I'll give Merida this. Her ships go fast.

And it's not just the magic, either. Fergus can be seen waving his fists at the sails, yelling at them like it'll help. It'd be enough for me to laugh if Maira wasn't sending me dirty looks every time I came above deck. 

It's not all good, though. No matter where I go, it seems my dad is stalking me. He seems to be determined to make sure I'm nowhere within five feet of Carlos. 

I'm leaning on the front of the ship, watching the horizon impatiently for Auradon to appear, when someone taps me on the back and I turn around.

"Hi Sera."

"Hey, Icy. How ya doin'?"

"I'm fine."

"Don't say yer fine, Icy. I know yer not."

"I'm fine, Sera. Really." 

She gives me a look that clearly says she knows I'm lying. "Icy, what's wrong with ya? Yer dad is here, yer probably freakin' out!"

"Oh, I'm freaking out all right." I tell her. "My dad just came back after what, seventeen years now? And he's determined to keep my boyfriend away from me, and Maira hates me for some reason, and we're on our way back to Auradon where Ben and Dude and Arson is still missing, and Gil betrayed us, and we have no idea if Mal and everybody are still okay wherever they are, and---" I force myself to stop talking and swallow. "I'm fine."

"That, Icy, is the very definition of not fine." Sera scolds. 

"Fine!" I snap. "So I'm not okay, but Auradon---"

"Can wait for one more minute. Holdin' in yer..." She shudders. "Feelings. Blegh. Will not make it come faster. Plus, I'm bored. Talk to me, Icy." She smiles, leaning against the boat. 

I stare at her. "You're telling me you're not the least bit worried about Arson?"

Her gaze turns hard. "No. I'm more worried for whoever's face is guarding him, and that he has a good dentist." She rubs her right fist and I can't help but laugh. She grins. 

"Well, look a' that! I got ya to laugh, Icy. I must be doin' somethin' right."

"Sera, you---"

"OI!" Maira yells from up high. "If you two are done, look at that!" She points. 

I roll my eyes and look where she's pointing, expecting to see the Loch Ness Monster of something of the sort. But it's a hazy shape that looks achingly familiar. 

"Auradope!" Krissy yells. 

"AURADON!" Anna shouts back. Krissy slips next to me and whispers, "Auradope."

I smile and muss her hair, which is done in pigtails today. She giggles and runs off with what looks like my wallet. There's no money in there anyway, so I let her take it. 

Kalia leaps off the boat holding a rope connected up high to skim her hand through the water. When she comes back up she shakes her head. "It's Auradon, all right. But we need to stop. They have patrols everywhere."

Merida goes pale and snaps her fingers quickly. The ship stops out of nowhere, even the sails winding themselves up and tucking away. Maira slides down a rope next to her mom. 

"Now what?" She asks. 

Carlos comes up from below deck and stands next to me. Hades doesn't seem to be anywhere for the moment at least. "Ellie, can you make mist from your ice powers?" Carlos asks. 

Maira gives me a frigid glare. 

"Um, I'm not sure. I think I can."

"I have a far better solution." Hades comes up from below deck and Carlos jumps away from me like he's been shocked. "My daughter can still help, but she's the only one."

Maira's glare turns scathing. 

"Um, why me?" I ask. 

"Because with your and my powers combined, we can make a far better distraction." He smiles almost coldly. "Have you summoned any Mist yet?"

"No she hasn't!" Maira snaps. 

"How do you know?" Carlos shoots back.

"Well, has she?"

"Um... No..." He flushes and looks down. 

Maira looks undeniably smug. "So I thought."

I glare at her. "I just got these like maybe a few days ago."

"So?"

"My point is," Hades interrupts. "Is that Mist can hide anything. Makes you see what you want to see, not what's actually there."

"And Mist will help how...?" Sera sneers. 

"Mist can hide us, idiot." Maira sneers right back. "It will let us slip by your stupid pirate friends unnoticed."

"Mai!" Merida snaps. 

"What? It's true, they're all useless, brainless hunks of nothing."

"Call me brainless one more time, you---" Sera snarls. 

"OKAY!" I interrupt, literally holding my friend back. "I think we can all agree that we need to stop arguing. And how do you propose I summon Mist, Hade---uh, Dad?"

"Liss, it's the same way you summon ice. You reach down into yourself, your core," Hades mimics it and opens his palm, "And you'll just know." His palm floods with a blue fire that crackles merrily, sending blue-gray fog into the sky. 

I try, I really do, but it's only after the twenty-ninth time that I produce a tiny blue flame on the tip of my finger. It crackles a little sadly, until my dad wraps his flaming hand around mine. My flame grows, spreading down my finger and surrounding my hand. 

"Liss, you're scared of it. You can't be." Hades commands, tightening his grip on my hand. I refuse to look up at my friends but concentrate on the little blue light. If I look long enough, it looks like my ice powers. Not much difference, since they're both missing any heat. I wonder if Mom ever had something like this.

And suddenly, thinking of my mom, I remember what she always used to tell me. Love melts ice. Every time.

So I hold my breath and think of my friends. My boyfriend. My sudden-appearing dad, and my nervous wreck of my mom. My sweet cousins and my overprotective Aunt. 

And the blue flame explodes, growing bigger than a beach ball and sending greenish-gray smoke blanketing over the boat and the ocean waves. 

Kalia grins. "Nice! Now just keep it here while we sail up to Auradon."

I do my best to not let go of the blossoming feeling in my chest, and Dad lets go of me to make his own fire again. The smoke doesn't affect us, just feeling like a slightly chilly rainfall. But as we get closer to shore, the pirates start yelling to each other.

"Oi, you feelin' this weird fog?"

"I feelin' it. This is weird."

"Should we tell Uma?"

"Naw, I's sayin' we're enough to protect our Queen from a li'l fog." The second one laughs stupidly. We glide right past them unnoticed.

"Er, anyone else notice his use of Queen?" Maira points out. 

I nod. "I noticed."

Sera growls. "Well, that Shrimp best hope that---"

"Shut it!" Maira snaps. "We're almost to shore."

Sera glowers at her. We bump up against a dock and the ship works by itself, tying up against the dock and banging the plank against the docks at the same time. 

Maira bows sarcastically, gesturing for us all to go first. "Aura-idiots first, by all means."

"MAI!" Merida snaps. 

"What?"

Fergus rolls his eyes. "Ah, let 'er have some spirit, Merida!"

"Dad! Not helping!"

Hades drifts off the boat, glancing back. "Er, Anna, maybe it's best if you stayed behind with Ella."

"I will do no such thing," Anna protests, marching off the boat. "Krissy and Andy are coming whether I want them to or not, and I'll not be safely on a boat while they're out here!"

"We can't just storm the castle yet, remember?" Sera says. "We need to wait for---ACK!" A storm of gold sparkles interrupts her, swirling on the docks and dropping Jane and Dizzy from the sky. 

"OW! Jane, I thought you said we would land softer this time!" Dizzy complains, patting her hair to make sure it's intact. 

"Well, we didn't go upside-down this time, did we?" Jane says. Then she sees us and grins. "Hi!"

Dizzy runs over and hugs me. "I'm so glad you guys are okay? Is Evie back yet? Is Mal?"

"No, we haven't seen them." Sera tells her. 

"Woah, what's with midget and miss magic, here?" Maira says.

"What?" Jane asks, confused. 

I sigh. "Jane, Diz, this is Maira, Merida, Fergus, my Aunt Anna, my cousins Krissy, Andy, and Ella, Mahina and Kalia, kids of Moana, and---"

"Is that Hades?" Jane asks, pointing to my dad. 

"Uh, yeah. That's Hades. He's also kinda my dad."

"WHAT?" Dizzy and Jane exclaim. I rub my forehead. 

"Long story. One we don't have time for. Jane, is there any way to get everybody back here fast? And wait, didn't you guys go to Corona?"

Jane nods. "Rapunzel and Eugene and their kids should be along any minute now. Rapunzel's kid's hair takes a long time to transport."

Sure enough, gold sparkles surround us once again and dump four people onto the ground: Rapunzel, looking noticeably ready for a ball instead of pirates in a light purple dress with no shoes, Eugene wearing his trademark blue/green vest, and two kids. One with a lot of dark brown hair twisted up on her head in a blue T-shirt and jeans, and another girl with short blonde hair in a petal-y looking skirt and a purple shirt. 

"Um, ow!" The long-long-haired one complains. 

The blonde giggles. "That was fun!"

Rapunzel rolls her eyes and helps her kids up. The dark-haired one looks to be maybe fourteen or thirteen, while the blonde one looks Krissy and Andy's age. 

"There they are." Jane says. 

Rapunzel smiles at us. "Hi!" When none of her family says hi too, she elbows her husband. 

"Oh! Right, uh, hey there." Eugene says, flashing a smile. 

Their blonde kid holds back a giggle and curtsies in her flowery skirt. "Hi! I'm Princess Evangeline. I go by Lily, though."

The dark haired one pulls a bunch of pins out of her hair and lets it fall down past her ankles. "I'm Princess Rania. Nice to meet everybody. Now, where's this stupid little pirate who thinks they can mess with---"

She catches sight of Hades and stops abruptly. 

"Oh, dear." Hades mumbles grumpily. "I forgot. I'm hated."

"You?!" Eugene practically squeals. "But---"

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a burst of green sparks. I grin when I recognize Mal's magic. Hers, however, doesn't dump it's occupants. Mal, Evie, Peter Pan, and a miniature Peter Pan drift to the ground with a small army of fairies. Mal grins.

"Hey!" Then she sees our group. "Oh. Uh... So you didn't just hit Arendelle, did you?"

"Nope." Carlos, Sera, and I chorus. Mal's eyes scan over everybody but is interrupted by Dizzy running over all squealy and hugging her and Evie. 

Evie grins and hugs Dizzy back. "Where's everybody else?"

"I expect they'll be along soon." Kalia says. "In fact... Frollo's daughter and Quasimodo's son should be back... Now."

POOF.

"SERIOUSLY?!" Brit screams, stomping her foot. Quentin sees us and waves. They're soon joined by more poofs followed by Quasimodo, Phoebus, and Esmeralda dropping from the sky, along with a goat. 

"Hello!" Esmeralda waves, tossing her black hair behind herself. Phoebus, complete in full gold armor, doesn't wave. Quasi does.

"How did you get here?" I ask. None of them have magic, as far as I'm concerned...

Esmeralda sweeps into a dramatic bow. "A trick of the Gypsies. An easy getaway."

"And we needed it." Brit complains, tucking her (for some reason) wet blonde hair behind her ears. "Uma's crew was already there when we arrived." She looks around, hugging herself. "Is this everybody?"

"Not quite yet." Jane says nervously. "We still need Lonnie, Jay, and Audrey."

"Never thought there'd be a day where the words need and Audrey were used in the same sentence." I mutter. Someone hits the back of my head. "Ow!" I turn and see Krissy grinning at me, on top of her brother's shoulders.

"You haven't met Audrey yet," I warn her. She shrugs and hops down from Andy, who sticks his tongue out at me and runs over to Lily, who grins at them both. Rania rolls her eyes and starts braiding her hair into tiny ones. Rapunzel sees me looking and explains she can use them like rope if needed.

"Does she have magic hair, too?"

"Technically. Don't look directly at her, just near her."

I do what she says and can kind of see it. Even though her hair is dark brown, I can pinpoint a few golden glimmers.

"She can't heal anyone but herself when she sings, for some reason." Rapunzel smiles. I notice Eugene is still staring at my dad, so I go over to him.

"He's not evil, you know." I tell him.

"How can you say that? You probably just met him!"

"He's my dad. And he got my mom to love him, and that's saying something." Then I turn to leave, right as Jane yelps. 

"Woah, that's weird! Lonnie just used some old Chinese thing, I'm not sure what it is, to say to bring her and Jay back. Uma's there, right now! Well, not Uma I don't think. But Harry Hook is, and they got Audrey."

She raises her wand.

"Wait! Does that mean they didn't get anybody?" I ask.

"They got one person. Shang. Lonnie's dad." Jane says. 

I sigh. "Bring them here. Then I guess we'll start getting Auradon back."

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-boo!" Jane waves her wand and gold sparkles fill the air one last time, dropping Lonnie, Jay, and a Chinese man in armor onto the ground.

"Ouch." Lonnie rubs her head and looks around. "Hi."

I run over and help her up. I look around our group in dismay. Jane, Dizzy, Rapunzel, Eugene, Rania, Lily, Mal, Evie, Peter Pan, fairies, Peter Pan's son, (At least it's not his daughters) Lonnie, Jay, Shang, Sera, Me, Carlos, Fergus, Mahina, Kalia, Merida, Dad, Krissy and Andy, Ella, Anna, Maira, Brit, Quasi, Quentin, Phoebus, Esmeralda... This is not a lot of people. (If anybody reading this knows I'm forgetting somebody... PLEASE COMMENT IF ANYBODY KNOWS I'M MISSING SOMEBODY!!! Cuz I really feel like I'm missing somebody...) 

I sigh. "We need to find Uma. We get her, we get Auradon."

Someone makes a horrified squeaky noise. Everybody turns to see a snow-white pale Ella standing on a hill a dozen meters away from the docks, staring off towards the castle. Everyone scrambles up on the hill next to her. 

And I almost make a squeaky noise as well. 

Uma can be seen by her aqua-gray-black-white braids this time glittering with golden beads. She's standing on a high wooden platform surrounded by yelling pirates and a few recognizable villains. On the platform with her is Gil, who's holding a rope wrapped around a guy's wrists kneeling down next to Uma. Uma grins and raises her hands, yelling something unintelligible. 

Mal actually does squeak. "Ben!"

________________________________________

Mwahaha.

Now---TO FELLOW KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES FANS---(if any are reading this)--- IT IS NOW OFFICIAL!! SHANNON MESSENGER CONFIRMED IT!!!

FLASHBACK---Book #7---Will NOT be the last one! There is a confirmed numbers 8 and 9 on the way, and a MAYBE number 10!! AAAAAH!!!

Anyway, for the people who AREN'T Keeper fans.... I pity you.

Ok, back to being serious. I just saw Solo: A Star Wars Story on this past Sunday. Two things on my mind since I came out of the theater. Actually, three.

1: Good movie! Not, y'know, the BEST. But decent! (Not STAR WARS worthy... But eh.)

2: Who the heck is Kira?

3: HOW THE HECK IS DARTH MAUL STILL ALIVE WHEN HAN CAME YEARS AFTER PHANTOM MENACE BECAUSE OBI-WAN IS REALLY OLD IN NEW HOPE AND HAN ISN'T MUCH OLDER THAN LUKE AND AAAAAAAAH THE STUPID TIMELINE MAKES NO SENSE!!!!!

I looked up the explanation for Darth Maul's unexpected visit to the land of the living, and it said the explanation was in the TV SERIES. The TV series have nothing to do with the movies!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH! HE WAS FREAKING CUT IN HALF HOW IS HE STILL ALIVE HE CAN NOT BE ALIVE IT MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!!!!!

One more thing, and for anyone who has actually read this far, CONGRATS. Good for you! My final thingy: Hades has now (sort of) been confirmed that he's Mal's DAD. This will complicate things. IMMENSELY. 

Ok I'm done.

Hope whatever bored person is reading this liked my chapter, please comment and enjoy!