Here is the next chapter!
I am thinking . . . I can get started on "Descendants 3" by Sunday if I keep working hard on making chapters. Sadly, this chapter is still feeling a little short to me even though I tried so hard to make it longer. I even added a scene involving Carlos sticking up for some bullied students.
You see, we don't necessarily know why a duo was chosen for the program. I thought this was the best way to explain why AND show the courage that Carlos gained in Auradon.
Enjoy
The next morning—after tossing and turning for a great portion of the night—Mal and Evie awoke about as early as they would in Auradon. The two princesses wanted to make sure they looked their best since they would be representing Auradon Prep. Before leaving her old bedroom, Mal made the last-minute decision to wear her crown that her parents made for her sixteenth birthday. She thought by wearing it, the students would remember that she was the 'Queen of the Isle' and give her a little more respect when she brought up the idea of students transferring to Auradon Prep.
Quietly walking out of the room, Mal and Evie managed to hear a snippet of the married couple's conversation.
"—never this late," Hades seemed to argue as he stood over what looked to be five freshly prepared plates of food.
"She probably didn't want to be a bother since our baby girl and her friends are home," Maleficent suggested, sitting on a stool as she leaned her body forward against the kitchen island for support. "She may not come over again until after they leave."
"So, she's going to go two days without eating properly," Hades deduced, sighing in frustration as he divided one plate's contents with the other four. "I doubt her father has any food at the house. I have half a mind to drag her from that school right now to make her eat something."
Finally noticing the two teenagers that stood at the bedroom doorway, Maleficent smiled with an almost mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Or you could have the girls bring her something."
Hades perked up at seeing the two princesses, who cautiously walked into the kitchen cautiously for their breakfast. "Girls," he greeted with a nod as he passed them their plates. "Do you remember Celia?"
"Dr. Facilier's daughter?" Evie recalled as she picked at her plate. "I know her. She's best friends with Dizzy. Do you need something from her?"
"No, I need you to bring something to Celia," Hades corrected. "You see, for the past year or so she's been running errands for me. In return, I feed her breakfast and most times dinner since her father is too busy working two jobs. He eventually made me her god-father a few months back."
Mal snarled her nose at the announcement. "But Dr. Facilier didn't like me when I was a student at Dragon Hall because you raised me to be kind."
"That's why it took him so long to ask me to be Celia's god-father," Hades revealed with a soft sigh. "Anyways, would you mind bringing Celia a lunch if I made one? I don't want her to start not eating again."
"I guess we can," Evie volunteered. "If we don't see her this morning, we'll give it to her father."
"And . . ." Hades continued almost reluctantly. "Could you consider picking Celia for the VK program?"
"I don't think we are the ones that will choose them," Mal informed, before quickly adding, "But I'm sure we can influence the decision."
After eating breakfast and receiving the lunch made by the god-father, the two girls were on their way to meet their friends at their old high school.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Hades waited a few minutes before asking his wife, "Did the magic water help you?"
"You know I still can't walk," Maleficent chided somewhat bitterly. "As for my health, I'm not any worse, but I'm not any better. I didn't drink much, just a small sip, but I think it just prolonged my deteriorating health."
"Do you have enough until the barrier is removed?"
Sadly, the fairy slowly shook her head in denial. "We don't know when exactly they will take it down," she reminded softly. "I can try stretching it until the month before the proposal. We just have to hope I don't get too worse afterwards."
"And hope my brother didn't lie to us."
A few minutes before the usual school day would start, the Core Four met at their old stomping grounds of Dragon Hall. The front steps of the mausoleum were full of students tripping each other and pushing their way up the stairs in the usual morning chaos.
A trembling LeFou Deux awaited them at the entrance of the school. "Welcome back to Dragon Hall. Please follow me. Dr. Facilier is expecting you." He groveled, bowing so low his forehead almost touched the floor.
LeFou Deux led them to the headmaster's hidden office in the Athenaeum of Secrets. Dr. Facilier was seated at his faded velvet chair, but stood when they entered. He was tall and slender as ever—almost as thin as his mustache.
"Welcome back," he greeted with a terrifying grin as he shook their hands with his long, bony fingers. "Now, what brings the four of you here? Not looking to come back, I presume."
Once they were all seated, Mal cleared her throat to muster up her own courage. "Auradon Prep is expanding its program to bring more students from the Isle of the Lost over to the mainland," she informed. "We were hoping you could distribute these applications and encourage kids to sign up. As you discussed with the rest of the Royal Council, we will be available after school to talk to students and answer any questions they may have."
Carlos opened his backpack and handed over a stack of papers to their old headmaster. Dr. Facilier picked up one of the documents. "How many kids from the Isle of the Lost is Auradon Prep accepting?"
"Four," Jay answered.
"I see . . ." Dr. Facilier leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on his desk. "If I do this for you, what's my cut? What do I get in return for sending students to your program?"
"That's not how it works," Mal argued sharply. "They don't do kickbacks or bribes in Auradon."
"But you're back on the Isle of Lost now," Dr. Facilier reminded with a chuckle, sending shives up their spines. "Or did you forget that, Miss 'Queen of the Isle'?"
Mal narrowed her eyes at the mocking way he spoke her title. "What do you want?"
"I'm glad we're in agreement," Dr. Facilier mused with a smug smile. "I don't ask for much. I'm sure you remember my daughter, Celia—"
"Don't waste your breath," Mal remarked with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "You want her to be accepted into the VK program. Just like I promised her god-father this morning, we will try to influence the decision the best we can."
That little remark quieted the headmaster down for a moment or two. "Your father told you about that?" Dr. Facilier assumed.
"And . . ." Mal trailed off as she magically produced a paper bag and dramatically sat it on the desk. "Asked that we bring her lunch since she missed breakfast this morning at our place. Apparently, she didn't want to intrude since we were visiting." Mal tilted her head slightly as she let a small, amused smile grace her lips. "It sounds like her god-father is already teaching her to be good like he taught me. I'll make sure that is known to the Royal Council so they take it into consideration."
Well . . . the Core Four didn't drum up the attention like they had wanted. As far as they knew, the only students who showed any interest in the program were Dizzy and Celia. They were so eager when they each received the applications. Both were so hopeful that they would be chosen for the program. Dizzy even offered to give Mal a haircut in exchange for hearing more about Auradon.
No one else seemed to have any interest in attending Auradon Prep during the school year. Any time the Core Four brought it up to a teacher that they thought would help spread the information, the teachers brushed them aside like it was no importance. At the rate they were going, it seemed like only two of the spots would be filled.
Until a certain incident occurred.
The incident happened right when school let out. The Core Four were about to go their separate ways. Jay was gonna see if any shops or restaurants would be willing to keep some applications in case anyone changed their minds. Evie was gonna go with Mal to her haircut to see if she could possibly reason with Lady Tremaine so she'd inform other students. Carlos, on the other hand, was going to head back to his mother's so he could get started on planning Jane's birthday gift.
However, something caught Carlos's eye before he had the chance to leave.
Something that made his blood boil in rage.
Cowering together in fear by their lockers were the twin sons of Smee, Squeaky and Squirmy. Though they were small for their age, the two generally quiet boys were now in the seventh grade, just one grade below Celia and Dizzy.
Anyways, what made Carlos furious was the reason why the twins were cowering in fear. The large burly Gaston twins were towering over them, ready to give them a reason to be scared. Carlos fumed at the scene, recalling how he was in a similar situation over four years about, but Mal had stood up for him.
It was time he stood up for someone.
"HEY!" Carlos shouted as he bravely marched over to the scene, causing everyone to stop and stare, including his three friends. "Don't you two have something better to do with your life?"
Gaston Junior scoffed as Carlos stood between him and the other set of twins. "We thought you were in Auradon."
"And I thought you two would have graduated by now," Carlos retorted with a bit of a disrespectful tone. "What? You two got held back a couple years because you couldn't find anyone to bully into doing your homework?"
"Watch it," Gaston the Third warned menacingly.
"You watch it," Carlos threatened as a crowd started to form around them, his friends quietly watching from the sidelines in case they needed to intervene. "Stop picking on kids younger than you. One day they will teach you a lesson."
"That's never going to happen," Gaston Junior sneered as he took a step forward, closing the space between them. "Move or we'll make you."
As the clearly larger student reached out his arm to forcefully remove the 'road-block'. Everyone watched with amazement—three with pride—as Carlos grabbed the arm and somehow managed to flip the bully, forcing him to harshly fall on his back. His brother tried going after his attacker, but Carlos did the same exact thing to him. Carlos's friends couldn't help cheering for him, causing the crowd to do the same. To be fair, it was quite a sight to see the two bullies be knocked down a peg.
"There's your lesson," Carlos announced with much more confidence than before. "Those you pick on now will always end up knocking you down in the future."
After watching Gaston twins stagger to their feet and cowardly limping off, Carlos adverted his attention back to the twin sons of Smee. Kneeling to their height, Carlos smiled encouragingly at them. "Don't worry," he insisted. "They won't bully you again,"
Pausing for a moment, Carlos pulled out two applications for the VK program from his backpack and handed them to the twins with his smile growing larger. "Auradon Prep would love to have the two of you," Carlos informed softly so he wouldn't scare them. "Have your dad help you fill out the application and then bring it to me or my friends tomorrow. We'll keep you updated on the choosing process, but if you two are one of the firsts, we'll take it into consideration."
Nodding eagerly, the twins happily accepted the applications before they ran out the school to tell their father the news. Meanwhile, Carlos's friends patted him on the back and congratulating him on excellent work. Once they were about to go their separate ways again, Carlos asked if he could talk to Evie in private.
"Can we make this quick?" Evie requested as Mal went ahead to the hair salon without her. "I was wanting Lady Tremaine to touch up my roots. The black is starting to show again, and I figured I fix it so I can try to patch things up with my mother."
"That's what I wanted to talk about," Carlos claimed as they slowly walked out of the school. "My mother told me about how when we were younger, she wanted to take you in because of how unfit of a mother Grimhilde was to you, but couldn't because she was struggling to raise me as a single mother."
"That's alright," Evie promised as she just wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible. "It's too late anyways."
"Actually, it isn't." Carlos claimed as he stopped in his tracks, forcing Evie to do the same. "My mother wanted me to ask you if—"
Cliffhangers are cruel, aren't they?
Thank you for reading this chapter and please leave a review!