Ben leads the way to Fairy Cottage. They bust inside and don't see anyone. Jay quickly checks upstairs to check.
"She's not upstairs." Jay says as he comes back down. There is then banging on the door beside Ben.
"Chad?" Ben asks as he opens the door to reveal the blond prince.
"I want my mommy." Chad says before Ben goes to help him up. "No."
"It's okay." Ben tells him as she helps him up. "What happened, buddy?" Chad looks around at everyone scared.
"Ben. Ben!" Chad says as he recognizes Ben. "Your face. She's gone? Huh? The door is open. I'm free. Freedom! Oh! Freedom!" Chad takes off running out the door making Harry laugh. Elena hits him lightly in the shoulder holding back a laugh as well.
"I can see why Audrey broke up with him." Harry whispers to Elena making her laugh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ooh. All right. Let's get this Audrey chick taken care of already. What do you say, girls? Time to wrap things up?" Uma says as they walk outside making Mal laugh before they fist bump.
"You know, someday, you're gonna have to tell me how you guys all got teamed up." Ben says as he wraps an arm around Mal's shoulders.
"Actually, Mal promised to let all the kids off the Isle once this is over." Evie tells Ben.
"Mal?" Ben asks confused as he looks at her making her sigh.
"I have to tell you guys something. Um..." Mal says as she turns to face everyone. "I lied to you. The kids won't be coming off the Isle."
"What do you mean?" Jay asks her.
"The program is shut down. And the barrier will be closed for good." Mal answers him making Harry shake his hook at her.
"For Auradon's safety." Ben adds.
"Hold up. So we're saving your precious people and your behinds for a lie." Uma says as she walks over to Mal. "I knew it was a mistake to trust you. You're always out for yourself."
"And you, King Ben aye...you're probably just gonna throw us all back inside." Harry says sadly as he walks over to Ben.
"You know what? I actually thought you were brave." Celia says as she walks over to Mal. "You're nothing but a chicken. Too scared to tell me that I was never gonna see my dad again."
"Celia." Mal tries but Celia grabs the ember from her. "Celia. Celia, no!" Celia throws the ember into the water. "Celia! No! No." Mal quickly grabs the ember. "Regain your might and ignite! No...Regain your might and ignite!" The ember lost it's glow and won't come back.
"Bummer." Uma says as she holds up her necklace. "Let's go find Gil and leave them all to rot."
"No. Uh...Uma!" Mal tries but Uma and Harry walk away.
"I can't believe you were going to try and keep me away from my best friend." Elena tells Mal before running after Uma and Harry.
"Evie...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I just...I thought that...I was afraid to tell you. I thought I was gonna lose my best friends. But I had to do something. I had to protect Auradon." Mal explains as Evie takes a couple of steps towards her.
"Closing the barrier was your idea?" Evie asks her in shock and slight disgust.
"I did it for us. I did it for our life that we have here now." Mal answers her.
"For our life? What about the kids that we left behind on that island? The kids that we promised? We were their only hope. I thought you were gonna stand up for the VKs. But instead, you lied to them." Evie questions her before pointing at everyone. "And you lied to Elena. And you lied to Jay. And you lied to Carlos. And you lied to me. We're your family."
"Evie. Evie, come on. I had no choice!" Mal tries as her friends turn away from her. Ben turns to try to talk to Evie but there is lightning strike and when Mal looks up everyone is turned to stone. "No."
"Here you are alone
And your deserve it
Your friends have turned to stone and that's on you
You had a cause to serve
But did you serve it?
Did you see you see yourself in a way
That wasn't true?" Mal sings as he walks over to Ben and touches his hand.
"Why tell all those lies?
You feel unworthy
Like there isn't solid ground
For you to stand." Mal sings as she walks over to Jay before touching his shoulder.
"But a sacrifice is not
A firm foundation
You cannot build a castle
On a mountain made of sand." Mal sings as she kneels down beside Carlos and Dude.
"This is not your father's
Fairy tale
And no it's not
Your mother's fault you fail
So when your story comes to light." Mal sings as she walks over to Evie, touching her cheek.
"Make sure the story that they write
Goes once upon a time
She fought the dragon
Once upon a time
That beast was me
Once upon a misspent youth
She faced herself
She spoke the truth
That's how I see
My once upon a time
This time." Mal sings as she walks through the forest.
"Uma! Elena! Uma, stop! Please, stop! Elena! I need your help. We have a chance if we do this together." Mal says as she catches up to Uma, Elena, and Harry, stopping in front of them.
"Your friends kick you to the curb?" Uma asks as Elena looks at Mal sadly. "Good."
"Ben saw something in you. And today, Uma, I saw it, too. You care. Uma, you care about everybody. And Auradon is worth saving. Help us, please." Mal says trying to reason with her.
"You talk pretty, but she's already made up her mind." Harry says for Uma.
"You brought this on yourself, Mal. You figure out how to fix it. Let's go." Uma says before she, Elena, and Harry walk away again.
"Life is not a storybook
But life unfolds in chapters
Turn the page
And start to make amends." Mal sings as she remembers taking on her mother.
"There's no pre-written
Guarantee
Of happily ever after
Step into your greatness
Before your story ends." Mal sings as she remembers walking into the Chip Shoppe to see Uma. To battling Uma for Ben as Carlos throws smoke bombs.
"So when your story ends
They'll say
Once upon a time
A girl flew higher
Once upon a time
She made things right." Mal sings as she remembers turning into a dragon to take on Uma.
"Once upon a tie that binds
She changed her heart
To change their minds
That's got to be
My once upon a time." Mal sings as she remembers Ben proposing and Audrey's reaction.
"This once upon a time
Will finally see." Mal sings as remembers facing Hades. Then getting the ember from Hades. To seeing her family turned to stone.
"My once upon a time
This time."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey guys! Another chapter!!! Hoped you enjoyed it! I have an important announcement to make, actually! This week I'm taking finals and I'm going to be real busy, so they're might be slow updates! Hope you all understand and I'll definitely be posting a lot very soon, once I finish up with all this. Anyways, have a good day/night/afternoon you guys!
-Mary💗