"Good." Hades said with a smile; he took a look at the guest list again. "Then in that case, we're gonna need to make some changes. Starting with THIS." He snatched the quill pen from Hermes, took a closer look at the list, crossed something off, and wrote down something else instead. "There, done." He handed the list back to Hermes. "You haven't given out invitations yet, have you?"
"Nope. I was just waiting for you to give the okay to do so." The messenger God said.
"Okay, then. But before you do, I'm gonna need one of those invites. I wanna make sure my star guest gets it delivered personally."
'And I'm sure nobody wants a repeat of what happened the last time she wasn't invited to a party.' Hades thought.
"Uh… sure." Hermes then took out a scroll out of a large bag sitting nearby and gave it to Hades.
"Thank you. Oh, Zeus. Before I forget, the reason I came up here in the first place is because I need to talk to Phantasos."
"Phantasos? Why?" Zeus asked.
"Well uh, let's just say… it's urgent."
"I see."
"Tada!" A new voice sang.
The collected deities turned their heads to see a man with sky blue skin, wavy silver hair, and wearing purple clothes that resembled pajamas walking towards them. It was Phantasos and he was walking with his older brother, the God of Sleep Morpheus.
"Someone talking about me?" Phantasos asked.
"How'd you guess?" Meg dryly asked.
"My ears were burning. Now, uh, what's going on?"
"Ah yes, Phantasos! Good to see you!" Hades said. "I need to talk to you."
"About what?"
"It's… kind of important. What do you say we go somewhere else? For privacy reasons."
"Uh okay, sure."
"Great."
Hades quickly meandered over to the God of Dreams and quickly took him to another corner of the Pantheon to talk in private. "So Phantasos, buddy, pal. Can I call you pal? Look, I know you and I haven't really talked much just one on one, but… I need to ask you something important. Have you been making any scary dreams lately? Like REALLY scary? With fire and blood and gore and stuff like that?"
"What? No." Phantasos answered before raising an eyebrow. "…Why?"
"Well, uh it's just… I have this friend who's been having some really vivid nightmares recently. It's been happening every night for a whole month, she's really freaking out, and she has no idea what's going on. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"
"Sorry Hades, but I have no idea what you're talking about. I've been making dreams and keeping track of every single one of them for the past few millennia and I don't think I know anything about any super horrific dreams or this friend of yours. Who is she anyway?"
"Uh… just someone I know."
"…Okay then."
"Hey, Phantasos! Hope to see you at the ball." Hermes quickly said as he handed a scroll to the God of Dreams.
He unfurled the scroll and skimmed it before turning back to Hades. "This ball is for you?"
"Yep, for my birthday. Zeus said I have to find myself a bride that night, too." Hades sighed.
"Like speed dating? Sheesh. That's rough, buddy."
"I know. So… the dreams?"
"Like I said, Hades, I don't know." Phantasos said with a shrug.
"You're sure?"
"Positive. But if what you say is true, then I'll have to look into this matter myself. For all I know, this could be a pretty serious issue. If I'm not the one causing your friend's dreams, then someone else must be behind it. Someone with… not so nice motives."
"That… makes a lot of sense."
"But don't worry. If I find out anything, I'll make sure to notify you ASAP."
"Thanks."
"Sure thing."
They shook hands and made their way back to the others; Morpheus had just received an invitation and was talking with Zeus, Hera, and the others.
"So you said this ball is in about three days?" Morpheus asked Zeus as he read the invitation in his hand.
"That's right." Zeus answered with a nod.
'Three days?' Hades thought.
"Alright, sounds good to me. But I think I should tell you that my mother, Selene, said something about a full red moon happening that night. And she says it only happens once every six hundred years." The God of Sleep added.
"A rare red moon? Cool." Herc said.
"Well I would be delighted to come to the ball that night." Rhea beamed as Hermes handed her an invitation.
"Groovy." The messenger God said.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm certain most of the other Goddesses would be honored to have little Margalo here style their hair for the ball." Hera said, patting her young daughter on the head.
"No questions there." Meg added with a smile.
"Aw, shucks." Margalo said shyly.
"Eugh, geez." Hades muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, yes. I'm sure every female deity here would all want to look their best for you-know-who." Rhea bounced her eyebrows and smiled at her youngest son; Hades blushed and turned his head away in response. "I can see it now. Countless girls from all over gathering in a grand ballroom, lining up to meet the tall and handsome bachelor birthday boy, and hoping he'd choose one of them for a dance."
"How about prison?" Poseidon's voice asked. "You have a rom-com scenario for that, mother?"
"Why?" Rhea asked, turning to Poseidon who was walking by with his wife, Amphitrite.
"No offense to Hades, but he looks like the kind of guy who loves taxidermy and long walks in the dark." The God of the Sea answered before walking away with the invitation in hand.
"Can't argue with that." Amphitrite commented.
"And not to mention Hades has the personality of a deranged maniac who keeps his murder victims' severed heads in a box." Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, chimed in as she was walking past; Hermes quickly gave her an invitation before zooming off to deliver more.
"Hey! All of that's only half true!" Hades said in defense.
Margalo giggled under her breath.
Rhea cleared her throat. "Okay, I'll just ignore that. So, um… Hades, who did you say your special guest was?"
"Oh yes, who is it that you want to personally invite? Is it a God or Goddess from another Pantheon?" Zeus asked.
Hades cleared his throat, trying to think of a good excuse. "Uh, it's… just a close friend of mine. They don't get invited to parties often and I want them to be there. You'll see them on the night of the ball."
"Well… alright, if you say so." Hera said.
Hades inwardly sighed in relief; they didn't suspect a thing.
"Excuse me, Lady Hera. But I just finished hanging the banners and streamers, like you asked me to." Iris said as she made her way over to Hera.
The elder Gods looked and saw that banners of ink black silk and flowing streamers of royal blue chiffon were hung around the Pantheon with unlit torches hanging from the many pillars of cloud surrounding the area.
"Nice." Hades said, sounding very impressed.
"Ooh! Excellent work, Iris." Hera said to her personal messenger. "Now I'd like you to head over to the nine Muses and their sons and see how they're all doing. And I would also like you to inform them that Nyx and her musical group will be joining them on the night of the ball."
"Of course." Iris gave a salute and flew off to do as she was told.
"Okay, just finished sending out the rest of the invites." Hermes said as he made his way over to Zeus; he gave a salute.
"Perfect. Thank you, Hermes." Zeus said, smiling and shaking his hand.
"Hades? If I may ask… who is this friend of yours?" Rhea asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Is it someone we know?"
"Uh…" Hades grimaced nervously.
"Hey uh, Grandmother? Uncle Hades doesn't have to tell us anything about his friend if he doesn't want to." Margalo said.
"Yes, Rhea. You don't have to push him for—" Hera started.
"Don't be silly. I'm his mother, I should know these things." Rhea interrupted before turning back to look at her son. "I'd personally like to know more about this mysterious friend. And besides, why would Hades want to keep secrets from his own mother? Hmmm? Is there something you're not telling us, dear?"
Hades froze and started to stutter, unable to find the right words. He couldn't tell the other Gods who he really wanted at his party. What if they did something to hurt her? Like turn her into a snake woman like Lamia or turn her into a cow like Io? They used to pull stunts like that dozens of times before, so it would be safe to assume that they would do it again in a heartbeat. But then his thoughts were interrupted by a voice he hoped he'd never have to hear again.
"Hades! Oh Hades!" A female voice called out.
"You okay, Ha—" Hercules started, noticing the visible fear on Hades' face and his sudden change in mood.
"Sorry, can't stay! I have work to do! A lot of work, TONS! Okay, gotta go! BYE!" Hades quickly said before he disappeared in a burst of blue flames, leaving the assembled Gods and Goddesses in a state of confusion.
"Well, that was… odd." Meg said.
"Hades? Hey, where'd he go?" The voice asked.
Zeus and the others turned to see a beautiful goddess with long curly bright yellow hair pulled into a ponytail, red eyes, and dressed in pink coming towards them. She raised an eyebrow in confusion as she stopped next to Rhea.
"I could've sworn Hades was here. I just saw him." She said.
"Uh, you just missed him." Margalo said shyly.
"I didn't ask you." The woman coldly said; the little Goddess ducked away in fear.
"Is everything alright, Persephone?" Zeus asked.
"Eh, I guess. But I just want to know why everyone else on Olympus is getting invitations to this little party… except for me." Persephone said, folding her arms.
"Wait, what?" Herc asked.
"I told you already. You were uninvited." Hermes said, pointing a finger at the guest list in his hand.
"Let me see that."
Persephone quickly snatched the list out of Hermes' hands and read through every name on it trying to find hers. But then she saw it; her name was crossed out and someone else's name was written right next to it, a name she quickly recognized.
'He wants her there, eh?' She thought, narrowing her eyes.
Rhea glanced at the guest list to see what Persephone was looking at. The moment she saw the name, she cocked an eyebrow and asked,
"Who is Maleficent?"
0-0-0-0-0-0
"Okay, boys. I've got a special job for you." Hades started; he was standing in his throne room with his impish minions standing before him.
"Whatever you need us to do, boss." Pain said.
"You wish it, we dish it." Panic added.
"Good." Hades then took the scroll he took from Hermes, placed something around it, and gave it to the two imps. "I need you two to head over to the Forbidden Mountain and deliver this invitation to Maleficent."
"Oooh, an invitation?" Panic asked, taking the scroll.
"Yes, to the birthday ball Zeus is planning for me." He rolled his eyes. "We agreed that I could choose one person to invite and I want that one person to be Maleficent. And to make sure she's allowed access to Olympus, I even added a little something special." He tapped his finger on the band made of wire around the scroll; it had a round smooth stone with a shamrock green hue embedded in it. "Make sure she gets both, understand? If she doesn't…" He slid his finger across his throat and made a squelching noise. Pain and Panic quickly understood.
"Sure thing, boss!" Panic said, giving a salute.
"We won't let you down!" Pain said as he and his companion ran out of the throne room with the invitation in hand.
"You'd better not."
The moment they were gone, Hades slumped into his throne and sighed before picking up the spell book and starting to read another page. "If those two brain-sharers mess up, then they are so gonna get it."
0-0-0-0-0-0
"So… my father tried to unlock your power." Maleficent muttered as she sat at her throne, carefully examining the Ember in her hand. "I can certainly see why. You were created by a God and countless mortals would very well kill each other to obtain such power for themselves."
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Diablo's cawing. She looked to see her beloved pet flying into her throne room and squawking like mad. She quickly stood up from her throne, carefully placing the Ember in her sleeve for safe keeping.
"Diablo, my pet! What is it?" She asked.
The raven then urged his mistress to follow him outside, so she did and she was very surprised to see Pain and Panic fighting with a couple of Maleficent's goons. Pain was throwing punches at one guard while Panic was trying to fly away, but another guard was holding onto his tail. It was like watching a group of monkeys bickering over a bunch of bananas.
"Pain? Panic?" Maleficent asked rather loudly.
The quarreling creatures turned their heads to see the Mistress of Evil standing before them with a confused and angry look on her face. The goons backed off and Pain and Panic straightened themselves.
"Ah, Maleficent! Good to see you again!" Panic said. "We're so glad we found you!"
"Yeah, it took us HOURS to get here!" Pain added. "Let me tell you, it takes a lot longer to fly here without a chariot."
"…Is there a purpose to your presence?" Maleficent asked, sounding annoyed.
"Oh, right! Right. We have an invitation for you!" Panic chimed in, taking out the scroll and offering it to her.
"An invitation? For me?" The evil fairy asked in disbelief. "…I never get invited anywhere."
"Well now, you are."
Maleficent hesitantly took the scroll, removed the metal band around it, opened it, and read it aloud as Diablo perched on her shoulder. "You are herewith invited to a grand ball on Mount Olympus to celebrate the birthday of the Lord of the Dead and God of the Underworld, Hades." She turned to the impish minions with a surprised look in her eyes.
"It's in three days." Pain said.
"And you might wanna keep that." Panic said.
Maleficent looked and took a closer look at the band that held the scroll in place; it looked like it was made from pressed wire with intricate detail and made with excellent care. She marveled at the green gem in the center; it looked like the eye of a dragon.
"That bracelet has a Dragon's Eye Opal." Pain explained. "It's a very rare stone and anyone who wears it is granted access to Olympus. So if you want to go to the ball, you'll need to wear that."
"So… will you come? And wish your boyfriend a happy birthday?" Panic asked with a sly tone; Pain giggled under his breath.
"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Maleficent shouted as her face turned red in embarrassment; Pain and Panic quickly froze in fear and stayed quiet. She looked at the invitation, then at the bracelet, then at the imps before her as she calmed down. "But you can tell this to your master… I would be honored to come."
"You would?" They asked in unison.
"Great! Remember, the ball's in three days!" Panic said.
"And it starts promptly at eight! And be sure to wear something nice!" Pain added.
"I will keep that in mind. And tell your master I said thank you." The dark fairy said, nodding her head.
"You got it!" The pair of minions said before they bowed to her and flew away.
When Pain and Panic were out of view, Maleficent looked at the bracelet again and put it on her right wrist. The stone glowed and she smirked as she glanced at the invitation. She even felt a tinge of excitement because for the first time in a long time, she would be going to a party that she was actually invited to.
"So… Hades is giving a ball." She said to herself.
