The devil still lingers

One Shot

Lol so normally I have a lil somethin to say but at the moment, I don't other than the obvious fact that I love Audrey with all of my heart. To all tuning into this fic, I hope y'all enjoy it.:D Feedback of any kind is very much appreciated.:)

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Audrey smiles. She'd done it, she'd gotten back at every person who hurt her, she'd made Auradon fall to their knees. She raises her head, her hollow eyes flickering about every face present in the throne room of Honeymoon Cottage, every human body within the area save for her own having been turned to stone. The fallen princess's eyes stopped on the stone figure closest to her.

"You were such a fool, daddy," Audrey says, a sigh in her voice. She grips the scepter in her grasp in frustration. "I didn't wanna turn you to stone, daddy. Why couldn't you have just agreed to join me?"

"Audrey."

She'd always loved that voice most in the world, that voice always soft and full of love when she had been being addressed, that voice the one she accesses in her archive of memories when she's feeling low. The owner of that sweet, gentle voice belonged to her beloved mother and the queen loved by all of Auroria.

Audrey rises up from the throne belonging to her mother, smiling at the beautiful woman. "Momma." There's horror on her mother's face, the smile on Audrey's lips falling away, confusion settling within the princess. Momma's never looked at her like that before, has never looked so...afraid.

"Audrey," Aurora says, voice shaky and full of emotion, "what have you done?"

Audrey giggles, teeth showing as she smiles. And here she thought her motives were obvious. "They hurt me, momma. All of them hurt me so I hurt them back."

Aurora shakes her head, body trembling, eyes welling up with tears as she stared at the girl who looked nothing like her sweet daughter. "Audrey. Please... It's not too late, baby."

The corrupted girl tilts her head. "Too late? Not too late to do what, momma?"

"To do the right thing, Audrey," Aurora clarifies, finally picking her feet up and walking toward her daughter. She's seeing her daughter up close, bottom lip trembling at the sight of how empty her eyes are, her heart hurting more than it's ever hurt before. Sniffling, the emotional woman reaches out to cup her daughter's face. "Audrey, this isn't you. You're a good person, baby. Not...this."

Audrey blinks at her mother. The more she speaks with her mother, the further she descends into confusion. She just can't understand why her mother looks so sad. She's never felt better, has never felt more in control of her life. "Don't be sad, momma. Be happy. Be happy like me."