Author's Notes: I'm a total slut for Descendants. I'm even more of a slut for Descendants OCs. The possibilities are practically endless. And when this idea popped into my mind…well, I just had to write it. Enjoy! And review, if you are so inclined.
Ella knows it's going to be an interesting day when King Ben says he has another announcement to make.
A groan emerges from the table when the speakers overhead crackle as the morning announcements come to a close. Usually, no one bothers to listen to them, but whenever King Ben comes on…well, you know it's important
"I bet you five dollars Ben and Mal are announcing their engagement," Finn Fitzherbert says. Ella isn't surprised that Finn is the first to speak; in fact, she expects it. Finn is chatty and bright, and she never, ever shuts up. It's a weird departure from her older sister, Anxelin – who prefers texting to speaking.
Merin DunBroch – the eldest of the DunBroch triplets – is the first to respond. "No way. We would have heard about it already." Her voice has just the lightest traces of the accent her mother bears – something that all three redheaded kids have in common (though little else).
"Maybe she got knocked up," says Sara White. "I mean, that's a possibility, right?"
Finn shakes her head. "We would have seen a bump."
"Oh, come on, guys," Melody says. "Are you totally oblivious?"
Ella raises one eyebrow at the dark-haired girl, but declines to speak. Instead, she focuses her gaze on her pastel blue nails.
"More Isle of the Lost kids," Anders says. He's the only boy at the table, and Ella's cousin. He's tall and bulky, with thick red hair and brown eyes, and is on the school's Tourney team. "Ben wanted more of 'em to be shipped to Auradon."
"Exactly." Melody says.
"Which ones, though?" Sara asks.
The prospects of more Isle kids bring a million theories to the table. Melody says that it'll probably be another four kids; Finn speculates that it'll be more than four; Merin wonders aloud whether or not they'll ever let Gaston's kids into Auradon, to which everyone scoffs at.
"When'd he say to go to the auditorium?" Ella asks, interrupting the group. It's the first thing she has said since King Ben has spoken, and she says it loud enough so that the entire table falls to a hush as she speaks.
Ella of Arendelle isn't usually so quiet. When you grow up with an aunt as talkative as hers', it's hard to be entirely silent. Yet the idea of more Isle of the Lost children disturbs her.
It isn't like she hates Mal and her gang. In fact, she's kinda-sorta friends with Evie and Carlos. But just because they're the outliers doesn't mean the entirety of the island is like that. For all they know, the rest are truly rotten to the core – and can't be changed for the better, either.
Anders tosses the scraps of his lunch into a nearby trash can, not even bothering to look where he's throwing. He shrugs. "Like, twenty minutes." Melody nods in agreement.
The blonde starts swirling around the spoon that's in the tea she brought to school, staring at the brown liquid. "'Kay," she replies halfheartedly.
Merin runs a hand through her short red curls. "You alright, Ella?"
"Yeah, it's nothing." Ella smiles lopsidedly. "Just tired."
Anders jams an elbow into his cousin lightly – luckily, she had just stopped spinning the spoon around in her tea, or else there would have been a very large and very noticeable brown stain on her pale blue dress. "She probably thinks Isle guys are hot. Ten bucks says she'll try and flirt with the new guys."
Her stomach churns a bit. Anders always jokes about her flirting with guys, but the truth is, she's never done it. Not once. Which is strange, she thinks, because nearly every other girl she knows flirts – some shamelessly, some rarely, and some fall in-between. There are handsome boys, sure – of course they are, it's an entire school filled with princes and princesses. Yet while most fawn over people like King Ben and Chad Charming, Ella feels…nothing.
But before she can try and dig deeper into that discomfort, Anders pulls her out of her thoughts. "Hey, earth to Ella. We're all about to go to the auditorium. You in?"
Ella smiles again, smoothing the ruffles out of her dress. "Of course," she answers, because that's the right thing to say, and after all, she doesn't want to disappoint.
Sometimes, Ella wonders if Ben ever considers wearing anything other than blue and yellow.
That doesn't mean he doesn't look dashing in those colors. In fact, he looks…regal. Which makes sense – he's the king, after all. But still, she sometimes has to ask herself what he would look like in colors beside gold and royal blue.
Mal, too – even though it's been nearly half a year since she's arrived from the Isle, she still likes to wear a variety of purples, greens, and blacks. That, combined with her distinctive hair color, makes her visible even in the densest of crowds.
Then again, everyone else is color coded, so why would they be exceptions? Even Ella – she found herself wearing light blues and whites more often than not.
And in Auradon Prep's auditorium, it is a rainbow of pastels (save for the distinctive clothes that the Isle kids wore). There are sprinklings of the distinctive blue and yellow school colors, as well, most notably in the letterman jackets that the Tourney kids wear, and the majority of them sit up front. Ella could see the perfectly groomed Chad Charming amongst them (who Finn, she knows, has held a grudge towards ever since he cheated on her older sister with at least twelve other girls).
"As you all know, I let four children from the Isle of the Lost come to the USA," Ben says. "And due to the resounding success we had with allowing them to live here, I have decided to let more Isle kids come to Auradon."
The hush that had previously fallen over the students immediately ceases; first as a dull roar, but eventually the murmurs begin to increase in volume.
Mal walks up to the podium that Ben is standing on, leans towards the mic, and practically screeches, "Shut up!" As if she waves a wand and says "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo", the crowd quickly does exactly as she says.
Ben blushes lightly, which makes Finn elbow Ella and snicker "lovebirds" into her ear. He coughs, and then continues, "Thanks, Mal. As I said, I'm allowing more teenagers from the Isle of the Lost to come to our country. I have already chosen those who I've decided need our help."
Ella raises her eyebrows; her stomach begins to churn, worrying about whom, exactly, the King decides will be moving to Auradon.
"The children of the following villains will arrive at Auradon in the next week: Anastasia Tremaine, Mother Gothel, the Queen of Hearts, and Hans, ex-Prince of the Southern Isles." Ben looks rather pleased with himself, all things considered; he looks like he's just ordered a thousand cream cakes instead of discussing the most dastardly villains to ever walk the face of the planet.
Her eyes widen. Her stomach decides to plummet into the depths of the earth rather than continue churning. It is as if the entire world decides to stop moving.
Hans' kid. Kids? Who knows. But they are going to arrive at Auradon in less than a week. She is going to have to face the kid whose father tried to murder both her mother and her aunt. The children of the man who was so sweet, so charming at first, but then so cold, so cruel, so calculating. And he's probably raised his kids to act exactly the same, sickeningly, cloyingly sweet, and Gods, this is something she never wanted to occur.
This is not happening. Ella thinks.
And while the blood rushes to her ears, making the rest of Ben's speech unheard, she leaves the auditorium. She can feel eyes settle on her back as she pushes the heavy door open, watching eagerly, probably thirsty for her reaction. She doesn't want to see anyone, least of all the King. She doesn't even want to be at school anymore. Maybe if she vomits up her breakfast, they'll let her go back home.
The hallways are empty, the white-and-blue tiles scuffed from years of sneakers rubbing against them constantly. The blue lockers become a blur as Ella practically runs to the bathroom, and before she knows it, she actually has vomited. Luckily, she at least made it to the toilet.
She's shaking and palpitating, and the bathroom floor she's kneeling on is as cold as the ice her mother can make. She hates this, hates her disgusting reaction, hates that Ben is letting his kid (kids?) come to Auradon, hates that this is the life she's going to have to live now, seeing redhead villains in her classes, in the hallways, always one step ahead of her, knowing exactly how she's going to react. They're going to play with her, make her a pawn in their games, and she doesn't want that, she'd never want that in a million years.
"Are you okay?" From behind, Ella can hear Finn's voice – not as brash and excited as it usually is, but rather concerned and soft.
The blonde realizes she didn't even have the decency to lock the bathroom stall. "No, I'm not okay, Finn."
"Ellie," the brunette sighs, "I get it, you aren't happy about this, but it's not like Ben's out to get you." She sees the mess her second cousin made, and wrinkles her nose. "Ew."
"He's letting their kids here. Their dad tried to murder my family." Ella says. Her voice is sharp, cold, just like the icicles that hang from her family's castle in the winter. She has to wonder – does her mother know? How long has she known? What is she going to do about it?
"Yeah, and Gothel's mom kept my mom locked up in a tower for eighteen years." Finn replies. "But you have to let the past go. Look at Mal and Evie and Carlos and Jay. They're not at all like their parents are. You like Evie. You're friends with her. Do you think she'd make you eat a poisoned apple? Or Mal. Do you think she'd make you prick your finger on a wheel and fall into an eternal sleep?"
"But a sociopath's kid—"
"Just 'cause their dad's an utter psycho doesn't mean they are, too. Ben's not an idiot, Ella. He wouldn't let someone who would actually hurt you – or any of us, for that matter – to come to Auradon." Finn sounds so confident in what she's saying, and Ella knows that she's just trying to make the both of them feel better about what's going to happen.
Ella doesn't respond. She doesn't know what to say anymore. There are a billion thoughts running through her head, and quite a few of them involve words that she wouldn't dare say aloud.
Finn, not ever being comfortable with utter silence, decides to fill the void with her own voice. "You made quite an exit. You acted like Ben had ordered everyone in Auradon to hunt you down or something. You probably made him feel like crap." Even though she can't see her face, Ella knows that Finn has some obnoxious smirk on her face.
"Do you think I can go back home?" Ella asks quietly. She sounds like she's five again: Anders telling her yet another horror story about Hans, which leads to her having nightmares, and crawling into her mother's bed at two in the morning, scared to death that she's going to be cut in half by a sword. The image of her aunt becoming a frozen statue, her eyes glazed over, determined to save her mother, even at the cost of her own life; the determined, hollow glint in Hans's eyes as he lifts his heavy, intricately-designed sword in the air, fixated on murdering the newly-crowned Queen…
Finn surveys the scene again, putting her hand on her hips. "Considering you projectile vomited the entirety of your guts into a toilet, I think so."
Her entire body shakes; she feels weak, so weak. This entire mess has drained her, and she knows that it isn't Ben's fault, not really. Ben is sweet and caring, and he wouldn't ever want to hurt anyone.
"Come on, let's go get the office to call your mom," Finn says. She puts a hand on Ella's shoulder, gently, as if she might break into a million pieces if she grips any harder (which, to be honest, Ella feels like might happen).
Ella tries to stand up, feeling weak in the knees. She's afraid she might collapse at any moment, so she leans into Finn, who wraps an arm around her shoulders. She feels so melodramatic, and she knows that she doesn't deserve this sort of pity or sympathy.
As they walk slowly towards the main offices at the front of the school, Ella can hear Ben's voice echoing faintly. He's still talking, something about reminders of protocol when Isle of the Lost kids arrive at Auradon Prep, and though Ella attempts to make an effort to listen, she just can't. Her ears are ringing somewhat, a soft pulse that won't go away.
"Do you think I'm overreacting?" She says, counting the tiles on the floor.
Finn pauses for the briefest of moments. "Somewhat. But I mean…I get it. I think you're being a little pessimistic, and I definitely think you're exaggerating the seriousness of the situation, but…well…their dad was…really evil." It's so strange, seeing Finn sort of at a loss for words, and Ella wants to laugh, because really, who expected Finn Fitzherbert, of all people, to not know what to say?
But she doesn't. Her stomach is still doing somersaults, even when she flops into a chair in the office. The gray-haired secretary purses her lips and shakes her head when Finn explains the situation, and Ella's relieved when Finn's the one who calls her mother.
"You need to come and pick Ella up," Finn says, glancing towards her. "She puked…She's sort of sick, yeah. You'll know why soon enough, Aunt Elsa." She's always called her Aunt Elsa, just like how Ella's always called Finn's mom Aunt Rapunzel. For some reason, it sticks out in her mind, and she doesn't even notice that their call is over until Finn sits next to her.
The bell rings, and soon enough, the chatter of students starts to begin as they pour out of the auditorium. Ella wonders how many people are talking about her leaving early, how many of them are already beginning forming their theories about what Ella's going to do now. It's a conceited notion to ponder, she knows, but it stays in her mind, refusing to leave until Finn shakes her arm lightly.
"C'mon, Ellie," the green-eyed girl says, "Your mom texted me. She's out front."
"Are you gonna leave, too?" Ella asks. She wants nothing more than to go and see her mother, to find some reassurance in her words.
Finn shakes her head. "Nah. I'll…I'm gonna be fine, I promise. I'll text or call you…or something. During lunch, maybe. Is that okay? Do you wanna be left alone?"
"Just for a little bit. You can text me if you want." Ella manages to stand up on her own, at the least. She grips the door's silver handle, taking a deep breath. "See you later, Finny." And before Finn can respond, Ella leaves – leaves her behind, leaves the school behind, leaves everything behind.
Ella's always surprised that guards don't drive her to school. She knows that her mother is somewhat protective of her – well, somewhat would be an understatement, but still – so it would make sense that they would drive her to and from school, but instead it's her mom.
Not that she minds. She'd much rather see her mother than some burly guard at the moment.
She slides into the car seat. Her eyes are red and somewhat swollen; her throat feels like it hasn't had a drop of water in weeks.
"What happened?" Queen Elsa of Arendelle is usually quite calm and composed; at 41, and with half of her life in isolation from the rest of the world, she's learned to keep her feelings quelled, for the most part. But when it comes to her daughter, it always seems like that demeanor is gone. Maybe it comes with the territory of having the world's most over-protective mother; she's always somewhat frantic when something happens to Ella.
The younger of the two stares out of the windshield. She can't bring herself to look right at her mother. "I threw up."
There's a soft sigh, one that lets Ella know she's being stubborn. "I gathered that, yes."
"…I threw up 'cause they're letting more Isle of the Lost kids to come to Auradon." She feels like an idiot as she says that, because when she puts it that way, it's a relatively minor thing to throw up over.
She isn't looking, but Ella knows her mom is raising one arched eyebrow up, like she can't believe what she's hearing. "You didn't have that sort of reaction the first time."
There's a pregnant pause in the air for an excruciatingly long time. Elsa doesn't press, but the pressure of telling her everything gets to Ella. "They're letting Hans's kids come to Auradon, Mother. I'm going to have to…I'm going to have to see them every day. I don't know if I can handle that."
Neither of them speaks for several minutes. Elsa starts up the car, starting the trip back to their castle. Ella racks her head, trying to figure out if she said anything wrong. Her mother always has a solution to everything; she's Queen Elsa of Arendelle, she never has an incorrect answer for anything.
The school is long out of sight when her mother responds. "If you want, we can castle-school you, like we did when you were little. If it really bothers you that much…maybe it'd be best if we did that again. We could get you several tutors. It's not that difficult."
Ella hadn't minded when she was castle-schooled. She didn't go to Auradon Primary until she was eight, when her mother, her aunt, and her uncle were positive that she didn't inherit her mother's powers, until they were positive she wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone. And though it seems like a good idea now…is it really wise to back away?
God. She's so confused. She should be eager to go back to castle-schooling, to get away from Hans and whatever descendants he has. But at the same time…she'd be leaving behind all the friends she's made, the social life that she's content with, the vast variety of classes that she can choose from, even the teachers.
"I don't know," Ella squeaks out. "It…it sounds like a good idea. But I'd miss everyone…and…I don't know, Mom. I don't know what to do."
"Oh, honey," Elsa says, her voice laced with concern. "I'm not going to force you to be castle-schooled; I'm not going to force you to stay at Auradon Prep, either. That choice is for you to make. But I promise you, either way, they won't hurt you. I won't let them."
The scenery outside of the car is a blur, greens and blues and yellows and grays passing them by without a second thought.
To back out would be cowardly, wouldn't it? All things considered. Her mother tried to back out and escape her problems – and look where that got her.
Ella isn't looking at her mother when she says that she wants to stay at Auradon Prep.
She doesn't look at her mother when they finally arrive at the castle, either. Or when they walk inside. She doesn't look at Aunt Anna, either, or Uncle Kristoff. She just walks as swiftly as she can to her bedroom.
And her bedroom is her sanctuary; she has no reason to venture outside for the rest of the day, unless her mother tries to drag her into the dining room.
It's like most of the things in her life – blue. A light pastel blue, to be exact. It's the exact same color it's been since she was born, sans the images that Uncle Kristoff had painted in the months before she was born. There had been a giant stencil of a reindeer on one wall and a crown on the opposite wall. Then there had been the giant portrait hanging on one wall of her, her mother, Aunt Anna, Uncle Kristoff, and her cousins, Anders and Kristine. Luckily, she had managed to convince her mother when she was thirteen to paint the reindeer and crown stencils over and put the oil painting in one of the many hallways in their castle.
Her phone buzzes multiple times as she puts it on her nightstand and flops into her large canopy bed, no doubt texts from various people; Finn, Sara, Melody, maybe Merin. Reluctantly, she grabs it; to ignore anyone would make her cause even more of a scene than she already has.
And, surprisingly, though she can see Finn's name at the bottom of the notifications, the top three are from none other than Evie.
"r u okay?"
"we all saw you run out of the audit."
"carlos told me u went home."
Sighing, Ella swipes right on the most recent notification, then starts typing swiftly.
"I'm not okay, but not not okay. IDK. It's weird. I went home."
She sends that, then, after a moment's pause, starts typing again.
"Tell me all you know about Hans's kid."
Evie starts responding almost immediately. Not that Ella expected anything else; even if she's a Villain Kid, Evie is…well…nice. Not quite as snarky as Mal, but not somewhat introverted like Carlos is, and not as sporty as Jay. Evie is the one Ella likes the most out of the four, and she supposes that Evie must like her too, considering she bothered to text her (and during class, too).
"idk much. i'll ask mal tho…i bet she knows."
"OK."
Not even fifteen minutes later, as Ella is texting Melody in an attempt to persuade her that, yes, she's fine, and no, she doesn't need to have anyone over after school, she gets another text from Evie.
"her name is ingrid. she was castle schooled. except she didnt live in a castle...more like a crummy shack...youll know her as soon as you see her bright red hair. shes really tall and shes really snotty. sarcastic. is obsessed with becoming a princess. has it in for your mom. once told mal she would love to trick you into handing her the keys to your queendom (w/e that means). likes to sneak out and party when her dad is asleep. and dances with everyone. probably does more than dance, mal says. thats all she knows."
Ella crinkles her nose at all she's been told. She assumed that the girl would be more like her dad – utterly charming, but ice cold to the bone. But apparently, she's…well…a word that she doesn't like to say aloud.
And, of course, she has it in for her mom. Just lovely.
She doesn't bother replying to anyone else once she learns of this Ingrid. She just puts her phone back on the nightstand and curls up into a ball. Bright red hair – Ariel bright? She wonders how much Ingrid resembles her father, wonders if she has the same cold green eyes that Aunt Anna said he has, wonders what she'll try to do as soon as she arrives.
She closes her eyes. She thinks it's for a few seconds, but all of a sudden, Kristine is opening the door to her bedroom, dropping her backpack on the floor. Her digital clock reads 3:25 PM.
"Oh, my Gods," Kristine says, sitting on the edge of Ella's bed and kicking off her green and black shoes. "I cannot believe Ben. What does he think he's doing? Hel-lo! This is a disaster begging to happen. Mal told me all about this kid, and she's a total witch. She's got it out for us. Do you think she's good with a sword? She'll probably behead us."
Well. At least Kristine hasn't had as bad as a reaction as Ella has.
Ella sits up, rubbing her eyes. "Somehow, I don't think that's allowed. Her owning a sword or beheading us."
"Are you okay?" Kristine asks as she lets her blonde hair down, letting it fall down to her shoulders. "Everyone knows what happened. Finn and I have been trying to do damage control for you after you fell off the face of the earth and stopped texting Melody and Evie. No one blames you," she adds quickly, "Most everyone said they'd act the same, too. Even Ally Wonderland kind of acted a bit loony – then again, she's always loony."
"I'm…I don't know what I am, Kris. How's Anders? Is he alright?" She doesn't want to focus on herself anymore.
Kristine shrugs. "Alright enough to go to Tourney practice. He didn't say anything about it. Dad is absolutely bonkers over this Ingrid witch coming to Auradon, though. He's convinced she's going to slit all our throats in the middle of the night or something. Or maybe date Anders. I tried to tell him that Anders' head is too thick to comprehend that someone is flirting with him, but you know Dad…"
"When are they coming? All the new Villain Kids?" Ella asks. If she lets Kristine ramble on any longer about Anders and his thick skull, she'll go on until midnight.
Kristine has a sheepish grin on her face now. "Um. Ben sorta gave us a short notice on their arrival…like…a really short notice."
"Exactly how short?"
"They may, just maybe, be arriving as early as tomorrow." She squeaks out. "But not definitely?"
Ella stares blankly at her cousin.
Kristine stares back.
Tomorrow. She might not even have twenty-four hours to prepare for Ingrid Westergaard's arrival.
She might just strangle Ben before he has a chance to greet the new Isle of the Lost residents.
