So...Im baaaack :D

****The Gardens****

Audrey was sure that her Grammy would have some berating speech prepared for her when the Winter Break came, she always had her way of knowing about her doings and relationships, but she wasn't going to hear a word about it since her plan of making friends with Claudine Frollo seemed to be fruitful.

(She also knew that Grammy would approve of Claudine had she had other parentage as the girl had good manners and great looks for a VK)

After convincing the blonde of wearing her hair down and sitting with her during some meals, a few of their classmates, mainly junior and sophomores, had started to come to their table to compliments both of them for the make-over.

Once a few days passed, Audrey had enough grip on the other girls to finally have some social power back and just enough to hold up a picnic at the gardens like she had done back when she was a freshman.

(Except that now she had no boyfriend and she was only the second most popular girl at school)

"It's very nice of you to help that girl" One of Queen Ariel's many nieces, Audrey could never remember their names, had said in a hush to Auroria's princess while another seemed to run a comb that looked like a for through the blonde girl's hair "She looked so plain before…well even more plain"

If Claudine had heard the last words, she showed no sign of it and Audrey was grateful for that, she couldn't lose her only chance at getting back on social graces.

(Though she knew that the blonde was not likely to respond to any offense)

"I know, right?" Audrey said with some satisfaction but noticed that Ruby was glaring at her and the princess rolled her eyes before adding "The suggestion of wearing the hair down was Ruby's"

Ruby smiled a little when the two princesses of Atlantica turned their heads to her and her sister gave her an encouraging nudge on her arm.

(Audrey didn't exactly like Tangletown's second princess, Ruby was way too weird to be her friend, but if letting her sit with them made Anxelin happy so be it)

"Also I made her change her shampoo to one that makes her hair shine brighter" Ruby said with delight in her voice as she was the one in her family that was kind of obsessed with hair care as her tresses reminded everyone her mothers' had once been "It would be good for you to use it too, Aqua…though I don't remember its name but I can go with you to the store" She made a pause before nudging Anxelin "We could go for some new ribbons and other stuff, your diadems are already out of fashion"

"Your flower clips are out of fashion" Anxelin said rolling her eyes but smiling good naturedly in a way Audrey could never with her sister and their interactions never ceased to amaze her.

"I may grab some next time we have a trip to the city!" Aqua said and turned to her cousin "You'll accompany me, Arabella" She then focused once more on Claudine "And you'll come with us to get a new wardrobe, you look like-"

"One of those boring girls from the Ladies' School back at Kingeorgetown" Mairia interrupted them with a chastising look in her eyes but a faint smile on her lips "All white and grey, you need some color in you, I think some blues or greens would be adequate for you" The redhead then turned her gaze to Audrey and asked with a glint on her eyes "Don't you agree, Audrey?"

"Uh…sure" The princess said waving her hand and then putting it over Claudine's while saying with a smile "Would you like to come with us to the next trip to Auradon City?"

Claudine looked at her for a second before giving her a soft smile and saying "Sure, that would be great" The blonde seemed to think for a moment, as if she wanted to say something more, but she then just shook her head lightly and muttered something.

Audrey huffed a little and then noticed that Rhetta was speaking with Chad, Lonnie and Kurt near the entrance of the gardens.

The three of them seemed to be getting along well and Audrey couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous of their interaction. It seemed far too natural for her despite Rhetta being a pirate and the other three being the children of heroes. She then realized that Claudine had seen her roommate and had been about to ask if Rhetta could come with them and Audrey of course would say no, she wouldn't even invite Lonnie to go with them since she was cozy with the VKs.

(Though Audrey had been trying to form a sort of friendship with Claudine, she was sure that it was just for a purpose)

Her thoughts were interrupted by Mairia who asked with some uncomfortableness in her demeanor but keeping her voice as tranquil as she could "Changing the topic, I heard that Briony will be re-enrolling at Auradon Prep…is that true?"

Audrey frowned a little, no one asked about Briony if they could avoid it for it was a touchy matter for the House Rose, and wondered where could the redhead heard about it.

But she also knew that neither Ben or Chad could really keep a secret so it was likely that one of them had mentioned the matter to someone and that someone told Mairia. On the other hand, her mother had probably told Queen Merida during one of their royal diners and maybe the red-haired monarch had told the younger girl.

After a quick second, she plastered a small smile on her face with hopes that the other princesses had not noticed that she had been caught off-guard before saying "My parents have said so"

"Then things will be interesting next semester" Mairia commented with some satisfaction on her tone "We all have missed her quite a lot, right girls?"

Auroria's princess stiffened a little with that statement, she sincerely hoped that people had forgotten about why Briony was taken out of Auradon Prep as she had been trying to do.

If Mairia tried to raise the topic, Audrey would mention Moireach's father. It was only fair to do that.

There was a silence and Audrey noticed that Aqua and Arabella shared a look before directing their eyes to opposite sides of each other, she was about to query what they were thinking when Claudine asked with a soft tone "Is she your sister?"

The brunette was going to roll her eyes at the question and then realized that they had never old each other things about their personal lives.

Audrey pressed her lips on a thin line "Aye, she is my younger sister" She made a pause and asked out of sincere curiosity "Do you have any siblings?"

"No" Claudine responded rather stiffly and Audrey felt some guilt and dread forming on her stomach.

Maybe that hadn't been a good idea.

****The ROAR Training Room****

Hal knew that he was on thin ice (pun intended) with Harriet.

Sure, Claudine was no longer avoiding him and she had welcomed him back at their usual table but the pirate was giving him cold gazes every time he was there.

(Also it didn't help that Anthony had yet to be released from the infirmary for some "complications" that Opal didn't want to tell them about)

But he knew that Harriet's tolerance came from him being the one who convinced Claudine to open Gianna's letter and convinced her to speak to Mal though the results were yet to be seen because even when the faery seemed to be somewhat concerned about the matter she had not taken action and about three days had passed since they had last spoken.

(Still, he hadn't yet apologized to Anthony and that was killing him, though it was entirely another matter)

Claudine was currently being ambushed by some princesses and minor nobles at the gardens, Hal couldn't understand why she would voluntarily hang out with Audrey but she seemed just a little uncomfortable with the attention.

He knew that Harriet was not happy with him but at least she had invited him to watch the ROAR training. And so, both of them were sitting on the floor while Chad blocked attacks from Kurt but was hit by Lonnie, the rest of the team were sat on the opposite side of the room.

"Isn't this supposed to be a sport one-on-one?" He asked, trying to break the ice with Harriet. While he was trying to be nice-ish, he avoided looking into her eyes by staring at his gloved hands.

He was thankful to Eisa for giving him those but the redhead was not yet comfortable with them. Still, people were more comfortable around him if he used them and even though he was a VK, he didn't exactly like loneliness as he had grown up with siblings.

(He now wondered what were Hansel and Harald doing but the didn't exactly care much)

The dark haired girl looked at him and squinted her eyes as if to analyze him, then she sighed and said "Yes, but Lonnie insisted that they should train their senses and reflexes"

"Wouldn't you like to train with them? I mean, not like joining the team but to practice" Hal said after a silence, he knew that the Hook had been trained by their father, when he wasn't passed out of course, to use swords and knives.

Harriet looked at him with the side of her eye and huffed "As if they would trust one of the VKs with a sword"

"Jay was part of the team"

"Jay is Mal's friend"

"And?"

"Auradon doesn't trust us" She said and turned her gaze to the ROAR team without moving her head and then turned her eyes back to the three ones in the arena.

Hal then looked at the other four members of the ROAR team: Magnus Dunbroch, Herkie, Roland Winslow, who was also on the Tourney team, and Zephyr.

The blond son of Captain Phoebus waved at him with a friendly smile which Hal returned but noticed that the other three were watching them with some distrust on their eyes, Roland seemed hesitant but after a moment he waved too albeit a little bit stiff.

He wondered if it was because of him or because they were VKs.

As he heard the training swords clashing once more, his thoughts drifted towards Anthony and started to think about ways of apologizing.

Every option he thought of ended up with him being gutted, what was Anthony going to do with an apology?

He was focused on his own thoughts and it was killing him, then Harriet broke the silence by blurting out "Tony has been asking if you are ever going to go visit, he is starting to think that you are a coward and is curious about why did you turn into one"

Hal had two options, either take the bait or dodge the matter. He of course chose the second option and so he responded "Tony? So that means that you are back together?"

The red haired boy knew that he was entering a dangerous path, no one ever spoke about their past relationship and even less to their faces, and so he pretended to be totally interested on the R.O.A.R. practice and wondered why had he chosen Tourney over this other sport.

Harriet rolled her eyes and huffed "That's all you got out of everything I said?"

"So you are?"

"Of course not, you idiot" Her tone sounded annoyed and for all he knew about the pirate, he would probably running for his life in a few seconds but he couldn't bring himself to stand up and run away.

He was about to say something else when Henry Plantagenet entered the place and suddenly all the attention in the room was on the younger boy.

Henry was as always prince-like, after all his father had been a prince and regent, and if he hadn't been born at the Isle of the Lost he would surely be one.

"What are you doing here?" Harriet asked with suspicion.

Out of all new VKs, Henry and Melinoe were the two having problems adapting to Auradon and if Hal was right, may be mussing onto something.

But he couldn't know if it was good or bad (and to whom it was good or bad)

"I came to see if I could observe the training and if I could use a sword to train myself" He said in a tone that reminded Hal of his own father.

"I don't-" Chad started to say in an annoyed tone.

"You can stay" Lonnie interrupted her teammate with a pointed look and then added "Though I don't know if we could lend you a training sword…"

Henry seemed satisfied with the answer and walked towards the R.O.A.R team captain and took out a piece of paper while saying "FG has signed this permission, I can use one as long one of the team is supervising"

Harriet was looking down to her bracelets seemingly not interested in the exchange but Hal noticed that she was looking to the other from the corner of her eye. Meanwhile Hal couldn't disguise his interest even if he was tugging his gloves as he was far too uncomfortable.

Lonnie frowned while she read the note while Kurt and Chad shared a look. After a moment that seemed eternal for Hal, who was feeling uncomfortable and was starting to scorch his gloves, the team captain turned to her teammates and then to Henry before sighing.

"I suppose one of us could supervise you and even help you train" Lonnie finally said "Do anyone here want to be the first?"

Chad shared a look with Kurt once more, Magnus rolled his eyes with visible signs of annoyance, Herkie smirked and nudged Roland who seemed a little bit taken aback and Zephyr looked down to the floor before saying with a smile"I don't mind to be here more time, I recently joined the team and I need more training"

"Then it's settled, Henry you can sit and watch" Lonnie said putting her hands on her hips and then hit Chad on the leg while saying "You and Kurt go sit there, Magnus and Roland over here"

Henry went towards Hal and Harriet with a smile that was too smug for their taste and it reminded Hal of his father once more.

"Since when are you interested on swordsmanship?" Harriet asked not even waiting for the younger boy to sit.

"Every prince knows how to fight with a sword" The boy responded shrugging and sitting between the other two.

Hal snickered at that as the doubted Prince John could even lift a sword and he doubted they could pay and hire someone to train Henry, almost no one could at the Isle and Dragon Hall didn't teach much about it.

Then he got a little nostalgic as he remembered Hansel learning to use a sword under their father's guidance.

(Then their mother got sick and Prince Hans decided to sell the two swords they had to have money for her treatment)

"I'm sure Hal knows about it" Henry commented with a grin on his face "And of course Harriet knows too, being a pirate and all"

The red-haired boy shrugged and said "My family is more interested on guns and wrestling, swords aren't of much interest for Westergaard"

"Swords are useful, though daggers and punches come in handy when people are a bother" Harriet said with a little something on her tone "Especially when they are a threat"

"Note taken" Henry said with some amusement.

Hal started to feel the coldness spreading through his hands and asked to distract himself from it "Why are you really here?"

"To learn" The other boy responded and to Hal it sounded sincere.

But he couldn't pinpoint why it sounded as if the Plantagenet boy was choosing to keep something to himself.

And he didn't want anyone to jeopardize his chances of staying at Auradon more than his newly found magic was doing.

He wasn't returning to the Isle of the Lost and when green eyes found grey ones, he knew Harriet wasn't either.

****The King's Office****

Mal had planned to have a lunch date with Ben at his office, since neither of them had any time left these days for distractions, before they headed for the afternoon classes but things weren't always like she planned.

(When were they? She was now thinking about not planning anything for the rest of the semester and let life decided for her)

And so, her lunch date was now a lunch meeting with Evie, Sultan Aladdin and some royals she hadn't interacted much with.

Queen Rapunzel of Tangletown, Princess Anna of Arendelle and her son Arnold, Empress Daiyu of Northern Wei, King Florian and Chad's brother Crown Prince Elliot of Cinderellaburg.

"I'm deeply sorry that we interrupted some plans you two may have had this afternoon" Elliot said in an apologetic tone, that seemed too sincere for Mal's taste, while he pulled the seat out for Anna.

(Where was that douchiness that characterized Chad? Weren't they siblings?)

"But we have some matters to discuss before Auradon Prep closes for the winter" Anna started to set the topic with a tranquil tone that seemed to be rehearsed instead of natural and Mal noticed that her son was nodding while she spoke "Especially after we had an increase of students this year"

"An increase that has surely taken a toll on the crown's finances" Empress Daiyu commented while sniffing and seemingly disgusted at the choice of meal "Which according to the report my husband received have not yet been taken care of"

Mal had not interacted much with the young woman as she had just gotten married to the current emperor, who according to Lonnie was the youngest one in history, and she was not liking her much for some reason.

"So…after some discussion with some members of the school board and some of our regional advisors" Aladdin made a pause to make eye contact with Ben before turning to the bread plate "We have decided that a trust fund for the Isle students is viable with funding from the royal families' private fortunes"

Mal tilted her head as she hadn't known about this but after a few seconds of searching for the correct info in her memories, she realized that maybe Ben or Evie had mentioned something about the matter.

Still, it perked up her attention as she had never really thought about who was paying for the others. She had just assumed that Ben was paying for it and now she realized that it must not be easy to pay for nineteen students' tuition and other stuff even with him being the king and all of that.

"These are great news" Ben said with a smile and was about to add something more before Rapunzel interrupted him.

The brunette, formerly blonde, queen raised her hand to catch everyone's attention and then said after a long breath "The only problem is that only our regions have agreed to help fund it…and well, yours…of course, the other regions have either flat out refused or have not yet answered"

"It's a start" Ben responded with optimism but Mal knew that her boyfriend was trying to mask some disappointment behind the "king smile" that was plastered on his face.

"While it will be useful for the nineteen VKs currently enrolled at Auradon Prep" Elliot said while intertwining his fingers and putting on a thoughtful expression "We have also reached the conclusion of not agreeing to more VKs invites until the ones in Senior Year graduate"

"But what about the other kids that need help! Some of them may not have till next September!" Evie protested as soon as the prince was silent and turned to the king "I thought we were going to be bringing more, you asked me to make a list of those who would be in more need than others! Especially when there is a new-"

Mal gave her a look and Evie refrained from telling the royals about the sickness, it wasn't time yet as they were speaking about other kingdom matters.

The faery then redirected her gaze to her boyfriend and frowned, why hadn't Ben asked her to do that? She knew the Isle of the Lost more than the others VKs (well, maybe Jay knew them as much as her)

"That was the idea, Evie" The young king said thoughtfully and Mal noticed that he seemed a little bit defeated but thinking about a way of sway the other royals to his side, after a few seconds he added "But the last time we brought kids it wasn't an easy task to accommodate them" He made another pause and looked at Elliot and then to Florian "And some members of the High Council didn't exactly agree to them coming to Auradon as you may remember"

"But there are just so many kids that need our help, Ben!" Evie objected and looked around the table to see if someone agreed with her but to no vail "There must be something we can do"

The purple haired fae just looked down to her plate and suddenly wondered if the meat she had been served was cooked the way she liked, she was starting to feel sick.

She considered her options and if she spoke, it wouldn't fare well.

Telling them about the grey sickness and other stuff Gianna had written was not something she could do at the moment, it would sound as if it was an intent to sway the royals to the VK's side and if she was honest, it would be something the old Mal would do if she cared for the other kids at the Isle of the Lost.

"Cousin Evelyn" King Florian, who until that moment seemed more interested on his steak, locked his eyes on the blue haired girl "We are not saying that no VK will come next year, but there is no way that commoners will see funding this program as something…necessary and well-organized unless some of the ones currently at Auradon join society…"

"Speaking about organizing" Elliot interrupted the Charmington royal as he looked at Mal, which surprised her, and then at Ben "The king has not yet chosen the Privy Council, my cousin has been taking care of his office but he was named by your father"

"All of us have been doing our duty " Florian interjected looking pointedly at the heir of Cinderellasburg and then turned to Ben while speaking on an almost fatherly tone "Still, you ascended to the throne almost a year ago and haven't chosen your closest advisors"

"It would be easier to negotiate with the other royals if you name someone to take care of the Financial Affairs in your name" Daiyu commented pretending to be not that interested on the matter "Northern Wei will support you on your decisions when you chose to do so"

Mal noticed that the mood in the room changed a little bit and realized that Ben seemed frozen in his place. She had known that there was a Privy Council but she had not actually cared much for politics, Ben may have mentioned in passing that most of his council were anointed by his father.

Ben had told her that the council was working well and why fix something that isn't broken?

"Can I make a suggestion?" Arnold spoke up for the first time in the reunion and when Ben nodded, he cleared his throat before saying "I think that it would be a good idea to once more add a seat for an Advisor on Isle Affairs to the Privy Council" He shared a look with his mother and added "Arendelle would support a decision on that"

"Agrabah would too" Aladdin said and quickly added "I guess it would be timely to name someone since we are supporting the VKs here"

"I don't see how it would be useful to have an Advisor on Isle Affairs" Daiyu countered "It would be just another spent as I doubt that it would make any difference on how matters are treated here"

"Well, your majesty" Arnold responded pleasantly "For years we have not known how the situation was really at the Isle, we didn't even know when we had someone to take care of those matters"

Mal frowned as she had not known that there had been such office but refrained from making a face but Evie was no longer in a neutral mood so she asked "When was that seat removed?"

"A few years ago, maybe six or five, the last one to be in charge of that office was Merlin but he died" Rapunzel said with some uncomfortableness "No one else was able to take over the role despite having made some suggestions on the matter…"

The two girls from the Isle of the Lost shared a look and Mal noticed that Evie was holding back some anger despite having been raised not to show negative emotions.

She then looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was trying to refrain from showing his shock, the faery started to formulate some theories about why Ben had not chosen a successor for Merlin who had been the most powerful wizard in Auradon.

"Why?" Ben asked shifting on his seat and then he seemed to realize something but Mal couldn't fathom what it was.

On the other hand, Mal had a realization.

If they get a new Advisor of Isle Affairs, she could tell Ben about Gianna's letter and they may save some kids from the plague.

The problem was who was going to take the role, Rapunzel seemed to be interested on the matter as she had been the one to explain that absence of the seat while Anna had shared a look with Aladdin when Ben asked.

"King Adam didn't seem to think that it was necessary, he received some reports about the Isle from the sailors that trade with Goblins in the docks" Anna said "He said that everything was running as expected"

Mal closed her eyes as to control herself from lashing out, she needed to have some words with Adam, and just felt Ben's hand over her arm.

"Then it's time to choose one now" The king said with command on his voice "I'll receive suggestions from the High Council and make a decision on all charges of the Privy Council till next week"

The gears on Mal's mind started to work and she knew that it was time to act fast, she needed to have Ben choose someone who could sympathize with the VKs at the Isle of the Lost if she wanted to help before the grey sickness propagated through the Isle.

She crossed looks with Evie and had an idea.

****The Library****

Klaus was not the best at concentrating but the answers he wanted were not going to be given if he didn't finish reading the books.

Especially when he wasn't supposed to be reading about magic types and should studying for his chivalry test.

He had the book he had taken without permission over the book he was supposed to be reading, he was lucky that no one was paying him much attention.

Also, it wasn't like chivalry was of much use.

He knew that his parents wouldn't care if he barely passed the class, there were no knights or tournaments in Arendelle and he didn't plan on leaving the kingdom when he was older.

Not even when his royal aunt was already thinking about marrying him off to Seaside to better the relationship with that kingdom or to Westerly as he was friendly with Lady Gwen.

It was great luck that only him, three upperclassmen, Franz, Dizzy and FG's daughter were there.

"Found anything interesting?" He heard Franz asking in a whisper as they were across each other.

He wasn't friends with the Crown Prince of Tangletown, even if they were kin through a common ancestor, but he was raised with manners and so he simply responded "I suppose"

The truth was that we didn't find anything he didn't know from his research at Arendelle's Royal Library.

"Everyone is capable of learning and using certain types of magic if the Magic wills it" He had read once in a book his grandmother had once kept at the private office but he was reading "There are certain individuals who may be born with the ability to connect with Elemental Magic or family magic, this connection is either through inheritance or if the Magic wills to gift a random person with this talent "

The young boy knew that before the unification of Auradon, there had been an academy for sorcerers somewhere in Ulstead, now Auroria, and some royals had learnt magic at the predecessor of Auradon Prep.

His mother and aunt had not gone to Royal Prep as his grandfather had harboring some resentment against the rest of the kingdoms for the Winter War.

Klaus often wondered if Beast had gone to Royal Prep and couldn't learn basic magic, maybe that was the reason why he hated magic so much.

"Very likely" He thought uncharitably as he had always been against the decree that had banned all forms of magic in the kingdom.

He snickered and noticed that Franz was looking at him with curiosity, the blond boy just waved it off by starting to write, or pretending to write, on his notepad.

As Klaus read more, he leaned on the second theory since Hal Westergaard had magic when his older brother and cousin didn't.

(Arnold had tried to learn when he was younger but everything was to no vail so that meant that not everyone could learn to use magic)

And he found ironic that the Magic had willed a Westergaard to have magic as some twisted joke, he was also hurt on his pride that the red-haired boy was more powerful than him and without training.

(He didn't want to dwell on why the Magic had given the boy the gift, just like he didn't want to dwell on why his brother didn't have it)

Klaus could freeze a glass of water with some effort or blow some cold air, meanwhile Hal had scorched the whole gardens and had even frozen a pool.

Something told the young boy that there must be something to learn how to use his gift properly. He had some memories of being able to make ice cubes and small snow balls when he was young though he had been losing that ability as he grew older.

(Jana had sworn that Klaus had once made a mini Olaf when they were kids)

If Kurt was almost as powerful as Eisa, both had trained under the Snow Queen in secret before they had to stop to not raise suspicion, Klaus could learn too.

"Elemental Magic is one of the topics some discussed in Magic Theory as only certain individuals are gifted with it and rarely; it's said that this gift either grows as generations pass or it fades depending on the users" He read and started to rub his temples.

"Does this means that our magic is fading away?" He thought and frowned while he tapped with his fingers over the table.

He had also read once that magic weakened when the gifted one didn't use, or got bottled up inside the person which was worse, it but when he had asked FG about it she had laughed it off as a silly notion, so he had forgotten about it.

But now that he thought about it, maybe that was the reason he had felt something inside him when FG's daughter had used the wand almost a years ago.

The blond boy started to scribble something down on his notepad to remember what he wanted to ask FG, she had to answer questions when a magical student had one, when he felt a hand over his shoulder and almost let out a scream.

It was FG's daughter and she seemed a little bit nervous, she cleared her voice before saying "You are scorching the floor"

Klaus should have gotten worried, these kind of displays caused some people to be banished from school, but he felt a kind of relief.

"Oh" He managed to say before he heard some commotion.

Thank you for reading!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

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