It took Ben a few days to actually get the courage to get up and go into his office. In that time, he heard dozens of rumors and stories and read tons of articles, all criticizing Mal's decision to pass her new laws and calling out the palace for not acting properly. It would have put Ben on-edge, except for they were all old. Auradon interweb had seemingly raged about the occurrence for two days and then decided all was well. The most recent article he could find with a mention of Mal's laws was just a simple one talking about how Charmington had managed to work out a deal with Corona in the wake of Queen Rapunzel's heroism in the palace.
Over a week after he'd first come home, he finally worked up the courage to head upstairs, unlock his door, and take a look around. In his 'immediate' drawer was a stack of papers. Some of them had been partially completed in Mal's spiderlike scrawl, and others had come in during the past week. It was fascinating how little there was. He pulled out his filing cabinet to glance at everything recent. His dad hadn't spoken to him about anything pertaining to the kingdom yet, but perhaps he had done a few things? Yet, when he looked, there was nothing. Nothing had been completed since October thirty-first - the day Mal had headed North. There simply wasn't much coming in anymore.
What had she written?
Ben turned on his computer. It actually took a little while to warm up since it hadn't been used in about a month. He saw the marks Mal had left behind - moving the mouse up to sit on top of the desk instead of leaving it in the rolling compartment and scooting the screen back because she wasn't using the touchscreen feature and it was too close. Everything looked neat. Not necessarily the way he'd left it, but neat. None of the books he regularly consulted had been used because she preferred digitized records and all of the pertinent folders he usually arranged on his desk had been put aside so she would have more workspace.
He clicked through to the recent files and found Mal's changes under 'Queen Documents'. There wasn't exactly a lot under the folder - her residence permit, her coronation blessings, their marriage certificate and a couple other identifying documents before he found them all in a little list. He pulled them all up, one by one, and examined them. They were all short, concise, and well-thought-out despite the frame of mind she'd been in when she'd written them. They were all very good, but Ben's heart sank a little as he realized what this meant.
Kingdoms would have to team up to conduct quarterly examinations of the palace, inter-kingdom policies were to be determined without the aid of the high palace, and the High Kingdom would no longer be running inter-kingdom trade. Mal had inadvertently begun to fulfill a prophecy. Auradon unification.
It made him feel so rotten - why hadn't he thought of this? He could have saved himself so much work over the last few months and Mal wouldn't have suffered so much while he was gone. And Mal had fulfilled nearly every single thing that had been told to her during her coronation blessings - what had he done? He was supposed to be minimizing suffering and leading the kingdom into an era of peace. There was supposed to be growth and no suffering. His home was supposed to be a place of refuge. Yet here he was, suffering and useless and too shaken to even function throughout an entire day without locking himself away in his room for some peace and quiet. Corrupted and ruined and defiled by this dark magic.
Ben yanked out a packet of papers that had been sent to Mal from the north. She knew his filing system remarkably well, so he found what he was searching for almost immediately. The Auradon Death Count, as of last week, was two-thousand-and-four-hundred. two-thousand-and-four-hundred people were dead because of him, with almost double that number missing or wounded. He'd started the bloodiest event in Auradon History so far. This many people hadn't died in such a short amount of time since the villains were raging across the land in the War of Good and Evil that had built the Isle and spawned the Unspeakable Punishments.
That was two-thousand people with a future; with families. Two thousand people who he could have kept safe. Ben's hands shook as he set the file down with a deep breath. He was a failure of a king. He'd been so sure that this was the right thing, but if only he'd stayed out instead. They could have brought Jack Frost and the other heroes to Auradon instead and blocked out the barrier to their northern foes. These people would all still be alive. He would still be human.
Ben felt the magic churning under his skin, hated and disgusting, and wished he could just peel back the layers so he could let it all out; let it drip down with the gravity that was pulling on his soul and hit the ground. Let all this wretched, angry, death magic out of him and let it pour into the carpet in the shade of blood.
But he couldn't. He couldn't because it had been burned into his system - into every part of him. It was a parasite he couldn't get rid of. Something that had free travel around his body. That had invaded and overtaken and now he was stuck as the unwitting host of something he had never wanted.
He had made a horrible mistake. He'd overestimated himself, Mal, and their kingdom. There was blood on his hands - if he could kill two-thousand people with one decision in one month, he wondered how much damage he would do with this black sand scratching at his muscles and whining through his veins. He'd even almost managed to kill Mal with work overload while he was gone. Mal, who had been so desperate to get away that she'd fled Auradon, the Moorlands, and the Isle completely. He'd almost killed her and their baby before she had somehow managed to save his miserable existence.
It would have been so much easier if he'd died.
The thought sent physical plain through him, but he believed it with all his heart. Mal was strong enough to get along without him. Sure, she might have burnt the Overlands to the ground when she'd found out, but then the war would be over and she'd be a fine queen and a fine mother and he wouldn't have to worry about her fighting away from him and he wouldn't have to deal with this death magic spinning around in his lungs and making it hard to breathe and see and speak. Figuratively, of course, which was almost the worst part. He wished that the magic itself felt worse than it did so he could feel justified for this fiery hate in his stomach for it. As it was, he could scratch someone with this death power and they would die the same dismal fate he should have suffered and this power was just under his skin. He was a lousy excuse for a king(Two-thousand-four-hundred dead!) and a pitiful fraud of a husband(How could he not have noticed that something was wrong?) and he should have died (Should die) before he ever had the chance to hurt his kid like he'd hurt everyone else. Why was Auradon still looking to the palace for answers? (Mal) How could his parents even look at him? (He's their son and they love him.) Why would Mal still want him like this?
Whatever voice of reason had been living in his head since this whole escapade had started was going silent. He felt like he was drowning - like black sand was piling in his lungs and filling his head so that the lights were flashing and boring down into his skull.
makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop.
IdontwantthisIdontwantthisIdontwantthisIdontwantthis.
takeitawaytakeitawaytakeitawaytakeitaway.
IwanttodieIwanttodieIwanttodieIwanttodieIwanttodie. I want to die.
Ben started furiously closing tabs on his screen, wanting nothing more than to squeeze his eyes shut and go lock himself in the bathroom for the rest of the day. He wanted to sit in the shower with the water scorching his skin and making it red, red, red until he couldn't feel anything except the fact his brain was trying to tell him he was in pain. Let the mirror cloud over so he couldn't see himself anymore. He wanted to try and scrub all of the itch out of his hair and wash all of his sand down the drain. Either waste all of the pale makeup people sometimes sent Mal to cover all the scars on his chest or take a pair of scissors and try to cut them off of his body. He wanted to force himself to throw up again and again to get all of this stupid sand out of him. Bury himself into his old childhood bedroom and pretend he'd never become king, never ruined Mal's life, never started a war, never let his parents down, and never picked up the most dangerous type of magic he'd ever encountered like it was some sort of enhancing tattoo. Or at the very least, he wanted Mal back to make him forget it all.
Would Hades bring him back if he died? If Mal begged him? She'd be furious if he arranged his own accident after she'd gone to all that trouble and almost died herself to bring him back. But goodness, wouldn't it just be easier for her?
His cell phone was heavy in his pocket. It was almost as if his brain had disconnected from his fingers and he pulled it out and thumbed through the contacts until he was staring at Mal's old friend with a million forbidden ideas jumping through hoops in his skull. Jay had loved Mal. Jay had wanted to be her partner. Maybe if he was gone, Jay would marry her. Become King of the Isle. So now his fingers were typing out this twisted message even though he shouldn't be. (He should be stopping now and turning off his phone and taking deep breaths because this was going to be okay and he just needed a little more-)
B:"If I happened to die, would you consider marrying Mal?"
Mal was a better ruler than he was anyhow. Not a single person had died in her Isle rush. Had he not given them enough? Most of them had undergone basic defense tactics in schools and then there were teams and they had given them a little training up north, but it was an overall bad situation that he had started. Mal could be queen all by herself and then he could be gone, gone, gone. After all, she was the one who had held everything together and inspired everyone and then passed those laws-
"It was an act of foresight," someone said from the doorway. It was Sophia, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed and a contemplating look on her face. "Everyone thinks it was just exhaustion and selfishness. Belle even told her that she shouldn't be doing such things while her emotions were so crazy, but if there's one thing Mal can do, it's unite people."
How long had she been standing there? Had he been speaking out loud? "She can," Ben mumbled. "She's very good at making people become their own leaders."
Sophia stepped inside, sat down hard on a chair, and crossed one of her boots over her knee. "How have you been, Ben?" She asked in a dreamy tone. "Good to be home?"
Ben furrowed his brow at her. "You saw me this morning," he remarked slowly. Of course, it had been for a few minutes to bring him breakfast and see that he'd gotten up. ("Yes, I'm feeling better. No, you don't need to worry about me. I'm not sore anymore. The magic is still there. I think I might go outside for a little bit today. No, I don't want to see my parents. Thank you, Sophia.")
Sophia arched an eyebrow and, for some reason, Ben's skin grew icy. There was something else in the room - a third presence. Someone magic. Someone not him.
Sophia's eyes lit up with a golden glow and Ben jumped up, gasping, from his seat. "Oh!" He exclaimed, heart thudding against his chest. "You-you're Agathe!"
Sophia's appearance melted away. No longer was the black-haired servant girl with her embroidered dress standing before him, but a tall and nonchalant woman from the moorlands. "I'm sorry to disturb you," she commented softly. "I thought I might come and see the place again. I haven't been by since the curse was broken. You've replaced the flooring in the entry hall since then."
Ben almost buckled down into nervous laughter. "I, uh, could give you a tour if you wish?" He ran his hands through his hair nervously.
Agathe shook her head. "Oh, no," she shook her head. "But it occurs to me I haven't spoken to you since you were very young. Aside from our short exchange in the moors. It's very interesting to remember you so young."
"I don't actually recall," Ben mumbled slowly. "How old was I?"
"Only a lad," Agathe assured him. "Maybe four. Maybe three. You were very fascinated by my magic. And you thought the pictures I could show you were very pretty. I remember you were babbling about the purple princess when your mom came to lead you away."
"Purple princess?" Ben repeated softly. He twisted his hands for a moment and then sat down. Agathe smiled softly like she was looking at a lovely scene that he just couldn't see.
"I showed you magic," she recalled. "You thought it was incredible when the 'big dog' turned into your dad. And you were astonished to see a fairy put Audrey's mom to sleep with a pointed stick. I think your mom might have gotten into some trouble with you talking to Aurora about it." She brushed her legs off with a smile. "Mal was less impressed when I showed her pictures. Of course, I had to do hers rather quickly, or she'd have figured out enough to try and avoid things. You have a smart one."
"You traveled to the Isle?" Ben asked, surprised. "When?"
"Not to the Isle," Agathe corrected. "At your reception. She told you that she'd met me, remember? When this girl-" She briefly took on Sophia's appearance again, "-took her away. I had to act quickly - you were all shielding her so much. But I remember how quickly her mind moved. Buildings on the Isle of the Lost - things she'd already started imagining. The Jolly Roger on the docks... even her sister."
Ben got back out of his seat and circled his desk. He stood a few feet from Agathe for a few seconds and then slowly got on the ground in front of her, reaching for one of her hands. She wore black, moss-like gloves. "You've been telling her things," He whispered. "Giving her visions. And I don't expect you to grant me anything because I know she needed - deserved - the extra preparation, but can you tell me about her? Will she be okay? Will we make it through this?"
"'We' is a strong word, Ben," Agathe chuckled. "You will be just fine. All hard things will pass. Your blessing tells you so."
"And Mal?" Ben prompted, squeezing her fingers a little in his anxiety.
Agathe shook her head. "Mal has already received that prophecy," she murmured. "Unless something changes, her time is almost past. She knows. She thinks she can change it, but she knows."
"Will she?" Ben gasped. A feeling like he was being burned from the inside out again came.
Agathe raised an eyebrow at him. "Time isn't as subjective as you seem to think it is, Ben. Most things are set in the stars and the more you try to pretend they're not, the brighter they become. Like your mother - she was told her family would walk alongside villains. She put it out of her head - she was busy welcoming you into the family - but that was her warning. And your father was told that he would become the beast of his family again, and we all saw the truth of that a few weeks ago. He spent all your life trying to avoid it, but to no avail."
"Are you coming back to warn us or to mock us?" Ben asked bitterly.
Agathe's eyes softened. "Do you think I set the future?" She whispered, running a gloved hand down his cheek before pulling the hand he held out of his grasp. She tugged the gloves from her fingertips. "You forget; I've been here many years and many years will I remain. I came to your great-grandfather with a prophecy that magic would one day enter into his bloodline. I warned your grandfather that allowing his son to grow up in such a hideous, selfish manner would bring a horrible curse upon the castle, and when fate called on me to be the bearer of that curse, I saw how your father would one day ascend his throne and give it to the greatest king of any dispensation - you. Your family fears me and thinks I bring bad luck to you all, but I have seen what you will do and say. I knew, long before your father was even born, that there would be a young fairy trapped here with a prince who was terrified to disappoint his parents. And I know, next generation, your princess will secede her right to your throne."
A princess. His princess. A princess of Auradon. His daughter. Would Mal live long enough to have their baby? Was that how he would lose her?
"But Mal?" Ben asked, trying to not prod too much while desperate to know more. "Our family? She's so young - she has to have the chance for a life outside of war and chaos, right?"
Agathe set her bare hand on his cheek and a vision clouded Ben's eyes. A vision of a fleet of ships, speeding across the water. He could see himself at the head of one, pointing the direction onwards with his face twisted in fear. It must be a sea battle. He would lose Mal in a sea battle. Could Mal swim? He glimpsed her face for a split second - her hand on his cheek, her green eyes flashing like some sort of siren, a long gash was torn into the side of her face - and then realized Agathe had taken her hand away and was replacing her gloves.
"I want to stop it," Ben whispered hoarsely. "Please, please, Agathe. I can't live without her. I don't want to even try. I - I wish... please, can it be me instead?"
"How selfish," Agathe responded immediately in a flat tone. Ben flinched back from her cold words and continued boring his eyes into hers. Pleading for there to be some way.
"Be glad, Ben," Agathe told him, standing up and sidestepping his frame on the floor. "You will be Auradon's greatest king, and you and Mal will be remembered for generations." She picked up his phone and made to hand it to him before sparks flew and she dropped it. "My apologies," she muttered, glaring at the screen - which seemed perfectly fine - and shaking her hand. "I have heat magic, and we don't react kindly to electronical devices." She nudged it with her foot towards him and then turned to the door. Ben watched her walk out without another word and wished he could call her back. Would it be worth begging her to change things? She didn't decide fate...
Ben's phone buzzed against the floor. He blinked broken-heartedly at it and realized that Jay had sent him a return message.
"No, bro. I'm not interested in trying to be you for her or for your kid. Also, your job sucks. So take care of yourself and take care of our girl, okay? Cause I can still beat you up if you hurt her."
Ben leaned against the chair Agathe had sat in and, he swore, he almost started crying then and there. The way he saw it, this war would likely go on into the next year. Mal would come back and probably - he assumed - give birth to their baby girl before she returned to the Overlands and then died in some sort of sea accident. He'd be left alone to finish the war and raise that child, only for her to secede his throne. What would he do then? Remarry? Step down and let the kingdoms elect a new High Kingdom? How would he live without Mal? How could he possibly talk to her about this?
Of course, if something changed, then there was still a chance. Maybe if he could somehow keep Mal away from all sea battles and ask her to stay behind after their daughter was born - explain about the prophecy and figure something out... they just needed a change. One small change... one small chance.
That was all he really needed.
Mal had never really used maps before coming north. Now, she needed them because she had no idea where anything was. She traced the jagged outlines of the southern Islands, labeled 'Nightmare Islands'. To the north of the Nightmare Islands and still separate from the rest of the continent was the island of Berk. A north pole, deserts, mountains and spacious lakes also dotted the continent. Then places called Suburbia, Modesto, New York, Madagascar, Mount Sinai, and Panda Village. She knew Syracuse, where Ben had been captured, and then Duloc, which she'd momentarily recaptured, but her knowledge was more limited than it was of Auradon.
Tiny notes were scribbled onto the margins of the maps. In some, she could see Ben's elegant, kinglike handwriting making notes of where future battles could occur and where the enemy's front lines were the weakest.
"Is it weird being so far from home right now?" Astrid asked, leaning into a chair beside her and playing with the end of her braid. Mal glanced over at the girl. She liked Astrid. Astrid dressed regularly in leather and armor and kept knives sheathed to her belt. She was handy with a sword, axe, anything really, and was very snarky and sarcastic, though Mal could do without the probing questions into her life in Auradon.
"No," She responded. "When I first went to Auradon it was a bit of a culture shock from the Isle, but I'm not really focusing on the differences here." She traced a borderline to a place labeled 'Troll Tree', which had no black on it, and brushed against a sticky note reading: "NTS, introduce Mal and Poppy."
"Well, I mean right now," Astrid huffed, sitting up a little straighter. "Don't you want to go back and, y'know, prepare to be a mom?"
"No," Mal bit out as patiently as she could. "I'm actually quite happy here. It's nice to have a break from Auradon."
"Well, yeah, it's nice to travel," Astrid agreed with a sigh. "But it's so dangerous up here! If Hiccup and I were having a baby, I'd go back home to Berk. Or, well, I'd probably ask if I could chill in Auradon now that there's a little bit more travel. He and I are holding off both our wedding and everything after until this war is done."
"Well, good for you," Mal grit her teeth. "Are you trying to insinuate that I'm not doing things right because I do want to be up here?"
"Oh, no!" Astrid shook her head. "No, I was just saying that, well, I would want the time to get ready and the safety and everything. And I'm sure Hiccup would feel the same. I'm honestly really surprised Ben agreed to let you come up."
Mal's shaking finger stilled on the page. "What do you mean 'let' me come up? I chose to come, he supported me."
"Well, Hiccup would have asked me to stay behind if I was pregnant," Astrid expanded, gesturing broadly with her hands.
"And you would have listened?" Mal asked flatly.
"Of course!" Astrid nodded. "There's a saying about not biting off more than you can chew? Just... war and kids don't usually mix is all I'm saying. I'm surprised you even want to be here. And when you start getting sick in a month or so, it'll be even worse."
Mal sighed and decided to not say anymore as she examined the jagged outlines of the continent. It was fine to be different - different from Belle, Ben, Astrid, Audrey, her mom, everyone. Why wasn't her brain working like everyone else's?
Frost spread into the room, announcing an incoming snow sprite moments before his appearance. "The city of Shanghai is in trouble," Jack Frost announced, breezing into the room and settling onto his staff. "Yi and her squadron are trapped inside and Fearlings are closing in. They're surrounded and falling fast. Is there any chance we can get a group of Auradon soldiers up in less than a half-hour?"
"Yeah," Mal agreed, pushing up and glancing to find Shanghai on the map. It was near the north pole. "Lonnie's squad is outside right now. If you have a way to get us there, we can go."
"We have new snowglobes!" North announced cheerfully, pulling two large snowglobes out of his pocket. "Have you used one yet? Ben quite liked them."
Mal took the glass balls with a pensive expression. They were made of snow magic, but obviously, some metal and glass had gone into them too. "Let me guess, say a place, shake it, and throw it?"
"You have one shot," North nodded with a smile.
"Woah, Woah, Woah," Astrid held out a hand in front of Mal before she could take another step forward. "I know you've already burnt one place to the ground, but maybe it's time to take a breather and let us do the hard work. You've got to not do so much."
"Astrid," Mal huffed, pushing her hand aside. "I appreciate the concern, really, but I've got this and you need me anyways." She started to head to the doors, but Jack also caught her shoulder.
"Mal," he coughed and then corrected himself. "Uh, Queen Mal, Astrid is right. You can only demolish so many places before you wear yourself out. We need you for the bigger battles. And besides, with you in your condition, I think it's time for adventure to take a backburner, don't you?"
"Guys!" North exclaimed with a laugh. "She can do it! These Auradon folks are persistent! They know how to keep safe! She will be just fine."
"Yes!" Mal agreed with a little bit too hard of a snap. "I will be just fine. You can tag along if you want, but don't say another word to me about stopping or slowing down." She marched past Jack, narrowly avoiding knocking him off his staff and disappeared into the corridor. Adventure take a backburner... go back home... Did they think she was here for some sick glory?
They didn't just spend a month being worked to death. They didn't have their husband fighting to keep them home and calling them out for not trying hard enough.
Mal didn't check to see if anyone had followed her - she went straight downstairs and out of their headquarters to see Lonnie with her squad out front. "Lonnie!" She called as she got close. "We need you guys to head out. We're going to a place named Shanghai. It's a rescue mission."
"Need a guard?" Someone called from behind her. Mal turned and spotted Stewart striding across the courtyard with a smile. Behind him, she saw a head of blonde hair slink into the shadows.
"Sure," Mal smiled. She turned back to Lonnie. "I'm going to put us on the outskirts. It sounds like they're being surrounded, so if we re-surround them, then-"
"We'll have forces in the middle and on the outskirts," Lonnie smiled. "Okay, everyone! Rows of five please!"
Mal didn't stop to watch everyone move. She shrunk one of the snowglobes and set it in her pocket before carefully shaking the other one. "Shanghai, south side," She whispered, and then tossed it to the ground at her feet. Immediately, she slipped and then was whirling through a bright white vortex before she stumbled on her feet and walked forward a little. Behind her was a white portal. Out of the portal came, first Stewart and Lonnie, and then dozens of rows of soldiers, armed with swords, guns, and even a few grenades strapped onto their belts.
Far in front of them, a few miles away, there was a large city stretching towards the sky. The sounds of screaming and fighting could be heard echoing miles away. Mal could see people steadily marching into the city. "We need to hurry," she announced, taking a step forward.
"Careful with the ground," Lonnie advised. "The ground is mined. The others tend to know where to step, but our side has lost a few people because we took too many chances."
Mal got to her knees and planted her feet on the ground. In the moorlands, she could seek out the magic of the entire area and tell when things were sick, damaged, or even poisoned. Now, underneath the ground, she could feel danger. She pointed to the northwest. "There's a path," she announced. "Follow me."
The portal closed as the last soldiers came through and Mal saw Jack Frost flitted around nervously in the back. She gestured everyone forward and began to march. Lonnie directed everyone to stay in their lines of five as they marched. As they neared the city, Mal used her magic to probe for mines until the pressure activated ones abruptly ended. "They stop here," She announced. Jack Frost flew up and landed beside her, Lonnie, and Stewart. They were within running distance of the city, but it was so dark that no call had been given up yet. The vast majority of the opposing forces were in the city. She hummed and tapped her foot. "It might be too hard to surround them if the city is that big." It stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction. "And there are so many roads... people would be able to slip away."
"What if I take the far north?" Jack asked, pointing to the opposite side of the city. "I can put up some pretty nasty ice walls. And we can use these-" He pulled out two snowglobes, "-to send half of the army to the west and half to the east. Spread out enough and it'll work. Mal, if you use your dragon form, can you hold the south?"
"Actually," Mal hummed, glancing towards the city. "I can set the perimeter on fire. Just enough so there's a flat battlefield surrounding the city and then no one can escape. And if I fly over as a dragon, I can start sending people to the outskirts, right into your hands."
"That's a lot of magic," Jack frowned, eyeing her cautiously. "If you use too much, you could get denaturation. It's when your magic turns on your body and there's no cure for that."
"We call it poisoning," Mal nodded. "That's what Ben had."She sighed and examined the scene. "I think I can do it. As queen of the Moorlands, I have a lot of extra strength. And if I just do a thin line, it should be just fine."
Jack still looked worried, but Mal turned to nod at her soldiers. "Spread out as much as you can," She commanded. "And by the way, we're fighting fearlings. They can hypnotize and mimic voices, but if you can stay focused you won't be affected." People turned around to pass on the message. Mal put her hand on Jack's. "Put half of them on the North and we'll let the other half spread out here. that way, we save snowballs. I'll be back."
She stepped forward and closed her eyes. It took a moment, but she felt the magic welling up within her, spreading, and then her vision slanted and she grew as tall as some of the buildings in the city. She took to the sky, made a small circle, and heard some fighting stop in the city as Jack opened a new portal up where she'd left. Mal let a fire burn in her throat and then slowly breathed out a line of green dragon flame surrounding the city.
Shanghai was so big! Places in Auradon were spread out, but dense. Corona especially had upwards of twenty thousand living in it, but the space was isolated and small. Arendelle had about fourteen thousand, and China had thousands and thousands of citizens, but they were spread out or packed into small cities. Mal couldn't imagine how many people this could hold.
She saw people try to retreat as she circled the city. In the very center, she could see a battalion being forcer into smaller spaces from all sides. They'd arrived just in time. She finished circling the city and then landed back on the southside to aid her warriors. Fearlings had rushed out of the city and straight into the arms of their attackers. As battle broke out, Mal rushed into the center of the city.
The place was a maze! How could anyone find their way anywhere? Mal dashed up one street, down another, took a left and realized she was back where she'd started before she conjured her purple wings with a little growl and took to the sky.
In the center, where she'd seen people being crowded, the Fearlings were being forced back. She dropped into the midst of battle and held her hands out with green light shining from her fingertips. A few Fearlings tried to approach her, not recognizing her, and with a few muttered words she blew them into particles of that nasty dust stuff that the nightmare horses were made of. The flammable substance...
Mal lit the next one on fire.
Fire was such an effective tool. As the fearling panicked, it spread more fire around, squealed to its friends what was going on, and then continued to run around and catch other things on fire as Yi's battalion stepped away to let the elements fight their battle. "Go on!" Mal yelled. "Head to the outskirts! I'll meet you all there!"
It felt so, so good to be in the midst of battle again. She'd forgotten what it had been like on the Isle - a fight every other week, always defending yourself, always trying to prove your strength. She'd forgotten what it had been like to be the best of her field; the leader and the one warrior who everyone looked for on the battlefield. The one person who, when she stepped to the plate, everyone looked around for with a whisper of 'this is gonna be good'. Part of her wondered why she'd left it behind. The other part knew perfectly well why and was wondering why she hadn't come up here ages ago. She could have been fighting. She could have been leading. She could have been doing everything she'd been brought up doing and fighting for what she knew was right.
Why had Ben ever wanted to go back?
Of course, she knew the answer to that too. Ben enjoyed a fight, but only on friendly terms. Places you could shake hands afterward. But Mal had fought for her life. Sometimes, she'd fought for her life for fun. Sort of like now.
"I'm going to finish this war," Mal thought with a smile as she blew another fearling up and then ducked so one flew over her head and into more flames. Gods, she didn't even have a sword with her! She was doing this all without a sword and it felt great! So much better than being locked inside the palace and lying to everyone and-
"What on earth are you doing!" Someone shouted from above. Jack Frost landed in the center of the circle and, as Mal was still ducked down, spun his staff in a circle to put all the flames out. He turned on her with this deep panic in his eyes that reminded Mal of how Ben had looked when he had yelled at her in their room. "You have no armor on and you're battling these things all by yourself? Not even battling - you're toying with them! You don't even have a sword! What happens if you use too much magic and start to die?" He brandished his staff at her in a moment of intense anger. "You want to be up here, fine, but you can't be rushing in like this - all reckless! You're going to kill your child before you even finish the first term!"
"Oh my gosh!" Mal snapped. "Stop lecturing me! You have no idea what you're talking about!" She stood up and pounded a finger into his collarbone viciously.
"Really? I don't? I'm a father, Mal. I know how these things work!" Jack yelled right back at her. "Are you even thinking about Ben? It's selfish enough for you to be up here but now you're running into a battle against Fearlings, which can possess you, with his kid and no armor and no means to protect yourself! Good grief - I know you have a brain, so use it!"
"I'm not Elsa!" Mal snapped. "I've seen pregnant women do a lot more than what I'm doing! You and Ben both want to treat me like an invalid! I'm not even showing yet! The kid barely even exists!"
"You've seen pregnant women doing more than fighting monsters that literally possessed a good man and turned him into a guardian of shadows with no weapons and no armor and a little bit of magic and lots of theatrics? You've seen them flying over oceans and curing incurable diseases and leading countries?" Jack challenged. Mal curled her lip and opened her mouth to retort, but Jack cut her off coldly. "Go home, Mal. That's your place now. It's your place for the next few years of your life. You belong to your family now. Good mothers don't put their families in danger like this."
Good mothers don't. Ouch.
"Get off your high horse, Jack," Mal spat. "My kid doesn't exist yet. You actually have two physical kids. Good fathers don't leave their partners to raise the kids by themselves."
She spun around before she could see the hurt on his face and apologize. Quickly, she grew her wings out and took to the sky.
Good mothers don't. Good mothers don't. Good mothers don't.
She watched Stewart cut down a fearling on the outskirts of the city and landed beside him. "I'm back," She announced. "Where is everyone?"
Stewart wiped his brow and pointed to the west. "Most of them headed that way. General Lonnie thinks they might have had a hiding hole. Is there any chance you can tone the heat down? It's too hot in here."
Mal held her palms up and envisioned pushing the wall of fire away. It moved according to her will, just like the barrier to the Isle did. As she did, she spotted several fearlings trying to escape towards the east. Stewart readied his sword, but Mal stopped him. "Wait," She hummed and then put her hands on the ground to search for the mines underneath. As a group of three moved over a mine, she sent a pulse of magic through the ground to it. The fearlings were blown sky-high, shrieking in surprise and pain as their bodies disintegrated into dust.
Across the battlefield, she heard yells of triumph as Fearlings disintegrated and burned out. A little smile stretched across her mouth, despite her seething rage at Jack. It looked like it was about to be a flat-out victory.
Then, off in the distance, she heard a sudden yell of panic. There was an odd sound like a whistling or a whittling or like someone was scraping their sword on something really, really softly. Then something electric green leaped through the wall of fire. She almost didn't see if for a second because they blended so well into the flames. They looked like little green statues, though she couldn't tell their features from so far off. She watched them barrel through her to her army, and then people's bodies started flying into the air. They moved with inhuman speeds and unrealistic flow. It was almost as if they were cutting out as the fought. Here one moment and then gone the next. She had no idea what they were.
"See if you can find Jack Frost," Mal told Stewart, holding out her hand as a silent request for his sword. He gave it to her, and she frowned a little to feel how heavy it felt in her hand. She hefted it into a good grip and then took off towards where the majority of the soldiers were. Where'd Ben's sword gone after she'd brought it back to Auradon? She'd have to see if she could hunt it down.
She saw one of the green warriors holding down a soldier as a fearling screeched, trying to make eye contact for the poor person. Mal sprinted for them, sliced the fearling away, and then turned to face the monster. It looked like it was made out of jade or some other gem. She swung, they ducked, and then her feet were knocked out from under her and she was gasping for breath as they pressed a jeweled bow into her throat. She kicked them off, and they flew for a little bit, but then they pulled something from behind them and used the bow to shoot it - a quill? It was some sort of porcupine monster, made out of jewels, and it could shoot its quills at her. She used her sword to deflect it and was a little surprised to see the long scratch that was left behind on the metal.
Mal summoned her magic about her and glared at the warrior. "Jeweled monster, strong and true, make these gems bust their moves!"
As the porcupine drew back another quill, the bow snapped. They tripped in surprise, and then tossed the bow aside to struggle to their feet. Unfortunately, Mal's spell refused to last long, and she'd angered the other warriors. Something - a snake - hit her back, knocking her face into the dust of the earth with a hiss. Her chin slammed into the ground. A monkey and a crane seized her hands and yanked on them so she was spread out before forcing her to her knees with her head arched back over her neck.
One day, if she lived through this and managed to survive this pregnancy and when the war was just a memory, she'd tell her kids this story. Just to watch them roll their eyes in disbelief when she got to this part. Because out of the mists, a large green panda appeared in front of her. A panda with eyes glowing the same way hers did. Maybe they had the same type of magic?
She saw the punch coming in time to put a shield up in front of her. A blow that might have killed her otherwise reverberated back with a clang before a flurry of kicks and punches hit her magical shield. The snake tightened it's grip on her shoulders and Mal focused on making her skin hot. Hot enough to steam... hot enough to burn... hot enough to melt the jade straight off her shoulders and into the-
Her shoulders were freed. Her shirt was singed and smoking, but she was able to rip her arms forward and shove her shield forward into the panda before whipping around and seizing the crane. Liquid green leaked past her fingers and dropped onto the ground. The crane flapped away and then came free missing its legs, which dropped to the ground with a solid thud.
Scores of ice dropped from the sky and coated the monkey before it could pin her again. Jack Frost, she was noticing, had an uncanny habit of coming in right at the last second. He landed next to her, but Mal refused to even look at him or thank him as she watched the crane land several yards away. She hit her knees and Jack panicked, grabbing her shoulders, before whipping his hands back with angry burns stretching across his fingers. Mal's gaze went into the magical realm, trying to feel out how things were built around her, and she gave off a large pulse of magic that sent the crane up in an explosion. When the dust cleared, it was gone. Nothing remained.
Soldiers were falling all across the land. Several of their attackers - other jade zombies and a few remaining fearlings - turned their gazes to Mal. As they rushed towards her, Mal triggered the landmines under their feet. With deafening roars, jade zombies and shadowy hypnotizers went up in smoke. However, these landmines were closer together, and a couple Mal hadn't meant to trigger went off as well.
"We need to get everyone home," Jack yelled. His hands were still scorched and his face was twisted in pain. "The jombies are too strong. If we're not careful, then-"
A fist flew into the side of Mal's face - one neither she nor Jack had seen coming. She went down hard and felt something seize her foot, whipping her body straight back in the direction she'd fallen from and slamming her in the ground. A burst of ice coated the area, but the jombie - the large panda Mal had pushed back earlier - kept his hold on her foot. He shook off the ice and then started spinning her faster and faster until her eyes were sliding together in her head and she had no idea the difference between the sky and the ground. Then, with Jack shouting incoherently around her, he released her.
Mal soared through the air, past her wall of flames, and then into the pressure-triggered landmine area. She barely had time to put a shield up around her body before she collided hard with the ground and felt it give way and open up beneath her. She was tossed back into the air, gasping for breath, and a dozen nearby landmines blew up around her. Shrapnel bounced off her shield. She stayed still, gasping for breath in the cloudy air for several seconds, and then slowly got to her feet. Fifty feet in front of her, the wall of fire gave way to a frantic Jack, who froze everything down before rushing towards the dust. Mal grew her wings out and, with a few mighty beats, lifted into the air. When Jack saw her, he almost fell out of the sky in relief.
"Let's get everyone home," Mal gasped, pulling her second snowglobe out of her pocket and returning it to its original size. "Get to the north and get everyone there out. I'll handle this side."
Jack hesitated. "Will you be able to manage it?" He asked.
"Yeah," Mal nodded. "Just go." She turned away from him and hurried back into the fray.
Lonnie's forces had dwindled and were mostly corralled into a single area. Mal rushed forward, racing past the jombies as they paused, waiting for a window of attack, and then threw the snowglobe down in the center of everyone. "Go!" She yelled and watched people immediately begin to vanish. She turned and, at the edge of the enemy front line, let off another landmine. It must have been attached to a chain because the explosions stretched towards the city in a line before vanishing. Sparse soldiers dashed through the jade warriors to the portal. Mal tugged a sword out of the hands of a fallen comrade, ignoring the face of the person, and then braced her body for an attack.
Something moved on the far left, and Mal whipped around as another jombie rushed forward. She blew up another land mine, and these, too, created a chain reaction heading east. She followed the trail with her eyes, anticipating where it was going, and her heart dropped into her feet when she spotted someone dashing towards her.
"Stewart, wait!" She yelled and threw out a hand to stop him, but an explosion suddenly separated him and her. She saw a body fly through the air, arching above everyone's heads, and then slam into the ground.
Mal didn't really realize she had moved until she was beside him and he was already struggling to his knees with his hands covered his face as he shouted in pain. Deep lacerations were in his arms, but Mal was a bit more concerned with his face as she seized his wrists and tried to pull them away. Slowly, she pried his hands from his eyes and felt stomach acid rushing up her throat. Only everything she'd ever witnessed before on the Isle of the Lost kept her from throwing up.
Half of his eye was gone. It had been blown out along with a chunk of his cheek. She could see the tops of his teeth through his face. And the eye itself was white and bloody and mushy with parts of it dripping out and sliding down his cheeks and into his mouth by his teeth. Mal gagged. It looked like a wet, white bouncy ball that someone had ripped in two.
"What's wrong?" Stewart demanded, grappling with his hands to grab her wrists. "What is it? Why can't I see? What's hurt? What - what is that taste?"
There were no words. Mal stared, gaping like a fish with her mouth opening and closing and her brain felt like shutting off as tears leaked out of her eyes. She let out a strangled sob, and then the world went foggy and intense and loud. Her body quit obeying her brain as she withdrew into herself, covering her own eye with her hand and trembling, trembling, trembling.
Lonnie came with a soldier who hoisted Stewart up and out of Mal's vision before seizing her under her shoulders and pulling her back towards the portal. Part of Mal understood that the battle was over and she was going back to HQ, but the other part was still locked on Stewart and reliving the way he'd kissed Sophia goodbye and how it was all her fault. Part of her understood that this was just a panic attack and she'd be fine in a little bit, but the other part was shaking and trembling and horrified and thought this was going to last forever and ever and ever and ever.
She saw in pieces after that - North's proud face, Lonnie squinting in confusion as she tried to figure out why Mal wasn't responding, the white of the hospital room making her head throb even more. Stewart's entire head was bandaged up. His left eye should be fine; yeah okay. There were two hundred dead; that was more than she'd thought. They wanted to check on her baby - was it still okay? A doctor with brown hair was touching her - why? Jack was glaring at her a little and the cold gel across her midsection almost brought her back out of the pounding in her head but it didn't and so she laid still, unresponsive, silent, mourning, on her back as they skimmed some sort of tool across her belly. shehateddoctorsshehateddoctorsshehateddoctors. People to cut her up like she was meat and give her pills for death and who smiled as they patted her belly without permission and confirmed that everything was fine.
The panic attack really only stopped when the ward was quiet and Stewart was sleeping on his back on a cot beside her and Jack was perching above them, watching over them and the other wounded. She sat up, put her hands to her baby underneath her skin where she kept trying to forget it and then kept one hand there while she pressed the other to her eyes. Her eyes that were there and that weren't mush and that she hadn't destroyed. And she sobbed until the feeling had come back into her feet and fingertips and heart.
She thought Jack would yell at her about how he'd been right or about how she was a bad mother or a bad person, but all he said before he flit out of the room to leave her with her ghosts was "You did good."
"Get out of the palace," his mother had commanded. "You shouldn't stay locked up. You're getting sick."
"Where would I go?" He'd whispered.
"Go visit someone. Go visit... go visit Aziz. Or Jane. Or Mal's friends. They haven't seen you since before you left. Or go visit Audrey."
"I don't want to," He'd shaken his head, sitting on his old bed where he'd hidden the first few days of Mal's life in the palace. "I'm not ready for anyone to see me."
"Well, you would probably be more ready if you would comb your hair out and shave and-"
"Mom. Please leave me alone."
"Ben. You can't spend the rest of your life like this."
"Yes, I can, Mom. Or at least for a little while longer. It's just... easier like this. Let me be, okay?"
"Ben, if you love me, you'll listen to me."
And now, the gravel of the dock was crunching under his feet and the Isle jacket he'd only worn once was hanging off his frame like some sort of poncho. He'd lost so much weight... he felt like he might blow away. The smell of the fish had made him sick when he'd first been helped out of the car with his hat pulled down over his eyebrows and ears and his eyes trained on the ground. All food had been making him sick recently. He couldn't seem to get all of the sand out of his mouth, and it probably wasn't helping that he spent every evening and morning trying desperately to throw up all of the sand in his system, but he really didn't know what else he should be trying when this curse was building under his skin and just begging to be released.
Kids were playing on the beach and adults were running errands in stores and going to work all over the place. Perfectly normal, war-free lives.
He wondered where Audrey was. Mal had mentioned she'd been spending more time on the Isle. He hadn't exactly called ahead.
Ben shoved his hands into his pockets against the biting cold and wandered through the city, which had been steadily growing since summer, towards the closed gates to the Rotten Isle. He hovered outside and wondered, if he happened to wander out, how quickly it would take for someone to find him. How much would they hurt him before they finally killed him? He'd have to be sure they couldn't figure out who he was or he'd turn into a hostage instead of-
"What are you thinking?" Someone called, and Ben jumped away. He hadn't even realized he'd reached out and put his hand on the gate. He wiped the frost off his hands as a tall, imposing man with blue hair approached him. it was evident that Hades hadn't recognized Ben right away, as he paused when he realized who the young man was in front of him. "Well, if it isn't my son-in-law," he raised an eyebrow. "Thought you were up north. How goes it in the land of royalty?"
"It, uh, it goes," Ben stammered, shoving his hands back into his pockets where they were safe and not suspiciously hovering by the gate. "How goes it in the Underworld?"
"There's still room for your soul, if need be," Hades assured him. His gaze flickered between the gate and Ben.
He almost wanted to take Hades up on his word but didn't want to sound absolutely insane. Instead, he scuffed his feet until Hades brandished a hand towards the city and the two began to walk up. "Where's Mal?" Hades asked, putting his hands into his pocket as well.
"She, uh," Ben paused. "Did she not tell you? She came to the Isle to tell everyone." He turned his head to search Hades's face for any sign of recognition. The God of Death looked confused.
"I've been gone in the Underworld," He admitted. "Last I heard, you were dying from an incurable disease. I went to give you a free pass in case you kicked it."
"Yeah, she - uh - cured it," Ben explained lamely. "Burned it out of my system. And, uh, she took my place. She wanted to go north to fight."
"And you let her?" Hades sounded surprised. "Well, that'll be good for her. She'll like getting away from Auradon after everything."
Ben swallowed. "Yeah. I did want her to stay behind but she chewed me out for holding her back and I realized I can't exactly keep telling an adult how to live her life."
"She could stand to listen to better judgment for another year or so," Hades shrugged. "How long will she be up there?"
Ben sighed. "She'll be back by March at the latest because I begged her."
"Well, hopefully, she'll keep herself safe. And again, it'll be good for her. Your kingdom burned holes in her patience." Hades elbowed Ben a little as they passed into the city. They wandered past tiny shops and the government building and then started weaving through the towering apartment complexes.
"I'm worried for her," Ben confessed, shaking his head. "I don't want her to overdo it or anything. I wish she'd just stay here but she's always been obsessed with her freedom to go places."
"Well, she grew up out there," Hades scoffed, turning to point back towards where the gate was. "And this last month was hard, Ben. She didn't like Auradon chasing her down to set her on fire over and over. I was starting to get worried they'd drive her straight to her grave."
Ben flinched. It was hard to think of it in such hard terms. "Ugh, I know. And then this whole mess with my parents and the laws and the baby..." He shook his head. When had things gotten so complicated?
"Madison?" Hades asked with a furrowed brow. "What's wrong with her?"
"Oh, not Madison," Ben shook his head. "She's fine. My parents take care of her. I haven't seen her since I've been under the weather, but-" He stopped in his tracks and then searched back through his head. "Did Mal not tell you?" He asked in a soft whisper.
Cold crept down his spine and he was sure that Hades could feel it too. "Tell me?" His father-in-law whispered.
"She..." Ben trailed off. This wasn't how he'd ever wanted to tell Mal's dad about this. "She told all of Auradon before she told you?" He asked.
Hades blinked slowly and Ben saw him ball his fists in his pockets. "Baby?" He prodded softly.
"Mal's pregnant," Ben confessed. "We... in the summer... we're going to have a baby."
Hades's hair burst into bright blue flames. People glanced over at them. "In the summer?" Hades repeated in a dull, still tone.
"I thought you knew," Ben apologized. "I'm so sorry."
"You got her pregnant?" Hades asked, voice still low and still.
"We... neither of us were thinking," Ben shrank a little. "It was after Maleficent's funeral... she's known about it since before I left."
The fire in Hades's hair went out with a little poof. Hades leaned against the building they'd stopped by with a defeated expression. "Well," he muttered. "That... explains a lot." He looked back over at Ben. Ben wasn't sure which he preferred; the deep, dead stare he was currently receiving or the deadly, angry look. "And now she's fighting."
"I hope she stays out of the battles," Ben tried, "But she wants to hunt down the woman who tried to kill me."
Hades pushed a hand through his hair, looking exhausted and devastated and confused all at once. Ben shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Are you angry?" He asked in a whisper.
It took a long time for a response to fall from the God's lips. "No," He whispered. "I figured, from the beginning, it'd happen. I'm glad you love her and you're not just using her. But Gods - she's a kid. Couldn't you have waited? I thought you'd be more responsible. I mean, I'm not angry. I'm just... disappointed. In both of you."
Something shriveled in Ben's chest. He hadn't ever had someone use that word on him and hoped to never hear it again. Disappointed. He twisted his hands and shook his head. He was disappointed too. Disappointed in his inability to keep her safe. Disappointed she wanted to leave so badly. Disappointed in his uselessness. "I'm... hoping I can convince her to come back. Maybe you can come up to the palace to be with her?"
But the light in Hades's eyes had gone out. He examined Ben with a pensive expression. Then, with a little rasp in his voice, he spoke back up. "She's going to die up there, isn't she?"
"No!" Ben exclaimed, pushing away all of the bad thoughts. "No! No, she won't!"
Hades turned away and closed his eyes. "She's already finished almost all of her prophecies," He moaned. "That's... that it for her, I guess. I'm not going to see her again." Tears slipped out from under the God's eyes. Ben tried to step forward to put his hand on the God's shoulders, but he stepped away, waving his hands away. "Just... don't forget to invite me to see the funeral," He requested. "Thanks for taking care of my girl, Florian."
The God turned and strode away quickly. Ben didn't even have time to follow before he'd disappeared into an apartment building and was gone.
His fists closed, driving his nails into his palms. Hadn't he sworn that he'd keep her safe? That he'd be her refuge? That he'd protect her? He'd vowed to stay with her to the eternities. Maybe he'd been a miserable failure of a human being the last few months, but gods above and in the underworld, he was going to keep those promises until his dying breath. Ben wouldn't let Mal die.
Leave a review y'all. Btw I may have missed a week somehow, so you may be getting a double upload soon.