So, I initially wrote this for one of my other stories, but then I thought it could explain why a certain three in my stories are always dead. This 'prologue' will be the explanation for their deaths (even though one is alive in the Isle of the Lost books), then the rest of the story will go with 'A Trip to the Past'.

For those of you that came to this story from 'A Trip to the Past', thank ya!

Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants.

Enjoy.

This story is not one that should be taken lightly, even more so since it happened on the Isle of the Lost. Three people died from the same illness and one child somehow managed to survive. Know this, the disease is neither hereditary nor contagious. No one really knows how it came to be, or how others caught this rare ailment. For a while now people thought only adults could get this sickness, until one teenage girl at the mere age of sixteen contracted it.

Before we begin, let's go back in time to nine years. Nine years ago the disease had targeted a third victim. The first died the year before. The second, the husband of the third, died about six months before.

The third victim, believe it or not, had a bad life. She was the youngest of her sister and step-sister, so none of them took her seriously. When her step-sister married her charming husband, she had been stuck with a majority of the chores. On the one-year anniversary of her step-sister's marriage, she found a magic wand that her mother used to turn back time, make the daughter fit a shoe, and have the step-sister's husband fall in love with her.

The daughter eventually revolted against her mother and everything became right again. The sister became accepted with her step-sister and she had fallen in love with the town baker. They were even planning a wedding with the help of her mother. However, King Beast started his law that all villains shall live on the Isle of the Lost. King Beast deemed that she was a villain since she had stole the wand and caused the fiasco in the first place.

When she about to be moved to the prison, the baker practically begged the royal to let him join her after trying to make him change his mind about forcing her to go. The king agreed, even though he couldn't understand why the baker would want to be with a villain. As soon as all the villains arrived on the dreadful island, they had her wedding because one of the villains happened to be a sort of preacher.

The daughter had a fallen out with her sister a month into living on the isle. The sister blamed her for them being there. If she had married the step-sister's husband then they wouldn't be in the mess in the first place. The sister hadn't talk to her since, even when the daughter was sick.

The daughter's name is Anastasia Tremaine, daughter of Lady Tremaine, sister of Drizella and Cinderella, and the wife of the deceased baker.

Four years into her marriage, she had a son named Anthony Tremaine. He has his mother's hair, his father's eyes, but neither of their looks. He was the second handsomest boy on the Isle, second only to Jay, the son of Jafar. The child was spoiled because he was the only grandson of Lady Tremaine.

Now, we shall continue the story with Jafar walking to the mansion with his son, Jay, holding his hand and Mal, the daughter of Maleficent, holding his other. Jafar was going to make it a quick simple trip, but the children wanted to see Lady Tremaine. You see, the reason he was going to the mansion was to make sure what Anastasia had was truly the Disease. His wife had been the first victim and poor Jay was heartbroken when she passed. The mention of his mother is enough to make him sob and cry.

"You must be on your best behavior," Jafar chided the two evil children. "Lady Tremaine will not be in the best of moods since Anastasia is not well."

"Does she have the same thing as Momma?" Seven year old Jay wondered with his curious mind.

"I hope not," the ex-adviser of the Sultan confessed. "But that is why we are visiting her because you and I have the most experience with it."

"We can cheer up Lady Tremaine!" Mal insisted with a chubby cheek smile.

"You need to cheer up Anthony," the father corrected carefully. "He already lost his father and he may be losing his mother. He will be in an even worse mood than his grandmother."

"We'll make his mood better," Jay reassured his father. "Or at least the best we can while being on this island."

"Good." They came within eye-sight of the Tremaine mansion, where the elder was already waiting at the door. "Now children, put on the best smile that you can. I know you have little experience, but try your best."

As instructed, Mal and Jay mimicked a smile that they remembered seeing on one of the two channels that they have on the Isle. Jay showed a little of his teeth in his smile while Mal showed none. It was the best they could do and it was quite convincing.

"Hello Jafar," Lady Tremaine greeted once they were closer to her. "Children, Anthony is upstairs in his room, two doors down the hall on the left. He'll be glad to have someone to play with and distract his mind."

As soon as she finished speaking, the children raced to the finish line, leaving the adults in the dust.

"How is Anastasia?" Jafar questioned in a quiet voice so the children couldn't overhear as they walked into the enormous house.

"She's getting worse," Lady Tremaine answered in the same tone. "She can hold little food and drink little to no water for a couple days at a time. She has a high fever, but she claims she's freezing. She claimed it was like she was in the middle of a snow storm with no jacket to keep her warm."

"Have you tried getting her to sit-up?" Jafar wondered, slowly climbing the stairs to match Lady Tremaine's speed. "Or maybe stand?"

The elder woman shook her head. "She's been laying in her bed since she's first felt ill. We can have her try when we get to her room."

Once they were in her room, Jafar held his breath at the sight. Poor Anastasia was surrounded in mounds of blankets, her red hair appeared dull, and her skin was gray. She heard the footsteps enter the bedroom and turned her head slightly. She put on a brave smile. "Hello Jafar. Mother didn't tell me you, your son, and Mal were visiting today. I would have made myself more presentable if I kew-"

"Can you sit-up?" He interrogated a little impatiently.

Anastasia, knowing what he was doing, tried her hardest to do what she was asked. At first, she tried using her legs, but they wouldn't respond to her. After a few moments, she finally used her elbows to move herself up.

"Can you stand?"

With a sigh, she removed the blankets that covered her and tried to move her legs. For the life of her, her legs would not move. Eventually she had to manually move her legs to the side of the bed and forced herself up to stand.

"Can you walk?" He wondered even more impatiently. "It doesn't need to be far. Just a step or two will be fine."

With another sigh, Anastasia tried to will herself to move forward. After a few moments, she grumbled something under her breath.

"What did you say?" Jafar questioned calmly. "I couldn't hear you clearly."

"I. . .can't," she spoke slightly louder and slightly shaky. "My legs. . . they feel numb. I can't make them do anything."

The less powerful sorcerer held his breath once again before quickly reassuring, "That's perfectly fine." He waited until Anastasia was back in her bed and was once again covered in the blankets before wondering, "Do you feel tired?"

"Very tired," she agreed with a small yawn. "I think I'll tell my Anthony good-night before I go to sleep. Can you tell him to come here for me?"

"As you wish."

Jafar and Lady Tremaine walked out of the bedroom to give the ill girl some rest. He silently closed the door before muttering just as quietly, "How long has she been sick?"

"Today is the sixth day," Lady Tremaine answered honestly. "She didn't send a letter to Auradon for help. She thought they wouldn't have helped her."

"She should have, just like the other two should have." He leaned against the wall with a sigh. "When my wife was sick, she didn't make it to the seventh day."

"What do you think?" The mother questioned concerned. "Will she make it?"

"Let's just say, she may not wake in the morning."

The next morning, Lady Tremaine checked on her daughter. She screamed in fright and cried in sorrow. Anastasia had no pulse. She died in her sleep just like her husband and Jafar's wife.

Now, we will go nine years in the future-

Where a fourth victim had been picked.

Cliffhanger! Check out 'A Trip to the Past' next week!