♝♗

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍:

𝐺 𝑈 𝐸 𝑆 𝑆    𝐴 𝐺 𝐴 𝐼 𝑁

           Jane had been waiting for her mom to get back from her meeting for a while now. She knew from the clock it had been two hours. She knew that to her friends, that was a long time waiting, but not for Jane. It was probably due to her fairy nature, time moved faster for her.

           The room was illuminated by various light lilies, special flowers from their home that produced a warm light like a firefly. And yet the white glows from her mothers magic wand caught most of her attention. How could it not? Encased in glass as though it were a trophy and not a definitive tool of magic. That's how Beast liked it, keeping these wild tools stored away and safe but visible to all, as though he were in total control. It shined brightly, with a cool glow that was almost calling to her. She won't lie, she was definitely tempted to take it out and use it, but she held back.

           It should've been in the museum but Beast requested it out so her mom would be ready to bring Jax in to the Isle of the Doomed. It was only a matter of time, she knew with just Ben and Mal on Jax's side they wouldn't win.

           So all she did was drink some tea and think through today's situation until her mom opened the office door. The room had been warm from the lit fireplace so she shivered from the cool air that came from the hallway. "I swear, they get more entitled every year." She heard her mother muttering as she stacked more papers onto her desk. "Oh, Jane honey," She noticed her daughter on the reading chair in the corner. "I am so sorry you had to wait in here but-"

           "But you wanted me away from the troublemakers, I know." Jane repeated her mothers words from the countless times she referred to the villain kids as troublemakers. She remembered the way her mom always made sure Jane would hide in her office and have her stay quiet no matter what. It was always to be sure that King Beast never associated her daughter with any shenanigans happening surrounding the kingdom.

           The older fairy shook her head, she never did like that Jane had grown closer to the villain kids, let alone be dating one of them. Ever since her daughter and the De Vil boy danced at last years cotillion she had been under more scrutiny than usual. "I don't know why you don't just spend time with other people, like Pin or Aziz or-"

           "Or Jordan?" Jane cut in.

            Her mother was visibly stunned at the name of the genie's daughter, "No." She spoke low.

           "Why not? What's so bad about Jordan?" She was asking sarcastically, they both knew that. And they both knew why Jane had to avoid the girl and vice versa.

           "You know why you shouldn't hang around her." She heard her mumble as she tried to look busy, putting various files and papers away in drawers.

           "Right, almost forgot, if Beast finds out that the magic kids were hanging out for even a minute there'd be an immediate search party and dungeon call."

           "Jane-"

           That's when she stood up from her chair, pointing towards the encased wand."I honestly don't know why you can't just take that wand and spell him so he'd stop this anti-magic fake utopia." She started pacing around the room

           "Sweetheart, your emotions are getting the best of you. Please, calm yourself before-" Jane cut her off and kept on pacing.

           "And it'd be so easy too! Just a simple revak spell and he'd start doing the right thing!"

           The Fairy Godmother noticed her specific spell choices and went to grab her daughter, looking her in the eye. "Have you been getting into my old magic books?"

           "I had to learn somehow." Jane muttered loudly enough for her to hear.

           Her mom turned around. "I told you why you shouldn't practice magic," She pinched the bridge of her nose as it dropped.

"It's my birthright!" Jane fought back.

That was when her mother snapped her head back, walking up to her like it was any other day and she was scolding a misbehaving child. "You'd end up a weapon in the King's arsenal just to use that birthright?" She demanded. "You'd do unspeakable horrors to others with lifelong friends just to protect the most important thing in the world to you?"

Jane had thought long and hard about this, because ever since she was ten, she knew something wasn't right. And she already had her answer lined up and ready to go. "No." She shook her head, "I'd figure out a way to get the King off the throne. I'd find help and allies, and people that I trust with my life to help me because I would rather go down fighting, mother. And I know you did a lot of bad things for me, but you knew you could've fought back. You were the one that taught me that there is always another option."

"Not with you there isn't!" Her mother rarely raised her voice at her, it was mainly whenever she went over old spell books of hers or did anything else even remotely connected to magic, but this time was different. Like she was scared and angry at the same time and she was trying to get Jane to understand why. "When it comes to you, I'd do it all over again if it ensured your protection."

Jane felt numb, and her eyes burned as she fought back the tears threatening to spill. Now was not the time for crying. "You'd let twelve other kids suffer to keep me safe?" She whispered.

"I would." Her mother replied with an instance.

Jane nodded sadly and slowly walked up closer to her mother, her face filled with disappointment. "Then how exactly are we different from the villains on the Isle of the Lost, Mom?"

Her mother was left silent, like she was trying to find the words, "How dare you compare me-"

"You'd let innocent kids suffer for selfish reasons." Jane enunciated, "That's textbook villain reasons."

"So keeping my daughter safe was selfish of me?!"

"Giving up was selfish of you!" She yelled back. She was shaking, practically vibrating and the energy she got just made her keep going. "You gave in so quickly, I remember it like it was yesterday! Mom, you could've found a loophole, you could've exposed him, you could've fought for your people."

"You're my people." Her mother's voice got small, "I did what I thought was best for you."

Jane's voice got tight as well. "No, you hid me. You made me suppress my powers. You abandoned our way of life." She got angry again and she was just as loud, the tingly sensation she felt on a daily basis felt like fireworks now. " Why didn't you fight?!"

"Because I was scared! Okay?! I was scared." Her yells quieted and got small as she admitted her reasons. "I was scared that I'd lose you. I was scared I'd lose our whole species. And I didn't want to take that risk." They both quieted down after that. It took a few minutes for her mom to gather herself and clear her throat. "So this is what we're going to do. You're going to visit your aunt in the Fey Lands and you'll be staying there until this whole Wonderland debacle is over with." Jane could feel herself shaking again. "Maybe whilst you're there you can manage to keep control of yourself."

That was the last straw. The second Jane heard the word 'control' it was like a switch finally turned on. The lightbulbs above them, though not lit, still bursted loudly and glass came raining down. She heard her mother yelp in surprise and grab her head. The older fairy turned, quickly realizing what caused it, or rather who. But before she could say a word, Jane took a deep breath and as soon as she released it, large vines came in speeding and breaking through the windows aiming for her mom. She made dozens grow quickly and had her mom edged to her office chair where they wrapped themselves around her like rope.

"Ja-" A smaller vine muffled her mother's voice, making sure she couldn't call out for help or talk her out of anything.

Jane didn't move. Her face kept morphing from anger to concentration, she couldn't focus on one but had to try her hardest. One slip and she could really hurt her mom, she was definitely mad but not enough to really hurt her. Once she was sure her mom couldn't move, the vines stopped coming. "Sorry, mom. But I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you." Jane made her way to the glass case containing the wand. A wave of her hand and it unlocked, letting her take it.

Before she left she looked back one more time to see her mom. Her screams were muffled by the vines, but she wasn't angry at Jane, her eyes gave it away. She was scared. She was so scared for her daughter, trying all she could to get out and keep her out of the fight. She didn't understand that Jane was just as scared, she was terrified. The difference was that Jane didn't let that stop her.

♝♗

"How'd you learn about the barrier? That it wasn't gone, just moved?" Ben asked after they managed to get to the school courtyard, a couple more blocks and they'd be where the bridge connects with the Isle. They'd been running all the way from his family castle, they definitely needed to take a breather for a second. Ben could tell he didn't need that long to catch up, he still had some residual magic lingering in his system. It was lessening over time, but he found that as he ran with Jane that he managed a lot farther than he would have as a human. Jane could also tell she didn't need too long of a break as the energy that radiated off her was a huge help. So they talked as they kept speed walking towards their destination.

Jane's voice was small, but it was steady. "I found the truth about the barrier the day before your coronation." Ben turned his head to look at her but she kept her gaze straight ahead. "I was mad at my mom. She wouldn't let me use the wand and I had gone and snuck in her room to find her hidden magic books. The ones too powerful to destroy. And I found out that if they remove the barrier, then Merlin and Yen Sid get a lot of their magic restored. Keeping the barrier up is what's been draining all of them this entire time. Beast wants to keep it that way by putting it on another island. And even though it's smaller and they'll get stronger, they still won't be at a hundred percent."

They were reaching the paths that connected the school with the bridge as he asked her, "Do you know if the barrier can be destroyed?"

"The barrier was made by the power of three, so it'll take three again to bring it down." She answered. Jane admitted that she sort of liked this new situation, where she didn't have to hide her knowledge and abilities. And that she actually held answers for some people as she knew that Mal and Uma didn't get much of a magic education from their mothers and her own mother wouldn't help her or her friends. She was glad she could be of help.

Ben's eyes widened for a second as they kept walking, "That's it." He realized and her gaze switched to him for a bit, "You can take it down. You, Mal, and Uma. The three of you can take the barrier down for good."

"Ben- it's more complicated than that, we don't even have a complete spell-"

"Then you'll make a new one." Ben was talking rapid and just assuming she and the girls could simply whip out a new counter spell that overseed the previous one was slightly annoying her. This wasn't like baking a batch of cookies.

"Ben, I don't think you get it-"

"What do you mean? You guys can do this, I know you can, come on, we'll catch up to Mal in no time." He started rushing ahead and she quickly followed knowing the way he was acting would push some buttons sooner or later.

They were finally back at the scene of the party and were about to walk towards the bridge until a loud voice calling their attention made them halt.

"Whoa, guys where's the fire?" They turned to see Nathaniel Knight, Lonnie, and Chad joining them. Nate and Chad were drinking from water bottles and chuckling. You could tell they were a tad tipsy and it looked like Lonnie was sobering them up and getting them back to the dorms, making sure they didn't end up drowning in the fountain or passed out in the courtyard. "What's going on?" Nate asks, clearing his voice and getting a bit steady. Chad was definitely more of a lightweight than he was but it looked like they were sobering up.

"They're sending Jax Hatter away and we've gotta get down there and help." Ben said immediately.

Chad was the first to respond to that. "Help put him away, right?" He states.

"What? No! He's done nothing wrong," He defended his old friend. Though it wasn't completely true, no one deserved his sentencing.

"Well, that's a stretch." Nate's mutterings drew attention to him.

He looked at him thoughtfully and had an idea. "You should come with." Ben suggested to the Wonderlander.

Nate's eyes widened and then he took a step back. "Excuse me?" But before Ben could say anything else the Wonderland kept talking, "No, let me stop you right there. If they're sending Jax away, Ruby'll be there to stop it this time. And Ruby's crazy if you haven't noticed. I'd rather not approach that bomb waiting to go off, and neither should you,"

When Nate insulted Ruby was when Jane decided she didn't need their help. "Well, I'm going," She declared and turned to start heading down that direction.

"Jane," Nate steps up to warn her, "Whatever insane plan Ruby has concocted to get Jax back will surely leave collateral damage. You know why? Because Ruby only cares about Wonderland, not anyone here. She won't care if you get hurt, you know who would care? Lonnie, Ben, and me." Chad scoffed slightly at being left out. "And yeah, Chad. Point is, you don't have to do this. We're your friends, and we don't wanna see you get hurt."

Jane took a good look at all of them before deciding what to say, "Well lucky for me I don't give into peer pressure." She mutters, not giving a second look before she marched off to cross the bridge.

Nate looks to where she left in shock with his mouth agape, and then notices Ben leaving after her, "Wha- Ben! No! It won't be pretty!" He then sees Lonnie going right behind them, "What, Lonnie you too?"

She walked backwards to answer them before walking normally again. "Someone's gotta help, and it looks like it won't be you two." She dissed.

Nate cursed loudly as he looks to Chad, "I'm gonna regret trying to save their asses." He says before going after them.

Chad stayed put for a few seconds before following after the Knight, "You're lucky you're cute." He said under his breath, making sure no one heard him.

♝♗

Jax was back on the Isle of the Lost. They walked him through his recent neighborhood and in a way it was like getting a final goodbye. Who knew if he'd even remember this place after a week on the Isle of the Doomed. He smirked at the empty market tables that had a black singed ground after Jax let a small firework bomb go off at Uma's orders. And he smiled as he passed the alley where he and Harry stopped to make out after they got a rush of adrenaline from stealing from Captain Hook's rum stash. He almost burst out laughing as they were making toward the edge of the island where the boats were stored. How many times had Gil gone overboard? Good times.

He didn't know what awaited him after he got out of the Doomed island. He didn't know if he'd remember these places or even how he felt when he thought of them. He didn't know if he'd remember how he felt about Harry.

Before his fears could go any darker he heard a whistle. The guards were active as they switched their gaze to a different spot.

Another whistle. And the guards' heads followed that.

"It's just some kids playing tricks, keep it going." Beast ordered them.

"Just where oh where do you think you're taking him?" Jax smirked as he recognized the voice. Who could ever forget the commanding and almost terrifying voice of Ruby Queen?

"Ah, Rubelina. I was doubting whether or not you'd join us." Beast acted unsurprised and wasn't scared of the young woman. To him, she was not unlike the rest of the kingdoms that surrounded his. Royalty, but second to him. "Just in time to see one of your own be shipped off to a place darker than the Isle of the Lost."

She appeared in the way they were meant to go, blocking them off. Her hands were together in the front, her dress the color of blood, and her stare could leave her enemies doubtful and frightened for years to come. "I think we've played this game long enough." She spoke calmly but didn't acknowledge his words, the way she said it was almost like she was having a conversation with someone else.

But the Beast didn't catch that. "As do I, I believe this is what you would call checkmate."

Ruby took a second to meet him in the eye, like she forgot he was there for a second. She hadn't been looking at any of them, not even Jax, but when she registered what Beast had said, surprising to everyone, she started to laugh. And down to his core, Jax was terrified now. Empty Ruby is one thing, but he didn't think he'd ever seen her laugh like this. "Oh, you thought you were the one winning." Her smile dropped as quick as it came, and her voice lowered an octave. "How embarrassing for you."

"Ruby, I'm not winning, I've already won. And if you interfere, all of you Wonderlanders, even you, get sent to that island. One week there and you'll all be broken shells." With a wave of his hand, five out of six of the guards began to disperse and put their focus on the queen. The other one stayed behind Jax, making sure he wouldn't try to run off.

"That'll never happen, Beast." She promised, not giving a second glance at the moving guards.

"I have you surrounded. What are you going to do?"

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that the queen is the most powerful piece on the board?" All he gave her was a confused stare, not understanding where she was getting at.

"What are you up to?" His gaze moved around as he began to feel paranoid.

She only smiled in return. "All the ways here belong to me."

As Jax's eyes widened slightly, recognizing the quote, three rolling stones came tumbling down from behind Ruby. They were made of metal, but he could barely tell because as quickly as they came rolling in, they stopped themselves and were planted around the guards. Metallic spider-like legs snapped out of the spheres, and Jax saw the bluish tint that came off the end points for a mere second before he heard a loud snapping sound. Suddenly, all the guards but his fell down, electricity ran through their bodies and they were out cold.

The remaining few were silent, not knowing what to say or how to say it until Ruby said, in a way so mundane as though she were asking for a borrowed pencil, "Thank you, Thackery."

"Of course, milady." A new voice emerged from the darkness that came from behind her right. Wyc came from his hiding spot, the short sleeved loose hoodie he had on emphasized the four watches he wore on his left arm. No doubt, his way of controlling the little metal spiders, which was confirmed as with a twist of the fourth watch, the metallic legs retreated back into their bodies.

"How did you-" Beast was left speechless, but found a way to speak.

Jax could hear multiple footsteps coming, he saw from the bright clothing that it was mostly villain kids. He saw Uma first, next to her was Evie and Gil. Behind them was Mal and Carlos, but Harry was nowhere to be found.

"Whoa," Uma commented as she saw what came from Wyc's new gadget. "What happened here?"

No one answered her as when Beast saw they had arrived, he wasn't leaving anything to chance. He was about to order the remaining guard to move past the young ones and take Jax to the separate island. But when he turned to order him, Jax saw how the old king's eyes widened and then he heard the loud thump. The next thing he knew, the last standing guard was knocked out on the ground along with his comrades. "Does it matter?" He heard from behind.

Jax turned and saw Harry standing over the passed out guard, he didn't waste any time as he quickly put his handcuffed arms around him to hug as tightly as possible. He breathed in his boyfriend's scent and gave an exhale of relief. There was a part of him that didn't dare have hope that it would turn out alright and he'd see him again. He had come to accept his fate no matter how sad and unfair it was. But as he sighed into Harry's coat, he'll proudly admit that this turned around in a much better way.

♝♗

Ben could barely see the street as he ran after Jane. The last time he was here was dark too but the city lights and alley dumpster fires let you see where everything was. Now it was pitch black, and he had a feeling his father wanted it that way. Fewer witnesses.

Jane stopped when she reached their friends, quickly overlooking Carlos and making sure he was okay. Ben could hear the upcoming footsteps of Nate, Lonnie, and Chad behind him. When he arrived, Mal only gave him a look of acknowledgment and went back to observing the situation at hand.

"What did she do?" Ben asked quietly but with no one talking, everyone heard him.

Ruby decided to answer him. "Oh, I didn't do anything. It was my brilliant Wyc. Quite the prodigy, isn't he?" She praised her friend as he stayed humble at her right, keeping his focus on the unconscious royal guards.

"Are they-" Ben started, believing the guards to be dead.

Ruby assured him however, "Oh, of course not. They'll be out of the way however. Long enough for us to leave." That last sentence, either good or bad, caught everyone's attention. The villain kids observed her, the Auradoners were cautious, and Jax only raised an eyebrow, he wondered who exactly she considered as 'us'. But Beast was the worst, it was like the more she spoke, the angrier he became.

"You'll never make it back in time to your people. There are hundreds of guards just outside this area. More will come." Beast all but snarled. But there was something in his voice, if Ben didn't know any better, he'd say his dad was nervous.

Ruby nodded. "Exactly. Which is why this next part is crucial." She snaps her fingers and that was when growls came from opposite of Ruby's direction. Binx came in sprinting, aiming for Beast. The old king turned, ready for a fight and was about to roar at him when Ben ran in between them.

"Ben, watch out!" He heard coming from his friends.

He held his arms out, pushing them away as possible. "Whoa, Dad," He turned to the Wonderlander, "Binx, hey, hey man. Okay." He kept turning his head back and forth. "How about we take a breath?" He made a quick glance at Ruby who hadn't moved and gave her a judging look, "Seriously? This was your answer? More violence?" She didn't respond and kept observing.

"Ben, what the hell? You could've been hurt." Mal yelled at him, and he won't lie, yelling usually meant she still cared so he welcomed her angry shouts of shock. Her friends and the Auradoners got closer to the three guys, they wanted to be sure they could help in case the two had to be pulled apart.

As they were all calming down, his dad let out a loud huff which was greeted by Binx's low growl. Ben took that initiative to push them both farther away, leading to both of them snarling at him.

"Easy, Ben." He heard Nate warn him from his friend's side. "Last time I checked, Binx doesn't have great control." Nate got closer with a hand in front of him, almost like he was trying to keep Binx at bay too. "Who knows what kind of damage a werecat bite can do."

"You don't know crap," Binx rasped out, his throat sounded sore.

"Oh, I know plenty. He probably doesn't even have all his shots." Nate joked loud enough for them to hear, which drove Binx towards the Knight instead, his attention on the old king gone.

"What'd you say?" Binx walked up to him, the villain kids took a step away, so did the Auradon kids but Nate didn't move an inch, not even when Binx towered over him.

"Binx, it's not worth it." Even Wyc tried to calm down the werecat.

"Oh it's a little worth it." Binx muttered loudly.

Ben tried his best to keep the peace, "Guys, let's just calm down a little-"

Suddenly, Ben gasped. Someone was grabbing him from behind, a hand over his forehead and another held something cold and sharp was being held against his throat. He tried not to move, but his body shook with nervousness which only caused the knife to be applied harder and that gave Ben enough incentive to not move a muscle. A part of him thought it was Binx defying Ruby, he does it plenty enough. But Binx would've used his claws, wouldn't he? Not a knife. Maybe it was Ruby? She had been close enough. But when he really thought about it, he realized who it was. Who's hated him since they were eleven? Who's pissed at him for not living up to his promise? Who is willing to be left behind for his people? It was Jax holding the knife to his throat, just like a year ago when he was held captive by him and Uma's pirate crew.

Ben wasn't the only one gasping when the knife met his throat, his friends did too, they were cautious about what to do next.

Mal appeared in front of him, green eyes shining, but she wasn't angry, she was worried. She was scared. She tried to approach them but Ben didn't want her in harm's way either so he held his hand up to signal for a stop, "Mal, don't. I got this. Jax, please, you don't have to do this." But as soon as he said his name, the one holding him against the blade moved positions and in his view Jax appeared, next to Harry. He wasn't the one holding the knife.

That's when he heard a light malevolent chuckle. "Guess again."

♝♗♝♗♝♗

Thoughts on Jane and her mom? I've had that scene written since mid 2019 so imagine that, to finally use it. I wanted to emphasized how it's a difficult place to be put in.
Would you sacrifice innocent kids to keep your own safe?

Does it make you terrible person if you do?

Does it make you a terrible parent if you don't?

That's the long lasting question, similar to the trolley problem, a philosophical thought process that I was introduced to through The Good Place because I was watching it whilst writing that bit.

Ben was kinda imprudent when it came to just deciding that the three girls would be the ones to take down the barrier officially, like boy, it ain't that simple. But it goes to show how uneducated he is about all this, he has to learn if he wants to avoid his parents mistakes.

I decided to include Lonnie because why not? :)

We finally got to see what Wyc was putting together during his flashback scene with Evie. Think of them as major stun guns except they shoot out a pulse of electricity from these rolling spheres that when they open up to release the jolts they kinda look like dead spiders. If you watch Agents of SHIELD you might recognize what I'm talking about.

Small Jarry reunion. <3 There will be more of them next chapter.

Thoughts on Ruby?

What about Binx?

Now for my favorite portion of the evening:

Time for guessing!!

Okay so we've ruled out Ruby and Jax and Mal, but that's it.

Ben deduces that it wasn't Binx because it isn't his style and I agree

Now the only question is, who's holding the knife? I purposefully didn't describe the voice as stereotypically female or male, it's just a voice and up to you guys to guess who.

Honestly, it's really a head scratcher, it could be a Wonderland kid, it could be a Villain Kid, hell, it could be Audrey (but it's not).

So far, we know it isn't Mal, Harry, or Jax. But that's it.

I'mma go half n half, gonna let you guys comment who you think is AND who you want it to be. Then I'll choose who was a good choice for it besides the one I've already got planned.

And in those comments leave behind a reason or explanation as to why you want that person to be the one holding the knife.

no mundanes allowed
- polaroized