Author's Note: I thought this was going to be a oneshot, but then the characters and story got away from me. It's more of a novelette now. I've been working on this for a while and I can't seem to read through it without changing, adding, or editing something. But whatever, screw it. Here's chapter 1. FYI italics are a flashback. Happy reading!

Chapter 1

It was beautiful Saturday morning as King Ben sat at his desk, the sunshine streaming through the windows of his study. He placed his signature blue blazer on a coat rack, leaving him in just his white, long sleeve, button down shirt and blue slacks. Walking toward his desk, he heaved a heavy sigh.

It wasn't long before there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he announced as he took a seat behind his desk.

The door opened and in walked the four original Isle of the Lost kids he'd brought over to Auradon as his first proclamation as king.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it," Ben greeted.

Mal, the offspring of Maleficent, the great fairy, was the first to walk through the door. She walked over to her boyfriend, who was now standing behind his desk, and greeted him with a peck on the lips. "What's this all about Ben?" she asked settling onto the armrest of his chair.

Evie was right behind her, fashion show ready as always, just the way her mother, the Evil Queen, taught her. She strut over to a vacant chair, opposite Ben's. She may be away from the evil of the Isle, but makeup and fashion wasn't evil. They might not be number one on Evie's priority list anymore, but that doesn't mean she had to ignore it completely. That would be absurd.

Carlos De Vil was next through the door. Dude, the campus mutt, following alongside Carlos, as an equal. He walked over to a leather loveseat and settled down with Dude taking the spot next to him, something he would have never thought would happen before they'd left the Isle. Unlike the Evil Queen, who taught Evie useful skills, at least useful for Evie, Cruella De Vil taught her son fear. More specifically, a fear for dogs. Once in Auradon, Carlos threw any "life lessons" his mother instilled in him out the window.

"Yeah, we're not in trouble are we?" Jay, the son of Jafar, asked. He was now leaning against one of the open windows in Ben's study. "Because I swear, it wasn't me that stole Chad Charming's new cellphone out of us bag… in the boys locker room… during tourney practice. Innocent until proven guilty right?" He shrugged with a smile playing at his lips, making Mal, Evie, Carlos, and even Ben chuckle.

They all knew the son of King Charming and Queen Cinderella, often lost his phone all on his own.

The former thief would often pocket a trinket or two from his classmates, just for sport. Old habits die hard. But of course he'd return them just as stealthily as he took them. They were all good now. They chose good.

"You guys aren't in trouble," Ben said with a light laugh. "I was just thinking I'd get some input on who to bring over from the Isle next. It took me a while to settle on you four, and again later with Freddie. So I thought, with some help from you guys, that I could make the selection process quicker."

"I guess we do know them better," Carlos reasoned.

"Speak for yourself," Evie said with a playful glare toward Mal. "I just barely met you three before we were moved here to Auradon, being banished and all."

"You got three out of four," Carlos said with a chuckle. "That's still good."

The four Isle kids agreed they'd be the best people to help the newly crowned king pick the new participant in Ben's proclamation.

"Now that I have all your help, the committee's gonna need all the info on our choices. Supporting statements as to why we want to bring them here. You know… so that we don't have another… you know," Ben coughed, "coronation fiasco."

Everyone eyed each other uneasily.

Mal rolled her eyes. "We'll never live that down are we?"

"Unfortunately for you guys, but fortunately for Auradon, it's the only instance we can make an example of," Ben stated keeping his professionalism, but also keeping his friends' and girlfriend's spirits up.

"We're just grateful we're still here and not on the Isle," Carlos stated. "Plus, after everything that happened with the catacombs, now we know who wants to be good, the Anti-heros."

"I don't know," said Mal. "That would make it harder wouldn't it? There were a lot of people at that meeting, but it's not like we were friends or anything."

"And what about people that didn't go to the meeting, but… I don't know… didn't have the courage to go against their parents?" Ben questioned. "You guys had your reserves too."

Evie hummed in thought. "It would take too much time to weddle through the Anti-heros and everyone else on the Isle," she reasoned. "I say we keep to the Anti-heros for now."

"Well, I suggest Harry or Jace," Carlos nominated. "I think I owe them a solid after sticking by me for so long. We weren't really friends, they were more like henchmen. You know, the way their dads were with my mom, but… I still feel like I owe them. They are good guys deep down," he finished with a shrug.

"Well, definitely not Mad Maddy. She can rot on the Isle," spat Evie.

They may have chosen good, but that didn't mean they didn't still have a little bad in them either.

Mal got up from her spot on Ben's armrest, starting to feel an uncomfortable numbness on her bottom. "Maddy is definitely not ready to give up her evil ways," she said as she sat down in the open armchair next to Evie.

Ben picked up his pen and started scribbling away in his notebook. "Okay," he said. "Harry, Jace, father's Horace and Jasper, loyal, anti-heros. Hmm… not too sure how that will hold with the committee, but it's a start. How about you Jay?"

Everyone turned to Jay after a second of no response. There wasn't a witty quip, sarcastic comment, not even a serious one. Instead he had been silently looking out the window of Ben's study. It had a perfect view of the Isle of the Lost.

"Jay?" Evie called out. "You alright over there?"

Jay turned around with a sigh to sit on the window sill.

"What about Selene?" He suggested, ignoring all of the concerned looks he was receiving.

"Who's Selene?" Evie asked, receiving a shrug from Carlos.

Mal had her chin resting in her hand, her forefinger tapping lightly on her cheek. "Selene, Selene," she mused trying to match a face with the name. "You mean Stromboli's daughter? I didn't know you knew her? How do you know her?"

Jay shrugged. "Met her a couple years ago. We were 13? 14? Around there."

Jay picked up his pace going farther down one of the hallways in Dragon Hall. School had just ended, not that he attended classes that day, and he had a few people he was trying to avoid. He rounded a corner and slipped into the first classroom he could find. Thieves weren't just good at stealing. They had to be stealth too.

"Hiding from a teacher?" A female voice asked from behind him.

Jay let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't a voice he knew. At least this wasn't one of the girls he was hiding from.

"No, a step-granddaughter," Jay stated turning around to face the unknown voice "And I'm not hiding, just gotta keep away. You shouldn't give away the whole cow. Just let them have a little taste of milk."

"Right," she said with an incredulous look on her face before turning back to the open book on the desk in front of her.

Jay took a second to look at the girl in front of him. She had an olive skin tone, her long jet black hair was pulled half up, and her dark brown eyes were concentrating on the book she was currently reading. She was wearing a simple cotton long sleeve, mint green, sweatshirt.

"So what's your name?" Jay asked turning on the charm.

"Selene," the mystery girl stated. "And before you ask, I don't want any milk."

"Feisty. I like it," he replied, his signature smirk in place. "I'm Jay."

He grabbed a chair and positioned it across the table so he'd sit straddling the back, facing the girl that clearly didn't want anything to do with him.

Thieves love a challenge.

With a sigh she folded her hands across her open book and looked up at the young thief, "Will you be hiding here for long? I actually like being alone while I read."

"Well, how about you stop reading and we can do something else," he replied wagging his eyebrows.

"Fine," was all she said as she stood up.

Jay could now see that she was wearing a plain pair of jeans. She seemed simple, unlike the rest of the villains that had somewhat more complicated wardrobes consisting of leather, velvet, and furs.

"That was easy," Jay responded with a light laugh.

Selene closed her book and proceeded to place it in her backpack as she said, "No, I meant fine, I'll leave."

Jay stayed seated with a slight dumbfounded look on his face. No one has ever been not interested. He looked down at his clothes. Better than most people on the isle, and who doesn't love leather? His muscled biceps were way better than anyone on the Isle, including the Gaston's. He was a catch in his own eyes.

Selene looped her backpack over her right shoulder and she moved around the table, toward the exit. Reaching out for the doorknob she had every intention to head to the library. It wasn't a deserted classroom, but she'd figured he wouldn't follow her there. Unfortunately for her, the door was jammed. She kept tugging at the door with no avail until an arm reached around her to grab the handle.

"Need help," Jay asked with a chuckle causing Selene to back away as if he had the plague. But the chuckle was cut short when he too couldn't get the door open. "Hey," he exclaimed as if it would intimidate the door into opening for him.

Selene stepped up next to Jay once again and started to pound her fist on the heavy wooden door. "Somebody open the door!" She yelled to the other side.

They could vaguely hear laughter coming from the other side before it faded away.

"Of course villains wouldn't help anyone out unless it benefits them somehow," Selene said slamming her bag on a nearby table.

"Calm down, Feisty," Jay said. "I'm sure there's a way to get out." But he didn't have any idea how at the moment.

"It's Selene," she growled. "Not Feisty."

"Yeah I know," was his simple reply. "We gotta find a way to get the door off its hinges. Crowbar would be perfect."

With that, Jay started scouring around the classroom looking for any tools that happen to be laying around. Selene soon followed suit.

The classroom was littered with boxes, books, paper, and other miscellaneous things. No one cleaned up the school. If you wanted your classroom clean, you had to do it yourself. Needless to say, most teachers didn't care if their class was messy or not.

"This is ridiculous!" She exclaimed after a few minutes of searching. "Who keeps tools in a classroom?"

"Look at the door," Jay instructed. "We're not the first ones that got stuck in here."

Confused, Selene walked up to the classroom door. After a closer look, she could see indentations between the door and its frame, as if it had been pried open on multiple occasions.

"Ah-ha!"

Selene turned around to see Jay pulling out a toolbox from under the teacher's desk.

"It was just under the desk?" Selene asked.

"No, it was in the locked drawer," Jay answered.

What thief didn't know how to pick a lock, right?

"I got this," Jay said as he strut toward the door with a hammer and screwdriver.

He proceeded to tap the pin keeping the top hinge together, out of place. Selene moved to sit on the table where her bag still lay as Jay worked on the door.

"Are you always by yourself?" Jay asked, out of the blue.

"Who on the Isle isn't?" Selene answered with a question, shifting nervously.

You didn't make small talk on the Isle. You were either arguing with others or plotting with them. No one truly evil made friends.

"Eh, I guess," Jay shrugged getting the first pin out of its hinge. "But then you got people like the Gaston's that are always together."

"I don't have a sibling I can plot with," was all she said.

"No minions?"

"Nope," Selene replied with a bite in her tone. She hated people so much.

"No leader?" Jay continued.

With a scoff she replied, "Hell no."

"Mal and I get together sometimes to see who steals the best stuff."

"No okay!" Selene finally exploded. "I'm always alone and I like it that way. I don't have to deal with bumbling minions. I don't have fun competing with others at who can be more evil. And I definitely don't follow anyone around, whether it's to shack up with the Isle's playboy, or because I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have someone telling me what to do, and when to do it." She let out a huff and finished her rant with a light, "My dad already makes me do what he wants anyway. I don't need to be ordered around by anyone else."

"Yeah, you and everyone else on the Isle," Jay commented ignoring her outburst. "Makes you wonder if Auradon kids get ordered around too."

Selene threw a suspicious glance his way. She didn't know of anyone that would admit to thinking of those things, except for one person.

"Dad's always making me go out to look for 'only the best' for his shop," Jay continued. "I mean what exactly is 'the best' here anyway?"

"Copper and nickel goods?" Selene suggested with a sarcastic smile playing at her lips.

He turned around, surprised at the playful tone, holding the second pin in his hand. He raised a brow questioningly.

"You've almost got the door unhinged. Which means I can get away from you and be on my sinfully, destructive way," she answered his unasked question. "Getting away from you is putting me in a better mood."

Crossing his arms and leaning against the door he asked, "Who's your dad?"

"If you're doing this to annoy me, congratulations. Now, can you finish up with the door already?" She ask, the irritated tone returning.

"Answer the question and maybe I will," was all he said.

"Stromboli," she answered quickly.

"Ah," Jay recognized the name. "The guy with the puppet fetish."

"Yeah, like your dad's fetish with lamps," she said sarcastically, with a glare. "And they're marionettes, not puppets."

"So, you do know who I am," Jay responded haughtily. "And not just any lamps, magic lamps."

"I didn't say that I didn't. And since there's no magic here, they're just lamps," she replied getting off of the desk. "Now, if you're done with your stupid questions, will you get us out of here already!"

"Okay Feisty, okay." He put up his hands in surrender before turning around and crouching down to the last hinge.

Selene let out an aggravated, "Arg," before grabbing her backpack and putting it on. She looked up at the clock on the wall. There was no time for reading. She had to be home soon and she still had to grab dinner for her father in the marketplace.

"Almost done with this hinge pin," Jay announced still crouched down. "Bring me the crowbar."

"Don't order me around like a minion or I'll beat you with the crowbar," Selene snipped back, but retrieved the tool nonetheless.

Walking back to the door, Selene handed Jay the crowbar as he laid the hammer, screwdriver, and hinge pins on the closest table. He accepted the offered crowbar and proceeded to wedge it in one of the already existing crowbar indentions. Effortlessly, Jay pried the door away from the doorframe and moved it to rest against the adjacent wall.

They were free.

Without skipping a beat, Selene proceeded to exit the classroom without a farewell to her annoyance. Unfortunately for her, Jay followed her out, keeping up with her pace with ease.

"Where too?" Jay asked.

"To the market for dinner," Selene sighed. She really wasn't going to get rid of him anytime soon. "I was thinking of going to the library since someone barged into the classroom I was in. But we got locked in and now I have to go to the market for dinner, and be home before my dad shows up."

"Wanna see which one of us can steal the best food?" Jay asked with a smirk, once again ignoring the annoyed tone in her voice.

Yup, he definitely wasn't going to be leaving her side anytime soon.