Chapter One Hundred and Four
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!
Okay guys, we have just one chapter left of them reading Choosing Love and then it'll be on to Choosing Home! It's amazing to think how far we've come…and how much we still have to go!
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
James shook his head as he unfurled his scroll. There was so much about this that was completely mad and yet…he couldn't help but want to learn more.
Audrey paced her dorm room, livid as could be.
Phil Jr sighed. Here we go, he thought.
How dare Ben do that? Propose to Mal of all people when he should have been marrying her!
"I'm sorry, I thought there was a thing called free will!" Uma said, shaking her head.
Didn't he know how humiliating that was?
"How could it be humiliating? You weren't even there!" Rose exclaimed.
It was even worse than the whole school knowing he'd withdrawn from their contract, because she had to see that damn ring every time she turned around!
"Are you sure you're not stalking Mal?" Jay asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Gods, it was almost like Mal was following her or something.
"As if, I have better things to do," Mal scoffed.
But if she dared even say that, everyone would just say she was being dramatic or imagining things.
"You see? I'm upset and nobody cares!" Audrey muttered.
"Have you talked to anyone about being upset?" Rose shot back.
Dramatic? Her? She had never been dramatic in her life!
Akiho opened and then shut his mouth.
"Not touching that one?" Emir asked him.
"Not with a ten foot icicle," Akiho nodded.
But no one dared wanting to risk hurting Mal's feelings by confronting her about her almost stalking of Audrey so Audrey was the one who had to tamp down her feelings. Just another reason why rage pulsed though her body like a bolt of electricity.
"People can hurt my feelings all they like," Mal said with a shrug.
"I beg to differ," Hades, Persephone, Benji, Uma, Harry, Jay, and Hadie told her.
It'd been a week since Cotillion and all she had heard about was everyone gushing over Mal and Ben or talking about how brave Mal had been to go after Freddy!
"I mean, considering what he wanted to do to her…yeah Mal was really brave to go after him!" Melody said.
Oh yeah, they were calling Fredrick 'Freddy' because that's what Mal called him. Never mind that he might not want to be called that!
"Yes well I don't exactly want to be called 'witch' and neither does Uma but he doesn't exactly ask us about that does he?" Mal shook her head.
"Yeah, at least he's still being called something resembling his name," Uma said.
Even Chad had brushed her off when she tried to complain about how ridiculous everyone was being.
"Yay!" Alexandria cheered softly looking proudly at her brother.
Chad! One of her oldest friends, someone she thought would always be there to lend an ear when she needed to vent about something!
"Call me, Audrey, or your mother; you can always vent to us" Phillip said softly.
"I wish Grammy was here," she muttered to herself as she continued to pace her room. "She'd know what to do to make things make sense, to get things back on track and put everyone where they were supposed to be. But she's on the Isle."
"Where she deserves to be," Phil Jr said.
Well it was more that her body was on the Isle.
"Well yeah," Uma nodded. "Have you ever tried to take a meal away from the hyenas?"
Mother had given her and Phillip the news—she honestly thought her brother was going to start cheering had their parents not been there.
"She wouldn't shed a tear if I died. Why should I cry for her after how she treated me?" Phil Jr shook his head
"Because you could be the bigger person if she did treat you poorly," Audrey said.
"Uh huh. And why couldn't she have been the bigger person and not treated me poorly in the first place?"
And her father just looked slightly amused at his antics!
Phillip sighed. That probably wasn't the best look.
Honestly, I know father never quite cared for Grammy but I thought the rule was to think no ill of the dead? If I had done that, he would have lectured me about how we don't celebrate someone's death. Then again Phillip is a son while I'm just a daughter, Audrey thought as she grabbed her diary from her bedside table.
"That is not true Audrey. Neither your mother or I ever cared if you were a girl or a boy," Phillip said firmly.
"I think that's another thing we can blame Leah for," Aurora sighed.
Normally reading her thoughts was enough to calm her down.
"How full of yourself can you get?" Evan muttered.
But right now, looking at her past entries about her wedding plans with Ben, reading what her royal titles would have been—Queen of Auradon, Queen of Auroria, Queen of the Moors, all Audrey felt was rage.
"Okay Audrey we get it. You're angry but can we move to a different subject please?" Rose sighed.
That's all anyone really had been able to talk about, what the Royal Wedding would be like. And it made her sick.
"...And you're saying that you wouldn't be doing that times one hundred if for some reason it was your wedding?" Audie scoffed.
"I wonder who Mal's going to pick for her bridesmaids," Audrey heard Lonnie ask Jane as the girls made their way to class.
"I'll save you all the guessing," Malinda said with a small chuckle. "I had Uma as my maid of honor, with Harriet, Evie, and Alexandria as my bridesmaids."
"And I had Chip as my Best Man and Emir, Akiho, and Hadie as my groomsmen," Benji said.
No one noticed Chad's slight wince at being left out of the groomsmen list, though from what they'd read it had made sense. He definitely hadn't been as good of a friend to Ben as Emir and Akiho had been.
Neither girl had even noticed that Audrey was within ear shot, nor did they notice Audrey's new hair! She had run out and gotten it done a couple of days after Cotillion—bleached blonde with pink and blue highlights.
Oh dear… Audie couldn't help but think. That was the exact look she had when she went on her 'Queen of Mean' rampage…
If that was the type of thing to turn Ben's head then it was at least worth a try right? But no one even mentioned it! All they could talk about was Mal.
"Well yeah she's his fiancee and proven True Love. Why wouldn't he talk about her?" Emma said.
Oh sometimes they'd switch it up and talk about Uma, or Evie, or even that mutt that liked to hang around Mal! Didn't they know that a beast like that had no business being at a school?!
"Leave Estelle alone! He's a good boy!" Dizzy exclaimed and Estelle plodded over to her to give her a doggy grin.
Evie's not even that special, Audrey thought with a small scoff. Oh sure, she can do a round off and a backhand spring. Big deal, that's the same kind of tricks I can do but you don't see me bragging about how I basically carried the squad on my back!
"Excuse me?! We wanted to learn, Audrey! We want to learn! You were the one that didn't want to teach us!" Rose exclaimed.
None of the other girls wanted to learn how to do the tricks from me but Evie comes along and not only do I get kicked off the squad but all of a sudden they want to learn! From the girl who brought Maleficent to Auradon!
"We wanted to learn for years!" Rose insisted once more, shaking her head.
"Probably Uma for her maid of honor," Jane told the other girl, paying no notice to Audrey. Gods forbid the girl even say hello to her former friend!
"I mean…you barely say hello to me anymore," Jane said softly.
But now that she was buddy buddy with Mal, there was no room for Audrey it seemed. "Maybe Macaria and Elle for bridesmaids ? They are cousins after all and I don't really see her having more than four people in her wedding party."
The mentioned girls shot Mal a smile. "If you do ask Mal…we'd be honored," Elle said with a soft smile; Macaria nodding happily.
"Think Hadie would be ring bearer?"
"Isn't he kinda old for that role though? He's what? Eleven?"
"Not to mention he'd be even older by the time the wedding actually happened," CJ pointed out.
"Ah good point," Lonnie nodded and then smiled. "Five bucks says purple plays a role somehow."
"What about me made you think that you needed to lose five bucks?" Malinda asked.
"I won't take that bet," Jane chuckled. "And you know Ben's groomsmen will include Emir and Akiho."
"Nice to know that's confirmed," Emir said with a grin.
Audrey held back a scoff. Those half royals, groomsmen to the King?! Had Ben been marrying her like he was supposed to, he'd have only the most refined groomsmen!
"Well it's a good thing Ben isn't marrying you Audrey," Emir and Ahkio glared.
Phillip sighed and looked over at Aladdin and Kristoff. "I can promise you both, I'll be talking to her about this. This is not what Aurora and I taught her."
Chad of course would be his Best Man instead of that silly former teacup and she supposed Phillip Jr would be able to be a groomsman too.
"You know this'll shock you," Audie said. "Ben was my Man of Honor when I married DJ."
"I thought–?"
"Memories have been flooding to us from whatever copies the Fates put in our places," Lucas spoke up, cutting off whoever was going to speak. "Let me guess, the last memory upload was Audie's engagement?"
"Yep," Audie nodded.
"But…you can't have a male maid of honor!" Audrey exclaimed.
"Why?" Audie asked. "Let me guess? It simply isn't done?"
Chad tilted his head. "DJ?"
"Derek Jacobi," Audie said with a small chuckle. "I got to know too many Dereks so I needed to make it so his name stood out."
"Ah."
Though he'd have been better as the ring bearer.
"Audrey, I'm not that much younger than you! A ring bearer is like four, maybe six at the oldest!" Phil Jr sighed.
Oh sure he'd probably make a fuss about how it would be humiliating but Audrey would be the bride. He couldn't say no, not on one of the most important days of her life after all.
Phil Jr. sighed "..is that something you'd really want? I'd really prefer to be a groomsman in this hypothetical never-happening situation…"
"Think Evie will design the dress?"
"After the gorgeous dresses she made for Mal and Uma, plus the dress she made for Mal to wear to Ben's coronation? I think Mal would have to be insane to go with anyone else."
Evie blushed. "I'd be happy to make it Mal, really."
"You know Akiho asked me to provide security?" Lonnie chuckled.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Aziz shook his head.
"I'm pretty good with a sword and if Ben asks Harry to be one of his groomsmen, they're going to need someone to make sure the wedding doesn't get attacked."
"Aren't they holding off though? That's the rumor around school."
"Well considering Ben would not purposefully anger two Gods…yeah I'd say they're holding off," Emma nodded.
"Well yeah I mean they've got to graduate after all! Could you imagine The Gazelle running a headline like: Teenage King Doesn't Graduate? Or King's Shotgun Wedding: Prince or Princess Coming Soon?"
"Please do not give them ideas!" Mal and Ben cried.
"Now you can see why I wanted to wait," Malinda chuckled.
"Shh! Don't give them any ideas," Jane said but giggled slightly.
"Please, after Ben's press statement, I doubt they'd go after Mal any time soon," Lonnie said and Audrey rolled her eyes.
"If they do…" Persephone and Hades growled, a note of warning in their voices as Posideon and Demeter's eyes flashed at the thought.
Yes Ben had issued a press statement about the reports that'd been done on Mal by The Gazelle. The statement basically said anyone speculating Mal's parentage was within their rights to take it up with Lord Hades and Lady Persephone but any one running an article on it would be sued on grounds of libel.
"Go Ben!"
"That plus the rumors that Lord Hermes was driving them up the wall? The Gazelle will probably stay away from Auradon Prep until we graduate," Lonnie said, continuing to talk as if Audrey wasn't lost in thought.
"Can we make that happen?" Kitty demanded.
"Oh trust me Kitty, The Gazelle will stay far away from Auradon Prep," Cinderella said. "And thank you for reminding me that we need to have a talk with you and your sisters and brother about what they've been writing about you four!"
"Oh, happy, happy day," Jane grinned. "That's less stress for mom and I know it's less stress for Mal and Ben. They definitely don't need it right now though I'm pretty sure they haven't come down from cloud nine."
"I do appreciate it," Fairy Godmother nodded.
"So did we," Malinda said with a smile.
"I think the only time they'll be happier is when they start having kids," Lonnie smiled and Audrey rolled her eyes. If she had talked about her future kids with Ben back when they were going out, Lonnie would have told her she was being ridiculous to think about kids when she was a teenager.
"...I dislike the fact that I agree, but I have to. Babies should not have babies," Hades said.
"Oh! I wonder if they'll have a boy or a girl?"
"Why not both? Can't you picture Ben talking about wanting a little Mal running around the castle?"
"It doesn't matter whether they're a boy or girl, they will be loved" Benji and Malinda both said with a smile as the baby kicked.
"Oh and Mal would deny it but you know she'd want a little Ben, clutching a book and politely demanding he read to her."
"I have no problem with that," Malinda chuckled.
"And I will take as many kids as Mal's willing to have," Benji added.
"Good answer," Hades muttered.
Audrey couldn't take it anymore. A little Mal?! It was supposed to be a little Audrey Ben imagined, because she was supposed to be his future wife!
Malinda scoffed softly. "If he had married you, I highly doubt there would have been a 'wedding night', let alone a child for years and I doubt he would have been thinking of you during the conception."
"If you two could stop walking like you're going to your execution! Some of us would like to get to class!"
"Now you're likening Mal being engaged to Ben to an execution? Drama Queen," CJ muttered.
"Oh hey Audrey," Lonnie said as she looked over her shoulder, giving the Princess a small smile. "Missed you at Cotillion."
"Did you really?" Audrey muttered, not really believing it.
"I'm sure you did," Audrey muttered as she pushed past the two girls and continued on her way. Still, even class wasn't an escape as she felt everyone's eyes on her. Like they were thinking: Poor Audrey. She was going to be Queen and then Ben broke his promise and her heart.
"Consent Audrey, it's a thing," Macaria sighed.
Audrey shook her head and threw her diary across the room so that it hit the opposite wall and slid down to the floor. How could they just side with Mal?! Didn't they remember anything about what her mother did to her family?!
"I'm sorry, what's Lady Perphone ever done to the Rose family?" Claudine shook her head.
"I think she's talking about Mal's egg donor," Henry shook his head.
Her mother, forced to grow up with no knowledge of her royal linage. Her grandmother, forced to give up her only child to three fairies, women who had no business raising a Princess! Her father, held prisoner! All because Maleficent had to be petty about not being invited to a party!
"Like you're being 'petty' about not being Ben's girlfriend any more?" Lonnie shook her head.
Honestly I don't blame Grammy for not inviting her, Audrey thought as she stormed over to the mantle.
"Maybe so but then she shouldn't have invited everyone else."
There, she could see all the photos taken throughout the years of her and Ben. Displayed proudly as a testament to their love. Their love Ben forgot about. Their love he crushed under his heel like he did her heart!
"I highly doubt that," Chip muttered. The only thing 'crushed' was Audrey's ambition to be Queen!
Picking up one of the pictures, she smiled slightly as she stared at the last time Ben had truly loved her. Before that...that witch came along and made it so she would have Audrey's life! Mal was now the most popular girl on campus, she was dating Ben...she was engaged to Ben!
"...I'm really not liking how much you sound like Fred here," Claudine said.
"Ugh!" Audrey shouted, throwing the photo on the nearby sofa. The force from the throw caused the photo to bounce upon landing and ended up on the stone floor; cracking the glass slightly.
"...This will not end well," Ben whispered; he sadly had experience with tempers and anger.
Audrey frowned and bent down to pick it up. Ben's section of the photo was fine, practically untouched. But her side...there were cracks going up and down the glass. They were tiny, practically invisible unless you ran your hand over the picture.
"Ironic," Audrey mutters.
Huh, isn't that perfect? Even the photo Ben gets to remain untouched while I crack away. No one to care what I want. Mother just granted Ben approval to remove himself from our contract, never consulted me! Never wanted to see if I wanted to end the contract! Ben just threw my grandmother on the Isle, never carrying that I might want to say goodbye. Because it's all about what Ben and Mal want. No one else matters apparently.
"...To be fair she does kinda have a point there….she really should have been in the meeting where Ben's consent was removed…" Lucas said softly.
Her hands curled into fists as rage filled her veins once more. Ben and Mal were content to just chip away at her life while she had to bite her tongue.
"No one chipped away at anything Audrey. There were plenty of other Princes out there, you could have had your life if you didn't act like a brat," Melody muttered.
Audie shook her head. "He doesn't even have to be a prince! DJ makes me happy and he's not a prince!"
"No more," she muttered to the empty room. "Bennyboo thinks I'm going to just sit by and be nice while Mal steals my life? He's got another thing coming! She's got another thing coming!"
"Whatever I had was either earned or given willingly," Malinda rolled her eyes.
They all did. Auradon turned her back on her to focus on Mal, her own brother was even gushing over the little faux-cul, the hypocrite.
Takes one to know one Audrey Phil Jr thought before he could stop the thought from entering his head.
Oh so VKs coming from the Isle were okay as long as they kissed the ring huh Mal? Audrey couldn't help but wonder what Mal would do if Ben dared to invite a VK she didn't like.
"The only VK Mal truly hasn't liked is Freddy and it should be well known by now why he wasn't coming over Audrey," Benji says firmly.
After all I heard her on the radio. She seemed almost itching for a fight, even when Fredrick had only walked up to her and Bennyboo, Audrey thought.
"He also wasn't invited!"
"Still no reason to be rude to him!" Audrey insisted.
And what did Fredrick get for it? A sword fight and wounds he's probably still recovering from! Honestly, if I had transformed into a dragon, the thief and the ice man would be telling Ben to run away and get out of our relationship.
"He threatened to murder someone Audrey! Two someones actually!" Chad said in disbelief.
Oh wait! That's what they did throughout the year we were dating! Never mind the years of our friendship they spent poisoning Ben against me! No wonder it was so easy for Mal to just swoop in and steal him from me!
"Oh for the love of-no I'm not even going to- she's- we could say that Ben can't be spelled till we're blue in the face," Lil Shang muttered.
She was so done with everyone thinking she wouldn't fight back as they took advantage of her, as they stole what was hers! Evie with the cheer squad, Mal with Ben and now her role as future Queen of Auradon!
"Audrey…" Ben whispered. He didn't want to believe this…he didn't want to believe his friend, ex or not, would go this far….
Maybe it's a good thing Grammy's dead for this, Audrey thought. At least then she won't have to say the words Queen Mal. Oh Gods, the sycophantic idiots that follow Mal around would probably gush about how cute it was, the fact that both King and Queen had three letters in their name.
"She'd faint and disown you if she was alive for this," Audie said, glaring at Audrey.
Never mind that her true name is Maleficent—I was the only one who paid attention when Maleficent let that little tidbit slip at the coronation. How long did Mal really think she was going to be able to hide that?
"It's Malinda, legally and consciously" Mal said with a glare.
Not to mention Ben often wanted to go by that ridiculous nickname of 'Benji' that Chip liked to call him.
"The difference is he likes that nickname," Chip shook his head. "If Benji ever asked me to stop, I would."
Honestly, that teacup needed to know his place—talking to the king like that? Only she could do that, because they had been of the same rank!
"Chip's 'place' is by my side as my brother," Benji said firmly.
She never quite cared for him, he always gave her a look like he thought she wasn't good enough for Ben.
"Oh believe me Audrey, it's mutual between the two of you," Malinda muttered.
Imagine! A commoner thinking a Princess wasn't good enough to date a Prince! It was enough to make her blood boil!
"Your rank had nothing to do with it Audrey, it was the way you treated Ben that made you not good enough!" Chip said with a glare.
"If Auradon wants a Queen, then they'll get a Queen," she muttered, snatching one of the fireplace tools and stormed out of her room. She knew exactly where she needed to go: the Museum of Cultural History.
"…The more things change…the more they stay the same," Audie muttered to herself.
Thankfully, it was dark enough that no one saw her as she made her way to the museum. Not that anyone was out anyway. They were all off celebrating the engagement no doubt, or at least Mal and her insipid followers were.
"Get new guards for the museum," Kristoff muttered.
Gods, it'd been a week. Get over it and talk about something else why don't you?
"Like you'd 'get over it' if Ben had proposed to you," Lonnie muttered, rolling her eyes.
Smirking as she found the door unlocked, she strolled in as the guard started to go to sleep. She didn't want any video of this. Video had been Ben's reasoning of chucking Grammy onto the Isle though honestly Audrey figured that it was just an excuse.
"How could it be? What reason is there for it to be faked?!" Ahkio cried..
Everyone knew the Le Bête family didn't care for her grandmother. They were just too polite to say anything to her face.
"Well Leah didn't exactly like them either," Snow muttered.
With a few keystrokes, the cameras were turned off and Audrey made her way through the museum. She didn't need a map to know where she was going. She'd made the trek to this particular exhibition numerous times when she'd been dating Ben. The crown of the Queen of Auradon.
"...Why is it so easy to do that? There should be a code input to turn the cameras off to stop this," Carlos exclaimed.
Her crown. The crown that she was supposed to just give up and let Mal take, like she'd taken everything else.
"No one has a right to a crown," Mal said with a glare.
"I was raised to be Queen since birth!" Audrey exclaimed.
"Still doesn't give you a right to it and for the record, at that moment it was actually Belle's crown," Malinda said, backing her younger self up.
I'm sick of it! Everyone's like oh boohoo, poor Mal! She suffered on the Isle! What about me? What about my suffering?
"'Suffering? 'Your suffering is a drop in the bucket compared to what all the VKs have gone through. But since you seem to be obsessed with Mal, we'll use her as the main example. Let's recap: We have learned that Mal has been kidnapped, starved, beaten, been the victim of attempted murder and deals with numerous threats daily;most of which happened before she was even ten. Whereas your only 'suffering' was a break up that you made worse for yourself because you refused to make it amicable! Suffering? You don't even know what suffering is!" Phil Jr cried, shaking his head at his sister's self entitlement.
Mal's not going to even miss this crown anyway, she'd probably demand that the colors get changed to something like purple and blue no doubt. And Ben would do it, because he doesn't even know how spelled he is!
"...She's actually somewhat right…I never used that crown, we had a new one made for me," Malinda said.
Swinging the tool, she hit the glass container and smirked as it shattered on impact.
"...Don't cut yourself" Aurora whispered before she could stop herself. No matter what, Audrey was still her child. The last thing she wanted was to be cut on glass…
Her hand reached out and grabbed the crown.
"People make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed…people make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed…" Anna muttered to herself. The thought of someone stealing an established royal's crown…it felt too much like what Hans had had planned. But she had to remind herself that Audrey wasn't a grown man but a teenage girl dealing with so many emotions and with no one she felt she could talk to about them.
As she turned to leave, the curtain separating the exhibit from the ones in the other room drew to reveal Maleficent's scepter. The gem glowing as if someone was controlling it.
"...Evil intent, it can sense it," Malinda muttered darkly.
Audrey walked toward it, as if she was a moth drawn to a flame. The scepter...were they really just going to let it sit there?
"No we are going to break it so you can't use it," Mal muttered.
Such untapped potential and it was basically shoved into a closet of all things. As if Auradon was content to just forget about it, now that Mal had basically turned her back on Maleficent, insisted that she was one hundred percent Olympian.
"Because I am!"
"Because she is!"
Someone would need to use the scepter wouldn't they? No use for it to just sit there collecting dust with the other artifacts collected when the villains were rounded up.
Aurora bit her lip. How did she go so wrong as a parent that her daughter would go this far…?
The poisoned apples. The Black Cauldron. Maleficent's spinning wheel...which Audrey really had to wonder why they kept that out in the main room instead of having it here with the other artifacts.
"Because nobody wants to see it," Celia muttered.
If Mal's just going to steal my life, then why shouldn't I do the same? She should know how it feels, to have the thing that defined you taken from you without you even knowing it was happening! Oh she can play pretend with Uma, act as if she's a Princess. But she's nothing but a VK! Everyone knows they have no royal status, no matter how much they claim otherwise, and I'm the one who's supposed to be Queen! It's my birthright after all!
"...I never pretended I was a Princess, I don't even want to be a princess," Mal muttered.
"But…you are," Hadie said. "Dad's King of the Underworld and you're dad's daughter."
She put the crown on her head and, with a flash of light, changed. Her light pink outfit turned into one that was more dark pink, something that wouldn't have looked out of place on a VK. Her bluebird necklace changed to that of a raven. Even her makeup changed to a more dark, a more sinister look.
"Huh….Maleficent's true daughter," Herkie muttered.
"Excuse me?!" Audrey cried.
"Oooh, I like that feeling," she muttered as she lifted the scepter and felt the power tingle through her veins. "Why would Mal ever want to give this up? Sure Maleficent's an evil fairy but no one messed with her! Just like no one will mess with me!"
"Okay that's it!" Audie exclaimed and stood up.
"Wha-?"
Audie's glare stopped Audrey from speaking as Audie began to pace.
"You want to talk about power and being powerless? You're throwing your life away over a breakup! You know nothing about being powerless, about having your life messed with and not being able to stop it!" Audie said, her voice near a growl as some familiar lyrics came into her head.
"Anyone else hear music?" Evan asked before his sisters shushed him. No one wanted to draw attention to themselves.
"Something is pulling me, it's so magnetic," Audie began to sing, her low voice sending chills down everyone's spine. "My body is moving, unsure where I'm headed. All of my senses have left me defenseless, this darkness around me is promising vengeance. The price that I'm willing to pay is expensive, there's nothing to lose when you're lonely and friendless. So my only interest is showing this princess that I am the Queen and my reign will be endless!"
"Whoa!" Lucas exclaimed and got between Audie and Audrey, Audie's extended finger accidentally poking Lucas in the chest.
"What are you doing? I thought you weren't–."
"I'm not on Leah duty, I'm doing this for you," Lucas said.
"Why?! Someone has to teach this self absorbed, egotistic-!"
"You'd never forgive yourself if you hurt anyone, Audrey. Even if it was an evil and narcissistic version of you. Come on, just…let's just sit down. We'll have a break later and you can scream at some training dummies. Besides, you're scaring the Smee twins."
Audie deflated slightly and flushed at the realization. "Oh…sorry…"
"You're not the one who should apologize," Phil Jr. muttered as Lucas and Audie sat back down.
As if to punctuate her point, Audrey fired the scepter toward the chandelier that was hanging in the room. It exploded, sending sparks flying all over the place.
"And we can add 'destruction of property' to her list of wrongdoing," Macaria muttered.
Audrey smirked as she strolled out of the room. There was one more thing she needed to pick up.
"Oh it just keeps getting better and better. How much theft are you planning?" Harry shook his head.
Mal had made a big show about donating her spell book, well actually it was Maleficent's spell book, to the museum. Stating how it was time it was seen by all of Auradon and not hidden away. That there was no need for Maleficent's magic when her life was already so magical.
"I didn't want it in the first place, I only took it out of spite for the loon," Mal shook her head.
Audrey wanted to gag. And of course no one questioned how Mal had Maleficent's spell book, they just thought she was so good to donate it. Jane spent a week going on about having the chance to read it, to go over the history of the Fae that might have been in there.
"Jane dear, there are a lot better books to read if you want to read about the Fae," Fairy Godmother told her daughter.
Why would Maleficent of all creatures keep notes on the Fae? Just because she was one, didn't mean she cared. Audrey didn't go about keeping notes on other humans just because she was a human.
"…..Does she kinda have a point?" Dizzy asked with a bit of uncertainty.
"Nah," Hadie shook his head. "She's got a diary after all, isn't that also taking notes on other humans if she mentions them in her diary?"
She paused as she saw the spell book, sitting proudly on display.
"Don't do it Audrey," Chad said softly.
It was part of a new exhibition after all—the VK wing. To show the new VKs how the ones that came before them succeeded and became good. Well, more like they pretended to be good until the right moment came around.
"And what crime of their own free will have the VK's committed since they've been in Audradon?" Hades asked, raising an eyebrow.
Evie's stunt at the coronation ring any bells? Oh but wait, no one cared about that. Not since she became a cheerleader and pretended to be sorry about stealing the wand, about ruining Ben's coronation.
Evie winced at that.
"Evie was blackmailed into doing that and she showed remorse! Something you clearly don't feel!" Neal glared at Audrey.
But unlike the crown, there was no glass container to smash. All Audrey had to do was reach over and snatch the book.
"Put it back," Celia glared at Audrey.
"Yeah to quote Hadie about his hair, no touchy!" CJ said with a glare.
"Well well," she smirked as she flipped through the pages. Mal, of course, had defiled the book with notes along with Jay—Uma and the filthy pirate she was obsessed with joined in later on.
Harry put his arm around Uma's shoulder to hold her back as she glared "Leave her cap'n, she's demented. We all know I bathe at least every two days."
But the spells were still usable. Were still legible.
"Note to self make the spells in the book illegible," Mal muttered.
"I think it's time I picked up some back up," Audrey muttered as she slipped her spell book into her pocket. Poor Fredrick must need some company after all, locked up all by himself.
"Oh so you're saying you'd like to be in a cell with him?" I think that can be arranged. After all you're committing crimes here," Jay growled angrily.
Honestly, Audrey had no idea Auradon even had cells but then again, Auradon Prep was Beast's old castle before Auradon was founded.
"He's in the school where he could be around children?" Some of the parents exclaimed.
It'd make sense that a castle have a dungeon.
"...Could we not go there?" Beast says softly not wanting to think about the time he'd locked his future wife and father in law in said dungeon.
"Sleep well Mal," Audrey muttered with a smirk, the light of the full moon casting an eerie shadow over her face. "You're going to learn just why it's a bad idea to steal from me. And I'm sure Fredrick would love to get his revenge on you too. Why should I have all the fun?"
"You wouldn't…." Jane whispered, staring at Audrey in shock.
She turned on her heel and headed out, her mind set on only one thing.
To get Fredrick on her side before Ben chucked him back onto the Isle, the place where he didn't belong.
"What?!"
"Don't you dare!"
"Are you crazy?!" the Rats and Claudine exclaimed.
"Well…that's the end of that scroll," James said. "Who wants to read next?"
Phoebus sighed. "I will."