*Author's Note*
Alright, here is Chapter 18. Remember that the small contest to guess the ending is still on until I post the next chapter which will probably be in 1-2 weeks times so if you want the know the ending before everyone just leave a review and I'll pm the person who guessed it first my draft copy of the ending. I've got another clue for you - lots are manageable
Thank you to my beta (legend fanatic) for helping me with my story.
Disney's Descendants: Good is the New Bad
Disclaimer: I own nothing at all, well, except my OC.
Spoilers: Well, the movie and a little of the prequel novel
One week Later,
Ben's Dormitory – Friday around Noon
"Come in." Ben's voice emerged from his room not long after a knock on the door was heard.
"Hey." Heres greeted as she opened the door of Ben's dormitory.
"Well, what a pleasant surprise. Come on in, Heres." Ben waved at the black-haired girl.
"How was Agrabah?" Heres asked as she closed the door behind her.
"Wonderful as always," Ben commented as he pushed his chair back to sit with Heres on the couch. "How may I be of any help today?"
"Actually, I was wondering if you can help me with something." Heres removed her backpack to take out a few pieces of paper and book.
"Sure, let me take a look them. I'll see what I can do." Ben smiled and nodded at the black-haired girl as he extended his hand.
"Thanks, this is for my…"
Meanwhile…
"Ben just got back from his trip from Agrabah, he should be in his dorm room preparing for the party tomorrow. You can tell us what you want to tell us there, Ben's room is secure." Mal said as she and Gaston Jr walked down the hallways of the Boys' Dormitory.
Gaston Jr nodded while following the purple-haired girl.
Mal and Gaston Jr had just finished their literature class together five minutes ago, which was also the last lesson of the week for the two of them. Thanks to the celebration of Ben's birthday, afternoon classes on Friday was cancelled so that the descendant of Heroes and Heroines can prepare for the Birthday Party the next day.
"Thanks, Mal. For everything, it really felt very good to have friends here." Gaston Jr said with sincerity.
"I know how it's like around here. Whatever you are feeling, I had them a year ago, and it was ten times of how you felt. Well, let's just say that not everyone was a fan of my mother." Mal let out a dry chuckle as they arrived at Ben's dormitory.
"Ben! Gaston is here to talk about…"
"MAL!"
Within a minute, Mal was gone from the door with Ben running after her while Gaston Jr stood frozen by the door and Heres on the floor.
Forty minutes later…
"BENJAMIN ADAMS! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?" Jay shouted as he stomped into Mal and Evie's dormitory with Carlos behind him trying, without luck, to stop him.
Evie was sitting on her bed as she watched the young king paced back and forth when Jay and Carlos appeared in her room.
"Jay!" Evie quickly hopped off her bed and ran towards her surrogate brother to stop him from doing something reckless. "Relax. Let Ben explain first."
A funny scene was created with Jay stomping towards the young king with Carlos pulling his tourney uniform from behind, whom Jay was dragging forward, and Evie pushing his core muscles, whom Jay was pushing forward, as though Carlos and Evie were not there.
"I'm sorry. I did not mean to hurt Mal." Ben apologised, not walking away from the angry bear walking towards him.
"You are just like…"
Jay was interrupted by Evie as she gave him a slap to wake him up. Evie knew that her surrogate brother will go crazy when it comes to Mal and she knew she had to do something to grab his attention before he hurt the young King. She knew Mal would not forgive herself if she knew that she was the reason for Jay to hurt Ben.
"Jay!" Jay looked down and started shooting death stares at his youngest surrogate sister. "Can you please calm down and listen to Ben before you blamed him for something he did not do?"
Jay closed his eyes to take a couple of deep breaths before opening eyes to stare at Ben and demanded. "Fine, you have five minutes. Talk fast!"
Ben let out a heavy sign before he spoke, "I was in my room getting ready for tomorrow when Heres appeared in my room to ask me to help her with something. I was looking through her homework when she pounced on me and kissed me. I froze." Ben turned around and rubbed his face in frustration as he sat down on Mal's bed before he continued, "That was when Mal and Gaston Jr walked in on us. I pushed her to the ground instantly. I was about to explain myself when Mal turned around and bolted out of my room before I could say anything. I tried to run after her, but I lost her when I reached the stairs. I thought Mal would run back to her room but I only managed to find Evie here, and Mal was nowhere to be found." Evie nodded her head at her older surrogate brother to assure him. "I have sent my guards to search for Mal twenty minutes ago, but none of them has brought back any good news yet."
"How could you be such an idiot and let such a thing happened the night before you were going to announce your engagement? Are you trying to sabotage your engagement with my sister?" Jay accused, have lost his mind on Ben after hearing that the sister that he has cared for and loved was hurt so deeply by someone he trusted her surrogate sister's heart with.
"I…"
A knock on the door interrupted Ben. Everyone turned around to find Jayden standing by the opened doorway.
Jayden took a bow before Ben, "Your majesty."
Ben stepping forward to him, "Any news of Mal?"
"I'm sorry, your majesty. We have searched everyone on Auradon Prep, but we can't seem to find Lady Mal. I am here to seek your permission to widen our search area." Jayden apologised.
"What are you waiting for? Go search the whole country if you must. I want Mal brought to me before sundown." Ben demanded.
"Yes, your majesty." Jayden gave the young king a nod before turning around to leave the room.
"What are you going to do with Heres?" Evie asked as she walked to the door of her dorm room to close it after Jayden.
"Right now, the most important thing has Mal back. I have no interest in dealing with anyone right now." Ben replied as he walked towards Mal's bed to pick up her drawing pad.
"Do you guys think Gaston Jr have anything to do with what happened?" Carlos voiced out his doubts.
Jay and Evie shared a look.
"This have Gaston Jr and Heres written all over it," Jay commented.
"What should we do about this? We were supposed to keep a close eye on the four of them, and now with this, I do not think we can do that anymore." Carlos said.
"Do you think that they know that we know that they are up to no good that's why this happened?" Evie asked.
"I do not know what they think, but all I can think of is what am I going to do with them later." Jay expressed as he clenched his fist.
"Jay, do not let yourself onto that dark path again." Carlos reminded. "We are good now."
"Carlos is right. They are not worth it. We have just removed the red tape our parents have us. They are not worthy of us to lose all our effort on them." Evie looked into his eyes as she spoke.
Jay moved his eyes between Evie and Carlos a few times before nodding his head.
Jay took a few deep breaths to calm his anger and said, "You're right, guys. They are not worth it."
"What should we do about Mal?" Carlos turned to Evie suddenly, "Evie, do you think you were able to use your magic mirror to look for Mal?"
Evie shook her head at them. "I tried to use the mirror earlier, but Mal has cloaked herself, so I was not able to look for her."
"Evie, can you use your magic mirror to look at what Gaston Jr and Heres are doing?" Jay asked almost immediately as he had calmed down to think about what had just happened and realised that something does not add up.
"Mal may not be here but I will never that those two ruined everything Mal have worked for," Jay added.
Evie added and looked down to her mirror, "Mirror, Mi…"
"I cannot wait any longer, I'll go look for Mal personally. Call me if Jayden had any news on Mal." Ben said quickly as he runs out of the room.
Ben have been lost in his thoughts as the trio talked. All he could think of is Mal. What will happen to him if Mal hurt herself? What will happen to him if Mal left him? What will happen to him if Mal returned to the Isle of the lost and never come back? What will happen…
Ben could no longer stand sitting there on Mal's bed and not doing anything. He needs to do something, most importantly, he needs to find back his love of his life.
Jay, Evie and Carlos stood, frozen as they recovered. Quietly, they shared a look before they crowd around the magic mirror to continue to check up on their 'friends' from the Isle of the Lost. They knew if there's anyone who can find Mal right now, that will be Ben.
After running for a few minutes, Ben arrived at the Auradon Prep's stables. He would have gone for his scooter, but Chad has just borrowed it that morning. Ben ran into the stables to get his horse, Dawn, when he noticed the stall next to him was empty. Moonlight was supposed to be in there. Instantly, Ben knew where Mal went.
After riding for almost an hour, Ben found Moonlight drinking by the lake near to a Paillon and inside the Paillon was a purple figure. It was Mal. When Ben saw Moonlight was not in his stall, Ben instantly knew that the only reason the guards cannot find Mal or saw Mal was because she did not take the main exit of the school. And the only other 'exit' of the school was the woods which was also one of the faster routes from Auradon Prep to the Summer Palace, and not many knew of this route. The Summer Palace was also the place where he proposed to her a few months ago.
"Ben," Mal whispered to herself as a tear escaped from her eyes. She wiped it off but more started to drip on her cheeks.
Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.
Mal knew that it was Ben, she tried to break free to turn around, but Ben's hold on her got tighter.
Ben tucked his head into her neck and whispered, "Mal, I'm sorry."
Mal stunned for a few seconds before asking in between her breaths as she started to tear up, "Do you have any feelings for Heres?"
Instantly, Ben shook his head and turned her around to look into her eyes, "No, of course now. I love you, Mal. I didn't say sorry because I had feelings or was cheating on you. I said sorry because I made you cry. I should be more cautious about Heres. I didn't mean to hurt you, Mal. That would be the last thing I wanted." Ben sat up and put up his right hand to do a three-finger salute as he continued, "I swear I did not kiss Heres…"
"I know Heres was the one who initiated the kiss." Mal reached out to his hand and interrupted.
"No, Mal, I did…" Ben froze for a few seconds before looking into her eyes. "You knew?"
Mal chuckled as she wiped away her tears. "I cried was because I was angry at myself for not being able to see through the games Heres is playing."
"I'm sorry, Mal. I should have known." Ben apologised.
"It's my fault. I shouldn't believe Gaston Jr that easily."
Ben helped her to wipe away the tear stained on her face and asked softly, "Mal, why did you run into the woods if you knew that it was not me?"
Mal snuffles as she chuckled, "Well, I figured since Heres went through all the trouble to try to destroy our relationship, it's only right that I gave her what she wanted. Besides, I knew you will always found me…"
Ben crushed his lips onto hers to interrupt her. There are no words to express how he felt right now, he can only show her how much her words meant to him. The trust she has had for him made him realised that there is no one kinder that Mal and she is the daughter of the greatest villain of all times.
Mal was taken by surprise by Ben's sudden actions, but she quickly recovered and wrapped her arms around his neck and deepen the kiss as Ben's arms remained tight and firm around her waist.
Thanks to the chaos that Heres created, Ben and Mal are now closer than ever. Nothing can break their bond with each other.
Meanwhile…
While Ben and Mal had the heart to heart talk, Jay, Evie and Carlos were trying to figure out Heres' next move.
"Why can't we see them?" Carlos asked after Evie tried to ask the mirror to look for Heres and for the tenth time, the mirror had no reaction.
Evie frowned and tried another time. "Heres must have used a protection spell to block out any attempt of anyone spying on them," Evie predicted after waiting for another minute for the mirror to react.
"Is there any other way we can know what they are planning? I mean I'm pretty sure they can't block out the whole room, I mean won't that be very alarming when people walked past the room and saw a force field on the door?" Jay pointed out.
Evie snapped her head at their older surrogate brother, "You're a genius, Jay!"
Evie turned to her magic mirror and said, "Mirror, mirror in my hand, show me Heres and Ylma's dorm room."
An image started to form on the mirror, an image of a dorm room started to appear in the mirror. Evie was right, there was a green and purple shield in the room and Heres, Ylma and Gaston the Third was inside, only Gaston Jr was not in the room. There was no sound, but they can clearly see Heres had a sly smile as she studied the floor plan of the Castle and the Castle's Open-Air Cathedral where Ben's birthday party will be held while Gaston the Third and Ylma talked.
"Mirror, please translate their lips body language into words." Evie brought the mirror to her lips and whispered before extending her hand to show her surrogate brothers the mirror.
"Looks like Mal and Ben will not last long. Everything seems to be going according to plan." A husky voice emerged not long after Heres started to speak, with a hint of mocking tone hidden in it.
"What's our next move?" the same voice continued as Ylma begun to talk.
Heres gave Gaston the Third and Ylma a warning stare as the voice continued, "All the three of you have to do is wait for my signal before taking down Mal and Fairy Godmother."
"What do you plan to do?" the voice spoke up again as Ylma asked.
Heres was seen closing her eyes for a while as the force field around them disappeared.
"Nothing that concerns the two of you. A quick warning, DO NOT interfere with my plan or you will face the consequences. Don't say I did not warn you." Heres warmed as her original voice emerged from the mirror as she crossed her arms.
Ylma and Gaston the Third shared a look before standing up to leave the room. Ylma went to look for her boyfriend while Gaston the Third went to look to the tourney field to look for his brother.
Jay, Evie and Carlos continued to watch Heres as she slowly walked towards the window to admire the peace of Auradon Prep as she knew that after she succeeds there will only be chaos in Auradon Prep, just as Evie was about to end their spying session.
"Ben will be mine," Heres concluded as her sly smile returned to her lips while she looked out the window with eyes filled with determination.
"Thank you mirror. That will be all." Evie said as she shared a look with her surrogate brothers.
"Looks like Ylma and mini Gaston also do not know what Heres had in mind," Carlos said.
"What should we do? You guys heard she said, she will not give up, not until Ben belongs to her." Evie asked, getting very worried about her best friend's safety.
Jay turned to Carlos, "You will be helping Jane and Fairy Godmother with Ben's birthday party's preparation, right?" Carlos nodded. "Can you tell her what we just saw?" Carlos nodded again. "As for the three of us, what we can do is be alert and watch out for Heres. Looks like there will be one hell of a party tomorrow."
"I hate it when I have no idea what kind of storm is coming. It's the most irritating feeling ever." Evie complained.
Jays gave her the best smile he has now as he extended his arms to hug his younger surrogate sister. "Me too, Evie."
"I talk to Fairy Godmother and ask if she can get help from Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. We will need all the help we can get." Carlos added.
The three of them let out a stressful sign together as the feeling of excitement they have for Ben and Mal's engagement and Ben's 17th birthday were gone, being replaced with only a huge cloud of uncertainty forming inside them.
Next chapter will my second last one! Are you excited?
Please read and tell me what you think :)
~ xoxo, Bella