Once We are Descendants

Chapter 84: Fingerprints

"Ah..." Maleficent says with some sympathy. "The cornerstone of any beginner. Lily went through it as well."

"Emma and Crystal too. Since I studied with the Dark One, I was never given the chance to be afraid and to him, it didn't matter if I hurt people anyways."

"Me as well, but what about Mal? What sort of magic does she have?"

"Well, the dragon thing does not skip a generation," Regina replies. "It's the form she entered Storybrooke in."

"So, I've heard."

"But she does have other magic, including true love with Ben. We're starting to believe that their love is what awoke these other kids' powers."

"The bane to any curse," Maleficent smirks.

"But we're hoping you'll be able to help us. We start training tomorrow and we're hoping you might be able to attend. You are the only one who can understand what Mal goes through with dragon magic and such."

"I do agree that it's best for me to be there. She is a child of great potential. It's a crying shame that their world attempts to suppress everything."

"Well, you and I are living proof that sometimes magic cannot always be trusted."

"Indeed," the Mistress of all Evil chuckles. "You cast one sleeping curse..."

"Try a few," Regina mutters with a smile on her face.

"Well have a nice evening Regina dear and please ensure Mallary comes home safely."

"I will," the former Evil Queen says before hanging up.

She checks the roast beef in the oven before calling up the Blue Fairy.

...

As Crystal walks home, she can't shake something in the back of her mind, and it wasn't about Harry.

She turns a corner away from her house and down a different street.

Reaching the front porch she knocks loudly instead of ringing the doorbell, knowing Gideon was probably down for a nap.

Belle opens the door.

"Hi Belle, sorry to bother you, but is Dad home?"

"No, he's at the shop."

"Okay, thanks."

Crystal waits for her stepmother to close the door before teleporting to her father's shop.

The sign was up saying closed, but being the owner's daughter, she had access regardless.

She finds her father behind the counter sorting through some documents. He hardly acknowledges her presence, having long given up the concept of keeping his shop closed as anyone could simply walk in demand answers or an explanation of the current phenomenon that often plagued this town. More often than not, he'd have some kind of role in the chaos, or he used to until he'd given it up for proper family life.

"Dad, can we talk?" Crystal asks.

His brown eyes flicker upwards to his daughter's face for a brief moment before returning to his paperwork.

"By all means talk," he says in a soft voice.

"I want to know why you were so excited about the Auradon kids' magic," she says. She remembered seeing the seemingly uncontrolled delight on her father's face earlier in the day. It made her stomach twist in anxiety. She, like everyone else, knew what this imp could be like, especially when faced with something that he could use or exploit.