It's Gonna Blow! (The Devereaux Story)/Chapter 2

Axel was posing in the mirror, hoping to get a key emotion out of it, but nothing happened. He then tried his best to use any acrobatic he could, but still no key. Axel stomped his foot, "Why isn't this working?!"

"What are you doing?" Astrid asked him, startling him. "You look like you've got ants in your pants."

"I'm trying to discover my key emotion," Axel explained, "Everyone else discovered theirs! I'm the oldest, I should've discovered mine first!"

"Well, if you force yourself, it won't come out," Astrid advised, "Besides, I don't think vanity is a key emotion."

Axel sighed, "What do you want?"

"I was just coming to get you," Astrid answered, "Father has some news for us."

After Astrid exited, Axel took one look back at the mirror then followed Astrid out of his room. He spotted the rest gathered around Olivier, Eska, and Spiro.

"We already have the spell to cool things off," Oliver explained, "But, it requires all of us to make it up the volcano. Do you all understand?"

"I do, Father," Axel called, "If I dare to come, maybe I'll discover my key emotion from it." The rest of his siblings laughed. Axel glared, "What?!"

"Astrid told us about you posing in front of the mirror," Allura snickered.

"You try too hard!" Charming laughed.

Axel was about to blow a fuse, but Olivier put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure Axel is trying just like you are. Now, all of you, to the caravan." The siblings nodded and headed towards their vehicle. Axel was about to go to, but Olivier pulled him aside.

"The reason you can't find your key emotion is because you expect it to come," Olivier whispered in his ear, "You will find yours, my eldest son. You just have to find the emotion deep inside you." Axel took in his words, then nodded.

Once in the caravan, Olivier took a power source from the dome and put it in the wheeled box in front of him. He took the reigns and shook them, powering up the box. The van rolled out of the dome and into the village, where all the Smurfs wished them luck. Papa and Olivier shared a nod as a sign of "good luck". Eska waved to the others as the van rolled out of the village and into the forest.

Eska saw the village barrier cover the village and moved to the front of the carriage, "So, how long does it take to get to that volcano?"

"Usually, up to many days," Olivier answered, "But, if we travel to the Forest of Portals, we should be able to make it two hours."

"And...how long does it take for a volcano to erupt?" Spiro asked.

"Ten years," Olivier explained, "First come the smoke, then the bursting fire, then lava spews out the top. But, something from this volcano must've caused the smoke to travel to the village. We must get there fast."

"But, for now, why don't we try to find the ingredients for this spell?" Eska suggested, "Let's see...it says we need water that can chill the bones. For the base."

"Oh!" Juliet piped up, "Last time me and Clumsy took a dip in Firefly Grove, the water there was freezing! But, it sure made for a hot spring day!"

"Then off to Firefly Grove we go!" Eska pointed the way.

Once to Firefly Grove, Eska brought over the pot she packed on the way and filled the whole thing with Firefly Grove water. She could hardly keep her hands on it because the water was chilling. Dante ran over to help her and they put the pot back into the middle of the caravan.

"Looks like we're on the right track!" Eska beamed, "Next, we need three cubes of glacier ice."

"Where are we gonna get glacier ice, though?" Wilt asked, "I'm sorry, but if we actually go to the glacier of the Hodgepodge Appalachian Mountains, the volcano will have already burnt down the forest!"

"And we would've have to go through portal to portal to find the ingredients," Dante added.

"Don't worry, children," Olivier pulled out a multi-colored bag, "I have my ways."

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