Claimed

Chapter 16 - ... To Those Who Wait

Epilogue - -

It was a sad day for Auradon Prep, as a country was finally free to mourn the loss of its king.

Hundreds of sad citizens, clothed in black, crowded around the podium where Fairy Godmother stood, a melancholy expression on her face in place of the usually sunny one.

Her tired hands rested on the wood before her, one curled delicately around the thin handle of her wand, as she opens her mouth to speak.

"We gather here today," she says slowly, "To celebrate the life of the late King of Auradon, Adam Beast."

Her sad, chocolate gaze drifts frequently from the mass of black, to the large stage cameras pitched in each corner of the room, broadcasting the funeral to the rest of a wistful nation as they listen to the reflection on the life of their first king.

"Forever, we shall remember him as the great and courageous king that he was."
She turns on her heels, to face the coffin of rich oak behind her, and lays her fingers delicately on the surface.
"May he rest in peace."

The other VKs and I watch the sermon from the second row of chairs.

There's a sudden pressure on my hand as Ben is called up to speak. Eyes that were watching him step up, flit down to the hand clasped around my own; Evie squeezes it, which garners my attention, and gives me a soft smile.

I smile back, before turning to look back at my boyfriend as he pays tribute to the father he had lost.

His eyes catch mine, and, although it's sad, I smile.

After everything is over, the cameras are turned off and most of the guests have been sent home, I find myself in my dormitory.

I rest against my headboard, facing inwards as Evie does the same, while Ben, Jay, Carlos, Jane, Lonnie and Doug sit on our beds, or on the floor between them.

It's silent, but full of all my friends, and I find that I don't need them to speak.

The company is enough.

The funeral had taken place two, three, months after Hans, Maleficent, and all their allies had been arrested.

Sometimes, I dream about them.
Thoughts run rampant in my mind at night, screaming in my ears as faces flash behind my eyes.

None of that is possible anymore, though.
Instead, they sit in that damp prison complex in the middle of the forest, with cells like stairs.

The same one they subjected us to.

I hope they rot there.

Ben doesn't make a sound as he reaches for the hand nearest him, and squeezes it in his own.
I look over, and receive a smile.

Wow. Deja vu.
I squeeze back.

"... So it's over?"
Everyone looks over at Carlos as he breaks the comfortable silence; he fidgets with his fingers in his lap, not meeting anyone's eyes.

I don't blame him.
Among us, the resident Dog Person had handled everything that had happened to us reasonably well - especially when he was alone in the forest, staring down the one person in the world he feared above all others.

His best friend wrapped a sturdy arm around him from where he was sitting on the bed next to Carlos.
"Yeah, dude. That's it."
The white-haired boy smiles thankfully up at Jay, "Right."

His voice is soft.
I'm glad he believes that.
Whether it's true, or not.

However - Jay, to all his credit, is doing an excellent job of hiding everything he's feeling.
He always has been good at that, the one to stand strong and comfort others, when he really needs it himself just as much.
Yet I can see it in his eyes as he holds Carlos close, and wraps his other arm around Lonnie when she presses against his other arm, that he's beginning to believe it himself.