029. | BATTLE OF THE WITCHES
"Help me!" Celia cried, her terror evident in her voice.
"Yeah, save your little friend, Mal!" Audrey taunted from above us.
"Freddy, Mal, help!" Celia shouted.
Mal looked at me. "Stay here, I got this."
I opened my mouth to protest, but Mal quickly turned into a dragon and flew up into the air. Flying around the castle, she blew a fireball at Audrey, but Audrey blocked it with her scepter and laughed wickedly. Then Mal began dodging the blasts that Audrey fired at her before flying at her again.
"Careful not to fry your little V.K. buddy!" Audrey taunted her, and I realized that she must've caught Celia and was using the young girl to protect herself.
I turned my head, seeing Uma, Harley, and Harry coming towards me. Relieved, I rushed over to them, and I saw the frantic look in Uma's eyes.
"Freddy, what's going on?" Harley asked.
"Audrey has Celia," I said. "Mal's trying to stop her."
"Look!" Harry said, pointing to the sky.
We both looked up at Mal, and dread filled my stomach when I saw her trying to ignite the ember with her fire.
"She doesn't stand a chance without the ember," Uma said.
I looked up at Mal, Uma's words sinking in. "She doesn't stand a chance without us," I said softly.
Uma frowned at me. "What?"
"Evie's right," I said to Uma. "We're stronger together. In order to beat Audrey, Mal needs both of us."
Uma held my gaze for a moment, then nodded and gestured for Harley and Harry to follow. "Come on."
The four of us ran up to the castle, but while Uma, Harley, and Harry halted at the edge of the lawn, I kept going, running up to the side and stopping at the base. I looked around, frantically searching for a way to get up. Then, my eyes landed on a broomstick leaning against the wall.
"Figures," I muttered. But I grabbed the broom anyway, then infused my magic into it before I swung my leg over it and pushed off into the air.
I got up there just in time to see Audrey blast Mal in the wing with the scepter, causing Mal to roar in pain and spiral down to the ground.
"No!" I cried. "Mal!" When Mal disappeared from sight, I flew over to Audrey and shouted, "Audrey!"
Audrey looked up at me, grabbing Celia again and holding the scepter against the young girl's temple. "Watch it, Freddy. Unless you want your little friend to end up like Mal."
"Audrey, stop!" I said. "This won't solve anything!"
Audrey smirked. "Maybe. But it'll still be fun." Then she fired a blast of energy at me, striking me in the stomach and nearly knocking me off the broom. I gasped, hunching over in pain as I felt the bruises forming on my skin.
"You can't defeat me alone, Frederica," Audrey sneered. "You're not strong enough and you know it."
I slowly looked up at her, regaining control of my breathing as my eyes narrowed. "You're right. I know I'm not strong enough." Then I smirked at her. "But I'm not alone."
"We're stronger together!" Uma shouted from below us.
"We're stronger together!" I yelled to Mal, also encouraging her. "We're right here, Mal! Regain your might and ignite!"
"We're right here, girl!" Uma kept shouting. "We're right here! Regain your might and ignite!"
I stuck out my hand, closing my eyes as I repeated, "Regain your might and ignite!"
Uma and I repeated the phrase again, and Mal held out the ember, which then burst into life. I pumped my fist in victory, and Mal looked up at me with happiness shining in her eyes.
"Yes!" Uma whooped.
"No!" Audrey snapped, then turned to Celia, who was cowering in the corner, and pointed the scepter at her. "You want a piece of this, huh?"
"No, no!" Celia cried, holding her hands out in front of her.
"Leave her alone!" I shouted. Then, I launched electricity at Audrey, who blocked it with the scepter before blasting me with it. The broom shattered and turned to dust, and a scream left my lips as I began to plummet towards the ground. But then, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed my forearm, halting my descent and saving me from falling. I looked up, relief flooding through me when I saw who it was.
"I got you, Fred," Harley said, her grip on my arm tightening as she clung to the side of the building. "Don't worry, I got you."
Harley pulled me up, hauling me up to a ledge of the castle. Once we were both safe, we heard a loud crackle of energy, and we both looked up to see Mal using the ember to fire blue flames at Audrey, who was retaliating with pink energy.
"Go, Mal!" I yelled encouragingly. "Go, Mal!"
"You got this!" Harley agreed.
"You got this, girl!" Uma added.
Mal let out a fierce roar, slowly pushing Audrey back with the ember. Then, finally, the ember won, blasting Audrey backwards and causing her to collapse on the floor.
"Yes!" I cheered as Harley whooped in celebration, and Uma embraced Harry in a tight hug.
Then, I climbed up the side of the castle, hauled myself over the top of the tower, and ran up to Celia, who immediately launched herself into my arms.
"Freddy!" she said in relief.
I just hugged her back, relieved that she was okay. Then, Mal roared again, descending down to the roof before reverting back to her human form.
"Mal!" Celia cried, running over to Mal and hugging her as well.
"Celia," Mal said softly, hugging her back in equal relief. "It's okay. I've got you."
I slowly walked over to Audrey, who was now back to normal, then crouched by her side and whispered, "Audrey?" When she didn't respond, I looked at Mal and said, "Mal, she's not waking up."
Mal came over to me, also saying Audrey's name and pressing her fingers on the girl's temple. Then, Mal looked up at me with a face full of dread.
"Oh, no," I said quietly, realizing what had happened.
As we both looked at each other, Hades' words to Mal rang in our ears.
You're only half Hades. The ember won't do everything for you that it does for me.
━━━ ✥ ━━━
"She's slipping away," Evie said to us.
After we had discovered that Audrey wasn't going to wake up, I had quickly gone to the forest to undo the spell I had cast on my friends. They seemed shocked at first, but when I explained what had happened — including the situation with the necklace — they all understood, and they came back to Auradon with me to see if they could help.
Now, it was late that night, and Mal, my friends, and I were back in Audrey's dorm room. Audrey was laying on her bed, completely comatose, and there was nothing that we could do about it. Even though Audrey had done all those horrible things, I didn't want her to die. It just wasn't fair.
Mal leaned her head forward in defeat before looking up at Ben. "There's only one person in the world who might be able to do something about this, and that's Hades."
Ben looked up at her in shock. "Hades?" Then, he shook his head. "He wouldn't do it. I wouldn't risk it."
"Actually, he might do it for me," Mal said. She glanced at me, then at Evie, who seemed shocked by her words. "He's my father."
Besides Evie and myself, everyone in the room seemed shocked. Then, Ben looked up and nodded. "Okay. Well, I'll have to send guards to get him."
There was a pause before Uma said, "Maybe I can hitch a ride." When we all looked at her in surprise, she explained, "The Isle is my home. Someone needs to be there to protect it."
"Well, then," Harry said, standing up and putting his hands on Uma's shoulders. "You will need your first mate."
Uma smiled up at him in response.
"The Isle will be in very good hands," I said to them.
"Can I go, too?" Celia said after a moment, standing up and walking over to us. "I wish I could be in both places."
When we all looked at Harley, she crossed her arms and shook her head. "Well, I'm not going back. It's obvious that you fools need me too much."
Mal smiled at me, then stood up and stepped up to Uma. "I really think that Evie was right," Mal said. "And... I do think that we could've been friends." Uma nodded in agreement, and Mal turned to us. "And I'm really sorry that I lied to all of you guys." Then she faced me. "Especially you, Freddy. You deserved so much better than that."
Jay stepped forward. "You were just trying to do the right thing."
"Yeah," Uma agreed.
Evie stood up, facing Mal as well. "I get it."
I stood up, taking Mal's hands and smiling at her. "I do too." I put one hand on her face. "And to be fair, I kind of lost it, too. So you have every right to be mad at me also."
Mal smiled, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. "You only lost it cause I lied to you."
I grinned. "I love you."
Mal gave me a butterfly kiss. "I love you, too."
I glanced at Audrey again. "Let's just hope Hades will help."
━━━ ✥ ━━━
The next day, Beast, Belle, Fairy Godmother, Queen Leah (Audrey's grandmother), Ben, Mal, and myself all gathered in Audrey's room to wait for Hades. I knew by the way Mal's leg was bouncing that she was nervous, so I reached out, putting my hand on her knee to comfort her. It'll be okay, I told her. Don't worry.
After a few hours, there was a knock on the door. Mal and I jumped to our feet as Ben's father opened the door. Hades walked in, chained by his wrists and ankles, an irritated look on his face.
Mal stepped up to him. "Thank you for coming," she said.
Hades rolled his eyes. "Didn't have much choice."
"Can you wake her?" Ben asked, taking a step towards him.
Hades gave him a look. "Since when do heroes care about villains?"
Ben hesitated. "She's–"
"One of your own," Hades said, cutting him off. When no one answered, he chuckled dryly. "Right." Rolling his neck, he glared at Mal and I. "When you guys try to destroy the world... it's an error in judgment. But when it's one of us... lock them up and throw away the key." He looked at Ben's father. "Right, Beast?"
Mal's face was expressionless, but I knew her well enough to know that she was very wary of him. I slowly wrapped my arm around hers, twining our fingers together and giving her hand an encouraging squeeze.
Hades suddenly held up his hands, causing everyone in the room to jump and the guards to stop him from moving. Then, he gave us all a look before he said, "Yeah, I'm gonna need to use my hands."
Mal glanced at Ben, who nodded at the guards. The guards then unlocked Hades, and he stepped forward before holding his hand out to Mal.
She stared at him, then slowly handed him the ember. Hades closed his hand around it, his eyes closing as he inhaled deeply. Then, his bright blue hair burst into flames, and he opened his eyes, grinning as he shook the ember in his hand. "Haven't lost my touch," he said with a chuckle.
Hades stepped up to Beast, who blocked his path with a guarded expression. Hades gave the man a dragon-like growl, and Beast replied with his own beastly growl.
"Dad," Mal said to him, causing him to stop and look at her.
Hades shrugged dismissively, then took a few slow steps over to Audrey. Inhaling again, he dropped into a crouch and began swirling his hands over Audrey, and the room quickly darkened and glowed blue. A low rumbling echoed through the room, and I looked at Mal before tightening my grip on her arm.
Finally, Hades stopped, then lifted his hand. Audrey rose up with it, blue sparkles appearing around her body before she gasped and opened her eyes. Then, the lighting returned to normal, and everyone let out sighs of relief.
"Audrey!" Queen Leah said, rushing to her granddaughter's side. "You're okay!"
Hades smirked, tossing the ember up and down in his hands.
Audrey looked at each of us. "Tell me it was all a bad dream."
"I wish I could," Ben replied. "But... it's over now."
Audrey scooted forward to the edge of the bed, her despair and guilt written all over her face. "I'm sorry," she said. Looking at Mal and I, she added, "I wanted to hurt you both." Audrey then looked at everyone else. "I wanted to hurt all of you."
As everyone gave her sympathetic and understanding looks, Mal stepped forward, taking Audrey's hand. "I have owed you an apology for... a very long time now."
"I have, too," I said, putting my hand on Audrey's shoulder.
"And so have I," Ben said, also stepping forward.
"And perhaps," Queen Leah said to us, "I have owed you two one, too."
Mal and I curtsied to her, and she smiled. It finally seemed as if all had been forgiven.
That was when the guards came over to Hades in order to take him back to the isle.
"Oh, yeah," Hades said, rolling his eyes.
The guards walked Hades out of the room, handcuffing him as he passed through the doorway. Mal watched him go, then looked at me with a pleading expression.
"You don't need my permission," I said with a soft laugh and a gentle head shake. "Go on. Say goodbye."
She smiled at me, then ran outside to follow her father.
I turned to Ben, who was looking at me with a warm expression.
"You're a good person, Freddy," Ben said. "You may not have always known it, but you are a good person."
"I never would've figured that out if it wasn't for you," I said, then stepped up to him, then gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. "So thank you."
Ben grinned. "I knew I made a good decision."
I giggled. "That you did."
I turned back around just as Mal came in, a happy look on her face. When she saw me, she walked over to me and grinned.
"So how'd it go?" I asked.
Mal smiled. Then, much to my surprise, she held up the ember. "It was perfect."
I laughed softly. "That's amazing, Mal." Then, I held up the necklace, showing it to her.
Mal frowned. "Freddy, why do you still have that?"
I smiled. "So I can do this."
I raised my other hand, and a bolt of green electricity shot out of my fingertips, striking the necklace directly in the center. It exploded in a puff of smoke, and black sparkles floated down from the silver chain before disappearing completely.
"I won't be needing it anymore," I said to Mal. Then, I took her hand and put it over my heart. "I have all the power I need right here."
━━━━━━━ ❃ ━━━━━━━
A/N: The next chapter is the last chapter before the epilogue! I'm sad to see this story end, but I love it so much so it's definitely worth it.
Love you guys!