(;¬_¬) Night fall - Ben Florian x Male Reader
Word Count: 1.9k
Plot: The son of Mother Gothel, along with the other VK's, has had to join forces with Uma's group to save Auradon from Audrey
Note: Kind of a continuation to my last Ben fic, but like not really lol - Mal has no interest in Ben fyi and also Audrey's takeover of Auradon has become even larger scale. Also, it's been a hot minute since I watched Descendants!
Warnings: m!reader / FDNI
Your heart dropped. You could feel that sinking feeling in your stomach as you tightened your grip around Ben's hand. After having (partially) broken the spell that your boyfriend was under, you both joined up with the other VK's to fight back against Audrey's out-of-nowhere takeover of Auradon. You just didn't expect it to be on this scale. You didn't expect literally every single person in power to have been turned into stone statues, and you definitely didn't expect the daughter of Sleeping Beauty, a girl who was barely passing history of magic, to wield so much power that she was managing to puppeteer an army of hundreds of suits of armour.
'Watch your back' That was the barebones plan that your little gaggle of VK's and the literal king of Auradon were able to devise.
With possessed suits of armour encroaching on you and your friends, the moment you and Ben rejoined the group, you had to cast a protection incantation before even greeting Mal with a hug. Between you, Mal, and Uma as the only three of the current group who could use magic in any capacity, you were the only one whose powers leaned more towards healing and protection; flower gleam and glow, and all that jazz. After taking a moment to breathe, everyone started pitching ideas, arguing, and stating the obvious. Uma tried to take the lead first, claiming that her smaller crew of three would be more effective in bringing the enemy to their knees, whilst the rest of you hold the line. Of course, Mal wasn't having any of that. She argued that splitting into two equal groups would be better, since you were outnumbered about 1 to 100 right now. Constant arguing of 'The VK's are my crew', 'This is my squad though', 'This is our turf' ensued until you and Evie interrupted Mal and Jay arguing with Uma and Harry with a perfectly synced 'Oh my god!'. 'We have bigger fish to fry!' Evie started, circling her finger in the air, alluding to Audrey's hundreds of puppets. 'Literally! Put your differences aside. For now, at least, we're on the same side.' You added, looking at both sides of the argument and then sending a quick glance to your boyfriend, signalling that he should butt-in. '[Name] and Evie are right. Until the night falls, and Audrey along with it, we stay together 'till the battle is done.' Ben spoke confidently and clearly. Holy shit, he could get so serious and lead when it was necessary.
So with that, the plan of watching each other's backs was set in motion. You played with the wispy, gold, sun-like light that was currently acting like a forcefield around you and the others before looking to everyone one last time and taking the barrier down. And that was it. The battle had begun. Watching eachother's backs was metaphorical but also literal. Your strategy was taking on three to four puppets per person, with your back to another VK or adjacent. Pairs weren't set in stone, rather everyone would float around, but the rule was that you guys would fight in twos. Obviously, you started with Ben's back to yours; the king with a sword in hand, and you with magic tools. Whilst the magic you'd inherited from your mother leaned more towards healing, protecting, and time-shenanigans, it didn't mean that the healing incantation of the sundrop flower couldn't be altered or contorted into offensive magic. Over time, you've mastered a couple of tricks that have now become very useful; for example, infusing petals with wither and decay so that whatever comes in contact with them absorbs that withering. Petals are light-weight enough that it took no effort to control their movement with your magic; so boom, you made yourself corrosive projectiles. And boy did those petals come in handy during this fight, where Ben was clashing swords with Audrey's puppets and exhausting himself, you were barely breaking a sweat taking down double what Ben had. Was Ben emasculated or embarrassed? Not at all. He was in awe of you and complimenting you the whole time; 'Haha! Get 'em babe!'.
After dealing with the gaggle of twenty or so puppets in your area with Ben, you broke off from your boyfriend to help out somewhere else; him doing the same, not before kissing you on the cheek and whispering a quick but serious 'stay safe. I need you'. On your wander around, you spot Uma and Mal, back to back, bickering as they slashed against possessed suits of metal. You could only chuckle and move forward. You join Harry as he gets surrounded by eight puppets, your back to his as you both tear through waves of suits of armour. 'Look at ya go, Gothel, more than jus' a pretty face are ya?' Harry teases, giving you a smirk as he glances back at you ' 'tch that's not my name, Harry, shut up.' you say with a chuckle as you take down a suit of armour that was swinging right for Harry's neck. 'Watch yourself, handsome, losing a face like yours would be a shame~' You tease the man back, and the two of you continue laughing and bantering as you take down more of Audrey's goons. From a little further across the field of battle, Ben watched you and Harry with a scoff on his face and a gleam of jealousy in his eyes. Why does that douche get to see your pretty smile, and why are you entertaining his shit? Ben isn't toxic like the guys you've dated on the Island, so when this jealousy and these comments rear their ugly heads, he quickly shakes them off and reassures himself that you love him and only him. But Ben couldn't deny his possessive side, a side you were a huge fan of, so he kept his observation of your banter with Harry in his back pocket for later.
The ground was littered with unmoving suits of armour; defeated, and Audry's magic removed from them due to the iron swords wielded by your group. But once you had all regrouped, you noticed a new wave of a hundred or so more puppets coming your way. 'This is a whole ass war... they have us so fucking outnumbered guys' Jay mumbles with a small ghost of fear in his tone, one he quickly got rid of to keep up his overconfident shtick. 'The fate of Aurodon is on the line, don't forget that. We can't just lay down and let Audry take over!' Ben states, his tone not accusatory but matter-of-fact and intended to somehow inspire everyone to keep going. 'We have to override the magic already on 'em, but it's Maleficent's magic, only Mal could compare, but you can't cast magic on that scale, can you, Mal?' You explain, your analysis of the situation very fair yet bleak. 'I can't... but you can, [name]!' Mal says with a smirk and hopeful look in her eyes 'ME!? I mean, yeah, magic through song is easier to cast en masse, but I couldn't dream of challenging Maleficent's magic!' You argue, knowing your limits well and not wanting to set false expectations. 'Exactly! I can channel my magic and a counter spell through you and you project it en masse.' Mal counters.
Her plan made sense. So you thought fuck it, let's give it a try. Realistically, what else could you do in your situation? Everyone watched you and Mal as you started chanting; the sound of your voice carrrying all throughout Auradon due to your magic. 'Suit of armour, strong and true, make this metal all askew' Mal cast the spell, her eyes glowing green and green, ephemeral wisps of magic flowing out of her hands, through her sword and into you; then getting further projected across all of Auradon through your song. The group watched as you were stuck in place and your body went limp, arms slack by your side as you stayed chanting in place; your eyes getting swallowed in a growing darkness, and some of your hair lifting gently and glowing a murky, dark glow. 'Ahh ah ahhh, ahh ah ahhhh' The sound of your voice was all that could be heard on the battlefield, that same tune on loop as everyone went back to fighting. Ben was the only person who stayed back for a second, hesitating, worrying about you, knowing that this must be uncomfortable for you. But, the king had to shake it off; 'he's putting himself through for us, so I need to get this over with quickly for him, no point wasting time worrying.'
Four puppets to one turned into fifty puppets to one; your and Mal's spell made Audrey's puppets not only barely fight back, but also only require a light tap from a blade to be beaten. Within half an hour, Audrey's army was reduced to piles of armour on the ground. After taking a moment to breathe and recuperate, everyone regrouped around you; who was still stuck chanting, body slack and overrun with magic. Ben slowly approached you. He didn't try to shake you awake or slap you out of it; he wouldn't be able to sleep knowing there was even a possibility he'd hurt you. Instead, Ben gently held your hands and softly spoke your name. The man brought a hand to your cheek and looked into your fully black eyes, and he just kept softly saying your name until your chanting quietened and slowed down. Eventually, you snapped out of your trance; your throat hurt from singing nonstop, but you didn't care, you were exhauseted and your boyfriend was in front of you looking into your eyes, you just let yourself go into him.
The fight wasn't over with Audrey, though. With the help of her father's ember, Uma's conch and your magic, you all defeated Audrey, though it took a lot out of you all. Before scurrying to help everyone who was under Audrey's magic, checking on Audrey, or even seeing if the fairy godmother's wand was safe, you all rested for a moment. You gave yourselves half an hour as a break from real life, just half an hour to breathe. Of course, you spent this time with Ben, talking about this whole ordeal and voicing how thankful you both were that the other wasn't hurt too bad. 'Overall, I'd say nothing too bad happened during all of that haha!' you state, honestly shocked that despite having Maleficent's magic in her hands, Audrey didn't do more damage. 'Haha yeah, well with you on our side, I knew we'd be fine~ ....Though I wasn't the biggest fan of Harry flirting with you~' Ben teased, crossing his arms and putting on a jokey pout and frown. '....HAHAHAHA!~' You can't help but laugh hysterically, covering your mouth and holding your stomach. '...What? Is it that ridiculous?' Though he was mainly joking, the joke stemmed from a small insecurity, so your laughing felt iffy to Ben. 'No- No! It's funny 'cause look-' you point behind Ben 'I think Harry's too busy with Mal to be flirting with me, Ben~' you chuckle. 'Oh... Okay, well now I look dumb...' Ben mumbles, a little dejected but still joking. 'Awww don't be like that... Y'know I like that jealous side of ya, my liege~' you tease, finger gently pushing against your boyfriend's chest as you look up into his eyes. 'Hehe~ I told you to stop calling me that' Ben rolls his eyes, but gently grabs your waist and leans in for a kiss.
