Chapter Three
A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to Disney.
Smh once more because guys, how have we made it to over 30 reviews in just two chapters? Thank you all so much!
So sorry for the delay in the chapter—was out of town last weekend for the Fourth and well didn't really have much time to do writing. Hopefully that won't be the case this weekend! :D
Hope you all enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
Ben sighed as he rested his hand on the handle to the door of the council chambers. He knew it was the responsible thing, to inform someone where he was going. He was the King after all, like Doug had said. He couldn't just gallivant off to the Isle whenever he felt like it.
But Mal had run back to the Isle. Ben didn't care about protocol or responsibilities for once. He just wanted to be a teen and run after his girlfriend. He wanted to hold her in his arms and reassure her.
I should have run after her when she walked off after our fight, he thought.
"Sire?" Dean asked, pulling Ben out of his thoughts. "It's going to be okay. Though I don't necessarily agree with you being the one to go to the Isle, I can assure you that everything will work out."
Ben gave Dean a small smile. "I really do need to give you that raise don't I?"
"You know you keep saying it but the only thing I need is the pride of knowing the kingdom is run smoothly," Dean told him.
"You're still getting that raise Dean."
"Darn it."
Ben chuckled and shook his head before walking into the council chambers.
"Thank you all for waiting," Ben said as his council looked over at him.
"Of course," Elsa nodded. "Is everything okay King Ben?"
Ben sighed before looking over at her. "Unfortunately Queen Elsa, it's not. I'm afraid Mal…Mal has gone back to the Isle of the Lost."
"Good riddance," he heard Chi-Fu mutter but it was not the time to call him out. Even if Ben wanted to with every fiber of his being—the longer he took here, the more time Mal had to possibly get hurt.
After all, if the Evil Queen was warning Evie not to step foot onto the Isle…what would they do to Mal if they caught her? After all, Mal was the one who actually fought Maleficent in her dragon form.
The only good thing is that Leah's not here for this, though I'd give Chi-Fu and Weaselton two minutes once I leave to call her and let her know, Ben thought with an inward sigh.
"How horrible!" Snow White exclaimed and Ben turned his head to look over at her. "But…King Ben, what's there to be done about it? If Mal has made the choice to return to the Isle, shouldn't that be her choice?"
Ben nodded. "Yes Queen Snow and I'd…I'd be happy to accept Mal's choice once I know for certain that it was her choice and that she wasn't driven back to the Isle by outside forces. Which is why I will be going to the Isle of the Lost to talk to Mal."
Huh, who didn't see this coming? Ben thought as his council broke out in an uproar.
"Sire! You can't—!"
"The Isle?!"
"King Ben, your father created the Isle!"
Ben held up his hands to try to get the group of grown men and women to quiet down. "I'm aware that my father created the Isle. But if there's one thing growing up with all of your stories has taught me, it's that you don't let love slip through your fingers. You fight for it, and when something's troubling the person you love you battle any foe, face any danger, and ensure they're safe and sound."
"But the kingdom will be without a ruler with you gone!" Chi-Fu exclaimed.
"Not necessarily," Ben said and looked once more at Snow White. "I'll be happy to get Princess Emma up to speed as to what's going on. It shouldn't take more than an hour, two hours at the most to get Mal back."
"Princess Emma is the unofficial heir to the Kingdom…" Cinderella said, her voice soft. "King Ben, shouldn't you bring a guard? If you're going to the Isle?"
"I'll have Carlos, Jay, and Evie with me—."
"And Lonnie," Dean added. "You know perfectly well sire that once she finds out about this, she'll demand to accompany you to the Isle."
Shang sighed. "If there's one thing I know about my daughter, it's that she's fiercely loyal. Plus she's not too happy about being denied a spot on the R.O.A.R. team because of an archaic rule. I would ask that you not include her in this but I also know she'll tag along anyway."
"I promise she'll be safe, Captain Shang," Ben said with a slight nod of his head. "I've got Doug running interference with Emir and Akiho to prevent them from joining."
Out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw Aladdin and Elsa almost sink back in relief. Of course he didn't blame them—as much as they trusted the VKs that came to Auradon, no one would want to hear about their kid or their sibling's kid going to the Isle of the Lost.
"Whenever you're ready King Ben, Emma is free to meet," Snow White said.
"Thank you Queen Snow," Ben said with a nod of his head. "I truly hope this only takes an hour, two hours tops. I'm sorry to put this burden on her."
"She knew what her duty might entail being the unofficial heir. But thank you," Snow said softly. Ben sighed as he glanced out the window to the Isle of the Lost.
Mal…please be okay, he thought as he lightly bit his lip. Please come home.
Meanwhile, across the Strait of Ursula which separated the Isle of the Lost from Auradon, Mal slowly came to consciousness. She tried to ignore the throbbing of her head to take stock of her surroundings.
The first sight she saw? Uma standing right in front of her.
"You!" Mal growled and lunged but found that she couldn't get too far as she was tied up in the Captain's Quarters.
"You honestly thought I'd leave you untied?" Uma scoffed. "We used to run together after all, I think I know you. You'd run the second you could."
"You couldn't face me yourself so you sent Harry to do your dirty work?"
"At least I stay with my crew. Where's Jay?"
Mal shrugged, ignoring the throbbing headache. "Jay's got his life. So does Carlos and Evie, and that's all you need to know."
"His life in Boreadon you mean? I'm surprise you're not expecting me to bow to you," Uma scoffed.
"Even if I did, I know you won't. A captain bows to no one but another captain after all," Mal taunted.
"You got that right," Uma smirked.
"So, you just gonna keep me here? Too afraid to admit that you had to send someone else to do your dirty work?" Mal muttered.
"Oh no, the Isle's going to know I have you," Uma stated. "You know there's a faction of people on the Isle who think you're more evil than the Dragon because you managed to defeat her at Beastie Jr.'s coronation? How big and bad do you think they'd think I am if I show them I have you? Maybe even big and bad enough to run with your gang?"
"So that's your plan? Improve your rep?"
"Well, part of my plan. But I'm not tying you to the mast looking like that. If I'm showing the Isle I have Mal daughter and defeater of Maleficent in my clutches, then I'm showing them that I have Mal. Not this Princess wannabe."
Before Mal could ask what Uma meant by that, Harry walked into the Captain's Quarters—his hand wrapped tightly around Dizzy's arm as he dragged the younger girl into the Quarters.
"Mal!" Dizzy squealed as she saw the blonde, despite the fact that the red-haired bespectacled girl was clearly terrified. "Is Evie here too?"
"No Dizzy. She's not," Mal said, shaking her head. "She's back in Auradon."
Uma scoffed and rolled her eyes before looking at the younger Tremaine girl. "Everyone on the Isle knows you dabble in hair, Tremaine. You want to stay under our protection? Give Mal here the works. I want the whole Isle knowing who I've got hooked on my line."
Dizzy bit her lip. "I…I can't do much without my supplies Uma. That's back at Curl Up and Dye. The best I can do is give Mal a haircut if you've got a pair of scissors."
"Well, twerp, it's a good thing I thought ahead. Gil! Bring the bag!" Harry shouted and Gil walked in with a bag of supplies from Lady Tremaine's hair shop.
"You've got two hours before I move the Princess here to more uncomfortable quarters," Uma said with a smirk. "Gil, you stay guard. I don't want Tremaine freeing Mal."
"Got it Uma," Gil nodded.
"See you later Princess," Uma said, the smirk still on her face as she looked over at Mal.
"Catch you later Shrimpy," Mal shot back and the smirk faded from Uma's face as she stormed out of her Quarters, Harry quickly following on her heels.
Mal sighed as she caught a glimpse of the makeshift bandage on Harry's wrist. She truly hadn't meant to burn him…but with magic being retired from Auradon, the only magic she'd been able to do were her spells on herself.
That wasn't enough to prevent the surge of magic she felt constantly while in Auradon, and even though she was under the barrier now, the six months of easy access to her magic wasn't ready to be tamped back down.
"Dizzy…" Mal whispered as Dizzy grabbed a pair of scissors and a bottle of hair dye. "I need you to promise me something."
"I won't make you look bad Mal," Dizzy said quickly. "I promise. Granny may not have let me do a lot of customers' hair but Evie used to let me do her hair after all."
"Not that. I need you to promise if you see my eyes light up green that you'll run out of here. That's my magic acting up and I don't want you getting hurt."
Dizzy may not have known that Mal was Hadie's sister but Mal knew Hadie was friends with the young Tremaine girl. That plus Evie's fondness for the younger girl made it so the last thing Mal wanted to do was see Dizzy get hurt.
"Are…are you sure?" Dizzy asked, her voice soft.
"Promise me Dizzy," Mal reiterated. "You see my eyes glowing, I don't care what you're doing. You run like the hounds of Tartarus are at your heels."
"I promise," Dizzy nodded.
"Okay," Mal sighed. "I…I guess you'd better do what Shrimpy said. She did give you a timeframe after all."
"That's not nice Mal," Gil spoke up. "Uma doesn't like it when you call her that."
"Well considering she tied me up, I'm not much inclined to think about what she likes or doesn't like Gil," Mal snapped at him. "Besides, we're on the Isle of the Lost. Nice? Not really done here."
Gil shrugged. "You looked like you enjoyed Auradon. From what we saw on TV at least."
"It's called acting, Gil," Mal sighed. Like how Uma acted like we were friends or how Harry acted like he didn't want to murder you every time he saw you, she thought.
Still…probably not a good idea to make an enemy out of a pirate.
"How're your sisters? Locklyn still with Freddy?"
"Yeah," Gil nodded. "The rest of them are fine though. Piper started her own gang and I sneak some food to them from Ursula's since Hades' restaurant shut down."
Mal's eyes widened slightly but didn't react further to that news. No one else knew after all, no one but Evie that is, and it was going to stay that way.
"Doesn't matter what we do, cause I'd rather be with you, rather be with you, rather be with you," Dizzy hummed under her breath as the transformation began. Mal wasn't going to lie—the idea of a child wielding scissors and hair dye near her head on a ship that was rocking slightly was terrifying.
Even more terrifying than a three hour meeting with Natalie.
"Hey, there I am," Mal said softly after about two hours, a small smile pulling at her lips as Dizzy pulled a bit of broken mirror up for Mal to look at herself.
"Ta-dah!" Dizzy grinned.
"Ta-dah," Mal chuckled just as Uma walked into the Quarters, Harry on her heels.
"Two hours on the dot. I see Tremaine didn't take your head off," Uma scoffed. "Time to show the Isle who the biggest and baddest really is. And you might claim your crew's still in Auradon but I'm covering my bases. Harry, go to the clubhouse. If Jay does come to the Isle, tell him I want a sit down. Alone."
"Leave Jay out of this," Mal growled.
"He picked a side years ago Mal," Uma shot back. "We all know Jay. The minute he finds out you're here on the Isle without him…he'll come running after you. And my crew'll be waiting."
Mal lunged but the rope once again stopped her from closing the distance between her and Uma. The daughter of Ursula only laughed as she dragged Mal off to the deck; Harry making his way down the gangplank.
He had an old friend to meet after all.