Rotten Flower: A Disney Descendants Story

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The five of them had been fighting trough the thorn bushes, pushing and shoving their way trough as they reached for the Forbidden Fortress. At one point Carlos had let out a loud chuckle, making Jay ask if he wasn't taking the whole mad scientist thing too seriously, but Lilith figured he must have thought of something funny.

She could only think about the end goal. She preferred to stay away from most vegetation, thorns included. Whenever she saw something that even was associated with flowers, she couldn't help but get flashbacks from all the times her mother had talked about Rapunzel, constantly comparing Lilith to the girl she had kidnapped and raised as if she were her own.

She was completely lost in her own head, barely noticing the rain as the five of them climbed the dirt path to the top of the hills. But the rain turned the dirt into mud, the path becoming a slippery slope that Lilith would have fell down if it hadn't been for Mal quickly grabbing her when she lost her footing.

"You okay?" Mal frowned as Lilith regained her balance.

"I'm fine, kudos to you," The dark haired girl muttered, using one hand to push her wet curls away from her face.

On the upside, Carlos' invention was now beeping at regular intervals, it's sensor light flashing more brightly and more quickly with every step that drew them closer to the fortress.

The all turned to Carlos when the boy announced that the Dragon Eye is definetely up there. "If this thing is right, I'm picking up on some kind of massive surge in electrical energy. If there is a hole in the dome, it's leaking magic here somehow, different from the Isle of the Lost."

"Maybe the hole is right above this place?" Evie offered.

"Or it has a weak spot." Lilith mused, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at the invisible dome, eyes squinted slightly to avoid getting water in them.

"Yeah, I can feel it," Mal nodded, turning slightly to her companions. "Do you guys?" She asked, using one hand to shield her eyes from the rain.

Carlos frowned, holding the box up to Mal's face, who jumped back when it beeped loudly. "Feel what? This?" He asked, as Jay laughed at Mal's embarassed expression.

"See what I mean? The energy is surging," Carlos joked.

"I don't know for sure. Maybe I'm imagining it, but it almost feels like there's some kind of magnet pulling me up the path." Mal explained, frowning slightly.

Lilith raised an eyebrow at the statement. "So, what, like a magic string that's pulling you?"

"Or your destiny literally calling you. Creepy," Evie muttered softly.

"Well, not literally. If it were literally calling, it would be, you know, calling her." Carlos chimed in, making Jay laugh loudly as Evie glared at him.

"Okay, fine. Literally pulling like a magnet, only not really, because it's, you know, destiny. Are you happy now?"

"Literally?" Carlos raised an eyebrow.

Jay and Lilith laughed at the statement while Mal nervously switched her weight to her other foot.

"Don't you guys feel it?" She asked them, but it was clear she was the only one.

"Must be cause you're related to the Dragon Eye's owner," Lilith muttered under her breath, trying to find any connections.

They'd only made it up past the next curving switchback in the path when Mal stumbled and fell, sending a slide of rock down the trail behind her. The dark fairy yelped, flailing her arms as Evie caught her.