"Okay, so let me get this straight." Hades said, taking a swig from his glass. He and Maleficent were sitting across from each other at a table near a window looking out at the River of Souls, dining on a meal that Hades had just prepared. Maleficent had just finished telling him her story. "You cursed an infant princess, ensnared an entire castle in black thorns, turned every living being in the kingdom to stone statues, and transformed into a giant fire breathing dragon… all because you weren't invited to a party?"
"I know it sounds rather strange and petty, but it's true. A matter of principle, if you will." Maleficent casually replied.
"Eh, whatever works for you, I guess. But you know something? I feel as though this golden haired princess of yours kinda reminds me of my nephew Jerkules. I mean seriously, whenever that kid was around, he made me so mad I was practically ripping my flame out. That kid was basically driving me meshugah." He took a bite from his food.
"Jerku… Oh yes, Hercules, the eldest son of Zeus and Hera and the God of Heroes."
Hades paused, nearly choking on his food. "…Excuse me?"
"You don't know? After Hercules and Megara were married, they lived a full happy life together, had children of their own, and when their time had come, they ascended to Olympus."
"BOTH of them?"
"Indeed they did. Hercules is the God of Heroes and Megara is the Goddess of Inner Strength. Not only that, but Zeus and Hera also bore more children, five more to be exact."
"Herc and Meg? Gods?!" Hades sat in bewilderment, putting a hand to his head. "And FIVE more Zeus and Hera juniors?! Geez Louise, those two are breeding like rabbits!"
"Life happens to everyone."
"But… how exactly do you know all of this?"
"I read it in a book." Maleficent swallowed a bite of meat. "Oh, mmmm! This is so good, probably the best thing I have ever tasted in my life!"
"Really?" Hades asked, sounding a tad shocked. She nodded and took another bite. "Oh, thank you! Finally, somebody who actually appreciates my cooking!"
Maleficent chuckled. "And may I be honest with you? I had no idea the God of the Underworld could cook."
"Well, cooking is more of a casual hobby for me, really. I might be a little rusty, but I like to think I did pretty well with this dinner." He took a bite from his own meal.
"Pretty well? I say this is exquisite!"
"Thank you! It's not every day I meet a lady of such refinement. Oh! And allow me to top of your glass."
Hades' right arm turned into a wisp of gray smoke, grabbed a pitcher from the middle of the table, and poured some more nectar into Maleficent's glass. She took a sip.
"Why thank you very much, my lord. I haven't felt such hospitality in a long time." She said as she finished her meal.
"Like I said, I haven't had any real guests in a while. And I don't think I have ever met a woman as unique and as interesting as you." Hades said, setting the pitcher back on the table.
'Not to mention, beautiful.' He thought.
"This is certainly not what I have grown accustomed to, but after so many years of darkness and misery, I believe things are finally going my way."
"Years of darkness and misery? Okay, sure."
Hades chuckled under his breath; Pain and Panic, who were standing nearby, stifled their giggles. Maleficent picked up on it immediately; she slowly got up from her chair and walked closer to Hades, looking him in the eye. Hades stopped laughing, which made the two imps stop laughing as well.
"You chuckled." She said.
"Uh… what?" Hades asked.
"When I said 'years of darkness and misery', you chuckled."
"Oh, did I?"
"Yes, you did."
"Well… I'm sure it was very hard to live in a huge derelict castle on top a giant mountain for most of your life."
"It was."
"I'm sure."
Maleficent's eyes narrowed as Hades kept a calm demeanor. "…Alright, then."
She stood straight, walked back to her chair, Diablo hopped onto her shoulder, and she was about to walk away until Hades stopped her.
"But it must've been nice to have a roof and a cozy bed, which is more than what I had when I left home as a teenager." He said, finishing his own meal.
Maleficent stopped and turned around to face the God of the Underworld. "I'm sorry, but… are you actually comparing yourself to what I endured?"
"Well, I'm just saying you don't exactly corner the market on unhappy existences." Hades said, standing up from his chair. He snapped his fingers, signaling his minions to clean up.
Pain and Panic snuck up to the table, quickly took away the dishes, and exited the room just as Diablo spread his wings quickly followed after them, but Maleficent didn't seem to notice. She covered her eyes with one hand and started laughing.
"What? What's so funny?" Hades asked, folding his arms.
"That's just what I thought. You gods are all the same." She started before glaring at Hades.
"Excuse me?!"
"You heard me. All you immortal beings care about are yourselves, your power, and your meaningless status! You don't care about mortals, and you most likely never will!"
"I don't care? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see you stretching your neck out for anyone, babe!"
"Because fairies already have so much to offer this world and dark fairies like me don't waste our time or our breath helping anyone, unless it is in our best interest. But our lives are challenging enough as it is, we don't need any mortals meddling around and causing trouble for us! Honestly, you have no idea how difficult it is to be a dark fairy." She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back towards the God before her.
Hades scoffed, putting his hands on his hips. "Oh yeah? Well newsflash for you, sister. Being a god is no day at the beach either!"
The fairy laughed again. "Oh please! Judging souls cannot be that strenuous of a task. I could easily do your job with one hand behind my back."
"And what about you? Whatever it is you do, it can't possibly be that hard, right? I say I can do your job ten times better backwards with my eyes closed!"
Maleficent suddenly perked up, she had an idea. She slowly turned around to face the deity of the dead. "Is that so?"
Hades paused when he noticed her mischievous smile. "What?"
"You like making deals and arrangements, don't you?"
"Well… yeah, I am sort of a deal maker. Wait, where are you going with this?"
"Please, just listen to what I have to say, my lord. I was just thinking, perhaps you would care to make… a little wager?"
He narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin in thought. "What kind of wager, milady?"
"How about this? You and I… switch places. You live as a dark fairy, I live as a goddess. We do each other's jobs and then we will see which being has the tougher existence."
Hades' eyes flew wide open. "WHAT?! You and me? Living as each other?"
"Just for a day, of course."
"For a day, huh?" Hades paused and contemplated the situation, trying to find any possible downside. "Well, it certainly sounds compelling and I could use a bit of time away from this dark, dingy ol' basement. But we'll need some stakes, just to make it even more interesting. Let's see… Oh, here's an idea! Whoever caves in first before the end of the day… has to serve the winner for an entire year. What do you say, babe?"
Maleficent's face lit up at the idea of having an almighty god at her disposal, even if it would only be for a year. She tapped her chin with one finger in thought, then she smiled. "Having a god serve me for a year? Ha! Beings from all walks of life will be talking about me for generations!"
"You? Yeah right! If anything, you're gonna give up first and you are gonna be the one who's serving me!"
"Doubtful, but it would be amusing to watch."
"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, toots."
"So… it's a deal, then?" She offered her hand.
Hades grinned at the dark fairy. "Yeah, it's a deal."
He gladly shook her hand. However the moment he took Maleficent's hand, a strange magical light began to glow from their hands. In a panic, they tried to pull away from each other, but they were stuck as if their hands were suddenly glued together out of nowhere. That was when they noticed the veins in their wrists and arms glowing a bright white… and the white continued up along their arms; it hurt and it was starting to burn, the pain growing hotter and hotter as it rose up. Maleficent strained as she tried to let go; Hades was doing the same.
"What are you doing?!" She demanded.
"I don't know!" He shouted as his and Maleficent's eyes glowed white.
They both fell silent as the magic in their veins rose up their arms, up their necks, and all the way up to their faces. That was when an unusual transformation began to commence; Maleficent's horns and the wrap around her head began to disappear and her long raven black hair started to change color and flow above her as if it was being blown by an unknown wind while Hades' flames for hair started to be replaced by crops of bright blue human hair and a pair of large, curved black ram horns slowly grew out from the top of his skull. After a few more moments, the two beings finally let go and they cried out as a shockwave of magic shot them both across the room away from each other.
At that moment, Zeus and Hera shot up in bed up on Mt. Olympus, as if woken up by an invisible force. They looked at each other; they had just felt the magical shockwave.
"Zeus, what on earth was that?!" Hera cried.
"I-I don't know." Zeus said.
Hercules, Megara, and Hermes suddenly came into the room.
"Mother, father! Did you feel that?" Hercules asked.
"Is everything okay?" Megara asked.
"Whoa, what was that? That was nuts." Hermes chimed in.
"You all felt it, too?" Zeus asked; they all nodded. "This is very strange. We must find out if any of the other gods felt it, too. Hermes, take a note."
Hermes took out a pen and an empty scroll.
"I want to arrange a meeting of the gods for tomorrow morning. We need answers to these questions." Zeus commanded.
"You got it, sir."
Hermes gave a salute and flew off to spread the word to the other gods. Back in the Underworld, Pain, Panic, and Diablo burst into the lair to see what just happened.
"Your Bleakness!" Pain cried.
"Your Dangerousness!" Panic shouted.
"Your—"
The two imps fell silent and gaped at the sight before them; Diablo could only stare in silence. Hades and Maleficent were lying on the floor in different corners of the room; they both groggily sat up and groaned, unable to process what had just happened to them. Maleficent covered her eyes with one hand; she felt very dizzy and disoriented.
"Ugh, what…?" She mumbled as her head suddenly felt very warm, almost as hot as an oven.
"Geez Louise, w-what the what was that?" Hades grumbled, feeling a throbbing pain in his skull.
"Uh… boss?" Pain and Panic asked in unison.
Hades and Maleficent turned their heads to see Diablo, Pain, and Panic staring at them with wide, shock-filled eyes.
"What? What are you staring at?" Hades asked as he shakily stood up.
"Why are you looking at us like that?" Maleficent asked, getting back onto her feet.
"Uh… you two might need to see this." Panic said as he and Pain ran to another corner of the room and took out a full length mirror from seemingly nowhere.
"And we have to warn you… you're probably not gonna like it." Pain chimed in.
"Not like what?" Maleficent asked.
"Come on, guys." Hades scoffed. "What could possibly be so bad that you have to—?"
Maleficent and Hades were suddenly cut off when they saw their reflections in the mirror. They both gasped in shock; they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Hades' hair was darker and actual hair, his usual gray undershirt and black chiton were replaced with a dark blue shirt with long sleeves, a black and blue tunic tied with a navy blue wrap around his waist, tight ashen gray pants, and black leather boots, and he had a large pair of black ram horns sticking out from the top of his head while Maleficent's horns had vanished completely, her hair had been transformed into tall green flames, and she was wearing a black and purple chiton with flowing sleeves. They stared at their reflections in awe and confusion; what happened to them? They looked at each other.
Maleficent narrowed her eyes. "What have you done?!"
"ME?! Are you kidding?! You did this!" Hades screamed.
"I've done no such thing!"
"Well, neither did I!"
"Then how did this happen?!"
"How the heck should I know?! All I did was shake your hand when we made that…" Hades trailed off as the realization of the situation finally hit him. "We switched places."
"What?" Maleficent asked.
"You and me. We… made a switch. You're a goddess and I'm a dark fairy. I don't know how, but the deal itself must've cast some kind of spell to physically change us."
Maleficent looked at her reflection again and saw that her skin had a slight glow; Hades was right. She looked back at him.
"So… what does this mean?"
"I… I don't know. This has never happened before." Hades answered.
"Well… if you're going to be a fairy for a day, you'll need this." Maleficent offered him her scepter.
"Your scepter? Oh, no, no, no. I have no use for it."
"Are you so certain of everything? Every fairy has either a wand or a scepter. I'm giving you mine and I think it would be wise for you to take it."
"Well… Okay, but it's totally gonna clash with my new look."
The moment Hades took hold of Maleficent's scepter, the scepter itself transformed into something completely different. The staff turned jet black, a pair of prongs shot up from the top, and the green orb in the center was replaced by a blue faceted gem. He stared at it in awe.
"Whoa, nice upgrade." He muttered.
"Well now that that's settled, I suppose you'll want to be on your way." Maleficent said.
"What?"
"You know the rules; no living souls allowed in the Underworld. The exit is this way."
She gestured towards the door that led to the river. Hades narrowed his eyes.
"Fine. Pain, Panic, we're leaving." He said, heading towards the stairs. "Come on, boys. I said, we're leaving." He turned to see that Pain and Panic wouldn't leave. "What are you doing?"
"So sorry, but as of now, your minions work for me." Maleficent said, folding her arms and giving a smug smirk.
Hades glared at her before turning his attention to Diablo; he smirked. "…Fine. If you get the imps…" He reached out and grabbed the raven by the neck, which made Maleficent's eyes widen. Diablo could only caw in distress. "…then I get your bird. Catch you later, Mistress of the Underworld."
And before Maleficent could say a word, Hades descended the stairs with Diablo in tow. Charon and the ferry were waiting for him; he climbed into the boat and they strode down the river back to the spot where Maleficent had come from. When the ferry disappeared from view, Pain and Panic stared up at their new master.
"What?" She asked.
"So… you're the boss now, huh?" Pain asked.
"I… suppose I am, yes." Maleficent replied.
"You're in trouble." Panic whispered.
"Come now, I can handle being the Goddess of the Underworld for a day." Maleficent said with confidence. "Now, where do we start?"
Pain and Panic smirked at each other before pulling out a scroll and unfurling it in front of her. Her face fell ever so slightly; this list was much longer than she had thought.
'This is going to be a long day.' She thought.
