Part 2| Chapter 5: Drizella's Daughter

"There," Mal asked as she finished yet another spray paint art. "How's that?"

Y/n looked at the hideout's wall which was now covered in more spray paint than it had been when they left. "Perfect. Almost."

Beneath the Maleficent painting, y/n sprayed the words, 'A heart as cold as stone is more powerful than a melted heart of gold.

Mal chuckled as she read their mom's old saying. "You never do miss a detail, do you?"

"How could I miss this one when she'd say it to us over and over again?" Y/n laughed, but a part of it sounded... broken.

~~~

Y/n was a young girl, no older than eight, and she was playing with a few older kids on the Isle. There was one she liked, but he was two years older than her. However, that didn't stop her from telling him what she felt.

As the other kids left, she gave him a rose she found on the road. It was wilted, and the colour was fading, but it was a rose, nonetheless. The boy thought it was cute, but unfortunately for poor y/n, he didn't see her in the same way she saw him.

He politely declined her proposal but still took the rose. However, just as he did, a hand took it from him and crushed it. When the two children looked up, y/n saw her own mother.

Maleficent was outraged at the boy for daring to reject her daughter. She yelled at him until his eyes turned watery and he ran away in fear.

After he left, Maleficent turned to her daughter. "Remember, y/n, a heart as cold as stone is more powerful than a melted heart of gold. Don't you dare go around begging for others like a desperate fool. You wait for them to come to you, then you stomp on their heart and leave it in pieces. Do you understand?"

Y/n nodded her head meekly. "Yes, mother."

From that day onwards, y/n never saw those children again. The few friends she had tried to make disappeared just like that, as did anyone else she tried to interact with.

~~~

"Yes, she had a habit of repeating that," Mal said. "Like a broken record. Especially to you. No wonder you didn't have any friends here."

When Mal noticed her sister's heartbroken expression, she quickly said, "I didn't mean any offence."

Y/n looked at her with sad eyes, but they soon lightened. "Look at you, all soft. The Mal I knew would tease me nonstop about my loneliness."

Mal laughed. "Yeah, and that awful hair."

"Speak for yourself," y/n joked back.

"You know what? We should get our hair done," Mal suggested.

"I know you're thinking the same place I am," y/n said.

"Curl Up and Dye!" the twins exclaimed at the same time.

***

Energetic music played from a young girl's headsets as y/n and Mal entered. The girl was busy sweeping hair and dirt, but when she saw the two, her face lit up.

"Y/n! Mal!" she exclaimed, taking off her headphones. "Is Evie back, too?"

Mal chuckled. "As if."

"She doesn't exactly know we're here," y/n told Dizzy.

"Oh." Dizzy's smile sunk a bit.

Dizzy Tremaine was the daughter of Drizella Tremaine, and granddaughter of Lady Tremaine. Though y/n and Dizzy were relatively close (y/n always let her experiment on her hair), Evie was like the big sister Dizzy never had.

"I, um, forgot that you guys don't open till midnight," Mal said.

"Place looks good," y/n commented.

Dizzy giggled, proud of herself for keeping it clean, though it was hardly clean compared to Auradon standards.

"So what is your deal? Has your grandmother given you any customers yet?" Mal asked.

"Ah, just a witch here and there. Mostly, it's a lot of scrubbing and scouring and sweeping. Lots and lots of sweeping," Dizzy replied with a frown.

Sounds like the old Cinderella treatment, eh?" Mal said.

"Not even Cinderella's son does a fraction of this work," y/n said. "I'd be surprised if he even lifted his finger without a servant's help."

"Yeah, she's gone from Wicked Stepmother to Wicked Grandmother," Dizzy said.

"That's not really much of a switch. Hey, Dizzy, you used to do Evie, right?" Mal asked.

"Yeah. Y/n too. I thought of the little braids for Evie and the bubbly pigtails for y/n," she said happily.

"Would you like to have another go?" y/n asked.

"Really?" Dizzy asked hopefully.

"Of course," Mal said. "You have any ideas for me?"

"Mm." Dizzy approached Mal. "The washed-out blonde with purple tips? The best of no worlds. You can't see where your face ends and your hair begins! Oh, what is this, 'Bored to Death Pink'?" she asked, looking at Mal's nails. "How far can I go?"

Mal clicked her tongue. "The works? I mean, whatever makes me feel like me, but, you know... way worse."

Dizzy sat Mal in a chair before turning to y/n. "This is a horror story on its own. The brunette with blonde is way too basic for someone as lively as you," Dizzy said. "And your nails! Why are they so chewed?"

"Ummm..."

"No problem, nothing I can't fix up! Take a seat!"

Y/n sat in the chair next to Mal's while Dizzy examined her hair. "So, what are you thinking?" Dizzy asked. "I'm sure you've grown out of those pigtails."

Y/n chuckled. "Whatever you want, as long as it brings out the 'lively' part of me."

"Yay!" Dizzy squealed as she picked up a big pair of scissors.

Mal's eyes grew wide, but y/n knew Dizzy, so she knew that when Dizzy was given a customer, she would go all out in the best way possible.

***

Dizzy turned y/n and Mal's chairs to face the mirror after their makeover.

"Hey! There I am," Mal said as she admired her new look.

Mal's hair was now straightened and magenta. She had bangs which ran till the end of her forehead, and her nails were painted pitch black.

"Dizzy, you never fail to disappoint," y/n commented as she ran her fingers through her new jade-green hair. Dizzy was careful not to dye her blue strand, which she had covered with her old brown hair. But now, she let it be as it was.

Unlike Mal, y/n decided to keep her hair its normal texture. Dizzy placed short, almond-shaped extensions on her nails. They were all painted a shimmering black with curved silver lines along the nail.

"Voila!" Dizzy exclaimed.

"Voila," Mal agreed.

Y/n stood up and handed Dizzy a bill just as Mal did the same.

"For me?" she asked, taking the money.

"Yeah," Mal said.

"You earned it," y/n told her.

She excitedly took the cash to the counter, until Harry Hook entered the salon.

"Fork it over, you runt," he ordered.

Frowning, Dizzy handed him the money.

"Now the rest of it," he said.

Dizzy begrudgingly took all the cash from the register and placed it in his hand.

"Hmm. Thank you. Mm-hmm," he said with a sickly smile.

"Still running errands for Uma, or do you actually get to keep what you steal?" Mal asked Harry.

"Well, well, well. What a nice surprise," he said, eyeing the Maleficent twins.

"Hi, Harry," Mal greeted.

"Always nice to see you," y/n added sarcastically.

"Just wait until Uma hears you're back," he told Mal. "She's never gonna give you back your old territory," he said to y/n.

Y/n shrugged. "Oh, well, that's okay."

"Because we will be taking it," Mal assured him.

Harry chuckled darkly. "You underestimate Uma's power."

"No—she underestimates ours," Mal said.

"As long as we're here, Uma can never have this land," y/n said. "Because it's us against her. When we're together, we're unstoppable. She knows it. It's about time you knew it, too," y/n stated menacingly.

"Of course. The Maleficent twins were always a powerful duo," he said. "But we'll see how in touch they are with their homeland after being away for so long."

Harry brushed his hook along Mal's neck, enough for her to feel it, but not for it to pain.

"I could hurt you," he whispered.

Mal caught his hand before the hook could move further. She took her gum piece out of her mouth and placed it on the hook's end.

"Not without her permission, I bet," she replied.

A strange chemistry passed between the two, one which y/n and Dizzy picked up instantly. Mal and Harry's relationship was something everyone knew about, just never mentioned. An open secret.

Harry chuckled as he left, dragging cans off the counter with his hook as he did so.

"Great. More sweeping," Dizzy sighed.

"At least you still have your money," y/n said, holding up all the cash that Harry took from her.

The young girl's eyes lit up. "How'd you get it back?"

Mal chuckled. "She stole it when Harry was threatening me."

Y/n smiled. "His pride will lead to his downfall one day," she stated ominously.

Mal left the salon, heading back to the hideout, while y/n stayed to help Dizzy pick up all the things Harry had dropped.