I had intended for all of D3 to be one chapter, but the writing was going so slowly and I wanted to give you something, so here's D3 part 1. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you do. :)
Mal works herself to the bone arguing for more VKs to be brought over. She lets the blue in her hair shine through, purely by accident, because she simply doesn't remember to hold the glamour up most of the time. It isn't easy though- there are so many things that hadn't mattered when it was just four kids. The school fees could be written off as charity work, as could the cost of feeding them. Ben had invited her, Carlos, Evie and Jay to spend their summers and other vacations at his palace, but that wasn't feasible for the number of children she wanted to bring over.
Auradon Prep classes had to be rearranged to allow more time for Goodness 101, and there needed to be standardized placement tests for the students old enough to come to high school. There had to be remedial classes for those who didn't place, and they had to find a school willing to take the students that weren't high school-age. There needed to be a way to pay for their schooling and places to house them when they weren't at school. Some of them wanted to visit their parents on the Isle, and there had to be allowances made for that, too. Mal wouldn't have eaten or slept if it weren't for Ben and Carlos (Carlos, who felt more out of place than ever while Evie started her business and Jay lead the tourney and fencing teams to victory, had taken to spending time with the new Lady of the Court, and ended up sleeping in her bed most nights when Evie was working into the small hours of the morning and he couldn't be bothered to drag himself back to his room on the other side of campus).
Then again, it isn't only Mal who has a new workload. Evie's trying to build a steady income that she can donate to the new VKs, trying to buy places that she can fix up so that she can house them in the breaks. Ben's attending to the responsibilities of a king, as well as trying to bring all of Auradon to an agreement about the rest of the children from the Isle coming over. Carlos is trying to implement new infrastructure on the Isle for the people who can't (or won't) come over, and Jay spends his time working the public relations aspect, trying to prove to the entire world that they are harmless, that they are good.
And, in spite of all their efforts, they seem to be moving backwards in terms of progress. It takes everything Mal has (and some she doesn't) to keep smiling politely when Ben's council try to tear her plans to pieces in an effort to keep the villains where they're supposed to be.
It takes nearly a year to wrangle everyone into a position where they agree to bring kids over to Auradon- and even then, there are checks and balances and compromises everywhere. The plan is so fragile that the slightest change will knock it all back to where they began. And they're only bringing four kids- a "second trial run", Mal trying to prove that children don't deserve to be condemned and Auradon elite trying to prove that they do.
Mal is seventeen and she has the world on her shoulders.
Mal is seventeen and in sophomore year because her reading level wasn't good enough to begin her junior year when she came to Auradon.
Mal is seventeen and she's suddenly engaged- it's almost too much, really.
The proposal is beautiful, if unexpected. And Evie, Carlos and Jay helped plan it- that's probably what's most surprising. Mal never planned on getting married, she never wanted children, because she was too busy to care for them, and too caring to bring more kids into life on the Isle. But Evie, Carlos, and Jay helped Ben plan this, so she says yes. Because it means that they've accepted that there's no chance of them again, that they've accepted that she's in love with Ben, too, and that it's safer for the Isle if she's with Ben.
So she says yes, because she's in love with Ben too, and she'd rather have some happiness than none at all. It's selfish, she thinks, even as she walks around accepting congratulations, that she can't find it in herself to let Ben love someone else, someone whose whole heart belongs to him. But now isn't the time to think about that, not when they're only hours away from the second trial run.
She smiles at Celia and hugs Dizzy close, and ruffles the twins' hair as they climb into the limousine. Things are going well.
So, of course, her father blows it all out of the water. Mal thinks about being a little girl at a god's knee and whatever the hell we want, and grits her teeth and lets the rage and magic always bubbling under her skin take her over, transforming her skin and cracking her bone to reform them. She's only turned into a dragon twice before, at the prompting of Carlos, who was the first one to suggest that it might be possible ("maleficent's line have dragon's blood, mal. you should be able to do it too" she'd cracked a smile and asked if he was running out of experiments to try. His only response had been a cheeky wink), so she's still unused to the way her muscles tear and stitch themselves back together. She thinks she catches a glimpse of shocked eyes under flaming hair as her pupils shift, but she can't be sure because Hades wastes no time in firing the first shot, and she can feel the way he's pulling the magic from her bones.
The fight is short, and she only wins when she thinks of how she felt when she defeated her mother, pulling that feeling of pride and triumph forward, pushing it outward and breaking Hades' spell.
But the damage is done.
Ben calls a council meeting. She's there in her new capacity as the future queen of Auradon, and in her less-than-official capacity of Queen of the Isle (no matter how many kids defer to her, she still doesn't have any legal rights over the Isle). His parents are there, as well as several other prominent heroes. Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip, Jasmine and Aladdin, Snow White and Prince Florian, Hercules and Megara. Persephone, Zeus, and Poseidon. Audrey and her grandmother are present, too. Mal will never cease to be amazed at how that family manages to bend rules and laws to their benefit. How Beast lets them.
She's not shocked by Audrey's fury (it's not just about hades, she thinks. it's about ben, and it's about a crown that mal isn't sure she wants- a crown audrey can never have). She's not even shocked by Hercules' suggestion to seal the barrier, permanently. He has a son, and she knows, better than most, that gods get revenge on other gods' children. That doesn't mean she doesn't fight, though. She lets things like dignity and diplomacy slip away, and she argues furiously for the future of her people.
Ben's on her side, but he is an elected monarch, like her. His family holds the throne of Auradon only until the heroes decide that it's no longer the best decision for Auradon. And she has no doubt that Queen Leah will push for her daughter to inherit the throne the moment she sees a weakness in the Villeneuve ranks.
"At least let me bring the other kids over before sealing that barrier," Mal pleads to stoic faces, "they don't deserve to be punished for their parents' mistakes." She knows how sceptical the council is about the kids that are already here, but she can't let a year's worth of work go to waste, she can't let these kids suffer. She opens her mouth to continue, ready to beg if she must (never owe anyone anything, mal, because that's no way for a fairy to live) but Audrey beats her to it, spitting mad.
"This is what you choose, Ben? Some bitch who cares more about the criminals we've locked up- for good reason, by the way- than the people she's set to rule?" she whips around to face the rest of the council, voice hard and cruel (a lump at the back of her throat and the lingering thought- I'd be better than her, I'd protect us), "And you cowards will let her ruin us because she makes you feel good about yourselves."
Sleeping Beauty goes to comfort her daughter (to stop her from embarrassing them further) but Audrey rips herself away from her mother and storms from the room, one final promise ("I'll do it myself") shouted to the people behind her.
Mal's not too worried- Audrey has no magic, no way of following through on the veiled threat.
(She should be).
In the end, no matter how she begs, the council comes to the conclusion that she doesn't like- no more trips to the Isle. They can't bring the rest of the kids over, and the kids who are here can't go back (Mal doesn't really think they want to- except maybe Dizzy, whose grandmother has always loved her family more than anything and anyone else).
It's implied that she should stick around for the small talk that normally comes with these things, but she can't stand here and make nice with the people who would condemn an entire generation because they're scared. So she makes her excuses- she has to help the new kids settle in, she's late to meet with Carlos- and leaves as fast of possible. She can't make eye contact with anyone when she leaves, even as she feels the gaze of gods prickling the back of her neck. She hasn't said anything, and she won't- can't, even if she wanted to.
It's as she leaves that she registers a magic she never thought she'd feel again. It's acidic and cold and feels like it's making the air around her rot. It's the feel of her mother's magic. She whips around, searching frantically for her mother, muscles tensed and ready to fight. Instead, she finds Audrey holding her mother's staff. Her mother's staff, imbibed with her mother's magic and attitudes- dark and angry. The Audrey she sees before her isn't much more than a puppet for her mother's beliefs.
But then again, it's very much Audrey's feelings behind her actions- as Mal's hair twists into snakes and her features hardened into something familiar, Mal almost wants to laugh, because Audrey has no idea about her heritage, but the worst things she could think of was to curse Mal into being a gorgon. Into a creature of- the myths claimed, anyway- pure ugliness.
That's how Evie finds her, and she hisses at her to keep Jay and Carlos away because she's not trying to turn her best friends into stone. It's not hard to know what she has to do next, even though she really, really doesn't want to. She, Evie, Carlos and Jay make their way over to the Isle, because she needs the ember to stop her curse, and undo whatever Audrey plans on doing next.
Not seconds after they land on the Isle, they're greeted by Uma, Harry and Gil. And they're not like they were before, but they're also not two seconds from knives being drawn, so Mal counts it as a win. She slips away as fast and quietly as she can, but Uma meets her eyes with a knowing glance, and Mal's pretty certain that all three of them know exactly where she's going. Uma doesn't keep secrets from her crew (it's one of the reasons she's a better leader than Mal).
She's never visited her dad before, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know how to get in. She still has half of her magic when she's on the Isle, and half is more than enough to unlock the gate to the mine he lives in.
She doesn't try to sneak in unnoticed. They may be on the Isle, but Hades is still a god, and she doubts she could actually get away with it. Instead, she walks in, head held high, and makes direct eye contact when she sees him.
He laughs.
"You know, I've got a whole bunch of bastards, but I don't think any of them have half your guts, Korë."
Her name echoes through the chamber and she shivers.
"I'm here for-"
"The ember, I know." she doesn't even bother to question how he knows these things anymore, not when she's met Persephone, who somehow still loves her husband, who would do anything for him- likely including communicating with him and breaking the laws of Auradon in the process.
He walks up to her, and she's struck by how tall he is. She's stopped growing and is tall as she's ever going to be, and he's still a foot taller than her. They're in tight quarters, and she has to bend over backwards to meet his eyes.
"But why on earth would I give you the artefact worth the power of a god?"
He yells the last words, and Mal thinks of the rumours, of Hades' fury at his brothers condemning him to a mortal lifetime without his powers. But she needs this- for her, and for Ben, and even for Audrey, who doesn't deserve to be a puppet in her parents' games.
"Whatever the hell I want, right?"
He laughs, then, and it's an ugly sound. He takes a step back, tossing the ember up into the sky and catching it again.
"You stuck with it, Korë, I'll give you that. Queen of the Isle, Queen of Auradon- am I invited to the wedding, by the way?" He asks, but he must know that the answer is a resounding no, so he continues with the same breath, "and now, the powers of Hades. I guess you are your father's daughter, no matter how much you may look like your mother." He raises his eyebrows at her, and she gets the hint, dropping the glamour to let blue hair and black eyes and wings shine through.
"How'd my wife take it when she saw you like that?" He asks, and if she didn't know better, she'd think he sounded worried. She raises an eyebrow at him.
"Don't you know?" she asks, and something dark fills his eyes for a second.
"Korë," he says, and it's a clear warning.
She shrugs.
"She took it fine, I guess. She didn't kill or curse me, so that's better than I was expecting," she can't pin the look on her father's face, but she might have called it relief.
"I didn't come here to make small talk," she reminds him, and he smirks, tossing the ember into the air again.
"I'll give you the ember," he agrees, and her eyes widen because she expected a far harder fight.
"On one condition."
Her hopes sink. She may not know her father, but she knows the stories, and she doubts that this condition will be something she'll be able to fulfil (she'll try anyway, because she's going to be their queen, and they deserve a queen who will fight for them until her dying breath).
"I can't just give you the ember," he tells her, "think of my reputation. I'd be ruined." She rolls her eyes he may be a god, but he's trapped on the Isle just like all the other assholes who failed to conquer the world. It's sometimes hard to remember that he'll still be here when she's dust and the Isle is long gone.
"But you can earn it," he continues. There's a pause while he thinks before he smirks and declares, "A trial, I think. It's poetic justice. My brother's son had to prove he was worthy of being a god, and you shall have to prove the same."
"Most of the creatures he killed are- as things generally are after you kill them- already dead," she reminds her father, "And I'm not asking to be a god. I'm asking to save my people."
He hums noncommittally, "Yes, but I'm so tired of Zeus bragging that his kids are always the strongest and the best. I'd like my own bragging rights for a change." There's a spark in his eyes, and Mal knows that he's made up his mind. She won't be escaping this. So she squares her shoulders.
"Fine. But can we do this quickly? Audrey could be hurting people."
He just laughs at her, gently scolding, "Patience is a virtue, Korë." It's the fourth time he's used her true name in as many minutes, and it's been more than a year since she'd last heard it (falling from the lips of his beautiful, furious wife) and she flinches from it. Her movement must catch his eye, because he grins wide, and bares his teeth to the point that it's almost grotesque.
"There's your trial," he tells her. "You want the powers of a god? Fine. But you can't follow the rules of the fae too. Break a Promise, Korë, and I'll give you the ember."
Break a promise. She's never even considered-
The far don't keep promises because they're forced to, they keep their promises because it's stupid not to. When you break a Promise, the person on the other end is well within their rights to demand your pound of flesh- sometimes literally.
Mal has only ever made three promises- one to her mother, which she's already kept, one to Queen Persephone, who Mal has no doubt would gleefully cut out her heart given the chance, and lastly, one to Ben- if she allowed him to kiss her, she would own his kingdom.
She looks up at her father through messy blue curls and makes an expression that's somewhere between a smirk and a snarl.
"Still want to be invited to the wedding?"
She approaches her gang slowly, well aware of Hades' presence behind her.
"E, I need you and Jay to take Uma and Harry and bring Ben here," she commands, leaving no room in her voice for argument.
"Mal, what-" her darling second-in-command tries to ask, but Mal interrupts.
"There's no time, but this is the only way to get the ember." She holds Evie's gaze, and the blue-haired girl nods, motioning to the others to follow her. Uma lingers for a second, scrutinizing Mal as though she holds the answers to the universe, but then turns to follow Evie without protest.
Mal takes the time they're gone to coach Carlos and her father through the traditional steps of a fae wedding.
Within the hour, though, their crew turns up with Ben (and Jane, for some reason) in tow.
She hugs Ben tightly, and it's all she can do to keep from kissing him. Instead, she whispers against his chest, "I don't want to do this," she tells him, "but we need to hurry up the wedding."
Ben, her darling Ben, doesn't even question it.
"What must I do?"
"Just stand over there, by Hades. I'll be there in a second."
"Uma, I'm trusting you to keep the peace," she tells the girl, and again, she's surprised when Uma just goes with it.
She, Carlos, Evie, and Jay walk a couple of meters away.
"Mal, you don't have to do this," Evie tells her, and she loves her for it, even though she does.
Her eyes must say something that she can't, because Evie just nods solemnly and kisses Mal's hand, clasped in her own.
Mal walks down the aisle Carlos's arm, in leathers and purple and looking nothing like a bride. She stops in front of Ben, and the ceremony begins.
"Who comes here to be wed on this day?" her father asks.
"Mal Bertha le Fay, a woman grown, and Queen of the Isle," she says, and she hopes her voice is shaking less than she is.
"Who gives her?"
"Carlos de Vil, of the Isle of the Lost." It's archaic, but these are the words that magic will recognize.
"Who claims her?"
"King Ben of Auradon, of the line Villeneuve."
"And do you accept this woman? " her father asks.
"I do," Ben's voice is strong and sure, and his eyes hold hers captive as he says it.
"Do you promise to love and honour her?"
"I do."
"And do you, Queen Mal, accept this man?" Her father asks, and she breaks her gaze to look at him. She's not sure, but from his expression, she'd say he's happy- or at least, he's smug about this outcome.
"Yes," there's no feeling in the word, because she won't give him the satisfaction.
"Do you promise to honour and protect him?"
She pauses for a second, wondering if she's really going to go through with this. It's been hours since she agreed to get engaged, and she wasn't even sure about that.
But then she looks at Ben, nervous and hopeful, and she knows there's only one answer she can give.
"I do."
"Then you may exchange rings."
Ben slides his ring onto her finger. Even years later, it's still-as her mother called it- a perfect fit.
"I am hers, and she is mine. From this day to the end of days," Ben recites the words that she hastily hisses at him.
She feels, more than hears, herself echo the sentiment as she gives him her family ring- it's made of black metal, in the shape of briars. The irony of ironies.
As soon as she's done, she feels the Claddagh burn its way onto the back of her left hand, the heart facing towards her wrist. The symbol of a married woman.
"Then you are married in the eyes of gods and men, and equals in everything. You may now kiss the bride," he tells Ben, and Mal smiles and kisses him first.
As soon as their lips meet, she has broken her promise. She can't take his kingdom from him, because it's already his. Their marriage vows, for all intents and purposes, had nullified the vows he had made to her that first time.
She hears Jay wolf whistle from somewhere behind her, and she laughs, tears in her eyes. She holds out her hand for the ember, and her father watches her for a second, his face revealing nothing.
Then he gives her the stone, bright blue and warm against her skin.
"Don't let it get wet," he warns her.
She nods solemnly, and turns, her other hand still in Ben's.
"Let's go," she says to her crew, but finds Uma, Harry and Gil in her way as she turns to leave.
"Uh uh, Queenie," Uma says, and her voice is cold, "We ran your fucking errands for you. We've been waiting for a year, and nothing's happened yet. You're not leaving this island until you swear you'll get us off this godforsaken rock. All of us. You're our queen, but you care more about them."
"You shouldn't talk about her like that," Ben tries to insist, "She's your Queen twice over now- of the Isle and of Auradon." Uma just laughs at him.
"So, your majesty, what's it gonna be?" Nine sets of eyes bore into her, and she wants to shrink back from the responsibility these people have placed on her, but she's a queen and that's not what queens do.
She considers, for a moment, what Uma's asking. Going against the council, risking other, true villains escaping. If she breaks this Promise, she has no doubt that Uma will demand the same price that Persephone would.
Mal, her mother's voice says as she breathes in and closes her eyes. Fae, she reminds herself. You are fae. Your word is truth. Your Promises are always fulfilled.
Korë, her father's name for her echoes through her mind as she exhales. You are half-goddess. Don't forget. Never let anyone hold something over you.
She opens her eyes.
"Every child currently on the Isle of the Lost will be given a chance to come to Auradon if it pleases them," she swears. Uma's eyes narrow and she completes her vow, "I Promise."
She feels the weight of the Promise settle on her. Underneath her tongue, in her bones and her teeth. It thrums in her blood. She will keep this Promise, or she will die.
She has come too far to die.
