Out of Time (A Descendants Story)

Chapter 20

Previously on: Out of Time

Mal twirled around and gasped. There stood her mother, with her binds off, holding up a glowing purple stone. The stone's color was similar to the void Atlas held up.

Maleficent smirked at her daughter. "I did try to tell you, honestly. You'll have to meet me at Castle Beast. The real me, that is."

With that, she tossed the Sky Stone to Mal. She looked at Zeus.

"Nice plan," she said sarcastically. "You distracted. I received. Remind me to slap you when you get back."

"Mother?" Mal gaped. "What- How?"

"I'll explain everything when you get back," Maleficent promised. "Just hurry. I can't hold off the demons for long, dear."

The fairy dissolved into green magic and vanished, along with the green Protection Curse dome.

***

"You need to get out of here! The Underworld answers to someone else now..." Sammy trembled. "If you don't leave now, you'll never be able to!"

"Answers to someone else?!" Poseidon practically roared. "What do you mean it answers to someone else?!"

Sammy trembled some more. The glow in his eyes left, leaving dark sockets. He stood there silently, his arms dropping to his sides.

"Sammy?" Jane whispered. Sammy's eyes glowed bright red. He angrily looked at the team and drew his sword.

"You are trespassing in the lands of Kronos," the skeleton soldier growled. "The penalty is death!"

***

"You two have a lot of explaining to do after we get back," Uma shook her head and walked back inside. They had to hurry. The Sea Stone was finally in their possession, but Uma feared that they didn't have much time left...

Because if Kronos had already attacked, it was game over.

***

The ground shuddered and cracked, mocking their failure and promising their doom. He was coming as a result of the one part of the plan that went wrong.

Because they were so focused on a cure, they didn't realize what could be the cause.

He had been planning that all along, hadn't he?

All of the distractions, the monsters, the problems... Kronos had simply been playing a game all along...

And that game had been the perfect distraction.

~30 Minutes Earlier~

The castle was halfway covered in thorns, but that was the least of their problems. As Mal landed near the pier by Castle Beast, multiple smokey blobs came swarming around her head. She growled and swatted them away as though they were just pests.

As she looked closer, she noticed that the blobs were actually in humanoid shapes. They had glowing red eyes and sharp claws but were otherwise just made of smoke. When Genie's helicopter landed close beside her, a bunch flew over and clawed at the windows.

Dave landed atop Mal's head and slid down her purple snout. Giggling, he looked back at her.

"Is this your home? It's shiny! Though I didn't expect the smoke daimons!" Dave exclaimed.