Hey guys I'm back and I can not wait for you to read this chapter so I'ma just get right to the reviews! As always, the Notes are important so don't get so excited that you skip. ;)
The Amazing Crusader: Go Ben indeed! Yes, the Council will definitely be hearing from the VKs, lol. If they thought Ben was a handful…they better watch out! :)
A: Aw, I'm glad my response made you happy. Responding to reviews is definitely my favorite part of getting reviews, lol. As for the endgame well…*insert the 'you know' meme here* ;) I hope you'll continue to follow along and enjoy!
Call Me Random: I know, look me at me finally getting the plot together! Haha, I had a lot of fun with that chapter, even with all the shit that went down. As for the prank, we get the full reveal in this chapter so don't you worry; I just wanted to give a little 'tease' to set things up for all that happens here. And yeah Ben certainly did give them all a run for their money, and I agree, it's about damn time they had a reality check. ;)
As for the Isle, I actually made an official Note about it since you weren't the only one confused, so keep an eye out for that and hopefully it'll explain my thought processes/canons. :)
EvietoyourMal: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much. All the character development made me excited too, and I'm glad you loved it. Now it is time for the recovery/rebuild, and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!
Guestz: It sure took them long enough, didn't it? ;)
Jasmine: I'm glad you're so excited! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that you'll continue to enjoy!
narutogirl103: Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!
Time Turner: These next chapters make me so excited too because we are finally getting all the character development, lol. I hope you'll continue to follow along and enjoy! :)
Robby the Cyber Warrior: I had to laugh, just a little bit, when I read your review, because I was just so relieved/tickled(?) to see the shared outrage. Literally everything you said I am in total agreement on, and I was so angry at the movie mostly, because they had this golden opportunity to address all these dark issues like neglect and child abuse, and of course if they're going with *all* the Disney villains of canon being on this island and then throwing kids in the mix well, it's legit just a horror movie waiting for the credits to roll, like Disney had some f*ed up villains, man! And so for them to just completely ignore those issues and problems, really pissed me off because I agree, they are painful and dark stories but they need to be told. So here's me, telling the stories and definitely not holding back because, yeah, they need to be out there.
Thank you for the review! I really appreciate it, especially the anger because it means I'm on the right track. I hope you will continue to read and enjoy. :)
StoryWriting1414: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much and that you liked some of the developments I made. Yes, things will definitely be revealed, and in the mean time I hope you'll continue to enjoy!
Ravenclawesomelovegood: Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm really glad you enjoy my story so much, haha. No, Roger isn't Carlos' dad. I debated it briefly as a Plan B plot point but ultimately stuck with my Plan A because Roger wouldn't do that to Anita. But don't worry, I've got my headcanons for theVKs' other parents and it will all be revealed in time. And no, the VKs are officially staying in Auradon; Beast kind of decided that after the Fairy Godmother told him about what she found out, so now it's just time for angst and healing, lol. I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!
Million Lights: Hello, welcome to the story and thank you so much for the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying things so far and I hope you will continue to enjoy! :)
BlueMoon007: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much and I hope you will continue to follow along and enjoy.
Kry Chi: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much. It was definitely more positive, lol, and this one even more so. As for the wolf, yes he's pretty much the 'Big Bad Wolf' from little red to whenever the stories used a 'lurking wolf in the forests' for their stories; but no, he's not the same character that Mal killed in place of Jay- that was just a greedy merchant who was following the Isle way and being a cheat. ;)
Descendants5HLM: I'm going to PM you to respond because my notes already take up so much space and I want to make some kind of pitiful attempt to conserve that space. But please don't feel like I'm ignoring you, I loved your review in all its length! Seriously, please keep them coming! I'll chat with you soon and I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much! :D
Danifan3000: Yeah, the Auradonians have some messed up logic going on, starting with the creation of the Isle in the first place! But it will all be faced up to for sure, and in the mean time I hope you will continue to read and enjoy!
Guest 2.0: I enjoyed both of your reviews, just so you know. ;)
And I'm glad you're enjoying the way I'm portraying all the characters. Yeah Jay does tend to get ignored in the fandom, and it makes me said cuz he's part of the Core Four for a reason guys and it's not just to even the numbers!
And yes Carlos is going to be having a little dilemma with that and I'm looking forward to exploring that as well, and all the angst that that will entail, lol.
The dark side really does have awesome ships though, like, what gives, geez. Here I am not planning on doing any ships for this story and it's just like hope, here's the ships you're going to be doing. I had no say. ;)
Anyway I hope you'll continue to follow along and enjoy!
Guest: Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoy my story so much and I hope you will continue to read and Enjoy! :)
AngstyDraggy: Thank you so much for the review and the kind words. It really means a lot that you're enjoying my writing and I hope you will continue to Enjoy!
ceara1888: Thank you for the review! I'm really glad you're enjoying everything so far. As for that storyline well, all I can say is, your wish is my command. ;) Hope you enjoy!
tigerladygamer: Easy now, good tiger. Haha, Mal definitely isn't pleased and she's got her own personal revenge all ready to go so don't you worry! Maybe once that's done you can sink your teeth into what's left of him, how's that sound? ;)
Guest 2: Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much! You're not the only one, trust me. The trick is convincing Audrey that she needs to be in the same room as the VKs, lol. But don't worry, I do actually plan on addressing that too. In the meantime I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy!
LunarFullbuster25: Welcome to the story and thank you for the review! Hopefully this update came fast enough for you and you'll continue to enjoy the story! :)
Alex: Thank you so much for the kind words! It really means a lot and I'm glad you're enjoying what I've come up with so far. I hope you will continue to follow along and enjoy! :)
Srasi: Thank you for the review and the kind words! I hope you will enjoy this chapter just as much.
Orange Peels: Lol, I loved your review so much. It made me happy because it reminded that there are still people discovering this for the first time and every little twist is being experienced in different ways. It's definitely not irrelevant, because it's relevant to you in the moment, haha. And yes, it's a 40 thieves reference! :D Thanks for the review and I hope you'll continue to follow along and enjoy!
Guest 3: Thank your the review. Don't worry, while this story will contain elements of Bal, the ship is not actually going to sail for this story at least, so never fear, lol.
LilLinkGirl: Haha, thanks for the review and the enthusiasm! Glad to have you along and I hope you'll keep reading and enjoying! :)
Guest 4: Well welcome to the story! You're just in time for the latest chapter, lol. Thank you for the review and the kind words, and I hope you will continue to read and enjoy.
Author's Notes!
Note 1:
This note is just to explain my canons/headcanon concerning the Isle, since some recent plot developments have caused a confusion.
So for the Isle, all will be revealed in time but I have a couple of headcanons involving its inception, one of which was based on a plot hole the movie actually created, involving The Timeframe! In the beginning narration it's established that Belle and Beast married 20 years ago, and Beast was 28 years old when they married (Official Disney canon for Belle and Beast says that they were 17 and 21 respectively at the end of their movie but Descendants seems to ignore that), and Ben is 16 in the movie and if you're going on them having had him right away, there's a good 4 year gap between their marriage/his birth and the start of the movie, and they started uniting the kingdoms as soon as they got married, but the Isle hadn't existed yet. So, based on that alone it means that it took 4 years to build the Isle and expand the kingdom.
Meanwhile, the villains are all still just chilling, and sure they're being gathered up and maybe imprisoned or at least kept an eye on, but they're more or less still there, and they're not just twiddling their thumbs. They're scheming and having kids, which of course, when the Auradonians realize that crap, there are some villains who are pregnant, they start pointing fingers and scrambling for solutions; speeding up the Isle production because we don't want tiny villains running around. Of course, some tiny villains are born anyway, cuz I mean again, did they think the villains were just going to sit by idly for 4 years?
And that's where I have my one big problem with Descendants, because I mean, the villains are obviously not going to wait till they're on the Isle to have kids and continue their legacy/plot their revenge, etc. There's going to be some older VKs in there (and there are) which means that those particular VKs were born/conceived before the Isle was finished, and the Auradonians sent them all over anyway.
And that's all just based on the canon timeline, my only slight tweak I made was making the timing a little longer, 6 years for this story instead of 4, making Ben 18 because 16 is too young to be crowned king, man.
Also! Regarding the comments made from the Council regarding these 'villanous' children's origins. It was mostly a pitiful attempt at casting off blame/making excuses, because while yes in some cases there may have been genuine coercion on the villains' part, there was also just genuine seduction/persuasion, as well as of course the fact that villains can change and learn from their past mistakes/flaws and become sort of decent people (not just enforcing stereotypes here, it's not as black/white as Carlos' outfits) and so for those Auradonians who actually willingly married or dated or slept with villains, they were labeled as having committed treason and marked as villains too and sent to the Isle.
As for the 'claiming' of children, well, when it was first discovered that villains (and some Auradonians) were pregnant and having kids, there were certain plot and spoiler related issues that happened and Auradon started to realize that some things weren't going to work, and decided that, while the barrier was still more or less nonexistent, if any Auradon citizens wished to lay claim to any 'villainous' offspring, they could, at the cost of one of two options: 1) The Auradon parent was banished to the Isle as well, or 2) the child was brought to live with the parent, which was practically unheard of and pretty much laughed off/ignored as a rule because really, a villain growing up in Auradon? Plus, the scandal of any Auradonian actually contributing to the creation of a villain child pretty much just guaranteed the outcome of Option 1 right off the bat.
Anyway I hope my explanations and headcanons make sense and aren't too infuriating (outside of what Auradon did). It's all going to be explained and gone over in the story, too, but I thought I'd explain it here just to clear up some confusion.
Note 2: So that was my first note to clear up the plot, lol. My second is just to briefly clear up the whole Mal vs. Evie that happened last chapter, as I don't think I did a good enough job providing context clues and people were confused. So that's my bad, but the gist of it boils down to the environment of the Isle, and who each of them have been made to be as people. As has been established, Evie is a manipulator, it's what she does. Mal can definitely manipulate people as well, where the situation provides it, but she's a leader/controller, and not constantly aware of people in the same way Evie is. Evie is constantly aware of people, and how she can twist them to her advantage. And so here she is with this situation: Mal has just decided to let a stranger; specifically a strange man near the group, and suddenly she's out of control and fearing for what's going to happen as a result. (Bearing in mind the VKs' experiences in the past on the Isle.) So she's spiraling and afraid and coping with it the only way she knows how: unhealthily, and through self-harming. At the same time, she's still trying to figure out how to deal with the danger that the Cricket presents, and Mal isn't (to her mind) seeing the danger. So Evie attempts to manipulate Mal and use her spiraling as an example of just why Mal's idea was a bad one to begin with. That's Evie's side.
And Mal might not be aware of 'people,' but she's aware of her group, and very much aware of Evie. She picks up that there's something off about Evie, but it takes her a moment to realize that the 'off' ness is Evie manipulating her. She recognizes the manipulation in the 'mask' of the expression the other girl makes in the middle of the fight- the way it matched the other girl's feelings the night before when Mal was comforting her after her spiral- and then the whole thing explodes from there, with Mal being angry and betrayed that Evie thought that she needed to manipulate her in the first place; and Mal dealing with emotions the only way she knows how- by ignoring them and being a controller. And that's Mal's side, and the official run down of the two most confusing aspects of the chapter.
Note 3: Whew, ok! Now for the warnings. Main warnings really are just for angst, as nothing actually too terrible happens for once, just emotions and feels, haha.
We finally get the full run down on what happened with Kropp and Carlos' revenge, and honestly there's just so much character development like all my babies are growing up and becoming actually decent human beings and just *sheds happy years.* And of course, the long awaited resolution is here! And important flashbacks including a reappearance of a certain character because I missed writing them and I feel like now is actually a good time to start revealing some more shit.
I know right? Look at me finally getting my shit together and getting to the meat of the plot...30 chapters later...I like to write ok?
Plus you get a letter at the beginning of the chapter this time, to shake things up even more.
Enough out of me, go! Go and enjoy the latest chapter! I look forward to hearing what you think! :)
- Raven
[Unaddressed letter to Mr. Oscar, Isle of the Lost.]
Carlos.
I heard a rumor that they might start letting citizens of Auradon send specific items over to the Isle. Apparently, leaving you all alone over there with no resources isn't panning out. Go figure. I'm rolling my eyes, but it probably doesn't translate as well through ink.
Anyway, I'm going to try to send you and your mother some things on the next barges out. I might not exactly be a citizen of Auradon, but I was never really one to let silly things like rules bother me…I mean, if it's for a good reason. Rules are good things, but sometimes you have to break them. Probably not the best advice I could give you, but maybe it'll help somehow.
And my gift for you, too. A new book of rules for that game we used to play when you were little, do you remember? I hope you remember…
Love.
Carlos
He didn't know what it was exactly; whether to the trauma their conversation had brought up, or to the stifling silence between Mal and Evie- neither girl was looking at each other although Carlos could practically feel the emotions flying back and forth between them- but Jay was a lot more willing to tolerate his pestering as they made their way through the back of the kitchens.
"…have this huge workshop just for working metal," he half-whispered eagerly, trailing his fingers over the smooth edges of the plates as they pass them. "I even got to try one of them before I was found out, and it actually bent it, Jay! The whole thing, just like-" he mimes bending a sheet of metal between his fingers, providing the sound effect with no small amount of glee. "And I thought that maybe if I find the right shapes, I could-"
"'Los," Jay says, and Carlos freezes at the other boy's tone, his breath catching in anticipation. "I get that you're excited, but if you don't stop talking, someone is going to hear us."
Jay says the words slowly, as if Carlos' trouble lay with his ears and not his mouth, but he also says them with a teasing grin, and that more than the words is enough to convince Carlos. He huffs and pouts dramatically, but falls silent, and is rewarded when Jay rolls his eyes, that smile staying on his face even as they continue forward. It was almost like being back on the Isle; that same element of stealth and darkness creeping down Carlos' spine, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. He was with Jay, for one, the older boy's presence reassuring just for being there; and for the other, whenever it was just the two of them sneaking about, it had always ended poorly for whoever was on the receiving end of their advance.
Carlos grips the small bottle of the potion tightly to his chest, his body thrumming with nervous energy. Jay has the other bottle, slipped into his hand with venomous ferocity by Mal just before they'd set out.
"An added bonus," she'd said, her eyes so brightly green that Carlos (almost) hadn't been able to see the red rimming them. "Since that bastard of a teacher thought it so necessary to cause Carlos pain…let's see if he'll like the way it feels."
He'd been worried, somehow, as Jay had accepted the vial with a smirk. Worried about how much pain they'd be inflicting on his tormentor; worried about the retribution that would surely come back on them. But Mal's eyes had continued to glint, a shade darker than the unnatural brightness of her anger, but no less intense.
"Wormwood," she'd explained, indicating the vial in Jay's hand. "It's not much, barely more than a swallow, really. Mother thought it could be useful…." she trailed off, and Carlos shuddered because he knew exactly what sort of uses Maleficent must have been thinking. "And so it will be," Mal had finished easily enough, though the green in her eyes had been even darker then. "It won't kill him, but the taste of it will be bitter enough and with the potion, will make it that much more uncomfortable to say the least."
And even Evie couldn't help but smile, just a little, whispering them luck as they'd slipped through the then-empty dining hall and into the kitchens waiting beyond.
"Ok," Jay murmurs, and Carlos straightens, blinking as he peers around.
They're against a side wall, not too far from the main entrance of the kitchen. A giant opening serves as a window above them, where massive trays of food and covered dishes rest, most likely to be grabbed and served from the other side. Below the window, and in front of them, a smaller table with more personalizes mugs and containers of drink sits, and Carlos feels his heart jump with adrenaline.
"That one," he mutters to Jay, pointing shakily towards the simple silver looking container at the end. "That's his."
"Say no more," Jay crows wickedly, his eyes bright with mischief as he slips the vial Mal had given him from his pocket.
Carlos hands Jay the potion with trembling fingers, and is grateful when the other boy does nothing more than grin at him as he accepts it and gets to work. It takes him no more than a few seconds to unscrew both lids, and Carlos watches with no small amount of fascination as Jay tips the potion neatly into Kropp's drink, before rubbing the few drops of the bitter wormwood all over the inside rim of the bottle. Jay replaces the lid with expert care and ease, and then they're off, sprinting back the way they'd come and slipping through the doors and out into the school hallway.
"Well?" Mal's voice demands before Carlos had finished panting, and he laughs breathlessly with delight in place of an answer.
"Please, you really think that I wouldn't succeed?" Jay brags shamelessly, and Carlos shoves him with his elbow and snickers when the other boy trips.
"Good," Mal says, grinning just as brightly, but it freezes somewhat on her face as Evie brushes carefully past her.
"All that's left is you, Carlos," Evie says, and Carlos feels some of his excitement drain at the stiff what both girls were holding themselves; as if they were one word away from screaming. "You ready for class?"
And there's an eager and sly sort of smile on her face, but it doesn't match the coldness in her eyes and Carlos sets his expression and locks onto it instantly, glancing pointedly between Mal and Evie.
"I am," he says, and he knows she picked up on his observation because Evie flinches slightly. "Are you two?"
"We're fine, 'Los," Mal responds, and Evie's shoulders slump like she'd wanted to be the one to speak but now absolutely could not. "Just worry about how you're going to describe everything because I want details of this, do you understand?"
Carlos snorts in spite of himself; in spite of the tension, and he lets himself nod and get caught up again by Jay, who grips him into a headlock and drags him down the hallway.
"Come on Carlos!" The other boy teases in his ear, laughter rumbling in his chest when Carlos start kicking at him. "We don't want to be late, do we?"
"Let go!" Carlos hisses, kicking Jay again until he can breathe. "Asshole," he growls, but he thinks he's blushing too hard for his hostility to be believed.
Jay flips him off with nothing more than a wink, and laughs when Carlos tries to shove him off balance again, continuing the path towards the biology classroom. It's only as they're about to turn the final hall that Jay does trip again, the hand he throws out to press Carlos to the wall the only thing that keeps the smaller boy from following him down. Carlos registers the faint whoosh of movement from someone passing too close too fast, and Jay growls as he shoves himself upright, recognizing the same thing.
"Hey, watch where you're-" His shout tapers off abruptly, and Carlos blinks up at a matching, but distinctly different set of tanned skin and dark curls.
"Oh," Carlos manages, and even then he's not sure if he'd actually made a sound at all, given that neither of the boys standing there acknowledges it.
"What do you think you're doing?" Jay snarls, and Carlos thinks he should be doing something to stop him but all he can do is blink.
"Oh I'm sorry." Aziz's voice sounds strange; cold and distant, not warm and friendly like it was supposed to. "Didn't see you there. I'll make sure to be more careful next time, though. Wouldn't want to step in anything unsavory."
"Hey," Carlos snaps then, not sure where he got the courage. Or maybe it was just cowardice. "That was uncalled for."
"Shut it, 'Los," Jay growls beside him, but Carlos thinks that most of the sound had come from trying to hide how hard he was shaking.
"No, he's right," Nikki suddenly pipes up, though the coldness of his voice is directed at the boy beside him, his dark eyes narrow. "That was uncalled for Aziz."
"Yeah?" Aziz scoffs, his own eyes flickering with hurt and rage. "About as uncalled for as-"
"Back off!" Jay tries, he really does, but he's pressed too tightly against the wall for it to be anything but a whine. Carlos feels his breath catch and his heart stop because things had been going so well, and also he recognized that look in Jay's eyes now and if he really did have another episode now was not the time for it.
"And why should I?" Aziz challenges instead, even though Nikki grips his arm tightly to keep him in place. "Why should I be the one to back off and apologize when you get to just…."
"Aziz," Nikki says, and his voice is low and brokering no arguments. "Shut up."
Carlos thinks the other boy might have protested, but the sound is dull in comparison to the way Jay's breath catches in his throat, another weak sort of attempt at intimidation dying in his chest as he grits his jaw so tightly Carlos half-fears he might break his teeth with the force.
"Jay," Carlos whispers, his own chest throbbing with the weight of his heartbeat. "Jay just, calm…calm down. It's ok."
Another noise behind him, but Carlos doesn't dare turn to face the audience. Jay wasn't quite panicked yet, but if Carlos made the wrong move, he just might. Although…he didn't really panic, did he? Carlos blinks, remembering vague snatches of a conversation. He sank, more like- into his head- into the memories of…. Carlos feels his own jaw grit as he remembers Jay's confession that morning, and then he sucks a breath because if being still was the problem then he needed to-
"Move," Carlos urges, debating a moment before gripping the edge of Jay's vest and tugging hard as he dares. "Come on Jay, you need to move."
Jay digs in against the pressure, practically slamming himself back against the wall. Carlos winces as his fingers are ripped from the hem of the vest, then sucks a sharp breath when Jay does it again, the force of the blow rattling through his bones as if he were the one in pain.
"What. the. fuck."
Carlos flinches, and he has to face the audience now because there was no way they could get through this without attention, and he has to be able to control just how much further this goes. Nikki stands with a hand on Aziz's chest, pushing back as if he's worried the other boy might leap at Carlos. Which is odd, really…why would he try and stop him when he had fairly good reason to do so? But Carlos shoves it out of his mind because they were staring at Jay and he had to do something about that.
"Look, I get that…you're both pissed and you should be…and you can take whatever revenge you want from me. But could…could you please back away from Jay?"
Aziz gives a shake of his head, but not, as Carlos initially fears, in denial. The furrow of his brow suggests misunderstanding, and he pushes almost testingly against Nikki's hand, bringing him closer -if only marginally so- to Jay. Jay flinches and slams back against the wall again, and Carlos sets his features sharply into callous and growls.
"I said back. off!" He snarls, shoving himself forward in such a way to force the other boys to step back to avoid him. "You're just making it worse!"
"Alright then, we'll just stay back here," Nikki mumbles, and it might have been comforting if it had been anyone else at any other time.
"What exactly is 'this'?" Aziz snaps instead, and Nikki grabs his arm again and frowns.
"No," he scolds, but Carlos all but shouts it, making both of them jump.
"No!" He growls again, baring his teeth viciously even as panic squeezes his lungs. "No, just stay. there."
"But what?" Aziz repeats, and it's only then that Carlos is able to see that the other boy's eyes aren't accusing, an urgent sort of worry hardening them in place of anger.
Carlos shakes his head, because it's all he thinks he can manage without risking losing more air to speak, and slowly makes his way back to Jay, keeping his eyes locked on the other two boys to be sure they stay in place. It's only when he's back by Jay's shivering side that he dares turn, and even then he still makes sure he's between them.
"Jay," he says lowly, though he knows it's pointless, knows that he has the audience's attention and they won't stop watching till it's done. "It's Carlos. If you can hear me, I need you to nod, ok?"
"Stop whispering," Jay says instead, his voice hoarse but there. "He used to whisper everything…just…just talk. Keep talking. Please."
Carlos blinks, and he doesn't know if it's relief or just further anxiety tightening his chest at the awareness in Jay's voice. But it's certainly rising anxiety when a breath sucks in sharply behind him and then echoes; a strained hiss of 'he?' that tapers off abruptly in a choke as Carlos growls again in warning.
"I can talk," he assures Jay, then grins and let's himself laugh a little, leaning into Jay's arm. "Hey, Jay, I can actually do that now."
Jay blinks, and a twitch of something crosses his face, though otherwise he remains frozen, his breathing still too shallow. But he hadn't flinched at Carlos touching him, which the smaller boy considers a success in its own right.
"Did I ever tell you that I joined a club here?" he asks, as casually as he can while trying to avoid the instinct to whisper. "They have a theatre club, and Jane took me there once…wait, do you know Jane?"
Jay blinks again, his eyes flickering uncertainly as he turns his head to meet Carlos.' "Small and mousy? Squeaks a lot? Something…something about pumpkins, I think?"
Carlos nods, chuckling slightly at Jay's description. "Yeah, that's her. So she takes me there and Jay the place is huuge! Like, could fit all of de Vil apartment in it three times at least."
"No way," Jay mutters, frowning. "Nothing that big could fit in this school."
"Jay, I swear to Hades, it was literally, that big," Carlos vows solemnly, though relief continues to fill him. Jay knew they were in Auradon at least, even if he was still plastered to the wall.
"Yeah sure," Jay mocks, but he's listening and focused on Carlos and that's all the boy really needed.
"So we get there, and these other kids are already there, and they're singing my mom's song, you know?" He continues, and though Jay looks confused, he nods along. "But the one kid couldn't get the words right, so I started singing it for him."
"Wait, you sing?"
"You sing?"
It's Aziz first, then Jay, though Carlos pointedly decides to answer Jay.
"I've always sung, remember? You kept saying how it ruined the stealth when I got nervous and sang during missions back on the Isle, but actually I'm pretty sure it made you less nervous, too."
"Fuck off," Jay snorts, and he shoves Carlos away with a smirk.
"But so I sang her song, right?" Carlos continues the story eagerly now, unable to keep from smiling just a bit as Jay adjust his posture and leans much more easily against the wall now, his arms folded loosely over his chest.
"Right," Jay drawls, though his eyes are sharp and fixed over Carlos' shoulder suddenly, and Carlos curses because how he could have forgotten?
"Jay," he says slowly, deliberately not-whispering.
"No, keep going," Jay says back, and his mouth smiles but his eyes are distant again. "I want to hear about what they thought of your tone-deaf attempt at singing."
"Asshole," Carlos hisses, if only because it was required, and continues. "Anyway, turns out they liked it, and said that I could join the club. So. Yeah, I'm part of a club and it was kinda neat."
"It is neat," Jay agrees, and his tone is steel. "Almost as neat as the fact that I haven't killed you yet."
Carlos jerks a moment before he realizes that the words are being spoken to the audience behind him, and he curses again and whirls sharply, grabbing Jay's arm and pulling hard to stop his sudden move forward.
"What the legit actual fuck?!" Aziz yelps, but he wasn't moving from where Carlos had directed him and that alone makes Carlos' decision for him.
"Jay," he starts to say, but Jay's jaw hardens again with a glare.
"No."
"Jay," Carlos insists, or at least, tries to.
"No!" Jay snarls, but there's something pained and hollow in his eyes again. "No, I'm not doing this again…I'm not…going through this again…you…you can't make me."
"What's real, Jay?" Carlos says, instead of cringing away and hiding like he desperately wanted to do. "Tell me what's real about Auradon."
Jay shakes his head instead, anger and pain and fear seizing his muscles so tightly Carlos half wonders if the only thing keeping that pressure from releasing violently was the fact that he still stood in Jay's way. It made him more than just a little happy that Jay would restrain himself to keep from hurting him; but also worried because he was such a fragile defense and he had to try and control this while he still could.
"Food," he mutters to Jay, when the other boy still didn't respond. "Bed. Nice…well…mostly nice people. Different people," he tries to emphasize. "They're different people, Jay."
"Yeah, I know they're different people, Carlos, that's why I have to-"
"No, you don't," Carlos replies. "You didn't when you first met, and when you joked about being a street rat."
Aziz blinks, like he hadn't thought Carlos had known about that, but Jay's breath shudders in his throat as it catches, a fresh sort of open-ness in his eyes.
"That," Carlos urges, desperately hoping…hoping…maybe…. "That's what's real, Jay."
Jay is silent, but Carlos can see him turning it over in his head at last, something connecting there that hadn't before.
"You know what else is real?" Nikki's voice is hesitant, probing, but without force.
He glances to Carlos, almost like he's asking permission, and Carlos realizes that even Nikki hadn't moved an inch from where he'd been placed. It builds that desperate hope inside Carlos to a near painful point, but he manages to keep himself composed enough to nod ever so slightly. Nikki relaxes then, equally relieved, and even manages something of a smile as he takes a single step forward and stops.
"That fact that if we don't move soon, we're all going to be late."
The bell rings above him as if to prove his point, and his grin is a bit more genuine as he makes eye contact with Jay, if slightly uncertain.
"What do you say we…table this for later?" he offers slowly, his voice soft but nowhere near the dreaded whisper. "Ok? Put in on the back burner."
"Put it…what?" Jay flounders, and Aziz makes a short sound of disbelief, his eyes guarded, but not quite as hostile.
"Geez, I forgot. You really don't do metaphors, do you?"
Jay glares, the scowl twisting his lips like he's searching for the insult. Aziz tenses a moment, then sighs and returns Jay's glare with a cautious smirk.
"Putting it on the back burner basically means just setting it aside for now. We're not…forgetting it…but it's no longer the main focus."
"Pretty much, yeah," Nikki agrees, though there's something secret and proud in his eyes as he smiles at Aziz. "We'll come back to it, but it's not in danger of boiling over."
"So it's a food thing then?" Jay frowns, but it's confusion and curiosity only. "What does that have to do with trying not to kill each other? Or does it mean we're waiting to do that? Oh…oh wait I got it."
"Took you long enough!" Aziz scoffs, but the strain around his eyes is gone, relief obvious in his grin as the bell rings above them a second time.
"Ok but speaking of, we seriously need to-"
"Yeah, yeah," Aziz waves off Nikki's complaint with ease. "Geez, you're such a goody-two-shoes."
"I'm dating you though, aren't I?"
Aziz makes a choking noise and staggers, clutching his chest, and Carlos stiffens at first because they'd just gotten through this…but then Jay snorts, and he snaps his head over just in time to see the other boy roll his eyes.
"What is that supposed to mean, Nikki?" Aziz wails, and Nikki drops his head into his palm and shakes his head while the other boy simpers.
"Well it's obviously nothing to do with you being a street rat, since that would just be ridiculous," Jay prods with a sly grin that does wonders to hide his slight unease.
"But it is ridiculous," Aziz whines, crossing his arms in a gesture similar to Jay's. "If anything we balance out and corrupt each other, that's why we work."
"I honestly doubt the Fairy Godmother is going to care about the specifics of our relationship when she gives us detention for being late," Nikki snaps, and Aziz flips him off before demurring at the glare the other boy throws him in response.
"Fine, ok! I'm coming!"
There's a brief pause where Aziz registers his words, and his eyes twinkle almost rudely.
"That's what-"
"-she said!" Jay choruses, and then both boys freeze sharply before meeting each other's eyes and bursting into hysterics.
"Reuniting them was a bad idea," Carlos mutters to himself without meaning, finally allowing himself to breathe.
"You're telling me." Nikki was suddenly at his shoulder, and he might have jumped if it weren't for something in the other boy's tone, his eyes solemn, that makes Carlos pause. "Was there…someone like us…on the Isle?"
And Carlos blinks and is angry, somehow, that the other boy had been led to believe that he shared any part of that place. "No," he says firmly, eyes focused on the relief of Jay's laughing face. "No, there was no one like you guys on the Isle."
Audrey
She thought she'd known what the worst part would be. When Ben had told her his idea for his first decree, she'd been preparing herself for all the things that having the children of their parents' villains would bring. And for the most part, she was holding up quite well considering, but she hadn't thought to prepare for something like:
"Where should I put my seal?"
The words that come out of King Adam's mouth are calculated, though the sympathy and guilt that layer them are not. It strikes Audrey then that the entire trial had been calculated; maybe not to an extensive degree, but there had been a purpose behind each and every one of Ben's actions, right down to raging at the Council like the feared beast he was supposed to have no part of.
"You were never going to send them back. Were you?"
She hadn't held Ben's hand once through the meeting -and a small part of her wondered why, while another larger part knew exactly- but she clung to him now, her fingers so tight she's almost certain they'll leave a mark.
Good, she thinks. Let it. Maybe then he'll have something to look at to remind him to think.
"Ah, that hurts!" Ben hisses, sucking a sharp breath in place of the answer she'd wanted. He grimaces and strategically frees himself, forcibly working her stiff fingers to loop through his own in much more gentle embrace.
"Ben!" she hisses right back, not caring now who happened to hear. He'd caused enough of a scene for the both of them, she's sure. "What the hell just happened in there?"
"Whoa," he says, blinking. His blue eyes are wide and entirely too bewildered to be forced, and she wants to scream because he's still such a child and yet…. "Audrey, what."
"The whole thing was show, wasn't it?" She ignores his confusion, ignores the hurt that stabs at her own chest. "You were never going to send them back in the first place."
He blinks again, and Audrey's fingers tingle with sudden cold. "Did…did you want me to?"
"Don't do that." She scowls sharply, winding her fingers around the hem of her dress to replace the warmth of his hand. "I didn't shoot your dog, Ben, so don't make me out to be some horrible person, just because I want to be safe."
It might not have been a dog, but she'd definitely just killed something. She swallows hard and turns her head to watch the last few Council members exit the chamber. When she finally looks back, the intensity in Ben's eyes is so sharp she flinches in spite of herself.
"What is that supposed to mean, Audrey?" His voice is too soft, too betrayed. "Are you not safe?"
She shivers, but finds her anger and lets it override the part of her that wants to just run. "Stop playing ignorant! You were smart enough to work all this out so why can you still not see the obvious?"
"Ok, then let me see if I got this right. You don't want the VKs in Auradon just as much as the rest of the Council. You think that just because their parents are villains, they are too; or will be. You're afraid and angry because their being here means you can't ignore what you did to them, whether or not you 'directly' had something to do with it. That about it?"
She regrets pushing him, but not because he's right. Because he's angry, and hurt, and still not thinking.
"You forgot the part where they've already proved-"
"Proved what, Audrey?!" A head turns, she can feel the eyes, but they pale in significance to the blaze burning in Ben's. "If anything all they've done is show just what we've done to them; what they've been driven to do and become because we were playing 'hero.'"
He trails off, and something in the eyes dims, but not enough to ease the pressure building inside her.
"I don't get it," he mutters. "What are you afraid of?"
Literally everything, she wants to scream at him. I'm afraid at night because it's so quiet in the dorm and I keep thinking something must be wrong because I can't hear my parents arguing in the next room. I'm afraid when I wake up because I forget for a second and then I remember and I have to watch him leave all over again. I'm afraid because the daughter of Maleficent is existing in the same building as I am; I'm afraid that I'm going to turn a corner and I'll see a spinning wheel waiting to kill me. I'm afraid that I'll turn a corner and she'll be there instead, not to kill me but to apologize, and somehow that will be worse. I'm afraid of each day because I'm that much closer to doing something, and it won't be perfect and I'll lose you like I already am.
"This," she says instead. "I'm afraid of this."
"I don't…Audrey." He's all soft again, a hand coming up like he wants to cradle her cheek. After a moment, he does just that, stepping forward and cupping her face with his palm, his pinky just brushing the hair by her ear. "I don't understand."
She tastes salt, which is funny because she doesn't remember when she decided to cry, only that she can feel the uncomfortable dampness as it falls into his hand to be pressed back against her jaw. Someone takes a breath, but it's held, and the words she wants to hear- the ones she wants to say- are lost in the exhale.
"That's the problem," she whispers instead. "You don't…and you never will."
When she opens her eyes again he's gone, pulled away by some dignitary from Arendelle, and it's only fitting, really. Had he truly been hers to hold onto in the first place?
Carlos
"So uh…how are we playing this?"
Jay still sounds a bit breathless, and Carlos guiltily thinks that he must still be reconciling things and that he wouldn't have needed to do that if he'd actually managed to be helpful when Jay needed him…. But then he looks over and sees that Jay is smirking, and the tightness eases from his chest.
"Same as usual?" Carlos offers, trying to imitate Jay's confidence. "Except this time, I can talk, so not the same as usual."
"Yeah, ok," Jay says, and they enter the classroom and take their seats.
It takes a strange amount of time for Kropp to enter the classroom, but he finally stumbles in; much to the growing discord of the class. Carlos notes right away that the fact that the teacher hadn't already been present at the start of the class was clue enough to the success of their plan. The teacher's face is flushed, a look on his face like he had swallowed something sour, which, he had.
"Is it just me, or does he look flustered?" Jay mutters, still grinning. Carlos doesn't dare say anything back, though he can't quite contain his excitement either.
Kropp fumbles the stack of papers in his hands as he works to put his bottle on the table, and there's a wonderful sound of giggling at the teacher's expense before he glares sharply and silences it.
"That's q-q-quite enough of ththat," he spits, then flushes even harder, something bitter and mortified flashing across his face as the class rumbles with cautious laughter.
"Yeah," Carlos whispers to Jay, smiling as widely as he dares. "Definitely flustered."
A hand shoots up to their right, and Lonnie speaks before the teacher has a chance to compose himself.
"Mr. Kropp, are you ok? You don't uh…you sound kinda…off."
The wicked glint of mischief in Lonnie's eyes is only seen by Carlos, as she composes her expression into one of solemn concern when the teacher glares her way.
"Th-thank you for the cccconcern, Miss Li," he fumbles, as stiffly as he can with Carlos' inherited speech pattern. "But I am fu-fu-fine."
More snickering ensues from the class, but it's subdued with another fierce glare, and Lonnie takes her seat as Kropp turns to write furiously on the board.
"I don't know how you guys did it," Lonnie murmurs from the seat across from them. "But yes. Just…yes."
Jay winks at her and she stifles a laugh behind her hand, and even Carlos can't help the noise of amusement he makes because he never would have thought to have found such a strong ally in trouble. Unfortunately for him, his amusement is noticed by more than just his classmate, and he flinches as Kropp's ruler cracks sharply against the edge of his desk; a phantom sting throbbing in his cheek.
"M-m-mr. de Vvil," Kropp chokes out, an eye twitching in rage. "W-why don't you come up to the b-b-board?"
Carlos glances apprehensively to the drawing board in question, then feels a short burst of air leave him in a breathless laugh because really? Another square? It was as if the man hadn't learned from the first time Carlos had done this. But he tried to maintain the air of nervous and cowed as he ducks his head and shuffles slowly to the front of the class, holding onto the illusion just a bit longer.
"W-well?!" The teacher demands, and Carlos dutifully reaches for the marker.
"Doesn't feel so good, does it?" he whispers lowly to Kropp, his fingers just brushing the surface of the marker. "Not being in control?"
Kropp freezes, and Carlos grabs the marker tightly to replace the odd 'pin drop' hollow of sound.
"Hurts, maybe?" he continues, twisting the cap off slowly, savoring the way the words form perfectly; no bumps; no glitches of thought. Words forming in his brain- words coming out of his mouth. The way they should.
He can see the realization hit Kropp even before he gets the cap all the way off, the man seeming to shrink as Carlos swells with a strange burst of confidence.
"Maybe if you pay attention, you'll actually learn something," he finishes, lifting the marker with a proud flourish and turning his back on the stunned teacher.
"Well class," Carlos begins, and he revels in the shock that ripples through the class before he continues on in only partial mockery. "Continuing on the previous lessons of what exactly makes up a person; it is far more than just simple genetics."
"Sssit down!" Kropp hisses then, face a purplish shade of red. "Re-return to your sseat at o-once!"
Carlos is all too happy to pretend not to hear, simply lifting his chin and continuing in a business-like manner.
"There's also another factor that comes into play- and that is the issue of Nature vs. Nurture. Does anyone want to try and explain what that means?"
He's not prepared for the hand that lifts from the back of the classroom, but the boy speaks before he can recover his surprise; standing carefully from his chair, grey eyes unreadable despite the upward flicker of his lips.
"I take it it's got something to do with the environment someone was raised in; versus whatever they might be inclined towards due to birth."
"That's…yeah," Carlos falters, then recovers quickly, straightening again and nodding at Chad Charming. "That's exactly right, Chad. Does anyone want to take a stab as to which is more important?"
There's a murmuring of debate, but an answer comes in the form of a flushed and furious Kropp, the man practically vibrating with the force of his rage.
"A-alright, de Vvvil. You've ha-ha-ha-had your ffun but that is en-enough!"
Carlos fights to keep his flinch under control, and manages only a brief twitch as Kropp's hand jerks threateningly at his side.
"Gen-genetics will always bbbe the deciding f-fa-fac-factor; the environment only ssolidifies wh-what was already there!"
"And that class," Carlos retorts as haughtily as he dares (and oh does he dare), "is where our esteemed teacher is wrong. Yes, someone's genetics and heritage will certainly have some level of predetermination; but it's impossible putting everything into little boxes and say 'there's the result.' It takes a multitude of factors to make up a single person; not the least of which being their own decisions and abilities."
The bell rings sharply, and Carlos lets out a genuine sigh of disappointment. "That's all the time we have, apparently," he mutters with a shrug. "But I do hope you've all learned something from this."
And even when the class files out one by one; even as Jay is forcibly carried out with them and thus, leaving him alone with the irate teacher; even as the ruler cracks down and the man rages about 'taking him to see Fairy Godmother about this'- Carlos can't help but smile. Because Chad Charming had nodded to him as he'd left the classroom, a hard cast to his eyes that did nothing to the hide the obvious authenticity of the unspoken 'I heard you, and I learned something' that radiated from the other boy. And that alone made the whole thing worth it because if Chad Charming was willing to learn, then who was to say the rest of Auradon couldn't as well?
Chad
"You really need to stop being right about the VKs," his roommate grumbles with little ceremony, all but kicking the door open as he shuffles into the dorm.
"Care to elaborate on that?" Chad questions, lifting a brow as Nikhil trails in after Aziz, the other boy at least making an effort to close the door gently before flopping down into the nearest bean bag chair.
"We ran into Carlos and Jay this morning," Nihil murmurs, and Chad sucks in a sharp breath and is immediately alert.
"What?"
"A bit literally," Aziz adds, sitting on the floor and leaning his head back against boyfriend's knees. "It turns out…that you were right…again…and I feel bad because now I'm the asshole."
"And by that he means the whole 'more to the situation' bit..."
"I think….we think that there was someone on the Isle- who may or may not have been like us- and we think that someone might have abused Jay."
Aziz's words tumble out in an agitated rush, and are no less fervent or effective even given his reclining position. Chad feels something twist sharply in his stomach, but he tries not to let it show as he slowly sits up on his bed and places his feet firmly on the floor; a poor attempt at grounding but it would have to do.
"Well um…we kinda figured the VKs didn't have the best-"
"Chad."
"I know," he mutters, running his fingers shakily through his hair, his mouth dry. "Fuck, I know that's not what you meant. Shit…."
"Yeah," Nikhil says, his eyes hollow and pained. "Shit."
"How do you even…I mean what makes you think…." He can't even get the words out, but his brain helpfully continues the horrifying thought.
"What makes us think that someone-"
"Gods don't say it!" Chad hisses, his stomach turning dangerously at the thought.
Aziz shoots him a baleful look but falls silent, narrow eyes like granite as they pierce Chad's own.
"Nikki was right," he says instead, shifting anxiously against the other boy and frowning. "When he said it was fear…I mean, I was expecting a confrontation but it's…I don't know it was like...damn I don't know. But he was fucking terrified, Chad!"
Chad feels his own frown tugging at his face, his lips pursing in consternation. "Of…you?"
Nikhil shakes his head slowly, something conflicted crossing his face. "No, more of…what we represented. What we meant, in his mind- to whatever he went through that he 'wasn't going to go through again.'"
"He said that?" Chad questions, stunned disbelief coloring his tone.
A grave nod is all he gets in response, and he's glad it's nowhere near dinner because he thinks if he'd eaten anything, he'd have thrown it right back up again.
"We're going to talk about it," Nikhil continues firmly, his eyes determined. "At dinner. We sort of…patched things up?"
"At least as far as the rampant homophobia," Aziz deadpans, a small glint in his eyes. "This is a nice, if not equally fucked up change of pace."
Any reply Chad might have made to that is halted by a soft knock at the door. Aziz pouts, but Nikhil rises obligingly from the chair, the latch clicking the only sound for a moment.
Then:
"Oh. Uh…Chad. It's for you?"
Chad lifts both brows, then jerks sharply at the two figures standing in the doorway. Aziz is on his feet abruptly, smoothing his jacket and hair with a nervous chuckle.
"Hey, Mr- um…Your Highnesses…"
"Mom? Dad?"
Chad doesn't know what the thing in his throat is, but his roommate gives an awkward shuffle and coughs, and he blinks back into awareness.
"We'll see you at dinner," Nikhil says tactfully, shoving Aziz out the door and leaving Chad alone with his parents.
"Look I know I haven't been keeping in touch-"
His mom's arms are around him before he can finish, her calloused fingers stroking his hair back from his face, deep blue eyes bright with unshed tears. She smells like fake lemon and flowers, but there's no trace of pain lingering in her eyes; at least, outside of what he's caused her he's sure.
"You've lost weight," she says instantly, and he sighs into her familiar embrace, letting himself be comforted by his mother's presence instead of stifled by it.
"You always say that, Mom," he mumbles into her shoulder, letting her sandy hair shield his view of his dad, not quite ready to face the man just yet, and not quite sure why.
"Maybe you should listen then," she replies, and her voice takes on an edge that has Chad pulling back sooner than he'd wanted to.
"What's this we've heard about you and the Villain Kids?" his dad asks, stepping further into the room, and Chad's hand twinges with phantom pain.
"Uh-ha, well first they're not 'the Villain Kids' like that," he manages, though his own firmness in undermined by guilt. "Like a label…it's Carlos, Jay, Evie and Mal. And second- it's complicated, I guess?"
"Oh we know," his mom says, and Chad grimaces again at the tone. "We did not raise you to behave so appallingly Chadwick James."
He grimaces at the use of his full name, unable to meet her gaze. It's more than just the words, it's the way they're said- the disappointment and betrayal in her eyes that makes her next words hit that much harder. "You've been acting just like my family."
"And yet," she continues softly, and Chad manages to swallow the stone in his throat. "I am so proud of you, Chad." She hugs him again, and he can hardly breathe past the tightness in his chest. "Because you've learned from what you've done- changed."
He blinks hard because he was not going to cry damn it. But still-
"Well," he finally chokes out, his lips pressed into a watery smile. "I've apparently lost some weight, so that'd definitely cause some changes."
His mom laughs through her tears, clearly not sharing his aversion to the display, tousling his hair out of his face with a delicateness that he would have easily leaned into- if it weren't for the fact that her hands are shaking.
"I guess I'm not the only one who's been through the whole 'it's complicated' thing, then?" he says, finally steady enough to lift his head and meet his dad's eyes. "Meeting didn't go well?"
His dad's jaw sets sharply, and Chad almost regrets asking. But then the façade crumples in the next instant, and the older royal crosses to join the rest of them on the bed. He lowers himself down on Chad's right, and his parents clasp hands over his lap.
"Complicated," his dad sighs ruefully, and his lips twitch like he might laugh at the joke, but his eyes are still too dark. "We aren't sending them back to the Isle; that much is clear."
"Really?" Chad gasps, his head whipping around too fast to be neutral.
"You don't sound upset about that," his dad murmurs carefully, and it's only then that Chad remembers his charade.
"I'm not, actually," he says, charade be damned. This was…too good to be true. "I'm really, genuinely relieved."
His mom gives him another tearful-proud look out of the corner of her eyes, but his own are drawn to the lines digging into the skin around his dad's mouth.
"There's a 'but' in there…" he drawls nervously, and the lines deepen.
"The villain children are staying in Auradon," his dad continues slowly. "Though there's a good bit of debate going on as to what's to be done with them."
"Done with them?" Chad repeats incredulously. "What's that even supposed to mean?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," his dad mutters lowly, and Chad worries at his lip.
"Given Auradon's track record with abuse, things don't really bode well for them," his mom chimes in, a bitter and hollow note to her voice.
Chad shudders involuntarily, and presses himself a bit more in between the comfort of his parents.
"Fairy Godmother mentioned something about that," he offers. "How she was calling in back up or something to help."
"Yes, we've met him," his dad answers, a small hint of reflexive distaste twisting his words. "Jiminy's nephew, I think he said he was."
"I just call him 'Cricket,'" his mom mutters playfully. "Makes it easier."
Chad chuckles in spite of himself, and his dad scoffs lightly from his other side.
"The nickname might be easy, but what he's proposing…it certainly won't be."
"What is he proposing?" Chad asks carefully, already knowing the answer and dreading it regardless.
"Therapy, to put it bluntly." The distaste is more than just a hint now, and Chad shuffles against his mother in a subconscious attempt at comfort.
"Well, more than blunt," his mom attempts, though there's unease in her every set of her features. "He actually has a whole plan in place, and genuinely has the children's best interests and recovery at heart. Which is saying something."
"Of course the real trick is getting to the heart of it all in the first place- finding out just what…what they've been through…."
Chad's eyes narrow, picking up on the strange hitch of breath that breaks through his dad's words.
"You…you guys already know something, don't you?"
"Something," his dad affirms, his tone dark. "But it's not something you need to worry about."
"What do I need to worry about, then?"
"Not picking anymore fights," his mom chides, and Chad lets himself laugh at that.
"No worries there," he promises.
And he smiles; and they smile; and yet Chad can't help the unease that continues to grow steadily in his gut. He might have learned enough- changed enough- that such pettiness was behind him; but he had the feeling that their true worries were only just beginning.
Mal
"You know, we should really stop meeting like this; people are going to start talking."
The sword at her throat sat in stark contrast to the words spoken at her back, but Mal rolled her eyes regardless, sighing sharply into the dark.
"Daisha."
"Evening, little dragon."
The sword disappeared with a chuckle of metal on metal, and Mal turned, shoving her hair out of her face and glaring at the shadow on the brick wall.
"I'm fourteen, you can't keep calling me 'little' dragon."
"But you are little," the other girl taunted, her voice sounding from the left, even though her shadow still stood firmly in front of her. "And on my turf, so I'd say I can call you whatever I want, wouldn't you agree?"
There was something in her voice that Mal couldn't interpret; a strange spark like a laugh, but deeper, somehow.
"What do you want?" she snapped, turning to the right and glaring triumphantly as Daisha materialized there a moment later.
"Hey no fair!" The other girl pouted, even though her eyes laughed. "You can't ask me my own question before I get to."
"I'm forming a group," Mal answered, lifting her chin in annoyance as Daisha melted into shadow again.
"On this side of the Isle?" Came the bodiless retort. "Don't know if you've noticed, but this territory's already been claimed."
"One of the people in my group lives on this side of the Isle," Mal huffed, hands on her hips. "So I'm here."
"And so am I," Daisha's voice came from behind, her breath tickling the back of Mal's neck. "When am I going to get an invitation?"
"I thought…I thought you said you weren't interested in the other side of the Isle," Mal muttered shakily, her brain taking longer than it should to form rational thoughts.
"Maybe. But I never said I wasn't interested in people on the other side of the Isle," Daisha breathed, and Mal's mouth went dry, her brain stuttering almost as bad as Cruella's kid.
"Have you been…flirting? With me?"
Daisha's laugh was felt all the way down to her toes, her lips just brushing the skin of Mal's neck. "About time you noticed."
Instinct. It was instinct, nothing more. Only instinct that was making her act this way. And it was only instinct that spurred Mal's reaction; her knife in her hand before she could command it to; her body turning sharply and flying backwards and away.
Silence.
"Is this not...did I...do something wrong?"
"...No."
"Then…?"
"Because this usually the part where you reveal what it is you actually want, and then pain when I don't give it to you."
Silence.
"Just you."
A sharp breath.
"What?"
Golden brown eyes on green. A slow, careful smile.
"What I want? Just you. Is that wrong?"
"No."
Traitorous admission, but an admission nonetheless. Golden eyes that seem to glow, just for a second. Green eyes that flicker with deadly longing.
"No?"
A whisper of breath.
"…No."
Daisha is there then. Real and solid and in front of her and not disappearing. Golden brown eyes bright with something haughty and proud and altogether fascinating.
"Just don't expect me to join your little gang, because that would be wrong."
"Shut up!"
"And?"
"…And kiss me?"
Lips curl up, that draw together with some kind of raw amusement. That curl up and purse. That part with a strange, anticipating gasp and then…press daringly against Mal's own. And all she can think, as their shadows seemed to melt and shift and blur together is wrong…wrong…wrong…right.
Ben
Everything was going wrong. He didn't know how, but everything was falling apart. The VKs were staying in Auradon, and it's a victory that settles in the growing hollow of Ben's chest. He'd met with the Cricket and the Fairy Godmother privately after the initial meeting, to discuss Jiminy's plan moving forward with therapy, and given that everything involving the VKs was still, technically, under Ben's jurisdiction, he'd had to give his approval. Which meant going through the remaining records they had on the VKs' experiences and listening to Jiminy craft his thoughts for sessions from there.
And he had thought somehow that fighting to get them to Auradon was going to be the hard part! And Audrey…her words ring hollow, too, playing in a never ending loop in his head.
'This…I'm afraid of this.'
He had wanted to argue harder; wanted to brush aside her concerns, or at least placate them where he could. But he'd been pulled aside by a representative from Arendelle, and the man's words had only served to add even more of a problem- if they were true. Ben glances down at the scrap of paper shoved hastily into his hand, elegant handwriting reminiscent of a storybook looping a single word. It had prompted even further digging, and Ben was beginning to truly hate what his parents and the founding royals had done in making the Isle; what he had allowed to be done just by turning a blind eye and accepting it for so long.
He knocks on the door to room 17 on a hunch, and is relieved that he'd correctly guessed the VKs would all be in the boy's room. A small part of him underhandedly muses that it has to do with the room's darker colors and theme being what they're used to, but he quickly shoves that part aside and focuses on the pale and nervous faces before him. Well, nervous for all but one.
"I take it that you're going to tell us that it's totally fine that we missed all of our classes today, because we won't be attending anymore classes in Auradon anyway."
Mal's tone is as challenging as ever, her eyes sharp and bitter as they glare at him. Ben shuffles awkwardly in the doorway and tries to figure out how to answer, before finally deciding to just answer.
"No, actually," he says, a small smile flickering across his face with genuine relief and amusement. "You guys are staying."
Scattered blinking is all he gets in response, and he chuckles ruefully, running a hand through his hair.
"Wow, glad to see you guys like this place so much. I can feel your enthusiasm from here."
"Wait, you mean you're not joking?" If it hadn't been for the fact that Ben could see the boy's mouth move, he wouldn't have known it was Carlos speaking.
"No," Ben confirms, his smile growing minutely before fading into seriousness. "It was almost unanimous, actually; once…well, once we found out what you guys have been through."
He swears there's an audible snap as the air in the room seems to dissipate suddenly; the relieved glances the VKs had been exchanging replaced with a wary hostility.
"What do you mean 'what we've been through?'" Mal repeats sharply, her eyes narrowed and voice a low rumble. "And who is 'we?'"
"The- the Council," Ben clarifies hastily, suddenly realizing the danger in what he's done, but it's far too late to unspeak the words. "We uh…we know what happened to Jay."
Jay, for his part, only looks mildly confused. It's Mal who looks like she's going to kill him (and he should have taken it more seriously, but he didn't).
"And what," she says slowly, green eyes bright, "do you think you know?"
"I…we know about the Persian...the Wolf. We…we know."
She had been giving him a way out, he realized only after he had spoken. But the words are still out there and he vaguely wishes he could just go back to when he'd only made a fool of himself in front of the Council.
He's expecting shock.
What he doesn't expect is for Jay to let out a choked cry and a small projectile embedding itself suddenly in the wood of the door frame only a breath away from his ear.
"Damn," Mal mutters, her voice a hiss. "I missed. Auradon's made me soft after all."
It's a letter opener, he sees when he dares to breathe again, and though it was dulled according to its purpose; it was somehow still embedded in the wood, and it occurs to him for the first time that the VKs are dangerous.
"What…do you have any idea…"
"No, do you have any idea what you've done?" Mal snarls at him, when he staggers away from the knife -and incidentally, further into the room. "What makes you think you have the right to just dig into our lives and put all our secrets on display?"
"It…it was…we had records," Ben chokes out meekly, not sure what else he could say. Not saying anything was key, really, but…. "We had to go looking for them, but we did have them."
"And it didn't occur to you that they were hidden for a reason?"
Yeah, he thinks bitterly. To cover up all the actual crimes the good citizens of Auradon committed by sending you there in the first place.
"Mal," Carlos whispers, shattering the tension so suddenly it makes both of them flinch. "Your hands are on fire again."
Ben starts, horrified, but Mal only seems annoyed by the small green flames licking up her wrists. She shakes her hands sharply and they dissipate, but he swears he can still see sparks tracing her fingertips.
"Guess it doesn't matter at this point," she mutters darkly, eyes murderous as they glare at him. "Everyone gets what they wanted; happy endings and all that bullshit. We get to stay in Auradon, and the only cost is our emotional pain and distress."
She cuts off with an almost pointed laugh as she turns to comfort Jay, who was morbidly quiet and shaking against the back wall. An overwhelming wave of guilt and self-loathing dashes sharply over Ben, leaving him feeling cold and oddly detached from the room. Why had he thought…how could he not have….
"Got anything else you want to bring up, Ben, while we're on the subject?"
Mal's voice is poison, and he normally wouldn't have understood how one could describe a tone of voice in such a way if it weren't for the fact the he was choking on it right now. And he knows he shouldn't, know he should stop now while he still has a chance of survival, should throw away the metaphorical cup and not say another damn word.
Except the note is still crumpled and spilling ink into his palm, and so he turns.
And speaks.
"Carlos? Who…who is Ceran?"
