Mal POV 

"Hey, Dad! Ben and I are going to . . ." I trailed off at the sight of the black cloak my father was holding up. Faces seemed to float in and out of view in the cloak's surface. They seemed like were trying their best to claw their way out of the cloak but were failing miserably. It had to be one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. 

"Dad?" I repeated. 

Hades looked up and tried to hide the cloak. He seemed to realize that I'd already seen it and gave up on the effort. 

"Mal, I have something to tell you," he said. 

"Yeah, starting with why were you trying to hide that cloak from me?" I said knowing how freaked I sounded. 

Hades looked at the cloak in his hands. "That is something I cannot explain without giving away so much more." 

"That doesn't explain anything," I said. 

Hades smirked. "I know." 

"Why are you acting like this?" I asked. 

Hades sighed. "Sorry, I've been rather stressed lately." 

"What has you so stressed?" I asked. 

Hades let out a harsh laugh. "A lot of things, but right now specifically it's the fact that my wife is begging for me to set up a family reunion." he looked at me. "And I wasn't sure how you would react." 

"You're married?!" I heard someone exclaim. I turned to find Jay, Carlos, Evie and Ben standing behind me. Carlos had been the one to shout out to which Evie had wacked him. 

Hades smiled. "Yes, I am," he confirmed. "My wife Persephone and I have been married for quite a long time. I love her with all my heart." 

"If you loved her, why'd you have a kid with my mom?" I asked, accusingly. 

Hades sighed. "It's complicated." 

There was a pause. 

"So, this family reunion," Ben started. "Can we come?" 

"I don't see why not," said Hades. "Plus, I'm sure that Zhang and Solace will be tagging along anyway, even if I didn't give permission. That would make it unfair for you four." 

"Who are Zhang and Solace?" asked Jay. 

"You'll see when we get there," said Hades. He turned to me with a questioning look. "Of course, only if you'd like to come." 

"Sure," I said. "I'd love to come and meet my stepmother." 

Hades smiled at me and held out his hand. "Well then, grab on." 

We all took hold of Hades' hand and dissolved into shadow. 

When we materialized again, we were in a dark courtyard. I held on to Ben's hand as I surveyed the unfamiliar landscape. 

"Persephone!" Hades called out. He looked different too. His hair was now jet black and had been slicked so none of it stuck up. He was also wearing that cloak, the one with the screaming faces, that he had been looking at earlier. 

A woman came out of the building (which I now realized was a palace of some sort) and enveloped Hades in a hug. 

She pulled away, still smiling at my dad. Then she looked at me and her smile widened. "You must be Mal," she said, pleasantly. "It's a pleasure to meet you." 

I was surprised by her kindness. Wasn't she supposed to hate me because I was the result of her husband cheating on her? 

"Don't worry, dear, I don't blame the children that come out of my husband's affairs," Persephone assured me. "It's not the children's fault." 

I smiled at her. "Thank you." 

Persephone turned her attention to my friends. "I'm afraid that I don't know who the rest of you are," she said apologetically. "Mal?" 

"Oh, um, yeah, these are my friends, Evie, Carlos, and Jay, and this is my fiancé Ben," I said, gesturing to each of them. 

"So, Mrs. Hades," said Evie. 

"Oh, please, call me Persephone," said the Queen of the Underworld. 

Evie smiled. "Persephone, may we come in. I'm sure you have a lovely castle for us to explore." 

Persephone smiled and led them inside. She began to show us around, and we couldn't help but ooh and ah at the grandeur of the place. We ended up in what must have been the throne room, considering the two very large thrones at the front of the room. 

And there in front of the thrones were two teenagers. One was a boy with dark eyes, pale skin and inky black hair while the other was a girl with golden eyes, dark skin and curly cinnamon colored hair. 

"Is there a reason why I was called at three o'clock in the ****ing morning when you know very well that I am extremely sleep deprived?" asked the boy. Ben sucked in a breath at the profanity that the teen (who couldn't have been older than 15) had used. 

"Yeah, and why did an army of skeletons just pop out of the ground in the middle of Camp Jupiter, scaring half the camp shitless I might add, just to deliver me a message?" asked the girl. "You could have just IMed me." 

I just stared at the teens. Who were they? Were they the mysterious Zhang and Solace that Hades had mentioned? 

The boy finally seemed to notice me, and he looked directly at Hades, not even faced by my dad's creepy appearance. "Who are they?" he demanded, not even bothering to be polite. 

"Nico, this is your sister, Mal, and her friends and fiancé," said Hades, calmly, as if he was used to this teen's like of respect despite him being a literal god. 

'Nico' hummed and then said, "Fiancé huh?" 

The girl squeaked in excitement. "What's his name? When are you getting married? Can Nico be the flower boy and I be the ring bearer?" 

I looked at Ben with a slightly overwhelmed smile. These two kids were so different it gave me whiplash. 

"My name is Ben," said Ben. "And who might you two be?" 

"Oh, where are my manners?" the girl exclaimed. "I'm Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, which is the roman version of Hades, and this is my brother Nico di Angelo, son of Hades." 

"Son of Hades?" Carlos repeated. "I thought Mal was the only kid Hades had." 

The entire Hades family all facepalmed at the exact same time.