Here is the next chapter.

My apologizes for this chapter taking so long to finish. I just had so many events I wanted to add. I debated on whether or not I wanted to make this two chapters, but decided to make it one. Although you may think I went off track with this chapter, you'll see in future chapters why this one is so essential.

Depending on how somethings goes, I will tell you something next chapter. I don't want to jinx anything, so I'm going to leave it at that.

Enjoy.

Surprise!

For those of you who thought this whole chapter would take place on the Isle of the Lost, think again.

Don't worry! By the end of this chapter, we will be back on the Isle to watch little Mali grow up. For now, we are going to take this story to the great kingdom of Auradon!

Well . . . inside the castle of the King and Queen of Auradon.

On this particular morning—the day after Mali became sick from her injuries—there was quite a bit of controversy in the royal household. A visiting grandfather expected to spend the day with his four-year-old grandson—who would become the King of Auradon in twelve short years—until the two discovered the last-minute plans for the grandson.

Now, some of you may be wondering who the grandfather is. Some of you may already know who he is, so I will just tell you.

Maurice.

No, not 'crazy old Maurice', also known as the inventor who blew up almost everything he created. Many people reiterated his story to paint him as an insane old man who was too easily tricked by Gaston. Those tales weren't entirely true.

Maurice was actually a very wise man and a talented artist. Most of the kings and queen went to him if they wanted royal painted portrait of themselves. Some monarchs would 'dummy down' their vocabulary when speaking to Maurice; he would not have the disrespect. Once the implied insult starts, he would collect his artist tools—no matter how far he was in a painting—and inform his clients to not believe all the tales they are told. Those 'false tales' are the reason he doesn't get along with a certain king, but we will get back to that shortly.

When Maurice and his grandson—Benjamin, or 'Ben' as the people called him—were about to start their day of fun-filled activities, they learned of the last-minute plans created by Ben's parents. The very young prince is to spend the day with a very spoiled princess, who is planned to be his betrothed in the next few years if everything goes accordingly.

As of now, things weren't going as the parents wanted. Turns out, little Ben wanted nothing to do with the princess. He met her a few days prior and immediately thought of her as a rude and selfish girl, someone he certainly didn't want to be with. To revolt against the horrible plans, the young prince locked himself in his room, refusing to come out for anyone, even for his grandfather.

Maurice was even more hateful of the plans and decided to do some negotiation with his daughter and his son-in-law.

The 'negotiations' turned into a giant yelling match between Maurice and the 'mighty' King Beast.

"That Audrey is a spoiled princess who only cares about herself," Maurice argued as his blood started to boil even worse than before. "She inherited those traits from her deranged and self-absorbed grandfather."

"Papa, you can't judge a person by their relatives," Queen Belle argued softly while trying not to be rude to the only parent she has left. "You should have learned that by my encounter with my husband."

"I am not judging her based on her relatives," Maurice insisted, "but I know what kind of person Stefan is and I am afraid he will be a bad influence on her."

King Beast sighed in aggravation. "Maurice, for the fifth time, King Stefan is a king and you need to address him as such for respect."

"He is not a king!" Maurice retorted vehemently. "Stefan is a murderer! He suffocated and killed the injured, ill king before him and not to mention what he did to Malef—"

"Don't say her name in this castle!" King Beast ordered with a beastly roar. "That fairy is a villain—"

"Because that murderer painted her as such," Maurice interrupted quite rudely. "Don't you remember the tale that went around about what Stefan did to her? Stefan drugged her and then forcefully ripped off her wings with an item deathly to her to prove to the king he murdered that he killed Mal—"

"She doesn't have wings, Papa," Queen Belle claimed unknowingly. "She cursed Queen Aurora because she wasn't invited to the christening. King Stefan did nothing to the fairy."

"That's what he wants everyone to believe!" Maurice shouted defiantly. "He is pulling the same trick as Gaston and I refuse to fall for it like everyone else!"

Before anymore debating, disputing, arguing, etc. could continue, a royal guard marched into the room with a discolored envelope in hand. "My apologizes for the intrusion," he began in his most polished tone, "but your Majesties have a letter from a citizen on the Isle of the Lost. They asked that I keep their identity a secret until you read their message. Before you do, know they were very respectful and polite when speaking to me."

Although the trio's tempers slowly dwindled down due to the interruption, King Beast's drastically rose to a new level as the guard silently waited by the entrance way, knowing the king would react in such a way.

"This must be a trick," King Beast determined and probably would have ripped the letter to shreds if it wasn't in Maurice's hands. "The fairy must have known we were talking about her. Besides, there can be no way that she has a child—"

"Actually," the guard interrupted bravely, "there are a lot of young children on the Isle of the Lost. I've seen many travel to the barges with their parents to the shipment. Although I've never seen her daughter, it is possible that she has one."

"Beast," Maurice called as he read the message again, "Maleficent is begging for someone to help her daughter. She doesn't want her daughter growing up to only fear to go outside with that metal on the island. She is only asking for a first aid kit to properly treat her daughter's injuries properly and the removal of iron. It's a simple request."

"It's a trap," King Beast argued defiantly. "Besides, even if this is real, we can't help today or any time soon. We are supposed to be have Benjamin over in Auroria in the next couple hours to announce the betrothal to the entire kingdom."

"But Benny doesn't want to—"

"I'll go."

The trio of adults whipped their head to the entrance way, where little Ben was hiding behind the guard's leg shyly. Most of the castle staff was used to the prince doing such a thing, so the guard wasn't bothered by it, and actually didn't know he was there.

"I'll go," Ben repeated as he swallowed a lump in his throat, "after you help Maleficent's daughter."

King Beast sighed so he didn't lose his temper with his child. "Son, we can't—"

"Why not?" Ben challenged. "The Isle of the Lost is part of Auradon. They are our people too and we need to help them when they need it. If you don't, then I won't go and I won't be with Audrey. If you do, then I will go, but I get to decide who I want to be with before I become king."

King Beast fumed silently as he debated what to do. After a few moments, he looked up at the fearless guard. "Have Lumiere go with you and a few others to the Isle of the Lost. Bring back the iron the fairy claims is there. We will find some use for it."

"Lumiere!"

Perking up slightly, the loyal castle servant turned to Maurice with a small stressed smile. "Morning, Monsieur. Did you need something before I go?"

"A small request from Benny," Maurice answered as he pulled out a small Polaroid camera from his pocket. "He asked if you would take a picture of the young girl that was injured. He's curious to know if children on the Isle are or look different than those in Auradon."

Lumiere chuckled at the prince's child-like wish and accepted the photography device. "If her mother will let me. Who knows what she will do?"

Surprise, surprise, Maleficent actually helped the royal guards with their jobs.

Once they arrived, the fairy somehow managed to make all the citizens stand on the sidelines to avoid any contact and confrontations. The parents glared silently at the Auradonians while the children stared wide-eye at the visitors. The guards were somewhat surprised that Maleficent indeed had a daughter, who clung to her leg everywhere they went with her bandaged hand holding onto the fabric of her mother's dress.

"My apologizes about my daughter," Maleficent informed Lumiere as she watched the guards dismantle the stand that injured her child. "My baby girl isn't usually this shy when it comes to speaking with strangers."

"It's quite alright Madam," Lumiere reassured respectfully with a kind smile. "Our prince does the very same thing with strangers too. In fact, if you don't mind, the young prince wanted a picture of your daughter so he would know what an Isle child looks like."

"What an odd request," Maleficent mused. "What does his parents have to say about it?"

"They don't know," Lumiere revealed. "In fact, it was Prince Benjamin that convinced his parents to help you and your daughter. His grandfather somewhat helped, but it was the prince that made the king and queen agree."

The fairy found it quite amusing that a four-year-old could out-negotiate a man in his thirties. Nonetheless, Maleficent urged her daughter to move to the side of her instead of behind. "Don't be shy, Mal," the mother cooed lovingly as the daughter buried her head into the side of her leg. "This is the least we can do."

With a light nod, Mal turned her head to look at the very tall man, who knelt to her height. In a few short seconds, the picture was taken with a big flash, forcing Mal to rub her eyes irritably.

Chuckling at the little girl's reaction and after placing the camera in his pocket, Lumiere began shaking the photo to make the picture appear as he stood to full height. Once he was satisfied by the clarity, he placed it with the camera and gifted a small first aid kit to Maleficent.

"If you find anymore, please send word to Maurice, Queen Belle's father," Lumiere suggested. "He'll send word to me and I'll have some of the guards grab any that remains. Since King Beast seemed so reluctant to help, I think it's better to keep him out of the next venture here."

"That won't be necessary," Maleficent reassured. "Once the retired King and Queen of Auroria learned they let their 'precious metal' be sent to the Isle, they won't let it happen again. I know them way too well."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Prince Benjamin?" Lumiere called from the other side of the bedroom door. "May I come in?"

"Yes!" The castle servant somehow managed to hear through the hard wood. Slowly entering the prince's room, Lumiere softly close the door behind him as he walked to the future heir, who was reading a book slightly thick for his age.

Finishing the page he was on—which was closer to the end of the book—Ben marked his place before looking up at Lumiere expectantly. "Did you get it?" Ben wondered hopefully. "If not, that's alright. I'm fine without it."

"Actually." Lumiere pulled the photo out of his pocket with a smile. "Her mother agreed since you were such a big help with their problem. The girl was about as shy as you and took her mother some time to let her take the photo."

Taking the photo, Ben gasped, immediately out of breath from seeing the girl's beauty. She had short purple hair, incredibly pale skin, and bright vibrant green eyes that had the prince transfixed on her. "She's so pretty!" He exclaimed after a moment. "Her hair . . . how is it so purple?"

"I'm not sure, sire," Lumiere answered, completely amused by the prince's reaction. "I met Mal in person and couldn't believe that her hair was natural."

"Mal . . ." Ben repeated with a soft sigh. "Even her name is pretty! Why can't she be the one that I'm supposed to be betrothed to instead of Audrey?"

Lumiere chuckled once again. "Maybe one day, she will be able to come to Auradon."

Ben continued to gaze at the photograph with a certain gleam in his eye. "Maybe . . ."

After all the excitement occurred at their home, the mother and daughter returned home to find the father preparing their lunch.

"Jafar stopped by half an hour ago," Hades said as he finished the last of the dish. "I can't believe King Beast actually agreed to help."

"It wasn't all him," Maleficent corrected. "His son, the Prince of Auradon, bargained with him so those Auradonians could help us. All Prince Benjamin wanted was a picture of Mal, so he'd know if Isle children look different."

Hades snickered at the innocent request. "He's gonna be surprised to see her purple hair."

A few minutes later, the married couple was sitting on their couch with Mali sitting on her father's lap as they ate their lunch and watched the Auradon News Network. The parents were curious if what happened an hour prior on the Isle would be broadcasted for everyone to see.

Instead, there was a segment involving a boy about Mal's age and a girl a little younger. Within a minute, it was discovered that the boy was 'Prince Ben' and the girl was 'Princess Audrey', Aurora and Philip's daughter. Maleficent's face fell at seeing the little girl, but was momentarily distracted when Mal perked up at seeing the prince.

"He's cuuute!" Mal blurted out with a small smile as she stared at the boy with a certain gleam in her eyes. "Really cute!"

Hades laughed for the second time in ten minutes. "Sounds like my little Mali has a crush!" He teased. "And you haven't even met him yet!"

Blushing a deep, deep red, Mal buried her head into her father's chest to hide her embarrassment. Resting a hand on the back of her head, Hades shared a look with his wife, who mouthed, Do you think he's the king?

Hades shrugged unknowingly, thinking that—with everything that just happened today—couldn't be a coincidence.

And in a few short years, the parents will discover that it was no coincidence—

Mal found her true love.