Ok people, you know the score. I don't own Disney's Hercules (unfortunately) or any of it's characters or places I only own my Persephone and any other characters that I make up along the way so if you wanna use them please ask me.

Please review and be honest with me… my story is taking things from both the series and the film. And remember people, Disney twisted a lot of myths for their storylines so don't complain to me if you don't like my inaccuracies of events I may present you with…

thanks for your time…. DitzyMinx….

The Plight of Persephone

Chapter Two:Immortality Is Such A Drag

Hades walked somewhat nervously across the path of the Styx, the memories of the hissing voices and the feeling of constant terror in the Vortex of Fire flashed before his eyes. He kept as far away from the wide river as possible as ever since he had re-emerged from the Vortex he had developed a phobia of water, preferring to stay as far away from anything that was wet and deeper than a bathtub. Reaching the point of the Styx where he could just make out the large mass of the enormous canine Hades sighed. There was no way of surprising the mutt, who to it's credit might be useless when it came to simple commands such as 'sit' and 'stay'. However he was certainly smart enough to recognise flea medication and remember the pain of the injections.

Hades didn't want to hurt the mutt as deep down he was very fond of Cerberus. Unfortunately, Cerberus seemed to be a kind of Elysian Fields for fleas. How in Tartarus fleas survived in the Underworld was beyond Hades never mind how the mutt had caught them in the first place.

Shaking the thoughts away Hades bit into his last piece of determination and flew in a enormous arc over the wide waters of the Styx landing with a small thump on the opposite side where the large dog was. Cerberus' three heads whipped around to his master wide-eyed with surprise at the unexpected visit. For one brief moment the mutt looked pleased to see him; at least he was until his six red eyes cottoned on to the syringe in Hades' left hand. Then the eyes narrowed and the growling started.

'Alright, alright… easy…' Hades said soothingly but Cerberus was having none of it. He lowered himself and backed away from Hades all eyes fixed on the needle. 'C'mon buddy I ain't gonna hurt ya.' Hades advanced cautiously now as Cerberus bared his teeth. It always amazed Hades how all three of Cerberus' heads seemed to have a personality of it's own. The head on the right was eyeing the needle with worry; the middle head eyed it with anger and the left head was looking at Hades with distrust. All three heads growled louder as Hades drew closer.

'That's it… just stay there… easy big guy… it all be over in a sec, ok?' Hades was trying to sooth him but the next second the middle head lunged at him. Hades levitated and hovered six feet in the air to avoid the teeth. 'Hey! Watch the threads will ya… I'm running outta clothes as it is!' He bellowed infuriated. Cerberus ignored this and snapped again with all three heads. Hades shot out of the way in surprise.

'Oh-hoh! So ya wanna play it that way do ya?' Hades leered at the three-headed mutt with undisguised affection. So Cerberus was a pea-brained idiot but hey, he was his idiot. For a good few minutes Cerberus lunged at Hades continuously and every time the Lord of the Underworld narrowly avoided the large jaws. Finally Cerberus growled angrily about to clamp down on his master but Hades vanished and reappeared on the dog's back.

'Sorry Cerb… gotta be done.' Hades muttered sliding the syringe in and pushing the plunger. Cerberus whined then slumped to the ground mumping sulkily.

Satisfied that he'd got away without getting a robe slashing this time, Hades slumped back onto the black fur of Cerberus' back and lit a cigar. After Hades took a few long lazy drags Cerberus finally sank all three heads depressed, making his master slide forwards so his feet were around the mutt's middle neck. Surprised Hades sat up and leaned over.

'Sheesh! Your takin' this pretty hard don'tcha think?' Hades smirked amused taking another drag but Cerberus snorted. 'No? Well I think ya are… in fact I think your bein' a big baby 'bout it.' Cerberus growled at him but Hades still smirked.

'Hey, don't get mad with me… I'm just tellin' it like it is… So, how 'bout I make it up to ya? Ya like that huh?' Hades asked him and Cerberus gave a small bark. 'Yeh… I thought ya would ya overgrown fleabag.' He said giving the middle head an affectionate rub with his knuckles. This earned him a lick from the other two heads.

'Alright, alright, knock it off ya sap.' He smirked then grinned wider spotting Pain and Panic skulking nearby. 'Hey Cerberus… you seein' what I'm seein'?' He asked the mutt slyly who sat up slightly wary of his master's presence on his back. Cerberus sniffed the air and recognised the scent of his two favourite chew-toys then he too spotted them. Whining like an excited puppy he glanced at Hades waiting impatiently for his say-so. Hades levitated off of the mutt's back hovering just above him. Cerberus instantly lowered into a pouncing stance while narrowing his eyes and baring his three sets of teeth with a low throaty growl.

'Wait for it, wait for it… ok… Sic 'em!' Hades muttered then bellowed the command startling the two imps who had been taking a break from their work nearby. Their faces turned from shock to fear as Cerberus had pounced on Hades' command. The two imps shrieked with fear and shot off with Cerberus chasing them while barking and growling. Hades fell to the ground laughing before composing himself with difficulty still grinning and waited. After a moments silence both imps began screaming in agony and Hades started laughing again.


Persephone was sat under a willow tree in her gloomy grove of the woods, the sun was at its peak behind her and she knew her mother's Festival had begun now. Hopefully, with the disturbance that happened this summer her mother would be kept far too busy, so she would not be able to check up on her daughter as often as she usually did. Persephone had to hand it to Hades; he might have caused everybody else a great hardship but in an ironic way, he had just done her a massive favour by keeping her mother busy. Too bad she'd never be able to thank him.

She'd only met Hades twice in her life. Well… using 'met' loosely speaking of course, they had never talked and he probably didn't know she existed. She on the other hand, had known he existed ever since their first 'encounter' at Peleus and Thetis' wedding nearly fifty years ago. It was Persephone's first time at a 'proper' Olympian event. Zeus and Hera weren't too bothered about her attending events since she didn't have a purpose as a goddess and they weren't going to force her to pick something. She was free to wander around and talk to who she liked as her mother was busy with her friends.

Persephone had spent most of the night with Hermes as they found out they had a fair bit in common, they both had grown up around nymphs. This being the case they were both fluent in nymph language, and spent a lot of time winding the other gods up with their nymph conversations, which were a series of squeaks, giggles and clicks.

Somewhere about this time Aries had grown bored and started a riot between three major goddess' with a stupid golden apple. While the three had been arguing Persephone had been drawn to the sound of laughter from a rather mysterious god beside Aries, he seemed to have shown up just as the argument had started. He had blue flames for hair with pale greyish-blue skin, a long angular face and bright gold eyes. He was dressed in black and had smoky wisps coming from the bottom of his chiton. He was so different from the handsome gods of Olympus and Aries had called him 'Hades'. At the time Persephone had no idea what it was that drew her to him, apart from that wide crooked smirk that made her feel a strange sense of butterflies in her stomach. Demeter had found her moments later and whisked her off home. Persephone had found out from Hermes a little more about Hades a few days later and about a war that had started up because of that stupid apple.

As the years passed she and Hermes developed a brotherly-sister bond, and she never saw Hades again but for some reason he wouldn't go away.

It wasn't until eighteen years ago that she saw him again at the party for Hercules' birth. The party had been so dull and boring, after listening to Zeus' speech Persephone had gone to inspect the gifts with interest. She was curious to see what people had got the baby. It was at this point the room went silent and Persephone whipped around to see why and heard his voice.

'How sentimental… I haven't been this choked up since I got a hunk of musaka caught in my throat.' She had smirked but nobody else seemed to get that he was joking.

'What is this? An audience or a mosaic?' Persephone smiled widely at Hades' voice. She'd pulled away from the presents to have a glimpse at him, just to see if he was still how she remembered. Hiding behind the nearest pillar so nobody could see her she watched Hades with interest. He was exactly as she remembered him being and her heart seemed to flutter at the sight of him. The tiny smile on her face fell at the rough treatment he received off of Zeus. Persephone had frowned. Didn't that idiot know how to control his strength? Persephone had listened to Hades try and put a light front on and brush off this embarrassment, but she could see the annoyance in his eyes and his chipped reply as Zeus asked him to stay with false concern. Then Persephone glared as Zeus made a joke at Hades' expense and she glowered around the room in annoyance as every god laughed except her, Hermes who had just flown back into the room at that point and Heista who was also frowning with disapproval.

Hades stormed off as Zeus and the others continued to roar with laughter.

'If only, if only.' Hades had muttered brushing past her and she caught a waft of his aftershave. A hint of spice and burnt wood with an effusion of sulphur; strangely appealing. Persephone watched him leave with large pitying eyes and lent on the pillar.

'Why do they ridicule you so much?' She had sighed after him. It made Persephone angry to see the other gods, including her mother, treat one of their own so shabbily. At that point she made a vow never to set foot on Olympus again if she could help it.

Persephone sighed and lent back against the tree with her head in her hands. She hadn't thought of Hades in years… why was she thinking of him now? Especially since the last guy she'd dated had dumped her for a mortal girl. Persephone had never been so furious in her life before. She didn't blame the mortal girl for what happened, but Persephone wanted revenge on the stupid idiot who'd dared to insult her by dumping her for a mortal, was she not an immortal goddess who's loveliness Hermes always said matched Aphrodite's? Persephone, who had knocked back several gods including Apollo time and time again when they repeatedly asked her on a date?

Persephone had dealt with the two-timing rat severely. Death was the only punishment befitting a snivelling piece of arrogant trash like him. Hermes of course had told her not to bother but Persephone disregarded his advice and carried out her plan, infecting a boar with rage so that it mauled him while hunting. His little 'kitten' appeared sobbing but unfortunately Demeter had summoned her daughter away, so Persephone didn't see his dying moments but it was bound to be worth a Nemmey as Mr Smug was always such a drama queen… or should that be prince?

Persephone snickered at the memory and looked around her quiet peaceful grove. Sat under the shady willow she was well out of the sun with a perfect view of the grove. Persephone plucked a pomegranate from the bush nearest her and breaking it open she smiled at the sparkling seeds before eating. It was just another lazy day on Sicily…


Little Notes:

Firstly let's talk about and the whole Cerberus has fleas debate here. As for how can Cerberus have fleas in the first place… hey, he's a dog people, they could pick them up anywhere besides this is Disney so let's drop the rules of reality and enjoy the story.

The whole Hades/Cerberus relationship fascinates me I must admit. In the series of Hercules you see Hades trying to teach Cerberus to track down Zeus and the Lord of the Underworld later calls the puppy 'cute' when he finds him asleep. In this tale Hades is alone and outcast so he would probably spend more time with the dog than before so I made him more perceptive of Cerberus' growls and barks as if the two were having a conversation. Most pet owners should agree that they alone at least seem to have an understanding of what their pet's body language and noises say right? I'll go ahead and admit I'm using my dog as a bases for Cerberus in this story as their both young lively puppies. Cerberus will come back into the story later… I promise.

As for Persephone's trip down memory lane I wanted to suggest Persephone has always had the biggest crush on Hades because she never comes into the film or series at all so all we don't know her.

As for Persephone's mysterious ex-boyfriend who I'm sure your all dying to know who he is (if you look a t the clues you can easily figure it out) he will be popping up later in a juicy storyline I have for Hades/Persephone conflict which also links Persephone nicely to another character who was also burned by said jerk (major hint!) I promise Hercules will make an appearance in the story later cause I love to see his embarrassed side!

Thanks again…

Lot's of Love Ditzy xXx