Once We are Descendants

Chapter 43: Family Tales

"Rumple, that may not be the best way to introduce yourself to your son from another realm," Belle says, examining the shocked look on the teenager's face.

"Way to scare the living daylights out of him, now he's not the only one who wishes he was adopted," Crystal mutters sarcastically after all the colour drains from Ben's face. In retaliation for this comment, Rumple's daughter gives him a kick in the bad leg under the table. The introduced Dark One grimaces in pain because of his daughter's attack and grinds his teeth to keep his rage in check.

Crystal was only nineteen, and while still technically a young, independent adult, she often acted like a moody teenager... hormones and all. He'd seen his grandson go through similarly poor mood swings and the rebellious teenage years; he was not looking forward to "said" years with Gideon. He had hoped that he'd bypassed the bad behaviours with Crystal, but her attitude and sarcasm towards him told a different story. He cannot imagine what Lillian Miller went through with their daughter in her early years; apparently, Crystal was the most difficult child that ever walked the Earth, behaving poorly and rebelling in every sense of the word. With the addition of undiscovered, dark, and unstable magic, teenage Crystal Lillian Miller was a force to be reckoned with. The father still had much to learn about parenting and trying to actually be comforting towards his children.

He'd battled many people, lived many centuries, discovered many secrets about darkness and magic, but he would never, ever be able to understand the female mind, no matter how many more centuries he lived. Additionally, he was in no hurry to figure it out either.

"I merely assumed that it was best to clear the air, so to speak. I'm telling this young man that I am far from what he would consider a role model or a hero."

"That is the understatement of the century," Crystal mutters to herself, pulling her hair up into a proper ponytail again. "I wouldn't trust you to hold my phone or feed my goldfish, thank god I don't have one of those things."

Both Mal and Ben are nervous about the imminent tension that seems to run through the family. Ben actually shifts away from Crystal and closer to Mal, unsure about how to react to all this.

"Can we please keep this conversation civil?" Belle asks, adjusting Gideon in her arms so he can go to sleep.

Both father and daughter look at one another before merely nodding and becoming silent.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Crystal apologizes to Ben. "But as you can tell, my... our dad is hardly the ideal."

"We noticed," Mal says as the drinks arrive at the tables.

The former couple stares at their milkshakes for a long moment, the memories of sharing the creamy concoction flashes in their minds. The glance at each other for a moment before thirst takes over and both sip on their milkshakes quietly.

Belle decides it's time for her to take over the conversation. "So, Ben... what would you like to know? You can ask us anything you'd like."

The King of Auradon swallows hard and glances at the people who are supposed to be his family. He stares into the soft blue eyes of Belle, she gives him a warm smile and brushes some of her brown curls from her face. He glances at the baby sleeping in her arms, how much he looked like his father. He then looks at the dark brown eyes of this "father figure" this Dark One. The teenager can see the age around his eyes and inside... he can tell that this person has seen a lot of things, endured countless hardships, and there is even a slight coldness in his face, although he tried to be soft and comforting. Could he actually see the literal entity of the Dark One inside this man? What kind of villain is he? How evil was he? What had he done to become this way?