Here is the next chapter!
So I discovered something after I posted the last chapter. If anyone can find out what it is within the next couple hours, a new chapter will be added in a few hours. I would give you a hint, but it would take too many words.
In fact, if anyone can figure it out within the next thirty minutes, I will do a new chapter every day until I start college. That will give you five, maybe even six chapters. By then, we will most likely have started "Descendants 3"!
Now, enjoy this chapter, which has a daughter giving her parents' an anniversary gift.
Even with all the exhilaration that took place during Cotillion, Mal found herself teeming with excitement about finally getting to meet her uncle in person. Mal planned her outfit within five minutes, which consisted of dark purple leather pants and a purple short-sleeved shirt with a green dragon on the front. The Isle princess felt so relieved at wearing something so comfortable, knowing that her uncle wouldn't care about what she wore.
Of course, the paparazzi found the outfit completely repulsive. They couldn't believe she would wear something so improper when meeting a god! Mal was the first mortal to be invited to Olympus, yet she decided to dress like a slob!
However, none of them knew the little joke behind the outfit.
You see, a couple weeks ago Hades instructed his daughter on what to wear for the occasion. This way when she visited Olympus, all of the gods would know who she was by a single glance. When Mal officially arrived in Olympus, Zeus couldn't help chuckling at her outfit choice, knowing her father had some sort of influence.
After shaking hands for the cameras, the King of Olympus short-circuited the video equipment like he promised before. A split second later, Mal was enveloped in a powerful hug by her uncle, squealing in delight at finally meeting him.
Although it was originally agreed for Zeus to fix the equipment so they could be filmed having lunch together, the god had something last minute planned.
Leading her to a private room in his palace, Mal noticed the web-cam display, which was nearly identical to her father's on the Isle. Within a minute of walking into the room, the screen came to life, surprising Mal with what she saw.
On the other side of the video-call was her father and her mother, both on the Isle of the Lost.
Hades gave his daughter a quick summary of how his wife was no longer a lizard. Mal couldn't believe she didn't realize sooner what had happened during her drive into the Isle. If she had known sooner, Mal would have dropped everything to aid her mother.
But now Mal could plan a special surprise for her parents' anniversary—
So, let's move this story forward to Mal's first week of senior year.
You may be thinking I would go straight to Mal watching her parents receive the painting she worked on for nearly a year.
Whoops! Spoiled the surprise.
Yes, Mal decided to paint a portrait of her mother and father for their nineteenth wedding anniversary. It didn't take long for Mal to decide what scene she should paint. After all, she still had her mother's favorite photograph: Hades proposing to her in the middle of town. Since Mal found her true love, she no longer needed the photograph. What better way to return it by painting a replica of it for her parents to admire?
Anyways, the scene we're starting with takes place on the first day of school, with Ben waiting anxiously for a video call in the privacy of his school office during his free period. Mal's father wrote to him a couple days before to request the call, though Cruella was the one to send it to avoid suspicion amongst the Auradonians. In the letter, Hades mentioned asking for help with a birthday gift for his daughter, since she would be turning eighteen.
Now, Ben was nervous enough about the video-call, as it would be the first time that he would meet his girlfriend's father. To add to his uneasiness, there was something Ben wanted to ask the married couple. The king figured now would be the perfect time since Mal would have no idea about the trio speaking to one another. Or, at least, Ben would ask them to keep their encounter quiet.
Ben thought he was mentally prepared when it came to seeing both of Mal's parents together, but he was sadly mistaken.
He didn't expect himself to lose his breath at seeing Maleficent again. Unlike the first time he saw her, she didn't have on her leather crown, so her long gorgeous brown hair was spilling past her shoulders and off the screen—as Ben could only see from their shoulders up. The king had seen the picture Mal had of her, but Ben didn't think Maleficent would look that beautiful over video. With Hades, the king found himself scared and somewhat intimidated by him. To be fair, Ben didn't expect the god's hair to be so blue or for his mohawk to be so large. Between the parents, Ben had no idea where he should look so he wouldn't offend either one of them.
However, Ben did happen to notice that Maleficent seemed paler than when she did at the coronation, and that she seemed to be leaning against her husband for support. Whenever Mal told him about the video-chats with her parents, she never mentioned anything about her mother looking so . . . frail.
"Maleficent, are you alright?" Ben wondered curiously. "You look ill."
"It's nothing to worry about," Maleficent reassured weakly. "Just a small flu-bug that's going around the Isle. I'll be fine in a couple days."
"You must be Ben," Hades deduced with a raised eyebrow. "My daughter told me a lot about you, plus my wife and I saw what happened during Cotillion. I have to say, I was kind of impressed when you managed to stop the fight between her and my great-niece. I didn't think a mortal could reason with two descendants of gods, but somehow you did."
Ben didn't know how to reply to that. It wasn't every day that he spoke to an immortal, or his girlfriend's father. The Auradon king found himself even more intimidated as he tried to find some way to not stutter a response.
Luckily, Maleficent came to his rescue by nudging her husband to get his attention. "Don't embarrass him," she chided softly. "Besides, we have more important things to discuss, like our baby girl's birthday present."
Sighing in disappointment because he couldn't toy with the boyfriend longer, Hades went down to business. "Is it possible for you to make something for us for Mali?" he requested. "Or rather, you send the materials to us?"
"I'll try my best to send whatever I need to the Isle," Ben promised as he continuously adverted his gaze back and forth from the couple. "I would like to know what you plan on making her before I do."
"A gold locket," Maleficent answered before her husband could make a snippy remark. "It would be in the shape of a heart with an etching of two dragons; I'm sure you've seen her draw the image before. We plan on putting a family picture of us when she was younger, and her favorite picture of me and my husband—which is us on our wedding day—in the locket."
"So you need a chunk of gold and a gold chain," Ben deduced, seeming to find the items reasonable. It would be hard to find such a thing on the Isle. "Would you need anything else? A spring or—"
"I can make whatever I need out of the gold," Hades interrupted almost rudely. "I don't want to use any other material—"
"Because you don't know if there's iron in them," Ben assumed as he boldly and purposely interrupted the god. "And Mal can't wear it if it's made of iron since it would burn her."
"Oh?" Hades raised a mocking eyebrow at the statement. "So, you remembered—"
"I never forgot," Ben retorted bravely, his scaredness hiding behind his dumb bravery of interrupting a god twice. "I will never forget the one thing that would severely burn the woman I love."
"Good," Hades commented as he leaned back in his seat in amusement. "Then I approve of you, for now. Just know if you do anything harmful to my daughter—"
"Aidoneus," Maleficent chided with a soft glare before gazing at the young king. "Send however much you can to Cruella, and she'll bring it to us. I doubt Mal has told the Auradonians that I'm back on the Isle of the Lost. I think that's best to keep my husband a secret for a little while longer."
"If you don't mind," Ben began as his nervousness kicked back in, though he tried his best to ignore it, "I'd like to keep this conversation a secret from Mal for as long as possible. There's something I would like to ask of you, and I don't want her finding out about it."
Hades leaned forward in curiosity, intrigued by the statement. "Which is?"
Taking in a deep breath to calm himself, Ben requested, "I would like your blessing . . ."
On the Isle of the Lost, Maleficent and Hades had just ended the video-chat with the King of Auradon. A few moments before, they had to keep a straight face. Now, they were both smiling by the change of events.
"It won't be long now," Hades commented after he closed the laptop to make sure the video-call had definitely ended. "Just a few more month and we'll be free."
"And maybe we can save myself," Maleficent remarked as she fell back on the couch with an exasperated sigh. "I've lost the use of my legs now and my health is slowly deteriorating with each passing day. I'm surprised he was able to notice."
"What if we tell Mali?" Hades speculated as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist to comfort her. "What if we are able to attach your severed wings? You said they'd be able to heal you."
"But my wings no longer exist," Maleficent reminded as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "They were burn to ashes the day before the bastard gain the thrown. I'd have to grow a new set, but that's impossible."
Hades gazed at his wife with a certain gleam in his eye. "Not with my ember."