Ben's coronation was turning out to be a grand event like no other.
The cloudless blue sky smiled down upon Sylphrenia as Carlos escorted her up the steps of the cathedral.
They entered the beautiful hall that was crowded with elegantly dressed people and were guided to the balcony seats by an attendant.
Syl sat down between Carlos and Jay. They watched Mal be lead by another attendant to her seat in the front row.
A knot formed it the pit of her stomach. It was starting. What if something went wrong, if she didn't know her friends as well as she thought she did? What if her friendship with them obstructed her ability to stop them?
Attendants opened the large doors, and Ben walked into the cathedral, looking regal. He strode down the aisle, a choir singing and people bowing as he passed by them. As he passed by Mal, he gave her a sweet smile that she returned, but Syl noticed that as soon as he had passed, Mal's smile faded.
Ben approached the stage where Fairy Godmother, his parents, and the wand was waiting for him. Sylphrenia could feel the old power radiating from it. She sensed it could... feel her almost. She shifted in her seat, unnerved.
Ben kneeled, and Fairy Godmother took the crown from King Adam's head and placed it on Ben's. Syl's stomach lurched as Beast lifted the bell jar containing the wand.
Syl was starting to doubt herself. She should have told someone, to have backup or something! For all of her power, she didn't know if she could do what needed to be done if the need arrived.
Belle handed the wand to the Fairy Godmother.
Syl saw Mal nod in their direction, signaling her friends. The choir stopped singing as Fairy Godmother held the wand out toward Ben. This was the moment.
"Do you solemnly swear to govern the peoples of Auradon..." said the Fairy Godmother, oblivious to the plans being set in motion around her. "...with justice and mercy as long as you shall reign?"
"I do solemnly swear," said Ben.
Syl was at the edge of her seat. At any moment the wand would be taken from the Fairy Godmother's grips
The Fairy Godmother lifted her wand. "Then it is my honor and my joy to bless our new king-"
It happened. The wand was snatched out of the woman's grasp, but not by Mal. By Jane.
The wand shook violently and shot off a wild display of sparks as Jane held it away from her body, trying to control it. Sylphrenia knew it was overloading. As the Fairy Godmother had been in the middle of casting a spell, the united magic was being drawn into the core of the wand and had not been released.
It bucked and sent a fierce bolt of lightening that cracked through one of the cathedral's stained glass windows. The bolt sizzled through the air, out of sight, but Syl could feel it crash into something. Something powerful.
Fairy Godmother was wide eyed. "Child, what are you doing?"
"If you won't make me beautiful, I'll do it myself!" Jane yelled, struggling to control the wand.
Everyone screamed as the wand swung left and right, emitting magic.
"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!" Jane chanted.
"Take cover!" Beast yelled to the crowd.
Beast shielded Belle and Ben held an arm out in front of Mal, half covering her, but she slipped out of his grasp. Time seemed to slow down as she ran up to Jane and pried the wand from her hands. Sylphrenia felt Jay, Carlos and Evie getting up. Evie exited the row last, and Syl grabbed her wrist. "Do what feels right," Sylphrenia said, before releasing her hand. Evie looked stricken as she turned back, hurrying down the steps.
"Careful Mal," Belle was warning, but Mal held the wand like a sword and pointed it at the royal family.
Ben moved toward her. "Mal... give me the he wand," he said.
"Stand back," she told him, shaking slightly.
"Mal it's okay-"
"Ben, I said stand back!" Mal brandished the wand at him.
Evie, Jay, and Carlos stepped up behind her.
"Let's go," said Carlos.
"Revenge time," muttered Jay. Syl looked at him. He seemed reluctant, and the knot in her stomach started to unravel. They weren't going to do it.
"Do you really want to do this?" Ben asked Mal.
"We don't have a choice, Ben!" said Mal. "Our parents-"
"Your parents made their choices. Now you make yours." He looked at her. Mal looked at him before looking at everyone else's faces. As she glanced at Syl, she noticed Mal didn't make eye contact. She was wavering.
"I think I want to be good," said Mal, lowering the wand.
"You are good," said Ben.
"How do you know that?" Mal asked.
"Because... I'm listening to my heart." Ben looked deep into her eyes."
"I want to listen to my heart too," she says. "And my heart is telling me that we are not our parents." Syl's heart lept.
Mal faced her friends, and looked at Jay. "I mean, stealing things doesn't make you happy. Tourney and victory pizza with the team makes you happy." She whispered something else to him, and he looked up at Syl sadly.
Mal looked at Carlos. "And you, scratching Dude's belly makes you happy. Who would've thought?" She giggled before looking at Evie. "And Evie, you do not have to play dumb to get a guy. You are so smart."
Evie laughed, nodding and shedding happy tears.
"And I don't want to take over the world with evil. I want to go to school. And be with Ben." Mal turned to look at him. "Because Ben makes me really happy." She held up her hand with Ben's ring on it before turning back to her friends. "Us being friends makes me really happy. Not destroying things..."
Evie, Jay, and Carlos nodded at her.
"I choose good, you guys." Mal held her hand out.
"I choose good too," said Jay, joining her first with his.
Evie put her fist next to Jay's. "I choose good."
Carlos took a deep breath. "So, just to be clear: we don't have to worry about how really mad our parents are going to be? Because they're gonna be really, really mad."
The others laughed. "Your parents can't reach you here," Ben reassured them.
Mal laughed and beckoned for Ben to join them. He did, and put his hand in with theirs. Mal leaned into him, and Syl sat back into her chair, relieved. Everything was going to be-
A window shattered, and everyone gasped. In a flash of lightening and a roll of thunder, Maleficent appeared.
The audience froze as she threw back her head. "I'm baaaaaaack!" Maleficent yelled.
Sylphrenia's eyes widened before she reacted. She grabbed her clutch and pulled out a long piece of wood. It was her wand, and she knew she was going to need it.
Syl knew she had to wait though, so she stayed where she was, sitting on the edge of her seat. The best way for her friends to get accepted would be for them to at least attempt to stop Maleficent. If they fell short, she could finish what they had started.
"Go away Mother," Mal said to Maleficent.
Maleficent chuckled. "You're very funny." She extended one of her hands; her other hand was holding her scepter. "Here- wand me," she said. When Mal didn't move, she snapped her fingers. "Chop chop!"
Mal moved to give the wand to Maleficent. Sylphrenia tensed, gripping her wand, and Ben yelled out, "No!"
Instead, Mal threw the wand to the Fairy Godmother who caught it. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-" she started.
"Boo!" yelled Maleficent. She waved her scepter, and Syl could feel the magic grip her body, binding it to place. She quickly channeled her own magic, feeding it, making it grow. She burned the binding away, but stayed still. She would only move if truly necessary.
Sylphrenia could hear Maleficent yelling "Psych!" at the Fairy Godmother.
Maleficent took her time going over to Beast, taking off his glasses and putting them on his head. The four Isle kids shifted, and Syl assumed they had not been frozen like everyone else.
Maleficent hummed a dark tune while she walked over to the Fairy Godmother, plucking her wand out of her hand.
"Where shall we begin?" She pointed the wand at Mal. "I know. Why don't we start by getting rid of this..." She aimed the wand at Ben's ring on Mal's finger. It flew onto her hand. "Perfect fit!" She walked over to Ben and knocked his crown askew. "Falling in love is weak... and ridiculous." She looked at her daughter. "It's not what you want."
"You don't know what I want!" said Mal. "Mom, have you ever once asked me what I want?" Tears streamed down her face. "I'm not you!"
"Well, obviously," said Maleficent. "I've had years and years and years and years practice being evil. You'll get there."
"No I will not!" said Mal. "And I really wish that you had never gotten there yourself." She looked at her mom and Syl could see that she felt sorry for her. "Love is not weak or ridiculous. It's actually really amazing." Mal smiled through her tears.
"I know one thing, young lady. You have no room for love in your life!" Maleficent pointed the wand at Mal. Sylphrenia readied herself to jump up and block the spell, but it never came.
Instead, Mal extended her hand. "And now I command, wand to my hand!" The wand flew into her hand. "It worked!" she exclaimed. She and her friends exchanged looks.
"I hardly think so," Maleficent told Mal. "Frankly this is tedious and very immature. Give me the wand! Give me the wand!"
"Hold on, Mal!" Carlos said. "Maybe good really is more powerful than evil!"
Sylphrenia nearly rolled her eyes before she stopped herself. Power was not determined by ethical decisions. It was greatly determined by bloodline. She doubted very much that Mal was stronger than her mother. Magic lessened through the generations.
Maleficent laughed. "Oh please. You're killing me!" She barked like a dog.
Dude ran up and jumped into her arms.
"Off! Off! Breath! The breath! Get off me!" She threw Dude off her. Jay seized the moment and dove to grab the scepter.
Maleficent held it tightly. She leaned in close and stroked his bicep. "Gaston would be jealous," she said. With a flick, she sent Jay flying backward. Syl flinched slightly, but Jay got up, moving back to his friends.
Each time something happened, Syl moved to help, but each time she lowered back down again. They were doing good, she thought, observing.
Maleficent cackled, then faced Mal and her friends. "Enough!" she boomed. "You will regret this!" She began to expand and change shape into a dragon. Sylphrenia's breath caught in her throat. The dragon soared above the four Isle kids before getting Jay in her sights. She hovered, ready to strike.
"Jay!" Mal cried. Sylphrenia readied her wand, ready to protect him if he couldn't get away.
Jay ran down the aisle. The dragon flew and followed him.
"She's right behind you!" shouted Carlos.
"Jay!" shouted Mal.
He sprinted away from the dragon.
"Jay, run!" called Evie.
Syl watched in horror as the dragon flew the length of the aisle, overtaking Jay quickly. As Maleficent swooped down on him, Syl went to stand up, but Evie was faster. She stepped between them and reflected a beam of sunlight with her mirror. It blinded the dragon, causing it to come to a stop, but it made it angrier. It flew up, to the top of the cathedral, and its throat started glowing. Sylphrenia realized she was about to blow fire on everyone in the cathedral.
Maleficent blew the fire, but it only flew a few feet before curving to the sides, outlining the shape of a large bubble encircling her.
Mal and her friends looked for the source of the magic, and found it. Sylphrenia stood on the balcony, arm outstretched and holding her wand. The power was flowing through her, easier now that she was assisted by her wand.
"Get ready Mal!" called Syl. With that, she brought the bubble down, Maleficent bumping at the sides, trying to escape.
Msl looked unsure for a minute but seemed to realize something. She opened her mouth and began to chant. "The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before five hearts as one." Mal said it again, louder. "The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before five hearts as one."
Mal repeated the words one final time, with even more force. "The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before five hearts as one!"
In that moment, the dragon blinked. There was a flash of smoke, and the dragon was gone. Syl leaned over the railing to see if she could see what happened. Mal gasped. She and her friends looked at each other and smiled.
"What just happened?" asked Carlos.
"I have no idea," said Mal, racing down the aisle.
"Did you do it?" asked Evie.
"I don't know!" said Mal, stopping short.
Fairy Godmother unfroze and ran to meet them in the aisle.
"No, no, no." Fairy Godmother looked at them with warmth and pride. "Your mother did," she said gently to Mal. "She shrank to the size of love in her heart. That's why it's so... itty-bitty." She looked down at something Sylphrenia could not see.
Looking around to make sure nobody was looking at her, she hopped down from the balcony and floated to the ground. She walked down the aisle and saw what they were looking at. Maleficent had been turned into a lizard.
"Is she going to be like that forever?" Mal asked.
"Forever is a long time," said Fairy Godmother. "You learned how to love. So can she."
Mal smiled. She held the wand out to Fairy Godmother. "I believe this belongs to you."
Fairy Godmother took the wand and picked up Ben's ring from the ground. "And I believe this belongs to you." She held it out to Mal and she grinned, putting it on.
Evie caught a sight of Sylphrenia and turned around. "You can do magic?"
Sylphrenia had shoved her wand back into her clutch and smiled innocently. "Just a bit," she showed her fingers, pinched together with a tiny opening between them. "Not an exceptional amount." She saw Fairy Godmother roll her eyes.
"That's so cool!" said Carlos excitedly.
"We are going to have a talk later," Fairy Godmother said to Syl. She had the impression that the Fairy Godmother knew that Mal and her friends had received some assistance. Syl grimaced.
Fairy Godmother turned and pointed her wand at everyone on the stand. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!" she cried.
Ben unfroze and roared a battle cry. Mal stopped him. "Okay, okay, okay! We kind of all got this wrapped up here."
Ben looked around, confused, before sweeping Mal into a hug, causing Mal to squeal.
"Next time, I rescue you, okay?" he said.
"Yeah, let's not have there be a next time, okay?" said Mal. She gave him a hug and straightened his crown in his head. "I will be right back."
She walked over to where Fairy Godmother was lecturing Jane. Syl saw her put her hand on Fairy Godmother's shoulder and tell them something before Fairy Godmother lead Jane away.
An attendant clamped the bell jar over the lizard in the aisle. Mal leapt toward them. "Hey! Careful! That's my mom!"
The audience laughed, and Sylphrenia moved away. She wasn't needed anymore. Before she could go far, someone put their hand on her shoulder. She turned around, hoping it was Jay, but it was Evie.
"Come on," she beckoned, and Syl followed her. They huddled together with the other three Isle kids and Ben.
"Let's get this party started!" said Jay.
Syl joined in as they whooped and cheered. It was time for the coronation celebration.