Thank you again, so very much for your reviews, favorites, and follows on the last chapter- the support is overwhelming! This next chapter is a somewhat filler chapter, but the 'action' will start again next chapter. Also, I realized I never did a disclaimer so I do not own Descendants characters and/ or plot lines created in the movie- just what I have created.

Gnome12345- I think you'll like what I have planned ;)

Descendantslover- Mal x Ben is pretty much all that will be touched upon for pairings.

Mal:

That night, Evie and I slept on the mattress, huddling close together for warmth. Jay and Carlos graciously offered to sleep on the floor, trying to stay warm despite the cool hardwood. I wake the next morning to the sun shining brightly in our windows, with no curtains to block out the light. It's ironic, if you think about it- with a lingering doom hanging over our heads, you would imagine waking up to storm clouds and thunder claps- not a smiling sun.

I lay awake in my bed, staring at the bare ceiling of the dorm room, the guilt continuing to eat me alive. Stirring beside me, Evie sits up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Morning sunshine," I joke, receiving an almost deadly glare. Her hair is flat on one side, and knotted and tangled on the other.

"I assume they didn't bring any food?" she mumbles, glancing hungrily at the door.

"You would assume correctly…. How did you sleep?" sitting up next to her, she lays her head on my shoulder, pushing the neck of the dress back.

Evie sighs deeply, "A strapless coronation dress really doesn't serve well as night clothes," after pausing, we stare at Jay and Carlos sleeping soundly on the floor, Dude curled up into Carlos' side, Evie starts again. "You know what last night reminded me of?"

"What?"

She grasps my hand, "When your mom told you to get lost after you complained about studying spells. I think we were, like, nine. You showed up at my window with a bag and asked if you could spend the night."

"And then you said of course and you snuck me into your room because if your mom ever found out…"

"… she would have kicked the both of us out," we both laugh in spite of ourselves, in turn making Jay and Carlos sit up slowly.

Carlos, removing the red tie that still hangs lose in his collar, grumpily says, "Darn, I thought I was just having a really bad dream."

"Nope," I respond, being blunt. There is no sugar coating it- we are in a crappy situation. Unless we think of something, we are going to stay that way. "Well, I guess you kind of did- we are all just still in it."

Jay stands, stretching out his back, "What do you think our parents are doing right now?"

Without any hesitation, Evie instantly answers, "Plotting more ways to torture the people of Auradon. Finding more ways to torture us." Silence covers us like a blanket. No one argues, no one tries to convince the others that it isn't true- because it is. We all know it.

A thought that crossed my mind yesterday when the guards were bringing us up here comes into play once more. Though I don't necessarily want it to be answered by the people I am sure know what the answer is, another part of me wants to be proven wrong. "If Belle hadn't said something to them, do you think we would be on the execution list?" Evie bites her lip, and looks down at our hands. Jay and Carlos look sadly at me, confirming my assumption. "That's what I was thinking, too."

Memories of when the four of us came to Auradon and were making the unnecessary love potion for Ben resurface. Of when Lonnie was so upset about how she thought incorrectly that villains loved their kids, too. Usually, I would let it just roll off my shoulders, but now, knowing my mother would actually execute me for not obeying one of her commands, is quite upsetting.

I idolized my mother for the longest of times. As I started getting older, started understanding what was going on, I was reluctant to continue this idolization. Of course, I still obeyed her. I still completed her tasks to the best of my ability. I tried to please her (of course that almost never happened), and I accepted each punishment. But deep down, I think I always realized that if it came down to me, and her master plan, she was going to choose her master plan.

"We need to do something," I finally decide.

Evie shakes her head, "You heard your mom- she doesn't want to see us ever again."

"No, she said she doesn't want to see us until we come to our senses," I recall, hearing her voice from after the coronation.

"I don't know, Mal," Carlos says, and Jay agreeing with him.

"Come on guys!" I shout, "We have been through so much together, if anyone can do it, it's us." Nobody's reaction falters. "E, you said it yourself, we are a family. Shouldn't we, as a family, stick up for the other ones that are going to be torn apart by our parents?"

Evie wipes a single tear from the corner of her eye. "I'm with you, M. All the way."

"Me too. They are our parents, we need to stop them," Jay agrees, a smile creeping on to his face.

Carlos, being the only one left to answer- yet again- starts laughing. "We are seriously messed up, you guys do realize that, right? But I guess I'm in, too."

I pull Evie into my side, wrapping my arm around her, "Now, we just need a plan."

Flashback {General POV} –

Mal stands with her back against the brick walling of her middle school, her left leg bent against with her foot pressed against the wall, and her head bent. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the other students run past her into the school. After what seems like forever, Mal watches a group of three walk toward her. "M?" Evie asks, pushing her purple hair out of her eyes. "Oh, M," she says sadly, her voice cracking, when Mal lifts her head.

Outlining her eye is a dark blue bruise, going from the bottom of her lid, to almost her eyebrow. "What happened this time?" Jay asks, but he isn't surprised. At least twice a week, one of the four descendants comes to school with a visible bruise- not to mention countless other ones hiding under the fabric of their clothing. Even though they all go through some form of physical abuse – Mal usually gets the worst of it. She comes to school with the worse bruises, more times than others.

"I couldn't remember this spell… no big deal," she turns to Evie, "Can you cover it?"

Taking Mal's hand in hers, Evie leads the group into the school- towards the only restroom. Apparently, when you live in the dumps, you get one multi-gender bathroom. "Of course, I have make up in my bag."

Sitting Mal on the counter, and Jay and Carlos standing off to the side, Evie starts applying concealer to the bruise. "How long did you have to practice last night? I know my mom made me do her eyebrows for at least a half an hour."

After the makeup is on, and the bruise has faded away under the liquid, Mal answers, "Well I started when she woke up, then she started showing me some of the finger movements for one of the spells. And finally I was instructed to memorize the next two pages of her book. I'm not even sure why I am learning this stuff, it's not like we are ever getting out of here."

"I think they believe that we will eventually escape, and when we do, we are supposed to be by their side the entire time- cursing entire kingdoms."

Thank you so much for reading, please don't forget to review your thoughts, comments, suggestions, ext. Hope you enjoyed!