𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

TWENTY-ONE.

Thunder shook the castle as green smoke burst in through the ceiling. Ruby instinctively pulled Ben behind her as she faced the cloud of smoke traveling down to stand in front of them. The smoke cleared, revealing an ecstatic looking Maleficent.

Now that Ben realized what that smoke had been, he grabbed a hold of Ruby, his frame towering over hers protectively as he allowed her to keep standing in front of him. Ruby still held the wand, keeping it close to her side, between her and Ben to protect it.

"I'm back!" Maleficent jeered.

"Go away, Mother." Mal took a stand next to Ruby. She had made her decision, they all had, and her mother would not stand in the way of it any longer.

Maleficent laughed, not taking her daughter seriously one bit. Frankly, she never had. "You're funny. Very funny." The evil fairy then turned to the redhead, having long since clocked the wand in her hands. "Wand me, chop, chop!"

"No." Ben pulled Ruby closer towards him, an arm stretched in front of her. Maleficent only stared Ruby down, not minding the new King. Ruby raised the wand and tossed right over Maleficent's head towards the Fairy Godmother, who caught it.

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi—"

"Boo," Maleficent cut her off, raising her scepter and freezing everyone except the kids from the Isle. The villain started mocking the frozen Adam and Fairy Godmother, but all Ruby had eyes for was Ben, who stood frozen as he protected her. She stepped out of his stiff embrace and cupped his cheek.

"Ben..." She whispered softly. A hand grabbed her free one and Ruby looked behind her to see Evie give a sympathetic look, squeezing her hand reassuringly. Everything would be okay, her eyes promised. Evie then looked towards Maleficent, whose taunts had finally come to an end, and who was now watching the five kids. Ruby looked up as well and her eyes met the poisonous green ones of the evil fairy.

Maleficent tutted. "Oh dear, oh dear. Someone's mother is going to be lethal when she finds out about this. Love, darling? That's weak. Pathetic. It's not what you want, trust me. So, let's start by getting rid of this." Maleficent used the wand to pull Ben's ring off of Ruby's thumb. "Much better. See?"

Ruby was glaring, something flashing in her eyes that made her look feral, dangerous.

"Leave her alone, Mom!" Mal stood beside her best friend, her eyes holding a slight green glow. Side by side, the two teens looked lethal.

"Oh, sweetie, you know I'm right. None of you want this." Maleficent gestured around her with the wand at all the decorations and royalty. "The sooner you realize that the better."

"No, mother, we won't. We're not like you!"

"Obviously. I've had years and years and years of practice being evil. You'll get there."

"No. I will not." Mal shook her head and Ruby noticed the emotion in her voice. Mal was upset, which made Ruby square her shoulders as her death stare remained fixed on her friend's mother. "And I really wish you had never gotten there yourself."

Mal looked beside her at Ruby, who had pulled up her walls again, but was noticeably shielding Ben. She then looked over her shoulder at Rachelle, who was frozen with her mouth open in horror, as if a shriek had just died on her lips. And yet she still looked beautiful. Mal's expression hardened as she looked back at her mother.

"Love is not weak. Or ridiculous. It's actually really amazing."

"I know one thing, young lady," Maleficent's tone was dangerously low. "You have no room for love in your life!"

Mal glowered at her mother before raising a hand, "And now I command, wand to my hand." Maleficent struggled with the wand for a moment, but it managed to wrestle its way out of her hand and into Mal's. "It worked."