Notes:

Hey Descendants!

Dark here, I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend.

If anyone is interested in getting a chapter/scene/what if written for them? Upload your drawings of the Sea3/4/5 tattoos on our facebook page, (at sign)DarkandTwistedSisters.

And now... Enjoy the chapter :)

(See the end of the chapter for Questions and song lists.)

A few days later...

At the knock at his door, Yensid places his cup of tea on the table. His eyes glance to the clock, trying to figure out which of his usual trio were showing up today. Carlos then, he smiles as he notes that it was still much too early for Hyades or T.

So he was pleasantly surprised when he opens the door to find both Carlos and Hyades. "Well now, isn't this a lovely surprise. Hyades, Carlos," He greets kindly, before he steps to the side, "Please do come in."

"Hey Yensid." Carlos grins as he walks in, "I needed to get D out of the hangout, so she kind of got dragged into this. Hope that's ok."

"Oh?" Yensid raises his brow, "Of course it is, any wondering mind is welcome to my home."

Hyades purses her lips to the side, "Got anything that might make me better at sewing?"

"Probably not enough to get to E's level." Carlos shrugs, "She doesn't let me fix my clothes either, don't take it personally."

Yensid covers his grin with a cough, "Young Evelyn does seem to have pretty high standards when it comes to domestic chores, but that isn't any reason to get discouraged. It just takes time and commitment."

"She gave me a sock and a fabric patch and took it away before I put the needle through the third time." Hyades pouts.

His hand comes up to cover this smile, "Ah, I see, that would be quite upsetting to be taken off a task before you even get a chance to start." He agrees with a nod of his head.

"She was just trying to help D. You wanted things to distract you... Well," He rubs the back of his neck, "She managed to distract you for the few minutes she let you try, and then the past two hours that you've been upset about it."

Yensid watches their interaction with a warmth in his chest. It was just wonderful to see two of his students comforting and helping each other in front of him. And quite entertaining to boot. He didn't want to judge any of his students in the slightest... But he could admit they were a tad boring with the way they had decided to stick so closely to the status quo of the isle. That had been exactly what he was afraid of when he signed up for the job. That his students would have their wills beaten out of them long before he ever got a chance to start unweaving the threads of anger, bitterness, and ignorance sown in by their parents at such young ages.

"She didn't have to call me hopeless..." Hyades glowers.

Carlos pats her shoulder awkwardly as he looks to Yensid with a silent plea in his eyes, "So um, I'm having a little bit of a problem with a machine I'm trying to fix, I was hoping maybe D could get back to writing where she's not being judged while I try to figure it out?"

Yensid turns slowly as he gestures to his home, "Hyades please make yourself at home while I assist Carlos with his latest endeavor." His eyes twinkling with delight.

Hyades drops her eyes to the floor, "Thank you."

Yensid swallows a sigh, it had been years since Hyades had started showing up to his house and it was the same every time he offered his home up as hers. It honestly hurt his heart every time he saw it. But all three of his little chicks, the children that made an effort to come to his home, had their idiosyncrasies that hurt him on a level to see. He could only imagine what they had to live with, well, them and the rest of the children on the isle. But obviously, these three had earned a special place in his heart. He found their love of knowledge invigorating, in a place that bred ignorance. "But of course young one." He smiles kindly at her.

She reaches into her bag and pulls out several sheets of loose paper, a worn notebook, and to his surprise a stone tablet.

"Are you still sending your letters set in stone?" He questions curiously, as he walks over to gather his bag of holding from the closet.

Hyades nods as she claims a seat at the table, "When I started writing the letters again I was worried that they might not be recognized if I stopped using the stone. So I got more."

"Very astute of you." Yensid nods in approval. Until she mentioned it, he wouldn't have thought about mentioning it to her in fear of discouraging her from her diligent task of learning to write on paper without setting it ablaze.

"She still isn't signing them." Carlos rolls his eyes as he pulls his project out and sets it on the table, one wrapped piece at a time.

Yensid chuckles, "As much as I believe Hyades should claim credit for her good doings, it's her choice at the end of the day to remain a ghostwriter."

Hyades smiles sadly, "I'm getting that a lot lately." She furrows her brow as she starts reading a page from her notebook.

Yensid lifts a brow, "Oh?" He looks over to Carlos for further explanation when she dismisses him.

"It has been an interesting month." Carlos shrugs.

"Understood." Yensid nods solemnly, having a hard time imagining what an interesting month was like for these particular children. "You said you were looking to fix something?" He opts to change the subject before he made either child uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it's a tattoo machine. I got most of the components stripped and cleaned, but I'm having a hard time with the part that attaches to the gun. Like I can't get the motor to catch correctly so the needle moves properly, I think it might be an issue with the coil."

Yensid's brow raises at the type of machine the timid boy was working on, curious if it was for himself or another, or just a random project he started. He found when it came to his two boys it was often hard to place why they were seeking what they were seeking. "Well, I don't think I brought any books about repair on that type of machine," He holds up his hand at the boy's instant disappointment, "But I'm sure I've got books you can use to get you in the right direction. It might not be as satisfying now, but, once you're able to apply what you can learn, it will be doubly so." He offers with a knowing smile. "And if anyone can figure it out without the specific books, I assure you, it's you." He adds sincerely as he starts pulling all the books about mechanics out of his bag.

Carlos blushes and looks down at the machine, focusing on laying the parts out properly, "Thanks Yensid."

"It's no problem at all, young sir." Yensid grins, "Always happy to help such an inquisitive young mind. And you're certainly the brightest of your age." He hands the books over to Carlos. "As I told Hyades, please make yourself comfortable while your working on your project. I hope you find what it is your looking for swiftly, I know it's a lot to sort through."

"Books have a sense to them that makes it easy to look for what I need." Carlos grins as he slides into the chair next to Hyades. He slowly starts laying out his rough collection of tools, most of them hand made by himself and Deez, though a few of the newer additions looked as if they'd been collected from the trash and repaired with glue and duct tape.

"I know the feeling." Yensid chuckles, "I felt that way for my first few decades myself." He admits with a smile. He could understand Carlos' dilemma. Books could be complex of course, but never as complicated as people.

Carlos laughs and shakes his head, "You say that like you're ancient or something."

Yensid's eyes twinkle with mischief, "Well, I'm certainly no spring chicken, am I?" He hadn't revealed his age to any of his little chicks. He wasn't sure how they would react to the actual number. T already called him an old man, as it was.

"He is." Hyades shrugs her shoulders before she looks up at Yensid with a half-smile, "I still haven't figured out how old though, but no one can know as much as you do and not be really old."

"A magician never reveals their secrets, and the elderly never reveal their true age." Yensid responds easily with amusement, "Do either of you want any tea?" He offers. "I'm going to refresh mine."

"Yes please." The two answer in tandem.

"Your usuals I presume?" Already heading to the kitchen. It wasn't like they'd ever changed up what they had chosen in the first place.

"I can help." Hyades offers as she stands and rushes after him.

"I would appreciate that." Yensid agrees.

"You should tell him what you did on the beach," Carlos calls after her before he cracks open the first book and starts reading.

Yensid turns to Hyades curiously, "Mind letting an old man in on your secret?"

"Are you talking about the forge or the cave?" Hyades asks in confusion.

"Both!" Carlos calls back, the duh as evident as it was silent.

Yensid lifts his brow. "And here I thought you're life was dull, and you needed distractions. What is this about a cave and forge?"

Hyades frowns, "The distractions are just until Ursula is done building whatever she's adding on to her shop. Gil can't get away like he used to."

"Ah." Yensid frowns when he realizes he'd accidentally stepped into something he hadn't meant too. It was like maneuvering a minefield with these children. He sometimes forgot that they were children with how they acted sometimes. But in times like this, it was obvious how young they really were. It was as endearing as it was heartbreaking. "That is a shame, I know how much the Wharf Rats mean to you." He says carefully. "That's really unfortunate news, sorry Hyades."

Hyades smiles at him as he hands her the teapot and she starts heating it, "But T came up with the idea that we could make our own swords. So I'm the forge, Carlos is the scientist-"

"Metallurgist." Carlos corrects as he continues to read.

"Yeah, that." Hyades rolls her eyes, "And Gil is the blacksmith."

Yensid's eyes widen, "Wait, I'm sorry you're..." He starts laughing. "Is that why T kept showing up asking for forging books? I thought it had been a weird request at the time... But to hear that he got it started, and the four of you managed to do it at all, even with your abilities, it's impressive. Do you have one on you? I'd love to see it." He adds with a delighted smile. The thought of them crossing bridges to work on anything, even if it was something as important as weapons, was impressive to him. Especially when he knew Gil was in a rival gang.

"Show him your sword C." Hyades grins as the teapot whistles. She sets it on the counter.

"Tell him about the cave D," Carlos responds as he stands up and unhooks his sword from his belt.

"Yes, you did mention a cave earlier too." Yensid chuckles at Carlos' enthusiasm. It was nice to see the way the two interacted like this. The site and air of playfulness so rarely seen and experienced here.

"After I joined Mal's gang I found a beach with a smallish cave in the cliffs. I was scared that it wasn't big enough if the tide came in, so I made it bigger."

"She melted it." Carlos quickly adds.

Yensid's eyes widen in surprise. "You melted stone?" He asks in surprise.

Hyades nods.

"Huh." Yensid hums in surprise. He knew she could get hot... But he never would have guessed she got hot enough to melt rock into magma. "And here you thought you had no control of your abilities when you've clearly had some type of control for years..." He finally chuckles at his own ignorance.

"See, that's exactly what I told her. Because T should be dead if that was the case, and well, yeah, we wouldn't be able to get that close to her."

"That is very true," Yensid admits with a rueful smile. And here he'd always assumed her fire was white and blue due to her circumstances. He had no idea she could burn the temperature of a white flame.

"So now I'm trying to see if I can make my fire spread without burning anything." Hyades shrugs.

Yensid claps at the news, "That's wonderful my dear." He smiles encouragingly. "You've come such a long way in such a short amount of time. That's quite the feat. I'm proud of you," He smiles at her, "Proud of both of you. You've both grown so much in what little time I've known you, and I'm not just talking the obvious."

Carlos and Hyades both end up blushing and looking away.

"You wanted to see my sword?" Carlos offers awkwardly as he holds it out.

"I'd love too actually." Yensid can't help his excitement as he reaches out and picks up the rapier in surprise. "I haven't seen one of these in years." He admits with a look of longing. His eyes sweeping over the blade in awe of it. These kids had clearly done both their research and homework on this one. He would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. It was pretty amazing that a bunch of teenagers had the dedication to make something so difficult. And they'd put in a lot of work. The weight of the blade seemed more balanced than most the swords he'd handled when he'd first come to the isle.

"Yeah, I saw it in one of the books T had, so we settled on this type of blade for most of us. Harry and Jay have heavier, thicker blades, like short swords. But Gil and Deez swords are gonna be really cool. They're gonna be like broadswords, but shorter."

"We made a lot of bad swords for months before we figured out what we were doing wrong. They used to shatter after a few hits. But now we're getting pretty good at them. We're going to make daggers too."

Yensid's eyes widen in surprise. "You four created more than just one style of blade?" He finds himself asking unable to keep the awe from his tone, and wouldn't want too even if he could. It was pretty incredible that they had managed to create something so wonderfully crafted from one of his books alone, with no practical assistance from an adult.

Hyades and Carlos frown, "Well yeah." Carlos shrugs, "One style didn't fit everyone."

"Of course," Yensid responds like that was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why wouldn't you think of that?" He questions himself. These kids were certainly going to do something great, even if it was ever only on this isle he was sure of it. Felt it in his bones. And that was before he ever even considered that T would gather a group to create the blades. It must have taken a ridiculous amount of coordination and subterfuge to accomplish that task. And then for Hyades to control her temperature enough to not warp the metal, and for Carlos to find the right measurements of steel to aluminum to whatever other metals they'd been able to scrape together. And then for Gil, a boy he'd only ever really seen from afar, to be able to smith something so classically beautiful, it was nothing short of astonishing. Individually they never would have been able to create a blade, but the four working together? Their work came out better than half the royal smiths in Auradon. And he wasn't sure any of them would ever understand how amazing that truly was.

"Carlos even figured out how to do washes on the metal to change the color." Hyades lightly shoulder checks him.

A snort escapes him before he can stop it, "Of course he did." He beams, "Why wouldn't he figure out a way to make sure Evie's blade matches her outfits," He nods like it's the most obvious thing in the world. He loved these kids so much, it hurt.

Hyades grins before she puts a hand against the teapot to heat the water again.

"I told you you'd feel better if we came over to talk to Yensid." Carlos whispers to Hyades with a smug smile, "Good girl." He pats her on the head. It was the least he could do for her without Gil around to help.

Yensid doesn't bother to hide his smile at the cute display of affection as he pours three cups of tea.

Carlos takes his and Hyades cup before he turns to walk back to the table, setting them in front of their seats.

"So they're well made?" Hyades asks quietly.

Yensid turns at the uncertainty in her tone. "I'm a lot of things my dear, but a liar is not among them." He assures her. "Any King or Prince could easily walk around with that blade, and never know, or guess the ages and how short supplied the smiths were. I am genuinely impressed by the work the four of you must have put into these blades. I'm shocked you were even able to get that much scrap metal, honestly."

"I can't wait to tell Gil." Hyades beams as she plops into her seat.

Carlos smiles as he goes back to the book he'd been reading. "T collected it all for us. Once he found out the Rats had a dingy things supplies started getting intense."

Yensid's eyes brighten at the thought. "I'm certain they did. From I know of the three of you, and I'm sure young Gil as well, you don't like giving up on something till it's finished or you find out it's impossible through trial and error. It's something I admire very much in the three- Well, I'm guessing four of you."

"I thought that was just stubbornness." Hyades frowns before she sips her tea.

"Any flaw can become a merit, just like any merit can become a flaw it's just how you view it. For instance, I wouldn't call it stubbornness as much as I would label it tenacity."

Carlos chuckles, "Well, I guess we got you caught up on almost everything that's been going on with us."

"And I appreciate you for sharing." Yensid grins with a smile that reaches his eyes, before they soften. "I am impressed by the four of you, so much so that if circumstances were different I would purchase one myself, but unfortunately the group of you are in much greater need of them than I am. I already made my stand when I first arrived here, and as you can see no longer need to worry about myself due to the points I made back then."

Carlos and Hyades turn to look at each other for a moment. Carlos had a feeling they were both thinking the same thing. One way or another, they were going to end up asking Gil to make something; and extra sword or a dagger... Something. His eyes linger on a staff hanging on the wall over the door. What about a staff? That sounded wizardly. And what better way to thank the man who'd literally helped them with everything they'd ever asked him about that to bring their combined knowledge to bear on a single crafted item.

He flicks his eyes to the wall and waits for Hyades to do the same. The smile on her lips was all the confirmation he needed.

Notes:

Hello again,

What did you guys think of Carlos and Deez's visit to Yensid? Do you like when we write from his point of view?

What did you think of his musings?

Did you like the way we ended on Carlos' point of view? What do you think of him and Deez wanting to thank Yensid like that?

And we're sorry we dropped the song list ball, but here are three lists. Jay's should have been included in the last chapter, as well as our book club anthems, and Carlos was in this chapter, so yay.

Jay;

Talking to myself- Linkin Park

I get Wicked- Thousand Foot Krutch

Courtesy Call- Thousand Foot Krutch

Got Your Six- Five Finger Death Punch

Invisible- Linkin Park

Feel Invincible- Skillet

You're Going Down- Sick Puppies

When the Seasons Change- Five Finger Death Punch

This is gonna hurt- Sixx: A.M.

When you come around- Papa Roach

When the seasons change- Five Finger Death Punch

Book Club Anthems

RX- Theory of a Deadman

Something Just Like This- The Chainsmokers and Coldplay

Alone Together- Fall Out Boy

Dirty Little Secrets- All American Rejects

Welcome to my Life- Simple Plan

Teenagers- My Chemical Romance

I'm not okay- My Chemical Romance

Too Loud- Icon for Hire

We are Gonna be Friends- The White Stripes

Come with me now- The Kongos

Be my Escape- Relient K

Carlos

Clear the Air- Off with Their Heads

Heathens- Twenty One Pilots

Technologic- Daft Punk

You're gonna go far Kid- The Offspring

Boulevard of Broken Dreams- Green Day

I Hate Everything About You- Three Days Grace

Pain- Three Days Grace

Break- Three Days Grace

Get Out Alive- Three Days Grace

I am Machine- Three Days Grace

Still Hungry- Adelitas Way

Bully- Shinedown

Miracle- Shinedown

It has Begun- Starset

Human- Rag'n'bone

Doubt- Twenty One Pilots

Polarized- Twenty One Pilots

So What? Three Days Grace

Just Like You- Three Days Grace