The Ones Who Wander

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Okay, guys, if you're still hanging out there after the fact that I didn't update the day I said I would, then you can officially become my readers, as you now have a good idea of what reading an on-going story with me as an author is.

This is probably going to sound lame, but I promise I'm not making up excuses. The thing is that I have a terrible luck and, sometimes, it's not because I don't want to or don't try to update, but because things out of my control happen.

Now, this is a general explanation, because it's likely that something like this will happen again at some point and I just want you to know that, even if I don't update when I say I will, don't worry about me abandoning this story. I've literally sold my soul for this fic, so rest assured. Besides, I get the feeling that if I decided to stop writing this, my beta will be hella mad at me.

So, even if takes six months, I won't abandon this story.

In case you want to hear it, this chapter was ready to be published on Saturday, but when I tried to upload it, Fanfiction decided to be an ass and tell me there was a mistake, therefore I couldn't do it. And then, on Saturday, I went visit my grandfather and he lives in another city, so... I spent the whole day with no internet, much less with a computer.

However, as I'm sure you couldn't care less about my personal life, here goes the chapter!

Okay, first of all, why did no one mentioned Fayanna's name in the last chapter? See, I completely forgot to mention her in my notes of the last chapter and later on, when I realized it, I kinda hoped someone would point it out! Anyways, there's a reason I decided to give the Fairy Godmother a name, and it is completely personal: it drives me mad when people call Adam 'the beast' or even 'King Beast,' like you're stripping him of the human part in him, and I decided that calling this woman only the 'Fairy Godmother' was pretty much doing the same thing.

I have to admit something, though: I'm inda superstitious, and I think that names are very, very important, which is something you'll likely discover as this story develops because there's a good number of original characters (that I can't wait for you to meet) whose names have given me (and my beta) plenty of headaches. To me, names are give you a personality, they're your trademark.

So, Fayanna is a French name (because Cinderella is French and I give a great importance to both the meanings and origins of the names), and it stands for faith or belief.

Alright, I think I've made you wait long enough, so... here it goes!

Return

This time, Mal was ready for the celebration.

Well, somewhat.

Perhaps it was more accurate to say that she had been expecting it from the beginning. Because, of course, Auradon couldn't simply do something discreetly and with no fuss, no, of course not―Auradon needed to blow trumpets and play loud drums. Auradon needed long-winded speeches and balloons and microphones and cameras.

On the bright side, at least she hadn't been forced to wear a dress for this... celebration.

"Mal, are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Evie asked next to her, the gentle waves of the shore crashing under the wooden removable bridge she'd use to aboard the ship.

"Positive," Mal rolled her eyes. "And if you sent a suitcase with Lumiere you either ask him to bring it back or you resign to not seeing your things until I come back."

"Mal..." the girl whispered, almost a sigh.

"Evie, no. That's final; it's not up for discussion. I said no two weeks ago―I meant it then and I mean it now. You're not coming with me," the daughter of Maleficent repeated, her voice not unkind, but firm.