At first, Jay didn't notice anything was off.
The thief gotten up late due to his roommate not waking him like usual, and he'd been in a rush because of it.
It wasn't that unordinary for him to be the only one occupying the dorm before class considering Carlos sometimes took Dude out for an early walk.
However, the first red flag was raised when heard a whining from the corner of the room and glanced over to see the campus mutt by an empty food bowl.
Normally that would've called for an investigation, but the Arabian teen had too many tardies as it was, so he couldn't do much except dump some kibble in the dog's dish and run out the door.
—
As the morning continued, the son of Jafar pretty much forgot all about the odd absence of his roommate.
When lunch arrived however, it occurred to him that the table he and his friends shared was missing one of its occupants.
Ignoring what his gut was telling him, he brushed it off by telling himself the de Vil was probably just caught up in his studies or something.
So he took his usual seat and began scarfing down his food.
Though he made sure to keep one eye on the door, watching for the blond.
It was in the next moment when he realized something was really wrong.
The daughter of Maleficent had spotted him out of the corner of her eye and instantly whirled around to face him, breaking off her conversation with her boyfriend mid-sentence.
"Hey, have you seen Carlos? Is he sick or something?" the purple-haired girl asked quickly, concern flashing through her eyes.
This made the Arabian teen frown.
"No, he wasn't in our room this morning. Why do you ask..?" he questioned, worry creeping into his voice.
His reply made Mal shoot up out of her seat and begin marching off without a word, abandoning her tray.
The remaining members of the table-group exchanged looks before scrambling up and jogging after the purple-haired teen.
"Mal!" Ben called after his girlfriend, "Where are you going? What's going on?"
"Library to look for C. He wasn't in biology today. It's not like the nerd to miss science." she answered, never slowing her stride.
The teens all held a silent conversation with each other, all wondering the same thing.
Where the fuck is Carlos?
—
By the time lunch had ended, they'd searched the entire library top to bottom. All five floors.
They wanted to keep looking, but after receiving a rather harsh warning from a teacher, they weren't given much choice. So they simply headed to their afternoon classes.
—
As soon as they finished the day's lessons, they returned to their search.
They'd drawn up a quick plan in the girl's dorm for searching the campus in the most efficient way.
It was decided that Doug would be staying in the boy's dorm just incase Carlos returned so he could notify the others.
Once they'd gotten everything in order, they set off.
Unfortunately, it turned out that their four, nearly five, hours of searching had been in vain.
Thankfully, while the son of Dopey had been hanging out by himself he'd had the bright idea of using Evie's magic mirror.
Why they hadn't thought of that sooner? They had no idea. But they definitely felt like idiots. That's for sure.
Needless to say, they were all very surprised when a hazy image of Fairy Godmother's office door appeared.
The teens didn't bother taking the time to question it though.
Instead, they all bolted out the door and began running through the halls.
—
The son of Jafar had managed to overtake the others during the short trip to the office, and therefore knocking wasn't taken into consideration.
When the group barged into the small room, they were a little more than a tad bit stunned at the sight that greeted them.
The headmistress was leaning forward with her hands on her desk, red in the face.
The cause of the discoloration being the rapid-fire scolding she wasn't currently giving the student seated in the chair across from her.
The pale boy sat with his shoulders hunched, making him look smaller than usual. His gloved hands were curled into tight fists at his sides, and his gaze was trained on his feet.
Fairy Godmother's head snapped up when the door slammed open, the words dying in her throat.
Carlos didn't even blink.
Thankfully, Ben was smart enough to speak up and take control of the situation before it got out of control.
"Sorry to interrupt so suddenly. May I ask what's going on?" he questioned formally, keeping his tone polite and respectful.
The headmistress stiffened, her face beginning to regain it's normal color.
"I was just having a little chat with Mr. de Vil here. Our security officers caught him destructing school property, and by that I mean demolishing an entire classroom, at three in the morning. When they tried apprehending him, he ran. Not only that, but he skipped all of today's classes. I'm sure you can see how this is unacceptable behavior," her voice was sharp and tight, leaving no room for contradiction.
One could tell she was upset by how out of character she was acting.
The young king chewed at the inside of his cheek for a moment, trying to process the information given to him and reach a peaceful solution.
"How about we all just give it a rest for tonight and discuss this tomorrow? We've all had a long day and perhaps it would be better to handle this when we're better rested," he suggested.
The old fairy wasn't having it.
"No need. I've already reached a decision. Mr. de Vil shall be serving detention everyday after lessons for the next three months. You are dismissed," with that she turned back to some papers on her desk.
Realizing he was being told to get out, the freckled teen unfurled from his position and attempted to scurry past his friends.
They had other ideas.
After receiving a look from Mal, the son of Jafar quickly grabbed the youngest of their group and slung him over his shoulder to prevent him from fleeing.
The blond struggled for a moment before sighing in defeat and going limp.
The purple-haired girl nodded her approval and they began the trek back to the dormitory.
—
Once they were back inside and the door was locked, Jay dropped Carlos down on his bed.
"Spill. What's up?" Mal cut right to the point.
The pale boy brought his knees to his chest and took a deep breath.
"Well?" the purple-haired teen pushed, ignoring her boyfriend's silent warning for her to ease off.
"M-My mother go-got t-to D-Diego…" the blond finally stuttered out.
All the VKs went pale.
Doug and Ben didn't quite know what that meant or who Diego was, but judging by the others' reactions they could guess that whatever it was; it wasn't good.
"L-Last night she sent a box and a letter. Sh-She told me what she did in perfect detail. I-Inside the box was.. a.. piece of.. him.. " he stopped to catch his breath.
"I t-took it to the lab to r-run a DNA t-test.. To make sure.. When the results came through…I g-guess I just snapped… S-Sorry.." his voice had been monotonous up until he apologized.
It broke then.
"O-Oh my god… Carlos…" Evie gasped, moving to sit next to her little brother.
"S-So Diego is..?" Jay trailed off, not wanting to finish the question.
The son of Cruella looked up at him, the first time he'd taken his eyes off his knees during the entire conversation.
"Diego's dead."
The youngest of the VKs just managed to get the words out before bursting into tears.
The children of Maleficent and Jafar both hurried forward to comfort their friend, despite how odd it felt.
Meanwhile, the young king stood by the door and wracked his brain in search of who Diego was.
He recalled seeing a file under the same last name when he'd been selecting the kids he'd bring over from the isle.
Then it hit him like a punch to the gut.
Carlos's cousin.
He passed the information on to a confused looking Doug before heading over to the pile of VKs on the bed.
However he froze in his step when he noticed a certain pair of green eyes giving him a warning glow.
For a moment he thought his purple-haired girlfriend was actually going to kick him out of the room, but then she relaxed and called him over with a jerk of her head.
Ben let out a breath of relief and closed the distance between himself in the bed, Doug not too far behind.
They sat down next to the Core Four and joined in the messy group hug, doing their best to offer reassurance and condolence to the smallest of the group.
—
There wasn't much that could really be done for Carlos.
The young king had spoken to Fairy Godmother about what had happened.
She'd been incredibly understanding about the whole thing and revoked the punishment.
The fairy even tagged on an apology and an offer to arrange for a grief counselor to come meet with the freckled teen.
Still though, it was just going to take time and support.
And while they couldn't speed up the first, they could certainly deliver the second.