Sorry it's been a few days, but I got sick after going to Universal Studios. But it's not like I haven't been writing since then. I've been watching all the old Disney movies that inspired Descendants and all the characters I want to use in this story, so... that muse is still around!

Heart of the Dragon

Chapter 4

It started with the dreams. Just feelings at first, terrible ones. Whenever Mal fell asleep, she felt a stirring from the depths of her soul, and at the center of it all, an eerie green fog. Mal could feel herself inching toward it with caution, but at the same time, intrigue got the better of her.

If she could just brush the wisps of the fog, see what it was like for a moment…

"Don't do it," Ben's cautious voice would deadpan, and Mal woke, her head pounding, heart racing.

Sometimes, like tonight, Evie would wake up as well.

"Is it about your mother?" Evie asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I don't know," Mal answered honestly. And Evie, none the wiser, soon fell back asleep.

Could Mal really go back to sleep with a pounding headache and a million thoughts running through her mind about Maleficent, her worries, her future?

She texted Ben a lot during these times, to the point when she was sure he was waiting up for her to contact him now.

"You still up?"

The response was immediate. "For you? Always."

Mal could feel herself calming, where she would go through their text history, lingering on the sentimental ones and re-reading them over and over again in his soothing voice.

"Can't sleep again," she confessed.

"Bad dreams?" he responded.

"I don't know yet," she admitted.

A few moments later, her phone lit up again. "Lunch date tomorrow?" he suggested.

A grin slowly spread across Mal's face. If she weren't sharing a room with Evie, she'd definitely call him just to hear his voice until she fell asleep again. "Definitely," she sent back, this time with her favorite emoticon: a purple heart.

"I love you," he assured, like he did every night, and after every date. If anything, he was saying it more often, as if… well, almost as if he couldn't believe the words, too.

Mal just sent the heart again. Then, after a moment, she left him with, "See you tomorrow, King BMOC."

Ben couldn't stand that nickname, preferring to seem more modest in his kingdom. But even Mal still had a bit of the power-hungry deviousness within her, and never failed to mention who her beau was when she met new people. Why not be proud?

With thoughts of Ben on her mind, Mal rolled over and fell back asleep.


"Pet, haven't you ever wondered why there were two?"

Pet. Maleficent always called Mal that. Her pet. Someone obedient who would follow her every whim. At the time, Mal had always thought of it as a term of endearment.

But those words were all she heard in her head, which had stopped pounding once her eyes opened again. Maleficent, when she wasn't completely trying to raise hell, could actually sound… soothing.

Evie, ever the early riser, had already left for… well, whatever would prevent her from getting wrinkles by the time she was twenty.

Mal rose, finding herself charmed instead of repulsed by the light and breeze coming from the flowered curtains. A simple clean up spell had put the room in order since she'd turned it upside down a week ago, and Mal sat up, stretching her arms over her head.

Now… what to wear for her lunch date? Knowing Ben, he had something surprising in store for her, from that first date at the Enchanted Lake to a formal dinner in his home. A simple dress usually did well. Mal was sure she could even wear a sack and Ben wouldn't mind.

Same went for him, obviously.

But as soon as Mal found a few choices and stepped up to the oval mirror standing next to Evie's bed, Mal screamed, dropping everything.

What, how…? Shakily Mal's hands slowly touched them, to see if she was hallucinating.

She wasn't.

She… she couldn't see Ben looking like this! What was she going to tell him?

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I seem to be growing horns on top of my head," she told the mirror, chuckling despite the fact that she was on the brink of tears.

Maybe she could hide them? A hood or a scarf, maybe? Mal grabbed one of Evie's blue scarves, but it clashed too much with her violet hair.

As she hung the garment back up, Mal spotted a pair of scissors next to Evie's sewing machine. She supposed that could work, bangs… Or a spell to disguise herself? No, that would make her look unrecognizable to everyone; there was no spell to just hide these… things. Her hair spell had been popular when she'd just gotten to Auradon. Time to finally try it out on herself.

"I need to look good for my date tonight

Please give me bangs so I don't look a freight!"

Not her best rhyme, but it did the trick.

But was it just her, or did they get bigger after she'd recited the spell?

Her new bangs looked fine, but from below her hair, two little black points protruded. Her nails were still as sharp as ever.

And her mother still had yet to be found.

What's happening to me? First the nails, then the enchantment she felt around the scepter, now this

"I'm really sick and can't make it :(" she quickly texted Ben, promising herself she would explain it all to him the second she figured this out.

Instead of texting back, Ben called her instead. Slowly she answered, hoping to sound terrible. "Hello?"

"You're sick?" Of course he was completely concerned.

"I-I woke up and my throat was on fire," she lied, hands still shaking as she brushed her finger over one of the things on her head.

"How about I just come over and bring you some chicken soup? You know how our chefs do meals at my place."

Why did he have to be so… perfect? "Thanks, but… I don't want you to catch it." And why was lying suddenly so difficult?

Silence for a few moments. Then, "Can I call you later, then?"

Mal nodded, even if Ben couldn't see her. "Please. It'd get my mind off of… this."

"I'll do most of the talking, don't worry," he assured, chuckling. "Drink some herbal tea for me, okay? I love you."

"Love you, too," Mal answered immediately, hanging up. She'd dodged this now, but… she couldn't forever. Ben deserved to know what was going on here.

Mal wiped her eyes and flopped back on her bed, exhausted just from this. Stupid dreams. Stupid pains. Stupid… well, she couldn't bring herself to think that about her mother.

She drifted off again, pulling her sheets over her head.


The green fog took on a more palpable form, Mal realized the more she stared at it.

The staff.

Darkness is yours. You just have to reach out and grab it, control it.

Command it.

Curses began to sound appealing; if Mal had a different middle name, it'd probably de Devious. Evil, if she thought about it, probably coursed through her veins as if, despite it all, Darkness was part of her.

Mal thought of the scepter protected at the museum, with no one to use it. How very terrible.

Someone should.

She should.

She reached out, almost had it…

"Mal!"

Mal stirred. So close… But, as she regained more of her thoughts, Mal realized she'd wanted to retreat to being evil; it was so easy to think back to it…

Evie stared down at her, a bowl of chicken soup in one hand. "You've been asleep all afternoon," she pointed out. "And Ben stopped by with the soup. Nice fringe, by the way."

"Huh?" Oh, right, Mal had given herself bangs in an attempt to… Eyes wide, Mal pushed Evie away. "Don't look at me!"

"Mal, you're going to make me spill this!" Evie cried, holding the soup away from the bed. "He told me you had a sore throat…?"

Wait, Evie… Evie could help without Mal going out. "Just… can you help me out with something?" she asked, her voice tiny.

"Anything." Evie set the soup on Mal's nightstand and sat beside her on the bed.

Slowly Mal sat up, brushing her bangs out of her face to reveal the horns. Evie stared blankly, her eyes widening.

"How…?" Evie asked, scared and confused, just as Mal had been.

"I don't know," Mal whined, pulling her knees to her chest. "Evie… Maleficent being gone while this is happening isn't just a coincidence, I'm sure of it. But she never told me this would ever happen to me and I… I need help. Please."

Sighing, Evie brushed Mal's bangs back into place. "I'll round up Fairy Godmother and the guys—"

"Not Ben," Mal pointed out. "I'll tell him when I figure it out."

Evie clucked her tongue. "Okay, then," she drawled. "We'll figure this out, Mal. I'll even start now. You just enjoy your soup." With that, Evie got up and darted toward the door.

"Thank you!" Mal called, grateful she had such good help.

Evie just winked at her as she left.

After enjoying the chicken soup (Ben was right; his chefs did do it amazingly at his place), Mal remembered that other dream, hoping it would help.

Haven't you wondered why there were two?

Two what? Mal felt like she had the answer; she just had to look for it.

Instead of frantically turning the room upside down like before, Mal calmly went through her things, looking for a pair of… earrings? No, too obvious.

Finally Mal got to her wardrobe, looking toward the back, where her clothes forged on the Isle now resided. Lots of leather, purple, green…

And then, on the back of her old jacket, her mother's insignia.

Two dragons.

I'm not exactly good at mystery, but I did think this concept was interesting, so... here we are.

Reviews are always appreciated!

Next chapter: There are only three people who can explain to Mal what's going on with her. Whether or not they take on her case is an entirely different matter.

Till then!

~Eliza