Here is the next chapter!
Was gonna wait until Monday to post this, but I figured I would post today since "Descendants 3" is being added to Disney Plus tomorrow. There is also a poll posted on my profile that I want you to check out. I'll keep reminding you about it each chapter.
You know what I really wish was possible? That I get paid to write all these stories and chapters. Don't get me wrong, I like writing for the fun of it, but I wish I could get paid for doing it too. People get paid for posting pictures and videos on social media, why can't people get paid for writing fanfiction?
Anyways, this chapter is on the longer side to make up for the last one being on the shorter side. We have the fight with the iron knights, the girls going to Audrey's dorm room, the girls going to Evie's starter castle, and the boys searching for Ben. Reason why I have so many events going on this chapter is because I'm going to have a lot going on next chapter too. After all, next chapter is when Ben discovers what happened to his queen.
Enjoy!
Nearly half an hour later—after trying their hardest to ignore the sleeping and statuesque citizens—the group finally arrived at Ben's castle. After slipping off Gil's back, Mal used the wall as support as she walked down the grand palace hall, followed closely by the other seven travelers.
Mal sighed as Evie walked beside her just in case she slipped or faltered in her stride. "This castle is . . . enormous," Mal complained for the first time since discovering that she would be living there. "Ben could be . . . asleep anywhere."
"Or turned to sto—mph!" Celia's observation couldn't be finished since Jay came behind her and clamped a hand over Celia's mouth.
"Our queen has enough to worry about," Jay quietly scolded the voodoo girl. "Don't make it worse for her."
"Ben!" Mal called out in hopes she would get a response. All she heard was her unanswered shouts echoing through the long corridor.
Dude sniffed the ground for a moment before lifting his head. "I've got his scent. Fairly easy to track. Follow—"
"Hold up," Uma interrupted as she caught sight of deep claw marks scratched into the wall. "What's this?" She ran her fingers over the marks, which went straight through a framed map that has been cut clean in half.
"Any chance that was already there?" Carlos wondered as he nervously scanned the room.
The royal-blue curtains were tattered and torn. Furniture was broken and appeared to be tossed against the wall. To make things worse, the mysterious scratches continued along the corridor, like a monster was trying to sharpen his claws.
"Follow me," Dude instructed as he led the group toward the room that the scent was detected
Moments later, the group trailed Dude into the palace's hall of armor. Sunlight shone through the domed stained glass ceiling, illuminating artwork of the great battle scenes and gallant knights of past reigns. The group approached the grand foyer with great reverence.
"Celia," Evie chided as she placed a comforting hand on the voodoo girl's shoulder. "Stay here until we make sure everything is safe, okay?"
Sighing softly, Celia nodded as she reluctantly stayed at the entrance, feeling somewhat grateful that Dude stayed behind with her to keep her company.
As the villain squad crept through the majestic hall, Mal paused to inspect a suit of armor that stood on a wooden pedestal. That's odd . . . Why does it look so different? When she visited the foyer a week or so ago, the metal suit had a lighter tint to it. Now, it was darker than before. Why is that?
Cautiously, Mal reached a hand out to touch the armor, just to test a theory of hers. As soon as she lightly grazed the object, she jerked her hand back at feeling a familiar burning sensation. Her assumption was true.
"Everyone, get back!" Mal warned as she started to walk backwards as best as she could. "The armors are—!"
Clash! Clash!
The very suit of armor that Mal had touched clicked its heels and turned toward the entire group. The bewitched knight moved and spoke ominously in Audrey's voice, "You like a prince, Mal. How about an iron knight in shining armor? Or knights?"
The lead knight swung his lethal sword with a swift, authoritative gesture. The rest of the suits of armor in the long hall magically clinked to life and drew their sharpened swords on the VKs.
"Mal, we'll handle this," Jay promised as he snatched a gleaming sword that was hanging from the wall, the others following his lead. "You fall back and watch over Celia. We can't risk you getting worse."
Mal barely managed to get to Celia before the enchanted knights marched with military precision and attacked the teens in one swift swoosh. Swords clanged, blades scraped, metal clashed against metal. Their swords moved so quickly they were a blur.
Sitting on the steps of the entrance—mainly because she was too exhausted to stand—Mal looked around the hall at her friends, who quickly stumbled with exhaustion. They fought valiantly to protect her and Celia, but they were overwhelmed and quite outmatched. Mal's eyes flashed green with focus.
"Celia," Mal mumbled so the others couldn't hear, but they were most likely too busy to even do so. "Give me the ember . . . for a moment. I want to try . . . something."
Fumbling with the gold shell necklace under her shirt—just in case Audrey was watching them—Celia inconspicuously slipped the ember into the Isle Queen's hand. With the ember back in her possession, Mal placed the hand on the ground.
Celia watched in amazement as these tree-like roots broke through the floor and wrapped themselves around each of the iron knights. The knights fought against the roots as hard as they could, but the plants somehow managed to drag them to the center of the room. Once they were all clumped together, yet another bolt of lightning magically struck the metal soldiers, essentially killing the curse out of them.
"That takes care . . . of that." Mal remarked as stood to her feet, slipping the ember to Celia in the process. "We need to get out of here . . . before Audrey tries something else."
"Where does this cheerleader bunk down then?" Uma wondered as she carelessly tossed her sword with the rest of the fallen armor. "If she's not there, we might find some sort of clue."
"Actually, she's still in the dorms," Evie answered knowingly. "Audrey was caught cheating during senior year, so she has to attend summer school to graduate."
"Speaking of that . . ." Celia trailed off as she tilted her head in curiosity. "What exactly happened during your graduation? We were watching it at Dragon Hall, but the video was cut before we could see Mal receive her diploma. A few minutes later we saw you crying in a hallway, Ben trying to comfort you, and blood covering his graduation gown."
Mal's jaw dropped in surprise and horror at the summary of the events. "How did you . . . see that?" she interrogated incredulously. "The camera—"
"Was in my possession," Carlos interrupted slowly, knowing that particular incident would be brought up eventually. "When I went to check on you, I had the camera filming for a few moments before I approached you and Ben. I thought the Isle and your parents deserved to see what happened to you. I've thought the incident with Hades and the barrier was partially my fault because he was angry at what Queen Leah did to you and wanted revenge."
"There's . . . no proof that . . . she did anything," Mal reminded half-heartedly. "The security footage was . . . tampered with."
"What did the queen supposedly do?" Uma interrogated, completely out of the loop about the whole situation. "What even happened?"
"Ben had switched Mal's diploma frame with a wooden one," Jay quickly informed before Mal could say anything, "because he didn't know if the original had any iron in it. He wanted to keep her safe, but someone else replaced the wood frame with an iron frame. When Mal grabbed it, it cut opened her hand and burned her entire palm. The injury finally closed three days ago, but it still isn't healed."
"Why do you think it was that old lady?" Gil questioned, as he also had no idea about the incident.
"Because she threatened Mal," Carlos answered as he recalled the unpleasant interaction. "While I was checking on our queen, Leah came by and said Mal better be careful so nothing like that happens again."
"We need . . . to go!" Mal exclaimed as best as she could. "Boys . . . try to find Ben and Jane. Us girls will . . . search Audrey's dorm room . . . for clues."
"Mal, you can't walk—"
"It's not . . . that far . . . of a walk," Mal retorted with a scowl on her beautiful face. "We'll meet at . . . Evie's starter castle . . . in two hours. That should be . . . plenty of time to . . . find something useful."
After the group divided to conquer their separate tasks, the girls took their sweet time to Audrey's dorm room, mainly because they were afraid that Mal could faint at any moment. Once they finally arrived at the room nearly half an hour later, Mal reached out to touch the doorknob, only to be burned once again.
Jerking her hand back at the sensation, Mal groaned in frustration. "I should have . . . known Audrey would have . . . iron on her door."
"I'll open it," Evie offered cautiously as she stepped in front her friend. "But when we get in there, just stay standing in one place in case there's more. Uma, Celia, and I can search for any clues so you aren't in danger."
Of course, it seemed like every piece of metal in the bedroom was made from iron. Even the jewelry that Celia was busy pilfering through had some kind of iron in it. Mal was very uncomfortable with being there, but the two other teenagers had an easier time searching since some of Audrey's possessions were packed away in boxes, almost like she was moving out.
"Found her diary," Uma informed as she flipped through Audrey's journal, reading the private thoughts the princess recorded in her loopy cursive handwriting. "Apparently, she hangs out at Fairy Cottage with . . ."
The pirate captain trailed off as she snarled her nose at names she didn't recognize. "Whose Knotgrass, Thistlewit, and Flittle?"
"Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather," Mal explained with a roll of her eyes. "The names you mentioned . . . are their pixie names. The names I mentioned . . . are their human names."
"That isn't important now," Evie insisted as she tried to get them back on track. "We have an idea where Audrey could have gone. Let's head back to my place and see what we can do about your injuries, M."
Evie paused a moment to raise an eyebrow at Celia, who just finished dolling herself up with nearly all of the Auradon princess's jewelry. "And the bling stays here."
Celia pouted as she removed the blue-bird tiara reluctantly. "But Audrey's bad!"
"We're not," Mal chided with a small smile. "But I'll talk to . . . Dad. Maybe I can convince . . . him to make you . . . a necklace or . . . something."
Celia perked up the idea, immediately removing all of the necklaces and bracelets as she imagined what amazing jewelry her godfather could possibly make her.
A little over an hour later, the four girls hurried toward Evie's starter castle, more than eager to reunite with the boys as originally planned. Celia raced ahead as Uma observed the picturesque with a nod of appreciation and respect. "Nice dig," Uma complimented, truly meaning it.
Evie shrugged modestly. "I got a really good deal."
"Because her boyfriend's . . . family member lowered the . . . price just for her," Mal teased softly, though she looked like she was going to faint at any moment.
Reaching the front door first, Celia threw it open and bounded into Evie's living room to greet her friends. Her face fell when she spotted Squeaky and Squirmy tangled up in each other's arms, deep asleep on the comfy gray couch. Their glasses sat askew on their sweet slumbering faces.
Sweet little Dizzy laid curled up on the other end of the couch, tossing and turning in her sleep from a bad dream. It nearly broke Evie's heart to see such a tragic scene.
"Don't worry, Dizzy. We can fix this." Celia cooed soothingly as she covered Dizzy and the twins with a soft red afghan. "And once we do, they're going to let all the kids come from the Isle. So happy dreams, okay?"
The tender moment was cut short by a booming snore that sounded from the next room. Uma followed the thundering sound through the doorway and stepped into Evie's glass work-space, discovering a strange man with a hideous pony-tail that should have been cut off ages ago—since it made him look like a slob with the loose clothing he wore.
"Doug!" Evie shouted as she brushed pass Uma to get to her boyfriend. Kneeling before him, she shook his shoulder expectantly. "Wake up. Wake up!"
"He's spelled, Blueberry," Uma informed with a roll of her eyes. Adverting her attention to her cousin, Uma raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Is she not a fast learner?"
"She is . . . emotionally involved," Mal informed as she leaned her head against the doorway, crossing her arms as she did so. "Doug is her . . . boyfriend of nearly three . . . years. Evie chose him over . . . Grimhilde."
"In that case, she should be able to wake him." Uma smiled wryly when Evie gazed at her in confusion. "True Love's Kiss? Works every time?"
Evie diverted her eyes, mumbling bashfully, "We haven't actually used the L-word yet."
Uma raised her eyebrows again. "You chose him over your birth mother, yet you haven't told him you love him yet?" She summarized with a snicker. "You really are taking your relationship slow."
"He doesn't know that he's the reason Grimhilde disowned me," Evie retorted bitterly before she gazed at her boyfriend adoringly. "I didn't want him to feel guilty, responsible, or try to break up with me so I could rekindle things with that ugly witch."
"I think you meant to say bitch," Uma teased before sighing softly. "While you work up the courage to kiss him, I'm going to tend to my cousin."
Walking back to the other room with Mal slowly trailing behind her, Uma called out, "Celia! Help me undress Mal! We need to see the burns before we can start treating them."
Meanwhile in a place quite a ways away from the castle, the four boys and talking dog strolled through the woods in search of the missing king. Their shouts and barks echoed unanswered through the tall trees.
Dude stopped in his tracks at hearing a rustling sound coming from a nearby patch of trees. He stuck his little wet nose in the air, snarling his nose at the dreadful stench. "Woo, boy! You're smelling that, right?"
Without much warning, a terrible beast with wild eyes and matted fur burst out from behind the trees. He released a booming roar in warning to not come too close. The beast looked ready to attack at any moment if provoked. However, there was something oddly familiar about him . . .
Stepping forward cautiously to look closer at the feral creature, Carlos called curiously, "Ben?"
"Huh, I thought I recognized those pants," Jay remarked jokingly, noting the beast's blue racing pants with yellow side stripes.
Beast Ben let out a deafening and dangerous-sounding growl. His long bushy tail whipped around wildly. It seemed like at any moment he would make his move.
Jay looked at Carlos expectantly. "You're good with animals. Do something!"
"What? Okay . . ." Carlos took a deep calming breath and boldly approached the untamed brute, something he would have been unable to do at the beginning of this story. "Hey, Ben. It's me, Carlos."
The beast snarled, baring his teeth. "Queen . . ."
Carlos raised an eyebrow at the creature's somewhat successful attempt at speaking. "Excuse me?"
"My . . . queen!" The monster growled as his eyes frantically, yet urgently looked everywhere and anywhere for a particular person. "Where . . . is . . . my . . . queen!"
Before anyone could try to reason with the feral creature, a forceful stream of water blasted the terrifying beast out of nowhere. All heads turned to find a soaked-to-the-bone Jane standing in the forest clearing, looking intrepid and no-nonsense. She aimed a water gun at the beast and squirted him once again with a rapid-fire stream of water from the Enchanted Lake, somewhat breaking the curse on the king.
"Jane!" Carlos exclaimed happily as he ran full force to her, enveloping her in a tight hug when she was within arms-length of him—momentarily lifting her off the ground. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
Setting her safely back on her feet, Carlos immediately removed his leather jacket to wrap around Jane's frail, shivering figure. "Why are you so wet?"
"It's a long story," Jane informed with a small careless shrug, those she was internally grateful that Carlos was so worried about her. "I'll tell you later."
Ben, now soaking wet as well, was King Ben again. Although, Ben still looked part beast with his unruly hair, full beard, and teeth pointy enough to be called fangs. "Where's Mal?" He interrogated as he sat on a nearby stump to catch his breath. "Audrey did something to her—"
"Don't worry. We are supposed to meet her, Evie, Uma, and Celia at Evie's castle," Jay informed with a soft sigh. "We'll explain what happened to her on the way."
"Ummm," Jane intervened timidly as she tightened her hold on her boyfriend's jacket. "Could you guys help me carry something there?"
Carlos tilted his head curiously at his beloved girlfriend. "Carry what, exactly?"