Still Undefeated

Affiliated with AskStoryKidsHQ. He should have stayed a pig boy. Daughter of the Horned King. Member of the VK Mafia. (Written by Destini).

[askstorykids-hq]

Welcome to the idyllic town of Addersfield, located on History Island in Auradon, home of Illedale University.

Students here are children of some rather famous faces. And some have made fame in their own right, like King Ben or the Lady Mal. We’re proud to boast a diverse student culture and a rich history–

[–and that’s enough of THAT broadcast! Is this thing on? Hello? Can you hear me?

Good. I’ll warn ya right now, everybody– if you thought Auradon Prep was wild, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Illedale is bigger, meaner, and with the past not so distant to us, tensions can run pretty high around here.

‘Course, you probably know the story by now. When preparing for his coronation, King Ben declared his first royal proclamation to allow over 4 VKs from the Isle of the Lost to come to the city. After a whole showdown about good and evil, the four integrated into Auradon society pretty well, and then after drama at Cotillion, Mowgli rallied the Auradon people to fight for the disbandment of the Isle, sending the villains to rehab and their kids to Auradon Prep.

Catching you up since graduation, pretty much all of us ended up moving to Addersfield for higher education in Auradon’s system– cuz man, I gotta tell ya, it’s a lot better in Auradon than it is anywhere else. Well, ‘cept for all the evil takeovers, I guess.

But not everyone’s cut out for college itself. The nice thing about Addersfield is that it’s all a pretty tight-knit community based around the school itself. More of a college township, as it were. So some of AP’s graduates moved to town to work with a crowd they know well.

I can’t stay much longer, but don’t let the stuffy advertising fool ya about this place, folks! We’re a lot more than what the surface wants to pretend. I’d drop your application while you can if I were in your shoes! This is P. Warner, sending you right back to your regularly scheduled programming!]

–and enroll in your future today at Illedale University, where the story starts anew.

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Malia grumbled to herself. She glanced over at the other girl, frowning. She rolled her eyes and pushed away her color-coded textbook, crossing her arms and growling quietly. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. I hate this shit anyway.”

She stabbed at her paper, huffing softly. “That’s wrong, Malia. No I won’t tell you why it’s wrong, Malia. It’s just wrong, Malia.” She snapped her pencil in half on accident, flinching a little but barely paying attention to it.

“I only meant,” Harmony keeps a level head, “That since you were asking what wasn’t working, the answer is your math is wrong. I would have moved further but I initially merely answered your question.”

[bxxksmart]

Open Starter: Small Miscalculation

Harmony glances to the student beside her, again. Definitely not handling whatever project that was very well, definitely struggling, definitely not her problem.

And so she turns back to her own homework, trying to ignore the other talking things over out loud. But she wrinkles her nose and looks back at something they say. “Your math is wrong.”

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Luna’s smile seemed to twitch, the facade almost falling before she regained control of it. “Really? I’m super sorry, still. We neeeever should’ve treated you like that! It was just sooo unfair!” She nodded firmly, putting her hands on her hips. “And it’s no fun being unfair!”

False. It was very fun being unfair. Especially when it caused suffering.

“Well, I guess that’s something!” She smiled brightly, giggling. “It’s still good to see you!”

“Yes, I suppose it is good to see someone else from the Isle in good health,” Harmony muses, continuing to read. “I’m not much to be considered a welcome party, however, so I hope you weren’t expecting a lot.”

[untxld-stxries]

withmybackagainsttherxpes​:

“I don’t know you.”

Blunt. As ever. Harmony looks up from her book and raises an eyebrow. “I would assume you recognize me from somewhere, most likely the Isle of the Lost. Is there something I can do for you?”

Luna giggled quietly. Well, that was very interesting. The Hornless Princess didn’t seem to recognize her, but Luna wasn’t sure it could be used. She tilted her head, scrunched up her nose, and hummed. “I’m sure you do, silly! I’m Luna! You know, Abby Williams’ favoritest daughter? Don’t you recognize me?”

She bit her tongue before her urge to call her the Hornless Princess escaped her. She needed to keep that under control. “I just wanted to say hi!” She paused, shaking her head. “Actuallyyyy, no. I wanted to ask if we could start compleeeetellyyy over! I was a waaaaaaayyyy different person when Sabrine was around, you see, but I’m a looot better.” She smiled innocently. “I’m suuuuper duper sorry for calling you the Hornless Princess, you know.”

Hrm. Maybe identifying herself first wasn’t the brightest idea, but the Hornless Princess was smart. She’d have figured it out.

[bxxksmart]

"I. Don't. Know. You," Harmony ascertains. "Most of you blended together. Everyone did the same thing back on the Isle, so I stopped putting effort into learning faces, much less names. I spent so little time amongst all of you anyways."

She pieces things together, though. Luna Williams. That sounds familiar. She still isn't paying any mind. "I still don't understand how that was meant to be an insult so I suppose there was no harm done."

[untxld-stxries]

Open Starter: Hunting Games

An old plaything. Now they'd be much harder to fool, depending on the idiot. Axel. Jocelyn. Margo. They'd be more difficult to convince of her cover of turning a new leaf. Not like the fools of Auradon. Luna knew it would be difficult... but that didn't mean she couldn't still play. Maybe even convince one or two that her "falling out" with Sabrine meant something to her.

Yeah, that was something she could use...

Luna smirked to herself, hiding it quickly under a smile. There was one. She skipped up to them. This would be fun. "Hey there. Long time no see, old friend!"

[bxxksmart]

"I don't know you."

Blunt. As ever. Harmony looks up from her book and raises an eyebrow. "I would assume you recognize me from somewhere, most likely the Isle of the Lost. Is there something I can do for you?"

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

"Life's a party and I'm the piñata."

“Metaphoric language is rather useless to me,” Harmony says without glancing up from her book. “It all is much harder to comprehend when I hear it than I anticipated.”

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

“Hey, wait, you said he didn’t tell the guards about you,” Prue said. “What happened with the debt?”

Eretria chuckled softly. “He asked for my name, then declared the debt fulfilled…”

Prue raised an eyebrow, looking at Crystal. Those debts were a big deal, and he asked for her name?

Eretria shrugged, running a hand through her hair. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She did have to talk to him again eventually. She groaned loudly, covering her face again.

“What?” Prue said.

“I’m a total dumbass, that’s what,” Eretria said. “I came straight here, but… Dammit!” She put her hands down. “I got scared and I ran. Well, I crawled through the vents because there were still guards outside, but I ran. Gods, I’ve royally screwed up this time.”

Crystal smiled softly. “And you clearly regret it. So… once you’ve got yourself together… talk to him about it. He’ll understand. I mean, he obviously feels the same way.”

“But I don’t even know what this way is!” Eretria whined. “I’ve never felt whatever I’m feeling before and I don’t like it. I don’t trust new things.”

“Now, if that was the way we went about things, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere,” Harmony remarks from the floor, pushing at Stephanie to let her up. Getting up, she walks over to join them. “Look, emotions are weird. I know that better than even Margo. I’m still understanding how to define what I feel, it usually takes a few days for me to understand what I’m going through. And it’s going to take you time. But avoiding people because they make you feel things, just because you’re not used to it? You can’t grow from that, Eretria. It’s not fair, but you’re going to trap yourself in a vicious place trying to avoid emotions, one that isn’t easy for you to deal with no matter what you think right now. Believe me on that, okay?”

Harmony shrugs. “Take time to decompress and try to work it out, come at it as logically as you need to, but try to work it out. You’re welcome to come find me if you need help doing that, I do it all the time. But don’t just try to ignore that it ever happened. It won’t work, it never does.”

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Mackenzie pushed herself up off the ground, taking deep, slow breaths. She needed to be calm. She couldn’t deal with the situation if she wasn’t. Gods, she wished she knew how to use magic. If she did, she could make Harmony forget they even met.

But that wouldn’t be very nice. And she was supposed to try and be nice to everyone she met. That was what Aunt Sara taught her.

She nodded a little. “I’m- I’m sorry. I… It’s hard to trust people.” She cleared her throat. “Um… You- You said your dad is the Horned King?” She needed to change the subject before she fainted from the stress.

She nods. “That is correct. Growing up on the Isle, I was commonly called the Hornless Princess. It has only been in recent years I’ve come to understand it was meant as an insult, although I still don’t quite understand how it can be an insult. It is merely an observation, combined with a play on my father’s title.”

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Mackenzie’s eyes went wide. She stepped back, stumbling over her feet and falling to the ground. No, no, no, no. No, this couldn’t be happening. There was no way. She couldn’t have been found out already. No, no, no…

She closed her eyes. No, no, contain yourself. Breathe. She took a few deep breaths, eventually looking back up at Harmony. “You… You can’t tell… anyone… N-no matter what… I can’t let that happen again…”

Harmony shrugs and nods. “Of course, I can understand that. Auradon is far more used to the unusual without wanting to abuse it, you know, but I can understand the need for secrecy nevertheless.”

Secrets are about the only thing Harmony has ever understood. She’s had one of her own for the majority of her life. One she’s kept so closely guarded that no one has ever known.

For a moment, her face is distant as she thinks about that before she blinks back to their conversation. “Forgive me, my mind was elsewhere.”

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Mackenzie nodded. She didn’t know much about the Isle. It was kept pretty quiet in her family; they didn’t talk about it, they didn’t want to talk about it, and they didn’t want any of the monsters Jake had defeated being acknowledged as being sent there.

She closed her eyes, sighing heavily. “Sprinklers.” She forced another nervous smile, opening the door and stepping outside. “Sorry. I-I tend to attract accidents.”

Yeah. Sure, you do, she thought. “What were you going to say?” She didn’t want to actually know, but it was polite to ask. This wasn’t going to be good, was it?

“That I hardly find it to be something to joke about. Your gift can come in quite handy to those who need it. I, however, have never been such a person. I tend to prefer more practical methods and the use of logic based on history to assume upcoming events.”

Harmony walks back out with that, wringing out her hair, turning back to wait for Mackenzie. “In example, the next step in this process would be stuttering denial, then pleading insistence I misread the situation, then bargaining for my silence. We can, however, skip all three steps with severe efficiency. I don’t intend to tell anyone, no matter how plainly obvious the situation in front of me appears, unless it should come up as vital information, and I don’t foresee any such instance where it would be applicable as I am perfectly capable of making deductions for myself. Anything else?”

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Shitballs. Mackenzie forced a small smile. “That it is. It’s a legacy name. We’ve kept it for generations because one of my ancestors was important to regional history.”

The regional history of Delphi. The Oracle of Delphi. Wow, her family wasn’t subtle, were they?

She walked in behind Harmony, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “It’s, uh… It’s definitely good material for jokes. I’ve heard them all.”

“Mm.” Harmony nods. “Sorry, I’m not very good with humor or... socialization. On the Isle, my father had me castle-schooled. I didn’t attend a regular school until I was enrolled here. I have read about interaction, body language, and everything else, but I’m afraid I have had very little practical experience.”

She looks back at her. “However, I hardly find it--”

She’s interrupted by the overhead sprinklers, pausing and sighing, crossing her arms and slowly looking at the other girl. “Sprinklers.”

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Mackenzie clenched her jaw slightly. She cleared her throat. “Kara Oracle. She teaches the new class, Prophecy 101.” She already hated herself for having a vision in front of someone, even if she couldn’t control it. If someone figured her out… She didn’t want to think about that again.

She pulled the door open, motioning for the girl to go inside ahead of her. “Why do you ask?”

Harmony walks in with a shrug. “Curiosity. My name is Harmony, daughter of the Horned King.” Cocking her head, she adds, “Interesting name, and a very interesting class to teach with that name.”

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Open Starter: Staying Dry

Mackenzie hummed to herself, scrolling through messages from her nod. Devon had gone antiquing with Charlie and their siblings to find things to decorate the new house. She smiled softly, wrinkling her nose when she scrolled past a picture of an old painting. She hadn’t liked it at all. It looked creepy.

The oracle’s eyes shimmered gold, glowing slightly. Sprinklers? Sprinklers. She shook her head, blinking away the glow. “The sprinklers are about to turn on,” she instinctively blurted out. She looked around. Thankfully the courtyard seemed empty other than herself. So why…?

Mackenzie froze and stared at a person who had been standing close enough to hear her. Shit. “Uh… My mom works here. So-So I know the schedule.” She cleared her throat. “Sorry. We should get somewhere to stay dry.”

Originally posted by anaishewson

Harmony raises an eyebrow before putting her book in her bag. “Who is your mother?” She motions for the girl to get them out of there, planning on fully finishing the conversation she’s apparently elected to get in.

[untxld-stxries]

Stephanie slides in the open window of her friend's dorm room. "Crystal!-- don't freak out, it's only me-- I have gossip." -haxnted-hxnter

Despite Stephanie telling her not to freak out, Crystal did, in fact, freak out a little, dropping her hot pocket on the floor. She groaned and picked it up, tossing it in the garbage.

She raised an eyebrow slightly. “Really? Gossip, huh? About who?”

@haxnted-hxnter

[bxxksmart]

untxld-stxries​:

Eretria shrugged. “I know that’s not what you meant, but I’ll take it.”

“What’s special about this girl is that I think he likes her,” Crystal said. “That mushy type of like. The one that leads to flowers, and dates, and chocolate.”

Prue gagged. “There’s no way he likes her. She’s just pretty.”

“I don’t understand. I tend to mean everything I say, because I speak factually.” Harmony looks at Eretria in confusion.

Then she turns back to Crystal and Prue and nods, shrugging a bit at Prue. “I mean, ‘pretty’ tends to be a qualifier for people who are attracted to women when it comes to attraction. In many cases, anyways.”

Margo yawns. “Borrrrring. I don’t need the psycholo-whatever behind romance. So he likes her. Do we spy on their not-date or do we wait in his room to make him tell us everything?”

[bxxksmart]

“You are the result of 3.8 billion years of evolutionary success. Please fucking act like it.”

[leavingwitchmxuntain]

Double Solo Para: Handmade Handicraft

“What are you doing?” Nova walks over to the table, looking at all the small parts on it that the blonde girl is meticulously pouring over.

“Figuring out how this works by taking it apart and rebuilding it,” she answers without looking up from the very tiny screw she was taking off. “Why do you care?”

“Sorry, it just looks really interesting. My hometown is this mountain town in Nevada where… really, everyone likes to make their own stuff and operates more on trade than money, so we don’t really have stuff like… this. Can I touch it?”

“Just put it back where you found it. I’m Harmony,” the girl picks up the part she was removing carefully, glancing at Nova. “I am fascinated that your hometown works in such a way that has commonly fallen out of practice in the world.”

“We’re a bit old-fashioned,” Nova admits carefully, picking up something with wires and flipping it back and forth to look at both sides curiously. “I’m Nova. It’s nice to meet you, Harmony.”

“So, what was your specialty? Or your parents?” Harmony asks, inspecting the parts she’s removed herself.

“I can knit. Mama’s an amazing cook, and dad is good with woodcrafting, so furniture, and he’s also a pretty decent regular handyman.”

“I see,” Harmony says, starting to put her phone back together. “Would you care to make an information deal? I’ll teach you more about what I know with technology, if you teach me more about how your hometown works, especially in commerce, and perhaps also how to knit?”

“You want to learn how to knit?” Nova blinks in surprise. Aunt Tia worried people Nova’s age in the regular world would think her knowing how to knit would be strange.

“I want to learn everything,” Harmony answers. “So, yes.”

“Uh, okay!” Nova smiles, and the two work out the details in short order. After that, Nova watches Harmony continue putting the phone back together as she had taken it apart, then turn it over and start it back up, in awe. She thinks this might be a fun friendship. She’s never met someone like Harmony, and she’s utterly fascinated with her.