Chapter 21

Drac had plopped down on his canopy bed with a sigh. Glancing out the window he saw the Isle, with its clouded skies encased in the dome above. His mind wandered as he wondered what would be happening there in the next few days. He turned his head from the window trying to forget so he could get some sleep. He was pleasantly surprised to find everything exactly as he'd left it the day of the coronation. Even the laptop and headphones were on his nightstand where he'd left it all. He grabbed the headphones and slipped them on his head, flipped the computer open and found some music. The beat was soft in his ears as he set the volume low and it helped him stay calm as he drifted off to sleep.

- - LONG LIVE EVIL - -

The following day Drac had gone to see Ben in his office before classes started. He had more worries then he'd gone to bed with, when he'd woken up he found the Dragon's Egg which he had put under his pillow before bed – had started to hatch. There were small lines in the purple shell of the egg that glowed green and knowing the power the egg would contain, scared Drac enough that he wanted to get advice from the King. He knocked on the ornate oak door and heard Ben call 'Come in' from the other side. Drac cracked the door open and poked his head inside and saw Ben hunched over a pile of papers filling in his signature. He looked up to see who had knocked and smiled when he saw it was Drac.

"Hey Drac, come in." he greeted standing up and gesturing to the empty chair on the other side of the desk, "Make yourself at home."

"Thanks." Drac replied a bit warily as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and approached the chair but stayed standing. Ben noticed and rested his hands in the pockets of his slacks looking relaxed but also picking up that something was wrong. "I need to talk to you about something, pretty urgent."

"Of course." Ben said with a serious nod. Drac took a deep breath and pulled out the Dragon's Egg from his pocket. Ben's eyes widened a bit when he saw the glowing cracks in it and he sat back down at his desk as Drac rested the egg on the wooden surface.

"I'm worried it's going to hatch sooner rather then later." Drac said expressing his concern.

Ben nodded then turned to his phone and pressed a button, "Lumiere?"

"Yes Sire?" came the reply.

"Can you please get Fairy Godmother and have her come see me immediately?"

"Of course, Sire."

Drac sat down across from Ben and rested his elbows on his knees. Fairy Godmother didn't take long to arrive and once she stepped into Ben's office and saw the Dragon's Egg on his desk her normally cheerful expression fell from her face.

"Oh my." She began as she closed the door and approached them. "Is that?"

"My mother's talisman." Drac responded looking up at her.

"Do you have any suggestions as to what we can do about it?" Ben asked. Drac assumed the question was for Fairy Godmother but when she didn't respond he turned to Ben and noticed the King was looking at him.

"I, uh, well. . . " he shook his head, "I don't know that much about the scepter. Whenever I asked my mother about it she'd always say it was Mal's destiny not mine, unless I did something worthwhile enough to prove myself. I was obsessed with it when I was younger, I dreamt about being the one to wield it one day." He shrugged, "Even though on the Isle it was just a fancy walking stick. But still, it was what it represented."

"Your mom's approval." Ben said understanding, probably from talking to Mal.

Drac nodded and looked at his lap playing with his fingers. "I'm not sure if the egg can be destroyed. I don't think that would solve anything." Then his head snapped back up, "Please don't think I'm trying to trick you into anything. I swear as far as villains go I'm not –"

"Oh no, no." Fairy Godmother interrupted resting her hand on his shoulder gently as he turned to her, "What you're saying holds true. It's not so much the egg we need to worry about, it's the dark magic inside it."

Drac nodded, "Right."

Fairy Godmother smiled at him then turned to Ben, "Magic cannot be destroyed. It's energy can only transform. If we were to destroy the Dragon's Egg it's dark magic could go, anywhere. And that possibility is quite dangerous."

Ben nodded, "So what should we do?"

"We, uh. . . this is going to sound crazy, but. . . I think we need to put it into the scepter." Drac said warily.

"What about the old Dragon's Egg then?"

"By the time this one hatches that one should be useless." Fairy Godmother chimed in.

"I thought you just said magic can't be destroyed." Ben asked.

"Oh it can't. But it can fizzle out on its own."

"Like a muscle." Drac added trying to compare it to sports since Ben might understand better thanks to all his years of tourney, "If you don't exercise it enough it'll weaken. It's the same thing. Now that the scepter has its power back while in Auradon but hasn't been used, its magic is dying. That's why there's a new egg, to replace the old. And when it hatches we'll need to put it into the scepter."

"Why?"

"It's a channel. It helped my mother focus and contain the egg's power to bend to her will. The Dragon's Egg alone is raw magic, only my mother's own enhanced magic was enough to create the scepter so the Dragon's Egg wouldn't go out of control when she used it."

Drac remembered the bedtime story his mom used to tell them about when she'd created her great weapon. She'd taken a twisted burnt branch from a nearby tree on Forbidden Mountain and used her magic on it to create it into her scepter. Much of the story was her bragging about herself which most of the time put Mal and Drac right out to sleep since they'd heard her go on like that so many times before.

Ben nodded and looked to Fairy Godmother, "We'll need to have the Auradon guard fetch the scepter from the museum. In the meantime, Fairy Godmother would you mind keeping an eye on this?"

"Of course." She nodded and stepped forward to take the egg.

"And." Drac spoke up catching their attention, "I have a favor to ask before you go." He hesitated now getting nervous again, "I know it's been retired but. . . can I study magic along with my other classes?"

He turned to Ben, "Assuming, I'm going to classes?"

Ben grinned. "I sent out emails to the professors last night about your return. You're all set to resume your schedule from before the coronation."

Drac gave a tiny grin and nodded. However Fairy Godmother still looked hesitant about his request. Drac knew his chances were slim but learning magic with his father had sparked his intrigue. He wanted to know what else he could do, wanted to master the power that lay in his blood, flowing through his veins.

"I'm not sure. . . " Fairy Godmother began, "It wouldn't be the first time we made a specialized class for a student, but magic. . . it can be a heavy burden."

"I had to fight with the counsel just to allow Merlin to use his magic while we were looking to stop Mim." Ben explained, "Now that we've gone so long without it I think there's fear about bringing it back. Especially when seeing what it can be used for. Even with the best intentions. One year for the Summer Festival Queen Elsa and some of the fairies made an ice fortress for the kids to play in. It was fun. . . until it melted and flooded much of downtown Main Street."

Drac took a deep breath, "I know magic isn't a necessity anymore, and teaching it, especially to someone like me is something, probably everyone would be uncomfortable with. But I've seen magic save the day twice now. Mal turned our mother into a lizard, Merlin stopped Mim from causing more havoc in Auradon. Some magic will always be needed, like the Dome keeping the villains on the Isle." He turned to Fairy Godmother, "Eventually you'll have to appoint someone as a predecessor to take over for you. If Mim ever finds another way off the Isle, or someone else does, I just want to know that I'll be able to do something to help."

Fairy Godmother and King Ben exchanged a look again.

"Drac was the only one to stand up to Madam Mim." Ben told her. "The others all fled her crocodile form but Drac blasted her in the face."

"She's not going to be happy with me about that."

"I don't think she has to be too concerned about her looks." Ben replied and they both chuckled briefly before turning back to Fairy Godmother.

"Belle has been telling me how wonderful their retirement has been. And I could use a long overdue vacation." She said pondering the idea, then she turned back to Drac, "I'll discuss with Merlin about setting up a curriculum, but you'll be under my strict tutelage." She said pointing a finger at him.

Drac nearly jumped out of his chair as he smiled at her and nodded accepting the terms. He was going to be the first Auradon student to study and become well versed in magic!

"And." She continued, "You'll have to maintain A's in all your other classes. Magic study will be an extracurricular after all, your primary studies still come first. No slacking."

"Absolutely! Thank you."

- - LONG LIVE EVIL - -

Drac rushed to Mal's dorm to tell her his exciting news before first period but when he got there he paused in the doorway. Mal was sitting at her desk with her spellbook in front of her while she twirled one piece of hair between her fingers. One piece of blonde hair.

"Mal?" he asked and she slammed the book shut and pushed the platinum strand behind her ear where it was covered by her purple locks. "Whatcha doing?"

"Just, practicing something." She said stringing together a quick excuse. He stepped inside and closed the door. Evie wasn't around, he assumed she'd gone to go meet Doug before class, and he grabbed her blue and silver chair and pulled it over to sit beside his sister. He found the blonde hair and tugged so it came loose from her ear and he tilted his head looking at the color against her complexion. Then he smiled.

"I think it looks good on you." He complimented and saw Mal breathe a sigh of relief and smile back at him shyly.

"Thanks." She said collecting her spellbook and other school things and stuffing them into her backpack. Drac didn't interrogate her on the new look as she quickly undid the spell and the blonde became purple once more. He could see in her eyes that something was bothering her and he felt bad for his sister. She'd just finished one quest that helped save Auradon, she shouldn't already be stressing about something else so soon.

"So." He said trying to take her mind off whatever it was, "Want to head to class and watch everyone stare at me and whisper behind my back wondering how I've suddenly returned?"

Mal laughed and he joined in knowing that whatever it was on his sister's mind, he'd be there for her.