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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍:

𝐹 𝑅 𝐴 𝐶 𝑇 𝑈 𝑅 𝐸 𝐷

          Getting Beast on the island was easier than they thought. Most of the time he kept spitting out insults or empty promises of revenge. His words were as shallow as his actions. A part of Jax thought it would've been monumental to see him trapped like the rest of the Isle had been. Instead, it felt off.

          Something was off something that he was bound to figure out. It's like it was on the tip of his tongue, he just needed time for it to reach his head.

          "It actually worked. Beast is out of our lives now," Mal scoffed, almost not believing it.

          "All thanks to the Isle of the Doomed," Jax muttered, joining the rest of them as they stared at the lonely island being covered by clouds and mist.

          "It's the Isle of Beasts now," Jane spoke up, taking one final look before turning away.

          "Do you think she'll be okay?" Mal asked the Hatter.

          "Soon, maybe. But for now, it's a start. That man took so much from her and everyone around here. Too much." He responded unemotionally as he stayed watching the horizon with her.

          "Jax, why doesn't this feel over?"

          Her question made him turn to meet her eyes, "You noticed that too, huh?"

          Mal licked her lips nervously looking around before stepping a foot closer to him, "A couple of months ago I was talking to Ruby. I had so many questions for her about Wonderland and what went down with Auradon. Professor Yen Sid told us one version but I've grown not to believe the first thing I hear."

          "Smart girl." He commented, placing his hands in his pockets and turning from the view to keep his eyes on his friends.

          Mal turned with him, "She told me a lot, but I barely understood her near the end."

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          "We need to talk." Mal opened with when she walked through Ruby's door.

          "And what about?"

          "I want to know what happened between Wonderland and Auradon. There are volumes of history books that talk about how awful and manic that realm was. How children were under threat and they were rescued by the rulers of this fine kingdom."

          "It sounds like a pretty story." Ruby was absentmindedly mixing honey into her tea.

          "That's exactly what it is, isn't it? A story. Something to explain away why a bunch of Wonderland kids was taken. Professor Yen Sid told us that they were wrong, they thought you weren't safe when the Jabberwocky showed up."

          That instantly made Ruby chuckle, and it bothered Mal. Seeing Ruby Queen give out an empty laugh, wasn't something that calmed her nerves. "That's what they're going with now?" She sighed and leaned against her desk to face the girl, "The Jabberwocky doesn't hurt its people. He's there to protect us."

          Mal raised an eyebrow, "Ruby, just tell me what happened."

          "Why? Why do you want to know so badly? And why now?" What really bothered Mal about that question, was how small it felt. Even as Ruby asked it, it felt like the answer was already in the air.

          "Ben." She didn't miss how little the queens' expression shifted because it didn't. She wasn't surprised. "Ben's been racking his brain for weeks now about you guys and it's not good for him. He's pulling it apart like a damn conspiracy so I decided to go straight to the source. I'm asking you, please, just tell me, what's with all the secrecy?"

          "Oh, well usually I wouldn't care much. I used to enjoy spreading our tale about home until the Old King and Queen decided they didn't like it. They hurt someone I care about deeply, so I stay quiet and she's left alone. But you wouldn't come knocking on my door out of sheer curiosity. I wanted to see what was so important. Do you know who else wanted to see what was so important? Auradon. Auradon was in the process of finding new realms to tie into their land. But guess what? They weren't really looking for recruits, they wanted to see how much stronger other places were compared to them. The ones that weren't were added in, increasing their numbers. But the ones that posed a threat were given special care. When they saw Wonderland, they knew there was no way to control it. No way to make it bend to their will, but what scared them was how they barely had a defense for it. The Old King had grown to be distrustful of magic, he despised it. When he learned that he couldn't go up against our land and win, he took kids as collateral. The Jabberwocky made an appearance to protect us, fights went on and a majority of the children were taken. Children that belonged to officials and inner circles in the realm. They made sure to steal the next ones in line, the next generation of Wonderland leaders and fighters. My mum swore that she saw good. That they were there with good intentions. I think she was right but wrong about who. I think she went too far and saw Ben being the one to offer peace."

          Mal wished she could say she got more information that day. But all she had were more questions. Unfortunately, Ruby went a bit off the rails after everything she said. She was muttering about Bandersnatches and keys. It was strange and confusing, which pretty much summed up what she thought of Ruby Queen.

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          "What happened after that? Before you left?" Jax asked her.

          "Uh, she sort of went in her own space, I guess? I think she forgot I was there, she started talking to herself a lot and it was kind of weird." When she finished she saw the way his face morphed into concern. He knew what she was talking about. "What happened to her, Jax?"

          Jax sighed and looked down at his feet before meeting her eyes once more, "Nothing good." That was all he said before he walked back to Harry.

          They were getting ready to leave to meet up with Allie in the gardens. They just had loose ends to tie up, getting Mal back to her friends beyond the vine wall Jane created, and the fate of Ben had yet to be discussed.

          Ben thought he'd go with Mal and it would finally be done with but instead, they were tying his wrists back with Mal objecting to the entire situation. "Guys, it's done, you got my dad, it's over. Just let me go, I promise I won't go after you. I'll leave my father linked to that island as punishment for his crimes, I give you my word not just as a king but as a friend." He said.

          "And I know you'd do everything in your power to keep your word, Benjamin." Ruby acknowledged with a tilt of her head, her eyes were looking at him but her mind was miles away. "But the truth is, with your father out of the way, you're still not the one wearing the crown."

          Ben raised his eyebrow in question, he looked to Mal to see if she knew anything about it but she was just as confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

          The young Hatter walked over to Ben and untangled the already messy blue tie he had on. Jax moved closer to the tied-up boy so he could properly wrap the blue tie around his mouth, gagging him up for a while, he wasn't in the mood for more questions. "The King might be down, but the way we play it is you don't win until the Queen is down too," Jax told him as he turned around to join his friends in their gaze of Auradon from afar.

          Wyc stood next to Jax as he recalibrated some of his watches, "Her husband's exiled and we've got her only child. At this point, she's going to be desperate. And desperate people are dangerous in war. This won't be easy." Wyc crossed his arms with a frown, thinking all the ways this could go wrong.

          Ruby looked to the tall castle in the distance and Jax swore he saw her lip twitch upwards, there was a smile underneath her ruthlessness. "I expect nothing less."

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          They surrounded a broken pillar that almost resembled an oval table. Nate had brought a map of Auradon and they were starting to discuss important points to hit and run. Harry and Uma were watching over Ben, making sure he'd stay tied up and watching Mal, making sure she wouldn't let Ben go. He let the Wonderlanders plan their details out, he trusted Jax enough to follow him.

          Meanwhile, Jane was watching Auradon a few feet away from them. She wanted some time alone.

          Even as they were talking about the plan and where to get to Allie again, Jax kept biting his thumbnail as he frowned at the paper. It kept bothering him, that same feeling like something was missing, something right in front of him.

          "And then this route would be mainly secluded, after they cut a majority of the trees down, it's impossible to get on wheels. On foot we know we're faster, and even if they get horses, Binx can just scare them off."

          "This is going to be fun," The werecat smiled at the pages.

          "I'll stick towards the end, cut down anyone who gets too close, alright?" Nate said, and it was an awkward exchange for a second. They had all grown to distrust him for the longest time, it was weird having him back but at the same it was familiar.

          "What do think, boss? Sound good?" Wyc asked, nodding over at the girl in red.

          "Yeah, soon enough 'all the ways will belong to you' once more." Binx quoted her in a mocking tone.

          Jax would never live down the fact that he got the idea from Binx Cheshire of all people. But it was true, the minute he heard those words from Binx's mouth it was like something snapped in his brain. He remembered hearing Ruby say it not hours earlier when they rescued him. He remembered her mothers saying it often. He remembered the White Queen, and what made her so powerful.

          He took a step back, stumbling in his footsteps. Harry saw it and was already on his way to help him keep steady. The second Harry was by his side, he gripped the pirate's forearm and let out a quiet gasp in realization. Everyone was staring at him as his eyes moved rapidly from left to right, trying to keep his thoughts together. No one asked, they were too scared to say the wrong time. Instead, his gaze found Ruby.

          She looked equally as concerned as her peers, but with a hint of curiosity.

          Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "What did you do, Ruby?" He accused, and with his question, everyone turned to look at her.

          "Jackson, may I have a word?" Ruby called on him calmly like nothing had changed.

          But Jax wasn't waiting around this time and he wasn't about to take this privately, "You knew what would happen, didn't you?"

          "Jax—"

          "No, you knew exactly how it would go down. There wasn't any other way around it so you actually went with it? Ruby, tell me you didn't do it again."

          "It was a lovely proposal, wasn't it?" The young queen sat in one of the very comfortable reading chairs in the dorm. She had her hands joined over one of her crossed legs as she watched the princess enter the room.

          Ruby had been visiting Audrey after Ben's big public proposal to Lady Mal. Audrey was handling herself quite nicely, even her tears were perfectly placed to not ruin her makeup. Usually, the princess didn't associate with Ruby, but this time around she didn't really care.

          "I'd rather not talk about my ex-boyfriend marrying some villain from trash island." She said, shutting her diary and walking towards the fireplace to face her, "So, why don't we get down to what you want? Because trust me, I was really looking forward to mixing ice cream and rumchata while listening to sad music."

          Ruby's only response to that was to give her a happy smile. And that smile only made Audrey more focused on the conversation, Ruby didn't smile often. It was weird. "You know what's terribly ironic, Audrey? Most people get broken up because they weren't good enough, but in this case, you weren't bad enough." She said.

          She gave out a loud scoff, "What are you saying?" The queen didn't miss the way the young girl immediately took offense. She crossed her arms, locked her jaw, and remained spiteful for most of the evening.

          "I'm saying," Ruby stood up and slowly approached her near the fireplace, "that if they want a villain for a queen, then be exactly that." She whispered delicately.

          Audrey's eyes kept moving left to right in deep thought. She didn't even think it twice before she asked, "How?"

          "I am so glad you asked."

          Jax asked the question once more, "What did you do, Ruby?" His face was furious and Harry could practically feel the heat of anger radiating off his arm.

          "What I had to." Remained as her only response.

          "What's he talking about?" Binx asked.

          Jax looked at their friends, and back to Ruby. He saw a flicker in her eyes telling him to be quiet but he ignored it instantly and told them, "It's a skill she was taught by her mum, the White Queen. She knows things before they happen."

          "What, like, psychic?" Uma had approached the quarreling group, Mal alongside her.

          "Not exactly, she tries to explain it but really it makes no sense. Which I guess is pretty on-brand for us," Jax muttered and let out a tired sigh. It had been such a long fucking day.

          "You promised you weren't doing it anymore." Wyc looked at her, more betrayed than when he found out Nate was never a traitor. And it grabbed Jax's attention too, he wasn't the only one to know about it. He wasn't the only one to be angry about it.

          "I had to." Was all she said.

          "Dammit, Ruby!" The inventor snapped all of a sudden, clearly fed up, "That crap messes with your brain! Do you not remember the fainting, the temporal readjustments? You didn't recognize us for a whole day!" Wyc yelled at her and it only caused the rest of them to look upon her in worry.

          "I have it under control. My memory can stretch as far as I need it to—"

          Wyc cut her off, "Yeah? And how long until it snaps?"

          Silence filled the area. The only things they could hear were the crashing waves and the loud wind. It took a while before anyone dare to speak. And even then, it wasn't a Wonderlander to break the quiet.

          "How's it work? Can you see what happens now?" Mal asked her.

          Ruby gave out a small sigh and only resaid what her mum had been telling her when they first started her lessons. "My memory works both ways."

          "What does that even mean?"

          "Try not to think about it too much, it'll rack your brain," Jax informed her. "It's entering memories that you have that haven't happened yet."

          "How do you access memories you don't have yet?" Uma asked, confused and much like everyone who wasn't a Wonderlander in the room.

          "Dangerously," He answered whilst looking towards the queen. It was a jab at her and she didn't miss it.

          "Carefully," She emphasized, also snapping at the Hatter.

          "Ruby, just tell me if you did it or not." He asked her, done with the secrets and revelations.

          "What do you mean?"

          "I've been trying to figure it out." Jax said as he passed his hands through his hair aggressively, "Trying to understand why I was awake while everyone else slept, while you slept. I thought maybe because Audrey didn't know I was here maybe it somehow affected her perception of the kingdom. But she's nowhere near experienced enough for something like that." He shook his head, "No, there's a reason why I was left awake. You made a deal with her, didn't you? What'd you promise her? Hm?" He let go of Harry and approached her slowly, his words frustrated, "Ruby, what did you promise?"

          She didn't answer. Instead, she gave the boy a sad look, he saw grief in her eyes but not regret. No, never regret.

          "Auradon," Mal spoke up and everyone turned to her, she too had an incredulous look aimed towards the queen. "You promised to give Audrey the kingdom, didn't you?" Mal knew that the whole fight had been too easy. Audrey was too forgiving when she woke from her slumber. It always felt off.

          With that revelation, Ruby relaxed a bit, she joined her hands together and said, "I always enjoy supporting women in leadership. And with the ways Auradon has been going, it could use a woman's touch." She spoke sarcastically.

          "Audrey's still at it, isn't she? I bet you told her exactly what to do when to go back for that scepter and who get to rid of." Mal was so angry her eyes shined green. "You had no right!" She yelled.

          "Just like they had no right to take me and a dozen more children out of their homes!" Ruby finally snapped. She wasn't holding back anymore. "Do not excuse my rational and calm for a lack of vengeance. They will suffer as we have suffered. I don't care whether or not Audrey makes a decent ruler. I don't care if Ben lives to see your wedding day. I don't care if Auradon falls to ruins and burns in the process. Taking me from my home was the spark that lit the fire at their feet."

          "You'd just let them all go through what you did?"

          "They are not my own. They looked us over, they didn't dare speak a word of defiance, they were sheep. I look after my own." She declared, and even as she said it, the rest of the Wonderlanders held their heads up out of respect for her. All but one.

          "Your own?" Jax asked. Everyone suddenly looked to him in his accusatory tone. They saw it in his eyes, tiredness. Betrayal. Disappointment. He had so many emotions going through his heart, "Is that what you were thinking when I got sent to the Isle?" No one dared to speak, but it didn't matter because Jax kept going. His voice was rough and his eyes were on the brink of tears. "Because I keep thinking in my head, if she knew to make deal with Audrey freaking Rose of all people, then did you know?" Ruby's face didn't change, it was still cold and empty. They couldn't tell if she was holding back or if she actually felt nothing. "Did you know where I would end up? Did you let me go through all of that for this plan? Did you let me go?"

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so this has been such a long fucking time coming, i really am sorry, time just flies and i got caught up in school and other stories,

so thoughts on this chapter?

on Ruby's secrets revealed?

on her and Mal's conversation?

giving Audrey the idea of going after the scepter?

not warning Jax to stop because he'll get sent to the Isle? just to be clear, she didn't send him herself, she saw him get thrown in there after everything he did and didn't tell him about it, so she let it happen.

Ruby refers to the Red Queen (the bio mom) as 'mother' whilst she calls the White Queen 'mom', just a fun fact

Ruby's powers, in this case, were inspired after i did research on the White Queen and how her 'memory worked both ways' and how she knew what would happen next Tuesday and stuff like that, it was so weird, but i loved it bc it's the right amount of weird for Wonderland. the power in question can be taught to anyone, but it takes great strength of mind to be able to stretch it that far, it's mainly recommended to Ajedrezians, and even then, only the strongest can actually do it and do it more than once. the White Queen is like best known for it, and she taught her daughter incase anything happened.

that said, there are some limitations. you're able to see your own memories but it's limited to what you see or hear, so it's not like you can see other people's futures unless you were there or told about it at some point. and it also sucks for your mental state if you do it too much.

the way Wonderland chess works is to win, you have to take down both the King and the Queen. Doesn't matter who falls first, but they both have to fall to win. the last scene has Ruby almost excited to fight Belle, that's because this entire time it's Beast that's been the target. A King. A man.

when it comes to Wonderland, there isn't exactly gender equality (it's not as bad as what we're used to) but it's the opposite, the women are in charge, they're recognized as rulers, they're the dangerous ones. they don't discriminate against men, but rather they don't even bother to because they don't recognize them as big a threat. it's something they gotta work on, but the WK's that we know are a lot more progressive and don't think the same way (again, much reflecting the real world in opposite)

but still, when Ruby was against Beast she was often bored, he was too easy to take out, too easy to read and to figure out, but Belle who's often got herself in a book, history books, the Art of War type books, who's hidden away half the time is much more intriguing. much more of a challenge. and so Ruby is almost smiling at the fact that not only is this almost over, but she finally gets to go at it with someone worthy of her caliber.

no mundanes allowed

- polaroized