There wasn't really a reason for him to be awake. He just was.
The moonlight was streaming in through the window and so he could see the entire room lit up and he could even see a few lights outside as he glanced over. The sheets felt a little bit too warm.
Mal was fast asleep beside him, facing the window like she liked to be, and with her hand curled up beside her cheek. The moonlight bounced off her skin like it was some sort of a faint mirror and he could see her reflected light on the ceiling. It wasn't as bright as it had been back when she had first returned from the moors, but still noticeable. Ben rolled over onto his side to examine his wife's skin. Maybe it was cliche to say it was flawless, or clear, but given that it literally reflected small amounts of light, he felt justified. Her peaceful expression almost looked like it'd been carved instead of that just being her resting face.
He reached over and pulled her hair back from where it had fallen around her face. Ben combed his fingertips through her hair, making sure to skim around her ears, and a little smile spread on his mouth as he examined her features. 'Beautiful, beautiful girl,' he thought, then leaned down to kiss her cheek as she slept on.
A knock came from the other door in the living room. Ben exhaled, letting his eyes rest on Mal several seconds longer before he swung his legs off the bed and unlatched the door into the living room. Another knock sounded as he approached before he unlocked the door and opened it to see a castle servant on the nighttime shift outside. "Yes?" He asked, and stifled a small yawn.
"King Ben," The servant hummed. "Sorry to wake you, but we have an urgent call from the Imperial Navy in the far north waiting for you to receive in your office. A normal call. No film required."
Ben nodded in understanding and glanced back towards the bedroom. "Did they give a reason for calling?" He asked, wondering if he should wake the purple-haired queen for a phone call.
"None." The servant shook their head. "Only that it was absolutely essential they deliver the information to you immediately."
Ben nodded again and held up one finger. He returned to their bedroom and grabbed some slippers and a bathrobe to wear over his pajamas before he shut the door and began to follow the servant down the hall. They hadn't traveled far when they turned a corner and discovered Evie, Jay, and Carlos, sneaking through the hallway and quietly opening doors to peer inside. "Guys?" Ben asked, confused.
The three jumped and whirled around in battle-ready, defensive positions. Ben held his hands up lazily and raised an eyebrow at them. "What are you doing out?" Why aren't you asleep?"
"What's it to you?" Jay snapped. His face had twisted into a menacing scowl upon seeing Ben. "Where's Mal?" He asked.
"Asleep, like you guys should be." Ben yawned. He watched Carlos quietly close the door they'd been looking through and a thought occurred to him. "You're looking for Mal, aren't you?" He guessed.
Evie put a hand on Jay's shoulder as he geared up, ready to fight Ben. None of them said anything, so Ben rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Our room is usually kept locked." He warned. "And I don't especially mind too much, but she might get annoyed if you keep trying to invade her - our - space."
Evie, Jay, and Carlos exchanged looks, and Evie hiked her chin up a little higher. She was interesting, Ben thought. The only one of the three with any real tact, any manners, and any sense of what royal life should be. "Well, what are you doing up?" She demanded. "If you're looking for us, I assure you we don't need to be looked after."
"Don't worry, I learned that lesson with Mal," Ben replied. "Actually, I'm up on business. I have to take a phone call. Listen, if you want, you can follow me up to my office or just wait here, and I'll let you into our room and you can see Mal for yourself before I go back to bed. That way you don't have to check every single room in the east wing."
The three villain kids exchanged glances, and he could see them debating his legitimacy. Then, slowly, Jay nodded. Ben and the servant continued their walk through the palace, and the three VK's followed behind him.
Ben's office was cold and the moon wasn't shining through the window nearly as vibrantly as it did in their bedroom, though that might have been due to the absence of his lightcatcher. He flipped the light on and went to turn on his computer. the servant watched him and the three kids enter the room and then left. Ben punched in his passcode and saw the app for the secure communication network pulsing at the bottom of the screen. He reached into the desk for a pair of headphones and connected them to the computer before he selected the application and opened the communication line that was open from Auradon's Imperial Navy.
"Good evening, can anyone hear me?" Ben asked, pulling a pad of paper and a pen out in case he needed to take any notes.
"I can." A gruff voice on the other line confirmed. "This is his Majesty, King Benjamin of Auradon?"
"It is," Ben affirmed. "You can call me Ben. Who am I speaking with?"
"You are currently speaking with General Iosua. However, I'm just the overseer for the officer who will be speaking with you tonight." The man explained. Ben heard the rustling of several papers and assumed he was on speakerphone.
"Excellent. Now, they didn't give me a purpose for this call. Mind filling me in?" Ben requested. He clicked his pen twice and then yawned.
"I am going to have Officer Huang fill you in, actually. Thank you for accepting this urgent call at such a late hour. Here is the officer in question." General Iosua explained. There was a sliding sound, and then a man with a crisp English accent began to speak.
"This is Officer Huang of Auradon's Imperial Navy. Your Majesty, we found your sea monster tonight."
Ben's eyebrows shot up. "Splendid." He yawned. "Do you have it, or-"
"We hit it up with gunfire and one short-range missile, but no body was recovered. I have information for you instead. The creature might have changed form, or might have dissolved entirely." Office Huang explained.
Ben furrowed his brow. "What makes you think that?" He asked.
"Well, um, it didn't show up on the radar immediately." Officer Huang began. "It appeared, tried to drag the boat down, and we could only see it on the radar after it was there. We think because it's not showing up now that it might have returned back to its form. We did see, briefly, something else in the water that passed through towards the Northeast, and that wasn't visible on our radar either, but we're not sure if it might have been, ahem, something else."
"Like?" Ben prompted.
The officer sighed dramatically. "Well, you see, we actually fired two missiles. One hit the creature, after which we couldn't find it, and the other bypassed it." Ben's hand stilled on the pad of paper. He made an affirming sound, and the officer let out a breath. "We hit the barrier to the Moorlands. The barrier is still lit up as of right now, and we have lots of angry water sprites who are gathering in the water and who are threatening war. We don't know if the other creature we saw might have been something from the moorlands that escaped when we hit it or not."
"You have got to be kidding me." Ben covered his face with his hands. "For real? How far are you from the border?"
"Only a little less than two miles, your majesty," The officer explained. "When we hit it, it flashed up all purple and looked like it was lightning. At first, it was invisible."
"And you have angry sprites there, right now?" Ben asked. He closed his eyes, pressing his fingertips into his brow.
"We do," the officer affirmed.
"I'm going to close the borders." Ben sighed. "Unfortunately, this is out of my hands. I have to go and get my wife to work this out. Oh, goodness." He groaned. "Okay. Any other information you have on the monster or on the state of the barrier, please just type it up in an email and I'll receive it from my cell phone. I have to go and get my wife up now, though."
"Yes, your majesty." Officer Huang agreed. "We're sorry for the inconvenience. Have a nice night."
"You too." Ben groaned and closed the connection. He shut his computer off quickly and grumbled as he got to his feet. "I have to get Mal," He informed her friends, sighing a little as they stared at him. "I really, really hope she can fix this."
He held the door open for them and turned out the light before they hurried through the trek back to the east wing. Ben led them through the corridors, past their rooms, and showed them the path to his and Mal's room. He unlocked the door and let them filter in. The adjoining door to their bedroom was still open, and he heard Jay take a little breath of relief when he glimpsed Mal's purple hair splayed out on the pillow on the left side. The three followed him in and hovered as he went to her side and put his hand on her shoulder, shaking a little bit. "Mal..." He called.
Mal wrinkled up her nose. Ben heard Carlos whisper to Evie and Jay as he pointed to the reflected light off the ceiling. Ben ran his hand through her hair beside her ear and called again: "Mal." This time, she curled her hand up and opened her eyes. Mal squinted at him, yawned, and then sat up.
"Ben?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes a little.
"Sorry, I know it's late," Ben whispered, keeping his hand in her hair as she blinked the sleep away. "I just got a call from the navy up north."
"Did you get your monster?" Mal yawned, stretching her arms outward a little.
"No, it doesn't sound like it." Ben sighed. "But they hit the barrier to the Moors trying to get it. Short range missile collided with the barrier. Lots of angry sprites are up there, and they're telling me the barrier is still lit up purple."
Mal frowned at him. "You hit my barrier?" She demanded.
"I'm sorry!" Ben held up his hands in defense. "They just called to tell me. Apparently, your sprites are threatening war."
Mal swung her legs off the bed and stood for a second before she turned and walked straight into Evie, Jay, and Carlos, who she hadn't even heard. She frowned at them all. "What are you doing in here?" She yawned. "I need to get through."
"We just wanted to see you," Carlos explained, jumping out of the way so Mal could walk back into the living room and into the bathroom. Ben followed her and watched as she clogged the sink and began to fill it with water, all before answering Carlos.
"Why? You know I'm fine." Mal frowned. What, did you think I was only being chained up at night?"
Ben looked away pointedly as all three of Mal's friends shifted their weight. "No..." Evie trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "We were just wondering where you were and Ben saw us looking and-"
"You were looking for me?" Mal interrupted. "Did you need anything? Are your rooms okay?"
"We just wanted to... see you." Evie dropped off.
Mal sighed and pinched her nose. "Listen, guys, nighttime is rest time. I have work tomorrow. Or, at least I hope I do, now. You don't need to know where I am every second of the day. I already told you - Ben is not going to hurt me." She shut off the water and then reached for the light, which she'd forgotten to turn on. "That door to the hall is locked every night and so help me, if you pick it, I will spell it so you can't find the entrance. If you need something, there are servants everywhere. If you need me, that's fine, but you can't break in every half hour to make sure Ben hasn't twisted my head off. He's restrained himself this long, I don't know why you think your presence changes anything." She sighed, and then snapped at the water in a language Ben didn't understand. Similar to whenever he used her magical basin, the surface stilled and began to reflect a scene in the moors. Immediately, loud shouts filled the bathroom in dozens of different languages. Mal leaned over the water and hissed out something that sounded like wind through the trees before she spoke a series of chirps and growls. Carlos's mouth dropped open.
Ben couldn't understand anything Mal said as she relayed information back and forth in at least six consecutive languages, so he backed away into the living room, even further from Mal's friends. They eventually looked away from Mal as her cheeks began to burn increasingly red with anger and her eyes lit up. None of them protested when she abruptly slapped the door shut and began speaking in increasingly irate tones to her magical citizens. Ben listened to her under the door and shook his head. "I wish I hadn't have had to wake her up." He mumbled.
None of the three VK's said anything to him. Ben sat down on his and Mal's favorite couch and leaned his head back. "I'm sorry she snapped at you guys. She gets her moods, sometimes, and she's just worried about the moors."
A loud screech, like an owl, echoed under the door and Evie jumped. Ben shook his head. "Not Mal." He mumbled. Almost immediately, a stream of gurgles, whispers, and very strange patterns of sounds echoed up the door. Ben nodded. "That's her speaking Faesh." He spoke aloud. "I hear her use it all the time when she's talking to the moor people that are on the Isle right now."
"What's she saying?" Carlos asked, the first of the VK's to speak to him since they'd seen Mal.
Ben shrugged. "Can't understand it. I don't know how she keeps all of her languages straight." He yawned and closed his eyes, and then the bathroom door slapped open again. He turned and watched Mal storm out, eyes blazing, towards their room. The sound of the ongoing problems in the moors echoed out. Mal vanished inside their door and reappeared, sneering at her cell phone. She skimmed the screen and erupted into a series of gnomish words that he was pretty sure were curse words. She slipped from gnomish, back to Faesh, to troll and then to the plunking sound of the water sprite language before she covered her face with her hands and nodded at the image in the sink. It vanished. Mal flipped the light out in the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
"Ka-ver-schn-" Mal began to snap at him in Faesh before she cleared her throat and corrected herself. Ben tensed up as the light dimmed in her eyes a little bit. "Sorry. It's bad. The entire Moorlands already knows all about it. I have creatures making weapons and volunteering for conscription. Have you shut Auradon's borders?"
"Not yet," Ben shook his head, heart sinking. "I will in a moment. Can you fix it or what do we have to do?"
"Well, right now I need them to not attack back." Mal sighed. "And apparently there's already been a squad that set off to try and reach Auroria, though I managed to get them to stop." She leaned over the back of the couch, rubbing her eyes as the green light continued to fade. "I have to go and heal the borders and fix everything." She sighed. "I'll have to leave tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Ben asked. "But you leave for the moors in a week and a half anyway!"
"If I don't go, you'll have to fight a war against a newly revived nation of magic wielders," Mal replied flatly. "And I might be able to call it off, but not before people die." She leaned down and kissed him quickly, even though her friend's faces twisted a little in rage. "I'll have to hold the Isle down from a distance, and just pray a lot." She sighed.
"I'll pitch in if needed." Ben frowned. "I'm not as popular as you but if I say I'm delivering messages from you, I think I can pull it off."
"If there's a message from the Isle, it'd be nice of you to pass it on, but you don't have authority on the Isle. You only have a partnership with the Queen. I'm already dealing with people thinking you're going to reannex the Isle and force everyone to be good, so let's keep you away from the spotlight." Mal decided. "And besides, I'm supposed to stay separate from Auradon Authority; I think it's only fair you stay separate from the Isle and the Moorlands. That's just the way it should be."
Ben sighed and nodded. "When are you leaving?" He asked. "When will you be back?"
"I have to leave as soon as possible." Mal groaned. "I should be leaving now, really, but I'm exhausted, so I just ordered the moors to wait for me. I'll probably leave after breakfast, so I can call Evelyn and Eliza." She sat down on the back of the couch and then pressed her hands to her forehead. "And I'll be back in August."
"August?" Evie gasped, slumping her shoulders forward. Ben felt like protesting too, but it was his country that had made the mistake, so he didn't quite feel justified. Mal nodded and raked her fingers through her hair. By force of habit, she found a thin strand and went to chew on it, but Ben reached up and brushed her purple lovks aside. Mal sighed.
"I usually leave for a month anyway. The moorlands need me. I have to help them out." She decided, and then swung her legs over the back of the couch and slid down onto the cushions. "If you guys could help Ben out with the Isle while I'm gone, that would be a huge relief."
Ben watched Mal's friends travel to the front of the couch to see them. Jay swallowed. "Could we go with you, at all?"
"No. I won't have time to help you." Mal declined. "The moors are angry. I wouldn't risk Ben going over, who they usually like, much less three strangers who they've never met." She leaned her head on Ben's shoulder and yawned. He found her hand and threaded his fingers through hers.
"You'll do great," Ben whispered. "You always do."
Mal hummed and nodded as her friends took seats on the surrounding armchairs and on the coffee table. "And the curse is broken now, so you should be okay to keep working while I'm gone."
"And your skin won't rot now." Ben nodded, holding their hands up and tracing her fingertips with his free hand.
"Rot?" Evie asked, wrinkling her nose.
Mal nodded, untangling her fingers and then gesturing up to her wrists. "Under the curse, if I left Ben for too long, black rot would spread up my limbs. My feet would usually get it to my knees. It'd be on my ears, up my hands, yeah." She shook her head and laid her head back on Ben's shoulder. "But I would come back and all would be well."
Ben reached around her and put an arm around her shoulders. "We have to go back to bed soon. Especially if you're going to be driving tomorrow."
Mal sighed. "I'm okay to stay up and talk for a little bit." She decided. "I like talking to you guys." Her eyes drifted closed and she curled into his chest a little more.
Ben snorted. "Sure, sweetheart." He laughed.
"Remember staying up late and blowing up your dad's office?" Mal mumbled. Her head sank lower, and finally Ben let her slump across the couch with her head across his legs. He started combing his fingers through her hair as she curled her fingertips into his bathrobe and fell asleep.
"Blowing up your dad's office?" Carlos asked softly, letting his eyes flicker between Ben and Mal.
Ben nodded and yawned. "Failed spell. We tried to see if we could magic the entire room clean, and we blew out all the lightbulbs and threw twenty-years worth of dust into the air." He started combing her hair off of her neck, straightening her locks as she slept on.
"We?" Jay snorted.
"She." Ben corrected. "But I was there, and I had to help her clean it up. So a broad we."
Jay got down on the ground in front of Ben and reached out to touch Mal's hair. Ben hesitated before pulling his hand back as Jay threaded his hands into Mal's hair. Almost immediately, his fingers tangled the locks around her ear and Jay pulled his hands back, leaving knots. Ben started to comb her hair back out carefully, and Jay resorted to putting a hand on her shoulder.
"You trained her well." He grumbled in a soft tone. "On the Isle, she didn't let anyone touch her when she slept, and she was never the first person asleep."
Ben furrowed his brow at the insinuation he'd trained Mal, but let out a little breath and decided to ignore the jibe. "It was the time we spent in the moorlands." He nodded. "She'd just work so hard she'd knock out, and after a while just got to trust me not to touch her or hurt her."
"And you don't, right?" Jay grumbled, squinting at Ben.
"No," Ben shook his head. "I've never hurt her. Made her mad at me, but never hurt her."
"You've made her mad?" Carlos frowned.
"Told her I didn't want to have her do things for Auradon once Chad Charming grabbed her. I got sick of people not respecting her." Ben explained. "Among other things. She used to always harp on me about the Isle. Rightfully so."
Ben ran a thumb down her cheek and smiled as the moonlight hit her skin and bounced the light back onto the ceiling and floor. Jay exhaled. "She didn't used to do that."
"Moorlands." Ben nodded. "It'll be brighter when she comes back." He hummed and brushed a hand down her arm. "Anything else you guys want to ask before I put her back into bed?" He went back to combing her hair out, watching her curl her fingers into his bathrobe.
Evie stood up, looking over the scene. She watched Ben brush Mal's hair back without showing any emotion at all. Then she crossed her arms. "You keep her safe?" She asked, squinting at Ben.
"I do," Ben agreed. He rested his hand on Mal's jaw and watched Evie struggle for words.
"And you keep her happy?" She asked, looking like she'd swallowed a plum.
"God, I hope so." Ben sighed. "She deserves that, at the very least." He drew his thumb down her cheekbone and sighed. "She's not just a pawn or an accomplice. She's my partner. She's the only person in my life who's got my back and who I'm allowed to share all my problems with, for security reasons. She's my other half, and I'm excited for whatever part of her future she wants to share with me."
"Children?" Carlos asked, and Jay flinched back and took his hands off of Mal's shoulder like he'd finally remembered that she was Ben's wife and not just his old friend.
Ben wrinkled his nose a little. "That's certainly the million-dollar question." He sighed. "Everyone's anxious to know when we'll be announcing the future heir." He carefully put his arms underneath her knees and her head and stood up. He carefully stepped around Jay, holding Mal fast to his chest as he walked back into their room and set her down on her side of the bed. "The fact is that she's a teenager. She's young. I want to hold off on children with her and give her all the space and freedom she wants. And for the record, we haven't even sealed our marriage, so having children isn't on our horizon anytime soon."
"You haven't - oh," Evie's shoulders slumped in relief as Ben arranged Mal's hand on her pillow beside her cheek and then pulled the covers back up over her body. She leaned against the wall and exhaled as Ben leaned down to kiss Mal's forehead. He glanced over at them, and then pulled Mal's hair up off her neck.
"I'm not sure whether or not to be offended by that statement or not." He snorted. "I wasn't about to assault a girl who couldn't drink, vote, or drive in Auradon. And we didn't know each other well enough. It would have hurt us both."
"And now?" Jay asked, furrowing his brow.
Ben shrugged. "We haven't talked about it since April, but I assume we're both still on the same page. She knows that Auradon is an inherited kingdom and my children will get my throne. And the moorlands are the same way. The Isle is still too young to tell. That's just the way things are right now." He started to walk towards the door and gestured that it was time for Mal's friends to leave. "All I can really say is that whenever we're ready, that's a decision we'll make together. And I'm going to protect her through it and help her out. That's just how things are going to work."
Ben unlocked the door to the hallway and waited as Jay, Evie, and Carlos took their last looks at Mal, reflecting moonlight onto the ceiling as she slept. Then they all went out quietly into the hall. Ben could still feel the intense hate wafting off of them, but luckily, it didn't seem as bad as when they'd first been introduced. Maybe they could work things out after all.
Ben was a hundred-percent sure Mal's friends hated him. They wouldn't look him in the eyes, they muttered fiercely whenever they thought he couldn't hear, and generally avoided him. The day that Mal left for the moors, they'd gathered to wish her goodbye, and then vanished. In the week they'd been there, they didn't speak more than two sentences to him on a daily basis and refused to be in the same room with him. Ben couldn't deny he was frustrated. After all, he was Mal's husband, not an old foe!
On the first day of July, when Mal should have returned to the moors, Ben was walking to his office when Carlos, who was nineteen and only a little shorter than Ben, opened a door to a spare room in the hall he was walking through and stopped short upon seeing Ben. His arms were full of computer parts. Ben stopped in the middle of the hallway and munched on an apple thoughtfully as Carlos fidgeted. Then Ben waved and said: "Hey."
"Hey." Carlos moved his head up as he returned the greeting. He began to try to fidget away, but before he could take off, Ben began to talk.
"You like computers?" He asked.
Carlos fidgeted. "Is it a problem? I asked Lumiere and he said there were a couple of older models of some stuff that was stored in here and…" Carlos swallowed.
"Not at all." Ben shook his head. "You know, Auradon Accelerated has a really reputable course on computers and electronics. Our IT guy Doug took it. You should look into signing up."
Carlos hesitated. Ben saw curiosity in his eyes. But he recognized Carlos taking small steps away. Now that he knew he wouldn't be punished for damaging palace property, he wanted out of Ben's presence. "I'll send you more information." He promised. "You can also ask Doug. We'd be happy to send you to school if that's what you want."
Carlos didn't answer. He whirled around the corner and took off in the other direction. Ben watched him disappear, and then pulled out his phone. He opened a text line with Doug and wrote: "One of Mal's friends seems to be interested in tech, but I think he hates me for kidnapping Mal from the Isle. Can you help me out by making friends with him and answering any questions he has?"
Doug didn't answer right away. Ben assumed he must be somewhere else.
Talking to Carlos gave Ben the slightest sliver of hope. He took a deep breath and opened a private message to Hiro Hamada, his not-so-secret idol.
Getting the three angsty young adults in the car had been much easier than he'd originally anticipated. They all sat on opposite sides of the limo and refused to speak to him, but now that they were there, and the car was moving, there was nowhere to run. Ben considered that a success in and of itself.
If it had been Mal in the car, she would have asked over and over when they were going to be there, but he highly doubted Evie, Jay, or Carlos would say anything the entire way there, so he kept quiet as best he could to help them feel comfortable and only updated them with the time every once in a while. None of them knew where they were going, but he felt it was his duty to at least inform them how much longer they'd be in the car.
He was hoping to give them a small purpose in Auradon, even if he was only kidding himself.
San Fransokyo was only forty minutes north of Auradon City, at the tip of Belle's Harbor. It housed Auradon Accelerated, the college of choice for most Auradon Preparatory School students. Auradon Accelerated had one of the largest live-in college campuses in Auradon and specialized in thirty primary courses with tons of different courses branching off of those primary topics. Ben had no idea if anything would even catch the Villain Kids' eyes, but he had his fingers crossed they'd all find something – anything – to help them adapt to Auradon. He was also hoping Jay wouldn't steal anything really bad.
The car began to slow down. Evie, Jay, and Carlos had all been watching out the window and determinedly not looking at him, but now they were coming up on a large driveway with a statue of Tadashi Hamada, the elder of the Hamada brothers, now deceased, which marked the entrance to the campus.
The car stopped. Stewart, Mal's ever-faithful consort, came around to open the door. Jay slid over to the door to guard the others against anything that might attack them as they stepped out. Stewart opened the door, and Jay took a few cautious steps out. Evie followed. As she stood daintily, Stewart held out a hand to help her up. Carlos carefully climbed out behind him, and finally Ben was able to get out and stand behind them as they stared at the Tadashi Hamada statue.
"You want me to wait here, Ben?" Stewart asked. Ever since he'd been asked to walk around Mal down the aisle, Stewart had been on first-name basis with each of the royal family.
"No, thank you, Stewart." Ben smiled. "Please stay in the area, but feel free to busy yourself. There are lots of cool stores and landmarks around. We'll call if we need you."
Stewart nodded and climbed back into the car. He began to drive away. Ben walked toward the statue. It was of Tadashi Hamada on bent knee in cast bronze, holding out a hand with a smile as if he was looking to shake a child's hand. Ben reached up and took his hand, then turned to the VKs behind him.
"It's supposed to be good luck to shake Tadashi's hand." He explained. "Do you know Robert Callahan?"
Slowly, all three nodded. Ben continued. "He was presumed dead in the same fire that killed Tadashi. Tadashi ran back in to save him. Tadashi is the same person who created the Baymax Robotic Nurse, which is a major invention in our hospitals. He wanted to help a lot of people, so when his brother Hiro Hamada remolded the San Fransokyo Institute of Science to help more people, they thought it was only fitting to put him on the east side, where we are, outstretching a hand to everyone who comes inside."
Ben smiled as the three observed the statue. "A copy of my dad's statue at Auradon Prep, which morphs from beast to man, is on the west side. Hector Rivera is on the south side, and Anakin Skywalker is on the north side."
"So, where are we, again?" Evie asked softly.
"Auradon Accelerated," Ben answered. "I wanted to give you guys the opportunity to look around without feeling trapped inside the castle. I thought this was a great place to do it. The Dean of the college, Hiro Hamada, will meet you – us – inside to explain a few things and give you all maps. Since it's July, it's admissions season. There are lots of fun activities going on. I think you'll like it a lot."
They all nodded silently. Ben had come to accept the hostility. They hated him for stealing Mal, that much he could understand. He didn't expect them to forgive him so easily.
Ben led them onto the campus. He noted with pride that both Evie and Carlos let out a deep breath.
At least four hundred people were on the grounds up ahead. The path they were on was made of white stone with flowers planted alongside the length, all the way up to a large fountain in front of the main offices. Acres of green grass stretched towards large buildings in the distance that were either modern-looking with glass and angular features or traditional with sloping windows and beautiful brick overlays. The campus was large enough that he didn't know where the dorms were or where any of the activities were, but along the path people were chatting, walking around to find things with their maps, throwing frisbees and other small toys. Small drones floated in the air, and some students who were summer-enrolled sat under the trees, reading and doing homework. Ben was pleased to see a cosmetology student with a wig set out. Maybe that would catch Evie's eye?
A tall man with broad shoulders and a pencil tucked into his messy black hair turned to glance over his shoulder and smiled when he saw them. "Hey." He waved.
Ben tensed up. This was, of course, Hiro Hamada. The guy who had created the super suits for the BH6 team at age fourteen before going on to revamp most of the technology in their country, even catching Ben's parents up to the century in the decade before he was born. It was this man who was the reason half of Auradon wasn't stuck in the stone ages any longer.
"Mr. Hamada." He greeted and shook Hiro's hand. "Pleased to meet you." He said honestly.
"It's nice to meet you as well. Now, may I have all of your names?" He directed his attention to Evie, Jay, and Carlos, who were taking in the sights around them.
Evie looked towards Hiro. She took in everything about him, from his messy hair and clean hoodie to the silver wedding band on his finger. "Evie." She drawled out, holding out a hand. "Daughter of the Evil Queen." Hiro shook her hand without a glance from her face, though several boys and a couple of girls were stopping around them to briefly sum up Evie.
Evie introduced Jay, who was standing slightly behind her with his chest pushed out and a scowl frozen onto his face. Then Carlos held out a hesitant hand and gave Hiro a small smile. "I'm Carlos." He introduced himself, carefully leaving out his lineage. "Ben mentioned you guys have a really good technology course?"
Hiro perked up. "Yes, we do." He agreed. "Auradon Accelerated was derived from a science and technology college only. We still remain ahead of every other college in Auradon for our technology courses. Maybe you'd be interested in taking a look around the original building, where some of our best technology labs are?"
Carlos let out a small smile. "That'd be fantastic." He agreed.
Hiro smiled and pulled three maps and pamphlets out of his pocket. "Auradon Accelerated has almost four-hundred different classes. We have students from all over Auradon, and outside of our classes, we have numerous extracurricular activities." Hiro unfolded one pamphlet, which resembled a small children's booklet with how thick it was. "You can find short descriptions of out-of-school activities here. Right now, all our activity sign-ups where you can ask questions if you're interested are on the west side." Hiro pointed behind him. Off in the far distance, Ben could see many small stands and hear many loud voices. "As far as classes go, most teachers will be in their rooms with the exception of myself and the original Big Hero Six team. So, Wasabi Shoga, Honey-Lemon Meil, Fredrick Fredrickson, and Gogo Tomago." Hiro used air quotation marks around each of his friend's nicknames.
"I thought Gogo changed her last name when she got married a few years ago?" Ben blurted out. "I could have sworn I read about it in the paper."
Hiro chuckled. "Um, yeah. It's just that Fred gave us all nicknames, and hers happens to have a last-name nickname. Her real name was Leiko Tanaka, but she did change it to Hamada after we got married."
"Oh." Ben trailed off as he stared at the white band on Hiro's finger.
"Anyway." Hiro waved the subject off. "We have technology, math, science, language courses, interior design, childcare, art, several different types of sports including tourney, law, everything under the sun."
"Do you have classes where you can design clothes?" Evie asked, suddenly perking up. Hiro smiled.
"Absolutely." He confirmed, annunciating each syllable. "There's several, actually. We have an entire career training course for apparel design." He turned to Jay. "What are you interested in?"
Jay shrugged and looked around him. "Not sure yet." He mumbled harshly. Ben felt his heart sink a little.
Hiro looked for a moment like he might press, but instead, he refolded the pamphlet he was holding and handed a map and a pamphlet to each of them. "Alright, well have fun exploring today. Carlos, if you want I can walk you to the labs and Wasabi and Honey can show you around. Have fun you guys, and, uh, duck!"
The last word threw Ben off for a second longer than he liked to admit before he heard a loud whirring and immediately crouched to the ground. Evie, Carlos, and an entire section of people behind them all hit the ground. The only person who remained standing was Jay, who caught the object flying towards them, a lighted frisbee that was playing fast-paced music out of mini speakers embedded in the sides, and held it for a few seconds, turning it over in his hands.
"Throw it back!" Someone demanded from a grassy area about twenty feet away. Jay looked at the disk in his hands, then whirled it under her arm experimentally. He launched it out over the heads of the group of kids playing, who shouted in surprise and immediately dashed away before it could get caught in a tree fifty yards away.
Hiro looked impressed. He clapped Jay on the shoulder before the taller man could back away. "You should take a look at the sports conditioning section." He advised. "Anyway, have a great day, guys. Carlos, are you coming?"
Carlos looked hesitantly at Evie and Jay. Evie nodded and waved him away, but Jay remained stone-faced. After a few seconds, Carlos split off the group and began to trail along behind Hiro.
"You have your phone, Carlos?" Ben asked the retreating boy. Carlos whirled on his foot and continued walking backward as he gave Ben a double thumbs-up, which was a lot of progress from him not looking at him and refusing to speak to him. Within seconds, he'd dissolved into the crowd of people around him.
Evie turned to Ben. She took a small breath and refused to meet his eyes. "I want to see what he was talking about with the apparel design course." She announced firmly, as if she thought Ben would refuse her.
"Would you like to go alone, or with us?" Ben asked kindly.
Evie hesitated. "Actually… I'd like to go alone, if you don't mind." She glanced at Jay apologetically.
"Of course." Ben agreed. Evie looked a little surprised. "Please keep your phone on you in case you need us." He told her. "I'll text around lunchtime and we can figure out what we want to do."
Evie nodded, looking like she was in a daze, and unfolded her map. She traced the paths with her finger and then turned towards the south. "Bye Jay. Bye Ben."
"Bye Evie." Ben waved as the blue-haired girl squared her shoulders and began to power-walk away. People's head turned to watch her as she went. It wasn't a surprise – Evie was the fairest of them all. However, she was still an Isle kid, and Ben was more than confident in her ability to deck anyone who tried to cross her. He just hoped she'd be reasonable about it like Mal had been.
Ben turned to Jay. "Want to head through the campus activities and see if anything catches your eye?" He asked.
Jay didn't say anything, but he started to walk away from Ben, towards the activities. Ben followed in silence.
Hiro hadn't been joking when he'd said they had a lot of activities. There were several different language clubs for French, German, English, and Mandarin, among others. There were writing and editing clubs, book clubs, math clubs, study groups, and art groups. He saw two different debate teams which he assumed went head-to-head a lot, a star-gazing group, a therapy group, an adventure club, and a technology club. There was piano, string instruments, photography, the list went on. But Jay didn't hover by any for more than a few seconds, and he didn't ask any questions. He watched, a little interested when Ben paused to participate in a quick sword fight, which he won with a hand pinned behind his back. Still, Jay didn't participate in anything.
Finally, after almost forty minutes, he sat down on an empty bench. Ben tentatively sat beside him. It was almost eleven-thirty. Ben would need to text Carlos and Evie soon, and Jay was still upset.
He didn't dare say anything as he sat still and prayed for something, anything to happen. Just one opportunity for the boy to open up a little.
After several minutes of silence, Jay cleared his throat and said, in a rough tone: "You gonna try and get me to sign up for anything?"
"Not if you don't want to." Ben shook his head. "I've just felt bad that you're all stuck inside the castle while Mal's gone, and I wanted you to have the opportunity to explore and see what there was."
"Carlos and Evie will want to go here." Jay sighed, running his hands through his hair.
"Maybe." Ben agreed. "There are other places though. And we can always have someone come to the castle to teach them if they want."
"Is that what they did with you?" Jay asked.
"No," Ben admitted. "I went to Auradon prep. Graduated at eighteen, and all my friends immediately went to college. But I already knew what I was supposed to be, so instead of going to college, my parents started training me to run the kingdom. I didn't ever have the opportunity to come and see what college was like. It looks fun." He watched couples walking down the path and imagined what it'd be like to walk around with Mal like that. He could picture them elbowing each other off the path, holding hands, and walking with their arms around each other and their hands in each other's back pockets. It would have been nice to have dated without knowing the imminent.
"They're going to want to go," Jay repeated. "I can already tell this is a place they'd love."
"How so?" Ben asked, pulling one foot up into the seat as he turned his body towards Jay. After a few seconds, Jay turned and met Ben's eyes.
"They act the same way Mal does with you." He said very softly. "Like they have a place, and they don't want to let it go."
Ben tapped his fingers on his knee. This was it; this was his chance to connect with Jay. He prayed to whatever god there was out there to please, don't let him screw this up. "I hope Mal is happy." He said softly. "That's all that really matters to me."
"I think she is," Jay muttered. "It's just… hard. For a long time, it was her and I, backing each other up on the Isle, and then we got Carlos and Evie later and we… worked together. Now, she's gone, and she and I were the original dream-team." He paused. "Not romantically, of course." He told Ben. "But we learned to survive by working together. And now everyone's gone, and I feel like there's no one to back me up, I guess."
Ben couldn't imagine how hard it must be for Jay, the son of Jafar, to admit this. He nodded along to Jay's words and leaned back into the bench. Jay swallowed. "She's not very Isle anymore, but she's not Auradon either. It's all just so different... she even stopped chewing her hair when she's thinking."
"That is one thing I will take credit for." Ben chuckled. "I started pulling it out of her face and by month three she'd given up the habit. Meanwhile, she forced me to look at her when she's talking instead of glancing to the ground." Jay hummed in acknowledgment and put his head down. Ben patted the man's shoulder and an idea suddenly struck him. "Do you want to play a round of tourney with me?" He asked.
Jay scrunched his eyebrows together and lifted his head back up. "Tourney?" He asked.
Twenty minutes later, Ben and Jay were walking across a tourney field where a long line of boys interested in playing were crowded along the sidelines. "Excuse me, coach." Ben tapped a man with dark skin in white slacks on the shoulder. "This young man has never seen a tourney game, never touched a paddle, and hadn't even heard of the game until today. Any chance he and I can play a quick round together with your practices, so he can get a feel for it? Not to try out, or anything?"
The coach sized them up. He must have realized this was King Ben but didn't say a word. "Sure." He agreed. "There's some basic equipment over there. You make sure to explain the idea of the game to your friend, and then get in line behind the people waiting to go on the field. If he gets hit in the kill zone, he has to jump out for the next person in line. If the opposing team scores, your entire team swaps out for the next group. Nine people per team for trial games."
"Thanks, Coach." Ben nodded. He put a hand on Jay's shoulder and led him to where the school-issued equipment for basic classes was piled. The teams had their own nicer equipment, but these were for general student use.
Ben showed Jay how to slip on the armor and the jersey, and then how to fasten the helmet around his head. They got into line behind about twenty other boys who were bouncing eagerly from foot to foot, waiting to play.
"That's the kill zone." Ben pointed to the area in the middle of the field. "They're allowed to shoot you if you're in the kill zone. Get hit, and you have to come back into line here."
"That's what happened to me." The boy in front of them said mournfully. "I was so close too!"
The line was moving quickly. Ben scrambled to remember what he'd wanted to say next. "You want to try and get the ball into the goal using the paddle. You can't touch it with your hands, and-"
"I got it," Jay said harshly. His eyes skimmed the field. There were only six people in front of them now. "Let's do this."
Ben suddenly had a few doubts.
Someone scored. The overseer blew the whistle and the other team rushed off the field as the line surged forward. Ben turned to see where Jay was, but Jay had already rushed past him and onto the field. He hurried to get into place before the overseer blew the whistle again, and the scrimmage began.
Jay completely dominated the fields. He rushed the boy on the other team, who had the ball. He knocked him down by brutally shoving his elbow into his hip and lifting to send him up off the ground before catching the ball mid-air, mid-jump. Then, he rushed to the killzone. The team members behind the launchers, who had apparently been half-asleep, began to fire in a hurried manner. Jay ducked, dodged, and even did a back-flip over a foam ball, all without losing the ball in his paddle. Ben didn't dare follow through the killzone as Jay rushed to the other end of the field, knocking everyone out of his way. Within two minutes, the game had been won. All members of the other team, except for two had been knocked to the ground, walked off the floor. One was the goalie, who had run for his life the moment he'd seen Jay coming. The whistle blew.
"You!" The coach yelled. "Get over here!"
The surrounding groups of students were going crazy as Jay walked towards the coach in confusion. Ben followed in concern.
The coach threw his clipboard to the ground. "You say you've never played tourney before? What do you call that?" He bellowed. Jay didn't dare shrink, and the coach's mouth broke out from a scowl into a smile. "That's raw talent, lad!" He exclaimed. "Come find me later, and I'll show you something you haven't seen before; it's called a rulebook. And if you want a spot on the tourney team for Auradon Accelerated, you've got it!"
The other kids on the field looked surprised. Even Jay looked shocked. "The team?" He asked. "You mean, I could do this every day?"
"We don't practice Sundays." The coach corrected Jay. "But there's early morning practices and after-class practices and in-class workouts, not to mention playing against other schools for the entire team; the mix!"
Jay looked amazed. Ben smiled and patted his shoulder. "Well." He said. "Looks like you don't need me anymore." He began to walk off the field as Jay looked after him and then turned to head back onto the field.
Ben sat on a bench and did work on his tablet while Jay played game after game of tourney on the field. People took sly pictures of him and posted them on social media with captions like: "I think my eyes are lying", "KING BEN", and "someone's missing their queen." Ben occasionally skimmed the news updates as they showed up, but overall stayed focused on placating Doug, who was complaining about all the paperwork Mal hadn't been able to complete and file before she'd left.
Around 12:45, Ben received a text from Evie. She said: "Are we planning on meeting up for lunch?"
Ben texted back and said: "Yes" before he opened a text group with Evie and Carlos and asked: "What do you guys want for lunch? Pizza, sandwiches, what do you feel like?"
He asked the coach to pull Jay off the field, and soon the two of them were walking towards a student favorites shop off the north side of the campus. Evie and Carlos were already there. As they approached, Jay rushed ahead to his friends.
"Guys, you wouldn't believe what I did." Jay started. "I got invited to the Auradon Accelerated Tourney Team!"
"I got to see the labs in the technology center," Carlos exclaimed with a bright smile. "Wasabi, who's one of the teachers, showed me their high-tech 3D-Printer."
"Have you guys signed up for anything?" Ben asked as they stepped into line.
Evie shook her head. "I didn't think we could. Transportation and money and all."
They ordered and went to sit beside the window. Ben twiddled his thumbs around his cup. "I don't want to pressure any of you, but I'd totally support you guys coming to school here. You could live on campus and come to the castle for Christmas and holidays. We'd even help you out with money, and you guys could totally do everything you want if you're up to it. It'd help you get started for life anywhere you would like in Auradon, in any form you want it."
Evie, Jay, and Carlos exchanged looks and then turned to Ben as one.
"What about Mal?" Evie asked.
Ben exhaled and set his cup down. "Maybe Mal would like to come. I don't know. She technically doesn't have to live at the castle and could live here, or on the Isle, or even in the moors if she wanted. She does have her two kingdoms she has to run though. I don't know what she'd choose to do." He did, actually, and felt a twinge of guilt for lying to Mal's friends, but figured it would be better for them to hear the truth from Mal's mouth rather than them assuming he was trying to separate the four of them.
Ben's eyes flickered down to the table, and then he looked back at the kids around him. "We could call her tonight and ask if you want."
"Call?" Evie asked. "She hasn't answered any of my texts or calls since she left."
Ben would have shifted his weight if he'd been standing up. "I've got a way to get a hold of her." He admitted sheepishly. "I don't use it that often since when she's at the moors that's kind of her alone time, but I can still talk to her if needed. I'll show you guys later." He hoped she'd be able to talk, and that the recent barrier breach wouldn't mean she'd refuse his calls.
They nodded and didn't say any more on the subject. Instead, Evie told them all about the different things she'd seen, from professional design software to industrial sewing equipment. Jay recounted the story of the coach throwing his clipboard to the ground, and Carlos talked about Gogo Tomago, who had been racing around campus on her old yellow wheels.
They finished their lunch. Evie and Carlos wanted to return to the campus to begin looking at classes and meeting teachers now that there was a possibility they might be able to attend the school, and Jay wanted to return to the tourney field and play until he dropped dead.
As they walked back across the street onto campus, there was a loud crash from down the street. "Dude!" Someone yelled. The four young adults' heads whipped around toward the direction of the crash. Ben was shocked to see a service animal rushing down the street towards them. It was being chased by a larger, meaner dog. Behind the two animals, a store's outside display was rolling around on the ground. Ben was even more surprised when an inhumane shriek came from behind him. He scarcely had time to whirl around before Carlos leaped vertically and clung to a lamppost beside him, about five feet from the ground, where he continued to yell in a panicked tone.
Ben scooped up the first dog as it dashed around and held it close to him. It was a service dog, so he assumed it wouldn't bite. The second dog snarled from a second, but Ben used his foot to push it away, and it turned and scurried back into a nearby alleyway. The service dog's owner was running down the street exasperatedly. "Dude!" She called. "I'm so sorry!" She apologized to Ben.
"No problem," Ben assured her. He looked up to Carlos. "Carlos!" He called. "Are you okay?"
"Ben! Ben!" Carlos called back down. There was a wild, panicked look in his eye. "Put that thing down! It's a rabid, wild pack animal that will chase you down and rip out your throat!"
Several passersby stared as Ben blinked uncomprehendingly at the young man. "Um, Carlos, this is a service animal. They don't bite. I think you're thinking wolves, not dogs."
"Wolves?" Carlos asked in a feeble voice.
"Yeah." Ben nodded. He continued to pet the dog in his arms as the owner stood a few feet away, anxiously rubbing her hands. "Haven't you ever met a dog before? Come on down. I promise he doesn't bite."
"He doesn't!" The girl exclaimed. "He's actually a very good dog! He just gets a little excited. He's the campus mutt. It's my turn to take him everywhere because they haven't gotten him trained enough to give him to a disabled person." She let out a dramatic sigh. "I honestly think we should have just put him up for adoption." She grumbled.
Carlos was inching his way down the post. "He… doesn't look like a rabid mutt." He muttered to himself. Ben held the dog out awkwardly as Carlos carefully took a few steps forward and watched Ben scratch the pup behind his ears. "What's his name?" He asked.
"This is Dude." The girl announced. "He's been in training for almost thirteen months. He's going to be a service animal one day if he can remember to stay by his owner."
"What's a service dog?" Evie asked curiously. She leaned over and scratched the dog behind his ears a little.
"They help people with disabilities in Auradon," Ben explained. "For example, if someone is blind, they can get a service dog to help lead them around. Or if they suffer from panic attacks, then a small, quiet service dog could help them stay calm."
"That's… really cool." Carlos whispered. Following Ben's example, he slowly reached out and began to gently scratch the dog behind his ears. Dude leaned into his hand and then licked the bottom of his hand.
The dog's owner laughed. "He likes you." She informed Carlos, who looked amazed.
Ben put Dude on the ground and Carlos knelt down on the sidewalk to continue petting Dude as the girl picked up Dude's leash. "If you're planning on being a student, chances are you'll see him a lot more." She told Carlos. "He's being shuffled from student to student each week until we either release him to be adopted or until he's fully trained." She rolled her eyes. "I have to go get lunch now, so can I take him?"
"Yeah, of course." Carlos nodded as he began to stand up. He happened to stick his hand out, palm up, and Dude placed in paw in Carlos's grip in a doggy handshake. Carlos looked amazed. "Pleased to meet you too." He whispered, and then got to his feet.
Ben smiled at the young lady as she pulled Dude back to her feet. "Thank you for letting us meet your dog." He told her. "Have a nice lunch."
"You as well!" She beamed, then faltered. "Erm, unless you already had lunch. But still, have a nice day!" She began to walk in the direction of the nearby shops.
"You too!" Ben called. He turned towards his little group and smiled at Carlos. "Looks like you made a new friend." He told the white-haired teen.
"Yeah." Carlos shrugged. "I guess I did."
That night, everyone gathered in Ben and Mal's bathroom as Ben hauled out the large stone basin. He set it on the counter, and then his phone began to buzz insistently in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered the call. "Hello?" He asked.
"Ben, hi, good to see you," Doug said, sounding like he was rushing around again. "Listen, Mal wasn't able to clear border approval for the team that was hired to forge an Interweb for the Isle, and that's scheduled to happen tomorrow. Is there any way she can waive the border from a distance? She hasn't approved anyone to work from Auradon with her."
"Oh, I was just about to call her. I'll ask." Ben sighed. "Can't I just sign off for her?"
"You're not approved." Doug sighed. "Eliza Deavor has permission to page Auradon from the Isle, and you have permission to recieve her official statements and page them to her in the Moors. She's written it out very clearly here."
"She probably wouldn't mind..." Ben trailed off, doubtful. Doug began to laugh on the other end of the phone.
"After you pulled three citizens off without her permission? I'd say you're pushing it. You know, it's not exactly fair for you to keep her apart from Auradon and then keep putting your nose into Isle matters. It's not your kingdom anymore, Ben." Doug sighed. "Well, I need you to ask Mal about that, otherwise I'll be forced to cancel ahead for her. Geesh, she sets all these things up to happen when she's gone, doesn't she?"
Ben exhaled. Doug was right. Mal was protective of her people, and just because it had been months since she'd last snapped at him for the Isle didn't mean it wouldn't happen again. "Yeah, she does. I'll ask her and get back to you, Doug. I swear." Then he hung up and turned his attention back to the basin, putting his phone back in his pocket. He stared at the size of it. It was good for a one-to-one conversation, but he wasn't sure all three of Mal's friends would be able to crowd around it.
Ben put the basin in the bathtub and began to fill it with warm, clear water. Then, when the water had risen just enough to cover the top of the basin, he called everyone over.
"I've never tried calling her like this." He admitted. "If it doesn't work, I'll have to haul the basin out and you might have to take turns. Hold your breath and cross your fingers." He drummed his fingers on the side of the tub and then told the water: "Mal."
The water surface stilled completely, and the perimeter of the water meniscus began to glow. The water turned its familiar silver, and then the picture of the moors appeared. The water sprite who usually greeted Ben appeared and gurgled happily to see him. At least the King of Auradon was popular among the river people.
"Wow," Carlos muttered. He reached out and brushed a hand through the water. The picture broke as silver ripples crossed over it but then reformed.
"Could you please get Mal for us?" Ben asked the sprite. It began to gurgle louder and more excited than ever. A pixie flew by and waved at them, chattering excitedly. Ben became aware of someone arguing nearby. He strained his ears and the most unique thing happened. Mal's voice broke through the water, but it was like it was covered by something, and she was rolling her words around in her mouth as she spoke.
"The barrier wholed I've and Auradon whole gave us for their violence. I another word won't give on the violence." She demanded.
"Auradon trickery in time has. King Ben innocent may, his country blood seeks now." Someone protested. Ben almost couldn't understand them.
"Wrong!" Mal objected. "Ben's country change has! You your ways have locked!"
"Mal?" Ben called cautiously.
Silence fell over the area on the other side. "Is someone there?" Mal's voice came through the water, sounding normal again.
"Over here, Mal," Ben called.
Mal's face appeared, looking down into the water but up at them. Her horns were out and her had fairies braiding her hair. Evie sat down beside Ben in shock. She looked very surprised. "Why, hello!" Mal announced and turned over her shoulder. "Finally, someone who will listen to me when I explain things to them." She looked back down. "It's very late. Why are you calling? Is something the matter?"
"Not at all," Ben assured her. "What were you saying back there? About Auradon giving violence?"
Mal blinked. "Your ears our language can touch?" She asked. The muffled tone had returned to her voice.
Ben's mouth dropped open. "Are you speaking in a different language right now?" He gasped.
"Faesh," Mal replied with a bright, disbelieving smile. "I wasn't talking about Auradon giving us violence. In Faesh, the subjects come before we explain about them. So, what I was actually saying was that Auradon gave us, well, you apologized for it, but there isn't a word for that in Faesh. Instead of apologizing, you make reparations. So I was basically trying to explain that Auradon... made whole the problem with the attack? Well, I don't know if the word attack translates correctly either, but-"
"It was violence." Ben nodded. "It translated as violence."
"Interesting." Mal smiled. "Well, now I know this can translate. That's handy. Now, what's going on? Are you carrying through any messages for me?"
"One." Ben nodded. "From Doug. You never approved your interweb team to cross into your barrier. Other than that, nothing has been paged up from the Isle, though. Evie, Jay, and Carlos had something they wanted to talk to you about, and of course, I'll never turn down a chance to see how beautiful you are."
Mal gasped. "The interweb!" She exclaimed and covered her face. "I'll travel to the edge of the moorlands tomorrow and try to fix it from a distance. If not, can you ask the Fairy Godmother if she can take a quick trip over to let them in?"
Ben nodded. "Do you want me to sign off your papers for you?" He asked.
Mal shook her head. "No. Don't touch them. I don't want your name on any Isle papers in case the Isle starts to get guarded. And for the record, Ben, I really need you to back off of the Isle and the moorlands for, like a few months while I patch things up here. I get that you're fascinated with magic, but the moorlands think you're going to try and press them off again because you keep poking."
Ben deflated. "Okay." He sighed. "Doug warned me of that, like, five minutes ago. He said I asked you to stay out of Auradon, so I need to keep out of the moors and the Isle."
Mal frowned. "Well, he's right, but also... I don't really want to be separate from Auradon, so I understand how you feel." She sighed and shifted position to sit more comfortably as she talked. "There are things I don't like about Auradon and things I want to fix, but I can't do much without being biased or people thinking I'm trying to take over. I'm sure you feel similar about my kingdoms."
"So-so," Ben agreed. "I don't necessarily hate anything, but I understand what you're saying. And there are things I want to fix about Auradon too. I'm just trying to not... step on my parent's work too much."
"Their work doesn't matter," Mal reminded him with a frown. "You're king. You decide what's best. If something's wrong, you need to fix it."
Ben shifted his weight. "I know, I'm just... what do you want to change anyway?"
"I want your laws against magic gone," Mal stated, eyeing Ben with a pointed look. Evie, Jay, and Carlos all looked between Ben and Mal. It was one thing for them to see the King of Auradon treating their friend fairly, but another to watch her demand something so... drastic.
"Me too," Ben sighed. He swallowed and then began to stand up. "Well, I got the chance to see you, so I suppose we'd better let your friends get a look of you in all your magical glory."
"This isn't my magical glory. I don't have my wings out." Mal laughed and then ran her fingertips past her horns. "But I don't think you've seen me with my horns yet, have you? By the way, how did you get the frame to be so much larger?"
"We put the basin in the bathtub and filled it over the top." Ben shrugged. "Lucky guess." He paused. "Are you going to bring out your wings? Because if you are, I want to see them before I go."
Mal laughed and pulled her hair forward over her shoulders before her wings appeared behind her shoulders, stretching over her head. Ben exhaled in amazement. He set a hand on Evie's shoulder. "Well, I'll leave you guys to it." He told her. "Call me back in so I can say goodbye, okay?" Evie said nothing as she stared at Mal's wings and horns.
"Okay," Carlos said for Evie. "And, Ben!" He called as Ben began to back out of the bathroom. "Thank you." Carlos smiled, and then they turned towards Mal's image in the water. Evie was picking up their registration packets as Ben closed the door. He heard her say: "Ben took us somewhere today," And then all was silent.
Or, almost all was silent.
"Hey." A boy with white hair, a blue hoodie, and bare feet said as he sat on the sofa, facing Ben. Snowflakes materialized about his head and frost crept at his feet, which was what Ben had noticed first before he'd even seen the boy. "Lovely evening, isn't it?"