This is a rewrite of the previous Your Move. But this time, it will be less confusing. Enjoy.
I don't own HoO/PJO
She was the exact opposite of Persephone.
Hades was dressed in Victorian era clothing- a crimson, silk vest, a black frock coat and a top hat. To be completely honest, he had no idea why he was so attracted to this woman. She just radiated love and was so beautiful that only Aphrodite herself could rival her.
The woman was on her customary seat in Central Park. Today she was dressed in a high-necked, slate colored dress with golden embroidery. A diamond pendant rested in the hollow of her neck.
The New Yorkers didn't bat an eyelid at her get up. At first, Hades figured that they were used to pretty women walking around in heavy dresses. He'd realized the last time they met up that the mortals literally didn't notice her. She was invisible to them.
Hades brought the bouquet of flowers from behind his back and, taking a deep breath, walked over to her.
She smiled at the god. A blinding, pure smile. Today her white-blonde hair was in a braid at the side, a few strands caressed her soft face. She accepted the flowers, to Hades' eternal delight. "Yellow acacias mean secret love. A calla lily is magnificent beauty. A fern? That means secret bond," her elegant eyebrows furrowed. "You're hiding something."
Hades froze. He had no idea she knew floriography. He racked his brain for a suitable lie, he really didn't want to lie from this woman. She would doubtlessly be one of the mortals he would never forget, the first Brit that he had ever loved. He tried to convey honesty in his features, "I don't even know your name. That is the only secret between us."
She sighed, her coffee colored eyes narrowing. "Don't lie to me. Are you or are you not a married man."
Hades' mouth dropped open.
"Darling, the wedding ring gives it a way a little."
The god of the Underworld looked down self-consciously at his silver and iron ring on his long, pale finger. The blonde leaned in by his ear, "I know who you are."
She took out a striped carnation and offered it to him. Hades rolled it between between his fingers.
Rejection.
He barely heard that her name was Florence.
"You pick me or you pick Persephone." Florence said, holding her head up. There was no hatred or resentment when she said Persephone's name. "I will not blame you if you pick her."
"I must choose her." Hades said slowly. His midnight blue eyes were regretful. He loved her, but Persephone must come first. She was his wife after all.
Florence stood up and swept nonexistent dust off her gray skirt. She unclasped her diamond necklace and handed it to Hades. He remembered when he gave that to her, it would have been Thursday two weeks ago. "Then I'm sorry for whatever must happen next," she said.
And like that, she was gone forever.
"You have left him, haven't you?"
Flora snapped her fan shut, the mountain scene folded in on itself. "And what if I have?"
Joseph's expression was sympathetic. How Flora wanted to slap that face at the moment.
Joseph was her best friend and her worst enemy. At one point he would calm and soothing, then for no reason he would become violent and hateful. Flora supposed that his domain had influenced his actions, being a god of death and all. "I'm sorry," was all he said.
"Sorry?" Flora laughed. "It is not your fault in any way. If only I knew who tipped Alexander off about Hades-" She paused, finally putting the pieces together. Joseph never apologized unless he had a part in it, meaning that- "It was you? Bloody Yanks!" She yelled, "you're all so untrustworthy and sly! Why on earth did I ever become friends with you?"
"I only wanted to pr-"
Flora held up a hand, her voice trembled with restrained anger, "I cannot believe your audacity! I loved him! I loved him! Me, the goddess of love, who has never loved in her life! And you completely ruined it!" She flipped out her fan threateningly- due to the divine silver woven into the fabric, she could probably give him a nasty gash before someone heard his screams.
Slam!
"Shit! I didn't mean to slam it."
Joseph let out a breath, his face gradually lightening to its normal color. "What going on, Shui?"
Shui Feng was a water spirit. Her chin was pointed and her electric blue eyes sat just above her high cheekbones. She wasn't necessarily pretty, but she was certainly very striking. "There's a new kid. Alex needs you both to... ease her into this life."
Flora glared at Joseph until he squirmed. She smiled blindingly at Shui, "I will take care of this. Don't worry."
Shui nodded, knowing better than to get in the crossfire of Flora and Joseph's fights. "Her name's Violet Dunne. Alex thinks that she's a life spirit-"
Flora cut her off. "And everything Alexander does is perfect," she said in a sing-song voice. "Even if he completely ruins someone's life."
Shui tilted her head, her mouth open in question.
"Hypothetically, of course," Flora added.
Shui pursed her lips, but didn't comment on it. "Violet is waiting downstairs."
Violet had no idea where she was. One moment she was being mauled by a giant bear, the next she was standing on a huge white chair that was nearly six times her height. First she thought she was dead, but really, dead people couldn't see or smell or touch or feel. Violet could do all of those things.
When Violet looked properly, she saw the rest of the room. There were three other massive chairs- one was glowing silver, another was a flat black and the last seemed to be made of weapons- apart from the one she was standing on. That was when a muscular, blond guy spotted her. He momentarily gaped at her, then regained his composure.
Then the blond dude grew. Like, literally grew. He was large enough to sit in one of the chairs- which he did, he lounged in the weapon throne. The conversation involved a lot of ridiculous explanations and a really unnerving stare from the blond giant. Eventually, he shrank down to normal size and gently pulled her towards a small brick house with a football-pitch sized garden. The blond dude oozed control. He'd also told her not to tell anyone about the room with the chairs.
And that was how Violet ended up in a long hallway, sitting awkwardly in a high-backed chair because she knew that she didn't belong here. Instead of dozing off, because that would be embarrassing, she focused on a Chinese vase, following the swirling colors as they wound around the jar.
"It's beautiful, isn't it." A voice said form behind her. The voice had a lilting British accent, like a memory of better times.
Violet almost cricked her neck turning around. There, with a wet track down her cheeks, was the most stunning woman Violet had ever seen. Her white hair was falling out of its braid and her eyes were the color of burnt toast. Violet would probably slice her fingers off if she touched the woman's jaw.
The woman would probably be some kind of glamorous model if not for her clothes. Her waist was pinched tight in a corset underneath a gray dress and her skirt was long and wide, ending in a short train that dragged on the wooden floor.
"Yes, you- it is."
The woman's full lips twitched into a half-smile. "I get that a lot," she pulled out a fan and flipped it open, silver strands of thread glistened in the candlelight. "First things first, my name is Florence, but everyone calls me Flora for a reasons I don't quite understand. Please do not faint when I tell you this, but," Flora took a deep breath. "You're dead."
Alex wore holes in the carpet with his pacing. He ran a hand through his blond hair and scowled at an interesting pattern in his carpet. Of all the gods in this city, he was the oldest, and thus was trusted to lead the others. But he had completely screwed up.
He had just cut off his only connection to Olympus.
Flora was one of the more... difficult deities in Little Earth. The other gods had quickly adjusted to modern life, but Flora was trapped in the past. But she was also manipulative and charismatic; if she hated Alex, then nearly everyone would hate Alex. He had always been careful to keep himself on her good side.
He just had to make her leave that Greek.
At the time, he'd thought that Flora and Hades would be a liability. It was way too late when he figured that it might just keep the peace. But Hades was married! It would be cruel to his wife!
But sometimes sacrifices had to be made. Alex had realized that only minutes ago
Alex let out a yell and kicked a chair, barely satisfied when it crashed to the ground.
Because of his stupid, rash decision, his city might have to fight the Greek Gods.
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