"Lady Mother! Lady Mother! You insisted she had no more magic!" The castle was startled by the sounds of their young princess, her voice unmistakable, storming through the halls and pointing a finger at the other girl her age, who stood pouting with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"We never said she had no magic, just that hers isn't as powerful or as wicked as her mother's." That was Queen Aurora's statement every time Audrey brought it up, which was several times a month. Audrey just huffed and stormed off in another direction, Mal following her.
"It's not fair. My parents treat you better just because they're afraid of you. They should be spoiling me!"
"Doesn't it make sense for them to be scared of me? I bet you are too," Mal let her eyes briefly flash green, smirking at Audrey's noticeable flinch.
"That rule was stupid anyway. Why should we have to host the children of villains? They'd be better off being banished somewhere else, far away from us!"
Mal knew exactly the rule Audrey spoke of, and continued to follow the girl outside to the castle's courtyard where colourful roses, the queen's favorite, grew in abundances, even through the stone walls. The rule stated that every villain had to serve time in their realm's respective prison, and if they happened to have a child in the meantime, they would be raised within the realm in the hopes they'd turn out good, or at least more decent than their parent. Mal knew the rule as it governed her life and was supposedly the bane of Audrey's existence. Ever since the two first noticed the other they were at odds, and Mal admitted she did nothing in the way of trying to mend those ties.
Why would she? It was obvious who she was and where she truly belonged. Audrey was dark and carried the famed curls of both her mother and grandmother, wearing pastel pinks and blues that were popular in the kingdom by way of her many gowns. Mal was pale and though her hair had waves, it was purple and she preferred the darker green and purple colours of shorter dresses and tunics. She briefly lit a glowing green fire in her palm before she stifled it, watching Audrey tend to the roses.
"I have other friends, you know," Mal reminded her.
"Yes, your creepy villain ones!" She pulled on a stubborn weed with a dainty gasp.
Technology fluctuated and differed between every United State in Auradon, making communication tricky in most instances. Mal had to make do with letters to her friends, always reliable and accepted in every State. She took special remedial classes alongside many other villainous kids and managed to make a few friends from other distant lands. One was Maddy Mim, granddaughter to a famed witch, and the two easily bonded over their kingdoms being old-fashioned monarchies where magic still prevailed. She also had Evie, Jay, and Carlos de Vil, three whom she has very little in common with but the three just clicked. Every villain liked to keep to their own little groups and that was Mal's.
Audrey finished her gardening and brightened upon Queen Aurora and King Phillip strolling into the garden, running over to them.
"I picked some pesky weeds out of your garden!" She curtsied politely for Aurora.
"Did you? Thank you. I am sure the garden looks even lovelier now," She held out her hand and several birds chirped and rested on it, chirping to her.
"I hope one day I can speak to birds. All animals and sing to them too!" Audrey smiled.
"You're a princess, so I don't see why not. Animals are very important to princesses. Speaking of which, I think it's time for your singing lesson," She gently shooed the birds away and led Audrey back inside while Mal sat on one of the seats outside, staring at the roses.
"Something on your mind?" King Phillip asked.
"I'm surprised you care," Mal didn't mean to scoff but did so anyway, her voice biting.
"You're just as much a daughter here as my own daughter, and we have a duty to you," He sat beside her. "I don't like to see you sad,"
"I'm not sad! Audrey is just...Audrey! She's annoying! Every month she complains over my magic!" Her eyes glowed again.
"She'll grow out of it." King Phillip offered her a smile. "You're both so young. She enjoys making fusses over everything,"
Mal couldn't stifle her giggles at that. "You don't have to tell me this though,"
"I want to. Good emotional control is the mark of a hero, or in your case, princess,"
"Blech! I don't want to be a princess! That's Audrey's thing! I could never sing or dance or eat teaspoon drops of soup at every dinner." She rolled her eyes.
"Then you can be a hero. Many more girls are. I'm sure you've heard The Ballad of Hua Mulan?"
"Everyone has,"
"I'm just checking!" He laughed. "You have passion in you. Don't let Audrey, or anyone for that matter, take it away." He then stood up. "I best check on the Lady Wife and my daughter. Last time they sung together, the castle was overrun with birds."
Mal laughed again at the memory; they were pulling birds out of pies for weeks! She just watched King Phillip go before she stared up at the sky. The conversation confused her and she never understood why King Phillip always seemed to go out of his way to talk to her whenever she felt down. She wasn't his daughter, they just shared the same story. He had no obligation to her.
######
Four Years Later
######
"Auradon Prep! I can't believe it! I got accepted!" Audrey cheered and squealed, jumping up and down.
"Congratulations! We both knew you'd get accepted, with your roots and everything," Queen Aurora smiled just as Mal wandered into the main room, blinking as she rubbed her eyes. "Oh! Did you hear? My daughter got accepted to Auradon Prep!"
"That super rich elite school snobby kids go to?" Mal snarked, earning Audrey's evil glare. "As if there'd be any chance of you not getting accepted,"
"I have to start packing instantly!" Audrey twirled out of the room, still holding her letter, while Mal stared at the royal couple seated before her on their thrones, dressed as simply as they could find.
"Don't diss the school before you go there," King Phillip shook his head at her. "It's got a long history and educates its students on everything they need for adulthood,"
"I thought I was just going to continue my studies here. The anti-evil classes and stuff," Mal said. "Auradon Prep is not for me,"
"That's what we thought too, until this letter came," Queen Aurora stood with all of her grace and stature, gently handing a crisp golden envelope to Mal. Stamped on the front was the official royal seal of the USA and her eyes widened.
"What?! No way. This is a mistake!" She pulled open the letter with trembling hands and skimmed through the invitation, picking out the most important bits.
"This year, they're trying to leave no stone unturned. Many kids missed out on getting prime educations due to the school's elite status, but now they're trying to cover their bases," King Phillip smiled and took Queen Aurora's hand.
"We're supportive of it! Everyone deserves a good education," Queen Aurora nodded.
"It's a joke. Me, at Auradon Prep?! With all those perky princesses and shallow princes?" Mal demanded. "I thought I'd finally get a chance to be free of Audrey too,"
"We can always say you declined, but it's a great opportunity!" King Phillip pressed. "Your friends might go!"
Somehow, Mal could see Evie and Jay going at least. Evie would want to score some rich prince and Jay would want to rob real gold and jewels for once. If they were there, she supposed it wouldn't be too bad even if they stuck out like sore thumbs.
"If you're still unsure, you should go ask your own Lady Mother." Queen Aurora put her hand on Mal's shoulder with a dark look in her eyes. "I'm sure she could say something that'd convince you."
"Sure," Mal shrugged and Queen Aurora slipped her the wooden key she always wore around her waist, gathering some guards and leading the girl down a winding stone staircase, a candle in her hand to light their way by.
The guards were silent, their armor clacking, and Mal kept her own head down as the sour mildew stench of the dungeons began to hit her and she tugged her cloak to hopefully keep it out of the muck. They walked past several empty cells barred by iron before they reached the last one, blocked by a door. Queen Aurora slid the key into the lock and let it slowly creak open, revealing a larger cell also barred by iron with a woman sitting in it.
"Talk as long as you need. When you're done, the guards will escort you back up." She left the two alone, and Mal walked over to the cell and stared into the face of the true woman who had birthed her fifteen years ago.
"Mal, my sweet darling. It's been entirely too long since the last time we've chatted, isn't that right?" Her voice was still mature and commanding, the velvety tone not changed by age or poverty. Even with her long hair tangled to the floor and her only attire being a grey overshirt and long black gown, she still radiated dominance and beauty. She was a dark fairy in her entire being and not even decades of imprisonment would change that.
"How have you been, Lady Mother?" Mal smirked at the formality she used, peeking through the bars.
"Lonely, mostly. Bored without my magic. I can feel you have some, with years left to grow into. That's nice, I'm happy I passed that onto you." She ran her hands through her hair, using soft, delicate strokes. "I assume you did not come here to simply catch up, am I correct?"
"Yeah. I got a letter from Auradon Prep and I don't think I should go, but they were insisting that I did. I don't think there's a place for me there, though I definitely want to get away from Audrey, My friends might be there too. Don't you agree? I think I should just stick with my tutoring here," She explained. Maleficent looked over.
"Auradon Prep? I'm surprised. You may be the daughter of a powerful fairy as myself, but that doesn't translate to royalty unfortunately. I think you should go,"
Her heart jumped. "What? You want me to be around annoying rich kids?"
"My dear, it's not the education I'm thinking of, it's the power. Think about it. All your life, you've just lived in this one castle, this one kingdom, never to know of life beyond. You don't even have anyone to train you in your magic, they would never let myself do it for sure. If you go to Auradon, the others will see you as a powerful threat and if you play your timing right, you could make them putty in your hands. You could rule the hub of Auradon and eventually, the rest of the kingdoms!" She laughed. "If you get some other villainous kids with magic to help you, I'm sure your goal will be even easier,"
Mal gripped the bars, wincing a bit at the iron. "You want me to go so I can take over Auradon itself?"
"Yes! Bring it to its knees. Do what I was unable to do years ago and rule through your magic!"
It was tempting, to be sure, if only for something to do. She was sure Jay and Evie would once again use their own brands of inherited magic to help her, and Maddy Mim would absolutely help as well. It'd be fun to put Audrey in her place after years of false claims about her magic being bad. Could she do it though? Her magic was limited and she didn't want to cause suspicion and get thrown out on her very first day. Then again, what did she have to lose? She was a Villain Kid, a VK to use a more derogatory abbreviation, she didn't want to play good. She nodded.
"I'll do it."
"That's my girl," Maleficent smiled a cold smile. "I knew I raised you to follow in my footsteps. Send me letters, they do allow me to have them, with any questions you may have. I can try to teach you my magic the best I can though written words."
Mal curtsied to her mother before she stepped out, telling the guards she was ready to leave and watching the door get locked once more. Maleficent's words buzzed through her head that whole night, throughout her own packing session and throughout the dinner, even throughout her announcing she'd go and the couple cheering for her and Audrey gasping out of anger. When she went to bed that night, she had only one thing on her mind.
She needed to make her mother proud of her.
#####
Evie kept close to her stepsister, hiding how nervous she was over the huge crowds of students running through the courtyard, some even pushing others out of their way. She gripped her fake designer bag and looked up at the renovated castle, sighing. There she was, finally at Auradon Prep. It made sense for her, as she had royal blood in her veins even if they were dark, and she wouldn't pass up the chance to break the hearts of better men. Princes, even, if she got lucky.
"We're here! I'm so excited! And nervous! I hope everyone will be good to me," Snowdrop put a hand on her heart, biting her lip. "The birds told me to be calm,"
"We have each other," Evie reminded her, making Snowdrop nod.
"Correct! Family sticks together!" The girl with obvious Caucasian mountain blood smiled sweetly, carrying the famed ebony hair and snowy skin and red lips as her mother. Usually she wore layered heavy gowns of blue back home but wanted to seem more modern, so the previous night she shyly asked if Evie could work some magic to make her a new gown. Evie promised to do her one better and the next morning found herself the new owner of a lacy blue blouse and yellow shorts, a matching ribbon to tie her hair back with. Evie didn't neglect herself either, with a dark grey graphic shirt of a poisoned apple and a matching plaid micromini skirt, the two were ready to make statements at school.
"We should try to find our dorms," Evie suggested, and Snowdrop nodded and followed her sister, steering clear of the chaos. Evie noticed some boys already swordfighting out in the field and offered them a wink as she passed. A solemn girl in a plain buttoned-up black dress and veil walked past, whispering a prayer to herself. One boy rushed past, elbowing others and earning the ire of a small girl he ran into.
"Are you two sisters? Wow! Siblings are rare here!" A perky voice caught Evie off-guard and she glanced up into the brown eyes of a tall tanned girl with defined muscles, a flowery polo shirt and khakis on with a camera around her neck. "Hey, mind if I snap your photo?"
"We're stepsisters," Snowdrop declared. "And Mother warned me of this! I just make a pose just like a portrait, right?"
"You're from one of the older kingdoms!" The girl just laughed. "Those are the best. I've been snapping so much I worry I'm going to run out of film!"
"Sure, we'll take one," Evie humored the girl and smiled while Snowdrop posed with her hands folded neatly next to her face, a favored pose that her mother, Queen Snow White, often adopted in various paintings. The girl stepped back and snapped the two, grinning.
"Family is important, you know. Hope I see you two around!"
"What is your name?" Snowdrop questioned.
"Lilo. Lilo Pelekai. I like hula dancing and photography and really spicy pepperoni on everything, and my pet is an alien. Bye!"
"Wh-" Before Evie could question her further, the girl had run off to look for more people, so she just glanced at Snowdrop who looked confused.
"Aliens...exist?" She pulled on her cheeks.
"Let's just find our dorms," Evie patted her stepsister in an attempt to comfort her as they wandered through the halls. The school was much larger inside with familiar stone walls and heroic flags everywhere, and there were even less people inside, but Evie still bit her lip from nerves. What was she doing there? What if she was the only one of her friends to accept? Queen Snow White and her king were both very open over Evie attending, and when she asked her mother she just got told to look for a cute prince with lots of money who'd marry her. A worthy goal, but beaus were only secondary to her friends.
"Do you think your friends will come?" She addressed Snowdrop as they climbed the stairs.
"Yes, there's no way Audrey and Chad wouldn't be accepted. Our parents were the original royals!"
They reached the top and followed the signs through a lush golden sitting room and down a scarlet hallway to two branching corridors, one for boys and one for girls. The two took the left side and looked for their names, finding their doors were across from each other but not together.
"I'm rooming with Audrey, yay! And a girl named Lonnie and another girl named Megan." She called from her side.
Evie set her bag down on a random bed, already realizing what had happened. The school might've accepted them with open arms, but they still intended to segregate them to their own kind using the dorms. Her and Snowdrop were thankfully still very close, but she wondered about others who were and got rooms super apart from each other. She peeked at the nameplates and saw she was rooming with girls named Hannah, Claudine, and Dizzy. At least their parents named them well, she knew some VK parents who just named them the first name they thought of and called it a day. Thank goodness her own mother had the forethought to give her a good name; Eleonora, Evie for short to match her mother's own moniker. She had no idea when she could expect to meet them, so she started to unpack her side with another sigh.
Time to see what Auradon Prep had in store for her.
######
Unpacking was lame and better left to other people who didn't have an entire school to explore, or so Aziz told Jay as they threw their bags down and continued to look around the school, making notes of where everything was. Aziz decided that aside from the dorms, the classroom wings, cafeteria, library, and sports field were the most important to look for and thus they did, Jay starting to rub his hands.
"Oh no, I know that look in your eyes. Don't even think about it," Aziz playfully nudged Jay. "Not here,"
"Everyone here is loaded though! They wouldn't miss a measly bracelet or ring, they have plenty others!" He insisted.
"I get it's tempting, but you promised my folks you'd turn over a new leaf here, and that means no stealing. They could vouch for you back home, but here it's just you,"
Jay grumbled to himself, knowing Aziz was right. Back home in Agrabah, it was an open secret that sometimes the Sultan couldn't resist his old ways and passed that unfortunate trait onto his own son, who worked hard to break it, whereas Jay was allowed to steal minor things to combat his own evil roots. The two were literally thick as thieves and saw each other as brothers, the Sultan seeing Jay as his own son. Here though, stealing was something associated with villainy, and Jay did promise the Sultan and Sultana that he'd be good at the school. Jafar, who was still confined to his lamp and kept under very strict magical surveillance, suggested he remained in Agrabah where his roots were, but the moment Aziz announced his plans to go, Jay agreed to go with him.
"Alright, alright, roommates, who'd you get?" Aziz asked as they headed outside for the field. "Mine are Chad Charming, James Smith, and Herkie,"
"The three Gaston boys," Jay rolled his eyes a bit. "I can bet I won't be sleeping much anymore with how loud they are. Might even have to rough them up myself if they get too annoying."
Aziz just chuckled. "You gonna play a sport? Tourney is popular here but there's a lot of variety. Fencing, discuses, track, swimming, basketball, cheerleading, we even have a professional jump rope team! The younger kids love that one,"
"Fencing, probably. Or tourney," Jay shrugged. He was a fast runner but wasn't sure if sports were really his thing. What was his thing though, other than stealing? Jafar always said he had a knack for magic but Jay has trouble tapping into it without guidance, guidance his dad didn't feel like giving him much of. He was always a tad envious of Evie and Mal, the way Evie just needed to memorize spells from a book and the way Mal summoned whatever she needed from her palms. Those were evil traits though, things associated with their villainous parents. Princesses and heroes didn't have magic, and thus neither would he.
"Great choices!" Aziz nodded in approval. There were some boys out on the field fencing already, moving their legs fast and steady. Several girls were out there too, making up makeshift cheers for them. One little girl jump-roped by herself, moving so fast the rope was invisible.
"Watch where you're going!" A girl snarled at a boy who knocked into her, spilling his drink on her front. "You almost ruined my tech!"
"Sorry!" The boy bowed humbly. "Someone was chasing me and-"
"I don't care," She rolled her eyes and walked off as the boy went the other direction of her.
"AKs have problems too?" Jay mused. "She seemed so rude,"
"Jennifer Hawkins, or so one of my former classmates back home told me. They were an exchange student to her realm for a year and got to study at her school. She's an AK but very rebellious and punkish. Definitely not a princess and if you call her Jennifer, she'll punch you," Aziz recited.
"Never heard of her,"
"It'll be interesting for sure to know her better. They said her world was old-fashioned like most of our kingdoms but had technology too."
Jay just stood beside Aziz, mulling over that thought in his head. Maybe Jennifer was cool, but really he just needed Aziz by his side. The others would be nice too for some familiarity, but Aziz was who truly kept him grounded. Nobody else but him.
#####
Carlos was late to arrive and tried to keep his head down, feeling shy over the fact he was a VK with no AK to his story. Yeah, it was so rare and unheard of that most refused to believe him when he said so, including his three good friends of Evie, Jay, and Mal. They had their respective AKs, and he waited years for his only to realize that was not to be. The Radcliffes just didn't want to have kids for whatever reason, leaving him by himself. Sure, he had his brothers Harry and Jace, but that wasn't the same at all because they were still VKs, just of lesser villains, his mother's henchmen to be exact. Even Cruella hadn't been imprisoned the way he was sure so many others had, the way his friends' parents had, she just had to do mandatory community service for several years. When he asked her about attending Auradon Prep, she just waved him away and told him to do whatever he wanted. And so he did and now he was at the school. The famous school for princesses and heroes, the children of famed protagonists in stories every kid knew growing up. How would he ever fit in?
Standing around just thinking about it would do nothing, so Carlos wandered around, thinking he should find someone to give him his schedule and a map. Those two would be great ways to get started and at least seem like he belonged there. He saw many students running around but nobody who resembled a teacher or other staff member. He kept walking the halls, the large space and sparse decorations making him dizzy. Everyone rushed by in swirls of bright colours. His breathing grew sharper and hid heart hammered in his chest. He couldn't do this-
"Are you lost? You look lost. In fact you look ready to puke," A warm hand gloved in leather took his own and led him to a smaller corridor free of people, then put their hands on his face. "Are you okay? Are you having a panic attack? If so, take several deep breaths and try to focus on my face,"
Carlos followed the person's advice and stared at their face, breathing slowly and seeing the person was a blonde short girl with mesmerizing eyes. He took another deep breath as she removed her hands.
"Sorry I touched you. My mother has the same problem so my sister and I learned how to handle panic attacks," She stepped back and Carlos took note of her cropped wavy bob and purple sweater with a black leather skirt and fishnets underneath, thinking they had a similar style. Was she an AK? There was no way.
"It's okay. That usually doesn't happen!" He laughed it off. "I'm just not used to huge places," He held out his hand to her. "Carlos de Vil."
"Anxelin Fitzherbert. Older twin of Ruby Fitzherbert." She shook his hand with a strong grip.
"You're AK!? No way. You dress like a punk!" Carlos blurted out, making her laugh.
"Have you seen my dad? He was a thief. I guess that aspect of him rubbed off on me," She put her hands on her hips. "I don't mind though. I'm the tough punk daughter and my twin is the prim princess with the long hair and everything. That way we can make both of our parents happy,"
"I'm lost, I'll admit it. I haven't seen my friends at all and I don't know where the staff are," He sighed. "School back home was easier,"
"I get it. Ruby ran off to hang out with her princess friends so you can be stuck with me. I'll help you find your way around." She said.
"Great!" He perked up and followed after her, watching her masterfully weave her way through the crowds before finding a random adult and tapping their shoulder, whispering some things and coming back with a rolled-up map and green paper.
"This is the map and your schedule," She tapped the green paper. "You're a freshmen so your paper is green, just an easy way to keep track of things,"
"Um, you're not bothered over the fact I'm a VK? I mean, I don't care about anything, but my mom told me AKs hated people like us," He looked at his schedule, seeing some of it was regular academic stuff he did at his old school, and others were things he had never heard of before, like a chivalry course and several elective options. Well, electives or a sport sounded like fun, those were completely normal school things he could do.
"Why would I be?" Anxelin asked genuinely, staring at him. "Again, my dad is a thief. Was a thief, he reformed, but imagine if he hadn't. I would've been labeled a VK and maybe Ruby world still be born but we'd be AK and VK rivals. To me, there's no difference between us."
"Oh," Carlos hated how he was suddenly so speechless today, around her, when normally he was the jokester of the group, but for some reason he just couldn't talk much. "Do you have a VK?"
"Yeah, Ginny Gothel. The three of us left together but somewhere on the ride, somehow, she bolted and ran off somewhere else. Ruby called her and she said she was going to attend when she felt like it. Chances are she won't even come," Anxelin explained. "Ruby ironically likes her more than me, thinks she can be changed, but I don't see the point. She's so much like her mom, she loves being evil," She started walking again and Carlos followed her, going up the steps of a wide hallway. "Judging by your name, you're the son of Cruella de Vil, right?"
"How'd you know? She's not one of the more famous villains," She was also one of the only human villains, as in someone who couldn't do any sort of magic, she was just a regular person, something Carlos felt ashamed over when he hung out with the other three. He loved them dearly, but they were all born from magical people and clearly carried it in their veins. Cruella was a normal human and thus he felt left-out of many things growing up.
"I did research on my future classmates," Anxelin shrugged. "Thought they'd be interesting, and I was right. You got a great sense of style," She pointed to his pinstriped suit with a red leather jacket and matching gloves. "You're like, mod and also modern,"
The two reached the dorms and she pointed him over in the direction of the boys' side.
"Thanks for showing me around, and on liking my outfit. You're nice," He shook her hand again.
"Hope to see you around!" She waved and walked off, leaving Carlos to check out his dorm. Unlike the others, he just had a small backpack because his mother insisted she'd send over his entire wardrobe herself, so he just brought the essentials. He looked over the nameplates but didn't recognize anyone except for one, Eddie Balthazar. A weird pairing they made the few times they met up, but due to the close proximity of their respective realms they attended the same schools and bonded over their mutual dislike of animals. It was swapped though, Carlos hated dogs and loved cats while Eddie hated cats and loved dogs. They also were a rare pair of VKs where they had no opposing AK, the protagonists of their stories just didn't want to have kids. It was a weird relationship but Carlos liked it, knowing it was important to branch out of your own group once in a while, and Eddie understood that. If the other three weren't there, he was glad at least one familiar face would be, and hey, Anxelin seemed super nice too, so he could even say he made a potential new friend on his first day as well.
Things were working out well for Carlos.
