Alright, for anyone who's watched Descendants 3:

1: RIP Cameron Boyce and know he'd be here if he could.

2. Don't tell me y'all listened to "Queen of Mean" and were not crying in tears of the sheer awesomeness of how deep it was!?

And secondly, I'll be making stuff/locations up as I go since Descendant Wiki isn't helping much in details and I refuse to read the books! And due to my research of elective monarchies, I'm switching it up a bit to having Auradon's government resembling an elective monarchy/democracy hybrid of sorts.

ENJOY

In Auroria...

Sunday...

3rd POV

"What about this?"

"Nope."

"And this?"

"No."

"What about this t-shirt?"

"Didn't I get you that for Christmas?" King Philip asked, causing his daughter to moan.

Audrey had been sitting with her father for the better part of the afternoon after she had finished painting his nails again -a surprising pink and blue combo that suited him - and was helping her pick out her clothes for school before it started up again.

"Alright, how about this?" Audrey asked as she brought out a pink and baby blue sweater from her closet.

She watched him put his head on his cheek, looking at it in question, before shaking his head.

"Great," Audrey mumbled sarcastically before throwing it into an increasingly growing pile of clothes she swore she'd give away.

"Wouldn't you prefer your mother or grandmother to help you with this? I may have grown up in royalty, but there was a reason it took me a while to pick out my clothes," Philip states, watching as she went through her closet.

"Exactly...in a weird sense," Audrey explained. "By you saying '"NO"' at my choices, you're doing me a huge favor of helping me clean out my closet and getting rid of unwanted, childish clothes. Maybe it's time for me to get a new style these days. Besides, if these don't make it to any thrift stores, they might make it to the Isle anyways."

This piqued the king's interest. Aside from her rivalry with Maleficient's daughter, she never spoke much of how she felt about it.

And apparently, that thought was obvious on his face because Audrey caught it and groaned.

"Yes, Dad, believe it or not, I do have thoughts about that place!" Audrey exclaimed. "Look, from another bleeding heart's eyes, Ben's proclamation seemed like a good idea. I mean, it's Ben! He's nice, considerate, brave...It was just so like him to make that decision even if everyone was not on board. And as a princess, I've had to see two sides of this, especially now with the coronation. But as Audrey, lady-like or not, I could have cared less who he invited over. It just pissed me off when I found out he invited Mal! After all her mother had done to this family! To Mom! To you! To grandma! It was like...it was like he didn't even consider how I would have felt about it. As if I was supposed to just accept it lying down! And next thing I know, I'm shunned and now this is happening!"

As if simultaneously trying to prove her point, her phone buzzed from her dresser and Audrey opened it to her text messages and emails before handing it to her father to look.

Grasping it in his hand, he was surprised to see a growing number of at least 200 messages and more emails from various people, news anchors and magazines ranging from apologies to asking for exclusive interviews since that news report broke out.

And it was still climbing.

King Philip shook his head in annoyance before handing the phone back to his daughter. He'd have to give her a new number and launch a private investigation of his own to see how the press got wind of her personal number.

"I wish I could make it better for you," he sympathized, "and you're not the first royal to go through this. You want proof, ask General Shang and Mulan what they had to deal with after dealing with the Huns. Especially Mulan, adding up the fact that she was practically from a civilian family!"

"Yes, because nothing seems more strenuous when you're a war hero, a cursed princess, fairy, mermaid or whatever! But this!?" she gestured to her phone. "This isn't some random glorified honor from escaping an evil witch, enchantment or saving thousands of lives! This is from pity and deception to use me and my feelings to start some propaganda against Ben and discourage his right to the throne! Nobody cares about me! All they care about is some sob story about the girl who was right all along and got cast aside until everything hit the ceiling! The press won't stop until they get what they want."

"And you know to give them what they want..." Philip started.

"...I'd have to come out for a press conference and speak up," she finished. "And I don't know if I can."

And the reason was simple: Princess Audrey, the one poised with grace, would break down and show her real side and the pain she wore behind the mask.

All her life, she grew up beside Ben. He was practically her best friend, and sometimes her only defender when the going got rough. To say she fell in love with him wouldn't be an understatement, but watching him fall in love with another girl, a girl that's not even human...

Learning that she wasn't what he wanted and never would be stung, but when she tried to win him back after that awful game, it only proved she must've been a glutton for punishment.

Flashback...

What she was doing was stupid.

No, it wasn't stupid...

It was completely immoral and selfish and goes against everything her princess training taught her!

Thoughts of all the things that could go wrong with this stunt ran through her head as she stood in the doorway of an empty classroom during the lunch period.

She had at least 30 minutes until class started up again and this may have been her only chance to act, and only hope she could except whatever happened next.

Looking at her watch and seeing it was almost time to enact her spontaneous plan, she opened the door slightly ajar, enough to go unnoticed to any passerbyes yet also enough to open and grab the person intended.

And like clock-work, she heard it. The light clicking of the bottom of a pair of shoes walking on the hardwood floors increasing as they came up the hallway heading to the main office when Audrey quickly widened the door, grabbed her intended and dragged him into the classroom with her, slamming the door shut behind her.

"A-Audrey, wha-" Ben started, clearly startled.

But before he could get another word out, Audrey grabbed him by the front of the jacket and pulled him in for a kiss!

As she pressed his lips against him, Audrey thought of everything she was taught as a princess: To be kind, humble, handling problem solving and being nice to others. But they weren't working for her now. If she had learned anything from all the royal queens and their fairytales, their own choices that led to their happy endings.

If it worked, she would have Ben back, try to find out what went wrong and maybe she fix it. And after that, if she decided they were at a good place, she would demand an apology for his ludicrous behavior at the game, if he hadn't already apologized by then.

But then she thought about what if it didn't work. What if she couldn't lure Ben back to her? Then what? She should just accept defeat? NO! She's been through enough and she was losing friends and her reputation was at stake! Everything was fine until Mal entered the picture and nothing was going right!

Ben loved her, right? He had too. They had grown up together. When they were kids, he was the only one defended her when Chad mocked her for being too girly and playing with dolls, saying she couldn't play with them because of it. Ben had stood up for her and said that just because she was a girl didn't mean she shouldn't be allowed to play with them and that Chad was wrong for trying to exclude her.

His sense of righteousness and fairness was what made her fall for him, even ar the age of 6.

He never changes that part of him, even when he decided to campaign for King against the other royals who were older and experienced. Even if Ben would never know this, even his parents doubted him. But Audrey, she stayed by his side, solely to help him with anything that was needed. She believed he could win and she wanted to be by his side. Yes, she was aware that if he won, he could make her his Queen, a fact every and her grandmother was aware of (hence why Auroria was one of Ben's supporters), but by the end of the day, she did it all for Ben and more, so he must have loved her! You don't do things like that unless...

Before she could finish that thought, Ben's hands moved up yo her shoulders and pushed her away, gently breaking the kiss.

Audrey didn't hesitate to look him in the eyes. She watched the conflicted emotions flash before his eyes as if he was deciding whether or not he was dealing with a royal advisor and not his ex-girlfriend.

But what emotion Ben's eyes landed on made something in Audrey's heart.

Pity.

"I'm sorry, Audrey. But I'm in love with Mal," Ben stated with finality.

Audrey just stood root as his words played over and over in her head while he simply walked past her and out of the classroom.

Ben didn't love her.

Flashback ends...

Audrey had to learn a painful lesson that day. And it was that no matter how much she devoted herself to him, she would never be enough.

She remembered walking to her dorm, completely unaware of her surroundings until she made it to her bed and cried for the rest of the day, ignoring classes and cheer.

But after that, Audrey put on the mask of Princess Audrey and decided to play her part. Be his loving friend and a part of the support system that helped Ben become King and watch as he'd become a worthy king Auradon would remember for ages.

It didn't matter how she'd feel in the long run, and she'd ignore the pain as she watched Mal sit beside him on his coronation if it made Ben happy. But she'd always feel that something was amiss with the dark fairy's daughter and maybe, somewhere deep down, she'd hope it was paranoia and she was wrong.

Until Jane took the wand...

"Would you still defend him?" Philip asked her, the question sounding more like a statement.

"He deserves to be King, Dad. Regardless of his judgment," Audrey admitted, "So I ask of you, as King of Auroria, to bring my request to bring upon the Auradonian Royal Council and speak on my behalf."

King Philip looked at her perplexed. "Why involve the council when you can make the behalf here?"

"You asked if I would still protect Ben and I said yes. But can't do that unless I can show the nation that I still stand by him as an Auradonian citizen. I'm not blind, Dad, and I know you've been considering seceding Auroria from Auradon."

For the first time in a long while, Philip flinched. He hadn't expected Audrey to know that. It had started as a quick thought in anger but, admittingly, the longer he spent private time with his daughter, the more the hasty thought had been given more consideration. Did one of the servants tell her or is he was just that obvious?

"Grandmother Flora told me in secret," Audrey answered, knowing what he was thinking. "She knows a thing or two about goes on in royal gossip and felt I had a right to know, particularly since you're considering it too. Anyways, I'm much Auradonian as I am Aurorian, and when the young man I helped put on the throne rights is being threatened, then it is my duty as his ally to defend that right until he's proven unworthy."

"You don't owe him anything," Philip inquired. This caused Audrey to turn and give him a regal expression that resembled that of a great royal princess.

He was not looking at Audrey, his daughter, but now at Audria, the proud Princess of Auroria and King Philip couldn't stop the proud smile that grew on his face as she spoke.

"What he owes me and what he deserves are far two different things," Audrey proclaimed.

Tuesday...

Hours after his discussion with Audrey, King Philip sent out a formal request to Former King Adam, Prince Ben and other members of the council (made up of 2 representatives from each region making 12 - minus Neverland, Wonderland and the Isle of the Lost) to request a meeting, hinting a little about his daughter coming forth to speak. And to his luck, there was a sound agreement!

The king cleared a spot in his schedule for the meeting and headed out with Flora (as a punishment for discussing his thoughts with Audrey) to Auradon City, where the meeting would be held in the Grand Belle Hall, a public library and town hall Adam had created in honor of his wife.

From the moment he entered the meeting, he was graced by the presence of Princess Ting-Ting and her husband Ling of the Northern Wei, Esmerelda and Phoebus of Notre Dome, Former King Frederic and Former Queen Arianna of Tangletown, Snow White and Prince Florian of Charmington, King Triton's daughters, Attina and Alana, a few other representatives, and of course, Former King Adam and Prince Ben.

At the sight of the prince, King Philip did his best to be civil (not skewering Ben with his sword) and quickly got to the point of Audrey's request and her reasoning behind it.

As he anticipated, Philip was met with mixed reviews. Those who were more than aware of the situation were skeptical because of the newscast (thanks to Tinkerbelle's daughter) and felt that even if she wouldn't mean to, it would make the matters worse. Others could see past it and believed that if the young princess was willing to put aside her personal feelings and speak up, it would help quell the outraged citizens and get most of the media off their back, especially Ben's.

King Adam was more than supportive for the latter, but it was, ironically, Ben who was for the former, not because he'd think she'd slander him but because she didn't need to defend him and he was capable of protecting himself and not draw any more attention towards her.

Philip had to hold his tongue, biting the urge to comment that he hadn't cared about protecting his daughter before, but he had to be civil and accept it.

When it got put to a vote, those in favor of letting Audrey speak won by 8 out of 12.

It was decided that because of Auradon Prep coming back into session after the weekend, it would be held on this Friday and Snow White had happily assured the king that the network would more than agree to cover the conference in three days and get Audrey more than just her voice heard!

Three Days Later...

At the Auradon Cathedral...

The press conference was held inside the Auradon Cathedral, another part of Audrey's request. Snow White had not joked about her network being more than ready to cover the gathering. Lightings were adjusted every few minutes, cameras were angled at certain parts of the church and the altar, where a podium was set up.

Many citizens, reporters, journalists, and a few members of royalty and respected faces quickly gathered inside and took their seats, creating a massive crowd only coming close to the comparison of that to Ben's coronation! Everyone wanted to know what Audrey had to say, and when the news broke out for this conference, it was a race to get the best seats and get more insider info.

To say Audrey was nervous was an understatement. She had attended events like this before, and had everything not gone wrong, would've been sitting beside Ben as he took the throne. But it seemed like everything paled in comparison when she was the one in the spotlight.

And suddenly, her speech sounded worthless in her head in comparison to writing it for the last two days, adding an improve on the way to the building she had running through her head!

She thought back to the previous night when her family came to check on her and saw she was still awake.

Flashback...

"Audria, why are you still awake at this untimely hour?!" her grandmother exclaimed, scaring her from the papers spreading all over her desk. "And why is your room so messy!?"

Looking around, Audrey finally took notice to the floor around her desk area is covered with crumpled up balls of papers. She hadn't realized she scrapped that many ideas.

Philip bent down and picked up one of them, reading through it and seeing how orderly yet incomplete it was to resemble a speech.

"Sorry, Grandmother. I just can't sleep. I have to speak tomorrow and everything I come up with is not even close to resembling what I want to say. It's like my brain has turned to mush!" Audrey frets, rubbing her hands through her now-messy hair.

"Audi, what you need is some time to sleep. You've been at this since you've gotten the approval and nothing will make this better if you tire yourself out and pass out on stage," Aurora said, trying to help her daughter from her desk.

Shaking her head, Audrey stated "No, I have to finish this so that Auradon could take this seriously and Ben can be on his way back to the throne! I have to get this right!"

"You're not helping yourself if you're deprived of sleep," Leah said. "You're hours away from speaking in front of news reporters and columnists and if you don't even look your best, that's all they'll be focusing on."

"You don't have to speak up if you don't want to. Nobody is forcing you to do this," Philip adds in...Only to receive a vicious glare from his daughter.

"But I am, Dad, and no one can convince me otherwise. The press won't stop until I give them a bone to feed on, and if that bone is going to be me, then, I'll make it one of the most delicious bones it can be!" she argued before taking a deep breath, calming herself. "I just...I just have to get this speech right."

Aurora looked at her for a minute before suggesting, "Why not speak from your heart?"

Audrey immediately scoffed at that. "That won't work. They need a princess, not some heartbroken girl."

"And that's the point," her mother continued, putting Audrey's hand in hers. "You are both a princess and a heartbroken girl. You were once Ben's lover and one of his closest friends. A friend that suffered betrayal for only trying to protect her future king and their nation. What you need to show to the country is that yes, you are royal, but you also have a heart and feelings and that you're passionate about how you feel and the injustice of it, but additionally how you wish for a turnabout for Ben and Auradon to see better days. Essentially, show them that you are a girl who's willing to forgive past wrongdoings and that you are loyal to the young man you plan to serve under."

Flashback ends...

Audrey took her mother's advice and allowed herself a few hours of sleep until she awoke and put her true feelings to paper. As she expected, the tears of her pain were evident in her writing, but she put up a royal front and integrated it into something close enough to deserving to be spoken in front of a live audience.

But that was now leaving her head as her anxiety grew.

Feeling a sudden hand grasp her shoulder, she jumped up in fright and turned to relax as she saw it was her father. Her family would be sitting in the front row for support.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"No," she admitted.

Philip nodded. "Good. All the more reason to use that fear to drive you on that podium. I and your mother will be watching, no matter what you have to say."

Feeling an invisible blanket of comfort draped over her, she smiled weakly and quickly hugged her dad when someone came and told her it was time to go.

Giving Audrey an encouraging smile, King Philip watched as she was rushed away into the hall and the lion's den.