This story holds a lot of my views on what marriage should be - two people who prepare to be ready for one another and who stick through the bad times because they know they'll become better people. Never a decision to be taken lightly, and never something you should do with 'I'll get a divorce if it doesn't work out'. You can try and fight me on this, but I know I have a strong family life because of the examples set by my parents before me and their parents before them. Marriage is a two-way street to self-betterment. It is here to make us as gods.
"I'm not sure who has more hate; all of the old villains and their children for being locked away in poverty for twenty years, or you because that sweet boy has his arm around our daughter." Maleficent hummed, wrinkling her nose as she twisted the charmed shackles on her wrists.
Hades snarled. "Don't know why you call him sweet. We both know you hate him just as much as I do."
Maleficent nodded in distaste, giving up on trying to wrestle her hands free and slumping back into the couch with her red wine in hand. She'd been allowed to attend the before-wedding party that the palace threw the night before the night before Ben and Mal were married(The actual night before was reserved for gender-specific festivities, she was told), but was still required to wear the charmed shackles that forbid her use of magic. It was like a second engagement party, but only for the bride and groom's friends and family. It was being held at the palace, on an entire floor of the palace. The wedding party was gathered in a small study/lounge area with large velvet couches and thick plush pillows and heavy beanbags slung around the area. Elaborate paintings were hung between gold wall furnishings and dozens of bookcases. The palace had pulled out dozens of different types of drinks for their guests to enjoy as the night passed in celebration.
Ben and Mal were standing behind a couch about ten feet away, laughing as Ben's parents regaled them with tales of Ben's youth and of their first impressions of Mal. Hades's blood boiled. His daughter's in-laws, the Beast and Belle. The very people who'd locked them away for all those years. Their son, the High King, had the nerve to put his arm around his daughter. To call her his Queen. To kiss her and act as if they belonged together. Why, it made him want to-
"Don't light the couch on fire," Maleficent sniffed. "And I hope you're not blaming me for all of this. You know how I raised that girl. I'm sure the rumors got to wherever you were hiding."
Mal glanced over the shoulder of one of her friends – the Jafar kid, if Hades remembered correctly, and smiled a little while raising an eyebrow. Hades forced a smile back, even as King Ben leaned his forehead against Mal's head with a smile. A glass was in her hand – some sort of alcohol. That was another thing Hades didn't like. How was she old enough to be drinking alcohol already? And getting married? And being Queen?
Mal looked away and Hades dropped his smile in favor of a scowl. He seized his own drink – something a palace attendant had brought him – and took a swig. "It's not all about you, Maleficent. And for the record, maybe you should go back to whatever hole you were hiding in."
"And miss this party?" Maleficent asked with a raised eyebrow, examining her nails. She'd been back in human form ever since Mal had brought her back to the Isle of the Lost – after all, evil magic didn't work there. "I don't think I've seen you this worked up since you left her behind."
"I didn't leave her behind," Hades snapped, drawing an end to the conversation going on behind the other couch. Belle, Beast, and the eight other villain kids who were being invited to attend plus the one Auradon girl, a dark-haired girl in a blue dress, all turned to watch Hades hold aloft a finger as he glared at Maleficent. "I left you behind."
"And you left her with me, and therefore you left her behind," Maleficent hummed. "And no matter what you do or say, you have lost out on that time forever. Now she's going to be married, and you've known her for less than she's known that boy." She nods at Ben, whose arm loosens a little around Mal's shoulders as a frown makes her forehead crease. Belle and Beast exchange glances like they don't know what to do and Maleficent takes a sip of her drink before she continues. "I raised her. I'm the reason she's even here. He called for the daughter of Maleficent to be removed from the Isle, not the daughter of Hades. I deserve to be here."
"Do we need to separate you two?" Mal butts in, glowering a little at them both. "You haven't seen each other since before I can remember and once this is over you can go to opposite sides of the Isle and not speak to each other for an equally long time. For now, though, this is about Ben and I. Our happiness; our future; our marriage. Can't you just be civil and come talk to us for two hours before you never have to interact again? You wanted to be here."
"I didn't realize you'd be inviting the deadbeat who beats the dead," Maleficent scoffed, standing up and brushing her robes off a little. "Where's that helmet of invisibility when you need it?"
"Mom," Mal stares. But Hades stands up with balled fists and hisses a little as he starts to speak.
"When you die," He begins, hair catching fire a bit as he glares at his daughter's mom, "I get your soul. And believe me, I have an eternal punishment all laid out for you."
"Could you step out please?" A new authoritative tone overtakes the room. Belle and Beast step away from their son a little as he drops his arm off of Mal's shoulders and loops her arm around his instead. "If you can't put aside bygones, we'd rather you settle them somewhere where we can't hear you."
"You know, I have a question!" Hades snapped, gesturing at the young king. "Why him? You want to get married, fine! You want to be a Queen, I'll take you to Olympus! I'm sure Zeus wouldn't object to making you a god after everything that happened. But why this family and this boy, after everything they did to us?"
"The Isle wasn't Ben's fault!" Mal declared, advancing to put her hand on the back of the couch that was currently separating Hades from her. "And Belle and Adam had no clue what they were doing. And in case you've forgotten, Ben is the king who's undoing everything!"
"Mal," Ben put his hand on Mal's shoulder. "Fighting isn't going to fix anything."
"Oh, do I get a speech, now?" Hades demanded. He crossed his arms and fumed.
Ben and Mal turned and examined each other with a sigh, and then Mal gave a little nod. Ben looked up at Hades and then gestured to the door. "Can you walk with me a moment?"
Jay, one of Mal's friends, choked at about the same moment that Maleficent let out a laugh. "You want to put him-" She stuck a thumb out at Ben, "And him-" She turned a finger to Hades, "In close quarters, alone?"
"Yeah, um…" Cruella's son took a sharp inhale, "Are you sure about this, Ben?"
"Come on, Mom," Mal nodded to the hall as well. "It's you and me."
Ben put a hand to the small of Mal's back as he guided her past him, and then watched as she waited by the door. Maleficent got up after a moment of debate and together, mother and daughter left the room. As soon as she had vanished, Ben straightened up and made a gesture to the same hall. Hades fumed for a few seconds. His daughter wasn't around. He could always send the boy to the underworld early… come up with some sort of freak accident.
"Hades," Ben called. "Come walk with me."
Everyone looked a little wary of sending the king out with the God of the Undead, but no one protested. Hades growled a little, a sound that made the former Beast rumble, and then headed for the door. King Ben held it ajar until he'd passed through, and then shut it firmly behind them with a click.
Hades felt his nostrils flare as he glared at the young boy. "Quite the show," He snarled. "Where are we going now?"
"To the left," Ben nodded down the hall. "Mal would have gone to the right because that's the quickest route to her room. The left leads to the balcony. Come on, let's go look at the stars." He walked past Hades and continued down the hall, and really, now would be a great time to attack; the young king's back was turned. But he swallowed his rage and continued down the hall. They came to a set of double doors, which Ben opened and left ajar before he approached the balcony and leaned out over the railing to see the ground below. Hades stayed in the doorway as Ben glanced all around.
"You could come up and lean against the railing with me if you like," Ben invited. Hades snarled, and the boy glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "Okay," he shrugged. "Want to talk about Mal?"
"Mal?" Hades snapped. "Mal, yes, let's talk about Mal. Let's talk about how you've known her for, what, two years?"
"Eight-hundred-and-twenty-four days," Ben nodded. "And we've been together for Eight-hundred-and-twenty-one. And tomorrow, those numbers will go up. And the day after, I get to start a new number."
"You keep track of these things?" Hades spiked an eyebrow, acting unimpressed even though he was secretly dumbfounded.
"I like numbers," Ben nodded. "Language was never a strong suit of mine. Just ask Mal. She can go on for days about how I like to make up words."
Hades let the fire in his hair dim and slowly took a half-step out. Ben cocked his head to the side, staring up at the stars. "Think Mal managed to calm your ex-wife down?"
"Can anything calm her down?" Hades scoffed. He raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Now, if you have an agenda to bringing me out here, you might as well state your case."
"I don't," Ben shook his head. "Well, I guess I figured you could use a break from Maleficent. I bet that seeing me with your daughter is probably pretty grating too. But hey, what if I was just hoping to talk and get some advice from you?"
"Advice?" Hades repeated, slowly.
Ben nodded. He set his chin on his fist and continued examining the stars. He hadn't glanced at Hades once since coming out here, but the God of the Underworld figured that that wasn't out of fear. The ghost of a smile crossed the lad's face, and then his composure lit up like a spark. "We haven't really discussed my punishment, either. You know, if things go sour and I break her heart."
"You will die a slow death," Hades declared immediately. "And I will see to it that you are put in endless torment."
Ben finally turned to meet his eyes. He shook his head. "That's not enough," He whispered. "I'd do that on any old day just for her entertainment. If I break her heart, you've got to come up with something awful."
Hades's wicked grin fell a bit slack and he examined the boy. "You don't know what you're asking," He warned with narrowed eyes. Ben only turned his head to the side. "How does rolling a stone up a mountain for the rest of eternity sound?"
"Can't be any different from fighting for her every day," Ben replied earnestly.
"I could have vultures feeding on your liver for the rest of eternity," Hades offered, a bit mystified at the way the boy was turning him down. Ben kept his intense, disapproving gaze, however.
"That still doesn't seem like enough," He whispered.
Hades quit offering. He rested his palms on the railing and looked up at the stars. Among the many heavenly lights, he could see Hercules and Pegasus and Bootes, all descendants of his brothers and Mal's cousins. "What advice did you want?" He whispered.
"What fails a marriage?" Ben asked. "You've probably seen many come and go, not to mention your own. I honestly don't see very many bad examples around me. What can I do to keep mine from failing?"
Hades considered the question. Now, rest assured that he hated this boy with every fiber of his being, but he did adore the way Mal looked with him, so he supposed he shouldn't maim or scare the boy too hard. This wasn't to say, though, that he wasn't impressed with the maturity of the question. "Every hour is about commitment." He mumbled. "And marriage is a two-way street. If she goes one way, you either buckle down and stick with her or you stick to your path. Things get rocky when you go in opposite directions. It's like… you know those games where kids tie two legs together and try to walk? You've got to commit to walking with her in order to make it somewhere."
Ben nodded along to all of his words, furrowing his brow to show his deep thinking, and Hades couldn't hold back a little smirk. Ben looked up at him, expression calm, and clasped both of his hands together. "Is there anything you want to know about her?" He whispered. "I could probably tell you a lot."
Hades was, once again, taken aback by the question. He leaned forward into the balcony, and the light in his hair extinguished completely. What did he want to know about Mal? He should know more than this boy, but he didn't, and that was a tough pill to swallow. And now the king was offering him knowledge about his own daughter. Hades clapped his own hands together, mirroring Ben, and let out a heavy sigh. "What can you tell me?" He asked.
"When we sit down to dinner, she switches the silverware around to rebel against the formal setting," Ben began. "And she hates sauces with a passion. Ketchup is her worst enemy. It's only useful for pranks. And in meetings, she's made this game of signs that she and some of her friends in the court play. They all try and flash signs at each other, but if anyone asks what's going on or catches them, the game is over. She likes the two-in-one shampoo and conditioner bottles and turns the light off to shower because it reminds her of the Isle."
Hades frowned a little as Ben turned over his thoughts. All these things he had missed… all these things that this boy knew that he didn't. It kind of stung. He folded his fingers together and rotated his thumbs around each other, and then turned to Ben. "How'd you convince your parents to let you date her?" He asked.
Ben glanced sideways with a little smile tugging at his lips. "I told them they didn't really get a say in it," He answered.
Hades laughed and then looked from the night sky to the ground below. The air, cool and comforting, was making his skin feel soft. He watched the greenery in the darkness down below. It would be so, so easy to shove him over the balcony now. Yet, somehow, it didn't seem as satisfying as it had a few minutes ago.
Maybe the boy wasn't worthy of her, but could he be the most worthy? And if Mal had chosen him… maybe he should bear with him. For her sake. After all, he'd missed eighteen years of her life. If he missed these years where she was settling into her own as queen because she decided she didn't want him around, then…
"Why did you choose her?" He asked, turning to face Ben head-on. He put on a stern, immovable face, but Ben didn't seem fazed as he glanced back over at Hades.
"Who wouldn't?" He asked.
"A hero's son?" Hades suggested, baring his teeth a little.
Ben examined him with the air of an emotion that wasn't indifference, confidence, or amusement, as he had been displaying all night long. Instead, the boy seemed a bit… disappointed. Ben stood up straight and put his hands into his pockets before letting his chin drop onto his chest as he debated what to say. "Mal is not, and never will be, a redemption story. Not to me. People like to favor me and say I was the catalyst that brought her to good. Even Mal likes to simplify it to that. But it wasn't me. It was all her. She was glorious and good and powerful and fair. Even when she was drawing lines between the Isle and Auradon, she was always a fair judge, a rightful ruler. Our story isn't the poster boy drawing the bad girl out of the darkness. It's about her choosing a path she liked and me choosing her despite everyone telling me it was a bad idea. We worked together to get where we are, and I think that's what marriage is really about. When we work together, great things happen. The harder things get, the better they turn out. I'm not marrying her so I can achieve some title of the dragon-conqueror, or so I can have an easy happily-ever-after. I'm marrying her because I want to spend the rest of my life helping her become who she's meant to be, and I hope she'll return the favor."
Hades closed his mouth. There was no arguing there. The boy's words even made him wonder what his life would be if he had stuck for Maleficent for even a little bit longer. Maybe she'd be less of a monster. Maybe he would be.
"You're going to watch after her?" He whispered in the dark.
"No, but I'll help her if she needs it," Ben replied.
"Wake up with her every single day?" Hades asked.
"Not if I'm already up and doing something for her," Ben answered.
"Not going to let her get hurt?"
"She's going to get hurt. I can't prevent that. But I'll be there to help her get better."
"If she falls?"
"I'll stand beside her and see if she needs help getting back up,"
"And when you're both old?"
"Then we'll be old together and we'll handle that like the rest of our problems – together."
"In sickness and in health?"
"Until my very last heartbeat."
The air was still. The stars were winking down at them with the same charismatic attitude that teenage boys winked at teenage girls with. Two men, with millennia, experience, and a purple-haired girl between them, stared up at the skies in silence, watching the galaxy as it unfolded out around them. Everything except the palace behind them and the surrounding city lights was dark. Out across the ocean, electric lights from the Isle of the Lost served as a cheery beacon of change.
Ben reached out and put a hand on Hades' shoulder. "I'd like to ask for your blessing," He murmured. "I would have asked before I gave her my ring if I had known who you were. I would have journeyed all the way to the Isle to try and do things the proper way. Will you grant me this, now?"
Hades stared into the king's eyes. He tried to find any reason he shouldn't, but none came to mind. The boy had worked to be Mal's companion since before he'd ever known her. That certainly counted for something. Surely, no one else could give her what he could.
"You break her heart and I'm coming for your soul," He warned.
"I'll hand it over myself," Ben whispered.
Hades snorted and brushed Ben's hand off his shoulder. "Alright," He decided. "I give you my blessing."
Ben's smile created a new light in the arena as he chuckled, looking happier than he had all night. His eyes shifted to the hall, and then he laughed. "Mal and Maleficent should be back by now," He announced. "Do you want to go in?"
Hades waved him on. "Go ahead," He snorted. "I need some time to myself before I'm trapped in close quarters with my ex-wife again."
Ben laughed again, mirth evident in his tone, and turned towards the doors. Hades turned back to the railing and lifted his head up to continue examining the stars. There was Cygnus and Andromeda and Draco…
"Thanks for the advice, dad," Ben called from the doorway. Hades remained still for a few seconds as he formulated a response, and then glanced over his shoulder a little to raise an eyebrow at the lad.
"I think you taught me more than I taught you, son," He replied.
Ben laughs again, his smile even brighter, and yeah, Hades does understand why his daughter would like this boy because, let's face it, he is a good-looking king. Then the suit-clad man turns and disappears. Hades returns to the stars. He's never actually put a constellation up before. The 'eternal glory' thing was always more attributed to Poseidon and Zeus. But, he reasons, maybe tonight's a good night to change that.
He puts his daughter into the sky, right next to the man she's chosen to love, and now he'll see her happiness every time he looks up.
Inside, the party rages on, full-force. Maleficent is silent, with rubbed raw eyes and shaking hands as she nurses a glass of white wine. Mal and her friends are laughing, celebrating, telling stories of their youths as Belle and Beast struggle to stay awake, watching from afar as the kids have fun. Ben keep his hands on Mal's shoulders and leans down to kiss her cheek every so often. Hades rejoins after he's memorized every star in the new pattern, and then comes inside to see them all talking, bonding, and shouting in excitement.
Maybe he'll show her the constellation after the wedding. It can be his immortalized tribute to her choice.
Mal turns with a smile so bright it outshines Ben's and shoves her glass into her best friend's hands before she runs to him, arms outstretched, and buries her face in his chest. Hades holds her tightly and takes a deep breath of her scent. He doesn't know this girl as well as he should. He wasn't there when he should have. But he knows her well enough to know she is strong, and her choice is good. Because she is good.
The party continues, this time with him.