Once We are Descendants

Chapter 6: Plots for Portals

"Harry, are you there?" Uma says into her shell phone.

The daughter of Ursula sits on the beach, stretching her now human legs. As much as she loved having tentacles, human feet are a relief to have as well. She was so glad her human father and cephalopod mother had gifted her with both. She lets the cool water lap at her bare feet as she sits on the rocks covering the beach. She talks into a tiny, glowing shell, the accessory is very close in style to the one that belonged to her mother and allowed her to have tentacles. She had given her entire crew similar shells, so they could stay in contact if they were forced to separate. Now that she was on the outside of the Isle barrier, Uma is still able to talk to her crew.

Not much had changed since she'd left, her crew attempted to keep their territory, but other, meeker Villain Kids are trying to rise up, now that the "top dogs" are gone. Part of her wanted to go back and rule the Isle, but Uma liked the freedom the ocean brought her and although she had yet to take over Auradon, she was content where she was.

"Aye, Captain," a voice from inside the shell says, flickering with each word.

"Have I got a story to tell you," she smirks, brushing a few of her braids out of her face. She tells the son of Captain Hook everything that she'd learned from her nemesis Mal and another version of Ariel.

"So, yer sayin' that I might have another dad out there?" Harry says, trying to process the thought.

"And I might have another Mom," Uma says. She smiles and inside her villainous heart softens just a bit. The mother she had now was hardly bearable. She had a mother who barely paid attention to her only daughter unless the sea witch wanted her to work the night shift at the fish and chips restaurant. It was aggravating and downright unfair. At least Mal's mother paid attention to her, wanting her to steal Fairy Godmother's magic wand and take over Auradon. Uma's mind flashes back to her talk with Ben on the pirate ship, how he'd offered to let her come to Auradon Prep, but that was most likely to save his own skin at the time. She remembered telling him how she's always had to make her own way in the world and she'd go to the school on her own.

"That's right brilliant, it is,"

"Exactly and we all know that Mal does not play by the rules. I think she might try experimenting with finding these other worlds."

"What are ye thinkin'?" Harry asks, smirking at the other end.

"I'm going to do a little research of my own," Uma smiles. "If travelling like that mermaid is possible, I might be able to find a way to you and The Jolly Roger over since The Lost Revenge wouldn't last five minutes in the water out here. We can shake things up in this prissy and perfect place. I'll keep you posted. Do you think you can swipe your dad's ship?"

"Aye, I think I can, it will just take some stealthy work on our part."

"Just have the ship ready when I say so."

"Aye, aye captain,"

...

Meanwhile, in the town of Storybrooke, Crystal is searching through many of the books in the library.

The search of her father's shop did not help her very much. She found a spyglass that likely belonged to Killian, a helmet that belonged to Eric the Red, a jar of dragon scales, most likely from either Maleficent or Lily, a broom that most likely belonged to Zelena at some point, a star-shaped talisman that looked like Regina had worn it at one point, a glass eye, some of Robin Hood's old arrows, Geppetto's parents in the form of marionettes and her half-brother, Baelfire's cloak. Crystal had the unusual ability to see visions/memories connected the various objects in her father's shop through touch alone. Most were unpleasant images and memories as her father often obtained many of these objects through either force, violence, or death. She often liked to tease her father, calling him a hoarder, but still, there was nothing in all the junk in the shop that could help Granny either visit or communicate with Ruby and Dorothy. Crystal knew she had a deadline, so with no other choice, like many heroes, she went to the library for help.

Gideon sits in his older sister's lap, sucking on one of the many toys that had been handed down from Neal. He babbles loudly as Crystal searches through another dusty, old book, looking for information about travelling between realms.

"Why doesn't Granny just buy a bean from Anton and call it a day?" she mutters to herself, feeling like she wasn't getting anywhere.

Belle comes over with another stack of books, having decided to help her step-daughter in her attempts to help Granny. "You know those beans are too valuable to be wasted willy-nilly."

"Yeah, I know," she sighs, "But it means more work for me."

Gideon starts fussing again and Belle immediately goes over to scoop her son up. He makes more noises that sound like words, which has convinced his mother that he's going to start talking soon, but again Crystal tells the beauty that most kids don't start talking until they're almost two years old.

Shutting another book in frustration, Crystal sighs, running her hands over her eyes. "How can you stand reading books like this for hours on end?"

"Well when the chance of Storybrooke getting destroyed, it really speeds up the process," Belle says. "Besides, most books I read are ones to enjoy."

"Which is why you should never read Twilight or Fifty Shades if you value your sanity," Crystal adds.

"I'm trying to find good children's books to read to Gideon at night. I've taken several by that Doctor man,"

"You mean Dr. Seuss?"

"Strange poet to say the least, why on earth would a fox want to wear socks? And what exactly is a Grinch?"

"Jim Carrey in heavy green makeup," Crystal mutters to herself.

Belle puts Gideon on the floor for a moment, next to a large stack of books as she runs to the bathroom. The baby, like any curious and destructive child, pushes the stack of books over with a series of loud thuds, startling his half-sister.

"Gideon," his half-sister groans as the tiny boy claps his hands in delight at the sounds the books toppling over made. She kneels down to start picking them up when a title catches her eye. It's covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. She puts her brother in his baby seat so he doesn't cause any more trouble and sits down with the book that had been at the very bottom of the pile.

Brushing off the wrinkled leather cover, faded gold letters declare; Everything You Need to Know About Spells, Enchantments, Hexes, Curses, Potions, and Portals.

With her interest peaked, Crystal begins looking through the old torn pages coming to the sections on portals. To her surprise, it shows an individual with magic how to make small portals with some interesting ingredients, all of which she can obtain fairly easily.

"Good job little brother," she says, tickling him under the cheek. "For once, being messy was useful."

...

Uma slips into the school library, having used her magic to unlock the door. She'd stolen a tacky looking hoodie from a nearby kid's locker and put it over her aqua blue dreadlocks. Even though it was the middle of the night, she didn't want to take her chances.

The daughter of Ursula immediately goes to the Restricted section of the library, knowing that it would be the best place to find the information she is seeking. She knew Mal had a book from this section that told her about other worlds, but Uma is after something else entirely. She uses her magic to open the locked section and slip inside.

Using the yellow glow from her mother's shell, the VK begins searching through the many volumes, reading each title carefully. She knew that if the stuck-up royals of Auradon wanted to keep information about breaking the barrier around the Isle or making use of illegal magic, this would be the place.

Finally, she finds something that was going to help her.

The title read:

Everything You Need to Know About Spells, Enchantments, Hexes, Curses, Potions and Portals.

"Perfect," the daughter of the sea witch smiles. She grabs the book and slips into the shadows.

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