Heidi appeared about a mile away from the entrance to the forest. The goddess quickly hid behind a nearby tree as she heard the sound of several deep growls. The growls were so low and demonic sounding that they made a shiver run up the woman's spine.
Oh, he's pissed. She thought, grimacing at the thought of Kirby being this angry. Heidi had never seen nor heard the dog this angry since the day he was born.
The ground started quaking as the dog entered the area, his growls becoming even deeper as the three-headed canine sniffed the air.
Heidi, who was quickly regretting choosing a tree as her hiding place, gulped when she heard the dog stop. Taking a deep breath, she quickly turned around to see what the dog was doing. Unfortunately for her, when she did this the dog immediately looked at her and let out a rage-filled howl.
The goddess blinked as she slowly raised her hands into the air. "Kirby...It's me, Heidi." She said calmly, trying to knock the dog's rage down a level.
This only seemed to enrage the dog more and he let out another howl before swatting at her. Heidi teleported out of the way and the dog's massive paw hit the tree instead, taking it down as he did so. The dog quickly turned around and growled at the goddess, his glowing red eyes staring down the woman.
Heidi let out a nervous chuckle as she saw the dog light himself on fire. "I'm not gonna get out of this through talk, am I?"
She only received another howl in reply before the dog charged towards her. Yelping as she saw this, Heidi quickly teleported away so she was behind the dog and summoned her ember to her hand. I really don't want to do this. She thought, frowning at the idea of having to hurt the dog.
The dog let out an aggravated growl and jumped towards her, prompting her to jump backwards in response, barely dodging the angry swats from the oversized hound. Narrowing her eyes, she quickly dodged the dog again and teleported away. "Ugh, I can't get close otherwise I'm gonna get a paw to the face."
Kirby let out an angered howl and, much to Heidi's surprise, quickly shrunk down to get the jump on her before growing again. The dog knocked her onto the ground and the blue-haired goddess blinked and smiled nervously at him. "Um...I love you?"
That did not work.
The dogs three heads growled before blasting at her with fire. Heidi, who was thankfully fireproof, tried to back away but was stopped when Kirby placed a massive paw down on her. "Oh, come on. Kirby, I have raised you from birth,you know me." She tried, attempting to wiggle her arm out that had the ember. "Why don't we call it a truce? You can continue blasting me and trying to torch me and I can breathe without risk of a nail impaling me. Sound good?"
The dog didn't even make an attempt to stop and Heidi let out a sigh. I'm going to be stuck here for awhile, aren't I? She thought before scowling at the dog. "You know, I'm gonna cut back on the expensive steak this month for this stunt." She told the dog before rolling her eyes and looking towards the entrance of the forest. Here's hoping someone comes to get this dog off me.
…
Chester's tail nervously twitches as he awaited his friend's arrival. "Don't worry. She should be here any second." He said to Mal, but also to reassure himself.
Mal, who was resisting the urge to get up and began pacing, looked rather worried despite his words and looked down at her phone. "I hope you are right." She said to herself, quickly sending out a text before setting the phone down.
Chester had faith in his friend, so he decided to help with something else until her arrival. "Is Heidi's jacket still here?" He asked questionably.
Mal nodded and pointed at Evie's side of the room. "Evie hung it up over there before she tried to get a corset on Heidi. She must have forgotten it over there…" Mal said with a small frown.
Chester nodded and hurriedly went over to the jacket. He floated up to it and began to search it thoroughly. "It has to be somewhere. It shouldn't be that hard to-ah!" He said as he pulled out the glowing rod. "I found it. If Ara is going to help, Heidi will need this." He said holding the shining object up.
Mal blinked at the sight of it and chose to ignore the fact that the cat had rifled through Heidi's jacket since she was so curious. "What is that?" She asked, squinting at it to try and get a better look.
He floated back to her and held it out for her if she wished to hold it. "This is Ara's bubble wand. It is made purely out of ice and snow magic and is way more dangerous than it sounds." He smiled. "Let's just say it does more than just blow bubbles. It was Ara's gift to Heidi since we all had to say goodbye to each other."
Mal nodded and looked at the wand with reluctance. "Makes you wonder how it survived the trip through Hell and Heidi's body heat." She said as she examined it from a distance.
He shrugged. "I don't know what Ara enchanted it with. It also depends on how cold it is. I have fur and I can still feel a freeze coming from this thing." He said while switching paws.
"Huh, sounds cold alright. Glad I'm not touching it, I can't do that trick Heidi can do with her body temperature." Mal said as she sat up and folded her arms.
Then a knocking sound came from behind the door. "Hello? Chester called me. Is this the right room?" The person questioned.
Chester released a breath. "Oh good. She's here." He said as he switched paws again.
Mal made no attempt to get up and instead raised her hand. "Let's see if that spell Hermes kept talking about works." She mumbled to herself before closing her eyes and snapping her fingers. After she did that the door unlocked and opened by itself to reveal the person on the other side.
The door opened to reveal a very confused Hazel. "If Heidi didn't do that all the time, I would be surprised." She said as she made her way in and crouched beside Ara.
"Heidi did that? Heh, and here all I thought she could do with her magic was levitate objects unsuccessfully." Mal chuckled before looking at the door and waving it to close.
Hazel took a deep breath and channeled the healing portion of her magic. Her eyes glowed bright blue as she touched her sister's forehead. "You have no idea how good she was in our universe." She smirked at Mal after she finished.
Mal smirked back and grabbed a pillow. "The day she can lift an object without hitting herself in the process I'll believe that. She still gives herself bruises to this day." She told the girl, examining the pillow as a thoughtful look crossed her face.
Hazel chuckled and was about to respond before Chester asked, "Is she good now? We must hurry." He asked with worry.
Hazel nodded as her eyes stopped glowing. "Yeah. Look." She helped a now awake Ara to sit up. She turned to her sister and said, "You okay, sis?"
Ara blinked and stretched. "Never better. Best sleep of my life." She said with a smile. Then she took note of Mal and Chester's demeanor. "Is something going on..?"
"Heidi went to go handle her dog on her own and the dog is related to Cerberus and it's pissed off to the point of...killing someone." Mal finished hesitantly, grimacing at the words.
Chester jumped in. "Putting it to you straight, we don't think she can do it without your help. Your water magic would be a huge advantage." He said while tossing the wand to her.
As if it was summoned, the wand landed perfectly in her hand. That is when the glowing stopped. Ara looked at it fondly before saying, "You want me to make sure she stays alive for her party?" She looked to Mal to confirm.
"Please." Mal replied, her voice filled with worry as her green eyes flickered up. "And not just for the party, I can't let her die because of a mistake I let happen..." She said, her voice growing soft at the last part before becoming inaudible completely.
Hazel looked to Mal with sympathy before turning to Ara with fire in her eyes. Ara mirrored Hazel's look and nodded at her sister in confirmation. Ar twirled the wand with her fingers before she made it disappear. "I will be back." She opened the window. "With Heidi." That's when she jumped out and zoomed off, thunder sounding behind her.
Chester smiled and said, "Well...we have plenty of time to get to know each other." He said to Hazel and Mal.
Mal looked at him before her gaze went elsewhere, her hands tightening around the pillow in her hands.
"Don't worry. My sister is one of the most determined people I know. She will get her back." Hazel said to her in a comforting voice.
Mal looked back at her and studied her for a moment before smiling ever-so-slightly. "Thanks." She murmured before returning to her staring in silence.
Hazel smiled at that then sighed. "Please be careful, Ara. I am right behind you as always." She thought, hoping Ara would get her message.
….
Heidi looked blankly up at the dog. "Oh, so we've moved past torching and now you are tired?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the fact the dog had decided to lay down.
The dog growled in reply and Heidi rolled her eyes and looked back down at the paw. "Right, right, the paw and claws. I am still your prisoner." Heidi replied, almost as if she understood what the dog was growling about.
The dog chuffed and laid its three heads down and stared at her, his red eyes still glowing menacingly in warning. Heidi shrugged, to the best of her ability, and closed her eyes. "Don't mind me, I'm just taking a nap. If you are taking a nap, I'll take a nap." She told the dog as a crooked smirk appeared on her face.
A little out of the three headed dog's line of sight. Ara peeked from behind a tree and waved with a smirk. She tried her best to hold in her laugh at the scene.
Heidi didn't react as she stretched her neck. "Kirby, we have a designated nap schedule for you and this isn't even close to nap time. How am I supposed to get you to pass out tonight?" The dog let out another growl that prompted Heidi to chuckle. "You think you've moved past nap times since you are as big as mom? Hah, no, you still get nap time."
Ara cringed. "No wonder she is getting so much sass. She sounds just like my mom!" Ara turned to look at the large dog and thought of the best plan of action. She didn't want to hurt the dog, just water down its power. At least enough for him to calm down.
Before she does, she must get him off of Heidi. If Heidi gets caught in between her crossfire she could get wet, and that would not be good. A distraction would have to work, then.
Ara fluently stepped out of the trees and summoned her bubble wand to her hand. She aimed it and fired a barrage of bubbles at his oversized hind leg. "Hey buddy! Time for a bath!" She said while beginning to levitate for speed purposes.
The dog's reaction was abrupt and it let out a deep growl before getting up. The canine looked at the goddess before promptly grabbing the woman by the pony tail and hanging on her on a nearby tree branch.
Heidi gaped and looked around. "Dude, really?! Kirby, we are discussing your roaming rights after this!" She crowed, her hand clutched around her side while her free hand tried to reach for her ponytail.
The dog glanced up at her before looking back at the floating girl, letting out an piercing howl it quickly began to grow even larger.
Ara smirked as the dog grew even bigger. She swiftly floated higher, at least eye-level, but at a safe distance. She called upon her storm magic and to answer his howl, thunder rang through the sky. "I challenge you! If I win, Heidi goes free and you quit being a bad dog!" Ara said as she folded her arms.
Kirby barked back, his entire body lighting up in response. Off to the side Heidi cocked her head to the side a bit. "He said he's gonna swat you out of the sky like you are a fly and eat you...Kirby! We don't eat humans! That is the last time I let you chat with Cerberus!"
Ara's smirk grew as she heard this. "Oooh, trash talk. Well, let's see if your bite is a good as your bark!" She surrounded herself with her aura and used her bubble wand to shield Heidi in a bubble. "Oh, and BTW. You won't like how I taste. I am so spicy."
"I don't think he cares!" Heidi called out, looking at the bubble before continuing her attempt to free herself.
The dog growled in confirmation as the middle head opened its mouth. "Uh, if you don't wanna get torched I'd move!" Heidi told her, noticing what the dog was about to do.
Ara rolled her eyes. "Has anyone told you that you are very distracting!? I'm stronger than I look." She said as she flew up into the dark sky to camouflage herself.
Heidi blinked before frowning. "You have met my father, if I am bad then he is worse and we all know how bad he is!" She yelled, watching as her dog sniffed the air in slight confusion.
When the dog was distracted, she swiftly dove straight down shot him with a torrent of water. After she did this, she flew back out of range.
The dog let out a rather pitiful whine as the water extinguished it and it turned its attention to Heidi. Heidi blinked and shrugged. "Don't look at me, I'm just the hanging damsel in slight distress."
Ara shook her head at the two before saying, "I will give you one more chance before you get very wet, Kirby." She said sternly.
The dog stopped for a moment, looking at his master before quickly looking back up at the girl and howling. Heidi grimaced and looked up at Ara. "He said no. Apparently the princess told him to not let anyone through and he's pretty determined to follow her wishes." She translated before folding her arms.
Ara shrugged. "Well, if that's how it's gonna be…" Ara turned to Heidi and said, "Whatever you do, stay in the bubble." She summons her magic to the bubble wand.
Heidi's eyes halved and she pointed at her ponytail that was still tangled on the branch. "My incredibly strong hair is keeping me here." She deadpanned and closed her eyes.
"Awesome." Ara said, ignoring her deadpan. Her wand glowed strongly when it was ready to be used; full of stores power ready to be released. She finally released it up to the sky in the form of a blast into the clouds. That single blast alone caused a cold rain to fall from the sky. Along with the wind, the rain was coming down hard.
Heidi frowned and shook her head. "Yeah...That's gonna hurt." True to her words, the dog began whining again as he slowly started to shrink.
Once the dog became his, what Ara assumed to be, his normal size, she waved away the storm and landed on the ground to check on the poor thing.
Heidi leaned in to get a better look, but in turn her ponytail finally gave way and she plummeted before crashing onto the ground. "Owwwwww….." She said into the dirt, looking up at the normal sized Kirby. "Just had to put me in a tree, didn't you?"
Ara chuckled. "Maybe I should've made your bubble to be more durable. You would have at least bounced." She said as she used her wand to remove the water from Kirby's fur and tossing the water elsewhere.
"And you only thought of that after I fell and probably broke one of my already bruised ribs? Ugh...My life always goes well in these situations." Her voice was filled with sarcasm as she made no attempt to get up.
Ara smiled at her and shook the water off of her water resistant hair. She, then, helped her up without offering. "Don't worry about it. Hazel will heal you without breaking a sweat." She said after making sure she was standing right.
Heidi nodded in thanks and peered at her dog. "Kirby, get up, I'm heading to the house and I need you to fetch something for me." She told the dog, who promptly recovered and jumped up before charging down the road. She looked at Ara and grimaced. "If I stumble in looking like this...Well, Kirby will be the second most terrifying thing you'll see today."
Ara gave her a once over before inwardly cringing. "Yikes… I hope you have a backup plan 'cause I got nothing."
"The dog is the backup plan, you could say we can read each other's minds with how close we are. He knows what I'm looking for." Heidi said, grabbing onto her side and wincing a bit.
"Whoa. You okay?" Ara asked in concern, glancing at her side.
"Nothing I haven't dealt with before, I've gotten worse when I was told to practice with Ares. The guy has a thing for making people bleed." Heidi informed her, shaking her head at the thought.
Ara looked at her, then to her side, then to the wand. "This should help a bit." She said as she waved the wand, making a frosty bandage form around Heidi's waist. "That should slow the bleeding. Coolness slows blood to clot faster." She said with a smile.
Heidi nodded and glanced down. "Hopefully it lasts long, even when my body temperature is at its lowest I still melt ice really fast." She pursed her lips and looked away from where the golden bloodstain was. "It's a pain to deal with when it comes to injuries."
Ara nodded. "As long as I am around, I should be able to replenish the band's temperature. If it melts before time, you will bleed again." Ara shrugged and said, "I guess I should stay nearby, then."
Heidi smirked and closed her eyes before letting out a shrill whistle. She reopened them and chuckled when she saw a flaming dog speeding towards them with a box balanced on his back. "Eh, he's getting better on his time."
Ara blinked and said, "Um, I guess. What's that?" She said referring to the box on his back.
Heidi tilted her head. "Well, I think he just grabbed everything I needed and shoved it all in that box. You needed a stress ball so there's probably a bunch in there." She said with a thoughtful expression.
Ara chuckled. "Thanks." She said to Heidi. Then she turned to Kirby and said, "Thanks to you too." She smiled at the dog.
The dog barked happily as it skidded to a stop, the box flying off and landing at their feet. Kirby then sat down and looked at them both with an expectant look.
Ara blinked and picked up the box. "Did you want me to open it?" She said, looking at Heidi.
Heidi looked at the box with narrowed eyes before pointing at it and the lid levitated off and flew over her head haphazardly. "Ah, I knew it." She quickly levitated a few things before a large piece of raw meat floated up. Pointing her finger at the dog, the meat was launched far off into the distance, prompting Kirby to bark happily and go chasing after it. "Okay, now you can look."
Ara's raised eyebrows relaxed as she looked into the box. It seemed to be a mixture of various things all scrambled together like toys in a child's toy box. "Well, there are plenty of stress balls. There is some weird liquid stuff." She continued to shift the box. "What the..?" She said as a crown came into view.
Heidi's eyes bulged and her eyebrow twitched. "The dog accidentally put one of Audrey's crowns in there…" She said before gulping. "At least this one isn't damaged."
Ara looked up in surprise. "Will she notice it? I am sure she has plenty others." She turned to her.
"Hundreds." Heidi answered, shaking her head in exasperation at her girlfriend's obsession. "If this one was downstairs, I doubt she'll notice. At least until I sneak it back in."
Ara raised an eyebrow. "So what do we do with it for now?"
Heidi shrugged and reached for it. "Hm, just put it on my head and call it a day. If it gets damaged I'll just make her a new one."
"Problem solved." Ara stated. Then she smirked and said, "So, have I earned my way into the party yet?" She teased.
Heidi smirked and rolled her eyes as she put the crown on her head. "You were invited the moment everyone decided to hop over here. Who am I to deny entrance to a party?"
Ara chuckled and replied, "Being invited is too easy. I like a rush and a good challenge with an awesome reward." She said as she stood tall.
Heidi glanced at the box before looking at her. "At the moment, the only reward, physical of course, you have received is twenty god-tested stress balls." She said with a crooked smile, her eyes shining with mischief.
Ara blinked for a few seconds before howling with laughter. Once she calmed a bit, she said, "Beggars can't be choosers." She shrugged and said, "I will treasure them."
"They truly are a rare gift, the only other person to receive them is my father during our therapy sessions every week." Heidi responded, trying her best not to laugh.
Ara smiled and groaned. "Rare...I guess they are considered rare." Ara's mouth quivered as she tried to keep her face serious. "Sh-shouldn't you be doing something? Your sister thought you were going to die. You can pop in and show her you're not dead. You can say "hello" to your crazy girlfriend." She said, trying to rid of the teasing goddess.
"And leave a blood trail all the way to the house? I'd find myself under attack of the worried princess faster than I could explain myself. As for Mal...She should know Kirby wouldn't kill me, impale me yes, kill me no. He loves me too much to snuff me out." Heidi reached and grabbed a stress ball. "Besides, I need to show you how cool these things are. They double as bouncy balls and can turn into anything. Diamond, lava, metal, gold, you name it." As she said that, the bouncy ball turned into a round pink diamond. "And they still act as a stress ball! It's the only way I can get my dad to use them."
That peaked Ara's interest. "Really…?" She picked one out of the box and looked it over, getting a feel for it in her hands. "So, how does this work?" She looked to Heidi in curiosity.
Heidi snapped her fingers and the ball in her hand changed into an emerald ball. "I can control them, but I usually just set them for random as it entertains dad the most. One minute its water and the next it resembles a glowing orb. All the stress balls are set to do that now once you pick them up."
Ara tilted her head. "Oh. So, how do I turn it on?" She said as she began to poke at it. "I think mine is broken…" She looked to Heidi blankly.
Heidi rolled her eyes and smiled before levitating the 'broken' one out of her hand and dropping it back in the box. "Here, have mine. It's activated right now." She handed hers to the girl as it turned to lava.
At first Ara panicked and nearly dropped the stress ball. That was before she figured out that it didn't burn her like real lava. She began to play with it in her hands. "Hey...it doesn't hurt. This is pretty cool." She said, smiling while she tossed it continuously.
Heidi nodded in amusement. "Yeah, even if they turn to an element that would normally harm you they are completely harmless. If they weren't, well, my dad would have actually done some damage all those times he chucked them at me."
Ara looked at her in amusement. "Attacking people with stress balls? Cookie points for your dad. That is one way to release your stress."
"It's also the only thing I've let him keep in his cave that he can use as a weapon. I've basically baby-proofed everything in there in case things get a little...heated, during one of our sessions." Heidi bit her lip as she tried not to laugh. "He tends to grab the nearest thing and throw it at whoever is pissing him off and I like to push his buttons with my questions."
Ara have way to laughter easily. She moved the stress ball to her other hand. "That is some session! Remind me to bring some popcorn." She chuckled.
"I'll be sure to tell him we have a visitor during our next Anger Management class." Heidi said back, a playful look entering her eyes. "He doesn't get the idea that he's not supposed tobe angry during that time."
Ara grins and said, "Exactly. Being angry in Anger Management is like sleeping in a mattress store." She chuckled once more. "It's weird…"
Heidi nodded with a smile and looked up at the sky. "As much as I would like to continue this conversation about how pleasant my father is during our sessions, I think I have to go back and, y'know, reassure Mal that I haven't been taken down to the Underworld with Hermes." She scratched the back of her head. "And not for one of our lovely field trips either."
Ara put her hands on her hips with a smile. "Don't make it seem like I'm the chatterbox. I tried to tell you to do that earlier!" She teased the goddess.
Heidi blinked before shrugging. "Well, I had to tell you about my special product. It's not like I have an instruction manual for those things, I'm not planning on mass producing them. They are magic and Fairy G would probably track the sales back to me and I'd be in big trouble."
Ara nodded at that with a raised eyebrow. "Well, we really should be heading back Just in case Mal's hair is turning grey instead of purple." She said with humor.
"If her hair is turning gray I'd question her control on that magic of hers." Heidi said with a smirk.
Ara laughed and said, "I bet I can teleport there the fastest."
Heidi raised an eyebrow before looking up at the sky. "You know I can get Hermes over here with a whistle and he can get me there in five seconds." She rubbed her chin. "Knowing him he was probably nearby waiting to see if I was actually in danger. Danger to you guys and to gods is vastly different."
Ara shrugged. "I guess it is different. I have no idea, though. I've never been a god so… Anyway, are we going back or are we going to have another thirty-minute conversation? I am fine either way." She said with a smirk.
Heidi blinked and with the straightest face possible she whistled and then held up her hand. "5...4...3...2…" Before she could reach one, Hermes landed behind her and smirked at the sight of her. "She said she could beat us there." The bluenette informed him, the corners of her lips lifting up.
Hermes raised an eyebrow and when looked at the girl beside Heidi his eyes filled with mischief. "Oh?" He said, breaking into laughter as he took the goddess's hand in his before the two suddenly zipped off into the sky.
Ara looked at the sky with halved eyes. "Aaaaaaannnnd...I quit…" She blinked and decided that she would just take her time because there was no way she was going to have a chance with Hermes involved, but she was impressed…
Ara shook her head and chuckled. She flew above the remaining clouds, back to Auradon prep. At normal speed…
8888888888
Chester taps on his phone watch as he waits for Ara and Heidi to return. He finds himself continuing to glance at the window in anticipation. "Where are they? They should be back by now." He said in confusion.
Mal shook her head as she looked at her phone. "I doubt she'd visit Audrey after facing down the dog. Even she can't escape that thing without getting a couple of bruises." She said, trying her best to hide her worry as she began texting someone.
Chester nodded. "Well, I am confident that she is okay. Ara is with her and we know that she is okay. If something was wrong with her, Hazel would tell us." He pointed to the girl that kept her gaze elsewhere. "No stress."
Interesting. Mal thought before she went back to what she was doing. It was, probably, the only thing keeping her sane at the moment.
Chester turned to Hazel, the day dreaming girl, and asked. "So...how is she?"
Hazel blinked and her eyes flickered towards him. "She is fine emotionally and physically and she is heading back." She said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, Mal. Hazel said they're returning." He told her.
Mal nodded distractedly. "That's good." She muttered, not appearing to be paying that much attention to what they were talking about.
Out of nowhere a, "Whatcha doin?" Over Mal's shoulder caught her attention. Chester lifted himself up again to peek at what she was so distracted by.
Mal dropped her phone in surprise, the device landing on the bed as she scowled. "Startling me much?" She asked with an aggravated sigh before reaching and grabbing the phone. "I'm just updating my friends on the situation, if Heidi is too badly injured we'll postpone the party so she can go get help from the office." She said while the words, 'the office' came out as sarcastic before she rolled her eyes.
Chester raised an eyebrow. "Well, if Heidi doesn't have anything prepared for this stuff, Hazel can heal her. Hazel has healed her before, she can do it again." He said happily, As Hazel inwardly groaned.
Mal hummed when she heard that. "Hermes usually escorts her up there and she's dropped off at the end of the day looking brand new. He's like her personal ambulance at this point."
Chester chuckled. "Whichever one is faster. I am confident that you guys would work things out." He said as he sat down.
Before the girl could reply, she was stopped as the lock on the door suddenly unlocked by itself. The purplette raised an eyebrow in surprise as the door was opened and in walked a very amused Hermes and an annoyed Heidi.
Hazel looked up at them with mild interest while Chester beamed. He turned to them and said, "Good. You're back. How did things go?"
Hermes beamed back and pointed his thumb at the younger goddess. "Oh, she got impaled and I had to take her up to Olympus real quick!" He replied, his voice filled with little to no concern.
Heidi slowly looked at him with an appalled expression. "Dude, way to soften to blow."
Chester shrugged. "As long as you are alive, I am indifferent." He said. He looked to Mal knowing her reaction was going to be as bad as his.
Mal looked between the two before sighing in relief. "Okay, she's fine…" Her reaction surprising a couple people in the room.
"Do I seriously get injured that often that you have stopped worrying about me getting taxied around by Hermes with life-threatening wounds?" Heidi said with an astonished look before looking at Hermes. "I don't get injured that often!"
Hermes smirked and folded his arms. "Yes you do, kiddo."
Heidi's face went cold when she heard the name and she slowly scowled at him, prompting him to laugh at her quickly reddening cheeks.
Chester teased, "Oooh you got called kiddo in front of your friends. Points for Hermes!"
Hermes clicked his tongue and smiled as he floated a bit. "Aw, she just doesn't like it because she's the baby in Olympus. You should be grateful you haven't hit any of our ages, everybody decides they have a reason to pick a fight with you. The babies on the other hand don't get picked on for years."
Heidi's eyebrow twitched and she let out an annoyed huff. "I leave you for maybe a week at most and you've already doubled up on the amount of baby insults."
Mal smirked from where she sat and looked at the two. "I think it's adorable."
Chester laughed from his spot beside Mal. "I think it's funny!" He said as he chuckled.
Heidi shook her head and quickly stomped over to a nearby chair. "Hermes, you are free to leave and withhold from the baby chats until we run into each other again!"
Mal chuckled and looked at the god. "Or until next class period." She said to herself before laughing.
Hermes shot the irate goddess a wink before zipping away, causing the door to close and lock behind him.
That is when Ara finally appeared and seemed to be wearing a...sombrero? "Sorry I'm late. After all of that magic I used, I got hungry. There happened to be a Spanish birthday party nearby and I crashed it." She shrugged. "I'm a sucker for dulce de leche." She melted at the thought.
Heidi cocked her head to the side. "Huh, well, Hermes and I made a pitstop up in Olympus before we arrived here." She said, eyeing the sombrero with a confused look.
Hazel looked at Ara with squinted eyes. "A sombrero? Why?"
Ara shrugged. "I kinda like it. It really keeps the sun out of my eyes." She said while adjusting it. "Anyway, we have to go find someplace to stay while we visit, so I guess we won't see you guys till later. You know, when we get settled."
Heidi shrugged and looked at her. "Not a problem, I have to get myself cleaned up so I don't look like I've been mauled when these people decide to drag me out."
"We could postpone it if you'd like, Heidi." Mal offered, her eyes flickering down to the golden bloodstain on her sister's shirt.
Heidi shook her head. "Nah, it's fine, I'm fine." The goddess assured her as she leaned back in the chair.
Ara nodded and said, "Great. We will see you at the party. Hazel, Chess. Time to go." She said to them.
Hazel turned to Ara again and asked, "Where are the boys?" She tilted her head.
Ara chuckled. "Spanish birthday party." She stated.
Hazel's eyes became halved as she walked to her sister. Chester teleported on Ara's shoulder. Ara turned to Mal and Heidi and said, "Hasta lluego, until later!" That's when they all teleported away in a white flash and a blast of wind.
Mal raised an eyebrow while Heidi shook her head. "Hm, I guess that's one way to leave." Mal commented before looking at her sister in realization. "I forgot to tell them when the party will be."
Heidi shrugged and stood up. "Eh, no worries, I'll just send Hermes to tell them." She said before she began to look around the room. "Where are your towels?"
"Why? Wait...Why do I have a feeling that you are going to wind up unconscious from whatever you are doing?" Mal quickly stood up and stared at the bluenette.
Heidi blinked before she grinned and raised her hands. "You caught me. I was going to use your shower and pass out. Y'know, in order to escape "Dress Heidi up and make her look like a princess!" time."
Mal's eyes halved and she grabbed Heidi by the arm before dragging her towards the bathroom. "If you needed help with making sure your wounds are clean you could have asked. It wouldn't have been the first time."
Heidi smirked and laughed. "Aw, my own sister making sure I don't drown in order to escape my party. How sweet of you."
Mal stopped and looked at her with an exasperated look. "And you have been hanging out with Hades too much, you are starting to sound like him and frankly it's disturbing."
Heidi shrugged and shot her a cheeky smile. "Sorry, I'm the only person who can approach him without getting cursed at and threatened that my soul will be his as soon as he escapes."
Mal shook her head and sighed. "I know, but I wish you'd lose the Hades talk."
"Lingo, it's called the Hades Lingo and you can't exactly lose it when it's also my lingo and your lingo. Don't fight the lingo." Heidi fired back before folding her arms.
Mal rolled her eyes before practically tossing her sister into the bathroom. "Why do I put up with her?" She mumbled before going in, mostly to make sure Heidi wasn't planning on knocking herself out.
….
It was a couple hours later when Heidi was pushed out of the dorm. Oddly enough, there was a blindfold on her and Mal was having to guide her around.
"Mal, I appreciate how far you are going to make sure this is a surprise, but the blindfold is a bit much." Heidi complained as she tried to grab it.
Mal slapped her hand away and continued pushing her through the hallway. "Oh, it is required in this case. We want it to be a surprise."
"...Mal, my birthday is on Halloween and we both know it's not Halloween, therefore there is no need for a surprise party." Heidi deadpanned as she tried again with the blindfold.
Mal rolled her eyes as she grabbed the goddess's hand. "Yeah, well, we also missed your birthday last year because someone didn't tell us."
"Eh, birthdays aren't that important, y'know." She responded with a shrug.
"Maybe for you it isn't, but us humans find it to be a nice tradition." Mal said as they turned a corner.
Heidi smirked and chuckled. "Pulling out the human card, are we?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Man, you really want me to agree, don't you?"
The purplette blinked and tilted her head before shaking her head. "Well, I thought you'd agree anyway, because it's polite to agree."
Heidi was silent for a moment before she laughed. "Oh, boy! Now you are pulling out the polite excuse!" She cocked her head to the side. "Really, Mal, I would have agreed if you just asked nicely."
Mal's eyes halved as they entered the entryway. "Okay, will you please leave the blindfold alone and behave until we get there?"
Heidi shrugged, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Due to the fact you allowed me to stay in my normal outfit and you said please, I will agree and behave."
The girl let out a sigh in relief as she opened the door. "Thank you."
Heidi smiled and gave her a thumbs up as the two walked down the sidewalk. "So...where are we going again?"
Mal felt like facepalming as she began to walk faster. "Heidi, we just went over this, it is a secret. As in I'm not going to tell you."
The goddess smirked and shrugged. "Can't hurt to try. One of these days you'll slip up and tell me something."
Mal began leading her to a nearby parking lot and the purplette looked around cautiously before walking to the entrance of the parking lot. She pulled out her phone and entered a number before lifting it to her ear. "Yeah, we are here waiting. Nope, no one else has noticed, great idea on saying there was a meeting with the owner of Celecreation."
"Heh, they'll never meet her." Heidi said sing-songy before laughing.
Mal rolled her eyes at her sister's words. "Go ahead and bring it around."
"Man, you are making it sound like we are sneaking off to some epic party, Mal. Y'know the type they throw at Triton's Bay? The raves." Heidi commented, her boredom soon becoming evident.
Mal hung up and patted her sister on the back. "I should have brought you a game of some sort, whatever they give you up there makes you...Energetic."
"For good reasons, Mal." Heidi said before looking around as she heard something. "Hey...Did you guys borrow the limo without asking?"
Mal smirked. "No, I just asked Ben if I could borrow it for your party. He sends his regards, by the way, he's stuck in a meeting till later tonight."
Heidi grimaced at the word 'meeting'. "Ugh, sounds like a doozy of one. Glad I haven't had to be apart of one of those in a while."
Mal chuckled and she smiled when she saw the limo pull up. Jay and Carlos got out and waved at the purplette while Evie got out not even a second later. "I see you guys managed to get it." Mal said, smirking when she saw Jay toss a small object up and catch it.
"It took a bit of convincing, but they finally let us have it when Ben called." Carlos said and Jay laughed in agreement.
Evie looked at Heidi and raised an eyebrow. "You let her go casual?"
"E, we both know what that was earlier." Mal said as she began leading Heidi towards the vehicle.
Evie nodded before smiling. "Ah, yes we do."
"Well, I don't. Can someone explain the rib bruising thing to me?" Heidi asked, scowling as Mal shoved her in the limo. "Hey...At least help me in."
Mal rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Did you tell Hermes to go tell those other people?"
Heidi shrugged. "He probably overheard us anyway, he doesn't actually leave most of the time." She said, rubbing her hands together.
Mal paused before getting in the limo. "Well, if you say so."
Heidi laughed when she heard that. "Say so? I know so. Hermes is the dude I hang out with far too often because I am required to." She said as Evie got in and looked at the bluenette with an amused smile.
The boys quickly hopped in and shared a smirk. "That's because he babysits you." Jay called back, snickering when he heard Heidi huff.
"It's not babysitting!" As she yelled this, the vehicle began moving. "Also, sitting in a moving vehicle while blindfolded is a weird experience, I hope you all know that."
"Nope."
"I did not know that."
"That's a first for me to hear."
"Heidi, we have no reason to know about that." Mal deadpanned before smirking. "Didn't you say you would behave until we got there?"
"Did I say that?" Heidi asked innocently, folding her arms and tilting her head.
Mal reached over and patted the woman on the shoulder. "You did. It will only take twenty minutes to get there and then you can run around to your heart's content."
Heidi paused before shrugging. "Well, when you put it like that, I guess my only option is to stay quiet." She said before smirking. "But after that? Ooh, we are talking about this whole super secret party scheme thing."
Mal and Evie shared a look before they both chuckled. "Alright, Heidi, we'll explain it." Evie said with a soft smile.
"Yeah, and also it's not a scheme." Mal said, correcting her sister who simply chuckled in reply.
"Whatever you say." Heidi mumbled back before relaxing into the seat.
…..
The normally crowded streets of the Isle were oddly empty as a sole inhabitant strolled down the road. The man tossed a glowing blue ball up into the air before catching it. His light blue eyes scanned the streets in mild interest before he shrugged and ran his hand through his blue hair. "Hm, I must have missed the memo." The man commented, rubbing his chin in thought. "Or there's a party going on and I wasn't invited…" He pursed his lips before chuckling. "Nah, if there was a party I would be the first to be invited."
As he continued down the street, the sound of a vehicle approaching caused him to step to the side as he tossed the ball into the air again. Hmm...I wonder what the occasion is? Not everyday they bring the nice shiny limo onto this dump.
He put on a nonchalant look and shoved his hands in his pockets. The man then turned away and pretended to be looking at one of the deserted shops, not like it would help hide his identity, while the limo drove by.
As soon as it was by, the man whipped around with a wide grin. He chuckled and folded his arms. "Why, is that my Heidi sense that is tingling?" He said while the bouncy ball disappeared from his hand. "I think it is! My own daughter being brought by limo...I wonder what she is up to."
Hades smirked as his ember appeared in his hand. Ah, thank you mysterious crack in my cave. He thought to himself, remembering the odd crack that had appeared in his cave a couple years back. Normally he'd ignore such a thing, and he did for the longest time, but it was when he noticed his hair flame up during one of his sessions with his daughter that he finally decided to investigate. Turns out there was a crack, not only in the cave, but in the barrier itself and it was letting in just enough magic for Hades to have some fun. Of course it wasn't enough for him to blast a hole through the barrier, he would love to do such a thing, but he could freak out the morons on the Isle with a few simple tricks while he waited for the crack to grow. Not like he'd tell his daughter about this, she'd ruin all the fun and tell Fairy G about it!
The god's hand tightened around the ember and he chuckled. "Time to crash the party." He said before the ember glowed dimly and he teleported away.
With Heidi
Heidi was struggling to stay still as her head whipped around. I swear to gods that felt like my dad's ember back there. Are we on the Isle? Why would we be on the Isle? Don't those four hate the Isle?
Mal raised an eyebrow at her sister's actions. She looked so...jumpy. Like a kid on candy. The purplette thought, her head tilting as Heidi scowled a bit.
Evie blinked at the sight and leaned towards Mal. "Is she always returned like this?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure what kind of coffee they got up in Olympus, but she's usually hyper...Though, I can't say I've ever put a blindfold on her when she's like this." Mal whispered back, shaking her head when she saw Heidi shift positions and lay down. "Weird."
Evie nodded in agreement and straightened up. "We're almost there, anyway. She'll probably calm down as soon as we slip the blindfold off."
Mal 'hmmed' at that and looked out the window. To think we needed to come back here to escape all those rumors...I'm going to have a talk with Ben, we need to get this under control before it explodes.
The next few minutes were filled with silence and Heidi twitched a bit. "Mal?"
The purplette looked back at the goddess and tilted her head. "Yes?"
"...Why are we on the Isle?"
Mal blinked and glanced at an equally surprised Evie. How did she… Her thoughts stopped and she held up her finger as it dawned on her. "You sensed Hades when we passed by him, didn't you?"
"Duh. As long as he has his ember on him I can sense him from anywhere on the Isle. You had me going until he showed up." Heidi said, sitting up and propping her head up on the seat cushion.
Evie giggled when she saw the exasperated look on Mal's face. "Yep, you guessed it. We wanted to hold your party where there would be no rumors."
Mal shook her head. I always forget about Hades, ugh, I should have made sure he wasn't running around. What was he doing? "Not to mention we wanted to make sure all your friends were there."
Heidi seemed to perk up at that and she smiled. "Oh?"
Both girls replied with a quick 'yes' as the car pulled to a stop. "And we are here!" Jay said, turning off the limo and looking back at them. "Not a person in sight."
Mal smiled and reached over to grab Heidi. "Come on, let's get out."
Heidi quickly nodded and complied this time, climbing out of the limo as if she wasn't blindfolded in the first place. When she got out, she took a sniff before shaking her head. "Yep, definitely the Isle." She took another sniff before blinking under her blindfold. "Though, I find it strange that there is no one around here but us."
Mal and Evie both led her away from the limo as the boys quickly followed. "You could say the area we are in is the stomping grounds of someone nobody wants to mess with." Carlos said, looking around the dark alleyway.
Heidi tilted her head. "...My dad or Chernabog?"
They all shared a look before Mal chuckled. "We found one of Hades' other caves awhile back and we thought it would be the perfect spot."
Heidi nodded and pursed her lips. "Dad's stomping grounds it is. He has one other one around here somewhere, as he was always trying to dig past the barrier when I was young." She chuckled at the thought before tilting her head up. "Though this may be out of his way, you can probably expect him to crash the party at some point, he likes to do that."
Mal inwardly grimaced at the idea of having to deal with Hades and quietly prayed that the god would be elsewhere the entire time.
The group made it to the entrance of the mineshaft that led down to the second cave. Mal smirked when she saw the lock on the ground, its mechanisms scattered about as if someone ripped them out. Looks like Hermes came through. She thought before pushing the door open and beginning to lead her sister down the darkened tunnel. "Heidi, light your hand up." Mal stated, patting the goddess on the hand.
Heidi lifted her hand and summoned a bright blue flame that encased her hand. "There should be some torches on the wall, move my hand and tap when it's pointed at one."
Mal raised an eyebrow before shrugging, her night vision coming in handy as she grabbed her sister's arm and pointed it at the nearest torch. She tapped the woman's wrist and let out a laugh in surprise when she saw Heidi shoot a beam at the torch. The blue fire flared before it leapt out and landed on another torch, lighting that one up before it leapt out and did what the first one did. Soon enough, the entire mineshaft was lit up by the blue flames that illuminated their way down.
Heidi chuckled as she heard the fires crackle. "Well then, shall we continue?"
Mal shrugged and looked to Evie before the two began leading the bluenette once more. "So, this cave was one that he didn't like or something?" Jay asked from his position behind them.
Heidi nodded at his question. "Something about the atmosphere from what I could remember. He was really picky when it came to where he wanted to sit for, possibly, thousands of years."
"I don't blame him, must suck being immortal here." Jay responded, frowning at the very idea.
Heidi clicked her tongue. "He complained for a decade or so."
The four shot her a look before they chuckled and continued down the mineshaft. It only took a few minutes to reach the bottom and when they did they finally removed Heidi's blindfold.
The goddess blinked at the dark room, but before she could ask about the lights the torches suddenly flamed up and a body barrelled into Heidi like a bull.
"HEIDI!"
Heidi blinked and she plucked the boy off of her and lifted him up. "Hadie? Why did you just try to bodyslam into me?"
The blue-haired teen laughed nervously and scratched the side of his head. "Welll...Since you decided to skip out on dad, he's been using me as a replacement therapist." His faced morphed into an appalled expression. "He threw the stress balls at me!
Heidi's eyebrows flew up and she slowly patted him on the head. "He does that to me too."
She dropped the boy and moved past him. Looking at the area, she folded her arms when she noticed the decorations. "Nice. Blue and black." She whipped around and smirked at the VKs. "I like it."
Mal looked at Hadie in exasperation. "You ruined the surprise."
Hadie peered at her before shrugging. "What? I didn't get word that there was a surprise party! This is just where I hang out, Chernabog's daughters never look for me here."
Heidi waltzed over to her little brother before giving him an affectionate noogie. "Aw, it's alright. Since you were technically the first crasher of the party you can go out and tell everyone I like where it is."
Hadie looked up at her before pouting. "Why me?"
The goddess patted him on the head and folded her arms. "Because I want to get a few more people here and you are less threatening."
Hadie sulked a bit when he heard that. "Not all of us can be living flamethrowers…" He sighed and moved past them before heading back up the mineshaft. "If I get attacked by succubi I'm telling dad!"
Heidi chuckled and rolled her eyes. "And I'll tell him that you crashed the party before he could!"
There was an audible groan that echoed in the cave before his footsteps became inaudible. The VKs all let out a laugh as soon as Hadie was long gone and Mal smirked at the bluenette. "Oh, by the way, we smuggled a cake in."
Heidi's eyes widened and she quickly looked around the cave. "Where?!"
Mal rubbed her chin, a thoughtful look on her face. "Why, I believe I have forgotten where I asked the boys to place it." She shrugged and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Hey, how about you go find it while we wait for Hadie to round up some more people?"
Heidi blinked before a smile landed on her face. "You got it!" And then she proceeded to run around the cave like a wild child.
Evie giggled and the sight and Mal chuckled. "And that is how you work off the god coffee." The purplette said, prompting the boys to smirk as they went to a set of nearby chairs.