Chapter Text
Mal couldn’t believe her eyes; her best friends had turned into stone. All their faces were filled with disappointment because of a mistake.
A mistake, Mal had made.
Mal held the wet broken ember in her hand and let go of the blue rock, watching it fall onto the ground, useless just as she was. Her hands trembled as she gently touched the side of Evie’s statue. The stone was cold and rough. The shame and embarrassment that filled the purple Fae were too much. With the frustration in Evie’s features, now sculpted permanently as an eternal reminder of her mistake, Mal couldn’t bear to look at statue Evie in the eye.
Mal could only muster up just a few words, “Evie, I’m so sorry.”
Not only for shutting down the VK program but for breaking the trust of the most important person in the world - in her world. The amount of pain and struggle she caused when all she had to do was to talk it out with her friends, with Evie. If she could do anything right now it would be to reverse time and fix her mistake.
Mal paused to think and realized what she just said.
Reverse time? She knew the spell. It was the spell she had failed to cast on Ben during the picnic. A spell that could be successful.
Even just a single minute would be good enough.
Enough to save Evie.
Mal took a deep breath. She couldn’t afford to mess up. She willed every single muscle in her body to tense; the last of her magic surged through her as Mal squeezed her eyes shut. The words tumbled out of her mouth.
“Take back this moment that has passed, reverse it for it shall not last.”
---
Mal’s eyes opened slowly. Her entire body ached with a killer migraine. Groaning as she sat herself up, she heard voices and several footsteps heading her way.
“She’s awake!”
“Finally, you took the couch for way too long.”
“Are you okay, Mal?”
Bright brown eyes stared back at green and Mal cried out, “Evie you’re okay!”
She reached out to hug the blue-haired girl. Mal felt Evie tense under her and quickly let go, “E? Are you alright?”
Jay put his hand on Mal’s shoulder, “What do you mean if Evie is alright? You’re the one who took the sleeping curse.”
Mal frowned, “What?”
Carlos chimed in, “You know the scepter? The one that your mom asked to get?”
Mal looked at him as if Carlos had just grown two heads until it hit her. The familiar stench of piss, trash, and spray paint along with sawdust of old wood that’s been well worn out beyond its years.
She was back on the Isle.
Mal tossed her head back into the dirty couch and let out a loud muffled, “FUCK!”
Looking on the bright side, at least she was in the secret hideout and not Uma’s territory. Every cloud has a silver lining, she thought - though in this case, it was more blue than silver.
Evie sat down next to her, a small hesitant pat on Mal’s arm made the purple-haired girl look up. Evie put on a tight-lipped smile, a smile young Mal would have never seen through. It was a trying act of comfort, a lousy one at best.
Mal groaned internally. Of course, Evie, who younger Mal had just tried to kill, would still try to comfort her. Mal put a hand on top of Evie’s and looked into her dark brown eyes. Mal opened her arms to the blue-haired girl and this time, Evie gladly went into the hug.
Mal muttered, “I’m sorry by the way.”
Everything seemed to pause as she felt Evie let go as fast as light, Jay and Carlos both looking at her as if she was the one with two heads.
Evie’s voice trembled as she asked, “What did you just say?”
Mal repeated hesitatingly, “I’m sorry?”
Mal tilted her head at Evie, “Like sorry for trying to kill you?” she looked over at Carlos who was like a dog ready to run, “And sorry for bringing you into my troubles.”
She then turned to Jay, who stood as if he was waiting for something specific.
So she stuck her tongue out at him.
Jay laughed immediately, his shoulders shaking as he slapped his leg, “Aww man that sealed the deal. I thought you were some imposter trying to fuck us all over.”
Mal shook her head, “No, I’m actually sorry for dragging you guys with me...” she looked over at Evie who was still quiet, “I hope you can forgive me, even if it’s not now.”
Evie wasn’t even looking at Mal anymore. She was staring straight down as her hands fiddled with her leather skirt. Silence filled the room, it felt like an eternity before a small whisper came out, “Ok.”
Mal perked up, "Ok?"
Evie looked up at her with such new determination it set Mal’s heart with brand new hope, “I’ll forgive you as long as you don’t lie to me anymore.”
With a breath of relief, Mal could almost laugh at the wording. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. She gave Evie her most genuine smile, “I don’t ever plan on that, Princess.”
The two stared at each other until Jay let out a low cough, “Excuse me but Mal, why were you wondering why Evie was ok? Actually, what’s with the whole personality switch-”
Carlos roughly nudged Jay, “Don’t listen to him. What he meant to say was, why the sudden change?”
Jay glared at the white-haired boy, rubbing his arm, “Yeah that’s what I meant to say.”
Mal hesitated to respond. She couldn’t just give them the information they wouldn’t know what to do with. How was she supposed to explain how she knew the exact events that were approaching? It wasn’t like some spells could let you see the future, or that time machines exist, or that she’s a fortune teller or-
Pause.
Maybe she could be one.
A small voice in her head praised the fast thinking. Her mind works wonders sometimes. Mal grinned, “On a scale of one to ten, how dumb would it be that dreams can actually predict the future?”
The three of them spoke at once:
“Solid ten.”
“Very dumb.”
“Are you from the future?”
Evie was the one who asked, and Mal knew she had to be careful. She nodded slowly, “Sorta, I had a dream and it was telling me what is going to happen in the future.”
The look of doubt Evie had made Mal silently grimaced, she was already on the verge of breaking her promise. She wasn’t exactly lying, younger her did have dreams about meeting Ben and didn’t realize it until much later.
Carlos spoke as he processed the information, “Ok…so if that’s true, that would mean for you to worry about Evie…”
Jay’s eyes opened with realization, “Something bad happens to us.”
Evie’s hand squeezed Mal’s, “What happened? You have to tell us so we can avoid it!”
“Absolutely not!” Mal exclaimed, tearing away from Evie’s grip. She leaned back against the couch, “I can’t do that.”
Mal’s nose scrunched up as she imagined the several situations if she were to tell them about what happened because of what she did. Evie looked up at Mal and pleaded with her eyes to make her spill. Mal looked away with a huff, “You’re not going to get a single thing from me.”
A small pout from the blue-haired girl, “But why?”
Carlos spoke up for Mal. She gave a mental thank you to the boy, “You can’t tell us because you’re afraid that us actively avoiding it will make something even worse happen.”
Jay nodded, “That makes sense. We would have gone straight into the problem instead.”
Everyone turned to Jay in slight surprise and he shrugged, “What? I’m self-aware. Besides, if you can’t tell us what’s the cause of our problems, what about the small details that we can’t avoid?”
Goddamn Jay and his good questions. Mal’s eyes narrowed, and she covered her mouth. Everyone watched as Mal had her serious plotting face on with curious stares. Thoughts and ideas were connecting like never before. She had the upper hand with knowledge, all she needed to do was use it to her advantage. When Mal finally figured out the general timeline, she clapped her hands together, making everyone jolt up. A small smile appeared on Mal’s face as she announced, “Just did the math, we have about a month before we leave the Isle.”
All hell breaks loose in the hideout.
Evie was the first one to cry out, “Hold on! What do you mean leave? You mean the Isle? The place where we’re sentenced forever?!”
“I don’t think I understand. I only just broke a single hole through the barrier. You can’t just say that’s enough to get us out?” Carlos doubted as he watched Mal who just relaxed even more.
Jay’s eyes sparkled as he beamed, “You’re not breaking the barrier. There’s another way off!”
“Bingo,” Mal answered, “We’re going to get off this Isle, and it will be one difficult ass way but we can free everyone.”
Carlos whimpered, “Even our parents?”
Silence fell over them quickly. They all shifted nervously, Mal could feel the burning question in their eyes, “Will we let our parents take over the world?”
Mal scoffed, looking up at Carlos with a dark glare. “Let me clarify, we won’t let our parents take our hard work away,” She looked at Jay and then at Evie. “They don’t deserve it.”
Those words echoed with such determination. Mal understood what she did was groundbreaking. Introducing the idea of not following their parents was new territory. Even Mal didn’t understand the concept until she went to Auradon. On the Isle where everyone had to follow the strong to survive, Mal knew she had to be the one to protect all of them.
Evie was the first to break the silence, “So what are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know.”
It was a hard truth, Mal had no idea what to do from here. She needed a plan. How was she supposed to overthrow her mother in this position? Who was more powerful than the great Maleficent herself? A realization dawned on Mal and she figured out the key to completely changing this new life.
Her mouth twisted into a knowing smirk.
“We have to meet a few people.”