Chapter 3 – A Danger Approaches
"Oh great! Just when my life was getting good!" Hades sighs out after someone very familiar old…friend walks into the room.
"Hades." The man greets, resisting the urge to glare at him.
"What do you want? Your dad sent you to make sure I'm behaving myself?" He groans.
The man shakes his head, coming closer to stand before his throne. "No. I heard you came back and wanted to meet Hayden. Would have come to the party but…"
He's cut off by the barks of several puppies coming closer to the room and a child laughing. Hayden runs into the room, chased by a playful Cerbie who yips at him and tries grabbing the big stick in the boy's hand. Hayden stops suddenly when he sees the visitor, Cerbie bumping into the back of his legs as she stops just as suddenly. "Dad, who's this?" He asks curiously, tilting his head at the man. Cerbie moves to sit at his side, watching the visitor warily, clearly protective of the boy.
"A thorn from my past." Hades sighs out, slumping in his seat and making a margarita appear out of thin air, sipping from it.
"Hey, you tried to kill me and killed the love of my life." The man growls, glaring at him.
Hades scoffs. "Not my problem, Wonder Boy. You made that deal yourself. You even broke it by taking little Nutmeg with you and not staying in her place when you took her soul back from the underworld, bringing her back to life, so really…"
"Wait. Hercules?" Hayden realises.
"Yeah, hey kid." Hercules confirms. "Sorry I missed the party but had to take care of my wife. She would have come but, after what happened last time she was here, she'd rather stay away at all costs." He shrugs. "And she hates your dad for owning her soul and killing her."
"Actually, it was the Fates that killed her. I just didn't stop them." Hades cuts in.
"Same thing." Hercules growls, trying to keep his temper in check so he can talk to and maybe even spend some time with Hayden. "Anyway, she's also in no condition to be travelling, especially not to the underworld.
"Why? Is she sick?" Hayden asks.
Hercules is clearly taken aback by the concern in the boy's voice, knowing he isn't his biggest fan, even though he's not like his dad. Not entirely. "No, actually, it's much better than that." He smiles as he thinks of her. "Meg's pregnant."
"Oh, congratulations." Hayden says, unsure how to react as he doesn't really know the man that well, not well enough to feel truly happy of him becoming a dad (if they haven't got any other kids already that is).
"Took you long enough. For a minute there, I thought you got too distracted by the horse to bother with her." Hades mutters, referring to Pegasus, Hercules' horse. His words are immediately ignored.
"Thanks, kid. Um, this is for you." He says, handing Hayden a small, wrapped box, no bigger than his hand. "For the party I missed yesterday."
"Oh, thanks." Hayden smiles, taking it and Cerbie stands on her hind legs to sniff at the box.
"Yes, thanks, Wonder Boy, just what my boy needs. Another gift from a God to inflate his ever-growing ego." Hades comments, rolling his eyes.
"Well beats you getting one. The size of your ego could trump Mount Everest tenfold." Hayden fires back and Hercules laughs.
"Oh, shut it, Herc!" Hades growls with no real venom to it.
"I like you already, kid." Hercules smiles and then looks at him with excitement and eagerness.
"You want me to open it now, don't you?" Hayden realises and Hercules nods, so he opens the present. He frowns with confusion when lifting out a large golden medal with a bolt of lightning firing down from the clouds engraved in it.
He shows his dad who is surprised at the gift. "You gave him your medallion?"
"It helped me through several challenges in my life, reminding me to stay strong throughout it all. Thought it might help him with his own." Hercules shrugs.
Hayden smiles, realising this gift is more sentimental than it at first seems. "Thanks, Herc."
"No problem. Anything for my little cousin, right?" He gives him a one-armed hug for a second then pulls away almost regretfully. "Listen, I have to go but hope to see you around soon, yeah?" Hercules hopes.
"Please say no. Please say no. Please say no." Hades whispers under his breath.
"Of course!" Hayden grins back at his dad, hearing his hopeful prayer. "We'd love to have you any time, Herc."
"Cool. Well, see ya kid." Hercules smiles and goes to pet the dog but stops when she growls at him in warning.
"Yeah, no, Herc. Cerbie here has already been trained to protect my kids. Anyone else she's allowed to bite." Hades informs with a dark smirk.
"Why am I not surprised?" Hercules sighs before finally leaving the underworld.
Descendants
With Cerbie around, Hayden finds life much more interesting in the underworld and no longer so lonely. His hair no longer flares with fire of random deep blue sadness but seems much more yellow half the time he's with the hound which is all of the time. He doesn't get a single urge to hurt himself like before, almost as if his dad had planned this to help him. The pup even sleeps on his bed, guarding him even in his sleep. However, that changes the day he's reading a book on soul reading (to know the person's deepest and most desperate desires from a single glance). Cerbie's playful growl alerts him and he sighs when he sees her at the end of his bed chewing on the TV remote. "Cerbie, that is not a chew toy. This is a chew toy." He lightly scolds, holding up the bone of arm, or what used to be an arm when its old owner was alive. Cerbie ignores him and the TV flickers through channels as she chews on the remote, forcing him to come over and pry it from her. She refuses to let go and her middle head holds it with a light growl, tail wagging playfully. "Cerbie, release, release." He says and then becomes firmer. "Now." She obeys at the sharper tone and lets out a huff, settling down with all six, large puppy dog eyes staring up at him. "Stop it. You know you aren't allowed to chew on things. Not unless they're your bones. You understand English, and Greek, perfectly well so don't play dumb either, Cerbie." He scolds and she lets out a light growl of annoyance. He shakes his head and raises the remote to turn off the TV but freezes at what channel it's on.
"Six months ago, no one thought the wrong side of the bridge would last. Mal must be counting the days until the Royal Cotillion, when she will officially become a Lady of the Court." The reporter says and he doesn't need to check his mirror to know his hair has gone such a deep blue that it's nearly black at the sight of his sister.
"I miss her." He sighs and Cerbie whines, moving over to lie on his lap comfortingly. Without thinking, he runs a hand through her fur. "I miss them all." He pulls back a sleeve to see a faint red mark of a healing scar on the inside of his wrist. "I keep hurting myself to try and ignore the pain from it. It's the only thing that helps." He confesses and realises something. "She…she's stressed. It's like she's about to blow up at any moment. I've been ignoring it until now but…" He turns off the TV and stands before he realises what he's doing. He grabs his mirror, pocketing it, and pulls on the medallion from Hercules before leaving the room. Cerbie follows him and they walk down the curving stairs but stills when he sees the throne room. It's empty and he moves forwards, heading to the door to leave, the pup at his feet.
"Where you going?" Hades' calls and Hayden stops, letting out a sigh of defeat and doesn't move as he lets his dad move over to him from the shadows.
"I have to go dad. My sister she's…" Hayden begins, hoping his nerve won't leave him any time soon.
"I know. I watch the news. I'm surprised Mali hasn't exploded by now." Hades comments, standing in front of him. "I hate her hair. Doesn't suit her. Neither do those dresses she wears." He shivers in horror at the memory of all the times he's seen his daughter on the news, putting on a show of being someone she's not.
Hayden ignores the joke, too worried to bother with their usual banter. "I have to do this, dad. Even if it means I have to face all that hate in Auradon again and…"
"She's not in Auradon." He interrupts.
"What?" Hayden's confused.
"I just got news that she's on the island right now." His dad reveals.
Hayden frowns, even more confused. "She's on the island? Why? What for?"
"Wanted a haircut I think." Hades smirks though his words are true. He then becomes serious. "Son, if you want to go up there then I won't stop you. Just know, your powers won't fully work there so long as you're behind the barrier. The gateway to the underworld allows them to leak through but only to a small extent like poking a hole in a balloon without letting it pop. Only a small bit of air seeps through despite how much it really holds. Same goes for your powers. You're only half Hades though, so your powers are even more limited now behind it. Some parts you can do but most of the bigger stuff, frying someone, soul taming, death sensing, all that won't work. You would only be able to do the little things."
"And your point with this is?" Hayden asks, just wishing he'd stop beating around the bush and tell him already.
"Be careful with who you bluff about how much power you have up there as they might figure it out pretty quick that you don't have your full powers. Even Cerbie'll be weaker there. She'll also have one head instead of three, though that goes for anywhere but the underworld to be honest." A pause. "My point is be careful. Both of you." He adds, eyes flickering to Cerbie who nods all three heads in understanding.
"Okay dad. I promise I'll be careful." Hayden vows and is relieved when his dad moves out his way, allowing them to leave.
"Try not to get killed. I'd rather not have to deal with the mess of bringing you back afterwards. There'd be paperwork." His request causes Hayden to shake his head with a smile before leaving. Hades watches them leave, a saddened look on his face as worry takes over. No one had better hurt his boy, if they do, well, they've heard of the wrath of Zeus. Now they'll find out just how bad the wrath of Hades can be.