Once We are Descendants

Chapter 63: Her Brother's Keeper

By the end of her stories, both have been laughing hard enough to cry. As the two simmer down from the burst of happiness, Crystal conjures up two bottles of water and offers one to Ben. He's a little freaked out about the sudden use of magic.

"Do all of you seriously use magic casually like that?" he asks.

"Probably. I know I have a bad habit of using it very often, but I'm pretty sure Regina, Emma, and my Dad use it to do things when nobody's looking."

"Don't you ever think magic is dangerous?"

She gives him a look. "You're talking to the daughter of the Dark One... of course magic is dangerous. Hell, it is how you guys got here in the first place, me experimenting with untested magic. But most people around here just deal with it; it's an occupational hazard of living in a town full of storybook characters. If you want to blame anyone, blame my dad, he's the one who brought magic here in the first place. It does come in handy when fighting villains though, and we've gotten more than our fair share of those."

Ben decides not to push the issue any further by taking a long sip of water; clearly, their laws about magic, if there were any way that it can be useful, despite how dangerous and unstable it could be.

Crystal continues with her stories, doing her best to power through the Mason story. Ben feels great sympathy for her as she wipes away a few tears; the fact that this man told her that he loved her, he helped her discover her true origins, then breaks up with her over a text message and then completely vanishes... none of that can be easy. He reaches out and pats her shoulder as she sucks in a shaky breath to try and compose herself. Compared to her love life, Ben feels as though he got off easy, especially in terms of the breakup, at least his separation was face to face.

She smiles at him for the comfort. "Thanks... the wound is still pretty fresh, despite it being almost a year ago... Love can be so painful if that..." she pauses and takes a long drink of water, this time stalling to help herself think. "Belle keeps insisting that I try to find Mason, but if I'm honest with myself... I'm really just afraid of seeing him and feeling that pain all over again... I'm afraid that he won't want to get back together with me and I'm afraid that he was my one chance at love... I don't know if you can understand fully but..."

"Maybe not fully..." Ben says. "But I can understand why you're avoiding it, to avoid the pain and being afraid that it's truly the end."

Crystal smiles and reaches over to grab Ben's hand. He's surprised by the comfort but then smiles too, appreciating how both of them were helping one another.

"For the longest time, it felt like I'd never feel love ever again. After all, I killed the only person who loved me unconditionally and it just seemed that I attracted freaks and weirdos. I was like a beacon for them. Now, I wonder if it's because I'm the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin, but I'm starting to wonder if I even deserve it. Like my father has always said, villains don't get their happy endings."

"You're far from a villain," Ben says earnestly. "You may be rough around the edges, but you have the soul of a good person. That's what I believe and it's why I let the Villain Kids come to Auradon in the first place, to give them their second chance and let them discover the good inside themselves."

The elder sister sniffs and smiles at him. "Thanks... sometimes I just need reassurance, I guess. Darkness can be a fickle thing that causes doubt about one's true nature."

"Just like love," Ben deduces.

She nods. "Well, I've shared my heartbreak, you ready to share yours?"

The king swallows and takes another long drink of water.

"It is only fair," she says with a mischievous wink. "Take your time."

It's then that Ben realizes what he needs to do. He doesn't need to talk about it or wallow in self-pity, he has to act.

Ben then gets up and hugs Crystal tightly.

"Thank you," he says.

"For what?"

"For helping me realize why I've been avoiding everything about this."

"But we didn't even talk about it..."

"I don't need to talk, I just need to do it. No offence Crystal, but I need to talk about this with someone else... someone who means the world to me."

She smiles, knowing what he means. "And thank you for listening and helping me find the true root of my own problems were."

"I guess we're more like brother and sister now," Ben smiles.

"I've always wanted a brother," she smirks.

"You already have one."

"I meant one that I can have actual conversations with and usually don't end with me changing a diaper or cleaning up vomit."

Ben wrinkles his nose but then lets out another laugh. He gets, up mentally preparing himself for what's going to happen next. While he is afraid, he knows that he has to talk about this with his true love... and whatever happens, will happen.

"Do you know where Maleficent lives?"

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated, but here's a nice chapter where Crystal and Ben bond like brother and sister, while helping each other through their turbulent relationships