Chapter Fifty Four
A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to Disney or the Greek Myths.
Woo! First chapter of the reading potion of Choosing Love has begun! Just a head's up to everyone, this is going to include them reading Choosing Family, Choosing Love, and Choosing Home. Though I'm thinking of splitting it up once we get to Choosing Home's sequel. No break story like WAL, splitting it up before it gets too much of a behemoth for my sanity lol :D
Now, if you haven't already, go check out LotusQuil's Adventures in Auradon. It's amazing! :D
Also: if there are any former Girl Scouts among my readers, you might recognize a certain song being referenced by Ashaki and Alexandria. I was a Girl Scout in Elementary and Middle School. I am now out of school (graduated both HS and college). And yet those songs haunt me.
Marcus Emrys: Oh I'm so glad you liked it. Yeah it was a short chapter but my break chapters sometimes are. Oh that's…interesting. Kinda glad Disney went with the all A names for the girls. And yeah, I'm definitely going to have to get the under fifteens out of there for that chapter. Or give them earplugs. Lots and lots of earplugs.
Katt Kiki: Oh I'm so glad you liked it! Yeah there's definitely a lot of crazy stress in this story!
AmethystDragon14: Yay! :D I love PirateRose too! Definitely in my top five couples—1. Bal (obviously), 2. Huma, 3. PirateRose, 4. Jonnie, and 5. A tie between Chinny (Chad and Ginny) and Jarlos! But yeah Henry was totally scared to death, poor guy! Never change Emir indeed! And Mal could be harsher but her mom's there. And I couldn't resist slipping in the lullabies. :D
star5699: Hey, I'm not ready for Natalie in all honesty. Between her and Freddy, I have to wonder what happened to my brain. Of course, I think you can all thank my middle school math teacher for a lot of the inspiration for Natalie. But we're here so you won't be reading alone! :D
LotusQuil: I'm going to be completely honest—that's actually why I chose Baby Mine for Persephone to sing. And this is from someone who's never finished Dumbo—the scene where they imprison Dumbo's mom traumatized me. Oh yeah Claudine is going to have a lot of comments, especially about her brother. And you're right, that could change a lot!
DeathCrawler: Glad you liked the chapter!
JudiAndTheFandoms: When I was writing it, I was picturing almost an overlapping melody of music but now that you mention it, it almost makes my head hurt too. And yeah, CJ deserves all the cuddles. Oh yeah, there's a lot more drama coming!
Guest: No worries! Glad you liked the chapter!
NightWolf34262: A'int that the truth!
Guest: That's definitely true!
SnowWhite45: Oh I'm so glad you like Henry and Claudine! They're a lot of fun to write. Ah Emir, he's one of my favorite characters to write just because of comments like that. And I'm glad you liked the lullabies—helps that many of them are canon for Disney as lullabies (Little Mermaid 3, Live Action Cinderella, Peter Pan, Dumbo) while the others I just chose some slower songs that worked as lullabies.
danifan3000: Oh yeah that's a good point. And yeah it's definitely a good thing that the Auradonians here aren't like the ones from canon. But then I think I'd probably go insane if I wrote anything close to the way people behave in canon (looking at you Beast, you know what you did at Family Day). But in terms of Mal and Ben's wedding, there's a reason why eye witness testimony is so flawed. Human memory changes and might not be the most reliable. That being said…what happened in the flash back is so different than what we're shown happening that why even have us see Hades storm out at all?
MonkeyMama1516: I'm so glad you liked it! Oh yeah, they should probably get a warning about the excitement to come lol. No worries! I just didn't want there to be any confusion :D
61394: Well in their defense, seeing someone arrive mid kiss is a lot different than just finding out they're together.
JaclynnM: Oh I'm so glad you liked it! :D
BlackWidowAndCapRule: I'm so glad you liked it! :D
Urmimala Hazara: Oh thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked it!
Lord of the A.U. FanFiction: Oh thank you, I'll definitely keep that under consideration if I decide to bring in Ben and Mal's kid to read the scrolls. :D
Heroesweardogtags209: Oh I'm so glad you liked it! :D
Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
The next day found everyone waking up in a variety of poses they definitely did not fall asleep in.
"How is it, no matter how he falls asleep, I always get our son's butt pressed into me?" Hades asked as he looked at Persephone. "You get the head, I get the butt?"
"I think it's sweet," Persephone chuckled.
Mal shook her head. "He's the same way when we pile into bed, dad. Like if it's Harry, me, and Hadie? Harry gets the head, I get the butt."
"Can we stop talking about my butt?" Hadie asked as the Fates began to provide a variety of food, clearly learning from their choice to bring a pregnant woman in.
"Is…Is all she eating strawberries?" Henry asked.
Malinda chuckled. "Pup's got me craving them."
"Like you didn't before," Benji shook his head. "Eat something other than strawberries please Mal?"
"Fine, but only because you're asking."
Abby chuckled as she watched and everyone else continued to eat. As they finished up, they got back in their seats.
"Who's reading?" Elle asked.
Melody grinned. "Can I read?"
"Go for it," Mal shrugged and Melody quickly grabbed a scroll before anyone else could object.
Uma sighed as she watched the Isle disappear into the horizon as the limo they were in drove toward Boreadon.
Mal snorted in amusement. "Why am I not surprised that you're in the limo on your way there and you're still calling it Boreadon?"
Er…Auradon. She should probably start referring to it by its proper name now that she would be living there.
"Some people in Auradon would appreciate that yes," Malinda nodded with a fond smile.
Not that Uma was complaining about finally being free of the Isle, but she would miss some aspects of it.
Ariel couldn't help but give her cousin a small smile. "It's your home. No matter how much I love my castle with Eric, there's a part of me that'll always miss Atlantica."
Her crew for one; while Harry and Hadie were joining her on her voyage to Boreadon all the other members of her crew were still confined to the Isle. Well, and Gil but he wasn't exactly part of the crew.
"Eh, honestly he's basically part of the crew now," Henry said. "He's been good for clothing repair too surprisingly."
"He mended my hat," Squeaky said softly, looking at everyone from his spot by Mr. Smee's arm. "And Squirmy's glasses—they broke but Gil put them back together. And then he took us to get food at Lord Hades'."
"Huh." Uma said. "Maybe we should look into making Gil—."
"Nope! No way! I don't care how wonderful he is, I am just fine keeping him at protection level but that's it," Harry stated.
He had been under the crew's protection just as DeVil had been before he left the Isle.
"For reasons that still escape me," Harry muttered. Oh he was fine with DeVil being under crew protection…it was Gil he was still confused about.
She wasn't going to lie, she'd been surprised to have the king of Auradon present to accompany the new kids from the Isle.
"Yeah that's definitely an upgrade from our driver," Malinda chuckled.
"I thought you said you liked the guy?" Benji asked.
"I did," Malinda told him. "Still, you will always be an upgrade to 'Jackals' guy."
Though Uma suspected that they hadn't been the only reason King Beastie Jr. had been there. You'd have to have been as blind as Grandmama Odie to have missed the two squadrons of guards making their way to the Dragon's castle.
"They're probably getting Evie's dad!" Dizzy spoke up.
Evie sighed. "I…I doubt it Dizzy. If…if they were getting my dad, they'd probably have medical professional on call, in…in case…"
"Oh, right," Dizzy frowned as she saw Evie get more and more upset. "Sorry Evie."
Well I guess now that she's a lizard, they'd want to make sure anything magic she had was locked up tight, Uma thought with another sigh as her thoughts turned to another magical girl with an affinity for dragons.
"Thinking about me cuz?" Mal chuckled.
"Hey you never know, I could be thinking about Lonnie," Uma told her.
"I don't think scroll-you even know who Lonnie is!"
It may have only been a month since the coronation but Uma had noticed a change in her cousin.
Uma shook her head. "She's my cousin who I've known since we were three. If I can't tell when there's a problem with Mal then there's something wrong with me!"
It started small, Mal brushing her off in the mind link saying she had to focus on classwork but then Mal started muting the mind link! She had never done that before, at least not for long periods of time—and her mind link had been muted ever since.
"Since when do you focus on classwork?" Uma asked, looking at Mal. "Unless Aunt Steph is on the Isle, you're normally the first to skip homework to spar or spray paint."
"Thanks for that Uma," Mal said as Persephone gave her daughter a look.
Malinda chuckled. "You date a bookworm long enough, some of his tendencies tend to rub off on you," she said.
Despite the muted nature of the link, Uma could still get bits of what Mal was feeling even if Uma didn't know why her cousin was feeling the way she was.
"That sounds like it could get annoying fast," Emir said. "Feeling other people's emotions without knowing why they were feeling that way."
Waves of stress, panic and annoyance would enter Uma's head every day and she knew it was from Mal.
"How? If Mal's got the mental link muted, how do you know?" Ben asked, frowning slightly.
"Uncle Hades usually has a bit more verbal notes of frustration when he uses the mental link," Uma said with a slight smirk.
Oh sure, the annoyance could have been her Uncle Hades dealing with Pain and Panic but Uma knew better. After all, she had checked with Hadie and her younger cousin had picked up on the same wave of emotions.
Zeus nodded. "With enough training, you can determine who gets to feel the emotions through the mental link and who doesn't. And that does explain the various flashes of irritation with a loud litany of swear words Hades."
"What can I say babe? Steph never said I couldn't teach you some new words," Hades chuckled.
Persephone sighed. "Normally I would say perhaps I should have told you that…but I still know you would have done it anyway."
Uncle Hades usually did his best to keep his annoyance in check so Hadie didn't pick up on it.
"Don't want to teach your son new words, huh Hades?" Poseidon chuckled.
"More like Persephone doesn't want me teaching the kids the new vocabulary," Hades said, shaking his head.
At least when I get to Boreadon, I'll be able to talk to Mal face to face. She can't put me on mute then, she thought with a small smile.
Malinda sighed. With everything I had to do…I basically did put her on mute in real life too. Her and Hadie…and mom and dad.
Her thoughts, though, were interrupted by a whimper by the lone non human member of their group.
Mal grinned. "Estelle's coming to Auradon?"
"Hey I promised didn't I?" Ben asked. "I guess it just took me longer in the scroll."
Uncle Hades had insisted on having Estelle come with them and Ben had agreed. Actually, according to Hadie, Ben's face had lit up upon seeing Estelle and he had been hard pressed to leave the dog's side to actually drive the limo back.
"I'm not at all surprised," Chip chuckled. "Ben gets a chance to see a Cerberus, he's not going to let that moment slide past him."
Why Ben was in the Underworld in the first place was still a mystery to Uma but she was prepared to let it go if it meant Mal got her dog and her brother.
"Lord Hades was the de facto ruler of the Isle," Benji said. "It would have been rude to just grab his kid and not speak with him if I was on the Isle."
"What's wrong boy?" Gil asked, causing yet another eye roll from Harry. Harry'd been doing that whenever Gil opened his mouth though it was better than the first mate hooking the son of Gaston like he'd almost done before they'd got into the limo.
"Oh so it's a day ending in y, then?" Harriet sighed. "Honestly I think Harry's tried to hook Gil more times than I can count."
Gil was only removing a bit of rope from her hair, it must have gotten caught during her morning sparing session.
"Uma doesn't like it when people touch her hair," Celia shrugged. "Though I don't think that's necessarily worth Gil getting hooked."
How she missed it would be another mystery considering the tan coloring would have stood out against her teal braids.
"Well I mean, Gil is more artistic so it'd make sense he'd notice a different color in a wave of teal," Malinda said. "As opposed to you, who sees your hair every day so it's likely you'd tuned it out Uma."
"It's probably the sun," Hadie said softly. "Mom said it's always an adjustment for her whenever she goes back to Auradon and she lives on Olympus when she's not on the Isle. Estelle's lived on the Isle his whole life…"
Evie frowned as she gently scratched Estelle behind the ears, the Cerberus having come over to comfort her again. He had remembered that the paper thing made the hooman unhappy.
"I wonder if there's a way I could make doggy sunglasses," Evie said softly. "That way you wouldn't be in pain when you do come to Auradon. I'll talk to Carlos and Gil when he makes his way over."
"I should have thought of that," Ben sighed from the driver's seat. He had thought to bring some neat glasses with dark lenses that helped block out the brightness.
Benji chuckled and looked over at Persephone. "My thanks again for the suggestion, my Lady."
"Ben, you know she's your mother-in-law. You don't have to address her by her title," Malinda said, fondly shaking her head.
He'd given them each a pair when they had gotten into the limo. Uma wasn't going to lie, they certainly had helped—she hadn't expected the sun to be that bright when they first crossed the barrier.
"It certainly is something that takes some adjustment when you go back and forth," Persephone nodded. "No matter how many times I cross, I still need some time to get used to the bright sun of Auradon."
"You didn't expect to be bringing along a Cerberus, your highness," Hadie said softly and Uma could see the teenaged king give her cousin a kind smile from the rearview window.
"Why am I now picturing Estelle wearing three pairs of sunglasses?" Alexandria asked.
"Because that'd be awesome!" Hadie said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Hadie, you don't have to call me that," Ben said gently. "None of you do. Unless you want to that is but it's not required."
"Huh, that didn't take as long as I thought," Emir chuckled. "I thought we'd be a few scrolls in before Ben was telling people that they didn't have to use his title."
"But…you're the king," Gil said, looking as if the statement confused him. Though, Uma realized, it probably did. Most things that weren't related to hunting or eggs usually did confuse the youngest LeGume. Oh and crafting. Uma didn't know how but Gil had been able to repair her mother's necklace when they were younger. It was one of the reasons why he was still under the crew's protection.
"You know, if Gil's going to be a larger part of these scrolls, why isn't he here?" Henry asked.
"Because the Fates are good to me for once and I'd like that to stay the case!" Harry stated.
"Gil's not that bad Harry," Carlos said, shaking his head; not noticing how nonchalant he'd been in addressing the First Mate.
"Yeah," Ben nodded. "I'm the king. Doesn't mean I want to force the use of my title on you."
"Oh do it and film it so Gaston sees!" Uma smirked. "His ego would implode if he saw one of his precious sons calling you by your title."
"You are one odd duck, Benny," Uma stated and Ben chuckled.
"Ooh can we use that?" Akiho asked. "Because he is, Ben's definitely an odd duck!"
"Quack," Ben said, his voice flat yet amused.
"So Mal tells me," he said, a smile growing on his face at the thought of Mal. "She should be meeting us at the school, which should be in a few more minutes. She wanted to come along but she had a meeting she couldn't get out of."
If anyone happened to be looking at Malinda or Benji at that moment, they would have seen Malinda's eyes flash green and Benji's face harden at the reminder of Natalie. Thankfully though, that was all in the past.
Still didn't mean they didn't get aggravated at the reminder though.
At the mention of Mal's name, Estelle perked up and began pacing around the confines of the limo. Uma shook her head as she noticed Harry's smirk every time Estelle accidentally trod on Gil's foot.
"Good boy," Harry said with a smirk.
Harriet shook her head. "Honestly Harry. Gil hasn't done anything to earn your ire."
"He's an idiot!"
"It's okay Estelle, you'll see Mal in a few minutes," Hadie promised and Estelle whined in response.
"There's nothing purer than the love a dog has for their human," Cinderella said with a small smile. "I remember Bruno, my dog, he was always happy to see me. Made the years with my step mother and step sisters not feel so long."
Ben shook his head. "Should have brought Carlos," he muttered in amusement.
"And that will probably be the strangest thing scroll-me will have heard that whole trip," Uma said.
"My scroll-self too," Harry nodded.
After all, the younger boy could talk to dogs—something Ben, Mal, and Jay had discovered after Mal had turned them all into dogs accidentally when she'd gone out for the spirit squad with Evie for spirit day.
"I'm sorry, you did what?" Uma asked, looking at her cousin in shock.
"Turned everyone into dogs apparently."
Uma waved her hand. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the spirit squad thing!"
"Oh," Mal said and then looked at her older self. "Why'd we do that?"
"For Evie," Malinda told her.
After the…fiasco that'd been the coronation, Mal had tried her best to make sure Evie always had a friendly face with her—even if that meant stepping outside her comfort zone.
"While it's always a good thing to step outside your comfort zone, that doesn't mean you should light yourself on fire to keep others warm," Hercules said, looking at his cousin.
"But…she's dad's daughter and can turn into a dragon. That wouldn't exactly hurt Mal," Hadie said, tilting his head.
Meg chuckled. "It basically means, it's okay to put yourself before others sometimes."
In Mal's defense re: spirit day, none of them were expecting the spirit cheer to sound just like a spell Maleficent used to say during the years Mal lived with her.
"Ooh! How's it go?" Hadie asked.
Malinda shook her head. "No thank you. I'm not accidentally turning myself into a dog again. I'm sure you'll find out."
"I meant the cheer," Hadie chuckled.
Rose grinned. "Everyone knows the cheer! We do it every year for Spirit Day!"
"Excuse me but I'm Captain!" Audrey told her. If her voice was missing a bit of bite, no one noticed.
"So? It's not like this is an official routine. You can boot me down to the bottom of the pyramid for revenge if you want since you do that anyway," Rose shrugged and then stood up. "F-I-G-H-T! What's that spell? Fight, fight, fight! F-I-G-H-T! What's that spell? Fight, fight, fight!"
The VKs stared at her nonplussed. "That's it?"
Rose shrugged again. "It's Spirit Day, we don't exactly put our A material in our cheers," she said as she sat down.
Nor did they expect Mal to remember the words to the spell. As Mal had explained to Ben afterwards, Maleficent had only done the spell during Mal's toddler years, to try to quell the very rare tantrums Mal used to throw.
Fairy Godmother shook her head. "A parent should never spell their own child!"
"I thought we agreed Maleficent can't be called a parent?" Lonnie asked.
Maleficent, however, was unsuccessful in her spell casting because of the barrier.
"And now she's a lizard," Hades smirked. "Unsuccessful on the Isle and off."
"B. I. T. E. What's that spell? Bite, bite, bite. Speak no words, you'll cause a fright, what's a bark without a bite?"
"Oh it's a good thing we had someone without magic read this part," Benji said with a chuckle. "I was not interested in reenacting being a dog, thank you."
A flash of green light appeared and when it faded, Ben could only speak in barks.
"…Maleficent has a spell that turns people into dogs?" Elsa asked.
"Apparently," Kristoff nodded.
"Why…?"
"Dunno. But you can join me in wondering how cookies are evil."
"I don't…?"
Anna chuckled. "Apparently, Maleficent also has a potion recipe in her spell book that makes cookies. We found out about it in the last group of scrolls and Kristoff has been obsessed with it ever since."
"It had the best reviews," Malinda said with a shrug.
"How…was this spell book online?" Kristoff muttered.
Anna sighed and looked at Akiho. "That's where you get it from."
True he found it amusing that Jay was down on his hands and knees but honestly Ben needed whatever caused it to be reversed. He had a council meeting in about twenty minutes after all.
"When don't you have a council meeting?" Emir asked, shaking his head.
"Please tell me there's a photo of Jay doing that!" Harry exclaimed after about five minutes of laughter.
"Woof, woof!"
Ben could hear Mal bark and his heart froze. If Mal was barking too, that would mean that she couldn't reverse whatever caused Jay and him to act like dogs.
"Couldn't you just get Fairy Godmother to reverse it?" Macaria asked. "It's not like you meant to use magic in this case. It was an honest mistake of forgetting you had access to your powers and the school cheer sounding just like a spell Maleficent used to do."
"Of course I can speak dog! I'm Cruella DeVil's son," Carlos said and Ben smiled.
"You know, you said that when you offered to talk to Estelle," Mal said. "That in no way answers the question of how you can speak dog."
They had a way to reverse it! The smile faded however when he heard Carlos tell Mal that instances like this needed to be recorded and the smaller boy ran up to take a photo of Jay.
"Ah DeVil, you might be my new favorite person!"
While Ben was happy that Carlos was coming out of his shell, he'd have liked it if Carlos would translate the spell for Mal!
"Ah but Benny, you don't deny yourself joy when it comes in the form of Jay being forced to act like a dog," Harry said with a grin.
Jay shook his head. "Keep it up and I'll play fetch with your hook, Harry."
Apparently Mal felt the same as she came up to Carlos and began barking at him.
"Please tell me there's video of this!" Uma asked amidst her laughter.
"Down girl," Carlos said and Mal just growled sightly. Carlos sighed but took the spell book from Mal. Ben couldn't help but be grateful that Mal hadn't donated Maleficent's spell book to the museum yet.
"I'm sorry but can we talk about the fact that DeVil apparently isn't running from Mal barking?" Henry asked.
"DeVil isn't afraid of dogs in the future," Harry told him. "I'm more amazed that he's cracking wise when Mal's growling at him."
She had meant to after their date to the Enchanted Lake but she'd been understandably distracted what with their impromptu trip to the Isle and then Family Day and his coronation.
It's probably better that she keep possession of that spell book Ben, Audie thought with a small sigh. After all, anyone can just steal from the museum if they're determined enough.
Thankfully Carlos was able to translate the spell for Mal as she barked it out and Ben felt himself acting normally again. Carlos must have noticed the change as he laughed nervously.
"Jay was also glaring at him so that might have attributed to his nerves," Benji added.
Malinda chuckled. "You were also glaring at him when you got back to normal, Ben."
"Ben was glaring at someone?" Chip asked. "I didn't know he knew how to do that."
"Hi guys," he said. Ben just shook his head in amusement as Jay chased Carlos around the quad, demanding the younger boy delete the photos he took.
Malinda chuckled. "He didn't. Carlos actually shared them with Hadie and Harry when we were in school."
"Why'd he do that?" Jay asked.
"Dunno," Malinda chuckled. "I just know he shared the photo with those two because I went into Jay's apartment a couple of weeks ago and the photos were basically his new wallpaper. Jay thinks it was Harry, my money's on Hadie."
"They could have worked together," Uma pointed out.
"Um…that wouldn't be a good idea," Uma said slowly, bringing Ben back to the present. The entire Isle knew about DeVil's fear of dogs; Ben didn't seem like the cruel type so maybe he didn't know. After all, Auradon Prep was a boarding school according to Mal. How many boarding schools had dogs, even if there were dogs in Auradon?
"That is a good point, especially with how prevalent dog allergies are," Meg nodded.
"Wait…won't they ask Estelle to leave if that's the case?" Macaria asked.
"True mini-nut-Meg but I don't think the dander from a Cerberus would be able to cause an allergic reaction the way a mortal dog could," Hades said.
However, the amused smirk on Ben's face was not one she had expected. A small yip from Estelle prevented her from commenting on it though as Ben had pulled up to Auradon Prep.
"Sweet! I'm going to see Mali!" Hadie said with a grin.
"Alright, we're here," the teenaged king said with a smile as he stopped the limo and cut off the ignition. Hadie grinned and went to grab Estelle's leash but was stopped by Harry.
"Oh come on! Estelle's not going to hurt me!" Hadie exclaimed.
"Maybe it would be a better idea for the captain or me to handle Estelle right now Hadie," he said. "With how much energy he has right now, you'd get dragged out of the limo the second the door opens."
"Thank you Harry," Persephone said with a small smile. The last thing she wanted was for Hadie to get hurt.
"Yeah Hadie, let me take that," Uma said, grabbing the leash. It was a good thing too as the moment the door opened, Estelle took off; dragging her out of the limo and face first into the ground.
Mal had no shame in the fact that she burst out laughing. "Oh how's that karma feel cuz?!"
"It hasn't even happened yet!"
"Neither did the dog thing and yet you and Harry laughed for a good five minutes!"
"Uma, it might be a good idea for you to let go," Hadie said. "Estelle'll drag you all over the place until he finds Mal."
"And while you may survive that being a Godling, I don't think your reputation would," Elle said as Melody bit her lip to stifle her giggles.
"But Mal's right there," Gil said, pointing to the statue of the former king. Sure enough Mal was there, standing in front of the statue. Before Uma knew it, the leash had slipped out of her hands and Estelle was making a beeline for Mal.
"I thought you'd still be in that meeting," Benji muttered to Malinda.
Malinda sighed. "I had to cut it short, you arrived earlier than I thought you would," she told him.
"You okay cap'n?" Harry asked, helping Uma stand up.
"Nothing bruised but my pride Harry," Uma told him, giving him a small smile. "Looks like Estelle missed Mal just as much as we did."
"Well at least you have access to a hospital now if you did need it," Phoebus said.
Benji nodded. "You can't separate a dog from their human. Estelle's as much a part of Mal as her hair being purple or dragons."
Hadie chuckled and shook his head in amusement as he watched Mal bend down to pet Estelle. "Oh sure, I see who the favorite is!"
"Hmm, doesn't hog the covers, and lets me have the last piece of garlic crispy chicken?" Mal said, pretending to think as she tapped her chin. "Yep, Estelle's the favorite!"
"Well of course," Mal chuckled as she walked over to them. "Estelle doesn't threaten to tell mom and dad when I've done something that might get me grounded, little brother."
"…yeah I deserved that."
"Spoken like every younger sibling that's ever existed," Neal chuckled.
"You sure did. Now come here," Mal said, pulling Hadie into a hug. "I'm surprised dad let you go, considering mom's on the Isle."
"I wasn't aware that was an option," Hades said.
Persephone shook her head. "Hades…"
"What? I'm not exactly fond about the idea of both our kids being in Auradon without you there!"
"He was distracted by the arrival of lizard Maleficent," Hadie told her. "Dad spends his mornings taunting her about her spectacular failure and the fact that now she'll never escape the Isle."
"Oh what a wonderful way to start a morning!" Hades said. "In fact, is there anyway to turn Maleficent into a lizard now so that I can do that?"
"…dad does know it's dangerous to taunt Maleficent right?" Mal asked.
"Not when she's under a magical barrier and is a lizard!" Hades said with a rather feral grin.
"It's dad," Hadie shrugged as they broke the hug. "Hard to say what goes through his head."
"I mean, you'd know what was going through dad's head if you'd use the mental link," Hadie teased as he looked over at Mal.
Malinda sighed. It's going to get worse before it gets better, she thought. All the reminders of Natalie…
Uma chuckled. "Now if we're done looking into Uncle Hades' mind, I believe someone owes their captain a greeting."
"Okay, okay Uma," Mal chuckled as she gave her best friend and cousin a hug. "Gods, I missed you," she whispered.
"I missed you too Mali," Uma whispered back.
Poseidon couldn't help but smile at that part, happy that his granddaughter had a good relationship with part of the family. As well, he couldn't help but hope he'd get to have a relationship with her now that she was in Auradon.
"The Rotten Four are back together again."
"All of Auradon just felt a shiver run down their spines at that," Mal chuckled as she broke the hug and went to hug Harry and Gil.
"…I'm honestly surprised that didn't wake her up," Harry said as he looked over at Leah.
"Why are we not concerned about the passed out old woman?" Claudine asked.
"Because she's Satan reincarnate."
"Wait, I thought that was Freddy?" Henry asked.
Uma sighed. "Apparently, there's two Satan reincarnates. But anyway, the longer she stays unconscious, the happier we all are."
"Yes captain," Henry nodded.
Ben gave a small pout. "No hug for me?"
"Come here," Mal chuckled, giving her boyfriend a hug as well. Uma couldn't help but smile at the sight, especially as Ben leaned over to whisper into Mal's ear.
Chip chuckled. "You can whisper sweet nothings to your girlfriend later Benji! You've got new Auradon Prep students to welcome!"
Whatever he said caused her to perk up though how that was possible, Uma didn't know. Mal was certainly perkier than Uma remembered but that might have just been the sunlight.
Mal scoffed. "Please. I don't do perky remember?"
"Says the girl who tried out for the Spirit Squad," Uma told her. "I think that takes some perk."
"Ally!" Mal called and waved over a blonde girl wearing a bright blue dress.
"Ally?" Celia asked.
"Daughter of Alice," Ben explained. "She lives in Wonderland but attends Auradon Prep. She has a thing for being brutally honest."
"Oh hello Mal! Are these the new VKs?"
"Yes Ally, they are," Mal chuckled. "But I didn't call you over for a meet and greet. Can you tell Evie to meet me over at Ben's office? Lonnie, Jane and Jordan too."
"Jordan?"
Emir grinned, ignoring the question coming from some of the VKs. "Oh yeah! Jordan! Most of the time she's with her dad and mom traveling the world but sometimes she'll stop by Agrabah with Aunt Dalia!"
"My former attendant married Genie," Jasmine explained upon seeing some confused looks. "I was delighted for her of course, she's the closest thing I have to a sister."
"Right," Ally nodded before turning to Ben. "Remember Ben, Jordan's the girl you've known since you were four."
"Wait, what?" Lonnie chuckled. "You only know one girl named Jordan, who are you getting her mixed up with?"
Benji flushed slightly. "…I might have been getting her mixed up with Jay," he muttered.
Ben shook his head. "I don't know why I get the two of them confused, I just do."
"But…Jordan's the girl you met when you were four at your Daddy and Me jousting class!" Chip chuckled.
"…I…I don't know what disturbs me more," Mal said, her face looking confused and amused at the same time. "The title 'Daddy and me' jousting or the fact that you lot took four year olds jousting."
Beast sighed. That had been around the one year anniversary of Belle's miscarriage and…and he'd been trying whatever he could to keep Ben from needing Belle that day in case Belle just wanted to be alone.
"Wait, so you've been confusing Jay with a girl?" Harry burst out laughing.
"What's so funny about that?" Uma and Mal asked, Mal crossing her arms.
"Nothing."
"Good answer," Harriet chuckled as Uma glared at her First Mate.
Ben chuckled and Mal shook her head. "Jay's sorry he couldn't be here, he had R.O.A.R practice," she said.
Jay tilted his head. "I thought the season was over though? Since we all won the Championship?"
"R.O.A.R. is different than Tourney," Akiho explained. "While Tourney has a cannon, and you run around in an open field, R.O.A.R. takes place inside and has swords."
"Ooh!" CJ grinned. "That's a proper sport for pirates!"
"Ah yes, a captain can't skip out on practice," Ben nodded before clapping his hands together. "Should we begin?"
"No I just thought we'd stand here all morning Benny."
"Sarcasm's not appreciated Mal."
"You're joking right?" Uma chuckled. "Sarcasm is basically the only language Mal knows."
"Really? I appreciate it." Uma chuckled as they made their way to the school, Ben grabbing Mal's free hand; the other one holding Estelle's leash.
"Where will we be lodging?" Harry asked.
Mal smiled as she looked over her shoulder. "Harry, you, Hadie and Jay'll be rooming together. Gil, you'll be rooming with Carlos, and Uma of course, you'll be rooming with me."
"Thank Gods," Harry muttered.
Malinda chuckled. "You honestly thought I'd make it so you were rooming with Gil? Knowing you, Gil'd be dead within the hour."
Harry shrugged. "Not if I did what you did Mal and just bunked in Jay's room. They'd probably look past it since I'm a bloke in another bloke's room."
"Honestly Harry," Milah sighed and shook her head.
"She was quite adamant about that," Ben nodded and Uma chuckled.
"I'll look after the little lord, Mali," Harry promised.
Melody bit her lip as she looked at Claudine. She was fine with insulting Freddy after everything that he'd done in the scrolls but still, she wasn't going to insult the girl's brother in front of her without giving her a head's up. "Um…this next part's not the most complimentary of your brother."
"I figured," Claudine told her. "It's okay."
"I know you will Harry," Mal nodded. "However, same rules as on the Lost Revenge. No talking about flings around crew members under fifteen!"
"I'm a first mate! I know the rules Mal. Who do you think I am, Freddy boy?"
Claudine shook her head. Be thankful you've never had to live with him Harry. The number of times I've walked in on him in the Haven with his fling of the month?
"Speaking of that little thorn, how's he been?" Mal asked, turning to Uma as her shoulder twinged a bit at the reminder.
"His usual self," Uma sighed. "Thankfully we haven't lost any more crew to him."
"Brooke and Locklyn were the last two to leave, right?"
Uma and Mal stared at the scroll in shock. "Brooke…Brooke's with Freddy?"
"Nope, not happening," Harriet stated. "Brooke's part of my crew and I refuse to believe Brooke left us for Freddy! Sammy, we're putting protective measures on Brooke when we get out of here!"
"Aye cap'n," Sammy nodded.
"I…I can't…no!" Claudine shook her head. "I have to at least hope he's not…"
Malinda sighed. "Uma told me what'd happened. Freddy lured Locklyn into the Angels with his usual schtick but Locklyn basically told Brooke that if she didn't come with, then she'd never see her again."
"Damn, that's cold," Emir frowned.
"Maybe it's a good thing Fish for Brains isn't here," Harry said. "He loves Brooke, she's his favorite cousin, and the idea of Freddy being anywhere near her?"
"Yep. Amazingly we still have nineteen crew members to his six Angels. Well seven if you count him."
Mal chuckled. "Fifteen crew members you mean."
"No, I'm pretty sure scroll-me counted correctly," Uma said.
"Mal, you may live in Boreadon now but you will always be co-captain," Uma stated. "You and Jay are crew."
"And you always will be," Uma said firmly as Mal and Jay gave her a smile.
Mal smiled and even Ben found himself feeling touched by Uma's words. So much so that he didn't want to interrupt to do the tour.
"Mal, you want to show them around?" Ben whispered. "I'll meet you at my office so we can tell Evie the news."
"What news?" Neal asked. "I mean, it'd have to be pretty big if you're bringing Evie to your office."
He's not…you don't think Ben's kicking you out of Auradon do you? Evie thought, lightly biting her lip.
"You really trust five VKs to be alone with no supervision?" Mal whispered back, teasing him gently.
"What does it matter if you're VKs or AKs? Point is I trust you," Ben shrugged.
"And I always will unless you do something to break that trust," Benji added.
"No, I trust my girlfriend to be alone with her cousin, her brother, her surrogate brother and the youngest son of Gaston," Ben teased back.
"Good answer," Elle said with a small chuckle.
Mal chuckled softly. "Okay. I'll probably just show them their dorms then and then dart over to your office. Gods, I can't believe we got him. Evie's going to be thrilled."
"Got him…you mean….you got my dad?" Evie asked, straightening up and looking at Malinda with hope filled eyes.
Malinda nodded and gave Evie a smile. "It took some time to set up the resources to get him home to Auradon but we got him E. Just like we said we would."
Evie grinned and Snow wrapped her up in her arms, giving her step-sister a gentle hug.
"I just hope she's not disappointed," Ben sighed. "Seven years of being captured by Maleficent…"
"She knows Ben," Mal said gently. "I think at this point, Evie just wants her dad back."
Benji sighed. "My math was off there. It was so off, it's not even funny. If it was seven years, Evie would have been thirteen. We're talking closer to ten years."
"Ben…Ben," Malinda said gently. "I don't think anyone cares about your math being off. And, to be fair, the Isle records aren't the greatest. All I remember is that it was sometime after Evie's sixth birthday that Daniel was taken."
Mal knew it had been weird at first, growing closer to Evie but at the beginning, it'd been a necessity. After all, Evie was still her roommate and she was the only other VK girl there.
"Strength in numbers, every VK knows that," Sammy nodded. "If you go somewhere without a partner, the odds of getting attacked are a lot higher."
But after Evie had stolen the wand and basically released Maleficent from the Isle, Mal had basically declared Evie was under her protection.
"As you do of course," Uma nodded. "Only Mal and I get to mess with Blue…with Evie!"
"…we're calling Blueberry by her first name?" Henry asked.
"We are," Mal and Uma nodded.
"Okay then."
Sure, some of the other girls like Lonnie and Jane still talked to Evie and were friendly. Plus Ben got some of his female friends to join in, which was how Mal got to know Ally and Jordan.
"Nothing wrong with making new friends," Ashaki said. "After all, as the saying goes, make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold."
"A circle is round, it has no end! That's how long I'd like to be your friend!" Alexandria finished, grinning at the Agrabahian Princess.
"…people aren't silver or gold though," Hadie said, tilting his head. "They make for good allies, and the more of them you have, the safer you are."
"Flametop's right," Celia nodded.
But most of the other girls in Auradon Prep, the same girls who loved Evie because of the makeovers she'd given them, shunned the blue haired girl.
"Oh geez!" Melody rolled her eyes. "How shallow can you get? What, she's only worth knowing when she's done something that benefits them?"
Shunning though was better than what some of the other girls had done…the number of times Mal had seen 'traitor' sprayed on Evie's locker in bright pink spray paint.
"Oh Gods, who do we know who loves pink to an unhealthy degree?" Emir muttered to Akiho, both boys glancing at Audrey.
"As much as I'd hate to seem like I'm sticking up for her, Audrey's always been a bit more in your face with her loathing," Akiho muttered back. "Mysterious spray painting doesn't seem her style."
Honestly, Audrey could have been more subtle if she had just thrown a brick at Evie's head.
"Then again…clearly I'm wrong."
Aurora sighed and looked at her daughter. "We're going to be having a serious conversation young lady. It was clear that Evie had no choice in the matter and you're going around, defacing her property?"
"If anything, she's more of the villain than Evie is," Phil Jr. muttered.
"That's not helping," Phillip told his son.
So Mal did what she did best. She brought Evie into her crew. Even though she had longed for Uma's arrival so that she'd be free of Evie, Mal didn't feel comfortable assigning a new roommate to Evie. Not with people's memories still fresh from coronation.
Emma frowned. "You could have roomed her with me," she said. "Not everyone in Auradon would have ostracized her after all."
"I know," Malinda said. "But I…I wanted to guarantee Evie had a place where she was safe."
"Mal?" Uma asked, breaking into Mal's thoughts.
"Hmmm?"
"You gonna show us our rooms?" Uma asked and Mal chuckled. Ben gave a gentle kiss on Mal's cheek before walking off and Mal began showing everyone to their rooms.
Chip smiled. He meant what he said a few scrolls back—this was what a relationship should be. The ease in which Ben was showing affection to Mal, the way he wasn't stiffening up or dreading being around her. The way she knew where his office was and could get him should he work too long on paperwork.
"Gil, you don't have an issue with dogs right?" Mal asked.
"Of course not!" Gil grinned.
Belle shook her head. "There's no way Gaston would tolerate his son having an issue with dogs. Not when he would fantasize about having six or seven of them play with the dogs while his 'little wife' massaged his feet."
"…that explains so much about the Gaston twins," Henry frowned.
"Good because I think Carlos would kill someone if they made him be apart from Dude," Mal chuckled.
"Uh…Dude?"
"Small tan dog, debated to be either the son of Copper, Tramp, or Dodger," Aziz said. "He's pretty much the campus mascot since he's been there since I was at Auradon Prep."
"The campus mutt," Mal explained, looking over at Harry. "Though he's pretty much Carlos' dog."
"If he's such a big deal…why isn't he here?" Jay asked.
"Hey, be careful what you ask for," Audie chuckled. "You might bring my timeline's version. Remember, he can talk."
"We're talking about the same DeVil?" Harry asked, looking at Uma. "Small, black and white hair, jumps at his shadow, terrified of dogs?"
Mal nodded. "Auradon's been good for him," she said as she stopped by the room.
Ben smiled. "I think Auradon's been good for all of you," he said before pausing. "Not that you weren't good before I mean, I just—."
"Ben, Ben, it's okay," Mal shook her head. "We're not going to jump down your throat for a statement."
"He's with Jay at R.O.A.R. practice so he'll catch up with you soon Gil."
"Sounds good," Gil nodded, dropping his stuff on the open bed. Mal smiled and quickly showed Harry and Hadie their room before heading back to her room with Uma.
Malinda chuckled. "I probably should have kept a closer eye on Hadie because the minute I left, he went exploring."
"I did?" Hadie asked.
"Yep," Malinda nodded. "Granted you were just trying to find the library and you ran into Ben's shadows so nothing bad happened."
"Is it always so…pink?" Uma asked, looking around the room in slight disgust.
"Yeah," Mal chuckled. "It was worse when Evie and I first arrived. I managed to talk Ben into giving us some wood paneling like in the boys' rooms."
"I'll make sure to note that for any future VKs who come in," Ben nodded.
Dizzy bit her lip. "Not…not all of us would mind the pink," she said. "I think it sounds nice."
"Well with Mal and Evie in Auradon, Benny can get a better sense of who likes what," Celia told her. "Don't worry Diz, they won't put you in a room you don't like."
Uma nodded and paused as she counted out the beds. "Mali…why are there three beds in here?"
"Because we're rooming with Evie," Mal said softly and Uma whirled around to look at her cousin.
"Cue explosion in three…two…one," Emma sighed.
"No. No way. You've got to be out of your mind because there is no way I'm rooming with Blueberry!"
"Anyone else get deja-vu?" Hyllus asked.
As the words left Uma's lips, the door opened and Evie walked into their shared room.
"Oh…hello," she said softly. "Ally said you wanted to talk to me Mal?"
"Wouldn't it have made more sense to just bring her to Ben's office?" Herkie asked, shaking his head.
Mal shook her head. "Come on Evie. Ben's got some news, we're to meet him in his office. Uma, I'll be back. Settle in, enjoy yourself."
"Or you know you could invite her to join you," Celia said. "No sense in leaving Uma out of the know!"
With that, the two girls left the room leaving Uma standing there in shock.
"…what the hell just happened?" Uma asked the empty room, receiving no response.
"Well Mal left you in an empty room to take Evie to Ben's office," Hadie explained.
Uma shook her head. "You know I gathered that for myself funny enough."
Melody couldn't help but giggle slightly as she rolled the scroll back up. "That's the end of the scroll. Who wants to read next?"
"I'll go," Lonnie offered.