HIATUS | Secrets Within Auradon: Carlos de Vil x Reader [a rewrite]

Prologue

// D I S C L A I M E R //
This story is a re-write of my original Carlos de Vil x Reader (completed), which is available to read on my profile. Thus, it was written before Descendants 2 and 3 came out. This story's canon applies only to the original Descendants movie and does not carry any plot nor characters from Descendants 2 and 3.

Because this is a re-write, many events will be similar to the original draft. However, some major and minor changes will be adjusted to the plot and occurrences to fix plot holes and unnecessary information (I still shiver at how I had 70+ chapters). There will be more content in this story and less fangirling (although there still will be fangirling). There will also be more reader x Carlos moments.

I do not own the Descendants franchise. It is owned by Disney (Channel). This work is purely fanfiction, written by a fangirl, and is not in any way an official Descendants story. This means that I do not own the characters or the world of Auradon.

The idea for the essay on the family history is originally belongs to trayvonhalson, whom I got permission to adapt into this book.

Furthermore, I do not own any of the books, shows, movies, or anime that I made references to.

This disclaimer extends to the whole story. Thank you and enjoy the story!

// E N D //

Far, far away, in a southern kingdom of Auradon and unknowing to King Beast and Queen Belle, a war raged on. Fire etched the skies. Screams of men bellowed throughout the once flourishing valley, now scourged by battle. A dragon, its scales bursting in hues of amber and brazen yellow, snaked across the sky. It occasionally dove towards the ground, breaking formations of imperial soldiers who aimed their spears and arrows at the beast. From the tips of the forest surrounding the river, a group of rebels, hidden by the darkness of the foliage, snuck towards the soldiers. It was a losing battle for the state. The country was falling. Order was collapsing. Soon, the once beautiful, bountiful lands would be overturned by beasts and rebels.

"Commander!" A messenger from the kingdom headquarters fell into place aside a young woman, cloaked in royal purple. She turned her head to the messenger, wincing at the specs of mud and grim that streaked across his face and clothing. "I brought them to you. P-p-please... end this war." He collapsed to the ground, another innocent citizen lost to needless conflict. The woman, the commander, keeled down beside him, prying what he had sacrificed his life for from his hands.

"Your sacrifice will not be in vain," she held up two rings that the messenger had retrieved. One of them glowed purple, matching her cloak. "They're real," she whispered, touching the jewelry tenderly.

"Commander!" Shrieks from the battlefield caught her attention. She swiftly slipped the rings into her bag and mounted her horse, kicking it into battle. "The rebels are here!"

The young woman narrowed her eyes, "Divert your attention to them."

"But ma'am, the dragon--"

"I have the dragon under control."

"Yes, ma'am."

She snapped the reins of her horse and together they strode towards the dragon that had killed countless lives in the war; the dragon that she had once considered a friend.

"Neya!" The commander bellowed. The dragon stopped in its tracks to stare her directly in the eyes. The fire in the sky reflected off its yellow scales, lighting them with a red hue. "I know you're in there."

In response, the dragon angrily reared its head and blasted a column of flames towards a nearby battalion. The young woman remained steel, not losing her composure over the cries of her soldiers. "Neya, listen to me," she addressed the dragon, "Please, Neya. I'm tired of this fighting. I'm tired of this misunderstanding." Scrambling through her bag, she pulled out the two rings that the messenger had retrieved earlier. "Here. What happened before was not my doing--Neya, please." The dragon was now on the ground, snaking towards her. It crawled over the bodies of fallen soldiers that had burned to death by the very being that now slithered over them.

"It wasn't my fault!" The commander leaped off her horse, running towards the glowing beast, "I didn't turn you in, Neya. Please. Please give me a chance. These rings, they'll prove that our friendship was real. Is real. Will always be real."

The dragon stopped, its glow dimming. The young girl gave a sigh of relief and ran over to the remnants of the dragon. Another girl, around the age of the commander, stood at its wake. She glared at the commander, approaching her with caution.

"Neya," the commander slipped one of the rings--the glowing purple one--onto her hand and passed the other to the dragon-turned-girl. The dragon--Neya-- gripped the ring cautiously, turning it around and then slipping it onto her own finger. It glowed red.

"Are you ready?" The commander asked.

Neya scowled, the red of her ring bursting with a dangerous glow, "If this is a trick, I am going to slay you and your entire army. We may have lost the battle, but we shall win the war."

"Neya, come on, it's not a trick," the commander pleaded, "I'm tired of the fighting, Neya. I never wanted this. I wasn't the one that turned you--"

"It doesn't matter whether or not you turned me in," Neya snapped, "You chose to fight with them."

"Neya, I don't want to fight. I want peace. I want us to be friends again. Let me join you. Let me join your cause. I can't fight against you anymore, Neya. Please, let me prove my allegiance with this. The rings never lie."

Neya stared at her cautiously. Then she raised her finger with the ring towards the commander, who did likewise. At the moment of contact, a bright light enveloped the field. The fires stopped. The valley fell silent. Imperial soldiers and rebels alike halted in their fights. The fighting stopped, as if King Beast himself had descended upon the kingdom and ushered in a new era of peace. It was the perfect fairy tale ending.

"You really didn't do it?" Neya gaped at her ex-best friend, vulnerable. "You truly want to put this fighting to an end?

"I do," the commander pulled the dragon girl into a warm embrace, "I don't want us to ever fight again." She pulled out a dagger from her sheath, "We're putting an end to this once and for all."

༻º❀º༺

"Wait, so are you telling me that she killed her friend for the peace of the nation?" A young, Auradon Prep student stared at her history teacher in awe. The teacher nodded, promptly.

"And that story, students, is what Auradon Prep is going to perform for our annual play!"

"No way." Gasps, snickers, and curiosity exploded in the classroom. They weren't going to put on Snow White? Cinderella? Jack and the Beanstalk? Instead, they would put on this epic war story?

"It will be remembered for years to come," the history professor smiled at his students, "The story of the Great Dragon War."