Hello guys! Welcome to Heathens! Before we begin: this is a sequel to a story I've finished last year (Warriors) and I highly advise you to read that one before you start here. You can try, of course, but I won't guarantee you'll understand everything that's going on.

To those who have read Warriors: welcome back! Let's jump right back into it, shall we?

(P.S. I do not own any of the lyrics)

It's just a matter of time

Before it all

Echoes, echoes, and goes

Crashing against the walls

Hold my hand and keep your eyes closed

Before it all

Echoes, echoes, and falls

I suppose it's just a matter of time

A Matter of Time (Sennek)

The castle was not going to last much longer.

Boom! The castle shook again. Mal stumbled but did not fall. Ben was not so lucky and fell on the ground, barely able to keep his balance. Still, he stood up and looked at her with this worried look.

"You okay?" Mal nodded. Over the course of the attack, she had only picked up minor injuries – small cuts and scratches and a couple of bruises.

Ben had been luckier than her. As far as she was aware, he hadn't been injured the past twenty-eight hours. Nobody had run into him, no debris had hit him when it came crashing down, nothing had hurt him when he fell. The only thing that suggested he indeed was present, was the grout covering his hair and face and body. It would be quite the miracle if he stayed unharmed till the end.

The young prince walked over to an opening in the wall, breached by the attacker, and looked through it. He did not see anyone and sighed deeply.

"Does he ever stop?"

Mal shook her head. "Jafar does not easily give up. He will not rest until he gets what he wants."

Jafar, the sultan of Agrabah City and owner of large lands beyond the Great Wall, had been busy ruling the past six months. The absence of his son was first noticed by Iago's daughter, who discovered that Jay was being held captive at Maleficent's old castle, now occupied by the alliance after her defeat. Needless to say, the former vizier was displeased by the situation and wanted his son back.

He had given the alliance an ultimatum. Give me my son back, or I will kill you. They had an hour to consider his demand. But Jafar had grown impatient and started attacking them before the hour was passed.

During times like these, the alliance was glad to have taken up residence in Maleficent's castle. The witch had been prepared for this situation, for she did not trust her allies in conquest. Powerful spells protected the property and everyone inside. Knowing these spells were in place, and knowing the owner of the castle, nobody had tried to besiege it.

But Jafar persisted. He was not easily swayed to stop. Now, nearly twenty-eight hours later, he had gone farther than anyone before him. The castle stood, but it was damaged and broken and the protection spells wore off. Any spell would break under the pressure of Jafar's persistent magical attacks. It was only a matter of time before the castle would collapse.

Boom! Stones, large and small, fell from the ceiling and crumbled. Stumbling every time Jafar hit the outer walls, Ben and Mal continued their way to the big dining hall on the first floor. There were several dining halls of the same size on different floors within the castle, but the alliance had decided to let their doctors transform this enormous room into their infirmary. Since then, there haven't been too many patients. Today was the glaring exception.

Despite the provided space, the hall was packed with people. Those who could not stand or sit shared a bed with someone else, or were just lying on the ground. Others sat aside and, endangering their lives, leaned against the unstable walls. There were cries of despair and sobs from everywhere. Blood-curling screams pierced through the air and children wailed. In the far corner, four white sheets covered the same amount of deceased.

The sheer number of patients made it hard for the doctors to give everyone the same amount of attention and care. While they tried their best, it did not seem to be enough

Evie sat near the entrance, two cauldrons on either side of her and all sorts of ingredients stacked in front of her. Her hair was frizzy and out of place, having sat there for hours on end and trying to make the healing potions and painkillers as quickly as she could. At the same time, Doug walked around the hall to listen to each of the patients' complaints and to diagnose them. Through his walkie-talkie, he could tell his assistants what they needed to bring to which patient.

There were five assistants walking around with walkie-talkies. They moved around considerably faster than Doug, but the bodies of the ailing and hurt made it for the six of them hard to go as fast as they wanted to. One of them, the redheaded assistant, would come over to Evie and take what was needed most and if it was already available. He also told the others how long the brewing was going to take. Intuitively, he also helped some patients with their pain management, drugging them until actual help would arrive.

The operation was run smoothly, but not built to last. These seven people had been working since the beginning of the attack, only taking short naps in between. Exhaustion could take any of them. Despite the help of some compassionate people, anything could go awry and the roof could literally come crashing down at any given moment.

Mal watched the crowd and numbness crawled over her as she stepped into the hall. Along with the medical team, she and Ben hadn't slept much since the attack began either. Seeing the toll it took on these innocent people was hard, and she wished she could stop the terror right now. But there was only one thing that would convince Jafar to stop.

Mal wished Lonnie and Philip were here. They'd know what to do, they'd know how to defuse the situation. But Lonnie was off to chase rumors about her father in the Northern Wei region and Philip had disappeared. They weren't here to help them with this increasing problem.

A small hand grabbed Mal's pants and tugged. Mal turned her head: a young girl sitting on the ground had grasped it and clung to it. She had pulled up her knees and held them with the other hand. The large cut just under her chestnut hair was still bleeding, though not heavily. Tears had stained her cheek and even now, she sobbed. Worst of all, nobody looked after her. She was all alone.

Mal sat down on her knees and carefully placed a hand on her forehead. The same girl was terrified of Maleficent's daughter only months ago, but today she did not flinch. Mal closed her eyes and cast a spell that closed the wound but did not remove the clotted blood or the pain. At least the gaping wound was gone. The girl lifted her head, a wide, jubilant grin on her face. She whispered a "thank you", and Mal couldn't help but smile.

Since the battle with Maleficent, Mal had improved in spell-casting, especially in non-verbal spells which she still needed to mentally recite. This was an effect of the stealth missions she had carried out for the alliance. Slowly, over the course of six months, it had become her main way of spell-casting, even more than the verbal spells.

Boom! The castle shook and grout fell down, along with some smaller pieces of rock. People shrieked in fear and covered their heads. The assistants rushed through the hall as quickly as they could, trying to figure out whether anyone was injured by this latest attack. Doug finished talking to one patient and moved to the next, glancing at the patients near the wall as if he wanted to help them. Evie sighed as she removed the rubble from her cauldrons, trying to measure the damage to the potions and ingredients.

"This has to stop," Ben said, a pained look in his eyes and a pale face from the grout and the injuries he witnessed. These were his people, and his decisions had left them trapped in a stone prison, with the enemy at the gate. Their defenses were weakened and Jafar was at least ten times more powerful than Mal. In a battle of magic, Jafar would be crowned victor.

At times like these, Ben really missed Philip by his side.

"There is only one way this will end," Mal said, avoiding Ben's gaze. "He needs to get what he came for."

Ben shook his head. "We can't do that."

"He'll just continue until we're all dead, he doesn't care about our lives."

"If we release Jay, he'll come back and wreak havoc. We'll have the same scenario over again. And who says Jafar won't kill us after he has his son back?"

"I can make him promise." Mal did not regret the words coming out of her mouth. "When I confront Jafar, I can make him promise that he and his allies will bring us no harm." It was a long shot, but they had run out of options. They had to do something before the castle was nothing more than a ruin. And this might just work.

Ben remained silent for a while – Mal hoped he would listen to her – and then he sighed, turning his head and looking at her.

"I hope you're right." His voice was one of despair. Ben, being the leader, wanted to face Jafar alone, but Mal wouldn't let him. She took his hand tightly and squeezed it reassuringly. They looked each other in the eyes when Mal silently cast the transportation spell. Within one second, they stood outside, at a distance of thirty feet from the sultan.

He hadn't grown in size, which made it easier to approach him. He had not donned the attire of the sultan, preferring the red and black of the vizier. The cold and the light snowfall did not seem to bother him, as he ignored the snowflakes falling before his face and focused only on the castle. He launched one more attack before he noticed the two teenagers. He grinned at them menacingly, in a way that all villains could.

"Mal! Just the girl I wanted to see."

Mal was not fooled by that feigned enthusiasm and for Ben's sake, she spoke in his stead. He had recognized she was more qualified to speak to villains without the situation escalating.

Mal folded her arms and stared at Jafar. "Let's make a deal." She took a deep breath, searching for the right words. If she spoke one word that could make her offer ambiguous and up to interpretation, Jafar could easily screw them over. "We will leave you alone. You will get your son back."

"So Jay will come back to me, and you will not make any attempts to annex my lands." Mal had a feeling he tried his hardest to twist the meaning.

"Only as long as you don't attack us," Ben added to the conversation. Mal agreed with Ben but hoped the former vizier would consider the offer. This was the only way he would ever get him back, and that was agreeing to their terms. They could not account for the behavior of the separate people, but they could ask the alliance to not actively recruit Jafar's subjects.

Jafar stared at them, the silence deafening and tensions rising. All the while, Mal tried to remain stone-faced. Jafar liked to make deals with those who were not afraid of him, which Mal and Ben definitely were.

After what felt like an eternity, Jafar answered.

"We have a deal." That was great, but it wasn't the reassurance Mal wanted.

"Do you swear on the Hangman's Tree that you and your allies will not attack us?" The Hangman's Tree was the symbol of evil. When the villains first broke free, they settled on Neverland, where they strung up most Lost Boys and the Hangman's Tree finally earned its name. As the first act of their freedom, this symbol was holy and relished among all villains, as well as the subject of a binding oath.

Jafar grinned again. "Clever girl! I can see why my son befriended you. Yes, I swear on the Hangman's Tree that my associates and I will not attack you again."

Mal breathed in relief, a burden lifted from her shoulders when Jafar confirmed their deal. He had ceased throwing every harmful spell he knew at the castle, and now Jay only needed to be returned to his father to seal their deal.

"I will bring him," Mal responded. She briefly glanced at Ben – she wouldn't bring him along and hoped that he would not do or say anything that could invoke Jafar's wrath. The former vizier could be a sensitive man.

With the thought of the spell, she sent herself to the dungeon. No sun ever reached this place, which was only dimly-lit with ever-burning torches. Every cell could hold any kind of prisoners, even wizards and warlocks – the special bars negated their magic, making them powerless. No year ago, Ben spent a couple of days in one of these cells. But currently, there were two prisoners.

One of them was Audrey. She was a shadow of her former self. She sat back against the wall and stared in front of her, disinterested and only moving her eyes when Mal appeared in the other cell. She had no comment ready, unlike the second prisoner.

"Let me guess, my father's here." Jay sat in the cell opposite Audrey. Whereas Audrey sat straight up, he leaned and sat in a comfortable position, one leg pulled up and a smug grin on his face. Mal rolled her eyes and shook his head. Jay always did have something to say and wanted to have the last word. Sometimes, Mal believed that he was incapable of being a serious person, but incidents in the past contradicted this belief.

He glared at her with such disgust and resentment. He had not forgiven Mal for changing her allegiance and becoming a good person. He would never forgive her for turning Evie good, too, and at least planting the idea of goodness in Carlos. In his eyes, she had torn their friendship apart and had isolated them. In his eyes, he was the hero who would bring evil back to the lands, and she was the villain to be defeated.

"Let's go." Mal grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. Jay did not fight back this time – knowing of his release, resisting would only slow it down.

Again, only one thought of the spell she'd recite was enough to teleport them back to the field in front of the castle, where Ben and Jafar were waiting. Without waiting anymore, she shoved Jay towards his father. He walked the distance of ten yards, plowing through the one-inch snow, and only turned around when he was safely behind his father, waiting to see what his father would do.

"Will you keep your end of the deal?" Jafar turned this question to Ben, expecting an answer from him. Jay frowned and glanced at his father, curious about what was going on but not wanting to ask at that point in time.

"We have your word, so you have mine." Jafar liked the answer but confused Jay even more.

"Very well," Jafar said and nodded. "When we see each other again, I hope it will be under different circumstances." With a poof of smoke, Jafar and his son disappeared out of sight. The only proof they had of him ever being here, was the damaged castle and the footsteps they'd left in the snow. The siege had officially ended, and the alliance was finally safe again.

Mal sighed in relief. She turned to the castle and her heart sank. This was her home, and seeing it destroyed – or mostly in ruins – hurt her in ways she didn't know before. The outer walls needed to be rebuilt at one point, the protective spells needed to be reinforced and the inside structure would hold for now. The alliance members who'd chosen to stay here instead of at Neverland would need to find a new home; the castle had become too unstable. It probably wouldn't be safe anymore to go all the way to the top, which in itself might be best.

Either way, things could go back to normal – as far as their life could be considered normal.