"And consider this" he continued pulling out a medium sized box, covered in weird multicolored paper. "the first Welcome back present!" he finished handing it to Alex.

The Isle child blinked, not making any move to open the 'present'.

"Lumiere here is your godfather." The Queen said gently, making Alex blink again. "And Cogsworth is Ben's."

Godfather?

The word was new. Everybody knew of Fairy Godmother, but what in the world did godfather mean?

Was 'Lumiere' in charge of him if the King and Queen weren't around? Did they expect him to follow this person's orders?!

Alex had to physically fight back the urge to rip Lumiere's arms off.

He was not going back to following anyone's orders. Much less someone he had no say in picking.

Mal's orders were an exception. The only exception. They were different. More for show than anything else. To help all of them look more organized than they were. More dangerous.

And he always had a say in it. A right to say no. Alex was following Mal because he chose to.

His fingers curled around the 'present', his nails seconds before ripping into the colorful wrapping.

The possibility of going back to that life.

Back when he wasn't working for Mal – The Queen of Fire – but for the King – for Arobynn.

"A chess game?" Ben guessed, smiling like it was an inside joke.

Mal barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Like it could have been anything else.

"Of course!" Lumiere exclaimed with a grin, then winked at Alex, who didn't entertain him with any emotion. "I was the one to teach your brother and your father to play, you know. So, I was thinking we could arrange som- "

"I know how to play." Alex stated still not making a move to look at his 'present'.

Lumiere's grin finally slipped a little but he recovered fairly quickly. The King and Queen on the other hand looked like they just got slapped by the blunt statement, even though it wasn't meant for them.

Even Ben took a little longer to stop looking like a kicked puppy.

'Great.' Alex thought to himself. 'First sentence I manage to say today and it's wrong.'

The Queen's smile was back on, but she was holding him a little tighter than before.

He tried to make a subtle threat to one person and somehow manage to screw it up so bad, said person appeared more composed than everyone else!

On a brighter note, he could almost feelMal's amusement. At least he cheered someone up.

"Brilliant! We can start with the games!" Lumiere exclaimed and Cogsworth sighed tiredly.

Twenty minutes go by without another incident as the group continued the tour to what seemed to be a never-ending-castle.

The King and Queen still seemed tense as they walked; The Queen holding him with stiff arms, almost afraid to put him down and the King making a point of not looking towards the four Vks but glancing at Alex every couple of minutes.

Ben, on the other hand, seemed back to his smiley self, oblivious as always to the tension in the air, as he made his own observations about the history of the castle along with the rest of his family.

The Isle kids remained silent as they took in the surroundings, mentally marking all the exits and the hidden security cameras, hiding the tense muscles and the impulse to bolt.

Alex adopted an innocent look, trying to pass as oblivious and cute as he concentrated on breathing steadily and not accidentally revealing the hidden blades he had under his clothes.

"And this is the Art Gallery." Ben explained as the group entered a large hall filled with paintings of all kinds.

"The most famous paintings in all of Auradon are here – all in original of course." The King added and the Isle kids recognized the subtle power play.

Alex could hear Mal's jaw clench.

Cogworth took over ranting about the paintings as the Isle kids looked around, trying to find something to retail with before Mal's hair starts to smoke.

"And here in the middle we have the 'Purple End'-" Cogsworth continued gesturing towards a painting of the shadows of two people dinning under a beautiful night sky. "Made by Cesaire in 1642."

The rest was lost to Alex as his eyes locked onto a constellation just above the shadows in the painting. A very specific constellation.

The barrier around the Isle blocked the view of stars, but Dizzy had always been fascinated with them, so Alex always made a point of looking for astronomy books and pages in the monthly trash that was brought from Auradon.

Once, he found a couple of pages from an old atlas that listed every constellation discovered in the past 200 years. Mother Gothel locked him into the closet before he could hand them over to Dizzy. It had been one of the rare times the crazy hag didn't leave right away, so he killed his time reading and rereading those damned papers over and over and over under the pathetic light his bracelet offered him. He never actually considered they could end up being useful.

His left hand moved the moment he was sure Mal could see him with the corner of her eye, and scratched the tip of his nose with his thumb, letting her know he had it.

It was her decision as the leader. If she thought it was worth it, Alex was ready to put on any show she wanted.

"Hmm." Was all she said as she stared at the painting.

The first sound she made today.

And Ben jumped for it. (Accidentally cutting off Cogsworth too)

"It's a classic! Cesaire is one of the most famous painters in Auradon. Every castle is decorated with at least one of his paintings and-" Ben started talking excitedly before Mal cut him off.

"How long has it been here?" she asked, sounding interested.

"Roughly a hundred years miss." Lumiere answered, glad to finally hear something from their guests.

"Mm." was all Mal said still inspecting the painting.

"A lot of Cesaire's work had been stolen around three hundred years ago. It is very unfortunate we couldn't display it in his proper place sooner." The King continued, his eyes holding clear accusation towards the Vks.

The Queen looked ready to say something when Mal spoke again.

"Not so bad for a fake then." She mused, ignoring the King.

The Auradonians blinked.

"Mademoiselle, I assure you nothing in here is fake." Cogsworth hurried to say, looking more than a little insulted. "This painting in particular, had been- "

"We're sorry sir, but it's actually a pretty obvious fake." Carlos interrupted, looking sincere, even though only Alex knew why it was a fake.

The King's eyes darkened like a raging storm, the look on his face an almost identical copy of Alex's when he was mad.

"Why do you think it's fake?" Ben asked curiously.

"Look." Jay pointed towards the painting in no general direction, making everybody turn.

"I still don't see it." Ben admitted after a few seconds.

"Look closer." Evie advised, making it seem like they all knew what they were talking about.

"There is nothing wrong with the painting!" the King finally snapped, looking ready to yell for the guards after Mal gave him an amused smirk.

"They're talking about this." Alex said and leaned towards the painting to point at one of the stars.

The Auradonians quieted down almost immediately. Turning their attentions towards the spot their Lost Prince just pointed at.

Ben frowned looking disappointed when he couldn't see what was wrong, making Mal roll his eyes.

Alex sighed and leaned over again, keeping one hand on the Queen's shoulder so he wouldn't go tumbling onto the floor.

This time he pointed at a few smaller stars around the first time.

"This is called the Van Buren Supernova – exploding star. Only appeared in 1858." He explained and turned towards Ben expectantly.

"…So how could it be painted in 1642..."

Carlos slowed down to admire the giant cuckoo clock in the middle of the hall, his mind buzzing with ideas involving the delicate mechanism.

He frowned at the weird design but before he could ponder on it, the little doors opened and a small dalmatian jumped out, barking.

"AHH!"

Everyone turned around at Carlos' scream just in time to see him jump in Jay's hands, who looked used to it.

The little toy kept barking as it hanged from the clock, while the Auradonians exchanged glances.

The Queen looked at her sons.

Ben looked sad – almost crushed even.

Alex looked almost bored when Jay dropped Carlos.

The Queen finally put him down once Lumiere opened the doors to the Astronomy Tower, where the royal family comes to stargaze.

Another large room, this time with mirrors everywhere – apparently it looked 'magical' when the stars reflected on them. Still impeccable. Still smelling all nice and bright and good.

Mal wanted to gag.

Lumiere gestured for all of them to go on and Evie was the first to dart away from the group.

"So beautiful." She breathed as she gazed at her reflection in one of the bigger mirrors. "Oh, don't get jealous!" Evie chuckled as she lifted her magic mirror.

The King frowned at her and might have said something if he wouldn't have spotted Jay lifting his arms towards the big – and very expensive – vase in the middle of the room.

His mouth opened and closed as he watched Alex and Carlos, each one on either side of Jay, hit the thief in the arm without even looking in his direction. Almost like a reflex.

Jay moved along without even touching the vase, not looking particularly disappointed.

The King and Queen exchange a look, before Belle's eyes turn wide, a gasp escaping her lips, making her husband turn.

Alex apparently saw something interesting outside, because he climbed one of the windows that was higher (and usually locked) and was leaning over it dangerously, his small body half outside, trying to see something seven stories below.

If the Queen had been wearing higher hills, she might have been able to reach the child's ankles.

Seconds.

It took only a few seconds.

King Adam took a step forward, eyes fixed onto the balancing legs of his youngest when he spotted Mal, looking bored next to the window and he had a horrible thought of seeing the daughter of the Evil Fairy push his child – the very one he just got back – out the window.

His lips finally parted, but no sound came out as the purple haired teen reached out, grabbing Alex's right ankle and pulled, making the kid fall right into Evie's arms, who passed him into Jay's, who threw him high in the air towards Carlos.

The Queen made a small high noise as the young De Vill caught her baby boy, Alex's combat boots not even touching the ground.

Ben turned around at the sound, barely catching sight of Carlos putting his brother down.

Alex sighed, bored, before looking confused at the pale reflection of the Queen in one of the mirrors.

Next came lunch.

Beautiful room with three glass walls that showed the greenest garden in Auradon.

The Queen sit down between her husband and her youngest child at the round table and Ben pulled the chair between Alex and Evie but didn't get to sit down before Mal almost teleported in front of him, stealing his spot.

The King was so engrossed in looking at his youngest he missed the scene right in front of him, making him take a double take when Ben sit down next to him instead of Alex.

Small conversations started around the table, the Vks and the Auradonians keeping to themselves with Alex in the middle and Ben trying to play mediator.

But then the Queen asked if he liked to read.

"I just finished 'Romeo and Juliet'."

A book from the library. A romance that he heard a few students vaguely discuss on the halls. He figured that should be a 'good' answer.

The Queen sat up a bit straighter. A new spark in her eyes. Her smile a little brighter.

"Shakespeare."

"Yeah…"

"Did you like it?"

The King could see his wife's excitement clearly. Ben could, too.

It would mean the world to her if her youngest child got her undying love for books especially if they bonded over her favorite book – 'Romeo and Juliet'

Adam and Ben like to read, too, but they were not as passionate as Belle was.

"Not really." Alex answered without even batting an eyelash.

The Queen blinked.

When she asked Audrey about it, the princess gave an artificial answer about how if they had phones, they could have just texted each other and they wouldn't have died. Belle knew in an instant how that girl read the book and what she thought of it.

But Alex flat out saying he didn't like it was odd enough to make even her blink.

"Why not?"

Now that the excitement diminished just a little, she was able to think more logical.

Of course, he wouldn't like it. He was ten. Ben read it when he was fourteen. It was a classic written in a very old style. He might not have been able to understand it.

"Impulsive teenage couple blames society for their bad choices." Mal stated and the three royals needed a moment to realize she was talking about the book.

"Yeah." Alex agreed.

"Well – Well that's certainly an interesting opinion." The Queen said, trying to think of a better response. "But the story revolves around the love between them- "

"Shakespeare actually called it a tragedy, not a love story." Alex intervened. "And the love part is actually a bit questioning especially at the beginning."

The Queen blinked and Mal elaborated.

"In the beginning Romeo is moping around because another Capulet, by the name of Rosaline, won't give him the time of day, and probably doesn't even know he exists, considering Romeo has never actually seen Rosaline."

All other conversations stopped to listen to Mal and Alex as they took to destroy one of the most famous books ever written.

"After Romeo gets friend-zoned by Rosaline, his Montague gang take him out to a party to forget about her, 'By giving liberty unto thine eyes. / Examine other beauties'." Alex recited.

"And even if he does truly love her, naïve Juliet is nonetheless Romeo's rebound in an attempt to mend his broken heart and piece together his shattered manhood." Mal continued.

Ben exchanged looks with his father. Both a little scared to interject.

"One of the best scenes that depict the love between the two would be the confession on the balcony scene, it –" The Queen started objecting again, this time a lot more excited.

There were only so many times she got the chance to truly debate a book. Not just make plain polite conversation about what was to like about it – when she could never discuss the details, because so little people cared about them.

But now here was Alex – her little not-even-ten-years-old child – who was reciting Shakespeareto argue with her. And even had the daughter of Maleficent as backup.

She wanted to see how much they could hold. How far they could get their opinions. The balcony scene was the most known. The most adored. Could they really shatter the almost impeccable reputation it had?

"'Wherefore art thou Romeo?'" Mal asked and the Queen nodded. "Juliet, not knowing that Romeo is sitting in her garden like a weirdo, is lamenting over his last name being Montague, and how many problems that could cause, because as seen in the beginning of the play, these two families hate each other so much that they basically riot against each other and almost get banished from Verona." She summarized then Alex took over.

"Romeo proceeds to flatter her with words of love that until he forces her to say the big 'I love you'. At first Juliet shows promising signs of sensibility and refuses him, saying, "Although I joy in thee / I have no joy of this contract tonight; / It is too rash, to unadvised, too sudden". However, Romeo then guilt's her into professing her love, crying, "O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?" and asking for "Th' exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine" until she finally gives in."

"And this takes place only hours after they met." Mal added.

The two Isle kids exchanged glances.

They were going to tear that story from the roots and burn it to ashes.

At some point, the Queen ran out of things to defend the story with, so she just kept asking them about some other scene that barely anybody mentioned or some line that most people consider deep and meaningful.

They were ruthless. There had been nothing Alex and Mal couldn't take down and although they just destroyed her favorite book, Belle never smiled brighter.

Alex thought the guards he humiliated a few days ago had been some sort of a joke team. Or maybe they bought their way in or something.

Because they couldn't possibly be the people tasked with protecting the royal families, right?

Too much incompetence. Sloppy work. Poor technique – if any at all!

The coach had been yelling praises. An instructor from the Isle of the Lost would have killed them all for wasting his time.

So, when Lumiere announced they were going to check out the training grounds where some of the royal guards were working out, Alex had been genuinely curious.

The King walked them over onto the grounds and the Vks noted the lack of blood and dirt and vomit and other disgusting things that were common on the Isle.

Evil Lord – it smelled of roses.

They had equipment – new, shiny, useful.

And yet the guards were even bigger imbeciles than the last ones.

They were only about six of them. All of them stopped when they came in.

No one collapsed from huger or thirst or blood loss. They all looked like they just walked onto the grounds. Barely two of them were sweaty!

They held a few shows for the group.

Three of them tumbled for a bit.

Sloppy. Unbalanced. Not high enough.

Another two held a swordfight – or at least that's what they called it.

The blades were dull, their postures were pathetic, their grip was ridiculous, and their movements were so slow the Isle kids almost fell asleep watching.

And then came the last one who made the biggest show a breaking a wooden plank.

Alex could feel Mal's annoyance grow along with his. What was the point of showing them this?! Was it a mockery of some kind?

Then the idiot broke a brick. And then three at the same time.

For some reason every Auradonian applauded.

Where they happy too he was finally done?

The six guards started moving things back to their places and the conversation started flowing again regarding the next part of the tour. Alex let his mind wonder for a few seconds, staring at the seventeen bricks situated one on top of another next to the spot the last man held his little 'show'.

"When you're a little older we could arrange some lessons if you are interested." Cogsworth suddenly said, making Alex turn around.

Who was he talking to?

"With some training, you might even learn how to break a plank."

He was looking at him.

That moron was telling Alex that 'with some training' he might break a plank.

Totally silence.

Next thing they know, Jay was on the floor wheezing, much to the shock of the royal family.

How dare -

"What the hell did you just say to me?!" Alex growled.

There were actual tears of laughter in Jay's eyes, but Alex didn't care.

That – That – That servant – Imbecile! – Telling him -

Hot blaze fury burned in his vines. The tenseness in his muscles disappeared like it has never been there. The anxiety that threatened to choke him since yesterday vanished.

Anger.

Anger was familiar.

Anger was something he was used to.

These people were blind! Used to hiding in their perfect little world – They couldn't possibly be bothered to look at something so foul and bad as the Isle of the Lost.

They weren't looking for a way to estimate how dangerous the Vks were – because they were quite happy to just brand them as born evil and leave it like that.

The jab made by the King when they were at the Gallery – it wasn't a powerplay – or a test to see if they noticed the fake painting – it was Auradonian ego – it was bragging – to make himself feel superior.

Fire burned inside him. Where his heart was supposed to be.

His heart that was and always will be with Dizzy. Because she was the only one that owned that privilege.

Why should he pretend to be something else for their sake?! He didn't own them anything.

He was Alex of the freaking Wildfire for Evil's sake! He did not bow to anyone.

How dare they diminish him!

When he's older?! Alex's training started before he could walk. He broke his fist plank when he was two!

Insults and curses were flying in his head in every language he knew. His blood was boiling – it was a miracle his hair didn't start to smoke.

"Finally."

Mal's eyes sparkled. She's been waiting for this.

For the moment these Auradonians realized that the Isle wasn't just a prison.

It's never been just a prison.

It was a battlefield.

Where the strong survived and the weak died. Painfully.

Alex didn't have any reason to want them. Dizzy and Mal and the others have been enough.

They are enough. And they'll always be enough.

If he keeps lying now – playing docile, domestic, subdued – he'll be back at square one.

Back to being obedient;

Back to following someone's orders;

Speechless – because he wasn't worth being heard.

Light is easy to love.

Let's see how they respond to darkness.

His feet were steady, and his posture was strong as he turned and walked towards the bricks with his head held high – the perfect picture of lethal elegance.

They either liked him like this – like Dizzy and his friends do – or they don't.

Nobody stopped him. The shock probably hadn't worn off yet.

Jay was still on the floor laughing, just not as loud as before. Evie and Carlos still had amused smiles on their faces and Mal still looked smug.

Nobody else was moving, the guards having stopped their work when Jay started laughing like a maniac.

Alex felt the need to change.

The new clothes suddenly feeling itchy and thin and wrong.

He wanted back into his Isle clothes. He wanted to walk around with half his weapons strapped onto him on full display.

So, nobody could forget that he was not messing around.

He was not to be underestimated.

He was not to be overlooked.

He was not weak.

The moment he positioned himself in front of the wall of bricks and lifted his fist, the Auradonians started screaming at him to stop.

One swift move was all it took.

Exactly five seconds for all seventeen perfectly broken bricks to fall on the floor.

Silence.

His fist was covered in dust, from the fingers to his elbow and in the complete silence everybody heard him blow most of it off his fist with one breath.

Mal snorted at the dropped jaws and pale faces.

"No wonder he got kidnapped." She chuckled as she turned around with her chin up, an invisible crown on her head.

An unfortunate guard accidentally made eye contact with her.

"Boo." She said, not bothering to make her eyes glow.

The guard fell on his own butt in fright.

So I've got like a thousand ideas for this story, but all of them start from Family day.

If you have any ideas please tell me - they're always a great inspiration.

Anyway, review and tell me what you think. I'm hanging between Alex acting his age and him acting Isle like. Which do you like more?

Hope you liked this chapter.

Frostbite out