" Meanwhile, across the Sea of Serenity, which separated the Isle of the Lost from the rest of the world, lay the USA—the United States of Auradon, a land of peace and enchantment, prosperity and delight, which encompassed all the good kingdoms…"
"Ooh, a chapter about us!" Lonnie said excitedly.
"Not quite, but yeah," Ruby nodded.
"Ah, another USA? Lol," Aziz said, chuckling.
"Just smaller," Emir added.
" To the east lay the colorful domes of the Sultan's seat, where Aladdin and Jasmine lived…"
Aladdin and Jasmine shared loving looks before Jasmine rested her head on her husband's shoulder, and Aladdin wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Together forever?" Jasmine asked, her voice was barely a whisper as she flickered her gaze at Aladdin.
"Together forever," Aladdin gave his wife a gentle smile and pressed a sweet kiss on her forehead.
"… not far from where Mulan and Li Shang guarded the imperial palace…"
Mulan linked her arm with her husband's, looking up at him lovingly. For Mulan, it was hard to believe this man was the same man who was her strict Captain of the Chinese army, the same man she fell in love with, married, and had two(three but one died) wonderful children during their 20 odd years of marriage and Mulan wouldn't have it any other way.
That said, Mulan sighed happily and rested her head on Shang's broad shoulder, lacing her small fingers with his large ones, and Shang gladly accepted it.
Li'l Shang and Lonnie stared at their parents, who were very much in love with each other, and smiled at them. Li'l Shang then fixed his dark eyes on his beautiful girlfriend, Princess Jamilah, who was sitting beside him. He smiled affectionately at her as he gently took her dainty hand in his large one and pressed a soft kiss on the back of her hand. Jamilah blushed a deep shade of red when her boyfriend kissed her hand.
Meanwhile, Lonnie smothered a smile as she was internally planning a future wedding for her older brother and his girlfriend.
Aladdin turned to Shang and grinned. "Hello, neighbor!"
Shang returned the gesture. "Hi, neighbor."
Their wives giggled.
Li'l Shang shook his head in amusement as he leaned over and whispered in Jamilah's ear. "Our parents are goofy."
Jamilah chuckled and whispered back. "I know."
" To the north was Charming Castle, owned by Cinderella and her king…"
"My king," Cinderella giggled as she pressed a gentle kiss on Henry's cheek. Henry's lips curled into a proud smile.
"… next door to "Honeymoon Cottage," the forty-bedroom palace that Aurora and Phillip called home..."
Aurora and Phillip exchanged smiles. This 'Honeymoon Cottage' was their wedding gift from Aurora's parents. The best wedding gift ever.
"That's a lot of bedrooms for a castle," Eugene said, slightly impressed.
"Well, most of the bedrooms are guest bedrooms, like for you guys for example," Phillip explained.
"Ah."
"And to the south, one could spy the lanterns of Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert's divine domicile…"
"Yay, we got a mention!" Rapunzel and Eugene chorused and shared a surprised look, realizing that they said the same thing at the same time before they laughed and focused on Blue Fairy reading.
"… near the spot on the coast where Ariel and Eric had made their under-and-over-the-sea royal residence at Seaside..."
Ariel and Eric waved happily.
"Gee, we're always left out, huh?" Meg said, feigning hurt.
Eugene turned to the auburn-haired woman. "Oh Meggie, you're family to us royals doesn't matter if you're mentioned or not."
"Thanks, Flynn," Meg smiled. "Though, I'm a royal myself."
Meg was the long-lost daughter of the king of Thebes, King Creon.
" But right in the center was the grandest castle in all of Auradon, with lavish turrets and balconies, its highest towers flying the proud blue-and-gold banner of the good old USA..."
Anxelin rolled her hazel eyes. "Good old USA alright."
" Twenty years ago, King Beast united all the fairy-tale lands into one under his crown; and for the past two decades he had ruled over its good citizens with strong and fair judgment, and only occasionally a tiny bit of his beastly temper..."
Most of the Auradonians snorted, which surprised the VKs.
Belle sighed.
" Belle had a calming influence on the hotheaded Beast: she was not just the love of his life but the pacifier of his moods, the voice of reason in a gathering storm, and the mother of his only child..."
Again, Belle sighed. She couldn't look at her husband in the same way as before after hearing the things he had done to the VKs. To make matters worse, he did this behind her back, expecting not to find out about this horrible deed and lying to her face about it.
Flashback
'Adam, is it true that you have been dumping rubbish on the Isle?' Belle demanded, hoping it was a lie.
'What?' Beast was taken aback by his wife's question. 'I did no such thing!'
'Are you sure?'
'Yes, my Love,' Beast sighed as he rested his large hands on Belle's shoulders. 'Why would I, King Beast, would do such a despicable thing?'
'I don't know,' Belle said, skeptical. 'I've been hearing rumors that it was you who ordered this to happen.'
Beast shook his head. 'No, Belle I didn't. The garbage collectors decided to dump it there, as they saw it as a perfect garbage site.'
'With children!' Belle exclaimed. 'There are babies and small children there, Adam!'
Beast sighed.
'Don't you love children, Adam?' His wife asked, tilting her head.
'Of course, I do,' Beast gave her a small smile. 'Look at our 5-year-old son, he's the best thing that ever happened to me. After you of course.'
Belle wanted to smile, but she couldn't. She was uncertain and Beast noticed.
'Look,' Beast gently tugged Belle's chin so that she could look up at him. 'I'll speak with the Auradon Garbage Company first thing tomorrow. Alright?'
Belle pursed her lips. 'Okay…make sure you do that.'
'I promise.'
End of Flashback
Belle had trusted her gut that it was Beast who was the one who ordered the garbage to be dumped on the Isle, and yet she was foolish to believe this horrible lie. How she could forgive herself after this?
As if Beast sensed his wife's features, he turned to her and stretched out his hand to touch hers, but Belle got up from her seat took up the bean bag, placed it beside her son, and plopped into it.
Beast blinked at his wife's actions. She had never done this before, and even when they were arguing, he still took her hand in his, reassuring her that things would be alright.
But this reading exposed him, to show who he was.
A horrible King.
"Belle," Beast called out.
Belle gave him an ice-cold glare before paying her attention to Blue Fairy's reading.
Beast was dumbstruck for a moment before he sighed and sunk into the bean bag, swallowing him.
Ben watched his parents' actions, specifically his father, and shook his head sadly. If he was honest with himself, he was embarrassed.
Mal noticed her boyfriend was looking ashamed. So, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Ben felt Mal's gentle touch as he flickered his gaze at her and gave her a small smile.
Most of the crowd watched the former King and Queen's drama unfold. The moms felt bad for Belle as they had no idea she went through this; believing Beast's lie. They too would have been upset with their husbands if they lied to them like this.
Over on the VKs side, CJ took a sip of her box juice as she watched Ben's parents.
"Drama, drama, drama!" CJ singsonged.
"Yeah, it's refreshing to see Beastie Boy get destroyed by his wife," Harriet grinned as she took a swig of her new whiskey (she asked for one from Blue Fairy during the 30-minute break), letting the liqueur burn in her throat.
" The jewel in the crown was their handsome son, fifteen-year-old Prince Ben. There had been no fairies at his christening to bestow gifts, perhaps because he did not need any. Ben was as handsome as his father, with his strong brow and chisel-cut cheekbones, but he had his mother's gentle eyes and keen intellect. He was a golden boy in every way, with a good heart and a winning spirit—captain of the tourney team, friend to all, destined to rule Auradon one day…"
"Again," Anxelin spoke, "we're in the 21st century, why should fairies be the ones at Ben's christening?"
"Maybe Beast hasn't let go of his thing for magic," Tyrone joked with a shrug.
"Maybe? He hasn't!"
"Ben is indeed a friend to all…only for him to be kidnapped by Uma," Emir remarked, slightly smirking.
"Hey!" Ben exclaimed, sounding offended. "Uma is misunderstood! And I had to go look for Mal."
"Yeah…not exactly 'kingly' if you ask me," Akio told him, making air quotes on the word 'kingly'.
Ben slightly glared at the sandy blond-haired boy, which surprised Akio as he had never seen Ben glare before, not even in the slightest.
" In short, he was the very sort of person that the people of the Isle of Lost despised. And, as on the Isle of the Lost, magic was no longer a factor in daily life in Auradon either. King Beast and Queen Belle stressed scholarship above enchantment, exhorting the young people to work hard instead of relying on fairy spells or dragon friends for help. Because Beast was the most powerful figure in all the kingdoms, when he proposed the new work ethic, nobody argued against him. It was indeed a new (once upon a) time for the people of the fabled fairy-tale lands…"
"Oh no, we don't hate you guys" Harriet shook her head, "we hate Beast."
"Understandable," Tyrone said.
"Okay, the billion-dollar question I have to ask is, if magic is no longer a factor in Auradon, then why do people like me still have it?" Anxelin asked, seriousness forming in her voice. "Why do Uma, Freddie, and Mal have it? I want to hear it from the most powerful being in little Auradon, King Beast." Her hazel eyes sparkled with a challenge.
Ben turned to the goth girl. "But Anxelin, I'm the King here now,"
Anxelin scrunched her face. "Eh…you don't strike me as the powerful and fearful type. Sorry Ben, but I'm being blunt here."
Ben's shoulders slumped as he blinked at Anxelin.
"Anyways," Anxelin tore eyes from Ben to his father. "I want to hear from Beast," Anxelin said. "Come on, I'm waiting."
Beast opened his mouth to come up with a suitable answer but he couldn't.
And Anxelin smirked at him.
"I knew you couldn't answer," Anxelin shook her head. "Blue Fairy used magic and brought all of us here and placed an anti-sleeping spell on us so we wouldn't get tired, and you're here saying that young people or anybody at all shouldn't use magic? I call this whole weird anti-magic thing bullshit."
Harriet grinned. Now she liked Anxelin even more!
"Anxelin…" Rapunzel sighed. She had no idea what to do with her elder daughter and her expletives, but she had to agree with Anxelin's statement.
"I mean, Rock Star has a point there, Blondie," Eugene said.
"I know."
"To add to Anxelin's statement, if magic is frowned upon or no longer a factor, why is there a magical barrier and a dome?" Meg asked. "If the Isle is a prison island, couldn't be there guards to guard the Isle like regular penitentiaries?"
"That's an excellent question, Meg," Phoebus and Shang chorused.
Beast grumbled. He was so dead.
" But even without magic, life in Auradon was close to perfect. The sun always shone, the birds always chirped…"
"And I want to vomit," Anxelin said as she stuck out her tongue. "Bleh."
Some AKs, including her friends and the VKs, laughed at Anxelin's sentence. Boy, she had some sense of humor.
" The kingdom's various short or fluffy or furry or minuscule—and sometimes animal—sidekicks were causing problems again. Sidekicks United, they called themselves, and they were far from happy. They were, in a word, disgruntled…"
"I have some questions I wanted to ask, but I don't bother," Akio said.
"Ok, why the sidekicks are disgruntled?" Ruby asked, curiously.
" " Well, then, how can we help you today? Let's see.…" Ben wasn't talking to anyone but a piece of paper—or a thousand pieces…"
Ben flushed a light shade of pink as he sunk further into his bean bag.
"Oh boy," Ben muttered under his breath.
"Lemme guess, training to become King, Ben?" Mal asked, a hint of tease in her tone.
Ben nodded.
" As was tradition, the firstborn child of the royal household would take the throne of Auradon at sixteen years of age. Beast and Belle were ready to retire. They were looking forward to long vacation cruises, early-bird dinners, playing golf (Beast), bingo (Belle), and generally taking it easy..."
"What tradition?" Jasmine raised her eyebrows. "It's only Auradon City. Not the other kingdoms in Auradon."
"Yeah, most of our sons and daughters are past 16 and haven't ruled Auradon!" Aladdin added. "Most of us Royals became kings and queens in our 30s!"
"Even a few of us are still princes and princesses like me," Merida chimed in.
"This is a dumb tradition," Meg shook her in disbelief but at the same time not surprised. "Auradon was founded like what? 22-23 years ago? And you're making it sound like it was founded 1000s of years ago?"
"Belle and Beast didn't even have to retire-they still can do all of the fun time they want while ruling the Kingdom," Tiana piped up. "Why put a child to rule a vast kingdom which he has hardly any knowledge of?"
"That's a good question," Phoebus bobbed his head and tapped his chin.
" In the dream, he was walking around a strange village full of shabbily dressed, miserable people who ate rotten fruit and drank black coffee. No cream. No sugar. No coffee cake to dip in it. The horror! And he had fallen into some kind of ditch, but someone had helped him out…"
Audrey knitted her eyebrows.
'Hmm,' she thought.
" A beautiful, purple-haired girl who looked nothing like anyone in Auradon…"
Anxelin and Audrey scoffed.
Ariana rolled her eyes in disgust.
And Ben flushed.
" " Thank you," he said gratefully. "And who are you?"
But she'd disappeared before he could catch her name..."
"Good," Audrey folded her arms and huffed. She knew who Ben was talking to.
" …Ben looked up, surprised to see his father standing in the doorway. King Beast looked like he always did, as smiling and happy and fulfilled as on his billboards. All over Auradon, they read Good job being good! Keep it up! King Beast roars his approval!"
"Sounds like you Auradonians are doused with propaganda helium," Uma noted.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Elle said, sighing as she rested her cheek in her palm.
" His father motioned to the stack of papers on Ben's desk. "Looks like you're working hard."
Ben wiped his eyes. "Yeah..." "
The parents frowned. Why would a 15-year-old boy would do something like this?
" King Beast clapped his paw of a hand on his son's shoulder. "That's my boy. So what is it that they want, exactly?"
Ben scratched behind his ear with his pen. "It seems they're a bit upset, as they do all the work around here and are hardly compensated for their efforts. If you think about it from their perspective, they have a point…" "
"This is the 21st century," Phoebus began, "why would the sidekicks be doing the work around here? And if that's the case, why they're not properly compensated?"
"I dunno," Eric shrugged. "This whole sidekick thing sounds 'fishy' to me," he chuckled softly when he said 'fishy'.
" "Mmm." King Beast nodded. "Everyone gets a voice in Auradon. Although you can't let too many voices drown out reason, of course. That's what it means to be kingly," he said, perhaps a little more forcefully than was necessary..."
Meg hummed. "That's probably the only good thing Beast says."
Esmeralda nodded. "I agree, bestie."
" "If you keep raising your voice, my darling, you're going to crack all the china, and Mrs. Potts will never allow you either a cup of warm milk or a warm bath again." Ben's mother, the goodly Queen Belle, arrived in the room and slipped her hand under her husband's muscled arm (yet another Beastly quality the king still seemed to possess—the strength of a wild creature in the form of a mere man)…"
There was a blush forming on Belle's cheeks.
" The second he saw his mother, Ben found himself more at ease. He shy and quiet, his mother gentle and understanding, Ben and Belle had always been two like peas in a castle-garden pod—always preferring to have their noses in books rather than affairs of the state..."
Belle smiled lovingly at her son. "Thanks, Ben."
Ben returned the gesture. "Of course, Mom." he then took her hand in his, squeezing it gently.
The moms couldn't help but smile at the mother and son duo. Ben and Belle's relationship kind of reminds the moms of their relationships with sons and daughters.
Mulan glanced at her elder son, who glanced back at her and grinned. She grinned back.
" "...Lumiere and Cogsworth will sign anything anyone asks them to sign. Last week they signed a petition to declare every day a holiday," his father said, amused..."
Belle shook her head in amusement. Those two…
" " That's the ticket. Listen to your people, but assert your right to rule. Lead with a gentle heart and a firm hand. That's the way to be a king!" "
"Yeah and don't forget to give them garbage!" Meg finished with a roll of her violet eyes.
Most of the crowd laughed.
Beast's face turned tomato red when he heard Meg speak.
" Beast pulled Ben up by the arm, closing his hand around his son's. "There. Strong. Powerful. Kingly…" "
"You mean, easily manipulated, kidnapped, and has relationship issues?" Akio asked, arching his eyebrows.
"Akio!" Anna gently scolded as she shook her head.
"Mom!" Akio raised his hands defensively. "I'm just only noticing!"
Kristoff only chuckled at his wife and son's petty quarrel.
" " Strong. Powerful. Kingly," Ben repeated.
Beast growled, then slapped his son on the back, almost sending him flying into the nearest decorative lamp. The floor shook as he strode out of the room, still chuckling..."
"That reminds me of how my strength almost sends Carlos to the hospital…hehe" Herkie chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck.
His parents stared at him, suspiciously.
"Yeah, don't forget how you sent me to the hospital, Herk," Li'l Shang reminded him.
Herkie groaned. "Ugh, don't remind me. Besides, that was in the 4th grade!"
"I still remember."
"And us too!" Aziz and Tyrone said in unison.
Herkie just slumped deeper in his bean bag while his friends laughed lightheartedly at him.
"Guys," Emilie started, "please stop now. You're making Herkie feel guilty."
"Sorry," Li'l Shang, Aziz and Tyrone chorused.
Herkie gave his girlfriend a grateful smile.
" " Ben. You don't have to be another King Beast. Just be yourself—it's more than enough…" "
'I wish it was that easy,' Ben thought.
" They both knew there was no use trying to explain away his father's logic, and she didn't try. "No matter what, your father and I believe in you. That's why we wanted you to start meeting with the Council. It's time for you to learn how to rule. You will make a wonderful king, all on your own. I promise…" "
Belle wished she hadn't told Ben that-telling him he should start a meeting at such a young age.
" …As the feather-light steps of his mother faded away, Ben took up his pen and turned back to his pages. This time, though, all he could see was his fist, with the same golden beast-head ring that his father wore.
Strong. Powerful. Kingly.
He clenched his fingers harder.
Ben swore he would make his father proud.…" Blue sighed softly as she closed the book.
The parents watched Ben sadly. This young boy didn't deserve this, while still in school.
Belle felt a guilty pang in her gut, she knew that her son was too young to rule a large kingdom like Auradon, but she still let him nonetheless.
What kind of mother was she?
"Ok" Blue Fairy took a deep breath, "that was a…long and interesting read. Don't it, folks?"
"Yes, Blue Fairy," the crowd replied in unison.
"Yeah, this reading makes my throat dry. Anyways, we're going to have a 5-minute break and move on to the next chapter," Blue Fairy declared. "Who wants to read the next chapter?"
Hera raised her hand. "I will."
"But you read already..?" Zeus said to his wife, his blue eyes widened.
Hera giggled. "I enjoy reading."
Blue Fairy smiled at Hera. "Alright, that settles it. Let's have our break."
With that said, everyone went to get their refreshments and chatted with their friends for 5 minutes before they returned to their seats.