I will say now that this chapter appears to be up twice.
I do not know why, I cannot work out how to fix this, and the second copy of the chapter does not show up on my editing screen.
Therefore, you're gonna have to deal with there being two. It bugs me too.
In other words, just skip one of them if you don't want to read this twice.
From the perspective of Ben.
What. Just. Happened?
We were sprinting through the holding crypt, searching for our four friends.
Me, Doug, Jane and Lonnie.
It took a little while to convince Doug to come along, but Jane surprisingly was all for it.
Lonnie... will be Lonnie.
And now, we're sprinting through the vast forest, looking for a way out.
It barely crossed my mind how Mal so easily caught up to us, and frankly, I'm not sure it even mattered.
That's why I didn't dwell on it.
Instead, I worried about the growing concern that was the escaped villains from the Isle. I've already lost... One person, that I care about... I refuse to lose any more.
<><><>
Eventually, the enraged voices trailing us died out, and we were left to a steady jog.
Then - we stopped.
Well, we walked.
The silence was a little eerie, especially after what just happened - that's probably why Jane decided to break it.
"Er... What now?" She was ignored.
"Guys?"
No-one answered.
I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to keep on walking, and although my friends were accused of killing... My dad... I knew within me that they weren't the true culprits.
But before I could decide on what to do, Lonnie did for me.
She stopped walking. Mal, Evie, Jane, Doug and Carlos didn't notice at first. Jay, however, did.
He let out a great sigh.
"Guys, stop," he sighed.
They did, and turned around to face us.
Carlos and Evie looked concerned, Jane and Doug surprised. Mal had a far-off look in her eyes, like she was somewhere else. She was still frowning, though.
"We can't keep... Just walking like this!" The daughter of Mulan screamed in despair. But she got no response.
Then Doug took a deep breath.
"She's right," he finally said. "What's going on? What next?"
Mal was snapped from her thoughts. She looked, unimpressed, at Doug, and raised an eyebrow.
"It doesn't matter what happens next." She turned around, and we couldn't see her face any longer. "Not to you four."
I grabbed her arm, spinning her around. "Mal! We're in this together! Please tell us what's happening, we can help!"
A look of pity flashed across her face, but it was gone as quick as it had come. Her eyes hardened.
"There is no we," she replied curtly, before pulling her arm from my grip and continuing to move on.
I wasn't sure what to say after that.
Obviously, I was hurt. Who wouldn't be, if their girlfriend told them that she didn't want them around?
I think Mal must've realised that she was a bit harsh, though - she gave a deep sigh.
I recognised it as the sound she makes when she knows we need to talk.
<><><>
Long story short - I'm not happy.
Mal is ahead, leading like it seems she was born to, while I brought up the back, frowning and grumbling.
No, I'm not throwing a tantrum.
Okay, so maybe a bit.
Mal's just told us she's leading us back to Auradon; as expected, we were not happy.
She explained how she, along with Evie, Carlos and Jay, were going to 'sort all this mess out' while we 'run back to school.'
And considering I'm still kind-of upset that she left me thinking she was dead last year, I was not at all willing to let go.
I tried to argue - really, I did, but Mal wasn't having it.
She ignored every word I said and pushed down my attempts at getting through to her.
It's incredibly frustrating.
So here we are.
Walking through the woods (some of us, trudging.)
Back to that dam school where I have no way at all of helping one of the most important people in my life.
<><><>
And eventually we arrived.
I gazed up at the tall stone towers, feeling nothing but disappointment when I thought about the fact that Mal and the other VK wouldn't be there with me.
I can tell that there's no sense in arguing with her any more. She isn't going to let up.
Instead, I'm going to concentrate on bringing more villain kids over from the Isle, in time for when my friends come back from their... Trip.
I felt someone touch my arm. I looked over and it's Evie. I look into her eyes, laced with sympathy and apology, yet it's not at all romantic. Purely the connection that two close friends had.
There's so much you can say with your eyes.
Yet, all Evie's are saying is -
"I'm so Sorry."
look away from the Blueberry princess to make eye contact with the girl I love.
She looks prepared to cry, something that is not common when it comes to Mal.
In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her cry. It touches me that she cares this much.
I gave her a sad smile, before spreading my arms wide and cocooning my purple grape in them, knowing that I'll never be ready to let go.
Yet I have to.
Mal pulled away, looking into my eyes again, and although I know I'll see her again, I can't prevent the little tear from trickling down my cheek.
"Goodbye, Ben," she said softly. "I'll be back. I swear." Her soft lips touched my cheek, as if she was scared of me shattering into thousands of pieces, but instead I savoured the time I had left with her.
I don't know what brought on the sudden change of attitude, but I'm beyond grateful, her face, her touch, her hair, even her smell.
I never want to forget.
<><><>
I've been staring out my window for the best part of the evening now. Jane, Doug, Lonnie, even my mother have tried to get me to cheer up, bit I just can't, not knowing how she is, or what she's doing.
It's killing me already.
The sun is going down.
I've never properly realised how beautiful the sunset truly is. All that orange and pink, smeared across the skyline as paint on canvas.
I've never paid much attention to the small beauties in my life. But now, noticing them, makes me realise how lucky I truly was not to be stranded on the Isle of the Lost with all the other kids who in no way deserved it.
I've put in an order to bring across those kids from the Isle that Mal and I talked about a while ago.
Now that Michael Gothel, Lydia Tremaine and Quentin Hearts have left (thank Auradon for that, still couldn't stand that guy) have left, there have been a few empty dorms on campus.
So Drew, Gary and Dizzy are riding a limo, probably for the first time, down here next week.
I know I should probably be thinking about other, more important things - but I'm still focused on Mal.
Don't get me wrong, she's brave, and has done dangerous things before, yet I still worry whenever she has to.
I can't help it! I get my affectionate side from... My dad...
His funeral is in 5 days. The body was retrieved from Cinderellasville on the day the VKs were thrown in the Lockdown Facility.
I haven't been able to brave seeing it. Neither has my mother.
I thought back to when we said goodbye ; he went with a force of 20 men. There's no way he should've perished in that - yet... He did.
Life always seems to smack me round the head with the most unexpected things. Sometimes that's a good thing
Sometimes it's not.
This is one of those times.
I don't know what to do.
No Dad.
My friends are missing.
On top of all that, the one I love most has gone with them.
It's just me, and my mother, against this harsh and cruel world.
<><><>
I can tell that Jane, Lonnie and Doug aren't feeling like themselves at the moment.
And I hate to say it, but I don't blame them.
Our group has been much more tightly knit recently. There's less socialisation than ever, but that's okay. We still talk to each other.
It's all about support, and it's probably only thanks to them and my mother that I'm even walking around and doing all my kingly duties, which seem extensively unimportant to me at the moment.
Despite her being a cat, Chelsea is different too. She's around Mal all the time usually, sometimes she sat with me.
Now I have the furry ball pretty much 24/7.
I guess it's her way of coping. And it can get quite comfortable sometimes - having her on my lap. She's like a leg warmer.
As the sky slowly darkened, the castle was a silent, towering shadow.
The sun was my emotion, slowly sinking into the horizon.
Something rubbed against my thighs, and I glanced down.
Sighing, I hoisted the Purple cat into my arms, and shut the window; it was beginning to get cold.
I swung onto my bed, and watched a fly fly across the room, travelling in unnecessary loops. The cat curled up on my chest, and I slowly drifted into sleep, the image of a certain Purple-haired teen swimming across my mind.
End of chapter.
I'm done!
I have no excuses for how long this took. I'm just lazy.
Perhaps dont expect another update immediately, because despite me wanting to pick it up again, it may still not happen very often.
Just more frequently.
See you next time.