Archive of Our Own ^beta

Uma sighed as she watched the Isle disappear into the horizon as the limo they were in drove toward Boreadon. Er…Auradon. She should probably start referring to it by its proper name now that she would be living there. Not that Uma was complaining about finally being free of the Isle, but she would miss some aspects of it.

Her crew for one; while Harry and Hadie were joining her on her voyage to Boreadon all the other members of her crew were still confined to the Isle. Well, and Gil but he wasn't exactly part of the crew. He had been under the crew's protection just as DeVil had been before he left the Isle.

She wasn't going to lie, she'd been surprised to have the king of Auradon present to accompany the new kids from the Isle. Though Uma suspected that they hadn't been the only reason King Beastie Jr. had been there. You'd have to have been as blind as Grandmama Odie to have missed the two squadrons of guards making their way to the Dragon's castle.

Well I guess now that she's a lizard, they'd want to make sure anything magic she had was locked up tight, Uma thought with another sigh as her thoughts turned to another magical girl with an affinity for dragons.

It may have only been a month since the coronation but Uma had noticed a change in her cousin. It started small, Mal brushing her off in the mind link saying she had to focus on classwork but then Mal started muting the mind link! She had never done that before, at least not for long periods of time—and her mind link had been muted ever since.

Despite the muted nature of the link, Uma could still get bits of what Mal was feeling even if Uma didn't know why her cousin was feeling the way she was. Waves of stress, panic and annoyance would enter Uma's head every day and she knew it was from Mal.

Oh sure, the annoyance could have been her Uncle Hades dealing with Pain and Panic but Uma knew better. After all, she had checked with Hadie and her younger cousin had picked up on the same wave of emotions. Uncle Hades usually did his best to keep his annoyance in check so Hadie didn't pick up on it.

At least when I get to Boreadon, I'll be able to talk to Mal face to face. She can't put me on mute then, she thought with a small smile. Her thoughts, though, were interrupted by a whimper by the lone non human member of their group. Uncle Hades had insisted on having Estelle come with them and Ben had agreed. Actually, according to Hadie, Ben's face had lit up upon seeing Estelle and he had been hard pressed to leave the dog's side to actually drive the limo back.

Why Ben was in the Underworld in the first place was still a mystery to Uma but she was prepared to let it go if it meant Mal got her dog and her brother.

"What's wrong boy?" Gil asked, causing yet another eye roll from Harry. Harry'd been doing that whenever Gil opened his mouth though it was better than the first mate hooking the son of Gaston like he'd almost done before they'd got into the limo. Gil was only removing a bit of rope from her hair, it must have gotten caught during her morning sparing session. How she missed it would be another mystery considering the tan coloring would have stood out against her teal braids.

"It's probably the sun," Hadie said softly. "Mom said it's always an adjustment for her whenever she goes back to Auradon and she lives on Olympus when she's not on the Isle. Estelle's lived on the Isle his whole life…"

"I should have thought of that," Ben sighed from the driver's seat. He had thought to bring some neat glasses with dark lenses that helped block out the brightness. He'd given them each a pair when they had gotten into the limo. Uma wasn't going to lie, they certainly had helped—she hadn't expected the sun to be that bright when they first crossed the barrier.

"You didn't expect to be bringing along a Cerberus, your highness," Hadie said softly and Uma could see the teenaged king give her cousin a kind smile from the rearview window.

"Hadie, you don't have to call me that," Ben said gently. "None of you do. Unless you want to that is but it's not required."

"But…you're the king," Gil said, looking as if the statement confused him. Though, Uma realized, it probably did. Most things that weren't related to hunting or eggs usually did confuse the youngest LeGume. Oh and crafting. Uma didn't know how but Gil had been able to repair her mother's necklace when they were younger. It was one of the reasons why he was still under the crew's protection.

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "I'm the king. Doesn't mean I want to force the use of my title on you."

"You are one odd duck, Benny," Uma stated and Ben chuckled.

"So Mal tells me," he said, a smile growing on his face at the thought of Mal. "She should be meeting us at the school, which should be in a few more minutes. She wanted to come along but she had a meeting she couldn't get out of."

At the mention of Mal's name, Estelle perked up and began pacing around the confines of the limo. Uma shook her head as she noticed Harry's smirk every time Estelle accidentally trod on Gil's foot.

"It's okay Estelle, you'll see Mal in a few minutes," Hadie promised and Estelle whined in response.

Ben shook his head. "Should have brought Carlos," he muttered in amusement. After all, the younger boy could talk to dogs—something Ben, Mal, and Jay had discovered after Mal had turned them all into dogs accidentally when she'd gone out for the spirit squad with Evie for spirit day. After the…fiasco that'd been the coronation, Mal had tried her best to make sure Evie always had a friendly face with her—even if that meant stepping outside her comfort zone.

In Mal's defense re: spirit day, none of them were expecting the spirit cheer to sound just like a spell Maleficent used to say during the years Mal lived with her. Nor did they expect Mal to remember the words to the spell. As Mal had explained to Ben afterwards, Maleficent had only done the spell during Mal's toddler years, to try to quell the very rare tantrums Mal used to throw. Maleficent, however, was unsuccessful in her spell casting because of the barrier.

"B. I. T. E. What's that spell? Bite, bite, bite. Speak no words, you'll cause a fright, what's a bark without a bite?"

A flash of green light appeared and when it faded, Ben could only speak in barks. True he found it amusing that Jay was down on his hands and knees but honestly Ben needed whatever caused it to be reversed. He had a council meeting in about twenty minutes after all.

"Woof, woof!"

Ben could hear Mal bark and his heart froze. If Mal was barking too, that would mean that she couldn't reverse whatever caused Jay and him to act like dogs.

"Of course I can speak dog! I'm Cruella DeVil's son," Carlos said and Ben smiled. They had a way to reverse it! The smile faded however when he heard Carlos tell Mal that instances like this needed to be recorded and the smaller boy ran up to take a photo of Jay. While Ben was happy that Carlos was coming out of his shell, he'd have liked it if Carlos would translate the spell for Mal!

Apparently Mal felt the same as she came up to Carlos and began barking at him.

"Down girl," Carlos said and Mal just growled sightly. Carlos sighed but took the spell book from Mal. Ben couldn't help but be grateful that Mal hadn't donated Maleficent's spell book to the museum yet. She had meant to after their date to the Enchanted Lake but she'd been understandably distracted what with their impromptu trip to the Isle and then Family Day and his coronation.

Thankfully Carlos was able to translate the spell for Mal as she barked it out and Ben felt himself acting normally again. Carlos must have noticed the change as he laughed nervously.

"Hi guys," he said. Ben just shook his head in amusement as Jay chased Carlos around the quad, demanding the younger boy delete the photos he took.

"Um…that wouldn't be a good idea," Uma said slowly, bringing Ben back to the present. The entire Isle knew about DeVil's fear of dogs; Ben didn't seem like the cruel type so maybe he didn't know. After all, Auradon Prep was a boarding school according to Mal. How many boarding schools had dogs, even if there were dogs in Auradon?

However, the amused smirk on Ben's face was not one she had expected. A small yip from Estelle prevented her from commenting on it though as Ben had pulled up to Auradon Prep.

"Alright, we're here," the teenaged king said with a smile as he stopped the limo and cut off the ignition. Hadie grinned and went to grab Estelle's leash but was stopped by Harry.

"Maybe it would be a better idea for the captain or me to handle Estelle right now Hadie," he said. "With how much energy he has right now, you'd get dragged out of the limo the second the door opens."

"Yeah Hadie, let me take that," Uma said, grabbing the leash. It was a good thing too as the moment the door opened, Estelle took off; dragging her out of the limo and face first into the ground.

"Uma, it might be a good idea for you to let go," Hadie said. "Estelle'll drag you all over the place until he finds Mal."

"But Mal's right there," Gil said, pointing to the statue of the former king. Sure enough Mal was there, standing in front of the statue. Before Uma knew it, the leash had slipped out of her hands and Estelle was making a beeline for Mal.

"You okay cap'n?" Harry asked, helping Uma stand up.

"Nothing bruised but my pride Harry," Uma told him, giving him a small smile. "Looks like Estelle missed Mal just as much as we did."

Hadie chuckled and shook his head in amusement as he watched Mal bend down to pet Estelle. "Oh sure, I see who the favorite is!"

"Well of course," Mal chuckled as she walked over to them. "Estelle doesn't threaten to tell mom and dad when I've done something that might get me grounded, little brother."

"…yeah I deserved that."

"You sure did. Now come here," Mal said, pulling Hadie into a hug. "I'm surprised dad let you go, considering mom's on the Isle."

"He was distracted by the arrival of lizard Maleficent," Hadie told her. "Dad spends his mornings taunting her about her spectacular failure and the fact that now she'll never escape the Isle."

"…dad does know it's dangerous to taunt Maleficent right?" Mal asked.

"It's dad," Hadie shrugged as they broke the hug. "Hard to say what goes through his head."

Uma chuckled. "Now if we're done looking into Uncle Hades' mind, I believe someone owes their captain a greeting."

"Okay, okay Uma," Mal chuckled as she gave her best friend and cousin a hug. "Gods, I missed you," she whispered.

"I missed you too Mali," Uma whispered back. "The Rotten Four are back together again."

"All of Auradon just felt a shiver run down their spines at that," Mal chuckled as she broke the hug and went to hug Harry and Gil.

Ben gave a small pout. "No hug for me?"

"Come here," Mal chuckled, giving her boyfriend a hug as well. Uma couldn't help but smile at the sight, especially as Ben leaned over to whisper into Mal's ear. Whatever he said caused her to perk up though how that was possible, Uma didn't know. Mal was certainly perkier than Uma remembered but that might have just been the sunlight.

"Ally!" Mal called and waved over a blonde girl wearing a bright blue dress.

"Oh hello Mal! Are these the new VKs?"

"Yes Ally, they are," Mal chuckled. "But I didn't call you over for a meet and greet. Can you tell Evie to meet me over at Ben's office? Lonnie, Jane and Jordan too."

"Right," Ally nodded before turning to Ben. "Remember Ben, Jordan's the girl you've known since you were four."

Ben shook his head. "I don't know why I get the two of them confused, I just do."

"Wait, so you've been confusing Jay with a girl?" Harry burst out laughing.

"What's so funny about that?" Uma and Mal asked, Mal crossing her arms.

"Nothing."

Ben chuckled and Mal shook her head. "Jay's sorry he couldn't be here, he had R.O.A.R practice," she said.

"Ah yes, a captain can't skip out on practice," Ben nodded before clapping his hands together. "Should we begin?"

"No I just thought we'd stand here all morning Benny."

"Sarcasm's not appreciated Mal."

"Really? I appreciate it." Uma chuckled as they made their way to the school, Ben grabbing Mal's free hand; the other one holding Estelle's leash.

"Where will we be lodging?" Harry asked.

Mal smiled as she looked over her shoulder. "Harry, you, Hadie and Jay'll be rooming together. Gil, you'll be rooming with Carlos, and Uma of course, you'll be rooming with me."

"She was quite adamant about that," Ben nodded and Uma chuckled.

"I'll look after the little lord, Mali," Harry promised.

"I know you will Harry," Mal nodded. "However, same rules as on the Lost Revenge. No talking about flings around crew members under fifteen!"

"I'm a first mate! I know the rules Mal. Who do you think I am, Freddy boy?"

"Speaking of that little thorn, how's he been?" Mal asked, turning to Uma as her shoulder twinged a bit at the reminder.

"His usual self," Uma sighed. "Thankfully we haven't lost any more crew to him."

"Brooke and Locklyn were the last two to leave, right?"

"Yep. Amazingly we still have nineteen crew members to his six Angels. Well seven if you count him."

Mal chuckled. "Fifteen crew members you mean."

"Mal, you may live in Boreadon now but you will always be co-captain," Uma stated. "You and Jay are crew."

Mal smiled and even Ben found himself feeling touched by Uma's words. So much so that he didn't want to interrupt to do the tour.

"Mal, you want to show them around?" Ben whispered. "I'll meet you at my office so we can tell Evie the news."

"You really trust five VKs to be alone with no supervision?" Mal whispered back, teasing him gently.

"No, I trust my girlfriend to be alone with her cousin, her brother, her surrogate brother and the youngest son of Gaston," Ben teased back.

Mal chuckled softly. "Okay. I'll probably just show them their dorms then and then dart over to your office. Gods, I can't believe we got him. Evie's going to be thrilled."

"I just hope she's not disappointed," Ben sighed. "Seven years of being captured by Maleficent…"

"She knows Ben," Mal said gently. "I think at this point, Evie just wants her dad back."

Mal knew it had been weird at first, growing closer to Evie but at the beginning, it'd been a necessity. After all, Evie was still her roommate and she was the only other VK girl there. But after Evie had stolen the wand and basically released Maleficent from the Isle, Mal had basically declared Evie was under her protection.

Sure, some of the other girls like Lonnie and Jane still talked to Evie and were friendly. Plus Ben got some of his female friends to join in, which was how Mal got to know Ally and Jordan. But most of the other girls in Auradon Prep, the same girls who loved Evie because of the makeovers she'd given them, shunned the blue haired girl.

Shunning though was better than what some of the other girls had done…the number of times Mal had seen 'traitor' sprayed on Evie's locker in bright pink spray paint. Honestly, Audrey could have been more subtle if she had just thrown a brick at Evie's head.

So Mal did what she did best. She brought Evie into her crew. Even though she had longed for Uma's arrival so that she'd be free of Evie, Mal didn't feel comfortable assigning a new roommate to Evie. Not with people's memories still fresh from coronation.

"Mal?" Uma asked, breaking into Mal's thoughts.

"Hmmm?"

"You gonna show us our rooms?" Uma asked and Mal chuckled. Ben gave a gentle kiss on Mal's cheek before walking off and Mal began showing everyone to their rooms.

"Gil, you don't have an issue with dogs right?" Mal asked.

"Of course not!" Gil grinned.

"Good because I think Carlos would kill someone if they made him be apart from Dude," Mal chuckled.

"Uh…Dude?"

"The campus mutt," Mal explained, looking over at Harry. "Though he's pretty much Carlos' dog."

"We're talking about the same DeVil?" Harry asked, looking at Uma. "Small, black and white hair, jumps at his shadow, terrified of dogs?"

Mal nodded. "Auradon's been good for him," she said as she stopped by the room. "He's with Jay at R.O.A.R. practice so he'll catch up with you soon Gil."

"Sounds good," Gil nodded, dropping his stuff on the open bed. Mal smiled and quickly showed Harry and Hadie their room before heading back to her room with Uma.

"Is it always so…pink?" Uma asked, looking around the room in slight disgust.

"Yeah," Mal chuckled. "It was worse when Evie and I first arrived. I managed to talk Ben into giving us some wood paneling like in the boys' rooms."

Uma nodded and paused as she counted out the beds. "Mali…why are there three beds in here?"

"Because we're rooming with Evie," Mal said softly and Uma whirled around to look at her cousin.

"No. No way. You've got to be out of your mind because there is no way I'm rooming with Blueberry!"

As the words left Uma's lips, the door opened and Evie walked into their shared room.

"Oh…hello," she said softly. "Ally said you wanted to talk to me Mal?"

Mal shook her head. "Come on Evie. Ben's got some news, we're to meet him in his office. Uma, I'll be back. Settle in, enjoy yourself."

With that, the two girls left the room leaving Uma standing there in shock.

"…what the hell just happened?" Uma asked the empty room, receiving no response.

Mal couldn't help but sigh softly as she and Evie made their way to Ben's office. There was no denying the change in the blue haired girl ever since she started attending the recommended therapy that Ben suggested.

Actually, he had suggested all the VKs attend their own private therapy session, and even made it a staple of bringing kids from the Isle. That and medical visits. If there were any issues, Ben wanted to know so they could work on getting them addressed.

Mal didn't have the heart to tell him that the only one who would probably willingly go along with that would be Gil. Well, and Hadie but that would just because Mal would have to order him to go along with it. One of the few perks of being the older sister.

She had attended one session but the therapist had seemed to be more focused with the fact that she was the 'biological daughter' of Maleficent and that 'it's perfectly natural to have fantasies of having a different parent'. Mal dropped him like a hot potato after the first session.

If she had issues, she could go to Jay, Carlos or Ben, maybe even Evie if it wasn't super personal as they just weren't there yet…or now Harry or Uma. Not some quack who thought he knew who her mom was better than she did.

"Mal?" Evie asked, bringing the purple haired girl out of her thoughts. "What do you think Ben wants to talk to me about?"

"I'm sure it's nothing bad, Evie," Mal said gently, working hard to not slip back into calling her 'princess' or 'blueberry' now that Uma was there in Auradon. Evie didn't deserve that after all. "Maybe he just wants to talk about your therapy schedule."

Even though Mal wanted to tell her, she also knew that the walls had ears. One wrong word caught by someone not on their side and The Gazelle had a story that would sell copy for a week. They'd already made Evie their front page for two weeks, branching from their usual strategy of reporting on royals, but then again it's not every day that a VK tries to steal Fairy Godmother's wand.

"Oh," Evie said softly. There was a pause before Evie spoke up again. "I'm sure you're happy to have Uma here in Auradon."

Mal smiled. "I am. Sure there'll be some adjustments but I'm just happy to have my brother and my cousin off that Isle."

"Oh that's right…I'd forgotten you and Uma were cousins. I guess that explains why you two were so close on the Isle."

"That's alright, the only ones who knew were Uma, Harry, and Jay," Mal said. "Well, and Hadie of course but he goes without saying. It's actually pretty weird now that I think about it. If I go back to the Isle, I won't have that protection…of people thinking I'm Maleficent's daughter."

"Why not?"

"Evie, Ben's coronation was televised," Mal said gently. "Meaning everyone on the Isle saw me tell Maleficent to her face that I wasn't her daughter."

"But…you're still her biological offspring."

"Doesn't matter. I basically disowned her. If not for the fact that the Isle now knows I'm Hades' daughter, I'd be fair game."

Evie gave her a comforting smile. "Well, I guess it's a good thing neither one of us will be going back to the Isle."

"Yeah," Mal said with a nod. "Come on, we shouldn't keep Ben waiting."

"Oh yes," Evie nodded. "But then again…we are VKs aren't we? Weren't we taught that it's more important to be late than on time?"

Mal smirked. "Well well well, look who's remembering her roots? But I don't think you'd want to be late to this meeting Evie."

Evie chuckled. "Oh, that reminds me Mal. Do you want to have a meeting sometime this week about your cotillion dress? Assuming you'd want me to make it of course."

"Evie, considering the amazing job you did on my dress for the coronation, of course I want you to make my dress for cotillion," Mal said. "I have another meeting with my new handler this week but I should be able to meet with you on the weekend to go over designs."

Evie nodded. "That's right, you'd mentioned something about Ben's council assigning you a handler. Natalia?"

"Natalie," Mal corrected. "She seemed a bit tense when I met with her today but that was probably first time jitters. Lately everyone seems to have those if they haven't met me before. It's not like I'll get mom to smite them if I don't like them right off the bat or anything."

Both girls burst out laughing as they walked into Ben's office, causing the teenaged king to smile.

"Evie, Mal," he said, nodding his head in greeting.

"Ben," both girls replied, bowing their heads in response. Normally, he would have been greeted to at least one 'your highness' however Ben had made a proclamation around the school after about one week into his rein. No one was to call him 'your highness' or 'King Ben' unless it was an official event. He was still the same guy they'd grown up with—he didn't see why they all of a sudden needed to use his title.

The only time he ever enjoyed being called 'your highness' was when Mal was teasing him because then he got to use her title of 'Lady'. His lady.

"Evie, I'm sure you're wondering what the meeting's about," Ben said gently as he stood up to walk over to her.

"The thought may have crossed my mind," Evie said softly as the girl standing next to Lonnie and Jane snorted in amusement.

"Yes, thank you Jordan," Mal shook her head. Jordan grinned, causing Mal and Ben to chuckle before Ben turned back to Evie.

"Evie…we got him."

Evie froze and looked at Ben. "My dad? You have my dad?"

"That's right," Ben nodded, having barely heard the blue haired girl's whisper. "I had guards go into Maleficent's castle when I went to pick up the new VKs. They were the epitome of discrete in getting him out. Not even Uma, Harry, Gil or Hadie know why they were there."

"The guards took another limo off the Isle and took your dad straight to Asclepius General," Mal told her. "Evie, we can arrange for a driver to take you there right away to see him but…he may not be the same as when you were six."

"That's why we're here," Lonnie chimed in. "Mal thought we might be better at the whole 'comfort' thing. We've got hot coco, warm cookies and fuzzy blankets at the ready."

Evie gave a weak chuckle and smiled slightly. "Can I go see him now?"

"I wouldn't have told you we could make it happen if you couldn't," Mal said gently.

Ben nodded. "Fairy Godmother's already been informed and she's giving you three weeks off for your classes," he told Evie. "I haven't told Doug though, I thought that would be something you'd want to share with him."

A small yip prevented anyone else from responding and Estelle's right head gave Evie's hand a gentle lick.

"How in the world did I not notice a Cerberus?" Lonnie asked, being the first to come out of her shock.

"Estelle's a good boy, he knows how to not make a nuisance of himself," Mal grinned, scratching Estelle behind the ear.

Jane gave Mal a small smile. "Estelle…that's French for 'star'."

"I didn't want to give him too obvious a name," Mal said. "Most of the Isle's residents are dumber than rocks but there are a few with a few brain cells to rub together."

Jane nodded. "I'm guessing villains like Yzma and Frollo—"

"You had to mention Frollo," Evie sighed as Mal's back got stiff and her hand twitched like she was going for a sword. What surprised everyone was that Estelle let out a low growl at the mention of Frollo's name.

"Mal…?" Ben asked softly.

"Later Ben," Mal told him, shaking her head and trying to rid herself of the tension. Freddy boy was trapped on the Isle with no way out. She, on the other hand, had her friends and family with her…she'd won.

So why was she still tense whenever anyone mentioned Frollo or Freddy? Well, habits die hard and it had only been a month since Ben's coronation after all.

"Shh, shh, it's okay boy," Mal said, petting Estelle behind the ears again. "Freddy's trapped on the Isle and you'll have all sorts of room to run around and play. Oh and you'll have a new friend with Dude. Just don't try to eat him."

Estelle snorted and everyone else chuckled.

"Aren't Cerberuses supposed to be bigger?" Lonnie asked.

"They are," Mal nodded. "Dad thinks that because of the magical barrier around the Isle, that stopped Estelle from growing to his proper size. I'll have to see if there's a vet around here who won't faint at looking at a Cerberus to know for sure though."

"She's not a vet but Jane Porter has done some studies on animals. She might be able to lend some insight," Jordan suggested.

Mal nodded. "I might take you up on that and reach out to her. If anything, I want to make sure being forced to be small hasn't hurt Estelle in anyway."

"I can reach out to her," Ben said.

"No, Ben, I couldn't ask you to—"

"You're not asking Mal. I'm offering," Ben said gently. "Besides, it's one phone call. How much time could that take, thirty minutes?"

Mal rolled her eyes. "Fine Ben. But—"

"I know, I know. Not before lunch or dinner," Ben chuckled.

"Gods, you two sound like an old married couple at this point," Lonnie shook her head.

"You say that every time you see me and Mal interact. We've been dating a month Lon."

Lonnie chuckled and lowered her voice so Mal wouldn't hear. "I'm probably the closest thing you've got to a sister Ben. Well, not counting Jane. The way you look at Mal…it's not the typical honeymoon phase of a teenage romance. You love her."

Ben sighed softly. "I know it's only been a month so I haven't told her yet but…I do love her," he whispered.

"What are you two plotting?" Mal asked, preventing Lonnie from responding to Ben.

"Lonnie's probably trying to figure out how to get you to train with her for R.O.A.R," Jordan chuckled.

"Jordan!"

"Sure, I'll train with you," Mal shrugged, causing Lonnie to pause.

"You will?"

Mal chuckled. "I ran with a pirate crew back on the Isle Lonnie. You didn't exactly survive if you didn't know how to defend yourself. I won't promise I'll know the rules of R.O.A.R but I can help you with the basics. So can Uma and Harry for that matter…actually, why not just ask Jay?"

"I don't want him to know I want to try out," Lonnie said. "I want him to make the decision based on my talent, not because he knows me."

Mal chuckled. "Trust me Lonnie, give me or Uma or Harry a month and we'll have you whipped into shape."

"I feel I should be scared but honestly I'm just excited."

Evie sighed. "Why am I not surprised you'd find some of the lone sword loving girls not on the Isle?"

"It's a gift," Mal grinned. "Now go on Evie, the limo's waiting for you."

"But—"

"You really think I didn't teach Ben how to text without anyone noticing? Granted he had to teach me how to text but that's beside the point. The car's waiting for you. Go!"

Evie chuckled and gave Mal a quick hug before freezing. "Oh, I forgot—"

"Evie, you're excited. I'm not going to bite your head off for that. Just remember for the future…I don't hug."

"Duly noted."

"Now go!" Mal chuckled as she gently forced Evie out of the door. Shaking her head, she turned back to Ben.

"If my services are no longer needed, Jay should be getting out of practice. I don't want to miss him realizing Harry's here," she said. "So…may I be excused your highness?"

"Of course my lady," Ben teased in response.

"I'm not a lady Ben."

"You know the rules Mal. You use my title, I get to use yours in response."

"Whoever came up with that rule was an idiot."

"That was you."

Mal paused. "It was?"

"Yep," Ben nodded and chuckled. "Still want to call whoever came up with that rule an idiot?"

"No, if only because I really don't want to miss Jay's reaction," Mal chuckled. Ben walked over and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll see you at dinner?"

"Of course Ben," Mal chuckled. "If you don't show up, I'll send Estelle to drag you out. He'll do it too!"

Estelle gave a small yip as if to agree with what was being said. Everyone in the room chuckled as Mal left to go back to her dorm.

"Hey," she said, sticking her head into her room. "Jay should be getting out of practice. You want to go surprise him?"

Uma grinned. "You bet!"

"Then come on!"

The two cousins raced over to Jay's room, hoping to arrive before the older boy.

"Wha—Harry?! What are you doing here?"

"'ello Jay! Hope it's alright that I picked this bed. The little lord wanted the top bunk and who am I to refuse him?"

"…where is Hadie?"

"That's a good question Harry," Mal said, stepping into the room as Jay whirled around. Uma chuckled as Estelle ran in and jumped onto Harry's bed.

"You knew they were coming today?" Jay asked Mal.

"Yep."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"You were busy."

"I could have skipped practice!"

"You're the captain," Mal said with a small chuckle. "Now, don't change the subject. I believe your favorite pirate was telling me where my brother disappeared to."

"He's in the library Mali," Harry told her. "He's the eleven year son of Lord Hades and Lady Persephone, plus his sister turned Maleficent into a lizard not one month ago. Do you really think anything's going to happen to him in Boreadon?"

Mal sighed and pulled out her phone, punching in a number before holding it up to her ear.

"Yellow?"

"Emir? It's me Mal. Listen, I need a favor—big sibling to big sibling."

"Shoot Mal. What is it?"

Mal sighed. "My brother just came in from the Isle and is now probably wandering the halls, looking for the library. If you see him—?"

"Mal?"

"Yes?"

"Does your brother have dark blue hair and a fondness for talking about Cerberuses?"

Mal sighed in relief. "You found him?"

"Well more like he found us," Emir chuckled. "He's been chatting Akiho's ear off for about five minutes before you called. You want me to send him your way or actually direct him to the library?"

"Where are you?" Mal asked. "I can—"

"Mal. Can I give you some advice, big sibling to big sibling? You're gonna have to cut the training wheels at some point."

"…Emir. Do you remember a certain pink loving, formerly betrothed to Ben Princess who likes to roam around the school?"

"Good point. So, your dorm or library?"

"I'm with Jay right now in his dorm—"

"Akiho will have him there in five minutes. Mainly because I don't think I could separate him from Akiho before your brother told him everything about Cerberuses."

Mal chuckled. "Thanks Emir."

"Any time, Mal. Any time."

Shaking her head, Mal hung up her phone and pocketed it before turning back to look at her friends.

"Emir's on it?" Jay asked.

"Yep," Mal nodded. "Akiho'll be bringing Hadie by any minute now, and knowing more about Cerberi than he ever wanted to know."

"Though if Hadie lets Akiho get a word in, your brother will know more than he ever wanted to know about reindeer," Jay pointed out.

"This is true," Mal chuckled as she plopped on Jay's bed.

"You know I just thought of something," Jay said.

"We've left Gil and Carlos to their own devices?"

"We've left Gil and Carlos to their own devices."

Uma shook her head. "That's it, I'm never leaving you two alone for more than a day again."

"Agreed," Harry nodded. "Who are Emir and Akiho? Why does this Akiho bloke so know much about reindeer? And when did you two learn to read each other's minds?"

Mal chuckled. "Emir and Akiho are Ben's best friends, I told you about them during our illicit trip to the Isle before Ben's coronation. Akiho is the heir to the Arendelle kingdom, hence the reindeer obsession. Emir is the second prince of Agrabah and Jay's size surprisingly so, Harry, if you see anything with a magic lamp on it, that's where it came from."

"As for the mind reading, well, we've known each other since ages five and six respectively," Jay chuckled. "After all, Mal can literally read Uma's mind yet you don't see me making comments on it."

"Oh yeah that reminds me," Uma said, putting her hands on her hips. "What's the deal with the mind link being muted?"

"Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me, Mali! It's been muted for about three weeks now and I know it's not on my end because I'm still getting your dad's rants about how Pain and Panic messed up this morning."

Mal shrugged. "Uma, you know I still don't know how it works. I probably muted it on accident."

"Uh huh. So unmute it."

Before Mal could respond, an interruption by the name of Hadie and Akiho appeared in the doorway.

"One Godling," Akiho said. "Also, he knows more about Cerberi than Ben knows about dragons. Just one friend who knows things about non mythological creatures would be nice."

"Akiho, you know about spirits and rock trolls," Jay chuckled.

"Those are not mythological creatures now, are they Jay?" Akiho asked, rolling his eyes.

Mal shook her head. "Akiho, meet Harry and Uma. Harry, Uma, this insane boy is Akiho. One of Ben's two best friends, and the former keeper of Ben's eating schedule."

"Former?"

"Mal now holds that title," Akiho said with a small smile. "Took it right from my hands too."

Mal rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you Auradonians are too timid sometimes. Just march up to his office and drag Ben to dinner. Not that hard."

"Yeah well speaking of dinner, it's in fifteen minutes," Akiho said. "I was going to grab Carlos if you wanted to go as a group?"

"Oh Carlos should be meeting Gil if he got out of practice at the same time as you guys," Mal grinned. "Let me go with you—Hadie, stay."

"Woof," Hadie shook his head.

"Good boy," Mal told him, ruffling his hair. "I'll be right back guys."

Mal quickly made her way to Carlos and Gil's room, only to see the blond boy lying on his bed and no sign of the black and white haired VK.

"Hey Gil," Mal smiled. "You settling in okay?"

"Oh yeah," Gil nodded. "Though I think there's something wrong with the mattresses here Mal. They don't have springs sticking up out of them."

"Why would we have—?"

"Gil, meet Akiho. Akiho, meet Gil LeGume," Mal said quickly. Hey, destroying an Auradon kid's bright and shiny world view was not on her to-do list today.

"Nice to meet you," Akiho said with a chuckle.

"Same," Gil said with a grin.

Before anyone could say anything else, Carlos walked in. Well, maybe walked was the wrong word. Stormed was probably more appropriate, with Dude trotting after him dutifully.

"Mal, I'm going to kill Jay! I don't care that he's freakishly tall and could probably crush me like a bug, he shouldn't expect me to just clean up the amphitheater just because I was the last one to practice! He was the one who made me late anyway! Do you know how slovenly the R.O.A.R team is?!"

Mal chuckled. "I don't but did you even notice Akiho's here?"

"Hey Akiho," Carlos nodded. "Look, I'm sorry but all I want to do is lie in my bed…which is now occupied by Gil. Mal?"

"Yes Carlos?"

"Why is Gil in my bed?"

"Because Gil's your roommate."

"…that doesn't answer the question as to why he's in my bed."

Gil chuckled. "Sorry Carlos. I didn't realize this one was yours," he said as he got up.

"No worries," Carlos said and went to hug Gil before he stopped. "Oh, sorry. I'm still sweaty and stuff from practice."

Gil shook his head before pulling Carlos into a hug. "You really think I care about that buddy?"

"No I guess you wouldn't," Carlos chuckled. "Now…let me go! I still need to breathe Gil!"

"Oh, whoops," Gil said sheepishly before letting Carlos go.

"It's okay," Carlos grinned. "I'm heading down to dinner, you guys coming?"

"We just need to get Jay, Harry, Hadie and Uma," Mal told him.

Carlos frowned. "Are we not getting Evie?"

"Evie's…Evie's going to be having dinner off campus," Mal said and leaned over to Carlos. "We got Daniel back," she whispered and Carlos' eyes widened slightly before nodding.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Akiho asked. "Let's go before Emir and Ben drag us to the cafeteria!"

Mal couldn't help but chuckle as the four of them made their way first to Jay's room and then to the cafeteria.

Evie held her breath as her heels clacked along the tile flooring of the hospital. The welcome clerk hadn't been the most welcoming upon seeing Evie but she had softened a little when she heard who Evie was looking for.

She knew it would be selfish to expect a warm greeting after everything that happened at Ben's coronation but…it would be nice if there was some sign that the kingdom was getting over it at least. However it seemed that only Mal, Jay and Carlos along with some of Ben's friends and Ben of course truly didn't care.

Though, that'll change now that Uma's here, Evie thought with a small sigh. She and Mal were inseparable back on the Isle. Guess I should start preparing for smoke bomb attacks every morning and sword fights every night. At least Estelle'll put up with me. I wonder where Mal got him though—she didn't attend my sixth birthday party after all and that's where all the guests got their pets as part of their nasty bags.

Evie shook her head. Thinking about that was dangerous—after all, Mal's lack of invite was what drove Maleficent to capture Evie's dad in the first place, making the Evil Queen and therefore Evie fall in line.

"Excuse me?" Evie said softly as she approached the doctor standing in front of her father's room.

"Ah, can I help you miss?"

Evie wasn't going to lie, the warm smile coming from the doctor was a welcomed treat. It felt genuine, rather than forced as most of the smiles directed toward her had been. Even the limo driver had felt forced; like he was only being nice to her because he'd been ordered to by King Ben rather than out of any decency he felt.

As well, the smile seemed to take away from the intimidating factor the doctor had, being a relatively tall man and dressed in boots that Mal would be extremely interested in if she had an interest in fashion. He certainly didn't look like the other doctors, scurrying around in their monochromatic outfits.

"Yes, I was wondering if I could go in?" Evie asked, pointing to her father's room. She could see him from the window but going in would mean the world. It would be a confirmation that this wasn't a dream, that Ben and Mal had managed to bring him back to her after all these years.

"Oh I'm sorry miss, but only family's allowed in right now."

Evie bit her lip. "But…I'm his daughter," she said softly, her hopes crashing down that she'd be able to actually talk to her father after years of wondering if he was dead or alive. Despite the fact that hope was deadly on the Isle, Evie had always held a sliver of it for her father. Even as her own mother seemed to give up on the idea of ever seeing him again.

The doctor apparently had heard her as he looked at the papers in his hands and then looked back at Evie, obviously taken aback.

"I'm so sorry miss, King Ben had contacted us and let us know you'd be stopping by," the doctor said. "I"m Dr. Sweet, if you have any questions about your father's condition, please feel free to reach out."

"No apology needed doctor," Evie said, even if she couldn't help but think that they were extremely trusting over here in Auradon. To just go off her claim of being his daughter…then again, if Ben had called ahead and told them she was coming, there would be no reason to doubt Ben. "I'm sure you were just following protocol. But just to clarify, I can go in?"

Dr. Sweet nodded and held the door open for her. Evie gave the doctor a small smile before rushing to her father's bedside. To Evie's surprise, her dad wasn't moving—the only sign that he was alive was the beeping coming from the machines he seemed to be attached to as his chest slowly rose up and down.

His brown hair seemed to make him look even paler as he laid against the stark white hospital sheets. His body seemed gaunt, any muscle definition he'd gained from years of working as a stable hand before going to the Isle had vanished.

While her father had died before her mother became Snow White's step mother, he had still been brought back when all the villains were. Evie had never understood why they had brought back her father…could it have been a plea from Snow, to grant her step mother a mercy that hadn't been bestowed to her?

To Evie, it almost seemed crueler. There was no guarantee Daniel would have gone to the Isle willingly after all, and her mother would have been devastated if that'd been the case. However, according to her mother at least, her father had followed her to the Isle. It was the one place where they could be together and have the future they had dreamed of. In a sick twist of fate, the hellhole of the Isle had become their happily ever after…until Maleficent managed to ruin it.

Could…could Maleficent have put him under a sleeping curse before she went to Auradon to crash Ben's coronation? Evie thought as she sat by her father's bedside, brushing a strand of his dark brown hair out of his eyes. After all, it is what's she's known for.

"Hi daddy. It's me, Evie," Evie said softly, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. She froze though when nothing changed and he still laid there motionless, the only sign of life continued to be the slight rise and fall of his chest along with the beeping of the machines he was attached to. Had…had the years apart made it so he no longer loved her?

"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he waking from the sleeping curse?" Evie asked the doctor, hating the uncertainty in her voice that she was sure was audible to the doctor.

"He's not under a sleeping curse," Dr. Sweet said gently. "Evie, we put him into a medical coma as to allow his body time to heal. He'll wake up when we want him to, and when it's safe for us to do so."

Evie nodded, hoping her crushing disappointment wasn't evident was on her face. It made sense in a way, after eight years in Maleficent's clutches, there was no way her father wouldn't have some medical issues to address. Between the lack of edible food on the Isle and Maleficent's penchant for cruelty, the fact that her father had come back to her alive at all was enough to be grateful for.

"Can I get you anything?" Dr. Sweet asked as he seemed to check one of the machines and jotting something down on the clipboard in his hands.

"I'm fine, but thank you," Evie said softly.

Dr. Sweet gave her an understanding smile. "I'll give you some privacy. Please be sure to reach out if you have any questions."

Evie nodded and sat down next to her father's side. She had no idea how she would ever repay Ben or Mal for this. Especially Mal. After what Evie pulled at the coronation, Mal would have been well within her power to hate her…or even just hand her over to Maleficent when the evil Fae had appeared.

But instead Mal had defended her, had practically shoved her into Lady Persephone's arms as she battled Maleficent. And then, not only had Mal brought her along to Ben's party, but the Godling had brought her into her gang. For the first time, Evie could relax in her own room without feeling like she was going to be set on fire.

It was just a shame now that the feeling of safety would go away…the last thing Evie would want would be for Mal to go against her cousin. Especially for her.

Little did she know exactly what was happening over at Auradon Prep at that moment.

"Honestly Mal, you really think rooming with Blueberry is a good idea?" Uma asked as they prepared to make their way to the cafeteria.

"I wouldn't have told Ben it was fine if I wasn't okay with it Uma," Mal said, rolling her eyes before pausing for a second. "Carlos, Jay, Akiho, hold up a minute."

"What's up Mal?" Jay asked as the aforementioned guys seemed to freeze as they walked out the door.

"I figured you guys wouldn't want to go down all sweaty and smelly," Mal chuckled. "Two seconds, I can fix that."

"Ooh, magic?" Akiho asked, his eyes gleaming.

"Of course!"

Harry chuckled. "Didn't take you for the prissy type Mali. You used to spend three hours sparring with Uma and then head down to your dad's restaurant."

"Yeah there's a difference there," Mal said. "We didn't have to contend with Sleeping Brat complaining all day when we went to my dad's restaurant, Harry."

"You know, I was thinking, what if we just combined our nicknames for her?" Akiho said with a grin. "Sleeping Banshee has a nice ring to it."

"That it does," Mal chuckled. "Now hush. I need to concentrate here."

She sighed and then cracked her knuckles before pointing her finger at the three boys. "Beware, forswear, make the stench disappear!"

As Mal finished waving her finger, the three boys found that they were no longer smelly and disgusting from practice but rather that they were relatively clean.

"Note to self, remember that one," Mal muttered as she smirked, pretending to blow smoke from her finger. "Now come on, let's go!"

Everyone chuckled as they made their way to the cafeteria. Uma had to admit, she hadn't expected everyone to be so welcoming. Sure the Akiho bloke seemed to welcome them no problem but Mal had said that he was one of Ben's best friends.

Considering how warm Ben had to been to her and Harry upon meeting them, Uma figured any friend of Benny's would act the same. Hell, Ben was warm to Gil and everyone knew how Gaston had been to Queen Belle. Uma knew you'd have to be a saint to at least not be wary toward the son of the man who threatened to imprison your grandfather in a mental asylum if your mother didn't marry him.

But Ben had simply given Gil a kind smile and answered all his questions. Well all the questions he managed to get out until Harry glared him into silence.

Honestly, it was probably the best move anyone could have done, making sure Harry and Gil were not roommates. Otherwise they'd probably be sending Gil back to the Isle in a box for Gaston to bury while Harry was tried for murder.

"Hey Mal!"

"Hey Rowyn," Mal called back, pulling Uma back to the present, as they passed by a group of girls, a short haired brunette being the one to call to Mal. "You guys heading to dinner?"

"Just about," Rowyn nodded. "I just have to make sure my art project's locked up and then we'll be down there."

Mal nodded. "Well you'd better hurry, I think it's steak night."

"Oh Gods, thanks for letting me know!" Rowyn exclaimed and sprinted to the art classroom. Mal chuckled and shook her head.

"Steak night?" Uma asked slowly. "And who was that?"

"Oh, it's the main choice for dinner tonight," Mal said. "It's Jay's favorite, the carnivore. That girl was Rowyn Fitzherbert, one of Rapunzel's daughters."

"Don't act like you don't like gnawing on a nice juicy rib eye just like Raps Jr, Mali," Jay called out and Mal rolled her eyes.

"Meanwhile I prefer the pasta," Carlos chimed in. "Oh Gil, they usually have a lot of egg dishes for breakfast."

"But Mal just said that it was a steak night," Hadie said, tilting his head in confusion. "How can you have pasta if they're offering steak? I mean sure, places like Ursula's Chip Shoppe and dad's restaurant had options but that's a restaurant. After all, Dragon Hall didn't even provide lunch according to Mal."

Before any of the older kids could answer him, they reached the cafeteria and the new VKs stared in shock at all the different options. Mal, Jay and Carlos couldn't help but give a small, sad smile; remembering when they had been in that same spot just a month ago.

"And…we can just pick whatever we want?" Hadie asked, his small voice breaking Akiho's heart. Emir had mentioned something about how Mal and the others had been shocked by the options but Akiho hadn't thought it'd been like this.

"Something doesn't sit right dude," Emir said as they chilled in their dorm after dinner the first day the original group of VKs had arrived.

"What do you mean?"

"The way the new kids were in the cafeteria today," Emir elaborated. "It was almost like they didn't know what to do to get the food."

Akiho shrugged as he sat up in his bed. "Maybe they didn't. Different schools have different ways of doing things after all."

"I know. It's just…Mal said they weren't used to all the options," Emir said softly. "You don't think they…"

"Hey, we've been running food drives for the Isle since we were thirteen," Akiho said gently. He knew how seriously Emir took issues like food poverty. Despite being a prince, he never forgot how his father lived before taking the throne. It was actually hard to decide who had been in charge of the food drives between Ben and Emir. "I'm sure they've got plenty of food."

Emir gave him a small smile. "Yeah…I'm probably just overthinking it. Those four probably just had new student jitters or something."

"If they had to deal with Audrey right off the bat, more than definitely," Akiho chuckled. "Gods, it'll be interesting to see Mal interact with the Banshee."

"Five bucks says Audrey gets cursed within a week."

"I'll take that bet."

"Yeah Hadie, you just go up and take what you want," Mal said, pulling Akiho out of his thoughts.

"What are you in the mood for?" Akiho asked, Jay and Carlos having already scooped Harry and Gil from the group. "We've got pasta, steak, and it looks like we've got some fish—"

"Fish?" Hadie asked, perking up.

Mal chuckled. "Yep stormcloud, they've got fish here. Between you and me, it's even better than dad's."

"No way!"

"Try it then if you don't believe me!"

Hadie nodded and went over to the fish station. Akiho shook his head as Mal smirked in amusement.

"Works every time," she said, chuckling slightly.

"Well then madam carnivore, shall we go get our steak and meet back up with the group?" Akiho asked.

"We shall," Mal nodded and they quickly joined up with Jay and Emir, along with Harry and Uma and surprisingly Gil.

"The pasta looked good but dad would be disappointed if I didn't go for the steak," Gil said.

Mal rolled her eyes. "Gaston's not here Gil. He can't influence your decisions anymore."

"And that's a terrifying thought," Harry muttered. "Gaston influencing anything."

"Be nice Harry," Uma warned.

"I'm always nice cap'n."

Mal chuckled as she scanned the crowd for any sight of Ben's light brown hair. He had said that he'd be there but there were still days where Mal had to drag him down to dinner.

"You looking for someone?"

"How'd you sneak past your shadows?" Mal teased, turning around to see Ben standing behind her.

"Well it's quite easy when they're entranced with their food," Ben teased back. "Steak night?"

"You can clearly see steak right in front of you Benny," Mal chuckled as she grabbed her plate.

Ben chuckled and grabbed his own plate before the group went and sat down, Carlos and Hadie quickly joining them.

"You get enough?" Mal asked Hadie.

"Uh huh," Hadie nodded. "Gods, I can't believe they've got all this food. The delivery barge must have been a good haul this month."

Akiho, Ben and Emir froze while Mal gave her brother a small smile. "Hadie, they don't get delivery barges here."

"They don't?"

"Nope. This is all food from Auradon," Mal said gently.

Hadie bit his lip and tilted his head. "But…none of the food is rotten or moldy like the delivery barges we get from Auradon. I've heard the crew talk about the barges after all Mali."

"I know, Hadie," Mal nodded and sighed softly.

"Rotten?" Emir mouthed to Akiho and Ben, the latter seemingly coming to a realization.

"So…they eat like this every day?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

"Pretty much," Jay nodded, digging into his steak.

"Sometimes the food differs but the quality's the same," Carlos added, quickly digging into his own food.

"…do they hate us that much? They've got food like this while the food on the barges is like night and day," Hadie asked Mal, his voice once again breaking the hearts of the three Auradon kids.

An eleven year old kid shouldn't be asking if people hate him just because of where he lives, Ben thought. I need to get started looking into the Isle's food deliveries. I meant to do that after Mal told me most of the food there was rotten the day she snuck me onto the Isle but after the…events of my coronation, it slipped my mind.

"Hey Mal!" Lonnie said as she joined the table with Jane, Jordan and Ally, unknowingly breaking the somber mood.

"Hey Lonnie," Mal nodded, giving the other girl a smile. "Decided to join us?"

"Well it looked like this was where all the cool kids were sitting. Well, and Akiho and Emir."

"Oh you wound me!" Emir exclaimed, holding a hand over his heart.

"No, but I'll tell you who will wound you soon. Your girlfriend," Lonnie teased. "You've been dating her how long and you're still shadowing Ben?"

"Emma knows that Ben's going to be part and parcel," Emir shrugged.

"Yeah, same with Elle," Akiho grinned.

Mal shook her head. "We've formed a club. The 'inadvertently gained three boyfriends' club," she explained to Lonnie.

"Well considering Elle's your cousin too, at least you've got a friendly face in that club," Ally pointed out.

"Wait, what?" Uma asked.

"Elle, daughter of Ariel," Ally explained. "Oh right, she'd be your cousin as well!"

Uma pursed her lips, not exactly thrilled at the thought of interacting with her cousin so soon after leaving the Isle. That being said…at least she wouldn't be as bad as Blueberry.

"You'll meet her soon," Mal said. "She's nice, or at least has a brain in her head. She mainly hangs around Melody…which I just realized I should probably introduce to Hadie."

"Doing some matchmaking Mali?" Harry teased.

"Gods no Harry! But Melody's twelve so she'd be around the same year as Hadie. Same classes and the like," Mal explained. "I can't be everywhere."

Hadie rolled his eyes. "I'm a god Mali. I do have magic you know."

"Yeah, magic you barely know how to use," Mal said, shaking her head.

"I can work with Fairy Godmother, set up some time for both of you to practice your magic," Ben said. While magic had been retired, Ben knew that it was dangerous to have two offsprings of the Gods with unstable powers. If either Mal or Hadie had their magic flare up after being trapped under the magical barrier…it might end up injuring someone or worse, injuring them.

"Sounds good Ben," Mal nodded.

"Oh so Mal's the only one who gets to practice her magic?" Uma asked, teasing her cousin.

Ben's eyes widened but before he could say anything, Mal rolled her eyes.

"She's teasing, Ben. Don't worry, you'll learn to speak 'Uma' sooner or later," the purple haired Godling said with a small chuckle.

"You're acting like I speak another language Mali," Uma said, shaking her head.

"You do."

Harry snorted as he ate his steak, the four new VKs eating ravenously the same way the original group had eaten when they first arrived. As if they were worried the food might get taken from them.

"Gods, they should at least act reasonably and not draw attention to themselves," Audrey's voice carried from her table.

"And you should mind your own business, if we're offering unwanted advice," Mal shot back, giving the princess a fake smile that fooled no one.

"I take it that's Sleeping Brat?" Uma asked, bringing Mal's attention back to her table.

"Yep, that's the Banshee."

Ben sighed and looked over at Emir and Akiho, figuring that was where Mal got the nickname for Audrey. "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not."

"You should know that the only one who didn't use that nickname though was Chad."

"Has anyone heard from Charming by the way?" Jay asked. "I saw him at practice of course but he didn't seem his usual pretentious self."

"Rumor is he and Audrey broke up," Emir said with a small sigh. "I will give her credit, at least Audrey didn't cheat on Chad."

"And from what Kitty told me, Chad was legitimately trying when it came to Audrey," Akiho shrugged. "We're teenagers though. His mom was nineteen and his dad was twenty one when they met. If he and Audrey were meant to be, they'll find a way to wind up together."

"I knew you inherited some of your dad's common sense," Ben said with a small snort.

"Yeah well at least I can say one of my parents had common sense," Akiho shot back, gently teasing his friend.

"My mom had common sense!"

"Your mom volunteered to be your dad's prisoner when she was seventeen!"

"And your mom was ready to marry a guy she'd just met!"

Emir snorted in amusement. "Gods, I love the 'my parent has more common sense than your parent' debates."

"None of your parents had common sense," Mal said teasingly before pointing to each boy. "Emir, your dad had a genie but didn't think to wish that the law preventing him from marrying your mother was changed instead of going through that whole charade. Akiho, as mentioned your mom was prepared to marry a guy she just met while your dad seemed content to be kidnapped by trolls, and Ben…"

"I know," Ben sighed. Everyone knew what argument Mal was going to make for his parents' lack of common sense—the Isle.

At least I can do something now to fix it, Ben thought with an inward nod. Starting with figuring out what's going on with the food.

"So Mal, what's this Basic Chivalry class?" Harry asked. "Ben mentioned it and this Doug bloke brought it up when he brought our schedules around."

"It's an elective class," Mal said. "Though it's only offered to the guys since Jay and Carlos have it."

"Wait, does that mean—?"

"No Harry, whatever you're dreading will not come to pass," Mal said. It took some major rearranging but it worked. I'm not looking to have Gil get murdered and according to Jay, they give the students knives in that class!

"Kinda dumb that they only give the class to guys," Uma muttered.

"Hey think of it this way. We don't have a class to make us all prissy," Mal pointed out and Uma chuckled.

"Speaking of classes, Mal, did you finish your Grammar homework?" Jordan asked. "And if you did, can I—?"

"For my own sanity, I'm going to go grab some dessert before I hear any more of this conversation," Ben said. "If you'll excuse me Jay…err, Jordan."

"I know it's confusing Ben but the better looking one is named Jay," Jay teased.

Jordan rolled her eyes. "Honestly. How many girls do you know that are named Jordan?"

"The same number as the number of guys I know named 'Jay'."

"…touche."

Mal chuckled. "Well thank you for that reminder Jordan. I have to admit, and now that Ben's left the table I can do that safely, but I've not even started on my Grammar homework."

"Well go and get cracking," Lonnie teased and Mal shook her head.

"And we really have to go to Remedial Goodness Class?" Uma asked.

"There's a two hour lecture about smiling," Mal told her.

"…kill me now."

"Murder's frowned upon here in Auradon. Plus you're the granddaughter of a God."

"Damn."

Mal chuckled. "Yeah well there's no escaping it. On that note, I really should go and do my Grammar homework. Catch you guys later."

Mal got up and walked off, not noticing her cousin staring at her retreating form.

That was weird right? Uma thought. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. After all, it's not like Mali could change much in just a month.

Mal quickly made her way down the hall to her meeting with Natalie. She wasn't exactly looking forward to it but she had been the one to cut their meeting short the other day. It was only fair that she rescheduled.

Gods, it was hard to believe that it'd only been a few days since Uma, Hadie, Harry and Gil arrived in Auradon. It was honestly like a dream.

Okay so maybe Uma needed to lay off Evie a bit especially since Daniel was still in the medical coma…and Harry seemed a bit too determined to get Jay to skip R.O.A.R practice to spar with him….and honestly Gil seemed more clingy than Carlos had been when they'd first arrived in Auradon. The only one who seemed to be adjusting without issue had, surprisingly, been Hadie.

He'd been fine adjusting to classes and had already made friends with Melody and Alexandria Charming, Chad Charming's youngest sister. It wasn't that odd though, back on the Isle his best friends were Dizzy Tremaine and Celia Facilier. Her baby brother was certainly popular with the ladies…and she and Uma had whacked Harry over the head when he had pointed that out.

Maybe it's the fact that he's half Auradon, Mal thought as she made her way to the room she was going to meet Natalie in. After all, mom told him stories about Auradon since the day he was born. Plus, with how Uma and I worked to keep his innocence intact, he's more Auradon than Isle. But he's no prissy prince.

"Hello Mal," Natalie said and Mal blinked, having not realized that the blonde was in the room already. The other woman was thin, and wore a muted pink sundress that seemed to almost blend into the walls. Mal felt Natalie's eyes go up and down her body, as if taking stock in her outfit.

"Hey Natalie," Mal nodded, feeling no shame in what she was wearing. It was her usual outfit of leather pants, purple boots and a purple shirt under her leather jacket. "I'm sorry for being late, there was a bit of an issue with my bathroom door."

"Clearly," Natalie said and Mal could feel her eyes on the one blue smudge she couldn't remove, that normally would have been hidden by her hair since it was right by her ear but of course was on full display. Of course the day she woke up late and had a meeting would have been the day Uma decided to rig a smoke bomb to launch the moment Evie went into the bathroom.

"…I'm going to kill you."

"Oh come on Mali, don't be like that," Uma said as Mal glared at Uma, her face covered in teal smoke as she stood in the open doorway to the shared bathroom.

"You've been here three days! How in dad's name have you been able to make a smoke bomb in that short amount of time?"

Uma shrugged. "Harry and I were bored, and then those Emir and Akiho blokes showed us around some more. So in exchange we taught them how to make smoke bombs."

Mal froze. "You. Did. What?!"

"Taught Emir and Akiho how to make smoke bombs."

"Oh Gods," Mal sighed and rolled her eyes. "I told you back when I brought Ben to the Isle before his coronation that Emir and Akiho were like Harry and Jay. Why in the world would you give them another way to be like them?"

"Because they asked," Uma shrugged again and Mal sighed.

"You'd better be thankful I'm on my way to a meeting otherwise I'd be wiping the floor with you in sparring Uma!"

"Is that anyway to speak to your captain?"

"When I'm co-captain? Yes. Yes it is! Now I just need to pray that this stuff'll come off with just water!"

Mal gave a small laugh to try to cut the tension in the room. "I'm sorry, by the way, for cutting our meeting short the other day. I had family coming in that I hadn't seen in a while."

"Oh yes, King Ben did state that you'd have relatives coming in from the Isle," Natalie nodded. "I take it one of those relatives is responsible for that smudge?"

"Yeah," Mal nodded.

Natalie shook her head. "I know we've only just met but I would advise you spend more time with your family not from the Isle. After all, as a daughter of Hades, you have family all over Auradon. Why not the daughter of Hercules? You two should be around the same age."

Mal rolled her eyes. "I do spend time with my cousins on the Auradon side of things, but I spent my whole life around Uma."

"I know, I know," Natalie said in a strange tone of voice that Mal honestly couldn't put her finger on but it rubbed her the wrong way. "But you wouldn't want something to happen that might embarrass anyone would you?"

Mal tilted her head. "What do you—?"

"Now, as your handler, I'll be in charge of making sure you have the skills to make it in the royal court," Natalie said, cutting Mal off before she could finish her question. "That'll mean meetings, lessons, and of course you'll be arranging a tour of the kingdom and be responsible for planning cotillion."

"Isn't there a committee—?"

"Yes of course but you would be the head of that committee and making the final decisions on things like, lighting, decorations, party favors, etc. Princess Audrey had the spot previously but as she is no longer dating King Ben…"

Oh Gods, I've got a Sleeping Banshee fangirl as my handler, Mal thought and then inwardly shook her head. Okay you don't know that. After all, she's only mentioned Audrey once and really, did she say anything that wasn't true? Audrey's no longer dating Ben.

Natalie turned around and picked a book up off the desk behind her before turning back to Mal. "This will be the most important thing you'll ever use," she said. "King Ben's council has everything in place for your schedule."

"Okay…but what about classes?" Mal asked.

"That's factored in."

"Ben said he'd block out time for me to practice my magic," Mal said and unless she was mistaken, Natalie seemed to roll her eyes.

"Yes, yes. King Ben did reach out and we've blocked out three hours a week for you to practice your magic."

Mal smiled as she saw that those hours were in fact blocked out, highlighted in purple. If Ben knows about this planner, I've no doubt he's the one who blocked these hours out, she thought. All in all it wasn't as bad as she had thought. A few more lessons than normal, and she wasn't looking forward to the meetings about cotillion but all in all, getting used to the royal court wasn't as bad as she'd been imagining.

"Now these meetings are subject to change," Natalie told her as Mal thumbed through the planner. "I would suggest you read up on the royal court and the proper way to act."

"Oh, my mother's already done—"

"While I'm sure Maleficent has taught you many things, Mal, Auradon is different than the Isle," Natalie said as she plopped a stack of books onto one of the desks that was in the room.

"Lady Persephone's my mother," Mal stated, noting that it was probably one of the few times Natalie hadn't cut her off in the conversation.

"Of course, of course," Natalie nodded, as if she was humoring Mal. "But you did say that you lived with Maleficent for six years. That's what I understood from your speech at the coronation."

"Well yes but—"

"So like I said, I'm sure Maleficent taught you many things but Auradon differs wildly from the Isle," Natalie stated. "It'll benefit you to spend time with people who seem to have already grasped that concept."

Mal sighed. "Thank you for your suggestion Natalie but I'm not going to just kick my friends to the side just because they've made a bad impression on you. Ben likes them and so do the friends I've made here in Auradon."

Opening up her planner, Mal pretended to notice a meeting. "If you'll excuse me, it looks as though I've got a meeting scheduled with Ben."

"Very well," Natalie sighed. "I'll see you in your Charms class."

Charms? Am I actually going to learn magic? Mal thought as she gathered up the twenty some books Natalie had given her plus her new planner. Wait, no. Knowing Auradon, it's probably something like how to be a prissy princess. You know, how does Lonnie deal with these people who insist women can only be one way?

That being said…something about how Natalie hadn't believed Mal when Mal had said Persephone was her mother had irked the Godling. It wasn't the first time she hadn't been believed and likely it wouldn't be the last.

She had publicly announced that Maleficent wasn't her mother, what more did these people want?! Besides, hadn't Hercules proven that blood didn't make a family? Despite their biological tie to Zeus, Hercules' kids also considered their father's adoptive parents to be their grandparents.

"Gods, I need to talk to Ben," she muttered to herself, marching toward Ben's office. Out of the corner of her eye, Mal noticed how people seemed to almost dive out of her way; as if afraid of her.

Turning into a dragon at Ben's coronation probably didn't help matters, she thought with an inward sigh. It's only been a month though, they'll get over it.

Before she reached Ben's office, however, Mal was pulled into a nearby alcove.

"What the hell?!"

"Sorry," Rowyn said, biting her lip. "But we wanted to get your attention."

"Well you got it," Mal muttered and then paused. "What do you mean 'we'?"

"Me, Kitty, Jane, Lonnie, Jordan and Ally."

"And why did you wanting my attention constitute pulling me into an alcove?"

"So we weren't overheard."

"I really don't like the sound of that."

Kitty chuckled dryly. "How familiar are you with the tabloid The Gazelle?"

"Oh you mean the rag that Ben was so worried about, he told me about a fight he had with Audrey in case they wrote an article about me because Audrey mentioned my name?" Mal scoffed. "I'm familiar. Especially since they seem particularly preoccupied with Evie."

"Well…they seem to have changed focus," Ally said gently, pulling out a copy of that week's edition.

"It's not Ben is it?" Mal said instantly.

"No, no," Lonnie shook her head. "Ben's got PR people out the wazoo to prevent any reports from slipping out to The Gazelle."

"Jay? Carlos?"

"Not really the typical subject of The Gazelle," Jordan rolled her eyes. "Since they're not royalty."

Mal tilted her head. "Well then I'm lost. Uma's the only 'royal' they'd report on since her mom's Triton's sister so she'd be an Atlantican princess along with being the granddaughter of a God. But she's too new in Auradon."

"You're on the right track Mal," Lonnie said. "It's you."

"Me?" Mal scoffed. "A bit behind the times aren't they? I'm not exactly news."

"This…this isn't the first time they've reported on you," Rowyn said softly. "It's just the first time they made it front page above the fold."

"Oh," Mal said and then shook her head. "Let me guess, how dare the king date a VK, does Mal have no shame, poor Princess Audrey….that sort of thing?"

"While that is the usual tripe The Gazelle produces, it's not what they wrote this time," Ally sighed and then handed Mal the copy of the trash rag. Mal raised an eyebrow and then paused upon seeing the headline.

Godling or Hatchling: Can One Claim Mal Isn't Maleficent's Daughter?

"Well…they're stretching," Mal scoffed, conjuring up a fireball and not even giving the rag a second glance as she brought it to ash. "Honestly, if that's the best they can do, it must have been an off day for them."

"We thought that wouldn't phase you," Kitty grinned. "But we wanted to let you know so you weren't caught unawares. That's happened to us…well not Ally or Jordan or Lonnie."

"Perks of not being a royal I guess," Ally shrugged.

"Are you going to be okay, Mal?" Rowyn asked.

Mal chuckled. "It'll take more than some gossip rag to knock me down," she said. "I know who's daughter I am and it's not the Dragon's. No one else's opinion matters to me."

"Good on you," Lonnie said. "When Audrey got her first article written about her, she didn't stop ranting for a week."

"Oh yeah, isn't that when you stopped being friends with her?" Kitty asked and Lonnie shrugged.

"Wait, you were friends with Sleeping Brat?" Mal asked Lonnie in shock.

"Jane and I both were," Lonnie said. "She gave us an ultimatum when she and Ben officially started dating when we were fifteen. The only way we could stay friends with Ben was to become friends with her."

"And by friends, I'm sure she meant lackey," Kitty said, rolling her eyes. "Gods, what my brother saw in her I'll never know."

"Still bitter about the kitty litter in your locker?" Rowyn asked.

"Of course! All because my name is 'Kitty'! If Audrey actually had a brain, she'd know that it's just a nickname! My full name is Katherine just like my father's full name is Christopher Rupert Vwindemer Vlandamier Carl Alexander Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman Gregory James Charming but everyone just calls him Kit!"

"…and I thought my middle name was bad. Herman?" Mal muttered to herself after taking a minute to process the full name of Prince Charming. Well…King Charming technically since the Charmings ruled Charmington.

"And suddenly your brother's 'C' name makes so much more sense," Jordan told Kitty. "Considering your mom's true name is Ella and all."

"Yet your sisters' 'L' and 'A' names make no sense," Rowyn shook her head.

"Alex is named after Nana," Kitty stated and then noticed Mal's confused look. "My dad's mom. Lucy, on the other hand, was just because it means 'light' in French and the sun began to rise when she was born."

"And you?" Mal asked.

"I'm a twofer," Kitty grinned. "Katherine was my mom's mother's name but my nickname comes from my dad's nickname."

Mal smiled softly. Must be nice, to be named after a parent and not feel ashamed about it…

"So…if your dad's got a mouthful of a name, I guess you do too?"

"No," Kitty chuckled. "Mom prevented it with Chad's birth since she wanted to be the one to raise us and not an army of nursemaids and governesses."

"…how did Chad turn out to be like himself then?"

"A lifetime of being around Audrey," Kitty said with a shrug. "But we clearly interrupted something since you seemed to be in a hurry."

"Oh it was nothing. I was just going to see Ben—"

"Oooh!" Lonnie, Jane and Ally squealed. Kitty, Rowyn and Jordan winced and rubbed their ears.

"Yeah, you? You don't do that. Ever again," Rowyn told the three girls.

"At least give us some warning," Kitty added. "I swear my sisters have less ear piercing squeals that you three."

Lonnie rolled her eyes. "Sorry for being excited!"

"Besides Ben and Mal are so cute together," Ally stated, bouncing a little. "When they're talking to each other it's like they're in their own little wonderland!"

Mal rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. Chill out, the three of you. Nothing major was going to happen, I was just going to stop by and say 'hi'. He's in his office right now working on something."

"Mal, do you know the number of times Audrey used to stop by Ben's office just to say hi?"

"…I'm guessing, since Audrey didn't even know where his office was until he told me and the others when we arrived, that number is zero?"

"You would be correct. So, as Ben's best female friend—"

"And practically his head of security amongst the students,' Jordan smirked.

Lonnie nodded. "Yes and that. You're good for Ben, is the point I'm trying to make. You make him happy. Just know this: you hurt him, I hurt you."

"You're telling this to a girl who can turn into a dragon."

"Don't care. I've got Mushu on my side, plus my mom's lucky cricket."

Mal smirked. "Good answer Lonnie. But I'm not going to hurt Ben."

"So now that we've gotten that 'older sister' speech out of the way, should we let you continue on to Ben or….?"

"Don't trail off like that Kitty, you know how that intrigues me."

Kitty chuckled. "Lonnie told us how you were going to whip her into shape for R.O.A.R. You want to head down to the gym, show us if that's true or if you were just blowing smoke up Lonnie's ass?"

"I do believe I've begun to corrupt one Auradonian," Mal smirked.

"No," Jane shook her head. "She's always been like that."

"How—?"

"I've been friends with Chad since practically birth," Jane chuckled. "Fairy Godmother's daughter? Our stories are practically connected."

Mal rolled her eyes. "Well then thank Zeus I was born on the Isle. Otherwise I'd be connected to Sleeping Banshee."

"Akiho?" Lonnie asked.

"Who else?"

"As fascinating as this conversation is, we are burning sunlight people," Kitty said, tapping her foot. "I still have my homework to do for my Bad Fairies class."

"What do you have to do?" Jordan asked.

"A five page paper on identifying bad fairies," Kitty sighed.

Mal chuckled. "You need any help? I've got two identifiers for you: they have horns and are called Maleficent."

"Yeah I don't think that'll fly but thanks Mal," Kitty snorted in amusement. "So come on! If we go now, we can get some sword work time in before Chad and the other R.O.A.R members take over the gym."

"And then you'd have no choice but to write that paper," Jane said. "I'll come with you guys. I need to talk to the new head cheerleader."

"Why?"

"I'm thinking about joining the squad," Jane said as they made their way to the gym. "I was the mascot but it's time for me to think bout retiring that."

Mal tilted her head. "Wait? Isn't…isn't Audrey the head cheerleader?"

"Well she was," Rowyn told her. "My sister Rose is on the squad and they said that after the way she acted at the Championship Tourney game, announcing Chad as her boyfriend three minutes after Ben broke it off with her, the squad basically kicked her out."

"Whoa," Mal said softly. She hadn't really expected that. Then again, maybe it should have been a sign when the cheerleaders started dancing with the Tourney team after Audrey stormed off the field.

"Kelsey's the new head cheerleader," Jane said. "Kuzco and Malina's daughter," she added.

"You guys do know you don't need to say who everyone's related to, right?" Mal asked, rolling her eyes.

"Sometimes it's more for our benefit," Jordan said with a shrug. "Like with the kids of the seven dwarves. There's Doug sure but there's also Gordon, Bashful Jr., Sleepy Jr., Derek, Shy, Crabby, Hap, Cheerful, Snoozy, Doc II, and Gesundheit."

"What'd Gordon do to get a relatively normal name?"

"You know, I'm not sure," Jordan chuckled. "Now, let's get the sword work done before Kitty has a conniption."

Mal chuckled as she unsheathed a sword. As the sword work went underway, on the other side of the school, a different kind of work was also getting started as Ben began to start digging through the files for the food deliveries to the Isle.

I've got to look into digitizing these records, he thought with a sigh as he set a timer on his phone. He knew full well that Mal, Akiho, Lonnie or Emir would come drag him out of his office if he didn't leave to get a full night's sleep.

He also knew that, at least for Mal, he didn't want her to know. At least not right away. His girlfriend deserved answers.

And who better to get them for her than the son of the man who was the reason she was on the Isle in the first place?

Ben leaned back in his chair, staring at the pages in front of him in shock. This…this just couldn't be right.

It'd taken him three whole weeks but he had finally gotten through the records of the past twenty years. He hadn't wanted to take so long but between classes, homework, and meetings…well he did need to eat and sleep after all. There were only so many hours in the day.

He had even brought some of the records to bed with him, just to have a chance to make more progress on getting the records examined. Part of him was thankful at least that he was king…at least that way he wouldn't have to ask for permission to access the full manifests and shipping records. He could just access them, no questions asked.

Ben ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the last page in his hand. With the exception of the first six months of the Isle's creation, every month had seen a delay in the food they'd been sending to the Isle.

At first the delays had been small…almost imperceptible. They had been as small as a day or at most a week….and then four years into the Isle's creation, they seemed to pick up. The delays he meant, not the deliveries.

Gods how did Auradon not notice this? Ben thought. Dad…dad was king all that time! Did he honestly not know? But how could he not know? Wasn't he getting reports from the Isle? Weren't we sending people over there?

"Benji?"

Ben looked up to see Chip standing in the doorway of his office, holding what looked like two steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"What's that for?" Ben asked, clearing a spot on his desk for Chip to put the mugs down. "Not that I'm not appreciative for it Chip, but it's like sixty five degrees outside. Not exactly hot chocolate weather."

"Which is why it's cold chocolate," Chip chuckled, handing Ben his mug. "Just chocolate milk but with cinnamon and whipped cream. Your shadows called me, said that you were hibernating in your office again and they didn't know why. So I thought I'd stop by for a nice brotherly talk before they involved Mal."

Ben sighed and took a sip of his cold chocolate before he spoke again. Chip didn't need to know that Mal had already dragged him out of his office three times these past three weeks for lunch and dinner. "Chip, can…if I tell you something, brother to brother, do you promise not to freak out?"

"You know me Benji," Chip said. "I make no promises."

"Fair enough," Ben sighed again. "The day before Family Day…Mal took me to the Isle."

Chip paused. "I'm sorry, you must have started speaking German there for a second. I thought you just said that you'd gone to the Isle."

"I did."

"You? Son of Adam, the guy who created the Isle in the first place?"

"I believe we covered that with your first statement."

"And you didn't tell anyone?"

"I told—"

"Okay, let me rephrase. You didn't tell anyone who wasn't already going to the Isle with you?"

"…no?"

Chip sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Ben, why would you do something like that?"

"Chip, the Isle's part of Auradon too," Ben said. "How can I be king and rule all the peoples if I don't even know how about half our population lives? I mean just look at the registry—the written one, not the digital. Gods, it's amazing how out of date that one is. I'm having Carlos and Doug update it."

"Ben, baby brother, you're rambling."

"Oh sorry," Ben said. "Anyway, I needed to see the Isle. Especially since there were no reports or anything coming to me as part of my preparation to become king. Plus…it was a way to sort of see what made Mal…well Mal."

"I'd say that was corny but Lucas used to use those same lines on me when we were at Auradon Prep," Chip chuckled.

Ben smiled before he shook his head. "Gods Chip, the state of that Isle…small kids probably Alexandria's age or younger in the streets pickpocketing…I remember Jay had to swipe my wallet back about five times on our way to Lord Hades' restaurant."

"…Lord Hades has a restaurant?"

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "It was another reason why I wanted to see the Isle. Mal had described the menu options on our date and I wanted to try the food. We definitely don't have anything like it here in Auradon."

"Huh…think Lord Hades will deliver?" Chip asked. "I now really want to try his food."

"I can certainly look into seeing if that's something that could be done," Ben sighed. "But first I have to figure out why most of the food on the Isle is rotten."

Chip paused and looked at Ben, a look of unmistakable horror on his surrogate brother's face.

"…rotten?"

Ben nodded. "That's what Mal said when I tried Lord Hades' food. I had meant to ask about it but then we had a confrontation with a kid on the Isle and then the whole Family Day and coronation debacle happened so it just kinda…got pushed out of my mind."

"So I guess that would explain the snowfall of papers on your desk," Chip noted.

"Yep," Ben nodded again. "Twenty years of records of the deliveries to the Isle. The delays don't really register at first, just a day to a week. But then, like four years into the creation of the Isle, they seem to pick up speed—and it's always the same excuse of an engine issue."

He shook his head. "Gods, I…I hope dad didn't know about this but at the same time I can't help but feel a little peeved that he never looked into the delays. He created the Isle for Zeus's sake! Yet it falls on my shoulders?!"

"Ben…you said that the delays didn't pick up until four year into the Isle?" Chip said slowly.

"Yeah," Ben nodded.

"Ben…how old are you?"

"Sixteen. Why?"

"How old's the Isle?"

"Twenty."

"What's twenty minus sixteen?"

Ben tilted his head. "What's with the math lesson Chip? We all know it's…it's four."

"Exactly," Chip said gently. "Ben, the delays picked up when Belle was pregnant with you. Whoever did this knew they wouldn't be under scrutiny during that time."

"But dad was born royal," Ben said. "It's not traditional for royal men to be involved in a pregnancy."

Chip chuckled. "Your mom kept your dad on his toes Benji. Besides, since when do you care about what's traditional? Mr. Date a VK? Anyway…if there was one thing your dad cares about more than Auradon, it's your mom and you. Adam stood by Belle's side all the way through the pregnancy. He even put some of the kingly duties to the side to make sure he was around, especially near the end."

"Really?" Ben asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Absolutely," Chip nodded and ruffled Ben's hair. "Thankfully you gave your mom an easy labor, otherwise I think Adam would still have his hand in a cast. Your mom broke two bones from squeezing it so tightly."

Ben chuckled and batted Chip's hands away before sighing. "So…whoever's causing the delays knew dad was preoccupied with mom's pregnancy? But we have quality checks for the food and everything! I know we do Chip! We check the expiration dates on everything!"

"Ben…" Chip said gently. "You know how your mom miscarried when you were three?"

Ben nodded slowly. He had hazy memories of that time but he could still remember it.

"Papa?" Ben said softly, toddling over to his father's desk. "Where's maman?"

Beast gave his son a sad smile as he picked Ben up and sat him on his lap. "Your maman's feeling sad today Ben. She's resting in her room."

"Oh," Ben said. "When I'm sad, maman's hugs always make me feel better. Do you think maman would like a hug?"

"I think she'd like that very much," Beast said, brushing a strand of light brown hair of Ben's hair off to the side. His son needed a hair cut, but that would wait.

"And biscuits?" Ben said. "'Onnie said that her maman makes biscuits when she feels triste. Do you think maman would like that?"

Beast couldn't help but chuckle slightly at how his son's French slipped out. Belle had begun to teach Ben, stating that the younger a child learned the more of a language they would pick up. After all, they were both French and they shouldn't hide that from their son.

"That depends, you're not just trying to get some biscuits are you?" Beast asked, gently teasing his son.

"No papa!"

"Then let's go ask Mrs. Potts if she'd make some," Beast said, standing up with Ben in his arms. "Then you can take them to your maman and give her a big hug."

Ben nodded before pausing, tentatively biting his lip. "Papa? Can…can I walk?"

"Oh," Beast said, not having realized that he was still holding Ben. "Of course son."

He set Ben down, ignoring the slight pang in his heart as he realized that his son was growing up. He also ignored the second pang as he realized that he would never get to see his daughter grow up…his little Abigail.

For weeks following the news of the miscarriage, Beast had stopped himself from wondering what his daughter would have been like as the kingdom, Belle and Ben needed him to stay strong. But now it was like the thought entered his mind without anyway to stop it. Would his daughter have been like Ben? Athletic, curious, kind? Or would she have been a bookworm like her mother? He could only hope neither one of his children would be like him, or at least the way he had been before the Enchantress came to visit.

"Papa?" Ben asked, noticing the tears in Beast's eyes.

"Sorry Ben," Beast said, clearing his throat. "Guess I got lost in thought for a minute."

"Are you triste too?"

"Yeah son, I am," Beast nodded. Ben frowned and quickly gave his father the biggest hug his three year old self could.

"There!" Ben said and Beast had to smile at the authoritative tone in Ben's voice. "Now you're not sad anymore!"

Beast chuckled softly and gently kissed the top of Ben's head. "Whenever I'm around you, I can't be sad."

"Well, after that," Chip said softly, gently breaking Ben out of his thoughts and pulling him back to the present, "your mom and dad were…well let's just say the Isle took less of a priority for your parents. The inspectors your mom had insisted on were called back and stopped going."

"So whoever caused the delays knew this," Ben sighed. "Dad told me we used to have inspectors…I was actually going to look into reinstating them until dad said the reason that they stopped going was because so many of the inspectors came back injured."

Chip nodded. "Your dad used to tell me that it was the hardest decision he had ever made, just because the inspectors were something your mother had fought tooth and nail for when the Isle was set up. He didn't want to remove something she'd been so proud of…but he didn't want her to feel guilty with every one that came back injured."

Ben sighed. He knew why his dad had told Chip that and not him—Chip, despite his non-royal birth status, was practically a second son to Beast. In fact, Ben wouldn't have been surprised if Chip had been listed as the heir had Ben not been born.

"That changes now," Ben said, making a note in a nearby notebook. "Chip, there's no way the kids on the Isle are remotely healthy if they're eating rotten food. Gods…"

"Have you heard anything from the doctors who did the exams on the new kids?" Chip asked.

"The only one I've heard about is Hadie and that's just because Lady Persephone listed me under those who can receive information since she'd be on the Isle for six months. According to the doctors, Hadie's bordering on underweight but just barely above the line. Probably due to his divine background."

"And the others?"

"Unless their guardians tell me otherwise, I have assume they're healthy," Ben said. It'd been interesting assigning guardians for the incoming VKs but somehow Ben had managed it. Lord Poseidon had immediately volunteered upon hearing that his granddaughter would be one of the four, and had also offered to be guardian to Hadie during the six months Lady Persephone was on the Isle.

To everyone's surprise, including his own, it had been his mother to offer guardianship of Gil. Though, maybe it shouldn't have been so surprising. After all, it was Belle who'd seen past the Beast to his father's kind heart.

Harry had been the last to get a guardian and if Ben was being honest, he hadn't thought anyone would volunteer for the role of guardian to Captain James Killian Hook. It'd been Elizabeth Turner to volunteer and Ben had to smile. The Pirate Queen would have been the one to make sure Harry had a place where he'd be welcomed.

"I'm going to have to talk to Mal about what happened on the Isle," Ben sighed. That definitely wasn't a conversation he wanted to have with his girlfriend.

"First we need to figure out who would delay the food to the Isle," Chip said.

"We?"

"You honestly think I'm going to let you do this alone?" Chip asked. "Benji, you're dreaming if you think that's the case. You, me, and your shadows. Hell, one phone call and I can get Bonnie and Gabriel in to look into it."

"No, no," Ben said. "Thank you Chip but don't bother your siblings. I'd say don't bother Akiho and Emir but something tells me you've already told them."

"I told them to meet me by your office after I had a talk with you," Chip smirked. "They should be at your door right about…"

"Ben!"

"…now," Chip finished just as Akiho and Emir fell into the room.

Ben sighed and shook his head. "Are you two ever going to be normal?"

"Being normal is vastly overrated," Emir stated. "Besides, I'm the second son. Even if The Gazelle reports on me, my antics are so widely known that no one's interested anymore."

"Lucky," Akiho muttered.

"Ah you know you love me."

"Jury's out on that. Now would you get off me?!"

Ben and Chip chuckled as Emir scrambled up off of Akiho and helped his Arendelle buddy up off the floor.

"So Benny boy, what's the reason you've been hibernating in your office again?"

"I do not—"

"Ben, you used to sleep in your office in the lead up to coronation. Now granted you've got a nicer office than when you were the Crown Prince but still…"

Ben sighed. "Look guys, I need you to not freak out about this when I tell you."

"It's us Ben. Freak outs are to be expected by now."

"Right. I honestly don't know why I even thought otherwise."

"So what's up?"

Ben shook his head. "You guys know how Mal and the others kinda…eat differently than us?"

"Oh you mean how they eat like ravenous wolves set on protecting their kill from anyone else who might take it from them?"

Ben, Emir and Chip blinked as they stared at Akiho in shock and alarm.

"What?" Akiho asked. "I like the guys but tell me I'm not wrong! Every time I eat with them I'm afraid they're going to grab an arm or leg of mine."

"Akiho's vivid description aside, he's right," Ben sighed. "Well I've been looking into the food going to the Isle—"

"Why?" Emir asked, looking over at Ben. "The food's fine right?"

Ben bit his lip as he looked at the son of Aladdin. "Emir…most if not of their food is rotten. Mal told me and even if she didn't, it doesn't matter because I ate it."

"…you did what?!"

"It was the day before Family Day, Mal took me to the Isle so I could see what it was like. If there were any issues, I wanted to fix them on day one."

"And you didn't take us?"

"They could easily pretend I was a VK. Three of us? Not so much."

Emir and Akiho gave Ben a look.

"What?"

"You? A VK? I'm sorry Ben but you apologized to Mal for Audrey using her name in an argument you two had."

"She…she told you about that?"

"No. She told Uma about that who then told us about it. I have to say, I like these new VKs."

Ben sighed. "Oh Gods…will the school still be standing with you two, Harry and Jay together?"

"Hey we haven't destroyed it yet!"

"The 'yet' is what bothers me I hope you know!"

Emir shook his head. "Anyway, you were saying about the food being rotten and you tried it?"

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "Mal took me to her dad's restaurant and I tried the food. It had an…an interesting taste. That's when Mal said I didn't have to be polite, that most of the food the Isle gets is rotten anyway."

"But…we've been running food drives since we were thirteen!"

"When they get it, it's rotten," Ben sighed and held up some of the records. "From the delays I've found, it looks to be on purpose. One month I could see as an accident or as a system issue with the engine. Two or three months in a row, I'd be wondering why we haven't gotten a new ship for the shipments. But nineteen and a half years?"

"So what's the plan Ben?" Emir asked, sitting next to Chip.

"Someone's got to talk to the ship's captain," Ben sighed. "And that someone's—"

"Me," Chip said instantly. "Ben, you go to the docks and it becomes front page news for a week. Who ever's doing this would wonder why and get spooked. I'm the son of your head housekeeper. Most of Auradon doesn't even know I exist."

"While Chip's doing that, I can reach out to our head of security at the docks," Akiho said. "After all Arendelle runs that. As heir to the throne of Arendelle, I can easily get those tapes and see if anyone's been talking to the crew. Giving bribes, acting suspicious, that sort of thing."

"All you'd need to do is talk to Mal," Emir told Ben. "She can give a sense of exactly happens on the Isle."

Ben nodded. "I can talk to the others too. Carlos, Jay, Uma, Gil. Harry and Evie."

"Not Hadie?" Chip asked.

"He's too young," Ben said. "It'd be like involving Alexandria. I wouldn't feel right. Plus Mal would probably kill me if I involved her brother."

"Never anger the girlfriend," Chip nodded with a smile.

"Unless that girlfriend is Audrey," Emir chuckled. "Then again, Ben would breathe and that would somehow set her off."

"Yes, well the less said about Princess Leech, the better off my blood pressure will be," Chip nodded. "Benji, I leave you in capable hands. I'll go and get some intel."

"Chip!" Ben called. "Not a word to Mal. Not yet. I want to be the one to tell her what's going on before she hears it from anyone."

"Yes Ben because Mal and I have a lot of conversations."

"Chip…"

"I know Ben," Chip said. "I understand, I won't tell Mal. I promise."

Ben smiled slightly. "Thank you."

"You know I've got your back Ben," Chip said as he stood up and gently squeezed Ben's shoulder. "I'll let you know what I find out."

"Hold on," Emir said. "Doesn't Chip have this thing called a job?"

"Freelance videographer, who right now has just been employed by the king," Chip smirked. "Got to love loopholes."

"…how much time have you spent around Mal?"

"Benji, Benji, Benji…you know I've always been like this," Chip chuckled as he walked out. Ben shook his head as he downed the rest of his cold chocolate.

"I'll get you the tapes Ben," Akiho promised. "If this is being done deliberately, we need to figure out who and we need to figure it out fast."

"Before any more kids die," Emir said softly. Ben looked over at his best friend, knowing him well enough not to ask how he had come to that conclusion. It was the truth—anyone with brains could have told him that.

The only thing he was dreading was how many kids had actually died as a result of this. How many kids he couldn't help. How many kids Auradon had let down.

There honestly was no delaying the inevitable, unless one happened to be a king who still attended school and tried to make time for his girlfriend that didn't involve official business. Then there was a reasonable expectation for delay.

It also didn't help matters that Mal seemed just as busy as Ben was. Okay, maybe not as busy but pretty close. Every time Ben turned around, Mal seemed to be attending a meeting about Cotillion or rushing off with Kitty, Jordan and Ally, or checking on Evie or sparring with Uma.

It was for that reason why Ben was currently making his way to the gym two weeks after his talk with Chip, to try to see if he could get a moment with his girlfriend and talk to her about what was going on with the Isle. He trusted her more than he trusted the reports he received…if he received them at all.

"Hey Ben," Akiho smiled and waved as Ben walked into the gym.

"Hey," Ben chuckled as he walked over to him. "What're you doing here?"

"Heard Mal and Uma were going to be doing some sparring," the blond said with a grin. "Jay texted us."

"Us?"

"Emir came too," Akiho said, pointing to the raven haired boy talking to a younger girl who was off to the side. "Ashaki seemed interested in the whole thing, she heard us talking about it in the hall and followed us in."

"What's so bad about her watching?"

"Nothing," Emir chuckled as he walked over, Ashaki trailing behind him. "The talk was just because mom and dad think she needs to call home more and asked me to tell her that."

"I call home once a week!" Ashaki exclaimed. "Ben, don't you think that's more than enough?"

"I see my dad every time there's a council meeting and I still call home at least twice a week," Ben chuckled.

"…we're sure he's human?" Ashaki asked, turning to her older brother.

"Jury's still out on him."

"Hush you two," Ben said, shaking his head in amusement. "I'm missing the sparring."

"Oh yes, that's why you came to the gym," Akiho teased as Ben sat down, the sound of clanging steel in the background as Mal and Uma seemed to really get into their sparring match. "It wasn't to see your girlfriend but to watch the sparring."

"Can't it be both?"

"I'm so proud!" Emir and Akiho exclaimed, draping themselves over Ben as the king turned bright red.

"Do I want to know?" Jay asked as he walked over with Harry.

"Not really, no," Ashaki told him, smiling at the two of them. "You guys gonna spar too?"

"Nah," Jay chuckled. "Carlos and I just got out of practice so I'm beat. Actually, I was looking for those two over there."

"Oh you mean my brother and his best friend who are currently embarrassing themselves and Ben?"

"The very same."

"And why did you need to look for them? Wouldn't they have been in practice with you?"

"They skipped." Carlos said with a chuckle as he joined the group, Dude trotting behind him. "Presumably because they were getting into mischief with Harry and Uma or they finally remembered they have girlfriends."

"Either way they didn't let me know and I had to spend all of practice dealing with Chad muttering about how a captain knows where his team mates are," Jay sighed. "Therefore, I need to talk to them about letting me know if they're going to bail on practice just so I can be prepared for another Chad diatribe."

"Being in Auradon's made you boring mate," Harry chuckled. "Nothing wrong with taking some time off now and then. Otherwise you'd wind up like Henry."

"Henry trained for like eighteen hours a day," Jay pointed out. "I think only you, Mal, or Uma could match him in training hours. I still don't know where he found the time."

"Well when you're not obligated to help stock your dad's store, I'm sure there's more time in the day," Carlos teased and Jay reached over, grabbing the smaller boy close to him and rubbing his knuckles into Carlos' head.

"Gah! Okay, okay! Let me go!"

"Only if you say it!"

"Fine! Boreadon!" Carlos exclaimed and Jay chuckled as he let Carlos go. The son of Cruella rolled his eyes as he rubbed his head.

"You are so strange," he said before looking around. "Where's Gil?"

"I think he's talking with a few of my friends. He ran into Emir and me in the hall on our way here and joined us," Ashaki told him. "Kitty should be among the group, and Phillip Jr. for that matter. Of course that usually means Audrey's not too far behind but then again she normally avoids the gym."

"Oh Bennyboo!"

"Then again, apparently I can summon her," Ashaki muttered. "This is a power I didn't know I had. I wonder if it works with other people…"

Ben ignored the mutterings of his best friend's little sister and turned to look at his ex-girlfriend. "Yes, Audrey?"

"I didn't receive your invitation to Cotillion," Audrey said sweetly. "I assume it's lost?"

"Your invitation?" Ben asked, tilting his head in pure confusion.

Audrey sighed. "You've always invited me personally to Cotillion Bennyboo. I guess you forgot with the excitement of coronation and everything that happened that day."

"Audrey…you know Fairy Godmother sends out the invitations right?" Ben asked. He still wasn't sure what Audrey was getting at, asking about personal invitations. "She codes them to the ward she places around the yacht we rent each year."

"I know that Ben," Audrey harrumphed. "I mean my invitation to be your date!"

"Audrey…I'm dating Mal."

Audrey rolled her eyes. "You mean that bad girl infatuation of yours hasn't worn off yet? Look at her Ben! She's not exactly the person you want on your arm as you tour the kingdom now is she? All dressed in leather and her dragon motif, no decent person would wear that!"

"She's not even a person," one of her lackeys giggled. "Considering she's Fae and all."

"Excuse me?" Ben said, his voice hard.

"Bad move," Emir muttered under his breath. If there was one thing that would get Ben's back up, it was the idea of treating people differently just because of how they were born.

"Well I mean, fairies aren't humans," the lackey explained with a shrug. "Plus we all know she's Maleficent's daughter. She's like obsessed with dragons and Maleficent was a Fae before Mal turned her into a lizard."

"Lady Persephone is Mal's mother," Ben said. "She said that at my coronation."

"Oh Bennyboo, like I told you before, you're just too trusting," Audrey told him. "I know you think that blood doesn't make family because of your relationship with Chip but he's still not your brother. Phillip Jr. is my brother. Ashaki is Emir's sister. Kitty is Chad's. Chip's not really your family just like Mal isn't really Lady Persephone's daughter."

"Audrey, you should go," Jay said as he stood up, the VKs in attendance glaring daggers at Audrey. "Mal doesn't owe you any explanation other than this. Lady Persephone is her mother. She has always been her mother. Just because Maleficent birthed Mal doesn't make her Mal's mom."

"Excuse me, but who do you think you are?" Audrey scoffed. "The royals are talking."

Before Jay could respond, he ducked as a dagger whizzed past his ear and embedded itself into the wall behind Audrey.

"There." Mal's voice said flatly as the purple haired Godling walked up to the group. A faint growl could be heard as Estelle also joined them and Ben couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of the Cerberus who'd now become a staple of Mal's friend group. The only time he wasn't by her side was in classes or her meetings with Natalie it seemed. "Now they're not talking so Jay can make his point."

"Where did you get a dagger?" Uma asked as she joined her cousin. "That's an Angel weapon of choice."

Mal shrugged. "Freddy boy used it on me in our last tete-de-tete. I didn't feel the need to return it to him."

"I'm sorry, you had a confrontation with Freddy and you didn't think to tell me?"

"Not the time Uma," Mal said before turning to face Audrey. "Leave Ben alone Audrey. Gods, you've been broken up a month. Shouldn't that be a giant sign to you that he doesn't want to date you?"

"Maybe he doesn't know what he wants," Audrey shot back. "After all, spelling people is a staple in your family."

Mal's eyes flashed bight green for a split second before it faded.

"See? Your eyes even flashed green just like Maleficent's did at the coronation," Audrey scoffed. "How can you claim you're not Maleficent's daughter when you act just like her?"

"Audrey, that was uncalled for!" Ben exclaimed, as Jay and Harry tensed as if they were ready to attack or defend Mal if necessary.

"Whatever Ben," Audrey scoffed. "When you're free from whatever spell you're under, I'll be waiting for your invitation."

She walked off with her lackeys, and everyone else shook their heads.

"Wow. You'd think someone raised in politics would have more tact," Jay rolled his eyes as Mal walked over and yanked the dagger out of the wall.

"Don't worry about her Mal," Ben said gently as she sheathed it.

"The day Audrey occupies my brain cells should be the day pigs fly," Mal chuckled but if anyone was paying attention, they would notice that it was a little forced.

She had noticed how The Gazelle had been pulling focus on how she looked like a young Maleficent, and Natalie had made a few comments about possibly changing her style. After all, when people in Auradon thought of dragons, they thought of Maleficent.

Mal had shot her down but after hearing Audrey's comment about her eyes…

"You're amazing by the way, for the little bit of sparring I saw," Ben told her, pulling Mal out of her thoughts, as he went to wrap his arms around her. Sure she was a little sweaty from the sparring but Ben didn't care.

"I've had a sword in my hand since I was five, so I should be," Mal said, her easy going tone sounding more natural as she leaned into his embraced. "Harry's the one who taught Uma, Jay and me since he's had a sword in his hand since practically birth."

"It's the life of a pirate," Harry grinned. "Not having a sword on my belt is like being naked."

Mal chuckled and shook her head in amusement as she looked over at Ben. "So, Ben, what brings you to the gym?"

"I can't come by to see my girlfriend?" Ben asked, bending down to kiss her on the cheek.

"Of course you can," Mal said, smiling a little at the kiss. "But I know you're probably swamped Ben. You don't need to add stress by—"

"Mal, seeing you is never stressful," Ben told her. "But I'll be honest, I did come to see if I could talk to you about something."

"Okay. Shoot."

"I um…I was hoping it'd be in private?"

"Ben, unless it's something super personal, whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of the others," Mal told him.

"It's about the Isle," Ben said and Mal looked at him.

"What about the Isle?"

Ben sighed softly and looked at the others, the other VKs seemed to stiffen as Ben said that. Almost as if they were expecting to have to defend the place that'd been their home. Well, except for Gil but he'd only just walked up; looking at Carlos in confusion.

"Mal, I was wondering…can you tell me what it's like on the Isle?" Ben asked.

"I mean I can but…why do you want to know Ben?" Mal asked. "I mean, we all know that if we tell you anything, you'll be fighting with your council for Zeus knows how long before it gets done. Look how long it took before you got them to agree to bring Uma, Harry, Gil and Hadie here."

"Meaning who knows how many kids would have died in that time," Uma muttered and Ben's heart sank. He hadn't want his suspicions to be correct but there was no other option. Not when it came to the quality of the food being sent to the Isle.

"Died?" Akiho asked, also having heard the mutter.

"Ben, did you tell them?" Mal asked, looking at her boyfriend. "About the food?"

"I did," Ben nodded.

"Then shouldn't they know about all the deaths on the Isle?"

"Mal…I only told them what I know," Ben said gently, taking Mal's hands and holding them in his. "If you don't want to talk about it in the gym, we can all go to my office."

Mal paused, biting her lip. She had a meeting with Natalie in about fifteen minutes but…this was the Isle. Natalie wouldn't mind if she was a few minutes late.

Besides, Mal would be with Ben. There's no way Natalie could take issue with Mal being late if it was because of a meeting with Ben.

"Okay Ben," Mal said. "But only if the others come too. Uma, Harry and Gil are more familiar with the status of the Isle after all, and Jay and Carlos have their own experiences."

Evie would have joined them but once again she was at the hospital, sitting at her father's side. While the three weeks off that Fairy Godmother had granted her were up, there was no harm in her visiting on the weekend.

"Of course," Ben nodded and the group quickly made their way to Ben's office. Mal quickly flopped onto the sofa and Ben grabbed a spot across from her so he could see everyone.

"What do you want to know?" Mal asked as everyone got comfortable. "I mean, Ben, you saw the Isle. You know what it's like there."

"I saw a glimpse of the Isle Mal," Ben corrected. "But I need to know everything that happens on the Isle."

"Why?" Uma asked. "No offense Benny but…we all know nothing's going to change. Oh wait, maybe you lot will bring some of those who have died back to life because death's too good for the villains but other than that…"

"Uma may be blunt but she's right," Mal said. "Ben, we've lived on the Isle our whole lives. You know about the food issues—"

"Calling being given rotten food an 'issue' is understating it Mal," Ben said. "I'm just sorry I haven't done anything about it until now."

"Ben, you've been busy! Being king isn't like schoolwork you can push to the side. Besides, you've also been helping to get Daniel back from Maleficent's dungeons and arraigning for medical treatment for him, along with therapy for Evie and the other VKs."

"Still, I should have done more before now," Ben sighed and then shook his head. "But we're not here to talk about that. I…I need to know Mal. What was it like, on the Isle?"

Mal glanced over at the others, as if trying to determine how much they should tell Ben. It wasn't that she didn't want to...but she knew how hard Ben would take it. It wasn't his fault yet Mal knew how much this would hurt her kind hearted boyfriend.

"…mom practically saved our lives," Mal said softly after a few minutes. If Ben hadn't been watching her lips move, he might have never heard her. "She brought over formula when I was a month old, according to dad. For the women who couldn't nurse or for the families who had mothers die giving birth…the formula was a gift from the Gods."

"Uncle Hades found a way to filter salt water to make it fresh, so people could use the formula," Uma added. "Otherwise, the only source of water we had that was fit to drink was our own urine. You can't drink salt water after all."

"But didn't…didn't you live with Maleficent?" Akiho asked softly, not wanting to bring it up due to Audrey's fit earlier but the question rang in his head. "How would you have…?"

Mal sighed. "Maleficent allied herself with Jafar. After…after Maleficent stole me from dad's, mom gave the stores of formula she'd brought with her to Jafar to sell in his shop. After all, dad wouldn't need six months worth of formula if I wasn't there."

"I think dad must have told the Dragon a lie, maybe about mom finding them on the barge," Jay said with a sigh. "It's the only way Maleficent would have bought it. It's not like she would have accepted anything from Steph."

"Maleficent wouldn't have accepted anything from your dad anyway," Mal scoffed. "If it wasn't for the fact that she wanted to rub it in dad's face she had me, I probably wouldn't have gotten anything."

It was clear that they had forgotten the AKs were in the room, judging by how open Mal was being. Even after being in Auradon a month, the original VKs were still a little closed off from the others.

"Ah good point," Jay nodded. "But you're half God, shouldn't that have—?"

"Still gotta eat Jay."

Ben looked at Emir and Akiho, unsure if he should jump in to bring the conversation back. It wasn't that he didn't want to hear about this, but hearing about his girlfriend's childhood, a childhood that she had to go through because of his father's choices…

"So food was sparse on the Isle?" Emir asked, bringing the focus back much to Ben's appreciation.

Uma snorted. "Sparse is one word for it. There was one delivery barge a month. If you lucked out and got there first on top of being someone in Maleficent's group of allies, you might have gotten something fairly edible. We mainly relied on fish from the ocean and chickens from Old man Slade's farm."

"The stupid birds snuck on to the barge one day," Harry chuckled. "I don't know when but Slade's always had them for as long as I can remember. One day though they broke free and wandered around town. That was when we were about five."

"Jay and Estelle were the ones to grab them for dad, well after I got Estelle that is," Mal chuckled and the aforementioned dog gave a small yip. "The chickens didn't have a lot of meat but it was meat we could trust. Anything on the barge was likely to be rancid by the time we got it."

Ben knew the same look of horror that was on Emir and Akiho's face was also on his. Rancid meat? And Mal was chuckling about it?

"We're used to it Ben," Mal said gently, noticing the look on his face. "It's been our lives since we were born."

"Yeah Ben," Uma nodded. "If it hadn't been for my grandfather sending fish to the Isle, we probably wouldn't have gotten any meat. Well other than the chickens."

"Poseidon was sending fish?" Akiho asked.

"You lot may control the food on the barges but the sea belongs to Poseidon," Uma smirked.

"Helps that Uncle Poseidon is the younger brother that dad's still talking to," Mal added. "Uncle Zeus is basically on dad's 'dead to him' list."

"Very true," Uma nodded.

"I feel that we've once again gotten off track," Jay chuckled. "Sorry captains but otherwise this'll turn into an hour long 'Zeus' bashing session."

Mal rolled her eyes but turned back to Ben. "What's with all the questions about the Isle? Has something happened?"

"That's one word for it," Emir muttered and Akiho elbowed him in the side.

Ben sighed. "I started doing some research into the food going to the Isle Mal. It…it appears as though the food being rotten was deliberate."

The six VKs stilled, as if they were unsure how to react.

"What?" Mal hissed, her eyes once again flashing green and she got up, beginning to pace. "All the deaths, all the suffering everyone experienced on the Isle…that was deliberate?!"

"My mother might have survived giving birth to the runt had she had decent food!" Harry growled.

Jay nodded, his face stony. While his mother didn't die in childbirth like Harry's did, she still would have benefited from decent food. Gil and Carlos remained silent; they'd been one of the few lucky VKs to not have anyone they knew die due to the poor quality of the food but they were still familiar with the issue. After all, they had been under Pirate/Warf Rat protection.

Meanwhile Mal was still ranting. "All the kids who were crushed by the stampedes at the barge, trying to get their shot at something edible! All the stillborns, all the kids who died from dehydration, from allergic reactions…Gods you all call us the monsters! The villains!"

"Mal, I'm furious too but you need to calm down," Ben said, as if trying to sooth a wild beast. "Akiho's working to get the footage from the docks and Chip's talking to the captain of the ship."

"Unfortunately, it's likely that we won't get that footage for a month," Akiho said. "The guy in charge's on vacation."

"A month?!"

Mal had never felt anger like this before, it was pure unadulterated fury. Beast better hope he doesn't meet me in an abandoned room, she thought as unbeknownst to her, her magic began to bubble up. She'd had flare ups before since coming to Auradon but nothing like this.

"Mal…" Uma said as Mal stopped pacing, the squidling recognizing the signs of a flare up.

"Hit the deck!" Harry called, pulling Uma and Jay down; Carlos doing the same for Gil. It was a good thing too because not a few seconds later a fireball hit the wall where Gil's head had formerly been.

"Oh Gods," Mal whispered, horrified, as she calmed down and realized what she'd done. "I'm so…Gil I didn't mean…I gotta go!"

"Mal!" Ben called but Mal had already rushed out of the room.

"So…Mal doesn't find out who's behind the food delays I'm guessing?" Akiho said as he and Emir patted the flames with their jackets to put it out.

Ben shook his head. "No. I'm not keeping secrets from her. I'm more worried about that flare up."

"What did you expect Ben?" Uma asked. "Biological offspring of Maleficent and daughter of Hades coming to a land of magic after having it basically suppressed for her life? She needs more than three hours a week."

"And she'll get that," Ben nodded. "I'll talk to Fairy Godmother right now. Akiho, see if there's any way we can speed up that footage."

Just then, Ben's cell phone rang before Akiho could even respond to Ben. Raising an eyebrow as he saw that it was Chip's number, Ben flipped open his phone and put the call on speaker.

"You alone Benji?"

"If you count being in a room with Akiho, Emir, Uma, Gil, Jay, Carlos and Harry as being alone."

"Oddly enough I actually do."

"Whatcha got Chip?"

"I hope you're sitting down Ben. The captain was all too eager to give me the information. Apparently, the Beauty Matriarch from Hell is a pain in the butt to deal with."

Ben paused, as if processing the information for the very first time. Chip didn't mean…no, he couldn't…could he?

"Chip, you're not…you don't mean Leah do you?"

Mal plopped on her bed, completely spent. That fireball that she had let loose after Ben gave that revelation had been bigger than she had been able to produce on the Isle.

Yeah, they claimed that the barrier suppressed evil magic but there was no way to tell if a fireball was being conjured through evil intent or if it was just to keep warm. Besides, she needed a way to keep Zevon and Freddy at bay didn't she?

Gods I hope Gil is okay, she thought as she rolled over onto her back; having plopped onto her stomach. I'll check on him once I'm not so tired. I'm sure Carlos has him covered right now though, him and Dude.

Her exhaustion wasn't helped by Natalie's tirade at her being late to the meeting either. Apparently, having a meeting with Ben didn't matter. A princess was never late to a meeting. Mal sighed as she thought back on some of what Natalie had said.

"You threw a dagger at her? A dagger?! What in the Gods name were you thinking? What if that had hit her?"

"Natalie, I…hang on, how did you even find that out?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow. "It literally just happened."

"She texted me," Natalie said, waving her hand as if to wave off that fact. "But that's not important. Mal, do you know what that would do to King Ben if the tabloids found out his girlfriend nearly killed Princess Audrey with a dagger?"

"Honestly Jay was in more danger of being hit than Audrey was, if he hadn't ducked in time—"

"That doesn't matter Mal!" Natalie snapped. "Honestly, I'm surprised King Ben isn't more embarrassed to be around you if you're pulling stunts like this!"

It was those words that stuck with Mal the most. Was Ben embarrassed to be around her and he was just too polite to say it? Did Natalie have a point?

Mal was trying, no one could say that she wasn't. She had put more focus on her studies, making sure to get to class on time. She made friends outside her VK group and other than throwing the dagger, she hadn't done anything 'wicked' in weeks.

Oh sure, she still did her spray painting but she kept it to canvas rather than spraying it on the lockers or the walls of the school. She kept her style, but Maleficent didn't have a monopoly on dragons.

…did she?

It wasn't a lie to say that, with the exception of Lonnie and Ben, most people in Auradon immediately thought of Maleficent when they thought of dragons. Lonnie's first thought was always Mushu while Ben had started telling people that Mal was the first thought that came to his mind when dragons were involved.

That always earned a good natured eye roll from his Tourney team mates, a chuckle from Jay or Carlos, or a smile from Mal depending on who was around to hear it.

That hadn't stopped The Gazelle, nor did it seem to stop the comments from Audrey and her lackeys. Not that Mal cared about what Sleeping Brat or her gormless sheep thought but if The Gazelle kept printing articles like that, someone at school might send it to their relatives. Adults with the power to actually do something.

The last thing Mal wanted was for Ben to get hurt because of her. Because people thought he was dating a villain.

After all, someone in Auradon had made it so that kids were denied access to decent food just based on where they were born. Mal honestly wouldn't put it past them to try to rise up against their teenaged king just because of who he was dating.

"Mal?" Evie's voice broke through her thoughts and Mal lifted her head to see the blue haired VK walking into the room.

"Hey Evie," Mal said softly as she set her head back down onto her pillow. Honestly, after the whole Coronation debacle, there wasn't any need to put up a front around her roommate. Besides, with their history, Evie wasn't really a pusher when it came to wanting to know information.

"Bad day?" Evie asked sympathetically.

Mal sighed. "You could say that. But you don't want to hear me rant. How was the hospital with your dad?"

"They think they're going to wake him up soon," Evie said and the excitement in her voice was honestly so infectious that Mal couldn't help but smile.

"That's great," she told Evie, happy the exhaustion she was feeling didn't come through in her voice. "I'm happy for you."

"I'm so grateful to you and Ben," Evie said, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I honestly didn't think there was a chance I'd see my dad again. What with him being in Maleficent's clutches and the food issues on the Isle…"

"You don't need to be," Mal said, sitting up. "Grateful that is. I know we had our differences but I wouldn't have let anyone linger in Maleficent's dungeon if I could prevent it. Plus Ben…well he's Ben. If he can make life better for someone, he'd do his best to do it."

"Well regardless, I am," Evie said and pulled out her sketchbook. "I have a design for your dress for cotillion if you want to go over it. I really think you'll like it Mal."

"Oh right," Mal sighed. While she was surprised by the subject change, she probably should have expected it. Evie would need time to sew the dress after all, so the sooner she had a design nailed down, the better off she'd be in terms of making the freaking thing. The last thing Mal wanted to do was make it so Evie had to rush like she did for Mal's dress that she wore to Coronation.

"What's wrong?" Evie asked, softly biting her lip as she looked over at the purple haired VK. "Did…did you change your mind about my designing your cotillion dress?"

"No, no!" Mal said as Estelle plodded over and hopped onto Mal's bed. Mal smiled and scratched Estelle behind the ears. He must have followed her from the gym to Ben's office before making his way to her room when she ran out. "Evie, I made a promise to you that you would design my dress. I would never take that away from you."

"Oh," Evie said and Mal could tell there was a faint smile to her lips. "Then…is something the matter Mal? I…I know we're not the closest so if you'd rather talk to Uma, I'd understand. I mean…"

Mal sighed again. While she would love to talk to her cousin, she knew that there were two things that would happen. One, Uma would throw a fit and march down to Natalie's room, maybe smack her before going on a Gods' knows how long rant about how it was none of her business what Mal wore. Two, her mom would get involved somehow.

As much as she loved her mother, the last thing Mal wanted was for her to know what was going on. She was on the Isle anyway, all knowing would do would hurt her.

"Evie, could…I was thinking of maybe moving more toward Auradon styles instead of regular Isle styles?" Mal said and Evie's eyes got wider before she nodded, flipping to a blank page in her sketchbook.

"We could totally do that Mal," she said, her eyes growing bright at the chance to design some new options for Mal to wear. "What were you thinking? Less leather? I'm thinking we're still going to keep the purple right? And the dragons?"

Mal bit her lip. "Um…yes to the purple. But maybe no dragons?"

"Are you sure?" Evie asked, looking at Mal in shock. Dragons were Mal's thing. Seeing Mal without dragons would be like seeing Carlos without Dude or seeing Jay without his beanie. But…Mal was the client here. Evie had to think in a more professional setting. She could worry as a friend later.

"Yeah," Mal sighed softly, nodding her head. She loved her dragons but…if it kept people from making the comparisons to Maleficent, losing them wouldn't be a bad thing would it?

After all, even her friends and she called Maleficent the 'Dragon' if they had to talk about her in public on the Isle. If that wasn't a sign that Maleficent basically had a hold on dragons, Mal didn't know what was.

Ben's safety right now was paramount and since Emir and Akiho usually joked that Ben didn't even employ guards since he was too trusting, it fell to Mal to make sure no one tried to harm Ben because of her.

"Okay, well I can work with that," Evie said, nodding her head as she jotted down some notes in the corner of her sketchbook. "Give me a couple of days, I'll have a design for your cotillion dress. Maybe even a few designs so you have a few choices."

Mal nodded and Evie tore out a page from her sketchbook, placing it in the drawer of her bedside table. It had been a design that she had thought was quintessential Mal that would have been perfect for cotillion. It'd been a semi-formal looking dress with a pattern that looked like dragon scales up the skirt and sleeves that almost resembled dragon's wings.

Mal saved the day in her dragon form, plus Ben loves dragons, she thought as she shut the drawer. But, as they say, the customer's always right. Besides, Mal and I haven't been friends that long. I wouldn't want to rock the boat here.

"Oh," Evie said, turning back to Mal. "A um…a copy of The Gazelle came for you. I didn't know if you wanted to read it or just throw it out. That's what I've been doing with mine ever since…well ever since Coronation."

Mal sighed. "Thanks Evie. Just leave it on my dresser. I'll read it later or just use it for Estelle to use to do his business on."

"Okay," Evie said softly, putting the copy of the tabloid on Mal's dresser. "Um…I'm going to go catch up with Doug. He's been helping me catch up on what I've missed since Fairy Godmother gave me the three weeks off from classes. Are you…are you going to be okay?"

Mal gave her a small smile. "I'll be fine Evie. Just a long day, we had those on the Isle and I'm sure we'll have more of them in Auradon."

Evie nodded and gave Mal a kind smile before walking out of the room, leaving Mal once again on her own. Something that the purple haired Godling was thankful for. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy being around Evie, actually the blue haired VK had been slowly growing on her ever since Coronation. Due to the fact that she had grown up being trained to be royal, she was a good resource in case Mal had any questions—not that Mal had asked of course. Not while Evie was dealing with the fallout of attempting to steal the wand and then everything with her dad.

Sighing, Mal got up and walked over to her dresser. She knew she shouldn't read the trash that The Gazelle wrote but…it was better to know what your enemies were saying than to be caught unawares.

Picking up the paper, Mal plopped back onto her bed and unfolded the gossip rag; once again rolling her eyes at seeing her own face staring back at her on the cover.

It's only because I'm dating Ben, she tried to tell herself. At some point, there'll be a new shiny object that'll catch their attention. Right?

Her eyes poured over the 'article', taking in every word that was used. Every jab thrown her way. This time, whoever wrote the article seemed intent on predicting the ways Mal would fail on Ben's kingdom tour that was coming up. Something that Mal would have to accompany him on as she was his girlfriend.

Not just his girlfriend, she thought with an inward sigh. A few days ago, Ben had told her that he wanted to bring her in as a Lady of the Court. Mal didn't know why she had agreed to such a plan but she had.

Why did she need to be a 'Lady' anyway? She technically already was one anyway, what with being the daughter of Lord Hades and Lady Persephone. Hell, even if most people still believed that she was the daughter of Maleficent, there was no arguing with the daughter of Hades part.

Mal paused as she continued to read the article, her hands slowly balling into fists as she took in each word.

Is Mal truly ready for the kingdom wide tour that King Ben had announced this past Saturday? Considering how sources claim she acts around Auradon Prep, it's hard to say for sure. This reporter has to wonder how someone so opposite Princess Audrey came to be on the arm of the King.

One can only hope that it truly is love and not something manufactured in a lab…a potions lab perhaps? After all, as was revealed at King Ben's coronation, Mal's full name is Maleficent. A love spell to take over the kingdom would be right up her alley.

"For the love of all that is bad and evil, my name is Malinda!" Mal growled. "You're going to believe Maleficent's word over mine? Over mom's?! And no wonder Sleeping Brat was going on about Ben being spelled earlier if this is the kind of dribble that's getting written! Ben can't even be spelled! You'd think that'd be something of public record!"

Okay, calm down, she told herself, taking a few deep breaths. You keep going on like this, you're going to end up letting loose another fireball. What if you hit Estelle?

Mal sighed and tried her best to force her anger down. Like Akiho's aunt's old motto, what was it again? Conceal, don't feel? I mean, sure she almost completely froze all of Arendelle but until Mal had a handle on her powers, it would have to do for now.

Thankfully, she still had her hours blocked out for her magic practice. She'd hate to see what would happen if she had to figure out what to do without them.

Getting up, Mal lifted up her mattress and put the copy of The Gazelle underneath it. Uma would ask about any ash piles or torn up copies of it in the trash bin. At least this way, there was no way for her cousin to find out—Uma had been pitching the copies as soon as they came in, not even bothering to read them.

Jay and Harry did the same, as did Carlos. Actually, the younger boy was disgusted at the fact that The Gazelle didn't even have a website and just stuck to a paper product. Meanwhile, Gil only kept his copies for when he was working on some sort of craft.

It honestly amazed Mal at how crafty the son of Gaston was but the proof was available whenever she went into Carlos' and Gil's room. One half of the room was always covered in wires as Carlos was taking something apart or building something else. While Gil's side usually had paints or wood carvings available. He had even joined the art club…but dropped it when he realized that it was mainly painting.

You know…maybe I should do that, Mal thought. It'd be a way to keep up with my art stuff and be able to show people I'm more than the biological offspring of Maleficent. I…I doubt they'll do much with spray paints but again, worth the sacrifice if it keeps Ben safe.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mal caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She sighed as she saw her leather jacket, her prized possession. The jacket that had never left her body with the exception of sleeping since she was eight. Actually, she even slept in it if it was a rare night where she slept in the clubhouse but those were few and far between after she got her room in the Underworld. They were even rarer after Jay, Harry and Uma all got rooms in the Underworld too.

Honestly, the Underworld had a lot of guest rooms considering her dad really wasn't big on entertaining.

But on the nights she had slept in the clubhouse and the one night a week she had to spend at Maleficent's, Mal kept her jacket on. She was no fool—after all she was friends with Jay of all people. She knew what would happen to her jacket if she took it off.

Like I said…this is for Ben, Mal thought as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror; her hands clutching the sides of her jacket as if unsure about the decision she was about to make.

After all, eliminating dragons on her future clothes that was fine. She wasn't happy about it but she could live with it. But going without her jacket?

It's not permanent…besides, what would be harder to live with? Your jacket for a few weeks or Ben forever because someone thought he was being spelled? Or worse, because they thought he was too hormonal to handle being king?

Before she had a chance to second guess herself for a third time, Mal quickly shed her jacket and hung it up, putting it in her wardrobe and shutting the door.

She rubbed her hands over her shoulders, her bare arms feeling a bit cold without the comforting feel of the leather but it would be something she'd grow used to. Quickly flopping back onto her bed, Mal pulled her sketchbook to her just as Uma walked in.

"What the hell?" Uma asked, staring at her. "Where's your jacket?"

"Took it off," Mal muttered, starting a sketch of Estelle.

"Why in the world would you do that? You love that jacket."

"Got too hot."

"It's like in the mid sixties Mal!"

"Yeah well with the heating in these buildings Uma, it's going to be different than a mid sixty day on the Isle," Mal shrugged.

Uma shook her head and sat down on her bed. "Mal, don't tell me this is because of what that brat said earlier is it?"

"Uma, like I said, the day I let Audrey occupy any part of my brain is the day that pigs fly," Mal scoffed. "She is no one to me. She's like an annoyance that we have to live with—you know what? She's like Quinn okay? The annoyance from the Caster gang because she didn't have any magic."

"Plus it'd be an accurate comparison since Quinn's the Queen of Heart's daughter," Uma mused for a second before pointing her finger at Mal, standing up as she did it. "Don't try to change the subject Mali! You've changed since you got here."

"Yeah. Your point?" Mal asked. "Believe it or not, not having to worry about what Maleficent's doing every minute of every day makes one a bit more relaxed. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go hunt down my brother and make sure he's doing alright."

Mal got up and walked out of the room, leaving Uma standing there with Estelle once again. Uma shook her head.

"What's going on with your human, huh?" Uma asked Estelle, the Cerberus tilting his left head in confusion as if wondering if Uma was wanting a response. Uma sighed, normally she'd reach out to her aunt but Persephone was on the Isle right now. There wasn't much she could do especially if Mal had the link muted.

Looks like it's up to me, Uma thought with an inward sigh. Thankfully I've got Harry and Jay for help. Hadie too. Plus, if things get really desperate, I can always ask Benny to bring Aunt Steph back a little early. He seems like he'll do anything for Mal.

"Hey cap'n?" Harry asked, poking his head in. "Have you done that Remedial Goodness essay yet?"

Uma chuckled. "No, not yet Harry. Honestly that class is such a waste of time."

"Agreed. But did you want to work on it together? Maybe in the library?"

"I sense you have something other than homework in mind."

Harry smirked. "Oh nothing. Other than the fact that I heard from Emir's sister that your young cousin could be seen with a blonde lass. Alone."

Uma rolled her eyes. "He's like eleven Harry. That being said…I am intrigued. Let's go."

After grabbing her notebook, the two of proceeded to make their way to the library. After all, safety in numbers right?

Hadie couldn't help but smile as he sat down at the table next to Alexandria Charming, one of his new friends since arriving in Auradon. He had been working at a different table but had gladly changed tables to be able to work with his friend. Also it worked to make sure he was still following the first rule of the Isle: never be alone.

He may have been fairly sheltered on the Isle, what with being Mal's brother and Uma's cousin, but even he knew the rules of the Isle. The crew had trained him, CJ, and the other younger members on the rules whenever they got.

It had been annoying but if it was a choice between annoying and potentially deadly, Hadie would pick annoying every chance he got. Besides, the quizzes got easier after Harriet wrote the rules down and made small booklets for them to study. They were some of the few books they had on the Isle that were relatively new, all in all there were probably about twenty books in total but maybe five were still usable.

Though the sorry state of the other fifteen could be blamed on morons like the Gaston twins and even a few of their own. Not all of the Warf Rats liked reading as a way to pass the time. However, with the never-ending turf war between the Rats and the Angels, Hadie couldn't exactly blame them.

You wouldn't win in a face off against an Angel by quoting from a book while they were wielding a dagger.

It pays to be friends with CJ, he thought. There was no way Mal would have given me any of that information. Her constant quest to keep me innocent I suppose. Never mind the fact that I did have to live on the Isle too.

"You okay?" Alexandria asked, looking at him and bringing him back to the conversation at hand. "No offense but you're not your usual chatty self. I know it's the library but you can still talk you know."

"I'm fine," Hadie said with a small shrug. "I was…I was just thinking about the Isle."

"Oh," Alexandria said and they were quiet for a bit as they worked. Before long though Alexandria broke the silence. "What's it like? The Isle I mean? I tried asking Kitty, Lucy and Chad about it before you all arrived but Chad wouldn't answer and I feel like the answer Kitty and Lucy gave were just sanitized versions."

"The curse of being the younger sibling huh? They're always trying to keep the world bright and shiny for you?"

"Oh Gods, yes! Someone who knows my pain!" Alexandria chuckled as she shook her head. "We should form a club. You, me, Phillip Jr., Ashaki, Melody, and Neal White. I'm sure there are other younger siblings around here we could invited to join too."

"That'd be fun," Hadie grinned, brushing a bit of his blue hair out of his eyes. "It'd be like our own pirate crew. You'd be captain of course."

"Why not you? I thought guys were captain." Alexandria said, tilting her head a little in confusion as she brushed a bit of her long blonde hair out of her face.

Hadie rolled his eyes. "Mal and Uma were co-captains back on the Isle. In fact, I don't think they ever stopped considering Jay and Harry still call them 'captains'. Harry's older sister Harriet is the captain of her crew, and I think Red Jessica of the Rose would have words with you if she was still alive."

Unfortunately, not even Mal could keep that sort of information from him. When people had their souls enter the Underworld. Came with the territory, his father being who he was. He was sure Mal was the same way even if she never mentioned it.

"Okay okay," Alexandria said as she shook her head once more, the hair she'd just brushed out of her face falling back into her eyes. "So, what? You'd be my first mate?"

"Gladly," Hadie grinned, happy that the slightly morbid subject of death had been changed to one he was more than happy to talk about. Ironic, considering his father was the God of the Dead. "I can ask Harry how to be a decent one. Besides, you're a Princess. It wouldn't be right for you not to be in charge."

"Hadie, you're the son of two Gods. If we're going by rank as to determine who's in charge of our hypothetical club, it should be you then."

Hadie shook his head. "I'm not the leading type. That's Mal's role after all. Like I said, she and Uma lead the crew back on the Isle. Harry was first mate and Jay was right under him."

Alexandria nodded, chewing a bit on her pen as she thought for a moment. It hadn't escaped her knowledge that Hadie hadn't answered her question about what the Isle was like. It wasn't as if he wouldn't know, as he had lived on the Isle his whole life. It really could only mean one thing; that the Isle was the type of place you had to experience rather than describe.

"Well, well, well, isn't this cute? Honestly Alexandria, I thought you'd have better standards as to who your boyfriend was. I mean, I know he can only move upwards but you have your rank to think about."

Alexandria rolled her eyes and turned to face Audrey who was accompanied by a couple of her lackeys. "One, he's not my boyfriend and two, don't you have something better to do? Like break my brother's heart for the fiftieth time?"

"Your brother knows where my feelings lie," Audrey said, waving her hand in front of her face as if shooing a bothersome bug. "Whats more it's not really any of your business what my plans with him are now is it?"

"You stuck your nose in my business, only fair I get to do the same with yours." Alexandria shrugged, turning back to resume work on the essay in front of her.

"Oh Alex, sweet little Alex," Audrey said shaking her head as a couple of her cronies tittered in amusement. Hadie was honestly reminded of some of the brainless wonders back on the Isle. What were their names? Mal and Uma loved to rant about them almost as much as they ranted about Evie...oh that's right! Maddy, Quinn and Morgan. Half of Zevon's gang and one of Freddy's Angels. No wait…if they survived the Isle then they had to have something in their heads. The jury was out on whether the same could be said for Audrey's cronies.

"It's clear you still don't understand how hierarchies work," Audrey said, pulling Hadie's attention back onto the conversation rather than spend his brain power trying to determine if the other girls had brains of their own or if they operated on a pure hive mind. "You see, as someone who is first in line for their throne, I'm well within my right to inquire about your business. A Queen has to know about her subjects after all. But you, little miss…what was it again?"

"Fourth in line," Alexandria muttered, looking like she would rather be dragged over rocks than have this conversation.

Audrey smirked as her two yes-women once again giggled in cruel amusement. "That's right, you're fourth in line for your throne. Well then, my business just isn't any concern of yours."

Throughout the entire exchange, Hadie had been telling himself not to get involved. Mal could deal with Audrey if it turned nasty. But seeing Alexandria upset like she was…he couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

"That doesn't seem fair," Hadie said, raising an eyebrow as both royals looked over at him. "So what, you can just interfere in the business of anyone lower ranked than you?"

"Glad to see someone gets it," Audrey nodded.

Hadie smirked a little. "So why won't you leave Mal alone? Considering she's the daughter of a God, I'd think that would be higher on the ranking scale than a mere princess. Oh, no offense Alex."

"None taken," Alexandria said with a small smile. Normally she hated it when people who weren't related to her shortened her name like that but she was fine with Hadie doing that. Especially since he was in the process of taking down Audrey.

Audrey rolled her eyes but was preventing from speaking as a familiar voice entered the fray.

"Step away from my brother Audrey," Mal snapped as she walked up to the three of them, her eyes narrowed in such a way that would have spelled trouble to anyone with half a brain. "Gods, you know, going up to Ben is one thing. But you can't leave well enough alone now can you?"

"It's a library and I saw someone I knew Mal. Not my fault she was sitting next to your half brother," Audrey said, faking an innocent tone in her voice.

"And I've told you about ten times to stay away from my sisters while we're on our break Audrey," Chad said as he too entered into the conversation. Good thing too, as Mal looked ready to either hit Audrey with a fireball or just haul off and slug her. "Unless this is your way of saying you want to get back together?"

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Chad, I told you about fifty times. I belong with Ben. You were just a way to bounce back while he recovered from whatever spell Mal had him under."

"Audrey. Ben. Can't. Be. Spelled," Mal said, going slow as if to make sure she heard every word. "You were betrothed to the guy and you don't know that? Hell, even if you personally didn't know that, it has to be a matter of public record! It's only the christening of the Crown Prince we're talking about—plus one of the fairies who your mother considers an aunt was the one to give the gift!"

"If anyone could spell Ben, Mal, I bet it'd be you. Daughter of Hades and Maleficent after all," Audrey scoffed, her lackeys murmuring in agreement. "Chad, I'll see you at lunch."

With that, she turned around and stormed off. Mal rolled her eyes as she saw Chad staring after Audrey rather forlornly. If Mal was being generous, she'd say Chad looked almost like a kicked puppy.

"Geez, Charming Jr., get better taste in women," Mal scoffed. She'd have felt sorry for him if he hadn't strung Evie along and made her do his homework. Back then, the only one who could mess with Evie was Mal. Now though? Evie was under herprotection. No one was messing with the blue haired VK, not even Mal. "She said to your face that she only saw you as a rebound and you still want her?"

Chad shrugged slightly before turning to his sister. "Alex, you okay?"

"I'm fine Chad," Alexandria nodded. "She didn't do anything, just spewed some nonsense about rankings and how she could poke her nose in my business but I couldn't do the same because I'm fourth in line for the Charmington throne."

"Besides, we were fine even if you two didn't step in," Hadie added.

"What makes you say that little bro?"

"Because Uma and Harry were about two shelves to the right of us," Hadie said, pointing at them. "It's a shame, they've lived on the Isle yet they can't sneak up on people."

"How in the world did you know we were there?" Uma asked as she stepped out from behind the bookshelf.

"You're the only person in Auradon with teal hair and Harry breathes so loudly, I could have hit him with a fireball in the dark," Hadie said, rolling his eyes. "Plus I heard him whisper that all the girls in this school are ravishing."

"Uma, control your first mate," Mal sighed as she shook her head.

"Gladly," Uma nodded as she whacked Harry over the head.

"What? I can't even notice when a girl is good looking anymore?!"

"Not around Hadie!" Mal and Uma snapped in unison.

Hadie rolled his eyes. "You guys do know I'm eleven, not three right? I can handle Harry saying girls are good looking."

Alexandria chuckled softly before looking at Chad. "And I thought you, Kitty and Lucy were overprotective."

"It's the role of an older sibling," Chad said with a nod. "I'm going to go then. Alex, you're sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure Chad," Alexandria nodded. "Don't worry, I won't write to mom and dad with a different story."

"When's the last time you wrote to mom or dad?"

"Fine, I won't call mom and dad with a different story. Happy?"

"Insanely," Chad nodded before walking off. Alexandria rolled her eyes.

"Brothers," she muttered. "Can't live with 'em, they'll drive you insane if you try."

Harry chuckled. "Now, now, Charmette, don't lump all us brothers in with yours."

"Harry, you once tried to run Freddy boy through with your sword because he made a comment about CJ," Uma stated.

"The runt was thirteen at the time and considering what Freddy boy is like, I was well within my right to try to run him through! If Jay, Derek and Jake hadn't held me back, I would have!"

"We don't murder people Harry!"

"Making sure Freddy never saw the light of day again is more like a public service Uma!"

"Since when do we preform 'public services' on the Isle?"

"Guys, I hate to be that person but this is the library," Mal sighed. "If you're going to stay here, you're going to keep your voice down."

"Thank you Mal!" Hadie nodded. "Come on guys, I don't want to get kicked out of here! Again."

"Again? Meaning you've been kicked out of the library already?" Mal asked.

"Harry tried to start a sparring lesson with a ruler last week," Hadie shrugged. Alexandria blinked in surprise at how he was acting like that sort of behavior was normal.

And yet, from what she'd seen, it probably was.

Uma sighed and shook her head, leaning over to ruffle Hadie's hair. "Fine you little bookworm. I'll behave. But only because you're my cousin."

"Gee, thanks," Hadie muttered as he tried to straighten his hair back out.

Harry chuckled. "Now that we know the little Lord is safe, shall we go and get some sparring practice in, cap'n?"

"Why that sounds lovely Harry. Mali, you in?"

"As much fun as that sounds you guys, I did just spar Uma today and I do have some homework I'd like to get done before lunch."

"Nope, you're coming with us. You need a dose of the Isle and stat."

"Cap'n's right Mal. I mean, you're already missing your jacket. You stay here in Boreadon without us for much longer and you'll be wearing a dress all the time and changing your hair!"

"There's nothing wrong with dresses," Alexandria spoke up as she brushed some lint from the skirt of her baby blue dress. "Though I do admit, they'd look weird on Mal. It'd be if my sister Kitty wore dresses all the time. Now if it were Lucy, that'd be a different story."

"Alex?"

"Hmm?"

"You're rambling," Hadie told her. "But Harry's right Mal. Where is your jacket? You normally never take it off."

"As I told Uma earlier when she asked back at our dorm, I got hot. It happens a lot around here," Mal shrugged, trying to ignore the feeling of goosebumps forming on her skin. Even with the heated buildings, the cold from the outside still seeped into her bones. It didn't help that the library was oddly enough the coldest building in Auradon Prep.

Mal didn't know why that was, she didn't know how that was but she would go to her grave stating that it was the coldest building on campus. Well…if Gods had graves. Or Fae for that matter.

No, bad thoughts. Remember you're trying to distance yourself from Maleficent. You won't get people to stop making comparisons between you and Maleficent if you're doing it yourself, Mal thought.

"Well I'll let you guys get back to work," Mal said with a small nod of her head. "Uma, Harry, don't kill each other sparring."

"Mal, you wound us!"

Mal rolled her eyes and walked off. Uma watched as her cousin turned the corner and then, as soon as she was satisfied that Mal was out of earshot, turned to Harry and Hadie.

"Look, either I'm crazy or Mal's changed," she said.

"Well why can't it be both?" Hadie asked and then quickly dodged a whack on the head from his older cousin. "You're right though Uma. Mal loves her jacket, she's always had it on since I can remember."

"You don't think something happened to it?"

"Like what? A sleeve ripped or something?"

"Maybe she tore a stitch in it when she threw that dagger at Audrey?"

"Maybe it was getting a bit tight?" Alexandria offered and the other three jumped a smidge, forgetting the youngest Charming was still there. "I mean, Mal's still plenty lean but from what my sisters told me, the original VKs were very lean when they got here. A change in diet…"

"Mal could have just spelled her jacket to be bigger, or asked mom for a new one," Hadie pointed out. "Also weren't you here when Mal, Jay and the others arrived?"

"Yeah but Chad and Kitty interacted with them more. That was actually probably the first time I'd interacted with Mal."

"Ah. But going back to the topic at hand, what's going on with Mal?"

"You could try talking to her?"

Uma shook her head. "Tried that. Speaking of talking, though, Hadie? Your mind link? Does Mal have you on mute too?"

"I thought it was just me," Hadie said, sounding a bit relieved.

"Mind link—?"

"The Olympians have an ability where they can communicate mentally to each other," Hadie explained to a confused looking Alexandria. "Since it's not 'evil' so to speak, the barrier can't stop it. I was able to communicate with Mal using it when I was back on the Isle and she was here."

"Same," Uma nodded. "But for the past month, Mal's had me on mute. I'm tempted to ask Aunt Steph and Uncle Hades if they've been on mute too but that would just worry them."

"Have you tried talking to the other Olympian children?" Alexandria suggested. "Like Elle or Macaria? Wouldn't they be able to communicate through this mental link too, since Elle's Poseidon's great-granddaughter and Macaria is Zeus' granddaughter?"

Uma sighed. As much as she really did not want to talk to her cousins on this side of the barrier, there might not be much of a choice. If something was going on with Mal's mental link, those brainless Olympians and Atlanticans might know something Uma didn't.

The joys of living in Auradon and having full access to their abilities. Not for the first time in her life did Uma curse the fact she'd been born under the magical barrier.

But Uma would swallow her pride and talk to them if it meant at least one mystery could be solved. If one of the brainless wonders could access Mal's mental link, then that meant that her cousin had her on mute.

And if that was the case, then Uma would have no choice but to get Aunt Steph involved. Because that meant that something was going on with Mal, something she didn't want Uma to know about.

Mali, you'd better hope Jerkules' or Princess Sushi's kids can't access your mental link. Otherwise, it's a nonstop call to your mom.

"So…are you guys going to go spar or just stand over our table in an awkward silence?" Hadie asked, looking at his cousin and her first mate.

Uma shook her head slightly, her cousin's words pulling her out of her thoughts and back to the situation at hand.

"Ah! Right you are, my young Lordling," Harry nodded.

Hadie rolled his eyes. "You've been calling me that since I was three Harry! You outrank me!"

"You're a God. I'm a Pirate."

"You're first mate. I'm just crew."

"And I'm just a fourth in line Princess who'd like to get this essay done," Alexandria spoke up.

Uma chuckled. "So sorry to bother you, Princess. Hadie, we'll be in the gym if you need us. Actually, it's been a while since you've sparred. Come round after you're done here, I'll see where you're at."

"Oh joy, getting my ass handed to me by either Harry or Jay will be the highlight of my day," Hadie rolled his eyes.

"Hey now," Uma chided. "I could always get Gil to spar you."

"Humiliating defeat versus an easy win? I'll take defeat, I almost beat Jay last time."

Uma chuckled and leaned over to ruffle Hadie's hair again, Hadie squawking with discontent. "Charmette, Hadie. You two take care now."

"Bye Uma," Hadie said, running his hand through his hair as if to straighten it back out. Uma and Harry smirked as they walked out of the library.

"Where to Cap'n?" Harry asked as they entered the hallway. "Gym for sparring?"

"No Harry," Uma sighed. "I need to have a talk with some Olympians. I could ignore Mal changing slightly before because it's Boreadon. We're from the Isle, adapting is in our blood. But Mal's going without her jacket. I can't turn a blind eye to that."

"Where you go I go Uma," Harry nodded. "Especially with Princess Brat roaming the halls."

"You just don't want to risk seeing Gil in the gym by yourself do you?" Uma teased as the two of them walked off in search of her elusive extended relations.

Akiho sighed as he stared at the essay he was supposed to be writing. However all he had in front of him was a blank page as his mind was elsewhere. They were coming up on the one month mark since he had put in the request for that footage yet he had not heard a thing from the head of security from the docks.

Maybe he was still on vacation? No, Akiho would have heard something if that was the case. Or he would have been put in contact with the deputy head of security of the docks.

Akiho could only hope that their head of security wasn't somehow in Leah's pocket. He doubted it but then again his mother hadn't thought Hans was a low life set on taking over Arendelle just for a shot at having a throne. They were bad judges of character was the point he was trying to make.

Well, except for when he met Ben. Akiho had to smile as he thought back on that fateful day twelve years ago.

"Go on Akiho," Anna said gently. "Mama and Papa have to go to a meeting. You stay here with Olaf okay?"

"Okay mama," Akiho nodded.

"Don't worry Anna, he'll be safe with me," Olaf said with his usual smile. Anna smiled and bent down to kiss Akiho on the head before walking out of the room.

"Hi!"

Akiho looked over to see a boy his age with light brown hair and brownish green eyes waving at him from the corner. How had he missed him?

"There's a secret passage over here," the boy said, as if he'd read Akiho's thoughts. "Chip showed it to me a few days ago. Oh! I'm Ben by the way."

"I'm Akiho…and this is Olaf," Akiho said, pointing to the snowman. "He's my babysitter while my mama and papa are in a meeting."

"But…he's a snowman," Ben said, tilting his head in confusion. "How…how is he alive?"

Akiho shrugged. "I don't know. Mama says he's my cousin because my Auntie Elsa made him but I don't know how he's alive."

"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" Olaf chimed in, walking up to Ben.

"You have to hug him now," Akiho told him.

"Okay," Ben shrugged and went over to hug Olaf. Akiho couldn't help but smile at the sight, most kids from other kingdoms ran away from Olaf whenever they saw him.

"Huh, he's warm," Ben said as he broke the hug. "Not cold like snow is."

"Maybe it's because Olaf's alive?" Akiho ventured.

"Maybe it's magic?" Another boy's voice ventured and both Ben and Akiho turned to look at a boy their age with jet black hair standing by the doorway. "Sorry, I didn't mean to butt in."

"It's okay," Ben said with a smile. "I'm Ben and this is Akiho and Olaf. What's your name?"

"Emir," the boy said, returning the smile. "My mama and papa are in a meeting."

"Same with ours," Akiho said. "What do you want to do while we wait?"

"Do you kids want to hear the story of The Two Sisters?" Olaf asked and Akiho groaned.

"Olaf! I've heard that story a thousand times!"

"Story?" Ben perked up and Emir looked interested. Akiho shook his head but sat down next to his new friends.

"It began…with two sisters…one born with magical powers, one without…."

The familiar melody of his ringtone broke through Akiho's thoughts and brought the Arendelle prince back to the present.

"Hello?" Akiho asked as he answered his phone.

"Your highness. My apologies for the delay, I've only just finished combing through the footage you requested."

"Michael, there's no need to apologize. I know there was a lot of footage that needed to be looked at. But I take it from your call that you found something?"

"Yes your highness. Please keep in mind that we only have footage in the cloud system going back the past year but we still have the tapes as backups. I wanted to get you the most recent footage first."

"Of course," Akiho nodded. His father had upgraded the docks' security system to make it more digital rather than the old way that they had before. As long as there was footage for them to see, Akiho was sure Ben wouldn't care whether it was from the tapes or from the cloud.

"I was able to find one clip every month that fit your criteria, including one from the previous week."

Akiho froze, hoping that he had misheard the head of security. This…this surely wasn't still going on. Was it?

"I'm sorry Michael, I must have misheard you. Did you just say that it was this past week?"

"Yes your highness."

Akiho sighed and shook his head. Gods, Ben was not going to be happy to hear that.

"Go ahead and send me those recordings Michael. And thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I know it's not fun to come back from your vacation and have a request like this."

"Prince Akiho, it is my job to help both the King of Auradon and the Prince of Arendelle. I only wish I could do more."

"If we need more, I know I will gladly call and ask you," Akiho promised. "Thank you again."

"Of course sire. Those recordings should be in your inbox within a half hour or so."

"I'll be on the look out for them. Please let me know if you need anything."

"I will. Please send my best wishes to the King and to your parents."

Akiho couldn't help but smile at that. No matter what was happening, Michael always made sure to send his regards to Akiho's parents.

"I will be sure to pass along your wishes," Akiho said and quickly said goodbye before hanging up. Making a mental note to ask his dad to give Michael a raise, he turned back to his essay. If it was going to be half an hour before the footage was available, Akiho would need something to pass the time.

And besides…the essay needed to get done anyway. He could just picture Ben's look of expectant disappointment if Akiho walked into his office without at least starting the essay.

Pulling the paper closer to him, Akiho began to write. Thankfully, the essay was for Advanced Chivalry and it was a five paged essay on what not to do as a prince. Let's just say Akiho drew inspiration from a certain red haired former suitor of his mother's for most of the essay. He worked to keep his handwriting neat, knowing he would have to type up his rough draft at some point.

It was a joke amongst the Tourney team that the only reason why Akiho hadn't been made captain was because of his messy handwriting. He would always joke back that he wasn't the 'captain' type. While he was born to rule Arendelle, Ben was born to rule everyone else.

It was funny though, Ben never acted like he was looking forward to the day where he would take the crown. Of course, when they were kids, they all thought Ben would be an adult and Beast would be well…dead. No one predicted Beast abdicating and Ben getting the crown at sixteen.

The pinging of his phone brought Akiho out of his thoughts and marked a good stopping point for his essay writing. Glancing at the email, the blond renewed his resolve to get a raise for Arendelle's head of security at the docks. Not only did Michael include all the digital recordings but he also time stamped them and notated a summary of each clip.

Okay, wait to watch with Ben, Akiho told himself. Watching without him will just get you angry and the last thing you want is to storm into the King's office upset. Especially if Ben's in a meeting or something. Though he doesn't really have that many meetings now, not since he got Dean as his personal assistant. And Mal.

Akiho smiled slightly to himself as he got up and made his way over to Ben's office, hoping that Mal would also be there. It'd save them the trouble of having to find her for one and would prevent the tapes from being delayed.

They all wanted irrevertible proof that Leah had done this, proof that she couldn't talk her way out of or claim that she was being set up as they knew she would. Leah could talk he way out of anything. Honestly, Akiho had been tempted to see if she was related to Jafar with the smooth talking she could do.

But that would make her somehow related to Jay. There was no way on Jörd's green earth Akiho would wish that on his teammate and friend. Plus that would also make Audrey related to Jay. Double no thank you.

"He in there Dean?" Akiho asked as he reached the doors to Ben's office.

"You literally caught him at a free moment," Dean told him. "He's with Lady Mal right now."

"Do I have perfect timing or what?" Akiho chuckled. "Can I go in?"

"Go right ahead," Dean nodded and Akiho strode on into Ben's office. Sure enough Ben was sitting at his desk with Mal perched on top of it, peering at some paperwork Ben was working on.

Hang on, what's Mal wearing? And where's her jacket? Akiho thought as he looked at Mal. Akiho was not usually the type to notice what people were wearing, with the exception of Ben and his suits, but the pale green dress seemed like something that would be more commonly found in Lucy Charming's closet. Not Mal's.

"Please tell me you're here because you've finished your essay and you want to celebrate," Ben chuckled as he looked up to see his best friend and pulling Akiho out of his thoughts.

"How long have you known me?" Akiho smirked.

"Good point. What was I thinking?"

"Meh, what can I say? I'm charming and irresponsible," Akiho shrugged.

Mal tilted her head. "Doesn't he mean 'irresistible'?"

"No, he does not," Ben sighed.

"Thank you for the compliment Mal but I said what I said," Akiho chuckled. "I'm sorry to interrupt Ben but I need to talk to you."

"You're never an interruption dude. What's up?"

Akiho sighed and handed Ben his phone. "The clips are in. Michael sent them today, called me half an hour ago that he found them. I haven't looked at them yet, figuring you'd want to do that yourself."

Ben nodded slightly and took the phone from Akiho's hands. This was it, the moment of truth. They would finally have visual proof of Leah's wrongdoings.

But…at the same time, did he want to know? This was a woman who he'd known since he was three. Granted they all despised the very ground Leah walked on but she was still going to be his grandmother in law before he got out of the contract. It wasn't hard to believe Leah would do something like this but believing it and knowing it were too very different things.

"Hey…" Mal said softly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You want me to do it?"

"I couldn't ask you to do that Mal," Ben said gently.

"You're not asking, I'm offering. There's a difference," Mal said, gently tugging the phone out of Ben's hands. "Akiho, what's your passcode? Your phone locked."

"1119," Akiho told her. Mal nodded and punched in the passcode. Thankfully the email with the clips was still opened when the phone locked so it was the first thing that Mal saw. She sighed and looked over at Ben.

"You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Ben told her and pressed play. Akiho scurried over to see for himself. He immediately wished he hadn't. Clip after clip of Leah meeting with members of the crew, slipping some of them envelopes that looked innocent enough at first glance. Thankfully the crew members she handed them to were imbeciles and opened them in full view of the camera; showing the stacks of cash that were inside.

"There aren't enough curse words in the world to satisfy me right now," Akiho muttered under his breath.

What was that line Mal said to Audrey outside Chemistry that one time? Akiho thought. Oh yeah: somewhere out there is a tree, tirelessly producing oxygen so that Leah can breath. I think she owes it an apology.

"Think of the kids you can still get off the Isle, you can not go and kill her," he heard Mal growl under her breath. "Think of the kids you can still get off there, you cannot go and kill her."

"Mal, you won't need to worry about that," Ben told her as he stopped the clip. "This is sick! It's inhumane! It's…oh Gods, this was going on when I was with Audrey! Did Audrey know and not say anything?"

"Knowing Audrey…no," Akiho sighed. "Ben, I know you can't say anything negative about anyone but Audrey's the biggest gossip in the school. If she knew, the entire school would have known in a day because she wouldn't be able to resist telling everyone about what her 'grammy' was doing to the Isle. Not to mention Leah wants Audrey to be Queen, she wouldn't damage her chances by involving her in something like this."

Mal growled and began to pace, her fingers twitching every so often and if one looked closely they would see that her green eyes were a glow. If one didn't know Mal that well, they might assume it was due to her anger. However, after a couple of months of knowing Mal, Akiho was fairly confident that the glow was more due to her magic than anything else.

Having experience with magical relations, Akiho felt no shame in the fact that he jumped behind the couch in Ben's office.

"Very funny," Mal said flatly.

"Hey, I'm just preparing myself for the next fireball," Akiho quipped and Mal rolled her eyes. Akiho chuckled and looked over at Ben.

"Ben, in all seriousness, you can't delay calling the council on this," the blond said. "And honestly, if it were me, I'd clean house there. They all had the ability to check the ship's log. I know my aunt and Emir's dad are on the council but still—"

"I'd rather not have Ben have a council where he has no allies," Mal said. "Remove the ones who need it, but Aladdin would be a good voice to have on the council. He's a former street rat, he of all people should sympathize with the Isle kids once he hears about everything that happened. Eugene's another good one, basically anyone who grew up poor would understand food poverty."

"Queen Elsa's another one I want to keep," Ben said. "She'd know better than anyone the pain of punishing a child for something they can't control."

Akiho sighed. While he loved the stories his mom and aunt would tell about his grandparents, he wasn't going to say they didn't mess up when it came to dealing with his aunt's powers. Especially with his grandmother being Northaldra. She would have known wouldn't she?

Ben shook his head and pulled out his phone. "This isn't going to be pretty but it has to be done," he muttered. "Guess I should convene the council."

Mal nodded and went to go stand by Akiho to give Ben some privacy.

"Gods, the fall out from this is going to be something…Mal, level with me. How many kids died because of what Leah did?" Akiho asked, keeping his voice down as to not interrupt Ben.

Mal sighed. "Too many," she said softly. "I meant what I said a month ago, when this all started. My mom practically saved our lives. We have no medical system and kids ate what they could get Akiho. Dad set up the restaurant to try to get kids food when he could, he actually has a rule. Kids don't pay."

"But adults do?"

"Of course. The adults on the Isle actually did something to get put on there. Well, most of the adults. The kids who were lucky enough to grow up to adulthood don't have to pay. But adults like Hook, Ursula, the Evil Queen not that she'd ever step footinto my dad's restaurant. Honestly, the ones who eat the best on the Isle are the hyenas."

"I'm going to regret asking this but why the hyenas?"

Mal sighed. "They acted…well they acted as the clean up crew for the Isle. We handled the area around the docks but people would drop dead all over the place. Decaying bodies did not smell good."

"…yep I regret asking."

"My crew actually formed an alliance with them back when Uma and I were six," Mal chuckled. "Evie, in her infinite wisdom, decided that Shenzi's cubs would be good as party favors in the little nasty bags she gave kids. I remember Gil got a cub but he brought it to the ship, he was under the crew's protection at that time anyway. Carlos got a cat from the nasty bag. Named her Beelzebub. I should talk to Ben about getting that cat back for Carlos but I doubt Dude would like that."

"So this got you into an alliance with the hyenas?" Akiho prompted, trying to get the subject back on track.

"Of course. Shenzi's the matriarch of her clan, her eldest female cub would be the future matriarch. Not to mention the cubs had no business being away from their mother at that age," Mal told him. "Getting them back to Shenzi was just good politics in a way, you don't want to screw over a hyena. Scar learned that the hard way."

"So what was the alliance?" Akiho asked.

"We'd get them fresh water, food if needed and they could eat whatever dead bodies they found," Mal said softly. "In exchange, we were granted immunity from being eaten if our crew was caught out at night and we could gather up our allies or any kids under the age of twelve who died before the hyenas could have their fill."

"With all due respect Chi-Fu, I don't care! Your reports can wait, get yourself into the council room before I call guards to escort you in!" Ben snapped, cutting off Akiho who had opened his mouth. "Thank you for your cooperation!"

"Gods, if this is what he's like with Chi-Fu, imagine what he'll be like when he has to call Leah," Akiho muttered.

"Wouldn't he have called her first though?" Mal asked. "Get it out of the way?"

Mal's hopes were dashed by the next words out of Ben's mouth, however. "Hello Queen Leah? I'm going to need you to report to an emergency meeting of the council," he said, his voice neutral but Mal could tell there was a bit of an edge to it. "Yes, it is important. Do you think I call emergency sessions every day for no reason? No I will not tell you what the meeting is about over the phone. You'll find out with all the other council members—at the meeting. Yes, I do insist. Thank you! I will see you there. Please be sure to arrive promptly, it's important we begin straight away."

Ben ended the call and, for a brief second, Mal honestly thought he was going to throw his phone against the wall. Instead, he opted to grab a pile of the reports and throw them in his frustration.

"Kids are dying because of her machinations and she has the gall to ask me what the meeting's about?!"

Akiho stared in shock. This was legitimately the first time he had ever seen Ben lose his cool like this. Hey, there was a reason why they joked that Ben wasn't human.

"Ben, you need to calm down," Mal said, walking up to his desk.

"Mal, I…" Ben sighed, running a hand through his hair. "How can I calm down? When I look at those engine logs and see that video and just hear your brother asking if we hated the Isle so much that we'd willingly send them rotten food? And now I know the reason behind that question is Leah, someone I've known since I was a toddler?"

"I know Ben," Mal said softly, gently resting a hand on Ben's upper arm. "Trust me, if it wasn't for all the kids still on the Isle right now and the fact that I'd like to avoid being sent back to the Isle, I'd have transformed into a dragon and gone after Leah. But I can't do that. We go after her in anyway but legally, she and her cronies will cry persecution so fast it'll make our heads spin."

"Mal, I promise you, there is nothing you could do that would get you sent back to the Isle," Ben promised. "I just…I need a minute. I know Leah's someone who's mentally trapped in the 1400's but like I said, I've known her since I was a toddler. I never thought she was capable of this."

Mal gave Ben a sad smile as she brushed some of his hair out of his eyes before bending down to pick up the papers he had thrown. "Ben, you're the king. If you need a minute, take that minute. What's Leah going to do, yell at you?"

"That's not out of the realm of possibilities," Akiho chimed in. "If you value your boyfriend's hearing Mal, you'd know it's a bad idea to tempt fate."

Mal snorted in amusement. "I'm a VK Akiho. We tempt fate every day."

"Fair point."

Ben smiled at the interaction between the two of them. He couldn't believe how calm Mal was being throughout this whole thing…but then, maybe it made sense. She had already known the food was being delayed on purpose and Leah was…well she was someone who could only be described as a person who'd be visited by Christmas ghosts.

She wasn't worth Mal's anger.

"Mal…why don't you come with me to the meeting?" Ben offered, an idea coming to him.

"Is that a good idea Ben?" Mal asked. "We're dating after all, anything I say Leah'll come back with an argument that you agree with it because we're dating."

"The Isle needs the representation in this matter and you're the highest ranked VK, being the daughter of Hades and the niece of Zeus," Ben told her. "Leah can try to twist it all she wants, but if you don't want to you don't have to."

Mal sighed. As much as she really didn't want to deal with Leah's craziness and the possibility of actually talking to her Uncle Zeus…Ben was right. The Isle did need the representation.

"Alright," she said. "But if Leah says Maleficent's my mother, I make no promises about the lack of fireballs thrown her way."

"Duly noted," Ben chuckled. "Akiho, what about you?"

"Hmm…essay or watching Mal flambé Leah," Akiho said, pretending to weigh the two options. "Flambé it is!"

"Why am I not at all surprised?"

"Charming and irresponsible Ben. Charming and irresponsible."

Ben, Mal and Akiho made their way to the council room where Leah's fate would be decided. After all, once the council heard everything that Leah had done, they would have to vote to change it. To make everything better for people on the Isle. Right?

Akiho wasn't exactly thrilled at the fact that there was a lingering sensation of doubt in his mind about Leah's fate. After all, while she only had the two official cronies, Leah was still good at twisting words and crafting a decent argument. She wasn't considered the Queen of Stonewalling by his Aunt Elsa for nothing.

But Ben's no slouch when it comes to crafting a decent argument either, he thought as the trio reached the council room. I mean, with all the time he spends with his nose in a book, he'd better be.

"Akiho?"

His aunt's voice brought the blond out of his thoughts and Akiho smiled at seeing her. Granted, it hadn't been that long since he'd last seen his aunt but that didn't change the fact that he was always happy to see her.

"Hey Aunt Elsa," Akiho said, walking up and giving her a hug, earning a smile and a hug back from her. He also earned an eye roll and a sigh of annoyance from Leah as she passed them but Akiho paid her no mind. Hopefully, it was the last time Leah would step foot in this room. At least, as a member of Ben's council.

"What are you doing here?" Elsa asked as she broke from the hug and looked down at her nephew.

"His majesty invited me," Akiho stated. He knew Ben would hate it but that was the rule of the council, formality at all times. Even if you weren't on the council. "Don't worry Aunt Elsa…err sorry Queen Elsa. You're still the representative for Arendelle."

"I was more worried that you were in some sort of trouble," Elsa told him. "King Ben wasn't really all that detailed when he stated that there was an emergency council meeting to attend."

"Trust me, the meeting is in no way regarding me," Akiho said. "But we should probably be seated. I think his majesty is ready to get started."

"Yes, thank you Prince Akiho," Ben stated from his spot at the center of the table. Mal had taken the spot next to him, as both her status as his girlfriend and as his invited guest allowed. Akiho quickly took the spot next to his aunt, as normally every council member was allowed one guest if one was needed.

I probably should attend some more of Ben's council meetings, Akiho thought. At some point, it'll be me on the throne of Arendelle but before then, I should at least know what goes on here beyond what Aunt Elsa rants about at the castle.

"Excuse me King Ben but the council room is normally for council members only," Leah spoke up. Akiho could only assume that she had also noticed Mal's presence in the room. "I'm not sure if the presence of others is all that appropriate."

"Normally you'd be correct Queen Leah," Ben said and Akiho had to wonder how much it hurt his best friend to have to say those words, "but Lady Mal is here not only as my invited guest but as a representative of the Isle. The issue I've convened you all here today pertains to the Isle and I believe that it's time they have a voice that has long been denied them."

Leah pursed her lips. "I see. Well then, there's really no business for the young Arendelle Prince to be here then is there?"

"Prince Akiho is here as my invited guest, Queen Leah," Elsa stated, her voice cool yet firm as she stared at the aged monarch. "As council members, we're permitted to bring whomever we want as our guests. You said it yourself, Prince Akiho is Arendelle's prince. It's important he knows exactly what goes on at these meetings for when the time comes when he needs to take up the mantle of King of Arendelle. As I'm sure you'll be doing with Princess Audrey and Prince Phillip Jr when the time comes?"

"Why would I? After all, Audrey won't need to trouble herself with this when she's Queen and Phillip won't need to deal with this at all," Leah said, sounding as if Phillip Jr. was a mere afterthought.

Though, knowing Leah, Phillip Jr. probably is an afterthought, Akiho thought. Everyone knows that Audrey is Leah's favorite. Even Audrey has no qualms in admitting that though I assume she at least loves her brother.

"I really don't see how Audrey is any of your concern," Leah continued, still looking at Elsa. "After all, as a former Queen, I don't see how any of the ruling families are any of your concern."

"That's enough. I appreciate your concern Queen Leah but now is not the time to get into that," Ben said firmly, suppressing the urge to snap as he looked over at his best friend. Akiho was glaring at Leah so hard, Ben honestly thought that the aged Queen would burst into flames.

"Agreed King Ben," Elsa nodded, subtly resting a hand on Akiho's shoulder as if to remind him not to act. The council quickly got seated in their respective seats.

"Thank you all for coming. I apologize for calling you all here so abruptly however there is something rather important that needs to be discussed," Ben stated. "The issue pertains to the food deliveries that are making their way to the Isle of the Lost every month."

"What is the issue King Ben?" Aladdin asked as he leaned forward slightly.

"The issue, Sultan Aladdin, is that most of the food the Isle receives is rotten and furthermore, the issue seems to have been going on for the past nineteen years," Ben told him and most of the council gasped in shock and horror.

"Oh my!" Snow White exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. Even Beast seemed to lean forward with concern on his face. Even though he was no longer king, Ben had invited him to attend as this debacle had occurred during his father's reign. If anyone had any questions about how this had been permitted to occur, Beast would be able to answer them with more clarity than Ben would have.

"Now this issue came to my attention prior to my coronation and I meant for it to be an issue I addressed on day one. Regretfully, with everything that occurred at Family Day and at my coronation, the matter of the food slipped my mind," Ben said, looking over at Mal with an apologetic expression on his face.

"Your highness, excuse me," Beast spoke up. "But if you don't mind my asking, how did the issue come to your attention?"

"That would be my doing, King Beast," Mal spoke up. "His majesty wanted to see the Isle and try some of the food at my father's restaurant."

"Hades has a restaurant?" Zeus spoke up, sounding intrigued or at least curious as to the fact that his older brother had set up a restaurant on the Isle of the Lost. Maybe it was a trick of the light but Akiho could have sworn Mal's back stiffened as the King of the Gods spoke.

"Yes. He does," Mal responded, her voice as cool as Elsa's had been when speaking to Leah before taking a breath and forcing her voice back to its normal tone as she continued to explain. "His majesty was disguised, the only one who recognized him was my father and he only said anything to me when we were in private."

"And how do we know that Lord Hades didn't purposefully feed his majesty rotten food, as a way to get revenge on King Beast?" Leah asked.

Gods damn her, I hate the fact that she has a point, Akiho thought.

"Queen Leah, I do hope you're not implying that my father would kill King Ben or make him seriously ill just as a way to potentially get revenge on Former King Beast?" Mal asked, her voice just as cool as it had been when she was addressing Zeus.

"Considering the fact that he kidnapped and tried to kill his own nephew—"

"And we are not here to discuss Lord Hades' crimes," Ben spoke up as he saw Zeus' eyes darken at the reminder of Hades' past actions. "We are here to discuss the fact that Auradon citizens have not been getting a basic human right to edible food."

"Auradon citizens? They're prisoners," Leah scoffed. "Have you all forgotten the crimes they committed against us? Against our children?"

"Queen Leah, are you implying that people of a certain status in life should not be able to get edible food?" Aladdin asked, his voice hard as he glared slightly at the Queen of Auroria. "Or are you saying that they should be grateful they were getting any food at all?"

"How can we be certain that the status of the food is really that of which King Ben is describing?" Leah asked.

"Queen Leah, are you really implying that King Ben is lying about this?" Mal exclaimed, looking at the geriatric old bat in shock. "I saw him eat the food. I saw him spend about five minutes try to search for a word that would compliment my father's cooking without sounding like he was insulting it."

"I have to say, judging by Queen Leah's reaction to this, one almost has to wonder if she knew this was happening," Eugene said.

"How dare you! Accusing me of that without any proof!"

"It just so happens, Queen Leah, that we do have proof that has been graciously provided by the Arendelle security team and the prince of Arendelle," Ben stated and began to pull up the clips that Akiho had sent him using the computer and the new projector that had been installed in the council room. It had been on the behest of Belle and Ben hadn't been more thankful.

Otherwise, the only other option they would have had would have been a film reel and there'd have been no way to show the clips on that. Not unless Carlos had been able to update it somehow.

Having already seen the clips, Ben elected to watch the faces of those on the council. There were the expected expressions of shock, some horror and three expressions of complete fury from Aladdin, Eugene and Captain Phoebus much to Ben's surprise.

Then again, considering who his wife was, maybe it shouldn't have been that surprising. After all, no one would understand the horror of persecuting children just for the fact that they were born on the Isle like someone who's wife had been persecuted for who she was.

"Queen Leah, as you can be clearly seen in the clips, there is a clear implication that you are involved in this matter," Ben stated. "Do you have anything to say for yourself or any defense for your actions?"

Though I'm not entirely sure how you could have a defense for this, Ben thought as he looked at the woman who would have been his grandmother-in-law had it not been for Mal and his friends getting him out of that contract.

Ben would forever be thankful for Mal's love potion cookie. Oh and the fact that he wasn't able to be love spelled.

"Your majesty, I would like to make it known that I believe these clips to be altered," Leah stated. "There's no proof that it is actually me that you see on those tapes. What's more is are we all forgetting that we have children of villains here that are adapt at shape shifting?"

"That has got to be the least subtle reference to me you could have possibly made, Queen Leah," Mal stated dryly. "Why yes, I am adapt at shape shifting. I get the ability from my father, and can only transform into a dragon. You might as well accuse Lord Zeus of framing you because he once transformed into a swan."

"Furthermore,Queen Leah, do you have any proof that the tapes are altered?" Ben asked, looking over at Leah. "As well, while that may be a possible defense for the clip from today, there are clips dated from before the 'children of villains' as you called them arrived in Auradon."

"Sire, do we have any proof that the tapes haven't been altered?" Leah asked. "After all, anyone of those VKs could be trying to frame me. They've already managed to ruin Audrey's life by messing with her engagement to you."

"Queen Leah, in order to get access to these tapes, you have to have access to the camera room which is monitored by the kingdom of Arendelle. None of the VKs in question have that. As well you've yet to provide any explanation as to why you're appearing in these clips, giving what appears to be a sizable amount of money to the head guard of the ship to the Isle." Ben said firmly. "Furthermore, I'd like to you refrain from mentioning my betrothal contract with Princess Audrey as this is neither the time nor the place to discuss such matters."

Akiho once again bit his lip to prevent a smirk from appearing on his face as every council member turned to look at Leah.

Emir is going to be so upset that he missed this, he thought as Aladdin and Eugene gave the geriatric old bat a glare. Subtly slipping out his phone, the Arendelle prince began to record what was left of the session. He'd delete the footage later, once he showed Emir.

"Forgive me Queen Leah but it almost sounds like you're accusing the Arendelle security team of corruption," Elsa spoke up, her tone cool.

"Not at all Former Queen Elsa," Leah said in a faux sweet tone that didn't fool anyone who actually listened to it. "I just want to make sure all avenues have been covered in the investigation. If there was one in the first place. After all, from my understanding it was King Ben's best friend who had provided him the footage. A friend who has been known to be very vocal against his relationship with Audrey and therefore against my family."

Elsa rested a hand on Akiho's shoulder and the blond knew exactly what his aunt was silently saying: in this instance, the old motto of conceal don't feel rang true. If he shouted at Leah or even tried to speak up against her lies and slander, she may appear as the injured party and he would come across as an impulsive child.

Gods, he hated the machinations of royal life!

"You can have the footage checked by whoever you'd like Queen Leah. I can assure you though it is genuine," Ben said, his tone hardening slightly. "As well, Prince Akiho would not tamper with an investigation just to make it appear as if you are the guilty party."

"Queen Leah, I agree with King Ben," Elsa stated, though the tone of her voice made it clear that she wasn't thrilled with having to addressed Leah by her title, especially seeing as the later had reminded everyone in the room that Elsa was no longer a queen. "Can you provide an explanation? Preferably one without defaming and slandering my nephew?"

Leah remained silent, though Ben couldn't help but wonder how. Leah was one of the council members who had made stonewalling an art form. Though Ben had to admit, even he would be drawn to silence with Elsa staring him down the way she was staring down Leah.

That was on top of the glares coming from Eugene and Aladdin.

"Queen Leah, by not issuing an explanation, it's clear to me that you are the one behind the delays," Ben stated, drawing attention back to him. "Do you have anything to say to defend yourself?"

"I fail to see what the problem is," Leah stated, somehow keeping her holier than thou attitude despite clearly being in the wrong. "They got food, what does it matter what the condition of it was? As well they weren't forced into eating the food."

"Queen Leah, yes we got food but eating it was not exactly a choice," Mal stated.

"Lady Mal—"

"King Ben, you brought me here to be a representative for the Isle," Mal said, turning to face Ben and her expression turned into a more gentle one as her tone changed as well. "Let me do that."

Ben sighed but nodded his head as Mal turned back to face Leah. Akiho couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as he saw Mal's shine bright green once more. If Mal turned into a dragon, Leah might be able to argue against her. After all, King Beast wasin attendance and he was notorious for his stance on magic.

"Queen Leah, as I was saying, eating the food we received from Auradon was not a choice when there weren't many options at our disposal," Mal stated, her voice staying oddly calm and collected considering the last time Akiho heard her talk about the Isle, Mal shot off a fireball. "The lack of sun prevented us from growing our own crops. Lord Poseidon made it so that we had some seafood available to us but we couldn't eat that all the time. We were lucky when a few chickens wandered onto the barge and came to the Isle, my friends and I were able to start catching them and getting them to my father to serve at his restaurant."

Mal paused and took a breath, steeling herself for the onslaught of emotions that she was more than likely going to feel. Thinking about the past, about the children who had died on the Isle, was depressing enough by themselves. But thinking about them while staring at the woman who was essentially the reason why they died?

Yeah, they were pretty much lucky that she hadn't dragoned up yet.

"Thanks in part to the stellar planning of the Isle which included a lack of a medical system that we could use, children died daily. People died daily," Mal stated. "Not just from starvation. They died of dehydration because the rotten food didn't agree with them and they couldn't replenish the water fast enough. Water that my father was able to provide due to a filtration system my mother helped to set up since the only other water would have been either salt water or urine. They died from being trampled to death from the mad rush to get something edible. Then there were the women who died in childbirth because their bodies had grown too weak to handle that strain. Because of this, and because of the quality of the food sent to the Isle, it is the prevalent belief that Auradon knew about this and just didn't care."

She wouldn't get into the fact that most if not all of the teenage girls were severely irregular in their cycles due to the lack of nutrition. She and Uma were lucky that, due to their divine lineage, they escaped most of the damage but there were still months where their cycles were off.

At least it's better than Harriet, Sammy, Jade or even Freddie, Mal thought as she thought about some of the female members of their crew and Uma's older sister.

"What does it matter what villains think?" Leah scoffed, unknowingly pulling Mal out of her thoughts. "They're villains."

"They are also people," Phoebus stated. "They have the right to expect that they'll be treated as such. Humans have the right to voice their opinions on how they've been treated! I've seen first hand what happens when people are targeted for things beyond their control. I'll never forgive Frollo for his persecution of my wife and those like her but I would never want to see him or his children should he have them starve."

Oh he has them, Mal thought with an inward growl as she thought about Freddy Frollo. She had no gripe against his sister Claudine, despite the fact that she was the second in command of the Angels. It was clear that Claudine was only there because Freddy bullied her into it.

"Speaking as someone who has grown up in a similar environment, I find it reprehensible that Auradon allowed this," Aladdin spoke up, his voice oddly gentle and yet laced with rage. "Lady Mal, I know it's too little too late but on behalf of Agrabah at least, please let me extend my deepest and most sincere apology."

Mal nodded slightly and grew silent as Ben spoke again. Well, at least he would have if one of Leah's cronies didn't decide that it would be the time to speak up.

"Sire? I must ask, isn't the Isle a prison? I'm sure that the food situation isn't as bad as it's being made out to be," Duke Westleton stated.

Ben worked hard not to roll his eyes at that. He should have seen it coming, someone claiming that they were over-exaggerating.

"If you don't believe me your grace, I could always reach out to my mother Lady Persephone," Mal spoke up. "After all, she spends more time on the Isle than any one else born of Auradon descent."

"Now see, this is why we have a hard time believing you, Mal," the Duke stated after sharing a look with Chi-Fu and Leah. "After all, the registry clearly states that you are the daughter of Maleficent. There's no arguing with—"

"Lady Mal."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You forgot her title, your grace," Zeus stated. "As the daughter of Hades, Lady Mal is afforded the title given to her as a Godling."

"Furthermore, we are not here to debate Lady Mal's parentage even though there should be no need for it," Ben said before the conversation could devolve any further. "Lady Mal and Lady Persephone have stated multiple times that Lady Persephone is Lady Mal's mother. Blood does not make a family. But back to the matter at hand. Queen Leah, I ask one last time. Do you have anything to say to your defense before we vote?"

"Your highness, as I've stated numerous times I've done nothing wrong. I see no reason to defend myself when it's clear I'm to be a scapegoat."

"How is it clear you're a scapegoat Queen Leah? You can clearly be seen on the tapes, your seat on the council gives you the opportunity and you have the wealth to make it happen. I fail to see how you can come to the conclusion you have."

"Auroria also uses those docks your highness. As well, as I've stated before, there's no proof that there's been any real investigation. Clearly you're blinded by your new girlfriend, someone who has a known grudge against my family. It was clear that I was to be the scapegoat here."

"Queen Leah, while I have no love for Princess Audrey, I have no grudge against your family," Mal spoke up. "However, Princess Audrey's relation to you is not the reason why I'm not the fondest of her. Rather it was her treatment of King Ben while they were dating along with her treatment of our fellow students that earned my ire toward her."

"As well Queen Leah, Lady Mal is not the one on trial here," Ben stated, his voice hard. "She has only given testimony to the conditions of the Isle and she is not the one accused of potentially committing murder against an unsuspecting populace. You, however, have not offered one shred of a defense that could be considered reasonable. I move we move on to sentencing, I open the floor to any suggestions."

"Sire, due to the nature of the crimes Queen Leah is accused of, I move that she be stripped of her title and duties as Queen," Eric spoke up. "It is clear that her actions are not those of a Queen."

"Honestly, it seems a bit redundant to strip what would be stripped anyway," Shang stated. "I move that Leah be sent to the Isle herself."

"What?!"

"Now really, such a punishment does not seem fair for a royal of her caliber," Chi-Fu stated. "If we must exile Queen Leah, why not the Isle of Misery?"

"Any Isle Queen Leah gets put on will be the Isle of Misery," Eugene stated. "I second Captain Shang's movement to sentence Queen Leah to the Isle of the Lost. Maybe then, seeing what she willingly subjected people to, she'll realize the errors of her ways."

I doubt it, Mal thought with an inward sigh. She didn't really know how she felt about her home being used as a punishment. While she knew Leah needed to be punished and that there would be no better punishment than subjecting her to the same thing she subjected the people of the Isle to…there was just something about using her home as a punishment that didn't sit well with Mal.

After all, Ben always said that the children of the Isle didn't deserve to be there. That they were innocent. And yet…they were still kept on the Isle. They grew up on the Isle. No one came and got them off when they were born.

Children were subjected to that life all because of who they were born to.

"Alright, all in favor of stripping Queen Leah of her royal title and sending her to the Isle of the Lost?" Ben asked, pulling Mal out of her thoughts. With the exception of four hands, everyone else's hands went up. The obvious dissenters were obvious and as Beast was not a member of the council he could not vote.

"Noted, though I must stated Prince Akiho, your enthusiasm is appreciated but your vote will not be counted," Ben said. Mal could hear the amusement in his voice though he fought hard to hide it.

"My apologies King Ben," Akiho nodded.

"And all those in favor of stripping Queen Leah of her royal title and sending her to the Isle of Misery?" Ben asked. The lone two hands were rather pathetic, as no one else voted in favor.

Ben sighed. "Queen Leah, please know that I take no joy in doing this. But the votes are clear. You are to be stripped of your title of Queen of Auroria and all the duties and pleasures that come with it. You are to be sent to the Isle of the Lost. Now, please show yourself out of the council room. My guards will escort you out of the castle."

"When my granddaughter is Queen, things will run a lot differently," Leah sniffed.

"And how will that be possible?" Mal asked before Ben could comment. "Last I checked, Princess Audrey was not betrothed to King Ben. I do hope you're only stating that when Princess Audrey is Queen of Auroria otherwise one might take that as a threat to King Ben, Leah."

"Mal, she's just blowing smoke," Ben said softly.

"That being so, your majesty, I'd rather the guards be here now," Beast spoke up.

"Agreed," Mal nodded, looking at Leah who refused to leave. "Or if it pleases the council, I could always fly Leah out of here."

Leah started and finally got up, much to the amusement of everyone else. Mal smirked slightly as the geriatric bat made her way out of the room.

"Enjoy your victory," she whispered to Mal as she passed. "Just know that your mother got what she wanted through threats as well. You're not as different as you like to think."

Before Mal could respond, Leah was whisked out the door. Mal stared at the closed door in slight shock.

Was she right? Am I no different than Maleficent? I've changed up my style but if…if Leah can see it, that means others can too right? How soon is it going to be before someone tries to rise up against Ben because they think he's being controlled by me?

"King Ben, I would like to propose Chi-Fu and Duke Westleton also be removed from the council," Aladdin spoke up. "Due to the fact that they were more than likely accomplices to Leah's crimes."

"I second that," Tiana nodded.

"Very well," Ben said with a nod. "All in favor?"

All the hands in the room went up, with the notable exceptions.

"It almost seems pointless to ask but it's procedure," Ben said. "All opposed?"

The lone two hands once again seemed rather pathetic considering they were voting for each other.

"It seems that the ayes have it," Be said. "Chi-Fu, your grace, please remove yourself from the room. You are no longer members of this council."

Thankfully, Leah's underlings seemed to take their removal from the council with more aplomb than Leah had.

"I'll need to come up with people to fill the seats but that can keep until our next meeting," Ben said. "If no one else has any business they need to discuss, I think we can consider this meeting adjourned. Thank you all so much for coming on such short notice."

"It was our pleasure King Ben," Snow White said softly. "I just hope we can begin to un do the damage done by Leah to the Isle."

Ben nodded and watched as some of the council got up to leave. Others, like Elsa, stayed to chat with Akiho and Mal.

"Well done," Beast said as he walked over to Ben.

"Thanks," Ben told him. "You have no idea how weird it is hearing you call me 'your majesty'."

Beast chuckled softly. "Yeah well get used to it Ben. I've only been here every council meeting but maybe it's time we changed that. After all, you've definitely proved you can handle yourself."

Ben smiled slightly before sighing. "Dad…I need you to tell me honestly. Did you know?"

Beast sighed. "I'm not proud of the fact that the Isle fell to the wayside after your mother miscarried when you were three Ben. Between running the kingdom, taking care of your mother and looking after you, something slipped through the cracks. But to answer your question, no I didn't know. It seems Lord Poseidon did know, from what Mal told us."

"Uma is his granddaughter," Ben said. "Not to mention, Mal and Hadie are his niece and nephew. It'd make sense that he would know a little about what the condition of the Isle was. Can we really fault him if he didn't tell Lord Zeus? After all Lord Poseidon's not a member of the council."

Beast looked at Ben for a moment before smiling. "How did you get so wise?"

"I think it has something to do with having mom for a mother," Ben chuckled.

"That would help, yes," Beast nodded.

"No, Lord Zeus, you can't have a word."

Ben paused and looked over his shoulder to see Mal glaring daggers at Zeus. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on but knew it couldn't be good. Thankfully most if not all of the council had left; the only few stragglers were Elsa, Aladdin and of course Akiho.

"Dad, if you'll excuse me?"

"Of course, your majesty," Beast nodded and Ben sighed. He couldn't say anything though, this could turn into a situation where Ben needed to be king rather than a boyfriend. He started making his way over to the two Gods.

"Lady Mal—"

"No." Mal said firmly. "Lord Zeus, if I have anything to say to you, it is this. Thank you for robbing me of five years with my family. My mother told me about how she came to you when Maleficent stole me from my father's home and you refused to help. Because why? Did you think that it was some karmic justice?"

Yeah the sarcasm is palpable, Ben thought.

"You could have stepped in. Dad was asking for help from you, who cares if you didn't know the whole story?" Mal continued. Ben couldn't help but wonder why Zeus hadn't said anything.

Well he wondered until he saw the faint wisps of purple smoke starting to curl around Mal's feet along with how her eyes were shining. In fact they looked almost bright…

"Okay, okay," Ben said gently as he interjected himself. After all, Zeus had attended his coronation and knew what was coming just as much as Ben did. "Lord Zeus, if you'll excuse me, I need to borrow Lady Mal…"

He slowly led Mal off to the side of the room. Mal raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"I wasn't going to shoot a fireball at him you know."

"I know," Ben said gently. "But you were…well you were beginning to smoke up. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, dragon."

Mal couldn't help but smile at the pet name. Ever since his coronation, Ben had used it as a nickname for her.

However, the smile slipped as she remembered what Leah had said to her. About being just like Maleficent.

A pet name like that is harmless though, she thought. Still…Leah's more dangerous than Audrey or the Gazelle. Or at least she would be if she wasn't going straight to the Isle. I should write my crew…they should be on the look out for her.

"You okay?" Ben asked softly.

"Yeah," Mal nodded. "There's a reason why Zeus isn't my favorite uncle though. He didn't even ask about Hadie! Or Uma! Rather he said something about how mom wanted him to have a word with me."

"You don't believe him?"

"Mom would have reached out to me, Uma or Hadie if she needed a word with me. Not Zeus," Mal scoffed.

Ben smiled softly. "Well it's over now."

"Don't say that Ben. Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop," Mal sighed.

"It won't," Ben promised. "Now…how about we go get something to eat?"

Mal smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Ben smiled back and, after gathering Akiho, quickly made their way to the cafeteria; however the words Leah had said earlier still rang in Mal's head.

And what was worse...she didn't know how to make them stop.

While life seemed to be looking up in Auradon, with Leah being sent from its shores, life seemed to stay the same over on the Isle of the Lost. The days were still cloudy, the food still rotten. While that might have been better than the alternative of things getting worse, it was still rather unpleasant.

Particularly for one Isle resident. Fred Frollo, or Freddy as he was mockingly called by Mal and her crew despite being three years older than Mal, stalked around the floor of his hideout. It wasn't much, just a dilapidated church his father had tried to form but found that no one was attending. Such an activity had become a daily past time of his, so much so that his underlings had taken to clearing out of their haven to give him his privacy.

"How dare that little witch," he growled, strands of his jet black hair falling into his eyes as his hands balled into fists. "First she dares to show her face around the Isle after fleeing in disgrace to Boreadon and then taunts me by attending that coronation in Beastie Jr's. carriage?!"

If he had been in a calmer state, Freddy might have wondered how he hadn't recognized the boy who had been with Mal and Jay as the Crown Prince of Auradon. I mean, a change of clothes and a beanie could only change so much about a person.

It must have been Mal's doing. She put a spell on Beast Jr. so that no one could realize who he was!

"Honestly Fred," a feminine voice broke through his thoughts and Fred glared in her direction. "You're acting more like a jilted lover than anything else, obsessing over something that happened over a month ago. You are aware that Mal hated the ground you walked on right?"

"As if I care what the little witch thought," Freddy scoffed, looking at his little half-sister and second in command. "And what are you doing here? I thought you were on a food run Claudine?"

"Hard to do that when the pirates control the docks," Claudine said with a shrug. She was used to Freddy's erratic behavior concerning Mal. Or anyone really. The last time he had acted like a sibling to her was when he was nine and somehow got his hands on a set of daggers.

He had declared that she was going to stop being an embarrassment to the Frollo name and learn how to use them. That way, she'd stop being a timid little thing and be someone who belonged on the Isle.

Honestly, I was fine in the bell tower of Dragon Hall, she thought as Freddy continued to pace. Fred and dad are exactly the same in one regard, they both live to control the lives of others.

Though there was that one time, the day of the coronation, that Claudine had thought they had finally started to develop a sibling bond.

They had taken the opportunity of Cruella being out over at Maleficent's to sneak in. Originally the goal was to steal some furs that Cruella wouldn't miss—the floor of the Haven wasn't exactly the softest and they only had a couple of mattresses.

Freddy and Claudine got to use those as the leaders, and whoever was Freddy's fling of the month shared with him, while others like the other underlings made use of ratty old sheets they were able to snatch from a barge delivery. The furs would at least provide some padding that the sheets could not.

Claudine sighed as she thought back on that day, that fateful, fateful day.

"Hey, you think we could swipe a couple of her furs?" Claudine asked as the two Frollo siblings made their way to Hell Hall. Every member of their gang had split up to try to find a working television to watch the coronation. Not because Fred had a pressing need to see the Boreadon elite get all gussied up but it was a good idea to know who they'd be going up against for the future.

"No!" Freddy snapped. "You want the old bat to know we were here? What would we even do with them?"

"Wear them? It does get cold at night—or we could use them to make the mattresses in the Haven a bit softer."

"…you get two. Any more and you know Cruella will notice and that would just bring that witch Maleficent after us."

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know how to take things inconspicuously Fred," Claudine said, rolling her eyes as they broke into the DeVil place. Though she had to admit, she was a little shocked that Fred didn't put up more of a fight. Then again, they were on the border line between Mal's old territory and the Caster's territory.

The last thing they wanted was to run into Yzla or Zevon without the rest of the Angels with them. Daggers didn't work well against potions after all.

Freddy rolled his eyes. "Well grab 'em now otherwise you'll miss Prince Beast's coronation. I know girls like that sort of thing."

"Eh, I'm not exactly interested in the stuck up Boreadon princes but I'm on it," Claudine said with a scoff as she made her way to the fur closet. Freddy shook his head and turned on the television. His timing seemed to be perfect as he had turned it on just as the camera showed the prince's carriage.

"Wait a minute…" Freddy muttered as he looked closely at the image before him. "That's Mal. But that means…that sneaky little witch!"

No wonder she'd been so wound up the last time he saw her! He had been looking right at the Crown Prince of Boreadon!

She had actually brought the Crown Prince to the Isle! Freddy thought. And apparently sank her talons into him since she's riding to the coronation with him! That little…how did she pull that off?!

"Okay, I know Mal's not your favorite person but what did she do this time?" Claudine asked as she came back in, Freddy's eyes narrowing at the television. "You're staring into that television like you're our father and it's showing you a vision of Esmeralda."

"Look who's carriage that little witch is riding in!" Freddy growled. "She made a fool of me the last time she was here and now she does this?! She sank her claws into Boreadon's Crown Prince!"

Claudine smirked slightly. "Only the best for Maleficent's daughter I guess. Oh, by the way, check these out! I got black panther and snow leopard, figured the darker and less rare of the furs would be less likely to be missed."

Freddy couldn't help the small smirk on his face as Claudine stroked the furs. "Very nice. How in the world did Cruella even get black panther or snow leopard fur? We don't exactly have snowy places here."

"Don't ask me," Claudine shrugged. "Maybe she got the snow leopard fur from a contact in Arendelle? All I know is that furs are definitely hard to come by on the Isle, making them somewhat valuable and geez does Ms. Fur Ball guard them! I had to dodge bear traps in that closet!"

"Bear traps? Really?" Freddy scoffed. Such an idea was insane, no one cared about furs that much that they'd try to steal them. While he was aware of what they were doing to Cruella's furs, it was less because they wanted the furs and more because as a mid ranked gang on the Isle they didn't get the comforts that Mal's gang of sinners and misfits got.

Claudine nodded. "Dibs on the snow leopard."

"You and the other girls can fight over the furs," Freddy said as he shook his head. "There's only one thing I want…revenge on that little witch over in Boreadon."

Are you sure it's not the fact that Mal sank her talons into someone more sane that you have a problem with? Claudine thought. After all Fred, you've been obsessed with Mal for as long as I can remember. You're acting like Mal just humiliated you by riding in the Boreadon Prince's carriage. It's not even as if you were ever 'together'. Everyone on the Isle knows she hates you and you her. Besides, Zevon would probably kill you if you made Mal one of your flings. Everyone knows about his not so low key obsession with her.

"You planning something specific in terms of your revenge?" Claudine asked, pulling herself out of her thoughts.

"Even if I was, I can't get off the Isle," Freddy growled. "God, I want to know how Mal got her claws into the Crown Prince!"

"How do you think she did it?"

"Probably a spell or something—Maleficent is a witch after all and Mal is her daughter."

Claudine sighed softly. "What does it matter anyway Fred? It's not like you'd be able to get near Mal. You're acting like dad did with Esmeralda to be honest. I'm waiting for you to start singing about Hellfire. Just be smart about this."

"You know, when Mal was back here, she had Beastie Jr. with her?" Freddy growled, his hands clenching into fists at the memory. "He was in front of me and I didn't recognize him! Both the little witch and beastie made a fool of me and I want my revenge! On both of them!"

"Wow…Beastie Jr's. either very brave or very stupid," Claudine muttered.

"Doesn't matter what he was because he's going to regret his impromptu trip!" Freddy promised, a small growl to his voice.

Claudine sighed softly. That was all Fred did nowadays, rant about either Mal or revenge. On occasion he'd mix it up and rant about Uma. Sometimes it'd even be all three subjects—revenge on Mal and Uma. Claudine didn't know why her brother was on this kick but she didn't really care.

She didn't know why she'd been hoping that coming here could be a chance for some sibling bonding away from the other Angels. Of course Fred would be more focused on the fact that Mal was on camera. Never mind the fact that Mal arriving with Beastie Jr. might mean some positive things for the Isle. Fred just saw it as a slap in the face and another way Mal humiliated him.

God, why couldn't her brother be normal? He took after their father too much. Maybe that was why she couldn't have a normal brother. After all their father was Mr. Choose Me or the Pyre. Sometimes she wished she could have been someone else's daughter? Anyone would have been better than her father.

"Do you ever miss doing things like this?" Claudine asked softly, trying to save the reason she came along.

"Breaking into Cruella DeVil's house and stealing her furs?" Freddy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I meant doing things as siblings," Claudine sighed. "How many years has it been since we went off on our own to do something?"

"We're only half siblings," Freddy scoffed.

"Why do you keep bringing that up? You've done it ever since you were nine! What does it matter? We're still blood right?"

"Lying's a sin Claudine. We're only halfway related through our father."

"But we were still raised as brother and sister." Claudine told him. "I just…I don't get it. I don't get it why it matters so much to you! It doesn't matter to me—you're my older brother! Full stop."

Even if you're creepy, obsessed with Mal and Uma, and are completely self obsessed, whether I like it or not, you're my brother, she thought.

Freddy rolled his eyes. "Look Claudine, I don't know what you want to hear. You may be my half sister but you still mean something to me. If you didn't, do you think I would have helped you get over that timidness you used to have? You would have been eaten alive and it would have been a bad look on the Frollo name."

"Yeah because that's the most important thing," Claudine rolled her eyes. "Never mind the fact that our name kinda already has a bad look on it around the Isle. Our father's the only villain who attempted the murder of an entire city just to get with a girl."

"He was unfairly judged Claudine! How many times have you been told that?"

"More times than I can count Fred but think about it. Some of the villains don't deserve it here—Smee, Queen of Hearts, the Ringmaster, who's not even a villain now that I think about it. He just ran a circus. But Maleficent, Jafar, Cruella, our father…you can't honestly say they were all unfairly judged."

"Maleficent and Jafar have magic, they deserve to be here! Cruella's a crazy old bat! But our father was just following the word of the Lord and they persecuted him for it!"

"Fred, have you actually read the Bible properly? One of the commandments is 'Thou Shall Not Kill' and our father killed half a city in the fires he caused!"

Freddy rolled his eyes. "If that witch didn't put a spell on him, that wouldn't have happened. And yet she lives in Boreadon with that traitor Phoebus while our father rots on the Isle."

Claudine shook her head. "Esmeralda and Phoebus aren't dangers to Boreadon though."

"All witchcraft is a danger, didn't our father teach you anything?"

"Yeah, he taught me to know who my friends are."

"That's kid's stuff. When I was your age, our father was warning me about the dangers of witchcraft and reminding me about the importance of remaining pure."

"Not that you took that lesson to heart," Claudine muttered. Freddy and Zevon were tied amongst the boys on the Isle for most number of flings.

"Women are the ones who cloud the mind and lure others into unholy thoughts," Freddy told her.

"If that was true then, our gang would have three members and I'd be the only girl because you'd have kicked out all the other girls for 'tempting' you!"

"There's safety in numbers Claudine. If we only had three members, the Warf Rats and the pirates would overpower us and we'd have no territory. We'd be lower ranked than the Casters!"

"Doesn't change the fact that it's hypocritical."

"Yeah, yeah," Freddy said, waving his hand as if brushing off the point. "Come on, let's watch the Boreadon brat become king before we have to hightail it out of here."

Claudine sighed and tightened her grip on the two furs in her lap as she turned back to the television. Freddy rolled his eyes before doing the same. However, it wasn't long before things got interesting.

"What's going on?" Claudine exclaimed, her spat with Freddy forgotten. "Did…did Evie just grab the wand?"

The ground began to shake and Claudine looked toward her brother in fear. "F-Fred, what's going on?"

"The bluette may have actually been useful for once! She just broke the barrier," Freddy yelled in shock, jumping up and thankfully not commenting on Claudine's stutter.

"We can leave?!"

"It may be temporary and I don't know about you but I'm not standing around to find out!" Freddy snapped as he started to bolt out of Hell Hall. Claudine looked at the furs before leaving them on the couch, bolting after Freddy.

"So are you going to actually do anything or just pace a rut in the floor?" Claudine asked, pulling herself out of her trip down memory lane.

"What do you want me to do?" Freddy growled. "Like you said, the pirates control the docks and the docks are the only way off the Isle. The only chance I have would be…"

Freddy looked over at his sister and smirked, an idea forming in his rotten little brain.

"What?" Claudine asked before getting on the same brain wave as Freddy. "What? No! Fred, I am not going to be a spy for you!"

"Of course not," Freddy scoffed. "You're going to use your feminine gifts to distract Henry. He's the only one of the pirates who seems to maintain a constant watch on the docks. Not to mention you're the only girl who'd work. All the others were formerly Rats themselves."

"So why not use them?"

"You'd think any of that crew would trust them?" Freddy rolled his eyes. "The Rats may be insipid but they're not blind. They know after weeks of being Angels, it'd be risky to bring them back into the fold. The only one I think that could maybe get away with it would be Brooke but she's so timid and meek, she'd crack under the questioning. The other two are too busy competing for a second shot of having a fling with me which leaves you to attract Henry's attention. Once he's lured away, I can get off the Isle."

"Oh that's not risky at all! You honestly think Henry'd break his rule just because I batted my eyelashes at him?" Claudine snapped. Henry Kersey was the only guy on the Isle old enough to have a fling who hadn't had one. It wasn't because he was an unattractive guy either, with his light red hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to shine every time they faced off against each other.

There were girls who fought to be the one to claim they were his first fling. Ginny Gothel had almost draped herself on him before he turned her down. Though Ginny more than likely was just trying to get some food, being a girl without a gang on the Isle.

There wasn't much lower you could go in terms of rank than being a girl without a gang. There was a reason why the phrase 'flings for food' had become a popular past time—the boys of the pirates/Warf Rats were the most sought after since they had the best access to food.

Nine times out of ten though, the guys would turn down a fling and just give the girls the food. Especially if it was a younger girl trying to do it and especially if it was a younger girl under the age of fifteen. Claudine could only assume Mal and Uma had trained their crew well.

Fred and Zevon, she knew, had no such scruples. There was a reason why, despite the fact that a few of the Warf Rats were older, that Fred and Zevon had the most flings on the Isle.

If I don't do this, the only other girls would be Locklyn or Shayla. Henry'd trust Brooke but even so she's too young. Henry'd just get her some food if he didn't bring her back into their fold, she thought. Knowing the other two, they'd be a little too…enthusiastic in getting to be the ones to get Henry to break his vow of no flings.

"Fine, if only because I know this isn't a request," Claudine sighed.

"Good," Freddy smirked. "You'd best get going."

"What, now?"

"Why not?"

"It's almost dark out, I'm not exactly in the mood to become hyena chow Fred!" Claudine exclaimed. "You know they have no qualms in eating a human whether they be dead or alive—and they're the pirates' allies meaning I wouldn't get a free pass being second in command of the Angels."

"What was the point in teaching you how to throw a dagger if you only ever use it against the pirates?" Freddy scoffed. "If those mangy beasts give you a hard time, just make an example of one of them."

Before Claudine could answer, the lone male underling came bursting in.

"You'd better have a good reason for bursting in here like the end of the world was upon us," Freddy growled, glaring slightly at the underling.

"My deepest apologies, your holiness but news from Boreadon came that I thought you might find interesting."

"What, did they kick out that witch and her traitor husband or Mal and Uma?"

"Well no—"

"Then I don't want to hear it," Freddy growled.

Claudine shook her head and looked at the former pirate. "What news from Boreadon, Strat?"

Strat looked over at Claudine and smirked. "Apparently King Beastie's exiled someone to the Isle."

"Oh boy," Freddy rolled his eyes. "Guess he's just like his father after all."

"Who is it?" Claudine asked.

"My source didn't say," Strat said and Claudine softly rolled her eyes. There was no need for secrecy, Strat more than likely got the report from the television. "However, they did say that it's a Boreadon royal."

Freddy paused and Claudine stilled before slipping out of their haven unseen. She had a source of her own that she needed to meet up with after hearing something like that. He might not have heard the news report.

Quickly, she made her way to the bell tower of Dragon Hall—her old stomping grounds and the only neutral area she felt comfortable in. She could only hope he'd be there too…

"Thought you weren't showing up?" Henry's voice whispered in the shadows and Claudine smiled before the two embraced in a tender kiss.

It had taken everything Claudine had not to show the worry she had when Fred proposed the idea. But her brother need never know that there was no need for her to seduce Henry.

She was already in love with him.

"What's wrong?" Henry whispered as he broke the kiss. "You seem…distracted."

"Strat gave Fred and me a news report before I left the Haven," Claudine said, her voice soft, and Henry tensed at the mention of his former crew mate. "He said…he said that Ben had exiled an Auradon royal to the Isle?"

Henry stilled. "An Auradon royal got sent here? They must have majorly screwed up then. We haven't had anyone new since the Isle was founded if we're not counting births."

"Well considering Fred's plotting an escape, I figured you should know…" Claudine told him. "If Fred gets this royal on his side, and they use any resources they still have in Auradon…"

"It won't be good for Mal. Or Uma, Harry or Jay for that matter," Henry finished as he gently brushed a bit of Claudine's brown hair out from her eyes. "I'll let the crew know. Hopefully we'll get word from Mal, Uma, Jay or Harry about who it is who'll be coming to our shores."

"Oh! That reminds me," Claudine chuckled. "Fred wants me to seduce you. Use my feminine charms to lure you to sin since you're always guarding the docks."

Henry chuckled. "I take it you didn't tell him that we meet here in secret?"

"Do I look dead to you? You know that if it wasn't Fred's idea or orders, it doesn't get done."

"Okay, okay. I guess…we can meet back here in a few days. You can I dunno flirt with me in the next face off between our two groups. Freddy usually attends those."

Claudine nodded. "God, as if our being together wasn't stressful enough."

"Hey, it'll be okay," Henry said softly, rubbing her back as he pulled her close to him. "Freddy's so obsessed with Mal and Uma that he probably won't realize anything's up. You feed him or even feed the other Angels a few bogus reports, he should buy that. Plus I can start staying here later."

"What if your crew finds out? You're the captain."

"I'm acting captain and Harriet's there if something happens where a captain's needed," Henry said softly.

"…okay," Claudine sighed. This wasn't going to be easy and she wasn't exactly happy about it but with Henry's help, they might just pull it off.

Ben sighed as he sat at his desk. It'd been a few days since Leah's exile to the Isle and he had finally gotten around to arranging a meeting with Aurora and Phillip Sr. With Stefan's death a few years back, and Leah being on the Isle now, Aurora was the legal heir to the throne of Auroria.

Ben had hoped Mal would be with him, if only so he could spend some time with her before the meeting. Ever since the council meeting, Mal seemed to be getting busier and busier. It honestly felt as if they'd only had fifteen minutes between them with how busy both their schedules had gotten.

This weekend, Ben promised himself. This weekend, I'll take Mal on a ride on my scooter. Maybe we'll go to the Enchanted Lake, just relax with the two of us. Or maybe the three of us. Estelle would like the Enchanted Lake I'd think. Run around, swim, or just chill out on the platform.

He smiled slightly as he thought about Mal's impressively loyal Cerberus. The pup, if he could be classified as such, loved to follow Mal around whenever he could; even going as far as to follow Mal into a few classes much to the amusement of the teacher and other students.

Estelle had been allowed in of course, if only because how do you say no to a Cerberus of all creatures? A symbol of Lord Hades?

A couple of teachers had come to him to voice their concerns but Ben had stated that it was a matter they needed to voice to Mal. Just because he was king and dating Mal didn't mean he was going to start telling her what to do.

Not that I really could, Ben thought with amusement. Mal's got a fire in her that I love. Not to mention, she's the daughter of a God. Two Gods actually. I'm pretty sure she outranks me.

He had considered though hiring a helper for Estelle, in the event that there was a class that didn't allow Estelle to join them as it might affect the safety of the students and of Estelle. He would have to broach the idea with Mal though—Estelle was her dog, he wasn't going to do anything behind her back.

"Sire?"

"Yes Dean?" Ben thought as he pulled himself out of his thoughts.

"Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip are here," Dean stated, his voice coming clear from the intercom. "Shall I let them in?"

Ben nodded and then paused as he remembered that Dean, despite being an excellent head assistant, could not see through the intercom. "Yes Dean, send them in."

He couldn't help but smile as he saw Aurora and Phillip walk through the doorway, though he had to admit he was nervous. He hadn't seen either royal since he broke off his betrothal contract with Audrey. Well scratch that, he had seen them at his coronation but the traditional meet and greets were cut rather short due to the surprise visit from Maleficent.

"Your majesty," Aurora said, her voice as soft and pleasant as it normally was whenever she spoke to Ben. She gave a small curtsey as Phillip gave a small bow.

"Princess Aurora, Prince Phillip, there's no need for that," Ben said gently. "I've known you since I was a toddler. You're friends with my parents. No formalities are necessary."

"Then there's no need to use our titles," Phillip stated, a smile on his lips. "Though I think I know the reason why you've called us down here."

Ben sighed. "I do need to talk to you about the line of succession for Auroria. With your mother—"

"Please forgive my interruption Ben but from what I understand of her crimes, the former Queen of Auroria is no mother of mine," Aurora stated. "It is unfortunate that we share the same gene pool but that is it. I, in all honesty, consider Flora, Fauna and Merryweather to be more of mothers to me than her."

Ben nodded softly. "Understood. With Leah's exile to the Isle of the Lost, Auroria needs a Queen."

"Are you asking if I will be willing to pick up the mantle and the duties of Queen?" Aurora asked softly.

"I know it's a lot to ask, especially with everything your family has been through in the past few days," Ben said. "If you need time to think about it, I can set up a steward in your place."

Granted, he wasn't exactly sure who that steward would be but he'd set one up. Aurora gave him the kindness of getting out of the contract when she could have insisted that he honor his commitment. The least he could do is allow her a few days to think over such a life changing decision.

"…I owe it to the people of Auroria and the people of Auradon to make up for Leah's crimes," Aurora said softly. "If by becoming Queen I can begin to heal the hurt she caused, I would gladly do so."

Ben gave her a small smile. "We can arrange for your coronation to occur whenever you see fit. I'll get the paperwork started immediately though."

"Ben, I can do that," Aurora stated. "You've got so much work to do yourself, adding another thing onto your plate wouldn't be fair."

"As well we wanted to inform you of some information we obtained," Phillip said softly.

"Phillip…."

"Aurora, he's got to know. It's not fair to Ben if we were to keep this from him."

Ben tilted his head, slightly confused. "What information? Obviously it seems to pertain to the safety of Auradon?"

Aurora and Phillip looked at each other before Aurora sighed. "Leah…before this council meeting, Leah was attempting to drum up support for you to be reinstated into the betrothal contract by stating that it was weakening Auradon by you not having an official heir."

Ben froze in his seat. That had not been something he had been made aware of. To his knowledge, Emma White was still the unofficial heir of Auradon—the agreement had been made between their parents when they were three after his mother had miscarried. Of course the agreement was only made verbally, there was nothing written Ben could obtain as proof.

If Leah had been trying to drum up support to reinstate the contract…well then they could just convene a meeting of the newly formed 'what the hell are they gonna do' committee.

Because there was no denying the fact that Leah was right in one regard: the kingdom did need an heir and unfortunately, that fact gave Leah and Audrey a strong argument as to why the contract should be reinstated.

Just Audrey actually, Ben thought as the realization struck him. Leah's on the Isle, it'll take her time to drum up any support there. If she can at all actually, a former royal of Auradon's probably not going to be the most popular over there if I remember correctly.

There'd been a reason why Mal and Jay had disguised him after all when they went on their clandestine trip before his coronation.

"I'm dating Mal though," Ben said after a few minutes as he seemed to be able to form words again. "I'm sorry but I'm not going to end my relationship with Mal just to reenter a contract I honestly believe no one was happy in."

"Trust us, we understand Ben," Phillip said softly. "We're in no way forcing you to do so. Not that we could considering you outrank us. But we figured it was information you'd want to have on hand."

"We don't know if Audrey knows about what her grandmother was trying to do," Aurora told him. "I understand that she didn't take the dissolving of the contract all that well."

That is putting it mildly, Ben thought but only nodded. No matter what Audrey had done, it wouldn't be fair to say it in a room where she wasn't there to defend herself.

"Ben…" Aurora said. "I know Leah probably never said it at the council meeting but I will. I'm so sorry she's put this on your plate, and I know Lady Mal probably won't want to see me so if you could…if you could let her know I am so sorry that she was put through that for sixteen years, I would greatly appreciate it."

"Of course," Ben nodded. "Aurora, your apology is not necessary. It wasn't you who committed the acts."

"But as acting representative of Auroria, I should apologize on behalf of my family and my kingdom," Aurora stated. "Leah's actions do not reflect our beliefs and we stand behind our king."

And you are the reason why we put up with Leah for so many, many years, Ben thought with a small smile. Aurora was truly her mother's opposite in every way, shape and form. While Ben had been given the gift of Hope at his christening, he'd begun to give up a little hope of ever having a situation where Leah would not hold power over legislation or of his decisions.

Speaking of decisions…

"Aurora, there is one more thing I'd like to ask you," Ben said. "A spot has opened up on my council due to Leah being escorted to the Isle. I was wondering, as to ensure that Auroria is still represented, if you or Phillip would be interesting in taking that spot? It is yours by right."

The spot on the council that had been held by Leah was supposed to go to Aurora after Stefan's death. No one had really tried to figure out why it hadn't but Akiho always had the theory that Leah refused to give it up.

After knowing what he knew now…Ben honestly wouldn't put it past the Beauty Matriarch from Hell as Chip liked to call her among other nicknames.

"While we of course accept the position on your council Ben, let me talk with my husband to see which one of us will actually sit on the council," Aurora said. "The new duties as King and Queen will take some getting used to of course."

"I think you're preaching to the choir there Briar," Phillip chuckled as he looked at Ben. Ben smiled; for as long as he could remember, Phillip had referred to Aurora as 'Briar' whenever it was an informal setting or around royals they trusted.

"It's been an…adjustment I must admit," Ben nodded. "Still, the ability to make changes for the betterment of Auradon and the people of the Isle is one I welcome."

Aurora gave him a small smile. "And I look forward to working with you in achieving those changes, Ben. I hope the trust between our kingdoms and our families is still intact."

"Aurora, you allowed me the chance to back out of a contract we'd established when Audrey and I were three," Ben said gently. "As I've been saying about the VKs, they are not their parents. Why then would I judge you on an action of yours? Especially when you allowed me the aforementioned kindness?"

"Well to be fair, we couldn't really insist you kids stay in a contract when we married for love," Phillip spoke up. "I was prepared to give up my throne for who I believed was a peasant girl I met in the woods."

"You were lucky that we were betrothed ourselves then," Aurora teased her husband slightly as she gave him a smile. "But anyway Ben, there are no hard feelings about that. I apologize, let me revise that statement. There are no hard feelings from me or Phillip."

"I know Audrey still is adjusting," Phillip sighed. "She's probably not going to take the fact that Leah's on the Isle all that well."

Ben held back a sigh of his own; that was an understatement. The nickname the Tourney team had bestowed upon her of 'Banshee' seemed aptly earned. Ben was honestly worried his ear drums were going to burst at one point during her tirade.

Thankfully, his friends and shadows had whisked Mal and the other VKs away as they saw Audrey approach so they weren't subjected to Audrey's ire. As it should have been really, He was the king, it was his decision to seek restitution for the Isle and its citizens.

For the Auradon citizens segregated into their own subsection of Auradon, split off from the rest by natural and magical means.

Ben wasn't going to lie though, after about fifteen minutes of a rant about how he was specifically targeting Leah because he never really liked her grandmother, he was thankful when Chad came and somehow led Audrey away.

I don't know how he can do it, even when they've been broken up for a couple of weeks, but Chad has always been an Audrey whisperer, Ben thought.

"Is there anything else you'd like to discuss Ben?" Aurora said softly, breaking through the silence that had overtaken the trio of royals.

"….not that I can think of," Ben said as he thought about it. "I do appreciate you coming down here. If there's anything I can do for you or your family—"

"Ben, that is incredibly kind but there's no need," Aurora said, giving Ben another kind smile as the two Auroria royals got up to leave. Meanwhile, on the other side of Auradon Prep, there was another meeting going on. However, this one was more impromptu.

"Hey! Lightning Butt!" Uma snapped as she finally came across one of her Olympian cousins. If she hadn't known better, she'd have thought that they were avoiding her.

"Yes Uma?" The girl asked with a sigh as she turned to look at her.

"Look, I'd rather not spend more time with you than I need to so I'll get right to the point. What's going on with Mal?"

The other girl frowned and tilted her head slightly in confusion. "I…I thought that was your doing."

"Why in Uncle Hades' name would I change my cousin into avoiding all things Isle in her wardrobe?"

"Well sorry Uma but Mal wasn't like this before you came so it was a logical step. Especially since I don't know you all that well."

"And who's fault is that Macaria? Considering you and your siblings seem to excel at avoiding us Isle kids."

Well, not all of us, Uma corrected herself with an inward frown. Macaria had instantly taken a shine to Gil of all people, at least according to Carlos. Uma never thought she would agree with the brainless morons who called themselves family but she had to agree with Hyllus on this one whenever the older Zeus grandchild called the two of them being together strange.

Uma sighed and looked back over at Macaria. "Does Mal have your mental link on mute?"

"Mal…Mal knows about the mental link?"

"Of course she knows! She was raised as Uncle Hades' daughter, you really think he'd keep that from her?"

Macaria shrugged. "She never really brought it up whenever we talked but let me go ahead and give it a go."

Uma nodded and watched as Macaria grew silent, trying to reach out to Mal with the mental link of the Olympians. It wasn't five minutes before the brunette spoke once more.

"She…she didn't answer," Macaria said, a dejected note to her voice that seemed rather out of place if Uma was being honest. "The link is supposed to work between Olympians without fail. The only time it doesn't is if one of us has it on mute or…"

"Or?" Uma prompted.

"Or you're not considered family," Macaria whispered. "I knew Mal's not the fondest of my grandfather or father but I thought…I thought she at least considered me family. I know it's stupid especially since we've only known each other for about a month but…"

Uma sighed. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, she's got me and Hadie on mute too and I know she considers her brother family."

"She does?"

"Yep. And I'm willing to bet any money that she's got Sushi Breath and her little sister on mute as well."

"Elle doesn't eat sushi—"

"Yeah, yeah," Uma waved her hand as if brushing off the complaint. Hey, she needed a cruel nickname that wasn't about the girl's chair. She was wicked, not lazy. Why go for the low hanging fruit after all?

Macaria sighed. "So if she's most likely got all of us on mute, then what in the world is going on with Mal?"

"Well I'd be the first to blame Blueberry but she's been out of our room so much it's almost like she doesn't live there," Uma stated.

It was the truth—as the doctors got closer and closer to waking up Evie's father, the blue haired girl had spent more and more time away from the dorm. That, on top of classes and her start up business, made it so that Evie was only in the dorm when it came time to sleep.

Not that Uma was at all complaining about that of course.

"Could it be Audrey?" Macaria asked. "She seems to be more on the warpath than she usually is, going on about how Mal stole her life."

Uma scoffed. "The day Mal takes anything Sleeping Brat says seriously is the day we should just start panicking."

"Okay…" Macaria said slowly as she turned to leave. "But just something to think about Uma. The impossible has a way of happening in Auradon. Did you ever think you'd be having a civil conversation with the daughter of Hercules?"

"Hey, my hatred of your father notwithstanding, you're less insipid than the other Boreadon girls around here. Plus you're one of the few people I could reach out to about Mal without worrying Aunt Steph."

"You know Great Aunt Persephone will find out eventually," Macaria pointed out. "She's only on the Isle for six months after all and she's going to see the change in her daughter."

Uma paused and looked over at her.

"What?" Macaria asked, noticing how silent Uma had gotten.

"You called Mal Aunt Steph's daughter."

Macaria shrugged. "Yeah. That's what she is."

"I thought you'd be in the same camp as Sleeping Brat, she keeps going on about how Mal is biologically Maleficent's."

"Yeah, I'm no idiot," Macaria scoffed. "With the exception of the dragon motif, there's nothing about Mal that could connect her to Maleficent. And regardless, she stated at Ben's coronation that she wasn't Maleficent's daughter. I'm not arguing with someone who can turn into a dragon."

"You may actually have some brains in that head of yours," Uma chuckled. "Must come from your mother."

"I'd be offended on behalf of my father but his history has shown that you have a point," Macaria sighed. "I have to get to class Uma. Let me know if you need any help figuring out what's going on with Mal."

"I…I will," Uma nodded. She wasn't going to go out of her way to befriend her cousin but another Olympian on the case might help.

Now all she'd have to do is make sure Harry didn't spend the entire time flirting with her and Uma would be great. Seriously, did that boy have a habit of flirting with her family members or something? She still remembered the flirtationship Harry had with Mal when they were thirteen.

Well more like she remembered walking in on them in the clubhouse. Let's just say Uma spent about two weeks enjoying Jay's company and avoiding Mal and Harry's.

At least Mal looked guilty about it, Uma thought as she made her way down the hall. Harry to this day maintains he doesn't know what he did to earn the silent treatment. I mean the boy has two sisters and does not understand women at all.

"Hey Uma!"

"Speak of the sea devil and he shall appear," Uma chuckled as Harry came up. "Where were you?"

"Trying to avoid working on the Remedial Goodness homework," Harry stated. Uma nodded. Fairy Godmother had originally decided that it would be a good idea for them to write letters to their parents' respective heroes to reach out and create a dialogue, show that they had changed and that they weren't their parents.

Uma and Hadie, understandably, thought the assignment was dumb simply because their parents' respective heroes were also family. Harry was avoiding the assignment on principle. As he stated, Pan cut off his father's hand and caused him to have a debilitating case of Krokodeilophobia. Why should Harry then have to reach out to Pan?

Poor Gil was the most confused.

"Umm…does that mean I need to write a letter to the Queen Mother?" Gil had asked in class. "Or can I just write to Ben? Because I'm pretty sure Ben already knows I'm not my dad."

Let's just say Fairy Godmother quickly gave them another assignment. Uma still wasn't going to do it of course but even Harry had been impressed with Gil.

"So, saw you talking with the Demigoddess," Harry said as they made their way down the hall together. "Was she able to get Mal on the mental link?"

"No, and you saw me talking with her and didn't come up?"

"Thought you might want some privacy for that conversation cap'n."

Uma smiled slightly at that before sighing. "Harry, what am I going to do? Something's obviously going on with Mal but I don't know what."

"You could talk to Blueberry. Don't you share a room?"

"Much to my displeasure, but Blueberry's been out of the room so much that she's practically invisible. What about Gil? He's perceptive and he's not as close to Mali as we are so he might see something we're missing."

"Fish for Brains has been a little down lately according to DeVil," Harry sighed. "I doubt he's noticed anything."

"What's wrong with Gil?"

"I think he's missing Brooke. I know the lass left us for Freddy and the Angels but she was still his cousin."

Uma gave her first mate a small smile. Harry may have hated the ground Gil walked on, even though he was under their protection, but every pirate understood the importance of family.

"Not to mention the fact that Brooke didn't really leave us willingly," Uma sighed. "Locklyn basically gave her an ultimatum: us or her."

Harry shook his head. "The LeGume brains are strong in that one. It was bad enough she entered a fling with Freddy but to not only leave the crew but take Brooke with her?"

"Well it was her decision," Uma said. "We couldn't force her to stay and it was probably safer for the crew that we didn't. Not with the younger members of the crew that we have."

Still…I wonder if Ben might be able to get Brooke off the Isle? Uma thought briefly. The young girl was the one Angel who didn't deserve to be there. But then she shook her head. She needed to focus first on Mal and then on getting Celia off the Isle.

Brooke would get her chance.

"Well I guess it's up to you and me then, cap'n," Harry said with a small smile.

"I guess so," Uma nodded. "But first I guess we should do that Remedial Goodness homework otherwise Fairy Godmother will be on our backs."

Harry sighed. "I guess you're right. But after that we talk with Mal?"

"Of course!"

Evie smiled slightly as she sat by her father's hospital bed, sketching the final design for Mal's cotillion gown. Like everything she did, Evie knew Mal's dress was going to look stunning but there was still something in the back of her mind that didn't sit well with her.

This wasn't Mal's style. Evie might not have been the closest of friends with the Godling but even she knew that. Mal's style was more dark colors, leather, and dragons. Not this bright yellow and blue strapless gown.

It's none of your business, Evie thought as she continued to sketch. If Mal wants to change her style, you just nod and go along with it. After all, Mal could have insisted you be punished for your actions at the coronation but she didn't. Instead she was able to go ahead and work with Ben to get your dad back.

And he was truly back, something Evie would be forever grateful for. Dr. Sweet had brought her father out of the medical coma about a week ago and Evie had been by every day after classes.

"Hmm…" Daniel groaned as he woke up. The unfortunate thing about being Maleficent's captive for around eight years or so was the fact that he seemed to tire easily. He was always coming in and out of naps which didn't necessarily make him the best companion.

Evie didn't mind in the slightest.

"How long have you been here?" Daniel asked, his kind voice still tinged with sleep as he looked over at her.

"Not very, just maybe an hour or so," Evie said.

Daniel shook his head slightly as he sat up in the bed. "Your mother would have had my head if she knew I had been sleeping when you arrived. She would have said it was bad manners and that it was always important to greet a guest."

Evie gave her father a soft smile as she set the sketchbook off to the side. "I think mother wouldn't have minded if it meant she got to be with you. She missed you."

"I missed you two as well," Daniel said, giving a weak smile. "Once I'm out of here, I'll talk to King Ben about getting guardianship of you."

Evie looked at her father in shock. "I…I thought you'd be going back to the Isle?"

"And leave you?" Daniel asked as he looked over at her. "Evie, I love your mother. Always have, always will. Will I miss her? Of course I will, I'd be crazy not to. But I'm not leaving you alone in a strange land. Maybe once you're eighteen I'll ask King Ben about getting visitation visits for the Isle but right now, you need me more, light beam."

Had her father not been lying in a hospital bed, Evie would have leapt into his arms. She'd waited eight years to hear those words from her father. Especially her old nickname.

Her father used to say that she was the light of his life, always beaming with energy. Hearing that again…it was like a dream.

"Can I see your sketch?" Daniel asked.

"Oh…sure," Evie said softly, handing her father her sketchbook. "It's just a design I'm working on for Lady Mal's dress for cotillion."

"Maleficent's daughter?" Daniel asked, his voice growing sharp as he said Maleficent's name. Not that Evie particularly blamed him for that; she knew she wouldn't be fond of anyone who held her captive for years because of an imagined slight. "She's a Lady now?"

"She's not Maleficent's daughter," Evie said quickly. "She's Lady Persephone's, they said so at King Ben's coronation. Mal likes to say that Maleficent may have given her life but that didn't make her her mother. She's not a big fan of her title either, she only really puts up with it when it's an official event."

Daniel nodded slowly as he looked at the sketch. "This is a beautiful design Evie. You've got a real gift here."

"Thank you," Evie said, beaming with pride at the compliment. "I just hope Mal likes it. She had said that she wanted to branch out into more Auradon styles but…it's not her style at all."

"In this instance, you have to not look at Mal as a friend and look at her as a client," Daniel said gently. "This is what she's requesting so this is what you're giving her. No matter what, it's going to look gorgeous. I saw a photo of the dress Lady Mal wore at King Ben's coronation. The caption said you had designed it?"

Evie nodded, amazed that the fashion blogs were still talking about her dress. Then again, she had made something that had stood up to a dragon attack and Mal transforming herself into a dragon. That was something worth talking about, even a couple months after the event.

That was really the only positive to come out of her actions at coronation though. Well, and she and Mal seemed to grow closer from the experience. Evie wasn't as dumb as she pretended to be after all, she could see the faint remnants of the word 'traitor' on her locker and knew there were probably only a few people who would clean it off for her.

There was one day though she had stumbled across the word freshly sprayed on her locker, before there had been a chance for anyone to clean it off.

Whoever used spray paint probably thought I'd think it was Mal doing it, Evie thought. The only thing is, I know Mal enough to know she would never use pink spray paint. If she used any color other than purple, it would be blue. You know, for Hades.

Maybe Mal would use green spray paint if she was in a bind, but it would only be if she had no other choice. With the exception of the green in her jacket and a light green dress Evie had designed, Mal had been vehemently against the color green showing up in her wardrobe.

Evie had suspected the only reason Mal okayed the dress was because of the fact that it was so light. A darker green might have gotten a harsher reaction. A darker green might have been too close to Maleficent for Mal's liking.

At least a lighter green would look closer to one of Lady Persephone's colors than Maleficent's. Evie, though, tried her hardest to keep Mal's wardrobe looking more neutral than anything else. She remembered the articles from The Gazelle and she didn't want Mal to have to go through that.

"Evie?" Daniel prompted.

"Oh!" Evie said and gave her head a little shake. "Got lost in thought."

Daniel smiled. "I know being here with your dad isn't the most exciting but I'm happy to be here with you Evie. Just knowing you're safe is more than I could ask as a father but getting to see you…"

"There's no place I'd rather be," Evie told him, smiling as she took in his words.

"Now I know that's a lie," Daniel chuckled. "Surely you'd rather be with your friends or your boyfriend than with your old man?"

Evie sighed softly and bit her lip. "I…I don't have that many friends. I used to but after coronation, the only friends I have are Mal, King Ben, Doug, Jay, Carlos, Lonnie, Ally and Jordan."

Maybe Gil but he tends to follow Uma and Harry's direction and everyone knows Uma hates the ground I walk on.

"Well, light beam, if they stopped being your friend after what happened at King Ben's coronation, then they wren't really your friends," Daniel said gently.

"But it was my fault," Evie said softly. "I'm the one who snatched the wand and I'm the one who caused Maleficent to escape the Isle. If it hadn't been for Mal and her own dragon transformation, I would have been responsible for Maleficent taking over Auradon and bringing down the barrier."

"Hey, hey," Daniel said gently as he looked over at his daughter. "Evie, you might have been the one to grab the wand but you were put in a position that no one your age should have had to worry about. And like you said, thanks to Lady Mal, Maleficent isn't free to rule Auradon."

Evie smiled slightly. "Mal said that Lord Hades has enjoyed having Maleficent as a pet. According to Hadie, he spends every morning gloating about how once again her plans have failed and she was forever doomed to be on the Isle of the Lost."

"Hadie?"

"Mal's little brother," Evie explained. "Well, half brother since biologically Mal's still Maleficent's. It's a little confusing from what Mal explained, but I think I got the gist of it. Lade Persephone adopted Mal in a magical adoption, meaning she became Lady Persephone's daughter and gained some of her magic. However, that doesn't change who Mal is biologically."

"I'll tell you one thing Evie, you're a lot smarter than I am for understanding that," Daniel said with a small smile. "Though considering your mother was a skilled potions maker, I'm not surprised you're able to grasp the more magical aspect of that."

Evie beamed at the compliment. It wasn't that long ago that her mother would have told her off for showing her smarts to anyone, even her father.

"Mother's going to be so happy when she hears you're alright," Evie said. "King Ben said that he would pass the word to her if you want or he'd set it up so you could talk to her. They did that for Carlos, Jay, Lady Mal and me before Family Day though Mal ducked out before she could be face to face with Maleficent."

"Smart girl," Daniel muttered, wincing slightly as he shifted to try to sit up more than he already was.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to get the doctor?" Evie asked worriedly, noticing the wince.

"I'm fine," Daniel said, giving Evie a small smile. "Maleficent's goblins weren't the most gentle of beings and ten years of their ministrations isn't going to go away in the blink of an eye."

Evie couldn't help but give a sad smile at that. "I should go…you need your rest after all. I'm sorry for being a pest—"

"Hey, my room is always open to you Evie," Daniel said, his voice soft as his eyelids seemed to grow heavy. "Never think you're being a pest, light beam. I love you."

"I love you too," Evie said softly as she bent down to kiss her father on the forehead before packing up her stuff. She had a few consultations with a few more of her classmates to make their clothes for Cotillion.

They had gotten wind that she was designing Mal's dress and remembered that she had also done Mal's dress for Ben's coronation.

Though honestly, the request that had surprised her the most had come from Chad. At first, when it came, Evie thought it had been a joke. After all, Chad Charming hadn't exactly been apologetic about getting her to do his homework in exchange for a date.

And then of course there was the whole 'almost getting her expelled' incident though she did have some blame for that too. If she hadn't shown Chad her mirror…but other than that one time in class, when Mr. Delay had pulled her up to the board when she was talking with Doug, the only time she ever used the mirror was to see her dad.

The barrier stopped wicked magic from coming through after all, and there was nothing wicked about a daughter's love for her father. And besides, the magic was affecting the mirror in Auradon, not the Isle.

Well all that, and the fact that he'd gotten involved in a relationship with Audrey after stringing her along, meant that Evie wasn't exactly the most trusting of Prince Charming. But he was actually one of the easiest of all her clients to deal with.

On top of that, he also told the Fitzherbert girls about her business and they had been quick to commission gowns for Cotillion.

It was weird but Chad really turned down the jerky meter after he and Audrey broke up, Evie thought as she left her father's hospital room. Sure he's had some slip ups, but those have really been few and far between after Leah got sent to the Isle.

Ben had tried his hardest to make sure the news was restricted to just those in the know, out of respect for his former relationship with Audrey and the working relationship with Queen Aurora but he forgot about one thing. Teenagers gossip and Akiho was at the council meeting where the judgement was handed down.

He had told Emir, who of course told his sister who then told Kitty who told her twin sister who had it spread to about half the school in three hours. Evie had to admit, it was pretty impressive how fast the younger Charming twin had gotten the news out about Leah's exile.

Of course Audrey wasn't all that pleased about it but then again she wasn't pleased with much ever since Mal became Ben's girlfriend. She would tell anyone who would listen about how hard her life was and how unfair Ben had been, to remove himself from their betrothal contract without talking to her first.

Honestly Audrey, if your parents thought there wasn't an issue in getting you two out of the contract then really you weren't all that negatively impacted, Evie thought with an inward sigh. If you really want to see a hard life, try being a kid on the Isle in a low ranked gang…or no gang at all.

She had been lucky in that even though Mal and Uma hated her guts, her mother had been able to get in with Maleficent's gang. After all, Maleficent ruled the Isle so she got first dibs when it came to the food that arrived. It also meant anyone in her gang got first dibs as well—plus Lord Hades did have some decent food at his restaurant.

Evie wasn't so innocent though that she didn't know how lucky she was that her mother was in Maleficent's gang. Otherwise she would have been a girl without a gang on the Isle. If she was lucky, she would have had to get a job at one of the shops around the Isle. If she hadn't been lucky…

Don't think about that, Evie thought as she walked out of the hospital. If you think about that, you're going to go down a rabbit hole that won't help anyone. Just focus on your designs. That's probably the best thing you can do really. Mal'll do the work to help out the Isle, she's the highest ranked out of all of us anyway.

Not to mention she's got the ear of the King, being his girlfriend and all.

Honestly, if you had told Evie a month ago that Mal of all people would be the one dating the King of Auradon, she'd have said you were crazy. Mal was notorious for not having flings on the Isle—she and Uma were probably the only girls who hadn't had some sort of a fling.

Even Evie had had innocent flings to get what she wanted, always stopping before it went too far. Her mother always taught her that a princess kept her purity.

She was a flirt, nothing more. Flirts were safe in a way, there wasn't a risk in getting a kid involved by being a flirt.

"Evie!" Doug called over to her, waving a bit and pulled Evie out of her thoughts.

"Doug!" Evie grinned and rushed over to him. She hadn't expected that he would be picking her up but she wasn't going to fight it. After all, the only other mode of transport available to her would have been a bus. She hadn't been around the general Auradon populace since Ben's coronation so she wouldn't know how they would react to seeing her.

"How was your dad?" Doug asked, giving Evie a hug as he took her bag to put it in the back of his car before opening the passenger's side door for Evie.

"He seemed better," Evie said as she slid into Doug's car. "Hopefully he won't have to be in the hospital for too much longer."

"It's likely that even if he doesn't stay in the hospital, it'll be a while before he's at one hundred percent," Doug said gently.

"I know," Evie sighed, her voice soft. "But I've got to keep hope."

Doug gave a sad smile before taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "You know Snow will let you stay as long as you need. I think Emma might kill her parents if they kicked you out."

Evie couldn't help but give a weak smile at that. Emma White had become another unexpected friend after the catastrophe that was Ben's coronation. She and her brother were always quick to come to Evie's defense if needed and Emma had been one of the first to commission an outfit for Cotillion.

She was also really easy going in terms of her gown, preferring to stay in her normal color scheme of blue, white and red but not afraid to branch out. Let's just say pink would not be a color found in Emma's wardrobe.

"How're you holding up?" Doug asked, his voice cutting through the silence, and Evie looked over at him.

"I'm okay," Evie said, her voice still soft. "I just…I wish I could go back to my dorm and know I was rooming with someone who didn't hate me."

"Mal doesn't hate you."

"Anymore, and I was talking about Uma," Evie sighed. "I almost feel bad for Mal because of all of this, it can't be easy being put in the middle. Not that I'd ever tell Mal that to her face."

"Oh right because no one wants to hear that someone has sympathy for them," Doug said, his voice dry.

"VKs don't do sympathy," Evie said with a small sigh. "After all, unless you're in an alliance or it's your family member, it's pretty much every kid for themselves. And we might have left the Isle but there are still some here in Auradon who won't let us forget that we are from the Isle."

Doug reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze again, having put both his hands on the steering wheel as he was driving. "Well, if it helps, I know there are a lot of people who like the fact that you're from the Isle. You provide a point of view that we never got before."

"Is that an official 'King Ben' statement?" Evie asked with a small chuckle.

"I mean, I know one of the reasons Ben wanted to bring you all from the Isle was because you guys could give him a point of view he didn't have," Doug said. "But then again, Ben just wants to make sure everyone's happy."

"He's been good with that," Evie said. Ben really had worked tirelessly to make sure everyone was happy, she had seen that first hand. From getting her father back from Maleficent's clutches to helping spread the word about her business, Ben had truly been in her corner. He was a good friend.

I think I've never been more grateful that Mal's not the jealous type, she thought as Doug made their way back Auradon Prep. It could have been so easy for her to think that I had put a spell on Ben for him to do all these nice things for me. Especially after how I ruined his coronation. But she's been just as nice as Ben has—and that's honestly the strangest thing throughout this whole debacle.

After all, Mal hating her was somewhat normal. Even being tentative allies had been nice but strange but this? This was the closest they had ever been to being friends and Evie was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

For Uma to somehow convince Mal that a return to their normalcy was needed and to have Evie get kicked out of their dorm. She knew that no matter how close they got, Mal would always pick Uma first. Not that Evie faulted her for that. Uma was Mal's family. Family was everything on the Isle.

It was the one thing they thought they could always depend on.

Well, until we got to Auradon that is, Evie thought with a small smile as she glanced over at Doug as he parked his car and got out to let Evie out.

"I should probably go get started on my homework," Evie said softly.

"You want any company?" Doug asked with a small smile. A smile that Evie readily returned.

"I'd love some."

Mal rushed down the hall of Auradon Prep, frantically trying to get to her next class before she had another meeting with Natalie. Ever since Leah's exile, her handler had been piling on more and more 'Lady of the Court' lessons.

It was one thing to be a Lady by right, what with her father being a God, but she still needed to know how to act. Gods forbid she accidentally embarrass Ben right?

But it was getting to be a bit too much. She just felt stressed and panicked all the time. And what was worse was she had a feeling those emotions were leaking out through her mental link because she could feel a constant pressure there. As if someone was trying to talk to her.

I know someone's trying to talk to me though, Mal thought, clutching her books to her chest like a shield as she weaved through the crowded hallway; keeping her head down slightly as to avoid detection. It's been about three months since Ben's coronation and I've had the mental link on mute ever since. Mom must be going spare but I just can't talk to her about this. It'd be like admitting defeat—and VKs don't do that.

Not to mention it almost seemed cruel. Her mother was still on the Isle for another three months. Talking to her about everything that was going on would only hurt her since there was nothing Persephone could do.

Quickly cutting through the quad as if to take a shortcut, Mal couldn't help but smile as she felt the sun on her skin. She had lived sixteen years without the sun so whenever she could now, she took the opportunity to feel it on her.

"Mal!"

Mal was startled by an unfamiliar voice calling her name. Whirling around, she could see about seven adults, each one armed with microphones and a few cameras, rushing toward her.

"Mal! How's it feel to be approaching your three month anniversary with King Ben?"

"Mal! Love your dress! Is that one of Evie's designs or did you switch it up this time?"

"Mal!"

"Mal!"

Mal frantically looked around, searching for a break in the chain as to allow her to escape but no luck. The reporters had surrounded her like the hyenas would surround their prey on the Isle.

Shenzi would probably not be happy to hear that comparison now that I think about it, Mal thought as the reporters continued to lobby questions at her without giving her time to answer.

"Mal! Can you address the allegations that Maleficent is truly your mother?"

Mal's eyes flashed. "What proof is there that Maleficent is my mother? A page in a registry that she put there herself? It takes more to be a mother than just a blood connection you know!"

She knew she shouldn't have snapped at that, all it would do would add fuel to the fire but she was honestly fed up with people not realizing that Maleficent was not her mother.

"Well seeing as you have the same shade of green eyes as Maleficent, and both Lord Hades and Lady Persephone have blue eyes—"

"Clearly you need to learn your biology," Mal scoffed. "Green eyes are considered blue on the genetic scale and two blue eyed parents can produce a green eyed child."

"A green eyed child who has the exact same shade as Maleficent?"

Mal's eyes flashed again and she could feel her magic bubble up inside of her, yearning to be let out. She never noticed, in her internal panic, the darkening of the sky above her or the ominous rumble of thunder in the background.

"Alright, break it up!"

The reporters and Mal turned their heads to see Macaria marching toward them, her two brothers flanking her on either side. Mal hadn't expected a rescue from her Olympian cousins but that didn't mean she wasn't thankful for it.

"Don't you lot have anything better to do?" Macaria snapped as she pushed through the mob of reporters. "Honestly, cornering a sixteen year old girl who did nothing but try to get to class! Let's go, Mal."

She gently looped her arm through Mal's and began walking off, Hyllus and Herkie flanking either side and preventing any of the reporters from being able to ask any additional questions. It wasn't until they were safely inside the building that Macaria let go of Mal's arm.

"Thanks," Mal said softly.

"Don't mention it," Macaria said with a small smile. "Hyllus thought maybe those piranhas would get scared off by the darkening sky but when that didn't happen, we thought we'd come give an assist."

An assist you'd know about if you didn't have us all on mute, Macaria thought with a small frown. She'd had her brothers try the mental link as well and sure enough, they were unable to reach Mal.

"Fairy Godmother's not going to be happy to know reporters are on the grounds," Hyllus frowned, bringing Macaria's attention back to the matter at hand. "With how many of the students are the heirs to their kingdom's throne, they have the right to expect privacy. Plus the parents probably expect their kids won't get hounded whenever they go to class."

"Oh Gods! Class!" Mal exclaimed, her fingers tingling due to the build up of magic that was still inside her yearning to be let out. "I'm so late, I got to—"

"Mal, calm down," Macaria said. "What class are you going to?"

"Life Skills Without Magic."

"Wait seriously? They put you in that class when you're a Godling?" Macaria asked before shaking her head slightly, as if to get herself back on track. "Well anyway, Merryweather will understand you being a bit late."

"Especially if she turns on the news," Herkie spoke up, handing his older sister his phone. "Just got an alert. 'Lady Mal freaks out at reporters'."

Mal groaned as Macaria watched the clip. She hated hearing her voice, hated hearing how annoyed and slightly panicked she sounded. On the Isle, she had been the best at keeping her voice cool and calm—the only one who could really tell what she was thinking was Harry, Jay and Uma.

Oh Gods, Ben's going to see that! Mal thought as her heart sank to her stomach. He's going to know how much of an embarrassment I am!

Had Mal been in a calmer frame of mind, she might have realized how ridiculous that line of thinking truly was. After all, this was Ben they were talking about. But with the excitement with the reporters and the build up of her magic, one could excuse Mal for not exactly thinking clearly.

Not to mention there wasn't a single meeting with Natalie where the handler didn't bring up how much of an embarrassment Mal was as a Lady. Honestly at this point it was just better for Mal to keep her head down rather than snap back.

"I have to go," Mal said softly. She couldn't keep watching that but she knew she couldn't go to class at this point either. Her magic was itching to be let out and while it would be ironic if it happened in her Life Skills Without Magic class, Mal didn't want anyone to get hurt because of it.

Ignoring Macaria and Hyllus calling her name, Mal hightailed it back to her dorm. One might say she almost sprinted based on how fast she was going. Tossing her books on her bed, Mal began to pace back and forth, her breathing growing more frantic and ragged as her magic began to bubble and build.

Unable to take it anymore, Mal let loose a fireball—thankfully it only hit a nearby trashcan which would be easy enough to replace. Thankfully Estelle hadn't been in the room but had been with a caretaker Ben had set up—James Porter, an older student who was set to graduate the following year. He had been vetted and interviewed by Ben and Mal.

He was basically Estelle's version of Dean for Ben. Normally Mal would have never agreed to someone else who wasn't Hadie or Uma taking care of Estelle but as her schedule got more and more packed, she knew it wasn't fair for her lovable dog to be cooped up in their dorm room.

Thankfully Estelle took a liking to James right away and, if Mal was honest, so did she. He didn't shy away from asking questions that first day and he was quick to let her know if something happened with Estelle.

But as she looked at herself in the mirror of her vanity, all Mal saw was the same bright green eyes that used to terrorize her as a toddler. The same eyes that allowed people to still make the claim that she was Maleficent's daughter.

This wasn't the first time she had hated her eyes. Ever since she was thirteen, Mal had hated the fact that she shared the same shade of green as the Dragon.

Mal laid down on her bed, curled into a ball. She had just gotten back from her one night a week stay at Casa de Dragon and she hated it. Hated the fact that she had any connection to Maleficent at all. Hated the fact that she saw the same eyes whenever she looked in a mirror.

"Mali?" Persephone said softly as she knocked on the doorframe. "Can I come in?"

"It's your house mom," Mal muttered.

Persephone gave a sad smile at that as she walked into Mal's room. "It may be my home but it's also your home too Mal. I just wanted to check on you, Hadie said you seemed a bit down when you came home. Maleficent didn't…she didn't give you a 'lesson' as you kids call them?"

"No," Mal shook her head. "She's not happy with my level of villainy but for a change she's willing to ignore it this week. I think she's coming up with a new plan for getting off the Isle. Not like it'll work."

"Best to let her find that out herself," Persephone said with a small shake of her head.

"Mom?" Mal said after a few minutes. "Why…when you adopted me, why didn't my eyes change?"

"That's a good question Mal," Persephone said. "Remember I only adopted you magically, meaning biologically you're still Maleficent's. You have some of my powers though and I would assume that would also make you a full God like Hadie, granting you the immortality as well but I'd have to research that."

Mal sighed and flopped back on the bed, having sat up when her mom walked in.

"Did you want your eyes to change?" Persephone asked.

"…kinda," Mal said in a small voice, a voice that didn't really suit her. "I'm just…I'm tired of seeing Maleficent's eyes everywhere I go. It's almost like a reminder that no matter what I do, I can't escape her. She'll always have some claim to me."

Persephone sighed and brushed her fingers through Mal's hair. "Mal honey, you know I love your eyes. I love every bit of you but the last thing I want is for you to be unhappy. If it truly bothers you that much, would you want me to look into some contacts to give you a different eye color the next time I'm in Auradon?"

"You..you can do that? Make your eyes a different color?" Mal asked, her voice soft. "Doesn't that seem more like something you'd do through magic? Which would be blocked by the barrier?"

"There are magical ways to do it sweetie, maybe one day if you get off the Isle you can do it magically, but yes there is a way for you to have different colored eyes without using magic."

"But Maleficent would notice wouldn't she?" Mal asked softly. "She's vain enough that she'd notice if I started sporting a different eye color."

"Mal, honey, how many times does she look at you close enough to get a good look at your eyes?"

Mal shrugged. "Probably never if she even looks at me at all. She's too busy planning her way off the Isle."

"Exactly."

"I…I could really have a way to…no wait, the only way Uma, Harry and Jay have any protection is because everyone knows I'm Maleficent's daughter. Someone would notice the change," Mal sighed. She was stuck.

"…what if we made it so your eyes were still green but they weren't the same shade?" Persephone suggested. "That way, people would still see the green eyes but you wouldn't have the same as Maleficent?"

After all, most if not almost all of the Isle residents were dumber than a sack of potatoes. All they'd see is a pair of green eyes.

"But…neither you nor dad have green eyes. Couldn't someone say—?"

"Blue eyed parents can still produce a green eyed child Mali. It all has to do with genetics and genetically green eyes are still considered to be blue. So? What do you think? You'd still have green eyes but not 'Maleficent' green."

Mal had, at the time, elected to keep her eyes just in case Maleficent ever noticed. Not to mention the fact that contacts seemed like too much work for the Isle. The last thing she would want was to be seen as 'prissy' especially as the co-captain of the largest crew or gang on the Isle.

But now? I mean she was in Auradon after all, and no one seemed to bat an eye at prissiness. Going over to her laptop, which had been a gift from Ben, Mal pulled up a search browser and began searching for colored contacts.

I mean, sure I could do it magically but the spell might wear off then, Mal thought as she searched. And then you've got the stress of reapplying it plus what if it fades when I'm around Ben? Or worse, mom or Hadie? I don't need something super different, maybe just a shade or two darker than my regular color.

Finally, she found a pair that looked like they would be perfect. Unfortunately, like all good plans, there was a snag.

"…since when does Auradon have an optometrist?" Mal muttered to herself as she saw that the contacts were only available through a prescription. "Are there any heroes that even have glasses? Oh wait, Milo Thatch but you'd think Kida would fix his eyes. Glasses don't really seem the most practical."

After all, you never saw any kids with glasses on the Isle. Then again, a crummy medical system and a lack of sun might have prevented those from even being options. Kids might have just grown up thinking they had poor eyesight.

"Great, what am I going to do now?" Mal sighed. "There's no way a doctor will give me a prescription for something just because I want it. Not without mom's or my guardian's permission since I'm under eighteen. Never mind the fact that I'm a Godling and needing a prescription for non prescription colored contacts is stupid…"

Mal trailed off as she began to form an idea and quickly opened a new tab, pulling up the online shopping website used by many a student and beloved by all of Auradon. If they didn't have what Mal was looking for, she would be officially out of luck.

Typing out the search, Mal scanned the pages; looking for the exact item she would need. It didn't take her long before she found them. Enough contacts to last her three months and there was no need for a prescription.

Plus, since Evie had used her laptop to buy new supplies, her expedite account was still logged in. Meaning Mal could get the contacts in about two days.

Moving quickly, as to avoid losing her nerve, Mal added the contacts to her cart. Then, after fishing out her wallet from her pocket (hey, she was desperate not stupid. She knew that Evie would probably get an alert if she used the card attached to the blue haired girl's account) and even if it was only about thirty dollars, Mal did not feel comfortable stealing that from Evie.

Besides, the fewer people who knew the better. As the old saying went: the best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one person—if you must. There is no third best.

Evie was great but if she somehow told her father, Daniel might tell Ben. Or her mom. Or both.

Quickly entering in her card information, Mal placed the order and then erased her purchase from Evie's account. Mal relaxed for a split second—until she remembered something.

Crap! Evie's account means Evie would get an email about that delivery! But wait, she's ordered so much stuff for her business, she might just think that it's related to something she ordered. Though note to self, set up an account for yourself so this doesn't happen again.

Mal nodded and went back to deleting her search history. Just on the off chance someone went rifling through her computer.

"Well," she said once she was finished. "I guess I should head to class. After all, Merryweather's going to notice I was gone."

Though what was missing one class really going to hurt? Mal thought After all you've got a meeting with Natalie right after that class. What would you rather do? Be stressed all through class because of how much you've missed and therefore have a horrible time with Natalie or miss one class and have a less than pleasant time with Natalie?

Mal sighed. If she was honest, she knew she'd pick no time at all with Natalie but she wasn't going to make problems for Ben.

"I guess…I could go over some of the decisions that need to be made for Cotillion," Mal said slowly as she reached over to grab one of the many books that were cluttering her nightstand. "Natalie wants to know what sort of progress is being made and then if there's time I could read some of the books she gave me…"

The problem with Natalie piling on her schedule was that there was never any time to do the additional work she wanted Mal to do. As Natalie would often lament during their meetings, if Mal didn't have the hours blocked off for her magic practice it would be likely that there would be time to start the readings or work in their meetings.

I mean, it's not like Natalie respects those hours anyway. How many times has she found a way to cut into that time? Mal thought. It's probably why I've had so many flair ups lately.

Ben had done his part, and lobbied for her three hours a week to be increased to three hours a day after her fireball incident when she learned that the food being sent to the Isle had been purposefully turned rotten. Since Ben was the king, and his council were the ones setting up Mal's schedule, there was nothing Natalie could do outright but accept the change.

That didn't mean Natalie couldn't overload my schedule, Mal sighed. Especially seeing as she has my planner.

The older blonde had….'requested' Mal give her the planner after Leah's council trial. Mal couldn't escape the feeling that Leah had somehow ordered Natalie to get revenge for her behalf but…there was no way she could prove it.

Mal sighed and cracked open the book that she'd taken off her nightstand to read. Honestly—she would have gotten more useful information talking to anyone from the Isle about being a Lady of the Court than she did reading this dribble.

What in the world does it matter what fork I use? It's all going down the same hole anyway and by reducing the number of utensils used, you're not washing as many and therefore not using as much in the way of resources! Though multiple forks does mean that you could theoretically stab someone with one fork and keep eating with the other.

Somehow, she didn't think that was what Natalie had in mind when she said that there were some things Mal could learn from this book.

The dulcet tones of her cell phone broke through the silence and Mal scrambled to pick it up.

"Hello? Oh hi Natalie, I was just—no I didn't know I was running late, I thought—no Natalie, I'm not calling you a liar I was just say—yes Natalie I know we've been through this before, I—No you're not wasting your time, I promise. I'll be better," Mal said, wincing a little at that last line.

It reminded her too much of her toddler years and how she used to try to please Maleficent, before she learned that there was no truly pleasing that dragon.

"I'll be right there," Mal said softly. "Yes Natalie, I…I understand that everything's going to overlap now. Trust me, you've made it clear about how you feel about my training hours. Uh huh. We can talk more in person."

Mal hung up and sighed softly. There was only so much of her handler she could take before she felt like she was going to explode.

This is for Ben though. Ben's council believe you need Natalie and I'm not going to make life tougher for Ben. Besides, you're from the Isle. The kids there are facing worse than a snobby instructor, Mal thought as she stood up. Hopefully Natalie hasn't seen the news so she won't know about the reporter incident earlier.

Though, if Mal was being honest to herself, she knew that the likelihood of Natalie actually not knowing about that incident was about as big as Maleficent learning to love and turning back into a human.

"Okay, let's go," Mal sighed to herself before strolling out of her dorm, hoping she at least looked like her regular confident self. Even if that was the last thing she felt like. After all, like the old saying went: fake it till you make it.

Okay just relax, Mal thought as she neared her meeting room with Natalie. You go in there tense, Natalie will know. I swear it's like she can smell strife. You only have three more months until Cotillion anyway and then a huge amount of your duties will be done.

Nodding to herself, Mal sighed softly before pushing open the door to yet another mentally painful few hours.

Leah scowled as she surveyed the area around her. It had been a couple of months since she was unceremoniously exiled from Auradon and there had been no effort to get her off the hellscape that was the Isle. To make matters worse, there was no one here who recognized her as the Queen she was. Instead the Isle dwellers were content in shunning her and making her get by with minimal shelter.

No, but they were fine in showing differential treatment toward Mal. One of the brats she had seen by the docks the day she had arrived had even called her captain when talking about her. As if the little spawn knew how to captain anything. According to Natalie, Mal was floundering at even the basic of tasks that a royal would know.

Of course, that would be an adult royal, she thought with a small smirk. After all, we don't come out of the womb knowing what we know. But I would have thought months of watching Mal fail and embarrass him would have been enough to make Ben see that he was better off with my Audrey.

Ah Audrey. She was the only member of the family who hadn't forgotten her. Leah lived for the weekly letters, filling her in on the activities of Auradon. But her beloved granddaughter seemed to be the only one who cared about her. Her grandson Phillip had yet to reach out to her, though why she would want to communicate with that spare is beyond her.

Honestly how egocentric do you have to be to name a child after yourself? Leah thought with a small scoff. At least my Aurora had some sense when she named Audrey. It wasn't some common name like Phillip! I'm not at all surprised that Phillip hasn't come to my aid yet. He's always hated me, his own mother in law! I would have thought though he wouldn't be as petty as to poison Aurora against me.

She sighed as she shook her head, looking at her makeshift home. It wasn't the castle she spent so many years in but then there weren't really any castles on the Isle. Oh sure she could have tried to set up shop in Maleficent's empty castle but that wasn't something she was about to do.

For one, it would have involved spending time in a location that Maleficent had once called home. Who knew how many booby traps that demon had set up?

However, that wasn't the only reason. There were groups of the Isle brats who seemed to work in shifts, guarding the castle for Mal. Mal! Gods, the very thought sent waves of anger down Leah's spine. Maleficent's spawn got better treatment on the Isle than she did—and she was a ranking royal of Auradon! Those brats should have been grateful she had even lowered herself to talk to them.

Thankfully, Lady Persephone was still on the Isle as well. At least there was someone who was worth the effort of having a conversation with—at least that's what Leah thought.

"Lady Persephone," Leah smiled upon seeing the Goddess as she took one of her many walks around the Isle. Finally, someone with Auradon's social graces. The last time she had lowered herself to talking to one of the brats, the little blonde haired goblin had pulled out a dagger and warned Leah that unless she wanted to know what a pin cushion felt like, she'd leave her the hell alone.

Honestly, the language on that girl! She couldn't have been more than fourteen and yet she swore like a sailor! Then again, what did Leah expect? This was the Isle, the same place that produced Mal. A girl who was more than content with lying straight to Auradon's face.

"Leah," Persephone stated, her tone flat. With Maleficent in her current state of being a lizard, it was much safer for her to walk around the whole Isle and see if there were any other kids in need of assistance. She had not expected to see the former Queen of Auroria even if she knew of Leah's banishment to the Isle thanks to her son.

Persephone held back a sigh as she thought about her son. Her Hadie. Talking on the mental link wasn't the same as holding him in her arms and unfortunately, the portal only worked to talk through when she activated it from the Auradon side. Otherwise, she'd be able to talk to both her kids—and find out why Mal had her mental link on mute for so long.

It wasn't as if Persephone was constantly chatting to her through it, and the other Gods seldom used it unless it was an emergency. Still, she liked talking to Mal and knowing something was wrong but not being able to do anything was torture.

Hades knew it too, he could feel the waves of panic and stress that had to be coming from Mal's link but he was put on mute as well. It was honestly worse than the time Mal had run away to her clubhouse after Hadie was born. She hadn't been trained how to use her mental link so they couldn't use it to find her. This time, they knew where she was but she was refusing to talk to them.

"Finally someone I can petition here. There's been a mistake."

"A mistake?" Persephone asked, raising an eyebrow as she brought herself back into the conversation she was being forced to have. After the events of Family Day, Persephone made it a point to not be alone with Leah should the aged monarch do something that might force Persephone's hand and cause Leah to remember how the mint plant came into being. "How so? I don't believe King Ben would have sent you to the Isle had there not been a reason. After all, he knows what the Isle is like thanks to Mal and her friends."

Leah resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the mention of Mal. She was trying to get on the Goddess' good side and showing contempt toward a girl she thought of as a daughter was probably not the best way to do so. Why Lady Persephone thought that was still a mystery to Leah.

Oh sure, the girl technically was Lady Persephone's step-daughter being the biological child of Lord Hades but there was no denying the fact that Mal was Maleficent's daughter. The sooner Persephone realized that, the sooner they could prevent the destruction of Auradon.

"King Ben may believe that he had a reason but really he just let his council demean me and persecute me without reason. All because of baseless accusations that I tried to starve the people of the Isle!"

"Yeah I probably wouldn't shout those accusations while out in public on the Isle," Persephone said dryly. "There's a large contingent still loyal to Mal and my husband. Not to mention, Leah, my son spent eleven years of his life dealing with that 'food' you deemed acceptable for the children of the Isle to eat. If it hadn't been for the fact that I had the ability to bring over some food from Auradon, I've no doubt all the kids would be a lot worse off than they are."

This time, Leah did not resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Honestly Lady Persephone, you can't honestly believe—"

"Leah, if you truly feel that there was no harm done, then you'll have no qualms in eating the food that will be presented on the barge," Persephone said.

"Why...um no of course not. I'd gladly eat anything that was presented to me—."

"Oh no Leah. That's not how it works here," Persephone said and unless Leah was mistaken there was a small smirk on Persephone's lips. "If you're not present at the barge when it delivers the monthly food drop, then you're likely not going to get anything unless you're fortunate enough to make an alliance. The only ones who are so fortunate as to not be there are the Evil Queen, Jafar, Cruella and my husband. The later three because they have their own businesses to run or because it's easier to limit contact with her in Cruella's case and the Evil Queen because of everything that happened with her husband."

They may have been an Island of Villains but even they had a code. Daniel had been beloved by many of the children of the Isle because of his kind nature—while the adults appreciated his strong work ethic and his tendency not to complain. After all, he had volunteered to come to the Isle to be with the Evil Queen.

Villains understood loyalty after all. Even after Daniel was taken off the Isle by King Ben, there was still some speculation that he would return. Obviously once that happened, the deliveries of food from Hades' restaurant would stop but until that day arrived, they would continue.

"Oh, and Leah," Persephone said as she turned to leave, "don't think you'll be able to just get food from my husband's restaurant or Ursula's if you're unable to get anything from the delivery barge. After all, I did inform my husband of your abhorrent behavior at Family Day and well I'm sure Uma's already informed her mother about what you've done toward the Isle. You might get lucky though and be able to purchase something from Frollo's shop. You and he are a lot alike if you think about it. Both of you were content to commit mass murder to get your goals."

Leah's jaw dropped and Persephone turned on her heel, making her way back whence she came.

It had certainly been an alarming notion—the idea of getting food for herself! She was a royal after all! She had people to do that for her!

But as the month came and went with the delivery barge arriving, Leah watched as the denizens of the Isle trampled each other for the remnants of what had been delivered after Lord Hades' representatives had grabbed what they could. They were nothing to look at—two brats if Leah was being generous. One a tall skinny boy who seemed perpetually nervous and twitchy, the other a small dark skinned girl with dull red hair.

Once they collected their prize, the kids scurried off in direction of the Underworld and that seemed to be the unspoken signal for the others to commence the free for all. Honestly, it was like scenes Leah would see on the news about people killing each other for a sale at one of the many shops Audrey would frequent. Didn't they know there'd be enough food for everyone?

Then again, these were villains. Maybe they just preferred killing people.

When it was finally Leah's turn, she was shocked to see how picked over everything was. She was lucky to find a few cans of soup that looked to be a week past their expiration date, a couple of carrots that were blacker than Mal's soul, and a brisket with more fuzz on it than her grandson's chin. She grabbed it of course because food was food. She'd need her strength if she was going to get off this hellscape of a rock.

Eating it would also prove that Mal had kicked up too much of a fuss at the council meeting and show Ben that he'd been better off with Audrey. Honestly, a girl who was that fussy about food would only complain and drive a wedge in their relationship. Audrey was content to let things rest where they may.

To her surprise, all eating the disgusting food did was give her food poisoning. Much to no one's sympathy for that matter. Well, except for Audrey. Her weekly letters would contain messages urging Leah to feel better and save her strength, that one day she would be reunited with her and that Leah would regain her rightful spot as Queen of Auroria.

There was a reason why she had begun to hypnotize Chad after all. Her granddaughter needed a reward for her unbridled loyalty and a boyfriend who would never leave her was just the thing to get the girl who had everything.

Granted it was a non magical hypnosis, which were reported to be weaker than magical hypnosi but Leah had no magic to speak of. If she reached out to the Good Fairies for their assistance, there was a risk of word getting to Audrey and spoiling the surprise. Those three nitwits couldn't keep a secret if their lives depended on it.

I have to wonder how long the hypnosis will stay without my administering it every week, Leah thought. Though Natalie should be able to handle that. She's certainly handling Mal just the way I thought she would. Honestly, one would think a supposed daughter of Persephone would be able to handle a bit of stress but from the reports I get, Mal's slowly growing more and more frazzled each day.

Well you know what they say about Karma. Had Mal not enchanted Ben somehow and stolen him from Audrey, she wouldn't be going through this. Though I never thought about implying she'd embarrass Ben by acting like herself. I mean, it's obvious but I would have just slipped in some comments in the Gazelle. Natalie shows some true promise to say such comments to Mal's face. As much as I love Aurora, there are times I wonder if she's truly my daughter considering how she favors the Isle brats and comes to their defense.

Leah shook her head, trying to rid herself of her thoughts. The brats of the Isle had proven that being lost in thought would only mean they'd have an opportunity to steal what was rightfully her's. After all, that's what Mal did and that's what her own daughter did as well. Stole her ability to rule the kingdom.

She had a plan though. It was near the day that the food barge would arrive and Leah was going to be on it. Once she was back in Auradon, she'd clean house first and reinstate herself as the rightful Queen of Auroria.

She'd make Audrey her heir of course. Her granddaughter's loyalty would be rewarded, not to mention the hypnosis Leah had put on Chad would have to be reestablished as to allow Audrey the chance to run two kingdoms.

It helped, of course, that Chad was already besotted with Audrey. If it wasn't for the fact that her granddaughter deserved the best, Leah would have been satisfied with the Charming heir as a match. But Audrey was meant to be more than just a Queen. She was born to be the Queen and now, because of a sneaking snake of a girl, she had lost that chance.

It just wasn't fair! The Evil Queen's brat had been the one to break the barrier and cause Maleficent of all villains to have a chance to escape yet it was her who was unceremoniously sent to the Isle! And for what? Trying to protect Auradon?

The villains had their food and really they should have been grateful they got what they did, she thought as she made her way to the docks. Night had fallen, or at least she assumed it had. With the constant cloud cover, it was almost nigh impossible to tell if it was ten in the morning or six in the evening. But Leah could assume it was night judging by the almost empty street she was on.

"Well well well," a menacing voice came out from the shadows, causing Leah to jump as she stopped in her tracks and looked around to see where the voice was coming from. "What do we have here Banzi?"

"I don't know Shenzi. What do you think Ed?" Another voice responded only to get a laugh from this 'Ed' person. Leah knew she'd have to think quickly to try to get some form of an alliance—or at least assistance to get to the docks. Of course, all thought went out the window as the owner of the voice stepped out from the shadows and Leah realized she was surrounded by about twelve hyenas. Twelve angry hyenas by the looks on their faces though four of the smaller ones simply looked amused.

"The humans informed us about you," the owner of the first voice as she stepped forward. Shenzi, Leah believed. She also noted that there was a slight menacing growl to the hyena's voice though Leah was sure she was imagining it. The hyenas' feud was with Simba not with her.

"I...I mean you no harm—."

"Ha!" One of the smaller hyenas let out a bark like laugh. "Captain Mal and Captain Uma warned the other humans you'd try that."

"Jasiri," Shenzi barked in warning and Jasiri nodded, backing up back into the pack of hyenas. Turning back to Leah, Shenzi stated, "my daughter is correct though. The other humans did state you'd try to lie and say you mean no harm to us."

"But that's true! Your feud is with the lions, not with me!"

"Our 'feud' as you called it is with whoever threatens the cackle," Shenzi growled. "Do you not think by denying the humans food, you threatened the safety of my family? Of my children?"

They had been lucky that they had survived for so long. It had actually been due to the captains approaching her all those years ago to set up an alliance. Normally Shenzi would have been wary about doing such a thing. The last alliance she put her family in, Scar had stabbed them in the back. Granted, they got their revenge on him and the humans knew all about it.

But two things had prevented Shenzi from eating the two captains where they stood. After all, they had willingly come to her den to talk about an alliance. That showed bravery, a trait that was rare for the humans of the Isle. As well, they were but cubs when they approached her. Only five years of age and yet desperate to make deals to secure their safety.

Normally, Shenzi wouldn't have cared about the age of the human cubs but unbeknownst to her, she had been carrying her own cubs at the time of the meeting. So she had been a bit more agreeable—and it didn't hurt that the humans really made the deal more beneficial to the hyenas than they did for themselves.

Her cackle would get to patrol the Isle, eating any dead or decaying human they could find. As well, they would have full access to the dead bodies that came out of the monthly food deliveries. All the humans asked was that they had the chance to remove the bodies of any children under the age of twelve or any of their people should they be in the crowd.

As well, the Captain Mal somehow had access to fresh water. Not that salty stuff that helped to imprison them on this Island. It wasn't fit for the humans to drink let alone the hyenas. Though if they were desperate enough, they could get some hydration from the blood of their kills.

The deal favored the hyenas in such a way that Shenzi would have been a fool to turn it down. But she was still wary. Like she said, the last time they entered a deal that favored the hyenas to such a degree, it turned out to be a bust for them. So it was an alliance that was under a probationary period until Shenzi felt as if she could at least count on the humans if not trust them.

The time came sooner than she thought, when that moronic Evil Queen captured her children and used them as party favors for the other brats attending her spawn's celebration. As soon as Shenzi learned about that, she had rushed to the pirates. To her surprise, Mal had jumped on the chance to get her cubs back and made sure each cub got water and food upon their return. It was then that Shenzi knew that this was an alliance that would not end horribly.

If it did, she could always do what they had done to Scar.

Even though both captains were gone, the new captain was honoring that agreement. He seemed fairly competent for a male though most of the time the black furred captain handled any discussions that were needed. The pirates seemed to have the right idea of it, keeping the females in charge. Even the new captain showed deference to the black furred captain.

"What are we going to do with her Shenzi?" Banzi asked, pulling Shenzi back to the present.

"I...I know you just ate," Leah lied, sounding braver than she felt. She may have been a Queen but even Queens knew the danger of angry hyenas.

"Actually we didn't," Shenzi said and smirked as she could see the color fade from the human's face. "Shere Khan's brat beat us to a child. Though it wouldn't matter even if we did just eat. Don't you know what they say about a hyena's belly?"

Shenzi didn't wait for an answer but instead dove straight for the human's throat. Once her teeth bit down, it was as if it was a signal to the others to dive in. The human honestly didn't last long but that was fine by them. Less of a fight meant less blood on their fur.

"I'll report back to the pirates. They should know that we've rid them of an enemy," Shenzi stated with a small smirk as she gnawed on one of the human's bones, having quickly stripped it of its flesh. As matriarch of the cackle, she had the right to claim the biggest one there was—though there were plenty of bones to go around for all of them. The human's fur was ripped to shreds though there was a red furred human cub who seemed to like messing with the furs of other humans. As well, the cub seemed to be under the pirates' protection at the very least.

If she felt up to it, Shenzi might gift the bits to the human. But honestly after a meal like that, all she wanted to do was curl up in her den and sleep.

"Mother, why don't I do that?" Jasiri offered.

"Because, even though you are next in line to be matriarch, I am still the leader," Shenzi said firmly. It would be bad form to insult the humans by sending her cub in her place, considering it had never been done before. Oh sure Jasiri had accompanied her when it came to having discussions with the humans but had never interacted with them one on one before.

"Yes mother," Jasiri nodded.

Shenzi smirked slightly and walked over to her. "That's my wicked girl," she said and nuzzled her daughter's face. "You all run back to the den, I shouldn't be long."

Her cubs nodded and ran off.

"Banzi," Shenzi said, her voice growing hard. "If Shere Khan, his girlfriend or brat, or those infernal lions harm them, you will see the inside of my belly."

"No harm will come to them," Banzi promised before leading the rest of the cackle off to make sure nothing happened to the cubs. He had no wish to see if Shenzi would be true to her threat. Shenzi sighed and shook her head before making her way toward the pirates' den. She hated the smell of the salt water but it was a temporary evil.

Besides, informing the pirates meant that word would get to Captain Mal. After what she did to make sure her cubs got back safe and sound, informing the purple furred human about the death of her enemy was the least Shenzi could do.

"Hyena on the gangplank!" One of the humans called and Shenzi wasn't going to lie, she loved the fact that there was always a hint of fear and trepidation in the humans' voices whenever she walked up. It meant that these humans at least had a brain rattling around in their skull.

"Thanks Nick! Someone get Harriet!" The new captain called as he walked up to greet Shenzi. "Matriarch, it's a pleasure. Is everything alright?"

"There's no need to get the female captain, Captain Henry, though I do appreciate the courtesy," Shenzi told the red furred male. "I only came to inform you that my cackle has rid you of an enemy."

"Please say it's Freddy, please say it's Freddy," a brown furred male begged as he passed by.

"Ryan!" Henry warned but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Zevon?" A black furred male asked as he walked up.

"Matriarch, would you like to take this meeting to the captain's quarters and away from prying ears?" Henry offered, shooting a small glare toward the black furred male who at least had the common decently to look sheepish.

"Yes please, thank you captain," Shenzi nodded and followed Henry to the captain's quarters. It was a room Shenzi was well familiar with, considering it was where she would often meet with Captains Mal and Uma when the need arose. However, Shenzi couldn't help but note that the room was not empty as it normally was.

"CJ told me you were meeting with the Matriarch," the black or brown furred female told Henry. Shenzi could never really tell with her, her fur color seemed to change as the light did.

"Why am I not surprised Harriet?" Henry chuckled. "Shenzi was just saying that the cackle has rid us of an enemy."

"Freddy?"

"I don't know who this Freddy is but the enemy we rid you of was an older female," Shenzi told them. "I have to say, they should send more enemies from across the salt water over here. There's a lot more fat on the bones than there are of the humans here."

Henry and Harriet froze at those words.

"Leah? The woman responsible for the food we've been getting according to Mal?" Harriet asked and seemed to sink back into her chair as Shenzi nodded.

"You okay?" Henry asked, his voice soft.

"I...I don't know why," Harriet said softly, "but it feels like my mother's been avenged somehow. I know she died in childbirth but..."

"I know," Henry said, his voice still soft. "I think most of our mothers were the same. Gil lucked out, being born in a warm month. Not to mention the fact that his mom gave Gaston a son. That would have been enough motivation to make sure she got more food than the others."

Shenzi kept quiet, knowing that the humans' walls would come back up once she spoke. It was strange though, she found she was oddly touched by the fact that the humans had reacted as they did around her.

Almost as if they knew they could trust her.

"I'll have to have a crew meeting," Henry stated.

"You'll need to inform Mal," Harriet told him. "At the very least, inform Lady Persephone or Lord Hades and they can pass the news along."

"Right," Henry nodded before shaking his head slightly. "Thank you for informing us Matriarch. Would you like some water before you leave?"

Shenzi nodded. "If any can be spared, it would be appreciated Captain."

"Lord Hades just sent over a batch last night," Henry said. "I'll go and fetch some. Be right back."

He left and quickly made his way to the deck where his friends were still mingling about. They were not who Henry wanted to talk to though.

"Dustin," Henry stated, grabbing one of the boys' arms.

"I didn't do it!"

"I don't want to know," Henry sighed. "You haven't pissed off Lord Hades or Lady Persephone in some way have you?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good. I need you to run to the Underworld and let them know that we need to send word to Mal and Uma. Tell them that Leah's been taken care of."

Dustin nodded and took off as soon as Henry let go of his arm. Henry chuckled softly as he made his way to the galley to get the water. Dustin was a grade A prat at times and held the record for number of flings held among the crew but he could still be counted on for more responsibilities than say the younger crew members.

After all, Ryan and CJ were only fourteen—the same age Brooke was when she left the crew to join Freddy's gang. While it wasn't Brooke's fault that she left, she might try to use that connection of being relatively close in age to try to lure Ryan or CJ to Freddy's side.

More so CJ than Ryan if Henry thought about it. Freddy had commented about how CJ was growing up during a face off last year. It had taken three crew members to drag Harry off to prevent him from killing the male Frollo. Not that it would have been a waste if Harry had but Mal was firm on the whole 'we don't kill' thing.

They were the only gang on the Isle with that rule. Every Angel, with the exception of Brooke and Claudine, had killed at least one Rat during a face off. Brooke because she had only just left the Rats and Claudine because she only ever aimed for the shoulder if she had to. They also had to be sure to keep on their guard if they found themselves in Caster territory. Yzla or Zevon wouldn't think twice before throwing a potion at them.

And with Mal, Uma, Jay and Harry off the Isle, they couldn't afford to lose any more crew members than they already had.

"Henry?" Ryan asked, pulling Henry out of his thoughts as he realized he was still standing in the galley.

"Sorry," Henry said softly.

"You okay?"

"Fine."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "You're not keeping information from me because I'm under fifteen are you? Believe it or not I won't be traumatized if there's information that's not sunshine and rainbows. Whatever those are."

Henry snorted in amusement—another thing Mal and Uma had insisted on was working on keeping the innocence of the younger crew members for as long as they could. Maybe it came from having younger siblings but whatever it was, they were the captains so their rule was law. No talking about flings around the under-fifteen year olds, no under fifteens allowed at face offs though Ryan often broke this rule. CJ tried to break it too but it was harder when she had two siblings watching her every move.

"Keep a secret?" Henry asked.

"Did you finally get a girlfriend?" Ryan asked, sounding a little excited at the prospect.

Henry rolled his eyes. "Leah won't be a problem for us anymore."

Ryan's eyes got wide and he grew quiet before rushing out of the galley. Henry knew exactly where Ryan was going—to tell CJ. Those two were closer than Harry and Uma if such a thing was possible. Henry wouldn't be surprised if they partnered off together at some point in the future.

But for right now, they were no more than friends which Henry was fine with. No need for them to grow up before they had to. Quickly grabbing the water, Henry made his way back to the captain's quarters.

"Apologies for the wait, Matriarch," he said as he presented Shenzi with the water.

Shenzi nodded and began to drink. As she did, Henry sat down next to Harriet.

"I told Dustin to inform Lord Hades and Lady Persephone," he muttered to her. "Hopefully he doesn't dally or try to pick someone up for a quick fling before coming back here."

"Not with it being dark as night out there," Harriet shook her head. "Dustin's a prat and an idiot at times but he's no fool. Lord Hades might actually tell him to stay the night. No point in risking Dustin coming across Shere Khan or Zira."

"If I come across your cackle member I'll accompany him back here," Shenzi said as she looked up. "It's not safe for humans in this time of night."

"That would be appreciated Matriarch," Henry nodded and Shenzi nodded back. Before long the water was emptied and Shenzi knew it was time for her to make her way back to her den. Giving her farewells to the humans, she got up and made he way across the deck and down the gangplank. Thankfully, there were no other creatures of the night out and about. Either that or Shenzi just didn't encounter them but no matter what, she made it to her den without issue.

I have to say, she thought as she curled up by her cubs, a hyena's belly may never be full but right now it's the closest it's ever felt to being so.

Mal sighed as she left one of the multitude of meetings Natalie had her attend. Thankfully it was the last one of the day and it was a good thing too because Mal felt like she was at the end of her rope. Lately it felt more and more as if her handler was trying to drive her insane rather than help her become a Lady of the Court. Something that apparent was going to happen at Cotillion now instead of a private ceremony.

Whoever decided to make this a public thing should be shot, Mal thought. Hmm, maybe not shot but definitely slapped. Was it Wonderbreath? Was this revenge on dad kidnapping him as a baby? No wait, he's all brawn and no brains. If it wasn't for the fact that he sounds like a sweetheart from the few stories Macaria's told me, one might think he'd get along well with Gaston.

Oh yeah, that had been a fun discovery, finding out that her becoming a Lady of the Court was going to be in public rather than in private like Mal had thought. Ben had told her about that at one of their rare date nights—so rare they were practically endangered. Thankfully Mal had no qualms about spending time with Ben in his office so it wasn't as if they never got to see each other.

Just almost never.

"Ben, what do you mean I'll become a Lady of the Court at Cotillion? I thought it was just going to be a small thing. You, me, Fairy Godmother and my mom when she gets off the Isle?" Mal asked, looking at Ben with slight trepidation in her voice. Trepidation that she hoped wasn't audible. She was already working so hard to not embarrass Ben and she already knew she'd likely mess up once the cameras and lights were focused firmly on her.

It was bad enough that they were insisting on having Cotillion be on a yacht. A. Yacht! Oh sure, that'll be fun-so not only would the pressure to not embarrass Ben make it near impossible for Mal to enjoy herself but then there was the added bonus of making sure not to accidentally fall off the side and die! It wasn't like almost drowning at nine left her with a fear of water or anything!

...oh wait, it did! The only reason why said fear didn't rear its head on their date to the Enchanted Lake all those months ago was the fact that she'd been more worried about Ben than anything else. And then she had almost drowned again!

Thinking about it, she really needed to learn how to swim.

"I know you're granted a title by right since your father is the Lord of the Dead," Ben stated as he looked up from his pile of paperwork, pulling Mal out of her thoughts that had started to spiral, "but I also know that there are some who don't want to use that title for you and it was pointed out to me at the latest council meeting that some might use the fact that it was done in private to cast aspersions on whether it was done at all."

"And by some you mean Leah's allies."

"I do in fact mean Leah's allies," Ben nodded. "She didn't have many of them but she did have them and they were surprisingly loyal to her."

So much so that Chi-Fu was petitioning him for Leah to be laid to rest with official royal honors. Never mind the fact that there was no body for them to recover. Mal hadn't said but Ben was no idiot. Akiho had told him about how Mal had mentioned to him that she and her friends had made an alliance with the hyenas of the Isle. Hyenas wouldn't leave a body for them to recover. They'd be lucky if they recovered bones.

Aurora, however, had stated that a full state funeral wasn't needed, especially with Cotillion as close as it was. Auroria would handle Leah's funeral.

"Ben, it doesn't matter if I have a title or not or if anyone uses it," Mal said, pulling Ben out of his thoughts. "I'm titled through my parents and that should be enough. Besides, I don't exactly act like a Lady does."

"So? I don't exactly act like a King does," Ben said with a small chuckle as Mal moved to sit on his desk. "Besides, once you become a member of my court, you'd be able to attend more council meetings and we could see each other more often."

"Not really selling it there Ben," Mal said, making a small face. "I attended one of your council meetings and almost ended up having a fight with Zeus."

"You never did tell me what that was about by the way," Ben said, looking over at her. "I mean, I know Lord Zeus is your dad's brother and there's no love lost between the two of them but I don't—."

"Ben, don't worry about it," Mal said, shaking her head softly. "It's just family drama. That's all."

"Mal, the last time the Gods had 'family drama' as you put it, your dad almost successfully pulled off a coup to take over Olympus."

"And my father is currently trapped on an Isle with a barrier around it," Mal told him. "Not to mention I have no intention of taking over Olympus. I've seen what being in charge is like based on how much paperwork you have to do. No thank you."

Ben chuckled as Mal leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"I think you missed," he said, a teasing tone coloring his voice.

"Oh did I now?" Mal teased back. "Well let me correct that your highness."

She leaned forward once more but before she had a chance to connect her lips to his, her phone buzzed. Sighing, Mal leaned back and flipped it open; holding the cellular device to her ear. Ben couldn't make out who was talking but Mal seemed to grow more and more tense with every word. It seemed to Ben that whoever was on the other line was in charge of the conversation as Mal was really only able to let out a few sounds of agreement before she grew silent once more. Finally Mal hung up and slid off the desk.

"Sorry Ben," she said softly. "I gotta go."

"Everything okay?" Ben asked, getting up to at least walk her to the door.

Mal gave him a small, sad smile that Ben could tell didn't reach her eyes. "It's...it's fine Ben. Everything's fine."

As Ben walked her to the door, he reached over and took Mal's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and earning a small smile in return.

"See you at dinner?" Ben asked, his voice soft.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Mal promised before lifting up on her tiptoes and placing a gentle kiss on Ben's cheek.

That had been two weeks ago and ever since then, Natalie had been like a woman possessed with her schedule. Mal wasn't quite sure but she was almost positive that she'd had fourteen meetings or events throughout the past two days.

Was this payback, for Leah's untimely demise? Mal wasn't going to lie and say she was all cut up about the geriatric bat's death but she knew Natalie had always spoken about Leah with a certain fondness.

That being said, it didn't excuse either one for being so nutty Mal was amazed squirrels didn't attack them for food. Though, now that Leah was no longer of this world, was it right to keep thinking of her in such a negative light? Speak no ill of the dead and all that?

Well think about it this way, Mal told herself. Leah would probably not stop thinking negative things about you if you died. Why grant her the courtesy that she wouldn't give to you?

Unfortunately, Mal knew the answer was as plain as the nose on her face. By doing the same thing Leah would do, she was no better than the former waste of oxygen or her blonde cohort. Besides, Ben never said anything negative about anyone and he seemed happier for it. If she didn't want to be an embarrassment to him, she should start following his example.

On top of that, the last thing she wanted was to make it look like she was influencing Ben's decision in some way. If anyone from The Gazelle overheard her trash talking someone and reported on it, Ben would more than likely have to comment on it seeing as they were dating. Which would mean he'd be taking a side.

With how Ben was, he wanted to make sure everyone was happy—and if someone wasn't and it was because of something he did, he was usually devastated. As Emir had said once when Mal asked him about it, Ben basically attached his happiness on the happiness of others.

She sighed softly as she continued to make her way back to her dorm to drop off her stuff. Even as Natalie seemed to make it her mission to drive her round the bend with meetings, there was always time carved out for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

That's either Ben's doing or Natalie knows that someone would notice if I'm not eating. Though, I'm a VK after all. I've gone without the Auradon levels of food before and if I have to I'll do it again. It's better to not embarrass Ben—if I can do that, then that also ensures Ben's safety. Every time I mess up or blow up at reporters, there's a chance someone will remember who I am. A VK. Also known as a villain in their eyes. No one would want a villain dating the King, Mal thought as she placed her bag on her bed before heading over to her vanity to change out her contacts.

The colored contacts had arrived a few days ago and, to her surprise, Evie hadn't said a word about receiving an email about them. Mal hoped that merely meant that Evie had deleted the email without even opening it. The contacts were a pain to deal with at times and, after a highly stressful day, they dried out faster than Mal expected them to according to the reviews online.

But if the only complaint she had was that she had to deal with some dry eyes, she'd live with it. She'd lived through worse on the Isle. Sixteen years worth of worse. The lessons about respect she'd been taught, the pinching and the prodding by the goblins, the kids trampled to death to get something decent in their bellies...

No, don't think about that, she thought as she finished putting in her contacts. Don't think about the fact that you've left your crew on the Isle. Don't think about the fact that the food situation doesn't seem to have changed if the letters from Henry or Harriet are accurate. Don't think about the fact that the Isle's counting on you—and you're letting them down with every day you delay and every mistake you sooner you become a proper Lady of the Court, the sooner you can start petitioning Ben to get actual food sent to the Isle.

Mal knew that Ben was trying but he was also trying to be King, be a student, be a boyfriend and fill the three empty spots in his council that came from kicking out Leah, Chi-Fu and Weasleton. If something had to give, at least it was something the kids of the Isle were used to.

She shoved that thought out of her head and quickly made her way out of her dorm. She'd be able to meet up with everyone in the cafeteria, just as it'd been for the past few months. After all, Jay and Carlos were often busy with training for R.O.A.R while Harry and Uma tried to get as much sparring in as they could. Sometimes they were accompanied by Akiho and Emir but the fact that the castle hadn't been destroyed meant that the accompaniments didn't happen all that often.

After all, Emir and Akiho had their own girlfriends who were often neglected by the two boys' shadowing of Ben. Though Mal was convinced that no matter what, the Agrabah and Arendelle princes would always shadow her boyfriend. That was alright by her, it allowed some semblance of security especially as Ben insisted on giving his guards the day off whenever they would go somewhere or tried to get a date in.

Meanwhile Evie was often off at the hospital with her dad or working with Doug to get her business off the ground. Yes, Evie was starting a business. Mal had honestly been shocked as well when she first heard it but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea.

There was no one who had a better eye for fashion than Evie and considering she was making Mal's dress for Cotillion, that'd be an easy way to drum up business. Plus Daniel would have hopefully instilled something of a work ethic in Evie before Maleficent abducted him when the blue haired girl was six.

If she wasn't working on her business or at the hospital, chances were that Evie was in the gym with Rose Fitzherbert. Evie had told Mal, after the craziness at Ben's coronation, that she had been interested in trying out for the cheer squad at Auradon Prep. In fact, she could do a round off and three backhand springs...whatever those were. But Audrey had been head cheerleader at the time and after the awkward meeting on their first day, Evie didn't think Audrey would let her on the squad.

Mal was honestly just thankful no one was making her try out for cheerleading. There was only so much she could fake being cheery all the time.

And of course Ben was often occupied by meetings and paperwork, so much so that meals were the only time anyone saw him out of his 'official' role. Well scratch that. Mal and the others did but only because they were the only ones bold enough to actually stroll into his office while he was working. Any one who wasn't in their friend group, however, wasn't likely to see Ben out of his office.

"Hey Mal," Uma smiled and Mal couldn't help but smile back as her cousin didn't comment on her eyes. Mal had been worried that Uma might notice the change in shade but realized that had been an almost ridiculous fear. It was a difference of two shades. For someone not all that artistically inclined, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"Hey Uma. Get some good sword work in?"

"Of course! Harry and I tied, three to three. Would have gone longer but the R.O.A.R team came in and kicked us out."

"You were in there for three hours," Jay shook his head. "Besides we had the gym booked for that time. You know the rules, you can't start a spar when there's a spar already in progress."

"That's a new rule for R.O.A.R practice," Ben said, looking up from his soup.

"Jay insisted on it," Akiho chuckled as he walked up with Elle, making sure there was enough room for her to fit her chair in with the group before he sat down.

"Yeah, he said something about how he'd grown up by that rule and it always worked for him," Emir nodded as he and Emma also sat down with the group. "It seems to have worked. At the very least, we have fewer injuries because of it."

"It's practice. You all shouldn't have any injuries," Emma sighed and Elle shook her head.

"Speaking of practice, how was it Jay?" Mal asked. She'd asked him every time she saw him after practice in the hopes she'd hear if Lonnie finally tried out for the team. So far there'd been no word but Mal was sure she'd hear something soon. If not, she'd chase Jay down in her dragon form and take him on a magic dragon flight until he told her.

The logical side of her knew she could always just ask Lonnie but that side was often shouted down by the stressed out side of her. A side that was a lot more vocal these days, that was for sure.

"It was fine actually," Jay nodded. "Those two idiots skipped again but Conner and Will ducked out and dragged them back to practice."

"He made us spar by ourselves and then had the team point out our weaknesses for us to work on," Akiho griped.

"Yeah, everyone had to point out three things we needed to correct," Emir shook his head. "And I don't mean three things total but three things per person."

"Good," Ben chuckled as Jay and Carlos rolled their eyes. "Honestly you two, I know we keep saying that you need to remember you have girlfriends but not at the expense of practice."

"I don't know, we kinda like it," Emma chuckled, giving Emir a kiss on the cheek.

"Just because you're the champ at living with an overloaded schedule, Ben, doesn't mean we all are," Akiho sighed. "Mom and dad started giving me a bit more 'official' responsibilities since I turned seventeen."

"Oh yeah! Aren't you officially of age at twenty one or something?"

"Yep, that's how old Aunt Elsa and my mom were when they were coronated," Akiho nodded. "Meaning Arendelle officially thinks your family's insane for having you coronated at sixteen, Ben."

"Yeah well what else is new?" Ben chuckled before sobering up as he looked over at the Arendelle princeling. "Is everything okay though? With your mom I mean? She hasn't mentioned anything about making plans to step down."

"Mom's fine, so's dad," Akiho nodded, giving Ben a small smile. "Honestly I think they're just trying to make it so that if the need does arise and I take the crown, I'm ready to hit the ground running on day one. After all, dad needed an adjustment period since he was basically dropped into the world of royals and magic snowmen after living with rock trolls."

"Your dad got lucky you were born a guy," Emir chuckled. "I mean, he'd love you if you were a girl, everyone knows that. But your family's got that tradition where the first born girl gets ice powers after all."

"Aunt Elsa would definitely be around a lot more than just every Friday for family game night if that was the case," Akiho nodded.

Mal smiled and began to eat her dinner, content to just listen while everyone else talked. She wasn't going to lie, with all the meetings and everything Natalie had her doing, she was exhausted. Never mind the fact that she only got thirty minutes of magic practice in that week!

Natalie liked to say that since Mal hadn't mastered the art of punctuality that her meetings needed to run over so that they'd get the full effect and not feel rushed. However, that just meant that the meetings after that would run over into each other, causing a domino effect until they ended up running into the hours blocked off for her magic practice.

Thirty minutes isn't enough time, Mal thought with a small sigh as Hadie waved at them as he sat down with Alexandria. Mal couldn't help but smile at the sight, happy to see that her brother had begun to branch out and felt comfortable enough to eat away from the group.

Plus, Alexandria Charming was a good girl and Mal knew her older sisters Kitty and Lucy would keep an eagle eye out for any trouble to come to the youngest Charming. As would Chad, as surprising as that sounded considering trouble usually consisted of Audrey. Not to mention that Harry, Jay, and Uma would keep a close watch on Hadie.

Biting her lip slightly, Mal got up from the table and slipped out of the cafeteria as an idea seemed to hatch in her mind. This would be just a one time thing, she told herself as she ducked into an unused classroom. But if I don't practice magic, I'm going to have more and more flare ups. All it would take would be someone to take a picture at the right moment and then everyone's talking about whether or not I'm a danger to be around.

Besides, it's not like I'm using magic behind Ben's back or something, or worse trying to use magic to fake my way through becoming a perfect Lady of the Court. I'm pretty sure mom would kill me if I did that, she thought as she rubbed her hands together as if to warm them up. He blocked out the hours for me to use in order to practice my magic. It just so happens Natalie is certifiable and thinks my magic hours are a waste of time.

It wasn't as if meals were all that relaxing anymore either. Ever since Natalie gave her a copy of A Lady's Manners, Mal was oddly attuned to everything she did now. Especially the rule about how a Lady didn't talk too loudly or draw unnecessary attention to her table. That was really all the VKs did, considering how they ate with reckless abandon as if they were worried the food was going to be snatched from them.

Evie was really the only one who ate with any 'manners' considering she'd been raised since birth to be a princess. But even she ate rather quickly, even if it was slower than the rest of them. Sure, the AKs had grown used to it but Mal knew most of them still judged the VKs on it. Plus Ben had told her that there was going to be a tour of the kingdom soon! If the Auradon kids judged them on their manners, Mal knew the adult royals were definitely going to do so!

Hence why Mal was currently in an unused classroom practicing her magic instead of enjoying dinner. Because dinner wasn't something she could enjoy if she was constantly aware of everything she was doing wrong. If she was aware of every little thing that could embarrass Ben.

I didn't even know you couldn't cut pasta with a knife until I read that! Gods, that first dinner with Belle and Beast after Ben's coronation…they probably didn't say anything because mom was there since it was her last night before heading back to the Isle, Mal thought. Beast was probably the one who put the bug in Ben's ear that I needed a handler in the first place! So I don't embarrass Auradon, or embarrass Ben!

Oh, it wasn't as if Ben would care—like Emir and Akiho liked to joke, there was a debate about whether or not Ben was human anyway considering how good he was. But Mal would care. Besides, she was the daughter of Lady Persephone and Lord Hades. She wanted to prove that just because she was a VK, she could still be taken seriously in the royal sphere.

She just wished she could do that without having to deal with all those rules. I mean seriously, who eats a banana with a fork and knife? If it wasn't for the fact that her mom would sometimes bring close to overripe bananas over when she came back from Auradon, Mal would have assumed bananas were just the blackened peel they got as snacks when they were kids.

Mal shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. Thinking about her mom was painful at times—she missed talking to her through the mind link. But not only would it just hurt her mom if Mal told her what was going on, there was a small part of her that felt as if telling anyone would be like letting Natalie win.

She spent six years living solely with Maleficent, dealing with her brainwashing and the pinching and prodding of the goblins. Even after she moved into her dad's home, Mal still dealt with the Dragon once a week. If she could deal with Maleficent for sixteen years and come out stronger for it, she could deal with Natalie.

Besides, once she was Ben's Lady of the Court, maybe she could put in a new request for a different handler if one was truly needed?

Maybe one without a connection to Leah? Maybe Athena? After all she was the Goddess of Wisdom and Creativity. If anyone would know how to present themselves to a bunch of royals, it'd be her cousin. Plus Mal was the daughter of one of the Big Three. She'd need to know how to navigate Olympus at some point.

"Just get through Cotillion first," she told herself as she brought up a fireball. It was important to start small after all, just like her dad had taught her all those years ago. "One thing at a time. If we can get through this without any major incidents or accidents, then we can see about asking Ben for a new handler."

She could handle having Natalie for a couple more months. Right?

"Please tell me that's not what you're wearing."

Mal sighed as Uma walked into their dorm. Evie had finally gotten around to cornering Mal into gettin a dress fitting for her Cotillion gown. Mal honestly didn't know how Evie had had the time to make her gown but she had—it was a blue and yellow strapless dress that was probably the exact opposite of her style which made it perfect to get people to stop connecting her with the Dragon. Privately, Mal had hoped that Uma would be distracted enough by sparring with Harry that the fitting would be done by the time her cousin came back to the dorm.

No such luck.

"Seriously Mali, that's not what you're wearing are you?" Uma asked as she sat down on her bed.

"It's either this or I'm going to Cotillion in my bathrobe," Mal told her. "No one wants to see that, now do they?"

The dress wasn't that bad either. Evie had really listened to Mal and tried to go all out in terms of Auradon fashion. Sure the colors were a bit...bold and stood out a lot more than Mal was comfortable with but this was the dress for the girlfriend of the king. No matter what Mal did, she was going to stand out.

She had to smile though as she saw the boots Evie had designed. It was clear that the daughter of the Evil Queen couldn't resist a bit of the Isle in her designs as the heels were studded with faux spikes.

Not noticeable enough that anyone would comment on them but just enough so that Mal didn't feel like she was totally losing her identity. She hadn't even brought this up with Evie whenever they planned her dress. How had she known?

"No! Just...no! Ugh Mal, this dress is an eyesore! I'm not a big fan of the prissy and the fru-fru but if you have to go out in something prissy, it can't be as busy as it is right now! Not to mention it clashes with your hair!" Uma exclaimed, bringing Mal out of her thoughts.

"Uma, tell that to Evie," Mal sighed. "I'm just waiting for this fitting to be over. I've got like twenty other things I have to do after this and right now I can't even tell you what one of them is."

Uma frowned slightly as she heard that but turned toward Evie. "Princess, you might be good at design judging by the sketches I'm seeing all over the place. But you're clearly not good at matching colors for Mal. What, is this revenge for all the smoke bombs we pelted at you over the years or something? Mal, take that dress off and get changed! I'll change that color for you!"

"Uma, blue and yellow are the royal colors," Evie sighed and shook her head. "What other colors would the dress be for the event where Mal gets inducted into the royal court?"

"I don't care if the royal colors are orange with pink polka dots!" Uma exclaimed as Mal changed out of the dress. If either blue haired girl was paying attention, they would have noticed that Mal put up minimal fuss over the issue. Something that was extremely out of the ordinary for her. Sadly, they were in fact not paying attention. "Mal is not wearing something that is just going to make her look like a mess. If I have to see her in a dress, it's going to be one that at least looks good!" Uma declared, taking the dress and sitting on the bed with it, her hand and shell glowing dimly.

Thankfully, transformation magic was relatively easy for her considering both her parents had experience with it—Ursula with turning Ariel into a human and Facilier with turning Naveen into a frog. Changing a dress' color was child's play in that regard. Her magic may have been mostly water based but that didn't mean she didn't have a few other tricks up her sleeve.

"Orange and pink polka dots? Wait, are you saying my dress didn't look good?" Evie exclaimed while Mal grabbed her bathrobe and slipped it on. "Also, we're not supposed to do magic here! Not without royal permission!"

"Your basic design was fine, it was the colors that were a no go," Uma told her. "And do I look like I care? I'm changing the color on a dress, not burning down a building. Besides, I'm a Godling just like Mal. We've got to use our magic otherwise we'll have flare ups and that definitely wouldn't be good."

"Evie, just let her do this," Mal muttered as the dress changed from the blue and yellow to a single sapphire blue. "You know as well as I that Uma could do a lot worse."

"There!" Uma declared, holding up the now sapphire blue dress with purple sparkles shining throughout. "Think you could handle another fitting Mali?"

"Sure Uma," Mal nodded. I have to admit, it doesn't look as garish since Uma changed it, she thought as she slipped back into the dress.

"Can you breathe alright?" Evie asked as she zipped Mal back up and fluffed out the skirt. Maybe it was Evie's imagination but the dress seemed almost a little too big on Mal. But she was positive that she had the right measurements. She hadn't seen Mal a lot at meals but that didn't mean anything—all the VKs knew what it was like to go without food so it wasn't like Mal would starve herself if she was trying to lose weight. Not that Mal needed to lose weight.

"Honest opinion, what do you think?" Uma asked, looking over at Mal.

"Guys, you know I have next to little knowledge about clothes," Mal sighed. "It's covering my body and preventing me from embarrassing Ben at Cotillion. But I...I have to admit, it looks good. Even with my limited knowledge."

"Good," Uma said with a small nod. "You should be in something that looks good."

Evie nodded but there was a small frown on her face that had appeared when Mal mentioned embarrassing Ben. A frown that Uma noticed as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't give us that look Princess. You have to admit that Mal looks a thousand times better than she did in the blue and gold dress," she said, having missed Mal's statement about embarrassing Ben.

"Uma, come on, don't be harsh. Evie put a lot of work into the dress, especially with how busy she's been."

"Hey I'm not being harsh. She's over there frowning like I did something wrong. I changed the color, it's still her design."

Evie bit her lip as she studied the dress. "Mal does match better with what Ben's wearing," she said softly. "And I guess it is still a royal color."

"Exactly," Uma nodded. "It's just not as busy now that it's not both of them. Besides, blue's Uncle Hades' color anyway. You really think anyone's going to give the daughter of a God any grief for representing her father?"

Evie sighed. "I guess you're right Uma. I got all excited about the fact that Mal was going to be a member of the Royal Court, I...I wanted to make a good impression. Finally drive Ben's coronation out of people's minds."

Mal frowned as she stepped down from the platform she had been on. "Are people still giving you a hard time about that Evie? That was what? Four months ago?"

"People have long memories here," Evie said with a small shrug. "It's okay. Audrey's finally stopped spray painting the word 'traitor' on my locker so that's a start at least."

"You knew it was her?"

"She used bright pink spray paint Mal. Who else could it be?"

Mal nodded. Evie had a point there.

"Sleeping Brat sounds like she still needs to be taken down a peg," Uma muttered. "A good smoke bomb or five should do it."

Hey, she may hate the ground Evie walked on but she was the only one who got to mess with the bluette. Her and Harry. Well and Mal but it didn't seem that was the case anymore.

"It doesn't matter," Evie sighed. "Besides this is Mal's dress fitting. The attention should be on her."

"Evie, the attention's going to be on me throughout Cotillion," Mal told her. "If someone's giving you a hard time, tell us. We're your roommates. If we can't help you, who can?"

Evie gave Mal a small smile. "Seriously M, it's okay. But thank you."

"M?"

"Too much? I just—."

Mal chuckled. "No I like it. I just didn't expect it from you Evie. Besides, it's not like my name's that hard to say. It's three letters."

"Seven if someone's irritated at you, Malinda," Uma chuckled. "So is it a 'yes to the dress' as those ridiculous programs like to say?"

Mal nodded. "It's a yes," she said with a small chuckle.

"Good. That being said, I think we can bring this fitting to a close."

"Oh thank Gods! I miss my normal clothes!" Mal exclaimed, causing both Uma and Evie to chuckle.

"Go get changed and I'll put this dress back into the garment bag," Evie told Mal as Mal shed the dress. Mal nodded and scurried into the bathroom. Uma sighed as Evie put the dress away.

"At least that's taken care of," she muttered. She may not have been the biggest fan of dresses but she knew it was at least important for Mal to look nice for Cotillion.

"Like I said...I may have gotten a bit overzealous with the color choices," Evie said as she zipped up the garment bag and hung it up. "Your color choices suit her more."

Uma sighed. "You're good at what you do princess. I'll readily admit that even if I don't want to. But your ability to match dress colors with hair colors needs some work. Did Mal pick the yellow and blue or did you pick it because they were the royal colors?"

Evie sighed. "It was...heavily suggested at the last Cotillion meeting. I had asked Mal what she wanted but she said she didn't care. Though she then ran off to another meeting so she probably wasn't even listening to the question."

"Just because it was 'heavily suggested' doesn't mean you make the dress both colors or at least learn what compliments things like skin tones and hair colors, particularly when the girl that's going to be wearing it has purple hair!"

"Uma, you don't think I didn't have at least a thousand sketches with swatches and everything? That was the one that came out looking the best."

Uma sighed. "Then you disregard that advice as the designer and put her in a single color. Either blue like we've done or yellow. Honestly, I don't know why I'm giving you this advice. Maybe it's because Mal's insisting you design her clothes and as the Gods as my witness I'm going to make sure Mal at least looks good if she has to dress all prissy."

Evie nodded before turning back to her sketchbook.

"I um...I have a design for you," she said softly. "For Cotillion. I know we hate each other and you probably already have your outfit planned but it might make less stress for Mal if we got along and she's under enough already. Just...um...let me know."

Uma raised an eyebrow as Evie tore a page from her sketchbook and handed it to her. She stared in shock at the sketch—there was no denying that Blueberry was good at what she did and actually managed to get a bit of who Uma was in the prissy design. The dress looked like it was going to be a teal blue that complimented her hair, with pale blue and turquoise sequins scattered throughout.

Uma's favorite bit of the sketch, not that she would ever admit that out loud, was the note about gold and silver netting folded into the skirt. If it was anyone else designing it, it might have looked trashy but Evie managed to make it part of both worlds. There was a tiny part of Uma that couldn't help but note that the dress might make her look like one of her mermaid cousins.

Was that necessarily a bad thing though? Uma thought. After all, your mother is from Atlantica. You've just as much right to call yourself that as Elle and Melody.

"Okay now see, this is fine," she told Evie, realizing she was still holding the sketch and pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Why couldn't you do something like this for Mal?"

Evie sighed. "Mal requested we go more Auradon centric for her style. I may not be the closest in terms of our friendship like you are with Mal but even I can see the Isle centric aspect of her style suits her more. If anything, I could weave the two together but Mal wants pure Auradon and that's what she'll get."

Uma shook her head softly. She didn't know what was happening with her cousin but she was going to find out.

"Anyway, thank you for the compliment," Evie said. "I think everyone's going to be happy now."

"You're welcome, though don't get used to it Blueberry," Uma stated. "I think so too—though I think Ben would be happy if Mal walked in wearing her usual Isle garb."

"She will be on camera!" Evie exclaimed, looking scandalized at the very thought. "Not to mention Cotillion is an extremely formal event. Lonnie told me that the Royal Cotillion is like getting engaged to be engaged to be engaged."

Uma rolled her eyes. "So? I'm pretty sure the whole kingdom knows Mal's an Isle kid and Benny wouldn't propose to Mal without asking permission first."

"From your Uncle Hades?"

"I was thinking more from me, Harry and Jay since there's no way the king could safely go onto the Isle. I think Akiho for one would have a conniption at the very thought of it," Uma chuckled. "But I suppose you're right about one thing. I didn't tweak that dress for her not to wear it after all."

"She's going to look stunning at Cotillion," Evie said with a small smile.

"Beast boy might just fall over when he sees her," Uma smirked.

Evie nodded. "He'll definitely need a moment after he sees her though I'll have to rethink Mal's accessories with the new color. The cape and the gloves aren't going to go very well considering they're pure blue and that dress looks closer to a purplish blue especially with the purple sparkles throughout."

"Well, and I'm clueless when it comes to clothes so you can just ignore me, but can't Mal just wear her regular purple gloves?" Uma asked.

Evie bit her lip as she thought about it. "That could work...I mean she already has the purple hair so it's not like they would clash. Plus the dress now has a tiny bit of purple on it. Oh! I think I know something that would go well! Mal's new teardrop necklace that Ben gave to her the other day! She just showed it to me! It's absolutely gorgeous, Ben had great taste in picking it out. The center has a purple gem, my money's on amethyst though. What other gem is purple?"

"You'd be surprised," Uma said with a small smile as Evie hurried over to the shared jewelry cabinet. "But ask Mal if you're truly curious. She'd be able to tell you what it is."

"Oh yeah that makes sense," Evie nodded as she pulled out the necklace. "Considering her father's the God of Gems after all."

"It is nice. Is it real? The gem I mean?" Uma asked as she looked at the necklace.

"Mal said it is, and I don't think Ben would have given her a fake," Evie told her.

"My kinda guy," Uma muttered.

"I heard that!" Mal's voice called from the bathroom causing Uma to shake her head in amusement.

"Didn't mean anything by it Mali," Uma called back.

"Good! Go ensnare someone else in your tentacles," Mal teased as she walked out of the bathroom, wearing some pale green dress with sleeves that looked more like butterfly wings than dragon ones. "Maybe Harry?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Mal."

"Of course you don't. It's not like he's completely devoted to you or anything," Mal said with a chuckle.

Uma rolled her eyes. "He's just a good first mate. We've known each other since we were five after all."

"Uh huh," Mal smirked. "And the fact that he becomes almost like a guard dog if a guy who's not Jay, Hadie, Ben, or his shadows talks to you is completely irrelevant. Oh yeah and he almost killed Gil for pulling a leaf out of your hair the other day!"

"You know perfectly well that Harry would have found another reason to almost kill Gil. He can't stand him."

"Whatever you say Uma." Mal said, smirking in amusement. Ben had told her about the fact that Harry had almost killed Gil the day he brought them over to Auradon and it had looked to be over something to do with Uma. Though her cousin did have a point, if given the chance to kill Gil, Harry would probably take it.

Uma rolled her eyes again. "Just come tell us what thing you want with your dress."

"Us?"

"Hey I had to tweak the damn thing, I'm making sure you look good in it!"

Mal chuckled as she walked over, sighing gently as she took in the teardrop necklace. "Gods, I keep forgetting how beautiful this is," she muttered, her fingers brushing over it.

"You just got it though."

"Ben's started giving me gifts almost every day. The even numbered days because he likes to say I'm 'even' more perfect than he thought. They sort've started to blend together," Mal said with a small shrug. "But this one's one of my favorites..."

"So Benny's been spoiling you?" Uma asked with a small smile. Her cousin deserved the best after all and if she couldn't do the 'hurt her and you die' speech, the least she could do is make sure the guy who stole Mal's heart deserved it.

"Yeah," Mal said softly. The worst part was she couldn't spoil him back. He was the king after all and Ben was probably the least spoiled person there was. He could have had the best designers in the land create his suit for Cotillion but he wanted to support Evie's business. People tried to gift him books as if to curry favor with him and Ben just went and donated the books to the Isle, stating while he loved books there was such a thing as having too many of them.

The only way Mal could spoil Ben was to make sure she didn't embarrass him at Cotillion.

"Mal, you should totally wear the necklace at Cotillion," Evie nodded. "Uma had suggested you wear your regular purple gloves and I think those and the necklace would complete the dress."

"And I can't believe I'm saying this, but isn't it good 'PR' or whatever to wear something your boyfriend got for you at an event he is putting on for you?" Uma asked.

Mal sighed. "Well yes but you guys and Ben are the only ones who know Ben got this for me. Still it is nice and it would go well with the dress..."

"So wear it," Uma said with a small shrug. "Look Blueberry and I are in agreement on this. How often does that happen?"

Mal chuckled and shook her head. "Okay, okay, I'll wear it. And the gloves sound good..."

Even if it might remind people I'm from the Isle and make the connection between me and Maleficent, she thought with an inward sigh.

"Okay," Evie nodded. "And I'll remove the cape since you're going to wear the necklace. I think it'll be a bit much otherwise."

"She speaks sense," Uma said, looking up at the ceiling.

Mal chuckled. "Uma, be nice."

"Hey, I'm nice!"

"You are," Mal nodded.

"Let me correct myself. I'm nice to people who deserve it."

Mal just shook her head in slight amusement. That was her cousin. Ruthless yet loyal. Just like the rest of the crew.

"Uma, are...are you taking anyone to Cotillion?" Evie asked.

"Why would I?" Uma scoffed.

Evie shrugged. "Just thought you might. I'm taking Doug."

"Of course you are. Look I'm not one for dresses and getting all gussied up," Uma stated. "I'm only going for one person."

Mal smiled a little. "Thanks Uma."

"Who says it's you?" Uma teased.

"Oh you mean you're going for Harry?" Mal teased back.

"Why would I go for Harry?" Uma scoffed and rolled her eyes. "But he's going too by the way. He and Jay plan on going 'stag'. Whatever that means."

"Yeah, that sounds like them." Mal nodded. "Jay keeps saying he doesn't want to disappoint the rest of the school by taking one girl."

"Oh! Gil asked out Macaria!" Uma exclaimed. She hadn't even known the son of Gaston had wanted to ask out her Olympian cousin so it had come as a shock when she heard it on the gossip chain. Though Uma wasn't going to lie, it had been quite amusing to see Gil run from Hyllus and Herkie a few days ago.

She would have backed up Gil no matter what, but she couldn't lie and say it wasn't funny to see Gil run from an altercation.

"No!" Mal gasped. She'd been so busy, it felt that she was entirely out of the loop in terms of the gossip chain. "And what did she say?"

"Yes according to Harry! He spent about three hours ranting about what she saw in Gil because he's, and these are Harry's words, not mine, dumber than a sack of rocks."

"Carlos wants to ask out Jane," Evie said as she started to put some materials away, cutting into the conversation and preventing Mal from making a comment. "It's cute."

Mal couldn't help but smile slightly at that. Carlos was really growing up.

"DeVil? On a date?" Uma frowned as she leaned against her bedpost. "Seems weird."

"He's fifteen," Evie pointed out. "It's not like he's five or anything."

"Yeah. Still seems weird though."

Evie shrugged with a small smile.

"At least we know Jane," Mal pointed out. "Could be worse. Carlos could be asking out a girl we never met."

"And it concerns us why?"

"Because unless something's changed since we left the Isle, Carlos is still under our protection."

"Oh...right..."

Mal chuckled. "Not that Carlos really needs it anymore, being off the Isle. He's really come into his own now that he's away from his mother. At the very least he's not cowering behind Jay or Gil anymore."

"True."

"Sometimes it's hard to believe we're not on the Isle anymore," Mal said softly. "Even after all this time..."

"You're telling me?" Uma shook her head. "There are days I'll think 'oh I'll stop by the clubhouse' and then remember the clubhouse is on the Isle."

Mal chuckled a little at that.

Evie shrugged. "I haven't thought about it to be honest. Now that I have my dad back, I...I'd rather focus on him."

Mal wasn't really all that surprised. Even when they were on the Isle, Evie wasn't really considered to be an 'Isle kid'. She'd been raised to be royalty after all.

"Seriously Princess?" Uma asked, rolling her eyes. "You don't ever think about the Isle? Not even about your mom? I mean, I know my mom doesn't care about me and I still think about her sometimes."

Evie sighed. "As far as my mother knows, I'm doing what she asked me to do. Find a prince and marry him."

"Last I checked, you were dating Dopey's kid," Uma pointed out. "He's not much of a prince."

"I know that, and you know that, but my mother doesn't need to know that," Evie sighed. "Besides, I'll think about Dizzy sometimes but it's...it's painful."

"We'll get Dizzy off the Isle," Mal promised. "Ben's working to get more kids off the Isle. I know Harry's been chatting his ear off to get Harriet off that hellscape of a rock."

She looked over at Uma, as if to convey the fact that she was fighting hard to make sure Celia was the next off the Isle as well.

"We'll get the kids off Mali," Uma said softly, as if knowing what she was thinking about. Mal nodded.

"Now, I don't know about you all, but I'm going to go find Harry. Leave all this frou frou stuff alone, maybe do some sparring," Uma smirked.

Mal chuckled. "Have fun Uma."

Uma chuckled and waved as she walked off. She was happy to get away from all the girly and prissy stuff. Even if Evie's design for her Cotillion dress almost seemed to suit her style. It really did look good.

But that wasn't who she was—and before coming to Auradon, she wouldn't have thought that this was who Mal was either. It was strange, to constantly see Mal without her leather jacket or her gloves. Her boots, as well, seemed to be a thing of the past; Blueberry putting Mal in shoes that more closely resembled the high heels that the Auradon girls wore rather than the more chunky boots of the Isle.

I miss you Mal, Uma thought with a sigh as she made her way to Harry's dorm.

"What's up cap'n?" Harry asked as Uma stuck her head in.

"You up for some sparring?"

Harry grinned and got up. "If there's ever a day I say I'm not up for that, especially sparring with you, assume I'm dying."

"Then come on," Uma grinned and the two of them made their way to the gym.

Mal sighed as she got ready for class. Lately, she'd been feeling sluggish and lethargic, though she wasn't sure as to why. She wasn't using any more magic than she normally did...well she did cast the 'No Rest for the Wicked' spell a few days ago.

It was probably the only time she'd been thankful to find Maleficent's spell book still in the drawer of her bedside table, the same place she put it all those months ago when she had been searching for the antidote to the love potion she thought she'd put on Ben. She had thought she had donated it to the Museum like Evie had done with her mother's mirror.

It had honestly surprised Mal when Evie had done that but it was the first thing the Evil Queen's daughter had done after Ben's coronation. Maybe Evie had thought it would get people's minds off of her actions at the coronation? Not that it had worked of course.

"Come on boy," Mal sighed, shaking her head as she brought herself back into the present and looking over at Estelle. She was going to drop him off at James' dorm and then finally make her way over to class. Or at least she would if not for the fact that, at that moment, it felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over Mal's head.

Realistically, she knew no one had. She was alone in her dorm room and Estelle couldn't turn into a human. Unfortunately though, logic had no place in her brain at that moment.

You see, the cold was not pleasant for cold blooded creatures...such as dragons. Add in the fact that Mal was also the daughter of Hades and she was already ill-equipped to handle the cold. It only got worse after her impromptu trip into the Cove back when she was nine, the cold causing violent chills to run down her spine. They made it so she could barely move at times.

I haven't had a chill in ages, not since we got to Auradon, Mal thought as she doubled over, her eyes forcing themselves shut as shivers wracked her body, her arms prickled with goosebumps as she fought to keep herself standing. She clenched her jaw, willing herself not to let her teeth chatter. She didn't feel the heat that came from the vents in her dorm, she didn't feel the slight warmth her dress provided...all she felt was cold.

Gingerly crawling back into her bed, Mal pulled the covers up and curled into a ball as if to preserve as much warmth as possible. She had a meeting with Natalie later that day anyway, she'd need her strength to put up with whatever diatribe the blonde went on today.

She sighed softly as she curled into a tighter ball, the chills continuing to run rampant over her body. Had this been the Isle, Uma, Harry, and Jay would have been on the bed in the clubhouse with her; pressing in as tightly as they could to give her enough warmth to make it through the day. If one of them had to leave, it was only to run to her dad's restaurant to get a lukewarm drink—and it was usually Jay who was the one to go as Uma and Harry were firmly glued to her side.

Not that Jay wasn't just as glued and usually only spent about fifteen minutes away. If they made a request at her dad's restaurant and said it was for her, the staff got it done right away. They knew her as Lord Hades' errand rat but that was still enough for them to fear angering Lord Hades if they made her wait too long. Most of the time, though, her dad was working in the kitchen and would see to getting it made himself.

Tea would hit the spot right now, Mal thought as a small whimper escaped her lips. Or coffee. Hell I'd drink fire if it meant the chills would stop.

A small lick on her hand brought Mal out of her thoughts and back to the present. Estelle had hopped up onto the bed and was acting almost as her Uma—pressing his body as close to her as possible even as Mal continued to remain curled up in her ball.

"Okay, five minutes boy and then we'll tough it out. We're from the Isle, they don't make us weak there after all," Mal whispered and wrapped her arms around Estelle the way a small Auradon child might hug a plush toy. However, as the five minutes came and went, Mal found she was in no mood to leave the small pocket of warmth she'd created for herself. Nor was she eager to leave it after an hour went by either.

In fact, that was how Ben found her three hours after creating her little heat bunker. He'd been worried when he didn't see Mal at breakfast but he figured she was running a bit late. She always seemed to have a meeting to get to or class to attend. There were times when he honestly wondered if Mal was the royal and he the VK considering she seemed to beat him in terms of how many meetings they'd have in a day.

It wasn't until James called him, asking if Estelle was alright, that the worried feeling returned and it was cemented when Uma pulled him aside after her Safety on the Internet class, which happened to be right before lunch.

"Benny, have you seen Mal?" Uma asked. Ben didn't rightly know how that nickname found its way into use but he found he didn't mind it when it was used by the VKs. In all honesty, it felt like he belonged in their group. "She wasn't in class and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I know you all here in Auradon get worried if people skip."

Ben frowned. "No I haven't seen her. I haven't seen her all day in fact. She wasn't at breakfast and normally she's dragging me down to the cafeteria for food."

"Check the dorm," Uma suggested as she bit her lip slightly in concern. "I'd go but I've got Remedial Goodness 101 after lunch. Fairy Godmother said if we skip, we'd get expelled. I think she was joking but Gil's insistent that she wouldn't lie to us."

Truthfully, Uma was in no hurry to get herself sent back to the Isle, even if it meant she'd be able to be with Celia again. Not with whatever was going on with Mal and her Aunt Steph still on the Isle. She didn't want to bother Hadie with this. He was only eleven and Mal would kill her if she dimmed the little storm cloud's innocence.

Uma understood of course. She'd do the same thing if someone did anything to remove Celia's innocence anymore than the Isle already had.

Though, if Blueberry was any indication, it seemed like Boreadon was just as good at removing someone's innocence as the Isle was. The blue haired girl had been more withdrawn than Uma ever remembered seeing her back when Uma had first arrived in Auradon. Thankfully, she seemed to bounce back a little which made Uma happy a little.

She and Mal were the only ones who got to tear down the Princess, thank you!

"Uma?" Ben asked, his voice gentle but loud enough to pull Uma out of her thoughts. "Do...do you think Mal's okay?"

"I'm sure Mal's fine," Uma nodded, even if she didn't believe it herself. But she had no way to verify it: Jay and DeVil had R.O.A.R practice, and Harry had to be with her in Remedial Goodness 101, same with Gil and Hadie. Not to mention there was no way she was going to ask Blueberry to check on Mal. Plus Ben was really the only one who could skip class to check on Mal. After all, who was going to lecture the King?

He'd knocked on the door to Mal's dorm and never got a response. Normally he would have never done this, especially considering it was a dorm room, but he needed to make sure Mal was alright.

"Mal?" Ben said softly, opening the door and knocking on the doorframe just in case Mal was in the bathroom or something. Yet again, he received no response from his girlfriend and he had to admit, he was really getting worried now. No response, Estelle wasn't with James and Uma hadn't seen Mal? Did...did something happen to Mal?

Ben sighed softly as he crossed the threshold of Mal's dorm, frowning slightly as he felt the chill of the air conditioning blow over his face. It was an unseasonably warm day but it wasn't so warm to warrant the air conditioning. It was barely sixty five degrees outside!

"Mal?" Ben called as he approached her bed; the giant ball of blankets the only indication that something was out of the ordinary. The pit in his stomach that had appeared in his worry seemed to dissipate a little as the pile of blankets groaned softly in response, indicating that Mal was the one under them. He couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips as Estelle poked his center head up and gave him a small doggy grin.

"Not funny," Mal murmured, and Ben couldn't help but smile slightly at her attempt to still sound tough despite how soft her voice had gotten. "Cold. I think Elsa's a liar, how can the cold not bother her?"

"Hey, hey," Ben said gently as he shed his suit jacket and draped it over the pile of blankets in an attempt to give her some more warmth. "It's okay. I got you. You feeling okay?"

Without thinking, he slipped his shoes off and climbed onto the bed, spooning Mal and holding her close to try to give her some of his warmth. He softly rubbed where he thought her arm was—it was honestly hard to tell due to the mass of blankets.

"Did you steal some blankets from Evie and Uma?" Ben asked, a small bit of amusement coloring his voice. He didn't think her bed had this many blankets if he was honest.

"They weren't using them," Mal muttered as she seemed to curl into his warm embrace, "and I think it was more Estelle's doing. I didn't want to leave this heat bunker I built."

"I'll talk to Fairy Godmother about why the AC was turned on," he promised her as he went back to rubbing her arm and her back. "It was supposed to be warmer than normal today but not so much that it warranted the air conditioning. I'm so sorry Mal, I didn't realize you didn't handle the cold well."

"I can turn into a dragon Ben," Mal muttered, her voice still soft as she turned over so that she was facing him. "Dragons, I'm sure you know since you've read every book known to man on the subject, are cold blooded creatures as they are lizards. Meaning..."

"Meaning you by your nature wouldn't welcome the cold," Ben finished for her. Sure it stunk that he probably wouldn't get to enjoy a snowball fight with his girlfriend when the first snow fell but if this meant he'd get to cuddle by a roaring fire with her instead, he felt that was a fair trade.

Mal sighed and poked her head out so that she was looking at him. "It's...it's not just the cold Ben."

"What do you mean?"

"When...when I was nine, I had an incident where I fell into the water in Pirate Cove," she explained, her voice still soft as chills continued to run up and down her spine. "It was in November so the water was as frigid as possible. I spent about twenty five minutes in that water and even though I'm a Godling, I still get these...these body wracking chills whenever the weather gets colder. Normally Uma, Jay and Harry are here to do what you're doing or get me something warm to drink but..."

Ben nodded, gently rubbing circles on her back and fishing out his phone out of his back pocket to text Lumiere to see about getting a cup of tea or coffee sent up for Mal.

"I didn't mean to miss class. I...I only meant to stay under the covers for five minutes but the heat was so enticing and...and the chills make it almost next to impossible for me to move sometimes," Mal said and Ben's heart broke as he heard how small her voice had gotten.

"Hey, hey," he said gently. "I got you, dragon, it's okay. You're not in trouble, Uma was the one who asked me to check on you. She was worried, that's all."

Mal grew silent and Ben honestly thought she had fallen asleep. Not that there was anything wrong with that, even though Mal was currently using his arm as a pillow making it so that he couldn't move. If he had to use his status as King to skip class in order to make sure Mal was warm, he would.

"...could you not call me 'dragon' anymore?" Mal finally asked, her voice just as small as it'd been before and Ben's heart shattered.

"Wha—why?" Ben asked, trying to keep the astonishment out of his voice. He had called her 'dragon' since she turned into one at his coronation and there never seemed to be an issue.

"I just...you can still do it when we're in private like this but in public, please, just..." Mal said with a small sigh. She hated it, the little term of endearment was one of the things that came from her relationship with Ben that she loved more than anything. But her connection to dragons connected her to Maleficent in the eyes of the Auradon public. There were still constant articles from The Gazelle making comparisons between her and the Dragon.

Hearing Ben of all people call her 'dragon' was probably music to their ears.

"Okay," Ben said softly. "If...if that's what you want, Mal."

No it's not what I want Ben. It's the last thing that I want! I want to be able to enjoy you calling me 'dragon' without fearing that someone will realize you're dating a villain and rise up against you. I want to be able to wear my jacket without anyone connecting me to the Dragon. I want...I want my mom and I don't know how to ask you if she can leave the Isle early, Mal thought as she curled even more into a ball than she had been previously.

But Mal didn't say that. Instead Mal just nodded softly and Ben bit his lip as he went back to rubbing her back and her arm. He didn't know what was going on with Mal, but she seemed to have changed from how she was when they had met all those months ago in front of his father's statue.

The worst part was Ben didn't know why Mal had made the change. She didn't need to, she was amazing as she was.

Had...had Audrey said something to her? But it's Mal. She's so self assured that she wouldn't let Audrey get under her skin. Maybe it's her shoulder? From when we visited the Isle back before my coronation and that kid...Freddy was it? Yeah him. He stabbed her with a dagger.

No, Jay, Harry, or Carlos would have told me if it was that. But it might explain why she's gone without her jacket. If the wound's been giving her trouble, it might be painful for the leather to rub against it. I wonder where her jacket is, I could see about getting a fleece lining put in. Plus that might help keep her warm in the winter months...oh what about a removable lining? That way she could wear it year round! I'll talk to Evie or maybe even Ken, the royal tailor. He might have some ideas.

A slight vibration brought Ben out of his thoughts and he realized his phone was ringing. Quickly grabbing his phone, Ben slid his arm out from under Mal's head and rolled off of Mal's bed, walking a ways away as to not wake her up as he noticed Mal had fallen asleep.

Now, one might have assumed that because of the 'No Rest for the Wicked' spell that Mal had put on herself, that Mal was faking to get out of having that conversation with Ben. Of course, one would be right but Ben had no idea about the spell his girlfriend had cast on herself and therefore had no reason to suspect a fake.

"Hello?"

"Your highness? I'm sorry to bother you, I just wanted to check and see if Estelle was okay?"

"Oh! James! I am so sorry," Ben said, trying to keep his voice down even as embarrassment colored his words. "Estelle is fine. Lady Mal just caught an unexpected bug and needed the comfort only a dog can give."

Even though he couldn't see his face, Ben knew the older student was smiling. "Please let Lady Mal know I hope she recovers. I missed seeing Estelle today but I know Lady Mal needed him more."

"I will pass along your kind wishes, James, and rest assured you'll still get paid for today."

"Your highness, I couldn't...I didn't do anything."

"You still expected to work despite our not letting you know it wasn't needed for the day and not only that, you contacted me with your concerns. You're getting your pay for this shift."

"Well then...thank you sire. You really don't have to do that but it is appreciated."

"It's my pleasure," Ben assured him. "Is there anything you need by the way? New toys for Estelle? Balls? Chew toys?"

"Some new tennis balls would be handy but those are something I can easily get myself your highness. No need to trouble yourself."

"Alright, if you're sure," Ben said even though he was already making a mental note to go online and purchase some tennis balls for Estelle. He never really got a chance to have a pet of his own, his dad's dog Sultan had died two years after Ben was born.

Sure Ben could easily go out and get a pet now that he was King but...he didn't want to do that. He was so busy now with being King, he couldn't give the attention a dog needed. Plus, Estelle and Dude would likely get jealous if Ben got a dog of his own.

"I'm positive your highness," James told him and Ben could hear a bit of amusement on the older boy's voice. "But thank you."

"Well then let me know if you do need anything James," Ben said.

"I will."

"Okay then. You have a good rest of your day," Ben said and disconnected his phone after the necessary goodbyes. He would have climbed back into bed to keep Mal warm but it wasn't two seconds after he hung up his phone that Mal's phone was ringing.

Normally Ben would never think of doing what he had done but Mal was still sleeping and he didn't want to wake her up.

"Hello?" Ben said, answering Mal's phone.

"Oh! Your highness!" A female voice exclaimed from the other end and Ben could tell that she had not expected to talk to him or for him to be the one to answer the phone. "How can I help you?"

"Well um...Natalie," Ben said, quickly checking Mal's caller ID to see who this woman was, "you're the one who called so maybe the better question is how can I help you?"

Natalie, Natalie…why did that name sound familiar? Oh right! Mal's handler, the one his council had appointed for her! Though if you asked Ben's opinion, she wasn't needed in the slightest.

"Oh, I was just calling to check on...Lady...Mal your highness," Natalie stated and Ben frowned slightly as he heard the pause on Mal's title. It was almost as if Natalie wasn't used to using it. "We have a meeting today she hasn't turned up for it."

"Lady Mal unfortunately caught an unexpected bug and won't be attending your meeting," Ben stated. "She does apologize for not letting you know though it was truly a last minute occurrence."

"Presumably a once a month last minute occurrence?" Natalie asked and Ben rolled his eyes slightly at the implication that Mal was just being dramatic because of cramps. Honestly, with the life Mal had lived before coming to Auradon, Ben would have totally understood if she wanted to be a bit dramatic once a month but she wasn't. Actually, trying to get Mal to admit she needed anything was like pulling teeth.

"Well, your highness, thank you for letting me know," Natalie stated, pulling Ben out of his thoughts.

"I'll let Lady Mal know you called," Ben promised.

"Please do so," Natalie told him and Ben couldn't help but feel a bit of uneasiness regarding her. He hung up and put Mal's phone on her dresser, making sure to plug it in so that the battery wouldn't die if Mal needed it. Crawling back over the covers, Ben smiled as Mal seemed to curl into him once more, like a moth attracted to the light.

"I love you dragon," he whispered, gently kissing the top of her head. He didn't care that she didn't hear it. All he knew was that he truly did love her and wanted to do anything and everything he could to make sure she knew that.

His eyes closed and he too drifted slowly off to sleep, never seeing Uma walk in a few hours later and smile at the sight. Nor did he see her take a quick picture of the three of them curled up together, even if all you could really see of Mal was a bit whiff of purple hair.

Ben sighed as he walked over to the gym. It was the best place to find Uma and right now, he needed to talk to her. He knew everyone changed, that was just a way of life. But Mal's request to not have the dragon nickname be used...well it honestly bothered him.

Uma would know if anyone was giving Mal a hard time about being a VK. They were practically glued to the hip ever since Uma got from the Isle, or at least that's how it seemed to Ben. Not that Ben blamed them. If he'd been separated from Chip for even a week, he'd be hard pressed to leave his side.

Walking into the gym, he couldn't help but smile as he watched Uma and Harry once again go at it with swords. They truly were good at what they did. Though, as Harry once told him one of the first times Ben had seen them in action, they were pirates. They couldn't not be good at sword fighting otherwise how could they protect themselves and their crew?

The Isle was probably the most dangerous place in Auradon after all, and they had younger crew members to look out for. Mal would have killed them if they let anything happen to Hadie while she was across the bridge.

Plus, Harry was a Hook. They were practically pirate royalty after all. It would have been more alarming if he hadn't been good at swordplay.

"Nice match," he said as Harry's sword hit the ground with a clang. Uma and Harry looked over at him with a little bit of shock as if they weren't expecting him to be there. Well, granted, it was class time but all the classes got cancelled due to Cotillion prep. Fairy Godmother figured that it would elevate stress if there were a few days off here and there—Mal had told him she figured it was because Jane was the one planning the thing this time.

Ben thought that made sense. Fairy Godmother would want to try to elevate stress for her daughter where she could and if that meant the whole school got a day off from classes here and there, they weren't going to argue.

"Thanks Benny," Uma nodded as she picked up Harry's sword and handed it to him. "Mal's not here."

"I know," Ben nodded. "I'm looking for you. I'd like a word."

"I know nothing about that smoke bomb that went off in Charming Jr.'s face," Uma said instantly.

"What smoke bomb?" Ben asked with a small chuckle. He knew which smoke bomb she was talking about, how could he not? The thing went off right in front of him, and of course Uma had to know something about it. It was a bright teal smoke bomb after all.

Chad hadn't minded though, to Ben's surprise. Then again, Chad had been more of himself ever since Leah had been sent to the Isle. Every so often, especially if he was around Audrey, he would act 'prattish' as Akiho would often say but more often than not Chad would be the way he used to be back when he and Ben were kids.

Kitty and Lucy were a bit apprehensive about the change but Alexandria seemed to welcome it. Then again, she was the youngest Charming. To her, Chad might have just been changing for the better and not going back to the way he used to be.

"Right. So what did you want to talk about Benny?" Uma asked as Harry looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, as if he didn't know what she had been talking about.

Ben sighed. "Has...has Mal seemed different to you?"

"Oh thank Gods someone else has noticed it! " Uma sighed in relief. Ben blinked in surprise, that definitely hadn't been the reaction he had expected.

"I don't know if I should be happy that someone else has noticed it or sad that I'm not the only one," he sighed.

Harry sheathed his sword and shook his head. "Benny, I think everyone has noticed that something's going on with Mal. She couldn't make it more obvious that something was wrong than if she shot a cannon at us."

"Trust me Ben, I feel the same way," Uma nodded. "But whoever that is, that's not Mal. Something's wrong. She doesn't spray paint anymore, she won't draw dragons. Actually she hasn't worn anything with a dragon on it or that looks remotely Isle like for a while. Not even her leather jacket which she hasn't taken off since she got it when she was eight. In fact, if anyone even mentions the word 'dragon' around her, she...she almost gets paler than normal and quickly changes the subject."

"She asked me not to call her dragon," Ben said softly and Uma and Harry looked at each other sharply before looking back at Ben. "It's been my nickname for her ever since she transformed at my coronation and I don't know why she doesn't want it anymore. She just…it was out of the blue too. I honestly thought she was fine with it."

After all, he had experience with nicknames he didn't want. If he had to hear the words 'Bennyboo' or 'Bennybear' one more time from Emir, Akiho, or Chip…

He sighed, pushing that thought out of his head, and ran a hand through his hair. "This...this is going to sound weird but...I miss her..." he whispered.

"It doesn't sound weird Ben," Uma sighed and looked over at Harry. "I miss her too. The real her, not this pod person."

Ben bit his lip. "I just...I wish I knew what was going on but whenever I ask, she just gives me this fake smile and says that she's fine. But I know she's not fine. I used to be the same back when I was betrothed to Audrey, pretending everything was fine even when everything was piling up and...and it hurts that Mal won't tell me what's going on."

Uma sighed. "Mal's better at dealing with emotions than I am but...she still bottles things up...it drives Uncle Hades and Aunt Steph insane sometimes."

"It's one of the few ways to survive on the Isle, keeping your emotions bottled up," Harry added and Ben couldn't help but notice Uma glance over at the pirate. "An emotion is a weakness, it's a way for your opponent or your enemy to get under your skin and potentially get one over on you."

"But...why not talk to me? She knows she can," Ben said softly. "I haven't been...I haven't been too busy for her with my king duties have I?"

"Of course not Ben," Uma sighed and shook her head. "But, and this might just be me but...Mal seems to be the busy one, not you. Every time I see her lately, it seems like she's either throwing me a quick smile as she goes out the door to another meeting or class or she's on the phone with someone. I didn't think being the girlfriend of the King required so many meetings."

"Don't forget all the time she spends with Natalie. Mal seems to have dozens of meetings with her on top of her Cotillion prep stuff," Harry added. "I've never met her but I'm beginning to hate her more than I hate Gil. Hell, I hate her more than I hate Freddy."

"Who?" Ben asked with a small frown. That name…where did he know that name?

"Fred Frollo," Harry explained. "We all hate him. Mal started calling him 'Freddy' when we were five and it just stuck."

Ben nodded—now he remembered where he knew that name from. From his trip to the Isle all those months ago.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about Mal's handler," Uma nodded before rolling her eyes at the mention of Natalie. "Amazing since she's constantly blowing up Mal's phone. And just to give you a sense of how much I hate her, Benny, I hate her more than I hate Blueberry."

Ben frowned. Ever since he'd talked to Natalie when he answered Mal's phone a week ago, he'd been trying to get a sense of Mal's schedule. But for the life of him, he couldn't find Mal's planner at all. "How many times does Natalie call her? Mal I mean? I doubt she calls Evie."

Uma shrugged. "I couldn't give you a real number Ben. I'm not always around Mal, even if it seems like I am. But the times that I am around her? I'd say maybe eleven times?"

Ben stared at her in shock. "That's mad! That would have to be like twice every minute!"

"Mal does seem glued to that phone," Uma sighed. "In between her meetings, school work, trying to make time for Hadie, hanging out with you and Blueberry's fittings for her Cotillion gown, I'm amazed Mal has time to breathe. It's...Mal can't keep this up Ben. At some point she's going to snap."

"I know, I know," Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What about the others? Have they noticed anything?"

"Jay's noticed something's up with her," Harry nodded. "So's DeVil."

"What about Gil?"

"Fish for Brains wouldn't notice if his hair was on fire! But he does like Mal so he might have noticed. At the very least, I know that girl he's caught a shining to has noticed…considering she's Mali's cousin. I don't know if Blueberry's noticed anything, and Hadie probably has noticed too, he's Mal's brother after all. If he hasn't noticed..."

Ben sighed and held up a hand to stop Harry's rambling. He had heard enough.

"Uma...reach out to your aunt," he said softly. "If we're going to reach out to Mal about this, I want to make sure her parents are informed."

"Ben, Aunt Steph's still on the Isle," Uma stated. "I'm all for letting her know but doesn't that seem almost cruel to make her worry when she can't leave the Isle?"

Ben looked at her for a minute. "Uma...Mal's going through something. When I needed to get out of my betrothal contract, my mom was the one I needed to reach out to. Mal will have her mom with her because I will make it so Lady Persephone can leave the Isle early if she wants. Deal with Zeus be damned, Mal comes first."

Uma smiled at that. "If I didn't already like you Benny, that would have made it so. Give me a sec, I'll reach out to Aunt Steph."

She sighed and shook her head before reaching out on her mental link.

Aunt Steph? You there?

...Uma?

I hope I'm not bothering you but I wanted to reach out.

You are never a bother Uma. But you hardly ever reach out on the mental link, at least not to me. Is...is something wrong? Is it Hadie? Mal?

It's...Aunt Steph, something's going on with Mal, Uma told her, feeling as if a weight had been removed as she told her aunt. Finally someone would know who could do something. Everyone's noticed and she won't talk to anyone. Even Ben's concerned.

I can feel her panic and stress through the mental link every day but she's got me on mute, Persephone said with a sigh. She's got her father on mute as well, meaning he's been taking his frustration out on Pain and Panic. Thankfully, ever since Maleficent became a lizard, people have been turning to him to rule the Isle since Mal stated she was his daughter at King Ben's coronation.

I bet Uncle Hades loves that.

You know what, oddly enough he does not, Persephone said, giving a dry chuckle. But it helps to keep his mind off of Mal and her muted link so that can only be a good thing. Otherwise he'd drive himself mad. You know he actually reached out to your grandfather to see if he'd heard anything?

Really?!

Yes. He wasn't thrilled when Poseidon didn't know anything and he was even less thrilled when your grandfather recommending he reach out to Zeus.

Ooh Uncle Hades would definitely not like the idea of reaching out to Zeus.

You would be right in that regard. But because it had to do with Mal, he did so. Granted Zeus also knew nothing but Hades brought me into the conversation otherwise it more than likely would have been derailed with your uncle ranting at Zeus.

Uncle Hades can go on pretty impressive rants, Uma said, nodding slightly through the mental link.

Persephone chuckled and then sighed. Uma, I want to be there for Mal. I don't know what's going on but if she needs me...Gods, if it wasn't for this agreement I'd be by her side right now!

Well then you're in luck Aunt Steph. Ben said he'd grant you early leave from the Isle. He'd probably have to send a car since there's no way the stubborn old swan known as my uncle would let you leave early through the portal but—."

A car is fine, Persephone said instantly. It's perfect actually. How soon would that car be here?

I'm sure Ben would send it right now but let me ask him. I'll be right back.

"Benny," Uma said, coming out of the mental link and looking over at Ben. "Would you be sending a car to pick up Aunt Steph?"

"Of course," Ben nodded. "We don't have time to try to finagle a meeting with Lord Zeus and I can send a car right away. In fact, I'll send that car once I'm back in my office so Lady Persephone can be here today."

Uma nodded and tuned back into the mental link. Ben says he'll send the car right away.

I knew he'd be quick about it but I didn't think he'd be that quick, Persephone thought, slightly amazed.

He's worried about Mal. I think he really cares about her Aunt Steph. I know I don't really do the touchy feely stuff but I'd have to be blind not to see it.

Well then I'm glad he's there for her, Persephone said. And I'll be there too. I'll be on the lookout for the car.

Knowing Ben, he might be driving that car, Uma chuckled as she disconnected the mental link.

"Uma, you go and get Mal," Ben said. "See if she's up for talking. I can meet you guys in my office."

"Ben, won't she feel like she's in trouble if I take her to your office to talk to you?" Uma asked.

Ben sighed. "It's the only location I can guarantee privacy for her. If we do it outside, there's a risk of someone overhearing and sending it over to The Gazelle. I'd rather not have Mal have to deal with that."

"And your dorm's not exactly private cap'n," Harry pointed out. "Since you're rooming with Blueberry."

"Hang on," Ben said slowly, an idea starting to form. "What if we just meet in my office and then we can go over to my dorm? I don't have a roommate so it's guaranteed privacy."

Uma and Harry looked at each other and nodded.

"I'll make sure Jay and DeVil are distracted," Harry said. "Otherwise they'll be trying to crash your meeting with Mal. I mean, Jay makes sense. He's practically Mal's first mate the way I'm Uma's but DeVil?"

"The pup's changed for the better ever since he got to get in the sun and away from Cruella," Uma nodded. "But also this'll make sure Blueberry can't butt in.

"Though I think she's over at the hospital right now, cap'n," Harry told her.

"She is," Ben nodded. Evie had been sure to inform Ben whenever she went to the hospital to spend time with her dad, even though that wasn't necessary. It wasn't as if he would ever forbid her from doing that. The only reason he hadn't told her to stop letting him know was because it was a good way of making sure he knew where she was in case something happened. Not because he thought she'd do anything but because he wanted to know for her safety.

Auradon had a long memory after all and they only just started to bring kids over from the Isle. Leah had blamed Mal for something Maleficent did and she wasn't even Maleficent's daughter!

"Benny, talk to your shadows," Uma said, pulling Ben back into the conversation and out of his thoughts. "I know your female friends are also worried even if it's hard to tell with Jordan. But Mal'll only clam up if there are too many people in the room or if someone randomly barges in."

"Right," Ben nodded and sent a quick text to Emir. Of his two shadows, he was usually the calmer of the two when it came to things like this. Maybe it was because he was a middle child and was used to drama whereas Akiho was an only child like Ben?

To Ben's surprise, he got a response back immediately.

Please tell me you're not going to propose to Mal and that's why you need privacy.

You may be insane you realize that? Ben texted back. If I was going to propose to my girlfriend, would I really do it in my dorm?

Okay, you have a point there. But Ben, you do realize we're all concerned about her too.

Let me have a conversation with her in private Emir. You all can plan a picnic for her, how about that?

...you may have just said the magic word to get Akiho excited.

Picnic? Why would he get excited about...he gets to make sandwiches doesn't he?

Got it in one.

I need different friends.

You know you love us.

Yeah, I do. I'll love you guys even more if you can guarantee me the privacy with Mal.

Done and done, oh kingly one!

Ben looked at his phone and shook his head in astonishment.

"From the look on Benny's face, the shadows have been contacted," Harry chuckled. "Well cap'n, I'm off to make sure Jay and the pup don't bother you though that may mean I'll be subjected to Tourney talk."

"I'm sure Mal will appreciate your sacrifice," Uma chuckled.

"It probably won't be that bad if it's just Jay and DeVil," Harry said, shaking his head. "If it's Akiho and Emir along with them though...Gods how can four boys talk about one thing for hours on end?"

"Harry, you could talk about sword work until the earth fell off its axis," Uma told him.

"Yes and your point is cap'n?"

Ben couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips. It was obvious that Harry and Uma had an unspoken thing but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why they hadn't said anything or gotten together. Mal used to rant to him for hours about how their denial would only end if one of them had gotten wounded in battle.

He missed those rants. He missed how Mal's eyes would get bright with passion about something, he missed how she'd stick out her tongue ever so slightly as she was trying to get a detail right in a sketch or a tag.

Hell, he missed the feel of her leather jacket as he gave her a hug. He missed the faint aroma of spray paint fumes that seemed to follow her around everywhere she went.

He missed her.

"Okay," Uma nodded, bringing Ben's attention back to the conversation at hand. "I'll go and get Mal. Benny, you go and get that car sent for Aunt Steph. I'm sure she's waiting and driving Uncle Hades mad with her pacing since I didn't say what was going on with Mal. Only that something was."

"Uma...we don't know what's going on with Mal."

"That doesn't change the fact that the vagueness will probably drive Aunt Steph up the wall until she can actually see Mal," Uma stated as she started to make her way to the door, her back straightening up and a sense of urgency entering her walk. Her cousin needed her...her crew mate needed her.

This was something she could do as a captain and as the Gods as her witness, she would do it.

She would get her Mal back. No matter how long it took, she'd get her back.

"Better go do as she says," Harry told Ben as he started to follow. "Once Uma's got her mind made up about something, chances are it's next to impossible to get her to change it."

"Well then it's a good thing I wouldn't want her to do that," Ben told him, pulling out his phone and calling his chief attendant. "Dean? It's Ben. Oh right, you already knew that from the caller ID. Anyway, can you please have a car sent over to the Isle of the Lost? That's right. Yes we are picking up someone. Lady Persephone. You can have the car sent in fifteen minutes? Dean, you're awesome and remind me to give you a raise."

Ben hung up and looked at Harry as he pocketed his phone. "I meant what I said by the way. I'd be lost without Dean really, he's like what Cogsworth was to my dad."

"Only less uptight about time?" Harry asked with a chuckle, still making his way toward the door.

"You could say that," Ben nodded with a sheepish smile. Even though he was now king, he still had a bit of a reputation for running late. Actually it'd gotten to the point where Dean was telling him meetings started a half hour earlier than they already did, just as an attempt to get Ben to one meeting on time.

Though, as Ben would often remind anyone who complained about his tardiness, sometimes class ran late.

"Come on," Harry said, as he stopped and looked over at Ben. "Mal's not going to fix herself you know? Plus I doubt she'd be willing to talk in this smelly gym."

"Does she still spar?" Ben asked as he made his way over to the first mate. "Mal I mean?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "If Mal ever stopped sparring, I think we'd be having a different conversation because Uma and I would probably be before you accused of kidnapping your girlfriend."

"Please don't. I'm rather fond of my girlfriend," Ben said, shaking his head slightly. He now knew what Mal meant when she said that Emir and Akiho were like Auradon's version of Harry and Jay. How many times did his shadows threaten to kidnap him whenever they felt his schedule got too hectic?

Heck, they practically declared they were going to do that when Ben announced he would need to step down because he was taking over as King for his dad.

They were his best friends, they'd do anything for him. And now, it seemed, they'd do anything for Mal too. It was certainly a change from how they were around Audrey—but honestly Ben did not miss the four hour long rants about his ex.

The two boys made their way out of door and split off, Harry to go keep Jay and Carlos from interfering with the meeting and Ben to make his way to his office to prepare for Lady Persephone before talking with Mal.

Hey, there was no way he was going to greet a Goddess in his bedroom!

Uma sighed as she walked into her dorm. She figured it would be the best place to start looking for Mal, even if she was constantly on the move. Even if she wasn't there, there was a chance that she'd come back and Uma could grab her then.

Even better would be if Estelle was with her because then Uma would have backup that Mal couldn't say no to. Well, Estelle or Hadie would work but Uma wasn't picky.

Luckily, Mal was in their dorm but Uma had to pause as she saw Mal put something in her eye. What in the world...?

"I thought there might have been something different going on with your eyes but I wasn't sure," Uma said as she walked into their dorm. Unfortunately, their dorm was empty but as long as Mal was there, Uma wasn't all that disappointed. "Your eyes were not that dark when you were younger. I'm your cousin, I should know."

"It's nothing Uma," Mal sighed and shook her head, setting the contact down since it seemed that Uma was insisting on talking. She wasn't so skilled that she could do two things at the same time. "I just...I just wanted a change is all."

"Hey it's not a big deal Mali. It's not like they're turning yellow or anything. But…why? I thought you were over the whole 'hating your eyes' thing?" Uma said, keeping her voice gentle. Sure they were probably wasting time on this but Ben would probably appreciate the extra time to get Aunt Steph into Auradon. Besides, if she was sarcastic or anything other than gentle, Mal might get her back up and that would just end up in a fight.

It was rare when such a thing happened but when it did, Mal and Uma usually didn't speak to each other for a day at most. Hey, they were cousins. Cousins fought.

But they didn't have time for a fight right now so if handling with kid gloves was the only way to do it, then Uma would.

It took Mal a moment before she answered. "I...I don't want to be connected to Maleficent," she whispered. "It's the only thing Auradon has right now to claim I'm actually the Dragon's spawn instead of mom's daughter."

"Okay...and you're doing it manually why? I mean you have magic! What's the point in living in Auradon if you're just going to insist on doing it manually anyway?"

"Spell might wear off and I'd have to keep applying it. This is a one and done sort of thing. Sure my eyes dry out faster but there's no risk of them failing in front of mom or Ben."

Uma frowned slightly and sat on her bed. There was something…off about the tone of Mal's voice. "Mali...do you need to talk?"

Mal sighed and turned to face her cousin. "Uma...what's there to talk about? No matter what I do, they're going to find a way to connect me to the Dragon. To them, it doesn't matter what I do or what mom does. They only see my 'evil' DNA. Changing my wardrobe didn't change anything, they're still writing articles saying I'm really Maleficent's kid because of my eyes. So...I'm changing that too. Besides, they're only a shade or two darker...Ben hasn't even said anything..."

"Mal, if I hadn't seen you putting in those contacts, I wouldn't have known," Uma said, a little taken aback at how easily Mal had told her all of that but worked to keep it off her face and out of her voice. "Granted, I thought they were darker than they were on the Isle but I just chalked that up to the sun. After all, you've been living here longer than I have."

Mal shrugged slightly. "If that's what it takes, then that's what it takes. I should probably get the other one in before I'm walking around with two different colored eyes."

Uma nodded slightly, her attention more focused on something sticking out under Mal's mattress than on her cousin's words.

"Mal? What's that?" Uma asked, pointing to whatever was poking out from under her cousin's mattress.

"What's what?"

"That thing under your mattress, what is it? Why do you have something stuffed under there?"

"It's just a bit of paper, Uma. It's nothing."

"You don't hide nothing under your bed," Uma said and went to pull it out.

"Uma, don't—!"

"Too late cuz, I'm curious now," Uma said and pulled out the paper. Or rather, pulled out the multitude of papers from under Mal's mattress. Gazelle articles from the past few months spilled out on to the ground as Uma stared in shock before combing through them, putting each one back on the bed before moving on to the next. As she read, her eyes began to narrow and her fists curled up against the paper in rage.

"Mal, what is this nonsense?" Uma asked as she kept reading. Mal's words from before began to echo in her head: they're still writing articles saying I'm really Maleficent's kid,...changing my wardrobe didn't work...

"What anyone who's not the crew, Ben, the Tourney team, mom and dad think," Mal muttered. "So basically all of Auradon."

"And you believe them?" Uma asked, looking at her cousin in astonishment. "Mal, it's complete and utter trash."

"Of course I don't believe them!" Mal exclaimed, turning to look at Uma, her eyes flashing green for a split second in her irritation. "I know exactly who my mom is. But...that doesn't mean reading the articles doesn't sting a little. I mean, I turned Maleficent into a gecko for Auradon but all they see is the fact that the Dragon gave birth to me."

"Has Ben seen these? Does he know about them? Mal, if he does and he hasn't done anything, I'm going to remind him you're not the only child of the Gods here! Plus Harry would be happy to introduce him to the business end of his hook!"

"Uma don't!" Mal exclaimed "No, he doesn't know and I don't plan on him knowing!"

She could live with Natalie implying Ben would be embarrassed by her, she could live with the articles implying Ben was making a mistake dating her…she didn't know what she would do if Ben learned the truth and truly was embarrassed or ashamed.

"And why not? Your boyfriend's the king, he could put a stop to this garbage once and for all! Bad enough you're busy all the time but you don't need this poison being hurled at you either!" Uma exclaimed, gathering up all the newspapers into an easy to grab pile in the event she needed to.

"Uma, Ben has enough on his plate without worrying about what some stupid, no brained 'reporter' writes about me."

"Mal, you're changing stuff about you to try to get these 'reporters' off your back! Don't think I haven't noticed you're not wearing your dragon stuff! Your jacket for instance! The only time I remember seeing you without your jacket was when you fell off the dock when we were nine and Uncle Hades told you to take it off so it could dry!"

Mal shrugged slightly and turned to take out the one contact she'd managed to get in before this all started. "It's not a good look, walking around with dragons on my clothes in Auradon. It provided me protection on the Isle but here…"

"Says who?! Who in their right mind would say dragons are a bad look? Because you rocked that look when we were on the Isle!" Uma exclaimed, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

Mal shrugged again and Uma shook her head. A shrug wasn't an answer but if anyone was giving Mal a hard time…she was already making a mental note to reach out to her cousin Hermes. As a Messenger God, the mortals considered him a God of Communication—meaning he'd be able to look into things like revenge against The Gazelle.

As much as she hated the puffed togas on Olympus, her cousin came first.

"Mal, do I need to get Ben involved?" Uma asked, not mentioning the fact that her cousin's boyfriend was already involved. In fact the whole reason why Uma had been looking for Mal in the first place was on Ben's request.

"No!"

"Well I think I do now, since you're changing your clothes and your eye color because what these fools are saying! What next, you'll change your hair color? Am I going to come in here one day to find you've gone blonde or something? Mal, you don't exactly have much more to change before you're not you anymore! Come on!"

"Wha—no! Uma!"

"Oh yes Mal, we are going to see the person who can legally do something about this! If not, well then I'm all in favor of bringing round some Isle style justice to these vultures!"

"Isle style...no Uma!"

"Yes Mal! I'm sure Shenzi would not mind letting us borrow one of her cubs to scare these morons straight! And if not, well then use the tools at your disposal! Get Estelle growling and bob's your uncle!"

"First off, I don't have an Uncle Bob. I have an Uncle Zeus and an Uncle Poseidon and I'm sure a multitude more over on Olympus. Second of all if I did that, how soon do you think it would take before they wrote an article about how I was allowing a dangerous animal to be around the King and Fairy Godmother had to take Estelle away?"

"Then you sue their ass for slander!"

"Libel. Slander is spoken," Mal said softly.

"Semantics," Uma told her, waiving her hand in front of her face as if shooing away a fly.

"Our uncle is the God of Law and as you pointed out earlier, I'm dating the King. I kinda have to know the difference," Mal sighed. "Uma, just leave it okay? If I just make it till Cotillion, it'll all be over."

"You can't last until Cotillion!" Uma exclaimed. "You're always rushing around, scurrying to meetings or class or Cotillion prep...when's the last time you relaxed? You do remember how to relax don't you?"

Mal sighed again before she stiffened up and looked at her phone. "Gods is that the time? Uma, I got to run! I am so late for—."

"A meeting? Why yes you are," Uma nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "With Ben."

"Very funny Uma but I really do have to run," Mal said, gathering up her books and making her way to the door. Or at least she was until Uma grabbed her arm, preventing her from walking any further.

"I wasn't joking Mal," Uma said, her voice soft. "You need to talk to someone...you used to talk to me but if you don't want to do that, at least talk to Ben."

"He can't do anything Uma," Mal whispered, her eyes flashing green once more only this time out of worry rather than irritation. "And I don't want to stress him out by telling him. It's not fair to put this on his plate."

"Mal, I know we're VKs and I know the 'touchy feely' stuff isn't what we're used to but it's clear to anyone with eyes that Ben cares about you. He'd walk through fire to make sure you were okay."

Mal gave a weak chuckle at that. "He almost did too. At his coronation...when Maleficent attacked and transformed, he tried to fight his way to me to make sure I was alright. It took Jay, Akiho, and Emir to take him out of the room."

"See?" Uma said, keeping her voice gentle even though she was seething mad. But it wouldn't help anyone if Mal thought she was mad at her. She'd just clam up or worse, try to rush out of the room to whatever meeting she was trying to go to. "He was willing to face off with Maleficent as a dragon for you. Last I checked, the only other guy who had done that was Phillip for Aurora."

"...are you implying that I'm Aurora in this scenario?"

"I just heard the implication myself and unfortunately yes, yes I am. However that does not mean you are in anyway like Sleeping Brat."

"Good. Otherwise you know what'd I have to do to you right?"

"Kill me?"

"Got it in one."

"I'd deserve it." Uma told her before shaking her head. "But anyway, that just proves my point! Ben cares about you! Hell if Blueberry was here she'd probably say Benny loves you...where is Blueberry anyway? I'm only asking because it's been five minutes and she hasn't said anything to completely get on my nerves and make me wish I had a smoke bomb."

"She's with her dad," Mal said, shaking her head. "Honestly Uma, how is it I could room with her for a month and be fine with her but you've been here for months and still despise the ground she walks on?"

"Trust me Mali, I've asked myself the same thing," Uma said with a sigh. Harry had mentioned that Blueberry was at the hospital, why hadn't she…oh that's right. More important things on her mind. Things that started with 'm' and ended with 'al'. "But anyway, you've distracted me yet again. We're going to Ben!"

"Uma, there's no need to bother Ben with this! I'm handling it the best way I know how!"

"Mal, the way you're 'handling' it has resulted in you giving up parts of yourself to try to appease people who don't seem like they want to be appeased! Your eyes I can sort of understand because you've hated them since I've known you but your dragons? Your spray painting? Your jacket...hell your Isle garb in general?"

Mal sighed and shook her head. Uma didn't get it. She didn't have all of Auradon's eyes on her almost every second of every day. She didn't have to deal with Natalie and her comments nor deal with The Gazelle and their articles.

"Mal, what did Uncle Hades tell you all those months ago when you and Jay were heading out to Auradon?" Uma asked. "He told you to never apologize for who you are and not to change yourself for anyone. Boreadon doesn't deserve it and Ben would never ask you to do that."

"Uma, what else can I do? I break out the dragon clothes or the spray painting, the reporters will just find more ways to connect me to the Isle and Maleficent! It has to be done Uma! And no one, not even Ben can change that!"

"He should at least know about it!" Uma exclaimed, getting fed up with how stubborn her cousin was being. "And we're going to tell him even if I have to drag you to him!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I did it when we were seven and then again all those months ago when you got the invite off the Isle. What makes you think I wouldn't do it this time?"

Mal shook her head. "Because of what people might think?"

"You honestly think I care about what some prissy princesses and pansy ass princes think? The only ones I remotely like are your boy, his shadows, their girlfriends and Lonnie" Uma stated, moving her hand so that it was on Mal's wrist instead of her forearm for ease of dragging. "Right. To Ben we go!"

"Uma, you're insane!"

"Complements won't get you anywhere Mali!"

"You hang around Harry, Jay, Akiho and Emir way too much if you think that's a complement!"

"Mal I've heard worse. Remember, we're from the Isle? Freddy boy's called us 'witches' and 'demons' so many times it's practically lost its meaning. Besides Ben calls Emir and Akiho insane like twice a day and it barely phases them."

"That should tell you something about them!"

"That they're good people!" Uma stated firmly as she continued to drag her cousin toward Ben's office. She wasn't lying either, Emir and Akiho were in fact good people. She would spend many an hour with them as they would commiserate about what Benny used to be like before Mal appeared.

Honestly, Uma didn't know how those two didn't go insane before now; acting like the responsible party in the friendship. From constantly having to bring Ben either dinner or breakfast to sometimes dragging him out of his office so he'd go to bed at a decent hour. Sometimes, Akiho had told her, the only way he could really get Ben to take a break was to threaten to go to their coach.

After all, Ben was their captain. He had to set an example for the boys on the team and if they were worried about him, then that would be something they should bring to the coach since they all knew he'd do the same if the situations were reversed.

It would work for a week or so, if only because Ben knew that Akiho wasn't bluffing. He also knew that their coach, on top of potentially benching him from games, would be honor bound to go to Belle or Beast with his concerns and that was the lastthing Ben wanted. He didn't want his parents to think he wasn't taking care of himself.

Never mind the fact that he clearly wasn't, it was still a good threat. But it was one that never truly lasted as sure enough, Ben would find his way back burrowed in his office under a mountain of paperwork.

Uma couldn't help but smile a little as she thought about Emir and Akiho, or as Mal had called them, Ben's shadows. They truly were almost glued to the King's hip but considering the boy had no guards around him it was almost understandable. At first, Uma was a little on edge considering they were always around. But Ben had explained that they were always like this—it wasn't a recent development with the arrival of more VKs as Uma had thought.

Akiho and Emir also clearly cared about Mal too. Sometimes, Uma noticed, Akiho would pass Mal a sandwich during class or Emir would slip her some grapes or a baggie of strawberries if he passed her in the hall. They had gotten the others on the Tourney team to do so as well—Jay and DeVil needed no prompting and a lot of the others did it with no issue but Charming Jr. almost seemed to drag his feet in checking on Mal.

That was, until one of the Tourney boys pointed out that if something happened to Mal, then Ben might have to go back to Audrey and his betrothal contract. Then Charming seemed to almost lead the charge in making sure Mal was okay. Much to Mal's annoyance.

"I know why he's doing it," Mal muttered to Uma after one such instance. "The idiot told me himself. He thinks if something happens to me then Audrey could pressure Ben back into their betrothal contract. Never mind the fact that Chad's a better person when he's away from Audrey…but I never said that."

"Of course not," Uma chuckled. "But seriously, betrothal contracts are a thing here? What, do the people who got together because of True Love not think lighting will strike twice for their kids or something?"

"Do you honestly think Audrey of all people has a True Love waiting somewhere for her?"

"Judging by how she acts…I'd say she has a True Lust."

Charming had met his fair share of smoke bombs since then but Uma wasn't going to complain about that. Smoke bombs were normal for Mal. Prissy dresses and caring about what other people thought was not.

"Uma, I swear to all the Gods, if you don't let me go..."

"What are you going to do Mal? Make Blueberry dress me in some prissy dress?" Uma chuckled as they continued to make their way to Ben's office. She couldn't help but hope that Ben had had enough time for her Aunt Steph to arrive and be made aware of what all what's happening with Mal. Otherwise, it'd be a tense meeting while they waited and something told Uma that Mal would rather see her mom first thing than have Persephone burst into the office.

Though that would be an awesome thing to see.

"Honestly Uma, at least knock first," Mal said as they reached the door to Ben's office. It was closed but that was usually how it was, despite Ben's open door policy. "What if he's in a meeting with someone?"

Uma sighed and shook her head but knocked once on the door, loud enough to count as a knock but soft enough that there was no way that Ben had actually heard that if he was in his office. "There. I knocked. Happy now?"

"Why are you the way that you are?"

"Would you have me any other way?" Uma asked as she opened the door and couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight before her. There, standing in front of Ben's desk and looking over at her, was her aunt.

"Mom?" Uma heard Mal whisper but that was all she heard before Uma was knocked to the side as Mal rushed into Persephone's open arms, Mal's books clattering to the ground with a loud crash. Uma frowned as she watched Mal cling to Persephone like she was a drowning woman and her mom a life raft. As she continued to watch, Uma's brow furrowed as Mal's shoulders began to shake. Was...was Mal crying?

"Shh, shh, it's okay Mali," Persephone said, gently rubbing Mal's back as Mal's body continued to be wracked with silent sobs. "I'm here."

Ben walked over to Uma to try to give the two of them as much privacy as possible, bending down to pick up Mal's books and set them on a nearby table. "You were longer than I thought you'd be. Did you find out what's going on with Mal?"

"Oh yeah," Uma nodded and sighed. "There's a stack of newspapers about four or five months old back in our room. If you want to, read 'em but what Mal needs to hear right now is that you don't want her changing anything about herself."

"What? Of course I don't want her to change anything Uma!" Ben exclaimed but tried to keep his voice down as Mal was still being comforted by her mother. Her muffled sobs continued to break his heart and he looked down at the ground to brace himself for the conversation that was about to happen.

Mal needed her mom right now. She didn't need him butting in.

"Tell her that," Uma said and Ben looked back up at her. "Trust me, I'm already planning on dragging Mal back to the Isle so she can have a reboot or at least time away from those vultures. We've got friends back on the Isle anyway and we need to check on the crew and our allies."

Ben nodded. "Before you do that though...I think I need to learn everything that's been going on."

"That would be a good idea, King Ben," Persephone spoke up. "As I would also like to know why my daughter is still sobbing in my arms and why I'm just now learning about it!"

"We didn't know Aunt Steph," Uma said softly. "We...well we thought something was going on with Mal but we didn't know what it was and it didn't seem fair to worry you since you were on the Isle for your six months."

Persephone sighed and shook her head, looking down at her daughter. "Mal, honey? Are you up for talking? What's wrong sweetheart?"

Mal sighed and nodded, breaking from the embrace and wiping away any sign of her tears.

"Hey, hey," Persephone said gently, grabbing her hands as to stop her from wiping away the tell tale sign of her crying. "You don't need to be ashamed of your tears Mali. You don't need to put on a brave exterior. Not here. Not around me."

"Or me," Uma nodded, mentally making a note to talk to Harry and Jay so that they could take care of anyone who was giving Mal a hard time outside of the vultures that called themselves reporters. That, she would take care of personally. Maybe she'd even rope in Benny's shadows.

Hell if needed she'd talk to her grandfather! Those vultures would have a hard time working if their offices were flooded!

"Or me," Ben said softly as he walked over to her. "Mal...talk to me. What's going on?"

Mal took a shaky breath before looking over at Ben. Ben's heart broke as he saw how unsure and terrified Mal looked. And yet...she also looked as though someone had removed a large weight from her.

How long had she waited for someone…for me to ask her what was going on? How long had she been waiting for me to ask her if she needed to talk? Ben thought, almost feeling like he'd been hit in the stomach by the realization.

"If you want, we can go someplace with a bit more privacy," Ben offered.

"This is your office," Mal said, her voice soft. "I don't know if there's anyplace with more privacy?"

Ben couldn't help but give her a look. "You and I know perfectly well that Akiho and Emir love to randomly burst in here if they think I've been working too hard. That's not much of a guarantee of privacy."

Mal gave a small giggle at that and Ben smiled slightly, not noticing the approving looks from Uma and Persephone.

"Come on," Ben said gently, holding out his hand.

Mal bit her lip but slowly took Ben's hand, a small smile forming as she felt his hand in hers. "Mom are...are you going to be there too?"

"A Cerberus couldn't drag me away," Persephone promised. She had a feeling that Hadie would be well looked after by Harry and Jay, after all it hadn't escaped her notice that they weren't in the room with them and they were normally almost impossible to remove from Mal and Uma's sides. "Speaking of Cerberuses...where's yours?"

"With his attendant," Mal said as Ben began to lead her off. It was time they finally had their talk.

Ben sighed softly as he led the way to his dorm room, accompanied by Mal, Uma and Lady Persephone. In all honesty, Ben had no idea what was going to happen but he knew he needed to have a talk with his girlfriend.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Uma break off and head in the direction of the room she shared with Evie and Mal.

She's either going to get Harry and Jay or she's going to get the newspapers she talked about, he thought with an inward nod of his head. Hopefully it's the later. As much as I know Mal loves her friends, she won't want too big of an audience for the talk we're going to have. Something tells me it'll be an emotional one and Mal's not big on showing her feelings.

Thankfully his room was just as spotless as it had been when he left this morning. He didn't know why he expected anything different but then again, considering who he had as friends, anything was possible.

"Lady Persephone, would you like the chair?" Ben offered as he held open the door for his girlfriend and his girlfriend's mother to walk through. His desk chair was probably the most uncomfortable chair ever made but it was the best thing in his dorm room he could offer that wasn't the bed.

Ironic considering he was the King but he spent more time in his office than he did his dorm anyway.

"No, thank you King Ben," Persephone shook her head. "I'd like to stay with my daughter if possible."

"Of course. I just...I thought you might prefer...the chair might have been more comfortable—."

"Ben, mom's not going to smite you for offering the bed as a place to sit," Mal said softly and Ben couldn't help but smile slightly. At least she was talking, that was a good start. "But...mom, as much as I love the fact that you're here, aren't you going to get in trouble with Old Lightning Butt?"

"Zeus can worry about the agreement when he wants to actually provide a good agreement for a mother of two who has a daughter who needs her," Persephone stated as she sat down on the edge of the bed, holding Mal close to her. "King Ben was kind enough to provide a car and Zeus can't really get upset if I came at behest of the King now can he?"

"You've been around dad too much if you can list a loophole that quickly," Mal told her but didn't put up any resistance to her mom's embrace.

"When you become a parent, Mali, you'll learn that you'll do whatever it takes to make sure your kids know you're there for them," Persephone said gently, softly brushing a bit of hair out of Mal's face. Ben tilted his head slightly as he took in Mal's eyes...did they seem a bit brighter than usual?

He didn't mean brighter because of the tears in her eyes, but the shade of green in her eyes. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed before but it was like they were back to the shade of green he loved so much.

It was almost as if a tiny bit of his Mal was breaking through.

"Mal...what's going on?" Ben asked, his voice soft.

"It's nothing Ben," Mal shook her head as Uma slipped into the room, unnoticed by all but Ben. His second assumption had turned out to be the correct one as she had her arms loaded with newspapers. Or at least what passed for newspapers considering they were all The Gazelle.

Everyone at Auradon Prep knew that the only thing The Gazelle was good for was a fire starter or as something for a dog to use the bathroom on if they went inside. Well, anyone with any sense that is—and Ben would never give Estelle a copy of that trash to do his business on.

"Yeah okay," Uma scoffed, setting the newspapers down on Ben's desk. "That's why you haven't done any spray painting or worn anything with dragons on it for months now. Because what, you just felt like it?"

"Uma, what does it matter? Besides, it's not like I have time for drawing anyway let alone spray painting," Mal sighed before looking at her watch. She was definitely late for her Natalie meeting. "Speaking of not having time for things...unfortunately I have to run. Nice talking to you and it was great to see you again mom."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it young lady," Persephone said as Ben gently grabbed her arm as Mal went to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Ben...what are you doing?" Mal asked, looking at him with slight confusion before looking over at her mom as if her words had only just begun to sink in. "Mom?"

"We need to have a talk," Persephone stated. "You say you're fine Mal but people who are fine don't run into their mother's arms sobbing upon seeing them."

"I just...I just missed you that's all," Mal said with a sigh.

"Uh huh," Persephone nodded, though Ben could tell from the look on her face that she was clearly not buying what Mal was trying to sell.

"Mom, I really have to get going—."

"Not today you don't," Ben said gently but if one was listening closely they might have heard a hint of firmness in the King's voice.

Mal raised an eyebrow and pulled her arm out of his grip. "Seriously?"

Mal, what's going on with you? Uma thought as she could see a small flash of hurt go through Ben's eyes at her actions.

"Don't look at me like that Uma!"

"Look at you like what?"

"Like I'm snapping."

"How should I be looking at you then? At the very least, you're being grouchy Mal. We're just trying to help."

"I'm fine Uma," Mal said as she rolled her eyes. "I'm not grouchy."

"You are not fine."

"Okay, so I've been a little busy. Sue me."

"That's not an option," Ben said, quickly interjecting as Uma opened her mouth.

Mal shook her head. "So...we talked. Can I go now?"

"No!" Uma exclaimed.

"And why not?!"

"Because this isn't healthy Mal!"

Mal shrugged. "I managed. It's just a few extra meetings on top of school stuff—."

"You're glued to your phone!"

"I'm not glued to my phone! I have to answer calls Uma! It's normal!"

"Mal, if you're not on your phone, then you're rushing to a meeting or scurrying over to Blueberry for a fitting. It's not normal!"

Mal sighed, rolling her eyes slightly.

"Mal...please. Talk to me," Ben said gently, going back to his chair as to not make Mal feel like she was being trapped. "What's going on in your head, dragon?"

"Ben! I asked you not to use that!" Mal exclaimed, her eyes going wide in shock. If Ben was going to just...disregard her request like that, then she'd never be free of people comparing her to the Dragon!

Even if there was a small part of her that liked the fact that Ben had disregarded her request. She loved hearing him call her 'dragon'. It meant something different coming from him.

"You said it was fine in private." Ben said with a small shrug.

"Does being in a room with my mother and cousin count as being in private to you?"

Ben sighed. "See, that's what I mean. You asked me not to use it but I don't know why. You've never had an issue with it before. You love dragons!"

"I changed," Mal said, her voice flat.

"Why?"

Mal sighed. "Ben...it's not important okay? Just...no more dragon nickname. Please?"

Ben couldn't help but bite his lip. He'd be happy to give her the world but this was one thing that he didn't want to give up. Not because of the nickname, but because of what it represented. Mal was as wild, as free, as protective as any of the dragons in the books he'd read.

She was a dragon in human form...and that was just one of the many things he loved about her.

"Mal, the fact that you're insistent on this makes me think that it is important," Persephone said gently. "Remember when you were eight? What did I tell you about dragons then?"

"That just because I liked dragons, it didn't make me connected to Maleficent," Mal said, her voice soft. "That dragons were often considered a Godly symbol."

"Exactly," Uma nodded, giving her aunt a small smile. Thank Gods we brought her in otherwise we'd be beating our heads against a wall. Mal is nothing but stubborn. But luckily so am I. "Dragons are kinda your thing Mal. Or at least they were until something changed but you won't tell me what it was. It can't just be the stupid idiots at The Gazelle."

"Uma, just drop it okay?! It's nothing, alright? If I don't go now, we're going to be treated to Natalie blowing up my phone—!"

"Why would this Natalie blow up your phone?" Persephone asked. "On that note, who is Natalie? I thought I knew all your friends Mal unless this is one from Auradon?"

"She's...she's not a friend," Mal sighed, looking at her mom. "She's my 'handler'."

"...why on Gaia's green earth would anyone think you'd need to be handled?" Persephone asked, her eyes flashing.

"There, um, there were some on my council who thought it might help Mal in navigating the royal life," Ben said, his voice small as Persephone glared over at him. "I was not one of them!"

"Considering the status your mother had all her life before marrying your father, I should hope so! For that matter, I've been working with Mal on navigating life in Auradon. Just in a manner that would also help her survive the Isle!"

"It's true," Uma nodded. "Aunt Steph was a big help in learning diplomacy and all that stuff that a captain of the seas needs to know. Probably comes from having to deal with Zeus for six months."

Ben though frowned as the rest of Mal's statement rang through his head. "You're allowed free time Mal, I don't understand why Natalie would be blowing up your phone. Unless...hang on...Mal, Natalie's not the reason you don't want to be called 'dragon' anymore is it?"

"Ben, just...I...she's...I have to go," Mal told him and Ben's heart broke at hearing the plea in her voice.

"Mal...please," he said softly, getting up from his chair and walking over to her; gently cupping her cheek with his palm. "You're with me, what's Natalie going to do? Talk to me."

"Ben..." Mal said softly, looking up at him and Ben could see the pain and the pure exhaustion she had somehow managed to hide shining through. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me why you want nothing to do with something you love anymore," Ben told her, his hand still cupping her cheek.

"I...I can't," Mal said softly, her voice a near whisper.

"Why not?" Ben asked, keeping his voice gentle even though every cell in his body was vibrating with rage. Not toward Mal though. Never toward Mal. How had he missed this? How had he missed Natalie turning Mal from the most confident and self assured girl he knew to someone he barely recognized? To someone who looked like she expected a punishment from him for doing something wrong?

The looks he was getting from Mal's mom and cousin both said the same thing: fix this or I will.

Ben wasn't sure he wanted to know how they would fix this. Something told him though that it would involve Natalie turning into a plant of some kind. Maybe an underwater one if the aunt and niece teamed up.

"I just can't!" Mal snapped, bringing Ben's focus back to the matter at hand, and he watched as her eyes flashed bright green before fading back to their normal shade. "Because maybe, Ben, I don't want you to realize you're potentially dating the next version of Maleficent' like the entire kingdom already knows—!"

She slapped a hand over her mouth, clearly having said more than she had wanted to.

"What do you mean the next Maleficent?" Ben asked, his voice soft as he gently moved Mal's hand from her mouth. He never wanted her to silence herself. Not around him. Not ever. "You're nothing like Maleficent."

"Maleficent could turn into a dragon Ben," Mal said softly. "She's what people think of when they think of dragons...if I have to give up dragons to distance myself from her, I'm fine doing that. They're only clothes and pictures...they're...they're not important."

Ben couldn't help but look at Mal in shock and he knew Uma was doing the same thing. Even though he figured the cousins had had a talk before Uma brought Mal to his office, he didn't know what it had consisted of. What all Mal had told Uma, if anything.

"What?" Mal asked softly, noticing the shocked looks. "Ben, your safety's more important. If the kingdom thought you were spelled or something because you were dating the next Maleficent—."

"Malinda!"

"Yes mom?" Mal asked, looking over at Persephone.

"You are not the next Maleficent!" Persephone said firmly. "I seem to remember you standing up against Maleficent at the battle at King Ben's coronation."

Mal sighed. "Mom, it doesn't matter. I'm still genetically connected to the Dragon even if I know you're my mom. All anyone will see is a copy of Maleficent because you can change everything about yourself but you can't change genetics..."

Ben honestly lost count at how many times his heart broke during this talk but it broke again as he saw tears begin to form in the corners of Mal's eyes.

"You are not a copy," he whispered, scooping Mal into his arms and holding her close. "If you were, you wouldn't have stopped Evie from stealing Fairy Godmother's wand, you wouldn't care so much about your friends. Hell, you wouldn't have cared about why Evie did what she did and you certainly wouldn't care about my safety in all of this."

Mal sniffed softly as she buried her head into Ben's shoulder.

"Hey, hey," Ben said gently, putting his hand on Mal's chin and gently raising it up so he was looking her in the eye. "You are Mal. You are one of a kind. You're a dragon themed, spray painting, pirate co-captaining girl who has no qualms about walking into my office to tell me I'm working too long. You are not Maleficent, you are Malinda. And anyone who says otherwise is an idiot. Maleficent doesn't hold a monopoly on dragons, just ask Lonnie about Mushu. Hell, I like dragons. Does that make me like Maleficent?"

"No! Ben, you're nothing like Maleficent!" Mal told him.

"Then why are you?" Ben asked gently. "You're doing the same as me, admiring dragons for the animal they are and not for the person most of us think of."

"Ben, I'm genetically connected to her! Like it or not there's no changing that!"

"Mal, blood does not dictate family or personality," Ben said softly. "Chip is my brother even if we're not connected by one drop of blood. Hell, Emir and Akiho are practically my brothers—the whole Tourney team is actually. My father, before he was turned into a beast, was rude, shallow and arrogant, I'll freely admit that. Am I any of those things?"

"No!"

"Then why should your genetics have anything to do with Maleficent?" Ben asked.

Persephone shook her head slightly as they waited for Mal to answer. Oh sure, it's just the same thing I've been saying ever since we got Mal back from that witch but what do I know? I'm just your mother. Gods help me when Hadie's a teenager.

Uma walked over and gently rubbed her cousin's back, trying to convey to Mal that she wasn't alone. That there were people she could talk to, who could help her.

"I got you Mali," she said softly. "We're just trying to help, that's all. We can see you're not happy. Ruthless yet loyal after all. I'm not letting my co-captain suffer needlessly."

"But...but..."

"But nothing Mali! What did you say to Harry when he was injured back when we were nine? And he was idiotically fighting our help?"

"That was different Uma. Harry was fighting getting medicine that would stop him from being in pain," Mal said softly.

"And we can clearly see that you're hurting too and you're fighting our help," Uma said gently. "Remember what Uncle Hades said? We don't leave family behind."

Mal couldn't help but give her cousin a weak smile, which Uma and Ben eagerly returned. Unfortunately, Mal's phone rang at that moment breaking the silence and the peace.

"Gods a minute's peace, is that too much to ask?" Mal muttered as she broke away from Ben and answered her phone. "Hi Natalie. Yes, yes, I know I'm late...I'm sorry, I was just—."

"I don't care Mal!" Natalie's voice rang through clear as day as Mal had accidentally pressed the speaker button in her haste to answer her phone. "When will you get it into your ditzy brain that you can't goof off and keep missing meetings? My Gods, the way you're going, I'm surprised King Ben isn't more embarrassed by you!"

Ben's eyes widened while Persephone's narrowed in anger. Uma's hands curled into fists with every word that came out of Natalie's mouth.

"I know, I know...I'm really sorry Natalie. I'll be right over," Mal said, and Uma looked over in shock. How long had this been going on for Mal to just sit back and take that kind of talking to?

"You know we'll have to go over your allotted time, and all your meetings now are going to run into each other. If you didn't have those hours blocked off for magic of all things, maybe I could be a bit more flexible with your schedule but clearly you don't care about getting this right. Gods, what King Ben sees in a slacker like you I'll never know. I'm just glad you finally wised up and got rid of those stupid dragon clothes and leather! You should look like a Lady, not a ruffian. Am I just wasting my time being your handler? Because I'd have thought you would finally get some decent time management? Gods, a Lady doesn't run late to meetings Mal!"

"Yes Natalie, I know...and I appreciate what you're doing..." Mal whispered.

"Okay that's it," Ben growled. "I've heard enough!"

"Ben, if you don't kill her, I will," Uma snarled, rubbing Mal's back as Mal stared at her boyfriend in shock, Ben having grabbed the phone from her hands.

"Ben, don't—!"

"Malinda, it's either Ben has a talk with her or I have a talk with her," Persephone said. "Granted, I'll be having a talk with her either way but it might be better if Ben goes first."

Mal sighed but nodded.

"Excuse me Natalie, but I don't believe abusing my girlfriend was part of your job description!" Ben growled.

"King Ben! Oh hello sire, how can I help you?" Natalie asked, her voice clearly showing her shock at Ben's appearance on the call.

"You can help me by telling me what in the world you think you're doing! As I said, I don't believe abusing my girlfriend was part of your job! Calling her 'ditzy'? Making her feel ashamed of something she loves?! Telling her that she's an 'embarrassment' to me?! Natalie, right now, the only one who I'm embarrassed by is the person who was appointed by my council who thinks it's okay to abuse a teenager!"

"Sire! If Miss Mal can't handle a little tough love, then she can tell me. But a Lady, especially your Lady, should look the part and not...well not like a street rat from the Isle!"

"And how exactly is she supposed to do that when you don't give her a chance to speak when berating her?! If you'd let her speak for a minute, then you would have known that she was with me, that's why she was late! For that matter, how many meetings are you giving her that they run over and she has to give up her magic practice? Finally, Mal is from the Isle Natalie! If she wants to wear whatever makes her comfortable, she can!"

"With you? But sire, we...we didn't have a meeting with you scheduled in her planner. Had I known...well no matter. Mal should have been on time. We've gone over the importance of punctuality many times, I'm honestly surprised she hasn't retained anything I've told her. And honestly sire you don't need to trouble yourself with her schedule. That's why your council appointed me to Miss Mal's service after all. And she may be from the Isle sire but she lives in Auradon. She should look the part."

"My girlfriend doesn't need a meeting to be with me!" Ben exclaimed. "And 'trouble myself'? Natalie, you know that those hours are blocked off so that Mal can practice her magic and ensure her health and safety! Those blocks of time are to be left alone! And frankly Natalie, I don't care if Mal 'looks the part' or not. If she wants to wear leather with dragons on it, she can!"

"Sire, I'm sorry but if Mal keeps being late to meetings, there's only so much time in the day! The meetings we have scheduled are important as a Lady of the Court and as your Lady sire! Mal's perfectly able to speak up if she feels overworked but I don't see why she should! No one from Auradon wears leather your highness, all it would do is remind everyone that she's from the Isle!"

"So we can't kill her right?" Uma asked, turning to look at Persephone as Ben continued to go back and forth.

"I'm still toying with the possibility," Persephone stated. "Hades has been providing suggestions as to her punishments through the mental link."

"Mom...don't," Mal said softly. "All it would do is make people think being from the Isle's too dangerous and advocate for permanently separating the two worlds. I...I couldn't live completely separated from you and think about Hadie. He still needs his mom."

Persephone sighed. "Alright Mal. I won't smite her. Though I make no promises that your uncle won't at some point if he ever finds out what Natalie did."

"Zeus didn't care about me when I was a baby and Maleficent grabbed me, he doesn't care now," Mal scoffed and Uma couldn't help but smile a bit at seeing remnants of the old Mal come out. She was still in there, just buried deep down.

"Well at the very least, your father will have fun judging her soul when the time comes," Persephone stated. "He had a ball with Leah."

"I'm not surprised," Mal said, shaking her head in slight amusement.

"Speaking of your father, he wants you to talk to him," Persephone stated. "And you're never muting your mental link again young lady. If something's going on with you, I want to know."

Mal nodded. "Yes mom. I'm sorry... at first I thought I could handle it or that Natalie just didn't like Uma for some reason. She kept encouraging me to spend time with Elle or Macaria. But then it was jabs about my clothing on top of all The Gazellearticles and then Leah made a comment at her hearing and it just piled on top of each other... plus you were still on the Isle. I didn't want to make you worried since there was still time in your deal."

"Which is why I'll talk to Zeus about reworking that deal," Persephone stated. "I won't leave your father to his lonesome as that's not fair to him but I won't leave you without someone to turn to."

Mal smiled and went over to her mom, giving her a hug in thanks.

"It's the parent's job to protect the kids Mali. Not the other way around," Persephone said softly, returning the hug.

"That's Lady Mal to you Natalie!" Ben's voice broke through and all three Olympians looked over in slight shock. "Don't think I haven't noticed you're only addressing her politely when speaking to me! As the daughter of two Gods, Mal is afforded the title by default which is exactly why she has the blocks of time for her magic! And for the record Natalie, the only expectations I have for my Lady is that she's happy and healthy! The Isle is a part of her, it's where she's from. It's what made her the woman I love and she shouldn't be made ashamed of that!"

Mal gasped as she heard Ben's words, Persephone resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Ben...Ben loves me?" Mal asked.

"I don't think he'd be going through all of this if he didn't," Persephone told her. "But I don't think he remembered you were in the room."

"Do I have to say it back?"

"Not if you're not ready. Though I do just want to say your cousin Aphrodite is going to be very smug about all of this. She had a bet with your cousin Hermes that Ben would be the first to say it."

"...they bet on me and Ben?"

"Immortal beings, Mal. We get bored very easily." Persephone said, shaking her head. "Now, I think it's time I have some words with this Natalie."

She caught Ben's eye and held out her hand for the phone. Ben nodded.

"Natalie, I will be continuing this conversation but for right now, Mal's mother would like a word with you," Ben said, his voice still a near growl. "I hope for your sake you don't insult Mal the way you've done with me. Because you will be extremelylucky if you still hold a job at the end of this phone call."

Ben handed over the phone and Mal shook her head, going over to him as to provide her mom some privacy for her call.

"You didn't have to do that," she said softly.

"She was berating you and making you feel ashamed about things that you love," Ben said. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Mal gave him a small smile. "Um...speaking of things that were said..."

"Oh! Yeah that...that wasn't the way I wanted to tell you," Ben said softly. "But it doesn't change the fact that I do love you with all my heart Mal. I'm not looking for you to say it back. I know life is different on the Isle, Harry and Uma have told me multiple times. But I just wanted you to know and for you to know that I would do anything for you."

Mal gave him another smile and rested her head on his shoulder. "Ben...as long as we're truth telling, I should tell you. I've been ducking out of lunch and dinner early to get more magic practice in."

"Well that's not going to be a problem anymore because you'll have your time," Ben promised. "As for food, well, after this phone call I know there's a picnic being set up by our friends that'll have everything you want."

"...strawberries?"

"I guarantee it," Ben nodded as he slipped out his phone and sent a quick text to Emir to guarantee the appearance of the fruit.

"Ooh Benny, can I run down to the kitchen and make some hush puppies for this picnic?"

"Yeah Ben can she?" Mal nodded.

Ben couldn't help but chuckle. "Of course. Tell the kitchen staff you have my permission if they ask."

Uma nodded and smirked slightly as she left. Oh, she'd make the hush puppies but she needed to pick something else up too.

"Oh no Natalie," Persephone stated, pulling Ben and Mal's attention back to the phone call and Mal realized that her mother hadn't actually taken a break at any point since taking the call. "You don't seem to understand. You don't look at Mal. You don't talk to Mal. You don't breathe around Mal. If you do, King Ben will be the least of your worries. Do you not think Mal has an entire mountain of Gods waiting to act on her behalf? The only reason you're not being smited or turned into a mint plant or a spider or a bull or a tree or a bear or anything else is because Mal asked me not to. However...that doesn't mean I won't have a bit of revenge even if it's less than what you deserve."

Mal watched as her mother's hands glowed bright before fading again.

"I'm sure you're wondering what I just did," Persephone stated. "Enjoy trying to grow a garden again Natalie. I'm sure it won't take you long to wonder why everything you touch dies."

That...is an oddly appropriate punishment, Ben thought. After all, Lord Hades is the God of the Dead and Lady Persephone is the Goddess of Vegetation with her mother being the Goddess of Agriculture. Still...now it's my turn.

"Hello again Natalie," Ben said as Persephone handed the phone back. "You're fired. That's right, fired. You have an hour to clear out your quarters and if you're still here after that, you'll be arrested for trespassing."

"...yes sire."

"Oh and Natalie? Don't expect any recommendations from the castle for your next employer. Well, don't expect any good recommendations. We'll be happy to provide truthful ones though."

Ben hung up the call and handed Mal back her phone. "Now then, how bout that picnic?"

"I'll leave you to that," Persephone stated. "I'm sure your driver is anxious to get me back to the Isle."

Ben shook his head. "Lady Persephone, your invitation here is for as long as Mal wants you. I would never presume otherwise."

"That's very kind King Ben but my husband shouldn't be left to his own devices for too long."

"You'll see Hadie though right?" Mal spoke up. "He'd be devastated if he knew you'd been here and didn't get a chance to see you mom. He misses you."

Persephone smiled. "If you want me to stay Mal, of course I will. Hopefully your father won't go completely insane."

"Dad lasted completely on his own before I was born," Mal pointed out. "Not to mention the five years when Maleficent had me full time."

She sighed softly. "It'd be nice if dad could be here too but something tells me that's almost impossible."

"Nothing's impossible," Ben promised. "Once the kids are off the Isle, I can look into getting some of the adults who don't belong there off as well."

Mal stared at him in shock. "Ben...are you serious?"

"As a heart attack."

"That is a very generous offer King Ben," Persephone said with a small smile. "And one I'll be happy to talk to my husband about. But for right now, if you don't mind, I need to go yell at a few Gods."

"Ooh, try to film it so Uma and I can see!" Mal said with a grin.

"Of course Mal," Persephone chuckled before leaving in a swirl of leaves. Ben stared in shock.

"...can you do that?"

"Dunno. Never tried," Mal told him. "Dad can do it too but the Isle makes it impossible. But you said something about a picnic?"

Ben grinned and held out his arm. "Right this way my Lady."

"Oh now, I thought we agreed no titles your highness?" Mal teased and Ben's smile got even bigger at that. They made their way to the tree grove near the Tourney field where the Tourney team had set up an elaborate spread of different sandwiches, bags of chips, strawberries, blueberries, two different types of cole slaw and a strawberry rhubarb pie.

Ben couldn't be sure but he thought he also saw a box of Queen Tiana's beignets near the back along with some cookies that could have only been made by Queen Rapunzel.

"...I have questions," Ben said, staring at the spread in shock. "The first one being…how'd you all pull this off so fast?"

"You left us up to our own devices Ben," Jay stated. "Uma let us know that she was making hush puppies so she'll be here later...where're the newspapers?"

"Back in my dorm," Ben said, tilting his head in confusion.

"Carlos, go fetch."

"Hah," Carlos shook his head before running off to get them. Akiho chuckled before handing a plate with a ham and cheese sandwich, strawberries and a bag of chips to Mal.

"I know it's not complete with the lack of hush puppies but you're staring at the picnic like it was blessed from the Gods."

"Thanks," Mal said, taking the plate and digging into the sandwich. Everyone else looked over at Ben who just shook his head. He'd explain later but he didn't want Mal to feel bad again. Not after Natalie's phone call.

"Don't tell me you all got started without me," Uma's voice said as she walked up, one hand holding a tray of hush puppies and another one clutching a very familiar article of clothing.

"Woo! Just made it!" Carlos exclaimed as he slid in. "Newspapers present and accounted for!"

Mal furrowed her brow in confusion. "Do you guys want to read those or something?"

"Oh hell no Mal," Uma said, shaking her head. "Will, did you bring the trash can?"

"Right here," William said with a small smirk, holding it up.

"Great," Uma nodded and then looked over at Mal. "You're going to put all those 'newspapers' into that trash can and then you're going to bring up a fireball to incinerate them. No more hiding them under your mattress. Once they're ash, you're going to put this on."

Uma held up the article of clothing that was under her arm and Mal stared in shock to see that it was her jacket.

"Uma..."

"I got you Mali," Uma stated. "And I know Natalie's been on you for who knows how long so I know you won't be back to normal tomorrow. But you got to start somewhere."

Mal sighed and nodded softly, Ben gently rubbing her back.

"Carlos...give her the papers," Jay said and Carlos handed Mal the newspapers. Everyone couldn't help but smirk as Mal dropped them unceremoniously and summoned a lilac-colored fireball in the palm of her hand.

"Wait!" Ben said. "That trashcan's fireproof right?"

"Of course," Will nodded. "Uncle Hiro designed it to prevent lab accidents. Of course this is a prototype so it might get a little damaged."

"That's why we brought some water," Harry said, "and we have someone skilled in water magic."

"Harry, I'm not skilled."

"Cap'n, you're more skilled than the rest of us."

Ben looked over at Mal who just looked amused at the banter. "Set it off Mal," he said gently.

Mal grinned and lobbed the fireball into the trash can, embracing the warmth that washed over her body. Uma handed over her jacked which Mal slipped on. There was something...right about wearing the jacket again.

"Welcome back Mal," Jay said.

"...it's good to be back," Mal said softly as she began to dig back into her sandwich.

 

Chad sighed as he shook his head, making his way down the halls of Auradon Prep. Lately, he found, it was a lot easier to be alone than to be around other people. Especially Audrey.

It wasn't that Audrey was necessarily difficult to be around but whenever he was with her, his head would go all...cloudy and for the life of him he couldn't remember what had happened. What he did know, though, was whenever the cloudy feeling faded, there was usually someone mad at him.

Sometimes it was people he didn't even know existed, like Quasimodo's daughter Macy or Phoebus' son Zeypher. However nine times out of ten, it would be either Kitty or Lucy who'd be the one mad at him. Sometimes it would even be Alexandria but she was the bright ball of sunshine that seemed to consist of endless optimism. The few fights she had had with the other two Charming sisters had been because of him.

" Guys, honest! Chad's changed!"

Chad looked up from his computer as he heard his sister's voice outside his dorm room door. Why was she there? And more importantly why was she talking to someone about him? Was everything alright?

Maybe it was one of her friends, he told himself. After all, you do have a bit of a rep for being a womanizer around the school.

But...I haven't dated anyone since Audrey broke it off. If one of Alex's friends was upset with the fact that I messed with their sister, why wouldn't they say so before now?

" I'm sure you think so Alex but...I don't know."

Chad's heart sank as he heard Lucy's voice and wondered if he shouldn't step outside, let them know that he could hear everything they were saying. Though he couldn't help but wonder if that wasn't the point of their conversation. To let him know how they truly felt about him without risking getting in trouble with their parents.

" Lucy, you weren't there," Alex said firmly. "He didn't even make a comment to Mal, Uma or Harry. Not even to Hadie."

" Well our brother's an idiot but he's not a moron," Kitty stated. "Mal, Uma, and Hadie are Godlings after all and Chad's the heir to Charmington. He's not going to risk making an enemy of Olympus by making one of them mad at him. And making Harry mad at him is basically the same as making Uma mad at him from what Mal's said."

" Besides, he might make a change but you know he's still pining over Audrey," Lucy told them and Chad could honestly see her roll her eyes. "Never mind the fact that she was the one who broke it off and never mind the fact that he cried over her. He'd still take her back if she asked him. Not that she would since you know, Chad's not Ben."

" Chad wouldn't do that!"

" Alex, there's being positive and then there's being naive," Kitty sighed. "Chad's always had a crush on Audrey but lately it's like it's been moved into hyperdrive. Ever since Ben removed his consent from his betrothal contract."

Chad shook his head, biting back a sigh. Ben was practically another brother to those three, considering he'd been Chad's friend since birth. Chad couldn't help but think that his sisters would have preferred to be Ben's sisters rather than his.

Ben was really close to the girls too, happy to act as another brother to them. When they were kids, Chad'd been a little jealous that Ben was so close to his sisters. After all, they were the Charming girls, not the Le Bete girls!

It wasn't until Chad was about eight or nine and his mom had sat him down, explaining about Queen Belle's miscarriage back when Ben and Chad were three or so. Ben wasn't trying to replace him with his sisters, she had said. He was probably just trying to see what having sisters was truly like.

So Chad was more than happy to share his sisters, especially as he got older and they grew apart—Chad opting to hang out more with Audrey and his sisters gaining their own lives. Chad knew though that Kitty at the very least had grown to be a staunch defender of the VKs when they arrived, and Lucy had quickly followed. Chad suspected a combination of their mother's teachings and Ben's influence.

" Come on," Kitty said, breaking through Chad's thoughts to bring him back to the present. "Chad might hear our conversation."

" Would that be so bad?" Lucy asked. "I mean, it's no secret we don't exactly trust him."

" You mean you two don't trust him," Alex stated and Chad couldn't help but smile a little at the implication that his baby sister did trust him. "Chad's still our brother."

Chad shook his head, trying to clear the memory of that day from his mind. He wasn't going to lie, it had hurt to hear that his sisters didn't trust him. And yet...he knew they had a reason not to.

Kitty'd had her locker filled with cat litter—thankfully it was unused—and Chad hadn't said anything. Lucy had been mocked about being the only dark haired Charming heir and Chad hadn't defended her.

In fact, as the other Tourney members sans Ben had graciously let him know, Chad had told them to grow up and learn to take a joke.

"Charming?"

Chad turned to look over his shoulder, surprised to see Harry walking toward him. He wasn't exactly the warmest toward the VKs...not that he meant to be. But whenever a VK came near him, it was almost like the foggy feeling came back.

Mal and Carlos were the only two where the foggy feeling never truly came when he was around. Carlos was relatively easy, he never really acted like a VK anyway. With Mal it was more of a fight to resist the foggy feeling but he had been able to do so. Because otherwise he'd be treated to the disappointed puppy dog eyes from Ben, which honestly, that was the worst thing he could ever experience.

Disappointing his parents was bad of course but disappointing Ben hit harder. It was truly like disappointing a brother.

"What're you doing here Hook?" Chad asked, digging his nails into the palm of his hand as if to drive off the foggy feeling. "I thought you guys were heading over to the Isle?"

That had been fun to discover—the fact that Ben was taking a clandestine trip to the Isle of all places.

" You're going where?"

" I'm going to the Isle with Mal and the others for the day. Mal needs to see her dad and honestly, I want to see if things've improved over there," Ben explained as Chad stood in his dorm, staring at Ben with his jaw dropped. "Chad, I'm trusting you not to tell anyone."

" What I don't understand is why!" Chad exclaimed, unaware of how immature he sounded at that moment. "Besides, I need you here."

" Carlos, Gil, Hadie, Harry, and Jay not letting you use their 3D printers again?"

" Carlos made all those improvements on his and it just runs so much smoother! Plus Jay got Carlos to make the improvements on his too!"

Ben shook his head. "You know if you just asked them, they'd let you use it. Don't just sneak into their room and use it. How did you get in last time by the way? They lock their door."

" Made a key on the printer," Chad muttered. Ben sighed and held out his hand. Chad shook his head but dug the key out of his pocket and placed it in Ben's palm. Ben raised an eyebrow.

" What?"

" The key for Jay's room too," Ben told him.

Chad sighed and reached into his other pocket to take the key out and placed it in Ben's still waiting hand.

" Honestly," Ben said. "What were you even using the printer for?"

" Project for Woodsmen and Pirates," Chad said. "I swear I wrote it in my planner but I only just realized it was due tomorrow and my 3D printer's on the fritz. I think I need more sleep or something, my memory's been horrible lately."

Ben gave him a small smile as he jammed a dark blue beanie on his head and grabbed a leather jacket off the back of a chair that Chad could have sworn Ben didn't use to own. The jacket, not the chair. "Use mine, Chad. You're more than welcome to."

" Thanks Ben," Chad said, returning the smile before letting out a small sigh. "So you're seriously going to the Isle?"

" Why not?" Ben shrugged as he put on the jacket. "Maleficent's a lizard after all so a lot of the danger has passed by. Besides, we're going to stay in Mal's territory so it won't be like I'll be in trouble or anything. Plus I know how to use a sword so it's not like I'm totally useless or a 'prissy pansy of a prince' as Uma likes to say."

" Does Emma know?" Chad asked, ignoring Uma's saying or how that could describe him to a 't'. All commenting on that would do would result in a fight with Ben.

That was the last thing he needed before he went to the Isle.

" Yes she does and so does Emir."

" Oh Gods."

Ben shook his head in amusement. "Emir won't be that bad. Besides, we'll only be gone for a few hours."

" Something tells me you wouldn't be letting me know if I didn't just burst in on you."

" You'd be right," Ben chuckled, patting Chad on the shoulder. "Catch you later Chad."

Harry chuckled, bringing Chad back to the present. "We just got back Charming. And now I owe Jay five bucks, he said he had a feeling Ben told you when he said he ran into you on his way out to meet us."

"I didn't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about," Chad muttered.

"Believe it or not, I don't spend a lot of my time worried about your actions, Charming," Harry rolled his eyes. "I figured you didn't anyway. Jay said you Tourney blokes are like a crew and I know how a crew runs. You don't last long if you're not tight knit like you seem to be."

Chad couldn't help but smile slightly. Jay was an okay guy sometimes…even if the only time Chad could truly be around him without the fog was during a Tourney/R.O.A.R practice. "The team's like a family, as coach always likes to say. We may get on each other's nerves or fight with each other but we'll always have each other's backs when we need to."

"One of the few reasons why I've put up with you breaking into our dorm," Harry told him but Chad watched as the amused look grew to be more serious. "I actually had something I wanted to talk to you about, speaking of family."

"Shoot."

"You may be the worst brother I've ever seen."

Chad paused. That honestly was not what he expected the pirate to say. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Jay told me about some of the stuff that happened before me and Uma came over here. This might be Auradon where you lot don't have to actually worry about anything but you've got to look out for your sisters. After hearing everything those girls had to deal with, I honestly think Evie would be a better sibling to them than you!"

"You don't know anything about my family!"

"I know that when Kitty had cat litter put in her locker, Mal was able to cheer her up with an hour long sparring session. I know that when Lucy got teased for her dark hair, Evie gave her an Isle style spa day and DeVil let her borrow Dude for the day—and I know both girls have returned the favor ten fold. Mal told me about how Kitty was part of the group who told her about the first Gazelle article about her. Lucy's been helping DeVil with asking out Jane to Cotillion as well as helping Doug with Evie's business. And both girls have been a big help with keeping an eye on Hadie."

Chad couldn't help but stare at Harry in shock. Had...had Mal, Carlos, and Evie really done that? Especially after what he had done to Evie?

"The fact that you didn't even know what Mal, DeVil, and Evie did for your sisters should tell you something Charming," Harry stated, shaking his head slightly in either exasperation or disgust. Chad honestly couldn't tell. "You only have three sisters. Take it from someone who's in the same boat."

"You have sisters?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "My older sister Harriet and my little sister CJ. I call her the runt and while I'm not particularly fond of her, if anyone was messing with her and I found out about it...well let's just say they'd be tasting my steel before they got a chance to do that again."

Chad sighed before looking over at Harry. "You said you had three sisters. I only counted two. Who's the third?"

"Mal."

"But...Mal's brother's Hadie...and you're not a Godling..."

"Dear Gods you might have less brains than Gil," Harry muttered before shaking his head. "Mal's my sister in all but blood. She's been one of my best friends since we were five and I'll die before I let anyone hurt her on my watch. That's what a brother does Charming. So what I'd advise is that you clean up your act, you stick up for your sisters and who knows? Maybe you'll have something of a relationship with them in a few years."

"Why are you even telling me this? You don't seem like you particularly like me."

"First smart thing you've said this whole conversation Charming," Harry stated, nodding his head slightly as he held up his hook, the light dancing off the silver implement. "You're right, I don't. I don't dislike you as much as I hate Gil but you're coming close. Because Fish for Brains has a lot of faults but he's loyal to his siblings and that is the one compliment you will ever hear me give Gil."

"So why give me that advice?"

"...you're Benny's friend, and he was worried about you," Harry said after a few minutes of silence. "If there's one person who'll always be there for you, it's your sibling. Bound by blood and all that. But Ben considers you a brother and he's the first and only one Mal's let herself be...well let's say 'girly' around. So I'm going to make sure the only thing he has to worry about is this stupid dance and spending time with Mal."

"You mean on top of all the stuff he has to do with ruling Auradon?"

"Of course I meant that!"

"Just checking!"

Harry shook his head. "Look, Mal doesn't know I'm having this conversation with you. Jay doesn't know I'm having this conversation with you. Ben's shadows don't know I'm having this conversation with you and Ben doesn't know I'm having this conversation with you. Let's keep it that way."

"I won't tell a soul," Chad told him as Harry patted his cheek with his free hand. "But...if I'm keeping your secret, think you could do me a favor?"

"Depends on what the favor is."

"Can you get Uma to stop pelting me with smoke bombs? I can tell it's her because most of the smoke bombs have been teal colored smoke. When Mal does it, the smoke's purple and the two times Jay's done it, the smoke has been orange."

"Stop making yourself a target for her smoke bombs Charming. That's all I can say...but I'll talk to the cap'n for you."

"Why do you call her that?" Chad asked.

"Cause she's my captain," Harry stated. "The Lost Revenge is her ship and I'm her first mate from now until she says otherwise."

"But you're not on your ship. You're in Auradon."

"Just because a captain's off their ship, that doesn't mean they stop being a captain. Tell me, who's Pan's villain?"

"Captain Hook."

"Exactly," Harry stated. "You didn't say Hook, you said 'Captain' Hook even though the Captain's been on the Isle for about twenty years or so. And don't say you just said it to avoid confusion unless the person you were trying to prevent from being confused was yourself."

Chad sighed but nodded.

"Now...why in the world did Jay have to pelt you with smoke bombs?"

"I...may have strung Evie along with the promise of a date if she did my homework," Chad sighed.

"That's not exactly smoke bomb worthy, not to mention Mal and Uma hate Evie. The only reason why I'm even using her first name instead of her nickname is so I don't want you getting confused and we go off topic."

"Okay first of all, I'm not that dumb. I've heard Mal call Evie 'Blueberry' before so I know you'd be talking about her. Second of all, that wasn't why he did it," Chad sighed once more. "After the championship game, when Ben did his song and dance number to ask out Mal, Audrey pulled me up into the stands and said that I was her boyfriend."

"Ah," Harry nodded and made a mental note to look up said song and dance. "So Jay pelted you for breaking Evie's heart?"

"I think so but Jay never gave me a reason." Chad said. "I mean...don't get me wrong I like Audrey and I like my relationships with her. But..."

"But?"

"...I don't think I like who I am when I'm around her," Chad said softly. "The others on the team hate being around me when I'm with Audrey, even Ben tends to distance himself. But I...I don't know why I act the way I do. I tried talking with Bobby Hood the other day and Lucy practically dragged him off."

Harry nodded. "To be fair to the Charmette, none of us like dealing with you more than we have to Charming. But...have you talked to anyone about this? Other than me I mean?"

"What you mean like my parents? I wouldn't want to trouble—."

"Nope! Nope, not doing this again! One person I know refusing to talk to their parents about an issue they can easily fix is enough for me! I'm done!"

"Wha—Hook, let go of me!"

"Nope! We're going to go see Mal."

"Why her?! You just said you didn't want Mal knowing that you were talking to me!"

"One, because she'll be able to prevent me from hitting you for being an idiot more than Benny would and two, because she might be able to figure out what's going on with you which makes it worth her knowing we had this conversation. Or you could do the sane thing and talk to your parents but Gods forbid anyone in Boreadon actually do something smart like that! Gods I miss the Isle sometimes!"

"You don't even like me! Why do you care?"

"Because for some reason Ben likes you, as I stated before. And when Ben's upset, Mal's upset. Not that I've seen that in action yet but I have a feeling that's the case. Do we want Mal to be upset?"

"I'm guessing that answer is no?"

"Good job Charming! You do have a brain! Now come along."

"Your hook is on my collar, Hook. I don't exactly have a choice here!" Chad exclaimed as Harry dragged him to Mal's dorm.

"Cap'ns," Harry said as he strolled through the doorway. "Mal, sorry to trouble you but I need you to deal with an idiot."

"You're going to need to be more specific Harry," Mal sighed as she looked up from her sketchbook. "And no, I'm not killing Gil for you."

"As much as I appreciate the offer Mali, not the idiot I'm looking to address today. This one is more of a local."

"Emir and Akiho?"

"Nope," Harry stated and tossed Chad onto the ground. "Tell her what you told me."

Chad glared at Harry as he picked himself up.

"Chad?" Mal asked, getting up and walking over to him. "What is he talking about?"

The Charmington heir sighed and began to tell Mal everything. About the foggy feeling, about his memory lapses. About his personality changes. Everything.

"Hmm, that's a pretty story," Uma snorted from her spot on the bed.

"Uma, I'm inclined to believe him," Mal said. "Honestly, it makes sense. Would you honestly think Cinderella would raise her son to act like Anthony?"

"Oh Gods, the little Lord Tremaine isn't even here and he's raising my blood pressure," Uma shook her head. "Still, it's convenient don't you think? What, he just got it in his head that no one likes him and now he's trying to sell a story that sounds like he's being magically influenced?"

Mal sighed. "Chad, I'll look into it and ask my mom about it too. She might have some more information or better resources. But for right now...honestly all I can really advise is that you stay away from Audrey. If this is what I think it is, it's not even a magical version so the fact that it's lasted for so long..."

"Mal?" Uma asked as Mal trailed off, looking at Chad.

"Were you ever alone with Natalie?" Mal asked.

"Once every other week," Chad said. "It used to be once a week with Leah through phone calls or in person if we were at Beauty Castle but after she got sent to the Isle, the meetings stopped for a bit. I want to say it was three weeks after Leah got sent to the Isle that Natalie asked me to meet with her."

Mal nodded and began to pace, growling slightly. Why had she spared her? She should have let her mother smite her over the phone! Honestly it was one thing to mess with her, she could fight back. But to mess with Chad's mind...how can you defend against your own mind?! If Chad didn't know the trigger words, he'd be in a constant state of flux!

"Mal...?"

"Right," Mal nodded. "Chad, I get that you're not the biggest VK fan but listen to what I'm telling you. Stay away from Audrey. Block Natalie's number from your phone if it's in there. If she tries to contact you, tell Ben."

"Why?"

"Because, and don't quote me on this because I'm not one hundred percent positive, but it sounds like you were hypnotized," Mal told him. "Unless you always live in a cloud of fog and just come out of it when you're around Ben and the others?"

Chad stared at Mal in shock. "That...that's not...okay I know you all hate Audrey and her family but to accuse her of hypnotizing me? Leah wouldn't do that, she knows the penalty for messing with the heir of a royal family!"

"Well she knew the penalty," Harry corrected. "Cause right now I'm pretty sure all she knows is what the inside of a hyena's belly looks like."

Chad scoffed. "I didn't even want to come here, I was forced to. If all you guys are going to do is cast aspersions on a woman who's dead, I won't stand for it."

Chad turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

"Well...that happened," Uma said, staring after the irate royal. "You really think he's under a hypnosis Mal?"

"I think he's under something," Mal sighed. "And unfortunately, until he believes it, there's not going to be anything we can do."

A few days after the Chad debacle as Mal had begun to call it in her head, the Godling stood in front of her bed. Her bed, which had been taken over by the interior of her wardrobe. She was going to clean it out and start anew...she just didn't know where to begin.

"Did your closet explode or something?"

"Please tell me you don't come bearing food again. It's like you do that every time I see you lately," Mal said, shaking her head as she turned to look at the Arendelle heir in her doorway. "What are you even doing here? Your girlfriend is on the other end of the school."

"It's a beautiful day and Emir and I wanted to see if you and Estelle wanted to go running around with Emma, Elle, Sven and Rajah?"

"...Ben's cool with a tiger being on campus?"

"Well we wouldn't be on property. We'd go to the Enchanted Lake. Rajah's up there in years but he still likes to swim. What about Estelle?"

"Honestly I don't know," Mal told him, ignoring the slight bit of panic at the idea of swimming. Besides, unlike Ben, his shadows seemed to be well aware of when she was lying. She just...she'd already been weak around them once. Letting them know about her fear of water almost seemed like overkill.

And yes she was aware that she went into the water during her date with Ben. That was different. She wasn't going to let Ben drown while on a date with her!

"Well doesn't Harry swim all the time? At least that's what it seemed like from what Jay told us."

"His dad taught him to swim by the time he could walk. It's a pirate thing really, you can't really have the kid of a pirate drowning now can you?"

"What about Uma?"

Mal raised her eyebrow, giving Akiho a look and causing the blond to shake his head.

"I realized the stupidity of the question the moment it left my lips," he said with a sigh. "But Estelle never joined them for a swim?"

"Look Akiho, we don't really swim on the Isle," Mal told him. "Sure some of the crew will if it gets hot enough but otherwise, we tend to not want to risk our clothing, what little we had. Speaking of which, I need to get back to this."

"Need some help?"

"You're offering to be around girly clothing for who knows how long when your best friend and girlfriend are probably waiting for you?"

Akiho chuckled. "If I can be around Ben when he reorganizes his books, I can be around a few dresses. Fair warning, the book reorganization can go on for hours. Sometimes it's days if Belle gets involved. Nine times out of ten you'll walk in on him reading the books instead of you know actually organizing them."

"Ben didn't put you up to this did he?"

"He knows I'm asking you about the Enchanted Lake trip before I go down to his office to drag him along but other than that, he does not know that I'm helping you with your closet reorg. Speaking of which...why are you reorganizing your closet?"

Mal sighed. "I know Evie worked hard on all the clothes but...they're not me. The issue is I like some of them. But if I'm going to go back to being 'me' instead of what I wanted to be to keep Natalie off my back and The Gazelle off my back, I need to have clothes that reflect that I'm me."

"Gotcha," Akiho nodded and picked up a white dress. "Well, first off, this? Not you. It looks more like something my aunt would wear than you."

"Put it in the pile then," Mal said, pointing to her pillows where a fair bit of her clothes already were. "Clothes I'm getting rid of go there and clothes I'm keeping will go on the foot of the bed for ease of transport."

"Great...just one question."

"Yes?"

"Where are the clothes you're getting rid of going to go?"

"Well I was thinking the Isle but none of those clothes are anything like what anyone on the Isle would wear."

"So we're making it up as we go along," Akiho nodded and Mal couldn't help but chuckle.

"...Sven swims?" Mal asked after a few minutes of sorting in silence.

"No. He's our lifeguard," Akiho told her. "I'm pretty sure mom would have insisted I take Olaf since he can actually talk but he's more prone to panicking than anything else. As well he's easily distracted."

"Can't you distract Sven by just bribing him with carrots?"

"I'm pretty sure Olaf gets distracted by shiny things so he's definitely more likely to get distracted than Sven."

Mal couldn't help but shake her head in amusement as Akiho held up a pale green dress with sleeves that almost looked like butterfly wings.

"Yay or nay?"

"Ooh I don't know," Mal bit her lip. "It's not remotely my style and yet...I don't know, it almost looks like something my mom might wear when she goes to visit Olympus."

"So keep it. I'm sure Evie can make you some new stuff anyway," Akiho told her. "You know...you pair this with your black leather jacket and it'd be almost the best of both worlds."

"How is it you know so much about clothes?"

"Melody," Akiho chuckled. "Elle's not much one for fashion but Mel can chat my ear off if need be. She's been hanging out with Hadie more though so I haven't had a chance to talk with her."

"It's been good for Hadie though, being around his cousins," Mal nodded. "Well, that and having mom here."

Akiho nodded as they continued to comb through the mountain of clothing on Mal's bed. It honestly was a challenge just because Evie had made such nice clothing. It'd be a shame to just throw it out or burn them but they really wouldn't work for anyone on the Isle.

The only one they might have worked for was Evie. And she was in Auradon.

"Hey Mal?"

"Hmm?"

Akiho sighed. "My dad, he wanted to reach out. I um...I hope you don't mind but I told him about Natalie."

"It's fine," Mal sighed. She knew it wouldn't be long before the other royals of Auradon found out about that.

"Well after spending about thirty minutes trying to keep my aunt from turning Natalie into an ice sculpture—."

"Doesn't she live in the Enchanted Forest?"

"She was there for Family Game Night. Mom insists on it, she'll even have me bring Emir and Ben along. Fair warning she'll probably rope you into it as well."

"Ah. Proceed."

Akiho shook his head in amusement. "Anyway, after that and then after thirty more minutes trying to get my mom to not haul off and punch her in the face a la Hans, my dad wanted to invite you to a club meeting of his. It consists of all the other Auradon royals who married into the royal life. You know, like Ben's mom, my dad, King Eugene, Emir's dad..."

"I got it," Mal nodded as Akiho trailed off. "But why does he want me to join?"

"He says it's a lot less stressful, being around people who are in the same boat. There are still days that dad says he doesn't understand most of what's been said in terms of the royal life."

"And...and he's okay with the fact that I'm the daughter of Hades?"

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Considering you all prefer Odin...?"

"Oh. Oh! Yeah no, dad's cool with that. After all, my mom and aunt are part Nothaldra who have spirits who can wake up and destroy everything in their path. He's not going to anger anyone. I mean, my grandparents are rock trolls for Gods' sake."

Mal couldn't help but smile at that. It was weird but after years of dealing with Freddy, hearing someone say that they were cool with the idea of there being different Gods than the ones they had legitimately touched her.

"So...who else is in this club?"

"Queen Tiana, Queen Aurora, Queen Snow..."

"Wait, those last two were born royal. Why are they in a club dedicated to learning to being royal?"

Akiho shook his head. "Snow White was treated like a servant most of her life and Aurora didn't know she was a princess until she was sixteen. They may have been born royal but they're still learning the way the others are."

Mal nodded and they grew silent once more, every so often sorting clothes or chuckling over a particular piece of clothing.

"Hey Akiho?"

"Yeah?"

"This is going to sound mean and trust me, I don't mean for it to be but...why do you care?"

"About you?"

"Yeah," Mal nodded. It was honestly something that'd been rattling around in her brain since she met the blond prince. "I mean, I appreciate it but between this and the picnic..."

Akiho sighed and set down whatever article of clothing he'd picked up to evaluate. "Mal, you remember what Ben was like when he was in the betrothal contract with Audrey?"

"Completely miserable and insisting on living in his office? Yeah I'm pretty sure I remember," Mal nodded.

"Yeah well he'd been that way for a year. The worst part was he wasn't willing to fight for his own happiness or health. He was a shadow of my best friend. And then you came around and it was like he woke up or something. He wasn't bound to anything with you, he could just be friendly. Seeing that change in Ben, seeing my best friend come back instead of the robot that had been in his place for a year...I'll always appreciate it Mal."

Mal couldn't help but smile a little at that. On the Isle, the only people who would have cared would have been her allies and there was no guarantee that a fling's allies would have been her allies.

This...this was different. And she loved it.

"You seriously kept this?" Akiho asked, holding up the curry stained dress from the weekend visit to Agrabah. Mal shook her head. That had been an awkward dinner between Aladdin, Jasmine, Emir and his siblings. Thankfully Emir had somehow managed to spill his bowl of curry onto his and Ben's lap causing everyone to laugh and taking the attention off of Mal.

"Evie swears she can get the stain out but it's been a month since the dinner," Mal chuckled.

"Yeah well if you're serious about keeping it, talk to Queen Ella. She's good at getting stains out of clothing."

"Ella...?"

"Cinderella," Akiho elaborated and Mal nodded. Of course, that made sense. Kitty had even said that her mother's name hadn't truly started with a 'c'.

Tossing a piece of clothing back on her bed, Mal sighed and looked over at Akiho. "This has grown boring and tiresome and it's a beautiful day. Let's go get my dog and then see about making our way to the Enchanted Lake."

"That sounds like a plan," Akiho grinned and wrapped an arm over Mal's shoulders, the two of them abandoning the mountain of clothing. Meanwhile, on another mountain, a conversation was about to take place that was many many years in the making. Why hadn't it happened after Persephone left Mal you may ask?

Well, after thinking it over, she figured it wouldn't be a good idea for her to yell at the other Gods while still furious about Natalie and the way she had treated Mal.

"Zeus!"

"Persephone? What in the world?" Zeus asked as Persephone stormed into the meeting chambers. "We thought you were on the Isle. It is still your six months after all."

"Yes, I am aware. And it's because of that idiotic agreement that my daughter suffered through who knows how many months of abuse and slander on her own because she didn't want me to worry. Because I couldn't leave. Tell me, Zeus, do you care about your niece at all? Because this is the second time your actions have led to her suffering!"

"My actions? I don't—."

"Oh he doesn't remember! Maybe this will ring a bell! 'Zeus, we need your help! Maleficent, she just stole a child from Hades! Please!'" Persephone stated, glaring at the King of the Gods. "You could have said yes. You could have helped then. But you didn't. You decided that an innocent five month old should suffer at the talons of Maleficent rather than swallow your pride and help your brother!"

"Now to be fair, he didn't know the child was actually Hades'," Apollo spoke up. "Father thought you were referring to a child of one of Uncle Hades' minions."

"Apollo, until you're a parent, you don't get to partake in this," Persephone stated with a glare.

"But she's not really yours—."

"I. Adopted. Her," Persephone growled out the three words. "She is mine in all but genetics. She will have use of my magic just as she would have use of Hades and some of her Fae powers as well. More than likely she will have our immortality. But even if she didn't, even if she was only my step-daughter, she would still be my daughter."

"I had a granddaughter?" Demeter gasped.

"That's right mother," Persephone nodded. "For six years, you had a grandchild that you wanted, that you longed for. However, for five of those years, Mal was basically held hostage by Maleficent since there was nothing either one of us could do. The Isle has no sun, barely any plants can grow there. What good are my powers over vegetation when nothing grows? And yes Hades can flame up to a minimal amount but there would have been the risk to Mal. There is nothing Hades would do that would have put his daughter...that would have put our daughter in harms way!"

"Wait, wait, back up," Hermes said, flying over to Persephone. "What do you mean Mal's been suffering now? Everyone knows she's your daughter."

"Well except for my idiot brother apparently," Artemis muttered.

"Apparently, there've been some...articles written about her in The Gazelle that have cast aspersions about that," Persephone stated. Uma had filled her in about those even if Persephone never had a chance to see the articles. "That would have been enough to earn my ire if it wasn't for the fact that I then learned Mal had a handler that was appointed by King Ben's council. And who do we know who's on that council?"

One by one, all the Gods' heads turned to look at Zeus.

"Well now, can you really blame me? It was just to make the transition easier for Mal, after living on the Isle for so many years. I'm sure Maleficent didn't teach her how to interact with royalty—."

"Of course Maleficent didn't teach her anything, you arrogant peacock!" Persephone exclaimed. "When I finally got Mal back, she was timid yet suspicious of everything Hades and I did! If we dared to reward her for something or spoil her for her birthday, it was treated like a trap and that we were really going to punish her for being weak! And that was on top of everything Mal had to see as part of a day to day life on the Isle! A life you all deemed perfectly fine!"

"Persephone, what are you—?"

"Mother, tell me. What is one of Hades' responsibilities?"

"Why to manage the Underworld and judge the souls of those who enter there of course."

"Exactly," Persephone nodded. "Do you know how many children have entered the Underworld in the past twenty years? How many babies? How many mothers? The correct answer is too many. But because they were all villains, you felt free to turn a blind eye."

"We didn't set up the Isle Persephone."

"You reinforced the barrier," Persephone told Zeus. "And yes, I'm aware that I could have said something but who could I have told? I tried to come to you when Mal was taken and you brushed me aside. Former King Beast and Former Queen Belle were dealing with their own issues at the time."

Persephone took a small breath and then looked back at Zeus. "Know this Zeus. I will not be returning to that Isle for the rest of the six months. My daughter needs me, especially after the months of verbal and emotional abuse laid down at the hands of the handler you saw fit to bestow your niece. My son needs me. And yes, my husband will need me but I'll have the portal and the mind link to keep in contact with him."

"Persephone...we made an agreement..."

"Mother, the agreement was made back before I was a mother and with a king who is no longer in power. That would be like honoring a treaty with a king who'd been deposed. King Ben not only saw fit to invite me off the Isle so I could help with the issue but also informed me that I could stay as long as I wanted."

"Persephone—."

"No. Zeus. She's right," Demeter nodded, much to Persephone and Zeus' shock, and looked at the God. "You remember what all I did to get my daughter back the first time. Now imagine what Persephone might do if you forced her back to the Isle and her daughter was still in need of her? The agreement needs to be renegotiated to one that allows Persephone to move back and forth with ease."

"Or crazy idea, we allow Hades off the Isle," Persephone stated.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"First off, Zeusy, it's not up to you! King Ben's the one who decides who comes off the Isle," Persephone snapped. "And second of all, don't you think you're even by now? You weren't eaten by your father when Hades was, Hades yes kidnapped Hercules and turned him mortal but if he hadn't done that, your grandchildren would have never been born as he would have never met Megara! Further more, Hades has spent twenty years on the Isle for his coup of Olympus!"

"He released the Titans, he waged war against the Gods and potentially caused the deaths of hundreds of mortals by putting the Cyclops on them." Zeus stated. "To let him off now would be allowing him a lighter punishment than any we would have given a mortal who committed the same acts."

"He is a God," Persephone shot back. "I know he stole from you but considering he's not chained to a rock and having eagles eat his liver every day and having it grow back, I'd think you already went light on his punishment."

Zeus didn't answer. Of course he didn't go as harsh on Hades' punishment as he had Promethus'. Hades was his older brother. No matter what, there would always be that blood connection. But a coup could not go unpunished. Hell he had turned Poseidon and Apollo mortal for a while when they had attempted to overthrow him, back before the creation of Auradon.

"I will...think about it," he said, finally breaking his silence and looking at Persephone. "But I would need to talk to King Ben before any final agreement could be made. Releasing Hades from the Isle...that could require a council vote."

"Should be easy enough, no mortal would risk angering the Gods by voting against them," Aphrodite stated and then smiled over at Persephone. "On a happier note though, I understand Mal's had some advancement in her love life?"

"Of course you'd know about that," Persephone said, shaking her head. "I'll fill you in on that later. But let's just say Hermes owes you some money."

"Ha! I knew it!"

"Oh come on!" Hermes exclaimed.

"You really bet against me when it comes to who would say the 'L' word first? I'm the Goddess of Love!"

"Speaking of titles, Hermes, you're considered by the mortals a God of Communication. Do you think you could...?"

"Oh I'm on it," Hermes said with a small smirk as he looked over at Persephone. "The mortals also consider me a God of Mischief after all. I think I can make it clear to those at The Gazelle that Mal's not one to mess with."

"Excellent," Persephone grinned, and if one looked closely, they might have been inclined to call it an almost feral grin. But then, Persephone would be well within her rights to have a smile like that.

No one messed with her daughter after all.

"Tell me, what punishment did her handler get?" Demeter asked.

"I had originally wanted to turn her into a mint plant. It may be a bit cliche but it's a classic at this point. But Mal didn't want that. She said turning her into anything would just make it seem like anyone from the Isle was too dangerous to be around resulting in the barrier being closed for good. So instead I made it so she could never plant a garden again. Any attempt will just result in dead plants."

"It's less than what she deserves," Demeter muttered. Oh sure she wasn't happy that Hades was the father of her grandchildren but she at least had grandchildren.

"Mother, I know that look," Persephone said. "What are you thinking?"

"Well dear, you may be from the Isle, at least temporarily...but I am from Olympus. There'd be no aspersions cast toward those from the Isle if a Goddess of Olympus were to intervene on Mal's behalf. Especially if that Goddess was her grandmother."

"Mother, keep this up and you might just get to meet Mal. What do you have in mind?"

"And nothing like what you did to get Persephone back," Zeus stated. "The other mortals don't deserve to suffer."

"Oh yes, now he cares about the suffering of others," Persephone muttered as she and Demeter walked out of the room, content to start planning their own revenge. After all, one never went up against a God or Goddess of Olympus and expected to come out unscathed now did they?

Besides, Persephone had told Natalie that she wouldn't be transformed into anything. To the best of her knowledge, her mother had never transformed a mortal into anything.

But if they happened to transform the world around her...hey, her husband thrived on making deals. Persephone was well equipped at finding a loophole.

Mal sighed as she stood outside Ben's castle. She had finally decided to bite the bullet and take up King Kristoff's invitation to attend one of the 'Learning to be Royal' meetings. In all honesty, she wasn't completely sure what she should expect from the whole thing.

Would this be like one of Ben's council meetings, where they all sat at a table and took turns talking? Would this be like on the Isle, where they all talked over each other? Would this just be complete madness where the guys dressed in drag and did the hula?

Okay you have officially spent too much time around Ben's shadows, Harry, Jay, Carlos and Gil if that's where your mind went, she thought as she pulled her jacket around herself. Yes she was wearing her pale green dress with the butterfly sleeves, having deemed it good enough to save from the 'donate' pile as it almost reminded her of something her mom would wear, but she wasn't taking her leather jacket off unless it was on fire.

And even then she'd probably debate whether or not it was worth it. After all, she could turn into a dragon, the likelihood of fire burning her was exceptionally low. Not that she was practically interested in testing that theory if she was honest.

She wasn't particularly attached to the dress in question but she figured it'd be a good idea if she looked reasonably put together when going into a castle filled with royals. If Family Day was any example, royals were not ones to 'dress down'.

"Did you forget how to knock?"

Mal blinked as the door opened and she stood face to face with a snowman. Wait...what?

"It's okay if you did. Anna forgets how to knock all the time," the snowman continued as Mal stood in silence, the gears in her head trying to put a name to the snowman. Or just figure out how it was alive really. "Kristoff brought me with him to keep me out of Anna's hair, which is silly. I'm never in her hair. Oh! I'm Olaf by the way and I like warm hugs!"

"Okay..." Mal said slowly. "I'm Mal."

There was no way she was going to tell the snowman what kind of hugs she preferred. Or even if she preferred hugs. That was just a bit too much information to give the snowman...and she was still talking to a snowman of all things.

I think I know why Akiho is the way that he is, she thought as she shook her head slightly. Good thing Estelle's with Ben and Hadie, otherwise I think he'd have a ball chasing Olaf all over the castle. Actually, that'd be fun to watch. Why didn't I bring Estelle?

"How did you know I was at the door?" Mal asked as she walked in, pulling herself out of her thoughts.

"Kristoff told me to check the door so I did," Olaf grinned, walking with Mal to the ballroom where the meeting was being held. If anyone asked, Mal would deny it but she let out a small sigh of relief seeing how informal everything was. Well, as informal as it could look being in a ballroom but no one was decked out in their royal finery so her leather jacket didn't look completely out of place.

"Mal!" Belle grinned as she walked over to her.

"Hello Belle," Mal said, returning the smile and dipping into a small curtsy. She wasn't going to lie, she was still a bit uneasy around the former Queen. After all, the woman was part of the team that set up the Isle. One wrong move and Mal could find herself back on the other side of the barrier.

There's no way Uma would stand for that though. Never mind Harry and Jay. Plus, there's the fact that you're dating the woman's son and mom would probably just bring me back the second she found out, Mal thought, trying to shake the nerves that had formed.

"I was nervous my first meeting as well," Belle told her and Mal looked over at the brunette.

"I'm not..."

"Of course not," Belle nodded and Mal couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that. "But, just in case you were, Rapunzel and Tiana are great to talk to in order to get any jitters out before the meeting officially starts. I think we're just waiting on Ella and Aurora and we'll be all set."

"Aurora's not coming," Aladdin told her as he walked past, giving Mal a small smile which she returned. "There was an emergency council meeting over in Auroria and she had to host. She just texted me to let us know to start without her."

"Ella's not coming either," Rapunzel called out. "Kit's got a stomach bug and she doesn't want to leave him alone. Claims he'll work while she's gone and he's supposed to be resting."

"Right," Belle nodded, sounding as if she was all too familiar with the idea that her spouse would work rather than rest. Though, Mal supposed, Ben had to get it from someone after all. "Well I'll take notes and shoot her an email after the meeting so she knows what all she missed."

Okay, so it looks like this is going to be like one of Ben's council meetings, Mal thought with an inward nod. She could handle those, even if she'd only been to one of them. At least she was friends with the kids of three of the people in attendance. And of course she was on hopefully good terms with Belle.

"Since we won't have everyone, shall we move into the den? We'll be able to spread out a bit more," Belle proposed.

"Sounds good to me," Eugene nodded and the other royals murmured in agreement. Mal had to say, as they moved into the den, that she was thankful for the change in location. The den was a lot more cozy than the cavernous ballroom, and felt more like a room they'd find on the Isle rather than something you'd find in a castle.

The darker wood paneling and navy blue accents certainly helped to put Mal at ease. It felt...it was strange to say but it felt like a place where she could be herself rather than try and pretend to be someone she wasn't.

"Alright, who would like to speak first?"

"Belle, since we have a new member joining us, why not have it be a more casual meeting?" Kristoff proposed and Belle nodded, flushing slightly.

"Sorry...you're Queen for twenty years, sometimes it's hard to turn it off you know? But I completely agree with the motion that we aim for a more casual environment today," she said. "All in favor?"

Mal chuckled softly as all the hands rose in favor of making the meeting more 'relaxed'.

"The motion passes," Belle said and everyone broke apart to mingle and nosh. Mal quickly found her way to the side of the room. Not because she wanted to be antisocial but because she'd be less likely to be crushed if everyone needed to flee the room than she would be if she was in the center.

Hey she was tiny after all and even if her dragon form would have made it next to impossible for anyone to crush her, it still took time for her to transform. Time that could make the difference between getting crushed or not—and even if it wouldn't kill her, it would still hurt!

"Hello Lady Mal," Aladdin said as he walked over to her.

"Hello Sultan Aladdin," Mal nodded in greeting and Aladdin shook his head.

"There's no need to use my title, not here and especially since you're a friend of my son's."

Mal couldn't help but give a small smile upon hearing that. "If there's no need for me to use your title, then there's no need for you to use mine. You outrank me after all."

"Pretty sure daughter of two Gods outranks sultan but let's not quibble," the raven haired man said with a small chuckle. "How've you been? Emir told me about your trip to the Enchanted Lake.

Mal's smile grew as she thought back to that trip. The two boys, Emma, Melody (who they'd dragged along with minimal protest), Rajah and Estelle all enjoyed swimming in the water while Mal stayed on shore with Sven and Elle. She didn't even need to worry about either Emir or Akiho tossing her into the water.

Mainly because she had warned them that if they even thought about it, she'd make them rue the day.

In all honesty, she wasn't completely sure what she'd do to them if they had ignored her threat but she didn't need to worry about that as they kept her completely dry. Plus, unlike her date with Ben, neither one of them swam off making her think they had drowned or worse.

"I've been good," she told Aladdin, pulling herself out of her thoughts and back to the conversation at hand. "That little trip to the Enchanted Lake with Emir, Melody, Elle, Emma, Akiho, Rajah, Sven and Estelle was just what the doctor ordered. I'm just sorry Ben couldn't come with but he was in a meeting when we left."

"If I know Emir, he'll make sure Ben will accompany you on the next trip," Aladdin nodded.

"Akiho will too," Kristoff agreed as he walked past. "He's just like his mother in that way."

"I don't know, when Anna was in trouble who was it who went riding into a blizzard on Sven to save her?"

"Who was it who flew from the ends of the Earth on a flying carpet to save Jasmine?"

"Who was it who chased after Anna on a reindeer when she angered the rock giants?"

"Who was it saved Jasmine from getting her hand chopped off by an angry street merchant?"

"Who was it who gave a ride to a girl they just met in a shop because they bought them carrots?"

"Who was it who gave the bread they'd obtained to hungry street kids?"

Mal blinked. When had the conversation turned into a 'who was more heroic' contest?"

"Boys, boys, you're both pretty," Eugene chuckled as he walked up. "Mal, how've you been? Rowyn told me to tell you she says hi by the way...though I just realized you're both in school together so why she wouldn't just tell you herself, I've no idea."

"I've been good," Mal told him.

"Any more articles?"

Mal stared at him in slight shock. "How'd you—?"

"Rowyn wrote to Rapunzel and me when they started appearing en mass," Eugene told her. "She wanted to lead her sisters and brother in a swarm to gather up all the copies and burn them in a giant bonfire but the idea was quickly nixed when it was pointed out that there were likely more than six copies out there and she'd just tire herself out."

"She didn't have to do that," Mal said. "Rowyn was one of the ones to let me know about the very first article after all."

Eugene couldn't help but give a soft smile as he heard that. "Well, she certainly kept that under her hat. I wonder if she needs any new canvas."

"Eugene, you're not seriously going to reward our daughter for doing a good thing are you?" Rapunzel asked as she walked up, Kristoff and Aladdin's conversation still ongoing.

"Blondie, you'll never believe what Rowyn never told us!"

"I'm going to guess our daughter never told us the thing you just found out because she knew you'd act like this," Rapunzel said, brushing a bit of brown hair out of her eyes.

"Why does he still—?"

"Call me 'Blondie'?" Rapunzel finished, looking at Mal. "Because it was what he called me when we first met, back when I had about seventy feet of blonde hair cascading from my head. Honestly, it's amazing Ruby was the only one to get a blonde head of hair out of all of my kids."

"Well being blonde is a recessive trait and unless King Eugene also carried the gene for blonde hair, it makes sense that only one of your kids would get it, considering both you and King Eugene are 'brown-brown' genetically."

Hey, she knew listening to Evie prattle on about science stuff would pay off someday!

"You don't have to use his title you know," Rapunzel said with a small smile. "All you'll do is make his ego even bigger, considering he just inherited the Dark Kingdom now so he's king of two kingdoms."

"At least now Rowyn's got something to inherit," Eugene pointed out. "Since Rachel's first in line as heir to the throne of Corona."

"You all don't practice primogeniture?" Mal asked.

"That outdated practice of the first born son getting everything?" Kristoff scoffed. "Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"I see your 'who's more heroic' contest has concluded. You get a winner?"

"No we did not," Kristoff chuckled.

"Anyway, can you really claim it's an outdated practice when you've got only one kid and a son no less?" Eugene asked. "Both you and Aladdin don't really have a leg to stand on."

"Hey, just because I have a son doesn't mean I can't find a practice outdated!" Kristoff exclaimed.

Rapunzel sighed and turned back to Mal. "To answer your question, Mal, no we don't. If we did, I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have been able to inherit my throne and Aurora wouldn't have been able to inherit her's."

"How...how is she doing? Aurora I mean?" Mal asked, her voice soft. "I meant to reach out after but...I wasn't sure how that might look."

Rapunzel gave her a small smile and rested a hand on Mal's shoulder. "She's doing okay but I think she'd appreciate you reaching out Mal."

"Even after all this time?"

"To be honest, she's been meaning to reach out to you and the other VKs but I think she's worried." Rapunzel told her.

"Worried about what?" Mal asked. "What, does she think we'd take our anger toward Leah out on her? She didn't know what was happening first of all and second of all, she didn't have any power considering Leah was Queen at the time. It'd be completely ridiculous for us to blame Aurora for anything her mother did. Not to mention it'd make us all hypocrites considering that was our major complaint about being on the Isle. The fact that we weren't our parents."

Now how Audrey turned out...no wait, considering Audrey seemed to cling to Leah's side, could Aurora really be faulted there? I mean, she could have kept a closer eye out on Audrey. Considering the fact that Phillip Jr. turned out alright, it's clear that Aurora's a decent mother. And yes, I know the irony of the girl who everyone thinks is Maleficent's daughter being the one to think that.

"How's your brother?" Rapunzel asked, pulling Mal out of her thoughts and changing the subject at the same time. "Rowyn said he's made friends with Alexandria Charming?"

"And Akiho and Emir," Mal nodded. "Honestly, the first time he met them, I thought he'd chat their ears off with facts about Cerberuses."

"Well considering Emir knows more than anyone should about tigers and Akiho knows more than anyone should about reindeer, he should be in good company," Aladdin chuckled.

"Plus King Ben knows more than anyone should about dragons," Kristoff nodded. "At least according to Akiho."

Mal chuckled softly and shook her head. "Ben's a bookworm, that's all there is to it. Though I doubt he knows more about dragons than say Lonnie or myself."

"Hmm, possibly but he does know a fair amount about dragons," Belle chimed in as she joined the group. "Now, why are we talking about my son and his knowledge of mythical creatures?"

"We were talking about people in our lives who know more than anyone really should about a specific animal," Mal told her. "I'm afraid I started it, talking about Hadie and his knowledge about Cerberuses. Cerberi?"

"How is your brother doing?" Belle asked and Mal could tell that Belle was genuinely curious about how Hadie was doing since coming to Auradon from the Isle. She wasn't just asking to be polite, as some other royals might have been.

"He's good," Mal nodded. "A lot better now that mom's here to stay. At least until Cotillion."

"I invited Lady Persephone to this meeting," Belle said. "It would have been a pleasure to have her."

Mal smiled at that as she brushed a bit of her purple hair out of her eyes, which were thankfully her regular shade of green with the little gold flecks sprinkled throughout. Even if it had been a wasted thirty dollars, Uma had insisted she throw out the contacts. Truthfully Mal wasn't going to offer much in the way of protest.

She hated putting those things in and the feeling of a finger going near her eye was not the most enjoyable one in the world.

"Mom would have enjoyed coming but she's still in her 'make Zeus pay' mode," she said. "She did say though I would get to meet my grandmother on her side after all the fun was over with Cotillion. She didn't want me to have anything more to stress over."

"Oh! Speaking of that," Tiana said as she hurried over. "Mama Odie asked me to ask you to pass along something to Uma?"

"Um...sure."

"She said she'd like to meet her at some point," Tiana said and Mal smiled at that, happy that her cousin would get to have a relationship with both of her grandparents.

I'm sorry, what now?

Your grandmother wants you to reach out to her, Mal thought in amusement as Uma reached out on the mental link. True to her word, Mal had not put her link on mute though sometimes she wished she could.

Uma randomly appearing on the link was one thing, she was used to that. Same with Hadie. But Macaria, Elle, Melody, Herkie, and Hyllus were another thing all together!

She had already gone ahead and blocked most of the Gods from being able to reach out through the mental link. If they wanted a relationship with her, they'd have to actually do it in person.

Grandmama Odie wants me to reach out to her? Why?

Maybe because she wants a relationship with her granddaughter? I mean, I know she's got a daughter in our grade but Facilier's also her kid.

I need to figure out how this works considering she's over one hundred.

Uma, Yzma's got two kids and so does Frollo and they're both older than dirt itself. I've stopped trying to figure out how the whole thing works.

True, very true. Oh, tell Belle Benny says hi.

Why...?

Your boyfriend's strange, that's all I can tell you Mali.

Mal shook her head softly before turning to look at Belle. "Ben would like me to tell you he says hi."

"How did you—?"

"Um...it's sort of a trade secret among the Olympians," Mal said softly, biting her lip slightly.

"Ben's not an Olympian thought."

Tiana chuckled. "Oh honestly Belle. I think you might have been up a bit too long last night reading, sugar. Ben might not be an Olympian but Uma's a descendant of one. Mal was probably just doing what Mama Odie asked me to ask her to do."

"You know this is why they invented cell phones right?" Eugene asked Mal.

Mal shrugged. "This was faster, plus more of a guarantee that Uma would pick up. Besides isn't it considered rude to just whip out your phone and make a call in the middle of a conversation?"

"Texting's a thing."

"I like using my mental link."

"Fair enough," Eugene chuckled and Rapunzel rolled her eyes.

"I apologize for my husband," she told Mal.

Mal shook her head. "Don't, Rapunzel. It's fine. I actually enjoy the report. It's almost like being back on the Isle."

It was true too. The back and forth almost felt like she was back on The Lost Revenge, listening to Nick and Jake or even Derek and Henry banter back and forth. Then of course there was CJ and Ryan.

It was clear that they were going to be the next Uma and Harry, though hopefully without the denial that drove them all up the wall.

Jade and Jay were another two who were good for a quick verbal spar though they were cousins so Mal wasn't necessarily surprised. Dustin, nine times out of ten, got into a verbal sparring match with at least one crew member at some point during the day. Some might have thought that with all the barbs that the crew was always fighting or something.

Mal knew better though. The crew was like a family. Families teased one another and sometimes were sarcastic, if her interactions with Uma were any indication. It was nice to know she could still get some of that sarcasm on this side of the barrier as well.

"If you truly want to interact with a sarcastic person, might I recommend my son Evan?" Eugene chuckled.

"You may though I think Hadie's interacted with him more," Mal said. "Evan's circle of friends consists more of Melody, Phil Jr., Ashaki and the like, after all. At least that's what Rowyn told me."

Eugene and Rapunzel chuckled once more and Mal had to admit that she felt any remaining nerves slip away. Knowing what she knew now, that there was a group of adults who were still learning what she had tried to learn herself, was honestly something she hadn't expected to put her at ease but she did.

Failing wasn't exactly an option on the Isle, since it would mean the difference between life or death. But the fact that there would be quite a large safety net was something that Mal appreciated.

Maybe...maybe she could do this after all.

Mal grinned as she sprawled out on the couch in Ben's office, her cousin sprawled out next to her. After what felt like a lifetime, they were finally going to go ahead and start picking more VKs to come across the bridge. Or at least they'd pick the method in which they were going to select the next group of VKs.

She had hoped Ben wouldn't have to work on paperwork during their planning session but to be fair to him, they had pretty much barged into his office. Well where else would they plan the next group? Their dorms?

Still…he looked almost miserable surrounded by all that paperwork. Mal wished there was something she could do for him. After all, he'd done everything for her. He brought her off the Isle…had been there when she needed someone…

"I still think it should be via application," Carlos said from his spot on the floor, looking up from petting Dude who whined slightly as the pets stopped. Estelle laid on the rug next to them, his legs in the air as if hinting for a belly rub from Carlos. "That way it's not just the people we like getting to come but all the VKs get a chance."

"You and I know perfectly well that there are VKs who don't deserve to come over here, DeVil," Harry told him, leaning over the couch so that his head was between Mal and Uma as Carlos finally picked up on the hints and gave Estelle a belly rub. "Freddy and Zevon for instance, plus Zevon's sister Yzla and Mad Maddy."

"You know I just want to say, this Zevon's name sounds like it should be a laundry detergent," Akiho said as he came in and sat on Ben's desk.

Mal chuckled. "I would give you all the chocolate in the world if you told him that to his face. His reaction would be priceless. But what are you guys doing here?"

"Ben texted us and said you all had taken over his office to plan out the next VK group," Emir said from the doorway and held up a tray of sandwiches that Mal could only assume had been created by Akiho. "So we brought snacks for you guys."

"Ooh!"

"We didn't take over his office," Uma chuckled. "We just walked in. He wasn't even here!"

"Yes he was Uma," Mal shook her head. "You just couldn't see him because he was buried under a mountain of papers when we walked in and set up shop."

"Yeah! I mean, he's right here doing paperwork!" Akiho said, shaking his head in amusement as he pointed to Ben, Emir crossing the threshold of the doorway to join in the madness. The teenaged King, to his credit, only looked bemused at the whole thing. Almost as if this was something that he was used to.

Though knowing Ben and the insanity of the friends he has, he probably is used to things like this, Mal thought.

"We're getting off topic," Harry said as he snatched a sandwich off of the tray that Emir was holding. The Agrabah prince shook his head and made the rounds, offering sandwiches to all the VKs and Ben. "What's so wrong with just picking the next group ourselves? After all, that's what Mal and Jay did."

"We do that, then it looks like the only kids who get to get off the Isle are the ones who're close to us," Mal sighed as she too took a sandwich. Ever since the picnic, she'd noticed that Emir and Akiho at least were determined to make sure all the VKs got food whenever possible. Not that they were complaining of course. "Carlos is right, it's only fair to do an application. That way, kids don't get disheartened if they don't get picked this go around."

"Mal, be honest. If you saw an application with Freddy or Zevon's name on it, would you give it a fair consideration or would you turn it to ash?"

"Oh ash to be sure," Mal nodded and then paused. "I see your point Harry."

"I know why we don't want Freddy," Ben spoke up from his never ending mountain of paperwork. After all, he wasn't exactly fond of the guy who hit Mal in the shoulder with a dagger and he wasn't exactly crazy about the idea of bringing gang warfare to Auradon even if every kid on the Isle deserved their chance to be in the sun. "But why don't we want Zevon?"

"He's got a crush on Mal," Jay and Harry spoke up simultaneously, causing Mal to roll her eyes and Ben's back to stiffen up.

"Honestly, you think every guy I interact with has a crush on me!"

"Not true. We don't think Emir or Akiho has a crush on you," Jay pointed out.

"Considering they both have girlfriends, I should hope not!"

"We also don't think Charming or DeVil or Fish for Brains have a crush on you," Harry added, acting as if Mal hadn't spoken. "Though if I had to be fair to Zevon, we at least know what his next move would be if he got to Auradon. Freddy's unpredictable."

"I think for the second group, it couldn't hurt to have an application," Ben said, bringing the conversation back to stable waters and giving a nod to Carlos' point. "We keep it fair that way. Plus then it builds the framework for future groups."

"Okay but then who reviews the applications?" Jay asked from his spot leaning against the wall by one of Ben's bookshelves. "Your shadows? Because I'm pretty sure we just made them biased by going on about why we don't like Zevon or Freddy."

"To be fair, we don't like any of the Angels or the Casters," Mal pointed out as Estelle got up from his spot by Carlos to go over to her. "Well...except for Brooke and Quinn."

"That's only because the lass didn't exactly have a choice in leaving our crew and Quinn's pretty much harmless in that she's the only Caster who can't use magic," Harry told her.

"Right. You'd said Locklyn basically told Brooke it was us or her."

"You know it's a good thing Gil's not here otherwise he probably wouldn't like where this conversation was heading, talking about his sister and cousin like this," Carlos said, shaking his head.

"Where is Gil anyway?" Ben asked. While the blond wasn't necessarily close to the other VKs, Ben would have thought the son of Gaston would have been at this meeting in case there was someone he wanted to get off of the Isle.

Evie wasn't there either but Ben had pretty much expected that—her father had officially been released from the hospital and Snow White was helping him get set up in a guest room in her castle. Something that Evie was more than happy to help with. Ben had already sent a card to Daniel, hoping that the older man continued to have a speedy recovery and that whenever he was ready, Ben was more than happy to meet with him to set up guardianship for Evie.

"Gil's on a date with Macaria," Mal told him, a small smile pulling at her lips at the thought. Of all the things she'd seen since coming to Auradon, that was probably not something she had ever expected to happen. But, and she'd deny she even thoughtit if anyone actually asked, it was cute. Sometimes Mal would see the two of them watching R.O.A.R practice on occasion when she'd sneak in to watch Jay and Carlos.

Plus Lonnie had finally decided she was good enough to try out for the team and there was no way Mal was going to miss that.

"Harriet," Harry stated, pulling them back onto their original topic. "If anyone's coming off the Isle, it should be Harriet."

"Excuse me? Why not Celia?" Uma asked, leaning her head back to look at her first mate and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"No reason they both can't come cap'n. In fact Freddie might prefer it if Harriet was with the young shadowling."

"I thought we didn't want Freddy?" Ben asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Freddie with an 'ie' is Uma's older sister. Freddy with a 'y' is the spawn of Satan himself," Harry explained and Ben nodded.

"Harriet probably would want us to take a younger kid instead of using a spot for her," Mal pointed out. "She's what? Eighteen? Nineteen?"

"She's still a VK," Harry stated firmly as he crossed his arms over his chest and Mal couldn't help but give him a small smile. She knew that while Harry loved both his sisters, his older one would always have a preferred spot in his heart.

Harry would die before he let anyone harm Harriet. But then again, Harriet would die before she let anyone harm her younger siblings.

"What about CJ or Ryan?" Hadie spoke up as he took over giving Estelle belly rubs as Carlos got up from his spot on the ground. "Or Dizzy, if we're listing non crew members?"

"One of these days, you're going to tell me how you managed to make friends with Dizzy Tremaine of all people," Mal told her little brother. "Especially seeing as dad rarely let you out of the Underworld with the exception of trips to the ship."

"Mom would take me on her walks sometimes and we'd go into the neutral zone to check on dad's restaurant. Dizzy works over at Curl Up and Dye which is right next to the restaurant," Hadie shrugged.

"That makes sense now that I think about it."

"If we're talking younger kids, Squeaky and Squirmy Smee have got to come to Auradon," Jay said firmly. "Think about it. If being here brought Carlos out of his shell, it'd do wonders for those boys."

"Hey!"

"Three words DeVil. Fear. Of. Dogs." Harry told him as Dude wagged his tail and nudged Carlos' hand to indicate his want of more ear scratches.

"Three words for you Harry. Obsessed. With. Hook."

Mal chuckled and Uma shook her head. "Pup's got some bite to him now I see. Though you're just proving Jay's point that Auradon would probably do wonders for Squeaky and Squirmy."

"You guys really think you'd be able to get them away from Sammy?" Carlos asked.

"Pup's got a point," Harry nodded and Carlos rolled his eyes as Dude barked in agreement.

Mal bit her lip. "You know...if Harriet came with them, the twins would probably come across the bridge. They'd be terrified but at least they know her. She's Sammy's best friend after all."

Well, she was more than just her best friend but like all the Hooks, Harriet seemed to live in a permanent place of denial. Maybe it was because she was a pirate? They did like to spend time in the water after all—and the Nile was a river in Egypt as Emir liked to constantly spout.

If Harriet wants to be in denial, that's none of my business, she thought. Just like with Dustin, I'm not going to say anything until they're ready. Besides, she might be worried about how Harry would take that. Not that he would be anything but happy for his favorite sister and her first mate. It's really the Captain that Harriet would have to worry about—which is just another reason to get Harriet at the very least to Auradon.

"But again, Harriet wouldn't want to take a spot from a younger kid," Jay said, pulling Mal back into the conversation. "And if there're going to be only four spots again—."

"But why do there have to be only four spots?" Mal asked as she stood up and began to pace back and forth. "I mean, really think about it. The only two people who'd object to us increasing the number of VKs that are in the next group would be Natalie and Leah. Natalie really has no power legislatively and well...to be as crass as humanly and Godly possible, Leah's dead."

Well Audrey might object as well but let's not pick that scab with Ben in the room, Mal thought.

"It is rather hard to be a pain in the ass when you're dead," Uma nodded. "Not impossible as she's proven but still incredibly difficult."

"So we could increase it," Mal said.

Ben sighed. "Four is a nice round number though and if there are any incidents or accidents, they're—."

"Easily contained?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow. Ben at least had the common decency to look sheepish at that and Mal sighed.

"Benny, one more VK's not going to ruin anything," Uma pointed out.

"And it would give Sammy piece of mind if Harriet was going with the twins," Jay added. "You know, if they got selected."

Akiho shook his head. "I don't know why we're all pretending the people you all just named aren't going to be the ones who're in the next group of VKs to come off the Isle."

"We need to make it at least appear fair," Emir reminded him.

"Ah good point."

"You two may be insane." Jay chuckled.

"What does that say about you though? You spend as much time as you possibly can around us," Emir teased.

"Wait, how are these applications even going to get to the Isle?" Carlos asked. "It's not like we've got wifi or even any internet over there. Plus no one sends anyone mail on the Isle."

Mal snapped her fingers as an idea popped into her head. "Ben, we were going to do a food run to the Isle right? Before the barge came in so that we could check on the hospital that was being built?"

"We were? Oh right! We were!" Ben nodded. There hadn't been any reports on the progress of that and it was probably a good idea to make sure there was a fully stocked hospital on the Isle before people who were used to eating rotten food and essentially garbage got a shock to their system with fresh foods.

That wasn't to say that they weren't sending any fresh stuff to the Isle. Harry and Jay had pretty much taken over the food delivery drives, much to the amusement of Emir and Akiho who had been in charge of the drives before, and were making sure only light stuff was making its way over to the Isle of the Lost.

"We can get the applications passed out then. If there's one thing my crew can do, it's spread the word around the Isle," Mal nodded, bringing Ben back to the present. "We can pick up the applications the next time we go over."

"We could call it 'VK Day'," Uma chuckled.

"That's not a bad idea actually," Ben grinned, moving his paperwork off to the side so that he could be fully focused on the conversation at hand. "It'd certainly get people interested if there was a day specifically dedicated to them."

Harry nodded. "If Mal's endorsing it, they'd definitely be interested in it. After you took down Maleficent, there was a group of VKs who insisted you were more evil than the Dragon and that was why you took her down."

"Seriously?" Mal scoffed, not noticing Ben seemingly relax at her lack of reaction.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what happened," Harry chuckled. "Ginny Gothel actually took one of the Dragon's cloaks but the VKs made sure your 'room' was left untouched if you ever came back."

"Nice of them."

"I think they're just scared of you."

"Still, I'm in Auradon. For all they know, I'm never coming back to the Isle. It could have been really easy for them to just sack my room along with the rest of Maleficent's castle." Mal said with a shrug. "Plus, anything I really care about is over at my dad's or the clubhouse anyway. It's not like I'd be that upset if they turned it over."

"They'd run the risk of upsetting dad though," Hadie pointed out. "And he runs the Isle now that Maleficent's a lizard."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah, did I not tell you that?" Uma chuckled.

"I think I'd remember if you told me that!" Mal exclaimed as she shook her head in amusement.

"People come to him all the time with their grievances about other villains. At least according to Aunt Steph."

"Dad must love that," Mal shook her head again, this time in slight exasperation. He wasn't really one to suffer fools as he liked to say and most of the residents of the Isle were dumber than a bag of rocks. Sure there were a few who had more than two brain cells to rub together but they were few and far between.

At least now the kids of the Isle will be guaranteed food no matter what side they're on, Mal thought. If dad's truly the leader of the Isle, he can't be seen favoring anyone. Then again, he never charged any of the kids at the restaurant when they came in for a meal. Well, any kid who wasn't an Angel or a Caster. Those kids had to pay.

"Oddly enough, he doesn't really seem to be enjoying it," Uma told her. "Though according to your mom, he does love starting his day with a gloat to Maleficelizard about how her plans failed and that he won."

"Fairy Godmother said she could turn back if she grew to love," Mal stated.

"Does that really seem like something the Dragon would do? Learn to love?"

"...touché." Mal nodded but then shook her head. "I feel that we've gotten extremely off topic."

"You have," Akiho nodded. "It's quite entertaining to watch."

"You know you and Emir are just as bad, right?" Ben asked.

"Of course! We never claimed otherwise!"

Ben shook his head as his phone pinged with a text from Jane. He smiled as he opened it; Jane had been helping him put together a gift for Mal that would be presented at Cotillion. A stained glass window similar to the ones that were seen in his parents' castle.

It was the two of them, with Mal in a purple dress that almost made her look like she was a dragon as the skirt was designed to look like dragon scales while the sleeves at the shoulders stuck out to look like wings. While he was in a suit almost like the one he wore at his coronation.

However, it was the background that Ben really liked. Working from his memory of his coronation, Ben had instructed that there be a dragon that looked like Mal's dragon form. It needed to be somewhat prominent since Ben wanted to show Mal that he loved all of her. That he would never be embarrassed by her.

It'd been a couple of months since Natalie had been fired and Mal hadn't said anything, but Ben knew that it wouldn't go away overnight. That's why he had made it a point to dress down a bit more, much to Evie's delight since she could design casual Auradon clothing and dip her toes into new fashion trends.

In fact, Ben was wearing one of the new items Evie had designed—a short sleeved light blue shirt with tan slacks. To quote Evie, he was dressed down enough so that he actually looked like a teenager but was still dressed up enough in case he had to go into an emergency council meeting or got snagged by any reporters.

Evie had also designed a jacket in the style of Isle fashion for him, since Ben had a feeling that there were going to be repeated trips to the Isle. Sure Chip and Chad might think him insane to repeatedly return to a place that had been set up by his dad but Ben wanted to see the Isle with his own eyes.

After all, no one had checked the reports for twenty years and the Isle had suffered from rotten food. Reports could be falsified after all.

"So we're in agreement?" Mal asked, and Ben brought his head up to make sure he wasn't agreeing to anything he wasn't fully listening to. That had happened once when he was seven and he had vowed to make sure it never happened again.

"Five spots instead of four?" Ben clarified.

"Yep."

"I think that's doable," Ben nodded. "But we'll need to do the applications if that's the case. I'm sure Lonnie and Jane could review them if we need an unbiased party or Fairy Godmother could help if they don't have time considering I know Jane's on the cheerleading squad with Rose and Evie."

"Honestly we could just give the applications to the cheer squad. Now that Audrey's off of there, they're probably the most unbiased group we've got in terms of reviewing applications and then Ben and Mal can give their final approvals," Akiho said.

"Yeah and the Tourney Team could help as well," Emir nodded. "I mean, Chad might not but he's one guy."

"Carlos and Jay couldn't help either. Otherwise it becomes biased," Akiho pointed out.

"Oh yeah!"

None of the VKs wanted to point out that it'd be biased with Evie there too. Hey, they were wicked not stupid. Even if Evie acted the most like an AK, she was still from the Isle.

"That...could work," Ben said as he thought about it. "I wouldn't want to give them more work than they already have though."

"It can't hurt to ask and Yi-Min and Tiger Peony would be more than happy to help at the very least," Emir said. "Plus Ashaki and Melody would definitely help."

"I can get the applications drafted and sent over to you Ben," Mal offered.

"Mal, I can't ask you—."

"You're not asking me, I'm offering," Mal told him. "Besides, I'm a VK. Who better to handle the VK groups than someone who has been on the Isle?"

"She has a point," Emir nodded.

Ben chuckled. "Just let me know if you feel like there's too much on your plate," he told Mal.

"Are you ever going to tell people when you have too much on your plate?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...I don't have too much—."

"Ben, you're fooling no one," Akiho stated. "I'm pretty sure you were close to falling asleep in Grammar yesterday."

Mal shook her head. "Come on Benny. I think it's time you took a break. And maybe a nap."

"Mal!"

"Ah ba ba ba! If you want me to take breaks, then you need to take breaks." Mal said as she took Ben's arm and began to drag him out the door.

"Ah, it's nice to see someone who's not me drag him out of this office," Akiho grinned.

"You know it's weird if we're here without Mal and Ben," Uma said. "Anyone want to go spar?"

"Is that all you do?"

"Of course not. But right now, it's what I want to do."

"In that case, I want to watch!" Emir grinned as the VKs chuckled and began to file out of Ben's office and made their way to the gym.

The weather seemed to almost taunt them as the group of five made their way to the Isle of the Lost. Instead of the typical gorgeous weather, the sky was overcast with light grey clouds and a slight chill. Mal was certain that if she didn't have her jacket, she'd have been dealing with another round of chills.

That would have been the worst possible thing at that point because there was no way she could justify to herself pushing back this food run. The applications had been completed and approved so all that was left was to get them passed out among the kids of the Isle.

My crew can handle that, she thought as they made their way over the bridge. I actually wonder what all they've been up to since Uma and Harry came over. I hope Henry hasn't been working himself too hard. I remember he used to train nonstop—the only ones who trained more than him would probably be Harry or Uma. Maybe me or Jay, or Harriet.

The rest of the crew didn't seem like they had changed according to Uma or Harry. Bonny was still the best at maintaining their weapons, Dustin was still a well meaning prat who had way too many flings if Mal was being honest, and Nick and Jake were inseparable. Same with CJ and Ryan.

You know, I'm a little surprised Jay didn't throw out Jade's name back when we were planning the next group considering she used to pal around with Locklyn and Brooke and they're now in Freddy's little cult, Mal thought as Ben drove across the bridge. Then again, Jade's one of the older girls so she'd probably want a spot to go to a younger VK. Still, we'll get her off the Isle one way or another. She's Jay's family after all. Speaking of family.. hmm...I wonder if I can stop by dad's restaurant while we're here? The Auradon food is great but there's nothing like dad's garlic crispy chicken after all.

"What are you thinking about?" Jay asked with a small chuckle as he looked over at Mal.

"What do you think? Uncle Hades' food probably," Uma said with a chuckle of her own before Mal had a chance to answer. "I mean, I don't blame her. Uncle Hades has some awesome food after all."

Mal shook her head in amusement. "Lucky guess you two. But yeah, I was just thinking that I was hoping for a few minutes to stop by dad's restaurant and grab a bite before we go to check on that hospital. The last time we were here, I didn't really get a chance."

"The last time we were here was a clandestine meeting to give you a chance to talk to your dad in person rather than through the mind link," Harry reminded her.

"Exactly. Therefore I didn't have time to grab a bite of his food since no one knew Ben was with us."

"We should have time this goaround," Ben nodded, looking at the four of them through the rearview mirror. "Akiho and Emir are aware of where I'm going, so's Chip. If there's a problem in Auradon, they should be able to take care of it. Hopefully."

"Your shadows should be fine, besides isn't it Emma who's your unofficial heir? Wouldn't she be the one handling any problems that arise should they arise while we're on the Isle?"

"She is but those two are like her unofficial council or advisers. Granted they're also my unofficial advisers so they're used to doing that."

Mal chuckled and shook her head. "Don't those two get tired of being your shadows?"

"Considering they've been doing it since we were four, I doubt it," Ben told her with a chuckle of his own. "I don't ask them to do it, they just took it upon themselves."

Mal couldn't help but smile a little at that. There was just something about knowing those two would always look out for Ben that put her a little at ease. Plus, she and her crew would be there too.

"Alright Ben, let's go over rules one more time," Jay said as they parked the limo.

"Don't leave your sight, don't talk to anyone unless you four talk to them first, don't leave the territory, don't do anything 'touchy-feely' and don't go by 'Ben'," Ben stated with a nod of his head, pulling his beanie down slightly and pulling on the jacket Evie had made for him.

"Smart man," Harry nodded. "Though the crew's not stupid, they would have seen you on the television at Ursula's if they went there to watch your coronation. Especially if they see Mal. A new guy with us wearing blue and being close to Mal?"

"Oh that's right," Mal nodded. "Ben, no romantic gestures okay? At least not until we get on the ship. If the wrong person sees, they might try to grab you to get to me."

Ben nodded slowly. "You know I can defend myself right?"

"I know. But this is the Isle Ben," Mal said softly. "They don't exactly play fair and you Auradon folks are all about fair play. I just don't want you getting hurt."

Ben gave Mal a small smile as he cupped her cheek with his hand, having turned around and reaching through the gap between the driver's and passengers' areas. "I promise Mal, I'll be fine. I wouldn't have tagged along if I thought there'd be danger."

"Yes you would've Ben, don't lie," Jay chuckled. "But I think it's time we leave the safety of the limo before someone we'd rather not see finds it."

"Oh Gods, if Zevon found the limo, that would probably be the worst thing possible. Only thing worse would be if Freddy found it," Mal nodded as they filed out of the limo. Harry and Jay quickly grabbed a tarp and they and Ben made quick work of pulling it over the car in order to hide it.

"Come on," Uma nodded and gestured to the pipe they were standing by. "Let's take the shortcut to the ship. Unless you want to stop by your dad's restaurant Mal?"

Mal tilted her head as she considered the options. While she would love to see her dad right away, the food they brought was meant for the crew. Plus the crew was the ones who needed to get the applications.

Besides, they should have enough time to visit the restaurant.

"Crew first and then dad's restaurant before stopping by the hospital to check its progress," Mal stated. Ben'll be safer on the ship than at the restaurant anyway, and the last report we got indicated the hospital was still only halfway built so all we'll really need to do is just peak at it before leaving. The restaurant is in neutral territory but that doesn't mean Freddy or Zevon's gangs couldn't launch an attack before we get there or after we leave.

"Right," Uma nodded, passing out swords that she had swiped from the gym back at Auradon Prep. "Let's go. The longer we stand around here, the more we look like sitting ducks. I know this is our territory but that won't stop a really determined idiot."

"And by idiot you mean Freddy?"

"Of course I mean Freddy," Uma said as she climbed through the pipe. "Who else do you think I meant?"

"Zevon?"

"...touché."

Mal smirked as she followed Uma through the pipe and took a deep breath of the salt water of the cove.

"Isn't your dad going to freak out if he finds out you were here?" Jay asked as the boys climbed through the pipe.

"Probably," Mal nodded. Ever since that incident when she was nine, you know the one where Freddy almost killed her, Hades had banned Mal from Pirate's Cove unless Uma or Harry was with her. And even then he wasn't exactly happy about it. "But you see Jay, what my dad doesn't know won't hurt him a. And b, there's a reason why we scheduled this trip on a Wednesday."

"It was the day when Mitchell here didn't have any meetings so we wouldn't be incredibly rushed going to and fro?"

"Well that but it was also the day when my dad doesn't have a pick up to make at Hook's fish shop," Mal explained, smiling a little at hearing Jay use Ben's fake name. "Now hush. I want to see how long it takes whoever's on look out to realize we're here."

Jay smirked and looked toward the Lost Revenge. It was hard to tell from where they were but there was clearly someone in the crow's nest.

"No time like the present to climb up the gangplank," Uma said and started making her way toward the ship.

"Um…captains, first mate, and Jay coming up the gangplank cap'n!"

"Thank you Derek," Harriet called as she walked over to greet the five of them. "What are you four doing here?"

"Well now Harriet, is that anyway to greet your brother?" Harry chuckled.

"Where's Henry?" Mal asked as she made her way up the gangplank as well. "He didn't get injured in a face off again did he?"

Harriet shook her head as she brought her brother in for a hug. "He's on a scouting run. He's been doing those more and more lately. It's a bit worrying if I'm honest."

"At least he's getting off the ship," Harry said as they broke the hug. "Back when Uma and I left, all he was doing was training constantly. I mean, I love a good spar as much as the next pirate but I honestly think he trained eighteen hours a day."

"His scouting runs have gone as long as six hours," Harriet told him. "Derek and Ryan tried to follow him once but got lost."

"Henry's one of the best swords in the crew," Uma said. "As long as he's armed, he can handle himself."

"He hasn't come back from these scouting runs injured has he?" Mal asked.

"If he has, we haven't seen any and he's always up and training the next day," Harriet told them. "But you guys probably didn't come over to the Isle to hear about Henry."

"A good captain is always concerned about their crew," Uma stated. "You'd know that better than anyone Harriet, being a captain yourself."

Harriet smiled as Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Surprised Sammy's not by your side," Mal noted. "Normally she's glued to your shoulder the way Harry's glued to Uma's."

"She's watching her brothers," Harriet explained. "Her dad had to work today at your dad's restaurant and the boys are too young to be alone all day."

Mal nodded. Squeaky and Squirmy Smee had been born around when Sammy was eleven and the poor kids joined the ranks of those Isle kids who had their mothers taken from them through childbirth. At least Sammy was close to being a teen when she was forced into the role of motherhood. Unlike Harriet who'd been forced to become Harry and CJ's mother at the tender age of five.

"We brought food," Jay stated, holding up the bags of food they'd swiped from the kitchens. It was truly amazing how easy it was to swipe food from the kitchens at the school. "And news."

"We like both of those things," Harriet said with a smile and Mal knew she was thankful for the change in subject. "You want me to summon the crew?"

"Oh no, let me," Mal said with a grin. Cupping her hands to her mouth, she hollered, "Okay you Rats! Crew meeting! If you're not here, you don't get food!"

It was like she'd cast a spell as Ben blinked in surprise at how quickly the other pirates had scurried up to them. It was mainly boys but there were a few girls, Ben noted that they mainly congregated around Harriet though a couple seemed to be with the other girls and Uma and Mal.

"Hey cap'n!"

"Hey Ryan," Mal chuckled at the younger brown haired boy who was busy rolling up the sleeves of his dark red shirt. "You still got your flare gun? Think you could summon Henry from where ever he's hiding?"

Ryan grinned. "It's locked and loaded cap'n! Permission to climb up to the crow's nest?"

"Permission granted," Mal and Uma nodded. Ryan grinned once more and grabbed, to Ben's shock, a gun before climbing up the netting that seemed to be the way up the mast where the crow's nest was.

"Carlos created those flair guns," Mal explained. "We needed a way to secure our safety if we were patrolling at night and Shere Khan met one of us in a dark ally. Hadie and I had our safety pretty much guaranteed since we can summon fireballs but the rest of the crew weren't so lucky and we couldn't be with them all the time."

"You said Carlos created those?"

"Give that boy a piece of tech and he's as happy as a dog with a bone," Harry nodded, having heard the muttered conversation. Ben nodded and watched as the boy—Ryan, he told himself—fired a bright red flair up into the sky.

"Unless Henry is passed out, he should see that," Uma nodded.

"If Henry's passed out, we've got bigger problems," Mal reminded her. "The man trains nonstop after all. If someone got the jump on him, that's worrying."

"How long do you think it'll take Henry to get back here?" Ryan asked as he rejoined them, having slid down the netting with a grin on his face.

"Depending on where he is, I'd say five minutes. Isle's not the biggest place in the world after all."

"You know I just thought of something," Jay said. "You don't think Henry's with a girl do you?"

A few of the boys burst out laughing as they heard that.

"Henry? You really think he would break his 'no fling' policy?" One of the boys asked.

"Jake's right, I think you've been in Boreadon too long Jay. Henry's still committed to being forever on his lonesome," another boy nodded.

"Unlike you Dustin, with your 'have all the flings as I possibly can' policy?" Mal said with a small smile. "Uma and Harry told us you haven't changed one bit."

"Would you want him to?" A red haired boy who Ben had to assume was Henry asked as he walked up the gangplank.

Either his shirt's always that wrinkled or Mal's just electing not to say anything, Ben thought as he took in Henry's disheveled appearance. It wasn't anything noticeable to anyone who wasn't raised among Leah and Audrey. Plus the year of dating Audrey. Ben quickly learned to hide any perceived flaws in his wardrobe when it came to her.

There was no way he could have gotten away with wearing a wrinkled shirt in public or have his hair ruffled like he'd just woken up and rolled out of bed. Not that it was a bad thing. Just interesting.

"Look what the croc dragged in," Harriet chuckled. "Where've you been Henry?"

"Scouting the territory," Henry stated as he gave Mal and Uma a one armed hug as a greeting. A hug that both girls readily returned, almost like a younger sister returning a hug from their older brother, despite the difference in hierarchy between the three of them. "Need to make sure no Angels or Casters sneak through our defenses after all."

"Uh huh, and did you get in a fight or something?"

"Yeah mate, you look a wreck," a dark haired boy nodded, standing next to Ryan.

"Thanks Derek, you really know how to make a guy feel good about himself," Henry chuckled as he gave Harry and Jay a one armed hug of their own. "So I take it one of you lot called a crew meeting for me to be summoned like this?"

"You'd be right Henry," Mal chuckled and shook her head in amusement. "We brought food. And news from across the bridge."

"Ooh! Our two favorite things," a blonde girl said with a smirk as she pushed up the sleeves of her bright red coat. Ben noticed Harry give a slight eye roll as the girl spoke and he couldn't help but wonder why. It wasn't like they were the same age so there was no way they could be rivals.

"You seem a bit too excited about that CJ," Harriet chuckled.

"It's food from Boreadon, Harriet. Like directly from Boreadon so it won't be like what we find on the barges. Granted it's been getting better but the news is the thing I'm more interested in," CJ explained.

"Yeah, the last time we had news from across the bridge, we found out that our food was purposefully being turned rotten," Ryan nodded as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Why wouldn't you be excited to see how else Boreadon's ruined our lives?"

"You're hungry aren't you?"

"How could you tell?"

"I'm your best mate, Ry. You get testy when you're hungry," CJ stated and Ryan rolled his eyes.

Mal chuckled slightly. "Well then, I think food first and then the news. Gods forbid Ryan not get a snack."

"Hey, he looks to be a growing teenage boy. They've got to eat," Ben couldn't help but chime in.

Ryan smiled at him. "I don't know who the new guy is but I like him!"

Mal shook her head in amusement. She didn't know if Ryan was playing dumb for Mal's sake or if he truly didn't recognize Ben. "Mitchell, meet Ryan. Ryan, meet Mitchell. He's..."

"A VK who's parent escaped the roundup twenty years ago," Ben said quickly. He figured it would be a good idea to stick to the cover story they came up with the first time rather than try to pretend that there wasn't a risk of Ben getting hurt if word got around that the King was on the Isle.

"Yeah, turns out I've got a cousin I never knew about," Uma nodded, playing along. "Aunt Morgana had some fun with a random human before Melody turned her into a fishicle."

"That explains the tan," Henry chuckled.

"Huh?"

"Your skin, it's got a bit of a tan compared to the rest of us," Henry explained as Ben tilted his head in confusion. "But no matter, what's your news Mal?"

Mal chuckled as she and Uma began to pass around the food to the others in the crew. "Auradon's going to select five more VKs to come across the bridge. We've got applications for the kids to fill out and we'll come back around to pick them up the next time we stop by."

"We were hoping you lot might be able to spread the applications around the Isle," Harry nodded.

"You think that's a good idea?" Ryan asked. "What if Freddy or another Angel gets an application?"

"That's just a risk we'll have to take," Mal sighed and Ryan nodded, making a mental note to grab one of those applications for his sister. He'd have to be sneaky about it seeing as none of the crew knew about her and CJ would probably yell at him if she thought he was abandoning ship to go to Auradon.

"Harriet, I've already got an application for you," Harry said, pulling Ryan out of his thoughts as the lone male Hook handed his older sister an application.

"Harry," Harriet shook her head. "CJ should have this more than me. She actually fits the qualification of a villain kid after all."

"Doesn't matter. I'll say you're a very tall seventeen year old if anyone has an issue," Harry said firmly. "You've done so much for us Harriet, when you shouldn't have had to. You deserve to see the sun too."

Harriet gave her little brother a small smile at that. "Harry, I'm not going to take a spot from a kid who needs it more. You even said that there're only five spots this go around. I'll be fine."

"I'm not filling one out," CJ said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why would I want to go rub elbows with prissy pink princesses and pampered princesses? I'm a pirate after all."

"Because you deserve a better life than what the Isle has to offer," Harriet told her, giving her little sister a raised eyebrow. "You're filling out an application CJ."

CJ scoffed. "The Captain won't exactly be happy about this."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Harriet said, shaking her head as she took a bit of the offered food. "Uma, I'll make sure Celia gets an application though."

"And we all can pass them around on our scouting runs," Derek promised.

"That's the whole reason why we came here," Mal said, smiling a little as her crew took the piles of applications. There was no one better equipped to get the word out. Granted, her crew of nineteen was the biggest VK crew on the Isle. They could pair up safely and not have to worry about another gang launching a sneak attack.

"So Malsie, looking forward to this dance we keep hearing about on the TV?" CJ asked.

Mal raised an eyebrow. "What did you call me?"

"Trying out something new. I take it that's a no on the nickname?"

"Very much so. I go by two nicknames and neither one of those is 'Malsie'."

"Duly noted. My question still stands though cap'n."

Mal sighed and shook her head. "This is going to sound really weird but I kinda am. I mean, it's a party in Auradon so it probably wont' be as exciting as the coronation but that's not necessarily a bad thing."

"I dunno, Maleficent might like another lizard to keep her company," Derek chuckled. "How're DeVil, Hadie, and Blueberry? Oh, and Gil! Where is he?"

"On a date."

"Gil?"

"With the granddaughter of Zeus," Mal added. She normally wouldn't have cared about that part but she knew it was the one thing that would get under his brothers' and his father's skin—the fact that Gil had been able to get a date with an Olympian when they had not. "He's actually taking her to Cotillion."

"Trust me, it's the strangest thing I've ever had to see," Harry nodded. "But Fish for Brains seems happy and Macaria knows how to defend herself if need be. Oh not that Gil would do anything, he knows Zeus would smite him and then Hercules would pound his ashes into almost microscopic particles which Mali would then set on fire before Lord Hades would judge his soul."

"You were ready with that litany of examples. Do you fantasize about Gil being smited?" Harriet asked.

"Of course not...wait I can do that?"

Mal shook her head. "Harry, Gil's not getting smote understand? He's harmless and he's Carlos' friend. Besides, I think you're just jealous that Gil's got a date and you're going stag."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm going with Jay and Uma as a group, considering DeVil's got a date with Fairy Godmother's daughter."

"I'm sorry, DeVil's got a date?"

"You heard right."

"And I still have to wait until I'm fifteen before I can have a fling? DeVil's my age!" Ryan exclaimed.

"He's fifteen Ryan," Mal told him. "Rules are rules, unless you've had a birthday recently that the crew doesn't know about?"

"We all had to go through it," Harry said.

"I'm pretty sure you four set up the crew. No pointless rules for you," CJ muttered.

Mal shook her head. "Well regardless, we're not changing the rules any time soon. Now, I hate to dine and dash but I would like some of my dad's cooking and to potentially point and laugh at Maleficent as a lizard."

"It was great seeing you cap'ns," Henry told them. "You too Harry, Jay. And it was nice to meet you Mitchell."

"Yeah new guy, don't be a stranger," Ryan nodded.

Ben nodded, a little too shocked at how readily they accepted him to say anything. He was worried he might blow his cover if he opened his mouth. The five of them made their way down the gangplank and toward Lord Hades' restaurant. Ben had to admit, as he took a bite of the Lord of the Underworld's cooking, it was certainly hard to beat Greek food made by a Greek God.

He almost didn't want to leave to check on the hospital's progress or go back to Auradon, but duty called.

Uma smirked as she walked into her dorm room. It had been a few days since she'd been to the Isle and oddly enough it was the first time that she had a chance to see Blueberry. It always seemed that she was off with her dad or working on her business or hogging Mal by talking about Cotillion or homework or even cheer practice of all things.

Yeah it seemed like a stupid thing to be jealous by but Uma still couldn't believe that Mal was willingly spending time with the blue haired girl. This was Blueberry they were talking about after all! The only one they couldn't stand more would be Freddy, though Audrey was getting up there as a firm fourth (after Zevon). Charming Jr. was also up there but now that Uma knew he couldn't exactly help his annoying behavior with the hypnosis, he was rather low on her list.

Maybe top ten if Uma was truly being honest because of the fact that he was still rather annoying to be around. Even Ben's shadows found him to be a pain at times and those two seemed to like anyone and everyone they met. But Evie would alwaysbe in the top three of Uma's list of annoyances.

Which was why Uma was armed with a smoke bomb, ready and willing to remind Blueberry who's territory she was in.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It."

Uma blinked, her arm raised with the teal smoke bomb clutched firmly in her hand. Blueberry had her back to her, how had she...?

"You think I don't know by now when a smoke bomb's coming?" Evie asked. "You've pelted me at least once a week Uma. It's a safe assumption by now."

Evie turned to face Uma and put her hands on her hips. "The thing I don't understand is why. Mal I at least understood, even if it was rather petty. I didn't invite her to my birthday when we were kids and back then, I thought her Maleficent's daughter. But you, you went to my birthday party. You, and Harry, and Jay, and yet you're even worse to me than Mal was when we first arrived here."

"Stop being so prissy about it, Blueberry," Uma scoffed as she set the smoke bomb down. Hey, there was no reason to risk it going off accidentally after all. Plus, as she thought it over, Mal would probably kill her for setting off a smoke bomb in their shared dorm. As well, this was really the first time Blueberry had stood up to her like this. It was rather intriguing in a way.

"I'm not being prissy. I have the right to know what entitles you to be a hypocrite about the whole thing," Evie shot back. "I get it, I don't act like a girl from the Isle and that ostracized me from the others. But for Mal's sake, it won't kill us to get along and yet every time I turn around I'm still getting pelted with smoke bombs by you. I have the right to feel safe in my own dorm Uma!"

"We're VKs, when did we ever have the right to feel safe?"

"We've left the Isle! We're in Auradon!"

"That doesn't change the fact that for sixteen years, the Isle made us who we are! And even when we were on the Isle, you always acted like you were better than us," Uma shot back. "And yeah, I attended your birthday party. But only after Mal told me to go. I was ready to skip it. As well, do you really think that Jay or Harry really had a choice in the matter? Your mom was in a rivalry with Maleficent yet you still invited Jafar and his kid plus you invited Hook and Harry. Hook, who was terrified about how Maleficent would react to the idea of Harry besting Mal in a fight if we roughhoused. Hell, you invited DeVil and he wasn't even under our protection yet. Do you not understand how big of an insult that was? In addition, you didn't invite Virgil, Panic's son. So now you've not only insulted two of the biggest players on the Isle, you insulted my cousins by not inviting them and you insulted my allies by using Shenzi's cubs as party favors."

"But that was a party when I was six, it's been at least ten years by now!"

"And Maleficent cursed a baby for not getting invited to a party. I don't think I need to remind you that being petty and vindictive is kinda our parents' MO. Or did you forget that your mom tried to kill her step daughter because she was prettier than her?"

Evie sighed. "The hyenas were my mother's idea. To have them in the baddie bags. Since hyenas were so powerful, they'd be good to have for allies and she figured it'd be a good way to get me some allies as well. Or even a potential match later on."

"And you didn't try to put the kibosh on that?"

"A Princess doesn't say 'no'," Evie said, her dry voice sounding out of place. "Not to mention, what would have happened if you'd told your mom no Uma?"

Uma paused, knowing full well what would have happened. Her arm or leg or even torso would have been squeezed by one of her mother's tentacles, if she was lucky. If she wasn't so lucky, the tentacle in question would have been around her neck. And then her mother would have just done the thing Uma had objected to regardless—so the only thing Uma would have gotten out of the whole thing would have been pain.

"Exactly," Evie said after a few minutes of silence. "As you've said, we're VKs. My mother may not have been a typical Isle parent but that didn't necessarily mean I was taught 'love' and 'friendship' like they were here in Auradon. My mother taught me how to apply blush before I could talk. Looks and matches were all that mattered to her. It was my father who tried to teach me there was more in life than finding a prince."

The blue haired girl smiled at the thought of her father. Daniel had finally gotten out of the hospital and had actually moved into Snow's castle, on the insistence of the royal. Daniel had an open invitation to stay until he got back on his feet, and even then Snow said he and Evie could stay as long as they wanted.

Evie loved the idea of staying with Snow but she wanted to have a place for her and her father to stay on their own. Hence the reason why she was working so hard to get her business off the ground. Doug ran the numbers. With all the dresses and the cape she was making for Chad—and Mal and Ben's clothes—it wouldn't be long before she'd be able to make a down payment on a castle.

It'd be a modest castle but Evie didn't need a lot of rooms. All she needed was a place for her and her dad. And Doug and eventually Dizzy.

"I am sorry though," Evie said softly. "About not inviting Mal when we were six. It was stupid to do and maybe if I hadn't, Maleficent wouldn't have abducted my dad. But the rivalry was always just between the two of us and now Mal's buried the hatchet."

Uma sighed. "Do you remember our motto? My crew's motto, I mean?"

"It...it was something like Ruthless yet Loyal right?"

"Right," Uma nodded. "Meaning I look out for my allies and attack those who go after them. You hurt Mal that day. She probably would never let you know it, and she would have never let me know it, but I'm her cousin. I've been in her life for as long as I can remember so I'm going to be able to read her better than most. Probably better than even Ben. Though...there was a benefit to you not inviting her."

"There was?" Evie asked, tilting her head a little in confusion.

"Because you didn't invite Mal to your party, Aunt Steph gave her Estelle," Uma explained and paused as she realized something.

Estelle had saved Mal's life that day when they were nine. Yes Harry had helped by holding her up for twenty five minutes while Uma ran to get her Uncle Hades but if it hadn't been for Estelle jumping in and grabbing her collar, who knows if Mal would have been able to stay up long enough for Harry to get her?

Evie, in a strange way, had done Mal the biggest favor she could by not inviting her. Because who knows what creature she would have gotten in her baddie bag had she gone? It definitely wouldn't have been Estelle though.

"Uma?" Evie asked softly after about five minutes of silence. Evie bit her lip in slight worry, not knowing what was going to happen. Uma looking at you in silence usually wasn't a good thing, especially if she was known to hate you.

"Look Blueberry, I'm not going to promise that we'll be buddy buddy but...for Mal's sake and because we share a room, I can promise to lay off the smoke bombs," Uma said with a small sigh.

"That's more than I could ask," Evie told her. "Um...I know I might be pushing my luck but could I ask a favor?"

"Depends on what the favor is," Uma said and Evie nodded, scurrying over to her dresser and pulling out a sheet of paper.

"I know you worked hard on changing Mal's dress and I really do love what you've done with it," she said, turning back to Uma, "but...I've been thinking about it and the style still isn't Mal."

"So far I'm in agreement with you but I'm not hearing a favor in there," Uma stated. It was true that the strapless look wasn't Mal in the slightest even if they'd changed the dress to a single color rather than the yellow and blue mess that it'd been originally.

Evie nodded and held out the paper to Uma. "I want to create this for Mal to wear at Cotillion. It may not look the most fancy but it's true to Mal."

Uma looked at the paper in shock. The design of the dress looked almost like a dragon, with the sleeves looking like dragon wings and the hem of the dress almost appearing like dragon scales. If that was just how the sketch looked, Uma honestly couldn't wait to see how it appeared in real life.

"What do you need me for?" Uma asked.

"Keep Mal distracted mostly," Evie said as she took back the paper. "I've got a couple of the Fitzherbert kids working tag team on it so we can surprise Mal with it before Cotillion but I need to make sure Mal won't accidentally walk in and see it. Especially since I've got cheer practice and classes."

"Evie, you might be spreading yourself a little too thin," Uma stated, not realizing she'd said Blueberry's first name rather than one of the many nicknames.

Evie, though, did notice and stared at the Godling in shock. She'd grown used to hearing that from Mal and Jay but to hear her first name from Uma?

"What? Do I have kelp on my face or something?"

"You...you just said my name," Evie said softly.

Uma shrugged. "Huh. Guess I did. Well, like you said, for Mal I can make peace. Not to mention, it's not that long till Cotillion. Once it's over, and Mal's got a breather, I can go back to hating you again. No smoke bombs in the dorm room though."

"Fair enough," Evie said with a small smile. "So...while I have you, think I could give you a fitting for your Cotillion dress?"

Uma sighed. "If anyone other than Mal walks in and sees me in that, you'll be dodging smoke bombs the minute Cotillion ends until we graduate Auradon Prep," she threatened.

"I'll lock the door," Evie promised. "Mal gave me your measurements so the dress should fit but I just want to make sure it's comfortable. It'd be bad if you couldn't breathe in it considering Cotillion's a few hours and all. I've also got a suit made for Harry and Jay, and Carlos."

"...you have been sleeping right?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"Mainly because I think this is the first time in a while I've seen you in the dorm," Uma said as she began to get undressed. Being a pirate, she wasn't exactly shy with shedding her clothes in front of others. Hell they had to do that every time they got injured in a face off after all. No sense in getting blood stains on their clothing unnecessarily after all.

Besides, Blue—Evie was another girl. There was nothing Uma had that Evie hadn't already seen on her own body.

"I've been sleeping," Evie promised her as Uma slipped into the dress. "I mainly sleep over at my dad's on the weekends now though. Or at least in his hospital room while he waited to get discharged. Otherwise I'll crash at Snow White's castle or I'll slip in here after you and Mal have gone to bed."

Uma couldn't help the small frown that appeared on her face at that. While she wouldn't be close friends with Blue—Evie, she didn't want to chase the girl from her own room.

Or at least, she didn't want it to seem like she was chasing the girl from her own room. Hey, she was a pirate after all. They were loathed to give up territory willingly.

"How's it look?" Evie asked as she zipped up Uma and held up a full length mirror so that Uma could see all of the dress. Uma could only stare in shock as she saw the dress—the sketch had not done it justice. It was something that Uma could admit. Evie had a gift when it came to designing clothes.

Her hair didn't clash with the dress in the slightest and the gold and silver netting in the skirt honestly seemed to shimmer like mermaid scales rather than look trashy.

"...is it safe to assume there are shoes to go along with this?" Uma asked as she looked at Evie.

Evie grinned. "So it fits alright? You can breathe and everything?"

"Evie, I'm going to be completely honest here. I know absolutely nothing about clothing but this actually feels like a second skin," Uma told her. "It's not constricting in the slightest. If I needed to have a sword fight while wearing this thing, I wouldn't risk injury."

"Good! Well not good if you'd need to have a sword fight but I know Mal," Evie stated. "Something loose and not as constricting as a traditional Auradon dress is more her style and I figured that'd be more your style too. If you want, for your accessory, you could do the tri-cornered hat I found in the wardrobe."

"Hey, I was wondering where my hat went to," Uma grinned. "I thought Estelle stole it."

Evie chuckled. "Nope, it was in the wardrobe. Actually, it was on the floor near the back. Almost like it'd fallen off a hook when someone was grabbing something."

Hmm, that might have been me actually. I thought I knocked something down when I grabbed Mali's jacket but I never stopped to see what it was, Uma thought as Evie went to grab the hat. Dusting it off, Evie handed it to Uma who gently put it on her head.

"You know...I've always wondered if we couldn't dye it teal," Uma said softly. "Mal's got one we managed to dye purple over at Tremaine's shop for her birthday but I think it's still at her dad's."

"If...if you want, I could see if it's possible," Evie offered. "I don't see why it wouldn't be."

Uma paused and looked over at Evie. "Why would you do that for me after how horrible I've been to you?"

"Because that's in the past," Evie shrugged. "Besides, you, me, and Mal are the only three VK girls here. Like she told me after the Championship Tourney game all those months ago, there's safety in numbers. Besides...you're still a Godling. I'd rather not anger Olympus thank you."

Uma shook her head. "Olympus doesn't care about the VK Godlings. You wouldn't have to worry about that. However...you might have a point about safety in numbers. The goal's to bring more VKs over, we already sent the applications for them to fill out but while we wait..."

"More VKs are coming?" Evie asked.

"Yeah," Uma nodded. "Hadie suggested we bring Dizzy so don't worry. I know you were going to ask about her."

Everyone and their mother knew how close Evie was to the Tremaine brat. The only reason she was under the crew's protection was because she was also friendly with Hadie and Celia. Plus she was Celia's cousin.

"But...if there are applications, there won't be a guarantee Dizzy will be one of the ones selected," Evie said softly.

"Honestly Princess, we're giving the applications to the cheer squad to review," Uma told her. "And who do we know who's a VK on the cheer squad?"

Evie paused and looked over at Uma. Somehow, the nickname 'Princess' seemed less demeaning coming from her now than it had been back on the Isle. "You're not suggesting I bias the cheer team into picking Dizzy are you?"

"Well considering Charming probably won't be a factor since he's an on again, off again prat and Jay and Carlos won't be deciding since they were in the meeting, you're the only one who can be there and not make it seem like you're tainting the selection pool," Uma stated. "But you know, if you wanted to..."

"I'd make sure Celia got in," Evie said softly.

"How'd you—?"

"Mal told me about your family," Evie said with a small shrug as she fluffed out the skirt of the dress. "But no matter what, I'd make sure the young kids got selected Uma. Besides, other than Dizzy, I don't really have any allies back on the Isle. Most of the girls hated me because I was a flirt and most of the guys dropped me after I got what I wanted from them."

Uma nodded, neither girl noticing Mal slip into the room. Nor did they notice her pull out her phone and take a photo.

"Mal!"

Apparently they did notice the flash from the photo once the photo was taken however.

"Yes?" Mal asked but neither blue haired girl bought the faux innocent tone to her words.

"Delete that," Uma growled.

"Honestly Uma, I just took it to send to mom," Mal shrugged. "Uncle Poseidon wanted a recent photo of you and she realized she didn't have one to give him."

"If Grandfather wants a photo of me, then it will be one where I don't look like a prissy princess!" Uma vowed. "Honestly, why does he even want a photo of me?"

"Because you're his granddaughter," Mal shrugged. "Speaking of which, are you going to meet Odie?"

Uma sighed. "I'll think about it. Maybe after Cotillion. The woman's ancient after all and it couldn't hurt to meet her. At the same time..."

"I know," Mal said gently. "But Uma, you're one of the few of us who can meet both of your grandparents. Mom's still not sure if she wants me to meet Demeter and you know the whole deal with Kronos."

"Oh yeah," Uma nodded. "I think Uncle Hades would die before he let you get near Kronos. Well if Zeus hadn't defeated him that is."

"Probably the only good thing Zeus ever did," Mal nodded. "The hat looks good with your dress."

"Thanks," Uma smiled slightly.

"Harry'll probably faint when he sees you," Mal added, a smirk growing on her lips.

"Why would he do that?" Uma scoffed.

"Because he's in love with you," Evie stated, cleaning up slightly. "Everyone with eyes can see it."

Mal chuckled at Uma's stunned look. "I've corrupted you well, Evie."

"He's not in love with me!"

"Honestly Uma, when are you going to leave your denial?"

"I'm not in denial!"

"Whatever you say cuz."

"Mal!"

Lonnie grinned as she shoved her long hair under the mask used by the R.O.A.R team. This was it. This was the day she was finally going to try out for the team. She'd trained nonstop, with Mal. With Uma. Hell sometimes with Harry and Gil but she was finally ready.

Or maybe it was better to say that she felt she was finally ready. Mal had been saying she'd been ready for months.

There's a pressure though, being Mulan's daughter, Lonnie thought. You've got to be flawless with the athletics otherwise people think you're a disappointment. Never mind the fact that my mom loves to bake cookies when I'm feeling down as well as spar with my dad. As long as I'm happy, mom doesn't really care if it's 'girly' or if it's 'athletic'.

But that didn't matter anymore. She was going to try out and she was going to get a spot. There was nothing in the rule book that said women couldn't try out after all. All it said was that a team must comprise of a captain and eight men. Unless you wanted to be a real jerk, there was no way that could apply to women. Nowadays, when people saw the word 'men', they just thought 'humans'.

Though really, if Hyllus, Macaria, or Mal wanted to try out for R.O.A.R., Lonnie was sure no one was really going to argue against that.

"Assembler. Salute. Lower the point. Masks down. En garde."

She lingered in the shadows as Jay started practice. Granted, she was probably pushing her luck trying out with like two weeks to go until Cotillion but she figured Jay would have enough on his mind that he'd be happy to not have to deal with official trials to fill Ben's spot since he had to drop to deal with his kingly duties.

Quickly jumping into the fray as Carlos flipped away, Lonnie grinned as all thought seemed to leave her mind. All that mattered was her and Jay—and winning. But that went without saying anything. After all, if she lost against Jay then there'd be no chance of her getting on the team.

Jay was the captain after all. He was the best. You want to be the best, you gotta beat the best.

Apparently Jay thought so too as he took his mask off and tossed it to the side. Lonnie didn't know if it was a challenge or not but what she did know was that she wasn't ready for everyone to know it was her under the mask. Not until she knew she'd won.

"Kick his butt Jay!" Lonnie heard Carlos exclaim and she realized that the rest of the team had stopped practice just to watch them spar. Jay had dodged a kick from Lonnie and flipped to avoid another attack, staying low to the ground as if to attack at her legs.

"It's practice," Jay warned, as if Lonnie needed to pull her punches. She knew it was practice. She also knew that she'd have to go twice as hard in order to win in competition if she got on the team.

"Come on Jay, you can't seriously need this Boreadon boy to pull his punches do you?" Carlos chuckled. Lonnie would have been offended if she didn't know all the other VKs still called Auradon 'Boreadon' on occasion. She had to agree—as much as she loved her home, there was no denying that it had been almost downright dull until the VKs came.

"You know, one of these days you're going to find someone who isn't as cool with you continuing to call Auradon 'Boreadon'," Emir told him.

"Spend sixteen years on the Isle and then spend six months here and see how quickly sayings and nicknames still slip out of your mouth," Carlos shook his head.

"He's got a point," Akiho nodded.

"Besides, I want to see Jay lose to the new guy," Carlos said, turning his attention back to the match.

So you think I'm a boy, huh Carlos? Lonnie thought with an inward smirk as she lunged, knocking Jay's sword out of his hand with her foot.

"Oh what happened Jay?" Carlos taunted with a chuckle.

"I don't think you've had your sword taken from you since you were what? Ten?" Harry chuckled from his spot on the balcony.

"If the peanut gallery could kindly shut their pie holes!" Jay snapped. "That was a nice attack," he told Lonnie.

"Ignore him Harry, he's just testy because he's losing for the first time in I think months," Carlos shook his head.

Well at least he's an equal opportunity taunter, she thought but then shook her head slightly. She needed to stay focused, needed to keep her head in the game. If she lost focus, then she'd lose the match.

"Finish him!" Chad called and Lonnie smirked slightly. Was that to me to finish off Jay or were you hoping Jay would somehow beat me without his sword? And I really need to stay focused.

Okay so apparently telling yourself to stay focused isn't really being focused, she thought as Jay was able to reclaim his sword. It was clear that he and Lonnie were equally matched. If this went any further, all that would happen was that one of them would risk injury. And honestly as much as she wanted to be on the team, she didn't want to miss out on Cotillion either.

Grabbing Jay's sword, Lonnie did a quick flip before taking off her mask; her hair cascading out like a curtain.

"It's Lonnie!" Evie gasped from her spot on the balcony with the other cheerleaders.

"Who else did you think it was? Mal? Too tall to be her plus she's standing right next to you!" Lonnie heard Uma scoff good-naturedly from her spot next to Harry and gave the Godling a small smile.

"You were good," Jay told her, pulling her attention back down to the ground.

"You should put me on the team," she told him, handing him back his sword.

"I like her!" Harry called out before Uma smacked him on the shoulder. Jay shook his head as he looked back at Lonnie but before he could say anything, Chad came rushing up to him.

"You can't be serious. We'll be the laughingstock of the league! And what'll happen next? We'll have girls playing Tourney? Come on guys!"

"Well I mean, you're on the team Charming so if anything you'd be less of a laughingstock," Harry called. Yes he knew Chad had a hypnosis on him but as long as he was in denial, Harry wasn't going to go out of his way to be nice to the pampered prince.

Plus Lonnie just kicked Jay's ass. She earned her spot and he knew it. If Jay listened to Charming over logic, well then Harry would just have to put him through his paces again just like he did when they were kids!

"So? What's wrong with girls playing Tourney or even coming on the team here?" Jay asked Chad, turning to him.

Chad ignored Harry and pulled a well used rule book out of his back pocket. "So? So? Have you not read the rule book? Section two, paragraph three, eleven dash four. 'A team shall comprise of a captain and eight men.' Hmm? You should read the rule book."

"I did," Lonnie said, her voice flat. "Only someone trapped in the fourteen hundreds would think that meant women couldn't take part in R.O.A.R. Besides, you're down a man ever since Ben had to leave to do all that king stuff."

"Can we use that when talking to him?" Akiho asked.

"I kinda figured you would regardless," Lonnie shrugged and the two boys grinned.

Chad shook his head. "Exactly Lonnie. You just made my point. We're down a man."

"Okay," Harry's voice broke through and everyone looked to see him make his way toward them. When he had left the balcony, Lonnie wasn't entirely sure. "Charming, you really want a man instead of Lonnie? Put me in her place. I can guarantee you won't want me on the team with you."

Jay snorted in amusement but sobered up as Harry turned to Jay. "The only reason I'm down here instead of Uma or Mal is because DeVil's lass is currently trying to prevent both of them from murdering you for even entertaining this idiot's words. If we were on the Isle, you wouldn't be turning away a good swordsperson just because they were a girl and not a guy. Bonny, Sammy, and Harriet would definitely disagree with you."

"If I could maybe get a word in?" Jay asked.

"Depends. Are you going to be an idiot?"

Jay shook his head and patted Harry on the shoulder as he turned to the team. "I come from the Isle. Like Harry said, things are kinda whack over there."

"That's an understatement Jayden!"

"Full name? Really Malinda?!"

"When you're being an idiot, I don't see why not!"

Jay shook his head in amusement once more. "Anyway, there's one thing the Isle does have on Auradon. If you're strong, we want you on our side. Boy or girl. If the coach doesn't have a problem with it, I have no issue with bringing Lonnie on board. You all took a chance on me and Carlos back during the Tourney season and I'm sure there was probably a rule about VKs trying out."

"Why would there be? There'd never been a VK to try out," Chad pointed out.

"Exactly," Jay told him. "But if you truly have an issue Chad, we could always have Coach have a parent conference with Mulan and your mom...?"

A few of the other team members burst out laughing at the image of Mulan chewing out Chad as the Charmington heir flushed in embarrassment.

"Alright, alright," Jay shook his head. "Back to practice you lot. Harry, back to the balcony with you. Lonnie, if you want to stay and practice with the rest of us, I'll partner with you."

"Sounds good Jay," Lonnie grinned as they quickly got back to work. In all honesty though practice seemed to go by faster than Lonnie thought it would. It didn't matter though. Lonnie felt like she was on cloud nine. She'd done it! She'd made the team!

She couldn't wait to tell her brother! She couldn't wait to tell her mom!

"Lonnie!"

Lonnie turned as she grabbed her duffel to see Jay running up to her.

"Hey," she said with a small smile.

"Hey, I just wanted to say good job today," Jay told her. "It's been a long time since someone stole my sword during a sparring match. I have a feeling that Harry's going to be giving me some ribbing for a couple of weeks."

"Well you got comfortable then," Lonnie shrugged. "You always spar with Carlos in practice and then you always spar with Harry when you're in here on your own. Either Harry or Mal or Uma. Uncle Yao always told me you need to mix it up when you spar otherwise you get complacent. But something tells me it won't take you too long before you have me on the fence. There were a couple of times that match you almost had me."

Jay gave her a small grin. "Yeah...oh! I wanted to apologize for Chad."

"I've known Chad practically all my life. I know he's an idiot."

"True but you shouldn't have to deal with that coming from your teammate. I guess I got distracted being captain there rather than doing what made sense."

Lonnie shrugged again as she brought her dufflebag over her shoulder. "That's alright. You can take me to Cotillion to make it up to me."

Before Jay could say anything, Lonnie walked out of the gym. Just as she turned the corner, she realized what she'd just said.

"Oh Gods!" Lonnie muttered. "I mean, what if he already has a date? Or what if he didn't want to go with anyone? Or what if he was going to go with a group of friends or something I just—?"

"Lonnie!"

Lonnie turned around to see Jay running after her.

Second time today, a girl could get used to this, she thought as Jay caught up to her.

"What time?"

"Huh?"

Jay chuckled at her dumbfounded look, clearly having not expected his question. "What time do you want me to pick you up? And are you alright with Uma, Harry, Carlos, and Jane tagging along?"

"Of course," Lonnie nodded, a smile pulling at her lips. "And does six work?"

"Six works perfectly. That was actually the time Jane needed to leave to make sure everything was set up alright anyway," Jay told her. "You can celebrate getting on the team in style."

"Coach could always say no," Lonnie pointed out. Plus Cotillion was a couple of weeks away after all.

"Between Ben storming down to his office to yell at him if that happens, Mal storming down to his office to yell at him if that happens, your mom storming down to his office to yell at him if that happens and me storming down to his office to yell at him if that happens, Coach isn't going to risk it," Jay told her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go hide from Harry. He's still mid rant about why I was an idiot for even thinking about listening to Chad."

"Jay!"

"Gotta run!" Jay chuckled and Lonnie shook her head in amusement as Jay ran off only to have Harry walk up.

"Jay was here?"

"Just missed him," Lonnie told the pirate.

Harry shook his head. "Gods, clearly the boy was not thinking when he considered listening to Charming of all people. I mean, Mal and Uma have kicked his butt more times than he can count with a sword. You don't discount a fighter when they're good just because they're a girl!"

"Harry, it's alright," Lonnie said but she was touched by the boy's concern. "I got on the team and Jay apologized for being an idiot. That's all that matters really."

"If you're sure?"

Lonnie nodded. "Hey, why didn't you try out? I'm sure being raised as a pirate, you're pretty handy with a sword."

"Out of respect to you, since you're Benny's friend, I won't make the easy sword handling joke," Harry chuckled. "But also of course I'm good with a sword. On the Isle, if you weren't good with a sword, you didn't live long. But R.O.A.R's got too many rules that I'd never do well with."

"Pirates don't like to be contained sort of thing?"

"More like you gotta be ready to do anything to survive a fight," Harry stated. "When we were kids, Mal, Uma, Jay, and I had bags of smoke bombs stashed in barrels all over our territory. Just in case we ever got cornered and needed to make an escape. Something tells me that wouldn't fly here. Or kicking someone in the shins."

"You did see me kick the sword out of Jay's hands right?"

"That's a good point," Harry nodded. "But if I joined, I wouldn't have any time to spar with Uma."

Lonnie couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her lips at that. It was obvious that the first mate had feelings for the squidling. She wasn't sure why they insisted on being in denial but it sure was frustrating—and it was probably worse for Jay and Mal since they knew them so well.

"Hey Harry?"

"Yeah Lonnie?"

"Thanks for coming to my defense back there," she told him.

Harry gave her a small smile of his own. "Like I said, if Jay's going to be an idiot, I'm going to call him out on it. He's been my friend since I was five and he was six respectively. You don't have a friendship like that without gaining the ability to tell the other person when they're being moronic."

"I know that well," Lonnie nodded. She was after all friends with Ben. The number of times she had to drag him out of his office before the VKs came was far too many for her liking. On top of that, Jordan was never shy in telling someone when they were being particularly dense.

"I'm sure you do, dealing with Charming all the time," Harry chuckled. "Well lass, I hate to leave a gorgeous girl like yourself by her lonesome but I have to go and hunt down Jay to make sure he understands the level of stupidity he almost hit today. I mean, my Gods. Gil might have been smarter!"

"I can take care of myself Harry," Lonnie chuckled. "But I appreciate the offer."

She might never know why Harry hated the son of Gaston but she knew it wasn't really the time to ask.

Harry nodded and ran off. Lonnie shook her head as, just as the pirate rounded the corner, Mal and Uma walked up to her.

"Do I just have a sign on me that is a beacon to the VKs?" Lonnie asked with a chuckle.

"Huh?"

"Jay and Harry were just here," she explained.

"We know. We saw," Uma stated.

"We wanted to give you guys space in case Jay tried to backpedal on his invite for you to join the team," Mal told her. "If that was the case, Uma here would have had to hold me back as I would have killed him."

"Oh no, it was nothing like that," Lonnie said and bit her lip. "Jay...he was just confirming what time he'd pick me up for Cotillion."

"As one does," Mal nodded but Uma paused.

"Wait...I thought Jay was going alone?"

"I...might have asked him to go to Cotillion with me. As a way to make up for being an idiot and almost listening to Chad," Lonnie explained.

She had expected gasps. She had expected squeals. She had not expected Mal to turn to Uma with an outstretched palm and say 'pay up."

"Wait, you bet on me?" Lonnie asked as Uma fished out some cash from her pocket.

"We bet to see which one of you would ask the other one to Cotillion," Mal stated and grinned as Uma slapped the cash into her hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"You didn't cheat and conscript Aphrodite did you?"

"Of course not! I've just known Lonnie longer than you have."

"A month! You've known her a month longer than I have!"

"And clearly that month matters," Mal chuckled and then turned to Lonnie. "Good job today. Now...what took you so freaking long? You know how many days I've asked Jay about practice only to find out nothing happened?"

Lonnie chuckled. "I know, I know. I kept you on tenterhooks. I just wanted to feel ready before I did it."

"You were ready after a month of us training you."

"Yeah I had the skills...but I didn't feel ready. Does that make sense?"

To her surprise, it was Uma who nodded. "Even after months of Harry training me on swords, I didn't truly feel ready to lead our crew until we bested Freddy in our first fight. Sometimes it's less objective and more subjective."

"I can't believe there was a time you didn't feel ready to lead the crew," Mal shook her head. "You've been leading us since I can remember."

"You and Harry are not a crew of nineteen, some of whom are older kids who might not handle being ordered by a younger kid."

"When it's a bunch of pirates' kids and you're the granddaughter of the God of the Ocean...?"

"...you may have a point there," Uma nodded and Lonnie chuckled at their antics.

"So Lonnie, we were going to go and get dinner. Wanna join?" Mal asked.

Lonnie shook her head. "I'd love to but I probably smell worse than Emir's gym bag right now. Let me go and shower up and then I'll join you guys."

"You know we usually don't mind...hang on! I have a spell for that!" Mal grinned.

"You do?"

"When you guys first came to Auradon, Jay, Carlos and Akiho all rank to high heavens because they'd just come from practice and we were going to go and get food," Mal explained to Uma. "Let's see...how did that spell go again? Oh right"

She pointed her pointer finger at Lonnie and said, "beware, forswear, make the stench disappear!"

Lonnie chuckled as the sweat and grime from practice seemed to vanish almost instantly and Mal grinned.

"Seriously need to remember that one," she said as the three of them started to make their way down to dinner, Jane and Evie quickly joining them along the way.

Ryan tightened his belt as he left the crew's quarters and started to make his way down the gangplank. The food barge had just arrived, meaning they were likely to have a doozy of a time cleaning up the trampled bodies that were a usual side effect.

Lately, though, the crowds have been bigger and bigger. Ever since that old bat had come to the Isle. It was as if the residents were expecting a change in the food quality.

Ryan wasn't exactly sure why they were expecting that. Twenty plus years hadn't changed anything about the food they ate, why would a new resident? But then again, there hadn't been a new resident in over twenty years with the exception of the babies born on the Isle.

Though Mal had been working hard to try get some decent food sent over to the Isle. Mal and Uma both in fact, from what they told the crew the last time they were over on the Isle.

"Hey, fair warning, it looks like it's a bad one," Nick warned him as they made their way to the barge. "Gods, how many people showed up this time?"

"It looks like a third of the Isle," Ryan sighed, though he knew realistically it probably was a lot less than that. "The hyenas are going to eat well tonight, that's for sure."

"Hell, the lions and Shere Khan, his girlfriend and son might eat well tonight as well," Jake nodded. "I don't think there are enough hyenas to eat all of these people before they start decaying."

"And on that morbid note, let's get started," Henry told them. "I'll talk to the barge attendants, see if there was any trouble. Well, besides the usual mess. You lot start clearing the bodies. Remember—."

"Our people and anyone twelve and under get a pirate burial. Everyone else is fair game for the hyenas," Derek nodded.

"I think I've given that order too many times," Henry shook his head, his red hair flopping into his blue eyes.

"It's the life of the Isle," Nick shrugged and the three boys split off to look over the bodies of the people who had simply wanted a chance to secure a month of decent food; Jake and Dustin going off in another direction in order to save time. Never before had it sunk in just how lucky Ryan was as when he had to clean up the barge after a delivery.

He was a Rat. He had the ability to access Lord Hades restaurant or Ursula's if for some reason he was bored with the Greek food. The other gangs didn't have that, and the Gods forbid you were a gang less guy or girl on the Isle...

Ryan paused as he came across a familiar teal blue coat, one that had been formerly Uma's before she outgrew it and added it to the storage pile in case they got any new girls to their crew. No...she'd been so certain she'd be fine. That she'd be able to weave in and out of the mob, that she wouldn't have been touched.

"Kristy?" Ryan whispered as he ran over to her, kneeling down by her body. "Kristy, come on. Stop playing around! You've got to wake up!"

He knew Nick, Derek, Jake and Henry were probably looking at him. He knew the hyenas were probably waiting for them to clear out so they could eat. But Ryan didn't care. All he knew was he held his little sister in his arms, her tiny body broken beyond almost all recognition. And she wasn't waking up.

"Come on! Kristy, come on! Please! Wake up!" Ryan urged, shaking Kristy a little in his quest to get his little sister to open her eyes. To give him a playful little smirk at the realization that he'd been worried about her. Yeah he'd be mad at her for a second for playing a prank like that but it wouldn't matter because she'd be alive.

Minutes passed and her eyes didn't move. Her lungs didn't fill with air and Ryan's ears didn't hear the melodious sound of her laugh. The sound that came from Ryan's lips as he realized his sister wasn't waking up couldn't exactly be described as human.

"WAKE UP! KRISTY!" Ryan shouted, and Derek and Nick came running over. Tears prickled in Ryan's green eyes as he continued to shake and urge Kristy to wake up.

"Ryan, mate, you got to let her go. There's nothing you can do now. We'll take care of her," Derek said, keeping his voice low as to prevent anyone from overhearing. He wanted to give his friend privacy even if he was yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Get off me Derek," Ryan snapped before turning back to the girl, his voice devolving back to the pained scream as he urged the girl to wake up. "KRISTY, PLEASE. YOU GOT TO WAKE UP!"

Henry sighed as he quickly made his way over from the barge, more than a little concerned for his best friend. As gently as he could, he started to pry Ryan's grip from the dead girl.

"HENRY, DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Ryan exclaimed, struggling against Derek and Nick's grip. "SHE'S NOT DEAD! KRISTY!"

The pain in Ryan's voice would be a sound Henry would never be able to get out of his head, no matter how hard he tried.

"She's de—."

"SHE'S NOT DEAD! SHE CAN'T BE!" Ryan shouted, wrenching his shoulder from Derek's grasp as he continued to shake Kristy, her body flopping like a rag doll in his grip. "KRISTINE! WAKE UP!"

"Ry, we've...we've got to. Come on, it's okay. I'll make sure she's taken care of," Henry said softly as he looked over at Derek in concern. Their best friend seemed to be completely beyond reason at this point. "She's go—."

"SHE'S. NOT. GONE! SHE'S JUST SLEEPING OR PULLING A PRANK OR SOMETHING!" Ryan shouted, but as his little sister continued to remain motionless, something in him snapped. It was as if part of his brain finally accepted it even as the other part valiantly fought to deny his reality. He slumped forward and Nick and Derek caught him before he landed in the pile of bodies that surrounded them.

"Derek, Nick, get him out of here," Henry said, making sure the order was as gentle yet as firm as he possibly could. "Jake, Dustin and I can finish up here."

"Guys, no. Don't, I'm fine," Ryan said softly as Derek started to lead him back to the ship. "Guys, seriously. Guys, get...GET OFF ME! NO! HENRY, DON'T YOU TOUCH HER! SHE'S NOT DEAD! GUYS!"

"Gods, I don't know who this girl is but if CJ catches him carrying on like this, she'll be jealous for sure," Nick muttered to Derek.

"If my hands weren't full making sure my best mate didn't run back there, I'd hit you," Derek said shortly. Ryan was scrambling against their grip, acting almost like a determined badger than a fourteen year old boy. It was clear that the girl had meant something to their friend and Derek wasn't going to let anyone in the crew taint her memory for Ryan.

They made their way back to the ship and CJ scurried over to them, concern evident in her eyes.

"What happened?" She asked, looking at Derek. "Harriet said there was a stampede at the barge but she didn't give any details."

"Let me get Ryan to the crew's quarters and I'll fill you in then," Derek promised.

"Do the Captain's quarters," Harriet said as she walked up. "Henry won't mind and something's clearly bothering Ryan. The crew's quarters aren't the best for privacy and the Captain's quarters has a door that locks."

Derek nodded and the four of them made their way to the Captain's quarters. Mal and Uma had taken up lodging here when they weren't spending the night in their clubhouse or with their parents. After Uma left to go to Auradon, Henry had reluctantly taken up lodging to free up a mattress in the crew's quarters.

But nine times out of ten, the quarters remained empty as Henry spent the night with the crew in their quarters. After all, as he liked to say, he was only the acting Captain.

"Ry, it's okay," CJ said softly as they led Ryan to one of the two beds. Tears spilled silently from Ryan's face as he shook his head, wiping fiercely at his cheeks as if to deny the existence of the tears. His...his sister...his baby sister...she was gone. If only he hadn't wasted so much time in asking Henry if she could join the crew...

He hadn't planned on asking him, not until she was thirteen. A pirate's life wasn't the best and she was still an innocent beam of sunshine. The Isle hadn't squashed that love of life from her yet.

And then this morning...Gods, this morning...

"What do you mean you have a new ally?" Ryan asked as he turned to look at his sister.

"Exactly that," Kristy nodded. "I'm just like you now Ry! I've got my own crew!"

Ryan shook his head. His sister was rather sheltered for someone from the Isle, he had made it so she didn't have to deal with the nastiness that the crew dealt with.

"Ryan!"

"Be there in a minute Derek!" Ryan called back. Despite the fact that he often slept on the ship, there were days when he spent the night with his dad and sister. He didn't avoid his home because he had a bad relationship with either of them, but because it might put a target on Kristy if anyone knew he was connected to her.

"He's not that bad Ryan," Kristy told him. "You should at least meet him."

"What's he look like? I might have already done that," Ryan said.

"Tall, black hair, grey eyes—."

"Freddy?!" Ryan exclaimed, turning and looking directly at Kristy. "Your ally is Freddy Frollo?!"

Kristy rolled her eyes. "I know you have your issues with him but really, he's not that bad. He suggested I make the run to get food from the barge this month rather than you since you do so much for the family."

"Kristy, you stay away from him! Freddy is nothing but trouble!" Ryan snapped. Oh it was a good thing she'd be getting off of the Isle, he'd already made plans to get her application sent in with the rest of them.

"I'm twelve, not two! You can't tell me who I can or can't talk to!" Kristy snapped back at him. "I can't believe you Ryan! You always come here, complaining when the crew treats you like a child and now you're doing the same thing to me!"

"I'm just trying to protect you!"

"Well stop! I don't need your protection!" Kristy told him. "I'm going to the barge and I'll get the food. I'm smaller than you, I'll be able to weave in and out of the mob."

Before Ryan could say anything, she stormed out of the house. Shaking his head in frustration, Ryan walked out to meet Derek. The pair walked to the ship in silence, Derek looking at his friend in concern as Ryan fumed.

"Henry?" Ryan asked as he got onto the deck. "Can I have a word?"

"Of course."

"In...in private?" Ryan added. He was asking a lot sooner than he wanted but if Freddy was going after his sister, Ryan knew his plans meant nothing. His sister's safety was everything right now.

"Sure," Henry nodded, looking at Derek in slight confusion but the other boy could only shrug. The pair of them walked into the Captain's quarters and closed the door.

"What's up Ry?" Henry asked, turning to look at the smaller boy.

Ryan sighed. "I...I was wondering if we could bring a new member into the crew?"

"Depends on who it is," Henry stated. "This person wouldn't be the reason why you've been acting so odd now, is it?"

"You...you noticed that?"

"Ryan, you've been sneaking off the ship with food and taking clothes that in no way could fit you considering they're usually Uma's or Sammy's old things. I think even the Gaston twins would notice you're being strange."

Ryan sighed. He thought he'd been careful not to be noticed by anyone. CJ certainly hadn't said anything and she was one of his best friends.

"I...I have a little sister," Ryan said after a minute or two of silence. "She's twelve and I want to make sure she's safe and secure right now."

Henry shook his head. "Ryan, you know we always have room for new members. Especially if that new member is a sibling of an existing crew member. The Hook siblings are the best example of that. At some point I want to know why you felt the need to keep her a secret from us or how I didn't know about her before now but that doesn't matter right now. Go get her."

"Yes Henry," Ryan nodded. He had expected he'd have to explain his reasoning at some point but that didn't matter right now. He could keep Freddy from her.

A pounding on the door brought Ryan out of his thoughts and Henry quickly strode over and opened the door.

"Stampede at the barge," Derek said and Ryan felt his blood run cold. His sister was at the barge. She...she wouldn't be...no, she'd be fine.

She had to be.

CJ gently rubbed Ryan's back as he buried his face in her shoulder, desperately trying to keep the tears at bay despite the fact that they had already escaped his eyes and were flowing freely down his face.

"My fault...it's all my fault..." Ryan muttered, his voice so soft it was only audible to CJ.

"What was your fault?" CJ asked, holding him close to her.

"She's dead...she can't be dead though...I talked to her just an hour ago...she's probably going to come up the...the gangplank with Henry..."

CJ looked over at Derek, Nick, and Harriet in concern. "What's he talking about? Who's dead?"

"His sister," Henry said as he slipped into the quarters, having used the key he kept as acting Captain. He sat down on Ryan's other side and gently rested a hand on his shoulder.

"She's not...she was fine..."

"She's in the brig, ready for one of the girls to prep for burial," Henry said softly. "Ryan, I'm so sorry...she would have been a good crew member."

Ryan shook his head and bit his lip, as if trying to stay strong in front of the older boys in the crew. CJ continued to rub Ryan's back but sat in silence.

"I should have been there..." Ryan said softly. "I could have...I could have pulled her out of there..."

"Ryan, if you had been there, you might have gotten crushed too," Henry said, keeping his voice gentle. "You saw all the bodies that were out there."

Harriet shook her head. A good captain Henry might be but he clearly didn't know the right words to say to someone who was hurting. The last thing Ryan would have wanted would be thinking about his sister in the belly of a hyena or crushed by the feet of an older Isle dweller.

"Ryan, trust me," Harriet said softly as she knelt down in front of the younger boy, the same way she would have done for Harry or CJ. "I never met your sister but she wouldn't want you beating yourself up over this."

"We...we got into a fight," Ryan said, his voice still incredibly soft. "Before I got on the ship. And I'll...I'll never get to take those words back...never get to tell her I didn't mean them..."

"What were the words?" Nick asked.

"They don't matter," Derek said quickly. "Ryan, trust me. The words you told your sister don't matter. Your sister knows you cared for her and that you'd do anything to make sure she was safe."

"Clearly considering none of us knew she existed until now," Nick muttered and winced as Derek whacked him over the head.

"You've decided to take Dustin's role as prat today haven't you?" Derek shook his head and sighed as Ryan seemed to almost curl into a small ball; his arms wrapped around his knees and pulling them close to his body.

"Ryan, you can cry," Henry said softly. "You really think anyone here's going to judge you for that? You just found your sister's body, after she died in probably the most horrendous way possible."

"How old was she?" Harriet asked.

"Tw...twelve," Ryan told her, choking back a sob.

Harriet gave him a sad smile. "You don't have to be strong Ryan. Do you really think that if Sammy found Squeaky or Squirmy's bodies after a stampede at the barge that she'd be even able to form a complete sentence? Do you think that if anything happened to Harry or CJ that I wouldn't be tearing off the head of the person who hurt them? Do you think Uma wouldn't be sending tidal waves into the Isle if Celia got hurt? And you know Mal would be introducing the idiot who thought it was a good idea to hurt Hadie with a fireball without thinking."

Ryan shook his head again. You're not going to be weak, not in front of two captains...not in front of your best mates...you are a pirate of the Isle of the Lost, you do not cry...you cry, you die remember.

But try as he might, he just couldn't keep the tears at bay. He buried his face into his knees and his shoulders began to shake with silent sobs.

None of the other crew members said anything, Derek and Nick leaning against the door to prevent anyone else from barging in and to give Ryan as much privacy as possible. Henry rested a gentle hand on Ryan's back.

Let it out mate, he thought. I'm right here, it's alright. You're not weak. You're just a sibling, a grieving sibling.

The crew continued to remain silent, even as Ryan's sobs grew to be audible. They knew their crewmate and knew that Ryan would probably try to stop the sobs if they said anything. And bottling everything up wouldn't be healthy.

"You...you don't have to stay here," Ryan whispered, turning his head to look over at Henry.

"You really think I'm leaving you alone when you're upset?" Henry asked.

"You're acting Captain Henry, there's stuff that matters more than me—."

"Nothing that comes to mind," Henry told him and gently rubbed his back. Ryan was the closest thing that Henry had to a little brother and even if he wasn't, there was no way he'd leave him alone when he was upset like this.

Even if there was a part of him that yearned to check Dragon Hall to make sure Claudine was okay like he always did after a delivery, Ryan came first.

"He's right Ryan," Harriet nodded.

"You're both Captains—."

"I'm also an older sister," Harriet said. "Older sibling trumps Captain. Every time."

"And you're my best mate," CJ nodded. "I'm staying as long as you need me Ry. Wild seahorses couldn't drag me away."

"Don't look at me mate," Derek stated. "I'm staying no matter what."

"You...you all can't stay," Ryan whispered. "What if someone in the crew needs you?"

Nick shrugged. "They're all big boys and girls. But if it makes you feel better Ryan, I'll go and be acting First Mate or something."

"Sammy's out there and she's my First Mate," Harriet stated. "If anyone needs anything from one of us, she knows how to handle it."

"That's not fair to her though," Nick pointed out. "Especially if she's looking after her brothers too."

Harriet gave Nick a small smile. "If you're sure Nick..."

"I'm sure," Nick told her. He didn't really know what he was doing in there anyway. Henry was acting Captain and he and Derek were Ryan's best mates along side CJ. Plus there was the fact that everyone knew CJ and Ryan would end up together. And Harriet may not have been the closest to Ryan but she could provide some insight as an older sibling herself.

But what Nick could do would be to make sure no one bothered them. Give Ryan time to grieve in private.

"Is Ryan alright?" Jake asked as soon as Nick slipped out of the quarters and closed the door.

"How'd you—?"

"Bonny was in the crow's nest when you, Derek, and Ryan returned," Jake explained. "Everyone's concerned."

Nick sighed and turned to look at his best mate. "You know how Ryan's been sneaking off with food and clothing?"

"Yeah but I thought we were going to do an intervention with him on that?"

"There's...there's no need anymore. Turns out that was for his sister."

"Ryan's got a sister?"

Nick sighed and looked at the closed door of the Captain's Quarters. "Had a sister. She was at the barge today Jake."

"Oh Gods," Jake sighed.

"Read my mind there," Nick nodded. "He's really shook up Jake. Understandable of course but...I dunno. I've never seen him like this."

"The crew will be with him," Jake promised. "Come on, let's let the others know. That way, Ryan doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to."

Nick nodded and the two of them scurried off to talk to the rest of the crew. They'd make sure Ryan was taken care of.

The Rats looked after their own after all.

Mal sighed as she looked at the letter in her hands. It was the first time someone on her crew had reached out to her now that she was in Auradon but she knew the handwriting well. The letter had come in from the goblins from Henry.

She had to wonder if there'd been a request for the letter to be expedited considering how quickly it had arrived.

Mal,

I'm sorry I have to write this but I can't think of anything else. There was a bad stampede at the barge a week ago. I know we're used to stampedes at the delivery barges but this one seemed to be even worse than normal. Let's just say the hyenas ate well that day. As did the lions and tigers, we're assuming. Little did we know that Ryan's sister was at the barge. She...Mal, she didn't make it. Ryan's had a rough time of it, understandably so. I know it's only been a week but I'm worried about him. So's CJ.

I'd hate for you to come here but you might be the only one he'll listen to. Mal...I'm really worried. He's gone really quiet and he doesn't talk to anyone except for maybe CJ...and he doesn't spar with anyone. In fact, I don't think he's left the crew's quarters except to eat and relieve himself.

Even if it's just for an hour, you might be able to get through to him when we could not.

-Henry

"Everything okay?" Ben asked as he knocked on the doorframe to her room.

"No," Mal sighed and shook her head. She'd wonder what he was doing there at a later date. For now she was just happy he was there.

"What's wrong?"

"You remember Ryan? The boy you met when you came down to the Isle with us?"

"Brown hair, green eyes, red shirt?" Ben asked as he walked in. "Yeah I remember."

"He lost his sister in a stampede at the food delivery barge last week," Mal sighed softly. "None of us even knew he had a sister though we suspected something. He'd sneak off the ship with food or sometimes even clothing that we kept on board in case we had any new members or a gangless kid needed some help."

Ben didn't say anything but just sat down next to her, gently rubbing Mal's back. "I thought things were doing better on the Isle?"

"They are," Mal nodded. "But people must not trust the food barges will stay as good as they've been or something. People getting crushed on the food delivery day isn't anything new, but it's the first time any of the crew had an ally be affected. For it to be family..."

"You should go to him," Ben said softly.

"Ben, I can't just drop everything and go to the Isle," Mal sighed. "As much as I want to help Ryan, we're coming down to the wire with Cotillion. It's next week! What if someone needs me?"

"Jane can handle stuff for a couple of hours," Ben said gently. "Right now, Ryan needs a friendly face. A different friendly face since I'm sure Henry and the others are pretty friendly to Ryan right now."

Mal nodded though she bit her lip in thought. It would be a good idea, the more she thought about it. She was one of the Captains after all, and if there was anyone who could help Ryan it'd be her. Who better than the daughter of the God of the Dead after all?

"Alright," Mal said softly. "Besides, from Henry's note, Ryan's in a bad place. He's not even sparring with CJ of all people and those two are usually sparring partners."

"Well then let's go," Ben said. "Give me five minutes to grab—."

"Ben, no! You're the King, you can't go galavanting to the Isle every time something happens," Mal stated as she stood up.

"Mal, Ryan's your friend," Ben said. "Why wouldn't I want to be there to help you if I can?"

"You did hear me say that you're the King?"

"What good is being King if I can't help people who need it?"

"And if someone on the Isle captures you because they realize who you are? Ben, the last thing I want is for you to get hurt!"

Ben sighed and sat down on the edge of Mal's bed. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. Mal, I've been in Ryan's place. Maybe not exactly the same but I do know what it feels like to lose a sister."

It was Mal's turn to sigh as she sat down next to Ben, gently resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know I was only three when it happened, but I still miss her," Ben whispered. "The one thing I think that'll always hurt the most, now that I'm older and can really process it, is not being able to get to say goodbye..."

Mal paused as an idea began to form in her head. Say goodbye... she might be able to help with that. Or at the very least she knew a guy who could help with that. She'd have to ask him but her dad was usually okay with helping out the kids of her crew if he could. Though...this might be where he drew the line.

"Get your jacket Ben," she said softly and Ben looked over at her.

"I'm coming?"

"Well I wouldn't want you to wear the jacket around Auradon after all," Mal chuckled as she stood up once again and put her jacket on. Ben smiled slightly and kissed her forehead before rushing out to grab his Isle jacket and beanie. At some point he knew he wouldn't be able to rush off to the Isle but if he could do it now, he'd be happy to.

"Where are you rushing off to?" Akiho asked as Ben burst into his dorm.

"Why are you in here?"

"Looking for you. This is your room isn't it?"

"Why are you looking for me?"

"Emir and I were going to ask if you wanted to play a pickup game of Tourney. The other guys are down for it and are down at the field."

Ben bit his lip as he slipped his jacket on. "Sorry dude, as much as I would love to do that, there's an Isle emergency—."

"You know, if you want to be alone with Mal, you can just say so," Akiho chuckled as he got up and clasped a hand on Ben's shoulder. "You don't have to come up with a code word to do so."

Ben shook his head. "Well I mean, I'll be with Mal but it truly is an Isle emergency."

"What happened?" Akiho asked, his tone growing serious as he looked over at Ben. There had never been a moment where Ben was more grateful that Akiho had grown close to the VKs as now. He explained everything that happened and Akiho nodded.

"I'll let Emir, Jay, and Carlos know," he said. "And Emma, just in the off chance something happens where we'll need the King. Now go!"

"Thanks dude," Ben nodded as he ran back to Mal's room. Meanwhile, Mal had already gotten changed into her Isle garb and was in the process of reaching out to her father to see about getting her idea underway.

Dad?

Yeah Mali?

You got a sec?

For you? Always. What's up?

Mal sighed. If I were to come by the Underworld with someone—

You know when I said you were grounded for going to the docks the last time you were here, I didn't mean you had to come back home, Hades told her. Besides, your mother has already been informed so she can monitor your grounding over there.

That's not why I'm asking, Mal said, rolling her eyes. Neither one of her parents had been particularly thrilled that she had gone to the ship even though she had been completely safe. Between the crew, Harry, Uma, and Ben, there was no way she could have drowned. Plus the last time Freddy had been able to go to the docks was when she was nine anyway.

The Rats enjoyed chasing him off and nine times out of ten, it resulted in a fight between the Rats and the Angels anyway.

Dad, I'm sure you know there was a bad stampede at the barge a week ago.

Oh yeah, we were busy weighing souls that day. Most of them went either to Tartarus or the Asphodel Meadows.

Did any go to Elysium?

I think a couple did...why do you want to know Mal?

Mal sighed once again before she answered. Henry reached out to me. Apparently...Ryan had a sister who got caught up in the melee. Do you remember if a young girl with the last name Williams went to Elysium?

Hades was silent and Mal knew it was a big ask. After all, it wasn't as if 'Williams' was that unique a last name.

Was the girl's first name Kristine?

I'm going to say 'yes' only because I don't truly know. Henry didn't say in his letter.

Since we're assuming this is Ryan's sister, you'll be happy to know that she did go to Elysium. But I don't know how much good that will do him Mal, if the grief is still fresh.

Ben...he said it might be a good thing if Ryan had the chance to say goodbye...

Mal...you know mortals can't stay in the Underworld proper for very long. The only reason your friends were able to stay the night in their guest rooms was because that was the living quarters.

I know dad, but even a half an hour with his sister would be better than nothing. Henry said Ryan's really down and I don't blame him. It couldn't be easy losing his sister.

Something tells me you're wanting more than just having me let your crew mate into Elysium...

...would Ben be able to join him too?

Why in the world would I—?

When Ben was three, Belle miscarried, Mal said quickly as if to stave off a lecture from her dad. Ben never really got to say goodbye, considering he was you know three. But he's done so much for me dad, and...what could it hurt? I don't exactly have any other friends who have dead loved ones.

Jay and Harry?

Jay's made peace with his mom's death, considering how many years it's been. As for Harry...I honestly think being here in Auradon has done more for him in terms of that than seeing his mother would. Besides, unlike Ryan's sister and Ben's sister, there's no guarantee Milah's in Elysium.

Oh she is.

She is?!

Her only true 'crime' in life, well besides being a shrew of a woman, was leaving her first husband for Hook. But she loved her children, anyone could see that. But that's neither here nor there. Mali, if you're serious about this, bring them. But they get a half an hour only. I'm not going to be the one who gets the King of Auradon stuck in the Underworld.

Deal dad...and hey, while they're in there, we can finally have some time together. Since I won't have to rush off.

That's music to every father's ears.

Mal grinned as she ended the chat just as Ben walked through her door.

"Ready?"

"Sure am," Mal nodded. The two of them scurried to the garage where they opted to share Ben's scooter rather than a limo. There was really no point considering it was just the two of them. Mal couldn't help but grin as they crossed over the bridge and hid the scooter.

Auradon was great after all...but the Isle would always be her home.

"Captain and Mitchell on the gangplank!" Bonny cried from the crows nest as Mal walked up.

"Mal!" Henry grinned, walking over to greet her. Unless Mal was mistaken, there was almost an air of relief in his smile.

"No scouting run this time?"

"Ryan comes first," Henry stated and Mal nodded.

"How is he?"

Henry sighed. "In all honesty...I've no idea. He won't talk to anyone Mal. Not even CJ. I know it's only been a week but if he's bottling it up, it's only going to explode out of him at some point."

Mal gave the older boy a small smile. "I know Henry. And I know the motto of the Isle is 'you cry you die', but that's never been the motto of this crew and I would hope it never would be."

"Not unless the crew's changed it without my knowledge," Henry said quickly.

"You cry you die?" Ben asked softy, looking at Mal. Mal shrugged.

"It's rougher for VKs here than it is in Auradon," Henry told him. "But you guys are probably on a time crunch. Ryan's in the crew's quarters."

Mal nodded and went to go into the crew's quarters. It was empty, which was normal for that time of day. The only lone person in there was the brown haired crew member she was looking for.

"Ry?" Mal asked, her voice soft as she sat down on the edge of the mattress.

"Mal?" Ryan asked in shock, his voice raspy as if he hadn't used it in a while. Then again, Mal thought, he probably hadn't. "What...what're you doing here?"

"Henry wrote me, said you were having a bad go of it after the stampede last week," Mal said gently, giving the younger boy a kind smile. "I wanted to come over and check on you."

Ryan sighed and rolled over onto his side. "I really just want to be alone Mal," he said softly.

"From what I've heard, you've been on your own all week," Mal stated. "I came all this way to be with you, I'm not going just because you tell me to."

Ryan shrugged. "Do what you want Mal. You're the Captain and the one dating the King."

"...you want me to have Mitchell come in here?" Mal offered, not exactly used to this almost sullen attitude from the normally bright and happy crew member. She remembered Ryan had liked Ben in the time they had interacted.

"No offense to the new guy Mal but there's no way he'll understand the roughness of the Isle since he's been living in Boreadon all this time," Ryan said with a small sigh.

Mal gave Ryan a small, sad smile. "I think he'll understand more than you think. But come on, I've got something I want to show you."

"What is it?" Ryan asked, not wanting to get up but knowing that when his captain was asking something, it usually wasn't a request.

"It's a surprise."

"Really? You're not even going to give me a hint?"

"That'll ruin the surprise," Mal told him as they made their way to the deck. "You'll like it though. Trust me."

"Uh huh. The last time someone on the Isle said that, it wasn't a nice surprise," Ryan muttered and Mal had to hold back a wince at the reminder. She hadn't even realized how similar her words had been to Scar's. Grabbing Ben, the three of them made their way to the Underworld in silence.

"Wait...Mal, am...am I in trouble?" Ryan asked as he realized where they were heading.

"What? Of course not," Mal shook her head.

"But, you don't normally take crew to the Underworld—."

"There's someone I think you need to talk to," Mal told him as they entered the Underworld. Hades walked over to them and handed Mal a golden necklace with an hourglass on it.

"Half an hour Mal," he said as a reminder. "Any more and they risk getting stuck there permanently."

"I know dad," Mal nodded.

"They?" Ben muttered.

"I need to talk to my dad but I was hoping you could stay there with Ryan," Mal muttered back to him. It was a partial lie of course. She did hope Ben would stay with Ryan.

Ben nodded and the three of them made their way to a golden door surrounded by green vines. Mal knew this door—it was the door to Elysium, where the souls of the good and pure belonged after their life string was cut by Atropos. Even if she hadn't checked with her dad, she knew a young girl on the Isle probably would have ended up here.

"Ryan?"

Ryan froze as a petite, brunette girl came running up to him. Even though she was transparent, he knew her hair was brown just as he knew her eyes were bright blue. He knew his sister.

"...Kristy?"

Mal couldn't help but give a small, sad smile at the sight. "I'll give you some privacy Ryan. Mitchell here will stay in case you need someone though. Thirty minutes."

"He'll be okay," Ben said softly.

"I know...but that's not the only reason I want you to stay," Mal told him, her voice turning gentle as she led him a ways away from Ryan and Kristy. Ben almost fainted at the sight. There before him was a teenage version of his mother. Someone he had never met but somehow knew all his life.

"...Abigail?"

"Hey Benji," she said with a small smile, keeping her voice as soft as possible to avoid Ryan from hearing. Ben, as if on autopilot, reached forward to hug her but stumbled as he fell through her.

"Transparent, remember?" Abigail said sadly as Ben righted himself. Mal slipped out of the Underworld to give both brothers a private moment with their sisters.

"I've missed you," Ben said softly. "I know it's silly since I never really knew you—."

"It's not silly Ben," Abigail said gently. "I've missed you and mom and dad too. But Ben...I've been so proud to call you my brother. You took the crown before you needed to so dad could finally have a chance to grieve. Bringing the VKs from the Isle is one of the best things I could think of. And don't think I didn't cheer when you finally got out of that horrid contract!"

"It took some convincing, that's for sure," Ben gave a weak chuckle at that.

"Because you're unfortunately very stubborn," Abigail said softly. "You're lucky that Mal's just as stubborn. She's good for you Benji. Don't let her get away."

"I won't."

"Good. Because if you do, I'll haunt you to make sure you realize what an idiot you were."

Ben chuckled again and pulled out his phone. "Do...do you know if photographs work down here?"

"No one's ever tried," Abigail told him. "Why?"

"Mom's birthday's coming up. I...I was thinking I could—."

Abigail gave him a soft smile. "Give it a try. If it works, I think mom would love it more than books themselves. But only if you're in the photo too. Give mom a photo of her two kids for the first time."

Ben couldn't help but give a sad smile at that as he nodded and flipped his camera into selfie mode. Crouching down to get to Abigail's height, he smiled as he took the photo and crossed his fingers that it would turn out well. Or at all.

While Ben was checking on that, on the other side of Elysium, Ryan was still staring in shock at the sight of his little sister.

"Hey Ry," Kristy said gently and tears began to prickle in the corner of Ryan's eyes at the sound of her voice. "Oh, no! No more tears. Please Ryan, you've cried enough over me. It wasn't your fault."

"The last thing I told you was to stay away from Freddy," Ryan said softly. "I could have gotten the food from the barge. I'm...I'm older. It'd have been better if I'd gone."

"I was smaller, I thought it'd work in my favor," Kristy shrugged.

"I'd lived more Kristy. If I'd gotten crushed, it wouldn't've—."

"Ryan! Don't you ever say that again! It was my choice to get the food, it was my choice to talk to Freddy and it was not your fault! Don't you know that dad would be devastated if anything happened to you?!"

Ryan sighed. Their father had been in a right state for the past week ever since Kristy died. Henry had been the one to tell him, since he was acting Captain and Ryan was in his crew.

"Not to mention Derek and Henry," Kristy added, continuing on her tangent. "Plus I'm pretty sure CJ would come here and kick your butt for getting yourself killed!"

"But—."

"But nothing Ryan," Kristy said firmly. "I know I'm the younger sibling here but you need to start living again! Lying on your bunk in the crew's quarters is only going to make people worried about you. You have a chance to get off the Isle at some point. For both of us okay?"

Ryan nodded softly, roughly wiping away the tears that had begun to well in the corners of his eyes. He wasn't going to let them fall. Like Kristy said...he'd cried enough already.

"I...I miss you though. So much."

"I miss you too. But how about you turn that grief into motivation into kicking Freddy's butt?" Kristy suggested, sighing and shaking her head. "He's not that good of an ally as I thought if he's not even going to help as I got crushed."

"Wait...he was there?" Ryan asked in shock before his fists started to clench in rage.

"I saw a glimpse of him," Kristy shrugged. "But it was really hard to make out."

Ryan clenched his jaw. Freddy had been there, had watched as Kristy had been crushed and done nothing! Ryan didn't even care that Freddy had been in their territory. He was going to answer for letting his sister die.

"Ryan?" Mal's voice said softly.

Kristy sighed. "Looks like our time is up. But just remember...I'll always be with you. Whenever you feel the need to do something stupid, just listen to the little voice telling you not to do it."

Ryan chuckled, the feeling a foreign one after a week of almost soul destroying despair. That didn't mean he was completely back to his usual self...but he was starting the path back.

"Thanks Mal," he said softly as the three of them walked out of Elysium.

"Don't mention it Ry," Mal told him, the golden door closing firmly behind them as they made their way out of the Underworld and, for two of the three of them, off of the Isle.

While Ryan and Ben were having their time with their sisters, Mal smiled as she enjoyed some one on one time with her dad. Such time was rarer than sun on the Isle now that she was in Auradon and it would always be treasured.

"You know you can't always duck over to the Isle whenever you want, right Mali?" Hades asked as he started to whip up some of his garlic crispy chicken for her. He didn't need the Olympian mind link to know that's what she wanted. At some point, he'd have to talk to Beastie Jr. about possibly getting a delivery service set up so that Mal could have his cooking over there in Auradon.

But for right now, he'd savor the moments he got with his daughter. She certainly seemed happier than the first time he saw her, after all that handler nonsense got resolved. All he would say there is that that Natalie woman was lucky it had been Steph in Auradon and not him. She'd have gotten more done to her than just an inability to grow plants, that was for certain.

"Dad!"

"Whoa! Mali! What happened?" Hades asked as Mal rushed into his arms. Without thinking, he wrapped her up in a hug and frowned as it felt as if Mal's shoulders were shaking. Almost as if she was crying. But Mal didn't cry. The exception to that rule was obviously near death experiences but Hades didn't think Mal had any of those over in Boreadon. After all, all the villains were on the Isle.

His eyes looked over the other companions who'd rushed in with Mal, lingering on the newbie. "Explain," he growled, glaring at the new boy. Jay and Harry wouldn't have made Mal cry, and Uma would have killed anyone who even thought about it. That just left him.

"It's not Ben's fault Uncle Hades," Uma said immediately, as if to bring attention away from the guy.

"I thought we weren't going by that while we're on the Isle?" 'Ben' asked and Hades paused. Ben...Ben...wait, wasn't Mal dating a Ben?

"You wouldn't happen to be King Ben would you?" Hades asked, his voice still dangerously low. After all, Ben was a fairly common name and it was more than likely parents started naming their own brats after the Prince upon his birth.

"Yes, Lord Hades," Ben nodded and Hades had to give the little sunspot credit, he wasn't melting into a puddle of goo the way most mortals would at seeing an angered Lord of the Underworld. Then again, Beastie Jr. did have the advantage of the fact that Mal was still in his arms. Hades would never want to risk hurting Mal, no matter what happened.

"Then maybe you or one of Mal's minions here could explain why my daughter is currently crying in my arms?!"

"Why does he insist on calling us her minions?" Harry muttered.

"Because that's what we are in a way. We'd do anything for Mal and you know it," Jay chuckled.

"Aye Jay but the difference is this. Mal would also do anything for us."

Hades shook his head. "I'm growing ancient here!"

On that note, where was Persephone? She had gone to Auradon at King Ben's invitation but he knew there was no way she'd let their daughter just go back to the Isle without her. Or without their son. If Zeus had done something because it wasn't one of her six months in Auradon, heads were going to roll!

"You already were ancient Uncle Hades," Uma stated but then sighed as she started explaining everything that had happened. By the end of it, Hades had a pretty good list of all the tortures this Natalie would face once her soul came to be judged by him.

Persephone may have handled her punishment in life. But death was his playground.

"Hey, hey, Mali, it's okay," Hades said soothingly; gently rubbing Mal's back and ignoring Ben's wide eyed stare of astonishment. He figured it was probably a strange sight, the big bad Lord of the Dead being gentle. But Hades didn't really care right now. All he knew was that he had an upset daughter and he would do anything to make it so she wasn't upset anymore. "Hey, you want some garlic crispy chicken? And I'll fill you in on everything that's been happening here?"

Mal looked up and gave him a weak smile. A smile that Hades readily returned as the group made their way to the kitchen and Hades learned everything that was going on.

Let's just say he was fairly impressed that the Cerberus in a mortal's body his daughter was dating didn't hightail it out of there the moment Hades started shouting.

"How've you been?" Hades asked. Ever since that first encounter, he had grown to tolerate Beastie Jr. If anything, he was good around Virgil, the older boy having been in the kitchen their first trip. Most people would have easily gotten annoyed by the half-imp's stammer but Ben seemed to take it in stride.

"I've been good," Mal told him as she shook her head. "Ben's been insane about making sure I don't have too much stuff on my plate after everything that happened with Natalie. Akiho and Emir have practically become my shadows which is annoying because I've actually started liking some of the Cotillion stuff. None of the prissy dress stuff but working with Jane to make sure the colors don't clash, it's actually testing my art abilities and it's kinda fun."

"Have you told them that?"

"Of course I have!" Mal chuckled. "But they don't do it often, only if they think I look overworked. And nine times out of ten it's just a quick break to the Tourney field to throw toys for Estelle. We went to the Enchanted Lake once but I think they picked up the hint that water and me don't mix when I refused to get in."

"You know I'm sure Ariel would be happy to—."

"Yeah I'm sure too and I'm also sure that Poseidon would also be happy to give me swimming lessons," Mal shrugged. "All the same, I'm fine on the land. Uma and Harry are the swimmers after all."

Hades nodded and plated the chicken for Mal, ignoring her mention of his little brother. He might not have been on Hades 'dead to him' list but he still wasn't thrilled that Poseidon hadn't attempted to help when Persephone went to Zeus all those years ago. Speaking of brothers... "How's your brother doing? He never seems to come on these clandestine trips of yours. You two aren't in a fight or anything are you?"

Mal shook her head as she dug into her chicken. "No, no nothing like that. Nine times out of tine, we don't even plan these trips so there's no time to grab Hadie. Besides, he's usually with Alexandria anyway."

"Who?"

"Alexandria Charming, the youngest daughter of Kit and Ella."

"Oh, one of the daughters that caused Tremaine to be in a snit for a month after we heard the news," Hades nodded.

"Lady Tremaine wasn't...oh wait what am I saying? Of course she wasn't happy to hear Cinderella had healthy children," Mal sighed, shaking her head.

"That would be an understatement Mali," Hades chuckled. "Furious would be more accurate."

"Furious? That Cinderella had healthy kids?"

"Apparently, since Queen Ella used to be a scullery maid, having healthy kids was above her station," Hades rolled his eyes. "Never mind the fact that Cinderella's father was a lord when he died meaning having healthy kids would be perfectly within her station but the woman's insane anyway. Err...Tremaine, I mean. Not Cinderella."

"I knew who you meant dad," Mal chuckled as she continued to eat her chicken, cleaning her plate and leaned back with a sigh. "Gods, I know Auradon has some good food but there's nothing that can beat your chicken!"

"Flattery will get you everywhere Mali," Hades smirked as he held up a Tupperware container of garlic crispy chicken. "There's enough in there for both you and your brother since this is Hadie's favorite too. I can't believe I have to say this but sharewith your brother."

"Dad, I'm sixteen not six."

Actually, she'd have to check and see how far off her birthday was. It'd be weird, celebrating in Auradon instead of the Isle for the first time in her life. But it'd also be the first birthday she'd get to celebrate with Ben. She'd have to put her foot down to avoid him spoiling her too much.

"Yeah well separating my chicken from you is like taking a bone from Cerberus," Hades teased as he put the Tupperware container in a small bag. "How much time did I tell you to give them again?"

"Half an hour," Mal sighed. "I can't believe I didn't know Ryan had a sister. How can I call myself a Captain if I don't know what's going on in my crew's life?"

"Mal, people keep secrets," Hades said gently. "I mean, for example, I thought everything was going fine in my daughter's life even though she'd just turned her birth giver into a lizard at the same event where her boyfriend becomes King of Auradon and then one day she mutes her mental link and her mother and I were forced to speculate until her cousin finally reached out."

"How long are you going to play that card?"

"As long as I'm able to."

Mal shook her head. "I told you guys. I didn't want to worry mom, you know since she was trapped on the Isle. I didn't think Ben would just invite her off for me."

"How long have you been dating the sunspot?"

"Why?"

Hades chuckled. "Because Mali, it's clear to anyone with eyes that he'd do anything for you. If you told him you wanted your mom, he'd get you your mom."

"...he told me he loved me," Mal said softly and Hades stiffened slightly, not expecting that turn in the conversation. "After the mess with Natalie I mean. Well actually he told Natalie first but I was just in the room."

"Okay, I'm going to need an explanation there."

"Ben said he wasn't going to stand for her treatment of me and that my Isle clothes and my spray painting were what made me the girl he loved," Mal said with a small smile. "I didn't tell him back but...I do love him dad. You and mom made it so Hadie and I know what love feels like, even being on the Isle. Looking at your relationship with mom...that's what I want. Minus the having to leave each other for six months."

"And you'll get it Mali," Hades said gently. Did he want to be having this conversation with his daughter? Not necessarily, since in his mind she was still the five month old baby Maleficent had stolen from him. Thanks to the Dragon, he was robbed of five precious years with his daughter. Years that had caused her to grow up too fast.

But Ben made her happy. He allowed her the chance to see the sun and would do anything for her. At some point, Hades knew Ben was probably going to come and ask a question every father dreaded.

He also knew there was only one answer he could give.

"You should go get them," Hades said softly as he looked at the time. "Any longer and they risk getting stuck in there."

"I know," Mal sighed. "But...I don't want to take them out too soon either. I know Ryan's got Henry and Derek looking out for him but at the same time I'm still his co-Captain. I want to make sure he's taken care of, that he...that he won't end up hurting himself in his grief. And then there's Ben. He's never even gotten the chance to talk to his sister before."

"I know Mali," Hades nodded. "But if you leave them in there for too long and they'll become part of the Underworld. There's a reason why mortals aren't allowed in here unless they're dead after all."

"What about Icarus and Abu?" Mal asked, referring to the two mortals Hades and Jafar had kidnapped in their brief team up to take down Aladdin and Hercules.

"I'm convinced that kid was secretly immortal, no one survives flying that close to the sun and the less I say about that monkey, the happier we'll all be."

Mal nodded and quickly got up to give Hades a hug.

"Hey, hey, none of that," Hades said gently though he returned the hug and gently kissed the top of her head. "With all the back and forth you all do, something tells me that this won't be the last time I see you."

"I promise dad, the next time I see you I'll bring Hadie," Mal told him before ducking down the hall to get the two boys, the bag with the Tupperware clenched firmly in her hand. Hades smiled and nodded as he started to clean up. He had no doubt that what Mal said was true.

Meanwhile, across the bridge in Auradon, a tall, dark haired boy smirked as he strolled across the quad at Auradon Prep. It honestly was like he was invisible, with no one even looking twice at him in his Isle garb.

Then again, with all the VKs already here, it was likely that the denizens of Auradon were used to people walking around in leather and other Isle clothing.

Honestly, all the royals here and there's no security? Freddy thought with a scoff as a few boys ran past him. That stampede had worked out better than he had thought. He originally was just going to pin the mess on that Rat in training he'd been talking to but to have her get crushed in the mess herself...and God, Ryan's reaction! He couldn't have predicted that if he tried.

But as they say, God works in mysterious ways. Ryan's reaction had driven Henry from the barge and completely monopolized the attention of the others, even removing three of the six Rats from the clean up crew; allowing Freddy the chance to sneak on board and make his way to Boreadon. However, now he knew he'd need a disguise and quick. Jay, Hook and Uma were somewhere. Not to mention Mal.

If there were four people who Freddy knew would ruin his plans, it was them. He knew Blueberry was probably keeping to herself after the fiasco at the coronation so she wouldn't raise a fuss, and DeVil was still too timid to fight back. Gil would always be an idiot if Freddy's experiences with the boy's older brothers and even his older sister Locklyn taught him anything. Even if Locklyn was one of his Angels.

He could handle those three. But he did not want to meet the 'Rotten Four'.

Oh they would meet...when Freddy was ready for them to. But until then he wasn't about to have them chuck him back onto the Isle.

Claudine can handle the Angels for a while until I can get them off the Isle, he thought. After all, what was the point in getting her out of her shell if she can't run the gang? Then again, she can barely get a boy to break his no flings vow so maybe I should have made Strat the second in command like I promised when I stole him from the Rats. Uma didn't know a good thing when she had it and stuck with Hook, the worthless pirate who's own father doesn't want him.

Ducking into the school, Freddy opened the door to the first dorm he found. He blinked as the spotless interior stared back at him.

"Okay...is this a person or a puppet?" Freddy muttered as he walked inside, closing the door behind him. "Gods, there's a reason why we called this place Boreadon if this is how they live. There's not a speck of dust out of place is there?"

Pausing at the bedside table, Freddy smirked as he looked at a picture that was front and center. Oh this was too perfect. Not only had he wound up in a Boreadon royal's room, but it was Mal's Boreadon royal's room!

"Well then, this'll teach King Beastie Jr. not to have decent security around his room," Freddy smirked. "I wonder if he has a change of clothes I could 'borrow'. After all, it's the least he can do considering his father's the reason why we were all trapped on that Isle."

Opening the wardrobe, Freddy began pawing through the collection of suits Ben had available. Quickly passing on the blue suits, and pondering how many blue suits a guy could really need, Freddy stopped on a light grey one. It was dark enough that it would still be him but light enough that anyone in Boreadon wouldn't stop him and ask him what he was doing there.

He put it on, frowning slightly as he saw that the pants were a bit too short in the ankle. But there was no time to fix that. If anything, the imbeciles in Auradon might just think that he'd recently had a growth spurt. There was no way they'd think he was someone from the Isle.

And if they did, well then they'd just be considered paranoid really. Even though they'd be right.

"Now then, what do the Boreadon boys do for fun?" he muttered as he straightened the tie before making his way back to the quad. He wasn't going to lie, he wasn't used to how bright the sun was. It honestly made it hard to see where he was going and so he could be forgiven for bumping into someone.

"Excuse me!"

Oh God, I think they heard her back on the Isle. There was no need to be so ear piercing loud, Freddy thought as he turned to look at the girl. She was the stereotype of a Boreadon Brat, clad all in pink and had a posse of hanger ons at her side. Her brown hair was tied up in a pony tail, as if she'd been born with it in that style.

But Freddy wasn't the head of the Angels for just his good looks. Giving the girl his best smile, he gave a small bow. "Pardon me mademoiselle, I was blinded by your beauty. As surely someone as angelic as yourself was brought here by the grace of God himself."

The girl smiled as her posse giggled. "Finally, someone around here who knows how to treat a princess," she shook her head and held out her hand.

"Now you, your highness, are no mere princess," Freddy said, gently taking her hand and chastely kissing her knuckles. Such an action disgusted him to his core but he knew it was the only way to avoid being discovered. After all, if Jay or Hook heard about a dark haired boy kissing a princess' hand, they wouldn't think anything of it.

"Have you ever heard the saying that flattery will get you nowhere?"

"Will it get me your name?"

"Oh he is smooth," one of the princess' friends giggled. "Smoother than Ben ever was. Cut your losses and get with this one!"

"Hush!" The princess snapped before turning back and smiling at Freddy. "The name's Audrey. Princess Audrey."

"Well then Princess Audrey, should you need someone to accompany you to an event, allow me to be of service," Freddy said with another sweeping bow. "The name's Fredrick."

He may have hated his full first name but in times like these, it came in handy. The Angels only ever referred to him as 'Fred' and of course Mal and her ilk gave him that disgusting nickname of 'Freddy'. If they heard the name 'Fredrick', they'd have no clue they were the same person.

Which was just what Freddy was counting on.

"Well Fredrick, maybe I'll see you at Cotillion," Audrey said with a small smile. "I have a spa appointment before hand of course but I should be there."

"And where would this Cotillion be? If I were to meet you there?" Freddy asked. A big event like that would be the perfect place to enact his revenge against Mal and her gang. Without any of the Rats for backup, they'd be sitting ducks.

"It's the same place every year," another one of Audrey's hanger on's said. "It's the royal yacht in the harbor."

Oh that'll work perfectly, Freddy smirked as the memory of Mal floundering in the Cove when she was nine and he was twelve came to the forefront of his mind. He could still hear her shouting for Uma to help her.

There'd be no stupid dog this time to hold her up. No Hook to dive to her rescue.

"Well, your highness, until we meet again," Freddy said and gently kissed her knuckles once more. In all honesty, he had no intention of ever seeing that girl again. All she was was a spoiled Boreadon brat who didn't know how good she had it compared to the others.

But she did provide him with the information he needed to get his revenge. Now...where could he make a smoke bomb?

Hook was certainly going to recognize him by this Cotillion and there was a likelihood of a sword fight against the son of Hook since Jay would more than likely be holding back Mal and Uma. Time for that Rat to be hoisted on his own petard.

Estelle grinned as he ran up to James, who threw the ball once more. The Cerberus loved spending time with the older human. He always seemed to make time for them to run around on the grass, something Estelle loved. It wasn't something they had back in the cloudy space with all the familiar humans but it felt nice on his paws. Plus James always seemed to have a treat or two on him. Granted, he wasn't Mal but there was only one Mal.

Speaking of who...

Mali! Estelle thought with a grin as he lifted his left head to see his human walking toward them, the right head still bent down to get the ball that had been thrown and the center head grinning over at James.

"How's he been today James?" Mal asked as Estelle came running over, dropping the ball at her feet and furiously wagging his tail. It was a clear hint that he wanted his human to throw the ball. A hint his human picked up on as Mal grinned and grabbed the ball, throwing it for Estelle who eagerly went chasing after it and running back to her with it firmly in his mouth before dropping it at her feet.

"Perfect as always Lady Mal," James said and Estelle snorted as his Mal made a face at the extra word in front of her name. He didn't know why the humans made such a big deal about the extra sound. Cerberi didn't!

"Do you have any plans for Cotillion James?" Mal asked as she threw the ball once more for Estelle. Her dog seemed to have boundless energy but that was alright by her. As long as he got tired out by bedtime, he could have all the energy he wanted.

Plus a tired out Estelle was more likely to give cuddles when it came time for bed. Nothing was better than curling up next to a pooped out pooch.

"In all honesty Lady Mal, I had assumed I'd be watching Estelle in my dorm so I hadn't planned on attending Cotillion," James said, looking a bit startled at the question. "Unless you've made other arrangements?"

Mal smiled and Estelle wagged his tail at seeing it, dropping the ball to give both humans a doggy grin of his own on all three of his heads. A happy Mal was always a good thing! There had been a while when she wasn't happy, and put weird things in her eyes, and didn't wear her removable fur...and had to deal with that mean human. Estelle hadn't liked that. Mali wasn't his Mali then.

But after talking to the pack mother, and the other Alpha, and her mate, it seemed like his Mali was back!

"Actually, Ben and I were hoping Estelle would be able to attend Cotillion with us," Mal said, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. "We'd need your services during the dance and the speeches but other than that, Estelle should be good to stay with me so you can enjoy your night."

Mal didn't mention the fact that James would be well compensated for the night of work. It was actually the thing she had insisted on before even agreeing to ask James to do this. But then again, it wasn't as if Ben needed to have his arm twisted or anything.

He'd even gotten a clip on bow tie to go on Estelle's collar for Cotillion. Purple of course, because purple was Mal's color.

I am going to have to talk to him about where he managed to find a bright purple clip on bow tie with a tiny dragon in the corner, Mal thought as she softly shook her head. Either Ben's just got an obsession with dragons or he's determined to have people associate me with dragons instead of Maleficent.

Either way, she was fine with but she needed to get to the bottom of it. Though that didn't mean she didn't like it. Or wanted to get two more so that way all three heads would have a bow tie.

"I'm...I'm honored Lady Mal, truly I am. But won't Estelle's presence cause a stir with the other royals?"

Mal shrugged, bringing herself back to the conversation at hand. "By now all the other royals know I'm Lord Hades' daughter and they know a Cerberus is a symbol of Lord Hades. If there's truly a problem with Estelle being there, I'll handle it. I mean, a problem other than Audrey having an issue that is. But we've cleared it with Fairy Godmother who's already keyed both Estelle and you into the wards that'll be up around the yacht."

The wards were a way to provide protection for the Cotillion goers without needing to make anyone feel stifled with guards surrounding them. Each guest was keyed into the wards with their invitation so if they needed to leave the boat for some reason, they'd be able to come back in considering the wards themselves wouldn't be put in place until the start of Cotillion.

James gave her a small smile. "Well then, if there truly are no issues with Estelle being at Cotillion, I'd be happy to give my services and look after him while you and King Ben enjoy the night, Lady Mal."

"Again, it would mainly be just for the first dance and the speeches. You'll be able to enjoy the rest of the night without a Cerberus at your side considering he'll probably spend most of the night with me, Ben, Uma, or Hadie," Mal reiterated. "And you know perfectly well you don't have to use my title."

"Of course, my Lady," James nodded and Estelle snorted in amusement.

Mal chuckled before turning to Estelle and patting the side of her leg. "Come on boy, we're going to go get Ben from his dorm and then head down to the cafeteria for some food."

Estelle gave Mal a doggy grin and wagged his tail. He liked his human's mate! He always gave good scratches and would sometimes slip him snacks when Mali wasn't looking! As well, his human's mate made her happy, like the other Alpha and the Betas. Even the Omega and the non-pack member seemed to make her happy too but not in the way her mate did.

"Thanks again James," Mal said as they turned to leave. With how relaxed her schedule had become, there wasn't much need for Estelle to have an attendant anymore. But Mal found she liked it, having someone looking after her dog. That wasn't to say she didn't like having her dog in Auradon but it...it was more of a comfort. Knowing Estelle was safe and being looked after while she was in class. Or in a meeting.

Yes, she still had meetings. They were rare but they existed.

"Of course my Lady," James nodded as he packed up the dog toys. "It is truly my pleasure."

Mal smiled once more and grabbed Estelle's leash in her hand. While the restraint really wasn't needed, it gave them an alibi in case Audrey tried to say Estelle lunged at her. Not that he would but Mal wouldn't put it past the Sleeping Brat.

Estelle trotted alongside Mal, grinning from ear to ear to ear to ear to ear to ear. He didn't know why his Mali had acted different for a while but clearly it didn't matter! The mean human was gone and wasn't bothering Mali anymore on the small noise thing all the humans seemed to have so all was right with the world.

There was the smaller mean human but his Mali seemed to know how to handle her!

Plus Mal had her pack back! The other Alpha and the other Beta were great to have around, plus the Omega seemed to change for the better from what Mal had said about him. Estelle never really got to see him before but that was okay. He liked spending his time in the pack's den on the ship.

It allowed him to stay away from those mean hyenas!

"Hey Mal," Ben said with a smile as Mal and Estelle came into his dorm, the teenaged King looking up from the book he was reading. "This is a surprise."

"Not as much of a surprise as Emir telling me you were in your dorm for a change instead of your office. What, did you run out of paperwork or something?" Mal teased as she let Estelle off the leash to walk around. Normally Estelle would just hop on the bed or the couch if they were in Ben's office. But currently he was sniffing around, content to get to the bottom of a scent that had caught his nose.

It was an odd one that seemed to be lingering around the big box thing that held his human's mate's furs. Estelle knew he had smelled it before but he just couldn't put his paw on where he had encountered it!

"Seems someone's caught an interesting smell," Ben chuckled, noticing Estelle's intense sniffing by his wardrobe.

"You hiding someone in there?" Mal asked with a chuckle of her own though she had stiffened slightly. She hadn't seen Estelle be that intense when it came to sniffing since the first time she'd brought him into Ben's dorm. And that was probably just to get a lay of the land so to speak.

If he was sniffing that intently now...

"Yes Mal. Emir and Akiho are in there waiting to jump out and drag us all to dinner," Ben shook his head.

"You know I really wouldn't put it past those two," Mal pointed out, relaxing as she realized just how ridiculous it was. No one was going to attack Ben. Anyone who would even think about doing that was back on the Isle after all.

"That's a good point. My friends are very strange."

"And what does that say about you, that you've been friends with them for all these years your highness?" Mal teased.

Ben smiled and pulled Mal close. "My friends are just as strange as your friends, I'll have you know my Lady."

"Ben, what did we say about the use of titles?"

"That I can use yours if you use mine," Ben teased and gently kissed her cheek.

"You missed," Mal told him with a smirk.

"Oh did I now?"

"You most certainly did."

Ben chuckled. "Well, let me go ahead and correct that my Lady."

He leaned forward and gently connected his lips to hers, something that Mal eagerly welcomed and returned. Private moments like these were rare, considering how much of a public figure the two of them really were. Though thankfully, the press hadn't swarmed them like they had Mal all those weeks ago.

Mal had to wonder how much of that was the press having common sense and how much of that was her mom, Fairy Godmother, and Ben laying down the law.

"I never got a chance to thank you," Ben said softly as they broke from the kiss. "For allowing me to see Abby. Even though we were there to help Ryan, I...I hadn't even considered it a possibility to be honest."

"Ben, you've done so much for me," Mal said gently, brushing a bit of hair out of Ben's eyes. "Just the way you handled the issue with Natalie alone...you deserved it."

Ben smiled slightly and pulled out his phone. "I took a picture. I haven't had the chance to see if Abby showed up in it...and there's a part of me that's scared to."

Mal gave him a gentle smile as she took the phone out of Ben's hands. "I honestly don't know if the photo will appear Ben. No one's ever tried to take a picture inside the Underworld after all. Okay let me rephrase that. No mortal has ever tried."

After all, her mom had taken plenty of photos of her as a baby and with her and Hadie as they grew up and they all came out fine. But Mal didn't know if that was because the photos had been taken by a Goddess or if it was because they had been taken in the residential area of the Underworld.

"I just...I wanted to have it for my mom. A photo of her two kids, something she probably never thought she'd get," Ben said softly and Mal's heart broke as she heard the pain in his voice. The dread at the possibility of the photo not coming out.

"Hey, hey," she said gently and cupped his cheek with her hand, smiling slightly as he leaned into her touch. "Just because no mortal has ever tried to take a photo in the Underworld doesn't mean it didn't work. Most mortals visited the Underworld before cameras were even invented so you might have been the first to even try it. Let's see if it worked."

Pulling the photo up, Mal smiled slightly as she saw Ben with his sister. Granted it was a bit hard to fully make Abigail out compared to Ben, but with a bit of photo editing...not much, just make the image a bit sharper...

I bet if I sent this over to Carlos, he'd be able to make it so Abigail was just as crisp and clear as Ben was, Mal thought as she showed the photo to Ben.

"It worked?" Ben gasped.

"It's a little hard to see Abigail clearly but it did work. I'll talk to Carlos about making Abigail a bit clearer before we give this to your mom," Mal nodded. Ben grinned and pulled Mal into a hug. Normally this would have been joined by a very happy Cerberus but Estelle was still sniffing intently by Ben's wardrobe.

He knew he had encountered this scent before. The smell of salt water was a well known one but there was something else. It almost smelled like the boat that the other humans would surround. Nothing really smelled good on that boat so Estelle never understood the appeal.

But humans were strange. Maybe they liked it.

Estelle paused as he caught another whiff of the scent, and this time he knew where he had smelled that before. It had been years ago, and he'd only been a pup, but he would never get his Mali's screams for help out of his head.

That scent had hurt his human! Had been near his human's mate!

A low growl emerged from his throat and Estelle pawed at the box of furs, trying to get Mali's attention.

"What is it boy?" Mal asked, looking over at Estelle in concern. She had only ever heard him growl on the Isle and that was only around Freddy.

"Maybe he doesn't like my suits?" Ben suggested, trying to joke.

"Ben, no one likes your suits," Mal told him, shaking her head slightly. "Your more dressed down style is a lot more appealing...and if I may say, it's also very attractive. But I don't think that's why Estelle's growling."

Ben smiled slightly at Mal's words but the smile faded as he looked over at his girlfriend's dog. "Let me go and check out the wardrobe. He had been smelling it very intently before growling which makes me think—."

"Ben, if you honestly think you're going to be the one to check out a potential threat, think again," Mal stated as she got up. "If there is someone lingering in your wardrobe, I'll be able to hold them off while you run and get help."

Actually all that would matter is that Ben runs out of here if there's someone in this wardrobe, Mal thought. I can handle an attacker easily, plus I'll have Estelle with me.

"Mal, I'm not going to just leave you alone if there's someone hiding in my wardrobe!" Ben exclaimed. "What kind of a boyfriend would do that?"

"The kind of boyfriend who's also a King and has no official heir to the kingdom?" Mal stated, raising an eyebrow.

"...well when you put it like that..."

Mal chuckled and gently kissed his cheek before getting up. She slowly walked over to the wardrobe and opened the door.

"Huh, that was more anticlimactic than I thought," she said as she found nothing but suits in the wardrobe. Looking over at her dog, she asked, "so what's with all the growling huh? You don't like Ben's suits?"

Estelle shook his head. Honestly! Couldn't Mal smell it? It was the only other scent in the room.

Well, other than his human's mate's pack. And his human's pack. And his human. And his human's mate. And his scent.

You know what, maybe Mal could be forgiven for not picking up on the scent right away. Humans were strange creatures in that regard.

"Maybe he's just hungry," Ben suggested as he walked over to the wardrobe, now that it had been established to be safe to approach. "Let's say you, me, and Estelle go get some food?"

"Okay," Mal said softly. "I really don't know why he's growling Ben. He's never done this before. Just growled at random I mean."

"He might just be getting used to Auradon," Ben said gently. "My dad said his dog Sultan used to growl every time he saw a rabbit or a squirrel run past after the curse got lifted."

"Do you normally have rabbits or squirrels in your dorm?"

"Emir and Akiho are my best friends. Do you honestly think they wouldn't try to put a squirrel or a rabbit in my dorm?"

"I think they'd be more likely to put it in your office to try to chase you out," Mal said with a chuckle. "Oh Gods, what if they had a squirrel or a rabbit in your office and left you with Estelle?"

"That'd be one way to wear him out," Ben chuckled as Mal leaned down to put the leash back on her dog. "You don't have to put that on him Mal. No one's got an issue with him and we're just going down to the cafeteria."

"If you're sure Ben..."

"It'll be fine," Ben said with a small smile as he bent down to unclip the leash from Estelle's collar. An action that earned Ben a small lick on the cheek.

Mal chuckled and slipped her hand into Ben's, the three of them making their way to the cafeteria. Estelle trotted after them, the scent in his human's mate's den quickly leaving his mind as he took in the scent of the humans' dinner.

Why did they always have such good smelling food? Kibble was great but it always smelled the same. The humans' food seemed to have a different smell with every passing of the bright ball in the sky!

"So Mal, what'll you be having for dinner tonight?" Ben asked with a grin.

"You know perfectly well what I'll be having Ben," Mal smirked. "It seems to be steak night after all."

"I think you read my mind," Ben told her. "Steak and potatoes has got to be one of the best dinners anyone could come up with."

"Not better than my dad's garlic crispy chicken!"

"I said one of the best Mal."

"Good," Mal nodded. "Estelle, go sit down. We'll meet you at a table."

Estelle nodded and went to one of the empty tables, quickly scurrying under it before any humans could react. Though lately the humans really didn't care what he did. Well there was the loud, mean, pink furred one but Estelle tried his best to ignore her.

"Hey buddy," he heard Mal's Beta—the one she called Jay—whisper as he sat down and dropped his hand under the table. Estelle grinned and wagged his tail as he licked Jay's hand. Dinner with Mali and her pack always meant scraps for him!

"Jay, did you just feed Estelle table scraps?"

"Like you weren't going to do the same thing Harry!"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that the accusation you just gave is accurate," Harry said as his hand found its way under the table too.

"If you three spoil my dog anymore than you already have, he'll get to be three hundred pounds! I like being able to cuddle with him!"

"A little bit of snacking under the table isn't going to make him weigh three hundred pounds Mali."

"Uma, you're just saying that because your hand is under the table right now, aren't you?"

Estelle grinned and trotted over to the other Alpha's hand and ate the bit of steak fat that she was holding. And what was this? Mali's mate's hand! With a nice juicy bit of steak!

"Ben!"

"Last one Mal, I promise," Ben said and Estelle curled up next to his feet. Just in case one of them 'dropped' a bit of steak on the ground.

He could figure out that scent and why it was in Mali's mate's den later. Right now, he needed to be alert. He needed to be Auradon Prep's clean up crew!

Ben sighed as he approached Lady Persephone. It honestly was one of the most nerve wracking things he had done and that included asking Mal out via a song and dance in front of the entire school while pretending to be under a love spell/potion. Though he would honestly do that again a thousand times than ask the question he was going to ask of Lady Persephone and Lord Hades.

But he loved Mal. He loved the way her eyes would light up at the thought of mischief. He loved the way her tongue would stick out slightly as she worked on something in her sketchbook. He loved the way she could spar for hours with Uma or with Harry. He loved the way she was ready to help anyone who needed it.

He loved her. And he knew he didn't want to be without her.

"Lady Persephone?" Ben asked, his voice soft.

"Yes King Ben?" Persephone asked, looking a little confused at the fact that the teenaged King had approached her. Not that she wasn't happy to talk to any of Mal's friends or her boyfriend but they had been content to give her space to spend with her children. Something that Mal and Hadie had readily latched on to as with the exception of that current moment, they were loathed to leave her side. "Is something wrong?"

"I had...I had something I wanted to ask you. Well...you and Lord Hades but Mal would probably kill me if I went to the Isle without her—."

"I have a feeling your friends would be right behind her," Persephone added. Young Prince Emir and Prince Akiho were determined to keep Ben safe and Persephone had to commend their loyalty to their friend.

Jay, Harry, and Uma were also extremely protective of Ben but Persephone had to wonder how much of that was loyalty to the King and how much of it was loyalty to Mal. The Goddess of Vegetation knew her daughter would be devastated if anything happened to her boyfriend.

"Yeah, Emir and Akiho would definitely jump at the chance to knock some common sense into me as they would say." Ben nodded with a small smile as he thought about his friends. He knew the two of them wouldn't be alone, the rest of the Tourney team would probably be right behind them with Chip joining the fray as well. "But um...I would really like to ask both of you this question."

Persephone couldn't help but smile, as she had a feeling she knew what the question was Ben wanted to ask the two of them. If it was anyone else, she would have insisted they were too young to even think about it.

But after everything the two of them had been through...there was no way Persephone could say no. Not to mention, it took a great deal of bravery to ask such a question to two Gods. Even asking mortal parents would be nerve wracking but the fact that Ben had not yet melted into a puddle of goo from sheer terror gave him points in Persephone's book.

"I have a portal," she said, looking over at Ben. "It's how I cross between Auradon and the Isle every six months. At least, it is when I'm not needed by my children and my daughter's boyfriend is kind enough to send a car."

Ben gave her a small smile at that, a smile that Persephone readily returned.

"But when it's not in use," she continued, "it can be used as almost a telephone and a camera in one. Almost like a teleconferencing app here in Auradon. I'm the only one who can activate it though and it can only be done when I'm here in Auradon. Due to the barrier."

Ben nodded. "So...and I know this is a huge ask, but would we be able to go to the portal Lady Persephone?"

If he had to, he would make his way over to the Isle and ask Lord Hades in person but this was the only way he knew where he could ask both of Mal's parents at the same time.

They deserved to hear it at the same time. Plus then Ben would get both their ire at the same time if they disapproved.

"Of course King Ben," Persephone nodded, standing up from her chair. "Do you need to let anyone know where you're going?"

"There's nothing on my calendar today thankfully," Ben told her. Of course, he had purposefully made it so there was nothing scheduled. No meetings, no council, no paperwork. Nothing that would make him even more nervous than he already was. "Besides, I'll be with you, your Ladyship."

"I'm pretty sure that's not a word," Persephone chuckled as they made their way out of the school and toward the Enchanted Forest where her portal was located.

"You can blame Prince Akiho for that one," Ben said with a chuckle of his own.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Persephone shook her head in amusement. The young prince of Arendelle certainly had his own particular way with words. "Will you be alright teleporting to the Enchanted Forest?"

"I've never teleported before," Ben confessed. "Mal's offered but the only place where it would have come in handy would be our trips to the Isle. Unfortunately due to the barrier, we're not able to teleport."

"I do have to warn you, it's a bit jarring at first," Persephone told him as she rested a hand on his arm, leaves surrounding the two of them and obstructing their vision. When it faded, Ben saw that they were in fact in the Enchanted Forest. He also felt incredibly woozy. Almost as if he had spun around on a tilt-a-whirl too many times.

The last time he had felt this dizzy was after getting hit in one of his final Tourney games, and that hit had been so bad he'd gotten knocked out.

"Ah yes," Persephone nodded as Ben sat down on a nearby stump, his head bent down near his knees. "The dizziness will fade. Let me go ahead and contact my husband while you recover."

"Appreciated, my Lady," Ben nodded and took a steadying breath as Persephone walked over to the portal, speaking Lord Hades' name as clearly as she could.

"L-Lady Per-Persephone?"

"Hello Virgil," Persephone said with a small smile and Ben had to smile as well as he heard the son of Panic's voice. While he had only interacted with the half imp once, Ben knew him to be a good person. Plus Mal liked him, claiming an almost sibling bond even though they were cousins. "How are you?"

"I'm g-good. I-Is everything al-alright?"

"Everything's fine, Virgil. I'm just calling to talk to Hades. Is he available?"

"I-I'll go g-get him," Virgil told her and walked off. Ben wasn't going to lie, he was thankful for the delay. It allowed him more time to clear his head and prepare what he was going to say.

Did he wish he was face to face with Mal's father? Yes. However, there was a positive to using the portal. Ben was in one of his suits instead of his Isle garb of a brown shirt, jeans and his leather jacket and beanie. While he knew the clothes helped keep him safe while on the Isle, he also knew he wanted to look his best while asking such an important question to a God.

"Steph?"

"Hades," Persephone said with a grin. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"As I've told you numerous times, you are never an interruption," Hades said with a small grin of his own before the grin faded and a worried look took its place. "But is everything alright? You never call this early. Did something happen with Mal? With Hadie? Uma?"

"Everything's fine dear. Nothing's wrong with either of our children or our niece," Persephone said, trying to reassure her husband. "King Ben just had a question he wanted to ask both of us. I thought this better than escorting the King to the Isle."

"I think Mal would kill us if anything happened to the sunspot," Hades nodded. "But where is he? You said he had a question but I don't see him next to you. Unless you've turned him invisible?"

"I teleported us from Auradon Prep, dear. You know what teleportation does to mortals, especially those who aren't used to it."

Ben sighed and stood up. He knew there was no more delaying, especially as Lord Hades stood there chuckling. "Thank you Lady Persephone for allowing me to use your portal. And both of you for your time."

"You know you don't have to turn on the 'royal' tone just because you're talking to two Gods. I know Zeus sits on your council so he might insist on it but clearly that's not the case here," Hades told him, the amused look still on his face.

"Hades, be nice," Persephone said but even she looked a bit amused. Ben sighed.

"Sorry. I just...I had something that I wanted to ask the two of you and I didn't want to start off on the wrong foot."

"Well mortals asking favors of the Gods isn't exactly a new thing," Hades stated.

Ben softly bit his lip. "Um...it's less a favor of the Gods and more permission from the parents of my girlfriend."

Both Gods stilled and looked at Ben, as if wanting him to elaborate. Ben sighed and straightened up. There was no turning back now.

"Lady Persephone, Lord Hades, I...I love your daughter. More than anything. I...I don't ever want to be without her. I'm asking your permission to...to propose to your daughter and hopefully make her my wife and Queen."

"...you are aware that she's under the age of eighteen?"

"I am aware," Ben nodded, looking at Hades. "I'm more than fine with a long engagement, making it so that we'd be married when we were both twenty. I just want Mal to know that there's no one else for me. As I said...I love Mal more than anything. If the issue is our age, I'll be happy to ask again once we're both eighteen."

"Why are you asking us?" Persephone asked, her voice soft yet loud enough to draw the attention of both of the men. "As King, you don't need anyone's permission. You could propose to Mal today if you so chose."

Ben sighed. "Because I'd rather propose to the girl I love knowing I had her parents permission rather than it be a shock to anyone. I love Mal, I don't want to cause her any stress. But not only that, you are her parents. You raised her to be the amazing woman she is today—you deserve the courtesy of me asking. It's how I was raised."

Persephone wasn't going to lie, she teared up a little at hearing Ben's words. She could tell the young man in front of her truly loved her daughter...just as she knew Mal loved him.

"I know Mal would probably whack me over the head for this and mutter about me being old fashioned," Ben said as he continued to speak, "but I only get to propose once and I want to make sure I do it right. So...may I please have your permission to propose to and hopefully marry your daughter?"

Hades thought for a moment. "I can't speak for Persephone but I will give my approval on three conditions."

"What conditions would those be Lord Hades?"

"Number one, you know that if you ever hurt her, I won't care who you are. Your soul will be subjected to the worst things the Underworld has to offer. And believe me, between Persephone and myself, that's quite a long list. Plus I'm sure Demeter would offer some suggestions if she found out you had hurt her granddaughter. Number two, as we stated, the wedding can not take place until both of you are twenty. And I just realized that you probably have already met the third condition."

"Out of curiosity, what is that condition Lord Hades?"

"Pass a meet and greet with Mal's dog," Hades said with a small smirk. "Trust me, if you didn't meet his approval, you wouldn't be getting near Mal. No matter how much you loved her or how much she loved you."

Ben smiled as he thought of Estelle. "Her dog is extremely protective of Mal and he's the best dog I've ever seen. Your other two conditions are agreeable as well, and I would like to say that I would never do anything to hurt Mal. Be it unintentionally or otherwise. As for waiting to be married, I think my parents might be put at ease with that condition as well."

Hades nodded and looked over at Persephone. "Steph? Do you have any conditions that might prevent our approval?"

"Will you make her happy? You are aware that she is more than likely immortal, being our daughter with my adopting her? You have no issue with that, or any magic your potential children may possess, with her Godly and Fae abilities?" Persephone asked, her voice soft. It honestly was hard to believe, that this question was being asked already.

As much as she loved Mal and wanted her to be happy…there was a part of Persephone that wanted to wrap Mal up in a blanket and keep her from aging. Or experiencing the harsh pain of the death of loved ones.

"Of course," Ben nodded, pulling Persephone out of her thoughts that were growing rather morbid for such a happy moment. "I took that into consideration when Mal informed me of her true parentage. As well, any children we may have would also potentially have magic from my side as I have some residual Beast enchantment so I would have no issue with that."

Persephone nodded. "Good. I have no objections with you proposing but remember this King Ben. If you hurt her, you'll have all of Olympus to answer to. King or no."

"Understood my Lady."

Hades couldn't help but give a sad smile at that. Mal...his little girl...she was truly too young to be getting engaged. Why in the world should he even agree to this? She wasn't even old enough to get married for the mortals, never mind the Gods. Besides, he already lost five years with her due to Maleficent stealing her away. He didn't want her to leave him again.

But...he could tell how happy his daughter was with Ben. Every time they came by the Underworld, he had a chance to see them interact. There was a light in Ben's eyes that couldn't be faked, a tenderness in his touch that made it clear that the last thing he would ever do was hurt Mal...even the little he saw of Ben's coronation, watching the two of them in the carriage, showed how much he loved her...

At least it's Ben, he thought with an internal sigh. She could be getting married to someone far worse...and at least she won't be getting married right away. If anything that's points in the little sunspot's favor. But did he have to be Beast's son?

Now Hades! Really?

...I thought the link wasn't active.

Well it was, Persephone told him. Be grateful that you somehow only made it so that I would be the only one to receive it. If Mal had heard you...There's nothing wrong with King Ben. He's done more to help the Isle than anyone in Auradon. Just because his father created the Isle doesn't mean Mal shouldn't get to be with the boy she loves.

And what would prevent Beastie from chucking Mal back on the Isle if she does something he doesn't like?

One, Beast isn't going to have the chance because he's out of power and two, Belle finally gets a daughter with Ben marrying Mal. I may have to share Mal with her but sharing with Belle is a lot more palatable than sharing with Maleficent.

...you have a point there.

So what are we not going to do?

Give Beastie Jr. grief for the fact that his father set up a penal isle and left children on it to rot for twenty years, never checking on the food delivery system and allowing a geriatric despot to cause adults and children alike to starve to death?

Exactly.

Hades held back a sigh. Honestly he was a little impressed that Ben had asked permission. In all honesty, Hades wasn't aware if people still asked for permission anymore considering marriage really wasn't done on the Isle. It was more of alliances that were permanently exclusive.

As well, like Persephone had stated, with Ben's position as High King, he wouldn't need to ask permission. But Ben still asked for it...from two Gods no less...

However...there was no denying the fact that this was his little girl, his only daughter. He didn't want her growing up too fast. That being said though, he couldn't deny her happiness. And Ben made her happy, there was no arguing against that. There was only one thing he could do...

"You have my permission to propose to Mal, King Ben," Hades said, his voice soft, and Ben looked over at him.

"Appreciated Lord Hades," Ben said, giving a small bow of his head.

"My two conditions still stand though. The actual wedding won't occur until you're twenty and...you hurt her, there won't be a punishment that your soul won't know."

"Understood Lord Hades, Lady Persephone," Ben nodded. "You have my word that those conditions will be met."

"Good. Now...do you have any thoughts about the ring?" Hades asked. He was the God of Gems after all, and if his daughter was going to get engaged he was going to make sure the ring was suited for her.

"I was going to model it after my mother's engagement ring," Ben told him, trying not to react at the change in tone the conversation had taken. "But I would appreciate any input Lord Hades. I know this is one of your areas of expertise."

Hades nodded, thinking to himself. "What kind of gem were you planning on using? Diamond? Sapphire? Amethyst?"

"Amethyst. Purple is Mal's trademark color after all," Ben said with a smile.

Hades nodded. "If you're in need of a gem, I should be able to provide one."

"The offer is greatly appreciated Lord Hades. I was going to ask my friend Doug to reach out to his dad and uncles but—."

"But?"

Ben bit his lip. "I...I was hoping to possibly propose at Cotillion so I know time is of the essence here. I don't really know how long it would take to mine a gem."

"I can send you an amethyst gem today," Hades stated. It would mean more anyway, to have the gem come from him rather than it just be a random gem that the dwarves found. He tried his best not to react at the time frame Ben had mentioned, knowing how close Cotillion was.

Gods, it was mere days away really. Well more like a week but a week was just a collection of days.

"Greatly appreciated Lord Hades," Ben nodded and he couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips. He was really doing this. He had permission from Mal's parents and he was finally able to finish Mal's ring.

The stained glass window had been completed and would be able to be revealed at Cotillion. Its unveiling would be the perfect place to propose to Mal.

"Was there anything else you needed?" Hades asked. "If not, I can go ahead and get that gem sent over to you."

Ben shook his head. "That was it. Thank you again Lord Hades, I can have an attendant sent over...or even have Hadie run over and get the gem. I know he's been wanting to see you."

"As much as I would love to see him, I'd rather not have my son be running around the Isle unattended," Hades stated. "Especially seeing as this would be such a quick visit. Besides, it sounds like time is not on our side here."

Ben nodded. He hated the idea of disappointing Hadie if or when he found out he could have gone to see his dad but Hades was right. The Isle was a dangerous place especially for someone so young. God or not. Mal would never forgive him if Ben made it so that something happened to her brother.

And Ben would rather not have three Gods angry at him. Four if Demeter ever found out that something possibly happened to her grandson.

Dean would be able to duck over to the Isle and then come back, he thought with an inward nod. Besides, he's the only one I really trust to keep this a secret. Emir and Akiho are great but they'd be too excited not to potentially spill the beans. Even if it was just to the Tourney team, somehow the news would find its way to Mal considering both Jay and Carlos are on the team.

"Thank you again for your time Lord Hades, Lady Persephone," Ben said softly as he realized he'd been standing there silent for possibly some time.

"Hey, I had nothing better to do," Hades joked.

"Hades," Persephone shook her head but smiled in amusement. It honestly was hard to believe that her little girl, the little baby she had held in her arms and cuddled to sleep, she would soon be engaged to be married!

At least it was to someone who loved Mal and someone who Persephone was sure Mal loved in return. One only had to compare Ben's interactions with Mal and his prior interactions with Princess Audrey to see that. It was as different as night and day.

One thing was for sure, this Cotillion was going to be one Mal would never forget. And it was safe to say, neither would all of Auradon.

Claudine made her way back to the Haven, frowning slightly as she brushed a bit of hair out of her eyes. It had been many days since the madness at the delivery barge and she hadn't seen hide nor hair of her brother.

At first, Claudine hadn't minded. It was less pressure to get Henry to commit to a fling when Fred wasn't glaring at her whenever she came back with bad news. But they were going on day ten and no sight of Fred...

If it was anyone else, Claudine would think he was simply trying to avoid being caught by the Rats. After all, the whole Isle knew by now that Ryan's sister had been caught in that mess. Not to mention the fact that Fred's disappearance was casting a negative light on the Angels as a whole.

Some of the gang less girls were even accusing the Angels of leading the poor girl to her death! Which...wasn't exactly something that was new for their gang. There was a reason why they were only the second ranked gang on the Isle, no matter how hard they tried to take the number one spot from the Rats. Not only did the Rats have more people on their side but since they also put the younger VKs under their protection when they could, they garnered good will from even the kids who didn't have gangs.

Ginny Gothel had taken to glaring at the Angel girls whenever they saw each other. Rather brave considering Ginny had no gang and was reliant on the practice of flings for food to survive. Though, if Fred cut her off, Zevon was always an option...or she could go just go to the Rats. Even in mourning, the Rats would have just handed her the food.

But Fred would be basking in the chaos he created not hiding from it, Claudine thought as she entered the Haven. After all, with Henry distracted and concerned for Ryan, this would be the ultimate opportunity for us to move in on their territory. God I hate the fact that I'm thinking even remotely like him.

"Shayla, have you seen Fred?" Claudine asked one of the other girls as she walked into the main area of the Haven.

"I haven't seen his Holiness for a few days," Shayla told her and Claudine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She'd forgotten about the title Fred was trying to get the other Angels to use. Thankfully, being second in command, Claudine was exempt from such things. Or rather, she made herself exempt.

What was Fred going to do? Kick his own sister out of the gang?

"Locklyn? Strat? Morgan? What about you?"

"Claudine, you're his sister," Strat stated, rolling his eyes slightly. "If you haven't seen him, chances are we haven't seen him either. He's probably with whoever's his next fling of the month, celebrating the fact that the Rats are a mad house right now."

"I know! Did you hear how Ryan screamed? God, how weak is he?" Locklyn cackled as Shayla whacked Strat over the head. Everyone knew that Fred had finally picked her to go a second month for a fling and it was the only thing Shayla had bothered talking about. Thankfully, Claudine noticed that Morgan at least looked uncomfortable with the topic.

At least one of them remembers their roots, she thought with an inward sigh. To this day, Claudine had no idea how her brother had been able to persuade the former Rats to leave their crew and their food security for him. Well...she had one idea but it wasn't exactly something she liked to think about.

"Oh yes, let's celebrate the fact that a fourteen year old boy found his sister's body and had a negative reaction to that," Claudine said, rolling her eyes. "If that'd been you with Lacey, Locklyn?"

"Please, Lacey's Gia's shadow," Locklyn shook her head. "Besides, my sisters are all weak. They're trying to get Gaston to acknowledge them. The Angels are the only acknowledgment I need."

Keep telling yourself that, Claudine thought. Locklyn might talk tough but Claudine knew that if Gaston actually broke down and admitted he had daughters and that Locklyn was one of them, the red haired girl would drop the Angels like a day old loaf of bread.

"We should probably look for Fred," Morgan said softly. "If he's in trouble, he could use us."

And if he's wounded, we should find him before he becomes hyena chow, Claudine thought with an inward frown. There was no love lost between her and her brother, and if he truly had caused the death of that young girl Claudine would probably have to write him off...but he was still her brother. Even if he wouldn't do the same for her, she wasn't going to let him die if she could help it.

"Locklyn, you stay here," Claudine ordered, slipping into her role as second in command. Locklyn was hopeless with a dagger anyway, her strength was first aid. Especially now that Brooke was stashed away in her safe house. "Morgan, Strat, Shayla, go out and search for Fred. Stay in our territory though. We don't exactly have the resources to have a face off with the Rats right now."

"And what about you?" Shayla scoffed.

"I'm going to go and check in with my source. He can go into areas where we can't after all," Claudine stated. Henry might know more about what's going on anyway. If Fred actually...the whole mess at the docks would have been perfect for Fred to use to escape the Isle. But he would have sent word somehow that he'd gotten off. Or even found a way to send for us.

Only a fool would try to confront Mal without backup. And her brother was many things but a fool he was not. So it stood to reason that he was somewhere on this Isle. He had to be—and they needed to find him before the Rats did.

If he truly was behind the death of that young girl, of Ryan's sister...Ryan would be out for blood. And Claudine would understand but she wouldn't just stand by while they murdered her brother.

Would she fight all that hard to protect Fred? Probably not. But at least then Fred would die in a fight. It'd be self defense for the Rats and no one would go after Henry in retaliation.

"What are you all just standing around for?!" Claudine barked as she realized that the other Angels were still in the Haven. "Go!"

She held out her hand and grabbed Morgan's arm as the other Angels walked out of the Haven.

"He doesn't know where Brooke is, does he?" Claudine asked in a low voice as soon as she was sure that the other Angels were out of earshot. That would be the one place Fred might have gone where the other Angels wouldn't know where he was. But it would be a good hiding place for him...and probably the nightmare of the youngest Angel.

"If he does, he never found out from me," Morgan promised. "I'm surprised Locklyn didn't ask about her, considering they joined together."

"She's got the brains of her father and the ego of her mother," Claudine scoffed, letting go of Morgan's arm.

"...do you really think Henry might have some idea as to where Fred is?" Morgan asked in a soft voice. Claudine sighed. Of all the Angels, Morgan was the only one Claudine even remotely trusted. Well one of two really but she didn't interact with Brooke enough to tell her about what Fred had planned.

Plus, she was too young to hear about that sort of thing. The no flings until fifteen rule the Rats had was something that Claudine personally agreed with. Even if Fred did not.

"Even if he doesn't, he should at least know we have no idea where our leader is," Claudine told her. "He'll be able to keep an eye out for him better than we can. Fifteen is more than six after all. He can give me any reports or possible sitings when we meet up."

"How's that going by the way? Trying to get Henry to break his 'no flings' pact?"

Claudine sighed. "It's not. He's more stubborn than a mule!"

Even though she hated it, she couldn't tell any of the Angels the truth about her relationship with Henry. If Fred were to find out...Henry would probably earn a one way ticket off the Isle. But there'd be no coming back. Not for him. Not if Fred has his way about it.

Henry may have his skills with a sword but Fred was more likely to play dirty. It was safer if all the Rats knew was that she was trying to seduce Henry for Fred.

"I could have told you that," Morgan said with a small smile. "If he's anything like he was back when I was with the Rats...but even the most stubborn guy can get worn down. He's still a guy after all. He's got needs, and that need is almost a basic instinct really according to Fred. Just under the need for food and sleep."

"Yeah," Claudine nodded with a small sigh. "Well, I should go. Last thing I need is for Fred to come back here and find out I didn't try to get Henry into bed."

Morgan gave her a small smile before running out of the Haven to catch up to the others. Claudine shook her head before grabbing a couple of her daggers just to be on the safe side. If one of the Rats who wasn't Henry found her...chances were they'd try to take her out because of what Fred did to Ryan's sister.

An eye for an eye and all that noise.

Never mind the fact that Henry's basically made me off limits in face offs and would probably kill any Rat who even caused me to have a paper cut , Claudine thought as she made her way down the familiar streets to Dragon Hall. Fred had been pleased when he heard about that development. To him, even though it was slow going, it meant that she was doing what she'd said she was doing.

Fred need never know that Henry had basically made her off limits for two years, doing his best to disarm her before another Rat could. It was another rule Mal's gang had that the other gangs didn't. You don't hit an unarmed person. They're no threat to you after all.

Though, to be fair, the other gangs don't have as great of access to food. A weaker person isn't going to go after a stronger one, she thought as she climbed the stairs to the bell tower. Claudine couldn't help but hope Henry was still in there; having just left only half an hour ago herself.

"Henry?"

"Claudine?" Henry whispered and Claudine felt her heart soar. He hadn't left. "What's wrong?"

Claudine sighed as she walked into the room toward him. "We haven't seen Fred in a few days. Not since the melee at the docks. You haven't...?"

"Trust me Claudine, if we'd seen Freddy, you'd know," Henry told her and Claudine could hear a bit of a growl to his voice. There would always be a feud between the Rats and the Angels but now it was almost cemented due to Ryan's sister.

"How's Ryan doing?" Claudine asked, sitting down on the decrepit mattress. "I'm sure...after everything, he's got to be going through a rough time."

Henry sighed and sat down next to her. "There was a time, about a week after we found Kristy's body...I was worried I was going to wake up and..."

"I get it," Claudine said gently, softly rubbing his back.

"He's like a brother to me," he whispered. "And I couldn't do anything. This wasn't an enemy we could take out with swords. I couldn't just reach out and bring his sister back, and I couldn't get him interested in anything like he had been in the past. So I wrote to Mal."

"Was she able to do anything?"

"She did something. She, the new guy, and Ry went over to Lord Hades' and when they came back...he wasn't magically better but there was a small spark back in Ryan's eyes. Now though he's determined to get his training underway. Derek made a joke the other day that Ryan's trying to best me in terms of how many hours he trains."

"Didn't you say your crew once said you train for eighteen hours a day?"

"Yep."

Claudine sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. Ryan was clearly trying to get ready for something. But what? And why hadn't he told Henry? The only thing she could think of was the fact that maybe he didn't want the crew to think him weak? After all if Locklyn was mocking Ryan for falling apart, it was possible others on the Isle were doing the same thing.

"There's a rumor around the Isle that Fred's involved in that poor girl's death somehow," she said, breaking the silence.

"I'm not surprised, especially since we haven't seen hide or hair of him for over a week," Henry muttered, holding her close to him. "Dustin, Jake, and Nick think he's off having a fling to celebrate hitting us with Kristy's death. Even if he didn't swing the sword himself, the fact that he's missing makes them think he's responsible somehow."

"You don't?"

"Freddy's a sick bastard, and it's entirely possible he's responsible for Kristy's death, but isn't Shayla his fling of the month? He doesn't usually stop flings early unless they really displease him in someway."

Or they're far too young for that sort of thing but that was more my doing than his, Claudine thought thinking about Brooke. But all that would do would make Henry angry.

"So you really have no idea where he is?"

"I promise Claudine. If we had seen him, even in our territory, I'd have told you," Henry said, gently rubbing her back. "We had to chase Zevon out of our territory a few times, but not Freddy. Which...is a little alarming now that I think about it. I almost want to write to Mal but I know she's got that big dance thing coming up."

"Has she said anything about it?"

"Apparently it'll be televised so we can watch if we really want," Henry sighed. "I know this is going to sound really Boreadony and I'm sorry about that...but there's a part of me that wishes we could have a night together like that."

"Don't be sorry," Claudine said gently. "Even if it sounds 'boreadony' I think it's sweet. Besides, we're here alone. Who's going to find out what you said? The bells?"

"Well I mean, they do like to ring loudly," Henry chuckled.

"Take it from me, they're good secret keepers," Claudine told him, gently kissing his cheek and running her hand through his hair. "Do people ever think you and Locklyn are siblings? Because of your red hair?"

"No, thank Gods," Henry shook his head. "Though I'm sure Gaston would be thrilled at the idea of a son roaming the Isle. A son other than the Gaston twins and Gil I mean."

"What does he have against women anyway?"

"To quote Harry, the man's an idiot," Henry shrugged. "Who knows what runs through his head?"

Claudine couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips, a giggle that caused Henry to smile as he heard it. Even if he didn't know what sun felt like, he knew Claudine was his taste of it.

"...you should apply to get off the Isle," he said softly and Claudine looked over at him in shock.

"I'm not leaving you," she told him. "The applications have already been sent in and I'm not taking a spot for a younger kid. We're both what? Nineteen? The younger kids are still innocent, they still have a life to live. If anything Ryan or CJ should have my spot. Or Brooke! Or didn't you say Sammy Smee had twin brothers?"

"Squeaky and Squirmy," Henry nodded. "I'm pretty sure Mal's doing whatever she can to make sure they make it off the Isle but they'll be terrified without Sammy."

"From what you've told me about Mal, she'll make sure they're put at ease," Claudine said, brushing some of Henry's red hair out of his eyes. "I don't care how much of a prissy princess I sound like Henry, I'm not leaving the Isle without you. I love you."

She froze as she realized what she just said. Love. Such a word was forbidden on the Isle, having been the undoing of many a parent. But there was no denying the fact that she did love him. She felt safe in his arms and had more joy in just talking with him than she did when they kissed.

That wasn't to say that she didn't get any enjoyment out of their kisses. But the days where they spent their hours just holding each other close and talking about the day to day activities of their gangs were the memories that brought her joy whenever the Isle tried to beat her down.

"I'm...I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over—."

"I love you too," Henry told her, his blue eyes shining with some sort of emotion that Claudine couldn't place. "No matter what, I will always love you Claudine. I've loved you since the first time I set eyes on you...which is why I want you to promise me. You will find a way off this Isle."

"Henry—."

"Claudine, if your brother finds out what we just told each other, he'll know that you've been lying to him about trying to get me to break my no fling rule," Henry said softly. "I can promise you shelter in the Rats but the only place where you'd be safest would be in Auradon."

"Not if Fred's currently across the bridge," Claudine whispered as the thought entered her mind.

"What makes you think he is?"

Claudine sighed. "Henry, Fred...Fred's been planning to escape the Isle. I know the likelihood of that happening is slim mainly because the Rats patrol the docks and that's really the only way off the Isle that isn't death. But..."

"But?"

"I don't know. Ever since the King's coronation, he's been like a hyena with a bone with his plan to get off of the Isle and to get to Auradon. The only reason why I think he hasn't gotten off yet is because he'd have sent for at least Shayla."

"You really think Freddy wouldn't jump at the chance for new fling opportunities? You know he turns his nose up at what he considers to be Zevon's sloppy seconds right?"

"I do. The more important question is how do you know that?"

Henry chuckled. "While I may not have flings, the other guys in the crew have a bunch of them. They know which girls have had flings with Freddy and which ones have had flings with Zevon."

"Fred and Zevon have had their rivalry almost as long as the Rats and the Angels," Claudine said softly, shaking her head. "If it wasn't for the fact that Zevon likes to use potions, I honestly think they might team up."

"And on that terrifying note, are we really spending our limited time together talking about Zevon and Freddy and their flings?" Henry asked with a small chuckle as he leaned down on the mattress. Claudine smiled as he pulled her close and connected their lips with a tender kiss.

It was one of the things she truly loved about him. The fact that, despite being a hardened pirate of the Isle of the Lost, he was as gentle and tender as if he was a boy that had grown up in Auradon. Maybe it was because he had never been with a girl the way most of the other guys on the Isle had, maybe it was just his nature.

Whatever the reason, Claudine was glad he was the way that he was.

Gently pulling up his shirt and tossing it to the side, Claudine reached down and tugged slightly at the waistband of his pants.

"Claudine...?"

"I'm not saying we need to go all the way," she murmured in his ear. "And not if you're not ready but you've had such a stressful few weeks. What with Ryan and Fred and I'm sure keeping us a secret hasn't been easy for you. Let me help you relax for a bit. I promise. This isn't for Fred or for me. Just for you."

"But...I don't know how...I won't be able to repay..."

"You don't need to Henry," she cooed, trailing kisses down his chest and abdomen. "But like I said, if you're not ready, we can just kiss. Or even just cuddle. I'm not going to force you."

The only reason she even knew about this sort of thing was because of the five times she'd walked in on Fred and his fling of the month. You'd think after time one she'd learn to knock but then you'd also think Fred would stop doing that sort of thing in the common area of the Haven!

"If...if you're sure..." Henry said softly. He knew in his heart that this wasn't a fling, that he would be with Claudine until he died if he was able. But there was just something so...he didn't like the idea of doing something like that right now. Not while Freddy was missing. Not while Ryan was grieving.

Claudine gave him a sad smile and rested her head on his chest. "And this is just one of the reasons why I love you," she said softly, as if she could sense what he was thinking about. "But if you're not comfortable with it, then I'm not comfortable with it."

Henry smiled and kissed the top of her head, holding her close. Both Rat and Angel sighed contently, happy to spend a few more stolen hours together in their little slice of paradise.

Mal sighed as she looked at the calendar. The day had finally arrived—Cotillion. After tonight, the buckets of stress she had been dealing with would be over and she could finally relax. It was a massive check on her to-do list.

That wasn't to say she wouldn't be dealing with any stress. She'd be a Lady of Ben's court, and would deal with all the responsibilities that came with it. But for tonight, at least, she'd be able to relax and simply enjoy time with her boyfriend.

That's if I don't trip over the dress or make a fool of myself in some other way, she thought as she made her way to her shared dorm. The dress was beautiful and, thanks to Uma, it would at least look decent in that it was one color. But...it still wasn't her.

I'll suck it up though. This is Ben's night just as much as it's mine. Besides, it's a dress. Your coronation dress was much, much worse and you survived that. Besides, stop thinking you'll make a fool of yourself. Okay? That's Natalie talk and tonight's your night. You don't need her words clogging up your brain.

"Hey Mal," Uma said, pulling Mal out of her thoughts and Mal couldn't help but smile as she saw her cousin in her own Cotillion dress. Sure it might have been a bit early to be getting ready but Uma would take the longest. Just because of all the arguing she'd do to try to avoid anything remotely 'prissy'.

"Hey cuz," she said, closing the door behind her. "Evie, that dress is stunning. Everyone's eyes are going to be on Uma tonight for sure."

"Yeah right Mal. Tonight's your night. All eyes are going to be on you," Uma scoffed but couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips.

Evie beamed as she helped Uma get into the teal boots she designed to go with the dress. No Auradon heels for this pirate captain. "Thanks Mal. In all honesty, I'm really happy with the way it came out. I just wish I could see how the guys like their suits—Doug's dropping them off for them before he gets changed into his."

She'd even managed to make a small suit for Hadie, as Evie figured that Mal would want her brother at Cotillion as well. It was a simple design, just a black suit and tie but the jacket had a wave of blue near the helm, almost making it look like flames were creeping up the jacket.

Perfect for the son of the Lord of the Underworld.

Mal and Uma shared a small smile as Mal walked over to her bed, hoping to find the garment bag that held her dress for Cotillion. Evie and Doug had spent the morning scurrying over campus, delivering dresses for their classmates and a cape for Chad. In all honesty, Mal couldn't help but think that Evie would be more happy with the end of Cotillion than Mal.

"Um...Evie? Where's the garment bag?" Mal asked as she stopped by her bed. The only thing that was on there was Estelle, who wagged his tail as Mal walked up. His purple bowties looked so good against his dark fur. Smiling slightly, Mal gave her dog a gentle scratch behind the ears as she turned to look at the two blue haired girls. "Did something happen to the dress?"

"You could say that Mali," Uma said with a smirk. "Go get it Princess. I'm not going to run off. I actually want to see Mal in this."

"Okay, now I'm worried. You two are getting along and Uma's excited over a dress of all things," Mal said as Evie chuckled, ducking into their wardrobe to get a different garment bag. The one that had held the previous dress had been a navy blue but this bag, this one was a dark purple.

"We had a little change in the design," Evie said gently. "The other dress is still available if you find you don't like this one but...I have a feeling you will. This dress, well it just feels like it's more you in a way."

Mal raised an eyebrow as she rested the garment bag on the bed and opened it. She stared in shock as she looked at the dress. Sure it wasn't the most fanciest but that didn't matter. It wouldn't have been out of place on the Isle if she was being honest. And yeah there was no leather but leather didn't exactly breathe all that well.

"Evie..." Mal gasped as she held it up, smiling a little as she saw that the skirt of the dress almost looked like dragon scales. "Did...did you make the sleeves look like dragon wings?"

"I took inspiration from your green dress, you know the one where the sleeves look like butterfly wings," Evie said with a smile. "You seemed to really like that one, even after you went back to wearing your Isle clothes. Plus I remembered that all your stuff from the Isle almost looked like the sleeves were wings."

"Try it on Mal," Uma said and Mal had to note that her cousin did not seem all that shocked about the recent development.

"Did you know about this?"

Uma chuckled. "Of course I did. Evie asked me to keep it a secret from you, since we've entered a parley of sorts. Just until Cotillion ends that is. After that, I make no promises."

"That's fair," Evie nodded. "After Cotillion, if you want, I could talk to Ben about changing rooms? I think the coronation is finally out of everyone's mind that I'd be able to be with an AK girl—."

"Now, now don't be talking crazy Princess," Uma said and chuckled as Mal put her tricornered hat on her head. Evie had been true to her word and managed to find a way to make the thing teal for Uma. "There've been three people from the Isle in this room and three people from the Isle there will stay."

Evie gave her a small smile and even Mal had to grin at the fact that the feud between the two girls finally seemed to be over. Slightly ironic considering the fact that it'd been Mal who had started the feud with Evie once upon a time but that was neither here nor there.

"Now, are you going to get into that dress Mali or are we going to have to put it on you ourselves?" Uma asked and Mal chuckled.

"Fine, fine," she said, quickly shedding her clothes and pulling on the dress. She paused slightly as her hand brushed against something on the interior of the dress. Almost like a pocket within a pocket.

It...it almost feels like a pocket for a dagger, Mal thought, glancing at Evie. But I'm a Rat. I don't use daggers. The only dagger I have is the one in my drawer, from when Freddy hit me with his the first time Ben, Jay, and I went to the Isle.

It was almost a comfort, knowing Evie of all people hadn't forgotten the Isle and remembered that Mal would want a way to keep a weapon on her person. A sword would be too bulky and people would certainly notice it. A dagger could be more easily hidden. Besides, even if it wasn't needed, there was a small comfort in having it.

Walking over to her dresser, Mal pulled out the black handled dagger from her top drawer. It was nice, nicer than one would think a weapon from the Isle would be. It almost made her wonder where Freddy had gotten it—if she was so inclined to spend any amount of time actually thinking about Freddy with anything more than hatred in her heart.

"Mal?" Uma called, looking over at her cousin.

"Evie put a sheath in here for a dagger," Mal stated as she put the dagger in said sheath, smirking a little as she saw the dagger almost completely disappear from view. "There may not be a need for it. But I know that Freddy would hate the fact that his dagger helped keep me safe in a way."

"The less we think about Freddy boy tonight, the better my blood pressure's going to be in the morning," Uma stated, glaring slightly at the thought of the older boy. "I still can't believe the Rats haven't seen hide nor hair of him ever since that stampede."

"He could be injured," Evie pointed out. "Mal, didn't your letter from your friend Ryan say Freddy had been seen by the docks that day? He may be an older VK but if he's not used to the mobs at the docks..."

"Oh that thought's so happy, it might actually make me fly," Uma grinned. "Anyone got any pixie dust to test it out?"

Mal chuckled and shook her head. "Evie, you were an oddity on the Isle. A gang less girl who didn't really have to deal with that fact since your mom was an ally with Maleficent. If you wanted food, you'd get it. Trust me though, if Freddy was at the docks, I doubt we'd be seeing much of him after that."

That wasn't to say she didn't believe Ryan. Mal sent a letter back to both him and Henry, ordering that the Rats do patrols in pairs in case Freddy was lingering in the shadows, waiting to attack. Especially since they had gathered the applications for the VKs to get off the Isle. The last thing they wanted was for one of their crew to get injured or worse.

If Freddy was out for the count, at least his second in command wouldn't be too bad for the Rats to deal with. Claudine was a decent sort, all Mal really remembered of her was that she spent most of her time in the bell tower of Dragon Hall. But Henry told her that she had sent a message to the ship, expressing her condolences to Ryan.

She had been the only Angel to do so.

"You know Uma, I think Harry's probably going to faint when he sees you in your dress," Evie said with a small smile, obviously trying to change the subject. It worked as Uma rolled her eyes.

"Harry doesn't faint," she said. "Besides why would he faint? Besides the shock at seeing me in a prissy dress like this?"

Mal smirked. "Ah Uma, why wouldn't a guy faint at seeing the girl he loves?"

"Honestly Mal, you and Jay have been saying Harry and I have feelings for each other since we were twelve. We're just friends, that's it. Besides, by that logic, Benny's going to faint when he sees you in your dress."

Mal smirked and shook her head as she pulled the dress on. While Uma's stance that the two of them were just friends might have worked with any other guy, Mal would never forget the look of pure betrayal that had flashed on her cousin's face when Uma found Mal and Harry curled up next to each other during their two week flirtationship.

Not that anything happened per se. Honestly it was just a way for Mal to see what the big deal was without risking anything really happening. Even if she had gone to one of the other guys in the crew, Harry was the only one she truly trusted.

He was like a younger brother to her, even if he was younger by a mere three weeks.

You know, maybe I should give Harry that picture I took when I walked in on Uma's dress fitting. Uncle Poseidon liked it but that's the joy of having a digital copy. I still have it even though I sent it off, Mal thought with an internal smirk.

"Anyway, Harry'll faint," she said as Evie walked over to zip up the dress before going to pull out the teardrop necklace for Mal to wear. Mal couldn't help but smile a little as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was truly a gorgeous dress, it was clear that Evie worked incredibly hard on it.

"Evie, how did you keep this a secret?" Mal asked. "You do most of your work in here and I know you've been busy with your dad and cheer practice, not to mention you've been talking about finding a place for you and your dad to live during the summer."

"Mainly asking Uma to keep you out of the room as much as possible," Evie chuckled as she put the necklace on Mal. "I also had a bit of help with some of the other girls tag teaming so I could get breaks or work on my own dress. The cheer team really got into the sewing aspect though I did have to promise a couple of them I'd teach them how to do a roundoff and a back handspring."

"Well you might want to put your dress on because I think the boys are waiting at the yacht," Uma told her as Mal slipped on her shoes and her fingerless leather gloves. Oddly enough, they weren't her regular ones but they were the ones that the finger divide had worn through so there was one singular hole instead of five smaller ones.

Evie grinned and scurried off to the bathroom, grabbing a garment bag that was hanging from the bed post on her bed. Meanwhile, on the other side of the school, Chad was busy getting dressed into his suit, tie and cape.

Sure, some might think the cape with the fake fur would be overkill. But Chad wanted to stand out. Besides, he spent good money on this cape—he was going to enjoy it!

He truly was looking forward to Cotillion. While he might not have been thrilled that he was going stag, he was ready to have a good night with his friends. Besides, some of the girls were single—and with no dates, they'd be willing to dance with him!

The ringing of his cell phone broke through his thoughts and he frowned as he picked up his phone. Who in the world would be calling him? All of his friends texted and his parents would be at Cotillion with his sisters. There'd be no need for them to call.

"Hello?"

"Chad?"

"Audrey?" Chad asked, taken aback a little. Audrey hadn't called him since their break up. "Is something wrong?"

"I'll say something's wrong! I was on the way back from the spa and my limo's gotten a flat tire!"

"What? Is the tire punctured? Can you see a hole?" Chad asked, shrugging off the cape and draping it on the bed. While he might have been raised to be a Prince, his mom had made it a point to make sure her children would be able to survive out in the world should they need to. Learning how to change a tire was something she insisted on Chad learn to do when he was getting ready to get his license.

If he needed to rush off and help, the cape would just be a hindrance than a help.

"Yes Chad! Of course I can see a hole! What else does a flat tire mean?!" Audrey snapped. "Ugh! There's a big glass shard in my tire! One of the idiots you play with on the Tourney team must have thrown a bottle out the window of the bus on the way back from a game or something!"

Chad didn't know why but as soon as he heard the word 'glass', the foggy feeling that generally came from a meeting with Leah or Natalie returned. It wasn't as bad as it normally was, in all honesty it was almost non existent.

It was like he was still him, but there was just a tiny bit of haze in his vision. If he wasn't familiar with the feeling, he might not have even noticed it was there.

"You said you're in Sherwood Forest?" Chad asked, resting his phone on his shoulder as he rolled up his sleeves. He knew exactly how that glass shard had wound up on the forest road, Conner had accidentally thrown a glass bottle out of the bus window on their way back from their game there.

In Conner's defense, they were all pumped after defeating Sherwood—despite the fact that they were all pretty cool with the other students there, the teams were rivals. It was a matter of pride winning against Sherwood.

Even though the true pleasure was trouncing Imperial Academy considering Lonnie's dad was the coach there. Again, friendly rivalry but still a rivalry. Though maybe not so friendly after the last game where one of the players knocked three of their players unconscious—including Ben! The player did apologize but Chad had to wonder how much of that had been his doing and how much of that had been Shang glaring at the boy in the background.

To be fair though, there wasn't much Chad wouldn't do if Li Shang was glaring at him. The former Captain was scary—there was no doubt that Lonnie came by it honesty.

"Yes Chad! Gods, I'm going to be late for Cotillion because of this! Or even miss it entirely! And I had the cutest dress too!" Audrey exclaimed, pulling Chad out of his thoughts and back to the conversation at hand. Holding back a sigh, the Charming Prince knew there was really one thing he could do.

"I'm on my way," he told her. Yes, Sherwood Forest was six hours away and yes he'd probably end up missing Cotillion. But his parents had raised him to help a woman in need and even if Audrey was his ex, she still needed help.

Plus, they had been friends once upon a time before they had dated. What kind of friend would he be if he just left Audrey stranded out there? Besides, once they got the tire changed, there was still a chance that there would still be a bit of Cotillion to enjoy. After all, there were all the Cotillion after parties.

He hung up his phone and quickly texted his sisters so that one of them would be able to tell their parents where he was if they asked. Snatching his keys from his dresser, Chad sighed as he walked out the door to his dorm.

Here I come Audrey, he thought, never noticing his invitation for Cotillion fluttering to the ground, having fallen out of his pocket. Or the boy in the grey suit stepping out of the shadows and snatching it up with a smirk on his face.

"I think it's time I see what all this Cotillion entails," Freddy muttered as he gently slipped the invite into the interior pocket of the suit he'd swiped from Ben's wardrobe. Maybe he'd even get to see some old annoyances. He hoped he'd get the chance.

Maybe he'd even get to introduce them to the business end of his sword. Or rather, the business end of Boreadon's sword. What? Just because he was in Boreadon didn't mean he had completely lost his wits.

If he was going to confront Hook or Jay, he was going to do it with a sword in his hand. If he was going to confront Mal, it was going to be near water. And if he was going to confront Uma...well maybe it'd be better if he limited it to just Hook, Jay, or Mal. They were the ones who had weaknesses that he could exploit.

Actually...Uma does have a weakness, Freddy thought with a smirk as he made his way to the grounds. A black haired, blue eyed First Mate with an obsession with a hook he doesn't need. I wonder how loud Uma would scream if Hook laid at my feet, bleeding from my sword.

He could teach Uma and Mal the importance of repenting after he bested Hook and Jay. After all, as long as the boys were there, he couldn't touch the witches. Oh sure the Boreadon boys would be there too but Freddy knew he could make quick work of them. Plus then Mal would be so distracted, seeing her precious Boreadon Brat lying on the deck of the yacht, that she'd never notice him throw her overboard.

At least…not before he had his fun with her.

"I think this is going to be a fun night indeed," he chuckled as he climbed into a nearby car. "Cotillion please," he told the driver and leaned back as the car lurched forward, making its way to the docks.

The party seemed to almost be in full swing as the gang arrived, Uma and Mal chuckling with each other as they walked up the ramp to the yacht. No one seemed to notice how Uma's grip on Mal's arm got a little tighter; as if reassuring her cousin that she was right there.

That no one was going to let her fall in. If she needed to, she'd turn into a giant octopus like her mother had before her and ensure Mal was safe on dry land before Uma let anything happened to her cousin, co-Captain, and best friend.

Mal gave Uma a small smile and a small sigh of relief slipped out of her mouth as soon as she was firmly on the deck of the yacht. Well, more like the waiting area of the yacht. Now another danger awaited them—the press.

"Why do we have to get our pictures taken by these bottom feeders?" Uma muttered as they got in line for the blue carpet. Mal shrugged but smiled as she saw Carlos with Jane a bit ahead of them. The younger boy had truly come out of his shell and looked amazing in the black and white jacket that Evie had designed for him.

Evie, to no one's surprise, was having the time of her life getting her picture taken and the press calling out her name. Mal couldn't help but smile though. After everything the blue haired girl had gone through, she deserved to have some fun tonight as well.

"You ready Mal?" Uma asked.

"Not in the slightest but let's do this," Mal sighed and the two Godlings made their way onto the blue carpet, pasting smiles on their faces as the reporters called out their names and the photographers got their photos.

"Lady Mal! Are you looking forward to being a member of Benji's court?" Mal heard one of the reporters call out and she had to chuckle. She recognized that voice, having heard it multiple times since becoming Ben's girlfriend.

"I didn't realize you were a reporter, Sir Chip," she shot back with a small smirk. "But to answer your question, I am. I think King Ben has been doing a wonderful job ruling the kingdom and I look forward to working with him on making improvements to the Isle."

Chip grinned as he walked up and held out his hand. "May I escort you to the waiting area, my Lady?"

"And what about me? I guess I'm just chum?" Uma asked, raising an eyebrow.

Chip chuckled. "I'm just here to act as King Ben's stand in until he arrives, Lady Uma. I thought you'd want the attentions of the pirate over yonder, in the red suit jacket and the jaw that's making its way to the sea floor."

Mal and Uma looked over in the direction that Chip was indicating. Sure enough, Harry was staring at the two of them in shock. Or rather, he was staring at Uma. Honestly Mal wasn't even sure Harry was aware that she was standing right next to the teal haired squidling.

Oh yeah, I'm definitely sending Harry that photo of Uma. Maybe as a birthday present or even just an every day sort of thing, Mal thought with an internal nod as the three of them made their way over to the others.

"Harry? Mate? You present?" Jay asked, waving his hand in front of Harry's face as if to see if anyone was home.

"Hey Harry, Gil just walked past with Macaria," Carlos pointed out as if trying to get him to react. Sure enough the blond did walk past, his arm wrapped around Hercules' daughter's shoulders.

"Good for him. Hope he has a good time, she's a good lass," Harry said faintly, his eyes only on Uma.

Carlos smirked and looked at Jay. "Oh he's got it bad if he's not even bothering to insult Gil. I didn't even know it was possible to be twiterpated this bad and I've been around Mal and Ben!"

"Welcome to the club," Jay chuckled. "He's had it bad since we were old enough to know what feelings were. He just won't say anything much to our frustration. Whoa!"

Harry had gone to walk forward but apparently had lost all feeling in his legs as he almost fell forward instead. Had Jay not caught him, the reporters would have been able to snap a photo of the First Mate with his face planted on the deck of the yacht.

"Harry, what all have you had to drink?" Uma teased as she walked up.

"Water and a bit of punch, cap'n. No rum to be found around these parts after all," Harry told her, smiling at her as the group of them made their way onto the deck and Mal walked off, waiting to be announced herself. Uma shot her a small smile before grinning at the sight before her.

"You know, the Isle might be our home but you can't deny that Auradon knows how to party," she told Harry.

"Aye, this is certainly a fancy swing ding," Harry nodded as Jay and Carlos broke off to talk to some of the Tourney boys, Lonnie and Jane on their heels. "I see our friends have started to ditch us."

"I'm more surprised that DeVil took his date over there," Uma shook her head. "If he's going to spend time with a girl, he should probably learn that sports talk is about as dull as you can get. Unless that talk involves swords."

"Or Jay bursting out in song and dance," Harry smirked remembering the time Mal had told them all about Benny's 'declaration of love' and how Jay had joined in. Jay had tried to defend his action, claiming that he thought the then Princeling was under a love spell but really there was no excuse.

Plus the video on Auratube was still up—Harry was pretty sure he had given it half of the now one billion views laughing at Jay's antics.

"Anyone seen Audrey?" Lonnie asked as she walked up, having snuck off from the Tourney group to get some refreshments.

"Do we really want to see the Brat?" Uma asked, taking one of the offered refreshments from the other girl.

"Well no but that's why I'm asking. If she tries to somehow ruin Mal's night by making a big declaration of feelings for Ben..."

"She does that, she'll get a tidal wave to the face," Uma promised. "I'm not one for the big parties but this is Mal's night. She doesn't deserve to have it ruined by Sleeping Brat."

"And speaking of Mal..." Jay grinned as he turned his attention to the top of the stairs. Mal walked toward the center of them, a purple leash wrapped loosely around one of her hands as Estelle walked by her side. He must have been in the waiting area as he hadn't arrived with Mal.

"The future Lady Mal!" Lumiere exclaimed and Mal smiled as she walked down the stairs, Estelle giving everyone a doggy grin and wagging his tail; his purple bow ties contrasting brilliantly with his dark fur. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Mal smiled as she handed the leash to James before giving a small curtsy to Belle and Beast.

"You look beautiful Mal," Belle said with a small smile. Beast nodded, a smile gracing his lips as well.

"Ben is going to faint when he sees you," he told the girl who, with any luck tonight, would become his future daughter in law. Oh sure they thought Ben crazy when he first told them. After all, who gets engaged as a teenager?

But as they thought about it, they realized that Ben would only just be motivated to propose in secret if they objected. As well, as Belle pointed out, she was seventeen when she traded her life for her father's freedom. At least Ben was only getting engaged.

"Thank you," Mal said softly.

"I know we were rather...taken aback at first," Belle said gently. "But there is no denying you are everything Ben needs. There's a spark in him again that had left him and, as a mother, I couldn't be more grateful."

"Plus, she doesn't go off of first impressions," Beast added in a mock whisper.

"A good thing for you," Mal couldn't help but tease and Beast grinned as Belle shook her head in fond exasperation. Mal walked off to the center of the deck to await Ben's arrival. It was strange but, surrounded by her friends, she could ignore the fact that they were on a ship surrounded by nothing but water.

She knew nothing was going to happen to her with her friends around. With Chip around. With Ben around.

"You nervous?" Uma asked.

"A little," Mal nodded. It seemed like a weird thing to admit but she wasn't on the Isle anymore. She didn't have to have the image of pure strength. She could admit to what she saw as weakness.

Lonnie gave her a small smile. "Don't be Mal. If you could train me to be good enough with a sword to get on the R.O.A.R team, you can do this."

"Lonnie, training you was easy. And fun. And didn't involve cameras broadcasting every move you make to all of Auradon, including the Isle."

"Well then just know that the Rats are rooting you on if they're watching over at Ursula's Chip Shoppe or even your dad's place," Jay pointed out. "You've got friends here too Mal. Plus Ben'll be speechless just looking at you."

"How do you know?"

"Cause he's at the top of the stairs and I honestly think he'd be running to you if it wasn't for the royal protocols," Jay smirked and Mal turned her attention to the top of the stairs. Sure enough, in the same spot she had just vacated, Ben was standing staring at her in loving adoration.

Mal shot him a small smile and that seemed to be the cue Ben needed to move, as Lumiere announced him to the Cotillion population.

"Now Jay, to be fair to Benny, Mal does look like she's about to become a dragon," Harry chuckled, rising from the bow he'd gone in just as everyone else had. Well, everyone except for Mal. "Benny's obsessed with dragons after all."

"Truer words have never been spoken," Akiho said with a smirk as he, Emir, Emma, and Elle walked over. "But there's no denying that Lady Mal here looks gorgeous."

"Flattery will get you everywhere you know," Mal chuckled as everyone else applauded for Ben's arrival. He made his way down the stairs and stopped before Mal; bowing slightly to which Mal responded with a curtsy of her own.

"You look amazing," Ben told her.

"Thank you. You don't look half bad yourself," Mal told him but then leaned forward and gently tilted his crown to the right. "There. Much better."

"What is with you and adjusting my hats?" Ben chuckled.

"Stop needing your hats adjusted and I won't need to adjust them," Mal teased. Ben shook his head in amusement as he gently led Mal out onto the dance floor, those around them quickly making room for the happy couple. This was it. Their first dance of the night and then a couple of speeches and then Mal would officially be a member of Ben's court.

Thankfully, she could see the top of her mom's head in the background; she would have to go and talk to her after all the pomp and circumstance was over with. Instead of the band that she thought was going to play, Mal couldn't help but chuckle as she saw Lonnie slip into the DJ booth.

But the sound of the acoustic guitar drew her attention toward center stage and Mal almost melted at the sight of her little brother in the suit Evie made, strumming a guitar that could have only come from the school. He looked so grown up.

The small smile that had graced her lips only grew as she saw Uma walk up to the microphone. Her dress shone in the glow of the lights of Cotillion though the tricornered hat from the dorms was her little rebellion.

"We might come from different worlds, might not be your kinda girl but I just wanna let go and lose it."

Mal shook her head as Ben gently took her hand and led her onto the floor, the sounds of Uma's singing as background music. How had Jane managed to change the music at the last minute?

Actually, it was probably Ben's doing, Mal thought.

Got that right cuz, Uma thought back to her and Mal could hear the smirk. Benny asked us a couple of days ago. Thought it'd be better than the band. Your brother and cousin vs. a bunch of strangers staring at you? Besides, you know Hadie can never turn down a chance to play his guitar and I wasn't going to let my cousin be here by himself. Lonnie learned about it and added her two cents too.

Mal gave Uma a small smile as she danced past her brother and cousin.

"Because the night is young. And it's just begun. Let's get it started, get it started. And go till the sun comes up," Hadie joined in for what seemed to be the chorus as Lonnie added some additional layers on the turn table. Mal had to wonder how they got all this together.

"Hadie's good on guitar," Ben said softly.

Mal smiled as her head turned to look at her little brother. "Dad taught him when he was maybe six or seven. Every day they'd spend maybe two hours in the den, just going to town. Not great in terms of finding a quiet place for sketching though."

"I'll bet," Ben chuckled and gently kissed the top of her head as they continued to dance.

You know, I can understand now why Lonnie said the royal Cotillion is like being engaged to be engaged to be engaged, Mal thought with a small smile. Gods, I can't imagine what a royal wedding would be like...and yet there's a small part of me that can't help but wonder...if that day comes...is there a tradition I'll miss out on? Would dad be able to...walk me down the aisle?

"I thought you said you didn't dance," Ben leaned forward and teased in her ear, pulling Mal out of her thoughts and back to the present.

"For you, your highness, I'll make an exception," Mal teased him back.

Ben chuckled. "Well then my Lady. I'll have to dance with you more often."

"I walked right into that one didn't I?"

"You sure did."

"I regret nothing."

"You've spent too much time with Emir and Akiho you know?"

Mal smirked. "There's no such thing Benny. Your friends are strange but I'll let you in on a secret. So are mine."

Ben chuckled as they continued to spin around, dancing and just generally getting lost in each other's eyes. They were so content that Mal hadn't even noticed when the song ended and the dancing stopped.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Ben asked with a chuckle.

"Ask me that again at the end of the night," Mal told him, shaking her head. "At least we've got a bit of time before the speeches."

"Very true," Ben nodded as he walked over to his parents, his arm around Mal's shoulders. Mal smiled as she leaned slightly into him. If you had asked her, six months ago, if she would be happily conversing with Belle and Beast while enjoying her boyfriend's company and hearing her brother laugh as he ran around with her dog and Alexandria Charming, she'd have had you thrown off the docks in fear you'd gone mad.

Speaking of madness, Mal thought as she saw Gil walk up to Harry, who had a grin on his face listening to something Uma was saying. What in the world is he doing? He does know that Harry hates spending more time with him than he feels is necessary right?

"Harry?" Gil whispered.

"Fish for Brains, are you seriously talking to me while I'm with Uma?" Harry muttered back to Gil, never taking his eyes off of said girl.

"Harry, I need to talk to you," Gil whispered again, tugging gently on the other boy's arm as if to get his attention. Harry gave him a cursory glance before looking back at Uma.

"Yes, your shoes are on the right feet."

"Harry, I'm serious!"

Harry sighed but turned to Gil and crossed his arms over his chest, Uma giving him a look but going off to speak with Elle and Macaria. "You have two seconds. Any longer and I toss you overboard. Speak."

"I think Freddy's here."

"...you have my attention and your time limit has been expanded. More importantly I won't toss you overboard. Explain."

"When Macaria and I were walking in, I saw a boy with black hair wearing a grey suit that looked too small for him," Gil explained, pulling Harry over to the side as if not to be overheard.

"Gil, you are aware how many boys with black hair and grey suits there are here right? And how many of them might have had growth spurts or something making their suits shorter than they need to be?" Harry shook his head, aware that he had used the LeGume boy's first name instead of the nickname Harry had been using since they were kids. "Besides, Freddy's over on the Isle. The Rats still control the docks and those are the only way truly off the Isle. The only way we're going to let him off the Isle is in a body bag. Something they are more than happy to provide him."

"Harry, please," Gil said, and Harry paused as he could see the slight begging in the blond's eyes. As if he was hoping the First Mate would take him seriously. "I know I'm not the smartest, hell being around Ben makes me wonder if I shouldn't just go back to the Isle sometimes, but I know what Freddy looks like. He ensnared my sister and my cousin, we see him every time we run into a face off, you think I won't have his image seared into my brain?"

Harry sighed. He hated to admit it but Gil had a point. Even if he wasn't the closest to Locklyn, actually it was safe to say the sibling relationship with those two was non existent, Gil truly cared for his younger cousin Brooke.

Not to mention the fact that there was no denying the fact that Gil was a good crew member. Sure he was dumb as a bag of rocks but he followed orders and he wouldn't just stir up a panic. Not tonight. Not knowing what this night meant for Mal.

Plus…he couldn't be sure but he thought he had heard Estelle growling as he paused his frivolity with Hadie; his right head down on the deck sniffing intently. His attendant had stepped up and grabbed Estelle's leash upon noticing that, probably to make sure Estelle didn't run off.

But what do I do? Harry thought, looking around as if Freddy was going to pop out of thin air. I can't just make an announcement that a French fanatic has escaped the Isle. All that would do would be cause a panic. And then Mal would kill me, followed by Uma for ruining Mal's night before both of them killed Freddy for both escaping the Isle and ruining Mal's night.

"Gil, if you truly think you're right, I need you to get Hadie out of here," Harry said, making sure to keep his voice low as he turned back to the blond Frenchman. "If Freddy really is here, he'll go for the little Lord first in order to get at Mal. Get him out of here, but be discreet about it. The last thing we need is a panic on our hands."

People stampeded for food all the time on the Isle. Harry didn't want to know what the damage would be when a bunch of panicked royals stampeded because of a legitimate threat.

"On it Harry," Gil nodded and scurried off but not before sliding up to Macaria to mutter something in her ear. Maybe just making his excuses before leaving Cotillion with Hadie. After all, no one knew how long it would take to look for the leader of the Angels. If he was even still here that is.

Now Harry had the harder job though. He had to let Mal know. There was no way Mal would want Cotillion to continue on if Freddy was indeed here. Not if it put Ben at risk. Or Hadie. Or anyone else really.

Plus we could go after him then, and Freddy can finally meet the business end of my hook just like he's deserved since Mal and I were nine, Harry thought as he made his way over to Mal.

"Mal?"

"Harry, what's wrong?" Mal asked, turning away from Beast, Ben, Belle, and Chip who'd joined the conversation.

"I was talking to Gil—."

"Harry, having a conversation with Gil is not something that's a bad thing. No matter how much you hate the guy."

"Amusing as always cap'n but not what I was going to say," Harry told her and pulled her off to the side.

Mal frowned. "Harry, what is it? You're acting like it's something serious."

"It is serious."

"Is it news from the Isle? Is Ryan okay? CJ? Harriet?"

"The crew's all fine but it does involve the Isle," Harry told her and then sighed. "I think I know why our crew hasn't seen much of Freddy boy lately. It's because he's here. In Auradon. And specifically here at Cotillion."

Mal stilled and looked over at the pirate. "What do you mean?"

"Gil saw him."

"And he didn't say anything?"

"I'm willing to bet Gil didn't realize who he was at first. The French fanatic was wearing a grey suit apparently though Gil said it looked a bit too small for him—."

"I'mma kill him." Mal growled.

"While I'm always in favor of killing Freddy boy, why are we killing him?" Harry asked, tilting his head slightly.

"He was in Ben's room," Mal explained. "There was a moment, when Estelle was in Ben's room and he growled at Ben's wardrobe. That's the only place Ben keeps his suits. If Freddy's wearing a grey suit, I'm willing to bet he didn't buy one from a tailor here."

"He swiped it from Ben," Harry finished and his eyes hardened.

"Let Uma and Jay know," Mal said. "Have Carlos get Jane out of here, involve Emir and Akiho if you have to and get those who can't fight to safety. Knowing Freddy, he won't care who he hurts."

"Mal, how are we going to get swords?" Harry asked. He had one of course, Blueberry's monkey suit had a sheath for a sword upon his insistence. But no one else did.

"I won't need a sword Harry," Mal said, growling slightly as her eyes flashed bright green.

The sound of Estelle's barking prevented Harry's response as he looked over at the Cerberus. Despite his stunted size, Estelle looked as terrifying as Lord Hades' pet as he tugged at his leash; poor James Porter holding on with all his might. It took him a minute before he realized that Estelle was barking. Estelle didn't bark, he yipped.

The last time he barked was…was when Mal fell off the docks when they were nine.

Gasps rang out as Mal turned toward the stairs, her green eyes narrowing as a tall, lean boy with jet black hair and wearing a grey suit made his way to her.

Freddy Frollo was at Cotillion. Joy.

Mal glared as Freddy strolled over to her, a twisted smile on his face. What in the world was he doing here?! He was supposed to be on the Isle, hiding from the Rats who were determined to personally escort him to Tartarus for what he did to Ryan!

"What, no warm welcome your majesty?" Freddy asked with a slight smirk and Mal pulled herself out of her thoughts. It wouldn't do to be caught unawares. Especially since no one knew what trick Freddy had up his sleeve. "Or is it my Lady? I know you witches appreciate a good title even if it's completely undeserved."

"The only warm welcome you'll receive is the warm embrace of your precious Hellfire, Freddy!" Mal spat, resting a hand on Harry's shoulder as if to keep him from hauling off and decking Freddy right there despite every fiber in her body wanting to obliterate the leader of the Angels. They needed Freddy to make the first attack.

Sure the Cotillion guests were gasping in shock, most likely at how rude they were being, but they didn't know who Freddy was. All they probably were gasping at was Mal's statement. After all, no one there knew what Freddy was truly like. If she or Harry attacked first, it might look like they were just attacking a poor, innocent guest.

Not that Freddy had ever been innocent but the Auradonians weren't likely to know that. Oh sure there might have been a moment when he was innocent as a baby but Frollo more than likely eliminated that. Twisting the babe into someone who shared his fanaticism, his lack of regard of others' lives.

A hand on her own shoulder brought Mal out of her thoughts and she looked over to see Ben glaring at Freddy. Ben never glared. If he was ever upset with someone, he opted to employ a set of disappointed puppy dog eyes that were guaranteed to make you melt into a pool of scummy goo.

Leah was probably the only person Ben had actually glared at...well and Natalie had he actually been face to face with her. Sadly only the phone fully felt the brunt of Ben's anger in that instance.

Ben truly was just too...good to glare at people. Even if they deserved it.

Then again...Ben knows what Freddy did to Ryan's sister. He was there when Freddy stabbed my shoulder with his dagger, and I'm sure Harry and Uma have told him stories from our time on the Isle. After all, Harry had called Freddy the spawn of Satan at the planning session, when we were trying to figure out which VKs would make up the next group. If there's anyone in Auradon who knows what Freddy Frollo is truly like, it's Ben, Mal thought.

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked, his voice cool but Mal could tell that even he was struggling to maintain control. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Emir and Akiho staring at Ben in shock, clearly not expecting that question from him.

"Yeah Freddy, this party is invite only and I'm pretty sure you're not on the guest list!" Uma exclaimed as she came marching up, Jay quickly on her heels. Even in their fancy attire, they moved like they were ready for a fight instead of a dance. The former option much more likely when it came to Freddy, especially when it came to one of the leaders of the Rats.

Mal though scanned the surrounding guests to try to see if she could locate the other VKs. The last thing she wanted was for Freddy to try to ensnare one of them, or worse, use them to get back at Mal, Uma, Jay, or Harry.

Carlos was busy trying to get Jane and some of the other girls back into the waiting area. Even if he hadn't interacted with Freddy much, Mal knew that Carlos was aware of what Freddy was capable of, considering the younger boy had been under the Rats' protection when they were on the Isle.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Evie trying to do the same with some of the cheerleaders. The girls were at least listening to her but the four boys on the squad were trying to join the Tourney boys in providing backup if they needed it. What exactly they'd do against Freddy, Mal had no idea, but there was safety in numbers.

Gil was nowhere to be seen but Mal wasn't all that worried. The last time she had caught a glimpse of the blond, he'd been talking to Harry. The First Mate, Mal assumed, must have given him orders to start getting some of the guests to safety in case this turned into a fight. Besides, with what all Freddy had done to Gil's family, she knew the dim witted younger boy would have probably pummeled Freddy into a pulp.

Not that it would have been a bad thing, Freddy no longer on the planet. But that was something he would have done. Something the Angels would have done.

They were not Angels. They were Rats—they were pirates. They were better than that.

With so much death and despair already heavily present on the Isle, what was the use in adding to it?

…but they weren't on the Isle right now. And with Freddy standing before her, it would really be a matter of self defense. Which was why Mal knew it was taking all of Uma's willpower not to send Freddy flying, all of Jay's strength not to knock the older boy flat on his back. Mal quickly scanned the audience once more to make sure she didn't miss any of the crew.

She didn't see Hadie but she was trying not to panic about that. Their mom was there, she might have taken him to safety and then come back to make sure Mal was alright. Mal wasn't even mad about her leaving, she knew her brother's safety was the highest priority—she may have trained him on swords but Freddy was still years older than the both of them.

Sometimes...size did end up beating skill.

"Why I thought this party was for all of Auradon not just witches who don't know their place," Freddy said, pulling out the invitation he had swiped from his stolen suit jacket with a smirk and Mal's eyes darted to it. "And I have an invitation."

Jay marched over and snatched the invitation out of Freddy's hand, quickly giving the invitation a once over. "Unless you've recently changed your name to Chad Charming, this isn't yours," he growled.

"I didn't say I had been invited Jay. Only that I had an invitation," Freddy shot back. "Now scurry along with your tail between your legs, the adults are talking."

Mal could hear the gasps coming from the Charming contingent, could see the worry on every one of the royals faces, and couldn't help but wonder where Chad was. She hadn't seen him at all and it wasn't like Chad to miss out on something that could make him the center of attention.

"Where's Chad?" Akiho demanded, apparently having the same line of thought as Mal. Chad may not have been his favorite person but he didn't deserve to be injured. Or worse. Chad's sisters might have complained about him but Akiho knew they'd be devastated if anything happened to their older brother. "What have you done with him?"

"Why so quick to jump to conclusions?" Freddy smirked as the Arendelle Prince's glare only grew. "Charming's fine. In fact, I have no idea who he is—he certainly doesn't matter to me. There's only one person who'll suffer my revenge tonight."

"In your dreams Freddy!" Mal exclaimed, knowing full well who he was talking about.

"Like you'd ever grace my dreams, witch!" Freddy spat back. "The only ones you'd be in would be my nightmares!"

Mal glared at him, her green eyes flashing in her anger and irritation. Even the feeling of Ben's hand on her shoulder wasn't enough to pull her back to feeling anything remotely resembling calm.

Though was it her imagination or was Ben's grip tightening a bit? Thankfully it wasn't the shoulder that Freddy had stabbed all those months ago—even though it had healed by this point, Mal knew it would probably still hurt if Ben gripped it.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Ben said, his voice hard and those around him looked at the teenaged King in surprise. Ben had always been one to advocate giving the VKs a second chance...or really even a chance. For Ben to ask one of them to leave...it was something in all fairness they'd expect from Beast, or Fairy Godmother, or maybe even one of the Tourney team. Not him.

"But I just got here," Freddy smirked. "And I'm not really in the mood to leave. Not with all the excitement."

"The excitement you're causing!" Uma growled.

Chip leaned forward so his mouth was by Ben's ear. "Ben, he's got a sword. I can see the hilt on his belt. Say the word and I can rush him before he gets the chance to hurt Mal."

The former teacup was sure Ben's friends would probably make the same offer but he was older than them. Never mind the fact that they were also heirs to their respective thrones, Chip wasn't going to let anything happen to his brother or his friends.

"No," Ben muttered back, shaking his head slightly. "Get my parents out of here Chip. If anything happens to me, they can help advise Emma. If possible, I'd get Lady Persephone to safety too. We're in the middle of the water, there's not much her powers would be able to assist with and Mal would be devastated if Freddy there did anything to her mom."

"Ben, Lady Persephone is a Goddess and more importantly you're the King. We've got to—."

"No Chip. Get my parents out of here," Ben said and then turned back to Freddy. "I think you've misunderstood. That wasn't a request."

Freddy shook his head and drew his sword, earning more gasps from the panicked Cotillion goers. Some of them began to rush to the stairs, something that Mal didn't blame them for one bit. "The only place I'll be going is to Notre Dame after this to celebrate one less witch on the planet. You, Beastie, will be just a momentary distraction before the main event."

"Freddy, don't even think about it!" Mal exclaimed, stepping forward. Freddy may have been able to hurt her crew, may have been able to push her into the Cove when she was nine. But she'd be damned if he hurt Ben! "Your fight's with me!"

"No Mal!" Ben shouted, shrugging off his suit jacket and handing it to a nearby attendant. He looked over at his best friends, who were looking at Ben with worry dancing in their eyes. "Guys, make sure Mal doesn't get hurt."

"Ben, you've got to be out of your mind."

"Akiho, this is my kingdom," Ben said, his voice soft as he searched for anyone who might have a sword on their person. He wasn't about to fight Freddy unarmed after all. "If I don't fight to protect my citizens, who will?"

"I will," Mal stated, turning to look at her boyfriend and crossing her arms over her chest. "Ben, this is madness—."

"To quote or at least paraphrase Ally, life's boring if you don't do at least ten mad things before breakfast," Ben said gently, softly cupping her cheek with his hand. "You can't save the day every time Mal. Besides, I owe you one from my coronation."

"She'll be fine Ben," Akiho sighed, resting a hand on Mal's shoulder as if to restrain her. He could see how much Ben cared for Mal, and Mal Ben. If he could, the Arendelle Prince would do whatever possible to prevent anything from happening to either of them—and he knew Emir felt the same way."But what are you going to do about a sword? It's not like we expected a VK to escape the Isle and gate crash."

Note to self, rant to Ben about lack of guard situation later, Akiho thought to himself as he looked around. Seriously? I know Fairy Godmother set up the ward around the yacht and tied the invitations to the wards but clearly that wasn't good enough! Also, Chad, did you have to lose your invitation?

Ben sighed, knowing his best friend had a point. But he wasn't about to just sit by and let Freddy harm Mal. Not after all the harm he'd already done.

"Did you all really think I'd attend an event and not have a sword?" Harry asked, unsheathing said sword from his belt as everyone turned and looked at him. "A pirate party isn't a good one unless there's one sword fight anyway."

"Where were you even keeping that?" Mal asked, tilting her head. "Seriously Harry, that's the first time I've noticed you even having a sword."

"That's because your attention has been rightly on Benny here, cap'n," Harry smiled slightly before that smile fell as he turned toward Ben.

He handed the sword to the teenaged King, an unusually stonily look on his face. "Kick. His. Arse. Ben."

If he couldn't be the one to show Freddy to Davy Jones' locker, Ben was a good second choice.

"With pleasure. I don't want you guys joining in. This is my fight," Ben nodded and turned back to Freddy.

"White moves first," Freddy smirked as the two boys started to circle each other as if vultures circling their prey. Mal tensed as Ben lunged and the sound of clashing steel sounded in the air. Mal bit her lip as Akiho wrapped his arms around her torso, preventing her from joining the fray.

They don't understand. Only a VK can handle sparing with another VK. An AK would fight fairly, would fight with honor. A VK fights only to live to see another day, she thought as her eyes stayed locked on the ensuing battle. There was no denying the fact that Freddy was good—but he was also inexperienced with a sword.

Angels opted for daggers after all, a much better weapon to use in the event of a sneak attack. So Mal could tell that Freddy was tiring quickly against the weight of the sword, his arm not used to such a weapon especially one that wasn't defective like the ones that somehow found themselves in the delivery barges.

And Ben hadn't been made captain of the R.O.A.R and the school's fencing team simply because he was the Crown Prince or because of his good looks. He was able to match every lunge, every parry with ease.

Plus, because he'd often spar with Mal when he had the chance, he was at least comfortable enough with the VK style of sparring that Ben was able to avoid cheap shots. Like a kick to the groin.

"And here I thought you'd be above such a move," he snapped, moving his sword to deflect a low hit. They were both men after all, though knowing what he knew Ben would be loathed to call Freddy a gentleman.

"All's fair in sparring, or at least that's what your little witch of a girlfriend likes to say according to the Isle grapevine," Freddy snarled, his voice barely audible over the clashing steel.

Mal bit her lip once more in worry as people continued to gasp with every blow brought down by both boys. Sure there were no guards at Cotillion because of the ward Fairy Godmother had set up but surely that didn't mean guards weren't coming did it?

Thank Gods Belle and Beast aren't here. Belle'd be a nervous wreck watching Ben spar Freddy and I don't even want to think about what Beast would be like, Mal thought. Chip thankfully had been able to drag the former King and Queen to safety, employing the help of a couple of Ben's team mates.

Tearing her gaze away from the fight, Mal could see that Emir had Uma restrained; his arms around her torso the same way Akiho's arms were restraining Mal. And the same way Jay's arms were restraining Harry. Mal had to wonder though who would be available to restrain Jay if it came down to it.

Did Freddy bring any of the other Angels? Mal thought before she could stop it from entering her head. If the Isle had taught them anything, it was the importance of backup. They could save your life, and provide assistance in case you found yourself in a fight you couldn't win.

Just as Freddy found himself in at that moment. Turning back into the fight, Mal smirked slightly as she saw the older boy and leader of the Angels backing away from Ben. Ben was still holding his own and, Mal had to admit, looking very attractive fighting Freddy.

Mal just wished she didn't know that if Ben lost this fight, there was an extremely high possibility that she'd lose Ben.

"What is he doing?" Mal heard Uma mutter and saw Freddy reach into his jacket pocket as Estelle began barking in the distance, as if trying to warn the humans as to what was going to happen. Mal realized that the pocket Freddy was reaching into was the same pocket that he had reached into to get the invitation. But instead of the invite, Mal stared as Freddy held what, to anyone not familiar with the Isle, looked like a water balloon.

But Mal was incredibly familiar with the Isle. And with what Freddy held in his hand. She knew just what it was, having made more than she could count.

The smirk the French fanatic had on his face as he noticed Mal's attention, grey eyes meeting green, only served to eliminate all doubt from her mind.

"Ben, watch out!" Mal exclaimed and Ben turned to look at her. The distraction proved to be all Freddy needed as he slammed the balloon onto the deck of the yacht. In an instant, a cloud of dark red smoke surrounded all of them. Mal coughed as she accidentally breathed some of it in.

"Freddy better not have used one of our smoke bombs to escape!" Uma growled, the glow of her shell necklace and sound of her voice being the only indication of her presence near Mal. "If he does, he'll find out exactly what his hellfire looks like!"

Mal nodded and her eyes glowed momentarily as she tried to scan the area, looking for the thorn in her side. The thick smoke, though, made doing so rather difficult. However, her attention was directed elsewhere as a faint thunk was heard echoing through the smoke.

"Uma?!"

"I heard it too Mal."

"Jay, you there?"

"I'm here."

"Harry...?"

"If Freddy thinks he can touch me, he's got another thing coming," Harry said, a slight snarl to his voice. Mal's blood ran cold as she realized there was only one other person Freddy might attack at that moment.

Well, other than her that was.

"Beware, foreswear, make this smoke disappear!" Mal exclaimed, forgetting in her fear and anger that Akiho still had his arms wrapped around her torso. All she was focused on was making sure that Ben was alright. That Freddy hadn't done anything to him while under cover of smoke.

But the hand gesture she'd grown used to proved not to be needed as the thick red smoke began to slowly vanish from view. Mal glared as she saw Freddy was still there.

Why didn't he take this chance to escape? None of us would have been able to stop him, Mal thought, her eyes narrowing as she realized that someone was lying on the deck of the yacht. That Freddy was standing over the person's body, his sword hilt raised as if he had used it to knock against the person's skull.

Way to take a cheap shot, she thought with a growing glare.

"No," Mal heard Akiho gasp in realization. She looked at the blond and saw an almost pained look on his face. It almost looked as if he'd been punched in the stomach or witnessed the death of a beloved family member. Mal noticed that the same look present on Emir's as well. There was only one person who could earn that look from both boys and yet...she prayed to every God she knew as she turned back to the person on the ground, that the unconscious figure wasn't who she thought it was.

It was then, as she studied the near lifeless figure, that she realized something. Something important.

As the smoke faded completely from view, she hadn't heard anything from Ben. Hadn't seen him. That...that could only mean one thing. That the person who was lying on the deck of the yacht, the one with the light brown hair, the hazel green eyes that were currently shut to the world, the one who was at the mercy of Freddy Frollo, was...

"Ben!"

Someone was screaming. Well actually there were dozens of people screaming. The unconscious body of their King seemed to get the Auradonians into an understandable panic.

"Mal! Mal, calm down!"

Someone was saying her name. They shouldn't be telling me to calm down, they should be telling whoever's letting loose that soul shattering scream to calm down. Gods I know people love Ben but...I mean...no, he...he's not gone! He can't be gone! I...he doesn't know how much I love him!

But it took Mal a minute to realize that one of the people screaming, the person who was screaming Ben's name, who was almost sinking to her knees in fear and panic...it was her.

"No...Gods, no," Mal muttered, shaking her head. Her eyes remained locked on Ben, as if staring at him would somehow cause him to get up and resume the fight.

"Well, well, well," Freddy smirked and Mal's eyes latched onto him, narrowing in anger and disgust. "He put up a good fight, I must admit. But only one of us had the grace of God on his side and it certainly wasn't Beastie Jr. here."

It was then that Mal realized something else, as Freddy moved to close the distance between himself and Ben as if he was going to finish him off. When she had sank to her knees, she had gotten out of Akiho's grip. Her arms were free.

And she had a dagger.

Springing to her feet, she pulled the dagger out of the hidden pocket and made it fly true. It hit her mark though she was a little disappointed to have caused a hole in Ben's suit. That was the suit Ben had been wearing when he offered to sign Mal up for art class.

Though after tonight, the only thing that suit would be good for would be kindling.

"Karma's a tricky mistress, don't you know?" Mal growled as Freddy grunted in pain, the dagger sticking out of his shoulder. The same shoulder that very dagger had hit when Freddy had fired it at Mal all those months ago.

Mal didn't care that Freddy was in pain, she didn't care that she'd given him another weapon. All she cared about was Ben.

Rushing to his side, Mal knelt down to check to make sure there was no lasting damage. That Ben would be able to walk away from this. That Belle and Beast wouldn't lose another child before their time.

"Please...don't leave me..." Mal whispered as she bent her head down to hear if Ben was breathing.

Oh thank dad! Mal thought as she could feel the faint rising and fall of Ben's chest. Ben was alive. By the grace of Apollo, of Hera, of all the Gods on Olympus, Ben was alive.

Now then...

"I'mma kill him! Give me that sword and let me run him through!" Mal heard Harry exclaim and turned to see the pirate struggling against Jay's grasp. Jay was really lucky he was wearing a jacket or else his arm would probably be severely scarred by Harry's hook as he fought to escape like a ravenous badger.

The last time Harry had fought to escape someone's grasp like that, Freddy had made a rather lewd comment about CJ, Harry's little sister. Let's just say Freddy was lucky that the Rats had been able to restrain Harry then.

It had still taken three Rats to do so—and this time there was only Jay.

"Harry—."

"No Jay! Bad enough Freddy crashed Mal's event. Bad enough he escaped the Isle. But he had the nerve to use one of our smoke bombs to attack Ben?!"

"Really? After everything he's done, that's where you draw the line? Especially after what happened with Ryan?"

Mal couldn't help but agree with Jay but at the same time, seeing Ben still lying there unconscious as if he was dead...rage filled Mal's body. Ben had been innocent in all of this, had only been trying to protect his citizens.

And Freddy might have removed that innocence, that want to see the good in everyone. Who knew what Ben would be like when he recovered?

"Akiho, you might want to move!"

Uma's voice sounded almost muffled, like she was underwater. But Mal wasn't underwater though. She was however surrounded by a cloud of purple smoke that had begun to obscure her vision.

Why does Akiho need to move? Mal thought. It's just smoke. We all survived the red smoke bomb that Freddy deployed.

At first she thought Freddy had let loose another smoke bomb, to try to flee or worse, make it so Ben wouldn't walk away from this fight. She wouldn't have put it past him to be completely honest. But then she realized that the smoke was only surrounding her. A smoke bomb would have surrounded the entire area.

Besides, the purple that would have been from a smoke bomb would have been darker. This purple was lighter, was almost more of a lilac. This was her purple.

Mal knew at that point what was going on. Just as she'd done at Ben's coronation all those months ago, she was now turning into a dragon once more. As the smoke cleared, she raised her head up to look at the night sky, the moon glowing brighter than it had previously.

There you go Freddy, she thought with an inward smirk before pausing. Was this a good idea? Wouldn't it just invite more comparisons to Maleficent with yet another dragon transformation?

It was then, as she looked down at the ship, that Mal caught sight of Ben. He was still lying face down on the deck of the yacht, and her rage returned.

Screw anyone who compares me to Maleficent! Freddy needs to learn that you do not mess with my crew and you do not touch Ben! Mess with me, that's fine. I can fight back and hit you just as hard. A smoke bomb's cute Freddy...but it's nothing compared to a dragon!

Raising her head up once more, she fired a plume of fire into the night sky as the sea became a bit choppy. Unfurling her wings, she lifted herself up before diving down; picking Freddy up in her talons.

Unless she'd been mistaken, it almost looked like there was a bit of fear in Freddy's eyes as she lifted him up and dropped him back to Earth. Good. After everything he did, he deserved to be afraid.

"...yeah I'd say Mal has this," Emir said as he let go of Uma now that there was no danger that the squidling would run into the fray.

"Anyone filming this? Ben would be upset to find out he missed a dragon transformation," Akiho said as Mal dropped Freddy onto the deck before grabbing him with her jaws, tossing him the way a small child might toss a rag doll.

"Mal's having way too much fun with this," Uma smirked. She had debated about jumping into the water and turning into a giant octopus like her mother had. But then she figured it'd be better if she remained as a human. She didn't exactly know how to change back from that form and it was probably better if only one of the Captains of the Lost Revenge was a mythological creature.

"Just a thought," Harry said. "But should we maybe move Ben out of the way so that Mal doesn't accidentally hurt him in her dragon form?"

"That's...a really good idea Harry," Uma nodded and Harry gave her a small smile at the praise. Emir and Akiho scurried over to their unconscious friend and gently picked him up, moving him off to the side while Mal continued to treat Freddy to a free education showing him exactly why it was a bad idea to anger a dragon while off in the distance, thunder rumbled ominously.

"We should have a medical professional on board," Emir said softly as he gently place Ben down on the ground, shrugging off his jacket and folding it up to place under Ben's head. "Does anyone know where they are?"

"Search me," Akiho shrugged. "I'm sure we have someone on board though. With how crazy Cotillion's gotten in the past..."

"Yeah," Emir sighed as Estelle walked up to them, his leash trailing behind him. Akiho could only assume that the Cerberus had tugged his leash free from his attendant's hands since normally either his attendant or Mal would be holding that leash.

The Cerberus laid down next to Ben, the right head giving a gentle lick to Ben's cheek. Estelle whimpered softly and looked over to Akiho.

"He'll be okay boy," Akiho promised.

"We'll make sure of it," Emir nodded as Estelle curled up next to Ben, his left head resting on Ben's chest. It was clear to both boys that if anyone wanted to mess with Ben, they'd have to go through Estelle.

Only a fool would risk angering a Cerberus. Especially with the dog's owner currently in dragon mode.

"I'mma kill him," Harry stated again as the VKs walked over to them. "Freddy, I mean. How many times does Mal have a night all about her? And Freddy had to come and ruin it?"

"I think Mal's having the time of her life right now actually," Uma said, looking up at Mal who was dropping and picking Freddy back up as if he was a rubber ball. In all honesty, Uma had to assume that Freddy was unconscious himself considering the lack of noise coming from the French fanatic.

It was safe to say that Uma felt no sympathy for Freddy at all.

"What're we going to do with him?" Jay asked. "Freddy I mean?"

"Well he'll need to see a doctor—."

"No he won't," Harry scoffed. "If he survives this encounter with Mal, he can deal with his wounds on his own."

"I agree with Harry," Jay nodded. "Besides I have a feeling that after this, Ben won't be the most charitable to Freddy."

Akiho sighed. He had to agree with Jay on that. There wasn't a lot that could anger Ben but messing with Mal was definitely something that would earn Ben's ire toward you. And the fact that Freddy had full stop threatened to kill Mal...

"We'll need to question him," Emir spoke up, his voice soft. "To figure out how he got off the Isle and make sure that we can prevent anyone else from escaping in the future. Especially when we go to get the VKs."

"We're...we're still doing that?" Harry asked and Emir felt his heart break slightly at the astonishment in the pirate's voice.

"I think Ben would probably haul off and punch someone if they suggested we not bring over the VKs who deserved it because one VK escaped the Isle and tried to kill Mal," Akiho stated. "Well he would if he wasn't doing his Snow White impression right now."

"He's going to have a major headache when he wakes up," Jay sighed as he sat down and looked up at the sky. Mal was still going at it but at some point she was going to drop Freddy and sit at Ben's side.

And when that moment came, Jay would be ready to take over teaching Freddy why you don't mess with the Rats.

"Why it looks like Mal's going to give us a little present," Uma smirked as Freddy was dropped down in front of them. To compare him to roadkill would be an insult to roadkill in all honesty. He looked like his body was going to be one giant bruise if or when he recovered.

Mal landed in the center of the deck, a swirl of smoke surrounding her once more. When it cleared, Mal was met with applause as both a brunette and a blue haired God came rushing toward her. Well the blue haired God was more of a Godling but it was the same thing really.

"Mal, that was amazing!" Hadie exclaimed.

"You weren't hurt were you?" Mal asked as she brought him into a hug and Hadie shook his head.

"Gil took me below deck once he saw that Freddy was here," he said. "I wish I could have helped but I think you had everything taken care of."

Persephone nodded as she wrapped her daughter up into her arms. "Gods help us, the next big event Auradon has, you are not to turn into a dragon and fight a big bad entity understand? I don't think my heart could take it."

"It's not like I plan these things mom," Mal said, melting into her embrace. "Gods...is it weird that a small part of me hopes Freddy survived?"

"Yes," Hadie nodded and Mal chuckled.

"It's just...we need to know how he escaped for one. And for another, what if he's holding Chad somewhere? I know he said he didn't know who Chad was but that's just it. Freddy always lies. Plus...Ryan deserves to be the one to give the finishing blow to Freddy."

"...well when you put it like that," Hadie sighed.

"I'm sure he survived," Persephone said and then paused for a moment. "...your father can confirm that he survived his encounter with your dragon form Mal. But just barely. He'll probably be spending time in a holding cell until Auradon can escort him back to the Isle."

"Good," Mal growled. "Make it the smallest cell we can."

"...so are you officially a Lady of the Court now?" Hadie asked. "Do I have to call you my Lady?"

"Do it, and I toss you overboard."

"In your dragon form?"

"Maybe," Mal chuckled as Hadie grinned.

Persephone shook her head. "What am I going to do with you two?"

"Dunno but you've got eternity to figure it out," Mal grinned. That grin faded as she saw Ben still lying still off to the side.

"Uma, Jay, Harry!"

"Yes Mal?"

"Let's wake up our uninvited guest and then we'll...we'll see about Ben," Mal said with a small sigh. "Harry, Jay, hold him still. We don't want him escaping."

"Cap'n, with the damage you caused, I doubt he'd be escaping anytime soon," Harry told her but grinned as he held down Freddy's arm; Jay following his example.

"Mal, you just did a boatload of magic," Uma told her cousin as she held her shell necklace in her hands. "Let me."

Mal nodded and Uma smirked as her shell glowed once more. Persephone sighed but stood off to the side. While she couldn't condone this, she knew an Isle style interrogation was better than the alternative.

"Should we make sure they don't kill him?" Emir whispered to Akiho.

"On the one hand, yes because I don't think Ben would want them to be killers on his account," Akiho whispered back. "On the other...would you really be all that choked up if he were to die?"

Emir sighed and looked over at Ben's still unconscious form. He already knew the answer without needing to say anything.

"Wakey, wakey," Uma sang, an almost feral grin on her face.

Freddy blinked slowly as he regained consciousness. "Uh...wha...Uma! What did you do to me, you little witch?"

"Bit slow on the uptake aren't you Freddy?" Uma smirked. "I didn't do anything to you. However, you got on the wrong side of a dragon."

"And you'll be seeing that side again unless you hush up and only speak when spoken to," Mal growled.

"Unless you'd rather be put back to sleep permanently," Harry snarled.

Freddy looked over at Harry and smirked slightly. "Ah Hook. Why am I not surprised Uma's lap dog is here too?"

"A bit rattled aren't you?" Jay scoffed. "He's been here the whole time."

Harry growled and jabbed Freddy's chest, causing the older boy to wince slightly. "Can't you listen? Mal said no talking unless spoken to. Now...how did you get off the Isle?"

"And I thought it would be obvious Hook," Freddy said, his smirk growing. "By the grace of God, I was able to use the food barge during the stampede."

Mal growled. "You mean the stampede where the sister of one of our own died?"

"The very same." Freddy chuckled slightly. "You know, it couldn't have worked out better if I had planned it."

"Listen Freddy, you're on very thin ice and should consider yourself lucky that Mal had enough self control that you didn't see your precious Hellfire tonight. Now, where did you get the suit? There aren't any tailors on the Isle and I doubt you'd be allowed in my father's shop!" Uma snarled.

"I can tell you where he got it," Mal said, her voice hard and her fists clenched, shaking slightly in rage. "He was in Ben's room."

"I have to say the security around here is so lax. I can't believe I was able to just slip into the King's room," Freddy said with a slight snicker.

"And how did you get in here?" Jay growled. "I know you stole Chad's invite but you still had to get through the doors."

Freddy smirked. "I slipped past Gil when he walked past with his little fling. God, some VK he is. He didn't even notice. I do have to say that his fling is not all that bad looking for a Boreadon Brat."

"Listen Frollo," Harry snarled. "Gil may not be the brightest but he's a better VK and a better man than you'll ever be!"

"And do you really want to risk the wrath of Olympus?" Mal growled. "I may not care much for many of them but I know the Gods won't stand idly by while you insult the granddaughter of Zeus!"

Freddy snickered once more. "Oh Mal. There is but one God. And when my time comes I'll be before St. Peter at the pearly gates."

He paused though as a bolt of lighting crashed down, close enough to potentially have hit Freddy yet far enough away to not hit Mal or the others.

"Keep telling yourself that," Mal spat before looking at the others. "Any chance we can knock him out again before I kill him myself?"

"It'd be my pleasure cap'n," Harry grinned, reaching into his suit jacket. Jay quickly reached out and grabbed his hand.

"We said we didn't want to kill him."

"I can't knock him out with only my hand Jay!"

Jay shook his head. "Use your hook."

"See I was considering that but I thought it didn't have enough punch," Harry said before whacking Freddy over the head with the accessory. Sure enough, the son of Frollo was quickly out like a light.

"Do we need to tell Ryan the bad news that you beat him to the punch?"

"No, he's breathing. Unfortunately."

Mal nodded and turned to Beast and Belle, who had come rushing over to them. Apparently Chip had gone to retrieve the former royals from wherever he had safely stashed them. "Your highnesses, what should we do with him?"

"He should be returned to the Isle," Beast stated.

"Wait, where's Emma?" Emir asked as he walked over. "No offense your highness but Emma is the unofficial heir to the throne right now. With Ben out of commission..."

Beast gave his son's friend a small smile, nor did he blame him for being concerned about his girlfriend. "No offense taken Emir. But with all due respect, I'd like to get this done quickly so that I can see to my son."

"...fair enough."

"We also spoke to young Emma," Belle said softly. "Evie was in the process of whisking her off the yacht when this..."

"Miscreant?" Mal offered.

"That's as polite a word as I can think of," Belle nodded. "When this miscreant arrived."

Uma smiled slightly. "Points for Evie then."

"She was raised as a Princess. If there's anyone who'd know the importance of the Royal Line of Succession, it'd be her," Mal nodded.

Belle smiled but then sighed. "We can't send him to the Isle without having his wounds treated though."

"Oh he'll be fine," Uma rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, no sense in wasting resources on him," Harry nodded. Mal shook her head.

"Ben would want us to treat his wounds," she said softly and the others sighed.

"...she's got a point."

"Does this yacht have a brig?" Uma asked. "We could keep him there while we try to enjoy the rest of the night."

"The room by the engine room would work as one," Akiho stated. "Emir and I could escort our uninvited guest there, your highnesses."

Beast nodded. "Please. And be careful you two."

"They will be," a male voice rang out and Mal smiled as some of the Tourney team stepped forward.

"Will, Brenden, Miguel, Li—."

"We don't have time for a roll call Emir," William said, shaking his head. "Let's go."

"No need to be gentle!" Uma called as they gathered Freddy up and escorted him to his makeshift cell.

"Yes Lady Uma!" Brenden called back and Uma made a face.

Mal chuckled. "You're my cousin and the granddaughter of a God Uma. Get used to it."

She then sighed as she walked over and knelt down next to Ben. Gently scratching Estelle behind the ears with one hand, she softly brushed some of the hair out of Ben's eyes.

"Don't you leave me," she whispered once more and gently kissed his forehead. A few minutes went by before Ben seemed to almost groan as he woke up.

"Wha...Mal?"

"Oh thank Gods!" Mal exclaimed and, not caring about how it looked or her rep or anything, gathered Ben into her arms for the strongest yet most gentle hug she could muster.

Appearances didn't matter. Reputations didn't matter. All that mattered was that Ben was alive and in her arms.

The two stayed wrapped up in each other's arms for what felt like an eternity. Only the sound of a small yip brought them back to reality as Estelle looked up at the two of them from his spot next to Ben.

"How're you feeling?" Mal asked, gently brushing a bit of his hair out of his eyes. His beautiful hazel green eyes that for a moment, Mal had feared had been gone from the world forever.

"Ask me in a minute," Ben said softly, blinking gently to try to get the world to stop spinning. "I'm...I'm still trying to regain my bearings here."

If he was being truthful, it honestly felt as if he had teleported once again though teleporting didn't leave him with a throbbing headache. All Ben really wanted to do was lie down and hold Mal close to him, as if reassuring himself that she was alright.

But he knew he couldn't. A King needed to be present to reassure his frightened citizens, to show that he hadn't been affected by that whack on the head. To show them that he could bounce back from an attack with ease.

"You want to stand up?"

"Please."

Mal rose to her feet before gently lifting Ben to his, quickly moving to hold him steady as he swayed slightly. One hand rested on his chest while the other wrapped around his waist to keep him up. It probably didn't help that the sea was still slightly choppy.

"Maybe it'd be better to get you a room where you can lie down," Uma said, noticing the swaying.

Ben shook his head, ignoring the slight nauseous feeling that came as a result. "Not yet. There's something I need to do first."

"Ben we've already taken care of Freddy—."

"You guys didn't kill him did you?"

"No but I can see how you might think that by the choice in words," Jay nodded and whacked Harry over the head.

"Like you wouldn't have said it the same way Jay!" Harry exclaimed.

"No, I wouldn't've because I am older than you and therefore wiser."

"One year! You are one year older than me!"

Mal chuckled slightly before turning to Ben. "Ben you were just knocked out. Whatever you have to do can wait, can't it?"

"Mal I promise, it won't take long," Ben told her as an attendant handed him back his suit jacket. He smiled slightly as he felt the box that held probably the most important thing he could ever have in his pocket. "It's a gift for you—to show my Lady how much she means to me."

Belle shook her head slightly. Of course Ben would insist on still going through with this even after being unconscious for Gods knows how long. "He gets this from you, you know," she muttered to Beast.

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Gift of a library ring any bells Adam?"

"You like to read and at the time you'd just saved my life!" Beast muttered, though he was slightly thankful his wife was referring to that and not his stubborn attitude toward her tending to his wounds. Both after the wolf attack and then again as they regrouped after Gaston's siege of his castle.

"Well it would have been pretty bad form to just have you lie in the snow considering you'd saved my life."

"Hey, it could have been worse. I could have followed Cogsworth's advice and gotten you, and I quote, 'chocolates, flowers, promises I don't intend to keep...'"

"So...the library?"

"Mrs. Potts suggested it after Lumiere mentioned you liked to read and that you'd read all the books in your room by that point."

"Remind me to give them a raise."

Mal, though, heard none of this as she was busy dealing with a particularly stubborn King. "Ben, while a gift is appreciated, it's not exactly the time for it. You can give it to me later, tomorrow even—."

"Mal I promise, it'll be quick," Ben said. The unveiling of the portrait was the perfect time to propose and he wasn't going to let Fred Frollo ruin it! Not Mal's night. "Lumiere, unveil the gift please!"

"And now the unveiling of King Ben's masterpiece. Designed especially for his Lady!" Lumiere announced and Ben gently spun Mal around so that she could see the curtain raise and the stained glass window be revealed to the world.

Mal gasped as she saw it. It was truly amazing, with her purple hair flying behind her and the dragon in the background. She couldn't help but chuckle as she saw it, knowing Ben had gotten an up close view of her dragon form at his coronation before Emir, Jay, and Akiho whisked him to safety.

Yet...here, it didn't look evil. It didn't look like it could be connected to the Mistress of All Evil in anyway. The eyes of the dragon looked like they almost held a hint of mischief to them, the same look her friends claimed she got before she worked on a tag or pelted Evie with a smoke bomb.

There were blue accents throughout the stained glass window as well and vines trailing up and down the border. It almost looked like they were scaling the frame, as if they were there to remind people who her true mother was.

Tears began to prickle in the corners of her eyes as she looked closely and saw that, on the tiara that was on the stained glass her, there wasn't just a dragon. There was a dragon...and a Cerberus...surrounded by a wreath of flowers. She would even bet that the Cerberus had a pomegranate in his mouth, knowing Ben the way she did. There was a small plaque on the frame of the window: Family is Forever.

"Ben..." she said softly as she turned to face him. She had no idea he even remembered that, it'd been so long since she made that tag. So long that it had finally faded from her locker. "You know me. You...you truly know me. You've never asked me to change, even when I felt like I wasn't good enough for you. You even stopped me from changing myself to try to please the kingdom. I love the gift. Ben...I love you."

Ben smiled and gently cupped Mal's cheek with his hand before stepping back slightly. He could celebrate hearing those words in a bit. Right now, he had something more important to do.

"Mal, sometimes life will present you with something that, looking back, can only be credited to Fate," Ben said as music began to play in the background. Music that, if one listened closely, would have sounded very familiar to the purple haired Godling, the brunet King, and the raven haired thief standing in the background. Music that Auradon only knew because of a certain cookie. "I know you disagree but I believe it. The decision to bring kids from the Isle to Auradon was the best decision I could have made because from the moment we got together, hell from the moment we met, you have been the best thing in my life. I never want that to change."

Got to say, for being rather disoriented, I timed that perfectly, he thought as the music ended at the same time he got down on one knee.

Mal couldn't help but gasp softly, her hands flying up to her mouth. Was he really...?

"Ben..."

"It's you and me Mal," Ben said as he pulled a box from his suit jacket pocket and opened it. In the box sat what was probably the most beautiful ring Mal had ever seen, with a gorgeous purple gem sitting dead center on a golden band. The band almost looked like a a dragon surrounding the gem if Mal was honest—she'd have to talk to Ben about his dragon obsession but that was for a later time. "It's you and me forever. Will you marry me? Will you be my Queen?"

Mal stared at him for a moment as time seemed to stand still, the remaining Cotillion guests watching with bated breath. Was she truly ready for that? To be someone's wife? To be Ben's Queen?

She had barely made it through the six months of Cotillion prep. What if she got another Natalie as a handler? But, as she told herself, she had gotten through it. Thanks in a large part to the man she loved. The man who was kneeling in front of her, staring at her with hope filled eyes.

All she knew though, at that moment, was that she never wanted a life without Ben in it. Seeing him, face down on the deck as though dead, made her acutely aware at how fleeting life really was...which was ironic considering her father was the God of the Dead.

"Yes!" Mal nodded, tears welling in her eyes. Happy tears though. There had been enough sadness that for now, only happy tears would escape her eyes tonight.

Ben grinned as he stood up, though Mal needed to quickly grab him to stabilizing him once more otherwise he'd have fallen back onto the deck. He gently slipped the ring on her finger before bringing Mal into a loving kiss. A kiss that Mal readily returned, holding onto Ben tightly as if he'd disappear if she let go.

Tears ran down Mal's cheeks like waterfalls but she didn't care. All she knew was she was with the boy she loved, and he was still alive after facing off against Freddy. Nothing else mattered at that moment. No rep, no reporters. Nothing.

"Got to say, it's almost like they're a True Love," she could hear Uma's voice faintly in the background. "Makes sense though. Doesn't something like that only go to the best?"

Mal smiled against Ben's lips as the kiss continued. Just like before, it seemed to be an eternity before they broke but alas, even Godlings need to breath.

"Now will you go and get checked out?" Mal asked softly as it was her turn to cup Ben's cheek with her hand. "I just got an amazing fiancé. I don't want anything to happen to him."

Ben smiled gently as he leaned into her touch. "Mal, I can't just leave. I—."

"Ben, you swayed twice getting up after being unconscious from a hit from the hilt of a sword," Mal said softly. "I don't want to seem pushy but—."

"That's okay Mal," Emir said as he and Akiho strolled up, flanking Ben on either side like body guards. "We're excellent at being pushy when it comes to Ben and his health."

"I thought you two were with Freddy?" Mal asked.

"It's Freddy's turn to do a Snow White impression," Emir stated. "Besides, the rest of the team's with him...and is that ring new?"

Mal nodded, a small smile on her face as she rested her hand on Ben's chest; making sure that both boys could see the ring.

"...you actually did it?!" Akiho exclaimed. "I missed it?!"

"You thought I wasn't going to do it?"

"You knew?!"

Akiho chuckled. "Mal, it's me. When it comes to Ben, I know almost everything...but in this case I had a suspicion he was going to propose at some point. Came across some designs for the engagement ring. I had no idea he was going to do it tonight!"

"It was the best possible moment," Ben said, looking like he was going to shrug but thought better of it.

"You realize you've raised the bar for the rest of us to an almost impossible height right?" Jay stated. "At least Emir and Akiho are next, considering the team said you all do everything together."

Emir paled slightly and Akiho clapped his hands together. "Hey, what were we saying about getting this King someplace where he can get checked out? I for one think that's a great idea!"

"Guys, I'm fine," Ben said as Emir and Akiho began to walk him toward the cabins.

"Let us be the judge of that," Emir stated as Mal ran after them, having realized that they had left her just standing there. Yes, she was now a Lady of Ben's court. Yes, she was now the future Queen of Auradon.

That didn't matter. Belle could do the Queenly duties. Her mom could handle organizing Freddy's transport back to the Isle. All Mal wanted to do was be with Ben.

"Guys, come on..." she could hear Ben's voice in the King's suite and shook her head slightly as she walked in.

"Ben, you were knocked out. Forgive us for wanting to make sure you're okay."

"I second that," Mal nodded as she walked in. "I already know you feel a bit dizzy, considering you've swayed twice upon standing. How's your head? Can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?"

Ben tried to focus on her fingers but they kept moving back and forth. Seriously, did Mal grow three hands?

"Ben?" Mal prompted.

"Um...six?"

Mal glanced at her lone raised hand and then back at Ben. "Okay, I think it's safe to say you've probably got a concussion but I'd like to call in a professional to be sure."

"Good idea," Emir nodded.

"Yeah, Ben is notorious for working through injury," Akiho said. "Remember that time he tore a ligament in his ankle when we were fourteen and he tried to pretend he wasn't limping all day?"

"Oh yeah! When our biology teacher called him out on it when he asked Ben to turn off the lights, Ben put pressure on that ankle and you'd have thought we had murdered a boar in that classroom from how he gasped!" Emir nodded.

Ben shook his head. "There's a difference between then and now guys."

"And what's that?"

"I wasn't King then."

Mal sighed and pulled out her phone. She didn't want to call in backup but Ben was being stubborn. Apparently, when she rescued Ben from Audrey's grasp, she also gave him a fortified spine.

Which was great. Really it was. Until it affected his health.

"Mal, who are you calling?" Ben asked.

"It's just a precaution Ben."

"Don't listen to him Mal!"

"Akiho, if you bring up that blasted Tourney game again...Mal who are you calling?"

"Take a wild guess."

"...you're not calling Chip are you?"

Mal gave him a flat look. "Does Chip have a medical degree?"

"Actually you'd be surprised at what Chip dabbles in," Emir mused. "Plus he'd probably be the only one we could trust to not blab this to the media."

"Why is that even a factor? This was filmed throughout the entire Kingdom, including the Isle!" Akiho exclaimed. "People already know! We get an actual doctor in here so we can know for sure—."

"Akiho, calm down," Mal told him. "I'm just bringing in Chip so that way he can break down Mr. Stubborn's defenses. I'd call Belle but she's needed to do the Queenly stuff since Evie whisked Emma to safety and I'm not leaving Ben's side."

"Neither are we," Emir said firmly.

"I need someone to make sure the others don't kill Freddy before he can get to the Isle," Mal stated.

"The rest of the team can handle that," Akiho said with a shrug.

Mal sighed and turned her attention back to her phone. Thankfully, it seemed that Chip had heard every word as not five seconds later there was a knock at the door.

"Benji being stubborn again?" Chip asked as Mal opened the door to let him in only to find that Belle had also accompanied the dirty blond man.

"Mom?" Ben asked, his eyes wide in shock before wincing slightly.

Belle gave him a sad smile. "I know you're in pain right now Ben. You're so much like your father, it's scary. But you don't have to pretend. Not around me."

"Especially considering this isn't the first time you've been concussed," Emir muttered and Ben shot him a glare.

"I'm sorry?" Belle asked before looking at Ben. "Ben, something like this has happened before?"

"Don't glare at me Ben," Emir scoffed. "I can't believe you never told your mom! After you promised coach!"

"Tell me what?" Belle asked, looking at the three of them. Mal moved slightly so that she was standing by Chip.

"What happening exactly?"

"You're witnessing two very worried shadows now officially at their wits end with the guy they're shadowing," Chip muttered to her. "I mean, I don't blame them. Concussions are nothing to muck about with and they get worse with every one you have."

"How do you—?"

"I'm a freelance videographer. I have to know a little first aid and identifying and treating concussions is one such skill I've gained. When they're done arguing, I'm going to recommend Ben lie down in a dimmed room for the rest of the night. Or at least until we can actually get a medical professional in here."

"...he shouldn't sleep right?" Mal asked softly, her limited knowledge of first aid coming to the forefront of her mind.

"Right," Chip nodded.

"Tell me what?" Belle asked again and Mal realized that the three boys had yet to cease their bickering.

Ben sighed and looked at his mom. "I may have taken a small hit during the Imperial Academy game last year that resulted in a mild concussion."

"Ben, don't try to understate it!" Emir exclaimed. "You got hit so hard, we're pretty sure you were unconscious for ten minutes! You went so pale, the players closest to you thought you were dead."

"Benjamin Florian Le Bête!" Belle exclaimed. "I can't believe...you never told...why is this the first time I've heard about this? Your coach should have told your father and me the minute you got back from the game!"

"Oh it gets better," Emir stated. "Mr. Workaholic here neglected to tell coach that he had strep at the time."

"If coach hadn't found his pulse, we would have thought he was dead," Akiho nodded.

Ben sighed as Belle went pale and Chip looked over at Ben in concern. "Guys, you're making it sound way worse than it actually was."

"Yeah I don't think we are Ben."

"Okay, okay," Mal said gently as she stepped forward. "As entertaining as this all is, let's not argue with the guy who probably has a throbbing headache okay?"

"Yes Mal," Akiho and Emir nodded.

Turning to Ben, Mal stated, "and as for you, all you're going to do is relax in this room with the lights dimmed understand? Any paperwork you need to do tonight, give it to me. I'm your fiancée after all, my signature should be just as good as yours!"

"Mal—."

"Yes?"

Ben sighed. "I was just going to say I don't have any paperwork tonight. I made sure my night was free so I could spend it hopefully celebrating the good news with you."

"Well...we can still do that," Mal said gently and looked at Emir and Akiho. "Guys, could you please make sure Uma, Jay, and Harry haven't murdered Freddy? I know you said the rest of the team can handle it but they trust you."

Emir and Akiho seemed to almost straighten up at that and Mal bit her lip to hide a smile.

"We're on it Mal," Emir nodded and the two boys made their way out of the room.

"I'll work with Ben's PR team," Chip said. "This is the second attack on a major event in six months and the first one where the King's been injured. It'll take some work to spin this."

"Thanks Chip," Ben said softly.

"You get some rest Benji," Chip said gently, softly resting a hand on Ben's shoulder and squeezing it slightly. "Oh and congratulations you two."

"Yes," Belle nodded with a smile as she held back the tears that were threatening to fall. I finally get a daughter.

"Don't cry mom," Ben said softly as he returned the smile.

"Happy tears, Ben. Only happy tears," his mom told him as she gently kissed his forehead. "Don't scare me like that again Ben okay? I know you're the King but your father and I are still going to have a talk about keeping stuff like that from us."

"I...I didn't want to worry you," Ben said softly.

"Ben, it's the parents' job to protect their kid. Not the other way around," Belle said gently. "Mal, welcome to the family."

"Thank you Belle," Mal said with a smile as Belle came over and gave Mal a hug. Something that, she found, she didn't mind.

As Belle left, Mal found herself thankful for the slightly informal dress as she curled up next to Ben. There was no place she'd rather be.

Mal smiled as she held Ben close to her. Beast had come by with a doctor and, after a through check up, the doctor fond that Ben indeed had a concussion. So no more Cotillion for him but that was fine for Mal, it meant more time to cuddle up with him.

"Thank Gods Freddy didn't hurt you worse," she murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine," Ben said, keeping his voice low as if speaking any louder would hurt it more. "Besides, I owed you one remember."

"I believe I said I didn't want there to be a next time," Mal pointed out. "Besides you don't owe me anything Ben. Like you said, it's you and me. We're a team."

Ben gave her a small smile. "So wait, I just want to double check. You really said yes?"

"Got the ring to prove it," Mal chuckled, holding her hand up so that Ben could see the engagement ring resting proudly on her ring finger.

Ben grinned. "Do you like it?"

"I love it Ben. I love you. I'd have agreed to marry you ring or no ring," Mal said gently. "Seeing you on the deck earlier...I've never wanted the titles or the jewels. I want what my parents have. What your parents have. I want that. And I want it with you."

"And you'll always have me," Ben said gently.

Mal gave him a sad smile as she heard that. She knew there would be a time when she would have to say goodbye to Ben. But she didn't want to think about that. Not when she was the happiest she'd ever been.

"You know I asked your parents for permission?" Ben said with a small chuckle.

"You did?" Mal asked, slightly shocked before looking at him, her eyes wide. "Ben, you didn't go to the Isle without us did you?!"

Ben winced slightly as Mal's voice rose in her slight panic and Mal bit her lip as she noticed that.

"Sorry," she said, lowering her voice.

"It's not your fault," Ben said. "You're worried, that's understandable. But no, I didn't go to the Isle. Your mom took me to her portal and I asked both her and your dad. Your dad provided the jewel for the ring too."

"I'm not surprised," Mal chuckled as she looked at the jewel. "You know if dowries are a thing, he'll consider that as a challenge to show up your dad."

"Leah tried to insist on a dowry when I was in the contract with Audrey but mom put her foot down," Ben said. "She likes to say that if she married my dad without a dowry then it would be hypocritical of her to expect anyone I marry to have a dowry."

Mal smiled as she curled up close to Ben. "Dad always said your mom was the one to advocate for change for the Isle when it first was founded," she said softly. "I guess that's where you get it from."

Ben smiled slightly as he heard her words. Throughout his life, he'd always been compared to his father. In fact, he even had a few suits that were carbon copies of the ones his dad wore. He was proud of his dad, don't get him wrong. But being able to be compared to his mom...

"Did Belle get the photo?" Mal asked softly.

"I was...I was going to give it to her as sort of a reverse engagement gift," Ben said softly. "But after everything...I don't think it's a good idea to remind her of the daughter she lost the same night she saw me..."

"Hey, hey," Mal said gently. "It's okay. Trust me, I think that's a good idea but don't wait on giving that photo to her. I really think she'd like it."

Carlos had worked his magic and edited the photo so well, it honestly looked as if Abigail had been standing right next to Ben.

"I have it in a locket," Ben said. "It's going to be a birthday present for mom. Normally all she gets is books anyway so I think she'll like it. I hope so anyway."

"She'll love it Benny," Mal told him. "It came from her child. If my parents taught me anything, it's that a parent loves their children more than anything."

Ben smiled as he held her close. "This is going to sound strange but I'm glad you have a good relationship with your parents," he said, his voice a near whisper. "I know...with the Isle and all..."

"I actually didn't know dad was my dad until I was five," Mal said with a small sigh. "I was four months old when Maleficent's goblins stole me from mom and dad."

"Oh Gods Mal," Ben said, looking at Mal in horror. "I'm so sorry...I had no idea. How'd you find out that Lord Hades was your father?"

"You know, considering that he's going to be your father-in-law, you can probably drop the title," Mal teased gently. "As for how I found out...I asked him."

"You just asked the Lord of the Underworld if he was your father?"

"Well when he knew my middle name, it was a pretty big hint," Mal chuckled.

Ben smiled. "Bertha right? I don't know if it's the concussion talking but that's kinda pretty."

"It's the concussion Ben," Mal told him, softly cupping his cheek with her hand. "Though it's better now that I'm 'Malinda' instead of 'Maleficent'."

"Still though it's better than mine," Ben chuckled. "Florian. Benjamin Florian."

"It suits you," Mal said with a small smile.

"I believe you said it was rather 'princely' when I told you about it on our first date," Ben said with another small chuckle.

"Maybe I should have said it was rather regal instead," Mal told him.

"Either one worked," Ben said and then winced. "Sorry...head still hurts."

Mal couldn't help but frown. "I can get you some meds..."

"I don't want to be a bother Mal but—."

"Not another word," Mal said as she got up and went to the door. Sticking her head out, she said, "Dean? Are you out here? I know you shadow Ben more than Emir and Akiho do."

"A King's attendant must be ready at a moment's notice my Lady."

"I didn't mean anything negative by it Dean," Mal said with a small smile. "Can you fetch some pain medicine? King Ben's head is still hurting after his confrontation with Freddy Frollo."

"Of course."

"Thank you. If possible, make sure the meds are something that don't react to caffeine. He shouldn't sleep right now."

Dean nodded. "I'll also make sure to fetch some food as well. King Ben shouldn't have the pain medicine on an empty stomach."

Mal smiled. "If it's not too much effort, some chicken souvlaki with feta cheese would be perfect."

Sure it wasn't one of the many dishes Mrs. Potts made for his parents, but Ben loved her dad's cooking. Plus his fiancée was Greek—he was going to have plenty of Greek food, thank you!

"It's not a problem my Lady," Dean nodded. "I'll go ahead and get that for his highness."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome my Lady. And congratulations. I know you and King Ben will be quite happy together."

Mal smiled. "I hope so Dean. Once you get the food, take the rest of the night off. I'll be looking after his highness for the night."

Sure she wasn't Ben but Dean shouldn't run himself ragged. Not tonight.

"If...if you're sure my Lady," Dean said, giving her a small bow.

"I'm sure Dean," Mal said. "Cotillion is a night for everyone to enjoy. It doesn't make sense for it to be ruined for all of Auradon Prep."

Dean smiled before heading off to get the food, coffee and medicine. Mal turned to head back into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Meds will be here soon," she said as she climbed back onto the bed. "Along with food."

"Thanks Mal," Ben said. "You didn't have to—."

"Uh huh!"

"Seriously Mal, you didn't have to—."

"Ben, getting you to admit that you're in pain is a feat in itself," Mal stated.

Ben shrugged slightly. "I usually just power through it. Work's not going to stop or do itself."

Mal rolled her eyes. "Yeah well you don't have power through this one Ben. You've got a crowd of people who'll do anything for you. Especially after you were injured trying to protect them."

Ben gave her a sad smile. While he had been trying to protect his kingdom, in the back of his mind all he was worried about was keeping Freddy away from Mal. He knew Mal could take care of herself but that didn't mean he wanted to have it happen.

"Like I said, we're a team Ben," Mal said gently. "You know the motto of my crew?"

"Family is forever?"

Mal smiled and shook her head. "No, but I can see how you'd think that. It's Ruthless Yet Loyal. We look after those who are loyal to us and we destroy anyone who tries to threaten them. You did your job, now you just need to rest."

She sighed softly. "You were there for me, when Natalie chipped away of everything that made me me. You took care of me, held me as I cried. Hell, you took me to the Isle so I could see my dad. Let me take care of you now."

Ben gave her a small smile. "Thanks Mal."

"You don't need to thank me Ben," Mal said. "Besides, I got to introduce Freddy to my dragon form. Trust me, I'll always do that for you."

Ben kissed the top of her head before pausing. "Wait, you...you transformed?"

"You were unconscious," Mal said softly. "But let's not talk about that right now okay? You should be resting."

"I'm lying down and everything Mal," Ben said. "But if I should be resting, so should you. I know you were tired after you transformed at my coronation."

Mal shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Good," Ben smiled. "No sense in both of us being laid up tonight."

He sighed, the smile slipping from his face. "Gods I'm so sorry about this Mal. Tonight was supposed to be about you and I went and got myself knocked out."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Mal said gently. "It's not your fault."

"Still...you should be out there. Enjoying your engagement night."

"I get to be in here cuddling with my fiancé instead of battling the press who'll be more eager than sharks in a feeding frenzy," Mal said, resting her hand on his chest. "I consider that a win personally."

Ben smiled and kissed the top of her head once more. Mal chuckled and gently brushed Ben's hair out of his eyes. She couldn't believe there had been a moment where there'd been a chance the world wouldn't have those eyes in it. Where her world wouldn't have those eyes in it.

Those eyes that saw the good in everyone, who looked out at the Isle of the Lost and didn't see a collection of villains but kids who had been left behind by the mainland. Who saw a leather clad purple favoring girl and decided to make her his friend.

Just relax now Ben, she thought as she rested her head on his shoulder. I'll take care of things now. Not to mention I know Emir and Akiho will be happy to take some work off your hands. Plus Emma's safe so she can handle any of the Queenly stuff once we're back at the school. I have a feeling you won't be getting over this in just a day.

"You okay?" Mal asked, looking up at him. "Head still hurting?"

"A little," Ben told her though it was clear to Mal it was the last thing he wanted to say. "But Dean's on his way with the meds."

"Yeah he is," Mal nodded as she curled into him. "Thank you by the way. For the gift. I forgot to say it out there."

"You don't have to thank me Mal," Ben said. Mal smiled up at him as a knock on the door sounded.

"Come in Dean!" Mal called.

"Yes my Lady," Dean nodded as he walked in with the caffeine, food, and pain medicine.

"Thank you," Mal said.

"Yes, thank you Dean," Ben said as Dean set everything down on the bedside table.

"No thanks necessary sire," Dean told him.

"Still, you should be enjoying yourself," Ben said and Dean shook his head in amusement.

"You and Lady Mal are perfect for each other sire, she said the same thing," he said as a snuffling sound could be heard by the door.

Mal smiled. "I think we're about to be joined by a furry friend. I'm honestly surprised it took him so long actually."

"He's more than welcome," Ben said with a small smile of his own.

Mal shook her head in amusement. "You might want to let him in Dean. Or else that doorknob may turn by itself..."

Mal trailed off as the door opened once more and Estelle ran in, a doggy grin on all three of his heads.

"Hey boy," Ben said as Estelle hopped on the bed and snuffled at him. "Yes, yes, yes, I'm okay."

Mal couldn't help but smile as she saw the two of them interact. Her two boys.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she saw a bit of brown near the mouth of Estelle's left head. "Estelle...did you bite someone?"

Estelle looked at her as if to say 'they deserved it'.

"...Estelle, did you bite Freddy?"

A small yip came from her Cerberus and Mal sighed in frustration.

"Estelle, are Harry, Uma, and Jay with Freddy right now?" Mal asked but this time her dog was silent. She resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. She knew Ben's friends would restrain them if they went too far.

She hoped.

"He's just concerned," Ben said and Mal looked over at him. "And you don't know he bit anyone. There's probably a lot of blood on deck if you guys tried mopping up Freddy before getting him to his cell."

Mal shared a look with Dean, who bit back a chuckle. It was a good sign, Ben trying to see a positive as to why Estelle had blood on his mouth. This confrontation with Freddy wasn't going to change him.

"Your pain medicine is right here your highness," Dean stated, gesturing to the bedside table.

"Thank you Dean. Now go take the rest of the night off and enjoy Cotillion."

"Lady Mal has already told me to do the same thing sire," Dean chuckled. "But please let me know if you need anything else."

"We will," Mal nodded before Ben could say anything. Dean smiled and turned to leave.

"Thank Gods for Dean," Ben muttered as he grabbed the pain medicine.

"Shouldn't you eat first?" Mal asked, gently taking the bottle from Ben's hand. "When was the last time you ate anyway?"

"Probably breakfast," Ben sighed. "I went on a run before this, forgot about lunch."

"Eat."

"Yes Mal," Ben smiled and dug into his food causing Mal to chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"You're digging into that food like Estelle digs into his," she said with a small chuckle and Estelle wagged his tail.

"There are worse canines to be compared to," Ben smiled. "After all, he probably knew about Freddy long before we did."

Estelle snorted as if to say 'you bet I did!'

"Yeah well he's a good boy that way," Mal smiled as she scratched Estelle behind the ears. When it came to Freddy, Estelle really didn't mess around. He was their motto canineified...oh Gods, she'd been in Auradon too long if she was picking up their habit of making up words.

Still, the positives of being in Auradon outweighed the negatives.

"How's the food?" Mal asked.

"Good," Ben nodded. "You want some?"

Mal shook her head. "It's your food Ben. You should have it all. I can snag something if I get hungry later."

Ben gave her a small smile before returning to his food, a smile that Mal returned. She didn't mind this, getting to spend time with Ben like this. It wasn't what she imagined the night to turn out like, but she really wouldn't have it any other way. She gave Ben a small kiss on the cheek.

"Now pain meds?" He asked as he swallowed, having finished his food and Mal couldn't help but smile slightly. He sounded like a little boy asking for desert.

"Yes Ben. Now pain meds," Mal nodded and picked up the bottle. Carefully shaking out two tablets, she handed them to Ben who popped them in his mouth and to Mal's surprise dry swallowed them.

"Aren't you supposed to drink something with them?"

"Eh. I learned how to dry swallow pain meds years ago," Ben shrugged. "Keeps you from accidentally spilling water on your paperwork."

"Okay, so we're officially digitizing your paperwork," Mal told him.

"Preaching to the choir Mal," Ben smiled. "Now come 'ere."

He gently pulled Mal to him and wrapped her in his arms. Mal sighed contently as she rested her head on his chest, Estelle pressing himself against both of them.

Ben smiled and kissed the top of Mal's head. "Hey, did I mention how much I love you?"

Mal couldn't help but giggle slightly. "I love you too Ben."

And she truly did love him. So, so much.

"Let me know if you need the lights to be dimmer," Mal said, keeping her voice low to avoid a headache for Ben as Estelle gave him a gentle lick on the hand.

Ben made a small noise of what Mal assumed to be agreement and Mal smiled.

"This isn't so bad huh?"

"Other than the slight throbbing in my head? Nope. Spending time with you is never a bad thing Mal."

Mal chuckled slightly. "Well good because you're stuck with me," she said softly as she held up her ring again.

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me neither," Mal said. They smiled at each other, each of them scratching Estelle behind the ears of one of his heads. This was truly a great way to spend the evening. Just them...and Estelle of course.

"He likes you," Mal told Ben.

"I'm glad," Ben said. "Your dad said that was one of the conditions to getting his approval for me to propose."

"What were the other conditions?" Mal asked.

"That we don't actually get married until we're twenty and that if I ever hurt you, that I understand that there's no punishment my soul won't know."

Mal shook her head. "Honestly I'm surprised there weren't more conditions. You know, his little girl getting engaged and all that stuff. Still, I'm in favor of waiting."

"You are?"

"I'm going to have to learn on how to be Queen, Ben," Mal said. "Plus, as much as I love you, I'm not comfortable becoming a mom before I'm twenty anyway which you know people would be asking about if we got married before then."

Ben paused, as if he hadn't even considered that. "That...is an excellent point Mal. I love you too but becoming a dad before I'm even eighteen...I couldn't do that to the kid. Besides, having more time to plan the wedding means less stress right?"

"Right," Mal nodded before deciding to change the subject. "Got any ideas as to who you're picking for your best man?"

"Chip."

"Right out of the gate huh?"

Ben chuckled. "I know you were expecting me to say Emir or Akiho, and they'd be my groomsmen if they said yes of course. But Chip's...Chip's my brother. He's always been there for me, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have."

Mal smiled as she listened to him talk. "I'm sure he'll be honored Benny."

"What about you? Any thoughts of Maid of Honor?"

"You just asked me tonight Ben," Mal chuckled. "Besides, we didn't exactly spend our childhoods dreaming about our weddings on the Isle. But if I had to pick...Uma. She's been my best friend for as long as I can remember. I know she's my cousin but she's the closest thing I have to a sister."

"I'm sure she'll say yes," Ben said.

"Not if it means getting into another 'prissy' dress," Mal shook her head with a small smile.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Ben said, holding her close as he leaned his head down to whisper in her ear. "Besides, I'm sure Harry could get her to say yes if she ended up being particularly stubborn."

"So you see it too?"

"Mal, I'm pretty sure Estelle see it," Ben chuckled as the two of them curled up, content to spend the rest of their night in the best place they could be—wrapped in each other's arms with a Cerberus for company.

As Ben and Mal were enjoying each other's company, on the other side of the yacht a certain Angel leader was not having a very good night. You see, Harry, Uma, and Jay had decided to pay him a little visit.

Along with Hadie. And Estelle.

"Okay Estelle, no ripping Freddy boy limb from limb," Hadie stated.

"Should you even be coming with us?" Uma asked. "Your mom and dad would kill me if they found out."

"Which is why they won't find out," Hadie shrugged. "Besides, Mal's my sister and my captain. Freddy tried to hurt Ben and Mal loves Ben. Ergo, Freddy tried to hurt Mal. Therefore I get to hurt him."

"Spoken like a true Rat," Harry chuckled and twisted his hook as they walked into the room that was acting like a makeshift brig.

"Did something happen?" William asked, looking up at Jay. "Is Ben alright?"

"Ben's fine," Jay told him. "Mal's with him."

"So...why are you four here?"

Jay chuckled and the team couldn't help but stare at how...dark the chuckle was. It was clear that something was in store. The question really was what?

"We're here to make sure Freddy understands the importance of leaving Mal alone," Harry told them.

"I thought we weren't supposed to kill him?" Li asked.

"You'd be surprised of what you can live through," Jay said, his voice low as he glared at Freddy's unconscious form. None of the kids noticed Emir and Akiho slip in to the room.

"Are we just glaring at Freddy tonight?" Emir asked.

"They won't let us interrogate him," Uma grumbled. "They keep asking questions."

Akiho shook his head. "Something tells me that 'interrogation' is code for something else."

"You've spent too much time around us."

"Mal wants us to make sure you don't kill him," Emir said. "Other than that...have fun."

Uma smirked as the other boys stared at Emir in shock. Well the other Auradon boys that is. Okay just William, Brenden, Li, and Miguel since Akiho was nodding in agreement. Harry, Jay and Hadie just smirked in amusement.

She knelt down by Freddy, her shell glowing in her fingers. "Wakey wakey Freddy," she said, her voice a low growl. "This is your personal wake up call from your personal demons."

"Wha...Uma," Freddy growled as he regained consciousness. "Well at least you sinners are admitting you belong in Hell."

"I didn't say we thought we were demons. We said we were your demons," Uma snarled, barring her teeth in a smile that was not friendly in the slightest.

"I'm not scared of you Uma."

"And that is exactly your problem. You should be," Uma said as she stood back up. "Boys, why don't you start us off?"

"Gladly cap'n," Harry nodded, a twisted smile on his face. "I've got just one question for you Freddy. How would you like to be tortured?"

"You wouldn't dare Hook! You don't have the guts!"

"Oh?" Harry asked and knelt down so that he was eye level to Freddy. "Maybe if it was me you went after Freddy, I might have left you alone. But you went after Mal. You went after Ben. You don't touch my captain or what's hers."

And you went after Uma. Don't think I didn't notice you talk about riding the world of witches Freddy, he thought as he stood back up and glared at the leader of the Angels. I know she can take care of herself but that doesn't mean I want you anywhere near her.

"Harry, torture him quietly," Jay said as he examined his nails, looking almost bored with the conversation. "There are guards outside."

"No there's not," Harry snorted. "Besides, after what he did, do you really think anyone would come to his aid?"

"Eh good point," Jay nodded as Estelle started growling at Freddy.

"Don't worry boy, you'll get your turn," Uma muttered, smirking as she heard the growls.

"Keep that hell beast away from me!" Freddy snapped.

"That 'hell beast' might just be your end if you keep talking like that," Uma shot back.

"Did I say anything that was inaccurate?" Freddy asked. "It's an unholy demon—then again, so is Mal so it makes sense it's here."

Uma glared at Freddy, her hands clenching into fists as she glanced over at Hadie.

"Keep my sister out of this Freddy!" Hadie shouted. "The only unholy demon that's here is you!"

"I'd listen to my cousin," Uma growled as Freddy scoffed. "He tends to be right about stuff like this."

"Of course, all the members of your little cult would stick together."

"Says the boy who's gang members are called 'Angels'," Jay scoffed. "Double standard much?"

"You all are so blindly devoted to Mal, you don't see how the dragon's daughter's luring you all to sin!" Freddy snapped.

"And you're so devoted to your father that you don't realize you're going to end up just like him."

"Enough talking!" Harry growled. "I thought we were torturing him?!"

"Hadie, turn around," Uma ordered.

"I'm a VK! I'm not a baby, I grew up on the Isle too!"

"You're also under fifteen and I'm the captain. I'm not explaining to your mother why you saw this."

Hadie grumbled but turned around so that he was facing the Tourney team. Harry smirked as he looked over at Freddy.

"Like I said, you don't have the guts Hook!"

"Watch me," Harry snarled. He lashed out and hit Freddy's ribs with his foot. "A lesson I learned from my father," he growled.

Jay winced but smirked as he heard the slew of curses spew from Freddy's mouth. Curses Hadie hopefully didn't hear because Li had quickly put his hands over the Godling's ears.

"You'll pay for that Hook!"

"You think so?" Harry asked. "Sounds like you need another reminder of my father's lesson."

Harry brought his foot back and kicked Freddy in the ribs once more, earning another chorus of familiar curses.

"I probably should have had Hadie plug his ears," Uma noted. "I doubt Li's hands are doing much to block out Freddy's filth."

"I've heard worse on the Lost Revenge!"

"Why do you think you're not allowed on the ship until the crew cleans up their language?"

"When I get out of here Hook, I'll make sure you pay for this! After I make Mal pay for that little stunt she pulled with the dragon!"

Jay growled and stormed over, grabbing Freddy by the shirt. "You. Don't. Touch. Mal."

Each word was punctuated by a punch to the face.

"Oh Jay, I was wondering when you'd join in," Freddy taunted as blood dripped down his face. "Mal's little lap dog."

"I know the concept of friends is a foreign one to you because you don't have them," Jay growled. "But don't even think of touching Mal."

"Guys, we did say no killing," Emir said, trying to reign in the VKs as he could see that things were getting a little too heated.

"I know Emir," Jay growled as he continued to glare at Freddy. "But like we said, you'd be surprised of what you can live through. We'd know that better than most."

"Guys, come on," Akiho said though everyone could tell that he didn't have his heart in it. Ben was one of his best friends after all. "He's already injured from Mal's dragon form. Don't...don't you think you've 'tortured' him enough? Do we have to go and get Mal?"

"He's the reason I almost only had two cousins on the Isle instead of three!" Uma growled. "If the boys get to have their fun, so do I!"

"Uma, we get that—."

"It's not my fault the little witch couldn't swim!" Freddy taunted. "Come on Uma. You talk a big game but you just hide behind your lap dogs. At least your mother could back up her talk, even if she was a witch."

"I don't hide behind anyone Freddy," Uma snarled before lashing out and kicking Freddy right in the groin and causing all the boys to wince, Jay having scrambled to get out of the way before Uma kicked him by accident. Even if it was Freddy boy, they all knew the pain of getting hit in that particular area.

"That was for knocking Ben out tonight and ruining Mal's night and this is for what you did to Mal when we were nine!" Uma growled, lashing out again and kicking the same spot.

"Gods, this girl is harsh," William muttered.

"Do you care though?" Li asked. "I mean, sure those kicks hurt but let's be fair. After what this guy did to Ben..."

"Oh I'm not going to go and sob into my pillow or anything for this guy. I'm just saying that Uma's harsh."

"Uma, I think that's enough," Emir said as Uma picked up her foot to kick again. "I think Freddy's got the picture."

"Can I turn back around now?" Hadie asked as Uma scoffed.

"I suppose," Uma sighed and Hadie turned back to face his cousin and Freddy.

"Wow, you guys didn't go half as hard as I thought you would!"

"Would you like us to rectify that?

"And face the Tourney team again? No thank you! I want to help!"

"Guys!" Akiho exclaimed.

"Yes?" The four VKs asked, looking at the Arendelle prince.

"Seriously that's enough! Look at him, he doesn't even look human anymore."

"To be honest, he was never truly human," Harry muttered.

"Yeah Akiho, this is an improvement," Jay nodded. "Honestly I'm a little surprised. Ben's your best friend. I'd have thought you'd be jumping at the chance to punish Freddy for what he did."

"Jay, as a best friend, I want to pummel this cretin into the ground," Akiho stated. "But Mal gave the order that we're to make sure you guys don't kill him. You did some damage and got it out of your system but enough."

"Um, Estelle and I didn't get to do anything," Hadie spoke up.

"Mal doesn't want Estelle biting anyone, it might confuse him," Uma said. "But come on and get your licks in Hadie. He's wounded enough, he can't do anything."

And if he tries, it'll be the last thing he ever does, she thought.

Hadie let go of Estelle and walked over to Freddy, smirking slightly at the amused look on the leader of the Angel's face. "Oh cute, you think it's not going to hurt because I'm younger huh? Too bad I'm a quick study, even if I was forced to turn around, and I'm going to take a page out of Harry's book."

He lashed out and kicked at Freddy's already slightly damaged ribs, causing Freddy to groan slightly.

"Okay, now have you gotten all of this out of your system?" Emir asked.

"No, but it'll have to do," Uma sighed.

"Good, so let's go before anyone realizes that we're missing," Akiho stated. No one noticed Estelle go up to Freddy, never noticed Freddy swipe at Estelle.

"Oh God! Let go of me you devil!"

"Stop. Don't. Bad dog," Hadie said as he turned around to see Estelle's jaws biting down on Freddy's arm.

Uma chuckled at her cousin's deadpanned tone as Akiho sighed.

"Come here Estelle," he said. "You want to go see Mal?"

Estelle paused and looked at Akiho, keeping his death grip on Freddy's arm.

"That's right," Akiho nodded. "Let go of that nasty arm and you'll get to go see Mal. I'm sure she'd love to see you after the night she's had."

The Cerberus snorted and looked over at Hadie, as if looking for permission.

"Release," Hadie sighed, clearly not wanting to give the command but knew it was the only way Estelle would let go of Freddy's arm. Estelle snorted and let go of the arm, trotting off to go and find Mal.

"Mal's going to wonder what happened if there's any blood on Estelle's muzzle," Uma noted.

"It's not like we're going to keep this from her," Harry pointed out. "If anything she'll be disappointed she wasn't here."

"True but she did get to turn into a dragon and teach Freddy the importance of leaving Ben alone," Jay added. "Now come on. I'm honestly surprised we haven't gotten caught."

"You want me to knock him out again?" Harry smirked.

"Nah," Uma shook her head. "If he's knocked out, he's not in pain. That's too kind for him."

Everyone couldn't help but chuckle as they made their way out of Freddy's room and back to the deck.

"Tell me you didn't teach Freddy a lesson without me," Lonnie raised an eyebrow as she looked at Jay.

"What lesson? We didn't teach Freddy a lesson."

"There's blood on your knuckles Jay," Carlos said, shaking his head as he walked up. "You all alright?"

"Just fine. What about you Carlos?" Jay asked.

"Other than a few bruises where Jane had to hold me back after Ben got knocked out, I'm fine," Carlos told the older boy.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Freddy was taller than you and he had a sword. Just what were you going to do?"

"I'm a VK! I'd improvise!"

"Your lass has got a point, DeVil," Harry stated and then looked over as Gil walked up. Everyone stilled as they stared at the two boys. Harry had not exactly been a wallflower in terms of his dislike of the LeGume boy so it was a shock to everyone when the First Mate patted Gil on the shoulder.

"You did good Gil," Harry stated.

"Thanks Harry," Gil smiled. "But what do we do now?"

"Yeah, it doesn't exactly feel right to keep celebrating when Mal and Ben are off somewhere recovering," Jane nodded.

Akiho sighed. "Well...what if we had our own party? Our 'we didn't die at the hands of a French Fanatic' party...and my phone is ringing."

"Mine too," Emir frowned as all the AK's phones started ringing. The VKs couldn't help but give sad smiles as they realized what had caused the influx of calls—Cotillion had been televised after all.

"Hadie!" Alexandria exclaimed as she came running up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. What about you? Did Freddy—?"

"He never got the chance," Alexandria shook her head. "Gods though, I hope he doesn't have Chad. The fact that he had his invitation..."

"Call him," Hadie offered. "He might be somewhere sleeping or something. Didn't you say he didn't have a date?"

Alexandria nodded and pulled out her own phone, just as it started ringing.

"...Chad?" The youngest Charming said in shock. "Yeah, I'm fine, I was just about to call you...you're with Audrey? She had a flat tire? In Sherwood Forest? Well why didn't you call Bobby or Roland? Yes Kitty and Lucy's boyfriends. Yes they have boyfriends. Yes you've been living under a rock Chad. Yes, Ben really got engaged. How is it you know all of this? Sherwood Forest doesn't exactly have TVs hanging from the trees. The radio? Huh."

"Of course he's with Audrey," Brenden shook his head as Alexandria continued chatting with her brother. "Even in their 'off' phases in their on again, off again relationship, he'd still be at her beck and call."

"Hey, all it means is that Audrey's not here," Li pointed out. "Could you imagine her screeching as Mal turned into a dragon?"

"It'd be a repeat of Ben's coronation, only worse because Ben wasn't unconscious then," Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, let's not talk about that," Will sighed. "The important thing is that Ben's alive and engaged. And on that note, I think I'm going to go find my girlfriend. Li, Conner, you coming?"

"One of these days I'm going to figure out how you three ended up dating the sisters of your respective girlfriends," Emir shook his head.

"Isn't Aziz dating Rachel Fitzherbert?" Miguel pointed out with a chuckle. "If you're not careful Emir, you'll wind up with like half the Tourney team as brothers since those three are dating Rachel's sisters."

"I don't think that's how it works...but there's nothing wrong with that," Emir stated.

Jay shook his head. "So we were saying something about our own party?"

"Right! Pizza, pjs, and chocolate!" Akiho grinned. "Plus, maybe we can rid a certain pirate of his denial!"

"You do that and Mal's not there, she'd kill you."

"Eh, she'd get over it."

"She's dealt with those two and their denial for about ten years Akiho. Trust me. She'd kill you."

"Ah that's a good point and I don't want to miss Ben's wedding."

"You lot know we can hear you right?" Harry asked as he looked at them.

"Good, so you'll get over your denial that much quicker," Hadie grinned as Alexandria snorted in amusement, having ended her call.

Uma rolled her eyes. "Ignore them Harry. They're just insane from the excitement tonight."

"They're always insane then cap'n," Harry added. "Anyone see Blueberry?"

"Right here," Evie said softly as she walked up, her hair spilling out of her braid.

"You alright?" Uma asked, taking her turn to shock everyone.

Evie gave the other blue haired girl a small smile. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? It must have taken a lot of magic to wake up Freddy from what I heard. Everyone's still talking about it."

"Eh, not that much and I'm used to Freddy," Uma shrugged. "You on the other hand aren't used to our particular brand of crazy."

"I've heard rumors about Freddy though," Evie said softly. "Even being isolated for, well you know, Mal not getting an invite to my sixth birthday."

"Wow, harsh," Emir muttered.

"It was Maleficent's doing," Jay muttered to him.

"That makes sense."

Evie sighed and looked at Uma. "From everything I heard from the rumors, Freddy doesn't stop with just one defeat."

"No he does not," Uma grumbled. "He's like a very annoying house fly that just won't die."

"If you guys ever need a safe place, Emma offered her castle," Evie stated, looking at all the VKs. "Just in case."

"Macaria offered her place too," Gil added.

"Her place here with her parents or Olympus?" Uma asked.

"Uh..."

Harry chuckled. "Okay, all's right with the world again," he said as he patted Gil on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go enjoy the night and try to forget about Freddy boy for a while. No sense in him living rent free in our heads."

"I think my mom's coming to get me," Hadie said as Persephone walked up. "Hey mom."

"Hadie!" Persephone smiled. "You'd gone off and I didn't know—."

"I was with Uma," Hadie said with an innocent smile that Persephone didn't buy in an instant. "Mom, can I join the others in a slumber party?"

"Hmm...I don't know," Persephone said.

"Please mom?!"

"We'll be with him the whole time Aunt Steph," Uma stated. "After tonight, I promise, it'll be just a relaxing evening with friends."

"...there's blood on Hadie's shoes."

"That was there this whole time?"

"Why is there blood on my son's shoes Uma?"

"He was practicing his kicking and Freddy got in the way?"

Persephone looked at the two of them and shook her head. "Come with me Hadie. Uma, I can't ground you but I'm certainly very disappointed in you young lady."

"Does it lessen your disappointment if I said it was Freddy's blood?"

"...you've been around your Uncle too much," Persephone told her but a small smile pulled at her lips. Uma smiled slightly. While it stung to know she'd disappointed her aunt, she knew Aunt Steph couldn't be mad for long. After all, this was the woman who turned a nymph into a mint plant because she got jealous that Uncle Hades might have liked her more.

Ooh, now that's an idea!

No turning Freddy Frollo into a plant!

Oh come on Aunt Steph! Actually, how did you even know that's what I was thinking?

I've known you since you were six Uma, I know what goes through your head by now.

Uma shook her head in slight amusement as she watched her Aunt and cousin walk off, Hadie trying to argue that Freddy deserved the kick to the rib cage. Her cousin was perfect for Auradon, he still had his innocence that Mal had worked hard to protect.

"So...pizza?" Lonnie asked.

"Sounds good to me," Akiho grinned. "Come on you guys, slumber party in my dorm. We can check on Ben in the morning."

"I thought you'd be camped out at his door," Jay chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure Mal would kill me if that was the case."

"This is true, this is very true," Jay nodded as the group of them made their way off the yacht, Harry bending down to scoop up the sword and dagger from the deck beforehand. No sense those things falling into the wrong hands after all.

Besides, he thought as he made his way down the ramp, you don't know when you'll need a weapon. Tonight certainly proved that.

"So...are you not going to rant to Ben about the lack of guards?" Emir asked Akiho.

"Not while he's recovering from being knocked unconscious," Akiho stated. "Besides, gives me a chance to actually prepare my rant instead of just flying off the handle."

"Never hurts to be prepared," Uma nodded and the group climbed into a limo, content to make their way back to Auradon Prep. Of course no one commented on how Lonnie was holding onto Jay's hand. Or how Carlos had his arm wrapped around Jane's shoulders. Or how Uma had rested her head on Harry's shoulder.

"How are we the single ones here?" Emir muttered to Akiho. Okay, no one commented within earshot of the three couples.

"Because our girlfriends got whisked off to safety after a French fanatic threatened Cotillion with a sword, as mine is the heir to her throne and yours is both heir to her throne and the unofficial heir to Ben," Akiho muttered back.

"Ah. Right."

"You know they're going to ask us why we haven't proposed."

"Emma doesn't care about that. Plus I'd rather not be staring down a bow and arrow when I do ask."

"You think you've got it bad? My girlfriend's the great-granddaughter of the God of the Ocean!"

"You know what Ben would say to that? That he managed just fine and his girlfriend's the daughter of the God of the Dead."

"…you realize we'll have to ask permission first. And both our girls have parents who are scary in their own way."

"You love Elle?"

"Of course."

"And I love Emma."

"So it's worth it," both boys nodded as the limo made its way back to Auradon Prep.

Chad grunted as he ratcheted the tire jack, trying desperately to get this tire changed for Audrey. Not because of any pressing need to impress her, but because getting the tire changed would make it possible for him to go back to his room and sleep. Changing a tire was exhausting business, especially when he was changing it by himself!

There'd be a Cotillion next year, he knew that. Besides, nothing really changed between Cotillions. Usually the most exciting thing was that someone would get drunk and fall off the yacht. To this day, Chad didn't know who it was who snuck in the alcohol.

What? It wasn't him! His dad would have killed him if he had made it easy for his kid sisters to get drunk!

"Can't you go any faster?" Audrey snapped. "We've been here for hours!"

"I'd like to point out that I've been working at this while you've been sitting in the limo listening to the radio!"

"Of course Chad! You can't expect me to get my dress dirty can you? Besides, how else will I know what I've missed at Cotillion?"

Chad shook his head and tried to bring his attention back to the tire. All he was thankful for was the fact that it was the tire on the opposite side of the gas exhaust. The job was difficult enough without breathing in those fumes.

Remind me to 'thank' Conner for tossing that bottle when I get a chance, Chad thought with a grimace as he reached for the lug wrench to start removing the lug nuts that attached the tire to the limo.

When he looked back at that moment, he would wonder why he didn't just take Audrey back to Auradon in his car and then call a service for her limo the next day. Well...hindsight is 2020 after all.

The sounds of screams from the radio drew his attention and Chad dropped the lug wrench to look over at Audrey.

"What's going on?" Chad asked.

"A VK's attacking Cotillion," Audrey told him with a sniff. "I guess Evie got bored and wanted to reprise her role as event ruiner. I wonder what villain she'll bring to Auradon this time."

I'm pretty sure Evie's a girl though and that doesn't really sound like a kid, Chad thought as an unfamiliar male voice sounded through the radio. Though, unless he was mistaken, Audrey's eyes widened slightly. Almost as if she'd heard that voice before.

"Fredrick...?" She whispered, and Chad tilted his head. Who the heck was Fredrick?

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Is...is Ben seriously kicking someone out of Cotillion?" Chad muttered, all thoughts of changing the tire gone as he dedicated all his attention to the radio. "He never kicks anyone out. I mean, he didn't even kick Evie out of his coronation after she stole Fairy Godmother's wand."

Audrey hushed him and Chad rolled his eyes, until the sound of a sword being unsheathed caused him to freeze.

There were never any weapons at Cotillion. After all, teenagers with emotions already running high was dangerous enough. Add in weapons and it was a recipe for disaster—at least that's what Jane always told him the few times he asked about it.

"Freddy, don't even think about it! Your fight's with me!"

That was Mal's voice. But...she sounded different. Normally she sounded confident and sarcastic. Maybe every a little annoyed if she was talking to him or Evie. But at that moment she sounded...angry, and tense, and scared. Who was this Freddy guy to get that reaction from Mal?

"If I don't fight to protect my kingdom then who will?"

"I will."

Chad shook his head slightly. Akiho's going to be freaking out right now, he thought with a sigh. But at least it won't be a problem for long. Ben was one of the best swordsmen Chad knew after all—if this Freddy beat Ben, it would be because of some act of the Gods.

And really, with Mal being the daughter of two Gods, Olympus wasn't going to risk angering her by siding with the guy fighting her boyfriend. Oh yeah he knew Audrey insisted that Mal was lying and that Lady Persephone was merely Mal's step mother.

Chad didn't care. He knew the relationship his mother had with her step mother. If Mal had somehow lucked out and gotten a non-wicked step mother to the extent that she considered her her actual mother, more power to her.

"White moves first."

Out of the corner of his eye, Chad saw Audrey bite her lip and he had to wonder if she was worried about Phillip Jr. He knew the younger boy was attending Cotillion just like he knew that his sisters were there.

Oh Gods, get out of there Kat! Lucy! Alex!

The familiar sound of swords clashing sent chills down his spine and Chad had to remind himself that Ben had a sword. Everything would be alright. Plus the others on the team would be there. If Ben got into any trouble, they could rush this Freddy guy and get him down in seconds.

"And here I thought you'd be above such a move."

"All's fair in sparring, or at least that's what your little witch of a girlfriend likes to say according to the Isle grapevine."

"Hmm, he doesn't seem to be a fan of Mal," he heard Audrey mutter. "Finally, someone who's not in Mal's little fan club. I had begun to think she'd enchanted all of the school!"

Chad shook his head. Whenever Audrey started ranting, the safest thing was just sit there in silence and let her rant. Besides, he didn't want to miss a thing in terms of the sparring. If Ben got hurt...

"Ben, watch out!"

"What's going on?" Chad asked as the sound of screams filled the limo. For the first time, he wished that there was a screen on the radio so he could see Cotillion. Or even better, if he was there.

But his father had taught him that a Prince didn't leave a lady in need. And Audrey was one of his oldest friends, along with Ben.

"Ben!"

Chad's blood ran cold as he heard Mal's voice exclaim Ben's name, the pain and fear audible in her voice. What'd happened? He had heard a small thunk but that could have been anything. Did Freddy have Ben hostage? A sword at his throat? Had Ben been stabbed?

"Karma's a tricky mistress, don't you know?"

Mal's growl filled the limo and oddly enough filled Chad with a bit of hope. The growl was something familiar, after all she leveled one toward Audrey practically once a day.

"Akiho you might want to move!"

Uma's voice now filled the limo and Chad had to wonder why his teammate needed to move. Well that was until he heard a noise he hadn't heard since Ben's coronation.

Mal was a dragon.

Freddy, you're going to regret messing with Ben now, Chad thought with an inward smirk as he heard the sound of what he had to assume was Mal firing off a plume of fire.

"How dare she!" Audrey exclaimed over the gasp of the Cotillion goers. "This isn't how you handle confrontations, especially not as a Lady of the Court!"

"I really don't think she cares about that," Chad pointed out. "Especially considering the fact that something's happened to Ben."

Audrey sniffed. "Well maybe this will just open Ben's eyes to how bad Mal is for him and he'll realize how good we were together."

"Uh huh," Chad muttered, wishing he was back out on the road fighting with that tire. The tire would be quieter for sure. Plus the sooner he got that tire changed, the sooner he could go back to his dorm and just go to sleep. He found that sleep made the foggy feeling go away but the strange thing was it wasn't as strong as it normally was.

Oddly enough, while normally being around Audrey strengthened it, now it almost seemed to weaken the already weakened feeling.

Maybe it was worry for his sisters? Maybe it was just concern for Ben? Maybe he was hungry?

"Lumiere, unveil the gift!"

Ben's voice sounded through the speakers and Chad let out a sigh of relief. Ben would be okay. Though he had to wonder what the gift was that he'd gotten Mal.

"He never got me a gift when we went to Cotillion together," Audrey sniffed.

"Yeah well maybe he thought you wanted to just enjoy Cotillion," Chad offered. "Considering you planned the thing."

"...Ben, I love you."

Mal's voice prevented Audrey's response and Chad had to smile, knowing how long his friend and former captain had been waiting for those words. It was clear that they were words Mal meant. Audrey would say she loved Ben but even Chad had his doubts at times.

I mean, she did announce she was getting a new boyfriend in mere minutes after Ben publicly broke up with her.

"Mal, sometimes life will present you with something that, looking back, can only be credited to Fate. I know you disagree but I believe it. The decision to bring kids from the Isle to Auradon was the best decision I could have made because from the moment we got together, hell from the moment we met, you have been the best thing in my life. I never want that to change."

"Hmph, best thing in his life," Audrey sniffed. "Never mind the fact that we were together when he met her. Never mind how he humiliated me because she spelled—."

"Ben can't be spelled Audrey," Chad told her. Honestly he was getting a little tired of the repetitive rant and he'd been someone who was always willing to lend an ear to Audrey. "You were betrothed to the guy, how has that information not sunk in yet?"

"It's you and me Mal. It's you and me forever. Will you marry me? Will you be my Queen?"

"No!" Audrey exclaimed after staring at the radio for what felt like an eternity but was more likely a minute.

"Yes!" Mal's voice sounded through the limo and Chad had to smile slightly. Sure he wasn't exactly on team VK the way Emir and Akiho were but he was happy for Ben. Mal was good for him, or at least that's what his parents said. All the adults noticed it really, how there was a change to Ben now that he had stopped dating Audrey.

Speaking of who...

"What in the world is he thinking? Getting engaged to someone from the Isle? He's supposed to marry me! We have a contract after all!"

I'm just going to go ahead and get back to work on that tire, Chad thought as he slipped outside, Audrey's rant still going full speed.

"And really is she the best choice for Queen? I mean she attacked a guest at Cotillion for no good reason other than the fact that she didn't seem to like him. A Queen needs to be more diplomatic!"

"Well I mean, she is a Goddess," Chad pointed out, speaking up against his better judgement. No good reason? I'm almost certain that guy was going to kill Ben! You know, the boy you're obsessed with?! Forget about the fact that she's dating him, I'm pretty sure a threat to the King is a good reason for Mal to attack Freddy. "I think they can be excused in terms of momentary lapses of diplomacy when they choose."

Audrey sniffed. "She's barely a Goddess. After all, she's biologically a Fae."

"You know, if you keep saying that, Mal might call your bluff and talk to your mom about getting the deed to the kingdom of the Moors," Chad told her. "You know, the kingdom you like to go on and on about how it's your birthright?"

Audrey waved her hand as if she was waving off his statement. "Mal keeps claiming Maleficent isn't her mother, she wouldn't touch the Moors with a ten foot pole. But I still can't believe Ben did this to me!"

"Yes Audrey because Ben decided that what he was going to do in order to get back at you for some reason was get engaged to the girl he loved," Chad rolled his eyes as he focused his attention back on the tire.

"You could be a bit more supportive you know!"

"Why? We broke up remember and you're ranting about how the first guy who broke up with you didn't propose to you. You are aware of how insane that is right?"

"What?!"

Chad shook his head. Gods how am I the sane one in this conversation? I'm sure my sisters would have their jaws on the ground.

"Look Audrey, I'm not Mal's biggest fan but even I know that unless Ben broke up with Mal and got back with you, he's not going to propose to another girl while he's dating someone else," he told Audrey, dropping the pretense of fixing the tire.

"He would when he's betrothed—!"

"And the whole school knows he dropped that contract like a hot potato. Face it Audrey, you're not going to be Queen of Auradon. Now, are you going to help with this tire or are you just going to rant?"

That turned out to be a bad choice of words as Audrey only lengthened her rant. Chad sighed and tried to tune her out, focusing instead on getting the tire off so he could put the spare on and finally be able to leave.

"Chad, are you even listening to me? Gods, how long does it take to change a tire anyway? If you're going to be so useless, I should have called a service instead! You're probably the one who threw the bottle in the first place!"

Chad sighed and dropped the lug wrench, tossing Audrey the keys to his car. "There."

"What?"

"You want to get back to your dorm. Understandable. And since I'm clearly taking too long for your standards, no sense in leaving an alternative form of transportation just sitting there idle. Have your driver drive you back."

Audrey sniffed but stormed off, her driver giving Chad a sympathetic look.

"Are you going to be alright Prince Chad?"

"I'll be fine Pierre," Chad nodded. He had his phone and in all honesty he'd probably just call one of the Hood boys for a ride back if he couldn't fix that tire. But first...he was going to call his sister.

He knew Kitty and Lucy probably wouldn't pick up, but Alex had been the one to defend him in the conversation he had overheard all those weeks ago. He pulled out his phone and dialed her number as Audrey drove off.

"...Chad?" He heard his youngest sister's voice exclaim in shock.

"Hey Alex," Chad smiled as he leaned against Audrey's limo. "Are you alright? I heard about what happened at Cotillion."

"Yeah I'm fine. I was just about to call you. The guy who attacked Cotillion had your invitation and—."

"I'm fine Alex. I'm with Audrey. She had a flat tire in Sherwood Forest and she called me to see if I could come and fix it. I texted dad to let him know so he wouldn't worry but I thought he'd let you guys know."

"Why didn't you just call Bobby or Roland for help?"

"Aren't they the ones Kat and Lu danced with at Ben's coronation party?"

"Yeah Kitty and Lucy's boyfriends."

"I'm sorry, boyfriends?! Have I been living under a rock this whole time? Also did Ben really get engaged?"

"Yes you have been living under a rock and yes Ben really did get engaged. How is it you know all of this? Sherwood doesn't exactly have TVs hanging from the trees."

"Audrey has the radio on," Chad told her. "I'll let you go Alex, I just wanted to check and make sure you three were okay."

"Thanks Chad," Alexandria said and Chad could hear the smile in her voice. At least one of his sisters liked him. That was enough for him. "Get home safe okay? I want to tell you everything that happened!"

"I can't wait to hear it," Chad told her. "But it'll have to wait till the morning. Sherwood's six hours away from Auradon Prep after all."

"See you tomorrow then!"

"See you tomorrow," Chad chuckled and hung up his phone before turning back to the task at hand. First thing first, turn off the limo. He smirked slightly as he turned the key, cutting off the engine. At least this way he wouldn't have to worry about the car rolling off and potentially running him over while he was working on the tire. He made short work of the lug nuts but found himself hitting a bit of a conundrum with putting in the spare.

Gods I forgot. Putting the spare in is usually a two person effort.

"You need some help Charming?" A familiar voice rang out and Chad had to chuckle as he saw the brown hair of Roland Hood.

"What brings you boys out here?" Chad asked as Roland and Bobby walked out.

"Kitty called, said you were changing a tire out here," Roland told him. "She also told us that we'd need earplugs because a princess would be screaming her lungs off about King Ben's engagement but it's perfectly silent."

"I told Alex I was here with Audrey," Chad explained. "But I sent Audrey off in my car before I called. It's just easier to change the tire when she's not here."

"Didn't think you'd be the type to know how to change a tire," Bobby told him.

"My mom insisted I know how when I asked to get my license. Now can you two help me put this spare in so I can get home?"

The Hood brothers chuckled and the three boys quickly got to work getting the tire on the car. In all honesty, with the help, it took maybe five minutes to finish up.

"Thanks," Chad nodded.

"No problem," Roland told him. "I mean, you may be your typical 'Chad-ish' self but we wouldn't leave you in the middle of the woods alone.

"Oh and by the way," Bobby said, whacking Chad over the head. "That was from Robyn."

"Fitzherbert?"

"My sister!"

"I know too many 'Robins' then and what was that for?"

Bobby shook his head. "She heard about what you said when Lonnie tried out for R.O.A.R."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

"What are you two doing here anyway? You guys go to Auradon Prep and I'd have thought you'd be at Cotillion."

Roland snorted. "As much as we like spending time with our girlfriends, a big fancy event with a bunch of royals vs spending time with our parents and sisters? Family wins every time."

"Well trust me I'm glad you guys skipped," Chad said. "I'd be waiting for six hours for a tow truck otherwise."

"Or you could just call a service closer to Sherwood," Bobby told him. "Honestly, why didn't Audrey do that?"

Chad shrugged. "You guys want a ride anywhere?"

Yeah, normally he'd do the whole 'big brother hating on his sisters' boyfriends' thing but they did just help him out with that tire.

"We're good Chad," Roland said with a small smile. "You get back to Auradon Prep safely now."

"Yeah, one royal getting laid up on Cotillion night is enough," Bobby nodded as Chad climbed into the driver's seat, ready to make his way back to the school. Hopefully Audrey would have calmed down enough so that they could actually have a conversation rather than her just ranting at him for hours on end.

Oh who was he kidding? After what happened tonight, he'd be lucky if she stopped ranting within the week. He'd start looking for a new girlfriend but Audrey had an iron clad grip on his love life. If she wasn't with Ben, then she was with him.

After all, if they got married then she'd be the Queen of two kingdoms as she liked to say.

"Ben, you don't know how lucky you are," he muttered as he drove off, turning on the radio and flipping it over to his favorite station so that he could have some good music to listen to rather than people speculating about who the villain was who attacked Cotillion.

Though Chad did have to wonder...how did Audrey know who he was? After all Audrey hated talking to Mal, Evie and Uma. Never mind Jay, Harry and Gil. She'd tolerate Hadie but that was probably because the kid was eleven.

Eh, I'll worry about it in the morning. For right now, let's get back and climb into the shower. Wipe off all the grime of the dirt road and then sleep for six months, he thought with a small smile as he made the drive back to Auradon Prep.

Audrey paced her dorm room, livid as could be. How dare Ben do that? Propose to Mal of all people when he should have been marrying her! Didn't he know how humiliating that was? It was even worse than the whole school knowing he'd withdrawn from their contract, because she had to see that damn ring every time she turned around!

Gods, it was almost like Mal was following her or something. But if she dared even say that, everyone would just say she was being dramatic or imagining things. Dramatic? Her? She had never been dramatic in her life!

But no one dared wanted to risk hurting Mal's feelings by confronting her about her almost stalking of Audrey so Audrey was the one who had to tamp down her feelings. Just another reason why rage pulsed though her body like a bolt of electricity.

It'd been a week since Cotillion and all she had heard about was everyone gushing over Mal and Ben or talking about how brave Mal had been to go after Freddy! Oh yeah, they were calling Fredrick 'Freddy' because that's what Mal called him. Never mind that he might not want to be called that!

Even Chad had brushed her off when she tried to complain about how ridiculous everyone was being. Chad! One of her oldest friends, someone she thought would always be there to lend an ear when she needed to vent about something!

"I wish Grammy was here," she muttered to herself as she continued to pace her room. "She'd know what to do to make things make sense, to get things back on track and put every one where they were supposed to be. But she's on the Isle."

Well it was more that her body was on the Isle. Mother had given her and Phillip the news—she honestly thought her brother was going to start cheering had their parents not been there. And her father just looked slightly amused at his antics!

Honestly, I know father never quite cared for Grammy but I thought the rule was to think no ill of the dead? If I had done that, he would have lectured me about how we don't celebrate someone's death. Then again Phillip is a son while I'm just a daughter, Audrey thought as she grabbed her diary from her bedside table. Normally reading her thoughts was enough to calm her down.

But right now, looking at her past entries about her wedding plans with Ben, reading what her royal titles would have been—Queen of Auradon, Queen of Auroria, Queen of the Moors, all Audrey felt was rage. That's all anyone really had been able to talk about, what the Royal Wedding would be like. And it made her sick.

"I wonder who Mal's going to pick for her bridesmaids," Audrey heard Lonnie ask Jane as the girls made their way to class. Neither girl had even noticed that Audrey was within ear shot, nor did they notice Audrey's new hair! She had run out and gotten it done a couple of days after Cotillion—bleached blonde with pink and blue highlights.

If that was the type of thing to turn Ben's head then it was at least worth a try right? But no one even mentioned it! All they could talk about was Mal.

Oh sometimes they'd switch it up and talk about Uma, or Evie, or even that mutt that liked to hang around Mal! Didn't they know that a beast like that had no business being at a school?!

Evie's not even that special, Audrey thought with a small scoff. Oh sure, she can do a round off and a backhand spring. Big deal, that's the same kind of tricks I can do but you don't see me bragging about how I basically carried the squad on my back! None of the other girls wanted to learn how to do the tricks from me but Evie comes along and not only do I get kicked off the squad but all of a sudden they want to learn! From the girl who brought Maleficent to Auradon!

"Probably Uma for her maid of honor," Jane told the other girl, paying no notice to Audrey. Gods forbid the girl even say hello to her former friend! But now that she was buddy buddy with Mal, there was no room for Audrey it seemed. "Maybe Macaria and Elle for bridesmaids ? They are cousins after all and I don't really see her having more than four people in her wedding party."

"Think Hadie would be ring bearer?"

"Isn't he kinda old for that role though? He's what? Eleven?"

"Ah good point," Lonnie nodded and then smiled. "Five bucks says purple plays a role somehow."

"I won't take that bet," Jane chuckled. "And you know Ben's groomsmen will include Emir and Akiho."

Audrey held back a scoff. Those half royals, groomsmen to the King?! Had Ben been marrying her like he was supposed to, he'd have only the most refined groomsmen! Chad of course would be his Best Man instead of that silly former teacup and she supposed Phillip Jr would be able to be a groomsman too. Though he'd have been better as the ring bearer.

Oh sure he'd probably make a fuss about how it would be humiliating but Audrey would be the bride. He couldn't say no, not on one of the most important days of her life after all.

"Think Evie will design the dress?"

"After the gorgeous dresses she made for Mal and Uma, plus the dress she made for Mal to wear to Ben's coronation? I think Mal would have to be insane to go with anyone else."

"You know Akiho asked me to provide security?" Lonnie chuckled. "I'm pretty good with a sword and if Ben asks Harry to be one of his groomsmen, they're going to need someone to make sure the wedding doesn't get attacked."

"Aren't they holding off though? That's the rumor around school."

"Well yeah I mean they've got to graduate after all! Could you imagine The Gazelle running a headline like: Teenage King Doesn't Graduate? Or King's Shotgun Wedding: Prince or Princess Coming Soon?"

"Shh! Don't give them any ideas," Jane said but giggled slightly.

"Please, after Ben's press statement, I doubt they'd go after Mal any time soon," Lonnie said and Audrey rolled her eyes. Yes Ben had issued a press statement about the reports that'd been done on Mal by The Gazelle. The statement basically said anyone speculating Mal's parentage was within their rights to take it up with Lord Hades and Lady Persephone but any one running an article on it would be sued on grounds of libel.

"That plus the rumors that Lord Hermes was driving them up the wall? The Gazelle will probably stay away from Auradon Prep until we graduate," Lonnie said, continuing to talk as if Audrey wasn't lost in thought.

"Oh, happy, happy day," Jane grinned. "That's less stress for mom and I know it's less stress for Mal and Ben. They definitely don't need it right now though I'm pretty sure they haven't come down from cloud nine."

"I think the only time they'll be happier is when they start having kids," Lonnie smiled and Audrey rolled her eyes. If she had talked about her future kids with Ben back when they were going out, Lonnie would have told her she was being ridiculous to think about kids when she was a teenager.

"Oh! I wonder if they'll have a boy or a girl?"

"Why not both? Can't you picture Ben talking about wanting a little Mal running around the castle?"

"Oh and Mal would deny it but you know she'd want a little Ben, clutching a book and politely demanding he read to her."

Audrey couldn't take it anymore. A little Mal?! It was supposed to be a little Audrey Ben imagined, because she was supposed to be his future wife! "If you two could stop walking like you're going to your execution! Some of us would like to get to class!"

"Oh hey Audrey," Lonnie said as she looked over her shoulder, giving the Princess a small smile. "Missed you at Cotillion."

"I'm sure you did," Audrey muttered as she pushed past the two girls and continued on her way. Still, even class wasn't an escape as she felt everyone's eyes on her. Like they were thinking: Poor Audrey. She was going to be Queen and then Ben broke his promise and her heart.

Audrey shook her head and threw her diary across the room so that it hit the opposite wall and slid down to the floor. How could they just side with Mal?! Didn't they remember anything about what her mother did to her family?!

Her mother, forced to grow up with no knowledge of her royal linage. Her grandmother, forced to give up her only child to three fairies, women who had no business raising a Princess! Her father, held prisoner! All because Maleficent had to be petty about not being invited to a party!

Honestly I don't blame Grammy for not inviting her, Audrey thought as she stormed over to the mantle. There, she could see all the photos taken throughout the years of her and Ben. Displayed proudly as a testament to their love. Their love Ben forgot about. Their love he crushed under his heel like he did her heart!

Picking up one of the pictures, she smiled slightly as she stared at the last time Ben had truly loved her. Before that...that witch came along and made it so she would have Audrey's life! Mal was now the most popular girl on campus, she was dating Ben...she was engaged to Ben!

"Ugh!" Audrey shouted, throwing the photo on the nearby sofa. The force from the throw caused the photo to bounce upon landing and ended up on the stone floor; cracking the glass slightly.

Audrey frowned and bent down to pick it up. Ben's section of the photo was fine, practically untouched. But her side...there were cracks going up and down the glass. They were tiny, practically invisible unless you ran your hand over the picture.

Huh, isn't that perfect? Even the photo Ben gets to remain untouched while I crack away. No one to care what I want. Mother just granted Ben approval to remove himself from our contract, never consulted me! Never wanted to see if I wanted to end the contract! Ben just threw my grandmother on the Isle, never carrying that I might want to say goodbye. Because it's all about what Ben and Mal want. No one else matters apparently.

Her hands curled into fists as rage filled her veins once more. Ben and Mal were content to just chip away at her life while she had to bite her tongue.

"No more," she muttered to the empty room. "Bennyboo thinks I'm going to just sit by and be nice while Mal steals my life? He's got another thing coming! She's got another thing coming!"

They all did. Auradon turned her back on her to focus on Mal, her own brother was even gushing over the little faux-cul, the hypocrite. Oh so VKs coming from the Isle were okay as long as they kissed the ring huh Mal? Audrey couldn't help but wonder what Mal would do if Ben dared to invite a VK she didn't like.

After all I heard her on the radio. She seemed almost itching for a fight, even when Fredrick had only walked up to her and Bennyboo, Audrey thought. And what did Fredrick get for it? A sword fight and wounds he's probably still recovering from! Honestly, if I had transformed into a dragon, the thief and the ice man would be telling Ben to run away and get out of our relationship.

Oh wait! That's what they did throughout the year we were dating! Never mind the years of our friendship they spent poisoning Ben against me! No wonder it was so easy for Mal to just swoop in and steal him from me!

She was so done with everyone thinking she wouldn't fight back as they took advantage of her, as they stole what was hers! Evie with the cheer squad, Mal with Ben and now her role as future Queen of Auradon!

Maybe it's a good thing Grammy's dead for this, Audrey thought. At least then she won't have to say the words Queen Mal. Oh Gods, the sycophantic idiots that follow Mal around would probably gush about how cute it was, the fact that both King and Queen had three letters in their name. Never mind that her true name is Maleficent—I was the only one who paid attention when Maleficent let that little tidbit slip at the coronation. How long did Mal really think she was going to be able to hide that?

Not to mention Ben often wanted to go by that ridiculous nickname of 'Benji' that Chip liked to call him. Honestly, that teacup needed to know his place—talking to the king like that? Only she could do that, because they had been of the same rank! She never quite cared for him, he always gave her a look like he thought she wasn't good enough for Ben.

Imagine! A commoner thinking a Princess wasn't good enough to date a Prince! It was enough to make her blood boil!

"If Auradon wants a Queen, then they'll get a Queen," she muttered, snatching one of the fireplace tools and stormed out of her room. She knew exactly where she needed to go: the Museum of Cultural History.

Thankfully, it was dark enough that no one saw her as she made her way to the museum. Not that anyone was out anyway. They were all off celebrating the engagement no doubt, or at least Mal and her insipid followers were. Gods, it'd been a week. Get over it and talk about something else why don't you?

Smirking as she found the door unlocked, she strolled in as the guard started to go to sleep. She didn't want any video of this. Video had been Ben's reasoning of chucking Grammy onto the Isle though honestly Audrey figured that it was just an excuse.

Everyone knew the Le Bête family didn't care for her grandmother. They were just too polite to say anything to her face.

With a few keystrokes, the cameras were turned off and Audrey made her way through the museum. She didn't need a map to know where she was going. She'd made the trek to this particular exhibition numerous times when she'd been dating Ben. The crown of the Queen of Auradon.

Her crown. The crown that she was supposed to just give up and let Mal take, like she'd taken everything else.

I'm sick of it! Everyone's like oh boohoo, poor Mal! She suffered on the Isle! What about me? What about my suffering? Mal's not going to even miss this crown anyway, she'd probably demand that the colors get changed to something like purple and blue no doubt. And Ben would do it, because he doesn't even know how spelled he is!

Swinging the tool, she hit the glass container and smirked as it shattered on impact. Her hand reached out and grabbed the crown. As she turned to leave, the curtain separating the exhibit from the ones in the other room drew to reveal Maleficent's scepter. The gem glowing as if someone was controlling it.

Audrey walked toward it, as if she was a moth drawn to a flame. The scepter...were they really just going to let it sit there? Such untapped potential and it was basically shoved into a closet of all things. As if Auradon was content to just forget about it, now that Mal had basically turned her back on Maleficent, insisted that she was one hundred percent Olympian.

Someone would need to use the scepter wouldn't they? No use for it to just sit there collecting dust with the other artifacts collected when the villains were rounded up. The poisoned apples. The Black Cauldron. Maleficent's spinning wheel...which Audrey really had to wonder why they kept that out in the main room instead of having it here with the other artifacts.

If Mal's just going steal my life, then why shouldn't I do the same? She should know how it feels, to have the thing that defined you taken from you without you even knowing it was happening! Oh she can play pretend with Uma, act as if she's a Princess. But she's nothing but a VK! Everyone knows they have no royal status, no matter how much they claim otherwise, and I'm the one who's supposed to be Queen! It's my birthright after all!

She put the crown on her head and, with a flash of light, changed. Her light pink outfit turned into one that was more dark pink, something that wouldn't have looked out of place on a VK. Her bluebird necklace changed to that of a raven. Even her makeup changed to a more dark, a more sinister look.

"Oooh, I like that feeling," she muttered as she lifted the scepter and felt the power tingle through her veins. "Why would Mal ever want to give this up? Sure Maleficent's an evil fairy but no one messed with her! Just like no one will mess with me!"

As if to punctuate her point, Audrey fired the scepter toward the chandelier that was hanging in the room. It exploded, sending sparks flying all over the place. Audrey smirked as she strolled out of the room. There was one more thing she needed to pick up.

Mal had made a big show about donating her spell book, well actually it was Maleficent's spell book, to the museum. Stating how it was time it was seen by all of Auradon and not hidden away. That there was no need for Maleficent's magic when her life was already so magical.

Audrey wanted to gag. And of course no one questioned how Mal had Maleficent's spell book, they just thought she was so good to donate it. Jane spent a week going on about having the chance to read it, to go over the history of the Fae that might have been in there.

Why would Maleficent of all creatures keep notes on the Fae? Just because she was one, didn't mean she cared. Audrey didn't go about keeping notes on other humans just because she was a human.

She paused as she saw the spell book, sitting proudly on display. It was part of a new exhibition after all—the VK wing. To show the new VKs how the ones that came before them succeeded and became good. Well, more like they pretended to be good until the right moment came around.

Evie's stunt at the coronation ring any bells? Oh but wait, no one cared about that. Not since she became a cheerleader and pretended to be sorry about stealing the wand, about ruining Ben's coronation.

But unlike the crown, there was no glass container to smash. All Audrey had to do was reach over and snatch the book.

"Well well," she smirked as she flipped through the pages. Mal, of course, had defiled the book with notes along with Jay—Uma and the filthy pirate she was obsessed with joined in later on. But the spells were still usable. Were still legible.

"I think it's time I picked up some back up," Audrey muttered as she slipped her spell book into her pocket. Poor Fredrick must need some company after all, locked up all by himself. Honestly, Audrey had no idea Auradon even had cells but then again, Auradon Prep was Beast's old castle before Auradon was founded.

It'd make sense that a castle have a dungeon.

"Sleep well Mal," Audrey muttered with a smirk, the light of the full moon casting an eerie shadow over her face. "You're going to learn just why it's a bad idea to steal from me. And I'm sure Fredrick would love to get his revenge on you too. Why should I have all the fun?"

She turned on her heel and headed out, her mind set on only one thing.

To get Fredrick on her side before Ben chucked him back onto the Isle, the place where he didn't belong.