Dedicated To Disney

30: Villains And Answers

While we waited for news on how the castle escapade was going, I wanted to make sure my sister was okay. At that point, nobody felt that splitting up was smart, so Zeke and Marcus came with me.

The whole way to VillaVillains, we didn't encounter a single security guard. It actually made me more nervous than if we did. Why weren't there any around? I felt like prey standing in an open field. Somewhere, a hunter could be watching and waiting, gun loaded and aimed.

I'd only been to VillaVillains a few times but I really did enjoy the atmosphere. Halloween was my favorite holiday and I always got that vibe walking through the gateway. I had never been there at night though. The black lamp posts were glowing, the light casting over the spray painted faces of villains on the pathway. There was no villain music playing because the park was closed, leaving us in a heavy silence.

Yeah. I didn't like being there at night. Daytime, sure. Nighttime was a no-no.

I searched for Mary-Ann, taking care to avoid eye contact with all of the villains who moved to stand right beside their glass cases and stare. Ursula was the only character not paying us any attention. She knew we were trying to help so I was certain that she would be one of the few villains to agree to our plan.

We walked past so many glaring villains - Maleficent, Gaston, Dr. Facilier, Governor Ratcliffe, Shan Yu, even Shere Khan was there - and I started to feel uncomfortable under the gazes. Working every day with them had to be hard. No wonder when I had asked Zeke at the beginning of my time here who his favorite villain was, he said he couldn't answer because they were all menaces.

"Mary-Ann?" I half-called, half-whispered.

"Here!" a voice piped up from around a corner.

I picked up my pace and found her standing in front of an exhibit marked Hades.

It was so surreal seeing a god standing there behind the glass, hair blazing with bright blue flames. He was scowling at my sister, but his hair wasn't red, so that was a good sign.

"...so will you?" Mary-Ann was asking.

Hades' eyes moved to Zeke, Marcus, and I as we approached. Mary-Ann turned to look too. She smiled a little when she saw us.

"How's it going over here?" Zeke asked.

"It's been interesting," she said. "I've been threatened more times than I can count. Usually I'm the one doing the threatening."

"Who's agreed to help?"

She pulled out her cellphone and opened up a note app. "I made a list. It's pretty short but we've got Ursula, Maleficent, Captain Hook, Cruella de Vil, Jafar, Mother Gothel, Hans, Gaston, and Scar. The rest kind of want us dead for this happening in the first place. There were a couple who said they would help if they could. Lady Tremaine said she would if she weren't so "old and fragile" and than the Evil Queen said she doesn't want to mess up her appearance. But they at least are more on our side. The rest...I don't know. They'll be a pain to get to the portal if they try attacking anybody and anything."

"Yeah..." I glanced around. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"And you?" Zeke asked Hades. "What's your answer?"

"I don't necessarily miss the underworld right now," he said, arms crossed, "but a god does not belong in a cage. I have things I need to do."

"And souls you need to damn," Marcus muttered behind me.

"So...is that a yes?"

Hades narrowed his eyes and looked between the four of us for a minute before straightening his stance. He was intimidating, that was for sure. "Yes. I suppose I'll help, but only as long as word about this doesn't get to Zeus and those other insufferable immortals."