“and the heart is hard to translate / it has a language of it's own / it talks in tongues and quiet sighs / and prayers and proclamations in the grand days / of great men and the smallest of gestures / in short shallow gasps...”
Nicknames: N/A
Pronouns: She/her
Sexuality: Demisexual
Magic status: Mundus
Nationality: French-English
Ethnicity: White
Accent: English (Southwest) -- fakes a more posh accent lowkey
Height: 5’2
Build: Curvy
Skin tone: Pale white
Eye color: Blue with a ring of gold around the pupil
Hair color/length/style: Brown, a little past shoulder length, usually in a very messy ponytail
Tattoos/piercings/daily jewelry: No tattoos, regular ear piercing, wedding ring, golden locket usually tucked beneath clothing, and a small gold charm bracelet with two glowing stones: one orange, one deep blue. She has a scar on her chest (similar in length and placement to open heart surgery scars), and a small scar on her abdomen from a c-section.
Pets: click here for brief descriptions of Belle’s pets!
Occupation: Owner and Partner at Arete Law Firm, Owner of Chapter Three
Relationship Status: Married to Hades Acheron (since February 2018; dated since February 2017), married to Toulouse Bonfamille (since June 2023; dated since May 2020)
What would you find if you Googled them?: Social media (Insta and Twitter), Chapter Three’s website, newspaper articles about various law cases in town she was the lawyer for
What natives would know about them: Had an inventor for a father who was constantly setting their house on fire, absentee dad, know it all student, loner type, owns the bookstore, married to the mayor (and also he’s shady, maybe she’s in a cult?)
Other: Lots of rumors about her husband, many people don’t trust him or their relationship. Has 3 children with Hades (Opal (girl, 2/15/2019), twins Aidan and Bellamy (boys, 11/30/2020))
biography *** character sheet *** instagram *** inspiration *** chapter three *** arete law firm *** floorplan of the nook (acheron family home)
"Of course I'll hurt you. Of course you'll hurt me. Of course we will hurt each other. But this is the very condition of existence. To become spring, means accepting the risk of winter. To become presence, means accepting the risk of absence..."
- Antoine de Saint Exupéry, The Little Prince (via books-n-quotes)
There is something so beautiful about reaching out to the monstrous with intent to touch it gently. To risk the sharp teeth and the lethal claws, to defy fear and revulsion, and choose to be delicate with something that can be, and often is, incredibly brutal.
and all things end / all that we intend is built of sand / slips right through our hands / and just knowing that everything will end / won't change our plans / when we begin again...
Many things were staying here, in Swynlake. A good portion of her books. Various clocks and inventions from her father. Arthur, the ghost. The rose bushes, for now. The couch, where she and Hades had fallen in love. A good majority of the furniture, actually. So that they would have something to come home to, when they came home to Swynlake. Which they would be doing.
Leaving those books, those memories, here made it easier for Belle to turn the key. It wasn’t for one last time. The Nook, which had raised Belle, and raised her children, would be waiting here for them to return. It would stand patient and sentinel and familiar.
Her hand stroked gently at the wood. She almost leaned in to press her lips against the doorframe, wanting to thank it for always protecting them. Doors held a magical quality to them. They were the place where worlds touched: the Underworld from the First World; the Fae Realm from the Mortal Realm; the outside world from a home. You decorated your door with charms to ward off bad luck. You carried brides over the threshold for the same reasons. And creatures could not enter if they were not invited.
Would the new home—Castlenau—protect them in the same way? Were its old bones dedicated to the safety of her family? Or was that a trust you had to earn over time? By living in a home, making your food there, crying there, finding a favorite spot to read your book? Fixing squeaky hinges and carving out the rot and giving it a fresh coat of paint and lacquer? Did a house become magic because you loved it? And it loved you?
“Maman! Come onnnnnn,” Opal whined. She was anxious to get going.
They all were. Except for Belle, who was anxious to stay. Still, she turned. Her hand left the wood and reached for her eldest instead. Opal’s little, mittened hand slipped into Belle’s. She felt the warmth wind up her arm and into her heart. Its own kind of blessed magic.
“What do you think the new house will be like?” Belle asked her daughter, as she buckled her into her seatbelt.
“It’s not a house, Maman! It’s a castle!” Opal said, throwing her arms out wide and kicking her feet with excitement.
“You are right, I am sorry. What do you think the castle is going to be like?”
“Magic!” Opal declared.
Belle smiled, soft and fond. “Of course,” she agreed. “It will be magic.”
HADES:
Hades was waiting by the car, quite ready to go—until all his children were finally buckled up, and the bags were all stuffed in the trunk, and the door to the Nook was sealed. And then he wasn’t.
He lingered at the nose of the car, casting one last look at the first place that had felt like a home. No matter where he went or what job he held, Hades knew that was true. It wasn’t just Swynlake, but this specific place— warm, tiny, overstuffed with books, messy in a way that had gotten on Hades’s nerves, at least at first, until he managed to wrangle a bit more organization into the place. It resisted him, of course. Some spaces needed to be a little wild, and the Nook, sitting among the farmlands with the fog rolling over it, was one such space.
He gazed at it, his lip twitching, remembering everything. He knew they were leaving a lot of things here for a reason. Practicality, of course, but also, so they’d all have excuses to come back, when those excuses did not easily present themselves in the forms of holiday and ceremony.
Hades would come back here for Persephone.
She had moved on. He knew that her spirit was resting far beyond the walls of the nook, and she did not play in the garden. Still, this wasn’t just the first place that Hades had called home; it was the last place that Persephone had lived. And when he missed her, he knew he could take tea in the garden and feel closer, if only for a moment.
The car hummed, and Aidan let out a tiny groan. “I thought we were leaving!”
Hades smiled at the house one more time.
Then he let go of his own nostalgia (for now), slipped around their van, and into the front seat. “Yes, yes, we’re leaving. Everyone buckled?” Hades turned around, his hand on the back of the passenger seat (where Lou was sitting). “Everyone gone to the bathroom? Got water?”
Many heads nodded in his direction. From her car seat, Salome grinned—a natural adventurer, like her mother and her sister. She had already taken several rides in this van (to and from the Ivy Grove) and loved it.
“Alright then,” said Hades. “We’re on our way.”
BELLE:
The house in London was situated on top of a hill, which meant, from the second and third floors back windows, you could see the river below. It meant there was a door at the back gate which allowed you to ramble right down to the water’s edge, through a little makeshift forest of young trees and underbrush. It was no Enchantra. It was no friendly Kohaku, but Belle was glad that there was still a slice of nature. (Even if the water concerned her. The children were all learning to swim, but Belle still couldn’t. And the water made her afraid.)
She wondered if she could make friends with the spirit of the Thames, the way she’d made friends with the spirit of the Kohaku. Or if the spirit was detached and searching for itself, the way the Kohaku had once been—due to pollution of the city. She told herself she would try, anyway, because then she’d be less afraid. And there wasn’t a friend Belle wasn’t willing to make.
The children rushed forward, climbing up the stairs on all fours—Opal whinnying like a horse. Belle watched them go, stroking Shuck’s wiry head.
Before her eyes, the house began to change. Over the days, books piled around. Rugs were delivered, hand chosen by Toulouse, that dampened the sounds and livened the place with colour. Furniture arrived to match. Her books lined the halls and the rooms and, of course, the corridors as well. Hades told her that there was a ghost in the back garden, though he didn’t know who they were yet. It was a mystery to be solved.
The children made friends with the neighbors. Belle made friends with the neighbors too. They took Victoire and Shuck on walks around the neighborhood and to the park, where the children played in the snow. They made trips into the city to see the Nutcracker and visit museums, to eat in fancy restaurants tucked into old buildings. Belle kept getting turned around on the Tube, much to Hades and Toulouse’s amusement.
“It must be testing me, just like Swynlake!” she had told them, cheeks pink.
“Or you’re just bad at reading maps,” they teased.
The smell of dinners filled the kitchen with familiar aromas greeting her when she walked in the door. She found her favourite spot to sit and read, in the front window, people passing on the street just below, Vincent curled at her feet. She met Berlioz at a tea shoppe between both their houses and went scrounging for used books on quiet Sundays. Even Salome’s cries echoing down the hall, Toulouse’s soft murmurings to her, the floorboards creaking as they moved up and down the landing, soothed her like a lullaby.
And every night, when she crawled into bed next to Hades’ familiar form, she felt at home.
HADES:
For Hades, London was another kingdom to conquer.
He started right away. After unpacking all the boxes at home, he brought more boxes to his new office. Slowly, he laid claim to the space, and this time, everything was all his— all new, handpicked by Hades with Lou’s occasional feedback. The office in the town hall had been a symbol of Swynlake’s history. He did not miss that old desk or the worn carpet. Not when he had a chance to do everything from scratch the way that he wanted to.
It wasn’t easy.
At first, there were only walls he ran into. Some walls were made out of paper— permits and trademarks and tax codes, all designed to block his dream. Others appeared as polite smiles and appointments scheduled months in advance, then delayed and delayed again. But Hades could wait. Every day, he met people as they arrived in Belle’s office. He found loopholes when he shook hands and made new connections with others, who had the same spark in their eyes he once saw in Belle, at the start of everything.
And of course, there were no walls at home. There were only his children, flourishing. Opal twirling in her new uniform. Bellamy starting his very own library. Aidan rocketing to the top of his class. Lou, painting again.
Swynlake did not fade from Hades’s mind, though. It informed every step. He’d thought it might be his landing place, where he might put down his roots. Maybe that could be true again in the future, but for now, he saw Swynlake for what it really was— the start of his journey. He’d grown up there, shedding the last of his boyhood, learning how to turn idealism and ambition into strategy and success. Everything he learned there, he implemented here diligently.
Until at last, he put up the sign with his nonprofit on the office building, next to the Arete Law Firm:
The Kallipolis Project.
Here was where Hades would build a new city— brick by brick, and hand-in-hand with his family.
TOULOUSE:
And for Toulouse?
He lived.
A wonderful, vibrant life full of colour.
Oh yes, not everything was perfect. His life would always be full of ups and downs. His illness would always find him, no matter where he went, but he would learn new ways to shake it off again. He fought with Hades and Belle, or they fought with each other–but never for long. Ghosts and ghouls and all manner of creature knocked on their door, bringing horror and heartache.
But the storms always passed and his family was only ever stronger for it.
Toulouse never stopped painting. He visited museums with the children, took them to ballets, concerts, and plays at the Globe. They took family trips to other places too, in Europe and beyond, filling the children’s heads with a sense of wonder. His favorite days, though, were ones when everyone was home, gathered around their table for dinner and afterwards, they would spread out in the living room, reading their books or playing games together.
Lou was happy to stay at home and help the children grow. So that they would always have someone near and never feel like a burden. Or like they had to be quiet and clean. He encouraged Aidan to find toads in the back garden. For Salome to howl at the moon. For Opal to splash in every puddle she saw. And, well, he encouraged Bellamy to be just as quiet and clean as he wanted to be.
There were moments in gardens with his brother, a joint between them, and fluffy clouds floating by. It was not always easy, but their relationship rebuilt itself, brick by brick. They spent their Christmases together and their children played together.
It was the life that Toulouse had always wanted and never thought that he would have.
Belle could point out Hades' sentimentality, but she wouldn't embarrass him like that. Instead, she just let it wrap around them like a blanket on a cold night. She didn't feel like teasing. She was feeling sentimental and nostalgic.
Swynlake was a place that she didn't think she could ever see from another perspective. It would always be the place she had grown up. Though, maybe that wasn't entirely true, because for so long, she had dreamed of going to a great wide somewhere-else. Swynlake had made her feel restless and small.
Until she had found her people: Persephone, Howl--Hades, though he had come later. Then, Swynlake had transformed. She had seen it through their eyes as a special, magical place with new secrets to forever uncover. The adventures she'd had here had delighted her and terrified her in equal measure. Swynlake had transformed, then transformed again when she'd become a mother. It was the place her children would call home too.
So, maybe, by leaving, Swynlake would transform for her again. Oh, she hoped she loved it even more each time she returned. She wanted to see it blossom and grow, just like her children, and the vegetables they planted in the garden.
"It'll be like visiting with an old friend," Belle hummed, smiling softly. "And London will be like a new one. Though, I can't imagine our adventures will feature many curses or demons or trips to the Underworld." She pouted playfully, setting her chin briefly on Hades' shoulder. "It'll bring its own challenges, I am sure. But as you said: we Acherons love our challenges. I will be ready when all is said and done. I have just needed time to say goodbye."
Hades chuckled at Belle's little pout. She might love the magic in all its shades-- black, white, gray, and other colors too-- but Hades didn't find the magic nearly as interesting on account of having it. That was the difference between them.
To Hades, his magic turned him into something banal: an exterminator, meant to clean up after the different worlds. His magic didn't interest him the same way that breathing didn't interest most people. It simply was.
But starting his own nonprofit of sorts-- now that was a challenge.
And fighting through systems built to make him fail? Mundus bureaucracy?
Sign him up.
"I know," he said-- gentle, understanding. Really, he was itching to go. If they found a place, he'd be ready to pack up and leave by the end of the month. But Hades also realized that he was doing things out of order. First, Salome needed to be born.
And then, Hades needed to finish up his term. Cut the ribbon. Shake the hand of his successor.
"You'll have time, love. We won't leave until everything is settled. And then who knows-- you might be itching to get away in the end." He grinned. "Once you get some clients lined up."
Belle wasn't sure about that. Being itching to get away that is.
While, yes, there was a part of her that was intrigued by the idea of a new adventure, in a new place, there was still a part of her that was that shy, unsure girl. The one who felt she might disappear in a big city like London.
She was fighting against that old insecurity. If Hades did what he wanted...if she did what she wanted: that wouldn't be true. And she already had notoriety with Gem's case making national news. She had connections in London--through Simba and Eboshi. She had connections internationally, through Howl and even Lou's father.
Belle would be able to carve out a space for herself. And when she doubted herself, Hades would be right there to encourage her along (perhaps not always gently, but sometimes she needed a good kick in the pants.) And, more than anything: she would always have her passion. She wouldn't stop until she made the world a kinder, safer place for Magicks of all kinds. Until they made the world that way.
With Hades, she knew that she could shape the world into whatever they wanted.
So, she smiled, rolling her eyes a little, just because Belle wasn't one to so easily give up even the smallest argument. She pat his thigh and then stood up.
"Until then--" she grabbed his hand to pull him up too. "There's dinner to make!" she announced. And that is what they did. The pages turned and a new chapter began.
