Chapter Five

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs. Everything else either belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths.

Guys, can you believe that we're only twenty reviews away from 100? And we're not even five chapters in! Thank you all so much for the support on this story, it means the world! :D

Oh! I'm debating on bringing in a couple more characters to read—is there anyone not present that you'd like to see? The list of characters present in the reading is at the bottom of chapter one! :D

AmethystDragon14: Oh yay! If they don't, then they should! And yeah, they really should!

chychy1996thomas1: Oh thank you! I'm so glad you like it! :D

Guest: Hadie can definitely be a reader, he's present in the room but I can have him read a scroll!

danifan3000: I hope you know you made me burst out laughing at the image of Hades scaling a giant ladder to try to escape the Isle…and now I wish that had been in the movies!

SnowWhite45: I have to agree, especially since in the books the reason why he steps down is because he wants to retire. And yeah, I can definitely have them read Choosing Love as well! :D

lilyflower101: My thing is, why is a Prince opening his own door? Doesn't he have someone to do that for him?

Sorceress of Magic: I honestly think Beast would rethink his ideas after seeing how people were affected.

InuKagLove22: Oh thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying them!

Katie2001: Oh thank you!

twilightgirl587: Thank you so much! As for Aladdin and Hercules teaming up, it's from the animated TV shows (Hercules) where the two of them teamed up to take down Hades and Jafar.

Urmimala Hazra: Oh thank you! Yeah, I'd sell tickets too—Maleficent is horrible isn't she?

SeerKing: I'm so glad! :D

Tracie Adams: I'll do as many chapters as people want to read! :D

Guest: Oh thank you—and I had a feeling it was Pegasi but I wasn't sure!

billyandkimfan1994: Well he's had eternity to do it!

Guest: Oh I'm so glad you're enjoying it! It's coming up soon!

Guest: Thank you so much! :D

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

Lonnie grinned as she unfurled the scroll and leaned back in her chair. "Alright, let's get down to business."

The next couple of months flew by and before Hades knew it, he and Persephone had fallen into a routine of parenthood. While things were still a little chilly between the adults in that Hades was sleeping in the guest room, Persephone had taken a shine to Mal.

"Of course I did," Persephone smiled. "How could I not?"

Because she's a villain! Leah thought with an inward sniff.

It was rare that the Goddess of Vegetation was without Mal in her arms; the only time she forwent holding Mal was when Persephone would take a walk around the Isle. It wasn't because she wanted to leave the baby behind, but it was too big of a risk.

"Because of Maleficent," all the VKs nodded causing Leah and Audrey to scowl in displeasure.

Everyone knew she lived with Hades. By now, everyone on the Isle would have at least heard of Hades grabbing Maleficent's child.

While most of the citizens of the Isle were moronic, there were a select few who had more than two brain cells to rub together. There was nothing more dangerous than an aggravated Maleficent and if she saw Persephone walking around with Mal, it would not be a pleasant result.

"For her," Macaria said with a small smile. "Aunt Persephone would still have access to her her powers since the barrier only blocks evil magic!"

"You know I like her," Mal muttered to Uma with a small nod.

"Me too. She may be Wonderbreath's but she clearly has a brain. Must come from her mom," Uma muttered back.

That didn't mean anything inside Hades' lair. When they were inside, it was as if the Isle didn't exist.

"Hi Mali," Persephone cooed as she carried the young demi-Goddess around, the purple haired Fae squealing in delight.

"You squealed?" Uma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Babies squeal," Mal rolled her eyes. "Celia squealed when she was a baby after all, and so did Hadie."

"Aww! You're so happy! Yes you are! Who's the prettiest girl in the Underworld?"

"Hmm, think you're tied with her there Steph," Hades said, kissing his wife's cheek.

"And I think you might be biased dear," Persephone told him but smiled at her husband.

Hades walked up and couldn't help but smile at the sight. His wife had never looked better, with her long brown hair tied up in a messy bun, her body clad in a sweatshirt and sweatpants that Mal had spit up on about five times since Persephone got to the Isle, and just walking Mal around the den; his daughter's thick purple hair messy from sleep.

"I'm pretty sure a Goddess could make any look work," Ashaki stated.

Aladdin shook his head as he stared lovingly at his wife. "Not true Ash. When you're a parent, you'll understand that there is truly no better sight than seeing your spouse holding your child."

Hades leaned against the doorframe and took in the sight.

"After six months, I missed having her around the Underworld," Hades said, pulling Persephone close to him.

"Enjoying the view?" Persephone asked as she caught sight of him and giving him a small smile.

"I was," Hades nodded, returning the smile. "What are you two ladies up to?"

"They're just walking around," Audrey muttered.

"Sometimes that's all a baby wants," Phillip Sr. told her. "To be held and know they're loved by their parents. You used to love it when I'd walk with you around my office."

"Mali's up from her nap and wanted to see the den," Persephone told him. "I was going to grab one of the toys I brought for her from Auradon but my hands were full with Mal."

"I'll get it," Hades told her, still leaning on the doorframe and making no indication that he was actually going to grab the toy.

"Hades," Persephone chuckled and shook her head.

"Hey, I had the best view in the Underworld right in front of me. Why would I give that up?" Hades asked her.

"Which one were you thinking of grabbing?"

Persephone gave him a small smile. Ever since she'd returned from Auradon, Hades had been at her beck and call when he wasn't working down in the Underworld; as if trying to prove to her that she was the only woman who had his heart. Even if Persephone knew that wasn't true.

"Excuse me? It most certainly was!"

Every father's heart one hundred percent belonged to one woman: their daughter

"Oh…you may have a point there."

"Lady Persephone's right about that," David nodded, wrapping Emma up in his arms as Aladdin did the same with Ashaki, Phillip did with Audrey and Shang with Lonnie. No one noticed Beast's sad smile as he looked at the fathers embracing their daughters. Knowing he would never get the chance to do the same.

—and Persephone was completely fine with that as Mal had stolen her heart as well.

"I'm a VK. I steal everything," Mal smirked.

"Though you still needed me and later Estelle to steal a chicken," Jay chuckled as the Cerberus perked up at hearing his name.

"Those things are demonic! They don't stay still long enough for us to grab!"

"Steph?" Hades asked, his voice breaking into her thoughts. "Can't really get the toy if I don't know which one you're looking for."

"Oh sorry," Persephone said, shaking her head to clear it. "It's a small half dome type thing with items that dangle down so Mal can bat at them while lying on her back. I still need to set the thing up though."

"Oh! Audrey and Phillip loved playing with that when they were babies!" Aurora exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as she thought about her children.

"Emma and Neal did as well," Snow nodded with a small clap of her hands.

"So safe to say Mal'll probably not enjoy playing with it?" Melody asked and Hadie chuckled.

Hades nodded and chuckled. "Look behind the sofa, dear."

"How'd you know that was the one mom was going to ask for?" Mal asked.

"Lucky guess," Hades shrugged. "Your mother brought so many toys I figured it'd be one of them."

Persephone frowned and took a peek only to find the item she'd described already put together.

"I found the box in the guest room the other day, half kicked under the bed. Thought it had fallen out of one of the bags you brought," Hades said when Persephone looked over at him in shock. "You'd fallen asleep so I thought it'd be a good idea to put it together. Just in case."

"Trying to get back in her good books brother?" Poseidon asked with a small chuckle.

"One could say that, yes," Hades nodded and Persephone gave him a loving smile.

"That's so sweet," Persephone told him as Hades walked into the room. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone. I know you've got a reputation to protect."

"Who would believe you?" Hades chuckled, kissing the top of Persephone's head.

"We would!" Harry, Mal, Jay, Uma, and Hadie said in unison, Mal and Hadie grinning from ear to ear.

Hades shook his head and chuckled. "No one would believe you if you said anything anyway. But thank you."

"Here you go Mali," Persephone cooed as she shifted Mal so that she was holding her with one arm and grabbed the toy from behind the sofa. "Hades, could you—"

Her husband had already known what she was going to ask as he had laid out a blanket Persephone had purchased a couple of years ago. It was getting a little run down but it still would serve its purpose.

"I think Rapunzel had made that," Ariel said with a smile.

'Oh yes!" Persephone nodded. "I had talked to her about not finding a blanket I liked to brighten up the Underworld and not two months later she gave it to me."

"You said you purchased it from an unknown shop," Hades said, raising an eyebrow.

"Would you have even let it past the threshold if you knew it'd come from an Auradon royal dear?"

"Umm…"

"That's what I thought."

"You know, I could get used to this," Persephone told him, a small smirk forming on her face. "This mind reading thing you have going on."

"Don't you already have a mind reading thing?" Elle asked.

"Yeah, everyone of Olympian descent has access to the mind link," Macaria nodded.

"It's come in handy," Mal smirked.

"You've asked for this blanket at least three times today already," Hades said, a little smirk pulling at his lips as he watched from his spot behind the sofa. "I thought I'd save the trouble and assume this was what you were asking for."

"Whatever happened to that blanket?" Mal asked. She didn't remember seeing it around the Underworld recently.

"A certain pirate laid claim to it," Hadie spoke up, chuckling as Harry shrugged.

"It's still in the Underworld, just in my room."

Persephone chuckled and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," she said as she laid Mal down under the top of the dome. Her step-daughter seemed to be confused as to the purpose of it as she just laid under it.

"Called it," Melody giggled.

"I think Mal doesn't want to play," Hades chuckled and walked over to them.

"Maybe if we move one of the dangly bits?" Persephone asked, moving the closest one to try to attract Mal's attention. "I don't understand, all the new parents in Auradon love this. Maybe it's not set up right?"

"Really?!" Hades exclaimed with a chuckle as he looked at his wife. "I made sure that thing was set up as the inane instructions said to. Do you know how hard it is to set up something with no words?"

"Sorry dear," Persephone said with a small smile pulling at her lips. "I just…everyone was gushing over how their kids loved it. I guess my Auradon side was at play there rather than my Isle side."

"Well, Mal's not an Auradon baby," Hades said, scooping up his daughter who began squealing with delight as Hades started to bounce her, the hood of her dragon onesie flopping off her head from where it had landed when she was on her back.

"Are there pictures?" Lonnie asked, looking up from the scroll with a grin.

"Yes and you'll never see them," Mal said, crossing her arms. People reading about moments when she was a baby were one thing, baby pictures were another thing all together. Boreadon didn't want to give them real food, they didn't get to see the photos.

Lonnie shrugged. "I just wanted to see the onesie. Mom gave me one when I was a baby only it was red. I wanted to see if it matched. "

"Mushu insisted on it," Mulan chuckled.

Hades honestly didn't know where Persephone managed to get a purple dragon onesie in Auradon, or how she managed to avoid anyone asking questions about it since she hadn't mentioned anyone being curious about the purchase, but he had to admit that Mal was extremely adorable wearing it.

"To answer your question Lonnie, I doubt Mal's would have matched your onesie because I made that for Mal," Persephone stated.

"Like you made my jacket?" Mal asked, clutching her jacket to her as if to indicate what she was talking about.

"Exactly," Persephone nodded. "Everyone on the Isle knew you as Maleficent's child so I figured it'd be safer to stick with her colors at that point."

"Right now, she gets her entertainment from me yelling at Pain or Panic."

"You can't do that all the time. You do have an Underworld to run."

"Unfortunately," Hades muttered, thinking of all the children who were residence there because of the food Auradon decided to graciously give them.

"Yeah, well, Pain and Panic aren't totally moronic," Hades said. "They may have failed with Wonderbreath but they have been actually very good with Mal."

"Wonderbreath?" Meg asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked over at Hades.

"Didn't you used to call him 'Wonderboy' nut-Meg?" Hades asked.

"Maybe because they're afraid of you?" Persephone ventured, not showing any reaction to Hades' nickname for Hercules. It was clear that there was no love lost between the uncle and nephew. "It would be a good idea not to call him that around Mal."

"Why?" Hades scoffed. "It's not as if she'd ever meet him."

"I obviously stand corrected."

"Still, she is his cousin," Persephone said. "If Mal ever gets off the Isle, Hercules would be a good ally for her to have, especially if it's during the six months I'm on Isle."

Hades shook his head; his wife was an amazing woman but she seemed to only see the positives in life. Maybe it came from only having to spend half a year on the Isle instead of the rest of her life.

"You really think King Beastie will allow the kids off the Isle? He probably thinks the kids deserve to be here," Hades said and Persephone shook her head.

"You know, I was right," Hades stated. "It wasn't King Beastie who invited Mal and the others off the Isle. It was his son."

Beast frowned. Knowing what I know now…children don't deserve to live in that kind of environment, he thought.

They'd had this conversation multiple times throughout the four years the Isle had been created.

"How was your walk today?" Hades asked, obviously changing the subject but Persephone didn't mind. Better than dredging up an old conversation that would only end up with them fighting.

"We only have so much time together. Why waste it fighting?" Hades said as everyone glanced at him.

"As pleasant as always," Persephone told him. "No one really bothers me on the walks. Probably helps that my powers aren't suppressed by the barrier so they know I'm not defenseless."

"Plus you've been here for the life of the Isle," Hades pointed out. "By this point, even the most moronic henchmen knows you're associated with me."

Persephone chuckled. "Oh, associated am I? Is that all I am to you?"

"I'm guessing that was the wrong word to use," Kristoff chuckled.

"Oh I'm sorry," Hades said with a small smirk. "I should have said beloved, shouldn't I?"

"Good change," Aladdin nodded.

Hades rolled his eyes. "Why thank you."

"Much better," Persephone said and got up to give Hades a kiss. At least she would have if Mal hadn't moved her head so that it was between Persephone's lips and Hades'.

"Oh we have got to work on your timing, young lady," Hades shook his head in amusement.

"She just wants to be the only girl in her dad's life," Persephone told him with a kind smile on her face as she ran her fingers through Mal's hair. "Either that, or she's annoyed that you stopped bouncing her. She seemed to really like that."

"My money's on the later," Jay nodded and Mal whacked him on the arm.

"Well Mali, it's time for lunch," Hades said as they walked into the kitchen. "Steph, that formula you brought has been a lifesaver."

"Literally," Uma muttered but not as quietly as she thought as Akiho glanced over at her.

"I brought some extra from Auradon as well," Persephone said, sitting down by the counter in the kitchen as Hades set Mal up with a bottle. "I know how scarce food is here and the last thing I want is for a baby to suffer because of it."

"Are you thinking of—"

"Yes Hades," Persephone nodded. "I won't give it to Maleficent or any of her allies, but I will make it available among the Isle. If need be, I'll give it to Jafar and he can sell it."

"Dad would make a killing on that," Jay nodded. "He could price gouge it, claim supply and demand."

"Especially since there weren't a lot of babies on the Isle at the time," Mal nodded.

"That's not a bad idea," Hades said. "Except people will wonder where Jafar got it. Last thing we would want is for it to be linked back to you. They'll wonder why you're buying formula."

Persephone sighed. "I know. If you want, I can just keep it here and you can decide what to do with it. I know the amount I brought for Mal should last around a year so you shouldn't run out when I have to go back to Auradon."

"How'd you get past the whole salt water thing?" Carlos asked, speaking up.

"What do you mean?" Emir asked, looking at him.

Jay, though, seemed to know what the younger boy was asking. "Lord Hades has a water flirtation system in his restaurant."

"But…his restaurant isn't a thing here. Otherwise they'd have mentioned it."

"The pup's got a point," Harry nodded and Carlos flinched at being compared to a dog of all things.

Ben, Akiho, and Emir glanced at each other. Why would there be a need for a water filtration system? Surely…surely there was fresh water on the Isle right?

"That should be more than enough," Hades said. "Didn't that baby book you read say Mal should be on more solid foods by then?"

"Every baby's different Hades," Persephone reminded him. "Remember that book was talking about mortal babies. I don't think there's a baby book that would tell you the milestones of a half Fae, half god baby."

"If there is one, I bet Ben could find it!" Emir stated, trying to lift the mood after the bombshell brought on earlier.

Ben chuckled but it was slightly forced.

Hades snorted in amusement as he fished out a napkin to wipe off Mal's mouth as she had spit up some of the formula. "If I was so inclined, I could talk to Maleficent about her life growing up to see when the Fae hit certain milestones. But I'm not inclined to do that. In fact I'm more inclined to stay on my end of the Isle than talk to Maleficent."

"I'm more inclined to eat sand than talk to the Dragon."

"I'm more inclined to kiss Freddy than talk to the Dragon."

"Ooh good one Mal."

"I thank you Jay!"

"You know he'll never get near you though right?"

"Considering he's on the Isle and we're in Boreadon? I should hope not."

"That does seem to be the safer option," Persephone nodded as Mal babbled happily in the background. "I'll include some solid baby food my next six months. Just to be on the safe side."

Persephone sighed. She wished the Fates could have brought them to read before Mal had gotten captured by Maleficent. Before she missed out on five years of her daughter's life.

"Oh and some more of those crackers that are shaped like animals? I know Mal can't eat them yet but Pain and Panic love them. They're good rewards for when they haven't completely messed something up."

"You reward Pain and Panic with animal crackers?" Hadie asked, looking at his father.

"Whatever works," Hades shrugged.

"I'll add them to the list," Persephone said with a chuckle. "Besides, the next time I'm here, Mal might actually be old enough to eat them."

The smile faltered from her face as she realized how much of Mal's life she would actually miss being off the Isle for six months. She knew it was the arrangement she and Hades had but now that there was a child involved, it didn't seem fair.

"Since when is anything about our lives fair?" Harry muttered.

"Steph?" Hades asked, noticing the frown and how quiet his wife had gotten. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Persephone nodded. "I was just thinking about how much of Mal's life I'll be missing when I'm off the Isle."

Hades nodded and picked Mal up from the counter. "Well I know it won't be the same but she'll be on every call you make unless she's napping. Plus it's the Isle, not much ever changes around here."

"The only time something changes is when something bad happens," Harry nodded. The last time something changed, the runt was born and my mom died after all.

"Not true," Uma shook her head.

"Yeah Harry, would you say Hadie wasn't a good thing?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I wouldn't Mali," Harry said quickly.

"I know," Persephone sighed. "But she's going to be growing up and I'll miss a bunch of it being in Auradon. It's not fair to her."

Hades chuckled softly. "She's a child of the Isle of the Lost. When has life ever been fair to them?"

"See?! Even Lord Hades agrees with me!'

"No one disagreed on the life not being fair part," Uma said, chuckling a little at her First Mate.

Persephone frowned but she couldn't deny her husband had a point. However, before she could say anything, a smell hit her nose and she had to shake her head. "Dear? I think Mal needs to be changed."

Mal flushed as the VKs and AKs chuckled. Though Ben frowned slightly as he heard Audrey's laugh. It…it was a bit more cruel than he had expected.

After all, they'd all messed up their diaper when they were babies.

"I think you might be right," Hades nodded, wrinkling his nose as the smell wafted into his nostrils. "Let's go Mali. I think it's time for a fresh diaper."

Persephone smiled as Hades and Mal turned the corner, Mal's babbles fading off. Sighing, Persephone got up to join her husband. She loved every moment she could get with Mal and with Hades. She wouldn't trade them for anything.

"Hmm, maybe an added member," Persephone added, wrapping her arms around her son.

Little did they know the storm cloud that was about to cover their sunshine.

"Wait, what?" Macaria exclaimed.

"What happened?" Elle asked, biting her lip as she looked at Lonnie.

"That's the end of the scroll," Lonnie said. "Someone else will have to—."

"I'll read!" Macaria stated, grabbing a scroll that was tied in an orange ribbon.

"…alright then," Lonnie nodded.

"I like her," Uma said with a small smirk.