Rise of the Isle of the Lost (Descendants 3)

“Ugh. Come on. It’s Shrimpy,” said Mal. “It’s always Shrimpy.” She told Evie about her long, nasty history with Uma.

“You know Uma’s mostly mad because you said she was too small to be in our gang,” Jay reminded her.

“But she was too small to be in our gang,” said Mal defensively.

“She’s not that small,” said Carlos. “There was a height requirement?”

“Mal just didn’t want to share,” said Jay with a grin.

Mal shrugged, but Jay was right: she hadn’t wanted Uma to be part of her crowd. She’d pushed her away, even though Uma was fiercer than Ginny Gothel and much scarier than Harriet Hook. The truth was, Uma was real competition, and Mal hadn’t wanted any of that back then.

Evie squinted at the picture of Uma in the magic mirror. “Why do you hate her so much?”

Mal was taken aback. “I don’t hate her. Actually, since we’ve been in Auradon, I’d forgotten all about her. She’s the one who’s always been obsessed with me.”

Carlos and Jay nodded. “Uma loathes Mal,” said Carlos.

“I mean, I get it, you dumped a bucket of shrimp on her head. You can’t be her favorite person,” said Evie. “But it’s also not any different from what people on the Isle do to each other every day. Couldn’t she get over it?”

Mal smiled ruefully at the memory of that fateful day. “I think it bothered her more because we were close once, best friends actually. But then she…”

“She laughed at you,” said Carlos, who had turned away from the magic mirror and had zipped open his backpack to get a head start on his homework. “I was with my mom that day at the docks. I saw what happened. Uma laughed at you when you tripped and fell and slid down the dock.”

“Yeah, I didn’t like it,” said Mal, eyes glazing at the memory. “So I took my revenge. Her hair never smelled the same again. In fact it smelled…”

“Shrimpy,” Jay said with a laugh.

Evie shuddered, thinking of how terrible that would be. “Yikes.”

“I wasn’t the nicest perso

n back then,” said Mal, frowning at the image in the magic mirror.

“You were only doing what you were taught,” said Evie supportively. “What we were all taught on the Isle.” She picked up a piece of fruit from Jay’s tray and took a bite, glad that it was fresh and not rotten like they were used to on the island.

“But how does she think she’s going to find that trident? She doesn’t have a magic mirror at her disposal, like we do,” said Jay.

“Maybe everyone who’s looking for it is working for her?” guessed Evie.

“No, the goblins only work for themselves,” said Mal. “The only ones who could possibly be loyal to her are the pirates.”

“A bunch of thieves and thugs,” said Jay.

“Harry and Gil? You used to run with them,” Carlos chided. “Didn’t you?”

“I sure did,” admitted Jay. “That’s how I know they’re all a bunch of scoundrels.”

“But if any of them found it, they’d definitely give it to Uma,” said Mal. “They always follow orders. Especially Harry Hook.”

“We don’t have much time; King Triton will notice the trident’s missing by tomorrow, so we need to get it back tonight,” said Evie.

“And Uma’s after it, so you all know what that means.” Mal stood up from the table, ready to take action.

“We need to find it before she does,” said Evie.

“And hurry,” added Carlos.

Jay smiled. “Here we go again.”