Hades was unexpectedly greeted by a bright light that nearly blinded him as he begrudgingly woke up; he groaned and put a hand to his head as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. His vision was still rather blurry, but he thought he could make out various colorful figures surrounding him and a pink glow of some kind radiating from an unknown source to his left.

"Ugh, what happened?" Hades asked no one in particular; he yawned as his field of vision started to clear up.

"My King. My King? Wake up, husband." A sickly sweet voice said.

Hades shot up as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in shock; he knew this voice. Dreading to see what he knew would be beside him, he reluctantly turned his head left to see Persephone sitting in a cloud throne next to him. She wore a black dress and a matching diamond-studded crown on her head; she was giving him a seductive smile and batted her eyes at him. He flinched away from her on instinct. Then he finally got a good look at his surroundings; Hades was on Mount Olympus… and it was completely dark and lit only by torches, very much like the Underworld. He then noticed he was encircled by a collection of deities he couldn't recognize. There were about ten to twenty Gods and Goddesses in varying ages and he didn't know any of them.

"What the…?" He asked.

"Good morning, father." They all said in unison.

"Long Live the King! Long Live King Hades!" A cluster of unknown voices chanted.

"KING?! FATHER?! What the heck is going on here?!" Hades shouted, slamming his fist on the throne's armrest.

"Not much." Persephone replied dismissively.

"Not much? Are you kidding?! No! No, no, no! You are NOT my wife! I demand an explanation!" He screamed as he stood up from the throne. "Where is Maleficent?! What have you done with her?!" He grabbed the blonde Goddess by her arms, lifted her off of her own throne, and shook her a bit, but she remained perfectly calm.

"Mommy, what's wrong with Daddy?" One of the younger Gods asked.

"Is he having another mental breakdown?" A teenage Goddess asked.

"I'm afraid so, kids. But don't worry, he'll be over it." Persephone replied as she coolly pried herself from his grasp. She sat back down, brought the young boy closer to her, and whispered, "He doesn't know he's dreaming."

'Dreaming?' Hades thought before he noticed the area begin to transform all around him.

The gray clouds and torches vanished, Persephone and her supposed children started to fade into oblivion, and the sky became very murky and dark. And before he knew it, Hades was engulfed in darkness. The air was thick with a smog darker than the color black that concealed a sky that was somehow darker than thought possible. The only source of light Hades had was his own fiery blue hair, but even that wasn't enough to illuminate the somber atmosphere. There was a ground, it was uneven and rough like gravel or a dirt road and yet his feet still echoed with each step he took.

"Hello?"

Hades called into nothing and received nothing in return. He could hear his own heartbeat like an echo in a pitch-black cavern, but with no visible walls to carry the sound. He breathed heavily.

"Where am I?" He said before he heard what sounded like a roar from far away.

He ran towards the sound, hoping to find someone who could tell him what was happening; he hoped to find Maleficent and see if she was alright. But the scene abruptly changed once again; he was now in the middle of a burning forest and the flames were growing bigger and bigger by the second. Not knowing what else to do, Hades ran and tried to control the inferno himself, but it was no use. These flames were completely out of his control.

"HADES!" A deep, angry voice bellowed followed by an ear-piercing shriek.

He didn't know where the voice came from, but Hades didn't want to stick around to find out. So he kept running, but then he suddenly found himself at the edge of a massive cliff. He skidded to a stop before he could fall. He looked over the edge and gulped; it was a very long drop and there was even more fire waiting for him at the bottom. Even though he was immortal and he could very well survive the fall, this precarious situation still sent shivers up and down his spine. And now with some unknown creature chasing after him like the Nightterror had when he was a child, he couldn't help it. He put his hands to his head as he started to hyperventilate; he fell to his knees with his back facing the cliff's edge.

"Oh geez. Gotta be dreaming." He said before he noticed two enormous shadows looming over him from behind.

He turned to see two figures standing before him… and he quickly knew who they were. It was his late mother-in-law, Quintessa, and his father, Cronus. But what were they doing here? Cronus should be locked up in Tartarus and Quintessa is supposed to be dead. Hades shakily got to his feet as he noticed the sinister smiles his pursuers were giving him.

"Going somewhere?" She asked; her voice had an unnatural echo, as if she was shouting through an empty castle hallway. She reached out her hand in Hades' direction; it shot out and grabbed him with great force. He was lifted off the ground and brought closer to the pair, their faces only a few inches apart.

"You're going to be a father, Hades. But your child will be ours, and everything you worked for will be gone… son." Cronus said with that same echo in his voice.

"And there's nothing you can do." Quintessa added.

Hades froze. They wanted his child? But why? He wanted to fight them both, but the massive hand of his mother-in-law was gripping him too tight and he couldn't break free. And before he knew it, he was violently thrown over the edge of the cliff and he fell into what felt like water. It was the River of Souls again and the various souls in the water were grabbing Hades as he tried to get free, just like when Hercules first defeated him all those centuries ago. As he struggled to keep his head above the water, he could hear Quintessa and Cronus laughing at him from above.

"No, no! Get away from me! Don't touch me! Get your slimy souls off me! I can't do this, not again!" He shouted as the menacing laughter continued. Over the noise, Hades thought he could hear Maleficent screaming and crying out. "Maleficent! Where are you?!" More souls began to drag him down. "No, back off! Stay away from me! Where's my wife?! No, no! STOP!"

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Hades? Hades, what's the matter?" Maleficent asked, shaking her beloved as he writhed in agony from some unknown nightmare.

"Get away! No, stop! I don't wanna go back!" Hades muttered. His voice laced with pure terror was enough for Maleficent to shake him harder in order to break the dream.

"Hades!"

The Lord of the Dead yelped and gasped, bolting up from his sleep while beads of sweat trickled down his sharp, gray cheeks. He panted, letting his eyes and mind adjust to his surroundings; he was in bed… in Maleficent's castle. It didn't take long to realize he was safe and with a very concerned wife at his side. He turned his head to face her and she had a worried expression on her beautiful face. And before she could say anything, Hades lunged towards Maleficent and tackled her in the biggest hug he could muster, which caught her off guard to say the least.

"Hades, are you alright?" She asked, hugging him back.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" He stammered as he started to cry.

"Shh, shh… it's alright, love. It's alright." She gently shushed him while stroking his head with her hand. She brought his head closer to her chest with his chin resting on her impregnated belly; she kissed his forehead for added comfort. His whole body was still shaking and she took immediate notice. "What happened?"

"Nightmare. Really bad nightmare." He whimpered.

"It's alright, dear. It was only a dream. But I'm here. And I am not going anywhere." She said before Hades sat up straight. She had never seen her husband so shaken up before. "What was your dream?"

"Well… how do I start?" He started to recount his vivid nightmare as best he could. "I found myself on Olympus as King. But… you weren't there and Persephone was my Queen. And there were a bunch of younger Gods and Goddesses there, about twenty of them… and she claimed they all were our children." He shivered at the thought before he continued. "Then I found myself in some kind of forest, but it was on fire. I didn't know what to do, so I ran. And then I saw… I saw…" He hesitated.

"What? What did you see?" Maleficent asked, taking hold of his hand.

"…I saw my dad and your mother. They said something about destroying everything I worked for and taking our child away. Before I could protest, they threw me off of a cliff and I fell into the River of Souls again." He groaned in embarrassment. "Ugh. I don't mean to sound like a coward, but… I was just so scared." Hades looked away from his wife, fearful of her reaction. "I don't know what to do. What if that dream meant something? What if something really happens? What if…?"

Maleficent giving her husband's hand a gentle squeeze was enough to make him stop. He paused and turned back to her.

"Hades, you needn't worry. Dreams are often symbolic, not literal. You know this as well as I do." She said. "And I understand your concern. But unless you have the ability to see into the future, you can't possibly know if that dream truly means anything."

A few tears started to fall from his eyes. "…I'm just afraid something will happen to our kid, you know? I don't wanna lose this baby."

"We won't." She wiped a tear away. "But if it will put your mind at ease, perhaps this is something to discuss with the Fates. This does seem like a rather serious issue to look into."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Hades was about to climb out of bed to do so at that moment, but Maleficent quickly stopped him.

"In the morning. I will not have you lose any sleep tonight." She said.

After a moment, he relented. "Fine… But I don't think I'm ready to go back to sleep right now. Still pretty on edge."

Maleficent thought for a moment before she had an idea. "…Would being closer to the baby help soothe your nerves?"

Hades gave her a confused look; she gestured to her belly. He pondered for a moment, and even though he was reluctant, he shrugged and said, "Eh, what've I got to lose?"

As Maleficent sat up in bed, Hades scooted down a little and positioned his head closer to his wife's stomach which he was using, gently, as a pillow. He felt a bit embarrassed at first, but then he thought he heard something. He moved his ear closer and he heard it again; this sounded like… a heartbeat. The baby's heartbeat. He smiled and rubbed her stomach with one hand as he continued to listen.

"See? We are safe." She whispered as she stroked the back of his head. "You have nothing to fear. And in a short number of months, we will be a family."

"Yeah, a family." Hades said as he made his way back to his spot. He wormed his way back under the covers next to his Queen and gave her a kiss. "Thanks."

"Of course." She stroked his cheek before settling back into bed. "Now hush, get some sleep."

"I'll try." He joked as he snuggled up next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders… just in case.