A long author's note at the end.

Ben was in one of the conference rooms, away from the rest of the group. He had needed a break from everything; it was all so overwhelming. In the beginning of his reign as King of Auradon, they were already in engaged in what could only be described as a war. Twenty years of relative peace, and now a war. Against his girlfriend, of all people, and the villain to his parents' story and his sons. If it wasn't so serious, he would have laughed at the irony. Ben knew the situation could be so much worse, but it still felt hopeless. Was there any way to win this war and come out of it unscathed? He figured that that was no longer an option. Too much damage had been done already.

Even after all that had happened, and what probably what was going to happen, Ben was still determined to continue carrying out his proclamation. After all of this was said and done, he would bring more kids over from the Isle. If anything, this just reassured what he already thought: if he could get to them in time and show them a better way, they would choose good. So what if two of the six stayed on the dark side? That was still four who had chosen to be good. One of them being the daughter of the God of Mischief and another being the second daughter of Maleficent. He still had hope for the others. Although, he knew Leah would throw a hissy fit when he brought it up at the next council meeting; however, this time, he couldn't exactly blame her for being cautious. Maybe cautious was too soft of a word to describe the elderly queen.

Audrey and Chad had arrived not too long ago and were filling Ben in on what they had gathered and discussing ideas of how to handle the difficult situation at hand. He was only half listening. They were trying to be nice; he knew. Avoiding all of the gory details, giving him the bare bones. He figured it was as much for their sake as it was for his; they were all in a fragile state, they all had something to lose from this and something that they had already lost (temporarily, the Gods willing). It wouldn't help to make them all feel worse.

"Why can't we ask the other royals to help fight?" Chad asked with a raised brow, drawing Ben out of his thoughts. "I mean, Mulan and Shang are actual war heroes. Philipp killed dragon Maleficent. Adam was a literal beast, no offense. King Eric stabbed a giant witch with a boat."

"They had to go back to their own kingdoms to prepare in case they get attacked as well. It's just us," Ben informed. "And none taken. Have you heard anything else from outside the castle?"

"We're getting more and more reports of missing people," Audrey announced to the young king sadly. She was trying not to show how much this was tearing her apart.

"Where?" Ben questioned as he rubbed a hand across his tired face. He hadn't been getting much sleep. No one had.

"Around the outskirts. The border between us and them keeps getting closer and closer with all these disappearances. Auradon is shrinking. It's only a matter of time before this castle is all that's left," Chad added with a frown.

Ben sighed tiredly, unsure of what to do. There wasn't much that they could do. "Tell everyone to start making their way towards the castle then. Maybe if we're all together, we'll be able to better protect each other."

Chad nodded. "And with the extra bodies, we'll have a better chance of fighting off the Gastons."

"True," Audrey commented. "What about Fairy Godmother's wand?"

"What about it?" Ben asked. "Mal already has it."

"Yeah. But, is there any way that we can track it? Maybe we can find all the missing people and take the fight to them. Or is there a way to call it back or something? Then we'd have that to our advantage and won't be utterly defenseless against Mal's magic. No offense to Jane and everyone else. I know they've been practicing and all, but this is Mal we're talking about, paired with Fairy Godmother's wand. That's like the two most magical things in Auradon. I don't think even Amy is a match for Mal. She's not as strong yet, and, again, Mal has the wand."

"What about Amy and all of the other magic users at our disposal?" Chad offered. "The others combined must be as strong as the wand. And, okay, Amy isn't as strong as Mal yet, but she's got to be a close match."

Audrey gave an unconvinced look. "I doubt it."

"I'm not sure," Ben responded to Audrey's original question. "I'd have to ask Fairy Godmother. But even if we were able to get it back, we still have Lori to think about."

"Right. What's stopping them from killing her, or anyone else, if we take the wand."

"If she's not already dead."

"We can't think like that. She's still alive. Mal wouldn't kill her. She wouldn't," Ben sighed as he rubbed his temple.

Audrey and Chad shared a look. "It might not be up to Mal," Audrey said hesitantly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Mal isn't really herself for starters and it might not be her call. Any of the Gastons could easily… y'know," Chad explained before he trailed, not wanting to finish the thought. He had to think positively. Like Ben said, they couldn't think like that. There was no way he was losing his brother like this. They still had so many years left of annoying the hell out of each other. Chad was already preparing his best man speech for his brother's wedding, making note of everything embarrassing that the older boy had done.

"Why is this so difficult?"

"Because you don't want anyone to get hurt. Least of all Mal," Audrey tried as she placed a comforting hand on Ben's shoulder.

"What if we let them take over?"

"Chad, I think that is the stupidest thing you have ever said," the brunette princess countered with a roll of her eyes.

"No, I'm serious, hear me out. Instead of bringing them to the castle, we tell the people to get as far away as possible, head to other kingdoms, that way they'll be safe and out of the way until this is all over. If we just let them take over then we won't have to worry about where they are or them hurting anybody else to get what they want. And we'll have access to them, so we'll be able to get Ben close enough to Mal to break the spell or whatever. And hopefully, they'll bring everyone they captured with them, giving us more than enough people to take out the Gastons."

Audrey opened her mouth to tell Chad how stupid he was again before she closed it. "Huh. That actually makes sense. Who knew you actually had a brain?"

"Hey! I've been doing my own homework for a year now!"

"That's because I've been forcing you to!"

"Guys! Stop fighting!" Ben yelled at his oldest friends.

"It's how we show affection," Chad huffed while Audrey rolled her eyes again. "If you keep doing that, you'll eventually see inside to your brain."

"At least I have a brain."

"It's not a bad idea, though. Chad, you may be on to something," Ben interjected, stopping the oncoming fight, as he stood from his seat. "We'll have to tell the others first before making any major decisions."

Chad beamed. "You hear that, Audrey? I'm a genius!"

Audrey gently hit the back of his head. "Nobody said you were a genius. We said that it wasn't a bad idea. If your head gets any bigger, you'll float away."

"How would I float away? Fall over maybe, but float away?"

"Because the only thing between your ears is air!"

Chad glared at the princess while Audrey stuck her tongue out at him.

"Real mature, guys," Ben sighed as the pair in question huffed.

The group of three exited the conference room in order to find the others and run Chad's idea by them.

"What do you mean 'they surrendered'?" Mal questioned skeptically as Gaston Jr. announced the news.

"Exactly what I said. They surrendered. They've given up. They handed the kingdom to us. Auradon is ours for the taking!"

Gaston and his twin sons cheered victoriously as the purple-haired fairy just watched with a raised brow and crossed arms.

"No. It's too easy. Something is up. I know them. They're stubborn. There's no way they would just surrender. They must be up to something. They have to have some sort of plan. They wouldn't just surrender."

"Mal, honey-" Gaston began.

The purple-haired fairy growled, "I told you not to call me that."

"-what did we say about those thoughts of yours?" Gaston called over to the young fairy, undisturbed by her comment. When she didn't respond, he continued, "It's unbecoming for girls to have such thoughts, let alone voice them out loud. It's always better for them to be seen and not heard."

Mal sharply blew out air as she glared at the three men in front of her. If looks could kill, they would be twenty feet underground last week. Why she had gone along with this plan was beyond her. She could be ruling Auradon herself by now, without their help. "Fine," she finally said as her features morphed into a dangerously neutral expression. "Go on and accept the surrender. But if things go south, don't say I didn't warn you." The comment seemed to fall upon deaf ears as she grunted and walked away.

Those Auradonians were up to something; she could feel it. But something deep within her told her not to worry, everything would work out in the end. The right side would win this war. She felt it in her gut.

A little, somewhat familiar voice, whispered to her, "What's meant to be will always find a way."

The purple haired fairy spared one last look at the three, still celebrating, before she exited their hideout. She took a deep breath of the air; still fresh. She knew that once Gaston took over, things would change; Auradon would never be the same. Mal found a part of her longing to go back to how things used to be: Ben and her friends by her side, dates at the Enchanted Lake, sleepovers with her girlfriends.

"Do not be afraid; our fate cannot be taken from us; it is a gift."

A sense of serenity settled over Mal as she looked out at the brilliant sunset. The bright oranges, the purples, and, she would never admit this out loud to anyone, but the pinks as well soothed her as she exhaled. The right side was going to win this war; she could feel it. She would ensure it.

A/N: Hey guys and gals! Happy New Year! I hope you all are enjoying your new year thus far.

Anyway, there it is. The next chapter. I hope you liked it. I think it's okay. Nothing too special. Kind of another filler. I don't know if it even makes sense.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited the story, especially in my absence. Thanks for simply reading. It means a lot to me. Special thanks to pinksakura271 for allowing me to use her OC Amy.

I want to heavily apologize for taking so long. The usual factors are to blame. School has been stressful, I got a job, I have club stuff, homework on top of homework on top of projects, friends and family, writer's block/no motivation, etc. Anyway, yeah, I'm really sorry this took so long. No promises about when the next one will be up.

Also, I have been going back and editing the chapters to make them... better. I already did the first three or four, so if you notice that they're different or don't quite match up with the rest of the story, that's why. Eventually, I'll get through all of the chapters.

If you follow any of my other stories, I have no idea when the next chapters will be up.

I'm think of posting a couple new stories based around Audrey. I've got a lot of ideas since D3.

Also, D3 came out and I loved it. Some things were iffy, but it was overall really good. I fangirled a lot. And I now have Queen of Mean on repeat, soooo...

Let me know your thoughts on... anything really.

Okay, that's it. Bye til next time! (Whenever that is)