[4] Phoenix | Descendants 3

ONE: Our New Lives

Two years have passed since the Royal Cotillion and the kingdom of Auradon has undergone some major changes. The five villain kids that were brought over from the Isle of the Lost were now young adults. They graduated from Auradon Prep and were now beginning to have lives outside of school. Mal, Evie, Helena, Jay, and Carlos each had their own lives, ones that they each worked hard to get.

During their final year of high school, Helena, Mal, and Evie moved out of their shared dorm after finding places of their own to live. While undergoing this process, Helena tapped into the love for flowers she had since she was a child, and decided to create a career out of it. She launched her own business named Helena's Harmonious Flowers with the tagline "Flowers that are under this world!"

Even though Helena didn't want to be pampered by her parents, Hades and Persephone insisted on helping their daughter. Once Helena had found the perfect place to live, Hades paid for the house in full as part of her graduation gift. Persephone even gave the house a little upgrade, the home somewhat resembling the Underworld palace so that Helena would always have a piece of home with her.

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring of Vegetation, and as such flowers were an integral part of Helena's upbringing. When together in the Underworld, the two used to take strolls through the garden, make flower arrangements to decorate the palace with, and even receive special bouquets from Hades. Helena had used the fond memories of flowers to start her business, which was held in the house she now owned.

Helena mostly did floral arrangements for royal events, but with her own special twist. As a gift from Hades, Persephone had her own garden in the Underworld that Helena loved walking with her mother in. But since this was the Underworld, the garden was filled with strange plants that couldn't be found anywhere else. And the garden seemingly tried to compensate for the lack of normal flowers by being filled with precious jewels. The daughter of Hades incorporated these elements from her home world into her work along with traditional flowers, which led to her work to stand out greatly from other florists.

Right now, Helena was walking through the forest with Hector. The two were in deep conversation about the party for Jane's upcoming birthday. Hector had the amazing idea to throw his girlfriend a party, but soon realized he had no idea how to do something like that. So, the demigod asked Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Helena for their help, and they were all more than happy to land Hector a hand.

Hector's life seemed to somehow get even crazier after the events of the Cotillion. After graduating, the son of Hercules worked full time as the official liaison to Mount Olympus. The gods compensated him for his work, but it was still a struggle. He would spend one day listening to the gods argue, and then spend the next day listening to the High Council argue as well. He constantly had to sit in on meetings, travel, and always seemed to have a headache.

And despite all of the craziness of his job, Jane still stuck around. She's been a great source of strength for the son of Hercules, always keeping him grounded and sane. So, Hector wanted to show how grateful he was for her by organizing a party, where all of her friends and family could celebrate her special day with her.

"So how is everything?" Helena asked as she and Hector walked. "You still have the headache from Ares yelling?"

"No, thank the gods," Hector said with a sigh. "The Olympians let me some time off to prepare for Jane's birthday, and I'm going to enjoy it."

"I'm sure Aphrodite was excited to hear about the party."

"Yes, she was. You know, she still insists on making my love life more interesting."

"Interesting? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know and I don't want to find out." The two shared a laugh before Hector changed the subject, "Have you heard from Mal lately?"