Diablo worriedly hopped back and forth on his mistress's desk, as if he were pacing; he had been waiting for Maleficent to return home for a good while and he was starting to worry. But after a few minutes of pacing, a blinding green light suddenly appeared followed by equally bright flames, causing Diablo to jolt. When the flames vanished, the raven was pleasantly surprised to see Maleficent safe and sound. The dark fairy made her way to her desk chair and sat down, heaving a sigh of relief.

"I got it." She said, gently placing the Ember on the desk.

Diablo gazed at the blue stone in wonder; he may be the familiar of an evil fairy, but he's still a bird with a yen for shiny things and this Ember was no exception. He leaned his head down and gently touched the stone with his beak, feeling a bit of low heat radiating from it. Maleficent slowly stroked the raven's back with one hand.

"Do not worry, my pet." She said. "Like Hades told me, he is the only one who's able to harness the Ember's power."

But then Maleficent noticed something sitting on the book she left open on her desk. She picked it up and realized it was a small scroll with a bright pink wax seal she didn't recognize: a narcissus flower dusted in gold. Raising an eyebrow, she removed the seal and slowly opened the scroll. But what she saw made her very confused.

It was a short letter. It read:

"If you know what's good for you, stay away from Hades and never speak to him or even look at him again. He's MINE. Don't you dare forget it."

Maleficent furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes as she stared at the writing on the parchment; she had no idea what to say or think about this. What in the world was this? Who sent this to her? Did they know Hades? And why were they telling her to stay away from him? It wasn't signed so she couldn't think of anyone who would do this. Shaking her head in annoyance, she crumpled up the piece of paper and set it on fire. She casually blew the ashes away, seemingly unaffected by the threatening message; she didn't feel like she was in danger. In fact, this letter only served to annoy her.

"If this is someone's foolish idea of a joke, then it's considered played." She said, rolling her eyes. "And if it's an attempt to frighten me, I acknowledge this as a failure. I don't have time for this nonsense." She yawned and poured herself another cup of tea, which was still hot. "I need my rest. Come, Diablo. Let us go up to bed." She took a quick sip from her cup. "It has been a busy night for us all."

Diablo obeyed and jumped onto his mistress's shoulder just as Maleficent stood from her desk. She calmly exited the library to head up to her bed chamber with the Ember in her free hand and her tea encased in a levitation spell following her. But just as the dark fairy closed the door, the narcissus flower seal glowed pink and disappeared.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Let's see." Hades said to himself as he glanced at the open book in front of him; he was attempting to cast a new spell. Luckily he learned the hard way to not go too fast or too far when it comes to magic, especially since he was still a beginner. He took a deep breath, held his hands in front of him as if he were holding something, closed his eyes, and tried his best to concentrate on the spell.

"Illumiitus Corruptigeo." He said.

The moment he spoke the spell, a small cloud of silvery fog started to form in his hands. The cloud gradually grew bigger and bigger until finally, it completely surrounded him in silvery gray clouds and magic. Hades slowly opened his eyes and he was met with nothing but gray all around him; the fog itself was so thick that he could barely see anything, not even if it was a few inches in front of him.

"Well… I did the spell, but now I can hardly see." He said before he waved his hand to make the fog disappear. The spell promptly vanished. "Not what I had in mind, but it's a start." He glanced back at the book to see if there were any other spells he could try out.

"Hades?" A new voice asked.

Hades jumped at the sound; he looked up and saw Erebus standing in the doorway and he was giving him a look that appeared to be a mixture of confusion and concern. He raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Yes?" Hades asked.

"Is everything okay?" Erebus asked.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Just checking, I suppose. Forgive me for saying this, but you just seem rather out of it." Erebus approached his friend. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about… Maleficent?"

Hades looked away. "Why so interested?"

"I'm just concerned. You know you can talk to me, Thanatos, or Nyx about anything that's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me, I'm fine."

"If you say so." Erebus's eyes then fell on the book Hades was reading. He gently picked it up and started to skim a couple of pages. "What's this?"

"That's… Maleficent's book." Hades said, snatching the book out of his hands and closing it. "She's letting me borrow it and I don't want it to get ruined."

"Hm, I see." The God of Darkness paused and took a seat on the table. "You seem to be very close with this Maleficent. Why don't you tell me more about her? What's she like?"

"Well, where do I begin?" Hades said. "If there's one decent word I can think of that can describe her… I guess it would be extraordinary. She's smart, strong, ruthless, and she treats me with actual respect. Not to mention she's gorgeous! She's got these eyes that practically glow in the dark and this lush black hair, and her smile?" He sighed and smirked as he gazed out his window. "I've met a lot of girls in my life, but there's just nobody else in the entire universe like Maleficent. She's so different from any other woman I've ever met. I mean, that woman is evil personified. She's… amazing. You know what I mean?" He turned his head to face Erebus, who was giving him a sly smirk. "What?"

"Oh, I see what's going on… You're smitten with her." Erebus said.

Hades' eyes widened in shock the moment he heard that last sentence; he then heard a dramatic gasp coming from the other end of the room.

"I knew it!" A female voice squealed.

Erebus and Hades turned their heads towards the doorway to see Nyx, Thanatos, Pain, and Panic standing there. Nyx had an over-eager expression on her face.

"Where'd you all come from?!" Hades asked, his face turning hot.

"That's not important, Hades. The point is that I had a feeling you fancied that girl." Thanatos said as he, Nyx, and the two imps walked over to him.

"What?! No I don't!" Hade said defensively.

"Oh yes, you do." Nyx said, wrapping her arm around her friend's shoulders and grinning.

"Ooh, that Maleficent has really gotten under your skin, boss." Panic commented.

"Yeah! Come on, admit it!" Pain added as he and Panic hovered in front of their boss.

"A powerful god like you?" Nyx said.

"A powerful fairy like her?" Thanatos added. "You're already starting to turn red; I can see it clear as day."

Hades quickly covered up his face in embarrassment, hoping to hide his bright blush.

"Come on, just say it and get it off your chest. You'll feel a lot better." Nyx said encouragingly.

In an attempt to shut everyone up, Hades slammed his fist on the table and yelled in exasperation, "No, no, no! I do NOT have feelings for Maleficent! You guys are dead wrong!" He then stood up and made his way to his throne with the spell book in his hand.

The four beings looked at each other with wide eyes before Nyx suddenly burst into laughter, Thanatos grinned, and Pain and Panic shared a high-five. Erebus shook his head and facepalmed.

"Denial is the clincher! You DO have a crush!" Nyx exclaimed.

"Argh! I do NOT!" Hades shouted in frustration.

"Hades and Maleficent sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Pain and Panic sang mockingly.

"Ugh! Real mature, you guys. REAL mature." Hades groaned, slumping down in his throne and covering his flushed face in embarrassment.

By now, Erebus had already had enough; he stood up and walked over to the group.

"Alright, alright! That's it!" He shouted as he tried to shove his wife and son out of the throne room. "I believe you've all embarrassed him quite enough. Hades and I were having a peaceful conversation before you showed up and I would like to continue it alone, if you don't mind."

"Erebus, come on, honey. We were just excited." Nyx said, trying to plead her case.

"I'm sorry, love. I know you are, I am too. But that is no excuse for you to eavesdrop on us."

"Okay, okay. We'll go. Sorry, father." Thanatos said.

"It's fine. Just don't let it happen again, alright?"

The pair agreed and left; Erebus turned to see Pain and Panic hovering close by. He narrowed his eyes at them; he had a feeling Nyx and Thanatos eavesdropping was Pain and Panic's idea. The imps looked anxious.

"Uh, are we in trouble?" They asked in unison.

Staying silent, the God of Darkness rolled his eyes, grabbed the pair of imps by their throats, and threw them out of the throne room.

"Thanks, Erebus." Hades said, sighing in relief.

"Of course." Erebus said, striding over to his friend. "But you don't have to feel so mortified about this. You know you can always talk to us. I know they seem overwhelming, but they only want to help. And so do I. You're like a son to me, Hades; I only want you to be happy."

"I… I can't help it, okay? I know you guys are trying to help me, but… I just don't know how to handle this. It's been so… ugh, I don't even know anymore." Hades groaned and placed his chin in his hands.

"I understand. Look, let me explain some things to you… about dating and relationships." Erebus then used his powers to form a small staircase out of shadows along with two figures, a man and a woman. "You start out at the very bottom before you move up to Tier 1, which is hand holding. And right now, you appear to have already moved up to Tier 2, which is hugging." He made the shadow couple move up to the first two steps. "Down the road, you'll make it to about Tier 3, where you two will start to open up more about your lives, your experiences, basically anything that's on your mind." They moved up another step. "And if you start to feel you understand and relate to one another, then that's a good sign; that means you're realizing what your common interests, beliefs, and morals are. And after a while, you two will grow closer and closer and eventually, you'll make it to either Tier 4, 5, or even 8… where you finally realize your true feelings, you confess, and you share your first kiss." The shadowy couple then made it up a few more steps, faced each other, and kissed. "Now that is a VERY special occasion, believe me."

Hades glanced at the diagram before noticing the top step. "…What about this Tier at the top?"

"You stay away from that! You're not ready! DO NOT DO TIER 15!" Erebus shouted desperately.

"No offense, Erebus, but I have no idea what you're talking about." Hades said.

The dark entity sighed as his little presentation vanished. "Don't worry about it. Love is a very strange concept to understand. And love at first sight is a very rare occurrence; it doesn't happen to a lot of people. For most, love often takes a lot of time, thought, work, and effort. And maintaining a healthy and loving relationship is difficult, even under the best of circumstances. But for a select few, the feeling of love just jumps out at them and attacks them full force."

Hades nodded his head, seeming to understand until he realized something. "Wait a minute! Erebus, you're the freaking God of Darkness! How do you know so much about love?!"

Erebus chuckled. "I know a lot more than just darkness and shadows, you know." He smiled and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder to comfort him. "But don't be so hard on yourself, my friend. Just let things naturally progress on their own. When the time is right, you'll know."

"I will?" Hades asked; Erebus nodded in response. They smirked at each other.

"I think it's about time I leave you to your studies again. But remember; if you wish to talk, we're all here to listen."

The two Gods nodded at each other before Erebus finally left, leaving Hades by himself. Hades knew his friends were excited to hear that he met a girl, but he knew there was nothing going on between him and Maleficent. It couldn't be true… could it? But he told her things not even his closest friends knew about and he got so defensive when Styx wanted to talk about her. What was going on with him? He paused and looked at the cover of the spell book in his hands; he saw his reflection in the gemstone again. He thought about what had transpired earlier that night; Maleficent's old house, her father's journals and notes… the quick kiss she gave him at her palace. Hades then felt his heart race and his stomach twist as visions of Maleficent filled his head; he remembered the look in her eyes, her laugh, and her smile. He felt enchanted; he had never felt this way before and he didn't know what to do. But then he remembered what Erebus said.

'Just let things naturally progress on their own. When the time is right, you'll know.'

Hades placed his hand on his cheek and smiled to himself. He yawned and got up from his throne to head to bed; he had a long night, he did enough studying for now, and he really wanted to get some sleep. But just as he left the throne room, a small pink narcissus flower glowed from behind the throne and with a tiny poof, it disappeared.