Crossing the Water

Chapter 12

[Celia and Mal approached the entrance to a tunnel with the words 'Get Lost' around the top of the entrance. Celia went to unlock the gate.]

"Hey, how did Lord Hades rush you guys when you were getting the kids off the Isle if he's locked in?" Akiho asked, looking at Mal.

"I asked Celia to leave it unlocked that day," Hades shrugged. Akiho nodded, not wanting to push one of the Big Three for information.

"Hey," Mal said as Celia turned the key, causing the younger girl to pause and look at her. "How big is that dog?"

Wouldn't you know? Macaria asked Mal, employing the mental link. Seeing as you're Uncle Hades' daughter?

Look, Macaria, I haven't been to the Underworld in a long time, Mal thought back. It could have changed.

Celia looked behind her at the poster that said 'Beware of Dog' before looking back at Mal. "You'll see."

The two of them looked at each other before opening the gate and walking into the tunnel. Before they got too far, Celia turned to Mal.

"Okay, stay quiet. It echoes, like, crazy in here," the younger girl told her, her voice a near whisper, before she walked off. Mal looked back toward the rest of the Isle before turning to follow Celia.

Mal sighed. That would be the first time she stepped foot in the Underworld since she was nine...after all, her father had insisted on her staying in her old room for the night since it was a colder month. That being said, Mal had slipped out as soon as she could.

She really hadn't been in the mood to talk to anyone. Not after the words she'd said a few days after Hadie was born. They...they hadn't parted on the best terms.

"What was the point?" Mal asked, glaring at Hades. It was maybe two weeks after Hadie was born and Mal was fed up with being ignored. "You form the alliance with me and you tell me I'm your daughter for what? So you could have a practice kid till you got one that wasn't tainted by only being half God? Or did you just want a kid that wasn't influenced by Maleficent? He's practically your clone! Well congrats, you got your practice kid and now you don't have to deal with me—you're good with that! After all, you left me when I was a baby!"

Mal didn't remember if Hades had said anything in response but she had run out of the room and back toward the Isle before he'd had a chance.

As they walked down the tunnel, the sudden sound of a dog barking caused Mal to freeze and look around.

"Seriously? That's what caused you to jump?" Uma asked Mal, but the smirk on her face was less adversarial and more amused.

Mal rolled her eyes. The recording was new. She definitely didn't remember it from when she was five.

"Come on. Come, come," Celia said, almost sounding annoyed by the delay. Mal followed, though she still looked over her shoulder. The two girls went over to a mine cart/bike hybrid and proceeded to ride it down the tunnel;

"It echoes like crazy...so you're going to ride a creaky old bike down a tunnel you could have walked?" Alexandria asked.

electricity cracking and the dogs barking all the while. While Celia looked almost nonplused, Mal had a pensive, almost worried look on her face.

Ben looked over at Mal and gently grabbed her hand, giving it a loving squeeze as if to remind her that he was still there. Whatever happened in the future, they'd handle it as a team.