Heya Descendants,

Only twelve chapters left until the end of the book!

Are you ready for it?

Anyway, we hope you enjoy this latest chapter!

Sorry we didn't get this out sooner.

Being an adult is hard…

We're totally safe BTW

Which means we got the first 14 chaps of the next book written

Yay!

-Twisted


Five days later...

This certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting when he'd agree to figure out what Shan Yu was up to. His eyes dart behind him in paranoia. He usually would have just taken to building hopping. But...

His eyes drop to the flimsy cloth bag he held taut between his hands. He didn't know much about black powder, but he knew this was no way to be carrying it. He had to move carefully, which meant he had to change his tactics.

When he said that Shan Yu was planning a coup, it had been like ninety-five percent sarcasm.

It wasn't like Atilla ever held his interest that long. But after surveying the entire camp, he wasn't sure if Shan Yu was preparing to take over the isle or if he knew something the rest of them didn't and was preparing to take over Auradon.

It had certainly been a real challenge.

There had been about sixty men, all working on building stone out of clay to make buildings. He realized, with a sinking pit in his stomach, that he'd slowly seen the same buildings popping up through the years. He hadn't ever given them much thought before. What was so interesting about a drab clay building after all?

Everything apparently. He was going to have to better map the rest out better, but he was pretty sure they were some kind of checkpoint.

Then there were the training grounds. He'd never seen a gun up close before, besides the musket on Gaston's wall. But now? He could see why those who'd owned them in their past life would lament their loss of them.

They were loud as shit though. The first time he'd witnessed one fired he'd jumped in surprise. And not much surprised him lately.

Shan Yu's men were either skilled with them, or it just didn't take a lot to point and pull. They only seemed to do it for an hour a day, at least from where he was watching. There may have been a time it was more often, but he doubted it. Not if the place wanted to stay private. He grimaces at the ringing in his head.

The corner of his lip pulls into a smirk. At least he hadn't been completely full of himself while blowing smoke all over the Mistress of Evil. He'd been in and out of the camp like fifteen times over the last couple days, and no one even so much as twitched when he was in their vicinity.

He wasn't going to lie, when he'd first seen the armed soldiers on security detail he'd wanted to cry. He was pretty great at sneaking. But to sneak passed Shan Yu trained soldiers?

Ha! Haha! Haha, yeah right. He'd been prepared for this to end badly.

But then he'd done it. And then he'd done it twice. And then he'd done it once more with stolen gun powder in hand.

And still, he hadn't been caught. The feeling of it being too good to be true was definitely keeping him on his toes... And as another bonus, this had kept him from thinking about the fact his father still hadn't fucking come to visit Faustina.

It also gave him a newfound respect for his friends' observation skills. Everyone on the isle lived in a constant state of paranoia. It's just how life worked here. Still, it took a lot to spot him apparently. And all of his friends could do it. Obnoxiously so even. If he was still actively speaking to any of them, he would have loved to let them know how amazing their situational awareness was.

But it had been four days since he'd left Mal in that alley, and he'd actively avoided everyone else since. Mostly because, after the first time he'd gotten into the camp, he'd found himself addicted to the high of sneaking around a place he definitely shouldn't be. The rest was obvious.

He'd ended up spilling his fucking guts, to Uma and Mal, and saying way too fucking much. Fuck only know what they'd gleaned from that.

The only reason he even risked going to the ship was to dump the barrels of gunpowder.

The look on James' face was priceless every time. So conflicted. He'd been surprised that Uma had ordered the man to restrain him. Then again, after their last conversation, he couldn't blame her. If roles had been reversed with any of his friends… He was lucky he was him, and none of his other friends were. Because he would have hunted their asses down and dragged them to their parents himself. And honestly, he didn't think he could handle any of his chosen family knowing the truth. He didn't even know the whole truth.

Like for instance. He knew he felt like a boy. Thought like a boy. Acted like a boy. He was so good at it that no one had any idea he wasn't. But he didn't have a dick, didn't have balls, and had to bind his chest.

On some level, he knew he wasn't real. He felt real. His relationships felt real. His feelings felt real. His concern for all the people he'd come to care about felt real. But he wasn't real, not really.

This was supposed to be Faustina's life. And yeah, he was pissed she didn't come out more near the people she'd chosen for him to protect. But he was also happy about it. It made the life he'd made for them, more his. More real. It was very fucking conflicting, and though he wished he had someone to talk to about it. He was with Faustina on this one, no one was going to understand.

How could they if the two of them didn't? He takes a long breath before he lets it out in a heavy exhale. He knew he couldn't be real, but he certainly fucking felt it. He shakes his head. He couldn't keep fixating on that. Fixating on how big of a failure he was.

His lips quirk into a smile as the image of Yensid's face after he'd told him he was now working for Maleficent. It was priceless. He wasn't sure why, he just doubted many things could catch the ol' wizard off guard. So badly he'd been struck dumb. He'd even sputtered before being able to form coherent sentences again.

But he'd managed it. He wasn't sure why that brought him so much joy, but it had.

It wasn't like he was just going to spy on the ol' man, the guy who dedicated his life to making their's less shitty.

Not for Maleficent's sake, anyways. So he'd been straight up, and now the two of them were working on what to feed the Mistress of Evil. It was fucking awesome.

It was funny. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so alive. While also being so willing to die. Not that he wanted to die. He was pretty sure that was Faustina's shit pushing at him...

Not that he could blame her. He had only ever experienced her life second hand and it had seriously fucked him up for life; made him dangerously aware of how close to the edge of sanity they were currently clinging.

T blinks when he finally stops in front of Bargain Castle before he lets his head fall to the door in a knock. That hadn't taken him long to get here.

He steps back and kicks the side of his foot into the door obnoxiously until a goblin opens it.

"Yo!" T nods the goblin, before letting himself in. A cocky smirk tugs at his lips. He still didn't want to touch the fact that he had like, zero fear of his friends' parents. And was probably on his way to becoming friends with two, maybe even three of them.

He and Ursula worked shockingly well together, albeit that was probably because he refused to do anything that could come back on Uma.

Hades, he wasn't sure what was up with the god, but he wanted to take him up on that tea. He just hadn't had time yet.

Three would be Maleficent. He thought she'd be more terrifying in person, but she was more of just a cunt. That was were Mal got it.

Not that he was about to share that information with anyone, anytime soon. At the moment, he was content with it being a passing thought now and then.

"Took you long enough to report in." Maleficent snaps as she waltzes into the room before throwing herself into her throne.

T scoffs, "Bitch, get off my ass. I just got here." He walks over to her, with the bag in front of him.

"You talked yourself up so much I thought for sure you'd end up bringing me a head or two." Maleficent tilts her head to the side with a coy pout, "How disappointing."

"Sorry I'm not stupid enough to draw attention to myself while spying?" T rolls his eyes, "Here." He smirks as he carelessly tosses the bag at her.

Maleficent raises one arched brow as she catches the bag, "And what gift have you brought me?"

"Gunpowder." T shrugs as his hands sink into his pockets.

"Really?" Maleficent narrows her eyes at T before she opens the bag, her lips curl into a cunning smile, "Unholy Diablo! You're not kidding."

Hopefully, this would be enough to sate the bitch. Not that he'd mind still having to run around the camps. He was going to do it anyway, now that he knew Shan Yu had some serious fucking plans brewing. "Yeah. No shit."

"Real gunpowder. I always knew he had the balls, the brawn, the brains…" Maleficent looks off into the distance absently, "Too bad he smells," She shakes her head and holds her hand up as if she were trying to grasp something in the air, "And I could never get past the eyes.'

"Guns too." T shrugs, "Looks like he coulda taken you out for a couple of years now. Which means this has nothin' to do with the isle."

"Exactly." Maleficent clicks her tongue as she turns her attention back to T, "But this isn't going to bring the barrier down either." She pouts her lips thoughtfully, "Oh, that man is pretty smart, but he knows better than to defy me openly."

"More like you can't give him what he wants." T dully corrects her.

"Hmm…" Maleficent glares at T before she snaps her fingers.

A goblin comes running up from behind T, beelining it to the throne, "Yes my mistress?"

"Take this. It's volatile, so if we have anyone we need 'taken care of' order them to dispose of it." She holds the bag over the goblin's head and drops it.

T snatches the bag from the air. "Fuck that. Mine now." He shoves it in his bag. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the goblin let out a small sigh of relief.

"Anything else mistress of evil?"

Maleficent grins wickedly at T, "Get out of here." She shoos the goblin away with her hand, ignoring it as he ran to a side chamber, "So then, gunpowder and guns."

"And checkpoints around the isle." T nods his head.

"I see." She slowly slides one finger across her lips.

"Yeah, and about our agreement… If you want me to keep risking my fucking life for you, I want my spot quicker."

"Like I'm going to have something attached to my daughter spying on Shan Yu. Dollface," Maleficent laughs her cackling, snorting laugh, "I was born in the darkest depths of night, but it wasn't last night. That comes back on my daughter, comes back on me. You're useful in this situation because you're unattached."

"I'm useful cause I'm no one." T shrugs both shoulders. "It comes back on you if I get caught period."

"Not if you're good," Maleficent challenges, "A real spy can talk himself out of anything."

"Bitch please, I'm the best." T corrects her. "And the best don't get themselves into situations they need to talk themselves out of."

"Then what are you so worried about?" Maleficent chuckles, "Fulfill the full contract and I'll keep my end, easy peasy." She winks.

T rolls his eyes. "I'm not worried. I just didn't know I was going to be sneaking in and out of a war camp. I'm capable, but the higher the risk, the higher the reward."

Maleficent straightens up in her throne, "You have my gratitude for being diligent on the job on an isle were most are amazing fuck-ups." She grins.

"Diligent?" T scoffs, "How many of your other spies actually went into the camp?" He challenges.

"None," She answers as she slouches back, "clearly I trusted you more than them and the gamble has paid off." She takes a nail file out and inspects her nails, "You survived, and I have a few bits of information. Still, it was my gamble, and we are under a contract."

T rolls his eyes, "Honestly I couldn't give a fuck about your trust, gratitude, or gambles." He frowns, "But you're right, I don't want this shit back on Mal." He sighs as he walks away from her to lean on the closest wall.

"There's the nasty backstabber I saw in my room." Maleficent grins, "Are you going to enjoy watching that little slip of flames cry because she thought the two of you were friends?"

"Friends don't exist on the isle. Stepping stones do."

"A good lesson for her to learn." Maleficent nods slowly before she works on the tips of her nails, sharpening them to a fine point.

T smirks, "How much dirt beside that were you able to dig up though?"

"Oh, I got enough to see you're as smart as you claim. Cunning too. I just wanted to see your reaction. Because it's going to break that little demigod's heart to be so betrayed by you."

T shrugs. "I'll sleep at night."

"Don't we all." Maleficent smirks as she sets the nail file down, "Well, if that's all you have…"

"Bitch, do you really think I'd still be near you if it was?"

"Then what are you waiting for? An invitation?"

"You to stop stroking your own ego?"

Maleficent chuckles, "What else do you have."

"Yensid. He doesn't go much else besides his house, school, and commissary. He's been witing more letters because his concern for the youth has grown stronger. He doesn't seem to have any adult friends. But he and Hyades are close, she visited once in the couple of days I've been watching. But compared to Shan Yu it's boring as shit. At least at Shan Yu's I have to dodge people. With this bull shit, I'm just sitting on a roof watching a stupid fucking house."

"I didn't say exciting," Maleficent rolls her eyes, "I said challengingly."

T snorts, "Well that's not my kinda challenge."

"Not every task you perform is going to be your kind of challenge, best to learn that now before you fuck something up."

T pushes off the wall and starts walking away.

"Thanks for the chat." Maleficent flickers her fingers as she watches the boy leave.

She stands when the door slams, "Mal!"

"She's not here mistress."

Maleficent rolls her eyes as she claws the air threateningly between them, "Then go get her."

"Yes, Mistress!" The goblin bows as he takes off running.

This could be a serious situation. Shan Yu had never openly defied her, but he'd been one to sneak in the shadows once. His big mistake in his past life had been hubris, announcing to the Chinese army that he was going to attack. Calling out the emperor. Points for style, but the follow-through lacked.

She shakes her head. Was he trying to learn from the past? Or was he trying to make a future for his only living son? She rolls her eyes. That family was weird, why waste the energy on more than one child? Only to have them rip each other apart for sport. It wasn't her flavor of evil, but she'd turned a blind eye to it.

Had that been a mistake?

She stalks away from her throne and heads to the balcony looking over the streets below. Mal would have to give her a full rundown of his boy, Atilla. She needed to be smart with this information. Needed to take the time to fully understand the big picture.

She was so close to getting the hell off this isle, she could practically taste it. And nothing was going to ruin that for her now.


Yo!

So what did you guys think of the chapter?

Learn anything new?

Glean anything of interest?

Relieved T is working with Yensid rather than just reporting his doings to The MoE?

Would you consider being friends with any of the OV's? If so which ones? Or do you just think T is fucking insane?

We know it wasn't a long chapter. But we wanted to show where T's headspace was at.

Please let us know

In the comments below

Much love and appreciation,

-Twisted

-Complete side note

I'm not famous by AJR is 100 % a T song for anyone whose still interested in those playlists. And inspired so much of his character Dark was shocked I didn't add it- But I derped so… SOML

By the way, anyone else wish these kids had cell phones?

It would certainly make keeping tabs on everyone easier...