Chapter Thirty One


A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths.

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Mal stalked down the hall, making her way to Jay's dorm and pounded on the door. Other students seemed to actively avoid her as they made their way down the hall but Mal suspected that was more because of the fact she was a VK rather than because of her bad mood.

"What's the password?" Jay called from the other side of the door.

"Let me in Jay! I'm not in the mood!" Mal growled.

"Nope, but since it's you," Jay chuckled as he opened up the door. "You know it was unlocked right?"

"Gods, five minutes in a room with Blueberry and I'm ready to tear my own hair out," Mal growled as she stormed into the room. Her bad mood seemed to dissipate as she saw the boys' room. There were more dark tones, with dark wood finishes and paneling on the wall. "Now this is a room I could live in!"

"Glad you like it," Jay chuckled. "My room is your room, Mal. As long as DeVil doesn't mind."

"Not at all," Carlos said quickly, with a look of slight fear in his eyes.

"Glad to hear it," Mal smirked before shaking her head. "I'm not going to hurt you DeVil, don't worry."

"You know I mean it Mal. My room is your room," Jay said as he plopped on his bed. Mal could tell that the boys had gotten the same welcome basket she and Blueberry had gotten over in their dorm. "So…Prince Beastie."

Mal sighed. "Not what I expected," she said as she crossed her arms.

"Very true. His girlfriend though…"

"Hate. Her," Mal muttered. She was exactly what Mal had expected of a Boreadon royal.

"Not surprised," Jay chuckled. "I mean I do too. Honestly she may be his girlfriend but he didn't look like he cared that much about her. Truthfully he looked like she was about to lead him to the executioner's block every time she touched him."

"Probably a political match," Mal said with a shrug. "Doesn't matter though. Prince Beastie's not our business. Even if he does seem miserable."

"I'd argue that if we want him to like us enough to bring certain people over here, he kinda is," Jay muttered. "He's not likely to want to bring more kids over if he's miserable or constantly battling with Audrey."

Mal rolled her eyes. "Okay so what do you propose we do Jay? Become his best friends or something?"

"Maybe not, but I mean we could integrate with him. Get him away from her and more toward us."

Mal frowned. "Okay but how do we do that? We're not the most friendly people in the world Jay—there's a reason why our crew only has four people. We're 'ruthless yet loyal', we don't go up to just anyone."

"So we become 'ruthless yet loyal' to Beastie Jr.," Jay suggested. "He's a captain on a couple of the sports teams here. I overheard a couple of kids talking in the hall. We could go to a game? Make it like a parley or an alliance like back home."

Mal shrugged. "I guess. The last thing I'd want to do is risk Freddy boy winding up off the Isle instead of Uma or Harry."

"Well you should have it easier than me," Jay smirked. "After all, he spent five minutes shaking your hand when we were outside. Don't think I didn't notice that."

"What does that got to do with anything?!"

"Mal, as your first mate, it astonishes me that you still can't tell when a boy likes you. He seemed to care about his first impression with you, not with us."

"Jay, even if he did like me—which he doesn't—he's taken."

"Not for long, if the way he was looking at you combined with how he acted whenever Audrey touched him was any indication," Jay said with a smirk.

"Jay, he was just being friendly. Besides bringing us here was his idea, he couldn't exactly snub us."

"If you say so Mal, but the point still stands."

Mal sighed. Jay was a great first mate but there were some days when she did not understand him. "Honestly I think Ben just likes everyone."

"How do you know?"

"He seemed really happy to see Doug for starters."

"Mal, Doug served as an excuse to get out of Audrey's grasp," Jay pointed out. "I think anyone would have been thankful to see him in that case. Well, maybe not Harry."

"Not that she let it last for long. She's such a snake," Mal muttered.

"She really is," Jay nodded. "Though…is it wrong I wanted to laugh when she took down Blueberry?"

"No," Mal chuckled.

"Oh Gods, could you imagine Harry meeting Audrey? He'd be trying to flirt with her the minute he saw her," Jay chuckled.

"Not that she'd notice," Mal snorted. "Plus Uma would kill Harry if she ever found out if she wasn't busy trying to kill Blueberry."

"So, are we really going to do this?" Jay asked after a few minutes of chuckling. "Try to bring Beastie Jr. into the crew?"

Mal bit her lip but before she could respond, her stomach rumbled. "I'll think about it," she said. "But for now, let's find out where they keep the food around here. Come on DeVil, you too."

"You could always put him under your guys' protection," Carlos offered nervously as they started to head out. "Sorry, I…I couldn't help but overhear. Ben's the future king and all but I didn't see any guards around him."

"That's not a bad idea, DeVil," Mal said, slightly impressed. She'd have to seriously consider it.

"We'd have to talk to him about that," Jay said. "I don't know if he'd accept us just sneaking around him considering we're VKs."

"Ben seems pretty okay with everything," Carlos said with a small shrug. "Just ask him."

"DeVil's got a point," Mal nodded. Two excellent points made by DeVil in one conversation, who would have thought?

"Mal, you ask him," Jay said without hesitation though there was a small smirk on his lips. "You're the only captain here."

Mal shrugged, though she wanted to slap that smirk off of Jay's face. "Alright."

She oddly enough didn't mind the thought of seeing Ben again. Even if it meant playing into Jay's crazy idea that Ben liked her. Honestly, it had to do with ranking—she was the highest ranked VK in Auradon. God outranked princess after all.

"So. Food. Where do we find it?" Mal asked, changing the subject.

"Doug mentioned a cafeteria when he showed us our room," Jay said. "You want to go check it out?"

Mal nodded. She'd have to be a fool to not want to at least scope out the food situation. It wouldn't be as good as her dad's but it should be decent.

"Then let's go," Jay grinned.

"I wonder what kind of food they'll have here," Mal muttered. "Since we usually get their leftovers."

"Only one way to find out," Jay said.

"…should we grab Evie?" Carlos asked softly as they stare to make their way down.

Mal sighed. That was the last thing she wanted to do but she couldn't deny that Blueberry at least deserved food. They all did. "Alright."

"I can get her Mal," Jay offered. "We can meet you and DeVil over there."

"Jay, you don't know the way to my room," Mal pointed out. Doug had led them to the boys' room before showing Evie and Mal their's.

"Oh. Right…I'll follow you then?"

"Right," Mal nodded and led the boys toward her and Evie's room. Mal sighed once more before opening the door.

"Blueberry, we're off looking for food. Do…do you want to come?" Mal got the question out though it may have hurt her.

"Sure," Evie said with a smile. She always had a smile unless Uma and Mal just finished pelting her with smoke bombs.

"Well then come on," Mal muttered as the four of them began to search for the cafeteria. Okay, stay calm. No matter how annoying Blueberry is, she deserves to eat. We all do. Now…just where is this cafeteria?

"Jay, did Doug say where this cafeteria was or did he just say they had one?" Mal asked after about ten minutes of searching.

"He said it should be right over….there!" Jay said, pointing to a room where students were milling in and out, delicious smells wafting out into the hall making the four VKs drool slightly.

"Is it me or does it look kinda crowded in there?" Carlos asked softly. Crowds were dangerous—crowds could mean you're risking getting trampled if you go in. There was a reason why most kids in high ranked gangs avoided the barge when the food first arrived on the Isle.

The kids in the lower ranked gangs or even the ones who weren't in gangs were the ones who had to risk the barge after Maleficent's goblins grabbed the items she wanted. After all, Maleficent ruled the Isle so she had first dibs on whatever was on the barge. Hades normally had second dibs, though Virgil would often slip in and grab some items before word got out that the barge had arrived.

One of the few benefits of the docks being on Hades' side of the Isle.

"You'd be right but it looks like the only place to get food," Mal sighed, pulling herself out of her thoughts. "Jay, keep an eye on DeVil."

Jay gave her a small salute, and Mal chuckled as she led the way into the cafeteria. Sure it was crowded but no one in Auradon was going to attack them. Right?

Gods I wish I had my sword, Mal thought. If there is an attack, my only choice would be to run or have Jay run interference. I hope it doesn't come to that—I'm not a prissy princess after all.

"This…this is a lot of food," Carlos said softly, looking around. There were different stations throughout the room, each one having different options available for consumption. "This is food right?"

"Well people are eating it," Mal muttered.

"People eat the 'food' back home too," Jay muttered back to her.

"Good point."

"Hey…are you guys alright?" A boy about their age asked, his black hair flopping into his face.

"Um…yeah," Mal nodded. "Just not used to…all the options."

It was true after all—their main options were either Ursula's shoppe or her dad's restaurant and nine times out of ten they split their food with the warf rats if they came up empty on their food runs.

The dark haired boy nodded but with a small frown on his face, as if he was confused as to why they wouldn't be used to all the options. "Oh….oh you guys are the new students right?"

"That would be us," Mal nodded.

The boy smiled, which seemed like it belonged on his face more than the frown had. "Ben told Akiho and me to see if you guys needed any help if he got stuck with paperwork or if he got caught in a meeting. I'm Emir by the way."

Mal nodded back, trying to at least appear friendly. She felt Jay stiffen slightly behind her as if he was preparing for a fight; everyone knew who's son Emir was.

"So, you guys going to grab some dinner?" Emir asked, not noticing or pretending not to notice Jay stiffen. "I know the pasta's always good but then if you're more of a meat fan, we've got steak and potatoes, or chicken and assorted veggies. Or salad if you're in the mood for something lighter. Then again, there's always the fish—tonight's catch is salmon but sometimes we have tuna and other times we have halibut."

Mal looked over at Jay, trying to not let her jaw drop at the offered options. She knew Auradon had more food than the Isle…but she hadn't expected that many options.

"Um…I guess I'll try the steak," Jay said quietly after a minute.

"Same," Mal muttered.

"I'll try the pasta," Carlos said softly.

"Salad for me," Evie said, her smile never leaving her face though she too seemed hesitant.

"Come on then," Emir said with a smile. "Just go up to the station and grab what'd you like. I'm heading over to the steak station myself."

"Okay," Mal said slowly, trailing after him.

Jay followed Mal while Carlos and Evie reluctantly split off to grab their food. It certainly smelled nice, and Mal could still see DeVil out of the corner of her eye. Blueberry too. She may have hated the blue haired girl...but she was still a VK. Boreadon didn't get to destroy her-that was Mal's job.

"Go on, grab a plate," Emir said as he did just that before glancing around the cafeteria as if he was searching for someone. "Ben, where are you?" He muttered to himself, still scanning the cafeteria.

"In his office," a blond haired boy said with a sigh as he slid up next to Emir, grabbing a plate. "He's in mid paperwork, didn't even notice me poking him in the head for about five minutes."

Emir sighed. "Why am I not surprised Akiho?"

"He'll get here. He's gotta get hungry right?" Mal said with a shrug.

"That's what we keep telling ourselves," Emir sighed and checked his watch again.

Mal frowned slightly. "Not that I care but…is this a common thing for Ben?"

She didn't understand, he had all this food and yet he was insisting on working? Meanwhile her crew was stuck on the Isle where they were lucky if the food that arrived was only slightly rotten!

"Unfortunately," Emir sighed. "He'll eat though. We make sure he does."

"Isn't that more of a thing his girlfriend would do?" Jay asked.

Akiho snorted. "Tell that to Audrey," he muttered. "I don't think she even knows where Ben's office is."

Mal frowned slightly. "But she seemed really…fond of him when we saw them at our arrival."

"Fond's an understatement. She's possessive," Emir snorted. "Audrey only thinks of things that are in her best interests and when it comes to matches…she can't go any higher than Ben."

Mal rolled her eyes. "I thought you Auradon people were supposed to be about 'true love' and all that muck?"

"In general, yes," Emir said with a shrug. "But…let's just say there are some people here who would like to think they have True Love when in reality—"

"In reality they're delusional ladder climbers who can't tell when someone's trying to escape their grasp like you would a snake?" Mal asked. She wasn't sure why Ben's friends were telling her this but anyone who was willing to trash Sleeping Brat around her was okay in her book.

"Exactly!" Emir nodded while trying to hide his snickers.

Mal couldn't help but smirk. "Oh I think you and I are going to get along just well."

"Glad to hear," Emir chuckled as they sat down at a table; Evie and Carlos sitting down a few seats down. Close enough that Mal or Jay could step in if needed but far enough away that no one would think they were together.

Though Carlos was a bit closer than Evie was, considering he still had Jay and Mal's protection.

"Gods Tourney practice today was brutal. I know I'll be sleeping well tonight," Akiho sighed as Mal and Jay dug into their steak. Well more like wolfed it down as if it was going to disappear if they ate at a normal pace. Emir and Akiho stared in surprise.

"Guys, you might want to slow down," Emir said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, it's not going to vanish," Akiho nodded. Mal rolled her eyes but didn't slow her tempo.

"Seriously guys, slow down," Emir said, the smile on his face slowly turning into a frown. The way they were acting, you'd think they hadn't eaten all day. Glancing over to Carlos and Evie, Emir could see that they were eating the same way though Evie might have been a bit slower than the others.

"Gods that's disgusting," he heard one of the cheerleaders mutter as she walked past their table.

"Yeah the amount of makeup on your face is disgusting Ariana, glad we agree," a raven haired girl said as she sat down next to Akiho.

"Nice one Lonnie," Akiho chuckled. "Went for the steak tonight I see?"

"I'm a carnivore. Sue me," Lonnie shrugged and then turned to Mal and Jay with a smile, giving a wave to Evie and Carlos. "Hi! I'm Lonnie. My mom's Mulan?"

"We know," Mal said as she swallowed her steak. "Believe it or not, we do pay attention to things that happen off the Isle."

"Oh," Lonnie said. "Well anyway, nice to meet you guys."

"…thanks?"

The group grew quiet as they continued to eat their dinner. Mal looked around the room, and she couldn't help the pang of guilt that entered her stomach. Sure her dad's food was delicious but he had to work with what was provided by Boreadon.

Tasting what food apparently was supposed to taste like instead of what they had grown used to with the rotten or slightly rotten food that was sent to the Isle…having options other than fish and chicken…it was enough to turn her head.

Sure Frollo had a shop but that was in Freddy's territory. Even if Mal was actively starving, she would rather chew off her own arm and eat the flesh off it than willingly go into Freddy's territory and deal with him or his angels.

Seriously, if I had to pick who was more annoying it would have to be a tossup between Blueberry and Freddy. Though Audrey is quickly getting up there and I just met the girl.

Besides, Frollo's shop sold stale croissants anyway. If Mal was going to go into Freddy's territory, it would be for something other than stale bread.

"Lonnie, you're beautiful. Absolutely stunning. A real work of art."

Mal raised an eyebrow as Emir's compliments drew her out of her thoughts.

"Nice try but but I'm not giving you my cookie," Lonnie chuckled, having finished her dinner and had moved on to dessert.

"Please!" Emir begged as Lonnie took a bite of the aforementioned cookie. "Coach ran us ragged in practice today and Ben sided with him!"

"You lot need it after that performance you gave against the Imperial Academy team."

"Okay, first off we still won that game even with that behemoth knocking out Brenden, Conner and Ben and second off your dad's the coach! Of course you'd side with them!" Akiho stated and then turned to Jay. "You ever play Tourney?"

"No…" Jay said slowly. "Does it involve hitting people?"

Mal snorted in amusement, Ben's name not escaping her notice.

"Kinda," Emir nodded. "You should try out! I know it might seem pointless considering we're a couple weeks away from the championship but new blood's always welcomed."

"Ben's captain," Akiho added. "He'd definitely let you try out if interested. Your friend too."

Mal and Jay raised an eyebrow, looking at each other. He..he wasn't honestly saying DeVil should try out for a sport that involved hitting people was he?

"I'll think about it," Jay said with a shrug.

"We're on the team too," Emir told him.

"I gathered that," Jay chuckled. "Considering you were asking me to try out after all."

"Wherever Ben goes, they go," Lonnie shook her head. "An inseparable trio—or Ben just has a set of personal shadows."

"Not just shadows," Akiho said. "We also double as security, chefs, and advisors if needed."

"Oh and jesters if absolutely necessary," Emir added, nodding his head.

Lonnie rolled her eyes. "No wonder Ben holes up in his office. It's the only alone time he gets."

"Please, Ben loves our antics," Akiho scoffed and Jay and Mal couldn't help smile softly. The three teens reminded them of their own crew dynamic.

Gods I miss Uma, Mal thought as she finished her dinner. I wonder what she and Harry are doing…probably spending time sparing or bossing the warf rats. Maybe even getting into a fight with Freddy.

"Hmm, that was good," Jay muttered as he finally finished his meal, which was surprising considering the rate at which he and Mal had consumed it.

"Glad you thought so. Steak night usually is," Lonnie told him.

"I'm sorry, steak night?" Jay asked. "As in this doesn't happen every night?"

The Auradon kids shook their heads.

"We've had pizza, Italian, French, tacos, and one time we had breakfast for dinner as the main option," Akiho told him. "Of course we've always had side options as well, in case you're not in the mood for the main course."

"The only side option that hasn't been the main option is seafood," Emir added. "Melody and Elle pretty much insist on that."

"Makes sense considering who their mother is," Lonnie nodded. "There's a calendar that says what's for dinner each day. I'm sure Fairy Godmother will get you all a copy tomorrow when you start going to class."

Yeah, maybe in that Remedial Goodness 101 class they set up just for us, Mal thought with a snort, making sure to keep her mental link blocked in case Steph heard her snark.

"Well speaking of classes, we should think about hitting the hay," Akiho said. "I wasn't kidding when I said coach ran us ragged today. I know it's early but I am beat."

"We might be in some of the same classes," Lonnie told the VKs as they all got up to head up to their dorms. "That'll be fun at least."

Mal nodded. She wasn't sure what Lonnie defined as fun exactly but she wasn't going to lie, it was a little comforting knowing that they had a few allies already. Making her way back to her dorm, Mal sighed as she grabbed some sleeping clothes and made her way back over to Jay's dorm.

If they thought she was actually going to spend time in a room with Blueberry for more than five minutes, they had another thing coming.

Reaching Jay's dorm, Mal knocked on the door, her knock a bit lighter than it had been when she arrived before dinner.

"It's me."

"It's unlocked," Jay called back and Mal headed in. Jay shook his head in amusement at seeing her change of clothes.

"You're welcome here any time Mali but you do know that you're going to have to spend time with Blueberry eventually right?"

"I know," Mal sighed. "Doesn't mean that day has to be today."

Jay chuckled. "Well get changed and get in."

"Should I ask?" Carlos asked softly.

"No," Mal said as bluntly as she could as she made her way toward the bathroom to change.

"Okay," Carlos said as he climbed into his own bed, smilingly slightly as the mattress seemed to bounce with every movement. It was a lot better than a nest of furs, that was for sure.

Mal quickly changed and came back out, climbing into Jay's bed.

"At least we've got this little bit of home," Jay whispered as he climbed in next to her.

"Yeah," Mal whispered back. "Just like the clubhouse. We're just missing two people."

"It won't be long. Just don't kill Blueberry in the meantime."

"I make no promises."

Jay gave her a small smile. "Evil dreams."

"Same to you," Mal said with a small smile before they both drifted off to sleep.