"The flames are not meant for everyone"

For a moment all was silent as the father and daughter looked at each other, none knowing what goes through their heads. The King stands up from his throne and walks over to Arabella and when he stands in front of her, with all eyes on the two of them, he studies her face, her eyes and her. The two of them lost in the world as if the people around them are not even there anymore. "You look like her" He whispers as he looks at her, not able to stop staring into the eyes of his daughter who looks into his arctic blue eyes, the same color that once belong to her.

He then turns to the court. "Everyone leave!" He tells them and with a bow of their heads they leave the throne room, yet the questions still lingering inside. As the room empties the King turns to look at Hades, Luna and lastly Thalia. "I fear that I do not know of you" He says to Hades who chuckles. "Of course you would not. Let us say that I am not here to take over any kingdom" Hades speaks to Arabella's father, offending him in the process.

"Sixteen years ago, your mother and I were acquaintances and what began as friendship turned into courtship. Not long after we were engaged and then married" The King, Arabella's father says to her as he has once again turned to look at her. "At the time I knew of her two sons and I would've happily accepted them, unfortunately she did not want that. Those boys were her pride and joy. Yet not once did I get to meet them. Everything was perfect for us until one night I found out her secret, the magic she used for evil. I banished her far away" He speaks.

Arabella listens to him speak as tears prick the corners of her eyes yet not once does she allow them to fall. The emotions running through her whole body is unlike anything that she has ever felt in her life before yet she does like them and when she does wish to hug her father and make all of this the truth, she cannot do that for that would not be appropriate behavior from a Queen. She needs to remind herself that she is not just a girl anymore, she is a Queen, the most powerful Queen.

"Never knowing that she was with child and as soon as I found that out I began searching but she was never found. All this time I wondered what had happened to you. Wishing I could hold my child in my arms and present the heir to this kingdom with pride and love" He tells her. Her father takes her hand and instantly she begins to warm his cold hands with hers without even trying to and he gasped at her. "How is this possible?" He asks her and she only smiles at him and let's out a giggle.

She turns towards candles that light the room and stares at the for a split second before the flames begin to lift themselves away from the candle itself and hover above the wax candle. The King stares at her with shock and then back at the flames that slowly go towards them. "Magic is not all evil, it carries goodness" She simply says as the flames begins to form a circle around the two of them yet never going too close to him. Her father watches them with interest but he knew of magic in the world so he is not as shocked as he would've been if he had not seen magic before.

"I have always wished for a father" Arabella whispers to him as the tears roll down her face, unable to hold them back. He hurries himself to wrap his hands around her to pull her into a hug. She laughs as she hugs him too. Finally being in the arms of her father, a man that she has longed for her entire life. Seconds pass before the hug breaks and the flames begin to run towards their original position on the candle and once they are there on there it is as if they never left at all.

"Now that the reunion has been made, can we hurry this along" Luna says, already ready to strike at anyone. Yet she doesn't want to be in the human world as it only brings back those harmful memories that she has inside her mind and her body wishes to harm. Hades chuckles darkly. "You are her father and I have come here to ask for her hand in marriage, do not deny me and make a enemy out of me for this petty kingdom can be destroyed in less than an hour" Hades says.

Arabella rolls her eyes at the man that she loves. "I believe what he speaks of is that he wants to ask if for my hand and there will be no destroying of anything, do we understand each other?" She asks as she narrows her eyes at Hades who rolls his ones. Her father chuckles in amusement at how Hades backs away from Arabella and it is clear how she affects him and how he does not wish to cross her. "It would appear that you my friend are being dominated by her and for that I bless your marriage" He tells them with a smile on his face.

Happiness lights on Arabella's face when her father says that as she wants to run into his arms once again but does fight against that urge. Luna watches this as well with a smirk on her face as she too can tell that the marriage between Arabella and her brother is going to be a interesting one. In the world where women are nothing but objects, Arabella has managed to break the rules of the period and become the one that controls, however Hades does allow it to happen.

While the human world treats women like they are the dirt that men walk on, the Underworld treats them differently and much better, they are the superiors and the Queen has most of the power in the kingdom, not that anyone would doubt Arabella for she is the most powerful Queen 0f all time. "We must leave now as our kingdom cannot stand long without its King and Queen" Hades speaks to her father. It as clear as the day outside that the two of them do not see eye to eye as Hades only wants to keep her for himself.

The way that he sees it, now that she knows of her father, she will want to visit him and be there with him for some time or leave the Underworld to stay with her father while he is left alone in their kingdom and that is what he doesn't want. Her father looks at her with sorrow in his arctic blue eyes. "I understand" Is all he says to her as he begins to walk over to his throne. As all of them start heading back, Arabella stops and looks at her father. "I will miss you, father" She says to him with a soft smile on her face.

She spoke the truth in its purest form and as she turns around and joins her now future husband (has been since her birth) and walks out of the castle. This trip might not have been the one that she wished that it were and she was disappointed that she could not stay longer to know her father yet her kingdom calls. She can hear the whispers from the Underworld and it is calling her back home. She knows that it will want her to return and the longer that she's in the human world, the louder the call becomes.

As she is the rightful Queen and ever since she accepted that, accepted who she truly is, she has been feeling then Underworld and it might have been a weak bond as she did not understand it yet but now that she is in the human world she understands it and she feels it around in her whole body and with the minutes passing it only grows stronger, wanting her to return to it and be there. They sit once again in the carriage that continues to ride in the white snow that melts before them.

"I believe that went perfectly, he accepted you as his daughter and he cares for you, that is clear" Luna speaks when no one had said a word up until now. Arabella had been too lost in her mind, thinking of her father and how she wishes that she could be there with him. She wonders if that would've been her life if her mother had not been banished and if she had not gone to dark magic like she had done and became evil because of it, she wonders if her life would've been better or worse.

She shrugs. "I wish we could stay longer yet I feel it calling me" Arabella says. Hades takes her hand in his and gives her a knowing look and as she stares into his loving crimson red eyes she feels only love and happiness. She isn't the only one that feels the pull and hears the call. He is the King and when he can stand then call and is not affected that much with it after eons of feeling that, he perfectly well knows what she is feeling. "You will come here again" He tells her and takes her hand.

Having her hand in his makes her feel completed and her life is perfect. She has her brother, she has met her father and soon they will get to know each other better, she has her friends and future sister-in-law who is also one of her closets friends, but she also has Hades, the man that she has fallen in love with and one cannot forget the kingdom that she is now a Queen of and she is the ruler. A couple of months ago she would've laughed if one would've told her this.

The more she thinks of this all, the more she looks back into everything that has happened. She has come a long way from the girl that she was yet she still tries to remain true to the one that she used to be and one with herself because that is who she is. She smiles to herself as she thinks of the things that will come next in her life. She is soon to be married and she will be his wife. Her life may seem like it is ending yet it has just begun and it's taking a turn in the right direction.

"Would you still have taken me if I were a Princess?" She asks Hades after a couple of moments have passed. The three girls turn to look at Hades. Her life would've been different and perhaps she would have accepted him as a suitor if she had been a Princess and her father would most likely have agreed to and they would've been courting. While she may not know what would've happened, she knows that she does not want to change anything about her life. "I was always meant to take you to your rightful place, the timing I choose was only for I could not allow yourself to be wed to another" He says and a wave of possessives runs through him.

Hades does feel protective over her but knows that she has overcome the worst of the worst and now that she has done that, she can do anything and he doesn't need to protect her but he wants to. "If you had waited a year I would've been wed already" She states and she knows that is the truth for girls are often wed at the ages of fifteen or sixteen and often younger, it depends on the family she comes from and what suitors are available.

"Now you are engaged to me and we are to be wed soon, which does remind me, we shall need to plan a wedding and soon it shall take place" Hades says and she nods as she lies her head on his shoulder for support and she looks to see that Thalia has started to close her eyes. This day has been long and tiring for them and especially her for she had just met her father, the thought is still hard for her to process.

Not soon after she closed her eyes with a smile on her face for the happiness is clear inside her whole body and it does not seem to want to leave (not that she would want to). She's in the arms of the man that she loves and she has her best friends with her and now she has met her father and she has her brothers, her life could not be better. As Arabella had fallen asleep alongside Thalia, the siblings remained awake. Hades protecting his love from anything that could happen in the carriage ride while Luna watches over the human world, wondering how beautiful it looks.

While the midnight black haired girl does feel the urges to do harm she does control it as she sees the beauty and somehow inside her, she feels as if she could belong there. In the human world. Perhaps it is a fantasy for she has not been to the human world in ten thousand years as she has been locked away and this is the first time seeing the modern world and it looks. It doesn't look the same as it did ten thousand years ago.

She smiles out into the world as she can already imagine her living there and perhaps with Grayson by her side. She has taken a fancy of him and as confusing those feelings are, she does want him in his life. Luna has come far from the evil being that she was before and it was all because of Arabella, however she did not do all the work. Luna had to work to get the goodness that was so deep inside her to get it out of her and into the world that wanted to enjoy it. And while the evil still reminds inside her, she is not both good and evil but leaning more towards good.

"You wish to belong here?" Hades asks her, somehow knowing what his sister is thinking of. She looks at him and smiles. "Yes, it is beautiful..." She trails off, looking for a reason to say no but the two of them already know the reason why she wants to stay in the Underworld. "She will be all right without you there" He tells her, referring to the sleeping girl in his arms and every so often his eyes would look down at her beautiful face and smile down to her.

Watching the girl that he has fallen in love with and is completely hers and hers alone. "Perhaps I can be with the two of you for a couple of hundred years and then come here. That way she has learned everything and knows that I am there for her. You do not understand the promise I made, I swore I would keep her safe and be there when she is in need. That is what I intend to do" She tells him. "Also, I believe you need me, brother" She says with a smirk, referring that he has gone soft.

And he has, he does not seem to be aimed for killing nor torturing anymore. Arabella has changed him, like she did with Luna but this was a change for love and he wants to be good for her and he wants to be the man that she deserves to have. "That may be sister, but perhaps it is you who needs me. Besides, I do not think our other brothers want to have you with them for they do not understand" Hades tells her, and as sad as it sounds, that is the truth at its finest.

She doesn't do anything but nod her head at his words. "Why did you release me?" She asks him suddenly as she eyes him with her violet eyes. After knowing that he is soft now, she wonders why he did let her out of her prison. It could not have been for revenge. "Sister, right before your capture, our brothers and I came together and talked of this and what you were doing. They wished to end you while I suggested imprisonment in order for you to live and the guilt finally got to me. The love I hold for her brings emotions that I did not have" He tells her.

"When I wanted for just a cell in the dungeons, they wanted more and forced me to help create the prison that held you and when the days passed I thought of you. Wanting it to be me in your place yet I know that you needed to be there, for your own good. When I had Arabella I wanted you to have the same happiness and disguised the reason for revenge and perhaps I wanted revenge on those who can take everything away from us" He finishes.

It might not be the explanation that she had wanted but he needed to tell her that, not only for him but for her for their lives are going on a different path and the feelings need to be let out. They do not speak of it after that as they soon arrive to Arabella's childhood home and while Luna wakes Thalia up to Hades allows his Queen to sleep in his arms as he finds her to be adorable and she truly needed rest after everything that she has been through.

Hades picks Arabella up bridal style as he walks over to the portal that was still there, opened. Wanting to take her the same way that he took her first when he had brought her to the Underworld as the position that he holds her now is the same as the one that he held her in when he took her to where she belongs on her birthday so many months ago. With a smile down at her he walks into the portal and to their world, their kingdom and their lives that await for them.