#(she could not find a fake sword so her dad found a a giant blade and declared it good enough)

[krash-and-co]

should I wear my lucy costume again this year just to show yall

[springlockedfoxy]

A more fitting end

I really didn’t like the ending to the third story in the FNaF novel series.

So... I fixed it.

Major spoilers for the third story from Into the Pit.

A More Fitting End

As Millie saw the Sword of Damocles above her, she had to reformulate her plan. The light from the small gap shone on the blade, and she recognized it as a bit of sheet metal that had been beside the bear when she’d crawled into the infernal thing.

The blade descended, peals of laughter echoing around her as the creature indulged in its private joy.

Millie braced herself, before shoving her entire body to the right of the slicing guillotine. The sheet metal lodged into the bottom of the beast, and she heard it sigh with contentment.

“Wish granted, Silly Millie,” it said, as if proud of its accomplishment.

Millie tried not to even breathe as she rested against the wall of the bear’s stomach. She did, however, shift her weight just a little, and using the new leverage found with the sheet of metal, began pushing on the door to the bear’s belly.

“Hmm?” The bear hummed, a sound that would have been in its throat... if it had had one.

Millie pushed with all of her might, bracing her shoulders against the metal, her feet planted solidly against the door, until it sprang open with a bang, and Millie wasted no time in escaping the brazen bear. She turned on it, looking at the thing she’d been trapped in, seeing its rolling eyes, and the almost startled expression.

“How...?” It asked, before the black eyebrows drew down over the angered blue eyes. “Get back here,” it growled. “I’m not through with you!”

The whole creature shuddered as it began clambering to its feet.

Millie looked around, before she huffed, and didn’t wait for it to finish its movement. She lunged for the giant electrical kill switch.

The robot gasped, reaching out to stop her, but she hauled it down with all of her might, and everything went dark.

She stood, panting in the new oppressive silence.

Until echoing laughter began ringing in her ears.

“Silly Millie,” the voice of the bear growled, the eyes suddenly appearing above her, glowing brightly, the lights overspill illuminating its mouth. “I run on batteries!”

Millie screamed, blindly running through the workshop. She banged into the door, but a heavy metal paw pressed against it, keeping it closed.

“Foolish girl, did you think you’d escape so easily?” The bear chided, before grabbing her by the arm, and began making attempts to stuff her back into its gaping belly. She screamed, again and again until she was hoarse, fingernails raking at the plastic exterior.

“What’s going on in here?” a voice Millie had never heard be so strong rang out.

A flashlight raked across Millie’s eyes and her grandfather's face swam into view. He lifted a foot and booted the bear in the face. It rocked back at the impact, sending Millie tumbling to the floor.

The old man picked up a baseball bat and pranged it across the head a few more times.

Millie watched as the bear stopped moving, and grandpa prodded it with the weapon.

“It’s dangerous in here, Millie. Back to the house.” There was nothing in his tone that brooked any kind of response except doing exactly what he said.

Millie moved back into the house, her eyes down, feeling the warmth of the home wash over her.

She had a second chance.

Her eyes stung with tears as she saw the concerned faces of her relatives swim into view in the soft candlelight.

Wait, candlelight?

After a moment, the lights flickered back on again, and there was collective elation in the home.

Grandpa came stomping back in again. “Millie threw the breaker to the house,” he said. “Something was malfunctioning in the workshop.” He nodded down to Millie, and then moved past her, leaving the remaining half of the baseball bat resting against the wall.

Slowly, Millie waded into the normalcy of the room, looking at her relatives. She smoothed her dress down, and sat on the edge of the couch, feeling very self-conscious.

“Sorry about that. It was dangerous in there,” she said quietly.

“We were just about to call your parents,” her aunt said, her tone full of that forced cheer that people have when they’re trying to recover a feeling from before. “And we’ve not yet opened presents.”

Millie nodded a little but noted a few of the gifts were wrapped in black, with delicate lace bows.

And the sticker read her name.

She tilted her head some but heard her aunt fussing with Skype.

“Hello!” came her mom's cheery voice, always as if she were excited that she woke up alive today.

Millie looked over to her mother's smiling face, with her father jockeying for position in front of the camera.

“There’s my Millie!” Her father said, smiling.

“Hi, Dad,” she said quietly. “Hi, Mom.”

“Oh, honey! You look like you’ve been crying! Are you okay?”

“She’s just been cold. She was outside earlier.” Her grandpa answered for her. “Her nose is red because of it.”

She looked up at him, a little surprised, but took the tissue he offered and delicately addressed her face.

“Now, I know you said you weren’t celebrating Christmas this year,” her mom said, putting on a faux guilty tone. “But we’d already shipped your gift.”

A rustling beneath the tree and two small hands shoved a box wrapped in black paper, with velvet spiderwebbing roped across it.

A moment or two later her youngest cousin smiled up at her. “I get to be Santa this year!” He chirped.

Millie reached down and picked up the box, looking at it in her lap. She carefully untied the grey lace ribbon, unstuck the tape and opened the box.

“It’s fake leather,” her mom said. “And hand made.”

Inside the box was a book, done in the style of the old leather-bound tomes she’d coveted at the library. There was embossing, and delicate gold leafed accents.

On the front, in flowing golden script, there was some Arabic writing.

It was absolutely gorgeous. She lifted it out of the box, surprised at how light it was.

She flipped it open, the pages were all blank and had those unfinished edges of hand made books. At the back of the book, she discovered something different, a small electronic device.

“Your father and I couldn’t figure out how to get you all of the books we wanted to. But, since most of them are available in the Gutenberg project... we figured we’d get you a kindle, and you could always have all of them close.”

“Tell her about the words!” Her father said excitedly.

“Oh! Right. The script on the front says “The story of a lifetime”.” Her mom blinked. “Right?”

“About right, it’s a good translation. We had it made because we know how much you like to journal. So, it’ll carry your kindle, and you can write in it! We found a bookbinder here and got to pick out all parts of it. Really interesting process. Really an art to handcrafted books.”

Millie closed the cover, her heart pounding in her chest.

She didn’t think her parents noticed her. Didn’t know what she read, or that she even journaled. She looked up at their faces, her family’s wide smiles of anticipation, and this time, there was no cold weather to blame the tears on.

“Thank you,” she managed after a few attempts.

“Oh, goodness. Honey! Of course. We love you, and we wish we could have come home this Christmas.”

She had a savage retort on her tongue, but the memory of that bear’s laugh, and the glinting of the gold leaf against her fingers, she killed it before she took a breath to voice it.

“It would be great to see you,” she said, smiling as much as she could at them. “I love you too.” She still resented their leaving, but the fire in her heart wasn’t as hot.

She clutched the book to her chest, holding it as it it were a lifeline. She sat quietly, on the periphery of the holiday cheer, thinking over the past few hours.

The family eventually said goodbye to Millie's parents and settled into eating some of the leftovers, giving Millie a chance to try the tofurkey roast her grandfather had prepared. It had a strange texture and was a little overdone. She didn’t like meat because of the texture, and the flavor, and would have been fine without the fake meat, but, she ... appreciated her grandfather going out of his way to try something new, so she would too.

The family packed up, rounding up everyone into their individual vans or cars. A round of good wishes, and near hugs, Millie wasn’t quite there yet, and the house was silent again.

Millie breathed a sigh of relief as the howling pack was gone.

“Millie?” Her grandfather called from the dining room.

He probably wanted help cleaning up.

She sighed, and walked into the room, still clutching her book.

Grandpa had already cleaned the table, and on it were two small boxes.

“I know you said -“

“I want to this year,” she said, cutting him off. “I... that thing in the garage...”

“Won’t be a problem.”

She pressed her lips into a line, then nodded.

“I... got these for you.”

Her grandpa gestured to the two boxes. “Happy Holidays, Millie.” His smile was soft and somewhat sad. Melancholy, Millie’s thoughts supplied.

She looked up at him and approached, reaching out for the bigger box first.

“I didn’t want you to open these with your nephews around. They’re very fragile.”

She looked up at him, and then back down again, and carefully opened the box.

Inside was a glass dome. She reached in and pulled it free by the base.

To say two hummingbirds sat on branches would be doing a disservice to the art of the piece. A taxidermy hummingbird floated beside a flower, suspended by a shining silver wire beside a lily it had been carefully designed to look as if it had just selected just that one. And it was caught in a moment in time. Its feathers shone like gems in the light of the dining room. Beside it, the delicate skeleton of another tilted its head, as if watching the one above it.

“I... wasn’t sure what you’d think. But don’t worry, both of them died of natural causes.” Her grandpa said. “I know... you read a lot about the beauty... uh, the beauty in death. So, I tried to find something that.. you know, captured that.”

Her breath was taken away. Sure, the bobcat in the front hall was a little creepy, but this was something different.

“It’s gorgeous,” she said quietly. Remembering the tales of Victorian homes with their small gem birds on display. Had her grandfather really taken the time to find out what she was interested in? Had he really listened to her beyond the angry words she’d flung at him, and sorted through to find out the perfect gift? “I’m... speechless.” She said with a breathy laugh.

The old man smiled, his smile still a little sad.

“And, this one.”

He gently slid the small box forward.

She carefully picked up the small box and opened it.

Inside was a small locket, with a basket weave pattern under glass.

Her heart began to pound in her ears as she looked up at her grandfather, and back down again. The basketweave pattern came in two colors. The vertical weave was one that was jet black on the left, fading to peppery silver and finally white on the right, while the horizontal was a warm chocolate brown.

She popped the locket open ever so carefully, peering at the picture inside.

She was greeted by her grandmother's smiling face, and a much younger version of her grandfather kissing her cheek.

Her grandfather sat beside her, quiet as she processed what she had just been given.

“It’s a memento mori,” she said, as soon as she recovered her breath.

Her grandfather nodded. “It’s not custom to add a living person’s hair, but, I ain’t gonna be around forever. And I wanted to be with her in your thoughts.”

She gently closed the locket again, and looked up at him.

She felt like the world as she’d seen it lay shattered before her. That whatever dark glasses she’d been wearing had been ripped away, and she was left staring into this brilliance that wasn’t criticizing her but was trying to learn who she was, and okay they made mistakes along the way, but these people cared for her. They didn’t try to talk her away from what she spent her creative pursuits on.

And they got to know her, got to know who she was, so they could offer her something that catered to her. Something she would enjoy.

And she had not made it easy on any of them.

The weight of the locket settled comfortably against the hollow of her throat, but as her grandfather finished clasping it and let it rest, she felt the weight of the past year resting there as well. She touched the locket, the memento mori, not some strangers memento, but that of her own family, and felt she was able to breathe again.

She was cared for. She was loved.

She recognized her nastiness and the hard closing of doors between herself and others had been a way to protect herself from those she felt wouldn’t understand. But that protective shell had become a tomb in which she hadn’t let anyone in, for fear of being hurt, she had hurt those around her, who had just wanted to know who she was, who had wanted to share her interests.

And then she’d been upset that no one had understood.

She looked at the gifts, every one of them thoughtful and perfect.

And she had nearly lost all of this. Had her body bisected by a freaky robot bear.

She got up and gently wrapped her arms around the old man's shoulders.

“New Years is coming up soon,” she said. “I can’t promise anything, but... I want to be more mindful. And... more thankful.” She said, as he patted her arm gently. “I’ve ... really been kind of a brat, haven’t I?”

The old man shrugged. “You’re 14. You’re smart as a whip and twice as quick. You’re sorting out a lot of emotions, and life isn’t easy for you. I expect a little difficulty.” He said, smiling.

She nodded. “Thank you.”

He shrugged before he nodded again. “Let’s try starting with being more honest?” He asked.

Millie nodded her head. “I’ll try.”

“And maybe a little more grateful.”

Millie felt her cheeks flush, embarrassment at her prior behavior. “I think I can do that.”

The old man smiled. “And maybe doing your homework without a battle.”

“I’ve been doing that!” Millie said, smiling, sitting down again.

“I know. I just wanted to complain.”

“Speaking of complaints,” she said hesitantly. “I know I don’t have much room to ask. But, could we maybe make my room a little more... mine?”

Her grandfather tilted his head some.

“It doesn’t feel like I... fit in. I feel like I’ve just sort of been stuffed into grandmas old sewing room. Could we maybe move some of those things into storage, and let me reclaim the space?”

He looked at her, before he nodded. “I do understand that. And I think that’s something we can do.”

Millie smiled a little more. “Maybe put some new wallpaper up?”

“Don’t push your luck, girlie,” he chided gently.

Spring came in its usual way, and Millie was dressed in the most unlike her outfit she had ever worn. Overalls and a Tshirt.

“You hardly look like yourself,” Dillon said, draping some plastic over her bed.

“I feel so out of place!” Millie whined.

“Oh it’s not that bad,” Brooke said, helping Dillon spread the plastic out so it covered all parts of the bed they’d decided to just leave in the room. “You look cute. Not something I’d go to school in, but perfect for what we’re doing?”

She’d talked to Dillon, and a long conversation had melted the ice between them. The following weekend, they’d all gone to the tea house together, Dillon bringing Brooke along, and Millie had been pleasantly surprised to learn that Brooke’s mother was the taxidermist who had done the hummingbird display. Her mother worked with dead animals, which made Brooke want to learn how to keep them alive. She also had a wickedly dark sense of humor.

Brookes mother had also agreed to begin teaching Millie how to perform taxidermy so that she could bring death to life, and craft her own macabre creations.

A friendship had grown from the ice, and before long, the three of them were close friends.

Millie frowned. “As soon as we’re done here, I’m changing out of these.”

Brooke smiled and looked to the door as Grandpa hefted the bucket of wallpaper paste into the room. “You kids think this is going to be a one day deal?” He asked. “You’re in for a world of disappointment.”

He passed a scraper to each teen.

“Don’t dig into the plaster, were just scraping the paper off so we can put the new stuff up.”

The three teens looked at each other and nodded. “Goth princess room, here we come!” Brooke said, smiling brightly, thrusting her scraper into the air.

Millie smiled, watching as her new friends attacked the wallpaper.

It was symbolic, in a way, the thought, as she joined in. Peeling away layers to put something new, something where she fit. With the help of those who had helped her, by making room, so that she fit with them.

She reached up and touched the locket, smiling to the others, listening to Brooke excitedly exclaim how she’d found just the perfect starting point and grandpa fussing over the plaster.

Dillon smiled at her too, and she smiled back. She’d found her friends, and while her interests hadn’t changed, she still loved the concept of death and darkness, she had a whole new appreciation for life.

[hannahmcne]

Her Royal Highness - Chapter 6

It was hot outside and the castle provided a steady draft stretching inwards from the outer wings. Day in and day out, Ben and Doug were, apparently, trying to cram everything they'd ever learned from Royalty 101 down her throat and into her head. Mal couldn't even close her eyes without seeing the Auradon Royal Crest engraved behind her eyes anymore. So before Ben and Doug could catch her and pull her back to Adam's office for an after-lunch session, she disappeared to go wandering.

A map of the castle told her that if she went into the North Wing, she'd find the storage area, which she assumed was mostly untouched. Mal thought that she'd be able to hide there and do some snooping before her cell phone started trying to summon her back for another round of 'How many unintelligible things can I say in one hour?'

The hallways that ran north and south in the castle, she'd started to notice, were sloped while the roofs of the normal hallways were flat. She followed the length of a slanted ceiling that must have been made to help giants through the palace and opened the door to a side room. Immediately upon her entry, a cloud of dust flew into the air. She coughed and felt on the wall for a light. It was so nice to be in Auradon where the light switches were actually reliable.

The room flickered into visibility. It was the smallest room she'd been in since the Isle, and that was counting her closet as well. On the wall were cardboard boxes with dusty white labels identifying each's contents. Mal crossed her arms and began to skim. Books, books, books, sewing notions, Grandma Vane's items, Grandma Mae's, Grandma Ava's... Mal paused and squinted at a fairly new box. 'Swords and Shields Momentos', it read. That sounded interesting. Mal reached up and pulled the box off the shelf. It was surprisingly long and heavy. She set it down with a thud and brushed the thick dust off of the top of the box. Then, she pried open the lid and examined the box's contents. Inside was a jersey made of yellow and blue mesh fabric and a matching pair of sports shorts. Blue sneakers, a blue hoodie, and a couple of medals sat on top of it, along with a whistle. She lifted these items out of the box, noting that they were clean and well-kept.

Underneath were three different types of swords. Two were plain-looking katanas with one-sided blades. The handles were wrapped in leather - one blue and one brown. The last sword was noticeably more interesting though. Mal pulled it out of the box and couldn't stop herself breaking out into a smile as she stared at the fine workmanship of the blade. This one was double bladed, but with a guard protecting her fingers as she examined it. The hilt was also wrapped in blue leather and had a beautiful two-part golden guard that wrapped around the user's hand when they held it. The Auradon crest rested on top of the pommel of the sword. Mal pulled it from the sheath and examined the blade itself. It was steel, well tempered, and so sharp she didn't dare even rest her finger on the edge. The tip of the sword was angled to be even sharper than the blade itself.

As she resheathed the sword and put it on the ground beside her, she noticed writing on the leather underneath the guard. She held it up to her eyes and read: Benjamin Florian Benson.

Ben? Ben had swords? She put the sword down, picked up the jersey, and unfolded it. On the back of the jersey was his name: Ben. Mal put that, too, aside and continued shuffling through the box. There was a plaque that had 'Benjamin Benson - Captain of the Swords and Shields team' stamped on it along with a year and a coach's signature. She found a couple of other certificates and even a few trophies before she came across a thick stack of printed photographs. Each one of Ben. Sometimes he was with a team, other times he was alone, or even sparring with opponents in various colors. Each photo had a label printed in beautiful handwriting that Mal assumed was Belle's at the bottom. Mal examined a photo of him standing on guard against a blonde-haired boy the bottom of the photo identified as Chad Charming. The two were smiling even as they were tense and prepared. Mal brought the photo closer to her eyes as he examined the two boy's form. The photo seemed several years old, as Ben was taller and stronger now.

"Like what you see?" A voice came from the doorway, startling her. Mal gasped as she jumped and fell onto her butt, staring in shock at the doorway. Ben leaned casually against the door with a raised eyebrow. For a second, she couldn't recognize him - the tailored man in a blue suit and with neatly cut hair - from the boy in the blue jersey who was drenched in sweat and had a sure smile pressed onto his face, but then she blinked and the pieces clicked.

"Not especially." Mal gasped as she calmed down. She sent him a shifty look. "How did you find me?"

Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. He flipped it around and showed her the screen. It had her phone contact with a picture of her face, and a little map that showed the layout of the palace. "You started sharing location with the palace when you added our contacts. Safety precautions. Didn't you know?"

"No." Mal frowned. "I didn't know that." The phone reloaded and Ben's contact appeared beside hers, indicating his location. This only made Mal's frown deepen. And she didn't even know how to turn it off, either!

Ben crouched down in the dust beside her and pointed to the pictures, which had scattered across the floor. "That's me back at Auradon Prep, where I went to school. I was Captain of the Swords and Shields team. Sword fighting group." Most of this Mal already knew, but she knew Ben was just trying to fill her in.

"You've got pretty good form." She shrugged as she started chewing on her hair.

"Thanks," Ben replied. He picked up his double-bladed sword with a proud smile. He unsheathed it, stood and gave it a small swing away from her with a nostalgic smile. "Did you, uh-" He cleared his throat as he bent and resheathed his blade, "Did you do any sword-fighting on the Isle?"

"Yeah." Mal nodded. "Mostly with gang rivalries. I fought with the pirates a lot." Mal bit her lip as she remembered how she and Jay used to battle against Uma and Harry before the two of them had gotten their own gangs. How long had it been now? Seven years?

"Were you any good?" Ben asked, distracting her from old memories. He was refolding his jersey and shuffling through his photos. Mal immediately scoffed at the question and pushed her hair aside to stare at him incredulously.

"Of course I was good." She snapped. "I'm still alive, aren't I? You don't walk away from a sword-fight on the Isle if you aren't any good." She expected Ben to wither a bit and retreat, but he only nodded with a raised eyebrow at her spite, sort of how Jay used to.

Ben picked up the two katanas and held one out to her by the blade, so the hilt was near her face. "Want to have a quick spar?" He asked, looking all-too innocent.

"Pha!" Mal let out a bewildered laugh and pushed the hilt away with her finger. "You've only had classroom experience and I've fought for my life. You really think you can hold a candle to an Islander?"

"Well, let's make this a bit interesting." Ben shrugged. "If you win, you can have my sword." He nodded to the double-bladed beauty with the gold hilt on the floor beside the box. "And if I win, you have to sit the rest of the day in dad's office so Doug and I can finish explaining the very last things you need to know without complaining."

"You're going to make me do that anyway." Mal deadpanned. That's why he was here, wasn't he?

"Yeah, but without complaining," Ben smirked.

Mal stared at the beautiful blade with rapt attention. Her fingers began to itch. She stretched her fingers towards the sword Ben was holding out to her. "You're going to get your rear end kicked." She cautioned Ben.

He smirked a little as he pushed the blade's handle into her hand. "I'll take my chances." He told her. "Let's go out into the hall."

Mal got to her feet. Ben held the door ajar for her as she slipped out, and then followed her. Once in the hall, they took up defensive states, holding their swords aloft and examining each other's stances. Mal noticed Ben stood a bit taller than she did. Maybe because he was in a suit. She cleared her throat and murmured: "On three. One, two, three!" She jumped towards him, intending to quickly knock his sword out of his hand, but to her surprise, he saw the maneuver coming and blocked it easily. He looked almost bored as they locked swords and he advanced, driving her back and towards the wall. Mal found herself with her back to the sheetrock as Ben began carefully twisting his blade to make her lose her grip on hers. She ducked under his arm, slid a little, and jumped back up as he brought the blade down, knowing she'd block him and she'd be trapped again. Mal brought her blade up to stop the attack and gasped. "How are you actually good at this?" She gasped in shock as she rose up to her full height and shoved Ben back. He stood firm, and the move only served to push her feet back a few inches into the carpet. It was like battling Jay. He saw all her moves coming and blocked them.

Quickly, she took a fake swing at his legs before she dodged around him and used her foot to knock him down. Ben grunted in indignation as he rolled and jumped right back up. "You play dirty." He accused as he parried another attack and caught her sword again. He once again forced her to the wall.

Mal tried pushing him away, but he was too strong. He leaned in a little with a teasing smile. Butterflies raced in her chest. She fought to keep a growing smile from stretching across her face as he edged her sword back into her grip. Sure, he was kicking her butt, but something about it was just so unbelievably fun. He laughed at her amusement and a blush dusted itself on her cheeks. She could smell mint on his breath and cologne on his suit.

Coming back to reality, Mal tried to duck under his arm the same way she had the first time, but he ducked with her and suddenly she was on her back on the ground with him still holding her in a brutal sword lock as he smiled. Mal gasped and tried to push back as he carefully pressed her closer to the ground with her own blade, but Ben was way stronger than she had anticipated. She'd expected to be able to surprise him with what she'd learned on the Isle since she'd assumed he'd barely ever seen any real fighting, but now she could see she should have quick, fast moves so she could outstrategize him, not outfight him.

The back of her blade touched her cheek and Ben took one hand off of his sword. He carefully wrapped his free hand around the hilt of her sword, around her hands, and pried it away from her before standing up, triumphant. Mal gasped and stared at him. He stepped away from over her, set the swords aside, and leaned down to hold a hand to her. She took it, and he helped her to her feet. She could tell he was trying hard not to laugh at her dumbstruck expression. "You okay?" He asked.

Mal huffed for her breath and her face broke out into a smile. She hadn't been beaten that badly since she'd first met Jay, who was the best sword-fighter on the Isle. "Yeah." She laughed. "Yeah, I am. Nothing hurt except my pride."

Ben laughed and held a hand out. They shook with bright smiles. "I hadn't had that much fun sparring someone since Lonnie and I were partnered." He told Mal as he took the sword back into the storage room. "She's the daughter of Mulan and Shang. She was the second-most talented person at Auradon Prep. I think she's Captain of the team at Auradon Accelerated now." He smiled over his shoulder at Mal as he replaced the swords in their box. "I was the first." He told her.

Mal let out a breath. She was still smiling. "I underestimated you." She told him. "You're really, really good. I wish I could have you spar Jay."

"Eh." Ben shrugged, though he seemed proud of himself. "I bet you could have beaten me if you hadn't thought I'd lose so bad. Now that you're prepared, I'll have a harder time next time."

This was probably true, Mal reasoned. Next time, she'd just have to be faster than he was because he was very steady on his feet and immovable. She reached down and picked up the beautiful double-bladed sword off the floor and began it a swing, even though it was still sheathed. It was very well-balanced, like it was an extension of her hand. She was sad she'd lost it. "Want to go again?" She asked Ben.

"Ha!" He guffawed. "No." He shook his head as he put his old outfit into the box and closed it up.

"Aw, come on!" Mal complained, fingering the guard admiringly.

"Nope." Ben shook his head with a smile as he replaced the box on the shelf.

"Why not?" Mal grumbled as Ben walked over and took the sword from her. She watched it go wistfully.

"At least let me hold on to my win for fifteen minutes before you come back trying to kick my butt." Ben laughed as he examined his old sword with pride. He slipped an arm around Mal and started guiding her to the door. "Now come on, I won and Doug is still waiting for us."

Mal sighed as Ben flipped off the light and shut the door. "Aren't you going to put the sword back?" She asked.

Ben shook his head and attached the sheath to his belt, which looked a bit silly with the kingly suit. "No." He responded. "I'd forgotten how much I liked fencing. I think I'll keep it out for the reminders." He elbowed her. "Maybe you and I can spar for it another time, or we could get you your own." Mal could feel her own eyes light up as she stared at the weapon on his hip. Ben laughed as he bumped her with his hip and Mal couldn't lie - for the first time, she was truly impressed with him.

________________________________________________________________

At a reasonable time of the day about three weeks after Mal first arrived, Audrey returned. Mal had been about to go outside and catch a break from all the law knowledge Ben and Doug had been trying to cram into her head when Lumiere opened the door and the prissy-pink-princess floated in on pink-platform heels. Mal stopped and looked at her pointedly as Audrey removed her sunglasses.

Audrey smiled and giggled. "Good morning miss��" Audrey trailed off, clearly waiting for Mal to finish her own name.

"Mal." Mal eventually supplied. She stayed on the stairs, well aware it put her ten feet above Audrey.

Audrey set a perfectly-tanned foot on the first marble step and smirked up at Mal. "Sorry, I'm usually very good at names." She walked up to Mal with her cheesy smile plastered on her face. "But to be honest…" She continued and paused for a second. Her face broke out in a ferocious glare and her words turned from gelatin into something rock-hard, "-I didn't think you'd be here this long."

This wasn't Mal's first time being stared down. She didn't flinch as the tanned girl reverted back to a cheerful, plastic smile, and continued up the stairs. Her hand brushed Mal's shoulder as she walked. "You've got dirt on your jacket," Audrey informed her. True to her word, brown dust flitted off Mal's jacket, and Audrey paused a second more to brush her hands off. She made it to the top of the staircase and turned left towards Adam's office. Hmm, she knew how to find him.

Mal decided to spite her.

"Um, Audrey?" She called, cheerfully fake. "Ben's actually in his parent's room. They were having a talk inside. You can feel free to wait for him out there." Audrey paused in the doorway and turned to face Mal. There was a pause as Audrey debated the likelihood of Mal's truthfulness, but nothing from the 16-year-old revealed the lie. Audrey finally pivoted and began to head to the right, opposite the King's office and towards the east wing, where the bedrooms were. Before Audrey could disappear though, another thought occurred to Mal. "Take a good look around, Audrey." She lit her eyes up with that scary green tinge she'd first learned on the Isle. Audrey gasped and scuttled backward like a crab with two abnormally long legs. Mal tilted her head sideways. "You might not be here much longer."

The light went out in Mal's eyes and she smiled. She lifted her hand and waggled her fingers. "Sweet dreams!" She called to the witch that Sleeping Beauty had raised. Audrey rushed out. Mal heard her trip after she rushed out of sight. She chuckled.

Lumiere stood at the base of the stairs. He'd moved from the doors at some point while Mal had been turned around, probably when Audrey brushed off Mal's shoulder. He gave her a look that was completely unreadable.

"You shouldn't have done that." He told her after a moment.

Mal shrugged and continued her previous path down the stairs. "She deserved it. Also, she started the mess in the first place."

"Yes," Lumiere acknowledged. "But you're the one with magic."

Mal scoffed. "I didn't use any magic on her. If anything, I used it on me."

Lumiere chuckled dryly. "You're in line for the queen's throne. You possess magic. You shouldn't stoop to her level."

"Ah, yes. I'm the example." Mal laughed and paused to retie her boots. How funny. A villainous's daughter, an example. She wondered how much longer the palace would allow her to do things like climb the roof. Eventually, they'd probably encourage her to be more like Audrey, right? The thought sent Mal into a dark mood. "Why's she here anyway?" She growled.

"Why do you think?" Lumiere looked up the stairs and shook his head. "Trying to win him, even as a side piece."

Mal scoffed. "Listen, I haven't known Ben for long, but even I know that's a foolish fantasy. He's a grown man, not a whimsical teen."

Lumiere nodded. "You're correct. And would you like to know one more thing about Ben?" He crossed his arms and tried to hide a smirk.

"Not really but go ahead." Mal stood back up and reached into her pocket for a piece of raspberry-flavored gum. She figured Lumiere was going to tell her something aong the lines of how Ben would disapprove her misleading his ex-girlfriend, but Lumiere's answer threw her off.

"He is most certainly not anywhere near his parents, as the king and queen are in the library and he is in his dad's office like Audrey first assumed." Lumiere deadpanned.

Mal smirked. "Yeah, I know that, and you know that, but now Audrey doesn't, and she'll waste her time waiting outside the King and Queen's suite until someone rescues her."

"And what would happen if, per se, I left now to rescue her?" Lumiere asked, glancing up the stairs to where Audrey had disappeared.

"Why, Lumiere." Mal snorted. "Then you wouldn't be my favorite."

"Don't play that game." Lumiere teased her right back. "We all know you and Sophia are besties." He crossed his middle and pointer fingers to express how close the two were.

It was true. Sophia adored Mal, and Mal enjoyed Sophia's matronly presence. Sophia answered all the questions Mal felt too embarrassed to ask anyone else, made sure her room was decorated tastefully and that her wardrobe suited her 'outdoorsy personality', and was always available to simply talk with. Everyone else, even Ben, had an agenda. Except maybe Belle. Belle rocked. Mal liked Belle, Sophia, and Lumiere, sometimes.

The two friends laughed a little, and then Lumiere opened the door for Mal. She slipped out with half a smile and a heart full of mischief.

________________________________________________________________

Belle was waiting for Mal on the stairs when she came back inside. When she saw the state of the purple-haired teen, she laughed.

"You have a twig in your hair." She told Mal as she stood up. Mal shrugged. She had a pretty good idea why Belle was there. The Royals were overall really good at not disturbing her when she was having 'alone moments' outside, but once she was inside, they were technically allowed to bother her and ask her things.

Belle plucked the twig out of Mal's hair, along with a few loose leaves and some dried grass. "Where did you go?" She asked, thoroughly amused as she brushed even more dirt off Mal's shoulders.

"The rose garden. I hid behind the bushes between the plants and the garden walls. Nothing was hurt though; I didn't even break any stems." Mal answered without meeting Belle's eyes.

"Well, that's good. After all, the price for a rose is a life sentence." Belle said jokingly. Mal blinked slowly and had the sudden urge to slide away from the queen. Belle's smile grew. "Oh, it's from my fairy tale. The Beast locked my father away for picking a rose."

"That's a little weird." Mal breathed. Belle laughed. Mal smirked.

Belle sat back down on the steps and patted the area next to her. Mal sat down with a sigh and put her elbows on her knees.

"So," Belle began conversationally. Her brown eyes filled with mirth as she glanced sideways at her future daughter-in-law. "Apparently we finished with our meeting before Audrey managed to get up to our room. Audrey was upset, of course, that she wasted an hour and a half of her time before she knocked and no one answered, but you can't really be blamed if you didn't know we'd finished, yes?"

Mal's mouth dropped open again. "Did you… back up my lie?"

Belle sighed and chuckled as she straightened her skirt. "Lumiere told us what happened and what she said to you. We figured it was a suitable punishment. Of course, Ben was too busy afterward to talk to her as he was hunting down the eighteenth-century edition of Berlink the Third's Magical Proportions, so Audrey had to be escorted out to return another day."

Mal snorted. "They hauled her out?"

"Not exactly. She would have tattled if we'd pulled her out forcibly, but we asked her to leave and Lumiere escorted her down and out to her carriage." Belle smiled.

Mal smiled as she played with the hem on her jacket. A thought occurred to her: Berlink's Magical Proportions? Why would Ben have been looking for that book? From what she remembered, it talked in footnotes about binding magical cores and resisting spells and charms and-

Oh.

Okay.

Ouch.

Mal's smile faded.

Belle twiddled her thumbs. Mal hadn't ever seen anyone actually do that before. She watched carelessly until Belle said: "You know, I'm eager to see what you'll do as queen." She laid a hand on Mal's shoulder. "You have the capability to make life better for a lot of people. I trust you'll observe that power and use it wisely?"

A weight settled onto Mal's shoulders. She looked up and met the brown eyes of the ruling matriarch. A sudden thought occurred to her: Belle had confidence in her. The queen truly believed she could make something good out of herself. Her. The daughter of one of the evilest villainesses to walk the planet.

Mal's cheeks grew hot. She looked away. Belle patted her shoulder. "Don't be afraid Mal. You'll be extraordinary." The queen kissed Mal's cheek, causing the young teen to shrivel at the surprise contact, then righted herself and walked out of the room, as pristine and regal as Mal could ever dream of being.

Mal rubbed the flush out of her cheeks and then stood and walked up the steps. She turned towards her room, and let her feet carry her where they liked.

As she passed the library, she heard voices. Even though she knew the palace people didn't particularly like eavesdroppers, Mal paused and listened. She raised a hand to the dark and glossy wood door, and heard Ben say in a bright tone: "What do you think, Sophia?"

Sophia laughed. "It looks very nice, your highness. Very elegant."

Mal peeked around the door and glanced into the library. Ben was sitting at the table where Mal had had her first discussion with the royals and the Fairy Godmother. Sophia was standing behind him, arranging several books into a pile while balancing it on the back of the couch. Ben was holding up a paper square with many pretty designs cut out of it.

One of the books on Sophia's stack slid forward and conked him on the head. Sophia picked it up and muttered apologies to the crown prince, which he waved off. Mal chuckled softly.

Ben continued to admire the paper in his hands. "I think it's one of my better ones." He proclaimed with pride.

Mal put one foot over the library's threshold. "What is it?" She asked.

Ben looked up. Mal was surprised to see the carefree, excited smile on his face. His smile grew brighter when he saw her. She felt a warm pressure in her chest. "Hi, Mal!" He greeted her and then held the paper up for her to see. "It's a snowflake!"

Mal walked a little closer and set her hands down on the arm of the couch. She leaned forward as she examined the paper. It was symmetrical, cut almost like a four-pronged star, with many thin arches and elegant crosses. It was very beautiful, yes, but it didn't look like anything Mal had ever seen before. She frowned and tilted her head. "It doesn't look like snow." She commented.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Well, it does take a lot of them to make snow, you know." He chuckled sarcastically as he set the snowflake down on the coffee table. A small stack of white papers and many small cut pieces covered the table, along with one can of glitter spray.

Mal stared. When snow fell on the Isle, it piled on the barrier and fell in heavy chunks and uneven piles. It could collapse roofs in and bury people alive, so uneven as it was. And it was hard, like stones. It was grey, not white like this paper, and nothing about it could be considered pretty until it started to melt, and jagged ice formed that little kids would break off and pretend to kill each other with. It was often times poisonous, and Mal had even known snow to hold dangerous chemicals that left rashes on people's skin. She didn't know what Ben was talking about, so she bit her cheek and looked to Sophia for help. Sophia, much to Mal's dismay, gave Ben a sharp poke. Ben snapped to attention, looked at Sophia, then turned around to look inquisitively at Mal. Mal froze under his gaze.

He blinked twice, and then asked: "Don't you know?" He asked.

Mal cleared her throat. "We, um, don't get that on the Isle. When the snow comes it's grey, not white. And it's made of piles of ice." She held her hands about the width of a football apart to judge how the snow came down.

Ben's mouth made a perfect 'O' shape. Mal suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She sat down on the arm of the couch and leaned over to finger the snowflake. "It looks pretty though." She complimented his work. "Does snow fall like that in Auradon?"

"Yeah," Ben said. He picked his creation back up. "Every year, for the first snowfall, we get together in the living room with the fire going and we have hot chocolate with the balcony doors open." He smiled wistfully as he pictured their yearly tradition.

Mal slid onto the cushion beside him. They bumped hips and Ben scooted a few inches away. Mal personally had thought he was fine where he was. She took the snowflake from his hands. "Doesn't snow get in?" She asked as she ran her hand over the smooth cut lines.

"No, there's rarely any wind and the room gets so warm the snow melts at the doors. We put towels down and everything." Ben answered as he clasped his hands and watched Mal's fingers move over his creation.

"It sounds lovely. Do you think I'll be able to see it?" Mal asked.

"Absolutely." Ben smiled. "I promise. You'll see the first snowfall and you'll have the chance to stir your hot chocolate with a peppermint stick." Mal snorted.

"Excuse me, your highnesses," Sophia said with a little smirk as she tucked the book stack under her arm and moved towards the exits. Mal stilled as the sentiment Sophia had used brushed past her ears.

Ben smiled and raised his hand to say: "Bye."

They sat in silence as Sophia closed the door behind her and waited until her footsteps had become inaudible. Then Mal cleared her throat. "This is paper? How did you make it?"

"Oh, I can show you." Ben moved away from Mal as he reached for a new paper. He displayed it to her and then folded it diagonally. "You start with a perfect square, like this. You can cut the excess off."

He handed the paper to her and procured a pair of scissors that had fallen into the cushions while they'd been moving. As Mal snipped the extra paper off the bottom, he found a new pair of scissors in a drawer in the side table and started a second square.

"So, snow falls like this?" She asked.

"Yes, but smaller. When it lands it's still in little fragments like this. And none of them are the same shape." Ben answered. "Have you got your square?"

Mal briefly considered a sarcastic response, but then nodded and said: "Yes."

"Great," Ben said. "Now you fold it like this-" He demonstrated on his own paper, and Mal mirrored his movements. Ben smiled. "And now you cut shapes into it like this." He cut a curvy line out of the side of his.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Mal set all the little paper scraps in her lap until there was a small pile of white. Ben chuckled at her. After a few seconds, he set his finished snowflake down and watched Mal cut her own paper.

"Here." He said as he slipped one long arm around her shoulders. With his shirt brushed against her arms, she got chills down her spine. "This is one of my favorite shapes." He put his hands atop hers and guided her cuts until a very pretty spiral cut had been formed. "There we go." He smiled, and looked down at Mal. A pretty pink tone lit up her cheeks as she stayed as still as possible.

Ben's eyes wandered to his stray arm covering hers and pulled back so that his hand rested on her shoulder and their knees had a good inch of distance. Mal pursed her lips and let out a breath. The pink tones faded. She finished her snowflake and unfolded it with pride. Ben smiled and reached over to grab the can of glitter spray. He took Mal's snowflake and sprayed it down. Mal held the finished product up to the sun and smiled at the way it sparkled in the sun. Ben watched her with a soft smile.

Finally, Mal glanced back at him and they held their smiles aloft as they took each other in. She watched the excess glitter in the air settle down on his knee and caught his glance as he examined her. Mal set the snowflake down, and on cue, Ben reached forward to take her hands. She let him. His hands were covered in glitter, so her hands started to sparkle in the sunlight as he rubbed his thumbs over her hands. She broke her smile to smirk at his solemn expression, and he laughed.

"Mal." He whispered. She blinked slowly. Something about the library made the air feel thick and time feel slow. "Do you think we could ever fall in love?"

She laughed in his face and took a hand away to pat his cheek. "Could I love a nerd like you?" She chuckled slyly. "I'm not sure."

Ben rolled his eyes, not looking the least bit hurt as he withdrew his hands. "Ha, ha." He said sarcastically. Mal chuckled at him. The moment was broken.

There was half a second of warning. Her eyes flitted to the left, and then her hand launched out to grab the glitter spray. As soon as Ben realized she had armed herself, he ducked and covered his face. This, unfortunately, gave Mal access to her target. She unleashed the can full force on his hair. Ben yelped as cold aerosol hit his scalp and shot back up to his full height, knocking the can out of Mal's grasp and into the air. They froze for half-a-second to watch the can soar. Then Ben leaped into action. He jumped towards the can.

Mal panicked and pointed at the can. "Mess your flow up, please just blow up!" She sputtered.

Ben skidded on the carpet with his hands outstretched. Just before his hands could close on the aluminum can, it exploded in a blast of white sparkles. There was a moment of silence, and then Ben began to cough.

"My mouth and eyes were open." He complained as he rolled over and stood up. An inherently clear Ben-imprint remained in the carpet surrounded by a mess of glitter. Mal guffawed, and then bent over at the waist to howl in laughter.

Ben glared as he tried to wipe the glitter off of his face.

"You're – it's all glitter!" Mal exclaimed. She found herself on the floor, trying to catch her breath.

"Yeah, I noticed." Ben glared. Sticky white glitter covered his face. Glitter was still floating down through the air. He walked over while Mal was still laughing and crouched down to wait for her to calm down.

Mal paused for a second, then burst back into laughter. Ben waited until she was lying on the ground, looking pretty with her cheeks bright red and her hair all sweaty. He smirked. The smile fell off her face.

"Oh, no." She told him. He smirked harder. "No, no, no!" She tried to get up too late. Ben leaned down and shook his glittery head as hard as he could over her. It was like a second, smaller explosion occurred. Mal screamed and covered her eyes as torrents of white glitter rained down around her.

Ben stopped when he felt all of the loose glitter fall off his skin. He opened his eyes and looked down at Mal as she sputtered and brushed glitter off her cheeks. "Ha." He told her. She stuck out her tongue. He rolled his eyes and offered a hand to help her up. Mal grumbled but took it.

The doors to the library opened. Ben and Mal spun around with true fear in their eyes as King Adam appeared with Queen Belle and Sophia behind him.

"We heard screaming – holy states of Auradon…" The King trailed off as he took in the sight of them.

"Goodness gracious." Queen Belle said. Mal blushed deep red as she remembered her last conversation with the queen. Yeah, she probably looked exactly like the future queen now. "What happened to my library?" Belle asked.

"Um, glitter." Ben trailed off.

"Yes, I see," Belle said.

Mal swiveled her foot into the carpet. "I attacked Ben with the can and he knocked it out of my hands, so I had to keep him from getting it, and I ended up blowing it up." Her cheeks burned.

"Where's the can?" Sophia asked.

On cue, there was a rattling above their heads. The remains of the can had been blasted into the ceiling fan, but the constant motion and air suction were starting to dislodge it. The shattered remains of the canister dislodged and landed on Mal's head. She flinched and refused to meet the eyes of the royals.

Then Sophia began to laugh.

Mal dared a glance upward and saw her friend doubled over and laughing, much like how she had been a few minutes ago. King Adam had covered his face with his hands as he tried to suck in his laughter, and Belle's shoulders were shaking.

"You'll be cleaning it up," Belle told them. "It's not the servant's jobs to follow you around. Ben, you'll have to show Mal where the vacuum is."

Ben's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, mom." He sighed. King Adam finally gave into his laughter and walked out of the room. Ben turned towards Mal and did his best to keep a straight face as he wagged his finger at her. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd behaved."

Mal snorted. "What did you expect?" She did a fake curtsey. "Daughter of a villainess, here."

Ben laughed and started to lead her away. Mal ducked her head as she passed by Sophia and Belle. They got halfway down the hall before they heard Sophia call: "Good luck getting all that stuff off of yourselves!"

________________________________________________________________

Nothing in the Castle was ever eerie. Not even when it was half-past eleven and she was the only one up wandering the halls in the west wing. The castle had magical tones to it. Sometimes, she felt like certain parts were looking at her magical signature with disdain, but other times she felt like it was celebrating the return of another kindly spirit to the castle.

And sometimes, it felt like the castle was whispering to her.

Mal paused to lean against the cold wall of one corridor and closed her eyes. She was wearing a purple work-out shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants as pajamas. Her purple hair was up in a lopsided ponytail.

Mal opened her eyes after a few moments and continued on her way. She turned into the hall with the King's office and put her hand on the knob. It was unlocked. She opened the door and walked in.

The lights were on; Ben was lifting a box filled with flyers for his coronation up onto the desk. Technically, there were already flyers around the kingdom, but these ones were different and had Mal's name on them.

"Hey, Mal," Ben said as he wiped his face with his palm. "What are you doing up here?"

"Wandering. I didn't know you'd started to move in?" Mal responded as she sat on a corner of the desk. The pictures of Belle and King Adam's family had been taken down, and filing cabinets were in the process of being cleaned out.

Ben laughed. "I haven't. We're still trying to move Dad out!" He chuckled and picked the box back off the desk to try and lug it to the door.

"Pause." Mal rolled her eyes as his face turned red from the struggle. Ben put the box back down. Mal jumped up and began to stroke the box as if she was trying to decipher its chemical makeup. "Take a break; it's feather-weight." She muttered. The box lit up for a second, and she backed off. Ben picked the box up experimentally, then tucked it under one arm as if it were a shoebox instead of 2,000 flyers.

"Thanks," Ben said as he swung the door to the office open and put them out in the hall. "You're getting better with your rhymes." He complimented her as he closed the door again and moved to the filing cabinets at the back of the room. Mal followed him.

"Yeah. I'm noticing that the better I rhyme the better the spell. Course, I can do some stuff without words, but words make it easier." She explained.

"Technically, I'm supposed to discourage you from using magic and encourage you to use your own strengths and talents, but I'm curious: what's it like?" Ben pulled about five thick file dividers out and a bunch of loose receipts from fourteen years ago fell from the stack. Ben rolled his eyes.

"I like it a lot, actually. I feel really connected with the world around me." Mal responded. She bent down and helped Ben gather all the loose strips of paper.

"That's cool," Ben responded. He pulled a hidden trash can out from under the King's desk. "How much can you do yet?"

Mal shrugged and held up one of her hands to examine it. "I don't know. Fairy Godmother said I'd be more powerful if I hadn't grown up on the Isle. It kind of stunted it a tad. Lots of the people here are still wary that I'm magical, so I try to not alarm them too much."

"Thanks for that." Ben smiled. "DO you need to see a magical doctor or something?"

Mal pulled a face. "Eh, doctors." She shook her head.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Necessary evil. By the way, did you know Audrey tried to say you were going to laser her?"

"No way. Really?" Mal shook her head.

"Yeah, but Lumiere just rolled his eyes and explained it to us. We did get a letter from Aurora though." Ben explained as he made a face at some of the old papers and put them in a trash pile.

Mal sucked in a breath. "How did that go over?"

"Pretty well. Aurora is pretty embarrassed by her daughter, but she doesn't know what to do. She let Leah take care of her a lot while Audrey was growing up. Leah never raised her girl, so she spoiled Audrey, and now Aurora has like, no say over her daughter." Ben shrugged.

"Sad," Mal commented.

"Yeah. But what have you tried so far?" Ben asked as he

Mal chuckled. "Um, making lifting easier, blowing up sparkle cans, and lighting my eyes up." She shook her head. "Maybe a couple others. Not many. I fixed my hair once or twice, and apparently, I have horns."

"Yeah! I wanted to ask about that because I could have sworn the Fairy Godmother said something to you about them, but I didn't want to be insensitive. I know Maleficent has hers, but what's the science behind yours?" Ben paused in his work to examine Mal. She jumped under his attention.

"I honestly have no clue. I didn't even know I had them until the Fairy Godmother pointed them out." Mal said, playing with a lock of her hair and resisting the urge to bite it.

"Can you will them in and out of existence?" Ben asked. He leaned forward and pushed her hair behind her ear so she wouldn't be distracted by it.

"Um, I can try," Mal mumbled. She closed her eyes and focused on the protrusions she'd felt atop her head before. After several seconds, she opened her eyes. "No?" She asked Ben. He shook his head. She closed her eyes and went back to concentrating. She tried to bring on the feeling she got when she was spelling something and felt the top of her head turn warm. She became aware of Ben's hand coming towards the top of her head and wrapping around a horn.

"Can you feel that?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's subtle though." It was almost as she was wrapped in a bubble and he was pushing on the bubble. She could feel the pressure, but it didn't have the same contact that skin did. She opened her eyes and felt the horns melt away. Ben withdrew his hand as they disappeared.

"Cool." He said. Mal blinked and watched as he stared at the top of her head, marveling.

"Really?" She asked. "Your sort-of fiancé can grow horns and you say 'cool'?"

"Oh, sorry. Wicked cool! Do you get it? Because your mom is-" He began to speak animatedly with his hands, but Mal quickly interrupted him.

"You don't think it's weird? Your Dad might put restraints on me if he saw that." She raised an eyebrow.

Ben waved her concern off. "I wouldn't let him. And yeah, it's cool. You're going to be really powerful one day. I feel privileged to know you now. Do you think you'll still remember us little people when you're a writhing force for good, uniting everyone and squashing evil out of Auradon?"

Mal blinked and stared. The crown prince? A little person? She averted her gaze to stare at the carpet.

He was being honest. He was always honest. Maybe sometimes he had an agenda, like Task 1: Become King, but he was honest in all his dealings(not counting that one time with Audrey). And that he was so convinced she would one day quash all evil? That was intense.

Mal had never experienced anyone believing in her like this.

She drew a finger down the filing cabinet and said loudly, confidently: "We need some work relief; give us only the things we need."

A green bubble surrounded the cabinet, and the papers began rearranging themselves. Things started to fly out: more receipts, tickets to a music concert, a cheap valentine, several food labels, and doctor's notes, and even several bills.

Ben looked amazed. "That's amazing." He whispered, even though it was only the two of them and no one else was even awake or nearby.

"I wonder if I can do the whole room?" Mal furrowed her brow. Ben stood, stepped back, and made a gesture like he was offering her the floor space he had just vacated. Mal got to her feet and took a deep breath. She tried to visualize the room, all its components and spaces, and nooks, and crannies, and then said with as must power and force as she could muster: "Forgive this poor abused space and clean up this entire place!"

The room began to glow green. Mal bit her lip in excitement. Then, all the lightbulbs in the room exploded and the floor rumbled a little. All of the dust in the entire room flew out into the open. From every corner, crevice, and cranny, every mite of dust flew into the air. Mal and Ben crashed into each other as they tumbled to the ground and began to cough as the dust settled down onto them.

"Well." Mal gasped first. "I guess I'm not that powerful yet."

Ben laughed. She became aware that his mouth was somewhere near her left ankle. She had no idea where she was, but she did know she had found the desk corner on her elbow.

They managed to sit up and separate their tangled limbs. "I mean, technically the room did clean itself." Ben chuckled. "It just didn't know where to put the dust." She heard him moving around.

"Yeah, I just need to be more concise next time," Mal commented. She tried blinking, but with the lights completely gone, her eyes wouldn't adjust. She frowned.

"Woah!" Ben said. "Your eyes are glowing!"

"Really?" Mal asked. She tried to blink, but she didn't see any difference in her surroundings. "I can't see any light."

"Yeah. But it's not your normal glow that you usually do. Like, the whites of your eyes are green too. Not just the color." She felt him reach up and brush her cheek. She raised an eyebrow in the dark. and felt around for his shoulder. When she found it, she patted it awkwardly and laughed.

"Cool. Maybe that'll help us get out of this dusty mess." She tried to move and banged her hip into the side of the desk. "Ow!" She frowned even deeper as she rubbed her hip and tried to squint at her surroundings. "Oh, crap." She groaned. "Does this mean we'll have to vacuum again?"

Ben laughed and then began to cough. The dust was still settling. "Is this going to be our entire relationship?" He asked. "You blow up something and we end up vacuuming a lot?"

"We'll have to hire a maid to handle my explosions. We both know we'll be busy." Mal snorted as she wiped the dust off her face.

"Oh, that poor maid." Ben laughed.

They chuckled a bit, and then Ben sighed. "Judging by the sound of all the lightbulbs in the room shattering, I'll assume they need to be replaced. I left my phone in my room because it was dead. Do you have yours?"

"Nope. I stopped bringing it with me when I learned to navigate the castle." Mal responded. She reached out in the dark and managed to find the outline of Ben's shoulder.

"Lovely. That means our only source of light is your eyes, which you can't even see. Mind if I…?" He trailed off.

"Go ahead." She waved her hand nonchalantly, which turned out to be a mistake as Ben yelped: "Gah!"

"Sorry!" She winced.

"It's fine. Let's just get out of here." He helped her stand up and took her head in his hands. He turned her around, and she heard him take a deep breath.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Oh. There's just a lot of dust. You wouldn't even believe it." He felt around for her hand with a careful breath.

Mal grumbled. "Maybe I can just summon a light or something?" She rubbed her hands together, ready to try.

"See, I would support that action, if not for the fact your eyes are still glowing. You just did a pretty big thing, and your body isn't used to burning that kind of energy, so I'd just keep it cool for now. Here, the door is like, five steps in front of you." Ben straightened her shoulders and let her walk forward. He kept a grip on her bicep so that she could lead him forward.

Mal felt around for the handle with Ben's guidance and the two of them stepped out into the hall. The air felt much less stuffy. Ben felt along the wall for a light switch, found one, and flipped it on.

The two young adults stared at each other for a few seconds and then burst into laughter. Ben's hair looked like he'd stuck his finger in a light socket, standing straight up. He had a hand-print on his face where he'd been rubbing his eyes, and dust was drifting off of him in small clumps. Part of Mal's sweatpants had ripped along the leg, and dusty cobwebs filled the hole. Her ponytail created small clouds from swinging side-to-side as she moved. And her eyes were still colored, which made her quite the catch.

"Gosh, we're going to be washing this stuff out for weeks!" Mal exclaimed.

"Probably." Ben agreed. "This and that glitter."

Mal examined his hair for a few seconds. "You've still got glitter in your hair! I can see it through all the dust!" Ben just groaned in response.

Mal peeked inside the room and found it covered in a thick layer of dust. At least an inch thick. She winced.

"They're gonna make us vacuum." She groaned.

"Probably." Ben nodded in disappointment.

"Maybe I can magic it away in the morning?" Mal asked hopefully.

"Is magic a verb?" Ben smirked.

"No, but sleep is." A new voice mumbled as they rounded the corner. Ben and Mal both jumped as Lumiere appeared in the darkness, rubbing his eyes. The former candelabra peeked inside the room and fixed an icy gaze on the pair. "What did you do?" He asked.

Ben and Mal both wilted. Lumiere ran a hand over his face.

"Now listen, I don't want to know what sort of fornications you two were getting up to, but-"

"Oh, no Lumiere." Ben interrupted. His cheeks were a very bright red. "We were testing Mal's magic on Dad's office. We were hoping we could just spell everything clean." Mal nodded in agreement.

"Whatever." Lumiere hissed. "Whatever, whatever, whatever. Just go to sleep now and make sure it's cleaned before Doug gets here tomorrow. Go, go now." He waved his hands at both of them and pulled the office door shut. Ben tucked his hands into his pockets and walked away quickly. Mal followed him at triple pace.

The clock began to chime as they walked past the entryway. "It's midnight," Mal announced, needlessly.

"Yep. Cinderella's time of night." Ben responded. His face was still very red.

Mal began to chant under her breath. "Cinderella, dressed in yella, went upstairs to kiss a fella…"

Ben chuckled and joined in. Together they sang: "Made a mistake, kissed a snake, how many doctors did it take?" Ben leaned down and took Mal's hand. She raised a dusty eyebrow at him but didn't take her hand away.

"Look at us pair. You'd think we'd be old enough to not be acting like little kids." Ben pointed out.

Mal shrugged. "Yeah. Especially since we're going to be rulers one day."

"You sure you're okay with that? You get really quiet whenever we say anything about it." Ben swung their hands back and forth in-between them like a pendulum.

Mal bit her cheek. "Honestly? I'm not. I wish I knew you better. But it was my mom's fault, and it's more important that Auradon has their king than that I have to put off my life for a little bit."

Ben shook his head. "I don't see that. And you know, it's not too late. Let me know, we'll find something else."

Mal rolled her eyes. "There is no 'something else'. It's this or we're both stuck. And you guys are really nice and accepting of me. You make this a lot easier."

"We try. It's easy when you realize how short of a stick you're getting in this too. If anything, you get the butt end of things because-" Ben let go of her hand to count off on his fingers. "-You have to leave your life behind, reevaluate who you are and what you're doing, adapt to an entirely new life, you don't want to be queen, it's your mom so there's that sense of betrayal, and also you've got this annoying chatty prince who you can't get rid of."

"Oh no." Mal chuckled. "Whatever will I do? He's going to drive me into an early grave!" They began to laugh again. Ben slipped his fingers through hers.

"You know," Mal said as she thought. "I don't know if you got the best of things either. I mean, you're stuck with a girl five years younger who apparently makes a hobby of blowing up messy things on you!"

Ben rolled his eyes. "To be honest, I forget about the age gap. Especially when we're both acting like five-year-olds."

"So, all the time?" Mal smirked.

"Except when we're both angst-ing about and being moody." Ben pointed out.

"Hmm, funny, I can only remember you doing this," Mal smirked sideways at him.

"Ha, ha. Says the girl who sneaks out to be alone." Ben rolled his eyes.

"Says the butthead who uses his curse to break up with his nasty girlfriend." Mal returned, elbowing him in the side.

Ben took a sharp inhale. "Ouch. Low blow."

Mal's smile faded. "Oh, sorry. I was just joking."

Ben stuck his lower lip out. "I can't believe you called me a butthead."

Mal froze for a few seconds to process his words, and then laughed again. She couldn't stop laughing. Something about Ben made her want to laugh. Over and over.

"No one's called me a butthead since the sixth grade. What are you, ten?" Ben let go of her hand to poke her side, and then took her elbow in his instead.

"On a scale of ten to one with one being the worst, yes," Mal responded evenly, leaning against him. Ben snorted once again and held his hand up for her. Mal contemplated it, and then threaded her fingers back through his as they walked down the corridor with dust still drifting off of them, swaying side to side as they leaned on each other.

"You've almost been here a month." Ben marveled. "It feels like time has flown by."

"I don't know how you can say that." Mal groaned. "This entire month has been a drag."

Ben laughed at her words. He squeezed her hand and leaned his head on hers. "It's nice not to fight." He whispered. "Do you think we could just... work together?"

Mal's head moved to a million explanations at once. She moved her head a little on his shoulder. "You mean me not be mad at you, right? Because that's where your beef is, huh? You want me to be more... complacent." She untangled her fingers and took her hand back, removing herself from Ben's presence with a little scowl.

"And I'll have to stop assuming things about you and the Isle," Ben added. His words stopped Mal in her retreat. "No more comparisons, no more denying it's wrong that the Isle even exists. And we can’t do wrong to fix everything that's been done wrong to the Islanders while you're here. Work together." He held out his hand again. Mal examined the soft lines in his palm - a royal's hand - and then put her hand back in his. An overwhelming sense of finality filled her.

He walked her to her door and held it open for her as she stepped inside. "Try and take a shower before you go to bed, otherwise you'll never get the dust off the sheets." He warned

"Ugh, I'm never going to get it off of me anyway." Mal sighed. "Goodnight Ben."

He saluted her sarcastically, and they had one last laugh before the door closed.

Behind the closed door, Mal kept one hand on the door and a bright smile on her face. She let out a breath, accidentally inhaled some dust, and began to cough. Shower, she decided. Definitely shower.

________________________________________________________________

"Prosperity or priority, Belle?" Adam boomed. The jewels in the chandelier rattled as both Ben and Mal glanced to the ceiling.

"Prosperity," Belle responded as she stirred sugar and blueberries into her porridge. Adam scribbled something down onto the pad of paper beside his plate of scrambled eggs.

"And would it be better to say: 'the situation demands', or 'depends'?" Adam asked.

"Depends implies a last chance route. Demands implies a fight." Belle answered.

"So, depends?" Adam asked. Ben and Mal exchanged two exhausted glances.

"I would go with demands," Belle advised.

Mal yawned as she reached for the orange juice. Here is a thought: if you go to bed late and wake up early, you will be tired. Who knew?

"Okay, I think I have this now." King Adam announced. He held his paper up to the light. "As we near the date of the coronation of Prince Benjamin Florian the first-" Mal snorted and sent a disbelieving look to Ben, who glared scathing daggers at her. "-it is our pride and pleasure to announce a second coronation that will happen on the same day. Miss Mal Bertha will be coronated Queen of the Isle of the Lost, after which she and the current Prince Ben will be wed at blah-blah-blah, location, blah-blah-blah, time. Mal has already passed all the tests required for royals and has our sincere approval. We firmly believe she will lead our kingdom forward into an age of prosperity. Problems with the Isle of the Lost have risen to an unacceptable height. The situation demands that we recruit someone with inside knowledge to help us improve relations and-"

"To be honest dear," Belle interrupted. "I think it would be best to just quit after 'age of prosperity'. You're painting this in too much of a political light."

"I second that motion," Ben said through a yawn.

Adam deflated like a balloon with a hole. "Oh, alright. If you think that's best." He drew a line through the bottom two-thirds of his speech.

"You know…" Ben said, leaning over his food as if he were about to whisper a secret to Mal. "It's not nice to laugh at Florian when your middle name is Bertha."

Mal groaned. "Yeah, can we just keep middle names off the charts?" She asked, holding a hand to her head.

Belle and Adam chuckled and exchanged glances. Then, Belle turned and said: "When Fairy Godmother first learned we were expecting, she came down here and told us that if we'd give our child a horrible middle name, he would grow up learning to keep his mouth shut about himself. He wouldn't be conceited."

Ben snorted his milk. Mal snickered as she threw a napkin at him. He glared at her through watery, pain-filled eyes.

"I'm pretty sure my mom was just being mean." She admitted as Ben cleaned himself up.

Belle nodded. "Probably." She agreed. King Adam started shuffling around in his briefcase beside his chair for his tablet and then began writing the statement in.

"Ugh." Ben groaned. "I hate the Fairy Godmother." He prodded his nose gently. "Ow." He moaned. Both Belle and Mal laughed at him. He looked ridiculous, with his red eyes and nose.

"Alright," Adam said at long last. Everyone looked down the table at him. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

Everyone turned their eyes to Mal, but she didn't say anything. After about twenty seconds, the King tapped something on the screen. "Okay, I uploaded that to the Castle page. Now all of Auradon can see that statement."

Ben pulled out his phone. "Okay." He said. "Now, let's play a game called: How long until Auradon News catches up to that post?" Mal snorted. Ben looked up and smirked through his bangs. "I say ten minutes tops. Mom, what's your wager?"

Belle pulled out her phone. "I think thirty minutes. It's still early, after all. They might decide to wait until Auradon is officially awake."

"Sounds like a good idea," Mal muttered under her breath. Belle chuckled.

"Dad? What about you?" Ben asked as he typed numbers into his phone.

"Oh." King Adam sighed as he thought. As he opened his mouth to continue, his tablet began to vibrate insistently. Adam leaned forward in his chair and his face broke out into a smile when he saw the screen. He met his wife's eyes. "Princess Abigail of Arendelle has discovered the post."

"No!" Belle groaned. She sank into her chair. "Dangit, dangit, dangit!" She rehearsed as Ben laughed.

Adam slapped his hand on the table and proclaimed: "Five minutes, maximum." He declared.

"Alright," Ben said, recording his bet. "Mal, would you care to wager?"

"What does the winner get?" Mal asked, chasing a blueberry around her plate.

"Bragging rights," Ben said as if it were obvious. "Oh, and the kitchen makes this absolutely scrumptious cookie crumble cake..."

"Alright." Mal agreed. "I'm going to say twelve minutes and…" She raked her head for a number. "thirty…two seconds."

"Sounds good," Ben said. He wrote down her number and started a stopwatch on his phone. Meanwhile, Adam's tablet continued to buzz.

"What's the news, Dad?" Ben asked. He kept a careful eye on his phone.

"Oh, it's just Miss Abigail, her cousin Ericka, and their little group," Adam responded carelessly. He switched the notifications off on his phone. His tablet continued to vibrate its way closer to the center of the table.

"Shouldn't Ericka be queen already?" Ben asked as the tablet bumped into the yogurt.

"Yes, but Ericka wanted to travel around Auradon with her boyfriend and Arendelle gets a lot of protection having Elsa, a notorious magical queen, at it's front," Belle answered. She sent a meaningful look to Mal.

"Five minutes is almost up, Dad," Ben announced.

Adam hummed. "The post has been shared seventeen times." He told them

"Let's see if it's enough…" Ben trailed off, staring at his screen. "They still have to write something."

"How will you know when the news gets it?" Mal asked.

"They'll write a news notice and we'll get a notification," Ben responded. "Ten, nine, eight-"

"No!" Adam yelled, clutching at his hair in despair. Mal had to hold back a torrent of giggles.

"Four, three, two, one," Ben concluded with finality. He switched into his note app and deleted Adam's bid. Adam groaned in defeat. "Sorry dad," Ben chuckled. "You should have picked better."

Adam reached over and put a hand on his wife's arm. "Belle, please, avenge me." He pleaded.

Ben snorted. "She's got notes for twenty-five minutes from now, do you really want to place your faith in her?"

"Very true." Adam conceded. He turned to Mal, who stilled and looked shocked by his gaze. "Mal," He began, patting her arm softly. "Will you please avenge my lost scores?"

Mal began to laugh at the wretched look he'd painted onto his face. Ben clapped a hand of shock to his heart. "Dad! Aren't you going to give me any avenging requests?"

Adam shook his head. "Not when you're the person who failed me. You can go and burn for all I care."

Mal covered her mouth to stop the snorts she was making. "Well," She said primly. "If we're teaming up against Ben, then I suppose I can afford to help you out."

Ben threw his hands into the air. "There's just no love anymore!" He exclaimed.

"Not for traitors," Adam muttered ferociously as he picked up his fork and tucked into his breakfast.

"You were the one who bid!" Ben protested.

Belle pulled her phone closer to her plate. "It's almost ten minutes." She said gently.

"What? No, it isn't!" Ben exclaimed as he turned his phone back on and flipped to the stopwatch function. He paled. "Oh shoot. C'mon, C'mon, C'mon."

Belle looked over his shoulder. "Ten, nine, eight, seven,"

Mal and Adam joined in at exactly the same time with huge amounts of enthusiasm. "Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

Ben slumped back into his chair. "You guys are mean." He whined. "I hope Mom wins."

"How many times has the post been shared yet, dear?" Belle asked, picking at her food.

"59 times with 553 comments in all," Adam said, flicking his fingers at his tablet screen. "And yes, Auradon News has both liked and shared the post. Top comment is from King Phillip."

Belle and Ben both winced. Mal looked down at the grains in the table. As far as she knew, Ben and Audrey hadn't even announced their break-up. To be honest, though, she didn't exactly follow the news. But even she could imagine how this would look and feel to Aurora's family, to dump Sleeping Beauty's daughter and marry Maleficent's.

Ben cleared his throat and went back to examining his stopwatch. "Well, don't hold your breath, but Mal's only got a minute and fifty-four seconds left."

Mal growled and leaned over to see. She started to drum her fingers anxiously as she and King Adam looked on in rapt horror.

"Ninety seconds," Ben said after a moment. "It's gonna be clo-"

On cue, Belle, Adam, and Ben's phones all buzzed in synchrony. Ben looked down in horror at the blue notification on his screen. Belle began to laugh. Adam pounded the table with his fists and yelled: "Yes!"

"I won?" Mal asked.

"You won," Belle confirmed. She slid her phone to Mal. Mal caught it before it could slide off of the table and read: "BREAKING NEWS: Palace announces drastic changes to Coronation Day, including an announcement of new Queen."

Mal made a face. "That's not very fair advertising. I'm not a Queen yet, and I won't even be Auradon's queen."

"Actually, you will be," Belle explained. "Even if you're just a consort, Ben will still be King and you will still be married to him. So he won't have any power over the Isle and you won't have any power over Auradon, but you'll still have the titles as such."

"Oh, joy." Mal rolled her eyes. "How can the article pop-up thing happen to me?"

"I can just send this to you if you like?" Belle asked. "And I bet Sophia could show you how to download the news app if you want."

"That'd be great," Mal responded as she passed Belle's phone back. Adam shut off his tablet and passed it to Belle.

"I'm going to take a day off and wait for this whole mess to blow over." He announced, popping all the joints in his fingers before removing a smartwatch on his wrist and handing that over as well.

"Smart idea," Ben said, shutting off his phone and passing it to Belle. He turned to Mal. "Mom usually holds our things hostage for us on break days." He explained.

"Oh, okay," Mal responded, though she kept her phone. Ben stood up and reached over the table. "Do you want to go outside for a walk?" He asked, holding out a hand for her.

"A walk?" Mal asked.

"A walk," Ben responded, rolling his eyes. "Where you move your legs past each other and admire the scenery and avoid talk about doomsday."

Mal tilted her head. "Race you there." She challenged. The purple-haired fairy popped out of her seat and raced for the door.

"I said walk!" Ben protested from a room's length behind her.

[mrneighbourlove]

Red Typhoon: Ch 3. Crusaders Sail Onward

"It's been a while since we got the old crew together, hasn't it, Cap'n?" Rat was loading some cargo onto the Sea Witch with Corsaire. "Been so many a-years. We were all on the sea a long time together, but now, we's got families and responsibilities. It's hard to get the whole gang in one place."

"Well, I for one, am glad."

"Eh?"                                    

"You all have your own lives now. That's what I always wanted for all of you."

"Heh, I know, cap'n. Doesn't mean we don't miss you."

"I miss all of you too, though, I'm just glad all of you have found your place in this world."

"Hard to believe you're a father of three now."

"I can't believe you married a bear."

"HA!" Rat laughed at that comment. "Well, she's quite the woman, as is Missy Orana. I mean, Princess Orana. It's hard to stop calling her that."

Liz ran to the ship, excited the with the news she brought, it meant one more nail to place into their departure. "Captain Corsaire! They’re coming into shore!"

"What are you waiting for then? Go greet them!" Corsaire waved her off. "And for the sea's sake, make sure your Uncle Acrobat doesn't slip in this snow. Metal and ice don't mix!"

"Sure thing! Revy's really excited to see them Uncle Rat. Might want to reign her in."

Down at the shore, Revy was shooting colourful flares to signal to her band of Uncle's coming into land. How she loved every single one of them, and it had been far too long seeing some of them.

"I-I-I really don't like th-this." Pockets' teeth chattered horribly as he clung to the saddle for dear live. "W-Why did we have... have to t-take dragons?!"

"Cause cap'n told us ta hurry." Acrobat told his long time friend. "And if cap'n says to hurry it up, we's hurrying it up."

"We really need ta git on these lizards more often!!!" Mojo was having the time of his life with the wind in his face. "Where do I buys one?"

"You don't buy one, they's choosing you." Juju told his brother while hanging onto his bandanna. "You's has to ask the Lorleidians 'bout it."

"Do the loop de loop again!" Bomba was literally bouncing up and down on his saddle in excitement. "Again!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Aw, you's no fun."

They saw different colour flares being shot from the shore line for the dragons to land safely. Revy was like a firefly in the distance, buzzing around excitedly.

"Hey, dere's Reveka!" Mojo pointed out the flares.

"Woohoo! Revy!!! Hey!!!" Juju waved to his niece.

"She likes me best, I'm the coolest uncle." Bomba declared with a flick of his wrist.

"Pfft, you wish, we's all know that I's the favorite" Acrobat argued. "Who convinced Rat ta get her da puppy?"

"I-I-I did." Pockets tried to hold back a snicker.

"Hey!"

Once they all landed, it quickly dawned on the how big she had grown. She stomped like a giant at them as soon as they got on their feet, and scooped as many of the men she could in a bear hug. "It's so good to see you all in one place again!"

"Ooof! Easy on dis old rigger, Reveka!" Acrobat grunted when she picked him up so easily. "He's not as young as he used ta be."

"Y-You've gotten so b-b-big!" Pockets was still taller than Revy and gave her a gentle pat on the head, ruffling her hair. "Grow so f-fast!"

"Heeey, dis ain't cool, why's the shrimp taller than me now?" Bomba crossed his arms in a fake pout. "Ah well, some ladies prefer der men fun size anyways."

"Bork!" Boof made his presence known and demanded pets from every man. "Woof!"

"Ah, good ta see you, Boof-Boof." Mojo scratched the dog behind his ears. "Revy taking good care of ya?"

"Bork!"

"Aye, she always does, doesn't she?" Juju laughed and then asked. "Revy, how's your wee brother?"

"He's doing really good Uncle Juju. I've been making sure that he's got a lot of meat on his bones. Ooh! Check out this out!" Revy took a step back and drew her sword. Concentrating her magic, she thrust her sword upwards, and a lightning bolt from deep up in the sky struck down, and her blade sparked in a cone of dancing electricity. "I'm an electric warrior!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

There were multiple exclamations as the men made sure to keep Acrobat out of the way.

"Dat's really cool, Rev, but could ya do it when I'm not... in proximity?" The old rigger asked his niece. "I's much like a lightning pole now with these new legs."

Revy noticed his legs sparking. Shit. Metal. Metal very, very bad. She quickly stabbed her sword into the ice next her to dispel the lightning. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. That would have been bad. But pretty cool overall right?"

"Aye, pretty damn cool."

"Bomba, don't curse around the lassie!"

"What?! She's an adult now, I'm pretty sure she's heard damn before, as well as shit---"

"Bomba!"

"Ass---"

"Bomba, shut up!"

"And fuck, but who knows?"

"Well, I consider myself a pretty hardcore mother fucker if I do say so myself. Bring all the bitches in~" Revy snickered, happy to fuel her Uncle Bomba's antics.

"Oh, good water spirit, ya rubbed off on her ta much, Rat's gonna have ye head." Mojo nudged Bomba in the shoulder.

"Rat's gotta catch me first, and I'm quite younger than him." Bomba snickered.

"Ye's still a brat, and ye know it." Juju nudged the other shoulder, causing Bomba to laugh.

"Wh-Where's your mother?" Pockets asked Revy. "W-We wanna make s-s-sure she knows we'll take... take care of you!"

"Aye, she knows, Borghild trusts us with her little cub." Acrobat wrapped one arm around Revy's shoulders. "Though, I believe we's all going to need a little of dat famous Uskarian mead before we---"

"Don't even think about it," Rat's voice interjected, chuckling as he saw all his former crew mates. "That stuff knocked your ass out for three days last time."

"Well, I think I used up two of my three swears for the year anyways. If you want change you should see how Liz and Lex have changed." Revy turned and waved to her dad. "Hey Dad! They all made it!"

"By the water spirit, you weren't joking when you said you got new legs!" Rat bent down to look at the metal working on Acrobat's hips, thighs, knees, and ankles. "Dat Lady Asakonigei made 'em for you?"

"Aye! I take 'em off at night, but beats the crutches any day. I can finally run again!"

"N-Not fast."

"Not fast, but still."

"Cap'n is glad you's all here, I's glad you's all here."

"Seer's our brother, Rat, we'd brave maelstroms and sirens for him."

Liz took her time walking with Rat, but when she saw her other Uncle's she felt a bit of hope. Seeing her dad again felt like it was fated and set in stone with them all gathering here. "Hello everyone. I'm happy to see you arrived safe and sound."

"Sheesh, time passes too quickly nowadays, you's all gone." Bomba sighed deeply with a sulk. "And you're taller than me too."

"Cap'n finishing the ship preparations?"

"He is. Once that's complete, we're hitting the ocean. In the meantime, we should gather the others and say our goodbyes."

Revy followed Liz back to town. Lex was having her 'friends' carry all their luggage to the ship for her. Least they could do after the going away gift she gave them all. "Ok boys, careful with the luggage. Some breakable glass in those bags you know."

"Lassie, dis is a rescue mission, not a... a slumber party." Bomba watched as piece after piece of luggage went on the ship. "I mean, I's understanding of a lady's need for... uh... personal products, but... isn't dat a bit much?"

"It's potions, maps, weapons, and gold for gambling. We might need to do all sorts of negotiating." She bent down to kiss Bomba on the cheek. "It's good to see you Uncle Bomba. All the rest of you too Uncles."

"You lassies need ta practice shooting?" Mojo asked the girls. "Brought my training guns 'case you's out of touch."

"We can set up targets." Juju offered. "Someone steal Cap'n's hat."

"I heard that!" Corsaire said from the ship, looking over the ledge at his old crew. He grinned from ear to ear. "Good to see you all again, mates. Missed you much, that's for sure."

"Never thought we'd be on ta Sea Witch ta hunt other pirates, cap'n." Acrobat had to chuckle at the irony. "So much for thief's honor."

"Well Uncle Acrobat, thieves don't have honour. They steal. And by stealing, they ruin lives. Dad was stolen from us afterall." Liz bitterly said. With a deep breath, she dropped her shoulders.

"Tis an old pirate saying, lassie." Acrobat patted one of her shoulders. "We's gonna get him back."

"D-Don't be sad," Pockets told Liz with a smile. "We's gonna find S-S-Seer, we p-promise."

"I'm not sad. I'm angry." Liz turned at the sound of people gathering. Borghild and little Trygve arrived with Scarlet, and Halvar came with his bag and his family behind him to see him off.

"We'll be awaiting your return, son." Torbjorn told Halvar as he handed the young prince his bow and sack of arrows. "Be careful."

"I'll be fine, Father." Halvar assured his sire. "I'll have the whole crew with me, and besides," He looked over his shoulder to Elizabeth. "I have to support Liz. I love her and want to be with her."

"We understand." Brigritta then wrapped an extra cloak of fur around Halvar's shoulders. "Keep warm and be alert. The seas are just as dangerous as our lands."

"I will, Mother."

Borghild had Trygve on her hip, carrying him to the docks.

"Scarlet? Are you sure about this?" Borghild asked the Iron Knuckle.

"I'm sure. I have to make sure Rat and Revy don't get themselves killed. I'll see they return in one piece." Scarlet had enjoyed how close she had gotten with Borghild over the years, and gave her a close hug.

Revy bent down to Boof and patted his head. "I need you to look after Trygve until I return Boof. You understand boy?"

"I know you will, Scarlet." Borghild returned the hug and then added. "You make sure you come home in one piece too. You're our family, you know. Revy might be full grown, but there's nothing wrong with her having two mama bears."

"Wwwwwwhhhinnne." Boof pawed at Revy, not liking the fact that his human was going away without him. The two had hardly been separated ever since she was little.

"I won't be long boy. I promise." Revy hugged her dog close. He was getting old, and she wouldn't risk his life on such a dangerous journey.

Bakura finished bowing to Vidar, having finished a sparring match to make sure he was in shape for the journey. Walking to the group, he gave a bow to Corsaire's crew. "I assume you are the many uncles my daughters tell me about. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

The crew was a little surprised by the bow. The men certainly were not used to such respect. So, the crew showed their acceptance the only way they knew, with a good, old-fashioned punch to the shoulder.

"Aye, we's his old crew and the self-proclaimed uncles." Mojo slung one arm around Bakura's shoulder. "Been with Cap'n for years now."

"We helped changed the wee ones diapers when they's were babes." Juju slung one arm around Bakura's other shoulder. "And rocked 'em to sleep when Seer needed a break."

"Sang jaunty after jaunty," Acrobat added. "After jaunty."

"L-L-Liked 'Tipsy Toe Tease' the b-b-best." Pockets thought back to those years ago.

"Tipppppsy toe, tipsy toe, tease! What a bar wrench you are for me!" Bomba belted out with a dramatic flare of his arm, then jumped up on a barrel. "You sneak into bed, leave me dead, face all rrrrrreeeeddd!!! Sneak out in the morn, I'm so forlorn, things go to norm! I'm pleasing, wheezing, dreaming, of my tipsy toe tease!"

Revy and Lex gave a giggle, remembering the song well. Liz bit her lip to not snicker at her poor father being slung around by the crew. Bakura simply gave a smile to the bizarre crew. "Well, thank you."

Scarlet hoped things wouldn't be too awkward with her coming along. "Hello gentlemen."

"I can sing 'Whale Farts' too."

"No, no, just... no, Bomba."

"What? That one always made Revy giggle."

"Whaaale fart make tsunamis and fish make great suuushi---"

Rat clamped his hand over Bomba's mouth so Scarlet could greet the crew.

"Ah, so... no breaking noses dis time, right?" Mojo asked in good humor.

"We's glad you's coming with us, we need da extra muscle." Juju told Scarlet.

"I got muscle!" Bomba had removed Rat's hand from his mouth and flexed in front of Scarlet. "See? Not bad for a shortie."

"Well I'm glad to help." Scarlet raised an eyebrow at Bomba, and leaned her head down to him. "Your energy sure hasn't changed little man."

"I'm fun-sized, all over baby." Bomba winked at Scarlet. "Wanna check just in case?"

Rat promptly smacked a hand to his face and sighed deeply while the rest of the crew laughed.

Unknowns to Bomba, he might have just struck gold with that. "Well, I guess we'll have to see you prove it on this journey, won't we."

Before the men could process if that was genuine interest being sent back to Bomba, Scarlet turned to the girls. "Get on board. We're heading out ladies."

"Yes mom!" Revy went over to Borghild and her little brother, giving them one more hug. "I will return. I love you both so much."

"I love me a giant woman." Bomba whistled as Scarlet walked on board.

"Bomba, she could crush ya like an egg." Mojo shook his head.

"What's wrong with ya?" Juju asked.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting her to walk on me."

"BOMBA."

"I wonder if they carry heels in her size---"

"BOMBA!!!"

"Okay, okay, I'll hush now, you's just jealous cause I got me an older woman."

"Will you shut up?! That's Reveka's mom!"

"Yeah, and? I can't think a mom is hot? You know what a MILF is, right?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, if you don't shush right a-now, I'm throwing you into the water!"

"Aye, aye, me's a hushing."

Scarlet gave a light smile as she walked aboard. Liz walked up with Halvar, and Lex joined them right after. Revy dried some tears forming from Boof pulling on her pants. "Mom, can you take him? If he gets pulling, I just might stay."

Boof insistently pulled on Revy's pant leg, trying to keep her from going on the ship without him. When Revy removed his mouth, he wrapped his forepaws around her ankle. The snow dog did not want his human to go without him. Borghild gently took Boof's collar, setting little Trygve down so he could say goodbye to his sister.

"Boof, be a good boy. Reveka will be back soon, you just have to wait." Borghild assured the dog. "Be careful, my sweetie. Remember, a mama bear only charges...?"

"Only charges after using our heads first." Revy gave them all one last hug. "I'll be back. I promise."

With that, Revy ran onto the ship before she had any more second thoughts. "I'm... I'm ready to go dad."

"We'll bring them back soon!" Corsaire called to the families waiting on the docks. "Anchors up, Pockets! Unfurl all sails, Acrobat! Bomba, check cannons!" He started barking orders as the Sea Witch pulled away from the port. "Mojo, Juju, check engines! Rat, keep us on course! Elizabeth, overhaul the ropes for Acrobat! Scarlet, furl the extra sails! Reveka, stock gunpowder! Alexandria!" He paused and then looked at his niece for a moment and then said, "Make sure Pockets has the nipper to bind the anchor."

"Does that include Scarlet, cause she's a bombshell too."

"BOMBA.

"Okay, okay, I'm a git'n."

Lex knew very little about going about a boat, but she made sure to help best she could. "Yes Uncle!"

Liz got right to work. "How fast do you think we'll go with these sails?"

"Fast enough, I hope." Corsaire took the wheel and watched as the glistening sails unfurled. "She's an old girl, but she's never let me down once. I know she'll get us there."

"Well, I hope magic sails turn out to be real!"

Bakura looked around, wondering what the journey ahead would bring them now they had finally departed. "Is there anything I can do Captain?"

"You're a fancy, high-jumping assassin, right?" Corsaire pointed up to the jolly roger, where Acrobat was working the ropes. "Think you're up to help him work the ropes?"

"I believe I can." Bakura took a few steps forward, and climbed his way up to Acrobat, making sure to help. Liz watched, hopeful that the ship would pick up speed. "Gods, give me this..."

As all the sails were unfurled, the magic started to work. The usual white sails turned into a golden color and shimmered. It was then, the speed increased, and kept increasing. This was no time to be slow, so Corsaire braced himself and held onto the wheel tightly.

"Everyone, hold on!!!" The captain told his crew. "We're going to get our brother!!!"

[lokikingofasgardslover713]

Stray Dove 15: Found Dove

Masterlist

Stray Dove Masterlist

Thor Odinson x Plus!Size Reader

Warnings: Breast feeding it that bothers you? Cuddly Thor (does cuddly Thor need a warning)

A/N: Here it is! The final chapter of this series but I have many more planned to rip your hearts out!

Words:+1,700

It was quiet for the time being, but Y/N knew it would be changing the moment the door opened, the fate stretching sore body out gingerly, pulling on the leggings laid out for her along with the thin t-shirt. There was no way to hide the smile the opening door gave her, Fray rushing in dragging another by the hand behind him, the door shutting easily thanks to her seidr. The blue-eyed Fray now six & tugging the five-year-old Y/E/C eyed Hagan behind him, both boys brandishing toy weapons, Fray with a hammer & Hagan with a sword. It appeared they had just finished with the days lessons given by a private tutor & both ready to run wild.

“MOM! LOOK,” Fray yelled as loud as possible before smacking his own mother on the ass with the hammer to fall back laughing as she looked down at the little boy who laid on his back as if dead.

“I GOT YOU,” Hagan yelped out before falling with his brother both unable to stop the uncontrollable laughter as they rolled in the kitchen floor.

“What happened? Did the mighty Thorson’s meet their match,” Y/N laughed out, the little boys feigning death as the fate squatted over them, glaring down & waiting for eyes to open.

“Oh, the mighty brothers Fray & Hagan Thorson, defeated by the frost giantess,” Y/N began dramatically, calling back to the story they had been told of their fathers battle with the frost giants by non-other than Loki, who embellished a lot, the boys looking up into Jotun red eyes & powder blue lined face smiling down on them.

“That’s not funny, we could never hurt you momma,” Hagan began to cry, making Y/N’ eyes cloud with tears as he jumped up to wrap his arms around blue neck, his own skin tingeing a faint blue littered with raised lines the Jotun burying her face into his neck.

Fray jumping up to do the same, Y/N knew the oldest didn’t like to see his younger brother cry or for anyone to hurt him. The oldest skin tingeing like his brothers as he wrapped around his mother’s neck as well.

“I know baby, it's just play,” Y/N began, trying to calm them both now, but it distressed them this time leaving the fate wondering what had the youngest so upset.

“What’s wrong boys, you’ve never been this upset before,” Y/N began picking both up without a moments hesitation both wrapping around their mother as they sniffled into her neck, carrying the sobbing creatures to the fluffy chair to sit with them in scared arms.

“I seen you bleeding & Uncle Loki healing it….,” Hagan stammered, making Y/N realize he had stumbled into her dream from the other night, the first time the fate had revisited that day from 6 years ago.

“It's not real baby, your dreams are bleeding over again….,” Y/N explained calmly realizing they needed to work harder on his control, the fate pushing the two boys back to wipe their tears away, forcing her own back to smile happily at the two.

“But why did you dream that… I asked dad & he want tell me…,” the little boy sniffled as he finally looked into Y/E/C orbs that shone with un-shed tears using sider to mask them while thoughts raced.

“It's…. when you're older sweetheart… I promise I will explain it, to both of you,” Y/N began just before a quiet whimper came from the direction of the bedroom.

“Did we wake sister,” Fray asked, adjusting on his mother’s lap to look over in the direction of the bedroom, scooting off to check on the newest addition as Y/N continued to comfort Hagan.

“No baby, she sleeps like the dead, it's time to feed her, I want you both to go play. Why not go play with Howard until time for dinner? Pepper told me she was bringing him by today,” Y/N smiled, kissing the little boys head, fingers twitching behind Hagan’ back to take away the fear of seeing his mother bleeding in Loki’ hands.

The little boy hoping down to run out of the room, shouting for Fray to follow, the oldest stopping to give mom a kiss before hurrying after his brother, as she got to bare feet to tend to the 3-day old infant. The little baby girl that had resorted to cooing as the fate neared the bassinet peaking over the side at the bright Y/E/C eyed girl that lit up as Y/N reached into the bassinet to pick her up bouncing her gently while blue skin faded.

Y/N feeling up to lifting a scared hand to the ceiling to place a charm that put them in the middle of a quiet forest with fireflies all around taking a step before flutes, violins & drums began. Taking time to twirl the little creature around the room cradled safely in bare marred arms to the music & singing the lyrics to her. Slowing as it ended with them in front of the large wall of glass dropping the illusion to find Thor staring at the two with a great smile as he leaned against the door.

The god looking much more like the one Y/N had fallen for millennia ago, golden hair long once more, but pulled back. He looked to have just came in from training, freshly showered & wearing jeans & a t-shirt that did… things to HIS fate. Thor unable to stop the smile that made his face ache from how excited it made him to see HIS dove with the newest addition cradled close & out of bed. He had hurried through sparing with Steve to rush back to help the fate with taking care of the needy little newborn.

“Beautiful,” Thor began, Y/N feeling her heart quicken that he had caught her, the god not due back just yet.

“Thank you,” she whispered, looking down to the little girl, stepping forward to hand her to her father, shifting towards the kitchen to find a bottle for him to feed the little creature, a thing the god enjoyed but left it obvious today was a bad day for Y/N.

Firm hand wrapping gently around bare bicep made Y/N stop to meet mismatched gaze, giving the god a small smile as she did. Thor knew HIS dove still had her demons, but she was a thousand times better than when Loki brought her to stay, Y/N was back to the fate he rejected all others for & continued to do so even after…

“What’s wrong dove,” he breathed out, cradling the little girl that looked up at him with bright eyes her little squeaks making the proud parents smile as Thor pulled Y/N into his side to hold tight.

“My dreams are bleeding through, Hagan seen…,” Y/N admitted, swallowing hard burying heated face into strong shoulder, not able to stop the tear that fell.

“I know dove, that’s the first time you had it though, I have talked to him about it, as I believe Wanda has,” Thor admitted, hugging her tight, the god remembering the panic after the nightmare, Y/N had just had the little girl, Faun, a delirious dream caused by the what seemed to be a taxing labor on Y/N that lasted for two days this time.

“I didn’t realize Hagan was becoming as strong as he has. Looks like Wanda & I will have to work with him more until we both get under control,” Y/N admitted, looking up at Thor with a weak smile but the god was all to happy to lean down to give a tender kiss.

“It will be alright dove, I'm proud of you,” he breathed out, the little girl letting out a loud squeak that now wasn’t the time to be cuddling when she was hungry, Thor gently tugging Y/N to the bed to sit her softly on the mattress, handing the little girl to her mother as he sat with them.

“Just as impatient as your brothers little Faun,” Thor breathed out as he helped Y/N sit against the head board to feed the little girl & slowly making his way to sit next to her to watch the practiced movements.

“I love you dove,” Thor echoed, pulling in close to Y/N who leaned into his side, the fate’s head falling sleepily onto his shoulder as the little girl drank her fill.

“I love you Thor,” Y/N sighed out, obvious she was trying to hold tired eyes open, but it was a losing battle.

The god getting up to head to the kitchen, finding the bottles to make one up & coming straight back to bed to crawl in next to the struggling fate that was doing all she could to keep awake. Allowing Thor to gently take the little Faun to cradle the irritated child close, putting the bottle into greedy little mouth for her to quiet & mom to fall into his lap with a quiet sigh.

“How many more of those you want,” Y/N yawned out, arms wrapping around the gods thigh to pull tight & wrap her legs around his.

“Three is plenty sweetheart,” he laughed out, looking as if Faun would be joining her mother after the bottle the little girl barely keeping Y/E/C eyes open.

“Mmm good… we have anymore you get to carry them… birth them… sore boobs… all yours…,” Y/N mumbled sleepily nuzzling at his warm thigh as he began to move the little squeaker around to lay on his shoulder to burp.

“Then I will talk to Loki & see what we can arrange,” he laughed out.

“I thought you two were mad at each other because he faked dying for the… I forget… how many times does this make,” Y/N drowsed as Thor moved the little Faun around to hold her up right for a bit, so she didn’t spit it all back on him.

“Well, he wants to come see Faun so he’s alive, again & being nice,” Thor laughed, free hand falling to rub between tired shoulder blades to feel the fate melt into him with a loud huff of air.

“Ok… boys are playing with Howard… & dinner,” Y/N spoke groggily.

“It's fine Y/N, rest & I’ll worry about it,” he smiled down at the drifting fate that mumbled about him being comfortable before finally falling to sleep.

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