Here is the next chapter!

This will have a reunion between a daughter and a father, a reunion between a son and a mother, and disownment between a mother and daughter. Many things happen this chapter, but it still feels a little short to me. I have four more days until college starts again and I'm hoping I can get quite a few chapters done by then.

An idea occurred to me while I was writing this. I wasn't sure if I was going to do graduation, but now, with this new idea, I'm definitely going to. It will be a nice twist to Cruella's involvement with the story.

Enjoy.

A week later it was finally time for Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos to head back to the Isle of the Lost. Two of the four were excited to be going home for a short time. One had mutual feeling, since he was going for his friends. The last, after receiving a letter a few months ago, hoped she could last the whole trip without seeing a certain someone.

Mal took a moment give her beloved a hug to show her appreciation. "Thanks for doing this." She paused for a moment when she noticed Lumiere and Cogsworth walking out with more luggage, both who had no idea about the secret. "I mean, letting us go back to talk to the kids."

"I get it," Ben commented before kissing her forehead lovingly. "You are more than welcome. I wish I could have done this sooner for you."

They walked out of the school's front doors and loaded their bags into the car. Evie and the boys said their goodbyes to Ben before settling in their seats in the vehicle.

Mal lingered a little longer, a wistful smile on her face. "I wonder if there'll be a day when we can bring every villain kid over to Auradon."

"There will be," Ben promised with a smile of his own. "We just need to take it one step at a time. For now . . ."

The king trailed off as he magically produced a medium sized box that couldn't have possibly fit in his pocket. "You mentioned a few days ago that you thought your mother was sick," Ben said as he handed over the box. "This has a few bandages in case her back wound opened up, antibiotics if it's infected, and medicine if she has a fever. I also got a bottle of Enchanted Lake water. I thought it may help her since she's a fairy."

Gratefully, Mal took the package with her smile growing even larger. "Why am I so lucky to have a boyfriend like you?" She wondered curiously. "No one else would do something like this for me and my family."

"No one else is your true love," Ben teased before he kissed his beloved's forehead. "I love you, my queen."

"And I love you, my king." Mal kissed his cheek to relay the affection. "I'll be back in a couple days."

One thing you could say about the Isle of the Lost was that it never changed. Mal wasn't sure if she loved or loathed that about the place. When Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay arrived in the middle of the busy market, everything was exactly as they remembered it. The decrepit tenement buildings covered with peeling paint and graffiti on the sides, the lines of wet, ragged laundry that criss-crossed the plaza, the tin sheds, the hay carts, the vendors hawking everything from holey scarves to varnished trinkets. The sky was gloomy, and everyone looked filthy and sad.

Well, except for one person.

"About time you got here!" shouted a man from across the way. "I was afraid something happened to you."

Squealing in delight, Mal ran full-force to the man, who someone managed to stay upright from being tackled in a tight embrace. "Daddy!" she exclaimed happily as she tightened her hold on him. "I missed you!"

Now, not much has changed about Hades since the last time she's seen him over video call. He still had his inhuman strength and his ability to find and manipulate precious metals. The barrier couldn't constrict much of his godly abilities, however, he still continued to age slowly, but surely—which explained why he was able to grow a new mohawk with each passing year. Since Maleficent hasn't been feeling the best to cut his hair, Hades's mohawk was now the largest that it's ever been.

"I hope you missed my cooking," Hades teased as he returned the hug gently. "I've been slaving over a hot stove for two hours, waiting for the four of you to show up."

Mal pulled away slightly so she could look around her father for a certain someone. "Where's Mom?"

"She's . . . feeling a little under the weather, so she stayed at the house." Hades adverted his gaze to Carlos, who was teeming with pent-up energy. "Your mother is with her."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Carlos wondered rhetorically, almost coming off as pushy due to his excitement. "Let's go!"

A short walk later, which involved the four children catching up with the god, they finally arrived at the married couple's home. When they walked in, they noticed Maleficent laying on the couch in the living room while Cruella was checking on the food in the kitchen.

"About time you got back," Cruella chided, though her back was too the group, who was setting their luggage down by the front door. "I was afraid everything was going to be over-cooked!"

Twirling on her heals, Cruella gave a warm smile that wasn't like herself. "Hello, my dearest Carlos."

"Hi Momma," Carlos greeted with a smile of his own while his friends found themselves a seat.

"You only have a couple days here," Cruella reminded as she led her son to the love-seat in the living room. "Tell me everything you can before you have to go."

While Carlos happily played 'catch-up' with his mother, Mal knelt before her ill mother, who tried to smile as best as she could to her daughter. "You look paler, Momma," Mal noted sadly, before showing the box of medical supplies that was given to her an hour before. "I let it slip to Ben that I thought you were sick. He gave me these before I left, hoping it would help you get better."

Maleficent allowed a genuine smile to grace her lips. "How kind of him," she noted softly. "What did he give you?"

"Medicine, bandages, and Enchanted Lake water." Mal pulled out the bottled water, handing it to her mother. "He thought this may be able to help you more since you are a fairy."

"I'll give it a try," Maleficent promised as she weakly took the bottle. "Be sure to thank him for me when you go back to Auradon."

"Dinner's ready!" Hades announced before anyone could get too comfortable. "You four know the rules: serve yourself and wash your own plate. Hopefully my cooking is just as good as the chefs in Auradon."

Honestly, Mal missed her father's cooking so much that she didn't notice that the meal was made out of outdated or spoiled food. She found it just as delicious as any feast in Auradon, though her admiration for her father may have clouded her judgement. Evie, Jay, and Carlos could only eat part of their plate before having to resort to the Auradon food brought by Evie. Hades wasn't offended by the turn of events since he already assumed the children wouldn't be able to consume Isle food.

During their dinner-time conversation, the Core Four discussed their schedule for them being there. In the morning, they would talk to Dr. Facilier about setting up a meeting for children who wanted to know more information about the VK program. Afterwards they would speak with individual teachers so they could influence some students to at least attend the meeting. The Core Four would host the meeting the very same day after school. The next day—which would be the day they would leave—the four would host an assembly just in case they couldn't convince any students the day prior.

"Sounds like you have a lot to do tomorrow," Cruella commented as she dried her hands on a nearby towel, having just finished washing her plate. "I'll be on my way so the four of you can settle in for the night."

Carlos's happy expression quickly changed to appalled. With big, begging, puppy dog eyes, he wondered, "Momma, I can't stay with you?"

It was Cruella's turn to be surprised. "With me?" she repeated incredulously. "Why would you?"

"Because you're my mother," Carlos reminded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I planned on staying with you and just meet my friends at the school in the morning."

"I was going to be staying at my dad's," Jay added to help his friend with the situation. "We all thought it would give us a chance to catch up with our parents."

Cruella's heart warmed as she smiled kindly at her son. "I would love to have you over, my dearest Carlos."

With that situation handled, Maleficent turned her head toward Evie, who had suddenly gone very quiet. "What about you?" the wingless fairy questioned softly. "Are you going to be staying at your mother's castle?"

Sighing softly, Evie admitted sadly, "No. . . Grimhilde wrote to me after Cotillion, saying that as long as I was dating Doug, I couldn't call her my mother. I wrote to her a week ago to tell her I'd be back on the Isle. The next day I received a letter that claimed that she didn't consider me to be her daughter anymore because I couldn't find a prince to marry."

"That's horrible!" Cruella exclaimed angrily. "I'm gonna have to have a talk with that dreadful woman."

"It won't do any good," Evie grumbled as she gazed at her hands in depression. "I lived with her for nearly sixteen years. She's too stubborn and never listens."

"Well, you are more than welcomed to stay here for the visit," Maleficent commented with small hopes that it would cheer up the blue-haired girl. "We already have a cot in Mal's room, just in case the boys were going to stay over. You two can take turns sleeping on it while you're here."

"Carlos and I better get going," Cruella suddenly insisted as she abruptly stood from her chair. "I don't like walking around the Isle at night. I'm sure the four of you remember that's when all the thieves and crooks like to come out."

After Carlos said good-bye to his friends, him and his mother began the stroll to Hell Hall.

"Mom, do you think you can make something for me?" Carlos requested as they walked down the dimly lit street. "My girlfriend's birthday is in a few months and I was wanting to get her necklace."

"I haven't made any kind of jewelry." Cruella informed a little reluctantly. "But I'll see what I can do. For now, I have a couple questions for you. First, how close are you with Evie?"

"She was basically my first friend," Carlos answered with a careless shrug. "She's kind of like a sister."

"That brings me to my second question. . ."

Stopping in the middle of the road, Cruella locked eyes with her son as she asked with all seriousness, "How would you feel about me making her your sister?"