Hiya Descendants,

Yay Friday update! Also later we're doing a facebook live, at 8 pm eastern.

As of the last update, T is still recovering from the torture Frollo put him though trying to 'save' Faustina. But with Uma, Harry, and Yensid on the job hopefully our favorite Shadow will be able to make a full recovery.

We also saw Gil and Deez working through their worries at the cove. Gil is really letting the hammer and anvil have it, while Deez is trying to overcome a weakness so she'll never let her family down again.

What's in store for the sea family when all they can do is wait?

We hope you enjoy Real Monsters

-Dark and Twisted-

"You look like shit," T mumbles weakly, with one eye barely open.

Uma blinks before she looks up from her book. "Seriously?" She snaps it shut in surprise before she rolls to her knees, leaning over T. "I look like shit?" She hisses, "ME?!"

But T was already asleep again. Shrimpy mewls her displeasure at the shifting of the bed before she curls into a tighter ball by T's neck and goes back to sleep.

Uma glares before she reaches across T and shakes Harry. The sheer audacity!

Harry stirs quickly as he opens his eyes and sits up. "Aye? What be ah happenin?" As he looks from Uma to T in concern, "When the damn cat be ah gettin' in here?"

"T said! T…" Uma puffs her cheeks as she struggles to verbalize her frustration, "That little… T told me I look like shit…" She stops as her eyes tear up, "Harry! Oh fuck!" She presses her fingers to her lips, "He talked!"

Harry's lips split into a grin as he looks back up at her. "He be ah wakin' then?"

"Yeah. The little fucking Brat." She chuckles giddily. "If she can tell me I look like shit I think she's going to be okay, Pretty Boy." Uma smiles as she puts a hand to T's forehead. He was still hot. She frowns as she looks up at the iv bag. She didn't feel comfortable changing doses on her own, so she was just going to have to wait for today's visit from Yensid.

Harry's chuckle was the lightest it had been in days as he tears up, "Aye, that would be bein' his first words."

Uma clears her throat before she looks back to Harry, though she doesn't try to hide the tears trailing down her face, "It's a good sign, I think, but he's still feverish." Yensid said they were giving him things to keep him asleep and comfortable so he could fight the infection.

So how had he woken up?

"But it be the most he be ah doin' in days." Harry grins at her as he wipes his eyes. He rolls out of bed and walks around to her before he sits beside her. His hand cups the back of her head as he pulls her in for a passionate kiss in his excitement.

Uma smiles against his lips before she returns it, holding to him tightly in her desperation for everything to be okay. She was so tired.

When Harry eventually pulls back he looks down at her with a small smile, "But ya do be ah knowin' he ain'nah bein' wrong, aye?" His face grows stern, "I do be ah tellin' ya, ya be ah needin' sleep." He rubs the calloused pads of his fingers over what must have been dark bags under her eyes.

Uma looks away, "I couldn't." Not when she felt so responsible for the condition T had shown up in. She knew that she shouldn't have just let it go. Given him that out the day he'd come back to finish the ship. Her instincts screamed at her that something bad was going to happen. And she'd ignored it. It was T. She'd had no idea Faustina had even existed. How was she supposed to know shit was going to go so fucking sideways? Not that that was an excuse. But now that she'd spoken to the other girl… She could see where T's uncharacteristic concern had come from.

"Captain!" Harry's shout and light shake draws her back from her dark, self-deprecating thoughts.

"Aye?" Uma blinks in surprise as she's jarred back to the present.

"Ya be blankin' out on me." Harry sighs in relief but doesn't release his hold on her shoulders.

Uma looks away as she rubs the back of her neck. "Sorry." She sighs, grateful for the distraction as her hands drop down to her bracelet to fiddle with it. It had been years since she'd last done it. Years since she'd even thought about it; having found refuge in the family she'd willed together. But she couldn't help the invasive thought the last couple of days.

Harry drops a hand over her's before the other grabs her chin and forces her to look at him, "Uma." He whispers it like a prayer.

Just one word. Just her name. But she could feel his meaning, "Sorry." She couldn't make the eye contact he wanted. She wasn't sure she'd ever felt this much like a failure, but she had nothing to do for the last few days but think of all the ways she could've prevented this from happening.

"Do ya be rememberin' what ya be ah tellin' me an' Gil? About learnin' and movin' on?"

"Aye," She admits, eyes downcast.

Harry bends and twists until he can catch her eye, "Uma, ya can'nah be ah blamin' yourself. I get it though, I be ah blamin' meself too."

Uma frowns as she reaches out to pull Harry back up before she lifts her hand to cup his jaw and wipe away his tears. "If I had stopped him when I had the chance, there would be nothing to be blaming yourself about." She breathes out.

"I be ah seein' T at the Howler Uma, and I did'nah be ah doin' anythin' then either." Harry shakes her hands off before he lunges forward to hug her close, "I were bein' selfish, an' stupid."

"Ya weren't though." Uma swallows, "I was… I wanted Deez back with us so bad…" She tucks her head into his shoulder as her fingers twist in the shredded fabric of his shirt. "I gambled. It's T. I didn't think- I ignored my gut and…" She sighs. "He admitted he was afraid that he wasn't going to survive and I let him go three times after that. After he'd told me he might not come back. But I just… I dismissed it Harry. I told myself T could handle anything. But he'd never acted that way before and I should've known."

"But we be ah havin' him now. And like hell we be ah lettin' him go again." Harry states firmly as he takes a turn to wipe her tears away, "Aye Cap'in?" He smiles as he chucks her under her chin with a knuckle.

She bites her lip before she nods slowly "Aye," she breathes out half-heartedly.

"Uma…" He fervently whispers her name again.

Uma closes her eyes as she looks away. Usually, she loved it when he spoke her name with that tone; like she was his everything. But after everything she did, and didn't do, she didn't feel like she deserved it.

Harry sighs before he snatches her wrist and pulls, stretching her arm out full between them, "I be ah seein' the look ya know, an I ain'nah likin' it one wee little bit."

Uma takes a deep breath before she lets it out, her eyes on his hand. "I'm sorry."

"Love." Harry breathes out as he pulls her into the comfort of his arms, "We be ah doin' everythin' we can be ah doin'. And T be ah gettin' better. Ya be ah forcin' me ta be okay with that before he be ah wakin' and spoutin' truths, be swallowin' yer own medicine."

"You're right." Her eyes sweep back over T. But it should've never gotten to this point in the first place. She should've stopped him- her when he'd acted so uncertainly.

"Aye, that be why I be number one." Harry grins boldly before he runs the back of his finger down her jawline.

She can't help her smile as she leans into his touch. "Aye, that be why you're number one." She takes another deep breath and lets it out slowly. She felt awful that she was the one being comforted right now. Hated that she needed it. Needed the reassurance that this wasn't her fault, even if she felt responsible for it. She wanted so badly to believe it. But in her heart, she knew she had acted selfishly. Had wanted Deez back, and knew that T could do it. Bring her cousin back to her. Harry should be pissed at her for her choice, disappointed with her for her decision. "Still…" She chews her lip, "I should've let you chase him down that day…"

"Now that ya be ah sayin' that, next time I won'nah be ah lookin' for permission." Harry nods, "An' I be ah callin' that problem solved, aye?"

Harry didn't need this right now. She knew that. She was being selfish. Again. "Aye." She nods. "Next time we just chase him down."

"Ya be knowin' I be ah holdin' ya to that, aye?" Harry asks as he furrows his brow, "I ain'nah havin' ah problem givin' chase."

"Which one of you haven't needed to be chased down?" That's what was bothering her the most. She'd always chased down people she considered hers. Sure, she'd given them the choice to leave, but she'd always chased them down one way or another.

Harry smiles, "Ya do be ah collectin' ah lot o' stubborn." He shakes his head before he looks over his shoulder, "But for now, T ain'nah goin' anywhere ta be ah needin' ah chasin', so-" He twists and lays her down beside T and Shrimpy, "Ya be bein' ah good Cap'in and be gettin' some rest, aye?"

Uma opens her mouth to argue, only to have Harry put a finger to her lips.

"For me love. I be ah needin' ya," Harry drops his chin to his chest, his voice pleading as he continues, "I be ah needin' ya Uma. Needin' ya ta be the badass cap'in I be ah knowin' ya are."

"Aye, I can be doing that." She agrees with a frown, "Sorry. You're right. I'm not helpful like this. I'll be better after sleep."

Harry pats her just below her ribcage before he reaches and grabs a blanket from the foot of the bed, "Cap'in, we all be ah bein' better with sleep, food, family, and T lookin' better."

Wasn't that the damn truth.

"Don'nah be bein' so hard on yourself." He covers her and T, gently tucking them both in, "Ya can'nah be breakin' under the storm now love." He bends and kisses her forehead.

Her eyes narrow at the thought, she was stronger than this. She was better than this. "You're right." She states firmly.

"I 'parently be ah doin' that a lot today." He winks, "Now you be ah sleepin' while I be ah watching over T."

"Wake me up if she does?" She yawns as she sinks further into the bed, the warmth and weight of the blanket making it hard to stay focused.

"Aye love, I can be ah doin' that."

She nods in approval before she finally succumbs to the sleep she'd been avoiding for days.

Harry sighs before his eyes narrow and he stands to move back to T's side.

Uma was blaming herself, he was blaming himself. Sea gods only knew what Gil and Deez were doing…

But he only had time to worry about T for now.

T. Faustina.

He sighs as he lies down and gently scoots closer to T, careful of her injuries.

T and Faustina. Boy and girl. Two in one.

Was he pissed? He certainly felt pissed, but not at the illusion T had crafted.

He was more pissed that he hadn't figured it out. Jay had. So why hadn't he?

Because what T was didn't matter to him. That's what it always came down to.

He didn't care where T came from, who'd touched T before, who T had been with… Didn't care what organs hung or didn't hang between her legs. He loved the whole package. That's why he'd chased him for years.

But that was the problem. He'd chased T for years. Was he an idiot? Was he stupid and no one was telling him? Because he should have figured out T anatomically was not a boy at some point. Even if it wouldn't have made a difference, he should have been able to figure it out. What the fuck was it that kept him in the dark?

He shakes his head as he slides his arm under T's head, flicking his wrist when Shrimpy yawns in distaste of his intrusion.

Was he just drawn to the mystery of T? To the excitement of not knowing everything, like he knew everything about his family? Of not knowing, and not caring?

Fucking lot of good that stance had done him. Would T be able to handle the new direction this relationship was about to take? Maybe he didn't need to know everything, but he wanted to. Would T be okay with that?

He sighs again as he stares up at the ceiling and listens to T's wheezing breaths.

"Just be ah hangin' on another day." He demands in a whisper before he turns on his side and protectively curls around T.

First, T had to survive. Then he could be figuring the rest out. Hopefully together. T and their family.

Gil wakes with a start when he hears a soft whimper. He instantly rolls to his knees, looking around in alarm. What had woken him up?

He frowns as he blindly looks around the cold darkness. This wasn't the ship.

Another whimper has him jerking his head towards it. Reality splashes over him like a cold wave.

Deez.

He reaches for her out of instinct. "Shh, Deez, it's okay." He scoops her up from the sand, "I won't let anything happen to you, I got you Baby Girl." He cradles her to his chest as he leans against the smoothed cave wall. "Shh, it's okay Baby Girl," He kisses her sweat beaded forehead, "I've got you. It's just a dream Baby Girl, just a bad dream." Once his eyes adjust they run over her features, finally able to take in details in the small amount of light that managed to filter in through the cave entrance.

She was silently sobbing, her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe through her tears. Her whole body was tense, coiled tighter than sail riggings.

He frowns as he pulls her tighter to his chest and places gentle kisses to her forehead. His free hand pushes wet hair away from her face. "It's okay now Baby Girl," He wraps one arm around her waist and uses the other to support her shoulders. "I've got you. Nothing bad's going to happen to you with me around. I promise. I won't let it."

"T! What-have-I-done?" Deez screams as her eyes open and her struggle against him increases, "T!"

Her glassy eyes stare past him, unseeing as tears overfill them.

He gently cups her face as he wipes away her tears, continuing to coax her. He'd known she'd seen more than she'd let on at the ship. He remembered T's epiphany that she could see as clear as day in the darkest of dark the time he'd drugged her to bring her to the ship. He rocks her back and forth as he cradles her to him, content to be her anchor. "You haven't done anything to T Baby Girl. It's just a bad dream. Promise." He whispers into her hair.

She blinks as another sob wracks her lungs, "G-Gil?" She reaches for him, her fingers painfully twisting in his hair as she pulls him closer.

"Yeah," He smiles down at her. "It's me. We're at the cove, remember?" He kisses the top of her head. "Uma and Harry are taking care of T."

"The burns. He's so burned. His feet!" Her voice grows shrill, "His feet and legs!"

Gil grimaces at the thought. "Wasn't you Baby Girl." He assures her with another kiss as he wipes away a fresh wave of tears. "It isn't anything he can't handle." He adds with confidence. "Especially with Uma and Harry taking care of him."

"Because I burned him worse at the well." Deez shakes her head before she buries her face into his chest, "How?" She pleads, "How did he survive that? How?"

Gil frowns as he rests a hand on the back of her head, gently holding her closer. He wasn't sure how to answer something he often questioned. "Luck? And will power? T's a fighter through and through. And I think he's dealt with a lot more pain in his life than I ever could have guessed by the way he acts."

She frantically pulls away to look up at him again, "Why burns? What happened? Is he covered in burns? Is it like the well? I- I never saw him so burned." Her body jerks with each question tumbling around in her nightmare jumbled mind, "Little ones, but covered? What happened? Who did that?" She trembles, her voice cracking as she begs for answers he couldn't give.

Gil bites his lip, his grip tightening around Deez as his mind went back to that room of horror. The puddle of blood on the industrial table. The implements of torture on trays. The giant fire pit at the foot of the table. "His father happened." He answers gruffly, being as honest as he can without getting into details.

Deez nods as she continues to shake in his arms, "I know. But why? Why would anyone want to burn another person? Why?" More tears trickle down her face, "I try so hard not to hurt anyone with my fire," her voice hitches as her whole body shivers, "so why would anyone do it on purpose?"

Gil's eyes narrow as he continues to rock her gently. His mind racing to come up with answers, any answers. Why would someone do that? "To punish T for something?" He hazards a guess, as he tenderly wipes away her tears with his thumb. The conversation was making his stomach turn. No wonder Uma had sent them away. He wasn't sure what he would do if he saw the extent of T's injuries. He just knew it wouldn't be pretty. "Because some people are real fucking monsters, but not you. Never you."

"I hate this place." Deez whimpers as she wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him as if her life depended on it.

"I know." He presses a kiss to her temple as he hugs her just as tightly. "I do too." He admits softly. "I do too." He sighs as he slowly starts massaging her tense back. "But hey, it's T, he'll make it through this. Uma and Harry won't give him any other choice."

"I know." Deez nods against him, "It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare."

Gil nods. "It was just a nightmare." He mimics softly as he rubs his jaw against her hair, further connecting them, doing his best to console her in every capacity he knew how.

She shivers, her voice dropping to the barest hint of a whisper as her grip on him tightens, "I'm not a monster."

Gil growls protectively as if he could scare away her thought. "You are the furthest thing from a monster possible. You are our Baby Girl. My treasure. Our compass. Our Fire Princess. No one in our family is a monster. Not even close."

"It was just a nightmare."

Gil continues to rock her soothingly, "Just a nightmare." He repeats to her. "I promise." He kisses her again. "You've never hurt any of us on purpose. You never would. It's not your fault you didn't use to have control of your abilities. And it was T's choice to poke you till you learned to control it. And I think… I think you- you can't blame yourself for his decisions, because you shouldn't take them away from T. I think… I think it was something he could control, choose at the time. I think I'm finally starting to understand T more than I ever have before, and as much as it hurts that he didn't feel like he could tell us, I get it." He nudges his head against hers, "Don't let a nightmare take that away from him. You're not a monster, not to me, not to our family, and not to T. And I think more than any of us, T knows what a real monster looks like, and he's never once viewed you as one."

Deez hides her face in the hollow between his shoulder and throat as she continues sobbing, holding on to him like she was afraid to release him.

Gil's eyes soften and he readjusts his hold on her, "Monsters don't cry Deez. Monsters don't feel remorse. Monsters don't blame themselves for things out of their control. Monsters don't have nightmares over hurting people." He soothes her, his arms wrapping around her with all his might as if willing her to understand. "It wasn't your fault you burned T. It was T's choice. Because I think T's always dealt with worse… We just didn't see it because he didn't want us to, and we didn't know to look." He caresses her head with his chin tenderly. "You can't change the past, Deez. No matter how much you want to, all you can do is learn from it and make different choices in the future." He places a kiss to the crown of her head. "Harry took care of the real monster. He's never going to hurt anyone ever again."

Deez nods against him as her breathing starts to slow.

"That's right Baby Girl, just breathe." He rubs her arms up and down tenderly. "It's going to be okay. T will be back to being a pain in Uma and Harry's asses soon enough, and then we'll go back to the ship to keep them from killing him, the way things were always meant to be."

Heat slowly settles around him, and for the first time he realizes how cold he'd felt. "T would turn around that fast and start pestering them again." She chuckles wetly as she pulls back just enough to look up at him.

Without thinking he bends down to catch her lips. He knew it wouldn't take away her pain, her panic, her fears, but it could distract her. Chasing away the shadows haunting her with something more powerful than fear.

Family.

Family had your back.

Family protected you.

Family loved you more than you could ever possibly love yourself.

Family reminded you life was worth living, not just surviving.

It's what he'd always done, since the first time he mimicked Uma taking care of Harry during his first fit. The three of them found a type of peace only they could bring each other.

He wanted that peace for Deez too.

When he draws back to take a breath she surprises him. She twists her fingers into his hair and pulls herself closer, keeping their lips together.

This was new. Deez had never responded like this before. It sent a shot of warmth tingling down his spine as he relaxed into her hold on him.

Sea gods, he wanted this. Wanted some family time to help ease the hurt, the pain of everything happening around him. He wanted what he, Harry, and Uma did for each other all the time. Wanted to help Deez feel better. But he knew he couldn't introduce her to it without the rest of the family. They were already missing so much- It wouldn't be right for them to not be there for that too.

But this was just kissing. And it was making him feel better. He could only hope it was doing the same for her.

When he does finally break the kiss they're breathless. He watches her before he chuckles, "You took my breath an' thoughts away."

"That's only fair," Deez drops her eyes as she takes another deep breath, "you make my brain scatter all the time too." She half grins before she runs a finger along his jaw to his chin, "But we were talking about T pestering Harry and Uma again."

"Right." Gil nods as he absently leans into her touch, "I don't think T knows any other way to show affection, or is comfortable with any other way. I don't really know how he's going to react to being saved, but he's gonna be a handful when he finally heals up. I just know Uma will send for us to keep the peace." His chuckle is low and rumbles his chest as he nudges her. "I don't know any monsters that help keep the peace by the way."

Deez rolls her lips as she watches him, but then she smiles, "Thank you." She wipes at her face, "Just-" she shakes her head, "Thank you." She kisses his chin, "That was- I haven't had a dream like that in-" she shivers before she rests her cheek against his chest, "You're right, but when are you not lately?"

One of his shoulders lifts in a lazy shrug, "That's what family is for Deez, being there for you when you can't- just when ya can't. That's what family really is. Support. Compassion. Understanding. Patience. Love." He kisses her head. "To pick you up when you're at your weakest. To hold you up when you can't stand it anymore." Another chuckle rumbles through his chest. "I'm just used to how our family works. Doesn't make me right, just makes me a great teacher when it comes to explaining how our family functions."

"However you want to explain it." Deez chuckles lightly before she turns and looks over her shoulder, "Have I ruined all chances of going back to sleep?" She asks as she turns back to him, "I think the sun is trying to rise."

"Eh, then we were going to be waking up soon anyways. Nothing ruined, just an earlier start than we were expecting." He assures her. "Maybe you should try writing for a bit before you get started on your basin this morning."

Deez wraps her arms around his neck again, so quickly and forcefully it knocks him off balance, "Can we, can we not get up yet?"

Gil chuckles as he falls back to the sand, holding her close. "Sure Baby Girl, whatever you need. I'm certainly not going to complain about getting to hold you longer." He nuzzles his face between the nook of her neck and shoulder and lets out a deep sigh of contentment. "T'll be okay, Harry and Uma won't let him leave us. We'll be a family quicker than you think. Then we'll teach you and T what it means to be in a real family. And both of you will hate us for a while, but promise it'll be worth it in the end."

"I can't hate you. I think I tried at one point, a long time ago," She shakes her head but can't hide her small smile, "it didn't work out."

He snorts. "Okay, maybe hate was too drastic. Dislike us strongly." His arms tighten around her, "But, glad to know you can't hate me." His chest warms where she was pressed to him, "I love you too."

Bum bum bum, another one bites the dust!

So, Uma and D are kinda hating on themselves in this chapter, but no worries, their boys are there to set them straight.

How did you like T's first words? Did it make you LoL? Par for the course right?

Speaking of, what did you guys think about Uma's thoughts? Poor thing is tearing herself apart.

I suppose Harry is also beating himself up. It's frustrating af for him, and is probably going to be for a while… But these kids don't know jack shit about psychology, and since it's a soft science Yensid is also stumbling around in the dark. Not that that's the biggest concern with T right now… These poor babies. They're trying so hard with barely any type of help. So vigilant, so loving. The second and third movies showed that and we've loved expanding on it.

That nightmare though…

Deez is putting herself through the fucking ringer. Ugh. Poor bitch… Her realization about the well stings her something fierce. And seeing T's legs like that… It really hit her hard and made her realize how much she must've damaged T in that fallout. Don't get it twisted, D can feel pain, it just passes nearly instantly because of her godly-ness. Does it make sense for her character? We thought it did, but we would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Still, wasn't Gil the fucking sweetest?

His explanation about real monsters was, well, hard but very satisfying to write. I really did hate how fucking dumb they made him in the movies, so I'm thrilled so many of you like the direction I took him. If they ever do make it to Auradon, he's going to love taking philosophy with Deez. What did you guys think about his method of comfort?

It sucks having the Sea five/six split like this. It's certainly taking a toll on all of them. Hope they're able to get back together soon, but fuck if I remember when it happens. We're so far ahead I've forgotten so much of what we've written. It's been awesome going back through this and reading this all over again.

Much love and appreciation,

-Twisted

Corona Corner;

Thanks for all of you assuaging our concern with roll call. It's nice to know if you guys are doing okay or not. For those of you not checking in, it's scaring us a bit but the only thing we can really do is hope and pray that you're okay. It's a scary place out there. What with mandatory lockdowns and everywhere being out of every useful supply.

With that being said, don't forget about our hangout tonight at 8. Again it's Dark and Twisted Sister's hangout on Facebook. We're looking forward to hearing from you as much as we're freaking out about doing it. Hopefully we figure out how to use it before then. Please wish us all the luck!

With love, prayers, and anxious anticipation

-Dark and Twisted-