Listening to Our Hearts 《Descendants》

II

Evie

When Mal and Ben returned, they immediately ran off in the direction of Fairy Godmother's office, and I ran after them, Carlos and Jay right behind me. When we arrived, Fairy Godmother looked up at us. "Is something wrong?" She asked. "Yes. All five of us received suspicious text messages from an unknown person that, when combined, form a complete message," Ben explained, and all of us showed her the messages that we'd gotten. "Oh dear, this is not good. I will have to appoint more guards in the museum to protect the wand," she said, and we were interrupted by Chad Charming, who looked like he had been out running. "What is it, Chad?" Fairy Godmother asked. "The security guard... at the museum... ran into me, and he told me... to tell you that someone stole your wand," Chad said, pausing occasionally to catch his breath. "This isn't good. We're already a step behind," Ben said. "What are you talking about?" Chad asked him with an accusatory tone. Ben explained the situation to Chad, who was taken aback by the information. "I... I don't know what to say..." he said, then ran away at full speed. "Well, I don't think he's going to be much help," I said. "We have to go to the museum and check the security footage," Ben said, moving to leave, but Mal grabbed his arm. "Ben, I know villains. I know how they think because I've been there. Whoever stole Fairy Godmother's wand probably turned off the security cameras to make sure that no one knew who had done it," Mal said. "I agree with Mal. Whoever did this would've covered their tracks very well," I added. "Still, couldn't hurt to search the museum, see if the thief left behind any clues to who they might be," Jay said. "Good point. Even the best laid evil schemes often have mistakes that might seem minor at first, but could potentially solve the crime," I said.

Mal

At the museum, Ben and I decided to start investigating the area immediately around where Fairy Godmother's wand was usually kept for clues. "Hey Mal, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ben asked. "We don't have time! The thief could already be starting to cause trouble!" I replied. "Then we can look for clues while we talk. I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a bit," he said. "Fine," I said, brushing my blonde hair out of my eyes as I continued searching for clues. "Why did you change your hair?" Ben asked, and I let out a sigh. "Does it matter?" I asked a bit tersely. "It does to me," he said. "I..." I said, looking for a way out of the situation. "I noticed that you're acting a lot differently lately, too. If there's something on your mind, you can talk to me about it," he said. "There are some things that I don't know how to bring up to you because..." I trailed off. Ben gestured for me to continue, and I took a deep breath. "... because I'm scared that you'll send me back to the Isle if I tell you," I said honestly. "Mal, I would never send you back there," he said. "Promise?" I asked him. "I promise," he said. I began digging in my bag for something, my feeling of unease only increasing the longer it took me to find it. I completely reorganized my bag three times, and I still couldn't find it. "What are you looking for?" Ben asked curiously. "Um... my mother's spellbook. I've been using it to help remember everything that's going on, and I used it to change my hair. The thing is, it's not in my bag, where I normally put it," I said. "This situation keeps getting worse," he said. "I know, and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I was still using the spellbook sooner," I said. "Look, that's not what's on my mind right now. What is on my mind is the possibility that whoever stole the wand might have also stolen your mother's spellbook, which they probably did soon after we left," Ben said.

"I feel terrible. I should have donated my mother's spellbook after your coronation. If I had, maybe none of this would be happening right now," I said. "Mal, I get it. It was something to remember your mother by, and it has sentimental value to you. You are not to blame for what's happening, understand?" Ben asked me, and since I was on the verge of tears, I simply nodded. "I will never forgive myself if something happens to Auradon," I said after a few minutes of silence. "I -" Ben started to say, but I stopped him. "Before you start trying to make me feel better by saying that I'm not to blame for this, I technically am partially responsible for it. If I had just donated that stupid spellbook, that'd be one less thing that we'd have to worry about right now. With Fairy Godmother's wand and my mother's spellbook, whoever stole them could do terrible things to Auradon," I said angrily, glaring at him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel worse," he said. "Great job," I said, my voice full of sarcasm. "Look, I know that I didn't help, but to be fair, I've never had to go through something like this before," Ben said, still surprisingly calm. "Neither have I. I guess there's no point in getting mad about something that we couldn't really control," I said, then I felt something strange, kind of like the feeling I would get when Mom would try to force me to do what she wanted. I saw a pair of green lights on a wall and I knew that it was coming from my eyes. I blinked a few times, and the lights disappeared. "You okay?" he asked. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

Carlos

I was searching the upper floor of the museum for clues when I almost walked right into someone else. "Oh, hi Carlos. What are you doing here?" Jane, Fairy Godmother's daughter, asked me. "I'm helping Mal, Ben, Evie and Jay look for clues that might lead us to who stole your mother's wand," I said. "I can help you!" She said energetically. "Okay. Let me know if you find something that looks out of place," I told her. "I will. See you in a little bit," she said, walking away to start searching. I noticed a glimmer of red under an information stand, so I grabbed it and pulled it out from under the stand. "Hey Jane, you might want to see this," I called over my shoulder. She joined me moments later with something of her own. "What did you find?" She asked me. "This," I said, holding up the shimmering red object that I had found. "It's part of a crown, I think," she said. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. What'd you find?" I asked her, and she showed me a shining gold object that looked like it had been broken on one side. "Hang on," I said, moving the object I had found up beside Jane's. "They match. So whoever did this must have been wearing this crown," she said, staring at it in disbelief. "Yeah. Come on, let's show it to the others," I said, running down to find the others, Jane right behind me.

Evie

I had found a replica of one of my mother's poisoned apples sitting on the floor and picked it up when I heard running footsteps approaching me. "Who's there?" I asked. "It's me, Carlos! Jane's with me too, and I think we found a clue to who stole the wand," he said, and I hurried to meet them in the middle. "What's up?" I asked them. "Jane and I found these two pieces of a crown upstairs. Do you recognize it?" Carlos asked me, holding the pieces of the broken crown together to show me what it should look like. I didn't recognize it, but I did know that it wasn't my mother's crown. "I don't recognize it, but I know that it's not my mom's. I found this on the floor though, so whoever it was must have knocked over the display of replicas of my mom's poisoned apples," I said. "What other villains on the Isle would wear crowns?" Carlos asked. "Well, I think that Mother Gothel probably would. I could see Doctor Facilier owning one as compensation for his help. Maybe Lady Tremaine. I think that's it," I replied. "That narrows it down a lot. Let's find the others and tell them," Jane said, just as Jay, Mal and Ben arrived, also with objects that could provide clues to the thief's identity. "I found this by the east entrance. I recognize it from my dad's shop. It used to belong to Freddie Facilier, if I remember right," Jay said, showing us an emerald necklace. "Mal and I found these lying around the area where the wand was being kept," Ben said, and he and Mal showed us some tarot cards. "I think that we know who stole the wand," I said. "Yeah. I think it was Freddie Facilier," Mal said, and we left the museum to tell Fairy Godmother.

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And so it continues. Until next time!