Mal POV

I'm officially scared of Doug. Evie texted.

Why are you scared of sweet, innocent Doug? I asked.

When my mom almost ran us over with her car, she asked if I was okay, then yelled at Doug, telling him to watch where he's going, I told her she was speeding, Doug agreed with me, Mom yelled at him even more, and eventually Doug called my mom by her first name. The look in Doug's eyes when he called her by that, I could barley believe that my sweet, caring, quiet Doug would do such a thing. It scared me.

Your mom has a first name? Jay asked.

Really!? I asked. She just told you that Doug actually stood up to her mother and the look on his face scared her, but the only thing you retain is that Evie's mom has a first name?

Yes.

*cue face palm* Carlos texted. Anyway, back on topic. Evie, what did you find out?

Well, Evie responded. Doug works with his family in the mines, his dad died when he was two, he lives with Snow White, and his favorite cousin is Bashful Jr., aka Bash.

Oh my goblins! I feel so bad for Doug! I exclaimed.

Same here. Carlos said. Poor guy.

Yeah, and apparently my mom's the one who killed Dopey. Evie said. I could almost imagine her breaking down.

Back on topic, Mal, did you find Ben yet? Jay said. Remind me to slap him later.

No, I just got to the Gaston's part of town. It's the most logical place for Ben and his family to be. I explained.

The Gaston's have their own part of town? Jay asked as I heard voices up ahead. I put my phone away and ran towards the noise, which was coming from a dark street corner.

"Where's the money French?" Asked who I recognized as one of the Gaston's.

"I told you, I don't have it. Just give me a couple of-"

"We gave you more time last week!" Complained Another Gaston. "Now it's time to pay."

One Gaston was punching French in the gut, and the other took out a dagger and started cutting into French's arms as French cried out in pain.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" I yelled, running over, kicking one Gaston in the gut, causing him to fall, and the other to cut my arm and leg that was facing him.

"Oh look, it's Princess Mal. Your owner let you off your leash?" One Gaston asked me.

"I don't have a leash." I snarled. "Now I command you to leave him alone. Or I'll have the palace guards come here and arrest you for not giving him enough time to pay his dues."

"Okay, okay, we're backing off. Oh, and by the way French, A, that princess won't protect you forever, and B, our dad killed your parents in the war."

French got off the ground and tried to run past me, but I held him back.

"This isn't your fight right now. You'll get your revenge, just rest and heal for a while. Then, you can get your revenge." I whispered to him as he went slack. The Gaston's walked away and I carried him to the closest store, which was a bookstore. A plump woman and a little, blonde haired boy ran up to the door.

"Ben!" Cries the woman as she ran up to me. She wasn't the tiniest bit scared that I was Maleficent's daughter. "What happened to him?"

I explained the whole situation to her. She let me come inside and had me set French down on the table in their apartment above the store.

"Will French be okay?" I asked.

"He should be love." Said the woman. "Oh good heavens! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Mrs. Potts. And that young boy there is Chip, my son. Ben here is my adoptive son. And what is your name dear?"

"I'm Mal, Maleficent's daughter."

Mrs. Potts took a step back. "You're Maleficent's daughter? You seem to nice to be her daughter!"

"That's the first time I've heard that." I said.

We were quiet for a little while until Mrs. Potts said "Why did you help him?"

"What?" I said.

"You heard me. Why did you help him?"

"Because it was the right thing to do." I said as blood trickled down my leg and arm.

"You've been hurt." Mrs. Potts said. "Let me patch you up while he's sleeping."

Mrs. Potts got some bandages from the bathroom, along with a black tank top, purple skirt, black leather jacket, and ankle boots. "Get dressed in these after I clean you up. I don't think you want to be in bloody clothes."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Mrs. Potts called Chip over. "Chip, get me a bucket and some wash rags so I can clean this young lady's arm and leg."

"Yes Mama. Oh, and Uncle Cogsworth and Uncle Lumiere are here to check on Ben."

"Okay, tell them to come on up love."

"Yes Mama." Chip ran back downstairs as my phone started ringing. I got it out of my pocket. It was Evie.

"I have to take this. Do you mind?"

"Of course not."

I answered the phone. "Hey E."

"Hold up. I'm putting this on speaker." Evie said, then after a minute said "Where are you!?"

"Um, well, I found that bookstore you told me about E!" I said, hoping that Evie figured out that 'bookstore' meant Ben.

"What bookstore?" Jay asked as I heard a smack on the other end.

"Jay! Obviously 'bookstore' is code for Ben!" Carlos yelled.

I moved the phone away from my ear. "Carlos, you yelled that in my ear."

"Oops. Sorry." Carlos said as Evie got us back on topic.

"So, what's going on with Ben?" She asked.

"Well, the owner of the bookstore is really nice. She has two son. Her biological son is named Chip. He's a little cutie. Her adoptive son, Ben, just got beat up by the Gaston's, I helped him get to the bookstore, and because one of the Gaston's cut me with a knife on one of my arms and one of my legs, the owner of the bookstore, Mrs. Potts, is cleaning me up right now." I explained.

"Belle and Adam died?" Jay asked. Finally, he retained some useful information!

"Yeah! What do you think you moron!" Carlos bit back.

"Look, can you guys just meet me at-" I said, then got off the phone. "What's the name of this bookstore again? I'm very forgetful."

"Beauty and the Beast Books dear."

"Beauty and the Beast Books. I'm going to stay here for a while."

"Okay. Be careful M." Evie said.

"E, I'll be fine. What am I? A princess?"

"Well, technically-"

"Carlos, zip it. Just get going. I'll be here."

"Okay, okay. We're coming. Be there soon." Jay said.

"Bye."

"Bye!" They all said as Mrs. Potts started chuckling.

"Is that a normal conversation between you and your friends?" She asked.

"You have no idea." I said as Lumiere and Cogsworth walked into the room.

"Potty, what's going on? Where's Ben? And why is the princess here? Is Ben okay? Is he hurt?" Lumiere asked.

"He got attacked by the Gastons again." Mrs. Potts explained.

"That poor boy. But, what does Princess Mal have to do with this?"

"She stopped him from hustling the Gastons, especially after they said that Gaston was the one to kill Belle and Adam. She got cut by one of the Gaston's knives in the process, so I'm just cleaning her up and giving her some clothes to change into."

"Should we give her 'the thing' to thank her?" Cogsworth asked.

"I think we should." Lumiere agreed.

All three people brought out a charm, plus Mrs. Potts brought out a chain. They slipped on the two other charms and gave the necklace to me. The first charm was a small rose. The second was a white diamond. The third was a small mirror. "Here. To thank you for saving our boy." Mrs. Potts said.

"I-I can't take this!" I said.

"It's okay. May this protect you in all ways to come. The rose, to give you courage, respect, and passion. The diamond, to make you invincible. The mirror, to help you see through disguises. I hope this necklace brings you more luck than it did Belle." Mrs. Potts explained.

"Belle wore this?" I asked.

"Yes, and well, you saw how that turned out."

"Excuse me, Mama," Chip said, walking into the room. "Ben want to talk to Purple Hair."

I laughed in my mind.

"Okay. Mal, get changed. I'll have Chip show you Ben's room."

"Okay." I ran to the bathroom, got changed, and followed Chip to Ben's room. Ben was blue and black on his stomach and had cuts all over his arms. Needless to say, he didn't look good.

"Here she is." Chip said, showing me off like I'm a prized cow.

"Thanks Chippy. Close the door please." Ben said as I entered his bedroom. It was so small, I could barley fit inside of it. "Are you okay?"

"You, who got beat up and cut all over, is asking me, the person who got away with two cuts, if I'm okay? I should be asking if you're okay." I responded.

Ben smirked. "I guess so. But yeah, I am okay. I guess it's not everyday when a beautiful princess comes and rescues you from hooligans like the Gaston's."

"I thought I saved your butt back there, not Evie." I said, sounding confused, mainly because I was.

"I wasn't talking about Princess Evie." Ben said as I took a seat on his bed to make more space in the small room.

"Oh yeah?" I asked. "Then, who were you talking about? Princess Scarlet of the Pridelands?"

"Nope."

"Princess Una of Atlantica?"

"Not even close." Ben said, sitting up to reach my level.

"Princess Hannah of Arendelle?"

"No." Ben leaned in a little bit.

"Princess Ginny of Corona?" I leaned in a bit to.

"No, she's best known as Princess Mal, the daughter of Queen Maleficent of Auradon. The prettiest girl to ever live."

We both leaned in some more when we heard "Hey Mal! You in here!" Perfect timing as usual Jay.

"Perfect timing." Ben said as I bit my lip.

"Can they come in?"

"Sure."

"Come on in guys!" I yelled as the door burst open and Evie saw us.

"Were we interrupting something?" She asked as Ben and I shared a look.

"No, why would you think that?" We both said as I stood up and looked out the window.

"Oh Styx." I said.

"What's wrong?" Carlos asked.

"The palace guards. They're looking for Lonnie, Jane, Chad, Audrey, Doug, and Ben."