"Ye sure this is the right house?" Harry asks.
"Only one at the end of the block," Jay says, checking his phone to make sure. For some strange reason, Harry had decided to stay with Jay, even though they were going to visit Mal. Both teens knew that the daughter of Maleficent would not be happy to see the pirate, but if they were going even attempt to talk to Uma, her first mate is a good place to start. "You might want to let me go get Mal, considering the history between you two."
"Agreed," Harry nods, he stops at the foot of the driveway and waits patiently.
Jay goes up and knocks on the door of the blue house. He waits patiently as he hears footsteps approaching.
However, instead of his best friend answering, it's Maleficent herself. She wears a dark blue housecoat and holds a cup of coffee in her hands with the label Mistress of All Evil on it, a gag gift from her daughter last Christmas. She does not look pleased with all to having to answer the door looking like this, especially in front of a teenager, but Lily had left for the morning and Mal was still getting ready.
"May I help you?" she asks in a tone of annoyance.
Jay swallows. He has no idea what this Maleficent is like. She was obviously calmer and saner than Mal's mother, but she was still a powerful fairy/sorceress so he could not take any chances.
"I'm... sorry to bother you, I'm just looking for Mal,"
"Yes, she did tell me that some of her friends would be coming, granted I didn't know it would be so soon."
"I... I really am sorry for bothering you so early, if you could just let Mal know that I'm here, I'll wait in the driveway."
Maleficent's mouths form a thin line and bend up into a small appreciative smile and nod.
"Most appreciated, I will tell her that you're here."
"Thank you," Jay says politely before turning back towards Harry.
He meets the pirate at the end of the driveway, and they stand in awkward silence.
"So..." Jay says. "What's it like over at Emma and Killian's place?"
Harry glances at the son of Jafar and then looks at his boots.
"Awright, so many bloody rules though.
"Yeah, I'm guessing that's something you're not used to."
"Not at all. Ye can't put your boots on the table, ye can't touch any of the son's ting's, ye can't just leave whenever you want"
"Welcome to the world of responsibility," Jay shrugs. "Having parents will do that to you and I'm guessing they don't have a lot of patience for after what happened with Evie yesterday."
"Is this what it's like at Auradon?"
"Pretty much, only you're more likely to live in dorms with no parents, but you still have to follow the rules."
"Damn dem rules," the pirate hisses. "At least on the Isle you could do whatever you wanted."
"On the Isle, you barely got three meals a day and usually had to fight to do anything."
"It was fun though."
Jay silently agrees with the pirate, but just nods a quick affirmative agreement with him.
"Although, if you do want to start dating Crystal, you might have to get used to the rules."
"Bloody hell," he hisses again.
"Sorry dude, but if you are serious about dating her, you have to learn some manners. Some chicks dig the rebels and the bad boys, but most want guys who respect them. And I'm guessing Crystal falls into the latter group."
"Aye," Harry mutters, taking off his hat and running his hand through his hair.
Just then the door of the house slams and Mal starts walking towards the two boys, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. It was almost alien to both VKs to see her in this world's clothing. Leather and purple had always been Mal's thing and to see her like this, it was weird. Jay felt the same way, wearing jeans and a t-shirt with the logo RWBY on it, something that Regina's son Henry liked. The only one who kept his Auradon/ Isle attire what Harry.
Mal's once grape hair had started to fade back to a darker shade as well and it was pulled into a ponytail, another weird thing.
However, when the daughter of Maleficent sees Harry standing with Jay, she stops suddenly, and her eyes light up.
"What is he doing here?" she asks angrily.
"Chill Mal, Harry and I have developed a truce with each other..."
"I don't believe you," she snaps.
"It's true Luv," the pirate smirks, leaning over to examine his ex-girlfriend's appearance. Still beautiful as ever, even in the plain clothing. The son of Jafar notices and jumps on it.
"Another thing Harry, girls don't like is when you leer at someone other than them."
Mal is floored by what her best friend just said. She pieces it together in her mind what was going on.
"Don't you dare call me Love and are you seriously giving him dating advice?" she gasps, her mouth hanging open in shock. Of all the things that he and Uma put them through, they've suddenly called a truce so Jay can give him advice on how to pick-up girls.
"Chill Mal it's okay, he wants to try and get a date with Crystal."
"Crystal?" she looks at Harry in disgust. "You honestly think you can get a date with Crystal. I hope to God she has much higher standards than that."
"Unlike yours?" Harry sneered obnoxiously. "What standards did ye have to wit me?"
Mal's eyes glow green and she impulsively reaches her hand out and to their surprise, a wave of green-tinted magic flies from her fingers and blasts Harry backwards onto the pavement. The pirate winces in pain, hat falling from his head and his elbows and hands become badly scraped as they took most of the impact. He looks up in shock as Mal's eyes are as green as road flare and while she does look extremely angry, she is also surprised that her magic was working. Ever since she came here, it hasn't worked, no matter how many spells she tried? Her mind begins to race as she wonders why it has activated now. Sure, she and Ben felt that wave of rainbow magic yesterday, but that was true love's kiss and something completely different.
"Whoa Mal, ease up there," Jay says, standing in front of his friend to prevent her from taking another shot at Harry.
Mal looks at her hands in shock and pants heavily, confused.
"How... how? My magic wasn't working before."
"Did something happen yesterday to trigger it?" Jay inquires.
The teenaged girl bites her lip, wondering if her making up with Ben and their kiss... had that something to do with it? It seemed unlikely, but in this crazy place, anything was possible.
"I don't know... maybe."
"Well try not to tear him apart again because he's one of the only people who can get Uma to reveal her portal secrets."
"Aye," Harry says, getting and brushing any blood onto his pants.
The daughter of Maleficent continues to glare at Harry but slowly brings her anger down to a manageable temperament again. She still wants to hurt the pirate but knowing that he was one of the keys to getting home, just bites her lip. However, she still has to get the last word in.
"At least Ben was ten times the boyfriend you were. He made my standards so much higher."
Harry snorts but doesn't say anything further, lest he is at the receiving end of another of Mal's unexpected magic attacks.
"Let's go to the clock tower and then have Rumpelstiltskin tell us where Ursula and Uma are staying."
After a long pause, the girl relents. "Fine," she hisses.
All three VKs begin walking down the street back towards the centre of Storybrooke, unaware that the mistress of all evil had witnessed what had occurred. Maleficent looks on in concern about what she had seen. She already knew that her "alternate" daughter had inherited the dragon gene, but this girl was full of magical potential. Something she had little no control over. She leaves the front window and then goes for her cell phone, bringing up Regina in her contacts and typing a message.
...
"Where is Evie? I thought she was going to be with you?" Mal asks. She and Jay walk side-by-side with Harry bringing up the rear, obviously trying to keep his distance from his ex-girlfriend.
"She left her phone at home and decided to meet us here. She didn't text you?"
"No, I haven't heard from her since yesterday. She actually forgot her phone." For as long as Mal and Jay had known her, Evie hardly went anywhere without some form of communication, especially her phone. She needed it in case a sudden fashion order came in or a customer needed an adjustment to their outfit. She was never far from her phone; it was completely out of character for her best friend to do that. But, maybe that craziness of the last few days had taken a toll on her memory and she just misplaced it.
"Weird," Jay says, he shakes his head in confusion. "Maybe you should send her a message to tell her we're meeting at the clock tower."
"Okay,"
As the villain kids continue to walk down the streets, Jay glances back to make sure that Harry is still following them. If their truce was still on, then he hoped the son of Captain Hook would be true to his word, provided Mal's magic attack didn't break it already.
"So, how's life at your Mom's place?"
"My 'other' mom," Mal corrects.
"Right."
"It's okay, she seems to be okay with me, it's Lily that's really a problem."
"A problem how?"
"She just hates me. Most of the time, I don't even exist, but when she does talk to me, all she does is be snarky, berate me, and call me names."
"Why? What did you ever do to her?"
"That's what I want to know. I'm thinking maybe she's upset that I'm living in the house, but it won't be for too long. Honestly, I'd prefer is she would just ignore me altogether."
"Well hopefully we won't be here for too much longer," Jay says.
Mal feels her stomach flip slightly. Despite the circumstances that brought them here, she did like that she was exploring the different places that she'd read about in the book. This world was fascinating to begin with, so different from Auradon and the Isle, a good change of pace in her opinion. She knows not everyone felt the same way, especially Ben, but she kind of wanted to stay just a little longer. The fact that she had a decent mother here was a bonus.
The trio eventually makes it downtown and head towards the clock tower.
...
Crystal waits patiently as her father comes up to the front doors of the library with Belle, Gideon, Patrick, Paige, and Ben. She smiles at her "alternate" brother and he returns her smile. She can immediately tell that he and Mal had made up. The way he carried himself spoke volumes to her. She nods at him and he does something completely unexpected, once he reaches her, he hugs her.
"So I'm guessing all is well in paradise?" she asks, returning the embrace.
"At the moment," he answers. "It's not perfect yet, but we're on the right track."
"Glad to hear it," she says, patting his back before breaking apart.
"I just want to thank you for the speech you gave me. It inspired me to make things right and it brightened my spirits."
"Most of my ex-boyfriend stories will do that for you," she smirks.
Crystal then begins leafing through the book she'd recovered from her father's shop, trying to find the portal recipe. Belle uses her keys to open the library, while Rumple held his son.
"Are the others meeting us here?" the Dark One asks.
"I think so," Crystal answers. "I sent a mass text to everyone earlier and Regina is going to be bringing the ingredients."
"We can't start mixing yet," Belle says, once the doors are unlocked. Ben, Paige, and Patrick follow the family inside. They are immediately taken aback by the number of books inside. While there was a library at Auradon, they could somehow sense that this one was different somehow. It wasn't the patterned tiled floor or the shelves and shelves of various volumes and stories, or the desk in the centre of the place, but perhaps it was the antique elevator across from the check-out counter. The heavy brass doors and the wheel crank on the side made the place look older than they had first anticipated.
Its rustic feel made it seem like it was a library had more stories to tell than any of the books in the place could tell them. Their eyes look upwards and take in everything, wondering how they would be able to get into the clocktower situated above the building.
"We need to ensure that Uma used the same ingredients as we did so there is no risk to anyone who travels through them."
"If our portals connected like that, I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume so," Crystal says.
"I don't want to bank anything on 'pretty sure.'" Belle insists. She disappears somewhere into one of the sections to find Lord knows what.
Crystal rolls her eyes and decides to trade her father, the book for her baby brother.
"So how are you guys adjusting?" she asked Paige and Patrick, deciding to allow them to feel more welcome.
The twins look at one another.
"Okay, I guess," Patrick shrugs.
"We did hear Gideon last night though," Paige adds.
"I'll give you guys some earplugs, does wonders for the sleep schedule," Crystal says earnestly.
"It's a nice home though," Patrick adds as earnestly as he can. It's clear to the girl from Storybrooke that these kids are homesick and don't want to be here, which she can understand completely.
"Yeah, it is. Feel free to look around guys, it might take Belle a little while to find the books. Just don't go in the elevator. You need someone to crank it. Going up you end up in the clocktower, going down you end up in an underground cavern."
"A cavern?" Ben asks. "Why is that there?"
"It's where Regina used to keep Maleficent," the daughter of the Dark One says casually as if it's no big deal. "But don't worry, she's not there now."
The doors open and in walks Mal, Jay, and Harry. The kids from Auradon immediately flinch in fear, but Harry just shoves his hands in his pocket. Ben smiles brightly at Mal and she gives him a small grin in return. Her cheeks flush pink a little bit. It was strange for the King of Auradon to see her in such casual clothing, and not in purple. The clothes in this realm were strange, to say the least as he, Patrick, and Paige all wore similar attire. While it was by no means uncomfortable, it was just a bit unusual.
Crystal tries to avoid Harry's hypnotic blue eyes, but he does give her a crooked smile and she rolls her eyes playfully. She then notices the dried blood and scrapes on his arms.
"What happened to you?" she asked.
"Had a little bit o an encounter wit Mal," he answers.
"She beat you up?"
"No, she threw me wit magic."
"Magic?" Ben says in shock. Crystal matches his stunned look. "I thought your magic didn't work here?"
"I thought so too," she says to her boyfriend. "But apparently we were wrong."
"Strong too," Harry adds, still rubbing his sore hands on his pants.
Crystal, despite her heart fluttering, decides to take pity on the pirate. Her hand glows a soft purple colour and the wounds on Harry's hands and arms close up and heal completely. While he is shocked at first, the pirate sighs in some relief.
"Many thanks, Love," he smirks.
She rolls her eyes again but returns a genuine smile. She then turns to Mal.
"So, Mal when did your magic start acting up?"
A/N: Please follow and review