A/N: Some parts of this chapter are taken directly from the movie. The usual disclaimer: I don't own Descendants, I don't make money out of this etc etc.

Burn Bright

Age 6

"Come out, come out wherever you are, little Mal."

I hid a giggle as Hades continued his prowl. If I did, he would find me.

That wasn't the lesson.

Going unnoticed was. Hiding was.

Hades' lessons weren't painful like mother's and I wasn't punished when I failed. They were fun.

I peeked through the gap in the stairs, watching the blue-haired man sneak around the mine. He moved deeper into the darkness, away from me. I was winning.

Suddenly I was pulled out from under the stairs.

"Found you, little dragon."

Sweeping me off the ground he began to tickle me.

"Stop, dad, I'll burst."

We both stopped.

"Dad," he smiled, "I like the sound of that."

Present

Despite the screams that erupted before the gleaming bridge appeared before us it was a pleasant drive

Aka boring.

The streets were clean, all but paved with gold. No one slept in doorways. Everyone walked with their head held high, not plastered to the ground in fear of catching the wrong villain's eyes.

And the sun…

The sun streamed through the windows. I'd never seen it so bright, only hidden behind the constantly grey clouds of the Isle.

The sun made the fire want to rage as the sun's heat fuelled it.

It was why dad made his home underground, why he had ruled the Underworld. The continued exposure to the sun made the fire too hot. It made it burn too bright.

I pushed it back down.

You are stronger than you know. Maybe even stronger than me.

I reached for something else buried deep inside; the spark I hadn't wanted to touch since I first felt it on the bridge. The spark of magic I had inherited from my mother.

I gripped the seat as fire and magic waged war inside of me. As much as I wanted the fire, to be my father's daughter, I let the magic in. I let it supress the fire, burning stronger under the sun's rays.

The magic won. At least for now. One day I would let the fire burn and all of Auradon, all of the Isle would know who I was.

Never Maleficent's daughter.

Never a child raised in hate.

One raised in love.

Hades' daughter.

One day we would shout it from the rooftops.

Together.

"Mal, you okay?" Evie reached for my hand but pulled back at the dying heat. Had she touched me mere moments before, she would have burned.

I ignored her worried glance. "Fine." And now that the battle was over, I really was.

"I think we're almost there." Carlos squashed another handful of biscuits into his mouth, then another. I wasn't entirely sure how he fitted it all in there but somehow, he did.

He was right, though. We could hear the fanfare as we continued to drive. A cheering crowd was gathering around the limo, pressing closer as we came to a stop.

Cheering. It was a new experience, a new feeling.

I wasn't sure I liked it.

I flew under the radar, the street rat daughter of the Mistress of Evil.

Sure, children ran away at the sight of me but it meant I was left alone. There were no eyes on me once they run.

Now I had hundreds of eyes trained on the limo waiting to what us VK's would do next.

Carlos and Jay ended up in a fight to see who could get out of the limo with their loot first. They both lost, tumbling out on the gravel pavement outside.

The crowd fell silent.

I winced. Ouch.

Evie west next, stepping out with all the grace and beauty of a princess.

Finally, I got out, surveying the gathered crowd.

Carlos and Jay continued to wrestle on the ground.

"You got everything else! Why do you want this?"

"'Cuz you want it."

I glanced around again. "Guys, we have an audience."

Both boys dropped their ill-gotten gains and pushed themselves off the ground, shoving each other once more before dusting themselves off.

Jay looked at the lady in blue standing at the front of the crowd. She was staring him down. "Just cleaning up."

"Leave it like you found it." Augh, I hated her sing-song voice. "And by that, I mean just leave it."

The boys picked up their loot and dropped it back in the limo. I doubted the woman noticed Jay pocket some of the small items and Carlos managing to hide some sweets.

The thief smiled sweetly at the woman. "Hello, foxy. The name's Jay."

She didn't look impressed. "Welcome to Auradon Prep. I'm Fairy Godmother, headmistress."

It couldn't be that easy. "The Fairy Godmother. As in "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo"?"

She nodded. "Bibbidi-bobbidi. You know it."

I look a step closer. "Yeah. I always wondered what it felt like for Cinderella when you just appeared, out of nowhere, with that sparkly wand and warm smile."

"Oh?" She blushed slightly.

"And that sparkling wand." Come on, woman, take the hint.

Instead she waved a dismissive hand. "That was a long time ago. And as I always say, "don't focus on the past or you'll miss the future.""

Thankfully the boy behind Fairy Godmother stepped forward, with a girl on his arm. "It's so good to finally meet you all. I'm Ben."

"Prince Benjamin." The girl interrupted. "Soon to be king."

I rolled my eyes as Evie slid forward. "You had me at prince. My mom's a queen, which makes me a princess."

Again, the girl spoke before the boy, Ben, could. "The Evil Queen has no royal status here and neither do you."

That hit Evie hard. She had been the only princess on the Isle for years, and that had been stripped from her with a few words.

The prince tried to save the situation. "This is Audrey."

"Princess Audrey." She corrected. "His girlfriend. Right, Bennyboo?"

I wanted to gag. Bennyboo. It had to be some sort of joke, right?

Fairy Godmother smiled, she seemed to think the conversation was actually going well. "Ben and Audrey are going to show you all around, and I'll see you tomorrow. The doors of wisdom are never shut." I cringed again at her high voice. "But the library hours are from 8:00 to 11:00." A small smile. "And as you may have heard, I have a little thing about curfews."

Ben stepped forward again. "It is so…so good to finally me…meet you all." Stammering his eyes were drawn to Carlos. "This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history… Is that chocolate?" A shake of his head as he snapped back to reality. "As the day our two peoples began to heal."

I had to stop this before it got really bad. "Or the day you showed four peoples were the bathrooms are."

A cringe and a smile, how did he do that at the same time? "A little bit over the top."

I could help but give a small smile in return. "A little bit more than a little bit."

"We'll so much for my first impression."

I'd had a lot of first meetings, this was surprisingly good.

The girl, Audrey, had been studying me throughout the conversation. "Hey! You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you?" As much I wanted to, I didn't correct her. "Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mum's Aurora. Sleeping…"

"Beauty! Yeah I've heard the name." I couldn't tell them truth, but I could get a couple of things straight. "But feel free to blame my mother though, she really is a bitch."

Shock. Even my friends were in shock.

Unfortunately, Fairy Godmother was still in ear shot. "We do not use that sort of language here, young lady. "

Young lady, I was many things but I certainly wasn't a lady. "I'm sorry, what word would you like me use? Insane? Maniacal? Or just plain evil? In fact," I reached into my pocket. "Just so you know how much I'm not like her. Here," I handed Fairy Godmother the spell book. "Put it in a museum or something, I really don't care." I really didn't.

She stared, first at me, then down at the book, and finally settling on me again. "Thank…Thank you."

"Whatever."

"Okay! How about a tour!" Ben saved me from any of Fairy Godmother's questions. "Yeah?" We started to walk. "Auradon Prep, originally built over 300 years and converted into a high school by father." As we approached a stature of the king, Ben clapped his hands.

The man turned into a beast.

Carlos screamed and jumped into Jay's arms.

Ben tried to reassure him. "Carlos, it's okay. My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible."

"Does he shed much?"

"Yeah, mum won't let him on the couch."

How in Zeus' name did he manage to get another smile out of me?

A/N: If you have a specific request for a part of Mal's childhood you would like to see, feel free to review or pm me the request and I'll see what I can do.