Chapter 15: Bonus Chapter

The next morning, Belle was getting ready to have breakfast with Hades. Rhea, Pain, and Panic all had excuses for why they couldn't have breakfast with the two of them. Rhea had insisted that there was too much cleaning to do, even though she had taken care of most of it the week before. Pain and Panic had said Hades had given them lots of important work to do, which didn't make any sense because Belle knew that Hades would never assign work that major to the two of them. There was nothing wrong with Pain and Panic; they just weren't very smart and had often failed whenever Hades had asked them to do something. This time, Belle didn't doubt what Hercules had said about them. It was one of the few things he had said that actually made sense.

Belle knew Hercules meant well and only wanted to protect her, but she wished that he could understand Hades better, like she did. Hades was bad most of the time, but there were also lots of moments that they had when he was kind and gentle and sweet, something Hercules and his father didn't seem to believe that he was capable of. It seemed that everyone was against him.

Noticing that she had let her mind wander, Belle quickly ran a brush through her hair and tied it with a bow. She couldn't be late. This was going to be one of the few times where it would be just the two of them. But she was nervous as well. Rhea, at least, had always been nearby. Mostly because she still didn't trust Hades, no matter how much like a gentleman he acted. She was worried the villain in him still had a small chance of taking over, even for a moment. Today, though, she must have believed that everything was alright, since she said she would be at the far end of the castle and Pain and Panic were probably close to being lost somewhere.

Hades was slightly nervous as well. His first meal alone with Belle. What would he say? It was almost as if this was a date. Probably, that was why everyone had said they were busy and couldn't be there. Maybe this was supposed to be when he was supposed to tell Belle that he was falling in love with her. And I thought that trying to defeat Hercules was the most difficult thing I had ever done. Before Hades had time to think about what he would say to Belle, the door opened. And his heart beat so rapidly he thought it would fall out of his chest.

Now that Belle was actually here with him, it seemed that it would be impossible not to be nervous. He tried to think about what someone else would do in his position. As much as he didn't want to think of Hercules, he knew that he was at least one good example. Hercules was always chivalrous and well-behaved, a perfect gentleman (except for all his clumsiness).

Most likely, in this situation, Hercules would have pulled out Belle's chair for her. That seemed like a good first step. As Belle approached the table, Hades pulled out her chair for her. After she sat down, he tried to push the chair back in, but his sharp nails got caught and one of them accidentally scraped Belle' hand.

"Belle, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's fine, Hades. It's just a scrape. You don't have to be worried."

Of course I do. I'm having breakfast with the most beautiful woman in the world and I can't even pretend to be a gentleman. If only Belle knew, then she would understand that this was anything but easy. But Hades didn't know that she was nervous too.

At first, no one said anything. Both Belle and Hades stared at the different breakfast dishes. Belle served herself an omelet, while Hades served himself a few pieces of bread which hadn't been toasted yet. Forgetting Belle was there at all, Hades did what he normally did to make toast by putting two pieces of bread on his flaming hair. Just a normal habit for him. It was better than having to use a frying pan every time. He didn't notice anything, until he heard Belle's laughter. Unlike Meg's laugh though, it was a sweet and slightly confused laugh.

"Hades, how long have you been able to do that?" Belle asked. At least now, they had something to talk about that would break the awkward silence.

"Do what?" Hades asked.

"That." Belle motioned slightly to her own head and Hades remembered what he was doing.

"Oh, this. It's nothing. I've been able to do this for years. One of the few benefits of having flames for hair, I guess. I hope you don't think it's too weird." Hades said.

"No, not weird at all. I think it's really interesting, actually. I'm sure it's much faster than using a frying pan." Belle smiled, glad that she was more comfortable talking to Hades alone now since they had found something to laugh about.

The rest of breakfast progressed in much the same way. Hades and Belle talked and laughed, and soon the two of them forgot why they had been nervous in the first place. After breakfast, Hades invited Belle for a walk outside to the garden. He knew it wasn't much, but he was eager to show her anyway. Maybe she could help him fix it. When they arrived at the garden, Hades noticed how neglected it really was. How long had it been since anyone had taken care of it?

"Wow, Hades. This definitely is not what I expected when you mentioned a garden."

"I know. I'm sorry, Belle. Obviously, it needs a lot of fixing up. I wish it looked better."

"Well, it's not like a traditional garden, but I'm sure it has its own beauty. It might help if there were a few animals, but live ones probably don't exist here."

"Well, that's not entirely true. There is another creature here that is just as alive as me. The shadow bird."

"Shadow bird?" Belle asked.

"They very closely resemble the birds on Earth, but they're not easy to find or interact with. They don't approach just anyone."

"Would they approach you?" Belle asked, curious to see the birds.

"They might, if they feel that they can trust me. I guess this means that you want to go look for them."

"I would really appreciate that, Hades." Belle said, overjoyed that she would be able to see real birds again.

Hades and Belle went back to the library to find a map to where the shadow birds might be. Hades had hidden the map since he hadn't wanted Pain and Panic to find and frighten the birds. The only thing Hades remembered about the map was that he had hidden it in a book about magic. That narrowed it down to about 30 books. However, one book in particular caught Belle's eye. The book was thick and had a beautifully illustrated cover. She looked at the title. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. She had definitely never read that book before. She would have remembered.

"Hades, what's this book? I've never seen anything like it before."

Hades glanced over at the book. Then his eyes lit up. "That's one of my books that I brought back from the future. And coincidentally, the exact book we're looking for."

"It is? Why would you keep a map in this book?"

"Well, since it's a book about a secret room and I wanted to keep the map of the birds a secret, it made sense to keep the map in a book that no one would think to look in. At least, no one until you." He smiled and opened the middle of the book to retrieve the map. The map showed that the nests of the shadow birds were actually hidden in the garden.

Belle and Hades went back to the garden to look for the nests. Belle suggested that they search by what was supposed to be rosebushes. Once again, she had been right. Medium sized nests were located behind the bush and there were lots of shadow birds in them. The shadow birds had dark black and grey feathers, blue eyes, and sharp claws. They looked fierce and Belle was afraid to go near them, but Hades showed no fear when he bent down and gently picked up a bird. Instead of becoming frightened or trying to fly away, it just stayed in his hand.

"Go on. It's alright, Belle. The bird won't mind." Hades said gently.

Belle tentatively reached out her hand and softly stroked the bird. The feathers were unlike that of any other bird she'd ever encountered. Its feathers were soft and silky, like an angel's wings.

"What should we call her, Belle?" Hades asked.

"Angelique. Her name will be Angelique."

"That's perfect." Hades agreed. An ironic name since they were in the Underworld and there were no angels here (none except Belle), but the name brought hope. Hope that love and light could still exist in a place of fear and darkness.

The End