Rotten Flower: A Disney Descendants Story

Fairest of them All

The five crept through the ruined castle. Bats screamed and fluttered over their heads, and the crumbling marble floor beneath them seemed to shift and slide in order to bear their weight.

"What is it with this place? Is there a fault line that runs under this island?" Evie muttered as she stumbled again, bumping against Lilith which happened so many times at this point that the Gothel didn't even care to react.

"Well," Carlos began to answer Evie's question before the blue haired princess informed him it was a joke.

Lilith sighed at the interaction, thinking about the two challenges they've faced so far.

As corny as it was, one is an accident, twice is a coincident, three would be a pattern. It seemed like the challenges were especially designed for Carlos and Jay, so if they ran into just one more which seemed too fit one of the vk's just a bit too perfectly, it was without a doubt the fortress trying to hit their weak points. She wouldn't be too suprised if that's the case.

"This way." Carlos said, motioning to a narrow passage in front of him.

The others followed, trailing behind Carlos, the machine beeping, the sound growing louder. "Now this way," he said, rounding one turn, then another. Lilith frowned sightly, noticing the passage growing narrower. "And now-"

Carlos got cut off by Evie, who asked no one in particular what the hell was happening.

The passage had narrowed to nearly her shoulders' width. If it got any narrower, they'd have to turn sideways.

"Is it just my imagination or are we wedged inside this mountain like-" Mal said.

"A piece of string dangling down a pipe? Toothpaste squeezed inside a straw? A hangnail in this cuticle right here?" Jay guessed, holding out his hand. "Cause this one actually hurts."

Lilith stared at him, no emotion on her face as she pulled the hang nail out without hesitation, making Jay curse. "And now it doesn't anymore."

Jay glared at her, about to argue with her when Carlos told them to knock it off, suggesting for them to go back.

Just then the walls shook, the entire castle rattling as chips of stone started falling around them.

"Maybe it's some kind of trap! Let's go, it doesn't look safe!" Evie cried out after one of the chips almost hit her nose.

"No." Carlos shook his head. "Look! There's another passage," he added, wedging himself forward until he could pry first one hip and then the other out from the narrow corridor to a just-wider one.

The other four followed closely after him, dodging the falling rubble as they tried to find a way out.

This new passage turned right, then left. The walls were farther apart here, but they were oddly sloped, some tilting inward, others outward. The effect was dizzying, as even the ceiling was sloped in spots, and the corridors kept branching, splitting into two or sometimes three directions while the rumbling didn't falter for even a moment.

"Anyone else feel like the castle is trying to chase us out?" Lilith muttered, hugging herself tightly against the nerves and the cold.

Evie nodded slightly, muttering that they didn't belong here.

"It's some kind of twisted maze," Mal observed, considering the way the corridors kept twisting and turning. "And we're lost in it."

"Not entirely," Carlos pointed out, holding his box up. "We have this."

"As long as that thing doesn't start malfunctioning, that is," Lilith pointed out, earning a shove from Evie.

But it appears the box was still as reliable as it had been before, cause the winding corridors gave way to more open space, giving the villain childeren the chance to take a breath of relief.