Old Habits

Change in Scenery

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~❶Sophia❶~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ready?" I ask Ben. Red fabric surrounds us as we hear the buckles of the bag being undone.

Ben nods, smiling. The light shines in as Ben and I quickly zip out. Before we get even a couple feet away, more red material surrounds us. "Not so fast, you two." I look at Ben as we sigh. "I'm going to let you out of my hat but you are going to stay in this room until we talk, got it?" The hat opens and he dumps us out on his bed. "Change back."

We look up at Jay while our eyes shift colors and we become humans again. "Hi, Jay."

He looks at us, disapprovingly. "What are you two doing here?" he asks. "If Mal knew you two were here, she would have a fit. Then she'd be happy you're here. Then she'd send you back and lock you in the forbidden fortress until you're sixteen."

"You're not going to tell her, are you?" Ben asks. "We just want to see what her life here in Auradon is like. Why she likes it so much better here."

Jay shakes his head and sighs. "Fine, but you have to stick with me. If Mal figures out you're here and that I knew and didn't keep you two safe, we're all going to be locked in the forbidden fortress."

I smile and dance around with Ben before hugging Jay. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Ben pulls his head away and looks up at Jay. "Any way that we can go see Mal, too. We said some pretty mean things that we didn't mean."

"After you see what you want to see. Otherwise, it's to the forbidden fortress very quickly. You two will be Sophia and Ben, siblings from Aurora's kingdom that are here visiting. Audrey's heading there in a couple of days, too."

"Who's Audrey?" Ben asks.

Jay smiles and stands up straight, walking to the dresser. "She's my girlfriend. I'll introduce you at some point."

"Okay!" I cheer.

"Now, let's get the rules laid out for you two. Here in Auradon, things are done very differently. There is no stealing, fighting, picking on each other, messing with one another or mean words. Pretty much everything you've ever done or how you've behaved on the Isle, forget it."

"Why would we insult anyone?" Ben asks. "Mal raised us better than that."

"She raised ups to be ourselves and show our strengths while being kind and generous," I continue. "Is that wrong?"

He looks between us, shocked. "I didn't realize how Mal raised you. Just be yourself and do what Mal taught you to do. If anything happens and we get separated, don't use your names. If you get lost and someone asks your names; Sophia, you are Jessica, Ben, you are Steven, got it."

We nod and Jay smiles. "Can we go now?" I ask.

"Please?"

Jay nods. "Yeah. It's time I gave you a proper tour of the place we all now call home. Maybe you'll see why Mal started her life here. Besides having a fiancé who can't leave."

"Why can't he leave?" Ben asks.

"Because Mal's fiancé is King Benjamin of Auradon, the current ruler. He has to be here to help the kingdom run smoothly," Jay explains. "We all just call him Ben though. He's not really one for formalities unless they're necessary and there's an audience."

I look at Ben and he looks back. "Oh," I say.

"Can we meet him?" Ben asks.

Jay shakes his head. "Mal and Ben are practically inseparable unless their working. If you go to meet him, Mal will find out. If there is an opportunity, I'll try to let you two meet but, there's something you should know."

"What?" I interrupt. I'm not very patient.

"Mal told Ben- the king, Ben- that she was an only child. She did it to keep you safe. If he knew about you two, he'd do everything he could to help keep you safe, for Mal's sake. The problem with that would be everything Ben does is closely monitored by the council or his parents and is easily accessible by everyone in the kingdom. If he brought you two here to tried to help, you two would be found and therefore in danger. And if Ben found out and couldn't do anything, he'd keep trying and it would end very badly."

"Why does she keep us so sheltered away?" I ask. "If we're supposed to rule, then we should know the people we are going to lead."

"But you don't need to. Since the day that everyone on the Isle heard the prophecy, they've been waiting for the day that you two would take over. They don't care who you are, they just want to be free of Maleficent and her dark reign," Jay says.

"We should still know the people," Ben insists.

Jay sighs and turns away. "Mal had it completely figured out. Though, she never expected to leave the Isle. Sit down," Jay says. Ben and I take a seat on his bed as Jay pulls a chair over. "Mal had a plan for this time. Me and a couple of other adults from the Isle were helping her plan to overthrow Maleficent. We were going to set it into motion when you both turned fourteen even though they didn't know when it would happen. Then for the next two years, Mal would take over to keep the peace. The people respected her. We were going to bring you two out to meet everyone when you were fifteen. And everyone's been waiting for the day the twins of the prophecy would be born."

Ben and I look at each other, smiling. "We made a big mistake. We thought Mal was hiding us away so she could have the power of Queen."

"Mal doesn't need to be the Queen of the Isle. She'll be the Queen of Auradon if she marries Ben. Of course, everything could be ruined now," Jay hints. We look at him, expectant. "Earlier today, Gaston Junior came onto Mal. He didn't realize that she was engaged and has apparently been crushing on her for years. He came onto her a little strong. She and I spent the day at the hospital because he fractured her wrist and scratched her arm pretty badly. I just got back. With all the tension between Belle, Beast and Gaston, I wouldn't be surprised if Ben gets a little defensive."

"Is she alright?" Ben asks.

Jay nods. "Yeah, she's gonna be fine. I dropped her off at the castle before coming here. Now, Auradon is my turf when it comes to you two. That means you listen if I tell you to do anything; like bed time. We start to explore tomorrow!" Jay pulls out some old clothes with great style and hands them to us. "You'll get to meet Mal's best friends. Evie made these. She and Mal left some the last time they were here."

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