"Uma will come back with the treasure," Mal heard a girl say. Her voice was hardened and there was a permanent tone of threat in her words, just like everyone else on the Isle of the Lost. However, she seemed impressed and expectant at the same time.

She almost seemed to wait for someone to contradict her to start a fight, and while many would have been willing to do it just for the pleasure of creating chaos and fun, this time no one said anything.

Were they talking about the same Uma that she had thrown rotten shrimp on? Mal frowned, dismayed. No. It couldn't be. Ursula's daughter didn't even have territory the last time Mal was on the Isle. No power.

She didn't even have a name.

Mal had taken it from her.

Now, this ordinary boy appeared in a boat calling Uma "the one whose boat dominates the storms.", "Uma", as if he were pronouncing the name of a queen; Mal couldn't help it. She felt jealous.

A part of herself told her that there was no real reason to feel this way. She had managed to get off the Isle of the Lost. She had managed to get to Auradon, stop being evil, get Triton's trident. Be better. She was a good person, she reminded herself. She didn't have to be envious.

The Isle of the Lost had been her home once. At some point, she had a real connection to the place, to the villains. But did she still have it? Was she still the daughter of Maleficent, or just Mal?

She looked for Ben, who was talking to Evie, and attracted his attention. She needed to anchor herself to a reality, to something known because, suddenly, her world was moving as if an earthquake was shaking everything.

The crowd had started to disperse, leaving the newcomers gasping on the ground. There were no hands willing to help, as in Auradon. Just hostile glances, quick hands for theft, and harsh voices.

And her name circulating by word of mouth all over the docks, as if everyone had agreed to make fun of Mal.

Uma. Uma. Uma. Uma.

Captain Uma.

"Evie thinks we should take the opportunity to question those guys," Ben commented, looking a bit unsure. He wasn't used to any of this, to shadows. Mal could see that he was trying to stay calm, even though he too seemed a little scared. "Knowing everything that has happened since you left might be helpful."

Mal smiled.

"Yeah sure, it sounds like a great idea," she said. "Then we can go back to Auradon and talk to the Fairy Godmother. If... Uma is gaining power here, she could start a revolt against Auradon, and it would be dangerous. She is dangerous. I'm sure she found out that I took the trident and wants revenge on me. "

Capable of sinking a ship, said a voice in her head. What's the evilest thing you ever did, Mal?

Jay and Carlos came closer.

"Mal's right," Jay said. "We have to notify the Fairy Godmother."

But Carlos didn't look so sure.

"No," Ben said firmly. "I already explained it to you. She hid all this and I don't trust her to solve anything that has to do with the Isle."

"We have to decide quickly," Evie said at the time, putting a hand on Ben's arm. She turned her gaze to a group of fishermen who were glancing at them. "We've already attracted too much attention here and if we're going to act, we have to look like thugs."

Ben nodded, almost to himself.

"So, let's interrogate first. Then we will decide what to do." He seemed infinitely embarrassed suddenly. "Guys... I guess it will be more effective if you do it."

"Leave it to us," Jay said, looking smug, and Carlos rolled his eyes in exasperation and some affection at that.

So they approached the boy who had spoken earlier, who was still lying on the ground, and Jay easily pulled him by the arm, getting him to his feet in a second. The boy opened his eyes, maddened, scared.

"Answer my questions," Jay said harshly. "Tell me everything you know about what Uma has done lately."

The boy tried to defend himself, he tried to position himself as threatening as Jay, but Carlos joined his friend and it was enough for the boy to stop fighting.

"She won the race to get the ship," he began hastily, gasping for air. Jay's grip on his neck was relentless. His voice strangled from his throat. "She won and made Harry Hook her first mate and Gil LeGume her second mate. She got a crew and it is said that she traveled to the Isle of the Doomed to search for Triton's trident. Then she claimed all the territory she wanted".

The boy tried to swallow, almost choking, and Mal grew impatient.

"Thereafter? Speak up"

He whimpered.

"She did magic," he said desperately. "And she can navigate through the storms, I saw her, she is powerful. She will get the treasure. She travels on the Lost Revenge and Harriet and CJ Hook follow her on the Red Tempest. But Uma will get the treasure. She will do it. The Pirate Queen will do it."

The waves danced on the shore when they landed again, ghostly, bathed in the longing touch of moonlight, and Harry noticed that Uma was too drawn to them, unable to look away, even thoughtful. She wanted to go to the sea, Harry realized.

"You're going to be free," he told her, running his hook between her braids. "And you will live in the sea forever, if you want."

Uma looked at him calmly. All her fury appeased, but not tamed or inert. Always waiting to explode at any moment.

"We will live in Lost Revenge," she decided, running her hand through Harry's hair, glaring at him mischievously. "In all the seas of the world. It will all be ours, Harry."

He leaned toward her, eyes closed, enjoying her attentions.

"Aye, captain."

Uma laughed. Yes, she loved being called that. She loved her names: Uma, Captain…

They kept walking toward the makeshift camp. The fire had already burned out and the islet was almost dark, only illuminated at night. Fresh, vibrant, the life-giving sea singing its ancient songs.

Clay and the others were still tied up, so Uma nonchalantly shook him awake. The boy opened his eyes in alarm, searching the shadows.

"But what…?", He started to say, but Harry silenced him so he wouldn't wake the others.

"Up, Clayton," Uma ordered. "Fast!"

He tried to get up, half stumbling, and Uma held onto his arm tightly to hurry him up, her grip on him tighter than necessary. The three of them walked until they were a little away from the others, although always at a distance where they could still see them.

"You're going to answer our questions now," Harry said in a threatening voice.

Uma let go of Clay's arm and he fell to the floor, gasping for air.

"Fine," Clay agreed, his teeth clenched in fury. He knew that he was in disadvantage and that it was not in his interest to have them as enemies. Uma almost smiled at the tone of surrender in his voice. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything you know about the other ships. I know there were more than two," Uma answered, her arms crossed. "Who are the other crews? What did Captain Hook pay you?"

Clay's expression turned a little haughty, as if he felt very important to know things Uma didn't know. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and put a hand on Harry's arm, warning him to have a little patience.

"Well," Clay said in a pompous voice, which was comical because he had his hands tied with rope. "Three ships of Captain Hook sailed after Revenge and the Tempest. My father found out from Gaston that you would come in search of treasure and many on the isle wanted to have their chance as well. We are all eager to find riches. Hook overheard Rick and me talking about it as we passed the docks and he offered us a deal. A gold watch to each one to find the crew; he'd give us the ship and what we would find inside if we came after you."

Harry snorted.

"A gold watch? Are you telling me that you agreed to travel on a ship without even knowing how to unfold the sails for a gold watch?" He shook his head, laughing wickedly. "You are stupider than I thought, Clayton."

Clay's eyes flashed with anger, but he didn't dare say anything to Harry. Not when he was holding his sharp hook and his eyes were red, not when Uma's hand rested protectively on her first mate's shoulder.

"Anyway," he continued, offended. "Hook didn't explain why. We just wanted to find the treasure, like everyone else on the isle. Whoever returns with it will have power, that's what is rumored. Rick and I got people and Hook got some others. But there is another ship, one that was not paid by him. We don't know who's on board."

Harry and Uma looked at each other thoughtfully. To begin with, neither of them believed that the treasure they were looking for was gold, nor jewels, they weren't even sure that it was some object of material value, after what they had read in the letters. But no one else knew that, just them, Captain Hook and maybe Harriet and CJ. So the entire Isle of the Lost was turned upside down for treasure that probably didn't even have economic value.

Second, the question why Hook had wanted so many people after them was something Uma couldn't answer, although she tried to think of many different possible answers. It was something that just didn't make much sense. Now they even knew that the ships had not been sold, but offered in a deal, so it was clear to them that Harry's father had a plan, one that he had not told them.

Maybe he had it from the beginning, Harry realized, ever since he "accidentally" fell off the mast and planted all those concerns about the map, the song, and the adventure in them.

"For now I'll offer you another deal, Clayton," Uma said dryly. "Stop making trouble for me, give me whatever Hook gave you for us. Pledge allegiance to me in exchange for protection."

Uma knew Clayton was a jerk, but a jerk who, like many on the isle, was not violent enough to be able to survive alone. Such people used to seek protection from the most powerful villains in exchange for the little loyalty they could offer. And it wasn't that she cared if he lived or died but increasing her numbers could be very beneficial.

And although Clay wanted to say that he did not need this protection, even more so seeing that Harry made fun of him, of his weakness... he could not refuse the deal. Because he knew he needed it. And he knew that Uma was respected on the Island, feared by some, adored by others. Worship was something no villain, not even Maleficent, had ever had.

"Fine," he spat, strained. "But you will have to untie me so I can give you your precious package."

Uma smiled dangerously, all predatory. A chill ran down Clay's spine.

"Untie him, Harry."

Harry didn't protest, but his hook wasn't careful while breaking the ropes. Clay's hands were free, but a long, burning wound ran down his arm. Without complaint, he reached through his clothes and pulled out a package wrapped in dirty paper, tied with a bow and sealed with Captain Hook's seal. He give it to Harry.

But before Uma and Harry could see what was inside, a sound made all three of them go alert. It was different from the waves, as if someone had thrown something heavy into the sea. At night and only with the moonlight they could hardly see anything, but Uma spotted some boats coming towards them from an anchored ship. There was light on the deck and hoarse voices could be heard.

"That's not one of us," Clay mused.

"Wake everyone up," Uma ordered Clay, "Now!"

Whoever it was, surely they would not come to them for a friendly chat. They knew they were resting and that it would take time to get the ships back into the water, so they probably thought it would be easy to carry out an attack to wipe them off the map, grab the treasure, and get all the glory.

The three of them woke up every member of Uma and Harriet's crew, and soon most were already snapping out of sleep and getting up quickly to grab their weapons after being told what was going on.

The boats were getting closer and closer, two, four, six…

"Gil, I want you close to me," Uma ordered.

But it didn't need to be said, because Gaston's son was already next to her, right on the other side of where Harry was. Harriet and Sammy positioned themselves together, CJ behind them. The crews waited…

Until everything turned red.

A sound of glass breaking lacerated the silence of the night.

Uma crouched down, pulling Harry and Gil close to her. Something explosive had made contact with the beach, something that was followed by cheers and laughter, and then Uma saw Jonas, whose leg was on fire.

Explosives. That was what had exploded. Improvised explosives from bottles of rum, she realized, seeing all the pieces of glass strewn across the sand. Bonny ran to help Jonas put out the fire as the men disembarked from the boats, half their bodies still submerged in the water, and ran with their cutlasses raised towards them.

Then everything started to happen very fast. Uma wasn't sure of when she yelled at Bonny to take Jonas away, because all she saw was red. How dare they hurt her own? She didn't realize that she was the first to run towards strangers, the first to plunge her cutlass into someone, the first to roar with all the fury unleashed by the sea.

When Uma came to herself, the fight had broken out on the beach. Crews against crews, and Harry and Gil were behind her, always protecting her just like she protected them.

The night had been turned into a brilliant glow thanks to the explosives, but Uma was not afraid. She landed another punch, knocking out a man who fell to the ground, passed out. And Uma saw his face lit up by the flames. He was the same man who had been in her mother's shop, talking about the treasure. She looked around, realizing that these were not boys her age, like Clay, Rick and the others, they were old sailors who frequented the dock.

"Captain, Uma!" A frightened voice yelled, and she saw Clay close to her, barely stopping the blows from another of the men.

She had made a deal. No one touched their own.

So she ran to him, scaring the man, and she plunged her cutlass into the first thing she reached, which was the pirate's shoulder.

"Stay close to me, Clayton," she ordered, and she heard Gil break another man's arm, an arm that had gotten too close to Uma.

"We have to get back to the ships!" CJ yelled, parrying a blow. "They could try to steal them! We have to get out of here! "

Harriet and Uma met her gaze.

"I follow you!" Harriet yelled.

And Uma nodded, knowing that she could handle this. Knowing that she, with Harry and Gil by her side, she might be able to get the people out of there.

Another glass bottle, filled with tar, exploded near them, causing them to jump at the sudden heat of the fire. And at that moment, another of the men who had been in Ursula's store cut a blow, straight at Uma. Clay, who was between the two and had seen the trajectory of the man's cutlass, crouched down...

She gasped as the cold metal sliced through her skin, tearing through muscle, through veins. She clung to Harry as her vision blurred, between surprise and pain.

Harry caught her before Uma fell from the force of her blow, saying her name for her to look at him. But Uma just frowned, wondering why the cold of the metal had spread down her back, into her arms…

"Take her away!" Cried Harriet, staring in horror at her brother with Uma in her arms. Red between them, blood… and Uma seemed disengaged, clinging to Harry, and clenching her teeth to keep from screaming in pain. "Let Gil go with you! CJ and I will take care of getting out of here and we will catch up with you with the Tempest."

Harry nodded, his heart in his throat, stuck where Uma's name formed. He settled her in his arms and walked away from the fight, dodging cutlasses and broken bottles, with Gil behind to protect them. Desiree and Gonzo, who had seen everything, were already close to the Revenge, dragging it with all the strength they had towards the sea.

But the weight was too much. They would not make it.

"Calm, calm, captain. You'll be fine," Harry whispered to Uma, keeping his voice strong, because he had to, because he didn't want her to be scared when she saw him discarded. Uma snuggled into him, just like the day of the campfire at the Jolly Roger, just the same way she'd snuggled into Harry at bedtime, in his hammock.

Gil joined Desiree and Gonzo in their efforts, and the ship moved. Not long enough to be entirely at sea, but then he saw Uma and Harry swore he saw despair in his eyes. Between the three of them, they pushed furiously. Perhaps it was the sea, sensing that a queen and deity was wounded, that dragged the Lost Revenge into the water. Maybe it was really Gil's strength. Somehow, they were ready to leave the islet.