Chapter Twenty Eight

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!

Guys, we're ten reviews away from 300! Honestly I know I likely sound like a broken record and I apologize but thank you so much for your continued support! It means the world to me!

Tracie Adams: So glad you liked the chapter!

61394: So true, though he'd probably smite EQ more than Shenzi since Shenzi was just trying to get her kids back.

AmethystDragon14: Yay! How can you not love Ben? He wouldn't stand by and go to a party if Mal couldn't go either! And yeah, good for Evie! She should have her own friends too!

CrystalKaouri: Oh I'm so glad you liked the chapter! Of course Ben would be the key, why wouldn't he be? As for Maleficent…well it's unknown at this point. I should hope she wouldn't try to hurt the kids but who knows?

OceanBlueSeaEyes: That is a question for the ages (especially since the hyena cubs being in the baddie bags is canon in the books)

danifan3000: Who knows what EQ is thinking? After all, she's the woman who thought taking hyena cubs for their mother was a good idea.

Flaresouth: Yeah, it's probably starting off neutral more than anything else but at least Mal gets to go to the party!

Hope you guys like the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

Mal sighed softly as she walked through Demeter's field. She didn't mind getting to leave the Isle (okay maybe that wasn't one hundred percent true but she'd fake it for Steph and Benny), but she missed Uma and Harry.

Ben was great at times but ever since they got back to Auradon, he hadn't left Belle's side. Mal was almost positive that the only times Ben left his mother's side was to either be with his sister, Chip, or Emir and Akiho.

Thankfully those last two were so insane that they insisted on including Mal in their mayhem as well. It was like having her own Harry and Uma in a way, even if it did make her miss her friends even more.

"Mal?" Persephone's voice broke through Mal's thoughts and the purple haired girl looked over at the Goddess. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Mal nodded with a small sigh.

Persephone couldn't help but give a small smile as she knew what Mal wasn't saying. After all, you could take the girl out of the Isle but you couldn't take the Isle out of the girl.

"I was thinking we could go do something fun today," Persephone said. "What do you think?"

"Like what?"

"Like…maybe see about getting you a pet?" Persephone offered. It hadn't escaped her notice that Mal had been the only person to attend Evie's party without a pet of her own. Yes, Prince Ben had come home without a pet as well but he had still received one.

And yes Persephone was aware that the invitation was last minute but still! She finally had the chance to spoil her step-daughter…spoil her daughter and she wasn't going to let the opportunity slip through her fingers!

"…Really?" Mal asked, looking excited despite her best attempt to hide it.

"Of course," Persephone nodded. If she was honest, she needed a break from all the Gods. Especially after the half hour rant Artemis had given her regarding a dimwitted man on the Isle stealing her idea to send chickens to the Isle to help increase the meat the VKs had available to them.

The fact that Gaston even had the brains to try to bribe the guards was one thing, the fact that the guards of the food barge actually went for it and provided chickens so that the Gastons could have eggs was another thing all together. Then again, Persephone had definitely dealt with odder things on the Isle.

"Can…can we go now?" Mal asked, pulling Persephone out of her thoughts.

"I wouldn't have offered if we couldn't go right now," Persephone told her. "Come on, adventure awaits us!"

Mal couldn't help the small giggle that slipped out of her lips but Persephone didn't mind. She loved the fact that she could provide Mal a chance to be a regular kid and not just a pawn or plaything on the Isle.

"Alright Mal, I just have one rule for this pet," Persephone said.

"You…you do?"

"I do," Persephone nodded. "You have free rein to pick whatever you choose but they have to be sturdy enough to survive the Isle. I want you to be able to have your pet with you no matter where you are."

"Wait…I get to bring the pet to the Isle with me?" Mal asked, more than a little taken aback. She thought for sure she'd have to leave the pet with Demeter or one of the other Gods when they went back to the Isle.

Persephone gave her a small smile. "Harry and Uma get to keep their pets, and I know Queen Belle is looking for a pet for Prince Ben to replace the hyena cub from his baddie bag and she has the same stipulation as the one I listed, so why shouldn't you be able to keep your pet the whole year?"

Before Mal knew what she was doing, she found herself launching herself at Persephone and giving her the biggest hug she could. In all honesty, she had been worried about what the pet would do for six months and if they'd be with someone who'd treat them right while she was back on the Isle. Now she didn't need to think about that.

Realizing what she'd done, Mal flushed slightly and broke from the hug. "Um…we can just forget that happened," she said softly.

"As you wish Mal," Persephone nodded, giving the younger girl a kind smile. "Now come on, grab your stuff! We've got a big day of pet finding ahead of us!"

Mal grinned and nodded, quickly rushing into the house to grab her bag before meeting Persephone by the designated teleportation spot. She frowned, though, when she saw Persephone shake her head.

"We'll be driving today Mal," the Goddess said, noticing the look on Mal's face.

"But…why?"

Persephone smiled as she looked at Mal. "Do you remember how you felt the first time you teleported? We wouldn't want to put an innocent animal through that, at least not on the first day they're meeting us. We want them to trust us after all."

Mal nodded slightly; that made sense now that she thought about it. Quickly getting into the car, Mal couldn't help but wonder what kind of a pet she'd get. They had to be something that would be easy to transport so the idea of eels was out of the question—even if Mal was sure her Uncle Poseidon would help her out with that. Jay, Jafar's son, had supposedly been given eels in his baddie bag and ended up having to give them to Uma because of all the work they needed.

Oh that's another thing, they have to get along with Uma and Harry's cats, Mal thought with an inward nod.

Uma and Harry's kitties were the highlight of the Underworld when they came to visit. Uma's girl, Oceania, was nearly all white with a few black parts; mainly on her tail and paws. Whereas Harry's boy, Patch, had been named purely for the black and white patches all over the kitten's body.

Mal was pretty sure they were all lucky that DeVil hadn't gotten the baddie bag with Patch on it otherwise Cruella might have started raving about Dalmatians. But Patch had lucked out and ended up with Harry, and it was clear that having Patch had helped Harry even if he didn't say so.

At the very least, it was always a delight to find Patch curled up in Harry's hat when the three of them were up in the clubhouse…or rather the four of them now. Uma and Mal had talked and Uma decided that Ben should know where the clubhouse was. He'd proven himself multiple times and the fact that he seemed to defer to orders despite being the next in line for the throne of Auradon gave him points in Uma's book.

Plus, as Harry said, Ben liked cats. Anyone who liked cats could clearly be trusted and he'd hook anyone who said otherwise.

"Alright, we're here," Persephone said as they parked in front of the local animal shelter. Mal was honestly surprised Auradon had an animal shelter but she wasn't going to complain. It meant that she'd be getting a pet who was like her; someone used to 'prison' so to speak.

"Welcome Lady Persephone," the employee at the front desk said as they walked in.

"Hello," Lady Persephone said. "I'm here to see about getting a pet for my daughter here?"

"Of course, right this way," the employee nodded and opened the door to the back room. "Please let us know if you have any questions."

"We certainly will," Persephone nodded as she and Mal made their way through the kennel. Mal looked all over but she couldn't seem to find a pet that screamed that it was her's. If that even made sense. She saw lots of happy faces and dogs wagging their tails as she passed but…

"Who're you?" Mal asked softly as she stopped in front of one of the kennels. In the back of the kennel was a puppy who looked almost under fed and certainly looked sad. But at the sound of Mal's voice, he perked up slightly and lifted his…heads?

"For everyones' sake here, they'd had better not have realized this pup has three heads," Persephone muttered under her breath as she caught up to where Mal was.

"Wait, does he have…he's a…how has no one noticed that he's—?"

"That he's perfectly healthy? I'm sure they have sweetie," Persephone said, cutting Mal off before reverting to the mental link. I know what you're trying to say Mal, and I don't know how no one here has seen it before but for his sake, maybe it's better that they haven't.

Mal couldn't help but roll her eyes at the blatant stupidity of the workers, how did you miss the extra two heads the puppy in front of her had? That being said, she couldn't help but smile as the puppy slowly made his way over to her; wagging his tail and giving her a doggy grin on all three heads.

"Hiya boy," Mal said softly with a small smile as she poked her fingers through the wire for her to pet him. "Well…you're an interesting character ain't you?"

She giggled softly as the puppy licked her fingers and wagged his tail even harder than he had been wagging it before. It was as if he knew they were the people he was supposed to go home with.

"You want to have a look at him Mali?" Persephone offered. "Considering who your father is, I'd almost say this is fate."

Mal nodded, smiling slightly as the puppy's nub of a tail seemed to wag so hard that Mal almost thought the pup would become airborne. Before Mal could blink, the pup was in her arms as soon as the cage door was opened. It was as if the pup was begging her to take him home with her.

"Whoa!" Mal said with a small giggle, almost falling backwards with how excited the pup was. The pup was also determined to lick every inch of Mal's face which was a lot easier when there were three heads to do the licking.

"I don't think we can leave this dog here," Mal said once there was a pause in the licking and looked over at Persephone. "Can we keep him?"

Persephone chuckled. "I wouldn't have brought you here if you couldn't keep the pet you wanted, Mal. He's yours if you want him."

Mal smiled before looking at the pup. "What do you say boy? Do you want to go home with me?"

The puppy yipped softly and wagged his tail before putting his paws on Mal's legs as if to say 'try to stop me, hooman!'

"Sounds like we'll have three in our apartment," Persephone said with a small smile. "We can pick up the collar and food in the front."

"Wait!" Mal said and looked at the pup. "You're gonna meet my friends boy when we go to the Isle, and they have kittens. I need you to promise you won't go after them."

The puppy tilted his left head, as if to ask 'what are kittens' before nodding. He would never go after anyone who was in his girl's pack!

"Good boy," Mal smiled before pausing. "Oh! You're going to need a name aren't you? I can't just go around calling you 'boy' all the time."

The puppy perked up as he heard Mal say that. A name? He'd never had a name before! The hoomans here just called him 'freak' and 'weirdo' but he never had a name of his own! Not like the other creatures here!

"What do you want to name him Mali?" Persephone asked as she looked at the two of them.

Mal looked at the puppy and chewed at her lip in thought. There were so many names rattling around in her head but none of them seemed right.

What was that word Benny taught you? You know, during our night time French lessons? Mal thought, an idea coming to her. While Ben had been practically glued to Belle, Abby, and Chip's hips, he hadn't completely forgotten about her.

Using a pair of walkie talkies that Ben had gifted her, the two of them would have nightly French lessons. Mal wasn't going to lie, having a language only she and Ben could speak while on the Isle made it extremely tempting to do well.

"Estelle," Mal said, looking over at Persephone. "His name's Estelle."

Persephone smiled and Estelle yipped softly, wagging his tail and giving them all doggy smiles.

"I think he likes that," Persephone told Mal. "It's a fitting name."

She looked over at the employee who had come into the back to see if they needed any assistance. "I believe my daughter has found the pet she wants. Can we settle up?"

"Oh! I mean…of course my Lady but…does your daughter truly want that dog? We have so many other dogs that would be more suited for—."

"No, I want Estelle," Mal said and Estelle went over and plopped onto Mal's lap; looking at the other humans as if daring them to move him.

"You heard my daughter," Persephone said. "She's found her dog and now we'd like to settle up."

And you should hope for your sake that Estelle hasn't been harmed health wise by you not noticing that he has three heads, she thought as they went to the front to pay.

"Hey…Steph?" Mal said softly. "Can…can I pay for Estelle?"

Persephone nodded with a small smile and handed Mal the money to pay for the adoption fee. Of course, Mal had to hand the money back to Persephone because she couldn't reach the counter but it was pretty much implied that Mal had paid.

Of course, after they had settled up and gotten the collar on Estelle, they had to go and visit Ben at Beast Castle.

"Benny!" Mal said as she rushed in.

"Mal!" Ben grinned as he saw her. The grin only grew as he saw who she had with her. "Is that…?"

"Uh huh," Mal nodded. "Benny, meet my Cerberus puppy! Estelle, meet Benny. He'll be with us when we go to the Isle so you gotta behave around him. No chewing his books, you'll upset the puppy."

Ben rolled his eyes but Estelle nodded.

I won't make the pup sad, Mali. Promise, Estelle thought as he licked Mal's hand.

"Good boy," Mal smiled. "Now come on you two. Let's go outside!"

Soon the castle grounds were full of the giggles of children and the yips of one very excitable puppy. And no one would have traded them for the world.