Chapter Text
“You really want to do this?”
“We have no choice, Ben! Our parents-“
“Your parents made their choice, now you make yours."
“I want to be… evil!"
Carlos de Vil awoke in a cold sweat, memories echoing in his mind. Somewhere nearby a creature howled a mournful cry to the night. Despite the heat of the jungle, he shivered in his arboreal hiding spot. He’d only been in this wild place on the edge of Auradon for a few days and every hour brought new dangers. He’d already had to scare away a giant snake from his perch earlier in the night.
Still, it was all better than the alternative.
Six months ago, during Prince Ben’s coronation, Mal had chosen to fulfill her mother’s plan. The barrier to the Isle of the Lost was gone, and villains poured forth over the unsuspecting kingdoms. The pillaged and burned and did their best to ruin everything good. Maleficent’s reign had begun in fire and destruction. At one point in time it would have been everything Carlos had wanted, but that life had passed away. Now he had chosen a new path and was living with the consequences of choosing good. The most prominent being his current status as a fugitive, but others took the shape of curses and nightmares with angry voices and a sickly green light. Even now he could imagine the sound of a scream echoing in the woods.
“Wait, my imagination isn’t that good,” Carlos thought to himself. He turned his head back and forth searching for the source of the sound. He had managed to sleep through most of the night, and the eastern horizon was just beginning to lighten with the approach of day. He heard a sharp hiss and began to recognize the muffled drone of two familiar voices talking to each other in the undergrowth.
“Jasper and Horace,” the young man thought drearily. His mother’s cronies had followed him since he’d passed through Agrabah two months ago. While he had always managed to escape their clutches, they were adept at staying on his trail. “Why can’t I lose you two?”
“Aw, Jasper, what’d we do to get a bother like this?” the shorter of the men asked, “It’s hot, and it’s dark, and we been trailing the little runt for weeks now!”
“Horace, I don’ wanna hear about it! If you got the gumption to go all the way back to the castle in Auroria City and tell that dragon lady you don’t like the job, then good like to you, mate!” Jasper growled back as the two lackeys passed under the tree in which Carlos had hid. The teen began to slowly slink down behind the branches, staying on the far side of the trunk from his pursuer.
“You’re not supposed ta call it that,” Horace responded calmly.
“Eh?” the skinny man barked as he scanned the trees around them.
“It’s not ‘Auroria City’ no more. Its Malefiville.”
“Come off it, no it’s not!” Jasper chided as he glanced down at his brother, “She said it was Malevopolis.”
“Nah, you’re wrong!” the shorter man shoved Jasper with his shoulder.
“You nitwit! don’t you start with me tonigh-“Jasper grabbed Horace by the collar and pulled him closer to punch him but stopped abruptly. His brother struggled in the other’s grasp and finally broke away, “Shhh… you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Horace brushed off his jacket and glared at Jasper.
Jasper stepped away from Horace and stared into the jungle. He narrowed his eyes at the underbrush where Carlos had managed to reach during the argument. The young boy held his breath and watched terrified as the man searched the woods.
“I can’t see nothing, hand me the torch.”
The bright light hit Carlos before he could crouch down further. The two men started as the light reflected in his eyes, and he bared his teeth at them. It took a moment for recognition to set in.
“It’s him, Horace, it’s the little cur!” Jasper nearly dropped the flashlight and grabbed it just as his brother rushed into him. The two fell into a pile, and Carlos bolted from the undergrowth. The fugitive charged off into the woods, “No! no! After him!”
Having spent most of the night fitfully sleeping wedged in a tree, Carlos was exhausted. He still hurled through the jungle, jumping over roots and fallen logs or weaving in between grasping branches. He didn’t know where he was heading, but thought only of escaping. Even with his lack of sleep and sore body, he realized that his pursuers were in even worse condition. He paused in a clearing for a moment to catch his breath, the sound of Horace and Jasper still in the distance. He turned to continue his escape when in the brightening light of morning he spotted the trap.
The city life of the Isle was about as far as you could get from this jungle, both literally and figuratively, but Carlos found his instinct for danger was just as sharp in this environment. Back alleys and rickety warehouses held their own surprises that taught the young quickly how to spot trouble before it spotted you. Someone had set up a pit trapped in this small clearing and hastily covered it in large leaves. The leaf arrangement was enough of an oddity that he’d been able to spot the danger, but realized with a shudder how close he’d come to falling in.
A snap of twigs nearby reminded him of the two men following him. With a deep breath Carlos backed up and then hurled himself across the trap. He thought for a moment he’d misjudged the size of the hole, but thankfully his foot hit solid ground and he gracefully tumbled to safety. With a flourish, he spun around just as Jasper and Horace came crashing into the small clearing.
“All right, boy, you’ve had your fun,” Jasper spoke in a low, dangerous voice even while breathing heavily, “but now it’s time to come home with us!”
“You know what...” Carlos said thoughtfully and broke into a smile, “You’re right.”
“Wha…?” the two men blinked at him.
“You got me. I can’t out run you so I might as well go with you.”
Jasper frowned suspiciously, but Horace looked extremely relieved.
“Finally, a bit o’ luck,” the shorter man said as he stepped forward. His brother’s eyes widened, and Jasper reached forward to grab the other man’s shoulder.
“Now wait a minute Horaaaaa~aaaace!” Horace broke through the leaf covering of the pit trap, and the taller man lost his balance in his lunge to catch him. The two tumbled down and Carlos leaned over carefully to look at them in a pile down at the bottom.
“On second thought, I can always outsmart you,” he beamed at them. The young man spun happily around to continue his escape and stopped abruptly as a spear point was jabbed into his face.
“But what will you do when someone outsmarts you?”