Chapter 86: Leap of Faith

Ben and Crystal, along with Belle and Rumpel are the first to arrive in the field outside of town. Paige and Patrick also decided to tag along to watch this. In fact, it wouldn't surprise anyone if most of the kids from Auradon showed up. Heck, even those from the Isle might make an appearance. Magic was basically banned from the kingdom and non-existent on the Isle, it's meant to be a thing of the past, so here where people demonstrated it openly and without hesitation was a nice change for them and you never knew what was going to happen.

Crystal rushes ahead a little bit and immediately launches a couple of energy blasts at a nearby tree, hitting it in the same spot each time. She's excited about this, maybe a little too excited but the idea of teaching magic appealed to her immensely. It had been a part of her life since the day she was born but wasn't truly awakened until her father brought magic to the town. While never truly explained how her magic manifested outside of the Storybrooke bubble, the introduction of magic to her life had been frightening and far from easy. Of course, the darkness had ended the life of Lillian Miller (by accident) but it had made the then-teenaged girl fear and hate herself. It wasn't until she learned about her past and found acceptance in town that she saw magic as a blessing rather than a curse. And while she used it very casually now, a little too casually for most people, she saw magic as a part of herself and was ready to help as best as she could.

"So…" Ben begins. "How is this going to work? You know this training thing. Is it going to be dangerous?"

"Of course, it will be," Rumple answers, much to the detriment of his daughter. She drops her head in annoyance shoots him a glare as her alternate brother's face changes to one of worry. This is something they want to avoid, making everyone fear magic instead of embracing it.

Fortunately, Belle elbows her husband to get him to stop and shut his mouth.

"Why are we doing this if it's going to be dangerous?" the king of Auradon asks.

"It's not as dangerous as it will be if you let those friends of yours go on not being able to control what they have," the imp responded.

"He's not wrong," Crystal says, hugging her arms as guilt washes over her. "Uncontrolled magic is extremely dangerous."

"Suppressing what they are given will only cause more problems in the long run,"

"Ben, I assure you, your father has been training magic users for quite some time," Belle says.

Everyone looks surprised at the beauty's mention of Ben being their son.

An awkward pall hangs in the air until thankfully it was broken with the arrival of Mal and Maleficent.

The king immediately goes over and embraces his "girlfriend" without hesitation. Tensions are high, but the daughter of Maleficent accepts it, biting her lip hard and holding back tears.

"Hi," he says.

"Hi," Mal replies, before pulling out of their hug.

"Lady Maleficent, glad you are here," Rumple says. "I'm sure this is a day where you can see just what Mallory can do."

The Mistress of Evil just nods and goes to talk to her former enemy/ally, all their relationships were extremely complicated. "I have seen a preview already and I am looking forward to more."

Belle takes a step back, still not fully comfortable being around a queen of darkness.

Ben and Mal stand and watch as both sets of alternate parents' chat with each other. It was very weird considering their real parents were mortal enemies and would never engage in such pleasantries.

He then turns to Mal. "I don't know if we should do this…"

"What do you mean?"

"This training, it sounds dangerous… I don't know if you, Evie, Jay…"

Mal tries not to smile as there goes Ben with his worry-wort routine.

"We're going to be fine."

"But what if something happens?"

"Then these guys will help fix it," she nods to the magic users. Both eyes go to Crystal, twirling a purple orb in between her fingers, mimicking a certain goblin king in a labyrinth. "They've clearly been around magic a lot more than we have."

"What if it goes wrong?

"Ben…" she says, cupping his face so that her green eyes meet his hazel-green ones. He leans into her hand and gently holds her wrist as if her grip is keeping him standing upright. "It will be okay. I know we were planning to go straight home, but if this magic follows Evie and the guys back to Auradon, they should be able to control it then repeat what happened yesterday. I know you care and worry about everyone…"

She smiles at his big puppy dog eyes. "But there are some things that you can't control and when that happens, you just need to let things fall as they may. Take a leap of faith once and a while"

"The last time I did that, it got me you."

She leans in and kisses his cheek. "And you hit the jackpot. Don't worry about me or anyone, we're from Auradon and the Isle… we can handle anything."

"If only it were that easy to go with the flow," he frowns.

"You are such a king," she chuckles. "And still a preppie through and through."

"I thought I'd become more of a rebel like you after the battle on the Isle," Ben says, raising his eyebrow cheekily. "A regular VK."

"Dream on, King Ben, dream on," she snorts with a smile.

The two teens stand for a few minutes in silence, enjoying a happy moment… forgetting their past transgressions and savouring the moment of peace. They begin to hear the voices of their friends coming towards the agreed-upon meeting spot and knows it's going to be an interesting day.

Before they go to see their friends, Ben grabs Mal's wrist and asks her a question.

"How can you trust them so easily?"

"Who?"

"Our… parents, the locals here? I mean we barely know them and a lot of them were not always heroes."

Mal doesn't say anything at first. She watches her "mother" chat with his "parents" just as Evie's mom and crew, along with Harry's family appears. It all seems so normal and nice…

"I guess it's just a leap of faith," she says.

…

Soon, everyone has arrived from the Evil Queen to the fairies. All the VKs and AKs with powers are talking with each other, sharing anxieties and questions about how this training session is going to go. Even the Auradon kids without powers let curiosity get the better of them and came to watch. Snow and David even brought lawn chairs for people to sit and watch the display.

Audrey and Chad talk with Patrick and Paige, while Harry and CJ keep to themselves. Lonnie has also shown up with her brother Li Jr. to watch this, hoping to pick up a few tips in terms of countering magic attacks or how to dodge them when one does not have similar abilities. A few more students from Auradon also appear, but the only VKs are the pirate siblings.

Mal stays close to Ben and notices how afraid Evie looks. Dizzy still has her arms wrapped around the Evil Queen's daughter to comfort her, while Doug holds her hand tightly. The poor girl's brown eyes are a mess of fear and Mal can tell by the dark circles under her best friend's eyes that she did not sleep well at all last night.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Carlos asks.

After being told about what happened, the son of Cruella had not left his friends' sides since. Despite his worries about sending his mother the portal potion recipe, he knew that he had to be there for everyone, his girlfriend, his best friends and everyone else.

Dude, who sits at his master's feet looks up. "He's been so nervous that he actually used a towel like a blankie last night."

"Would you please shut up?" Carlos moans in annoyance. He then turns back to his friends and puts his arm around Jane.

"Like I told Ben, everything will be fine, these guys know magic," Mal says.

Evie says nothing, petrified as a statue. Meanwhile, Jay seems pumped at the idea, so much to learn. Jane looks up at her boyfriend and kisses his cheek.

"It's time I learn more about myself and my magic," she smiles. While the fairy daughter is nervous, she's looking forward to something her mother refused to teach her. A sense of excitement and learning about her true heritage were exciting. Tallia was also thrilled, along with Jordan and even Freddie. Everyone was abuzz with it.

…

Emma and Crystal are talking to Rumple, as Regina approaches them to finalize their plans for the day. Zelena, while no longer having full use of her magic (there were some hints that they were still there), she also stands by to assist, even though she's never actually trained anyone but herself, and even then, her powers had been controlled by an amulet.

"How's Evie holding up?" Crystal asks.

Regina frowns. "The kid is beyond terrified. I let her and Doug sit on the couch all night. She's really afraid of hurting someone."

The concern is written all over the Queen's face, she fears for the girl and when Evie is stressed, so is Regina, a sign of connection and a bond of mother and daughter.

"Fear is an initial step, but she will overcome it," Rumple says confidently.

The other three main magic users look at the Dark One skeptically. His questionable uses of magic made them reluctant to let him lead anything.

"So…" Regina says, changing the subject to the more pressing matters. "How do you want to go about teaching. Who wants to start it?"

The Saviour and the daughter of the Dark One look at one another.

"Crystal and I agreed that you should take the lead."

"M-Me?"

"You were the one to train me so I could go against Zelena," Emma reminds her. "And you didn't baby me either. You knew the stakes and found that sometimes learning on the job is the best."

"It's the way I was taught," the Queen says, giving a side glance to imp of all darkness.

"And out of the three of us, you do have the most experience," Crystal points out. "You've taught both of us and if we're honest, my dad is far from being considered a good teacher."

Regina shudders with flashbacks of the times she was hit by blasts of magic from her "teacher" and was basically told to walk it off despite being in agonizing pain. He was relentless and unforgiving… with no praise and nothing was ever good enough. Back then, Regina could understand why her mother and he had had a relationship. This training had broken her and at the same time made her strong… strong in evil and revenge.

"Even the fairies and Maleficent agree," Emma adds.

"You can give the kids what they need, sister dear," Zelena chimes in. While the Wicked Witch would always have a bit of a grudge against the "favourite" daughter, the one whom Rumple picked to train and cast the Dark Curse, she knew that Regina was level-headed and much more in control than anyone.

"I guess you're right," she says.

"We know we're right," the red-headed witch says confidently.

Inhaling, the newly appointed teacher steps forward to the group of kids and clears her throat.

"Good morning everyone," Regina says in her strong authoritative voice. It brings instant silence, and everyone's eyes go to her. Could still command a crowd which is why she was a true queen. Those without magic, like Ben, Doug, Dizzy, and Carlos, go to the sidelines, leave those with magic front and centre.

The mayor approaches them, eyeing each carefully, mentally taking notes of who might need sterner treatment than others.

"And welcome to magic training. Due to recent developments, many of you have developed abilities that you likely inherited from your parents. While I know most of you from Auradon would rather be going home and we apologize for that."

Audrey folds her arms and rolls her eyes, knowing that this was directed at her and Chad. They did want to go home, despite having homes with parents and siblings who cared for them.

But all of us in town believe that it is important for those of you with magic to learn to control it. It is not something to fear…"

Evie's eyes go down and her hands are curled into fists as she attempts to remain strong. Regina can see the fear and tries to use as gentle a voice as she can.

"It is not something to be ashamed of. It is a part of who you are."

Meanwhile, Jay has discovered how he can snap and create an open flame above his hand.

"But it is also NOT a game," she says, grabbing Jay's wrist and with a flick of her fingers, extinguishes the flame. "Despite what a certain daughter makes it seem like."

Crystal shoots Regina a dirty look but says nothing.

"We are not here to play, we are here to learn and once control has been established, then we will return to getting everyone home. This cannot take a back seat as Magic is not something to be ignored. Is that clear?"

There are nods, some less hesitant than others.

"Good."

Emma then steps forward. "Now Regina, Crystal, Rumple and I will be teaching each of you basic magical techniques, then you will be given opportunities to train with those with similar abilities."

Mother Superior/Blue nods in approval, along with Maleficent.

Crystal then speaks up. "The most important thing to remember about magic is that it is heavily connected to your emotions. If you are feeling angry or frustrated or even sad, it is best to call for a break. Keeping your head is essential."

Finally, the Dark One stands with the rest of them. "One more thing, you cannot underestimate the power of magic and what it can do. While each of you is unique with your abilities, you must never assume that you know everything… that is my job." He chuckles his signature impish laugh and making everyone shudder and appear uncomfortable.

"And Dad just disqualified himself from teaching," Crystal says sarcastically.

Ignoring Rumple, Regina gives one more note of reassurance. She can see Ben and Doug pacing on the sidelines. She knows they need to put everyone's minds at ease. "Nothing is going to happen to any of you. All of us are trained and we will be able to stop anything that happens. We promise that no one will get hurt and no one needs to worry."

Mal smiles over at Ben, driving this home.

"Okay… let's begin."

A/N: Sorry about the long delay everyone. I hope this chapter can bribe your forgiveness (wink, wink). Hope you enjoy it!