tradition and excellence

Mallory hesitated as he spoke what she had been fearing since she took the wand.  That her mother had been using her desire to reach out to her mother, to get to know her, against her.  She wanted desperately to believe that her mother had the capacity for good, too.  But Ben was right, Maleficent would no doubt want revenge for everything that had happened these last twenty years.

Slowly, Mal’s hand that had the wand fell to her side.  “I want to listen to my heart, too,” she said quietly.  “And I am not her.”

@choosegccd liked for a D2 starter

Mal’s eyes widened when she realized the connection.  “Right… yeah.  Youngest son, actually.  There’s Gaston Junior and Gaston the third as well.”  Did that make it worse?  “But those two are far more concerned with how muscular and how they look to worry about starting anything.”  Did Gaston make Gil think he had something to prove?  It was the only thing that made sense.

Mal rolled her eyes.  “He must be desperate to have someone order him around if he’s just here.  He was always a pushover before, I doubt that’s changed.”

And that’s when she had an idea.  She cleared her throat.  She knew Harry’s voice well enough that she could mimic it in her sleep.  One of the perks of him having a not so secret crush on her, wasn’t it?  “Gil, get in here,” she called out, her voice eerily like Harry’s.  “Get in here or I’ll tell Uma you’ve been calling her Shrimpy again.”  She had no idea whether that was something that he had an issue with or not, but she knew Uma hated the nickname.

Of course, it got his attention, and he ran right past them, as if they hadn’t even been there in their half-hiding state.  Mal walked quietly behind him, and knocked him out with the bud of her sword like she had with Harry.  She went back to Ben.  “Did your mom ever mention how stupid Gaston was?  Because I’m pretty sure it’s a genetic disease for them.”

@bettergrabablazer

Mal supposed this was what she deserved for running off to the Isle of the Lost on her own after Ben and her fight.  What she deserved for all of the horrible stuff she had done to people on this isle while growing up.  But she never thought that someone would actually stab her because of it.  No doubt whatever dagger was used with it was beyond rusty.  She knew she had to get out of here, get back to Auradon as soon as possible, but she couldn’t find the strength to push herself up off the slab she had slid onto, as she tried to put pressure onto the wound to keep herself from bleeding out.

Mal had nearly allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness when her head turned toward where she came from and she saw a figure.  At first, she couldn’t tell who it was, but then she realized she knew that blue.  It was definitely a bit more… Isle-y, but it was definitely the royal blue that Ben tended to wear.  Mal blinked several times, forcing herself to make out more details of the person.  Was she hallucinating?  Or was Ben really there?

“Ben?” she called out uncertainly. After their fight, she felt sure she’d never see him again.  There was no way he’d be stupid enough to follower her in here… would he?

@bettergrabablazer​ from here .

          ❝   ben ,   i know   . it’s mine ,   ❞   mal sighs . she shouldn’t have slipped away   —   of course , her friends would’ve worried .   always thinking about herself   .   &   then ben   &   her friends only got hurt   &   uma almost destroyed all of auradon , because of   HER   . lady of the court more like lady of   disaster   . all she wanted was to help the kids stuck on the isle , but probably only made it worse .

          she places a hand on ben’s for reassurance ,   ❝   &   i’m definitely not mad at you . i’m sorry , for everything .   ❞

[ @bettergrabablazer liked for a starter ]

“You look a lot scrawnier in person. Gil said as looked the other boy up and down. “I guess they were right. The Tv does add a couple pounds huh? or was it the camera?”

Mal turned the corner, but, a moment later, she was back on their side, hiding behind the wall.  “What the hell is Gil doing on a pirate ship?” she all but mumbled.  Now, that was a clash of stories that just seemed even more stupid than the pirates they were meant to be fighting.  Had she really been gone that long?

She looked back to Ben, then peaked out the way out again.  Gil seemed utterly confused, as if he was just waiting for Harry to return to him or something so they could go topside.  She got the distinct feeling he wasn’t very good on the water.  At least she wasn’t the only one.

Mallory backed up a step when she saw him stepping closer to her.  She was feeling far more cornered than she wanted to be.  “And… and what if all she wants is to be with her daughter?  What if she doesn’t want to destroy?”  Like she made her think over there.  Was she the only person that could possibly believe that Maleficent could change because of something like this?  Or was she being far too naive for her own good?  She couldn’t tell right now.  

She looked over to Ben when he said that she was good.  “How do you know that?” Could he tell how much she had been thinking about all of this, what being Maleficent’s daughter made her, how people would see her once the news came out, what he must be thinking about all of this.  Everything.  Could he tell that she had hardly slept since that day they went to the Isle?

Mallory watched them for a few seconds and her eyes widened in surprise, and perhaps slight anxiety.  “They’re wearing dragon pendants.  How many people could turn into dragons here?  Two?”  That sounded about right.  Madam Mim and Maleficent… She doubted Madam Mim cared who came and left the Isle.  Which left her mother.

Now that she was facing what was undoubtedly her mother’s goons, she suddenly felt a whole less sure about this idea of hers, going to go see Maleficent.  She was trying to keep a brave face, but she figured that Ben would realize she was having second thoughts now that these goons were there.

Mal smiled, a more of a nice smile when she heard Ben say that they might be able to do this.  It felt good to hear him confident about this.  “Okay, just… keep in mind that these are pirates and not, you know, sparring partners on a team.  They’re not afraid to cheat, and they’re not afraid to kill, so… make sure you’re on your guard.”

She walked over to the door, but she didn’t open it.  She was still looking at Ben, trying to make sure he was ready, and that he was well aware of the dangers that would face them on the other end.  She needed him to be able to protect himself for his life instead of simply thinking these people would play the same in his sparring partners.  He needed to fight like he’s never fought before in his life.

Mallory hesitated for several seconds.  She felt like she needed to do something to help her mother, to get to know her.  “Do you blame her for being angry?”  She took a deep breath, trying to clear her head.  She didn’t want to destroy things, she just wanted to get to know her mother.  That was what she had thought this had been about.  But… what if it was?  “I want to be good,” she said quietly.

Mal hesitated when Ben asked what to say.  “No idea,” she said quietly.  “I never thought to ask Evie on how to actually talk to someone on the Isle.”  She imagined that she could hardly be blamed for that, either.  It’s not like anyone in Auradon really thinks they’d ever end up over here.  In Auradon all the kids from the Isle have been doing their best to blend in, after all.  “She just said the nastier the personality, the more people left you alone.”

She watched as the two people kept walking closer, and she tried her best to contort her face into a nasty look.  The most she likely got was a slightly angry look.  As they approached, an interesting thought crossed her head.  “You know, they don’t really look like villains themselves.  More like goons.”

A rather scary thought crossed her mind at that thought.  Did Maleficent already know she was here?