A/N: I don't really know what to name this chapter, so please do me the honours of suggesting better ones in the comments. I'm just really tired lately because I've only just finished 2 exams, and the worst have yet to come. The next two weeks will be full of examinations, and I'm publishing this chapter because I feel guilty about not updating for so long. I need to destress so I just finished this today, it's a cliffhanger unfortunately so I'll keep you hanging till I finish my exams, recover, sit on my new balcony and attempt churning out ideas. The video above is what finally made me get myself together: Villains' Lair S2. I really love the Maleficent vocals and looks/style, and if y'all see my account y'all will know I'm kinda like a sucker for Maleficent/Mal. If you're looking for something that has a lot of the Disney Villains + really good songs, you shouldn't miss out on Villains' Lair. But I'll leave it to you. They have made 2 about Descendants too, you can listen to it. The voices do actually sound like the original cast, so that's impressive on their part. But I'll stop ranting, I have to get back to revision. So, yeah. Enjoy this chapter.
P.S. When y'all leave messages on my message board about how y'all like my books, it really warms my heart. I may not reply, but here I shall do a collective acknowledgement that I've read them, and am very grateful. Especially to those related to this book, because it's for once a fanfic not taking place after a movie but instead almost similar to an original since it's from a concept. This fanfic is like my baby, and I really hope y'all can love it like I do.
~~~~~~~~~
"You can't keep running here each time there's a problem. People will start to notice that they can't find you on the surface."
Hades was sitting calmly on his throne, holding a mojito in his right hand, and Mal didn't bother to answer him, "They don't care. They'll just fear that Maleficent's daughter is secretly planning to make them all prick their fingers on the spindle of a spinning wheel." "That can't be right." Hades frowned, "People don't use spindles nowadays. You'd have to think of something else, I'm afraid."
And then he smirked, "I know. Safety pins. The irony, can you imagine?"
"I'd like to think of it as one of your lame attempts at humour." Mal scowled, but crossed the room to sit on the armrest of his throne, "And I'll thank you for your poor attempt at making me laugh. But I have a high bar for laughs, and a quota for it too. Which I've unfortunately used before this to intimidate the pesky princess by the name of Audrey." "Ah, that brat." Hades downed his mojito, "I never really liked her. Partly because of the past familial feuds, but nonetheless she's quite the person to put up with."
"You think?" Mal answered scathingly, "I've tried to retain peace with her, but I guess she doesn't like to attain tranquility with the person who stole her boyfriend. Well, not really steal, since they broke up before he made his move, but-" "That doesn't seem very peaceful," Hades frowned, "Did you flirt with Beast's son? He's always been giving in to her; even Belle was shocked they broke up, and Belle is, well, awfully perceptive. And she wasn't all too fond of Audrey either." "Of course I flirted with him." Mal scoffed, "How else would I get him to stop obediently tagging after Audrey and notice me?"
And then she realised her foolish slip of tongue; she had no intentions whatsoever to tell Hades about her grand plan of conquering Auradon with her mother. She'd gotten a not-so vague idea that Hades would not applaud her master plan of taking over Auradon, and so it would be best if Hades did not know of the plan. Mainly just to ensure that Hades would not be stopping her when it came down to actually fulfilling her plan.
"The question is more of why you needed him to notice you, young lady." Hades leaned forward, "Why would your first intention after coming to Auradon be to get the Crown Prince to like you? So that you could rule this land of goodness? That doesn't seem quite right, does it?" So that I can make him trust me while I secretly use him to prove myself to my mother, Mal wanted to say, Or also use him along the way to get close to you and then accidentally realise that you are actually my dad.
Instead she folded her arms defensively, "I needed to secure some sort of footing in this new hierarchy. I'm not letting these royals walk over us, so full of themselves."
"How touching." Hades's lips curled, "But your answer was too slow. You forget that I have experience in telling lies apart, Mal, and you did not successfully pass the lie detector."
Damn it.
"Fine! I was bitter, alright? Bitter that after 16 years in a dumpster, my chance at a new life included having to marvel at Audrey's flaunts. For gods' sake, Dad, you should understand! I hate her. I hate her whole family. I hate every damned one of them for waking up. So I thought I'd do some revenge. I thought I'd get her back for what her family did to mine-" Mal began hotly, allowing a part of the truth to slip for more effective lying, but if anything, it only made Hades's face harden further.
"I know you feel wronged, Mal." The god sighed deeply, "But hate them not for the sins of their family. It's not worth it, and it's the wrong path to take." "But-" Mal didn't understand where Hades came from, yet the god cut her off, "It won't ever end, Mal. I don't want that to happen again." "Don't want what to happen?" Mal was quick to pick up on his words, "Dad?"
But Hades had already risen from the armchair, and the tendrils of smoke that curled at the hems of his robes swept the floor as he turned to leave, "You should go back, Mal. You've stayed here long enough today."
And before she could protest, he flicked his wrist, and darkness seized her vision.
...
"M! Where have you been?!"
The darkness faded the moment she reopened her eyes, and Evie's concerned expression floated before her. "Where did you go? You've been missing for a whole day!" Evie told her, voice full of concern, "No one could find you. Ben was even going to organise a search for you on the Isle. He thought you ran back." "I had half a mind to." Mal muttered, before she met Evie's aghast gaze and sighed, "Kidding. Why would I ever want to return to that godforsaken dump of an island?"
"Because it's home?" Was the answer Evie proffered, "Because it's the place we've been in the whole of our lives up till now, and it's the epitome place of evil?" "Sensible, but not logical." Mal shook her head, "Going back means failing to some extent, E. I'm not quite keen on being killed by my mother." "Right." Evie then folded her arms, "Now then tell me, young lady, where exactly did you go after injuring Audrey in the middle of rehearsals and exploding into, let me see, green flames?"
Mal winced.
"Have you any idea what Audrey's saying right now? That you're a deranged kid from the Isle who needs a leash installed on her and cameras following her wherever she goes!" Evie bellowed, and it was really quite the first time Mal had seen her so mad, "E-"
"Don't you dare 'E' me! Do you have any idea what this play means? Freedom, Maleficent Bertha, and now I'm trying to get our asses saved ever since Jay made that doofus move to set off that siren at the museum - not that it was the actual wand anyway-" Evie continued to rant, and Mal silently nodded her head along each line.
"-I already had difficulty finding people for roles, and then I managed to get enough people by stooping low and pleading, all for our grades-"
"-Then you, Miss I'm-Going-To-Blow-This-Popsicle-Stand, decide that it'd be great to start up a cat fight with some smart mouthed princess you can't stand, and all for a boy who you should not have feelings towards-"
"-Now Audrey's threatening to even shut this play down and give us demerit points for hurting a princess, thank our lucky stars that Ben finally got some backbone to stand up to her-"
"Audrey wanted this play to end?" Mal questioned, but Evie glared at her, "Don't you go having any thoughts about egging her on! This is serious, Mal!" "Blueberry, there's always Jane who can sub in." Mal reminded in undertones, "And mind you, Jane is an easier pawn...and a much more potential one." "Finally got your scheming brains back, did you?" Evie snarked, but she did seem pleased with Mal's suggestion, "Fairy G's daughter?"
"Tremaine will be pleased. I was her favourite student, if you remember." Mal's lips quirked, "I'll ask Ben for her number. They were childhood friends too, so all the better-" "Mal!" Ben suddenly burst into their dorm room, and both girls jumped up in fright. "I thought I heard your voice!" "Yes, I was speaking." Mal answered curtly, "You'd think the Crown Prince of Auradon would have better manners."
"And of course you wouldn't, despite knowing fully well that he's the Crown Prince of Auradon." A snide voice came from behind him, and Mal immediately snarled, "What is she doing here?!" "Like I want to be in your den. Stinks of evil." Audrey sneered in return, and Mal then retorted, "Well, I don't want pink sandals ruining my doorway either-" "Mal, enough." The prince's voice was surprisingly stern, and Ben moved to block them from each other, his voice warning, "Audrey. You know what you're here for."
"If it wasn't for Fairy G, I wouldn't even want to set my foot anywhere near her hovel." Audrey gritted, but she stepped forward and dipped her head stiffly in a mocked bow, "Well, for all it's worth, I'm very apologetic for spreading the rumour about you, and I have promised Fairy G to finish the production." "How touching." Mal's eyes flashed, "Let me consider it, Princess. I'd rather not have a Hermia clinging onto my Demetrius. Really ruins the element. Hermia is supposed to spurn him, you see." "Oh, I can assure you, I don't need a petty date." Audrey seethed, "I am the future queen of Auroria! Why would I need to hook up with the prince of Auradon?" "Good! Just channel that energy when you're acting as Hermia, Audrey, and we'll do just fine." Evie brusquely slammed her hand over Mal's mouth, "We'll accept your apology."
"Great! Then I shall be leaving." Audrey tossed her head arrogantly, her hair whipping into Ben's face as she strutted out of the room, and there was a silence in her wake. Mal's expression was growing darker by the minute (although debatable if it was actually because Evie was almost suffocating her), and Ben finally took up the responsibility for shattering the ice by stepping forward with a deep breath.
They looked at him expectantly, wondering if he was about to burst into speech (or song), but Ben only gently removed Evie's hand from Mal's lips, and then cast his arms around her in an embrace. "Mmph??" Mal now struggled against his blazer, her lips rubbing off small sparkling marks of lip gloss into his jacket, "Mmp-" She barely managed to shift her eyes to Evie, but the blue-haired girl had no intentions of helping her as she watched the embrace curiously. Certainly, Mal could throw Ben off of herself. She could rival Jay in strength, and surely she'd acquired some prowess over her powers; the fact that she was allowing herself to be hugged like that...
"Enjoy the hug." Evie winked at her, before slipping out of the room and shutting the door, leaving them both alone.
Mal groaned rather audibly, and slumped in defeat against Ben's arms. Blasted Evie, leaving her alone with Ben. Did the girl seriously think she was doing them a favour? The last thing she wanted right now was to be beside the AK she had attempted to manipulate with feelings; which, as it appeared, had backfired on her.
She was no idiot. The love spell would have offered more compliance, more one-sided willingness, and all she'd have to do was pull on the strings. But this was Auradon, where no evil deed was done. Right from the start, people had been suspicious. Imagine if they knew their king was suddenly obeying her without any resistance at all. Even if they didn't tie up witches to set them aflame anymore, she was almost certain that they would grant to her a worse fate than being thrown back onto the Isle.
But then, again, even if they just threw her back, chances were that she wouldn't live long to see a full cycle of the moon; her mother would have long ordered the goons to give her a good beating, and would have disowned her. She'd been on the Isle her whole life, she knew how dangerous it was to be homeless. More so if she used to be the one bullying absolutely everyone else. It was almost certain that everyone would come flocking to kill her.
So she had done the thing everyone had least expected. She'd risked true feelings on a gamble with this boy, risking everything to make sure he'd be the pawn that reached the end of the chessboard. As Grimhilde always said, if you truly wanted something to go perfectly, you'd do it yourself. She couldn't rely on a love spell for something this important; for all she could know, maybe even the water fountain's water was to prevent enchantments.
And she'd succeeded. Her only problem was that it had backfired.
She was no expert on "love", or those cuddly relationships. She'd fought her way through her sixteen years on the dump by sheer will and power, cutting through the rubbish for her evil reputation to emerge as firmly as the thorns on the rose, fending off everyone from the actual rose itself. She had never let anyone to the core of rose petals, truly, although there were those who'd learnt to climb the thorns to the rose petals: Evie. Jay. Carlos.
And then there was Ben, who so carefully took the whittling knife and carved away the thorns.
Maybe she didn't know well enough if she loved him. She didn't even know if he loved her, or maybe it was just the bad girl infatuation. Audrey did say that, a snide voice in her head said, Didn't she? Aren't you? Love doesn't exist for villains, idiot girl. You poor simple fool, thinking that there'd be love to spare for villains? Hopeless. You're not worth being your mother's daughter, you imbecile-
"Mal!"
Ben's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, but even as she stared up at his hazel eyes, the fog in her mind cleared, leaving behind a startling clear line of words.
You like him, don't you? Mal Bertha, liking the sworn enemy? The Queen falling for her pawn?
"Mal, did you hear what I said?" The prince asked, and she shook her head. All she could hear was a ringing in her ears left behind by the imaginary cackle of Maleficent. "I said, I'm sorry." Ben squeezed her upper arms, and even as he gazed into her eyes, trying to get some kind of response from her, all he saw were two great emeralds, beautifully empty, "I'm sorry for the prejudice against you. I'm sorry for not being able to protect you from all the words and rumours others are spouting about you."
His eyes seemed so sincere, but her mind was full of the words she'd heard.
A third wheel, between the couple of model goodness.
A sore disappointment to her mother.
A nobody to everyone.
Ever since she'd been back from her father's, and he'd given her that odd line of advice, she hadn't been able to gather her anger.
Why am I feeling so...upset?
"Ben?"
I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry for liking you, for hindering you, but I have no choice.
And...I'm sorry...for this.
"I think...I think I need a break."
•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•