Hades and Maleficent's engagement lasted for less than a year and with the help from Hera and a few close friends, they planned their wedding together. Rhea even insisted on taking on the project herself, but Hera stepped in and told her to back off and leave the wedding planning to her and the couple. For several weeks, Hera basically worked her fingers to the bone to make sure Hades and Maleficent's wedding was perfect and would go as planned. Eight months passed since Maleficent accepted Hades' proposal and after so much hard work and careful planning, the day of the wedding had finally arrived. Everybody was rushing to make sure everything was perfect; this was certain to be a once in an eternity event. After all, it's not every day that two viciously evil villains get married.
While everyone in the Underworld was preparing for the wedding, Maleficent was in her castle getting ready for her big day; she had just gotten out of a hot bath and was sitting in front of her vanity while wearing her purple silk robe. Margalo was standing beside her doing her makeup and styling her hair… even though it was quite difficult to do with the bride's horns in the way.
"Thank you again for agreeing to assist me, Margalo." The Mistress of Evil told her future niece.
"Of course. We are gonna be family now, after all." Margalo replied. "I still can't believe today's the day."
"I know. I'm very excited, but in all honesty, I feel rather uneasy as well."
"It's okay; everyone gets nervous on their wedding day. Just a few butterflies in your stomach, nothing to worry about."
Maleficent raised an eyebrow at the young Goddess; she shrugged in response.
"It's an expression."
She rolled her eyes. "I know what it means, but thank you anyway." She then paused in thought. "Perhaps practicing my speech would help ease these jitters." She cleared her throat as Margalo picked up a comb. "As your bride and Queen of the Underworld, I vow to accept with humili—Ow!" She cried out as she felt something sharp pierce her scalp.
"Oh my gosh, Maleficent! Sorry, sorry! I'm so sorry!" Margalo cried out in fear, hoping the wicked fairy wouldn't set her ablaze.
She stopped herself, then took a deep breath and smiled. "It is alright, Margalo. I know it was an accident. I'm far too happy to be angry." Margalo let out a quiet sigh in relief before she continued gently combing the bride's black hair. Maleficent picked up where she left off. "Now where was I? Ah, yes. I vow to accept with humility, grace, and reverence. I pledge my loyalty to… to… Um, uh…" She stopped as she tried to remember what to say next; she sighed in irritation. "Oh dear, I forget. What was it?"
Just then, the door opened. Maleficent and Margalo turned their heads to see Nyx coming in; she was struggling to carry an enormous bouquet of flowers of all shapes, colors, and sizes while Dementia was following her. The little imp quickly closed the door.
"To the Forbidden…" Nyx chimed in.
Maleficent smiled and perked up; that was what she needed to remember. "Oh yes! Yes, yes! That's it." She turned back to the mirror. "To the Forbidden Mountain and the Underworld." She proudly grinned at her reflection.
Margalo beamed. "You so got this!"
Maleficent chuckled and smirked at the girl. "Simplicity in itself."
As Nyx maneuvered further into the room, she tried her very best to keep her balance while still carrying the ridiculously heavy bouquet. This was quite the difficult task, especially since she couldn't see anything. After a few moments, she finally couldn't take it anymore and she fell to the floor with a thud and the flowers laying on top of her. Maleficent, Dementia, and Margalo stared at her with wide eyes.
"Uh… timber." Dementia awkwardly commented.
"Little help, please?" Nyx asked.
"Coming!" Margalo said as she and Maleficent went to help the Goddess of the Night. They carefully lifted the bouquet off of her and set it down somewhere while Dementia helped Nyx to her feet. "Uh, think the bouquet's big enough?" They settled for a decorative table that was standing nearby and set the flowers down.
"Geez, that thing is heavy." Nyx sighed as she dusted off her skirt. She was wearing the same dress she designed when Maleficent asked her to be the maid of honor. Her makeup sparkled and her hair was done into long flowing curls; Dementia placed her sparkly black sheer shawl back over Nyx's shoulders. "Thanks, hon."
"Oh." Margalo noticed a few stray leaves in Maleficent's new Grecian hairstyle and she carefully picked them out of her. "Voila."
"Why thank you, Margalo. My hair is now… perfection." Maleficent said with a smile; the young Goddess blushed and smiled sheepishly.
The door opened again, only this time, it was Hera. She was wearing a raspberry pink long-sleeve, floor-length dress with rose gold accents around the waist, hem, and ends of the sheer fabric sleeves and her hair was put up into a massive ponytail. She was holding a scroll in one hand and a crystal ball the size of an apple in the other while her pet peacock, Argos, stood at her feet; she had a smirk on her face as she walked into the room, leaving the door open a crack.
"Just so you know, that bouquet is made up of every single flower grown on Mount Olympus." She said as the table holding the flowers suddenly collapsed.
Maleficent gave her a sarcastic look. "Oh. You don't say."
"What?" Hera asked with a shrug.
"Wouldn't it be pleasant if people saw the dress, too?" Nyx asked as she walked over to a mannequin that had Maleficent's gorgeous wedding gown on display. "Some people worked very hard on it." She took the veil off of the mannequin head that was sitting next to the dress and walked over to Hera. "And I mean me. I'm some people."
"And the hair! Don't forget the hair." Margalo chimed in as she stood in between the two deities.
"Yes, yes. And some other people have other things to worry about." Hera said as she snatched the veil out of Nyx's hands and gently shoved it into Maleficent's before checking the scroll. "Like the invitations, food, flowers, seating charts, entertainment…" She turned to the crystal ball as it glowed white; someone could be heard talking, but only Hera could understand what the person on the other end was saying. "Hello? Are the birds here yet? What do you mean you don't know?! I specifically asked for ravens, NOT doves! Why? Because this is a wedding for VILLAINS! Ugh, I don't care! Just make it happen!" She sighed and turned back to the bride. "I am so sorry. I swear I'm doing my best."
"I know you are, Hera." Maleficent said with a smile. "And truthfully, I couldn't have asked for someone more capable and more competent to help plan my wedding than you."
"Oh, you're just saying that." Hera said, waving her hand and smiling shyly.
"No I'm not. I rarely give compliments to anyone." The evil fairy replied.
"Today is going to be perfect." Nyx beamed.
"I certainly hope so." Maleficent said excitedly. "I've never been so excited about anything in my life. And I still cannot believe Hades went through all of this trouble to find as many dark fairies as possible and invite them to the celebration."
"I know! I guess he just didn't want you to feel alone. And that just shows how much he loves you and how he'd do anything to make you happy."
Maleficent blushed before loud cawing and squawking suddenly interrupted her thoughts. She and her companions turned to see Diablo and Argos standing on the floor, flapping their wings like mad, and screeching at each other; it looked like they were about to start a fight. Hera quickly ran over to the two birds and picked up her peacock.
"Argos! No squawking at the pet of the bride!" She scolded as she wagged her finger; Argos pouted.
"Oh! That reminds me…" Nyx said as she made her way over to Diablo and gently picked him up. She then took out a blue neckerchief and gently tied it into a Windsor knot around the raven's neck. "There, almost forgot. Isn't he cute?" Diablo grimaced in embarrassment.
Argos then started squawking as if he were laughing at the raven. Feeling mortified, Diablo suddenly sprang out of Nyx's hands and started to fly towards the door, which made the assembled ladies gasp and yelp in surprise.
"Diablo, no!" Maleficent cried out.
Hera shrieked and quickly set Argos down on the floor before she started chasing after the raven to catch him.
"Oh no! Hey! Come here, birdie, birdie, birdie! Come back!" She called as she opened the door; that gave Diablo the opportunity to practically zoom out of there and right past Pain and Panic who were standing at the doorway.
"What was that?" Pain started.
"Ugh, great! He got away… AGAIN." Hera said in exasperation before she finally noticed the pair of imps; they were wearing matching black suits and ties. She gasped at the sight of them. "What are you two doing here?"
"The boss asked us to check on his bride, just to see if she needed anything." Panic replied.
"Well, she's fine and she doesn't need anything at the moment. But thank you anyway." Hera said, sounding irritated. "Why don't you two get back to the groom and stop bothering us? The bride still needs to get dressed and what she needs now is privacy." She closed the door before it opened again after a moment. "And if you want to be useful, go catch the bride's bird while you're at it!" She shouted before she slammed the door in their faces.
"But-but… Okay, fine." Pain started before he and Panic sighed in defeat. "Women."
"I know, right?" Panic said as they started walking away.
The moment the pair of imps left, Hera sighed, rolled her eyes, and walked over to Maleficent, Nyx, Margalo, and Dementia.
"Sorry you had to see that." She said. "But I suppose I should be glad it was just them and not the groom himself. It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, you know."
Maleficent smiled and shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Nothing could ruin today."
"That's the spirit." Nyx beamed.
"But what about Diablo?" Dementia asked.
"I'm sure he'll be alright. Besides, what could happen?" Hera chimed in.