Of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Olympians that ruled over all of the three realms, their's had always been the strongest.
The Gods and Goddess of House Black were both feared and revered since the dawn of time, rulers of the Pantheon, the Gods of the Gods. Tales of their Family's strength, of their glaring superiority were littered throughout the night sky for all the generations to remember.
Though, things have certainly changed.
This most recent genesis nearly lost themselves in the politics of the Pantheon. Their world was changing, mortals mixing with magic, disrupting the gentle balance of the Gods. Frustrations frayed and temperments splintered, several of the immortals fled from Olympia. Though, no one had expected the Black's to falter - least of all themselves.
And yet, among the wreckage, a handful of the Black's took it upon themselves to abandoned the strongest family in their time of need. The Dog Star gone, the Kingly Star disappeared - whispers of a murder, a galaxy turned her back on everything she's ever known.
And the stars wept.
Druella's own daughter was the first to fly away, her second star child had not only forsaken their family but also herself - renouncing their name and her own immortality. Abandoning the Gods for the life of a mortal, spent with some waste of a man. She sullied her Black blood, and now Druella can hardly even speak Andromeda's name, disappointment and sorrow at war within her over her middle child.
Bellatrix had raged.
She refused to believe that Andromeda was anything but stolen from them, and had charged after her into the hills of Sicily, determined to return their lost flower.
Sometimes, Druella wishes that she had stopped her. Wishes she had sent Narcissa for her oldest sister sooner.
Though, she fears the outcome would have been the same regardless, and that is an even more terrifying a thought.
She had been supposed to return each year, Bellatrix. Supposed to bring her mother the Spring and spin golden flowers with the one sister she still had left. The frequency of her visits were becoming less and less. Druella was far from surprised, she knew her own daughter, birthed her, raised her.
The flowers had always died in Bellatrix's pretty little hands.
She was one of the dark, her little Bella, she always had been. So when night's master rose and offered the Goddess of Flora a crown of thorns, keys to a desolate kingdom, penance for a forsaken sister...
The outcome was obvious.
He was of the shadows. A manipulator. Ruthless and powerful, Bellatrix hadn't stood a chance. Her beauty alone was enough to catch any God's eye, Druella only wished it could have been anyone else there that day.
Sometimes, it's almost easier to blame Andromeda for all of it.
Rodolphus sought her out screaming, demanding Druella find Bella, the one daughter that was truly stolen from them.
Of course, she had charged after her. Spent nine days and nine nights searching. She finally found her draped across the bench of black chariot, the bittersweet juice of a pomegranate dripping along bloodstained teeth - six seeds had sealed her fate. The harvest had dwindled with Druella's own heart, Orion and the other Gods up in arms trying to find a solution that would appease her and save the Spring.
It wasn't until after listening to Narcissa's tale that she truly came to terms with her eldest's "chosen" destiny.
Druella only hoped that she was happy, lost in Hell.
It had been so many moons since she had last seen her. Bella's time spent in the underworld growing greater and greater each year, and winter with it.
Druella would not wait any longer. Watching as the sun eclipsed the moon, Druella drew a shaky breath as the gates to the Underworld finally opened.
She's careful as she walks along the edge of the Lethe, nearly tempted to leave behind her sorrow right then and there. It would only take one drop.
Slowly, she approaches the edge of the River Styx searching for Charon to lead her across. However, there is a familiar face waiting for her at the river's edge instead.
It did not seem possible, for Bellatrix to grow more beautiful in just a few months. She glows amongst the Kingdom of the Dead, never looking more like a Goddess than she does here.
Her embrace is still just as contradictory as Druella remembers, fierce and forgiving all at once. They linger in each other's arms a heartbeat longer.
"You knew I would come?" It's hardly a question, though Bella answers it anyways.
"I've always waited."
They talk for hours, relishing in each other's presence, watching the souls slither by besides them in their watery grave. It would almost be peaceful, if Druella wasn't still so horrified at her daughter's newfound dominion. Though so fitting, it seems.
Finally, the conversation drifts to the direction Druella had been so hopeful to avoid.
"Would you like to meet Him?" She's eager, eyes feverous at the mention of His name. Druella hesitates at the prospect, a visceral hatred still swelling in her heart at the thought of Him.
"Bellatrix.." Her doubt is clear in her tone, at the sound of it her eldest daughter falters, fighting a frown.
The moon wanes, and with it the stars call.
"It seems I may be out of time here today, sweet Bella." She is not sweet, she never was. Somehow this make the name all that more fitting in Druella's mind. This time her daughter concedes without a fight, feeling the call of their old magic and recognizing that the gates to Hell will soon be sealed once more.
"Can we meet here again?" She asks, standing with her mother and walking back with her towards the Lethe. "Perhaps Elysium, at the Elysian Fields?"
Druella is all a smile, more than thrilled. A part of her had been expecting rejection upon her entrance, another part of her was altogether terrified that this here might be their final goodbye.
"At the start of the next eclipse?"
"Of course."
And her star brings light into her life once more.
Distantly, she felt the beginnings of Spring stir.
The Goddess of the Underworld turns to leave, dark curls swaying in her wake, as beautiful and bouncing as ever. Druella grabs a slender arm, those gorgeous grey eyes drifting back to meet her own.
"Are you happy here, Bella?"
The Goddess smiles, taking both of Druella's hands into her own.
"More than anything, mother."
Druella stands in wait at the edge of the next eclipse, so eager to see her stolen starlight again.
They meet in the middle of those gorgeous fields, a place that feels as though it doesn't belong in a Kingdom of death and desolation.
It's fitting, for the Goddess of the Harvest and the Goddess of the Underworld to find this middle ground.
Bellatrix asks after her sisters - sister.
"Tell me about her, mother! Is Cissy well? Is she promised?"
Druella talks in length about Narcissa, about Lucius, about their growing son. She is not yet sure what the boy will be the God of, but his birth holds promise for their shrinking family. Bella's eyes light up at his mention.
"Oh, I do wish I could pay a visit to my little nephew soon.. I miss Cissy so." Druella agrees, telling her about his moon colored hair and how he share's in their family's grey, grey eyes.
"Would He let you leave?" She asks after a short while, eager to know just how captive her daughter is here. Bellatrix looks at her strangely, a soft smile playing at her lips.
"Of course." She starts, fixing her hair. "It is not up to Him to decide if I stay or go, it's not up to anyone." The emphasis bites, Druella does not flinch, though the coals of anger within her flare.
"I ate those seeds, mummy - it was my choice. I did it so that I could stay here, so that I could be with Him. You know that by now, don't you?"
She wants to ask why, but she already knows the answer.
"You love him?" At this point, she's not sure if it's a question or a statement.
Bellatrix doesn't even need to answer, it's all in her eyes.
"More and more everyday."
Druella is still not sure if she can live with that. Though, the hole in her heart lessens, if only a little, at her daughter's confirmation.
"It suits you." She segues, her starlight gives her a questioning look, eyes drifting down to her dark dress before looking back up.
Druella shakes her head before explaining: "Goddess of the Underworld, the mother of Death. Something about it seems fitting."
Her daughter's smile is brighter after that.
Bellatrix does not ask after Rodolphus, Druella tells her anyways.
"He misses you, something fierce. He's in mourning still."
"Mourning something that would have never been." Bellatrix reminds her.
Druella hums in agreement, still working on how to best phrase her next question. "If He will let you leave... Why do you never visit us then, Bella?"
Bellatrix looks at her a long time before answering.
"I have a life here now, mother. There is a lot to do, much to take care of..." She's withholding something, there's more to this all, Druella can see it in her eyes. For now, she relents, not willing to push her daughter for answers, too afraid that it would only serve push her further away as a whole.
Their time together is sweet, but shorter this quarter.
"I'll count the days to the next eclipse then." Her daughter kisses both of her cheeks, one for love and one for luck, before leading her out towards the exit. They reach the threshold of the doorway that will shortly be sealing Bella in, locking her away from her family, from her mother.
Before she crosses Druella turns and asks again.
"You're certain you're happy here, my sweet Bella?"
"Happier than ever, mother."
She almost brings Narcissa with her, but the part of the Goddess that is still fearful is too terrified at the thought of her one remaining flower dwindling in this Hell.
Bella is so opposite of her sisters. She is the only one that would bloom here, flourishing in every way.
Her daughter is not alone when she spots her amongst the wildflowers of Elysium.
Hot rage erupts in her when she sees Him. A part of Druella wonders just how long she's been living with this simmering under the surface for the flames of hatred to flare so quickly, so intensely.
Druella lunges at him without thought, she can hardly help herself. He narrowly avoids her, that bitter red gaze, as bittersweet as the pomegranates, turns fiery for a moment.
Bellatrix is quick to step between them.
"Mummy, stop it!" She's not asking, it's a command - for a moment it's clear why she holds so much authority in Hell. Still, Druella is her mother, and for that reason alone Bella will never hold any authority over her.
The God of the Underworld does not flinch when she lunges again.
"You abducted my daughter." She accuses, full of spite, eyes going straight through Bellatrix and directly into the Dark Lord's own. "How dare you take her! How dare you even touch her! She's a Black and you're-"
"Mother." Bellatrix admonishes again, hurt and hysteria both evident in her voice.
"You stole her from my countryside, from my youngest daughter, right out of my life! You destroyed what was left of my family! Not only did you take her, but you forced those seeds into her hand - made her think that she somehow had a choice in the matter! You made this permanent, my daughter - the bringer of Spring - prisoner to this wasteland!"
Bellatrix is so appalled she can hardly even speak, clearly having misjudged the extent of her mother's rage. Perhaps, it is lucky then, that her Lord does for her.
"Ruler." It is the first thing He says, His voice calm where Druella's is crazed, it throws her off for a moment.
Gingerly, He moves her daughter aside to face the mother properly, she nearly sees red when he touches Bella, wants to throw herself at him merely for looking at her daughter. "Bellatrix is a Ruler here - a Queen. Something she would have never been on earth, or in Olympia - yet, something she's always deserved."
Druella bites her lip, the hand that she was clenching so tightly lessening, if only just a little. With that, they were in agreement.
"She has always deserved everything." He continues, eyes tracing her, as though searching for something. She begins to notice what an uncomfortable snarl her face has worked itself into. "And I am the only one that will give her everything, Druella - on that I can assure you."
The master manipulator at work again. Druella would almost applaud this act, if she had anything remotely diplomatic left in her she might have.
"You're pathetic for taking her the way that you did. You call yourself a God, and yet-"
"He never took me, mother." Bellatrix interrupts, finally finding her voice. She's stepping between them again, trying to pull their eyes away from each other desperately. "I begged Him to let me come, I wanted this - to be with Him, to be a part of this world. Our world. I'd give everything up for it, again and again... I belong her, I belong at His side."
Druella feels her own teeth grinding against each other at her daughter's words. He has so blinded Bella, she is sure of it. The God in question is still studying her, as though waiting for something, searching for something. Bellatrix reaches for His hand and that simmering rage flares again.
"I know that is what you think, Bella, but He stole you from me." She answers, eyes never straying. Her daughter doesn't answer, and for a moment she thinks that the Dark Lord will speak again for her but He doesn't.
"If that's what you believe.. Then I'd let Him do it a thousands times again, until the end of my days."
And the reminder of that hurts. Oh, how she "loves" Him. She told Druella as much. She won't even leave Him to come see her sister, her nephew, her family.
Finally, Druella pulls her gaze away from His towards her daughter, the ice in her glare melting, heartache shining in those grey eyes that they both share. It is a moment before she relents, posture slackening as she steps back from the Lord of Darkness. His crimson gaze still lingers on her for a moment, but she doesn't care.
Bella loves Him. She loves Him more than she loves any of them.
In spite of everything that's happened, or perhaps for it, her daughter loves this Dark Lord. It's a terrifying thought. So terrifying that Druella has been denying from the start, despite the truth of it staring her straight in the face. He's a maniplulator, power hungry, and jealous. Druella knows it to be true, Voldemort is one of the first Gods, same as she.
"Do you just hate us all so much?" It's a hideous question, near impossible to even speak.
Sweet Bella looks devastated, mouth dropping open before she can manage a response.
"Oh, Mummy... Of course, not." Druella turns away, crushed between anger and agony. "Mum-" Her daughter reaches for her, but someone else beats her to it.
"I'll arrange for Bella to see you." His voice is clear and cutting, perfect in an almost offensive kind of way. Druella still seethes, but He's telling her exactly what she wants to hear and she wants so badly to believe Him. "I'd make an oath to you, before the Styx, if you would like, that Bella will return to you once each quarter-" Her daughter hisses, and Druella nearly snorts at this prospect of an empty promise.
"I don't make oaths with Gods like you." Her words are bitter still, but the tone much less threatening. He turns His head to analyze her then, searching once again. She takes her own opportunity to really look at Him. He is beautiful, in his own strange way. With eyes of crimson and a face cut from marble, it is still not enough for her Bellatrix, but then Druella wonder's if any God ever really would have been. "Are you protective of her, or are you not? One moment I cannot see her for many moons, the next you are so willing to send her home... Tell me, God of the Underworld, Lord of Darkness, is my daughter any more to you than a pawn for power?" He smiles, it is a perfect smile full of perfect white teeth, a part of her expected fangs.
"You love your daughter." He says, and this time it's Bellatrix that glare's at Him. "Yet, you fail to understand her."
"Of course I do! How dare you, you miserable-"
"I will take care of her, Druella." He promises, interrupting the insults positioned at the tip of her tongue. She does not need protecting, Druella wants to protest, but she doesn't, suddenly unsure of so much. He turns, but not before planting a gentle kiss onto her daughter's forehead, meeting her eyes one final time, those pomegranate eyes impossible to read. "She is always free to go home, so long as you don't keep her there." Her momentum from earlier deteriorates, eyes drifting back to meet her daughter's questionably as the Dark Lord departs.
"I'm not the only one that would be upset to have her leaving, Goddess of the Harvest." He calls behind Him. As if Druella needed the reminder. She knows that Bella loves Him, that she clearly wants to be with Him.
Druella can only hope that He seems to love her even half as much in return.
The stars are calling her home already, and just like that she lost all of her time with her daughter to Him, once again.
"Come home with me." She asks, stepping forward to cup her daughter's face, eyes pleading. He just gave His verbal approval of her leave, surely - surely - Bella will come now?
"I can't." Bellatrix answers gently, leaning into her mother's touch.
Druella's eyes well with tears. "I don't understand? He said you could leave.. That you could come home? I can find a way to break this curse Bella, so that you can be truly free again."
"Oh, Mummy.." He daughter starts, that sad smile returning. "I am free."
Her face contorts in pain at that, an miserable sob slipping from her lips.
"You do not wish to see me then. Not Narcissa. Not Draco." It's not a question this time.
"No! No that's not it at all! Please just... Just come back the next time the moon is veiled and I will show you, you'll understand - please, mummy." Druella wants to say no, but she still cannot find it in her to deny her daughter anything. She is so hurt, at this point she'll cling to anything, even these lovely lies.
She shakes her head in confirmation before finding her own way out.
How can Bella truly be happy here?
The blood moon gleams a familiar red, now.
It's shade reminding her so perfectly of those crimson eyes.
Today, it seems, she has almost no rage to offer Him anymore. She is shattered in more ways than one now, broken by her own blood. Another daughter lost to her by her own design. The only thing making this less miserable is the circumstance, she can still see Bella - if only once every few moons. Bellatrix is still immortal, she didn't betray their family, didn't abandoned the Gods.
Druella's heart would never be able to handle another daughter so lost.
Her walk to the meadow is much more measured in comparison to her earlier eager steps. She almost did not come, was almost too upset to give her daughter the opportunity to explain her rejection. Druella still isn't sure if she even wants to hear it.
With a sigh, she turns the corner towards the fields, gaze glued towards the ground, fighting to muster a courage she isn't so sure even exists anymore.
She looks up, and is greeted by a sight that would have once horrified her.
Today, Druella is so puzzled she stops outright, convinced that her eyes are deceiving her. Unsure how to process this.
Bellatrix stands amongst the wildflowers at full height, a gleaming smile on her face, and a little girl against her hip.
The child turns in her mother's arms, looking out towards Druella, all a smile.
There's no mistaking that red gaze.
Her feet are still glued to the ground as she looks on in shock. The little girl waves at her, a replica of Bellatrix's own curls bounce along her small head with the movement, already growing long down her back. This tiny Goddess wears her daughter's face in miniature, the only exception being those marble cheekbones and those red, red eyes.
Druella surges forward without even meaning to, so enchanted by the toddler it's a few steps before she even notices that she's moving.
Bellatrix laughs as she gets closer, her free hand reaching out towards her mother once she's in range.
"Mummy, there's someone I want you to meet." She offers gently, though Druella has hardly taken her eyes off of the child. The tiny goddess is looking back at her, a recognizable intelligence studying Druella in those pomegranate eyes, though this time they hold a very familiar sparkle - one that makes Druella yearn for younger days where her own daughter's eyes would shimmer at her like that, she'll happily settle for this.
"Can you say 'hello' to Grandmama?" Bellatrix asks her daughter, a proud yet expectant look in her eye. Something breaks in Druella at the statement, she already knew it to be true the moment she laid eyes on the child, but the confirmation causes something in her to swell.
The tiny goddess in question smiles, a perfect little grin, before opening up her arms. "Avia!" She exclaims, and Druella reaches forward automatically. Bellatrix lets her take the child into open arms with a surprised laugh. "Hello, little one." Druella finally gasps, almost not recognizing her own voice as the child snuggles against her. She's not sure what to say, still shellshocked in her own way. She'd been preparing for so many different avenues that this visit could take... This had certainly not been one of them.
"Her name is Delphini." Bellatrix speaks for her, happy grey eyes drifting between her mother and her daughter. She tucks an escaped curl behind little Delphi's ear.
Delphini. A star. One more little starlight for the House of Black.
Tears sting in Druella's eyes, happy ones - this time.
"She's a darling little dove." Druella whispers, voice still foreign, laced with tears. She's peeking down trying to get a better look at the girl burying into her arms, she holding her so carefully, as though she is the most precious gift Druella has ever touched.
Bellatrix is all a smile. Delphini looks back up at her new relative, holding onto her as if she's known her for a lifetime, so trusting.
"Mama says that you bring the harvest." The little girl starts, pomegranate eyes staring up at her, full of sweetness. "That you're the Goddess of all things good - like flowers and food, and oh! Mama says serpents too! I love them - can you show me?" Druella laughs, entirely enamored with little Delphini already. She answers her eagerly, soon Bellatrix has them all sitting down amongst the meadow, lost in the wildflowers, somewhere in the middle of Hell.
It doesn't take long for Druella to connect the dots.
He met her first, needing to know the depth of her fury, understand how strongly she thirsted for revenge, before he'd ever let her gaze upon the eyes of His own daughter. Her granddaughter. The bastard. She wonder's how long it took Him to realize that she'd sooner feed herself to Cerberus than put Bella through what He put her through. She couldn't trap Bella in Olympia now and spare her from this place, not if it meant leaving little Delphini without her mother. Not if it meant leaving Bellatrix without her daughter.
Had He worried that Druella might try and take this beautiful child away from them? Had He truly thought her so set on revenge?
Perhaps she hadn't given Him many reasons to think otherwise...
But Druella is far to familiar with that pain, she knows exactly what it's like to have a child stolen from you, better than any God or Goddess. She'd never put Bella through that.
And of course, her daughter won't leave! It's not that she can't, not that she's trapped... How could she ever leave her own babe? It's been decades and Druella still has a near impossible time without her stars, this one can't be much older than three.
Delphini laughs at the little snake, reaching for it and hissing at it in the language of the dead that only she and her father share. Druella is far less offended by it than she would've thought - it almost sounds sweet, coming from a starlight.
"You're certain she is safe here?" Druella asks finally, as the moon and sun begin to lose contact.
"Of course - she's safer here than she will be anywhere else in the three realms. I don't want her anywhere near those filthy mortals, not yet." This, Druella believes.
Bellatrix scopes up her daughter as they make to walk Druella out and to the edge of Hell. The little Goddess seeming calm and content amongst the darkness, cuddling into her mother's side and threading gentle fingers through her dark robes. As though the surrounding screams of the dead are nothing but music to her ears - her mother's daughter, no doubt.
"Next eclipse then?" Druella asks, tired of pushing for something she is never going to get. Bella smiles.
"For now... When Delphini is older, she is going to need to see the rest of the realms."
Her heart soars at the prospect, and little Delphini squeals, hands clapping eagerly at the thought. In the mortal world, Spring finally buds.
They embrace, one kiss for luck and another for love.
Druella stops herself, turning around at the edge of the threshold.
"I'm happy for you, Bella."
Her daughter's smile follows her all the way home to Olympia.