Finally he took a deep breath, composing what little was left of him and looked at the door.
He bit his lip, which was showing way more emotion than he ever would have allowed to on the Isle, and nodded to his friends.
Mal opened the door and her green eyes flashed at the soon-to-be-king as she passed him.
"I'm still plotting your murder." She announced, walking away with the rest of the Vks.
Ben let out a nervous chuckle, not really sure how to respond.
"She's joking." Alex said, watching them go as the door closed. He knew they will give them space, but still remain a yell away. "…I think."
He gulped, eyes still fixed on the door as he watched with the corner of his eye as Ben stared at him with wide eyes.
Alex raised his left hand a little, looking at the only source of light he had while he was locked in that stupid closet.
"When did you see it?"
He had to start the inevitable conversation somehow.
And he had always been so careful. How bad did he let his guard down that he let an Auradonian see it? How soft did he become?
Ben blinked, finally remembering why he was here in the first place.
"I didn't."
Alex frowned.
"Well… not since nine years ago anyway. But I figured you would probably still have it."
"Then how did you know?"
He had seen the younger Ben in Evie's mirror. They did look a lot alike, but nobody else in Auradon seemed to have noticed it.
"You seemed familiar." Ben blurted out, without thinking how weird that must have sounded like. He blushed. "I mean… Your eyes and hair and your age and name and that time you growled at Dude. Uh…"
"You seemed familiar too." Alex said after a pause.
Ben's eyes grew a little as his face lightened up, a new smile on his face. Alex tried to hide his amusement.
He's a freaking kid…
He opened his mouth to say something, but then Ben's phone ringed.
"Mom and Dad probably just got here." Ben explained.
It took Alex a moment to process what that meant.
"Huh?!"
Mum and Dad.
Ben's Mum and Dad.
That were also Alex's parents.
Since the first day he arrived here, Alex heard no one call their parents Mother and Father. Only mom and dad and mommy and daddy and all sorts of cute other things like ma or da, pops, papa.
He remembered when he was three and called Mother Gothel 'Mommy'. The slap he received that day had been historical. He couldn't see straight for days and the finger marks on his face were still there a month later.
How were parents in Auradon? Ben spoke of his parents a little the day they got here, but he spoke of them like Alex spoke of Dizzy.
In Goodness class Fairy Godmother told them again and again to ask an adult for help if they needed any.
Like they would actually get help and not a beating.
Flashes started playing inside his mind.
Sneaking Carlos out of Cruella's way, patching up Mal and Jay in the middle of the night, bringing rotten scraps of food to Evie when her mother refused to feed her. His own memories of the dark closet he was chained in started mocking him.
'Mom and Dad probably just got here.'
Alex was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't pay attention around, otherwise he would have heard the hurrying feet heading towards them 20 minutes ago.
The door burst open and Alex seriously considered letting Mal spray him with a hose for freezing again.
A brown haired woman rushed forward, tears flowing down her cheeks, as a tall blue-eyed man followed right after.
Had Alex been thinking straight, he would have either bolted around them or at least taken a defensive stance already expecting the first hit. But his mind was having a breakdown and that had never happened before.
The tears on the woman's face made his mind turn blank. He's never seen an adult crying before. Tears were a sign of weakness on the Isle.
"My baby boy!" The Queen of Auradon cried as she wrapped her arms around him, making him stiffen.
She was hugging him. Dipper than the hug Mal gave him, which had been about support and security. This was different.
She was holding him tight, like she was scared somebody would snatch him away, but also gently like he'd break otherwise. She was warm and she smelled like books and roses, but more natural, not like the over expensive perfume Audrey always wore that made Alex sneezed every time she was close.
But why was she hugging him?
'Mom and Dad probably just got here.'
She kissed his forehead.
Her lips were red and warm. A few tears fell on his head as she moved a strand of his hair out of his face. They had the same hair color.
The second time she hugged him his hands moved on their own and he was hugging her back.
Lie. Run. Bolt. Every instinct that was beaten into him chanted loudly in his head.
'Shut up.' He thought.
He felt more fresh tears fall on top of his head.
'Mom and Dad just got here.'
A hand ruffled his hair. This hand was bigger than Ben's.
Someone else kissed him on the head and he opened his eyes.
When did he close them?
Two pairs of storm blue eyes met. At least one of them was barely keeping the tears in.
'Mom and Dad just got here.'
Mom and Dad
Mom and Dad
Mom and Dad
He heard Ben sit down closer to them.
When did they end up on the floor?
Alex didn't know and in that moment, he didn't really care.
His Mom and Dad were here.
"None of them deserve to be here."
Those seven words destroyed probably the best day Ben ever had since his little brother was born.
He had just run out the room and was looking to invite the rest of the vks to spend the weekend with him and his family (now finally including Alex) at the Beast Palace. FG was going to sent everyone home tomorrow morning to spend the weekend with their families and his dad was going to make the big announcement at the beginning of the weekend. Perfect timing too, since everyone would probably believed this was going to be something concerning his coronation.
His brother was going to be with him at his coronation.
That thought sent him grinning like a foul while he was walking down the empty halls.
Now he just needed to find Mal and the others and he was free to go back to his brother.
He pushed open the door to the school's cafeteria and looked around. None of the Isle kids were there, but Audrey signed him from the cheerleader table.
Ben tried to keep his irritation in. He couldn't just ignore Audrey and turn back, but he really just wanted to deliver the invitation and go back to his family. He put on a polite smile and entered.
"Hi, girls. Have you seen Carlos or any of the others?"
If he said Mal or even Evie, Audrey might have made a scene. And Ben knew Chad didn't really see eye to eye with Alex and Jay. His best shot was Carlos. Otherwise he would have to refer to them as the Isle kids and he didn't want to risk people thinking they could single them out or something.
His plan failed when Audrey made a big show of frowning at him.
"Why would you want to see them?" she asked, like she couldn't believe what a disgusting thing he wanted to do.
Ben tried to conceal his own frown and keep his voice calm. They were right in the middle of the cafeteria. He didn't want to cause a scene.
The other cheerleaders at the table didn't even try to hide the fact that they were listening a little too closely to their discussion.
"I just want to see if they're alright. I'm trying to make sure they like it here." Ben said, which wasn't really a lie. He was going to ask about that after the invitation and hope they'll be able to have a proper chat about it this weekend.
Audrey rolled her eyes.
The next thing she said made his smile drop off completely.
"But none of them deserve to be here."
The tables around them went silent, but Ben didn't notice.
He blinked.
"What?"
Audrey sighed and looked at him like he was a five year old.
"They're the children of the villains. They are villains. No offence Bennybear, but you're just too trusting. Look, I know your mom fell in love with a big nasty beast who turned out to be a prince. But with my mom? The evil fairy was just the evil fairy. And it's that girl's mother." She finished and looked at him expectantly.
Ben shook his head.
"You're wrong about them. They're kids. And I can see goodness in them!"
Audrey sighed theatrically.
"They've been spelling people!"
"It's just a hairstyle and people specifically asked for it." His voice may have been rising a bit, but not enough to make it noticeable yet.
"That girl did Jane's hair too, and Fairy Godmother is not happy about it!"
Ben spread his arms exasperated.
"What's the harm?!"
"It's gateway magic! Sure it starts with the hair. Next thing you know it's the lips and the legs and the clothes and-"
"Audrey it's just the hair! There's nothing wrong with it!"
Almost the entire cafeteria was silent as they watched what just last week was known as 'The most powerful couple in Auradon'. The two royals didn't seem to notice.
"The entire Tourney Team has bruises from those three villains you seem to like so much. This is proof that they're dangerous!"
'Three villains…' echoed in Ben's mind as he gaped at his girlfriend.
Jay, who made a happy dance after he scored his first goal at training.
Carlos, who just until recently had been deathly afraid of dogs.
And his baby brother.
"That Gothel-boy got Chad into detention not even two days ago!"
An image of a fuming soaked Alex appeared in Ben's mind.
"You really want to forget that?!"
"If Chad got detention," Ben said this time deathly calm. "It was because he deserved it."
Audrey gasped loudly then shook her head.
"I don't know what's gotten into you."
"No, I don't know what's gotten into you!" Ben suddenly exclaimed. "We're supposed to be the good guys!"
"That's why we're not supposed to tangle with them!"
"That's why we're supposed to help them!"
"Bennyboo, I've been patient with you these last weeks, but you need to understand it's either them or me."
Total silence in the entire cafeteria.
Ben stared at her.
"Do not make me choose, Audrey."
She shook her head and got up.
"I am. This has gone too far and someone has to do something." She said and looked at him expectantly.
He took a deep breath, then turned around and started walking towards the door.
"Ben, you need to choose!" she yelled after him.
"I am." He answered firmly. He didn't shout, but in that total silence, everyone heard.
The door closed behind him with a thud.
Audrey gasped, but this time no sound escaped her mouth. Tears started falling from her eyes once the realization settled in.
Princess Audrey of Auroria has just been dumped in front of the whole school.
I am SO SORRY for the late update!
I literally had no idea how to do this chapter. On the bright side, I have thought a lot about making some one-shots with Alex and the rest.
Like, him interacting with Ben and his parents and Ethan and the vks, or his life on the Isle, a one-shot with him visiting the hospital (and surprising everyone with how good he knows how to treat broken bones or illness) or being sick or showing off his fighting skills, Ben finding out about all the scars and the Isle life and so on...
'The Lost Prince' will include Descendants 1&2 and probably 3, too. (And hopefully 4 &5&6...)
And at some point, I'm not sure when, I'll do the one-shots. I'll tell you when it happens.
Sounds good?
Some people asked for the break-up between Ben and Audrey to happen because of her treatment of Alex and I thought it was a great idea, so here's my version of it. It's not perfect, but I hope you like it.
Generally I have the rest of the story planned out, but does anyone have any idea or preferences about how people are going to react to one of the vks being the Lost Prince?
I'm a little lost there...
Anyway...
Tell me what you think. I look forward to all your reviews.
Frostbite out