Needless to say, Flora did not appreciate the fairy's artistic masterpiece like Fairy Godmother.
When Flora walked into her classroom the next morning, her entire face turned pink at she believed was a disrespectful act toward her. Once she managed to calm herself down, she flew straight to Fairy Godmother's office to demand any sort of punishment for the Isle girl, as Flora just knew it had to have been her who did the drawing.
The headmistress refused to do anything about it.
The evening before—after Mal spent about two hours recreating her sketch with chalk—Ben had led Fairy Godmother to the classroom while rediscussing their previous issue. Before they could enter the room, the prince suggested his previous idea of Mal creating the murals around the school. Fairy Godmother appeared skeptical, until Prince Ben opened the classroom door—
Then Fairy Godmother's entire perspective changed.
Having added the final details to the artwork, Mal shyly stepped aside so they could see it.
The chalk drawing was a recreation of the first attempt at the heroes venturing to the Keyblade Graveyard during Sora's last adventure. The only two wielders in the artwork just happened to be Sora and his best friend, Riku. Sora was on his knees with tears streaming down his cheeks while Riku stood his ground, striking the massive monster known as Demon Tide with his light.
Fairy Godmother couldn't help marveling at the artwork. Even though the teenage fairy only had white chalk to work with, Mal still managed to show variations of color with the different tones and styles she drew with. With the Demon Tide depiction, one could clearly see each individual Shadow that formed to create the hurricane of a Heartless. Fairy Godmother just couldn't believe the intricate details that went into the massive piece, as it covered the three chalkboards lined together on the wall, or the fact that Mal managed to complete the artwork within two hours.
That's how Fairy Godmother whole-heartedly agreed to let Mal create the art pieces in replacement of her history class; calling it a 'community service project' for Remedial Goodness—
And how Fairy Godmother warned Flora about her next biased interaction with any students would mean the end of her teaching career at Auradon Prep.
Within a couple short hours, rumors started forming about the interaction. Some claimed Mal had spelled Fairy Godmother into doing exactly as she wanted while others say Mal used to magic to create the artwork as part of a plot to get out of taking classes.
Mal easily proved the last rumor wrong when she began her next art piece.
With the location being the massive wall between the lined up lockers, the fairy first decided to paint the background, so the spectators would have to guess which keyblade wielder would be in the artwork. With a starry night sky, it could have been any world, until Mal started adding some floating scenery, like pieces of a sidewalk with a light post and parts of buildings. From there, Mal painted the actual scenery, which happened to be the crumbling buildings and the pathway that led to a Castle of Dreams in the far distance.
Finally, once the paint dried, the fairy finished the mural by painting the back of a beautiful blue-haired woman, whose clothing looked slightly old-fashioned and an ancient keyblade with the blade in the shape of an 'E'. Surrounding the keyblade master was a white, glowing haze, as though she was the only source of light left in that dark, destroyed world.
Sora still felt some guilt about not being able to help her sooner.
From that point on, no other Auradon student dared to question Mal's artistic abilities, as they couldn't believe she had finished such a beautiful painting in three days.
A couple days later, Mal had began preparing a different wall for her newest creation when the crowned prince suddenly approached her.
"Hey!" Ben greeted with a sugar-sweet smile. "What are you doing here? The Tourney game is starting in twenty minutes."
"I know," Mal insisted, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her arm. There were specs of yellow, orange, and gold paint on her cheeks, which looked quite odd with her purple hair, yet none managed to find its way on her—on Ben's jacket. "I just wanted to start this part so I wouldn't have to wait for the paint to dry tomorrow."
Smiling wider, Ben wondered, "Which keyblade wielder are you doing this time? One of Aqua's friends?"
"I'll need a bigger wall for what I have planned for those two," Mal joked, closing the lids on her paint canisters. "This is for the keyblade wielder that everyone forgot about when she passed; the fourteenth member of Organization XIII. This piece will be dedicated for her and a few more that I have in mind."
"We'll run out of room with all the ideas you have," Ben teased, his smile possibly growing wider. "I wouldn't mind if you painted the lockers when you run out."
"Who says that wasn't my next location?" Mal retorted in the same joking tone. Shoving the cans against the wall so no one would trip, the fairy finally turned to face the still smiling prince. "What are you doing here? You're going to be late for your own game."
"I wanted to find you to make sure you would be there," Ben insisted. Holding out his hand to the fairy, the prince claimed, "If we hurry, we can make it there right before the game starts."
Staring at the offered hand, Mal cautiously grabbed it, intertwining her fingers with him. With a small, somewhat nervous smile to help hide her fast-beating heart, she insisted, "After you, Prince Ben."
As they quickly navigated through the halls of the school together, Mal could hear Sora snickering in her head.
You two so like each other! Sora declared. I wouldn't be surprised if he asked you to his coronation soon.
Miraculously, the fairy and prince arrived at the game just before the beginning tip-off. Before the prince could run onto the field, Mal spared a moment to give Ben a quick good-luck kiss on the cheek, which caught the attention of the wolf whistling audience. Ignoring the whispering of the crowd, Mal ascended the bleachers until she found herself a spot next to the Cheshire grinning Evie and Lonnie.
During the last few minutes of the game, Jay and Carlos were finally given the opportunity to play. Carlos managed some impressive blocks which allowed Jay the chance to score, but the goalie managed to block it. On the final play, Jay and Carlos assisted Ben on scoring the final point on the buzzer.
The crowd went wild in the stands while the team did their own celebration on the field.
"What a team!" The announcer complimented, "Incredible! And it's the new guys, Jay and Carlos, who set up Prince Ben for the win. What a victory! An absolutely wonderful end to one of the best games ever! Here they come folks, the winners—"
Ben grabbed the microphone out of the announcer's hands. "Excuse me!" He shouted into the mic. "Excuse me. Can I have your attention, please?" He stood on the dragon cannon. "There's something I'd like to say."
Once the audience was quiet, Ben announced, "Will the Princess of the Underworld please come down here so I can declare my love for you?"
Oh snap! Sora exclaimed. That was quicker than I thought!
Waiting for the whispering to die down and for the blue-haired princess to stop nudging her, Mal slowly descended the steps toward the field. In the matter of a few second and with the help of her friend, Mal stood on the dragon cannon in front of the grinning prince.
"I love you, Mal," Ben confessed, his smile turning into a smirk. "Did I mention that?"
Scoffing at the question, the fairy playfully teased, "Maybe once or twice."
As his smirk grew wider, the prince questioned, "Mal, will you be my date to the coronation?"
Genuinely smiling, Mal answered sincerely, "I would love to."
'Love'? Sore repeated in mock surprise. You two aren't wasting any time together.