Sophia was one of the first children born on the Isle alongside her twin, Ursul. Ursul died at a young age, leaving Sophia to look after her younger sister. Ursula was a cruel, cruel woman, who decided Sophia needed to be physically taught lessons...
Mal and Evie sat at Audrey's bedside as she slept in her room. Celia, Uma and I were seated at the ledge under the window, my sisters pressed into my side. Ben was pacing the floor, Morgan was leaning against the wall with distaste etched onto their features, and Jay, Harry, Carlos and Gill were lounging around. "She's slipping away." Evie muttered.
"There's only one person in the world who might be able to do something about this, and that's Hades." Mal said.
"Hades?" Ben questioned, "He wouldn't do it. And I wouldn't risk it."
"Actually he might do it for me. He's my father."
"Ok...well...I'll have to send guards to get him."
"Maybe I can come?" Morgan questioned. I looked over to them, my eyebrows furrowed, "The Isle is home. I gotta be there to protect it."
"Well then, you need a first mate." Harry commented, sauntering up to Morgan.
"With you guys there, the Isle's gonna do just fine." I said. I felt Celia look up at me, so I dropped my gaze down to her.
"Can I go too?" She asked softly.
"Why do you want that?" I replied in the same tone,
"I wish I could be in both places. With you and Uma, and then with Dad, but...he needs me."
"If that's what you want then I can't stop you. I may be your big sister but you're your own grown woman." I then addressed the entire group, "You know, Evie was one-hundred percent right." My gaze landed on my cousin, "We could have been friends, family if we even wanted to. And...to everyone I am so sorry Mal and I lied and kept the truth from you all. You deserve much more than what we did."
"You guys were just trying to do the right thing." Jay told us.
"I get it." Evie said.
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I changed out of my Isle clothes for when Hades arrived. I was dressed in a pale purple dress and matching flats, my hair pulled into an intricate braid. Queen Leah was at Audrey's bedside alongside Fairy Godmother with Belle beside her. Beast was nervously pacing Audrey's room, waiting for the arrival of the God of the Underworld. Ben had his hands resting on my uncovered shoulders, his thumbs running soothing circles on my shoulder blades across two particularly bad scars. My arms were crossed, however, one of my hands was toying with my shell necklace, still holding Mum's talisman. Mal was standing off to the side, dressed in a purple jumpsuit with blue designs, her thumb caught in between her teeth. There was a knock at the door, and Beast went to answer it. He opened it, and from the way he tensed, I know Hades was on the other side of the door. Beast stepped back as Hades, flanked by a couple of guards, entered the room. Mal stepped forward to greet him. "Thank you for coming." She said.
"Didn't have much choice." Hades replied.
"Can you wake her?" Ben asked from behind me.
"Since when do Hero's care about Villains?"
"She's-"
"One of your own? Right...When you guys try to destroy the world, it's an error in judgement. But...when it's one of us? Lock 'em up and throw away the key. Right, Beast?" Hades then lifted his cuffed hands, "Yeah, I'm gonna need to use my hands." Mal looked back towards me. I gently tapped my seashell necklace with one of my fingers, giving her a soft nod. Mal turned back to Hades as the attendants beside him unchained his hands. He shook his hands out, offering one to Mal. She took a breath, taking the Ember before placing it in Hades' outstretched hand. Almost instantly, Hades' hair turned into flames. "Haven't lost my touch." Hades then turned to Beast, growling softly. Beast responded with a low rumble in his chest.
"Dad." Mal interrupted. Hades then looked away from Beast, going to stand at the foot of Audrey's bed. Hades held the Talisman out as the room became blue. I tensed, prompting Ben to rub my shoulders again. After a few tense seconds, the blue from the room faded and Audrey sat up, her eyes opening.
"Audrey!" Queen Leah gasped, "You're ok!"
"Tell me it was all a bad dream?" Audrey whispered.
"I wish I could, but it's over now." Ben said. Audrey looked to me,
"I'm sorry. I wanted to hurt you both. I wanted to hurt all of you." I stepped forward, out of Ben's grasp. I took Audrey's hands in my own,
"Audrey..." I started softly, "I have owed you an apology for quite some time now."
"And so have I." Ben said. Mal stepped forward,
"Guess I do as well." She sighed. "About Peter. I should have been more up front about our relationship."
"And perhaps...I...have owed you one to." Queen Leah said. She gave a small bow. I gave her a half-smile as Mal and I dipped into a small curtsey. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Beast gesture with his hand and surround Hades, leading him out of the room. Mal paused for a second before running out of the room.
"Excuse me for a minute." I said softly, walking out of the room, passing the two attendants to the left and made my way to the balcony of the school. I rested my hands on it, looking out to the water.
"Sophia." A voice called. I looked behind me and saw Ben.
"Hey." I greeted. Ben came to stand next to me,
"You ok?"
"Not really." I sighed, my eyes falling back towards the water, landing on the Isle a few kilometres away. "Just...I'm gonna miss Celia." Ben wrapped his arm around me.
"What's your relationship to her?" Ben asked, "You mentioned earlier that she was your sister. Like...half or...?"
"No, she's my full-blooded sister. I've told you about how my Dad left when Uma was just a kid, right?" Ben nodded, "Well, apparently Mum was pregnant at the time, with Celia. When Dad left he took her and raised her himself. I hate that he left Ursul, Uma and I to the mercy of our mother, but I guess I can forgive him slightly for raising Celia out of our mother's tentacles."
"So...you're dad is Dr Facilier?" I nodded.
"I take after my mother though, don't I?"
"You certainly do."
"At least not fully."
"Yeah." Ben pulled me into a hug, "Definitely not fully."
