Here's Chapter 2. Hope you all enjoy and remember to review at the end of the chapter. Happy reading!
Chapter 2: I'll make you happy
Isle of the Lost
2003
Cruella de Vil held the small toddler firmly underneath her coat, making absolute sure her son was always by her side.
She entered the mausoleum-like building of Dragon Hall, looking around in utter distaste at the moss that started to grow on the barren walls.
" Mama, where are we?", Carlos asked her quietly.
" Your future school", Cruella answered," Now get back in there. I don't want people seeing you with me".
Carlos ducked his head back inside his mother's coat, holding on tightly to his mother's dress strap.
The sound of heels against stone floors resonated through the empty halls. Carlos would occasionally peek out of his mother's coat to see various goblins at work at fixing leaks and placing school items in certain areas. He watched them until his mother entered a small room where a tall man in a blue robe stood waiting for them.
" Hello Ms. de Vil", the man's deep voice made Carlos shrink back.
" Master Yen Sid", Cruella sneered.
" I assume you brought your son with you", Yen Sid said warily.
Cruella shifted her coat to reveal a wide-eyed Carlos who stared frightened of his surroundings. She rolled her eyes at her son's cowardice behaviour.
" He's a squealer", Cruella drawled.
Master Yen Sid nodded before taking a seat behind the table," Please. Take a seat and let's discuss the matter at hand".
" Wait", Cruella interrupted," Is there a place I can leave Carlos while we talk about this?".
Yen Sid pointed at the door behind him. Cruella hastily went into the room and placed Carlos down on the floor.
" Mama...", Carlos said reaching out to her.
" I'll be back in five minutes. Don't break anything", Cruella said slamming the door, leaving Carlos alone in the room.
It resembled an old wizard's workshop, with various books and potions organised neatly in a row, pile or stack. On the table was a small table that was lit by a melting candlestick and was covered in various books. But what caught Carlos' eye was the blue sorcerer's hat that sat idly on the edge of the table.
Carlos' eyes sparkled as he tried to reach out for the hat. He unsuccessfully tried jumping up to retrieve it but stumbled back before falling on his hide.
He whimpered slightly before hearing the sound of someone entering through a portal. Carlos panicked, looking around for any sort of sanctuary to hide from the intruder.
He ducked under the workshop table, hugging his knees towards his chest. He silently breathed until he heard the footsteps get even louder until he saw the sight of bright yellow shoes enter the room.
" Hello? Master Yen Sid? Huh, must've gone somewhere", the intruder said.
The intruder skipped past Carlos who hid even deeper under the table. He carefully watched the intruder circle the room like how his mother explained to him how dogs attack.
" Kinda stuffy in here. I wish Master would learn a thing or two about dustin'. Now, where would I be if I were a magical paintbrush", the intruder's high-pitched voice said thoughtfully.
Unfortunately for Carlos, the intruder stopped in front of him, where above on the table was the sorcerer's hat.
" Huh, I wonder if this old thing still works", the intruder said fondly, reaching up and successfully grabbing the hat.
" Let's see, I'll need a bit of help. Where are the brooms?", the intruder asked himself.
Carlos silently watched the intruder walked towards a broom. But what caught his eye was the thin line for a tail that followed behind the intruder that told the white-haired boy this intruder wasn't human.
" Alrighty then, brooms... get to work!", the intruder yelled as sparks flew out of his large gloved hands.
Carlos itched back in shock as he saw the broom gain arms and life. The creature fistbumped it like he was an old friend. Carlos looked in awe as it grabbed a bucket and began to clean the workshop of its dust and debris. It was magic in his young mind, and magic in general, nothing would've brought him out of his stupor.
Except the broom.
Unfortunately, the broom had begun to clean under the table, causing Carlos to shriek in fear and scurry away, but not before noticing the intruder had seen him. Before either the broom or intruder could catch him, he crawled under the sofa, shaking in fear.
Tears ran down the poor toddler's face as he saw the intruder come closer. He huddled so deep into the couch, the creature couldn't reach him.
" I didn't know Master Yen Sid had a kid. Oswald's gonna flip if he hears about this", the intruder said as he tried to peek at the fearful toddler.
" Hello there, lil' fella. Are you okay? Didn't mean to give ya a fright there", the intruder said softly.
In Carlos' head, he imagined he would've been gobbled up by the intruder if he were to fall for his 'false sweetness', just like Little Red Riding Hood fell for the Big Bad Wolf's charm just to almost get eaten in the end.
" Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. I'd rather erase myself than hurt a kid. Please come out lil' one", the intruder begged.
The intruder stuck his hand under the couch, far enough for Carlos to see but not close enough to touch him. The de Vil boy found himself invested in the large, clean white gloves that covered the intruder's hand.
Maybe he could risk getting eaten just to see what this intruder looked like, to ease his small curious mind. He took the hand as it slowly helped him out from under the couch. When Carlos finally got out, the first thing he saw was the intruder's eyes.
They were big and filled with so much warmth and happiness that Carlos immediately forgot what he was scared of. The intruder sent the boy a friendly smile that brightened his round face.
" Hello there", the creature said warmly," Do you know who I am?", he asked.
Carlos shook his head, but continued to look up and down at the creature, who he noticed was a mouse but strangely enough, wore pants, gloves and shoes like it was normal. But what did a two year-old know about what was normal?
" Say, where's your parents? You should be with your parents lil' one", the intruder asked.
Carlos pointed to the door where his mother had walked out with the scary man from earlier.
" Maybe their with Master Yen Sid", the creature said to himself before he looked back to Carlos.
He frowned slightly, seeing Carlos' thin, frail body, with his clothes barely covering his body. His mind linked back to the fact that he was on an island prison, a place he wasn't supposed to be in in the first place. He still remembered why he was against the Isle in the first place, now it just gave him more reasons.
Since it seemed like the child's parents weren't coming back soon, the mouse opted to play with the child for a bit, to get his mind of the Isle and the King of Auradon.
" Say kid, ever heard of hopscotch?", the mouse asked.
He grabbed a piece of chalk from behind his hammerspace, which fascinated Carlos and caused the boy to giggle excitedly.
The mouse drew several numbers and blocks onto the moldy wooden floors. Carlos watched in curiosity as his new creature friend hopped inside the blocks until he came back to him.
" Now you try", the mouse said handing Carlos the pebble he found earlier," Now just throw it on a number, hop until there and once ya get the pebble back, you hop right back to me".
Carlos eagerly took the pebble, throwing it as it landed squarely onto a seven.
" Now hop like a bunny", the mouse said.
Carlos was nearly at seven until he tripped over the crack in the floorboards. He fell flat on his stomach before whimpering in pain. It wasn't until he felt his friend pick him and cradle him gently did he stop.
" Shh... it's okay. See, not even a scratch! Ya must've just gotten spooked, that's all", the mouse said," But you should always get right back on ya feet whenever you fall or when someone pushes you down. Don't ever let anyone harm ya spirit buddy. Just... keep moving forward, that's what my dad always told me", he said optimistically, pulling Carlos up to his feet.
The mouse noticed the floorboard had slightly loosened, to reveal a hidden compartment under the floorboard.
" See! Your accident just helped me find what I was looking for", the mouse said as he pulled out a large paintbrush, almost as big as himself.
A small ringing sound emerged, until a voice emerged from the mouse's pocket.
" Mickey. Mickey, you there?"
The mouse pulled out the small walkie-talkie from his pocket and said," Yeah Ozzie, I'm here. What's up?".
" What's up?! I'll tell you 'what's up'. Mad Doctor, Phantom Blot. ToonTown. Ring a bell, little brother?"
The calm expression on the mouse's face dropped as he remembered why he came here in the first place. He looked towards Carlos, feeling guilty that he had to leave him here, in this awful place.
" Don't worry, Oz. I'll be there soon. Tell Julius and Bugs to cover for me until I get there", the mouse said quickly," I just gotta do one more thing...".
A sigh was heard through the walkie-talkie," Alright. But hurry up! We need the paintbrush".
The walkie-talkie switched off, leaving nothing but silence in there.
" Friend leaving?", Carlos asked quietly, surprising Mickey.
" Yeah, my friends back at home need me", the mouse replied.
Suddenly, Carlos ran up to him, tears streaming down his face as he held onto the mouse's shorts.
" Don't leave! Stay! Stay! Friend must stay!", Carlos weeped.
" I'm sorry kiddo. But there's bad people who need a good talkin' to back home", the mouse said.
" Talk with Mama", Carlos exclaimed.
" Why?", the mouse asked curiously.
" Mama bad too", Carlos said quietly," Killed animals".
" Cruella de Vil", the mouse murmured.
" Talk with Mama", Carlos repeated.
He felt so sick, not because of who's the child's mother, but bebecause he felt like he was abandoning something so valuable on this chunk of rock. There was nothing more that he wanted than to take him to ToonTown and raise him as his own. But... that would be unfair to Cruella. He wished there was more he could do help ease the child's misery.
" Say kid, what's your name?", he asked.
" Carlos", the boy answered quietly.
" Well Carlos, this is definitely not the last time we'll see each other. You may not realise it, but I get attached to things pretty quickly, and I'm very attached to you. So I want you to have these", the mouse pulled out a bunch of plush toys from behind his back before handing them to Carlos who looked at them in awe.
" This is Minnie, my girlfriend, she's beautiful, ain't she? This is Donald and Daisy, they're always together, so they should always be together. This is my pal Goofy, sweet fella, makes a mean hot dog I tell ya. This is Pete, a bit of butthead but he has a sweet side, his son is friends with Goofy's son. This is me, obviously, nobody can match such perfection as I can. And last but definitely not least, my older brother, Oswald. Now listen Carlos, I don't care in what state my doll is in, Oswald must always be protected and by my side. Because without him, I'd be a nobody. Please take of him and everyone else. And in return, one day... we'll meet again. Can you do that for me? Can you take care of my friends?".
Carlos nodded vigorously, eagerly taking the plushies and moving back to stare at his new friend. He moved towards a black hole against the wall that Carlos hadn't seen before. Just before he could walk through, the toddler called him back.
" What's your name?", Carlos asked curiously.
The mouse smiled sheepishly," Oops! I forgot to introduce myself", he said embarrassed.
He walked towards Carlos, getting down on one knee with his hand sticking out for a handshake.
" The name's Mickey. Mickey Mouse", Mickey said kindly before getting back to the black hole.
" Come play again Mickey", Carlos said excitedly," Bye!".
Mickey smiled sadly and waved at the grinning toddler.
" See ya real soon"
2015
Isle of the Lost
Carlos was quickly packing everything into a trashbag. He had at least 20 minutes before his mother came to check on him and exactly a half an hour until the limousine to Auradon arrived. He needed to make sure he had everything he considered important going with him, for comfort. Which included the mysterious plushies he received when he was just a toddler.
After 12 years, his memory of the event were foggy, but he remembered the figure's eyes, warm eyes that made all fear come to a standstill.
He kept his promise. He took care of them, especially Oswald. They were special, he was special. He made him feel safe. Not safe like his friends make hin feel but... it's safe and that was all that mattered.
He still doesn't believe what he saw, believing 'Friend' (for the life of him, he could only remember Oswald's name) to be nothing but an imaginary friend.
It was illogical, how a gigantic talking cartoon mouse would exist in the same world as he. Yes, he knew magic existed... but cartoon characters were just illogical... and nothing would change his mind.
Until one faithful day a few months after Prince Ben's coronation...
Everything he thought he knew would change.
End of Chapter 2