Pandora pulled up to a gas station and parked her car by a pump. She made Griffin wait in the car ten more minutes while she filled her gas tank and went inside and paid, buying a sandwich while she was inside. After that she moved her car to a nearby picnic table before letting Griffin out. He was trained not to go far, so Pandora sat at the table, watching him sniff around the edge of the woods, looking for a spot to do his business.
She nibbled on the sandwich, unsure what her next move should be. She'd driven about half way by now, so she was on the far edge of the Summerlands in the Enchanted Wood, but she hadn't actually paused to consider what her next move was.
She knew Mal was probably somewhere in Auradon City. But it was currently summer vacation, so it was unlikely she was at Auradon Prep. But where did she live during the summer? Did she live in the castle with King Ben? Or did she live somewhere else?
Griffin returned to the picnic table after finishing his business, sitting patiently at her side and watching her eat her sandwich. Pandora fed him some of the crust on her sandwich while contemplating her next move.
After a few more minutes, she decided to just find her way to Auradon City. Maybe she could ask around. Surely someone in that city knew where Mal was likely living. She was dating the King, after all. It was unlikely the paparazzi allowed the poor girl to have a private life.
Pandora and Griffin finished the sandwich before getting back in the car. Instead of being all hyper and excited about the prospect of a car ride, Griffin curled up in the front passenger seat. He stretched his neck out over the center console and rested his chin on Pandora's lap while she drove.
It was about another three hours before Pandora finally entered Auradon City. She drove through the small village on the edge of the City, passing some small businesses, diners, a couple museums.
The school came into view, and Pandora pulled her car in to park in the school parking lot. She sat there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do next. Griffin sat up next to her, looking around curiously to see where they stopped.
She sighed heavily, looking all around to try and figure out what she was supposed to do. Her stomach grumbled, and she decided to backtrack to a small bakery with outdoor tables.
She sat outside of a place called Potts' Bakery, sitting at a round, metal table with Griffin sitting obediently at her side while they shared a couple scones.
"What do you think I should do?" she asked her dog tiredly, ignoring people who passed by the bakery, or walked in and out of it. "I don't even know why I came here. I just drove, what seven hours or so to get answers, and I don't even know where to go to actually get those answers. I'm probably only a mile at most away from those answers, and I'm stuck. Do I just turn around and go home? And if I do that, it'll be close to midnight before I get home. My mom will be so pissed. This whole day will have been wasted." Pausing, Pandora looked down at her dog. "What do I do?" she asked quietly.
Griffin whined, scooting closer and resting his chin on her lap. Pandora stroked his head, and then gave him a small piece of the scone.
A boy's voice distracted her and she glanced up halfheartedly. A teenage boy, probably close to her age, was leaving the bakery backwards. He seemed to be profusely thanking someone inside, walking backwards out the door.
Pandora blinked, taking in his appearance. He certainly looked unique. Of course, she was used to people looking a little different up in the mountains. A lot of the people in Mount Olympus had skin that was blue, pink, yellow, or hair that was red, green, purple. But this boy was certainly not from Mount Olympus.
His hair was white with black roots, and he was wearing a rugged black and white leather jacket with red accents. She'd never really seen anyone in Auradon dress like that, but it looked cool.
His smile stretched across his face, clearly thrilled by whatever went on in the bakery. He grinned down toward his feet, where Pandora just noticed a small brown dog in a matching jacket.
The little brown dog looked over just then, noticing Pandora and Griffin at the same time Griffin noticed them.
The little brown dog instantly bounded toward them, despite his owner calling him back. Griffin spun around and crouched, his butt in the air and tail wagging, ready to play. The little brown dog mirrored the position, his own wagging tail high in the air. Then, he stood straight and cocked his head up at Pandora.
"I know you." he said.
Pandora dropped her scone, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Dude!" the boy called, hurrying over. "I told you not to just randomly talk to people. You're going to give someone a heart attack." The boy turned to Pandora sheepishly. "Sorry about that. It's a long story."
"But I know her." the dog insisted, looking up at his owner. "She came to a couple tourney games the last few years. She hung out with the big guy on the team. She fed me a hotdog."
Pandora blinked again, slowly coming out of her shock. "Wait. You're Dude? The stray that lives on campus?"
"Well, former stray." the boy answered for his dog. "I kinda adopted him when I came to Auradon. I'm Carlos." he added, offering his hand. Pandora shook it.
"Pandora. I'm Herkie's cousin. I'm assuming that's the 'big guy' he was referring to." Pandora answered.
"Really? I don't think I've seen you around before." Carlos answered, confused.
"I don't go to school here. Well, I didn't. I just graduated. I live in Mount Olympus." Pandora explained.
"Wait. Herkie's cousin? I didn't think Hercules had any siblings." Carlos asked.
"Weeeell…" Pandora trailed off, always unsure how to explain this situation. Especially since she didn't know any of the details herself. "I'm not related by blood. Zeus helped my mom out of a…difficult situation before I was born. So, we all live on the same property. I call Zeus Uncle Zeus, and Uncle Hercules, Aunt Meg, so on and so forth." she waved her hand vaguely.
Carlos nodded. "Yeah, I get that. My friends are more my family than my mother is. That's just how it is sometimes."
Pandora smiled, relieved. It was hard to find people in Auradon who understood her situation. Most people in Auradon had the picture perfect family.
"Wait, you're looking for Mal?" Dude suddenly spoke up. Pandora looked down in surprise to see that Dude was staring up at Griffin, who was looking back. Then, both dogs turned and looked up at Pandora. "We know Mal. We live with her. We could take you there."
Pandora glanced between the two dogs, shocked. "You two are talking?"
"Of course. Just because I speak English doesn't mean I can't understand dogs anymore." Dude said like it was obvious.
Pandora's mouth snapped shut. Well, now she felt kinda stupid.
"Wait, why are you looking for Mal?" Carlos asked curiously.
Pandora opened her mouth, but no words came out for a few moments. How was she supposed to explain this without sounding creepy or stupid? "Well,…" she started slowly, "It's kinda…complicated." Right. Because that explained it in a word.
Carlos eyed her, looking both curious and wary. That's when something occurred to her.
"Were you on the news with Mal the other day?" she asked.
Carlos blinked at the question. "Well, if you mean the day we went to the Isle to choose the next four VKs, then yeah I guess so. Why?"
The images flashed in front of her eyes once again of the bright square. Mal's figure was a little more clear, but now the black and red image was a little more clear than before, as well, and she was pretty sure it was Carlos. The four smaller figures must be the four new VKs that were chosen, and the two taller ones that were still blurry were probably the other two original VKs. So, Carlos must be involved somehow? But she couldn't really remember him being in any of her previous dreams.
Carlos cleared his throat when Pandora didn't respond for a few moments. "So,…you're looking for Mal,…why?" he reiterated.
Pandora chewed her lip for a moment, unsure how to explain. "I just…I guess I have some questions that I'm hoping she can answer." she finally answered hesitantly, looking down at where her fingers had begun distractedly ripping at the scone.
Carlos tensed slightly. "Questions about being a villain?" he asked guardedly.
Pandora's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "No. No, that's not…" she trailed off as she realized she truly had no idea if these questions, if her dreams, had anything or nothing to do with Mal being a villain. "I don't think so…" she trailed off uncertainly.
Carlos eyed the girl in front of him, his muscles relaxing slightly at the lost look in her blue eyes. He decided that if her questions did involve Mal's villain roots, they clearly weren't meant to be offensive. This girl looked kind, and genuinely a little lost. He could relate to that feeling well.
Carlos sighed. "Well, Dude's right, we live with Mal. Well, technically we all live with Evie in her cottage, but you get the idea." he explained briefly, making Pandora look up at him. "We were just heading home, actually. If you want, we can take you there."
Pandora looked hopefully up at him. "Really? You could? Thank you!" she exclaimed eagerly, standing up.
Since Carlos and Dude walked to the bakery, they all climbed into Pandora's car, the two humans in the front seats and the dogs in the back. Pandora tried to calm her nerves, knowing she was getting a little bit closer to her answers.
AN: We're getting closer! Pandora will get some answers in the next chapter, but it will be a few chapters before she really gets all her answers.
Any theories on what's going on?
Also, there will obviously be Descendants 3 spoilers, as I mentioned in my summary, but I also combined the movies with the books and cartoon, some of which will be mentioned in the next chapter. But more on that next week.
Review and let me know what you thought of this chapter! I love hearing from you!