Title: In the Garden

Fandom: Greek Mythology

Pairing: Hades/Persephone

Rating: K

Prompt: #1, Beginnings

Words: 1, 466

Hades only came to Olympus when he was called, and he never enjoyed it.

His presence unsettled the other gods, even his own siblings. This fact didn't bother him in the slightest; he knew he stank of death and of darkness. Who could not help but to shiver around him? Hades had simply grown used to their avoidance of him.

The main reason he kept away from Olympus was because it was his brother's realm. Zeus and Hades did not get along.

Even so, Hermes would dutifully descend into the Underworld once or twice a year to summon him up to Olympus. Because Hades was responsible for a third of the world, he was bound to go. Usually, these gatherings were utterly pointless. Short of the occasional huge mishaps between gods and mortals, or (less rarely now) a war, it was all the same inane chatter. I don't have as many temples as I would like. The mortals take our names in vain. I want a city named after me.

Really, he hadn't expected his brother Poseidon to be so petty. A contest between him and Athena to see whose name would be attached to a mortal city? Why did it even matter?

Hades asked for no tributes. No statues, no temples, no followers. In the end, they all came to see him anyway. In the end, they became his subjects for eternity.

It was spring on Earth when he was inevitably called to Olympus again. Hades rode out of the Underworld in his silver chariot, drawn by three black horses. It was always strange to step out of his world and feel the sun on his back. In the Underworld, it was always night. His sky forever sparkled with stars.

When he arrived on the mountain, he was halfway to the audience chamber when he noticed the girl.

She was sitting in the garden that flowed out from the palace steps, stretching into the clouds. She was alone, and couldn't have been older than seven. What was a little girl doing on Olympus?

The cloying scents of hydrangeas and daffodils choked his nose and mouth as he went down the steps. The sound of him sneezing made the girl bolt to her feet, her eyes wide and round as she whirled to face him.

"I'm not going to hurt you," said Hades immediately.

He looked carefully for the fear in her eyes, but it wasn't there. In fact, rather than running, the girl straightened her shoulders, facing him as regally as any grown goddess, and appraised him curiously. "Are you a god?"

He smiled. "Would I not have to be, to set foot here?"

"But I have never seen you," she said.

"I have never seen you either. Is this your first visit to Olympus?"

She glanced away. "Yes…"

He nodded. "That is why we've never met. But if you're here, you must be a goddess."

She shrugged, picking at a flower. As she did, Hades noticed that the petals turned toward her ever so slightly, as if she were the sun. She had power, then.

"May I see that?" he asked, nodding at the flower. She nodded and handed it to him.

Contrary to popular belief, things did not automatically wither and die in Hades' hands. He was the Lord of the Underworld, but he wasn't a harbinger of death. He simply did not have the power to create life, unlike this little girl. Hades fingered the stem of the flower thoughtfully, feeling the slight hum of new, untaught power. He was surprised to find that his fingers and arm fairly tingled with it.

"Little one, who is your mother?" he asked.

"Demeter, my lord," she answered dutifully, and Hades immediately wondered why he hadn't been able to tell right away. He could see his sister in the child's eyes, in her long, slender limbs. Her hair was the same shade of dark blonde, tumbling over her shoulders like honey. So Demeter had borne a child a few years ago. The fact didn't really surprise him. She was, after all, associated with fertility.

He handed her back the flower. "I'm sorry for so many questions, little one, but may I ask who your father is as well?"

"Oh, I just met him today!" Her eyes brightened, and she stood up taller. "Mommy told me he sees over all Olympus. I can't believe he really lives in the clouds!"

Zeus. Hades clenched his jaw. His brother was famous for his numerous affairs, and Hades didn't respect him any more for it. He often felt sorry for Hera, their sister who had been forced into being the wife of Zeus. No wonder Demeter didn't want their golden child in the audience chamber; Hera was not known to be kind to her husband's illegitimate offspring.

He broke his chain of thought when he realized that the girl was staring at the slim silver brace that encircled his arm nearly up to his elbow. At his wrist, the brace ended in a knot of a three-headed dog. Hades reflexively drew his cloak over the image of Cerberus. Would she recognize it?

"I've seen that before," the girl said.

"Oh?"

"Yes, in my dream."

Not the answer he was expecting. "Your dream?"

She nodded. "It was a dream I had a little while ago…" She got a faraway look in her eyes as she remembered. "And there was a dog with three heads. He was guarding a river."

That had to be Cerberus. Hades nodded for her to go on.

"I was going down a boat on the river. And when I passed the dog, he yipped at me. All three of the heads! They barked like they were happy to see me. And when I waved at him, he jumped in joy and it shook the entire place!" The girl giggled lightly to herself. "It really was the most peculiar thing. After all, whoever heard of a three-headed dog?"

"Who indeed," Hades murmured with a slight smile.

"Well, it was a nice dream. I think it would be fun to have a three-headed dog. I wonder if you would name all three heads? Or just call it by one name? Is it three dogs, really, or one?"

Hades shook his head, trying to hide his grin. Cerberus would probably find a friend in this little girl if she was able to die. But she was definitely a goddess—immortal. And thus she would never have to see the Underworld.

"My name is Kore, by the way," the girl said after a moment. "You didn't ask."

"Oh, forgive me, Kore," he said, sketching a bow to her. "I have forgotten my manners."

Kore laughed. "You're funny."

Just then, Hades heard a voice calling from somewhere close by. "Kore! Where have you gone!"

"I'm in the garden!" the girl sang out. She looked at Hades. "My lord, what is your name?"

He hesitated.

"Kore!" Demeter was getting closer, and Hades knew better than to let her catch him alone with her daughter.

"My lord?" She was waiting for his answer.

As soon as Demeter came into view, Hades disappeared. Where he had been standing, there was a single, white flower.

Kore stared at it. It was probably the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She reached out to pick it…

…And her mother's arms wrapped around her and scoop her up. "You silly child, didn't I tell you to stay near the fountain?"

"I got bored," Kore protested. "And the flowers smelled nice. I wanted to pick some."

"Well, stay where I tell you to next time." Demeter turned with her child in her arms, and her eyes fell upon the flower, which stuck out in a garden that was overflowing with color. Her cheeks paled.

"Where did that come from? Did you make that?"

"No, Mommy. I didn't make it."

"Has it always been there?"

Kore shook her head. "The god made it."

"What god?"

"The god who was here before you came."

"There was a god here? Why wasn't he in the audience chamber?"

Kore shrugged.

"Kore, my love…this is very important. What was this god's name? What did he look like?"

"He didn't tell me his name. But he was very tall and had dark hair, and very pale skin. And he was dressed in black and purple. He looked like he belonged in the night sky."

Demeter's lips grew thin. "This is why I told you to stay by the fountain. I don't want you talking to anyone without me knowing, do you understand?"

"But…"

"If you see this man again, you are to run straight to me. No questions asked!"

With that, Demeter strode forward, crushing the delicate white flower in her wake.