Hey guys! This took longer than I thought. Oops. I haven't felt motivated lately, and I've been slightly down in the dumps thanks to school and various other issues. I'm not responding to comments today because of this, that and I don't think I could give good responses, but I have read them all. Hopefully, a longer chapter can be my apology to you all. I will say that the next chapter may take longer as well if I'm still feeling this way, sorry in advance if that happens. I promise I haven't forgotten.
I don't own Descendants, only Heidi.
When Heidi opened her eyes, she found a very peculiar thing in front of her.
Would it be considered under her?
The goddess wasn't sure of the correct term, but she knew that this was one of the freakiest things she had ever seen.
Was she looking at...herself?
"Oh, this is weird." She slammed her hand over her mouth, Hold up. Why does my voice sound echoey? Only the gods' voices sound like that!
She heard someone snicker and turned to see a semi-transparent Hermes trying to hold back his laughter.
"Hermes!"
Hermes looked up and waved at her, "Hello!"
Wait, his voice sounds normal. Why am I the one with the messed up voice? She directed a glare at him, "Did you do this?"
"Do what?" Oh, he definitely knew something.
Heidi groaned, unknowingly floating over to him, "Did you-" She pointed at him, "-Do this-" She gestured to herself, "-To me?"
"That?" He pointed at her before laughing, "Nope! That's all you."
She stared at him with halved eyes, "...Am I dead?"
He snorted, zipping over to her and shaking his head, "Why would you think that?"
The goddess flew back to her body, "That's my body, and it looks dead."
Hermes zipped over so he could look at the body as well, "Eh, you aren't dead." He stated, folding his arms.
"Then what is going on?!" Heidi yelled, having gotten fed up with his crap.
"Well…" He held out the word as he looked away.
"Hermes…" She growled, her hair beginning to light up.
"Alright, alright!" He raised his hands innocently, "You are...in a coma?" He peeked past his hands, "And, uh, you tapped into your magic, and you are now flying around via astral projection…" He zipped away, slightly fearing what the goddess might do.
Heidi looked at him strangely, "Excuse me?"
"You aren't dead; you're just unconscious due to the magic that was stored up in your necklace being released so suddenly. You'll be fine...eventually." Hermes explained, "I wouldn't worry about it; your body will recover faster than the normal human would." He shrugged, "The normal human would be dead from that."
She sighed, "Why on earth would my father do that?" The goddess folded her arms, shooting him a confused look.
Hermes' eyes widened as he laughed nervously, "The thing is...he may have overheard me explaining the necklace to you as a child. I mentioned how if it were hit head-on, the magic it stored would be expelled immediately, and the wearer, you, would be knocked unconscious."
Heidi stared at him with zero emotion, "And I suppose he didn't know I'd be in a coma."
"Nope. He thinks you're fine and healthy. I don't have the heart to tell him that one of his daughters is in a coma. I mean, Hestia would tell him, but she'd also tell him that everyone up in Olympus has completely forgotten about him." Hermes scratched the side of his head, "When she starts talking the truth, she doesn't stop till it's all out."
"That's because she has no filter." Heidi deadpanned, placing her hands on her hips. "So what the hell am I supposed to do? Audrey's probably losing her mind over the whole unconscious thing."
"Oh, you have no idea." He turned away, looking at the watch on his wrist, "Wow, would you look at the time." He zipped in front of her, "You should go talk to Hades, he can see you as well, it's a psychopomp thing, and maybe you can save him from the shock of him learning about your current...condition. Otherwise, he'll find out from Mal, and well, I can only imagine how sad he'd be." Hermes said, smiling at her, "Fun thing about astral projections, you can spy and follow people as much as you want, and they'd never know."
Heidi paused at that, watching as he zipped out the window, Wait. What did he mean by "I had no idea"?
She looked back at her body; This is so strange. Well, perhaps I should talk to dad. Not like I got anything better to do.
The woman flew out the window and began heading towards the Isle.
...
If she had waited a little longer, she would've seen a figure appear with a 'crack!' and pink smoke.
Audrey stepped out of the smoke, her appearance drastically different from the previous day. Her hair once blonde was now pink with blue streaks while her brown eyes seemed to have a pink glow to them. Maleficent's Scepter was in her hand as she crept softly over to the bed where the bluenette lay.
Never before had the princess been able to detect the amount of power that lie within the goddess, but now she could, and it excited her.
Leaning the Scepter up against the wall, she sat down beside the other woman. How are you still asleep? She thought, placing her hand on Heidi's cheek.
A dark chuckle sounded in her mind causing Audrey to look at the Scepter. Take her Ember. A voice eerily reminiscent of Maleficent whispered to the princess.
"What good will that do?" Audrey asked, narrowing her eyes at the Scepter.
Mal will retrieve Hades' Ember, and the only object that can stand up to it is Heidi's Ember. The Scepter whispered, the gem glowing an ominous green.
Audrey looked back at Heidi, closing her eyes for a moment before nodding, "Okay. If it helps me defeat Mal...I'll do it."
The princess searched Heidi for the ember before finally finding it in the woman's pocket. She had never held it before so, she was surprised to feel the power practically burning in it. Maleficent's Scepter may have been powerful, but the ember felt like the Scepter and Fairy Godmother's Wand combined.
"This is...Amazing! How could Heidi not want to use this all the time?!" Her laughter bubbled out at the power and turned to the Scepter, "Why is this so powerful?"
The gods called her their "Wonder Child" and gave her one of the greatest divine weapons ever to be created...All so she could fill her father's shoes, tragic really. The Scepter informed her with a low chuckle.
Audrey frowned slightly, "Is that so…" She muttered, turning her gaze onto the bluenette.
She could have made herself an imposing villain with all the gods have taken from her. Her childhood, her power, her freedom, her future. The Scepter paused, clearly awaiting the princess's response.
And a response it did receive.
"They did that?" Audrey closed her eyes as her frown deepened, "How dare they. This was originally going to be about revenge...but now?" She held out her hand and summoned the Scepter, "All of Auradon is going to pay. Even the gods." She seethed, tightening her grasp around the ember, The gods especially so.
"Kirby!" Audrey called, looking at the dog that had remained faithfully on Heidi throughout the night.
The dog woke up at her call and looked at her, tilting his head in curiosity as he didn't seem bothered by her different appearance.
"How would you like to help me with something?"
Heidi arrived at her father's cave ahead of Mal, who appeared to be quite stressed about something. The goddess had no idea why Mal would be coming to see Hades, she despised him, but she knew she had to talk with her father.
Thanks to the fact that she could pass through anything, she flew straight down into the cave where her father was currently napping.
Heidi tilted her head, Seriously? You are a god; you don't need sleep!
She floated down and hovered above him before smirking. Oh, she had always wanted to do this.
The goddess summoned some more of her magic in an attempt to make her hand solid, and luckily it worked.
Heidi chuckled, "Wakey, wakey!"
'SLAP!'
She immediately flew up higher while watching as Hades woke up with a start, looking around wildly and holding his hands as if he wanted to karate chop something.
"Who did that?!" He yelled, looking everywhere but up.
"Yoo-hoo! Up here!" Heidi called out.
Hades looked up and seemed to pause before his jaw fell while his sunglasses slid down his nose.
Heidi's eyebrows flew up; she had never seen her father look so...scared?
"Heidi...Are you…" He seemed at a loss for words as he stood up.
The goddess descended to his level so he could get a better look at her. She tilted her head as he walked around her in a circle a few times, the panic only increasing on his face with each step.
He finally stopped his circling and stood in front of her; he looked like he had just seen a ghost.
Which, to be fair, she did resemble one at the moment.
Hades was silent for a few more minutes before he looked her in the eyes. "Holy shitballs, I killed you, didn't I?"
Heidi looked at him with halved eyes as she facepalmed, "Dad, I'm not-"
"I swear I didn't mean to! I overheard Hermes saying you could be knocked out like that. I didn't know that asshole was lying!" He said, turning away as he panicked, "What am I going to do? If Athena finds out I killed you, I'm soul chow again! Not to mention Hestia will throw me in the Underworld herself!" He whipped around and pointed at Heidi, "I did not mean to do this, sweetie!"
The woman just blinked at him, unsure of how to handle him at the moment, "But, Dad, I'm not-"
Much to her shock, he hugged her tightly. It was surprising because she was mostly intangible at the moment. Then again...Hades was still a psychopomp since he was technically the God of the Underworld despite his imprisonment.
"Heidi," He began, separating himself from her, "I will put you back in your body as soon as I get off this floating heap of garbage." The god said with a smirk.
While Heidi appreciated the offer, she wasn't dead. "Thanks...though, I'm not actually-"
Hades suddenly looked towards the stairs, "Someone's coming, time to act natural." He said quickly, going back to his chair while putting his sunglasses on.
Heidi looked at him in a deadpan, "That would be Mal."
"Stop talking." He hissed before acting as if he was asleep.
The goddess rolled her eyes and floated over to the record player that was currently turned off. She placed the needle down and shook her head at the obviously fake barking.
Cerberus sounds a lot more vicious; I think he needs to update his record. Heidi mused, turning her gaze to the stairs as she heard the soft footsteps of two individuals.
Sure enough, there was Mal along with Hades' favorite Facilier, Celia.
Mal appeared to be quite spooked by the barking while Celia was used to it. The Facilier pointed at the record before rolling her eyes and patting Mal on the arm.
The purple-haired woman seem to calm down at that and shook her head while gazing at the 'slumbering' Hades. The girls carefully made it down the stairs, and Celia pointed at the ember, causing Mal to nod.
The recording became messed up a bit, and Heidi looked at before shrugging, I guess I'll need to bring him a new record of Cerberus. She thought, turning her attention back on the two girls.
Mal began approaching him, but was stopped by Ceila who pointed at a room that she could go through to get behind Hades.
The woman gave her a small nod before going through the side room, cautiously walking so that her footsteps made little to no sound.
Unfortunately for Mal, all gods had enhanced hearing, and her 'quiet' footsteps weren't the only thing that Hades heard. He also heard the pounding of her heart.
Celia rolled her eyes and walked over to the record player before lifting the needle, causing a loud scratch that 'woke' up Hades.
"What are you doing here?" Hades asked, obviously referring to Mal, who almost had his ember.
Celia approached him, "I noticed...you were low on canned corn." She said, tossing him the can.
The god caught it without even looking at her and grabbed Mal by the wrist. He took off his sunglasses and winked at his daughter while giving her his signature finger wave, "Hey, Mali."
Mal frowned, glancing down at the ember before looking up at him, "Hi, dad."
Celia's head whipped in Mal's direction, and Heidi could see the confusion in the young girl's eyes.
Hades took his ember and pocketed it, before releasing Mal's hand while sitting up, "Quite a show you put on the other day." He said, smirking at her.
Mal rolled her eyes, "Right back at ya."
The god chuckled, "I was just coming to see you. Heidi told me you'd be around."
Mal scoffed, "Really? Wonder why. Is it because I'm going to be queen?" She turned away while ignoring the last part.
Hades stood up and smirked, "Now, Mal, don't be bitter."
The girl whipped around, "You abandoned me when I was a baby." She paused, narrowing her eyes at him, "Yet, you didn't abandon her." She muttered.
"She didn't have anyone, you had your mother...your batshit crazy mother," Hades stated while grabbing a scarf that had skulls with blue flames on it. "Plus, I didn't abandon either of you-" He said the word mockingly before turning to look at her, "I left her because she's not the easiest person to get along with."
Mal rolled her eyes and folded her arms, "You think?"
Hades laughed, "Oh. See? We have something in common already. We both hate your mother." He played around with the scarf.
Mal's frown deepened as she glared at him, "No, I don't hate my mother. She may be an evil lunatic, but at least she stuck around. Unlike someone here." She hissed out the last part.
"Aww, boo-hoo. Should I feel sorry?" He mocked before frowning at her, "Wake up and smell the stink. You think you've had it rough? I used to be a god!" He drop-kicked a can across the room, "I had an entire world which bore my name, and now I have nothing! You have no idea what that feels like." He roared, causing Heidi to roll her eyes.
Really? The whole, 'I used to be a god' rant? I thought you stopped doing that after ten years. Heidi thought with halved eyes.
Mal stomped up to him, "Really?!" She yelled, pointing at him, "Because for 16 years, I had nothing! And now I have a whole world, and unless I get that ember, it's game over."
Eh? Why would she need the ember? Besides to just piss Hades off, of course. Heidi paused, rubbing her chin in confusion. Isn't that why she's doing it?
Hades walked up the stairs and glanced back at her while holding up a finger, "...Hold, please."
Suddenly, she heard music start, and the lights turned blue while smoke shot up all around the cave. Heidi glanced around before chuckling, You know, I think I'll tune in for this one.
Hades whipped around, a wide grin on his face, "Listen, little girl, you're talking to a god, and I don't wanna hear the drama!" He shook his finger at her, "Kindness ain't my brand."
Mal rolled her eyes, "Oh, I guess, that's why you ran."
Hades nearly laughed, "Try being married to your momma!"
"You stink at being a dad." Mal spat, turning away and folding her arms.
"Poor Mali, are you sad?" He sang, a lopsided grin on his face.
"Not as sad as you without your powers," Mal responded, stepping away as soon as he approached her.
If Heidi could have yelled, "Ooooh!" She would have, because that was a seriously sick burn. Hades would have been burned alive from that if he wasn't fireproof.
"I didn't come to fight, for once, do something right." Mal fired, whipping around to face a grinning Hades.
"I steal souls, were you expecting flowers?" Hades asked sarcastically, wrapping his scarf around her.
Mal batted the scarf away with a glare. "I only need you 'cause I came here for something."
Hades folded his arms, "I've given you everything" Both looked at each other, "by giving you (me) nothing!"
"I did what I had to do…" Hades threw the scarf over his head.
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) Celia jumped in from the back before hiding again.
"No, you only did what's best for you." Mal whipped away, walking to another part of the room while still glaring at him.
Hades stomped over to her and loomed over her, "Well, you could learn a thing or two. When push comes to shove," He hipbumped her, "you do what you gotta do, yeah." He sat down in his chair.
Mal leaned on the chair, propping her head up, "You were never there, guess you don't have a phone. You never called to say, "I miss you"."
"Hahaha, are you kidding? Is this a joke?" He said mockingly before sitting up, "You need to let it go, you're stronger with those daddy issues."
"Oh! Thank you!" Mal said sarcastically as she walked away, prompting Hades to follow her.
The god stepped onto the higher floor so he could have more height on his already teeny-tiny daughter, "Show me some respect, it ain't easy to neglect. My attention would've made you softer." He sang into one of the many lamps he had around his cave.
"Oohoo! Should I be proud?" She grabbed the lamp and scoffed, "Don't turn this thing around!" She pushed the lamp back at him.
Hades caught it with a grin and set it aside. "I guess you are your father's daughter, hahaha."
"Don't think I need you, I just came here for something." Mal looked up at him with a glare and gestured for him to give her the ember.
"I've given you everything," The two looked at each other, a smirk on the god's face while a frown on Mal's."by giving you (me) nothing!"
Mal looked at him, pointedly, "I did what I had to do." (Ooh-ooh-ooh), "I made it on my own, no thanks to you." She poked him while forcing him to back up.
"Well, you could learn a thing or two." He loomed over her, and she leaned back while holding her arms out. "When push comes to shove, you do what you gotta do." Hades shoved her away and turned around while shooting a wink at his other daughter.
Heidi looked at him with no emotion as she folded her arms.
Hades rolled his eyes at her reaction, turning around to see Mal sitting in his chair, "How 'bout I go with you, and we'll spend some time?"
Mal smirked in amusement, slapping him on the cheek, so he was looking away. "How 'bout you stay here, 'cause you're out of your mind!"
Hades shrugged it off and slung his arm around Mal's shoulders, "Let's make new memories, you can show me the town."
"No, you can keep your memories now." Mal folded her hands and crossed her legs.
Hades frowned and stood up, "Get over it."
Mal looked at him and frowned as well, "I am over it!"
"I'm over you being over it!" They said in sync, the sassiness causing the intangible goddess to laugh behind her hand.
Hades grinned, "Let's dance!"
More smoke shot up around the cave as Hades danced around.
Mal and Heidi looked at him in exasperation. Only Hades would choose to have a dance break.
The god picked up a tambourine and played with it in what the women would both describe as obnoxious. He did a spin before throwing it at Mal. The purplette caught it and threw it over her head.
"I did what I had to do!"(Ooh-ooh-ooh)
Hades stepped up as Mal craned her head to look at him, "No, you only did what's best for you."
"Well, you could learn a thing or two. When push comes to shove, you do. When push comes to shove, you do. When push comes to shove, you do what you gotta do!"
The music ended, and Hades was still laughing like a madman while Mal rolled her eyes, "Do you want to make up for being a lousy dad? Give me the ember."
Hades stopped laughing, narrowing his eyes at her.
He's going to do it. Heidi thought, knowing well that her father would do anything to make Mal happy.
Hades contemplated her request for another minute or so before giving in and pulling out his ember, "The ember only works for me."
Mal smirked, "No, it'll work for me, we're blood."
He chuckled, "You're only half Hades The ember won't do everything for you that it does for me."
Her smirk never fell. "I'll take my chances."
Hades raised an eyebrow before finally giving her the ember.
Mal's hand tightened around it as she turned away, walking up the stairs.
"If it gets wet, it's game over." He told her, grinning as he saw her wave her fingers, "That's my girl."
Heidi chuckled, waiting until her half-sister was gone before speaking up. "You never let me explain this. I'm not dead; I'm in a coma. I got zapped so badly I'm a vegetable." She deadpanned as she folded her arms.
Hades blinked, "A coma? So...I didn't kill you?" He asked slowly, a hopeful tone to his voice.
"No."
"Are you sure? You look dead to me, and I should know." He chuckled, grinning at her as she rolled her eyes.
"Hermes told me. He can sense people dying just like you." Heidi stated with halved eyes, "I have to go find out what's going on. Mal wouldn't see you unless there was an emergency." She turned away, "I'll see you later, dad."
Hades shrugged, "That's fair." He folded his arms, his eyes softening, "Can you be in your body next time? You freaked me out."
Heidi laughed softly before nodding with a smile, "I promise."
She flew off after those words leaving Hades to himself.
Hades waited a few more seconds and sighed in relief, "That could have ended badly for everyone if she was dead." He muttered, "And by everyone, I mean me." He shivered at the thought of what Hestia or Athena might have done.
Elsewhere
Everyone screamed in terror as they ran from a massive three-headed dog.
On the dog's back was none other than a highly amused Audrey. The pinkette was turning people to stone and putting them to sleep like it was nothing.
"Why are they running?!" She laughed, pointing at the scepter at another poor person.
It's their fight or flight, and nobody wants to fight a demon dog. The Scepter told her in amusement.
"Ah, I always forget how terrifying Kirby is, I love it." Audrey said with a smirk, walking towards the dog's middle head, "Good boy."
Kirby barked, though it sounded much more demonic at this size, and lit itself on fire.
Audrey stood up, looking at Heidi's ember in curiosity, Am I fire-proof with this? She pondered the thought before shaking her head, "After we are done turning the city, we move onto the castles. Got it, Kirby?"
Kirby barked again, startling everyone in the vicinity as it did so.
Turning royals to stone, are we? The Scepter chuckled, Perfect.
Audrey grinned, gazing at the Scepter in her hand. "Glad you agree. First up, Auroria then we move to the surrounding village before heading elsewhere. Kirby can get me anywhere in no time."
Ah, you are turning your parents first? How delightful, I await their fear at the sight of you. The Scepter said, laughing gleefully at the words.
"That makes two of us. They never supported me like they did after Ben dumped me. Now it's time for a bit of revenge." Audrey chuckled, zapping a few more people while she lifted the ember, "Fire sound good?"
Sounds wonderful.
The pink in Audrey's eyes glowed as she looked at the people in her way, "Good."
