AN: I'm back! I am so sorry it took so long to get this out! Along with writers block, I was sick for (legit) an entire month. Worst case of bronchitis I have EVER had, and at the time along with not being able to focus well, screens would make my head hurt. After that, life got crazy. BUT there WILL NOT be a long wait for the next chapter as all I need to do is edit.
DeathCrawler: Thank you!
danifan3000: I feel like a lot of people were just in shock and felt guilty when watching Chad. They've also mentioned previously people like Rapunzel having been raised by villains. I also agree that Leah was at fault, she could have raised Audrey. Although to cut her a (small, very very small) piece of slack, I base Stefan off of Maleficent Stefan and he was horrible, so in this world it wasn't just her decision.
Guest 1: Yes I do! Along with stories in between!
OceanBlueSeaEyes: I will be covering the other movies! As for the animations, I don't take them as canon, but I will be pulling inspiration from parts for the stories that take place in between.
Anon: Oh my gosh, this warmed my heart. Thank you! I will definitely be doing more world building, and I'm really excited to share it. As for the Hooks, I love them as well, and they will be appearing in sequels.
Silence filled the room as the screen paused. No one seemed to know what to say. The adults were thinking about the way the Vk's were being treated, the AK's in Audrey and Chad's group sat ashamed at their future selves while others were wondering why they hadn't stepped in, or if they had gone to talk to Ben and the VK's but it wasn't shown.
After a few moments, Karine got up. "I'm going to go see my idiot brother." She said, stalking off towards her parents. Jane quickly got up and said, "I'm going to stop her from getting grounded."
Amir couldn't stop himself from chuckling, and that seemed to break the spell. All around the room, people began to move. Aurora and Phillip were splitting up, with Phillip leading Audrey in one direction while Aurora led Leah in another direction. Meanwhile, Jane was holding Karine back from following her parents and older brother as they, once again, began to scold Chad.
Ben took off, saying something about the council, and Reiner followed him. Aksel sighed, watching as the other boys made their way to the older royals and saying that he'd go check on Klara and Rosalind. Mal went to get up, but Elsie held her back. "Wait," she said.
"I need to check on Ben," Mal said, going to pull her arm away. Surprisingly, Elsie had a strong grip.
"Mal, Ben is gathering the royals for a reason."
"I know, but…" Elsie held up a hand and cut her off. "You haven't seen him like this yet." The brunette said, her shoulders shrinking as she continued. "He's shutting down in his own way - throwing himself into work. For the whole time I've known him, even when we were little kids, Ben has carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it's only gotten worse with the coronation getting closer."
"He's going to run himself into the ground!"
"I know," Elsie shook her head. "It's just that this is how he is. He's going to try to fix whatever he can, locking his own troubles into a box. Later, when he's alone, he'll let himself feel. That's when we go to him, even if it means camping outside his door. And I hate to say it, but…" her eyes roamed the room, over the older royals, their classmates, and family members. Her eyes would linger on some, narrowing at others. She outright glared at Queen Leah. "This isn't the place for the King to show any weakness."
Mal wanted to argue. Argue that Ben holding back wasn't good. Argue that feeling was okay. Only she couldn't, because she understood. She was raised a VK, on the Isle of the Lost, a leader of a gang. She understood. Even in a room full of allies, adversaries could be close, and even then not all emotions could be shown. She should know that better than anyone. There was already one confirmed adversary in the room, and Mal was sure that Queen Leah wouldn't hold back. Not only that, but Ben was about to become the High King of Auradon at only sixteen years old. He already had people doubting him. This wasn't the place for him to be too vulnerable.
Elsie reached out and squeezed her shoulder, giving her a soft smile. "Don't worry too much. Reiner is with him right now, and in a little bit he'll be back here with you. I know that's going to help.
Mal ducked her head, and wrung her hands. She noticed that Evie and the boys left, trusting Elsie. A sign that they thought this was a safe person, as there wasn't any question to whether they should leave or not. "I'm worried about him." Mal admitted. "Even more now that you've told me that."
"I worry about him too." Elsie told her softly. "I'm also worried about you."
"Me?" Mal turned back to her, a frown on her face. "Why are you worried about me?"
The other girl raised a brow, "Oh, I don't know. How about the fact that you are also stressed out and were attacked today, then got to see yourself be treated badly even more."
Calling the thing with Queen Leah was a bit much in Mal's opinion. Though she could see why the Auradonians thought it was an attack. It was more of a small verbal confrontation than anything, nothing like on the Isle. Either way, Mal shook her head, telling the brunette that she was fine. "You don't need to worry about me."
Elsie delicately shrugged her shoulders. "Agree to disagree." She said, causing Mal to roll her eyes. Gods, the Ak's were stubborn. At least Ben's group was.
"I'll be okay." Mal amended. "Once I know Ben is and the coronation is over." And maybe once she knew what was going to happen with her and the other, what was going to happen with their parents. She could practically hear her mother ranting and raving.
"Everything is going to work out." Elsie told her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Trust me."
And, shocking herself, Mal did.
Evie and the boys had given Mal some space. While they both walked off, Jay talking with Aziz and Amir, and Carlos talking to Antonio while the pair made their way towards Karine and Jane, Evie still stayed close to their seats.
She heard a clearing of a throat behind her, and turned to find Doug. He stood, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "Hi." He said quietly.
"Hi."
They stood awkwardly, and Evie looked down at her shoes. She liked Doug, she did, but the way he had treated her. He hadn't even sat with them.
"Evie, I am so sorry."
"You already apologized." She told him, looking up at him.
Doug shook his head, "Not enough."
"Doug,"
"No, I should've joined you guys as soon as this all started. Instead, I sat back with my family."
Evie tried to interrupt, and he stopped her. "Not to mention that my future self is for some reason listening to Chad of all people."
She couldn't help but smile at that, though it dropped a little as she went to talk. "It hurt." She said, letting herself be honest. "You staying back, I mean. We've had two other breaks before this, and you never came over."
"I know. I guess, I was scared that you didn't want to see me."
She looked at him in surprise, "Why?"
"Well, we already covered me being an idiot."
A small laugh escaped her, "Oh, Doug." He grinned, and she shyly said, "You can stay with us now, if you'd like?"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I mean, we still should really talk later, but… I want you to keep sitting with us."
His grin got bigger, and she held out her hand. He took it easily, and as they stood there, Evie began to believe that things could really turn out okay.
"You know, for what it's worth, if Chad had acted like that towards Jamila, Aziz and I would have both punched him." Amir said as the boys watched the room. Aziz was in a group of heirs, having their own discussion while Ben was talking to the council.
"Really?" Jay said in surprise.
Amir chuckled, "Yeah. Believe it or not, Damien isn't the only AK capable of fighting. In light of everything we've learned today, Chad's kind of lucky that he hasn't been beat up more. I know I'd be ticked if my sister was used like that."
Jay nodded. Evie and Mal weren't his sister's by blood, but they were his family and the way that Chad had treated them made his blood boil, even just thinking about it made him mad.
He's lost family before. People he thought would be there forever. Maybe if he'd been better at protecting, that wouldn't have happened. He wasn't going to let it happen again.
"So why are the heirs gathering together?" He asked. He guessed he sort of understood it, creating alliances, but most were in school still.
Then again, Ben was still in school too.
Amir leaned against the wall, "Reiner's there, and knowing Ben he gave him permission to tell the heirs what the council is talking about, so they'll be discussing the topic as well. Everyone there is going to be taking over their kingdoms in the next few years, so they'll be involved with the royal council."
Jay frowned, "I know I didn't grow up around royalty and of course Ben becoming King this young isn't normal, but I thought that traditionally people didn't become Kings and Queens until their parents died."
"Traditionally, that's correct." Amir said with a smile, "But let's face it, Auradon isn't exactly filled with traditional kingdoms." His smile fell, "In all seriousness, though, this is what was agreed back when Auradon was created. Once the new High King or Queen took their throne, the other kings and queens of Auradon would begin to pass down their titles, so Auradon could have a fresh start. They knew from the beginning that the world they were creating would be nothing like the ones they came from, and they didn't want to hold onto their pasts too much. Of course, I don't think anyone realized how young Ben would be when they decided on that."
Jay snorted, "Yeah, they might have wanted to add an age limit as well."
"Probably." Amir agreed with a laugh. "Too late now. Anyways, Melody's the first one who will be crowned. Next month, actually. She's also the oldest heir."
With just the mention of her name, Jay's eyes sought her out. While she looked to be at least ten years older than most in the group, it wasn't her age that made Melody stand out. It was the way she held herself, her confident attitude. All the way down to the way she dressed. His eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the colors of her dress, a dark teal that reminded him of the sea.
She's related to Uma. His mind prompted. He immediately shut that thought process down, and turned back to Amir. "Can you tell me more about the upcoming coronations?"
Carlos handed Jane a cup of water, which she passed to Karine. "You really shouldn't get this upset," Jane told her. "You and Chad will just end up arguing again."
"Well, it's his fault." Karine grumbled, taking a sip of the water. She then looked down at the cup like she was plotting something.
He spoke up, "If you take any steps near Chad, I will take the water away."
Karine looked shocked, while Antonio and Jane began to giggle. "Shouldn't you want me to pour this on his head?" She asked him. Carlos just shrugged.
"To be completely honest, probably, but at this point it'll just cause more drama. Besides," He grinned, "why do something that'll get you caught?"
Antonio perked right up, "Are we going to pull a prank?"
He wasn't going to originally. It wasn't like he was that close with any of them, but he found himself almost at ease with the three. He'd never planned a harmless prank, but he had ideas for them. He looked at the girls. Jane looked nervous, but there was a spark of mischief in her eyes. Karine had perked up, and smiled widely as he said, "Plan one at least. Nothing big for right now, but annoying."
"I'm in," Karine said, nudging Jane with her arm. Jane sighed, but nodded her head. "Chad has been acting horrible lately."
"That's the spirit!" Karine reached into her cardigan's pocket, and pulled out a small journal and pencil. "What?" She asked when the three looked at her. "You can't really be surprised that I carry these around. I'm a writer! Now, where do we begin?"
Mal was standing away from the chairs, thinking. Elsie had gone to find Aksel after their talk, and Evie and the boys were still on their own.
"Mal?"
The fairy looked up, surprised to see Queen Belle in front of her. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Oh, no, call me Belle." The High Queen said with a wave of her hand and a soft smile, "After all, you are dating my son."
Mal blushed, and went to cross her arms, before dropping them as she remembered Fairy Godmother's body language lesson and how crossing your arms could be rude in conversations. She still didn't quite understand it, but she'd already caused enough trouble with Ben's family.
Belle seemed to feel just as awkward, her fingers tapping her glass. "I wanted to apologize to you." She said suddenly.
"Oh! Um, that, it's alright." Mal said nervously, bringing her hands together.
Her words didn't seem to sooth the Queen, who frowned deeply. "No, Honey. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did when Ben introduced you."
Mal didn't know how to respond, and Belle seemed to take that as her que to keep talking. "You know, the more I watched him afterwards and during this, the more I realized how happy he is with you. My husband still thinks it's the love spell, but I don't."
The blush on Mal's face deepened, and she said "I care about Ben. A lot."
Belle grinned, her eyes locking on something behind Mal. "And he cares about you." She backed away, and Mal turned to see Ben and the Royal Council exiting the back room. While the older royals made their ways back to their seats, Ben went straight to Mal. Once he got close enough, he took her hands.
"Mal, if you could stay here in Auradon, and never have to step foot back on the Isle, would you?"
"Yes." Mal said, hesitating for only a moment.
Ben didn't seem to notice her hesitation, asking another question. "And would you, and the others, be okay with Foster Parents?" He explained after she gave him a confused look, "A Foster Parent is someone who becomes a guardian to a minor who either can't, for various reasons, live with their biological parents or is an orphan."
Foster parents. Letting someone else step into the role her mother had. Of course, Auradon probably didn't allow people like her mother to become foster parents… hopefully. She glanced around the room, spotting a blushing Evie, smiling Jay, and laughing Carlos. They all looked happy. After everything they'd been through, this was nothing. As long as they could take the lead in some way "Yes." She said, watching relief fill Ben's eyes. "But, we need to okay them."
Ben nodded, seeming to have already guessed what she'd say. "As of right now, any viable foster parents for you four are in this room. We can discuss it more once we're back in Auradon."
She nodded, her slight anxiety easing as she realized that whoever her foster parents were, they wouldn't be complete strangers.
Once the pair pulled away, Ben took her hand and gave it a squeeze before addressing the entire room. "May I have your attention, please?" He called. Once everyone was looking their way, he grinned widely. "The council and I have decided that Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos will be permitted to stay here in Auradon. Permanently."
Cheers erupted in the room, overpowering the lone "No!", and the other VK's all rushed forward. Evie reached Mal first, pulling her into a hug, and without a second thought hugging Ben as well. Jay was grinning, and Carlos asked "So we'll never have to see our parents again?"
"Not unless you want to." Ben told him softly. "But we'll never make you see them."
"So my mother?"
"Will never be able to reach you here."
Carlos reacted to that slowly, shock, relief, and joy all flashing across his face. He was hugged by Evie next, with Jay throwing an arm around his shoulder as well.
A clearing of a throat directed their attention to Persephone, who was once again in front of the screen. "On that joyous note, it's time for us to watch the final scenes."
AN: I honestly was struggling when it came to the end of the chapter, I'm sorry if it seemed rushed. On a different note, one chapter left to go!