Work Text:
This is so bad & I am so sorry. I don’t own anything.
Mal’s hair is on fire.
Quite literally, her hair is on fire.
Her usually gently curled purple & blue hair is now on fire.
All of it nothing but purple & blue flames that don’t seem to be going out any time soon.
It burnt through the hair tie she’d had it up in and dropped down to her shoulders.
It’s absolutely destroyed the top she is wearing and she’s practically clutching what’s left of the smouldering fabric to her front, as she runs at top speed through Auradon.
Her shoulders are burning, the flames are attacking her alabaster skin and the pain is pretty intense, but it’s not entirely unbearable for the young faerie.
She’d have dived into the nearest fountain if she thought that it would’ve done her any good, but this isn’t just any ordinary fire and Mal knows that as she burns.
If she could just stop and focus for a moment then switching into her dragon form would be possible, which would probably protect the skin on her shoulders from the flames and could even distinguish her fiery hair.
Mal isn’t going to insult her own intelligence though, she knows that there’s absolutely no way that she’s just going to be able to stop and focus right now.
There’s too much on her mind.
She had, she still kind of is, absolutely furious with Ben.
Yes, it had been something so simple, but it wasn’t simple to her at all and she’d just blown up at him.
One night.
All she’d asked from her friend was for him to give her wife the day off from her duties as his advisor for this one day.
However, when Evie had called her apologetically to explain that Ben had figured out a new scheme to refurbish parts of the Isle and that they’d probably have to work through the night, Mal had lost it.
Ben then had the audacity to apologise it in passing, as if keeping her wife working through the night when Mal had plans was no big deal.
It was if everything she’d been feeling had suddenly just boiled over.
Fear, anxiousness and anger bubbling over all at once and the next thing that Mal knew was that her hair was on fire.
Ben was also screaming that her hair was on fire and she didn’t know what to do about it.
Then Ben made the mistake of reaching for her and the last thing she remembered before she ran just in case she set the castle on fire, was the flames attacking Ben’s blazer.
She had set fire to her friend.
Unfortunately, there were also people around to bear witness to what she had done.
A lot of people.
At first, she’d hoped that just going outside would cause the flames to melt away, that the cool air would calm them, but it hadn’t and then she’d started to cry, which only made it worse.
A possible solution to her problem had come to mind whilst she was freaking out though, which is why she’s running towards the bridge.
She needs to talk with her dad.
He’ll know how to fix this.
He’d always joked about her possibly inheriting this ability from him, but Mal hadn’t thought that she would.
She’s gotten plenty angry over some really dumb things before and her hair hasn’t dissolved into flames before.
Unlike her father’s, who’s hair literally starts burning whenever he’s even merely mildly inconvenienced.
He’ll know what to do, he has to, or she’ll have risked the possible paparazzi shots of her running through Auradon and across the bridge to the Isle Of The Lost with her hair on fire, for nothing.
“Dad!” Mal cries as she bursts into his lair.
Accidentally sending Pain and Panic flying into each other in her stampede to find her father.
Trying not to knock into anything, Mal searches around for her father.
She needs him to be here, she needs help, she doesn’t know how to control this.
It’s not as simple as controlling the dragon.
Her mother may have been evil in every sense of the word, but she had told Mal what to look out for and how to train herself when it came to the dragon.
She’d never really needed to bother with the part of her that is part literal god before.
It’s only really become more prominent now because she’s been learning how to use the Ember properly and has actually started to unlock some of the abilities that come with her being the daughter of the god of the underworld.
The fact that she actually is part faerie, part demigod is still something she doesn’t think she’s gotten her head around yet.
“The boss is busy.” Panic’s ever-anxious voice cuts through Mal’s wild train of thought.
“What do you mean, busy? Where is? What is he doing?” Mal turns on them in an instant, quickly moving away from her dad’s favourite chair when she’s afraid that the flames might somehow bounce onto it.
Pain and Panic back away from her.
Mal’s never really been anything but confused by them if anything, but she is definitely her father’s daughter.
Especially now and Pain and Panic have seen first hand the damage their boss can cause with his hair.
“Do we get him?”
“Yes!” Mal practically begs.
“He said he didn’t want to be disturbed.” Pain points out.
“I don’t care, it’s an emergency. I can’t control this!” Mal exclaims.
“But he won’t be very happy if we disturb him. It’s not not a good idea...”
“Where is he?!” Mal snaps, wincing a little when they shift into the shape of worms.
“I’m sorry, I’m just going though a lot right now, please just tell me where my dad is.” She signs, running her hands through her hair and crying out when she burns her fingers on the flames.
“Dad!” She cries out again and to their credit, Pain and Panic do disappear in the direction she hopes her dad might be in.
Sure, they might have just decided to run away from her, but they might have also gone to get her dad for her and the slightest sliver of hope is something she latches onto as she paces up and down the room.
“Mali...”
Mal is filled with instant relief when she finally hears her father’s voice.
“Okay, first, I’ve got to say it. I am so impressed with this.” Hades can’t help but grin at the sight of his daughter standing in front of him with her fiery mess of hair.
“Dad!” His words have not reassured Mal at all.
“I set Ben on fire!”
To his credit, Hades manages to contain his laughter.
Just about.
“There’s no need to freak out, it’s totally normal, you’re gonna be okay, I promise.” Mal watches as he holds a hand out towards her.
“Come on, bring it in and we’ll talk about this and what’s bothering you.”
“What? Dad, no. I can’t. It won’t go away.” Mal shakes her head which only causes the flames to bounce.
“It will, trust me, come here.” He beckons her over, but Mal doesn’t move.
“Oh, Mali.” Hades sighs reaching his daughter’s side in only a few strides.
“No, dad, don’t! I’ll burn you, I’ll...”
Hades wraps his arms around his daughter, completely unfazed by her flaming locks of blue and purple.
Mal immediately tries to push him away, but her holds her closer, rubbing her back slowly and murmuring words of reassurance and love to his daughter.
Strangely enough, the flames begin die down.
Cautiously, not wanting to tempt fate, Mal sniffs tearfully and slowly puts her arms around him.
“You’re ok, Mali, you’re ok, calm down.” He tries to comfort her the best he can as the flames turn to smoke.
With tears dripping down her cheeks, Mal looks up at her father slowly.
“Told you they’d go away.”
“How did you know?”
“I’m your dad, I know everything.” Hades wipes her tears with the ends of his fingerless gloves.
“Seriously?” Mal laughs lightly.
“You just needed to chill. First tip I can give you is that if you want them to go away, you have to find a way of calming yourself down. It’ll only get worse if you start freaking out.” He tells her, leading her over to his favourite chair and sitting her down.
The two managing to sit on it together what with Mal being so short.
Moving her hair aside with gentle fingers, Hades winces as he notices the raw burns on her shoulders.
“I’m so sorry. That doesn’t happen to me with mine being so short.”
“No, dad. It’s fine. I could always go back to having a bob again.” Mal suggests.
“I’d suggest enchanting a set of hair ties so it won’t burn through so you don’t have to do anything drastic to your hair.” He points out.
Nodding, Mal curls up to her dad’s side, resting her head on his shoulder for comfort.
“So, do you want to tell me what happened, or do I have to start terrorising the people of Auradon until I get some answers?” He teases.
Mal hopes he’s teasing anyway.
“I got mad.” She murmurs.
“Well duh! That’s usually why this happens. Won’t lie to you, Mali, it can get intense. You know, I once got so mad that the flames actually made this explosion happen that almost caused Pain and Panic to become part of a wall.” He informs her.
“What did they do?” Mal glances up at him.
“I was already frustrated with the scheme I was working on at the time and they just send me over the edge, the usual, y’know.” He chuckles absentmindedly.
“This was so stupid. I just thought that Evie and I were going to spend the evening together, but Ben has this plan so he’s making her work tonight and I just got mad.” She admits.
“That’s not stupid, you wanted to spend time with your wife and Mali, honey. It’s not like it was anyone that mattered...”
“Stop! He’s my friend.” Mal can’t help but laugh as she lightly smacks her dad’s arm.
“Pain and Panic are the closest things I’ve had to friends and they’ve seen far worse from me.” He remarks.
“Besides, I set my love’s cards on fire the other week and he forgave me.”
“At least you didn’t set him on fire.” Mal groans.
“What if when this happens again and I hurt Evie?”
“Ok, Mali, this will happen again and when it does, you’ll be ready for it and I promise you, you won’t hurt Evie. I’m here, I’ll teach you all the tricks I’ve learnt over the decades.” He promises her.
“Dad, what if this isn’t just it, you know? What if I develop more powers from you or mom. What if I start to grow horns? Evie didn’t sign up for a wife with horns!” Mal panics and her hair starts to ignite again.
“Mali, calm down. Calm.” He takes both of her hands in his and pulls her close to him
when the flames start to die down.
“She would love you even with horns. It wouldn’t matter...”
“It would to me; I don’t want horns.” Mal cries.
“I doubt you’ll have inherited them too. I can’t promise anything now, but I doubt it.” He presses a kiss to the top of her head.
“Talk to Evie when you see her. It’ll help. Whenever I’m stressed, Pain and Panic are around. It helps.”
“But I don’t want to throw Evie across the Isle, dad.” Mal laughs through teary eyes.
“I know.”
“I miss her. I know I see her every day, but with Ben trying to make this place better, he’s calling in the council every other day and she’s his advisor and if she’s not there, she’s working on her fashion. I just thought we’d have tonight, but when that was taken away, I’ll admit it, I lost it.” She explains with a sigh.
“Which is completely fine, Mali. Facilier and I spent the other day fishing Pain and Panic out of the sea because we hadn’t seen each other for a week.” Hades informs her in such a matter of fact tone that Mal starts laughing again.
“Thank you for being here, dad. I’m sorry I barged in earlier.”
“Do not apologise to me for this. I’m your dad, if you need me, I’m right here. Anytime of day or night. You can always come to me.” He reminds her sternly.
“Okay?”
“Ok.” Mal nods, resting her head back down on his shoulder as he embraces her tightly.
“I’m glad you’re here actually. I was about to call in on you. Would’ve actually called but the service down here is still the worst.” Hades mutters.
“Why?” Mal glances up at him.
“Ready to go, my dear?” Dr. Facilier wanders into the room with a bickering Celia and Freddie behind him.
“Hey.” Mal gives her father‘s current partner a small wave.
“Excellent, she’s here already. I thought we were collecting her on the way?”
“We were, but she came to me instead. She’s inherited a certain fiery ability from yours truly. She set fire to the King.” Hades can’t even begin to hide how proud he is.
“Really? I’m impressed.” Facilier remarks, to a groan from Mal as she rises to her feet.
“We’re heading for ice cream if you want to join us, Mali.” Hades offers.
“I’d love that.” Mal smiles at her father, before going to greet Freddie and Celia.
“Is it bad that I wish I’d been there to see her set fire to the King?” Facilier quietly enquires once stood beside Hades.
“Not at all, don’t worry. I’ll get the footage tonight.” Hades promises, before following his daughter and his extended family out of his lair.