Hiya Descendants!
I hope everyone's holidays are going well. Not gonna lie, the Dark and Twisted houses could use a little magic and wonder right now.
Moving on...
You guys ready for Ben's point of view about that video chat? And who do you think he'll go talk to?
Only one more chapter to go before we put 2020 behind us.
We look forward to hearing from you all at the end of the chapter. Seriously. Every time our phones alert us to a comment or review we dive like wild animals to read them.
Imagine that before you x out of the chapter. You too could be responsible for a series of hilarious hijinks where Twisted and I narrowly evade injury in our excitement to connect with you guys.
Think about it :)
Lots of love and-
Happy Holidays!
Happy Hanukkah ! (Sorry guys, I know this passed us by, but I hope it was beautiful and connecting in every best possible way.)
Merry Christmas!
Happy Winter Solstice!
Happy Monday!
-Dark-
Things could have been so much worse. Damn the stipulation that VKs get screen time with their families every Parent Weekend.
The first thing he was doing once he got back to his office was drafting a revision to the agreement.
It was one thing for it to be available.
Another entirely for it to be something forced on the VKs once they were here.
It could have been so much worse.
And the worst part was knowing that he still didn't have the full depth of how much worse it could have been.
He sighs as he parks his car and finally loosens his white-knuckled grip from around the steering wheel.
He hated leaving the group after that, especially Mal.
His forehead drops to the steering wheel.
Especially after the day she'd been having.
Coming back to the school completely exonerated by the crown should have been enough.
He takes a deep breath.
No. He wasn't that naive. It wouldn't have stopped the rumors.
Or the fear of the unknown individual, or more likely group, who would be so desperate to get his friends sent back to the Isle.
Or worse, were willing to kill.
If the group simply wanted to scare them into leaving there were a million other ways.
But guns?
Guns sent a very vivid message.
He shakes his head before he sits back in his seat and unbuckles.
There was nothing he could do about that right now.
But that only left him with the fact he hated leaving Mal after that intense conversation and the following tension between the group.
Still, he knew better than to go against her wishes.
Best he could do, and did do, was express that he wanted to stay with her, but he also understood that she needed some space.
Her small, sad smile had been enough to let him know it was the only call he could have made.
It hurt, but at the same time it made him feel more connected to her. Made him happy to know he understood her well enough to know what she needed.
He slides from his car before he can think too much about his next step, leaning heavily on the fact he felt good about giving Mal space to do her own thing with her pack.
They had a lot they needed to talk about.
So, with Mal and Jay talking with Evie and Carlos, he found himself with his own unpleasant conversation that needed to happen.
He chews his lip as he looks up at the doors.
They'd always been tall, but they'd never been so looming before.
He sucks in a breath before he lets it out in a slow exhale.
He still wasn't sure what he was going to say to them.
He just knew he needed to speak with them.
He knew that the council was putting up one piece of red tape after another when it came to bringing more kids from the Isle here.
He was getting stonewalled at every turn.
He wasn't sure what the adults were so afraid of, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't disgusted by their unfounded fear of the VKs.
And after that conversation-
That bittersweet conversation.
He just- He lets out a low growl before he takes another calming breath and shakes his head before he finally raises his fist and knocks.
"Enter." He hears his father call out, his voice gruff and hard.
He was obviously having a bad day.
At least he wasn't alone in the club.
He takes a deep breath before he opens the doors.
"Dad," He nods before his lips twitch into the barest hint of a smile, "Mom." He greets as he closes the door behind him. "Do you both have a minute?"
Adam lets out a sigh of relief. "Of course son," He gestures to the seat next to Belle. "You just missed Queen Leah."
"Ah." No wonder his father was in a mood.
He walks over to sink into the chair next to his mother before he takes a deep breath and sighs, "I assume that went," horribly, if he dared to be honest, "in a direction."
"That's one way to put it," Belle grumbles.
He lifts his brow.
"Shh, darling. It could have been-"
Belle's glare silences Adam. "I dare you to say worse."
Adam clears his throat, "So, son, how can we help you?"
He looks between them, "Do you remember putting a clause into family day where Mal and her friends had to speak with their parents?"
Adam blinks as Belle closes her eyes.
He grimaces as he hears his mother counting under her breath.
That never boded well.
"I may remember something of the sort…" Adam admits hesitantly as he leans back with a sigh as he eyes Belle with apprehension. "The council thought it would be less jarring for them if they could-" He closes his eyes, "The meeting was today wasn't it." He sighs heavily as he takes his glasses off and starts cleaning them.
Belle turns to him with concern. "How was it?" She asks trepidation coloring her tone.
"Well…" He takes a deep breath. "It would seem the package got intercepted." He can't help the twitch of a smile.
As dark as the news was from Harry, T, and the god- He couldn't deny it was better than the alternative. Even if it did bring up a plethora of concerns and questions.
"What?" Adam asks as his brow furrows.
He grins at Belle, "T."
His smile widens at his mother's bright eyes and amused smile as it tugs at her lips.
"What does a beverage-"
"No, not tea dear. T. He's one of the kids on the isle." Belle corrects him. "The Shadow." She whispers excitedly, before her eyes are back on him- "Does that mean you got to meet-"
He shakes his head, "No, no H-"
Adam's eyes narrow. "Do a lot of these children not have names?"
"Well Dear, if you ever read the letters that were addressed to you, you'd know who H is, and you'd also know that no, most of the children on the Isle of the Lost, Lost being the keyword in that title, do not have what many would consider normal names."
Adam grimaces at Belle's tone.
"So," Adam clears his throat, "this T intercepted a package meant for Maleficent." He laces his fingers in front of himself as he leans forward.
That was good. It was rare his father was intrigued by something dealing with the isle. Interested.
Not to say his father was callous about the situation.
He could acknowledge, if nothing else, that his father's hands were often tied on the situation. As King of such a new collection of Kingdoms, it was easy to let things slip.
Still, this slip up was costing a lot of kids basic necessities.
"Stop chewing your lip dear," Belle takes his hand and squeezes it.
"Right," He nods, "Sorry." He turns back to his father. "Yes, T was able to get the package. It would seem several of Maleficent's goblins have chosen to follow him in her stead. Mal has mentioned in passing that she'd started a faction within their community and T picked up the mantle in her absence."
"Impressive." His father 'hmms'. "Who is T descended from?"
He shifts in discomfort.
"Deez thought he was an urchin for a long time, but recently they all learned that wasn't the case."
"Interesting," Adam raises a brow. "So…?"
"Frollo." He sighs.
Adam leans back in his seat, dropping his glasses to his desk before he rubs a hand across his forehead, "Would that be why you had questions about Esmerelda the other day?"
"It would." He responds slowly.
From the corner of his eye, he sees his mother look between him and his father in concern. "You both know I detest missing things, and I am." Her pitch rises to a far too pleasant tone, "Who would like to fix this?"
He takes a deep breath. "T um, T has a unique problem. Unique to his situation. Unique to his um, upbringing-" He frowns as his eyes lower to his lap and he finds himself staring intently at his clasped hands resting there. "And I only know about it because I was there when Jay looked up the information about T's OV, original villain. And then later I was allowed to sit in on a counseling session because," he swallows hard, "because I received a difficult letter from Deez. And to make sense of a few things, David offered to help me talk about things in the letter with Jay and Mal. Which lead to a few discoveries."
He shouldn't feel like he couldn't talk to his parents about this.
He trusted them. Had always trusted them.
So, why was this so difficult?
He resists the urge to fidget as he feels their intense stares.
"Which were…" Adam prompts gently.
"Whatever they are Ben, I assure you it isn't anything we," Belle shoots a glare at Adam, "will judge, and it won't alter our opinions on the matter. You know we both support you in this." She squeezes his hand again.
"I know that," He quickly assures her, "It's just that-" He frowns, "I don't know, it feels like I'm-" He sighs as he drops his eyes to his lap.
He wasn't sure why, but it felt like a betrayal of trust for some reason he couldn't place. Was it because of how T had reacted about his information being shared so freely?
His eyes narrow.
And- He takes a deep breath, was T really a girl? The thought was still foreign to him.
If he'd ever questioned mental illness before, which he hadn't, nothing was more proof than that slap in the face-
But maybe that's what this was, the fact he was still reeling from all the new information?
He squeezes his mother's hand in kind.
He was going to have to face way worse in the coming years though wasn't he? Learn how to compartmentalize his feelings on personal matters. To talk about and tackle hard topics.
He sighs before he looks up again, "T has split personalities."
"Oh," Belle's brow furrows as several emotions quickly pass over her delicate features.
"Yeah, and, well, a lot of questions about what happened after Mal and the other's were freed from the Isle-"
Because that's exactly what it was at this point. Mal and her pack had been freed by his invitation.
"Which did I tell you, that they thought they were summoned here?" He frowns. "Not invited."
"No, Sweety, you didn't tell us that." Belle squeezes his hand before she looks back to Adam, her eyes narrowing when she sees him thumbing at his phone.
She delicately clears her throat.
Adam jumps, as his eyes sweep to them. "I was listening." He responds too quickly.
"Mhmm." His mother's glare softens as she turns back to him, "So, what made them believe they were summoned?"
"It's what Maleficent told them." He frowns, "They had to leave behind two members of- Two of their friends."
"Who? Deez always wrote that Mal's gang was the four of them."
"Actually, Deez and T." He sighs.
Belle's eyes widen, "Deez and the shadow were part of Mal's gang?"
"Apparently it happened within the last couple of months, but they'd always been friends. They just weren't part of their pack until recently." He sighs, "But they were left behind, and there were consequences."
"What kind of consequences Ben?" Belle asks tightly, squeezing his hand again as Adam frowns thoughtfully.
"It- um," He clears his throat, "Deez had to go into hiding, due to Maleficent trying to hunt her down, where as T-" He swallows.
Yeah, he should've waited to have this talk after talking to David. "T confronted-"
"I think, sadly, I can see where this is going." Adam sighs as he scoops his glasses from the desk and slides them back on.
Belle frowns as she looks between the two, "Ben, you mentioned T had split personalities- Is he," She lets out a resigned sigh, "The younger one?"
He bites his lip, "He's the protector." He sighs, "Faustina is, the original, I guess is the best way to say it?"
"I see," Adam steeples his fingers as he leans back in his seat with a firm frown, sharing a brief look of concerned look with Belle.
I see.
He frowns. Aka, that took me off guard and I need time to gather my thoughts for a moment.
He closes his eyes.
Did he make the wrong call?
Should he have just kept quiet?
Had he just ruined T, Faustina's chances of ever leaving the Isle?
"The shadow has always protected the kids that needed help." The words, the defense starts spilling from his lips, "Deez wrote about that a lot, even though he wanted to remain anonymous-"
Adam's snort helps break the tension, "Can't be much more anonymous than Shadow."
"I'm sorry," He blinks, "Did I just, read this wrong then?"
"If you think for a moment this changes our stance on your first decree, then yes." Adam smiles tightly, "However, I did mention this would never be easy Ben. And this brings a whole new range of arguments and questions. Who else knows about this? And do we know if others also-" He glances at Belle, "suffer...? With this illness?"
"As far as I know, no one. And, apparently, Deez only figured it out recently, like right before Mal and the others came, recently." He supplies "She wrote to Jay asking for help with it before they left, only he didn't find the letter until they were already here."
"Oh," Belle frowns, "That must have- Poor Dear." She breathes out sadly. "That's a lot of weight on these children's shoulders." She shakes her head before she turns to Adam expectantly.
"I know Dear," He sighs as he leans forward and rests his elbow on his desk to rub his temple.
He closes his eyes to keep from smiling.
Even from a sea away, and unbeknownst to T, he was managing to give another leader a headache.
"I know a lot is going on right now Dad. And I know everything that happened right before Family Weekend has made things even more difficult-"
"No. No. I understand, Ben." Adam picks himself back up. "And it's infuriating to be stonewalled to this extent." He frowns as he looks between him and Belle. "Let's just keep this tightlipped. There's no need to give the council more fuel for their fire." He taps his fingers together thoughtfully. "I will keep putting pressure on the council to reconsider its stance." His eyes settle on him. "Your idea to publish Deez's letters should be put to the forefront. The more support we garner, the sooner the better." He gestures as if to keep a ball rolling.
"Very true," Belle nods, "Nothing cuts through bureaucracy like the people's support." She turns to him, "I can clear time this week, I'd love to help you select which and what order they should be published in to help." She releases his hand to pat it. "We can do this Ben. See your dream come to fruition." She glances at Adam who nods.
"The more I learn, the more I agree." His father smiles grimly. "These children deserve better than what this country has given them." He adds sternly. "I'll start allocating funds now in order to see to it each of these children, including the four currently residing on campus, are properly looked after. It's not much, but it's a step and one the council will not be able to stop. I'll also make sure to make time for the Kawena family to assist them in finding good options for these children-" He turns to Belle, "With your mother's help of course."
He blinks.
That was-
His father was not unsupportive. But he was usually more aloof.
More teasing and joking, and usually far less serious.
And it had been years since he'd heard his father's stern voice, or the anger barely contained under it.
It, strangely made him feel better to see his father holding such a tight, tenuous grip on his emotions over this situation.
"There's the beast I married," Belle smiles proudly as she stands up to walk over to Adam to hug him, placing a kiss on his head before she looks back to him with a spark he rarely saw in her eyes. "As for that unpleasant business earlier today, I will speak to Janice about how to best recover. As for Queen Leah however, I feel it would be best to allow Mr. Hamada to see to her."
"Adding to the pot I see," Adam chuckles.
"She mentioned wanting to put the 'teen' idol wannabe in his place…" Belle shrugs.
"And stirring it per usual." Adam grins up at her.
He smiles at his parents, glad he'd ignored his fears about talking to them.
They were on his side.
Completely.
Adam clears his throat before he turns back to him with a stern expression, "As for you, young man," He smiles, "Just keep up everything you are doing. I'm sure within the year we will be able to get these kids free of the Isle if we all work together, but we have to do this intelligently. So make sure to choose the four for the summer wisely, the more advocates we have on our side, the better our case will be."
His eyes widen as he stands up.
It was not mid-semester, but it was something.
The hard part was going to be deciding who to bring over, now that his father had all but made it official.
Sup Bitches!
So, it's official!
Four more VKs will be joining the Rotten's!
The question is who?
Do you guys have any ideas? We'd love to hear them!
Were you expecting Beast to be so supportive? It was hard, like seriously hard, to make Adam not a complete douchebag, but Dark figured it out as she is one to do. A shift here, a shift there. Different motives, and tying his hands and boom. New Adam.
And Belle honestly.
Their representations in the movies were just so… Lacking, to say the least.
And honestly, I'm shocked that Belle wasn't the one put in charge of all the kingdome *cough* sexist bullshit *cough*. But anyways, we try to represent her better too. After all she got it on with a beast, why the fuck she judging VKs? Dumb.
So, yeah.
What did you guys think about Ben's hesitance? Make sense that he didn't want to talk about T's problem with his 'rents? Or do you feel like he should've known they wouldn't have been dicks?
And who's excited for that debate between Queen Leah and Hiro?
Let us know!
We're looking forward to hearing from you guys!
And with that…
Happy Holidays from Dark and I!
Whether you celebrate Hanukkah (Sorry, know we're a few days late), Kwanzaa, Christmas, or Boxing Day! We hope you guys have (had) a great one. Fuck knows this year has been a shit show, so hopefully, ya know, they go (went) well!
With that being said-
Much love and appreciation
-Twisted
QuintBrit Thank you! I'm just busy af and don't get to write as often as either of us like so didn't get to write the last outro.