"Hello?" Regina says, answering her phone which is buzzing in her pocket. Both she and Evie are exiting the Mill's Mausoleum after the new development of Evie's unknown magical potential. The blue-haired beauty holds the duffle bag containing the ingredients meant to take the group back home.
Evie waits patiently for her alternate mother to finish sealing the vault and answer her phone call, she continues to stare at her hands, partially wanting to see her fingers glow blue again and partially not wanting to.
I have magic, she keeps thinking to herself in stunned silence. Why didn't Mother ever tell me?! Sure, she was able to use the magic mirror and make potions, but the mirror was already enchanted, and potions were basically chemistry with mixing stuff together. These new abilities to connect to Regina's mirror and to bypass magical barriers are shocking but also slightly exciting. None of this made any real sense to her and what was the point of having magic if she could never use it? Auradon had strict rules about its use, to the point where such power is considered obsolete and forbidden. It was the whole reason she'd been forced to hand the magic mirror to the school museum in the first place. Additionally, Evie had seen Mal's struggle with keeping her magic under control, this was not something that she wanted to deal with. Plus, what would Doug think of it?
The thought of her boyfriend rejecting her makes her heart sink deep into the pit of her stomach. Sure, he loved her despite her questionable past and her vain and selfish tendencies in the beginning, but his love had changed her for the better. He was quirky and adorkable in his own right, but this was a whole new wrinkle to their relationship. It could change everything and not knowing whether he'd accept her with these powers causes the teenager to panic internally. She didn't want these powers... she didn't need them to be with him...
But, at the same time, this new kind of power intrigued the daughter of the Evil Queen. Could she teleport or turn into a dragon-like her best friend? What about being able to make something appear out of nowhere or even fly? The possibilities seemed endless and she wants to know more about it...
At that moment, Evie's feelings about returning to Auradon shift slightly. She's going to be leaving before fully discovering this new part of herself. If they go back today, she'll never get the chance, she'll just have suppressed it and forget that this unawakened power ever happened. She'd go back to designing clothes and going to school like she always did. She would also have to forget about the wonderful relationship that she was building with Regina... the mother she always wanted. A mother who treated her daughter with respect, protected and cared for her and never put pressure on the girl to be anything but herself. It was something that Evie had not realized she wanted until now. She wants to have a good mother; someone she could look up to and rely on, and with the selfish Grimhilde on the Isle, there was no way that was going to happen. She stares down at the duffle bag and ponders the whirlwind of emotions she is feeling.
"Hello Queenie," a voice on the other end of the phone call says in a snarky.
"Maleficent?" Regina says in surprise. While the women were still not on the best of terms with one another considering that the former Evil Queen kept the dragon-lady under the library for 28 years, mutual respect had formed between them as they were both mothers who wanted the best for their children. "To what do I owe the pleasure."
"I wanted to pass on some interesting information to you, as you are the expert in all things magical and much more trustworthy than the Dark One..."
The mention of magic causes the mayor to freeze. How could the Mistress of all Evil know that Evie had magic when both of them had just found out themselves.
"What... what do you mean?"
"I just wanted to let you know that my daughter... that is from the other realm just displayed some magical abilities in front of my house."
"Mal?"
Evie looks up at the mention of her best friend's name.
"Yes, the young girl managed to blast back a young boy with a wave of magic, the magnitude of which is something that I haven't felt in quite some time."
"Well she is your daughter; magic is passed through the bloodline... I just recently found this out myself."
"But there was more to this power my dear Regina... I cannot quite explain it... I have been training with Lily for some time, helping her control her double dose of darkness in her blood, but her abilities are simple to understand, like my own what you see is what you get. But young Mal's...it felt more complex. Her abilities are more in tune with yours or your sister's or even the Dark One's daughter's, light magic mixed with darkness, creating a spectrum of power, something beyond mere darkness. I know this is saying quite a lot just by one encounter with it but this girl's potential for powerful magic might be something to watch out for and perhaps train for better control."
Regina bites her lip firmly, her brain gnawing on this information. As far as she could recall, Mal's magic didn't work properly here... aside from turning into a dragon and her eyes lighting up, she'd seen the teenager try several spells and nothing happened. So what changed? How was she able to blast this boy back, as Maleficent had told her. Could it have something to do with Evie's sudden developments too? She had to get to the bottom of this.
"Thank you for the information Maleficent, we'll do our best to keep you informed to avoid any future property damage. I'll call you later," she says absentmindedly before hanging up.
"What's going on?" Evie asks, wondering how her best friend suddenly became the topic for conversation.
"I'm not entirely sure, but we're going to find out," the Evil Queen says, grabbing her daughter's hand and leading her out of the cemetery.
...
"So, your magic just started acting up today?" Crystal says in shock.
"Well... it's always been there... just below the surface, it's the reason my eyes light up like road flares when I'm angry and I guess it allowed me to go back to human form when I came through the portal, but any spells that I've said don't seem to work here. For some reason, magic doesn't work the same way it does in Auradon."
"I think that's my Dad's doing," Crystal says. "He's the one who brought magic to this world through a sample true love magic, and I guess when you bring it to a place that doesn't usually have magic, it morphs and changes into something else. Regina told me that she had a hard time mastering the magic when it came into town."
"But then what changed?" Jay asks.
"What indeed?" Rumple says, coming over to the group. He stares at the daughter of Maleficent like a piranha might look at its next meal, a small smirk on his face. His dark eyes trying to piece together this mystery like the rest of them.
The subtle grin was not lost on his daughter and she grinds her teeth together in annoyance. No matter how often he'd sworn to everyone in town that he'd left his old ways behind, whenever the possibility of delving back into magic, particularly dark magic, a wicked gleam would form in his eyes. Crystal hated it and she wants to put a stop to it before he unleashes unneeded chaos on them.
"Did any of you perhaps touch some kind of magical artifact, or engaged in some sort of ritual that might have awakened this? Perhaps you had some sort of experience that sparked it?" he inquires.
Mal and Ben look at one another, their minds go back to the day before when they'd kissed by the wishing well. They had felt something... but it didn't seem all that significant.
The purple-haired girl bites her lip, embarrassed to be bringing up something so private. "Uh... Well, Ben and I kissed yesterday and some kind of wind went through the forest after we did..."
The Dark One's eyebrow raises up in curiosity, believing he's about to solve the whole mystery. He smirks and gets a little bit closer to the king and his dragon. The smile becomes wider and more sinister-looking as he approaches.
"Tell me... This 'wind,' as you called it, was it warming rather than cold?"
"Y-Yes," Ben answers, becoming a little frightened by his alternate father's current disposition. He takes a step back, unsure of how to react.
"Did it make you feel as though something was glowing inside of you?"
Mal swallows. "I-I guess."
"And did you happen to see an almost rainbow light flash through the woods as this happened?"
Mal nods, retreating behind Ben a little bit more. Why did his dad have to be so creepy? And she thought her mom was a mood-killer. She's unsure of what to make of the man's behaviour and she hates how he's getting uncomfortably close to them.
Rumple chuckles to himself, happy to have the mystery solved, but decides to drag it out just a little longer, as part of his impish nature.
"And have you two felt this warmth inside of before? Has it perhaps broken previous enchantments?"
Crystal rolls her eyes, sick of her father playing games. She had already figured it out by now and just wanted this over with.
"Just tell them dad!" she snaps angrily.
The Dark One shoots his daughter a look of disdain and sighs, leaning out of the couple's personal space. "Well, it appears to me your majesties that you shared true love's kiss and that is what awakened your magical potential Miss Mallory."
The daughter of Maleficent is beyond stunned by this revelation but then glares at the man for the dumb nickname. She bites her lip and looks at Ben.
"But... but how?" Ben asks.
"True love is the most powerful magic in all existing universes," Rumple states a matter-a-factly. "It can break any curse, overcome any spell, and evidently spark any new magical potential." He pauses and then thinks of something. "And when you two kissed in the woods, was it near a particular landmark?"
"Just an old well," Mal says.
"Mystery solved, come along now Scooby and Shaggy," the imp smirks, teasing his daughter as he goes towards the main part of the library to find his wife.
However, Crystal was not about to let that comment go by without making him pay for that. She flicks her wrist, causing the nearby cart of books to roll into her father's path, causing him to trip and fall flat on his face.
"Go find Velma then Scrappy," she smirks.
Rumple glares at Crystal, but she turns to talk to other kids.
"But how can I have magic?" Ben says, his mind still reeling with the information. "None of this makes any sense."
"Well it doesn't necessarily mean that you have magic Ben, it's just that you have magical potential and that potential shines through the love you share with Mal. Everyone has magic inside of themselves, it just manifests in different ways. Some of us, like Gideon and I, are born with it in our blood, others just have the sparks of it that are expressed through true love, like you and Mal, or Snow and David."
"And what about Princess Unicorn and Mr. Doe-Eyes?" Regina asks, bursting into the library, with Evie at her heels.
"Just that they share true love," Crystal explains. "We discovered why Mal's magic suddenly works."
"You did?"
"Apparently kissing next to a wishing well makes magic suddenly appear," Jay says.
"Aye, mighty bizarre," Harry states.
"Spoken by someone who's never had true love's kiss," Mal snaps.
"Wait... wait so you two share true love?" Regina asks, gazing at Ben and Mal.
"We do," the girl nods.
"And you kissed by the wishing well?"
"Yeah," Ben says.
"Well, that explains how Evie did it," the mayor says, her mind making the connections.
"That explains Evie doing what?" Mal asks, looking over at her best friend. The daughter of Evil Queen shrinks into herself slightly now that the attention was on her.
"That well is basically like a beacon. Your true love sparked the magic and caused it to spread to everyone... awakening their magical potential."
A/N: Sorry for the delay guys, just got my wisdom teeth removed. Let me know if you guys want me to change the title of this chapter, I'm open to suggestions. Please review.