Chapter Text
Eileithyia stood with her hands on her hips staring at her Uncle. Eventually she took a deep breath and sat down on the couch.
“Tea, Uncle?”
Hades shrugged, but nodded. For a moment his Niece fussed about with tea cups and milk.
“Sugar?”
“No! Thank you.”
Damn it, from the smirk on Eileithyia’s lips she’d witnessed Belle’s little assault on him. Hades rubbed his forehead, the sugar cube itself hadn’t hurt at all, but his pride had taken quite the blow thanks to the tiny, bookish woman. Eileithyia took a slow sip of tea and casually said;
“So, tell me what all this is about, Uncle.”
Hades focused his eyes on the spoon he’d set to stirring in his cup.
“Nothing to tell, Niece.”
The Lord and Master didn’t need to raise his head to see the disapproving, disbelief on his Niece’s face; she’d learned that look from Hera and it always made Hades cave, although he usually held out longer than Zeus.
“Fine! Rumplestiltskin signed that contract. It was the perfect leverage to bend him to my will.”
A half-truth, would that be enough to satisfy his Niece? Hades glanced up at her and hid his frustration behind a cool, mask of indifference. Eileithyia look had moved up a notch, on Hera that was a warning that physical violence was not far away. He gave her a placating mock bow.
“Niece, who wouldn’t want a child of the Dark One in their thrall? Especially since Rumple is more of an embodiment of all Dark Ones than any other has ever been.”
He let a power hungry grin grow on his face, hopefully distracting her from the fact that he still wasn’t speaking the whole truth. Eileithyia sighed, her disappointment clear in every gesture.
“Uncle, always after more power. I could have understood you trying for his second child had it been with Cora, or even Zelena. There’s a wealth of twisted power in that family line, but Belle of Avonlea? There’s courage there, but nothing outstanding.”
Hades waved a dismissive hand at his Niece.
“Don’t care who his brood mare is, I just want that child, or children as you so helpfully informed me.”
Eileithyia’s lips had thinned at the brood mare comment, but now she was chewing on them nervously. She’d let slip more than she should have and now she was worried. Hades waited, hoping that his needling of her was enough to get her to leave. He almost cheered as she rose to her feet with a haughty dignity that would make her Mother proud.
“Well, I am glad I could derail your plans, Uncle. You know how Father gets when you try to take more than your given power.”
With a final smug smile his Niece vanished. Hades sat perfectly still and counted to a thousand. Deciding that he was finally alone the God released a deep sigh and slumped down in his chair, resting his head in his hand.
Let everyone think he was chasing dark power. There was no doubt that the child, well children, of Rumplestiltskin would have powerful magic and it was a safe bet that it would lean toward the darkness, but that wasn’t the root of his interest in this spawn. He’d known about the contract for ages and had never thought to use it against the Dark One until he saw who the man had married. Hades chuckled aloud as he thought on his Niece’s words, even her own patron dismissed Belle. What a shame, the woman was a true marvel. Her children were the product of the most unlikely True Love, sired by the darkest of Dark Ones, but they would get their real strength solely from their mother. Hades had waited eons for a hint that Belle’s power even existed in the realms and now it had revealed itself in the form of a tiny, overlooked woman with a razor sharp mind and a vicious aim with a sugar cube.
Hades rose to his feet and rolled his head on his neck. So much to do, so many threads to pull and bargains to make, but he would get his hands on those children; those wondrous children born to a mother with a gift so rare it wasn’t even myth, a gift so rare it was considered an impossibility if it was considered at all. It didn’t even have a name, on a whim he decided to think of it as Belle, the gift that allowed a soul to truly love the darkness in another soul without being consumed. This was to be his greatest gambit and it wasn’t even for power. Not a single being would ever suspect why he was so desperate to control a gift like Belle.