Chapter Text
"Dad…what do you think it means when you have the same dream over and over about a guy you've never met…?" Mal asked her father as they sat at the dinner table.
"Well, all things considered Maly," Hades sighed. "It could mean anything. I'm no expert in the dream department, you know."
"I know…but all I could get out of my teachers was vague abstract meanings to individual things that were featured in the dream…"
"It could have also been a literal vision of the future," her father said lightly. "You never know."
"But the place in my dream is nowhere on any of the isles, and I've met just about everyone my age around here," she argued. "How could it have been a literal vision?"
"We'll see."
⏱⏱⏱
Mal was not looking forward to going back to her mother's. She much preferred the caves her father called home (and not just because she could use a little magic down there) over constantly listening to her mother plot revenge. Her father was content to hang out in the caves and work with her on school work or her magic. Another perk to her two weeks with her father was the fact that she could still use a little magic outside the caves for a few days after her visits as long as she was boring about it.
As it stood, she met up with Evie outside the caves and they went to get together with Jay, Carlos, Uma, and Harry at the docks. She greeted her exes with a hug and they headed out to make mischief in the streets of the city. The chaos turned into a flash mob and Mal snatched a suspicious looking candy from a baby in a wagon.
"Poison be--" she started to whisper, poised to take a lick of the candy, when she heard everyone around them except her gang shout in distress and scatter.
"Stealing candy, Mal? I'm so disappointed…," her mother drawled and Mal made a face before turning to her mother.
"It was from a baby?" she tried to sate the mad villainess with that little titbit before going to put the treat in her mouth and finish her spell. The candy was snatched from her hand and she stared blankly at her empty fist.
"That's my nasty little girl!" Maleficent spat on the candy and held it in her armpit for a long moment and Mal gagged a little.
"Really, Mom?!"
"Give it back to the dreadful creature," Maleficent instructed one of her goons, handing the candy to them.
"Was that really necessary, Mom?" she groaned, glancing at the mother and child as her mother's goon gave them the candy. "Poison be revealed, make safe the sweet and flavour be sealed," she hissed. The candy glowed red for a moment before the tot put the sweet in his mouth.
"It's the deets, Darling, that make the difference between mean…," Maleficent waved to the mother with faux kindness. "And truly evil. When I was your age, I was--"
"Cursing entire kingdoms," Mal finished for her in a mocking tone. "I know…"
"Oh, you…walk with me," Maleficent laughed and draped an arm over Mal's shoulder. She vaguely heard Uma and Harry exit the situation with vague excuses as her mother tugged her along. "See, I'm just trying to teach you the thing that really counts…how to be me. And that's hard enough with your father sticking his nose into things."
"Well, you're the one that agreed to it…," she muttered.
"Oh!" Maleficent gasped and Mal cringed away from her as her mother whirled around and nearly struck Mal with her staff. "There's news! I buried the lead. You four…have been invited to go to a different school. In Auradon," she said grandly, gesturing toward the mainland with her staff. Mal started to turn to her friends as they tried to scramble away. Maleficent's henchmen stopped the three of them and Mal pressed her hand to her forehead.
"What? I'm not going to some boarding school filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses," she argued. Not to mention what she'd have to deal with being Maleficent's daughter in a place that hated the villains enough to lock them all away on an island chain.
"And perfect princes…," Evie sighed. Mal shot her a look and Evie faked a grimace.
"Yeah…and I don't do uniforms…," Jay laughed. "Unless it's leather, you feel me?"
"I…read somewhere they let dogs in Auradon…," Carlos mumbled. "Mom says they're rabid pack animals that eat boys who don't behave…"
"Yeah…we're not going," Mal argued.
"Oh, you're thinking small Pumpkin. It's all about world domination," Maleficent drawled, gesturing her henchmen to push the group of kids to follow her. Mal groaned and went to the living room of her mother's lair above Bargain Castle. "You will go," Maleficent said sharply, sitting in her 'throne'. "You will find the Fairy Godmother…and you will bring me her magic wand. Easy Pease."
"What's in it for us?" she asked, considering. Her mother wouldn't be able to use the wand within the barrier. For the same reason Mal couldn't use magic outside of the caves unless it was boring with good intentions. But with the wand, she could poke a hole in the barrier and free her father.
"Matching thrones?" Maleficent laughed, snapping Mal from her thoughts. "Hers-and-hers crowns?"
"I think she meant for us…," Carlos mumbled, gesturing to Mal's group of friends.
"It's all about you and me, baby," Maleficent said, ignoring him as she leaned forward and met Mal's eyes. "Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?"
"Well…yeah," she mumbled. "I mean…who doesn't?" She hoped she sounded convincing.
"Well! Then get me the wand!" Maleficent ordered before going on a rant about bending both good and evil to her will. Mal tuned out her mother's rant, coming up with her own plan. Her mother couldn't pester her on the mainland, and if she could get her father off the isles maybe they could start over. Maleficent snapped and Mal blinked, looking at her mother. "And if you refuse, you're grounded for the rest of your life, Missy."
"You'd have to run that by Dad first," she reminded her and Maleficent glared at her, her eyes glowing as she attempted to magically dominate Mal. Mal narrowed her eyes.
"Mal…," Evie muttered, distracting her.
"I win," Maleficent laughed.
"Fine…whatever," she groaned and went to her room to pack. Evie joined her after a moment. "Thanks for distracting me…," she mumbled.
"Well, your eyes were turning blue…if anyone else noticed it…you said you don't want anyone else knowing who your dad is…"
"Okay, that's reasonable," she sighed, heading back to the living room. Her mother was in the middle of another rant, reprimanding the other villains. The group ceded to the plan and disbursed so the teens could get packed.
"E.Q. the mirror," Maleficent demanded.
"When we get home," the Evil Queen groaned.
"Fine! And Mal…help me with the safe!"
"Mom…it's a freezer," she snapped, opening the appliance in question. "Not a safe. You literally just pull the handle." Her mother reached into the freezer and pulled out her spell book. The older woman fumbled with the frozen book for a moment.
"My spell book…it doesn't work here, but it will in Auradon," Maleficent explained, petting the book. "So many memories…and with it…you'll make memories of your own. By doing exactly as I tell you."
⏱⏱⏱
After she finished her last bit of packing, Mal went back to the caves to let her dad know about getting dragged to Auradon. He seemed pretty happy for her.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he encouraged her, giving her a crushing hug. "I'll miss you, Kiddo."
"I'll miss you, too, Dad," she told him. "I should go to the wharf and let Uma and the crew know." She left the caves and headed for the Lost Revenge.
"Mal!" Evie called to her. "There you are. The car's here."
"Already? But I need to talk to Uma…," she sighed.
"There's no telling how long they'll wait for us. We have to go," Evie sighed. "Uma will understand…"
"Yeah…I guess you're right…," she conceded and went with Evie back to Bargain Castle. A limo was waiting outside the building and Carlos was scrambling to get his bags in the trunk before hiding in the vehicle from his mother as she screamed at him trying to get him to stay. Jay was in the middle of stealing the hood ornament while no one was looking. Mal shook her head and got her bags.
"Mal," her mother snapped as she came into the living room. "The future of the free world rests on your shoulders. Don't blow it."
"Right…," she sighed and took her bags to the car. Once they were all in the car, the driver started to pull away. The boys found the candy and started diving in. Mal looked towards the wharf and sighed.
"You're looking a little washed out…," Evie sighed, pulling out her makeup. "Let me help you out…"
"Stop…I'm…," she trailed off, waving her friend off. "Plotting."
"Well, it's not very attractive."
Mal rolled her eyes and looked around the car. She found a remote and experimented with a few of the buttons. The window behind her rolled down as she pushed a button and she looked back. The limo was fast approaching the broken bridge and the barrier. It looked like they were about to be plunged into the bay.
"It's a trap!" Carlos shouted, clinging to Jay. Evie screeched and clung to Mal. Nothing changed as they came to the edge of the bridge. "What just happened…?" Mal pushed Evie back and they looked out the windows to see that a magical bridge was carrying them across the bay.
"It must be magic…," Evie whispered. Mal frowned and looked at the remote in her hand.
"Hey…did this button open the barrier…?" she asked carefully.
"No. That button opens my garage," the driver quipped. "This," he held up a golden remote. "Opens the magic barrier. And this button…," he trailed off, reaching up to press another button that rolled up the window between them.
"Okay. Nasty," she laughed. "I like that guy."
It wasn't long before they pulled up to a castle and Mal could hear the band going. The car stopped while Jay and Carlos were wrestling over a blanket. Jay had already tried to pocket most of the valuables in the limo and had run out of space to hide them. The door opened and the two boys tumbled out of the car. The band came to a cacophonous halt.
Mal shook her head while they fought over the blanket and picked her way out of the car. Evie did the same and she noticed that they were being watched by the crowd that was gathered. She kicked Jay on the butt.
"Guys," she tried. They two continued rolling as they fought for the blanket. "Guys! We have an audience," she growled and they finally stopped. Carlos scrambled to his feet and snatched the blanket from Jay.
"Just…," Jay cleared his throat, trying to hide the things he'd swiped. "Cleaning up." An older woman in blue approached them.
"Leave it like you found it," she said in a lilting singsong. "And by that…I just mean leave it," she clarified sternly, levelling a severe look at the two boys, who promptly tossed their acquisitions back into the limo with sheepish grins. Then, Jay noticed the princess standing beside the woman.
"Hello foxy," he greeted, approaching the girl and brushing his hair back, clearly trying to be impressive. Mal had to stifle a giggle. "The name's Jay."
"Welcome to Auradon Prep," the woman interjected when Jay got nothing but an almost disgusted look from the princess. "I'm Fairy Godmother, headmistress."
"The Fairy Godmother?" Mal asked. She'd thought the Fairy Godmother was an old woman. "As in…bibbidi-bobbidi boo?"
"Bibbidi-bobbidi, you know it!" the woman laughed. She guessed a pure fairy could look however they wanted.
"Wow…okay then. I always wondered how it felt for Cinderella when you just showed up out of nowhere with that sparkly wand and just zapped her out of obscurity," she sighed.
"Oh, that was a long time ago…," Fairy Godmother said gently. "And as I always say, 'don't focus on the past, or you'll miss the future'," she said with a gesture. A prince stepped forward and Mal's breath caught. The boy from her dreams.
"It's so good to finally meet you all," the prince greeted and his eyes locked on Mal's. "I'm Ben."
"Prince Benjamin," the princess corrected, stepping forward. "Soon to be king."
"You had me at 'prince'," Evie sighed dreamily, stepping forward. "My mom's a queen, which makes me a princess."
"The Evil Queen has no royal status here," the princess quipped. Evie stepped back a bit. "And neither do you."
"This is Audrey," Ben said lightly, looking away from Mal.
"Princess Audrey," she corrected sharply. "His girlfriend." With those two words Mal's heart sank. Her dream had been a date, but maybe her teachers had been right and it was just an abstract thing. "Right, Benny-boo?" He made a face and his eyes locked with Mal's again. Fairy Godmother said something, but Mal didn't hear, lost in Ben's gaze and wondering just what would happen.
"The doors of wisdom are never shut!" Fairy Godmother shouted, snapping Mal from her daze. She blinked and looked at the older fairy. "But…the library hours are from 8 to 11 and we do have a thing called 'curfew' at midnight. Which I have a thing about," the woman said sharply before leading the band away.
"It is so, so, so good," Ben started, approaching them. "To finally me--" Jay punched his shoulder as a greeting when he got close enough and Ben paused to catch his breath. "Meet you all," he continued, moving to shake Mal's hand. He paused for a long moment, staring into her eyes. "This is a momentous occasion," he said, snapping his gaze away from her and moving on to shake hands with Carlos. "And one that I hope will go down in history…," he trailed off, seeing chocolate on his hand. "Is that chocolate?" he mumbled before moving on to Evie. "As the day our two peoples began to heal."
"Or, the day that you showed four peoples where the bathrooms are," Mal quipped.
"A little bit over the top?" he laughed.
"A little more than a little bit," she agreed. "But seriously…bathrooms?"
"Well…so much for my first impression," he sighed and turned towards the school.
"Hey!" Audrey said before they could follow Ben. "You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you? Yeah, you know what?" she said sharply. "I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's Aurora. Sleeping--"
"Beauty," Mal quipped, cutting her off. She already wanted to put some sort of hex on this particular princess. "Yeah, I've heard the name," she sighed. "You know, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world but my mother to their stupid christening," she told the princess in a tone to match Audrey's thinly veiled venom.
"Water under the bridge," Audrey agreed icily.
"Totes!" Mal agreed just as coldly.
"Okay!" Ben laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "So, how about that tour? Yeah?" he grabbed Audrey's arm and tugged her toward the castle. Mal and the others followed. "Auradon Prep, originally built over 300 years ago and converted into a high school by my father when he became king." He paused by a bronze statue of the king and clapped his hands.
Carlos shrieked and leapt into Jay's arms as the statue shifted from human to beast with a loud creaking noise. Mal shook her head a little and laughed when Jay dropped Carlos to the ground with an annoyed grunt.
"Carlos," Ben laughed, moving to help him up. "It's okay. My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man. To remind us that anything is possible."
"Does he shed much?" Mal joked.
"Yeah," Ben said lightly, re-joining Audrey. "Mom won't let him on the couch." Mal laughed with him as they headed into the school. They came to the foyer and stopped.
"So…you guys have a lot of magic here in Auradon? Like wands and things like that?"
"Yeah," he said. "It exists, of course. But it's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just…ordinary mortals."
"Who…happen to be kings and queens," Mal sighed. Retired would mean she still couldn't use the magic that was part of her even though it was available to her.
"That's true," Audrey said dreamily, grabbing Ben's arm and forcibly draping it around her shoulders. "Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years." Ben jerked away from her and looked to the stairs. His expression turned relieved.
"Doug!" he called and they all looked to a guy in the band uniform wearing glasses on his way down the stairs with his eyes on a clipboard. "Doug, come down," he urged and the boy looked up. He pushed his glasses up and rushed to join them. "This is Doug," Ben introduced. "He's going to help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms. I'll…," he trailed off, approaching Mal and catching her hand. "See you later, okay? And if there is anything you need, feel free to--"
"Ask Doug," Audrey interrupted, yanking Ben away from Mal and out of the foyer.
"Well, she makes harpies look sweet…," she muttered.
"Hi, guys," Doug greeted when he got to the bottom of the stairs. "I'm Dopey's son. As in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and…," he trailed off and gasped when he spotted Evie. "Heigh-ho…," he mumbled. Evie smirked and stepped forward.
"Evie. The Evil Queen's daughter," she introduced herself.
"Nice to…," he swallowed a little, though it didn't seem to be out of fear. "Meet you…," he mumbled before clearing his throat. "Okay, so…about your classes. I, uh…put in the requirements already…history of woodsmen and pirates…remedial computing…and uh…," he made a noise. "Remedial goodness 101…"
"Let me guess," Mal laughed. "New class? Come on, guys, let's go find our dorms. And those bathrooms."
"Well, the ladies' room is right down this hall…," Doug sighed, pointing. "And the dorms are in the east wing…"
"Thanks," Mal sighed, hurrying to the bathroom. Evie followed her.