#Gotta love a multi-facade queen

[ajokeformur-ray]

Quarentene with Ledger Joker, please

This is a request but I’m personalising it for @jokershyena because I love her and I want to give back some of what she does for me. So: female pronouns, some sensuality, the name ‘Lilith’ and other personal details used with permission.

Word count: 1, 615.

Ledger!!Joker @nothing-but-a-comedy @justahyena @anyatheladyclown   @mijachula   @joker-daddy    @rinbyo    @imightaswellnotexistatall    @vladtoly    @joker-is-my-hero    @liz-rdwitch   @enigmaticandunstable        @ledgerskitten    @tsukiakarinobara    @germansarechill      @ezziesworld

With the fatality and infection rates of a new virus sky high and the number of confirmed cases within Gotham growing even higher by the day were you on the edge of a panic attack just from watching the news for only five minutes. You dreaded to think of the actual statistics, for only confirmed cases could be recorded within the news. 

There were over a thousand cases in central Gotham alone and for that reason had the entire city been placed under quarantine for an indeterminable amount of time. You and J lived together (or rather, the apartment was leased under your name and J came and went as and when he felt like it) which meant that, for the duration of the lock-down were you forced to be together. 

You and J.

Alone in your apartment.

For who knew how long.

I found the silver lining to all of this was your thought as you clicked the television off, leaning back against the sofa so that you could stare up at the ceiling. Absentmindedly did you begin to count the cracks, squinting in concentration. You shook your head every time you lost count and began again, always from the same corner. You always lost count at the same crack, too, and the definition of insanity crept into your mind.

It, too, found itself discarded with a firm shake of your head.

“You look as,” J plopped himself down on the sofa beside you, chucking his legs up on the coffee table, crossing his arms over his chest, “Bor-ed as I feel.”

You hummed and leaned sideways, crashing dramatically into J’s chest. “Hold me. Protect me from the virus.” Your words were dramatic, but an edge of fear crept into your voice and J picked up on it immediately. He huffed laughter against the crown of your head as he accepted your less than subtle question for a hug, his arms loosely encircling you. Dissatisfied were you, for you clambered into his lap and seated yourself upon his muscular thighs, your arms looping around his neck as you nuzzled into the warm crook of his neck. Oh, but he was a heater.

“The virus ain’t gonna get’cha, doll,” Joker squeezed his arms around you in comfort as he said, “Not so long as ya’ wash ya’ hands and keep away from peo-ple.” J cackled, his breath hot against the top of your head, the small hairs moving with his exhalations and making you shiver.

You smirked against the skin of his neck, pursing your lips to press a chaste kiss there. “Does that mean I gotta stay away from you?” You made as if to move and J didn’t like that one bit.

“No,” J growled, pulling you even closer to him so that your knees were brought up toward your chest, your kneecaps resting against the back of the sofa, “I am not people.” He spoke the word with real venom, as if he was insulted by the idea that he was a mere person; a plain nobody who could be found on any corner of Gotham’s filthy streets.

“True,” You grinned, raising your head from his neck to press a kiss to the very corner of his mouth, your lips so light and gentle out of fear of irritating his scar that J barely felt it. He groaned in irritation and tilted his mouth towards yours, desperately for more than a ghostly kiss, and you giggled as you gave him what he wanted. He pouted, for you had still only pecked his full lips with your own.

“Jeez, what’s a guy gotta do to get kissed ‘round here, huh?” J grumbled, the corner you had kissed seconds ago was now quirking upwards in amusement. 

“You’re such a drama queen!” His jaw dropped just slightly in indignation but you sobered him up with your next words, the words you had been intending on speaking all along. Only he could so thoroughly distract you, even when he was the topic at hand. “You’re not a person, no - you’re more than that.”

A quizzical look as J wondered if finally you had cracked. He still had yet to figure out if he was a good or a bad influence on you. You were becoming more like him every day and again did he puzzle over whether it was a good or a bad thing. Still, who cared? He didn’t.

You trailed a hand across the back of his neck, your cool fingers raised goosebumps upon the hot flesh and J shivered as you trailed your hand around to his clavicle, down, down his chest, to rest over his heart. You pressed your hand down hard and met his intense chocolate eyes with your own as you said, “You’re a human, J, just like me.”

J’s eyes slammed shut and he squeezed them tightly. His sinful tongue, which made dampness begin to pool and collect in your undies already, darted out to lick the corner of his full lips, and his jaw muscles clenched. You had struck a nerve within your chaotic clown, a place which he always denied being there but in moments like this was it more than obvious.

J was just a man, but he wasn’t like any other. He was wild and untamed, unpredictable at the best of times, raw and passionate, chaotic and loud and so dangerous that people were right to be scared of him, if only because he was something new and undefined; people had always and would always fear that which they did not know or understand, though the citizens of Gotham didn’t want to understand J in all of his multi-faceted complexities. His anger and lack of sanity (though you thought him to be the most sane of all) was only the facade for the decades of hurt and pain; from his time in the military, to the true origin story of how he acquired those macabre scars, to the loss of his wife upon coming home, to dealing with PTSD while re-adjusting to civilian life and who knew what else alone… He had always been alone through all of it and the result was the man upon which you were sat.

When J opened his eyes some time later, which was marked only by the rising and falling of your chests; as you inhaled did he exhale, his eyes were ablaze with fire. His hand crept up to grip the one which rested over his chest, and he slid his fingers into the spaces between your own. 

“My hyena. Mine.” J’s arms tightened around you as he pulled you in to a tight one armed embrace, burying his nose into your neck as he sunk into you while you cackled like a hyena; you had always been quite good at impersonating them and it was one of the things J loved about you. As you inhaled deeply to begin another cackling refrain did J lift his head from your neck, his hand joined with your dropping from his chest so that they came to rest between your bodies; laughing along with you. Your shared laughter - loud, chaotic and my, how you both thrived in these conditions - rang loudly off the walls of your high maintenance, expensive apartment and created a melody worthy of only its creators.

“Yes, J - I’m yours. I’m all yours. And you’re mine. I love you. I love you so much.” You were breathless from laughing, from love, from life as all thoughts of debts and bills and viruses slipped out of your mind, chased away by the overwhelming love which you felt for your Joker, your clown. 

“I’m yours, Lilith,” Only yours, always and forever. “The hyena and her clown.” J’s dramatic flair displayed itself once more in the way his intense chocolate gaze penetrated yours, his smirk growing steadily by the second. Oh, how he loved you in his all own ways.They were small and obscure and you had had to learn to look for them, but there they were, waiting to be found and savoured as only a girl like you could.

Hers. 

The word sent a warm fuzzy feeling to the base of your spine and you shifted forward on J’s lap. He growled. “Don’t start something ya’ can’t finish, dollface.”

“Who says I can’t finish? Ladies first.” You smirked and leaned in to kiss J, his lips hot and heavy against your own, his tongue demanding and his hands were splayed open wide, exploring fingers touching as much of you as he could in the same moment, so hungry and longing for you was he. He was a clingy man, was J, when he was comfortable. He only ever felt so free, so liberated with you.

“Mm,” J purred against your lips as his hips bucked, sending his erection straight into your core. You were so wet that he could feel you even through your jeans and it only made him more thirsty for you. “Let’s - ah - put that to the test.”

Yes, there was a killer virus outside of these four walls which you were forbidden from leaving until further notice. Yes, you had a hell of a job on your hands keeping J inside the apartment until that notice had been given and yes, you were scared and stressed and tired, but you had something that no one else in Gotham had.

Being together felt so simple, so right, almost as if… Almost as if you were meant to be. In short, you had your Joker, and he had you, and together was there no storm that you couldn’t weather.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Winner’s Curse Ch. 20

So here’s a brand new chapter. Some mentions of Tangled the series characters. And of course, some double crossing. Enjoy.  "Why are we here?" CJ squinted suspiciously at the ;avish room they were in. It was stone like the rest of the castle, decorated with lavish tapestries and filled with multi-colored orbs and chests of fake golds that looked filched from Jafar's Junk Shop they were so rusted. She knew each member of the Coven had their own private room, decorated to their theme but since this didn't have a sea theme or a Bayou theme, she was out of luck of guessing who this one was. What's more she didn't care. 

It had been almost two weeks and though CJ had studied the waterways, scoured the uncleaned, and trash-filled sewers for secret passages, and secretly inspected the ships she planned to plunder, Lady Caine hadn't listened to any of her plans. More specifically, Lady Caine hadn't allowed her to even talk about her plans. Even though the self-proclaimed pirate queen had given her the mission to create a plan to pillage Auradon with her fleet, she decided to load CJ with a new job of spying on the Coven to find out their plans. 

Though CJ was all for a good backstabbing against the high and mighty sorcerers that liked throwing their weight around. BUt CJ bristled at being given another mission. Like Caine was handing off duties to her as if she was some second in command. And CJ was no one's second command. That was Harry. That was Smee. She had ambition, she had guts, and if Caine was trying to use her, she swore she'd... "Caine, darling!" A voice cried and in walked a violet eyed brunette with the longest legs CJ had ever seen. She wore a purple dress matched with a black trench coated, both looked quite new leading CJ to believe she was one of the new transfers like Circe and Morgain le Fey. "CJ, this is Staylan, daughter of the notorious kingpin, and a wonderful thief herself." Lady Caine explained, kissing her deeply, and CJ held back a laugh at the ridiculous name, "We have similar plans for old Queen Rapunzel and her prince when we take over Corona." 

"Oh no, not me. I'm over Ryder. It's Beast I have a problem with." Staylan growled, "How dare that mongrel send me and Brock here. Rapunzel vouched for us. She lectured me about being good years ago and I listened...mostly. A girl's gotta have some fun."

"So what's that gotta do with me? Why are we here?" CJ demanded to know, a bit of the impatience that she had been holding in the past days starting to spill over. Plans were all well and good but all this waiting was making CJ anxious. She spent 10 minutes pacing the floor just going over her plan obsessively. That Hook trait was starting to get hold of her and was driving her crazy if they didn't enact a plan.  "This is our hideout. Oh, CJ, we can't stay in Maleficent's castle forever. We need our own allies. You don't think we're going to act as enforcers for the Coven? We have our own insiders. we're going to cut the Coven off at the bridge and take over Auradon ourselves through infiltration." Caine said. 

CJ couldn't stop the way her mouth dropped from surprise even though she knew it made her seem unprofessional and out of her league. 

Caine had been keeping this secret from her! But what about her plan? 

She needed to rearrange all of her strategy if they weren't going to be relying on the Coven's magic. 

Also there was the darker thread running in her mind. If Caine was keeping this from her. 

What other surprises were waiting?

"Helllllooo Staylan?" A man's voice called and said horse-named girl rolled her eyes, "Coming my prince." "You're with that control freak?" Lady Caine raised her eyebrow sardonically.  

Staylan shrugged, "Sure, I'm married to Hans but that's only for the money. Brock is my true husband. We're all very open."

CJ's mouth dropped again. She heard the rumors that Prince Hans had married but since Lars had often talked about his father's sadomasochist nights with Drizella and other prostitutes, she had assumed they were just that, rumors. 

But he was married? And his wife was cheating on him? CJ knew he would not be a fan of that. Like Caine said, he was a control freak and into pretending he was still royal.    "I know. I was there Friday night." Lady Caine smirked. 

"Hey, he has his affairs, I have mine. At least I have the decency not to do it in the dungeon when he's in the castle. I can hear Drizella's screams all night long. It's impossible to sleep." Mmm that explained it. Unofficial open marriage. Very common.

"Anyway, just wanted to drop in to let you know that Hans is also willing to support your takeover of Auradon and block any of the Coven's efforts. Lars will even overpower Staqauit if need be." Staylan said. "Thanks, Stal. Please let Morgain in when she knocks." Lady Caine instructed. "Knocks? That freaking le Fey never knocks she pops in her like a-ahhrgh!" Lady Caine opened the door to reveal a Morgain le Fey and one huffy Staylan walking away.  "Can you explain what she is doing here if she's part of the Coven?" CJ reluctantly whispered as Morgain ignored her and began to use a portable cauldron to do some sort of spell. 

"CJ, you're smart. Why do you think she's here if she's part of the Coven we are double crossing?" Lady Caine turned the question back onto her. "She's double crossing them too." CJ answered, feeling a bit unsteady, a bit seasick which never happened to her. After all she was a pirate at heart and loved the sea. But all the double crosses, she was starting to feel uneasy that there was something else Caine was holding out on her and that was Caine was going to doublecross her next. Why else had she been so eager to extend the hand of mother-daughter relationship after all these years but to use her for something? 

The suspicion that her mother would be willing to betray her wasn't what upset her. It was the fear that she had no one to use now. 

Her dream of getting her birthright was starting to slip.

Sure, she'd have the satisfaction of defeating her brother's girlfriend's Coven would have been nice. But nothing like getting the Jolly Roger. Nothing like proving she was better than Dad. Better than her siblings. 

She would be the new legend. She had to. She needed two new plans now. Double cross Coven and double cross Mom. 

"So what did you learn from the meetings?" Caine asked. CJ had sneaked around the meeting room, doing the tried and true tactic of hiding behind the curtains. So obvious, no one noticed her and she found out the date of their attack.  “Good. See, Morgain calls the insiders from Auradon. Some of those goody goodys want the Beast to burn as much as we do. We tell them about the Coven. They go stop them and while they're on the Isle, we take over Auradon and kill the beast. Got it." CJ nodded. She understood and mentally, she was taking notes. She would need this. For now, she had to pretend she was still gleefully under her "mommy's" thumb.

"Ready to meet our inside contacts?" Lady Caine smirked as a blue flash enveloped them both. ———————————————————————————————————-

"I'll be ready in a minute dear." FG's voice called from the lobby that led to her Student Counselling room.

Alexandria shifted restlessly, rolling her eyes even though FG wasn't there to be shocked at her rudeness. She heard the way too happy godmother laugh, cooing something about "Oh Jane, that's very sweet." So sweet. That's one way to define FG. So sweet and peppy you could get a toothache from the sheer sacherinne bibbidi bobbidi boo-ness. 

She could still hear FG chuckling and decided to look at the notes written in her Counseling Folder because if Alexandria knew anything, sweet was not everything. Sweet was the facade FG used to hide her real thoughts about people. 

Alexandria shifted the open folder from her desk and eagerly read the contents to see what FG really thought of her attitude during their stupid counselling sessions that she hadn't even wanted in the first place. 

Lately she hadn't felt any interest in school. Everything was boring. 

What was the point of learning Potions, and Commotions if magic wasn't allowed in Auradon. Why should she learn Royal Politics if she wasn't technically going to rule as princess even though she was part of the Atlantica Royal Family. 

Everything was useless. 

Not that she slacked. She didn't allow herself to get anything less than a B. She was her mother's daughter and she would make her proud in a life so filled with disappointment. 

But FG had noticed her lack of enthusiasm and pulled her into these bogus counselling sessions that have lasted for two months. 

Admittedly, she hadn't thought it was going to suck when FG first suggested it. In fact Alexandria had felt relieved. Finally someone would listen to her about this hollow emptiness that seemed to permeate most of her days. Listen to her frustrations about her family and the rest of Auradon Prep students who barely knew her name. 

The complete opposite happened. FG was sweet as eve,  but her advice was asinine and from what she read of FG's notes, she didn't understand her at all.  Alexandria of Atlantica and Olympia Contrary to the happy display at events, Crown Princess Attina's and Crown Prince Thor's (which Alexandria insists on others referring her parents to their former titles as King and Queen of Atlantica) arranged marriage had not blossomed into love as the public was led to believe. They are married out of duty and professionalism in order to lead their citizens. Since the Great Uniting of Kingdoms and relinquishing king/queenship of Atlantica, the couple lost the only tie binding them together. 

Princess Attina has moved on to working on Atlantica's tourism and nonprofit businesses to protect the reefs and Atlantica's ecological system. Thor has no interests nor the skills since he had only been trained to rule and seems to be engaging in extramarital dealings.   Alexandria is absorbing this dysfunction to become morose, defensive and irrational, blaming her parent's estrangement on her Aunt Ariel whom the populace has elected to be the new queen. I will call Princess Attina and suggest family counseling to improve Alexandria's attitude in school. 

Alexandria threw the folder back on FG's desk, wishing she hadn't looked. She knew FG thought she was being defensive. She saw the plastered smile as FG encouraged her to "think positively" and see the issue from another angle and her life wasn't "so bad as she was making it out to be." But she wasn't irrational! She had a right to be "morose" about this. 

Aunt Ariel was to blame for her parents losing their kingdom! Aunt Ariel could have done so many things when people elected Aunt Ariel to be queen. She could have refused! She could have given it to her mom. She could have said she didn't want to be queen of Atlantica as well as Uncle Eric's kingdom.  Besides that election hadn’t even fair! For the sake of the new monarch-democracy, King Beast allowed all of Auradon to vote for the king and queens of the new united kingdoms. And all those strangers from Agrabah and Charmington and China and Camelot, peasants and fairies voted for the ruler of Atlantica to be Ariel, overwhelming the votes of the mermaids in Atlantica whose tiny population compared to the rest of Auradon brought an overwhelming 75% Ariel to 25% Attina. 

Of course they voted for Ariel. Ariel was the one they knew. The quirky and adventurous mermaid who sacrificed everything for love. Not her mother. The eldest, the responsible daughter who had trained and been brought up to be a ruler, who had already married her father so they could unite their two sea kingdoms, whom the people of Atlantica loved as queen. And now 10 years later, her parents were miserable, her beloved home was a tourist trap that was polluted, littered and filled with obnoxious foreigners taking pictures and scaring fish, and she was stuck in this boarding school to be told to look at things positively and be happy that she is a princess, she could be less off like a VK. 

FG walked into the room and Alexandria stood up. She couldn't bear to stay in front of her doughy cheeked, happy peppiness

“I have to go FG," Alexandria stared at the ground, sure if she looked at her face she would begin to scream all the obscenities running through her head, "I-I have a test tomorrow." 

"Alright honey. After knowledge and learning keep you happy through life. But I still feel we should continue meeting. My suggestion for this week is to try not to think about the past. Just focus on the happy now." FG said softly, a "comforting" hand patting her shoulder, the sincerity oozing out like oil rippling through ocean waves. Alexandria didn't answer. She just turned and stalked out the room, a million thoughts crashing in her head and pressing against her chest in a tight coil."Don't focus on the past." Easy for her to say when the past was still directly affecting her present.  She hated to read the Atlantica Courier everyday to see a new plea for tourists not to litter or will face severe consequences which never came to fruition because they could just bribe their way out. Read about the newest oil spill or kelp forests being harvested for spas. Read about her mom's hard work in various Atlantica nonprofits that took several years of board meetings and schmoozing and still didn't accomplish all the goals Attina wanted. 

Whenever she visited the palace for vacation, she'd see her grandfather avoid looking out the windows because of how changed the kingdom was. Dull, grey, the coral eroding. Her aunts visits, exhausted from hosting Atlantica tours and arranging kingdom-wide clean ups of the reef while trying to find time to carve out careers based on their own passions. Passions pushed aside when their kingdom turned into a tourist attraction. 

Her dad, when he was home and not off trying to find some new entertainment, would lead her around the royal treasury, telling her of their family history and all he had learned. His royal lessons that were useless to him now that he had no kingdom. 

Sometimes she'd hear her mother crying alone in her room at night, but by day she'd be back to her stoic grim determination. Act like a true queen and keep her feelings inside so she could lead those who needed help more than herself. 

So lost was she in her thoughts that she was jolted out of them when she was banged against the lockers. One particular bejeweled lock scraping her shoulder. When she rubbed, droplets of blood smeared.  "Heyy, oh sorry Arabella! Nice solo yesterday in Auratones." Herkie yelled as he rushed off. 

Arabella! Freaking Arabella. Somehow all of Auradon could remember the names and sometimes the order of the seven dwarfs, but remembering the name of Aunt Ariel's six sisters was beyond their capabilities. So for someone to confuse her with her cousins was a common event. 

Despite the fact that some of them were even blonde or redheads and thus very distinguishable from Alexandria’s own dark brown hair. Not that anyone would ever confuse her with Melody. Oh no, no one would ever forget Melody, being the daughter of oh-so amazing Ariel. Her story was just as memorable as her mother's. How cute it was that Ariel wanted to be a human while Melody wanted to be a mermaid. Adorable! Alexandria always had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at that. Everyone seemed to think that her aunt and cousin were so courageous chasing after what they wanted. No, they were stupidly impulsive and lucky. 

Ariel was lucky that Eric returned her love. If he hadn't, Atlantica would be in ruins, Aunt Ariel dead and Eric married to a witch. And sure, Ariel defeated Ursula but if Ariel hadn't tried to bargain with Ursula in the first place, then Ursula wouldn't have gotten close to Atlantica in the first place!  Ariel was one of the lucky few to get a happily ever after. Much like all of Auradon's beloved couples but if others tried to do the same and follow their hearts...

Her grandfather still sometimes laughed and cringed thinking of the great Land Migration where mermaids and mermen, inspired by Ariel, tried to find potions to walk on land. People transformed into fish, clams, even a few seagulls. Those who managed to find the right one only stayed for two hours on land, finding the surface world to be as messy and awful as Sabastian always warned. Aunt Ariel had been so lucky that way. She barreled into situations and she always came out on top. While her mom worked and strived to do her best and had everything taken away from her yet she didn't complain. She didn't tell Alexandria her problems nor would she confide in grandfather Triton, she heard the way her mom dismissed his concerns. She'd just say she was the queen, it was up to her to take care of things. Grandfather should just enjoy his retirement. Alexandria should be a teenager. 

But Alexandria wasn't blind. She could see her father sneaking other women into guest rooms. Could hear the fights between closed doors. Feel the silence during family dinners. Alexandria dug out her phone and called her mom to get voicemail. That's what always happened and she left her usual message, "Hey Mom, just checking in. I love you. I'm thinking about you."  It was a small thing but she always did it. Her mom had to know she had her by her side no matter how bad things got. 

Or if things stayed the same. And that's what Alexandria secretly feared. 

Every day being the same. Nothing changing for the better. She'd be stuck as Alexandria with a meaningless title. Princess Alexandria of Atlantica. Always confused with her cousins because nothing of her life was special. 

She'd work at her mother's nonprofits trying to fulfill familial duty to make Atlantica better but reach nothing because she wasn't special enough. If Ariel told people to pick up their trash and drink Atlantica's famous kelp smoothies, people would obey like mindless sheep. But if it was Alexandria urging people to think of the environment was like screaming into the void. It would have been worthwhile if she was going to be queen. She understood the duty but all work with no crown, no citizens to advocate for. It was useless. 

She was useless. 

This was what the rest of her life was going to be like. Her chest clutched tighter and her heart pounded. She could hear the pounding in her ears as it came faster and faster. Oh great Neptune, she felt like it was punching against her chest. 

BaBOOM BaBOOm BaBOMBaBOOMBABOOMBABOOMBABOOM.  She ran, she ran as if she could escape the drumming heartbeat in her body, her feet echoing its rhythm as she bounded up the steps. 

She struggled to open the door to her room, the lock feeling extremely slippery in her trembling grasp. She couldn't and knocked frantically on the door. Some part of her mind knew it was irrational yet she started to feel that if she wouldn't get into her room, her heart would explode. She was going to die in this hallway, if not from a heart attack but from lack of oxygen, she felt like she could breath. She couldn't breath, she tried to remember what Aunt Ariel had said when she first came to land. She had to breath in and out but she couldn't think how exactly she was supposed to do that, She needed water. She wanted water. 

"Woah woah what is all the bangin-" Victoria Porter opened the door to their room and Alexandria pushed past her to flop on her water bed. Not like the lumpy bed other students had that jiggled but her bed was a glass case of water that felt so like home. 

Her heart was still bursting out of her chest and she vaguely registered Victoria rubbing her back, asking if she needed water or something but Alexandria couldn't speak. It felt like hours passed but she knew from the times it had happened before, it had probably been only a few minutes. 

"Hey.. what happened?" Victoria asked as Alexandria wiped her eyes from the tears that had formed. 

"You know, life sucks." Alexandria managed beyond the lump in her throat, "I had another "counselling session" with Fairy Godmother and she wrote that I was irrational for blaming Ariel about my parents." 

“Ahhh," Victoria nodded understandingly, "You're not irrational. Don't listen to her, After all, she's the same woman who thought reviving the world's worst and most heinous villains to put them together on the Isle was a good idea. COme on, she's hardly the epitome of someone acting rational. She is in favor of the Magic Ban, she is going against her roots."  Alexandria sniffed, and smiled a little considering how Victoria used to be in favor of the Magic Ban. 

Victoria had felt magic was a short cut and couldn't solve everything. Not like science which always progressed forward. "True." 

"You know, I'm right." Victoria leaned on the glass, "I know something that will cheer you up. Kyro and Morrían are available to start talking to Caine."

Alexandria immediately sat up, spilling her water onto the floor, but she didn't care. "Now? In the middle of the day They're hardly awake during the day like weird vampire people." Alexandria cried. 

"I don't know why they're up now but they are. Come on, Caine said she has something very important to tell us." Victoria pulled out her phone as Morrian's serious and Kyro's bored faces popped up on Auradon-Face, "We're all ready. Bring on Caine." 

Morrían’s tangled black tresses had a way of framing her violet eyes that whenever she was annoyed or angry, it would like two flashing orbs sparkling out of a dark cave, just as they were now at Victoria's cheerful attitude. "Porter, you must remember to call her Lady Caine." "Ugh she's no lady. She's a pirate." Victoria scowled. “Well we are working with her and we better keep a good relationship with her until we can turn her over to the authorities." Morrían reminded. 

"But she's a thief. She's evil. Why shouldn't we remind her that she's a lowly little-" 

Morrían’s eyes flashed and Kyro chucked, the Never fairy seemingly to wake up from his usual unimpressed expression to enjoy the potential hexing. Morrían’s fingers steepled her fingers together, blue flames flickering menacingly. 

The gesture had its intended reaction as Victoria slumped a little and pursued her lips, no doubt remembering that Morrían le Fey was the daughter of one the most dangerous and morally flexible magic user in all of Camelot.  "Now then, I shall call her up." Since Lady Caine was a mortal on the Isle and obviously had no ability to use magic, Morrían and Morgaine would work in tandem to briefly teleport Lady Caine to Camelot so they could all see her from Auradon-Face. There was a flash of blue behind Morrían’s screen and Lady Caine and the pirate that Alexandria recognized to be as CJ Hook appeared. 

“Why is she here?" Victoria growled.  "Relax, she’s my kid. She's part of the deal." Lady Caine smirk, "She won't betray us. She wants Auradon to go down just as much as we all do."

Alexandria managed to school her face from the obvious shock she felt to know CJ Hook was not only Hook's daughter but Caine's as well, and side-eyed Victoria. They wanted to bring down Auradon. That's what they allowed Lady Caine to believe. 

What they wanted was a revolution to the past. 

It had all begun after Cotillion. It had been at one of the kingdom press conference/town hall that they had met and found they had similar issues with the kingdom they lived in. They wanted to go back to the way things were before the Uniting and the creation of the Isle. 

Alexandria had always known Victoria's fiery opinions about the latter. The formation of the Isle led to the creation of Vks when villains were better off dead. Now Vks were trying to get revenge on behalf of their parents.

Stellar future planning King Beast. 

Victoria’s view was that the Vks should stay on the Isle because it was a waste of time and energy to integrate 11 year old and older to Auradon. It led to some sibling friction between her and her older brother, Kerchak who was on King Ben’s side that some of the kids could be reformed. 

Alexandria was unsure of her stance on the VKs. Morally, she knew it was better to get them away from their parents but on the other hand, they seemed more trouble than they were worth. Truthfully, The whole Isle of the Lost was more of a distraction to what she considered bigger problems that existed within Auradon. Since the formation of the Isle was one obvious mistake, then other decisions King Beast had made that should be changed. The whole Great Uniting should be reversed. The first major problem was the Auradon-wide elections of people voting in things they weren't informed in like when they voted for Aunt Ariel, an inspiring story, but unprepared princess, to rule Atlantica.

Secondly was the arbitrary melding of kingdoms so the continents became one mega continent leading to turf wars like China vs Agrabah in the Great Olive Oil-Carpet Fights until King Ben had resolved it after his father left the issue unattended. 

There was the fact that the kingdoms were not equal now they were united. Atlantica was being used as a playground for royals to trapiese around in their underwater vacations. Arendelle's ice was being transported among all the kingdoms instead of being fairly distributed to its own people. Atlantis was besieged by pissed off scientists that wanted to explore and dig in its ruins instead of respecting the purity of the culture that came from being isolated.

Then there was the Magic Ban which Kyro and Morrían felt very strongly about for the obvious reason of their magical heritage. Kyro didn't like that in order to "fit in" with the other students that he had to take  Wonderlandia potion to grow human sized and hide his wings. Furthermore, he hated the compulsory education that he was expected to attend because he was the son of the semi-famous Never bad girl fairy, Vidia. He did not find any use in classes about politics and history. He wanted to go home and embrace his fast-flying roots as part of the rest of the Never fairy system. 

Another strike he hated was that because his father was Kyto, the greedy dragon of Neverland (a parentage that Alexandria wasn't sure how it worked and hated to imagine), he was also forced to attend the patronizing Remedial Goodness class with FG. Morrían had the more pressing problem that adults wanted her to be sent to the Isle of the Lost after they had already sent her mother away from her in the second purge of potential villains after Cotillion. Morrían despised what she saw as the hypocrisy that mortal royals could do whatever they wanted and reach after their dreams but immortals and magical creatures like her had to hide their gifts or hold back in order to make things "fair." Nevermind that hiding their magic felt unnatural and painful to some.  Alexandria understood that, she remembered the first time she had used her legs, living on land with its arid dryness and lack of fluidity. No one had believed her that she felt shooting pain every time she walked, she had been so unused to the jarring rub and grind of leg muscles and of course, having to actively remind herself to inhale and exhale air. 

She had gotten used to it.. after a month but she knew others like Morrían whose magic was part of their essence that it felt suffocating. Like wearing a corset all the damn time. So they had to go back. Back to when they were all isolated kingdoms. Allied but separate. Each kingdom dealt with their own criminals and the Vks that came from them, their trade and magical beings themselves. No one had to be uniformed with others or bend down to the will of richer kingdoms. 

Morrían had been the one to mention that she felt there was a hole in the Barrier of the Isle, that magic was spilling into the hands of the worst villains and that she would have to warn someone. But that she felt conflicted because her mother was trapped there and she felt maybe she should let the magic stay there. At least long enough for her mother to regain her strength and break out on her own. Alexandria was the one who had come up with the idea of allowing the villains to escape. With Morgain on the inside, they'd have inside information to what the Coven was doing. They'd be able to use their tactics against the villains, and save the day. Morgain befriended Caine and got them in contact with her since she was supposedly a master technician and infiltrator since she nearly killed King Fredric back when Rapunzel first returned.   Albeit their grand rescue would be a bit delayed. 

They could not act like they knew too much about the Coven's plan, that they had been conspiring with Lady Caine and so they had to allow her to cause some chaos and get vengeance.  Victoria had suggested that perhaps Auradonians needed a close call to see how weak the Auradonian Royal Guard was spread out among the kingdoms, they'd see that it would be tactically intelligent to split the kingdoms. 

Morrían and Morgain wanted to be able to save Camelot and usurp Merlin as top sorcerer as deserved since he was just as hypocritical as FG. And Alexandria... Alexandria was willing to let some parts of Atlantica get crushed. Specifically the royal beach homes that were built there, ruining the pristine ocean with their gaudy mansions. So yes, they were allowing Auradon to descend into chaos when knowing they could save it. 

Perhaps it was wrong. But sometimes one needed to strike fear and terror in order to make a point. 

Auradon as it stood was not working. Radical change had to happen. She wasn't going to end up like her mom and work in the system that is crushing her. "Tell us, Lady Caine," Kyro purred, "What is so important?" She had told them that it seemed King Ben had sent another covert group to try to defeat the Coven but thankfully they seemed subdued with Jay under Jafar's hypnosis and the rest imprisoned though Lady Caine still was suspicious of the motives of Circe's son. 

Although Alexandria was secretly glad there was another group ready to fight against the Coven, she worried that they'd succeed before Lady Caine could invade.

Then Jay and Prince Aziz would get all the fame. Sons of enemies teaming up and saving Auradon was just the fairy tale that people would eat up and nothing would change.   Lady Caine did not respond to Kyro's smile which was odd since the two seemed to enjoy volleying seductive voices and bedroom eyes. A trait that always unnerved Alexandria. 

Though she understood that Kyro was probably trying to get Lady Caine to believe they truly wanted to overthrow Auradon and let everyone they love die, it was creepy how easy being bad was for him. 

Then again, he was fey. If there was anything she learned from Magical Beings: Friends and Foes was that fae operated on a different level of morality than mortals and mermaids like her. "The Coven has a date of attack." Lady Caine informed them, "Summer solstice.”  The solstice was 7 days from now. "Thank you." Alexandria said, "We will contact you again tomorrow to discuss our plans." "Actually I have some ideas." CJ smiled, grandly gesturing in front of her mom but Morrian teleported them back before she could continue. 

7 days time. They can do this. She wasn’t like Aunt Ariel, jumping into danger. She had this all planned out, and that meant her rescue of Auradon would be better. Her fairy tale ending would fit. 

She studied and strived and looked at all the angles. She was responsible like that and though Auradon would never admit it but impulsively following your heart only lead to temporary happiness until reality set in.

But she was a realist, she was studious and that would make her happiness permanent in a new old world order.