AN: I'm sick and can't sleep, so this chapter is being put out sooner than expected.
danifan3000 - 1) Very lucky. 2) I honestly want to know WHERE he got the sexism from, cause I can't see Kit teaching him that. Although, he's been at Auradon Prep for some time and away from his parents, so it very well has been outside influence. I can see Mr. Deley being sexist...
3) That honestly DID NOT cross my mind XD Thankfully in this story, monsters don't hunt demigods. (Demigods, however, all seem to incredibly stubborn and crave adrenaline and do hunt monsters. Someone needs to keep Auradon safe.)
AmethystDragon14 - I don't hate him either, he's done bad things, but right now he just needed (and probably needs more tbh) scolding. Thank you!
OceanBlueSeaEyes - Oh my gosh, yes! It should be a recurring thing in the stories, Mal just discovering more and more strawberry treats.
jedblack1997 - I honestly can't see Ella completely disowning Chad. I mean, what he did was horrible but it could have been even worse, and this is the same woman that forgave at least Anastasia. But other than that, as Chad still seems to be heir to his kingdom in the second movie, I can't have her or Kit disown him.
flurry - Yeah, Chad and Audrey are going to be in for a ride. Persephone has brown hair with pink highlights in this! And yes, Hadie is older in my stories! I thought it would be an interesting dynamic, and the way I built my world in my other fic just has older!Hadie work better.
Jane was in Mal and Evie's room. Mal was drawing and Evie was sewing as the younger girl ranted about what her mother had said. "'If a boy can't see the beauty within, then he's not worth it.' Can you believe that?"
"I think your mama's advice is sound." Josie Sweet, who had so far been quiet, told the younger girl gently. "I wish I believed that at your age. Trust me, Jane, you do not want to be with a boy who only likes you for how you look.
Jane asked what world her mother lived in. "Auradon," Mal joked.
Evie then got Mal's attention and held up the dress she was working on, asking if Mal liked it.
Mal said yes, saying it brought out Evie's eyes, with Evie responding, "I know."
"How long have you been making clothes, Evie?" Anna asked
"Since I was around seven." Evie said, "I was… home a lot. And of course, we never got nice clothing, so I liked to make my own!"
Mal nudged her shoulder and smiled at the royals, "She takes care of all of our clothing. I don't know where we'd be without her."
Evie laughed, "Probably horribly dressed like the Coven or Saints." She teased, causing Mal to roll her eyes.
"Coven or Saints?" Ben asked Mal quietly. With the amount of mental notes her was making, he wished he had a notebook and pen.
"Two Isle gangs." Mal explained. "The Coven is full of witches and others who are into magic. I was offered a spot once."
Jay chuckled darkly, "It didn't go over well." He said, thinking about what had happened to Maddy's hair after she suggested Mal ditch her current crew to join hers.
"And the Saints?" Aksel asked.
Carlos answered, "A gang run by Cedric Frollo."
"Frollo?" Esmerelda asked with a gasp. "Claude Frollo has a child?"
"Two." Mal said. "His daughter is Claudine."
"He has a daughter?" Esmerelda grabbed Phoebus hand. How did they not know about this? How did they slip through the registry? Frollo had children. The man who locked Quasi in a clock tower, who tried to burn down Paris because he couldn't have her, and no one did anything when they found out that he had not just a son but also a daughter.
"Are there any children on the Registry?" Phoebus muttered, his need to investigate only getting stronger. At this rate, they'd be staying in the capital for a while so he could figure out what was going on.
"I'll never get a boyfriend!" Jane complained. Mal told her that boyfriends were overrated, and Evie asked Mal how she would know that, pointing out that Mal had never had a boyfriend.
"It's 'cause I don't need one, E." Mal shot back in annoyance, before looking over at Jane and telling her that boyfriends were a waste of time.
Ben leaned down to kiss Mal's cheek, and whispered, "How do you feel about that now?"
She tilted her head and grinned, "I might be changing my mind."
Evie suddenly started to panic, saying she forgot to do Chad's homework. Mal then said, "And that is exactly what I mean."
"Hey now, don't base all of us guys on Chad!" Amir said. "And if we start to act like Chad, smack us!"
"Amir!" Jasmine scolded, as laughter was heard around the room.
As Evie got out Chad's homework, a knock sounded on the girl's open door. Lonnie stood there and introduced herself, mentioning that Mulan was her mom. She didn't get a response from either of the Isle girls.
"So I guess I'm not that popular on the Isle?" Mulan asked curiously.
"No, no, no, you're popular." Evie said, the others nodding along.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you have a body count." Jay explained, watching the woman's face morph from surprise to horror.
Mal threw the top of a strawberry at his face, "That is not the only reason and you know it." She scolded. She then turned to look at the older woman. "You broke the rules and proved that girls can fight." Mal explained, "Shan Yu and his men aren't the most popular people on the Isle, so a lot of girls had no problem looking up to you, and that includes some of the Huns' daughters."
Lonnie brushed it off and told Mal that she loves what Mal did with Jane's hair. "And I know that you hate us," she said, "And, well, you're evil,"
"Lonnie!" Mulan scolded.
"It's fine!" Mal called out. "Didn't hurt our feelings. Evie?"
Evie delicately shrugged a shoulder. "That's a compliment on the Isle," She said. "Doesn't hold a candle to some of the things we've been called."
The girl's words made Esmerelda flinch as memories of things she'd been called flooded her head. She couldn't begin to imagine the words that must have filled those kids' heads.
Lonnie then asked if Mal would do her hair. Mal asked why she would do that, and Lonnie told her she'd pay her fifty dollars. Evie said that was a good answer and began to take charge, but Lonnie stopped her saying she wanted it cool. "Like Mal's!"
"The split ends too?" Evie asked.
"There's nothing wrong with Mal's hair, Evie." Naomi said, with a disapproving look directed at the older girl.
Evie bit her lip, "Sorry, M."
Mal groaned and rolled off her bed, then grabbed her spell book. Only this time, she changed the words to the spell, saying to replace the old with cool hair.
Much like before, Lonnie's head was moved with Mal's hand motions, and when she lifted her head her short black bob morphed into long, brown waves.
"With that wording, I was expecting something a bit different." Ebba whispered to Abi.
"Yeah, that's pretty much the average princess hairstyle, and I say that as someone who prefers the average princess hairstyle."
"I know, I know. It looks like a mop on your head." Evie said.
"It does not!" Jordan yelled. "It looks beautiful!"
Evie said that they can cut it all off and layer it, but Lonnie interrupted her and said that she loved it. Evie dubiously asked, "You do?"
"Wow, you really wanted to cut her hair." Jamila said with a raised brow.
Evie flushed, not exactly proud of how she had acted. If she had to admit it, she had been a little jealous of Mal as the girls at Auradon Prep flocked to her to have their hair done. On the Isle, she had been the one who took charge when it came to clothes and hairstyles.
Lonnie assured her that she did, before looking into the mirror. "It's just…" she trailed off, and then ripped her skirt before claiming that now she was cool.
Mulan sighed and Lonnie sheepishly smiled. "It's your clothes." Her mom said. "But we're not replacing the dresses or skirts you've done that too."
"Like ice," Mal said. Jane then went over and followed suit, before freaking out and claiming that her mom was going to kill her.
Fairy Godmother couldn't help but chuckle, even though she was shaking her head in exasperation at the ruined skirt. "You could have told me you wanted a dress in a different style."
"Really?" Jane asked in surprise.
"Of course. Jane, you don't have to dress like me. As long as what you choose is what you truly want, then we can get you some new outfits. Why don't we go shipping during spring break?"
Jane smiled at her mom, "I'd like that a lot."
The scene changed to Jay and Coach. Coach was telling Jay that he could really use a tough guy like him and how the team was a bunch of princes, if he knew what he meant.
"You're telling me," Jay agreed. "It's all, 'after you, old chum!' 'Oh, pardon me, did I bump into you?'"
A sharp laugh rang through the room, and multiple heads turned to see that Damien was the culprit.
"He's laughing." Sandra said in a stage whisper, giggling when Damien quickly shut down his laughter and glared at her.
Jay said that where he came from, it was "Prepare to die, sucker!"
"That explains so much." Aziz said, thinking back to their first few Tourney practices with Jay.
"As my father says, 'The only way to win is to make sure everyone else loses!'"
"That... almost makes sense." Kristoff said, causing Mal to snort.
"Almost? That's how the Isle works."
Jay continued on, his words getting more brutal until Coach stopped him. He began to explain a team to Jay, telling him to think about it like a family. Jay then informed him that he did not want to be at his house during dinner.
"You don't want to be at most villains' houses at dinner time," Carlos said. "Ursula might be insane, but I have to admit, she has the right idea by making her customers surrender their weapons."
"What do you mean?" Ariel asked, having moved closer during the last break and now able to hear the VK's better.
"Ursula owns a restaurant," Mal explained. "It's one of the pirate haunts."
"Which explains the swords," Aksel said.
Mal shook her head, "Oh, no, sword fighting is pretty normal on the island. Actually, any type of fighting is normal on the island."
"You can sword fight?" Chad asked doubtfully. "Yeah right."
Kit gave him a small warning, considering everything they had just talked about, while Evie and Carlos chuckled. "Yes, she can sword fight." Evie said. "We all can, but she and Jay are the best."
Chad scoffed, "I'll believe it when I see it.
"We have swords at Auradon Prep!" Lonnie said. "If you two want to spar once we're back from spring break."
Mal looked at Jay with a grin, although she still wasn't sure they'd be in Auradon much longer. "Well?"
Jay grinned right back, "Let's do it."
Coach tried a different angle, telling Jay to think of the human body and how all its different parts need each other to work properly. He then said that that's what a team is, different players working together to win.
Jay processed that, and then asked if he could be the fist. Coach chuckled, and gave him a jersey, marking Jay's official entrance to the team.
"You know how a team works," Carlos whispered to Jay.
"I know how a gang works." Jay corrected. "And unlike a gang, a team isn't ruled by fear."
"But Mal doesn't rule us by fear," Carlos insisted, "The others, sure. But not us. So the point still stands, you know how a team works. The four of us are a team."
Jay didn't respond, mulling over Carlos' words. They weren't something he would have ever said on the Isle, but perhaps he had a point. Maybe he had known how a team worked before Coach explained it. He had just never thought of it that way before.
Mal, Carlos and Evie were shown in the girls room when Jay came in, shouting "Yo-ho-ho!"
"You sound like a pirate," Elle laughed, not seeing how Jay scowled at her words.
Jay asked Mal if her plan to see the wand worked, and Mal snapped back "Do you think that I would be going through every single spell in this book if I hadn't completely struck out?"
"What kind of spells are in that book anyways?" Amir asked.
"That is not the point." Aziz told him.
"Yeah, but come on! Admit it, you're curious!"
Aziz didn't say anything, not wanting to say out loud that his brother was right.
Jay said that someone was in a bad mood, causing Mal to scoff. She told him that her mother was counting on her, and she couldn't let her down, all while hitting Carlos upside the head.
"We can do this!" Jay said, "If we stick together."
Mal took over, saying that they wouldn't back down. "Because we're rotten…"
They all finished the line, "To the core."
"They don't sound that enthusiastic about it," Ruby whispered to Emery, "I wonder if they're changing their minds?"
"Oh, they are definitely changing their minds." He whispered back, "The real question is, are they going to listen to their hearts and go against what their parents want?"
Evie then off-handedly said that she found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Ben with the wand at the coronation, and how they all get to go. While the other three looked at her in shock, while she complained about how she had nothing to wear.
"You couldn't have told them that earlier?" Karine asked in disbelief.
"I forgot!" Evie defended. "A lot happened in a short amount of time!"
Mal reached out and rubbed her shoulder. "E, it's okay. Everything worked out."
"What?" Evie asked in confusion, just as a knock sounded at the door.
Mal told her to hold that thought as she got up to see who was there. To her surprise, it was Ben. Ben nervously greeted her, and said that he hadn't seen any of them that day. He claimed that he came to see if they had any questions, or anything that they needed, slightly stammering the whole way.
"Uh-huh." Aksel teased, "That's why you went there.
"Totally believable." Elsie added.
Ben shushed them both, glancing over towards Audrey. His friends rolled their eyes, but complied. He could admit to himself now that the reason he had gone was because he wanted to see Mal, but it didn't change the fact that he was dating Audrey at the time. Once this was all over, he really needed to apologize to her.
Mal glanced back into the room, saying that she didn't know of anything.
Ben continued to stammer, going to say something, but Mal interrupted him with a gasp and asked if it was true that they all got to go to his coronation.
He confirmed it, saying that the whole school got to go, and Mal said that that was beyond exciting.
"And you weren't suspicious of the villain asking all that?" Maisie asked.
Ben looked back at her, a firm expression on his face. "No, I wasn't. I try not to make assumptions based on people's upbringings." It wasn't the most appropriate comment for the future king, but Maisie had been one of the kids giving the VK's trouble, even more than her sister. He hadn't said anything before, giving people time to get to know everyone, but he was starting to reach the end of his leash with the comments.
Mal asked if there was a possibility of the four of them being able to stand next to Fairy Godmother, so they could soak up all the goodness.
"Not a bad plan," Phoebus said to Esmerelda.
Ben sighed, saying he wished they could, but up front it was just him, his parents, and his girlfriend.
"And your girlfriend." Mal repeated.
"I think I know where this is going." Pierre said to his mother, his voice low enough that Leah couldn't hear.
Aurora sighed, "So do I."
Ben apologized, and Mal quickly thanked him before saying goodbye and closing the door in his face, leaving him outside the door with disappointment on his face.
"He looks like a kicked puppy." Dasha whispered to Alina, who nodded in agreement.
In the room, Mal turned back to her friends, saying it was time for Benny-Boo to get a new girlfriend, "And I need a love spell."
At her words, the entire room broke into shouts.
"It's treason!"
"How dare she!"
"Potioning the soon-to-be king-"
"Send her back to the Isle!"
In the front, Belle and Fairy Godmother were holding Beast back, reminding him that this was the past and not to make a scene in front of a goddess. Belle kept her eye on Mal, who flinched at every shout, and at Ben who didn't seem shocked by the revelation and instead seemed to be attempting to shield Mal.
She pointed that last bit out to her husband, who calmed down enough to see what she meant. Ben acted as though he knew, and now that she mentioned it, Mal didn't seem anxious around their son during the revelation. Did he already know?
Audrey pushed her way to the front, stalking towards Ben with her grandmother behind her. "I told you!" She shouted. "I told you not to trust them! And here you are-"
Leah's words began to mix with Audrey's, as did others. Queen Leah said that Audrey needed to kiss Ben to break the spell. As the shouts got louder, with people both shouting at the VK's and arguing with each other, the Queen Mother and granddaughter got closer. The group around the VK's started to form a circle.
Ben went to say something, but Persephone beat him to it, a resounding "ENOUGH!" echoing through the room, along with vines spreading everywhere. Everyone quieted down, and those who were up were being pushed back to their seats by the vines.
One look at Persephone, and even Leah didn't open her mouth. The goddess's hair was almost floating with power, while her eyes were bright with magic. Red tulips and petunias were growing around her legs.
Her glare was more pointed towards the adults than teens, but everyone who had been yelling was on the receiving end of one, and plenty of people flinched. "You should all be ashamed. I brought you here to watch the past and future. This is still the past."
"So does that mean Ben's not spelled anymore?" A brave voice asked.
Persephone's glare went in that direction, and a squeak was heard. "It means that you are all supposed to be watching and learning from the past. You are not supposed to be attacking the people you're here to learn about!"
"She spelled my son, Queen Persephone." Beast said, speaking up. His voice was shaking as he looked the goddess in the eyes. "My son. You have a child. How would you react?"
The flowers around the goddess legs began to retreat, slowly, and the anger in her eyes dimmed just a touch. She looked at Mal and Ben, I have two. She thought quietly, before turning back to the current king. "Your son will leave here with a sound mind." She told him, not mentioning that Ben already had full control of his mind and heart. She turned back to the VK's group, this time looking at Ben's friends. "None of you joined in on the shouting?"
Reiner crossed his arms, "We trust Ben." He stated, "And Ben is still here. Maybe it's the love spell, or maybe it's something else. But as you said, this is all the past. Weeks ago, actually. A lot can change in that time."
Persephone smiled at him, as his words carried through the room. "That's right." She said softly, before beginning to call her vines back.
"Thank you guys," Ben said quietly to his friends.
Elsie echoed her twin's words, "We trust you."
"That is the past." Karine added, although she did look at Mal with an expression of nervousness and slight anger.
Aksel leaned close to Ben, "And I know where your first date was, remember?" He said with a smile, just loud enough for Mal to head as well, and causing both Mal and Ben to smile back.
"Now if that's all done, we have things to do!" Atropos shouted. Next to her, Clotho sighed and stole the eyes from her sister, making the mortals all cringe in disgust.
"But the arguing was fun." She complained, causing Persephone to glare at her.
"Alright! Alright!" She handed the eyes to Lachesis, who looked at the wall.
"Here we go again."
AN: I really struggled between having Ben lash out and reveal he's no longer spelled, or not having everyone find out yet (almost like *spoilers*) For things to come, I decide on the later, which meant that we got to have one angry Persephone.