Sorry for the wait, everyone; I've been really busy these past few months, but I figured I should just finish up this latest chapter. Also, we're reaching the end of Descendants 1, as all of you undoubtedly know, and rest assured, I do have plans for Sadie's story all the way up until Descendants 3, but I probably won't be done with writing all of them up before D3 comes out. Thank you all for the 15 followers, and I'll give you all a present if we surpass 22 followers by the end of this update: I'll set up a poll, and you can decide between either A. A special oneshot with Sadie's role in a Descendants short, like "Under the Sea" or one of the Wicked World episodes, or B. A special hint as to who one of Sadie's parents is (you choose whether you want a hint for the mother or the father).
Thank you all for all of the support so far; I know I can't expect much because I don't update often, so I'm always pleased with whatever I can get. As always, throw out your guesses for Sadie's parents in a review or a PM. I love to see what you all are thinking!
~Raven
Chapter 10
Sadie walked out of geometry class feeling as if she had been hit by Cinderella's pumpkin carriage as it was running away from the Grand Duke and his troops. In other words, she needed food, and fast. Thankfully, lunch was the next thing on her schedule.
"Hey!" someone called out behind her.
"Hi Carlos," Sadie mumbled as she groggily turned around to face the younger boy.
"I just thought you should know that uh…the cookies went over very well with Ben," he muttered as he got closer to her.
"Did they now?" Sadie asked just as quietly.
"Yeah, so, thanks for helping us bake them, I guess," he mumbled.
"This has been a lovely chat, but I need to get some food in me stat; I skipped breakfast this morning due to sleeping in too late," And having freaky visions of the future, but Carlos didn't need to know that.
"I was heading to lunch too! Do you need someone to eat with?" Truth be told, Sadie was just fine eating alone when Ben wasn't around. After all, that was what she did most of the time. No one liked sitting with the outsider. However, out of the four VKs, Carlos was the one who was least likely to plot out her murder, so Sadie agreed to it.
"You look exhausted," Carlos commented as they approached the cafeteria.
"A morning of classes with no breakfast will do that to you," Sadie replied.
"Well, uh, just tell me what you want, and I can get it for you. You can find us a table and sit down."
This kid was from the Isle? Since when? Sadie was too tired to protest, and flopped into a nearby chair whilst mumbling, "Chicken fingers, mac and cheese, fruit bowl, lemonade. Thank you."
When Carlos came back with the pair's food, Sadie couldn't help but be impressed. While Carlos had gotten a healthy portion of food for himself, he had spooned out twice as much food for her.
"Thanks," Sadie still mumbled in astonishment as she sank her teeth into some cut up peaches.
"No problem. You looked half-starved; as you can imagine, I'm used to seeing people with that look in their eyes. I've probably had that look a lot myself," he commented, as if it was normal to be starving. Sadie had a new appreciation for Ben's proclamation now. No child deserved to be trapped and hungry, no matter who their parents were.
"So the cookies worked, you said?"
"Yeah, according to Mal, Ben ate one, and started talking about the gold flecks in her eyes or something."
"Does Audrey know that Ben is now madly in love with Mal?"
"Not yet, I don't think," Carlos shrugged. "You really hate her, don't you?"
"When someone bullies you relentlessly for years because she doesn't know who your parents are, how do you think you'd feel?" Sadie asked as she dug into the generous portion of blueberries that Carlos spooned out. She was too tired to rein in her emotions at this point.
"You don't need to remind me. I know what being bullied is like."
"Somehow, I had a feeling that was the case. You're too kind for the Isle," Sadie stated honestly.
"Really? Uh, thanks, I guess?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.
"No problem," Sadie replied. "Glad the cookies went down well."
There was a slightly awkward, but comfortable, silence after that. Sadie had a feeling that Carlos, too, was used to being alone; ironically, for the same reasons that she was. He was a bit too good for the Isle; she was a bit too wicked for Auradon. And so was her father, apparently.
"Do you actually want us to succeed?" Carlos asked dubiously as Sadie finished off her fruit.
"Succeed at what?" Sadie asked back.
"If this plan goes the way we hope it will," Carlos whispered, leaning in closer to her, figuring he could trust her, "then Mal will be right up there with Ben at the coronation. You know, in wand-grabbing reach. You stopped us before. Why aren't you now?"
"Because I don't think Mal will reach for that wand," Sadie stated as she stirred her mac and cheese absentmindedly. The smell alone was enough to make her want to wolf down the whole bowl in one bite.
"Why not?" Carlos asked.
"Because trust me, when you've been around Ben long enough, his goodness rubs off on you. He has a way of changing people."
"What do you mean by that?" Carlos asked as he polished off his turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich.
"He has this gift for…making people able to see a brighter world. A new and better future, if you catch my drift."
"You don't know Mal at all though. She was practically queen bee on the Isle; she had her own turf and everything. Also, her mom is Maleficent, the most evil out of all of the villains on the Isle."
"Well, 'most evil' is an incredibly subjective term," Sadie replied, "and when you're around a genuinely kind person who helps you see a brighter future, who also happens to be deeply in love with you, you change."
"Yeah," Carlos's eyes drifted across the room to where Jane was sitting with Lonnie, her best friend who she had yet to talk to. "I can see how that might happen."
Sadie thought she might need to order some sparkling Dalmatian-printed wedding invitations shortly.
"If that's what you want to happen," Sadie advised sagely as she sank her teeth into her chicken finger, "then it will."
"I know I'm not supposed to say this, but I'm actually starting to like Auradon," Carlos smiled slightly.
"And that's the best attitude you could have. Now, it's time to convince your purple friend that her idea to be evil is, well, mal."
"I'm not sure if I can do that," Carlos scratched the back of his head. "Once she has a goal, she can get pretty single-minded."
"I hate to ask this, but she does have a heart, right?" Sadie asked. "You know, deep down under the whole 'I'm the boss and you'll all bow down to me now' stuff?"
"I know that scientifically, she has to, but that's not what you're asking, is it?" Carlos replied sheepishly.
"So basically, that's a nice way of saying she has no heart," Sadie confirmed as she dipped her second chicken finger into a small puddle of ketchup.
"I wouldn't count too much on Mal's good side showing up if I were you," Carlos warned as he packed up his stuff. "She's the wickedest VK there is; the only people that could even come close to her level of evil are Uma and Harriet Hook, and she was the most evil out of those three by far."
Sadie made a point to remember those names. Maybe they'd be next on the list of VKs to bring to Auradon.
"And I wouldn't count out the possibility that Ben could help her change, if I were you," Sadie shot back as Carlos was about to leave. "As I said, he does have that effect on people. Thanks again for the food."
"Not a problem, and I guess we'll see who's right," Carlos shrugged as he slid his backpack over his shoulder and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving Sadie in a situation she'd been in many times: alone with a half-eaten lunch. However, despite her loneliness, Sadie was confident in herself and her predictions. Ben would pull through and change Mal; Sadie just knew it. After all, Sadie knew that people don't have dreams about just anyone who they don't know; that would go against all the basic laws of divination theory. Now, she thought, how would that apply to her?
The two girls who she'd seen or heard in her dream the night before came to mind, as did the hand with the silver hook, and the boy in his underwater lab. She'd wagered that the silver hook and the voice could have meant Captain Hook had a son, but she ruled that possibility out; hadn't Carlos just said that Captain Hook had a terrifying daughter? Maybe someone stole her hook or something. Or she had a sibling, but she doubted too many people would want to have more than one child with a villain. That seemed like it would be too much trouble. Also, who were these random people on the Isle who were having kids with villains? That might be an interesting question to pursue, but not right now. And who was the girl screaming at a compass? Why would she do that? Why was that compass important anyway?
The bell rang, and Sadie headed for AP Auradonian Government. She could overthink her future later. Right now, she had to explain, somehow, that her boots ate her textbook. Or maybe her desk ate it. Yes, that sounded like a better explanation. She had her boots on, after all, and they didn't look like the type that would eat an anthology of Auradonian kingdoms' past rulers. Maybe, she thought, she should just say that she honestly lost it, as she normally would. No one would blame her for that; everyone lost things. Sometimes, the best solutions were the simplest ones, which gave Sadie a great idea on how to solve her Lonnie problem.
