Her leg was bouncing anxiously, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.
Pandora was sat at Evie's dining room table, Herkie sitting across from her. After talking with Jay on the phone, they'd all agreed to meet at Evie's cottage. The others had to make a couple stops, like dropping Ben off at the castle. Unfortunately, the big welcoming party for the new villain kids that had been scheduled in front of the school was seemingly cancelled in light of Hades' attempted escape.
Griffin was excited to see Herkie again, but after realizing how distraught Pandora was the loyal dog sat right next to her and refused to leave her side.
She wasn't sure how long they sat at the table waiting for the others, but finally the double doors that lead onto the patio opened and a small crowd seemingly spilled into the living room. Pandora and Herkie both stood from their seats to greet the others.
Evie lead the way in, followed by her friends and the four new kids. Dude scampered right up to Carlos, but then seemed excited to have new people to give him attention.
Jay greeted Herkie, looking somewhat surprised to see him. Pandora just sort of watched everyone in a daze for a few moments, still a little out of it after the incident earlier. The four younger kids were looking around the house in awe, though the two smaller kids sort of hid behind Evie and Carlos as they entered the house.
"Pandora." Evie greeted with a warm smile. "This is Dizzy and Celia." she introduced her to the two young girls, who looked to be maybe eleven or twelve years old. Dizzy had fair skin and brown hair with different colored streaks in it, and was wearing purple glasses and a green dress. Celia had dark skin and curly, reddish-brown hair with a small hat atop her head, and was wearing a crazy, colorful purple leather jacket. "Celia, Dizzy, this is Pandora and Herkie."
"Welcome to Auradon." Pandora told them, trying to smile warmly despite how out of it she still felt.
"And these are the Smee twins, Squeaky and Squirmy." Evie added, glancing down at the two boys still partially hidden behind her and Carlos.
Pandora smiled a little more genuinely. The two boys were hard to tell apart at first glance. Both had fair skin with big black glasses, long white-blonde hair under a red beanie, and were wearing denim jackets over tattered blue and white striped shirts. They were both adorable.
"It's nice to meet you both, too." Pandora told them warmly.
They smiled shyly, one ducking behind Carlos while the other ducked behind Evie.
Evie met Pandora's eyes before exchanging a glance with Jay.
"Well, I'll help get you guys settled in your rooms." Evie told the four younger kids.
"I moved my bag to your room, until later and we can figure everything out." Pandora told Evie, who agreed before leading the younger kids toward the stairs in the next room.
The remaining people in the room took seats around the dining room table. Pandora sat next to Herkie, Jay and Carlos across from them, and Mal sitting at the head of the table.
Jay glanced from Herkie to Pandora and back again. "I take it Pandora filled you in?"
Herkie nodded. "She gave me a basic rundown of everything, like the dreams and powers and stuff."
Jay nodded and glanced at Pandora again, noting she was staring blankly down at the table.
"So," Mal started, sitting straight in her chair, "Jay said you think the…person on the Isle, the one you may be connected to somehow, is Hades. What makes you think that?"
Pandora swallowed the lump in her throat. "Well,…when he tried to escape, and while you two were fighting…I kept seeing things from his perspective."
"What do you mean?" Carlos asked, leaning forward curiously.
Pandora opened and closed her mouth wordlessly for a few moments, trying to figure out how to describe what happened. "In a way, it was almost like the dreams, except I was awake. I was seeing things from someone else's perspective, and I was feeling emotions that weren't mine. And my vision kept…sort of flickering. One second I was looking up at the TV screen on the castle, the next I could see you guys and the back of the limo right in front of me."
"As if you were seeing things from Hades' perspective." Mal summed up, causing Pandora to nod. "And you're sure it was Hades and not someone else."
Pandora shook her head. "It had to have been him. I-he-whatever…I pushed through a crowd of people, and managed to thrust my fist through the hole in the barrier. And I could see myself, or Hades or whatever, fighting all of you."
"And you could feel his emotions?" Carlos asked, sounding partially disturbed.
Pandora nodded slowly, uncertain as she thought back on all the emotions she'd felt. Some of them made sense, but some of them didn't. "He felt angry, and desperate to escape. I felt the tingle of the barrier's magic around my wrist." she added, looking down at her own hand.
"Okay," Mal interrupted before Pandora could go any farther, "can you think of any reason you'd have this kind of connection to Hades?"
Pandora shook her head desperately. "No, nothing. I mean, he's a God, like my mother is a Goddess, but that's it."
"If anything, shouldn't it be me that has the connection?" Herkie asked. "I mean, Hades is the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. So he's my Great Uncle or whatever. Or my cousin Pavati, Poseidon's daughter. But Pandora has no connection to Hades like that."
Mal turned calculating green eyes on Pandora. "Are you sure?" she asked dubiously.
Pandora blinked. "What are you saying?" she demanded.
Mal shrugged. "There has to be something connecting you to Hades for this to happen. Why else would you be having dreams from his point of view, and feeling his emotions?"
"What kind of connection could I possibly have to Hades?" Pandora demanded.
Mal pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. "Well,…you mentioned Zeus took your mother in when she was pregnant…"
Pandora's brows furrowed. "So, what, you think Zeus had an affair with my mother and took us in?" she demanded in disgust. Herkie also grimaced in disgust, thinking of his grandfather doing something like that.
Mal sighed impatiently, rolling her eyes. "No. For crying out loud, you call Zeus your uncle! You call Herkie your cousin. You've never wondered about that?"
There was silence for several moments as those thoughts soaked into Pandora's mind, and what they could possibly mean. Of course she'd wondered why she called Zeus and Hera, and Hercules and Meg her aunts and uncles, but never in a million years could she have guessed what Mal was implying. It was impossible! Right?
"Hades? My father?" Pandora whispered, her voice hoarse. "That's…No, that's not possible."
"She's got a point." Jay agreed, jumping into the conversation. "I mean, the Isle was established in, what,-?"
"1995." Carlos answered promptly.
"Exactly." Jay agreed. "And you were probably born, what '98, '99?"
"Late 1998." Pandora answered.
Jay nodded. "Exactly. And there was no way for Hades to get off the Isle back then, and there still isn't now. So, it would be impossible for Hades to be Pandora's father."
"I think we've proven the last few years that impossible isn't the right word to use." Mal pointed out. "Difficult, maybe, but I wouldn't say impossible."
"If Hades got off the Isle, why would he be there today?" Carlos pointed out. "He obviously wants off the Isle. He wouldn't go back."
"And I doubt Pandora's mom would willingly go to the Isle, even if she was able to get there in the first place." Jay pointed out.
Pandora watched them talk silently, unsure how to feel or what to say. She simply couldn't wrap her head around this conversation. She was pulled from her thoughts by an elbow bumping hers. She looked over to see Herkie watching her thoughtfully, his eyes scanning every inch of her face and head.
"What?" she asked quietly.
Herkie cleared his throat quietly. "Your hair?"
Pandora blinked at him, not comprehending what he was getting at. She lifted a hand and touched the top of her head, wondering if something was wrong with her hair while she looked at Herkie in confusion.
Herkie sighed and glanced at the others, making Pandora realize they'd stopped talking to pay attention to what the two were talking about. Herkie turned his attention back to Pandora. "Persephone's been making you dye your hair your whole life, Dora."
Pandora nodded slowly, still unsure where he was going with this and what it had to do with the Isle.
Herkie sighed again, rolling his eyes impatiently. "Dora, what color is your hair?"
Pandora opened her mouth, but didn't answer at first. She now knew where he was going, but still didn't know what it had to do with this conversation.
"I don't know." she answered.
"You don't know?" Jay asked incredulously. "How do you not know what color your hair is? Did you hit your head?"
Pandora sighed, turning to face the rest of the teenagers. "No. I don't know what my natural hair color is. My mom has made me dye my hair blonde my whole life."
Carlos and Jay gaped at her while Mal's green eyes went to Pandora's hair.
"Do you…want to know what color your hair is?" Mal asked, her green eyes meeting Pandora's blue.
Pandora thought about it for a moment. She'd always wanted to know. Her roots had never been allowed to grow long enough to get a good look at what color they were. So, she slowly nodded in answer.
Mal stared into her eyes for a long moment, probably checking for signs of doubt. Finally, she nodded and pointed her hand at Pandora's head, causing the blonde to hold her breath nervously.
"Beware, forswear, reveal her true hair."
Pandora closed her eyes, feeling her scalp tingle with magic for a few moments before everything felt normal. She hesitantly opened her eyes and glanced around. Mal was staring blankly at her hair, but the three boys were openly gaping at her, making her nervous.
"Okay, the kids are getting settled into their rooms, and-" Evie came flouncing into the room, stopping dead when her eyes landed on Pandora. She stared in shock for several moments. "What did I miss?" she finally asked.
"What?" Pandora finally asked nervously, glancing around at everyone. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"One sec." Jay got up and hurried out of the room toward the kitchen while Mal briefly explained to Evie what they'd discussed and what spell she'd used on Pandora's hair.
Jay returned a moment later and hesitantly handed her a handheld mirror. Pandora swallowed nervously before looking at her reflection.
She almost dropped the mirror.
Her hair was blue.
AN: I probably could have combined this chapter with the next one, but this seemed like a good stopping place.
But I'll make a deal with you! Since it's a holiday weekend, I will post the next chapter on Monday if I can get at least three reviews by then. Just something simple like what you liked about the chapter or the story in general.
Thanks!