Chapter Text
It would be many decades before Mal saw that familiar blue light for the last time.
She was the last of the four to pass. And as her memories replayed themselves, Mal watched as their lives and deaths unfolded around hers.
The boys had gone first—Carlos and then Jay. Carlos’ death had been sudden and unexpected and only a few short years after they had made it to the mainland. There one day and gone the next.
They had never really stopped mourning him.
Jay passed decades later. A heart attack stole his life like a thief in the night. Mal had felt like her own heart had been torn out when he died. And even though Evie had long since moved away from her and Jay, the retired seamstress returned to Mal’s side and didn’t leave it until it was her time.
Evie went in her sleep. It had been Mal who had found her in her bed. A peaceful smile spread across her lips. The fairest of them all until the very end.
And as the memories played out, Mal felt at peace. She had suffered at times, but she had also thrived. She had learned magic. She had made art. She had loved and been loved by others—her real family that she had made.
She had learned to take up the space she had always deserved.
The memories caught up to Mal’s own deathbed. She’d had a mild cold but hadn’t thought much of it before she’d drifted into the embrace of the hereafter.
Her father appeared before her for the first time since she was sixteen.
“Daughter,” Hades greeted her.
“Asshole,” Mal said without any real malice behind her words. She had long ago accepted her parents and their faults. Besides, life had been too short to hold grudges.
To her surprise, her voice sounded young again. She looked at her arms. Years of wrinkles and age spots were gone. However, her scars and her old tattoo were as prominent as ever.
“How is this—” she started.
“Possible?” Hades chuckled. “Souls can appear however they want here.”
“And you chose washed-up rockstar?” Mal teased.
“Very funny,” Hades deadpanned—although he didn’t seem that upset.
“So,” Mal drawled. “What’s next?”
Her father’s eyes twinkled a brilliant blue. “Your next adventure I suppose,” he said. “By birthright, you are a ruler on the court of the Underworld. If you’re up for it, I could use your help. It’s been a mess trying to sort everything out. Who knew that leaving the seat of the Underworld empty for twenty years would take much longer to rectify? I mean you don’t even want to know how many people snuck into Elysium. And that’s not to mention the retrials we’ve had to conduct—”
“If you don’t mind,” Mal interrupted, “I have some old friends I need to catch up with first.”
“Of course,” Hades said. “Allow me to reintroduce you.”
He offered Mal his arm; she gladly took it. And the two of them walked arm in arm as father and daughter into the sweet thereafter.