Persephone sighed, fidgeting in her throne. Since meeting the mysterious man in the woods several nights ago, her whole body had been filled with a jumpy restlessness, as well as an odd ache. She had snuck away the next three nights after her original encounter with him, and gone to the same forest, the same clearing, hoping to see him. A dark part of her that had awoken deep inside her absolutely yearned to see him. But he did not come.

She had told Selene about him when she returned, asked if she had seen who the man was. After all, the Earth at night was Selene's expertise; she had knowledge and dominion of all the creatures that came and went after the sunset.

"I'm sorry Sephie!" wailed Selene when Persephone asked her. "I was-I was…" and Selene trailed off in another pitiful, hushed wail.

Persephone knew what Selene had been doing. Selene had recently fallen hopelessly in love with a mortal, Endymion. A shepherd, he would sleep near his flock in the fields at night. She would watch him, sometimes even being bold enough to travel to Earth to sit beside him. Persephone wondered if she had done more.

"It's alright Selene. I'm going to try and find him again. I have to, or I think I might go mad."

But the mysterious man was nowhere to be found, and Persephone thought she might very well be going mad indeed. She was restless, sullen, and listless all at once. She found no joy in anything, not even talking with Hera or Aphrodite or Selene. Nor could she focus on anything, her mind always slipping away longingly to the man in the shadows. Demeter fretted over her daughter, at a complete loss for why her darling Kore was acting this way. Aphrodite, however, realized immediately that Persephone was acutely lovesick.

"Our little bud may finally be in bloom," Aphrodite confided in Hera once afternoon when they went to the baths together. Hera merely looked at Aphrodite quizzically, rubbing scented oils into her skin and hair.

"Persephone. The girl is absolutely lovesick. I've seen it more times than I could say. But this seems to be a particularly strong case."

Hera immediately stopped what she was doing and turned her head. "What? How can you tell?" she demanded. Aphrodite shrugged.

"It's as plain day! The poor thing has been so moody and dreary, an absolute mess to be honest. Her darling mother is afraid that her little lamb is ill and is trying everything to lift her spirits."

"Who is he? The man?"

"That I still don't know."

"Could it be someone here, in Olympus?"

"Possibly, we will have to observe the girl and see. But who really is there? There's Apollo, who has shown keen interest in her, but she has never really returned that interest before. There's my husband, who" Aphrodite scoffed contemptibly, "is not a possibility in the slightest. There's Ares, but I know enough of his comings and goings to know he hasn't tried to court her. After all why would he? He has me." She said the last sentence rather possessively then continued, "There's Hermes, who has shown brief, passing interest in the child, so perhaps. There's Helios, who is a contender, for he is the sun and she is the spring. Besides, him and his sisters are more similar to Persephone in age and inclination. There's Poseidon, whom I believe hasn't even really spoken to the child since her naming. There's Dionysus, a playboy. And that's all. If it is not one of them, perhaps a mortal."

Hera nodded, working lotions through her long, chestnut hair. "That could be a possibility. It would explain why the child would be so gloomy. She believes they will never be together."

"Well if he's mortal then they certainly cant marry."

"I don't believe that mother of hers will even let her marry!"

"Perhaps with the right persuasion!"

But as soon as Aphrodite said it, they both burst into fits of laughter. They knew Demeter. She would never let the poor child leave her side.

"Kore? Kore?! Where are you my darling?"

Persephone winced at her mother's voice, sinking deeper into the bath. Unable to calm her burning mind, she had snuck away from her mother as she made her daily rounds throughout the fields of Earth. She had returned to their palace and had drawn a bath, hoping the hot water might ease her troubled thoughts. She had also, in the back of her mind, in that new deep and dark part of her, given some thought to trying one of the many explicit things Aphrodite had told her about. The only act of love that could be preformed alone. "But don't tell your mother I told you!" Aphrodite would add hastily, as Persephone took in what she said, mouth agape.

But now her mother was here, and there was no way she could try it now. She angrily climbed out of the tub, wrapping a towel around her now womanly body. As her mother's voice grew nearer, she called out exasperatedly, "I'm in here mother!"

Her mother appeared instantly, rushing into the room, hugging and crying that Persephone had scared her, and not to run off like that, it was dangerous, she was just a child.

"I'm not a child anymore mother", Persephone said as calmly as she could. She wrenched herself away from her mothers grasp and reached for her clothes. "I'd like to get dressed now if you don't mind."

Her mother looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean, Kore? You'll always be my little girl," she said, reaching out to tuck a strand of Persephone's wet hair behind her ear. Persephone let her do it, but continued,
"I want you to stop treating me like a little girl. I am a goddess."

"Of course you are darling. Come now, get dressed. I'll take you to play with the wood nymphs before sundown."

Persephone felt close to exasperated tears. Her mother did not understand, she would never understand. It was like she looked at her daughter and still saw the pudgy baby chasing after butterflies in the garden.

Too weary to fight her mother off, Persephone merely nodded. Pacified, Demeter gave her daughter a sunny smile and left so Persephone could dress. Which she did. And when she was finished, she went with her mother to visit the nymphs like an obedient daughter. And when she realized that she no longer liked it when the nymphs tangled leaves and twigs and flower buds into her curling hair, she remained silent.

That night, as Persephone lay in her bed, she thought of what to do. She could ask her father, Zeus, for help. He had control over all the gods, including her mother. But what would she say? If she went to her father saying she wanted to be married, he would try and marry her off to Apollo or one of the other Olympians. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, she tried to tell herself. After all, Apollo was not unkind. He would be a good husband to her, even if he was constantly having affairs with mortal women. And when they were in the marriage bed, she could always think of the dark-haired man.

But Persephone knew that wouldn't be enough for her. Growing up so pampered had lead Persephone to be a bit selfish by nature, she wanted someone who loved her and only her. Even if she didn't love Apollo, she knew his affairs would drive her mad. Besides, she knew that bedding him would not be the same as it would be with the dark-haired man.

Listen to me! she thought angrily, Going on and on like this in my head when I don't even know the mans name, or if he is mortal or not. Why, he could be an adulterer himself. He could be the worst person in the world. He may already even be married!

With that last thought, her heart sunk. Suppose he was already married. Suppose the worst, that he was mortal and already married. Suppose his heart belonged to another. All these thoughts filled Persephone with more and more dread until she finally burst into tears.

"This is mad!" she whispered aloud, "Am I doomed to spend the rest of my immortal life pining over this man that I don't even know?!"

Suddenly, Persephone heard a soft rapping on her window. She sat up, wondering if she had imagined it. No, there it was again. She crept out of bed and drew back her curtains. There was Selene at the windowsill.

"Sephie!" she whispered excitedly as Persephone opened the windows. "I have news!"

"What is it?" asked Persephone; already assuming it had something to do with Endymion. But Selene was a welcome distraction from her own miserable thoughts.

"Remember how you met the man in the forest all those weeks ago? Well, I've been keeping a bit of a watch on it ever since, even after you stopped looking for him, just to see if he returned some night. Well, I just saw someone go into the forest!"

Persephone's breath became heavy as her heart pounded in her chest. The excitement made her want to cry out, but she had to make sure Selene had seen the right man. "What did he look like Selene?" she demanded, helping Selene down as she climbed into Persephone's room.

"Well, I couldn't see his face, which I know isn't very helpful. But he was tall, he had broad shoulders, he wasn't a thin man, but he wasn't as big as Zeus either…does that help at all? Oh, and he had very dark, dark hair."

Persephone couldn't hold in her excitement any longer. Here she had been crying only minutes before, and now fate quite literally came to her window. She jumped up and down excitedly. "Oh Selene, I think its him! I think it is!"

"Go then, Sephie! Hurry! I need to get back to my post, and I'll keep a watch on you, in case it isn't the man or something were to happen."

Persephone embraced her friend. "Oh Selene! You are the best of friends! Thank you! Thank you!"

Persephone ventured through the forest, acquiring a small parade of creatures in her wake. She felt like her cousin Artemis, leading a hunt. Oh, but where was he. Where was he?

Finally, after what seemed like ages to Persephone, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, too tall to be any sort of animal. She knew. She turned immediately.

"Wait, please wait!" she called, but the figure, continued o recede into the distance. Finally, summoning up as much godly steel into her voice as she could muster, she said, "I command you to stop!"

The figure froze. Not turning around, he called out, "Be careful of what and whom you command, miss." It was not said threateningly, more of a suggestion. But the voice intimidated and excited her all it once. Because it was the same voice. That deep, low, slightly cold voice. She knew.

"I-I am Persephone! Goddess of Spring!" she squeaked. "And I command to know your name!"

Suddenly, he was directly before her. Standing nearly a full foot taller than she, dark hair and beard neatly trimmed, features sharp and exquisite, mouth arched in a chilling but beautiful smile.

"Well, since you asked you shall know. I am Hades. Lord of the Dead."