So, I did not expect to get so many reviews so quickly. I was kind of hoping I wouldn't get ten because I hadn't started this chapter yet. Thank you for reviewing though, it does mean a lot to me. Like I said before, I hadn't started this chapter which explains why it is updated late in the day.

Also, even though I'm a girl, I am terrible at describing hair and dresses so I'd advise you to look the stuff up on google, especially the braided chignon.

Anyways, on with the story!

Enjoy.

Christmas Day.

Everyone in the castle awoke by six that morning to prepare for the long day ahead. Of course, they decided to wait until after the party to open up their gifts. The celebration would begin at about ten and end around five, or whenever everyone had left.

Well, almost everyone was awake.

Carlos and Jay slept in an extra hour because they had thought it would take them less than an hour to get ready. When they woke up at seven, they assumed they still had three hours left to get dressed and decided waste two hours by playing video games.

On the other hand, the three girls were hard at work making themselves presentable for the occasion. Dizzy was the first to get dressed and have her hair done since she took less time. The young teen had her two signature buns with feathers and a casual splatter painted winter dress. Dizzy was done at about seven.

Evie was next in line to get ready. The Isle Princess did little to her hair. Recently she had taken an interest of just straightening her hair and nothing more. As usual, she had her tiara resting on top. As for her dress, she designed a simple royal blue A-line long-sleeved knee length dress with a red shawl. Evie was finally finished at about eight-thirty.

Last, but most certainly not least, was Mal. As described before she wore a purple and black long-sleeved dress with white marabou trim around the cuffs and the hem. Evie took the trim off the neckline last night because she thought it would make Mal too uncomfortable. By nine, Evie started her makeup while Dizzy painted her nails.

Meanwhile, the two boys had finally decided to get ready for the occasion. Jay was ready with no issue in about ten minutes. When Carlos attempted to put on his white shirt, he ripped the sleeves. Of course, Jay rushed to the girls' room for Evie's and Dizzy's help.

He arrived at the room around nine-thirty. Lucky for them, they had just finished Mal's makeup and nails, which only left her hair to do. Jay volunteered to do her hair, but the two fashionistas insisted that they could switch the style to something non-fancy and take only five minutes at most.

The two hurried to the boys' room to deal with that situation first while Mal slumped in her chair. She was kind of disappointed. She was actually looking forward to the girls doing her hair. They had straightened her hair the night before to prepare for the hairstyle today.

Once again, Jay offered to do her hair. Thinking he couldn't possibly make it terrible enough for the girls to not be able to fix it, Mal let him just to pass the time. Less than ten minutes later, Jay was finished. Mal was a bit skeptical because Evie usually took twenty to thirty minutes.

She should have never doubted him.

Evie, Carlos, Dizzy returned to the girl's room around nine-fifty. They were extremely surprised to Mal's hair done in a professionally braided chignon. When Evie complimented his work, Jay revealed that he did Lonnie's hair every day before R.O.A.R. practice.

"WHAT!" Mal exclaimed in surprise and disappointment. "You've been doing Lonnie's hair and not mine? What's wrong with you! I'm your sister!"

"To be fair, you designated Evie and Dizzy as your hair stylist a week before Lonnie asked me to fix hers." Jay pointed out with a shrug. "It's not that big of a deal."

" 'Not that big of a deal'!" Evie repeated in disbelief. She gestured to Mal's hair. "This is a huge deal! You did a better job than I would have."

"You're over exaggerating."

"Nope, it's official!" Dizzy announced. "You're Mal's new hair stylist! Now let's go or else we're going to be late!"

Everything was going smoothly for the most part. A few people showed up early while others were a few minutes late. Jay and Carlos found themselves on the dance floor with Lonnie and Jane, Evie was talking with Doug and his dwarf family, and little Dizzy was skipping around helping fix princesses' hair when they became slightly undone.

Meanwhile, Mal was standing at the back of the room next to Ben where all the royals were supposed to greet them. She nervously tapped her hand on her leg as she surveyed the crowd and checked the time every couple minutes.

Ben held her hand in a small attempt to stop her worrying. "She's fine," he reassured soothingly. "There's somebody checking on her every ten minutes and they brought her food this morning."

"I know she is," Mal insisted. "I'm just waiting for him to show up."

Ben squeezed her hand slightly. "I'll be with you the whole time. He won't disrespect you while I'm here."

The lovey-dovey couple shared a quick kiss before Audrey came skipping to them.

"Mal, you look so beautiful!" She greeted happily in a pink winter dress and curled hair. "Evie and Dizzy really stepped it up with your hair."

"You're not going to believe this," Mal began dramatically, "Jay did this."

Audrey gasped in surprise. "I can't believe it! He did such an amazing job."

"Want to know something else?"

"What?"

"He's been doing Lonnie's hair the whole time!"

"What!" Audrey cried in the same surprised tone as Mal had. "But you're the sister!

"That's what I said!"

While the two were gossiping, Ben stared at them as though they grew a second head each. He was not used to them being so friendly to one another.

"Ben," Audrey handed him her phone, which snapped him out of his daze. "Take a picture of us, please."

Wordlessly, he snapped a few shots of the two posing next to each other. They looked and acted like best friends, not enemies that hated each other a few months ago.

"Thank you!" She swiped her phone back, and—after promising to send some to Mal, placed it in her dress pocket. "Now for the bad news."

Audrey sighed before confessing, "My grandfather is wearing his iron ring. He's going to shake your hand to try to burn you. I wanted to warn you before it happened, considering what you told me happened yesterday."

"I can get it," Ben intervened. "He won't know it's gone."

The girls looked at him. "Are you sure?" Mal wondered. "I can always use magic."

Ben smirked mischievously. "I learned a thing or two while I was on the Isle."

Less than five minutes had passed before King Stefan and his wife, Queen Leah, made their way to the technically engaged couple. Audrey had informed Ben and Mal that her mother and father would be late arriving to the celebration. Aurora had come down with some sort of head cold so Phillip insisted that Audrey go with her grandparents so she wouldn't be late.

"Hello, King Ben," King Stefan greeted him first. "It's nice to officially meet you."

Ben bowed slightly out of small respect before the two kings shook hands.

Stefan turned his attention to Mal. Her eyes were glowing their light defiant hues. Stefan offered his hand, which Mal reluctantly shook. She could sense his surprise, but it quickly dissipated.

He let go of her hand and cleared his throat, "And you are . . . ?"

"Lady Mal," she introduced using her official title. "The daughter of Maleficent, but you already knew that, didn't you, Stefan?"

"That's King Stefan," he corrected with a scowl.

Mal smirked as her eyes glowed brighter. "You are no king to me."

Stefan glared at her, mostly because her statement reminded him of her mother, but she refused to let him speak. "A true king wouldn't try to burn somebody," Mal scolded—people had quieted down and were watching now, "like you just attempted."

Stefan glanced at his hand and noticed something was missing.

"Looking for something?" Ben held up the iron ring that he was easily able to swipe. He lobbed it to the retire king. "Next time you try to pull a stunt like that, I won't be so forgiving."

Stefan calmly placed the ring back in his pocket, hoping the matter would be dropped right then.

But Mal wasn't finished yet.

"Do they," she gestured to the crowd, "know how you became king?"

Stefan glared even harder. "I became king—"

"Because you cut off my mother's wings." Mal announced before he could finish. "You presented them to King Henry as proof that you supposedly killed her. He offered you a reward, to which you said you'd be a worthy king, since at the time you were a peasant working in the castle."

"Enough!"

Mal's eyes glowed even more vibrant. "You have no right order me around. You have no right to be king."

"Here's the rest of the story that nobody else knows," Mal continued on. "Henry had laughed and said you would never be king. You didn't like that response, so you did something about it."

She paused for dramatic effect. "You suffocated him."

Cue a dramatic gasp from the audience.

Stefan fumed. "That's a bold accusation. Do you have any proof?"

"I don't need proof-"

"Sure you do!" He exclaimed hysterically. "You are saying that I killed a king, yet you have no evidence that I did such actions, unless you can pull some out of thin air."

The glow of Mal's eyes faded. She was stumped. She didn't think he would argue so well. Truth be told, there was nothing she could give to show she was right. She only knew he murdered the old king because of—

"I do."

The audience gasped again as they turned their attention to the person who made the announcement.

Leaned against a wall looking even paler before was the great fairy Maleficent. Her long brown hair was no longer hidden and a thin, dark colored blanket was wrapped around her frail figure.

"Mother!" Mal exclaimed as she rushed to her side to help her steady herself "You should be in bed resting! You are in no condition to be walking on your own!"

"I know, Baby Girl." Maleficent placed a motherly hand on her cheek like she had so many years ago. "I couldn't let you face him alone."

With her daughter now supporting her, Maleficent narrowed her eyes at Stefan. "You want proof of what you did to me and to the king?" She questioned cryptically. "Well here it is."

She opened her palm, to which a green ball of fire burst out of. It found its way into the middle of the room. It expanded to ten times its original size and a small scene began to play.

King Henry laughed in Stefan's face for thinking a worthless servant like him could become king and said he doesn't even know his name. Stefan snapped, picked up a pillow and suffocated Henry while snarling "I'm called Stefan."

"Do you deny that that is you?" Maleficent interrogated. "Or are you going to continue to lie to everyone?"

Stefan glanced around the room, noticing the pointed stares he was being given. He knew he was defeated.

"So what's going to happen to me?" He questioned, knowing something would bound to happen to him. "Will I be sent to the Isle of the Lost?"

Mal scoffed. "You wouldn't survive a day. Everyone on the Isle, both villains and their children, know what you have done. They would kill you the moment you would step foot on the island."

Nothing else was said. Stefan knew better than to say anything. He held his chin up as he and his wife left the party.

There's a moral to this story:

Not all villains are who they are made out to be.

Sometimes, it's the 'heroes' that make them out to be the enemy.