Part 28 – Witness Protection

"Mom, stop," Jane begged as she tried to force her mother back into her hospital bed. Mal stepped up and tried to help the younger fairy.

"Girls, let me up," Fairy Godmother said, her voice sounding more normal than it had earlier in the day. The rest and the food she'd requested already helping her powers reassert themselves, and in turn start healing her.

"Fairy Godmother, you can't leave until tomorrow," Belle said from her seated position on her bed.

Fairy Godmother shook her head. "No, they've got him, I should be there to help."

"In this condition?" Belle raised her voice. "You'd be more hindrance than help. Besides, the cell he's in will hold – it was designed by you after all," she pointed out.

"And Ben told me that most of the other royals are already coming in tonight. By tomorrow, they'll decide on how to handle him," Mal added. "You should wait until tomorrow when you're feeling better."

"If not for that reason, think about your daughter," Belle tried. "You're scaring her by trying this."

Fairy Godmother looked at Jane. Her daughter was doing a good job of hiding what she was feeling at the moment, but knowing her better than anyone else, one look at those big blue eyes and she could tell that what Belle was saying was true. Jane was scared. Relenting, she laid back down.

"Thank you," Jane sighed.

"I want them confined to a dorm room together," Fairy Godmother said to Belle.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Mal spoke up. "Confined to a dorm? Why?"

"Because I don't want to risk him coming after Jane for more use of her powers, and knowing his relationship with your mother, do I really need to explain why you need to be protected?"

"Yes, because that means I'm probably the last person he'll come after," Mal argued.

Fairy Godmother looked at Belle. "That's my price for staying here. No negotiations. No arguments."

"That's fine," Belle agreed.

"Don't we get a say in this?" Mal shouted.

"No," Belle replied. "Believe it or not girls, but this is for your own protection." She turned back toward Fairy Godmother. "I'll have guards take them back to school and stand guard outside the room they're put in."

"Thank you," Fairy Godmother said.


Mal and Jane were sitting in Mal's dorm room. Evie had been sent to stay in Jane's room with Audrey for the time being. Mal was on her bed, sitting up against the headboard, her knees pulled up to hold her sketch pad as she doodled mindlessly. Jane was laying back on Evie's bed, her hands clasped across her stomach, trying to sleep since it had been hours since they left the hospital. It was almost eleven and the day was finally catching up to her.

Unfortunately, rest wouldn't come. All she could see when she closed her eyes were flashes of a bird turning into a man. Of the same man brutally beating royal guards. Of her mother showing her a side she'd never seen before. Of her mother looking so helpless in that hospital bed.

"Why do you think she hates him so much?" Jane said out loud.

"Huh?" Mal looked up.

"My Mom. Why does she hate Dagon so much?" Jane asked again as she sat up.

"I don't know. Are you sure she hates him?"

Jane nodded. "Mal, you didn't see her at the museum. The look on her face. I've never seen that. It was…it was terrifying. If Belle hadn't stopped her, I really think she would've killed him."

"Your mother? The Fairy Godmother? Does she even know how to kill?" Mal asked in disbelief.

"You saw what Belle looked like. Dagon got almost twice that," Jane told her. Mal shivered. She'd already envisioned her mother as the one who'd kill, not Fairy Godmother.

"Something happened between those two, then," Mal said. Jane nodded. "We need to find out what."

"We do?" Jane asked timidly. Mal just looked at her like she had lost her mind. "We do," Jane said, the reluctance clear in her voice. "But why? And how?"

"Why? Because were connected in all this." Jane looked at Mal, waiting for more. "Remember what you said? That something inside you was practically pushing you to make him human."

Jane nodded. "But why are you connected?"

"Because ever since I saw him, I can't stop doing this," Mal answered as she went to sit next to Jane and showed her sketchbook. On the page was a likeness of Dagon. Jane flipped to the pages before the current one. More drawings of Dagon. "Even when I'm not even trying, I'm just doodling or just running the pencil over the page, nothing in my head, he happens," Mal revealed as Jane flipped through the pages.

"You think it might have to do with him being your mother's sidekick?"

Mal shrugged.

"I think we need him to answer that," Mal said.

"Easier said than done," Jane said. "The guards outside aren't going let us out of this room. And even if we could get out, we don't know where he's being held."

"Ben told me that the dungeons, are under the castle. And getting out of here, not that difficult," Mal told Jane as she got up and got her mother's spell book. She flipped through it until she found the page she wanted and handed the open book to Jane.

"Your mother has a spell that can take her to him?" Jane asked as she read the page.

"Uh-huh, and do you what the best part of the spell is?" she smiled as Jane kept reading.

"That we can do it from in here," Jane smiled. Then her face fell into a look of apprehension. "You do know how much trouble will get in, right?"

"Bad things, right reasons. Ends justify the means," Mal said in an effort to convince Jane.

"Do you think it'll work to find him?"

"I figure with both of powers behind it, we got a shot."

Jane nodded resolutely. "Let's go."

Part 29 – Face to Face with the Devil

Dagon was laying back on the bed in his cell, his eyes closed, and waiting for someone to tell him it was time to head back to the Isle. He was in quiet contemplation when suddenly, he heard the wind actually picking up inside the walls of this cell. He calmly opened his eyes and turned toward the entrance door. Billowing purple and dark blue smoke was filling the area in front of the bars. He waited for the show to stop, and then he sat up quickly, his eyes wide and body showing his surprise. Standing before him were Mal and Jane.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We need to talk," Mal answered.


In her bed at the hospital, Fairy godmother was tossing and turning. Images of a dungeon with a specially constructed iron cell inside of it were flashing in her mind. Dagon was getting off his bed and approaching the bars. A flash from his point of view – of Mal and Jane standing opposite him.

"Girls…no…get away," she mumbled in her sleep.

Dagon was moving toward the bars.

"Stay away from them," she shouted.

Belle immediately awoke. She looked over and saw Fairy Godmother sitting up in bed. "Are you alright?" she asked when noticed that Fairy Godmother was practically hyperventilating.

"They're with him," she gasped. "Oh my God."

She threw off her covers and raced out of bed. She stood next to it and began looking around. Where are my clothes, she thought. As she was looking around, she spotted the robe that Jane had brought her. She grabbed it and began shoving it on.

"What's going on?" Belle said as she got out of her own bed and started to follow her. After Fairy Godmother had gotten the robe on she grabbed her by the shoulders and held her still. "Fairy Godmother, what is going on?"

"Dagon – the girls, they're with him," she answered.

"He escaped?"

Fairy Godmother shook her head. "They're with him. They went to his cell."

"Are you sure? They're supposed to be confined to Mal's room."

Fairy Godmother nodded. "A spell, that's the only thing I can think of. I have to get to them. Before he…before they…"

Belle grabbed Fairy Godmother's hands and held them. "Stop, you need to calm down."

"Calm down? Belle, they're with a monster."

"We'll call Adam, he'll get some guards down –"

Fairy Godmother shook her hands free of Belle's. "No, I can't wait that long," she said. She raised her right hand, and Belle watched as her wand appeared in it. "I'm going now."

Fairy Godmother then turned the wand on herself and tapped it to her shoulder. Swirling lights immediately started flowing around her. Before they could completely engulf her, Belle threw her arms around Fairy Godmother. The lights then surrounded her as well. Seconds later, both women were gone from the room.

Part 30 – Secrets and Lies

"We need to talk?" Dagon repeated to Mal, his voice dripping with a firm rebuke.

"Y-yeah," Mal stuttered. Despite her initial bravado, the stories behind the man in front of her were enough to instill a small bit of fear.

Dagon grinned evilly and turned toward Jane. "How's your mother?"

"Um…she's…"

"Hey," Mal shouted. "You leave her alone."

Dagon turned his attention back to the purple-haired girl. "Excuse me?" he asked angrily. "Who do you think you are to use that voice on me?"

"You…you used to with for my mother. The way I see it, with her gone – you work for me now."

"Mal," Jane whispered, trying to get her to stop.

"I worked with your mother. And don't for one second think that the leeway she had to speak to me like that in any way extends to you, little girl." He then turned back toward Jane. "Again: how's your mother?"

"She's okay, just a little smoke inhalation."

"Once her powers kick in fully, she'll heal fully," he told her. "Now," he said, his gaze travelling between the two of them, "to what do I owe this audience?"

"What are you doing here?" Mal asked.

"Setting things right. Auradon was very, very bad to me a long time ago," he grinned.

"So you're going to destroy a kingdom because of –"

"I never said I was destroying the kingdom," he cut Mal off. "I said I was setting things right."

"Why did you come to me?" Jane squeaked.

Dagon chuckled. "Because Fairy Godmother was not going to turn me back." He turned to Mal. "And even if she was around and capable of it, your mother wouldn't have been much help either. She prefers me as a bird since the last time I was a man around her, well…it was less than acrimonious. And you? You knew the stories, and when I stopped being a statue, you were terrified of me. No way were you going to help."

Mal shook her head. "True, but there was always Freddie. You went to Jane for a reason. What was it?"

"I'm not ready to tell that. Not enough people around."

Before Mal could question him again, there was the stirring of more wind picking up inside the cell. Dagon watched as a bright swirling spectacle of light appeared behind the girls. The three of them watched as the light died down and Fairy Godmother and Belle now stood in the cell as well.

"You jumped the sparkle?" Fairy Godmother asked angrily when she realized that she had not come alone.

"I'm trying to stop you from doing something drastic."

"Which ironically, you've just failed at, Your Majesty," Dagon quipped. Belle and Fairy Godmother turned and looked at Dagon as he leaned against the bars.

"You," Fairy Godmother growled at him. She moved toward him, pulling Jane and Mal away and toward Belle. She tried to speak again, but words failed her at the moment. All she could do was stare at him, her anger boiling over and causing her to shake with almost seething hatred. "You should've stayed a statue."

"It's lovely to see you, too," he said. There was no bravado, no cockiness, and no defiance in his voice. It was soft, simple, the way you speak to an old friend. "You're not too hurt are you?"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like we're friends," she clarified.

"Just friends? I'm hurt at how you deny it," he told her.

"We should get out of here," Belle said to her, her hands protectively perched on the girls.

"This is quite the impressive set of lock down measures you've got me under – your doing no doubt?" Dagon quipped at Fairy Godmother. He held up his hands which were restrained in a set of metal shackles with inscriptions on them. "Magic inhibiting shackles. An iron cage, of which I appreciate the irony," he said in reference to the bars. "And…," he trailed off, reaching past the bars, only to have a golden barrier stop his progression. "My very own magic inhibiting barrier. Seems like just a little bit of overkill for little old me."

"Actually, I think it's just the right amount of kill," she responded. "Are you here to kill Joshua, too?"

Dagon's jaw clenched at the sound of that name. "I already told you, I'm here –"

"To set things right. What does that even mean?"

"It means Auradon has to answer for its crimes against me."

Fairy Godmother laughed. He always had an ego problem, she thought, but now he's just acting like the world is against him. "It's crimes? You're the one who murdered in cold blood."

"Still believing that, huh? Even after all these years, not one benefit of doubt. Not even a chance to present my case."

"There was no need for it. We had proof," Fairy Godmother pointed out.

"You had a lie. A lie, that despite everything between us, you believed over me."

"What was between you two?" Jane said from where she was standing with Belle and Mal.

"Jane, be quiet," Fairy Godmother ordered.

"Don't you talk to her that way," Dagon came to her defense. "She asked a good question. What is between her mother and the devil?"

"She doesn't need to know," Fairy Godmother said through gritted teeth.

"The hell she doesn't," Dagon said. "She should've been told years ago. Not lied to."

"He's right," Belle interjected. Fairy Godmother turned to stare at her friend in shock. "She deserves to know, especially now with what's going on."

Fairy Godmother shook her head, her eyes starting to water.

"Mom?"

"Tell her, or I will," Dagon said.

"She'll never believe you," Fairy Godmother said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Which is why you'll tell her," Dagon said.

Fairy Godmother shook her head.

"Tell her," Belle implored.

More head shaking.

"Tell her," Dagon said. When Fairy Godmother still didn't speak, he shouted. "Tell her!"

"Mom?"

Fairy Godmother closed her eyes. "Oh God, Janey," she whimpered. "Years ago, Dagon and I…we were…we were together."

"Together?" Mal asked.

"Intimately," Fairy Godmother said, a small tear traveling down her cheek from the pressure. "I ended up…I became…"

"Oh my God," Mal gasped, her mind inferring what was coming next.

"M-Mom…"

"Jane…Dagon is, he's…oh god," Fairy Godmother sobbed. "He's your father."

Jane's eyes widened and the blood drained from her face. Her lips began quivering and she could feel her eyes watering. Her head began to shake back and forth. She suddenly felt very cold.

"No," she said. "He's dead. My father's dead, you told me so."

"You told her I was dead?"

"Shut up," Jane shouted. "It's not true. My father's dead. He's not…he's not a villain. He's dead. You're not dead. You're not my father!"

Jane felt Belle's arms wrap around get from behind. They squeezed her tight. Jane could feel Belle's breath next to her ear.

"I'm so sorry, Janey, but it's true. He's your father," Belle told her.

At Belle's confirmation Jane broke down. Tears ran down her face as she started crying uncontrollably. She started shaking her head, sobbing out "no, no, no" over and over until finally she felt her legs go weak and she fell to her knees. Mal immediately drop to hers next to the scared fourteen year old. She wrapped her own arms around her, and like when Adam had yelled at her, Jane buried her face into Mal's shoulder.

"Are you happy, now?" Fairy Godmother asked.

"You're not done," Dagon answered.

"No, don't make me say that too," Fairy Godmother implored.

"What more could she have to say?" Jane shouted at them.

Fairy Godmother turned toward Dagon. "Please don't."

"The truth needs to come out," he whispered at her.

Fairy Godmother took a deep breath and turned back toward Belle, Mal, and a still crying Jane. "Dagon isn't just Jane's father. He's yours too, Mal."

Mal stared at Fairy Godmother blankly. Jane's face turned toward her mother again, her grip on Mal tightening at those words.

"What?" Mal asked in disbelief.

"Dagon is your father," Fairy Godmother repeated.

"But that would mean…that means me and Jane are…?"

"Sisters," Fairy Godmother finished for her. "You and Jane…are sisters."