Green Eyes and Blue Flames

A New Threat

Diablo worriedly hopped back and forth on his mistress's desk, as if he were pacing; he had been waiting for Maleficent to return home for a good while and he was starting to worry. But after a few minutes of pacing, a blinding green light suddenly appeared followed by equally bright flames, causing Diablo to jolt. When the flames vanished, the raven was pleasantly surprised to see Maleficent safe and sound. The dark fairy made her way to her desk chair and sat down, heaving a sigh of relief.

"I got it." She said, gently placing the Ember on the desk.

Diablo gazed at the blue stone in wonder; he may be the familiar of an evil fairy, but he's still a bird with a yen for shiny things and this Ember was no exception. He leaned his head down and gently touched the stone with his beak, feeling a bit of low heat radiating from it. Maleficent slowly stroked the raven's back with one hand.

"Do not worry, my pet." She said. "Like Hades told me, he is the only one who's able to harness the Ember's power."

But then Maleficent noticed something sitting on the book she left open on her desk. She picked it up and realized it was a small scroll with a bright pink wax seal she didn't recognize: a narcissus flower dusted in gold. Raising an eyebrow, she removed the seal and slowly opened the scroll. But what she saw made her very confused.

It was a short letter. It read:

"If you know what's good for you, stay away from Hades and never speak to him or even look at him again. He's MINE. Don't you dare forget it."

Maleficent furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes as she stared at the writing on the parchment; she had no idea what to say or think about this. What in the world was this? Who sent this to her? Did they know Hades? And why were they telling her to stay away from him? It wasn't signed so she couldn't think of anyone who would do this. Shaking her head in annoyance, she crumpled up the piece of paper and set it on fire. She casually blew the ashes away, seemingly unaffected by the threatening message; she didn't feel like she was in danger. In fact, this letter only served to annoy her.

"If this is someone's foolish idea of a joke, then it's considered played." She said, rolling her eyes. "And if it's an attempt to frighten me, I acknowledge this as a failure. I don't have time for this nonsense." She yawned and poured herself another cup of tea, which was still hot. "I need my rest. Come, Diablo. Let us go up to bed." She took a quick sip from her cup. "It has been a busy night for us all."

Diablo obeyed and jumped onto his mistress's shoulder just as Maleficent stood from her desk. She calmly exited the library to head up to her bed chamber with the Ember in her free hand and her tea encased in a levitation spell following her. But just as the dark fairy closed the door, the narcissus flower seal glowed pink and disappeared.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Let's see." Hades said to himself as he glanced at the open book in front of him; he was attempting to cast a new spell. Luckily he learned the hard way to not go too fast or too far when it comes to magic, especially since he was still a beginner. He took a deep breath, held his hands in front of him as if he were holding something, closed his eyes, and tried his best to concentrate on the spell.

"Illumiitus Corruptigeo." He said.

The moment he spoke the spell, a small cloud of silvery fog started to form in his hands. The cloud gradually grew bigger and bigger until finally, it completely surrounded him in silvery gray clouds and magic. Hades slowly opened his eyes and he was met with nothing but gray all around him; the fog itself was so thick that he could barely see anything, not even if it was a few inches in front of him.

"Well... I did the spell, but now I can hardly see." He said before he waved his hand to make the fog disappear. The spell promptly vanished. "Not what I had in mind, but it's a start." He glanced back at the book to see if there were any other spells he could try out.