Chapter Text
Jay shook his hands out trying to get rid of the lingering feeling of power out of them. He had felt the power in that staff and it had responded to him the top glowing green. Which only meant one thing, he had been cursed with magic and that by itself was terrifying because magic was what had gotten his father in so much trouble.
Mal held onto her mother carefully and smiled at Ben knowing she had chosen right, even if she wasn’t sure if she could live up to the promise of being good all the time.
“What are we gonna do with her?” Evie asked, looking at the lizard.
“Well she is still my mom, so we’ll just keep her I guess,” Mal replied, shrugging a shoulder.
“What do we feed her?” Carlos wondered,
“Bugs?”
“Serve her right,” Evie shrugged.
“I don’t know, I guess we’ll just figure it out,” Mal glanced to Jay, “You alright?”
“Yeah I’m fine,” he gave her a quick smile, the only one he used when he didn’t want to answer any more questions about anything.
-*-
“Sorry” Jane looked down, “I didn’t think it would... do that”
“What did you think was going to happen you nearly got us killed,” Audrey snapped.
“Jane, what were you thinking sweetie?” Fairy Godmother asked, holding her wand lightly as she looked mildly disappointed in her daughter.
“I was just so tired of no one noticing me, of not being pretty like everyone else,” Jane whispered.
“But... I noticed you,” Carlos looked at her.
“After Mal fixed my hair”
“Sweetie you are beautiful and anyone who can’t see that isn’t worth your time,” Fairy Godmother touched her daughter’s shoulder lovingly, “You don’t have to change yourself for people to like you.”
“It's just... not fair, I’m always alone,” Jane shrugged.
“Well not anymore, now you’ve got us. And let me tell you with me on your side the world will have to take notice” Evie smiled, taking her arm.
“We all make mistakes, the important thing is that we learn from them” Ben chimed in.
“Plus you’re hard to miss,” Jay grinned charmingly, fingers twisting a strand of her hair around.
Fairy Godmother smacked Jay’s hand with her wand, fixing him with a hard look, “These are your friends Jane.”
“Yeah, I guess they are, I should have listened to Mal about the wand being too powerful” she nodded.
Mal gave her a weak smile, “It was too powerful, for all of us. But we made sure everything was okay.”
-*-
Fairy Godmother nodded briefly finishing up the ceremony before she walked outside, needing to fix the damage her daughter had caused to the Isle’s barrier. Nothing on that Isle was allowed to leave without approval as there were a number of people on that Isle that were just as dangerous as Maleficent if not more so.
Jay looked at all of them, “So we’re all good now? Can I still be neutral?”
Mal laughed as they walked out of the building holding her mother in a glass vase, “Jay as long as you are mostly good I think we’ll be okay.”
“Yeah that may be a small problem,” Jay muttered to the dark fairy girl turned good, “I’m still not that great at being good.”
“You are doing just fine Jay,” Fairy Godmother smiled at her prized pupils, “Now why don’t we get your mother into something more comfortable Mal and let you all get off to the celebrations,” a swish of her wand and the glass vase turned into a small plastic terrarium, “I’ll take her back to your dorm room. Now go have a great time at the party.”
Mal nearly unwillingly let go of the terrarium and smiled sadly at her mother, “It’s for the best.”
“Was that a dragon?” Penny asked as she was led in, “It was really cool... well from where I was it was; probably scary here... is this Mal, mom told me about her, she’s probably better than Audrey... well anyway hi” she rattled off at Ben who placed a hand over his face.
“Princess Penelope, so good to see you. Are you supposed to be here, after all we can’t have both heirs in the same place for too long,” Audrey smiled, her eye twitching a little.
“Special circumstances,” Penny shrugged, “And it's Penny. Oh... I like your hair” she moved closer to Mal looking at the purple.
Mal stared at the girl owlishly, “Um thank you,” she glanced to Ben for some help on who this was exactly.
“Hi, I’m Jay,” he smirked oozing charm and sex appeal as he looked the girl over, dirty blonde hair, green eyes, and the same nose as Ben, “You wouldn't happen to be related to our new Crown Prince would you?”
Mal stared at Jay, she could have sworn she told him before about not hitting on every girl he saw. It was one thing back on the Isle, where he could seduce them out of what little they had but Auradon had a different set of rules. Here that was frowned upon, hell they didn't even like girls and guys being in the same room unsupervised.
“This is Penny, my little sister” Ben explained, “She’s attending Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather’s academy for girls.”
“Actually I’ll start at Auradon Prep next week,” she added, “The headmistress's may have told mother that perhaps the academy wasn’t the best fit for me.”
“Oh...” Ben looked at her, “That will be... interesting”
“I know it's gonna be so much fun, Godmother is just trying to find me a roommate,” Penny nodded
“Well we should move this to the party,” Evie suggested.
Jay nodded slinging his arm over Penny’s shoulders, “So what brings you back to Auradon Prep then little princess?”
Mal covered her face shaking her head, “So what year will you be in Penny?” She followed after Jay, Evie and Carlos as the group of them headed towards the party, “Did you know she was coming home Ben?” it was more of a curiosity as he had seemed surprised to see his sister.
“I know she’d be in town for the coronation, and I figured we’d have a family brunch or something before she went back to the girls academy,” Ben shrugged, “It's weird for us to be in the same place for very long, it makes a pretty big target.”
“I’m a year behind you guys,” Penny explained.
“So you're the other student in the royal etiquette class my mother introduced for next semester,” Jane smiled while Penny pulled a face.
“I suppose? I don’t get the point, a fork is a fork, no matter its size, and so what if I can’t walk with a book on my head in what world am I ever going to need to be able to balance a book on my head.”
“It makes you walk regally, so that your future husband will be pleased,” Audrey told her.
“I’m the Princess of Auradon; he should be pleased if I even agree to marry him,” Penny snorted.
“Very true, us princesses are so misunderstood,” Evie chuckled, “but perhaps I could take the class with you, wouldn’t hurt to know how princesses are supposed to act.”
“But, you're not a princess” Audrey looked at her.
“And you're not very pretty but everyone tells you you look like your mother,” Penny blinked at her.
Carlos laughed so hard he nearly fell over, and Jane looked at Penny owlishly.
“Penny,” Ben hissed
“What? Did I miss something?” she looked at Ben.
“Be careful who you make friends with, Princess I would hate for people to get the wrong idea about you,” Audrey said briskly before walking away.
“You hurt her feelings, ” Ben sighed looking at Penny, “You should apologize”
“Why? She isn’t going to like me more if I do. Besides it's not like you're planning on marrying her any more”
“That’s not the point, but I’ll have mom explain it to you later,” Ben shook his head before looking at Mal, “Want some punch?”
Mal hid her laugh with a smirk, “I think it would be a great idea if Evie took the class with Penny. After all she is the daughter of a Queen. Punch would be great Ben.”
Jay’s grin widened as he twisted a lock of Penny’s hair, “Why can't more Auradon princesses be like you? We’d get on better if that were the case,” he ignored the look of warning Mal shot his way, no one told him he couldn't live a little and this new princess was a perfect fit with them.
“Cause if more princesses were like me these parties might actually be fun” she shrugged.
“That might actually be true, but I mean look at all this fashion,” Evie gushed
“You’ll have to forgive Evie, she loves clothes more than anything else,” Carlos pulled Penny over to him.
“The fashion here is just so exciting all the materials,” Evie smiled, “Do you have a favorite designer. I bet you get to meet them all.”
“Actually I don’t come to many of these, so not much reason to dress up. And well they just let me start picking my own dresses about a year ago. Normally I just had one waiting when I got to wherever it was. Not really sure who did this one, its ok a little scratchy,” she gave a twirl in her pale yellow dress with a blue rose fastened to the back like a bow. “Mostly I just wear my uniform, or whatever is comfortable. Unlike Ben I don’t have eyes on me all the time.”
Mal smiled slightly knowing that she didn't care much about fashion either, “Evie will hook you up, she lives and breathes fashion.”
Jay nodded in agreement, “She's the best there is, made all of our outfits for this thing,” he wouldn't call it a party, he had seen wharf parties in passing and this was mild compared to that. Not to mention the legendary parties Wonderlanders were supposed to throw, but he never got invited to those, thankfully.
“Good to know, cause I get the feeling I’m going to have to make a lot more appearances,” Penny nodded.
“Yes you will be,” Belle said as she came up to them.
“Your Majesty,“ Jane looked at the floor quickly.
“Relax Jane dear, Penny I see you’ve met Ben’s friends and Mal” she nodded to Mal with a small smile.
“Yeah these guys are great, so much better than his other friends but then again that’s not hard” Penny explained
“Ahh I see, would you have happened to have said something like that to Audrey?” Belle asked
“Possibly” she crossed her arms, “Don’t tell me you want me to lie and tell her I’m sorry”
“No, I don’t want you to lie.” Belle shook her head, “I want you to apologize and mean it. I would hate for her family to be offended on her behalf.”
“I’d be more worried about offending Ben’s future dragon in law” Penny rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t offensive was it?” She shot a look to Mal.
Carlos just looked at Penny like she had another head, she talked to her mother like that.
“We’ll make sure it's taken care of Queen Belle, promise” Evie swallowed
“You don’t have to do that” Belle started
“But we want to... I mean we’ve seen a few sides of Audrey since we got here.” Carlos explained, “we know she’s hard to like.”
“Not offensive, my mother is a dragon some days,” Mal flashed a small reassuring smile in Penny's direction.
Jay folded his arms over his chest, “And we know she makes it hard to get along with her. Also that she doesn't always say nice things when she thinks you're out of earshot,” he had overheard her calling them some pretty creative names before, but considering they grew up on the Isle it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before.
“Audrey just has very high standards is all,” Mal could tell where this was going, “Sometimes they are hard to meet is all.”
“Alright I will let you all handle this yourselves, Penny I expect to hear you have apologized by breakfast on Sunday,” Belle gave her a look, “Let me know if you need anything for your room” she softened looking at her black sheep.
“Of course mother” Penny nodded looking away.
“Enjoy the ball” Belle nodded, “Mal please do join us on Sunday” she gave Ben a smile as passed her bringing Mal a glass of red punch.
“So, mom was quick to find you guys” Ben said, “Say anything interesting?”
“That you're a snitch” Penny shot at him, “Or is the term tattletail still right? I have a hard time telling which is right sometimes, don’t get to use tattletail very often”
“I didn’t say anything Audrey told her grandmother,” Ben defended
“Challenge accepted, if she’s going to cry about me I should probably give her a real reason,” Penny looked around the room for Audrey.
“That was not how that was meant” Ben sighed
“I want to adopt her, can we adopt her?” Evie looked at Mal.
“It's like one of us just you know from here” Carlos smirked.
Mal smiled at Ben, ducking her head slightly in thanks, thank you was still a weird saying out of her mouth, “Sure she is Ben’s sister. Wouldn't be right to separate a family,” her lips curled thinking about the crews on the Isle that consisted of biological brothers and sisters particularly the Gaston’s.
Jay clapped his hands together and rubbed them with a wide wicked grin, “Wicked, been awhile since we did anything fun.”
“Don't get us in trouble Jay. Nothing too impulsive,” Mal fixed him with a hard look knowing Jay could take things out of control in seconds.
He made a face, “That was once, Mal, once,” it was more than once, between his deal with the Crocodile, the war with the pirates, and the angry adults he stole from he spent as much time stealing as he did having to defend himself from someone who wanted to beat his face in.
“Just don’t go too far Penny, I think mom and dad are still apologizing for the eyebrow incident” Ben reminded, “and Audrey’s not that bad.”
“I maintain that they have no proof” Penny pointed out, “fine, maybe I’ll spill some punch on her then I can say sorry not sorry” she chewed her lip thinking it over.
“Well, her dress isn’t that great, but...” Evie looked at Audrey’s dress.
“Couldn’t you just... I don’t know grin and bear it” Jane asked
“I could but... well then she would think she’s won.”
“She kinda brought your mom into this so she might have won this round” Carlos suggested, “but I don’t see you two not going a few more so maybe lose the battle win the war?”
“That’s actually not a terrible idea” Ben nodded.
“Think big Penny, we let her have this one, lure her into a false sense of security and pull the rug out from under her feet,” Jay chimed in happily.
“Jay... behave,” Mal sighed looking the Agrabahian teen over, “Please.”
Jay frowned ever so slightly, he didn't want to behave. In fact he would much rather go back to the old days where he could make arrangements to have people dealt with. But Mal would never have that here, the most she did with all her magic was style girls hair and help Evie make clothes.
Mal could see the cogs working in Jay’s eyes as his face remained schooled in a passive expression, “A little being wicked isn't bad as long as you don't blow it out of proportion,” she ceded knowing he wasn't sold on Auradon's goodness.
Jay shrugged indifferently, “So Penny what brings you back here to Auradon Prep?” he asked again having not actually gotten an answer the first time.
“There was a... misunderstanding at my old school. It was decided that its would be in everyone's best interest if I was not invited back after the coronation”
“If I heard correctly, there was something about trying to drown an older student,” Ben raised an eyebrow.
“I have no idea how she ended up on that air mattress in the middle of the lake” Penny shrugged, “And I mean she’s the Princess of an Island how does she not know how to swim?”
Jay and the others exchanged a curious look, “What's an air mattress?”
“So why is it such a bad thing? I mean it's just a mean joke right?” Mal asked glancing at Ben.
“It was, but it puts a strain on relations between different kingdoms,” Ben explained, “Yeah our parents all get along but in a few years it will be us that has to get along.”
“It will be you and them that have to get along,” Penny chimed in, “I just have to do what I’m told.”
“Cause you're so good at that” Ben snorted, “If there was an award for rule breaking it would be yours”
“Thank you” she nodded.
Jay snorted, “Sounds like you're definitely our kind of princess. We aren't always so good with the rule thing either.”
“We are still learning and getting better at it,” Mal protested, “I think you’ll be great Ben, it's what you're good at, being personable and likeable.”
“It's not just him, so mom told me that the class I mentioned earlier about princess slash royal etiquette well it was originally put in for you Mal,” Jane explained, “We all want to give you all the info you need to succeed as a queen. And if Evie’s going to take it too I’ll ask as well, then we could have little study groups and help each other.”
“Is she always this perky?” Penny asked looking at Jane.
“Yeah isn’t it great you can do anything and she’s got a good spin for it” Carlos sighed.
Mal stared at Jane, “Wait me? But I'm not a princess, and being a queen I don't, I don't think so.”
Jay snorted, “You're dating the crown Prince, the fancy princess class might be a part of the deal.”
Mal glowered at the Agrabahian boy, “Maybe you should go and take the class too.”
“Nope, I'm not royal in anyway shape or form. I’m just-”
“I told you never to use that word,” her eyes glowed for a beat before she pinched the bridge of her nose, “You are our Jay, that's all you’ll ever need to be.”
“Come on let's go dance” Jane smiled grabbing Carlos’ hand.
“Yeah sure” he nodded following after her.
“Shall we,” Ben offered Mal a hand.
“Sure,” Mal nodded taking his hand and letting him whisk her off to the dance floor, “Sorry about Jay. I don't know what's gotten into him today.”
“From my short experience with you guys, I’ve learned that Jay is just Jay and he’s gonna do what he wants,” Ben shrugged.
“That's a problem, because we are under a microscope here in Auradon. One mistake could send us back to the Isle,” Mal frowned slightly trying not to think about having to go back to the Marketplace and all those Villains who just watched her not destroy Ben like they wanted.
“I won't let that happen to you guys,” Ben assured, “I know its a learning curve.”
“I know you won’t but I still worry,” Mal bit her bottom lip, “I worry this is suddenly going to end.”
“Sometimes I worry that I’m going to wake up and you’ll be gone,” Ben swayed gently.
“I’m not going to disappear,” Mal smiled softly, “I’m never going to just vanish without saying something.”
“That’s reassuring, and if you don’t want to take that class I can talk to Fairy Godmother an figure it out”
“I don't think it's for me,” Mal shook her head, “I’m not really cut out for the princess thing.”
-*-
Jay sighed and passed Evie and Penny a thin smile, “Did you want to dance?”
“Sure no promises not to step on your feet though,” Penny nodded offering him a hand.
“I’m going to see if I can get a better look at some of the dresses” Evie told him before heading off.
Jay nodded and watched Evie slip away before taking Penny’s hand and guided her to the dance floor, “No worries I am pretty sure you’ll be just fine. To be honest I’m not much of a dancer, we didn't do much dancing like this on the Isle.”
“What is the Isle like?” she asked tilting her head to the side, “All we hear here is the bad stuff.”
Jay made a face, “Well it’s not Auradon. I mean it was hard, and demanding but it was home. Is home,” he frowned slightly, “But I don’t know how my dad would react if I had to go back. I know that didn’t answer your question but no one here really wants to know how it was there.”
“Its ok, sometimes it's hard to explain things,” she nodded taking his other hand.
“Sometimes it's very hard to explain things,” Jay agreed starting to dance with Penny, careful of her feet as they moved together, “So why exactly did you get sent back here? I mean it can’t have been that bad, I mean to me.” he was sure there was more to it.
“She cut half my hair off so I may have slipped a sleeping powder into her drink at dinner and then floated her out into the middle of the lake on an air mattress in the middle of the night.”
“Oh that’s nothing,” Jay snorted, “I’ve done way worse, even Carlos has done worse. But I guess that’s why people here act like you’ve done something bad,” he turned her slowly away from himself before pulling her back in.
“Like I said I had no idea she couldn’t swim,” she smiled, “I may have also called one of the headmistresses a cow... they completely over reacted.”
“That’s it, you just called her a cow. How is that a bad thing? I mean is that a bad thing here in Auradon?” Jay was confused because he had a litany of way worse things to call a person than cow.
“These people just don’t get it,” she nodded.
“I don’t get it,” Jay laughed with a wide smile, “I don’t get a lot of the stuff that goes on around here.”
“Then maybe we can figure it out together,” she suggested.
“You know I would like that,” Jay flashed her a white sultry smile, “You are much better company than the rest of the princesses here. I mean as long as you don't mind hanging around a street rat,” sure Mal hated that name but that's what his father called him more often than his own name.
“I definitely don’t mind you're better company then probably all the princes around here” she smirked.
“Maybe because I’m not a prince,” Jay whispered leaning closer to her, “I will just have to find a way to keep a princess like you entertained. Help you deal with your Audrey problems.”