This Persephone, Hypnos, Thanatos, Nyx, Erebus, and Macaria are MINE. Anyone who uses them without my permission gets thrown in the Phlegethon River.

Everything/everyone else belongs to Disney. Use 'em at your own risk.

Little Miss Flames and Flowers

Chapter XIII- Hades and Persephone Show Off The Baby, and the Nightmare Pair meet Maci

"I'm sorry," said Hercules rather flatly, "But I don't believe my father would do such a…a…a…"

"Stupid?" suggested Meg, and Hercules reluctantly nodded.

"…such a stupid thing like that…I mean…didn't he see that you had just had a…a baby?" Hercules folded his arms and glared at Persephone, who rolled her violet eyes.

"Hercules," said Persephone patiently, "Your father is much less intelligent then you think he is."

Hercules opened his mouth to reply, then fell silent, seemingly realizing that arguing with her would bring them no-where.

Persephone smiled brightly, satisfied with his silence. "Okay. So, where were we?" She tapped a finger against her chin and thought for a moment. "Hades and I didn't do anything with little Macaria for the next few days—giving birth is an exhausting experience for mother and baby, neither of us wanted to move," she giggled a little to herself at this, "So….I guess we'll jump to…"

…it was a few weeks after Macaria's birth, and the couple were perfectly delighted with the new baby.

She had spent most of the first days of her life with her eyes closed, whether in Persephone's/Hades' arms or in her all black crib, but around the third day, Maci had decided that she was bored with sleeping. It was a good thing she couldn't talk yet, because they were sure that she would be demanding to be shown around the Underworld if she could.

She couldn't talk, no, but she could scream and cry, and she did exactly that. Hades and Seph had no issue with little Maci not sleeping, but the thing was, those moments not sleeping were spent screaming and inducing headaches.

She had woken the two up in the middle of the night once and Hades, who had been surprisingly tolerant of his daughter's crying, flared and buried his face in his hands furiously. "I'm sure she's doing this on purpose," he had muttered under his breath to Persephone, who was awake next to him and was trying not to yawn, "I think she's just trying to see how mad she can get us before we strangle her or somethin'."

"She's a baby," Persephone had pointed out, her eyes half open but a smile on her lips.

"She's my daughter. She's more then capable of being evil at three weeks old."

Macaria had screamed again and Hades had rolled his eyes and groaned as Persephone hesitantly stood up.

"Hey, d'ya think she'd suffocate if we gagged her?" Hades then had gone on to ask, smirking, "I mean, it's worth a shot, right?"

Persephone merely glared at him before poofing to the next room.

Between all the crying, Persephone and Hades had begun to pick up on their young daughter's growing personality. Hades had been ecstatic, in an evil, sadistic way, when she had flared up at Pain and Panic the first time they had tried to approach her, and then had gone on to try and pull off their tails. (She had gotten bored of it after a moment and fallen asleep, but the effect had still been made.) Any moment her parents attention wasn't on her, she became upset (only further increasing Hades' suspicions that she was crying and waking them up on purpose)…

It was also pretty obvious that she was, or would be upon growing older, a complete Daddy's Girl. There were times—many times—when Macaria refused to shut up unless Hades was the one doing the shutting. Persephone didn't mind it, in fact, she made it a point to be there giggling whenever Hades was with his daughter. She couldn't help it. Hades was very rarely in such adorable situations.

In terms of powers, all that could be noted was that Macaria, quite obviously, had control of fire like Hades did. When she was angry, she flared up into red and orange flame like Hades did. As for creating fireballs and other fire-related powers, all the godling could do for now was create small heat surges and sparks.

"She'll get there in time," Hades had explained to Persephone, "I started out doing pretty much the same thing, until I was like…three. The powers got better, of course, by then, I was in Cronus' stomach, so they were kinda no use for me."

Maci had clenched her tiny fists and several bright sparks erupted from them, like fireworks. Hades smirked at her and she giggled back.

"You're gonna have to show her how to use them," Persephone had stated, "I've got no idea how to work, um, pyromaniacal powers."

Hades gave her a look, then snickered.

Now, Hades, Persephone, and the new addition were in the throne room, Persephone sitting cross-legged in her throne with Maci in her arms. Hades sat besides her in his own throne, and the two of them were deep into conversation.

"…I just don't know. I mean, of course I wanna show her off but…" Persephone's voice trailed off and she glanced down at Macaria. The little goddess was very busy trying to yank Persephone's necklace down to her level so she could eat it.

"But what? Seph, it's just us who wanna show her off," said Hades, reaching over to his wife and Macaria and moving the necklace out of the way with a finger. Macaria made a face at him. "It's the rest of the Underworld that wanna see her."

"Yes, but…" Persephone sighed and glanced at Macaria, who was still glaring sulkily at Hades. "Won't it be…stressful for her?"

Hades tilted his head, considering this.

"All those people…" added Persephone doubtfully, "I…I dunno, I just think she'd panic, or something."

Panic glanced up at the sound of his name, looked around, then realized he hadn't been called and went back to playing Tic Tac Toe with Pain in the dust.

"Why would my daughter get panicky from a crowd?" scoffed Hades, "And you, too….you're hardly Little Miss People-Avoider yourself."

"I'm not saying she's shy or anything," pointed out Persephone, "I'm just saying that…well, she's a baby, Hades, she might get overwhelmed—" She gasped suddenly as she was yanked forwards by her necklace, which Macaria had managed to latch onto; Persephone squeaked as the godling pulled it off completely, the thin chain that held the diamond skull snapping.

"You little…" Persephone stared at her daughter with astonishment and a flash of fury, which quickly faded as Macaria giggled sweetly, proud of herself.

Hades was trying his hardest not to laugh, and was failing quite miserably. Persephone glared at him and grabbed the skull out of her hands; she had been trying to eat it.

"Ew. Don't eat diamond," said Persephone with wide eyes, closing her fist around the gem and ignoring Macaria's squeals of protest, "Ugh, Hades, can you fix this for me later?" She deposited the broken necklace into Hades' outstretched hand, then leaned back with a sigh and a glare at Maci.

"Don't break things that aren't yours," Hades mock-scolded his daughter (she stuck her tongue out at him sullenly), then stood up from his throne and paced across the room to his chessboard.

"So what are we gonna do?" he said from there, "To show or not to show?"

"That is the question," murmured Persephone dryly, and fell silent, thinking.

Hades paced in a circle around his chessboard, then turned back to Persephone. "C'mon, please?"

Persephone sighed. "…I guess, but—"

Hades beamed triumphantly, and she shot him a glare. She hadn't been finished talking.

"But, if she gets upset, we're kicking everyone out straightaway, no arguments, okay? Got it?"

"Fine. Whatever." Hades rolled his eyes, and turned to the imps. They both stood and snapped to attention, their Tic Tac Toe game swept away with a claw.

"How may we be of assistance, boss?" said Pain brightly.

"'Kay, here's what ya gotta do, listening?" he said to them, and they nodded. He continued, "Go out there, frolic around the Underworld, spread the word that Seph and I are letting the Underworldians see their new Princess—"

"Cool!" exclaimed Pain and Panic excitedly. Hades ignored them and turned to Persephone.

"When are we doing this, tomorrow?" he looked to her for her input and she shrugged. "Sure. She's falling asleep now, anyway." Macaria's blinking was getting slower and heavier and she yawned idly as both of them looked at her.

"Okay, fine," said Hades, and he turned back to Pain and Panic, "There's a showing tomorrow. Spread the word. Here in the Underworld—"

"What time?" asked Persephone.

"I dunno. Whenever." He waved his hand dismissively, not caring. Persephone shrugged.

"We'll disclose details later," Persephone told the imps, who were both focused and attentive, making sure they remembered the details they were getting, "For now, it's just 'showing in the Underworld, tomorrow.'"

"Got it!" said Panic enthusiastically.

"Excellent," said Hades calmly, "Now, shoo. Get moving." The imps nodded and scurried off to fulfill their request. Hades and Persephone beamed at each other, and Macaria blinked up with wide violet eyes at her parents.

They decided on the afternoon of the next day, and that was when they held it. The line to see Princess Macaria stretched down the hall leading up to the throne room, down the stairs, and well out the door. It seemed like every inhabitant of the Underworld was there.

Pain and Panic were letting people in one at a time, or one small group at a time in some occasions, so the chaos was kept to a minimal. Little by little, the creatures, gods, goddesses, demons and shades trailed into the throne room, stared/cooed at the baby, then trailed out, or poofed out, or climbed out, depending on what worked best for them.

Hades had been right; Macaria was far from overwhelmed, in fact, she was utterly fascinated by all the things her realm held. She amused herself by trying to grab onto any shade that came up to her (a difficult task-they were all insubstantial), and to everyone who was easy to cling to, she just giggled at.

The little goddess seemed fearless. Even when the Furies approached her, she neither flinched nor shrank back. Instead, Macaria grinned toothlessly, and tried her best to pull their sharp black claws off.

"Oh, Lord Hades, Lady Persephone, she's adorable," Tisiphone sighed happily, her bright red and pupil-less eyes shining as she and her sisters beamed down at the baby.

Persephone smiled, however, her smile was hollow-the three demon avengers freaked her out.

The fact that they were all leaning over a baby's cradle, Alecto and Megaera making cooing noises, did nothing to unnerve this creeped out feeling. Persephone supressed a shudder, then politely told them their time was up and to let the next people come in, while Hades, knowing the reason she was casting them out, snickered quietly.

The next few people (a few shades and some cat thing) were boring and created no memorable events (although Macaria enjoyed herself, trying to pull off the cat-thing's whiskers for her own personal gain-whatever that might have been). The next guests-all four of them-were much more interesting, and as soon as the parent figures walked into the room, Hades groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"Splendid," he muttered to Persephone, his voice low enough so that Nyx and Erebus couldn't hear him, "Chances are they brought the Nightmare Pair, huh?"

"Stop it," she scolded him, watching Nyx vanish suddenly to just outside the door from the corner of her eye, "Hypnos and Thanatos are sweet."

"I'm sorry, which Hypnos and Thanatos are we talking about? Nyx-and-Erebus Hypnos and Thanatos? Hah, no, not sweet; violent and insane and destructive, yes, sweet, no."

"Gimme a break," scoffed Persephone, and Hades glared at her and said, "You really wanna bring those two near a newborn-ish baby's crib? Speak up now or forever hold your peace."

"They won't..." she started, but trailed off as Nyx returned to the room, looking sheepish, and dragging a twin behind her in each hand.

The resemblance between the two was uncanny - they had the same faces, and the same hair (Thanatos' was messier and looked greasier, like he hadn't brushed or washed it in a week), and were wearing the same type of chiton, but their color schemes were practically opposite from each other. Hypnos' skin was light blue and he had blond hair, hanging just past his ears, and blue eyes. Thanatos had scarlet colored skin, and black hair the same length, with bright red irises that almost seemed to glow with intensity. Their chitons were simply darker shades of their skin tones, a stiff collar jutting out from the fabric and curving around their necks. Both of them looked pretty damn miserable, too, although Hypnos looked more like he was about to pass out on the spot rather then throw a temper tantrum like Thanatos looked like he was about to. Fitting, considering their positions - Hypnos was the god of sleep, and Thanatos, the god of gentle death. Or, at least, they would be, when they got older.

"I'm sorry," apologized Nyx, smiling wearily, "Couldn't find a place to deposit them."

"Brilliant," muttered Hades, and glared at them both.

"I wanna go home," said Thanatos sulkily, "And give me back my scythe."

"Don't give it back, he tried to slash me with it last time," whimpered Hypnos, shrinking back, and Nyx rolled her eyes and shoved both of them to Erebus.

"So! Let me see Macaria," said Nyx happily, and the goddess of night vanished and reappeared by Macaria's cradle. Maci blinked at her, and stared mystified at the stars that twinkled in her hair and cape.

"Mo-om, I don't want to see the baby." Thanatos glared at her and folded his arms-Hypnos rolled his eyes and stifled a yawn. "That makes one of us," said Hypnos, and Thanatos shot him a glare, too.

"Well, not everything's up to you," said Nyx, turning from Macaria to face her seven year old son, "Chill out, we'll go in a sec."

"Chill out," Hypnos told his brother happily, and Thanatos shoved him. He shoved back, and then the two were clawing at each other.

"Dear gods," muttered Hades, and Persephone blinked.

"Dear gods is right," agreed Nyx miserably, and she raised her voice: "HEY! CUT IT OUT!"

The twins stopped fighting and sulkily folded their arms while sitting on their knees on the floor.

"I wanna go home," stated Thanatos, and for whatever reason, a pair of wings melted out of his back - they were ebony black. The god floated stubbornly off the ground, then hovered in the air with his arms still folded. Hypnos joined him a second later, and his wings were white...Erebus shook his head at both of them and yanked them down to Earth.

"Maybe I'll just fly home on my own," Thanatos shot at him, fluttering his wings. "The sooner we go see the Princess, the sooner you can go home, so if I were you, I'd cooperate," Erebus shot back solemnly. Hypnos nodded excitedly, then tugged on Thanatos' chiton sleeve.

"Just co'perate," he repeated, and attempted to drag him across the room.

It might have worked, except he suddenly fell face first onto the floor, fast asleep.

"I don't want to," said Thanatos, "I don't care. It's a stupid baby, they all look the same." He kicked Hypnos in the side and he sat up with a yelp, starting to hover in the air again. They looked like a pair of very young angels with their feathery wings out.

"He kicked me!" Hypnos whined, and Thanatos put his hands on his hips and retorted, "Because you fell asleep again."

"Doesn't mean you can kick me," said Hypnos, pouting.

"Just go see the baby, for crying out loud," sighed Nyx, running a hand through her black, twinkly hair.

"But I don't want to-"

"But he kicked me-"

"NOW," hissed Nyx, and they both shot into the air and flew themselves over to the cradle like a pair of pidgeons, alighting neatly side by side at the edge, and then shoving each other as they stepped in each other's 'spots.'

"I am suddenly so glad we didn't have twins," whispered Persephone to Hades, watching this exchange with wide eyes.

"The Nightmare Pair," said Hades simply, and Persephone leaned back against their throne, feeling a trifle nervous with how close they were to little Maci.

"It looks just like every other baby I've seen," said Thanatos flatly, unimpressed, and Hypnos glared at him and said, "Yeah-huh, you haven't seen any others."

"Both of you are ridiculous," said Nyx, "She's adorable." Macaria giggled and reached out for the stars in her hair.

"I think she's cute," said Hypnos happily.

"You would," said Thanatos flatly.

"She is cute, though, lookit, she's all little," said Hypnos, grinning.

"So?" said Thanatos, disinterested.

"So, she-" Hypnos started, broke off abruptly, then fell backwards as he lost consciousness and fell asleep again. Thanatos twisted around to stare at him, and then he reluctantly looked up to Nyx and said, disappointed, "And I'm not allowed to kick him?"

Nyx gave him a warning look, and woke Hypnos up with a sharp nudge. The little god sat up with wide eyes, then stood to peer in Macaria's cradle again. She tried to grab onto him, and as Thanatos rolled his eyes, Hypnos giggled, yawning as he did so.

Hades and Persephone just exchanged slow glances.

Thanatos and Hypnos both simultanously turned away from Macaria, and fell silent as Nyx did the same and faced Hades and Persephone.

"She really is, she's just so sweet," said Nyx, "I can't wait until she gets older, she's going to be such a pleasure to have around the Underworld. This place needed a Princess." She grinned.

"Who knows, maybe when she gets older we can fix her up with Hypnos and Thanatos," remarked Erebus, and the twins whipped around to stare at him in horror.

"Ew," said Hypnos, blinking.

"Oh, that would be interesting," said Persephone, smirking slightly.

Macaria chose that small instant of silence to reach up and yank off a fistful of white feathers from Hypnos' wing.

The godling of sleep screamed at the sudden yank and then the sudden pain, startled, and shot up into the air, hovering near the ceiling while staring down with wide, terrified eyes at Macaria. Thanatos stared at him, then at the baby, who had feathers all over her, then burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" wailed Hypnos, and Thanatos only giggled harder, slumping to the ground against the cradle, his wings melting back into him to protect them from grabby babies.

"She stole my feathers! MAKE HER GIVE THEM BACK!" shrieked Hypnos, and Nyx used her own wings to shoot up to him. She latched onto her sons arm and promptly yanked him back down.

"Maybe we can glue them back on," Thanatos snickered cruelly, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath, "Still think she's cute?" The look Hypnos gave him was enough to send him back into peals of laughter and he fell on his side on the floor, clutching his stomach and howling wildly.

"Make her give me my feathers back," whimpered Hypnos, wide awake and looking like he was about to burst into tears, "She stole them, they're mine. She broke my wings!"

"They're not broken," Nyx told him gently, "And there's not much use for them now."

"They're mine!" wailed Hypnos.

Thanatos stood back up, still giggling, and peered with more interest at Macaria, who blinked, and offered him a feather.

"I suddenly like her a lot more," he giggled, accepting the feather and waving it at Hypnos, who wailed louder.

"IT'S MINE! GIVE IT BACK! IT'S MINE!" Nyx and Erebus became suddenly very busy with trying to keep them seperate.

"I think we're done here," said Hades, rising from his throne and going over to Macaria's cradle, tossing the remaining feathers out and away from her. She whined and tried to hold on to them. They were her feathers. She had ripped them out fair and square.

Hypnos let out another wail. "She's eating them, she's gonna eat my feathers..."

"Oh boy," muttered Nyx under her breath, and straightened up, picking Hypnos up as she did so, and giving Thanatos a dirty look.

"Yes, we'll be going home now," she said, rolling her eyes, "Hypnos, calm down, she's not eating your feathers."

"B-but..."

"And they'll grow back, relax."

"It hurt...she stole them!"

"It'll stop hurting in a moment, and dammit, Thanatos, stop laughing before I gag you."

Thanatos shut up, still clutching a white feather in his red hands.

"And put the feather down," she sighed.

He tossed the feather back to Macaria, and it fluttered in the air and landed daintily on her nose. Macaria laughed out loud and took it back into her own tiny pink fingers.

"See you guys," said Nyx, smiling wearily, "Have fun with Maci." She, Hypnos, Thanatos, and Erebus vanished, leaving Hades and Persephone alone with Macaria, who was laughing while she played with Hypnos' discarded feather.

Persephone blinked slowly.

"Ookay. That was interesting," she said, and glided over to Macaria, standing next to Hades, "Shall we let someone else in?"

He shrugged. "Why not? Things probably can't get more hectic then that. And she's calm. She's busy with her feather."

Macaria grinned.

Persephone shrugged, and retreated to her throne.

"I've mentioned that I'm glad we didn't have twins, right?" she remarked dryly, running a hand through her hair, and Hades nodded dryly and agreed.