♝♗

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍:

𝐴 𝑈 𝑅 𝐴 𝐷 𝑂 𝑁 ' 𝑆  
𝑃 𝑅 𝑂 𝑃 𝐴 𝐺 𝐴 𝑁 𝐷 𝐴

           They were celebrating, all of Auradon and the Isle of the Lost.

           They did it. They finally did it. Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos finally lowered the barrier to the Isle of the Lost for good. Mal was ecstatic, everyone was. She knew there were some old-timers and parents in Auradon who would no doubt go against it and complain and just fill the whole thing with negativity, but not yet. No, she had this small amount of time with her family to enjoy this. To enjoy seeing her childhood and her present family join forces and celebrate something good.

           Once almost everyone settled into the courtyard for food and more festivities, Mal went back to find Ben. He had been on the palace steps, watching everyone party and dance, though most of the kids were at the snack table. She climbed up and he smiled when he saw her, she leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her, their gaze on the people before them. Mal liked this moment especially, she was used to people staring at her all her life. First, it was the Isle and she was the infamous frightening daughter of Maleficent, then she was a scary villain kid in Auradon, next thing you know she's dating the King of Auradon, but now she's on her way to becoming queen of this kingdom. But at that moment she was invisible, and Ben who probably had just as many eyes on him growing up, was also invisible. Their people were happy and that's what mattered, not getting credit or praise, but just seeing them smile was reward enough.

           They were all so happy. Mal was happy. But something was off with Ben.

           "I never thought I'd see something like this," She said absentmindedly. "I dreamt of it, but it always seemed like just that, a dream. I can't believe this is happening."

           "It is incredible. But it's just the first thing on the long list that was my parents' wrongdoing. We still have work to do. I still have work to do." His thoughts sounded so far away. She couldn't picture what he was thinking, and she hated that.

           "Enjoy it a little at least." She advised. "Before you go back into that dark place in the back of your mind, please. I know what that dark place feels like. I was there for a long time, so don't go there now, don't use it as a tool to do what you have to do. Be better than your parents, be better than Auradon, be better for Auradon. Look at what we did together." She gestured out to the people in the courtyard with her hands.

           "I didn't do anything, this was all you." He acknowledged. "You and Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Uma, you all brought our worlds together, and that's amazing. But I can't ignore the rest of my problems any longer, not anymore." He sighed heavily, and she could practically feel the tension in his body, the stress in his mind and the pressure he was under. "Now, it's my turn to fix things between us and them." He took one last look at everything, before retreating back into the palace.

           Mal looked back at him, and she now knew what he was thinking. That he had to this alone, but that didn't mean he should. As she recalled an incident that happened eleven months ago, she couldn't help but shudder when thinking about Ben going at it alone.

♝♗

ELEVEN MONTHS AGO

           "Ugh!" Mal heard a loud commotion coming from Ben's study. She had been visiting him there a lot since it was the only time he had to spare in the last few weeks. With Uma on the loose, everyone had been alert and on edge lately. She was waiting impatiently outside, knowing Ben would be done soon, but the ruckus startled her and she got worried.

           She quickly walked up to the door and opened it, peeking inside and saw books littered on the floor, Ben's desk chair was also laying on its back on the ground. "You okay in here?" He was heaving and his face had gone reddish, even the room felt hot.

           "Mal," Ben acknowledged, his breathing slowed a bit as he forced it to go down so he could calm himself in front of her. Mal was quick to worry about him, and he couldn't give her a reason to at the moment. "Sorry, I just- I got frustrated." He answered scarcely.

           She raised an eyebrow as she walked in and bent down to pick up one of the books, "Auradon's History Vol. I?" She read aloud the title of the big blue book. "Why would this and-" She picked up the one next to it, "Auradon's History Vol. II be bothering you so much?" She walked over to his desk and placed them there. She noticed one of the books he hadn't discarded, a white book with black lines and swirls, Travels to a Wonder Land, it read. "Why do you have this?" She pointed to it.

           Ben sighed, giving up and knowing there was no point in hiding it anymore. "It's supposedly written by the only person to go into Wonderland and come out alive. It's the only real source I have on the place." His voice got quiet as he finished his sentence.

           "I thought we agreed we would find Uma first and then worry about the Wonderlanders."

           "I know, but a lot isn't adding up with Auradon's History. They described the War with Wonderland as something barbaric and ravenous." She crossed over to his side of the desk as he continued to explain, "It was chaos and they barely got out of there alive, but in the process, they saved all of these kids who were being neglected and victims of the place. But, this book-" He held the Lewis Carroll book in front of her, "This? It's all about a little girl who wanted to have fun. She was bored with the rules and the constrictions of her life and the next thing she knows is she's falling down a rabbit hole and discovering this hilarious and exciting place, nothing made sense and she loved that about the place. She found where she belonged and met so many people and animals and strange inanimate objects that were alive-" He was going to keep going before Mal raised a hand to pause him.

           "Ben," She grabbed his arm.

           "No, Mal, you don't understand,"

           "Ben," Her voice rose an octave higher. That made him actually stop. "You need rest, how long have you been researching this?"

           He didn't answer her and refused to meet her eyes.

           "We agreed that we would find Uma first and worry about Jax and the rest of the Wonderlanders later-"

           "Yeah, except I can't help but worry!" His loud exclaim surprised them both, "Uma could be halfway around the world by now, meanwhile, the Wonderlanders are at the other end of this street. I-I should've paid more attention, I should've asked more questions. They've been suffering this entire time!" His voice got louder. "Every time one got a little out of line, everyone just said it was trauma or side effects from Wonderland that lingered and I believed them." His voice broke, he gasped as his eyes burned and he didn't hold back when tears came down. He let them fall, he didn't get the privilege of looking strong or collected. Not anymore. "I believed that they were just adjusting, that it was normal for them to fight and run away so much, that they were troubled is what my mom would say to me. And I believed that they were victims of Wonderland when it turns out," He was sobbing at this point, "they were victims of Auradon." He gave a harsh laugh about it. He scoffed at his kingdom, for portraying this false identity. He scoffed at his parents for lying to him. He scoffed at himself for not seeing what was right in front of him. He couldn't talk anymore, and all Mal could do was watch in pain as he tore himself apart with guilt over a crime that wasn't his fault. He was the King of Auradon, so when he learned of his kingdom's crimes, of his parent's crimes, they became his burden to bear as well. But unlike them, Ben felt guilt, and he wasn't even there, but now that he wore the crown, he was part of the problem. At least, that's what he believed.

           When the tears came, Mal didn't know what to do. "Shh, Ben, don't." She approached him closer and took his hands in hers. "Hey, look at me. It'll get better."

           "What will? The pain and suffering or the childhood these kids will never get back? And what the Isle? Remember the meeting we had with my parents and the council yesterday? They don't even consider it part of Auradon, even the Fairy Godmother doesn't want to talk about it. I've been doing this for a year, and it's like I keep finding these horrible new things that Auradon has buried underneath. I'm not meant for this, I could never help these people." He shook his head.

           "The fact that you recognize what's wrong says so much already. You know what's wrong with it, you feel terrible over it and you intend to put it to an end. You're exactly what Auradon needs right now, and I'll be there for you when that happens."

           After a little while, his mind went back to that dark place and he just kept beating himself up. "I should've done more. I should've paid more attention, I-I-" As his knees gave out and he fell to the floor in sobs, Mal followed him and wrapped her arms around Ben to let him know that she was there.

           She felt her shirt soak up his tears and felt his rapid heart beating against her chest. She almost wanted to cry with him because it was so hard to see him this way. But she held back, breathed in and out and as she stroked his hair to soothe him, she whispered a promise that she intended to keep, "We're going to fix this."

♝♗

           The next day, Mal called a meeting for the VK's in hers and Evie's dorm room. Just the VK's.

           Carlos was the first to ask questions. "What's up? You said it was urgent." He placed his messenger bag that contained his laptop and multiple processing cords. He was helping Jane plan a movie night in the courtyard and they needed to research the best ones.

           "Yeah and I'm pretty sure you've never used that word before," Jay joked as he let his fencing equipment fall to the floor next to Evie's fabrics.

           "Very funny," Evie shot back.

           "And it is urgent." Mal got their attention with the sound of her voice. She was worried.

           "What happened? Is it Uma?" Carlos asked.

           "Is it Jax?" Jay wondered, equally as scared if it had been him instead of Uma. The guy was unpredictable.

           "No, it's Ben." She answered and was met with strange looks from all three. "He's been looking into the history between Auradon and Wonderland and finally filtered in the things that don't add up. He hasn't been processing it well."

           Surprisingly, Carlos was the first to comment on that. "What's to process? Auradon let us and an island full of innocent kids suffer for our parents' crimes and they never planned to let us out if it weren't for Ben. How is it that them kidnapping kids from a bigger rival isn't easy for him to comprehend?"

           "Yeah, no crap," Jay interrupted him, "We all know what really happened, Auradon decided to be top dog and took a bunch of kids as hostages so Wonderland wouldn't be tempted to go against them."

           "He's lived here his whole life," Evie shrugged, "He was fed lies and stories to control him and everyone else around here. But it's still a bit shocking that Ben took this long to accept it."

           "That's because we're not the ones swimming in Auradon's propaganda," Carlos said what they were all thinking. They were used to seeing the bad in people first, it wasn't so hard for them to imagine Auradon as the bad guy.

           "Except, he never knew that. Auradon's his home, his kingdom, he thought it was a good place. After the whole thing with the pirates, Uma, and Jax, he had to look into it. He finally admitted to himself that they were taken from their homes, that this whole thing has been messed up. Anyway, he's spiraling in guilt now, and I'm asking you guys for help."

           "Mal, you know we'll help you," Evie grabbed her hand in assurance.

           "It's true," Carlos nodded, "But help in what exactly?" He wanted to know what they were going to be doing.

           Mal was waiting for the perfect opportunity to give them their assignments. She turned to Jay, "You know Nathaniel Knight, right? From the sports teams?"

           Jay searched his mind, while he knew him, they never really spoke a lot, "He was on the tourney team with me, now he's in the fencing squad. What'd you want me to do?"

           "See if you can find out what went on between him and the Wonderlanders. There has to be a reason why he left them." He nodded in agreement as she turned to her best friend, "E, can you handle Wyc? Get some more info on why Allie hasn't been around them this past year." And then she focused on her oldest friend, "And Carlos?"

           "Talk to Allie? Got it."

           "Nope, we're not getting anywhere near that girl, she's not just avoiding the Wonderlanders, she's ignoring everyone here. She disappears from them and reappears just in time for everyone's worries to cease."

           "How do you know that? It's been only two weeks since we all talked with them after the whole Uma ordeal and we learned about what Auradon did to them." Evie asks, curious at Mal's knowledge of the girl.

           "Ben's notes." She admitted sadly, "He's been watching them from afar the past two weeks. I told you, I'm worried about him." Since she answered Evie's question she went back to explaining Carlos's job. "Anyway, you'll be talking to Binx Cheshire."

           Carlos's eye's widened as his head popped forward, "I'm sorry what? You're sending me to talk to an easily angered werecat from one of the most erratic places in existence?" His voice was both monotone and incredulous, like the words he was saying didn't make sense to himself.

           "Hey, we grew up on the Isle, we can all handle erratic. And you said it yourself, he's part cat, and you love animals, you even had a cat back on the Isle."

           "Shh," Carlos got closer to her in their circle which was met with confused eyes, "Don't mention Beelzebub around here, Dude doesn't know about him."

           Mal rolled her eyes, "You still have the best track record with animals and he did seem to like you."

           "Are you seriously pimping me out?" He gave her a cold stare.

           "Of course not! I'm just playing it smart," She defended and Carlos shook his head as he retreated to his spot in the circle with his arms crossed in annoyance, muttering about how life was unfair.

           "And what about you?" Jay pointed to the purple-haired girl, "Who're you going to be talking to?"

           "I've got my sights set on a queen," She smiled in a way most would consider evilly, but to their friends, it was her tapping into their old roots. It looked like if they wanted to get the answers they wanted, they were going to have to tap into that dark place in their mind. "Everyone knows their roles?" She was met with nods. "Good, let's do this, people. If anyone can get to the center of what really happened between Auradon and Wonderland, it's us." She pumped her fist out to the middle of the circle, "'Cause we're rotten,"

           Everyone else's fists joined hers, "To the core." They said in unison.

♝♗♝♗♝♗

The first part is the present, what's happening in the third movie, but then it's just a huge flashback to eleven months ago.

Now, while this doesn't exactly have a lot, or any, of Jax or the WK's or Harry, I still think it was important to write. Because I wanted to acknowledge the ending of the third movie and I couldn't just have a whole Auradon vs. Wonderland thing going on because the Isle of the Lost is literally in the middle of all that. They wouldn't know who to align themselves with: total strangers or the people that imprisoned them for more than two decades??

- The books 'Auradon's History Vol. I and Vol. II' is made up by me entirely, I just wanted to show Ben spiraling a little, since well, discovering that the perfect world you live in and rule has some dark secrets can lead so some pretty strong repercussions.

- And the book 'Travels to a Wonder Land' (yes I separated Wonder and Land on purpose) is also made up by me. It's a spin on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, just a different title, I thought it'd make things more interesting. (old choices include 'Alice's Travels to a Wonder Land' and 'My Travels to a Wonder Land'). Anyway, idk I just wanted to spin it and make it different since it's not exactly like the actual Lewis Carroll book.

- Yes, Carlos had a cat named Beelzebub on the Isle. He mainly just shows up for a second in the first book 'Isle of the Lost'. Fun fact: Beelzebub was part of the litter of kittens that Lucifer (the cat from the animated Disney movie Cinderella) had. I have no idea if he was named that way because of Lucifer's owners or Cruella and Carlos named him that because of their last name, De Vil. But it's a fun coincidence on both sides, huh?

And as much as I love Malvie, I needed to use Ben in this fic since he is a main character in the books and the movies, and he knows Jax personally and he's the new king of Auradon, it made sense to find out how he's dealing with all this. But, as we all know, Mal dated Uma in my series, and I've claimed Mal and that she identifies as queer, and she is a queer woman, she's just in a relationship with a cis-gendered guy but that doesn't make her any less queer.

Anyway, what I really wanted to incorporate in this is just how guilty Ben feels for his kingdom's crimes and the Rotten Four sticking together to find out more about what happened, since thanks to the movies and the books we almost always see things from their point of view, I wanted to sort of make it feel like you're discovering more about it with them.

I feel really shitty not writing about this sooner since it would've been better in the other book or early, I just, what do you guys think?

should I put it in the other book?

should i keep it here?

did you guys even like it?

am i talking to no one?

i love feedback and it'd be really helpful and motivating to write more, so thank you and i hope you enjoyed this

no mundanes allowed

- polaroized