étienne, who had been drinking from zer cup of...something, choked a little but calmly wiped away the liquid with zer sleeve as ze put the tea cup down on the one table, looking down at zer hands as ze obviously tried to think of a way to word whatever ze wanted to say.

“You know the Barrier, right? I know this sounds so dumb but please bear with me.” Étienne said with a nervous chuckle at Carlos, something that Carlos rarely saw from zer usually stony façade that ze kept up.

“Yeah. What about it?” Carlos asked, wincing when his voice came out as a nervous squeak instead of anything intimidating.

“Well, we’ve all be theorizing about what the source of it has been for years. A spell from Fairy Godmother, a machine that’s generating it, the list goes on.” zhe rambled a little, picking up the tea cup and drinking from it again to calm zerself.

“Did you find out what’s supplying the power?” Carlos asked, sitting up in excitement.

As Étienne mentioned, all of them had been theorizing for years what the power source had been, as both Pauline and Carlos had punched small holes through the Barrier using machines before the Barrier would either shut itself or the machine would break. However, Carlos’s excited look faded when he noticed how uncomfortable Étienne was.

“I did.”

Ze sighed and closed zer eyes before opening them and staring at the floor.

“It’s my mother.”

Carlos nearly dropped the teacup, as did Cardinal, as they both looked horrified at Étienne, who looked like ze was about to cry. Cardinal put down his cup and then went over to zer, holding his out for a hug. Ze stared at him for a minute before ze hugged him and started to cry quietly. Carlos felt extremely sympathetic for Étienne, as ever since they all had been super young, ze had been looking for zer mother, who had disappeared shortly after giving birth to zem. But now, that Étienne knew and it was obvious that ze wished ze didn’t.

After a while of hugging, Étienne pulled away, sniffling a little as ze wiped away the tears away from zer now red eyes. Cardinal whispered something quietly to her before kissing her forehead before going to sit down where he was sitting, taking another sip of his drink. Étienne also took a few gulps from zer cup before ze sighed and looked over at Carlos, looking much more tired then he had ever seen zer.

“When you go to Auradon, on Coronation, I’m going to seek you out, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble. I need someone who hasn’t died that much but also isn’t that magical to take off the magical talismans that are keeping my mother down there. Ms. Persephone already has a barrier replacement that she is going to do so that no villains escape while we’re all escaping, so it’ll be fine to remove them during that time. After that, I’ll teleport us back to the Coronation.” zhe explained with a calculated look.

“And have you gone over this with Connor and Coraline?” Cardinal asked, sounding a bit concerned, causing Étienne and Carlos to both look at him.

“They’re the ones who suggested I go to Carlos for help.” After a pause, zhe then turned back to Carlos, “So, will you help me?”

Carlos looked at Étienne, then at Cardinal, then back at Étienne before determinedly nodded. Zer shoulders relaxed as ze cracked a grateful smile. Ze then got up, brushing off their pants as they turned toward Cardinal, bowing respectfully.

“Thank you for being so hospitable, Mr. Hartz. And thanks, Carlos, for helping me out in advance. I’ll see you both tomorrow, or, rather, later today.” Étienne started to say seriously before ending up sheepishly giggling.

“It’s no problem at all. Do you need someone to escort you home?” Cardinal asked as he stood up, finished his drink.

“No, thank you for the offer though, your Majesty.” Étienne said with a small smile.

Cardinal got this far-off look in his eyes, as if he was remembering something unpleasant. However, he seemed to snap out of it and smiled politely at zer, shaking his head.

“Just Mr. Hartz is fine.” he insisted, the smile seeming extremely forced.

Étienne looked like ze wanted to say something but held back as zhe resignedly sighed and then nodded. Ze said zer final goodbyes and then left. After ze was gone, Cardinal turned toward Carlos with a tired look in his eyes and a small smile on his face.

“You should go to sleep. You guys are leaving tomorrow.” Cardinal said, pulling Carlos into a hug.

“I will. ‘Night, dad.” Carlos said with a yawn, hugging back.

Carlos went into his room and then cuddled down next to Evie, who turned around and hugged him tightly. He fell asleep quickly to the comforting sound of the rest of the Core Four’s breathing.