DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE DISNEY VILLAIN RECRUITERS OR DISNEY VILLAINS THAT IS INVOLVED IN THIS STORY EXCEPT THE STORY AND PLOT ITSELF. THE DISNEY VILLAIN RECRUITERS IS A CHARACTER CREW PART OF THE JAPAN DISNEY PARADE THAT THEY HAVE AT HALLOWEEN. THIS IS JUST A FANFICTION STORY THAT I WANTED TO SHARE.

Chapter Nineteen

"I'm thinking that I need to submit my two weeks notice, Mr. V." she sighed as she stared at him.

"What?" Mr. V dropped his cane. His eyes were wide, his mouth fell open, and if the wind would have blown he wouldn't have kept his hat from flying from his head. He couldn't believe his ears.

"Well, maybe not a two weeks notice." She put her hand in her chin as the thought about it. "But I'm going to take a time of leave to figure this out."

"You're quitting?" he blinked. Her words hadn't sunk in yet.

"No," her brow furrowed. "Well, maybe. But it is complicated at the moment. I don't want to quit, but depending on how things turn out, I very well might have to."

"Ashe." Varuo hissed.

"Right." She shook her head with a frown. "Right, I'm getting all scatterbrained again. Sorry." She looked to Mr. V again. "This is a very complicated situation, Mr. V, and since I'm here, you've been researching my background, and my father's name has been brought up one too many times within the last few weeks -"

"He is your father?" Mr. V could not hide his surprise.

"I'm not blaming you for this." She ignored his question. "But I think your research has helped invoke my father's presence; that or somewhere in the Realms something or someone is trying to either do me a favor, or make my life miserable."

"What do you mean?" A flurry of questions began to grow inside of him. "Who would try to make your life more miserable?"

"Oh, trust me, Mr. V," she chuckled darkly and ran her hand through her hair and began twisting it up in a ponytail. "There are plenty of people who would want to make my life more miserable than it already is. All of my previous employers, for example."

"I wouldn't." He said rather defensively.

"I know." She gave him a sweet smile. "You are possibly the first and the only one who doesn't; however, I'm pretty sure that my fiancé is the main one who would want to make my life pretty miserable."

"What?" he blinked. He hated that word. Fucking hated that word. Granted, Tiana and Naveen kind of skipped that step, but hated that word. The fact that Ms. Scatter was spoken for also made him feel angry; there was a growing heat in the pit of his stomach. Varuo was giving him a rather amuzed look.

"Fiancé?" Mr. V repeated.

"Yes," Ms. Scatter groaned and rolled her eyes. "Demon that is Lucifer's right hand man, of sorts. Long story, not a fun one. Not telling it."

"Fair enough. . ." He blinked, still confused. Though she was spoke for, she obviously did not like it.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. V," she sighed and clutched at the folds of her dress. "But I'm going to have to ask you to leave so I can get dressed."

"Of course." He nodded and immediately left her room with, oddly enough, Varuo following behind him.

They merely sat out in the hall for her. Mr. V had no idea what to make of this situation. So many secrets, so many questions, so many things all happening at once, and now he was about to lose his best and only assistant. The next few days, weeks, possibly months - he really hope she wouldn't be gone for months- were going to be an absolute nightmare with her gone. She did so much and with her abruptly leaving he had no idea what she did, what she had scheduled, how to handle the female Recruits, and he suddenly felt overwhelmed.

"Although she says that this isn't your fault," Varuo glared up at him. "I think that it is."

"I didn't do anything." He snapped and crossed his arms.

"You were trying too." He hissed and his tail flicked in agitation. "I told you not to, yet you still didn't listen."

"There is no way my reading a book did this. It didn't even have any information on this!" He held out his arms. "It was more like information that would be on the back of a book or a movie with a general summarization of whatever happened!"

"You still went digging." He growled in the back of his throat.

"I did." Mr. V nodded with a sigh. It grew quiet between them and the grandfather clock ticked annoyingly in the hall.

"You know we're going to be gone for a while." Varuo sighed softly.

"Any idea how long?" He glanced at the cat.

"No idea." He groaned and laid down on the ground. "If we're actually going to try to go to the Fantasia Realm. . . I have no idea how long we'll be gone for. Time travels differently in every Realm, Fantasia being no exception. But this is a rather special situation. . . If the Realm is still standing I don't know if we'll ever come back."

A lump caught in Mr. V's throat. "Well that is going to suck."

"For you," Varuo gave a shrug. "Do you have any idea how long she has been away from her Realm? She turned the Realm inside out and practically destroyed it; we both thought that she did. But if her father is here. . ."

"Is that demon really her father?" Mr. V asked honestly.

"Yes." He gave him a nod. "Haven't you ever noticed? She's half demon."

"I suppose that would explain a lot. . ." He dragged his hand from the back of his neck. All of her magical and somewhat possessed furniture that kept his things from him; how she could get so much done; how she could speak Demon. "She just looks so -"

"Human." Varuo sighed. "I know. It caused her a lot of trouble for her growing up. More than likely still does."

"Ugh," he groaned. "I have so many questions."

"Don't even start." Varuo scowled and his tail flicked. "There is too much to answer and not enough time to answer everything; surely you realize this."

"I do." He sighed and ran his hand through his dreads. He loosened the braids that he had looped them into earlier and felt some pressure relieve itself from his head. "I have no idea what I'm going to do. . ."

"You could always hire extra help."

"Absolutely not." He turned his nose up. "There is no one that will be able to reach her standards or match up to her skills or talent. Besides, I've already experienced enough job interviews to last me a lifetime."

When Facilier was still around he made Mr. V do all of the job interviews since he would have been working with them. He met just about every ruffian, incompetent fool, cackling witch, whore, maid, butler, sea horse, and other mystical and mythical creatures that wanted some sort of job here. It took months. Ms. Scatter was the only one that had any reason at all, even if she were scatterbrained. She lasted more than a week and even stuck around after Facilier was gone.

"You'll figure it out." Varuo stretched and stood up just as Ms. Scatter left her room. She wore nothing but black: pants, turtle neck, boots, gloves, and even a cape. Her hair was still in a pony tail, but her makeup was gone.

Mr. V stepped aside to allow her to step out of the doorway. He hadn't realized how short she was since she almost always wore heels, however, he was a whole two heads taller than her when she wore flats. She actually had to look up at him, not just merely look him in the eye, she had to look up at him. As she looked up at him, her eyes were brown with flecks of gold and she looked as though she had things she wanted to say to him, however, she held out her clipboard to him instead.

"Here." She said in a shaky voice. "This is my clipboard."

"Yes?" His brow furrowed as he looked down at it.

"Whether you believe it or not," she pointed to it. "It is magical. You won't have to worry about arrangements, meetings, the girls or much of anything for at least three months."

"Three months?" He looked at her.

"I always work things out three months in advance." She waved his concern. "But in case I am gone for that long, it will give you a chance to get adjusted to it to learn how to use it and make it work for you until I come back."

"You're coming back?" He blinked and there was a weirdly fluttering in his chest.

"Yes, that is my clipboard." She looked at him confused. "I made that clipboard. That is mine. I'm coming back for it."

"And not for work?" he gulped.

"I don't know yet. . ." she sighed, her brow furrowed. "It will honestly all depend on how things are in my Realm."

"Take all the time you need." He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "I'll take care of things here until you get back."

Her shoulder slumped with relief.

"But I expect a full story, report, and answers to all of my questions when you get back, Scatter." He winked at her.

"I promise I will." She gave him such an earnest look. "You've been so good to me, you deserve that much."

"Well," he chuckled and twirled his cane. "Shall I walk you to the Wardrobe?"

"Yes." She nodded her head and clutched her cape.

They both hesitated from moving before gradually turning and walking down the hall. They remained silent during the walk and only their footsteps and the tapping of Mr. V's cane. The ghosts seemed to have dissipated for the evening, the Staff was no where to be around, the Recruits literally seemed to not be returning this evening, and the overbearing sense of loneliness blew through the halls like the whispers of the wind. Mr. V didn't like it. He was used to being alone, normally it would not have bothered him. In fact, he purposely kept everyone at a significant distance - his friends, his family - he hated the way he felt after Tiana got married to Naveen; that was possibly the worst feeling he had ever felt. Then again when you just let your childhood sweetheart and bestfriend simply marry a man who was better than you, could take care of her better than you and could always keep her safe without having to worry about the Friends from the Other side trying to keep tabs on things and demand a proper payment,

Yeah it was always better to keep everyone at a distance. No good relationships meant that they could not hurt good people or get too attached to people. . . . .And then there was Scatter. Ms. Scatter did not try to worm her way into his life, not intentionally anyways. She always kept things professional, she didn't allow her emotions to get overly high - mostly to keep her eyes from flashing gold - , she didn't try to befriend him and merely respected him. She was actually rather boring at first, too professional, too much of a stickler for the rules, he actually couldn't stand her at first. She merely ignore most of his antics and pranks he would occasionally try to pull on her, but he only managed to unnerve her anytime he complimented her or flirted with her. It was a slow progress at first, but he was glad he was able to get to know she had a personality she really ended up livening up the place after that. She turned out to be a great coworker, a great employee, and he even wanted to deem her a friend, though sometimes there were instances where they were a little more intimate.

The halls felt longer and although they were walking at a regular speed, he could not help but feel as though they were walking slower somehow. Not that he minded, he really did enjoy her company. It was oddly calming to walk with her for what be knew would be the last time for a long while.

"Are you all right?" he managed to ask. He didn't like the way his voice had wobbled. It wasn't his voice, more like a memory of his past self; a part that he never really liked.

"No." She whispered, forced a laugh, and shook her head. Her hands gripped her cloak tighter. "No, I'm really not."

"But we'll be fine. . ." Varuo crooned as he hopped up on her shoulder.

"I know. . ." she sighed and her brow furrowed.

"You will be fine." Mr. V confirmed and carefully placed his hand on her shoulder. "I know how you are. I know you'll be fine. You always come out on top."

"Thanks," she forced another smile. "I just - I just don't know what to expect."

"Well," they were suddenly walking down the hall that led them to the Wardrobe. "You won't know until you get there."

"I think that is what scares me worse." She took a deep breath, but didn't let it go. Mr. V extended his arm and let his arm reach around to her other shoulder and pulled her close into a side hug.

"Don't think like that." He spoke in a voice just above a whisper. "Though I don't know everything about you, I know that you're stronger than this."

"I'm glad you're so sure." She sounded so weak. He hated that.

"You wouldn't have made it this far in the Anti-Realm," he squeezed her shoulder, "if you weren't. The weak don't survive here, you know that. . ."

She only nodded her head before she rested her head on his shoulder. They came to a stop as they stopped just outside the Wardrobe. They had finally made it here. Neither of them moved and they only stared at the Wardrobe.

"I always hated this room," she hissed as she pulled away from him and pulled her cloak tighter to her.

"Why?" He asked and placed his hand that had been over her shoulders on his cane. "What did the Wardrobe do to you?"

"It always reminds me of what I have done. . ." She gulped. "Never feels good. . ."

"No, it doesn't." He agreed, slightly understanding the feeling. "But that's what happens when you're a Villain, right?"

Her face grimaced and she took another deep breath.

"I guess I got to do this. . ." She took a step forward and walked to the Wardrobe, and much to her surprise, Mr. V was right behind her. He didn't say anything, and she didn't question why he was following her. He could go into the Wardrobe with her to the Door Between Realms, though she was not sure if she wanted him to.

They entered the Wardrobe, into its deep darkness, and for a few moments the stain glass lights hesitated to flicker on for them. Mr. V tapped his cane, though, and the lights appeared and had one path lit. The one path lit to the Door Between Realms that would take them to that shattered door. Ms. Scatter led the way, though Mr. V could see her shaking nervously with each step that she took. The giant rectangular door was a sad monochrome shattered floating mess before them. Mr. V watched as Ms. Scatter pulled out her pendent and saw how terrible shattered it was as well.

"Some part of me hope that I would never have to come back. . ." She admitted weakly and held the pendant out to the shattered door. A fire literally erupted from the pendant. The fire swirled around Ms. Scatter first, enveloping her in the flames. He couldn't see her. He could only see a small pillar of fire. As Mr. V watched, the fire eventually rolled itself back to her hand, but her wardrobe went back to her sexy black Villainous dress. Her hair was blown out of her face and the ends of her dress were being blown back by the immense heat waves that roared from her hand. She spread out her hand and the flames suddenly shot out to the shattered door and all of the pieces began to come together. She wielded the fire with such superiority, she was not scared of the fire, not she looked as though she were one with the fire. Suddenly her cape that was around her shoulders caught fire and gave her wings of fire.

The shattered pieces clinked as they welded themselves back together and reframed themselves into a solid rectangle. Mr. V could only watch in awe, with Varuo sitting at his feet, watching her wield such a magnificent power.

"The Firebird. . ." Mr. V whispered to himself in realization. She, Ashe Scatter, was the Firebird from the Fantasia Realm. "The chapter left unwritten. . ."

"It was left unwritten because there was no one left to write it." Varuo spoke softly. "You did too much digging."

With the powerful fire quietly dying away and returning back to the pendant in her hand, Varuo pawed his way over to her and grew in size. He stood next to her making her look like a wild and exotic princess with her wild beast ready to ride off in the wind. As if finally realizing that he was staring at her, Ms. Scatter turned her face to look at him. Her right eye was brown, but her left eye was glowing gold. She gave him a sad smile, a sad smile that was also so beautiful.

"I'll see you soon," she spoke before she and Varuo disappeared through the door. Mr. V watched as the door swallowed them up and immediately shut itself off from the Between Realms as it turned into a giant piece of cooled volcanic rock. Left alone Mr. V merely stood staring at the door that was now finally put back together floating in the air.

"Please come back soon. . ." He whispered before turning on his heel and leaving the Wardrobe.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you're enjoying it!

Wow this one has been quite a roller coaster to write, but as luck would have it the story is actually writing itself as it has grown a mind of its own. Although we're at a really good part, I might be a little long on updating this story because I need to work on my other stories.

I know I have been saying that I have been working on Ms. Scatter's backstory, and I have. But I want that to be a completed story before I publish it. I plan to keep it between 3-5 ish chapters since it is only a backstory. I also need to work on Adam Apple Poison's story, so if you want a little something else to read, please read that one.

If you get the chance would you please let me know what you think of this story so far? I have had one lovely reader reviewing this so far, but I would like a little bit more input.

Thanks for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned for more!

Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter