𝟐 | 𝐈'𝐌 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 ♗ 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤 ♝

𝑡𝑒𝑛. 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠

♝♗

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍:

𝐶 𝐻 𝑂 𝐼 𝐶 𝐸 𝑆

           Ben's eyes were stinging. He'd been awake all night and it was just around four in the morning, the sun still hadn't risen but in a few hours now it'd come up.

It took him hours of pleading and negotiating to just get his dad to agree to move Jax to the family castle and discuss his status as a whole with the council. The Hatter's son was currently on lockdown in Ben's study and heavily surrounded by royal guards. It was better than letting his dad take the parts of judge, jury, and executioner. But it was all he was able to do apparently, and he was certain his dad did it because it was another lesson he wanted to teach his son.

Still, Ben promised Harry and Uma that he'd do everything in his power to prevent Jax's fate. But it'd be a tough job considering the only people who wanted to see him set free were he and Mal. Both his mother and the Fairy Godmother were on his father's side. They'd been debating this for over two hours now.

"Dad, this is wrong." His voice was strong, but it was also angry.

"One day you'll understand." But the Beast kept talking to him like he was a child, as though his father's crimes never happened and Ben was still wide-eyed and naive enough to believe him. "If you think rounding up the villains in this realm was difficult, imagine Wonderland. We barely understand that magic, let alone have a defense for it." He kept on going.

At that, Ben snapped, "So instead you do this?! You take their children hostage, threaten, and use them to make sure Wonderland can't retaliate?" He believed it was this moment that their parents saw just how emotional he felt about all this. When the meeting first started, they were annoyed but patient, treating him like he was a kid again and they wouldn't get him a new toy. But when they heard the anger and the tone of his voice, they finally understood how seriously he was taking this.

"That's almost as bad as keeping children in a prison whose only crime was being born." Mal refers back to their other decisions. Her face was cold as stone, staring back at the two other women in the room. While Ben and his dad shined in anger and noise, she simply held her power silently in her gaze. And though she didn't know the exact power limit of the Fairy Godmother, she won't lie when she admits that she liked the way it felt when she tensed up at her look.

Queen Belle's face was of shock, as if it was preposterous what they were being accused of. She also subtly tried to ignore Mal's comment. "Oh please, we saved those poor souls. They've had a much more stable life here than over in that madhouse they call a kingdom. And if it keeps Wonderland away from us then all the safer we all are."

Mal wasn't happy being ignored, she never had been. She is, after all, her mother's daughter. "And who the hell gave you the authority to just steal children from another realm?"

That was when the old king raised his voice at her, "We are the authority, fairy child." He, just like his son, was simmering in anger, only for different reasons. Ben was angry over the injustices made over the years. Beast was angry that they weren't simply giving in to his demands. Sure, his son was crowned king but he had been sixteen, everyone knew that was just for show, to let the kingdom know that his son was following the family line. Everyone except his son apparently. Beast was tired over entertaining their options and negotiations, he wanted to nip this in the bud. "I've already made my decision. Jackson Hatter will be taken back across the bridge to face imprisonment on the Isle of the Doomed." He stated.