Unknown Happen Stance

Chapter 25: Be Braver & Bolder

"Carlos," Jane, the daughter of the Fairy Godmother, called out to her boyfriend, who was the son of Cruella Deville. "I need to tell Mal something with your help, and she's not gonna like it."

"Mal's at the palace right now. She took Musa with her," Carlos replied, glancing toward the grand entrance.

"That's good; I have a meeting with Ben in a couple of hours. But I have to tell you first—Lonnie came to say Audrey's back on campus, and Chad's slipping into his old ways."

"Seriously? And he just apologized! I thought we were making progress. Who saw that?" Carlos asked, disbelief lining his features.

"His little golden baby sister, Chloe Charming," Jane explained. "Apparently, she tried to sit down and have a personal sibling chat with him, but he's not listening, Carlos."

Inside the palace, tension thickened as Mal stepped through the grand doors with Musa by her side. 

"Is this the stranger you invite into our land?" Adam, the Beast, scolded, his voice rumbling through the ornate halls.

"Adam!" Belle admonished sharply, stepping protectively beside her husband.

"I was a stranger once too, you know!" Mal snapped frustration leaking into her tone.

"I was sent here for more than one purpose, at first, I thought my only lesson was to learn empathy from the Villain Kids. But now I see an older adult needs some reteaching. I see myself in you, Beast. How you yell at her and your son reminds me of how I went all beast on my own father!" Musa stated bluntly her gaze unwavering. She felt the power of her own words as she added, "Fearing the worst won't make it less threatening, nor is overworrying and overjudging good for the soul either. I learned that the hard way. My boyfriend who dumped me taught that to a crowd so I could save my father from a storm witch years back. You think you've seen the worst of a villain—you haven't yet. What about the muses who take time out of their daily lives to make up for your mistakes? It's time to stop sulking and embrace change before it runs through you, leaving you stranded."

Mal stood speechless; her mouth agape. This stranger was braver and bolder than she and Ben combined. She had absorbed some of Uma's confidence and it was refreshing—but also concerning—how Musa held her ground. The Beast found himself momentarily taken aback unable to retort.

"I think you did good, Mal," Ben voiced, admiration lacing his tone. "Musa's a different type of student—a version of what the in-between can look like if constructed right by the honest truth."

Musa then closed her eyes and leaned against the wall, letting the music flow through her as she sang softly, each note layered with emotion:

"I've tried to see you clearly, 
But there were shades concealing light. 
Some days, you're a distant star, 
Other days, you filled my sky. 
I wish I had the courage 
To show my heart, to be sincere, 
Instead, I built a wall of doubt, 
And lost the one I held so dear."

The room felt charged, Mal entranced by Musa's voice.

"Chorus: 
Think before you speak." 
Those words you rang true, 
I refused to listen to! 
I realize now that I and my lies 
Made the ground shake beneath you! 
If you don't want to get back together with me again, 
I understand. 
My beauty, voice, and appearance 
Hide the beast snarling in my soulful heart. 
Too well I didn't feel it 'til you exited my life. 
I am so sorry that 
I claimed you held a Heart of Stone, 
Blamed you for a mirage I couldn't stop seeing. 
You ran away out of my life, 
And I deserve this heartbreak's ache."

With each lyric, Mal felt a piece of her own heart resonate.

"I'll never jump to conclusions
Cause confusions that have no evidence to find!
I never should have uttered out loud 
That you ever had a Heart of Stone— 
Because you never did! 
Now I admit I see the one with the mistake was me, 
And that I am quite a Beast, 
Instead of the Shining Star I hoped to be!"