Chapter Forty Eight
A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to Disney or the Greek Myths.
Okay, so in all honesty, I just wanted to write a chapter where Gaston and the Gaston twins found out that Gil was dating Macaria. And from that premise, this chapter was born.
Oh and if anyone asks, yes I am still over the moon that Mal and Ben are canonically married! It makes my Bal heart sing! :D
amy . ward . 906: lol very true!
AmethystDragon14: Yay! Yep, Hermie and Evan have a lot of people poking their noses into their relationship and yay, Huma 2.0! :D
OceanBlueSeaEyes: Oh I'm so glad! Yeah I keep going back and forth with the idea but I can see about doing one shots about their group!
HufflepuffInDaHealingCoven: First off, totally agree with your sentiment about Choosing Hadie! I think I read the latest chapter about nine times today! And Aww, I love the name Criss Cross Crew! And yeah Evan and Hermie are pretty great, aren't they? And your theory is a good one!
Quil: I'm so glad that you liked Neal! He really is an underappreciated character isn't he? Lol why did I just hear the Pokemon music at 'Hadie has learned Teleport'?
danifan3000: Hey the kids of the Isle have it rough, I'm not going to kill them off if I don't have to! As for Gaston…I'm better off not thinking about that.
Snowwhite45: Oh thank you! I love them too! :D
twilightgirl587: He was the puppet guy from Pinocchio!
Marcus Emrys: Thank you so much! Okay so your review got the gears turning and yes, there is at least someone equipped to make weapons. Gaston does run a shop that either sells weapons or disguises a fight club. Plus a man who fought in the war would at least know something about weapon making. Maybe not how to make the best weapons (so not Will Turner levels) but enough to make them useable.
Anonymous Reader: Oh thank you! I'm glad you liked the chapter!
Hope you all like this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
"I don't know why you're dragging me to see this," Shayla griped as Locklyn pulled her toward Hell Hall. "It's just another pointless royal event only this one doesn't even impact us! Just some snooty, bratty Princesses getting magical gifts!"
"Stop your complaining Shayla," Locklyn scoffed. "You're starting to sound like someone from Boreadon. Like Fred always said, it's better to be informed about your enemies rather than be caught by surprise because you didn't take time to do the research."
Shayla shook her head before pausing. "Um…Lock? You better pick up the pace then if you want to use Hell Hall as the place you want to use to watch the christening."
"Why?"
"Because your brothers surprisingly had the same idea."
Locklyn paused. After all, she and Shayla normally pretended like the male members of her family didn't exist. Nevertheless, she went ahead and looked to her right, where Shayla was pointing. Sure enough, her older twin brothers were making their way to Hell Hall. In fact, they were about to beat her to Hell Hall.
"Oh no you don't," Locklyn growled and the two girls began to sprint in an attempt to beat Gaston Jr. and Gaston the Third to the door of Hell Hall. They knew they didn't have to worry about Cruella, she was out with Gothel and then would probably go to Maleficent's castle to watch the christening. Just like she had done for King Beastie Jr.'s coronation.
"What are you doing here Locklyn?" Gaston Jr. spat as Locklyn's hand closed around the door handle.
"Same thing you are apparently," Locklyn shot back. "Watching this pointless pageantry."
"Dad said that Hell Hall is for LeGumes only," Gaston the Third said. "Go find another spot to watch it."
"I am a LeGume!"
"No you're not. Otherwise dad would call you his daughter, wouldn't he?" Gaston Jr. taunted.
Locklyn growled and her hand went to pull out a dagger from her belt as she shoved down any shock that her brothers were admitting she was their sister. While her older brothers may have been allies of Fred's, it didn't mean that she had to put up with their taunting.
Though it was usually Strat or Fred who dealt with them. Probably because Fred didn't want to risk the LeGume boys taking what was his and having another boy end up having a fling with an Angel.
"Locklyn, ignore them," Shayla said, shaking her head. "We were here first after all."
"Actually, dad was here first. We were just getting snacks," Gaston Jr. said with a smirk as he held up a bag filled with what Locklyn could only assume to be Boreadon snack food. "So run along…"
The door opening prevented Locklyn from shooting off a scathing remark and she looked up at her father for the first time since she was born.
"Gaston! Gaston! I didn't expect you to be on the stoop gossiping like old maids!" Gaston Sr. told them, giving his sons a look.
"They held us up!" Gaston the Third said, shaking his head as he gestured to Shayla and Locklyn. "We would have been here without incident otherwise dad."
Gaston Sr. looked over at Locklyn and Shayla, smirking slightly. "Well then, you've done well boys. These two are pleasant to look at at the very least, especially the redhead. Who are we to refuse the company of—?"
"She's your daughter you idiot," Shayla scoffed as she shoved past Gaston Sr. and plopped on the sofa in front of the television. "As for me, none of you are my type. I prefer brains thank you."
"There's no proof she's my daughter," Gaston Sr. said as Locklyn glowered at him. "No LeGume would ever produce a daughter and I'm not supporting a child who's not mine."
"Yeah. And that's why you didn't stop the nine of us from using the LeGume name," Locklyn muttered as she shoved past her father to sit next to Shayla. "Let's just watch the thing so I can get out of here."
Shayla nodded and frowned as Gaston Jr. sat down next to her. More than likely due to the very limited seating.
"Try anything and you'll find you'll be missing a very important part of your body if you ever wish to reproduce assuming you haven't already," she growled, pulling out one of her daggers and pointed it near Gaston Jr.'s groin.
"You don't scare me," Gaston Jr. scoffed.
"You want to try me?"
Locklyn shook her head but pulled out her dagger as Gaston the Third sat down next to her; effectively sandwiching the two girls together.
"Let's watch this pointless program," Gaston the Third muttered as his father flipped on the television.
"Welcome all to the christening of the century! I'm Snow White with all the blue carpet details," the royal said with a grin on her face as Shayla and Locklyn both scoffed with displeasure.
"And here we are with Evie, the designer of so many of the dresses and suits you'll see today," Snow White said as Evie came on screen. "Tell me, was it difficult to get so many amazing dresses and suits made while still making what looks to to be one of your best dresses yet?"
"Of course not," Evie said as Doug came up to her, wrapping his arm through hers. "I had an amazing cheering squad with my boyfriend Doug here, along with Lady Mal, Lady Uma and of course my new assistants Dizzy Tremaine and Gil LeGume."
"…what?!" The three Gastons exclaimed.
"What is she thinking? Gil would never sew!" Gaston Jr. spat, glaring at the television as if it had personally offended him. "I mean he's hopeless but sewing's women's work!"
"Didn't he make your vests? That's what Gia said in any event," Locklyn said with a small smirk. Back when her sisters were still talking to her, before she joined Fred's gang, she used to get all the news about Gil and his crafts. Of course, she also used to see them first hand considering she used to be part of Gil's crew.
Her and Brooke and Shayla and Morgan…Strat had already left the crew by that time.
"Oh! Here's the master seamster now!" Evie grinned and pulled Gil toward her as he made his way down the blue carpet; the sound of Evie's voice pulling Locklyn out of her thoughts. "Any words for your adoring public as Auradon takes in the amazing suits you've created?"
Gil grinned. "Well I couldn't have done it if you hadn't let me work with you Evie. You're amazing after all."
"Oh it's nothing really," Evie said with a smile.
"And who are you with tonight?" Snow White asked Gil.
Gaston Jr. snorted. "Five bucks says he's there with Uma and the Hook brat. You honestly think Gil is manly enough to get a girl?"
"Gil!"
"Macaria!" Gil grinned and held out his hand as Macaria walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Queen Snow, I'm happy to say that I'm here tonight with my girlfriend Macaria of Olympus, as she looks even more stunning than I thought possible in one of Evie's designs."
"Flattery will get you everywhere Gil," Macaria said with a smile as she brushed some of Gil's hair out of his eyes.
Locklyn couldn't help but cackle at the sight of her brothers' and her father's shocked expression. They honestly looked like someone had whacked them over the head with the gangplank from The Lost Revenge. "Still think Gil can't get a girl? Somehow he managed to land a Godling to pair off with!"
"Hmmm," Gaston Sr. said, looking almost impressed. "It's a shame he's not more of a man even after going over to Auradon. Sewing! He won't last long with the Godling, they want power after all."
"Uh huh," Shayla scoffed, shaking her head. "Never mind the fact that Gil's somehow an ally to the murderer who's slated to be Queen of Auradon once she's married. There's no more power than that."
Oh she hated the fact that she was defending Gil seeing as he was a Rat adjacent since he was under the Rat's protection, but if it was a choice between defending the blond idiot or agreeing with the raven haired one, the blond won every time.
"Oh right, forgot you former Angels call Mal that," Gaston the Third snorted.
"That's what she did! Fred didn't deserve to be turned into ash!"
"Know your place," Gaston Sr. ordered. "If I wanted to hear a woman complain, I would have spent time with Cruella, Gothel, and Medusa."
"She says hi by the way," Locklyn taunted but Gaston Sr. ignored her. As he always did but Locklyn was used to that. Besides, it's not like her mother actually said to pass on a message to Gaston. Madame Medusa probably had no idea where Locklyn was, which was how Locklyn liked it.
"I'm being told that it's time to wrap this up as everyone has started to proceed to go into the cathedral where the three lovely Princesses will be given their christening gifts," Snow White said, pulling everyone's attention back to the screen. "Let's go inside!"
Locklyn and Shayla shook their heads as the camera switched to the inside of the cathedral; their eyes narrowing as they could see Mal standing next to Ben and Fairy Godmother.
"What is she doing there?" Locklyn growled. "She should be in chains for what she did to Fred!"
"Again with the complaining," Gaston Jr. rolled his eyes. "Freddy was more dumb than LeFou if he honestly thought he could attack Auradon without backup."
"You're not exactly one to talk about intelligence," Shayla muttered.
Gaston Sr. though sat up and stared at the screen as Belle appeared, standing next to Beast and holding a young girl who could only be one of the three aforementioned Princesses. "I didn't know Belle had another child."
"Didn't an announcement go out that she and Beast were adopting a child?" Shayla muttered to Locklyn.
"Remember he doesn't approve of reading," Locklyn muttered back.
"And you want his acknowledgement why again?"
"Shut it."
Gaston Jr. shook his head. "Dad, didn't you say that you wanted nothing to do with Belle after she miscarried because of how weak she—?"
"That must have been Beast's doing," Gaston Sr. said quickly, smacking his son over the head. "The enchantment must have done something to the baby, after all it was to be a girl so naturally it'd be weaker than her son."
"…that makes no sense," Shayla said, giving Gaston a look.
"Nothing he says ever does," Locklyn muttered.
"Welcome all!" Fairy Godmother's voice quieted all conversation as they looked at the television once more. "We're here today to christen the Princesses Arabella Briar Rose, Paige Audrey Rose, and Genevieve Belle Le Bête. I invite the three Good Fairies to come forward and for the Princesses to come forward and get your gifts."
"Ooh gifts!" The brunette Princess squealed and Locklyn could only stare in shock. Those…those were Fred's kids, or at least the first two were. After all, wasn't Audrey's last name Rose? Granted Claudine had also taken the last name Rose when she left the Angels but neither Claudine nor Henry were royalty.
"How dare they!" Shayla exclaimed. "Those girls should have the last name Frollo to honor Fred! That's what anyone who was loyal to him would have done!"
"Yeah you two are so loyal huh? That's why you went over to Zevon's gang almost as soon as you heard Freddy was dead?" Gaston the Third chuckled as his brother high fived him.
"Better to be a girl in a gang on the Isle than a girl without one," Locklyn muttered.
"We'll start with the Princess Genevieve," Fairy Godmother said and Belle stepped forward, still holding Genevieve in her arms.
Locklyn frowned; there was something about the girl that looked familiar somehow. But she knew she hadn't seen her on the Isle. The black hair would have stood out as not many people on the Isle had hair like that. Mainly Ginny Gothel came to mind...or Gia...Yzla and Zevon both had black hair but Zevon would have disembowled any guy who managed to get Yzla pregnant.
"Hey dad, didn't you say only LeGumes had hair that color?" Gaston Jr. asked, unknowingly picking up on Locklyn's thought.
"LeGumes don't give birth to girls," Gaston Sr. told him.
"Lock…wasn't one of your sisters pregnant when she left the Isle?" Shayla whispered to Locklyn, who nodded. Unlike her brothers, Locklyn did have something of a brain in her head and was able to put two and two together. Gia pregnant, the black LeGume hair, Belle and Beast adopting a young child so late in life…Locklyn knew at that moment she was looking at her niece.
A niece she would never know. She tried to brush it off, act as if it didn't bother her but she still felt a pang of something at the thought of the only family talking to her being the three members who pretended she wasn't a member of their family rather than her sisters and her little brother Gil who were all separated from her by a barrier and who were now living the high life in Boreadon alongside her cousin Brooke.
Not that she cared. Not one bit. After all, Fred always said caring like that was for the weak. Why else would they have mocked Ryan for how he acted when his sister died in the dock stampede?
"Sweet Princess," Flora said, pulling out her wand. "My gift to you will be the gift of Hope."
"Kinda a pointless gift. Who wants to be hopeful all the time?" Shayla scoffed and scowled as Mal leaned over to whisper something into Ben's ear, causing the King to chuckle slightly.
"Kind Princess," Fauna said, giving Genevieve a smile. "My gift to you will be the gift of Joy."
"Again, pointless. Besides, it's Boreadon. What's there not to be joyful about?"
"Darling Princess," Merryweather said, looking over her shoulder as if making sure no one was going to make it so she'd have to overturn a curse once again. "My gift to you will be the gift of Bravery."
"Finally a gift that would actually make sense on the Isle," Shayla said, shaking her head. "So we have a stereotypical Princess huh? Hopeful, joyful and brave."
"Next will be Princess Arabella," Fairy Godmother said as Ari stepped forward.
"Hiya Antee Fowa!" Ari said with a grin.
"Honestly," Shayla scoffed. "How could Fred produce a prissy Princess like that?"
"Has to be Audrey's doing, Frollos aren't prissy," Locklyn nodded.
"Hello sweet Princess," Flora said, returning the smile. "My gift to you will be the gift of Grace."
"You really think Fred's kid is going to be a klutz?" Locklyn scoffed. "Please, that's more likely for Morgan's kid if she ever has one."
"Hiya Antee Fana!"
"Hello darling Princess," Fauna said, once more returning Ari's smile just as Flora had done. "My gift to you will be the gift of Dance."
"Nice, glad to see Fred's daughter's going to be a prissy Princess," Shayla shook her head in disgust. "Nothing about leadership or dagger throwing at all."
"Hiya Antee Mewwyweathew!"
"Hello kind Princess," Merryweather nodded and gave Ari a small smile of her own. "My gift to you will be the gift of Empathy."
Okay…that one might be a good one, Shayla thought. After all, as great as Fred was…he wasn't the most empathetic of people. When my brother died, all he told me was that he wanted me to stop moping and go get revenge on the Rats. Which I did, quite well if I say so myself.
"One more Princess and then this pageantry is over," Gaston the Third sighed in relief.
"No one is making you watch this you know," Locklyn shook her head. "Also you can count?"
"You know if you're going to force yourself on us, the least you could do is get us some snacks."
"Oh, are the mighty hunters unable to get food for themselves?" Shayla mocked and Locklyn cackled at the look on her brothers' faces.
Flora floated over to Paige, who was held in Claudine's arms much to Locklyn and Shayla's shock.
"Why is she holding Fred's daughter?"
"He's probably rolling in his grave at the very thought!"
"Darling Princess," Flora said with a smile. "My gift to you will be the gift of Compassion."
"A gift that would be useless on the Isle."
"Kind Princess," Fauna said, taking her turn to float up to Paige. "My gift to you will be the gift of Having Animals Understand You, so you will never be without companionship wherever you go."
"Who would want that? Bad enough that the hyenas and the other big cats talk!"
"Sweet Princess," Merryweather said, grinning at Paige though one might attribute the grin to the fact that no one had interrupted her gifts. "My gift to you will be the gift of Wit."
"Finally something that sounds like it's deserving to be given to Fred's kid," Shayla nodded. "And hey, that's the last one right?"
"Gee, you'd know if you hadn't complained all through it like a typical woman," Gaston Jr. said as he rolled his eyes.
"Remember where this 'typical woman' has a dagger pointing," Shayla said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the older LeGume son.
Almost as if she had heard Shayla's comment, Fairy Godmother turned to address the crowd. "I know that you all were expecting three Princesses to be christened but Queen Aurora reminded me before the proceedings that there is another Princess who deserves to receive a gift. She may not go by the title, but she is a Princess by every definition as she was adopted not too long ago by Queen Aurora and King Phillip."
"Who on Earth is she talking about?" Locklyn scoffed.
"Princess Claudine Rose, please step forward."
One could have heard a pin drop in Hell Hall after Fairy Godmother said that. All Locklyn and Shayla could do was stare in shock as Claudine hesitantly handed Paige to Mal and stepped forward.
All three Good Fairies floated over to her, Merryweather taking command rather than Flora.
"Heroic Princess, Auradon can not return all that was unfairly taken from you," Merryweather said. "But…perhaps this could be a start."
Everyone watched as, with a wave of all three Good Fairies' wands, Claudine was awash with an orange glow.
"What…what just happened?" Claudine asked, her voice soft.
"You know, what's the point of giving her the gift during the televised event if they're not going to at least tell us?" Shayla shook her head as Merryweather whispered something in Claudine's ear. It must have made an impact though as Claudine's eyes widened before becoming bright with unshed tears. She made her way over to Henry who held her in his arms; his wedding band shining in the light of the cathedral.
"…they got married? Since when was Henry interested in girls? He never had a fling on the Isle."
"Just because Henry's wearing a wedding ring doesn't mean he got married to the traitor," Shayla shook her head.
Locklyn stood up. "Well, that was about what I expected. Completely pointless and a waste of time. Come on Shay, let's go find Strat and see if we can't drag him away from whatever fling he managed to find."
And before being around my brothers and father kill what's left of my braincells, she thought as the two former Angels left Hell Hall; none of the LeGume men bothering to even glance in their direction as they left.
Pretending the other didn't exist. Just the way they liked it. After all, it'd been that way for all of Locklyn's life. Just because they'd had a little parley didn't mean she expected any change.
Even as she shoved down the last bit of hope her father would finally look her in the eye and call her his daughter. She was the last Legume girl on the Isle, there was no avoiding her.
Yet somehow, they were successful. She was probably the only woman the three Gastons actively avoided.
Locklyn sighed as she made her way to the town center with Shayla, looking for Strat if they happened to find him. As if unprompted, old memories came flooding back to her. Of Gil trailing after her after he found out about the LeGume girls when he was a kid, an easy feat considering Aunt Claudette had two girls and Gil. Aunt Laurette had won the lottery so to speak, having had the Gaston twins while Aunt Paulette struck out having had all girls.
Locklyn could still remember the look on Gil's face the day she announced she was leaving to join Fred's gang, and that she was taking Brooke with her. They were never the closest of siblings, actually Locklyn probably beat Harry in terms of how much she hated Gil.
But that look of utter shock, of betrayal…
No! Gil's a traitor to the Isle and so are the others! Locklyn thought as she pushed down her thoughts. Thinking like that is only going to make you a target! They all had their choice and they chose to side with the murderer, with the Rats. Well…joke's on them because I'm more powerful than they could ever dream!
"So are we actually going to find Strat or are we just wandering before we have to go back to the Spell Palace to be test subjects for whatever potion Zevon created?" Shayla asked.
"Wandering, you know he'll be talking about the murderer for the next two weeks," Locklyn sighed. "Unless you're in the mood to be a llama or goat or cow?"
Those were the easy potions. If Maddy was the one throwing the vials, chances were they'd end up like Strat did during one of the face offs between the Casters and the Angels. Flat on their backs and screaming their heads off.
"Not in the slightest," Shayla shook her head and the two girls made their way through the Isle.
Locklyn honestly had too wonder how she, Shayla, and Strat had gone from being one of the top Angels to being lower than the scum on the bottom of Zevon's shoe.
I mean, Shay was fourth in command of the Angels after all, and Strat was third! Locklyn thought. Now she and I are test subjects! At least it's better than Strat, who's basically become the Morgan of the Casters now that Quinn's in Boreadon. Still…it's better than the alternative.
After all, even if the food was better, there was still a hierarchy among the Isle dwellers. And those without a gang fell lower than those in a gang. Locklyn would rather be a test subject to Zevon than subject herself to a Fling for Food like her sisters had done.
"Ah welcome ladies," Zevon said hours later as Shayla and Locklyn reluctantly made their way back to the Spell Palace. "…where's Strat? Didn't he leave with you?"
"He's off having a fling somewhere," Shayla shrugged.
"He'll show up," Locklyn added.
"Oh good," Zevon grinned as he pulled out some potions. He was no idiot—the two girls before him had already jumped ship from the Rats to join the Angels and he knew the only reason they joined the Casters was because there was no other choice.
He might have had a fling with Shayla once upon a time but that didn't mean he wanted to spend the rest of his life around her!
"Who wants to try my new creations?"
Joy. How is it we did everything right and yet it's the traitors and the murderers who get the rewards? Locklyn thought as their almost daily role as potions tester began anew.