Hades tossed the ember into the air like It ain’t no big thing. I just saved the girl, or whatever.
Queen Leah sobbed with relief and clasped her granddaughter. “Audrey, you’re okay,” she cried.
Audrey noticed Mal and Ben, and her face flooded with shame. “Tell me it was all a bad dream,” she said.
“I wish I could,” said Ben. “But it’s over now.” He tried to sound reassuring.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to hurt you both. I wanted to hurt all of you,” Audrey admitted, mortified by her actions.
Audrey moved to the edge of the bed toward Mal, who took her hand and looked at her solemnly. Audrey wasn’t the only one who was sorry. “I have owed you an apology for a very long time now,” said Mal with heartfelt realization. She’d love-spelled Ben and never looked back.
“So have I,” added Ben.
Audrey’s face filled with light.
Queen Leah stepped to Mal. “And perhaps I’ve owed you one as well.” Queen Leah gave the slightest curtsy and bowed her head a touch. One small bow from Queen Leah was a giant step for villainkind. Mal returned the curtsy.
As everyone fawned over Audrey, the guards re-handcuffed Hades, then led the dangerous captive back into the Auradon Prep hallway. Mal struggled to find her words. “Dad,” she yelped. Hades took a step toward his daughter, but the guards restrained him from getting any closer.
“I’m going to miss you all over again,” she said. He’d come through for her when she needed him.
Hades shrugged sheepishly. “Thanks for a glimpse of the sun,” he said. The lines around his eyes crinkled as he smiled.
Mal watched as he was led down the hall, once again a captive on his way to permanent imprisonment on the Isle. She smoothed her hand over her purple-and-blue hair, went to his side, and surprised him with a kiss on the cheek. Hades turned his back to her and opened his left hand, which held the ember. Mal took it and held it close. As he continued down the hall, Hades turned back for one last look at his daughter and left her with a knowing wink.
The thing is I don’t think I can be the queen of Auradon everyone expects me to be. I can only be the kind of queen that’s true to me.
One week later, Mal and Ben’s engagement party was in full swing on the multileveled terrace overlooking Auradon’s Bridge Plaza. In contrast to the Isle’s dilapidated Bridge Plaza, Auradon’s was a magnificent tree-lined court with four decks connected by blue carpet-lined stairs. It was the ideal setting to celebrate the joyful occasion.
Mal was the picture of grace in a metallic-orchid dress, elbow-length lilac gloves, gold peep-toe booties, and a gold tiara with purple and blue stones. Ben also looked dashing in a sharp three-piece blue suit sans tie. He took Mal’s arm in his, and together the gorgeous couple walked through the tunnel and into the party in progress.
“There they are,” announced Evie, who gave off an air of sophistication in a structured midnight-blue gown of her own design. She looked at Doug, who stood by her side in a mint-green suit and blue shirt. Mal and Ben weren’t the only ones in love.
Mal and Ben grinned at their friends, then at each other as they took in the festive scene. Uniformed waiters circulated throughout the plaza, balancing silver trays piled with gourmet canapés. Jubilant party guests in chic cocktail dresses and stylish sport coats mixed and mingled. Dizzy, dressed to the nines in a black-and-moss polka-dot frock, spun between Squeaky and Squirmy, who both wore blue-and-white-striped tailcoats. The swanky event was a definite first for the impoverished Isle kids.
Mal waved to the guests, then smiled kindly at Audrey. It was Audrey’s first public appearance since her recent touch with evil, and she looked herself again in a beaded pink off-the-shoulder dress and her demure bluebird necklace.
Ben kissed Mal’s hand, then escorted her up the stairs to the plaza’s balcony. The king clinked his crystal punch glass to get everyone’s attention. “Lady Mal and I want to thank you for celebrating our engagement with us today,” he told the crowd, before turning toward his future bride. “I couldn’t be prouder or happier to call you my queen.” With a wide smile, he looked back at the celebrating masses. “So raise your glasses to our future queen of Auradon!”
The guests all raised their glasses high in the air. “To our queen of Auradon.”
“Speech, Your Specialness,” shouted Carlos, all dressed up in a black-and-white paisley jacket and skinny-cut black pants. Smitten, Jane stood by his side in a cornflower lace midi-dress and her one-of-a-kind Jarlos necklace.
“Speech, oh fancy one,” yelled Jay, laughing. The gold embroidery on his sport coat reflected the glow of the twinkle lights. With his hair tied up in a tidy man bun, he clapped for Mal. She deserved all of it.
Mal looked at the expectant faces that surrounded her, especially those of the villain kids. She shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t be queen of Auradon.”
The room stirred. Evie gasped. Ben’s face dropped.
“I can’t turn my back on the Isle,” Mal explained to him quietly.
She addressed the crowd again. “We made a decision to close the barrier forever. It was my idea. But it’s wrong,” she admitted. “I’ve learned that you can’t live in fear. Because it doesn’t actually protect you from anything. You never know where the bad is going to come from. And you never know where the heroes are going to come from, either. Without Uma and her pirates, Auradon would be gone. And without Hades, my father, Audrey would be gone.”
The crowd reeled at this new revelation. Mal absorbed their reactions and continued. “We are all capable of good and bad, no matter which side of the barrier we come from.” She raised her head with the clear insight and strength of a leader who was able to see the complete nature of her people for the first time.
Jay, Evie, and Carlos beamed with pride at their friend.
Mal turned to King Ben with conviction. She took both his hands in hers. “And that’s why I can’t be queen of just Auradon. I have to be queen of the Isle, too. It’s time we take the barrier down. Forever.”
“We can’t do that,” said Beast, alarmed at the mere suggestion.
Ben stood shoulder to shoulder with his queen and looked at his father. “It’s up to us, Dad. I choose to be a king who moves forward. It’s time for forgiveness. It’s time for new beginnings. The barrier will come down.” It was an official royal proclamation. Auradon and the Isle would be united as one.
“Yes! Woo-hooo-hoooo!” whooped Carlos with unabashed glee.
Doug, Jane, and the crowd hooted and cheered. Evie, Jay, and Carlos were ecstatic and moved by the historic event. Even Chad, Audrey, and Queen Leah, who had a new empathy for villains, applauded.
Ben smiled proudly and gave the honor of dismantling the barrier to the future queen of the United States of Auradon. “Bring it down, Mal.”
Fairy Godmother offered Mal her wand with a warm smile. Mal took the enchanted wand and studied it in her hands. She couldn’t believe there had been a time, not so long before, when her only goal on Auradon had been to steal that very wand. Opening the barrier might bring others who looked to do the same, but Mal, with the help of her friends, would find a way to deal with the occasional evil as it arose.
Mal held the wand in her hand, then looked to Jay, Evie, and Carlos. This honor wasn’t hers alone; they had achieved the opening of the Isle together. The four of them had made this dream a reality. Mal asked Jay, Evie, and Carlos to join her up on the balcony. The four original VKs stood together. It was their proudest moment. “To make the world a better place…” Mal incanted.
“We have to do it face to face,” Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos spoke in unison.
Mal’s eyes briefly flashed green. She twirled her hands in the air, then waved the wand at the Isle of the Lost. With a crackle, the barrier, which for so long had separated the Isle from Auradon, began to come down. It popped, shattered, then exploded into a brilliant shower of emeralds that rained into the sea. The divider between the two lands was no more.
With a grateful smile, Mal used the wand again. She moved her hands to create a dazzling bridge that stretched from the Auradon City shore to the Isle of the Lost. It was a bridge anyone could cross at any time. The island was no longer a prison. All the VKs of the Isle were free.
On the dilapidated Isle streets, elated villain kids celebrated. They’d been liberated! Without the barrier to act as shade, rays of sunshine broke through the gloom and shone down on the Isle.
Uma threw her arms out wide and spun around triumphantly. “My plan,” she said, and it was. Ben had been right: Uma was part of the solution. “Yeeesss!” she exclaimed as she bounded up the stairs. Uma stood on the balcony above the Isle’s Bridge Plaza and looked across the sea at Mal, who stood on a parallel balcony in Auradon. From Uma’s perspective, Mal had done right by the Isle kids in the end. The dragon girl had redeemed herself.
Mal looked back across the sea and smiled at Uma with utmost appreciation. When Mal had been in her most desperate moment, Uma had stepped up and helped. For that, Mal would be eternally grateful. The two really weren’t all that different from each other. Both young women were bold leaders who were trying to do good while still being true to themselves. From across the water, they shared a knowing nod; they were stronger together.
Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Ben surrounded Mal on the Auradon terrace balcony while Harry, Gil, and Celia rallied around Uma on the Isle. Both groups frolicked, danced, and paraded toward the center of the bridge. There the two crews abandoned their irreconcilable differences and formed one indivisible team.
Everything went quiet once the Isle kids reached Auradon. King Ben stood before the people of Auradon, looked at Mal and the throngs of villain offspring behind her, and took a knee before the Isle kids. The Auradon citizens followed his lead and bowed to the VKs.
After a moment of utter disbelief, the VKs swarmed the plaza in jubilation, whooping, hollering, and living it up. With Auradon and the Isle united at last, everyone—whoever they were, wherever they were from—threw their arms in the air and danced and sang with unbridled happiness.
Evie and Jay clutched each other with a joy more intense than they’d ever felt before. Chad and Audrey hugged, both ready for a new day. Mal threw her arms around Dizzy and Celia, then watched as they grabbed Squeaky and Squirmy and ran to hug Dr. Facilier, Lady Tremaine, and Smee.
Carlos and Jane held hands, the perfect picture of Isle and Auradon come together. An idea crossed Jane’s mind, and a look of trepidation fell over her face. “Carlos, I’m actually really nervous to meet your mom.”
“You’re nervous? It’s Cruella De Vil. I’m petrified,” Dude chimed in. Cruella’s reputation for a hatred of animals preceded her.
“Wait till she hears I want to be a vet,” said Carlos. He knew his mom would freak out. And for the first time in his life, he was okay with that.
Jay turned to Gil with wide open eyes. “What do you say you and me go exploring?” he asked. “I’ll take a gap year.”
Jay had been in Auradon all this time and had barely ventured off campus. And when he did, it was only for away games. Wasn’t seeing the world the reason he’d wanted off the Isle in the first place? All that was left to decide was where to go first. “Jungles or icebergs?”
“Both!” exclaimed Gil. He threw his hands up, overjoyed. He couldn’t wait to see all the wonders of Auradon with his new friend. “Chest bump,” he yelled. He and Jay met midair, thrilled about the escapades that lay ahead.
Evie, Uma, Harry, and Doug stood nearby. Uma looked at Mal, who was busy greeting new Isle kids. “Mal came through,” she said.
“She always does,” said Evie. No matter what, Mal always did the right thing in the end.
Harry stared at Mal with his striking green eyes. “She’s definitely taken, right?”
“Definitely,” Evie said with a nod.
Doug stepped up next to Evie and put his arm around his true love. “So’s Evie.”
Uma, in a high-necked aqua dress and leather bodice, put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. “What’s my name?”
Harry did a double take, raised his eyebrows, and beamed at Uma. “Uma.” He leaned in flirtatiously for a kiss.
“Uh-uh,” said Uma, dissing him.
No matter: Harry spun around to find Audrey standing before him. The pirate’s interest in the pink princess was immediately piqued.
Mal and Ben searched the crowd and spotted Hades, who was hard to miss with his blue hair. The father and daughter walked toward each other. “Am I invited to your wedding?” asked the father of the bride.
“Hi, Dad,” Ben said, trying out the new moniker on his future father-in-law. It sounded awkward.
Mal ran to Hades, bridging the difference, and, for the first time ever, publicly hugged her father. At first Hades stood with his arms stiff at his sides. He’d never been on the receiving end of such an embrace; he didn’t know what to do. Then, instinctually, the villain raised his hands and hugged Mal back.
“I’m sure you’ll be very happy together,” said Hades.
Ben turned to Mal and wrapped her up in his arms in a loving embrace. Over Mal’s shoulder, Hades gave Ben the I’m watching you gesture. Ben smiled, not sure if the god of the Underworld was kidding.
“Welcome to Auradon,” Ben said as he patted Hades on the back. Hades glared at him. This relationship was going to take a little bit of getting used to. Okay, a lot of getting used to.
Mal locked eyes with Evie, who then locked eyes with Jay, who looked to Carlos. Without saying a word, the four friends took a moment to celebrate what they had accomplished. The VKs strode to each other and linked arms. They looked out over the new bridge toward the Isle of the Lost.
“You ever miss them?” asked Evie, talking about their villain parents, who were still on the Isle.
“Yeah,” admitted Jay.
“Do you think they miss us?” Mal wondered aloud.
“Yeah, of course,” answered Carlos.
“’Cuz we’re rotten,” said Mal.
“To the core,” said the four as one, laughing.
“Hey,” said Carlos, “the last one over the bridge…”
“Is a rotten apple,” shouted the foursome as they ran full speed ahead for home.
Descendants 3 Junior Novel Page 11
