Disclaimer:I don't own the Descendants characters.
Chapter 18: Daily lives
***Castle Beast, King´s solar***
Ben was reading a book as a way of relaxing at least a little, his kingly duties were stressing for him and he hadn´t left for Auradon Prep for two week or so.
Also he hadn´t seen his girlfriend in all this time, they had texted each other but it wasn´t the same. He hadn't seen any of his friends in that time either.
He had been trying to find why havoc was breaking in the regions of Arendelle, the Camelot Heights and Seaside. King Eric called complaining about the rising vandalism and how he couldn´t handle it without help, King Arthur had send a letter asking for more soldiers and curiously Queen Elsa had not said a word about it, so he had assumed that the Snow Queen was handling it. His father had gone to Camelot with half a battalion to help Arthur with the rogues and his mother had gone to Arendelle on "vacation".
On the other hand, Evie had sent a list of people and animals who would be brought from the Isle, Mal and Rick had helped with it but the blue haired girl had "fixed" some issues she had with their chooses and so she had come to Castle Beast to clarify some things (and Ben suspected out of curiosity).
Anastasia and her two daughters, the Stabbington brothers and their children, Dr Cecil de Vil (who would be put in a hospital), The Ring Master (who would be given communitarian service at the zoo) and his wife, Gianna Gaston and her mother (if she accepted which Ben highly doubted), Edgar Balthazar (who as the Ring Master he would have to do communitarian service but at a pet shelter) and also they would bring Othello (Evie´s parrot), Beelzebub (Carlos´s former cat) Jay´s eels and the pets of the other VK´s.
Evie was looking at him expectantly while he read it, she wanted to sit down in one of the couches that Ben had in his office but he had not yet given his permission to sit as was the protocol.
"I think it is okay" He said after a few seconds of considering it "Now we have to get the Great Council to approve it"
"That´s the hard part now" The girl said "Who do you think would back it?"
Ben grabbed his head with both hands and sighed "Maybe Aladdin and Robin Hood will back it … Charming will approve of Anastasia since Cinderella had wanted her step-sister to be taken out of the Isle for about twenty years but about the others I´m not so sure, Rapunzel will approve if we guarantee that the Stabbington brothers are going to go to Tangletown but I can´t do that and Captain Phoebus will probably back it if he is the one who "evaluates" them when they come here"
"The others will throw a fit when you read the list at the next meeting"
"Aye"
"How are you going to convince the rest?"
"I don´t know, I have six days before the next meeting, so I will think up something" He said with a half-smile.
The young king was about to dismiss Evie but decided to have some catch up and asked "How´s school?"
The girl smiled and started to tell him about the happenings, of course Mal had told him a few things but it was different to hear about it from Evie who was more sociable and knew almost everyone in the school.
"Anthony Tremaine has fallen in a magical coma as you may know, FG is trying everything to wake him up" She said with a hint of sadness "He is at the infirmary…"
"Maybe we should write to his mother…and his sisters" Ben said thinking about how much his mother would worry if he was in the same situation (not that it would happen).
"Cinderella has seen to that... FG has arranged for it to be delivered with the next shipment"
"Good" He showed a faint smile, the shipments were other of his bothers…he would think about them later.
"On the other hand…the other VK's have been…behaving well and have made friends with some Auradonians, but they have been quite nervous since the thing with Tremaine" She said looking down "All of us were shaken by it…"
"Nothing will happen to you all" The king said reassuringly though he would have someone to look into what happened to Tremaine "Maybe you should focus on the prom, it´s near isn´t it?"
Evie`s sight brightened and said "Talking about that we want you to be in the next student council meeting to discuss the preparations for the prom"
"I will go, when is it?"
"This Friday at 5 p.m."
"Okay, I´ll be there"
Then they said goodbye, but when the girl was about to leave, she turned back "I almost forgot it! Audrey is having a party at Honeymoon Cottage this weekend"
"I´ll try to go" He said sighing "If I finish all my paper work…and if Mal wants to go"
Evie chuckled knowing that Mal disliked parties in general not only birthday ones but would go if Ben insisted, the purple haired girl had not yet gotten over the fact that she had never been invited to the parties at the Isle and her own party had not really been the best.
Then Belle´s son returned to read a letter from the Seven Dwarves mining company, their appointed representative, Grumpy, was the one who wrote it complaining about the wages and how little they were paid by the jewelers. Ben would need another meeting with Grumpy* to discuss it, had they not talked about it a year ago?
After that he felt tired of all his work and decided to call Mal but she wasn´t answering her phone which was strange as she always carried her phone with her.
"Maybe she is busy" He thought, after all the princesses had put the First Lady of the Court in many committees and Mal was always stressing over it, everyone wanted to have the future queen of Auradon in their committee or in their tea party.
Ben smiled at the thought of his girlfriend and felt a wave of sadness, he truly missed her.
Maybe it was time to return to Auradon Prep, he had almost finished the most important things and he could work some more in his room.
Yeah, he needed to went back to school.
*** Isle of the Lost***
Harry Hook was becoming hopeless.
His captain had not come back for them yet, almost a year had passed (though the rest told him that it was less than six months…)
Both of his sisters were now in Auradon enjoying themselves while he was struggling in the Isle with their father and step-mother...well, Helga was kind of okay when they stayed out of her way and she would feed them regularly.
"Is Uma back yet?" Gil asked him with those hopeful eyes of him even if he knew the answer already.
"No, she is not" He said looking around with his telescope "Maybe she will come back tomorrow"
Or maybe not, most probably not.
The others in the crew were minding themselves, bunch of useless idiots…at least they were helping Ursula at her shop, even if Uma kind of hated her mother she would appreciate if her crew took up her chores at the shop.
He returned to the shop since it was his turn to clean the tables and do whatever the Sea Witch ordered him to do, he was really reconsidering his choices in life as the first thing that Ursula "asked" was him to clean up the restrooms.
Gil, who for whatever reason had wormed his way into the Sea Witch's heart as the son she never had, was the one to be in the cash register and was trying to read some book he was given at school (Harry never read those, which good would they do for him anyways).
"Hey Harry, we have costumers" the blonde son of Gaston yelled.
Hook's son rolled his eyes and went to take the order, he was surprised to see Zevon and Ginny as he knew that they weren't welcome in the shop, though a costumer as a costumer.
"What do you want?" He said taking out his note pad.
"Fish and chips" Zevon said "With salt"
Ginny made a face "Chips…though there is no much to choose"
After a few minutes he gave them their order and was about to go to finish his task when Ginny said "Sit with us"
The dark haired boy looked at her as if she had grown another head and said "No"
"We have something important to tell you"
"Well that explain why they are here" He thought but didn't sit and said "Spit it out"
The curly haired girl looked at her companion and said "Have you ever wondered what happened to your mother?"
Harry blinked a few times in surprise though he had wanted to hide it, of course he had always wondered what happened to his mother and had vague memories of her even if Harriet said that he couldn´t have them., they had been too young to remember but he knew that his mother had been magical and that was why he kind of rememebered.
But he said "No, for all I care Helga Sinclair is my mother" That wasn´t exactly true but he wasn´t lying, still many children in the Isle of the Lost only had one parent and didn´t care.
Zevon looked at his eyes and said "If we told you that your mother is in the Isle and wants to see you…" Ginny glared daggers at Yzma`s son "Hypothetically of course"
"Because you would know if she was here" Gothel´s daughter said.
Hook´s son put both of his hands on the table and said menacingly "I don´t know why you are making these questions but if you have finished your food…get out!"
Ginny left some coins on the table and said "We just wanted to talk…make some friends since you captain has left her crew"
Harry raised his hook and said "She is coming back" and added just in case "I know that you are working onto something with the Gastons and some others…it won´t work you need magic to do that and also you really think that Henry will share his power if he overthrows the pretty boy"
"You know that if he doesn´t maybe one of your sisters will, or Hades' children or…someone else, but we want to be prepared for any chance we have and Henry looks to be the best one right now…and we would like to have you and your crew to cooperate"
"You both know which my answer is"
The other two just grabbed what was left of the chips and left, though Zevon turned back when he was at the door and said "You have thrown your best chance away"
"Maybe" the dark haired boy shrugged, he had other plans and they had reminded him of those…they had to be prepared to sail when the barrier fell down.
"Gil!" He yelled at his friend "We have to do some repairs!"
The blonde boy smiled at him and said "Are we going somewhere?"
"We are going to Auradon"
***Auradon City Mall***
Harriet was going on a shopping spree with Audrey, Lonnie and Claudine.
"Can we just buy something?" The pirate asked to no-one in particular.
"We can buy something when we find the perfect dress for my party" Audrey said "You really need to change your wardrobe"
"What´s wrong with it?" the pirate asked defensively, sure she didn´t have many nice clothes but she liked them and Peter had already bought some clothes for her during Winter Break.
"Nothing is wrong with it" Lonnie said with a smile "But since you and Chad are spending a lot of time together, you need something nice to use when you hang out"
Audrey just smiled sweetly at the pirate and entered to a store while Claudine looked at her friend apologetically.
Harriet wanted to slap herself, of course they would have noticed that she was spending most of her time with Chad, but they weren´t dating or something like that…it was just that since Anthony was unconscious they didn´t have much option but to hang out together with Buttercup/Primrose.
She was about to enter the store after them when Chad called her.
"Just what I wanted" She thought grimacing and let it ring a few seconds more before answering it praying that the other girls didn´t notice it.
"Hello" She said.
"Hi…well, what are you doing?" The blonde prince asked.
"I´m shopping with Audrey and the others"
"You surely are enjoying it" He said teasingly knowing that she disliked to wander in the stores.
"It is my dream come true" She said dramatically and then she asked "What´s up Sunshine?"
"I´m booored"
"How sad"
"Do you want to go for an ice cream to the main square?" Chad asked "We could take Prim for a walk after that"
"You know that I don´t actually have permission to be out of campus, Audrey asked FG to let us come to the mall with her and Lonnie"
"I´ll go there then" He simply said "See you in twenty minutes"
"Wait! Chad you c…" She started to say but he had already hung up, then she groaned and entered the store, she started to look at some dresses that Lonnie picked for her while they waited for Audrey to came out of the dresser.
"We can choose something for you while she tries the ones she picked, it will take a while" The daughter of Mulan "I think green will look good on you"
"I don´t think so" She said looking at the dress "Helga used to say that it made me look sick"
"Who is Helga?" Lonnie asked curiously.
"My step-mother" The raven haired girl said "She was the one who picked our clothes at the Isle, now that I think about it, she always dressed us in red,white,black and olive"
"At least you used colored clothes, father just let me use white and black" Claudine commented "Do you think that yellow would look good on me?" She asked picking a long bright yellow dress.
"I think you should try softer colors" Harriet suggested to her friend "Maybe peach?"
Audrey got out of the dresser using a short sleeveless blue dress and asked "How does it look?".
"Great" Lonnie said "Now we should look for shoes for it"
The girls from the Isle just nodded and smiled.
"Then I will buy it" Audrey said brightly "Now I will pick something for you three"
Harriet grimaced and nodded, but then thought about how she was going to pay for it.
"Don´t make that face Harriet, I´m paying and I don´t want to hear any complains…consider it a late Christmas gift" The princess said "And you too Claudine"
"And me?" Lonnie teased her friend.
"For you a pair of earrings" Audrey said rolling her eyes "I gave you a beautiful shirt for Christmas which I expect you to use someday"
Then the princess started to roam the store but after five minutes she decided that she wouldn´t find anything for them there and so she went to another one with the other three girls behind her.
The raven hared pirate just sat on a couch while Audrey looked at some shirts and Claudine followed her expectantly, for her part Lonnie was chatting with someone at the phone and seemed to be distressed.
"Hey!" Someone called her.
"Hey!" She answered to Ronnie Hood.
"What are you doing here?" The auburn haired girl asked "I thought you hated shopping"
"I do but Audrey insisted quite a lot"
"I hope you survive the experience" Ronnie said "She could spend all day here, especially since she is no longer required at the court…"
"Surprisingly she has already bought something for her"
Then they started to talk about Hal, who had been more evasive since Anthony´s coma. While Ronnie and Hal denied being friends, Robin Hood´s daughter seemed to care for the boy or at least seemed to miss their uneasy relationship.
"It seems like Westergaard won´t leave Tremaine`s side until he wakes up" Ronnie commented.
"He won´t" The pirate said nodding "Chad and I take turns to accompany…them"
Then both girls saw Chad appear with Aziz, Zephyr and Rick.
Harriet looked at Radcliffe's son and raised an eyebrow as if saying "Trying to become Auradonian?" while Rick just shrugged, he wanted to have powerful friends who could give him the live he deserved.
Aziz went straight to talk with Lonnie who hugged him as greeting, Rick went to talk with Ronnie who seemed to be pondering in something. Zephyr greeted Claudine happily and when the blonde girl blushed, the boy blushed too.
"You said you were going to be here in twenty minutes" She said awkwardly.
"There was no traffic" He simply said "Can we go somewhere?"
Chad and Harriet left the others in the mall to go to the ice cream parlor two streets down, Audrey didn´t put any objections but said that she would choose something for the pirate by herself.
They sat on table that was far from the others so they could talk without interruptions. Some people looked at them strangely and others just shrugged it off since he had been with many girls over the last three years.
"Christian is worsening every day" He said while deciding if to start eating the cherry on the top of his ice cream or keeping it for later "I wonder if he will see Anthony wake up"
"Don`t say that!" Harriet hissed " Of course he will"
"You don´t understand" The blonde prince said "He is sick…he has been sick as long as I can remember but now I feel as if he is running out of time"
"I do understand…kind of" She muttered "It´s just that almost every child in the Isle is sick the first few years…but they always survive"
They focused on eating their ice creams when Harriet asked her friend "Can´t FG cure whatever thing that made Anthony fell in that coma?"
Cinderella´s son frowned and said "Of course she can, that´s what she has been doing the last few days" then tilted his head "She hasn´t used her wand though" he looked at her eyes "FG doesn´t want to use it unless is her last resort, there are still options…also you know that all kinds of magic are banned in Auradon"
"But fairies use magic in Neverland and Elsa use her ice powers sometimes in Arendelle" She replied "FG is a fairy…"
"It´s not the same" He shook his head "You haven´t studied Auradonian laws or each kingdom´s treaties with the crown… when my kingdom accepted Adam as ruler and joined Auradon, FG relinquished her wand unless he solicited it"
"That´s why she only used it at the coronation"
"And a few other times" He cringed "She could use it to wake up Anthony but…"
"King Adam would have to ask her…and he won´t do it"
"He won´t" Chad agreed, though he knew that while King Beast was wary of the new VK´s
When their ice creams they walked towards his car and sat there in silence while hearing a song in the radio, Chad had always disliked the song but he knew that Harriet liked the tune and was humming it, so he decided to look if he had any messages.
"We decided to grab a pizza, FG gave permission until 7- Aziz" He read and then looked at his watch, it was 5:45.
"The guys decided to go for a pizza, do you want to join them?" He asked.
She shook her head "I would feel like ruining Claudine´s chance to chat with other people beside Hal… or me" She was about to say Anthony but decided against it, she had been trying not to think about her friend and former…crush.
"Then we go back to the school?" He asked "It´s cooling a little"
"Aye" She said and looked at her own phone (which Peter had bought for her) "Audrey says that she brought me a dress and a skirt as a birthday gift… and that I can´t refuse them"
Chad chuckled "She buys things for her friends…sometimes…" He made a pause.
"It feels wrong" Harriet said "I feel like some charity chase"
"She is not good at expressing her feelings" He sighed "She likes to give gifts as a way of saying "I like you let´s be friends" … or at least she used to make cards and things like that when we were younger, now I think she buys the gifts"
The pirate just nodded trying not to say something that could lead to a discussion about the princess.
***Headmistress Office,Auradon Prep***
The Fairy Godmother was pacing around in her office; it was a habit that she had developed since the first villain children arrived.
It wasn´t that she didn´t think that those children deserved a better life, it was just that when Ben...King Benjamin…then a prince, made the first proclamation things weren´t at its the best in Auradon Prep and also the fact that the first chosen were the offspring of the worst villains in the whole world…The Rotten Four.
Then they proved to be good and now they were among the most outstanding students in Auradon, Mal would be queen someday (a better choice than Audrey if anyone asked her opinion), Evie was one of the best designers, Jay was going to be a star in sports and Carlos one of the most likeable and approachable boy for everyone who needed it.
A few months later Freddie came and she adjusted just well, it was just the fact that she didn´t seem happy with the fact that she couldn´t use any kind of magic and that included her divination skills.
A year later another group of kids came, it was much bigger than the first one…and also a lot more complex in some cases.
Murph, Eddie, Hermie, Jason, Harold and Dizzy were not a problem save for their liking of sweets. But Murph had problems with his speaking, Hermie had some problems with physical contact, Eddie disliked loudness and Harold had terrible nightmares. Dizzy sometimes had nightmares too.
Then was Diego, he wasn´t a problem really it was just that he wasn´t like Carlos and people didn´t seem to get that and got surprised when the other de Vil talked about rock music and so on. Yzla was just strange… and was always with some sidekick´s children. Rick had adjusted well with the princes and other guys, maybe it was because his father had always considered himself to be part of the nobility and passed that trait to his son.
Finally the other Core Four as some people started to refer to them, Claudine, Hal, Harriet and Anthony. They were the ones who adjusted almost as well as the Rotten Four, or well at least until Hal powers surfaced and people started to avoid him. Claudine looked as if she was born in Auradon with her soft smiles and her properness, Anthony seemed to have good upbringing and she felt bad about the fact that Anastasia was sent to the Isle. On the other hand, Harriet needed more polishing and if Audrey was reading the interactions well, she would be a queen someday.
The ones who worried her were Henry and Melione, both were sneaking around and talking in hushed tones (and a part of her knew that a magic book was missing in the restricted section of the museum, she just didn´t know which one). But when she talked to Adam about her worries he just dismissed it.
"Prince John was a petty villain and he couldn´t have instructed his son with a plan" He had said "Though Melione is a goddess she should be watched if she shows some kind of power"
And she had talked with other students, especially with Yzla who was the goddess' roommate, but she had not found any evidence of a plan or using of her powers.
There was the "Ring Incident" where Anthony had been put in a coma, she knew that the ring was cursed and the curse was meant for someone else since it had not killed the boy, it was a very dark magic that could not be cast without real witch magic or a dark being will.
She was thinking about it when Jane entered the office carrying a box of decorations.
"Hi mom" She said with a bright smile.
"Hi dear" She said absently "I thought that you would be in town with the other girls"
Her daughter shook her head and said "I already commissioned my dress to Evie and I won't go to Audrey's party"
"Why not?" She asked, were not Audrey and Jane friends?
"Carlos and I decided to go for dinner to Tiana's new restaurant in downtown" Jane made a pause "Also I have many things to do for prom, I don't know how I got in so many committees"
FG smiled and grabbed her daughter's hands "You will do great"
They decided to take tea in the office while looking through the decorations, after half an hour they concluded that the decorations were pretty but they lacked something, the stars lacked brightness and the flowers looked dull in those pale yellow and baby blue colors and if to be used they would have to be modified…she could have done it with a flick of her wand…
Though she had accepted to live a life without magic and realized that real power was knowledge, she sometimes missed being able to use her magic and with so many magic users near it was like a pull to use it.
"Mom?" She heard her daughter's voice but it was far away.
"Yes?"
"Are you feeling alright?" There was worriedness in the voice.
"Of course I'm alright" She said with a smile "It's just that these weeks are stressful, there will be another"
Jane accepted the answer, the girl was not going to ask more if her mother didn't offer an open window for that. Though that didn't mean that she didn't have another kind of questions.
"Mom…I know that we shouldn't question our king's decisions…" Jane bit her lip and closed her eyes "Don't you think that we are having too many kids from the Isle at the moment?"
"Jane!" The older fairy scolded "Don't you think that every child should have another chance in life? Don't you think that everyone has to have the chance of being good?"
The younger fairy turned red and said "I do but I think that right now we have too many kids, you can't follow their progress as closely as you did when Carlos and the others came"
FG had to admit that her daughter had a point, she had some updates on the new kids but she didn't actually interact with them, even in Family Day she had not asked their guardians if they noticed something off about them. She wouldn't have known about the life conditions in the Isle if Mal had not brought them up in a meeting with Ben, how could she be in charge of so many children if she didn't notice that they were malnourished and had traumas?
There you have a new chapter, as always I'm sorry for not updating sooner it's just that my Lupus has been really active these months and I have not been in the mood of writing as of late, I promise that I will try to update regularly maybe a chapter a month.
Hope you like it, review and follow please