Chapter Six
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.
Oh my Gods you guys! I can't believe we've gone over 100 reviews in just five chapters! Thank you all so much! I couldn't have done this without you all!
Okay just a heads up next chapter might be a little slow coming because I get my second COVID shot in a couple of weeks. Fun times right?
61394: Well technically her goblins are the ones to sneak into the Underworld but in all honestly…I've no idea.
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Guest: I'm glad you enjoyed it—and thank you for the suggestion!
Princess2002: Ah yes Leah and Audrey do need to shut their mouths—and I love the idea of bringing Chad and his family! :D
Anonymous Reader: Oh thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying this (and Choosing Family/Love). As for why the Fates didn't bring them sooner…? It's because I didn't think of it to be honest. But you're right, so much could have been changed if they had.
danifan3000: Hey it's early days for Audrey. She could remain a witch with a 'b', she could change. Also, who brags about changing their own diaper?
shortanamx: Things can certainly change!
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TR Lara Croft: I'm so glad you're enjoying them! :D
billyandkimfan1994: Leah certainly has a mind of her own doesn't she?
Lord of the A.U. Fanfiction: I might have slipped into more of a 'spoken' grammar there where I'll say things like 'I thank you' if I'm joking around with my friends. Plus, they're VKs. They're not going to have the best grammar compared to the AKs. But glad you're enjoying it!
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Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think!
Before Macaria could unfurl the scroll in her hand, the eyeball that the Fates had used to leave came floating down into the middle of the room. It spun and spun, almost hypnotizing everyone before it burst into a blast of bright light.
When the light cleared, there were many more people standing in the room than there had been before.
"Hey Jane!" Ben grinned and waved at a smaller girl who looked to be about his age.
"Ben!" Jane smiled. "What are we all doing here?"
"Apparently we're reading about life on the Isle sixteen years ago," Emir told her. "And apparently you brought Chad with you?"
"The Fates pick who they pick," Mal said, having heard the boy's comment. Before Chad could respond, a loud squeal broke out.
"Evie!"
"Dizzy!" Evie squealed and brought the younger girl in for a hug.
"Wait, if the fireball's here does that mean…?"
"Uma!" Celia grinned and rushed over to her sister.
"This has got to be the strangest thing I've ever done," Eugene stated to Kit, the older royals just standing in the room.
"More strange than dueling a horse with a frying pan?"
"Touche."
"If I could read please?" Macaria muttered. "Some of us would like to know what happened to cause storm clouds to cover Lord Hades and Lady Persephone's happiness!"
"…alright."
"Thank you!"
Sometimes storm clouds roll in gradually over time, giving people time to prepare for the incoming storm. However, other times the storm clouds appear without warning; blotting out the sun and drenching the people below.
"That's just depressing," Akiho muttered.
"Yet it's quite nice imagery," Emir nodded. The two boys were tense as they waited to hear just what was going to happen to Mal and her parents.
For Hades and Persephone, their storm cloud was the later; appearing without warning one evening during Persephone's fourth month on the Isle. The two gods had just set Mal down for the night, Hades giving Pain and Panic the orders to alert him should she wake, and the two of them were relaxing in the den.
"Gods…I should have stayed in there," Hades muttered.
"You didn't know," Persephone said, her voice soft as she looked at her husband.
"It was Maleficent. I shouldn't have let my guard down."
"You know, I should bring a baby monitor the next time I'm on Isle," Persephone said, her head resting on Hades' shoulder. "That way, Pain and Panic won't have to constantly monitor Mal."
"They liked it," Mal chuckled.
"You were a baby," Elle pointed out. "How would you—?"
"Because dad probably wasn't yelling at them when they were watching me," Mal said. "Plus I'm sure someone would wonder why mom was buying a baby monitor."
"I think they like it," Hades said, running his fingers through her hair. "Well Pain more so than Panic. I think he'd rather be with his own son."
"Panic has a son?" Jane asked, looking at the other AKs in shock.
"Yep. With Vanessa apparently."
"How in the world—?"
"We don't know."
"Panic has a son?" Persephone asked, looking up at Hades.
"I think we should just hand out cards that say 'Yes Panic has a son' and 'No, we have no idea how he wound up with Vanessa'," Harry chuckled.
"Yeah, with Vanessa," Hades nodded. "Kid's about three years old than Mal. I should probably introduce the two of them at some point; kid might be a good minion for her."
"Family can't be minions," Uma shook her head.
"Ah my dear minion of a cousin, that's where you're wrong," Mal smirked.
"I'm older than you."
"By mere months!"
Persephone shook her head. "Dear, the child will be older than Mal. Do you really think he'll want to take orders from someone younger than him?"
"It's Virgil, he'd jump at the chance just to have someone who wouldn't yell at him," Harry scoffed.
"Be nice!" Dizzy said, crossing her arms.
"As the little Tremainelette commands," Harry said, giving a slight bow. Normally he wouldn't have given in so quickly but Dizzy was under the crew's protection after all being Celia's cousin and all.
"Considering Mal's half god and he's half whatever Panic is, he should," Hades said.
Persephone rolled her eyes. "If Mal has to have henchpeople, they should be closer to her age or younger. That way, if the time comes, she won't have to worry about them questioning why they're taking orders from someone younger than them and overthrowing her."
"Gee, why does that sound familiar? An older person overthrowing the younger one in charge?" Poseidon chuckled as he looked over at Zeus.
Hades nodded. "That's a good point, I hadn't considered that."
"That's why we're a team," Persephone told him. "You don't have to think of things by yourself anymore."
"A team's the best thing to have on the Isle," Uma nodded, wrapping her arms around Mal's shoulders.
I hadn't realized, that the kids I picked would have friends they were leaving behind, Ben thought as he saw that. I mean it should have been obvious. Hopefully Mal and Jay won't go too long without seeing Uma and Harry again.
Hades smiled and leaned down to kiss Persephone on the forehead. As he leaned back up, he paused as he thought he had heard a thunk in the distance.
"What was that?" Jane squeaked.
"Probably just a picture falling or something," Elle said though everyone could tell she didn't believe it for a second.
"Everything okay?" Persephone asked, noticing his pause.
"Thought I heard something," Hades said as he sat back up. "Probably just Pain and Panic. Pain was always hurting himself before we got locked on this Isle."
"I mean, his name is Pain after all," Mal said, trying to defuse the tension by making a joke. It didn't work.
"They wouldn't risk waking up Mal though," Persephone reminded him, sitting up herself. "Not unless something was wrong."
"We're close enough to Mal's room that we'd hear…" Hades started to say but trailed off as he heard the tell tale sound of a baby crying.
"Don't babies often cry?" Alexandria asked.
Emir shook his head. "It was established in earlier chapters that Mal never cried as a baby. For her to do so now…"
"She might just be hungry," Lucy said, trying to reassure her little sister.
"Or need a diaper change," Kitty added.
"Or she might be lonely," Chad said to everyone's surprise. "What? Did we all forget about how Alex would just burst out crying if she was left alone for too long?"
"Nice Chad," Alexandria muttered, her cheeks bright red.
Mal rarely if ever cried. Something was wrong. Looking at Persephone in panic, Hades vaulted over the sofa and raced to Mal's room.
Zeus looked over at Hades, the look on his older brother's face enough to let the King of the Gods know that he was not in the mood for an apology or to hear anything from him at that moment.
"Oh Gods," Hera murmured. "Persephone, I'm—."
"You're what Hera? Sorry? You've had sixteen years to be sorry, to realize I was honest when I petitioned for help," Persephone scoffed. "You can be sorry all you want. But it's too little too late."
I'm trying to picture dad vaulting over the sofa. So far, nothing, Mal thought. She didn't know why she wasn't worried like the rest of the reading contingent. Maybe it was because she'd already lived it?
Though it was only a few rooms down from the den, it felt like it took an eternity to reach Mal's room.
Wrenching open the door, Hades stood in the doorway in shock. Lying on the ground, knocked out, were his two moronic minions and an empty crib lying on its side.
"Did Pain and Panic try…try to fight Maleficent's minions?" Hadie asked, curling up next to Mal as if any amount of space would allow the Dragon to steal her away again.
"They're good to have if you need them on your side," Mal said, gently rubbing her brother's back. Estelle walked over and rested his heads on Hadie's leg, as if trying to comfort the younger boy.
"Good boy," Hadie whispered, scratching Estelle behind the ears.
Slowly walking into the room, Hades went for Mal's crib. There, lying on the pillow that had been tossed out of the crib and was lying next to it, was a solitary black feather.
"Oh no," Aurora gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Even Audrey was silent, looking over at Mal in slight shock.
"Why'd she do it?" Emma asked, her voice a near whisper.
"Because she's a psychotic egomaniac who doesn't like being made to look bad," Mal stated.
Evie nodded slightly at that. After all, had she just invited Mal to her sixth birthday, her father might not have been suffering in Maleficent's clutches all this time.
"She's gone?" Persephone gasped from the doorway, Hades' longer legs had made it so he had beaten his wife to Mal's room despite the both of them leaving the sofa at the same time. "But…who would steal a child? A God's child?"
"Say one word and I turn you back into a swan brother," Hades growled, looking at Zeus. "Even if I have to petition Yzma to give me a potion to do it, I'll find a way!"
Hades shook his head slowly; sometimes his wife's positive outlook on things was appreciated. This was not one of those times.
"Sometimes hope is the most dangerous thing to have," Carlos said softly, looking at Mal. After all, he still held hope that his mother might actually love him and he knew some of the LeGume girls still held hope that Gaston would acknowledge them.
Taking the feather from the pillow, he turned around to look at Persephone.
"I'll give you three guesses," he growled,
"And if you need the other two, you're Chad," Kitty muttered.
"Be nice," Cinderella scolded her daughter.
trying his best not to crush the feather in his fists as he held it up for Persephone to see. It was their only evidence that his ex-wife had stolen his child.
"Maleficent?!" Persephone exclaimed. "Does she have a death wish?"
"Again, can we sell tickets when this occurs?"
"Not the time," Aziz told his little brother.
"If she doesn't, she soon will," Hades growled, marching out of the room. Persephone, though, quickly stood in front of her irate husband.
"Probably not the best move," Rapunzel said softly.
"We needed to plan," Persephone stated. "If we went off too steamed, we might have gotten hurt. Or worse, Mal would have gotten hurt."
"Wait, wait," she said. "I'll get her. Maleficent won't just hand Mal over to you; not after just stealing her from us. Plus, I have more access to my powers than you do. As well, no one on the Isle knows you're Mal's father so it'll be safer."
"You could have reached out to the pirates," Harry stated. "Our crew would have helped, Lord Hades."
"Your crew didn't exist yet, and I wasn't about to put more kids in harm's way," Hades stated. That being said, he was touched at how much the pirate's loyalty to his daughter had extended to him.
"Steph, everyone knows you stay here in your six months on Isle," Hades told her, slamming his fist into the stone wall. "Besides, you don't think Maleficent hasn't implemented every security feature at her disposal? I don't believe this—she shoved Mal into my hands all those months ago and now she steals her from me?!"
"So what? We just leave her with that evil lunatic of a witch?!" Persephone exclaimed, silent tears running down her face. "You know what'll happen, we'll never see Mal again."
"I am so glad I was wrong about that," Persephone sighed, holding Mal close to her.
"Um mom? Gonna let go?"
"No."
"Okay then."
Hades sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Do you think if I could steal Mal back, I would? But even if I flamed up to the limited amount I can here, there's the risk of hurting Mal. You and I both know Maleficent would not consider that to be a bad thing."
"I think even Gaston knew that," Uma scoffed.
"What if I updated the registry when I go back to Auradon?" Persephone suggested as she started to pace, clearly grasping at straws as she tried to think of ideas to get Mal back. "That way, you'd have a legal right to petition Auradon to get Mal back safely. Olympus alone would stand with you."
"Did they?" Hyllus asked, looking at his father with hope filled eyes. Macaria and Herkie did the same.
"I…I don't know," Hercules said and turned to look at his father. "Father?"
"I..I um don't—."
"No," Poseidon said and glared at his brother. "If you're going to lie to save face, have the common decency not to do it to your son."
"And that is why you're not on dad's 'Dead to him' list, Uncle Poseidon" Hadie stated.
"Uh…thanks?"
Hercules shook his head. "How could you father? Mal was a baby and you thought she should just suffer?"
"In my defense, I didn't realize it was a child of Hades who needed help—."
"That's even worse! You were content to let a baby suffer!"
"Wonderboy, calm down," Meg said, her voice soft. "We can talk to your father later. Right now we're holding up the reading."
"Right," Hercules nodded. "But we will talk about it."
"Who would believe it?" Hades asked. "The main reason I am on the Isle is for kidnapping a child. All Maleficent would have to do is claim that I stole Mal from her and that she was just stealing Mal back. The matter would be closed. Add in the fact that the child I kidnapped was Zeus'. Do you honestly think my brother would stand with me on this matter? He'd probably think I deserve it."
"Don't even try to deny it," Mal scoffed as Zeus opened his mouth.
"Athena would at least! She's always been reasonable!"
"Athena won't do anything if Zeus isn't on board," Hades said, rubbing Persephone's arm and wiping away her tears. Sighing, he brought his wife into an embrace wishing he could say anything that sounded like a plan and less like a desperate parent. He wasn't used to this, this feeling of helplessness. So this is how Zeus felt all those years ago, he thought.
Zeus looked over at Hades in shock. He didn't think Hades would have even thought about that. Not that he would have blamed him if he hadn't.
Hades? Zeus thought, trying to reach out with the mental link.
The mind you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Please be less of a horrible God and brother and try again.
Hades, come on!
You have reached the mental mail box of Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Sadly it is full so you can not leave a message.
I'm trying to apologize!
…you're sixteen years too late. Being put on the Isle? I can live with that. But you threatened the safety of my child Zeusey. I'll never forgive you for that.
"What's Maleficent going to do to her?" Persephone asked after a few minutes, breaking from the hug. "What does she want with her now anyway? As you said, she shoved her into your arms! That's a pretty clear message of 'I don't want her'!"
Mal flinched slightly at the thought. Yes she knew who her mother was and it wasn't Maleficent. Still…the words stung slightly.
"Who knows how her foul mind works?" Hades growled as he started to pace; taking care not to step on the unconscious forms of Pain or Panic.
"She has the common sense the Gods gave a housefly, making an enemy of Lord Hades like that," Emir nodded.
"I like him too," Hades stated.
"We're just going to get out of here and you'll be friends with the entire royal family of Agrabah aren't you?" Persephone sighed.
"Hey, they're friends with a genie. Why not a God too?"
"Besides, if it got around the Isle that I had managed to steal Mal from her, she'd do anything to disprove it, even if just to protect her reputation. She probably only wants Mal to get back at me. For leaving her, for stealing Mal, because it's Tuesday…take your pick."
"Why would…why would Maleficent steal Mal because it's a Tuesday?" Celia asked, tilting her head.
"Basically Uncle Hades was saying it was because the Dragon wanted to," Uma explained and Celia nodded.
Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair once more to try to calm his racing nerves. "I don't think Maleficent will kill Mal though. Not after all the trouble she went through to steal her. After all, she'd want to prove the rumor mill wrong. Can't do that with a dead child. Nor can she raise Mal to be the next Mistress of All Evil if Mal's dead either."
She may not have killed me but you'd be surprised at what you can live through, Mal thought with an inward shudder at the memories of growing up around the Dragon.
"Not to mention you'd know if Mal was dead. She'd be in the Underworld," Persephone told him. "Maleficent would do everything in her power to keep you from seeing Mal again. Whether alive or dead."
"Wouldn't it be rather hard to kill a God's daughter though?" Evan spoke up.
"You lot are rather accepting of the fact that I'm Hades' daughter," Mal stated and Evan shrugged.
"My dad's a former thief, my mom used to have magic hair that glowed when she sang, one of my sisters is extremely in need of a hair cut, Ben's dad used to be a beast, Elle's mom used to be a mermaid and I'm pretty sure we've got a classmate who's grandmother got turned into a bear. Point is we're pretty accepting once we've gotten used to the idea."
"Anyway, to answer your question sunshine, yes it would be hard to kill a God's daughter," Hades nodded.
"Sunshine?"
"The sun on your shirt. Nicknames are kinda my thing."
Hades nodded, not trusting himself to speak but he knew his wife had a point.
"You know perfectly well that Zeus would consider this an act of war if he knew," Persephone told him, wiping the tears from her cheeks, as she searched for a reason to go after Mal.
"Grandfather does love a good fight," Herkie nodded.
"And if I hadn't stolen his child, he'd probably hear me out," Hades said. "His joy over being a grandfather from Wonderbreath probably would have removed some of the negative feelings toward me regarding the attempted takeover of Olympus. But I stole his kid. To him, this is karma rearing her ugly head."
"I feel like this is a repetitive argument," Macaria sighed.
"He's not unreasonable," Persephone said, resting a hand on Hades' cheek. "I could try to petition Hercules to speak to Zeus in my stead. Mal is his cousin after all."
"I would have been honored to ask him, Aunt Persephone," Hercules said.
"It is so strange hearing someone not Uma call you that," Mal told her mom.
"After what I did to his little nut-Meg, you honestly think he would actually petition his father in my defense?!"
"Of course I would!" Hercules exclaimed, looking at his uncle. "I may not exactly be thrilled with what you did to Meg, but Mal was a baby! You actually thought I'd let an innocent baby suffer?"
"You're Zeus' kid," Hades said with a small shrug.
"And you're a hypocrite," Hercules stated. "You state that we shouldn't judge the kids of the Isle by their parents' crimes. Fair enough. But what right do you then have to turn around and say what I would do based solely on who my parents are?"
On top of that, I'm also adopted. Maybe if I was raised with my parents, your argument might have more weight, he thought.
Persephone rolled her eyes. "Well what can we do then? I won't just stand here and do nothing while Mal suffers at the hands of that maniac!"
"Ooh, are we insulting people now?" Akiho grinned. He normally wouldn't be excited about that but Maleficent deserved it for stealing Mal away from people who made her so happy.
"No," Kristoff sighed.
"But dad! It's Maleficent!"
"I don't care Akiho! Imagine if the situation was reversed and she was insulting you, how would you feel?"
"…like everything was normal because it's Maleficent and it's safe to assume she insults all of us on an hourly basis?"
"You are your mother's son."
"Besides, 'maniac's kinda tame for the Dragon," Mal said, looking at Persephone.
"I know dear. I remember a talk we had when you were thirteen and you referred to her as the spawn of Satan herself."
"Steph, as much as I'd love to talk to my brother,
"I can't tell if that was sarcasm or not," Poseidon stated.
"It was for Mal," Hades said with a shrug. "I'd suck up the annoyance of talking to Zeus for her."
the fact remains that according to the registry, I have no claim to Mal. Even though she's mine by right, Auradon won't see it like that. Never mind the fact that it takes two to tango as it were.
"Yuck," Hadie muttered, making a face at the thought.
"I agree with that sentiment, storm cloud," Mal nodded.
If we're lucky, they'd hear me out and take Mal from Maleficent. But then there's the risk that Beastie and Belle might think Mal's safety is too much at risk on Isle and they decide she's better off growing up in Auradon."
"…dad you do know we would have been better off growing up off the Isle right?"
"I know Mal," Hades sighed. "But I didn't want to think about that. Not after Maleficent had just stolen you from me."
Ben looked over at his parents. What in the world was going on with the Isle?
"They wouldn't—"
"Look, Maleficent is supposed to be dead," Hades growled, cutting off whatever point his wife was going to make. "Gaston is supposed to be dead. Evil Queen, Scar, Clayton, Frollo…dead, dead, dead, dead. If the good people of Auradon think death is too good for villains, then I have no doubt they'd take a child from her parents."
"He…may have a point there," Phillip Sr. muttered.
"Of course he does. He's the God of the Dead and we basically asked him to reverse death for some of them," Aladdin sighed.
Beast sighed as well. While he wasn't thrilled about the idea of removing children from their parents, if it meant the children survived…
"There has to be a way that we can get her back," Persephone said as she returned to her pacing. "What is the point of being Gods if we can't get Mal back from a fairy, even one as powerful as Maleficent?"
"No offense meant to present company of course," Persephone stated, looking at Jane and Fairy Godmother.
"None taken your Ladyship," Fairy Godmother said with a small bow of her head.
Hades sighed and shook his head. "Steph, as much as it pains me to say it, but for Mal's safety we might be better off—"
"You're not just going to leave her there, are you?!" Hadie exclaimed.
"Don't you dare say we're better off not doing anything Hades!" Persephone growled, turning to glare at her husband.
"Get a good enough thief, they could get her," Eugene said, rubbing his chin. "I almost wish I had been put on the Isle if just for this."
"Cass!" Rapunzel gasped. "She's on the Isle and with her dad being captain of the guard, she'd know how to infiltrate anything!"
Hades and Persephone looked at each other, cursing the decision to keep Mal's relationship to them a secret. They could have had Mal that much sooner.
"I don't like it anymore than you do!" Hades told her. "But Maleficent, as I said before, will have implemented every security device at her disposal by now. Not to mention the risk to Mal if it gets out that she's my daughter. She already has to live with the reputation of being Maleficent's daughter, adding a god linage only widens the target on her back."
"I can think of one person who would increase his efforts of getting rid of me if he knew," Mal muttered thinking about one French fanatic.
Persephone sighed and Hades pulled her into a hug once more. It was the only thing he could think to do. Well the only thing that wouldn't result in Maleficent being a pile of ash and bones.
"She'd be much improved that way," Audrey sniffed.
"…I don't know how to respond to the fact that I agree with her," Akiho muttered to Emir.
"I hate not doing anything," Persephone whispered, her voice muffled by Hades' chest.
"I do too," he told her. "But even if we don't do anything now, Mal won't be a baby forever.
"Thank Gods. I like being a teen thank you," Mal nodded.
There will come a day when Maleficent won't care that Mal's walking around the Isle by herself. Maleficent won't be able to stop me from going up and talking to her."
"You'll need to be careful," Persephone told him as she looked up, her eyes shining with hope she dare not speak out loud. "Maleficent has eyes everywhere. Oh how I hate the fact that Fairy Godmother took pity on that raven of her's and released him from his stone state before the barrier was erected."
"Why would you do that?!" Leah exclaimed.
"I felt bad for the poor creature," Fairy Godmother explained, seemingly not reacting to the exclamation that left Estelle whimpering and putting a paw over one of his ears.
"That would explain the feather," Hades said with a nod. "From what I had heard, I thought that little pest was still doing its best Medusa impersonation."
Audrey didn't mean to, she tried to keep it in. But she couldn't resist a small snort of amusement at that.
Persephone couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her lips. "Be serious Hades," she said though a smile still appeared. "The Underworld is the only place safe from Maleficent's spies."
"Uh…didn't the goblins or whoever she used as minions get in?" Neal asked.
"Clearly not since her little gremlins managed to sneak in here," Hades grumbled but shook his head. Now was not the time to argue. "I know you're worried Steph but don't forget. Maleficent may have her eyes everywhere but so do I."
"We're relying on Pain and Panic?"
"Hey! They can step up when the job requires it," Mal stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Almost in a 'only I can make fun of my minions' pose.
Persephone gave him a look before looking over at Pain and Panic, who were still knocked out on the stone floor, before looking back at Hades and raising an eyebrow.
"If you're referring to your new floor decorations, I seem to remember that you call them morons at least three times a day. And that's when you want to be polite to them."
"They are morons though," Meg nodded. "But like Mal said, they do step up when they need to."
"Didn't you say they turned themselves into a female Pegasus to lure Pegasus away?" Hercules asked.
"I didn't say they make sense when they step up," Meg sighed.
"They may be morons but they're my morons," Hades told her before shaking his head once more. "But I"m not talking about them. Mal's my daughter, her connection to me means she's connected to the ember. I can watch her from here and Maleficent would never need to know."
"I almost feel bad that I'm a toddler here," Jay said. "If I was older, I could have—."
"Not with your dad in Maleficent's gang," Harry pointed out. "Plus if you were older, Mal'd be older too."
Persephone nodded before sighing. "While that's a little better than your minions, I'm not sure how much good it'll do. All it'll do is drive you mad, watching through that ember and not doing anything."
"I'm pretty sure dad got driven mad by the Isle ages ago," Mal said.
"I know," Hades sighed as well. "But it's the best plan we've got that ensures Mal's safety."
"*Contact Olympus*," Rowyn coughed.
"Allergies?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, I don't know why but they just acted up for a second."
Looking around the room, Hades couldn't help but frown as he thought of what could have been. "Let's go back to the den," he said softly. He really didn't feel like continuing to stand in his daughter's empty room.
"I don't think anyone would want to do that,"
They would get her back. Someday soon. The storm clouds wouldn't last forever.
"And they didn't," Hadie grinned, "considering I have my sister."
"Anyone up for a small break?" Macaria asked. "After reading that, I'm a little nervous as to what the next scroll'll be."
"Fair enough," Hercules nodded. "I think your grandfather and I need to have a talk anyway."
