Archive of Our Own

Ben turned with a smile and waited. He'd been enjoying the school gardens, so there was nothing he had to do at the moment. Thankfully, considering ever since he became king, his life seemed more hectic than necessary.

Once Evie was beside him, he started walking again. "What's up, Evie?" he asked. 

"I was going over some of your proclamation documents," Evie explained. "Most of them are fine, obviously, but I took a closer look at the ones you said you were having trouble with, and tried to redraft them for you."

She held out a folder and Ben took it, opening it up to look over the papers. "Wow," he chuckled. "These are perfect. Thanks so much, Evie. Passing these should be no problem."

Evie grinned as they continued on their walk. "My mom raised me for this stuff. If I can help, you know I will."

"And I appreciate it," Ben affirmed. "How are things going with your clothing business?"

"Not too bad. A lot better than expected, actually. I'm only taking reservations and custom orders, so I don't know how I'll fare once we graduate."

Ben shook his head. "By then, you'll likely have some regulars. Plus, even though custom clothes are more expensive, they're also more valuable. It really is more beneficial that you make all the clothes yourself. Custom tailors are hard to come by in Auradon."

"You're sweet," Evie told him with a laugh. 

Someone was hurrying toward them carrying several boxes in their arms. Ben watched them carefully and realized they were right on a beeline for Evie. "Oh, you should probably wat-."

He reached over to gently push her arm so she would know which direction to move in, but his hand went right through her. Ben felt something cold engulf his hand and he pulled it back in shock. Whoever was carrying the boxes passed right through Evie, giving a shudder as they went.

Silence surrounded them. Ben gaped at Evie, jaw hanging open, eyes wide. Evie stared back at Ben calmly, waiting for any other reaction. The wind breezed by, rustling the flowers, but not Evie's hair. 

Finally, Ben's mind pulled together enough words to try making a coherent sentence. "Are you... a hologram?" he choked.

"No, I'm not." Evie blinked, her expression not changing.

Ben felt the weight of the folder in his hands and stiffly nodded. Holograms couldn't hold objects. "Are you a... a projection? With magic?"

Evie gave him a smile and shook her head. "No magic," she responded. 

No magic, and not a hologram. Ben's jaw worked furiously before he whispered, "Ghost?"

"Something like that," Evie confirmed. "I'm a spirit, capable of touching things, but incapable of being touched by the living or solid objects."

"H..." Ben wondered if he should run or not. How was she-? How could she-? How did she-?

"Maybe we should sit down for an explanation?" Evie gestured to some benches off to the side for students to sit on.

Ben shakily jerked his head in a semblance of a nod and stiffly walked over to sit down. Evie settled beside him, smoothing out her dress and clearing her throat. "I suppose I should start from the beginning?"

"Y-yeah." Now that he was sitting, Ben took deep breaths to calm down. Just looking at Evie, she looked real enough that he didn't panic too hard now. Still, he needed to know what in Auradon was going on.

"Well, um..." Evie brushed her hair from her face and took a deep breath. "The short version is that Mal, Jay, and Carlos killed me."

Ben's eyes widened comically. It would have been funny if not for the subject of the conversation. He worked his jaw for a moment and finally squeaked out, "They killed you?"

"Uh, yeah," Evie coughed. "It was supposed to be a prank. Carlos invited me to his place for a party and that's when it happened. See, Cruella has this closet full of bear traps to protect her precious furs...

Once Mal slammed the door behind her, Evie found herself engulfed in darkness. Evie didn't mind the dark. Spending ten years cleaning a decrepit castle on a cloudy island didn't give much opportunity for proper lighting. Unfortunately, unlike her mother's castle, which she knew like the back of her hand, this place was unfamiliar. Unfamiliar darkness was never welcome. 

She needed to get out, to find another exit. From the small bits she could make out, the room was bigger than expected, likely a two-doored between-rooms closet. Good. She just needed to make it to the other end. 

Evie moved her foot a little and came into contact with something hard. A loud CLANG! lit the air and she jumped. What the Tartarus was that? She glanced down and found bear traps littering the floor. Of course.

She needed to move carefully, but quickly. She couldn't stay in a closet full of these things. She tiptoed around the traps as best she could, hoping she could make it to the other side with minimal injuries. 

No such luck.

She misstepped and one of the traps snapped on her foot. Pain rang up her leg and she fell forward with a scream. Another trap snapped closed, but instead of another clanging noise, there was a wet crunch. Her side felt like it was on fire, but she couldn't get the trap to open. Her hands slid in her own blood and made pulling the steel apart difficult. She needed to get out, she had to get out and find someone, anyone, to help her.

Evie reached forward to try dragging herself, but that was a bad move. Another trap shut with a much more prominent crunching sound as more traps started clanging shut. Evie jerked her hand back with an agonized cry. Instead of dragging herself, she tried to stand, but she slipped in what she could only assume was more of her own blood. She fell to the side and there was one last crunching sound before she heard nothing at all.

Ben cringed at the description and tears spilled from his eyes. "You... you must have been terrified."

"It was pretty scary," Evie agreed. "All I could think about was getting out, getting to safety. The pain was unbelievable. I would definitely not recommend it."

Ben sniffed and wiped his eyes. "What... how did the others find out? Did they come check on you?"

Evie gave a hollow chuckle. "No. No, they didn't care enough to actually make sure I was okay. They hadn't been raised to care about others. No... poor Carlos had to clean my body when the party ended."

"He cleaned it up?" Ben asked.

"He had to, or Cruella would beat him." Ben flinched, more tears rolling down his cheeks. "I woke up in my bed the next morning, with no recollection of the night before, so Carlos had to fill in the blanks until I remembered..."

Carlos dragged himself into Hell Hall the morning after the party. He'd finally managed to get rid of every last trace that it happened, and he just hid the... evidence... of what happened in the closet. Now to tell Mal and Jay what came about because of their little 'prank'.

However, his mind ground to a halt when he entered the cafeteria. Classes had already started, but who actually went to class on this island. Most of the students were hanging out in the cafeteria, one of them being Mal and another... being Evie.

How was she there? How was she safe? How was she alive? Either way, regardless of the answer to those questions, he still needed to share his information.

Carlos shakily made his way toward the table, staring at its occupants. Mal noticed him first and scowled at him. "Yo, Tiny, ya could've given me a heads-up that Princess Blueberry over here made it out."

"Uh," Carlos gulped. His eyes shifted from Mal to the smiling Evie and back. "Can... can-can I talk to you a sec?"

"Yeah, what is it?" Mal frowned. Something was making Carlos antsier than usual.

Carlos' eyes flicked to Evie. He swallowed thickly and said, in a quiet voice, "Um... I cleaned a body... f-from my mom's c-closet after the... after the party last n-night."

Mal's eyebrows knitted together. She looked from Carlos to Evie and back before asking, "Whose was it?"

"Uh... well... hers." He pointed to Evie.

Now, Mal felt something was really wrong. "Don't play around with me, Carlos," she growled, standing. 

"I'm not!" Carlos hissed, his eyes shifting hurriedly around the cafeteria, hoping no one could overhear. "I had to dispose of her body and clean the blood from the traps and everything!"

Mal bit her lip and her gaze shifted to Evie. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Evie responded, chewing her burnt toast. "I woke up in my bed this morning with no recollection of last night."

"I can prove it," Carlos insisted. "If you follow me, I can prove I had to clean up her body."

"Let's go," Mal agreed. "You too, Blueberry. We're getting to the bottom of this. If this is a prank, you'll wish you died in that stupid closet."

Evie rolled her eyes and stood up, following Mal and Carlos from the cafeteria. Eyes followed them in confusion, but a glare from Mal made everyone look away. Carlos led the way from the school and took off through some alleys. He carefully picked his way through the different alleys until he found the one he'd stashed Evie's body in.

"Here," he said, hurrying over to the bundle of tarps. He took a deep breath and unrolled them. Mal gagged. Evie gave no reaction to seeing her own corpse, but Mal felt her stomach turn at the sight.

"How the hell-!" she exclaimed.

Evie tilted her head in thought and murmured. "Oh yeah..."

Carlos looked to her. "Do you remember?"

"I think so," Evie said, rubbing her head. "I was... trying to get through the closet. One of the traps snapped on my foot and I tripped into another one that got my side... Then they started snapping shut on their own and I couldn't get up fast enough. One got my hand and I fell to the side... and then I didn't feel anything anymore. I woke up in my bed as if no time had passed at all."

Mal and Carlos glanced over to where a chunk of Evie's face had been removed. That... explains that. She must have fallen into another trap headfirst and it snapped shut on her.

Mal felt a little lightheaded. Her breath came in short gasps as she stared at the corpse. She'd killed somebody. She'd shoved Evie into the closet, fully aware of what could happen, what did happen. Her mother would have a field day, probably congratulating her and singing about it from the rooftops, but... but Mal didn't want this. Evie was just supposed to get a scar or two like Carlos did. She wasn't supposed to... Light filled her vision and she reached out.

Someone caught her and she looked up to find Evie holding on to her. "Is this some kind of joke?" she snarled. "Are you playing with me? You probably planted a fake body!"

"Where would I get the material?" Evie scoffed, letting go of Mal. 

"You could've found somebody else's corpse around and used makeup to disguise them as you!" Mal snapped. 

Evie rolled her eyes. "That makes no sense."

Mal lashed out. It was the only thing she could think to do. This couldn't be real. It had to be fake or planned, a prank to counter her prank. She threw a punch right at Evie's beautiful face.

Her hand passed right through Evie's head.

Carlos went even paler at the sight and Mal backed away from her. She stared at her hand, then the corpse and finally Evie. "B-but... you can... touch things," Mal whimpered. 

Evie shrugged, just as confused as they were. Thankfully, an interruption saved them from further stress. Well, not really because now they had to explain it to the last guilty party. Jay dropped from one of the rooftops and grinned.

"Hey, Sky Princess made it out!" He laughed as he made his way closer. "You're tougher than I gave you credit for. I should take you on my rai-."

He tried to lean his arm on Evie's shoulder and fell right through her body. She reached out and caught him before he could fall and Jay stared at her in bewilderment. He glanced at Mal and she and Carlos looked down at the ground before stepping aside to reveal the body. Jay's eyes widened in horror and he stumbled away from Evie in shock.

"You-!"

"Am dead," Evie finished. "I think."

Ben snorted. Despite the horror still etched on his face, and the tears drying on his cheeks, he still smiled at her. "You weren't sure by that point?"

Evie chuckled and brushed some hair behind her ear. "Well, it was still sinking in. I didn't feel dead. I could still touch things and eat, though I think the food just disintegrates once it goes through my... form."

Ben nodded. "So, how did all of you keep it from your parents?"

"Simple, we didn't tell them." Evie smiled. "I trained myself to make movements in accordance with how someone should be touching me, and the others trained themselves to make touching me look realistic. Our parents are so self-centered, they never noticed a thing."

Ben bit his lip. This was all so much to take in. Mal, Jay, and Carlos were murderers, Evie was dead, their parents touched them so little that they never even found out Evie was dead... "I can't believe this."

"Yeah, Jay felt that way for the first few hours after finding out. He kept trying to touch me or throw things at me and if I didn't catch them, they just passed right through." Evie tucked her hair behind her ear. 

"I'm gonna go ask them about it," Ben decided. 

Evie raised an eyebrow at him, but Ben had already stood. She watched him race off and sighed, picking up the folder he'd left behind in his haste. She would follow at a slower pace. Her being there when her friends explained would only increase their guilt. 

In Jay and Carlos' room, Lonnie, Jane, and Mal were cheering for the boys. They were playing one of their combat games and trying to beat the virtual snot out of each other. Currently, they were tied and this was the last round, the tiebreaker. 

"Come on, Jay, get him!" Mal shouted, pumping her fist in the air. Jay was mostly button-mashing to get the jump on Carlos.

"As if Carlos would lose!" Lonnie laughed, leaning forward excitedly. Carlos had memorized every combo in the game and had Jay on the ropes.

"WINNER!" the game announcer shouted as Carlos' character kicked Jay's out of the ring. 

Mal groaned in disappointment while Lonnie and Jane cheered, slapping high fives. Jay and Carlos laughed at their friends. Jay held out a hand and Carlos took it. It was a trap. Jay pulled Carlos' head under his arm and noogied him affectionately, to the amusement of the girls.

All of them turned at a frantic knocking on the door. Before Jay could stand and open the door, Ben practically slammed his way in, falling into a heap on the floor.

"Ben!" Mal cried, hurrying over to help him up. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" Jay demanded, ready to brawl if something was after Ben.

"Evie's dead!" Ben gasped, eyes wide.

Lonnie and Jane gasped in horror at the news. Ben noted that Mal, Jay, and Carlos only shared a confused look and stared at him. "How did it happen?" Lonnie exclaimed, glancing to the door. Her mind was screaming at her to find Evie and see if there was anything she could do to help, but she knew Ben wouldn't joke about something like this.

Ben's jaw flexed and he looked at the ground. Mal caressed his face and asked seriously, "Ben, what happened?"

"She... she just told me what happened," Ben whispered, his fists shaking in grief. "A-about Cruella's closet and... and Carlos having to clean everything..." Mal and Carlos both flinched, and Jay looked down at the floor in shame.

Jane looked between the four of them in confusion. "What... what do you mean, she told you?"

"And what's this about a closet and Carlos?" Lonnie added in puzzlement. She was so lost. "What happened to Evie?"

"I, uh... I killed her," Mal said quietly. Her throat felt tight, like something was lodged in it. "A few months before we came to Auradon... I killed her."

Jane hid behind Lonnie as Ben stared at Mal. "So, it's true? Your prank really..."

"Yeah." Mal wiped her hands on her dress and scooted away from Ben. "I'm the one who shoved her in the closet, knowing full well what was in there and how things could turn out. Lucifer, I even laughed when I did it." She gave a mirthless chuckle, tears coating her eyes. "I guess I just figured nothing could happen to a Princess, ya know? I was... so terribly wrong."

"It was partially my fault," Jay spoke up, though his voice was barely higher than a whisper. "Mal told me to let her know when Evie arrived and... I knew what she was going to do and I wanted to join in. I... I thought it would be funny, but... no one was laughing."

"I'm just as guilty," Carlos breathed, his hands shaking. "I knew what was in there, knew what Mal was going to do... she told me to get Evie out if I cared so much, but I... I was too afraid to go back in that closet. And Evie paid the price for my cowardice."

Ben stared around at their guilty faces, seeing the truth written in them. He had no idea. He wouldn't have even thought something like that could happen. 

"There's not a day that goes by we don't look at her and regret what happened," Mal said. "We... after that, we tried to be... a-a little better. Can't be too much better because it's the Isle, but... we tried."

"So..." Jane's eyebrows furrowed. "No, this can't be right. We've seen her. She... she talked to us an-and ate with us and... and she was there!"

"Have you ever actually touched Evie?" Carlos asked her quietly. Jane opened her mouth but closed it again when she couldn't answer. Auradon was a very affectionate place, everyone touched everyone, but... she couldn't recall ever directly touching Evie.

Mal sighed. "I'm... I'm really sorry you guys had to find out this way. There really isn't a good time to tell people 'hey, by the way, my best friend is dead because I used to hate her guts!' We figured it was better not to bring it up."

"But... wait, does Doug know?" Lonnie asked. 

"That was quite a talk," Carlos chuckled dryly. "But yeah, he knows."

Ben stood and wrung his hands together. "Was she... the only one?"

"Yeah," Carlos coughed. "She was the only one that ever... didn't make it out."

"And we didn't do it again after that," Jay added. "Didn't want a repeat."

There was silence for a long moment before a throat cleared at the door. Everyone turned to find Evie peering around the doorjamb. "Is it safe to come in now?" she inquired, looking around at everyone.

"Yeah, E," Mal told her, reaching out a hand. Evie walked forward and took it, helping Mal to her feet. "How, uh, how did Ben find out?"

"He tried to push me out of the way of danger," Evie shrugged. "He couldn't touch me and then he watched someone walk right through me. Quite a shock as you can imagine."

Lonnie and Jane hesitantly made their way closer, staring at Evie. Evie waved to them with her usual smile. Slowly, Lonnie reached out to touch her shoulder. Her finger passed through, a cold sensation surrounding it wherever it went through. She dropped her hand in shock.

"So, you're really...?" Jane couldn't quite find the words. 

"I'm dead," Evie helped. She passed her hand through Mal's midsection to demonstrate. Mal shivered, but made no move to stop her.

Lonnie knelt to sit on the floor, Jane joining her a moment later. "Well, this is... a shock," Lonnie sighed. "Do we just... go about things normally now?"

"I don't see why not," Evie shrugged. "Nothing has actually changed. You just know more than anyone else now."

A knock at the door made them all turn. Chad sauntered in with a grin. "Yo, Jay, Carlos, everybody else. Mind if I use your printer?"

"Yes," Jay responded immediately, rolling his eyes. 

"But yours is so much faster than mine," Chad pleaded, walking in. "And you made modifications that just make it better!"

Evie sighed and said, "I think I'll leave you guys to it." With that, she walked right through Chad without a second thought. 

Everyone stared after her. Chad looked down at himself, then looked to the door and then back to everyone else. His mouth moved, but no sound came out as he tried to make sense of what just happened. 

Evie strode back in and walked through Chad again. "Sorry, Ben," she said with an appropriately sheepish expression. "You forgot this in the gardens earlier." She handed him the folder of drafts and backed through Chad before turning as she stepped through the door.

Chad looked to be screaming, though still no sound came out. He pointed at the door and then Ben and then the door again. Mal leaned against Jay and smirked at him. "Oh yeah, Evie died. She's haunting you now."

There was a beat before Chad raced from the room. He slammed into the wall just outside the door, straightened himself up, and took off down the hall. Unable to help themselves, everyone snickered at the display. Evie poked her head through Jay's wardrobe with a grin. 

"Did we get him?" she asked.

"Oh, you got him good," Lonnie laughed. "Between Mal threatening to curse him every other week and you supposedly haunting him, I don't know what he'll do with himself."

Evie stepped fully into the room and smiled. "Believe it or not, that's the first time I've done a prank like that."

"Well, it definitely made us feel a little better about your news," Jane giggled. "It's... unfortunate what happened, but I'm glad that, for some strange reason, you got to stay with us, Evie."

"Me, too." Evie's mind flashed back to that night. She remembered blue flames flickering all around her after that last bear trap closed. "Oh, no you don't," a voice chuckled. "You've still got a lot of work to do. Get back out there and rock the world, Princess."

She still had no clue who that voice was, but she's glad they sent her back. Even if she's dead, she could still do so much more, for Mal, for Ben, for Auradon. She'd give it her all.

"So, Evie," Carlos called. "I beat Jay in our tournament. You wanna try?"

"Sure," she said. "Are we taking bets?"

Almost instantly, Mal, Ben, Lonnie, Jane, and Jay shouted, "Bets on Evie!"

Carlos stared at his friends incredulously. "Where's your faith, guys!" he mock-whined, grin in place as he and Evie grabbed the controllers. 

"We do have faith," Jay laughed. "Faith you'll get your butt handed to ya!"

"Even if she is dead, she's still Evie," Lonnie agreed, hugging Carlos encouragingly. "But Jane and I will cheer for you anyway. You might beat her this time."

"And Ben, Jay, and I will be Evie's cheer squad," Mal chuckled, pulling Ben over to sit on the bed. 

"Not that she even needs it," Jay snickered, settling beside them. 

Evie examined the controller and smiled at Carlos. "Ready to have some fun?" she asked. 

"You bet," Carlos grinned, hitting the start button.