Chapter 2: Diplomatic Discussion

As soon as Fae returned to Auradon Prep, she raced through the halls, trying to find Ben. He had to know what was going on or at least needed to know. It was his duty and soon-to-be responsibility for the kingdom. But since everything started with the current King Adam, the darker parts of the history of the Isle may have been hidden from him. Just like it was from everyone. An Isle of villains-- most wouldn't give a second thought about the lack of care to bad people. But the children that were born there, living off of bare minimum and less... what did they do to deserve such treatment? Was just being the children of villains crime enough to be punished by exile?!

The blond shook her head as she ran faster. Time was of the essence-- this wrong needed to be righted ASAP! She finally found Ben on the Tourney field and skidded to a halt, gasping for breath. Boy, she missed using her wings all the time but she got tired of Fairy Godmother lecturing her on not being so reliant on magic and how unfair it was to everyone else who had no wings or powers at all.

"Ben!" she yelled, waving her hand to draw his attention. He looked at her and waved back before motioning her with one finger that he would be with her in a minute. Apparently, they were getting ready to run a play.

This gave a sassy brunette princess time to confront the fairy. She strutted up to the panting blond and crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want with MY Benny-boo?" Her voice was short and commanding, brown eyes narrowed. Fae rolled her sea green orbs and did her best to catch her breath. Like she needed Sleeping Beauty's daughter in this dire situation. The princess would easily turn her back on the villain kids and do her damnedest to convince Ben to do the same. While she didn't think that the prince would do such a thing, it was one headache she didn't want to endure. Audrey pouted. She wasn't one to be dismissed by anyone. So she got closer to try to intimidate the fairy. "Don't ignore me! You need to know your place-- you're not Neverland Royalty, you know?!"

The small blond groaned in irritation. Speaking of headaches, this princess's screeching was certainly doing the trick. She unfurled her wings and used them to float over Audrey and over to the team practice, dodging the balls in the kill zone while she was at it.

Chad had looked up at the sparkle of her fairy dust and was promptly beaned in the face with a ball, inciting Fae's laughter and the coach blowing the whistle. "Hey! No faeries on the field!"

"I'm not on the field!" She turned her floating body upside-down and waved her arms over her head to showcase none of her was touching the grass. The coach didn't look too impressed with her logic. But before he could yell at her some more, Ben came to her rescue, apologizing to the coach and promising to take care of Fae quickly so they could get back to practice before he grabbed her elbow and lead the flying fairy off the field.

She laughed a bit more, playfully squealing out a "My hero!" to the prince just to watch his cheerleader girlfriend steam in her anger. As she got herself right-side up and feet back on the ground, she ran a hand through her hair. "And speaking of heroes... I need your help."

He had given her a stern look at the squeal-- that wasn't the first time she'd done something like that to anger his girlfriend. But that look melted with concern when she mentioned needing help. He nodded and lead her to their tree near the enchanted forest. It was the first place they met, the only place they could just let themselves be more than Prince Ben and Fae Bell. They were friends but society's stipulations weighed heavily on him the closer it came to his 16th birthday-- his coronation that would turn him from Prince to King. In this spot, the enchantment was just powerful enough to stop any sound from echoing too far. They could speak honestly without fear of eavesdroppers or paparazzi. It was also a place where they came to unwind from the stresses of the day. Sitting down at the base of the tree, he waited until Fae shrunk herself down and flew to his shoulder to ask her what was wrong.

"What do you know about the Isle of the Lost?" she asked.

He shrugged, jostling her, and flinched when she kicked his neck in retaliation. "Sorry... anyway, I dont know much more than you. Island of villains... Father arranged for the barge to send them Auradon's leftover items. And there's a barrier that keeps them there and without use of their magic powers. Why?"

She asked him if he had ever gone there, to which he said no like it was the most obvious thing. He wasn't a bad guy so why would he go there? The faerie sighed and sat down. "I flew over there earlier... I feel like my purpose is there, to help them..." Ben gave her a stricken look but quickly schooled his face and let her continue. "Ben, there are so many sick people. The whole place is made with rotted wood, rusted garage door panels, just..." She shook her head. "They don't have any fresh foods. And what they do have, they have to fight for. And it's not just villains there..."

"What? What do you mean?"

Fae sighed. "It's been 20 years, Ben. Did you really think they wouldn't... date?" She sounded unsure so she moved on. "There's kids on the Isle. Their children... What could they have done to deserve exile?" She sat with her back leaned against his neck. "I talked to a couple of pirates." The fairy heard his breath catch in his throat and she grinned. Maybe she should keep the fact that one of them tried to attack her to herself. No need to rile up the soon-to-be king when he was the only one who might be willing to help them. "They asked for medicine... blankets and fresh fruit, too. And I wanna give them whatever I can."

"Fae..." Ben's voice held a soft sadness. He understood but knew that things like change took time, had to go through the proper channels.

"I have to do something. Not all of them can wait until after your coronation..."

He took a deep breath then nodded. "I'll give you supplies as long as you can fly them over? Don't go through the barrier but you should be able to toss in the bag with the supplies. One drop a week should be okay to start with... alright?" The prince held out his pinkie and the faerie shook it with both hands. "So about my coronation-- it's two months away. I've been trying to come up with my first proclamation but couldn't think of anything magnanimous enough to actually mean anything." He leaned his head against the tree and turned to gaze at the Isle. "... you said there's kids. What if we brought the kids of the Isle to Auradon and give them the chance of a proper education, the chance to be more than what their parents want them to be?" He knew what it was like to try to fill the role given to him at birth. There was no reason to think that the Villains weren't trying to make their own mini-me's.

"That's a lot of kids to keep track of. And there's no guarantee that they'll have the basic education standards... you know-- reading, writing, and 'rithmetic?" Fae added, trying to help. "Some may even need counseling..."

Prince Ben nodded. "We'll see... but for now, let's just keep the group small. Two boys, two girls. They'll room together so they don't feel completely overwhelmed with all of Auradon's differences. I'll check up on them whenever I can... but they'll need a class on Goodness so we can teach them right and wrong."

The blond girl snorted. "Goodness class? Ben, they know the difference between right and wrong. They were taught to always choose to do the wrong thing." She flew off his shoulder and returned to her normal height. "But I'm sure Fairy Godmother would like the opportunity to also keep an eye on them..." She stretched, yawning. "Look, I'm gonna get some sleep. Tomorrow, I'm getting the biggest bag I can find for blankets and medicine... and a separate bag for fruit. I can find the blankets and other hand-me-downs from Quasimodo's charity shop. Can you find the medicine? I'll go to the orchards and pick the fruit before I fly over there." She didn't wait before she flew off towards the dorms for a well-deserved nap. There had been too much planning for her little faerie brain and she needed to process the information.