Second in Line - Descendants (?Mal) ~Slow Updates~

●°●Ben●°●

"I- I can't believe.... did she just- did she?." Ben mumbled, walking back and forth on the same spot as he'd done for the past five minutes. Not able to wrap his mind around everything that he'd learned, trying to form a coherent sentence. "She- and Kathy, she just- but why? Mal she, she used- that is treason! Emma shouldn't have... right? Those four are clearly dangerous! Why would she... She can't really have..." Ben paused his exasperated rambling to look over at his friend, who lay on top of a branch. "Have grown... feelings for her... right?"
     Ray lazily let himself glide off of the branch, only opening his wings to hover after falling a short distance. The little bug's eyes got back into focus, buzzing a little higher to be at eye level with Ben. "I wouldn't be able to tell you what lies in Emma's heart, Benny boy. But for the why," Ray shrugged, "probably the same reason your mommy and daddy started the Villain Revival Program, to give 'em another chance."
     Ben stopped in his tracks, his friend's words sinking in. "It does sound like something she would do..." Ben signed, the smallest chuckle sounding through. "Heck, it is something I would've done."
     "See!" Ray exclaimed with open arms, "Don't be too harsh on the little flower, she knows what she's doing!"
     "Yeah, I know." Ben admitted, sitting down on the ground in defeat, leaning his chin in his hand. "It's just... I wish I could protect her, you know? All I can do now is... watch." The young man pulled his hand over his face as he thought for a moment. "And sure, her intentions might be good, just like my parents' Revival program... But we both know how that ended. I just don't want anything bad to happen to my little sister as well."
     Ray seemed to think about Ben's words for a short moment before shrugging again and flying a few loops on his way down, back to his friend's eye level. "Sure, but there's nothing you or I can do about it now. So lets just trust the little lady can handle this, alrighty?" 
     Ben looked at the firefly in front of him through his fingers, eventually signing, letting his hands fall back on his legs. "Yeah. Yes, I guess you're right, Ray. Lets just trust Kat's got this."

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●°●Emma●°●

Emma and Aggie made their way through the halls of Auradon Prep, pushing a cart with a tv on top of it with them. "Do yu really think this is a good idea, Em?" Aggie asked her friend. 
     "Yes, I do." Emma answered confidently. She, Fairy Godmother and Aggie had sat down a few days ago to try and come up with an idea for the VK's to still be able to participate in family day, even though their families were locked away on the Isle. Eventually, they had settled for a video call with their parents. It was a bit of a chalange to get a wifi connection to only a very restricted part of the Isle, but with some help they had managed.
     "Evil or not, they are their parents and seeing it is going to be family day soon, we can't exclude them." 
     Aggie signed, "I guess yu're right. I'm sure Villains still love their kids. And even if they don't, they still love their parents."
     "Besides, cutting them off entirely from their home just seems a but cruel to me. Don't you think?"
     The redhead thought about it for a moment, "Mmm... not much crueler than what they did to yu."
     This time, Emma signed, "Aggie, let it go. We are giving them a second chance."
     "No, I won't." Aggie stated, headstrong as ever. "And yu are the one giving them a second chance, I'm respecting yur decision, but that's about it."
     Emma shook her head, letting out another sign. Knowing no matter what she would say, she would not be able to change her friend's mind. The only people who could would be Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos, by proving they had deserved their second chance.
     In all honesty, over the past week or so Aggie had been getting along fine with Carlos and Jay as they trained together on the Tourney team, as far as she could tell. Giving Emma the feeling most of her distrust lay with Mal specifically.
     "Let's just do this, and see how things go from there. Who knows, maybe we'll see a whole other side from their parents."
     "Motherly Maleficent?" Aggie said, snickering, "Now that's something I'd love to see." 
     Emma couldn't help the little laugh that escaped her as well. "Oh shut up, Aggie! We shouldn't make fun of them."
     "Oh, come one, Em! Have yu ever pictured Jafar packing a wee sandwich for his lad's lunch? Or the Evil Queen changing a nappie?" As she imagined all of it, Aggie continued laughing shamelessly.
     Emma suppressed another laugh, "Never gave much thought to it."
     "What about Cruella dressing up her wee little lad with way too big accessories to make him look fabulous." Emma sent her friend a glare while she just continued laughing. Aggie caught the girl's stare, not being fooled by the sternness in her eyes as she clearly could see her friend trying to hide her amusement. "Bog off Emma, I know yu want to laugh. Besides, doesn't it make the lot of 'em seem more human?"
     The young woman signed, "You got a point there, Aggs." 
     As their conversation came to an end, the two friends had reached the door to the classroom where Fairy Godmother was teaching Mal, Carlos, Evie and Jay Remedial Goodness 101. Emma knocked, not really waiting for a response, knowing they were expected by Fairy Godmother and opened the door. 
    "Oh, there you two are!" Fairy Godmother exclaimed when she saw them, jumping up from behind her desk with enthusiasm.
     At the same time, the four villain kids also looked up from their work, glancing over their shoulders to see Aggie and Emma walk in, pushing the cart with TV down the aisle.
     "What's this?" Jay asked, changing positions so he was basically standing on his chair with one foot. When Emma passed Mal, she sent her a bright smile, which Mal responded to with a curious, yet amused smirk.
     "Children," Fairy Godmother addressed the four, drawing their attention back to the front of the class. "Excuse me. Um... As you know, this Sunday is Family Day here at Auradon Prep. And because your parents can't be here due to, uuhhh-" Fairy Godmother doubted for a second then continued with a bit of an awkward chuckle, moving her hands apart from each other to bring a bit more visualization to her words. "-distance. We've arranged a special treat." With that, the woman gestured to Emma and Aggie, who had plugged in the TV in the meantime. "Ladies?"
     "Yes," Emma said, clasping her hands together, standing beside the TV while Aggie pressed some buttons on the keyboard and adjusted the camera. "Come on, come closer!" She encouraged them when the four did not stand up. Mal was the first to make her way over to them, the other tree following quickly. Their faces a combination of excitement, curiosity, and suspicion. 
     "So, we managed to pull some strings, and well, take a look for yourselves. Ready?" Emma asked Aggie, who looked up and nodded. 
     "Ready." With one last click on the keyboard, the screen came to life, revealing the face of Maleficent from a little too close to the camera. "I don't see anything, nor do I hear." Maleficent said before leaning back, revealing the faces of Jafar, Cruella de Vil, and the Evil Queen as well.
     Emma hadn't been sure what to expect from Mal's response, but it surely hadn't been the flicker of fear that flashed through her eyes the moment she realized it was her mother. Quickly, as the emotion had appeared, it was gone again, and the same seemed to happen to the other three. Although Carlos didn't seem as skilled at hiding his fear as his friends were. 
     It seemed that Fairy Godmother did not notice those flickers of emotions, her excitement nearly bursting out of her as she stood in the center of the four. Emma glanced over at Aggie, who seemed to have noticed as well, because she sent the same look of concern back to her friend.
     "Is it... Is it... is" Maleficent shook the camera as she tried to get the screen on her end to work. 
     "Press enter." Jafar read off something they could not see in the classroom. 
     "Can I please see a remote?" No matter that the word please was in the as a questioned phrased sentence, it definitely was a demand. The Evil Queen handed the black remote to the Mistress of Evil, who clumsily pointed it at the screen. "Is this thing on?" The woman pressed a bunch of buttons only to state that it must be broken. 
     The other three villains looked over her shoulder as she growled in frustration and half dropped, half threw the remote back on a table. "I hate electronics." 
     Eventually, Jafar pressed something, and with a soft beep, the monitor seemed to flicker on. 
     "Evie! It's Mommy." The Evil Queen exclaimed, waving at the screen now she could see her daughter, pushing her way past the other three to take a better look at her. Evie smiled, waving back. "Look how beautiful." A smile came to Emma's lips together with a sense of relieve, this might have been a good idea after all. 
     "You know what they say," Evil Queen continued, "the poison apple doesn't fall far from the tree." 
     "Don't you mean the weeds." Maleficent commented as she roughly pushed Evil Queen back to stand behind her. 
     "Who's the old bat?" Cruella asked, pointing at Fairy Godmother, whose smile immediately faltered.
     "This is Fairy Godmother." Mal answered the very rude question with a big smile.
     "Still doing tricks with eggplants?" Maleficent asked with crossed arms, earning laughs from the villains around her.
     Emma couldn't believe the pettiness of it, thinking Fairy Godmother too sophisticated to care about the comment, only she was clearly mistaken. Fairy Godmother gasped, "I turned a pumpkin into a beautiful carriage!"
     "You really couldn't give Cinderella till one a.m.? I mean, really?" The Evil fairy continued seeing her taunts worked. "What? The hamsters had to be back on their little wheels?" Laughter erupted again from the villains. 
     Emma signed, biting her lip as she felt for Fairy Godmother. "They were mice! They were not..." The good fairy turned to the villain kids behind her. "They were mice. They were not..."
     Decided it had been enough, Emma came from behind the TV and lay a hand on the fairy's shoulder, gently  guiding her away from the vision of the camera. While she did, Mal and the others said their thanks to Fairy Godmother. 
     "They were mice!" Fairy Godmother whisper yelled at the camera one more time before stepping out of vision. Emma followed, only stopping when she heard maleficent's voice cut through again. 
     "And who's that? The old bat needs a nurse?" Jafar, Cruella, and Evil Queen laughed again, only to be cut off by Mal.
     "That is my girlfriend." She had said it without thinking, but it did get the others to stop laughing. 
     "What?" Maleficent exclaimed. 
     Emma turned to the camera, hands clasped in front of her, smile on her face. "Yes, hello! I am Princess Emalia of Auradon. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
     "Ha!" The Evil fairy exclaimed again, turning to the Evil Queen. "My daughter has captured a crown princess. And what does your daughter have?"
     The Evil Queen turned to the screen again, "Evie! Tell mommy, which prince's heart you've captured." When Evie did not respond but instead exchanged a worried look with her friends, the evil Queen continued, her voice snapping. "Well?"
     Evie let out an awkward laugh, looking down at the ground for a moment, "None just yet... But I am close!"
     Another laud, mocking laugh came from Maleficent while Evil Queen looked utterly disappointed and disgusted. Emma glanced at Evie's defeated posture, clearly trying to hide the depth of how it all made her feel. 
     Quickly, Emma cleared her throat. "Evie has made amazing academic progress since she enrolled here. She truly is an exceptional student, and we are very proud and happy to have her here with us. Just as we are very proud and happy to have all of your children here with us at Auradon prep."
     Emma's words got met with a mocking scoff from the other side of the screen, "Seems that lying isn't just for us villains, now is it?" Jafar commented, earning a wave of laughter from the three women around him. 
     The crown princess of Auradon had to use all her self restraint to keep her posture and face pleasant and friendly, it was a good thing that Aggie stood behind the camera because the disdain for it all was clearly to see for anyone who only even glanced her way. 
     Mal reached for Emma's hand, squeezing it gently. "It's okay, thank you." The purple haired girl whispered, her face hidden behind Emma's to shield it from her mother's few. Emma looked up into Mal's eyes, saw the sincerity in them, nodded once, and walked back to stand beside Aggie so the four kids were the only ones still there to talk with their parents. 
     "Hi, mom." Mal spoke up, trying to change the subject and succeeding without any trouble. 
     "Mal!" Maleficent really seemed to like raising her voice. "I m- m- Miss you."
     "You children are never far from our thoughts." Jafar jumped in.
     "I got it." Maleficent snarled at him before turning her attention back to their children. "How long must Mommy wait to see you?" Emma had a bit of trouble calming the irritation that had flared inside of her, but now it seemed like the four parents genuinely missed their kids the feeling died down a little bit. 
     "Um... There's a big coronation coming up." Mal answered, her arms crossed over her chest. "I think probably sometime after that."
     "When?" Maleficent snapped, making Mal and the others flinch ever so slightly.
     "Two weeks." Mal responded with a big smile. "Friday, ten a.m."
     "You sure I can't see you before that? I don't know what I'll do if I don't get my hands on that ma-" Maleficent seemed to quickly change her mind, "You! You little nugget that I love so much." Aggie shot Emma a look with a raised eyebrow, Emma responded with a shrug, not sure if that was a normal way for the evil fairy to show affection. 
     The single laugh that came from Mal somehow sounded sad to Emma, "I completely understand, mother." Could it be that she missed her mother more than she had led on? The young princess struggled to read the emotions from not only Mal but Jay, Evie, Carlos, and their parents. 
     "Carlos!" Cruella's voice broke through the speakers, startling the boy. "Is that a dog?" Revering to Dude, who Carlos had been holding this entire time. That little guy really had grown attached to Cruella's son.
     "Yes, yes, baby, I do understand." The woman continued, completely ignoring Dude's whimper nor waiting for her child to actually answer her question. "It would make the perfect size for earmuffs."
     Emma had to clench her fist to get her frustration out and to keep herself from doing something she would regret as she heard Cruella laugh at the mere thought of hurting Dude. Grabbing Aggie's wrist with her other hand and sending her a warning glance not to intervene either. Just on time as well, because it looked like her red headed friend was about ready to drive over to the Isle of the Lost herself to give that woman a piece of her mind- if not something worse. The people of DunBroch raised their children to not be afraid of a fight.
     "He's the perfect size for a pet." Carlos interrupted his mother, power in his voice, never had Emma heard him speak so confident and clearly. Cruella gasped at her son's defiance, clearly not used to it and at a loss for words. But Carlos did not seem to notice nor care as he continued. 
     "This dog loves me, and I love him! And FYI, your dog is stuffed! So give it a rest!"
     "Oh- Burn!" Jafar shot at Cruella. And he was not the only one entertained by Carlos's response, Aggie seemed to almost beam with pride.
     The Princess of DunBroch tried her best not to respond as loudly as she would have wanted, but couldn't keep herself from exclaiming "Ha! Take that!" She slammed her hand in front of her mouth after realizing she slipped up. But when Carlos met her eyes, he grinned, face turning a little red, but he composed himself immediately when his attention went back to the screen, not wanting to upset his mother even more. 
     "Why don't you go sell a toaster," Cruella deVil snapped at Jafar after his comment, "You two-bit salesman!" 
     "People who talk to stuffed animals shouldn't throw stones!" Jafar snapped back. Aggie and Emma weren't the only two getting a bit uncomfortable, but it seemed a lot worse for the kids from the Isle, their postures sacked, the shred of fear now replaced by sadness mixed with something Emma could not quite place. 
     "Well, people who sell toasters shouldn't use mixed metaphors!"
     "Enough!" The Evil Queen yelled, right at the moment Jay reached out to the keyboard and turned off the monitor. 
     Silence filled the room after a relieved sign from Evie. For a moment, no one made eye contact nor knew what to say. 
     "I'm so sorry." Fairy Godmother eventually broke the uncomfortable silence. 
     "Me too," Emma followed up. "We expected that to go a little different."
     "Aye." Aggie joined, rubbing the back of her neck. 
     "Thanks for the special treat." Jay eventually said after another short pause. Emma's heart broke a little bit, realizing Jay didn't even get to exchange a single word with his dad. Not that the other exchanges had seemed like such positive experiences...
     "Of course." Fairy Godmother responded. Emma's eyes met Mal's, they stood so... sad. She really hadn't meant for this to go south so quickly. She hadn't really been sure about what she had been expecting exactly, but maybe a little more affection or words of encouragement from their parents? Villains or not, how could a parent not love their child? 
     Emma breathed in to say something, only for Mal to look down and walk away, the other VK's following in her footsteps. Once they were out of the room, Aggie turned to the two of them. 
     "Well, that went worse than I imagined." 
     Emma signed defeated, "Why do I feel like I made something worse, somehow?"
     "Oh, cheer up, you two!" Fairy Godmother chimed in, come to stand between the two young women and lay her hands on both their shoulders. "It might have gone a little less... smooth as we would have liked, but they got to talk to their parents! And squabbles like those are only natural, I am sure everything will be alright in the end."
     Emma did not exactly believe what the woman had said, but appreciated the effort. She looked up and forced a smile, "You are probably right. Thank you, Fairy Godmother."
     "Of course." She said, letting go of Emma and Aggie's shoulders, walking out of the classroom herself as well. 
     The crown princess of Auradon still stared at the closed door Mal and the other's had left through when she felt Aggie's weight lean against her back, the woman's head on her shoulder. 
     "Do you think we should go after them?" Emma asked.
     "Maybe give 'em a wee more breathing space?" 
     Emma nodded, agreeing with her friend's statement. They probably had a lot to process after all of that, and if she was being honest with herself, so did she. 

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