Chapter Eighty
A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths!
Smh, can you guys believe we're twenty chapters away from 100? I honestly can't believe it! Thank you all for your continued support through this!
Lauriverfanboy1: Yeah I think it's safe to say Freddy will find himself in Tartarus sooner or later :D
61394: Ah something tells me Wade will be busy throughout the Freddy chapters :D
AmethystDragon14: Yay! Yeah I think James is definitely going to be a good addition for the reading! And I think Freddy of any time is going to watch his back but especially about the CJ comment—and no one will miss him when he becomes more dead than a doornail!
smc: Glad you liked the chapter!
Bluebird: So glad you liked it!
Marcus Emrys: It's why I wanted to make the Romeo and Juliet comparison, just because they don't end up like them :D
Katt Kiki: So glad you liked the chapter! :D
danifan3000: I heard about Pat Carol too, RIP to a legend! And I'm not even going to touch Yzma's mom being alive lol
JaclynnM: Oh thank you! And yeah, Freddy is definitely the spawn of Satan!
twilightgirl587: Hey as long as your modern day Romeo and Juliet don't meet the same end as canon R+J, I think that'd be a great thing to read! :D
OceanBlueSeaEyes: She is one of the lesser known villains, I actually didn't know who she was at first :D
slytherin4thewin: So glad you liked the chapter!
jedblack1997: I've heard talk that people say the sequels to Disney movies (so LMII, Cinderella II, etc) aren't canon in Descendants so Anastasia being on the Isle would be based on the first Cinderella!
miranda88: No worries! Henry's parents are a tavern barmaid on the Isle and one of Captain Hook's crew :D
Flaresouth: lol in the Beauty and the Beast book from Beast's POV, it states he was friends with Gaston so it's my hc that he'd have at least a title to be friends with Beast :D
Hope you all enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
Jane reached over and took one of the scrolls. In all honesty, she wasn't particularly sure if she should read but she was one of the few who hadn't and it didn't seem right to make someone else repeat just because she was nervous.
Chad sighed as he shook his head, making his way down the halls of Auradon Prep.
"Sweet! We haven't had a scroll focused on Chad before!" Alexandria said with a grin. What? She wanted to know how her brother was doing in the future.
Especially since it might cheer the present version of her brother up. He hadn't said much since the hypnosis had been taken off of him and Alexandria was getting worried.
Lately, he found, it was a lot easier to be alone than to be around other people.
"Normally I'd agree with you on that, but you seem to be much more extroverted than I am," Carlos said, looking over at Chad.
Especially Audrey.
Audie sighed softly. She was familiar with that, after all Chad had pretty much avoided her after they found he was under a hypnosis in her timeline. The only strange thing was he hadn't found that out yet in the scrolls. Was…was it wearing off?
It wasn't that Audrey was necessarily difficult to be around but whenever he was with her, his head would go all...cloudy and for the life of him he couldn't remember what had happened.
"Remind me why I can't kill Leah?" Kitty growled to Lucy, furious at the reminder of the hypnosis her brother had been under.
"You'll be depriving the hyenas of a fresh meal," Lucy told her sister.
What he did know, though, was whenever the cloudy feeling faded, there was usually someone mad at him.
"When isn't someone mad at me?" Chad muttered softly.
Sometimes it was people he didn't even know existed, like Quasimodo's daughter Macy or Phoebus' son Zeypher.
"Huh…they can never seem to get the spelling right," Phoebus said as he looked over at the scroll. "There's no 'e' in his name."
"…I think our concern should be more about Leah making the hypnosis on Prince Chad impact our son rather than the spelling of our son's name," Esmeralda told her husband.
"Oh yes, right!"
However nine times out of ten, it would be either Kitty or Lucy who'd be the one mad at him.
"Nothing new there," Chad said, his voice soft as he shook his head.
Sometimes it would even be Alexandria but she was the bright ball of sunshine that seemed to consist of endless optimism.
"You've got to have one of us have faith in you," Alexandria said, her voice soft.
The few fights she had had with the other two Charming sisters had been because of him.
Chad couldn't help but flinch as he heard that. His sisters should never have to fight because of him.
"Guys, honest! Chad's changed!"
Kitty and Lucy both winced at that.
"Listen to her, scroll us," Kitty muttered.
Chad looked up from his computer as he heard his sister's voice outside his dorm room door. Why was she there? And more importantly why was she talking to someone about him? Was everything alright?
"I need a reason to be by your dorm? I might just be visiting you," Alexandria said.
Kitty shook her head. "Not if you're with someone though."
"I could be on the phone, Chad didn't say he heard any other voices."
Maybe it was one of her friends, he told himself. After all, you do have a bit of a rep for being a womanizer around the school.
"A bit of a rep?" Lonnie asked. "Chad, you dated eleven girls at the same time!"
Kit sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Part of him didn't want to know but he knew he had to ask. "…How?"
"I don't even know in all honesty," Chad said. "They found out though, I lost my phone and someone texted all of them."
He glared slightly over at Lonnie.
"What's the glare for?" Lonnie asked. She wasn't even upset about the glare if she was honest because it meant that Chad was bouncing back from getting the hypnosis removed.
"Like we're not supposed to know they were your hidden cameras in the cafeteria? You didn't even change your voice in your voice overs when you posted them!"
"Oh so that's how Chad lost his phone in my timeline," Audie said before Lonnie could say anything. "Now all he needs to figure out is how it ended up in his hamper."
"My money's on Emir slipping it back to him," Aziz said, shaking his head.
But...I haven't dated anyone since Audrey broke it off. If one of Alex's friends was upset with the fact that I messed with their sister, why wouldn't they say so before now?
"…He has a point there," Melody said. "Especially if he went from dating eleven girls at the same time to staying loyal to Audrey to not dating anyone."
"Would you date someone who dated ten other girls while he was dating you?" Elle asked her little sister.
"Of course not!"
"Then that's probably the reason scroll-Chad's single right now. That reputation wouldn't go away in the blink of an eye."
"I'm sure you think so Alex but...I don't know."
Chad's heart sank as he heard Lucy's voice and wondered if he shouldn't step outside, let them know that he could hear everything they were saying.
"It is rather a given that he'd hear that if you picked right outside his dorm to talk about it," Aziz pointed out.
Though he couldn't help but wonder if that wasn't the point of their conversation. To let him know how they truly felt about him without risking getting in trouble with their parents.
"Um…I don't have siblings but wouldn't having the conversation outside Chad's dorm door make it more likely Kitty, Lucy, and Alexandria would get in trouble with their parents?" Jane asked. "It's not as if Chad's eavesdropping when it's in front of his own door."
"Lucy, you weren't there," Alex said firmly. "He didn't even make a comment to Mal, Uma or Harry. Not even to Hadie."
"That is a rather big hint that he's made a change," Akiho nodded.
"Well our brother's an idiot but he's not a moron," Kitty stated.
"What's the difference between idiot and moron?" CJ asked.
"Fish for Brains could be classified as an idiot but Freddy's a grade-A moron," Harry told her, his voice still a little gruff but not as much as it had been in scrolls past.
"Mal, Uma, and Hadie are Godlings after all and Chad's the heir to Charmington. He's not going to risk making an enemy of Olympus by making one of them mad at him. And making Harry mad at him is basically the same as making Uma mad at him from what Mal's said."
Uma shook her head. "Harry and I don't have a hive mind, he can disagree with me…we just happen to dislike the same people," she said.
And the last time I disagreed with my captain, I got an injury to my ribs. I'm not saying you'd hurt me Uma but…it might just be better to agree, Harry thought, trying his best to avoid wrapping his arms around his ribs at the memory.
"Besides, he might make a change but you know he's still pining over Audrey," Lucy told them and Chad could honestly see her roll her eyes.
"I can't believe we didn't dig deeper into that," Lucy said, growling slightly.
"Never mind the fact that she was the one who broke it off and never mind the fact that he cried over her.
Don't worry Chad…you'll meet someone better for you if what Malinda says is true, Audie thought with a small yet sad smile at the actions of this timeline's version of her.
He'd still take her back if she asked him. Not that she would since you know, Chad's not Ben."
I can't help but wonder if Chad ever learned there was a brief time I was just trying to make Ben jealous by going out with him? Audie thought with an inward sigh. I hope not.
"Chad wouldn't do that!"
Unfortunately…the scroll Chad might, Kitty thought with a small sigh. I can not kill Leah, I can not kill Leah…why can't I do that again? Oh right, murder bad…but in all honesty wouldn't that just be an act of public service? No…mom would be disappointed…
"Alex, there's being positive and then there's being naive," Kitty sighed. "Chad's always had a crush on Audrey but lately it's like it's been moved into hyperdrive. Ever since Ben removed his consent from his betrothal contract."
"Because his mind isn't his own!" Lucy exclaimed. "Gods, our scroll selves are dumb!"
Chad shook his head, biting back a sigh. Ben was practically another brother to those three, considering he'd been Chad's friend since birth.
Abby couldn't help but smile as she heard that, still happy that her brother was able to get a sister despite everything that happened with her birth or lack thereof.
Chad couldn't help but think that his sisters would have preferred to be Ben's sisters rather than his.
Kitty and Lucy glanced at each other before looking away. That wasn't an entirely inaccurate thought for Chad to have. However, it was more like they'd rather be Ben's sisters than the hypnotized version of their brother's sisters.
Ben was really close to the girls too, happy to act as another brother to them. When they were kids, Chad'd been a little jealous that Ben was so close to his sisters. After all, they were the Charming girls, not the Le Bête girls!
"We could be the Charmlebete girls," Alexandria said. "We're both!"
It wasn't until Chad was about eight or nine and his mom had sat him down, explaining about Queen Belle's miscarriage back when Ben and Chad were three or so. Ben wasn't trying to replace him with his sisters, she had said. He was probably just trying to see what having sisters was truly like.
"…You can't steal someone's sibling," Benji said, his voice soft. "And I wouldn't even if I could."
So Chad was more than happy to share his sisters, especially as he got older and they grew apart—Chad opting to hang out more with Audrey and his sisters gaining their own lives.
"Sadly that probably wasn't the best choice," Robin said.
Chad knew though that Kitty at the very least had grown to be a staunch defender of the VKs when they arrived, and Lucy had quickly followed. Chad suspected a combination of their mother's teachings and Ben's influence.
And none of us being hypnotized by a crazy old bat, Alexandria thought, glaring over at Leah's 'cell'.
Cinderella looked over at her elder daughters and smiled at them. "I'm so proud of you girls."
"This hasn't happened yet mom," Lucy said.
"Still, that doesn't lessen the pride any bit," Cinderella told her.
"Come on," Kitty said, breaking through Chad's thoughts to bring him back to the present. "Chad might hear our conversation."
"I mean…you are having it outside his dorm," Rachel pointed out. "There's a reasonable chance of that."
"Would that be so bad?" Lucy asked. "I mean, it's no secret we don't exactly trust him."
"Lucy!" Cinderella scolded. "Regardless of how you feel about your brother, that is no reason to talk negatively about him!"
"You mean you two don't trust him," Alex stated and Chad couldn't help but smile a little at the implication that his baby sister did trust him. "Chad's still our brother."
"And I stand by that," Alexandria said with a small nod of her head.
Chad shook his head, trying to clear the memory of that day from his mind. He wasn't going to lie, it had hurt to hear that his sisters didn't trust him. And yet...he knew they had a reason not to.
Henry sighed softly. He had a feeling the scroll versions of the LeGume girls were probably thinking the same thing about Locklyn, what with how she joined the Angels.
Kitty'd had her locker filled with cat litter—thankfully it was unused—and Chad hadn't said anything.
More than one glare made its way over to Audrey.
Lucy had been mocked about being the only dark haired Charming heir and Chad hadn't defended her.
"The 'adoption' comments are the most annoying," Lucy muttered under her breath.
Mal raised an eyebrow. "I don't have the same hair as my brother. Does that mean I'm not related to him?"
"…Weren't you adopt—?"
"Finish that sentence and I'll hit you. I'm trying to prove a point here," Mal said, glaring slightly at Evan. Thankfully the youngest Fitzherbert didn't mean it maliciously but simply had invoked the use of his father's braincells rather than his mother's.
That wasn't to say Eugene didn't have braincells but when a man took joy in dueling a horse with a frying pan when said horse was armed with a sword, one has to question the man's decision making skills.
In fact, as the other Tourney members sans Ben had graciously let him know, Chad had told them to grow up and learn to take a joke.
"I feel like 'graciously' was meant to be sarcastic?" Jay asked.
"Oh yeah," Emir winced slightly at the memory before looking at Akiho. "Didn't the team pour a bucket of unused cat litter on Chad's head after the locker incident?"
"You did what?!" Ben exclaimed.
"Oh that's why it said sans Ben!" CJ nodded before pausing. "Did that really need to be spelled out?"
"Charming?"
Chad turned to look over his shoulder, surprised to see Harry walking toward him.
"Well…this could be interesting," Evan said.
"You can say that again," Celia nodded.
"…This could be interesting."
He wasn't exactly the warmest toward the VKs...not that he meant to be. But whenever a VK came near him, it was almost like the foggy feeling came back.
Kit shook his head and glared slightly at Leah's 'cell', copying his youngest daughter's actions. It wasn't lost on him that if Chad continued to seem distrustful of the VKs after they didn't do anything to earn the distrust, that it would distance him from Ben.
Which would make Chad more accessible to Leah as a result since Chad would likely be around Audrey more.
Mal and Carlos were the only two where the foggy feeling never truly came when he was around.
"That's odd," Demeter said. "I'm obviously not saying the young Charming Prince should treat my granddaughter in anyway but respectfully however, if this is due to the hypnosis one would think Leah would make it so that Mal would generate the 'foggy feeling' as it's put."
Carlos was relatively easy, he never really acted like a VK anyway.
"Um…thank you?" Carlos asked, tilting his head.
With Mal it was more of a fight to resist the foggy feeling but he had been able to do so.
"I have to wonder if that was due to the feelings Leah had toward Mal and not any feelings Chad had himself," Hera mused. "After all, when Chad and Mal were in the library helping young Alexandria and Hadie, they seemed to get along just fine."
"Oh joy, another reason to torment her when I get her soul," Hades said.
Because otherwise he'd be treated to the disappointed puppy dog eyes from Ben, which honestly, that was the worst thing he could ever experience.
Ben shook his head. "I do not have disappointed puppy dog eyes!"
"Have you seen yourself when you're disappointed in someone?!" Chad, Emir, Akiho, Chip, Lonnie, Emma, Elle, and Malinda all asked.
Disappointing his parents was bad of course but disappointing Ben hit harder. It was truly like disappointing a brother.
"Right back at you, Chad," Ben said with a slightly sad smile pulling at his lips.
"What're you doing here Hook?" Chad asked, digging his nails into the palm of his hand as if to drive off the foggy feeling.
Fairy Godmother shook her head, disappointed in herself for not seeing the hypnosis before this point. A student shouldn't have to physically harm themselves to fight against their own mind.
"I thought you guys were heading over to the Isle?"
"Wait…why are we going to the Isle?" Uma asked. "I mean, not that I'm against that or anything but be nice to know why."
That had been fun to discover—the fact that Ben was taking a clandestine trip to the Isle of all places.
Akiho sighed. "And of course, he's not going to take his guards with him."
"You've got to let the guard thing go," Emir told him.
"Never!"
"You're going where?"
"I'm going to the Isle with Mal and the others for the day. Mal needs to see her dad and honestly, I want to see if things've improved over there," Ben explained as Chad stood in his dorm, staring at Ben with his jaw dropped.
"And you didn't say anything to the people who might need to know?" Chip asked, shaking his head.
"Chad, I'm trusting you not to tell anyone."
"And clearly Chad did!" Alexandria said with a grin. "Otherwise the scroll would have mentioned it!"
"But Chad said it to Harry though," Neal pointed out.
"But that's when they were coming back therefore Chad never told anyone Ben was going to the Isle," Alexandria said.
Chad couldn't help but smile as he heard that. It was nice to know, even as much of a screw up his scroll self was, he could prove himself worthy of Ben's trust.
"What I don't understand is why!" Chad exclaimed, unaware of how immature he sounded at that moment.
"Actually…he doesn't sound all that immature."
Uma stared at Mal in shock. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I know, I know, I'm surprised myself however he's got a point," Mal said, shaking her head. "Ben at this point is the King and the Isle is still the prison his dad set up. Not exactly the safest place for Ben to be. If Ben really wanted to see if things had improved, we could easily just tell him when we got back."
"Besides, I need you here."
"Auradon needs you here or did you forget you're the King?"
Benji chuckled. "The Isle is part of Auradon guys…and yes, I did tell Emma where I was going in case a royal decision was needed."
"Carlos, Gil, Hadie, Harry, and Jay not letting you use their 3D printers again?"
"Wait, we get 3D printers?" Hadie asked with a grin. "Also…what are 3D printers?"
Benji chuckled. "Carlos and Jay got them as being part of the Tourney team," he explained. "But they shared with their roommates."
"I'm assuming it's because they likely would have just used it anyway?" Jay asked.
"Is no one going to answer my question?!" Hadie asked.
"Carlos made all those improvements on his and it just runs so much smoother! Plus Jay got Carlos to make the improvements on his too!"
"So…why not ask Carlos to make the improvements on yours?" Kitty asked.
Ben shook his head. "You know if you just asked them, they'd let you use it. Don't just sneak into their room and use it. How did you get in last time by the way? They lock their door."
"I know when this happened in my timeline, Chad had made a copy of the key to Jay and Carlos' door," Audie spoke up.
"Made a key on the printer," Chad muttered. Ben sighed and held out his hand. Chad shook his head but dug the key out of his pocket and placed it in Ben's palm.
"…Somethings never change I see."
Kit shook his head. "You're so lucky you haven't done this yet, you know that Chad?"
"Yes dad," Chad said softly.
Ben raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"The key for Jay's room too," Ben told him.
"Wait…how'd you—?"
"I've been friends with Chad since we were born it feels like," Benji said. "I had a hunch."
Chad sighed and reached into his other pocket to take the key out and placed it in Ben's still waiting hand.
It was Kitty's turn to shake her head.
"Honestly," Ben said. "What were you even using the printer for?"
"Project for Woodsmen and Pirates," Chad said. "I swear I wrote it in my planner but I only just realized it was due tomorrow and my 3D printer's on the fritz. I think I need more sleep or something, my memory's been horrible lately."
Kit grit his teeth as he heard that. I know why your memory's been horrible Chad and it's not because of your sleeping, he thought.
Ben gave him a small smile as he jammed a dark blue beanie on his head and grabbed a leather jacket off the back of a chair that Chad could have sworn Ben didn't use to own. The jacket, not the chair.
Audie snorted. "At least it's better than Jay recognizing Ben's pants in my timeline."
"I'm sorry what?" Jay, Mal, Malinda, Ben, and Benji all asked as Harry and Uma burst out laughing.
"He recognized your pants," Audie shrugged. "I mean, your color choices are kinda obvious they're yours Ben—there are other colors than blue and gold after all."
"Use mine, Chad. You're more than welcome to."
"Why didn't you just ask Ben in the first place?" Akiho asked. "Or even Emir or myself?"
"Don't you two hate me?" Chad asked.
"Hate is such a strong word."
"And yet I feel it's accurate here."
"Thanks Ben," Chad said, returning the smile before letting out a small sigh. "So you're seriously going to the Isle?"
"That doesn't exactly seem like something he'd joke about," Aziz said.
"Why not?" Ben shrugged as he put on the jacket. "Maleficent's a lizard after all so a lot of the danger has passed by. Besides, we're going to stay in Mal's territory so it won't be like I'll be in trouble or anything. Plus I know how to use a sword so it's not like I'm totally useless or a 'prissy pansy of a prince' as Uma likes to say."
"I applaud the use of alteration," Sammy said, shaking her head slightly. "But that doesn't mean there's no danger."
"Sammy's right," Claudine nodded. "Fred's still on the Isle after all."
"Does Emma know?" Chad asked, ignoring Uma's saying or how that could describe him to a 't'. All commenting on that would do would result in a fight with Ben.
Emir shook his head. "It's Ben we're talking about though. I doubt anything could result in a fight with him."
That was the last thing he needed before he went to the Isle.
Uma nodded. "Charming's right. The last thing Benny needs before going into an Isle of enemies is his mind distracted as he mulls over a fight."
"Yes she does and so does Emir."
"Oh Gods."
"You say that like it's a bad thing Chad," Emir chuckled.
Ben shook his head in amusement. "Emir won't be that bad. Besides, we'll only be gone for a few hours."
Ashaki snorted. "I think you underestimate him, Ben."
"Something tells me you wouldn't be letting me know if I didn't just burst in on you."
Benji smiled sheepishly. "He'd be right about that."
"Gods help me," Akiho sighed.
"You'd be right," Ben chuckled, patting Chad on the shoulder. "Catch you later Chad."
"Of all the people who cold have burst in on you, he's probably the best since he clearly won't stop you," Henry said, shaking his head.
Harry chuckled, bringing Chad back to the present. "We just got back Charming. And now I owe Jay five bucks, he said he had a feeling Ben told you when he said he ran into you on his way out to meet us."
Jay grinned. "You should know better than that to take me on in a bet mate!"
"I didn't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about," Chad muttered.
"I don't think Harry would be worried about that," Celia said.
"Believe it or not, I don't spend a lot of my time worried about your actions, Charming," Harry rolled his eyes.
Uma chuckled slightly. "Take that as a compliment, Charming. Harry only spends his time worrying about the actions of enemies," she said.
"You let an enemy get the slip on you, you could end up getting hurt or worse, the crew could get hurt," Harry said.
James shook his head. "A good thought, lad, but the crew getting hurt is not worse than you getting hurt."
"…If you say so," Harry muttered, glaring at James slightly and James sighed softly. He knew it'd be a while before Harry trusted him.
Understandably so but it still hurt.
Harriet couldn't help but give the alternate version of her father a small smile. After all, he practically took the words out of her mouth.
"I figured you didn't anyway. Jay said you Tourney blokes are like a crew and I know how a crew runs. You don't last long if you're not tight knit like you seem to be."
Emir nodded. "That's true. It's why Coach always likes to say we're like a family or a body. Each of us has our own part but we work toward a collective goal."
Chad couldn't help but smile slightly. Jay was an okay guy sometimes…even if the only time Chad could truly be around him without the fog was during a Tourney/R.O.A.R practice.
"It's very telling that this 'fog' is strongest around the VKs, isn't it?" Aladdin asked.
"The team's like a family, as coach always likes to say. We may get on each other's nerves or fight with each other but we'll always have each other's backs when we need to."
Ben smiled. "And I'm very proud to have been Captain in that."
"You still are a Captain, Ben!" Emir and Akiho exclaimed.
"But—."
"Ah ba ba! No crown touching your head, you're still our Captain!"
"One of the few reasons why I've put up with you breaking into our dorm," Harry told him but Chad watched as the amused look grew to be more serious.
"What's wrong?" Harriet asked, frowning slightly as she heard that.
"I actually had something I wanted to talk to you about, speaking of family."
"What is it?" Cinderella asked. "Did something happen with the girls?"
"Hey, hey," Kit said, trying to sooth his wife. "You don't know that. Maybe Ben's going to bring over Dizzy and Harry's talking to Chad about that. They are step-cousins after all. That counts as family."
"Shoot."
"You may be the worst brother I've ever seen."
"…Or I could completely miss the mark on what Harry wanted to talk to Chad about," Kit said after a moment of silence.
Chad paused. That honestly was not what he expected the pirate to say. "Excuse me?"
Chad flinched slightly. "I hate the fact that he's right," he whispered.
"You heard me. Jay told me about some of the stuff that happened before me and Uma came over here. This might be Auradon where you lot don't have to actually worry about anything but you've got to look out for your sisters. After hearing everything those girls had to deal with, I honestly think Evie would be a better sibling to them than you!"
"Does…does Harry like Evie now?" Dizzy asked. "Because I'm not sure if that was supposed to be harsh or not…"
"You don't know anything about my family!"
"He knows more than you think, scroll-me," Chad muttered.
"I know that when Kitty had cat litter put in her locker, Mal was able to cheer her up with an hour long sparring session.
"I actually lasted an hour sparring against Mal?" Kitty asked.
Malinda chuckled. "No but we took breaks. A lot of breaks."
"That makes more sense."
I know that when Lucy got teased for her dark hair, Evie gave her an Isle style spa day and DeVil let her borrow Dude for the day
Kit shook his head and looked over at Lucy. "We'll be talking about that."
—and I know both girls have returned the favor ten fold. Mal told me about how Kitty was part of the group who told her about the first Gazelle article about her.
"And it should have been the last," Hades said with a slight growl to his voice.
Lucy's been helping DeVil with asking out Jane to Cotillion
Both Carlos and Jane flushed as they heard that.
as well as helping Doug with Evie's business. And both girls have been a big help with keeping an eye on Hadie."
"Wait seriously?! I can look after myself Mal!"
Mal shook her head. "I know you can Hadie but having people to keep an eye out isn't a bad thing."
"I'm more alarmed that Stalky's still a thing," Uma muttered.
Chad couldn't help but stare at Harry in shock. Had...had Mal, Carlos, and Evie really done that? Especially after what he had done to Evie?
"If we say that kids shouldn't be punished for their parents' crimes, why should siblings?" Jay asked.
"The fact that you didn't even know what Mal, DeVil, and Evie did for your sisters should tell you something Charming," Harry stated, shaking his head slightly in either exasperation or disgust. Chad honestly couldn't tell.
"Knowing Harry? It might be both," Harriet said.
"You only have three sisters. Take it from someone who's in the same boat."
"You have sisters?"
"Feeling the love there Harry! What, you don't talk about your awesome sisters?" Harriet asked, teasing her little brother.
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "My older sister Harriet and my little sister CJ. I call her the runt and while I'm not particularly fond of her, if anyone was messing with her and I found out about it...well let's just say they'd be tasting my steel before they got a chance to do that again."
"Not particularly fond is an understatement," CJ muttered though she wasn't going to lie, a small part of her perked up hearing the scroll Harry say that.
Even if it was just because CJ was part of the crew, it still meant that there was a part of her brother who didn't hate her.
Chad sighed before looking over at Harry. "You said you had three sisters. I only counted two. Who's the third?"
Harry and Jay both shook their heads.
"You clearly haven't been around me enough Charming if the answer's not clear to you," Harry said.
"Mal."
"But...Mal's brother's Hadie...and you're not a Godling…"
"Doesn't matter," Harriet said. "As we've said, family isn't always blood on the Isle."
"Dear Gods you might have less brains than Gil," Harry muttered before shaking his head.
"That's possible? Harry asked.
Harriet sighed. "Be nice Harry."
"He's not even here Harriet! It's not like he could get offended by this!"
"Mal's my sister in all but blood. She's been one of my best friends since we were five and I'll die before I let anyone hurt her on my watch.
Mal snorted. "Apparently your memory needs work Harry. Didn't we meet when we were three?"
That's what a brother does Charming. So what I'd advise is that you clean up your act, you stick up for your sisters and who knows? Maybe you'll have something of a relationship with them in a few years."
Malinda sighed softly. "Harry wasn't wrong there, and Chad's relationship with his sisters did improve. In fact, Kitty asked Chad to be her co-man of honor at her wedding."
"Co?" Lucy asked.
Kitty snorted. "Even I know the other one's you, Lu," she said. "Who else would it be?"
"Alex, maybe?"
"Why are you even telling me this? You don't seem like you particularly like me."
"Because as strange as it may be coming from me, I know how important family is," Harry said.
"First smart thing you've said this whole conversation Charming," Harry stated, nodding his head slightly as he held up his hook, the light dancing off the silver implement.
"Don't threaten him Harry," Harriet said, the words coming out of her mouth almost by reflex rather than anything else.
"You don't even know that's what I'm doing!" Harry exclaimed.
"You're right, I don't. I don't dislike you as much as I hate Gil but you're coming close.
"That's possible?" Mal asked, looking at Harry in shock.
Because Fish for Brains has a lot of faults but he's loyal to his siblings and that is the one compliment you will ever hear me give Gil."
That's what you think Harry, Benji thought as the memory of Cotillion came back to him. Sure he hadn't been present for the compliment but Hadie had been more than happy to fill Ben in on all he'd missed.
"So why give me that advice?"
"Because it's good advice," Sammy said, her voice soft.
"...you're Benny's friend, and he was worried about you," Harry said after a few minutes of silence.
Chad, Ben, and Benji all sighed.
"If there's one person who'll always be there for you, it's your sibling. Bound by blood and all that. But Ben considers you a brother and he's the first and only one Mal's let herself be...well let's say 'girly' around. So I'm going to make sure the only thing he has to worry about is this stupid dance and spending time with Mal."
Benji sighed and gave Harry a small smile. "Trust me, it was appreciated Harry."
"You mean on top of all the stuff he has to do with ruling Auradon?"
"Of course I meant that!"
"Just checking!"
Chuckles went around the room as they heard that. It was strange but the bit of levity was welcomed.
Harry shook his head. "Look, Mal doesn't know I'm having this conversation with you. Jay doesn't know I'm having this conversation with you. Ben's shadows don't know I'm having this conversation with you and Ben doesn't know I'm having this conversation with you. Let's keep it that way."
"We all know now though!" Akiho said with a grin.
Emir shook his head before looking at Harry. "Why wouldn't you want anyone to know you're having that conversation with Chad?"
"When I gain the ability to ask my future self that question, you will be the first person I tell the answer to," Harry told him.
"I won't tell a soul," Chad told him as Harry patted his cheek with his free hand.
"And technically Chad didn't," Alexandria spoke up. "He didn't say anything about it being read in a scroll provided by the Fates!"
"But...if I'm keeping your secret, think you could do me a favor?"
"Depends on what the favor is."
"Honestly…that's not a bad response to being asked for a favor," Rachel said. "If it's something that's not doable, Harry should get to know before he commits to it."
"Can you get Uma to stop pelting me with smoke bombs? I can tell it's her because most of the smoke bombs have been teal colored smoke. When Mal does it, the smoke's purple and the two times Jay's done it, the smoke has been orange."
"Ooo…now that's a tough one since Uma never puts down a good smoke bomb," Jay said.
Mal chuckled. "But Jay, it's Harry doing the asking…"
"Ah, very good point Mal!"
"Stop making yourself a target for her smoke bombs Charming. That's all I can say...but I'll talk to the cap'n for you."
"Nice loophole," Jay snorted. "Harry didn't agree that he'd get Uma to stop pelting Chad with smoke bombs, just that he'd talk to Uma for Chad."
"Why do you call her that?" Chad asked.
"Cause Uma's the Captain," Harry said, his tone of voice clearly indicating that he wondered if Chad had a brain in his head.
Chad rolled his eyes. "You don't call Mal 'co-cap'n' all the time though."
"Huh…he's got a point," Mal said, sounding somewhat impressed.
"Cause she's my captain," Harry stated. "The Lost Revenge is her ship and I'm her first mate from now until she says otherwise."
"But you're not on your ship. You're in Auradon."
"Captain Jack Sparrow didn't have the Pearl and people still called him Captain," James said.
"…Didn't he have to remind people to do that though?" Harriet asked.
"Just because a captain's off their ship, that doesn't mean they stop being a captain. Tell me, who's Pan's villain?"
"Captain Hook."
"Exactly!" Harry and Uma said similtainouusly.
"Exactly," Harry stated. "You didn't say Hook, you said 'Captain' Hook even though the Captain's been on the Isle for about twenty years or so. And don't say you just said it to avoid confusion unless the person you were trying to prevent from being confused was yourself."
"Can't argue with his point," Harriet said.
Chad sighed but nodded.
"Now...why in the world did Jay have to pelt you with smoke bombs?"
"I'm honestly surprised you didn't assume I did it just cause," Jay said with a small chuckle.
"Eh, with how long we've all been in Boreadon, it was probably safe to assume you had a reason at that point," Harry shrugged.
"I...may have strung Evie along with the promise of a date if she did my homework," Chad sighed.
Evie couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips at the thought of that. Jay sticking up for her, not Chad stringing her along. "Thanks Jay."
"Hey, you're under our protection, I'll protect you," Jay shrugged.
"That's not exactly smoke bomb worthy, not to mention Mal and Uma hate Evie. The only reason why I'm even using her first name instead of her nickname is so I don't want you getting confused and we go off topic."
Malinda shook her head. "I didn't hate Evie, Harry. I can't speak for Uma but I know I didn't."
"Okay first of all, I'm not that dumb. I've heard Mal call Evie 'Blueberry' before so I know you'd be talking about her. Second of all, that wasn't why he did it," Chad sighed once more.
"Wow…it's rare that Jay breaks out the smoke bombs," Uma said.
"Bit slow on the uptake there cap'n?" Harry teased.
Uma chuckled. "That's just how shocked I am!"
"After the championship game, when Ben did his song and dance number to ask out Mal, Audrey pulled me up into the stands and said that I was her boyfriend."
"Who wants to bet that was to make Ben jealous?" Lucy muttered.
"Ah," Harry nodded and made a mental note to look up said song and dance. "So Jay pelted you for breaking Evie's heart?"
The small smile on Evie's lips grew as she heard that. "Thanks again Jay…."
"Hey, we VKs have to stick together," Jay said with another small shrug. "Plus, if I remember the scroll correctly, that would have been after Mal decided that you were somewhat under her protection since you were both VK girls. So of course I would have pelted Chad with smoke bombs."
"Don't lie Jay, you would have pelted him regardless," Malinda chuckled.
"I think so but Jay never gave me a reason." Chad said. "I mean...don't get me wrong I like Audrey and I like my relationships with her. But..."
"But?"
"Listen to that!" Chip exclaimed.
"...I don't think I like who I am when I'm around her," Chad said softly. "The others on the team hate being around me when I'm with Audrey, even Ben tends to distance himself. But I...I don't know why I act the way I do. I tried talking with Bobby Hood the other day and Lucy practically dragged him off."
Lucy sighed. "Again, listen to that feeling Chad. You don't like it which should be a sign that something's off!"
Harry nodded. "To be fair to the Charmette, none of us like dealing with you more than we have to Charming. But...have you talked to anyone about this? Other than me I mean?"
"No but he should!"
"What you mean like my parents? I wouldn't want to trouble—."
Kit shook his head. "Chad, you know you can always 'trouble' us. No matter what the reason, we want to hear from you."
"That goes for all of you kids," Cinderella said, looking at her daughters. "Day or night, sun or sleet, if something's bothering you, we want to know!"
"Nope! Nope, not doing this again! One person I know refusing to talk to their parents about an issue they can easily fix is enough for me! I'm done!"
Both Mal and Malinda flinched slightly at that but gave Harry a small smile.
"Wha—Hook, let go of me!"
"Nope! We're going to go see Mal."
"But…didn't you say you didn't want Mal knowing you were having this conversation with Chad?" Chip asked.
"Why her?! You just said you didn't want Mal knowing that you were talking to me!"
"My thoughts exactly Chad!" Chip nodded.
Lucas chuckled. "You know you're agreeing with a scroll, right Tea Cup?"
"Yes, and your point is?" Chip asked.
"One, because she'll be able to prevent me from hitting you for being an idiot more than Benny would
"You underestimate my abilities there Harry," Malinda said, shaking her head.
and two, because she might be able to figure out what's going on with you which makes it worth her knowing we had this conversation.
"You might think too highly of me, Harry," Mal said, shaking her head.
Or you could do the sane thing and talk to your parents but Gods forbid anyone in Boreadon actually do something smart like that! Gods I miss the Isle sometimes!"
"Um…when would any of us admit a weakness like that to our parents?" Celia asked.
Uma looked over at her sister. "I don't care if you talk to our father, our sister, or me but if someone's bothering you Lia, I want you telling someone and no, Dizzy and Hadie don't count!"
"Aww!"
"Stop pouting you two, and yes, the tell someone command goes for you two!"
"You don't even like me! Why do you care?"
"I may not like you but I like Benny and I like Mal," Harry said firmly. "And for some reason Benny seems to like you."
"Because for some reason Ben likes you, as I stated before. And when Ben's upset, Mal's upset. Not that I've seen that in action yet but I have a feeling that's the case. Do we want Mal to be upset?"
"No we don't!" Hadie said. "Because when Mal's upset, mom and dad are upset!"
"And when Persephone's upset, it stands to reason Demeter would be upset," Hades said, a small fireball appearing and disappearing in his hand.
Malinda shook her head. "Dad, are you really trying to intimidate people to not make me upset?"
"Of course not…unless it's working?"
"I'm guessing that answer is no?"
"Good job Charming! You do have a brain! Now come along."
"Um…thanks I think?" Chad said softly.
"Your hook is on my collar, Hook. I don't exactly have a choice here!" Chad exclaimed as Harry dragged him to Mal's dorm.
Cinderella bit her lip. "I…I know you're trying to help my son, and I'm quite appreciative of that but if you need to drag him somewhere in the future…could you compromise and grip his wrist?"
"Oh you mean like what Uma does with Mal?" Harry asked.
"Exactly," Cinderella nodded. "I just think a hook on the collar would lead for more chances of tripping if Chad's walking backwards and the last thing I want is for either of you to be hurt."
"Huh," Harry said and tilted his head. "That actually makes sense…and explains all the times Fish for Brains has fallen back into me when I was dragging him off now that I think about it."
"Cap'ns," Harry said as he strolled through the doorway. "Mal, sorry to trouble you but I need you to deal with an idiot."
"There are many idiots in Auradon though," Lucas said, shaking his head.
"You're going to need to be more specific Harry," Mal sighed as she looked up from her sketchbook. "And no, I'm not killing Gil for you."
"Is there a time where you would kill Gil for me?" Harry asked.
"Harry…" Milah warned.
"Right, right, dropping the subject."
"As much as I appreciate the offer Mali, not the idiot I'm looking to address today. This one is more of a local."
"Technically Gil could be seen as a local because he'd be in Auradon," Neal pointed out.
"You're not helping," Harriet sighed as Harry perked up.
"Emir and Akiho?"
"Nope," Harry stated and tossed Chad onto the ground. "Tell her what you told me."
"Hey! Why were our names the first ones you thought of when Harry said the idiot he needed help with was a local?" Emir asked.
"Because, and no offense you two, your insanity is well known," Ben said.
"Exactly! Insanity, not idiocy!"
Chad glared at Harry as he picked himself up.
"That won't scare Harry," Jay said, shaking his head.
"Chad?" Mal asked, getting up and walking over to him. "What is he talking about?"
"I know this'll sound strange but…you should tell her Chad," Audrey said, her voice soft but she rolled her eyes at the shocked looks. "What? I may love Grammy but Chad's one of my oldest friends. He doesn't deserve having his mind messed with."
The Charmington heir sighed and began to tell Mal everything. About the foggy feeling, about his memory lapses. About his personality changes. Everything.
"Good! At least someone knows," Lucy said.
"Hmm, that's a pretty story," Uma snorted from her spot on the bed.
"I wish it was only a story," Cinderella whispered, Kit reaching over to gently squeeze her hand.
"Uma, I'm inclined to believe him," Mal said. "Honestly, it makes sense. Would you honestly think Cinderella would raise her son to act like Anthony?"
"Wasn't there a rumor that Anthony wasn't the baker's son but he was actually Ratcliffe's from one of the matches Lady Tremaine tried to force Anastasia into since the baker only came to the Isle three times a year?" Harry asked.
"Pretty sure that was the only time Lady Tremaine welcomed a rumor about her family," Mal shook her head. "After all, even if such a thing would make Anthony illegitimate, Ratcliffe was higher ranked than Anastasia's husband."
"Wait…someone else from Auradon knew about the food issues?" Emir asked.
"Would you lot have listened if he told you?" Uma asked.
"Oh Gods, the little Lord Tremaine isn't even here and he's raising my blood pressure," Uma shook her head.
"The weird thing is his sister's decent," Uma said, shaking her head. "I swear the second generation of Tremaine girls are the exact opposite of their mothers."
"Ava's always been the best," Dizzy said with a grin. "And Anthony's not that bad!"
"…Yeah he is, Diz," Celia sighed at the mention of her half-brother. And no, she still wasn't over that little fact thank you! At least the reminder that she got another cool big sis was enough to take the sting out of it.
Even if Ava was so good at making herself blend into the background, people forgot she existed at times.
"Still, it's convenient don't you think? What, he just got it in his head that no one likes him and now he's trying to sell a story that sounds like he's being magically influenced?"
Uma couldn't help but wince slightly at that. "Okay, knowing what I know, that was harsh. Apologies Charming."
Mal sighed. "Chad, I'll look into it and ask my mom about it too. She might have some more information or better resources. But for right now...honestly all I can really advise is that you stay away from Audrey. If this is what I think it is, it's not even a magical version so the fact that it's lasted for so long…"
"Sadly I don't think Audrey will let him stay away from her," Phil Jr. shook his head.
"Mal?" Uma asked as Mal trailed off, looking at Chad.
"What's wrong?" Cinderella asked, a small pit growing in her stomach. Was there something they'd missed when it came to Chad's hypnosis?
"Were you ever alone with Natalie?" Mal asked.
"Ooh do I sense another reason to subject her to Tartarus?" Hades asked.
"Do you need another reason to subject her to Tartarus?" Posideon asked his brother.
"Of course not but it's nice to have them when the souls complain about not deserving their sentences."
"Once every other week," Chad said. "It used to be once a week with Leah through phone calls or in person if we were at Beauty Castle but after she got sent to the Isle, the meetings stopped for a bit. I want to say it was three weeks after Leah got sent to the Isle that Natalie asked me to meet with her."
Kitty hissed, sounding not unlike her nickname, and glared at the scroll. "Why that little…"
Mal nodded and began to pace, growling slightly.
"Is Mal about to turn into a dragon again?" Celia asked.
"Direct her at Natalie if she does!" Alexandria exclaimed.
Why had she spared her? She should have let her mother smite her over the phone!
"You spared her because that's the type of person you are," Benji said, his voice gentle.
Honestly it was one thing to mess with her, she could fight back.
"Um, no, no one's messing with you Mal. Don't even think like that," Hades said, shaking his head.
But to mess with Chad's mind...how can you defend against your own mind?! If Chad didn't know the trigger words, he'd be in a constant state of flux!
"What…what was the trigger word?" Chad asked, his voice soft as he looked over at Benji and Malinda.
"Chad…I don't think you want to know," Benji said, shaking his head. "Besides the hypnosis is off of you so you don't have to worry about it."
"Mal...?"
"Right," Mal nodded. "Chad, I get that you're not the biggest VK fan but listen to what I'm telling you. Stay away from Audrey. Block Natalie's number from your phone if it's in there. If she tries to contact you, tell Ben."
"Tell Ben anyway," Ashaki said.
"And why was 'tell your parents' not anywhere in that list of instructions?" Hades asked, looking over at Malinda with a raised eyebrow.
"Dad, Chad probably thought he couldn't talk to mom—."
"I meant tell his parents!"
Malinda paused for a moment. "That…why the hell didn't we do that?"
"Why?"
"Because, and don't quote me on this because I'm not one hundred percent positive, but it sounds like you were hypnotized," Mal told him.
"And someone says it!" Alexandria cheered.
"Unless you always live in a cloud of fog and just come out of it when you're around Ben and the others?"
"No…just around certain people," Chad muttered as he shook his head.
Chad stared at Mal in shock. "That...that's not...okay I know you all hate Audrey and her family but to accuse her of hypnotizing me? Leah wouldn't do that, she knows the penalty for messing with the heir of a royal family!"
"Oh that's right, we should add that to her charges," Beast said.
Belle sighed. "We'd have to retry her then considering we didn't know about the hypnosis when you had your makeshift council meeting Adam."
"Right, right," Beast nodded and then sighed. "I'll talk to Kit during the next break then. He might not want to put Chad through a trial like that."
"Well she knew the penalty," Harry corrected. "Cause right now I'm pretty sure all she knows is what the inside of a hyena's belly looks like."
"I mean…he's not wrong but that might not have been the best thing to say," Rachel said.
Chad scoffed. "I didn't even want to come here, I was forced to. If all you guys are going to do is cast aspersions on a woman who's dead, I won't stand for it."
Chad turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.
All of Chad's sisters groaned and facepalmed as they heard that.
"Well...that happened," Uma said, staring after the irate royal. "You really think he's under a hypnosis Mal?"
"Now that I know what I know, it's kinda obvious that he is," Uma said, shaking her head at her scroll-self's question.
"I think he's under something," Mal sighed. "And unfortunately, until he believes it, there's not going to be anything we can do."
"You could always go to mom," Jane spoke up. "She could at least look into it."
Malinda paused. "Why didn't I do that?"
"Cotillion stress?" Benji suggested.
"Possibly," Malinda sighed.
Jane shook her head. "That's the end of the scroll. Who wants to read next?"
"I'll read," Shang offered. "Unless someone else wants to?"
Mulan chuckled at the silence. "Seems like it's all yours, dear."
Shang smiled before pausing as the other scroll that was sealed with the wax seal started to glow. "Guess we're reading this one," he said.