(Okaaaay... so I know I said I was busy with finals... BUT I NEEDED A BREAK. Enjoy!)

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Hans Jr. sweeps into a dramatic bow while still holding his sword. Hans Sr. just grins at me. I notice they're both in sharp gray suits with knee-high boots. 

"Raided a mall, did you?" I ask. 

Hans Jr. smooths his hair back even though there's not a hair out of place. "Least we look better than you. When was the last time you actually looked in a mirror?"

I run my hand over my hair. I bet it's still got traces of dried blue blood from my near-death experience. 

"Let's face it, a jail and on the run around the world isn't the best place to become a fashionista." I say. 

Hans Sr. takes that moment to lunge forward with his sword, but I duck and a long, thin icicle appears in my hand to strike back. His sword meets with mine, a grin playing on my lips. 

"So nice to see you've gotten rusty." I snicker, grabbing his blade with a black rope I conjure and yanking it away. I slide my fingers through the grip and study it. "Nice blade. Mine now."

Hans Jr. seethes and lunges as well, but anger doesn't kelp his balance. I dance away and kick his back when he stumbles, sending him face-planting into the ground. Hans Sr. helps him back up and, with murderous glares on their faces, they run.

I wave at their backs. "Bye bye, boys! Have fun trying to run!"

Sera appears next to me. "Think it'll work?"

I laugh. "It'd take a miracle."

She nods. "Thought so. OI! MAL!" Mal the dragon turns and, upon seeing the two fleeing, flies down and grabs them in her claws, dropping them next to us. Sera snickers and runs off. I tie them up quickly with dark ropes and shoo them along with the rest of the prisoners our group has gotten. I look around our group of tied-up or knocked-out pirates and villains. I catch a few I recognize, like Brit's dad and one of the pirates from my time (s) on Uma's ship. 

Dizzy runs past me with another and shoves him into the crowd that's being guarded by Jane and Mal the dragon currently. I catch Dizzy's arm as she runs off again, giggling.

"Diz. You seen Arson?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. But he's probably inside the castle somewhere."

I nod and let her go, running around freezing villain's feet to the ground until I find Sera again, her explosive-ness helping. I grab her hand in the middle of the groaning and screaming and overall loudness. 

"SERA!" I yell in her ear. "I'm going to find Arson!" 

Her eyes flash red. "No way in Hades you're goin' without me."

"Wasn't planning on it." I say. I let go her and start running back towards the school, Sera close on my heels. I grab her wrist this time and fling my hands down at the same time she jumps. We land on the roof next to a still-chained Uma. I kneel down next to her and release her mouth only.

"Where is Arson?" I ask. 

Uma just smirks. "Not tellin'."

"Lemme rephrase that." I say pleasantly. I light my finger with my blue flames and hold it just under her nose. "Where. Is. Arson."

Sera whistles. "Wooooooooow. If I'd known ya were this brutal, I woulda been yer friend way sooner."

Uma gulps, going cross-eyed to watch the flames twinkle happily, almost like they want me to hold my finger closer to Uma. "You need to take me with you. Only I can get him out." Uma commands, sounding surprisingly calm. Her voice cracks once but otherwise remains steady. 

I stand up, extinguishing my fire. "What do you think?" I ask Sera. 

She shrugs. "I dunno, honestly. But... I need Ar. Get 'er up."

I roll my eyes and grab Uma's elbow to pull her up. "All right, Shrimp." She scowls. "Where's Arson?"

Uma grins. "Glad you saw reason. All right. Take me down to the ground."

I let out a huff of air and grab onto Sera again, slowing our descent again. We stand in front of the doors in the midst of the now-dying-out fight. Most villains are either captured or fleeing. Uma's gaze darkens at that but she doesn't protest as she directs us throughout the castle. 

"Any particular reason we're going to Ben's office?" I ask.

"Ben's office is currently magic-free." Uma tells me sweetly. 

"No-magic spells don't work on me." I say. Except those idiotic gloves... 

"All right. I need my necklace back." Uma says when we reach Ben's door. 

"Not a chance." I snort. Sera seems to find it incredibly funny. 

"Then no Arson." Uma shrugs, flipping her braids. I notice she's still wearing Ben's crown and I take it off her. She glares. 

"Sera?" I sigh.

"Icy..." She looks calm but for the twitch in her lips. 

"Fine!" I snap, pulling the seashell necklace out of my pocket and slipping it over Uma's neck. I snap my fingers and every rope on her but the ones holding her hands behind her back disappear. "Get us in there. Now."

"With pleasure." Uma says sweetly, going up to the door. A small slot opens up and aqua light fills the hall. "Lady Tremaine's Curl Up and Dye." Uma says into it. Her necklace glows and I flinch. But the door opens up slightly. 

"Curl up and Dye?" Sera asks, raising her eyebrows. 

Uma shrugs. "Easy to remember, and easily the weakest shopkeepers on the Isle."

I grab her necklace again and keep a hold on her elbow as I push the door open. "Dizzy's twice as brave as you are. And certainly not as stupid."

But Uma doesn't even react. She doesn't look angry. And walking into the room, I know why.

Ben's office is blinding white, just like the prisons, but here there's a pressing presence, like it's trying and failing to mute my powers. There's two people inside. One, a beefy, tanned-skin man with a leather jacket and jeans, with a gun holster strapped to his thigh. And---

"Ar!" Sera whimpers. 

Arson is being held in a chokehold by the muscle-y guy, who's wearing sunglasses that make his fingerless gloves and buzz-cut look extra stupid. 

Arson squeaks and takes a hand off the guys arm around his neck to wave. The guy rolls his eyes and takes his gun out and holds it against Arson's head. "A'ight. Step away real quick, now. From Uma." he takes the gun off Arson to flick it towards us. "Real fast, now."

My grip on Uma's elbow tightens for just a second, then the guy squeezes the trigger just a bit and I drop Uma like I've been shocked. Sera jumps away just as fast, her eyes losing their red glow to shine black and scared. Her fists squeeze so hard her knuckles are white. 

The guy laughs a harsh, scratchy laugh. "An' let 'er outta that mag---" He stops abruptly. In one swift movement, his gun is back in the holster and he's whisking his sunglasses off, staring at Uma's black bonds. 

He's completely silent for a moment. 

Then---

"Where is he?" The guy snarls. "HADES!"

Sera chews on her lip. "He's not here. He didn't make those."

The guy zeroes in on her and she flinches. His eyes, I notice, glow a dangerous fiery orange. "Who's are they? Cuz they sure as Hades ain't yers, daughter."

She flinches again and my jaw drops. "That's your dad?" Why is he threatening to kill Arson, then?

Sera shakes her head, her arms hugging herself. I swear she's going paler by the second. "He doesn't care about us, Icy." Then her face turns horrified. But her dad grins.

"So! Yer ol' Hell's kid, ain't ya?" He laughs. "An' Snow Queen's. So this'll be yer tricks, ain't it?"

I feel my head bob up and down. 

"Then release 'er. Now." His gun is back beside Ar's head in an instant. So, shaking like mad, I snap my fingers and the last of Uma's bonds poof away. She grins and saunters over to stand next to Ares. 

"Necklace, now... Elicia." Ares says. I grind my teeth together but fish the necklace back out, making sure I crust it over in ice before tossing it across the room.

"Now. Arson." I demand, since Sera seems to have gone mute. Ares grins and looses his chokehold, shoving Arson across the room. He falls into Sera's arm, his body shaking as he cries. 

"Great. Now, what was that supposed to do?" I ask, summoning a mixture of sapphire flames and icicles in my palms, stepping in front of my friends. 

Ares just grins and puts an arm around Uma, like she's his daughter. "I've got Uma. You've got Arson. And we're leaving."

"Like heck." Sera snarls, though admittedly a bit less Sera-y as normal. She eases Arson to the ground and steps next to me, her eyes blazing as much as her hands. 

He just grins and holds Uma tighter. Sera's eyes widen. "Icy, freeze him! He's gonna---"

"TOO LATE!" Ares cackles, throwing his hand into the air. Flames descend from the sky, breaking through the ceiling and wrapping around Uma and Ares in a tornado of fire that twists through the air and flies away like an annoying bug. The last thing I see is Uma's triumphant smirk. 

"NO!" Sera screams, flinging her fireball across the room and burning multiple holes in the wall before sinking to her knees, banging her hand weakly on the ground. "No..."

Arson is still on the ground, shaking. Both of them start paling even more than before and Arson's eyes roll up to his head before he goes limp. Sera clutches her stomach and keels over, falling on the ground at the same time I lunge for her, just barely keeping her head from cracking against the floor. She doesn't move at all as I basically cradle her. 

"Sera? Sera! What's going on? What'd he do?" I yelp. 

Her eyes are glazed and flickering weakly. "Fire... portal...drains...his....kids..."

"Is there anything I can do? Will you be okay?" I demand. "Sera!"

"I'm fine..." she says, her voice slurred. "Just... gonna sleep... fr'while..." Her eyes roll like Arson's and she doesn't move again.

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Okay so like I said up there I said on my last update that I'd not be updating for a long time... but I was so freaking tensed up with studying I needed to calm down somehow and relax. So, I let myself write ONE chapter. I swear this is the last update you guys are gettin' for a while. My last finals are tomorrow and I NEED to focus and SUMMER AFTER THAT, WHOOP WHOOP!

Hope the peoples reading this enjoyed! Comment and vote and hey, tell your friends about it! S'long as I'm not gonna be here, I may as well come back and find hey, look, I got like a million more views over the summer... *makes puppy-dog eyes*

JK.

Ok, hope you guys enjoyed and I hope you guys's summers are awesome! Thanks so much for reading Ellie's story!

(That made it sound like I was quitting... I PROMISE I'M NOT!)