The moon shone down on an elaborate castle, fashioned from strong old stones and decorated with royal blue shields to demonstrate the family that lived there. The family in question, having dinner with the newest teacher of magic at Auradon Preparatory, listened to the sounds of the night. The crickets and wolves sounded lovely.
"Begging your pardon, Your Majesty." A knight in armor entered, bowing. King Arthur and Queen Guinevere sat at the head of the table, Arthur all golden and tall, decked in regal robes, and Guinevere with gentle blonde-brown hair and long flowing robes she embroidered church windows and saints on, looked at the knight.
"No need. It's a nice night! Would you like to join us?" Arthur smiled nicely.
"Yeah! Join us!" Prince Arthur the Second, affectionately nicknamed Artie because he was too small for a name so grand, offered in excitement. He was only eleven and had a promising future ahead.
"I'm afraid I can't." The knight stepped closer to the King and Queen. "I don't wish to frighten you two, but there are…rumors. There are strange reports of magic in the forest."
Arthur suddenly laughed. "It's just that crazy hag witch and her family! Nothing to worry about."
"But….these reports are different. The people here know of her and her magic and her family, especially that granddaughter of hers, ever since you brought her here to live with you. These reports are different. With your permission, I'd like to investigate."
Eilonwy, the magic teacher, suddenly stood up. She had red-gold shimmering hair that only sorceresses had, like a fire on her back, a simple red dress, a leather belt, and no shoes. She kept a small dagger and floating golden ball by her side at all times. The latter held her powers. "Let me come! You'll need magic to fight magic!"
"Isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Guinevere asked, but Eilowy shook her head.
"I'm way more useful out there than in here! Let's assemble that search party!"
The knight nodded and set out with his group, Eilowy leading the way. Arthur and Guinevere finished their meal, sending Artie to bed. He sat by his window, looking out, when a familiar purple bird flew over and chirped before transforming into a girl sitting on his windowsill. He jumped at her smirk.
"Hey," She leaned over, wearing a green kirtle over a white blouse and longer black skirt. Her purple hair was completely hidden by a white kerchief.
"Don't scare me like that!" Artie scolded. He wore his blond-brown hair in a pageboy cut and wore a simple red tunic and white hose. "I could've knocked over a candle!"
"Oh, whatever. I could light this room up if you did." She jumped out of the window and into his room. "Tell me, anything interesting at dinner?"
"Yes! Sir Father sent out a party because there's something mysterious in the nearby woods. I wish I could've gone with them! I want some excitement!"
Mad Maddy Mim rolled her eyes. "It's just going to be something boring like animals or something. Everyone knows my grandmam and da and they're harmless….well, you know."
"Can you tell me a story before I go to bed? You always tell them best." Artie started getting ready for bed, but Mad Maddy snorted and snickered.
"Uh, no? I'm going to get some mead."
-0-
In the forest, owls hooted suspiciously and the branches waved in the wind, but the knights held their resolve. Eilonwy remained in the front of the group, lighting the way with her golden ball, which floated a few steps away, a brilliant sun. She walked carefully, grass tickling her feet. The trees grew closer and closer the further down they went. They looked around for a while, splitting up and checking everywhere, leaving no stone unturned. Finally, they reunited, one of the men sighing.
"Well, we found nothing. Not sure what those reports saw, but there's nothing out here."
"Let's start heading back," another man suggested. They all started to walk away, but Eilonwy paused.
"Wait!" She waved her ball around wildly, running into the underbrush. Several knights followed after her, confused. She reached a clearing and held out her ball, illuminating a black cauldron made out of iron.
"This wasn't there before," one of the knights said.
Before anyone could move, there was a crack of lighting and laughter, and sickly green hands reached out of the cauldron and shot toward the group. Eilowy screamed and jumped up into the trees, watching the men try to outrun the hands. She fired a spark of light at one and made that hand shudder, slinking back into the cauldron. One knight was grabbed by the second hand and was dragged into the cauldron, screaming and kicking. Eilonwy jumped out of the tree and ran away with the remainder of the men, the hands still trying to grab at them, the laughter dying down and turning into echoing groans.
The group dashed out of the forest, heading back to the castle.
"What will we tell His Majesty?!" one of the knights demanded.
Eilowy panted heavily, wiping the sweat off her brow. "Tell him the truth! It's all anyone will believe, and besides it's better to do it, in case he asks you for more details," she said.
"And what would the truth be, Sorceress?"
For once, her face was level and serious.
"That somehow, the Black Cauldron lives, and darkness is about to fall upon Auradon."
-0-
Somewhere else in Auradon, a king died.
-0-
Hi. You must be wondering what this is. This is a fanfic two years in the making, almost three at this point, that's a complete rewrite and total overhaul of my other Descendants fanfic, The Wonderful World of Disney. I didn't like the setting, I didn't like the arcs, I didn't like what I was doing with the characters. I felt it could be so much better and so for two years I searched around for a way to make this story better, and finally decided on this. A lot of the story and characters remain unchanged, which is why a lot of the dialogue and story beats are the same, because I felt the bones of this story were decent, I just needed to change the skin, so to say. I've done a lot of research this time around, and watched almost every single movie in the animated canon, and some other stuff, along with studying real history and culture, to ensure this round is the best it can be. I hope it still retains the same vibe it did before, of being a bright and faithful adaptation of Disney canon, because as much as I love Descendants, it is lacking in many areas. Because it's a rewrite and part of the series, I did in fact make it part of my Descendants series, which will be receiving more fanfics in it, including a new and updated shorts collection, as most of those are outdated now, as well as other tidbits.
I have made several Reddit posts if anyone is curious that dive deeper into the culture and regions on display, as well as stuff about the school and major characters, including the faceclaims I used.
If you're returning, welcome back to the world of fantasy. If you're new here, also welcome, I hope you enjoy your stay.