No Love
She could admit it. Maria was the most beautiful of all of her husband's mistresses. Maria was nurturing to her children and strong minded. She was independent, yet accepted her husband by choice, not by force. There was another side of him that both women never got to experience. There was Maria's side, the kind and compassionate man who only cared about the well fare of those he loved, and her side, the abusive self-centered jerk who tore her away from the beautiful life that once belonged to her through his jealousy and spite towards his brothers. In the long run, she knew that Maria would get the worst of it because, after all, her husband was bound to slip up at one point or another.
She stared at Maria and her husband through the mist of a fountain in the hotel they were at. This was one of those odd occasions where her husband stopped worrying about the war that surrounded them and was happy for once in his immortal life.
Maria was holding a sleeping eighteen month old in her delicate hands. She smiled lovingly down at the sleeping baby. She had to say, her step-daughter was gorgeous and would surly attract the attention of many young men some day.
On Maria's stomach, a small curve was starting to show, the tell tale sign that that Maria and her husband had been busy. She smiled at the thought of another adorable little step-child that she could play with when he came to their palace. Sometimes people were shocked to learn that she liked her husband's other children, but she did. Many times she liked his other wives, too. She just didn't like her husband for not telling her about his affairs before her arrived beck home with a new demi-god in tow. She felt happy for Maria and Maria's children on the inside because she knew, they were a blessing to each other in every way possible, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed that she would never actually get to meet the real Maria.
She wished she could say that things ended well, but that would be a lie. Nothing good comes from war, she knew that. Yet after many millennia filled with more than enough wars, she still would never get use to the death and despair. She certainly would never get use to the haunted souls that entered her husband's kingdom filled with the despair of death and the anxiety of discovering the worlds beyond. She knew she could have done something, but she was too shocked.
Maria died that day, and she knew she would do everything in her power to help Maria's children never come to an end as heart breaking as their mother's.
She may have been suppose to hate Maria, but she couldn't because in wasn't Maria's fault.
More than eighty years later, she stuck to that promise and protected Maria's children. She protected the children of a woman she barely knew, but she was okay with that. If it weren't for her, they would have been dead by the time those demi-gods had found them. That was the day she relinquished her promise that she would protect Maria's children. She did not have time for some hasty girl who discarded her brother like her was spoiled milk that was just a burden to be dealt with until you could make it to the trash can. Something inside her told her that Maria would not be proud of her daughter.
She stayed true to her promise to Maria's boy, though.
Even though she was a thousand times too many unhappy with Maria's son, she protected him realizing her mistake cost the girls life. She would never be able to change the way it affected the boy. She would never be able to forget the way that one lost life changed history's course. She would never be able to forget any of it, no matter how much she tried. She would never be able to forgive herself.
She never stopped protecting Maria's family, no matter how big it got. She needed something to give her love because she never got any love, no matter how hard she tried.
Her husband would never love her the way her loved Maria, for he could never get over Maria. Maria was his life and she realized that while Maria was alive was when she had finally felt love. It gave her another reason to believe that Maria was the best friend she ever had, but it also gave her a reason to hate Maria. Because she would never feel any love ever again no matter how long her immortal life last.
Persephone had no love, and that was all Hades would ever give her. Persephone felt no love.