A sharp pang of fear seized her the moment Harry ducked out of the limo with his usual swagger and she was struck immobile. She dug her fingers into the upholstery, desperately trying to get a grip. Uma's last letter explained how she had to pretend in front of the heroes as though she wasn't a part of her pirate crew. Gil knew that. Harry knew that. Hali knew that, except, understanding the concept and successfully executing it were two very different things.
As soon as I get out of this car, they are definitely going to see right through me and they're going to lock us up or worse. Send us back, Hali thought frantically, eyes wide and glued to the gaping door.
A rumble of thunder in the near distance shook something loose inside of her.
She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and exhaled smoothly. "I can toadily do this," she breathed shakily to herself. The crew was counting on her. And they were also waiting for her to finally get out of the car, she reminded herself.
Waiting in front of the iconic King Beast statue was none other than King Ben himself and the Rotten Four. She felt a swift twinge of panic at the sight and just as quickly squashed it. Hiding behind a nonchalant front, she took a closer look at the ensemble. The entire band of heroes were paying all of their attention to Gil and Harry that they weren't even looking at her.
Hali almost sighed in relief.
King Ben had his hands folded neatly in front of him, his perfect teeth on display with his most winning smile. "Welcome to Auradon," he greeted with such politeness that had Hali believing he genuinely meant what he said.
The Rotten Four on the other hand, appeared less than thrilled. Standing side by side, all four villain kids had their arms crossed as a united front of undivided disapproval. However, their unfriendly demeanor was ruined by the addition of a sweater vest wearing mutt, growling lowly beside Carlos, clearly just as enthused by the pirates presence. Hali actually found their matching expressions of hostility aimed at Gil and Harry amusing.
Then she glanced back at King Ben and was immediately thrown off by the fact that he was already looking her way.
"Did Hadie not come?" he asked her.
The part of her brain that dealt with language skills spasmed and for one terrifying second Hali couldn't speak.
Taking her uncertain pause for confusion, Ben explained, "Your brother, right? I figured he would have sent word ahead that he wasn't coming. Like last time."
Her heart skipped a beat.
LIKE LAST TIME?
She was floored by this information. The earth might as well have cracked open beneath her sandals and sucked her into the underworld.
Hadie already turned down an invitation once. That was what Hades had told her to get into her head and mess with her just like he always did. She hadn't wanted to believe him, but King Ben just confirmed those venomous words to be true.
Hot tears pricked at her eyes and Hali dug her nails sharply into her palms. The pain distracted her long enough to blink back the waterworks. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Harry and Gil shoot her a look.
She tossed her long ponytail over her shoulder and just like that, her mask was back firmly in place. "He told me to tell you thanks, but no thanks," she said flatly. She planted a hand on her hip to complete her look of boredom.
"Oh. Okay. That's perfectly alright," Ben replied, a bit taken aback by this news. He bounced back quickly though. "We're pleased to have you here regardless, Halimeda. We're pleased you all accepted the invitations in fact."
"Speak for yourself," Jay muttered none too subtly causing the other VK's to smirk.
That did it. As quickly as Hali could have predicted it Harry got that crazed look in his wide eyes that had her flashing back to the night by the pier when he beat a goblin almost to death. The Rotten Four tensed when Harry made to step forward, hook forward. It was only by the hand that Gil put on Harry's shoulder that the first mate stilled. All of a sudden, Harry grinned manically at their welcoming party.
"As if we would turn down this…" Harry trailed off as if searching for the right word but actually resulted in putting the VK's immediately on edge, "opportunity."
Another, louder, roll of thunder punctuated Harry's ominous tone, sucking the civility out of the air and replacing with it a live wire.
The dog beside Carlos whined.
"Uh, right," Ben faltered. "So why don't we just show you all to your dorms and get you situated for the night? It looks like the weather is about to turn."
Right on cue, a crack of lightning streaked across the darkening sky. Hali spared the thick cloud cover a wary glance.
"Yeah, there's no way we're letting you out of our sight so we're just gonna escort you there," Mal interjected snidely.
Ben made a noise; a none too subtle clearing of his throat. "Mal? I thought we talked about this."
"Sorry Ben, but we're going to need you to stay far away from these two while they're here," Evie replied smoothly.
"Darlings, there's no reason ye should fight over little 'ol us," Harry tittered.
Hali swore the VK's collectively rolled their eyes as if they had rehearsed such perfect unison.
"Just shut up already and grab your bags," Carlos groaned impatiently.
The group of teenagers tossed insults back and forth as the two pirates scooped up their meager possessions but Hali was a little too distracted to pay much attention because freaking King Beast Jr. was holding the strap of her bag out to her.
"I guess that leaves me to show you to where you'll be staying," he said sheepishly.
Hali had the explosive urge to knock his too-white teeth in. For the plan's sake, she ignored this urge.
"I guess so," she agreed, reluctantly taking her bag from the boy king.
The group started migrating into the nearest building to the soundtrack of the Rotten Four's bickering with the pirates. At the same time in a futile attempt, Ben tried to inform them of a list of rules or some such. Hali wasn't really interested because she was too busy trying to catch Harry and Gil's eye. They avoided her attempts, which she begrudgingly admitted, was probably for the best.
The group parted ways before she knew it. Which meant she was left with Ben awkwardly commenting on the weather to fill the silence.
Hali clenched her teeth whenever he threw out a joke to get a reaction from her. He clearly was aware of the growing tension between them and she wasn't doing much to discourage the thought.
The demigoddess kept her eyes trained ahead of her and her trap shut. Any words she wanted to share with the color clashing king beside her were best left unsaid for now. She may only wear monochromatic black, but yellow and blue ? Seriously? Wasn't Evie supposed to be a fashion expert? Hali couldn't believe that the style princess actually allowed her one true king to wear such an eyesore exclusively.
Poor fashion sense wasn't his most significant crime, by far. There was that pesky business of him deciding that not all children of the Isle of the Lost deserved a chance at the good life. And speaking of chances, this walking poster boy for supposed "goodness" had a chance to undo his father's immoral proclamations and improve the lives of innocent children and for some odd reason had yet to do so. In the last year for all the times Hades had burned her skin out of pure boredom or spite, Hali could blame Ben for the scars.
Who was he to decide that an innocent kid that was born in an actual prison solely because of crimes committed by their parents wasn't worth the benefit of the doubt? Who was he, this privileged son of a beast, to decide that she hadn't been worth the benefit of the doubt...and her brother somehow was?
"...your roommate decided not to stick around for the holidays because of that reason."
Hali missed a step and nearly face planted on the plush carpet. Nearly being the key word here because his royal highness grabbed her arm to keep her from spilling all over the floor. She did not react in what people would describe as normal.
Ben stared at her with wide eyes as she violently ripped her arm out of his grasp the moment she righted herself.
They stood completely still in the corridor for what felt like ages. Ben rubbed the back of his neck confusedly; uncertain of Hali's odd reaction. She faced away from him, tense, like a nocked bow about to snap. The young monarch had witnessed such a reaction once or twice from the new VK students where someone, a prince of princess, might have accidentally knocked into them in passing and the VK would instantly shy away as though they had been seriously injured. He had yet to figure out a proper remedy for the ensuing awkward tension. Other Auradon kids weren't quite sure what to make of it either.
"Sorry. Are you...are you alright?" he asked worriedly.
Hali clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles going white.
"I'm fine," she replied stiffly.
Ben hesitated. While Hali appeared to have brushed off what just happened, he wasn't sure if he should as well. In the end, he gestured for them to continue walking and Hali did so calmly.
Mindful of keeping his distance, Ben took the lead again. "Your uh...roommate, Kira, decided not to stay for the holiday break so you won't meet her until the new semester."
Hali zeroed in on the word "roommate" and chose to focus solely on that word. That word was important enough to literally trip her up. The complete loathing she felt towards Ben was proving far too distracting when she should be thinking about the plan. Having a goody two shoes roommate could possibly derail the entire thing.
"But on the plus side, all the students from the Isle are obviously staying here over the break so you won't be by your lonesome," Ben added cheerily.
Won't be here alone with Gil and Harry, he means, Hali thought snidely to herself. Smart of him to invite the boys to the school when it's practically empty. Less chance of Uma hurting anybody if she takes the bait.
"Kira, huh? What's she the princess of?"
Ben grinned at her, clearly pleased she was engaging or more likely just humoring him. "Atlantis."
She hummed in acknowledgement and that was that.
They slowed to a stop in front of a door towards the very end of the hallway. Ben dug a key out from his blazer pocket which Hali promptly seized from him.
"Oh! I bet you're probably eager to settle in as soon as possible," he noted.
At this point he didn't expect a reply. He didn't even raise a brow as she threw the door open and slunk inside. Suddenly, she pivoted to face him and waited.
He bowed politely even under her dull stare.
"Let me know if there's-" he began when she slammed the door shut with a flick of her wrist- "...anything you need."
Ben eyed the rattling door as it settled into its frame. "Nice to meet you too," he told the door bemusedly.