Chapter 1: Re-entering Auradon
Mal was finally adjusting to her life as a princess, or, more formally, "Lady of the Court of Auradon". Which she thought was a mouthful.
It had been a rough few months, training to become a princess for the cotillion Ben had set up for her. In fact, she'd gotten so stressed out, that she'd broken up with him and then fled to the Isle.
Thankfully, she and Ben had gotten back together at the cotillion. In fact, they'd even shared their first kisses! And now everything was perfect. Well, almost perfect.
Hayden, son of Hades, and Eli, son of Elsa, and his cousins Andrew and Kris, children of Anna and Kristoff, were still at each other's throats for Hayden's dad cursing Andrew before his birth.
Also, whenever Mal was around, Hayden looked at her strangely, even though Fran, daughter of Judge Claude Frollo, had been trying to get him to like her for months.
And worst of all, Hayden, Fran, Harley, son of the Queen of Hearts, and Claire, daughter of Clayton, were getting more and more frustrated with Ben by the day for failing to maintain his promise to bring their siblings to Auradon.
Mal shuddered as a cold autumn wind blew through the hallway, and Ben asked, "You okay, Mal?"
"I'm fine. I just thought autumn in Auradon would be warmer." Mal complained, zipping her jacket up.
"Yeah, autumn's rather chilly. It's a really pretty season, though. Have you been on any nature walks recently?" Ben asked.
"I've been to the school garden. It's lovely. I had no idea that autumn could be so beautiful." Mal said, smiling at her boyfriend.
Ben opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off an excited voice shouted, "BEN!"
The sound of running footsteps echoed through the hall, and then Ben stumbled as someone small tackled him with a hug.
The girl had her arms wrapped around Ben's lower chest, and was wearing a teal and lavender striped blouse with a white skirt with a gold stripe on the hem, pink frilly socks, and white Mary Jane shoes. Her light brown hair was tied back in pigtails, and when she pulled away from Ben, her smile showed pink and purple braces on her teeth. She looked to be about Dizzy Tremaine's age.
"You remember me, right? Have I been gone for so long that you don't remember me?" the girl asked, staring at Ben expectantly.
A smile quickly spread on Ben's face as he cried, "Chelsea?!"
"You do remember me!" Chelsea said gleefully, bouncing up and down.
"Yeah, of course I do! I'm sorry, I forgot today was the day you were coming back from your study abroad program! Where's everyone else?" Ben asked excitedly.
"Hopefully not too far behind. I ran ahead because I really wanted to find you!" Chelsea explained.
"Chelsea!" a female voice called from down the hall.
A boy with curly brown hair, thick dark glasses, a red sweatshirt, brown khaki pants, yellow shoes, and a large watch walked down the hall towards them, alongside a boy with straight black hair, a blue polo shirt, a red bow tie, gold colored jeans, and red shoes who was holding hands with a tan girl with golden hair, a yellow dress under a white faux fur cardigan, and shiny gold boots.
"Please don't run off like that! You could've gotten lost! Or worse!" the girl in yellow complained.
"Sorry, I just really wanted to see Ben again." Chelsea said, not sounding sorry at all.
"Hey, guys." Ben said beaming.
"Hi, Ben." the boy with dark hair said.
"Hello again, Ben." the boy with glasses said.
The yellow girl curtsied and said, "Votre Majeste."
Mal noticed that she had a thick French accent.
"Lucille, there's no need to bow to me or call me Your Majesty in French." Ben said uncomfortably.
"But you're our king!" Lucille said, rising out her curtsy, "You must be treated with respect at all times."
"Lucille…" Ben said sadly.
Lucille suddenly burst out laughing and said, "For goodness sakes, Ben, I was just teasing you! Honestly, you thought that being crowned king would alter our friendship, even though we've been friends since we were little?!"
"Oh, I can't believe I fell for it!" Ben said with a laugh, "Gosh, I'm sorry, Lucille!"
"Uh, hi. Who are you guys?" Mal asked awkwardly.
"Oh, you must be Mal, Ben's girlfriend. It's wonderful to finally meet you. I wanted to introduce myself at Ben's coronation, but I lost you in the crowd and never found you again, and then I wasn't there for your cotillion. I'm Lucille, daughter of Lumiere." Lucille said kindly.
"My name's Sam. I'm Snow White's oldest son and Lucille's boyfriend." the boy with the black hair said.
"My name is Connor. My father is the famous Cogsworth." the boy with glasses said.
"And I'm Chelsea, daughter of Chip!" Chelsea said, beaming.
"They're all some of my childhood friends." Ben explained.
"Oh. It's nice to finally meet you." Mal said kindly.
"It's nice meeting you, too." Lucille said.
"Oh, for heaven's sakes!" Connor cried, walking over to the window, "Who on earth left the windows open? No wonder this school's so cold!"
"Connor, I'm sure there's a good reason why the windows are open. Maybe Fairy Godmother thought the school was too stuffy with the heat on high and wanted to add some cooler air." Sam said calmly.
"It's not just about the cold! What about the wind?! Imagine what could happen if it blew all the loose items around. Someone could have paper fly in their face, walk into a pole, and get a bloody nose! Or a person could slip on a leaf and hurt themselves! The windows must be closed!" Connor announced.
Mal stared, confused, as his friends tried to reassure him, and Ben leaned over and whispered, "Connor's rather obsessive-compulsive. If something's out of order in his mind, he imagines the worst case scenario and insists it be corrected."
"Ah." Mal mumbled.
"Connor," Ben called, joining the conversation, "I'm sure if Fairy Godmother wants them closed, she'll close them. You might get in trouble for closing them without her telling you too. Just leave them alone, alright?"
Connor huffed, walked away from the window, and grunted, "Fine."
"Also, Lucille, I have news for you." Ben said hesitantly.
"Is it bad?" Lucille asked, noticing Ben's tone.
"Not necessarily. But I'm not sure how you'll take it." Ben said, looking nervous.
"Okay…?" Lucille asked, starting to look nervous.
"You're going to be getting a roommate...but it's going to be a girl from the Isle of the Lost." Ben said slowly.
Lucille gasped, and she and Mal said together, "What?!"
"You're finally bringing Hayden, Harley, Claire, and Fran's siblings over?!" Mal asked excitedly.
"Yeah. Cotillion was a good reminder that I need to start bringing the Isle kids over. And their siblings sound like a good place to start. Hayden, Claire, Fran, and Harley were right. It's past time they came." Ben said certainly.
"Ben, that's great! Hayden and the others will be thrilled!" Mal cried, hugging him.
"Well, I'm not! I'm the exact opposite of thrilled!" Lucille cried, fanning her face and breathing heavily.
"Lucille, I thought you said you sympathize with the VKs." Ben said, disappointed.
"I do! But rooming with one is crossing the line for me! We'll constantly be fighting, and I hate fighting! Not to mention, think of this girl's personality. If she's The Queen of Hearts daughter, she'll be bratty and temperamental, if she's Frollo's daughter, she'll be cold and cruel, if-!" Lucille protested.
"You'll be rooming with Hades's daughter, Hazel." Ben explained.
"Oh that makes me feel so much better!" Lucille yelled, "My roommate is not only going to be evil, but she'll have magic! Now she'll have to potential to turn me into a frog! Or a bear! Or a candelabra! I won't go through with it!"
Lucille stomped her foot at the end of her statement, and Mal thought, Wow. Drama queen, much?
"Lucille, I really think you should give this girl a chance." Sam said kindly.
"Sam, I'm going to rooming with the daughter of Hades! Who's evil! Wouldn't that scare you, having to room with someone like that?" Lucille asked, fanning her face harder.
"Yes, but maybe you should try to see the good versus the bad. Your father never gave up on seeing good in the Beast. And my mom always tells my siblings and I to try to see the good in everyone and in every situation. I think you should apply that, too." Sam said empathetically.
"He's right, Lucille. If I hadn't given the VKs a chance, none of them would be here now, and I certainly wouldn't be dating Mal. Maybe your friendship will inspire Hazel to be good." Ben suggested.
Lucille huffed and said, "Fine. I'll try. I'll be super generous, kind, and patient. But, Ben, I hope you know what you're doing."
"Trust me, after dealing with two groups of VKs coming to Auradon and actually going to the Isle of the Lost, I think I know what makes the evil VKs tick. And I'll have Mal and her friends to turn to if I need help."
Lucille and Connor looked skeptical, but they nodded along with Sam and Chelsea, who looked more confident.
"Wait, you actually went to the Isle of the Lost?! When?! How?! Why?!" Connor asked.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. Right now, I need to talk to Hayden, Fran, Claire, and Harley about their siblings coming." Ben said, looking at his watch.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Mal asked.
"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind." Ben said, smiling at Mal.
"Not at all." Mal said, smiling back at Ben.
"See you later, guys." Ben said, smiling at his friends before walking away with Mal.
"Ben, your hands are shaking." Mal noticed, while waiting in Ben's office for Claire, Harley, Fran, and Hayden.
"I'm just...a bit nervous about what's going to happen next. Everyone's counting on me to reform all these villain kids, and after all the problems that happened when you and your friends came over-er, no offense-and then Hayden and his group transitioned...do you think I can do it? It seems like it's getting harder instead of easier." Ben confessed.
"Of course you can!" Mal cried, putting her hand on Ben's shoulder, "Like you said earlier, you know now how evil villain kids operate, and you have the eight of us to help you if there's a problem. Nothing's going to happen, Ben. I promise."
A knocking on Ben's door called them back to reality, and Ben said, "Come in."
Hayden, Fran, Harley, and Claire came in, looking grumpy. Harley was still in his baseball uniform, dirt covering his shirt and pants. Harley was so good at baseball, that the coach had made him team captain, and he was leading the team to record wins like they'd never seen. The stadium was now swarmed with cheering fans whenever they had a game, with Ruby cheering the loudest, often times accidentally yelling in her sister Anxelin's ear.
Claire was wearing a blue Auradon Knights t-shirt with grey sweatpants and her usual red high tops, covered in sweat from having just come out from training with the team. Claire had gotten teased a lot by players on other schools teams over the months for being the only girl on the Knights team, but had quickly shut them all down by helping the Knights tourney team win most of their games. Now there were stories of schools around the country adding girls to their tourney teams, and petitions to the Professional Tourney League to change the rule preventing girls from playing. Her boyfriend Mason and his triplet younger sisters May, Maria, and Meredith made sure to never miss a game. In her free time, she was spending time with her beloved Outdoors Club, who had taught her how to swim and were helping her slowly conquer her fear of heights.
Fran had her beautiful caramel hair tied back in a long braid, and was wearing an apron covered in flour over her purple shirt, mauve jacket, black leggings, and red ankle cut heeled boots. She'd put on red lipstick, glittery eyeshadow, and a pumpkin spice perfume to try to impress Hayden, but it hadn't been very effective. Fran had quickly discovered that she was a natural at baking-she could make anything. Her favorite part of the week was when she was able to meet up with the others in Baking Club and make delicious food. She'd even make things outside of the club, and the school couldn't get enough of it. Fran kept saying how much she wished she could share her goodies with the kids on the Isle, though.
Hayden wore a gray shirt that said "Trust me, I'm a doctor...in training" with a black medical cross on it, a ripped blue denim vest over it, dark distressed jeans, and black sneakers. Hayden claimed he was enjoying his new life in Auradon, but he seemed depressed and wouldn't admit why. The only ones who seemed to know were Fran, Evie, Audrey, Jane, Lonnie, Ally, and Ruby, who were being super tight lipped about it.
Hayden looked at Mal strangely again as he walked in, which made Fran bite her lip and look at the ground for a second, which made Hayden and Claire stare in confusion.
"Hi, guys." Ben said cheerily, smiling.
"Hey, Ben." the four of them said curtly, returning to frowning at Ben.
"Take a seat. We have something very important to discuss." Ben said, gesturing to the four chairs in front of his desk.
Claire, Fran, Harley, and Hayden sat, and Ben said, "So, I know I promised you guys that I would bring your siblings over as soon as possible."
"And it's been 3 months." Harley said coldly.
"Yeah. Uh, so after giving it some thought, and reflecting on the events of Mal's cotillion, I've decided that it's time to honor my promise. I've sent letters to your siblings inviting them over at once." Ben said excitedly.
"Really?!" Claire, Fran, Harley, and Hayden cried, rising to their feet.
"Yep." Ben said, beaming.
Fran squealed and leaned over the desk to hug Ben, who stood from his chair to hug her back, Harley did a victory dance, Hayden was smiling for the first time in a while, but Claire looked concerned.
"What's wrong, Claire?" Mal asked, making everyone pause and look at her.
Claire pursed her lips, put a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "I'm worried our parents won't let them over, since Auradon changed us to be good. What if they're so afraid of them becoming "corrupted" that they refuse to let them go?"
"We'll deal with that if and when that happens. I swear I'll do everything in my power to make sure your siblings come to Auradon." Ben reassured Claire.
"Anyway," Ben continued, sitting back in his chair, "The reason I brought you all here isn't just so I could tell you the news. You all know your siblings best, so I was hoping you guys would give me information that could help us prepare for and deal with them."
Ben looked expectantly at Claire, and she flinched and said, "W-well, uh...he's good, so you shouldn't have to worry about him. But...he'll need...special assistance."
Claire's voice choked up as tears began rolling down her face. Harley held her hand, Fran got up and hugged her, and Hayden rubbed her back comfortingly.
Mal felt a sharp pang go through her heart as she remembered Clay Clayton. The poor boy got made fun of such much in school back on the Isle. She couldn't imagine living in his world.
"'Special assistance?' Why?" Ben asked, looking concerned.
"Her brother's-" Mal started.
"No," Claire interrupted, taking a deep breath, "I'll tell him myself. My brother, Clay...he's...he's…"
Claire took another shaky breath and choked out, "He's blind."
Ben's face turned sorrowful, and he said, "Oh. I'm sorry, Claire. Was he born that way?"
Claire shook her head and said, "It was taken from him. He used to be very violent, he'd try to pick fights with whoever crossed him. Especially the Gaston boys, we had a huge rivalry with them on the Isle. One day, one of Gaston's boys, Gary, was threatening me, so to take his attention off me, he challenged Gary to a fight at his dad's business, Gaston's Duels Without Rules. Almost everyone at school showed up to watch them fistfight. When the match started, everything looked like it was going to be fine for Clay, but then...Gary landed a strong right hook just to the side of his right eye, and Clay collapsed onto the ground like a rag doll and didn't get back up. Gary was about to maul him to death, but then I stepped in and took him down. I carried him to the medic, and he said that Gary had hit a nerve or something with such force that he permanently damaged it, and Clay would lose his vision. Clay woke up completely blind, and he's been that way ever since. It did teach him humility, though. That's what turned him good."
"That's horrible! Why would someone run a business like that? That sounds like a place where someone could die!" Ben cried, horrified.
Mal pursed her lips and said, "Some people have."
Ben turned pale and quickly made a note on a notepad.
"I'll talk to Fairy Godmother, see what we can do to support Clay. I've never met another blind student, so I'm not sure what accommodations to give him, but I'm sure Fairy Godmother will be able to give him what he needs to succeed." Ben said, trying to reassure Claire and focus on something other than that gruesome story.
"Fran?" Ben asked, clearing his throat as he turned to her.
"My sister's a lot like how I used to be. Cruel, stuck up, strict, manipulative, condescending, and haughty. She hates our dad. But she loves me, so there's potential for goodness." Fran said, clenching her fists.
Ben made notes, and turned to Harley.
"Harper's everything you'd expect the Queen of Hearts's daughter to be. Short-tempered, bossy, vain, demanding, sassy, sarcastic, and just mean-spirited. She's like an Auradon princess gone bad. She's not afraid to hurt people, either. Harper doesn't beat people up like I did, but she will slap you, stomp on your toes, or kick you in the shin if you aggravate her enough. And it hurts when she does it. Harper wears heeled boots with steel in the toes to make sure it's painful when she stomps or kicks, and she slaps with all her strength." Harley reflected.
"Got it." Ben said, finishing his notes and Harper.
He turned to Hayden and said, "And your siblings?"
"Well, I'm not too worried about Hadie. He's one of those villain kids like Dizzy-a good kid who had this misfortune of being born to an evil parent on an evil island. He does have the same fire issue I do, though." Hayden reported.
"'Fire issue?'" Ben repeated.
"Hair and fists ignite when we're angry." Hayden explained.
"Ah," Ben said, making a note of that, "And Hazel?"
Hayden winced and said, "Yeah, about her...if there's any VK who's going to be coming that you should be worried about, it's Hazel."
"Why?" Ben asked, frowning.
"You know how I said I was the most powerful VK on the Isle when I first arrived?" Mal asked.
"Yeah?" Ben said, turning to her.
"That was a lie. It's actually Hazel. She's insanely powerful. If there wasn't a barrier around the Isle preventing magic, she'd probably have set up a dictatorship with her in charge of everything." Mal admitted.
Hayden, Claire, Fran, and Harley nodded in agreement and shuddered.
"Wow. Why's she so much more powerful than everyone else? Who's her mother?" Ben asked.
"We don't know. Only the adults know, and they're being super tight-lipped about it. Most of us think that it's one of Madam Mim's adult daughters, but we're not sure." Hayden admitted.
"Got it." Ben said, making some quick notes, "Thanks, guys."
"Thank you, Ben. You have no idea how much this means to us!" Harley cried, beaming from ear-to-ear.
"So, I need to talk to Fairy Godmother now. If you all wouldn't mind leaving. Including you, Mal." Ben said kindly.
"Oh, yeah, of course. See you later, Ben!" Mal called, getting up from the edge of Ben's desk.
"Hey, don't forget about our date this time!" Ben said as Mal walked out with the other VKs.
"Right! That's Saturday, right?" Mal asked.
"Bingo!" Ben said, winking at Mal.
Mal blushed and said, "I'll put it in my phone."
"You're the best! Love you!" Ben called as Hayden closed the door behind him, making Mal's face redder and Hayden cringe.
"You okay?" Mal asked, noticing Hayden's face.
"I should go." Hayden said hoarsely, walking away swiftly.
"Hayden!" Fran cried as he walked away, her eyes starting to shine.
Tears started falling out of her eyes, and she ran away sobbing.
"Okay, this charade has gone on for too long. We need to get to the bottom of what's going on." Harley said strongly.
"Agreed. I'll go talk to Fran, since she's my roommate." Claire suggested.
"Evie seems to be in on whatever this is, too, so I'll talk to her." Mal said.
"Then I'll talk to Hayden, since he's my roommate." Harley said, nodding affirmatively.
Claire, Harley, and Mal walked off in different directions, determined to get to the bottom of this 3 month mys
