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

Mindlink/Telepathy – Italics, no quotation marks

'Thoughts' – Italics, with quotation marks

Quotes from Ginny's series – Bolded

Normal Speech

First half is letters. Second half is. Well. First off, REMEMBER THIS IS RATED T FOR A REASON. Insinuation, but nothing detailed. But yes. Be aware the latter half of this chapter is a adult themed with PLENTY of swearing throughout this chapter. This is a hiatus catch up to the last chapter so to speak, to fill in and summarize a bit of the time skipping. I'm also doing NaNoWriMo and needed a way to hit a good chunk of the word count. There's also a bolded bit in this chapter, but it's for effects, not quotes.

Shortanamx: These stories are pretty much direct to Ginny's, so unfortunately Hadie didn't have much of a hand in getting rid of Natalie. What happened in Choosing Love is the canon here.

Danifan3000: Well, I don't think anyone would be condoning the Dark Arts in Auradon. Natalie definitely deserves to be tortured though. Instead of just unable to grow plants, I like to think with Demeter's help, she made it so any plant Natalie tried to even eat, wilts and dies. No enjoying a fresh harvest anymore! She'll have to stick to vitamins or juices. Aphrodite probably curses her love life…And of course, once she's straight up dead, Hades will be up to bat.

Ginnyrules27: I both love making Hades cool, and torture him at the same time huehuehue…Glad you loved the chapter! I really had to view myself in the kids and Herc's shoes to figure out how things would go. Phew! And yeah, months of a sibling getting weirder and weirder, both kids of Hades? Stubborn plus temperamental personalities are bound to blow. Oh Gods…I had to flood my brain with so many songs to get Digga Tunna from staying stuck in my head xD

OceanBlueSeaEyes: I have yet to go through a sibling fight, but considering there's a thirteen-year difference between myself and my little brother, it might not ever happen. I had to take inspo from other friends that also have siblings lol

SnowWhite45: I stand by that Hades did Hercules a favor by kidnapping him! If Herc had stayed with the Gods, he'd been a stuck up, spoiled brat! He stumbled a lot growing up, but he eventually overcame what every kid goes through. He just came out better for it unlike others.

Jedblack1997: Not this year, but it's definitely on my list of to-dos. At least Uma and Ben helped Mal with Natalie. Here…let's just say we see the geriatric bag of overly tanned wrinkles get some 'just-ice-desserts'.

I hope you guys enjoy this one! It's long, and a bit of a mash to navigate, but I had fun writing this. Enjoy, follow and review as always!

Flametop.

Are you actually a flametop yet? Don't disappoint, I'd hate for my nickname to be wrong. You know I hate being wrong.

Send pictures or something. Like food. And make sure Uma writes to me too. You've only been gone a week and I'm already bored. Make any friends on the other side? Anyone trustworthy or at least somewhat reliable yet? Any jerks we need to give nightmares? Come on, what are the other brats in sunshine land like?

Seriously. I'm bored. It's your fault for leaving. How dare you.

I better be in the next group.

Celia

HADIE!

I demand you send pictures! I asked Celia to put it in her note too. I want to see what Auradon looks like outside of the dingy papers and washed-out magazines. Evie sometimes sends things, but mostly designs she's working on or selfies? I think she called them selfies, with people she's made friends with. She's promised I'll be in the next group.

Do you think that's true? I hope so. You'll try too, won't you? You, me and Celia together again!

What's school like at Auradon Prep? I can't wait to no longer have to attend Dragon Hall. Have you found the library yet? Do you think you could send books?! I hope you don't mind, but in the meantime your mom sometimes lets me borrow a book from your stash.

It's not like you're here to read them. Plus, I bet you've already read about every single one of them in there. Have you made any new friends? Don't you dare try to replace us though! Try to make friends with people that we'd like too, gives us less effort to put in should we finally get off the Isle too.

Kidding!

Do tell me about anyone you end up hanging out with a lot! You know I love to learn about other people. Rumors or what have you. You know Celia does too. Even if she pretends not to care, but as if we would go into a world blind when we've got insight like you now.

Pictures! Don't forget.

Dizzy

To my favorite redheads:

The blue envelope holds your photos. I've labelled each with a small snippet on the back for your perusal, Dizzy. I got DeVil to do them for me. Celia, you know what the other envelope is. Make sure they get theirs.

You don't have to respond to this part right away, Diz, but think it over. One of the people I've begun hanging out with is Alexandria Charming. Queen Ella's youngest daughter, your cousin. Honestly, she and her friends remind me a lot of you. I brought up we were friends and she's genuinely curious about getting to know you. So, there you go, someone to get to know before you get off Isle. Your own Pen Pal. Let me know when you decide. It's your choice.

School is school. A bit more than what mom and dad have made me do, since I rarely did individual projects and presentations. Dad was pretty firm on doing a few though because public speaking is important for learning to conduct minions apparently. THE LIBRARY IS AMAZING. It's huge. I asked the librarian how many books they had and she said well over a million! There's like three or four floors, and I'm still trying to find everything. Luckily, they teach us that there's an order that everything is organized by. Not to mention there's computers. Not only is there more stuff on the computer, but you can use it to find a book you might want. I just pick a book and it'll tell me the shelf number and name to go to. If someone else has it, I can get on a waitlist with a time it should be my turn.

Honestly these are rules I can get behind. The Librarian, Ms. Sylvia is both nice but also scary because she started whisper raging if something happened to any of the books, there would be repercussions? I had to look that word up. I guess dad has used it a few times when ranting about his usual suspects. Consequences, punishments. Basically, big no-nos, she's not the kind of person I think I'd want to get in trouble with.

So, there's Alexandria as I've said. She hangs out with my cousin Melody, one of Ariel's daughters, and Ashaki, the daughter of Aladdin. They're all nice, we share a few classes so we study together. Then there's Evan, I think you'd get along with him CC, we have something of a pick pocket competition going on between each other. Ashaki sometimes joins in, they're both kids of thieves, so I guess it makes sense? Neal, Snow White's son, hangs out with them all too, though we've yet to really connect like the others. Philip Jr, Aurora's son is pretty chill. He and Melody are close I guess, so I'll probably hang out with him more eventually since they visit each other during breaks and I was invited to Ariel's castle.

Weirdly enough, my closest friend here has already been the one you guys knew I was most nervous about. Herkie has been so helpful to me, and he and Melody have been preparing me for when I eventually meet the rest of the estranged family. Don't worry, he hasn't led me astray, everything has aligned with what mom's talked about, so he definitely has shown himself trustworthy.

I don't know how Phil is so chill, because his family is definitely not. He's got a sister and two cousins who are about as bitchy and stuck up as the Angels or Mad Maddy. Mal calls the sister Sleeping Banshee. It's apt.

I haven't seen much outside of the school yet. I got to go out one weekend because they're making all the new VK's go to doctor appointments, see what kind of damage the Isle did to each person. I do have to say, you guys have tons of food to look forward to, I've never gone wanting here.

Now that Ben's in control, keep me updated on Isle status, will you? Hopefully we can start seeing some changes.

And of course, the usual news.

Hadie

Serpent,

I can't believe you were brother to the dragon's daughter all along. It makes sense now why you had me pretend you were a candidate for the Caster's to repay that favor I owed you. You neatly took care of one of us as Mal's enemies and I didn't even know it. Here I thought you were playing the long con to join us and steal intel from the Rats, but it was the other way around. Anyways, my brother will do what I say, he cares about me too much not to. Hearts will follow along, as you well know. We're more interested in learning and practicing than trying to rule the Isle after all.

As for the Mad bitch? I think she's becoming a problem. There's a reason we call her Mad after all.

Just know that I'll uphold our deal. I'll keep the Caster's from maneuvering against Mal as much as I can. Safe passage. But you know how my brother and the bitch are. I want those Magic hating Angels dead though. HOP is doing fine. Hearts has taken in a couple more kids, but with Mal's promises to make the Isle better with the aid of the King, hopefully we can hold out without you here to assist anymore until things improve. At least Fox has taken over your connection to the restaurant, but she's not able to take as much food as you were.

They got any cool stuff I can try throwing into potions over there? I've heard they've got plenty of medicine if you can send some. It would help stave off some of the colds we get popping up in winter.

Jaguar

Blue.

There's change on the wind. The Cackle can smell it. Not all of it good. At least not at first. Be careful.

Red.

To his Highness, Prince Hadie, the Bluest of Rats

Hey Hads, we saw the pictures you sent Celia and Diz! Looking pretty cushy over there in the posh, prissy land of Auradon. By the way, you better still be practicing your swords work, because Celia's come to CJ almost every day that she can, just so she can wipe the floor with you next time you meet. Granted, you've got Harry, Uma, Mal and Jay working with you and I doubt they'd let you slack. But you're also probably avoiding them and not going every day like Celia is, because you're too busy trying to nerd out over all the books.

Hadie, I'm piggy backing off of Ryan's letter. You know how spare paper is out here. Also please visit or something because I swear all the other boys apart from you, Henry and Ry are worthless idiots. At least you bathe.

Oi!

Hey, I said you weren't worthless, didn't I, Ry?

Anyways, Ryan and I have taken over chicken catching duties since Jay is gone. Those buggers are a pain in the ass to catch, how Jay was able to wrangle these things, I've got no clue. It's ridiculous. At least neither of us have face-planted. Uma told us about that before y'all left, she's the one who asked us to help keep supply up at your dad's. Smee's been pretty helpful keeping an eye out for where these feathered fiends wander off to, since he's doing most the management at the restaurant since your dad is busy practically running the Isle. While the food situation hasn't technically improved, there has been an odd peace about. Lord Hades instills order where under Maleficent, it always seemed about survival of the most villainous.

It's definitely improved a lot, at least around the docks. You're probably aware, what with him being your dad and all, but Lord Hades has Celia working with that Virgil guy of his minions to do a lot of the errand running. They handle first dibs and distribution when the Barge comes in now, as well as pick up of the fish. I guess the both of them are also handling the letter system since Celia says to bring them to her when we want to write you. It's surprising how many people from Auradon actually know people on the Isle and are willingly writing. I can't pretend to know where these villains come from and who knew them, good or bad, but it's, I dunno the word…

Disconcerting?

Sure!

Anyways, you better write back! Sky's the limit, innit Hads? That's why we climb.

Ryan & CJ

HADS

I'll think it over. It's pretty tempting, though grandmother threw a fit when I mistakenly asked Auntie Anastasia if she'd heard of Lady Ella's children in front of her. Mother ranted over dinner for ages. What am I talking about, of course I'm saying yes! Auntie just says I should wait and draft some letters first to make a good first impression, so at some point, you'll eventually receive two letters. But only one is for you, no peeking! A boy should not read someone else's letters, let alone two ladies' private conversation!

The school sounds amazing, I look forward to seeing it. I know there are some delays with the next group unfortunately though…Your mom is an absolute God's send, which I guess she would be considering she's a Goddess. She's given me your stuff to study so I can hopefully keep up with you. Celia isn't that interested sadly, so I'm mostly studying alone. I just wish we didn't have to wait till post-Cotillion to join you all! That only leaves one trimester of school left. It's pretty likely CC and I will have to attend summer school. Big siiiiigh.

Wow. That's a lot of people already. I look forward to meeting them! I guess there's all sorts everywhere if you've already found unlikeable people.

Dizzy

Flametop,

I'm still waiting. I guess don't burn anything down trying to prove me right. It'd suck for you to end up back here when I finally get over there. Though that would be fun. Burn down the jerks who put us here. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? Plus, no need to get excited here and boost your ego, I do miss you. Just a little bit.6

So far, while things are improving with your pops running this garbage land, we're still stuck with the same resources as before. Shit needs to get done. I'd expect it to go faster now that there are VK's holding the King's ear, but I suppose I can't be too picky. Beastie Jr. is moving things decently fast whereas it took what, 20 years for Auradon to even start doing crap to begin with? We're getting somewhere at least, I suppose. But I'm not getting any younger you know!

Though that I have to go to more school instead of just finally being free is lame. Just let me out! LET ME OUT! I've got Freddie and Daddy at least, but I can't stand how boring it's been without being able to see Uma too. But then Uma doesn't practice magic as much as you do and all she does otherwise is lecture me on staying safe and avoiding areas. As if she wasn't scouting those spots when she was our age. I get it 'they walked so we could run', but we ain't even running. We're stuck at the friggen docks all the damn time. As if we don't already know the horrors of the Isle. You know we found another kid to smuggle out of the Square? I don't know what we're going to do if we're leaving the Isle. Dizzy overheard one of the older villains in the shop some days ago. Sounds like this guy got a hold of cigarettes and has been using his kid's skin to put it out instead of risking the shithole Isle shacks burning down. Kind of him, really. To be so concerned. Of course, Diz's grandcrone wasn't too pleased about him coming in to her shop drunk on top of it all. He deserved worse than a bad shave and some clipped ears. He couldn't do jack shit because the crone was letting Dizzy practice on him. She may be a bitch, but mad respect for her. Maybe the winter will frostbite his ass and the bastard can die. We've at least directed his son, a six-year-old, to your dad's place. If we can't get him out and through the Graveyard to Heart's, I may go to Henry about harboring this kid under the deck.

Oh right, think you can get Uma or Mal to send the list of supplies I've included on the other side? Ship needs some repairs if we're going to keep it in tip top shape and insulated to live on. Something's off about this Winter. The Cards never lie.

Celia

To Diz and Celia

Honestly, Diz, you make it sound like you're being scandalous. I promise I won't read either your letters to Alexandria, nor hers to you, without either, or both, of your permissions. Also, good job on fucking up that guy's head. I'm glad your grandmother is finally letting you work on customers. You know what? I've even met Hercules already. He's ridiculously nice, it's hard to remember that my dad is his enemy. One of the few adults I've met so far that don't believe we should be punished for our parents' follies. He didn't come looking for me, like I said, I'm friends with his youngest son. Herkie accidentally broke someone's arm a couple weeks ago, and he got called in. It was awkward, but things are fine I think.

As for the Heart's Orphanage, we'll have to depend on the Isle food improving. Some of those kids are going to be 9 or older soon, and can sneak back towards the Docks to gather supplies if none of us are there to pass things on to Reg anymore. Evie has mentioned bringing Quinn over, but she won't leave until her place is somewhat self-sufficient. Reg and Y don't plan to come over, too ingrained with their lifestyle to have an interest in this side of the water. I think Y is interested in 'helping' with the hospital. It's a little concerning if only because their experiments are hit or miss sometimes. It's not always about helping and just a matter of if they can. I'll pass on the list. I don't think I can send much more than little things. Right now, it's just a few more photos and something Y asked for. Let them know these are considered complete, they're not ingredients. It'll take more time to figure out that kind of stuff, because it sounds like they wanted natural components, not the synthetic drugs most of Auradon uses.

Hadie

To Alexandria Charming,

Greetings, Cousin. I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to write you. I've been riddled with nerves and wasn't sure how to start a dialogue with you. Please don't blame Hadie if it seemed like he'd neglected your request. He also didn't want to push me into it, nor seem like he was spilling your secrets, so rather than have him tell me about you first, I spoke with my, our, Aunt Anastasia.

I was unaware of this, and please tell me if you were, that apparently our Aunt Anastasia has been writing to your mother, Lady Ella, for quite a few years now? She directed me on how to approach you in letter writing, as this is my first attempt at writing a Royal you see, and I don't intend to offend if you find anything in error. The only ones I've written that would count as Royal I suppose is Evie and Hadie, both of whom I've grown up with, so such formality is not expected. That, and it's not exactly taught on the Isle, so neither put much stock in it to begin with.

Aunt Anastasia explained it's proper for you to tell me about yourself first, so I look forward to getting to know you further!

I hope one day we may meet in person, through King Ben's VK initiative.

Many regards,

Dizzy

Greetings, Dizzy!

Hadie gave me your letter, and I am ever so excited to hear you decided to write me in the end. As you can see, I have no qualms with being informal, though I am flattered by your effort! Especially as we are family. That, and, yes, Hadie certainly has a penchant for disregarding the royal status quo, along with his older sister. I don't blame you VKs, from what I've gathered about the Isle, it is not important for you all to get by, and it's stuffy and droll.

It's certainly news to me that Aunt Anastasia was writing my mother! Thank the Gods classes were over, because I had to immediately call my mother and ask her if that was true and how dare she keep that under her hat! Not that she wears hats, but, you know…I can't believe she didn't tell me or my siblings. I asked them, and they said they had no clue either. Though they tend to fib and not tell me things sometimes. Do you have siblings? Sometimes they are such pests.

As for myself, they're all older than me. Chadwick, Chad, is the Crown Prince of Charmington, followed by my sisters, who are fraternal twins, Katherine and Lucille, a.k.a. Kitty and Lucy, before the lineup is rounded off by myself. I love dancing, horseback riding, and embroidery or sewing! Mom and dad don't particularly care for the stuck-up Royal business either, so they like to have us learn everyday skills. That's so cool you're close to Evie! Her designs are amazing!

I told Hadie not to spoil me either with much about you, I want to get to know you for myself!

Looking forward to hearing more from you,

Alexandria

CC – EMERGENCY. OPEN IMMEDIATELY.

Uma wasn't too sure what to do, or where to get supplies here in Auradon. I went to Ben and Akiho instead. Akiho is the nephew to Elsa, the chick with ice powers. He spoke with Ben to assist and give advice of other materials you guys could use to persist against the cold. They're also going to send some food. Direct route, so keep an eye out for a snowflake marked bag before you deliver the rest of the packages and letters. We've got some major news.

I don't know how soon the food system will change, but there's a reason this isn't going through the Barge this time.

Turns out the Barge shouldn't have been so bad all along. Someone was corrupting the crew handling it, and they're going to be fired for taking payments. Most are at least on probation, because they still need a crew to operate. They're not sure how long it'll take for the Barges to get better, since the farms are in a weird season, and the sending schedule needs to be reanalyzed. A Royal, by the by. Yes, a fucking Royal was paying them off to give us poor quality food. They'd purposely open flood bays, make the Barge late, let the food rot so we'd have basically nothing to live off of.

She's being sent to the Isle.

By the time you get this, you probably already knew that.

Sadly, it's Phil's grandma. Mal hates his sister. Ironically, it's Sleeping Beauty's family. Her mom in fact. I can't believe Phil and Aurora are related to such bitches. Audrey, or Sleeping Banshee as Mal calls her, is insanely entitled and keeps trying to force King Ben to marry her instead of date Mal. She's also tried to pick on me. Let's just say Phil was more than willing to swap some of her makeup that changed color when it's exposed to sunlight or sweat.

Thank Y for that would you? And tell her to pass it on to Ginny too. I know, I know, VK's don't do thanks. Can't help it over here though. If it helps, I've included some more treats, for them and the rest of our group, since that's more useful than mere words.

Also…I might write to my Grandmother. Mom's mom. Part of the reason it took me a hot bit to write when the latest Isle member has already been sent off is because…well, she showed up to try and meet me. According to the family gossip line, the fortune pulls you've been getting for the winter are likely because of her. She's salty because she couldn't meet me. If you find the supplies Ben has worked on to be okay, to at least board up for this winter, then maybe it won't be worse than that one year when we found that woman frozen in an alley. I'm supposed to meet her during Spring Break anyways, so maybe I can just send a suck up letter saying I…ugh, I don't know if I could say I look forward to meeting her…But if it'll get her to warm up the winter a tad, I'll do it. Something along those lines with a 'not used to winter, I hope it's not too cold', to try and play off sad child vibes.

Just…stay safe. Just a few more months.

Hadie

Hi Hadie,

It's weird to be writing to you. Sorry I had yet to write after so long. I'm so used to being able to just walk over to the Underworld and drop in for a quick hello before I had to run errands for your dad. Or watching you for your parents. Not that you've needed that for a while, but I've always been looking out for you, you know? At least from a distance. Not that I mean to make it feel like I'm babying you, just…I dunno, you're like my little brother. I hope that's not overstepping, since you're the son of my dad's boss and all. And Lord Hades is kind of my boss too, even if he says we're cousins.

Your dad scares me. He's scary. But nice. Oh man this is hard. We never had to write letters. Wow that makes me sound old. Back in my day… What I'm trying to say is your dad has this big bad reputation, I see him yell and beat up my dad and Uncle Pain, only for him to be nice and patient to me and basically everyone else and it's confusing?

Celia is doing well, you probably know that because she still rants about you and your noncommittal letters of if you get to visit. So, I know you're writing each other. I know Mal has snuck over a few times, but it's been a while. I hope she brings you by next time, we all miss you. But yeah, Celia is around pretty often, so that's staved off some of the loneliness. I didn't really socialize outside of the family after all… I've spoken to Henry sometimes, he tries to get me to fence, but I'm too nervous to be around pointy things still. Maybe one day. I prefer sneaking around and avoiding people than confrontation. Sorry, rambling. Again. Celia's been super helpful. I showed her how to sneak onto the Barge, so we're able to grab more stuff. And her shadow friends are awesome! They pull extra stuff into portals and spit them out once we drop stuff off. She also has more clout on the Isle than I do, so with the letter runs, she's not beaten up like I've been. Adults would beat me up even as a kid just for being a minion…Sorry, I guess that's something I shouldn't be telling you about. Your mom and Mal wouldn't appreciate it since you're still an Under 15.

Food supply has yet to improve even though that Queen of Rods Up Her [scribbled out word] was sent to the Isle. She tried to intimidate me and Celia when we gathered supplies. Intimidate or command? Either way, it was pretty funny when CJ was around once and just cussed her out and waved a dagger around. No clue where she got that thing, since that's an Angel weapon. But it's not like they own the rights to daggers! In the meantime, it's really just Smee and myself at the restaurant these days, it makes me super thankful your dad taught me how to cook. We're making do. Luckily a Rat is always on patrol for us, since Lord Hades isn't around to toss out rowdy [another blacked out word] jerks. They thought we were easy pickings at first since Lord Hades has to deal with the Underworld as well as the Isle Idiots now that Maleficent is gone. It's settled down for the most part now, and we're mostly still just feeding kids than villains.

Sorry if I'm bothering you. Also sorry for not writing since you've left. I hope you're not mad.

I hope you're doing well,

Virgil

Hey Virg!

Don't worry about it being so long, I totally get you! I could've written first, so I feel just as bad, seriously, don't worry. We're both busy, it's fine. I've got tons of school, and Harry and Jay run me ragged to make sure I keep up with sparring. I'm glad Celia is helping you out, dad's got you doing so many things now. But you've always been a huge help to us. If you weren't already family, we'd definitely see you as one of us. I'll tell you one thing for sure, out of all my surrogate big brothers…you're the least annoying.

I hope you consider coming to Auradon one day. You've got time to figure it out, but I hope you come. Let me know if you're interested in anything and I'll see what I can send. I imagine it's intimidating, it's a huge choice, and you're always welcome to return to the Isle. Ben's mentioned figuring out a way to help with mom and dad's agreement, so that might change too, but…you're always welcome to stay with us. Auradon or Isle. I'll be happy for you no matter what you decide in the end.

Stay in touch big bro!

Hadie.

Arms contorted awkwardly around his head as the God of the Dead snored away, drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth onto an unfortunate pillow. Next to him, the Dread Queen Persephone hummed gently in her own sleep, cuddled blissfully into his side. Unfortunately, like most things, it wouldn't last forever.

The pair bolted straight up in bed as a crash echoed down the cavernous network of rooms. Hades glared towards their bedroom door as he realized what exactly the sound could only be.

"PAIN! PANIC!"

Tossing the blanket off his legs, Hades leapt up and stomped towards the door, prepared to throttle his minions.

"Hades."

Hand almost on the doorknob, Hades' head whipped around to stare at Persephone.

"What? They deserve it!"

"Yes, dear, but you need to put pants on first," she looked on amused at her husband's decisively unclothed form, an eyebrow raised. "Not that I mind the view, and it may even make them learn from their punishment more effectively, but I don't think you'd want that."

Glancing down, Hades realized that Persephone was quite right. Sighing, he walked towards where his clothes were haphazardly discarded the night before and found his pants. Ruffling around for a clean pair of underwear, he tugged the bare minimum on before returning to his sulky stomp towards the kitchen. Though it turned out he didn't need to.

Already prostrated before him, Pain and Panic were taking turns repeatedly bowing and begging for forgiveness.

"We are worms! Worthless worms!"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hades sighed. "What did you ignorami do now?"

He stepped forward, punting each one down the hall so he could close the bedroom door behind him, allowing Persephone her own chance to get dressed. The two minions skittered around, racing clumsily into the kitchen. Hades sighed again, grumbling lowly as his suspicious were closer to confirmation.

"Did you klutzes break more plates? Persephone wants you to get rid of them from the sink by cleaning them, not break them so we have to throw the pieces away!"

"We're sorry your Deadliness!"

"We are unworthy to serve!"

"And yet, here I am, stuck with you yutzes for eternity," the god growled, mentally checking his sigh counter for another point. "My kids are good workers, Echidna said. I raised them right, she swore. A god should have minions and followers. Proper servants of the Underworld. The first generation was amazing! Great terror known across all of Greece and even parts of Turkey! But no! I get the reject crew miniatures that embody emotions! Too busy inflicting it on themselves than causing terror on mortals like they were meant to!"

A pathetic cluster of flames weakly flickered across Hades' hair and shoulders. Persephone looked on in sympathy, knowing her husband was just venting to vent. Now that he was awake, all he could really focus on was the unnerving amount of stress that the couple knew was radiating from their daughter. Shaking her head, she leaned against the wall to stand in lazy contrapposto, arms crossing as she eyeballed the increasingly common scene.

"You two better not be breaking them just to get out of cleaning them! You lot rarely did them to begin with, but every time they coincidentally shatter? So that we'd just let you off to avoid losing more? There's no way you two are that incompetent!" Hades' hands snapped out, grasping viciously at the imps' necks.

"My wife and I are extremely busy, and rarely get time off together. I asked you buffoons to quietly handle Underworld affairs for just the morning, and the first thing you do, is BREAK SOMETHING?!" With a scream, he threw them across the room, huffing angrily, desperately wishing he could summon a fireball and flambe the wings off the pair. "Fine! Just fine. Either do them carefully, or just stay the fuck out! Leave them to Virgil, at least he's not useless when it comes to washing some fucking dishes. Now you two, get your asses down to the Underworld and cover my gods' damned morning shift like I asked!"

Persephone couldn't help but shake her head some more as the imps ran past her and out the room, the patter of their claws echoing as they stumbled down the stairs to the Underworld office. She could faintly hear the brothers begin to argue, blaming each other for the broken ceramic she could see littering her kitchen floor. With one last glance as Hades rummaged around for the broom and dust pan, Persephone left the kitchen and headed towards the Den. She sighed as her suspicions were confirmed.

"Hello, Virgil," she softly greeted, smiling softly as Virgil didn't flinch inwards. He instead quickly moved to remove his earbuds, standing to greet the Goddess.

"G-good morning, L-lady Steph. I-I'm sorry for my dad and uncle—"

"It's nothing for you to apologize for, Virgil. It's not like you broke a plate, and even if you did, I assure you Hades would not have gotten as angry. You rarely make mistakes as far as we've seen. And again, even if you did, mistakes are normal. Pain and Panic just seem to do it far too often, and repetitively instead of improving like you have."

Virgil just nodded silently, too unsure of his words to say anything in response.

"You're heading out soon, aren't you?" Persephone said, swiftly changing the topic as she was used to Virgil's ticks, knowing his need to avoid awkward subjects. Bashing his father was certainly one of them, as the recently turned adult seemed to feel Panic's faults were his own.

'Panic seems to think the same, anything his son does must be a reflection of his own performance.'

"Y-yeah, the Barge arrives soon. I need to meet up with Celia a-and beat the crowd," Virgil began, though he fell silent at Persephone's frown.

Noticing her indiscretion, Persephone gently placed a hand on Virgil's shoulder. It had taken a while, but the half-imp had at least gotten more comfortable with the King and Queen, now that it had been a few years since Hades had explained that he viewed Virgil as a nephew. Even if it had taken a few years and some mental gymnastics. Still, she needed to be careful with the most microscopic of body language as the boy would easily pick up on it and become twitchy.

"All I ask is you be careful, as always," she looked at Virgil sadly. The Barge arrivals always seemed to get worse by the month, each time a more desperate crowd appearing. Especially as the food had worsened as well. With the vile pest that was Leah arriving on the Isle, a large number of people had spread rumors believing that the Barge would improve soon. Whether this month or the next. Hopefully.

No matter what, things were taking a nasty turn and it would be a while before their new High King would be able to fix their most basic of needs.

"Thank you for your concern, Lady Steph," Virgil straightened, his words oddly serious for the normally nervous boy. "I promise to look both after Celia and myself."

"I appreciate it, Virgil. Both Hades and myself are thankful for the service and company you provide us," she smiled more brightly, though her worry still shone through. "And, of course, the company you've provided our children, though they've luckily found themselves out of this unfortunate grey rock. Have you gotten any letters from them?"

"I'm h-happy to be of some u-use. And, um, I-I've exchanged a couple letters with Mal, though it's been a while. Hadie writes every week, but he tends to cycle b-between his group of friends in Uma's crew along with myself and a couple other kids, s-so I get his every other week or two."

"That's good," Persephone nodded at Virgil's words. "I would have been disappointed to hear my son neglecting his original friends despite any new ones made."

"I don't think Dizzy or Celia would let him get away with such things. I know they're likely to be a part of the next group, and they'd go right after him."

"Yes, most certainly," Persephone said with a tinkling laugh. "Well, I suppose I should let you get out there. I just wanted to check in since, obviously, my husband is already tumultuous in his anger this morning."

"I'm used to it," Virgil shrugged, moving his way to leave the Den. "I told dad I'd take care of the dishes when I'd get back, I don't know why he and Pain decided to try and do it themselves for once."

"A mystery of the world. We had only wanted them to cover the morning shift so that we could handle the likely influx from the Barge this afternoon," Persephone sighed as she waved Virgil off, calling after him one last time. "Safe ventures!"

With all the underlings gone from sight, Persephone cut back to the kitchen just in time to see Hades tossing the broken shards and dust, still grumbling under his breath.

"You're lucky Virgil's gotten used to you acting like this," she interrupted his mutters, hands on her hips. "I can't imagine how traumatized that boy would've been otherwise with how you treat his father and uncle."

Hades paused briefly as he put the cleaning supplies away. Persephone took in his exhausted expression as he turned towards her.

"I didn't even realize he was here," Hades approached her, slumping to lay his head tiredly on her shoulder.

"That's not an excuse. I know you're worried, I am too, but you need to scale back just a tad when you get angry with them whether Virgil is here or not."

"They're my minions, I can do what I want."

Persephone rolled her eyes at her petulant husband.

"Come along dear," she laughed softly. "Someone needs to go back down for beddy-bye time."

"It feels like it's going to be a good day," Hades sang to his wife, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically as they entered their Underworld office. Despite their rather rough start to the morning, Hades was in a decisively good mood. More sleep and cuddles might've been just what he needed. "The gems just seem brighter today, I dare you to tell me I'm wrong."

Persephone looked at Hades with no small amount of amusement on her face. Sliding up close to him, she tucked an arm around his waist and affectionately laid a hand on his chest. "I wouldn't dare dash your hopes, dear, you tend to be right about these things."

Walking over to the inbox where Pain normally worked, Persephone activated the upper arrangement to check her direct messages. Only a couple scrolls materialized before her. Unfurling them, she moved towards her little corner of Hades' desk. They hadn't felt the need to bring in a second one considering she was only there half the year. Another desk just meant things might be tossed onto it and lost amongst all the work, something Hades preferred to avoid. He was nothing if not organized.

The one problem was that he had conveniently 'lost' the folding chairs she had brought the first few years on the Isle with the intent that she could sit with him at his desk when working. It was an obvious excuse to sit her on his lap. Which naturally ended up reducing their work efficiency. But she wasn't about to complain. Not today.

"Bah bop bada…boop bop bedah…" Hades hummed under his breath as he ruffled through his own inbox, double checking the work his minions had done in the morning. "Looks like breaking plates are the numbskulls only mistake for today. Thank you Fates, sheesh!"

"You know it'll only be temporary," she glanced at him amusedly as she read through her missives. "You probably scared them so badly this morning, they shook the entire time they worked today."

"Yeah, well, whatever it takes for them to get shit done right."

"You know if you were mortal, your blood pressure would've killed you by now."

"If I was mortal, I wouldn't have had to deal with their dumbasses to begin with."

Persephone sighed and put down the pen she had begun writing with. "Must you swear so much?"

The God paused, a lopsided grin slowly making its way across his face. "You're always welcome to shut me the fuck up, babycakes," he said, wiggling his brow.

His wife, electing to roll her eyes and ignore him, picked her pen back up and returned to writing her responses to the other Chthonic Gods.

With a brief pout, Hades leaned over and grabbed the first of several bags of soul gems. As the day moved on, Persephone handed him a few more bags as she began the paperwork for each soul he sentenced. For the most part, it was a thankfully peaceful day of just going through their usual motions of soul after soul. For once, they'd gotten through the day without a problematic soul.

For the most part.

The work set up from Pain and Panic was almost finished, only a couple of the King and Queen's normal work hours left. Hades sentenced and filled out allocations for souls, while Persephone finished the other half of each soul's write ups. As the last bag was emptied and processed, the pair was set to take a little break and move to the file backlogs when, suddenly, the room flared red.

Glancing at Persephone, an eyebrow raised questioningly, Hades reached out a long finger to tap at one of the gems embedded in his desk. A small ruby, softly glowing in tandem with one of the emergency notifications on the wall. Persephone pulled out one of the now emptied gems.

A high priority soul had just come in. One of personal interest.

The moment Hades tapped the ruby, the red overhead lighting dimmed. A wisp of dark grey lazily fell from the large ruby on the wall and into the small diamond in Persephone's hand, before it suddenly morphed into a ruby as well. Carefully, she passed it off to Hades.

Waving his hand over the new soul gem, Hades' eyes narrowed as the soul emerged once again, this time onto one of the designated markers he always had the souls line up on when he spoke to them.

His lips curled into a cruel grin as he saw who it was. Persephone stood from her perch upon his knee, straightening imperiously as she glared fiercely at the new arrival.

"Welcome," the God almost purred. "I honestly hadn't expected you to survive in this pocket of luxury for so long."

The soul looked around, confusion and fear evident.

"I-I'm dead?"

Hades and Persephone simultaneously rolled their eyes. It was a question they'd gotten too often for their liking.

"Well, it's not like you suddenly developed teleportation powers and semi-translucent invisibility," barked Hades, sneering as the papers for the soul materialized in his hand. "Even if you somehow miraculously did…you wouldn't have been able to get down here. Y'know. Where the dead go."

Persephone leaned on his shoulder, browsing the papers as he did.

"Oh dear, ran into the Hyenas did you, Leah?" said Persephone, feigning sympathy. "What a horrid way to go."

"Yes! It was wretchedly painful!" The dead woman bawled. "I have been absolutely wronged! I should not have been here on this forsaken Isle in the first place! I am no villain, I am a Royal! I should have died peacefully in my kingdom, my granddaughter at my side with her own children dutifully fulfilling their place as heirs to Auradon!"

Hades eyes fluttered as he recoiled, hands immediately dropping the documents to cover his ears. He rubbed at his temples when Leah finally had a lull in her pontification. Souls like these were the worst. Entitled. Loud. Punishing them and getting rid of them was always satisfying to him once he could relish the quiet again.

And he had a personal interest in this one…

He loved it when he was right. Temporary pain aside, it was indeed turning out to be a good day.

"Well, that wasn't the roll of the dice for you in the end, unfortunately," Hades began, his face set in fake politeness. "According to your files and the thread provided by the Fates, you're facing sweet justice in the end. You got no less than what you deserved. And you're going to get even more here."

"I assure you have I no comprehension of what you could possibly mean," Leah blustered. "Unless you mean that my sweet Audrey will get the life she deserves, what I worked so hard for. To thrive in my honor, finally claiming her rightful place! I have done everything to elevate our kingdoms, therefore ruling Auradon is no less than what my family deserves. Especially compared to a nigh villain, royal or not and his social-climbing wife! A non-royal ruling? It is an attack on tradition, an attack—"

"I think we've heard enough," Persephone finally cut in, aware of her husband's burning fuse. By the twitch under one of his eyes, he was nearly ready to just be done with it and remove the soul from existence altogether. Except she knew neither of them wanted that. They were professionals at the old game, and this soul…this soul needed to see revenge. What exactly happened when someone crossed the very beings that would judge them in Death.

"I-I thought to be judged you needed to hear my case—"

"These papers are a culmination of your entire life. We already know where you're going," Persephone said dismissively, cutting the woman off. They were done letting her talk.

"Ah, well," sniffed Leah, a pompous air returning. "If my body hadn't been destroyed, I'd think you'd be letting me return to the living. Bringing the Villains back to suffer was one thing, but I have unfinished business—"

"Don't make us laugh," scoffed Persephone. "You really think we'd even entertain the idea of you going back? Not only have you abused your position in life, but you have made enemies of us. There's only one place you'll be going."

"Wh-What have I—? Where will I—? What do you mean where I'll be—?" the dead ex-queen stuttered, trying to step back, only to find her form rooted to the odd markers on the floor.

"Shouldn't it be obvious? You're going to Tartarus," Hades growled, glaring at the soul from his seat, a fist slamming angrily into his desk.

"Tartarus? How dare you! I am a Queen! A victim of Evil and a civilian of Good!" Leah shrieked. "You are a villain, and have no business sentencing someone of my caliber! Honestly, I shouldn't even be surprised considering you consort with my worst enemy. What brainwashing you've done to Lady Persephone to put up with the likes of you, while siring a bastard with Maleficent—"

A slap cracked through the room. Hades raised a single brow at Persephone's outstretched hand.

"Silence, mortal." The Goddess' voice echoed fiercly, her brown curls floated in a nonexistent wind, eyes an intense, ethereal green. "You are dead, and you will be judged by our King as all Life goes unto him through Death. Down here, your insignificant soul is equal to every person you deemed beneath you. In my opinion, you are even less.

"You have insulted my husband, myself, and most importantly, my daughter several times over."

As Persephone spoke, a swirling cloud of smoke began to spread across the floor, emanating from Hades to begin chaining its way around Leah's soul.

"Well, way to go, newbie," Hades' grin was full of shark-like teeth, his eyes glowing yellow with Chthonic magic. Leah struggled against the bonds, soon only her eyes were visible with incomprehensible muffles emanating through the smoky gag. "I can brush hits off my ego, but you just had to go and piss off my wife. Ergo, you've lost all privilege of speaking."

Snapping his fingers, a new set of papers appeared before the God.

High Priority – New Arrival: Tartaros

Turning to Persephone, Hades licked his lips. "O Goddess, gorgeous Goddess, wife of mine. Be a doll and let Mali's King Boytoy know a high-class citizen has descended into my possession. Uma or our son for haste, if you don't mind."

Persephone shook her head fondly, running a hand longingly through Hades' hair, dropping it to trail along his jaw—inciting him to growl—before reluctantly moving away to reach out with her telepathy.

Hadie?

…mom? Came her son's reply. What's up? You don't normally reach out until our usual weekend talks.

I have important news that needs to reach King Ben since the letter system takes a bit longer. He wouldn't get the information until next week if that were the case.

What news?

Ex-Queen Leah is dead.

…a-are you serious?

Yes, your father is having quite the time deciding how to punish her. Persephone thought as she glanced back at her husband furiously writing down ideas. The soul of Leah was still entangled in smoke, mouth sealed shut, struggling with fear as she heard Hades' likely punishments.

Hmph. Make sure he doesn't hold back. That woman has been an absolute nightmare. Not just to our family. Hadie ranted over the link. Did you know she treated Phil like shit? Barely recognized him as a grandson, more like a spare.

Watch your language, Persephone scolded.

Sorry, mama.

She smiled softly to herself as she felt his bashfulness through the link.

You are right though, she was unbearable whenever I met her at events, and even in death she acts entitled. She started yelling at your father as if she was the boss of him.

Ooh, I bet dad just loved that.

He was entertained at least. Anyways, I'm sure we'll write an official report to send to King Ben, but please pass this urgent info along to him in the meantime.

I will mom. I was just about to head to his office anyways. Mal has a Cotillion meeting so he and I were going to watch Estelle for her.

That's kind of the two of you. Sounds like you're getting along then?

Yeah, Ben's pretty nice. We hangout now and again, and his friends are funny. It's like he has personal court jesters already. It's a pretty tight knit group, with siblings so a lot of Mal's and Ben's friends overlap with mine. Emir is one of Ben's closest friends and hangs out with Jay a lot too, and his little sister Ashaki is in my year so we meet up a lot.

That sounds lovely, having so many around you that you can trust. Persephone sighed with relief. I know the Isle isn't much on trusting others, but I'm happy you're not letting that hold you back.

…All of my new friends are so kind, mom. I'm glad Dizzy and Celia will be part of the next group, though I know it's taking longer than expected. It's just…

The Goddess closed her eyes wistfully as Hadie paused. She knew what he was trying to say. His emotions easily fed through the link, just as bad at disguising his thoughts as his sister. 'Though that could fade away when he's older, if he puts effort into it like his father.'

I miss you too, my little torch. In just a couple more months, I can hold you again.

I think…I think Mal might need you more, mom. Hadie's voice was practically a whisper in her head, so quiet she had to focus on blocking out Hades' manic mumbles.

What's wrong? We can feel her over the link, but every time we prod, we hit a wall. I have no clue if Pain and Panic's wings can take much more throttling from your father.

I'm not sure to be honest. She seems fine on the outside, but there's just something off. Everyone can see it, but no one is able to figure it out. And you know how Mal is about talking about her feelings. It just seems to be this Cotillion thing.

Ah. Yes, apparently her titling will be held there now instead of being private. I imagine that's a large chunk of her stress.

Oh, hopefully that's it then.

I'm sure it is, Hadie. Like I said, I'll be back soon. Cotillion is scheduled to be just after I return anyways, at least for this year, as I'm to be there are parent representation for when Mal is officially titled as a Lady. Though she should be that anyways through her father, but you know how pesky politics are.

Yeah, not looking forward to when I have to deal with them too. Though I guess I already am on a smaller scale with school.

Yes…I know the school can be a way to foster future relationships what with having so many heirs interacting.

Ugh, don't remind me. I'm already bored with school, I don't want to be bored with dealing with people too! If I'm expected to work with you and dad anyways, why do I have to learn about who invented shoes?!

…Shoes?

A small project essay thing for a science and history overlap…We had to pick an inventor from a list. Neal wrote about the guy whose family made earmuffs because his ears got too cold too fast and got made fun of by other kids.

That…does sound nugatory. Anyways, it's like social class. Education is important in how other's view you, and our political strength is important to keep since we need you and Mal's to help repair your father's…reputation for a better word. Maybe you'll use something, maybe you won't, but at least you'll know it just in case. I know history seems useless, but that deals quite directly into Underworld operations, not to mention figuring out people's backstories without them having to say anything. Knowing where they're from is a million words in itself. And science can be helpful with magic.

Persephone felt her son perk up at the mention of magic.

Okay, okay. I'll keep working on everything. I just need something new to do! It just all seems so repetitive. School, magic practice, hang with friends. But I can't go anywhere until you get back, and I feel trapped. I'm already going through two or three books just for recreation in the library alone!

What about music?

Huh?

I believe the school has music classes.

I don't want to take more classes! Being forced to study something sucks the fun out of it.

What I mean, dear, is that if you ask one of your friends, they may know where the classrooms are. Often, there's instruments you can borrow or at least practice with even if you can't take them from their rooms.

A clattering sound, and a bright light pulled Persephone's attention away from the mind link. A furious red caused her to shield her eyes with a hand, finally able to look around curiously when the light faded. Leah's soul was gone.

Think about it, Hadie. She sent her final thoughts over the link, realizing she needed to get back to work. I have to go, looks like your father has decided. Don't forget to let Ben know!

I think it's a good idea, I'll ask around! And I'll let Ben know, I'm almost at his office. Say hi to dad for me!

She felt the link begin to fade before it rushed back.

Any chance you'd tell me later what dad decided?

Possibly, if it's not too inappropriate for your age.

Awww, okay. Love you, bye!

Love you, too. Persephone thought back with a chuckle, finally ending the link.

"Made your verdict, huh?" Persephone sidled up to her husband and draped her arms around his neck. Hades leaned back in his chair, wrapping his own arm around his wife's waist and pulled her slightly onto his lap. She couldn't help her own lips from curling up as she took in his smug expression, quickly dropping a kiss on the corner of his lips as he looked up to reply. "Our son says hi, by the way. I've asked him to let King Ben know."

"You bet your beautiful backside, I did," he lecherously grinned at Persephone, leaning forward again so that she was pinned between him and the desk, his hands wandering decisively downward to the curves in question. "And excellent. Thank you. I'll be sure to thank him too when we speak with him this weekend."

"Uh huh," Persephone giggled, lightly smacking his shoulder as they touched foreheads. "Work hours darling, focus."

"I don't wannaaaaa," he whined, lightly squeezing before he gave in and moved his hands to simply rest on her hips. "Can't we take the rest of the day off? We saw to the priority souls."

"We're not doing anything except work down here, dear. Break the rule once, and you'll be insatiable, getting nothing done."

"Fiiiine," the God continued to grouse, acquiescing to Persephone's logic. "It's just mass fill outs left, though."

"Did you do the paperwork for Leah? I had finished everyone else till she came in."

"Eh, I wrote down her punishments, but I've sent her off to processing," Hades said, shrugging. "She's the kind of bint who would feel entitled she should be served first, so I'm going to make her wait in line for a bit as part of her punishment."

"Ever the devil, down to the finest of details," she couldn't help but croon. "What tortures have you planned to inflict upon her worthless being?"

"Everything she's hated," smirked Hades. "Everything she viewed beneath her in life. Poverty, people…A simulation of life where she'll never get what she wants. A modified Tantalus curse if you will. She can reach and reach all she wants, but never get the recognition her elitist, narcissistic ass believes she's entitled to. An old servant is around and she tries to order them? One day she might be a servant too, lower ranked and forced to scrub floors. She'll feel hunger and greed just like in life, with no way to quench them."

"How fun. Trapped in twisted realities of her own memories…" Persephone ran a finger down the list that Hades had written. "Wait, does that mean…?"

"I'm utilizing my prisoner now," Hades' eyes glinted with the various shimmering jewels around the immortals. "I needed more safety measures to make sure Maleficent couldn't get out even if she somehow reverted back from her tiny reptilian form. They're trapped within each other's memories, annoying the crap out of each other now. Or at least, Leah is an annoying bug to Maleficent. But the fae is definitely one of the Waste of Fate Thread's worst nightmares."

Persephone leaned down, her hands resting on either side of Hades' jaw as she tilted his head upwards, softly pressing her lips upon his. Easily silencing his triumphant tirade. She moved slightly away, trailing kisses from his mouth and down his cheek, ending with a light nibble on the lobe of his ear. A low moan thrummed from his throat, switching to a whine as, ultimately, Persephone's warmth departed from his lap.

His lip jutted out into a pout as he watched the Goddess walk away from him. He audibly whined as she slightly turned to look back at him over her shoulder, tossing her long, meticulous brown curls back.

"I suppose you've earned a reward for all your hard work today."

Hades stumbled around his desk as his wife suddenly bolted out of the office and up the stairs, her laughter echoing around the caverns as he gave chase. Thankfully, the imps and nephew wouldn't be by for the rest of the day.

He found Persephone waiting in their bedroom, standing nonchalantly near the edge of their bed. His eyes were instantaneously drawn to her ample bosom, still heaving with deep breaths from her sprint. Hades licked his lips as he approached, the Goddess' head tilting up towards him as he was a good head taller than herself. He tried not to let the confusion show on his face as she smacked his hands away when he'd moved to run them up her shoulders, instead he opted to raise a single brow.

Persephone took a single step back and reached up towards her skull shaped brooch pinned upon her shoulder. His other brow shortly joined its brother, raised, as she released the pin's hold upon her dress' strap.

In an instant, her silky, deep green dress was on the floor, and a decisively less clothed Persephone casually sat upon their bed.

"What are you waiting for, Hades?" A dainty finger curled towards him, beckoning him. "You have a reward to collect."

"Gladly."