****Three Days Later****

****Literature Classroom****

It was not usual that Audrey Phillipa Rose, soon to be Crown Princess of Auroria and ex-future High Queen of Auradon was kind to someone whom she didn't like without a second intention.

Sure, her Grammy had taught her to have manners (even better than her mother's, of course) but she also had been taught to choose her companions and how to treat them so that they didn't deflect from her side.

And she had failed to keep the other princesses with her, she would have to think about how to save those friendships but the fact that they were now constantly fawning over Mal and Evie was making her want to puke.

At least Anxelin was at always at her side and that was mattered, even if the princess didn't share much with her anymore.

(Maybe the fact that she had dated Chad recently was making her uncomfortable but Audrey was almost sure that Anxelin had said that it didn't ma)

Their teacher, Mrs. Hadid, was currently on a meeting with Fairy Godmother (why was she having so many meetings with the teachers?) and her teaching assistant, Ghida (who had graduated three years before), had decided to make them write two-page essay about the book they were supposed to be reading.

Audrey hadn't read it but knew the general plotline as it was one of Ben's favorite books and when they were dating he would mention it every now and then.

(And she had kind of loved and hated it every time he would mention it)

It wasn't long till she finished her essay and started mussing about the events of the last few days.

Why was Ben skipping classes so much? When he started his duties as king he didn't skip that much and now it was three days on a row.

How in the world had Hal Westergaard gotten magic?

(Though she had heard from Merriweather about some people being born with magic randomly…)

Why was Anthony Tremaine in the infirmary since that afternoon?

And how in the world was Eisa hanging out with the son of her aunt and mother's enemy so casually?

She saw how the red haired princess was quietly discussing the book with that boy, Audrey wondered if that sudden closeness would continue when the Tremaine got out of the infirmary.

(Audrey wasn't too worried about the guy but nevertheless she had gone on a social call to see if he was well and Opal said that he could be discharged in a few days)

Eisa didn't have many friends, for all she knew her only actual friend (as Kurt didn't count) was her roommate Tina (who wasn't that likeable), and a small part of Audrey hoped that she would stick around with those VK.

Another thing that she noticed was that the Frollo girl had been more secluded than the first weeks and no longer hung out around Westergaard and while she still followed Rhetta (Audrey soon discovered that Harriet hated that nickname and so she called her that) around, the blonde no longer spoke much and directed somewhat longing gazes at Zephyr, who apparently didn't notice them and that made her want to roll her eyes.

It was the weirdest thing ever, did that girl have crush on him? That was sick, it would be like her having a crush on Mal.

She crunched her nose a little at the thought and realized that Anxelin must have noticed her doing that because she said "Is something wrong?"

"No" Audrey shook her head and looked at her finished essay wondering if she should hand it to Ghida and ask if she could go out, the answer would probably be not as she remembered her to be really strict and serious even as a student.

(Aziz always said that his cousin was made to be a teacher)

Still it would probably be worth a shot.

"You look as if you were about to throw up" The girl responded squinting her light brown eyes, despite trying to be serious her eyes always carried some mischief on them that prevented her from being in a totally serious stance.

"I don't think so" The princess said and added "I overslept today and I didn't-"

"Princess Audrey! Princess Anxelin!" Ghida raised her voice "Quiet!"

Audrey rolled her eyes and raised her hand before saying "I finished my essay, can I go outside?"

"It would be unfair to let you go outside as I don't think any of your classmates-" The assistant teacher started to say but then Doug raised his hand hesitantly and said "I have finished too…and our next class is with who-"

"Doesn't like people being late" The young woman finished for him and pinched the bridge of her nose, Audrey remembered her being valedictorian for her class (beating Tina's older sister and Danny Darling) for it but overly disliking Mr. Deley and criticizing his teaching methods.

"Today is lab day and he wanted us to be ready before class" Tina said raising her essay paper on her hand "You know how he is"

"Okay, those who have finished can give their essays to Ms. Frollo and get to your next class" Ghida said and took out a book.

Audrey was about stand up and hand it over to the girl when she heard Rhetta saying "I'll go see him for a minute, will you be okay?" and then she noticed a flinch on Claudine but the girl just nodded, then the pirate went out of the classroom…with Chad.

Then she noticed that Lonnie had soon followed them, as if she was running after them.

The princess kept sat on her place and wondered when did Chad started to hang out with them and remembered that he had been sitting with them during the alumni visit. Why was he doing that?

She remembered him not totally being on board with having the first ones here but not voicing any objection to it…till the whole Evie fiasco happened.

"I want a milkshake" Anxelin said as she finished her own essay and looked at her for what seemed an eternity before asking "Do you want to come? Ruby said something about Ariana wanting to speak with you about Briony"

She was about to say "yes" but then noticed an awkward exchange between Hal and Claudine, then another even awkward exchange between Zephyr and her.

Both blondes seemed to be…blushing?

Weirdos, the both of them

"Are you going to hand out your essay or not, Princess Audrey? It was your idea after all" Ghida said from her desk while giving her a death glare.

"Oh, right" She huffed and dropped her paper on Claudine's desk and walked away without Anxelin.

When she got out she went directly to her locker which was kind of far from the literature classroom and avoided stopping to speak with anyone, she saw freaking Ruby with Freddie and Carlos' cousin, why was Anxelin's sister with those two?

She was making a mental list of people who seemed to have joined the others when she suddenly realized that she had forgot her bag and huffed as she went back to the classroom while hoping Ghida had already left.

The bell rang and so she started to walk faster as it would be impossible for her to run on the heels she was using that day.

She saw Chad walking down the hall with Rhetta, they seemed to be talking about something serious and for some reason the girl seemed to be really annoyed while Chad seemed to be comfortable with her, both teenagers didn't stop when they saw her but he offered her a smile before turning to his companion.

The princess saw them disappearing down the hall while she stood on her place dumbfounded and then a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"What-?" She started to say in an annoyed tone but then noticed that it was Claudine with her bag on her hands and she saw raising it on her hands as if it was some kind of shield.

Did she think that she would hit her or something?

She almost scoffed but realized that Evie did the same, though some unconsciously, when she got somewhat riled up during their studying sessions for the monograph…which they hadn't really started but that was a matter for another day.

"Thank you" She simply said and grabbed her bag from the blonde's hands she was about to run to the chemistry lab but then realized something as she saw Claudine nod awkwardly and then bolt away to speak with Tina.

That Frollo girl reminded her somewhat of Jane before Mal changed her looks with that spell.

Her friends were making friends with those VKs and even though she found most of them annoying…

Maybe, just maybe she could try to be nice to Claudine…just so her friends would return to her.

****The Remedial Goodness Classroom****

Mal had not understand why they would have to assist to the Remedial Goodness class that day, she totally hated that class last year, but didn't protest much because Jane was only the messenger not the one who decided to have her (and the others) once more hearing those stupid questions.

She had gotten out of chemistry class early after faking some drowsiness and went to the classroom to be alone. While waiting for FG and the other VKs, she was making a new drawing for Ben as he had always said that her drawing made him feel better and at the moment that seemed to be what he needed.

(Also art relaxed her and she needed it after seeing how Lonnie had almost made a small explosion during the lab practice after a comment by Aziz)

The faery didn't know if things were going to be this way now, she missed her boyfriend but she was also relieved that they no longer went to social events together as they had been taking the toll on her before the Royal Cotillion.

"Uma" She muttered in an angry tone, months had passed and there was no way to know where she was.

(She had her suspicions about the squid being at Atlantica but Princess Aquata* had written to them saying that Auradon couldn't question their loyalty)

For all she knew Uma was about to strike at any minute and Mal couldn't help but feel anxious about it, she had only stopped her attack because Ben dissuaded her (them) from fighting.

(Also, he had almost gone beast on them…Mal would have to ask about that but she didn't know if to ask him directly or ask Belle)

But Mal knew that there were more pressing matters at hand, Uma's future strike could wait, as there had been some whispers about the students with magic and the risks that came with them studying side by side with normal kids.

That included the VKs apparently, not only the Auradonians…or that is what Jane had told Carlos and Carlos had told her about that, also the school board had been asking for a meeting with FG and they were also demanding to keep a close eye on magical students.

"Thank you, Hal" Mal thought uncharitably as when she noticed that there was some freshman watching her from the window with some fear in his eyes.

Of course they would start fearing them, Hal put Anthony on the infirmary and both were kind of friends.

(Though there was a chance that Eisa was the one to hurt Tremaine and it was easier to blame Hal)

Mal just held her head up and raised an eyebrow at the kid and he quickly ran away.

"Morons" She muttered and returned to her drawing but couldn't decide which color to use and her thoughts started to fill her head again.

She knew that there were some people who still didn't accept her, they had been less and less the more she traveled with Ben, but it was weird to have them fearing her again.

(A few months ago she would have been relieved to have them fear her rather that have them smoother her)

The purple haired girl was starting to get back to her artwork but she felt someone sitting by her side and didn't raise her eyes from her paper as it was Jay and they would stay silent for long moments when they both got early.

He silently pushed a letter to her side and she noticed that the paper had some ink stains on it and it seemed to be a little old.

It was clearly from the Isle of the Lost, but she didn't have anyone to write to her from there as her mother was with her (literally at her room) and her father had died long ago.

Mal didn't even have friends back there, she was almost sure that half of the Isle wanted her dead while the other either feared her or didn't care.

There was also the matter that it wasn't mail day.

She just raised an eyebrow and looked for the sender.

"Gianna?!" She muttered/yelled.

Her curiosity was perked up as they never interacted much as the girl was a few years older than her and had almost taken over the leadership of the alliances but handed her that title without much protest.

(Gianna was strong and could instill fear when needed but preferred to avoid conflict)

Also, that girl may be the only one of the Legume children with some brain and it must be something important if she was willing to let Auradon read her letter because there was no way that they didn't check they mail.

(Ben never gave Carlos and Freddie a clear response about the matter)

She was about to open the envelope when she noticed that Jay was shaking a little.

When she lifted her gaze, she saw him fighting back some tears.

Mal wasn't good with emotions and even if Jay was her closest friend, they had been allies for years before coming to Auradon, she didn't know how to ask him what was happening and he noticed her trying to come up with the question.

Jay took a deep breath and showed her an envelope while saying "My aunt is dead"

"What?" Mal asked in disbelief, she didn't know Nasira that well (the woman didn't like her) but it was weird to have someone she actually knew dying.

Especially someone her friend had as family.

"She died almost a month ago, at least that is what Sammy Smee wrote in this letter" He said and bit his lip and then added in what he tried to make sound as indifferent "Jayda didn't even care to write to me and of course dad wouldn't even think to do so, I even called him a few days ago and her didn't mention it"

Mal didn't know what to say and just hugged his arm as she asked "Do you think that Sammy is…lying?"

The boy shook his head furiously and said "Am'mah* had been sick for a while…tending to those people, she caught that grey disease…I remember that dad fell sick too but she and Madam Claudette treated him at their hospital"

"I'm sorry, Jay" She said and put her head on his shoulder, Mal wasn't good at comforting people and started wishing that Evie was here in her place as the princess would know what to do or say.

"Jad- Jayda is now alone" Jay said and then turned to ask Mal "Can -?"

"No" She simply said "They won't allow it"

Jay nodded with great resignation and patted her head while saying "Do you know what else?"

She didn't offer a response because she knew that he would continue anyway and after a sigh he added "He is asking me for permission to marry my cousin as he says that dad won't let him near the store" He said almost amused but there was still sadness over his voice and then scoffed "Marriage, no one has married in the last few years"

Mal snapped her head up and looked at him with surprise, Jade and Sammy?

"I didn't know that they knew each other, even less that they were together" He continued after a snort "Many things have happened and changed in less than a year"

"Indeed"

They kept silent as the other VKs and Chad arrived, Jay quickly dried his tears and went to his usual seat and pushed Carlos lightly.

The younger boy didn't seem to notice the gloomy aura that surrounded Jay, or he did and pretended not to notice, and pushed him back…just like always.

Mal was about to once again try to open the envelope but Evie came in and said with a smile while putting her hands on her hips "I don't miss this class at all"

"Me neither" Mal said laughing "But for some reason we are back here"

"I suppose that the incident with Hal has made some people have doubts about you four being trustworthy" Henry said entering their conversation uninvited and after a dirty look from both girls, he added "Or they want us to look up to you for reforming"

"Or simply they want to rub in our faces that they have actually settled in" Hadie said and he looked pointedly at Henry "Some of us are trying while others are not, there may be someone who is about to ruin it for us all"

"Do you have any problem with me?" The Plantagenet asked "If I'm not wrong Hal's lack of control had made everyone more suspicious about us and-"

"Is there any reason why we should be suspicious?" Evie interrupted them.

"No" Both boys said in unison but Hadie seemed to flinch a little when his sister put an arm around him and smiled at the Plantagenet.

"I hope that you know that if you do something, you may be ruining the chance of some kids to come here" Mal said and decided that she may have to keep an eye on Hades' kids and Prince John's son "Some people who really need to come to Auradon but weren't considered by Yen Sid"

Harriet looked at her with a quizzical look which Mal returned, then the pirate just gave her a smirk that the fae wasn't sure she liked.

Then she remembered Gianna's letter and supposed that she should read it as soon as possible.

****The ROAR training room****

Lonnie was sure that Shanyuan had been pulling her leg, as Auradonians say, when he told her that Chad was good at R.O.A.R. but after a few training sessions…she had to admit that the prince was good, better than most of the team but not as good as her brother.

(Shanyuan mentioned something about Chad begging him to train him during his freshman year)

So, she had been trying to come up with a good excuse to speak to him and which was better than asking him to train with her.

And so, before she had been trying to approach him but nowadays he seemed to be spending his time with Dizzy and Harriet at the infirmary.

Why the sudden interest on Anthony? He seemed to really dislike him but he was the one accompanying the Tremaine boy.

Before the chemistry lab practice she had finally asked if he would like to train with her that afternoon, at first she had tried to use the nice approach as they had been friends before he started dating around to get his homework done but then decided that it would be better to strike fast so she just grabbed his arm while interrupting a conversation the prince was having with Harriet, Kurt and, surprisingly, Hal.

Chad looked at her as if she was crazy and said "Rude" before giving her a look that gave her permission to talk, she almost laughed at the expression he had but instead said in a tone that hid her amusement well "The R.O.A.R. season is starting and I think that it would be good for us to train together as we may be the only ones in the team that may have chance to get to finals…so I see you at four"

Then she had just left him with his new friends, she didn't have anything against them but she didn't exactly feel invited to join them, especially after interrupting them.

She arrived to the R.O.A.R. training room at four o'clock sharp without much hope he would show up, usually at that hour he would be going to have a nap before the Tourney training. At time she would wonder how he managed to have a life with him being in two sports teams, almost permanent detention and having extra etiquette lessons with Flora.

Lonnie had been especially surprised when Chad arrived a little later with his R.O.A.R. bag while saying "Jay asked Coach Jenkins to give me permission to skip this afternoon, something about him missing being on the team and you needing…" He seemed to grimace at what he was saying but quickly recovering while taking a small chocolate bar from his pocket and then smiled "Well, would you like one?"

"Thanks" She said taking it and trying to make conversation she added "I remember that you didn't like chocolate"

"I didn't like chocolate bars because they cracked but now I appreciate them…a little, I still think that it's distasteful to have them crack" Chad explained and then waited for a moment before asking "Why did you ask me to train with you? Wasn't your brother free?"

"Aren't I allowed to train with a friend?" Lonnie said as she took off her jacket and putting her gloves.

Chad snorted but didn't say anything and went to retrieve a pair of swords, he then handed one of them to her while saying "Let's train then, my friend"

Lonnie knew that he didn't actually believe her when she called him a friend but it seemed to be a good sign that he didn't leave.

She knew that a slight to his ego would make him leave so she had to be careful about how to present him the opportunity to be ad-interim captain for a few weeks while she was to be at Northern Wei at Zihao's…ehem…the Emperor's request.

They both stood at their sides of the combat arena and circled the area without striking a hit for a while, her brother used to say that it was a sign of two skilled warriors studying the opponent.

After a few seconds, Lonnie realized that Chad was leaving his left side unprotected and tried to strike him there but he blocked her and then tried to land a strike on her shoulder and she blocked it, then pushed him away with a kick and making him fall on his back.

"Isn't one supposed to avoid using kicks during matches?" Chad asked as he stood up.

"It isn't always a good idea" She admitted as she scolded herself "But it can help to recover after a few points lost"

"Were you losing?" He teased her as he made her trip over.

"We are training" She shrugged it off as she stood up and landed a hit on his arm "No one loses"

"Whatever you say, captain" The prince said as he bowed and then added "One point for Li Lan Ying"

Him using her actual name instead of her nickname startled her but then they got back into position and stood still for a while till Chad landed a strike on her shoulder and said "Now we have one point each"

"Have you been training?" Lonnie asked as she got back to her side.

"With Kurt, sometimes" Chad admitted shrugging "He is not half as bad as one would have thought, especially when neither of his parents have sword training and his aunt refuses to hire an instructor"

"He is your roommate now, right?"

"Yes, I think it could be worse…thought his laud practice on the mornings is a headache"

"You could have asked Aziz to be your roommate after Ben moved out"

"Nah, I think that your boyfriends are suited for each other as roommates"

Lonnie snapped her head and lunged forward him before saying "They aren't my boyfriends"

"Yeah, now that you mention it I remember you ditching Aziz before the VK's arrived but I don't know what happened with Jay, you two seemed to be about to be together" He said trying to sound innocent and pushed her to the side.

She had tried to hide that Jay had turned her down and knew that there was no way Chad would know about that as him and Jay weren't exactly friends.

Then she realized that he was trying to rile her up so she wouldn't focus on defense and just attack.

"You know much about having relationships" She responded and blocked a hit.

"Not exactly" He shrugged it off "I only dated Anxelin and Audrey, I only flirted with the other ones"

"So that they did your homework" She responded somewhat angered though it didn't happen to her "That's such a jerk move"

"They offered" He shrugged it off but seemed a little ashamed of that "And I apologized"

"Because that makes it better" She scoffed, then she lunged forward again. If he was going to get her distracted, so would she.

"Well, it's not like you apologized for stealing my phone, making Mal use magic on you, making fun of the VK's along with Audrey and ditching Jane as soon as her hair was horrible again" He responded and blocked her first hit but couldn't protect his right side and then tripped over.

"I didn't ditch Jane" She almost yelled in disbelief and almost allowed a hit being landed "She ran away after Mal took the spell away, I just didn't have the time to check on her after…and I didn't force Mal to use her magic on me"

"Evie said that you paid her after she refused"

"She accepted the payment"

"Do I have to remind you that magic is illegal?"

"We should take a break"

Then she went to sit and drink water, Lonnie started to think if it had been a good idea to train with Chad.

He was getting reactions out of her and she had to admit that he had learnt well from Shanyuan…that had been his tactic too, along with the moves both of them were using.

Chad sat beside her and said "Sorry"

"Apology accepted" She said a little bit teasingly, after few seconds she sighed and added "Sorry"

The prince nudged her arm and said with a smirk "Apology accepted too"

"How is Anthony?" She asked trying to make conversation as she wasn't one to like silence unlike most of her family.

"Opal says he is okay" He shrugged but there was some concern on his voice "She says that is just a cold"

"Then why is he still at the infirmary?" Lonnie was confused, usually Opal would send them back to their dorms, or homes, if it was just a cold.

"I suppose that she wants to be sure about him being fine" He made a pause before"Dizzy isn't taking well that her cousin is there…"

"He is her cousin, of course she is not going to take well-"

"Hal says that he fell into the pool" Chad commented and then added "Who would have known that almost no VK knows how to swim"

They both were silent for a while before Chad decided to break it and said "I have the feeling that you didn't want to train…"

She gulped and asked "Why would that be?"

"Because you would have asked one of the guys" He said while rolling his eyes and added "Even Roland"

"Roland is a kid, he is not ready to be a regular on the team" Lonnie shrugged and added "Queen Amber didn't even want to sign his permission slip"

"But he is good, there is a reason why he is on the team"

"True"

Then there was another silence and after collecting her thoughts, Lonnie finally said "I need your help…Zi- The emperor is calling me and Shanyuan back to Northern Wei-"

"Why is…why does his imperial majesty want both of you there?" He asked in confusion.

"I don't know" She decided that he didn't need to know about Qui Gong and she continued "But he wants us during the first week of December"

"That's…a month or so away"

"Yes, can you shut up so I can tell you what I need you for?" She snapped and then composed herself when he nodded "I need you to be temporary captain while I'm away"

"How long will you be away?" He asked frowning.

"For at least two weeks"

He seemed to consider it for a moment and that surprised Lonnie as she had thought that he would jump into the opportunity, after a few seconds he said "Sure, I'll do it"

"Great!" She said happily as it relieved her even if she didn't exactly like the idea.

Lonnie then noticed that while he seemed slightly happy at the thought of at least being temporary captain, he seemed a little bit bothered about something.

"I hope that the Emperor just wants you and Shanyuan for a visit" Chad commented cautiously as he stood up and offered his hand to help her stand up.

Suddenly feelings of apprehensiveness that had been building since the talk with her brother started to come up and she simply said while taking his hand "I'm sure that's it"

*Aquata is Ariel's oldest sister
*Am'mah is arabic for paternal aunt
Mrs. Hadid and Ghida are OCs, they are just normal people.

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