Seeing Dad Once Again // Onward Fanfic

~Chapter 8~

(Y/N)'S POV

Firetrucks flew by us on the other side of the street, going to the tavern that just set on fire. "That was unbelievable! I mean, you were just like bzzzht and the beam was just floating there!" Barley fangirled. 

"Focus on the road you bastard!" I screeched as we started to drift into another lane. 

"Yeah, yeah. My brother is a wizard!" 

"I can't believe that worked." Ian sighed still in disbelief. 

"Well thank goodness because if it didn't work dad and I would've been dead. I'm so so so proud of  you Ian!" I said squeezing him in a hug. 

"You are gonna nail dad's spell now." 

"Except we don't have a map."

"But we got this. Behold!" Barley exclaimed as he held up a colored in kids menu. 

"Barley, for the love of a centaur, why do you have this?"

"Well (Y/N) on a quest you have to use what you've got. And this is what we've got." Barley lectured me, "Best part is, little Kayla already solved the puzzle."

Ian snatched the kids menu from Barley's hands,  "Well according to Kayla,we just have to look for Raven's Point." 

Wait! Raven's Point! I saw that somewhere. I pulled out the map from under the seat and scanned it. I traveled up the map until I saw Raven's Point. "Guys. Raven's point." The boys looked over to where I was pointing, "Barley. Road."

"Yes! The gem must be in the mountain." Ian thought out loud.

Barley got exited again, "We could be there by tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?"

I put a reassuring hand onto Ian's shoulder, "That still gives us plenty of time with dad." 

"Yeah." Ian sighed, "Well, it looks like the expressway should take us right there."

"Mmm. The expressway is a little too obvious." Barley concluded, "On a quest, the clear path is never the right one."

"What?"

"During one Quests of Yore campaign, Shrub Rosehammer and I took the easy route, and it led him straight into the belly of a gelatinous cube. Only reason I didn't suffer the same fate? I followed my gut." he said as he took a highlighter from the glove compartment and squiggled on the map, "And it's telling me we take an ancient trail called the Path of Peril."

"But the expressway is faster." Ian pointed out.

"Maybe not in the long run."

"I know you want this to be like one of your adventure games, but all that matters is that we get to spend as much time as possible with dad."

As I was focused on the two boys arguing I felt dad's shoe against mine. Reaching down I placed my hand on the shoe and whispered, "Yeah. I know. I don't like it when they fight either, but they're brothers." 

I saw the two boys looking at me and dad and I got really confused, "What?"

They looked back at each other and then Barley finished the argument with, "Fine, but if you end up inside a gelatinous cube, you are on your own." With that the light turned green and we started up the ramp to the freeway. 

~~~~~~

THIRD POV

Laurel's car exited the freeway and bumped down the road where the GPS was saying to go. "Manticore's Tavern." the GPS rang out, "Ahead on your right." 

Once the GPS wnt quiet, her phone lit up and started to play an odd ringtone and flashed a picture of Colt working out in the gym. She hit the green button and sighed, "Hey." 

"I'm just checking in. Did you catch up to the boys yet?"

"No, them and (Y/N) are no where to be found."

(On the other side of the line - "Right." Colt muttered under his breath. He started dating Laurel when (Y/N) was still in college so he really didn't meet her until a couple of weeks ago. I need to start remembering her or I'm screwed!) 

"But I'm a little worried because we had a weird family issue come up, and will this just isn't like Ian to run off. Barley yes, (Y/N) maybe, but not Ian."

"You know it's late. You shouldn't have to be out looking for 'em."

"I know, it's silly. I'm sure they're both probably both on fire." Laurel said as she pulled into the tavern. Her eyes widened at the sight. The place was on fire.

"Fire?"

"FIRE! The place is on fire! My kids! I gotta go!" 

"Laurel?"

She leaped out of the car ans toward the place where a guy was trying to take off a Manticore costume. She ran around in a panic and started to cry out, "Please, someone. I am looking for three teenage elves."

Suddenly she heard a voice coming from behind her, "I told you already. There were three teenage elves. Well maybe the one is a little older, early 20s?"

"Yes! Those are my kids!" Laurel butted in to the crowd, "Where did they go?"

"Oh. They went on a quest to find a Phoenix Gem. But don't worry, don't worry. I told them about the map, I told them about the gem, I told them about the curse. WAIT! I forgot to tell them about the curse!" 

A police officer leaned over to Laurel, "Listen this one's gone a little, um, off." 

"Your kids are in grave danger." The Manticore continued, "But I can help!" 

"Woah , hey, hey!" The police officer scoffed, "You're not going anywhere. We've got questions for you."

"I know where they're going. We can still save them!" the Manticore tried to explain as she was being taken away by the police officer. Laurel looked around and saw a first aid kit in an ambulance. 

"Last name 'Manticore', first name 'The'" The Manticore said until Laurel came running in with the first aid kit. 

"Hold on, you're right. She has gone a little crazy. It's no wonder with a wound like that." she said pointing at a tiny scratch on the Manticore's foot. 

"That's just a scratch." the police officer snapped. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you an expert on minotaurs?"

"Manticores."

"Manticores?"

"Well, no..."

"Well, then you wouldn't know that when their blood is exposed to air, it makes them go bonkers."

"I don't think that's true." the Manticore piped in.

"See? She's already losing her grip on reality. So why don't you let me save her life before it costs you yours?"

"Okay!"

"Thank you. Could we have a little privacy here please?"

The police officer turned around to give the women some privacy. "Just don't take too long back there, okay?" when he got no answer he turned around, "Hey, you hear me? I said don't take too long back there." When he circled the back of the car he didn't find the Manticore and Laurel, but he found the melted suit. 

Meanwhile Laurel sped away in the green car, but it was weighted down in the back. Why? The Manticore was laid in the trunk. "Alright? How do we help my kids?" Laurel asked.

"Ooh. I'm gonna like you."