Hedith quickly rode Mavros to the castle after receiving a message from her sister. The meeting with the kingdoms is to be held today in the Auradon council room and she just slept through the morning. She regrets eating too much pomegranate jams last night.

"I'm here!" She announces herself before the servants can.

Inside sat all the rulers of the kingdoms under Auradon. Ben sits in the far end of the long elongated table and on the other end is a vacant seat for her. She saw some old heroes and some that had already succeeded their parents like Audrey. When King Philip's health started diminishing, Audrey took the role of Crowned Princess and with the help of her mother, she started ruling over their kingdom.

There was also Hercules who despite his age, still looks healthy enough for a couple more years of reign.

"Sorry I'm late."

"Aren't you always?" King Florian said to her with spite in his voice. But Hedith learned to ignore that. King Florian is one...peculiar person. Despite his wife forgiving Evie's mom for what she had done to her in the past, King Florian still harbors skepticism to some people of Villain blood.

Ben saved the atmosphere by clearing his throat and starting the meeting with the kingdoms.

"The first agenda this session is the concerns from the King of the Underworld which will be explained and discussed by his heir and representative, Princess Hedith," he said, urging Hedith to start.

After years of diplomat training, she got used to the eyes burning through her body. That's saying something since one of the most common people who would watch her orations would the god of Fire himself.

"Good morning to all of you," she greeted as she stands up, "My father, King Hades of the Underworld, had a predicament over the past weeks of missing souls. At first we thought it were just late delivery by Thanatos, the god of Death, but he didn't know what happened to the souls. Neither does the Messenger god of Olympus."

"Was this what Zeus was talking about?" Hercules asked, "He was having a talk with Hades about the imbalance in life and death lately."

"How does that concerns us, exactly?" King Florian scowls.

"I'm getting there. As for the imbalance, it is our kingdom's job to keep that delicate balance in check so I ventured to the mortal domain to seek help. It's not just the Underworld that the missing souls will affect, more so does the mortal realm."

"Could it be that there are people cheating death?" Queen Anna asked, concern painted in her face.

"There is no way to cheat death. The only reasonable explanation is that someone is hiding and stealing those souls from Death. And possibly to perform a resurrection ritual," Hedith answered and took the book she borrowed from Dr Facilier and opened it to the page that shows the illustration of the ritual.

"The ritual needs nine souls as sacrifice. Someone is trying to resurrect a person that had already crossed the River Styx and went into the Underworld. They had already took six. At this very moment, we don't know if the perpetrator had already added new victims," she said and the rulers stares at the illustration.

"Where is the exact place of the killings, Hedith?" Audrey asked. The issue is too big to pass out.

"That's the tricky thing. The stolen souls are located all over the Auradon, not just a specific kingdom. Although, I was able to find a pattern in the perpetrator's tracks, I am still not sure if the next place is what I think it is."

"Who could they possibly be resurrecting?" Hercules asked.

"Probably just someone they missed and love," King Florian said, dismissively.

"Even so they shouldn't."

"Your domain takes away lives from people! You have no room to talk," he told her and Hedith glared at him.

"It is not us that decides when a person lives or dies. Whether they die is decided once they have been conceived. We didn't wished to take lives from the living. Our kingdom's job is to retain balance between the living and the dead. If we don't, this world will be crowded and overpopulated, making it suffocating and harder to live. Do you want that?"

"King Florian, stop with your nonsense," Queen Jasmine told him with a dismissive glare, "Given that, we don't know who they are resurrecting. There are villains that wasn't able to redeem themselves during the 20-year banishment to the Isle. It might be one of them."

"And most of them are dangerous. Remember the conniving lion in the savanna?" King Eric pointed out, "Not only was he intelligent enough to speak human language but he also plotted everything to steal the throne from his brother. It would be horrible if he gets resurrected."

"Yes, also the Judge from Notre Dame that imprisoned a the hero Qauasimodo."

"And all of you have forgiven your respective villains?" King Florian interjected bitterly. 

Audrey glared at the elderly man, "Forgiveness is the first step in healing, Your Highness. Those villains have learned their lessons and thanks to their children and descendants, they were able to see the light again."

"And I suppose, this is coming from someone who had experienced the same darkness?" King Florian retorted and Audrey glared even harder.

"Yes. And I, too, had learned my lesson."

The council room was quiet after that exchange. Everyone knows that even after more than half a decade, forgiveness towards the villains are still hard to come by. And Hedith was easy to accept it.

"The likes of my father and mother have gone a long way. They have promised silence of any misdeeds. And as a villain's child, I don't want the same dark times to come to Auradon once again. That's why I'm asking this of you, Your Highness," Hedith said, bowing her head, "Let me put an end to the missing souls to stop another villain's walk your kingdoms in darkness."

There was silence in the room. Before one spoke up.

"Well, I think it's only reasonable to grant her permission."

Hedith perks up as she meets the smiling face of Queen Anna. She was new to her reign once her older sister had stepped down a few months prior but she has the ability to lead and see the bigger picture.

"I grant her permission to set her investigation in Arendelle if she needs to," she added, raising her hand and facing Ben.

Hedith's brother-in-law smiled subtly, "Anyone else?"

"I grant permission to conduct investigation in my kingdom."

"Same here!"

"Likewise."

It was followed by a chain of agreement and soon almost everyone had already agreed to her request.

"There you have it, Hedith," Ben said and Hedith took the book.

"Thank you! I promise I will put a stop to this!" She said and left the council room.

"Good luck, Hedith," Audrey said, smiling. She returned the kind gesture and bowed.

"Thank you!"

On her way out, she saw Mal waiting by the stairs. She walked over to her younger sister with arms open wide and Hedith smiled, running into the hug.

"I'm guessing from the smile that it went well?"

"It went wonderfully! I'm going to start my investigation as soon as possible!" She said excitedly. Mal smiled widely at her sister and puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Dad will be so proud of you," Mal said.

"I know."

"Ben said that when it's over, I'd give you this," Mal said as she hands her a card, "It's a pass to all kingdoms in Auradon. No guards will be able to no when you request entrance."

"He already had it? I'm flattered to have my brother-in-law have so much faith in me," There was a hint of teasing in her voice but the subject to it wasn't in their presence. Such a waste, she thought.

Mal chuckled and rolls her eyes, "He has his moments."

"Well, I'm just glad that my big sister is the almighty queen of the United States of Auradon to pull a few strings for me from the inside," Hedith smirked only for Mal to stuck out her tongue to her.

"Don't push your luck."