Third Person
Harry impatiently tapped his foot as he waited down by the entrance with the guards. He had been constantly checking his phone to make sure Brielle hadn't texted him during the waiting process. Meanwhile, Brielle and Ben had eventually gotten to work and had finalized a plan and signed some official documents, Brielle was more than happy that Ben and she signed them together because they truly agreed on these terms. It was the beginning of a long healing process for the twins, it would be hard but so far they were on the right track to being as close as they were when they were younger.
Mal had successfully convinced her father to come to Auradon peacefully to help Audrey, pulling the "I'm your daughter and you were never in my life" card on him to get him to do so. Now they loaded the newly chained up Hades into the armored van, Mal sitting right across from them as they began their journey back to Auradon Prep, Hades tried to make small talk with his daughter, but she only gave him short answers as the grudge was still there for her.
Mal fulfilled her task and texted Harry as soon as they were through the barrier, telling them that Hades was in tow and they were on their way. Harry got the text and within seconds was yelling at the guards to get ready before running the entire length of Hades's path and telling the guards along that path to get ready as well.
Brielle and Ben were finished with their meeting quite quickly after their emotional forgiveness session. So with that, they walked together, next to each other back to Audrey's room. That was the first time in months the twins had done as much as walked together, normally Brielle would speed off but no. She had forgiven her brother, so they walked with their heads held high yet humbled at the same time, each step they took was in perfect unison.
Brielle and Ben were the first to make it to Audrey's room, shortly after Fairy Godmother and Ben and Brielle's parents made it too, Queen Leah came in a little after them. A few minutes passed of tense silence, Brielle tapping her foot and Ben nervously pacing the whole time. At one moment Brielle had to close her eyes to remember to keep her breathing steady, she knew she would feel a lot better about this once Harry was back. Within seconds of her thinking that thought she heard the voice she loves so much,
"Alright, Hades is on his way and I want all of ya paying the most attention ya possibly can the entire time he's here. If I see as much as one of ye blinking for too long ye'll need ta find another job yeh?"
Brielle perked up and looked towards the door with an immediate smile and giggle as soon as she heard her fiancé's voice. She trotted over to the door and opened it right as Harry had his hand on the doorknob, causing him to be a little confused when the door opened before he actually turned the knob, but very quickly a goofy smile spread on his face when he saw his beloved standing on the other side. The two simply giggled with lovestruck as Brielle let Harry in and shut the door after him, Harry very quickly latched an arm around Brielle's waist as the two walked to the middle of the room,
"Hades is on his way, Mal said he willingly agreed ta be peaceful so hopefully this will run perfectly smoothly and we don't end up having another situation on our hands"
Harry announced to the group. Brielle smiled at him and nodded while Ben, Adam, Belle, and Fairy Godmother simply acknowledged as their nerves were still with them, but now Brielle was nice and calm,
"You did a wonderful job with the guards love, I couldn't have done it better myself. Your entire system is very well thought out, good job!"
Brielle happily praised, Harry proudly smiled and was very happy with Brielle's praise,
"Why thank ya love, I'm happy that I've made ya proud~"
He sang, but Brielle only giggled and leaned her head over to lay it on him as they played the waiting game,
"You make me proud every day~"
Brielle quietly sang right back. Harry could not stop thinking about how lovestruck he truly was, especially after yesterday everything had been amplified for him. He was just glad that Brielle was equally as lovestruck for him, it only made the feeling so much sweeter.
A distant sound of guards going completely silent and a set of very heavy footsteps seemed to put a chill in everyone. It was like death itself had entered the halls of Auradon Prep, no one moved or blinked as the cold aura drew closer. Brielle stood straight up again and glued her eyes on the door, Harry's snug grip from his arm around Brielle's waist only tightened as the footsteps along with the sounds of guards marching beside them drew closer. No words had to be said, everyone knew who it was.
Hades.
Brielle POV
The spine chilling sensation that drove straight up my back was one unlike any other that I've ever felt. There was no question that the heavy footsteps and sound of chains jangling were Hades, I already knew that if I got a substantial shiver down my spine now without him even being in the room that I was going to have to put on quite the brave face. To this day, this will be the closest I have ever gotten to so much evil in my life. That is not something to take lightly, so I didn't,
"Don't show a single sign of weakness yeh? Hades can sense fear from a mile away"
Harry whispered to me, that is a great bit to know. Miles away, that is impressively scary. I nodded and loosened up my shoulders some just as the sound of chains came right outside the door. Everyone turned their head to the door as it opened, Mal stood in the doorway for a moment to see if we were ready before walking in and holding the door open, a line of guards walked in but I had seen the tall spike of blue hair long before that. There he is, the God of the Underworld standing right there in beat up leather clothing and overly gigantic boots... well this is a little surreal. Do I ask him for an autograph? Maybe that'll flatter him, then again I kinda don't wanna even say the first word here for once. As soon as he was stationary, Hades took a long scan of the individuals in the room as Mal joined Ben's side for support as he was a little shaky which I appreciated. Before Hades finished scanning, he cracked an obnoxious smile and cracked a joke,
"Why all the long faces? It's like you guys aren't excited to see me or something"
I nearly chuckled, I had to catch myself but that was kinda funny. Not terribly, but a little. He laughed at his own joke and continued his scan, his eyes landing on me for a moment and continuing before he paused and slowly turned back to me like some ominous moment in a horror movie. Hades took a double-take as he looked at me, I could practically feel everyone get more nervous as he began staring me down with narrowed eyes. Not to mention I could feel the pressure of being glared at by the God of the Underworld,
"Hey, you're the girl who threw her damn shoe at me and hit me square in the face!"
He growled, my dad about took him down as he said that in a very threatening tone, but I motioned for him to stay back without moving my eyes from Hades. I didn't even blink, if he wants to be like this then I will assert my dominance, I don't have a problem with that. I smirked a little and nodded once,
"I sure did, your face right after was hilarious"
I spoke in a monotone voice. Harry's grip around me tensed as if he was trying to tell me to lay off, but he knows me at the same time. I. Am. Not. Afraid. Of. Any. Villain. So I continued to stare Hades down as he looked a little taken aback by my choice of words,
"Excuse me? You sure you don't wanna rephrase that?"
He said in a scarily calm tone, but I didn't let it faze me. I stood my ground and kept my stern look,
"Nope, everything I've ever said I mean. I think your face of utter confusion mixed with anger was hilarious after I nailed your forehead with the heel of my stiletto"
I could hear everyone's breathing hitch in unison as I felt Harry's grip tighten even more, his hand was borderline digging into my side but only because he was scared, but I'm not. Hades took a step towards me which the guards immediately tried to make him back up again but he didn't budge, so I took a step forward too. Suddenly we were in a stare-off, eyes locked in an intense game of who could keep their cool and outwit or scare the other. I'm competitive, so I won't be losing this match. Hades narrowed his eyes at me and gritted his teeth some,
"You are gutsy that's for sure, the bravery is commendable but you might want to take it back a few notches, I'm a god-"
"And I'm the Queen and you're in my kingdom, my house my rules. So if I were you I would stop trying to challenge me and turn around to do the job we so graciously brought you here to do and do it all quietly, do I make myself clear?"
I said with a bit of a growl and a more intimidating look after I cut him off, I really just cut Hades, God of the Underworld off in a sentence... well this could go badly. I'll ignore that for now. I followed that up with a very slight growl and when he wasn't paying attention as much I took a quick small lunge at him. He flinched back the slightest bit and blinked, ending our staring contest just like that while I was in shock that that worked. He looked at me in shock and cursed under his breath and looked over at Mal who looked like she was about to combust,
"Who the hell is she?"
Hades asked her, but I quickly snapped in front of his face to make him turn to me again,
"You can ask me questions regarding me, and to answer that question I'm Queen Brielle Florian, how do you do?"
I answered in a monotone voice with a very slight head nod. Hades narrowed his eyes at me for a moment while Harry was desperate to move me behind him I can tell, not just yet Har,
"I... don't sense a single drop of fear in you, what the hell?"
He said in a very confused tone. I smirked again and crossed my arms,
"I'm not afraid of villains, they simply don't faze me"
I answered with a bit of a louder tone so everyone could hear me for sure. Hades hummed for a moment before completely dropping the intimidating look and slumping his shoulders some,
"Mortals are so fucking weird sometimes"
He muttered which just made me laugh some, however, I only kept it up for a few moments before quickly cutting off my laughter,
"As for what this mortal ordered you to do, would you like to go ahead and do the job you came here to do, or are you going to continue trying to act all big and bad?"
Hades stared at me with a furrowed brow and slowly turned around and walked over to the end of Audrey's bed before turning around to look at me,
"I kinda need my hands and my ember"
I rolled my eyes a little and motioned to Mal to give him the ember while I motioned to the guards to unlock the chains around his hands which all happened like clockwork. Mal gave him a stern look before she handed him the ember, but when she did I think nearly everyone jumped out of their skin. As soon as the ember touched Hades's palm his hair and eyes practically lit on fire. His hair turned into a blue flame and his eyes seemed to glow. Hades slowly turned to look at everyone again,
"You know I think this is kinda funny, here all of you are relying on a villain for something... but since when have heroes cared about villains?"
I completely understand that perspective, and to be honest, I still feel bad that those on the Isle still think that no one over here cares about them when that is changing so rapidly, but Hades wasn't done,
"And don't think I haven't noticed this, when one of your people tries to take over the world it's what? A lack of judgment? But hey if it's one of us it's lock 'em up, throw away the key, never speak of them again... isn't that right Beast?"
Woah... he did not just use my argument from back in the day to justify what he just said! That's crazy! We're literally on the same brainwave! I'm honestly a little in shock, I remember when I called my dad out for all the bad things he did when he was being hypocritical. Shit... Hades and I are on the same damn page now if that is not the coolest thing you've witnessed today I don't know what is.
Hades flicked his wrists around some as he moved his cold gaze over to my father. His hair ablaze and his glare cold, he walked right on up to my father and stood eye to eye with him in a standoff of testosterone perhaps? Who knows, men confuse me very often. Not Harry, Harry isn't that complicated to me because his testosterone levels aren't through the fucking roof unlike these two grown men in front of us. Suddenly they began... snarling? They are snarling at each other... why I never. What is this? I furrowed my brow in disgust and snapped my fingers a few times,
"Oi! Stop acting feral both of you, since when have we decided snarling at each other like a couple of undomesticated dogs is an acceptable way to communicate? Come on now show some respect for each other we're all adults here, be better"
I quickly scolded, I swear I am FORCED to be the mom of the group sometimes. The two men promptly stopped, my dad looked over to me and nodded while Hades just stared at me in confusion,
"Sorry Brielle"
My dad said with guilt, I saw my mom shoot me a thumbs up from the side which nearly made me smile but Hades was still looking at me so not quite yet. He looked away from me for a moment to process before muttering,
"Sorry Brielle...?"
I nearly began laughing again but I kept it under control. I really just got the God of the Underworld to apologize to me, today is a pretty good day so far. I sighed and motioned to Audrey,
"Enough fooling around, let's get down to business, shall we? Hades, do your thing"
I promptly spoke. He nodded to me, looking a little confused as to why he was listening to me still but I didn't let it faze me. Once Hades turned around to look at Audrey, I almost immediately felt something pull me back into a solid wall, a Scottish solid wall at that. As soon as my back was against Harry's chest his arms wrapped around me from behind and held me a bit tighter than normal as I felt he was shivering a little. I put my hands on his arms and gently rubbed up and down to console him some as I noticed everyone had been looking at me during the exchange between Hades and I. But I knew out of everyone, Harry seemed to be the most frightened as his breathing was uneven too. I don't think Hades picked it up, mainly because I know it wasn't fear for himself, it was fear for me.
My attention was taken from Harry when Hades began his ritual. My father promptly walked over to my mother as she was a little frightened so he could hold her. Mal went to Ben to console him too, all while I took long deep breaths so silently lull Harry a little and got him to stop shaking. Hades cracked his neck before slowly crouching down some, suddenly with one wave of his arm the room was filled with vibrant blue light. Even I was a little startled, so I quickly put my hand onto Harry's chest and jumped into him a little, his grip around me gladly tightened to accommodate for my surprise. He held me close to him as our eyes darted about, with every wave of Hades's arm the room grew darker and darker it seemed.
A high pitch ringing came from the ember as it did its job, the light in the room began shifting around more and more. It was like waves of blue light circled the room at Hades's command. Suddenly Hades's directed both arms towards Audrey before quickly jumping back up to standing, and like a rag doll Audrey's body was picked up for a moment into the sitting up position before she... jumped awake.
Thank the gods, literally. She did a terrible thing and will have to face punishment yes, but I didn't want her to die. The blue light in the room seemed to disappear within moments. Queen Leah jumped up in shock as did FG, all while a very satisfied Hades tossed the ember in his hand and his hair went back to normal. We all stood back for a moment or two as Audrey had to get her bearings again,
"W-Was it all just a dream?"
She whispered as her gaze unlocked from being stuck in one place. Ben sighed and shook his head as he came behind Mal for support,
"I wish we could say it was. But... it's all over now"
Audrey looked around for a moment before her gaze locked on me with confusion before turning into more of a very light glare,
"Y-You're awake so soon? That's n-no fair... you ruined my plan..."
Audrey's shoulders slumped as she looked at me, tears beginning to fall onto her cheeks as she spoke,
"... I-I w-was supposed to g-get my happy ending... b-but you ruined it"
I furrowed my brow as everyone looked at me in confusion, even Hades. Looks like he's gotten sucked into the Auradon drama too,
"What do you mean?"
I asked in a simple monotone voice. She gritted her teeth before angrily slamming her hands onto the mattress,
"Y-You broke m-my scepter! Y-You and y-your s-stupid b-boyfriend and your s-stupid act of true l-love! I h-had a plan a-and everything! I-I could've d-done it, I w-would've, but y-you broke m-my s-scepter!"
She shouted like a toddler, but I only grew more confused. I looked up at Harry in deep confusion. What does she mean I broke the scepter? I'm so wildly confused at the moment,
"Harry? Do you know what she's talking about?"
Harry looked off and pondered for a moment or two before his eyes lit up some, it's like he had to go back in his memory and replay the moment to understand what she meant. But when he got it, he looked absolutely gobsmacked. He slowly looked over to me with tears in his eyes now, worrying me slightly,
"A-Act of true love... y-ye sacrificed yerself for me love, Brielle... I think w-what she means is t-that when ya threw yerself in the way of the s-sleeping spell for me, ye just might've enacted an act of t-true love so strong it caused the scepter ta break..."
He looked over to Audrey as my jaw dropped to the floor,
"... Is that right?"
Audrey angrily nodded and huffed with her arms crossed like a toddler, but I paid that no mind. Did I really... break the scepter with an act of true love? I mean shucks, I didn't mean to that's for sure. I looked back up to Harry as he looked down at me,
"I-I... I b-broke the scepter?"
I muttered in disbelief. FG suddenly gasped which led us to look over to her,
"That does make sense! I was examining the scepter before returning it to the museum and I was highly perplexed on how it had a substantial crack in it, now it makes sense! An act of true love that powerful would do it that's for sure!"
I... I'm in shock. I laughed in disbelief some before looking back up at Harry, within moments he brought his other arm around me and engulfed me in a warm hug. I continued to laugh in disbelief as he did too as everyone else began to react as well. This is all while Audrey broke down because she didn't get her way, meanwhile, I have to process that my love for Harry seriously broke one of the most powerful magical relics in the entire existence of the world,
"That is pretty impressive, I will give you that. Breaking something like the Dragons Eye with love isn't exactly... heard of"
Hades spoke. I unburied myself from Harry's arms that kept me nice and safe and couldn't help but keep smiling. I shrugged and looked over to Audrey for a moment to watch her breaking down, Queen Leah actually trying to console her it seemed. I hummed in approval as Audrey let out her tears and looked back over to Hades, this time I smiled just a bit and nodded to him,
"Lovely job, but I don't have to tell you that you already know. Thank you for your services, we here in Auradon won't forget it"
Hades narrowed his eyes at me and stalked over to me a little, the guards and Harry scrambling to keep Hades away from me but I didn't budge, and neither did he. He crouched down to my level some and tilted his head some at me,
"I'm sure you won't, just like how Auradon totally hasn't forgotten about the Isle at all"
He said with heavy doses of sarcasm, but I speak very fluent sarcasm so we've finally found a language in common which is wonderful,
"Oh yeah, and I totally didn't just pass an act yesterday that would free the Isle from the barrier and allow those who choose the good road to have the chance at a better life. Not to mention in regards to your earlier statements I as Queen care about every person on the Isle and will make sure the appropriate decisions are made for everyone's benefit. No need to be so bitter, all will be handled as it should"
I shot right back. He very quickly furrowed his brow at me as I kept my calm and cool exterior, all while being tangled in Harry's arms but that only makes me more friendly if anything. Hades simply stared at me in a bit of shock as my father motioned for him to be taken away, he quickly rolled his eyes and hummed as the chains were put back on him,
"Hold on"
I quickly spoke, the guards freezing in place almost immediately as my father looked at me with a raised brow as did Hades,
"That's not really fair now, is it? Hades has done us a gracious service, to simply ship him back to the Isle like a mere disposable piece of garbage would be highly disrespectful. I believe we owe the man a gift of our gratitude, and though the Isle and Auradon will be one very soon, I believe a great way to show that gratitude would be to let the man have a nice supper yes? Possibly with the company of his daughter and future son in law?"
I spoke, getting a little louder as I mentioned Mal and Ben which made them turn to us. Hades almost looked like he was about to smile for a moment, but remembered he's Hades and he can't just smile like that. Mal looked at me in concern, but I only motioned to her father to get her to walk over to him, Ben following her as she did,
"Now, Mal, Ben, Hades, this is family time. Family time means peaceful bonding all around, if I hear of any even minor quarrels I myself will give you a very stern talking to and a time-out. Guards accompany them down to the gazebo on the East end of the building, will you? But don't be pesky this is a moment of bonding, all of you behave yourselves yes? This a treat for all of you! Now off you pop!"
I quickly ordered before sending them all away to everyone's confusion. I think it's necessary though, Hades was quite civil and he did do us a huge favor. It would truly be unfair if we didn't repay him somehow. Mal needs to realize he isn't a terrible guy and Ben needs to be given the ground rules that a father often gives his daughter's boyfriend if there are any. The guards shuffled out the door after the trio as they headed down for dinner. As soon as Hades had left, Harry pulled me into another big hug,
"The courage ye have in ya is severely astonishing... my gods ye scared me a few times there but now that that's over I am intensely impressed... when am I not by ye ta be honest, yer just extraordinary"
Harry whispered to me which made me laugh a little. My parents themselves looked a little confused with the whole thing, but let it slide as they had to go console Audrey now too as she threw a hissy fit. After Hades, Mal, and Ben are done with their dinner date of sorts, then Hades will go back to the Isle. Only for a little while though, for the Isle and Auradon will become one within a matter of a few days now.
A/N
Hiya! Gee this chapter was fun to write XD All of Brielle's sass was wonderful, I absolutely adore it here :D
And the reason why the scepter broke, violà XD I think it's cute, what do you think?
ALSO for those who have read my other book "Our Once Upon A Time" I just wanted to let you all know that I have begun updating those chapters to my current writing style :D So if you look at it right now we have Chapter 13 and 14, those two are updated! Those two are some important ones in the book (I won't spoil it if you haven't read it) but if you could hop over there and let me know by commenting how the updated versions of those two chapters are I would appreciate it a whole bunch :D
I'm super tired, so I'm gonna go to sleep now, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter :D
Remember to stay hydrated and to be kind to yourself today :D
-Brooke