Author's Note:

Hi there!

This is my third HadesxPersephone fanfic. This one will tell about how they were involved in the famous romance tale of Eros and Psyche.

Hope you enjoy!

Hades was alone in the throne room, sitting on his ebony and gold throne.

He was busy daydreaming. About his wife, of course.

They had made love once again the previous night and, like usual, he found it to be so wonderful and exhilarating. He was glad that Persephone loved him to bits and gave him that sort of satisfaction. He swore no one has ever made him feel loved as much as her.

He stared at the jewelled black and gold throne beside him, waiting for her to join him for the day. He had allowed her to sleep in, seeing that she was exhausted from the night before. He was so tempted to stay in bed with her, to hold her in his arms and whisper sweet words into her ear. But unfortunately, his duty as a king cannot be ignored.

Oh dearest Persephone. I am truly thankful to have you as a loving wife and queen…. he thinks to himself, smiling.

Suddenly, the door to the throne room opened.

He thought that it was her, finally having awakened and ready to be with him. But it wasn't. Instead, it was Thanatos.

Hades felt his smile disappear but straightened up in his seat and kept a straight composure. He watches as Thanatos stops a few feet from the stairs of the thrones' platform and bowed down.

"Good morning, my lord. I have news," the deity of death said.

"And what is that?" Hades asks.

Thanatos straightens up and replies, "We have a visitor. A mortal girl. A live one."

Hades eyebrows shot up in confusion.

"What?" he says disbelievingly. "What is she here for?" he questions.

"She tells me that she is here to see Queen Persephone. But she does not tell me the exact reason why she wants to," Thanatos answers informatively.

Hades' eyebrows furrowed together. "Can she not wait?" he says in disdain.

Thanatos purses his lips before answering, "Lord Hades, I do not think that would be possible. She is in the Underworld, but her time has not yet come. It just does not seem right."

Hades sighs.

"Alright, send her in here. I shall deal with her first," he says.

Thanatos nods and bows once more before exiting the room. Hades shuts his eyes as he thinks to himself.

How did that girl get here? And what does she want from Persephone?

Suddenly, he hears the doors open again and his eyes flew open.

A brown hooded-cloaked figure stands at the doorway. It seems to be shivering in fear, and it keeps looking back at the now-closed door with uncertainty.

Hades rolls his eyes.

"If you do not wish to waste my time and yours, then I suggest you come forward," he bellows out to the figure.

It jumps at the sound of his voice and looks at him. Then slowly, it takes small steps towards him, coming to a stop at the spot where Thanatos was standing just now.

The figure bowed to him. Hades could clearly see its knees shaking.

"Who are you?" he asks.

Slowly, the figure straightens up. With one hand, it pushes back the cloak, revealing the face of a mortal girl.

The girl appeared to be young, maybe in her late teens. She had long dark golden hair that was now tied in a braid around the crown of her head. Her eyes, which were now bulging in fear, were as blue as the ocean. Her skin was the colour of white cream, and it looked flawless.

This girl was very beautiful for a mortal. However, Hades did not take interest in her. She seemed average compared to Persephone's looks. In his eyes, Persephone will always be the most beautiful woman in his world.

The girl does not answer.

"I ask again. Who are you?" Hades says one more time.

The girl gulped, still shaking and clutching her cloak tightly. Just then, she says, "My name is Psyche, great lord."

"How did you get to the Underworld? How did you make it past Cerberus and Charon?" he questions her.

Psyche takes a deep breath before she answers.

"When your hound was about to approach me, I threw two barley cakes in different directions, which he immediately got confused. I ran from him when I saw the chance. As for the ferryman, I followed what the others had done and placed an obol in my mouth as a form of payment."

Hades keeps quiet, taking the information in. But he does not lift his gaze from her, making her uncomfortable.

"Why have you come to my kingdom, Psyche? What is your purpose?" he presses on.

Biting her bottom lip, she answers, "I have come to see your queen, Persephone. I have been sent by Aphrodite to seek a favour from her."

He narrowed his questioning eyes, which causes her to shiver even more in fear.

"What favour do you wish to seek from my queen?" he asks her.

She does not answer at first, intimidated by his stare.

Then he stands up from his throne, getting quite impatient. He moves down the steps, approaching her, but she backs away slowly, fearing the worse.

"Do not make me impatient, Psyche. I just asked a simple question; what do you want from my queen?" he asks again.

She opens her mouth, but no words come out.

Hades' patience has run out.

But just as he was about to shout at her to leave, a soft voice appeared behind him.

"Hades. Do not be harsh on the poor girl."

Both Hades and Psyche looked at the source of the voice. There stood Persephone, who had entered the throne room through a private door at the side of the room.

She was dressed in a flowing lilac off-shoulder silk dress, with long flowing sleeves that managed to cover half her fingers and a dark pink sash tied into a ribbon at the back. The skirt of the dress reached the floor, covering her feet. Adorned in her wavy russet hair were many tiny white periwinkles.

Hades' lips broke into a smile and he greets her.

"My queen."

Walking towards her, he grasps her right hand and brings it to his lips, planting a soft kiss on her knuckles. Then he plants another soft kiss on her forehead, making her giggle a bit.

When he pulled back, Persephone's eyes quickly moved from him to look at Psyche.

She notices how frightened she looked, no doubt because of being in the presence of Hades, the 'notorious' God of the Dead and King of the Underworld. She looked as if she wanted to run right now.

Persephone takes pity on her and moves from her husband to her. Psyche quickly bows down to her, shivering in fear.

Persephone gives a soft smile and gently touches her head with her hands. Psyche looks up and sees her smile. As if the sight of it gave her strength, she straightens up and her shivering has reduced.

"What is your name?" Persephone asks gently.

Psyche hesitates, before finally whispering, "My name is Psyche, your grace."

"And what is your purpose here, Psyche," she asks, her tone still gentle.

Psyche hesitates, but then she catches a glimpse of Hades' narrowed impatient eyes. She does not waste a second longer.

"I have come to the Underworld on the orders of the goddess, Aphrodite, to request from you a box of your beauty," she says solemnly.

Persephone's eyes widened, and Hades scoffs, "Why? Doesn't Aphrodite have enough beauty herself? She is the Goddess of Beauty after all."

Persephone ignores her husband and says to Psyche, "You are asking for something which only the gods may have. What would be the reason to this?"

And just suddenly, Psyche's eyes began to tear up.

Persephone only looks at her worriedly, and then says, "Start from the beginning, Psyche."

Tears streamed down from Psyche's eyes as she tells her take.

"Her son, Eros, fell in love with me, and I with him. We have married and consummated our union. But I only see him in the night. He instructs me to never see his face and to not try to do so. Until one day, I have requested that my sisters be allowed to visit me and he agrees on the condition that I do not believe what they will say. Unfortunately, I did. They told me that my husband was a monster who will devour me, and that I must kill him. I was foolish enough to listen to them. So on that night, as my husband and I lay in bed, I lit an oil lamp and took out a dagger from beneath my pillow. I saw that he was asleep, and I acted fast. But I had wanted to see his face, and so, finally I did."

Psyche stops for a while to wipe away the tears.

"He was no monster. He was so beautiful. His shut eyes looked so kind and loving. I began to feel regret for what I was about to do and I threw away my dagger. But just then, hot oil fell from the lamp and onto his shoulder. He awoke then and saw that I have betrayed his trust. He fled away from me, but I tried to hold on to him. But he was too fast. He flew into the heavens, shouting, 'Love cannot live if there is no trust!'"

Hades moves to his wife's side, intent on hearing Psyche's story. Wordlessly, he grasped one of her hands and entwined his fingers with hers. Persephone does not hesitate and clenches his hand gently.

"I pleaded to Aphrodite for her forgiveness and Eros'. She appeared to me, telling me that I must do certain tasks to please her. I have succeeded each and every one of them, and I could see that she was angered by this. And so for her last task, she tells me to enter the Underworld and ask for some of your beauty as she has lost some of hers while tending to her son, my husband."

Just then, Psyche falls to her knees in front of Persephone. The queen was immediately shocked, looking down at her as she grasped the skirt of her dress.

"Please, gentle Queen Persephone… I beg you... I really do want to see my husband again, and tell him how sorry I am… I cannot live any longer if I cannot have him…" Psyche cried.

Persephone silently lets go of Hades' hand and bends down to be at eye level with Psyche. The girl looked up to see the queen's understanding eyes and gentle smile.

"I know myself what sacrifices love will cause us to make. And I am glad that Eros has finally found a girl who is worthy of him," she says.

Then she cups Psyche's hands in hers and pulls her to stand with her. They stood facing each other silently, with Hades watching from the side.

Persephone does not let go of her hands and looks at her, smiling. Just then, a small rosewood lacquer box appears in Psyche's hands, and Persephone lets go.

"Take this to Aphrodite. Show her that you are indeed worthy of my cousin, Eros."

Psyche smiles and more tears fell gently from her eyes.

"Thank you, good queen. Thank you," she whispers.

Then Psyche looks at Hades. She bows to him and say, "And thank you, your majesty."

Surprisingly, Hades gives a barely-there smile.

Persephone walks to him and grasps one of his hands. Then she looks at Psyche and says, "Good luck, young one."

Psyche bows once more before turning away from them, rushing out of the throne room.

Without a word, Hades lifts Persephone's hand to his lips and softly kisses it.