Elicia's Ice-A Descendants Novel BOOK 1

You Keep Saying "Welcome." It Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means.

Back at the apartment, Mal shows me an extra room where I can stay. Her room is covered in purple and green, and Evie's is blue and red. Carlos' and Jay's are on the other side of the apartment and I haven't bothered looking, but the room Mal gives me is basically just a plain gray cement slab stuck together. There's a rickety bed and a couple shelves. 

Mal's different here. At Auradon, she strived to be the perfect girl. She played good, she answered questions, she smiled and said 'thank you' and 'please.' 

Here, she lets herself go. She laughs at everything, makes fun of anyone endlessly, and doesn't care. She seems more relaxed. 

"Does the whole Isle stink like this?" I ask her. "Or is it just your guy's house?"

She smirks. "Nope, it's the pirates. The shrimp, to be exact. You'll get used to it."

I hear something grinding downstairs, but Mal ignores it and goes back to her spray-paint drawing. It's of the four VK's, but this time I'm added as well. She captured me pretty well for a black-and-gray spray paint job. 

Footsteps come up the stairs and I sit bolt upright. They stop for a minute and I think it must just be someone on the street or something. 

"At least I don't see a picture of me with horns and a pitchfork." Ben says.

Ben!

Ben's standing in the entrance, staring at Mal. Mal whirls around. "Ben." She sputters, a bit of her Auradon self coming back. Like always, she seems to deflate in his presence. 

He starts to walk forward and her hand goes up to stop him. He looks at me then. "Ellie?" He says in surprise. "I didn't know you'd come too."

Mal nods. "I left the note for E before she showed up and asked to come. Ben, why are you here?"

"Ellie... What are you doing here?" Ben asks. 

"Because I don't belong in Auradon, Ben." I snap. I get up off the couch and twist the silver ring Dizzy gave me on my finger. "I never did. And I may not belong here, either, but it's at least a lot better than Auradon was."

Ben looks stricken as he turns to Mal. "Mal, I'm so sorry about our fight." he tells her. They had a fight? That must be why she left! "It was all my fault, it--it..." He looks down once then back up at her, pleading. "Please come home." He holds up his gold ring. I hadn't noticed Mal wasn't wearing it. What kind of friend am I? Ben looks at me. "Both of you."

"Ben..." Mal climbs down from her perch. "I am home. We both are. You never saw what Auradon did to Elicia, did you? What it was doing to me."

"I---" he starts. 

"Ben." I say. "We're not going back."

He seems to fumble for a minute. "I--I brought the limo. It's a sweet ride." he tries. 

Mal shakes her head. "I don't fit it, Ben. I really gave it my best shot. And if you think that I can change, I think that you're wrong."

"About both of us." I stand up next to Mal. "Ben, my whole life I've been told I'm something evil, I'm something that should never have set foot in Auradon."

"B--But I'll change!" He says. "I'll--skip school, have more fun, you know what? I'll---I'll blow off some responsibilities---"

"No!" Mal cries. "See, I'm such a terrible influence! It's only a matter of time before I do something so messed up that not only does the kingdom turn on me they turn on you!"

"Don't quit us, Mal!" Ben yells, grabbing her hand and putting the gold ring in it. "The people love you." he says something else that I don't hear, but I guess I'm not supposed to. I slip a little ways away and sigh inside. There's no way Mal will go back. No way I'll go back. 

Ben turns to me. "I don't have a ring... but... Ellie, I'm so sorry. I never realized... I didn't..."

"It's okay, Ben." I tell him. "I'm fine. I actually really like it here. Some people are a bit strange..." (Harry Hook, cough.) "But on the Isle, nobody knows me as the evil abomination. Besides, didn't you see what people were trying to do? They want me on the Isle anyway, Ben. I don't see a reason to stop them anymore."

"Ellie. Carlos came too. He almost didn't come because you went missing in Auradon and he wanted to keep looking." Ben tells me. 

I stop. "He did?"

"Yes. Everyone's worried, Ellie, but nobody ever thought you'd come here!" Ben says. "Ellie, you don't belong here! This isn't where people care about you."

"Like who, my mom?" I shoot back. "She won't talk to me, Ben. She tries calling, but the few times I answer she just tries to convince me to talk to Fairy Godmother!" I yell. "She doesn't love me any more than Auradon does, Ben!"

He seems at a loss for words. 

Mal's still staring at the gold ring in her hand. Then she speaks up. "I have to take myself out of the picture." She takes Ben's hand and presses the gold ring in. "Because it's what's best for you, and it's what's best for Auradon."

Ben stares at it. "Mal, pl-please---" he moves forward but she stops him. 

"I-I can't do this." She says. She turns away and grabs her spray-paint can again. "You should go, Ben."

Ben turns to me with a pleading look on his face. "Ellie?"

I shake my head. "You heard her."

He doesn't move and Mal turns back. "Ben, please go. Please leave." She tells him. He turns and walks out the door. A single tear goes down Mal's face, but she swipes it away and looks at me. "You should probably talk to Carlos." She whispers. My chest feels tight as I nod. He needs to understand why I'm staying. I can't belong in Auradon any more than Mal can.

I get up and run down the many stairs. The gate opens up and Jay, Carlos, Evie, and Ben stare at me as I come through. Ben looks happy for just a second. "You're coming?"

I shake my head no. "I came to explain." I tell them. Ben starts to walk off sadly, but I focus on the three VK's. "I can't stay in Auradon anymore." I murmur. 

"But you're not from here, like Mal." Evie protests. "You're good, always have been."

"Have I? Did you see what they're saying about me? That I'm a witch? Ice Queen out of control? Evie, you have no idea what people say about me. None of you do."

"Ellie, I'm sorry if we did anything---" Carlos starts.

"You guys didn't do anything. You didn't. But I can't pretend I'm a picture-perfect princess anymore. I don't belong anywhere, but Auradon least of all. I'm sorry." I look down to where Ben walked off. "Ugh, where'd he go. I'll be right back." I brush past the three of them and follow Ben's shape through the mist. 

"Ben, come back!" I yell. "Running off's not going to---" A hand clamps over my mouth and something slams onto my forehead. I groan and slide silently to the ground, the world blurring into gray and bright white. Spots dance over my vision as a grinning face appears in my vision. 

"Welcome to the Isle, lass." Harry Hook says, then slams his hook on my skull again. The last thing I see is Ben's panicked eyes locking with mine. 

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Hello again! So, hope you liked this chapter, it took me forever to decide if I wanted Uma and her crew to capture Ellie AND Ben, or just Ben, but I finally decided on capturing both of them. Please comment on what you think, or what I could add or take away to make it better, and I'll update soon!