Chapter One: Handel, Verid Prati
The sound of the camera's shutter going off filled the air for a brief moment as the red-headed girl brought the camera down from her face. She smiled up at the tree as the sun shone through the leaves, creating a glowing effect through the leaves. She took a deep breath in, closing her eyes as she felt a small breeze blow through her hair. For the middle of the week - and it being a long week full of projects and quizzes - it wasn't that bad.
The sounds of people shouting, and chattering followed by sounds of shutters going off drew the girl's attention to across the campus to the statue of Beast in front of the school.
"Spoke too soon," she said, biting her lip as she saw the crowd of paparazzi swarming a blonde girl in a white dress. "Poor Mal…" Glancing at the once misguided villain kid she felt a bit of sympathy for her. There was no way that Mal was used to life of someone as famous as she was. It was something that took a long long time to get used to. "I'm definitely not used to it…" the red-haired girl muttered to herself as she put the lens cap back on her camera.
"Aria!"
At the sound of her name, the teenaged girl turned around to see Ben jogging towards her. "Ben!" she greeted with a bright smile. "What's up?"
"Have you seen Mal?" the young king asked as he reached her. He breathed a little heavy from the light jog, placing his hands on his hips. "I was supposed to meet her here, but I can't find her."
"Uh…" Aria said, her eyes glancing to her left where the crowd of paparazzi was swarming said girl. "You might want to go save her."
"Oh man," Ben sighed. "I was hoping this wouldn't happen. We were going to meet for lunch, but I got caught up with some things."
The redhead gave a small smile as she looked at her flustered friend. "So you missed lunch then?"
"Yeah," her friend said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And I'm sure Mal already ate."
"And you haven't?"
"No…"
With a shake of her head, Aria reached into her bag and pulled out a red apple. "Here, you're going to need it."
Ben chuckled, taking the apple from her. "You always come prepared don't you?"
"Only when it comes to you," she replied with a small laugh. "Go get her."
The king smiled at his friend before taking up his jog once more and heading towards his girlfriend.
Aria laughed again, shaking her head as she slowly followed after her friend. From afar she could see Mal's look of discomfort as the paparazzi shoved microphone after microphone and question after question thrown at her. The poor girl looked ready to bolt. It wasn't until Ben showed up next to her that the girl looked a little less tense.
"She seems to be adjusting well."
"Oh my goodness!" Aria squealed, jumping slightly. Whirling she was met with orangey red hair that tickled his bright blue eyes. A large, toothy smile was on his freckled face that reached his ears as he stared down at the young girl, making her scowl up at him. "Wes!" she said, smacking his arm, earning a chuckle from him. "You have to stop scaring me like that."
"You make it too easy, Aria," he said, slinging an arm over her shoulders as the two began walking across the grassy area. "Anyway, as I was saying, Mal seems to be taking life at Auradon well." He gestured towards the young king and the blonde VK. "Well...as well as she can. The paparazzi is ruthless. At least they have Fairy Godmother to shoo them off." Just as he said that, said headmistress of the school began waving the photographers and reporters away.
"Yeah, but still," Aria said, fiddling with the strap to her camera, "this is too much for her. You can tell by how skittish she looks."
"...Mmmm...yeah…" Wes said, nodding his head side to side. "But at least Ben is with her."
"Aria! Wes!" came a soft voice.
The two redheads turned around to see Jane briskly walking up to them, a clipboard tucked against her chest. She smiled at the two, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Hey guys!" She shifted on her feet, looking from one to the other. "Have you seen Ben?"
Wes nodded his head over his shoulder. "Saving Mal from the press."
"Oh dear…" Jane whispered, glancing over as she watched her mother direct a photographer who tried to sneak back over to the couple. She cringed when she saw her mother wag a finger at the man. Glancing back at the two in front of her, the smile was back on her face. This time a little more sheepish. "I'll just talk to him later. Oh, but Aria, I need your help with something for the Cotillion." She started walking when the red haired boy began heading towards the entrance of the school.
"Me?" Aria blinked, following the two. "Why me?"
"We need an opening number to get the party started and I was wondering if you and the acapella group would like to do the opening number," the fairy goddaughter said, looking hopefully up at the red haired girl. "You did an amazing job with Be Our Guest for Family Day so I thought you'd like to do Cotillion."
"Sure, Jane, I'd love to," Aria said, smiling at her friend. "Scarlet, Tony, and Nikolette are all for anything. I just have to check with Gavin and a few others. Gavin had a cold last week, if he's not better soon we can't rehearse with him which might makes us unable to perform."
"Oh absolutely," the short girl said, nodding her head to where her ponytail bobbed up and down. "Let me know how Gavin's feeling. I'd love to hear your ideas for songs." The smile on her face fell when she heard the chiming from her phone. Pulling it up to her face, she pouted slightly as her eyes scanned the screen. "Uh sorry guys, I have to meet with my mom and the rest of the Cotillion committee. We're trying to figure out plates and napkins. Exciting things…" she finished with a huff. "Bye guys!"
The two redheads waved as they watched the girl run off, quickly texting something on her phone as she went.
"That girl is always moving," Wes commented, eyebrows raising as he watched her maneuver around a group of kids without bothering to lift her head up from her phone.
"Yeah," Aria said, watching as Jane dodged a trombone player from the marching band. "I'm also amazed she hasn't gotten hurt while working on her pho-" Just as the red haired girl began walking again she tripped over her shoelace on the second step, flailing her arms as she began to fall.
Wes' arm shot out, catching his friend by the elbow. "Yeah, unlike you, fish legs," he said, laughing as he righted his friend.
"Please don't call me that," Aria huffed. "You know how I feel about being called that. Everyone calls me that."
"Not my fault you trip on air," he replied, patting her shoulder. "You can barely walk without falling down."
The young girl took in a deep breath and looked down at her feet with a groan. "I know. I hate it. I'm practically my mom when she got her legs."
"Yeah, you're a real fish out of water!" Wes looked at Aria with a huge grin on his face, a look of amusement clear as day on his face that rivaled the unamused expression on his friend's. "I hope you realize no matter how many times I say it, I will never stop saying it."
"You're such a pain," Aria responded, rolling her eyes.
"You know you love me," he said, ruffling her hair. "Alright, I have to go. Gotta catch up with the boys. I'll see you later. We're still on for tonight, right?"
"Duh! It's Wednesday," Aria said with a small smirk. "Late night snack run. I'll see you later," she said, giving him a wave before squealing out as she tripped once more. "I'm okay!" Jumping back to her feet she gave Wes a sheepish smile before turning into the school.
ooOOoo
"Oh good you're back."
Aria blinked at her roommate. As soon as the redhead walked through the door she was greeted with the tip of a sword inches from her nose. Staring cross eyed at it, she slowly stepped around the weapon, closing the door as she went.
"Um...Lonnie," Aria began, watching as the dark haired girl pulled the sword away and flourished it in another direction. "Not that I don't love having a sword nearly taking my eye out, but what are you doing."
"I'm practicing fencing," Lonnie answered with a bright smile as she swung the sword. "It's not my fault you're early; you're not usually back until later."
"I can see that…" the red-haired teenager said slowly, making her way to her bed as she watched her roommate continue to swing the sword, trying to ignore the comment about her timing. Pulling her bag off her shoulder and taking a seat on her bed, she addressed her friend again. "Can I ask why?"
"The fencing team is down a man and I want to join," Lonnie stated, sheathing the sword and grabbing a water bottle off her nightstand. She took a drink as she walked over to her friend. "My mom and dad have trained me with sword fighting for as long as I can remember. And stop avoiding the question. Why are you back early? Wes usually hangs out with the boys around now, which means you should usually be calling your mom."
Aria was silent.
"A, what's going on?"
"I may have gotten into a fight with my mom yesterday…" she said, tucking into herself as she leaned against the headboard of her bed.
Lonnie's face fell and immediately took a seat next to her friend. "Aria, I'm so sorry," she said, pulling the redhead into her embrace. "What happened?"
Aria sighed, resting her head on the Chinese girl's shoulder. "She keeps trying to get me to join the swim team."
"Oh…"
"Yeah."
"Well, have you told her that you're not interested?" Lonnie asked, scrunching her face slightly as she tried to figure out what to say next. "I mean, you've never been interested in swimming before, after all you don't exactly like swimming."
"I have!" Aria groaned, pulling away from her friend and flopping onto her side. "But she and my dad keep saying that I should try and connect with my roots and 'Don't you want to visit your grandpa?' 'Don't you want to see your aunts?' etc etc etc." she finished, her voice raising in a high pitched voice near the end, frantically flapping her arms about. "I do, but-"
"But you can't swim and you're afraid of the water," Lonnie finished, nodding her head sympathetically. "I completely understand, A. My parents constantly wanted me to learn how to dragon training and I was so scared to even go near one."
"You've told me this before, L," Aria said, rolling her eyes as she sat up. "And look at you now! You babysit Mushu's kids every time you go home."
Lonnie placed a hand on Aria's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "What I'm saying," she said, giving her a pointed look, "is that I was scared, but I was able to overcome it and learn how to train dragons. You can do the same. You just need to take time and try. Take things slow. I'm not saying you need to go out and join the swim team like your mom wants you to, but try learning to swim. Baby steps." She stood up, patting her friend's hand before picking up the sword again. "You'll get it. I believe in you."
"Thanks…"
Aria sighed before leaning over the side of her bed and grabbing her laptop from the ground. Turning it on, she watched as the screen slowly loaded as she gathered up her camera and took the memory card out.
A gasp sounded behind her and she quickly whipped around to see a bright smile on Lonnie's face before she jumped onto the bed as well.
"Lonnie, please be careful," the redhead said, quickly grabbing her camera before it fell off the side.
"Oops," the dark-haired girl said, giving a sheepish grin. "Sorry!" She turned her attention back to the computer and watched as Aria plugged in the memory card. "Are those pictures for Evie?"
"Yep!" Aria said, a smile forming on her face. "I got some pictures I think she'll love."
Lonnie gasped and pointed to a picture of lily pads. "Did you go to the Enchanted Lake?"
"Yeah, I thought there'd be some good photos there." She clicked on another picture of lily pads with a white flower on some. "I thought these would be great inspiration for Nikolette's dress."
"They are!" Lonnie's grin grew. "Oh my god, these are great, Aria. Evie's going to love these." Giving her friend a side glance, a smirk grew on her face. "Did you get anything for me?"
Aria returned the glance and smirk. "I may have."
A squeal came from the roommate. "Can I see?"
"Sure," the redhead laughed, clicking on some images. "I found these flowers and thought they'd be perfect for embroidery on your Cotillion dress."
"We have to show Evie!" Lonnie said, grabbing the computer and pulling it onto her lap. She smiled brightly as she clicked through the photos. "These are incredible, A."
"Thanks. I need to print these off for her," Aria said, taking the computer back from Lonnie. "I'll post the pictures on the blog later."
"Good call." Lonnie said, grabbing her sword and putting it in her wardrobe. "I hope Evie's doing some dress fittings tomorrow. I really want to see how my dress is coming along. I gave her an idea for something a little different than just a dress."
"Really?" Aria turned to look at her friend, raising a brow as she paused in her project. "What did you change? Can you tell me?" Scooting to the edge of the bed, she smiled up at her friend with hopeful eyes.
Lonnie shook her head, a sly smile on her face. "Nope. You'll just have to wait until Cotillion."
Aria groaned, hanging her head back. "That's not fair. You know what I'm doing for my dress," she complained, pouting slightly. "Why can't you tell me?"
"Because I want to keep it a surprise," the Chinese girl said, jumping onto her bed and grabbing a textbook on her nightstand. "Have you studied for the exam in Science yet?"
"Not yet," she sighed, clicking on the touch pad. A second later, the printer began whirring to life and the sound of paper sifting through the machine filled the room. "This chapter is killing me and Science is already my worst subject."
"You know Mr. Robinson is happy to tutor people if you really need it. I know he's the IT guy but he's got that crazy smart family."
"Emphasis on the crazy."
"A!"
"C'mon, you've met Fritz."
Lonnie's silence was enough of an answer. "Okay, true. But you should still get some tutoring. You need to pass the class."
"I know, I know," Aria sighed, leaning back into her pillows. "Do you want to meet for a small study session tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I don't see why not. Does some time after lunch sound good?"
"I can do that, definitely. Thanks, L!" A bright smile grew on the redheads face as she finished up the last few photos to print. Middle of the week wasn't going too badly.
ooOOoo
Aria stared at Wes as she watched the redheaded male stuff two cookies into his mouth. Years of friendship and she was still amazed at how much her friend could eat.
"Do you ever slow down?" she asked, one of her brows raising as she brought her mug of hot chocolate to her lips. She sighed lightly as the beverage began warming her up in the chilly kitchen. "You need to chew instead of inhaling."
"Har har," Wes spoke through a mouth full of cookies. Some crumbs shot out landing on the kitchen counter causing Aria's lips to curl slightly. "Keep it up and I won't tell you about the Arendelle cousins' secret stash of chocolate."
"That's not a secret," Aria scoffed, rolling her eyes as she grabbed a cookie from the plate between the two. The cookie melted in her mouth as she took a bite. Thank the maker that they keep the kitchen open this late and that the students don't get in trouble for being in here at this time. She shook her head, taking another bite. "Rosalie already told a me and Nikolette where her cousins hide it so that threat won't do you much."
Wes glared at her before taking another cookie and shoving the whole thing in his mouth which earned another eye roll from his friend.
"I swear you're going to choke on that one day." Aria leaned forward on her stool until her elbows rested on the counter. She stared into her mug of hot chocolate, shaking her head at her friend's behavior.
"Yeah, yeah," Wes shooed through yet another mouth full of cookie. "So," he swallowed, "when's Ben getting here? He missed last week's meetup. He needs to make it up and get here now."
A sigh came from the red-haired female. "I'm not sure. He's been busy with all his duties that I hardly see him. And when I do see him it's for a brief moment before he's whisked away or runs off to another thing. It's almost ridiculous."
"Seriously," Wes scoffed, folding his arms as he leaned against the counter. "The guy is 16, going on 17. He shouldn't have to deal with all this stuff on his own."
"But plenty of our parents were our age when they took the throne. Look at my mom!" Aria exclaimed, gesturing wildly before throwing both arms wide. "She was 16! She was 16 when she left the ocean and when she married my dad." She sighed, resting her cheek against her hand. "Sometimes I feel like they expect too much from us. Sure they were our age when they did all this amazing stuff, but this is a completely different generation. They can't expect us to do all the things they. It's too much. Ben is a perfect example. He's wearing himself thin it seems."
"Well," Wes said, sighing as well. "You're not wrong, Ari. But this is also Ben we are talking about. Even when we were young he always liked to do things big. He always dreamed big and him being king fits him. But he does need to take a break every now and then. Especially with Mal being his girlfriend."
"Yeah… Poor Mal." Aria shook her head before running a hand through her red locks. "She's still getting used to life here and Ben's been such a big help for her, but with him being gone lately she's practically by herself."
"And he's also shirking us," Wes added, a big of a scowl forming on his face. "There's a way to balance work and spending time with friends and loved ones. Ben needs to realize that soon or I'm not waiting around for him like we are now."
"But we also can't abandon him, Wes," Aria stated firmly, giving her friend a pointed look. "What if something happens and he needs us? Would you abandon him?"
"...No…" the red-haired boy said after a moment. "You're right. But it's frustrating. I've been trying to get a guys' night with him and just hang out with him, but every time I ask something comes up."
"That's the same with me," the girl said, taking a sip from her drink. "I tried to get him to go with me to the Enchanted Lake the other day, but at the last minute he had to cancel. Something about a committee meeting." She sighed again, staring into her mug once more.
It was silent between the two for a few moments before Wes spoke up. "I'm worried about him, Ari."
Aria nodded slowly, meeting her friend's gaze. "Me too, Wes. Me too…"
So I finally saw Descendants 2 after my friend snapchatted me clips of it. Since then I have been listening to the soundtrack all month. While I was watching the movie I couldn't help, but create a character. I love The Little Mermaid and thought what if she had a (another) daughter. And so Aria was created and I started plotting so many ideas all at once.
I want to thank loopally (tumblr) and proud-to-be-a-puff (tumblr)/em3kitty (wattpad and fanfiction) for letting me bounce ideas off of you. You seriously helped so much with future ideas and the personality for Wes and Aria. You guys are amazing!
I really hope you liked the chapter. I hope to continue this story, I have too many ideas in mind that I hope to eventually write. However, with real life keeping me busy it will be a bit of a challenge to find time to write. Here's hoping.
All the background characters I mentioned in this chapter I left who their parents are a "secret" for now because I plan on revealing who they are bit by bit. The side characters won't be playing a huge part, but I have ideas for the Descendants world for this story. Feel free to take a guess as to who is who and if you want to ask me leave your thoughts in a review :)
I would love to hear your thoughts so please leave a review. Any and all feedback is really appreciated and helps me improve my writing.
If you have any questions for me feel free to PM me or message me on tumblr at melapede. Possibility that I might make a blog for this story, let me know fi you'd like to see that.
Hope you all have a happy Halloween!
