"Well, it looks like we're all moved in..." A blonde woman who was dressed in mostly black smiled as she stepped into a simple home that was in an apartment building.
She looked all around the room that was mostly bright and had a living room area with a couch with a TV there and behind was the kitchen with a stove, microwave, fridge, and cupboards and of course the bathroom and a door across the bathroom door was the bedroom. There were a few personal touches to make it feel more like home as there was no place like home.
"Don't you think so, dear?" The woman smiled at her daughter who had dark hair that had purple streaks in it as she rolled her eyes and looked already annoyed.
"This place sucks..." The girl spat out to her mother. "What was wrong with our old home?"
"Malissa Bertha Ignus, don't you use that tone with me," Her mother replied firmly as she narrowed her eyes. "This change will be good for you, especially after what happened back home."
"My name is Mal." The girl muttered bitterly as she hated being called "Malissa".
"What am I going to do with you?" Mal's mother sighed and shook her head. "Look, Mal, I know you're going to miss Moor Isles, but you'll see... Things are going to change for the better and when your father comes home-"
"He's never coming home," Mal narrowed her emerald green eyes. "He left because of what happened to Lily."
"What happened to your sister is no one fault and your father will catch up with us eventually," Mal's mother replied thickly. "Now just try to cheer up and make the most of it. Auradon Heights is your home now and you will start school on Monday and make some new friends. It'll be a lot of fun, Malissa, you'll see..."
Mal just grumbled in annoyance as she stared out the window, feeling very irked already. She came closer to the window and stared out into the new world around her and her mother as she sighed sharply. They came from Moor Isles... That was always home to Mal and she felt that it should always be. It felt so simple when she was around the age of 10... So full of hope and wonder until her life changed.
Mal had an older sister named Lily who she was very close to. Lily was always listening to their mother and was often a very good student, though she had a bit of a dark side sometimes, especially with some new friends she made. Their father was always around then too and he often sang songs and entertained the girls, being a lot more fun and loose than their mother. Mal often believed that he left the family to start a career of becoming a rockstar and make something of his name than just "Mr. Ignus" or "Ciara's husband". Eventually, the family was struck by some sort of tragedy...
Lily was going with some friends to go to a concert one weekend and promised to be back by Sunday afternoon. She left Friday night, leaving Mal alone with their mother. Mal and her mother had a bit of a complicated relationship. Sure, when Mal was much younger, she clung to her mother, but she felt closer with her father than her mother and usually looked up to her older sister and saw her as the best role model she could ever have. Lily hadn't been heard from since Friday night all those years ago and the police had soon come to the door the very next night saying that there was an accident and Lily hadn't survived.
Mal and Lily's father didn't seem to take the accident well. Mal didn't know much of why or how her father left, but she remembered him yelling at her mother before he stormed off and left in his truck and drove away, never turning back. After the very grim funeral, Mal was very gray and crushed, unable to feel happiness again, though she still missed the world she grew up in and was raised in, but no. They had to leave the good life and come to a crappy new start in a place called Auradon Heights in the middle of who cares? Mal was suddenly pulled out of her reverie as there was a knocking at the door.
"Hello," A woman with short black hair smiled as she came to the door with a basket filled with juicy red apples as she stepped inside. "I heard that there were new people in town so I thought I'd stop by."
"Ah, yes..." Mal's mother nodded. "My name is Ciara Ignus... And you are...?"
"Regina... Regina Mills," The other woman replied. "I'm the mayor, so I thought I'd give you a 'Welcome to your new home' gift if you don't mind."
"Well, hello, Mayor Mills, please come inside," Ciara replied as she stepped inside to let the woman inside. "This is my daughter... Malissa..." she then said as she grabbed her daughter by her shoulders and made her come meet the adult woman who stepped inside. "Malissa, this is our mayor, Regina Mills."
"...Hi." Mal mumbled out as she looked up at the adult woman.
"Malissa... What a lovely name..." Regina remarked as she looked down at the girl. "Oh, you're going to love staying in Auradon Heights. It's such a wonderful place and neighborhood. Say... How old are you?"
"I'll be 16 in January." Mal forced herself to say, though she really didn't feel like talking to anyone right now.
"What a small world!" Regina smiled warmly. "My little Evelyn will be 16 in February. You'll almost be like twins."
"Oh, you have a daughter, Mayor Mills?" Ciara asked the other woman.
"Please, call me Regina," Regina replied with a small smile. "And yes, I do. Her name is Evelyn, hopefully, your daughter can go to school with her. I also have a son who just turned 10 in August. His name's Henry."
"Hear that, Malissa?" Ciara beamed at her daughter. "A new friend for you to make. You'll have so much to talk about."
Mal just rolled her eyes in disgust. Why do parents always assume that just because you're the same age as a potential new friend that you'll have lots in common?
"Do you like apples?" Regina asked Ciara as she took one out in the palm of her hand. "I just love apples. I have my own apple tree in my front yard, you know."
"Really!" Ciara smiled. "That must be fun for you. Do you have many apple recipes?"
"I make a mean apple turnover," Regina smiled back and winked. "You'll have to try it sometime. I insist you come over for dinner sometime with me and my family."
"Ooh, that'll be fun, won't it, Malissa?" Ciara beamed, clearly the only one excited in the room as she lightly shook Mal by her shoulders. "Huh? Huh?"
"...I guess." Mal just shrugged.
"Well, I'll let you get settled," Regina grinned, showing her polished smile that was just as polished as her ripe and juicy apples. "I hope you both have a fun time and experience in our humble little town."
"Thank you, Regina," Ciara nodded. "We appreciate it."
"Whatever." Mal muttered sourly.
"Language, young lady." Ciara warned firmly.
Regina left them a couple of apples to show her appreciation and gratitude in meeting them and soon walked off to let them get to it.
"Oh, Malissa, this is going to be quite the adventure," Ciara said to her daughter. "Plus you'll start a new school very soon. Won't that be fun?"
Mal just sighed sharply. "Sure... Fun like forcing me to get out of bed at 6:00 in the morning on the weekend to tell me that we were moving away from someplace cool and moving into someplace cheesy," she then rolled her eyes. "What was wrong with our old home?"
"Malissa-"
Mal rolled her eyes.
"Fine... Mal..." Ciara then corrected herself so to appease her daughter. "I know you're upset about your father and the move, but I just thought we could both use a little change of atmosphere. You were quite the troublemaker back home, so I thought a new home and a new school and some new friends might change that. You have been a bit bad."
"Not bad, Mom," Mal smirked. "Just rotten... Rotten to the core."
"Very funny, young lady," Ciara replied. "Besides, we're here now and I think it's time you learn to accept that. Just don't try to get kicked out of this school, huh? It's a very nice school."
"Oh, sure, I bet I'll get along just fine with snooty students with their noses in the air and their panties bunched up into their uniforms," Mal rolled her eyes. "Couldn't you have at least enrolled me in a school that had purple in its uniform color? I mean... Blue and yellow? ...Yellow is the opposite of purple!"
"I know it'll be a struggle, but I'm sure once you get into school, it'll work out just fine," Ciara said as she wrapped her arms around her daughter and kissed her cheek. "Just try to enjoy it, sweetie."
Mal groaned and rolled her eyes before sighing a bit sadly. She soon came into her new bedroom which she luckily got to have designed in her own way: black walls with purple accents, a nice dulling gray bed with posters of her favorite things, and her window had a view of the whole town from outside. She came over to the window and stared out it as she watched the people out go about their business before she bowed her head with a lot to think about.
On the other side of town, was a boy with a mop of brown hair on his head with hazel eyes as he looked out his bedroom window. He seemed to have a lot on his mind too. They lived in a nice house that was almost like a mansion, but of course, it could not compare to the mansion of Madam Mayor: Regina Mills with her children: Evie and Henry. There lived the French family. The father engaging in politics with Regina, the mother owning her own bookstore, and their children.
A dark brown-haired man with light brown eyes soon came inside his room after knocking and he chuckled at the boy. "There's my little boy," he then said with a chuckle. "How are you going to be a high school junior? You're just a baby!"
"Heh... I'm 16, Dad..." The boy corrected with a chuckle. "You were there when I asked if I could have a car when I was still 15 for my birthday."
"Oh, that's right," The man smiled as he then hugged his son in a tight bear-hug. "Ooh, you're growing up so fast... My son will be a senior next year. How do ya feel?"
"Almost like King of the World, but not just yet," The boy smiled bashfully. "I guess I'm just wondering what the new school year will bring?"
"Well, dear," A brown-haired woman with blue eyes spoke up as she walked by with a book. "If I know you and your school, it'll be very interesting. Especially with another year with that little girlfriend of yours, Audrey." she then added, seeming to be trying to be polite when she said the girl's name, though something was hidden.
"Yeah, Mom... I know..." The boy sighed.
"Oh, Benjamin, I don't mean to judge, but that Audrey girl is a bit of a handful," The woman said to her son. "You've known her since Kindergarten when you had the 64 pack of crayons with a sharpener in the box. She seems to be impressed easily with very big things."
"Believe me, Mom, I know," Ben said softly. "I'm sure she'll turn around eventually though. I just know deep down though that this year is going to be a big one at The Walter Elias Academy."
"And don't you forget it," Adam, the man of the house, nodded at his son as he wrapped his arm around his wife. "We were proud students there... We were the Homecoming King and Queen and perhaps you could be king too someday."
"Me? A king?" Ben laughed. "Come on, Dad, I'm not into that sorta thing."
"It might be fun," Adam insisted. "That's how I got together with your mother."
"Well, that and you were much more of a gentleman than Gaston LeGume," The mother smirked at her husband. "You were so handsome that night and were more promising than that jock who wanted me to have six or seven sons with him. Luckily for me though, he got over it and hooked up with that cheerleader."
"This is just filling me with confidence, Mom and Dad..." Ben remarked dryly and bashfully.
"The point is, you will do great," The boy's mother who was named Belle, who definitely lived up to her name of "Beauty", reassured. "It's only junior year and then one more year before you'll be on top of the school only if you remember that it isn't all fun and games."
"I know, Mom," Ben smiled. "Besides, I have to make a good example as a big brother and a role model."
"Thatta boy." Adam smiled back proudly.
Speaking of being a big brother though, a young girl with long brown hair and blue eyes darted right over with a colorful piece of paper in her hand. "Benny! Benny!" she piped up. This girl was the younger daughter of Belle and Adam and Ben's younger sister, who was soon to be in fourth grade. "I drew this for you."
"Aww... My own picture?" Ben smiled before he opened up the paper to see that it was a crayon drawing card of the two of them together. "Aww... Clarice... I love it!"
"Maybe you can put it in your locker." Clarice smiled back hopefully.
"I most certainly will!" Ben smiled as he bent down to his younger sister's height to hug her and kiss her on the cheek. "Mrs. Ryder must be a very proud art teacher."
Clarice giggled and beamed in excitement. Belle and Adam smiled fondly in endearment. Ben smiled all around to his family, he was sure this school year would be as interesting as the others, but he couldn't help but feel that something was going to rapidly change very soon.
Eventually, the weekend faded away into a brand new day which was... Monday: the first day of school. Mal was awake and was staring herself in the mirror of her new school uniform which she hated upon arrival and especially with how she looked in it. She missed her jacket and clothes that made her feel comfortable. Especially the jacket that she was often too small for, but now fit perfectly into, as her father put it "She'll grow into it". A dull, yet light blue collared top with a darker blue jacket wrapped around her with the school's crest on it, a blue plaid skirt, blue socks that reached up to her knee with black Mary Janes. She had woken up on her own because her mother asked her to and her mother seemed to be gone that morning for Lord knows why. There was then a rapid knocking at the door just as Mal began to ponder how and where she would get to school when she didn't know where to find it and she soon came to the door and opened it to see a familiar face from the other day.
"Madam Mayor..." Mal greeted, remembering hearing some people refer to Regina as such.
"Hello there, Malissa," Regina greeted back while Mal resisted trying to roll her eyes from that. "Your mother asked me to escort you to school today with Evelyn and Henry. I hope that's okay."
"Well... I guess I have no other choice to accept otherwise I'll just sleep my first day of school away." Mal shrugged.
"Excellent choice," Regina said. "I hope that you're ready to go."
"Ready as I'll ever be..." Mal stated before she grabbed her backpack and followed the woman out the apartment door and she locked it with the key she had.
Both females were quiet for the most part and they soon made it to the car which was a black 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SL R107. There was a young boy in the backseat who seemed to be reading a book about fairy tales which made Mal roll her eyes as she opened up the door next to him and went to claim the open seat as the front seat was occupied by a fellow teenage girl who had dark hair with light brown eyes. She glanced to the backseat, giving a small smile and wave while Mal just waved back, not sure what to say or do really.
"You must be Malissa." The girl spoke up.
"You must be Evelyn." Mal replied.
"I hate the name Evelyn..."
"Well, guess what? I hate the name Malissa... Call me 'Malissa' and you die."
"I could probably say the same thing about being called Evelyn," The other girl said with a humored smirk. "Why don't you call me 'Evie'?"
"...Okay, Evie," Mal soon said slowly to get a taste for the name. "...Call me Mal."
Eventually, Regina came into the driver's seat and smiled. "Buckle up, everyone," she then said. "A new school day awaits."
"Yaaaay..." Mal and Evie snarked excitement before they shared a smirk with each other.
"Teenagers... Always so amusing..." Regina rolled her eyes a bit before she started the car and soon went to drive off to take the kids to school for the day while she would be at work.
Mal simply stared out the window as she took in more sights of Auradon Heights, wondering what her new life would bring.
A/N: Hey, guys, PerkyGoth14 here trying out a new experiment to combine my two favorite obsessions in some way. What did you think of that? Should I change anything, do you guys have any ideas to help me out? Let me know in the comments, I did my best because I love both of these franchises and I like to think that they're combined in some way, some episodes in Once Upon a Time feels like a prequel to Descendants in some way. Also, a personal note: Maleficent's name in this story being Ciara comes from Carabosse who was the Dark Fairy in the original Sleeping Beauty fairy tale if anyone is wondering. Anyway, I hope you liked this and let me know if you'd like to see more or have any ideas for future chapters, I'd appreciate it!