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"I HAVEN'T been here in years," Mal breath as out she tossed her bag on the VK's hideout floor.

The VK's hideout was a place Mal, Jay, Evie and Carlos used to spend time away from their parents, plus whenever they were planning mischief. However, they mostly used it as a secret lair.

The negative memories came with a cost, as addictive as they felt, once lessons are learnt there will nothing in them of value. The positive memories came as a friend with a picnic basket, they are good and nourishing, supportive and kind.

In one of the corners, she can't remember which, she made Carlos cry. In another corner, she told Jay to piss off when he tried offering her words of encouragement near the doorway, she had the tingling feeling every wall, every art piece, every trash bag, every broken can, every stolen item, will bring unwanted memories.

But she was prepared.

This was what Mal wanted; what she needed. Confronting the issue is one thing, but handling it is another.

Mal was truly a coward deep inside. She cowardly stepped away from the end of the tunnel, fearing ever reaching her hand through the abyss and being snatched.

"Ahhhhh!!!" Mal screamed into the couch. Why did life have to be this way? She wanted to be Evie - carefree with no haunting memories; happiness being the only emotion she's ever felt. Evie lived in a royal castle. She was born idolized, born with an understanding, loving mother. She grew up pinned against Mal and yet Mal didn't coward away from forgiving her.

She loved Evie - she was the best person to enter her life. So... why was it sometimes hard to feel happy for her during moments like these? When she was alone and self-reflecting. Why was it so hard to accept Evie lived the life she wanted?

Mal wasn't able to give herself that life. Evie never had worries; she never had internalized conflicting thoughts. She had a listening boyfriend and appreciative clients. Mal was sure that even Audrey loved a bit of her, while she simultaneously hated Mal.

Evie didn't have a King. She had some dopey boy who would give up his entire life for her, not that he really had one. Her relationship was not in shambles, she was not brushed off for strangers nor expected to change herself for said strangers. Doug would throw himself off a cliff before he allowed Evie to drive down that road of self-deprecating insecurity.

Mal was the one with a King. She was the one that lived in a castle and dined with princesses across the world.

And yet here Mal was, the biggest shamble of them all. While Evie remained the fairest.

What was this? Mal could admit the feeling of jealousy towards the blue-haired girl's stylish, perfect life crept in during her breakdowns before, but it was never this intense.

Jealousy was often an expression of insecurity and thus its fixing requires internal reflection and addressing matters of self esteem.

She looked at her Uma painting with the x crossed over it. A sneer appeared on her face followed up behind a guilty sigh as her mind went back to Evie.

No matter how self-aware Mal gets, there will always be an underlying problem.

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The anxiety in Carlos was like being hooked up to a cattle fence - not enough voltage to kill but sufficient to keep things uncomfortable.

"We need to find Mal, get her, and come back," Jay commented, feeling the thick guilt in the atmosphere.

Evie wanted her best friend, but she was afraid of going back there.

Carlos wanted his friend, but he was afraid of his mother.

Jay wanted his sister, but he was worried about the state of the other 2.

Jay can handle going back to the Isle. He's not afraid of his father anymore, he's not afraid of their parents anymore.

Fear came as crashing waves, those of a winter beach rather than with any warmth. It came as a chill that went to the core of who Jay was and it snarled that he should cower. So Jay learned how to swim in the ice and live in that salty water with his own bravery as a furnace.

For that is what being brave did for him, it gave him the strength to conquer fear and accept his pains as lessons he needed to master. It was a choice to walk through hell to find his heaven or remain in some half-life of neither for eternity. Jay chose to walk. That's brave.

He's proud of his choice.

"I'll talk to her-" before Ben could finish the sentence, a shriek covered up as an laugh escaped Belle's mouth.

Her son.. her baby.. was planning on stepping a foot on the Isle? And did he expect her to allow this? Don't get Belle wrong, she... likes.. Mal; pretty girl, treated him well, clearly wasn't fit for the royal life but she won't get into that, but she wasn't worth Ben risking his life for.

Evie side-eyed him. She didn't want him going anywhere near Mal. After all the hurt he caused her.. then again, she was the one to talk. Guilt fractured her soul as she squatted back in the office chair, feeling the tears coming back up.

"Mom, Mal is my girlfriend. I need to be there for her. I wasn't before because you and dad- ... I need to make it up to her. She's over there in huge danger. She could get robbed, or killed, or captured. Her mother is a reptile now - she's an easy target-"

"Son," King Beast took off his glasses and rubbed them on the cloth of his tailored suit, "This is a job for the Villains-" ahem. "- for her friends. As a King you'll have to understand your people always comes first."

An offended scoffed escaped Belle's mouth.

"But what about my peoples queen? I love Mal, dad. And I'm not sitting here while she's possibly in agony-"

"Enough!" Evie screamed.

Their eyes fell on the blue-haired girl. She stood there with both hands on her hips, irritation covered her once anxious-filled facial features. The people in this room wasting all their time talking wasn't helping. She agreed that Ben should stay here, maybe if she was unaware of all that was happening between them than she'd want him to come along. But Evie was going to be selfish and focus on saving and her apologizing to her best friend before him.

She missed her naive days, the days were the only emotion she ever knew was satisfaction. She was satisfied with her life on the Isle.. in her earlier years. Her mother molded her into a barbie doll. She grew up being taught how to correctly dress, act, speak, sleep sit, present herself, even an correct way on how to yawn and raise her arm. Her princess act on the Isle landed a target on her back as they all started growing up.. even by Mal.

She never got why Mal didn't like her, then it was understandable that Mal probably wanted the mother Evie had. But Evil Queen wasn't perfect. She hit Evie at times when she messed up on the strut, she refused to feed her whenever she cried while getting her hair brushed, she even threatened to throw in the water with Captain Hook's Tic Toc if she continued putting her arm down from tiredness.

Her and Mal barely knew anything about each other now that she thought over it. An overwhelming feeling of courage got into her. She wanted to make things right once and for all with her. She didn't need any distractions.

"We're going back to get Mal. We don't want to use the idea of sending her a letter - she'll rip it..."

Carlos leaned against the wall, a feeling of relief hitting him. Evie seemed more confident now. He checked over to Jay who had his eyes on the ground listening to everyone. Jay's eyes met Carlos' as a smirk appeared on both of their faces.

When Evie took charge, the mission never failed.

"... And you aren't coming, Ben."

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Mal left out their secret passage, deciding to step away from her overthinking. Mal wondered if beneath the mud of the Isle was there a person who, but for a wash and a comb, was exactly the same as her. A dirty appearance is only a statement of need, a sign of what kind of care is required, a reason to feel real empathy.

Her hands squeezed her spray bottles as she noticed the poster of her and Ben. They crossed out Ben's face and scribbled the words traitor on hers - it made her breath hitch. So.. the Isle people hated her now.

But why? She was only doing what any normal kid here did - bully one another. Surely they can't be mad because they were chosen to go to Auradon. Mal didn't want to go in the first place. Her life there turned into a living hell. And Audrey claimed Mal's ruined hers. Mal felt it was the other way around.

Okay, maybe she did ruin her life a bit. She did drug her excepted soon-to-be husband and was later chosen to be Lady of the Court, another position that should've been Audrey's. Thinking about it, Audrey and Ben had their entire lives planned out together. For precisely 16 years at that.

And in comes Mal, ruining it all in just less than one month. Audrey can't blame her for that - it was clear from the jump Ben was attracted to her. A part of Mal wished he wasn't. Their relationship.. was not healthy. It wasn't healthy for her; and it's not for him.

That's why she made the move of stepping away.

She wondered if she was still feared - did kids and fellow peers still cower beneath her? Remembering the type of power she held over the Isle made her giggle a little. A quick hand slapped over her mouth.

Giggling on the Isle was asking for trouble.

"Hand it over, tyke," said a voice belonging to an accent that had such a playful tune, as if he were the star of his own movie.

Was she not paying attention? She was too busy being lost in her thoughts.

"You must want to hand over your life if you're even thinking about touching me,"

Mal recognized that sassy, playful-threatening attitude. Mal peeked at the back of the said "tyke's" head. The girl had the kind of hair you could sculpt, hair with a natural God-given bounce, born to be worn loud and proud.

Another Isle rule slipped her mind as she felt two pair of hands slide in her jacket pocket and another try and steal her spray can bottles.

Mal pushed all three kids off her, her eyes turned to the hue of new spring growth, bright and hard all at once. There were flecks of strength, of the kind of green that comes only as summer advances.

"Don't forget I stuck molded lollipops in your ears for fun!" she snapped at them as they ran away in fear.

Okay, so their minds were intoxicated enough to think Mal turned soft and could be robbed. She's going to have to gain her status back while she works on herself.

Coming across some mud on the ground, Mal's mood lit up. The mud was a symphony of rich and sweet browns, each of them brought to new strength by the recent rain.

Growing up Mal had deep loved for mud. "It's not an Isle thing, it's a Mal thing." Evie always said to bystanding kids.

Which that was true. Mal just enjoyed mud, she loved getting messy and running across the alley walls to leave mud splats. Once those dried she normally went home to the hideout to get her paint equipment and would later come back to add on. But at times, and by at times she remembered most times, Maleficent stopped her dead in her tracks.

Those same horns appeared in her doorway, glowing eyes threatening the livehood of Mal's pure existence. She was never pleased seeing her daughter doing other stuff not related to tormenting her peers on the Isle. And Mal would be lying to herself if she said past her didn't enjoy it.

Maybe it's because she was so weak against her mother so she felt powerful amongst them.

Her mouth slowly dropped opened. Her brain stutters for a moment and her eyes take in more light than she expected, every part of her goes on pause while her thoughts catch up.

She's figured out one problem.

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