The Enigma of Hades – Chapter 1: The Bet.
Persephone sighed as her gaze was draw, once again, to the pale skinned boy at the side of the class. He was hunched over his desk, his black hair falling over his face and coincidentally blocking it from her view, he was tall and muscle-wise was in between Zeus' huge biceps and Hermes' barely-there muscles, leaving him a tall, muscular but lithe form, evident from the way his black leather jacket hugged him. Everything from his messy black hair to his tight black trousers and biker boots screamed bad boy, coincidentally he had barely any friends other than Thanatos - a beautiful boy with honey coloured skin and a gothic style.
His name was Hades. People whispered about him and said some terrible things, none of which she believed but she knew others did; it was clear through the way they acted around him. Treating him like he had a highly infectious and deadly disease, he sat alone in classes and no one went with him for class projects, well, except Thanatos.
But Persephone was different.
Whenever she saw him, he seemed lonely and sad. Whenever she tried to talk to him he ignored her or made an excuse. She wished she could help him, but how do you help someone who runs away from you every time you try to talk to them? Every time you try to show them a kindness no one else does? She did not know, but she was determined to help him.
"Seph!" A voice next to her whispered. Persephone turned her head to see one of her best friends, Hestia, looking exceptionally annoyed. "I've been calling you for ages!"
"Sorry, I was daydreaming." Persephone mumbled, tucking a strand of his chestnut hair behind her ear. They were in Geography glass and were studying: plate boundaries, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis – none of which she understood due to her habit of daydreaming.
"About him?" Hestia raised a dark eyebrow, her golden, flame-like eyes drifting to the boy and then back to Persephone. Hestia knew Persephone and knew h she hissed, "You know you should stay away from him! He's bad news and everyone knows it!"
"I don't get why people say that!" Persephone exclaimed a little too loudly, her cheeks heated up when she realised everyone was staring at her, well everyone but the one boy whose attention she wanted. Luckily the teacher had gone to get some work from the printer in the office down the hall and so she was not told off. Persephone turned to her class and said: "Sorry, guys."
"No, no, carry on!" Aphrodite crooned from the middle of the room, she twiddle her presently blonde hair around her finger, her eyes were bright with excitement and she was biting her full bottom lip in anticipation, waiting for gossip.
Aphrodite was a beautiful girl whose looks changed hourly (sometimes even by the minute) she constantly dyed – or bleached - her hair, she was always restyling it, she changed her make-up at least seven times a day, she had so many clothes it was ridiculous. Though she was as beautiful as she was a gossip, if you wanted information on people or matchmaking with someone, you went to Aphrodite.
Persephone's eyes widened and her mind blanked, she instantly went onto the one subject she knew best: Biology. "We were talking about the molecular structure and processes of organic life forms and factors to effect it. For example a factor affecting flowers would be sunlight. The more sunshine the easier photosynthesis would occur. But then Hestia said that the colour of the petal affects photosynthesis and I don't understand why people say that because it's false, photosynthesis happens in the leaves not the petals… "
Persephone trailed off, Hestia was shooting her best friend a look that said, WTF? Aphrodite was squinting at Persephone like she was a bug on her designer stiletto and she did not understand how it had gotten there, her other classmates were looking equal parts bored and confused. Only the boy at the side of the room was different, he was shaking. Persephone did not understand why.
"Of course it was plants." Aphrodite was beautiful but Aphrodite was not smart and she lost interest quickly. She rolled her currently green eyes and tossed her hair over her shoulder, "Why did I even ask?"
Persephone shrugged and her classmates turned away and continued their own conversations, Hestia shook her head at Persephone, she was smiling and her golden eyes shone with amusement.
"What?" Persephone asked.
"Trust you to go onto flowers." Hestia laughed.
"My mind froze." Persephone pouted.
Hestia laughed just as the teacher walked in and the class continued. Persephone turned to her daydreams, trying to figure out a way she could get the boy in the corner to talk to her. In the end, the decision was not one of her own. Hestia nudged her in the ribs and gestured to the board.
"We're not working together for this project." She told her friend sadly. Persephone sighed and turned her attention to the board, she spotted Hestia's name immediately.
"Oooh, you're the group of three with Apollo and Poseidon…." Persephone bit back a grin, she knew both boys had a thing for Hestia but her friend did not like them back, "Good luck."
"And you, you're in a pair with… oh holy fire…" Hestia sighed, her eyes were tenser and she carried on, though more reluctantly, "Hades."
Persephone's stomach did a flip. Hades. Moody, sit-alone-in-the-corner Hades. Bad biker boy Hades. Hades who she wanted to befriend but who ran away whenever she tried. Hades who nobody went near. Hades who Hestia had tried to warn her about. Hades.
Persephone smiled and spoke to herself, "Well, that makes things easier."
"Sephone, be careful. Promise me you won't do anything you'll regret, he's got a reputation for a reason." Hestia warned, no one knew the reason he was ostracised and outcasted but there was supposedly a reason.
"I'm not making any promises, Hest." Persephone replied, she grabbed her geography books, pencil case and bag and got up "Good luck with your admirers."
"Seph! Sephone! Persephone! Wait till I tell Hec about this!" Hestia yelled after her friend but Persephone ignored her and joined the dark haired boy at his desk. "
"Hi." She breathed as she placed her things on the desk.
He looked at her with his dark eyes and then turned his face away quickly. Persephone tried not to be hurt and carried on as normal, all the time praying: I hope something good can come of this.
Breathe Hades, breath, the teen thought to himself. He did not need to hyperventilate and look like a big loser around the girl next to him. He sucked in a big breath through his nose which was a mistake. He inhaled a lung full of her perfume – it was not overbearing or unpleasant, she wore just the right amount of flowery perfume to drive him insane.
Right, you reply in one… two… three. He turned his head to look at her bright grey eyes and had to turn away immediately. To most Aphrodite was the most beautiful but to the select few, Hades mainly, Aphrodite had no competition next to Persephone. He loved her caramel skin and her bright grey eyes that seemed to change with what she wore, he loved the slight curl of her chestnut hair and the flowery smell that accompanied her everywhere, it reminded him of spring and summer.
"So…" Persephone started. Be cool Hades, he said to himself in his mind. "Do you have any idea what this project was about? I wasn't listening."
He cleared his throat and forced himself to look at her. He felt like his heart almost exploded, her hair was down and fell past her shoulders, it was slightly curly and golden streaks glittered in the morning sunlight streaming through the classroom window. Her eyes looked green today which matched her green tank top and tied in some of the colours in her long patterned skirt.
"E-earthquakes and Tsunami's." He stuttered, nice one Hades.
"Great… I'm bad at earthquakes…" she groaned. "I could write pages on plants but earthquakes and tsunamis… not so much." She pulled a face, "I'm starting to think Hestia got a great deal, Poseidon is the best at this stuff."
"Oh." Hades tried not to be hurt by her words. "Go work with them, I can do it alone."
Persephone widened her eyes, "No! I didn't mean it to sound like an insult! It's just both Apollo and Poseidon have a thing for her but she's not interested in either of them let alone any other person that way. It's funny to see them try to flirt with her when she so obviously isn't interested." She rushed to explain and though, he would never admit it, he felt better. "I didn't mean that I don't want to work with you because I do… want to work with you that is."
"Really? Because I know what they say about me." He replied. He found it hard to believe someone like her wanted to work with someone like him.
"Yes, I want to work with you." Persephone smiled. "You're an enigma that I intend to work out."
"We both know what the others say about me." Hades raised an eyebrow in response, "You'd be better to leave me alone."
"Maybe." She replied, she licked her lips and leaned closer to him. Her perfume wrapped around them and he felt like he was asphyxiating in the sweetness but it was so intoxicating it was nice. "Maybe not. In the end it's not your decision: it's mine."
"Well, don't come crying to me when you get hurt."
"I won't get hurt." Persephone just shot him a smug smile.
"You wanna make a bet on that?" Hades asked, she nodded. "Fine, what do I get when I win?"
"You mean when I win?" She replied, she thought for a moment. "How about the loser has to do what the winner wants?"
"Deal?" He held out his hand.
"Deal." She grinned, she shook his hand. Her caramel skin seemed to glow, especially when compared to his milk-white skin. Oddly he found himself liking the mix and then he realised they were touching, he felt his heart rate increase slightly. His eyes found hers and they stared into each other's eyes.
Persephone was taken aback by the depths in Hades eyes. From afar they looked black as night but up close she saw they were layers and layers of dark grey that swirled and intermingled. She realised with a jolt that she could see his face, his inky black hair wasn't covering it. She saw how handsome he was, he had a strong jaw, high and elegantly angled cheekbones that could probably cut through salami, he had a straight nose with an endearing kink that hinted maybe it had been broken before. His skin was an even pale colour, contrasting his dark clothes and hair reminded of her of stars at night.
Persephone was not the only one admiring the other, Hades was equally as entranced with her and she was with him. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her tanned face, the sprinkling of freckles over her dainty, slightly sticky up, nose, her changing grey eyes and her rosebud lips.
They heard someone cough impatiently. It was then they realised they were holding hands and staring into each other's eyes whilst everyone else was packing away and leaving. They pulled away quickly and Persephone blushed slightly.
"Seph, let's go." Hestia stood with her arms folded, her voice was tight and her flame-like eyes burned with disapproval. It made Hades laugh inside.
"Class ended?" Persephone frowned.
"It did." Hestia replied, her voice was as cold as the arctic. Hades hid his smirk and gathered his things, he threw them into his bag without much thought or care.
Persephone stood up after arranging her things neatly. She smiled at Hades, "Well, I'll see you later."
"Of course." Hades gave her a small smile.
"Remember our bet." Persephone grinned and then turned to follow Hestia out of the classroom.
"I wouldn't forget it for the world." He called to her. She turned and shot him a smile and then left the room.
Hades stayed behind a minute before he too left the empty classroom, he could not hide the small smile that Persephone had brought out, and quite frankly he did not want to.
W/M: Okay so I probably shouldn't be starting a new fanfic right now but all well.
This is a Persephone/Hades fic in a Highschool Alternate Universe.
To clarify:
None of the Gods and Goddesses are related (apart from Apollo and Artemis - they're still twins)
The way I describe them is purely from my mind or from books or the internet - most likely from the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus books by Rick Riordan or my 'The Greek Myths' book by Robert Graves and then the internet.
None of The Gods or Goddesses have powers as such, just affinities for certain subjects or activities, basically they're mortals.
I don't write lemons, read someone else's
I really hope you like this. This is my first Hades/Persephone fic - but not my first fic.
What do you think?