I'm sure you weren't expecting this.
I considered turning this series into a trilogy, immediately starting to write "Demons" after finishing editing "Heathens". As previously said, I do not have the will nor the motivation to continue, but since I already planned out the majority of what would've been the third installment, it would be irrational and selfish not to share it with you guys, since you have a right to know how the story was going to end. So, if I had written "Demons", it would have looked like this:
The prologue opens ominously when an unknown person stands before the Gates of the Underworld and opens them.
A scene set about a couple of says after Heathens details Jay finding out where Evie and Doug are. He goes to the house and looks through the window. He Sees Doug, Evie and a young child looking like Doug. Jay, not wanting to ruin a perfect moment, feels remorse and realizes he actually doesn't want to kill Evie. He leaves them alone and returns home, an empty hole in his heart. The child isn't actually theirs, but Doug's cousin had asked him if he wanted to babysit the little girls, to which he and Evie had agreed.
Now the main plot kicks in.
Taking place two months after the events of Heathens, Ben and Mal have decided to end the relationship until peace has returned to Auradon. They are still friends and don't act awkwardly around ook net another because the job needs to be done. They had just peacefully ended a conflict, and as a result, Anastasia Tremaine's son, as well as his cousins Drew and Dizzy, now rules over Tremaine's territory. Miles is doing well, feeling good in his new role; Philip is still missing. Carlos has sent a letter to them, warning them not to trust anyone unless you know they are legit. A couple of familiar strangers tried to get through the gates and they are revealed to be Chad and Hadrian.
Elsewhere, Carlos and Jane are in trouble, having traveled far and wide to get away from the problem at hand, which they describe as "the dead". They run into another one - a farmer who has no recollection of arriving there. They manage to have him leave them alone, but Carlos does not let go of his crossbow. They eventually reach the Sanctuary, run by Judge Frollo's daughter. They find a lot of common folks and find Philip, who tells them they have a serious problem.
Chad and Hadrian are confused but don't remember the causes of their deaths. Hadrian's powers still work and he feels uncomfortable around Chad because all he feels on him is death and he remembers watching him die. Chad himself feels fine, but he doesn't remember anything after accepting to duel. Ben eases him in by telling him he did die, but not who killed him. Mal suspects Hadrian, whose father is Hades, knows what is going on, but he doesn't know what or why, just that it is wrong and shouldn't be happening.
Uma and Harry still haven't found anything that could break the curse. Out of nowhere, Gil appearance. He is confused, but upon seeing her, he states that she killed him and his eyes turn black. Behind him, Melinda and Archie appear with the same black eyes and they kill everyone, but Uma and Harry manage to escape.
In Sirk, they come across a dead woman whom Evie killed while she was still evil. She attacks the happy couple, but Jay disposes of her, yet can't kill her. Evie is right to not trust him, but they accept his help. He tells them his family has been overrun by these demons and that he is the only one that got out alive. He witnessed the daughter of Iago's death and watched her get up again. They stay together for the time being.
Evie and Mal correspond with each other about Kay, and Mal cautions her to be wary around him.
Hades comes along to visit his son. He tells Hadrian that the Gates of the Underworld have been opened (metaphorically) but that he didn't do it, because he likes his people dead. He then tasks Hadrian with the quest to find out who did it and to stop them. However, Hadrian doesn't feel like questing. Then Hades turns to Mal - they are not related, but since Maleficent killed so many, he figures she's the next best person to do this. Mal accepts the offer.
Ben takes easing Chad into the idea of being alive a step further, saying Audrey betrayed them for Maleficent and that they had locked her up. Asking for some time alone, he descends the stairs and goes to the dungeon. Philip, Carlos, and Jane appear before Ben, who is extremely happy to see Philip. The man warns him of any resurrected people because they tend to become violent in the long run and possibly even earlier when they are faced with their killers or people they disliked. Learning about Chad being alive, Philip rushes to the dungeon to save Audrey from the demon (roll credits), as Chad was actually confronting Audrey and mentioning that he remembers she killed him. Philip shows up on time and kills the Chad-demon with Excalibur. Audrey has been saved and tearfully reconciles with Philip, asking forgiveness for what she's done. He accepts her apology.
Carlos and Ben reunite, and so does he and Carlos' boyfriend, because apparently she was also a part of the alliance, but fled when the beasts attacked. She does not want anything to do with the alliance, the wand, and her mother anymore and prefers to live in anonymity. Mal explains to the newcomers what Hades had told her to do. They all decide to help her - except for Jane, who rather wants to return to that safe space. Hadrian only goes along until he finds a nice place to stay. Philip will take Jane to the safe space before looking for the culprit, and Hades had also given them a list of possible culprits, some of which are Nyx, Nemesis, Eris, and Erebos.
In the meantime, people are getting suspicious of the dead. Their violence towards the recently resurrected has proven they will fight back. Jay advises to leave the city behind, and though they are still a bit skeptical, Doug and Evie agree. Evie has another conversation with Mal, and they exchange the latest news. Mal advises them to find a place where the dead can't reach them for a safe space (not Neverland, because the lost boys are in for revenge), while Evie and Doug (and Jay, though not as much) wish her luck in finding who did this and reversing this. Doug and Evie, having now learned of Philip's safe space at Sanctuary, decide to go there. On their way out of the town, Doug can't help but tell some people, who then follow them out. The group of fifteen leave the city behind to trek to Sanctuary.
On the first day of the expedition to find out who exactly had released the dead, Lonnie volunteers to defend the castle the best way she can so it is not left undefended.
Now, from here on out, things are less planned out. I only have a general outline, so if something is confusing, I just hadn't had the time to figure out what exactly was going to stay and what had to go, or in what order things were going to go, or even to resolve those confusing issues.
At one point, the expedition was going to find out that Eris (Strife) is the one who caused the dead to rise, and that she had done this with Thanatos' (Death) twin brother Hypnos (Sleep). After this revelation, they bump into Harry and Uma, who tell them what happened. For their own personal gain - to make the killings stop and so they wouldn't be killed - they tag along, much to everyone's dismay, especially Hadrian, who believes Harry should've been dead already. That evening, they come across a ten-house village which had been killed and those who perished had turned into demons themselves. They fight, and Harry stays behind the fend them off with Philip while the others left. Philip would return, but not Harry.
Though the next morning, Harry does return again, seemingly unscathed, a bit ticked off and confused, complaining something's off but not exactly knowing what it is, and also something's wrong with his ears. Hadrian reiterates that Harry should've been dead already, and Mal wonders what's going on. In order not to lose their trust, Uma tells the true story - as Harry tried to cross the sea from Neverland to Auradon, he drowned. Uma traded her tentacles in exchange for his life. However, it was just false, since his heart did not beat, and he did not sleep nor eat, and he was in distress. Uma magically made Harry believe nothing was wrong, that he just did not eat or sleep much and so he wouldn't notice his heartbeat was missing. Breathing was just a habit never broken. Feeling betrayed, Harry refuses to speak to her again and distances himself, but still tags along. Yes, Uma did want her tentacles back, but she also wanted to restore Harry to his previous state.
Jay, Doug, and Evie would somehow attract more people on their way to Sanctuary. Not many demons know of this yet, but it would soon be apparent that they would attack this caravan to Sanctuary. Jay and Evie finally find the time to reconcile and though he is not redeemed, Jay tries to do what is best for these people, at least until the demon problem has been solved and he can go his separate way again. He does walk around with guilt on his shoulders since he wasn't able to save Iara from death.
The expedition was going to find Strife, who make everyone fight each other, and mostly because of Uma and Mal putting aside their differences and knowing that these fights are artificial, they can beat her. But they still need to find Hypnos to free Thanatos and restore death to the lands. During this fight among friends, Philip would get mortally injured. Hadrian would see to it that Strife returned to the Underworld. This would be Hadrian's last appearance.
Uma and Mal would both descend to the Underworld themselves to find a solution. They each have to make a great sacrifice to receive the answer. Mal does not hesitate to sacrifice her magic, while Uma does not disclose what she gave up. They learn where to find Hypnos. Returning to the living world, Philip is doing worse and worse, and Harry is on the verge of just running away, but stays because he's dead, can't die and can't be turned into a demon.
Only one day before reaching Sanctuary, the demons find them and catch up on them. Jay and some brave men and women hold their ground while Doug and Evie lead the others away. Later, after they were all supposedly slaughtered, only Jay returned, but he did keep his distance as well after being traumatized by the brutal way these demons have been slaughtering the others.
Right before the confrontation with Hypnos, Philip succumbs to his wounds. He asks them right before his death to leave his body until they are sure the Gates of the Underworld are closed before they come back for his body and to kill his demon form when it shows up. Audrey has a hard time letting go, but Carlos pushes her away from her father's body.
At the confrontation, Mal finally reveals she has lost her magic in order to find them, effectively having only Uma as a magic user against the man. Hypnos is quickly subdued and they are happy and rejoice. Only Uma would realize Hypnos is playing them and forcefully tries to wake up. Mal realizes that Uma is telling the truth. However hard she tries, she doesn't succeed to free them from the dream. However, in the real world, Hypnos is concerned at his victims and right before killing them, the dragon inside Mal forcefully wakes up and her shrieks are enough to wake up the rest of the company. The fight truly begins as Hypnos and his three children fight Mal, Ben, Uma, Harry, and Carlos.
Right at the gate of Sanctuary do the demons reappear. Jay again stands his ground, but this time Doug and Evie witness him get critically stabbed, mortally wounded, but still, he stands and it's revealed Jay has already died and is a demon, but he redirects his anger towards the demons to make sure everyone can enter Sanctuary. But Jay alone is not enough and Evie goes to fight by his side.
Mal, as a dragon, in combination with Uma's magic, manage to defeat Hypnos - but since it's hard to kill a personification of a concept, he still has a little time to gloat, especially about Harry having to go to the Underworld when Thanatos wakes and Mal never being able to cast a spell in her entire life again. He falls apart in a thousand pieces and it is predicted he won't be able to recollect himself for the next five hundred years.
Thanatos personally comes to greet them and thank them. He cannot physically undo the vows that the two ladies made. Mal will never be able to do any magic herself ever again. When Thanatos leaves, Uma joins him. Harry finds that he can feel his heartbeat again, and Uma explains she gave up her life to give to him. Uma cannot change it and despite the animosity that there was between the two during the trip, Harry can't accept Uma's sacrifice, and she leaves him behind, heartbroken. At the other side of Auradon, all demons turn to dust and so does Jay, sharing one last look with Evie before turning to dust himself.
An epilogue would detail how each of them ended up. Carlos and Jane don't marry off the bat, but Carlos stays in the village where he met her and works as a bartender. He still occasionally picks up the crossbow for sports. Evie and Doug are expecting their first child and they live happily in Sirk. Audrey has decided to take up training with Lonnie, who survived the fight. Miles has really grown into his role as a healer.
Mal and Ben reconcile and get back together. News of demon attacks across the lands reach them, and they learn that 80 percent of the villain population of Auradon has been killed. They take the opportunity to oversee, but not personally interfere, in the affairs of the regions and watch them elect a new leader. They have faith in the future, and Mal isn't sure whether she can summon the dragon again, but she is sure she does not wish to do unleash it again. They have a positive outlook on the future.
After this, there would be no more stories. I did not plan on adapting the third Descendants movie (despite that element of Hades/the Underworld being involved) and was just going to leave it be, making this third installment a completely original story set within the Warriors universe.
So, that was it from me. I hope to see you soon, in this fandom or another, and I hope you have a great day. Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following. It was a pleasure to write these stories and even better to know you read and enjoyed them.
Sincerely,
-Writer207