Chapter Eighty Two
A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to Disney or the Greek Myths!
*blows horn in celebration* Guys can you believe we've gone over two thousand reviews? Thank you all so much for your continued support!
Lol, I'm glad that it didn't take as long for me to get this chapter out as it did the last chapter! Hopefully I'll be able to keep this speed but no promises especially with the upcoming holidays!
Lauriverfanboy1: Oh yeah I think Mal would definitely enjoy to hear how she handled Cotillion :D
OceanBlueSeaEyes: Hey I had a stuffed horse named Horse and a stuffed tiger named Kitty so clearly I had the same creative energy lol :D
AmethystDragon14: Oh yay! Yeah I'm glad they did too—it's no fun imagining them fighting!
jessaminego5134: So glad you enjoyed it!
Katt Kiki: Oh I'm so glad you liked it!
JaclynnM: So glad you liked the chapter!
ReaderFreak5000: Oh I'm so glad you liked the chapter—and trust me, Cotillion is going to be an interesting chapter. Many things happen during it—if you want to avoid waiting for it to come around here, I highly recommend checking out the Choosing series of mine specifically Choosing Love which is the one the characters are currently reading :D
danifan3000: Yep that was a long chapter! Hence why it took so long, well that plus vacation! :D
smc: Ky and Qullana are original characters of Quil's for their stories (Choosing Hadie/Adventures in Auradon/Auradon's Renaissance) that, with permission, I weave into my story here to make it so our universes are cohesive.
LotusQuil: Hey after how long it took me to get it out, I think the readers would rather it be a long chapter than a short one lol :D And don't apologize for the reviews, real life comes first though I'm always happy to hear from you! Oh yeah Hadie's never going to escape 'Minty' now…predictions of toothpaste as Saturnalia presents lol! I know right?! It honestly feels like a dream…kinda makes me wonder how long this fic'll be! :D
twilightgirl587: Yep, Evie has blue hair but it's a different shade compared to Hadie's. So Hadie has the only blue hair of that shade in Auradon :D
Marcus Emrys: No apologies necessary and I love that expression! Oh yeah those upcoming chapters will be interesting to react to though I think some people'll be hunting for the brain bleach when that chapter comes around. Earplugs will be necessary is all I'm saying!
Gracfully: Thank you!
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
Shang sighed and tentatively took the scroll. Hey after being whacked by the previous scroll, he was a little apprehensive about taking one again.
A few days after the Chad debacle as Mal had begun to call it in her head, the Godling stood in front of her bed.
"Okay…and why are you doing that?" Hadie asked as Alexandria sighed softly at the mention of the 'Chad debacle'.
Her bed, which had been taken over by the interior of her wardrobe.
"Still doesn't answer the question of why you're standing in front of your bed, Mal!"
Celia chuckled. "Patience, Flametop."
She was going to clean it out and start anew...she just didn't know where to begin.
"Oh…that makes sense," Hadie said, nodding his head slightly and ignoring the chuckles that were coming from his friends.
"Did your closet explode or something?"
Malinda chuckled. "I'm sure it looked that way, if I'm honest," she said.
"Please tell me you don't come bearing food again. It's like you do that every time I see you lately," Mal said, shaking her head as she turned to look at the Arendelle heir in her doorway.
"I mean, visiting his friends and bringing food is kinda Akiho's M.O.," Jay said. "Remember that's how he was introduced in the scrolls."
Ben sighed as he saw the look on his father's face. "Thank you for bringing that up Jay."
"You're welcome," Jay said with a grin.
"What are you even doing here? Your girlfriend is on the other end of the school."
Elle couldn't help but smile as she heard that. She'd been single for so long that…it was nice hearing herself referred to as someone's girlfriend.
"It's a beautiful day and Emir and I wanted to see if you and Estelle wanted to go running around with Emma, Elle, Sven and Rajah?"
"Estelle better be included in that group!" Mal said firmly as Estelle yipped in agreement.
Akiho shook his head. "What about me would imply that Estelle wouldn't be part of the group? Actually...he was included! Didn't you hear scroll-me?"
"...Oh...yeah..." Mal said, biting her lip slightly.
Jay chuckled. "It's the sun," he whispered. "The small amount of time we were there has melted your brain."
"Shut it Jay!" "
"...Ben's cool with a tiger being on campus?"
"I mean…one: why wouldn't I be? It's Rajah. But also two: technically the Enchanted Lake wasn't on school property," Benji said.
"Well we wouldn't be on property. We'd go to the Enchanted Lake. Rajah's up there in years but he still likes to swim. What about Estelle?"
"There we go, see? I told you Estelle would be part of the group," Akiho said.
"No one argued otherwise dude," Emir told him.
"Honestly I don't know," Mal told him, ignoring the slight bit of panic at the idea of swimming. Besides, unlike Ben, his shadows seemed to be well aware of when she was lying. She just...she'd already been weak around them once. Letting them know about her fear of water almost seemed like overkill.
Elle shook her head. "First of all, I doubt you were weak around them and second of all, tell them. I know that we're likely swimming because it's one of the few activities I can do but…I don't want to be the reason my cousin's mental health takes a hit because she had to be around a phobia."
And yes she was aware that she went into the water during her date with Ben. That was different. She wasn't going to let Ben drown while on a date with her!
"Even though Ben can swim whereas you can not?" Uma asked.
Malinda sighed and shook her head. "I panicked and didn't know Ben could swim at that point."
"Well doesn't Harry swim all the time? At least that's what it seemed like from what Jay told us."
"I mean according to the other scroll, he was swimming since he was six months old," Ashaki said. "Makes sense that he'd be swimming all the time."
"His dad taught him to swim by the time he could walk. It's a pirate thing really, you can't really have the kid of a pirate drowning now can you?"
"Seems the scroll-Mal agrees with you there Ash," Neal chuckled.
"What about Uma?"
Everyone turned to look at Akiho with various levels of surprise or amusement on their faces. Yes, even the Smee twins.
Mal raised her eyebrow, giving Akiho a look and causing the blond to shake his head.
"Seems your scroll self also recognized how ridiculous that question was," Emir chuckled.
"I realized the stupidity of the question the moment it left my lips," he said with a sigh. "But Estelle never joined them for a swim?"
Uma shook her head. "Most of my swimming's through Serpent Prep's swim club as Captain. Though it's whenever I can duck away or risk showing up late to my shifts at mama's shop."
"And considering you swim with sharks, I'll thank you to not swim with Estelle," Mal said.
"You swim with what?" Hades and Persephone exclaimed.
Uma shrugged. "What? We don't swim during a feeding frenzy or if there's chum in the water and if a shark gets too close, you just punch them in the gut and they leave you alone."
"Look Akiho, we don't really swim on the Isle," Mal told him. "Sure some of the crew will if it gets hot enough but otherwise, we tend to not want to risk our clothing, what little we had. Speaking of which, I need to get back to this."
"But…if Uma's part of a swim club…wouldn't that imply a lot of swimming?" Neal asked.
"We don't exactly have set days," Uma told him. "Everyone's more focused on staying alive."
"Need some help?"
Anna looked over at her son and gave him a kind smile. "That's very sweet of you Akiho."
"I haven't done it yet though mom."
"Doesn't change the fact that it's a sweet thing to do and I'm very proud of you for offering to help."
"You're offering to be around girly clothing for who knows how long when your best friend and girlfriend are probably waiting for you?"
"Oh he knows that I'll likely just find him and drag him off," Emir said with a small shrug.
Akiho chuckled. "If I can be around Ben when he reorganizes his books, I can be around a few dresses. Fair warning, the book reorganization can go on for hours. Sometimes it's days if Belle gets involved. Nine times out of ten you'll walk in on him reading the books instead of you know actually organizing them."
"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Ben exclaimed.
"We have pictures that prove otherwise Benji," Chip snorted.
"Ben didn't put you up to this did he?"
"For me to put him up to that, as you put it, I would have had to have known you were cleaning out your closet," Benji said, gently teasing his wife.
"He knows I'm asking you about the Enchanted Lake trip before I go down to his office to drag him along but other than that, he does not know that I'm helping you with your closet reorg. Speaking of which...why are you reorganizing your closet?"
Emir shook his head. "You gotta love how it took this long for him to get to the 'why'," he chuckled.
Mal sighed. "I know Evie worked hard on all the clothes but...they're not me. The issue is I like some of them. But if I'm going to go back to being 'me' instead of what I wanted to be to keep Natalie off my back and The Gazelle off my back, I need to have clothes that reflect that I'm me."
Evie bit her lip in thought. "You know…I could probably alter some of those to fit more your style. Or at least scroll-me could since she clearly has more skill than I currently do."
"Huh…I guess I didn't want to put more on your plate since you were designing Cotillion gowns but that would have made so much more sense," Malinda told her.
"Gotcha," Akiho nodded and picked up a white dress. "Well, first off, this? Not you. It looks more like something my aunt would wear than you."
Elsa shook her head. "I don't always wear white."
"No, but it's your primary color," Anna told her sister.
"Put it in the pile then," Mal said, pointing to her pillows where a fair bit of her clothes already were. "Clothes I'm getting rid of go there and clothes I'm keeping will go on the foot of the bed for ease of transport."
"Always good to have a system when you're organizing," Ben said, nodding slightly.
"Great...just one question."
"Yes?"
"Where are the clothes you're getting rid of going to go?"
"That's a good question…and one I should have thought of before I started the clean out," Malinda said.
"Well I was thinking the Isle but none of those clothes are anything like what anyone on the Isle would wear."
"I would!" Dizzy insisted.
"Dizzy, you would look like you were melting if you wore Mal's clothes," Hadie said, shaking his head.
"So we're making it up as we go along," Akiho nodded and Mal couldn't help but chuckle.
"...Sven swims?" Mal asked after a few minutes of sorting in silence.
"I mean…he can a little," Kristoff said. "It's the only way he could have gotten back to solid ice when we were trying to get to Anna and the ice cracked under us."
"…Let's not talk about that," Elsa said, her voice soft. She hated thinking about that, about how she had put the life of her former subjects, of her brother in law, of her sister at risk. About how Anna had turned into a statue in front of her…
"Oh right," Kristoff nodded, catching onto Elsa's train of thought. "Sorry."
"No. He's our lifeguard," Akiho told her. "I'm pretty sure mom would have insisted I take Olaf since he can actually talk but he's more prone to panicking than anything else. As well he's easily distracted."
"You know you also have an aunt who could lifeguard," Elsa said.
"Elsa, they're teens," Anna said, shaking her head. "You don't need to babysit them."
"No but considering you didn't let me baby-sit when I could…"
"I said I was sorry about that!"
"Can't you distract Sven by just bribing him with carrots?"
"You can also distract my husband with the same thing," Anna said with a small chuckle. "I'm guessing that's how Elsa managed to get you two to take a shower for my birthday."
"I'm pretty sure Olaf gets distracted by shiny things so he's definitely more likely to get distracted than Sven."
"So when you say you're 'pretty sure', does that mean you haven't tested your theory?" Ashaki asked.
Aladdin sighed. "No seeing if Olaf gets distracted by shiny things."
"Actually I'd like to know if that's the case," Elsa said as she gave Anna a look.
"Not this again!" Anna sighed.
"I was perfectly available to babysit!"
"Didn't we just have this conversation?" Kristoff sighed.
Mal couldn't help but shake her head in amusement as Akiho held up a pale green dress with sleeves that almost looked like butterfly wings.
"I don't know about you all but as soon as we get out of here, I'm going to see if I can't commission a dress like that from Evie," Lucy said. "Maybe in a different color but the pale green still sounds pretty."
"Yay or nay?"
"Ooh I don't know," Mal bit her lip. "It's not remotely my style and yet...I don't know, it almost looks like something my mom might wear when she goes to visit Olympus."
"If it brings you joy then keep it," Melody said with a small smile. "If it doesn't then it's time to get rid of it."
"So keep it. I'm sure Evie can make you some new stuff anyway," Akiho told her. "You know...you pair this with your black leather jacket and it'd be almost the best of both worlds."
"He wasn't wrong," Malinda said. "Though for the life of me, I have no idea where I got the black leather jacket. My purple one was from mom but the black one just appeared."
"How is it you know so much about clothes?"
"Melody," Akiho chuckled. "Elle's not much one for fashion but Mel can chat my ear off if need be. She's been hanging out with Hadie more though so I haven't had a chance to talk with her."
"Oh…sorry for my future self," Melody said with a small squeak.
Malinda chuckled. "I'm pretty sure Akiho didn't mind. Means he could take Elle on more dates."
"It's been good for Hadie though, being around his cousins," Mal nodded. "Well, that and having mom here."
"Sounds like having Lady Steph there was good for both of you Mali," Harry told her.
Akiho nodded as they continued to comb through the mountain of clothing on Mal's bed. It honestly was a challenge just because Evie had made such nice clothing. It'd be a shame to just throw it out or burn them but they really wouldn't work for anyone on the Isle.
"Why not donate them to someone in Auradon?" Chad spoke up, his voice still raspy from lack of commenting. "I mean…we're not all royals after all, we have to rule someone after all… and…and I'm sure some young girl would like to have something that fancy…"
"He's not wrong," Abby nodded.
The only one they might have worked for was Evie. And she was in Auradon.
"So why not give them to Evie?" Dizzy asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
Malinda sighed. "Evie is…taller than I am," she grumbled.
"You never grow out of the height thing do you?" Hades chuckled.
"It's not fair! You're 6'3", couldn't I have gotten some of that?!" Malinda exclaimed. "I blame Maleficent and her 4'11" ass!"
"Language Mal!" Benji exclaimed.
"I knew I was taller than her!" Mal cheered at the same time.
"Hey Mal?"
"Hmm?"
Akiho sighed. "My dad, he wanted to reach out. I um...I hope you don't mind but I told him about Natalie."
Kristoff sighed. "I think I know why you did so Akiho but it might have been better to ask Mal before talking to me about it."
"It's fine," Mal sighed. She knew it wouldn't be long before the other royals of Auradon found out about that.
"Why would we?" Aurora asked. "I mean, it was likely we would since Natalie has a connection to my family but the rest of the royal families? We gossip but not about staff turn overs."
"I mean…with Natalie's actions it would be understandable though," Malinda said. "You wouldn't want her around your children after all."
"Well after spending about thirty minutes trying to keep my aunt from turning Natalie into an ice sculpture—."
"Doesn't she live in the Enchanted Forest?"
Elsa shook her head. "I do visit my family after all. It's not as if the people of the Enchanted Forest are trapped there, unable to leave, like they used to be."
"She was there for Family Game Night. Mom insists on it, she'll even have me bring Emir and Ben along. Fair warning she'll probably rope you into it as well."
"Ah. Proceed."
"Not going to lie, that sounds like fun," Uma said. "At the very least we get to see where Akiho gets his insanity from up close."
Akiho shook his head in amusement. "Anyway, after that and then after thirty more minutes trying to get my mom to not haul off and punch her in the face a la Hans, my dad wanted to invite you to a club meeting of his. It consists of all the other Auradon royals who married into the royal life. You know, like Ben's mom, my dad, King Eugene, Emir's dad…"
Henry frowned. "And why didn't she just go to that instead of dealing with Natalie?"
"Can we let Anna and Mulan be in a room with Nat Bat alone? For just ten minutes?" CJ asked at the same time.
"I got it," Mal nodded as Akiho trailed off. "But why does he want me to join?"
"I mean it's run by Queen Belle and scroll-Mal's dating her son," Robin pointed out. "Might be a good way to get to know her son's girlfriend without the hassle of having to be a prim and proper royal."
"…How do you know that?" Mal asked.
"All us 'Learning to be Royal Club' kids know about the club," Rose said with a grin.
"…So wouldn't it be better for Mal not to go if kids her own age know about these meetings?" Uma asked.
Evan shook his head. "You think our parents talk about what happened at a meeting? We just know they exist so when our parents who're in the club disappear for a few hours, we don't freak out."
"He says it's a lot less stressful, being around people who are in the same boat. There are still days that dad says he doesn't understand most of what's been said in terms of the royal life."
"Yeah…I can see why," Harriet said softly as people nodded.
"And...and he's okay with the fact that I'm the daughter of Hades?"
"Why wouldn't he be?"
"Considering you all prefer Odin…?"
"Why would that impact…oh…oh!" Kristoff said, his eyes growing wide as he shook his head.
Malinda smiled softly, having a feeling she knew where his mind went. "I don't think Akiho would be the person he is if you were anything like Freddy," she told him.
"Oh. Oh! Yeah no, dad's cool with that. After all, my mom and aunt are part Nothaldra who have spirits who can wake up and destroy everything in their path. He's not going to anger anyone. I mean, my grandparents are rock trolls for Gods' sake."
"Not just rock trolls but they're also love doctors," Akiho added. "Just thought I'd throw that out there."
"…How can rocks be love doctors?" Naveen asked.
Mal couldn't help but smile at that. It was weird but after years of dealing with Freddy, hearing someone say that they were cool with the idea of there being different Gods than the ones they had legitimately touched her.
"Yes well Freddy is insane," Sammy said. "It's clear that people aren't like him."
Claudine nodded. "Fred…they broke the mold when they made him."
"So...who else is in this club?"
"Queen Tiana, Queen Aurora, Queen Snow…"
"Queen Tiana was a very welcome addition because of her cooking skills," Eugene said with a grin.
"Wait, those last two were born royal. Why are they in a club dedicated to learning to being royal?"
"In a club that has a woman who was turned into a frog and a man who sword fought a horse with a frying pan, that's what you're questioning?" Rose asked.
Akiho shook his head. "Snow White was treated like a servant most of her life and Aurora didn't know she was a princess until she was sixteen. They may have been born royal but they're still learning the way the others are."
Jasmine nodded. "Even someone born royal can benefit from learning something new or getting a new technique in leading."
Mal nodded and they grew silent once more, every so often sorting clothes or chuckling over a particular piece of clothing.
"Hey Akiho?"
"Yeah?"
"This is going to sound mean and trust me, I don't mean for it to be but...why do you care?"
"About you?"
"I mean…you're my best friend's girlfriend and you're a pretty great person in your own right," Akiho said. "You and I were getting along in the scrolls before you even started dating Ben so why wouldn't I care?"
"Yeah," Mal nodded. It was honestly something that'd been rattling around in her brain since she met the blond prince. "I mean, I appreciate it but between this and the picnic…"
"As has already been stated, he's the 'mom' friend," Emir said, gesturing to the blond getting up and handing Chad a bottle of water, telling him to 'drink it or I'm shoving it down your throat so it doesn't sound like you gargled gravel.'
"Granted he's not usually as intense," Chip spoke up. "Granted he now has to worry about two friends, three if you count scroll-Mal. And I think he does."
"…He's insane," Mal said.
"Flattery will get you nowhere!" Akiho exclaimed as he handed Malinda a tray of assorted food. "Please eat something not strawberry related."
"Okay, okay," Malinda chuckled and took a bite of the sandwich that she grabbed from the tray.
"Thank you!" Akiho grinned as he sat back down.
Akiho sighed and set down whatever article of clothing he'd picked up to evaluate. "Mal, you remember what Ben was like when he was in the betrothal contract with Audrey?"
"Yes," Mal and Malinda nodded at the same time.
Uma snorted. "Malinda makes sense but of course you do Mal. We read about it after all."
"Completely miserable and insisting on living in his office? Yeah I'm pretty sure I remember," Mal nodded.
"I was not—!"
"Yes you were," Benji said, cutting off the protests of his younger self.
"Yeah well he'd been that way for a year. The worst part was he wasn't willing to fight for his own happiness or health. He was a shadow of my best friend. And then you came around and it was like he woke up or something. He wasn't bound to anything with you, he could just be friendly. Seeing that change in Ben, seeing my best friend come back instead of the robot that had been in his place for a year...I'll always appreciate it Mal."
Ben couldn't help but shoot Akiho a smile. Yes he didn't think he was 'miserable' per se but it was still nice to know that his friend had his back. Just like he knew he'd always have Akiho's back.
Mal couldn't help but smile a little at that. On the Isle, the only people who would have cared would have been her allies and there was no guarantee that a fling's allies would have been her allies.
"Oh they would have been because otherwise you wouldn't have been having that fling," Hades said firmly. "It's one thing for me to listen to you having a relationship but I'm not imaging you having a fling. You're like Henry in my mind thank you!"
"Okay dad," Mal nodded.
This...this was different. And she loved it.
Akiho couldn't help but smile as he heard that. He wasn't going to lie, hearing that Ben's girlfriend liked him was nice to hear after a year of having Audrey seemingly hate him.
"You seriously kept this?" Akiho asked, holding up the curry stained dress from the weekend visit to Agrabah. Mal shook her head. That had been an awkward dinner between Aladdin, Jasmine, Emir and his siblings. Thankfully Emir had somehow managed to spill his bowl of curry onto his and Ben's lap causing everyone to laugh and taking the attention off of Mal.
"To this day, I still don't know how he managed to get it on both of our laps," Benji said, shaking his head.
"I'm just that good!" Emir told him.
"Or just that strange," Ashaki countered.
Aziz shook his head before joining in the insanity. "Why not both?"
"Evie swears she can get the stain out but it's been a month since the dinner," Mal chuckled.
"Yeah well if you're serious about keeping it, talk to Queen Ella. She's good at getting stains out of clothing."
Kitty nodded. "Yeah, mom's the best when it comes to getting stains out of clothes. The number of times she's had to get grass stains out of Chad's Tourney gear…"
"Ella...?"
"Cinderella," Akiho elaborated and Mal nodded. Of course, that made sense. Kitty had even said that her mother's name hadn't truly started with a 'c'.
"I am so sorry," Malinda told Cinderella.
Cinderella shook her head and gave Malinda a gentle smile. "Don't be. While it might have been a cruel nickname my step-family gave to me, I know now most people say it with kindness as they associate it as my real name."
Tossing a piece of clothing back on her bed, Mal sighed and looked over at Akiho. "This has grown boring and tiresome and it's a beautiful day. Let's go get my dog and then see about making our way to the Enchanted Lake."
"An excellent idea!" Chip said with a grin. "See if you can't corrupt Benji into adopting that with his paperwork!"
"That sounds like a plan," Akiho grinned and wrapped an arm over Mal's shoulders, the two of them abandoning the mountain of clothing.
"Ah yes, the old ignore a problem until it's time for bed' routine. I know it well," Kitty chuckled.
Malinda shook her head. "I think I just slept with Uma in her bed that night."
Meanwhile, on another mountain, a conversation was about to take place that was many many years in the making. Why hadn't it happened after Persephone left Mal you may ask?
"As a matter of fact, yes, we do ask!" Uma nodded.
Well, after thinking it over, she figured it wouldn't be a good idea for her to yell at the other Gods while still furious about Natalie and the way she had treated Mal.
"Why? Wouldn't that be the perfect time to yell at people when you're already furious?" Harry asked.
"But if you're already furious you might not have a clear enough head to make a cohesive point," Harriet said.
"But angry rambles are so much more fun!"
"Zeus!"
"Persephone? What in the world?" Zeus asked as Persephone stormed into the meeting chambers. "We thought you were on the Isle. It is still your six months after all."
"And Gods usually don't care about the affairs of mortals so it's likely we wouldn't have noticed young Prince Ben sending a car to the Isle," Hera added.
"Yes, I am aware. And it's because of that idiotic agreement that my daughter suffered through who knows how many months of abuse and slander on her own because she didn't want me to worry. Because I couldn't leave. Tell me, Zeus, do you care about your niece at all? Because this is the second time your actions have led to her suffering!"
"Not wasting any time with the Zeus roasting I see," Hades said with a grin. "Gods I wish this was recorded."
Yes he might have been getting along better with his little brother. However that didn't mean he still didn't want to see his wife go after Zeus and bring him down several pegs.
"My actions? I don't—."
"Of course he doesn't," Hades muttered and shook his head.
"Oh he doesn't remember! Maybe this will ring a bell! 'Zeus, we need your help! Maleficent, she just stole a child from Hades! Please!'" Persephone stated, glaring at the King of the Gods.
"In Zeus' defense…he is an idiot," Hades said.
"How is that a defense?!" Zeus exclaimed.
"It's not. But that memory isn't exactly making me feel charitable toward you Zeus."
"You could have said yes. You could have helped then. But you didn't. You decided that an innocent five month old should suffer at the talons of Maleficent rather than swallow your pride and help your brother!"
"Because he likely thought it was karma," Hades muttered under his breath as he glared over at Zeus.
"Now to be fair, he didn't know the child was actually Hades'," Apollo spoke up. "Father thought you were referring to a child of one of Uncle Hades' minions."
Macaria shook her head. "Did that really seem like the best moment to speak up Apollo?"
"I think Uncle Hades' theory of the sun melting brains is true in his case," Herkie said.
"Apollo, until you're a parent, you don't get to partake in this," Persephone stated with a glare.
"But she's not really yours—."
"Oooh…bad move," Emir whispered as both Hades' and Persephone's backs stiffened and it was clear that they were ready to march out of there and tear Apollo a new one even if he hadn't said it yet.
"I. Adopted. Her," Persephone growled out the three words. "She is mine in all but genetics. She will have use of my magic just as she would have use of Hades and some of her Fae powers as well. More than likely she will have our immortality. But even if she didn't, even if she was only my step-daughter, she would still be my daughter."
Uma nodded. "Blood doesn't dictate family on the Isle after all. Celia and I might only share one parent but that doesn't matter. We're sisters, full stop."
"I had a granddaughter?" Demeter gasped.
"That's what you got out of all of that?" Poseidon asked, looking over at Demeter.
"That's right mother," Persephone nodded. "For six years, you had a grandchild that you wanted, that you longed for. However, for five of those years, Mal was basically held hostage by Maleficent since there was nothing either one of us could do. The Isle has no sun, barely any plants can grow there. What good are my powers over vegetation when nothing grows? And yes Hades can flame up to a minimal amount but there would have been the risk to Mal. There is nothing Hades would do that would have put his daughter...that would have put our daughter in harms way!"
"There's one thing you should know about Persephone," Hades said, his voice firm. "She will never do anything to put Mal or Hadie at risk. Or even Jay, Harry, or Uma for that matter. And if one of the kids did get put at risk because of something we did, Steph would never forgive herself."
"Wait, wait, back up," Hermes said, flying over to Persephone. "What do you mean Mal's been suffering now? Everyone knows she's your daughter."
Persephone sighed. "I knew Hermes was one of my favorites for a reason. He's one of the few with sense."
"Well except for my idiot brother apparently," Artemis muttered.
"But as you said, he's an idiot so we're going to ignore him," Uma said, firmly nodding her head.
"Apparently, there've been some...articles written about her in The Gazelle that have cast aspersions about that," Persephone stated. Uma had filled her in about those even if Persephone never had a chance to see the articles.
Malinda shook her head. "Trust me mom, you don't want to see them."
"That would have been enough to earn my ire if it wasn't for the fact that I then learned Mal had a handler that was appointed by King Ben's council. And who do we know who's on that council?"
"Three guesses and if you need the other two, you're Freddy," Uma muttered.
One by one, all the Gods' heads turned to look at Zeus.
Hades shook his head. "Sometimes I think you all share a braincell. Why else would it take you that long to realize Zeus was on the King's council?"
"Well now, can you really blame me? It was just to make the transition easier for Mal, after living on the Isle for so many years. I'm sure Maleficent didn't teach her how to interact with royalty—."
Mal snorted. "You honestly think the Dragon taught me anything other than how to stay out of range when she starts yelling?"
"Again, honest question but can Maleficent swim?" Poseidon asked in a seemingly calm voice.
"Of course Maleficent didn't teach her anything, you arrogant peacock!" Persephone exclaimed.
"You tell him mom!" Mal cheered.
"When I finally got Mal back, she was timid yet suspicious of everything Hades and I did! If we dared to reward her for something or spoil her for her birthday, it was treated like a trap and that we were really going to punish her for being weak! And that was on top of everything Mal had to see as part of a day to day life on the Isle! A life you all deemed perfectly fine!"
Henry couldn't help but nod slightly as he listened to the scroll. He had to agree with Lady Persephone, especially with the death of his mother when he was a child. If the Gods had helped the Isle…if Auradon had helped the Isle…he might still have a mother.
"Persephone, what are you—?"
"Mother, tell me. What is one of Hades' responsibilities?"
"Why to manage the Underworld and judge the souls of those who enter there of course."
"Yeah…and what do you think comes with that?" Mal asked.
"Exactly," Persephone nodded. "Do you know how many children have entered the Underworld in the past twenty years? How many babies? How many mothers? The correct answer is too many. But because they were all villains, you felt free to turn a blind eye."
Cinderella sighed. "A blind eye can never say blind forever…"
"We didn't set up the Isle Persephone."
"No but you were okay with ignoring the Isle for twenty years," Harriet muttered but made sure to keep her voice down. What? She was angry but she wasn't going to anger the Gods.
"You reinforced the barrier," Persephone told Zeus. "And yes, I'm aware that I could have said something but who could I have told? I tried to come to you when Mal was taken and you brushed me aside. Former King Beast and Former Queen Belle were dealing with their own issues at the time."
Belle sighed softly. "Even if we were…that's no excuse for not doing our jobs and looking out for all of Auradon."
Abby got up and wrapped her arms around her mom. Yes her mom had a point about how her parents should have done their jobs but that didn't mean that she couldn't give her mom some comfort.
Persephone took a small breath and then looked back at Zeus. "Know this Zeus. I will not be returning to that Isle for the rest of the six months. My daughter needs me, especially after the months of verbal and emotional abuse laid down at the hands of the handler you saw fit to bestow your niece. My son needs me. And yes, my husband will need me but I'll have the portal and the mind link to keep in contact with him."
Hades nodded firmly. Yes he knew that his scroll-self would likely miss his wife but the kids came first. It was clear that they needed to have someone in their corner and there was no one more likely to be in the kids' corner than Persephone.
"Persephone...we made an agreement…"
"We recognize that the Gods have made an agreement but as it is a stupid ass agreement, Lady Persephone is within her rights to ignore it," Akiho nodded.
"What did I say about angering Gods?" Kristoff sighed.
"That it's only okay to do when destroying a dam built by my racist great-grandfather in order to save the kingdom from being destroyed by the spirits of the Enchanted Forest?"
"Mother, the agreement was made back before I was a mother and with a king who is no longer in power. That would be like honoring a treaty with a king who'd been deposed. King Ben not only saw fit to invite me off the Isle so I could help with the issue but also informed me that I could stay as long as I wanted."
"Heh, I know it's likely not the right time but something Lady Persephone said in the scroll reminds me of this musical that's popular over in Bayou de Orleans," Rachel said.
"Really?" Aziz asked her.
Rachel nodded. "Yeah it goes something like 'We made a treaty with a king who' head is now in a basket, would you like to take it out and ask it? Should we honor our treaty King Louis' head? Do whatever you want I'm super dead!'"
"…Should we worry about how quickly you were able to rattle that off?" Eugene asked. "How often have you seen this play?"
"I can't get tickets dad," Rachel sighed. "I've only listened to the music."
Hmm…I know that look, Ashaki thought as she looked over at her eldest brother. Rachel, I think those tickets are going to find themselves to you.
"Persephone—."
"No. Zeus. She's right," Demeter nodded, much to Persephone and Zeus' shock, and looked at the God.
"I can understand Zeus being shocked but why are you shocked Persephone?" Hera asked. "It's Demeter, you know as well as I that she would be on your side no matter what."
"You remember what all I did to get my daughter back the first time. Now imagine what Persephone might do if you forced her back to the Isle and her daughter was still in need of her? The agreement needs to be renegotiated to one that allows Persephone to move back and forth with ease."
"Now at last we hear some sense!" Hades exclaimed, nodding his head. "Yes! If both of our children are on the Isle then Steph should be able to move back and forth at will!"
"Or crazy idea, we allow Hades off the Isle," Persephone stated.
"I like that idea!" Mal and Hadie said at the same time.
"No! Absolutely not!"
"Gee, I wonder who said that?" Mal asked, rolling her eyes.
"First off, Zeusy, it's not up to you! King Ben's the one who decides who comes off the Isle," Persephone snapped. "And second of all, don't you think you're even by now? You weren't eaten by your father when Hades was, Hades yes kidnapped Hercules and turned him mortal but if he hadn't done that, your grandchildren would have never been born as he would have never met Megara! Furthermore, Hades has spent twenty years on the Isle for his coup of Olympus!"
"Huh…I never thought about that before," Herkie said. "I mean clearly Great-Uncle Hades didn't mean to do that but is it possible to do a bad thing but get a good result?"
"He released the Titans, he waged war against the Gods and potentially caused the deaths of hundreds of mortals by putting the Cyclops on them." Zeus stated. "To let him off now would be allowing him a lighter punishment than any we would have given a mortal who committed the same acts."
"You moved the entrance to the Underworld to the Isle so there was no chance for me to get off the Isle and be with my wife!" Hades exclaimed. "You call that as getting off with a lighter punishment?"
"He is a God," Persephone shot back. "I know he stole from you but considering he's not chained to a rock and having eagles eat his liver every day and having it grow back, I'd think you already went light on his punishment."
"Hey I am fine with not having eagles eat my liver daily so don't be giving him ideas Persephone," Hades said quickly.
Zeus didn't answer. Of course he didn't go as harsh on Hades' punishment as he had Promethus'. Hades was his older brother. No matter what, there would always be that blood connection.
Hades turned and slowly looked over at Zeus. "You sure have a strange way of showing that," he said, his voice low.
But a coup could not go unpunished. Hell he had turned Poseidon and Apollo mortal for a while when they had attempted to overthrow him, back before the creation of Auradon.
"Okay I gotta know that story," Uma said, looking over at Poseidon.
"Maybe during a break," Poseidon promised his granddaughter. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to tell a young Godling but it was breaking the ice between him and Uma.
"I will...think about it," he said, finally breaking his silence and looking at Persephone. "But I would need to talk to King Ben before any final agreement could be made. Releasing Hades from the Isle...that could require a council vote."
"If it requires a council vote then that's one thing but it should at least be considered," Persephone said firmly.
"Should be easy enough, no mortal would risk angering the Gods by voting against them," Aphrodite stated and then smiled over at Persephone.
"I don't know, have you met some of the people on the council?" Akiho asked.
"Remember, this is after Ben cleaned house," Emir told him.
"Oh yeah! Okay everyone's got brains on Ben's council."
"On a happier note though, I understand Mal's had some advancement in her love life?"
Hyllus shook his head. "Why am I not surprised that's what she focused on?"
"Honestly I'm just surprised Uncle Hades isn't muttering about Mal being too young for a love life," Macaria told him.
"Of course you'd know about that," Persephone said, shaking her head. "I'll fill you in on that later. But let's just say Hermes owes you some money."
"Isn't he also the God of Gambling?" Meg asked. "You'd think that would mean he'd know when a bet is a guaranteed loss for him."
"Ha! I knew it!"
"Oh come on!" Hermes exclaimed.
"You really bet against me when it comes to who would say the 'L' word first? I'm the Goddess of Love!"
"Exactly my point!" Meg nodded.
"Speaking of titles, Hermes, you're considered by the mortals a God of Communication. Do you think you could…?"
"I think I know what's about to be asked here," Emir said with a grin. "All I ask is that I be able to watch the destruction and bring popcorn."
"Oh I'm on it," Hermes said with a small smirk as he looked over at Persephone. "The mortals also consider me a God of Mischief after all. I think I can make it clear to those at The Gazelle that Mal's not one to mess with."
"Ooh I like where he's going with this!" Uma grinned. "Can I help?"
"Count me in too!" Harry nodded.
"You honestly thought I wouldn't join in?" Jay asked.
"I'm joining by default!" Hadie insisted.
"Excellent," Persephone grinned, and if one looked closely, they might have been inclined to call it an almost feral grin. But then, Persephone would be well within her rights to have a smile like that.
"Because she is terrifying when mad," Hades said with a small nod. Also very attractive when in her 'I'm going to kill you for hurting my kids' mama bear mode.
Ugh dad!
Seriously, I thought Mal was bad at the link!
Really didn't need to know that dad!
No one messed with her daughter after all.
"I think I know where you get it from," Benji whispered to Malinda as she rubbed her belly.
"Took you this long huh Benny?" Malinda teased.
"Tell me, what punishment did her handler get?" Demeter asked.
"Not enough of one if you ask me," Demeter muttered.
"I...I think you did?" Ashaki said, tilting her head slightly.
"I had originally wanted to turn her into a mint plant. It may be a bit cliche but it's a classic at this point. But Mal didn't want that. She said turning her into anything would just make it seem like anyone from the Isle was too dangerous to be around resulting in the barrier being closed for good. So instead I made it so she could never plant a garden again. Any attempt will just result in dead plants."
"I still think you went too light Aunt Steph," Uma said. "We could take Benny's suggestion and turn her into an underwater plant!"
"It's less than what she deserves," Demeter muttered. Oh sure she wasn't happy that Hades was the father of her grandchildren but she at least had grandchildren.
"Oh Natalie knows not what she awoken," Hera said. "I believe it's common knowledge to never go after Demeter's family."
"Mother, I know that look," Persephone said. "What are you thinking?"
"Probably what every good mother would be thinking if they heard their child or grandchild in this case was threatened," Poseidon said.
"Well dear, you may be from the Isle, at least temporarily...but I am from Olympus. There'd be no aspersions cast toward those from the Isle if a Goddess of Olympus were to intervene on Mal's behalf. Especially if that Goddess was her grandmother."
"…Excellent use of a loophole," Hades said, surprising himself.
"What? You thought you taught Persephone everything she knows about loopholes?" Demeter asked. "I spend enough time around Zeus aka the God of Law, and where there's a law there's likely a loophole…but thank you."
"Mother, keep this up and you might just get to meet Mal. What do you have in mind?"
"Do we?" Mal asked, looking at Malinda.
Malinda shrugged. "In all honesty, I'm not sure. I think she was at Cotillion though I can't remember. Hadie's spent more time with her than we have."
"And nothing like what you did to get Persephone back," Zeus stated. "The other mortals don't deserve to suffer."
Malinda sighed as she looked at Zeus. "I can't believe I'm saying this but thank you. Ben didn't need that stress."
"You're welcome…I think," Zeus said. "It's odd accepting thanks for something you haven't done yet."
"Oh yes, now he cares about the suffering of others," Persephone muttered as she and Demeter walked out of the room, content to start planning their own revenge. After all, one never went up against a God or Goddess of Olympus and expected to come out unscathed now did they?
"Only if they're incredibly dim-witted!" Akiho and Emir said at the same time.
Besides, Persephone had told Natalie that she wouldn't be transformed into anything. To the best of her knowledge, her mother had never transformed a mortal into anything.
"No, I don't believe I have," Demeter shook her head.
But if they happened to transform the world around her...hey, her husband thrived on making deals. Persephone was well equipped at finding a loophole.
"And clearly you come from it honestly," Hades added.
"…Thank you," Demeter said, not used to accepting compliments from her son-in-law.
"Hey it's the truth," Hades shrugged.
"That's the end of the scroll," Shang said. "Who would like to read next?"
Eugene shrugged. "I'll take a turn."
"Sounds good," Shang said with a small nod of his head.
