Evie held her breath as her heels clacked along the tile flooring of the hospital. The welcome clerk hadn't been the most welcoming upon seeing Evie but she had softened a little when she heard who Evie was looking for.
She knew it would be selfish to expect a warm greeting after everything that happened at Ben's coronation but...it would be nice if there was some sign that the kingdom was getting over it at least. However it seemed that only Mal, Jay and Carlos along with some of Ben's friends and Ben of course truly didn't care.
Though, that'll change now that Uma's here, Evie thought with a small sigh. She and Mal were inseparable back on the Isle. Guess I should start preparing for smoke bomb attacks every morning and sword fights every night. At least Estelle'll put up with me. I wonder where Mal got him though—she didn't attend my sixth birthday party after all and that's where all the guests got their pets as part of their nasty bags.
Evie shook her head. Thinking about that was dangerous—after all, Mal's lack of invite was what drove Maleficent to capture Evie's dad in the first place, making the Evil Queen and therefore Evie fall in line.
"Excuse me?" Evie said softly as she approached the doctor standing in front of her father's room.
"Ah, can I help you miss?"
Evie wasn't going to lie, the warm smile coming from the doctor was a welcomed treat. It felt genuine, rather than forced as most of the smiles directed toward her had been. Even the limo driver had felt forced; like he was only being nice to her because he'd been ordered to by King Ben rather than out of any decency he felt.
As well, the smile seemed to take away from the intimidating factor the doctor had, being a relatively tall man and dressed in boots that Mal would be extremely interested in if she had an interest in fashion. He certainly didn't look like the other doctors, scurrying around in their monochromatic outfits.
"Yes, I was wondering if I could go in?" Evie asked, pointing to her father's room. She could see him from the window but going in would mean the world. It would be a confirmation that this wasn't a dream, that Ben and Mal had managed to bring him back to her after all these years.
"Oh I'm sorry miss, but only family's allowed in right now."
Evie bit her lip. "But...I'm his daughter," she said softly, her hopes crashing down that she'd be able to actually talk to her father after years of wondering if he was dead or alive. Despite the fact that hope was deadly on the Isle, Evie had always held a sliver of it for her father. Even as her own mother seemed to give up on the idea of ever seeing him again.
The doctor apparently had heard her as he looked at the papers in his hands and then looked back at Evie, obviously taken aback.
"I'm so sorry miss, King Ben had contacted us and let us know you'd be stopping by," the doctor said. "I"m Dr. Sweet, if you have any questions about your father's condition, please feel free to reach out."
"No apology needed doctor," Evie said, even if she couldn't help but think that they were extremely trusting over here in Auradon. To just go off her claim of being his daughter...then again, if Ben had called ahead and told them she was coming, there would be no reason to doubt Ben. "I'm sure you were just following protocol. But just to clarify, I can go in?"
Dr. Sweet nodded and held the door open for her. Evie gave the doctor a small smile before rushing to her father's bedside. To Evie's surprise, her dad wasn't moving—the only sign that he was alive was the beeping coming from the machines he seemed to be attached to as his chest slowly rose up and down.
His brown hair seemed to make him look even paler as he laid against the stark white hospital sheets. His body seemed gaunt, any muscle definition he'd gained from years of working as a stable hand before going to the Isle had vanished.
While her father had died before her mother became Snow White's step mother, he had still been brought back when all the villains were. Evie had never understood why they had brought back her father...could it have been a plea from Snow, to grant her step mother a mercy that hadn't been bestowed to her?
To Evie, it almost seemed crueler. There was no guarantee Daniel would have gone to the Isle willingly after all, and her mother would have been devastated if that'd been the case. However, according to her mother at least, her father had followed her to the Isle. It was the one place where they could be together and have the future they had dreamed of. In a sick twist of fate, the hellhole of the Isle had become their happily ever after...until Maleficent managed to ruin it.
Could...could Maleficent have put him under a sleeping curse before she went to Auradon to crash Ben's coronation? Evie thought as she sat by her father's bedside, brushing a strand of his dark brown hair out of his eyes. After all, it is what's she's known for.
"Hi daddy. It's me, Evie," Evie said softly, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. She froze though when nothing changed and he still laid there motionless, the only sign of life continued to be the slight rise and fall of his chest along with the beeping of the machines he was attached to. Had...had the years apart made it so he no longer loved her?
"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he waking from the sleeping curse?" Evie asked the doctor, hating the uncertainty in her voice that she was sure was audible to the doctor.
"He's not under a sleeping curse," Dr. Sweet said gently. "Evie, we put him into a medical coma as to allow his body time to heal. He'll wake up when we want him to, and when it's safe for us to do so."
Evie nodded, hoping her crushing disappointment wasn't evident was on her face. It made sense in a way, after eight years in Maleficent's clutches, there was no way her father wouldn't have some medical issues to address. Between the lack of edible food on the Isle and Maleficent's penchant for cruelty, the fact that her father had come back to her alive at all was enough to be grateful for.
"Can I get you anything?" Dr. Sweet asked as he seemed to check one of the machines and jotting something down on the clipboard in his hands.
"I'm fine, but thank you," Evie said softly.
Dr. Sweet gave her an understanding smile. "I'll give you some privacy. Please be sure to reach out if you have any questions."
Evie nodded and sat down next to her father's side. She had no idea how she would ever repay Ben or Mal for this. Especially Mal. After what Evie pulled at the coronation, Mal would have been well within her power to hate her...or even just hand her over to Maleficent when the evil Fae had appeared.
But instead Mal had defended her, had practically shoved her into Lady Persephone's arms as she battled Maleficent. And then, not only had Mal brought her along to Ben's party, but the Godling had brought her into her gang. For the first time, Evie could relax in her own room without feeling like she was going to be set on fire.
It was just a shame now that the feeling of safety would go away...the last thing Evie would want would be for Mal to go against her cousin. Especially for her.
Little did she know exactly what was happening over at Auradon Prep at that moment.
"Honestly Mal, you really think rooming with Blueberry is a good idea?" Uma asked as they prepared to make their way to the cafeteria.
"I wouldn't have told Ben it was fine if I wasn't okay with it Uma," Mal said, rolling her eyes before pausing for a second. "Carlos, Jay, Akiho, hold up a minute."
"What's up Mal?" Jay asked as the aforementioned guys seemed to freeze as they walked out the door.
"I figured you guys wouldn't want to go down all sweaty and smelly," Mal chuckled. "Two seconds, I can fix that."
"Ooh, magic?" Akiho asked, his eyes gleaming.
"Of course!"
Harry chuckled. "Didn't take you for the prissy type Mali. You used to spend three hours sparring with Uma and then head down to your dad's restaurant."
"Yeah there's a difference there," Mal said. "We didn't have to contend with Sleeping Brat complaining all day when we went to my dad's restaurant, Harry."
"You know, I was thinking, what if we just combined our nicknames for her?" Akiho said with a grin. "Sleeping Banshee has a nice ring to it."
"That it does," Mal chuckled. "Now hush. I need to concentrate here."
She sighed and then cracked her knuckles before pointing her finger at the three boys. "Beware, forswear, make the stench disappear!"
As Mal finished waving her finger, the three boys found that they were no longer smelly and disgusting from practice but rather that they were relatively clean.
"Note to self, remember that one," Mal muttered as she smirked, pretending to blow smoke from her finger. "Now come on, let's go!"
Everyone chuckled as they made their way to the cafeteria. Uma had to admit, she hadn't expected everyone to be so welcoming. Sure the Akiho bloke seemed to welcome them no problem but Mal had said that he was one of Ben's best friends.
Considering how warm Ben had to been to her and Harry upon meeting them, Uma figured any friend of Benny's would act the same. Hell, Ben was warm to Gil and everyone knew how Gaston had been to Queen Belle. Uma knew you'd have to be a saint to at least not be wary toward the son of the man who threatened to imprison your grandfather in a mental asylum if your mother didn't marry him.
But Ben had simply given Gil a kind smile and answered all his questions. Well all the questions he managed to get out until Harry glared him into silence.
Honestly, it was probably the best move anyone could have done, making sure Harry and Gil were not roommates. Otherwise they'd probably be sending Gil back to the Isle in a box for Gaston to bury while Harry was tried for murder.
"Hey Mal!"
"Hey Rowyn," Mal called back, pulling Uma back to the present, as they passed by a group of girls, a short haired brunette being the one to call to Mal. "You guys heading to dinner?"
"Just about," Rowyn nodded. "I just have to make sure my art project's locked up and then we'll be down there."
Mal nodded. "Well you'd better hurry, I think it's steak night."
"Oh Gods, thanks for letting me know!" Rowyn exclaimed and sprinted to the art classroom. Mal chuckled and shook her head.
"Steak night?" Uma asked slowly. "And who was that?"
"Oh, it's the main choice for dinner tonight," Mal said. "It's Jay's favorite, the carnivore. That girl was Rowyn Fitzherbert, one of Rapunzel's daughters."
"Don't act like you don't like gnawing on a nice juicy rib eye just like Raps Jr, Mali," Jay called out and Mal rolled her eyes.
"Meanwhile I prefer the pasta," Carlos chimed in. "Oh Gil, they usually have a lot of egg dishes for breakfast."
"But Mal just said that it was a steak night," Hadie said, tilting his head in confusion. "How can you have pasta if they're offering steak? I mean sure, places like Ursula's Chip Shoppe and dad's restaurant had options but that's a restaurant. After all, Dragon Hall didn't even provide lunch according to Mal."
Before any of the older kids could answer him, they reached the cafeteria and the new VKs stared in shock at all the different options. Mal, Jay and Carlos couldn't help but give a small, sad smile; remembering when they had been in that same spot just a month ago.
"And...we can just pick whatever we want?" Hadie asked, his small voice breaking Akiho's heart. Emir had mentioned something about how Mal and the others had been shocked by the options but Akiho hadn't thought it'd been like this.
"Something doesn't sit right dude," Emir said as they chilled in their dorm after dinner the first day the original group of VKs had arrived.
"What do you mean?"
"The way the new kids were in the cafeteria today," Emir elaborated. "It was almost like they didn't know what to do to get the food."
Akiho shrugged as he sat up in his bed. "Maybe they didn't. Different schools have different ways of doing things after all."
"I know. It's just...Mal said they weren't used to all the options," Emir said softly. "You don't think they..."
"Hey, we've been running food drives for the Isle since we were thirteen," Akiho said gently. He knew how seriously Emir took issues like food poverty. Despite being a prince, he never forgot how his father lived before taking the throne. It was actually hard to decide who had been in charge of the food drives between Ben and Emir. "I'm sure they've got plenty of food."
Emir gave him a small smile. "Yeah...I'm probably just overthinking it. Those four probably just had new student jitters or something."
"If they had to deal with Audrey right off the bat, more than definitely," Akiho chuckled. "Gods, it'll be interesting to see Mal interact with the Banshee."
"Five bucks says Audrey gets cursed within a week."
"I'll take that bet."
"Yeah Hadie, you just go up and take what you want," Mal said, pulling Akiho out of his thoughts.
"What are you in the mood for?" Akiho asked, Jay and Carlos having already scooped Harry and Gil from the group. "We've got pasta, steak, and it looks like we've got some fish—"
"Fish?" Hadie asked, perking up.
Mal chuckled. "Yep stormcloud, they've got fish here. Between you and me, it's even better than dad's."
"No way!"
"Try it then if you don't believe me!"
Hadie nodded and went over to the fish station. Akiho shook his head as Mal smirked in amusement.
"Works every time," she said, chuckling slightly.
"Well then madam carnivore, shall we go get our steak and meet back up with the group?" Akiho asked.
"We shall," Mal nodded and they quickly joined up with Jay and Emir, along with Harry and Uma and surprisingly Gil.
"The pasta looked good but dad would be disappointed if I didn't go for the steak," Gil said.
Mal rolled her eyes. "Gaston's not here Gil. He can't influence your decisions anymore."
"And that's a terrifying thought," Harry muttered. "Gaston influencing anything."
"Be nice Harry," Uma warned.
"I'm always nice cap'n."
Mal chuckled as she scanned the crowd for any sight of Ben's light brown hair. He had said that he'd be there but there were still days where Mal had to drag him down to dinner.
"You looking for someone?"
"How'd you sneak past your shadows?" Mal teased, turning around to see Ben standing behind her.
"Well it's quite easy when they're entranced with their food," Ben teased back. "Steak night?"
"You can clearly see steak right in front of you Benny," Mal chuckled as she grabbed her plate.
Ben chuckled and grabbed his own plate before the group went and sat down, Carlos and Hadie quickly joining them.
"You get enough?" Mal asked Hadie.
"Uh huh," Hadie nodded. "Gods, I can't believe they've got all this food. The delivery barge must have been a good haul this month."
Akiho, Ben and Emir froze while Mal gave her brother a small smile. "Hadie, they don't get delivery barges here."
"They don't?"
"Nope. This is all food from Auradon," Mal said gently.
Hadie bit his lip and tilted his head. "But...none of the food is rotten or moldy like the delivery barges we get from Auradon. I've heard the crew talk about the barges after all Mali."
"I know, Hadie," Mal nodded and sighed softly.
"Rotten?" Emir mouthed to Akiho and Ben, the latter seemingly coming to a realization.
"So...they eat like this every day?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.
"Pretty much," Jay nodded, digging into his steak.
"Sometimes the food differs but the quality's the same," Carlos added, quickly digging into his own food.
"...do they hate us that much? They've got food like this while the food on the barges is like night and day," Hadie asked Mal, his voice once again breaking the hearts of the three Auradon kids.
An eleven year old kid shouldn't be asking if people hate him just because of where he lives, Ben thought. I need to get started looking into the Isle's food deliveries. I meant to do that after Mal told me most of the food there was rotten the day she snuck me onto the Isle but after the...events of my coronation, it slipped my mind.
"Hey Mal!" Lonnie said as she joined the table with Jane, Jordan and Ally, unknowingly breaking the somber mood.
"Hey Lonnie," Mal nodded, giving the other girl a smile. "Decided to join us?"
"Well it looked like this was where all the cool kids were sitting. Well, and Akiho and Emir."
"Oh you wound me!" Emir exclaimed, holding a hand over his heart.
"No, but I'll tell you who will wound you soon. Your girlfriend," Lonnie teased. "You've been dating her how long and you're still shadowing Ben?"
"Emma knows that Ben's going to be part and parcel," Emir shrugged.
"Yeah, same with Elle," Akiho grinned.
Mal shook her head. "We've formed a club. The 'inadvertently gained three boyfriends' club," she explained to Lonnie.
"Well considering Elle's your cousin too, at least you've got a friendly face in that club," Ally pointed out.
"Wait, what?" Uma asked.
"Elle, daughter of Ariel," Ally explained. "Oh right, she'd be your cousin as well!"
Uma pursed her lips, not exactly thrilled at the thought of interacting with her cousin so soon after leaving the Isle. That being said...at least she wouldn't be as bad as Blueberry.
"You'll meet her soon," Mal said. "She's nice, or at least has a brain in her head. She mainly hangs around Melody...which I just realized I should probably introduce to Hadie."
"Doing some matchmaking Mali?" Harry teased.
"Gods no Harry! But Melody's twelve so she'd be around the same year as Hadie. Same classes and the like," Mal explained. "I can't be everywhere."
Hadie rolled his eyes. "I'm a god Mali. I do have magic you know."
"Yeah, magic you barely know how to use," Mal said, shaking her head.
"I can work with Fairy Godmother, set up some time for both of you to practice your magic," Ben said. While magic had been retired, Ben knew that it was dangerous to have two offsprings of the Gods with unstable powers. If either Mal or Hadie had their magic flare up after being trapped under the magical barrier...it might end up injuring someone or worse, injuring them.
"Sounds good Ben," Mal nodded.
"Oh so Mal's the only one who gets to practice her magic?" Uma asked, teasing her cousin.
Ben's eyes widened but before he could say anything, Mal rolled her eyes.
"She's teasing, Ben. Don't worry, you'll learn to speak 'Uma' sooner or later," the purple haired Godling said with a small chuckle.
"You're acting like I speak another language Mali," Uma said, shaking her head.
"You do."
Harry snorted as he ate his steak, the four new VKs eating ravenously the same way the original group had eaten when they first arrived. As if they were worried the food might get taken from them.
"Gods, they should at least act reasonably and not draw attention to themselves," Audrey's voice carried from her table.
"And you should mind your own business, if we're offering unwanted advice," Mal shot back, giving the princess a fake smile that fooled no one.
"I take it that's Sleeping Brat?" Uma asked, bringing Mal's attention back to her table.
"Yep, that's the Banshee."
Ben sighed and looked over at Emir and Akiho, figuring that was where Mal got the nickname for Audrey. "Do I want to know?"
"Probably not."
"You should know that the only one who didn't use that nickname though was Chad."
"Has anyone heard from Charming by the way?" Jay asked. "I saw him at practice of course but he didn't seem his usual pretentious self."
"Rumor is he and Audrey broke up," Emir said with a small sigh. "I will give her credit, at least Audrey didn't cheat on Chad."
"And from what Kitty told me, Chad was legitimately trying when it came to Audrey," Akiho shrugged. "We're teenagers though. His mom was nineteen and his dad was twenty one when they met. If he and Audrey were meant to be, they'll find a way to wind up together."
"I knew you inherited some of your dad's common sense," Ben said with a small snort.
"Yeah well at least I can say one of my parents had common sense," Akiho shot back, gently teasing his friend.
"My mom had common sense!"
"Your mom volunteered to be your dad's prisoner when she was seventeen!"
"And your mom was ready to marry a guy she'd just met!"
Emir snorted in amusement. "Gods, I love the 'my parent has more common sense than your parent' debates."
"None of your parents had common sense," Mal said teasingly before pointing to each boy. "Emir, your dad had a genie but didn't think to wish that the law preventing him from marrying your mother was changed instead of going through that whole charade. Akiho, as mentioned your mom was prepared to marry a guy she just met while your dad seemed content to be kidnapped by trolls, and Ben..."
"I know," Ben sighed. Everyone knew what argument Mal was going to make for his parents' lack of common sense—the Isle.
At least I can do something now to fix it, Ben thought with an inward nod. Starting with figuring out what's going on with the food.
"So Mal, what's this Basic Chivalry class?" Harry asked. "Ben mentioned it and this Doug bloke brought it up when he brought our schedules around."
"It's an elective class," Mal said. "Though it's only offered to the guys since Jay and Carlos have it."
"Wait, does that mean—?"
"No Harry, whatever you're dreading will not come to pass," Mal said. It took some major rearranging but it worked. I'm not looking to have Gil get murdered and according to Jay, they give the students knives in that class!
"Kinda dumb that they only give the class to guys," Uma muttered.
"Hey think of it this way. We don't have a class to make us all prissy," Mal pointed out and Uma chuckled.
"Speaking of classes, Mal, did you finish your Grammar homework?" Jordan asked. "And if you did, can I—?"
"For my own sanity, I'm going to go grab some dessert before I hear any more of this conversation," Ben said. "If you'll excuse me Jay...err, Jordan."
"I know it's confusing Ben but the better looking one is named Jay," Jay teased.
Jordan rolled her eyes. "Honestly. How many girls do you know that are named Jordan?"
"The same number as the number of guys I know named 'Jay'."
"...touche."
Mal chuckled. "Well thank you for that reminder Jordan. I have to admit, and now that Ben's left the table I can do that safely, but I've not even started on my Grammar homework."
"Well go and get cracking," Lonnie teased and Mal shook her head.
"And we really have to go to Remedial Goodness Class?" Uma asked.
"There's a two hour lecture about smiling," Mal told her.
"...kill me now."
"Murder's frowned upon here in Auradon. Plus you're the granddaughter of a God."
"Damn."
Mal chuckled. "Yeah well there's no escaping it. On that note, I really should go and do my Grammar homework. Catch you guys later."
Mal got up and walked off, not noticing her cousin staring at her retreating form.
That was weird right? Uma thought. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. After all, it's not like Mali could change much in just a month.