Small Twists of Fate

Chapter Ten

"You want to do what?"

"You know I figured I'd get this reaction," Hades said as Hook, Milah, Mollie, and Smee stared at him in shock. They were meeting in Hook and Milah's room, with the door shut, in order to guarantee privacy.

After all, the kids wouldn't bother them if the bedroom door was shut.

"Lord Hades, I mean this with all due respect but have you lost your mind?" Mollie asked. "You want to ally yourself with the hyenas? Why?"

"Because I can't be everywhere and we can't just hold Milah hostage in the Underworld for nine months," Hades said with a matter of fact tone to his voice. "Not to mention having this kind of alliance will be good for the sunspots when they get older and start to explore. Every adult on the Isle has some form of gang or crew to protect them, why not us?"

"Because you want to align yourself with the hyenas," Mollie stressed. "I'm all for alliances but what if they decide they're hungry and eat one of the kids?"

"Hyenas are a matrilineal group," Hades said. "They wouldn't hurt the girls, and if Milah's carrying a boy, they wouldn't hurt him either if he doesn't betray them in some way, shape, or form."

"Should we wonder how you know so much about hyenas?" Milah asked.

"Artemis is the Goddess of Animals, she'd go on random facts back when the other Gods were, you know, talking to me," Hades said with a small shrug. "But anyway, I think it would be a good idea to align ourselves with the hyenas. Like I said, I can't be everywhere and Milah should be able to walk around the Isle. Plus there're the lions, tigers, and leopard to worry about as well."

"Doesn't the leopard mainly bother Clayton?" Hook asked. "Almost like the way the blasted crocodile bothers me?"

"That's besides the point," Hades said, waving his hand as if he was waiving Hook's words away.

Milah shook her head. "I...I think Lord Hades might have the right idea."

"You do?"

"Thank you!"

Milah chuckled at Hades' reaction before looking over at her husband. "James, think about it. I can't just be sequestered in the Underworld for nine months. That's not fair to Jess or Harriet or to you, having to have to run around doing errands and whatnot on top of running the crew of The Jolly Rodger and running the fish shop."

"Milah, nine months of doing all that is more than worth it if it means your safety is ensured," Hook told her.

"James, I am a pirate after all and you taught me my way around a sword. Even if we didn't have this hypothetical alliance with the hyenas, I'd still be safe because I'd be able to defend myself. But having that alliance would take some of the pressure off of you and the crew."

"Are you sure you want to do this Milah?" Hook asked.

"James, like Lord Hades said, hyenas are matrilineal animals. They're not going to attack a pregnant woman unless they become a threat to their...what is a group of hyenas called?"

"According to Artemis back when she was going on about what groups of animals are called, a group of hyenas is called a cackle," Hades said.

"Then they won't attack me unless I present a threat to their cackle," Milah said, not commenting on how fun of a word 'cackle' was to say. It wasn't the right time if she was honest, though that didn't mean she couldn't think it. "Honestly...it's a win win for us."

Mollie nodded. "I agree, though...Lord Hades, you said that hyenas are more trusting to women than they are men. How are you going to convince them to become our allies by yourself? Won't you need a woman to accompany you?"