Chapter 16: Inner Villain
Mal drags Ben down the hall in such a hurry that he can barely keep up with her.
"Mal slow down!" the king insists, trying to bring her frantic mood to a stop so he can comprehend the situation. He plants his feet, forcing Mal to stop pulling him in order to not pull his arm off.
"Ben, we don't have time… Uma and her crew are coming to Auradon."
"How do you know that?"
"I saw her. She opened some kind of portal, probably made out of the ingredients she stole from the vault, and she cast it on the edge of the barrier to the Isle. Then she fed her own magic into it, allowing her ship to travel through the portal."
"Wait, how did you see her? The Isle is miles from the coastline."
Mal swallows. Knowing she'd have to come clean eventually, she pulls her bag off her shoulders and removes an all too familiar looking glass.
"Evie's mirror?" Ben asks in surprise.
Mal swallows hard, knowing he hated it when she used magic.
"Where… where did you…?" he stammers. He doesn't want to believe Mal would steal things, especially from Fairy Godmother's vault of all places.
"It was in my locker…" she admits at a low volume.
Ben looks down and he recognizes an all too familiar spellbook sticking out. Without hesitation, he pulls it out of the bag. Mal swallows again, her eyes becoming wide and her stomach turns violently. She wishes beyond all belief now that she had heeded her friends' words about returning the objects to Fairy Godmother. Yes, it would've made her look bad, but at least it wouldn't lead to another fight between her and Ben. She can see the hurt and confusion on his face, she can feel tears fighting their way to the surface of her eyes.
"Ben… I can explain…"
"You'd better…" a voice from behind the couple says.
Standing in the hallway is Grumpy, Fairy Godmother, more teachers, and several guards, probably assigned to patrol the campus. Neither of teenagers could tell how long the adults had been listening, but obviously, it was more than enough.
Mal begins to panic inside, her heart threatens to break her ribs now with the mounting anxiety, fear, and anger. Tears are now at the edge of her green eyes, she wants to speak up, but the words are failing to come out. Her breath begins to rapidly increase as she stands there, with the assumption that she had done all the horrible things that had been happening at the school. The daughter of Maleficent stands almost completely frozen, unable to run and unable to speak.
"I believe Mal here has some explaining to do," Fairy Godmother says, crossing her arms in disappointment.
…
The purple-haired teen now sits in the headmistress' office, her heart sinking into her chest. Things could not possibly get any worse for her. Why did this have to happen? This is not what they should be worrying about. Mal wants to tell them that Uma, Harry, Gil, and their war frats travelled through the barrier of the Isle, with the help of magic, and are now likely on a rampage. Who knows what kind of plans they had up their sleeves…?
Ben stands next to Mal, doing his very best to stay by her side the entire time, as he had long since promised to do so. However, in his mind, he is questioning everything again. He knows Mal wouldn't steal or vandalize the school… she wasn't like that anymore, but unfortunately, the evidence was there. He becomes very nervous and afraid of how she must be feeling right now. He knows that he has to believe her, she wouldn't do something like this. But he knows it is about to become much worse. Now that the adults were involved, he knew that Fairy Godmother would've called his parents to help them, even though he is the king now. He's not sure how to face them and stand by Mal like this. It was hard enough being the king, but to now have his girlfriend basically put on trial, makes it ten times worse.
Sure enough, to both the couple's dread, the royal king and queen arrive, Ben's father is dressed in a casual blue suit and Belle in a yellow sundress and hat. The two looked like they had just come from an evening stroll or having tea on their balcony in the warm air. While their attire is pleasant, the looks on their faces are less than desirable. While the royal couple has come to accept Mal and treat her with great respect, even considering her part of the family; the daughter of Maleficent could always sense, as with anyone from Auradon, the hesitation and anxiety they felt being near her.
The guards, teachers, Grumpy, and Fairy Godmother all give a little bow before turning back to the issue at hand.
"What seems to be the trouble?" King Adam asks.
"We believe that we have caught the culprit responsible for the vandalism and robbery of Fairy Godmother's vault," Grumpy says.
"But I didn't do it!" Mal protests. Her eyes flicker with a bit of green light in her frustration.
"Why do you assume that it's Mal?" Queen Belle asks, with concern. She knew very well that Grumpy could be a rash and harsh man, and that he particularly did not care for the Villain Children at Auradon.
"We found these in her bag," Fairy Godmother says. She places the mirror and spellbook onto her desk. The royal couple gets a little closer to examine the objects.
"The Evil Queen's Magic Mirror and Maleficent's spellbook," Grumpy says, crossing his arms as if satisfied with the evidence.
"Both of which were reported stolen from the headmistress' vault," the head guard says.
"Along with this…" the fairy of the group says, placing the hoodie on the desk too. "The same hoodie that was worn by the culprit on the security tapes."
"But that's an Auradon hoodie," Ben speaks up. "Many students on campus have it. Mal doesn't own one anyway."
Mal feels slight pride that Ben is standing up for her, trying to help her, but she knew his trust is wavering ever so slightly with the evidence being presented.
"Then why was it in her bag?!" Grumpy demands.
"Let's hear her side of the story first," Belle says, trying to be reasonable instead of just accusing Mal of anything and everything.
"Mal," Ben tells her. "What happened?"
She swallows a large lump in her throat before speaking.
"I haven't done any of this," she proclaims immediately.
"That's what all criminals say," Grumpy snaps.
"Don't talk to her like that!" Ben barks. "Mal is not a criminal! She is my girlfriend, a lady of the court, and a respected member of Auradon. And as king, I demand that you treat her with respect!"
This outburst silences the angry dwarf for a few moments.
"Sins of the mother to sins of the daughter," the dwarf mutters, but this time King Beast glares at the man, letting out an animalistic snarl to silence his colleague.
"It's okay, go on Mal," Ben says quietly.
"I didn't do any of this. When I gave my spellbook to Fairy Godmother, I meant for it to go to the museum. I did not expect for it to appear in my locker, along with Evie's mirror."
"So, it just magically showed up there?" Grumpy snorts.
Mal's eyes flicker green for a moment before she swallows her anger. She keeps her chin up.
"No, but it may as well have. I don't know how they got there, like everyone's locker, it had a lock with a combination that only I knew. I didn't break into the vault because I have an alibi for the night of the break-in. I was in my room, with my roommate, I never left the room. You can ask her yourself."
"We will worry about that after," Fairy Godmother says.
"What about the vandalism then? Spray paint is easily accessible to all students and not to mention that all the tags were mottos from the Isle of the Lost. Plus, only someone with wings could reach the height that they were painted on… someone who could turn into a dragon. And, if I'm not mistaken, Mal was staying late, unsupervised to clean up the mess she made in the chemistry lab…"
Mal opens her mouth to protest. Yes, it would appear to anyone that she could have spray painted the school, but she didn't.
"That wasn't me. I won't lie that I was at the school late, but I was cleaning until I heard a voice. Eventually, I recognized it.
"And whose voice was it?" Fairy Godmother asks.
"Uma's."
"Uma's?"
"Yes, the daughter of Ursula," Ben chimes in. "The one who took me prisoner in exchange for the wand, the one who used magic to put a love spell on me and the one who nearly destroyed the boat and the cotillion, which would have happened if Mal had not stepped in."
The king gives her a smile, and Mal does the same, very weakly. He puts his hand on her shoulder.
"Actually, it was you who stopped the violence from escalating," Fairy Godmother points out.
"But only because I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Mal was selflessly trying to protect us," Ben counters.
"By almost burning us to a crisp," Grumpy mutters.
Mal clenches her fists, trying to avoid lashing out, knowing that it would not help her case.
"Uma has been behind everything," the purple-haired teen says firmly. "I followed her voice and I found out that she'd broken into my locker, which would explain how the mirror and book got in there. And just tonight, I saw her and her crewmates come through the Isle barrier."
"That's impossible," the dwarf snorts.
King Adam nods in agreement. "No one can just come through the enchanted barrier like that."
"But It's true, I saw it. She used magic."
"How?" the fairy asks skeptically. "How did you see this?"
"T-Through the mirror…"
"HA!" Grumpy smirks, feeling as if he's got Mal in some sort of trap. The teen grasps the arms of the chair angrily, trying to remain calm.
"But I saw her use some sort of potion, creating a green portal, using the ingredients that she stole from the vault. She fed into its power and allowed a ship, The Jolly Roger to come through with her crew. They could be on their way here as we speak."
"But magic does not work on the Isle," Belle says skeptically.
"Uma found some way around it. She used the water to create a large green whirlpool that went under the barrier and allowed her ship to come through."
"A likely story," Grumpy says again. "And what about the vandalism?"
"She inherited her mother's ability to become an octopus, a very large one that could reach up very high," Ben steps in, believing that he's helping clear up Mal's supposed guilt.
"She's been playing everyone this whole time, trying to frame me by planting things in my locker and have me take the fall for it," Mal says, with more confidence.
"And why would she break into your locker twice?" Belle asks. "The objects went missing several days before the vandalism and if Uma was there the other night, why would she go back?"
"She stole a book from me."
"What book?"
"This one?" the guard asks, pulling out an all too familiar book that both Mal and Ben had been reading. "Travel Guide to Different Realms and Universes?"
"Mal's had that for a few weeks now," Ben explains. "We've been reading it together."
Fairy Godmother takes the book from the guard and reads the title again. She then glares at the book and then Mal, causing the daughter of Maleficent's face to drain of colour.
"So, you were aware that she had this?" Fairy Godmother says.
"Absolutely," the king nods.
"And are you aware that this book is from the restricted section of the library where only royalty and staff are allowed to be? One of the two that have been missing for several weeks now?"
Ben's eyes go wide in shock. He looks down at Mal, expecting her to deny it, call it out as another ridiculous accusation, but she merely looks at him, tears coming back into her eyes. His beautiful hazel eyes now portray the look of betrayal and confusion. He swallows and takes a step back.
"That can't be true… Mal… Mal wouldn't do that… she…"
The tears finally fall from her green eyes and she grasps her hands together, trying to quell the shaking in her body. Her face pleads with her boyfriend to understand.
Ben shakes his head violently. "There's no way she did it…"
"Easy enough for a thief," Grumpy says.
"I'M NOT A THIEF!" Mal barks, standing up defiantly. She's getting sick and tired of the dwarf's constant accusations and insults. Without thinking, she forces her hand outward and throws the cranky man against the bookcase behind Fairy Godmother's desk.
"Mal! Stop it!" Ben says, grabbing her arms before she can do any more damage. She's crying and struggling in his arms. Belle and Adam, as well as the guards, go and help the dwarf to his feet. Their voices overlap in tones of shock and concern for their fellow brethren. Between Mal's sobs and the arising commotion, the room has become chaos. Fairy Godmother stares angrily at the villain child, shocked and very disappointed at the young sorceress' use of magic.
"That kid is dangerous, she ought to be locked up!" Grumpy demands.
Mal continues to cry. Ben tries to hold onto her, but she's about to collapse onto the floor in defeat. She wants to lash out again at the comment, but it all just seems to be collapsing in on her, she has not more strength left inside to fight back. It feels as if someone is stomping on her heart, over and over again. The pain and anger she feels inside of her was like some kind of fire, a fire that is destructive and raging within her body. It wreaks havoc on her strength, confidence, and hope of getting out of this situation. Her muscles ache heavily as Ben tries to hold onto her. She can feel that his grip is shaky, no doubt that he is feeling weak and betrayed as well. She had lied to him and the guilt is tearing her apart. She continues to cry, drowning in sadness. Her whole world is crumbling with every passing second… she can't believe it, but Uma won, she'd done exactly what she'd set out to do, destroy her rival's life.
"Please take Grumpy to the infirmary to see if he requires any medical attention," Fairy Godmother says, trying to keep a level head during the commotion.
Several guards escort the dwarf out, while several others stand ready to guard the king and queen against any imminent danger. Mal is on her knees, still crying, looking up at the adults in the room, knowing that her fate is sealed. There was no turning back from what she'd done. She'd shown them her inner villain, and they were ready to punish her.
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