Chapter 11: Team-up
"Take a gulp and take a breath and go ahead and sign the scroll. Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got her boys, the boss is on a roll. This poor unfortunate soul." Uma sang to herself.
She looked around the cave she had been hiding in for the past few weeks. On her left she saw the large underground lake which also contained an underwater passage straight to the ocean, the way she came in here. On her right there were some cracks in the rock, presumably ways to head deeper into the cliff, she hadn't bothered to check it out. An extremely thin crack in the cliff made a bright streak of light illuminate her cave.
She was currently laying on a self-made bed out of seaweeds in her human form and was surrounded by small fish bones. On her side was a fire pit which currently only smoldered a little. This was her life currently, until she could muster up the will to head out and try to cause evil again, but her recent defeat at the hands of Mal and beasty boy had demoralized her.
Her thoughts were abruptly and rudely disturbed by the sound of clapping coming from her right. She turned her head lightning fast, only to see someone standing in the shadows near one of the small cracks.
"Bravo." A man's voice said. "Pure as ever." He said as he stepped forward, which caused his face to fall into the small stream of light. Uma couldn't believe who she saw.
"SOLOMON!?" she yelled out in anger, indignation and most of all surprise.
"In the flesh." The Horned King's son said with a small hand gesture. "You look good Uma, with the braids and all."
Only because of the surprise of his appearance had she not acted yet, but now that she had come around a little did she really start to get angry. She grabbed a sword from behind her 'bed' and stood up. "What-?" she said, "How-?"
Solomon raised his hands. "Calm down now, I'm just here to talk, let's-" was as far as he got before Uma's necklace glowed and a large wave suddenly came from the underground lake and washed Solomon against the cave wall. A large 'oof' came from his mouth as he was smacked against the hard rocks. He remained on all fours for a second before raising his head, only to come eye to eye with the sword Uma pressed to his throat. "Wait!" he yelled, "Uma! Just here me out for a second!"
"How did you find me?" she snarled, "How did you get off the isle? What are you doing here?" she was beyond outraged. She had expected to safe from everyone in this desolate cave, and to have someone she hated, and thought was basically trapped somewhere find her all of the sudden was quite a shock.
Solomon looked her in the eyes with his hands still raised for a second before answering. "I found you by tracking your magic, I got off the isle during Maleficent's escape attempt because my father transferred some magic to me and I came here to discuss a certain situation with you."
Uma looked down on him a second, taking in all his information. "You have been off of the isle since Maleficent's escape attempt? When was that, seven months ago?"
"Yeah." He said, not elaborating any further.
"Your father transferred some magic to send you here?" she asked.
"Pretty much, the magic allowed me to pass through the barrier, only me!" he said when he saw she wanted to ask a follow-up question.
It stayed quiet for several more seconds before Uma spoke again. "What were you doing all this time? If you have really spent seven months in Auradon?"
"That has something to do with the certain situation I want to discuss with you." He said calmly, her blade was still pointed at his throat. "It concerns an opportunity for the both of us to do something we want very dearly. Please you lower your sword and let me have my say, I promise you won't want to miss this opportunity Uma."
Uma snarled at him. "Your promises are worth nothing, like you." She said, and she pressed her blade a little more.
"Ouch." Solomon replied. "Okay, I deserved that. Look, I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but to be honest, I need you. And if you help me, I'll pay you back, villain's promise." He said, and he spit on the ground.
Uma grinned at this. "You need me? And if I help you, you'll pay me back. Not a chance. I should just feed you to the sharks right now."
"I have a way to bring down the barrier and take over Auradon!" Solomon said quickly.
This statement was followed by the longest silence between the two thus far. Solomon could almost see the wheels turning in Uma's head as she looked at him, trying to find the lie in his eyes. Eventually her look relaxed and she pitifully smiled at him. "And how would you do that?" she asked. She didn't believe him.
"First remove the sword." Solomon demanded. Uma responded by first pressing her blade even closer to his throat. "Would I have come here if I did not have a dire reason to do so?" he asked her skeptically. This did get her attention, but it still took a while before her curiosity got the better of her and she moved her sword back a little.
"Talk!" she commanded.
"My father transferred some of his magic to me with the order of retrieving his old cauldron." Solomon said quickly.
Uma's eyes widened when he said that last word. "The black cauldron?" she questioned. She had naturally heard of the magical object, it had quite the reputation, but as far as she knew it no longer existed. "Wasn't that destroyed during the war?"
"That's what I thought." Solomon replied. "But apparently my father had hidden it deep in a mountain, protected by spells and dangerous obstacles. He gave me an old journal and a map, which was all I needed to find and retrieve it."
"You found it?" Uma asked him.
"Yeah." He replied.
"So where is it?"
"Hidden." He said, and Uma pressed her sword to his throat again.
"Don't play with me horns!" she said threateningly.
"I'm not lying!" he replied, annoyed at Uma's use of his old nickname. "I will not show you the cauldron before we have made a deal."
"If you have had the cauldron all this time why haven't you used it already. As far as I know there haven't been any undead armies in Auradon in the past few weeks." Uma said sneering.
This angered Solomon and he felt his eye twitching. "I have not yet used it, because I'm not sure how." He said quickly, and he quickly continued when he saw Uma's amused look. "My father's journal said nothing about the use of the cauldron and I wasn't able to figure it out myself, that's why I need to get back to the isle to ask my father and think of a strategy."
"You want to go back to the isle?" Uma said. "So why don't you?"
"I don't know if you have looked outside your little cave yet, but the waters are crawling with Auradon officials and search boats because of you. There's no way for me to cross the bay unnoticed. That's why I need you, to get me there."
Uma scowled at him again. "You want me to give you a ride back to the isle. All nice and good, the only problem is that we will be stuck there again."
"I won't, I can leave whenever I want." Solomon said back before Uma quickly sliced his cheek with her sword. Solomon quickly felt the cut, but he wasn't bleeding to heavily, so he focused back on Uma.
"No smart talk!" Uma said sharply.
"But that's what I'm good at!" he replied skeptically, which earned him a cut on the other cheek. "Okay, no smart talk." He said as he looked back at Uma.
"Why would I ever help you?" Uma asked.
"You haven't heard what I can promise you." Solomon replied.
"Which is?"
"A lot of things really, but mostly revenge. Help me and join my cause, and we can rain down evil on Auradon. I have some personal issues to take care of, and I'll let you have your way with, I don't know, Ariel, Triton or Mal." He said that last name with some meaning and he saw Uma's eyes quickly flicker with hatred. "You want to get her back right? For everything she has done to you? Help me and I'll help you."
"I don't need you." Uma said. "And I'm still not even sure if you have the cauldron or not."
"Why else would I be here Uma? I need to get back to the isle and trust me when I say asking you for help was definitely not at the top of my list with things I really wanted to do!" he said loudly.
"You can also trust me when I say that you were one of the last people I would have wanted to end up here!" she said back to him.
"See!" Solomon quickly said. "I know that, I know you hate me and I hate you, but still I came here to ask you for help, shouldn't that prove that I'm sincere?"
Uma seemed to ponder this before she answered. "Let's say that you have the cauldron." She said, and Solomon sat up straighter, "And I get you back to the isle, what then? How will I know you won't pull a fast one on me and betray me at your earliest opportunity?"
"There is one thing." Solomon said, "One of my theories on the cauldron is that I need a more powerful magic source or more magic to activate it."
"And?" Uma questioned.
"You are one of the few magic wielders on the isle. As much as it pains me, I may need you even more. If you help me with activating the cauldron, I will let you have a say in every major decision concerning it." Solomon said.
"So, what? I'll be your second in command, is that it? Not a chance!" she said with conviction.
Solomon was now starting to get annoyed with Uma. "I'm giving you this opportunity! All I ask for is your help to get me to the isle and maybe with supplying some magic and that's it! In return I grant you the chance of taking over Auradon, you'll be able to rule the Auradonian seas with your pirates, I have no interest in them! Just listen to me!"
Even Uma was taken aback by his outburst and couldn't help but consider his offer. Ruling over the Auradonian seas had always been her goal, seeing the rest of Auradon fall would be a nice bonus. The major prospect she was looking forward to was undoubtedly getting revenge on Mal however. She briefly imagined the look on Mal's face when she would cross into Auradon with an undead army at her back. She looked back at Solomon, who still sat on the ground with his arms raised.
"Say I accept your offer." Uma said, and Solomon raised his eyes again. "I want to be there whenever you try anything with the cauldron, I want to be there whenever you make some kind of decision that might concern me even in the slightest. I want you to share every thought, every plan in that diabolical head of yours. Do you understand?"
"I see." Solomon said, "You don't trust me and want to keep an eye on me, smart."
"And should you cross any sort of line, you won't have time to blink before your throat gets slit." Uma said threateningly.
Solomon smiled. "Noted. So, does this mean we're in business?"
"Not yet." Uma said as she started thinking. "The first step in this plan of yours is taking you back to the isle, right?"
"Right."
"I will do that, under one condition."
"And that is?"
"You come to a location that I pick, on a time that I choose. You bring the cauldron, if it's not there, I'll leave you to be taken by Auradon officials." Uma proposed. "This is my only offer."
"Where would this location be?" Solomon asked.
"There's a small beach located between to cliffs not far north. At night time it is almost impossible to spot from out in sea, it's safe from any onlookers." Uma said.
"And how am I supposed to get there?" Solomon asked.
"That's not my problem. You better get your ass there when I tell you to. For now, I'm giving orders!" Uma spat.
"Alright." Solomon said reluctantly. "I will be there with the cauldron, and then I have your word that you'll get me to the isle safely? You won't go and try to take it from me, you'll never get it to work on your own anyway."
Uma raised an eyebrow. The thought of stealing the cauldron had briefly crossed her mind, but what Solomon said did make sense. She had little to no knowledge of the cauldron's magic and if even the horned king's son himself couldn't operate it, what chance did she have of doing so? "Don't you think I know that? Get to that beach with the cauldron tomorrow at sundown and I'll take you back to the isle." Uma said, and she finally removed her sword from Solomon's throat.
"Do you have any plans on how to get through the water?" Solomon asked.
"I will probably be able to drag you along underwater. I can even provide you with a spell that lets you breathe underwater."
"That'd be nice, since I don't have gills." Solomon said as he stood up. He looked at Uma and stuck out his hand. "Partners?" he asked.
Uma looked at his hand skeptically but shook it nonetheless. "For now." She growled.
Solomon stared at the water as the sun disappeared at the horizon. He stood at the beach Uma had pointed out and waited. He was honestly quite impressed; this beach was a perfect spot to get into the water unnoticed since it was shielded by two large cliffs. It had taken him quite some time to get out of Uma's cave, travel back to the place he had hidden his cauldron and climb down to the small beach. The climb had not been easy, with the cliffs being steep and slippery, but with the use of some magic he managed to get down unscathed.
He watched as the last sunrays vanished in the night air and more stars appeared in the sky. He was still transfixed by the stars when he suddenly felt something coil itself around his right leg and he was hoisted in the air.
A yell escaped his mouth as he dangled upside down above the sand and watched as Uma, in her giant octopus form, emerged from the ocean.
"Where is it?" She said with her booming voice.
Solomon remained calm as he pointed at the bundle he had dragged along for the trip, which was laying in the sand.
Uma roughly let him drop to the ground, where he immediately scrambled back up. Uma, meanwhile used her tentacles to unravel the bundle unto the cauldron became visible. Solomon saw the visible shock in her eyes when she first saw the cauldron and he guessed she could also feel the magic radiating from it.
"Believe me now?" Solomon asked as he walked towards the cauldron.
Uma gave him a dark look before turning around in the water. "Climb on!" she said as she looked back at him.
Solomon quickly gathered his stuff and waded towards Uma in the shallow water before awkwardly climbing onto one of her large tentacles, and eventually settling near her waist.
Uma then performed the spell that would allow him to breathe underwater. "Hang on." She said, and she quickly swam away before diving. Solomon clung to her for dear life as she moved through the water with tremendous speed. He could not fully hide his enthusiasm though.
He was going back to the isle.