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

Sorry for the long wait! I set a goal for this finale chapter and while it's not perfect, I'm quite satisfied with it, at last! A lot has happened in my 2022 so far already and work doesn't really help. I had hoped to post in February, and then I moved and then I needed to support family who had to go through surgery and then one thing after another more it's suddenly April!

Thank you all so much for your patience! I hope this extremely long chapter satisfies y'all while I prep some other fics (A sort of Choosing Prequel, if you will, with Ginny's permission and then a short Encanto fic on the side) before moving on to Choosing HomeAuradon's Renaissance!

Don't forget to follow my profile for when I update with the next stories!

Danifan3000 – I have some ideas for that chapter! It was one of my favorites, to see Hermes and Hadie prank Zeus.

Ginnyrules27 – Thank you so much! Die Hard FlamingGlass shippers only, all aboard WOOT WOOT! I certainly would feel for them as well, Ben is a good boy, and Freddy deserves every bit of pain for all his murderous attempts. Estelle deserves to get his 'chomps' in xD And I hope to get to write more fluff soon. Otherwise I'll definitely get around to that mini-fic for just dumping fluffy one-shots lol

OceanBlueSeaEyes – Sorry, THIS is the last chapter for this installment! It just took me a really long time to get it together. I went in with one idea and it kind of got twisted, but the main premise is mostly still there.

As always: Read, Review, Enjoy!


"Thanks for playing at Cotillion for me, Hadie," Mal said as she walked side by side with her little brother the day after Cotillion. They were heading to meet their mom for lunch, now that the impromptu excitement had been handled. "I never checked out the music rooms, not my scene. But it's cool that they had a blue guitar for you to borrow."

"Huh?" Hadie said intelligently, glancing at Mal as a single dark blue brow raised. "I mean, no problem. It's…It was sort of my way for apologizing for our fight earlier." He looked down at his shoes, slightly embarrassed.

Mal smiled softly at her little brother, amused at the light dusting of pink appearing at his ears. "I appreciate that…I know I said it when we practiced magic together, but I'm sorry I didn't open up to you. To anyone. I let our family stubbornness and my own pride of being able to take care of myself get in the way of letting anyone in. I thought I was keeping all the hurt to myself, but I never realized that by suffering alone, I was making everyone around me hurt to by not letting them understand what was happening."

"Consider your apology accepted, Mali," Hadie smiled widely before he turned oddly serious. "Just know if you ever do something like this again, there will be no holding back. I'll grab Uma too, since she seems to be the only one to force you to communicate!" The serious face lasted all about a second past his mini-speech before he began giggling.

Her own laugh bubbling up, Mal playfully shoved Hadie with her shoulder. "I don't imagine I could ever get away with it again," she said, shaking her head as Hadie lightly bumped her back as they continued the way to their mom's room. She began to tick names off with her fingers. "Between you, mom and dad, Ben, Uma, Jay, Harry…and now all of our Auradon friends, I'm likely to be held hostage by you lot until I speak. Dad alone would lock me in a padded room and baby me for all eternity if he thought he could get away with it."

"I don't think dad needs an excuse to lock either of us away," snorted Hadie. "We could get a papercut and he'd freak out."

"That's unfortunately true," smirked Mal. Reaching their mother's room, she knocked.

"You know," Hadie began as they waited for the door to open. "I didn't borrow a guitar."

"What do you mean?" Mal glanced at Hadie, perplexed.

"Mom brought mine back and Neal helped me get it fixed."

"She did?"

"I did," their mother interjected, smiling as she opened the door to greet them.

"Hi, mom!" The siblings said in unison, happily moving forward to embrace Persephone.

"Hello, my beautiful children," the Goddess smiled, hugging them back. She felt her heart swell. It was good to see the fight seemed little more than an afterthought for the two Godlings. "Are you ready to leave?"

"How are we leaving, did you get another limo from Ben?" asked Mal as Persephone pulled them into her room, closing the door behind them.

"I'll be teleporting us to a friend's place. We're leaving the country for lunch," Persephone idly said as she finished getting ready herself.

"Wait, what?" Mal and Hadie stared at their mother in surprise.

"Can you do that? Can we do that?" blurted Mal, tensing.

"No need to panic, dear," Persephone spoke softly. "I figured you'd like to avoid paparazzi, and this is owned by a friend, so they can guarantee us privacy, even from Olympus."

"That seems a bit over the top though, we could've just stayed at the school again," Mal pointed out.

"You've been humble all your life when it comes to resources, let me spoil my kids once in a while."

Mal pursed her lips but didn't protest any further. She knew her mom had a point, evidence found in the single serving meals that she took and the forcing of snacks by friends.

'Honestly, Mal is just as bad as Ben when it comes to meals, just for different reasons,' Hadie snickered internally.

"So where are we going then?" Hadie asked as they moved back into the hallway and towards the teleportation room.

"A small place in Italy that Hestia and Aphrodite surprisingly co-created," Persephone shrugged as she took one of each of her children's hands and began to glow. Before either child could protest, her teleportation activated and swirled them onto columned balcony.

"Steph!" A voice squealed. "Oh, and these must be the infamous kiddies!"

Both Mal and Hadie stiffened at the sight of a bright, pink, most-definitely-a-Goddess ran towards them from an archway. Her hair was molten gold, and her tanned skin glowed pink in an equally saturated pink dress.

Persephone tried not to laugh at the 'Ew' that burst over the link from the Godlings. Long ingrained was the hatred for the color pink in all Isle citizens.

"'Dite!" The Goddesses hugged each other briefly before Persephone beckoned to her kids. "Yes, my children; Mal and Hadie. Darlings, this is Aphrodite, friend, rival, and Goddess of Love and Beauty."

"Rival? Like myself and Evie?" Mal deadpanned, cutting off as Hadie elbowed her.

Glad to see your old self again, Mal, but kinda need those stuffy mannerisms right now. Hadie thought to his sister. Sorry, he added as he felt her wince at the reminder.

"An honor at last, Lady Aphrodite,"Hadie stepped forward and bowed lightly.

"Official introductions aside, don't worry about it, sugar," Aphrodite smirked, waving a hand uncaringly. "You can call me Auntie, so long as you don't directly insult me, I'm not like some of the Gods who need to have formality every interaction."

Her light cough sounded very much like 'Athena'.

"My husband has already corrupted the kids, 'Dite, you don't need to add to it," snorted Persephone. "And I don't need them getting in trouble with the other Gods before they can make proper first impressions."

"Ugh, you and Hades with the schmoozing and the politics," Aphrodite sniffed before waving them all inside. "I 'spose you already have to be cautious enough being Chthonic, but I can see your family easily regaining the respect you deserve versus this paltry courtesy the other idiots have been giving you."

Mal and Hadie glanced at each other in confusion, unsure of the topic's turn. They were tentative to even add to the conversation, considering they knew little of the current affairs outside of 'it was this God's turn to be an idiot'. They kept their silence at the look from their mother.

"They know well enough to not anger myself, even should Hades never become free of the Isle," scoffed Persephone, rolling her eyes. "Apollo alone forgets that I am equal to Hera and Amphitrite, and Dionysus is too drunk to remember things most of the time! The least of all how I ran things under my mother before I even really knew Hades."

"Just keep in mind if we get the current referendum passed, I want you to buy in," Aphrodite lowered her voice as they entered a dome like area, plucking the menus from a server who appeared at the ready. "Run it by your husband if you must."

I feel like we're missing something, Mal thought to Hadie.

You and me both. I tried to look up stuff at school and there's only Olympus sanctioned information at school, no details.

What kind of stuff?

Any God dad has ever mentioned. Mom and dad themselves. It's interesting to see what the public image for everyone is, versus the gossip. There isn't much on our parents or Underworld operations outside of what happened with Hercules though.

Mal grabbed Hadie by the shoulders, pulling him close as their eyes adjusted to the large, open room with greatly distanced booths set with low candle light. Only a few of them were occupied, but just like how Mal couldn't make out any of their faces, she was sure in the middle of the dark room away from any candles that they were just as difficult to see.

I'll see what I can dig up offline of the school servers, Mal replied as Aphrodite led them to one of the most distance tables and set the menus down.

"I'll let Tia know you're here," Aphrodite whispered. "Now, I must be off. We'll schedule a proper tea sometime. Ciao!"

As quickly as she came, the Goddess of Love rushed off, this time through a pair of doors that could only lead to the kitchens.

"She seems…nice?" Mal looked on bewildered at where the Goddess had disappeared off too before turning her attention to the menu in her hand. "And you're closer to her than I would've thought."

The young woman truly had never considered it, just realizing that her mom may have close friends and confidents even if rarely spoken of. She got even more confused as she tried to read the menu.

"Your initial assessment of us being as you and Evie are now wouldn't be too far off," giggled Persephone as she tapped Mal's menu, turning the Greek characters into English, the funny look of confusion disappearing from her daughter's face. Hadie shook his head as their mom moved to do the same for him.

"Μελέτη το ̀πα̑ν," he mumbled.

"If you'd like," Persephone nodded to her son before turning back to Mal.

"'Dite and I…have a, somewhat, tumultuous relationship," Persephone began quietly. "If only because of some jealously that led to her trying to steal my beauty. A story for a time in which she is not being our gracious host, though."

She gave her children a stern look to signal that they hold their questions for another day.

"I promise to fill you all with proper gossip when I have to teach you properly leading up to Mal's summer introductions, but for now I just want to enjoy the company of my beautiful babies."

Mal and Hadie rolled their eyes, but smiled at their always doting mother.

"Do I have to?" Mal whined. "I already met Zeus, and after this last semester, I think I need a break from the snooty lifestyle expectations."

"It won't be a focused hosting like Cotillion was, more of a grand introduction where your full title is read off, you say your hellos and then we can go."

"Does Uma have to go? Will Macaria and Elle be there?" Mal chewed at her lip. "Shouldn't Hadie have to be there too?"

"Woah, nope, nopenopenope, as much as I'd love to support you sis, I already had my fill of Olympians in having to spend a day with our lovely grandmother whereas you got to skip," Hadie pouted in turn, setting his menu down.

"Plus, official introductions occur at fifteen, dear, Hadie will in time," Persephone explained as a waiter arrived to take their order. "But otherwise yes, Uma will join you. You'll take your lessons together as Amphitrite requested that I teach her as well in her place. And I'm sure Elle and Macaria will be there even if you don't request them."

"I guess that's not too bad then," Mal kept her eyes downcast as thoughts ran through her head. At least she wouldn't be alone, and above all, her family would never let what happened with Natalie occur ever again. Not if they could help it.

But Summer was months away, and from the sounds of it, it would be just brief classes every weekend. No frantic, controlling, crazy person trying to manipulate and run Mal ragged. Her mom teaching was just the perfect bonus, spending time with her for the first year ever in a season they'd never had before?

Mal was actually looking forward to it.

Too bad they were about to get news that would bring back the stress she had finally gotten rid of.


"What do you mean you're postponing the next group?" Hadie looked up in a panic, homework forgotten. They'd all put so much work in organizing how groups would be officially selected just before Cotillion, trying so hard to make the VK initiative as real as it could be.

He'd been hunkered down in his dorm for the last few days, the finals for the Winter trimester quickly approaching now that Cotillion was all done and Spring break was around the corner. Ben and Mal had come in a few minutes ago, the locking of the door sending alarm bells off in his head. Now it made sense. This wasn't the kind of news they wanted all over the school, especially with all the VKs already on edge.

"Trust me, Hadie, none of us want to do this." Ben said as he ran a hand through his hair, his own face expressing disappointment. "Of course, I want to keep going, but the Council has concerns. I can at least promise we negotiated a time limit to how long they can embargo me from bringing more kids from the Isle."

"And don't forget, bro," interjected Mal, laying an arm across Hadie's shoulders. "The Isle is in better care now. They have real food and supplies as needed, not to mention the Hospital is finally up. This is either until we catch Freddy and find the stolen staff and spell book, or we hit two months. That's the agreed upon time limit."

"Alright," Hadie agreed reluctantly. He still couldn't believe that somehow the injured Angel had escaped from his prison, no sign of head nor tail of him in the last few days. "I get those are both very important points and hopefully won't risk anyone else's safety. It's just that Celia and Dizzy have already been stuck on the Isle for six months, I guess I was just hoping they wouldn't have to wait more than a month like I did. I'm the only kid my age from the Isle still!"

"I'm really sorry about that, Hadie. I can't imagine how hard it's been having to make new friends and adjust to Auradon without any other kid your age going through the same experience, but you really have integrated awesomely," Ben rested a hand on Hadie's free shoulder.

"Besides, you're going to be a little distracted with end of year exams by the time the two months is up," Mal lightly joked, giving Hadie a small shoulder shove. "In the meantime, isn't mom taking you to meet her mom when Spring Break starts?"

"Don't remind me," Hadie groaned. "Mom said she's going to be so busy starting the new season that she can't monitor the meeting as closely as she had intended. It's going to be so awkward!"

"I'm sorry, Hads," grimaced Mal, genuinely concerned for his plight. She had already expressed no interest in meeting Demeter, not just for the older Goddess' dislike of their father, but also for not listening to her own daughter when asked for assistance with the Isle. Mal was thoroughly convinced that the Gods held no interests other than their own, the proof in trying to get Hadie off the Isle instead of helping improve the overall livability. At least for now. In the meantime, she had bigger fish to fry. Freddy fish.

"Hopefully she's not too overbearing and keeps her mouth shut if she has any complaints about our…lifestyle."

Hadie snorted at Mal's choice of words. "Care to bet on that?"

Ben snorted too, coughing to cover up his laugh. Despite Mal's words, no one could think of any other possible outcome…but to ask to gamble on it was a challenge Mal could never turn down, the temptation for her was always too much to resist even with such a small chance of victory.

"Alright, little brother, on the off-chance mom's mom, doesn't say something against dad or complain about your Isle upbringing? Fifty bucks."

"Dollars?" Hadie laughed. "You must not be confident in grandmother if you're betting common money instead of drachma!"

"Hey!"

Laughter broke out, Ben jumping up on to Jay's bed as he watched Hadie dodge Mal's swipe, his girlfriend threatening to knuckle Hadie's hair until the friction caused it to burst into flames or force it to all fall out.

Too bad Mal indeed would owe her brother fifty dollars in the end.


Exams done, Hadie waited impatiently at the magical receiving room with his small suitcase packed and ready to go for Spring Break. He'd be bouncing around for the next week and a half, almost every day scheduled to visit a friend or…family. His lips formed a pout as he thought about the impending disaster that he felt meeting his grandmother would be. The only upside is it would be out of the way first, the rest of break spent visiting friends until the last few days…in which depending on how this first meeting would go, would be either just another 'get to know' or an extra awkward 'sorry about last time' dinner. Trying not to think poor thoughts, Hadie shook his head before he stared out the window and tapped his foot restlessly. Though he knew he shouldn't be. His mom had said she'd pick him up at 3:30pm and there was still fifteen minutes until then. It wasn't her fault that he'd gotten excited and finished getting ready early. It just didn't help to mention most his friends had either already left that very morning or the moment their exams were up, so there was no one really around to help distract him.

As luck would have it, his mother arrived early. A soft green glow lit the room and a dust devil of leaves appeared from nowhere, billowing into the shape of the Goddess before a final flash of light faded to reveal her fully. Persephone's face lit up at the sight of her son already waiting for her.

"Hadie!" Persephone swept forward, her long brown skirt fluttering around as she closed the distance towards her son.

"Hi, mom!" Hadie shouted in return as he leapt forward into her waiting open arms, giggling as some of his mother's hair fell loose from its messy bun into his face.

"All ready to go then?" she asked, softly resting a hand atop his head.

"Yup!" exclaimed Hadie as he tugged on her knit green sweater. "Just my backpack with over break homework and a suitcase for clothes."

"Great, well no need to hang around until the time we had planned on, might as well go early," said Persephone. "If you end up needing anything else, we can pick it up another day."

Letting go of his mother, Hadie swung his backpack on and rolled his suitcase over into the designated circle. As his mother took his hand into her own, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for the feeling of teleportation.

Hardly a second later, he found himself standing once again in his mom's apartment.

"Freedom!" Hadie shouted, dropping his backpack and falling face first into the couch pillows.

"Temporarily at least," Persephone laughed as she fell onto the couch next to her son, whacking him lightly with one of the errant pillows much to his indignation. "You had lunch, didn't you? Is there anything you'd like for dinner? Or a snack until then?"

"I'm okay, had plenty of food for lunch at school," Hadie said, smiling up at his mom. "Herkie alone makes sure I eat, let alone Mal and the others. I'm not on the Isle anymore, mom."

The last bit he added softly, knowing Persephone's doting was from years of her children suffering with only her able to fix them when she was around with extra food.

"It's not perfect, but we're okay now," Hadie continued, his mother smiling sadly as he sat up and cuddled up next to her, the Goddess pulling him into a hug. It hadn't been a year yet in Auradon for his sister either, barely even a half. The things she had gone through, Hadie couldn't even begin to fathom, but they'd gotten through it.

"We're gonna be okay."


'This is so not okay.'

Hadie sulked as he squinted up at the bright, blue skies. Nymphs of various colors and plant origins surrounded him, cooing and fawning over him since the moment he arrived. At least he hadn't met Demeter yet.

'Grandmother, I need to refer to her as Grandmother,' Hadie thought to himself as he pouted and flinched away from one nymph that had been brave enough to attempt to touch his hair.

'I promised mom I would be on my best behavior. That this was going to be…difficult and even more different that Auradon had been. Though at least the other kids understand personal space.'

The sound of a throat clearing made the nymphs scatter somewhat to the side. Hadie raised a brow slightly at how they all curtsied, but were otherwise informal in the presence of two Goddesses. Ignoring the tittering for now, he peered upwards, shoulders tense as he was officially presented before his Grandmother for the first time.

His immediate thought was that despite looking similar to his own mom, Demeter's visage held a stern, but laughter lined appearance. The next thought was where he had thought her very tall, when he had seen her at the school near Fairy Godmother. Now Hadie realized she was quite short, at least compared to his own mother who was even shorter than the dainty Hera according to the photos that Herkie had shown him. Mixed in with the plumpness of the Goddess, Demeter radiated an odd mix of strictness with smothering, simpering, kindness.

"Ladies," Persephone frowned at the crowd. "Please refrain from all of you converging on my son until he's gotten used to a few of you at a time."

She held out an arm towards Hadie, the Godling immediately bounding forward and tucking himself into his mother's side. He preened as she smiled down at him, one hand lightly petting his head.

"First off, rules."

"Persephone, now really, I don't thi—"

"Do not touch his hair. Only I, or his sister, despite his protests, are allowed," Persephone barely turned to glare at her mother. "Do not take him off the farm grounds. And that goes to you too Hadie, it means do not wander past the copper fences. Only I will be taking him to and from the properties. Now as this is his first time here, I do want two of you to stay with him at all times until it's time for him to leave. Yes, that includes when he is with you, Mother. He is allowed to tell you no. Any of you. You will listen to him. Remember, despite stories I have shared, you are strangers to him. He is not used to random hugs or anything of the sort, so please give him space to adjust."

Hadie smiled slightly at his mom, some trepidation slipping through. They'd talked about how things would go last night over dinner, and once more over breakfast before coming to the Farms. Rules would be established, he would be introduced to Demeter, then he would be left to the mercy of the Nymphs to be given a small tour before he was expected to be brought in for lunch. He'd then spend the afternoon with Demeter before Persephone return to either have dinner, or take him home depending on how the one on one went.

He was ecstatic. Really.

Totally.

"O, Ματηρα," Persephone carefully began, applying slight pressure onto Hadie's shoulder to push him forward again to be officially introduced. "I welcome you to meet Hadie, first born son of Hades. May he be safe in your care."

"Greetings, Hadie," Demeter nodded, gesturing towards the land behind her. "I accept you into my abode. I offer shelter and food, by the laws of χενια I shall respect you as you respect me…" The stern façade dropped, and a bright smile shed years from Demeter's face as she continued more casually from the traditional demeanor. "I am so glad to meet you at last, as short as our time today will be. Unfortunately, that will have to wait for the afternoon, as Persephone and I must get to work. A proper Spring won't manifest itself after all!"

"Greetings…Grandmother," Hadie said quietly, still partially hiding behind his mother's skirt as if he was five again. "It's an honor to meet you and be welcomed into your land of bountiful harvests."

"Hyacinth, Cassia." Two of the nymphs, one purple and one a soft yellow respectively, approached at Persephone's call. "I entrust my son to your attention for today."

"Yes, my Lady," the pair echoed, curtsying.

Persephone gently took Hadie by the shoulders and kissed him thrice, once on each cheek and upon his brow. "I love you and I'll be back in a few hours for lunch, alright?"

"Alright, love you too," Hadie voiced, trying not to cringe at the 'awes' from the nymphs.

"The rest of you are to tend to your duties," Demeter ordered, she and Persephone preparing to teleport, the grass swirling at their feet as petals and leaves began to form.

The other nymphs pouted, but nodded farewells as the Goddesses disappeared, slowly dispersing themselves to attend to whatever their jobs normally were.

Hadie turned meekly towards Hyacinth and Cassia, admittedly curious but wary nonetheless. He wasn't sure how successful he was in straightening his back when the nymphs suddenly gave him twin smiles, suspiciously bright.

'Maybe I just don't know them well enough? Or is everyone here even more annoyingly cheerful than school?'

As they whisked off their newfound Prince, chattering away about the different farms, plots and animals, Hadie learned the answer.

The latter. Definitely the latter.


"—the animals were impressive; I'd never seen oxen and horses outside of books before! But I have to say my favorites were the so many different orchards, stretching for miles in various states of bloom!" Hadie animatedly chattered, unaware of the surprised, but pleased looks he received from his mother and grandmother. The nymphs serving them lunch, still giggled occasionally, with his assigned watchers blushing slightly at his outburst of eagerness. "I tried to study some flora while at school, but to see them in person, vegetables and fruit rather than just flowers and foliage, and from all sorts of different hardiness zones too! I'm truly impressed, grandmother!"

Persephone glanced smugly at her mother; the older Goddess still shocked at how passionate her grandson had finally began speaking. Demeter had expected a demure, though intelligent boy, long corrupted by her unfortunate daughter's choice in husband. Persephone had proved correct in that the Godling had just needed a bit to settle in and feel comfortable.

"Don't forget to stop to eat, darling," Persephone mused, Hadie looking down in surprise at the food long set before him.

"Mm! Right, sorry!" Hadie blushed and thanked the nymphs. "This looks really good, thank you!"

If Demeter was anymore surprised, her face had difficulty showing it, eyes already as wide as they could go. A child that didn't protest at the lack of meat or sweets? While Demeter's farm did produce a large quantity of meat, the quality standard they held meant a portion was reserved for only the Gods' festivals, with the butcher cuts being quite expensive if exported. Much of their diet otherwise consisted of a surprising amount of fruit, vegetable, fish or bread and cheese.

Such was the meal they were having, a small, vegetable stew with bread as the weather was still cold as Spring only just beginning the yearly thaw.

"Do you like it, Hadie?" Demeter asked softly. "We ensure only the best of qualities."

"Mhm!" Hadie swallowed. "Now I get where mom's been getting the food she brings back from! Really helps dad make the best of our meals! Granted, anything beats scavenging the bottom of the barrel Isle food."

Persephone winced at Hadie's bluntness. The air of the open-aired dining area became heavy with tension. While Hades' name was reluctantly accepted to be mentioned in formal settings, as earlier, in actual conversation was something very much avoided in front of the Goddess of Harvest. Then there was the mentioning of the food.

Demeter was well known to keep to herself and her work, only going to meetings that required attendance. She was also well known to only think of her own opinions, even ignoring that of her own daughter with over a century of disagreements past between them.

Meaning that any grievances of the Isle went unheard. The Isle where her hated 'son-in-law' was after all. But if her grandchild was saying similar things, one who clearly had an appreciation for her own work…now Demeter wasn't sure what to think.

Not that she would bother putting thought into it in the moment. She had the upcoming season to finish manifesting.

"Ahem, well our produce makes even the paltriest of meals pleasant," Demeter sniffed, completely ignorant of the fact that it wasn't Hades' cooking that was the issue so much as the lack of edible ingredients.

Hadie's eyes snapped up, his vigorous energy visibly deflating. He could tell she only understood what she wanted.

"Well, um, I hope you don't mind," Hadie rushed to change the subject. "I saw shipments were being prepared in the apple orchards, and I wanted to repay a favor to a friend who adores the fruit, so Cassia allowed me to mark one for him. I-if that's all right?"

"Oh? Yes, that's fine. Cassia, just make sure that whatever portion of the stock was sent off is marked for personal usage rather than exports."

"Yes, Lady Demeter," said Cassia, the golden nymph smiled politely at Hadie, carefully slipping Hadie another slice of bread. He was quickly becoming fond of her, along with Hyacinth, despite little interaction with the other nymphs. They were so far the only ones who didn't coo and squeal at the sight of him.

Small talk took up the rest of the meal's conversation, some about work and a little school, but otherwise the lunch came to a close. Hadie could feel his trepidation showing, through a finger tapping, his leg jiggling, or the slight twitch in his right pinky toe. Soon, apart from the attending nymphs, he'd be left alone with his grandmother.

It came all too soon.

"Behave, my little lightning bolt," Persephone said under her breath and she kissed Hadie goodbye. "I won't be gone more than a couple hours. If it looks like it's going south, your attendees know what to do."

"I'll try my best, mama," Hadie sighed.

As his mother disappeared once more, Hadie turned tentatively towards his grandmother.

'Bonding Attempt 1 is a go,' Hadie grimaced internally. 'Chances of total success?'

The goddess' smile was equally tentative.

'Okay. Low, but not as low as I was debating.'

His hopeful answer plummeted to absolute zero only a half an hour into their time. To be fair, he had started to get excitable again with the topic and once again made the mistake of mentioning his father. But, why should he have to stay silent on a major influence on his life, villain or no? He was proud to be a Hades' kid. There was nothing Demeter could do to change that, no matter how much she hated it.

They'd spoken of school, and his friends. They'd spoken of his self-study on plants and his hobbies. It had turned from gardening…to swords…to music and magic.

"Ah, godlings and their weapons," Demeter sighed smiling. "It seems our family has changed little. Even Athena with her weaving could weaponize a tiny needle to her advantage in war, just as sharp as her tongue."

"I wish mom saw it that way, Mal and her friends got me my first sword when I turned six and she didn't want me anywhere near it," pouted Hadie, forgetting himself amidst the old memory.

"It shows Persephone has learned the same desire to protect you, as I, her, before she ran off with…" Demeter pursed her lips, avoiding choice words.

"I'm not sure I would say it's a recently learned desire," Hadie slowly said, but his temper was rising, and he was struggling to keep his words contrite. He wanted to build sympathy, not break into an argument. "Mom has always been protective of what she considers…hers. You seem more alike than you'd like to admit."

'Honestly, you remind me a lot of dad,' Hadie kept the thought to himself.

"Hmph, if we were more alike, she'd have listened to me when it came to marriage choices," grumbled Demeter. "She hardly seems happy about her choice whenever she returns home to me."

This time, Hadie openly frowned.

"Maybe, that's because, oh, I don't know, she's forcefully made to leave not only her choice of husband behind, but also her children and miss out half of their lives growing up?"

"Don't take that tone with me, Godling," Demeter pursed her lips and shook her head. "I don't know what lies they've told you, but your father—regrettably that he may be so—has done horrible things! And I'm not just talking about Hercules!"

"I know dad is a villain! I know he's done evil things!" Hadie shouted and stomped his foot, interrupting the Goddess to her surprise, so used as she was to the meek nymphs or the other Gods trying to keep her happy. "But my parents truly love each other, and having to part for so long every year causes them nothing but pain!"

"That is enough out of you!" Demeter ordered, face turning slightly red. "It has nothing to do with now and everything to do with that Hades stole and hid my daughter away, married her without permission and proceeded to forcefully bind her to the powers of the Underworld!"

Demeter gasped and took a step back, Hadie's ferocity growing clear as he swung around to glare at the elder Goddess. Once more, unbeknownst to him, his hair began to wave, curling slightly into embers.

"They've not shared much about their story, I'll give you that, but it is obvious my parents adore and love each other with every fiber of their being! One thing I know for sure is that mom is the one who chose to eat the pomegranate. Dad just offered her the choice!

"You forced the six months because you hate my father and didn't want to see your daughter grow up and go off on her own! Now you want a connection with your grandchildren when all you do is badmouth our dad? You want more grandchildren when the very oath you made is what keeps my parents from having more!" Hadie took a deep breath, shuddering as the energy suddenly dissipated. He gritted his teeth and tilted his head to sneer up at his grandmother, her face a mix of affronted and something he couldn't decipher.

"My mother cries every time she leaves, because she is missing half of our lives. The irony of your selfishness to keep your daughter by your side or to enact some petty revenge, only rips her from hers," he growled before turning away, facing the terrified nymphs. "Until you accept that my parents are happy together, that my father is capable of love and being loved, I have no interest in getting to know you any further."

Demeter stood stunned, silent as she watched Hyacinth and Cassia glance uncertainly towards her before they ran off after the young prince who had already cut halfway across the patch of squash.

Hadie had at least given her a chance. Without a change of attitude, the Goddess knew she had even less chance, according to rumor, with the less forgiving Malinda.

'Ugh, now what am I going to do?' Hadie kicked at the dirt as he continued to stomp away, ignoring the two nymphs that were following him once more. 'I promise that I tried, mom. But there's no way I'm going to just stand there and allow someone to badmouth dad with nary a reprimand!'

"Prince Hadie?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry Hyacinth, what is it?" Hadie paused in the shade of an orange blossom tree, unaware of the blue glow he cast, slowly disappearing; his silent rant put to a halt.

"I-I want to apologize for not speaking up against Lady Demeter," the purple nymph began. "It's just—"

"No, it's alright," Hadie smiled sadly. "Whether you genuinely mean to defend my father, or just keep it from my ears, I'm aware of how things work around here. Her control, her opinion and word, are the driving force of this land. It'd be hard to contest a Goddess, after all."

The worry lines on Hyacinth's face disappeared at his words. She grinned and snatched Cassia by the shoulders, lifting some of the strands of golden flowers away to reveal a pointed ear to whisper into it.

"That's a great idea, Cinth!" Cassia and Hyacinth suddenly grabbed Hadie by the arms and steered him in a singular direction. "Come on!"

"Where are you taking me now?" Hadie protested somewhat, but ultimately let the two lead him to wherever they planned.

"To the one place on the farm that Lady Demeter agreed to not step foot in," Cassia grinned. "Your mom's little get away. This way you can avoid Lady Demeter safely until it's time for you to go!"

It was Hadie's turn to grin. 'Mom's grove! It must be!'

Indeed, he was led to a shaded portion on the most eastern hill of the farm. Old marble columns and frieze framed a small entrance, tightly wound by rose thorns and acacia branches. Unsure of being able to fit through, Hadie willed his magic forth and set a hand carefully upon the branches blocking the entrance, making sure to avoid any thorns. As if the plants themselves were intelligent, they receded at his touch as if bowing. Within the grotto, Hadie found a small pond ensconced by a few poplar trees…and the constant symbol of pomegranate shrubs. A bench sat to the side, cozily placed between cypresses somehow grown within a gazebo to protect against any unwanted elements.

'I guess the obvious answer would be mom's doing,' thought Hadie as he ran a hand across the carved, marble surface of one of the gazebo columns. 'If it weren't for being on grandmother's farm, I imagine she would spend ages here.'

"Hey Cassia?" Hadie called out to the nymphs, not realizing they had halted by the grove's entrance.

"Yes, Prince Hadie?"

Hadie sighed. No matter how many times he said his title wasn't necessary, they still continued to use 'Prince' or 'Lord'. "Do you think one of you could run out to the house for my bag? Or if you guys know of any other books around the compound. I'd just like something to read to pass time."

"Of course!" Hyacinth piped up. "I'll go see if it's still on the porch."

A short while later, Hadie relaxed in the shade, angled so a single beam brightened the pages of a book he'd bought that arrived just in time for spring break. He'd found the first at the school library, but didn't want to risk taking the sequel out while travelling and be subject to Sylvia's wrath if anything happened to it.

'If Ashaki's place is anything like Prince Mekhmet's, I'm looking forward to her birthday party!' Hadie happily read of Prince Charlemagne befriending the fellow prince of a desert land, surrounded by wealth. 'I wonder if I should put more work into learning dance if it benefits fighting skills this much? Or horseback riding like Sharley."

"Lady Persephone!"

"Welcome back, my Lady," the nymphs chattered excitedly as Persephone ducked into the grove, an understanding look on her face.

"Considering I found my mother stomping around and barking orders for the last chores, am I right to assume things didn't go well?"

Hadie bashfully put down his book. "She started saying mean things about dad."

"Oh, sweetie," Persephone gently took the seat next to him along the bench. "I meant what I said that you didn't have to put up with my mother being rude. You shouldn't have to hear that sort of thing, so don't worry about me being mad."

"Really?"

"Really," Persephone kissed the top of his head. "Now come on, let's not stay here any longer than we have too then."

The mother and son took the path leading back to the country-style home of Demeter at the center of the expansive lands, Cassia and Hyacinth trailing behind. As they approached, Persephone could already make out her huffy mother aggressively filling some last-minute export orders.

Nymphs swarmed her and Hadie, the Goddess handing back the bag she'd taken from her son so that he could wait without having to interact with his grandmother one last time. There would be enough opportunity when they came back before his spring was totally over.

"How did your day go?" Persephone asked as she absentmindedly watched her son be reluctantly fawned over by all of the nymphs once more before they would depart for the day. She was pleased to see that he had become comfortable with the ordered pair of Cassia and Hyacinth, the nymphs having never left his side except one at a time and interacting in ways that kept him happy. A good distraction while she checked to see if her mother had anything to say for herself.

"It was less than successful," Demeter bit out, her basket of the early Spring harvest thumped heavily onto a waiting wagon.

"Hmm," vocalized Persephone, unwilling to be led by what she could already tell was a rant by her mother.

"He's clearly inherited his father's penchant for being a conniving little—"

"I'm going to stop you right there," snipped Persephone, her head sharply turning to focus her eyes on Demeter. "You wanted to meet him, I acquiesced. I will not stand for you speaking negatively about either of my children, nor my husband. I have let you go on about Hades for too long, and I'm done. Besides, I only raise my son six months of the year, I don't know what you expect me to do about it."

"You could have taken him with you—"

"Doesn't matter at this point, he's allowed to be in Auradon officially. And he's at the age where he's set the general base of his personality. Conniving father's influence and all as you've succinctly put," where she had avoided letting her mother rant, the younger Goddess felt her own bubble up. Years of discontent, of dismissed dissent no longer willing to be held back in the face of her husband and now her son being insulted. "I did not trust you, any of you, to not take Hadie from me if I brought him back and forth between Olympus and the Isle. To never let him meet or see his father, his sister…Don't deny it! You had pestered me all my pregnancy in the hope I'd give birth here! You knew I would give birth at the turn of the season, and that would leave me unable to bond with Hadie! You had good reasons to keep me off Olympus growing up, and I have the same reservations now! The Isle is a horrible place, and you never listened to me whenever I brought it up, so I will not allow you to continue to bash Hades in front of my son when he looks up so much to his father. A God who has done nothing to manipulate our children. He has been a good father, protecting them, making sure they were fed and happy despite the surrounding conditions."

Just as her son had before, Persephone took a shuddering breath and turned away from her mother.

"You can either accept that my husband is capable of love, that I love him, that our children love him, or you can kiss goodbye any chances of forming a bond with your grandchildren and resign yourself to having only a seasonal working relationship with me, because as soon as Spring is done, I will be gone to take care of my council and foreign duties only."

"We made a deal, Persephone!"

"A deal that requires me to return for Spring to help you begin the seasons once more! Not stay beside you until I must leave again! You never needed me for Summer, you just want me shackled to you! But. That. Is. Not. Our. Agreement!"

Persephone dug her heel into the dirt and whirled around, striding towards her son and forcing the nymphs to scatter.

"Come along, Hadie," she said softly, her son's face wide-eyed and exposing that her voice might've gotten too loud when lashing out her mother. "Let's go get dinner elsewhere."

Hadie quickly latched onto her hand, waving a goodbye to his two nymph companions, but gave no look in his forlorn grandmother's direction as leaves and flowers swirled.

He'd have to return in a little more than a week, but in the meantime, Persephone would make sure her son could breathe easily knowing that she would stand firmly with him against her mother.


Big.

The first thought to pop into Hadie's head at the sight of Charmington Castle…was 'big'.

It was also very pretty. Built of white stone and shining red roofed tiles, the castle practically radiated sparkling magic in the sunlight, gold accenting the enormous towers. On either side of the leading road were rows of cypress trees and meticulously placed flowers. The hillside was included within the giant fenced property, belying to just how expansive the Royal land was even compared to the school that made up Auradon's education despite having been the High King's original home.

Very big.

"Prince Hadie?" A tall, thin and stern looking woman appeared at the top of the steps leading to the castle, her hair in various shades of grey. "Welcome to Charmington castle."

She sniffed, a haughty look on her face as she peered down at him.

Hadie forced his face into something carefully neutral. 'Someone has a stick up their a—"

"You must be Hadie!" A blonde woman in a simple, blush colored dress came down from further up the steps. "Oh, I've heard so much about you! I simply had to welcome you myself when I heard someone new was arriving!"

"Queen Ella, shouldn't you be finishing preparations?!"

"Oh, it's quite alright, Prudence," said the woman Hadie now realized must be Alexandria's mother. "I've only opened the Spring Festival for the last twenty-two years! I have plenty of time to welcome a special guest personally."

"V-very well your Majesty," the older woman curtsied before hastening away.

"Best you stick with me, Hadie, one can get awfully lost in this place if they have no knowledge of this castle," Ella guided the Godling by the shoulder up the seemingly never-ending number of steps. "And don't mind Prudence, she's not as severe as she looks. Or at least she tries."

"It's alright…And no kidding, this place is…ginormous!" Hadie ogled at the expanse of white marble. White. And gold. That's all that seemed to be anywhere with touches of color in the curtains or the obscene number of paintings.

"Why is everything so big? Even the paintings are insanely large!"

"I asked the same thing when I first began living in the castle," laughed Ella as they entered yet another hallway.

"Did I say that out loud?" Hadie blushed.

"Well, it's not like you're wrong," she mused. "Now, you're the first of the children to arrive and I do actually need to get back to preparations, unless you feel like following little old me in the meantime while I check on everything?"

"I hardly think you're old, Lady Ella," said Hadie, giving the Queen a bewildered glance. "At the very least, you certainly don't look it."

"Oh, thank you, that's very kind of you to say," Ella giggled before pointing towards Hadie's watch and handing him a small golden bell. "Now, I'm going to give you this bell. Prudence will have told everyone you've arrived, and, well, your hair alone has you recognizable, so no need to be worried about anyone thinking you don't belong. Keep an eye on the time, and if someone doesn't fetch you for where Alexandria plans to host you, just give that bell a ring and a servant will come running. Feel free to explore, there are servants everywhere so don't worry about getting too lost, even outside on the grounds is fine. I have to be off now, but it was lovely to meet you, Hadie!"

Hadie stared at where his friend's mother had been standing moments before, not even a cloud of dust to denote her whirlwind departure.

"Time to get lost, I suppose?" Hadie shoved the bell into his inner coat pocket, shrugging off the impending confusion, his voice echoing around the hall. There was no response, even though, as Queen Ella had said, a line of footmen stood at attention near a large window, sunlight flooding in like a beacon in the long, dark halls.

If it weren't for the different giant paintings, Hadie would've thought he had been circling the same halls for the last hour as they were the only changing décor. Eventually, he ended up in yet another foyer, but this time one that seemed to lead into the back gardens.

Standing atop the steps, Hadie squinted out at the expansive maze of hedges, trees and flowers. Small buildings were scattered about with a large flat field beyond even that before it transitioned back to the iron wrought fences that guarded the castle.

Once again. Big.

"Oh. It's you."

Hadie turned away from the colorful view and towards the voice. Chad Charming stood before him, an odd assortment of leather items weighing down his shoulder, clothes odder than Hadie had ever seen on the prince, even compared to the older boy's normal wear.

"Prince Chad," Hadie kept his tone polite, nodding slightly. He didn't think he needed to bow, but considering he was in the fellow Prince's own home, he at least owed that courtesy.

"Prince Hadie," Chad sighed. "Alex was supposed to meet you, wasn't she?"

"Right, but your mother said she was still out, and set me to wander the halls until a servant notified me of Alex's return."

"I know your close friends now, but Alex has stated a dislike of anyone not family using her nickname."

"She hasn't said anything to me," Hadie shrugged, face truly nonplussed. He didn't mean to offend her if that was true, but apart from when they first met, his friend hadn't confronted him about using Alex rather than Alexandria.

"Hm," Chad examined Hadie from the corner of his eye, nose slightly upturned. "Well, whatever then. They should be back in an hour according to the text Alex sent me, she asked me to pass on her apologies. And the other kids are usually late, considering they don't exactly have a parent to teleport them to their friend's place."

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Hadie glared at Chad as the boy moved closer, standing alongside him at the top of the stairs to the gardens. "No offense, but you've passed on Alex's apology, and you seem to have a problem with me, so I wonder why you haven't gone off to wherever you seem to have prepared to go off to."

"I don't…have a problem with you," Chad gritted through his teeth.

"My sister then."

"Hardly," scoffed Chad. "She makes Ben happy, and…and it gave me a chance with Audrey—"

Even with strained ears, Hadie couldn't make out the rest of Chad's mumbles, an odd, confused look coming over the Charmington Prince's face.

"What are you going out for?" Hadie interrupted Chad's growing confusion, changing the subject to something with clearer focus.

"Huh?" Chad looked around in surprise, as if a cloud had suddenly disappeared from his eyes. He peered at the leather straps in his hand. "I-I was going to go out riding, it's one of my favorite things to do when I come home."

"Riding?" Hadie wondered aloud. 'Riding what? I've never seen anything like the gear he has.'

"Yeah, horseback!" Chad exclaimed as he began his trek down the stairs. "We've got some decent sized stables, though we only have personal horses now since horse-drawn carriages and using them for farming are kinda obsolete."

"Oh yeah, I got to see my first horses at my grandmother's the other day!" Hadie smiled, not realizing he was trailing after Chad. "Grandmother doesn't really like the idea of technology on her land, so it's mostly oxen drawn to till while horses are for transportation or local supply movement."

"Wait, you've only just seen a horse?" Chad paused. "Did you get to ride them?"

"Huh? No, I was only around for a tour and meeting Grandmother, didn't do much else."

"Y'know what? You're missing out," Chad grabbed Hadie by the arm and started dragging the Godling along. "C'mon."

"Wait, what are we doing?" Hadie yelped in surprise.

"I'm going to teach you to ride a horse!" Chad crowed, as a skip in his step. "We've got maybe an hour, plenty of time to get the basics covered!"

"But—wait, I've never—is it safe?"

"I know all our horses' temperaments; I promise you'll be safe!"

Hadie could only hope it would end well. Or that Alex would appear in time to save him from her brother's sudden crack in mentality.


"Okay, now the particular way I've trained Arthur is different than standard, so keep that in mind," Chad instructed sternly as he led his horse across an enclosed track. Hadie sat nervously in the saddle, only slightly assured by Chad declaring he would never let go of the reins. This time.

Depending on how it went, Hadie wasn't sure he'd like to get on a horse again. At least not without someone he trusted more than Chad of all people.

With a couple clicks of his tongue, Hadie squeezed his legs as firmly as he could, hoping Arthur would feel the motion, to direct the horse into walking forward. He palmed the horn of the saddle, hands slightly sweating from a mix of nerves and Spring heat. With a slight lurch, Hadie breathed a sigh of relief as Arthur slowly moved forward, partially guided by the reins in Chad's hand.

"There you go," Chad encouraged, surprising Hadie with a smile. "Now if you wanted to go faster, we'd move up to a trot, in which I'd lean forward a tad and lash the reins a tad, but since I'm holding onto them, I can just pull and jog aside you."

"H-how fast is a trot?"

"Not too much faster, promise. You wouldn't be even near ready for say a canter or a full gallop, I wouldn't dare put you through that."

"L-let me just get used to sitting in this thing first, it's, uh, not very comfortable."

"Oh yeah, you're not exactly wearing riding gear," Chad covered a laugh with his free hand. "I should've grabbed you a different saddle, sorry."

"I didn't expect so much to go into this anyways, all part of the learning experience," Hadie winced as he bounced on his seat, even at the slow pace.

"I thought the Gods were into traditional riding and everything."

"There are no horses on the Isle as far as I'm aware," Hadie snarked.

"Right, touchy subject what with…everything, sorry," Chad winced at his forgetfulness, well aware that animals were most likely eaten to ensure survival within the prison thanks to Audrey's grandmother. "Ready for that trot?"

"Why not?" Hadie shrugged, clicking his tongue thrice more, sliding further back into the saddle as Arthur lurched forward, Chad now jogging to keep along the stride.

"There you go!" Chad cheered, his years of Tourney and R.O.A.R. allowing him to easily keep up. "How are you feeling?"

"N-not too bad," Hadie winced once again as he landed roughly in his seat with every bounce. He tried to slide back a bit more, but the reach was too far for him to settle all the way without breaking Chad's number one rule for this ride.

Don't let go of the horn.

"Hadie can handle going faster than that!"

A flash of gold swept past Hadie's vision, signaling the arrival of Alexandria on her own horse, with a mane a similar color to its rider. The princess was only partially swung over her own saddle, clad in one of her usual blue dresses.

'Side-saddle,' Hadie recalled Chad's words from the start of their impromptu lesson.

"How was shopping?" Hadie asked dryly.

"Wonderful, thank you for asking," Alexandria laughed. "Now come on, take Arthur for a real ride! He's the second most mild mannered after mom's horse, but he's certainly the fastest of our lot!"

"Now hold on, Alex," frowned Chad. "It's Hadie's first time, and I'm not about to risk him getting injured, you remember our lessons, don't you?"

"Right, right," pouted Alex. "Slow and steady, but that's boring!"

Hadie grinned at the inflection in Alexandria's voice, well aware it was a rewording of his personal catchphrase lamenting his boredom. This time he'd rather be safe than sorry though.

"I think I'm with Chad on this one, Lex, maybe next time."

Alexandria pulled back at her reins, her horse turning in tandem, sticking her tongue out at her guest.

"Wow, such a gracious host," Hadie laughed, using Chad's help to dismount.

"Well, I don't recall giving you permission to call me Lex," Alexandria teased back, trotting by, the tail of her horse flicking the back of Hadie's head.

"Hey!"


Hadie sat nervously with Evan and Phillip Jr sat on either side of him. Across him sat Neal, shaking his head in amusement as Alexandria, Melody and Ashaki wriggled their nose at an odd pot placed near them of an ugly purple color.

"I hope you don't mind stewed prunes for dessert," King Kit smirked. "It's tradition when we welcome a new, fellow royal."

"Since when?!" The four Charming siblings shouted in disgust, glaring at the offending pot of sweet and sour fumes.

Not long after Hadie's impromptu lesson from Chad, the other under 15 years of age royals had arrived to enjoy the day together. Energy burnt from exploring the expansive halls in the extensive game of Hide n Seek. Though it was more like Search and Rescue from how lost everyone would get, Alexandria easily winning as she had grown up in the castle.

Now, they all sat happily munching away at dinner, desperate to replenish some fuel. Though Hadie did have to keep reminding himself to use the manners he learned from Basic Chivalry in the hopes he wouldn't offend his hosts. Granted, Alexandria had told him her own mother came in not knowing the finer details of decadent eating, but he didn't think Lady Ella ever had to worry about appearing like she devoured things like a rapid dog.

No one was touching their plates anymore though, all put off at the thought that Prune Stew might really be for dessert.

And the smell.

"Oh, we just thought it'd be nice to bring back some traditions," Kit added. "T'was my father's favorite dessert, and I decided to bring it back now that you're all home for break, and we're having all of Alexandria's friends over for once, and welcoming a new Royal to Auradon to boot!

"Excuse us for not being able to make every invite!" whimpered Evan, still staring at the bubbling purple pot.

"I don't know if I'd want to come if this is what celebrated guests are welcomed with," joked Melody.

"I don't know if I'd want to come if this is what I'm welcomed home with," pouted Alexandria.

"Oh, now you're all just being dramatic," Ella sighed with a wave of her hand towards a servant as even her elder children pushed their plates away in disgust. "You know we're just teasing you all."

'If you lived how I did, you'd eat it anyways,' Hadie grimaced internally, happy he was fed with real food beforehand than having to suffer whatever atrocity the stew was.

"Well, I thought it was funny, dear," Kit teased, setting his dinner plate to the side as a small crystal glass of vanilla ice cream was set before him. "Free for all on toppings, by the way, kiddos!"

"Oooh, apple crumb and diced, spiced apple bites!" drooled Neal, making essentially an apple pie of his ice cream, the slightly cooked spiced apple cubes melting the ice cream as the prince piled them on.

"You really are addicted to apples, aren't you, Neal?" Lucy grinned as she drizzled chocolate syrup over her own cup.

"Must've inherited all the taste for them from Emma, since she's allergic," Kitty teased as well.

"I confess to nothing," Neal said, licking his spoon from extra apple compote. "I will however extend my thanks now that I have the opportunity for the apple cider that Hadie sent me recently."

"Cider?" Hadie asked. "I didn't send any cider."

"From Lady Demeter's farms? We opened the crate when we got back, and it was just like, 10 jugs of apple cider!"

"And you didn't bring any to share?" yelped Ashaki. "A single container of those is like $75!"

"Ah, well, I just asked if I could send one of the crates in the apple orchard to you as a thanks for your help with my guitar," Hadie shrugged, turning somewhat pink. "I didn't check or think it was anything other than plain, ol' apples."

"Plain, old apples, the Godling says," snorted Phil Jr.

"Well, I'll keep it in mind next time I visit," Hadie said noncommittedly. He'd already explained to his friends that the meeting hadn't gone great, but that he would have to go one more time before end of break, but he wasn't about to trust the nearby servants, nor how gossipy Kitty and Lucy could be.

The only complaints for the rest of the afternoon were from Alexandria as Evan hogged most of the sugar sprinkles.

"Hey, Lord Kit said free for all!"


"Sounds like Mali owes you $50, huh?"

Uma smirked at her best friend and cousin, Mal pouting as she ruffled through her wallet for the money she owed Hadie. The Isle cousins were rallying to meet up with their Auradon equals to visit one of the private family compounds as a late get together since they couldn't all get together for Uma's birthday the other day. From what Hadie had heard, Melody's mother had originally offered another yacht, but for some reason Uma had declined after some hushed whispers between her and Mal.

"I still can't believe she started ranting about dad almost the moment she got you alone," lamented Mal as she handed her smug brother the money. "Seriously, you'd think a Goddess that's been around so long would know to have some tact."

"Just from the little bit I experienced, I think she's just used to getting her way," Hadie scoffed, tucking his earnings away. "Not whiny liking the Banshee, but even mom barely said no to her. Except when it came to us and dad, of course."

"Gods, and to think we have to meet more of them this summer," Uma grimaced.

"Don't remind meeeeee," Mal whined as she threw herself onto her bed, the sheets wrinkling under the fall. "It's bad enough Elle mentioned there's a chance we'll run into the other gods just on this trip. Even if Macaria did put in a request so that we could have the family beach property alone for the day."

"Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble of hope on that, Mal," Macaria spoke as she held the door open for Elle. "While most of the gods will follow grandfather's announcement he made for us, they're not outright banned for the day."

Mal groaned again, dropping her head into her pillow. "When do we go?" the muffled question came.

"In a bit," Hadie said. "Herkie said he'd contact myself and Macaria when his dad said it's okay to come over. I assume you guys were using the link too, considering they entered without you having to say anything." Hadie waved a hello to his older Auradonian cousins.

"Right," Macaria nodded. "Herkie is already back home, since Hyllus is off with some friends checking out colleges since he graduates at the end of this year. So, he'll let one of us know when we're good to head to the teleportation room. Dad's place is cleared for international travel, so we'll head there first, grab Herkie and some beach supplies and off we can go!"

"And Melody?" Hadie asked, curious as to where the final member of their little group had gotten off to.

"At home with mom," Elle spoke softly. "She's still grounded till her birthday comes back around, but mom will have her teleported in when I send word we're all at the beach."

Hadie breathed a sigh of relief. Not just because his other favorite cousin would be there, close to his age at least, but because Melody would need to be teleported by someone else as well. Granted there wasn't a lot of time for teleportation lessons in the already very packed Spring Break, but seeing Mal and Uma already get it down, as well as Herkie, had reminded Hadie of the time he had trouble learning how to use telepathy when he was just shy of six.

'Herkie is also almost an entire two years older than me,' Hadie tried to remind himself. 'I'll learn it in time just as I did before, with practice. We were just more limited this time. Melody is in the same boat, considering she didn't even know she had magic until recently.'

Ayo ayo, boop boop skidoo!

Hadie closed his eyes in exasperation.

Am I to take that as Beach Operation Olympian Party is a go, Herkie?

BOOP is indeed a go!

"Herkie says we're good to go," Hadie said dryly, interrupting the girl talk he had luckily tuned out in his sulky thoughts.

"Is that what the random 'boop boop' thoughts I was getting from my brother were?"

"Apparently so."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" smiled Elle, turning her chair around to head towards the door. "Just like the ocean, time to rock and roll!"

Within a few minutes, the party of five entered the teleportation room. With the help of Macaria, they all disappeared in a flash of clouds and lightning to the humble abode of Greece's greatest hero.

"Look out!"

Uma grabbed the back of Elle's chair at the sound of Hercules' voice and immediately sped out of the way, Macaria herself realizing she forgot to share rather important information as she got out of the way herself which left Mal and Hadie behind in confusion.

"Thanks Uma," Elle squeaked as the chair halted at the bottom of the hill. "I had expected Macaria to grab me like she normally does."

"I wasn't about to leave you defenseless—what normally? What was that giant thing?!" Uma shaded her eyes with a hand, looking back up to the hill they had teleported onto. It didn't do much to help her make out the details on the enormous black mass towering over…

"Mal! Hadie!"

"It's alright," Herkie and his father jogged up to them, slightly breathless. "That's just Kerberos."

"Ker—Uncle Hades' dog?!"

"Yeah," Hercules awkwardly laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "I took him in when father began tampering with the Underworld to try and move it to the Isle. I'm glad I did because last I heard, Nyx chewed him out for attempting to tamper with the Will of the Primordial."

"Wish I could've been around to see that," Uma smirked, though she still kept her eyes on her Chthonic cousins. Just in case.

The enormous Cerberus had leaned down, as low as his towering height would allow, wagging his tail in the air as each giant head crowded around the visitors of his main interest to attempt to snuffle their scent into his memories.

"W-what's he doing?" asked Hadie nervously as Cerberus began to make odd chuffing noises.

"I'm…not actually sure, he's never acted like this with anyone else before," Herkie said, looking at his dad in concern. "That I know of anyways?"

"What's up, boys?" Hercules carefully stepped forward, placing himself between the giant dog and the children of Hades. "They're just some new friends, okay? What's with the noises?"

Cerberus pulled back a tad, two out of his three heads whining at being blocked by their caretaker. The last head wasn't having it and used his giant size to butt Hercules to the side and boofed as if upset.

"Woah, come on Cerb!" exclaimed Hercules, attempting to interfere again only to be gently pinned down by a paw.

"Dad!" Herkie rushed over, lightly placing a hand on Cerberus' paw, neither demigod willing to use force with the dog just yet. "Give us a sec, kids, just, don't make any sudden movements until we figure out why—"

"N-no, it's fine!" Mal's laughter brought back her cousins' attention, the family finding the children of Hades covered in drool as they were given a plethora of doggy kisses by the Underworld Guardian. After their moment of shock, the giant paw moved away from Hercules, Cerberus using a precise and delicate motion one wouldn't expect of his stature to lift Hadie, Herkie and Mal into the air with the mouth of a head each, and onto his back before trotting off towards the sprawling, open fields.

"Wait up!" Hercules shouted, just missing the grab on the wagging tail, the giant dog disappearing down the hillside. Uma followed with Elle and Macaria down the hill and towards the house shaded by trees nearby as they watched the rampart, giant dogs. After jogging to the edge, Hercules looked down the cliffside where dog and boys frolicked. Wrapping an arm around Megara's waist as she approached, they chuckled together at the sight.

"Looks like Cerberus recognized his master's scent in his son," Megara mused as a loud squawk of indignation echoed across the countryside as the boys were covered in slobber.

"I don't think I've seen him that excited in a long time," Hercules replied. "We'll have to have Hadie over more often. I'll talk to Aunt Persephone once school is out for the Summer."

The demigod blinked and tensed. Turning to his wife, he found Megara chewing slightly on her lip, eyes downcast.

"Th-that is…if it's alright with you, Meg?" Hercules took her hands into his.

"He's just a child, Herc," Meg laughed softly. "And he and Herkie obviously adore each other. I won't stand between that."

"Summer it is."

"I'll put in an order for extra fire extinguishers," Meg smirked.

"Or," Hercules thought aloud to himself. "I'm sure a certain daughter of Ariel might not want to be left out."

"Now you might as well just invite Eris into our home too," Meg spoke dryly.

"…I might ask Mulan for advice on new prayer techniques…just in case our family's isn't enough."


Mal relaxed in the sand as she watched Uma and Elle get along as they splashed each other in the ocean waves. The younger group was further up the beach, playing in the shallowest part of the beach where rocks created a natural barrier against any real tides. It was still hard to believe that there truly could be unification between not only their fractured family, but also the entire concept of villain kids and goody Auradon kids. Even if there weren't too many things in common for all the Godling cousins, they were family and that was what mattered.

She was tempted to join everyone in the ocean for once, especially since it turned out the overall area was more of an inlet in the shape of a not quite closed circle, so she didn't need to worry about the tide pulling her out. Not that Mal would need to with Uma, and now Elle, around.

Ariel had even offered to teach her how to swim, which only served to make Mal feel a little worse than she already did. Especially since the young woman had been the reason Uma turned down the sailboat that the mermaid had originally suggested to have a small party for Uma's first birthday off the Isle. Then there was the little snag of being responsible for Hadie while Spring was still processing. There was no way Mal felt she could help Hadie learn, let alone see her nerves if she had to learn beside him. She felt bad about possibly leaving her brother on his own to learn, but with how well protected he would be if he ever decided to learn, he at least wouldn't have the added fear of drowning already ingrained in him.

'But overcoming that particular fear may be one of the biggest personal challenges I'll have to face in life,' Mal grimaced internally, giving one of her fake smiles to Macaria as the girl brought a small holder of ice cream from the lone food service shack on the beach. Thankfully it was ran by some nereids, who knew to leave them alone, even if Mal knew they would be gossipy to every nymph and Olympian within earshot the moment the Godlings were gone.

"You know we won't let anything happen to you, right?"

Mal looked up, startled by the sudden cast of shadow as Uma stood over her, having been distracted as she accepted a strawberry cone from Macaria. Elle sat on the edge of the waves, the shimmer of the aquamarine scales on her tail catching the light as the water glittered, already nursing a cone of chocolate chip.

"I know," she replied softly. "I'm just not ready."

"Hey, it's okay," Elle smiled, fins flexing to prevent her from sliding with the tide. "We'll still be here when you are ready."

"I don't know if I'll ever be," Mal whispered, hesitating. While she had grown to like her Auradon cousins, she still wasn't quite there in comfort to tell them more about the Isle.

'But Freddy is on the loose now…maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a few more allies in the know?'

"Elle…Macaria…In light of recent events, there's something you should know…"

Uma dropped their beach ball in surprise.

"Mal, are you really going to—?"

"Uma, better safe than sorry," Mal shook her head. "Look, I'm not just 'scared' of the water just because I don't know how to swim. If it weren't for Uma, mom, you guys…basically everyone I've grown to trust…if it weren't for the fact that Ben demanded to be the one to confront Freddy, I'm not sure how that fight would've gone…if he hadn't gotten hurt, I don't think I would've turned into a dragon to be able to take that fanatic out so easily."

Macaria settled quietly into the warm sand between Elle and Mal, letting the cool water flick at her feet as they all let Mal ramble. Being the most stubborn of them, it was hard to get Mal to open up in the best of times, leaving it best to let her try to speak her thoughts allowed and get them together so that those she finally opened up to could understand at last.

Comforted by warm sunlight and sweet ice cream, Mal explained all that she knew about Freddy from when she was on the Isle. From what he'd been up to while they were off the Isle.

Flings. Murder, attempted or otherwise.

Nearly drowning.

In the young women's focus, they failed to notice the younger portion of their family wandering from the tide pools and into the trickling river further up the beach.

The river that led up the bluff behind the Cycladic family villa into the trees and brush. Not that they would need worrying, as the Isle was exclusively accessed by the Olympians and the few nereids or nymphs they employed.

Except there had been one Immortal who hadn't been told not to interact with the Godlings. All she saw was a calendar clear of other Gods and an opportunity to see the latest generation.

"Hurry up, slowpokes!"

"Are we even allowed up there?"

Melody laughed at Herkie's question as a breeze swept through her hair, the cascade of black having fallen free of its ribbon.

"What happened to your sense of adventure, Herk?" she shouted as Hadie helped her climbed over a wall of boulders.

"Yeah, weren't you the one who said we should check if there's anything on top of the bluff?" Hadie added.

"I just mentioned that I thought I saw something up there when dad took me on Pegasus once," Herkie huffed as he threw a leg over the wall, careful to not cut his bare knees on the rocks. "I didn't mean to imply we should zoom off and explore. What if our sisters can't find us!"

"Eh, that's what telepathy is for, isn't it?" shrugged Hadie as they looked around.

The Isle didn't seem to have much in the way of trees, just the occasional copse. Tall grass and rocky flowers were the most prominent feature now that they'd put the beach behind them, with only the gurgling river still guiding them.

"So, what did you say you remember seeing?

"Camper van."

"Okay, this whole place is super beautiful and you thought it'd be cool to see if a camper van was up here?!"

"Wow, hold up, I just said I thought I saw one once, not that we should come up here," Herkie tried to explain again, though he knew that his cousins were just messing with him. "Besides, I tried to look for it again next time we flew over and I haven't seen it since."

"Ah, so you were just seeing things?" Hadie teased.

"I…don't think he was," Melody wondered quietly. The boys stepped through the thrush to find what Melody took pause at.

There, hidden in the shade of some ash trees sat a giant RV. A lioness reclined with a bowl of water before the door.

Staring at them.

"Uh…hi?" Melody gave the lioness a little wave.

"Melody!" Hadie and Herkie whispered harshly.

"Are you serious? Gods or not, I'm not about to trust some random person's familiar," Herkie whined. "Screw adventure, how about some self-preservation!"

"I'm with Herk, we don't know who this is," Hadie pointed out. "The open agreement was to not interact with us at the beach. We've wandered away from that now."

A loud chuffing sound pulled them from their argument, the trio realizing they'd gotten a little loud. The lioness had stood, stretching as she made an odd rhythmic rumble as if she was laughing. She went up to the door of the RV and began to headbutt and paw against it. Within a few seconds, the door opened.

"What is it, Xari?"

A Goddess stepped down from the RV, so tall that she had to bend down before exiting. The lion turned to glance at the trio before she slinked back down into the grace, something akin to amusement in the animal's eyes.

There was but a brief pause before she strode towards the Godlings. Though she had a strict and guarded air about her, there was something oddly…free in her movements. Hadie couldn't help but look up in awe at the power she exuded, her lack of full wariness probably because she was a full God versus their budding experience. It might've only been due to his Isle background that he stood his ground while Herkie and Melody moved to shy away.

'She's clearly one of the family,' Hadie thought, tensing at being alone with an unknown entity. 'But she seems older than Zeus, so minor Goddess or not for these days, she must be powerful. And she might even be taller than him!'

Multi-colored hair of blues, greens and purples were pulled back in a high cascading bun, a shock of white splitting right down the middle from her widow's peak. The afternoon sun behind her seemed to create a halo that made it difficult to focus on much else of her features.

His eyes focused again when one of her hands, cladded in a variety of rings, gently cupped his face. The well-manicured hand moved to hold his chin, forcing his eyes to look straight into hers. He stiffened as he stared into dark pools of cyan. It felt as he was a misbehaving child being sternly looked over by a grandmother. 'A modern, fashion-forward grandma, it seems,' wondered Hadie, as he took in her tailored suit with a lapel that seemed to fade into a cape, clasped by…

His eyes widened.

"You each remind me so much of each of my sons," the woman laughed after their moment of silence. The way she did so took the trio by surprised. Instead of a light, graceful motion, the woman threw her head back, hair tossed to the wind and smiled at the sky. Hadie couldn't help the feeling of awe that came over him, of honor, as if laughter wasn't something she gave so freely.

"Here, little ones," her first hand moving from Hadie's face and towards Melody's bring the girl forward to meet her eyes, she lowered her free hand and pulled something out of a pocket, pressing the first item into the great grand-daughter of Poseidon's hand, though it hung limply at her side. She repeated the motion, handing something to Hadie and Herkie in turn.

'Beads? That's what it feels like.'

"May we meet again one day, Godlings."

Hadie's jaw dropped slightly open as the woman took her hand away and with a snap of her fingers, RV and Xari in tow, disappeared in a swirl of flowers and stars.

"There you are guys are, we've been looking for you everywhere!" Mal sprinted through the brush, sand kicking up behind her. "We've been so worried, you shouldn't wander alone, you know. Come on, it's almost dinner time."

Mal looked her cousins over, concerned as even her little brother simply stood there, staring into the distance.

Found the wayward kiddies, Mal sent through her link to Uma, Elle and Macaria. Up the river to the top of the bluff.

No way I'm getting up there, Elle replied. I'll meet you guys at the bottom.

"You all look like you've seen a ghost," Mal poked Hadie in the shoulder before she began to tug on his shirt. "Bro, are you okay? You're making me nervous."

Shaking his head, Hadie grimaced and turned to Herkie. "It's nothing, just…this is private land you said, right? No one else should be able to be out here?"

"Yeah, only immediate family of members of Olympus can come out here," Macaria nodded as she jogged up, staring at Hadie with concern. "Why do you ask?"

Hadie turned to look at where the woman had once stood, his hands shaky as he shoved the gift into his pocket.

"Where did you get that?" Macaria's eyes immediately caught the movement. "Those things are ancient."

"You know what it is?" Melody replied, knowing her other cousins were not willing to answer yet. She had too many of her own questions, each of their thoughts tangled in a hurricane.

"Yeah, Trivia was going over some history crap, but I never really listen," Macaria rolled her eyes, though she watched as her own brother shoved a similar looking line of beads into the Velcro pocket of his swim trunks. "God can make the most interesting things absolutely boring with how he goes on. Anyways, that's a κομβολόι. It's…well I wouldn't really say toy, but they're to keep children from getting bored. A few different ways to play with them, but sometimes they have magical properties."

"Magical?" Hadie's hand slipped back into his pocket, rolling a few beads between his fingers.

"Supposedly," Macaria shrugged. "You just found them up here in the field? The Nymphs and Nereids are good about the lost and found system here and finding owners, but if no one is missing them…Well, we should get going anyways, it's almost dinnertime."

The three Godlings nodded, unsure if they should say they ran into anyone at all.

Let alone the mother of the Gods herself.

"I know this Isle is supposed to be safe, but please don't wander off like that without telling anyone," Mal frowned at her little brother.

Really Hadie, I thought mom, dad and I taught you better! We don't know who we can trust, even if this isn't the Isle of the Lost. You know the stories dad used to tell of how inept the other Gods were.

Hadie rolled his eyes at the back of Mal's head as she and Macaria led the way back down the river.

Honestly Mal, I think you're overreacting. You don't see Macaria saying anything. And don't say maybe she's using the mindlink too! You space out when you use it or you'd know she and Herkie are talking about things totally fine!

Alright, alright, I'll drop it.

Thank you! I get what with everything, but I really do feel like we'd be safe here. Just gotta watch the words in case of eavesdroppers, but no one is going to attack us. Especially with mom able to come in an instant these days.

True. Mal thought with a smile, closing the link.

'Besides, I literally just spilled my guts to our cousins as if I felt the freest I could possibly be, despite that possibility. So…I guess you might be right, lil bro. Not that I'd actually tell you that.'

"Wait, who's that?" Mal frowned as she dashed forward, concerned as she saw someone who was clearly a God towering in the waves before Uma and Elle.

"Wait, Mal!" Macaria shouted after the purple-haired Godling. "It's okay!"

"Nope, she's already off again," Melody chuckled, shaking her head.

"Mal is definitely used to 'react first' rather than ask questions kinda person," snickered Hadie as he jumped back down into the actual inlet, enjoying the feeling of the clear water and the soft sand beneath the waves.

"AHOY FAMILY!"

The God raised a hand and came further towards the land, his lower half still concealed by the water, causing Mal to pause on her dash. Uma and Elle swam back up from where they were apparently speaking to the God and stood next to Mal. Melody, still shaking her head, led the other half of their little family to the shoreline.

"Hey kiddos, hope I didn't startle y'all," the God grinned an oddly charming lopsided smile. His cropped, tangled mess of a beard, but lengthy mullet of hair had vibrant blues and teals with gold speckled eyes of darker blue. "I know Zeus said we should leave the Isle alone, but I figured it'd only be the best time to stop by knowing I could reach y'all!"

"And why would you, whoever you are, want to reach any of us at all?" Mal ordered suspiciously.

'And is it socially acceptable of me to order a God to put a shirt on? It's rare for anyone to not be wearing one on the Isle considering to ward of theft and the cold… Ben was probably being the first to deliberately have theirs off when it wasn't bath day… not that there's anything wrong with it, but, first merman I've met and shirtless strikes me as weirdly…nude.'

Mal shook her head of her further distracting thoughts, especially those of Ben. And the weird pop up of when Kitty had been going over a magazine showing off muscular dad bods like the God before them seemed to have.

"First birthday off Isle, I just had to come around to offer my grandbaby's gift in person!"

"Grand…baby?" Uma uttered, shocked.

"I figured on sight; you must be Uma! I'm your Grandpa Po-Po!"

"I…figured that as well," grumbled Uma, voice changing from shock to unimpressed and unenthused.

"And you could be none other than Mal and Hadie!" Poseidon continued on as if his granddaughter wasn't offended at all. "You both really are the spitting image of your parents!"

Mal tensed. As far as she was concerned, she had her dad's chin and nothing else. A carbon copy of Maleficent.

"Yes, honestly, chin might be your father's, but no one's jawline cuts sharper than Persephone's! Almost as sharp as either of their tongues! It seems to be the reverse on your little brother, though!" Poseidon joked as a jewel and shell embedded trident materialized in his hand.

"The trident? But I thought Grandfather Tri—" Melody began to murmur as she watched her Great Grandfather swirl the trident's tip in the water.

"Hm? That mock up I gave him when Triton took over Atlantica? Bah, that lad is so clumsy his mumsie and I agreed he could only handle a small portion of the oceans power, so I designated him to control trade hubs. Gods knows he'd never be able to act as full dignitary for the different Oceanic beings and pantheons! He's been no fun lately! Used to go off on adventures and do all sorts of stupid things when he was about your ages!"

As the Godlings took in that random bit of information in shock, something burst from the water, speeding along and rampart, too quick for their eyes to make out the details.

"My kids really shouldn't have expected me to fully retire, I've only been running things for about three hundred something years after all!" The God continued to monologue at what seemed to be the top of his lungs. It was beginning to put a pain in their necks looking up at him, and while he blocked out the sun, the green-blue glow of his aura was just as intense as the rest of him.

"Uh, Grandpa Po-Po, do you think you could come down from the tsunami so we don't have to keep looking up at you?" Elle asked, waving her hand slightly as she sat her tail back upon the sand, using Uma's help to not be pulled back by the magical waves.

"Hm? Oh, yes!" Within seconds a much shorter, normal sized Poseidon stepped from the waves, green scales shifting into cargo shorts clad legs, aura dimming to a slightly less intense light. "I let my excitement run away from me, I apologize, younglings."

His newly met family stared in surprise at the difference of the originally boisterous God turned calm.

'He truly is the embodiment of the seas,' Hadie thought to himself. 'Unrestrained, erratic in one second, calm and soothing in the next.'

"Come along now!" Poseidon waved his trident once more at the ocean, a tunnel of sorts swirling open. "While we wait for my gift for Uma to arrive, I suppose I should formally introduce myself as obvious as it has been. Poseidon, Lord of the Seas, all embodiments of water, earthquakes and horses. I represent the solely physical realms of the Cosmos. But as the other kiddies know, y'all niecies and nephews can call me Uncle Po-Po!"

He stared at them expectantly, finally silent.

"Uh…hi, Uncle Po-Po?" Hadie barely managed to squeak out.

"Atta boy, laddie!"

"Eee, Eee!"

From the swirling waves, a horse like creature appeared, braying and squeaking as it splashed excitedly. With bright orange eyes, skin of pale blue and dorsal fins nearly black, but shimmering dark turquoise in the sunlight, the animal beat its hooves into the water.

"There she be!" Poseidon shouted gleefully, waving hand and trident at his apparent gift. "You're free to name her and do as ye wish, but I must be off now! I'll let your Grannie Trite know I stopped by, but she'll be wanting to meet you herself one of these days! Ta!"

Glowing once more, he stepped into the tide and into the tunnel the animal came from, closing it behind him.

"I—huh—WHAT?!"

"BRRrreerrr!"

"Not helpful, thanks." Uma told the animal. "I can't believe Grandpa Po-Po left me a hippocampus. Like what, he got my wish list from like a decade ago?"

"That's Grandpa for you. Besides, ten years is nothing to him, he probably considers it recent," Elle said, shaking her head. "She's all yours now, no matter what. Mom hasn't been successfully in saying no or passing gifts on either. They're weirdly niche and no one would take a gift of the King to his family from said family in case of angering him."

"But where the heck am I supposed to keep a sea pony?" yelled Uma, still utterly flabbergasted as she kicked at the ocean water. "I doubt Fairy G is just going to let me keep her in the pool!"

"The chlorine wouldn't be good for her anyways," Melody chuckled as she went up the mythological seahorse and began to pet them. "I'm sure mom would be willing to add her to our stables for whenever you wish to use her. And you still haven't named her."

"…Titilayo," Uma said firmly. "Now can we go, before any other random gods have a chance to show up? I'm starving."

Mal smiled as they wandered back to the teleportation point. Uma clearly didn't want to share, but Mal remembered that day as they hung out in Uma's room back in the Underworld when they were maybe 11.

Uma's birthday was coming up. She unfortunately had to wait the longest for Persephone to get back to get her gifts. It had been unexpected the first time the Goddess had come back with gifts for each new kid that moved into the Underworld, but now, instead of only Mal and Hadie having birthdays to look forward to, Harry, Uma and Jay could finally say they had more than makeshift dregs to survive with.

Not that they would ever complain about doing what they could for each other, but brand-new things from Auradon? Even Princess Blueberry could never claim to be so spoiled.

Besides, Blueberry hadn't even had a giant birthday bash since the time she didn't invite Mal.

"Uma?" Mal called out into the clubhouse, where they had planned to meet after school. "You here already?"

'I would think so if only because Serpent's is closer than Dragon's,' Mal thought to herself as she entered the room, her cousin nowhere in sight. 'I get dad doesn't want me to be by myself after what happened to Hadie last year, but Jay has his quota to fill! If it weren't for trying to keep the villain image up for his dad and the Dragon, I'd say we'd be better off moving Jay with us permanently too…still, I'm capable of taking care of myself, the Rats have the Town covered after all.'

"Mal?"

Mal spun around to find Uma leaning against the doorframe.

"Uma! A-are you okay?"

"Just a bruise, I was just surprised to see you here first."

"Just a bruise, my ass, what happened?" Mal demanded as she pulled Uma onto the clubhouse bed, careful to avoid the shoulder Uma was clinging to.

"Just got jumped on the way to drop the crappy school stuff at my dad's," Uma huffed. "Luckily dad was already home and he got rid of the jerks pretty fast."

'His longer legs would get him across the Isle pretty fast,' Mal thought.

"Who were they?"

"It doesn't matter, Mal," Uma started.

"Yes, it does! We take care of each other, so don't be so stubborn, you know this!"

"I know, and you're one to talk about being stubborn," laughed Uma, though her voice seemed tired and emotionless. "I mean it doesn't matter because dad took. care. of. them."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

"At least CC decided she was going to meet with your brother at the Docks. I don't know how that would've gone if she had to see it too." Uma continued as she slumped back against the bed, sighing. "Shame Aunt Steph already left, she's always around for us after school to make sure we're safe coming back through town."

"Yeah…" Mal nodded into her arms as she wrapped them around her pulled up knees. "She's perfect at not being obvious, even if I am slightly jealous she talks to you instead of me until we get home."

"Let me enjoy my one moment with someone who actually acts like a mom," teased Uma. "At least I can trust her to be normal when she comes back with birthday gifts. Dad offered to use one of the ritual knives he smuggled to turn my attackers into minions, but noooo thank you!"

"Wait, that would work?" Mal wondered.

"Haven't you listened to anything your dad said about the Barrier Theories?" Uma laughed. "He goes off about it often enough. The Barrier works against forming magic, but imbued and innate work well enough. One time use though."

"Explains why Maleficent's staff doesn't work anymore, but Blueberry's mom and Yzma's family can still make potions."

"Right? I know I barely can keep up with what's being said for the science of things, but it's easy enough to know that certain things keep properties, mix, and stay innate altogether to work."

"Rule similar to mass, I guess?"

"If you say so," Uma shrugged, smirking. "Maybe we can learn for real one day, if we ever get off this Isle instead of having to worry about survival."

"Agreed. Which begs the question, what would you ask for if you had your birthday off Isle?"

Uma went silent for a good couple of minutes, thinking hard.

"I-I think…a sea pony."

"I…did not expect that."

"My dad asked something similar, and I remember mama mentioning them when we were little…I finally got to see what they were in one of Hadie's books."

"Let me guess, his Beginner's Guide to Mythological Creatures?"

"That's the one," laughed Uma before a slight blush tinted her cheeks. "I was helping Aunt Steph pick some stuff up during one of your…'appearance' days with Jay while she made lunch during Hadie's nap. Came across Hippocampi and, well, I just thought they looked pretty—pretty cool—a-and maybe, if I can't own one, I'd at least get to see one in person one day."

"If you did get your own, just like how I have Estelle, what would you name yours?"

"...Titilayo. Dad said it means happiness," Uma smiled sadly. "Because if I had to pick between a frivolous dream of having a sea pony, versus something full of hope that would help us thrive rather than have to survive…it would be freedom. Freedom would make me happier than anything in the world."

Mal smiled a bright, carefree and honest, smile at Uma as they headed back up the beach with the rest of their family slightly ahead. Freedom really had begun making itself known to those stuck on the Isle of the Lost. A chance at last for the kids who had suffered all their life.

"First step: freedom," Mal said softly, looping her arm through Uma's.

"Last step: happiness," smiled Uma.

It didn't matter how many steps in between, but they were far closer than they thought they would ever be.


"I don't want to go back!"

"Hadie, please, I know you don't want to, but we agreed on this!" Persephone thread her fingers into the braid she had been putting her hair into, turning to look at her son with pleading eyes.

"NO!" Hadie stomped his foot, well aware he was acting like a little brat, but he refused to be around his so-called grandmother for as long as she still spoke horribly about his dad. "I-will-NOT!"

He knew he shouldn't be yelling at his mother, but for whatever reason he couldn't understand, he couldn't get a hold of his emotions.

Instead, Hadie had been hoping that he could just head over to Evan's or Phil's and avoid the entire disaster that had been Demeter's farm. Everyone was supposed to meet up and head to Ashaki's in a couple of days too, for her birthday bash, which he was already stressed enough for as it were, considering it would be an official royal event, no matter how 'casual' his friends said it was going to be.

He didn't need the added stress of an overbearing, micromanaging Goddess hanging over him on top of it all.

"She's just going to be dissing dad again, I know it!" Hadie growled as he avoided his mother's eyes. He could tell he was stressing her out too, his mom having been worried about going back as well, but used to it after years of having to follow through with a Styx-sworn Oath. "It doesn't help that I can't even see him for at least a year, I don't want to have to be around someone who thinks so low of him!"

"I KNOW!"

Hadie stumbled back, landing on the bed, surprised by his mother's outburst. He shrunk down into the pillows and blanket at the rage on her face.

Persephone staggered, arms falling limp from the braid as she stood from her vanity and gently sat on the bed next to him, sighing.

"I know," a tear began to snake down her cheek. "You think I wouldn't? After decades of having to go back and forth? Of having to-to listen to her rant and rage about my choices? It doesn't matter what I say, it never did. She only cares about action."

The Goddess pulled Hadie into her arms, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled like that. I miss your dad too… my mom stresses me out too… but unfortunately that's the luck of the draw. She doesn't mind you being a child of Hades, because you're mine. Same for when she found out about Mal, all that matters is that I claimed her.

"For the first time since before your dad got sent to the Isle, I can come and go to him freely, but for you, you just need to be a little patient until you're healthy, okay? Anything that the Isle has done to your detriment, I want my little boy to be as healthy as he can be." Persephone finished, nuzzling Hadie's cheek, causing him to chuckle.

"I'm sorry I yelled too," Hadie sighed, cuddling into his mom. "That wasn't fair to you, and I should know better seeing as I've had to go half my life without you…"

"Well now I can be with you every step of the way," Persephone smiled, ruffling his hair. "I promise I'll try not to be a helicopter parent like my own mother was, but after missing so much you'll have to let me know if I'm getting close to that, 'kay?"

"I don't think it'll ever come to that, but okay," Hadie said, returning the smile.

"I'm sure I said the same thing to my own mom growing up, but trust me, you're going to hit the messy teenage years one day and you'll want to be able to go do whatever you want," Persephone teased, tapping Hadie's nose.

"Bah, well I can at least promise I'll try not to be, too, bratty teenager then," Hadie joked back before sighing. "Should I bring my backpack again, or…?"

"No, I think I'm going to keep you by my side this time," Persephone murmured. "I know the nymphs I assigned you did well, and that you got along with them, so they can trail as attendants again, but I figured you could see what exactly I do instead of feeling babysat all day. Or risk being alone with my mother again."

"Really? I'd love to see you work!" Hadie perked up, giving his mom a hug.

"Well, finish getting dressed, because we need to leave soon," Persephone smiled, patting his cheek. "And if you had let me finish before your little outburst, you would know that we aren't staying all day this time. Not even for lunch."

"No awkward small talk over food?" Hadie breathed a sigh of relief.

"No awkward small talk," Persephone laughed, letting go of Hadie and standing. "If you're a good Godling today, I'll let you pick what's for dinner."

"But what if…Grandmother…says things again?"

"I know it's hard, but I would appreciate it if you stay silent and let me handle it, I promise I won't let her say things as she has been about your father anymore."

"Alright, though I guess she missed that lesson you taught me before coming to Auradon," Hadie smirked as he headed to the living room where shoes were kept.

"What's that?"

"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!"


It had gone about as they had expected.

'But mom kept her promise,' Hadie thought as he nervously teleported alongside his mother a few days later into a vibrant, bustling town square.

"You're sure you have everything you need?" Persephone asked as she led Hadie through the cobbled roads and into a part of the old-style city with fancier buildings.

I'm sure, mom," Hadie said exasperatedly as he repeated himself for the twentieth time that day. "It's only for the night, I'll see you again at the party tomorrow."

"I know, I know, I just don't want you missing anything you might need," Persephone said as she kept a check on their surroundings. "It'll be your first sleepover! Not to mention a relatively public appearance amongst many royals tomorrow."

"I guess, but all of my friends have been saying it's going to be casual at Ashaki's birthday, I don't see what we need to be worried about," Hadie shrugged. "I've got the birthday gift, pajamas and toiletries for tonight, my semi-fancy clothes for tomorrow and considering I'm staying with Evan's family tonight, who, might I add, buy most things in bulk, if I forget something, they'll probably have it."

"I suppose, but if you need anything, you need only ask," tutted Persephone as they began up winding paths into the acropolis towards the castle of Corona.

"How about a phone?" Hadie chuckled, though his eagerness was entirely genuine.

"A phone? Why would you need a phone?" Persephone looked down at her son in confusion as they waited for some carriages and vehicles to pass. "We've got telepathy, after all."

"I can't use that with all my friends, only Herkie and Melody, for one. Being able to lookup stuff on the fly, sync my calendar on the go, even check homework rather than only seeing things when I get back to my laptop…I can go, y'know," Hadie joked.

"I'll think about it, but you at least have good reasons," Persephone said, shaking her head as they arrived at gleaming white steps of the marble palace. "Besides, depending on your end of year grades, your dad and I wanted to discuss increasing your allowance. You forget I can see your account, since we pay for you instead of having you and Uma on the VK sponsorships. The only reason Jay and Harry aren't, is because we'd have to get their father's permission."

"Oh boy, I'd pay to see dad confront Jafar or Hook, again," Hadie snickered. He might've been only three, but while he didn't know the cause, he could remember Harry pretty much moving in with them after Hook had broken the now surrogate son of Hades' ribs. "Isn't that why Dad has other people pick up the fish shipments for years now? So, he doesn't punch Hook on site?"

"I refuse to confirm or deny," Persephone said as she pursed her lips, shaking her head before straightening herself as they neared a pair of guards on either side of the large entryway, casts iron pans tied to each belt.

"State your name and business," the guard on the right demanded, an extra ribbon denoting him as higher rank than his compatriot.

"Queen Persephone," the Goddess said shortly. "I am here, escorting my son, Prince Hadie for the frivolities as invited by his friend, Prince Evan of Corona."

With a nod and half-bodied bow, the guard who had yet to speak slipped through the doors and returned not even a minute later with Queen Rapunzel.

"Lady Persephone!" The cheerful, green-eyed woman exclaimed. "So good to see you again, thank you for entrusting us with Hadie for the night!"

"We've known each other how many years now, Rapunzel?" Persephone sighed fondly. "I think I can trust you by now. Especially you out of all the other royals. You helped me make all the blankets for our family, and Hadie uses his every night. It was one of the first things he packed."

"Mooom!" whined Hadie, blushing with embarrassment till he realized it was his turn to speak to Queen Rapunzel. "Good afternoon, Lady Rapunzel, thank you for having me."

"Welcome, Prince Hadie!" the Queen gushed. "Aww, aren't you so cute and grown up now! I've only seen a few pictures of you, from your mom, not Evan, goodness my boy barely takes any, but it's nice to finally meet you, I've heard so much!"

"Oh, uh, thank you, Evan speaks fondly of you as well," Hadie's face began to clash with his hair, turning deep red with his dark blue hair. "And, thank you as well for the blanket, I didn't know you had a hand in it."

"Well enjoy your evening, but I need to take my leave," Persephone said, bowing her head slightly. "I'll see you all tomorrow for Princess Ashaki's party."

"Of course! I hope we can speak more then, Lady Persephone," Rapunzel smiled brightly. "I grant you permission to teleport should you need to do so within the boundaries of Corona's Capital City."

Giving her thanks, and a hug to Hadie, Persephone gave a final curtsy before disappearing in a shower of flower pedals.

"Come on in, Hadie, and thanks for getting me, Andrew, Dillard," Rapunzel said, waving to the pair of guards. "Don't forget to stay hydrated out here, you two!"

As Hadie followed Evan's mother into the halls, he couldn't help but admire the homier, warmer feel, the castle gave off than Alexandria's home. It certainly didn't have the same emptiness, with the warm, beige halls covered in paintings and tapestries.

"I'll be sticking back today, cooking and all, but Eugene says since it's your first time by, along with your cousin, you should get to meet the rest of our family friends over at the Snuggly Duckling!"

"R-right, I think Evan mentioned you guys frequent there…isn't it…a bar?"

"Yup!" Rapunzel said giddily. "But they're all just a bunch of softies and have tons of good stories, I'm sure you'll have tons of fun! I plan to go in a couple weeks myself to catch up with everyone."

"Hadie!"

The Godling in question grinned as he saw his friend Evan bolt down the hall.

"Evan! How've you been?"

"Pretty good, it's too bad you couldn't come with us the other day to the waterpark."

"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry, premade plans and all," Hadie shrugged, only a little sorry. He hadn't admitted to any of the others except Melody and Herkie that he hadn't learned to swim yet.

"Evan, why don't you take Hadie along with to find dad, you guys should probably get going soon before it gets dark."

"Okay, mom! C'ya! Come on, Hadie," Evan crowed, grabbing the Godling by the wrist.

"Until later, Lady Rapunzel," Hadie waved as he was dragged away.

"Hope all y'all have fun!"

The halls of the castle were easier to remember as Evan led Hadie down them, obvious decorative markers everywhere instead of the repetitive emptiness of Charmington Castle that only had occasional unique paintings.

"I hope you're ready for a good party, because my uncles at Snuggly Duckling are always fun," Evan babbled. "Phil, Neal and Herkie are already waiting actually. Dad likes to take the side entrance in order to sneak out without the general population spotting us. Some are still tetchy about dad's past and us all hanging around ruffians as some like to say."

"Considering I live on an Isle of 'ruffians', I think I'll be okay," Hadie laughed as he found himself greeting his other friends and cousin at a discrete looking buggy pulled by horses.

'King Eugene knows what he's doing,' Hadie thought, keeping his face from looking obviously impressed. 'I swear mom and I saw about thirty of these types of carriages just on our walk here alone.'

"Alright kiddies, climb aboard the H.M.S Flynn Rider and we'll be on our way till we gotta be back for din-din!"

Hadie tried not to stare as Evan's dad slid down the banister, his voice nearly sing song as he exclaimed their departure.

"I'm not sure whether to say your dad is cool, or weird…" Herkie mumbled to Evan as Hadie nodded along in agreement, their friends snickering around them, as Neal and Phil had already grown used to the King's antics over the years.

"Why not both?" Evan shrugged as he climbed into the carriage. "Though I wouldn't blame you if we leant to 'mostly weird'."

"Hey, I heard that!"

Luckily, Eugene's experience impressed the new visitors by only taking about twenty minutes or so to sneak out of the city and to a shady, extremely lopsided looking inn built upon the roots and partially into the trunk of a giant tree. Though Hadie wasn't looking forward to crossing the long, narrow bridge again to get back to the Capital City. Without Melody or Uma around, he couldn't help but feel nervous around a lot of water.

'But honestly calling this place a pub is a compliment. I've seen places on the Isle in better shape than this dingy hole."

"WELCOME!" Eugene bellowed, throwing open the creaky, rotten wood door with a bang. "TO THE SNUGGLY DUCKLING!"

"HEY!" A cacophony of deep, gravelly voices yelled back, mugs of whatever choice of drink raised in to the air.

"Oi, it's Rider!"

"Ah boo, who cares about him!" One drunk looking man spat, slumping across a table as he downed the rest of his beer.

"Nah, but he's brought Evan and the lad's friends again!"

"Really feeling the love here, guys, really," Eugene pouted, but he waved his charges into the pub.

"Hiya, everyone!" Evan scrambled up on to a bar stool, cheering alongside the pub patrons as they welcomed him in return. "You guys remember Neal and Phil, but today I'd like to introduce two new friends I made at school this year! Herkie and Hadie!"

"HOI!" Saluted the vagabonds, as they stomped and slammed things.

"Dad said we get to hang out until dinner time, we're having a sleepover at the castle tonight till we have to head to our friend's birthday party tomorrow. But they're having a girl's night, so I figured why not we have a boy's night!"

"Garçon, toss everyone a round, just no alcohol for the kiddies," Eugene asked the barkeep as he tossed a leg over a stool. "And no more than one soda for the lads, milk or juice is fine, but Blondie wants to keep the sugar down since they'll have plenty tomorrow."

"Aye, no problem, Eugene," the Innkeeper replied. "I know better than to serve minors alcohol, and I think Shorty is the only one ye need to be worried about sneaking them anything. Even if it'd just be by accident."

"Hadie, come over here," Evan shouted from across the bar, already deep within the crowded room, surrounded by various hulking masses. "Not everyone is here today, but meet Big Nose, Shorty, Killer, Gunther, Ulf, Atilla…"

'Yeah, I don't think I'm going to get all these names down today, Ev,' Hadie thought as he waved awkwardly alongside his cousin. 'Though some are quite literal.'

"Ah sweet, Atilla made cupcakes, you guys should try 'em!" Evan beamed as he dashed towards where the stalwart figure of the man introduced as Atilla was pulling out a tray of newly iced treats.

"Next time you're visiting us in Corona, you should stop by his shop in the city, Hadie," Evan said around his now stuffed mouth. "His bakery is top notch!"

Hadie carefully selected a chocolate cupcake with cherry frosting, peering into the holes of the helmet, unable to discern anything from Atilla's helmeted face.

"Thanks," Hadie offered.

He got a grunt back in return.

"D'you mind, lad?"

This time he found another guy, covered in pins and scissors, the one introduced with the name Killer, of all possible names.

"Sorry, what'd you need?"

"I just sees a tear in ye shoulder, can patch that up real quick if ye'd like," the tall, skinny man pointed at a small rip in the sleeve of Hadie's shirt.

'Must've got caught on one of the 'welcoming' spikes earlier,' Hadie thought, still slightly exasperated by the odd vibe of the entire place. Evan swung around in his stool.

"Oh yeah, Hadie, Killer is a tailor. Mom tends to go to him when she doesn't have time to repair our clothes herself," Evan gave Killer a smile and a wave before swinging his seat back around, happily chattering with the scarred barman who filled the young Prince a mug of milk from who knows where.

"Um, yeah, sure?" Hadie replied, though he was very much not sure, more worried about where that milk could safely have been stored that could possibly poison his friend than about a hundred dudes near him that looked like they belonged on the Isle offering to assist with mundane tasks and sharp instruments.

After growing up on the Isle, Hadie felt he could tell who were actually dangerous, and while these men certainly had the chops to be, they all clearly nice guys first, bad guys when needed. Though by the way King Eugene was rolling his eyes at one particularly tall, boastful tale, Hadie added 'liars' to the list of features, but table rounds tended to be stretched out truth. He'd had fun though, and when going to bed that night with a tummy full of Queen Rapunzel's dinner spread, the Godling had to agree with Ashaki's recommendation from a long time ago that it was a comforting place indeed.

And for a worn, crowded, rambunctious 'hole-in-the-wall' place, some might even say 'Snuggly'.


"Hey, we're here."

Hadie groaned as he was shaken awake. Blinking away his sleep, Hadie covered his eyes from the brightly glaring sun, hopping down from the covered wagon they'd been in.

'Certainly, brighter than even when I first got to Auradon,' came an angry, sleepy thought. 'I knew Agrabah was desert-riddled, but this heat is insane! Which would explain Emir. Not to mention why Mal likes visiting this place so much.'

"Here, kiddo," a blue-clad hand thrust a pair of sunglasses towards Hadie.

"Oh, thanks, uh—" Hadie trailed off as he took in the person who had handed him the item. It wasn't that their hand had been clad in blue, but the entirety of the being before him was blue themselves.

"I take it you're Genie."

"That I do be do, little guy!" the Genie swooped up before 'POOF', he took on the guise of a butler and began shuffling everyone through the city wall's gate and into a bustling market place.

"Come along, come along, no time to waste!"

"Tamr, tamr!"

"Batekh!"

"Spices!"

"Dresses! Cloth for sale!"

"Dinnerware! Furniture! Even this goat!"

"Hey, that's my goat!"

"It's in my shop!"

The bright colors, even muted by the dark lenses, were everywhere. The people, their clothes, the roughshod stalls, the various smells of spices, grilled vegetables, smoked meats...

It was exquisite. It was energy given form. It was exactly the personification of what Hadie had grown to know the royal children of the country to be.

"Great, isn't it?" Herkie asked as they were guided towards the inner walls where the towering domed palace lay in wait.

"It's amazing!" Hadie gasped. He was glad that the city was so crowded as to disallow large carriages, only the major roads allowing a straight line for caravans for official business. Today, though, as the city openly celebrated their princess' thirteenth birthday, for the guests it would be a casual, internal affair.

"I came here a few times a year even before we moved to Auradon," laughed Herkie, shaking his head slightly at his cousin's swiveling head. "There's something to be said about the energy of any agora that one can't help but enjoy, and the markets here might be the best."

"Ashaki did say that the economy of Agrabah is the strongest in the United States," Hadie mused. "I definitely need to come back and get a closer eye on it all, everything here looks so tempting."

"I could personally do without the heat," Phil joined in. "Melody says even though Greece is quite hot, humid even, at least the sea breezes help you stay cool. I stayed the night here in Agrabah once, and while it's hot during the day, the nights are freezing."

"Ah you poor, frajeeleh human beings," tutted Genie before he whirled around. "Abahbahbahbah, come along now lovebirds, Jasmine said she'd like to start on time today and I don't need to be off wrangling stragglers!"

Eugene smirked as he pulled Rapunzel away from a rainbow display of bolted cloth.

"What's frajeeleh?" asked Evan.

"It's Italian," Genie and Eugene said synchronously.

"I'm surprised there isn't a lot of pickpocketing," Hadie pointed out as they cleared the marketplace. "I know I'd be tempted, and I've seen King Eugene nab an apple and toss it to one of the horses and Evan returned a trinket bag to a kid without the adult thief or the kid noticing."

"Yeah, I'll be reporting that man to Aladdin and Jas when there's time," Rapunzel bit out. "Thieving is pretty much nonexistent in Agrabah now that the lower classes needs are addressed. Considering Aladdin's history, Jasmine now knows where to target and what to do in order to prevent poverty taking root again. Some people are just jerks, preferring greed to reach comfort than hard work."

"Who are we talking about?"

"Al!" Genie teleported next to the sudden appearance of the King of Agrabah, dressed in cream colored, loose clothing. "I can make you a painting from memory so we can track the guy down, but our visiting dignitaries caught a man trying to pickpocket some kids in the marketplace."

"Right, thanks for keeping an eye out," Aladdin said, greeting Eugene and Rapunzel with a friendly shake. "I'll take care of it tomorrow, though. Today's my little girl's birthday after all, no need to think about work!"

"We all gathering in the central assembly or…?" Eugene asked, trailing off his question.

"Lotus Courtyard, actually. The weather is beautiful and we agreed on minimal formality today, so apart from pictures for the ever-persistent information archives, the kids can roll in mud for all I care."

"Don't know how you can call those news vultures, the Archives over here," said Rapunzel, frowning.

"True information only, and it's mainly to record the history of the city," Aladdin replied, waving off his fellow Royal's concern. "We get to control what they get to record about the family at least, so no need to worry about them climbing the walls to get in. Plus, we have Genie to sneak in or magic anything away."

"What happened to magic being outlawed unless permission gained?" Hadie mumbled to Herkie

"Between me and you kid, I'm thankful for the recent law revision on magic now that your sister is engaged to Benny," Genie whispered into Hadie's ear in a suddenly miniature form. "Kid King realized it's pretty oppressive to those who natural have it like us."

"Um? Personal space please?"

"Hey, by the way, you wouldn't be the kid of Hades, would you? Ooga booga dude, big fire, real mean, talks faster than a used chariot salesman?"

"Genie," Aladdin warned.

"What? I'm just askin'," Genie shrugged. "Standing right next to mini-Herc and I can't help but see the uncanny resemblance to back in the day where you and Wonderboy teamed up against the Fire Lord."

Herkie snickered next to Hadie while the younger boy rolled his eyes.

"Dunno if you can describe him like that anymore, but yep, that's my dad," Hadie glared. "Mom says he's relatively mellowed out now."

"Speaking of your mom, Prince Hadie, I might as well let everyone else know that your parents have already arrived, you're the last group to arrive," Aladdin said as he began leading everyone through detailed arches and pillars towards a courtyard decorated with balloons, lights and streamers. "Feel free to mingle with them or whoever for a bit, we have some time before we were going to gifts and cake. Food is free range, so no need to wait for that if you kids are hungry now. I know you're all growing boys!"

"Thank you, Sultan Aladdin," Hadie began, as he had yet to introduce himself formally as normally expected.

"Hey, don't worry about that stuff. No bowing or anything, and just introduce yourself normally to anyone and then you can drop titles with permission. I only used yours since we hadn't met yet, but you can just call me Al, or Aladdin outside of official events. Now be off, all of you!"

"Thanks, Al!" The kids all yelled before dashing towards the garden.

A beautiful fountain spiraled from the center, surrounded by painted terracotta tiles and plants of jasmine, irises and lotus. Tables filled with food and drink wafted gorgeous smells into the wind, a monkey leaping happily as it horded a selection of treats into a little towel. Adults chattered happily with each other as a tiger lounged lazily in the spring sun, belly rumbling as he chuffed from receiving pets from the birthday girl and her fellow princesses who had stayed the night beforehand.

"Hi Emir, Hi Ben, Hi Mal, Hi Akiho!" Hadie excitedly ran up to his sister and three favorite Auradon Princes.

"Hey lil' bro," Mal greeted with a hug, Ben and Akiho giving the Godling a double high-five.

"Hey Hadie, glad you could make it," grinned Emir as the monkey Hadie had seen earlier climbed onto the black-haired Prince. "Have you had a chance to meet Abu yet?"

"Uh, hi?" Hadie waved awkwardly.

"RA REEEE AA AA!"

"Hey, bad Abu!" Emir tapped at the monkey's nose, forcing the monkey silent as he had begun to draw attention from the adults.

"Grrrrrr," Abu voiced, pulling out a spikey blue wig from within his little vest—which Hadie had no clue how that was possible—and baring his fangs angrily as he raised his arms in the air as if he was tall and towering over them all.

"Oh, you're still mad about Lord Hades huh? I know, I know, they look alike because he's Lord Hades' son, but Hadie is a good kid, alright?"

The monkey hissed.

"You like Lady Persephone, don't you?" At the nod, Emir continued. "Well Lady Persephone is also Hadie's mom, in fact Mal is their kid too, and you like her just fine."

Abu chittered awkwardly, crouching down into a sulk before nodding. "Ah eee, rah ah tweeee!"

"Right, so why don't you apologize to our guest? Ashaki made friends with him and we don't want to disappoint the birthday girl, do we?"

"Rrrrr ah ee awa," Abu pouted before leaping onto Hadie's shoulder instead. Monkey and Godling stared at each other for a moment before Abu reached out and patted Hadie on the forehead. The next thing Hadie knew, Abu shoved what appeared to be a devilled egg into his hand before leaping off back towards the snack table.

"Abu causing trouble?" A tawny-tanned woman sauntered up wearing an outfit of teals and turquoise, the tiger that had been by the fountain prowled by her side.

"Minor hiccup," Emir said with a wave of his hand. "Mom, Rajah, meet Hadie, Mal's little brother. Hads, this is my mom, Sultana Jasmine."

"Lovely to meet you, Hadie," Jasmine smiled. "Jas or Jasmine will be fine. I'm just making the rounds before we start."

"Nice to meet you too," Hadie said as his attention was taken by Rajah, the enormous tiger butting against the small boy in a demand for pats.

"Wow, you're soft! Nice to meet you to, Rajah," Hadie laughed before grinning at Akiho. "Maybe Emir has it right, tigers are crazy cool! Definitely better than reindeer so far."

"Hey, you haven't met reindeer yet, hold your judgement!" pouted Akiho.

Hadie winced, but smiled at Rajah's affection, unable to resist the shiver that ran up his spine at the rough sandpapery feel of the giant cat's tongue scrapping his arm.

"You think mom and dad would let me have one?" Hadie joked to Mal, his sister fondly shaking her head.

"Doubtful, stormcloud, very doubtful."

"Hey, you've had Estelle my entire life, maybe it's my turn to get a pet!"

"We can discuss that another time, Hadie," Persephone giggled as she appeared from around some shrubbery. "Was off to use a bathroom, sorry if you missed me."

"All good, mom," Hadie and Mal chimed together as they each gave their mom a hug.

"Alright, now that everyone is together, I think it's time to present thy gifts to our person of honor!" Aladdin announced to the crowd.

"Aw man, but I haven't even had time to greet Ashaki or the other girls yet," pouted Hadie.

"There will be plenty of time for that, and there's supposed to be party games, too," Emir informed him. "Dad's gift is just something interactable and he wants everyone to be able to use them for the games. Party won't end for a few hours, after all."

Hadie nodded and waved towards where he saw Alexandria and Melody gathering, Ashaki moving away from them and towards the edge of the fountain where she sat, center for all to see.

"Yeah, give the princess her loot!" Jay shouted from the other side of the garden to much laughter.

Joining everyone in sitting down, Hadie scratched behind one of Rajah's ears as the old tiger huffed, lying down on the stairs between Godling and Emir with happy chuffing as Emir rubbed the underside of the cat's chin. Mal and Ben sat quietly together on the other side of Persephone who sat close to Hadie, only slightly too nervous from learned wariness on the Isle of the tigers that lived there to let her son be on his own with an animal about five times his weight.

Hadie stuck his tongue out as his sister as he heard her snort when his gift got opened.

'Shrek's a good, underappreciated book, leave me alone,' Hadie smirked to himself. 'Besides, Ashaki expressed interest, so I figured I'd get her, her own copy. Besides, the other book is a joint gift with Phil."

Though he was a tad jealous that Neal had gifted a full bow and arrow set, complete with gift card for resupply. Evan had jokingly gifted a lock picking set, whereas Ashaki had happily accepted tickets for some dance show from Alexandria that she was apparently a fan of. The joint gift Hadie had done with Phil was from a time Ashaki had expressed getting into a sublet of her writing hobby, this one having to do with calligraphy instead of the erratic adventures she adored to make. The second book Hadie had gifted included beginner instructions, alongside a set of supplies from Phil for the princess to practice with.

Aladdin had apparently gotten his daughter mini go karts to ride around the garden paths. They were all definitely looking forward to that.

It had taken more than half an hour to get through all the gifts, excitement growing for the receiver and the younger crowd who would get to participate in the more immediately usable items.

"Now that we've opened everything, for my birthday, and in light of recent events, I'd like to make an announcement," Ashaki took a trembling breath, and hopped up to stand on the ledge of the fountain, straightening her shoulders as she looked out amongst the small crowd of royals. "First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for coming, as well as for the 'loot' as Jay so graciously dubbed them."

The tittering of socializing socialites rose, everyone audibly chuckling at the boy's antics. With a visible gulp, Ashaki spoke again.

"I'm sure all of us take pride in our origins, no matter how large or small. From serfdom, from the streets, or from royalty itself, each of our families' history has shown kindness above all. It is with unfortunate findings, that the Isle of the Lost, a place intended to lock away our fears and enemies to continue towards a better future has turned out to be little more than an experiment in failure."

A few frowns appeared in the crowd, but not towards the words of Ashaki's speech. Rather it was for disappointment in themselves for not upholding their values and believing in a system without double checking things. For letting children suffer. For not being much better than the villains they placed on the Isle in the first place.

"But I am not here to lecture anyone, as I believe everyone here today is in line with the belief that it was not intentional, that we are better and are going to do better. So," Ashaki paused, taking another breath to relax herself. "In the hope that our new King of Auradon will ensure the improvements promised and against anyone who is still not for the progress in making the Isle a humane environment, I would like to put forward my savings and my stipend for this year towards funding the Hospital and infrastructure finally being built."

Hadie jolted in surprise at his friend's announcement, though waves of happiness bolstered within him. Glancing at his mother, he found her openly smiling, one that purveyed genuine enjoyment and her own surprise at the news.

Apparently, it was news to Ashaki's own parents as well.

"Are you sure, sweetheart?" Aladdin knelt down to his daughter, pride on his face, though still concerned. "That's a lot of money and I know how much you like shopping for the latest when it comes to events."

"Don't make me sound so shallow, dad," scolded Ashaki, shaking her head. "I know your stories, I know you want us to be able to get whatever we want with no need to care for, but this is actually important. This is for people struggling, for the people who have died. This is for a better future."

"I know, I just wanted to make sure," Aladdin said with a stern nod as he stood, facing the audience himself. "Then I would like to declare that I will double my daughter's gift. Agrabah is a part of the union that is Auradon now and we feel partially responsible for turning this blind eye. As the purveyor of removing people from a life of destitution, this is unacceptable to the very values of our kingdom."

Mom? Hadie whispered, leaning close to Persephone as he tugged gently on her skirt. An odd pressure appeared in his heart, thumping with inspiration.

Yes, love?

Can… we match Ashaki's gift?

That's a great idea, Hadie! We can absolutely do that.

Hadie's outward smile grew as he briefly took his mom's hand and squeezed it in thanks.

He heard the mutters of the other's, the shouts of agreeing parents, Eugene of Corona most of all, agreeing to add to Ashaki's donation. Off to the side Ben and Mal looked on in glee and surprise that their ideas, hopes and dreams for the Isle were suddenly about to get a large deposit of funds.

That all along, the Royals, the people, of Auradon truly did care about the state of the Isle.

That progress was wanted.

Their dreams could be made.


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