The royal limo slowly pulled to a stop outside of Castle Beast. Carlos, Jay, Aziz, and Lonnie had been dropped off at the bakery already. Jay had grown fond of the son of the heroes to his father's story. He texted Aziz and asked for some assistance. They needed another more pairs of eyes to help them look for clues.
Naturally, Ben and Audrey had asked Chad to help. Ben being his best friend, and Audrey being his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the blond prince was on an important business trip with his parents. Even if he did try to join his friends, he wouldn't make it in time. The whole situation made him sick to his stomach, to say the least. Chad, like Audrey and Leah, had apologized for his rude behavior and his ignorance. He and Mal had really bonded because of their stubborn, competitive nature. He thought of her as the best friend he never wanted, but the one that he was lucky enough to have.
Without her boyfriend by her side, Audrey was a little bit of a wreck. She was just glad that she had Ben and the rest of her friends by her side during this crisis. Chad, however, did wish his friends the best of luck and asked Ben to relay a message to Mal and sent a message to Audrey himself. The message to Mal: I hope you get better and I hope they punish the douche who did this to you. When I see you again, you better be at your best. I want to beat you fair and square in our next competition. The message to Audrey: Hang in there, babe. I wish I was there with you, but I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you. He felt even worse about not being able to be there to comfort Audrey. He knew how much she was hurting. Mal was part of her family.
Belle, Adam, Aurora, and Fairy Godmother were waiting at the top of the steps. Just like Audrey, Ben and Jane had decided to tell their parents about the recent events. They only gave the bare minimum. After all, they had all promised to keep the specifics to themselves for the time being. They would eventually tell their parents everything, but it wasn't the right time, and they certainly couldn't do it over the phone. You never know who might be listening.
The teens slowly made their way out and trudged up what seemed like the never ending stair case. Once at the top, Aurora embraced her daughter immediately, already seeing the tears that Audrey was fighting to hold back. Fairy Godmother gave Jane and Doug a soothing hug, she liked to think that she was like a second, or in some cases a third, mother to all of her students. Adam and Belle wrapped Ben and Evie in their arms as Evie let a few tears roll down her cheeks. Belle gently brushed them away.
"Thank you," Evie mumbled quietly, enjoying having a motherly figure who was like an actual mother. It's not that Grimhilde, the Evil Queen, treated her badly. Well, not as bad as the others. It was just that, the villainous queen was more obsessed with Evie's looks than Evie herself.
"Don't worry about it, dear," Belle reassured as she wrapped Evie in another hug. Once she had gotten to know the Isle children better, she took them in and considered them as her own. She knew that Adam did as well. They were the type of kids that she always dreamed about having. Don't get her wrong, she loved Ben with all of her heart. But, a girl can dream, can't she? "Have you talked to Snow yet?" Evie gently shook her head.
Recently, Evie had met her step sister and her family, with much encouragement from Mal. She hadn't made up her mind about the young queen just yet. Snow White was so different from all of the stories that her mother had told her. She wasn't a spoiled brat like her mother had always said. She wasn't rude or impolite. She was really nice and welcoming, and hardly ever seen without her smile. She had even offered Evie an official title as princess of the Northern Kingdom, seeing as her mother was the queen and they were sisters. (Again, name of kingdom from The Land of Stories). She was torn between whether she should include Snow White, or not.
'Mal would know what to do. She always knows what to do,' Evie thought to herself. She had never been in this position before. Mal had always been the strongest one out of their group. Maybe not physically, that title went to Jay, but definitely emotionally. Even when Maleficent was… more harsh than usual, she never let that stop her. She never even looked fazed. You wouldn't have been able to tell that something was wrong if it weren't for the marks that Maleficent would leave behind. Mal was always there when she or one of the boys got hurt or into any trouble. She was always there when they needed a place to crash because their parents had kicked them out or were being more overbearing than ususal. She always had a plan. She always knew how to help them and make them feel better. Now, she was the one who needed help. Evie would do everything in her power to make sure that Mal came out of this alive and well. She was not planning on losing a sister today or any day in the near future. Not when she still had Mal's wedding, baby shower, and many, many birthdays and other events to plan.
Belle ushered everyone inside and led them all to her library. As she walked by the kitchen, she popped her head in for a moment and requested that Mrs. Potts bring the group some hot chocolate and cookies. She hoped that it would lift everyone's spirits at least a fraction. She couldn't stand to see all of these young teens in such despair. In the library, Doug and Evie immediately went to start their research, but Belle stopped them. They gave her quizzical looks.
"Not until you've had a snack," She said gently as the couple reluctantly returned to the group. They all sat down in the seating area that Belle had had installed a few years back. There were many comfortable sofas, armchairs, bean bags, and a few coffee tables.
"Can someone please explain how this happened?" Fairy Godmother asked as Mrs. Potts set down a tray with mugs and a plate with a variety of cookies.
The five teens looked around at each other.
"Well," Jane began quietly as she grabbed a light blue mug. "Audrey, Evie, Mal, Jay, Carlos, Lonnie, Doug, and I were hanging out and we stopped to get some food. Mal and Audrey went back to get some more treats for you guys, Queen Aurora, Queen Belle, Ben and King Adam, as well as King Phillip, Queen Leah, and King Stephen. After a few minutes, Audrey came back, but Mal didn't. After waiting a little longer, we heard some noises coming from inside and Mal screaming, so we all rushed in. The place was trashed and the only one in there was Mal. She had iron shackles on her arms, and somehow, she ingested some iron as well." The royals felt guilty. She had gone to get something for them, that's why this happened to her.
"Please, Jane. You know you don't have to be so formal when it's just us," Belle said kindly as Jane nodded sheepishly. She still hadn't made much progress on her shyness.
"If I learned anything from my past with Maleficent, iron burns fairies of her kind and is potentially lethal," Aurora thought out loud, not waiting for anyone to explain it. She already knew. She had watched as her father's soldiers attacked Maleficent with iron weapons, iron shields, and iron chains. Adam and Belle's eyes grew slightly larger. They hadn't known that. Then again, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos weren't really big on sharing. But they wished they had known that certain objects around their castle could have seriously harmed Mal. They were just glad that she hadn't stumbled upon the armor room. At least, they didn't think that she had. It was filled with multiple suits of armor and weapons, from the past and the present. Most of the items in there were made from iron.
"I should have stayed with her," Audrey scolded herself once again as Ben place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"There's nothing you could have done, Audrey," Ben stated quietly as Aurora wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"You don't know that, Ben!" Audrey cried as she leaned into her mother's side.
"Okay," Fairy Godmother said, trying to get back on topic. "Anything else?" Jane, Evie, Doug, and Ben all looked at each other. They know what they promised, but was it really necessary right now? The girls were pleading with their eyes to just tell the adults already. How much harm could it actually do? Ben sighed in defeat.
"Ben, you said…" Doug began, but Ben cut him off.
"I know what I said, Doug. But, we're in a safe place, and these are our parents we're talking about." Ben hated lying to his parents. He hated the idea of lying in general. Withholding and twisting information on purpose, Ben never really understood it. In certain situations, yes. But not when a lie meant the difference between life and death or peace and war. Doug only shrugged as he turned his attention back to the people in front of him.
The adults looked towards their children curiously. They had no idea what the boys were talking about. Did they want to know?
"We were in town at the new cupcake bakery," Audrey blurted. "That's where the others are now."
"Is that all?" Adam asked patiently.
"Not quite," Ben responded nervously. This was the part that he was worried about. He looked to the others, they nodded, letting him know that they were all in agreement. "We believe that there is a great possibility that whoever did this to Mal is from either Auradon or the Sleeping Kingdom."
(A/N: Someone has told me, TheGreatGodzilla, that the kingdoms could be named the Kingdom of Cornwall for Aurora's kingdom and Adam and Belle's kingdom would be in France. Obviously it would be in France, but it would just be the Kingdom of France. Let me know what you all think.)
The three royals and Fairy Godmother looked absolutely shocked. They hadn't expected that.
"What made you come to such a conclusion?!" Adam demanded, but his tone wasn't harsh or angry. It was gentle and inquisitive. Ben gestured for Audrey to explain. After all, it was her and Mal that came up with the theory. He and the others simply agreed with it.
She nodded as she sat up straighter. "On our way out of the hospital, I stopped by Mal's room. I had asked her if she knew who did it. She said no, but she knew it was a male with a large tattoo of a rose on their arm. There was also a rose engraved on one of the shackles." She passed her phone around one again, so the adults could get a look at the picture that she had taken. "Mal was the one who suggested it, and I agree with her. We all agree with her." Aurora nodded as she passed her daughter's phone along to Belle.
"I see what you're saying," She said simply as she put her arms back around Audrey.
"It's a possibility," Belle responded as Adam slowly nodded.
"We should start looking," Adam stated.
"But where do we even start?" Jane asked as she looked around the massive library.
"Well, if we're looking for someone from the kingdoms, then we should probably check the crime records. See if anything matches up," Belle instructed as she pointed out a section in the back of the library.
"Some of us should probably look for something to help Mal until the iron completely leaves her system," Fairy Godmother suggested as Evie and Audrey glanced at each other, coming to the same conclusion.
"Evie and I can do that," Audrey offered. "Evie is great at making potions and I did pretty well in chemistry." Fairy Godmother nodded.
"Medicines and potions will be over there," Belle pointed to another section as Audrey, Evie, and Fairy Godmother stood. The three of them headed over to the section Belle had pointed out while the others headed over to the area that housed 'Crime History'.
After hours of searching, they had looked through most of their designated areas. Both groups didn't find anything too useful. Audrey and Evie had found a few books that looked like they could help, but nothing more than that. Their morale was pretty low. They were all tired, hungry, and worried. Some of them were close to giving up. The updates from Jay, Carlos, Lonnie, and Aziz hadn't been much help. They hadn't found anything either. The bakery was so new, they hadn't had security cameras installed yet. They were sitting in a box in the storage closet.
"How about we all head over to Castle Beauty for dinner. Then, we can look through the library over there to see if we can find anything," Aurora offered as everyone nodded. They really didn't have any other options at this point.
"I'll text Jay and Carlos," Evie stated as she pulled out her phone. "We can pick them up on the way."
The group filed out of Castle Beast. Since they were such a large group, the adults took one car, and the teens took another. They all tried to prepare themselves for the long drive ahead. They just hoped that their search at the next destination wouldn't be as fruitless.
Hi guys and gals! I hoped you enjoyed that chapter. Thanks to all who reviewed, followed, or favorited. Thanks for just reading. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know. Also, what do you guys think about the kingdom names? Should I change them, or just leave them as is?
