Seasons greetings to all! I hope you enjoy this, the final chapter of Korë. Consider it my Christmas present to you!


In the end, all nine of them go back to the mainland together. Mal silently commends Uma on her quick thinking- if she'd broken her promise and the sea witch was on the island, Uma wouldn't actually have a way to claim revenge. This way, Mal has to tread very carefully.

It isn't easy, though. It would've been hard enough trying to bring nine people back to Auradon on four bikes, and all of the bikes had been wrecked in the rush to bring Ben (and Jane) to the Isle. Eventually, Mal is forced to transform in order to carry everyone back without lowering the barrier entirely. And it hurt. The dragon transformation was entirely fae magic, and while she'd learnt how to channel godly powers to use fae magic long ago, those were generally small spells (glamours, and the like).

The ember helps her, but Mal would be happy to never have to attempt it again as long as she lived. It would be impossible to forget the feeling of hellfire in her veins as her bones snap and reform and her skin stretches and twists.

When she detranforms upon landing at Evie's cottage, she only barely has two legs again before she crumbles to her knees, vomiting. Ben {her husband} is behind her, whispering soothingly, and Evie, Carlos and Jay stroke the new stretch marks across her back and thighs and stomach and arms {Uma, Gil, Harry and Jane stand a small distance away, eyes wide and terrified at the effects of magic being done when there was no magic to draw from (they have no way of knowing that Mal's reaction is just par for the course, no clue that transformation magics are just that awful)}.

When Mal feels well enough to be moved, Ben scoops her up and carries her into the cottage (it's one of the first ones Evie bought, and its sole purpose is to house the VKs). Ben puts her down on the couch, between Dizzy and the twins. Celia is on the floor in front of Dizzy. They mumble in their sleep, and Mal's heart breaks for them.

"Shh! It's okay. Don't worry, Dizzy, we can fix this. And once we do, they're gonna let all the kids come from the Isle. So, happy dreams," Evie murmurs, and Mal has to look away. She can't think about the council, about her promise. She can't think about how she's going to make this work.

"So, what's the plan?" Evie asks, and Mal's brow furrows in confusion, "Plan?"

"Yeah, what are we gonna do next?" Uma adds, and Mal's eyes widen in fear.

"There's no us in this. I'm going to find Audrey, break the curse, and restore Auradon, and you guys are gonna stay where it's safe, okay?"

"Mal-" Ben begins, but she cuts in.

"No. This is not a conversation, okay. I love you, all of you," she briefly catches Uma's eye, and she's not sure how to say yes, even you, so she just continues, "none of you have magic. None of you are safe when Audrey's around. And I won't let her hurt you."

"Mal, you don't even know how to find Audrey," Jay tries to insist.

"You sure about that?" she asks, smirking.

The spell she uses is a simple one- she doesn't even need her spellbook. And the ember is more than suitable to act as a focus, so when she hisses the words- "Wæfemess Aethelthryth" (An enemy that hides from sight/who plots and schemes away from light/Her wicked plans I must now quell/By finding her position with a spell)- the spell is so strong that not only does she know where Audrey is, she can project a phantom image of her location onto a nearby mirror. She turns from the picture of the palace to everyone else.

"This is why I should go alone. Because I'm the only one who can do things like that. I'm the only one who can wield this," she says, holding up the ember.

"Mal, we just made a promise," Ben pleads with her, "In good times and in bad, right?" They're not the vows from the fae wedding, but they're wedding vows nonetheless, and Mal's heart feels like it's tearing itself to pieces when she says, " I know. I know. But it's not safe for you out there."

She locks eyes with Uma.

"I'll keep my promise, but I need to know you're all safe. I can't do this if I have to look after you."

"No, Queenie," Uma insists, "We do this together." She looks around at her crew, her family, and she understands that she's wasting time, but she doesn't want to do what she must. She begs like she never thought she would, one last time.

"Don't make me do this."

"Don't make us make you," Carlos argues, and she has to turn away because she can't watch their faces as she spells them.

"Awefecung."

Tears blur her vision as she walks out of Evie's cottage to the heavy sounds of bodies hitting the floor.


Most of the magic is done before Mal even sees Audrey. The spell she intends to use is so very complicated and older than humans themselves. It's a cruel spell, one her father had tried to use on her- god, was it yesterday? A spell that drains all the magic (and then the life) from your body {she hopes she's powerful enough to end the spell before she begins draining Audrey's life. She lives with that fact that she'll use the spell even if she doesn't know that she can}. She calls on the gods as she recites fae chants mingled with Latin rituals and she hopes it's enough. She weaves flowers into her hair and hopes that her namesake will protect her even though she's her father's daughter.

She makes her way to the throne room, clutching onto the ember like it's a lifeline. The sleep spell will only last for so long, even with the power of the ember behind it- she's only half Hades, after all.

"Audrey," she calls, even as she feels the searing pain of the dragon transformation creep up her legs {she's holding it back by the skin of her teeth, letting that dangerous, painful magic simmer and bubble at her heels in case she needs it}, "please, let me help you. This isn't what you wanted, this is my mother's magic controlling you." It's a futile attempt, really. Her mother would never accept mercy, and Audrey is her mother at the moment.

"I know," Audrey tells her, smirking as she stands up, "but isn't this so much better?"

Everything after that is a blur of pain. Mal concentrates on the spell, activating it even as Audrey cast her first blow. Mal stands her ground.

Their battle is less a battle and more a race against the clock. Mal stands still, hoping her hastily-constructed shield holds up as she directs all of her power and concentration into the ember and the spell she's casting. It's painful. At the same time, Audrey pushes forward through the use of brute force, and as Mal's spell strengthens, she slows.

Mal isn't sure if there will be enough time for her to finish the spell in its entirety before Audrey breaks through her shield.

There isn't.

Audrey fires two spells in a row, and the first shatters her shield. The seconds cuts deep into her soul, shocking her with the pain it creates. It feels as though Audrey has left a giant laceration across her chest, even as she looks down and sees no blood.

Audrey lifts the staff to cast the killing blow and Mal finishes her spell barely a second before.

Audrey falls to the ground, and Mal tries to break the spell, but it's still growing and she doesn't know how.

Her concentration shatters as Jay, Evie, Ben and Carlos come rushing through the great doors, and she drops the ember. There are burn marks on her palms (and her heart), but Audrey is stabilizing under Carlos's care and she's done it.

She gladly greets the darkness that overwhelms her.


At first, when Mal wakes up, all there is, is joy. The joy that she's alive, that Audrey's not dead, that she's married, that she won't have to fight, ever again (she's wrong, on that last count).

But within Jayof her awakening, she needs to attend council meetings (she insists that Evie, Ben and Carlos come along, insisting that she'll name them Personal Advisors to the Queen of Auradon if she must. Adam, who doesn't like to talk about that fact that she and Ben had a rushed, fae wedding on the Isle, agrees), where they're debating if Audrey should be sent to the Isle {Audrey, who's still asleep, who likely won't ever wake up. Mal thinks about telling them that Hades could revive her, and doesn't. She's never been good, after all. Not like they want her to be. And Audrey's been a thorn in her side for the longest time}. Even when Mal speaks for her, they're still debating. And that's when she realizes that they're not debating whether Audrey is evil enough to be sent to the Isle, they're debating if it's worth opening the barrier again.

As in, they still won't allow her to bring the rest of the Isle's children over.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she says, and her voice cuts through the din of the argument. The heroes fall silent.

"I've made a promise to bring all of the children over from the Isle," she tells them, "I can't turn my back on the Isle. We can't live in fear… because it doesn't actually protect you from anything. You never know where the bad is gonna come from. And you never know where the heroes are gonna come from either."

"There are no heroes on the Isle!" Aurora snarls. The heroes echo her viciously.

"Without Hades, you would all still be cursed," Mal argues, "And that's why I can't be Queen of just Auradon. I have to be Queen of the Isle, too. And it's time that we take the barrier down. Forever."

"Mal, we can't do that," Ben whispers softly, "I know that he's your father, but-" Evie, Carlos and Jay's eyes flash over to her. Maybe she's never told them the truth of her parentage, but they've known for years. And they're all aware that if she's not talking about it, it's for a reason.

"How do you know that?" Mal says, over the shouts of the heroes.

"It's on your birth certificate," Ben frowns, "I saw it when I was organizing to bring you here."

"That's not the point," he continues, shaking his head, and Mal can't find her voice to tell him that it is the point now, because it's supposed to be a secret.

"Mal, we can't release the people on the Isle of the Lost. They're criminals."

"Then I'm a criminal," Mal hisses, "and you should throw me back in there with them."

The other VKs agree passionately.

"Mal, we wouldn't do that," Ben insists, and fury bubbles under her skin.

"What, because I'm one of your own?" She asks, and he doesn't have an answer for her.

She nods because really, she knew it all along.

"Don't make me do this," Mal begs him for the second time in a matter of days. "Please, Ben. The Isle of the Lost is wrong, and you know it."

"Adam, control your son and his wife," Prince Florian demands of the Beast.

Jay turns to face him, furious, a growl in the back of his throat. Prince Florian steps back.

"The Isle system is majorly flawed," Evie declares, "And a major human rights violation."

"People should be locked up if they commit crimes, " Ariel argues.

"Yes," Mal takes over, "but they should also be given a chance to reintegrate into society. And children shouldn't be punished for the crimes of their parents." She turns to face Ben, and they're so close that their foreheads are touching.

"You know I'm right," she whispers.

Ben searches her face for -something- before turning to face the council, all irate at the very thought of being responsible for a human rights violation.

"I stand with the Queen," he tells them. "Mal's right. And I'll do anything to make this right."

"We won't vote on it," Queen Leah insists, "We won't willingly bring about the destruction of the United States of Auradon, as you seem so keen to do."

Mal nods. She didn't expect any less from them. She looks across Jay, Evie, Carlos, and Ben. She sees the decision that they make, almost in perfect unison, and her heart wants to burst because she loves them so much and she couldn't do this without all of them at her side. Whatever the hell you want, her father had told her, and she knows that this was, somehow, what he was talking about.

"Fine," she says, "we'll do it ourselves."

She walks out of the councilroom, hand-in-hand with her husband, with Evie, Carlos and Jay around them.


A preview:

"My congratulations on your recent nuptials," the Queen of the Underworld says to her. It's mid-winter, and Persephone's skin is so pale it's translucent. Mal can see her skull below her cheeks, "although, I was disappointed that I couldn't be there myself. But then again, it was rather rushed, wasn't it, Korë? I wonder why that was." Her smile says she already knows.

"I don't want to play this game with you," Mal says, pressing Ben closer into her side, "what do you want?"

"I just wanted to give my well-wishes," she obfuscates, "and commend you on breaking Aphrodite's heart so thoroughly."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben questions defensively. The hair at the back of Mal's neck stands on end, and Mal knows what's coming before Persephone gets a word out, but she's powerless to stop it.

"Only that she thought- we all did, really- that her majesty would end up with those three," she points a bony finger at Carlos, Evie, and Jay, who are just out of hearing range, seemingly bent over a map, but really poised to strike, should Mal give the signal.

"I- I don't-" Mal stutters, and the Queen of the Dead smiles serenely as she walks off, calling over her shoulder, "consider that my revenge", before fading out of sight.