Half and Half

Chapter Twenty Four

Hades wasn't going to lie, he was very confused as to why his den looked like an art museum threw up in it. Only instead of the statues of Pygmalion or the paintings of Picasso, Hades was looking at the art talents of a five year old.

And honestly, he had to prefer the five year old's drawings. And no, he wasn't just saying that because said five year old was his daughter, thank you!

"Hades...what's going on?" Persephone asked but then smiled as she saw the sight in front of her. Mal had turned the den into almost like a classroom of sorts, with Ben sitting on the sofa with a notebook and pencil in his hands; studiously taking notes.

"Now this," she heard Mal said, pointing to one of the drawings. It was obviously of a person but unlike the other drawings that had a variety of color, this one only had a black outline and a devil tail and horns, "is Freddy Frollo. Harry calls him pure evil and he is. He's got a sister who's okay but don't talk to her much. Talking to her might lead to talking to Freddy."

"Don't...talk...to...Freddy," Ben said as he jotted down the notes.

"Further more, if you do talk to him, make sure you have a sword with you," Mal added. "Freddy's been training himself on daggers according to Uma. So you're going to want a weapon....do you know how to use a weapon?"

Ben nodded. "Papa and I used to go to 'Daddy and me' jousting classes and they taught me how to use a lance! It's where I met Jordan!"

"Who...?"

"Genie's daughter! She's practically Emir's cousin!"

Hades held back a snort from his spot in the doorway as he looked over at Beast. The former King had come over to see what Hades and Persephone were staring at. "Daddy and me jousting?"

"Hey I didn't make the title," Beast shrugged. "Besides, Belle thought it'd be good for me and Ben to get some one on one time especially after Abby was born. Since Ben was so young, we thought it would be a good idea so he didn't feel like he was falling through the cracks between Abby and running the kingdom....what's going on by the way?"

"Mal apparently is teaching your sunspot about the dangers of the Isle," Hades told him.

"By drawing them?"

"Would you rather our children go touring the Isle and potentially running into enemies?"

Beast shook his head, the graze on Ben's arm was still fresh on his mind. Belle hadn't exactly been happy to hear about it when they had the chance to talk to her on the portal but she was just relieved Ben was okay.

That wasn't to say she didn't let out an impressive litany of swear words once both Abby and Ben were out of earshot though. Beast honestly had thought his wife was going to be the one to Beast out so to speak with how she was going.

"Now this is DeVil," he heard Mal say, pointing to a drawing of what looked like a human version of a Dalmatian puppy. "His first name is Carlos but Uma, Harry, and I don't use that much."

"Why?" Ben asked.

"He's not a threat to us," Mal explained. "His mom's cuckoo for coco puffs as Emir would say but DeVil's only three. Besides, he's got Clay Clayton looking out for him so he doesn't pose a threat to us. Not that he could, DeVil's jumpier than Jane."

That...was a fair assessment, Beast thought, thinking about his rare interactions with the DeVil boy and how he was similar to Fairy Godmother's daughter in temperament. Honestly the boy really didn't deserve the Isle, none of the kids did.

"This is Uma and Harry, you've met them already but they'd be annoyed if I left them out," Mal said and Beast looked to see a drawing of two kids with what looked like a glow behind them. "They're two of the best people you'll ever meet on this Zeus damned rock."