Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to Disney, Descendants, or Ginny's AU. I'm just playing in it. Any new OCs are mine.

Whooo! Longest chapter so far. But yet again this was cut.

We're starting to skip forward a tad. Chapter 10 will start the conclusion to the Isle. Ch11 will start the arc of when Mal leaves for Auradon.

I will try to still update Sunday, my usual time. But things are still pretty hectic. The once a week rhythm is doing okay though.

OceanBlueSeaEyes: Yeah, he may be a pretty open kid, but he's got his dad's conviction! Maybe one day he'll have a concrete plan.

AmethystDragon14: Glad you liked it!

"Going out to meet Celia at Ursula's!"

"Be back in time for dinner by five, dear!" Persephone called back out to her son as he headed out of the Underworld.

The prince of the Underworld closed the creaky skull gate behind him. Finally, after two years of his parents' constant watch, he could go out unattended. True, he was still limited to the same areas as before, but it was nice to get some breathing room.

The only real change came from new lessons and his mother's timed return and departure. The only solace came from his guitar and any new books.

Before Persephone had left again after his sixth birthday, Hadie admitted his dislike for the Auradon cliché. Now each birthday, stories brought back focused far more on adventures. Sure, some still had romance—which he didn't mind—but occasionally one didn't have a happy ending, which was far more interesting than the same themes over and over again. Admittedly his favorite book technically fell in with some of the Auradon tropes. It was the first of the new kind of books his mom started to bring over. Dog-eared, and well-read, his copy of Shrek always sat on his bedside table.

'I don't think mom proof reads anything she gets me…' Hadie thought as he hopped through the docks. 'Probably just asks for recommendations. That book is hilariously crude.'

With a jump from a pile of crates, he landed with a splash. This year he had gotten boots similar to his dad.

'No more wet socks,' he grinned. 'I don't understand how Uma and Mal like the feeling.'

Keeping his hands pocketed, Hadie strolled the rest of the distance to Ursula's shop. Uma had mentioned Celia would be hanging around their territory today, and Hadie wanted to share his new project.

Immediately ducking as he entered the shop, Hadie avoided a drunken patron's flying bottle. Slinking over to the counters, he met with Jay and Mal.

"Sup, Hadie!" Jay greeted.

"Hey Mal, Jay," Hadie looked around the room. Ursula's tentacles were lashing out, tossing the patron who threw the bottle through the open door and slapping a few others for their ruckus.

"Uma in the back stuck with dishes again?"

"Yup," Mal hummed. She patted the open stool next to her. "Uma said you were meeting up with Celia again?"

Hadie leapt onto the seat. "Gonna try. Uma said she might swing by today, so I figured I'd hang out and see if she showed."

Sometimes she didn't, but he wouldn't begrudge her for it. Since he didn't have to stay in one spot anymore, he could wander the docks or hang out on the ship which meant if she ever did show, he'd spot her from most anywhere. He just didn't like to get bored.

His parents had learned that before he could even really talk. A bored Hadie was a dangerous Hadie.

Or reckless, in nicer terms of what his dad would say.

"Ah, looks like she followed through." Hadie followed Mal's gaze back to the entrance.

"See you two later, dinner's at five." With a brief wave goodbye, Hadie followed Celia outside.

"School's been a right bitch," Celia huffed as the pair walked towards their hideout.

Hadie snorted. "School, or your dad?"

"Eh, I know daddy wants what's best for me. The other teachers can shove splinters in their eyes."

"Even Dizzy's grandmother?"

"Especially Dizzy's grandmother," Celia laughed. "I hardly care for decorum, but sheesh the way she's been treating Dizzy is garbage."

"She deserves better. Only her aunt Anastasia is any decent to her."

"Makes sense, I heard Anastasia was Drizella's surrogate."

"What's that mean?"

Celia let out a long-suffering sigh and muttered something that sounded very much like 'boys'.

"It means that Anastasia was the one who was pregnant and carried Dizzy to term instead of Drizella."

Hadie paused midway through his wave to Virgil. Luckily Virgil had already moved on.

Tilting his head in confusion, Hadie squinted at Celia as she entered into the shack.

"I…I don't think my brain can process that."

"Yeah, well what else is new?"

"Oh har-dee har har." Hadie gently closed the door behind them and moved the curtain back in place. They'd have to replace the door soon. It definitely seemed to be giving in to the seaside weather.

"Screw magic, I'm sure Auradon needs jesters for their courts," Hadie said as he turned back to his friend.

"Send me a postcard when you get there then," Celia chuckled as she settled on one of their makeshift seats.

Hadie blew a raspberry in response and instead held up the papers from his pocket. "You want to see my new stuff, or no?"

"Oooo, whatcha got?"

"Dad's finally let me draw up a sequence, look!" Hadie laid down the papers. "These are just a single use grid."

"Single use?"

"Since it's on paper, the spell will activate only briefly before burning up."

"Well, the box is almost full from the enchanted stuff we made…"

"Oh, don't worry about that. It'll register just like plain paper. And for the most part it's just regular old Greek. This," he pulled out a small glowing gem," is the actual magic. Just a small stored charge that if you place on the activation word will compound the rest to ignite. I can use my own magical flame if needed ASAP, but since we're just practicing, I brought a gem key."

"Ah, so it's a reserve?"

"Pretty much."

"Since you're still standing, grab the box, would you?" Celia reached out her foot and knocked a wood plank with her heel. The plank angled upward revealing their growing stash.

"Got it," he pulled it out and placed it closer to Celia. "Do you…do you need me to start a fire?"

Winter was just around the corner, but it seemed like the cold winds were coming early this year. Celia was one of the few kids on the Isle who wore full sleeves, but even that wasn't enough to keep from freezing.

His eighth birthday had seen the next stage of his magical inheritance come in. Part of it was why his parents were more accepting of leaving the cave. Self-heating, just like his old man.

"Please."

As Celia let the floorboard fall back into place, Hadie kneeled by one of the corners of the room. They'd dug out a hole where the floor had started to rot more than the rest and filled it with rubble to keep the structure. Placing some wood scraps, Hadie snapped his fingers above the makeshift pit to ignite it.

"Thanks," Celia said as she scooted towards the flames.

"Here, I brought some food too. I know things have been tough in town with the barges getting later than normal." He pulled out a small tin of meatballs. "I figured we can just hangout and talk shop while you gather strength."

"I really appreciate it, flame top."

"Flame top?"

"Hey, if you're really like your dad, one day you'll have a head of flames too."

"Watch, I'll be just like Princess Blueberry with plain ol' hair that just happens to be a primary color."

The two laughed as the wind battered against the shack.

Pale yellow orbs glowed from the shadows. The dark purple irises made it appear as if small voids floated on the surface.

Wind blew through his brown hair as he scaled the side of one of the buildings. It had been over a month since the last barge had hit the docks…But today he had a good feeling.

Pulling himself over the last ledge, Virgil stood and turned to look out towards Auradon. Despite the low fog that surrounded the Barrier, somehow, he could always sense when something near cut through the waters.

Likely remnants of Ursula's powers.

He wasn't one complain though. Being able to snatch up anything before even the so-called first dib villains was a great advantage on the Isle. His only limitation was how much he could carry.

"There you are," he whispered. As the barge slowly passed through the Barrier, Virgil quietly dropped down the building.

Leaping across the roofs, he raced against the wind towards the docks. Lowering himself down a pillar, he threw himself onto an overhang where he could drop onto the ship. Though he'd often been stuck at home growing up, his parents' house was close to the shoreline, and he could stare out as the ship came in. Eventually he learned the guard routine and its blind spots. He wasn't strong enough to survive the Isle. But he could be smart enough.

He quickly slipped past the guards, making sure to cover his eyes with hair. The yellow glow was always more pronounced in the dark. And since the Isle was always overcast, he didn't feel the need to broadcast his passive magic. But it came in handy sneaking on to the barge. Light sources would give a regular person's position away. He just needed his eyes.

'Hold it out Virgil, there's got to be something good down here,' he scanned back and forth across the boxes and shelves. His feet stepped lightly on the piles, to avoid the flood of water. Any noise would be bad too.

'Can't even open these boxes. They look so weak; they'd probably creak like crazy.'

Snatching up a few cans of food and his usual sweet drink, he surveyed the room one last time.

'Ah, sweet a small wet proof pack of rice! And a small first aid kit! Score!'

Just as Virgil had decided that was enough, another box caught his eye.

'Lid must've popped off on its own. Or Boreadon forgot to seal it,' deftly landing on a more secure box near it, Virgil peered inside.

'Huh, there's something you don't see every day.'

Footsteps began to echo above. With a slam, the barge rocked against the aging docks.

'Whoop, time to go!' He grabbed one of the smaller boxes within the crate before scrambling up through a porthole.

Virgil scooted along the sides of the boat and dropped further down again onto rotting platforms beneath the docks. He popped out the other side of the growing crowd and began to head back to his parents' when something caught his eye.

The roars of the crowd drowned out his swearing. While everyone else was focused on the barge, he broke into a sprint towards Ursula's where a small plume of smoke was billowing upwards.

"Ok, I think that's it!" With an embellishment, Celia finished off her writing. Hadie peered over her shoulder.

"Remind to practice my handwriting." Hadie couldn't help but compare their styles. He could at least say his was legible, but dang if it wasn't messy compared to Celia's.

They'd just finished their summarization of how they understood the latest theoretical section. Both their dads always said putting thoughts in to words deepened their comprehension. Hadie's dad took it further and kept paperwork of everything so he could review and reflect later. It helped to see growth or regain inspiration according to the old God. Or from making mistakes when a plan failed.

"Ugh, have you seen Mal's? Daddy was grading papers and by the gods she really is an artist."

"Oh, uh, yeah! She's occasionally left a note for my dad when running errands. Writing almost as nice as my mom's."

"Yeah, well your mom's got like a thousand years of experience, I don't think that counts for us mortals."

Hadie couldn't help but chuckle. "I think it's more like a few hundred years, but I get what you mean."

"Shall we move on to actual practice?"

"Definitely. What do you want to start with?"

"I've got some new shadow tips and tricks from daddy to try. Dunno how that'll work with your fire enhancement, but I bet it'd be cool to find out!"

"Sounds great to me," Hadie said as he set up their parameters. It was best to start small with the light to dark sources. While Celia had increased her control over larger shadows, they didn't want to risk giving them too big a source yet.

"Toss this on the fire, would you?" Celia handed Hadie a small clay stone. "It's supposed to influence certain properties."

"Sure, let me just get the papers in the box and move it out of the way," Hadie carefully stored their notes. "I know you said this thing is fire proof, but best not to risk these things."

"Fair enough."

"I wanna try out my sequence once you're done, so I'm gonna leave that one out," Hadie said as he idly pocketed his project.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Am I supposed to set the tablet first? Or just toss this in?"

"Tablet, charcoal on top, then stone should be good."

With some effort, Hadie lifted the large stone plate and placed it on the burning wood.

"Alright, your thing is set."

Celia braced herself and took a deep breath. A small shadow took shape on top of the tiny stone. Hadie peered closely.

"Looks pretty solid."

"Okay, next step. Hold the stone off the fire for me."

"You're so lucky I'm fire proof," Hadie laughed as he carefully scooted the stone with the shadow onto his hand. As he pulled it away from the fire's light, the shadow grew denser and took on an odd weight.

"S-since when do these have mass?"

"Tablet adds a bit, but it shouldn't be much. Just enough to interact with the material world," beads of sweat began to shimmer on Celia's brow as she came closer to the fire. "Daddy helped me make it, with the symbols inverted so it looks plain."

She took the now cool stone into her own palms. As she cupped it, shielding it from the fire, it grew in size. With a snap, her hands closed over each other, completely encasing the shadowling.

"There, now it should have absorbed the stone, which will allow it to operate like a golem. Without all the gross wax and sacrifice."

"Aw look at 'im, it's adorable," Celia snorted at Hadie's comment as she placed the now totally solid creature on the floor. It slowly increased to about a foot in height, tripping over itself as it took tentative steps.

"Friend, I ask you to lift this barrel," Celia ordered it, pointing to one of the heavy metal casings.

They looked on as the shadowling stumbled over to the drum. As it gained distance from the fire, it grew further in size. Slowly, it lengthened its appendages and wrapped them around the drum above its head.

"Well done! Have you picked up anything bigger yet?"

"That's… actually the h-heaviest thing so far," Celia couldn't help but pant.

"Woah, maybe scale it back then, C, we don't have our parents to take care of overdraws."

Celia sighed. "Maybe you're right."

Pointing back at the shadow, Celia ordered it again. "Friend, place the barrel back down where you found it, then return to me."

The friend from the other side lowered the drum with a loud clang, causing the object to wobble. As the shadowling began to scurry back over to Celia, the drum tipped.

And landed right on top of the shadow. A loud crack emanated through the room. Sparks flew out from the now broken stone.

A crack raced up the support beams. Curtains began to burn.

"Shit!"

Hadie tugged Celia close and whipped out his project, slamming it to the floor. There was no time to see if the charge gem worked. Blasting some of his own fire into the paper, the Greek lit up and burned through the floor.

As the roof began to cave, a shimmer of pale blue swirled around them.

Virgil broke through the smoke, trying to ignore the weight of his haul.

"Hadie? Celia?" He forced his voice to stay strong. Even if the younger kids didn't want their activities to be known, he knew that since the majority of the Isle was at the barge, he could shout a bit.

He and Uma were probably the only ones to know that they were practicing magic. They'd been tentative not to tell Mal, but Hadie had been desperate. Something for himself.

It would be better if it was him discovering them now, to help cover anything from being revealed.

"Over here, Virg," Hadie's voice carried over from further in the smoke.

Virgil carefully stepped over the burning wood remnants. His eyes picked up an odd blue light in the air, in which he saw Hadie and Celia crouched under.

"Either of you hurt?"

"Nah, just…that could've gone better," Celia grouched.

"W-we should get of here quick, while the s-smoke still covers everything," Virgil coughed.

Celia stood up and stumbled over to her box, slipping it into a pocket.

"Gimme a sec," Hadie slammed his foot through the burning Greek letters, causing the shield around them to fall. He grabbed a piece of flaming wood and dropped it through, burning any remnants of his project.

"Alright, let's go," Virgil ushered the pair further back into the smoke. He knew these docks like the back of his hand. "Careful here."

They tiptoed down some rickety stairs and doubled around up towards a short, covered protrusion that led back to Ursula's. All the way, Virgil rambling their cover story.

Just in time to see Mal and Uma rush out looking towards the fire, Harry and Jay close behind.

"Uma!"

Uma's head snapped in the direction of her little sister's voice.

"Celia, thank the gods you weren't in there!"

"We had left earlier to watch the barge come in from Virgil's spot," Celia calmy stared at her sister with wide eyes.

"Thanks for looking out for them Virgil," Mal said as she rushed over.

"H-hey, yeah of course. I serve any k-kid of L-Lord Hades as much as m-my dad d-does."

"Sorry about your getaway place, Hadie," Mal gave him a knowing look. "Maybe we should get you back to your parents. They'll hear about the coming stampede soon and will want to make sure you're ok."

"Just don't mention the fire, would ya?" Hadie grimaced. "They don't need to know we've been skirting their rules."

"We'll cover you," the Rotten Four nodded.

"A-actually, is there anyone still i-inside your mom's, Uma?" Virgil asked as he tugged Hadie towards the fish shoppe.

"Ah, no, pretty much everyone is milling at the receiving dock," Uma swept some of her braids back under her tricorn hat.

"L-let's go in then, y-your mom can think Hadie's been here the whole t-time."

"True," hummed Mal. "Lord Hades doesn't bother to pay attention to the other patrons, so he wouldn't likely ask them unlike his niece."

"I-I've also already nicked s-some stuff off the sh-ship," Virgil smiled. "Not a-a lot of food again, but I did find a case of t-toys! They l-look new."

"Toys?" Harry and Jay perked up. It was rare for anything new to make it to the Isle, edible or not.

They all shuffled towards the back of the shop, Uma sliding over to ask her mom for waters, making sure to emphasize that Hadie and Celia needed a refill. Jay made sure to block off the entrance in case anyone came back. Just for a little while. Virgil might be kind enough to share his haul, but the rest of them weren't.

Virgil dumped out his pockets onto a table. Then the box that had been tucked under his large sweater, which in turn had been tucked into his waistband to prevent it from falling out or be easy pickings.

"I've got plenty m-more casings of the sweet drink in my r-room, so you guys can have these cans. T-the food should probably go to L-Lord H-Hades though."

Uma looted all of Virgil's edible findings in a bag to bring back to the Underworld. The half-imp swung the bag across his shoulder before they all turned towards the carton on the table.

"Did you see what kind of toys were in here?"

"A-a lot of them looked broken, th-this was the only s-sealed one I saw," Virgil mumbled as he ripped open the plastic seal.

"Still, pretty lucky," praised Jay.

Everyone peered closely as the lid was lifted.

"Aw, fuck yeah!"

"Harry!"

"Oop, uh, ye tykes heard nothing, y'hear?" The pirate chuckled as he snatched a long tube from the box. "Ye think it's real pixie dust?"

"Doubt it, you think they'd send magic to the Isle willingly?" Jay snorted as he held a plastic round toy up by a ridiculously long string. It slowly unraveled between his fingers.

Harry ripped open the top of the tube and poured a bit of the brightly colored powder into his hand.

"Well, it ain't gold like the Captain rants about," he said as he carefully sniffed it. With a short lick, he reeled his head back.

"HOO, that's sour," he coughed.

The seven villain kids ruffled through Virgil's findings. A flat mixed-up picture also broken into squares that shifted around into an image of a Jolly Roger. Jay and Harry squabbled over a slingshot. Celia happily snuck a jar of brightly color glass beads into her coat. Hadie messed with a small cube with six different colors that shifted around. They'd ration the candy for later.

Mal leafed through a small booklet to some oddly shaped wood pieces with some curiosity. Those were wrapped up with some paint and apparently could be wedged together to make a statue.

"Place on skin and moisten with water?" Uma mused aloud. She and Virgil had started sifting through odd packs of what they had thought were just pictures.

"Temporary T-tattoos…" Virgil read another pack. "That's like those p-pokey things some of the adults have on their bodies, r-right?"

"Quite a few o' the crew on me dad's have 'em. Some are real works of art," Harry glanced through the different sheets while Uma began ripping the packs open.

"S-so we just need some c-cloth and clean water," Virgil smiled as he pulled out a grinning purple cat with mad yellow eyes.

"Gimme that," Uma growled as she wrestled a rather large colorful piece of an octopus from Harry. He simple laughed and took to grabbing a bunch of other water or pirate themed tattoos.

"Prob shouldn't waste these, but I'd love to get a band if not a whole sleeve like Carter's da," Harry began piling the ones he liked.

In the meantime, Mal bit her lip. She knew her parents were okay with her liking dragons, but to stamp one on her very skin? She wasn't sure.

"You sure these are safe?" she asked.

"It says they are," Uma replied. "Non-toxic, age 5 and up," the teal-haired godling read one of the backings to Mal. She laughed as her cousin gave in and selected a blue and purple dragon breathing fire.

"You want one, C, we're over five I'm pretty sure," Hadie laughed as he, too, flipped through the different sheets. Jay was mulling over all of the snakes, which Hadie was sort of leaning towards too. He wasn't really in to all the red or gold themes though. Blue was the only color for him.

"Nah, I'm good. I'm just looking if maybe there's something Dizzy might like."

It was about half an hour later, they decided to head to the Underworld. Virgil was kind enough to give Jay a few of the loot for his dad's quota, as the thief had to head back into Maleficent's territory for the rest of the week.

Celia went with him, heading home herself. Though she and Hadie shared a look before she left. They'd have to find a way to discuss what happened and maybe figure out a new base of operations.

Three godlings, a half-imp and a pirate walked into the Underworld. Harry proudly flexing his arm as he admired the band around his bicep made up of sharks, skulls and an anchor. Uma rolled her eyes at his antics. Her own tattoo had cracked, seeing as it was a bigger piece. But the roughage just gave the cephalopod a more unique air in her opinion. Mal on the other hand was distractedly still looking through the remaining sheets. She couldn't help but examine them and note anything for inspiration in her own art.

Virgil quietly led the way as he carried the bag filled with everything else. Hadie walking next to his cousin with a frustrated air as he tried to get his cube back to matching colors on each side. The elder boy couldn't help but laugh internally at the blue flames decorating the hearted 'Mom' displayed on Hadie's own arm. He even had little flowers spattered about.

"Mom, I'm home! Mal, Uma, Virg and Harry came with!" Hadie called out as the group descended into Hades' Lair.

"We're in the kitchen, dinner's almost ready," Hades' voice carried back out to the entrance.

The quintet pattered into kitchen, taking in the smells.

"I heard the barge showed up, I hope none of you were near it," Persephone spoke as she prepared them all plates. Turning around, she took in the artistic new additions to the children.

"Please tell me those aren't real," she spoke with amused confusion.

"Aw, it'd be cool if they were!"

Hades snorted, but he held his tongue. He wasn't about to discourage his son from displaying any love for his mom. However…

"Tattoos are perfectly fine; your mom is just concerned because Isle sanitization means that getting permanent ones aren't safe here."

Virgil breathed a sigh of relief. "S-sorry, I was the one who gave everyone them, I-I did mean to worry y-you L-Lady Persephone."

"It's perfectly alright, Virgil, you said they weren't real and it was just for fun," the goddess lightly smiled. "And you know you can call me Lady Steph like Jay and Harry does if you're so insistent to use my title."

"Ah, s-speaking of the b-barge, that's w-where I grabbed them and some o-other things from," he placed his bag on the counter, carefully dumping everything back out. "J-just me though, I had happened to be near while every one else was at Aunt Ursula's and snuck on before word had a chance to spread."

"Thank you for risking so much Virgil, but I hope you know your safety is more important," Hades set down a plate for the son of his minion. The God glanced through the items. "These are pretty good though, were you thinking of a stew?"

Virgil nodded. "Winter's coming in a couple months," he mumbled. "I figured we would need something to help stay warm."

"You're always so thoughtful, Virg," Mal smiled at the older boy. Even though he only knew her as the daughter of Maleficent, he always treated her with kindness instead of cowering with fear. He still kind of did with Hades despite the God's attempt to treat the half-imp better than his own minions. Probably reinforced by Pain and Panic's stories.

"I can make a batch later and freeze batches. Then you can take it home when needed for your mom to heat up."

"I-I appreciate it, L-Lord Hades."

As the day turned to evening, Hades saw his minions and Virgil out of the Underworld with a parcel of food to take home.

"And I think that's bedtime for you, son," Hades smiled having caught Hadie yawning when he returned to the den.

Normally Hadie would have put up a fight, but after the rather packed day, he was exhausted.

"Goodnight, everyone," the godling yawned again. Now that Virgil was gone, he could openly hug his sister. With a hug for Mal and Harry, and a kiss for his parents, he waved goodnight as he departed for his room.

"Ah, I should probably write this stuff down before I fall asleep," Hadie mumbled as he closed his bedroom door.

Pulling out a hidden journal, he began to take note of what occurred at the now destroyed shack.

'October…24th…my Grecian written spell worked. Just in time too. The shack fell apart around us today, and I shudder to think what would've happened if we didn't have some sort of protection versus the general stuff we'd been working on…No time to test if the back up charge would've worked…getting the shield was more important than checking…Maybe next time.'