Hey Peeps, this was an idea given to me by Nyx27Seth who has her own fic Welcome to ToonTown which, if you're a fan of Baby Than you should check out! As usual I don't own any characters from Disney's Hercules (unfortunately) I'm merely borrowing them for the purposes of this fic, I do own Persephone, Thanatos, Melinoe & Macaria and any other OC that is mentioned as well as a few other small original things… Permission to use these must be sought first but I'm very amiable and not likely to say no… and if you do use them I'd love to read it..

…anyway enjoy! Xx

An Afterlife with Macaria…

Dedicated to Nyx27Seth: Since you gave me the idea in the first place! ^_^

Hades had always known from the moment he looked into those big odd-eyes that Macaria was going to be different from his first two children… and it wasn't because Heterochromia was rare in gods. In fact was it was unheard of, their little Macaria was the only divine being in the whole Greek Pantheon Hades and Persephone knew who had mismatched eyes. Concerned about this oddity to their daughter's appearance and fearing Olympus may mock her for being 'freakishly different' the Ruler's of the Underworld sent the imps with an envoy to Paeon, Physician of the Gods, wanting an unbiased professional opinion on their daughter's health..

When Paeon arrived he studied little Macaria, who was sat upright in Persephone's lap with an anxious-flamed Hades hovering nearby. The immortal doctor merely ignored the baby's father as he fidgeted nervously while his golden eyes scrutinized Paeon's movements closely. The Physician of the Gods merely pulled out a stick with a brightly coloured ball on the tip then moved it in front of little Macaria's face so he could test her sight. The tiny goddess' pupils had no trouble following the ball. Once he'd done this Paeon then summoned a small glowing light and examined her eyes more closely, watching as her pupils dilated and contracted as the light dimmed then brightened… again, she had no trouble. Once Paeon had completed his tests, throughout which Macaria had been as good as gold, he turned his attention to Hades as Persephone wrapped their daughter back up in her indigo blanket. The immortal doctor explained to the fiery god that his daughter's eyesight was perfect and her odd eye-colour was clearly not hindering it, Paeon then went on to suggest that perhaps her eye colour was to down her genetic make-up instead and that perhaps it purely meant that she'd been 'twice-blessed' by the two of them… a theory that brought a rare smile to the Lord of the Dead's face considering their daughter's name meant 'Blessed'..

…At Three Months..

The throne room was filled with the sound of baby cries as Hades covered his ears and screwed up his face in a pained grimace. Both ten year-old Thanatos and eight year-old Melinoe had already bailed scene along with the Sirens the moment Macaria began wailing, leaving Hades alone to deal with her. Macaria too had screwed up her face, her chubby cheeks were an angry shade of peach as she screeched, the little curl of blonde hair was now fluid fire flickering violently as she thrashed in her crib. The blue fiery god cursed inwardly wishing his wife was here, Persephone could always get little Mac to quieten down with ease… but she wasn't here so it was up to him. Hades tried to recall what used to quieten with Melinoe of Thanatos down when they were babies, a difficult thing to do when he could barely hear himself think over the volume of Macaria's lungs… clearly she'd inherited her mother's pipes.

Eventually a brainwave hit the god and he swivelled around, his hands still covering his pointed-ears.

'PAIN… PANIC!-! GET IN HERE!-!' He bellowed only just managing to hear himself over Macaria's screaming. Within a few minutes of his yelling both imps rushed into the throne room clinging to their horned ears at the din their boss' youngest daughter was making.

'Can't you shut her up boss?' Pain yelled his question instantly.

'Yeh… she's disturbing the dead!' Panic shouted to with a slight scowl, the souls down in the Styx were indeed kicking up a fuss, more so than usual.

'I know she is!-!' Hades roared turning slightly orange which caused Macaria to scream even louder. 'ARGHHHH… Maca will ya give it a rest already!-!' Hades returned blue and snarled over her extensive crying. He then turned to his imps and called out over her screams. 'Boys, c'mere a sec will ya?' As the imps approached the crib Hades seized them both by the necks and hoisted them off the ground.

'Oh Maca..' Hades crooned loudly. '-look what daddy has..' At the sound of this baby Macaria instantly stopped screaming and blinked at her father, her curl of blonde hair returning to normal. Silence falling over the throne room as the little goddess blinked away her tears as Hades pulled out Pain and Panic, a little smile twitching her face as she recognised her two imp baby-sitters.

'There, see, that wasn't to hard eh Maca?' The fiery god sounded relieved that peace had once more fallen over the throne room. 'Now ya watchin' Mac, you'll love this..' The fiery god drawled with a smirk to his daughter before his grip instantly tightened around their necks so he was now throttling them. Macaria's odd eyes widened at the pained grimaces and choking noises that Pain and Panic made and instantly her lip began to wobble as tears formed…

Then suddenly..

'WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH HHHH!-!' Macaria was once more deafening the room with her bawling tears.

'GEEZ LOUISE!-!' Hades instantly let go of the imps in his haste to cover his ears once more, causing the two imps to drop unceremoniously to the floor before scrambling to cover their own ears. 'WHAT IN TARTARUS IS WRONG WITH YOU MACA, THIS ALWAYS WORKED WITH THE OTHER TWO!-!'

…At Age Four..

Pain and Panic blinked in shock at the scene that was quickly unfolding between them once more… these Minion Torture lessons with Macaria were becoming something of a joke..

'What's the matter Maca?' Hades sounded in a mockingly-snide voice, getting extremely wound up by the fact that his youngest daughter was once more refusing to do as she was told. 'To stupid to know how to torture imps!'

Macaria scowled at her father's jibe, her little pigtails quickly becoming fluid fire as she glared up at him through her mismatched eyes of green and yellow.

'I'm not stupid… you're stupid!' She declared in a loud voice causing both Pain and Panic to wince in fear and instantly vanish out in shimmers of red and green as Hades' pupils contracted at his daughter's words..

'Me?-!' He gnashed his fangs furiously, no-one had ever dared call him 'stupid' before and Macaria didn't flinch at his angry red skin and yellow flames. 'I'm not stupid… you are!-!' Hades bellowed to his four year-old daughter.

'No, your stupid!' Macaria stood her ground angrily, placing her little hands on her hips.

'No, your stupid!' Hades snapped back, not backing down either.

'No. Your stupid!-!'

'NO! Your stupid!-!'

'No. You!'

'NO! You!-!'

'You!'

'You!-!'

'You!'

'You!-!'

'YOU!-!' Macaria finally screeched stamping her now flaming foot on the stone floor moodily, while hot tears streamed her face.

'That's it!-!' Hades finally roared, not able to take another moment of this ridiculously childish argument. 'I've had enough!-!' He then burst out of the throne room in an angry blast of yellow flames leaving Macaria alone..

Macaria opened her odd eyes gingerly, she had closed them for her father's explosive exit, and looked curiously around the throne room quickly realising he'd gone… without even punishing her for her insolence. Her blonde pigtails returned to normal and a little girlish smirk of satisfaction twisted her sweet face.

'Daddy, you really are stupid..' Her tinkling little giggles filled the throne room before she skipped off happily down the hall..

…At Age Ten..

'Hi daddy..' A bright and breezy voice sounded before Hades could address the group of villains gathered in the throne room of the Underworld where he'd gathered them for their annual meeting. The blue-flamed Lord of the Dead blinked in disbeleif at the sight of his youngest daughter who was just stood there smiling angelically at him and all of his cronies while they stared at her in shock. Hades slapped his face and gave a soft 'oy'.. he had three kids and the one that interrupted their meeting had to be.. her!

'What, what! Whatta ya want now Maca?' Hades sounded in and exasperated tone, turning to his youngest daughter and throwing her a narrowed gaze which clearly said 'daddy's busy now make it quick'. Macaria blinked at her father before turning to look a the papers and scrolls that littered the table.

'Nothing, I just wanted to see what your doing..' She sounded with interest however Hades now frowned at her in irritation.

'What we're doing is none of your business Mac now why don'tcha am-scray!' The tips of the Lord of the Dead's flames tinged white but his daughter didn't seem to be listening to her father.

'You people shouldn't do bad things.' Macaria sounded matter-of-factly to the group and this caused the villains around the table to suddenly snigger in amusement at her naivety.

'Little girl..' Maleficent suddenly spoke from her place beside Jafar. '-we're villains, doing 'bad things' is what we do..' As she said this she shot a frown to Hades as if silently blaming him for his daughter's words.

'But why do you want to be villains? Nobody likes villains..' Macaria countered the horned witch/fairy's words. '-and besides if you do bad things you'll just end up in Tartarus getting punished for eternity.' She smiled as if this settled the matter once and for all. For a long minute the group of villains stared at this little goddess in disbeleif before they issued deep groans of exasperation with her… clearly she didn't understand that being villains for them was not a choice, it was who they were..

'Alright, alright..' Hades waved his hands in an upward downwards motion to calm down the group. '-settle down people I got this..' The fiery god then leaned into his youngest child with a scowl of annoyance since now his cronies were going to blame him for her behaviour. '-alright Mac beat it, your crampin' my style.'

'But they didn't answer my question..' Macaria sounded innocently causing Hades' eyes to narrow as his skin turned a light shade of irritated orange and his flames flared a light yellow.

'One sec people..' He sounded to the group, not even tearing his eyes away from Macaria, instead he seized her by the middle and stood up hoisting her off her feet as he rose. '-let me just deal with Little Miss Sun-Spot personally..' Without a further word the fiery god vanished into smoke taking his ten year-old daughter with him…

The rest of the villains only had enough time to glance at each other before Hades reappeared. He was smirking, looking much calmer than he had been when he'd disappeared and his skin and flames had returned blue.

'Don't worry, where I put her she won't be botherin' us again!-!'

…Persephone smiled sweetly towards Macaria as she finished off a few choice snacks she had been preparing for Hades and his cronies.

'See sweetie..' She trilled lightly as she loaded the black twisted metal tray with all the tasty treats she'd prepared. '-isn't cooking with Mommy much more fun than annoying Daddy and his friends?' Macaria glared at her mother's words as her fiery blonde hair flickered brutally. She then tried to pull at her restraints..

'I'm not 'cooking with Mommy'… DADDY HANDCUFFED ME TO THE STOVE!-!'

…At Age Fifteen…

Hades blinked at the outfit his youngest daughter was wearing as she stepped into the throne room. A skin-tight double-strap red and black mini-chiton combo with black and red skull pins that showed off far too much flesh for his liking, while on her feet was the most ridiculously high set of black heeled-sandals he'd ever seen.

'Macaria, you are not going out in that!-!' The Lord of the Dead declared causing his daughter to blink her odd eyes at him. 'Apollo, or worse.. Zeus will try and knock you up!' Hades glared fiercely as his flame-tips switched to white at the very thought of either of those lecherous gods trying to lay their fingers on his baby girl.

'Oh yeh?' A smirk curved Macaria's ruby red lips as she considered her father's words, her oddly coloured yellow and green eyes narrowing with amusement now. 'And what if I let them?'

At this very suggestion Hades instantly combusted into furiously angry flames with blistering red skin to go with it, his livid glare seemed to pierce into his daughter's soul..

'THE TARTARUS YOU WILL!-!' The fiery god's voice burst from his mouth in an explosion of flames scorched and billowed around the throne room. For few moments there is nothing but smoke then as it slowly dissipates Hades and the wrecked throne room reappear with Macaria, her star white aura glowing brightly, protecting her from her father's flames of fury. Hades' skin has returned blue but he is completely bald.. The Lord of the Dead breathes deeply and slowly trying to calm himself after such a massive temper explosion.

Macaria on the other hand is smirking widely, her odd eyes still narrowed with glee as she moves to pass her father, flicking her golden hair into his face causing him to blink, twitching as her hair brushed his face.

'Heh, heh… yeh..' She drawled lightly to Hades, leaning on one hip with her fingers on her waist. '-that's what I thought..' Macaria then lifted one hand and waved her father off lightly trilling cheerfully. 'Bysie daisies Daddy..' The little teenage goddess then vanished out in a swirl of white light leaving her father alone in the throne room.

Hades glared at the spot where his youngest child had been only moments before then he felt his temper rise again at his troublesome child, relighting the flames on his bald head..

Little Notes:

Hey peeps, I feel kind of bad that Macaria hasn't been featured much because she really is one of my absolute favourite characters next to Thanatos. She is so kind and sweet, like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth… well, it wouldn't until she got pissed off anyway! Her relationship with her dad is kind of complicated and they do love each other very much but they are polar opposites… (like Persephone and Thanatos) they are both Gods of the Dead, it's just Macaria represents the nicer side than Hades does. Their personalities are completely the opposite of each other which is what causes these great clashes but there are moments (and one will appear in TioT) where Macaria will stick up for her father earning his love and respect..

Ok, just one myth note. Paeon is the god who healed Hades in myth when Hercules shots him in the shoulder with and arrow (in Disney Hercules the hero instead punches Hades into the Vortex of Fire) so in my fic he is kind of like the Underworld family physician… he is also a son of Apollo but I haven't decided whether or not I'll keep it that way yet.

Thanks for reading..

~Ditzy x