The room where the execution was to take place was bigger than Henry expected it to be. But then again, there were more spectators than he expected as well. Oh sure some made sense—like Uma, Jay, and Harry. Others, not so much.
"What in the world is CJ doing here?" Henry muttered to Claudine, who was seated between him and Phil Jr. The young Princeling was seated right next to a black haired girl who Henry could only assume to be one of the many royals of Auradon.
Aurora and Phillip were a few seats down, Phillip's father Hubert having been called to watch Arabella and to make sure nothing happened to Audrey while they were gone. Just because she was under a sleeping spell didn't mean they wouldn't keep watch over her.
"She probably wants to see Freddy executed and know he won't come back," Claudine muttered back to him, smiling slightly as she saw Ryan seated next to the blonde Hookling. "After all, she was the one Freddy made that comment about."
"Don't remind me. I honestly think Harry would have killed Freddy if he'd been able to get hand or hook on him."
"Exactly. But the fact that she's so far in the back is more than likely Harry and Harriet's doing. Plus Brooke's with her too, see? Right next to Celia and Dizzy. They're seated next to Harriet and Sammy. Looks like even Olympus is here too—I can see Lady Persephone."
Henry nodded, lacing his fingers through hers as Ben and Mal walked into the room. They watched as the two stood off to the side a little, Ben's hands rested on Mal's shoulders and Henry could tell that Ben was serious about whatever they were talking about. Then again, Mal's face was just as serious.
"Wonder what they're talking about?" Claudine whispered as Ben kissed Mal's forehead and murmured something in her ear.
"Ben, I don't like it anymore than you do but it has to be done," Henry said softly, reading Mal's lips. Claudine nodded though Henry had to wonder if Mal was just saying that to appease Ben. There had to be some part of her that was looking forward to Freddy's death.
"What're they saying now?"
"King Ben's saying 'I know but..as long as it's not going to weigh on you. He's not worth that'...and now Mal's saying 'with what he did to you at Cotillion...I'd rather finish what I started'."
"So Freddy'll be executed somehow using Mal's dragon form," Claudine said with a small sigh. "Rather fitting for Freddy."
Henry nodded, gently squeezing Claudine's shoulder as Mal and Ben split off; Ben taking the King's seat in the center of the room.
"Welcome everyone," he said with a small sigh. "I wish we were here for a different reason but today, we are here for the execution of Fredrick Claude Frollo for crimes of attempted murder, accessory to murder, breaking and entering, multiple escapes from the Isle of the Lost and more. As one of the affected parties, Lady Mal has requested that she be the one to deal the punishment and the request has been granted. Bring forth the prisoner."
Out of the corner of his eye, Henry saw that Claudine's face bore no expression as Freddy was marched into the room.
Wow, did some of the guards have fun with Freddy or something? Henry thought, seeing the bruised and battered face of the former leader of the Angels. Not that he was complaining mind you, he just wished he'd gotten a chance to get some licks in.
Freddy, though, smirked as he caught sight of Claudine.
"Yeah, yeah, smirk all you like," Claudine muttered. "I'm not the one who's about to die and leave two kids without a father."
Henry gently gave Claudine's shoulder another small squeeze, something that did not escape Freddy's notice.
"Get your Rat hands off my sister! You've already lured her to sin, Kersey!"
Henry growled though he had to admit that was the first time Freddy had ever called him by his last name. Claudine, though, shook her head and stood up.
"Apologies for the interruption King Ben but I must correct something the prisoner has said. After all, as he liked to remind me all our lives, I'm just his half sister. But soon I won't even be that. I'll be alive and he'll be dead."
"At least I'll be in Heaven while you'll be rotting with Lucifer!"
"Keep telling yourself that Freddy," Claudine said, shaking her head in exasperation and disgust.
She sat back down and Henry gave her shoulder another squeeze. Honestly that was tamer than what Henry had thought but then again, why waste good words on Freddy?
Ben nodded. "Does the accused have any last words before we move forth with your execution?"
Probably his old classic of 'and He shall smite the wicked', Claudine thought with a small sigh. Honestly Freddy, you always did sound like a broken record.
"I have but this to say. I'm sorry."
Claudine and Henry blinked in shock and even Ben seemed a bit taken aback.
"I'm sorry...that I won't be around to see this kingdom perish under the rule of a murderous Witch 'Queen'," Freddy continued and Claudine sighed. There we go.
"I hope you know how to talk down riots, your highness," Freddy said, smirking at Ben.
Henry was honestly impressed that Ben didn't punch Freddy right there and there. "As the accused has nothing to say on his behalf, we'll let the execution proceed."
As if on cue, Mal walked out to where Freddy was chained to the floor.
"What? Are you scared to get your suit dirty, your highness?" Freddy sneered.
Mal smirked. "And she shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery depths. We may not have any depths but let's bring on the fire shall we?"
Freddy wasn't given the chance to respond as a cloud of dark purple smoke surrounded Mal. When it cleared, her dragon form was in her place—glaring daggers at Freddy. The guards quickly backed away to the other side of the barrier that had been thrown up by the Good Fairies and Fairy Godmother to protect the spectators and King Ben.
"Claudine, maybe you should look away," Henry whispered.
Claudine shook her head slightly. "I'm not giving him the satisfaction Henry," she whispered back. She'd heard the things Freddy had called her after she 'abandoned' the flock with Morgan and Brooke. Coward...weak...she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of thinking that.
She locked eyes with Freddy as Mal's mouth opened, an orange glow coming through from the inside.
"Like fire, hellfire," she heard CJ sing quietly but the other Rats who were there smirked and began to sing a bit louder.
"Now Freddy it's your turn."
"Enjoy Tartarus!"
"We hope you always burn!"
Freddy's grey eyes locked on Claudine's brown and she felt her mouth open of its own accord.
"Hail, Mary, full of grace," Claudine said; her voice soft and yet judging by how Freddy's eyes widened she knew he had heard her. "The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
He may have been the spawn of Satan as the Warf Rats liked to call him but...at one point they had something resembling a sibling relationship. Even though she hated the fanaticism of their father, there was a small part of her that couldn't let her brother die without that comfort.
Within seconds Freddy was enveloped in flames, the roar of the fire drowning out his screams, and before long the only thing that was left was a pile of ash. Mal snorted as she glared down at the ash, her jaws snapping once as if to make sure Freddy hadn't somehow managed to escape. Once satisfied Freddy wasn't going to reappear, Mal transformed back into her human form.
"Let's let today be a reminder that, while King Ben's rule is based on forgiveness, that mercy will only go so far. Threats to King Ben will be dealt with accordingly if they cannot be redeemed," she said, looking at the audience with a firm glare. "Also note that King Ben doesn't keep grudges. That's what he has me for."
"Thank you Lady Mal," Ben said with a small nod of his head. "Since I do not believe there is any more business to attend to, we can declare this officially adjourned."
The audience nodded as an attendant came forward to put Freddy's ashes in an unmarked grey lidded urn while Mal walked over to Ben, letting him hold her close to him.
"I'm okay," she said softly as she melted into his embrace. "Knowing Freddy can't pop up again, that's worth more than anything. He's hurt so many people and now he can never hurt them again. He can never hurt you again."
Ben buried his face in her hair and Mal sighed, resting her head on his chest. "You know this isn't over right? Not until Audrey..."
"I know," Ben muttered. Despite everything she did, he didn't like to think about one of his oldest friends potentially dying.
"I was thinking," Mal said. "We could always speed up the pregnancy and then...let Audrey just stay in her eternal sleep. I found a spell in the Dragon's spell book..."
Ben sighed. "We...we can talk about that later okay? But for right now I think we should go give that urn to Claudine. No matter what, she's the only family Freddy has. Well only family who's older than a year."
"True," Mal nodded. They took the urn from the attendant and walked over to the Roses, Claudine, and Henry.
Mal gave Claudine a small, sad smile. "I'm so sorry about all of this."
"Don't apologize Mal," Claudine said, shaking her head. "It needed to be done. He would have never stopped."
"Still...how are you holding up? Between going to the Isle and now this?"
"....I'll miss who he was but the person I called my brother hasn't been there for a long time," Claudine told her.
Mal nodded. "I understand. If you need anything, please let Ben or I know."
"I will," Claudine nodded. "Now I believe Henry has a question for you. One that might be a needed change of topic."
"Is it true?" Henry asked. "I mean I know I see them sitting next to each other but did Harry and Uma finally break their denial?"
"It is my pleasure to say that yes they did," Mal nodded.
"What did you do? Lock them in a closet and refuse to let them out until they kissed?"
"Henry, you know Uma and Harry as well as I do. You're telling me they couldn't get out of a locked closet?"
"True but how else would they freely admit it? They've been in denial for nearly ten years!"
"I know," Mal sighed. "Let's...let's just say one of Freddy's comments touched a nerve for Harry and he blurted it out in front of Uma."
"Maybe the only use Freddy ever had," Henry said with a sigh and a small smile.
Ben nodded before looking at Claudine with a sad smile. "I believe this is yours now," he said, his voice gentle as he handed Claudine the urn.
"I...Can...Can I give him a pirate burial at sea?" Claudine asked. "His mother had been a low level pirate in my mother's crew back when Frollo was actively trying to convert the pirates to Catholicism. At least, that's what the Isle records always said. It was a part of him he always denied, Freddy."
"I think a pirate burial would be perfect," Mal said as a small smirk formed on her lips. "And I think dad just found out that Freddy will be a permanent member of the Underworld!"
In fact, Hades had indeed found out as Freddy's soul stood before him. If only he didn't have company at that moment, Hades could have savored this.
"So this was the reason you came down to bother me?"
"Now, now, Hades," Lucifer said, a small purr audible in his accented voice as he brushed a bit of dirt off of his grey suit. "I'll let you have your fun. But dear old dad informed me of a certain soul coming your way and I didn't want to miss out on welcoming him to his eternal torment."
"You are so strange," Hades shook his head. "Well get on with it. It may be a slow work day...actually how'd you get past the barrier?"
"You're concerned about that?"
"Eh fair point."
Freddy shook his head. "No, there's been a mistake! I...I'm supposed to be up at the gates being greeted by St. Peter!"
"Dear dad, are the Frollos just doomed to be repetitive?" Lucifer sighed as he circled Freddy. "Oh yes I remember your father. He was quite fun to torment until someone decided death was too good for my favorite plaything. There was a part of me that actually wondered if you'd make it upstairs when I saw how you trained your sister on the art of dagger throwing when you were children."
Lucifer stopped his circling and locked eyes with Freddy. "And then you made a mistake Freddy boy, one that most certainly cost you your soul."
"What mistake?"
"You tried to kill his daughter," Lucifer said, smirking as he pointed to Hades before looking back at Freddy. Freddy paled slightly as Lucifer's eyes flashed red for a second, though due to his now transparent nature no one could tell. "Now normally you'd be my problem since, you know, unrepentant attempted murder falls under a sin and therefore makes you a sinner for me to torment. Especially since you pray to dear old dad. But Hades called dibs. And he has held on to those dibs with every new crime of yours. From you knocking King Ben unconscious to you holding a young girl captive on the roof of a school."
"He's a false God! He can't do anything to me! And the brat deserved it!"
"You know, it doesn't matter what you say Freddy," Lucifer shook his head as he walked over back to Hades. "Because Hades will judge your soul and you? Well you'll still be dead."
"Can I do my job now? And why are you in that form? I've been meaning to ask."
"The same reason you look like a punk rock biker," Lucifer smirked. "We don't want to scare the mortals too much, do we?"
"At least I know that little traitor will be in hell!" Freddy shouted.
Hades snorted. "See what I have to deal with here?"
"Impertinent bugger isn't he?" Lucifer shook his head. "Well I shall leave you to your work Hades. If you need any suggestions for torment, please reach out."
"I think I'm good actually," Hades smirked and Lucifer nodded, quickly leaving Hades' sight. Once they were alone, Hades looked down upon Freddy.
"Do you know how long I've waited for this day?"
Hades' voice was like a whisper but Freddy could hear every word.
"Now I knew you were going to Tartarus as soon as Mal told me you were to be executed so there's no question there. The real question was what to do with you when you got there. Do I go the Frollo route and have you burn in a fiery pit with a little bit of a Godly twist where you get eaten 'alive' with your skin regenerating so it never stopped? Then I thought I'd have you chained to a wall so you could be used by magic users to test their powers on. But then I thought no, why not give you the illusion that the God you worship isn't real? There is nothing that constitutes too much when it comes to torturing you."
He leaned back and Freddy's eyes widened when he heard Hades chuckle. "It was actually Panic who solved my dilemma...or more accurately his son. He didn't think the rest of the souls in Tartarus should be forced to deal with you so you're getting your own special level of the Underworld. A different punishment awaits you every day Freddy. You could be eaten alive by hyenas. You could be burned alive while tied to a stake. You could be turned into a genie and forced to serve copies of my daughter and her friends, you could be drowned."
"You can't—."
"Oh can't I?" Hades smirked. "Oh Freddy boy, you're in for a rude awakening as to just what it is I can do. You'd better get used to eternal torment, you've got the rest of your afterlife to do so."