[4] Phoenix | Descendants 3

THREE: The Isle Affairs

Waking up the next day, Mal felt uneasy. She had tried to tell herself that she should remain calm, but the dream's perplexing nature was making her feel anxious. After breakfast, she called  Helena, Evie, Jay and Carlos and told her that there was something troubling her. Her best friends got to the palace as fast as they could, Doug staying with CJ and Dizzy for the time being.

The VKs gathered in Ben's study along with the king, all listening to the daughter of Maleficent recap the strange dream she had the night before.

The king had gotten closer with the five villain kids that he chose to come to Auradon. Due to his relationship with Mal, he had also gotten close with the four other people she considered to be her family. And he himself had a strong relationship with Helena, Carlos, Jay and Evie, and considered them to be his closest friends as well. 

"Well, what do you know about your dad? Did your mom ever talk about him?" Ben asked, standing with his back pressed against the desk and his arms crossed over his chest. 

Helena scoffed lightly at that, sitting in the loveseat in the corner. "I doubt it."

"We don't even know who our other parent is except the one that we were raised with," Jay stated, sitting next to the dark fairy on the couch with his arm thrown around her shoulder comfortingly. 

"Most VKs don't. None of the villains ever talk about it," Evie added, sitting on the other end of Mal. 

"Why not? What happened?" The king asked. 

Carlos shrugged, sitting on the arm of the chair that Helena was in. "Don't know. Whatever happened back then, they want it to stay in the past."

"Do you at least know your father's name?" 

"He-who-shall-not-be-mentioned-in-Maleficent's-presence," Mal replied. 

"Maybe we could look through the files we have on the Isle. They might tell us who he is," Ben said with a sigh, trying to find a way to help his girlfriend.

"But it still wouldn't tell me why I dreamed what I did," the dark fairy replied, agitation present in her tone as she got more frustrated with her situation. 

Her dream was confusing in of itself. Everything from the location, her outfit, the blue lights that were everywhere, and the one light in particular that had the voice of her father. But what made her frustrated was Mal couldn't figure out what any of it meant. She had no idea who her father was, not even his name, thanks to her mother. 

"It was weird, okay. Nothing about it made sense. I made peace long ago with the fact that my dad would never be part of my life. So, I don't know why I suddenly have this dream and he's telling me to find him. But I... I just can't shake the feeling that it wasn't just a dream."

"So if it wasn't a dream, what was it?"

"I don't know. A warning, maybe."

"Why not just tell you? Isn't that the simplest option?" 

"Maybe giving Mal this dream was the only way for him to get his message across. And now that he did, you need to find him before it's too late," Evie pointed out. 

"That doesn't sound good," Jay muttered. 

"How are we supposed to do that? I don't even know where to start," said the daughter of Maleficent. 

"Helena, you might be able to help with that," suggested Carlos. 

All eyes landed on the daughter of Hades, who was just as confused as they all were. "I can?" 

"Yeah, those dream spirits that your dad has control over."

Helena was shocked that Carlos remembered such a small detail that she told him so long ago. "You remembered that?"