Mal recited the words again and again under her breath and she emerged from the basement, Jane and Uma with her. There was an assortment of their friends waiting in the living room.

"In theory, we have everything we need. The staff that originally cast the spell, the counter spell, and an amplifier." Jane said.

Mal nodded, only half listening at this point, her mind already zeroing on what had to be done. If this didn't work… she didn't want to think about that.

"You got this," Jane said.

"I hope so," Mal said as she touched the bracelet on her arm. The two gems set into the wood began to glow and the wood shifted and flexed like it was fresh-cut from a supple branch. The shifted and extended, growing into Maleficent's staff, Hades' ember set into the wood about a third of the way from the top. Mal walked outside were Evie, Jay, Gaston Jr, Anthony and Gil were.

She glanced back at the others, taking in the expectation on their faces.

Uma coughed pointedly, "Stop stalling Mal. If this doesn't work we just go back to the drawing board."

It was said in Uma's usually cutting way, but Mal saw the layer underneath. This was Uma's reassurance. She turned back to face the stone visages of her friends. Of her Evie.

Both hands on the staff, her eyes closed, mind on a razor's edge. Mal dipped into her magic, the familiar thrum in her veins, that pulse she could always feel. She felt the staff vibrate faintly in response to the energy as she reached out with it. The words of the spell filled the air around her. Her skin crawled, similar to how she felt just before a transformation. It was both profoundly familiar and yet coldly different.

She could feel the staff and emerald, the magic in them, like two heartbeats of their own, both pressing in with their own rhythms to disrupt her own. Their beats clashed with each other, with her own natural rhythm.

Figures.

She should have known her parents' magic would never work harmoniously together. She could feel it pushing back against her, like a hammer. The staff a slow, heavy push against her psyche, its magic like lead in her veins. She'd never felt magic with this kind of weight. And this was what her mother always used? No wonder she was always so quick to temper.

But that was only half of the struggle, with the emerald's energy grating against her own magic. It felt like sandpaper, stripping her back. It took more focus than she knew she had just to keep the words of the spell straight.

For a moment she considered stopping. Trying the spell with only one of her parents' relics. How stupid that their magic would each other as much as they did.

But she looked at Evie. Evie. Who couldn't look back at her. She'd missed her so much these few days. Her mind was exactly the thing Mal needed right then. Her calm assurance was the thing Mal wanted.

And Mal knew the others at her back were waiting. Waiting for her to succeed. Waiting for her to save their friends. And this was only the first step. There so many other people out there she needed to help. Fairy Godmother. Florianna.

Was Mal really going to let her parent be the ones to stop her from doing that? Hell, not even her parents. Their magical items. Mal was the daughter of Maleficent and Hades. The most powerful sorceress in the world and a god. She was their daughter and she wasn't going to let a piece of wood and a stone dictate how she used her magic. How she used her power.

With a furious growl, she stabbed the staff into the ground and pressed her magic through it. Flames licked at the ground around her feet, and her hands. Her hair flamed around. With glowing eyes she redoubled her chant, pressing her magic into the emerald and the staff.

I know you're used to someone else controlling you, but they're not here right now, so you're going to listen to me!

Her magic flooded out, reining the magic from the emerald and the staff, bringing both their tempos in line with her own. The moment it did she could feel the full extent of the magic now that it wasn't fighting with her. She could feel it.

Without realizing it, tears streamed down her cheek. It was the closest to her parents she had ever felt.

The final words of the spell fell from her lips. The flames of her magic surrounded the statues and the stone flaked away, turning to ash in the air.

Gaston Jr. fell forward, his screaming joining Gil's and Jay's. Jay's fist, already mid punch swung through nothing and he looked around, confused. Anthony gasped as air filled his lungs and he patted himself down before collapsing to the floor.

Evie pulled a potion bottle from her bag. Mal dropped the staff and caught her wrists.

"It's okay. It's over," She said.

"Wh- Mal?" She looked around, blinking as she put it together, "We were turned to stone."

"Yeah. I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop it."

"But you brought us back."

"Yeah," Mal said again.

"You're crying." Evie touched her cheeks.

"Am I?" She laughed, more tears coming. She hugged Evie. Tight. Like she was never going to let go again.

Evie didn't hesitate to hug her back.

Around them, the others were being pulled into their own hugs. Gil was on the ground under the weight of Uma and Harry. Gaston Jr. was in a headlock from his twin, but they were both laughing. Ginny helped Anthony to his feet and punched his shoulder. He punched her back before she hugged him.

"If you ever do that to me again, I'm kicking you out of the group." She said.

He laughed, "Yes ma'am."

"How long?" Evie asked.

"A few days," Mal said as she pressed kisses along her cheeks and jaw.

Evie laughed, holding her face in her hands. She brought her into a proper kiss.

"I have some things to get caught up on."

"You don't even know the half of it."

A short while later, they were sitting in Mal's studio on the roof with Carlos and Jay.

"Wait, back up," Evie said.

Mal passed a cloth over to Jay who'd just spat his drink all over himself.

"Carlos has a sister?" Evie asked.

"Took me by surprise too," Carlos said.

"What was she like?" Jay asked.

"Real treat," Carlos said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"The same blind idolization as the rest of them," Mal said.

"Geez, I never considered we might have siblings out there," Jay said.

"I'm definitely an only child," Evie said, "Mother's told me point blank I'm the only one she's blessed with her genes."

"I don't think my mother would have had children before the Isle," Mal said, "I don't see her letting anyone else close enough for that. My dad… that's another story."

"Dad never mentioned kids. But who knows, he might have some he didn't know off." Jay said.

Someone cleared their throats and Ben gave a little wave from the stairwell, "I don't mean to interrupt," He said, "But Mal, can we talk?"

"Yeah," Mal nodded. She stood, pressing a kiss to the top of Evie's head. She moved to join Ben.

"I want to make an announcement that we've found a way to reverse the stone curse. How long do you think it will take to reverse everyone?"

"Everyone who was turned? That's hard to say. If you can get them all in one place, or batches at least. Maybe a day or two. But if I have to move around that's going to take more time."

"We've already been moving some to a safe location. I know you just got Evie and Jay back, but is there any chance you'd be willing to start tonight? I know it's already been a day."

"Umm, yeah. Let me just ask Evie if she's up to it."

"Of course." Ben nodded, taking a step back.

Mal explained to Evie, Jay, and Carlos what was happening.

"You're not pushing yourself are you?" Evie asked, placing a hand on Mal's cheek.

Mal chuckled, "You don't to be the one who's worried right now. You just returned from being stone."

"M."

She leaned in and kissed Evie, "I love you, you know that?"

"Stop deflecting."

"I'm fine. With mom's staff and dad's gem, it will be a cakewalk."

Evie made a low hum in the back of her throat.

"You know when I'm lying," Mal said, "Am I lying now?"

"No." She begrudgingly admitted.

"Then let's go help some people."

They started at the castle, returning everyone transformed there back. Belle wouldn't stop hugging Mal after Adam was returned. The next day spent most of it reversing the effects of the stone curse. Fairy Godmother almost blasted then when she was brought back. It was only some quick magic from Jane that stopped her mother's.

"Oh, oh my stars. I'm so sorry." She said the moment she realized she wasn't surrounded by enemies.

Jane launched herself into her arms, "Mom!"

"We were being attacked," Fairy Godmother started to say.

"Taken care of," Mal said with a smile, "It took us a while to figure out how to reverse their stone curse. It would have taken you a few hours to figure out."

"I'd say you've all done marvelously."

After Fairy Godmother, they went to a warehouse where they'd moved those people who'd been turned to stone during or after the attack on the news station. It was the largest group and most of the remaining people who needed to turned back to normal.

"After this we just have Florianna and the staff at the manor," Ben said as he, Evie and Uma watched Mal walk to the center of the warehouse.

"What about the people under the sleeping curse?" Evie asked.

"We've been able to wake about 80% of the people who fell under it."

"And the rest?"

"We're looking for their true loves."

"So, your kingliness, what are you going to do if someone doesn't have a true love?" Uma asked.

Ben didn't answer right away.

"Are you really so used to the magic kiss working you don't know what to do if it doesn't work?"

"Everyone has a true love," Ben said.

Uma snorted, "You want to know why all the stories you heard had a happy ending? Because Auradon doesn't like to tell the ones with sad endings. But we run things a little differently on the Isle. You need have to a backup."

"There must be some magic that breaks the curse, right?" He looked at Evie.

She blanched for an answer and Uma snorted again.

"Don't worry your kingship. We'll solve it for you. We've done it for everything else."

Ben looked ashamed. He couldn't meet Uma's eyes.

"Sire, the families outside are getting restless. Could you say some words to keep them calm?" One of the pages came up. Ben nodded, following them out.

"You could have been nicer about it," Evie said.

"Why? I wasn't meaning mean. I was being right."

"There's a way to do that without being hurtful."

"If that was hurtful then that man shouldn't be a leader."

"Uma."

"No. I'm serious. He's meant to be the leader of us all, but he can't help himself. Every interaction I've had with him he's been kidnapped. I was the one who kidnapped him the first time. Since he's been king has he had a problem that you or Mal didn't solve for him?"

"Ben is a good king and leader. He's faced the challenges of the crown head-on."

"Oh, I'm sure he has. But how many times would he have failed without a dragon on his side." She nodded to Mal, "Really. Tell me one time he had a major problem that he fixed on his own. Because everything I've heard of it's been Mal saving his ass. Maleficent, Mal stopped her. Me, Mal again. I even heard you've been the driving force behind the program for the VKs the past few years."

"That's all just part of the story. Ben's been- "

"Ben's been what? Why is he king? Because his mom and dad brought the kingdoms together? They were also the same people who made our prison long before we were born."

"Ben ended that."

"Ben didn't end anything. After this is over I'm going back to that prison and you get to go marry your dragon and live happily ever after."

"You choose to stay on the Isle."

"Because someone had to protect the kids you abandoned."

"That's not fair."

"Isn't it, Evie?"

"No, it's not. We didn't have a choice when we came here. Our parents made the choice for us. And we were kids. Don't pretend like you've always protected all the kids. You were as much for yourself as we were back in the day."

"But then I grew up. I grew up on the Isle. While you were here."

"We've been working here to bring the kids."

"Yeah. You've been working so hard to make the people know that the innocent children they locked up without reason before they were even conceived aren't going to turn into villains. What have you done to let those same kids know they're going to be safe here from the actual villains they're trapped with? Or the villains that wait for them here. While you were stone I've had the chance to talk with Mal and the little Tremaine. I know what the kids have been facing here. The bullying. The ridicule. You know half the reason that raid on the manor wasn't successful was because those kids had been prepped for their home being attacked. Their home Evie. Every kid who grows up on the Isle knows how to protect themselves in some way. Ask yourself why does that have to continue here where you've promised to keep them safe."

Evie clenched her jaw, not saying anything.

"I think any one of us who turns into a villain has every right too. We weren't born villains. We were molded into them. But it wasn't by our parents. It was by Auradon."

"I promised you I'd bring every kid here. I'm going to keep that promise."

"You did make that promise. But after spending some time here and seeing how the people look at me, even when I'm in the middle of helping them," She jerked a thumb in the direction of some men in uniform standing off, but their attention very clearly locked in this direction, "Maybe it's for the best that you leave the kids on the Isle. At least there I know how to protect them. I don't know if you know how to protect them, really protect them here."

"You can't seriously think that staying on the Isle is the better option."

"I do. I do think that. You were right. I wasn't always concerned with protecting all the kids. But I grew up, I got stronger and smarter and learned I could I use that to protect more kids than just myself and my crew. Why have you learned Evie? How to smile for the dickwards on the council who always make more hoops for you to jump through for the VKs? While I was learning to protect, you learned to be a politician. Those aren't the same things."

Blue, purple and green flames licked across the ground around their feet, but it didn't burn them. Both their attentions were pulled to Mal, standing in the center of the warehouse, the magical flames blooming out from her in waved. Uma snickered at the site.

"After I first lost to Mal, I thought I understood why you guys gave up the wand and turned on Maleficent. I thought you were giving up the power of ruling, or control for something better. But now I wonder about that. Because from where I stand all you've done is accepted all the hardships of leading without any of the benefits."

The stone casing on the people around them began to burn away, slowly returning to their normal selves. At the center, Mal fell to one knee. Uma ran to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay there scaley?" She asked.

"You know, saving the kingdom. It's a good workout." Mal joked as she caught her breath, "That one took a lot."

Mal helped her to her feet, "Its annoying to admit, but I don't think I've had a chance of beating you right now."

Mal laughed, "You never did shrimpy."

Evie walked up. She placed a hand on Uma's shoulder, giving her a difficult to read look before she looked at Mal, placing a hand against her forehead.

"I'm good, I swear," Mal said, "We're almost done with this anyway."

"Well, we still need to figure out how to end the sleeping curse for anyone who hasn't woken up yet," Uma said.

Mal nodded, "We've got Fairy Godmother back now. She's reaching out to Merlin for help. If anyone can figure it out, it will be her. Now, I think our last stop for today is the manor."

"Hey, hey," Dizzy caught a kid by the back of their shirt, pulling them closer and zipping their bag closed. She picked up some of the clothing that had fallen out of their bag, "Lei pay attention to your stuff. And stop running in the halls. Go unpack."

Celia laughed.

"I'm so glad you're enjoying this."

"I'm having a grand time." She said.

"Do you want to help contain the kids?"

"No, not really."

"Ugh, I can't wait to have Florianna back."

Celia glanced out the window that looked out onto the backyard, "You certainly aren't the only one."

Dizzy moved next to her.

There were some kids sitting around Florianna's stone form. Some were talking with her. Others just watching. There were a few, all on the other side who kept making rounds. Acting like they weren't concerned but still showing up every few minutes to see if Mal had arrived yet.

"Flori means a lot to us," Dizzy said.

"You care about her a lot."

"Aside from Evie and Mal, she was the first person to make me feel welcomed here. When I'd been here a few weeks, I'd gotten into a fight with another kid. He's been bugging us since we first arrived. And there was this ceremony at school, and we'd gotten these welcome tokens. They were worthless really, but he got in our face about it. I just swung at him."

"Look at you. Little brawler," Celia laughed.

"Yeah. And then I immediately ran away. I was scared I was going to be in trouble. I wasn't paying attention and got lost. Mal and Evie were the ones to find me. After I was home again Florianna came into my room and talked about what happened. She told me I shouldn't ever let anyone make me feel small. I'd been expecting a lecture about violence. But she just came in with understanding. And I guess after time, being one of longest here in Auradon she started relying on me more and more to share those same lessons with the other kids."

"Hmm," Celia hummed softly, leaning on the window sill.

Dizzy hopped up to sit on it, straddling one leg on either side. She hissed a little as she swung her leg over.

"Can't you just take it easy? It's not like you got the shit beaten out of you a few days ago."

Dizzy shrugged, "I got a healing potion."

"Half a potion. You refused to take the whole thing." Celia flicked the patch that was covering the partially healed gash on her forehead. Dizzy let out a curse.

"That hurt!"

"I know. That's why you should take it easy."

Dizzy flicked her ear, making Celia flinch away.

"Not fun is it?"

"Mal's here!" Someone called from the other side of the manor.

Dizzy got up, accepting Celia's arm as she hoisted herself off the sill. Mal and Evie came in with a small train of VKs around them. A few were asking questions one top of the other. Uma was there too, bring up the rare of the group. She gave Dizzy and Celia a nod of acknowledgment as they went past.

"How's everyone settling back in?" Evie asked.

"It would go easier if the person they all listened too was here," Dizzy said.

"Well that's going to be fixed in a few minutes." Mal said, walking outside, "Alright kiddos, back up. I need space to work." She transformed the staff from a bracelet back into its proper form.

"That's so cool so watch," Celia said.

"Audrey still here?" Evie asked.

Dizzy nodded, "She's in the kitchen last I saw. She brought some of her staff when they brought everyone back and they're making dinner. She figured the usual staff isn't going to up to any work today."

"Smart. I'll need to thank her."

They watched as Mal said the spell and her magic burned away the stone. Florianna had barely taken a breath before she under a pile of kids.

"Flori!"

"Florianna!"

"Oh, oh my. Is everyone okay?"

"Flori, you were the one who was stone! Are you okay?"

Florianna gave a comforting smile, "Yes. I think I am."

Mal sighed as she sat back on the steps of the back veranda. Some of the kids swamped her in hugs and thank yous.

"Okay, okay. I get it." She laughed, "Save some of it for Florianna."

Evie sat next to her.

"You did a lot of good today."

She turned the staff back into a bracelet.

"That's a convenient trick."

Mal lifted her arm, turning it, "Makes me feel better, having it close. I could have stopped all of this if, a few days ago, I understood the staff half as well as I do now."

"What's it like, using the staff and the gem? It's like I can feel mom and dad at the same time. I feel their power, their conflict. But then I ma"

"Overwhelming in a good way."

"Are you going to turn them over to the museum?"

"I…" Mal hesitated, "Yeah. Of course. Just as soon as we don't need them anymore. Once we've broken the sleeping curse."

Evie ran her fingers through Mal's hair, "That's a worry for tomorrow. I think you've earned some celebration after today." She smiled, eyes dark with mischief. She said out loud for those around them to hear, "I think Mal needs a really good thank you, what do you guys think? A tickle attack?"

"Yeah!" The youngest kids all ran at Mal.

"Wait, no, wait!" She was knocked on her back as half a dozen kids jumped on her.

Florianna let this happen for a minute or so before she clapped her hands, pulling the kids off of Mal. "Mal, thank you." She said, hugging her.

"Aw, you know I was helping myself really. I don't want to have to look out for these brats more than I already do."

Florianna nodded, clearly not convinced. "Thank you," She said again.

Mal sighed and leaned into the hug.

"Tonight is a special night. What does everyone think about a camp out in the yard? We'll make hot chocolate and look at the stars," Florianna announced to a wall of cheers.

As they were walking inside to get the things they needed Mal caught herself looking at the bracelet on her hand and thinking on Evie's question.

Nardragon- until the next page.