Hades gazed up at the house and let out a whistle in appreciation; he was greatly impressed by the design, structure, and overall feel of the house. If he had his way, he would definitely want to live in a beautiful place like this, or at least have it as a nice vacation home. "Nice place."

Maleficent furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes. "…We are not here to admire the house. Let us just fetch what we need and go." She said in a stern voice, walking closer to the house.

Not knowing what to do, he remained silent and followed her. Hades could tell his friend wanted to leave right away, but he couldn't understand why. This was her childhood home, the place she grew up in; something very messed up must've happened around here that made her want to avoid this place like the plague, that much was clear. But he didn't know what could've happened that caused her to make such a decision, so he wisely kept his thoughts to himself. They walked around to the very back of the house where the remains of a small vegetable and herb garden was; the wooden fences keeping it in place were broken apart, most of the garden was dry and withering away, and everything was overgrown with crabgrass and weeds.

"Uh… how are we supposed to find the Heart Ivy in this mess?" Hades asked.

"Give me the jar." Maleficent said, holding out her hand expectantly. He took the empty jar out of the folds of his chiton and handed it to her. "I will find it. You just stay here and keep watch."

"Watch for what?"

"Just to see if anyone comes by. We cannot afford to be caught."

He nodded, not wanting to argue. Maleficent knelt down on the ground and rummaged through the weeds and grass to find the Ivy while Hades was standing to the side on the lookout for any intruders or trespassers. He then heard a quick squeak to his left; he turned his head and saw a white rat squeezing its way out of the slightly opened back door of the house. He glowered down at the rodent, pointed his finger at it, and shot a bit of fire at its tail, causing it to jump and squeak in fear before it scampered off into the undergrowth of the forest beyond.

'Ugh, I hate rats.' He thought before he noticed the tiny crack in the door had gotten slightly bigger.

Seeing that Maleficent's back was turned towards him, Hades thought it wouldn't hurt to try and take a peek inside the house; his curiosity was already getting the better of him at this point. Smiling a mischievous smirk, he turned himself into a puff of smoke and slunk into the house through the crack in the door without the dark fairy even noticing. After a minute or two of shoving past weeds and ripping up crabgrass by the roots, she finally found the Heart Ivy. She started picking handful after handful of vines and leaves and carefully stuffing them into the jar when she heard someone out in pain followed by a crash. Maleficent nearly jumped and turned around, only to find Hades was no longer behind her. Then she noticed the crack in the door; she sighed, shook her head, and pinched the bridge of her nose before making her way to the door. When she opened it, she saw Hades in the middle of the room holding his right leg in pain.

"Agh, ouch! Right in the shin! Geez, that smarts!" He cried out in pain.

"Ahem!" Maleficent said, clearing her throat.

Hades paused and turned to see his friend standing in the open doorway; her scepter and eyes were glowing in the dark. She waved her scepter and a few torches lining the stone walls lit up, lighting up the room. Hades looked and saw the thing he hit: it was an oak coffee table that had fallen over onto its side when he collided into it. He turned back to Maleficent and gave her an uneasy smile; she narrowed her eyes.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Uh… nothing?" Hades lied.

"I told you to keep watch, NOT to go inside."

"Hey, come on! Can you blame me for being curious about this place? And it's not MY fault I hit that stupid table!"

"I don't care, that is NO excuse! You are NOT allowed to be in here, no one is!"

Hades then paused and squinted his eyes in suspicion; he folded his arms over his chest and gradually stood up straight, the pain in his leg was slowly subsiding. "Are you… hiding something in here?"

Maleficent froze, then scoffed. "No! What could I possibly have to hide?"

Hades then snapped his fingers and the old stone fireplace that had been cold and dead for so long sparked to life, burning brightly and lighting up the room even more. The two villains realized that the inside of the house fared even worse than the outside; the floor was littered with torn yellowed papers, tattered books, shattered porcelain, broken glass, mud, and gravel, a few larger pieces of furniture had either cracked, broken in half, or fallen over, there were a few cracks in the walls, floor, and ceiling, and almost everything in sight was covered in a thick coat of dust. But there was one thing in particular that caught Hades' eye: it was the corner of a large frame above the hearth. The rest of it was covered by a black fabric, almost like a curtain.

'What's this?' He thought as he approached.

Taking notice of Hades' change in attitude, she reluctantly followed him into the house to see what he was looking at. They stopped in front of the hearth; Hades reached out his hand, grabbed the curtain and promptly pulled it away, revealing a painted portrait hanging there. It was of a man with green skin, yellow and green eyes, a pair of huge black horns on his head, wearing a black and green robe and holding a silver staff with a green orb in the center standing next to a woman with long black hair, violet eyes, pale skin, wearing a dark purple dress, and holding a magic wand. And in between them, they were both holding a small baby with green skin, black hair, and vibrant green eyes. They were standing tall and proud, as if they had just made a great accomplishment in their lives. Hades' eyes glanced to see Maleficent staring up at the painting in silence; then he noticed the baby in the portrait bore a striking resemblance to…

"…Who are they?" He asked.

It took her a while to answer, but she eventually sighed and said, "That was me, my father, and my mother, before… before our family fell apart."

'Fell apart? Ooch, no wonder she didn't want to come back here.' Hades thought before he noticed an inscription on the bottom of the frame. He leaned in closer, narrowed his eyes, and wiped away a thick layer of dust with his fingers before he was able to make out what was written; it read "Lazarus Thornheart, Quintessa, and Maleficent".

He stepped back, looked back up at the painting, and thought, 'Those must be their names.'

But when he turned his head to say something to Maleficent, he saw that she wasn't there; Hades looked around and realized that his horn-headed companion had disappeared.

'Alone again… but I am itching to see more of this place. I'm sure it won't hurt to look around for a bit.' He thought, smiling curiously.

He walked to another corner of the room and noticed a door, but when he tried to open it, it was locked. But luckily, he was able to melt the lock, open the door, and look inside. He saw that this room was actually an old office or study filled with books, papers, spilled inkwells, and scattered quill pens all around. He walked up to the antique desk and noticed a book lying open with the cover up; a few torn out pages and ripped up papers were underneath it.

"There must be some kind of deep, dark secret buried under all this garbage. Only one way to find out." Hades said, picking up the book and beginning to read.

"10/16, year 167 BC

It's been four days since I returned home with my latest discovery. I was traveling the mountain ranges of Greece when I came across it. As I was walking along the path of one of the majestic mountains, it started to violently storm and I had to take shelter in a cave. As I sat by the fire to keep warm, I noticed something buried in the dirt floor of the cave. Using the smallest shovel I packed, I dug it out and discovered it was a metal box. The legendary Pandora's Box? Far from it. When I touched it, the metal immediately burned my hands on contact. It was iron, one of the few things on Earth that could hurt my kind.

So I had to use my cloak to properly handle the box. As I examined it in the firelight, I saw that it was wrapped up in chains and held together with a massive lock. And the top of the box had a symbol I don't recognize at all; it looked like an octopus with a dragon's wings, a creature I had never seen before in any of my travels. The box itself was also decorated with tentacles wrapping around one another; it was exquisitely made and I longed to know what was in it, but it was still locked. So I decided to take it with me back to my homeland so I could study it properly."

And there was a sketch of a box next to the entry; true to the author's words, the box looked like it was wrapped in tentacles and it had the winged octopus creature on the lid. Hades narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin in thought; he had a feeling he had seen this box before. He turned the page of the book, deciding to keep reading. And this time, he saw a sketch of a jagged looking stone with another entry.

"10/21, year 167 BC

I've finally figured out what was locked inside. It was a beautiful stone, but not just any stone. This little trinket contains a power unlike any seen on Earth; it possesses a magical glow, blue in hue, and when in contact with fire, the glow shines even brighter. I have no idea what it could possibly be, but whatever it is, it must've belonged to a super powerful entity of some kind; like an ancient God or Goddess or an unnatural being from beyond this world. Either the entity itself locked it away on purpose or it was stolen by someone or something else. But I intend to find out the stone's origins and possibly even find a way to use its powers for myself.

When I harness this power, I'm certain I will become the most powerful sorcerer the world has ever seen and all will bow before me, including those pathetic fairies of light. I will make them pay for what they did to me, my kind, and my love. They will ALL pay for their insolence, especially Mab, that fool of a queen."

Hades' eyes widened as he looked at the sketch in the book; he knew this stone. He KNEW this stone! He had to know more, so he kept reading.

'This is getting REALLY juicy.' He thought, flipping through the pages.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Maleficent couldn't bear to look at the portrait of her parents anymore; just gazing at a painting of her mother's face made her skin crawl. In an effort to distract herself, she went up to the second floor of the house to see if anything of value was left behind, leaving Hades alone downstairs in the process. The moment she made it up the stairs, she realized that the room she stumbled upon used to be the bedroom that belonged to her parents.

'Oh, how wonderful.' She sarcastically said in her mind.

She could clearly see that, like the rest of the house, this room hasn't been touched for centuries. But then she spotted something in another corner; it was an old vanity with a broken mirror and a strange looking box sitting on it. Being curious, Maleficent slowly walked up to it and noticed that it looked very familiar; it was shaped like a stack of four small books, so no one would be able to tell what it was right away. She reached out her hand to touch the box, but stopped herself when she realized this was her mother's old jewelry box. Memories came back to her; she remembered when she was a little girl, her mother told her time and time again that if she dared to open or even touch the jewelry box then she would be unleashing a horrible curse. But her mother wasn't around anymore, so she could do what she wanted with it. But just as she was about to touch it, she heard a loud voice from behind her.

"Maleficent!"

"I didn't do it!" Maleficent screamed, quickly turning around in a panic.

But she quickly calmed down when she realized it was just Hades; he was breathing heavily and holding a book and a few papers in his hand.

"You didn't tell me your father had MY Ember!" He shouted, showing her the page with the sketch of the stone on it.

"Excuse me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, don't lie to me! Look at this and tell me you don't know what it really is!"

Maleficent glanced at the book, then back up at Hades. "…I don't know what this is. Wait a moment, where did you even find this?"

"In your father's private office. Apparently he's been studying it for a long time, as well as trying to unlock its power!"

"What are you even talking about?!"

"THIS! Your father found the Ember of Blue, MY Ember!"

Maleficent froze as more memories from her childhood came flooding back to her. She remembered wandering into her father's office; he would be sitting at his desk and holding a blue stone in his hand. He was trying to activate it, but nothing he did worked. Reluctantly, she took the journal from Hades and read one of the entries.

"2/19, year 109 BC

I've been trying for so long to activate the stone, but nothing I do is working! How can I be the greatest sorcerer on the planet if I cannot do this?! It's driving me mad! But at least I have my beloved daughter. My little Maleficent is always there to support me, even if she doesn't know what I'm doing.

How I love my little raven…"

She turned to another page, which was actually the last entry in the journal ever.

"6/7, year 101 BC

I must go on another journey. I know I have sworn them off on the day my daughter was born, but it's gravely important that I go. The stone was stolen by a band of dragons and I must travel to their cave in another land to get it back. But that would mean leaving my family behind. I know it is a great risk, but it is one I am willing to take… even if it means losing my legacy. If I do not come back… then you know what has happened.

And my dearest Maleficent? If you are reading this, I want you to remember that I will always love you.

Signed, Lazarus Thornheart"

After a long moment of silence, Maleficent slammed the journal shut and dropped it onto the floor.

"We're done here." She said, walking back towards the stairs.

"Wait, what?" Hades asked, still sounding miffed. "You still haven't answered my questions. Did you or did you not know about the Ember?"

Maleficent quickly turned around and went up to Hades until she was practically nose to nose with him. She snarled at him and she looked him dead in the eye as her eyes glowed a bright yellow.

"I said… We. Are. DONE."

The room was deathly silent, no one moved. A few moments passed and Maleficent calmed down; she took a deep breath, the glow in her eyes vanished and she turned back towards the stairs. Hades stood there in stunned silence, not sure of how to respond to such a reaction. Then he glanced at the vanity behind him before his eyes fell on the jewelry box.

'She is DEFINITELY hiding something.' He thought, reaching out his hand to grab the box. He picked it up and examined it, wondering what significance it would possibly have. But then he heard something inside of it; he lifted it up to his ear and gently shook it. 'Dark fairies are weird.'

"Hades?" Maleficent's voice called from downstairs.

"Coming." Hades quickly said, stuffing the box into his shirt and heading to the stairs.