Present Day: 0 Days After Coronation
"Do you trust me?" Ben asked that night, after the coronation dance.
"Of course." Mal smiled graciously, dressed in a long Auradon dress that was more pink than purple, and didn't suit her at all.
"Then no more secrets." Ben whispered, leaning close. "I know about you and Evie, and I know that you didn't mean a word of what you said back there."
And Mal was surprised then, so surprised that she let it show on her face, and that was rare. Ben smirked a little at getting such a reaction out of her.
"Alright then." She began slowly, examining him. He'd heard rumours from the Isle, stories of a fae girl who could see lies. He was bare before her scrutiny. Almost subconsciously, his mind cast back to all the things he'd seen through that magic map.
(Evie whispered, "I'll always love you the most, M. When I get my prince charming, I'll make sure it doesn't change a thing." And Mal had wanted to say 'no prince will want me or you, let alone both of us,' but instead she said "Sure. And you'll keep him nice and cozy under a love spell while I make love to you in another room.")
"So you know that we go together." Mal murmured, speaking slowly and softly. Then she grinned, and her eyes glinted apple-green in the night. "Did you know that she likes you too?"
Ben swallowed, feeling his face tint pink, and his palms get hot.
"She didn't want to be a boyfriend stealer, but she'll love that you wanna be with us." Mal smirked now, back into her element, back in control. "I loved her first, I love her still, and where I go, she goes."
Mal chuckled a little bit, and grinned even more wickedly, if that was possible. "We share everything."
"You didn't really answer me." Ben replied, raising an eyebrow. He told himself to stay firm, even though Mal was offering him heaven on Earth, and having two pretty girls at once was any boy's dream. You can't have a solid relationship without communication, he thought. They had to discuss this before it was too late. "You still didn't mean a word of what you said back there."
"I'm actually hurt." Mal frowned. "I was serious. I'm all about good now."
"Yeah," Ben chuckled, "And I'm Jiminy Cricket."
Mal paused then, gazing intently at him, as if trying to gauge his intentions. Finally, finally she spoke, licking her lips slowly, and speaking under her breath so as not to be heard.
"I guess you're more wicked than we thought, Benny-boo." She said without a hint of mirth, nothing in her tone but anger. He'd seen through her plan. The plan that had fooled everyone but him.
"You read me wrong." Ben smiled, taking her hand, and kissing her wrist. "I understand."
"I was under duress." Mal said, slipping back into her innocent girl facade, the same way she acted when she thought he was under a love spell.
"You don't need to do that." Ben said, entirely serious now. "I don't care what you choose, Mal. I'll stand by you and Evie. No matter what."
"Do you really mean that?" Mal asked, in a tone that said she didn't believe a word of it. She'd been raised on an island with no promises. A place where promises were made to be broken, like hearts and bones, and storefront windows, when the food was scarce and people started to riot. Like a glass bottle that needed to be a weapon.
"Yes." He answered without hesitation. "I love you."
"Even if I destroy your precious, peaceful country?"
Ben hesitated.
"Even if I behead your parents, and burn the whole nation to the ground?" Mal added, watching him closely, her eyes glowing the faintest green.
"Yes." Ben answered. He pressed his forehead to hers, and all his intentions were open to her. "I... I love my parents. But I love you more. I've loved you and Evie from the moment I saw you, and what they did to you, to all of you... It deserves punishment."
Mal hadn't expected that. She'd expected him to freeze up, and gasp when she mentioned his parents. She'd expected to have to wipe his memory and spell him all over again just to fix it, to give them a chance to correct what had gone wrong.
Instead, she kissed him. She kissed him, and it was better than the first one. Now they were entirely open to each other, all honesty and trust, and Mal had never been like that with anyone except her inner circle. (And she'd kissed nearly all of them at some point, save Freddie, who was asexual. She said it made her uncomfortable, and Mal didn't press the matter. If there was one thing Isle Kids understood, it was being uncomfortable with affection, and respecting others' boundaries. If you didn't, you were likely to get stabbed.)
He'd been waiting for a long time to have this conversation, since it seemed like life and the coronation kept getting in the way. But now that she'd proven she cared about him more than her mother, and he swore that he cared more about her than his, they could really talk as equals.
"What are your plans?" Ben asked, after he'd pulled away, and placed a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth. Her lips were stained with strawberry and her mouth tasted like chocolate.
"If I tell you, you have to swear to keep it secret." Mal stated seriously, and Ben nodded.
"I swear." He replied.
"You can't just say it." Mal said then, rolling her eyes. "We have to shake on it. Seal it with magic."
Ben took her hand, and Mal began the ritual.
"Do you, Benjamin Florian Beast, solemnly swear to keep secret all that I tell you tonight, even under duress of torture?"
"I swear." Ben replied, and the heatless, moss-green flame began to curl around their wrists, sealing the oath with a quick hiss, before it dissolved into the night.
They nodded to each other, and Mal began.
"Do you believe in magick?" Mal asked, tilting her head in question.
"Of course." Ben laughed. "I've seen it first hand.
"I don't mean fairy tale wishes, or blessings and curses, or that shit I did to Jane's hair." Mal rolled her eyes again. "I mean magick, with a k. Blood magick, goetic seals and sigils, runes and rituals. Sex magick."
"I've heard of it before." Ben nodded. "Never seen it first hand though."
Mal nodded, glancing away for a moment.
"I do that." She finally said, spitting it out, as if she was afraid that detail would scare him more than anything else she'd said.
"Like... Like the fair folk?" Ben asked tentatively, recalling the tales Aurora had told he and Audrey as children, how all the Fae were called fair because even the ugly ones were so powerful, they'd curse you if you called them ugly.
("The seelie court are fascinated by humans, and they live alongside them, and intermarry with them." Aurora had explained to the children, tucking them into their sleepover cots. "The unseelie hate humans, and do everything they can to trick them and cause trouble.")
"No." Mal snorted. "Like witches."
"Witches?"
"Well, technically, magick users of all genders and titles." Mal amended, sighing. "Jay insists on using the term sorcerer and Carlos calls himself a warlock, but it all means the same thing."
"You all do rituals together? How did you do that on the Isle of the Lost?" Ben asked, recalling how magic and magic-users gravitated to Mal. He remembered the four who were left behind.
Mal looked at him like he was stupid.
"Auradon thinks ritual magick is a myth." Mal explained. "They didn't account for it in the barrier. Would you put up a defense against the tooth fairy?"
"I guess not." Ben replied, nodding.
"So our first order of business is to get the rest of my gang off that stinking rock." Mal explained, not afraid to show her hatred of the place now that Ben had been sworn to secrecy. Not that she had ever hidden it before, but Ben was starting to understand her hatred better than the others, who assumed it was about their parents, or the danger, or the lack of food or healthcare (and honestly, he only knew about that stuff because he was the prince.) Mal didn't hate the Isle because of any of those things. She hated it the most because it denied her her most basic birthright of magic.
"Uma, Ginny, Freddie and Hadie." Ben noted, recalling how he'd seen her choose each of them as a child, watching them through the magic map.
Mal smiled slyly at his knowledge of her inner circle.
"How did you know that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I saw you all together in the magic map, a few times." Ben explained. It was the truth, as he'd watched Mal a lot, but the entire group was rarely all together. Mal saw right throughout him though, and smiled thoughtfully.
"I can just see you as a little kid," Mal smiled. "Sneaking off to check the map every chance you got."
Of course she knew the map. Her mother had sensed the magic the moment it went online, seeking them all out, no matter where they hid, making her skin crawl with the thought of being watched. Mal at least had the assurance that Auradon had never seen her rituals. Her mother had said that the high power and conflicting magicks would cause nothing but static to come through on the viewscreen. It was worrisome at first, but through her scrying, Maleficent soon realized that it would be misinterpreted as a fault with the map, and not the magic. No one had ever suspected, thank the old gods.
"I wanted to see you and Evie as often as I saw my Auradon playmates." Ben grinned, a little bitterly. He'd been kept away from them his entire life, and now that they were here, they were still so far apart, kept from each other by societal norms and plans, and keeping up appearances. Sometimes, Ben just wanted to say a big fuck it to propriety, and do what he wanted.
But that was how his father had become a beast.
"In any case," Mal continued, "Harry Hook is a member of the group too. He and Uma and Gil LeGume are inseparable. You can't take one without the other, even though Gil isn't magic."
"Harry Hook?"
"He's a half-witch. Actually quite good at enchanting and crafting." Mal explained. "His sister C.J. comes from the same witch mother, but she doesn't have the power."
"I see." Ben murmured.
"And... Well, Dizzy Tremaine needs to come over too. She's not part of the gang per se, but she runs errands for us, and if the rest leave, she'll be without protection." Mal swallowed. "She's not magic. She's only ten."
Ben wanted to say that he'd seen Mal kill a man at ten, but Dizzy (what kind of a name was Dizzy, honestly?) wasn't Mal. Only Mal and Evie could have done what they did at ten, and Ben didn't even know about the ritual yet. But he said nothing, knowing that Mal would tell him someday, when he was older and more trusted. It took a lot to build back trust, and between Ben's spying and Mal's spelling, they hadn't gotten off to a great start. They still needed to figure it out.
"I'll see what I can do." He said, quietly, before adding; "But there's a chance my father won't let me. Are there any other plans you'd like to accomplish?"
"I want to start recruiting from Auradon." Mal said, turning away from him, so that the moonlight hit her face just so, and Ben noticed a faint scar that was usually hidden by her hair. "Jane has great potential."
"Jane?" Ben nearly sputtered. Jane was nice. He didn't think her exactly the right material for... Whatever Mal was planning. She turned away from the moon then, and back towards Ben, casting her face into shadow, save for the lights radiating out from the party.
"She's the daughter of the most powerful faerie in Auradon. She was willing to steal her mother's wand in front of the whole country, all because she has low self esteem."
It must have shown on his face that he was confused, because Mal smirked, and the light from the party cast her in a green light, like the wicked witch of the west.
"You need to start thinking like a villain, babe." She laughed, softly, gently. "What would Jane feel, if someone explained to her how to become beautiful and popular without commiting a major felony?"
"She'd be grateful...?" Ben began, and then it clicked. "Oh, she'd be your best friend!"
"Right." Mal smiled. "Jane just needs a littls push, and one day, she could be amazingly talented in magic."
And honestly? That didn't really sound all that evil. And it wasn't even illegal, unless you counted Auradon's anti-magic law, and Fairy Godmother's personal magicless policy. And just like Mal's casual vandalism, and Evie's secret potion making, and the sticky fingers that all Isle children still suffered from, Ben thought that some laws could be broken. And some laws might need to be broken.
He was thinking like a villain already.