Chapter Forty Four

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.

*flushes in embarrassment* Okay, I am so sorry about yesterday's confusion! That was user error on my part, there was a mistake in chapter 43 I was trying to fix but didn't realize I had pressed 'publish new chapter' instead of 'replace/update chapter'. So yeah, that was my mistake.

On the other hand, I worked all day to get this chapter out because I wanted to make it up to you guys! :D

This chapter wasn't originally part of my outline for this story (hence why Choosing Home is going to be longer than 45 chapters). To the reviewer who wanted to see a redemption arc for a Caster, it probably wasn't what you were thinking of but I hope you like it! :D Oh and yes, part of this chapter was also inspired by that slightly wary look Ben gives the Isle at the end of D2 when Evie says she has someone from the Isle she wants to invite to Auradon and it's never brought back up again! Hey, Kenny! You know what would have been a better plot of D3? Exploring that!

*breathes in* okay, I'm calm... I'm calm...

Urmimala Hazra: I'm so glad you liked the chapter! As for how many chapters are left, I'm hoping that there's about four or five. Of course things could change and as always there's a sequel on the books!

danifan3000: I saw that cartoon but I didn't notice Carpet pinned to the wall! Since Carpet's sentient, isn't that almost torture?

OceanBlueSeaEyes: Very true! At least this David got to see his daughter grow up! :D

CinemaSins: I hope you know that I could hear the CinemaSins voice in my head as I read this review! This was amazing! :D

EllaBSinging: Oh I'm so glad you loved the chapter! And yeah I don't blame Emir either! :D

AmethystDragon14: Yay! Well I'm glad you like them but I'm sure three in a row could get tiring! Yep, Akiho and Emir proposed on the same day/night!

HufflepuffInDaHealingCoven: Oh thank you! I hope your thumb feels better!

Hufflepuff24: Very true! Hmm, good question—I mean Carpet's magic though and the magic would wear off wouldn't it?

Guest: It's not a weird question! I like the idea of them being presented with all the afterlife systems and they pick the one they prefer!

twilightgirl587: Very true—and thanks for catching that! I didn't even realize it was like that until you said something!

Hope you all enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

"You and Mal are so full of crap, it's a wonder neither one of your eyes are brown!"

"Brenden?" Ben asked, looking up from his paperwork in shock as his former team mate marched into his office. "Everything okay? You normally hate that saying, what with you having brown eyes and all."

"No everything's not okay Ben!" Brenden exclaimed, pushing his brown hair out of his eyes as he stormed forward and stood in front of Ben's desk. "Quinn's been here for three months and you and Mal have been treating her like she's something to be wary of!"

"I'm not treating her like—."

"Don't feed me the scripted response Ben! I was on the same Tourney team, the same R.O.A.R. team as you, you owe me that much! You and Mal have treated Quinn differently than all the other new VKs that came in!"

Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It'd been true that he was…apprehensive about bringing kids from the Isle again. Not because he thought they didn't deserve a second chance but…because of Freddy, he'd been sorely tempted to keep it to the kids selected by Mal and her friends.

But Audrey's words rang through his brain like the bells ringing in Notre Dame, some of the last words that Audrey had ever said to him now that he thought about it: only second chances for those Mal likes, huh?

It just so happened that Evie had selected Quinn, Queen of Heart's daughter, to come to Auradon. She hadn't had much interaction with Quinn but she had said that she couldn't leave another Queen's daughter on the Isle. Ben thought it wouldn't be a problem—yes Mal and Uma weren't thrilled about it but Ben had remembered that Mal also said that Quinn was the one Caster that they liked.

If only it hadn't gone pear shaped that first day.

Ben, Mal, Uma, and Evie stood in front of the statue of former King Beast as the limo pulled up in front of the school. Ben could feel Mal tense despite the fact that most of the VKs were allies or friends of sorts.

But he also understood at the same time. He knew what it was like to have to be 'on' in terms of being royal and this was definitely one of those times.

"He-heya Ma-Mali," a purple haired boy with a dark black and purple sweatshirt stammered as he emerged from the limo. "G-Gods it-it's bright."

"Hey Virg," Mal grinned. "Or should I say hey cuz?"

"W-what?"

"Okay, let's not drop knowledge bombs on Virgil just yet, not if Uncle Hades and Aunt Steph haven't already told him," Uma said, shaking her head in amusement. "As much fun as it is, I see Freddie in that limo!"

"Impatient much?" Freddie Facilier said with a small chuckle as she too climbed out of the limo. "And where's our sister?"

"With Dizzy, more than likely spying on CJ's date with Ryan," Uma said. "Estelle's on guard duty, plus Harriet and Henry providing human guards. Though whether that's for Celia and Dizzy or to make sure CJ doesn't kill them for spying on her, I'm not sure."

"Ah."

Another VK shook her head in amusement. "Gods the half-imp wasn't kidding. How do you all live with it so bright all the time?"

"Practice Hermie. Practice," Mal told her, giving the younger girl a welcoming smile.

Hermie brushed a bit of her raven black hair out of her eyes. "If you say so Mal."

"So if Captain Uma's here because of Freddie, and Captain Mal's here because of Virgil, then where's Jay?"

"In college, Jade," Uma said. "He'll be sorry he missed you."

"Not as sorry as the crew will be since you took their last hyena envoy off the Isle," Jade pointed out. "You know the hyenas answer to women more than they do men."

"Well the rest of the crew will soon be here hopefully," Mal said. "With Freddy gone and the other Angels dispersed, there's not much of a reason for the Rats to stay cooped up on the Isle."

"Especially if the Casters are making moves to invade," the other boy said with a low mutter.

"Caspian," Uma said with a sigh.

"What? It's true!"

Evie shook her head. "Welcome to Auradon, Quinn," she said, giving her fellow Isle Royal a small curtsy.

"Thank you Evie," Quinn said, returning the curtsy and giving the blue haired girl a small smile.

Ben smiled at the group. "It is so, so nice to meet all of you. I'm so happy you could come to Auradon," he said as he began to shake everyone's hand.

"Oh I'm sure the pleasure is all ours your highness," Quinn said as she batted her eyelashes; both her hands covering Ben's in the handshake.

Mal rolled her eyes. "Still up to your old tricks Quinn?"

"Girl's gotta eat and it's not like the Casters got a lot in terms of food," Quinn muttered and Mal's small glare softened somewhat at that. She remembered what life was like on the Isle after all. Plus Evie was giving her a 'be nice' look and honestly, disappointing Evie was on the same level as disappointing Ben in terms of the sad eyes they'd give.

Someone has to teach those eyes of shame somewhere, Mal thought. People aren't just born knowing how to do them.

Mal sighed as she looked at Quinn. "You don't need to worry about that anymore. There's plenty of food here but flirting with a guy who's engaged is not going to get you anywhere."

Quinn nodded quickly, as if to show she understood, and quickly put her hands in her pockets. Mal noticed and frowned but shook her head slightly; after all Quinn was still from the Isle. They kept their hands in their pockets unless they were stealing something or sparring.

Actually if you were sparring a Caster, you'd get nervous if they put their hands in their pockets. After all, that's where potion vials went.

Isn't it usually my job to be the outspoken, distrustful one? Uma thought to her. You're usually the watch and distrust silently one.

You really trust a Caster? Besides, what if she was flirting with Harry right in front of you? Mal thought back.

Oh I never said I trusted her but Quinn always looked out for Hadie and Celia on the Isle. Remember? I'm just saying you're being a bit too open about the whole thing.

Yes well maybe if she flirted with someone other than Ben, I might not be so open about it. I trust Ben, it's Quinn I don't trust. Besides, you know Quinn will have told Maddy and Zevon about the fact that she got picked to get off the Isle. How do we know that this isn't another 'steal Fairy Godmother's wand moment'. I'm trying not to be an Audrey cuz because Quinn herself may be relatively harmless but her contacts aren't.

That's a good point cuz but all Quinn did was flirt with Benny. Granted a bad move since I"m pretty sure all of Auradon knows the two of you are engaged after all, but no one ever accused Quinn of being smart. You really think Zevon would trust the lone non-magic user to get him off the Isle? Uma thought.

Quinn wouldn't be alive if she wasn't smart though. The Isle doesn't allow for stupid. Ginny proved that and if Zevon thought that Quinn would be the one we'd take…he'd try anything. The 'weak link' of his gang or not.

Um Mal? I'm pretty sure Gil's older brothers are still alive and they're both dumber than a bag of rocks. The Isle does allow a little for stupidity…but you're right about Zevon trying anything he could to get off the Isle.

The Gaston twins are alive because Gaston feeds them. It's not by their own merits. I just…I don't know what to think…I mean…I think it's better to be openly distrustful at first than be a two faced person to Quinn…she'd have to know we wouldn't trust her right off the bat right? But you have a point there…we don't want to be hypocrites, Mal thought with an internal sigh.

It'll be okay Mali. At least here, if something is going on, we can convince Quinn she has a choice.

I hope you're right.

"Mal?" Ben asked, looking at his fiancee.

"Yeah?" Mal asked.

"Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine."

Ben smiled and gently kissed the top of Mal's head. "Good."

He turned to the new VKs. "Well then, let's give you guys a tour."

"Sounds good your highness," Freddie said with a grin.

Uma smiled; it'd been too long since she'd seen her sister. But now they were all in Auradon together.

The tour went on without any issue or accident though Uma did have to smirk as Freddie seemed to do a double take as she saw Ally over in Quinn's new dorm. Though Caspian had the same reaction upon seeing Ruby Fitzherbert as they passed in the hall. Her crew seemed to have a thing for royals-Mal with Ben, Henry now with Claudine, a Princess by adoption, and now Caspian with Ruby.

And maybe it was her imagination but Uma was sure one of the Tourney boys had captured Quinn's attention. Jade certainly hadn't been shy with her flirting with Miguel.

At least everyone's been comforting to Virgil—and those noise cancelling headphones Carlos found seem to help, Uma thought. Plus Jade was glaring at anyone who looked like they wanted to make a comment—Jade can be scary when she wants to be.

"Well that went well," Ben said when the four of them were back in his office at Auradon Prep.

"That it did," Mal nodded with a small smile that only grew as Harry slipped in and wrapped his arms around Uma's shoulders.

Mal gently laced her fingers through Ben's hand but frowned slightly as she felt the smoothness of his fingers.

"Ben? Where's your ring?" Mal asked. This wasn't the ring he'd given her at his Coronation but rather a ring Beast had given Ben on the one year anniversary of Ben's Coronation. Apparently it was a family tradition or something. It was a simple golden band with a sapphire in the middle but it was still something of Ben's and that made it valuable.

"What?" Ben asked and looked down at his hand. "Oh…very funny Jay."

"Ben, Jay's not here. It's one of the rare days he's actually he's gone to classes," Harry said. Jay'd gone off and gotten a Tourney scholarship over in Sherwood but he seemed to always be in Auradon whenever anyone needed him.

"But then…who'd steal my ring?" Ben asked, looking over at Mal.

Evie sighed and softly slipped out of the room, no one noticing as they looked around the floor by Ben's desk. She had an idea.

Quinn had given back the ring and apologized—Ben understood but after everything with Freddy and Audrey and…he hated to say it but even Mal a little with the cookie that started it all, he was slightly wary of Quinn.

Though he didn't think it'd be so obvious that Brenden would be chewing him out for it.

"Look, I…I don't mean to be," Ben told him. "I just—."

"You just what?" Brenden asked. "Ben, in case you forgot, your fiancee is from the Isle! Not everyone from the Isle is going to try to take over Auradon like Freddy did just like not all of the Tourney team was made up of royal heirs. Some of us are just regular citizens trying to better ourselves!"

"Hang on…"

Brenden sighed and shook his head. After talking to and spending time with Quinn, it was obvious that his mother wasn't the only girl who'd grown up around monsters-and Quinn's monsters weren't the type you could yell 'Boo' at and they'd flee from you. And yes he knew Freddy was a monster but Brenden thought Freddy was a special case. "Just…just give her a chance Ben. Please? An honest chance?"

"Fair enough." Ben said and sighed. "I promise Brenden, I'm not doing it on purpose. I just…after everything the Isle keeps throwing at us and yes I know we've earned it after twenty years of not caring but…"

Brenden sat down and looked at Ben. "Ben, you're my captain. You're my King. I'd follow you to the ends of the Earth but you can't say that you're inviting VKs over and that they deserve a second chance in one breath but then in the other say you're nervous about what they might do. Please. Don't let the crown change the overly trusting person you are."

Ben gave his former teammate a small smile. "I promise. I can't say anything for Mal though."

"Yeah well…you don't turn into a dragon. Hence why I stormed in here and not over to Mal. Evie's taking care of that talking to."

Ben chuckled and shook his head as Brenden got up to leave. "Oh Brenden?"

"Yeah?" Brenden asked as he looked over his shoulder at Ben.

"Evie told me Quinn liked to make her own jewelry. If you were thinking of first date ideas…"

"…what do you—?"

"The only people who storm into my office are Emir, Mal, Uma, Harry, Jay, and Akiho. Everyone else waits for Dean to tell me they're waiting to be let in. Yes even my dad, no matter how many times I've told him he doesn't have to. You obviously care about Quinn."

"…yeah…yeah I do."

"So ask her out."

Brenden snorted. "Who says I haven't? Our first date was a double with Jade and Miguel. Proof positive you need to get out more Ben."

"…you've been hanging around Akiho and Emir again haven't you?"

"Sue me," Brenden chuckled and left the office. Ben shook his head and gave a small smile. Meanwhile across campus, Mal stared at Evie in disbelief.

"Evie, why should I trust her? Did you forget that she stole from Ben?!"

"Mal, that was three months ago," Evie said gently. "You trust me right? I was just like her once…"

Mal sighed and shook her head. "There's a difference Evie. You weren't in a rival gang by Zevon of all people."

"Quinn is not Zevon Mal."

"She reported to him, Evie."

"Mal, it was either that or be a girl without a gang! Do you really want that for any of us VK girls on the Isle? Or at least the way the Isle used to be? Away from Zevon and Maddy, Quinn's harmless."

"Of course I don't want that fate for any girl on the Isle Evie! But…I have to think about Auradon. With everything that's happened…with Freddy…with Audrey…I'd rather not have a redo of that."

"I know, I know," Evie said as she sat down on Mal's bed. "But Quinn's not Freddy. She doesn't have any beef with you or Ben. She was only in the Casters to be a number. Why can't she have a chance to be more than that? This is Auradon after all, where we can be whatever we want to be. Give Quinn that chance."

Mal sighed. "Evie, you remember what it was like on the Isle. You trusted the wrong person, that could end up costing you your life or the life of your allies. The only reason I didn't call her out for stealing Ben's ring was because I'm trying not to be Audrey."

"I know M," Evie nodded. "But Quinn's fine, I promise. She told me she wants to start her own business, selling jewelry and I think it's a great idea. Let her get out from the Caster shadow you put her under. "

"Evie, aren't you already partnering with Ginny and her makeup?" Mal asked.

"Never hurts to have someone supply accessories as well," Evie said with a small shrug.

"And you trust her?"

Evie sighed. "She's got to have someone trust her Mal."

"And why does that someone have to be you?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why not me?"

"Evie, you're trusting her rather quickly."

"Mal, I used to be just like her."

Mal sighed and shook her head. "I just don't want you getting hurt Evie."

"Trust me M, I appreciate that but if no one trusts Quinn and gives her a chance—or at least if more people don't trust Quinn than just me and Brenden, she will become a villain."

Mal shook her head once more. "Well you can trust her Evie but I'm not going to run into her arms and start braiding the Caster's hair. Like Uma and I told you when you suggested Quinn even come to Auradon, we may like her because of how she avoided going after our siblings in a face off but we still don't trust her."

"And no one is expecting you to, not with the history your gang had with Zevon's. All I'm asking is for you to let me trust her and give her a chance. The same chance you gave me when you told your mother to protect me after I stole the wand for Maleficent at the Coronation."

Mal couldn't help but bite her lip as she nodded her head hesitantly, almost as if she didn't want to move it at all.

"Thank you," Evie said.

"Just…just be careful. That's all I ask," Mal said, her voice soft.

"I will," Evie promised. "But all Quinn needs is someone to give her a shot. And that person is going to be me."

Mal sighed. "Fine. But if anything happens, call me. She may be under your protection E but you've earned my friendship. Any girl who can fight against Freddy earns that."

Evie smiled, not even noting the use of the nickname. "Thanks M. I don't think anything will happen but if it does, I'll let you know. I promise."

Mal nodded and watched as Evie walked out of the room, sighing as the door shut.

"Be careful E," Mal whispered into the silence. "Please…I may not have liked you when we were kids…but times have changed…you've grown on me…Quinn's lucky in a way. She has you…"

Her fingers brushed over the chain that she wore around her neck, the chain where the ring Ben had given her at Coronation hung like a pendant. She could still see Ben lying face down on the deck of the Cotillion yacht…could feel the worry and terror pulse through her veins…

She never wanted to feel that terror again.