Three days have passed since Hedith last heard of Mal. It was also three days since she told Mal and Ben about her mission in Auradon, but in those three days, she had not wasted any time. She and Mavros went around Auradon, looking for clues of the perpetrator. She had visited cemetaries and orbitrary to keep list of the people that died but was not delivered in the Underworld.
She also sent a message to her father through Hermes about the meeting with Mal and her current findings. And she expects a reply in a week.
"This doesn't make sense. How could someone steal souls?" Hedith muttered as she sits on a bench by the Auradon lakeside. Mavros lays his heads on her lap and whined, "There has to be something that I'm missing."
She took her phone from her bag and scanned through the photos and documents she have. There has to be someone who can help her. Someone who had an experience working with the undead. Someone who had a history of soul manipulation. Someone who was formerly a villain.
"Dr Facilier!" She exclaimed and smiled, "He was a voodoo master! He could know a thing or two about stealing souls! Come on! Let's go meet Celia."
Hedith and Mavros sprinted towards Evie's company and practically ordered the receptionist to call Celia. It wasn't long before she sent someone to esvort her to Celia's floor and office.
"Hedith? What's up?" Celia asked, looking up from her laptop.
"Do you know where your dad is?" Hedith asked, confusing Celia for a little.
"Umm..he's in the Isle. He's managing his Voodoo Arcade. Why?"
"I'm here investigating a Soul Snatcher and I need to have a talk with him," Celia didn't like the way Hedith phrased it.
"Uhh... my daddy isn't doing dirty jobs anymore. He's working with clean hands nowadays. Heck, he lost contact of his friends from the other side so don't go suspecting my daddy of being a soul snatcher," Celia said, pointing at Hedith with an accusing eye. Hedith didn't bear ill-feelings for her reaction. She would've reacted the same way if someone had also said a similar thing towards her father or Mal or Persephone.
"I know, Celia. I just have a couple of questions to ask. Maybe he knows how a soul can be stolen without the god of drafh detecting it," Hedith cleared off the misunderstanding and Celia straightened up.
"Oh sorry."
"It's alright."
"Well, I can contact him in advance. You can use any transpo to the Isle and meet him in the arcade."
"That's peefect! Thanks, Celia!" Hedith cheered, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"No prob. Anything for my best gal."
---
Hedith stepped out of the bus to the Isle together with Mavro. As the bus drives over to the terminal, she looks around, taking in the nostalgic ambiance of the whole island facade.
"It had been a while since I was here," Hedith sighed, "I wonder how much it had changed."
Mavro wags his tail and nudged both his heads against his master. She smiled fondly at the hellhound before patting each heads.
She took a deep breath and walked towards the familiar path towards the Voodoo Arcade. She noted that the Isle's entire ambiance changed. Lesser dark and lesser depressing. Very different from the Isle that she grew up with. The streets are clean from garbages and all the houses have been renovated.
"Hey guys!"
"Isn't that.. Hedith?"
"Looks like her."
Raising an eyebrow, Hedith turned to the voices and saw where they were coming from. On a cafe by the other street are three very familiar girls, smiling at her.
"It is Hedith!" A woman in pigtails said, smiling at her direction. Her other companion, the one with a ponytail chuckled and raised her frappe towards her.
"Wassup, H-girl? Since when were you back?"
"Oh, it's nice to see you again!" The blonde one said in a chirpy tone. Hedith tried to recall their names. She had met them a few years back when Mal introduced them to her but she wasn't really close to them to actually remember them in an instant besides for the pigtailed one.
"Freddie?"
"You had to think twice, hadn't you?" Freddie teased and Hedith chuckled before walking towards them. Mavro barked at the trio before Hedith sushed him.
"I could have. You wouldn't know," she sassed and looked at the other two girls, "Let's see. Jordan and Ally, am I correct?"
"Right on the bat, homegirl," Jordan said, smiling, "And that's a cute dog. It can be an internet star since you know, two headed dogs are not exactly common."
"Mavros is alright the way he is," Hedith said, crossing her arms, "So it's actually very common now that AKs are frequently visiting the Isle?"
"Yeah. After Ben and Mal started ruling together, the Isle had never been better," Ally said, grabbing her cup of latte, "Who knows Mother Gothel can make a great latte?"
"And dad's the richest business man in the Isle. With all the games and stuff," Freddie said.
"Well, Jafar's a freeloader now that Jay's show's a hit, but other than that, no strange villain activities from him," Jordan said.
"Thanks for that, at least."
"So what brings you back to the Isle? No-- wait! what brings you to Auradon?" Ally asked in her characteristically high voice.
"I'm here for an investigation and I need someone with a background in dealing with souls. Your father," Hedith said, addressing to Freddie.
"Daddy's just out for the good cut now. No more shady voodoo stuff for him," she was quick to defend his father.
"Yeah, Celia did say that too and I believe you. But what I need from him are some details about...you know what? Can you just help me meet him? Please?"
"Alright sure. You girls want to come with?" Freddie asked the other two.
"Sure. Arcades are nice."
"And I could go film this huge dog for my web show."
The walk to Dr Facilier's Voodoo Arcade was nice and pleasant. Hedith wasn't really close to the Faciliers to begin with but Freddie is easy enough to be friends with. The other two are a bit self-centered but they mean no harm. It's just practically in their systems. Plus, it's not exactly that easy to get along with the Princess of literal hell. At least, they like Mavros.
"Well, we're here," Freddie announced as they enter the premises of the now big and renowned arcade building.
"You're not kidding when you said your old man's rich."
"Well, Celia helped a little but villain or not, dad's a business man to begin with."
"Mind if we borrow your dog for a couple of minutes?" Ally asked, hugging Mavros' left head. Because of some bizarre reason, Jordan and Ally was able to convince Hedith to make Mavros grown to his original size. His original size is enough to be ridden by anyone.
"Sure. Just don't make him eat any cocoa or grapes. Even hellhounds are not allowed of those stuff."
"Yes, Princess."
Freddie led Hedith to her father's office. He was on his desk, talking to someone over the phone. He looks agitated and he's practically yelling at the person on the other side (no pun intended).
"I told you that you have a month before I kick you out of the guest list! You owed me 100K for goodness sake! If you ain't payin' by the end of this month, you'll be swimming with the fishes!" He ended the call by slamming his phone on the desk. His eyes scrunched together before realizing the presence of the two in the room.
"Freddie, honey!"
Rolling her eyes, Freddie chuckled and met her dad's open arm, "Hi, daddy."
"Good for you to visit. How about you take a seat together with you..."
Hedith smirked upon the sudden pause in Dr Facilier's statement, "Sup, Dr Fancy Hat."
"Hedith...How exciting. You're here earlier than I expected."
"You don't sound like it," she stated and sat on the couch on the side of the room and took a little skull trinket by the shelf beside it, "I'd like to go on my business as soon as possible. Thank you for leading me here, Freddie."
"Dad, Hedith means no harm," Freddie kissed her dad's cheek, "Celia said hi and we are planning to have dinner together on the weekend. Don't forget."
"Yes, tell your sister I said hi," he said before her eldest daughter exits the room. Once she left, the two left inside were met with an awkward and tense atmosphere, "What do you want?"
"There's six cases of missing souls in the Underworld and I'm here on an official business by my dad," Hedith said.
"I'm not on that--"
"I believe you. And from the ambiance of your whole place and the Isle, the perpetrator isn't here either. What I want from you is information on how else can you use the souls of the deceased."
Dr Facilier had a moment of contemplation before walking over to his bookshelf. He grabbed one book and handed it over to Hedith.
"Voodoo is just one application of soul slavery. But it's not exactly stealing. It's a mutual deal between the souls and the master, your old man knows that. We were business partners back in the good old days."
"Don't remind me," she muttered and opened the book to scan through it.
"However, if the number of souls is lower than nine, you better step up your game because the person behind that might be up to something no good," Dr Facilier warned, "Page 67. Soul Sacrifice."
Hedith turned to the said page and her eyes widened at the picture drawn into the page. A horrid illustration of nine souls floating around two people. One standing and the other laying on their back.
"It's a kind of ritual that needs nine souls in exchange of one that's already dead. People attempts this but due to how extreme the ritual is, it's rarely done," Dr Facilier said with a grave tone.
"You think this is the most likely to happen? If they really sacrifice these souls for a dead person's then the sacrificed souls will directly go to Oblivion. They wouldn't have a chance for an afterlife."
"That's why I'm telling you to hurry up. They only need three more people. And you don't know who they are going to resurrect. There are some villains that isn't as lucky as us to be alive in the Isle. There are actually who dies before Adam's law."