Hello Everyone! It feels like forever since I've been back! Without further ado, enjoy part II

The young woman and her three companions approached the glass case with reverence and fear. The attempt to reach it feeling like an eternity. To finally stand before it with minimal casualties felt like a miracle. She swallowed hard as she took a few more shaking steps closer. If it didn't work, if somehow their rescue mission had been bust, the kingdom, no, the entire world was doomed. Everything hinged on their mission and they could not fail, no matter what the costs.

Even her male companions, usually loud and boisterous, bragging out their skills, or counting their casualties, were stunned into silence as they stared down into the glass case, a familiar sight greeting their eyes. They all stood in silent reverence for a few more seconds, their ears primed toward the door for anyone following them, their eyes trained on the glass coffin before them.

The stronger of her three companions began prying the glass lid from the case but the smallest stopped him. "Are we sure it's her?" He asked, looking from the girl in the stained glass coffin to his companions, with various shades of bruises and dried blood against their skin. "We only have enough antidote for one attempt."

They all knew that. They knew how difficult it has been over the past year and several months. They had witnessed firsthand the rift the Summer Solstice celebrations had torn across the entire kingdom. They had all known the loss, the ripping away of everything new and comfortable, the loss of everything they had loved.

As they stood in the decrepit ball room, the one that had once held so much happiness until everything had turned sour. Their goal finally reached, the young woman couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief, even though their rescue mission was far from over. It had taken them months to even come up with the possible solution to their problem, and months longer to perfect it.

They had one shot, and if it didn't work, they were all dead.

"We don't have any other options," The young woman decided, pulling the vial from the young man's hands. She pulled the stopper as their strongest companion lifted the lid to reveal a young woman in a deathlike sleep with hair the color of eggplant. "Let's hope this works," She said before she forced the young woman's mouth open and emptied the entire vial down her throat.

After that, they waited, eyes on the girl, ears trained for any sign of trouble.

She jolted awake, sputtering and coughing as the liquid coated her throat and threatened to enter her lungs. She swallowed it down, though it was the consistency of warm honey and tasted even worse.

She looked around to see four pairs of eyes staring back at her as she took a few deep breaths to right herself.

Evie, the only other female out of the group of them, was crying, tears running down her dirty cheeks, leaving light streaks, relief washing over her face as she looked at Mal. She didn't look anything like Mal had remembered her, and for a few brief seconds as she gathered her thoughts, and before the memories came rushing back, she considered that it could be a dream.

Doug stared in reverence and surprise, the crossbow he held in his hands falling slack as his attention was torn between herself and Evie, relief and apprehension playing on his face, dirtied like Evie's and hardened with something that Mal was missing.

A kind of fear flashed in all of their eyes, the fear she had once loved to cause.

Jay had a smile on his face, and she expected nothing less from the thief and the brawler, the redness of his knuckles, his clothing marked with the dark brown lines of aged blood evidence enough that he had reveled in using his fists recently. He looked the same as the others, a sense of relief washing over him, though it appeared no water had for quite some time.

Carlos, the youngest of them, his features still halfway between a boy's and a man's, looked on with frightened reverence before he stumbled forward, bowing to her shortly, causing the others to all turn to him and pull him up. Fear etched on all of their faces.

"What's going on?" Mal finally asked, looking to each of them for a few seconds, her confusion only mounting as she looked from them to the room around them and back.

It had to be some kind of nightmare, she decided, when she saw how they were all dressed, in tattered and dirty clothing, their faces dirty and coated in sweat and grime. When she looked around at where they were, the ballroom of the summer castle, though it was barely recognizable with the tattered curtains, cracked tiles and general grime and dust that had settled over everything, she knew something had to be wrong. It had to be a nightmare, or a practical joke. Someone was missing.

"Where is Ben?" She asked, suddenly quite concerned, looking to each of them for any kind of answer, either about how she got there or where the crowned King happened to be.

At the mention of him, several things happened. Each of their faces flashed a quick bit of nervousness each in their own way, then returned to neutral, or as close to possible. Evie and Jay's faces hardened further as a loud crash came against the large doors, sealed shut from the inside.

Jay, Carlos and Doug turned toward the noise, but Evie moved closer to her as the crashes only became louder. Someone or something was trying to break through the doors.

"Mal, sweetie," Evie started, leaning down to meet her eye level. "We'll tell you more later, but he couldn't come save you." She didn't use his name and that worried Mal for a reason she couldn't explain why.

Save her? Just what the hell had happened?

Evie put her hand against Mal's shoulder gently, but with enough force that was comfortable, but told her they were scared, all of them. "I need you to be fully prepared to kill and maim," She told her, "We have to get out of here and the only way we can is if we fight our way out."

What the hell was going on? Fight what?

It had to be a nightmare.

"Where is Ben?!" Mal growled, grabbing Evie's throat hard, remembering just how much force it would take to break her neck, magic or not.

There was something they all weren't telling her.

"The Ben you know is dead!" Jay finally shouted as he stood waiting for a fight with whatever came through the doors.

Mal released Evie instantly, the impact of Jay's words impaling her like a knife, sending ice through her veins. Cool anger, hot anger, fear, sadness all flowed through her at once, her mind racing, a million and one questions fighting for dominance in her mind.

How had it happened?

Where did he take his last breath?

When? Had the kiss that they shared had a delayed effect and killed him after some time?

Who? Had she been the one to take his first kiss and his life?

That last one fueled her hot anger, rage flowing through her skin and her bones and bringing forth the kind of magic that she had tried so hard to avoid since coming to Auradon. The magic that her mother had specialized in.

Revenge Magic flowed through her, black and hot and molten and she forced herself to her feet, wanting, needing to fulfill the revenge that had taken over her. Revenge against whoever had taken her Ben from her too soon. Revenge for whatever had happened since the last thing she remembered.

Ben's kiss against her lips was the last thing she had remembered, and his promise for a second one.

Then waking up in the destruction. Everything changed from what she remembered, the destruction around her, the shift in her friends, their fear only fueling the dark magic within her as she waited for whatever threatened to come through the door.

The door burst open, showering the already destroyed ballroom with more debris and Mal looked toward the door to see a group of people she recognized, even in their dirty bruised states. It only made her rage burn hotter. In an instant she knew what had happened, what had changed everything. Her classmates and their parents were under faerie lust, and she had a feeling she knew exactly who was behind it all.

"What the hell happened?!" Mal shouted at all of them, her fellow VKs and Doug, as they ran into the crowd before she did.

Luckily she recognized only a few of them, most of them subjects of the kingdom, but not her classmates and the heroes and heroines that she knew by name. Still, they were people, and subjects of the kingdom and she knew how violence made Ben feel.

How he had felt. He could no longer feel if he was-

Her rage continued to build as she thought about Ben and pulled the knife from the holster under her skirts. Her eyes remained dry as she ran straight into the fray and joined her fellow VKs and Doug as they fought back the mob as they forced their way into the ballroom. She didn't care if she was the one they were after, full faerie- horns and all- or not. Her fury could not be quelled by simply talking it out. She had no idea who had done it, whose hands had taken the life from Ben's perfect body, but she wanted revenge on all of them.

"We have to get out of here!" Doug shouted, as waves and waves just kept coming, no matter how much fight they put into holding them back. "We got Mal, so let's move!" He continued, whacking another teenage boy, already bloody and bruised with the butt of his crossbow. He kept trying to be merciful, Mal realized, they all were, and that was getting them nowhere.

The mention of her name only made them more frenzied it seemed and she fought back harder against them, forcing her fists into their faces and her knife across whatever bits of skin and clothing she could, firing her magic whenever she could and reveling in the destruction just she had caused. She didn't care that they were people she knew, or had heard about. She didn't know where they were going, or what they were fighting for, she just wanted to fight, hide away from her emotions for as long as she could.

She shrieked as a pair of arms wrapped around her and hefted her up into the air, pulling her from her anger momentarily and from the rest of the crowd. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the only one who would dare lift her, the only one who had the strength to lift her was Jay.

"Jay!" She shouted, her voice as calm as possible, the cool brand of anger "Put me down!" There was no way she was going to sit in the corner while the rest of them fought off the hoard. "I am fine and I can fight." She didn't want to try and say more than that, for fear that her voice would break and that they would know how not fine she really was.

She didn't want to think about the future without him, whether years down the road, or five minutes after the fighting was to end. Life without Ben wasn't worth living, and she half hoped to die fighting back the hoard.

Jay chuckled darkly as he chucked her over his shoulder, still kicking and fighting. "We're not fighting anymore," He told her, holding her tight. "The name of the game is escape," He continued as he and the rest of them ran for the cellar doors, the hoard following after them.

Mal still threw magic at them as much as she was able. Nothing could quell her anger, nothing would make her go to that dark place of thinking about sad things and things that would never come to be. Escaping sounded like the cowardly thing to do, and she hated how soft the rest of them had become.

The five of them ran through the cellar doors and as soon as they did, Mal shut her eyes tight, the memories in that cellar, while not the greatest, still calling forth memories of him and all that had happened between them in the few short weeks of summer that they had had.

Jay only set her down once they were down the cellar stairs and as they stood before the shelf that turned into the secret tunnel. Evie pulled the bottle that revealed the dark passage and she could feel their eyes as they all stared at her as she kept her eyes screwed shut.

"We need you to tell us how to get out," Evie's voice came from beside her quietly as she felt a hand touch her shoulder gently.

Mal still didn't open her eyes, thinking about her past experiences with the tunnels. "There is no way out," she explained, trying not to lose her mind in the memories of the boy that no longer existed. "Years ago, Gaston destroyed the tunnel out," she said. "The only tunnels that still work are the ones further into the castle." Not that she cared, it would be a perfect excuse for more fighting.

A suicide mission. One last hurrah.

She was sure they were all debating the next course of action from there. All wondering whether they should try and fight their way out deeper into the castle or risk the destroyed tunnel, and all without words. Not that she cared, she knew either way it would be a suicide mission if the rest of the castle was lined with the horde of zombified subjects and the rest of them refused to do any real damage.

"What do we do?" Carlos asked, somewhere close by.

"I'm up for bashing in more skulls," Jay spoke and Mal remembered why they had been so close on the island. She was up for it too.

The waiting was agony. Everything was agony.

"Jay, Carlos," Evie started, her voice authoritative and strong, though Mal knew she was scared shitless like the rest of them. "Check the tunnel out. See if there is any way we can get out that way." Mal hadn't actually seen it herself, but she hoped they would have to fight their way out, that she would burn out all of her magic, and die with a smile on her face, the screams of agony and pain in her ears.

"Doug, guard the door," Evie continued, taking Mal's hand and pulling her over toward the large casks of wine and sitting her down. Then she felt the younger girl sit close to her too, her once gentle hand on her shoulder, rubbing small circles.

As Evie sat next to her, rubbing small circles against her arm and shoulder, Mal began to feel something. She kept her eyes closed tight and tried not to think about Ben or anything too close to Ben.

Stealing from the vendors on the isle, kicking lame animals, the look on others faces when they knew she was truly evil.

Ben's face when he had told her he knew she was good. His cute little smile as she had called him every terrible nickname she could think of. His moan as she had teased him with her fingers. Every moment she had spent with Ben peeking through her defenses all at once.

She took a ragged breath as she felt her closed eyes begin to moisten, her throat tightening up in preparation for tears and she hated herself for that. Instead of showing weakness, she decided to push her anger forward instead.

"What the hell happened?" She growled, the tears making her sound more angry, more hurt and that worked in her favor. "One minute we were happy and now this," She grumbled.

She heard Evie take a deep breath beside her and she didn't have to see her to know she was debating just what to tell her.

"Tell me the truth, Evie," She continued, making the choice for her.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Evie asked her.

"Ben and I kissed," Mal answered, trying to remember to keep breathing as the thought of Ben punched a hole in her chest. "He promised me another and then-" she took a slow breath to try and prevent a ragged one from peeking out again.

Evie wrapped her arms around her. "You gave him that second kiss," She explained sadly, "And then you fell into a sleep like death."

"How long?" Mal asked, instantly frightened that she had been in a sleep like death for a thousand years. When Evie continued to be silent, Mal asked again. "How long?!"

"A year and a half," Doug answered from across the room when Evie didn't speak up.

Mal's eyes popped open. "A year and a-" she couldn't even continue out of shock. What had happened since she had fallen into the coma? Evie took a deep breath in nervousness and Mal knew there was more. "There's more?" She asked, and then she realized there had to be more. "What happened to Ben?" She asked, wanting to know rather than not.

Even Evie heaved a sob at that point. More tears streaming down her dirt streaked face and Mal found herself trying to keep her own emotions in. "After your kiss, he- he-" then she broke into further sobs and became completely hysteric.

It must have been pretty bad if Evie had become hysterical. Even Doug stayed tight lipped. Mal tried to keep her emotions in check, deep breaths that kept her grounded. What had happened to Ben?

The loud screech of the secret passage opening pulled her attention away from Evie and her attempt to explain to see Jay and Carlos covered in spiderwebs and dust.

"The passage is clear," Jay explained, with a triumphant smile, the sweat nearly pouring down his forehead.

"But it's hordes and hordes of kingdom subjects as far as we can see all over the grounds," Carlos continued.

It would be a fight either way.

She knew she could ask a million questions, about Ben, or what had happened in the close to two years that she had been out, but then a realization hit her.

"I need the spellbook," She said, looking at each of them for a few seconds. She knew how dangerous it could be, especially with the kingdom subjects seemingly permanently under faerie lust.

She wasn't about to tell them why. She didn't even trust the reason herself, but she had to try something.

If someone had brought all of the villains back to life just to shove them on the island to suffer, then she could bring back the king, no matter how selfish her motives.

She could see that Evie wanted to argue, and the others probably did too. To risk everything for a spell book that might not even hold the answers was ridiculous, but she had to try.

"Take Jay with you," Evie reasoned. "We'll wait for you at the mouth of the tunnel," She explained as she pulled Mal closer. "You have twenty minutes," She explained as they all walked into the tunnel entrance.

Then they went their separate ways.

Walking through the tunnels again was difficult, but Mal kept a calm face, her thoughts racing, her heart beating hard in her ears as she tried to navigate her way through the tunnels that all looked the same.

She was not about to admit that she didn't know where she was going. Ben had led her through them so confidently, and she had only been paying attention to him, like a lovesick sap.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Jay asked, holding the lantern high and casting long shadows in front of them.

"Is it that obvious?" Mal answered with a small smile, thankful for Jay and his inability to do anything gently. Evie was wonderful, but there were times that she just wanted brutal honesty rather than gentleness.

"We've passed the dead rat carcass back there twice," Jay answered, standing beside her and gripping her shoulder and shaking her less than gently. "But I get that you're distracted," He continued, walking forward and taking the lead instead.

"A year and a half is a long time," Mal answered, hoping maybe she could get more answers out of Jay than Evie. "What did I miss?" She asked, knowing he would be brutally honest, even if it hurt her. "Besides my mother taking over," It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

So they hadn't broken the promise at all, and her promise of the kingdom over her dead body had backfired onto him it seemed.

"That's pretty much it," Jay answered turning back to look at her with his typical snarky smile. "Your mom took over, the kingdom went to shit, and everyone is on the hunt for us, the few that didn't fall under the influence of faerie lust, because we're trying to save you," He explained, choosing to leave Ben out.

Mal took a deep breath to steady herself. So much for brutal honesty. She needed to know, even if no one wanted to tell her. "What happened to Ben?" She asked, pulling Jay back before he could get any further to lead them out of the tunnels and into the castle itself and she missed another opportunity to find out.

Jay sighed. "Your kiss did something to him," He explained, which was a little more than Evie had given her.

"Something?" She continued. Had she killed him or not? Would they have her head once the balance of the kingdom was restored, or would it just be a tragic loss that no one would really want to explain.

"I shouldn't be the one to tell you," Jay answered. "I shouldn't have said anything earlier either," He continued sheepishly, not Jay like at all, then he pushed them through the opening in the tunnel and they found themselves out in the hallway near the kitchens.

Not where Mal expected them to be, but it would work. She couldn't help but think about the castle staff and how they had all come out of the whole ordeal with her mother. She hadn't been able to see Charlie open her gift. She hadn't been able to see and experience the summer solstice celebrations. She wondered how many other people she had come to care for had died at her mother's hand.

From there, Mal knew where she needed to be. She remembered exactly where she had left her spell book before she left on the last date she had had with Ben and exactly how to get there without being detected. That is if things had been left exactly the same for the year and a half that she had missed.

She highly doubted that.

She tried to remain calm and level headed as she crept across the expansive foyer and toward the stairs that led up to what had been her room. What would she do if she couldn't find it?

Not finding it was not an option. She felt her magic surge through her, almost as if it was reminding her it was there, a tool to help her find what she wanted, what she needed.

"Driest earth and ocean swells, help me find the book of spells," She whispered under her breath as she climbed the stairs in the seemingly abandoned castle. The only sign of life was Jay behind her.

As soon as she spoke the words, and cast the spell, she could feel the pull of something up the stairs. Perhaps her spellbook hadn't been moved at all and the castle had been somehow frozen in the exact same state as the day that she had kissed Ben.

Up the stairs, and down the hall, almost to her door, the spellbook pulled her. Except instead of the room that had been hers, it led her to Audrey's, and more specifically her bedside table.

Mal tried not to think about it too much. It had been Jane that had worked with her mother, whether accidental or not. Audrey had her motives, and a simple prank of stealing her spell book wasn't the worst she could do. It was nearly two years earlier anyway, Mal realized as she brushed her longer hair from her face and yanked open the bedside table drawer.

Her spellbook wasn't there. What was there was a huge pile of illustrations and sketches and little love notes from Ben himself, all addressed to her.

All little promises cemented on paper. Ones that could never come true.

Mal felt a sob crawl up from her throat and she did nothing to stop it. She had tried to hold it back for too long and it all bubbled forth at once, making her a sobbing mess. Ben was dead and she was the cause.

If she hadn't love spelled him-

She wiped the tears from her face and shoved the pile of drawings and sketches under her arm. It wasn't her spellbook, but it was a valuable find nonetheless. The promises of a dead man had to be an ingredient in some spell or another, right?

She steeled her emotions away and looked toward Jay, who seemed as uncomfortable with her little emotional breakdown as she was. That was why they had grown so close on the isle.

"Wrong room," She said as she turned to search her room, and she knew he wasn't about to argue with her. "Help me find the book of spells," She repeated as she left Audrey's room and made the distance to her room, Jay not too far behind her.

She reached for the doorknob and then froze. The last time she had done that she had been clobbered and locked up and all hell had nearly broken loose. The last time she had been distracted and giddy.

She turned the handle and entered anyway. Let anything try and scare her or overpower her after the shocks that she had had. She was not afraid to dish out death if she needed to.

Her room was about the same as she had left it. The bed unmade, the books from the library lining nearly every flat surface in an attempt to break the kiss promise. Her spell book should have been between the mattress and the headboard, if no one had disturbed the area.

Mal reached between the mattress and the headboard and sure enough her spellbook was there, untouched for several long months. As soon as she touched it, the magic potential surged through her and she almost felt like it was home.

"Let's get out of here," She told Jay, moving toward the door, ready to get out of there, though she realized she had no idea where they were going.

She opened the door to reveal Maleficent herself standing there, tall and slim, her human form restored. Her face calm, no trace of any disappointment, or anger. Just calm.

Mal's mind raced. She knew exactly what calm meant. It meant her mother was plotting revenge, or in Mal's case, most likely punishment.

"Daughter, what a surprise to see you here. The horns and green skin suits you," Maleficent spoke, and Mal felt a shiver run up her spine, her legs frozen where she stood. "I had hoped to clean up the place before you woke, but a Queen's work is never done."

Mal attempted to swallow her fear. She knew Jay was behind her and witnessing her fear and her apprehension in the presence of her mother. Her nightmares usually started innocent like that, then became so much worse.

"I suppose I should thank you," Maleficent continued, brushing one of her fingers across Mal's cheek gently, sending a chill throughout her skin. It was a strange situation indeed. "You got rid of the pup and gained me the kingdom despite everything."

The mention of Ben brought back some of the fire in her blood, but her mother held her there simply with her presence.

"Mal!" Jay called from behind her, but she dared not look back. If he kept his mouth shut, and didn't interfere, he might be able to survive. Otherwise, her mother could curse him with several things that could be considered worse than death.

Maleficent's eyes moved to Jay and Mal knew almost exactly what she was thinking. "I suppose I should give you more of your name for the events that led to my rule," She spoke, her eyes still trained on Jay then returning to her, the characteristic green glow in her eyes, "If you kill the thief, I will give you more."

Mal felt her eyes glowing the same green. It was the same position they had been in when she had last seen her mother as human. "I won't do it," Mal answered, finally finding her voice. "I don't want to be you, Mother!"

Maleficent tsk tsked a few times shaking her head. "I had promised the pup that I would spare you, but you're making me angry, and you know how I get when I get angry."

She gripped Mal's arm hard and the touch was like ice flowing through her veins. Mal yanked her arm out hard, knowing exactly what was to come. On the isle, with no magic, it had been a blow, but with magic and her mother's anger only rising, she had a feeling magic would be involved.

She knew better than to face her mother in a magic battle.

"I don't want to be you!" Mal repeated, building up a defense spell in her free hand, knowing full well she might need it for either herself or Jay, or both. "Even though you took Ben from me and took over everything, I will never ever join you in world domination."

Maleficent just cackled coolly. "I did as he asked," Maleficent answered with a wicked smile. "He said nothing about saving himself, only you. A lot of good it did you since your life ends tonight."

Mal knew the blow was coming almost before it came and blocked it the best she could, sparks flying as the two spells collided. She didn't have to know what the spell was that had come from her mother, she just knew it was dangerous.

She prepared another defensive spell as soon as her first one had been released. She knew her mother would stick to her word and not give up until she killed her, or worse.

She could let her mother kill her, especially with Ben being gone, but the thought of her mother ruling over all of Auradon and causing so much destruction when she could do something to stop her spurned her on. She wanted revenge for Ben.

"Mal!" Jay shouted as she blocked another dark spell from her mother, the spellbook held tight to her chest. "We need to get out of here!"

"Kinda busy here, Jay!" Mal shouted back, holding her mother off the best she could, keeping another spell at bay before his arms scooped her up again and darted for the window.

They crashed through the glass rather than doing the civilized thing of opening the window, but the castle was already in ruins so Mal didn't feel too bad. Ben would enjoy fixing up the old place when-

Ben...

The ground met them sooner than Mal expected, pulling her from her thoughts, the urgency of the situation once again returning to the forefront of her mind.

"You good?" Jay asked as they both hopped up from the icy ground and turned their attention up to the window where magic could chase them at anytime.

"Yeah," Mal answered, her eyes focused on the window they had just lept from. He had taken the brunt of their fall anyway, the soft snow absorbing the rest of their weight. Physically she was fine, emotionally not so much.

Then he pulled her with him in a sprint as her mother appeared at the window, her stare boring a hole into Mal, unable to look away until they disappeared into the trees.