Choosing Family

Chapter Five

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.

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.

"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."

"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?" Persephone asked, looking up at Hades.

"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."

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?"

"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."

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."

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.

"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."

"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. Mal rarely if ever cried. Something was wrong. Looking at Persephone in panic, Hades vaulted over the sofa and raced to Mal's room. 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. 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.

"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?"

Hades shook his head slowly; sometimes his wife's positive outlook on things was appreciated. This was not one of those times. Taking the feather from the pillow, he turned around to look at Persephone.

"I'll give you three guesses," he growled, 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.