What Comes Next?

Chapter 3: Fire Within Me

*over on the isle...*
Harley's PoV:
         Tiffany's funeral had been bleak and short. We got the body back from Auradon after the barrier had gone back down. But, still not many villains came, not many cared. Plus, most had been too excited about attending the wedding of Evie and her dwarf. I had gone anyway, Tiffany had been one of my best friends after all. I had also gone to support Gabriella and Tinkerbelle.
           Besides me, they had been the most heartbroken. Tinkerbelle understood her death most and continued to move on with life while grieving over the loss of her daughter. Gabriella was a little harder to comfort though. I understood her feelings a bit more, but I wasn't as close to her. Plus, comforting people wasn't exactly my strong suit. She had been in love with her while Tiffany was only my friend. Honestly I wish there had been more I could have done.
Tinkerbelle shouldn't have had to burry her own daughter and we shouldn't have to continuously mourn our own while they continued to be happy and celebrate life. It wasn't fair. And honestly I don't think anyone was more upset about life than I. I mean sure, Uma had her issues. But, now she was over there making friends and being accepted and shit. While I, Harley twin sister of Auradon's beloved Queen stood here on the Isle!
Did she even know about me!? Obviously not! Or else I wouldn't be over here still hiding in the shadows. Even my mother and father were over there with my sister and her new friends and family! Sure, my mother had long since left me and basically forgotten me. But, my father had always been there for me in a way! Now both were leaving me behind? Just because of my sister's status and new position and power! No way! Nah, fuck this!
I had been upset when father left me to go walk her down the aisle and when he had not invited me. But, all of this was just my snapping point. I was done! I'm not even sure when my last straw had been pulled. But, I can say that was long ago and I was done. I deserved to be happy and shit! According to my father I had even been born first! So I deserved what she had! I deserved to be Queen... not that I really wanted to be, but still. Something would be nice!
I sat on the roof of the building which housed my father and I's underground home. I watched the land of princesses and princes. It was so bright and shiny. I felt the fire within me burn strong. It made my skin hot. I saw the tips of my blonde hair light in small blue flames. I had had enough. All that was left to do was figure out how I was going to get what I was rightfully owed.

Mal's PoV:
I'll tell you what...being pregnant was not that lovely walk in the park that Evie made it out to be. This shit was terrible and I was barely a month in.  Currently I was in my office across from Ben's. We left our doors open so that we could always see eachother. He actually had my office made up and decorated for me. It was all purple, black, and silver... perfect for me.
           I sat at my desk, not looking up at Ben across the way. I was furiously trying to figure out how to tell him about our child, instead of doing the paperwork a Queen should be doing. I had just gotten off the phone with Evie. She, Doug, and Daniel had made it to their destination. I wished her a good time and to keep me updated with details. But, I also wished that I had told her about the baby, so that I could ask her about how I should tell Ben... since Pinterest had been ZERO help.
            "Darling?" I looked up to see Ben in front of me, leaning against my door frame. He was wearing that smirk I loved so much.
"Yes my love?" I blinked rapidly and slammed my laptop shut. He looked at me curiously as he walked into my office.
         "Lumiere has been trying to get ahold of you. Apparently you have visitors." "Oh yeah, I uhhhhh took my phone off the line. It was getting on my nerves." I laughed as I put my desk phone back on the holder. He walked in and stood behind me. Ben bent down and kissed my head.
        "I told him to bring them up. You've been working so hard and I'm so proud of you." He began to rub my shoulders. I relaxed under his touch. Until I saw who was here to see me. Behind Lumiere were my parents. They were standing here in my office. With about 10 guards behind them...
         "That's alright Lumiere. We've got this. You and the guards may go." I assured them they could leave. "Are you sure your majesty?" One of the guards spoke up. I just nodded. "Yes. You may go." I spoke in a polite and gentle tone. "Yeah. You can go." My father spoke in a mocking tone. I rolled my eyes.
        "Alright. What do you two want? We are very busy." I sat straight in my chair. Ben stopped rubbing my shoulders but left his hands firmly on my shoulders. Probably to keep me seated. My parents moved to sit in the two lush silver chairs in front of my desk.
        "Well you said we could discuss it later. So we are here to talk about what we started to discuss yesterday... Are you sure you want him here?" My mother darted her glare towards Ben. "Well since he's my husband and YOUR King, yes I do believe I want him here. I also believe he should be present for whatever you have to say." I folded my hands neatly on my desk. I knew exactly what my parents wanted to discuss.
       And even though I wanted to run from the room and avoid this conversation, I still had to act like a Queen. A Queen who hadn't been doing any paperwork and taken her phone off the hook to avoid being disturbed....
  Ben gave my parents a quizzical look. "Why wouldn't I be here? If this involves the kingdom or Mal, I deserve to be present." My parents just rolled their eyes at Ben as my mother was the first to speak. "Well, as we tried to tell you at wedding Mal, you have a sister. A twin sister."
    "Yes and as I told you at the wedding, I highly doubt that. I knew everything that went on on the Isle, I'm fairly certain I would have known if I had a twin sister." This couldn't be happening, not now. I continued trying to wrap my brain around this as my father spoke.
    "There are many reasons you didn't know. We didn't think you needed to know. Secondly, each of us took one twin. Your mother took you, and I took your sister Harley. And since you never came to see me anyway, you never had to know about her. Also, your mother wasn't the greatest of parents, obviously. She was more focused on that stupid wand than raising you right, kinda, and telling you about your real family wasn't that big of a deal to her." I saw my mother raise an eyebrow at my father. This very easily could come to a blow, which we definitely didn't need at the moment.
       Ben stepped in to try and calm the situation. "So why are you telling us this now? You've had ample time to tell Mal about this but you've waited until she was crowned Queen to tell her?" He brought up a very good point. Why had my parents waited SO long to tell me this? Whatever the reason was, I needed this conversation to be over and fast. I felt like I was going to sick again and I really didn't need three people questioning me right now.
       My parents again exchanged glances and it was my father who spoke. "Well, we are telling you now because trouble may be brewing. The entire Isle now knows you are Queen and they know that you all were involved in Tiffany's death. Harley was close with Tiffany so there is a chance that she is going to cause you some sort of trouble. She's dangerous and you needed to know."
      Did my parents really think we couldn't handle this? We had handled my mother, the threat of Uma, the internal threat of Audrey and now we had dealt with Tiffany. I was fairly certain we could handle my twin sister, even if I was pregnant....
  I was going to be sick again. I needed my parents out of here and fast. Ben must have sensed my anxiety because he spoke up. "Hades, Maleficent, with all due respect we've handled all manners of threats that have been thrown at this kingdom. We can handle this newly discovered twin sister. You have nothing to worry about. Now, I appreciate you bringing this to our attention, but we are very busy. If you'll excuse us."
       My parents rose to leave but before they exited my office, my father spoke one last time. "Don't underestimate her my dear. Being slighted for as long as she has been, has a way of amplifying evil. Don't be too overconfident." And with that my parents exited the room, once again flanked by many guards.
  I slumped back in my chair and breathed a sigh of relief. My parents seemed overly concerned for some reason. But, I couldn't focus on that right now. I had MUCH more important things to worry about. Like how to tell Ben that I was pregnant.... then we could focus on this possible twin of mine... Gosh wait until I tell E about her, she'll get a kick out of it.

Harley's PoV:
Darkness had fallen all around me and settled on the Isle. It was always darker over here than it seemed to be in Auradon. And I hadn't been over there yet to witness it for myself... not yet at least. That would all be changing soon enough.
I had spent the day avoiding everyone, after the funeral. I know that everyone needed to grieve in their own way. Honestly I had spent all day on the roof where I had been earlier. It was my quiet place. I watched over the shiny city, thinking about how I would go about things. I had to be careful and my timing had to be precise with everything. It would all start with a trip to Curl Up and Dye for a touch up on my tips, perhaps lavender this time? I smiled a wicked Cheshire Cat like grin.
After that visit, I needed to pay a visit to Gabriella, at Hell Hall. She would definitely want to be involved in all of this. And I had the perfect part for her to play...

Mal's Office:

Harley (just imagine with blue then lavender tips in her hair):