Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to Descendants, or Ginny's AU. I'm just playing in it.

Finally at the end of baby Hadie years. Sort of. A few more chapters and we'll be hitting Auradon *internal screaming*.

Also sorry for the late update! I don't really celebrate the U.S Independence Day, but I was busy that weekend. Plus work, and trying to figure out moving. yeesh.

I promise to make up for it next weekend!

AmythestDragon14 - Glad you like it!

danifan3000 - Yeah that was my mistake xP I have a list of characters for the AU and I just kind of went derp when reading it. Curse of Dyslexia. I will totally fix Mad Maddy! I forgot to do that.

OceanBlueSeaEyes - Mal's going to stick to her once a month appearances. But I will write about her machinations eventually! Those jerks will get their just desserts.

Hope you guys enjoy! Also, check out my instagram! Or Ginny's tumblr. I made some fanart for Ginny's Choosing Home. It's been changed to Lotus . Quil

Hades rubbed his face tiredly. Elbows resting on his knees, the God slouched upon his worn couch in the Den. He didn't want to wait for a mirror call. Not this time. He also felt like this was better told in person. While he wouldn't want to worry Persephone when she wouldn't even be able to come back…It wasn't something he felt comfortable waiting so long till her return. They also tried to avoid using the Mind Link when they weren't together. Preferring to be able to speak face to face rather than the mild space out the ability caused. They were both busy Gods in the end.

"Dad?"

Turning, Hades smiled softly as he saw his son. The godling stood in the doorway. An obvious nervous energy emanating from the small boy with the way he twisted the hem of his shirt in his hands.

"C'mere, Hadie." Hades leaned back as he pulled his son onto his lap.

Wrapped up in the hug, Hadie snuggled under his dad's chin. He bit his lip, unsure if he should bring up yesterday's incident.

"Thanks for coming, Dad." He whispered. Receiving a silent squeeze in response, Hadie went back to chewing on his lip.

"A-are you gonna tell Mama next time she calls?"

"It's not something we should keep from her," Hades sighed. "But I feel it's unfair that she won't be able to come back and just be stuck worrying. Yet it's also something she needs to know, but I don't want to wait until she gets back in September."

Humming to himself, he mulled his thoughts a bit more.

"I don't want to wait till she initiates a call either," he spoke again.

"How would you do that?" Mal asked as she strode into the room, plopping on the other end of the couch. "There isn't exactly a way to contact anyone off the Isle."

"Technically I have a way, but considering I'm forbidden from using it with anyone off Isle…That's including your mother by the way... It's why the Mirror includes communication. Zeus originally was going to limit it to travel only, so I wouldn't even be able to speak to Persephone during her Olympian seasons."

"That would be so unfair though!" Both children stared at him in outrage. It may have been before either were born, but to be unable to see or speak to their own mom was horrifying!

"Well, we managed to at least avoid that fate," Hades sighed. "There isn't really a way to verify if I use it, but in case your mother accidentally said something that would imply we were speaking outside of the Mirror use, we try to keep the ability blocked."

"What ability is that?" Hadie and Mal shared a look, curious that they'd never heard of it.

"Before you ask, I will definitely teach it to you two. In case something like yesterday happens again," he smiled sadly, pulling Mal to hug her along with Hadie.

"Now, I might be able to get away with it this time claiming an emergency if anyone else finds out. Have either of you heard of telepathy?"

The two godlings shook their head.

With a smirk, Hades stood up, placed Hadie on the couch next to his sister and walked out of the room.

"Stay there you two!"

The siblings looked at each other. Both equally confused.

'What would you two like for lunch?'

Mal and Hadie jumped in their seat.

"Dad?" Mal called out.

'Ah ah ah, try to send your thoughts out to me,' their dad's voice sounded through their heads. 'I don't want to overload you with too much information on how this works yet, so for now, try to go with your instincts.'

Mal took a deep breath. Everyone bit of her was still stressed from yesterday. Her dad and brother were likely the same. Clearing her thoughts and at least pretending to be calm, Mal tried to sense her dad or at least send out a thought.

She also avoided looking at her brother. His face was slowly turning red and she didn't want to laugh at his effort. She could just imagine his thoughts repeating 'Dad! Dad, Dad… Dad?'

Her stomach grumbling interrupted her thoughts.

'I hope there's some chicken left.'

'Indeed there is!'

'Wait…Dad! Did that work?'

'Ha! Proud of you Mali.'

Hades came back into the room, laughing quietly at his son's pout.

"It's alright Hadie, I hadn't even planned to teach Mal yet. It's not easy."

"Wait, did Mal get it?!" Hadie pouted some more.

"It's not normally taught until a godling hits preteens for a reason, short flame. But we'll work on it every day until you can get it without effort. I want you to be able to call for help to keep a situation like this every happening again."

"So, you're going to use this telepathy thing to contact Mom?" asked Mal.

"I plan to. Since it's Spring she's too busy to call more than once a week." He rubbed his chin in thought.

"I really want her to be able to speak to you two though. That way she can know you're both ok when I use the mind link, and she doesn't have to wait till she can get to the Mirror."

"Mom last called two nights ago though, that only gives us five days until her next call." Mal squinted at Hades. "What's the point anyways if it takes the whole fives days to even get it down? Mom will call eventually."

"Truuuue," Hades drawled, "I guess I could just call and then have you pop in to let her know you're ok. I just don't want Hadie left out of this too, since he was the one they tried to take."

"I'll ask Smee to cover the restaurant for the week. He and Harry can handle supply." The God mulled things over in his head. "I'll need you to pick up the invoice though. I'll run the Underworld, but keep the schedule tight so I can teach you and Hadie more."

"But I just got it to work, why do I–"

"Because once isn't enough, Mali," their dad kneeled down in front of their spot on the couch. "Until you can get it every time, until it's practically second nature, I want you to work at it."

"Should I teach Uma too?"

"That's a good idea, I doubt Ursula's bothered to teach her much of her godly heritage, if at all. But let's focus on talking to your mom."

"Let's try our hardest, Stormcloud," Mal said with a ruffling of her little brother's hair.

Hadie just nodded quietly. He was so focused on trying to get the mind link working in time that he didn't even complain for once about his hair being touched.

"Now, I believe Mali requested chicken for lunch." Hades laughed as his kids perked up, racing off to the kitchen before him.

After lunch, Hades left to contact Smee. He still wished he could deal with Hook, but he needed the man's fish supply. That meant leaving the mortal alive. For now.

Upon returning he set his children to light meditation exercises and get them to try to contact him through the Mind Link. He wasn't concerned about Mal getting it. She was about the age he had planned to teach her anyways. While process of subconscious information settled in at an earlier age, the magic and maturity required was better applied as a preteen.

His primary concern was getting Hadie to use it. If the godling had been maybe seven or eight, he'd have a much better chance. Godly maturity had particular stages, both in magical and mental development. Mal's fae heritage seemed to accelerate her ability to adapt. Hadie, having been born a full god, was still in one of the earliest stages. He honestly didn't expect his son to get it that day.

His worries were being proven true as Mal became more and more consistent. While he didn't want to rub Mal's success in Hadie's face, his methods would both help Mal and tough love encourage Hadie to try his hardest.

They sat in silence as Hades and Mal held constant conversations through the link. With Mal beginning to get it, he reluctantly moved on to the next step. Joint conversations. He and Mal began a more open conversation, where Hadie could hear both speak back and forth.

Slowly, the little prince's face cycled through different emotions. Initially it had been a cross between boredom of having to stay quiet mixed with constant failure. Then pouting. But as Mal's thoughts started to echo through his head too, Hadie's face turned red with jealousy.

Unfortunately, Hades knew that his son's limit was near. Constant magical use for a barely trained godling would cause exhaustion. And honestly, kids his age still needed naps.

'Maybe we should call it here,' he thought to his children. 'We can try again before bed.'

He added the last bit for the benefit of Hadie. Hades was sure if it weren't for the Barrier, he'd a have a blazing fireball for a son.

'NO, I'm gonna get it!' Hadie looked enraged.

Hades and Mal reared back. A smile broke across Hades face, the God leaping up to snatch his son and toss him into the air.

'A little loud there, little bro,' Mal laughed, still sending out her thoughts.

"W-what?" Hadie landed back in his dad's arms. Being suddenly airborne breaking his concentration.

"You did it, short flame!" Hades smiled down at his son.

"I-I did?" Hades chuckled at Hadie's quiet voice.

"I think you need a nap kiddo," he leaned his son against his shoulder and began the short walk to the godling's room.

"B-but I gotta practice more, f-for Mama," Hadie yawned.

"We can practice more after dinner!" Mal followed her dad as he tucked Hadie under the red and blue covers.

Hades nodded, leaving a kiss on his son's head which was quickly followed by one from Mal.

"After dinner will be fine," their dad agreed.

Daughter and father quickly crept from the room as the exhausted little god-in-training passed out.

Hades decided they would contact their mom that day. Likely after lunch once the kids warmed up their new ability. After dinner last night, Hadie had gotten it a few more times, but was still inconsistent. For the morning the God took a brisk walk to a farther side of the Isle, making sure to avoid enemy territory. Distance shouldn't have too much of an impact, but it did have some.

Hadie excitedly responded with a message of his own once Hades sent out a thought asking if either of his kids could hear him. With that confirmed, Hades returned just in time for lunch. He was nervous, he wasn't going to lie. There was no doubt in his mind that Persephone would flip out.

But he wasn't going to keep this from her. Nor risk forgetting to tell her at all and have it brought up randomly one day where it'd probably incite a worse response.

He could tell that his kids were just as on edge. Mal had stayed with him after Hadie had gone for the nap. She had been worried that Hadie getting hurt was her fault. After she'd finally came back and held Hadie for the first time, she had promised that she'd protect her little brother. Hades couldn't lie, not to his own kids. He'd fudge the truth if he didn't think they were old enough, but not this time.

'Mal, you didn't know Maleficent's goons would be out there,' Hades held his daughter tight. 'Steph and I have our methods, but once again I got too comfortable. If anyone's to blame it's me for not keeping on top of things.'

'You don't know that either,' Mal struggled to keep her voice low. 'In fact, I think the dragon caused the maneuvering for both gangs to be in the neutral zone at that time.'

Hades frowned. He considered himself a brilliant strategist even next to Athena, and this kind of movement from that vile fae had few outcomes. None of which he liked. A test for Mal…or a grab for either of his kids.

Shaking his head, he tried to keep his worry off his face. He quickly rushed the kids into the Den while he returned to the kitchen to deal with the dishes.

"It's best if I'm in a different room at first. Close proximity can cause funky things to happen sometimes. But I want you two to support each other, or if Hadie can't get it to work for much longer, you can keep him included Mali."

The God seriously needed a moment to himself. The last thing needed was his nerves looping back to Hadie and Mal. Or Persephone. Emotions could easily be broadcasted if one wasn't trained enough. That's why he needed to be calm when he used the link to Persephone. The kids nervous stress could be written off as first time gitters or youthful energy. He didn't want to send his wife into an immediate panic when she heard his voice when they were forbidden to use the link.

Hades sighed as he stacked the last dish to air dry. Bracing himself against the edge of the counter, he took a deep breath.

'…Persephone?'

Far from Auradon, the Goddess dropped her amphorae of water. Demeter tended to keep to traditional methods on her farm.

'Hades?!' With a flick of her wrist the amphorae repaired itself, jumping back into her hands. She would have to refill it manually though.

Looking around to make sure her mother or any of the nymphs weren't around, Persephone turned away from the crops she was supposed to be watering.

'It's the middle of Spring dear, and you know we aren't supposed to be using this –'

'Steph, it's important. Even if you need to tell your mother, I need you to go to your private grotto.'

'Hades…alright, but you're worrying me.'

Persephone quickly teleported to the main house.

"Mother?"

"Persephone dear, are those fields done? I want the quota up this year, you know we have to –"

"Mother, I'm sorry but I have to go, something's come up."

"What ever do you mean, dear?"

Persephone quickly faced away form Demeter.

'Hades, I'm speaking with my mother, please tell me this important thing is a good excuse?'

'I-, well, it has to do with Hadie.'

'What? Hades!'

'He's fine! I have him with me, just an incident happened and I didn't want to wait till your next call.'

Taking a deep breath of her own, Persephone turned back to her mother.

"Apparently… apparently something happened to Hadie, Hades is using the mind link as an emergency."

"Oh! Oh dear oh dear. Keep me updated too? I'll make sure no one else knows of this." As much as Demeter loathed Hades, she would always protect her daughter. And she was ecstatic to have any grandchildren, even if they were his too. She still couldn't get Zeus to agree to force Auradon into allowing Hadie to come and go from the Isle.

The point of being Gods these days, she swore.

"Thank you, Mother."

Persephone rushed outside before teleporting to her old grotto. In a rush of leaves she moved swiftly through the trees to the hidden seating area.

'Hades? I'm at the grotto.'

'Alright, it's... not easy to say this. But we had a bit of a scare a couple days ago.'

'You're not helping my nerves, Hades.'

'That's why it took me a couple days to set this up, I didn't want you to freak out too bad since you're stuck over there for four more months.'

'Set what up?'

'Hi, Mom!'

'Mal? Hades you taught her in two days?!'

'Hey, Mom.' Hadie's voice rang through her head, though he sounded desolate compared to Mal.

'Are you two okay? What happened?' Shock replaced her worry. It helped that their voices confirmed that they were safe.

'There was a turf war in the middle of town, Mom. I'm sorry, I wasn't keeping a close enough eye on Hadie.'

'Nonono, don't leave out the other stuff Mal. You don't need to blame yourself.'

Persephone could practically sense Hades' sigh through the link.

'Look, Steph, Hadie was coming back from the Tremaine's shop when a fight broke out. I overheard Dizzy yelling from the back alley behind my restaurant when they tried to avoid it. Some Knuckleheads had them cornered.'

'I'm alright though mom! Dad scared them off before they could take me.'

'Take you! Hadie, oh sweetie, are you sure you're alright?'

'Yeah, just a bit shook up. You should've seen Dad though! He was almost covered in flames and got them with fireballs!'

Persephone slumped in her seat against one of the trees. She knew Hades was only partially telling the truth. Even without watching the ember, Hades seemed to have an innate connection to their children. Even when infants, he instinctively got up in the middle of the night before Persephone when they started to cry. Or rush up out of the Underworld if Hadie fell over when he began walking.

She wanted to help her mother with Zeus. But where would that leave Mal? And Hades? Even though none of the Inspectors had showed up in years, they still didn't want to risk Maleficent taking Mal back. Or Auradon taking custody of her.

It certainly didn't help that her own mother and the other gods refused to believe what she had to say about the Isle. Anything that related to her husband, they preferred to ignore and sweep under the mat.

'I'm glad you're safe, both of you,' she quietly thought to her family. 'I'm going to talk to my mother real quick, and pop to the mirror in an hour. I need to see you all. But I have to finish this field first.'

'Ok, Steph, we'll be waiting.'

It was late in the night when Persephone returned to her apartment. She was getting sick of this. Sick of being unable to help the Isle. Sick of being helpless. Useless. To hear her son be almost taken into the clutches of the evilest sicko on the Isle? She was tired of it all. And yet she could do nothing.

When the Isle had been first created, the proposal had seemed like it would work out. Somewhat autonomous; all they needed were supplies. A hospital was supposed to be set up. And then it had just been forgotten. Falling into disrepair amongst the villains' lack of care.

She and Hades had fought viciously in the years Mal wasn't with them. He was right in the end. The Gods didn't believe her when she went to them against Hades' warning. Most claimed he was manipulating her. Even if they didn't think she was exaggerating, Zeus broadly claimed against interfering with the wills of mortals. Hypocrite.

He had helped with that damned Barrier, he should have just as much an input in King Beast's control. And the useless Council of Auradon. Even if she was still allowed to attend Royal parties, she had no input with Hades being on the Isle. She was forbidden from bringing up any Isle related matters unless asked. Forbidden to take anything to the Isle without inspection. Forbidden from taking appliances without applying paperwork just in case it could be used to build weapons. Forbidden, forbidden, forbidden.

Her plan would have to wait till Mal was sixteen. Even if Hades didn't agree with enacting it at all. By then, the laws of Auradon couldn't force Mal to be with Maleficent or leave the Isle against her will. She would finally be able to pull Mal and Hadie with her every six months. Zeus be damned. Even if Mal was without her friends for six months. She'd go to Hercules if she had to. Honestly, Hades kidnapping that boy had been a blessing. The son of Zeus would have been just as messed up as the other Gods if he had been raised by his doting parents. Raised by mortals made the now demigod far, far more humble than any God could hope to be.

Persephone couldn't help but think of the end of the Mirror call. After the children had been put to bed, she and Hades had discussed further of trying to at least get their son and daughter off the Isle. It had been a bit of a role reversal for once.

'I think Mal's old enough to know. 'She should know, I don't want her learning your petty habits from you in addition from Maleficient.'

'I'd rather she thinks me petty than her having more reasons to hate Olympus,' Hades replied. 'You've said it yourself, with our immortality, one day they may actually get off the Isle. Especially if your mother is really pushing to get Hadie off. Mal will be an adult then and you could claim you kept her secret and were right to since those yutzes never bothered to help when you asked.'

'That may be true, but what Zeus did was a political blow. We can't do nothing! Not again.'

'It's not my fault if his Sunspot picked a girl over Immortality!'

'Lower. Your. Voice.' She didn't want one of their kids waking up and overhearing anything.

'Look, Steph. If the Wonderbrat wanted to, he could've convinced his parents to make Nut-Meg immortal with him. Zeus pulled that hero bullshit to not seem bias. He'd already given immortality to his side piece boy-toy just because he was cute.'

'And if you wanted to, you could've stopped the revival of villains or fought against being put on the Isle. Our own Council was ready to go to war for us. You had a plethora of Chthonic Gods willing to fight!'

'Heh, that was your doing. I had my own system before you became Queen and redid the processes.'

'And you're grateful for it, you just won't admit it.'

'I'll admit it when you're in front of me in the flesh again.' Persephone rolled her eyes at the wiggle of her husband's brow.

'What you need to admit, is that you've gone about this the wrong way, and tell Mal the real rift between you and your brother is. Look at Poseidon –'

'Poseidon is not a good example, Steph. He forgives practically everything. Even when I staged a coup against him too.'

'…Seriously, Hades?'

'Ok, yeah, he beat me up a bit, but after that it was water under the boat so to speak.'

'I'm glad you've grown up since then.'

'I don't think you'd have married me if I hadn't.'

'We're getting off topic.'

'Alright, alright. If she…if she gets off the Isle, I'll tell her. I'll swear it on the Styx.'

'When she turns 18 if she doesn't get off the Isle before then too.'

'Fiiiiine.'

After a long shower, Persephone dragged her feet to bed. She realized that Hades never specified a timeline after Mal got off the Isle when he would tell the truth. At least 18 was a hard stop. Now, if she could only get one of the Royal's to ask the right questions.

It would be a sleepless night, and September couldn't come fast enough.