Hellfire | Isle of the Lost

FIVE: Planning & Scheming

Helena walked into the next class with Carlos and Evie following closely behind her. The Underworld princess took a seat in her usual spot in the back of the classroom, Carlos sitting beside her and Evie in front of him. 

"Hey, do you want to see what I'm making?" Carlos asked, trying to change the subject as they settled into their seats. He took out of his bag a black box, with wires and an antenna poking out from one side - the same contraption he'd been fiddling with earlier. "I made it from some old magician's stuff."

"Sure," Evie smiled and Helena watched silently. "Hey, is that a power core? It looks like you're making a battery, right?"

Carlos nodded, impressed. "Yeah."

"What does it do?"

"Can you keep a secret?" He asked, lowering his voice to a whisper. 

Evie nodded. "I keep them from my mom all the time."

"I'm trying to poke a hole in the dome."

"Really? Can you do that? I thought it was invincible."

"Well, I thought I could maybe try to get a signal with this antenna here. It's actually an old wand, and I think if I hit the right frequency, we might be able to bring some of the outside world into the dome, and we can watch something other than that hairy old beast king telling us to be good, or that channel that only sells shackles."

Helena looked over at Carlos with a fond smile on her face. He was smaller and younger than the rest of the class, but smarter than most of them. He was an AP student: Advanced Penchant (for Evil). He had a gift for inventing, taking the old and turning it into something new that was never seen before. Admittedly, this gift was something he shared with his mother, but Cruella's expertise was in fashion while Carlos' was in technology. 

Helena liked how Carlos was always inventing new things, thinking outside of the box to do things that weren't done before. She may not have understood everything he told when he explained his new inventions to her, but she supported him regardless. She liked seeing his face light up when he found a part, or the way his cheeks would turn red after he would ramble on about the invention's goal. Inventing made Carlos happy and Helena loved anything that made him happy.

"I sort of like the Auradon channel, especially when they feature the Prince of the Week. They're so dreamy," Evie said, staring off into space. 

Helena snorted, breaking Evie out the trance. The blue haired princess looked from the white haired boy to the box. "Frequency? But how?" 

"I'm not sure, but I think if I can break through the dome, we'd be able to pick up Auradon's radio waves - you know, Internet and wi-fi signals. I'm not exactly sure what the frequency is, but I think that's how they get all those channels and stuff."

Evie sighed again. "What I'd give to go to Auradon. I've heard that everything is so beautiful there."

"Um, I guess. If you're into that kind of thing," Carlos said, not caring for any princes or any sort of magical sorts. All he did care for was finding out more about the Internet, reading books, or even playing video games.

He wanted to find something more to life than groveling to the popular kids, being his mother's servant, and hiding from her tantrums. 

Evie then turned to Helena, "Have you ever been there?" 

The question caught the daughter of Hades off guard momentarily but she answered, "Uh, no. It's strictly only the Isle and the Underworld, no pit stops." Helena then thought about it some more and then added, "But I do get to ride past Auradon when I go and come back. The trees are really green, the water glistens, and the castles are magnificent. It looks like something out of a fairy tale.... You're right, it is beautiful there."