Mal POV

I stood next to Celia inside Hades' lair. Celia gestured at the lack of Cerberus in the room. I spotted Hades lounging in a chair with sunglasses on. Celia pointed next to Hades who was asleep. His ember was on a table next to him. We quietly walked down the steps as barking echoed throughout the room. Celia nudged me before pointing at a recorder player playing Cerberus barking. I started to sneak towards Hades before Celia stopped me. She pointed to the side so I could sneak behind the couch Hades was sleeping in. The sound of the record stopping pierced the room. "What are you doing here?" Hades asked. I froze behind him with wide eyes. "I noticed you were low on canned corn." Celia said pulling out a can of corn and tossing it to him. Hades caught corn as I stealthily reached out to grab the ember. But before I could grab it, Hades' snatched my wrist. I gasped looking over at him. He took the ember from my hand as he turned around and looked at me, leaning his chin on his black gloved hands. "Hi, Dad." I said. Hades pulled his sunglasses off before waving his fingers at me. "Quite a show you and your brother put on the other day." Hades stated. "Right back at you." I told him. "Hmm. I was just coming to see you." He said getting to his feet with a smile. "Really? I wonder why." I asked. "Is it because I"m gonna be Queen?" I asked. Hades sighed. "Ah!" Hades said with a laugh. "No! Now, Mal, don't be bitter." Hades told me as he looked into a mirror. "You abandoned me when I was a baby." I told him crossing my arms. "No. No, I left your mother." Hades argued looking back at me. "She's not the easiest person to get along with." Hades added. "You think?" I asked. "Huh. You see? We have something in common already. We both hate your mother." Hades said. "No. I don't hate my mother. She may be an evil lunatic, but at least she stuck around." I shot back. "Oh! Boo-hoo. Wake up and smell the stink. You think you've had it rough? I used to be a " Hades exclaimed. "I had an entire world which bore my name. And now I have And you have no idea what that feels like." Hades shouted throwing a can to the floor before pointing at me. "Really? Because for 16 years, I had nothing. And now, I have a whole world. But unless I get that ember, it's game over." I said. "And what does Haden think of this? Hmm? Does he know about you being his little sister?" Hades asked me. "He doesn't know. And he's going to." I said. "Are you sure about that?" He asked raising a brow. "Why do you hate him so much?" I asked. "You think I hate him?" Hades asked. "It's kind of obvious seeing how you tried to kill him for so many years whenever he "fails" you." I said. "" Hades exclaimed before taking a deep breath. "I'm just angry, okay? I'm angry at the world. Angry at my brothers' nephews for throwing me in here so many years ago. If you haven't noticed, Mal. I'm quite prone to fits of rage." Hades explained. "Since I couldn't express my rage and pain at Hercules and that wretched sea filth, Percy Jackson! I expressed it towards Haden." Hades explained. "Yeah...and now he hates you for it." I pointed out. "Yeah...thank you, Captain Obvious. I kinda got that idea when he blasted me back onto the Isle." Hades said obviously annoyed. "And on top of that...he fears you...actually...he's terrified of you. Just hearing your name sends him into either a anxiety attack or into an explosive outburst of anger. You did that." I said jabbing a finger into his chest. Hades grabbed my hand before pushing it away. "Please, hold." He said turning away.

I looked at Hades. "Do you wanna make up for being a lousy dad? Give me the ember." I said putting my hand out. "The ember only works for me." Hades said. "No. It'll work me and Haden. We're blood." I answered. Hades chuckled. "You're only half Hades. The ember won't do everything for you that if does for me." Hades explained. "I'll take my chances." I said. "I suggest you let Haden use the ember. Given how his blood isn't tainted like your's with fairy blood. His blood is completely divine...Well, now anyways, since Zeus went and turned him into a god to replace me." Hades explained. "I'm actually surprised he didn't kill me at the barrier when he had the chance to." Hades added. I squinted my eyes as I furrowed my brows. "Okay, first of all, Zeus replaced you because you deserved it. You're a horrible person and you know it." I started. "And two, Haden hates you. There's no denying it...but that doesn't mean he that he wants you dead. If he wanted you dead, you'd already dead. But he doesn't. You want to know why? Because he'd rather have a hateful and cruel dad than no dad at all." I ranted. Hades stared at me before he dropped the ember into my hand. I went to leave. "And Mal...When you see Haden...tell him I'm sorry." Hades stated. "Tell him yourself." I shouted back before leaving. "If it gets wet, it's game over." Hades called out one last time. I headed down the tunnel with Celia to the exit. "I guess that's the reason why he's always asking about you two." Celia said breaking the silence. I stopped walking before looking at her. "Evie is the only one who knows that he's my dad." I told her. "And as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't even exist." I finished before leaving Hades' lair.