Ellie's Flames BOOK 2

19: Night at the Museum

After Sera got a turn to punch Gothel, Pitch, and Cruella in the noses, we had Endora transport them through the barrier, back to the Isle of the Lost. 

"Say your goodbyes, villains-who-will-never-ever-get-off-that-dumb-trash-bin-ever-again." Endora tells the three villains sweetly, twirling her wand in circles. 

"Mff." Pitch grumbles. Gothel glares at me, and Cruella's muffled wails about her clothes pierce our ears. 

"Yeah, okay, get 'em outta here." Sera complains, rubbing her ear. "But please tell me they'll be transported into a pile of garbage or something."

Dori smirks. "What do you think?"

"Pile of animal poop from Clayton's exotic zoo!" Sera claps her hands. "PLEASE."

"Mffff!" All three villains protest. 

"Wuzzat?" Sera holds a hand to her ear. "Can't hear y'all! Was that a yes?"

"MFFF!"

"It's a yes!" Dori agrees, waving her wand. Golden glitter gathers around the three, and they vanish with an explosion of sparkles. 

Sera sighs contentedly. "Man, I wish I could see their faces."

"Oh, please, you act like I'm a basic fairy." Endora waves her wand again, and the air shimmers in front of us. Carlos puts his arm on my shoulder to hold himself up from laughter as a vision of Cruella, Gothel, and Pitch covered in manure appears in front of us. 

"Ohhh, Clayton's not going to be happy." Dori points to the side, where we can see an overweight guy holding a shotgun yelling at them. 

"Should we be worried that he has a shotgun?" I wonder. 

"Nah, it's never loaded." Carlos assures me. 

"And, now that I think on it---why does he have an exotic zoo? Didn't he like killing things?" I remember from my Villains book when I was looking for Pitch with Carlos. 

"Yeah, but he's not allowed to. " Dad snorts. "This was the middle ground. Don't worry his only 'exotic' animals are the three or four dogs who stay with him. And the occasional rat."

Ben smiles nervously. "Well, now that that's done... Ellie, you're sure you can control your powers. please don't fry my eyebrows!" he says before I can do anything. 

I laugh. "Don't worry, I'd only do that to my dad. Yes, I'm positive I can control all my powers now. Booger Brain helped see to that."

"Question---how'd he get off the Isle in the first place?" Sera asks. 

"Probably because he placed that dumb curse on his name." Dori tucks her wand away into whatever void it disappears to. I do the same with mine, and she smiles at me. "But now that Icy's broken that, and I've doubled security on the Isle, he and his accomplices should stay."

Carlos sighs with relief. "Please. I'm so sick of villains escaping that dumb place."

"You and me both." Ben agrees. "But, now that we're on the subject---Mal and Evie had an idea that I want to talk to you guys about. Well... you and Sera, anyways."

"Yeah?" Sera moves forward, watching Ben curiously. "Wha'bout me an' Carlos?"

"And Endora, too, if she wants. And Brit, Gil, Arson..." Dad shakes his head. "Basically any Isle kid."

"Well, Icy here's an Isle kid." Sera grabs my shoulder, jerking me against her in her own version of a hug. "Wha'bout her?"

"Ellie didn't grow up on the Isle, so she wouldn't know anyone there." Dad explains. "Now, if you'll all follow Ben, he'll explain it all." he ushers Dori, Sera, and Carlos over to Ben. "i'd like to have a word with my daughter."

He puts his arm around my shoulder, steering me away from the group. I don't fight, and I wave goodbye to my friends as Dad leads me out of earshot.

"Is there a particular reason it feels like you're kidnapping me?" I ask innocently. 

"Oh, shush." Dad scolds. "I just wanted to show you something."

"Where?"

"The Museum of Cultural History."

"Cool, but, can I change first?" I gesture down to my salt-water-soaked outfit, knee-cut-and-also-blood-covered jeans, and only now do I realize I'm missing a shoe. "And can we do this tomorrow morning, as it's past closing time?"

"No." Dad takes hold of my elbow. 

"Ugh! Fine." I throw my hands in the air, but take hold of his arm all the same. A second later, the world vanishes behind shadows that wrap their way around us,  dropping us in the villain gallery of the Museum. 

"Dad, I've been here a billion times." I sigh, glancing around at the artifacts. I can easily see Jafar's Lamp, his smashed scepter, Captain Hook's original feathered hat, and Clayton's shotgun. "I've seen all these things before, with Mom."

"Not all of them." Dad ushers me towards the back of the room, where a hidden little corner that I'd never noticed before catches my attention. Leaning forward past the red velvet rope, I can just make out a single blue glove under a glass case. 

I snap my fingers, lighting a ghostly blue fire on my fingertip. 

Elsa, Queen of Arendelle's glove from her coronation day

I stay silent for a few seconds before it dawns on me. I turn to face Dad. "Mom's in the Villain section?"

Dad nods. I look at her glove again. "What about you?" I think back to my childhood. "I don't remember seeing you here anywhere."

Dad smiles slightly. "Come with me." He reaches out a hand, and I take it without hesitation. He tugs me along the Villain section, before finally stopping at a teeny plaque with minuscule writing on it. 

"I don't see an artifact." I note, looking around. 

Dad taps the plaque. "That's because they couldn't find it." 

I lean down and snap my fingers again, and by the flickering light I can just barely make out the words Hades' Ember---unrecovered written on the metal plate. 

"An ember?" I ask, straightening up again. "What does that mean?"

"The ember's not important." Dad promises. "Even I don't know where it is now. Probably on the Isle somewhere, now that I think of it, in which case it will hopefully be useless."

"So... was there a reason you brought me to see your nonexistent artifact, and mom's old glove?"

Dad smiles. "The glove was just to show you that you have more Isle blood that you thought. Auradon, because you're a hero at heart. Isle, because you don't follow rules and take things into your own hands."

"And the ember?"

"Well, the fact is, Lissa, I told you everything could burn."

"Everything can burn, but not everything has to." I quote. 

"Exactly. Liss, my powers---" he holds a hand up, sparking a flickering blue flame. "---is more than just what I want it to be. It's who I am, what's inside my heart. And now it's in you, too." He points his finger toward the general direction of my heart. "And I couldn't be more proud of the young woman my little girl has become."

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My heart melted just writing this chapter.   XD

For those of you who've seen the hint-clips to D3's new song "Good to be Bad" I'm guessing you can guess what Ben wants to talk to them about. :)

Hope you enjoyed!