Chapter 41
They all made their way across the Isle into what was once Mal's territory. Uma left Gil in charge of the ship telling him he was to stay there or the Chip Shop but she didn't tell him why. When he had asked she only gave him a glare that he was smart enough to not question and went on carrying out her orders. CJ led them to Facilier's Voodoo Arcade where Celia had staked her claim on the Isle while her older sister Freddie mostly stayed at their father's shop swindling its customers.
"So this is where you spend all your time." Harriet said as she looked around at the flashing colorful lights and games. "No wonder you don't have your own crew. None of these ruffians would make the cut."
CJ rolled her eyes, "I've got the beginnings of a crew. Smee's sons, once they get a little older they'll make great pick pockets and then just wait until you see the booty they'll steal for me. You're just jealous that I spend my time now having fun here while you're stuck in school."
"Well one of us had to make father proud."
"Yeah." CJ agreed with a smile, "It must kill you that I was the favorite."
"It kills me that you think that." Harriet replied but both the girls had playfulness in their eyes, the banter their usual sisterly way.
"So where do we find Celia?" Uma asked as she looked around the arcade drawing attention to the reason why they were here.
"She was here earlier." CJ said looking around but not seeing her friend's burgundy colored hair.
"She still might be." Diego said, "There's a lot going on here, great place for a villain to hide."
"He's right." Uma agreed, "Who knows what VK's get up to in the shadows here."
- -ROTTEN TO THE CORE - -
Cruella drove her car with Horace and Jasper following behind in their truck as they made their way across the Isle. They were far beyond the usual tall buildings and alleyways with their tattered and spray painted vandalism. Here houses and shacks were scarce as the land grew swampier with more thick willow trees and vines crisscrossing under your feet. There was the shack of Amos Slade that they passed along with other buildings that looked put together with splinters of wood but it was the home that laid out in the murky and thick-with-mud water that Cruella was aiming for. Out on the end of a broken down dock surrounded by mosquitoes was the boathouse of one Madame Medusa and Cruella knew she'd be the perfect piece to finish her puzzle of revenge. Medusa was a lot like Cruella herself, though she'd never been as successful as the fashionista. She drove the same car as Cruella in a different color and she could only ever afford fake furs on the income she had made at her boutique shop. When the villains had first been sent to the Isle her boutique had quickly fallen to stores like Jafar's Junk Shop, Hook's Inlet and Shere Khan's Pawns. She'd retreated to the outskirts of the Isle where she could prey upon the minions of lesser villains, though there were very few that were already lesser than Medusa which was a fact Cruella was hoping to use to her advantage. Horace and Jasper stayed with the truck while their boss went inside. She knocked on the door and was greeted by a short man who reminded her of Horace except he wore glasses and was dressed much nicer. His eyes widened when he saw her and he knew enough to let her in immediately. Cruella told the little man she was here to see Medusa and he scurried off to get her. Only a moment later he returned with the woman in question following behind with a smile on her face.
"Cruella De Vil!" she said clearly excited to be visited by a villain of such stature. "Well this is a pleasant surprise. Please, sit, sit." She said gesturing to a couch where they both sat down.
"Snoops!" she shouted and the little man jumped, "Did you ask Miss De Vil if she'd like something to drink?"
"Uh, uh I –I Miss, Miss De Vil would you –"
"Gin." Cruella said in a short sharp tone cutting off Snoops stuttering while he fiddled with his glasses on his face. He immediately got to work getting them drinks and Cruella turned back to Medusa.
"Quite the minions you have Medusa." She complimented.
"A nitwit but on this rock you take what you can get." Medusa said crossing her legs and resting her hands on her lap. Cruella wanted to insult her choice of a bright red dress which clashed with her red hair and her long painted nails but held her tongue, she needed Medusa.
"Oh that imbecile isn't who I was talking about." Cruella replied glancing out the boathouse window at the crocodiles swimming in the murky water.
"Oh yes! My precious pets!" Medusa said beaming with pride. "Brutus and Nero."
"They'd make a fine pair of boots, or a belt. Or both." Cruella said as Snoops brought her her drink and she took a sip noticing the way Medusa kept her smile but blinked several times trying to control herself. She knew her place on the Isle and she knew only a fool would pick a fight with Cruella. "Of course they are more useful to me alive."
Medusa seemed to relax at her words, "And for what purpose exactly? I was surprised to hear from you."
"I'm sure." Cruella drawled, "You're not well known are you Medusa?" she asked taking another sip of her drink and she saw the red head's smile tighten like she'd swallowed a lemon. "I'd be willing to help change that." She continued and Medusa perked up at her offer, "Of course you'd have to do something for me first."
"What kind of something?" Medusa asked looking very interested at a chance to improve her reputation and her lifestyle.
"What kind of sycophant are you?"
"W-well, what kind of sycophant would you like?" Medusa replied and Cruella smiled wickedly.
"I hear that you once kidnapped a little girl, kept her quite a while I believe. And no one found her. . . until she escaped."
"Well that little brat –"
"Fortunately, for you the girl I need you to keep hidden will be much less. . . energetic as little Penny." She said sipping her drink again as Horace and Jasper walked in, the taller man holding the body of unconscious Camilla. Medusa's eyes widened her gaudy eyeshadow only emphasizing their size, Cruella knew that Medusa was well aware that was her daughter, the hair gave it away, and was shocked that she was in the predicament she was in. "I need to make sure no one finds her."
"Which means someone will be looking for her. Someone with power and resources for you to have come all this way." Medusa said, she might not be well known but she was no idiot. "If someone does come looking for her what do you want me to do about it?"
"Poison them, drown them, bash them in the head! You got any chloroform?" she suggested and Medusa grinned and glanced out the window at her pets.
Cruella gave her a wicked and evil grin, "I hope your dear Brutus and Nero enjoy eating pirates as much as their cousin Tick Tock does."
"Oh I can assure you that won't be a problem."
Cruella finished her drink then got up and headed for the door, "Well cherrio! Cheerio darling!"
- - ROTTEN TO THE CORE - -
They'd searched every nook and dark cranny there was to the voodoo arcade before they saw Celia walk in with her sister Freddie behind her.
"Celia!" CJ called and ran over to her getting her attention. The fortune teller looked up and gave her friend a hug as Uma, Diego and Harriet walked over to her.
"We need your help." CJ told her friend gesturing to the three behind her and Celia's face lit up at seeing the children of some of the most renowned villains in her home. Pleasing the child of a major villain was the quickest way to the top of the food chain around here.
"Absolutely." She said with a wide smile, "What can I –" but she was cut off by Freddie who had materialized beside her and clamped her hand over her baby sister's mouth.
"What's in it for us?" she asked as Celia pulled her hand away.
"Beat it Freddie, this is the big leagues." Celia complained worried her sister would ruin her best shot at glory.
Freddie turned to her with a raised brow, "If it doesn't make dollars it doesn't make sense."
The phrase was lost on the other villain kids but a look crossed Celia's face that showed it meant something to her. It must be one of the lessons Dr. Facilier taught his daughters. All villains passed on their wisdom and skills to their children and Facilier didn't do anything if it didn't make a quick buck.
Freddie turned to the rest of them, "So what's in it for us?" she asked again.
"We don't kick your –" Uma began but Harriet held her back and stepped forward.
"How about a share of Captain Hook's treasure?" she offered and both girls' eyes went wide. CJ moved to stand beside her sister and pulled on her elbow.
"Dad valued that treasure more than anything except the Jolly Roger and us." She whispered clearly disagreeing with Harriet who turned to her with a sharp stare.
"And I'm sure he'd approve of using it to buy the help needed to save his only son." The two looked at each other for a moment and CJ's eyes softened at the reminder that while they were looking for help Harry was suffering in a dungeon.
"You're offering your father's treasure?" Freddie asked stepping forward, "The treasure he'd accumulated over a lifetime of pillaging the seas?"
"I'm offering a share of it." Harriet said her tone stern. The two Facilier girls looked at each other before turning back to their group.
"Deal."
"Deal."
They led them to the back of the arcade where a table was set up. It looked like this was where their father worked hustling poor suckers but he wasn't here now and Freddie took his seat.
"Hook. There." She said pointing across the table from her and Harriet moved to where Freddie told her. Then Celia passed her big sister a deck of cards that she started to skillfully shuffle before holding out the deck like a fan in front of the pirate so only Freddie could tell which card was which.
"Draw three." Freddie instructed and Harriet did so. Freddie then closed the fan and handed the cards back to Celia who tucked them in her bag. Then Freddie took the three cards from Harriet and flipped the first one over.
"The thief."
"Oh that's definitely Harry." Uma muttered watching from the sidelines with the others.
"But it's turned upside down." Diego noticed.
Freddie nodded, "It shows something's wrong. Harry has gotten into trouble."
"That's kinda something we already knew." CJ pointed out and Freddie flipped the next card covering the first.
"The lover." Freddie told them then looked confused, "Not a card I usually draw when it comes to villains."
Then she flipped the final card in the stack. "The journey."
"What does that one mean?" Harriet asked.
"See the turns in the road?" Celia spoke up from over her sister's shoulder, "It shows the path you're on won't be easy and it won't be simple."
"But none of this helps us find Harry or Camilla." Uma complained crossing her arms.
Then Freddie rested her hand palm down over the small stack of three cards and closed her eyes. Harriet opened her mouth to ask something but Celia quickly shushed her.
"I see fire." Freddie said with her eyes still closed. "Blue fire. . . there's something in the flames. Sharp teeth?. . . no. . . spikes?" she asked aloud and her eyebrows scrunched together confused, "A crown. It's a crown." Then she opened her eyes and looked at the others.
"The color blue, fire and a crown." Diego listed trying to piece it together.
"I only know one villain on this rock with a crown who wears the color blue." Freddie spoke up.
"The Evil Queen." Uma said, "It's gotta be her dungeon. She's friends with Cruella. It all adds up."
- -ROTTEN TO THE CORE - -
Uma had gone back to her ship and gotten Gil knowing they'd need all the help they could get for a job like this. Harriet made the Facilier girls tag along telling Freddie she wouldn't get her cut until the job was done but she suspected that Freddie and Celia would have tagged along anyway, if they pulled this off they'd be able to brag about how they successfully broke into the Evil Queen's castle and lived to tell the tale.
Diego provided good information, telling them he knew when the queen wouldn't be home since his aunt and Grimhilde always went to get their hair and makeup done together at the Curl Up and Dye Salon on their side of the Isle. He told them they'd both get chatty and spend a good few hours talking to their friend Lady Tremaine. That's how Evie and Dizzy first met. It would also be the perfect time to sneak into her house and look for Harry. Diego told them that his cousins had heard from Evie herself that there were so many rooms in the castle that the Evil Queen even didn't know most of the layout of the building and it was easy to get lost.
"Hopefully all we have to do is find a staircase that leads into the basement and won't have to worry about the rest of the castle." Uma pointed out adjusting her sword belt around her waist. When they got to Woeful Way they all easily could point out Hell Hall and CJ felt a wave of guilt knowing what she did the last time she was there had been the cause of all this. They kept going down the street passing Bargain Castle and Jafar's Junk Shop until they ducked into an alley and came out the other side looking straight at their target. Above the castle the queen's pet vultures circled and they all knew if they saw them break in they'd go flying off to their mistress. Luckily, they had the son of Gaston with them.
"Gil." Uma called him and he moved to the front of their group, "You brought that crossbow from your dad's place right?"
"You bet." He smiled and took the strap from his shoulder and readied the weapon.
"Perfect. Now you can't kill them otherwise the queen will know we've been here. But we need you to distract them and lead them away from the castle while we get inside."
"You got it captain." Gil said as he aimed the crossbow to the sky and fired. The arrow went right between the two birds and Gil ran out from the alley looking up at them laughing. There was an angry squawk as they saw Gil reloading the crossbow and he shot at them again and intentionally missed. Then the vultures dove but Gil was fast thanks to all his training with a sword and took off down Woeful Way. When the coast was clear the rest of them headed inside the castle.
The interior was as blue as Evie's hair only less sleek and perfectly styled. Like everything on the Isle the castle was old, dusty and not well maintained. Immediately they began looking around for staircases, opening doors with big metal loops for handles and scoping out rooms for any secret passageways.
"Over here!" Celia finally called after at least twenty minutes of searching. They followed her voice to where she was standing in front of a large door, inside were stone steps that led down into the castle's foundation and they were sure that's where they'd find Harry. As they made their way down the wide stairs they could all feel the temperature drop. As they went on they found bones and small mice on the stairs and several of the villain kids cringed hoping they weren't about to find Harry as a skeleton too. When they got to the bottom it was dark except for one torch that burned on the wall. Diego went over and picked it up and as they went on he used it to light other torches in the dungeon until they could see their surroundings. There were cells lining every wall and between them were more skeletons strung up by chains. On one pillar in the center of the room was Harry Hook unconscious and hanging from his own shackles.
"Harry!"
"Harry!" both of his sisters shouted and rushed over to him with Uma close behind. Diego and Freddie joined them and together they got Harry on the ground and unchained.
"What did she do to him?" Harriet asked worried as CJ tried to shake him awake.
"Think she starved him? Or he could be passed out from dehydration?" Freddie suggested.
"I don't see any wounds on him that's a good sign." Diego spoke up still with a torch in his hand.
"Guys." Uma called and they turned to her. She was standing a few paces away and bent down to get something off the floor. When she turned she was holding a bright red apple in her hand with two bites taken out of it. "He's under a curse."
Harriet stood and moved to Uma taking the apple from her hand. "There's two bites in it. It only takes one." She said confused turning the fruit over in her hands.
"Camilla." Diego said with dread knowing she must have bitten the apple too. He looked around the dungeon and checked all the cells but she wasn't there. "Cruella must have moved her."
"She's smart enough to know someone would come looking for them." Freddie said, "Of course she wouldn't keep them in the same place."
"Can you use the cards to find her?" he asked, "Like you found Harry here?"
Freddie scoffed, "You don't have any treasure to offer De Vil."
"Harry, Harry wake up." CJ said as she shook her brother by the arm but he didn't wake.
"CJ that won't work." Harriet told her miserably, "Only true loves kiss can break this spell."
"And if Camilla's in the same state that won't work. Cruella's outwitted us before we even knew what was wrong!" Uma said frustrated in herself and her inability to protect two of her crewmates, and her dearest friends. It looked hopeless, even if they found Camilla and got her and Harry safely back to the ship they had no way of waking either of them. Then they heard footsteps and turned to see Gil had arrived.
"Did they see you come in?" Uma asked him her voice dull and empty.
"Nope, dumb birdbrains." He chuckled before noticing how depressed they all looked. Then he turned and saw Harry on the ground, Uma quietly filled him in on the fate of their friends and he walked over to Harry and fell to his knees at the pirate's feet looking at the floor just as broken as the rest of them as he took in the loss of his friend.
"Harry." CJ tried again as she shook him, tears now forming in her eyes, "Come on Harry, you're tougher than any spell! You're the best villain on the Isle!"
Freddie crossed her arms as if offended, "Well I disagree with that –"
"Well he is to me!" CJ shouted at her before turning back to Harry shaking his shoulder again, "I only hated you so much because I was jealous I was never as bad as you were, I never wanted anything like this to happen to you. You're my brother. You have to be okay!" she said as the tears started to escape her eyes no matter how hard she was trying to hold them back. They all started to look at the floor, the heartbreaking scene was too much for any of them. CJ let one sob slip past her lips before she leaned forward and kissed her brother on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder and cried.
Harriet turned away bringing a hand to her mouth trying to keep herself together though it was clear she was falling apart too. Diego leaned his back against the wall in the same boat, without a way to wake Harry there was no way to wake Camilla. What would he do next time Carlos came to the Isle? What would he tell his cousin? Could he even tell him such terrible news? His sister had been cursed to sleep forever by his own mother and not even true love would fix it. Then there was a cough and CJ's crying stopped and they all turned to her and saw Harry cough again before his eyes slowly opened. CJ immediately pulled back and wiped under her eyes worried her black eyeliner would expose her tear trails.
"Wha' happened?" Harry asked groggy still waking up. Uma and Harriet rushed over to him and knelt by his side, Harriet helping him sit up though he looked pretty weak.
"Hey man." Gil said from next to Uma with a smile but Harry looked horrified.
"Oh please don't tell me it was yer kiss that woke me." He said and they all chuckled as CJ threw her arms around his neck and hugged her brother who still looked very confused.
"CJ woke you." Uma told him smiling too and Harry looked surprised as his little sister pulled back and looked shyly at the floor. Then Harry's eyes grew wide again like it was all coming back to him.
"Camilla!" he shouted trying to get up but groaned from the effort and fell back leaning on his elbow. "Where is she?"
"We think Cruella moved her." Harriet explained as Gil moved to put Harry's arm over his shoulder and help him off the floor but he was still weak from the curse. As Gil, Harriet and CJ helped Harry Uma looked around the room and saw only Diego and Freddie there.
"Hey." She said quietly moving to the fortune teller, "Where's your sister?"