Title: Secret

Chapter Summary: Hera/Hades/Persephone triangle from the Queen of the underworld's POV


Chapter 1:

Everyone has secrets.

That was the motto of the Olympian Gods. Some of them are not that secret and some of them have stories to tell that no one would expect. But the fact was they had them.

And so, maybe it is recommending for each and every one to think through them first, try to see through the mask they show everyone and underneath the superficial side and maybe, just maybe, you can see what their secret is. But some of them have secrets, so great and vast; that they are hidden with such care and buried with so much pretend that it is beyond you to find them out alone.

And for the start, we would use one that could show exactly what is meant. It is a love story, well as much as love stories existed in the Greek mythology. It is a story, which ending is close to a happy ending, something rare as many know. At first glance, you would think of their story as pure and innocent and romantic and the couple, you would deem as the most happy and stable and close to perfect couple among the gods, almost like in a fairytale.

The story is of course the Rape of Persephone.

But on the contrary to what you have believed, it is not Hades, who is the main person for today. It the other person, the 'victim' of the story and the other half of Hades, as many call it.

Persephone.

The daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of harvest. The goddess, who was once only known for being the goddess of growth, before ascending the throne of the underworld and thus becoming known as the wife of Hades and Queen of the realm of dead. The same goddess, whose name had been Core, before the very same accession.

So, what secret could sweet Persephone probably hide?

Everyone assumed that she was happy and she enjoyed the best marital life among the brothers. And she even loved Hades back, that was no secret. And if you asked her, then she would even tell you the same. She should and did consider herself lucky; she ended up with a good husband, even if they had a rocky start. It seemed that none of the brothers were taught how to properly court a woman, but it was not as if they had a good role model to offer, actually, they had none. Anyway, compared to his brothers, Hades was the one with true husband material. He was considerate and sweet, he was understanding and never pressuring her into anything and his best trait, the one he could beat his brothers in, was fidelity.

It was the way he smiled, when she, the other woman, entered the room and the way, she could manage him to do things no one else could and even feel. That stupid woman had never been able to do those things. And despite the many token of love he whispered in her ear, the many gifts he put into her hands and despite the continuing oaths of love he made her, she knew that she could never be compared to the other woman.

When her name was mentioned, he would smile and praise and compliment her.

When her voice was whispered, he would twist his head into the direction it came from, only to turn away quickly, acting as though nothing had ever transpired, confusing the others around him, as they wonder why of all sudden, he turned so quiet, quieter than normal, so consumed in his own thoughts. Just as she herself wondered, if anyone ever noticed the short flash of regret behind his eyes.

If the time came for her to return to her mother, he would take her in his arms, whispering her words of reassurances and planting kisses on her forehead. And when she would come back, he would take her in his arms once again, and once again, whispering into her ear of how he missed her and other consuming words.

She would feel the happiness and relief rise inside her, knowing and having seen the passion he bore for her and that it would never wave and in this small moment, she would believe that it will always be hers, as it had been always her in the past.

However, those small moments of happiness and serenity, will soon be disturbed, once the other enters the room. She would stand beside him, her eyes too, landing for one second on her, but on the contrary to him, she would look back to him and this was when she would notice the small smile that had crept on his face. This smile of his was rare; it was of a kind that she had never seen before. And she would also notice that his eyes never left her. It made the impression that it was natural order for his eyes to be glued on her and both women would go around, smiling and pretending, as if they never took notice of this, as if they were as oblivious as men. The moment she disappeared from his sight, intentionally or not she did not know, his eyes would frantically search indirectly for her. He was calling for her, even if no one besides her noticed it.

No one did.

And she would act, as though she belonged to them, too, but even if she tried to act like this, and believe me, she tried, yet the ache in her heart prevented her from believing her lie, always reminding her that the pain she was feeling, was the proof of the reality she was caught in.

She wondered what he was doing right now. The time came again, for their temporal goodbye and like always, he had taken and held her tightly in his arms, and she tried to ignore the fact that it was not as tight as before or simply shrugging it off as his acceptance to this act, just like she tried to ignore the fact that unlike any other time, he did not whisper anything about her return. And like always she pretended to not notice.

She had not noticed how he did not hold her as long as he usually did.

She had not noticed how his lips did not meet hers, but rather her forehead and how even this did not linger more than their actual kiss.

And she imagined how he would stay there a little longer; looking at the same spot he had last seen her.

And here she was sitting, starring into the pond, whose water was consisted of such clarity, incomparable and unimaginable in a humans mind. She saw her own reflection in the water that acted as good as a mirror possibly could, and the Queen of the underworld could not help but hate the sight of her appearance. She despised how her softly curled light brown hair, which could almost be deemed as strawberry blond and the way Helios' rays played with them and engulfed them in bright light. She disliked her fair complexion, which was quite unusual in her southern homeland and once used to contrast her from all the other goddesses besides a few handful ones. But most of all, she hated her eyes. The light brown eyes, which once shone with innocence, were now disdainfully narrowed.

Her mother loved them; she would always used to praise them, and proudly claiming it to be a trait of her heritage, for it resembled a deer's eyes. And she liked them, too.

Her husband loved them, as well.

"What was the first thing you noticed of me?" she had once asked.

"Your eyes."

He said he loved them. And she loved them, too. But now, she hated them. Because her mother had been wrong. They did not resemble the eyes of the deer, but rather they were ox-eyed.

How long did it take for her to notice this? Was it just her, who had been ignorant towards the truth? Had everyone else seen the resemblance between her and Hera? Had anyone ever suspected what she had already confirmed for herself?

She had never felt so humiliated.

Sometimes, when it became too unbearable, she wished that she had followed her mother's advice and left him, when she had the chance. Now she was irrevocably tied to him, through the bond of matrimony, as well as the bond of two hearts. Well, at least her heart was bound to his. She doubted that his heart was as much as hers, as hers' was his'. Surely, he would leave her the minute the other woman would become free and judging from the recent events, it will not be long for that day to arrive.

But in the end, all that she can do is sit here and complain in silence.

Because she was ignorant, and even when she was not so anymore, she continued to be. She had closed her eyes for too long. And yet, still, when anyone ever asked her what she was thinking, she would not change her answer. Even now, when everyone knew what is going on between the two of them, she will remain the only one, who was ignorant.

Because she loved him too much.

Because she was too prideful.

Because she had the eyes of the ox.

And it will be her secret, even if it was none for the others.