Not That Evil

Chapter Twenty Six

Ooh, last chapter! The final confrontation between Hera and the Queen of Hearts is about to go down! What's going to happen?
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"Child, what are you doing?" Fairy Godmother reached out in attempt to wrestle her wand from Jane's hands. Everyone watched in awe as the scene unfolded.
"If you won't make me beautiful, I'll do it myself." The wand was clearly more than she could control, but Jane kept a firm death grip on her mother's wand. "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!" Another beam shot out to another random location.
"Take cover," Ben's father cried. Ben grabbed Mal and tried to usher her away from Jane, but Mal broke free from his grip and managed to rip the wand from Jane. Everyone stepped back as Mal pointed the wand out in defense, tears forming in her green eyes. I raced up to stand behind her, and I looked up to the balcony to see Evie, Jay, and Carlos rush from their seats. Ben faced us and held out his trembling arm.
"Mal, give me the wand." Evie, Jay, and Carlos emerged from the entry way, but stayed a good distance behind.
"Stand back!" I cried. Jon joined his brother.
"It's okay." Ben attempted to approach us, but Mal shouted louder than I had.
"Ben, I said stand back!"
"You really want to do this?"
"We have no choice, Jon." Tears began welling in my eyes, too. "Our parents-"
"Your parents made their choice. Now you make yours." I looked at Jon, whose eyes looked broken and hurt. I remembered everything I had enjoyed here: classes and being with my friends, meeting Aline and standing up for others. I feared my mother, but there were so many better things I could do if I was good.
"I think I want to be good." Everyone looked at me in awe.
"You are good."
"How do you know that?"
"I told you: because I'm listening to my heart."
"I want to listen to my heart too," Mal squeaked out. The other three came and stood up on the platform with us, "and my heart is telling me that we are not our parents." She turned to Jay. "I mean, stealing things doesn't make you happy. Tourney and victory pizza with the team makes you happy."
"Yeah."
"And you..." I turned to face Carlos, who stepped closer to me. "...scratching Dude's belly makes you happy. Who would've thought?"
"And Evie... you do not have to play dumb to get a guy. You are so smart. And I don't want to take over the world with evil. It doesn't make me happy. I want to go to school, and be with Ben, because Ben makes me really happy. Us being friends makes me really happy. Not destroying things. I choose good, you guys."
"I choose good, too"
"I choose good."
"There's not a doubt in my mind. I choose good."
"Just to be clear, we're don't have to worry about how really mad our parents will be? Because they're going to be really, really mad."
"Your parents can't reach you here," Fairy Godmother reassured Jay.
"Okay then. Good."
"Come on." Before we could do anything else, an all-too-familiar cackle filled the room. The windows shattered and through them burst Maleficent and my mother: the dynamic duo. Everyone screamed or gasped as they approached us.
"We're back!"
"It can't be..."
"Go away, mother!" Mal shouted.
"She's funny."
"She means it!" I practically screeched. My mother looked at me with burning eyes, and only now did I notice how black and soulless they were.
"Oh!"
"I'm so... you're very funny," Maleficent deadpanned. "Here, wand me. Chop chop."
"No!" Mal raised the wand. "Bibbidi-bobbidi-"
"-Boo!" The whole world, with the exception of the five of us and the two parents, froze the minute Maleficent slammed down her staff.
"Psych!" She eyed Ben's father and smirked.
"Ooh... ooh, in another time, in another time." Mal's mother began singing to herself.
"Evil like me, don't you want to be mean..." My mother crashed into a pillar on accident, not paying attention to what she was doing.
"Ow!"
"Oh. Oh, no. Someone needs to pluck their nose hairs." Mal's mom used her staff to poke at Fairy Godmother's nose. My mother's laugh sent a shudder down my spine. "Where shall we begin?"
"Oh, I know. Why don't we start by getting rid of this?" My mother plucked the want from Mal's hands and handed it to Maleficent, who cackled evilly.
"Perfect fit." Maleficent wove her way through the frozen people.
"Oh, excuse me, pardon me, excuse me. The horns, the horns." As Maleficent and my mother got closer, I grabbed onto Carlos' hand, and Mal stood her defense on Ben, not wanting her mom to touch the prince. Both mothers took notice, but of course, my mother had to call me out on my feelings.
"Aw...falling in love is weak... and ridiculous. It's not what you want."
"You don't know what I want," I barked. "Mom, have you ever once asked me what I want? I'm not you!"
"Oh, obviously."
"I've had years and years and... years of practice being evil," Maleficent cut in. "You'll get there."
"No I will not!" Mal fought back. "And I really wish you had never gotten there yourself!"
"Love is not weak or ridiculous!"
"It's actually really amazing!" My mother marched over and pried my hand away from Carlos', then grabbed me by the neck and held me close to her face. Her grip wasn't strangling me, but the distance between us was threatening.
"I know one thing, young lady: you have no room for love in your life," she growled.
"And now, I command wand to my hand!" Mal stuck out her hand and the shimmering stick flew from her mother to her, as if the wand had a magnet and Mal was metal. "Ha! It worked!"
"I hardly think so. Frankly this is tedious and very immature. Give me the wand." Mal tightened her grip. "Give me the wand!"
"Hold on, Mal." I looked over to see Carlos step forwards. "Maybe good really is more powerful than evil."
"Oh please, you're killing me. Arf!" Clearly the bark was meant to intimidate Carlos, but all it really did was summon Dude, who jumped on Maleficent and began viciously licking her face. "Oh! Oh the breath! The breath! Get off me!" Maleficent let the dog down, not focusing on the five children. Jay seized the opportunity and lunched forwards, attempting to break Maleficent's staff. However, the woman caught him, and rendered him useless with her magic. She put a hand on his arm, then paused for a moment to feel his muscles. "Ooh, Gaston should be jealous." With a mere flick, she knocked him to the ground.
"Way to go, Hercules," I scoffed.
"Enough! You all will regret this!" A black fog enveloped the threatening woman, and green shimmered from within it. When she emerged, Maleficent had turned into the large and threatening dragon she had become in the stories from years ago. She spat fire at Jay, who quickly rolled and hid behind a pillar. However, Maleficent was persistent, and kept chasing after him. I broke free from my mother's grip and knocked her to the ground, then joined the others, who were running for cover.
"Hurry, Jay!" I cried. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
"Jay!"
"Watch Jay!"
"Jay, come on! Please, Jay! Jay!" He reached us just in time and joined the barrier. Evie stepped forwards and held out her mini-magic mirror.
"Magic mirror, show your bright light!" A bright white beam shot out from the tiny pieces of glass, blinding Maleficent and knocking her to the ground.
"Mal, can I borrow the wand for a second?" We both looked over at my mom, who was beginning to draw out the sword she kept with her. Mal handed it to me and I used the magic to summon one of my own.
"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!" A large steel sword appeared in my hand, and I gave the wand back to Mal. I shoved past everyone and ducked beneath the dragon, approaching my mother. She smirked and me and ran her fingers along her sword.
"Do you really want to do this, sweetheart? We know who will win."
"I'm defending everyone. I'd do this even if I knew I would die." I took the first swing and sliced off a piece of my mother's dress. She lunged and me and we began fighting, while I listened to the conversation between Mal and her mother.
"Leave my friends alone!" The purple haired girl cried. I blocked an incoming attack and slashed again, this time missing. "This is between you and me, mother." I rolled to dodge another attack and managed to slice her arm when I came back up. My mother only paused for a second, then lunged at me once again. But fury, anger, and pain now blinded her, leaving me with the advantage. "The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before five hearts of one." I landed another blow, this one to her leg. My mother was beginning to slow down. "The strength of evil is good as none when stands before five hearts of one. The strength of evil is good as none when stands before five hearts as one!" I knocked the sword out of my mother's hand and used both of them to pin her against the wall, cold steel just surrounding her neck. The dragon let out a loud screech and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Everything became bright again, and Fairy Godmother began moving again. Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos raced up to her, but were stopped in their tracks by something on the floor.
"What just happened?"
"I have no idea."
"Did you do it?"
"I don't know." Fairy Godmother raced over to them.
"No, no, no, no, your mother did. She shrank to the size of the love in her heart. That's why it's so itty-bitty." I looked over to see a small lizard on the floor. Mal and Fairy Godmother crouched down.
"Is she going to be like that forever?"
"Well, forever is a long time. You learned to love, so can she."
"This is touching and all, but I have a much more threatening problem over here, so if someone could help me, it'd be much appreciated." Two guards raced up to me and I removed the swords restraining my mother so that they could grab her. I looked her right in her eyes and smirked.
"What's that thing you're always saying, mother? Oh right! Off with your head." I walked over to meet my friends and they smiled at me. Mal handed the wand to Fairy Godmother.
"I believe this belongs to you." Fairy Godmother reached down to pick up a small ring.
"And I believe this belongs to you." Mal slipped on the ring and the two of them stood up. "You all have earned yourselves an 'A' in Goodness Class." We all chuckled and Fairy Godmother used the last of her magic to free everyone else.
"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!" A roar escaped from Ben as he raced forwards. Mal stopped him with her hands and he looked around in confusion.
"Oh, okay, okay. We kind of got this all wrapped up here." The boy looked at Mal for a moment, then picked her up and spun her around once.
"Next time I rescue you, okay?"
"Yeah, let's not let there be a next time." They hugged each other, then Mal tilted Ben's crown slightly. They both chuckled, and she looked over to her left.
"I will be right back."
"I love you," Fairy Godmother wagged her wand at Jane, "but you are on a major time-out."
"Don't be too hard on Jane." Mal rested her hand on the mother's shoulder. "I was the one who put all that crazy stuff in her head." She took Jane's hand. "You are beautiful. Inside and out. Your mom got that right."
"I guess I did get pretty lucky in the mom department."
"Yeah, I guess so." Jane and her mother walked away, revealing Audrey standing in front of Mal. I tensed up at first, until I saw the genuine smile on Audrey's face. Mal curtsied and they both laughed. I noticed someone placing a glass case over Mal's lizard-mom and motioned to them, getting her to notice.
"Hey! Careful. That's my mom." Everyone laughed and the man bowed, then walked away in embarrassment. Mal walked over to the rest of us.
"All right!" Jay broke the silence of the group. "Let's get this party started." I noticed Jon smiling at us, and I broke free from the group.
"You guys go ahead. I'll be with you guys in a moment." I walked over and smiled at him.
"You just impressed me all over again." I laughed. "Carlos is really lucky.
"Thanks, and I'm sure whoever chooses you will be even more lucky. And I'm sure you'll make a great king one day." We both hugged, and I turned to leave, but was stopped by Aria, wearing a long, sparkling, green dress.
"Hera... I'm really sorry about everything I said to you. I was just jealous of how much attention you got. I... feel really bad. And I feel even worse that I made Aline kill herself. Can you... ever forgive me?"
"Aria, I can't completely forgive you... but how about we start over as neutral people who have just met?"
"Yeah, sure." I stuck out my hand.
"I'm Hera."
"Nice to meet you, Hera. My name's Aria."
"Likewise." We both broke out into a fit of giggles.

I sat on the bench, looking up at the sky, filled with fireworks. I had changed into a red, strapless dress with bows on one shoulder and the bottom of the skirt part, which jutted out on its own. A sigh escaped my lips, when Carlos sat down next to me.
"Hey, Hera."
"Hello, Carlos."
"Jon told me about what you said on the carriage."
"You're going to have to be more specific. I said a lot of things in the carriage." We both laughed, and he wrapped an arm around my bare shoulders.
"That you chose me over him."
"Oh yeah... that..." My cheeks turned a deep red.
"Did you mean that?"
"Well of course."
"I... I'd choose you too." I looked at him and smiled. I leaned in and kissed his lips quickly, then smiled at him.
"Sorry..."
"Don't apologize for that, Hera." We both beamed.
"Would you like to go dance?" He took my hand and we both stood up.
"Sure." We walked over to where everyone else was dancing. I glanced over at Mal, who winked at me, and I smirked. Her eyes glowed just a bit, and I turned back to Carlos and nodded. He knew what I meant.
You didn't think this was the end of the story, did you?