Chapter Text
It had been twenty years since King Adam came to the throne, and twenty years since his horrible proclamations began. Ensuring safety for all those under his watchful young eye in Auradon, he quickly set to work at rounding up every conceivable threat. None managed to slip through his grasp, and on that day, the Isle of the Lost, south of mainland Auradon, was sealed forever. Every man, woman, or child to have committed an atrocity big or small was rounded up and booted off to the city-turned-slum.
Auradon, with their pink princesses and perfect little lives, had twenty years of peace, prosperity, and hope. In those twenty years, the people of Auradon had nearly forgotten the villains cast out, just a few miles from their coast. The island that sat ever looming, ever gray, ever overcast, ever rotting.
Of course, there were riots. And fighting. But once those put away on the Isle realized that there would be no hope in escape, pleading, or fighting, they turned to build a place to live. A society was formed, only containing the scum of the earth. Fear governed, evil rose to power, and the Isle of the Lost, a terrarium of all of the most deplorable people imaginable, rotted away into its own chaos and treachery. Even evil people fell in love, and soon, children sprouted, just as horrible as their parents.
Or, were they?
King Adam had a son, too. The young Prince Benjamin, who every day stared across the water to the dilapidated isle. He had always been told he would be a great king one day, the day he turned 18. But he hardly thought he was as great as his father. Which is why the isle bothered him so– particularly the children born and raised there. If he wasn’t as great as his parents, could the children of villains be as evil as them?
The stage was set. With three months to Ben’s eighteenth birthday and his graduation from Auradon Preparatory Academy, he had finally decided what his first order as king would be: to allow some children of villains to live on mainland Auradon.
Now, all there was left to do was tell his parents.
The gentle knock came thrice on King Adam and Queen Belle’s door after dinner, and the couple had been sitting by the fire in their bedchambers. Adam had been listening to his wife’s reading, something he still enjoyed doing often. It had been so long since he was a horrid beast, yet reading was something that only she made enjoyable for him.
“Come in,” Adam called as his wife closed the book. The door uneasily pushed open to reveal Ben, whose tall stature made his timid appearance quite silly.
“Hello, dear.” Belle’s voice was soft as she turned to her son. “It’s getting late. You have a big day tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“I’ll be there soon enough, mother. Don’t fret,” Ben said, a smile peeking through as he straightened his shoulders a bit more. Perfect princes had perfect postures, and he wanted to seem as professional as possible. “As you know, I am to be crowned king in three months.”
“Are you sure?” Adam asked his son, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “If you ask me, you’re still a boy! Who decided to make you king so early, anyway, my dear boy?”
“That would be you, father,” Ben replied, shaking his head with a sigh. “Well, I have decided what my first proclamation will be.”
“Say so, and it shall be done early. As a treat to you,” Belle said, squeezing her husband’s hand. “What is this proclamation?”
Ben sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. He tried not to sound hesitant when he spoke the words that had been heavy on his heart since the day he was old enough to understand his role as king. “I will be bringing children over from the Isle of the Lost. To attend school here in Auradon.”
The crackle of the fire was the only noise in the room for a long, long moment as Ben searched his parents’ eyes. His mother looked as if she might burst into tears, and his father…
“The children of the Isle?” His father’s voice was blank of any discernible emotion, yet it was all written on his face. “Now, son, you have to understand that–”
“That what?” Ben didn’t mean to interrupt, but his idea wouldn’t be shot down. “Father, I am to be king, and I ought to make decisions on my own. The children on the Isle are independent people, away from the bad things their parents did. If I get to make my own choices, why shouldn’t they?”
“It’s not so simple, dear.” Belle protested. “They were raised by villains. You were raised by good, honest people.” She said, “You’re like us. You’re good.”
“But what if they aren’t like their parents? What if the apple falls far from the tree?” Ben crossed his arms.
“The apple doesn’t fall far. You know that. We all know that.” Belle said. “I know where your heart is, son. You’ve always been fascinated with the Isle.”
“This isn’t about me.” Ben sighed. “There are children out there—ones who don’t know wrong from right! Ones who have been pressured and forced to do crimes to please their parents. Ones who would give anything for a way out.” Ben crossed to his parents' window, and their eyes followed his back. From the dim light left from the already set sun, Ben could barely make out the silhouette of the gloomy isle. “This could be their way out.”
The silence filled the room again, and the fire seemed to be the only thing to fill Ben’s ears.
“Who’s children would you bring?” It was his father’s slow voice that spoke. “Have you chosen them?”
“I have,” Ben said, turning to his parents. “Four of them. The oldest is a year younger than I. The youngest is fourteen.”
“Go on,” His mother said.
“Jay, the son of Sorcerer Jafar.” Ben paused to watch his parent’s reactions closely. When his father gave no indication of turning back into the beast, he continued. “Carlos, the son of Cruella deVille… Evelyn, the daughter of Queen Grimhilde, and…”
“And?” His mother asked in a voice just barely above a whisper.
“And Malevera, the daughter of Maleficent,” Ben replied.
You could hear a pin drop.
“Maleficent?” His father asked, with a half chuckle. “The evil fairy? Benjamin, you cannot possibly be serious!”
“I am!” Ben insisted. “All they need is a chance—”
“A chance? Their parents had a chance!” His mother cried.
“Another chance! Like you gave Dad!”
King Adam and Queen Belle fell silent. A silence in which Ben could almost hear the words they wished they could say.
“Fine,” His mother said at last. “Everyone deserves another chance.” She said, squeezing her husband’s hand lightly.
King Adam hesitated still, and then looked down at his wife. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, through his nose.
“I’ll alert the Isle tonight, and arrange for them to be brought here tomorrow.” His father sighed. “I hope you’re right, son.”
Crossing his arms behind his back, Ben sighed as he looked to the window. “Me, too.”