It's a fairly long short story, so bear with me. I got quite tired of seeing lots and lots of stories/pics of Hades being a right tard to Persephone. But when one of my parental units rented 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief' it really pissed me off when the slutty "Persephone" said that Hades was abusive and cruel. This kind of telling is always the most prevalent.
It gives the myth, and Hades, such a bad image. Hades wasn't happy with his domain, you know, he was right unhappy with it too. And he isn't the god of death, Thanatos is. In Greek mythology, the underworld isn't just hell, it has the whole spectrum of hell, limbo, and heaven, all in one. There's a lot that goes ignored for dramatic purposes, and I thought that Hades really needed someone to speak up for him. Besides, in later myths, Persphone doesn't really seem like a very unwilling bride -- perhaps she came to love her new husband, her new kingdom and her new powers. This myth is always told by the perspective of Demeter, the grieving mother of the abducted daughter. But what would Persephone say?
Shadow
The fields were rich with golden wheat and nymphs frolicked among their forests, pools, and streams; food was in abudance, the rivers were swollen with fish, and the birds filled the air with their myriad songs. The land was well, the people thriving, and the gods lounged in the sacrifices and love lavished upon them by their subjects.
It was on this rich, peaceful day that Hades visited the house of his brother, Zeus, on the great Mount Olympus. Such visits were rare, for the seclusive god rarely left his duties of the Underworld. It didn't bode well. Yet Zeus greeted his brother with open arms and a smile, pleased to see his brother for the first time in many years. The two embraced, traded greetings and Zeus ushered his youngest brother inside to relax and enjoy some wine.
"To what good fortune do I owe this visit, brother?" asked Zeus, lounging on his golden throne.
Hades was silent, fingering the golden goblet in his hands. Zeus waited patiently, knowing that his brother was an odd type, which was a reason he was rarely ever visited by any others of the pantheon. He always looks too pale, thought Zeus. He could also at least have the good decency to grow a beard like every other god here, instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. And then he wonders why the other gods treat him differently! Zeus would've snorted, but wisely restrained himself.
Finally, Hades spoke. His voice neither boomed nor roared like his two brothers, but was smooth as ancient wine and just as dark. "I find myself unsatisfied with daily life."
Zeus supressed a sigh. Not this old argument again. "Of all the domains, yours is vitally important--" he began.
"Don't lecture me, brother! I have no use for old speeches and flat praise." Hades stood, and swept over to a window, his long black robes whispering along the white marble floor. Looking out over Olympus in all its magnificent glory, he brooded.
Zeus came up behind him, and put a hand on Hades shoulder. "I know you feel cheated with your lot. I took kingship of the gods for myself for who is better to rule than the one that freed every god from Cronos' belly? Poseidon desired the sea, and so I granted it to him. And you, brother, I gave the entire Underworld, guardian of every soul and the imprisoned Titans. Whereas we on Olympus are given animals in sacrifice, every soul gives you gold, should they want to cross the Styx. You are the wealthiest god of all Greece! And yet, you remain unhappy and I cannot stand it. Come brother, sit, and tell me what troubles you. If it is within my power to grant the remedy, then it shall be done."
The dark-haired god reluctantly let himself be guided back to his seat, and Zeus settled once more on his throne. Zeus gave him an expectant look.
He's done this so many times before, thought Hades. Every king, every queen, every worthy or lowly soul comes to his feet for help, singing his praises, and I get nothing but hatred and fear! The people of Greece dare not even speak my name! A terrible surge of rage twisted around the dark gods' heart, and he swiftly controlled it. He would not challenge Zeus; there was a reason why all the gods bowed to his rule. And that crackling reason never left his side.
Hades sighed. "Everything you said is true, I am the wealthiest god. But while every god here has cities named for them, temples built and sacrifices made in their honor, I only recieve fear and loathing." He held up a hand to forestall Zeus's protests. "It is true, and you know it. But I've come to accept that as my due. It comes with the job, as the humans say. While all of you sit here in your sunshine and golden orchards, I live in a land that knows no light but fire. But that is little compared to the lonlieness. Brother," he turned dark, burning eyes to the shining Zeus. "You cannot comprehend how lonely it is! Not one god comes to visit, not even that sly Hermes. He will not cross beyond the gates, turning back once he sees the Styx. Not even you, Zeus," an eternity of contempt in the name, "have ever come to my palace. There are times when I'm tempted to unleash all the Titans if only to see another face! I am being tortured in my own domain and there is none to blame but you, and your greedy disregard for your brethren!"
Zeus swiftly rose to his feet, lighting in his eye and thunder in his voice. "You do not judge me! You have come to me for help and your accusations are wearing my patience! Speak another bitter word and I will throw you into Tartarus myself, let you rot there for a hundred ages before I even consider letting you out! Then we will see how you like the isolation of your throne!" The blond god glared until Hades broke eye contact.
Sitting once more, Zeus sipped some wine to moisten his throat. "I forgive your accusations, Hades. With such a lonely fate as yours, your discontent is understandable. You wish for company then? I shall have Hephaestus craft you a golden woman like his own--"
"Thank you, but no. A servant of gold is simply another voiceless face."
"Hmm." Zeus rubbed his golden beard thoughtfully. "Ha! If it is a constant voice you want, I'd gladly grant you Hera, if she would not part me from my manhood for it! Ha ha ha!" He laughed stentoriously, slapping the arm of his golden throne, his booming voice cracking in the cloudless skies above Greece like mysterious thunder. Hades smiled indulgently, but did not laugh.
After a moment, Zeus's laughter rumbled to a low chuckle. "I'm sorry brother, to make light of your situation. Oh, but it would be a blessing to be free of that nagging woman!" He sighed, still smiling. "Very well. Not a golden woman. Who then, did you want?"
"I... I have long admired the fair Persephone. It would be my greatest joy since the victory over the Titans to have her rule at my side."
Zeus frowned, thoughts turning. "Hmm. Persephone.... Her mother will not be pleased."
"That's why I've come to you. Please, brother, grant me the right to take her as my queen and you shall never hear a complaint from me ever again!"
Zeus studied his brother, eyes narrowed. Hades was leaning forward in earnest, his pale fingers clutching the golden arms of his chair with desperation. Never had he seen Hades so desperate before, not even when he was cornered by Typhon. He sighed. "Very well. I, as king and father, grant you the right to take the fair Persephone as your queen of the underworld, may it bring you happiness at long last. And should Demeter protest, I will handle her myself! Go, make your claim and be lonely no more!"
Hades leapt to his feet and estatically embraced his brother, showering Zeus with gratitude before rushing to his ebony chariot and the horses of fiery shadow that pulled it. Grinning, pleased with the solution, Zeus watched his brother swiftly being pulled across the sky by the shadowy steeds.
"What stupid thing have you done now, husband, to put you in such a good mood?" The biting, drawling voice came from behind him. Scowling, Zeus turned to his wife, Hera, who glared back at him imperiously.
"I should beat you for such talk, woman!" he snarled.
One perfect eyebrow raised ever so slightly, making her look even more dismissive, if that were possible. "Oh, so terrifying. Remind to faint after dinner."
Zeus's scowl deepened. "Why are you here, anyway? Isn't there some innocent creature for you to maim? Or are you looking to stir another mutiny against me?"
The venomous look she shot him filled him glee. That one got her! She opened her mouth, poison on her tongue, then snapped it shut. The sharp, hostile lines of her face smoothed, became pleasant and sweet. "Oh, nothing, dear husband. Just wanted to see how you were faring. Seeing as how busy you are, I shall take my leave." She smiled sweetly and vanished in a flare of golden flame.
Zeus grumbled curses under his breath. No doubt that vile bitch had come to tell him something important. Damn his own impatience for starting a fight with her! There was no living with her when she was in such a mood. Her verbal claws were long and tipped with poison, and she held a grudge so long, it would make Atlas's indomitable strength seem short-lived. He'll have to find some out-of-the-way place to hide until her bad mood had dissipated.
For the first time, Zeus thought that the one place she would never think to look for him would be in the Underworld. If he'd only thought of that before, he could've avoided so many of her moods until they'd blown over! Then Hades would have no need to be bitter about lonlieness. Oh, the irony!
For the second time that day, thunder boomed in a cloudless sky across all of Greece.
***
Demeter, goddess of fertility and crops, strode through the golden wheat fields, brushing her hands over the tall grain. Her fingers bestowed health and abundance to the fields, and she lavished her gift upon Greece. Her silken robes of red-gold and her hair -- literally a sheaf of golden wheat laying flat along her head and pouring down her back like normal hair -- almost made her blend into the vast field.
Glancing up from her work, her far-seeing eyes reached beyond the field and beyond the orchards and beyond the river into the forest, where her fair daughter, Persephone, was picking flowers. Demeter smiled. Her daughter was her greatest treasure and it always warmed her heart to see her.
"Having fun, dear?" Demeter whispered, her voice clearly heard across the vast distance.
Persephone smiled, and tucked a white lily in her golden irredescent hair. "Yes, mother. Don't worry, I won't go to far."
"Good. I love you, little one."
"I love you too, mother."
Smiling, her heart full of joy and contentment, Demeter continued to lavish her blessing upon the crops and then the livestock.
But Demeter wasn't the only one keeping an eye on her daughter. Not a dozen steps away from where Persephone stood, Hades watched. With the Helm of Darkness forged for him by the Cyclops, no god, mortal, or titan could see him. In such a way he had watched Persephone many times, for many long years. Now the god of the Underworld watched as Persephone made herself a crown of daisies and then a bracelet, bathed in the warm sunshine. Her white silken clothes seemed to glow, and the flowers of her crown and bracelet thrived from her very presence.
Truly, thought Hades, her beauty is unmatched. Though still too young to compete with the fully matured beauty of the other goddesses, Persephone shone with a beauty all her own, young, charming, and achingly sweet-natured. It wasn't for nothing that the mortals often called her Kore; maiden.
Persephone was about to pluck another lily, thinking to make a flower crown for her mother, when she thought she heard a rustle. Straightening, she peered into the shadows. "Hello?" All was silent except for the wind and the birds. Curious, Persephone wandered over to where she thought she heard the noise, pushing a few bushes aside to see if it was an animal of some sort.
Nothing but grass and mushrooms. The forest floor was littered with bits of twigs, but was otherwise covered in thick grass and shrubs. (note: since this is a story of how the seasons came about, there have been no season previous, so there are no dead leaves or pine needles; there has never been an autumn.) Shrugging, Persephone went back to her picking, humming a small tune of her own making.
Behind her, on the other side of the meadow, the ground yawned open, falling away into a swirling whirlpool of blackness. From the dark void, a team of starry-eyed horses made of black fire hurtled into the sunlit meadow, pulling an ebony chariot with silver chasing behind them. Holding the reigns of the black steeds was Hades, his robes of black velvet whipping around him from an otherworldly wind.
And his dark eyes were fixed on Persephone. The fell horses raced toward her.
The young goddess dropped her bundle of flowers and opened her mouth to scream for her mother. But as she drew in breath for her cry, Hades had already come upon her and, leaning out from his seat, he hooked an arm around the maiden goddess and pulled her into the black chariot. Then the flaming horses plunged into the ground that once more gaped open into swirling darkness, vanishing into the Underworld.
The black portals then closed behind the chariot and its riders, leaving only untouched meadow behind. An instant later, Demeter had stepped into the meadow with a thought, having sensed something amiss with her precious daughter. "Persephone?" she called.
No answer. "Persephone! Where are you?" Demeter walked to the edge of the meadow to peer into the shadowed-dappled forest when her foot struck something soft.
At her feet lay a bundle of white lilies, already beginning to wilt in the hot sun.
***
Hades slumped into his platinum throne, intricately carved by Hephaestus and grander than the throne of Zeus (who would've been furious had he known but he never visited anyway), and sighed miserably. He had expected that after a few weeks, the young woman would be accustomed to her fate as queen, or at least become resigned to it, as he had done long ago.
But no! She had to refuse any food or drink, no matter how delicious and rare, and then set about throwing the rich gifts at him when he tried to coax her out of the luxurious room he'd given her. For such a delicate and pretty thing, she had a temper to match Hera! Damn!
"Now what do I do?" he muttered. The eerily thin, faceless servants he created to serve him said nothing. Spun from shadows and ash -- the only things in great abundance down here in this miserable domain -- they had no mind or will except to do what he wanted.
"Should I give it another try, do you think?"
The faceless were silent.
Well, at least they always agreed with you, Hades thought gloomily. Glancing at the empty, matching platinum throne beside him, he once more thought of what he could possibly do to please the poor goddess. She'd done nothing but rant and cry and throw things at him since he brought her here. Instead of acting like a responsible queen, she created no end of misery and trouble.
Yet he preferred all of it, the tears, rants and occasional flying objects, to the unending silence before her arrival.
With this thought in mind, he felt considerably more cheerful and decided he'd try once again to get her out of her room. Though she'd been here for some weeks, she'd yet to recieve a tour of her new home.
"Prepare a warm bath," Hades commanded. "And bring some of the finest clothes fitting for a young woman of royalty." A number of the faceless dashed off into the shadows to do his bidding. They would travel all the world, underworld and Olympus to fulfill his wishes.
Within minutes, a faceless arrived, signaling that the bath was ready. Hades eagerly strode down the grand hallways of his palace, hoping this would work. Coming to the carved oaken door from behind which faint sobbing could be heard, he paused, smoothed the black velvet robes he wore, and lightly knocked.
The sobbing abruptly stopped.
"Persephone?" He waited, hoping for an answer. When none came, he went on anyways. "There is a warm bath waiting for you. Will you please come out?"
"No!"
Smothering the urge to burn the door to cinders and drag her out, he asked politely, "Please?"
"Go away!"
His paitence slipped. "This is my house! I have every right to be here."
"Then let me go!"
He rolled his eyes, mouthing an imitation of her complaints. "I can't."
"Why not!? It's your house!"
Hades cautiously opened the door and peeped around it, lest anything be thrown at him. He couldn't believe it when she had thrown the heavy oak chair clear across the room last time. It had left a remarkable crack in the wall.
Seeing only Persephone, her hair a wild mess, glaring at him from the far corner and well away from any throwable object, he opened the door and took a step inside.
"It's a long story--"
"Well, start talking!"
"Please, Persephone, you're in no state for any kind of discussion--"
She plucked a satin pillow off the bed and shredded it, flinging bits of it at him. "I DON'T CARE! I WANT TO GO HOME!" Falling to her knees, she clutched the torn remains of the feather pillow and sobbed into it.
Despite all the desruction she had wrought, Hades couldn't summon any rage against her. He'd felt the same way when he was sent here. He crossed the room and crouched next to the stricken goddess, lightly touching her shoulder. Whether from exhaustion or sorrow, she didn't pull away from him.
"Persephone, please don't cry. Please?" She raised her tear-streaked face to look at him and he smiled kindly. "I promise I will explain everything to you after you wash and you see some of the palace. Then we can talk about your stay. Deal?"
She sniffed, looked to his handsome, pleading face then to the torn pillow, then back. "Okay."
His smile lit up his face. "Thank you. I have plenty of servants to assist you." He gestured towards the doorway and several faceless stepped from the shadows. Persephone immediately shrank even further into her corner. "What's the matter?"
She glanced at the faceless indirectly, as though nervous about where to look since they had no eyes. "I don't like them. They have no faces."
Puzzled, Hades looked from the faceless to the goddess a few times before comprehending. "Oh. I'm so used to them I never thought they'd look frightening... Considering my kingdom, I'm not very good at making things." He smiled, attempting a bit of levity, but her bright green eyes flashed him a no-nonsense look. "Um. Well, I can make them look like whatever you want. Would that be better?"
"Can... can you make them look like nymphs?" Persephone loved dancing with the wild nymphs of the forests where she often went to pick flowers. They always showed her the most beautiful flowers hidden in the low spots, and carefully cultivated them for when she visited.
"Certainly." Hades waved a hand over the faceless standing in the doorway, his hand momentarily coming between Persephone and the room. When his hand passed, the faceless had turned into nymphs, although of the same shadow-and-ash color. The unnaturally stick-thin bodies had turned into lush, developed bodies, but not exactly the same as a human. Their bodies were perfectly smooth, with no nipples or belly buttons or fingernails -- just molded shadow and ash. "Better?"
Persephone silently nodded. Automatically, she said, "Thank you," as he guided her across the room towards the ash nymphs.
"My pleasure." He handed her off to the ash nymphs who led her to the bath awaiting her. Hades watched until she had turned the corner down a hallway. Then he turned to the ruined room and sighed. This would take a bit of work to repair.
***
"King Zeus." Hermes knelt before his king on the marble floor of Olympus. Messenger of the gods and the guide for souls of the deceased, Hermes was never parted from his winged sandles. His silver hair glistened like metal, as did his sly eyes. (note: mercury is his roman name. get it?) Unlike most of the other gods, who wore rich robes and fine cloth when not at war, Hermes always wore the light leather armor of a messenger. As he was wont to brag, he needed no fine accoutrements to prove his sharp wit and clever tongue, so worthy as to earn him a place in Olympus -- and no one could refute it.
Now, the divine messenger had returned from his task given to him by Zeus. What he had found was troubling and he wondered what was going on.
"Ah, Hermes. What have you found?"
"The new crops are not doing well, just as you said. Livestock are breeding very little. That's probably why there are so fewer sacrifices -- there's no new animals to replenish the herds."
Zeus frowned, digesting this news. Humans could wage war on each other all they liked, and if they asked for help, he may give it to them -- just as long as they gave proper worship and sacrifices. Now, things were becoming too desperate to spare much for sacrifices. If this continued much longer, things would become very dire. "And Demeter?"
Hermes shook his head. "Gone. I can't find her. I even searched as far into the Underworld as I dared, but I saw no sign of her."
"When did you last see her?"
"By Crete. Looking for her daughter, as usual."
Zeus grumbled. "In her search for her daughter, it appears that Demeter has set aside her duties as a goddess. She has been wholly consumed in her grief. This isn't good."
Zeus began pacing.
Hermes stared, trepidation tingling down his spine. When Zeus started pacing, things were bad indeed. "Do you know where Persephone is, Zeus?"
"Leave me, Hermes."
Ignoring his demand, the messenger pressed on. "Why not tell Demeter where she is? Put an end to all this suffering."
Zeus began pacing madly now, his robes whipping the air. "If I tell Demeter, there will be war."
"War?" Hermes snorted. "The Titans themselves have bent to the power of Olympus. War is hardly a threat."
Zeus spun around, lightning crackling from his fingertips. "It will not be so much a war than utter destruction! Such savage wrath and hate that even Olympus will shatter before it. Now leave me!"
Even as the words left his mouth, Hermes was already darting from the palace of the gods, his winged sandles carrying him into the air. He took refuge in a simple shrine of his, for he was also the god of travel, where no worshippers sang his praise. It was empty but for a few wilted flowers and stale incense. Sitting there, the usually sharp-tongued god contemplated what a totally barren world would be like and what kind of sheer destruction would make such a cold, lifeless world seem pleasant.
***
When Persephone emerged from her bath, the nymphs guided her to the main hall of Hades palace. They silent servents had provided her with luxurious silk robes the color of tiger lilies. Her golden irridescent hair had been washed, combed, then braided and coiled about her head intricately. She had thought about refusing the jewelery they offered her, then thought better of it. Hades would be in no mood to listen to her if she made him too upset. But she adamantly refused the elegant crown they'd try to put on her head. She'd never be queen of this foul, miserable place!
As that thought passed through her mind, she glanced around at the hall she was being led down. If anything, foul and miserable were not the words to describe it. She'd always believed the King of the Underworld lived in squalor and perpetual gloom. Instead, the entire palace was well lit by candles that didn't burn away. Though the marble walls were bare, they were white, not black, and pieces of statuary graced the starkness. The Greek key was painted in bright red and gold along the bottom of the walls, adding color to the whiteness. Colorful mosaic patterns edged the floor. Yet she could not help but notice that she hadn't seen a single window since she'd come here.
She shook her head, sighing. This was not what she expected. She shouldn't even be here! For the millionth time, she wished to go back home.
At that moment, however, the ash nymphs had stopped at the opening to the grand hall and were waiting for her to go in. Persephone drew herself up to her full height, stiffened her shoulders and strode inside, determined to make Hades release her.
Hades had been sitting on his throne, waiting for her, and when she entered, he jumped to his feet. "Ah, there..." He stopped in mid-stride and stared at her.
"What?" she demanded testily. If he was going to complain that she hadn't worn that crown, then she had a thing or two for him to chew on.
He blinked. "Forgive me, goddess. Your beauty has robbed me of all senses, except wonder."
It was obvious flattery, but he seemed truly sincere and gazed at her in awe. She couldn't help but smile in spite of herself.
Hades started slightly, as if just realizing how he was gaping at her. Taking her by the hand he led her toward the center of the immense hall. "Please, be welcome to my home!" He swept a hand to encompass the entire hall and for the first time she truly looked at it.
She gasped. Above her, the curved ceiling was made of solid gold and bronze and silver, all worked and hammered and engraved to detail an epic battle between the gods and the Titans. By some clever design, the smith had managed to use the different metals to shade and give depth to the scene, so that it seemed as though the hideous Titans and the brave, outnumbered Olympians would leap down from the ceiling at any moment. Here, Zeus pierced a creature with too many mouths with his thunderbolt. There, Poseidon skewered a winged monster with his trident and in yet another corner... The faint outline of a perfect depiction of Hades, wearing his Helm of Darkness as he ripped the limb off another Titan with his bare hands.
Turning in a slow circle, Persephone's gaze followed the fluted columns to the floor, where another wonder of artistry sat beneath her feet. A giant mosaic dominated the broad floor, depicting a map of a land she didn't know. After a moment, it struck her -- this was the map of the Underworld. She stared, amazed at the incredible detail, as her eyes followed the six rivers that wound around the world nine times. Here, a minute Charon waited with his boat on the Styx, and there, the Furies racked the souls of criminals with guilt in the burning city of Dis. Further on, and the green-gold fields of Elysium rolled on towards the slow waters of Lethe, where some souls drank to forget their past lives before moving to the living world once again. And beyond that... Oceanus, the Titan of the oceanic river that forever encircled the world, was so enormous she hadn't realized she'd been staring into one of his mosaic eyes until she saw the other gazing back at her.
The detail was so perfect, so lifelike, that she could almost see the fiery river, Phlegethon, seethe and boil. It was as though she was a thousand miles above the Underworld itself, in all its various glories....
She stumbled, vertigo washing over her, and felt a hand support her elbow. Grateful, she clung to the firm hand as she regained her balance.
"Realistic, isn't it?" Hades sounded proud. "Hephaestus made all of it. I paid him for every bit of it, too. It's amazing what that god can do."
Persephone was still in awe of the incredible grandure and artistry. "You paid him?"
"Of course. I am the wealthiest god of the Pantheon, after all."
She blinked. "You are?"
He gave her an odd look. "Yes. Humans give all the other gods sacrifices and wine and incense, but for me, they must pay in gold to cross the Styx." He smiled wryly. "The only reason they give me the occasional sacrifice at all is to make their gold and silver mines bountiful, after all."
"Oh." She hadn't thought of it like that before. It made sense.
"Yes, it's one of the few good things about my kingdom."
"It's amazing," she breathed. No matter how hard she tried, she could not tear her eyes away from the incredible scenes above and below her.
Hades smiled and gently took her by the hand once more. "Come. There is much more to see."
The next room he showed her could only be a dancing hall, large and circular. Yet another mosaic decorated the floor here, this time a scene full of nymphs and satyrs dancing and parading about, wrapped in gaily-colored clothes. Flowers of every shade and shape blossomed everywhere among the dancing couples, and Persephone immediately felt her heart lift at the sight. Bordering the image were depictions of the four Winds, themselves all motion and energy.
To one side of the room, in a small niche made between two widely-space columns, a slightly raised dias with a chair on it sat next to a golden lyre, waiting to be played. Persephone slipped away from Hades to admire the exquisite detail of the flowers on the floor mosaic.
"Do you like it?" Hades asked.
"It's wonderful!" She tried a few dance steps with an invisible partner before twirling, her silk robes billowing.
"I'm glad you approve." His smile faltered. "You're the first to see it since it was made."
His words drew Persephone's gaze away from the mosaic. His eyes were downcast and troubled, his brow furrowed.
It was at that moment when she realized why she was here. The main hall, the dance room, the bright luxury that fairly oozed from every seam of this palace -- all of it was meant to entice others to come, to visit, to eat well and dance, to simply stay a little while. And not one god had cared to come. Hades discontent for the Underworld was well-known, but no one, not even fair and gentle Hestia, and thought it to be caused by sheer lonlieness. Such solitude would drive any lesser god mad by now.
She felt bad for him. Truly, he got the short end of the stick when the world was divided amongst the three brothers. Though she had no intention of staying as long as necessary in this place, it didn't mean she couldn't be a gracious guest. Persephone walked over and slipped her arm in his, breaking his dark reverie. He blinked and smiled at her, as though he'd forgotten she was there. "You know, I've always wondered what Cerberus looked like," she said.
Hades laughed. "I'm not surprised. He's quite tame, you know." As he spoke, he walked with her down the halls of the palace, leading her to the enormous, carven front door.
"Really?"
"Certainly. What use is having a guard dog if it attacks even its owner? Puts up a good show to frighten people away, though. You know, this one time..."
***
Over the course of several more months, Hades introduced his realm to Persephone. They walked along the six rivers of the Underworld, all of which flowed out from under the island that his palace was located upon, and which was also the epicenter of the dark realm. In the large open forecourt of Hades' palace, they watched the steady stream of souls come to be judged by Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. They stood at the edge of the yawning chasm named dank Tartarus, so wide and deep as to split the earth and listened to the broken echoes of the Titans far below. The bitter Furies bowed and whispered praise to the two gods, and Charon's deeply lined face broke into a rare smile at the sight of Persephone, nearly overturning his boat in his haste to bow over her hand. As they toured, Persephone came to see that the Underworld had its own kind of exotic, awesome sights. Even the fiery walls of Dis -- by far the most unpleasant part -- had its own brand of beauty.
"But souls are burning in there," said Persephone. She didn't want to insult his kingdom, but she couldn't help but cringe at the screams echoing from the burning walls. The molten waters of Phlegethon flowed into the city, its current gooey and sluggish. Even from so far away, she could feel the raw blast of heat on her face.
"I'm not fond of it either," said Hades. "But this cleansing process is necessary for the souls to move on."
"Oh." She hadn't known that. There was a lot about the Underworld she'd never known. It was a system, a sanctuary, and a correctional facility all in one.
Arm in arm, they walked among the shadowy forest called the Asphodel Meadows where the faint souls of suicides and fallen soldiers and people who'd lead lives equally good and evil forever lingered. The perpetual twilight forest was filled with dim shadows of souls, all of whom were no more substantial than their hushed whispers. The leaves of the trees rustled in slight breezes, sighing in what Persephone thought as sleepy melancholy and the soft grass welcomed her to lay down and sleep. Here, in twilight shadows, the forest provided peace to those who'd never known it in life.
In the Elysian fields, Persephone's heart leapt with joy, for here was sunshine and grass and and bright flowers. Sancutuary of all who had pleased the gods and done well in life resided here. Philosophers, young children, old wives -- all kinds of people were here, chatting, playing, or simply resting in the shade. Some, she saw, were drinking from a slow, foggy river, after which their eyes went blank and the souls faded away.
"The river Lethe," said Hades, following her curious gaze. "It's properties make one completely forget everything. A prudent measure to take before the souls go back to the living world. Can you imagine a newborn baby start reciting poetry as fluently as a scholar?"
She'd laughed.
Later that day, as Cerberus's three heads delicately licked her palms to get all the crumbs of his daily treat, which tickled and made her laugh, she realized that the Underworld does have its own kind of dark majesty. A hidden, mysterious beauty like Nyx, goddess of night, whom not even Zeus dared cross when Hypnos had flown to her arms for protection. But it was nothing compared to the vibrant living world. Homesickness smothered her like a wet blanket, cold, worthless, and only making her feel more miserable. She longed for her flowers, and often found herself in the dancing room, trying to will the mosaic images into reality, but she had no power like the other gods did. And more than ever, she worried about her mother, wondered how she was faring without her daughter.
Sensing her disquiet, Hades invited her to a dance every night, and she always accepted. It turned out his servants were quite good musicians. They talked endlessly it seemed, Hades eager to hear everything that came from her fair lips. He'd even tried to fashion a garden for her, but it wasn't going well. While fruit and wheat would grow, flowers refused to thrive and bloom, deigning to grow, but remaining colorless, bloomless things. Still, he kept trying.
He really is very kind, Persephone thought one night, snuggling into the plush feather pillows of her bed. Everything about him and his kingdom that she'd heard was wrong. If he had been a bit rough and surly during her first weeks here, it was only from the awkward gait of rusty conversational skills that had gone lax over centuries of isolation and neglect. Once she'd gotten to know him, he proved infinitely gentle and quite charming in his own way.
Whereas most gods put on a display of their strength or beauty or wit, Hades had never the audience to make such a show for and did not do so now. There was no brusque display of his authority or stilted conversation. He spoke naturally and relaxed, with none of the affectation of superiority or formal politeness that she'd encountered with all the gods of Olympus, save her mother. It was refreshing to speak so casually with a fellow god.
Once, she'd even been comfortable enough to ask him why he didn't grow a beard, as was fashionable. Rubbing his smooth jaw, Hades glanced around as if there were anyone around to here him, then leaned forward and said, "I honestly cannot. I look like tree that has half it's leaves blown off. Not even Cerberus wanted to see my ugly face when I came to feed him, and that's saying something!" Even now, thinking back on that, Persephone laughed.
Of course, it was no secret that he was hopelessly in love with her. Persephone smiled into her pillow. In ten months, she'd come to genuinely care for Hades, if not love him. At least, so she thought. It was hard to judge warmth that washed over her whenever he gently laid a kiss on her forehead as something greater than mere fondness. Yes, that must be it; she was quite fond of him was all.
But her time here was like a dream, a trip to somewhere unexpected that turned out to be rather nice. The thought of staying here forever, never to see the world she'd loved and treasured, was more than she could bear. It was so different from everything she'd known! Despite the wonder and strange beauty of the Underworld, it was still so dark, stuck in perpetual twilight. She longed for true sunlight, fresh wind, soft grass and the beautiful scent of flowers!
All at once, her pleasant thoughts toward Hades crumbled under a tidal wave of homesickness and bitter longing. Tears of rage and sorrow streamed down her face, soaking into the pillow. She cursed him for bringing her here, away from all that she loved, just to allieviate his own lonesome existance. What right did he have to make her share in his misery? He probably never loved her except for her usefulness in breaking the boredom. And if he did love her than he was a fool, deluding only himself.
She imagined him toiling in the flowerless garden, and she cursed his stupid, futile efforts. Didn't he know that nothing beautiful, be it flowers or love, could ever bloom in this kingdom of death?
By this time, she started openly crying for her home, overwhelmed by the idea of never seeing anything from her previous life ever again, bitter sobs racking her entire body.
She didn't know how he knew but he always came when she cried, when all she knew was thorough misery and longing for home. He quietly entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on her shaking shoulders. Her sobs lessened as she looked at him; then sat up and welcomed his embrace, crying into his shoulder.
Finally, exhausted, Persephone had fallen asleep. When she woke in the morning -- or what she thought was morning, for there were no sun, moon or stars to mark the passage of time -- her eyes fell upon a glorious, most wondrous sight. At that moment, she loved Hades immensely.
It must have taken him all night to find them in living world, but there, sitting on a small round table in a silver vase, were bright flowers.
The only thing of her lost home that he could give her.
***
In Olympus, Zeus clamped his hands over his ears. "I know, I know, I KNOW!" The prayers for help, trembling off weak and dying lips, were becoming incessent. The crops had failed entirely and everything that lived was suffering along with Demeter. The world was on the brink of death, withering away at his very feet! It had to end.
Zeus sighed. He hoped it wouldn't come to this. If he refused Hades request for a queen, his wrath would be apocalyptic. If he didn't demand Persephone returned to her mother, Demeter would let the world fade away to nothing. Yet no choice was left to him. "Hermes."
A quicksilver flash, and the sly god stood before him. "You called?"
Zeus scowled at him. "I need you to take a message to Demeter and then to my brother..."
***
When Persephone emerged from her room, wearing silk clothes the color of forget-me-nots, she found Hades sitting alone at the head of the large table occasionally whisked into the grand hall for dining. It was long enough to seat a hundred people.
One god sat there drinking alone. In front of him sat a silver bowl full of dark red orbs she didn't recognize.
Walking over, she deliberately took the seat to his right, the seat of the queen. Before, she'd always sat on the left, the seat for the guest of honor. Her reward was instantaneous -- the heavy, brooding mood around him vanished, and he beamed at her.
"You're looking beautiful, as always, Persephone."
"Thank you for the flowers!" She delicately touched the one she wore in her hair, and it seemed to glow.
"My pleasure." He also reached out to brush the flower with his fingertips, then let his hand drop and gently tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. It made her blush.
"What are you eating?" She leaned forward, peering at the red orbs curiously.
"Ah. My greatest vice, I'm afraid. Pomegranate seeds."
"Hmm. May I try one?"
"Absolutely! Everything here is yours to take. Help yourself. I don't think you've had anything to eat since you came here but ambrosia."
Persephone nodded and delicately lifted one firm seed. She studied it, holding it up so the light would shine through the dark red flesh. An odd feeling laid its icy fingers on her neck, like an omen breathing on her back. Then, shrugging, she popped it into her mouth and bit down. Her eyes widened. The rich juice oozed around her teeth and over her tongue, bathing it in a sweet and tangy flavor that tingled down her throat. "Wow." She pointed at the bowl full of the juicy seeds. "Those are delicious."
Hades grinned. "Aren't they? It was happy accident that I found them all." As he told her the story of how he discovered the fruity treats, Persephone listened intently, helping herself to a few more of the red seeds. They left dark stains the color of rose madder on her fingers.
"And ever since then, I've been unable to resist them," Hades finished.
Licking juice off her lips, Persephone said, "You know, I've been thinking over all the wonderful things you have here. Maybe you should throw a party for the gods."
He arched one dark eyebrow. "A party?"
"Yes. It would be wonderful, don't you think?" She stood, took a few steps away from her chair. "Imagine this whole room full with all the gods of Olympus! The feast would be incredible even by our divine standards! Over there, Apollo and Artemis could play -- you know they make such a beautiful duet -- and over there would be the four winds, to keep everything nice and cool. It would get warm with all those gods in here. Athena would sit here, and Poseidon way over there -- they don't get along at all ever since that Gorgon debacle." She went on, describing the seating arrangements and where the certain dishes should be placed -- baked eel over there, roast boar here -- getting so involved that she didn't even notice when the table had vanished, waved away by Hades.
"And then, just before everyone gets too drunk, we could have some nice dancing!" Illustrating, Persephone held her arms as though with an invisible partner and began to swirl about the room, humming one of her own tunes.
Suddenly, Hades filled the void beneath her hands, smoothly sliding into the dance steps with her. They smiled at each other. This close, Persephone realized that his eyes were not black at all, but a deep sapphire blue. "I must admit, dear Persephone, you are a much better party planner that I could hope to be. But how can you be so sure that they will all come?"
"Oh, they'll come. They wouldn't want to insult one of the big three." She patted his cheek. "Or you can always say that if they don't come you'll accidentally lose a titan or two. That'll be sure to bring them scurrying. And you can bet they'll be very polite guests."
Hades lips twitched. He shot her a pained look then burst out laughing. "Ah, dear Persephone," he said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "I love the way you think! Could you imagine the look on their faces? Hahaha!"
As they both stood in the grand hall, laughing for no real reason other than it had been a long time since either of them had laughed, Hermes zipped into the hall like a silver flash. Hades' laughter abruptly cut short. "Hermes." The name was cold and polite on the undergod's tongue. "You've never come so far before. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Hermes licked his lips, his silver eyes darting to Persephone, whom Hades gently manuvered behind him. "I bring an order from Zeus."
Hades arched a sardonic eyebrow. "You finally manage to brave coming this far into the underworld and here I was expecting you to tell me something new."
Hermes again wet his lips with a dry tongue. "Demeter has been mourning for her lost daughter and has set aside all duties as goddess to search for her. The world is sterile -- crops will not grow; children are not born, either human or animal. The world is dying. In light of this, Zeus has commanded that Persephone is to be returned to her mother immediately."
The instant the words left Hermes mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Involuntarily, he rose several feet into the air, the winged sandles beating frantically.
The air around Hades darkened, shadows crawling over his black robes and radiating from him like fell lightning. The look in his eye promised black murder and red death. Hermes quailed, damning himself for recalling that among mortals, it was common practice to kill or maim the messenger that carried ill news. Or both.
"If Zeus breaks his promise to me," Hades began. The voice of the god carried a dark echo to it, like the echoes that come back from the depths of Tartarus, eerily distorted and malformed, resonating in the very earth and walls. "He can do it himself, instead of sending the psychopompos to do it for him!" Hades flicked his hand toward the messenger god, and whips of ash and shadow twined around one foot. The wings of the sandles beat wildly as Hermes twisted in attempt to escape. With one more gesture, Hades threw open the massive front doors then flung Hermes through the doorway, tumbling head over heels in the air. "I've been cheated once too often," Hades said, so low that only Persephone could here. Then he slammed the doors shut with a blink of an eye.
"Hades..." Persephone laid a hand on his shoulder, making him turn toward her. The black, writhing aura around him faded, his expression softened. He tenderly cupped her face in his hands.
"Of all the glories and beauty of my kingdom, the only one I love is you."
She blushed, put her hands on his. "Be careful."
The doors blew open suddenly, setting Hades' robes whipping in a wind that carried the biting scent of ozone. "Brother," said a booming voice.
Instead of turning immediately, Hades let his eyes linger on Persephone for a few moments longer, before finally facing his brother.
Zeus had donned his armor of brilliant electrum and had the purple-white lightning bolt in hand. A sky blue aura surrounded him, and several jags of lighting radiating behind him gave him the appearance of wings, or a crown. Every time the shifting electricity had settled in one shape, it would seem to shift once more in Persephone's eyes. Behind him, Hermes backed up even further, his silver eyes flashing from Zeus to Hades.
Hades smiled pleasantly and spread his arms wide. "Welcome at last, dear brother, to my humble abode." He bowed, the picture of courtesy.
Zeus stayed strictly to business. "Release Persephone immediately."
The pale god smiled, bitter and wrathful. The writhing shadow aura rose around him once more. As Persephone watched, the shadowy ropes around Hades colasced into sinuous ribbons, a dark mirror image of Zeus, again giving him the appearance of having wings one second, and framing him in the shape of an enormous crown the next. Simultaneously, his armor materialized on him from seemingly nowhere, a molten curiass that resembled the burning waters of Phlegethon, and bracers and greaves of black granite. Gauntlets and boots of razor sharp obsidian, each digit carved with an extended razor-sharp talon, clacked brittley as he flexed his fingers and feet.
The sibling gods faced each other, one of brilliant light, the other of ashen darkness, evenly matched.
"Come to cheat me of any joys that you so freely indulge in, Zeus?" He spat the name. "Have you not taken enough from me already?"
Zeus's rage manifested in the arcs of lighting behind him, the bolts unleashing at once, producing a deafening roar. "She must be returned and I will see to it that she is. Give her to me willingly, and I will spare you, brother. I have no choice."
"No choice?" Hades' voice softened in disbelief and the shadowy wings quieted their ceaseless writhing. Hermes looked hopeful for an instant before Hades spoke again, with the sharp blade of rage edging his words. "No choice? But you are king of the gods! I was given no choice when you gave me this kingdom of the dead! I had no choice but to bow to you and your bolt when you decreed that I would forever live in the shadow and dust of the Underworld! No brother," his face twisted into a sneer, "You've always made the choices and I've always suffered for each one made. And now you chose to take my queen from me?"
The dark god suddenly shifted his stance, taking the one of a fighter, obsidian-sheathed hands held before him, one hand stiffed into a blade pointing at Zeus, the other curled into a fist.
"Then come and claim her!"
A single instant stretched for eternity, a dangerous lull before the storm long enough to draw a single breath...
Zeus launched his bolt at Hades, a purple-white beam of devestation streaking across the great hall. Hades' open hand twitched -- and the bolt deflected off the obsidian gauntlet just centimeters away from Hades himself. Instead, behind him, his incredible throne vanished into a hissing puddle.
Hades glanced at the throne then cast Zeus a look full of contempt. "You'll have to do better than that, brother."
Zeus' eyes widened in disbelief -- and Hades had already crossed the hall and his fist connected solidly with Zeus's cheek, the razored stone of his gauntlets cutting to the bone. Roaring in pain and outrage, Zeus swung his bolt like a sword, but Hades blocked it with a granite bracer, grabbed his brother by the throat and flung him into the nearest wall. Zeus regained his feet just in time to prevent an obsidian boot from diving into his side.
After a moment of fierce grappling, Zeus pushed his brother away at last. Hades stumbled back a few steps, trying to recover his balance. Taking advantage of the momentary weakness, Zeus raised his bolt above his head and brought it cleaving down on Hades head.
Persephone gasped.
Hades looked up and caught the bolt above his head between his palms. Before Zeus could register that his attack had literally been caught, Hades stone-sheathed feet whipped out, kicked Zeus twice in the chest with the left, every blow unleashing an incredible burst of raw power, then a sweeping right caught him in the side of the face, knocking the King away. By some luck, Zeus held onto the bolt, but he leaned against the wall, dazed.
Zeus rapidly blinked his eyes to clear them, saw Hades rear his fist back, and spun away quickly. Hades' fist smashed a hole in the wall big enough for a war chariot to ride through with room to spare. A cloud of rock dust enveloped Hades. Zeus shot lighting from his bolt, and the crack of energy caught Hades full in the chest, sent him flying clear across the grand hall, smashing him halfway up the high wall. A second bolt followed instantly, but struck only the bare marble -- Hades had simply used the wall to launch himself towards his brother again, fist first.
Persephone watched the two gods battle, awed by their awesome power and speed. So caught up were the gods in the battle, none noticed Hermes sidling around the side towards the maiden goddess. Persephone had completely forgotten about him until his arms closed around her waist and the room blurred as he dashed for the door.
Screaming most unmaiden-like epithets, Persephone clawed and bit at Hermes. Their dash for the front door abruptly halted as Hermes literally found his arms full of outraged goddess. Persephone couldn't get any room to properly strike him, so she made do with vicious bites and gouges, leaving ragged, bloody claws marks on Hermes' face as she went for his eyes. To think that he'd snatch her away like some plunder, as though she were little more than loot to be bargained with! The utter dismissal of her ability to act and decide for herself filled Persephone with rage. Calling on an unnatural strength she'd never had before coming to the Underworld, she tore into Hermes as much as she was able -- and the damage she inflicted was nothing to shrug off. Though easily fifty feet off the ground, she bit at his hands, jabbed viciously with her elbows, anything to make him release her.
Even so, she could only do so much without any room to do more than curse, claw and bite. It slowed the messenger god, but, cursing heartily back at her, Hermes was still swiftly heading for the door.
Suddenly, their forward movement halted again for a second time. Twisting around in midair, Hermes looked down and followed the obsidian gauntlet on his foot to the furious face of Hades, shadowy ribbons spread like wings behind him.
Hermes made a sound.
It sounded like "Eeep!"
Then Hermes was gone so fast it surpassed even his own prodigal speed as Hades flung him to the floor far below. Then Hades turned, caught Persephone around the waist before she could fall more than a few inches, deflected two more lighting bolts with his stony palms, spun away from three more, one after the other, and pushed off a fluted column to land behind Persephone's platinum throne. All this done as one fluid movement flowing seamlessly into another while in midair.
Hades gently deposited her behind the second gleaming throne. "Stay here." He was already gone by the time she nodded. Looking down at her hands, Persephone's eyes widened as she beheld the twilight-colored aura of power that unfolded from her hands like flower petals. Never before had she held such power as a simple maiden goddess of the living world. The thrill of power was exhilerating and gave her a feeling she'd never known before -- freedom. At last, the power to enforce her wishes, and not be victim to the smallest poisoned whim of every god in the sky.
The very god who'd given her that power by making her queen of the Underworld was in a pitched battle with Zeus. Thunder cracked so loudly it shook the foundations of the Underworld, and it struck Hades like a physical blow, throwing him backwards. Bracing his feet on the floor, wrists crossed before him protectively, Hades finally slid to a halt.
Zeus raised his bolt -- Hermes grabbed Hades by the hair, yanking his head back -- and Hades ducked into a swift crouch, watching the lighting bolt smash into Hermes' studded leather curiass. The messenger god smashed against the wall near the thrones, and dropped, moaning. His job description never mentioned anything about this!
Rolling over, clutching his chest, he spotted Persephone standing in the shadow of the throne, looking at him with dark green eyes.
Springing to his feet, he grabbed her wrist and had made it no more than five feet into the air before Persephone jerked him back down again. Blinking, he gaped at the young goddess, his mind just having time to register the twilight-colored aura of power flowing over her. Immediately, Hermes summoned a thousand needles of silver light -- his own color of power -- and sent them flying at her.
Incredibly, she deflected nearly all of them, but she had discovered her powers just a scant few seconds ago, whereas Hermes had time to hone his powers for centuries. One of the silver needles lodged in her bare shoulder, drawing ichor -- godsblood. A slight cry burst from her -- more from insult than injury at her first wound. Hermes quickly formed silver ropes from his outstretched hands that wound tightly around the goddess, pinning her arms to her sides. Furious, Persephone pushed back against the glittering silver ropes. Hermes was amazed by the sheer ferocity of her strength, nearly overwhelmed by her power, but he used her unfamiliarity with it to his advantage, and maintained his hold on her.
She cursed at him and her own inexperience with power. Hermes merely smirked arrogantly as he dragged her down the hallway behind the columns.
Halfway down the hall, forming a truly withering insult on her lips, Persephone opened her mouth to lash Hermes when the silver ropes around her slithered to the ground, their strength gone. She blinked; with one swift chop of his hand, Hades had severed the silver ropes. Hermes threw up a silver shield around him, stopping Hades' fist inches from his face.
But the shield did not prevent Hades' foot from connecting solidly between the messenger god's legs. Hermes gasped and crumpled to the floor, clutching his godhood.
A lighting bolt shot out of nowhere and struck Hades in the middle of his back. The dark god arched his back as thousands of volts of electricity arced through is body, a soundless scream frozen in his throat. He spun around and managed to deflect another bolt, gasping for breath, but two more struck him in quick succession. Wounded, he fell to one knee, panting heavily.
Unhurriedly, Zeus came to stand before his brother, lighting bolt at the ready. "Have you had enough, brother? Or must I beat some more sense into you?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Hades acted. With his left forearm, he knocked the bolt to the side, and the lighting blew an enormous hole in the wall behind him. Rising to a mid crouch, he grabbed Zeus by the back of one knee, and brought the other hand down on Zeus's shoulder like a hammer -- as a result, the blond god fell heavily to the floor on his back. Moving nearly as fast as one of Zeus's bolts, Hades grabbed Zeus by the collar of his electrum curiass, swung him around his head with one hand then threw him viciously toward the open doors of the great hall.
Zeus managed to make a safe landing, and even threw a last-second lighting bolt at Hades. The dark-haired god blocked the bolt but the force of the attack knocked him back to a sliding stop before the remaining throne. In comparison to how Zeus had landed, he was quite graceful. Staggering to his feet, Zeus glared at his brother, the lighting in his hand no match for that in his eyes.
Hades smirked, dark and bloodthirsty. "You've claimed kingship over all the gods with a weapon that no monster could withstand. I fought only with my hands and all the strength that I posess, in the war against the Titans. Toss aside your weapon, brother, and see how you fare without it against me."
Zeus snorted, too soft to be heard by Hades. He knew very well that he wouldn't last five minutes against his brother without the bolt. But he wasn't getting very far with it, either. "I warn you! I will not lessen my blows for you any longer, brother!"
Hades snorted dismissively, audible to his sibling, and he settled into the same stance that he had when the fight began. "Bring it."
Zeus raised his lightingbolt and poured his power into it. As the bolt swelled, becoming brighter than the sun itself, Hades ran toward his brother, dodging the random lashes of electricity that escaped the bolt.
Persephone dashed out from the column she had crouched behind and ran into the middle of the hall, between the two powerful gods. "Stop!" she commanded. Neither one halted his attack. Glancing to the side, she knew that Zeus would unleash his attack before Hades would reach him. Not even a god would be able to take such a blow and live.
Fear grabbed her throat. "I SAID STOP!" she shouted, just as the enormous bolt left Zeus's hands. Hades leapt into the air to meet it, his fist cocked back, ready to batter the bolt away.
But the two never met. A wall that shimmered with all the scintillating colors of twighlit absorbed the bolt harmlessly. Both the great gods blinked, caught by surprise. In the moment of their confusion, Persephone captured both of them in shimmering prisons of her power; the brothers found themselves standing in a twilight-colored cage the shape of a half-open lotus flower.
Persephone fell to her knees, the sudden drain on her powers almost overwhelming. "Stop," she gasped.
Suddenly, on a rush of wind that carried the scent of rich earth and growing things, Demeter appeared in the great hall of the palace. Seeing her daughter half-collapsed on the floor, she gave a cry of wild joy and swept up her lost child in her arms, sobbing with elation. Almost too tired to move, Persephone willed her limbs into action and returned the fierce embrace. Looking over her mother's shoulder, she saw Hermes smile, pleased with himself. Standing next to him were Aphrodite, Athena, Hepheastus and Poseidon, looking on curiously.
The battling gods forgot their fight, weapons hanging limply at their sides. Around them, the twilight lotus prison shimmered, steadily fading as Persephone ceased focusing on it.
"I've found you, I've found you, oh my sweet daughter, I've found you..." Demeter chanted over and over, too overcome to do anything else. For several minutes, mother and daughter, finally reunited, held each other as though afraid to lose a precious treasure.
Suddenly, Demeter stood, arms locked around her daughter. "I'm taking you home." It was as much a command to the brothers as it was a promise to Persephone.
"No!" exclaimed Hades, taking a step forward, hand out as though to restrain the goddess.
"Yes!" boomed Zeus, brandishing his lighting bolt at his brother. "She must return with her mother."
"NO!" The viciousness in Hades' voice shocked even Demeter, even as caught up in the joy of finding her daughter at last as she was. Fists clenched, obsidian gauntlets crackling against each other, Hades would not look at any of them for a long time. Then, "As queen, she must stay here."
"Never!" Demeter, though a peaceful goddess, summoned the green-gold energies of her divine power in readiness for battle. "She is not yours to take! She is my daughter! And if you try to take her from me again, the world will be little more than a cold and lifeless rock, for I shall never bestow my blessing upon the earth ever again!"
A tremor of fury visibly passed through Hades. "And if you keep her from her husband, then the gates of the Underworld will be sealed shut forever! The souls of the dead and damned will be flooding Olympus before the end!"
Demeter was livid with rage. "If you think that I will allow my daughter to be kept here to be abused and raped by a foul creature like you --"
"He didn't do anything like that."
All the gods' attention suddenly turned toward the young goddess dressed in silk robes the color of forget-me-nots. Loosening her mother's nearly suffocating embrace, Persephone said, "He never hurt me at all."
Demeter simply could not reconcile the idea. "What?"
"If anything he's only ever been very kind and generous to me." Persephone held her mother's green-gold eyes, searching for a spark of understanding. Seeing none, Persephone sighed and explained in a low voice so only her mother could hear. "Mother, he loves me too much to ever harm me." She paused. "He's very lonely, you know. I'm the first god to come here ever since Hephaestus built it." At last, an understanding and pity showed in Demeter's eyes, but not nearly as great as her determination to take her daughter back to the living world.
Stepping back from her mother, Persephone said so that all could here, "It is only right that I should stay here, as queen."
Hades' face lit up brilliantly with wild hope.
"No!" shouted Zeus and Demeter.
Aphrodite sighed impatiently, fingering her golden girdle.
Athena shook her head and looked thoughtful.
Poseidon, stoic as ever, did nothing.
"Daughter." Demeter's voice slid into an aching, pleading tone. "Do you want to stay down here forever? No sun, no wind, no flowers? Is that what you want?"
"Of course that isn't what I want!" The gods were taken aback by the outburst. Persephone glared at them, unaware of tears just making their way down her face. "You think I haven't missed my home? That I haven't longed for sunshine? This place is so different from everything I've loved!" Furious, she dashed the tears away that blurred her vision. "But here I mean something. Here, I am more than just a pretty object to be pursued by every heart-sick god," she turned her glare towards Hermes and Hephaestus, two of several gods that had tried to claim her beauty as theirs, "Or something to be guarded from any life of my own that I might lead." Now she met her mother's eyes. Guilty, Demeter looked away -- it was true, she had sheltered her daughter from all the other gods, rarely allowing her to talk with them for long.
"It is only here where I make a difference. What use is a god that does nothing?" Persephone waited for an answer, knowing that none would come.
Demeter sobbed. "My daughter..." The great goddess was so wretched, so distraught that Persephone wavered where she stood, caught between two threats, two worlds, two dire needs.
Hermes cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way. Is it not the ruling of the Grey Fates that those who eat the food of the underworld must stay there?"
Demeter swung around to face her brother. "Is this true, Zeus? Must she stay?"
Zeus rumbled something undoubtedly unpleasant in his throat. "Yes, yes it is true."
Ignoring Demeter's cry of despair, Hermes asked, "Persephone, what foods have you eaten since you've come to the Underworld?"
The young goddess was mystified. "Nothing, only ambrosia and nectar."
Hermes arched a silver eyebrow. "Nothing at all? Are you certain?"
"Yes, I'm sure--" Memory dawned. Thick, sweet juice, spreading over her tongue. Raising her hand, she stared at the rose madder of pomegranate juice that still stained her fingertips. Glancing at Hermes, she thought he smiled slyly, silver eyes glinting mischeiviously. How long had he watched and waited before bursting into the hall? she wondered. One could never tell with a trickster god. "No. I ate a few pomegranate seeds."
"How many?"
"I'm not sure. Only a few."
"That can't possibly be enough to keep here here!" Demeter shouted. "Can it?"
"Every god and goddess has sworn an oath of the Styx to abide by the laws set by the Fates," said Athena. "If she has eaten dark food, then she must stay."
"Perhaps..." rumbled Poseidon. "There can be a compromise?"
Zeus thoughtfully rubbed his golden beard with one hand. "Persephone will stay in the Underworld--"
Demeter caught her breath. Hades bowed his head, let his armor dissolve away much the way it had appeared. The shadowy aura and the ribbon-like wings faded.
"--But only for as many months as the number of seeds she has eaten," Zeus finished. "When her time is up, she will stay with her mother, then she will stay with my brother for her allotted time, for each year until the end of the world. It will be done."
Not exactly what either party wanted, but it was good enough. Once again, Demeter swept up her daughter in her embrace. "Persephone, dear girl, you're coming home!" The tension that had strained the air vanished suddenly. Athena and Aphrodite went to congratulate Demeter, Zeus sighed and wondered when his younger brother had learned to hit so damn hard, and Hephaestus and Poseidon praised Hermes for his cleverness and quick thinking.
Apart from the rest, Hades watched, alone.
From the center of the chatting gods, Persephone wrenched herself away from her mother's clutches and ran for her husband before she could be caught again. All eyes watched as the two unlikely gods met with open arms. Holding his queen at last, Hades sighed and closed his eyes.
Demeter shot Aphrodite a suspicious look, a thousand accusations in that one glance. Aphrodite gave the earth goddess her most innocent expression. "What? Don't look at me, I had nothing to do with this. I personally never thought that love could ever bloom in this dank, horrid place." The bite of her words was lessened somewhat by the fact that she was openly admiring the beautiful floor and rich ceiling, however. "Is... is that real gold up there?"
The wheat-haired goddess sighed. "I can't fathom why she wants to stay here. Nothing can ever grow in this awful, dark place." She made a most unbecoming face, screwing up her delicate features in a mask of disgust.
Athena watched as Hades lifted Persephone off her feet and spun around, the robes of both gods flapping wildly. "Perhaps you're both wrong. Hermes mentioned he saw something that looked like a flower garden in the inner court, you know." Persephone was saying something that obviously worried her, laying a concerned hand on Hades' face, but he smiled and shook his head, reassuring her. "Who can say for sure," Athena said. "Everything is impossible until it actually happens. We'll just have to wait and see."
***
Shortly after Zeus had passed his judgement, Persephone returned with her mother to the living world above. Bereft of Demeter's blessing, the world had become sterile and unforgiving, allowing neither plants to grow, nor animals and people to breed. Yet as Persephone set foot under the glaring sun, hand in hand with her mother, she noticed a palpable change in the temperature. It became temperate and gentle, soothing new green buds onto tree branches, stirring the blood of human and animal alike.
For the first time, the weather and temperature had changed drastically, allowing new life to emerge from darkness. Not unlike her own life, thought Persephone. It wasn't long before the humans, who always loved inventing new things, had created a name for the inexplicable change that had gripped the world. They called it 'seasons.'
The hostile weather had softened, became hospitable, and the lands were soon flowing with rich harvests and plentiful flocks. Demeter lavished her blessing upon the land, and Persephone once more raced the nymphs in dewy grass. Every day, she made a crown of flowers for her and her mother. It was wonderful.
But for every day passed, Persephone remembered more and more the shadowy kingdom below. She had increasing dreams, both asleep and awake, of the forest called Asphodel Meadows and the peaceful rustle of the trees there. Thoughts of playful Cerberus -- who really was barely more than a giant, three-headed puppy -- forcibly came to mind whenever she heard a dog bark, or a wolf howl with its kin. Even the burning walls of Dis occupied her thoughts, for she knew that the unpleasant process was necessary to cleanse souls of their evils, and the fell beauty of Dis was unlike anything in all the realms of the gods.
At night, she often wondered how her husband was faring without her.
The season wore on. When the last sheaf of grain had been reaped and stored, when the young of the livestock had finally managed some control of their limbs, worry began to nag Demeter. The time for Persephone to leave was rapidly approaching, and Demeter could not help but worry, as mothers are wont to do. The winds suddenly took a hard, biting edge to them, Boreas and Notus both warning the lands of what was to come.
Finally, as mother and daughter watched a beautiful sunset by the sea, it came time for Persephone to return to her throne. He had made no sound as he rose from the underground realm, but Persephone knew he was there. Looking over her shoulder, she greeted Hades with a genuine smile.
Demeter followed her daughter's gaze and her face fell. "Not yet... you've been here for such a short while..."
Persephone hugged her mother comfortingly. "Don't worry, mother. I'll be back before you know it."
The older goddess only sighed. There was nothing she could do, and she knew it. Reluctantly, she let Persephone slide away from her, white silk robes brushing through her fingertips. Persephone went to Hades willingly. When she was close enough, she gently laid the flower crown she'd made for him on his head. He took her hands in his and, as he'd done several times before, placed a kiss on her forehead. "I love you," he said.
Standing on the very tips of her toes, she repeated his gesture. "I love you too."
His smiled and spread his arms. "Ready?"
Persephone looked over to her mother. Tears were already streaming down Demeter's face and she flipped her hand in an awkward goodbye, trying not to act like a completely sentimental fool.
Persephone smiled at Hades. "Ready."
He drew her close, a loving embrace. The young goddess leaned into him and buried her face in the black velvet robes he wore. "Hold on tight," he said softly. She nodded and closed her eyes, tightening her arms around him.
Demeter watched as her beloved daughter sank into the black void, locked in Hades' tight grip. A bit of light wrapped in darkness. Around her, the trees burst into flaming colors, echoing the goddess's grief.
***
Deep in the underworld, where neither love nor flowers ever bloomed, beyond fierce Cerberus and weary Charon and the clamoring souls, past the dim waters of the Styx, the no-man's land called Erebus, and the sighing trees of Asphodel Meadows; past the stream of souls awaiting judgement, and the molten walls of Dis; past the bright fields of Eylsium and the other five rivers of the underworld; past the three impassive judges that sat before an enormous palace, and the great hall made by Hephaestus himself, past all the rooms and breezy corridors, into the large inner court.
There, in the garden among rows and rows of a flowerless plants, a red rose bloomed. A bit of light wrapped in darkness.
Or maybe, it was the other way around.
END
It gives the myth, and Hades, such a bad image. Hades wasn't happy with his domain, you know, he was right unhappy with it too. And he isn't the god of death, Thanatos is. In Greek mythology, the underworld isn't just hell, it has the whole spectrum of hell, limbo, and heaven, all in one. There's a lot that goes ignored for dramatic purposes, and I thought that Hades really needed someone to speak up for him. Besides, in later myths, Persphone doesn't really seem like a very unwilling bride -- perhaps she came to love her new husband, her new kingdom and her new powers. This myth is always told by the perspective of Demeter, the grieving mother of the abducted daughter. But what would Persephone say?
Shadow
The fields were rich with golden wheat and nymphs frolicked among their forests, pools, and streams; food was in abudance, the rivers were swollen with fish, and the birds filled the air with their myriad songs. The land was well, the people thriving, and the gods lounged in the sacrifices and love lavished upon them by their subjects.
It was on this rich, peaceful day that Hades visited the house of his brother, Zeus, on the great Mount Olympus. Such visits were rare, for the seclusive god rarely left his duties of the Underworld. It didn't bode well. Yet Zeus greeted his brother with open arms and a smile, pleased to see his brother for the first time in many years. The two embraced, traded greetings and Zeus ushered his youngest brother inside to relax and enjoy some wine.
"To what good fortune do I owe this visit, brother?" asked Zeus, lounging on his golden throne.
Hades was silent, fingering the golden goblet in his hands. Zeus waited patiently, knowing that his brother was an odd type, which was a reason he was rarely ever visited by any others of the pantheon. He always looks too pale, thought Zeus. He could also at least have the good decency to grow a beard like every other god here, instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. And then he wonders why the other gods treat him differently! Zeus would've snorted, but wisely restrained himself.
Finally, Hades spoke. His voice neither boomed nor roared like his two brothers, but was smooth as ancient wine and just as dark. "I find myself unsatisfied with daily life."
Zeus supressed a sigh. Not this old argument again. "Of all the domains, yours is vitally important--" he began.
"Don't lecture me, brother! I have no use for old speeches and flat praise." Hades stood, and swept over to a window, his long black robes whispering along the white marble floor. Looking out over Olympus in all its magnificent glory, he brooded.
Zeus came up behind him, and put a hand on Hades shoulder. "I know you feel cheated with your lot. I took kingship of the gods for myself for who is better to rule than the one that freed every god from Cronos' belly? Poseidon desired the sea, and so I granted it to him. And you, brother, I gave the entire Underworld, guardian of every soul and the imprisoned Titans. Whereas we on Olympus are given animals in sacrifice, every soul gives you gold, should they want to cross the Styx. You are the wealthiest god of all Greece! And yet, you remain unhappy and I cannot stand it. Come brother, sit, and tell me what troubles you. If it is within my power to grant the remedy, then it shall be done."
The dark-haired god reluctantly let himself be guided back to his seat, and Zeus settled once more on his throne. Zeus gave him an expectant look.
He's done this so many times before, thought Hades. Every king, every queen, every worthy or lowly soul comes to his feet for help, singing his praises, and I get nothing but hatred and fear! The people of Greece dare not even speak my name! A terrible surge of rage twisted around the dark gods' heart, and he swiftly controlled it. He would not challenge Zeus; there was a reason why all the gods bowed to his rule. And that crackling reason never left his side.
Hades sighed. "Everything you said is true, I am the wealthiest god. But while every god here has cities named for them, temples built and sacrifices made in their honor, I only recieve fear and loathing." He held up a hand to forestall Zeus's protests. "It is true, and you know it. But I've come to accept that as my due. It comes with the job, as the humans say. While all of you sit here in your sunshine and golden orchards, I live in a land that knows no light but fire. But that is little compared to the lonlieness. Brother," he turned dark, burning eyes to the shining Zeus. "You cannot comprehend how lonely it is! Not one god comes to visit, not even that sly Hermes. He will not cross beyond the gates, turning back once he sees the Styx. Not even you, Zeus," an eternity of contempt in the name, "have ever come to my palace. There are times when I'm tempted to unleash all the Titans if only to see another face! I am being tortured in my own domain and there is none to blame but you, and your greedy disregard for your brethren!"
Zeus swiftly rose to his feet, lighting in his eye and thunder in his voice. "You do not judge me! You have come to me for help and your accusations are wearing my patience! Speak another bitter word and I will throw you into Tartarus myself, let you rot there for a hundred ages before I even consider letting you out! Then we will see how you like the isolation of your throne!" The blond god glared until Hades broke eye contact.
Sitting once more, Zeus sipped some wine to moisten his throat. "I forgive your accusations, Hades. With such a lonely fate as yours, your discontent is understandable. You wish for company then? I shall have Hephaestus craft you a golden woman like his own--"
"Thank you, but no. A servant of gold is simply another voiceless face."
"Hmm." Zeus rubbed his golden beard thoughtfully. "Ha! If it is a constant voice you want, I'd gladly grant you Hera, if she would not part me from my manhood for it! Ha ha ha!" He laughed stentoriously, slapping the arm of his golden throne, his booming voice cracking in the cloudless skies above Greece like mysterious thunder. Hades smiled indulgently, but did not laugh.
After a moment, Zeus's laughter rumbled to a low chuckle. "I'm sorry brother, to make light of your situation. Oh, but it would be a blessing to be free of that nagging woman!" He sighed, still smiling. "Very well. Not a golden woman. Who then, did you want?"
"I... I have long admired the fair Persephone. It would be my greatest joy since the victory over the Titans to have her rule at my side."
Zeus frowned, thoughts turning. "Hmm. Persephone.... Her mother will not be pleased."
"That's why I've come to you. Please, brother, grant me the right to take her as my queen and you shall never hear a complaint from me ever again!"
Zeus studied his brother, eyes narrowed. Hades was leaning forward in earnest, his pale fingers clutching the golden arms of his chair with desperation. Never had he seen Hades so desperate before, not even when he was cornered by Typhon. He sighed. "Very well. I, as king and father, grant you the right to take the fair Persephone as your queen of the underworld, may it bring you happiness at long last. And should Demeter protest, I will handle her myself! Go, make your claim and be lonely no more!"
Hades leapt to his feet and estatically embraced his brother, showering Zeus with gratitude before rushing to his ebony chariot and the horses of fiery shadow that pulled it. Grinning, pleased with the solution, Zeus watched his brother swiftly being pulled across the sky by the shadowy steeds.
"What stupid thing have you done now, husband, to put you in such a good mood?" The biting, drawling voice came from behind him. Scowling, Zeus turned to his wife, Hera, who glared back at him imperiously.
"I should beat you for such talk, woman!" he snarled.
One perfect eyebrow raised ever so slightly, making her look even more dismissive, if that were possible. "Oh, so terrifying. Remind to faint after dinner."
Zeus's scowl deepened. "Why are you here, anyway? Isn't there some innocent creature for you to maim? Or are you looking to stir another mutiny against me?"
The venomous look she shot him filled him glee. That one got her! She opened her mouth, poison on her tongue, then snapped it shut. The sharp, hostile lines of her face smoothed, became pleasant and sweet. "Oh, nothing, dear husband. Just wanted to see how you were faring. Seeing as how busy you are, I shall take my leave." She smiled sweetly and vanished in a flare of golden flame.
Zeus grumbled curses under his breath. No doubt that vile bitch had come to tell him something important. Damn his own impatience for starting a fight with her! There was no living with her when she was in such a mood. Her verbal claws were long and tipped with poison, and she held a grudge so long, it would make Atlas's indomitable strength seem short-lived. He'll have to find some out-of-the-way place to hide until her bad mood had dissipated.
For the first time, Zeus thought that the one place she would never think to look for him would be in the Underworld. If he'd only thought of that before, he could've avoided so many of her moods until they'd blown over! Then Hades would have no need to be bitter about lonlieness. Oh, the irony!
For the second time that day, thunder boomed in a cloudless sky across all of Greece.
***
Demeter, goddess of fertility and crops, strode through the golden wheat fields, brushing her hands over the tall grain. Her fingers bestowed health and abundance to the fields, and she lavished her gift upon Greece. Her silken robes of red-gold and her hair -- literally a sheaf of golden wheat laying flat along her head and pouring down her back like normal hair -- almost made her blend into the vast field.
Glancing up from her work, her far-seeing eyes reached beyond the field and beyond the orchards and beyond the river into the forest, where her fair daughter, Persephone, was picking flowers. Demeter smiled. Her daughter was her greatest treasure and it always warmed her heart to see her.
"Having fun, dear?" Demeter whispered, her voice clearly heard across the vast distance.
Persephone smiled, and tucked a white lily in her golden irredescent hair. "Yes, mother. Don't worry, I won't go to far."
"Good. I love you, little one."
"I love you too, mother."
Smiling, her heart full of joy and contentment, Demeter continued to lavish her blessing upon the crops and then the livestock.
But Demeter wasn't the only one keeping an eye on her daughter. Not a dozen steps away from where Persephone stood, Hades watched. With the Helm of Darkness forged for him by the Cyclops, no god, mortal, or titan could see him. In such a way he had watched Persephone many times, for many long years. Now the god of the Underworld watched as Persephone made herself a crown of daisies and then a bracelet, bathed in the warm sunshine. Her white silken clothes seemed to glow, and the flowers of her crown and bracelet thrived from her very presence.
Truly, thought Hades, her beauty is unmatched. Though still too young to compete with the fully matured beauty of the other goddesses, Persephone shone with a beauty all her own, young, charming, and achingly sweet-natured. It wasn't for nothing that the mortals often called her Kore; maiden.
Persephone was about to pluck another lily, thinking to make a flower crown for her mother, when she thought she heard a rustle. Straightening, she peered into the shadows. "Hello?" All was silent except for the wind and the birds. Curious, Persephone wandered over to where she thought she heard the noise, pushing a few bushes aside to see if it was an animal of some sort.
Nothing but grass and mushrooms. The forest floor was littered with bits of twigs, but was otherwise covered in thick grass and shrubs. (note: since this is a story of how the seasons came about, there have been no season previous, so there are no dead leaves or pine needles; there has never been an autumn.) Shrugging, Persephone went back to her picking, humming a small tune of her own making.
Behind her, on the other side of the meadow, the ground yawned open, falling away into a swirling whirlpool of blackness. From the dark void, a team of starry-eyed horses made of black fire hurtled into the sunlit meadow, pulling an ebony chariot with silver chasing behind them. Holding the reigns of the black steeds was Hades, his robes of black velvet whipping around him from an otherworldly wind.
And his dark eyes were fixed on Persephone. The fell horses raced toward her.
The young goddess dropped her bundle of flowers and opened her mouth to scream for her mother. But as she drew in breath for her cry, Hades had already come upon her and, leaning out from his seat, he hooked an arm around the maiden goddess and pulled her into the black chariot. Then the flaming horses plunged into the ground that once more gaped open into swirling darkness, vanishing into the Underworld.
The black portals then closed behind the chariot and its riders, leaving only untouched meadow behind. An instant later, Demeter had stepped into the meadow with a thought, having sensed something amiss with her precious daughter. "Persephone?" she called.
No answer. "Persephone! Where are you?" Demeter walked to the edge of the meadow to peer into the shadowed-dappled forest when her foot struck something soft.
At her feet lay a bundle of white lilies, already beginning to wilt in the hot sun.
***
Hades slumped into his platinum throne, intricately carved by Hephaestus and grander than the throne of Zeus (who would've been furious had he known but he never visited anyway), and sighed miserably. He had expected that after a few weeks, the young woman would be accustomed to her fate as queen, or at least become resigned to it, as he had done long ago.
But no! She had to refuse any food or drink, no matter how delicious and rare, and then set about throwing the rich gifts at him when he tried to coax her out of the luxurious room he'd given her. For such a delicate and pretty thing, she had a temper to match Hera! Damn!
"Now what do I do?" he muttered. The eerily thin, faceless servants he created to serve him said nothing. Spun from shadows and ash -- the only things in great abundance down here in this miserable domain -- they had no mind or will except to do what he wanted.
"Should I give it another try, do you think?"
The faceless were silent.
Well, at least they always agreed with you, Hades thought gloomily. Glancing at the empty, matching platinum throne beside him, he once more thought of what he could possibly do to please the poor goddess. She'd done nothing but rant and cry and throw things at him since he brought her here. Instead of acting like a responsible queen, she created no end of misery and trouble.
Yet he preferred all of it, the tears, rants and occasional flying objects, to the unending silence before her arrival.
With this thought in mind, he felt considerably more cheerful and decided he'd try once again to get her out of her room. Though she'd been here for some weeks, she'd yet to recieve a tour of her new home.
"Prepare a warm bath," Hades commanded. "And bring some of the finest clothes fitting for a young woman of royalty." A number of the faceless dashed off into the shadows to do his bidding. They would travel all the world, underworld and Olympus to fulfill his wishes.
Within minutes, a faceless arrived, signaling that the bath was ready. Hades eagerly strode down the grand hallways of his palace, hoping this would work. Coming to the carved oaken door from behind which faint sobbing could be heard, he paused, smoothed the black velvet robes he wore, and lightly knocked.
The sobbing abruptly stopped.
"Persephone?" He waited, hoping for an answer. When none came, he went on anyways. "There is a warm bath waiting for you. Will you please come out?"
"No!"
Smothering the urge to burn the door to cinders and drag her out, he asked politely, "Please?"
"Go away!"
His paitence slipped. "This is my house! I have every right to be here."
"Then let me go!"
He rolled his eyes, mouthing an imitation of her complaints. "I can't."
"Why not!? It's your house!"
Hades cautiously opened the door and peeped around it, lest anything be thrown at him. He couldn't believe it when she had thrown the heavy oak chair clear across the room last time. It had left a remarkable crack in the wall.
Seeing only Persephone, her hair a wild mess, glaring at him from the far corner and well away from any throwable object, he opened the door and took a step inside.
"It's a long story--"
"Well, start talking!"
"Please, Persephone, you're in no state for any kind of discussion--"
She plucked a satin pillow off the bed and shredded it, flinging bits of it at him. "I DON'T CARE! I WANT TO GO HOME!" Falling to her knees, she clutched the torn remains of the feather pillow and sobbed into it.
Despite all the desruction she had wrought, Hades couldn't summon any rage against her. He'd felt the same way when he was sent here. He crossed the room and crouched next to the stricken goddess, lightly touching her shoulder. Whether from exhaustion or sorrow, she didn't pull away from him.
"Persephone, please don't cry. Please?" She raised her tear-streaked face to look at him and he smiled kindly. "I promise I will explain everything to you after you wash and you see some of the palace. Then we can talk about your stay. Deal?"
She sniffed, looked to his handsome, pleading face then to the torn pillow, then back. "Okay."
His smile lit up his face. "Thank you. I have plenty of servants to assist you." He gestured towards the doorway and several faceless stepped from the shadows. Persephone immediately shrank even further into her corner. "What's the matter?"
She glanced at the faceless indirectly, as though nervous about where to look since they had no eyes. "I don't like them. They have no faces."
Puzzled, Hades looked from the faceless to the goddess a few times before comprehending. "Oh. I'm so used to them I never thought they'd look frightening... Considering my kingdom, I'm not very good at making things." He smiled, attempting a bit of levity, but her bright green eyes flashed him a no-nonsense look. "Um. Well, I can make them look like whatever you want. Would that be better?"
"Can... can you make them look like nymphs?" Persephone loved dancing with the wild nymphs of the forests where she often went to pick flowers. They always showed her the most beautiful flowers hidden in the low spots, and carefully cultivated them for when she visited.
"Certainly." Hades waved a hand over the faceless standing in the doorway, his hand momentarily coming between Persephone and the room. When his hand passed, the faceless had turned into nymphs, although of the same shadow-and-ash color. The unnaturally stick-thin bodies had turned into lush, developed bodies, but not exactly the same as a human. Their bodies were perfectly smooth, with no nipples or belly buttons or fingernails -- just molded shadow and ash. "Better?"
Persephone silently nodded. Automatically, she said, "Thank you," as he guided her across the room towards the ash nymphs.
"My pleasure." He handed her off to the ash nymphs who led her to the bath awaiting her. Hades watched until she had turned the corner down a hallway. Then he turned to the ruined room and sighed. This would take a bit of work to repair.
***
"King Zeus." Hermes knelt before his king on the marble floor of Olympus. Messenger of the gods and the guide for souls of the deceased, Hermes was never parted from his winged sandles. His silver hair glistened like metal, as did his sly eyes. (note: mercury is his roman name. get it?) Unlike most of the other gods, who wore rich robes and fine cloth when not at war, Hermes always wore the light leather armor of a messenger. As he was wont to brag, he needed no fine accoutrements to prove his sharp wit and clever tongue, so worthy as to earn him a place in Olympus -- and no one could refute it.
Now, the divine messenger had returned from his task given to him by Zeus. What he had found was troubling and he wondered what was going on.
"Ah, Hermes. What have you found?"
"The new crops are not doing well, just as you said. Livestock are breeding very little. That's probably why there are so fewer sacrifices -- there's no new animals to replenish the herds."
Zeus frowned, digesting this news. Humans could wage war on each other all they liked, and if they asked for help, he may give it to them -- just as long as they gave proper worship and sacrifices. Now, things were becoming too desperate to spare much for sacrifices. If this continued much longer, things would become very dire. "And Demeter?"
Hermes shook his head. "Gone. I can't find her. I even searched as far into the Underworld as I dared, but I saw no sign of her."
"When did you last see her?"
"By Crete. Looking for her daughter, as usual."
Zeus grumbled. "In her search for her daughter, it appears that Demeter has set aside her duties as a goddess. She has been wholly consumed in her grief. This isn't good."
Zeus began pacing.
Hermes stared, trepidation tingling down his spine. When Zeus started pacing, things were bad indeed. "Do you know where Persephone is, Zeus?"
"Leave me, Hermes."
Ignoring his demand, the messenger pressed on. "Why not tell Demeter where she is? Put an end to all this suffering."
Zeus began pacing madly now, his robes whipping the air. "If I tell Demeter, there will be war."
"War?" Hermes snorted. "The Titans themselves have bent to the power of Olympus. War is hardly a threat."
Zeus spun around, lightning crackling from his fingertips. "It will not be so much a war than utter destruction! Such savage wrath and hate that even Olympus will shatter before it. Now leave me!"
Even as the words left his mouth, Hermes was already darting from the palace of the gods, his winged sandles carrying him into the air. He took refuge in a simple shrine of his, for he was also the god of travel, where no worshippers sang his praise. It was empty but for a few wilted flowers and stale incense. Sitting there, the usually sharp-tongued god contemplated what a totally barren world would be like and what kind of sheer destruction would make such a cold, lifeless world seem pleasant.
***
When Persephone emerged from her bath, the nymphs guided her to the main hall of Hades palace. They silent servents had provided her with luxurious silk robes the color of tiger lilies. Her golden irridescent hair had been washed, combed, then braided and coiled about her head intricately. She had thought about refusing the jewelery they offered her, then thought better of it. Hades would be in no mood to listen to her if she made him too upset. But she adamantly refused the elegant crown they'd try to put on her head. She'd never be queen of this foul, miserable place!
As that thought passed through her mind, she glanced around at the hall she was being led down. If anything, foul and miserable were not the words to describe it. She'd always believed the King of the Underworld lived in squalor and perpetual gloom. Instead, the entire palace was well lit by candles that didn't burn away. Though the marble walls were bare, they were white, not black, and pieces of statuary graced the starkness. The Greek key was painted in bright red and gold along the bottom of the walls, adding color to the whiteness. Colorful mosaic patterns edged the floor. Yet she could not help but notice that she hadn't seen a single window since she'd come here.
She shook her head, sighing. This was not what she expected. She shouldn't even be here! For the millionth time, she wished to go back home.
At that moment, however, the ash nymphs had stopped at the opening to the grand hall and were waiting for her to go in. Persephone drew herself up to her full height, stiffened her shoulders and strode inside, determined to make Hades release her.
Hades had been sitting on his throne, waiting for her, and when she entered, he jumped to his feet. "Ah, there..." He stopped in mid-stride and stared at her.
"What?" she demanded testily. If he was going to complain that she hadn't worn that crown, then she had a thing or two for him to chew on.
He blinked. "Forgive me, goddess. Your beauty has robbed me of all senses, except wonder."
It was obvious flattery, but he seemed truly sincere and gazed at her in awe. She couldn't help but smile in spite of herself.
Hades started slightly, as if just realizing how he was gaping at her. Taking her by the hand he led her toward the center of the immense hall. "Please, be welcome to my home!" He swept a hand to encompass the entire hall and for the first time she truly looked at it.
She gasped. Above her, the curved ceiling was made of solid gold and bronze and silver, all worked and hammered and engraved to detail an epic battle between the gods and the Titans. By some clever design, the smith had managed to use the different metals to shade and give depth to the scene, so that it seemed as though the hideous Titans and the brave, outnumbered Olympians would leap down from the ceiling at any moment. Here, Zeus pierced a creature with too many mouths with his thunderbolt. There, Poseidon skewered a winged monster with his trident and in yet another corner... The faint outline of a perfect depiction of Hades, wearing his Helm of Darkness as he ripped the limb off another Titan with his bare hands.
Turning in a slow circle, Persephone's gaze followed the fluted columns to the floor, where another wonder of artistry sat beneath her feet. A giant mosaic dominated the broad floor, depicting a map of a land she didn't know. After a moment, it struck her -- this was the map of the Underworld. She stared, amazed at the incredible detail, as her eyes followed the six rivers that wound around the world nine times. Here, a minute Charon waited with his boat on the Styx, and there, the Furies racked the souls of criminals with guilt in the burning city of Dis. Further on, and the green-gold fields of Elysium rolled on towards the slow waters of Lethe, where some souls drank to forget their past lives before moving to the living world once again. And beyond that... Oceanus, the Titan of the oceanic river that forever encircled the world, was so enormous she hadn't realized she'd been staring into one of his mosaic eyes until she saw the other gazing back at her.
The detail was so perfect, so lifelike, that she could almost see the fiery river, Phlegethon, seethe and boil. It was as though she was a thousand miles above the Underworld itself, in all its various glories....
She stumbled, vertigo washing over her, and felt a hand support her elbow. Grateful, she clung to the firm hand as she regained her balance.
"Realistic, isn't it?" Hades sounded proud. "Hephaestus made all of it. I paid him for every bit of it, too. It's amazing what that god can do."
Persephone was still in awe of the incredible grandure and artistry. "You paid him?"
"Of course. I am the wealthiest god of the Pantheon, after all."
She blinked. "You are?"
He gave her an odd look. "Yes. Humans give all the other gods sacrifices and wine and incense, but for me, they must pay in gold to cross the Styx." He smiled wryly. "The only reason they give me the occasional sacrifice at all is to make their gold and silver mines bountiful, after all."
"Oh." She hadn't thought of it like that before. It made sense.
"Yes, it's one of the few good things about my kingdom."
"It's amazing," she breathed. No matter how hard she tried, she could not tear her eyes away from the incredible scenes above and below her.
Hades smiled and gently took her by the hand once more. "Come. There is much more to see."
The next room he showed her could only be a dancing hall, large and circular. Yet another mosaic decorated the floor here, this time a scene full of nymphs and satyrs dancing and parading about, wrapped in gaily-colored clothes. Flowers of every shade and shape blossomed everywhere among the dancing couples, and Persephone immediately felt her heart lift at the sight. Bordering the image were depictions of the four Winds, themselves all motion and energy.
To one side of the room, in a small niche made between two widely-space columns, a slightly raised dias with a chair on it sat next to a golden lyre, waiting to be played. Persephone slipped away from Hades to admire the exquisite detail of the flowers on the floor mosaic.
"Do you like it?" Hades asked.
"It's wonderful!" She tried a few dance steps with an invisible partner before twirling, her silk robes billowing.
"I'm glad you approve." His smile faltered. "You're the first to see it since it was made."
His words drew Persephone's gaze away from the mosaic. His eyes were downcast and troubled, his brow furrowed.
It was at that moment when she realized why she was here. The main hall, the dance room, the bright luxury that fairly oozed from every seam of this palace -- all of it was meant to entice others to come, to visit, to eat well and dance, to simply stay a little while. And not one god had cared to come. Hades discontent for the Underworld was well-known, but no one, not even fair and gentle Hestia, and thought it to be caused by sheer lonlieness. Such solitude would drive any lesser god mad by now.
She felt bad for him. Truly, he got the short end of the stick when the world was divided amongst the three brothers. Though she had no intention of staying as long as necessary in this place, it didn't mean she couldn't be a gracious guest. Persephone walked over and slipped her arm in his, breaking his dark reverie. He blinked and smiled at her, as though he'd forgotten she was there. "You know, I've always wondered what Cerberus looked like," she said.
Hades laughed. "I'm not surprised. He's quite tame, you know." As he spoke, he walked with her down the halls of the palace, leading her to the enormous, carven front door.
"Really?"
"Certainly. What use is having a guard dog if it attacks even its owner? Puts up a good show to frighten people away, though. You know, this one time..."
***
Over the course of several more months, Hades introduced his realm to Persephone. They walked along the six rivers of the Underworld, all of which flowed out from under the island that his palace was located upon, and which was also the epicenter of the dark realm. In the large open forecourt of Hades' palace, they watched the steady stream of souls come to be judged by Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. They stood at the edge of the yawning chasm named dank Tartarus, so wide and deep as to split the earth and listened to the broken echoes of the Titans far below. The bitter Furies bowed and whispered praise to the two gods, and Charon's deeply lined face broke into a rare smile at the sight of Persephone, nearly overturning his boat in his haste to bow over her hand. As they toured, Persephone came to see that the Underworld had its own kind of exotic, awesome sights. Even the fiery walls of Dis -- by far the most unpleasant part -- had its own brand of beauty.
"But souls are burning in there," said Persephone. She didn't want to insult his kingdom, but she couldn't help but cringe at the screams echoing from the burning walls. The molten waters of Phlegethon flowed into the city, its current gooey and sluggish. Even from so far away, she could feel the raw blast of heat on her face.
"I'm not fond of it either," said Hades. "But this cleansing process is necessary for the souls to move on."
"Oh." She hadn't known that. There was a lot about the Underworld she'd never known. It was a system, a sanctuary, and a correctional facility all in one.
Arm in arm, they walked among the shadowy forest called the Asphodel Meadows where the faint souls of suicides and fallen soldiers and people who'd lead lives equally good and evil forever lingered. The perpetual twilight forest was filled with dim shadows of souls, all of whom were no more substantial than their hushed whispers. The leaves of the trees rustled in slight breezes, sighing in what Persephone thought as sleepy melancholy and the soft grass welcomed her to lay down and sleep. Here, in twilight shadows, the forest provided peace to those who'd never known it in life.
In the Elysian fields, Persephone's heart leapt with joy, for here was sunshine and grass and and bright flowers. Sancutuary of all who had pleased the gods and done well in life resided here. Philosophers, young children, old wives -- all kinds of people were here, chatting, playing, or simply resting in the shade. Some, she saw, were drinking from a slow, foggy river, after which their eyes went blank and the souls faded away.
"The river Lethe," said Hades, following her curious gaze. "It's properties make one completely forget everything. A prudent measure to take before the souls go back to the living world. Can you imagine a newborn baby start reciting poetry as fluently as a scholar?"
She'd laughed.
Later that day, as Cerberus's three heads delicately licked her palms to get all the crumbs of his daily treat, which tickled and made her laugh, she realized that the Underworld does have its own kind of dark majesty. A hidden, mysterious beauty like Nyx, goddess of night, whom not even Zeus dared cross when Hypnos had flown to her arms for protection. But it was nothing compared to the vibrant living world. Homesickness smothered her like a wet blanket, cold, worthless, and only making her feel more miserable. She longed for her flowers, and often found herself in the dancing room, trying to will the mosaic images into reality, but she had no power like the other gods did. And more than ever, she worried about her mother, wondered how she was faring without her daughter.
Sensing her disquiet, Hades invited her to a dance every night, and she always accepted. It turned out his servants were quite good musicians. They talked endlessly it seemed, Hades eager to hear everything that came from her fair lips. He'd even tried to fashion a garden for her, but it wasn't going well. While fruit and wheat would grow, flowers refused to thrive and bloom, deigning to grow, but remaining colorless, bloomless things. Still, he kept trying.
He really is very kind, Persephone thought one night, snuggling into the plush feather pillows of her bed. Everything about him and his kingdom that she'd heard was wrong. If he had been a bit rough and surly during her first weeks here, it was only from the awkward gait of rusty conversational skills that had gone lax over centuries of isolation and neglect. Once she'd gotten to know him, he proved infinitely gentle and quite charming in his own way.
Whereas most gods put on a display of their strength or beauty or wit, Hades had never the audience to make such a show for and did not do so now. There was no brusque display of his authority or stilted conversation. He spoke naturally and relaxed, with none of the affectation of superiority or formal politeness that she'd encountered with all the gods of Olympus, save her mother. It was refreshing to speak so casually with a fellow god.
Once, she'd even been comfortable enough to ask him why he didn't grow a beard, as was fashionable. Rubbing his smooth jaw, Hades glanced around as if there were anyone around to here him, then leaned forward and said, "I honestly cannot. I look like tree that has half it's leaves blown off. Not even Cerberus wanted to see my ugly face when I came to feed him, and that's saying something!" Even now, thinking back on that, Persephone laughed.
Of course, it was no secret that he was hopelessly in love with her. Persephone smiled into her pillow. In ten months, she'd come to genuinely care for Hades, if not love him. At least, so she thought. It was hard to judge warmth that washed over her whenever he gently laid a kiss on her forehead as something greater than mere fondness. Yes, that must be it; she was quite fond of him was all.
But her time here was like a dream, a trip to somewhere unexpected that turned out to be rather nice. The thought of staying here forever, never to see the world she'd loved and treasured, was more than she could bear. It was so different from everything she'd known! Despite the wonder and strange beauty of the Underworld, it was still so dark, stuck in perpetual twilight. She longed for true sunlight, fresh wind, soft grass and the beautiful scent of flowers!
All at once, her pleasant thoughts toward Hades crumbled under a tidal wave of homesickness and bitter longing. Tears of rage and sorrow streamed down her face, soaking into the pillow. She cursed him for bringing her here, away from all that she loved, just to allieviate his own lonesome existance. What right did he have to make her share in his misery? He probably never loved her except for her usefulness in breaking the boredom. And if he did love her than he was a fool, deluding only himself.
She imagined him toiling in the flowerless garden, and she cursed his stupid, futile efforts. Didn't he know that nothing beautiful, be it flowers or love, could ever bloom in this kingdom of death?
By this time, she started openly crying for her home, overwhelmed by the idea of never seeing anything from her previous life ever again, bitter sobs racking her entire body.
She didn't know how he knew but he always came when she cried, when all she knew was thorough misery and longing for home. He quietly entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on her shaking shoulders. Her sobs lessened as she looked at him; then sat up and welcomed his embrace, crying into his shoulder.
Finally, exhausted, Persephone had fallen asleep. When she woke in the morning -- or what she thought was morning, for there were no sun, moon or stars to mark the passage of time -- her eyes fell upon a glorious, most wondrous sight. At that moment, she loved Hades immensely.
It must have taken him all night to find them in living world, but there, sitting on a small round table in a silver vase, were bright flowers.
The only thing of her lost home that he could give her.
***
In Olympus, Zeus clamped his hands over his ears. "I know, I know, I KNOW!" The prayers for help, trembling off weak and dying lips, were becoming incessent. The crops had failed entirely and everything that lived was suffering along with Demeter. The world was on the brink of death, withering away at his very feet! It had to end.
Zeus sighed. He hoped it wouldn't come to this. If he refused Hades request for a queen, his wrath would be apocalyptic. If he didn't demand Persephone returned to her mother, Demeter would let the world fade away to nothing. Yet no choice was left to him. "Hermes."
A quicksilver flash, and the sly god stood before him. "You called?"
Zeus scowled at him. "I need you to take a message to Demeter and then to my brother..."
***
When Persephone emerged from her room, wearing silk clothes the color of forget-me-nots, she found Hades sitting alone at the head of the large table occasionally whisked into the grand hall for dining. It was long enough to seat a hundred people.
One god sat there drinking alone. In front of him sat a silver bowl full of dark red orbs she didn't recognize.
Walking over, she deliberately took the seat to his right, the seat of the queen. Before, she'd always sat on the left, the seat for the guest of honor. Her reward was instantaneous -- the heavy, brooding mood around him vanished, and he beamed at her.
"You're looking beautiful, as always, Persephone."
"Thank you for the flowers!" She delicately touched the one she wore in her hair, and it seemed to glow.
"My pleasure." He also reached out to brush the flower with his fingertips, then let his hand drop and gently tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. It made her blush.
"What are you eating?" She leaned forward, peering at the red orbs curiously.
"Ah. My greatest vice, I'm afraid. Pomegranate seeds."
"Hmm. May I try one?"
"Absolutely! Everything here is yours to take. Help yourself. I don't think you've had anything to eat since you came here but ambrosia."
Persephone nodded and delicately lifted one firm seed. She studied it, holding it up so the light would shine through the dark red flesh. An odd feeling laid its icy fingers on her neck, like an omen breathing on her back. Then, shrugging, she popped it into her mouth and bit down. Her eyes widened. The rich juice oozed around her teeth and over her tongue, bathing it in a sweet and tangy flavor that tingled down her throat. "Wow." She pointed at the bowl full of the juicy seeds. "Those are delicious."
Hades grinned. "Aren't they? It was happy accident that I found them all." As he told her the story of how he discovered the fruity treats, Persephone listened intently, helping herself to a few more of the red seeds. They left dark stains the color of rose madder on her fingers.
"And ever since then, I've been unable to resist them," Hades finished.
Licking juice off her lips, Persephone said, "You know, I've been thinking over all the wonderful things you have here. Maybe you should throw a party for the gods."
He arched one dark eyebrow. "A party?"
"Yes. It would be wonderful, don't you think?" She stood, took a few steps away from her chair. "Imagine this whole room full with all the gods of Olympus! The feast would be incredible even by our divine standards! Over there, Apollo and Artemis could play -- you know they make such a beautiful duet -- and over there would be the four winds, to keep everything nice and cool. It would get warm with all those gods in here. Athena would sit here, and Poseidon way over there -- they don't get along at all ever since that Gorgon debacle." She went on, describing the seating arrangements and where the certain dishes should be placed -- baked eel over there, roast boar here -- getting so involved that she didn't even notice when the table had vanished, waved away by Hades.
"And then, just before everyone gets too drunk, we could have some nice dancing!" Illustrating, Persephone held her arms as though with an invisible partner and began to swirl about the room, humming one of her own tunes.
Suddenly, Hades filled the void beneath her hands, smoothly sliding into the dance steps with her. They smiled at each other. This close, Persephone realized that his eyes were not black at all, but a deep sapphire blue. "I must admit, dear Persephone, you are a much better party planner that I could hope to be. But how can you be so sure that they will all come?"
"Oh, they'll come. They wouldn't want to insult one of the big three." She patted his cheek. "Or you can always say that if they don't come you'll accidentally lose a titan or two. That'll be sure to bring them scurrying. And you can bet they'll be very polite guests."
Hades lips twitched. He shot her a pained look then burst out laughing. "Ah, dear Persephone," he said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "I love the way you think! Could you imagine the look on their faces? Hahaha!"
As they both stood in the grand hall, laughing for no real reason other than it had been a long time since either of them had laughed, Hermes zipped into the hall like a silver flash. Hades' laughter abruptly cut short. "Hermes." The name was cold and polite on the undergod's tongue. "You've never come so far before. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Hermes licked his lips, his silver eyes darting to Persephone, whom Hades gently manuvered behind him. "I bring an order from Zeus."
Hades arched a sardonic eyebrow. "You finally manage to brave coming this far into the underworld and here I was expecting you to tell me something new."
Hermes again wet his lips with a dry tongue. "Demeter has been mourning for her lost daughter and has set aside all duties as goddess to search for her. The world is sterile -- crops will not grow; children are not born, either human or animal. The world is dying. In light of this, Zeus has commanded that Persephone is to be returned to her mother immediately."
The instant the words left Hermes mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Involuntarily, he rose several feet into the air, the winged sandles beating frantically.
The air around Hades darkened, shadows crawling over his black robes and radiating from him like fell lightning. The look in his eye promised black murder and red death. Hermes quailed, damning himself for recalling that among mortals, it was common practice to kill or maim the messenger that carried ill news. Or both.
"If Zeus breaks his promise to me," Hades began. The voice of the god carried a dark echo to it, like the echoes that come back from the depths of Tartarus, eerily distorted and malformed, resonating in the very earth and walls. "He can do it himself, instead of sending the psychopompos to do it for him!" Hades flicked his hand toward the messenger god, and whips of ash and shadow twined around one foot. The wings of the sandles beat wildly as Hermes twisted in attempt to escape. With one more gesture, Hades threw open the massive front doors then flung Hermes through the doorway, tumbling head over heels in the air. "I've been cheated once too often," Hades said, so low that only Persephone could here. Then he slammed the doors shut with a blink of an eye.
"Hades..." Persephone laid a hand on his shoulder, making him turn toward her. The black, writhing aura around him faded, his expression softened. He tenderly cupped her face in his hands.
"Of all the glories and beauty of my kingdom, the only one I love is you."
She blushed, put her hands on his. "Be careful."
The doors blew open suddenly, setting Hades' robes whipping in a wind that carried the biting scent of ozone. "Brother," said a booming voice.
Instead of turning immediately, Hades let his eyes linger on Persephone for a few moments longer, before finally facing his brother.
Zeus had donned his armor of brilliant electrum and had the purple-white lightning bolt in hand. A sky blue aura surrounded him, and several jags of lighting radiating behind him gave him the appearance of wings, or a crown. Every time the shifting electricity had settled in one shape, it would seem to shift once more in Persephone's eyes. Behind him, Hermes backed up even further, his silver eyes flashing from Zeus to Hades.
Hades smiled pleasantly and spread his arms wide. "Welcome at last, dear brother, to my humble abode." He bowed, the picture of courtesy.
Zeus stayed strictly to business. "Release Persephone immediately."
The pale god smiled, bitter and wrathful. The writhing shadow aura rose around him once more. As Persephone watched, the shadowy ropes around Hades colasced into sinuous ribbons, a dark mirror image of Zeus, again giving him the appearance of having wings one second, and framing him in the shape of an enormous crown the next. Simultaneously, his armor materialized on him from seemingly nowhere, a molten curiass that resembled the burning waters of Phlegethon, and bracers and greaves of black granite. Gauntlets and boots of razor sharp obsidian, each digit carved with an extended razor-sharp talon, clacked brittley as he flexed his fingers and feet.
The sibling gods faced each other, one of brilliant light, the other of ashen darkness, evenly matched.
"Come to cheat me of any joys that you so freely indulge in, Zeus?" He spat the name. "Have you not taken enough from me already?"
Zeus's rage manifested in the arcs of lighting behind him, the bolts unleashing at once, producing a deafening roar. "She must be returned and I will see to it that she is. Give her to me willingly, and I will spare you, brother. I have no choice."
"No choice?" Hades' voice softened in disbelief and the shadowy wings quieted their ceaseless writhing. Hermes looked hopeful for an instant before Hades spoke again, with the sharp blade of rage edging his words. "No choice? But you are king of the gods! I was given no choice when you gave me this kingdom of the dead! I had no choice but to bow to you and your bolt when you decreed that I would forever live in the shadow and dust of the Underworld! No brother," his face twisted into a sneer, "You've always made the choices and I've always suffered for each one made. And now you chose to take my queen from me?"
The dark god suddenly shifted his stance, taking the one of a fighter, obsidian-sheathed hands held before him, one hand stiffed into a blade pointing at Zeus, the other curled into a fist.
"Then come and claim her!"
A single instant stretched for eternity, a dangerous lull before the storm long enough to draw a single breath...
Zeus launched his bolt at Hades, a purple-white beam of devestation streaking across the great hall. Hades' open hand twitched -- and the bolt deflected off the obsidian gauntlet just centimeters away from Hades himself. Instead, behind him, his incredible throne vanished into a hissing puddle.
Hades glanced at the throne then cast Zeus a look full of contempt. "You'll have to do better than that, brother."
Zeus' eyes widened in disbelief -- and Hades had already crossed the hall and his fist connected solidly with Zeus's cheek, the razored stone of his gauntlets cutting to the bone. Roaring in pain and outrage, Zeus swung his bolt like a sword, but Hades blocked it with a granite bracer, grabbed his brother by the throat and flung him into the nearest wall. Zeus regained his feet just in time to prevent an obsidian boot from diving into his side.
After a moment of fierce grappling, Zeus pushed his brother away at last. Hades stumbled back a few steps, trying to recover his balance. Taking advantage of the momentary weakness, Zeus raised his bolt above his head and brought it cleaving down on Hades head.
Persephone gasped.
Hades looked up and caught the bolt above his head between his palms. Before Zeus could register that his attack had literally been caught, Hades stone-sheathed feet whipped out, kicked Zeus twice in the chest with the left, every blow unleashing an incredible burst of raw power, then a sweeping right caught him in the side of the face, knocking the King away. By some luck, Zeus held onto the bolt, but he leaned against the wall, dazed.
Zeus rapidly blinked his eyes to clear them, saw Hades rear his fist back, and spun away quickly. Hades' fist smashed a hole in the wall big enough for a war chariot to ride through with room to spare. A cloud of rock dust enveloped Hades. Zeus shot lighting from his bolt, and the crack of energy caught Hades full in the chest, sent him flying clear across the grand hall, smashing him halfway up the high wall. A second bolt followed instantly, but struck only the bare marble -- Hades had simply used the wall to launch himself towards his brother again, fist first.
Persephone watched the two gods battle, awed by their awesome power and speed. So caught up were the gods in the battle, none noticed Hermes sidling around the side towards the maiden goddess. Persephone had completely forgotten about him until his arms closed around her waist and the room blurred as he dashed for the door.
Screaming most unmaiden-like epithets, Persephone clawed and bit at Hermes. Their dash for the front door abruptly halted as Hermes literally found his arms full of outraged goddess. Persephone couldn't get any room to properly strike him, so she made do with vicious bites and gouges, leaving ragged, bloody claws marks on Hermes' face as she went for his eyes. To think that he'd snatch her away like some plunder, as though she were little more than loot to be bargained with! The utter dismissal of her ability to act and decide for herself filled Persephone with rage. Calling on an unnatural strength she'd never had before coming to the Underworld, she tore into Hermes as much as she was able -- and the damage she inflicted was nothing to shrug off. Though easily fifty feet off the ground, she bit at his hands, jabbed viciously with her elbows, anything to make him release her.
Even so, she could only do so much without any room to do more than curse, claw and bite. It slowed the messenger god, but, cursing heartily back at her, Hermes was still swiftly heading for the door.
Suddenly, their forward movement halted again for a second time. Twisting around in midair, Hermes looked down and followed the obsidian gauntlet on his foot to the furious face of Hades, shadowy ribbons spread like wings behind him.
Hermes made a sound.
It sounded like "Eeep!"
Then Hermes was gone so fast it surpassed even his own prodigal speed as Hades flung him to the floor far below. Then Hades turned, caught Persephone around the waist before she could fall more than a few inches, deflected two more lighting bolts with his stony palms, spun away from three more, one after the other, and pushed off a fluted column to land behind Persephone's platinum throne. All this done as one fluid movement flowing seamlessly into another while in midair.
Hades gently deposited her behind the second gleaming throne. "Stay here." He was already gone by the time she nodded. Looking down at her hands, Persephone's eyes widened as she beheld the twilight-colored aura of power that unfolded from her hands like flower petals. Never before had she held such power as a simple maiden goddess of the living world. The thrill of power was exhilerating and gave her a feeling she'd never known before -- freedom. At last, the power to enforce her wishes, and not be victim to the smallest poisoned whim of every god in the sky.
The very god who'd given her that power by making her queen of the Underworld was in a pitched battle with Zeus. Thunder cracked so loudly it shook the foundations of the Underworld, and it struck Hades like a physical blow, throwing him backwards. Bracing his feet on the floor, wrists crossed before him protectively, Hades finally slid to a halt.
Zeus raised his bolt -- Hermes grabbed Hades by the hair, yanking his head back -- and Hades ducked into a swift crouch, watching the lighting bolt smash into Hermes' studded leather curiass. The messenger god smashed against the wall near the thrones, and dropped, moaning. His job description never mentioned anything about this!
Rolling over, clutching his chest, he spotted Persephone standing in the shadow of the throne, looking at him with dark green eyes.
Springing to his feet, he grabbed her wrist and had made it no more than five feet into the air before Persephone jerked him back down again. Blinking, he gaped at the young goddess, his mind just having time to register the twilight-colored aura of power flowing over her. Immediately, Hermes summoned a thousand needles of silver light -- his own color of power -- and sent them flying at her.
Incredibly, she deflected nearly all of them, but she had discovered her powers just a scant few seconds ago, whereas Hermes had time to hone his powers for centuries. One of the silver needles lodged in her bare shoulder, drawing ichor -- godsblood. A slight cry burst from her -- more from insult than injury at her first wound. Hermes quickly formed silver ropes from his outstretched hands that wound tightly around the goddess, pinning her arms to her sides. Furious, Persephone pushed back against the glittering silver ropes. Hermes was amazed by the sheer ferocity of her strength, nearly overwhelmed by her power, but he used her unfamiliarity with it to his advantage, and maintained his hold on her.
She cursed at him and her own inexperience with power. Hermes merely smirked arrogantly as he dragged her down the hallway behind the columns.
Halfway down the hall, forming a truly withering insult on her lips, Persephone opened her mouth to lash Hermes when the silver ropes around her slithered to the ground, their strength gone. She blinked; with one swift chop of his hand, Hades had severed the silver ropes. Hermes threw up a silver shield around him, stopping Hades' fist inches from his face.
But the shield did not prevent Hades' foot from connecting solidly between the messenger god's legs. Hermes gasped and crumpled to the floor, clutching his godhood.
A lighting bolt shot out of nowhere and struck Hades in the middle of his back. The dark god arched his back as thousands of volts of electricity arced through is body, a soundless scream frozen in his throat. He spun around and managed to deflect another bolt, gasping for breath, but two more struck him in quick succession. Wounded, he fell to one knee, panting heavily.
Unhurriedly, Zeus came to stand before his brother, lighting bolt at the ready. "Have you had enough, brother? Or must I beat some more sense into you?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Hades acted. With his left forearm, he knocked the bolt to the side, and the lighting blew an enormous hole in the wall behind him. Rising to a mid crouch, he grabbed Zeus by the back of one knee, and brought the other hand down on Zeus's shoulder like a hammer -- as a result, the blond god fell heavily to the floor on his back. Moving nearly as fast as one of Zeus's bolts, Hades grabbed Zeus by the collar of his electrum curiass, swung him around his head with one hand then threw him viciously toward the open doors of the great hall.
Zeus managed to make a safe landing, and even threw a last-second lighting bolt at Hades. The dark-haired god blocked the bolt but the force of the attack knocked him back to a sliding stop before the remaining throne. In comparison to how Zeus had landed, he was quite graceful. Staggering to his feet, Zeus glared at his brother, the lighting in his hand no match for that in his eyes.
Hades smirked, dark and bloodthirsty. "You've claimed kingship over all the gods with a weapon that no monster could withstand. I fought only with my hands and all the strength that I posess, in the war against the Titans. Toss aside your weapon, brother, and see how you fare without it against me."
Zeus snorted, too soft to be heard by Hades. He knew very well that he wouldn't last five minutes against his brother without the bolt. But he wasn't getting very far with it, either. "I warn you! I will not lessen my blows for you any longer, brother!"
Hades snorted dismissively, audible to his sibling, and he settled into the same stance that he had when the fight began. "Bring it."
Zeus raised his lightingbolt and poured his power into it. As the bolt swelled, becoming brighter than the sun itself, Hades ran toward his brother, dodging the random lashes of electricity that escaped the bolt.
Persephone dashed out from the column she had crouched behind and ran into the middle of the hall, between the two powerful gods. "Stop!" she commanded. Neither one halted his attack. Glancing to the side, she knew that Zeus would unleash his attack before Hades would reach him. Not even a god would be able to take such a blow and live.
Fear grabbed her throat. "I SAID STOP!" she shouted, just as the enormous bolt left Zeus's hands. Hades leapt into the air to meet it, his fist cocked back, ready to batter the bolt away.
But the two never met. A wall that shimmered with all the scintillating colors of twighlit absorbed the bolt harmlessly. Both the great gods blinked, caught by surprise. In the moment of their confusion, Persephone captured both of them in shimmering prisons of her power; the brothers found themselves standing in a twilight-colored cage the shape of a half-open lotus flower.
Persephone fell to her knees, the sudden drain on her powers almost overwhelming. "Stop," she gasped.
Suddenly, on a rush of wind that carried the scent of rich earth and growing things, Demeter appeared in the great hall of the palace. Seeing her daughter half-collapsed on the floor, she gave a cry of wild joy and swept up her lost child in her arms, sobbing with elation. Almost too tired to move, Persephone willed her limbs into action and returned the fierce embrace. Looking over her mother's shoulder, she saw Hermes smile, pleased with himself. Standing next to him were Aphrodite, Athena, Hepheastus and Poseidon, looking on curiously.
The battling gods forgot their fight, weapons hanging limply at their sides. Around them, the twilight lotus prison shimmered, steadily fading as Persephone ceased focusing on it.
"I've found you, I've found you, oh my sweet daughter, I've found you..." Demeter chanted over and over, too overcome to do anything else. For several minutes, mother and daughter, finally reunited, held each other as though afraid to lose a precious treasure.
Suddenly, Demeter stood, arms locked around her daughter. "I'm taking you home." It was as much a command to the brothers as it was a promise to Persephone.
"No!" exclaimed Hades, taking a step forward, hand out as though to restrain the goddess.
"Yes!" boomed Zeus, brandishing his lighting bolt at his brother. "She must return with her mother."
"NO!" The viciousness in Hades' voice shocked even Demeter, even as caught up in the joy of finding her daughter at last as she was. Fists clenched, obsidian gauntlets crackling against each other, Hades would not look at any of them for a long time. Then, "As queen, she must stay here."
"Never!" Demeter, though a peaceful goddess, summoned the green-gold energies of her divine power in readiness for battle. "She is not yours to take! She is my daughter! And if you try to take her from me again, the world will be little more than a cold and lifeless rock, for I shall never bestow my blessing upon the earth ever again!"
A tremor of fury visibly passed through Hades. "And if you keep her from her husband, then the gates of the Underworld will be sealed shut forever! The souls of the dead and damned will be flooding Olympus before the end!"
Demeter was livid with rage. "If you think that I will allow my daughter to be kept here to be abused and raped by a foul creature like you --"
"He didn't do anything like that."
All the gods' attention suddenly turned toward the young goddess dressed in silk robes the color of forget-me-nots. Loosening her mother's nearly suffocating embrace, Persephone said, "He never hurt me at all."
Demeter simply could not reconcile the idea. "What?"
"If anything he's only ever been very kind and generous to me." Persephone held her mother's green-gold eyes, searching for a spark of understanding. Seeing none, Persephone sighed and explained in a low voice so only her mother could hear. "Mother, he loves me too much to ever harm me." She paused. "He's very lonely, you know. I'm the first god to come here ever since Hephaestus built it." At last, an understanding and pity showed in Demeter's eyes, but not nearly as great as her determination to take her daughter back to the living world.
Stepping back from her mother, Persephone said so that all could here, "It is only right that I should stay here, as queen."
Hades' face lit up brilliantly with wild hope.
"No!" shouted Zeus and Demeter.
Aphrodite sighed impatiently, fingering her golden girdle.
Athena shook her head and looked thoughtful.
Poseidon, stoic as ever, did nothing.
"Daughter." Demeter's voice slid into an aching, pleading tone. "Do you want to stay down here forever? No sun, no wind, no flowers? Is that what you want?"
"Of course that isn't what I want!" The gods were taken aback by the outburst. Persephone glared at them, unaware of tears just making their way down her face. "You think I haven't missed my home? That I haven't longed for sunshine? This place is so different from everything I've loved!" Furious, she dashed the tears away that blurred her vision. "But here I mean something. Here, I am more than just a pretty object to be pursued by every heart-sick god," she turned her glare towards Hermes and Hephaestus, two of several gods that had tried to claim her beauty as theirs, "Or something to be guarded from any life of my own that I might lead." Now she met her mother's eyes. Guilty, Demeter looked away -- it was true, she had sheltered her daughter from all the other gods, rarely allowing her to talk with them for long.
"It is only here where I make a difference. What use is a god that does nothing?" Persephone waited for an answer, knowing that none would come.
Demeter sobbed. "My daughter..." The great goddess was so wretched, so distraught that Persephone wavered where she stood, caught between two threats, two worlds, two dire needs.
Hermes cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way. Is it not the ruling of the Grey Fates that those who eat the food of the underworld must stay there?"
Demeter swung around to face her brother. "Is this true, Zeus? Must she stay?"
Zeus rumbled something undoubtedly unpleasant in his throat. "Yes, yes it is true."
Ignoring Demeter's cry of despair, Hermes asked, "Persephone, what foods have you eaten since you've come to the Underworld?"
The young goddess was mystified. "Nothing, only ambrosia and nectar."
Hermes arched a silver eyebrow. "Nothing at all? Are you certain?"
"Yes, I'm sure--" Memory dawned. Thick, sweet juice, spreading over her tongue. Raising her hand, she stared at the rose madder of pomegranate juice that still stained her fingertips. Glancing at Hermes, she thought he smiled slyly, silver eyes glinting mischeiviously. How long had he watched and waited before bursting into the hall? she wondered. One could never tell with a trickster god. "No. I ate a few pomegranate seeds."
"How many?"
"I'm not sure. Only a few."
"That can't possibly be enough to keep here here!" Demeter shouted. "Can it?"
"Every god and goddess has sworn an oath of the Styx to abide by the laws set by the Fates," said Athena. "If she has eaten dark food, then she must stay."
"Perhaps..." rumbled Poseidon. "There can be a compromise?"
Zeus thoughtfully rubbed his golden beard with one hand. "Persephone will stay in the Underworld--"
Demeter caught her breath. Hades bowed his head, let his armor dissolve away much the way it had appeared. The shadowy aura and the ribbon-like wings faded.
"--But only for as many months as the number of seeds she has eaten," Zeus finished. "When her time is up, she will stay with her mother, then she will stay with my brother for her allotted time, for each year until the end of the world. It will be done."
Not exactly what either party wanted, but it was good enough. Once again, Demeter swept up her daughter in her embrace. "Persephone, dear girl, you're coming home!" The tension that had strained the air vanished suddenly. Athena and Aphrodite went to congratulate Demeter, Zeus sighed and wondered when his younger brother had learned to hit so damn hard, and Hephaestus and Poseidon praised Hermes for his cleverness and quick thinking.
Apart from the rest, Hades watched, alone.
From the center of the chatting gods, Persephone wrenched herself away from her mother's clutches and ran for her husband before she could be caught again. All eyes watched as the two unlikely gods met with open arms. Holding his queen at last, Hades sighed and closed his eyes.
Demeter shot Aphrodite a suspicious look, a thousand accusations in that one glance. Aphrodite gave the earth goddess her most innocent expression. "What? Don't look at me, I had nothing to do with this. I personally never thought that love could ever bloom in this dank, horrid place." The bite of her words was lessened somewhat by the fact that she was openly admiring the beautiful floor and rich ceiling, however. "Is... is that real gold up there?"
The wheat-haired goddess sighed. "I can't fathom why she wants to stay here. Nothing can ever grow in this awful, dark place." She made a most unbecoming face, screwing up her delicate features in a mask of disgust.
Athena watched as Hades lifted Persephone off her feet and spun around, the robes of both gods flapping wildly. "Perhaps you're both wrong. Hermes mentioned he saw something that looked like a flower garden in the inner court, you know." Persephone was saying something that obviously worried her, laying a concerned hand on Hades' face, but he smiled and shook his head, reassuring her. "Who can say for sure," Athena said. "Everything is impossible until it actually happens. We'll just have to wait and see."
***
Shortly after Zeus had passed his judgement, Persephone returned with her mother to the living world above. Bereft of Demeter's blessing, the world had become sterile and unforgiving, allowing neither plants to grow, nor animals and people to breed. Yet as Persephone set foot under the glaring sun, hand in hand with her mother, she noticed a palpable change in the temperature. It became temperate and gentle, soothing new green buds onto tree branches, stirring the blood of human and animal alike.
For the first time, the weather and temperature had changed drastically, allowing new life to emerge from darkness. Not unlike her own life, thought Persephone. It wasn't long before the humans, who always loved inventing new things, had created a name for the inexplicable change that had gripped the world. They called it 'seasons.'
The hostile weather had softened, became hospitable, and the lands were soon flowing with rich harvests and plentiful flocks. Demeter lavished her blessing upon the land, and Persephone once more raced the nymphs in dewy grass. Every day, she made a crown of flowers for her and her mother. It was wonderful.
But for every day passed, Persephone remembered more and more the shadowy kingdom below. She had increasing dreams, both asleep and awake, of the forest called Asphodel Meadows and the peaceful rustle of the trees there. Thoughts of playful Cerberus -- who really was barely more than a giant, three-headed puppy -- forcibly came to mind whenever she heard a dog bark, or a wolf howl with its kin. Even the burning walls of Dis occupied her thoughts, for she knew that the unpleasant process was necessary to cleanse souls of their evils, and the fell beauty of Dis was unlike anything in all the realms of the gods.
At night, she often wondered how her husband was faring without her.
The season wore on. When the last sheaf of grain had been reaped and stored, when the young of the livestock had finally managed some control of their limbs, worry began to nag Demeter. The time for Persephone to leave was rapidly approaching, and Demeter could not help but worry, as mothers are wont to do. The winds suddenly took a hard, biting edge to them, Boreas and Notus both warning the lands of what was to come.
Finally, as mother and daughter watched a beautiful sunset by the sea, it came time for Persephone to return to her throne. He had made no sound as he rose from the underground realm, but Persephone knew he was there. Looking over her shoulder, she greeted Hades with a genuine smile.
Demeter followed her daughter's gaze and her face fell. "Not yet... you've been here for such a short while..."
Persephone hugged her mother comfortingly. "Don't worry, mother. I'll be back before you know it."
The older goddess only sighed. There was nothing she could do, and she knew it. Reluctantly, she let Persephone slide away from her, white silk robes brushing through her fingertips. Persephone went to Hades willingly. When she was close enough, she gently laid the flower crown she'd made for him on his head. He took her hands in his and, as he'd done several times before, placed a kiss on her forehead. "I love you," he said.
Standing on the very tips of her toes, she repeated his gesture. "I love you too."
His smiled and spread his arms. "Ready?"
Persephone looked over to her mother. Tears were already streaming down Demeter's face and she flipped her hand in an awkward goodbye, trying not to act like a completely sentimental fool.
Persephone smiled at Hades. "Ready."
He drew her close, a loving embrace. The young goddess leaned into him and buried her face in the black velvet robes he wore. "Hold on tight," he said softly. She nodded and closed her eyes, tightening her arms around him.
Demeter watched as her beloved daughter sank into the black void, locked in Hades' tight grip. A bit of light wrapped in darkness. Around her, the trees burst into flaming colors, echoing the goddess's grief.
***
Deep in the underworld, where neither love nor flowers ever bloomed, beyond fierce Cerberus and weary Charon and the clamoring souls, past the dim waters of the Styx, the no-man's land called Erebus, and the sighing trees of Asphodel Meadows; past the stream of souls awaiting judgement, and the molten walls of Dis; past the bright fields of Eylsium and the other five rivers of the underworld; past the three impassive judges that sat before an enormous palace, and the great hall made by Hephaestus himself, past all the rooms and breezy corridors, into the large inner court.
There, in the garden among rows and rows of a flowerless plants, a red rose bloomed. A bit of light wrapped in darkness.
Or maybe, it was the other way around.
END
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