The day after Family Day was maddening for Mal. She skipped breakfast and refused to attend classes, not wishing to see anyone. Freddie and Yzla kept giving her unreadable expressions she just ignored. Once upon a time, she might've considered them possible allies, but they clearly made their choices. They'd be good no matter what. She could live with that, all she really needed was Mad Maddy Mim. Once the other two left the room, Mad Maddy took center, smirking her usual grin.

"So, now you see why being bad is so appealing? Villainy is deep in you, nothing to be ashamed of." She reassured Mal. "Now, we can take over the school just as you promised. I got a group ready and our headquarters are backstage, the stage the band uses. Nobody suspects us," She left then, and Mal eventually gathered herself up and followed, watching Mad Maddy pull the curtain aside and grin at the crowd that had joined.

"Wow, you gathered this many on your own? How?" Mal couldn't help asking, impressed.

"It's amazing who can be tempted through the sheer idea of power and chaos. Plus I rarely go to class, so that makes recruiting people much easier." She clapped her hands and everyone lined up, awaiting Mal's orders. Mad Maddy pointed at each person, going down the line.

"Anthony Tremaine," She introduced a black-haired boy dressed in noble clothing who sneered at Mal. "Ginny Gothel, you two already know each other,"

Mal didn't say anything and neither did Ginny, just crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking away.

"The Gaston twins,"

The two smirked flirtatiously at Mal, but she flashed her green eyes at them and ignored whatever comments they had in response.

"In a similar vein, the LeFou siblings, Laurie and Lucille,"

Mal paused and looked at the two, seeing a nervous boy and a proud girl. Proud, yes, but not in a way that seemed overtly evil. Lucille raised her chin at her.

"Princess Hannah of the Southern Isles, our lovely noble Villain Kid," Mad Maddy posed dramatically to mock her. Hannah glared at her in response. Mad Maddy just posed again. "And of course, you already know me!"

"But what is the plan?" Mal asked, and the group looked expectantly at her. Mad Maddy slipped a wand out from her pocket.

"Got this from the Fairy Godmother. Actually, I used my own magic to steal it!" She laughed. "I have no use for it, but I thought someone with no magic would work it better,"

Mal scanned the kids again, realizing everyone who joined were just regular people with no magic. Her and Mad Maddy were the odd ones out.

"What, are we just supposed to share the wind?" Hannah snapped. "Count me out. I don't need magic anyway,"

"It's wired to temp spells, which means it has a limited usage but probably super powerful spells. Maybe. I don't know, I never tried it," She shrugged and laughed.

"I say we put whatever our plan is into motion during Castlecoming. The whole school will be there so it'll be perfect." Anthony nodded.

"That's so far away! They postponed the dance after everything that happened on Family Day." Ginny reminded him.

"So? That just gives us plenty of time to prepare," Mad Maddy smirked at Mal. "You're our girl, the one who gets final say in everything. What do you think?"

Mal briefly hesitated before she shook the thought away. "Sounds like a great idea," She smirked back.

###

Evie still attended classes, but due to the fiasco of the previous day most were either review or simply not in session. Most students chose to not go and the ones that did languished in an awkward silence. She tried to keep a smile on her face, but it became harder and harder with each passing day and seeing Snowdrop's melancholy. She wasn't even the one at fault yet she felt she shouldn't do anything, not comfort her stepsister, not even go see her.

After a monotonous day of study periods, Evie eventually got up the courage to visit Snowdrop, dropping by her dorm. She expected to see Audrey lying on her bed, perhaps surrounded by flowers or thorns like in those portraits of her mother, fast asleep in gilded bliss, but there was no sign of her outside of some bags on her side. She remembered Snowdrop had dormmates as well, but they weren't there, and that just left Snowdrop herself, sitting at her desk and idly clicking her desk lamp on and off again.

"Snowdrop?" Evie asked slowly.

"Hm."

"I know none of it is my fault, but I still wanted to apologize for what happened the other day. Audrey didn't deserve that. And you didn't deserve any of the fallout either,"

"I'm not mad at you." She sighed, still playing with her lamp. "I've just been thinking."

"About what?"

"Lonnie wore a new dress for the event and she barely got to show it off. Isn't that sad?" Snowdrop said instead, but Evie could tell that was just a distraction.

"Are you okay? You got really sick at Family Day,"

Snowdrop finally turned around, showing her hair was up in pigtails and she wore a simple pair of pajamas. "Mother is still worried I'm sick. She says if I keep acting like this, I could be pulled out of school for a time!"

"But isn't school stressing you out?"

"No!" Snowdrop paced around her room. "Right now I am worried over my friend, but at the same time...I can't help feeling like she's going too far. Growing up, she was a bit spoiled, but now..."

Evie braved a step into the room, like entering the dorm of the AK girls would suddenly smite her and held out her hands.

"All my life, everyone said Mother was good and sweet and kind. They said I looked just like her so surely I must act just like her too!" She tugged on her hair. "And Audrey honestly did go too far! The things she said were uncalled for!"

"So what are you going to do?" Evie stepped closer.

"I don't know..." Snowdrop sighed. "I want to think it over." She took a deep breath. "A-And, I don't hate you. No matter what."

"...Gooseberry,"

Despite her anxiety, Snowdrop began to laugh easily and hard at that simple word, chuckling before she caught herself and stood up straight. "Maybe I'll check in with the children of the dwarves. They're good for advice you know!"

"Good idea," Evie nodded and very slowly pulled her into a hug. "And I hope whatever you're going through, you work through it and become stronger."

"Thanks," She smiled genuinely.

###

Jay just sat on his bed, confused by the revelation. Jasmine was his mother...why did Jafar never tell him? Why did Jasmine never tell him, if she knew? Worst of all though was Aziz. What did he think of everything? Was he betrayed? Disgusted? Would he even be able to look Jay in the eye anymore? Would they no longer be brothers, now that they were biologically? At Family Day he seemed more focused with protecting his siblings, but he hadn't come to see him since. He made his choice.

"Jay? You in there?" A knock at the door got his attention, to which he just shrugged 'whatever' at. He looked over and saw Akio and William wandering in, worried expressions on their faces. "Are you okay?"

Jay just shrugged. "Get out of here," He threw a pillow hard but Akio dodged it easily, letting it smack against the wall.

"No, you don't mean that," William frowned.

"Coach told us to tell you our game's been postponed until further notice. Because you weren't at practice..." Akio trailed off.

"Great." Jay laid back on the bed.

"Uh, we wanted to invite you to get some drinks downtown somewhere. Just us, not as a team. Chad and Aziz won't be with us,"

That did it. Jay marched over to the two, staring them down. "Why? He hates me, doesn't he? Just as well then,"

"What? No! He has to retake a grammar test he failed," William chucked the pillow back. "Come with us or not, but we would like you to,"

He felt his features soften. Aziz could hate him and ignore him all he wished, but the rest of the team...Jay didn't want to admit it, but he liked them. They were good kids and he enjoyed their company. They didn't deserve the cold shoulder, especially not now, not when his other friends were unavailable. Even if it didn't cheer him up, he'd still go. Just for them.

He finally stood and agreed, following the two down the hall. His feet worked on autopilot, so while he avoided running into them, he didn't avoid ramming into someone else, who yelled in surprise.

"Watch where you're going!" Melody gasped. Jay looked down at her, his features softening when he saw the bracelet he made being worn on her wrist, openly. It didn't match her current outfit. "That really hurt."

"Sorry," he said before catching up to the other two and getting on the bus to downtown. He didn't say anything, just let them converse around him, and didn't give any options when they tried to decide what store to go to.

"Let's just go to GlamStar. We can all afford it and they have the best pumpkin juice anyway." Li finally stood in the middle of the group, a stern expression on his face.

"Speak for yourself, I'm running low on my school allowance," Brendan winced.

"Okay, no pumpkin juice for you then," Tyrone grinned.

The group headed inside the cafe, getting a large table and sitting near the back of the store. Jay had never actually been inside any sort of cafe like this, though back home he favoured the cozy coffee shops that were rich with colors and scents. This was...very brown mahogany. And it smelled of oranges. It was weird.

Half of the group took everyone's orders and headed for the counter while the others got comfortable.

"Sorry about Family Day," Emir said. Jay just stared.

"You don't need to apologize for anything, you didn't do anything,"

"No, but friends usually apologize to show sympathy and empathy towards what their other friends are going through," He frowned. "We care about you, Jay."

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, my great uncle is Smee," Tyrone commented.

"Dude, you're related to Smee?! I never knew that about you!" Brendan shouted, making several people look over at them.

"Ssssh! Don't just announce that to everyone!"

The remainder of the team came back, Akio sliding the cups over to everyone.

"Besides, Smee's such a nothing villain. My relation breaks that tree," Jay took his cup but didn't drink from it.

"But you still wouldn't expect someone from Auradon, more specifically New Orleans, to have that in their blood," Tyrone said.

"If that family tree project is anything to go off, many of us have more villainous, or more noble, roots, than one would expect." Li said. "Such as Jennifer Hawkins. Her grandfather's the legendary John Silver, a villainous pirate,"

"He redeemed himself," William reminded him, playing a game on his tablet. "And Jay's right, Smee's a nothing villain,"

"He's Captain Hook's right hand!" Tyrone gasped in offense.

"Literally!" Miguel smirked.

Jay slammed his drink down. "Why do you guys even like me?! I play roughly, Chad's right. Remember my first practice when William got sent to the infirmary because I shoved him too hard? I'm a beast and I don't work well,"

"But Coach Maui adores you!" Emir said. "Aziz vouched for you and you're our best player. We don't care where you come from, you're cool,"

"And I'm fine, it's part of the game." William smiled shyly.

"You're fun." Li nodded.

Jay just kept staring down at the table.

"You going to drink that?" Akio pointed to his cup. Jay slid it over and he drank it, already having five cups around him.

"Soon we're going to have to cut you off," Brendan shook his head.

"Who's the lamest villain, if we can't say Smee anymore?" Miguel teased, looking at Tyrone.

###

Family Day was an experience, Carlos heard. He hadn't seen the fight because he was on the other side of the yard with some of the other freshmen, but he heard all about it. He hated how he wasn't there to stand up for someone. Evie got mocked and shoved, Jay got insulted, and Mal felt so threatened she spelled Audrey by mistake. The whole school was talking about it and he felt useless. Classes bored him and unlike the other three, he didn't branch out enough to find other friends.

Except...just maybe...

"My young man, you seem to be troubled and distracted during classes. What's wrong?" King Arthur asked after a class of Basic Chivalry, seeing how listless Carlos seemed. Mrs. Phillip had made a similar observation of him.

"Nothing." He said both times, not wishing to get into it. It wasn't his issue, he wasn't the one who got offended, but still. King Arthur suggested maybe he'd benefit from going back home but he vehemently declined. He didn't want to be anywhere near his mom.

After several days of nothing happening, he finally wrote out several letters and slipped them under the doors of various dorms, awaiting those people in a lounge. If the others weren't going to keep him updated, he'd do it himself.

"Carlos de Vil?" The first arrival asked in confusion. Carlos looked up to see Anxelin Fitzherbert standing there, wearing baggy black pants with chains hanging off and a tube top with a zipper in the back. He just nodded at her.

"Why did you call us here?" Arabella asked more bluntly, wearing a loose cerulean dress with puffy sleeves. Unlike Anxelin, who chose to remain standing, Arabella sat almost immediately.

"I'll explain when the others get here." Carlos promised.

Eddie Balthazar arrived next, a regal boy dressed in a plain brown suit with black hair, and finally came Jane, trying her best to not tremble, looking perfectly normal in a spotted lavender pencil dress.

"...I have no group of my own to call...my own. The other three do, and for VKs, that's a bad thing. And I know you AKs agree on that, loneliness is bad. You three have been the nicest to me so far," He began.

"Okay, cut the nonsense." Anxelin put her hands on her hips. "That's not your real reason for calling us here."

"I'm worried about my friends," Carlos sighed. "Especially Mal. She's always been... different I guess. Always wanting to prove herself and look for approval. I should've been there to stand up for those three during Family Day, but I wasn't, so now I'm going to try and prevent the fallout."

"But what can we do?" Jane asked shyly. "She doesn't like us."

"She needs time and friends. We have to tell her whatever happened that day was a mistake and try to help Audrey too. And I know you guys have a good chance of getting her back,"

"I'm worried too. She really likes Ruby and I, so surely she can be easy to win back?"

"What if she uses her magic against us?! I'm still in training!" Jane worried.

"And so is she. We can beat her!" Arabella reassured her.

"I'm worried too, about the school in general. E-Ever since Family Day, nobody has felt right. Everyone is on edge and teachers don't want to teach anymore. I just w-want my school back,"

"And where do I feature in this?" Eddie asked. Despite his aggressive posture and snobby voice, Carlos knew he was one of the good ones.

"Well, I had to invite one of my only close friends," Carlos teased, making Eddie shake his head. He then looked at the three. "Sorry for springing this on everyone. I just...needed somewhere to turn,"

"Never feel bad about reaching out to your friends," Anxelin stepped closer and leaned over to look in his eyes. "That's one of the first rules here. Not just in Auradon City but our whole world,"

"Since we're all here...anyone up for some DDR in my room?" Arabella asked. The four looked at each other nervously.

"I'm going to cream you all!" Carlos finally said, and thus it was decided. The four ran back to her dorm, laughing.

###

To a student, one would automatically think they were the ones most affected by Family Day, but to someone as privy to the staff as Jane was, she was ready to argue the opposite. Nobody would expect the staff to be so upset over the events, and yet. Maybe it was due to most of the staff already being major rulers and having to see their kids daily anyway so they never had a chance to get rid of the awkwardness. Jane didn't even do her usual delivery runs due to nobody ordering new supplies or sending letters, so she mostly hung out in every class just because she could, poring over her latest beginner spellbook in an attempt to get better.

She liked the more relaxed classrooms so she had more patience and quiet to concentrate, so she found herself often favouring Queen Rapunzel's classroom the most, as she did her best to have a very chill atmosphere.

"'Most spells are silent and are usually just thought, not said. The passion behind the spell is what matters and what determines the strength.'" Jane recited to herself in Art, sitting atop a stool. "'Transfiguration is one of the easiest ones to begin with, as the spellcaster just has to transform something small into another small object. Illusions are another great beginner spell, and the same could be said for general 'feel-good magic' which just perks people up.'"

One of the students was painting with a deeply concentrated look on their face before they suddenly sneezed, knocking their black paint on their picture. "Shoot!"

"Uh, hang on!" Jane leapt to her feet and almost dashed for a paper towel before she thought better. She slowly raised her finger and flicked it a few times, trying to picture the paint put away and the picture saved. She flicked it a few more times and while the paint just changed direction to spill on the floor, the picture was saved, good as new.

"Whoa, you know magic?!" The student asked in surprise.

"Why is that so shocking? She is the daughter of the Fairy Godmother," Lonnie smirked.

"Yeah, but she's never done anything with it!" A girl shot back.

"Thanks for saving my picture! I owe you one!" The first student gave her a thumbs-up, making her blush.

"T-That won't be necessary!" She cleaned up the dripping paint. "I didn't think it'd work to be honest..." She returned to her spellbook, still blushing but also feeling a bit proud. She did magic! Real magic!

It wasn't the first time she has attempted, far from it, in fact, but it was one of the first times she actually got a spell right. She couldn't wait to tell her mother!

Art was just one class though. Most of the others were dull and awkward. She tried to focus on her book during Cooking, but Alec and Anya somehow turned their mashed potatoes into a science experiment and beckoned everyone to look, which was very noisy. Belle didn't have her book club that day, and gym was a glum affair as well. The only girl who actually seemed active that day was Megan, who found a basketball somewhere and was dribbling and shooting hoops with it.

Jane sat on the bleachers, ignoring the small conversations going on around her as she read. Finally, at the end of the day, she headed to her mother's office instead of her room, trying not to smile so widely.

"Jane dear! I haven't seen you all day today. What's with your face?" She asked nicely.

"I did magic! The spell was a success! I saved someone's art project!" She blushed and bounced in her heels. "It's the first time I've done a successful spell!"

"That is good news. Jane, I think you're starting to finally come into your magic." Her mother gave her a genuine smile and pulled her into a hug. "Soon you'll be sending maids off to the ball in no time!"

"Thanks Mom." Jane smiled back.

###

The sea-green dress was brand new and would likely never be worn again. Melody liked it because it was short and the lace overskirt provided the feminine touch she needed as one of the 'important' princesses of the realm, but she only bought it for Family Day. She also wore it with that cool bracelet Arabella gave her that she said Jay made in the jewelry-making club because it clashed with her gown and that was awesome, she loved that sort of thing. But Audrey's jerk attitude had to ruin the event for everyone, and now Melody had a dress she couldn't get rid of. She just hung it on her wardrobe door and called it a day.

'Important princess.' What nonsense. In middle school she had an assignment on that very topic for her history class, to write an essay about the fourteen women who changed history, who had the most famous stories, who became kind and just queens who ruled with grace and wisdom. Everyone knew their names by heart; Snow White, Cinderella; or Ella, Aurora, Ariel; her mother, Belle; the high ruler, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Anna, Elsa; she abdicated but was still a very important figure, and Moana. All of their children were considered to be just as important as them and raised in the utmost splendor and were essentially celebrity royalty.

Again, nonsense to Melody. So her mom was Queen Ariel, so what? How did that make her more special than Arabella? Or any of her cousins? Or Ally, her mom was very famous even though she wasn't a queen. She just had the fortune to be born into such a family. Yet she still had the same pressures every girl had. Be more girly, make your parents proud, hang out with more princesses...

She didn't want to care, but she also didn't want her parents to be disappointed. That thought was the worst to her.

Melody was alone that day, for once. Her three dormmates were a gaggle of indigenous girls from Arendelle who kept unintentionally secluding her so after a few weeks she just gave up on befriending them. She had her own friend group anyway. They hung out every hour of every day in there though, making it hard to do...things. But they were gone, so without hesitation, Melody pulled out her secret basket from under her bed and looked through it, picking out some random bags. She didn't really care what she ended up eating so long as it was something.

She ripped open the bags of chips and cookies she had and began stuffing them indiscriminately into her mouth, barely registering what was what. Her hands moved automatically, throwing food into her mouth which she chewed and swallowed. She kept eating until she emptied six chip bags and four of the cookie bags, gasping and sliding the basket under her bed again.

Melody very slowly stood up after that, having enough energy to collapse into her bed just as she always did. She still had some of the sweets she took from the princess tea party and a tiny voice in the back of her head told her she needed to eat those already, but she didn't have the strength to push it away or respond back.

She continued to breathe heavily, a hand on her stomach as she buried her face in her pillow.

Oh, she was a disappointment alright. She was sure if her parents ever saw her like this, they would be disheartened and wondered where they went wrong. Who could claim a daughter like her, meant to be one of the most important children, who acted boyish, hung out with civilians, and worst of all, had binge-eating-disorder?

She wasn't the perfect princess, and even though she didn't want to care, maybe that's where her problems stemmed from.

###

It always seemed to rain hardest whenever the school as a whole was going through a tough period. Showers were good for the spring, to help flowers grow, and some kids did enjoy dancing out in it or found it romantic. When things were going poorly though, that's when the rain really poured. Storms grew in strength too, and Lonnie would've found it something humorous to ponder on if the negativity hadn't been affecting her too. Maybe princesses really did have natural powers like that.

Unlike the rest of her peers, Lonnie went outside in the rain, wearing a plastic transparent raincoat patterned with flowers over her clothes. She stepped onto the courtyard and just wandered around, hugging herself.

"The rain can be good, the rain can be inspiring..." Thunder clapped above her, yet she kept walking. Anywhere was better than her dorm room. Audrey wasn't even there, Megan never was even before all this chaos, and she couldn't bear to look at Snowdrop right then. Thus, she walked alone.

"Lonnie!?" Her parents ran over to her, looking surprised and wearing their own coats to keep the rain off.

"We were getting ready to go back home." Her dad began. "Do you want to join us? Maybe it'd be best if-"

"I didn't do anything," She reminded them. "I don't want to go home."

"It's not a punishment! Just..a change of scenery, you know,"

"You're upset you didn't stand up for anyone during Family Day, aren't you?" Mulan asked instead, a soft expression on her face.

Lonnie nodded. Thunder clapped again.

"Maybe you didn't stand up for them then, but it's not too late to stand up for them now. I know you don't see them as bad!" She put her hand on Lonnie's shoulder. "Besides, asking you to return home is silly. Your home is here, with your friends, both your childhood ones and your new ones,"

Lonnie pulled her hood closer to frame her face. "I promise I'll stand up for them more. Family Day...ugh," she sighed.

"That was on your mind this whole time?" Shang asked in surprise, but Mulan laughed.

"I could see it in her eyes. Plus she came out during a heavy storm to think. I used to do the same thing,"

"Did your old army friends show up? I wouldn't mind getting their daughters to hang out with all of us," Lonnie smiled her usual mischievous smile.

"I think Chen-Po and Su did at the very least. So Shu-mu could come," Mulan thought about it.

"We should get them to cook something then! Su makes the best meals!" She laughed, and Mulan smiled back.

"There's our girl!"

###

Audrey got her own special bed in the nurse's office, because of course she did. She was Audrey and Audrey always got what was best for her. She laid in bed with a tense expression on her face, hands folded on her chest, looking very much like her mother did when she fell into her eternal slumber.

Snowdrop found herself wondering what her mother looked like when she temporarily died. Did she still retain her beauty, or did she look shocked as she realized too late what had happened to her?

Audrey laid on a bed of flowers, with fake flowers poised around her, but there were no cards or flowers on the table next to her, and it made Snowdrop sad. Even though she was mean and went too far on Family Day, she still thought she deserved something while she lay comatose.

"She looks creepy. How is that supposed to be beautiful?" Megan asked, breaking the silence as she usually did. "Like you can tell she's a corpse, almost,"

"Don't say such things! She's not dead, she's just asleep!" Snowdrop scolded. She moved closer and placed her bouquet on Audrey's chest, close to where her hands were posed. She wanted to get one of roses, but those were sold out so she settled on lilies. "There's so much I never got about her. Like why she was so mean to everyone. When we were kids she was so sweet..."

Megan tossed her sole lilac on Audrey, watching it land in her hair. "Some people are just rotten." She shrugged.

Snowdrop sighed. "Wish Lonnie could've given her flowers too. She's also her dormmate. Our dormmate."

"I'm outta here," She flipped her ponytail and left the room, but Snowdrop was used to her behavior by then. They said Megan had the heart of her dad but it got overshadowed by her mom's snark. She took another glance at Audrey and went outside of the school, sitting on the steps.

She meant what she said in there. Everyone knew the stories and all four parents had the same formal portrait in their quarters. Snowdrop saw it in her mind perfectly, as if she were staring at it right then. The four of them as children, elegant and sweet. She sat in front with a dainty expression on her face. Next to her was Prince Ben, smiling nicely in his suit. Behind them were Audrey and Chad, Audrey curtsying and Chad posed with a sword. She knew them all for years, they seemed so good, why had Audrey turned so sour?

"What's the problem?"

Snowdrop didn't look up at the voice, but she didn't need to. She'd know it anywhere. Whenever she was sad, the children of the Seven Dwarves just seemed to find their way to her somehow.

"Are you alright? No, you look positively not alright!" Cheerful decided. The kids all sat around her on the steps to the best of their abilities, as there were more of them than there were steps.

"I'm being pulled in every direction! I want to be myself, not Mother, definitely not a snob like Audrey. How did she become like this?" She covered her face. "I want to be myself,"

Cheerful and Hap put their hands on both of her shoulders, trying to gently pat them.

"Maybe Audrey is feeling the same sort of pressures you are." Doc's son suggested. "Since you say she was so nice before,"

"Maybe I need a break from her. Maybe I should go home to my parents...no. Maybe she should. I need to stay here, Evie needs me. I know that at least," Snowdrop rubbed her eyes. "I'm worried over her, but I'm more worried over Evie. Family comes first,"

The kids all nodded at her, pleased with her decisions. Cheerful bounced up and gently helped Snowdrop to her feet too.

"It's not much, but want to hear what I've coordinated for the marching band? It's so complex you'll be thinking of nothing else!" Doug laughed awkwardly, and Snowdrop laughed with him.

"Maybe I could come in and save the day with my flute!" She laughed as she followed him, the rest of the kids running after too.