HELLFIRE

⚓️ NINETEEN ~ JUSTICE ⚓️

"Harry!" Maddy yelled, chasing after the pair of pirates. "Uma, wait!"

Both of them stopped and turned to look at the girl sprinting towards them, determination written across her beautiful features. Coming to a stop in front of them, Maddy panted slightly as she tried to catch her breath. I need to start going to training more, she thought to herself as a stitch began forming in her side.

"Please, you can't leave." She begged, staring at them with pleading doe eyes.

Turning away from her, Harry knew he couldn't look into those purple eyes otherwise he'd cave. Waiting for Uma to make a decision, Harry knew she would eventually give in.

Pretending to contemplate, Uma looked at the sweat breaking across Maddy's forehead, the way her chest heaved as she struggled to get more oxygen into her lungs, the desperation swirling in her purple eyes. Maddy was asking for help, not Mal. Uma couldn't turn down Maddy, not after everything they'd been through.

"Why should we stay? She lied to us. Maddy, she lied to you."

"I know she did but please, don't take that out on the people of Auradon."

"Mads, ye can't expect us to help her after this." Harry reasoned.

All he could think about was how he was never going to see her again. Staring at her, he tried to commit the way she looked to memory. Her dark hair with electric blue tips suited her far more than the purple ever did, and now he knew why. The familiar jacket that they had spent a whole night glueing sea shells onto, and getting glue on everything else. And, the gloves.

When Harry spotted the red gloves with hooks etched onto them, he had to hold back a tear. After all this time, through everything, she was still wearing those gloves. Despite all he had done, she still loved him.

"Uma, don't help her, help me." Maddy begged, clasping Uma's hands. "I want to save them as well. They're good people."

Before Uma was able to agree, Mal came running up and Uma's anger and stubbornness came flooding back.

"Ben saw something in you. And today, I saw it too. You care. Uma, you care about everybody and Auradon is worth caring about and saving. Help us, please."

Slinging his arm around Uma, Harry noted that Maddy was stood on their side, against Mal. Maybe, just maybe, she would come back to the Isle. Dispelling the selfish thought, Harry knew that his kind hearted Maddy belonged at Auradon, where she could thrive and reach her potential. And he wouldn't be around to see it. All because of Mal.

"You speak pretty but she's already made up her mind." Harry said, almost feeling pity for the future Queen.

"You brought this on yourself, Mal. You figure out how to fix it."

And with that, Uma and Harry walked away from Maleficent's twins. Not even looking back.

Left alone with her sister, Maddy felt numb. Right here, right now, she had a decision to make. If she stayed with Mal, she chose her family and life at Auradon. If she ran after the pirates, she chose to go back to the Isle and be with the family she had found all by herself.
Torn between two, Maddy turned to face Mal.

"Where are the others?"

"Audrey turned them to stone." Mal whispered in shame. "Maddy, I'm so sorry. I feel so guilty but we have to stop Audrey. Please."

Mal had helped Maddy decide what to do. Without uttering a word to her sister, Maddy turned and went after Harry and Uma. She would not let them leave without helping her, Uma owed her that much. Evie, Ben, Jay and Carlos were innocent in this feud and now they were the ones paying for it.

━━━━━━ ♡ ⚓︎ ♡ ━━━━━━

Passing Auradon Prep, Maddy skidded to a stop when she heard Celia's screams for help. Atop the tallest tower was Audrey, holding Celia hostage. Looking around, Maddy was on her own.
Mal was too far away and Uma and Harry were no longer in her eye line.

Taking a deep breath, Maddy left her sword on the steps of Auradon Prep, knowing it would do more harm than good. Running up the stairs would take too long so Maddy glanced around to see if there was a faster solution to reach the top of the tower. She could see nothing useful until she glanced at her hands.
Remembering a lecture from her physics class about hot air rising, an insane idea formed in Maddy's head. It was crazy but the only solution.

Clearing her thoughts, she focused on nothing but the hellfire swirling within her body and directed it towards her hands and feet. Focus, she chided herself, when she began thinking about falling. Quickly, albeit shakily, Maddy began floating towards the top of the tower, flames guiding her path in the darkness.

As soon as her feet landed on solid ground, Maddy extinguished the blue light and plunged herself into semi-darkness once more. Thankfully the moon was particularly bright and so she could make out Audrey's outline.
Approaching the daughter of Sleeping Beauty as if she was a spooked animal, Maddy began talking to her in a soothing voice.

"Audrey, give me the scepter, please. You don't have to do this. You're good."

"No! I am the Queen of Evil!" Audrey pointed the scepter at Maddy, the orb glowing lime green.

"No, you're not. You're a good, kind person. Your mother is Aurora, a good Queen. Trust me, I understand how you might be feeling. I know what it's like to feel abandoned and cast aside. My own sister did it to me so I understand how you feel about Mal. I do. But hurting Auradon, hurting Celia, isn't the answer. Hurting people doesn't make you feel better. Audrey, please. Stop this."

"What do you know about being hurt?! Boohoo, your sister left you behind but she didn't steal your entire future from you! Mal took everything from me! Everything!" Audrey shrieked.

Maddy wasn't about to reveal that Mal had taken everything, that she had ruined Maddy's future by closing the barrier forever. Instead, she inched closer to Audrey. Pushing Celia behind her, Maddy shielded the daughter of Facilier as she slowly reached for the scepter.

"You got your happiness in the end! You poor villain got to come to Auradon and live your dreams whereas I'm treated as a villain because I see Mal for who she truly is!"

"I know, Audrey. The way you've been treated is unfair but, if you give the scepter and the crown back, we can fix everything." Maddy soothed, close enough that all she had to do was reach out and grab it.

Unfortunately, Mal and Uma chose that moment to make their appearance. Calling out to Mal, Celia provided the perfect distraction for Maddy to make her move. Whilst her attention was fixed on the other sister, Maddy darted for the scepter but Uma's arrival had Audrey swinging back round to face the blue haired girl.

"You little snake!" Audrey hissed, pointing the scepter at Maddy's chest. "You tried to get me to sympathise with you just so you could betray me! You liar, just like your sister."

Frozen, Maddy held her breath as the point of the scepter dug into her flesh. One wrong move and Audrey could cause so much damage.

"Audrey, don't do this."

"No!" Audrey shrieked. "Stop talking."

"Celia, run!" Maddy tried to dart towards the younger girl.

And just like that, Maddy Maleficent turned to stone.