(Set before the Descendants movie… / non-canon with the prequel book)
A blinding beam of sunlight cut its way across the floor of Ben's apartment. Technically it was a 'dorm room', but very few dorm rooms had their own swimming pools. However, his suite wasn't actually separate from the rest of the dorms so Ben supposed that the term 'apartment' would have to do. Some of his friends thought it was a stupid rule that he had to live with all of the other lowborn riff raff. That's what all the other princes liked to say. Ben wasn't so sure he really wanted to be separate but he wouldn't get a chance to change things until he was King. That would be in about a month when his dad, 'The Beast' stepped aside to let him take over. Honestly, that part about taking over really didn't make any sense. His dad had been elected King. Elected. Which generally doesn't go with the word 'King' and shouldn't mean that the son automatically inherits, especially at the age of sixteen before he'd even finished school. "So, why exactly do I get to be King when he steps down?" Ben mused. Not that he exactly minded. Ruling the world seemed like it could be a heck of a lot of fun. Power, as they said, had its own rewards.
Power wasn't his problem right now though. That was because he didn't have any. No power. Nada. Zip. Audrey, his girlfriend of over five years somehow had acquired every ounce of it in their relationship and, to a certain degree, in his life. They'd gotten together when they were eleven and it just seemed like the thing to do. He'd been shy and not all that assertive at the time. Audrey had marched right in and said "I'm a princess. You're a prince. Let's be together." It had been… hot. Not that he had a clue what 'hot' meant at age eleven but thinking back, it was definitely the right word. It had been easy to get into a pattern where Audrey called all the shots. But in the last year or so, things had changed. Audrey had lost the fire that had initially attracted him. She still said 'what was what' but now it was more likely to be about who they should be seen with or what kind of outfit he should wear. Those were things that didn't matter to him so he didn't really fight her, but... He missed being with someone who wanted to do big and exciting things that would draw him out of his shell. All Audrey wanted to be was ladylike and perfect.
Audrey's favorite pastime now was sitting around and looking pretty. She wouldn't go swimming with him anymore. It might mess up her hair. Or, oh my goodness, he'd actually see her in her bathing suit. "I've grown up. And good girls don't do that sort of thing before they're married." she'd say to him whenever he brought up the subject. He didn't understand the change. Two years ago it had been hard to get the two of them out of the water. He'd even offered to turn it into a larger pool party or find a chaperone. Someway that she'd feel comfortable with him. But it was no good. No bikini watching for Ben.
When he pushed at her enough, she'd sometimes agree to take a walk with him. But it wasn't a romantic walk alone in the woods where maybe they could sneak in a couple of kisses under the trees. No way, no day. It was a walk in the bright sunshine. And there were always at least three of her friends along for company. It wasn't exactly that he wanted to jump her or something. But, well, they were growing up and it was time to move things up a little. But nothing would get past her 'Good girls don't do that.' line.
As Ben gazed out the window and looked at the dark sea beyond, he'd realized that over the last few years, he'd become more of a carpet than Gaston had wanted to make out of his father. He'd spent more and more time just molding himself to fit what Audrey wanted. "Maybe," he had figured, "if I give in on some things, she'll give in on some too." So he'd compromised time after time and participated in whatever stupid activity she'd come up with so. In fact, they had spent the previous afternoon rehearsing for a 'Be Our Guest' dance for the parent visit in a few weeks. It was embarrassing and absurd. But he'd gone in with a smile on his face. But when he suggested that afterwards they go for a ride together on his bike, she'd turned him down flat.
Since they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend, she did occasionally agree to a formal date. A date that was always with a group and generally ended with a tiny kiss on the cheek when he dropped her off. She even liked saying it. "Here's your little peck on the cheek." And then a brief dry press of her lips and she was done. "What's wrong with a proper good night kiss?" he asked himself. "I guess it's just that good girls don't think about those sorts of things." Ben thought bitterly. It was up a disaster. The passion he'd been dreaming of just wasn't there. "I don't think I want a good girl anymore…" he said to himself.
A huge wave rolled across the stormy ocean and crashed against the Isle of the Lost with a shower of magical sparks. "That's what I want!" Ben realized. "Sparks. Feeling. Romance…" He wanted to be with someone who wanted to be with him. And he wanted it to be in a way that was more than just 'Stand next to.' It wasn't that he had a problem with Audrey saying no. He'd never want to force anyone. But it would be nice to know that deep down below that 'good girl' persona, that she wanted more from him too. But those little pecks on the cheek said that, clear as day, Audrey didn't want him at all. She was only with him because they were supposed to be together. They were the royal couple. She didn't love him or anything. Another crash of the surf made him turn his thoughts outward. "Why can't I find someone wild? Exciting? Powerful! Someone more interested in being herself than in being that perfect good girl?" Ben was now shouting his questions out to the storm. And as another wave tried to engulf the Isle of the Lost, an idea came to him.
A few days ago, the king had suggested that he help watch the security feeds from the Isle of the Lost. It was supposed to be part of taking a greater responsibility for the realm. The Isle was where the free folk had exiled all of the villains when peace had finally been achieved. His dad wanted to make sure that Maleficent, Jafar, and all of the other baddies weren't able to spread destruction and ruin anymore. The island was more than secure so watching them wasn't strictly necessary. But since you still couldn't trust a villain, the magic that sustained it had ways built into it to watch what was going on over there. While the magical barrier had kept them in out of everyone's hair for over 20 years but it was better to be safe than sorry. It had been more of a command than a suggestion from his father to keep an eye out so he'd dutifully watched whenever he had a few free minutes. It didn't take long to realize that there was nothing the villains could do to break out and he'd almost given up on the idea entirely, royal suggestion or not. But the weather had been horrid the last few days and out of boredom, he'd started watching the rest of the island. The people were fascinating. Villains, lackeys, and bullies all mingled in a new society. But given the lack of anyone innocent to prey on, they'd evolved. They had lives and families. Well, they kind of had families. No one seemed to actually love each other so maybe 'family' wasn't the right word. But marriages over there produced the same sort of thing they produced over here.
Children.
Watching those kids quickly turned into an obsession. They ran and fought and screamed and cried. They didn't sit around or take quiet walks. When they were knocked down, they got back up. It was so different than the world that he lived in.
Ben reached over, waved his hand over the magic control ball, and commanded it to show him the Isle again. Soon enough he was watching Mal, the daughter of Maleficent attempting to cast spells. She'd become his favorite thing to watch over the last few days. The stormy day had apparently kept them inside on the Isle as well and her mom decided that a rainy day was perfect for spell practice. "What's the flipping point?" Mal had muttered under her breath. "It's not like any of this stuff will ever work." But after Mal lost yet another fierce battle of wills with her mother, she'd given in and started practicing. Ben considered waving his hand and going to watch some other part of the island when two things caught his attention. First of all, Mal was cute as hell. He wasn't entirely sure why he hadn't realized it before now but, oh my goodness she was. The purple hair was amazing and all that leather… Well, it awakened some feeling in him that he had actually thought that Audrey might have destroyed. And second, the practice required that she come up with this funny little rhymes. "Fall out of the tree and become a Bee" went the first one. But after listening to Mal try a few of those, Maleficent had declared that it was time to give up 'baby spells'. She gave Mal a list of harder words to rhyme and explained that she expected horrid spells by the end of the afternoon if Mal wanted any dinner tonight. She then left Mal alone to work them out.
After Mal spent a good fifteen minutes coming up with spells that involved curse words and rude hand gestures toward her mother, she'd gotten down to business. It was tremendous fun to watch Mal try to come up with ways to rhyme words like 'orange' or 'basket'. She would get stuck halfway through the spell, stand there stock still for a minute, and then give out the cutest little scream of frustration.
It was addictive and Ben soon found himself making up spells along with her. And since he was a guy and sixteen, not all of his rhymes were exactly appropriate. Then fate intervened. A gust of wind tore the list of words she was supposed to use in spells out of Mal's hand and tried to blow them out the window. With a sulfurous curse, she threw herself across the room and tried to catch it. Then the wind grabbed it again and it darted out of a broken window pane. It briefly caught on a nail just barely out of her reach. Mal shoved her arm out the windows and bending over, she reached frantically to try to get the list before the storm finally claimed it. At the sight of her lovely looking backside facing him, one of those naughty rhymes popped into his head. With a bit of a laugh, he repeated it in a booming and commanding voice.
"Take the proud and make them meek. Make her bottom stitches weak."
Just at that moment, Mal stretched a little bit farther out of the window, and the seam in the back of Mal's pants split open just a little bit.
Ben stared, mesmerized, amazed at what had just happened. Then he panicked and tried desperately not to look because that just wasn't right. He wasn't sure if it was a weird coincidence or if his 'spell' had actually split Mal's pants.
He didn't like to think that he was the kind of guy who would take advantage of a situation like this, silly rhyming spell or not. But he just couldn't look away from Mal's posterior. The cutest pair of apple green panties peeked out from the rip. It wasn't indecent or anything. Just… intriguing. And hot. With a new definition of hot that he'd never even imagined before.
Ben expected her to freak out over what had happened. I mean, a servant could walk in at any time. Audrey would have been mortified if it had happened to her. In fact, Ben was pretty sure that Audrey changed clothes in the dark. Instead, Mal just stood up. She had a little corner of the parchment in her hand but obviously the storm had claimed the rest. She looked at it, sighed, and then tossed that little bit out into the wind as well. Then she reached back felt the rip, and gave a little laugh. "Figures." She said. Ben was human. And sixteen. So feeling guilty the entire time, he had the crystal ball follow her all the way to her room. From behind. But he did have it stop at her door. He was supposed to be kingly and Kings didn't peek inside girls bedrooms. Not even when they wanted to REALLY bad.
Ben watched Mal a lot more over the next few days. He resisted trying another spell but the temptation always there. But, eventually he realized that just watching 'Mal' be 'Mal' was enough for him. She was enchanting. In the non-magical way. She didn't take any guff from anyone and while people feared her, they respected her too. She loved to graffiti 'Evil Lives' on anything or anyone who stood still long enough to be decorated. But it was art instead of the destruction he would have expected. Beautiful swathes of colors, sharp edges, and amazing blends. He couldn't believe that she was able to do that with just a couple of rattle cans and a negligent swipe through the air. The jacket she wore was also amazing; it was obviously made from seven or eight discarded rags but she'd combined together the most striking portions of each and formed them into a cohesive whole. He paced his room for hours trying to banish her (or that little peek of her panties) from his mind but it was no use. He had to meet this girl.
And then the most amazing idea came to him. His father had mentioned the other day that he wanted Ben to make some sort of Royal Decree to remind the people that he was ready to take over. Why not bring over Mal? He'd already been thinking that the children from the Isle of the Lost deserved a better chance at life. It was also the perfect way to meet the girl of his dreams.