Chapter Twenty One
A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek myths.
Hard to believe another chapter is for the record books! Honestly it feels like this fic writes itself sometimes with how quickly the chapters are being written!
Hope you all had a good Halloween if you celebrate!
OceanBlueSeaEyes: Yep, Mal's here! And soon she'll be stealing hearts left and right! :D
danifan3000: Oh…well definitely don't want to create a new universe! Since Hades and Steph are a team though chances are Mal'll be bottle fed to allow Hades to help with feedings.
AmethystDragon14: Yay! Oh thank you! Trust me, I'm kinda the same way, I can't believe we're on chapter twenty already! And yep, Mal is here and gave her mom a nice easy labor!
61394: Thank you! :D
Isabelly Silva Sousa: Oh thank you! :D
Heroesweardogtagss209: Oh thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter! :D
SaikoGoyangi: Yep Mal's here! And I'm so glad you like her name!
twilightgirl587: Yep, Persephone has a sister in the myths :D And ichor is what the Gods call their blood! :D
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
The end of the day came sooner than either parent wanted. They knew it was what was agreed to but having Hades there at that moment, having him spend time with his newborn daughter…Persephone never wanted this moment to end.
But end it had to. And unfortunately she didn't even have the 'pregnant woman/Goddess' card to use to try to give Hades more time.
"I'll be okay," Hades said, gently kissing the top of Persephone's head as Zeus and Poseidon stood in the doorway, presumably to escort their brother back to the portal but Persephone wasn't entirely sure. "I'll see the two of you soon enough."
"I wish you could stay," Persephone whispered.
"I do too," Hades sighed. "But it's not worth making life difficult for you or Malinoë while you're here in Auradon and Olympus. I want to stay by your side but what if doing so means that Zeus would shut the portal completely? Or worse make it so you couldn't come to the Isle at all? You know how petty he can be."
Persephone chuckled softly at that. She did know how petty Zeus could be, everyone knew how petty he could be. That didn't change the fact that she wished Hades could stay there with her. At least they could make it longer than one day so that he could have a chance to bond with his daughter.
"Hey, it'll be okay," Hades said, as if knowing what his wife was thinking. "You know if I don't go back to the Underworld, who knows what it'll be like when I do return."
"James wouldn't let the kids burn down the Underworld."
"I'm referring to Pain and Panic."
Persephone chuckled once more and Hades gently kissed her and Malinoë on the head one last time before making his way out of the room.
"Hades…" Zeus said, his voice soft as Hades entered the hallway.
"It…it'll be okay," Poseidon tried to comfort his older brother but Hades just met both of them with a glare.
"In case it escaped either one of you, I am not in the mood to entertain your words right now," Hades said, keeping his voice down as to not startle his baby girl in the other room. "As…grateful as I am for this time, there shouldn't have even been a time limit. The next time I'll get to see my daughter, I'll be a stranger to her."
"Hades—."
"No Zeus," Hades said, cutting off whatever his younger brother was going to say with a glare and a stern finger in his direction. "I get it. It's your chance to enact your revenge against me for the whole coup and taking Hercules. Cute. Am I supposed to feel beholden to you for providing me something I should have had the chance to have in the first place? I get it, I made you miss out on your child's life. So now you make me miss months of my child's life. Never mind the fact that I'm already stuck on an Island prison and can only see my wife for six months out of the year, this is just the icing on the cake for you isn't it? Hades finally getting his sweet karma. I hope you enjoy it because let me tell you…you'll be the only one."
"Hades…" Poseidon said, his voice a near whisper but Hades just shook his head.
"Now, if you'll both excuse me, I'm going back to my hell on Earth known as the Isle for the remainder of my six months missing my wife and child while you two wonder why I don't want to talk to you. Poseidon, the only reason why I'm not jumping down your throat like I am our little brother is because I know your family's going through a lot right now and you don't need me adding to it."
"…Appreciated Hades," Poseidon said softly.
Hades sighed. "Elle's life thread is strong, I checked on it before I left to come here. Tell Ariel, don't tell Ariel. It's up to you. I thought you should know because…well even though the Isle has somewhat decent food, you supplement our food with your fish friends and it's not unnoticed brother."
Hades gently patted Poseidon on the shoulder before giving Zeus one last glare and walking off, leaving his two younger brothers to wince as they knew they deserved that.
"He was right you know. This was just cruel," Poseidon whispered as he looked over at Zeus.
"It's not like I can do anything about it now Poseidon. I had to sit with King Eric, Demeter, and Persephone just to allow an approval for Hades to have this one day," Zeus sighed as he looked at his older brother. "I did the best I could do."
Poseidon sighed. "I know you think that Zeus but…your best wasn't good enough in this case and this makes me wonder if you even did that. Don't you think this feud between you and Hades has gone on long enough?"
"He stole my son from me Poseidon!"
"And now you've stolen time with his daughter that Hades can never get back, Zeus. You're even if you ask me. Think about it this way. I know Hercules has given you two grandchildren. In fact, you haven't stopped talking about your most recent grandchild, so how would you feel if you were told that there was a time limit on how long you could see them?"
At Zeus' silence, Poseidon continued to speak. "Because I'd like to point out, Zeus, that I also have a grandchild on the Isle who I will never get to see. I'll admit I'm jealous of Demeter being able to at least see her grandchild half of the year and I'm grateful for Persephone bringing those pictures. However, you don't hear me complaining about it every chance I get. You, on the other hand, do."
"Now see here Poseidon, your daughter made her choices—."
"Leave Ursula out of this, Zeus," Poseidon said, narrowing his eyes at his younger brother. "Yes, she made her choices but her child didn't. Do you know how much I'd like to be able to hold my granddaughter like I've been able to do with all my other grandchildren? Yet you complain that being able to see or at least speak to your son and his family every week isn't enough time. You could have easily turned Megara into a Goddess after Hercules saved us all from Hades' coup, and then Hercules would have been up here with Megara and would have been here on Olympus with you and Hera. But you didn't. Instead, you allowed Hercules to go back to live with the mortals. So really you have no room to complain."
"And you two couldn't think to have this conversation anywhere other than in front of Persephone's door?" Demeter's voice asked from behind Zeus. "Honestly, she just gave birth, she doesn't need to hear Zeus getting chewed out. Not that he doesn't deserve it mind you, but if you want to give him a talking to Poseidon, take it somewhere else. Because I for one would like to meet my granddaughter if you don't mind. Not to mention see how my daughter's doing after giving birth."
"Of course Demeter, you're right. There're more important things," Poseidon said as he stepped out of the way to allow her the chance to walk past him. "I'll admit, I was a little surprised that you weren't in the room with Persephone."
Demeter sighed as she looked at Poseidon. "I wanted to be but Persephone wanted Hades with her instead. Normally, I would have asked to join as well but…the fact remains that he has to go back to the Isle after this and I might not care for him but I'm not a monster. He should be able to see his daughter….he deserved as much time as he could get. Like I said, I might not like him for taking my daughter from me but I'm not so cruel as to not acknowledge that."
Poseidon nodded slightly as Demeter headed into Persephone's room. There was no denying the fact that she was right. Again.
Meanwhile, in Persephone's room, the new mom looked up and gave her mother a small smile upon seeing her. "Hello mother. Ready to meet your granddaughter?"
Demeter nodded and happily hurried over to see the little bundle wrapped in a blue blanket.
"I see I don't even warrant a 'hello'," Eileithyia chuckled as she tidied up in her little corner.
"Oh! I'm so sorry Eileithyia, I—."
"Mother, I was teasing," Eileithyia said, shaking her head. "I didn't want to leave Persephone alone if she needed something, but with you here I hope it's alright if I take my leave for a bit. I'll be back of course—."
"Eileithyia, don't be ridiculous. Of course you can leave," Demeter said. "You just delivered your sister's child, it would stand to reason you'd need to get changed and maybe even shower."
"Appreciated mother," Eileithyia nodded before giving Persephone a side hug and giving her new niece a smile. "Let me know if anyone needs anything and I'll be back shortly."
"Take your time Eileithyia," Demeter called as Eileithyia began to make her way out of the room. "At least allow me the chance to visit with my granddaughter. Hello Malinoë."
Malinoë cooed slightly and tilted her head as if she was wondering who Demeter was.
"You remembered that was the name we'd decided to with?" Persephone asked.
"Persephone I may be eons old but my memory isn't that horrible," Demeter told her daughter. "I can remember a conversation from a couple of months ago."
Persephone flushed slightly, that made sense when her mother said it like that. "Apologies mother—."
"Oh hush, I know you meant no offense," Demeter said. "Not to mention you just had a baby. You have more pressing matters on your mind than a conversation with your mother. But how is little Malinoë Fleur doing?"
"She's doing well from what I can tell," Persephone said as Malinoë cooed once more. "She was certainly an easy delivery from what Lieth told me."
"…Leith?"
"I can't very well call Eileithyia 'Eile' now that Ariel has a daughter named Elle, now can I mother? It runs the risk for confusion as they're so similar. But if you don't like it, I'll find something else."
"Persephone, you know that when it comes to a nickname, the only person who's opinion matters is the person getting the nickname. And your sister would love whatever you called her…but perhaps a nickname that Malinoë can pronounce more easily when she's older would be best."
"You two talking about me?"
"Eileithyia! You were supposed to be taking a shower," Demeter said, shaking her head as her older daughter walked into Persephone's room.
Eileithyia raised an eyebrow. "I did. I just happened to take a rather quick shower as to prevent Apollo from being the only one around if Persephone needed any assistance medically. Honestly, the only title he deserves is 'God of Poetry' and maybe 'God of Music' if I'm feeling generous."
"You know I can hear you even when you're down the hall right?"
"Of course, and hush. You really want to be hollering like that when there's a newborn?" Eileithyia asked, going to the door to call down the hall. "Honestly Apollo, you're the God of Logic. Use some!"
Malinoë giggled softly and Persephone shook her head.
"Well at least I know now she won't be frightened by Hades yelling at Pain and Panic when they eventually mess something up," she said. "Seems she got that from Hades' side of the family."
"Oh really?" Eileithyia asked as she walked back over to Persephone. "And you don't think it's at all from you? Lady Invented the Mint Plant?"
"…That doesn't mean she got it from our side of the family."
"No, but our side of the family helps when it comes to rolling with chaos. Our mother invented a season, it doesn't get more chaotic than that," Eileithyia said, shaking her head. "Honestly I almost have to wonder what chaos little Mali here will bring to the table. She'll have a lot to do in order to beat you or mother."
Persephone sighed and then looked over at her sister. "Why do you call her that?"
"Mother? Because she's our mother—?"
"No. Malinoë. You called her 'Mali' when she was born as well," Persephone explained and Eileithyia nodded.
"You really thought she wouldn't be given a nickname?"
"I mean…mother still calls me Persephone while most people I'm friendly with call me 'Steph'."
"Steph, our mother is eons old. I'm pretty sure it would be more surprising if she did call you 'Steph'."
"You both are aware that I haven't left the room, correct?" Demeter asked and both Goddesses jumped slightly causing Malinoë to giggle again.
Persephone shook her head. "You're going to be a little agent of chaos aren't you? Remind me to keep Malinoë away from Eris while we're here, will you?"
"When was the last time Eris willingly joined us for anything?" Eileithyia asked.
"…Okay that's a good point. Then remind me to keep my daughter away from Hermes. At least when she's old enough to walk. The last thing we need are two troublemakers on Olympus," Persephone said.
Eileithyia chuckled. "Persephone, you know full well that there's no denying a troublemaker. Isn't that right Mali?"
Malinoë cooed in response and Persephone couldn't help but smile. Yes she missed her husband but it wouldn't be too long before she saw him again. And it was clear now that she would have the support of her family during the times when she wouldn't have Hades with her.
"I can't get over her purple hair," Demeter said though it was clear that there was no judgement in the older Goddess' voice. Only amazement, as if she was awed by every aspect about her granddaughter.
"That must come from Hades' side," Persephone said softly as she gently brushed some of the wisps of purple locks out of her daughter's face. "Probably a recessive gene since Hades has blue hair. I'm just glad she's healthy. From all the time I spent on the Isle…and…and Ariel's scare as well…"
"Hey, hey," Eileithyia said, gently resting a hand on Persephone's shoulder. "There was no reason to think Mali here wouldn't be healthy. You had scans with the Baymax robot as often as you feasibly could, thanks in part to our mother's slight overprotectiveness. I don't know why Elle's sirenomelia wasn't caught by the Baymax robot or even by any scans by the mortal doctors but you had nothing to worry about Steph. I can promise you that."
Persephone gave her sister a grateful smile as Malinoë began to fuss slightly.
"And I believe that is my niece declaring that she is hungry," Eileithyia said with a small chuckle and shook her head. "I'll give you two some privacy."
"I'll join you Eileithyia," Demeter said before giving Persephone a small smile. "Let me know if there's anything you need and of course I'll be back shortly to check on you."
Persephone nodded. "Thank you mother…I appreciate it."
"Of course dear," Demeter said, the smile still on her lips as she turned to leave. Eileithyia gently gave Persephone's shoulder a small squeeze before making her way out as well.
Persephone sighed before giving her daughter a smile. "Okay Malinoë, let's get you some food. Do you like the sound of that?"
The happy coos coming from Malinoë were all the answer Persephone needed.