HOOKED ↝ DESCENDANTS

[2]

"C'mon you two, we're going to be late." Krissy chided Rosalie and Ansel as the three of them wove through the crowds of students and faculty to find a spot for that day's pep rally, where the kingdom would get to see Ben, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos journey to the Isle of the Lost to retrieve the four new VKs that would be transferring to Auradon Prep.

While it had been months since her expedition onto the Isle, she admired their strength and willingness to return, to do what was right and begin giving more kids the chance at a new life here in Auradon. She could only hope their journey would be successful, without any of Uma's Pirates thrown into the mix, and they'd be back safely so Rosalie could finally meet the new VKs and help make their transition into their new life in Auradon as seamless as could be.

"Over here," Krissy said, leading them to a small opening at the front of the crowd near Chad, Audrey, and her grandmother, Queen Leah, who the three newcomers greeted respectfully with a small bow. Rosalie herself wasn't the biggest fan of the old queen, but remained cordial either way, out of respect for her and her kingdom, which held a fair relationship with Rosalie's home kingdom of Corona. Chad greeted Ansel with their usual secret handshake, and the spectators were instantly met with applause as Ben and Mal officially made their appearance, walking to the front of the stage sitting in the middle of the courtyard and greeting the crowd with regal and excited smiles.

"Bibbidi, bobbidi, one two, one two, can everybody hear me?" Fairy Godmother asked, the crowd being met with a small screech of feedback as she turned the microphone on, causing Rosalie to wince slightly, though she quickly shrugged it off.

"Thank you, Fairy Godmother." Ben said, taking the microphone from her outstretched hand. "What's up, Auradon?" Ben exclaimed into the mic, the cheers from the crowd rising throughout the surrounding courtyard as everyone greeted their king. "Thank you, thank you so much for coming out to welcome our new arrivals. They'll be here soon."

"Like we had a choice." Rosalie could hear Queen Leah murmur to Audrey, and when she glanced over in their direction, the disgusted look on the old queen's face was all too evident. Queen Leah made it no secret how much she despised anyone who came from the Isle of the Lost, Mal in particular, who ruined her granddaughter's relationship with Ben, who was still only a prince at the time.

"It worked out pretty well for the first four." Ben said, and Chad snickered from his place next to Ansel.

"Yeah, especially for you." He jeered, only stopping when Audrey brought a hand up, snapping the young prince back into silence, causing a small snicker to escape from Ansel's lips.

"Really funny," Audrey said sarcastically, never once meeting Chad's eyes, and Rosalie tried not to smirk, willing her eyes to move back to where Ben and Mal stood on the platform.

"Mal," Ben said, taking his girlfriend's hand. "This is the exact spot where we first met not so long ago. I feel like I've known you my whole life. But did I mention," he asked with a sweet smile, "that I'm in love with you?"

The crowd let out an aww as the sound of a guitar could be heard across the courtyard, and Rosalie looked over to see Doug playing, Evie, Carlos, and Jay standing near him, all watching Ben and Mal with hopeful grins, and they were slowly joined by Jane, Fairy Godmother, and Queen Belle and King Beast. Rosalie had heard whispers the other day with Krissy, Evie, and Carlos about the events that were about to take place, and she was all too anxious to see how Audrey would react to Ben asking Mal to marry him.

"I met this girl who rocked my world like it's never been rocked," Ben began to sing, twirling Mal around slowly as he serenaded her, his purple-haired girlfriend oblivious to what was taking place but going along with it nonetheless. "and now I'm living just for her and I won't ever stop. I never thought that it could happen to a guy like me, but now look at one you've done you've got me down on my knee." he finished the song slowly, kneeling down and pulling the ring box from his back pocket as Mal let out a small gasp, that seemed to reverberate about the whole of the kingdom of Auradon.