Chapter Text
One of the most notable things about the Isle was that it was chaotic. There was never a moment of peace. Every street corner was filled with fighting, stealing, bargaining, and anything else you could imagine.
Sometimes Delphina loved the chaos.
Sometimes she hated it.
Right now, the chaos of the Isle was the only thing keeping her from breaking down.
The market streets were packed with people doing their early evening shopping or simply in search of something to do for the night to escape their mundane, imprisoned lives. Delphina floated along in a sea of faces, trying to keep her tears at bay as she numbly navigated her way back to her grandmother’s salon.
As she walked, she played her confrontation with Uma over and over in her mind.
‘I don’t know who you are anymore.’
That sentence bounced around in her head, echoing into the void. Just thinking about it made Delphina want to crumple down in the middle of the street and start sobbing.
Uma didn’t know who she was? Five years of friendship and endless secrets shared and unbreakable trust, but after three months, Uma didn’t know who she was? None of this made sense. What did she do? Uma had to have seen or heard something, but what? What could possibly push her to something this drastic?
Delphina was pulled out of her thoughts as she crashed into a woman in the middle of the street, derailing both of their paths. The bags in the woman’s hands crashed to the ground, and Delphina cursed softly, immediately ducking her head. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to herself in a busy street like this.
Crouching down, Delphina quickly gathered up the items closest to her while the woman did the same on her end. “My bad,” Delphina offered lamely, keeping her eyes on the ground and lowering her voice a tad. “I wasn’t paying attention. Here—”
“Delphina?”
Her head snapped up in shock, eyes widening at the immediate recognition. Usually the voice trick worked pretty well. Which meant someone was either paying more attention than they let on or they knew her well enough to…
Anastasia stared back at her, gaping and bewildered at the sight of Delphina in front of her, in the flesh and not just behind a computer screen.
“I…what…” Anastasia stumbled over her words cluelessly, and Delphina tried to muster an awkward smile.
“Um…there’s a good explanation for this, I swear,” she muttered, glancing around. Both of them became aware of the still-busy market, and Anastasia cursed softly, quickly scooping up her bags, and tugging Delphina up with her before she had the chance to decipher which Anastasia it was.
“Come on,” she muttered, reaching behind Delphina to tug her hood up before taking her hand. “This way. If anyone sees you out here…” Anastasia just trailed off, shaking her head. She led Delphina through winding roads and busy market streets, then behind a few buildings and across a handful of alleys before they finally came upon an apartment building on the outskirts of town.
Anastasia led Delphina up the stairs of the building to the point where Delphina’s thighs began to burn with the effort. They reached the top floor of the building, and Anastasia released Delphina’s hand to fish out a key, making quick work of the door and ushering Delphina inside.
It was a rundown apartment, with cracked walls and loose floorboards, but it was certainly lived in and maintained as much as it could be. It was clearly cleaned regularly, and the couch in the living room had been decorated with the nicest throw pillows and blankets you could find on the Isle. There were other sitting chairs and rugs to make the space feel more homey, with a kitchen to the left and a hallway on the right that probably led to bedrooms.
Anastasia shut the door behind her, making sure to lock it and piling her bags against it in a heavy pile before finally rounding on Delphina in disbelief, shrugging off her jacket as she did and leaving her in a simple pair of sweatpants and an old, but intact t-shirt.
“Have you lost your mind?!” Anastasia demanded incredulously. “What the hell are you doing here? By yourself? How did you even get here?!”
Delphina hesitated, avoiding Anastasia’s gaze and shoving her hands in her pockets. “I…might have stolen a van and a barrier remote…or something,” she muttered, pushing at the floor with the toe of her boot. Anastasia scoffed in disbelief, raking her hands through her hair.
“You stole from the government to get here. You stole from the government you work for to get here. Why am I even surprised?”
She dropped her hands to her sides in exasperated acceptance, and Delphina’s cheeks began to heat. “Look, It’s fine. I’m not staying long. I just came to get my siblings and leave, so I need to get back to the salon.” She stepped forward, ready to move around Anastasia, but the older woman was quicker and easily cut Delphina off.
“Oh, no, no. Those streets are packed right now, and you can only take so many backalleys before you need to use them. Do you know how screwed you are if someone realizes you’re here?”
“Probably about as screwed as I’ll be if I stay here for your Jekyll and Hyde routine, right?” Delphina shot back.
Anastasia just gave her an unimpressed frown, and it was clear she wasn’t moving. Delphina huffed quietly. She was itching to leave, but Anastasia was right. No one on the Isle liked her right now, which meant her discovery would be another wrench in her plans. The streets were packed, and she was too out of it to navigate them properly. Hell, she had seen the masses and decided to dive right in. She’d let herself get bumped around and shuffled through a crowd of pickpockets and criminals.
All to get her mind off the mess that was her and Uma.
Delphina’s face faltered as she reminded herself of her current predicament. The thoughts and emotions she had been squashing down during her walk came surging up again, and her hands fumbled together. Instinctually, she began to pick at her fingernails while Anastasia pulled away from the door with hands on her hips.
“Trust me, if my other half pushes through, you’ll know. She’s not very…” Anastasia trailed off, taking in the new, painfully anxious expression on Delphina’s face and softening instantly. “Hey…” she began tenderly, stepping forward until she and Delphina were toe to toe.
She glanced down, immediately noticing Delphina’s frantic picking. Carefully and hesitantly, Anastasia reached forward, taking Delphina’s hands in hers to stop the picking. Delphina finally looked up again at the contact, meeting Anastasia’s worried gaze. The look alone had that lump in Delphina’s throat expanding before she could swallow it down.
“Honey, what happened?” Anastasia asked softly, squeezing Delphina’s hands. Delphina opened her mouth, but nothing came out at first. Her eyes began to burn furiously, and she swallowed briefly, trying to keep herself together the way she had been earlier.
“Uh…Uma, she, uh…we’re having a thing, a-and I don’t know what I did or how to fix it and I…I can’t…I don’t know why she won’t just….sh-she was supposed to just wait, but—” Delphina cut herself off as her voice began to tremble and crack.
Anastasia just gave a soft, barely audible sigh, one hand coming up to cradle Delphina’s face. “Oh, my sweet girl…”
And then her arms were opening and Delphina was folding into them without a second thought, burying her face into Anastasia’s shoulder and finally letting her tears flow freely. Anastasia’s embrace didn’t falter, squeezing Delphina and using one hand to rub her back soothingly.
“It’s OK,” Anastasia murmured. “It’s gonna be OK, honey. I promise.”
~~~
Delphina barely even realized when they moved to sit down or how long they had been there. Her tears had been so overwhelming, she could barely focus on anything else. Yet Anastasia had managed to ever-so-gently guide Delphina over to the couch and sit her down, all while keeping her wrapped up in her embrace.
Delphina sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, curled into Anastasia’s side and resting her head on her shoulder. In return, Anastasia rested her cheek on the crown of Delphina’s head, arm wrapped around her shoulders. They were conversing softly, with Delphina relaying her standoff with Uma and Anastasia trying to fill in any details she could.
“How long ago did she do it?” Delphina asked hoarsely, aimlessly picking at a couch cushion.
“She announced it about a month ago,” Anastasia explained softly. “I don’t know if she made the decision any earlier than that. From what I’ve been able to gather, that was the last time she ever spoke about you.”
Delphina squeezed her eyes shut, a few more tears spilling out. Anastasia squeezed her again, and Delphina tried to curl even further into the hug.
“She really didn’t say anything?” Anastasia asked. “Nothing that might suggest why she did it?” Delphina began to shake her head, then hesitated, running through her encounter with Uma once more.
“I…I don’t even know,” Delphina huffed finally. “When she gets mad, she speaks in this cryptic, coded language that only she understands. No one on the crew could ever figure it out.”
“Not even you?”
More tears brimmed on Delphina’s waterline. “I never needed to. All I had to do was ask, and she’d tell me everything. I’m…I was the one person on the crew she trusted with everything. Now it’s like talking to a wall.”
“Do you think you can get through to her?”
At Anastasia’s question, Delphina couldn’t help but scoff bitterly through her tears. “There is no ‘think’. I’m going to get through to her. She can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Anastasia chuckled softly at the thinly-veiled threat in the statement. “Well, at least you know how you want to proceed,” she said, amused. Delphina let a whisper of a smile pass her lips, and then there was a beat of silence. Anastasia seemed to hesitate for a moment, then readied her next question.
“When you do manage to get through to her…where do you think you guys will stand in the aftermath?”
Delphina paused. She hadn’t bothered to think that far ahead—that, she began to notice, was becoming a pattern on this trip. Where would they stand, after Delphina managed to wear Uma down for answers and haul her off the Isle? Just how drastically would this affect their bond? Would they go back to the way they used to be, before time and space drew them so far apart? Would there even be a ‘them’ after everything?
Delphina’s stomach twisted at the uncertainty of it all. Her picking at the couch cushions increased, and she swallowed the growing panic, trying to find an answer.
“I…don’t know, I guess,” Delphina finally managed, slow and dejected. “I…it depends? I’m not totally sure because I don’t even know what made her do this in the first place, so if she would stop being such a stubborn little shit and just open her mouth—” Delphian forced herself to stop, sensing the beginnings of a spiraling ramble. She shut her eyes, forcing herself to take a long, deep breath. “It’s up in the air,” Delphina finally answered curtly, and Anastasia chuckled again, nodding in understanding.
“I think that’s more than understandable,” she murmured. Delphina nodded, allowing herself to breathe deeply at the reassurance. “But I have faith in you two. If your aunt can forgive me after everything I put her through, I can almost guarantee that you and Uma will be more than fine.” Delphina hummed pensively at the suggestion, a small grimace appearing on her lips.
“Yeah, but Ella wasn’t raised by a crazy, paranoid squid with a superiority complex.”
“You’re giving your grandmother far too much credit.”
Delphina snorted harshly, and she and Anastasia descended into laughter, shaking against each other on the couch. The chance to laugh after the mess Delphina’s day had been was an extreme relief, and she heaved out a tired sigh, throwing her head back on the couch.
“Ugh, I’m gonna need to figure out a way to avoid her. I wasn’t supposed to be here longer than a few hours. If she or Drizella find out I’m here…” Delphina couldn’t help but grimace at the thought. She was painfully aware of all the questions she had for her grandmother—questions that had been piling up ever since Delphina remembered a tense marketplace encounter with Maleficent when she was a child. An encounter that told her Maleficent and her grandmother had made some sort of deal that Anastasia and maybe even Delphina seemed to be at the center of.
The problem was Delphina didn’t want to ask them right now. Not when she was dealing with a million issues on and off the Isle. She needed a clear head and her siblings out of harm’s way before she could even consider approaching the rancid snake that was her grandmother.
Beside her, Anastasia patted her shoulder with a hum before rising from the couch. “Oh, what an ordeal,” she mused playfully, approaching the coat wardrobe that sat next to the door. “If only you had a relative who’s spent over ten years finding different hiding places and properties on the Isle to get away from her mother…”
Delphina sat up in disbelief, watching as Anastasia stooped down and pulled open one of the drawers of the wardrobe, revealing rows upon rows of keys, all attached to different slips of paper. “Are you kidding?” Delphina asked. “How many apartments do you own?!”
Anastasia chuckled, scanning the keys carefully. “I don’t ‘own’ them, per se. Most of them I have access to because of favors or trade deals. Some of them are the product of a rare acquaintanceship here and there. Maybe even a friend, depending on who you ask.” Delphina walked up behind her, gaping at all the different havens and hideouts Anastasia had collected over the years. At closer inspection, she realized the slips of paper were addresses, complete with room numbers and entry passwords when necessary.
Delphina couldn’t help the incredulous laugh that slipped out. “I knew you always had some sort of secret life, but this is…you have addresses all over the island!”
Anastasia nodded affirmingly, still picking over the keys. “It helps to move around, what with the frequent body snatching and all. If I always go back to the same place, my other half will start to notice. From there, she can figure out my routines, use them to her advantage…all sorts of nightmares.”
Delphina paused, taking in Anastasia’s words and frowning curiously. “Wait…so you guys can’t, like, see what the other is up to at all times? You don’t look through each other’s eyes?”
The mere suggestion made Anastasia shift with discomfort and she shook her head. “Thankfully, no,” she murmured. “When one of us comes forward, the other is practically comatose. Occasionally, I’ll get brief flashes of strange memories or deja vu that isn’t my own. Sometimes she’s just groggy enough that I get a faint whiff of her emotions, and we have our own…methods of communication when necessary.” Delphina took note of one of Anastasia’s hands, which she’d just now realized was thickly bandaged. Methods, indeed.
“Other than that, it’s just hours and hours of darkness before I wake up somewhere completely new.”
Something about the news knocked the air out of Delphina. Her mouth fell open, but she struggled to find the words. She thought back to the two different Anastasias she grew up with, either vicious or vacant. To the whiplash of Anastasia either treating them like utter scum or not acknowledging them at all.
“How…What do you remember, then? About our childhood?”
The questions slipped out before Delphina could stop them, quiet and unsure. She didn’t know what had possessed her to ask them, but she wanted to know. She needed to know. Her other half probably remembered the senseless beatings, and reveled in them when she did. But this Anastasia, the Anastasia she could’ve had, was a mystery. A mystery Delphina had spent weeks, if not months, obsessing over.
Was it a two way street? Did Anastasia lie awake, losing herself in dreams of the life she could have given Delphina and her siblings? Did she even remember the life they did live? Did she remember seeing them in squalor, all crammed together in a basement? Or did she just remember finding a million different ways to avoid the salon? How much of it was her, and how much was her other half? For all Delphina knew, Anastasia had lived her life catching brief glimpses of Delphina and her siblings and never anything more. She needed something, anything to go off of.
Still stooped in front of the keys, Anastasia had just picked one out when she froze. A sudden weight seemed to settle on her shoulders, and her head dropped. Her fingers clenched around the edge of the drawer, and Delphina’s instincts told her to run, told her that those were the tell-tale signs that Anastasia was about to stand up and backhand her across the room. Her stomach churned, but Delphina forced herself to remain where she was, fighting the urge to even take a small step back.
Slowly, Anastasia pushed herself to her feet, turning to face Delphina. Her brown eyes were swimming with sorrow and regret, and the unfamiliar sight made something in Delphina’s stomach clench in discomfort. Immediately, she kicked herself internally, trying to rapidly acclimate to the territory she was treading into.
“I…” Anastasia’s voice was thick and shaky, and she stopped herself, her eyes falling to her feet. Delphina only stood there, watching uncertainly as Anastasia swallowed, practically forcing herself to meet Delphina’s eyes again
“I remember the aftermath. I remember waking up in my room at the salon and going downstairs and seeing you—” Anastasia’s voice caught again, and her eyes began to shine with tears. “You used to steal dish towels when the bleeding wouldn’t stop on its own. Then you’d stay up all night scrubbing and drying them before your grandmother noticed. I started racking up favors with doctors after that, as fast as I could.” Delphina thought back to all the times she would rifle through the cabinets and drawers upstairs and find a conveniently placed roll of gauze or a few bottles of medicine and wound treatments in Anastasia’s bathroom.
“I remember the day you stopped hoping we’d change,” Anastasia continued. “When your grandmother burned almost all of your clothes during that brutal winter storm. The basement furnace wouldn’t work, the gas line to the kitchen was frozen, the electricity had gone out, and she had hit her breaking point.”
The memory hit Delphina instantly. The cold had gotten so bad that she and her siblings had all resorted to sharing the same mattress in an effort to maintain heat. She and Anthony were nine, and Dizzy and Bella were barely five. All of their lips seemed to be perpetually blue, and it became harder and harder to decipher when the outside cold stopped and the salon cold started.
Delphina remembered all of them staying in that huddle at all times, even when one of the adults came downstairs. They were never paid any mind, as all of Drizella and her grandmother’s attention went to fussing over the wires and buttons of the furnace.
Delphina was suddenly struck as she recalled the times Anastasia came downstairs. The times where she would hover around the furnace longer than her sister or mother ever did, grumbling and griping. 9-year-old Delphina was always too cold and miserable to truly care about the actions. She remembered wishing Anastasia would just fix the furnace or shut up and get out.
17-year-old Delphina, on the other hand, with her keen memory and new understanding of Anastasia’s past, realized that, in all of her grumbling and hovering, there were split seconds where Anastasia would pause. Split seconds where she’d linger and examine the state of the kids.
Split seconds where she would watch her children starve and shiver in a freezing basement, desperately trying to think of a way to get them through the winter.
Delphina remembered seeing Anastasia’s lips twist into a snarl of impatience and her nostrils flare before she stormed out of the basement. At the time, Delphina had chalked it up to Anastasia being just as narcissistic and self-absorbed as Drizella and her grandmother.
It wasn’t until now that she realized she had seen a terrified mother ready to raise hell to keep her kids alive.
“Your grandmother never bothered to do any winter stockpiling. She always leeched off of me, but Dizzy and Bella caught that nasty flu that they just passed back and forth for weeks. I got caught up in my jobs, trying to make sure I kept enough medicine stocked up for you to grab when you needed it. The next thing I knew, I had completely forgotten about prepping for winter, we were almost snowed in, and you all were days away from freezing to death. So, I had decided to take matters into my own hands, even if it meant giving myself away and dissolving the deal I made with your grandmother. I went out and collected everything I could find; food, water, blankets, coal, matches, gasoline…I even got my hands on a few logs, believe it or not. The only problem? Your grandmother had the same idea, and she didn’t have the patience to go shopping.”
Delphina scowled as her memories filled in what Anastasia wasn’t saying. She still remembered, clear as day, when her grandmother strode downstairs and began snatching up any and every piece of clothing she could find in the basement. Even at such a young age, Delphina knew something was wrong, and forced herself out of her barely-heated sibling huddle to trail after her grandmother, asking constant questions. She followed her up the stairs and into the kitchen, where Lady Tremaine dumped the pile of clothing into a metal trashcan then held up a cleaning rag that reeked of rubbing alcohol. Delphina didn’t catch onto the plan until she watched her grandmother fish out a small lighter with barely any fluid left in it.
Faster than Delphina’s young brain could comprehend, Lady Tremaine had clicked the lighter until a flame was struck, then held it to the rag. It had ignited in an instant, and Lady Tremaine easily dropped it into the trashcan, watching her grandchildren’s clothes get swallowed by flames.
Delphina remembered her questions bleeding into screams and wails. She remembered begging her grandmother to stop, to put it out. She remembered charging forward, only for Drizella to grab her by the arm and shove her away before quickly huddling around the fire with her mother. Delphina fell to the floor and could only watch, shivering and sobbing as her and her siblings’ needs were once again sacrificed for her grandmother’s benefit.
Tears were rolling freely down Anastasia’s face at this point and she shook her head, a far-off look in her eyes. “I walked in to see them huddled around that stupid fire, while you just sat there, watching. That look in your eyes…I don’t think I’ll ever forget that look. You were so young and so exhausted. Everything in your little body just seemed to give up and I wanted to grab you and your siblings and run like hell, but you barely looked like you were going to make it through the night.
“I forced myself to focus on getting you all through that storm. I pretended to forget the food and blankets in the basement while grabbing my clothes. I think you were so cold and delirious, you didn’t even find it suspicious that I didn’t get mad. When you finally fell asleep, I brought you all upstairs to warm you up. We didn’t have a fireplace, so I used the oven instead, and I made a pallet with my spare bedding. It was a little odd, seeing you all sleep on the kitchen floor like that. But I’ll take anything over that godawful basement.”
Delphina tried to picture it; being nine and curled up against Anastasia, sleeping peacefully in front of an oven fire while Anastasia rocked her back and forth, stroking her hair and whispering bedtime stories that soothed her dreams. If she tried hard enough, Delphina could almost convince herself she remembered it.
The fact that she didn’t was a stabbing reminder to the chest.
“I told myself that as soon as the worst of the snow cleared, I would get you all out of there. But by the time the storm passed and you all were safe and healthy, something in you had fundamentally changed. I could see it, and your grandmother could too. You stopped begging and just started taking. You would disappear for hours, and then come back with food and supplies and half the Isle trying to chase you down. You were never home long enough for me to try and plan an escape.
“I didn’t realize how bad it was until a few months later. I genuinely did need to grab my clothes that time, but when I got downstairs, you were sitting with Dizzy and Bella and you gave me this look. I had never seen anything so vicious, let alone from someone so young. You watched me the entire time I was down there, like you were ready for me to pounce at a moment’s notice. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t that bad, tried to convince myself that I could still make things work. You were just being a little skittish, and I could work with that. But when I was heading back to the stairs, I accidentally stepped on one of Dizzy’s little trinkets. I was only wearing socks, so it practically went right into my foot, and it hurt like a bitch.”
Anastasia shook her head, eyes shutting as the memory seemed to build on itself.
“It all happened so fast. I shouted—not at you, just a general, pained sort of thing—and I dropped the laundry basket. The minute it hit the floor, it may as well have been a gunshot. Dizzy and Bella were so startled, they hid under your blankets. I thought you would just jump or something, but you practically snarled at me. On some sort of instinct, you started reaching for something under your pillow. I’d assumed you were grabbing something to shield yourself but…” Anastasia let out a disbelieving and devastated laugh, looking up at the ceiling.
“It was a dagger. Somehow, someway, before you were even ten years old, you had gotten your hands on a dagger, and, from what I could see, you already knew how to handle it. And you were ready to use it on me without a second thought. I couldn’t be mad at you of course, what with everything you had gone through. But I knew at that moment you had made your choice. You were done waiting. You were done hoping that your grandmother would show some kindness or that Drizella would start caring or that I would stay home for more than five minutes. You were done with it all, and you were taking yours and your siblings' protection into your own hands. I knew I had lost any chance I might have had of getting through to you on my own. And I also knew, right then and there, that I had failed all of you in the worst way imaginable.”
Delphina didn’t know exactly when she had started crying or what started it. Maybe it was around the ‘sleeping in the kitchen’ mark? Maybe after she learned how close they’d come to escaping before everything crashed and burned (literally)? Delphina wasn’t sure, and she didn’t have time to dwell, because sobs were racking her body and she could barely see through her tears, and then Anastasia was catching her as she dove into her arms, clinging to the woman desperately.
Anastasia didn’t hesitate to wrap Delphina in another hug, cradling the teenager like she might slip away in an instant.
“You and your siblings are the best thing to ever happen to me,” Anastasia assured through her own tears. “I know I haven’t been able to show it and I am so sorry. You have been robbed of the life and love you deserve for so long, and I hate the role I’ve played in it. I need you to know that no matter what has happened or what you’ve heard, I love each and every one of you more than anything on Earth, and I always have. There isn’t a single curse in existence that could take that away.”
A sob was wrenched out of Delphina before she could stop it, and she buried her face in Anastasia’s shoulder, shaking her head.
“You didn’t fail us,” she managed to choke out. “You kept us alive before anyone else did, before I did. Without you, I don’t even know what Grandmother would’ve done with us. We’d all be—” Her voice caught, and she couldn’t find the strength to finish her sentence. Anastasia’s hold tightened, and Delphina almost started wailing into her shoulder.
“You saved us,” Delphina whispered tearfully. “You did everything you could, and you saved us, and the fact that you did is what got us here. You didn’t fail anyone.”
Anastasia’s hand came up to stroke Delphina’s hair, and she pressed a tender kiss to the side of Delphina’s head before pulling away slightly. She cradled Delphina’s face, brown eyes mapping every feature of the young face before her.
Delphina did the same, trying to memorize features she had never been able to notice before. There were slight crinkles around her eyes, but to Delphina, they didn’t age her. Every time she smiled, they acted like drawstrings, lifting her eyes and brightening her face even further. Her cheeks seemed to be that sort of perpetually perfect rosy shade you envied in royal women, and there was a glimmering silver locket around her neck that Delphina had never seen before.
She wanted to ask about the trinket, but before she could, Anastasia was smoothing her hair again and pressing another gentle kiss to Delphina’s forehead. Anastasia looked at her again, and the sheer love in her gaze had Delphina tearing up all over again.
“You’re my pride and joy, Sundrop,” Anastasia murmured, and something deep inside Delphina lurched in sudden giddiness at the nickname.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in life, but you outshine every single one of them, and I am so eternally awed by you. You and your sisters and your brother…no other group of kids could have changed my life in the way you all did.”
~~~
Delphina wasn’t sure how to fill the time after her emotional reconciliation with Anastasia. She never knew how to proceed once she was done breaking down in someone’s arms.
Anastasia had the answer though, and it apparently included feeding Delphina.
A lot.
Anastasia had supplied her with a cold can of soda, then made her sit on the couch, and the younger redhead could only watch as Anastasia became a flurry around the kitchen, chopping vegetables and frying up the groceries she had bought before running into Delphina.
Delphina remained awkwardly perched on the couch, constantly peeking over to watch Anastasia cook as she sipped her soda carefully. “Are you sure I can’t help?” she asked for what felt like the millionth time. Anastasia just chuckled from her spot in front of the stove, stirring a pan of sauce around.
“I’m positive. You just sit there and relax.”
“But I hate sitting and relaxing!”
Anastasia laughed again. “I’m well aware. I’m surprised Benjamin hasn’t managed to shake that out of you yet.”
“Oh, he’s certainly trying his hardest,” Delphina mumbled with a smile. On instinct, her free hand came up to her neck, reaching for the emerald necklace she was so used to fiddling with. Her fingers came into contact with nothing, and Delphina faltered, remembering she had left the necklace on her dresser an ocean away.
Her heart twisted and, against her will, she thought of Ben showing up at her dorm after hours of radio silence, only to find no note and her necklace abandoned. She was supposed to be on her way back by now, with a full van of siblings and pirates, laughing and trying to keep them all from getting too rowdy.
Delphina clenched her jaw, forcing herself to inhale deeply and calm down. It was just a few extra days. She just needed a few extra days to work this out.
Nodding with finality, Delphina returned her thoughts to her current setting. Anastasia was compiling a multi-course meal, with some sort of chicken dish baking in the oven, a pan of grilled vegetables, and even a starter soup. Delphina began to wonder how many jobs she had worked to gain access to such good quality food on the Isle.
“So, what’s running the country like?” Anastasia called over her shoulder as she checked on the dish in the oven. “I can’t imagine the council’s been too receptive to taking orders from a pair of teenagers.”
Delphina blinked in surprise, straightening up as she watched Anastasia work. “You know the council?” she asked. Anastasia barked out a laugh, pulling the pan of chicken out to let it rest on top of the stove.
“‘Do I know the council’? Hard to forget such an arrogant group of rich, pompous asshats,” Anastasia grumbled, and Delphina tried not to snort into her soda. “They’re certainly a group to behold, and I understand what Adam was getting at when he put the council together. But my God, they are just insufferable,” Anastasia breathed, shaking her head with a grimace.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Delphina griped, leaning against one of the plush throw pillows. “Everytime I think I’m making progress, they take a sledgehammer to it. I can’t work on the proclamation, I can’t talk to different offices related to the proclamation, I barely convinced them to let Varian help me with your cure—”
She shot up with a gasp, eyes widening in remembrance. The sound made Anastasia jump slightly, and she turned to meet Delphina’s eyes in concern.
“I need your hair,” Delphina blurted, watching Anastasia with saucer eyes. Anastasia hesitated, blinking at least three times before she processed the demand.
“You need my hair,” she echoed slowly, pulling off her oven mitts. Delphina nodded eagerly, setting her can down and rising from the couch.
“Yeah! Granddad came up with it while I was on bed rest after that dress nearly burned me alive—”
“A dress did what—”
“But basically, if we combine your DNA and Maleficent’s, we might be able to reverse engineer the curse. We got kind of close with my hair, or at least I think we did. We haven’t been able to test it yet. But I should only need one strand. Or maybe a few in case things go haywire—”
“I’m still stuck on you nearly getting murdered by a dress—”
“Do you have, like, a brush you don’t use anymore or something?”
Anastasia paused, blinking at Delphina in pure bewilderment. Delphina just blinked back, eagerly awaiting an answer.
The shrill scream of a timer ripped them both out of their staring, signaling that the soup was done. Anastasia sighed softly, moving to turn off the timer and take the soup off the stove before turning back to Delphina with a small, exasperated smile.
“I’ll make you a deal,” Anastasia began. “I make plates for you and your siblings, and then you tell me what the hell you’ve been up to in Auradon.”
Delphina paused, thinking for a moment. Her brows furrowed and she tilted her head at Anastasia quizzically. “Do you want me to start before or after the magical soul brand?”
Anastasia’s eyes widened in horror, and Delphina could have sworn she saw her genuinely bite down on her tongue to stay quiet. Anastasia inhaled deeply, forcing herself to remain calm and give Delphina what was supposed to be a patient smile. In truth, it looked more like she was trying to grind down steel with her teeth.
“Start talking,” Anastasia murmured, her eye beginning to twitch. “Please.”
~~~
“I’m gonna gut that little girl like a fish.”
Delphina paused, fork halfway to her mouth as she watched Anastasia fuming near the stove as she furiously packed food into tupperware, snarling under her breath.
“I am going to hunt her down and carve her up and make her wish she only had to deal with her pathetic mother.” Delphina watched, slightly concerned, as Anastasia shoved one of the containers into an insulated bag. “Damn Dracona family…just pure inescapable evil…if I ever see her rotten little face again, so help me God…”
“I-If it makes you feel better, we’ve had her in covert custody for months,” Delphina chimed in awkwardly. “We just can’t really do anything ‘cause, y’know….”
“Your boyfriend will die if you do. Yes, I got that part,” Anastasia finished, nodding as she ran a hand down her face.
Delphina flushed slightly, turning her interest to her plate. “Uh…I’m pretty sure I didn’t exactly call him—”
“It was implied.”
Delphina shut her mouth, her blush worsening as she continued eating. Anastasia went back to packing up the leftovers for Delphina’s siblings and fuming as she did, quietly rehashing everything Delphina had told her.
After Anastasia had loaded up a plate with food and sat Delphina down at the kitchen island, Delphina had delved into everything that had happened in Auradon, starting from her very first day.
Anastasia had gone through a flurry of emotions as Delphina recounted her time across the sea; she laughed when Delphina told her about shopping with Audrey and becoming a cheerleader, she gave Delphina an embarrassingly knowing look anytime she heard about Ben, she gave a fond, but sad smile whenever Delphina mentioned Varian. And now they were here, with Delphina watching Anastasia furiously pack away food and seething with rage after she’d learned about everything Mal had done.
“The minute you get the rest of Ben’s soul back, you tear her head off, you hear me?” Anastasia commanded, pointing at Delphina expectantly with a soup ladle. “Just because she’s from an ancient bloodline, doesn’t mean you can’t rip her apart. You’re smarter than her and clearly, you can grasp magic better than she could ever hope. She’s an absolute novice, even with those big spells and all that training from her mother.”
Delphina snorted, continuing to shovel chicken and vegetables into her mouth. “You’re telling me. She proved that much when she thought the surge of magic she got when we left the Isle would last forever. It’s literally a basic foundation of magic; when it’s dormant for a long time, it’ll surge when it first wakes up—”
“—And eventually settle with its host, exactly!” Anastasia exclaimed, shaking her head. She turned around with a grin, aimlessly wiping her hands with a dish towel. At the kitchen island, Delphina chuckled and continued eating, then paused when she became acutely aware of the eyes on her.
Still chewing, she looked up to see Anastasia watching her, eyes alight with happiness as a small smile played on her face. It was an infectious look, and Delphina found herself smiling as well, her brows furrowing slightly.
“What?” Delphina asked softly, and Anastasia just shrugged.
“Nothing, I just…I never imagined we’d get here. After so many years, all hope seemed lost. I didn’t think you’d ever want to breathe around me again, let alone share a meal and talk about the minutiae of dormant magic. It’s just nice.”
An overwhelmingly cozy warmth settled itself in Delphina’s chest, and her smile grew beyond restraint. “Yeah,” she murmured gently. “It really is. I wish we had more time, but everything is just so chaotic right now and this potion is taking forever…”
“Honey, the last thing I want you to do is stress yourself out trying to save me,” Anastasia interjected with a firm shake of the head. “You have the weight of the world on your shoulders right now. I don’t want to be the one to add to that.”
“Well, I can’t just leave you sitting here for another 17 years. Besides, we’re so close. I can feel it. Then we can patch you up and get you out of here and things can go back to…well, not normal. There’ll be a lot of questions before we reach ‘normal’.” Delphina gave a small, humorless laugh.
Anastasia smiled, watching Delphina with that same curious look before tilting her head. “Can I ask…what, exactly, does ‘normal’ look like, in your book?” she asked carefully.
Delphina thought in between bites of chicken, humming. “Um…Mal in prison and Maleficent as a lizard forever, Ben and I running the kingdom and doing whatever it is we do—”
“I think the average person would call that ‘dating’—”
“And just being able to live without any more of…well, everything. No more massive family secrets or plot twists or generational battles with fairy bloodlines. I just want everything to be dealt with and out in the open so we can start moving on.”
Anastasia just smiled, taking in Delphina’s words and continuing to watch her for a quiet moment. She slipped away into her own thoughts for a moment as Delphina finished her dinner, but managed to blink herself out just as Delphina began to rinse her plate in the sink.
“Well, I think that sounds about as normal as it gets,” Anastasia murmured before a teasing smile appeared. “Except for you being allergic to the word ‘boyfriend’, of course.”
“I’m not—he’s not even—we haven’t…” Delphina began spluttering and her face began burning, but Anastasia just laughed, slipping out of the kitchen and down the hall across the apartment. Delphina followed after her like a lost puppy, motioning wildly. “He hasn’t even officially asked me anything! It’s a whole thing and he’s living by this moral code about his soul or whatever, so we’re barely even—”
Delphina cut herself off abruptly as she followed Anastasia into what was undoubtedly her bedroom, then watched as Anastasia strode over to her vanity, snatched up a pair of scissors, and cut off a massive chunk of hair with no hesitation.
Delphina’s jaw dropped as Anastasia retrieved a plastic bag from one of the drawers and dropped the red locks in before holding it out to Delphina. “That should be more than enough for the potion and all its test runs. If you end up needing more, I am begging you to come with an escort and a guard detail next time,” she said with a small laugh. Delphina laughed in a mix of disbelief at Anastasia and embarrassment at herself before nodding and taking the bag.
Anastasia seemingly hesitated for a split second, then shook it off and turned back to her vanity, beginning to rifle around in different drawers and boxes. She fished out an ornate antique necklace, then a velvet ring box before turning back to Delphina sheepishly.
“If you wouldn’t mind bringing these back to Auradon with you too, I would deeply appreciate it. This necklace is technically an heirloom from Ella’s father, but I was never able to take my eyes off it when we were young, so she gave it to me as a birthday present. I only have the rings because Varian forced me to take them as a keepsake. He wanted me to have a few things I could look at that would remind me that he would always be there.” Anastasia’s voice caught, and her eyes began to shine with tears as she admired the pieces.
Delphina’s heart clenched and she stepped forward, pushing the jewelry back towards Anastasia gently.
“If they were both gifts, I’m sure Ella and Varian want you to keep them,” Delphina insisted gently, but Anastasia shook her head.
“No, I know they would. I just…I guess this is my way of letting them know that I’m OK. That I’m still here and, for the most part, still me. They’ve gone so long without hearing from me, so I figured this would help a little bit. If I had more time, I’d write a letter or something, but you came here to save your siblings, not act as my carrier pigeon.”
Delphina smiled sadly, but nodded in understanding. Anastasia handed over the jewelry and Delphina stored them carefully in her pockets before she paused. “If you want,” she began hopefully. “I can give them some sort of message? Whatever you tell me will stick immediately. Eidetic memory and everything.”
“Doesn’t that only apply to things you see?”
“Same difference.”
Anastasia snorted out a laugh at Delphina’s dismissal, moving to lean against the vanity. “Fair enough,” she murmured, then thought deeply for a moment. Finally, she inhaled sharply, meeting Delphina’s eyes. “Tell them all the usual stuff; I miss them, I’m OK, I’m confident that you and Varian will have some sort of breakthrough…but the pieces should be a message enough.”
She just nodded with finality, and Delphina frowned in confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, but Anastasia shook her head and pretended to zip her lips.
“I’m afraid that information is reserved for adults only.”
“I’m basically an adult!”
“Your brain won’t even be fully developed for another 8 years. Nice try, though.”
Anastasia winked playfully as she moved to leave the room, and Delphina was left rolling her eyes and trailing after her again as they returned to the kitchen. Anastasia stored the last of the food in the insulated bag and even slipped in a few snacks, then zipped it all up and handed it to Delphina.
“Alright, that should be more than enough for your siblings. Although, your brother loves to eat like he has three stomachs, so he can go last. And there’s not a chance in hell I’m letting you go back to that basement. You’ll find your new place at this address.” Anastasia held out one of her keys from the coat closet, a small slip of paper attached to the ring. Delphina sighed in immediate relief, reaching to take the key before she paused, registering Anastasia’s words.
“What do you mean ‘my new place’? I thought all these addresses were favors and stuff.”
Anastasia smiled softly, stepping forward and pressing the key in Delphina’s hand. “Most of them are. But I realized there was a chance we’d never get off this island and I’d never get the chance to tell you the truth, so I took precautions when you guys were little. I’d planned to give it to you in my own discreet way once you turned 18 and your grandmother finally let you take your siblings and leave, but I guess now works just as well.”
Delphina’s jaw fell open and she looked from the key to Anastasia, only to find that ever-present warm smile on her face. “The apartment is completely in your name,” Anastasia continued gently. “No strings or favors or anything. Your siblings have their own, too. I would give you their keys, but I know you won’t be here that long. Plus, if Anthony finds out he basically has his own bachelor pad, he might—oh!”
Delphina haphazardly set the bag and key aside, then threw her arms around Anastasia, squeezing tightly. Anastasia gave a soft laugh, hugging Delphina close and smoothing a hand over her hair.
“Thank you,” Delphina whispered. “For all of this. I don’t know how I’ll explain it all to the others but—”
“Just tell them,” Anastasia interjected, shaking her head softly. “You said you wanted to be done with family secrets. We can start now. Besides, you already robbed the government and broke into a restricted area of the country to get them out of here, so who really cares about following the rules anymore?”
Delphina snorted out a laugh, and something in her wanted to jump sky high with joy. Anastasia pulled out of the hug, but held onto Delphina’s arms, examining her for a long beat and brushing a lock of hair out of her face.
“I love you, Sundrop,” Anastasia declared once more. “If you need anything or if something goes wrong, you come find me immediately, OK? And don’t be afraid to name drop me here and there. I carry more weight than you might think.”
Delphina chuckled, leaning her face into Anastasia’s palm before a thought struck her and she frowned slightly. “What do I do if I run into the…other you? If I can’t avoid her?” she asked carefully.
Anastasia faltered at the question, thinking. After a beat, she grinned, pinching Delphina’s cheek playfully. “You kick her ass is what you do. No hesitation, no sympathy, just pure violence. It’s not like I’ll remember it anyway.”
Delphina snorted out a laugh, nodding as she gathered the food and her apartment key. Anastasia wrapped her in one last squeezing hug, swaying them slightly from side to side as she kissed the side of Delphina’s head. “Whatever you do, be safe out there, alright?” she pleaded softly. “You get your siblings, you get through to Uma, then you get out of here.”
Delphina nodded against Anastasia’s shoulder, savoring the oddly comforting scent of her flowery perfume mixed with the lingering scent of detergent on her shirt.
“I will,” Delphina whispered. “I promise.”
~~~
Just like Anastasia had predicted, the streets of the Isle had cleared in the handful of hours Delphina was at her apartment. She made quick work of slipping through alleyways and shadows, keeping a keen eye out for any stragglers or nosy night owls.
She made it back to the salon easily and slipped into the service door again, keeping the cooler bag slung over her shoulder while her apartment key, Anastasia’s hair, and the jewelry for Ella and Varian all stayed tucked safely in her pocket. The time she’d spent with Anastasia left a giddy, never-ending warmth in her chest, and she tried not to bounce her way down the service corridor at the thought of finally telling her siblings everything.
Anthony was quick to pull open the service door after Delphina gave their agreed-upon knock, relief written all over his face. “What happened to ‘I should be back in an hour’?!” Anthony hissed.
Delphina cringed softly, nodding as she set down the bag. “I know, I know, I’m sorry. Things went a little wayward. I had to lay low for a minute,” she explained briefly, eyes scanning the basement. Her eyes landed on Dizzy’s backpack, chaotically stuffed with crumpled shirts and socks spilling out of the front pocket. Delphina huffed softly, shoulders dropping.
“OK, when I said ‘pack’, that is not what I meant,” she muttered, moving to unload the bag completely. Dizzy flushed softly as Bella stepped forward curiously.
“How did it go with Uma? Did you convince her to come?” Delphina paused, eyes flickering downward in brief dejection.
“No,” she muttered, then took a sharp breath, refocusing on Dizzy’s bag. “Not yet, at least. But I will. I’m not leaving her here again.”
“So, what?” Anthony asked. “You’re staying here? For how long?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Delphina sighed, continuing to fold Dizzy’s clothes. “However long it takes to get through to her, I guess. And I’m staying on the Isle, but I’m not staying here. And neither are you.” She fished out her apartment key and tossed it across the basement. Anthony caught it with ease, examining the address attached as his brows furrowed in confusion.
“What is this?”
“The key. To my new apartment.”
“Your what?”
“When did you get an apartment?”
“She probably killed someone for it.”
Delphina paused, scowling at Dizzy’s completely serious suggestion. “I did not kill anyone, smartass,” she said.
“Well, then where did it come from?” Anthony pressed.
“And where did this food come from?” Bella chimed in, having unzipped the cooler to examine all the tupperware inside. “Did you bring this from Auradon?”
Delphina’s stomach lurched in a mix of anxiety and excitement. This was it. There was no going back.
Clearing her throat softly, she kept her eyes firmly on Dizzy’s clothes, a small smile trying to break free. “No. I, uh…I got it all from Anastasia.”
Silence. Delphina could feel three pairs of eyes watching her like she had grown three heads, practically burning through her skin. She finished reorganizing Dizzy’s clothes and forced herself to look up, meeting her sibling’s bewildered faces.
“Like…you stole it all from Anastasia when she wasn’t looking?” Dizzy asked slowly. Delphina cringed softly, shaking her head as she began to rock back and forth on her heels.
“Uh, no, no. It’s more like…Anastasia gave it all to me because she’s secretly been caring for us our whole lives and she could never tell us because Maleficent cursed her so now she’s sharing her body with an evil fragment of her soul that hates us all and we were never allowed to know or try to help because then Grandmother would throw us all on the streets and have us killed.”
The hasty explanation spilled out before Delphina could try to pace herself. Her siblings fell into silence again, their confusion increasing and mixing with shock and disbelief. Delphina tried to smile awkwardly, still rocking on her feet.
“I-I’m working on her cure though, so—”
“Delphina, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“Maleficent did what?”
“You sound like a complete psycho. You get that, right?”
Her siblings began chattering over each other in disbelief and doubt, and Delphina squeezed her eyes shut, holding up her hands. “OK, OK!” she interjected over all of them. “I know it all sounds crazy. Just sit down and let me start from the beginning—”
The familiar sound of the salon doors opening and shutting upstairs made all of the Tremaine kids fall silent immediately. Delphina went tense, eyes lifting to the roof of the basement as she heard careful footsteps and several hushed, muffled voices.
“What the hell is that?” she demanded quietly. Anthony, Bella and Dizzy all shrugged and shook their heads, just as wary as her.
“Grandmother said she wouldn’t be back until a few hours after the salon opened,” Dizzy whispered, eyes tracking the footsteps in the same way Delphina was.
“And Drizella is on one of her benders. She won’t be back for a few days, at least,” Anthony chimed in, slowly inching for his bat.
Delphina clenched her jaw, reaching for one of her daggers as she slowly made her way to the basement stairs. With every step up to the main level of the salon, the voices seemed to be getting closer and closer. They were so muffled behind the steel door, though, that Delphina could just barely make out their words.
“.....You’re sure this is it?”
“Positive. It’s just down here.”
“What if she’s not here?”
“I can’t imagine she’d be anywhere else.”
Delphina forced her heart to remain steady, getting closer and closer to the door. Just before she reached the top step, the handle began to twist. Delphina immediately pressed herself against the wall that would be behind the door, keeping her shrouded in darkness. Carefully, the door was slowly pushed open with a groaning creek.
Delphina couldn’t see whoever was opening it, but the light casted a looming shadow of the person that stretched down the steps. Delphina waited a beat, making sure she wasn’t visible to whoever had broken into her home. There were a few more whispers that she didn’t care to listen to. Yanking her dagger out of its holster, Delphina nodded to herself, then darted around the door, lunging herself at the mysterious intruder.
She landed a punch directly in the center of the stranger’s chest, briefly catching a glimpse of a muted yellow shirt. Above her, there was a sudden grunt of pain as the air was knocked out of the intruder’s chest. The stranger gasped, and there were a few more yelps and curses around Delphina that she easily ignored. The figure stumbled back briefly, then tripped over their own feet and went crashing to the ground, landing flat on their back. Delphina immediately dove after them, landing on top and situating her full body weight on them. She brandished her dagger, pressing the blade to their throat with a snarl.
“Who the hell are…” Delphina trailed off as the body beneath her began to tremble suddenly with immediate familiar laughter. Two large hands came up to rest on Delphina’s thighs, which were still straddled around the stranger’s torso. Delphina tensed at the contact, readying herself to cut off this stranger’s fingers one by one.
She used her free hand to reach for one of the hands, then froze when she spotted a familiar beast head ring on a dark blue, fingerless glove clad finger. Her stomach dropped, and all the violence bled out of her in an instant as the familiar laughter continued. She tore her eyes from the ring to finally take in the intruder’s face, and her control over her heart rate vanished completely.
“Oh, I should have expected that,” Ben laughed, still on the floor. “I don’t know why I thought that was a good idea.”
Delphina went slack on top of him, the dagger falling out of her hands as she took in his new appearance. A dark blue beanie was tucked onto his head, pressing his light brown hair over his forehead just enough that some of it fell into his hazel eyes. He was wearing a dark blue leather jacket that Delphina had never seen in her life over a muted yellow shirt and a pair of expertly-distressed baggy jeans that had been stained with spray paint.
“Ben…” Delphina breathed, looking him over again and again.
Ben just looked up at her, that typical, teasing grin on his face. “Nice to see you too, babe,” he murmured, thumbs rubbing gentle circles into her thighs.
Delphina shook her head in bewilderment, struggling to make sense of his presence and new appearance. “I don’t…what are you—”
“I tried to tell you,” another familiar voice chimed in. Delphina looked up and to her right, and her jaw fell open at the sight of Evie shaking her head in amusement, dressed in her old Isle clothes with Carlos standing next to her. “You really need to walk more carefully around here.”
“Yeah, you’re lucky she realized it was you before she carved your throat out,” Carlos chimed in with a light smile.
“What are you guys doing here?” Delphina demanded, brows furrowing as she looked at Evie and Carlos.
“Oh, we could ask you the same thing.”
Delphina’s blood froze in her veins. She turned her head to the left, locking eyes with Chad, who was wearing a baggy, slightly dirty white shirt and a sleeveless vest over top, complete with dark brown trousers. Chad, who also looked royally pissed off.
Delphina stammered hopelessly for a minute, her thoughts racing. Evie, Carlos, Ben, and Chad were all here. And if Ben and Chad were here then that meant….
Oh, fuck. She was dead. She was so, so dead
A pair of black combat boots stepped into Delphina’s sight, and she slumped in acceptance of the way she was so easily surrounded. She lifted her gaze again, coming face to face with a scowling Audrey, arms clad in a dusty pink bomber jacket and folded firmly across her chest. She wore a slightly ratty light blue top under the jacket, and she was wearing a pair of high waisted shorts over distressed black tights. Delphina noticed her new, bleached hair with highlights of pastel blue and pink, and wanted to compliment it, but she figured it would be better suited for a time when Audrey wasn’t about to rip her head off
“I think,” Audrey began coldly, and Delphina shut her eyes, preparing herself for the way she was about to get torn apart. “Someone owes us one hell of an explanation.”
NOTE: Reference images:
The necklace Anastasia gave Delphina: Link
Audrey's Isle Fit (The one on the right, art credits to descendantofthesparrow on Tumblr!): Link
Chad's Isle Fit (Image found on Pinterest, pls lmk if you know the art credits!): Link
