Ｂｏｏｋ １ ： Ｔｈｅ Ｉｓｌｅ ．

by princesse_belle

Summary:

Ben thought his trip to the Isle would be a quick in-and-out trip. He would apologise to Mal, she would forgive him, and they would go back to Auradon together. He didn't think he would get kidnapped by pirates.

Or.

Hades and Persephone's son is so sick of everyone's nonsense.

Notes:

This is a direct sequel to Ａｔｈａｎａｓｉｏｓ ｔｏｕ Ｈａｄｅｓ．so you should probably read that first.

Chapter 1: Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ １ | Ｕｍａ．

Notes:

This is a direct sequel to Ａｔｈａｎａｓｉｏｓ ｔｏｕ Ｈａｄｅｓ．so you should probably read that first.

Uma didn’t glance up as the door to the Chip Shop was pushed open for the hundredth time that day, wiping down a counter mindlessly. She had better things to think about, such as freeing the Isle with the Fairy Godmother’s wand, and better things to do, such as talking to the rest of the Council about her prisoner and freeing the Isle with the Fairy Godmother’s wand, but she hadn’t even received confirmation that they would be able to attend anytime before noon, when Mal would give her the wand, but that was fine. They would thank her when they were all free.

“Swords in the back,” she said when she didn’t hear the telltale sound of metal clinging in the big pot, and a boy scoffed. She paused. She knew the sound of that scoff. She glanced up, and scowled at the boy in front of her. He was dressed in loose and ripped purple pants, a tight black tank top that was also ripped, and a puffy, fluffy black jacket that was, once again, ripped.

“Like I need one,” the boy, not quite yet a man, replied irritably, and Uma could have screamed.

“Katt,” she said through her teeth, throwing the rag on the counter behind her as Katt grinned widely and waved.

“Uma,” he acknowledged, hefting himself on the counter she had just cleaned. Uma narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists, but didn’t comment.

Katt was one of the Cheshire Cat’s five or six kids–the third one, if she remembered correctly. He was annoying, he was childish and he was crazy, and he definitely should have an STD by now, and the only reason nobody had killed him yet was because he hung off Beau Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf’s son, who ran with Scar’s son Sultan. Katt’s sister Kitten was only a little more tolerable, and that was only because she didn’t spend her time flirting with absolutely everyone, probably because Sultan would get mad and that would not be pretty.

“What are you doing here, Cheshire?” She demanded. “Did Beau send you?”

Katt grinned, and laid down fully on the counter on his stomach, kicking his legs up and down. One of her eyes twitched. “You know it. He wanted me to give you a message. Well, the boss wanted him to have someone give you a message.”

“And what does Sultan want?” Uma pressed, tapping her nails on the counter impatiently.

Katt giggled. It was a shrill, grating sound that made her want to tear out her hair, but she didn’t. “Wait, we were talking about Sultan?”

“Katt!” She slammed her fist down on the counter, and he chuckled. Uma rolled her eyes with a groan. “Just.. tell me what the message is. And hurry up, I have other things to do.”

He chuckled, which was a less annoying sound, but still annoying. “What, like watching your new prisoner?”

Uma rubbed her temples, not surprised, but not pleased either. “And how exactly do you know that?”

“I have my ways,” Katt grinned, which basically translated to ‘Beau told me’. “Anyways, the Council isn’t super happy that you took the boy-King all for yourself. Beau said your little meeting’s in two hours. Bring him.”

Uma slammed her hand down on the counter. “Are you kidding me?! I found him,” she argued. Also, Mal was supposed to be there with the wand in two hours!

Katt instantly started laughing maniacally. He turned to lay on his back and laughed, tears coming out of his eyes and she averted her gaze uncomfortably. He visibly forced himself to calm down until all that was left of his shrill laughter were a few chuckles and giggles. He rolled back onto his stomach, kicking his legs and resting his cheek on his forearms. “You’re cute. They weren’t asking. Last I heard, Athanasios called for the meeting, and you wouldn’t ignore your dear ol’ cousin, would you?” Uma’s breath hitched, and his grin widened, splitting his face almost grotesquely. “So? You’ll come, won’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ll come,” she crossed her arms, scowling. “Now, get out.”

He sat up, his smile becoming similar to a sneer without ever pushing his lips down. His eyes said it all. “With pleasure.” He gracefully slid off the counter, and strutted out of the Shoppe, swaying his hips. Once the door closed behind him, she swore loudly and she heard him laugh even from outside.

“Gil!” She called, and Gil peeked his head out from the kitchens. “Get Harry and tell him to go to the cabin on the ship!”

He furrowed his brows. “Is this about what Katt was saying?” He asked, and she nodded jerkily. “Alright.” He walked out of the shop, whistling all the while, and Uma tapped her fingers impatiently.

“Desiree! Gonzo!’ She called, and they quickly walked up to the counter. Desiree was a short girl in a ragged dress and a corset, heavy boots, and lots of jewellery. Gonzo was taller, with long braids and a red bandana. They were some of the newer members of her crew, having only joined about two years ago.

“What is it, captain?” Desiree asked.

“I need you both to go to Mal’s little hideout, and tell her plans have changed,” she ordered. “Tell her to hold the wand for a bit,” she added, and Desiree and Gonzo looked confused.

“Why, though?” Gonzo asked, and Uma sighed.

“There’s a council meeting in two hours,” she replied unhappily. "So, I'll be busy."

"You got it, captain," Gonzo gave her a two-fingered salute, and both he and Desiree left, the doors creaking as they walked through them.

Uma walked out too after a moment, grabbing her sword from the pot on her way out. She breathed in the salty, icy sea air that always smelled like rotted fish and scowled. Soon–hopefully, if the Council didn’t try to change her plans–they should all be out. Out of this island, where the best smelling things were flowers hidden deep in the forest, which was Sultan and Pan’s territory hence suicide. Some of it used to belong to the Lost Boys, too, before Pan finally got sick and tired of them hunting down his kids and killed the new leader and all but crippled the rest.

On her way to her ship, which was a pretty short walk, some guy tried to slip his hand into her pocket, and she twisted his wrist reflexively, making him let go with a yelp. The coward ran off, and Uma rolled her eyes, not bothering to chase after him. Soon, she reached her ship, and she quickly greeted her crew, then headed to the cabin on the stern.

Harry and Gil were already waiting for her there, leaning against various surfaces. Harry pushed himself off of the wall as she entered and closed the door.

“Uma,” he greeted her with a grin, and Gil waved. “Did ye change yer mind? Can I hook Benny early?”

Uma shook her head, crossing her arms. “No. The plans have changed. The Council decided we’re having a meeting to talk about what we’re gonna do with Ben. We’ll have to put our plan on hold for a couple hours.”

Harry’s grin faltered, and Gil frowned. “When’s the meeting?” Gil sighed in resignation.

“It’s at noon,” she replied irritably, and Harry threw his hands up in frustration.

“Are ye kidding me?!” He exclaimed. “We were so close!”

“Hey!” Uma snapped her fingers at him, then at Gil. “All we have to do is convince the Council to go through with our plan. We’ve waited all our lives for this, we can wait a few more hours.”

Harry grumbled, and started pacing the floor. “Of course we can. Waiting, that’s all we’ve been doing lately! Waiting for an opportunity, waiting for the wand to get here, and now we’re waiting for permission!?”

“This is frustrating for me too, but what can we do?!” Uma demanded, and he stopped pacing. “Goddamn Athanasios called for the meeting, and as good as he is, how do you want me to say no to that?! Huh?! How?!”

“Guys!” Gil exclaimed, and they both fell silent. “Can we not fight? Arguing isn’t gonna get us anywhere, what’s done is done! Alright? So, let’s just think about what we can say to convince them. Okay?”

Uma nodded, then said, “Okay.”

Gil turned his attention to Harry. “Okay?”

Harry looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. “Okay, fine,” he groaned, and Gil visibly relaxed.

Uma cleared her throat. “Alright, here are our arguments: we want freedom. We want to live. And we want revenge. There, three arguments. Gil you’re in charge while Harry and I are gone. And you won’t have to worry about Ben. They want us to bring him with us.”

Harry slammed his hook against the wall, looking like he was about to kill whoever made that decision. “Are ye fucking kidding me?! They want him too?!” He shouted. Gil remained unfazed, and Harry took in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. “Is there anything else we should worry about?”

Uma shook her head, equally annoyed. “That’s all that Katt told me. Now, c’mon. We gotta tell the rest of the crew what’s going on. And Ben, I guess.”

Harry perked up. “Can we blindfold him on our way there?”

Uma rolled her eyes fondly. “Yes, Harry, we can blindfold him.”

They exited the cabin and stepped on deck. Various members of her crew were training, cleaning, others were fishing just off the side of the ship, and someone was watching Ben. Uma stomped her foot. “Attention!”

They all stopped what they were doing, and turned their attention to her.

“Does the cap’n have a speech?” One of her crew members, a girl named Bonnie, shouted.

“Yes, I have a speech, but this isn't good news!” Uma replied. “Listen up! The plans have changed. The Council called for a meeting in an hour, so we won’t be getting the wand at noon.” Immediately, there was a loud uproar of protests that Uma quieted down swiftly. “QUIET!” She cleared her throat once they stopped shouting, and continued, “While Harry and I are gone, Gil’s in charge, alright? And nobody’s on watch-duty for the King, ‘cause he’s coming with us. Any questions?” No one raised their hands, so Uma nodded her head in thanks for their attention, walked over to where Ben was being held, looking curious and confused, and stopped right in front of him. “I’m guessing you have questions.”

“Yes,” he replied.

She waited for several moments, waiting for him to ask the questions before losing her patience. “That means ask away,” she smiled sarcastically.

“Oh!” Ben said dumbly. “Um, what’s the Council?”

“It’s a council. Most of the major leaders here are on it. That’s how we make decisions about important things, like the fact that you’re here,” she explained, and Ben nodded slowly.

“Who’s on the council?” He asked.

“Shit, that’s a lot of people,” she chuckled. “Hades’ son Athanasios, Captain Hook–Harriet Hook, not the old guy. There's also Peter Pan’s son Percy, the Coachman’s son Camorra di Capo, Scar’s former son Sultan, Queen of Hearts’ son Harley, Ginny Gothel, Antoine Tremaine, César Frollo, and Tate Jenner.”

Ben furrowed his brows. “How can you be someone’s former son?”

Uma paused for a moment, wondering if she should tell him the full story or just part of it. She decided on part of it. He didn’t deserve the full story unless Sultan and his little sister Shetani said so, which was not likely. “Scar’s really bad with kids. Next question,” she yawned. These next minutes up until the meeting would be long .

“Who’s Tate Jenner?” He asked.

“I’m guessing you wanna know who his daddy is?” Uma raised a brow, and Ben nodded. “He’s dead, thank Hades. His name was Tom, and he was the leader of the Lost Boys after they and Pan split up. Don’t ask me for details, I don’t have them. So, Tom used to have a portion of the forest up North, but Tatum mostly ran it for him and when he died, Tate and his boys took all of it. They’re called the Brotherhood, and they’re all the sons of the Lost Boys. Since Tate gives food resources to the rest of the Isle when things get really bad, he’s on the Council. Anything else?”

Ben nodded yes. “Who’s Camorra di Capo?”

“I told you. He’s the Coachman’s son.” Ben still looked confused. “You know, the guy who turned boys into donkeys? Well, he did other things with them too, but that’s a separate thing,” Uma shrugged.

“What did he do with them?” Ben asked innocently, and Uma gave him a blank stare.

“He pimped them out,” she replied, and Ben paled considerably. She almost felt bad for him. Then, she felt angry because why did he get to be this innocent, but not Isle children under ten years old? She clenched her hand into a fist. “Get a grip. Di Capo’s a pimp too. The only difference is that he doesn’t touch kids.”

Ben opened and closed his mouth a few times, then closed it for a final time.

“You done asking questions?” Uma demanded.

“Yes,” he muttered, sounding almost haunted, and she rolled her eyes.

“If this shocks you, you wouldn’t last a day here,” she scoffed, then stalked off back to where Harry and Gil were pretending not to be spying. She grabbed Harry’s pocket watch, ignoring their abashed excuses, and checked the time. It was 11:08, so they should definitely get going now.

“Captain!”

She looked up at the entrance to the ship. Desiree and Gonzo were running in, looking panicked, and Uma, Gil, and Harry quickly made their way over to them.

“What’s wrong?” Uma demanded. “Report.”

“When we got to Mal’s hideout, Katt was there,” Desiree panted. “He took the wand with him, said that Athanasios wanted it. And Mal’s gonna be at the meeting too, with Jay.”

This time, it wasn’t Harry that screamed. Uma did. Desiree and Gonzo flinched, and she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then counted down from ten and back up like Ethel, the Evil Queen’s first daughter, taught her and Tate to.

Uma breathed out heavily, opening her eyes again. “Alright, then. Harry, get Ben and let’s go.”

Harry obeyed wordlessly, and returned with a blindfolded Ben. Uma and Gil nodded at each other seriously, and then, she and Harry left the ship, heading to the west side docks. The walk was brisk and silent, and around 11:56, they’d arrived at their meeting place: Captain Hook’s ship, the Jörmungandr. It was easily twice the size of hers and it was painted a dark red, gold trims running across the hull. The gangplank was down, two pirates guarding it to make sure no one tried to sneak in.

Uma walked past them without sparing them a second glance, and Harry followed after her, pushing Ben up the gangplank. She stormed past the cabin to the meeting room, where Sammy Smee, Captain Hook’s First Mate, and her second mate Joanna, Red Jessica’s daughter, were leaning against the door boredly. He was staring at a gold pocket watch, which he snapped shut when Uma approached, and he pushed himself off the door.

“One more minute, and you’d be late,” he opened the door. “Beast stays outside with Jo, yeah?”

Uma gritted her teeth, but nodded jerkily, and she and Harry entered the large room, where all the other members of the Council and Mal were seated around a round table in the very middle of the room. Before she went to Auradon, she was too pretentious to tie herself down to the Council’s rules so she wasn’t officially a part of it. If they had a really important meeting, Athanasios could force her to attend if he wanted to, but he usually didn’t, simply because it annoyed her when they made major decisions without her even though she chose not to join.

Harry took one of the chairs against the wall next to Tatum’s second Valentino, and Uma took her seat at the table table. There was a lit chandelier above them, and Uma noticed that Ethel was also there, sitting in Athanasios’ chair while he stood behind her. Ethel only came to meetings when they would need a mediator. Uma sighed internally. This was not about to be a calm meeting.

Notes:

June 5th: Next chapter coming soon!

Chapter 2: Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ 2 | Ｔａｔｕｍ ．

Summary:

Sammy pulled in some princely looking guy with his hands tied in front of him, dressed in really nice leather and denim that Evie probably sewed for him to try to make him fit in. It didn't work. He looked weak, naïve, and timid, and like an easy target. Tate's baby sister could have beaten him up, and she was ten years old. Overall, Tate was largely unimpressed.

Tate walked on Captain Hook's ship with Valentino 11:56, which was far too early for him. He could've been in bed cuddling with his girlfriend Prima, Percy Pan's younger sister—because she was his girlfriend and her dad could go shove it up his—but no, of course not. What a silly thought. No, today was the day Uma decided to kidnap the literal King of Auradon, and today was the day Athanasios had to call a meeting to talk about that. Tate didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to sleep. Nevertheless, he sat down in his usual seat around the big round table as Valentino, his second, sat on a chair placed against the wall behind him, and waited silently until Athanasios called for the meeting to start, counting who was present so far.

Mal was back, with her second Jay, which was absolutely disgusting. That girl had always been such a whiny bitch, and coming from him, that honestly said something. Jay used to be cool, though. They would steal together sometimes before Jay left, but it had been a year and Jay honestly seemed to have forgotten about the Isle, at least on TV. Captain Hook was there. They had a... neutral relationship leaning more on the negative side depending on the day. Percy Pan too, and he still hated him for beating up his little brother Paxton, which was pretty well deserved in Tate's opinion since Paul Pan had beaten up his baby sister Talia before that. Di Capo was there already. He and Tate had never liked each other. The less said, the better. Sultan was there, which was good because they were allied and they had also grown up in the forest in relatively close sectors. Harley of Hearts, that classist prick, was there, which was absolutely horrible. He was always so high and mighty about the fact that he was technically a prince, which barely even counted since the Queen of Hearts was literally banished. Ethel was sitting in Athanasios' chair, as she usually did whenever she was present, and he was standing behind her, checking his watch every so often. Ethel was nice, genuinely nice, which was pretty weird to Tate because out of all people, Ethel had the most rights to being a bitch. Ginny Gothel, Antoine Tremaine, and César Frollo were there as well, so the only person who was missing was Uma.

Finally, she arrived with Hook in tow, and Athanasios called for the meeting to start. "I appreciate you all coming on such short notice," he started, his low voice filling the room effortlessly. "As I'm sure you all already know, we are here to discuss the situation with Auradon's king. First, I would like to know who's stupid idea it was to bring him here."

Everyone turned to Mal expectantly, and she looked visibly uncomfortable. Tate could have laughed. Damn, Auradon made her soft, he thought.

Athanasios rose an expectant brow. "I'm waiting."

Mal finally answered. "When I came back here, my fr—my gang followed after me, and Ben made them bring him along so that he could apologise to me."

Athanasios hummed. "And why did you come back?" Mal looked hesitant. "I'm only asking because I'm wondering what the hell happened in Auradon for you to want to leave? You had good food, magic, and I'm assuming a nice place to sleep. What made you leave? Does it have to do with what Ben had to apologise for?"

Mal sighed heavily. "Yes, it does have to do with that," she admitted, finally. "I just — they have all these weird etiquette rules that nobody talks about and when I mess up, they look at me like I'm crazy, but other people don't have to follow them for whatever reason! And nobody has taught me about my magic because it's 'retired', whatever the fuck that means, and it's so hard to keep it under control! And news reporters keep showing up at our school and shove their microphones in my face, and ask me all about my mother and my relationship with Ben, and apparently Cotillion is like getting engaged to getting engaged to getting engaged so now people want me to marry and I don't know if I want that yet! So, I used magic to make things easier for myself for little things like homework or memorising stuff and making a stupid picnic!" She sounded strangely vehement about the picnic, so Tate supposed the picnic was relevant. "And when Ben found out, I tried to spell him to forget which I realise was a bad idea, and he blew up on me, saying that he was mad that I was lying and keeping secrets from him, and he said, 'This isn't the Isle, Mal', like I don't fucking know that, so I took my mom with me and I left!" The last word was a screech, and then the room was awkwardly silent.

Honestly, Tate found the whole thing ridiculous. This whole entire situation could have been avoided if they had one singular conversation, which he and Prima did literally all the time so why couldn't Beauty and the Beast 2.0? She could have asked him to explain more things to her, she could have told him she was stressed and he also could have asked about how she was doing if he didn't. Trying to wipe his memory was just as low as saying Auradon wasn't the Isle in his opinion, so they should have a very long conversation about that.

"Hold on," Athanasios clasped his hands together above Ethel's head, staring at Mal like she was the incarnation of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. "Did you just say you took your mother with you?"

Mal nodded, her eyes glistening with tears, and Tate looked away uncomfortably because there was no way in hell she was about the start crying like a little baby, but then an even more uncomfortable realisation came upon him. Maleficent was on the island.

"Mal, where is your mother now?" Athanasios asked, his voice strained.

"In my hideout. Evie's watching her," Mal explained, and Ethel's expression darkened at the mention of her half-sister.

"And she's still in lizard form?" Athanasios' hand fell to Ethel's shoulder, and he rubbed it calmingly.

"Yes."

"Good." He looked significantly less. "For my second point, we'll be talking about the wand. Ethel?"

Ethel passed him the wand from her lap, and Athanasios regarded it for a second before breaking it over his knee. Immediately, Uma started screeching at Mal, something about her being a fake, conniving, lying bitch, and Tate reflexively blocked her out, then Mal too when she started shrieking back. These banshees, he thought irately. Athanasios let this go on for a few seconds, before giving Ethel a look, and she clapped her hands, silencing them both effortlessly.

"Mal, why did you bring a fake wand?" She asked softly.

"Because I don't want the people here to leave," Mal replied, and from her point of view, Tate supposed he could make sense of that. She didn't know about the Purge, with all the villains and crazies and cannibals. "You know, the villains. Some people shouldn't leave this place."

"All of the people you're thinking of are now dead," Antoine Tremaine drawled, and Mal's head snapped over to him. "For example, my grandmother is dead. Frollo is dead. Mother Gothel, Cruella de Vil, Tom Jenner, the Big Bad Wolf, the Evil Queen, Jafar. They're all dead. There was a whole Purge a couple months ago, you missed it."

Mal's jaw dropped, and she stared at him in disbelief, then at Ethel, then at Athanasios, then back at Antoine. "What?"

He raised a perfectly arched brow in that supremely condescending way he did. "What? Don't tell me you'll miss any of them."

"I mean, no, but... I'm just shocked. Give me a second," Mal waved him off, and Antoine scoffed and rolled his eyes at the dismissive gesture.

"Alright, then," Ethel cleared her throat, and turned her attention to Uma, looking disappointed, but not mad. "Uma, I understand why you decided to kidnap the king. You didn't want him running around, and I'm assuming you didn't want him to leave before the Council could talk to him. However, I don't see why you decided you could make the decision of taking the wand and bringing down the barrier without consulting us. It's disrespectful and stupid. I know that you're new to the Council, so let me remind you how things work. Important decisions are voted upon, as is stated in the contract, and things like taking down the barrier require preparation. Since you clearly didn't think about that either, let me explain it to you. Auradon's first instinct would have been to attack us. The gods would also have killed a lot of people to make sure Hades and Athanasios stayed trapped. We would have had to prepare for a war larger than anything we have ever seen."

Understanding dawned on Uma's face suddenly, and Ethel smiled tightly. "Oh."

"I am glad you have realised that was stupid. Now, Uma; here, we also do this little thing called apologising," Ethel said pointedly, and Uma looked disgusted. "That's not optional. You are sixteen, not six. You are mature enough to apologise. Go on, you can do it. I believe in you."

Reluctantly, Uma forced out an apology. "I apologise." Ethel waved her hand encouragingly. "I apologise for disrespecting the contract." She sounded like she was choking on her own words.

"We appreciate your apology, Uma," Ethel replied. "Athanasios, onto your third point."

"Thank you, Ethel," Athanasios cleared his throat. "We need to agree on what to do with the king. I propose we keep him alive. All in favor?" Everyone muttered some sort of agreement. "Lovely. I also propose we open negotiations with him."

"What would that entail?" Harley of Hearts asked curiously.

"We all agree that this place is a dump," he started, and Tate mentally prepared himself for a long, long speech. "Yes, we've made it manageable, but it doesn't change the fact that this is Auradon's dump, and that is how they see us. They see us as weak, as the defeated, and that is how they treat us. Before trying to send any more of our own to Auradon, we need to strengthen ourselves first, and show them our worth as a sovereign nation and not just one of their territories. To strengthen ourselves, we need proper food and proper supplies, and that is what we will demand from the king."

His speech was relatively short, which was great. Super great. Hell, Tate could have thanked some god. 

Mal cleared her throat. "Uh, Athanasios? The Isle isn't a sovereign nation or a territory. It's a part of Auradon."

Tate rolled his eyes. There was no way in hell. The Isle was not Auradon, they didn't do anything for them.

"Oh, hell no," Harley of Hearts turned his nose up in disgust, and Tate hated to agree with him, of all people.

"A part of Auradon, my ass!" Ginny Gothel barked out a laugh, leaning back in her chair.

"I'm serious, I thought Fairy Godmother was kidding too when she said that," Mal replied.

"Bitch, please," Tate scoffed. Fairy Godmother could shove her sparkly wand up her cushy ass.

"The Isle is classified as an Auradonian prison," Mal added, which honestly... kinda made sense.

Athanasios finally spoke up. "The point still stands. They see us as weak and treat us as weak, so we need to strengthen ourselves, and so we need proper supplies. The Isle legally being a part of Auradon doesn't change that."

"Ben won't argue with that," Mal said. "He's... good. A little bit naïve, but genuinely good."

"He's an Auradonian king, how can he be genuinely good?" Ginny Gothel scoffed.

"I don't know, he's... different. Whenever my friends or whenever I talk to him about the Isle, he gets this look on his face and he stays up all night making and remaking plans to fix things and presents them to Auradon's council. They just don't listen to him," she got this gross, lovesick look on her face that made Tate look away because eww, and now he understood how uncomfortable the Brotherhood felt whenever he and Prima were cute in front of them.

"We should send more of our own to Auradon, though," Tate said, leaning back in his chair. "Not children or anything, even though they do need off, but people who can defend themselves and who could, I dunno, represent us."

"Like ambassadors?" Mal asked.

Tate shrugged. "I guess."

"That's actually not a shit idea. I'm shocked it came from you," di Capo remarked, and Tate wordlessly flipped him off.

"And who would we be sending to Auradon?” Sultan tapped his nails on the table impatiently, probably bored out of his mind by now.

"Um, people from our gangs who are old enough to attend high school?" Tate shrugged again. "But not too close to the centre. I mean, we can't send our seconds, but we also can't send the henchmen. Siblings could work, though."

"Who's siblings would work?" Harley scoffed. "Mine don't, Frollo's don't, Sultan's doesn't, Pan's don't, literally nobody's do."

Tate rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm just throwing ideas. Why don't you, for a change?"

"Phoenix could work," Percy interfered before Harley could start running his mouth, and Phoenix, his second and younger sister, glared at the back of his head.

Tatum used to hate that girl with a burning passion, and now he wouldn't say they were close, but she had always been the least opposed to his relationship with Prima, oddly enough.

"I could send one of my cousins," Antoine suggested offhandedly.

Tate gave Harley a smug look, and the prince rolled his eyes.

"Good idea, Tatum," Athanasios said, and Tate grew even more smug as Harley gritted his teeth. "We'll come back to that. So, so far, we've agreed to keep the king alive and to start negotiations with him. If anyone has something to say about that, this is your last chance." The room was dead silent for several seconds. Tate could have rolled his eyes. Absolutely no one was gonna talk back to the literal god. Athanasios surely knew that, but he was probably trying to be 'polite'. "Perfect. Sammy, you can let the king in."

Sammy Smee stood from his chair right next to the door, and opened it. He pulled in some princely looking guy with his hands tied in front of him, dressed in really nice leather and denim that Evie probably sewed for him to try to make him fit in. It didn't work. He looked weak, naïve, and timid, and like an easy target. Tate's baby sister could have beaten him up, and she was ten years old. Overall, Tate was largely unimpressed.

Notes:

July 4th: Next chapter coming soon!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Ｔｈｅ Ｃｏｕｎｃｉｌ．