Once We are Descendants

Chapter 21: Support Before Danger

After what felt like an eternity, Mal emerges from the bathroom to be met with the concerned expressions of her friends. Her eyes are bloodshot from crying and are glowing a rather dark green colour, indicating the heaviness of her mood. She wants to tell them to go away, but she knows that right now... she needs her friends more than anything. None of them say a thing, but she can feel their sympathy. Carlos gets up from the bed he was sitting on. He goes over and offers his arms to her. Without a second thought, Mal embraces her friend tightly. Slowly, the others get up and join the growing hug, to provide their friend with the support she desperately needs. They all stand, grouped together with their arms linked as if providing a way for Mal to remain standing on her feet.

Tears slide from her eyes again, happy to have the comfort, but still unbelievably devastated at what has happened. She thought she loved Ben and that he loved her. Their love had survived even the most desperate of circumstances, even managing to break a love spell, indicating true love, but... if this was true love, why was it so hard to stay together? They were so different, and it felt as though the universe wanted to keep them apart; something always came up that wrecked their feelings for one another. Whether it was lying or ultimately, the kingdom of Auradon itself... the world is tearing them in different directions. The daughter of Maleficent partially wants to go anywhere else, someplace where she wouldn't have these problems, where there was no kingdom, no Uma, no Isle, no pressures from teachers and most of all, no past that would come back to haunt her. No past, just a future. A happy future.

"It's okay Mal," Carlos whispers. He knew that nothing about this is okay, but he knew that all Mal needed right now is support, full support from those who love her; nothing more, nothing less to help mend her broken heart.

"We're here for you," Jay adds.

"Thank you," Mal sniffs. She is the first to break from the group hug. She looks at her friends earnestly and forces a weak smile on her face. The VKs and Auradon kids could still see the faint dull glow of her green eyes, indicating that she was having a hard time controlling her powers since they were heavily linked to her emotions. "Thank you, guys, ... I couldn't ask for better friends even if I tried."

She pauses when she realizes her best friend/sister is missing. "Where's Evie?"

"She... uh... went out for a little air. Seeing you hurt like that made her upset as well and she needed a breather too. She'll be back soon," Doug lies, thinking quickly. All the others in the group knew that if Mal found out Evie was trying to coax her and Ben into talking again, she'll just get mad and turn away from them, further isolating herself and leaving her even more heartbroken.

"I feel so bad for yelling at her," the purple-haired teen admits.

"Don't be," Jay says sympathetically. "She understands that you're hurt, and you didn't mean anything that you might've said. Even sisters get into fights sometimes."

Mal gives another weak smile as Dizzy wraps her arms around her friend very tightly. While the daughter of Drizella was obviously a hugger, the daughter of Maleficent appreciated the support given by everyone, not just the youngest VK. Once she and Dizzy break apart, Mal goes to her closet, she digs through until she finds an all too familiar duffle bag. She then opens the chest of drawers on her side of the room and begins to stuff clothes into it.

"Mal what are you doing?" Carlos asks, horrified.

"Packing, isn't it obvious?"

"Why are you packing?" Dizzy asks. She rushes over and attempts to grab the bag from her friend. She and Mal get into a sort of tug-of-war over the bag until Mal pulls it out of the VK's grasp.

"Because I'm probably going to be expelled soon," the brokenhearted girl says.

"You've been suspended, not expelled," Jay says. "There is a difference."

Mal tries to shove a couple purple outfits into her bag, but the minute she turns to grab more things, Dizzy takes the clothes out of the bag and puts them on Evie's bed, out of her friend's reach.

"I don't think you understand the concept of packing," Mal says, weakly smiling at Dizzy's attempt to keep her at Auradon. "It's going to happen guys. If they can't prove that Uma and her crew are behind all of this... I'm probably going to be expelled and I'll have to go home. Besides..." She swallows a large lump in her throat. "Ben probably won't want me in the kingdom now that we've broken up."

"You know he wouldn't do that," Jane says, she pulls out her phone, ready to call her mother. "Please Mal, just let me talk to my mom and tell her that this is just a big mistake I..."

"Thank you...Jane," Mal says, putting her hands on the screen of Jane's phone to stop her. "I appreciate the help, but I don't want to get anyone else in trouble."

"If it is Uma, then we have to do something to expose the truth," Jay says with determination.

"You can start with the smell on the hoodie," Dude says, from atop of Evie's bed. The entire group looks at the talking animal in confusion.

"What hoodie?" Dizzy asks.

"What do you mean?" Carlos asks.

"The hoodie that was in Mal's locker, it stunk of seawater and shrimp, definitely not the usual cinnamon and wilting petunias perfume that Mal usually wears..."

"Shrimpy..." the purple-haired teen hisses, hating to have to say the nickname she'd given her arch-rival all those years ago. Her eyes light up the typical green that comes with her anger.

"Yeah, I tried to tell you guys about it, but you wouldn't listen to me."

"Why didn't you try telling me at another time?" the son of Cruella De Vil asks, angry that his dog left out this important piece of information.

"You were all so caught up in your own problems that no one listens to the talking dog who has a superior sense of smell and obviously paid more attention to the evidence."

"Oh... I want to make her pay..." Mal grinds her teeth in anger.

Suddenly, Evie bursts into the room, panting and not even watching where she's going. She nearly runs headlong into Doug's chest, but stops, trying to gather herself. She looks flustered and confused, several tears streaming down her face.

"Whoa Evie, where's the fire?" Jay asks.

"...Ben...Uma... Harry... gone" she pants.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Doug says, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Take a deep breath."

Evie turns to her best friend. Mal sees the distress on her friend's face and she's afraid that this was from the yelling earlier, but then she can tell that the daughter of the Evil Queen is spooked, not sad.

"What's going on Evie?" Carlos asks.

With a shaking hand, Evie holds up the note scratched out on a frail piece of parchment paper before handing it to Mal. The two friends lock eyes for a moment, fear now filling Mal's stomach as well.

Evie then holds up the metal hook and the entire room goes deathly quiet, not all of them understood the meaning but they knew that it was not a good thing.

Mal looks down at the note, a new lump forms in her throat, almost afraid to see what the message was inside...