Chapter Text
It was dark, stormy, but most days on the Isle of the lost were. The wind was harsh, whipping clothes and hair about harshly and chilling skin so pathetically protected by bedraggled fabrics and worn cloaks. Hades' cloak was long and thick enough to protect the both of them, his arm wrapped around her waist as he guided her towards the meeting point as quickly as he could, doing his best to protect the bundle in her arms from the cold as well.
Persephone hadn’t agreed to this plan, probably never would, not fully, but there wasn’t a better way. Still, she hated it, hated what it meant for them and, looking down at the bundle in her arm, a pair of bright blue eyes peering curiously up at her from the many blankets swaddled around them, hated what it meant for their daughter.
They reached the meeting point, the place Persephone was picked up from by Auradon's knights at the start of every spring in order to go back to Mount Olympus, quickly, Hades ushering them into a secluded nook and pulling away from his wife slightly so their eyes could meet. He looked no happier than she did, but where her eyes were wet with tears, his were steadfast, determined.
“I’m sorry, my love,” He pressed his lips to her temple, holding the position for a few moments before pulling away, “I wish things could be different, but this is what’s best, what’s always been best. I won’t have my daughter raised as an Isle rat.”
“Is it truly better for her if she’s raised with no father?”
“Seph, she won’t be safe here,” Hades sighed, hand running through his spiked blue hair anxiously, “She’s a godling, the first of this new age, her powers will be uncontained by the barrier, there are people on this island that would seek to exploit that. There are already rumors."
His wife, sweet natured as she was, did not have the heart to remind him that mere months ago he might have been one of those people. One of those schemers. Being a father had changed him, having the chance to know his daughter had changed him.
“But she won’t be able to come back Hades!” Persephone cried, hushing her own voice on instinct when it echoed too loudly, “You heard what King Beast said, once she leaves she has to stay in Auradon. You’ll never see her again!”
A half hearted, broken, smile worked itself onto Hades lips, “I know,” He breathed, “I figured all this was too good to last.” Stuffing his hand into his pocket he pulled out something, it was a small, colourless, crystalline stone, “This is for her,” He nodded to the bundle as he spoke, “For when she's older. She’ll need it to control her powers.”
“It’s an Ember?” Taking it Persephone scanned the stone carefully. For all intents and purposes it did look just like Hades own Ember, just smaller and colourless where his was a deep, soulful blue.
“Of sorts,” Pressing the hand holding it into the bundle slightly Hades leant down and pressed a kiss to the forehead of his daughter, brushing the scarce blonde curls upon her forehead away, “Be brave, little sunbeam,” He whispered for her ears only, “Listen to your mother, don’t give her too much of a hard time. I love you.” He kissed the top of her head again and then pulled away.
“Hades-” He shook his head, pulling Seph closer by the back of her neck and kissing her softly.
“I love you, so much,” He swore, stroking her tearstained cheek with his thumb, “Both of you, never forget that, never let her forget that.”
Somewhere in the near distance a car engine could be heard approaching, their time was up. Persephone whimpered something low in her throat, “I won’t,” She promised, “She’ll know her fathers love for her,” And then, with a sob, “I hate this.”
“I know,” A final kiss to her forehead, firm and affirming of all his love for her, “I’ll see you next year sweetheart,” With a final stroke of her cheek he pulled away, removing his cloak entirely and draping it over her shoulders to better hide the bundle in her arms as the car crept around the corner, lights shining, “Take care of our baby. All will be well eventually, you’ll see.” And he ducked into the shadows, vanishing into the night before either of them could change their minds.
Persephone watched him go, the baby clutched to her chest and heart beating itself into a million pieces in her chest. She couldn’t understand how his words could possibly be true, could possibly ever come true, no matter how much she wished they would.
There was just no hope.
But there was Nova, their daughter, and maybe she wasn’t so different.
—
Fourteen years later:
On the morning of her second year at Auradon Prep Nova wakes with images of a boy with red hair flashing behind her eyes, a storm of wind and lightning following him like a plague. His fangs glint in the moonlight, as do his dark, brilliant, eyes, and his smile is warm, kind, despite himself.
Nova cannot help but be unconvinced that he is real. She’d had dreams like this one before, dreams of the same boy, with dark eyes and a warmth meant only for her. All throughout her fifteen years of life he had followed her, it was only once the dreams became all out visions that she began to question his realness.
Her mother had always warned her it might happen, that her nature, the blood that ran through her veins, would make her different to other kids her age. It was why she was homeschooled up until last year, why her entire existence had been a closely guarded secret for the first ten years of her life and why the bracelet on her wrist, a bright blood red stone affixed to a golden chain, would glow sometimes. Her eyes and hands sparking along with it.
This boy, this dream of hers that was just as much a closely guarded secret as she had been for a long time, had no name, not one she knew anyway. He’d never spoken it in her dreams, never spoken at all, just smiled, or more accurately grinned, the lightning crackling along with him. He was real though, her mother had assured her as much. Dreams were one thing, but dreams where the subject grew, changed and matured with you, well, those weren’t dreams at all.
A knock at her door breaks her from her thoughts and her mother, blonde hair and shining blue eyes glowing softly in the early morning light, pokes her head around the door, “Wakey, wakey Supernova, I hope you’re all packed, because we need to be out of here in fifteen minutes.”
Dropping her head back onto her pillow and covering her face with her hands Nova groaned, “Noooo, mom!” Her mothers laughter followed the woman in question down the stairs, echoing around the house and stomping down on a large amount of the dread Nova had been feeling for the last few days.
She and her mother had always been close. It had been just the two of them for the longest time, or, at the very least, half of the time. Nova had never met her father, she knew who he was in the same way most of Auradon did, and though she was assured fiercely by her mother that he loved the both of them deeply, she struggled with believing it. Not because she didn’t think it was true, but because he was a Villian, and if there was anything Auradon hated more than differences, it was Villains.
Being the daughter of Hades, even if her mother was Persephone and had never actually broken any of Auradon's laws, was not likely to make her any friends. So no one knew. Not her only friend and roommate Jane, and not anyone else at Auradon Prep. No one except her family, King Beast, Queen Belle, Fairy Godmother and perhaps Prince Ben (though she couldn’t really be sure - he hadn’t said anything -)knew.
A part of her wished they did though. Every autumn when her mother headed back to the Isle to spend her six months with Hades, Nova was left with her cousin Hercules or at Auradon Prep. She’d never had a Christmas with either of her parents, never had the luxury of a thanksgiving with her whole family, and she probably never would. King Beast had practically ordered her parents to choose a life for her when she was born, either Auradon, or the Isle; once she arrived in one, she could never return to the other.
Naturally her parents had chosen the life they’d believed to be happier for her. Only it wasn’t. She’d spent her entire life without her father, and half of it missing her mother, it all hardly seemed fair. Needless to say she didn’t exactly like King Beast.
“Come on Novie!” Her mother called up the stairs as she dragged herself out from under her covers and began to get ready, “We’re gonna be late!”
“I’m coming Mama!” She called back, pulling on the white sundress and red cardigan with her worn set of red converse before heading into her en suite to wash up and style her hair. Her usual braids into a ponytail felt too eye-catching, it showed off too much of her face, of her skin, so instead she opted for a half up, half down style, still with the braids but much better for hiding her face if she so desired. And sometimes with girls like Audrey running about, there was nothing she wanted more.
“Nova!” This time her moms voice was so exasperated that she almost laughed whilst brushing her teeth, “You’re going to miss the ceremony!”
That had Nova moving.
Whilst she didn't particularly love the Beast family, there was one good thing to come of Prince Ben ageing into Kingdom, he’d made a Royal Decree to bring kids over from the Isle of the Lost. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Today was their first day too, and unlike a lot of her royal peers, Nova was actually looking forward to it. She wanted to miss the welcoming ceremony almost as much as she wanted to join the cheerleaders.
“Coming! Coming!” She laughed, running through her room and grabbing her red and gold rucksack from the hook by her door. She didn’t look back at her room, refusing to miss it despite the slight inclination to be sentimental. Her life, her world, was her mother, that was who she would miss in the interim.
The VKs were coming.
Things were about to change, she could feel it.