Chapter Sixty Three


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.

Another chapter for the record books! And what a chapter it is! Probably one of the more exciting chapters that have happened so far—though not the most exciting yet to come.

Oh yeah, I couldn't resist squeezing in a Julie and the Phantoms reference! The Kenny Ortega universe is infinite! :D

JaclynnM: No I agree, Uma should keep pushing but at least this Mal won't have to go through that. But that's a good point, Audie knows what happens when no one was there to push Mal.

OceanBlueSeaEyes: Well at least you're remembering it now! That is so true, Hadie outranks Audrey since I'm pretty sure Princess is under Godling in terms of a hierarchy.

miranda88: Irrational hatred seems to be Harry's M.O. lol.

danifan3000: There would definitely be a lot of Auradonians inn that club. And oh man I never thought of that—that's the stuff of nightmare fuel!

AmethystDragon14: Yay! Oh yeah, denial runs swift in the Hook family. And hello drama!

RiodranInfo: Huh, I never thought of it like that! That's a good way of thinking about things. :D

twilightgirl587: Aww, that would be cute! But would Hadie still go to the Isle with his mom every six months so he could see Hades and Mal or would he have to live on Olympus and never know his father? Oh yeah, Persephone is the de facto mom to those kids and it's fun to write that.

Marcus Emrys: Ah gotcha, just wasn't sure since there's technically two Audreys in the room. Oh that's a good idea re: the shower rooms since Audrey won't be the only one needing to throw up as they read that.

Unknown Person67: Hey, hope you don't mind that I combine my response to your reviews. First off, I'm so glad that you like my work but I definitely would recommend reading the fanfic series this is based on first to avoid any spoilers in the comments. That being said, I'm not going to be editing the bold parts since they're an already written series with plot points that affect later chapters. As for Hadie—he's like ten. There's been a rule in the Choosing series that kids in the Warf Rats don't date until fifteen. As for characters from Encanto joining, that's probably not going to happen since the characters who are there are impacted by the reading in some way, shape, or form. But glad you enjoy the story!

Christian Dino: Oh thank you so much! The Learning to be Royal club is something I came up with since there's so many Disney royals who started off in a lower status (Cinderella, Aladdin, Belle…) or they were born royal but never served their royal duties (Snow White, Rapunzel, Aurora…) so I thought a club where they could share their feelings on the transition would be a good idea. And yes, you can absolutely use it! I can't wait to read your story—a Descendants x Pokemon crossover sounds really interesting!

61394: Oh that is very true. Why do I picture Phillip Sr. holding on to Kit but just like, ever so lightly? Like a light breeze could break his grasp?

LotusQuil: Oh yay! I'm so glad you were looking forward to it! Oh yeah, Hadie would definitely suffer a bit if he had to wait till 200 to date. And you are not the only one! :D

a-person-on-the-internet-75: Oh I love this one-shot! I'm trying to avoid thinking about how much I'd want to include an innocent younger Freddy just because there're too many people in the room right now! But you're right, it definitely would be awkward yelling about how much you want to kill a person when the person is right there (granted in a deaged form but still there) :D

Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D


"You know, you're not exactly keeping up your 'keep Leah alive' duties if you read," Audie told Lucas as he grabbed a scroll.

"First off, not our Leah, not my problem," Lucas said. "Second of all, I never wanted those duties in the viewing in the first place so fine by me."

Audie chuckled. "Fair enough."

Akiho sighed as he stared at the essay he was supposed to be writing.

"Writer's block?" Emma asked. "Happens to the best of us."

However all he had in front of him was a blank page as his mind was elsewhere.

"Yep," Lonnie nodded. "Definitely sounds like writer's block."

"More like 'Akiho doesn't want to write his essay' block," Emir teased his best friend.

They were coming up on the one month mark since he had put in the request for that footage yet he had not heard a thing from the head of security from the docks.

"That's not good enough," Uma muttered as she shook her head. "Lives depend on that information."

"At least we don't have to worry about it," Harry pointed out. "Since Mali's Benny knows now and they already found the footage."

"…how are you so calm?"

"I'm trying not to terrify the youthier youth in the room."

"You mean Celia and Dizzy?"

"I do in fact mean your sister and the Tremainelette."

Maybe he was still on vacation? No, Akiho would have heard something if that was the case. Or he would have been put in contact with the deputy head of security of the docks.

"Why not copy the deputy head of security when you contacted the head?" Elle asked. "That way, they could have spent the month looking at the video clips."

"…can someone make sure to note that on Ben's recording?" Akiho asked. "Just in case I need to access dock recordings again?"

Akiho could only hope that their head of security wasn't somehow in Leah's pocket.

Kristoff shook his head. "We'd know if that was the case. At least I'd hope we'd know."

He doubted it but then again his mother hadn't thought Hans was a low life set on taking over Arendelle just for a shot at having a throne.

Anna sighed. "I was young and stupid, okay? Not to mention…he was the first contact I had with the world outside the castle walls in thirteen years."

Elsa winced as she heard that. No matter how much she told herself that it'd been her parents decision, there was a small part of her that always hated how her sister had been affected.

They were bad judges of character was the point he was trying to make.

"Not all the time," Anna said as she leaned over and kissed Kristoff on the cheek.

Well, except for when he met Ben. Akiho had to smile as he thought back on that fateful day twelve years ago.

"Also known as one of the best days of my life!" Akiho grinned. "Cause it was the day I met my best friends!"

"Go on Akiho," Anna said gently. "Mama and Papa have to go to a meeting. You stay here with Olaf okay?"

Elsa shook her head. "Why didn't you contact me? I would have watched Akiho for you."

"Olaf was excited to watch him," Anna told her.

"I'm just saying you had a qualified babysitter who could have been contacted who wasn't a snowman."

"And Akiho was in a castle filled with servants and staff, plus Kristoff and I were in a meeting with King Beast and Queen Belle. It wasn't as if we were in the Enchanted Woods."

"Okay mama," Akiho nodded.

"Aww," a few of the girls cooed as they heard that.

"Don't worry Anna, he'll be safe with me," Olaf said with his usual smile. Anna smiled and bent down to kiss Akiho on the head before walking out of the room.

Chip shook his head. "Leaving Akiho to his own devices is only slightly less dangerous than leaving Akiho and Emir to their own devices."

"We take pride in that!" The shadows exclaimed.

"Of course you do," Ben sighed.

"Hi!"

Akiho looked over to see a boy his age with light brown hair and brownish green eyes waving at him from the corner. How had he missed him?

"Surprisingly, Ben was very good at hiding and being inconspicuous at that age," Chip said with a chuckle.

"There's a secret passage over here," the boy said, as if he'd read Akiho's thoughts. "Chip showed it to me a few days ago. Oh! I'm Ben by the way."

"Or it could have been the secret passage," Belle added with a chuckle of her own. "Chip, what were you doing showing my son secret passages?"

"He was bored," Chip shrugged.

"So why not get him a book?"

"He'd read all of them in the kids section of the library!"

Abby chuckled. "Why does this not surprise me?"

"I'm Akiho…and this is Olaf," Akiho said, pointing to the snowman. "He's my babysitter while my mama and papa are in a meeting."

Elsa shook her head. "I still can't believe you didn't contact me," she muttered.

"But…he's a snowman," Ben said, tilting his head in confusion. "How…how is he alive?"

"We still don't know," Kristoff sighed, shaking his head. "It's better if we don't ask."

Akiho shrugged. "I don't know. Mama says he's my cousin because my Auntie Elsa made him but I don't know how he's alive."

"So there," Akiho said with a nod.

"Um…dude? No one was doubting you," Emir said, giving Akiho a look as if he was questioning his sanity.

"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" Olaf chimed in, walking up to Ben.

"You have to hug him now," Akiho told him.

"He'd hate the Isle then," CJ said. "With the exception of the crew of the ship or between siblings, we don't really hug."

"Okay," Ben shrugged and went over to hug Olaf. Akiho couldn't help but smile at the sight, most kids from other kingdoms ran away from Olaf whenever they saw him.

Anna frowned slightly, she hadn't known that. "Why? Olaf's harmless."

"I know," Akiho nodded. "But some of the other kids didn't expect a talking snowman."

"Their loss then," Melody said, shaking her head.

"Huh, he's warm," Ben said as he broke the hug. "Not cold like snow is."

"Maybe it's because Olaf's alive?" Akiho ventured.

"Maybe it's magic?" Another boy's voice ventured and both Ben and Akiho turned to look at a boy their age with jet black hair standing by the doorway.

"And the third member of the trio has come in," Emma smiled. "Good. Hearing about Ben and Akiho without Emir was getting strange."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to butt in."

"It's the first time of many," Akiho said as he and Ben began to laugh in amusement.

"It's okay," Ben said with a smile. "I'm Ben and this is Akiho and Olaf. What's your name?"

"Emir," the boy said, returning the smile. "My mama and papa are in a meeting."

"And the trio was born," Malinda said with a grin.

"Same with ours," Akiho said. "What do you want to do while we wait?"

"Please tell me there was an adult somewhere in that room," Chip said. "Otherwise we've left Emir, Akiho, and Ben to their own devices with just a snowman preventing their insanity and a known secret passage."

"Do you kids want to hear the story of The Two Sisters?" Olaf asked and Akiho groaned.

"Olaf! I've heard that story a thousand times!"

"And you've just captured Ben's interest," Chip said with a small chuckle.

"Story?" Ben perked up and Emir looked interested. Akiho shook his head but sat down next to his new friends.

"See? What did I tell you?"

"No one doubted you for a second, teacup," Lucas said, shaking his head.

"It began…with two sisters…one born with magical powers, one without…."

"How many times has he told that story?" Anna asked.

Akiho shrugged. "Does it matter? It's never as good as when he tells it around General Mattias. No matter how many times he hears it, he always freaks out."

The familiar melody of his ringtone broke through Akiho's thoughts and brought the Arendelle prince back to the present.

Benji snorted and began to sing along. "Reindeer are better than people, Sven don't you think I'm right?"

"He still hasn't changed his ringtone?" Ben asked, recognizing what Benji was singing.

"Nope," Benji shook his head.

"Why mess with a classic?" Akiho grinned.

"Hello?" Akiho asked as he answered his phone.

"Your highness. My apologies for the delay, I've only just finished combing through the footage you requested."

"I guess that's a fair point," Claudine said, her voice soft. "And I'm guessing it's a lot of footage he needed to comb through."

"Michael, there's no need to apologize. I know there was a lot of footage that needed to be looked at. But I take it from your call that you found something?"

"No, he's just calling to ask how the weather is over at Auradon Prep," Harry snarked, shaking his head.

"Let's ease up on the sarcasm, Harry," Harriet told him.

"But then I wouldn't get to say anything!"

"Yes your highness. Please keep in mind that we only have footage in the cloud system going back the past year but we still have the tapes as backups. I wanted to get you the most recent footage first."

"Whatever he can get is better than nothing," Ben said.

"Of course," Akiho nodded. His father had upgraded the docks' security system to make it more digital rather than the old way that they had before.

"The man has the right ideas!" Carlos said, nodding his head furiously.

As long as there was footage for them to see, Akiho was sure Ben wouldn't care whether it was from the tapes or from the cloud.

"Of course I wouldn't care!" Ben and Benji said at the same time.

"I was able to find one clip every month that fit your criteria, including one from the previous week."

"Last week?!" Several people cried out in shock.

Akiho froze, hoping that he had misheard the head of security. This…this surely wasn't still going on. Was it?

"I'm sorry Michael, I must have misheard you. Did you just say that it was this past week?"

"Michael wouldn't make that up," Akiho said, his voice low as he shook his head.

"Yes your highness."

Akiho sighed and shook his head. Gods, Ben was not going to be happy to hear that.

"No, I can't say I was very happy when I heard that," Benji said, shaking his head.

"Go ahead and send me those recordings Michael. And thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I know it's not fun to come back from your vacation and have a request like this."

"Thank Gods he did," Malinda muttered.

"Prince Akiho, it is my job to help both the King of Auradon and the Prince of Arendelle. I only wish I could do more."

"He's done his job though," Ben said. "The rest is up to us."

"If we need more, I know I will gladly call and ask you," Akiho promised. "Thank you again."

"We shouldn't need to call him though," Mal growled. "Just that should be enough to bury her."

"Of course sire. Those recordings should be in your inbox within a half hour or so."

"I'll be on the look out for them. Please let me know if you need anything."

"I will. Please send my best wishes to the King and to your parents."

Anna and Kristoff looked at each other.

"Michael's getting a raise," Anna said and Kristoff nodded.

Akiho couldn't help but smile at that. No matter what was happening, Michael always made sure to send his regards to Akiho's parents.

"It certainly pays to be on good terms with the people you employ," Eric said.

"Is that why Grimsby hasn't had a nervous breakdown due to the strain you put on his blood pressure dad?" Melody asked.

"I will be sure to pass along your wishes," Akiho said and quickly said goodbye before hanging up. Making a mental note to ask his dad to give Michael a raise, he turned back to his essay.

"I'll make sure he gets the raise," Kristoff nodded. "He's certainly deserved it."

If it was going to be half an hour before the footage was available, Akiho would need something to pass the time.

"And the essay would need to be done regardless," Kristoff said, looking at his son.

"What? You know I always do my work, dad," Akiho told him.

And besides…the essay needed to get done anyway. He could just picture Ben's look of expectant disappointment if Akiho walked into his office without at least starting the essay.

"I do not have a look of expectant disappointment!" Ben exclaimed.

"Clearly you don't look in the mirror when you're disappointed," Emir shook his head. "The look you give, Gods I think I'd feel better kicking a puppy than disappointing you! Hell, disappointing you is like kicking a puppy!"

Estelle whined softly as he looked over at Emir.

"…yeah, don't worry boy. Rajah would eat me before I harmed an animal," Emir promised.

Estelle gave him a doggy grin and went back to what he was doing.

Pulling the paper closer to him, Akiho began to write. Thankfully, the essay was for Advanced Chivalry and it was a five paged essay on what not to do as a prince.

"Don't kiss unconscious girls you find in coffins in the middle of the woods surrounded by seven grieving dwarves!"

"Don't dance with a girl all night and then have to have every eligible maiden in the kingdom try on the shoe she left behind because you didn't think to get her name!"

"Don't pretend to be a Prince in order to have a relationship with the girl you met in the marketplace and then lie when she finds out you're pretending!"

Elle shrugged as Emma, Kitty, and Emir looked at her. "What? Am I supposed to say 'don't get hypnotized?' Dad really doesn't have any antics that Akiho could use in that essay."

"Why thank you—."

"No wait…don't go back into a burning ship when you're the only heir to your kingdom!"

"It was for Max!"

Let's just say Akiho drew inspiration from a certain red haired former suitor of his mother's for most of the essay.

"I'm pretty sure his 'antics' as Elle put it would fill up your essay, Akiho," Elsa said, her voice cold as she talked about Hans.

He worked to keep his handwriting neat, knowing he would have to type up his rough draft at some point.

"You once wrote a story about 'phantoms' and I literally thought you wrote 'fat ones'," Emir chuckled.

"I get it, my handwriting sucks," Akiho shook his head. "We can't all be Ben with his perfect penmanship."

"All comes down to using a quill," Benji chuckled. "You go slow in order to maneuver it since it doesn't have a ball guiding the tip as you write."

"…yeah the teachers can suffer through my handwriting."

"And pup is not using a quill," Malinda said.

It was a joke amongst the Tourney team that the only reason why Akiho hadn't been made captain was because of his messy handwriting. He would always joke back that he wasn't the 'captain' type.

Ben and Emir looked over at Akiho.

"Really?" Emir asked. "Because you do pretty well as vice captain. Actually, who took the spot after Ben left?"

"Jay," Benji chuckled. "I offered it to Akiho since he was vice captain and he said he wasn't the 'captain' type. So I put my recommendation for Jay and Coach ran with it."

While he was born to rule Arendelle, Ben was born to rule everyone else.

"You got that right," Malinda said with a small smile.

It was funny though, Ben never acted like he was looking forward to the day where he would take the crown. Of course, when they were kids, they all thought Ben would be an adult and Beast would be well…dead.

Beast looked over at Abby and sighed softly. It was never the plan for Ben to have the crown this early, he thought.

No one predicted Beast abdicating and Ben getting the crown at sixteen.

"Well…maybe the Fates did," Rowyn whispered.

The pinging of his phone brought Akiho out of his thoughts and marked a good stopping point for his essay writing. Glancing at the email, the blond renewed his resolve to get a raise for Arendelle's head of security at the docks.

Anna nodded. "He's definitely getting one."

Not only did Michael include all the digital recordings but he also time stamped them and notated a summary of each clip.

"…okay definitely need to somehow find a way to give that man a raise," Audie nodded.

Okay, wait to watch with Ben, Akiho told himself. Watching without him will just get you angry and the last thing you want is to storm into the King's office upset.

"Though if Benji actually used guards, it'd be funny to see them tackle Akiho to the ground," Chip chuckled.

"There's a reason why I worry about your sense of humor," Lucas shook his head.

Especially if Ben's in a meeting or something. Though he doesn't really have that many meetings now, not since he got Dean as his personal assistant. And Mal.

"But I have Dean now," Ben said, tilting his head in slight confusion.

Benji chuckled. "You have him as one of your assistants now but after you're crowned, he became your chief personal assistant."

"So he got promoted?"

"Pretty much yeah."

Akiho smiled slightly to himself as he got up and made his way over to Ben's office, hoping that Mal would also be there. It'd save them the trouble of having to find her for one and would prevent the tapes from being delayed.

"Anymore than they already had been, you mean?" Kitty asked.

They all wanted irrevertible proof that Leah had done this, proof that she couldn't talk her way out of or claim that she was being set up as they knew she would.

"Good idea," Phoebus said. "She's surprisingly a very smooth talker—she and Frollo would get along now that I think about it."

Leah could talk he way out of anything. Honestly, Akiho had been tempted to see if she was related to Jafar with the smooth talking she could do.

"I'll pass on that," Jay said, shaking his head.

But that would make her somehow related to Jay. There was no way on Jörd's green earth Akiho would wish that on his teammate and friend. Plus that would also make Audrey related to Jay. Double no thank you.

"Yeah considering he flirted with me when he first arrived, that would just make things a bit too awkward," Audie chuckled.

"Yeah that sounds like Jay. Flirting with the first girl he sees," Mal nodded.

"He in there Dean?" Akiho asked as he reached the doors to Ben's office.

"You literally caught him at a free moment," Dean told him. "He's with Lady Mal right now."

"But if he's with Mal, then doesn't that mean he doesn't have a free moment?" Robin asked.

"Do I have perfect timing or what?" Akiho chuckled. "Can I go in?"

"Go right ahead," Dean nodded and Akiho strode on into Ben's office.

"Honestly, I'm just surprised you asked," Ben said, chuckling slightly.

Sure enough Ben was sitting at his desk with Mal perched on top of it, peering at some paperwork Ben was working on.

"What else is new?" Akiho, Emir, and Lonnie all asked at the same time.

Hang on, what's Mal wearing? And where's her jacket? Akiho thought as he looked at Mal.

Mal sighed and bit her lip as Ben gently rubbed her shoulder.

Akiho was not usually the type to notice what people were wearing,

"Oh really?" Ben asked, tilting his head as he looked over at one of his best friends.

with the exception of Ben and his suits,

"There we go!"

"You wear too many suits! If I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen you without a suit, then you wear too many suits!"

but the pale green dress seemed like something that would be more commonly found in Lucy Charming's closet. Not Mal's.

Evie looked over at Lucy and gave her a hesitant smile. "If…if you'd like, maybe I could design you something like it?"

"Oh yes!" Lucy nodded. "It sounds beautiful Evie!"

"Please tell me you're here because you've finished your essay and you want to celebrate," Ben chuckled as he looked up to see his best friend and pulling Akiho out of his thoughts.

"Why did I even ask when I know the answer?" Ben asked with a small snort.

"How long have you known me?" Akiho smirked.

"Good point. What was I thinking?"

"Meh, what can I say? I'm charming and irresponsible," Akiho shrugged.

"At least he knows and owns it," Elle said with a small giggle.

Mal tilted her head. "Doesn't he mean 'irresistible'?"

"No, he does not," Ben sighed.

"Exactly," Akiho nodded as the people who knew him shook their heads fondly.

"Thank you for the compliment Mal but I said what I said," Akiho chuckled. "I'm sorry to interrupt Ben but I need to talk to you."

"When are you ever sorry to interrupt my paperwork?" Ben asked, looking over at Akiho. "You once claimed I did so much paperwork that you were surprised that my butt didn't fuse to my chair."

"You're never an interruption dude. What's up?"

"I think Mal might disagree there," Macaria chuckled.

Akiho sighed and handed Ben his phone. "The clips are in. Michael sent them today, called me half an hour ago that he found them. I haven't looked at them yet, figuring you'd want to do that yourself."

Everyone in the room straightened up, even the newer arrivals. It was clear that this was it. The moment of truth.

Audrey bit her lip softly. She knew what the tapes were going to show but at the same time…she still held a bit of hope that it wasn't her grandmother who did all that.

Ben nodded slightly and took the phone from Akiho's hands. This was it, the moment of truth. They would finally have visual proof of Leah's wrongdoings.

But…at the same time, did he want to know?

"Whether I want to or not is irrelevant. I need to know," Ben said, his voice growing hard.

This was a woman who he'd known since he was three.

"Unfortunately," Benji muttered.

Granted they all despised the very ground Leah walked on but she was still going to be his grandmother in law before he got out of the contract. It wasn't hard to believe Leah would do something like this but believing it and knowing it were too very different things.

Mal frowned slightly. "Maybe…maybe Akiho should hit play. Or maybe I should do it."

"Scroll-me is the King though," Ben said, shaking his head.

"Doesn't matter," Mal told him. "This falls under delegating."

"Hey…" Mal said softly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You want me to do it?"

"I couldn't ask you to do that Mal," Ben said gently.

"You weren't asking," Malinda said as she gently kissed Benji on the cheek.

"You're not asking, I'm offering. There's a difference," Mal said, gently tugging the phone out of Ben's hands. "Akiho, what's your passcode? Your phone locked."

"Exactly," Mal and Malinda nodded at the same time.

"1119," Akiho told her. Mal nodded and punched in the passcode.

"And now I'm the one who has to change their passcode," Akiho sighed, shaking his head.

Thankfully the email with the clips was still opened when the phone locked so it was the first thing that Mal saw. She sighed and looked over at Ben.

"You ready?"

"No, I wasn't, but the kids needed me to be," Benji said with a small sigh.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Ben told her and pressed play. Akiho scurried over to see for himself.

Akiho nodded. "I'm not going to miss this!"

He immediately wished he hadn't.

"Why?" Squirmy asked.

Benji sighed as he glanced over at the young Smeeling before glancing back at the other VKs and AKs. "Okay guys, I know you're ready to yell but try not to terrify the younger kids."

"You drive a hard bargain Benny," Harry snarled as he glared at the still passed out form of Leah.

"Then do it because it's Captain's orders Harry," Harriet said firmly. "You're not to terrify Sammy's brothers."

Clip after clip of Leah meeting with members of the crew, slipping some of them envelopes that looked innocent enough at first glance.

Aurora sighed. "Unfortunately, we know that can't be the case," she said softly.

"But…what if the tapes were faked? Or edited?" Audrey asked. Sure they had seen the footage themselves earlier, back when the Fates brought in Milah, but what if it'd been faked in the scroll?

"Michael wouldn't do that," Akiho said, shaking his head.

Thankfully the crew members she handed them to were imbeciles and opened them in full view of the camera; showing the stacks of cash that were inside.

"Well…I guess the saying's true. There's no such thing as a smart criminal," David said softly.

"There aren't enough curse words in the world to satisfy me right now," Akiho muttered under his breath.

"Would you like some help?" Uma growled, her eyes growing hard.

Sure she already knew this to be the case, but that didn't mean she still wasn't outraged. Not only for herself since the Isle was her home but…for Harry too.

If there'd been enough good food, Milah might have survived giving birth to CJ and Harry might not have gone through hell all those years.

What was that line Mal said to Audrey outside Chemistry that one time? Akiho thought. Oh yeah: somewhere out there is a tree, tirelessly producing oxygen so that Leah can breathe. I think she owes it an apology.

"I so need to remember that one for when I'm insulting people," CJ grinned.

"Glad to help you out there, CJ," Mal chuckled.

"Think of the kids you can still get off the Isle, you can not go and kill her," he heard Mal growl under her breath. "Think of the kids you can still get off there, you cannot go and kill her."

"You have no idea how much I wanted to let you," Benji muttered.

"Mal, you won't need to worry about that," Ben told her as he stopped the clip. "This is sick! It's inhumane! It's…oh Gods, this was going on when I was with Audrey! Did Audrey know and not say anything?"

"As much as Audrey's behavior in the scrolls says otherwise…it would have been all over the school if she knew," Lonnie said.

"Knowing Audrey…no," Akiho sighed. "Ben, I know you can't say anything negative about anyone but Audrey's the biggest gossip in the school.

"I actually won 'Biggest Gossip' for one of the superlatives in our yearbook the year the VKs came to Auradon Prep," Audie chuckled. "Mal won 'Most Artistic' while I think Chad won 'Biggest Flirt'."

"Why am I not surprised?" Kitty shook her head.

Audie shrugged. "Well another year I won 'Most Likely to Succeed' with Ben so clearly I'm not the biggest gossip."

She shoved that memory back into the furthest corner of her mind—that'd been the day where her world started to unravel. No thanks to Leah of course.

If she knew, the entire school would have known in a day because she wouldn't be able to resist telling everyone about what her 'grammy' was doing to the Isle. Not to mention Leah wants Audrey to be Queen, she wouldn't damage her chances by involving her in something like this."

"Plausible deniability does seem like something Leah would do," Kitty sighed.

Mal growled and began to pace, her fingers twitching every so often and if one looked closely they would see that her green eyes were a glow. If one didn't know Mal that well, they might assume it was due to her anger.

"You might want to get down," Uma said with a small frown. "It sounds like she's about to explode."

However, after a couple of months of knowing Mal, Akiho was fairly confident that the glow was more due to her magic than anything else.

"Why else would they be glowing?" Sammy asked.

Having experience with magical relations, Akiho felt no shame in the fact that he jumped behind the couch in Ben's office.

"Good idea," Mal said with a small sigh.

"Very funny," Mal said flatly.

"Hey, I'm just preparing myself for the next fireball," Akiho quipped and Mal rolled her eyes. Akiho chuckled and looked over at Ben.

"Actually…it was a very sensible idea. Really Mali, I'm surprised at how much control you have there. If it was me…" Hades said.

"Wait, can we go back to where Lord Hades said Akiho was sensible?" Emir asked.

Aladdin shook his head. "Not the time, Emir."

"Yes dad."

"Ben, in all seriousness, you can't delay calling the council on this," the blond said.

Benji shook his head. "I wasn't going to. I knew how serious this was."

"And honestly, if it were me, I'd clean house there. They all had the ability to check the ship's log. I know my aunt and Emir's dad are on the council but still—"

Chip nodded. "Everyone shares some guilt for this in a way."

"I'd rather not have Ben have a council where he has no allies," Mal said. "Remove the ones who need it, but Aladdin would be a good voice to have on the council.

Aladdin couldn't help the small smile that pulled at his lips as he heard that. Yes it was a rather serious moment of the scroll but the fact that Mal trusted him to be an ally to Ben…

I mean of course he would, why wouldn't he? Still though, knowing he had Mal's trust meant something.

He's a former street rat, he of all people should sympathize with the Isle kids once he hears about everything that happened. Eugene's another good one, basically anyone who grew up poor would understand food poverty."

"Captain Phoebus would be another good one to keep in that camp," Emir said. "Granted I don't know if he's ever experienced food poverty but with how Esmeralda lived…"

"He does know we're in the room right?" Esmeralda asked and Emir flushed.

"Queen Elsa's another one I want to keep," Ben said. "She'd know better than anyone the pain of punishing a child for something they can't control."

Elsa smiled slightly as she heard that. "I hope to be prove that I'm worthy to—."

"Queen Elsa, I don't mean to interrupt but you and your family are some of the most trustworthy people in Auradon," Ben said.

"Yeah Aunt Elsa," Akiho nodded. "If Ben or Scroll-Ben removes you from the council it's because he got a case of the stupids."

"…wasn't it your scroll self who told him to clean house?" Anna asked.

"My scroll self got a case of the stupids."

Akiho sighed. While he loved the stories his mom and aunt would tell about his grandparents, he wasn't going to say they didn't mess up when it came to dealing with his aunt's powers. Especially with his grandmother being Northaldra. She would have known wouldn't she?

Elsa shook her head. "Not with the prejudicial attitudes toward the Northaldra, especially from our grandfather. She likely had to pretend she had no idea though I like to think that it was mother who found the map to the rock trolls."

"Why?" Anna asked.

"They would have reminded her of the Earth Spirits of the Enchanted Woods, most likely," Elsa said. "Besides…mother and father grabbed the map much too quickly for it to be by happenstance that faithful night."

Ben shook his head and pulled out his phone. "This isn't going to be pretty but it has to be done," he muttered. "Guess I should convene the council."

"I wish I could have done it for you," Malinda whispered, biting her lip and gently rubbing her stomach as the baby kicked, as if sensing their mother's distress.

Mal nodded and went to go stand by Akiho to give Ben some privacy.

"Gods, the fall out from this is going to be something…Mal, level with me. How many kids died because of what Leah did?" Akiho asked, keeping his voice down as to not interrupt Ben.

"More than what will ever be acceptable," Aladdin said, his voice soft.

Mal sighed. "Too many," she said softly. "I meant what I said a month ago, when this all started. My mom practically saved our lives. We have no medical system and kids ate what they could get Akiho. Dad set up the restaurant to try to get kids food when he could, he actually has a rule. Kids don't pay."

"…I didn't save nearly enough," Persephone sighed and shook her head.

"I wish I'd known," Demeter told her. "I would have helped you."

"You…you would mother?"

"Of course! You think I would just stand by and watch children die?"

"I wonder how many children died when you brought winter to the mortals," Persephone said and Demeter couldn't help but wince slightly.

"But adults do?"

"The adults made their bed," Hades said. "I don't see why kids have to sleep in it. If the adults were born on the Isle though, they still get their food for free. Unless they manage to anger me. Or go after my kids."

"Of course. The adults on the Isle actually did something to get put on there. Well, most of the adults. The kids who were lucky enough to grow up to adulthood don't have to pay. But adults like Hook, Ursula, the Evil Queen not that she'd ever step foot into my dad's restaurant. Honestly, the ones who eat the best on the Isle are the hyenas."

"And it doesn't take a genius to work out why that was," Tiana whispered.

"I'm going to regret asking this but why the hyenas?"

"You seriously couldn't guess?" Macaria asked.

Mal sighed. "They acted…well they acted as the clean up crew for the Isle. We handled the area around the docks but people would drop dead all over the place. Decaying bodies did not smell good."

"…yep I regret asking."

"Well I…I know it's horrible but they've still got to eat," Evan said softly.

"My crew actually formed an alliance with them back when Uma and I were six," Mal chuckled. "Evie, in her infinite wisdom, decided that Shenzi's cubs would be good as party favors in the little nasty bags she gave kids.

Evie shook her head. "Again, that was my mother. She thought it'd be a good way to cultivate allies."

"So she risked making an enemy of one of the more powerful entities of the Isle?" Uma asked. "Clearly, whatever braincells you have you got from your father."

I remember Gil got a cub but he brought it to the ship, he was under the crew's protection at that time anyway. Carlos got a cat from the nasty bag. Named her Beelzebub. I should talk to Ben about getting that cat back for Carlos but I doubt Dude would like that."

Carlos perked up. "I…I could have Bee?"

"Of course," Ben nodded. "I'll have someone bring your cat over as soon as we're done with this."

"Why didn't you bring her with you?" Emma asked.

"…I…my mother doesn't know I have Bee," Carlos said softly. "She lives in my tree house mainly but sneaks in at night to sleep with me. She's usually gone by dawn so I don't have to worry about…about my mother finding her."

She'd be big enough now that my mother would be thinking about what fur lined accessories she could make with Bee's fur, Carlos thought. Never mind that she's Lucifer's daughter and therefore mom would risk making an enemy of Lady Tremaine.

"So this got you into an alliance with the hyenas?" Akiho prompted, trying to get the subject back on track.

"One of the best decisions we've ever made!" Uma said firmly.

"Of course. Shenzi's the matriarch of her clan, her eldest female cub would be the future matriarch. Not to mention the cubs had no business being away from their mother at that age," Mal told him. "Getting them back to Shenzi was just good politics in a way, you don't want to screw over a hyena. Scar learned that the hard way."

"Oh yeah, Scar definitely learned that the hard way," Hyllus nodded.

"So what was the alliance?" Akiho asked.

"We'd get them fresh water, food if needed and they could eat whatever dead bodies they found," Mal said softly.

"So…basically the hyenas are alive because of you guys," Ashaki said.

"In exchange, we were granted immunity from being eaten if our crew was caught out at night and we could gather up our allies or any kids under the age of twelve who died before the hyenas could have their fill."

"It was the last thing we could do for the younger kids," Malinda sighed. "Give them a decent funeral that wasn't the inside of a hyena's belly."

"With all due respect Chi-Fu, I don't care! Your reports can wait, get yourself into the council room before I call guards to escort you in!" Ben snapped, cutting off Akiho who had opened his mouth. "Thank you for your cooperation!"

"Whoa…Ben's mad," Alexandria whispered.

"And no one can blame him in the slightest," Chip said.

"Gods, if this is what he's like with Chi-Fu, imagine what he'll be like when he has to call Leah," Akiho muttered.

"I'm almost scared to know," Mal muttered.

"Wouldn't he have called her first though?" Mal asked. "Get it out of the way?"

"I didn't think the other members of the council would get me so riled up," Benji shook his head. "I…I thought I'd have time to prepare my thoughts."

Mal's hopes were dashed by the next words out of Ben's mouth, however. "Hello Queen Leah? I'm going to need you to report to an emergency meeting of the council," he said, his voice neutral but Mal could tell there was a bit of an edge to it.

"I'm still in shock that you managed to stay that civil," Malinda muttered.

"It was hard but I managed," Benji shook his head.

"Yes, it is important. Do you think I call emergency sessions every day for no reason?

"No he does not and Gods forbid someone interrupts her day!" Abby exclaimed with a small glare.

No I will not tell you what the meeting is about over the phone. You'll find out with all the other council members—at the meeting. Yes, I do insist. Thank you! I will see you there. Please be sure to arrive promptly, it's important we begin straight away."

"As I have already said, why do you get to know before everyone else? You're not special!" Chip exclaimed, glaring at Leah.

Ben ended the call and, for a brief second, Mal honestly thought he was going to throw his phone against the wall.

Benji shook his head. He'd wanted to…but he didn't want to lose control in front of Mal. He didn't want to risk scaring her.

Instead, he opted to grab a pile of the reports and throw them in his frustration.

"Kids are dying because of her machinations and she has the gall to ask me what the meeting's about?!"

Hades nodded softly. "This might be surprising coming from me but good, let it out…and then send her to me."

"I'm pretty sure she'll be sent to the Isle," Poseidon said.

"Either way, she's mine," Hades growled.

Akiho stared in shock. This was legitimately the first time he had ever seen Ben lose his cool like this. Hey, there was a reason why they joked that Ben wasn't human.

"And I don't blame him for his anger!" Akiho said, shaking his head.

"Ben, you need to calm down," Mal said, walking up to his desk.

"As understandable as your anger is, you go in like that and it'll derail the meeting," Meg said.

"Mal, I…" Ben sighed, running a hand through his hair. "How can I calm down? When I look at those engine logs and see that video and just hear your brother asking if we hated the Isle so much that we'd willingly send them rotten food? And now I know the reason behind that question is Leah, someone I've known since I was a toddler?"

"Because us being calm is the only thing that stands between Leah getting justice and getting away with this," Malinda whispered.

"I know Ben," Mal said softly, gently resting a hand on Ben's upper arm. "Trust me, if it wasn't for all the kids still on the Isle right now and the fact that I'd like to avoid being sent back to the Isle, I'd have transformed into a dragon and gone after Leah. But I can't do that. We go after her in anyway but legally, she and her cronies will cry persecution so fast it'll make our heads spin."

"Hate to say it but Mal's right," Phil Jr. muttered.

"Mal, I promise you, there is nothing you could do that would get you sent back to the Isle," Ben promised. "I just…I need a minute. I know Leah's someone who's mentally trapped in the 1400's but like I said, I've known her since I was a toddler. I never thought she was capable of this."

"And I meant that," Benji said with a small sigh.

Mal gave Ben a sad smile as she brushed some of his hair out of his eyes before bending down to pick up the papers he had thrown. "Ben, you're the king. If you need a minute, take that minute. What's Leah going to do, yell at you?"

"Why yes, if I know Leah that's exactly what she'd do," Chip said, glaring at Leah.

"That's not out of the realm of possibilities," Akiho chimed in. "If you value your boyfriend's hearing Mal, you'd know it's a bad idea to tempt fate."

"Hey, can't Ben just give Mal permission to mute Leah if she does start her harpy impression?" Emir asked.

"Emir…"

"Dad, you never said I couldn't insult Leah! I just had to tone down the insults toward Audrey."

Mal snorted in amusement. "I'm a VK Akiho. We tempt fate every day."

"Fair point."

"That's not really funny," Lucy said softly.

Ben smiled at the interaction between the two of them. He couldn't believe how calm Mal was being throughout this whole thing…but then, maybe it made sense. She had already known the food was being delayed on purpose and Leah was…well she was someone who could only be described as a person who'd be visited by Christmas ghosts.

"I've never known Dickens to be used as an insult before," Belle said. "And yet…it's quite accurate."

"What…what does it mean?" Squirmy asked softly.

Belle looked over at the younger Smee and smiled gently at him. "There's a book where an older rich man learns to be nice to others around Christmas time with the help of three ghosts."

"And Leah clearly needs to learn to be nice," Audie nodded.

She wasn't worth Mal's anger.

"She wasn't worth it then and she's not worth it now," Benji said, nodding his head.

"Mal…why don't you come with me to the meeting?" Ben offered, an idea coming to him.

"You deserve to see the kids get justice," Ben said, nodding his head. "Plus you're a voice for the Isle the council doesn't have."

"Is that a good idea Ben?" Mal asked. "We're dating after all, anything I say Leah'll come back with an argument that you agree with it because we're dating."

"Mal is an affected party, she has the right to be there," Claudine said.

"The Isle needs the representation in this matter and you're the highest ranked VK, being the daughter of Hades and the niece of Zeus," Ben told her. "Leah can try to twist it all she wants, but if you don't want to you don't have to."

"Exactly what I said," Ben said as he nodded his head.

"You just agreed with your self," Abby pointed out.

Mal sighed. As much as she really didn't want to deal with Leah's craziness and the possibility of actually talking to her Uncle Zeus…Ben was right. The Isle did need the representation.

Belle nodded. "Perhaps when we get out of here, I can look into getting some representation for the council."

"Belle—."

"You are finally going to take a break. You have a Queen for a reason Adam," she told Beast before looking at her son. "And you are not even going to think about paperwork until we make sure you haven't been harmed in some way by the late nights and the meal skipping."

"…yes mom," Ben said softly.

"Alright," she said. "But if Leah says Maleficent's my mother, I make no promises about the lack of fireballs thrown her way."

"Oh just throw them at her anyway," Ashaki said.

Jasmine shook her head. "Ashaki! We do not condone murder!"

"But—!"

"Even if it's Leah!"

"Duly noted," Ben chuckled. "Akiho, what about you?"

"If I say anything but 'yes', assume there's something wrong with me!" Akiho exclaimed.

"Hmm…essay or watching Mal flambé Leah," Akiho said, pretending to weigh the two options. "Flambé it is!"

"Why am I not at all surprised?"

"Charming and irresponsible Ben. Charming and irresponsible."

Kristoff sighed. "At least you started on the essay," he said, as if trying to find a positive.

"And I'll finish the essay, I'm sure of it," Akiho nodded. "But come on dad. You know you'd choose going to the council meeting over paperwork."

"…you are so much like your mother."

"I think in this instance, our son is like you dear," Anna giggled.

Lucas shook his head. "Well that's the end of the scroll. Who wants to read next?"

"I'll read if nobody minds that is," Milah offered.

"I don't think anyone objects, Captainess," Smee told her.