Ben woke up the next morning feeling happy. He remembered everything that happened yesterday: being crowned King, Jane taking the wand and accidentally creating a hole in the barrier surrounding the Isle of the Lost, confessing his love for Mal, the Core 4 turning good, Maleficent crashing the coronation and him fighting her as Solo along with the VKs, the five heroes banding together and turning Maleficent into a lizard, and the late night celebration. "Yesterday was a long day," Ben said as he looked down at Chewie and petted his fur. Ben was glad that it was a Saturday so he could rest and not go to classes. But his kingly duties would start on Monday along with continuing his classes. His dad was going to ease him into the kingly duties over the next month. While Ben was at school during the day, his dad would cover for him, but in the afternoons and weekends and holidays, Ben was in charge. Ben knew that he had a lot that he wanted to do as King, but he understood that everything couldn't happen overnight.
He sighed as he got out of bed. He summoned the secret door to his secret room and entered. C-3PO and R2-D2 were waiting for him. "Good morning, Master Ben," C-3PO said. "I want to offer my congratulations on your coronation." Ben chuckled and said, "Thanks, 3PO." R2-D2 beeped a few times as Ben said, "Yes, R2. I will still find time to visit. Now, can you pull up visuals of the barrier on the Isle?" R2 beeped and shined a light out, showing Ben the Isle and the barrier. Benn examined it and said, "The wand created a hole here. It seems to be shrinking and closing up. R2, can you run this and show me its progress over the past 24 hours?" R2 beeped and showed it to Ben. As the progress was showing, Ben saw a glimpse of something entering the hole. "R2, stop!" The robot complied and Ben stared at the footage, trying to figure out what had entered the hole in the barrier. "It looks really small. But what is it?"
Suddenly Ben's phone rang and Ben answered it, "Hello?" "Son," Adam was the caller. "You need to come home for the day. Audrey and her family are here. We need to discuss the betrothal contract." Ben sighed and said, "I'll come right away." Ben ended the call and put the phone away. "I'll have to worry about this mysterious thing later. Right now, I have to head home. I am finally going to see the start of the betrothal contract ending. And I am looking forward to seeing the looks on their faces when they see the hidden section of the contract." "Good luck, Master Ben," C-3PO said as R2-D2 gave some beeps of encouragement. Ben nodded his thanks as he walked out the secret door back into his dorm room to get ready and head back to his home to confront Audrey and her family.
Ben was sitting in his limo as it drove him to his family's castle. Personally he would rather hang out with Mal and her friends today, but hopefully he could later. He wished he could send her a quick text, but he remembered that none of the VKs have cell phones yet. He made a mental note to get them phones right away. He looked out the window and saw the castle just a short distance away. He hoped that the words that Agathe showed him years ago would show up and that will get Audrey's family to back off. The limo pulled up to the front of the castle and Lumerie was there to great him, "Bonjour, King Ben. Welcome home." "Thanks," Ben said as he got out of the limo. Chip was standing nearby and said, "Welcome back. Do you want my mom to make you some tea?" Ben shook his head and said, "No thank you. I'd rather get all of this done and over with." He walked inside and went straight for his father's study.
He opened the door and his mother and father were sitting there along with Audrey and her family. The spoiled princess was grinning a fake smile when she saw Ben walk in. "Good morning, Your Majesty," Audrey said sweetly. Ben internally rolled his eyes but said, "Good morning everyone. I am sorry to keep all of you waiting." Queen Leah huffed but Queen Aurora jabbed her mother in the ribs to stop. Ben walked over to where his parents were sitting and sat down. "Now," King Phillip said. "We are here to say that you are still under a betrothal contract, King Ben. You are still promised to my daughter, and yet you go behind our backs and start seeing the daughter of our most hated enemy." "Mal," Ben interrupted. "Her name is Mal, please start using it. And just because her mother is Maleficent doesn't mean that she is the same as her mother. She proved that yesterday." "Whatever the case," Queen Leah said. "The girl who should be by your side and who should have been your date to the coronation is my granddaughter." "I was very hurt by your actions," Audrey added. Ben sighed but noticed that the actual contract was not in front of them and said, "Why don't we see the contract right now?"
Adam got up and went over to his desk and pulled out the scroll. He walked over and set it on the table and unrolled it, but everyone gasped as they saw glowing words near the bottom of the scroll. "What is this?" Phillip asked. "Those words weren't there before," Aurora said. Ben had to hide a smile as he knew what those words were. "I'll read them," Ben said. "It reads "However, if either of the betrothed find their true love and declare their love for them, their other declaring it as well, and sealing it with a kiss of true love, then this contract will become void and the betrothal will be broken."" "What is the meaning of this?" Phillip directed at Adam, who shrugged and said, "Don't look at me, Phillip. No one here has done any tampering of the contract." "Then how did those words show up on it?" Leah asked. Audrey was silently fuming as Ben secretly smirked. Belle pulled out a book and opened it and said, "I have been doing some research and it states here that all contracts, especially betrothal contracts, have a hidden magical section on them that appears when certain actions that pertain to that section have been completed. So it probably didn't appear until yesterday when Ben declared his love for Mal. I would guess that when Mal does the same and she and Ben share a true love's kiss, the contract will become void." Audrey growled and said, "This is impossible. That harpy must have put Ben under a love spell or something. She has her mother's spell book and has been doing hair spells on girls at school." "Ben," Adam said. "Is this true?" Ben answered, "I was never under any love spell. I acted on my own volition. It just took some courage to build up in me to ask Mal to be my date for the coronation, as it states in the rules that I can invite whomever I want. And Mal's use of magic to change girls' hairstyles is very low level magic that won't get her arrested. Mal and I have gotten to know each other and we built a connection to each other. When we meet, we felt a spark that grew and grew. I can't deny that and neither can she. I feel more for Mal after only knowing her for a month than I do for Audrey who I have gotten to know over ten years. It is love at first sight."
Audrey started to tear up as Aurora sighed and asked, "Where do we go from here? Can we get a magical person to confirm this hidden section of the contract? And if it is true, then what happens?" "I say," Leah interrupted. "That this contract is still viable." "What?" Ben asked. "She does have a point," Adam said. "Only part of the section has occurred. It will only become void when Mal declares her love for Ben and the two share a true love's kiss. Until that happens, the contract is still valid. Do you agree, Ben?" Ben sighed, realizing that his dad was right. "I agree," Ben said. "However, I will not have anyone pressuring Mal with this. I want her to grow her feelings for me into love on her own. She is still learning about love after having been denied it all her life. I will be patient with her. But I have faith that before my 18th birthday when I have to be officially engaged, she will declare her love for me and we will share true love's kiss. If I hear of anyone trying to get in the way of myself and Mal, there will be consequences. Am I clear?" Audrey's family nodded with Audrey glaring at Ben but nodding as well. Ben smiled and said, "Good. Now, there are some things that I need to go take care off. Safe travels home. Mother, father, I will see you soon." He walked out of the study and back outside to his limo to go back to Auradon Prep.
After Ben left, Leah looked at Adam and Belle and asked, "Are you two really going to support this? This is insane!" Belle glared at Leah and said, "I will support my son in anything he does. Even if we don't agree with it. But I have faith in Ben. He is listening to his heart." Adam nodded his head in agreement and said, "I think this concludes this meeting. I will contact Fairy Godmother to confirm this magical writing and then we will wait on Ben. I will back my son up in saying that there will be consequences if anyone tries to get between him and Mal." Audrey's family nodded as they rose and Audrey struggled to hold back tears. Leah put her arms around Audrey's shoulders and escorted her out of the room, followed by Phillip. Aurora waited until her family was out of earshot and said, "I will make sure my family will respect Ben's wishes. I believe in true love more than anyone. And I must apologize for everything my family has caused over the years. I know my daughter is disappointed that the future she dreamed of will wither away but she needs to learn that the future isn't set in stone. I know my mother has put a lot in her head to make her believe that she was suppose to be the future queen but I will try to help my daughter move on. I believe she is secretly wishing for Ben and Mal's relationship to fail. And that breaks my heart." Belle and Adam looked at each other and Belle said, "I am sorry too. And I wish you and your family the best." Aurora nodded her thanks and walked out the door to join the rest of her family.
Ben arrived back to Auradon Prep and immediately went looking for Mal and the other VKs. He wanted to talk to them all day and he felt that they should talk about what happened yesterday. He checked her dorm room first but no one was there. He checked Carlos and Jay's dorm room, but they weren't there. He searched the whole campus before he found the Core 4 hanging out at the Tourney field where Mal and Evie were sitting on the bleachers and Carlos and Jay were playing one on one Tourney because Jay wanted to help Carlos get better like Ben did. Ben walked up the bleachers as Mal noticed him and said, "Ben. I'm surprised you found us here." Ben smiled and said, "I was looking for you guys everywhere. I wanted to talk to all of you." Carlos and Jay ran over and sat down with the group as Ben asked, "How are all of you feeling?" The Core 4 shrugged as Jay said, "Good. Just relaxing after the crazy day we had yesterday." "Good to hear," Ben said. "Though I feel we should talk about what happened after I got knocked out by Maleficent."
The VKs looked at each other as Mal noticed the hesitation on her friends' faces and said, "It's OK, guys. Ben knows about Solo." Evie, Carlos, and Jay's heads snapped over to her as Ben chuckled and said, "Yeah. Solo is kind of my guardian I guess. He rescued me when I was little and has been watching over me ever since." "But he's the guardian of the Isle, too," Evie replied. "That he is," Ben said. "He's the guardian of this whole world. I guess he focuses on the Isle in particular along with me. When I was growing up I started getting curious about the Isle and Solo noticed so he told me about his visits and what he saw there." "So," Carlos said. "You know what we went through growing up." Ben nodded and said, "He told me about you four in particular. That's why I chose you four to come over here." Mal knew that Ben was leaving out the dreams he had about her and vice versa, which Mal understood why as that was private for between them only and was grateful.
Ben continued, "You four in particular seemed to need help the most. But I know that all of the Isle is suffering. I tried helping a bit at a time, like I secretly starting sending better quality food and goods once a month…" "That was you?" Mal asked. Ben nodded and Jay said, "That's cool. You have no idea how much people were impacted by that. Although fights were starting to break out about who would get what." Ben paled a little and said, "I didn't want that to happen." "It's OK," Mal said. "Fights happen a lot on the Isle anyway. But you are doing a good thing in helping the Isle."
Ben smiled and said, "Back to what happened yesterday. I thought I heard Solo's voice in the church. He was there, wasn't he?" The four nodded as Evie said, "He showed up after you were knocked out." "And he was amazing!" Carlos shouted. "He just tossed Maleficent around using his mystical powers, and he had this awesome laser sword, and he could fly…" Carlos!" Ben whispered. "Not so loud! People around here don't know about Solo and he wants to keep it that way." "Why?" Jay asked. Ben sighed and said, "He told me a long time ago that he wanted to keep his presence a secret. So I have told no one." "Then why did he make his presence known on the Isle?" Mal asked. "Who knows," Ben said. "He doesn't tell me everything I'm afraid. All I know is that he's watching over me, and all of you. Like I promised yesterday, you are protected here from your parents. But also know that now that I am King, I will work on helping all those children suffering on the Isle who deserve a second chance here in Auradon. I can promise all of you that." The Core 4 smiled in thanks.
Ben then cleared his throat and said, "Mal, can I borrow you from your friends for a bit?" Mal nodded as Ben extended his hand to her and she took it. They walked off the bleachers and to the forest surrounding the school. "Mal," Ben said. "I wanted to thank you for helping Auradon yesterday. You and your friends did a brave thing. For that, I am eternally grateful. And I wanted to apologize for what Audrey and her family said about you yesterday. You do not deserve that treatment." "It's OK, Ben," Mal said. "My mother did horrible things to that family. So I understand their bitterness towards me. But there is one thing that puzzles me. You said you love me. But how can we be together if you are betrothed to Audrey?" Ben sighed and said, "I had a feeling you would ask me that."
He pulled out his phone and said, "I want to show you something." He scrolled through his phone and found the photo he secretly took of the contract when he had the meeting with his folks and Audrey with her family. "I met with Audrey and her family this morning," Ben said. "And we all noticed that this section magically appeared on the contract that wasn't there before. Read it." Mal looked at the photo and read the words to herself. "What does this mean?" Mal asked. "Well," Ben said. "I would guess that these words appeared when I declared my love for you yesterday. Apparently all contracts, especially betrothal contracts, have a magical escape clause. And because I did part of the actions written here, the words appeared. Once the other part is done, then the contract will become void." Mal gasped as she realized what Ben was saying. "So," Mal said. "I just have to declare my love for you and we have to share a true love's kiss?" Ben nodded and said, "Now, do not feel any pressure about this. I know that you are still learning about love and your feelings for me. I will not put any pressure on you about this." "But," Mal said. "After you turn 18, you have…" "I know," Ben interrupted. "But I don't want to rush what we have for my sake. I want our relationship to grow naturally. And I have warned Audrey's family not to interfere with us or try to break us apart. Or else there will be dire consequences." Mal smirked and said, "How evil of you." Ben smirked and said, "I know. Just know that I love you with all my heart. And I will wait as long as you need to for this. Contract by damned. And don't feel any pressure about trying to fit in with Auradon. I would like to integrate you into the court, but only what you feel comfortable with. OK?" Mal nodded as Ben pulled her into a hug. Mal relaxed into the hug and thought, "I wish I could stay in this moment forever." Ben heard her thought and smiled, thinking, "Me too."
Later that night, Ben was back in his dorm room looking out the window. Chewie sat next to him as always. "I should go visit them," Ben said to Chewie. "As Solo. I need to gain their trust. For both parts of me. As the King and as Solo. Do you agree?" Chewiee barked once. Ben smiled and said, "Thanks. Hopefully I won't be gone long." Ben closed his eyes and concentrated on astral projection. Then his spirit appeared as Solo as he turned back to Chewie and said, "Guard my body while I'm gone. I'll be back shortly. I have a good idea where all four of the VKs are." Chewie barked once as Solo phased through the walls of his dorm room and flew off to find the Core 4.
The VKs were out late at night sitting on the bleachers. "Shouldn't we head back inside?" Carlos asked. "I think curfew is soon." "Relax," Jay said. "We're good now. They can trust us with not getting up to no good. But we can still cause mischief every now and then." Everyone laughed as Mal suddenly sat up straighter and looked around. "M?" Evie asked. "Everything OK?" "Well," Mal said. "I can't shake the feeling that we're being watched."
"How right you are." The four looked over and saw Solo standing there in his dark grey robes and mask staring down at them. "How do you do that?" Carlos asked. "It's a secret," Solo said. "I told you that I would see you all soon. You all did well yesterday. And I know that you are taking custody of guarding over your mother, Mal." Mal nodded and said, "Yeah. She's just a lizard now so she can't do any harm in that form." "Good to hear," Solo said. "I knew that you would like it here. You all will be the start of a new era here in Auradon." "What do you mean?" Evie asked. "This world is imbalanced," Solo said. "Having that Isle created and having magic banned has caused this world to suffer. The King bringing you over here is the first step to correcting the mistakes of the past." "Wait," Jay said. "Ben told us that you were telling him about what was happening on the Isle. How much does he know?" "Enough," Solo said. "Some things I have kept to myself. Just know that the King is genuine in his beliefs and wishes. He has a good heart. You can trust him." "But what about you?" Mal asked. "We don't even know who you are. You're just someone hiding behind a mask."
Solo sighed and said, "You're right." He then shocked the four as he reached up and pulled his helmet off, revealing his face. Mal gasped. She didn't realize that a normal looking man would be hiding under the mask. She saw his dark brown eyes, black hair that seemed to be hiding big ears, and a big nose. "Now," Solo said in his natural deep voice without it being modulated by the helmet. "You all have seen what I look like. I trust all of you to keep me a secret from others, like Ben has." The four nodded as Carlos said, "I just have one thing to say to you. Can you show us your laser sword again?" The other three looked at Carlos who said, "What? It looks cool, OK." Solo chuckled and said, "OK. I'll show you. But technically it's called a lightsaber, not laser sword." He pulled it out and activated it, showing its purple light to the VKs. "I made it myself," Solo said, waving it around. "Don't ask me how. It's complicated." He deactivated it and said, "Just know that I will still watch over all of you and the Isle. I will come when I am needed. Just promise me that you will keep this secret." The four nodded again as Solo disappeared from sight. "So that's what he looks like," Mal said. "For some reason, it's like I have seen him before. Not just in my dreams. But why?"
Over on the Isle, Uma was sitting on the roof of her mother's restaurant staring out at sea. She glared at the sight of Auradon and said, "Stupid Mal. She couldn't even steal the wand. She turned too quickly. She makes me so mad!" She played with the necklace she found last night. As she got up to go back inside, she heard a voice say, "You can have your revenge." Uma looked around and shouted, "Who said that?" "Don't be afraid," the voice answered. "You answered the call when you picked up this necklace. I can help your dreams come true." Uma smirked and said, "Really?" "Yes," the voice answered. "Now, this barrier is blocking out a lot of the power of this necklace, but there is enough to make the person who hate most suffer. I could teach you how. You can make her break and have her return here so you can have your revenge." Uma grinned an evil grin and said, "Teach me how to make Mal suffer. I want her to pay. And then I will create a revenge plan so evil that even Auradon will feel my wrath and know my name. I have all the time I need. So, let's begin."
