My Once Upon a Time • Ben x Reader - Descendants [3]

Chapter Four: Guilt

a/n wow, hi, okay, soooooo um i've been on a bit of a hiatus. my bad, anyway, here i am! i promised an update this weekend, and i'm delivering :) i'm gonna hopefully go back to an update every weekend <3 thanks for being patient with me, love you all so much.

"I think we all know why we're here," Adam said as he eyed everyone in the room. "Everyone" being Ben, Belle, Adam, Fairy Godmother, and myself. I also knew why I was here. As future queen of Auradon, this was now my responsibility.

"The people are in a panic about Hades," Adam continued after Ben had eyed him questioningly. I looked down at my feet, averting my gaze away from everyone else in the room.

"He almost got out!" Adam concluded.

"Who knows what he would've done if he had escaped," Fairy Godmother said.

"We can't risk having another villain on the loose," Adam sighed. I knew he was right, having Uma on the loose was even throwing myself over the edge. But Hades? My own father? It would be like the coronation all over again.

"This whole thing, it feels like it's my fault," I sighed, my arms crossed in front of my chest as I started at the ground guiltily, "I'm supposed to protect the kingdom, and I-"

"You did! You do protect Auradon," Ben tried reassuring me.

"Every time we open the barrier, we're exposed to danger," Adam cut in. I looked at him and sighed. He was right. I knew he was right, and he knew it, too.

"Maleficent, Uma, Hades," Adam continued dragging out his point. Then, Ben's phone rang. Her turned around to look at it, then turned back to us.

"Maleficent's scepter and the queen's crown have been stolen," Ben informed. Fairy Godmother gasped while I looked at been in disbelief.

"Uma-"

"We don't know that, dad," Ben cut his dad off. I grabbed his arm and looked at him, Ben returned my intense stare.

"Ben, who else would do it?" I whispered to him. Ben looked away, back to Adam, and I let go of his arm as my own fell to my side.

"When the people hear this, they will never want to leave their houses," Belle chimed in, "What do we tell them?"

"(Y/N)... what do we do?" Belle asked. And it seemed that in a matter of seconds, everyone's eyes were on me, "How do we keep evil out of Auradon?"

"You-you're asking me? Are you sure I'm qualified for this? I mean-"

"You said it yourself, you're supposed to protect Auradon," Ben said, "You've got this, (Y/N). Whatever you choose, I will stand by you."

I nodded my head slowly, thinking about the options. Not that I had many. I wracked my brain for the perfect answer, one that would keep people safe. Then I found it-

"We can't keep going in and out," I said sadly, looking down at my feet, "It's the only way people will feel safe, it's the only way to make sure people are safe. So I'm proposing we close the barrier, for good."

Fairy Godmother, Belle, and Adam all nodded their heads. Ben, however, took it differently.

"No," Ben whispered.

"Son-"

"No," Ben said again, turning to leave the room. I sighed and turned to follow him.

"Ben!" I called out.

"No, no, no," Ben said.

"Ben, listen to me," I pleaded. Ben turned to me and sighed.

"(Y/N), how could you suggest something like that?" Ben asked.

"You said you would stand by me no matter what!" I exclaimed, "Ben, what other options do we have? Please, enlighten me!"

Ben tried walking away, but I grabbed his arm tightly. He turned to me and sighed. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I tried to gather my breath.

"Ben, I don't want to ruin your dream, it was amazing, and pure, and beautiful," I tried to explain, "This is why I fell in love with you. But if we're going to rule this kingdom together, we have duties and responsibilities that will sometimes lead us to making hard choices. What do we have to do?"

"Protect Auradon," Ben answered. I took his larger hands into my smaller ones and looked up at him, nodding my head.

"But you know what this would mean?" Ben whispered, "All those kids. Are you prepared for that?

"I know, Ben. And as an Isle kid myself, no, I will never be prepared for it, but it's what needs to happen in order to keep all of our people safe, we don't have another choice," I explained.

"Son, (Y/N)'s right," Adam said.

"I would never be able to forgive myself if I let something bad happen," I said, walking away from Ben, "I'm sure Ben feels the exact same way,"

"Who else knows about the crown and the scepter?" Evie asked.

"Will anyone else even know?" Mal added on.

After making my final decision about the barrier, I decided it would be best to visit the girls and calm my nerves.

"No, no one knows yet, and I highly doubt anyone outside of the royal family, myself, and you two will know," I explained, "I mean, it would cause an uproar of panic all over the kingdom. We're employing entirely new security systems."

"What about bringing kids over from the Isle? Will that still be happening?" Mal asked.

"We're talking about closing down the barrier, no more ins and outs," I explained. Mal and Evie looked up at me in disbelief.

"But you said no, right?" Evie asked.

I evaluated my options in this particular situation. Lie about the fact that closing the barrier was my idea, or tell them the truth and risk losing them. That may be an exaggeration, but they would be beyond pissed off at me.

"I mean, the four of us are living the dream here and we finally get to share that," Evie said.

"Yeah, I know," I said, sitting down with them, "It's a huge process and I'm not sure on what our final decision is yet. We just need to keep the people of Auradon in the state of calm they're in now."

"(Y/N), are they seriously thinking no one will go in and out of the isle ever again?" Evie asked. I looked down and sighed. There was no way in hell I could ever tell her that all of this was my idea. It would crush her, "What, we never get to go back and see our parents? And what about these kids? We promised them that they could go back and visit whenever they wanted."

"I know," I sighed sadly, Mal and Evie put a hand on either of my shoulders.

"(Y/N), we are so glad you're going to be queen," Evie said.

"You will be a part of these conversations, you will stand up for the VKs," Mal added in. I held in tears as Evie and Mal said these words to me. If only they knew the truth.

"Thank you for telling us," Evie thanked. She and Mal then pulled me into a loving hug. I returned the gesture, but my heart kept getting heavier and heavier.

"You're going to be a great queen," Mal said, smiling sweetly at me. I smiled back, but the guilty feeling in my stomach quickly grew.

a/n ok, here you go. hope you enjoy :) next update will be here next sunday <3