Chapter Text
It was early afternoon in the manner. Grace was calmed down, her belly full of spaghetti and meatballs from lunch. After a bit of downtime in the movie theater, Ursula asked if she wanted to go back in the pool, which she immediately agreed to. Now dressed in her blue swimsuit that looked like fish scales, she was ready to jump into the pool infested with several creatures.
Today, she was literally going to jump, at least that's what Ursula told her. With the seawitch's arms stretched out in her direction, she told Grace she had nothing to fear. “Come on, dear, it's just like jumping from the steps.”
Grace stood at the edge of the pool, gaze staring at the water below. She stood a good foot back, scared.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about, Angelfish,” Morgana said, swimming up next to her sister. “One of my sister's tentacles is bound to catch you.”
Ursula turned and gave Morgana a look that said ‘shut up!’
Grace turned her gaze back to Ursula. “Promise to catch me?”
“I promise,” she held up all six of her tentacles, “I never miss.”
“Besides, if you do it,” Tamatoa said from the back of the room. “I’ll give you a shiny reward!”
Grace glanced between the giant shiny crab and the octopus and squid before her. She gave Ursula a nod and took two steps back. She then raced towards the end and jumped. Usrual caught her in mid air, letting Grace's weight drop her into the pool up to her shoulders. The little girl couldn't help but laugh.
“Told you, she never misses.” Mograna complimented, giving her sister a playful pat on the shoulder.
“Again!” she shouted, now wrapped in one of Ursula's tentacles.
“Soon,” Ursula responded as she swam them both closer to the shallow end of the pool. “But first we must keep practising to swim. That way, you can jump in without my help.” Ursula let go once Grace could touch the ground. “Shall we start with floating or dog paddling?”
“Floating!” Grace shouted.
Ursula couldn't help but smile at Grace's enthusiasm. She helped Grace lie on her back, lowering her tentacles when she knew Grace was stable. The girl stared back as Ursula watched her, making faces that made the sea witch giggle.
For the next half hour, Grace stayed in the pool practicing her swimming. She did more floating, dog paddling, learned to push off the wall and grab it, and she even learned a frog stroke. As pool time came to an end, Hades arrived with Nero and Brutus. Upon seeing water, the two crocs ran for it, jumping into the deep end.
“Great,” Morgana wiped a hand down the left side of her face, “as if this pool wasn't crossed enough.”
“Watch it!” Tamatoa shouted, trying to dodge the droplets of water from the crocodile's splashes.
“Relax shiny.” Hades crossed his arms as he floated into the room. “There's plenty of room for you all,” he then muttered, “be even more if you shared what's on your back.”
Grace was in the middle of doing some backstrokes when she saw Hades come over to the edge. “Hades!” Grace said, swimming to the wall all by herself. “See, I did it all alone!”
“I see, kid.” he knelt at the edge and wiped some wet hair from her face. “Guess what?”
“What?”
“Got your first week of recording all squared away. Tomorrow bellwether and Doris are gonna do some filming with you tomorrow. But first, we need to work on your dance moves.”
Grace's eyes lit up with excitement. She knew this would not be like the dances her grandmother had her do. No, she was about to be the star of her own new show. She turned her head to Ursula. “Can I go?”
Usual gave her a nod, “so long as you don’t forget what we practiced.”
Hades then lifted and glided out of the water and onto the tile floor. He snapped his fingers, conjuring up a towel that he wrapped around her. The longer he stayed, the more his magic seemed to work in this world. Same with the other magical villains. He figured that by now their magic may have faded, but if anything, it grew stronger.
As he dried Grace off, pretending she was in a hurricane as he rubbed her widely, the door to the pool opened once more. Hans burst in quickly, shutting the door behind him. He braced himself against the door, breathing heavily. He looked like he was looking for a place to hide.
“Hans!” Anistaisa shouted from the other end. “Are you in there?”
The villains watched as the young prince looked at the pool, then at his rather nice-looking outfit. Without even a second thought, he raced for the pool and jumped in, diving deep below the water just as Anistaisa and Drizzela appeared. They looked around for the prince but saw no sign of him. Apparently, they didn't hear him either, as they dumbly asked, “Any of you scene fans?"
Hades pointed to the back door that led to the yard. “Try the yard,” he simply said, letting the two sisters rush out. After another minute, Hans resurfaced, catching his breath.
“How do you people tolerate them?” Hans questioned, running a hand through his hair.
“Simple angelfish,” Ursula smirked.
“We aren't princes,” Mrogana replied. Which only aimed to annoy Hans as he swam over to the edge and climbed out. He hastily grabbed a towel from one of the lounge chairs and stomped off inside before he could be spotted once again.
Morgana simply shook her head as the door closed behind him. “Is that the man we trust to mingle with the gentleman?”
Hades shook his head as he lifted Grace into his arms. “Definitely not my first choice." He stared at the doors for a moment before turning to the water creatures. “If only Hook were here, that Pirate is more of a gentleman than Hans ever will be, especially if the girls keep scaring him away.”
That caused everyone but Grace to chuckle. She looked up at Hades with a confused brow. The god simply adjusted her onto his hip, about to say something, when a swirl of red and blue smoke appeared a few feet away from them. Emerging from the smoke came two pirates. One small, round, with a blue and white striped shirt and a small red beanie on his head. The other is tall and pristine, with a hook for a hand. Captain James Hook and his trusty first mate, Mr Smee.
“Speak of the Devil,” Morgana spoke as the two glanced around the room.
When hooks' eyes landed on Hades, they narrowed. “Hades, to what do I owe the pleasure of being teleported away from my own crew?!” he took a step forward, waving a hand in his direction.
Grace was frightened by this and turned her head into Hades's shoulder. She had seen Peter Pan a handful of times, and Hook was unfortunately one of the villains who scared her.
Smee caught Grace's reaction and gently placed a hand on Hook's extended arm. “Captain, maybe you gotta calm yourself. You're scaring the poor girl.”
“Girl?” he asked before seeing the little one in Hades arms. He lowered her hook and crossed his arms. “You better not ask me to transport her to Neverland. There are already too many lost children there.”
“Relax hook.” Hades rested a hand over Grace's back. “No one's asking to use your ship as a transport vessel today.”
“Good,” he gave a nod, “getting you all to that infernal resort was the last time I let any of you set foot onto the Jolly Roger,” which then caused him to raise a brow of his own. “Then, pray tell, why am I here?”
“Excellent question captain.” Smee agreed.
“That is a question the rest of us would like to know.” Tamatoa's voice echoed off the walls.
“What he means.” Hades interjected, “Is that Grace here made a wish on a shooting star, and we all have been showing up one by one?”
“You mean I was sent here to play house?” Hook almost laughed, “please Hades, what scheme have you set up this time?”
“I’m afraid he's the right captain,” Ursula announced, swimming over to the side of the pool. She rested her arms on the side. “Grace did make a wish on that star, and for good reason.”
“Good Reason?” Hook questioned. “Please, what good reason could-” he paused for a moment, seeing something at the far end of the pool. There, swimming lazily on the surface were two giant crocodiles. Hook's eyes widened, fear taking control as he used some as a shield. “SMEE!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Captain, I don’t believe in tick-tock.”
But Hook didn’t care; he swiftly made a break for the door leading inside the manor. “Save Me Smee!” leaving Smee to deal with the crocs who ignored hooks screams. Smee glanced between the pool watchers and hooked racing through the door, unsure what to do.
“Hmph.” Ursula shook her head. “And we calmed him for being more dignified than Hans. man can’t even be in the same room as a crocodile.”
That caused the whole room, but smell and grace, to laugh.
“Well, he still can be of some use. Better to have two of them on the floor,” he adjusted Grace in his arms. “You guys mind explaining to Smee what's going on while I go find Cruella?”
“So long as they stay away from my gold,” Tamatoa announced, but Hades was already out of the room.