Ashlyn's POV
It...it finally is happening. Eighteen fucking years, but today...no, actually, they don't come til tomorrow. Tomorrow morning Ben will greet them and things will finally change. They'll finally get that chance they've always deserved.
"Your bed is made, it's down the hall from Crystal's, let me know if you need anything."
I smile a bit, "Thanks mom," I say, giggling a bit as she leans down to kiss my forehead.
"What'cha writing?" She asks, peaking over my shoulder at the journal.
I smile a bit, shaking my head. "It's nothing. Just a little note to myself. Just like you suggested."
It's supposed to be some type of therapy thing. I always refused to actually go to that kind of thing, but she still tries to get me to do some of the exercises sometimes. She said that I needed to stop dragging myself down, and then she sat me down at the table, brought over a pen and paper, and told me to write nice things about myself. Anything negative she'd immediately cross out. Only the good things mattered.
Needless to say I hated it, and my list had maybe three things that were actually positive. Then she started listing some things. A lot of them I don't really see myself, or understand at all, but it does make me feel a little better that she can see those good things that I can't.
"Goodnight Ashlyn," she whispers before kissing my forehead one last time. "Don't stay up too late!"
I laugh, "I won't!"
She rolls her eyes a bit. "I won't!" I repeat, laughing a bit more.
"Uh huh, sure. Have a good night sweetie."
"Good night mom!" I call after her, "Love you!"
"Love you too!" She shouts back, the door swinging shut behind her.
I smile a bit more, looking back over my note.
Just...stay positive.
It won't be immediate.
Not positive.
But maybe, just maybe, one day...they will all be happy...because of me. Because I helped them. I can only hope that's the case. I can only hope that I won't be useless this time. Tomorrow things change. That's something to be happy about, right? So smile. Maybe just maybe...you deserve it...cause maybe you deserve to be happy too.
I smile a bit, setting down the pen and walking towards my room. Tomorrow's important. Maybe I can't actually be there, but that's the day that things will change. Tomorrow.
Just one more day.
Mal's POV
This isn't fair. This was supposed to be our chance to be happy; our chance to be normal. Not another fucking deathtrap.
"You okay?" Carlos asks, sliding through the now open window.
I don't say anything. How can I? Mom is letting us go. It's what we wanted, yet...do I rally want to ruin it for them?"
"Mom's letting us go."
He freezes, "What?"
"She wants us to go to Auradon"That-That's amazing! I didn't-"
"She wants us to tear down the barrier!" I growl, banging my fist against the wall.
"What? What do you mean tear down the barrier? How eve-"
"The Fairy Godmother's wand. It's what created the barrier. She wants us to steal it."
It goes silent, "Okay," he mutters. "Then we listen, and then once we're in Auradon we can just live normal lives. She can't hurt us anym-"
"She'll kill Alex," I whisper, burying my head into my knees.
"Wh-What? No. No, no, I thought she didn't-"
"Well she does!" I scream. "She knows, and if she even thinks I'm not doing what she wants she'll kill him."
"And if we try bringing him?"
"No, no, we try to bring him then she'll kill all of us. We have to listen to her."
"Mal…"
"We don't have a choice Carlos, I won't lose that kid. I could care less about everyone else, but not him. He doesn't deserve it."
He doesn't say anything.
"Car-"
"What do we tell Evie and Jay? They don't know that you took in Alex. They don't even know that he exists."
"I...I don't know. But I can't let her hurt him."
He nods, "Fine, we'll bring that place down. For Alex."
"For Alex," I whisper.
Ashlyn's POV
I'm such a fucking idiot for thinking that would work. Just stay positive! That'll make you actually sleep through the night for once! Fucking brilliant.
I roll over, reaching for the light, twisting the knob a bit to turn it on. I kick the blanket off of me, slowly lowering my legs to the ground, since if I'm not gonna sleep I might as well do something productive.
I hop out of bed, walking over to the desk near the door. There's stacks of papers there, a few notebooks, that's not really important though. His letters are there, most of the time I just re-read through them to feel at least a little happy even if I messed up and he won't come tomorrow. It also has all his notes, which I at least thought would be useful for choosing people, but then dad had to go and ruin that because I'm not allowed to be happy.
I reach for one of the letters,
I don't give a damn if you think you messed up. You didn't. Anyone coming is still making some changes. Whether you say that was your brother or not I know it was you. You inspired him, Ashlyn. You changed his mind. And maybe he's the one who talked it through with your parents when you wouldn't, but this was still your idea. You're changing things. Thank you.
I smile a bit, it's at least nice to know he doesn't hate me.
I still don't get why he goes through the effort of writing these though. Everytime he sees me he goes out of his way to not just tell me what's in the letter, but to then mail it to me a few weeks later to remind me. And of course he mails them here since he knows dad won't give me privacy if he sees something addressed to me from a boy. Plus he just hated dad for good reason.
Three weeks ago though, he told me this in person after I ruined what we planned by leaving during Ben's presentation, and then two days before they're finally coming the letter gets here reminding me of exactly what he said.
And somehow people consider him a villain…
I put the letter back, laying my head on the hard wooden desk. I know he said he's okay and not mad that I ruined things, but I wanted him to come. Really bad. Obviously I wanted to give everyone on the Isle a chance, but...no, no, it's still worth it for them to come even if he didn't. There's always gonna be next time, right? This is just the start.
I kick the back of the desk out of frustration. Of course I fucked things up! Why wouldn't I? I make promises and then I break them! Fucking terrific.
"So you're up."
Ow. Fuck. Ow.
"You okay?" She asks, walking over to me.
I nod a bit, lifting my leg up to rest on the chair. "I'm fine, you just caught me off guard."
"Do you need some ice?"
"I'm fine. Just banged my knee on the desk," I explain, turning towards her. "Though it doesn't help that there's still some old scars there from a while back."
"I'll go get some ice," She says, running out the door down towards the kitchen.
I shake my head, "I said I'm fine."
"I don't trust you!" She yells back from downstairs.
I roll my eyes a bit and walk towards the doorway, leaning on the doorframe while I wait for her, arms crossed and all. "This is just unnecessary," I mutter, reaching for the ice pack in her hands.
I fall back onto my bed, laying the ice on my knee. Rather quickly I might add. I don't really need her to see that scar.
"Sooo," she trails off, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Why are you up? It's almost morning."
"I woke up early. I thought I would get some work done before going home and then you caught me off guard."
She sighs, shaking her head a bit. "I was standing in that doorway for like two minutes before I said anything. You weren't working, Ashlyn."
I groan; of course she was. "I tried, then I just sorta started crying. I'm just really upset that…"
"I know, and you didn't screw anything up, okay. Anyone coming is still something, right?"
"No!" I scream. "It's not! It's not enough! I wanted him here so bad, and now I screwed that up! For everyone!"
"Being upset won't fix anything. Being mad at yourself won't fix anything. If you're so upset about it then go talk to your parents. Maybe they don't listen but at least try. Kicking yourself about it again won't fix things."
I-"You think I haven't tried? I've tried talking to them! I've tried asking! One more person! Please! I'll never bring the Isle up again after this if he comes! I've tried! Everything! They don't...care. They never will. The one time I had a chance I ruined it by leaving."
"He doesn't blame you, does he?" She asks quietly.
I laugh, "No, no, of course he doesn't. He should. He should've hated me for a long ass time but he doesn't...he doesn't hate me. Mom, he's the nicest person I know, and now cause of me the one chance I had to legally get him and his family out is gone."
"For now maybe, but there will be another. Promise."
"You can't promise that!" I growl.
"Ashlyn, you are one of the most resilient people I've ever known, whether the opportunity presents itself or not you'll find a way to make one."
"Nothing with me and my dad has ever gone my way. Ben's the only reason things are happening tomorrow."
"You're the one who inspired him," she says, leaning her head on my shoulder. "Besides, if tomorrow goes well, which it will with you being in charge, then you'll bring more people over in the future. And he will be part of that group."
"There's not even a guarantee things do go well tomorrow. What if the second the barrier opens for a second hundreds of villains rush out? What then? We throw them all back in and never try again? Nothing is certain! Everything could just change and I can't do anything about it!"
I bury my face into my pillow, "I messed up mom. I had a chance to get him here...all of them. Everyone I cared about could be coming tomorrow and I...I fucked it up...I just want him here mom."
"I know," she says, bringing me closer into her chest. "You have to move on though. Just being mad at yourself won't fix anything. Whether you think you messed up this time or not, don't hate yourself for it, just remind yourself to do better next time."
I…I fucking can't. I can't. It's my fault. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry. "Thanks mom. I'll try."
She smiles. "Good, now go to bed," she laughs. "You're supposed to be back in Auradon early tomorrow so you can help figure things out with the Isle kids. You need to sleep."
"Okay," I whisper. "Goodnight."
I'm not sleeping.
"Goodnight. I'll see you in a few hours."
"Mhm," I hum. "Love you mom."
"Love you too sweetheart."
And then she left. The door shut behind her and the room went dark. How fun. Now I get to just lay here for a few hours while I wait for morning to come and she comes back and finds me still awake and realizes I lied about trying. It's fucking pointless. Sleeping isn't even good anyways. Spend hours trying to fall asleep, have awful nightmares all night, wake up in a panic and don't fall back asleep. Doesn't matter how long I was asleep for.
Just repeat the same awful process over and over again. At some point it's just better to not try. There's not much of a difference between zero and twenty minutes of sleep. And that's all I can really expect at this point.
I close my eyes. The sound of water. It's so...I open my eyes. Nope, not worth it. The water sounds nice, then it sounds bad, then I feel like I can't breathe, then I feel my eyes shut, then I feel light headed, then I die. Except I don't. Because it's not real. But it was. And I didn't. If only.
"Is there even a fucking point anymore?" I giggle. Laughing at myself. I kinda had to do that. Otherwise I had to admit I was wrong. If I laugh at the idea of being right, then I don't have to deal with the disappointment of being wrong. I don't have to deal with the disappointment other people have in me. She was supposed to help us! Supposed to be our queen who cared for us! She was supposed to be a perfect princess we could manipulate into doing what we want and never have a single opinion of her own. Well I'm fucking sorry.
I want to throw something. That'd be nice. I won't. There's nothing to even throw. A pillow? What does that gain? I could try burning the letters. Moving on, like mom said. But that doesn't happen. I acknowledge the letters exist and then I break down and cry. Because they're right. I shouldn't be queen. I don't care for anyone. I'm a villain. I'm a monster. I've hurt people...and I've enjoyed it. Sometimes. I'm a fucking psychopath.
I just wish I could disappear. Even just for a little bit.
Just a day of them being happy. Without me. A day of them being happy without being hurt by me not being there. What if nobody noticed? That'd be good. That'd be perfect. If nobody ever noticed I was gone. If I was just invisible. If they didn't care.
Why care for someone who only hurts you? Of course they want me gone.
But of course not. I'm too scared. I almost did it a year ago but I messed up. I failed. Apparently bashing a rock against my ankle wasn't enough for some dumbass reason. Can't swim but for some reason I woke up on the shore. Wonderful. It could've just been over for me. I would've liked that. Now I can't even go near the water. I traumatized myself to the point of ruining something I loved and enjoyed, and I didn't even get what I wanted.
I laugh, it's actually so cruel. I just want to help people and all I do is hurt them. All I want is for people to be happy and when I try to do that I get a fucking impossible chance of not dying. I don't care if the world wants me dead or not. I want...I did want…
Do I? I said I don't. That's what I told Harry. I don't want to. I don't want to. And then every time my thoughts go right back to that…
I don't even fucking know.
I just want to be okay for one night. I don't want to be lost, I don't want to be confused. I don't want to be happy, or sad, I just...I want to be at peace. With myself. With everything. Just once.
That's what it was like that night after Harry and I kissed. I was happy, sure, but I wasn't stressed. I just felt like I was okay. Like I was gonna be okay. And I thought I was.
No, I was. I was. I was happy. I was okay.
I just want that again. I don't want to be scared of every single moment. I don't want to feel like an emotional mess and not understand my emotions. I just want to be okay. Just one night. Maybe more. I want more. But I'll settle for one. Not that I can ever even get that.
I don't know, I just...I don't know...myself, right now. I brought Harry's whole family because I wanted to, instead of kids who actually needed a chance. And then when Ben chose different people..I should've been happy. People who needed it would be given a chance.
Harry's okay. He's always been okay. His sisters are fine. He's safe. He doesn't need to be here! Hell, he's been here! I can just keep bringing him here for our dates...he can come eventually, but the people who need to be here are what matter, right?
So then why am I so fucking mad? I want to think that! I want to! I just...can't.
I want him to be there. Always. I want to see him smile. I want him to be there and cuddle with me when I can't sleep...that sounds fucking pathetic. I just want him here. I need him here.
Is that wrong?
I sigh, yes, of fucking course it is. I don't get to be happy. Just keep pretending. Pretend you're fine. Let other people be happy. That's. All. I. Want.
I wipe my tears away with a tissue and then turn the light off. Just sleep. Just try. For them.
Evie's POV
Don't cry. Mother says don't cry.
I smile a bit, lifting my chin up and walking out the doors. Hundreds of people. And us. We're the ones who get to go. We're the ones who get to-
"Evie!"
I scream a bit, laughing as I hug her, "Awww, I'll miss you Dizzy," I say. "And don't worry, I'll come back for you okay?"
She nods through her tears. "Mhm," she mumbles as I pull away. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you two Dizzy. Just wait for me, okay? I'll be back. And then you'll be able to come with us. Okay?"
She grins. "Yeah."
"Eve, bags."
I pull away, turning towards Mal. "Give me a sec."
She shakes her head, "Where are they?"
I smile a bit, "Oh, they're by the door. I'll be there in a minute."
She nods. "Mhm. Sure."
"I love you so much D-"
"This isn't fair!"
I turn towards the source. A little boy running towards the car. He's small. Very pale. He looks like he might pass out and his eyes… "Don't keep me here! Don't keep me here! Let me come! I can't…" the boy passes out.
Dizzy clings onto me. I rub her back a bit. It's normal but...he's so young. "We'll be back," I whisper, moreso to try and reassure myself. "Everyone will be okay. They'll be okay."
Someday. But will Auradon even be any better? It'll just become a bigger Isle. And more people will be hurt. People who maybe deserve it, but...I mean what if they don't know? What if they just don't know what we go through? We're being given a chance now, right? That's something.
We have to bring down the barrier for these kids to be free, but...is there a better way? A safer way? I don't know.
"Eve, we gotta go."
I nod, pulling away from Dizzy, reassuring her one more time and then pick up my bag and climb into the...thing. Some black...thing. With all these weird foods on the inside. Are we allowed to try these? Probably not.
"This isn't fair!"
"I want to go!"
"They don't deserve it! Take me!"
I wipe away my tears. I don't need anyone to see me crying right now. Just in case mother comes over before we leave. We'll be back. We'll be back.
"You okay Eve?" Mal asks as she climbs in.
I nod, "We'll be back. And then we can take them all with us. Someday."
Mal nods. "We have a mission. And then, when we are done, the barrier will be down. And they'll all be safe."
No, that's not...that can't be our only option. "I don't want Auradon to just become a bigger Isle of the Lost."
She shakes her head, "And it won't. Trust me."
"Can you promise that?" I ask. "We all know what your mother will do if we take down the barrier."
She doesn't say anything. That's definitely a no then.
"I'm glad you two are having fun," Jay jokes as he climbs in, hiding his arm behind his back and pulling the door of the thing we're in close with his leg.
"You okay Jay?"
He nods, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. It'll heal."
I shake my head, "I meant with this whole plan thing. The Isle. Auradon. Leaving. Freedom. Destruction. Ring a bell?"
He sighs, "I'm fine with it. They threw us there in the first place. We just get in, take down the barrier, and then while our parents torture all those idiots we can run off and disappear. Easy."
"I doubt that'll work. My mom is…"
"We'll figure something out," I cut Mal off. "Where's Carlos?"
She sighs, "He's coming. We're not leaving without him."
"I never said we were."
The door opens, "Glad you waited for me."
"Mal wouldn't let us leave. I don't think the Auradon person would've left without you anyways. And if he did Mal would've threatened him so…"
"I get it. I just had to grab something. And then my mom didn't want me to go, so I had to sneak out. It's whatever really."
"Let us in!"
"Let us in!"
"Let us in!"
"Can we go?" Mal calls towards the front of the thing we're in.
"No! Take me too! Take me too!"
This is insane. This is insane. Why us? Why us? Why us?
"We'll be back," Carlos assures me. "They'll all be okay," he slides over to Mal, whispering something in her ear, causing her to lean against his chest. What a fucking couple.
The thing we're in slowly starts moving, the windows all rolling up, the shouts of the crowd outside slowly getting quieter before just stopping. We're out. The skies are blue. And the water is blue. And there's this weird yellow ball in the air. This is bizarre.
I reach for one of the foods on the little table areas. I don't care if they want us to take these or not. I'm hungry. I hand one to Mal.
"What's this?"
I shrug, "I don't know. Try it."
"What if it's poisoned?"
"I doubt it is. I'll try it first."
"But if it's poisoned then you'll die."
"But you won't."
She shakes her head, "I'll try it first."
I laugh and she takes a bite into it, closing her eyes a bit before… "Mal? Mal!"
I reach over towards her, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh- she opens her eyes. "You jerk," I mutter.
She laughs.
"Is it good?"
She nods, "No, it's awful. You should try it."
"But you nodded."
She shrugs. "You-" I take a bit of the thing. Mmm, very creamy? Very sweet! Mmm! "You want one C?"
He shakes his head, resting his head against the wall.
"Are you all ready for this?"
None of us say anything. Guess that's a no.
Ashlyn's POV
"Mom?" I scream, running towards her. "Mom!"
She doesn't say anything. She's motionless, she's...oh god. Oh god, oh god. "Mom?"
I cry. Tears stream down my face as I bury my head into her chest. "Mom?"
"How disappointing," a voice says. "I thought you'd do better."
I pull away. "What?"
"This isn't real, Ashy. You should know that. You were just thrown into here to watch her die. How could that be real?"
I wipe my tears away. "It's not?"
"You're pathetic. You say you want to be better, but it would've been better if you just drowned that day."
"I know."
The voice laughs. "You're pathetic for crying. Even more so for thinking that a dream was real. She's not dead yet, but maybe in a little bit."
"What? What do you mean? What's happening?"
"You stopped trying to sleep for a reason, remember? I'm just giving you a friendly reminder."
"I'm not scared of you," I call out.
They laugh, "Of course you are. Everybody is."
Mom disappears. "Mom? Mom!"
"It's not fucking real Ashy!" The voice screams. "Get it through your head!"
It's not real. It's not real. It's not…
"If you want me to fucking kill her just ask. I'd be glad to."
"No!" I scream. "No, no, no, don't. Please just leave me alone."
They put their fingers under my chin and lift me up to see them, but there's nothing. There's nothing there. It's just me. It's just- "Don't worry, I'm here. I'm here."
I don't want you here!" I say trying to break away, but...I can't move. Why can't I move? Why can't I-"
"Oh this is so fun! Watching you scream! Watching you squirm. It'd be oh so much fun if it was real!"
"What? No! No! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
They laugh. "For now, sure. I'll see you soon Ashy."
"Wh-"
"Wake up!"
Mal's POV
Get in, get out. That's all we have to do. Get in and find the wand, then get out. Simple. There's no way to mess this up. No reason for him to get hurt.
"You okay?"
My attention snaps over to her, "Yeah, just thinking," I sigh.
There have been so many nights where we've dreamed of coming here. Together. As a family. All five of us. Of us finally getting a chance to just be normal. I mean, yeah, that'd be really boring, but at the very least it's better than dealing with psycho's around every waking minute of your day.
Yet now we're here. I thought all of us would be a lot more happy about that. Maybe we would if we'd actually gotten away, but we didn't. Mom caught us. And now she has leverage. We don't have a choice now. We don't get to be happy.
"Are you excited?" I ask Eve. I can guess her answer, I'm sure of every word each of us would say right now, but a part of me still hopes she at least has a little bit of hope.
She sighs, here's the answer I expected. Not right now. Not- "I guess," she mutters.
Eve doesn't know what we're fighting for. Nobody does. Freedom? For the Isle? For us? We already have our freedom, and the rest of the people on that hellish island could burn for all I care. Everyone except him. He's the only reason we're here. Cause mom knows she has leverage. Otherwise she would've just kept me locked up. But this is too good of a chance to pass anything up. So long as she can control us.
"What is this?"
Hmm? I turn over towards Carlos. He's grabbing for this long white cloth. Weirdo.
He stares at it a bit before gently bringing it up to his face; completely relaxing at the touch. It must be really nice to touch I guess. Like a pillow.
"Mmm! Mal, you have to feel this!"
I smile a bit, he's so adorable when he's excited. Like a little puppy. Cutest thing imaginable. He pushes the thing into my hands and...oh, I have to admit, this is really really soft. And...furry? That's weird. It's really soft though! Oh, I can just imagine how great this would be to sleep with. Though it's a bit small for a pillow.
I smile a bit more, handing it back to him. Which unfortunately, caught Jay's attention. I don't really need to deal with another one of their little fights right now. So long as they don't touch me, they could kill each other for all I care. Or at least try. They both already know the rules of the gang anyways.
"You seem tense," Evie says, pushing off her seat and sliding next to me.
"Just worried," I admit. "We've never tried doing anything this important before. We're the only chance for all those kids."
She nods, "So much for our happiness, huh?"
I laugh. "Yeah, it sucks to be us."
We both quiet down. It's the unfortunate truth. And Eve doesn't even know what we're even fighting for. I couldn't give a shit about any of those kids on that goddamn island, yet it's the only reason Eve agreed to any of this. She'd rather be beaten to death by her mother than do this. But with all those kids' lives on the line...it's a bit too easy.
Besides, it's not like I'm totally lying to her. We are doing this for a kid. Just not all of them. Not now at least. Mom doesn't care about them, and we don't have the littlest bit of control over any of this.
There's...why the hell would they be...like what even are those. Just loud noise machines meant to make our ears bleed? That's wonderful. Maybe this is a death trap after all.
The blurry colors begin to take shape. That's...that's a lot of people. Here to see us? They all actually care that much? Or is that the amount of people here to kill us? And oh god why do all the colors have to be so bright? Black's just infinitely better. Stands out more, more fashionable, easier on the eyes. Not this bright colors shit that makes your eyes bleed.
I mean, at the very least we could probably take all of them on. I doubt any of them are that great with weapons. And surely this brightness outside will be just as blinding to them.
"We're here!" Eve whispers excitedly. I guess she is still excited about some things. I just want to get this over with so we can burn this fucking place to the ground. Without needing to worry about mom hurting Alex. I am not losing that boy.
The thing we're in comes to a stop, before the door to our left opens up. Is it really gonna be this bright all the time? I'm missing home already.
No, not home. It shouldn't be home. It's not home.
Eve slides off the seat and stands up, she-that's smart. Cover your eyes with your hands, just like, only the top, so you don't have to see that stupid bright ball in the sky.
Here goes nothing.
I hop out, pushing my arm against the door to hold myself up while I try to, well, see. This hand thing Eve's doing works wonders though. I wonder if the boys know.
Eve grabs my other hand before walking towards the other side-and of course they're fighting. They're always fighting. And it's over that weird cloth of all things too.
"Give it back!" Carlos whines, trying to pull the thing out of Jay's hands.
"Boys!" I call, trying to look as sincere and professional as possible. These people here probably are all complete idiots. I just need to act nice. It can't be that hard.
They're still rolling on the floor. "Boys!" I snap, ripping the stupid thing from their hands. I'll just hold onto this thing. It's wonderfully soft.
Eve reaches over to help Carlos up, though Jay refuses since it would wound his pride too much or something.
"Leave it like you found it!" A voice sings. Please say they're not gonna do this singing thing for every single word they say. Also, what does that even mean? Leave it like you found it?
"And by that I mean just leave it," she...why is she trying to be so damn nice. Just tell us you hate us and move on!
Jay starts emptying his pockets and throwing stuff in, at the very least he's caught on to this whole nice thing. Then he decides to stare at me. What an idiot.
"Soo," I start, hoping they'd just start talking on their own and I wouldn't have to bring anything up. Eve definitely knows that technique since she's rolling her eyes right now, and Carlos is trying to contain his laughter, and Jay is- "Just stop staring at me damn it!"
Everyone's totally caught off guard for some reason, but Jay just decides to point to me. "What the hell now Jay?"
I look down towards where he's pointing. "Nope, it's soft. Live with it."
He rolls his eyes, while Eve decides to reattach herself to my hip. Her eyes are on the boy two feet ahead of us. I know it is.
"You'll be fine," I whisper to her. "I won't let him hurt you."
She nods.
"Welcome to Auradon Prep," the weird round lady says, "I'm Fairy Godmother, headmistress."
What? "Wait? Like, The Fairy Godmother? Like bibbidi, bobbidi, boo?" I wave my hand around a bit for good measure. It really can't be this easy. They wouldn't just dangle the wand in front of our faces this easily, right?
"Bibbidi, bobbiddi, you know it," she grins.
"Wow. Yeah, I always wondered what it was like for Cinderella when you just appeared with that sparkly wand and that warm smile, it must've been truly magical, right?"
Make her talk about herself; gain her trust. It's simple.
"That was a long time ago my dear, and as I always say, "Don't focus on the past, or you'll miss the future!"
"Then why were we trapped in hell for eighteen years?"
I...I shouldn't have said that. It...damn it! It just came out! That's not great for gaining their trust.
Everyone is very visibly taken aback too! All jaws gaping, collective gasps. I swear they rehearse this kind of thing.
The boy steps forward amongst the shocked silence, trying to be a hero I assume. Eve tenses a bit and hides behind me. That's fine. She's safe. That's what matters. I'll kill him first if I have to.
"It's so nice to finally meet you all," the boy says, "I'm Ben."
And we care why? Why are you important?
"Prince Benjamin!" the girl clinging next to him pretty much screams, "Prince of Auradon!"
"She's a total bitch," Carlos whispers to us, causing him and Eve to laugh.
Ben chuckles awkwardly. It's very awkward for all of us right now. "This is Audrey," he introduces.
"Princess Audrey!" She corrects. "Soon-to-be-queen!" She fawns a little at the title. Oh wow, I can't wait to absolutely crush her hopes and dreams when we burn down this entire place. Maybe I'll even get the honor of killing her. That'd be wonderful.
"Ben and Audrey will show you four around." Fairy Godmother explains, backing away a bit. "Oh, and remember, the doors to wisdom are never shut!" She exclaims. "But the library hours are from 8:00 to 11:00 and as you probably have heard I have very strict rules about curfew." She explains before she heads inside.
She's just lovely.
"It is so so nice to finally meet you all," Ben says. He stares a bit at Jay before walking over. He reaches his hand out, oh, this is gonna be great. "Don't hit him too hard Jay," I say, very purposefully as loud as possible. The look of pure terror on Ben's face is wonderful.
Jay just slugs him in the chest before smiling, which means he listened to my advice I guess. That's lame. Nobody died on day one?
I'm next I guess. He reaches for my hand and stares into my eyes a bit. It'd be rude to break this off, right? Should I care? Why is he just staring? It's kind of creepy. No way in hell he's going anywhere near Eve if he's doing this with me.
"Back off Prince," I growl, not loud enough for everyone to hear us, but enough to get him to snap out of whatever trance he was in and move on to Eve.
Eve just hides behind me a bit, causing him to tilt his head in confusion. "She's shy," I lie, "Now move along."
He doesn't argue, thank god for that.
"Is that chocolate?" He asks as he pulls away from Carlos' hand and backs away. So those were the brown smudges on that soft white cloth. I'm never giving that thing back.
"This is a momentous occasion," Ben announces. "One that I hope will be an important part of history. As the day where our two peoples will start to heal."
"Our two peoples? We're just people. You're the ones who think we're all horrible and evil," Carlos growls, causing me to smile a bit. He's far from wrong.
"That's cause you are," the little bitchy princess remarks.
I'm gonna kill her.
"Audrey!" Ben scolds. "He's right. They're just people."
The girl just scoffs. She's on the list of people I want dead now.
"You're Mal, right?"
I nod. Where is she going with this? Bringing up my mother for sure.
"You're Maleficent's daughter! Oh, well, I just want you to know I totally don't blame you for anything that your mom did to my parents. You know, none of it really matters to me. It's just water under the bridge, you know. Oh, my mom is Aurora, you know, Sleeping-"
"Beauty!" I cut off. "Yeah I know the name. And I also want you to know that I also don't blame you for your grandfather torturing my mother leading her into becoming the supervillain who terrorized your parents. It's all in the past. Has nothing to do with us you know," I smile a bit, while she just deflates. Two can play that game bitch.
"So!" Ben shouts. "You guys want a tour?"
I turn over towards Eve. She's my main priority right now. If she's uncomfortable then I couldn't give a damn about a tour. She and both the boys nod though, so a tour is in order I guess.
"Oh, and I'll also need the scarf you're holding Mal. It belongs to my sister."
"Hmm?" I hum. "Sorry I could've sworn you said to hand this beautiful thing over, but that can't be right. Should we get going on this tour?"
He just shakes his head with a smile before turning around. Good, I wasn't handing this thing over no matter what he said. Way too soft.
"Auradon Prep was built nearly three hundred years ago," Ben explains, leading us down the courtyard to this weird gray statue. It's hideous. "It was converted into a school by my father when he became king," he says. Ben claps a bit for absolutely no reason. What is wrong with him?
"Ahh!" Carlos screams and...you know I'm not against this.
"You do know that they're all staring, right Carlos?" I whisper.
He nods before crawling down. Most of the time I would've just dropped him, but he's too damn cute! And it also helps with this whole seeming nice thing.
"Carlos, my father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man," he explains, "To show that everything is possible."
I fake a small smile, "So does he shed much?"
Ben nods, "Yeah, mom won't let him on the couch."
I grin a bit. Did not expect him to play along.
He leads us into the building, and oh thank god it's so much darker without that stupid glowing ball above us. I can actually see.
"So, do you have magic and stuff here? You know, like spells, and wands. That sort of thing?"
"Yeah it exists, but it's pretty mundane," Ben explains. "Most of us here are just completely normal mortals, with a few exceptions."
Exceptions? "And what are these exceptions?"
Ben chuckles, "I'm sure you'll meet her soon."
That's not helpful. Exceptions are helpful, or dangerous. Either way it'd be nice to know who these exceptions are. "And the rest you, you're just normal mortals who just happen to be princes and princesses?"
Princess-such-a-bitch nods, "Yeah, our royal blood is passed down for centuries."
I fake a smile until Ben turns away. Then I just glare at her to see if I can scare her.
"Doug!" Ben calls to this weird dude on the stairs.
Doug looks up from his book to see Ben. "This is Doug. He'll show you to your dorm rooms and take you to receive your class schedules." Ben explains, walking up to us. "I'm always here if any of you have any questions."
I smile a bit, at least until Audrey notices and pulls him away. God I want to kill that girl.
"Hey, I'm Doug." Weird dorky kid introduces himself. "Dopey's son. As in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and-" Did he seriously forget the last name? Even I know this!
"Sneezy," Carlos finishes for him. Such a sweetheart. I was just gonna let the kid struggle.
Doug nods. "So I put in all the necessary classes. History of Woodsmen and Pirates, Safety Rules for the Internet, and Remedial Goodness 101," he shudders a bit as I walk up to him.
"New class?" I assume.
Doug nods.
"Great," I mutter, glancing past the guy. Should I be surprised that people are already crowded around us and want us dead? That's at least permission to fight back. Probably.
His arm reaches up towards my shoulder. He noticed too. "So, where are our dorms? We should get settled in, shouldn't we?"
Always to the rescue.
The dwarf kid nods, "Yes, um, your dorms are...er I...here, um, just follow me."
I stifle a laugh, following behind the kid. I guess at the very least if we were attacked right now he'd be a pretty decent distraction. Not much of a shield though. That's just a worst case thing though. Supposedly this is supposed to be the heaven place. Not hell.
We all run up the stairs, Jay staying behind a bit to watch our backs in case any of those Auradon kids try to get too close.
"Do they usually follow everyone around when they show up?" Carlos growls to the dwarf boy.
The kid shrinks back a bit. Come on, Carlos wasn't even trying to be scary! How much of a coward does someone have to be to be-
"Not usually, no," the kid squeaks out, not looking towards any of us. He starts muttering something repeatedly under his breath as we walk up more stairs.
Mumbling. More mumbling. This is fucking annoying as hell! I want to- "Could you stop fucking mumbling?" I growl. I don't care for first impressions anymore. I was quiet enough. Only he heard me, not the other multitude of stalkers behind us.
The kid doesn't say anything, but he definitely heard me cause he's walking a lot faster now. Scared already?
"This is room 207, this is for the boys, 208 is for the girls. No having boys into the girl dorms past curfew, same for the girls in the boys dorms. Curfew is at-"
"We get it," I interrupt. Technically, if he doesn't finish the rules don't apply. Or at least I have probable cause if I get caught breaking the rules. Which I won't.
"Oh, uh, g-great. S-So your class schedules will be-"
"We'll be fine," I say, cutting him off. I'm sure we'll figure stuff out on our own."
"Th-That's really not how this is supposed to go-"
"We're smart kids. We'll be fine. I assume we just go pick up our schedules in the office?" Carlos assures him.
The kid nods. "Great. So then we'll just go on in here," I take the keys from his hand, "Let your king friend know that we don't appreciate having a crowd of people following us everywhere."
He nods and scurries off, not saying another word.
I walk forward jamming one of the keys into one of the doors. This damn thing won't- oh. Oh. "Thanks Eve," I say, walking in after her. I toss the other key to Jay. Carlos frowns a bit and I grin back at him. "I'm gonna check in on Eve and make sure she's okay with…" I trail off, glancing over towards the crowd of people nearby. "All of this," I finish. "Check out your dorm and then meet us here in a bit."
The boys nod and I shove the door shut behind us, locking it for good measure cause so far I don't trust any of the Auradon freaks to give us any sort of privacy.
"You okay Eve?" I call out, glancing around the room. Pink. Pink. Pink. I'm gonna throw up.
Eve sighs. "I'm fine. I will be fine. It's just…"
"I get it. What Anthony did...was so shitty. And I get why you don't want to trust anyone after that, but...I mean they're not like him. D'you know that?"
She nods. "I know. It's just hard. I'll be fine."
I nod. "I'm here. I always will. Promise."
She smiles, hugging me. "Thanks M."
"I mean, you don't have anything to worry about Eve. Not only will I kill anyone if they try to hurt you, but the kids here probably aren't allowed to do ninety percent of those things anyways."
She grins. "Your eyes are barely open," she points out.
"It's not personal."
"Hate pink that much?"
Figures. "I swear that Audrey bitch did this on purpose and god I wanna kill her for it."
"Could probably get it changed."
I nod, "Oh, we are. I'll make that prince do it if I have to."
The lock clicks. "It's been two fucking minutes Carlos. Give us a while," I growl, not looking towards him.
"I actually was just checking in to see if you two needed anything." Oh, the prince boy. Yay. Exactly who we wanted.
I turn towards him, "We're fine," I put my finger to my lips. "This doesn't have to stay pink, right?" I say after a few seconds of silence.
It takes a few seconds for him to react. Staring into space again I guess. That's gonna be really fucking annoying. "Oh, no, you can change them. Or I can. Or somebody. I'll see what I can do. Aside from that do you two need anything? I know this is new, so-"
"Know this is new?" I repeat. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, just like, this whole being in Auradon thing. All the rules and stuff. I don't think the Isle is like that."
I scoff. He's pretending he doesn't know. Who would've guessed.
"Yeah, it's not. Anyways, we're fine. I'll let you know if we need anything." I shut the door in his face. He's fucking pretending he doesn't know! Like what the hell? Sure, mock us about it! We're at your fucking mercy! Goddamn it!
"That went well," Eve mutters.
"Shut up," I growl, leaning against the wall. So far everyone here is awful. And they've got the advantage cause we've only been here for less than an hour! And what if it's just a lie that they're all super nice and shit and they just brought us here to kill us? That's what I'd do.
I mean for sure they know who we are and what the Isle is like, which means that them pretending is probably to either make us mad or to get us to let our guard down. So just don't do that. Easy.
"What if we make them think the Isle is okay?" I ask aloud. I mean, if we do, then that means they'd get off our backs about it. It'd give them a false sense of security and make them think they're above us, when they're not. It's safer. But off of how we acted already today I'm not sure if they'd believe me.
Eve scoffs, "Why would we do that? Mal, if we make them think the Isle is okay then they're not gonna care about giving those kids a chance."
"They don't care. That's the point. They're pretending they don't know about the Isle cause they want us to let our guard down. So if we make them think we're weaker than we are, then we can-"
"And what if they just don't know?" Evie asks, walking over to me. "Mal, this isn't the Isle. Not everyone's trying to kill us. Not everything is some kind of trick. They might actually just not know what it's like, and if they don't we're responsible for making sure they do know. That's how we can help those kids."
Not a trick? The prince clearly knows! He's the one who brought us here! He wouldn't do that if there wasn't some reason for it! "Eve, we have a mission. We're helping those kids. Not them."
"Mission or not, making them think the opposite of the truth won't help."
"It'll get them off our track. It means they'll be less likely to-"
"Want to help us? Mal, I know you're scared of your mom, but she might not be the only way we can do this. She's trapped in there. Not here. We get to do what we want…" she goes silent. "What if I don't want to free the Isle like that? What if I want to do it peacefully? These people could do that!"
"We don't have a choice, E, end of discussion!"
We don't have a choice. She still has him. She can still hurt him. I'm not losing him.
"Mal, I'm not making them think the Isle is okay. You can try, sure, but I'm not doing it. I'm not gonna actively try and ruin our chance at helping everyone there."
That's not- "Fine, E, but we still have a mission. And whether you like it or not we have to do this."
"Mal, I'm not-"
"You don't have a choice, E," I growl. "All those kids are still on the Isle. Dizzy's still on the Isle. If we don't do this then my mother will kill her. We don't have a choice."
She sighs. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"