Hi, I'm back with more. *smiles sweetly* Okay, so this chapter is in Hades' POV. Um, I plan on changing POVs every few chapters or so. I'll tell you at the beginning whose POV it is in and all that juicy stuff.
Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but since this story isn't that popular yet I figured it wouldn't kill you guys to wait a bit. (Maybe that's just me being a self-critic *shrugs*).
Here you go, enjoy!
Hades
Persephone just about jumped out of her skin when she noticed that I was in her room. I had to resist the urge to smile when I saw her jump.
"What are you doing in here!?" she demanded as she covered herself with her blanket. She acted like I was some sort of stranger. Well to her I was.
The thought saddened me. Before she was goddess-napped we shared everything together. I trusted her and she trusted me.
A memory popped into my head just then. It was a sweet memory. We were walking in the Isles of the Blessed and greeting the spirits there. We walked hand in hand and she looked truly magnificent in the light of the lamps lining the streets. Her black hair blew in the light breeze of the Isles and it looked like a silk curtain.
Gods I loved her.
The memory faded and I was brought back to the present.
"What are you doing here?" she asked again.
I sighed and responded, "I'm here to take you home."
She looked at me oddly. "I am home."
I shook my head and chuckled. "You think this is your home? Ha, this place is far from your home. Your home is Mount Olympus and the Underworld. That is your home, not this dump."
She looked insulted by my description of her room and said, "This dump is my home. I can't make it any clearer. I've lived here my whole entire life and I have no intentions of leaving until after graduation."
"Tell me then Persephone, have you ever truly felt at home here? Did you ever find yourself wondering what it would be like to live elsewhere? Somewhere not in this world?"
I could see something light up in her eyes; she knew exactly what I was talking about and it was true. She had found herself doing that stuff. She knew it, but she didn't want to admit it.
"Come on." I gestured to the window. She looked at the window then back at me.
"You're crazy! I'm not going anywhere with you after what I heard last night." To prove her point she rolled over and tried to ignore me. I stared at her still figure for a few minutes. She turned over to face me and sat up. "Just out for mere curiosity where were you planning to go?"
Her curiosity was what I liked about her most. She always gave into it. "Well I was planning a nice stroll through the Isles of the Blessed. We used to walk through them all the time remember? The last time we did was the day before you disappeared."
She looked at me and then down at her blanket. She fiddled with her hands and then said, without looking at me, "You held my hand. The lamps had just turned on and they cast a shadow on your face…I always liked it when your face was half shadow, half flesh."
"You do remember," I breathed. She looked up at me and I saw the familiar Persephone. Her eyes held love and something else, knowledge. She knew who I was and who she was. I gestured to the window again and said, "Shall we?"
Her face shadowed over and then the familiar Persephone was gone, replaced by the Persephone that sat before me. "Well, I've always wondered what the Isles of the Blessed look like. Are you going to trick me into eating three pomegranate seeds like you did last time?"
I couldn't help but laugh. At least she was starting to believe that she is Persephone. "No, I will not trick you I promise. You can come and go as you please."
She nodded and thought about my offer. It was an offer she couldn't refuse.
"Have me back before tonight," she said as she got up and put on a sweater. She slid her boots on her feet and headed to the window. I opened it and said, "After you."
She climbed out and I followed. It was cold out here, but it didn't affect me like it did her. She was already shaking. I grabbed her hand and led her to the road. When we reached it I let her go and turned to her looking her in the eye.
"Try not to freak out," I warned her.
She looked confused but nodded. I turned away from her and put my fingers in my mouth and whistled loud and shrill. My whistle echoed off the sleeping houses and the trees. I waited for a minute and then I heard in the distance a dog's bark.
I braced myself for an attack and then I was hit.
He hit me full in the chest and pushed me to the ground and pinned me there. He licked my face with all three of his heads. I was covered in slobber in no time. "Ach, Cerberus! Get off me, boy." He got off of me obediently. I stood and wiped as much slobber off as I could.
I turned to look at Persephone. Her mouth was wide open in shock. "Persephone, I said don't freak out. He won't hurt you I swear. Cerberus, lay down," I heard him lay down. "See?"
It took her a few moments to say something, but what she said surprised me.
"Fluffy."
"Come again?" I asked.
"Fluffy," she repeated.
"Yes he is fluffy. You can—"
"No. I mean, it's Fluffy from Harry Potter. Hagrid's three-headed dog," she answered.
"Oh, that Fluffy. He doesn't exist you know. He was created from the legend of Cerberus."
"Can I call him Fluffy?" she asked me. I looked at Cerberus and he was too busy sniffing a tree to notice that we were talking about him. I looked back at Persephone.
"Um, I don't think he'd like that. He's got a huge ego."
"Can I pet him?" She looked cautiously at Cerberus. He was marking his territory on five trees at the same time.
"Cerberus!" I hissed. He put down his leg and came trotting over. "Sit."
He sat and Persephone warily approached him with her hand held out. His middle head leaned forward to sniff her hand. He sniffed her for less than a second then all six ears perked up and all of his heads leaned back to the sky and howled.
That howl was his 'I know you' howl. I looked at Persephone and she had jumped back at least two feet. She was stiff and her eyes were wide.
"It's okay Persephone. He's just saying that he knows you." In fact to prove my point Cerberus stood and all three heads started to lick Persephone's face.
"Ach! That's gross! Get him off of me, please," she begged as she tried to fight off all of his heads.
I laughed at her reaction; she usually doted on Cerberus, especially when he licked her. "Cerberus, heel." He came over and sat on my left. His three heads started to pant.
"Why did you call him here?" she asked, wary of his tongues.
"He's our ride to the Underworld. Well usually I would ask Hermes to take me, but I understand that things are kind of sore between you two."
She scoffed, "Ha, 'kind of sore' is an understatement. I can't believe that he lied to me for sixteen years. I hate him." She mumbled that last line to herself.
"You shouldn't hate him. He had no choice. My brother made him swear on the River Styx to never speak of your being a goddess until I gave the okay. If it was anybody's fault it was Zeus'." As soon as those words left my mouth a bolt of lightning shot across the sky and the thunder followed shortly after. I looked up at the sky and scowled. "Zeus, don't be such a cry baby. Man up and take your faults!"
That was kind of pushing my luck but right now I didn't give a crap about Zeus and his ego. Persephone looked at the sky curiously.
"He's really up there? Zeus? All this time I thought he was just another myth."
"He's really up there, and he's probably really pissed at me for that last comment. We should get going before he aims next time." I turned and looked at Cerberus. "Lay down." He lay down and put his heads in his paws. I looked back at Persephone. I held out my hand and she cautiously grabbed it. I helped her climb on Cerberus' back and then I sat close behind her.
I could smell her shampoo, it smelled like cherry blossoms. I wrapped my arms around her waist and I felt her tense up at my touch. "It's okay," I whispered in her ear. "You can trust me." She relaxed slightly and I smiled. At least she was being open minded.
"Cerberus, lets go home." At my words he stood and turned in the direction that he came from. He took off like a catapult and we were racing through the streets of West Grove, Maine. We headed west at over fifty miles per hour. Our speed increased the more we ran. When we reached sixty miles per hour I leaned forward and pressed Persephone's and my body against Cerberus' back. He went faster and faster, never growing tired, and never slowing down. I looked up and I saw the countryside of Montana fly by us. We were going much faster than three hundred miles per hour. I pushed myself forward slightly and shouted in his far left ear, "Do it Cerberus!"
He barked and then I felt the air around us stop. The sky turned dark and it felt like we were running on air, but there was no movement to indicate that we were running at all. The world around us disappeared and we were surrounded by darkness. I sat up and I pulled Persephone up as well. Her hair was a mess and she looked frightened by the dark.
"Are we there yet?" her voice shook.
"Almost, you see that light come towards us?" She nodded. "That is where we are headed." As the light got closer and closer I pushed her back down and I lay on top of her just before we broke free from the darkness. Cerberus started to slow down and when he reached a much more reasonable speed I sat up and pulled Persephone up as well. We were in L.A. I watched the sleeping suburbs fly by as we raced to the heart of the city. He slowed to a trot and waltzed right up to a funeral home. He lay down and let us dismount.
I lead Persephone to the front door. She looked at it with wonder. "This is where you…I mean we live? No offense, but this place is a dump! And you called my room a dump." I chuckled softly at her.
"This is not where I live. This is where you get to where I live." I opened the door and inside there were people, or rather spirits, all over the place. They were playing on their cell phones, listening to their music, talking to one another; telling each other about their lives. All in all everything that they wouldn't be able to do when they reached their final destination, the Fields of Punishment, Elysium, or the Fields of Asphodel. Persephone looked around the place curiously. She couldn't see the spirits until she entered the Underworld. I just hoped that she wouldn't faint when she did see them.
I walked through the crowd and headed to a room in the back. Persephone followed closely behind me. I opened the door and when I stepped through I saw the River Styx and a whole bunch of ferries loaded with spirits. Persephone gasped and grabbed my shirt and held on to it tightly. He eyes went wide and her jaw dropped slightly.
"Ghost. Ghosts. There are ghosts everywhere."
"Yes, they won't harm you though. They can't even see you. To them we are the ghosts." I lead her to a much smaller boat that was made out of bones and small gems.
"Are those bones?" she whispered. I had no other option but to tell her the truth.
"Cerberus likes to dig up things when he's bored. He found this when we were in present day Greece. It was made for me as a sacrificial offering in ancient times. Those bones are human."
"That's disgusting. Are those rubies?" She knelt down and studied the side of the boat.
"Yes, they are. If you want I could give you some. I have plenty in the palace." I offered her as she stood up and dusted off her knees.
"Um…I'm not sure how my mom would react to a guy that I hate giving me rubies for free. Let alone if that guy was Hades."
I held out my hand and helped her into the boat. When she was seated I stood at the back of the boat and grabbed the oar and started to push us down river. Once we caught the current I didn't push as much, but let the river take us where we needed to be. I reached down and grabbed the lantern that was sitting on the floor and handed it to Persephone. "Can I trust you to light this and not set the boat or yourself on fire?" It was a rhetorical question, but I guess she took it literally.
"I guess you can." She looked around for something. "Got any matches?"
I grabbed a lighter from my pants pocket and handed it to her. She lit the lantern and we were surrounded by soft light. I pushed again and we got a little burst of speed as we neared the beginning of our journey. I set the oar down and grabbed the lantern from her and hung it on a pole jutting from the front of the boat. She observed her surroundings. Her mouth hung slightly open as she took in the blue-grey walls. The texture on the walls seemed to move with the flow of the river, like gentle waves. The walls seemed to have a life of their own.
"So pretty," she breathed. I looked at her and she stared in awe of the beauty before her.
"It gets better," I whispered to her just before we turned a corner.
I knew what was waiting on the other side.
Beautiful fields filled with Asphodel flowers and spirits lay to the left. The fields seemed to stretch on and on forever, with no end in site. The spirits ran over to the River Styx to greet us from the banks. She raised her hand hesitantly and waved to them. We rode the river for two more miles until we left the Fields for more walls.
"That was…wow." She looked at me with awe still glowing in her eyes. "They looked so nice and welcoming. It's a shame though, their deaths." She turned sad then and looked straight ahead.
"Death is one thing that you are going to have to get used to here. It's inevitable…well except for the gods. We are the only exception." I hated to be so frank with her, but if she was to ever accept who she was she would also have to accept where she lives.
"Does it get easier?" She turned and looked at me. I could see the sadness etched on her perfect face. "Seeing and being surrounded by the dead?"
"You do get used to it. I got used to it way before you did. I have lived here my whole existence. These spirits are my only company, except for you."
She nodded and looked back at the river. We sailed for ten more minutes and then the river forked off to the right. I steered us to the right into the River Lethe; the River of Forgetfulness.
The river was murky and it didn't seem to be water at all. In fact there was no water at all in the River Lethe. The whole river was just memories; memories of those passed and forgotten memories of those still alive. I looked over into the swirling memories and a memory had floated up near the top. It was a memory of a child in her mother's arms. The child had been crying and the mother did everything she could to comfort her crying daughter.
I looked up just in time to see Persephone reach into the memories. I lunged forward and snatched her hand away from the river just before her fingertips skimmed the memory. She looked up at me in surprise.
"What was that for?"
"Don't touch the river," I warned her.
"Why? What will happen if I do?"
I looked at her then at the river. "Do you know what these are?"
"It's water. What else would it be?"
I kept my gaze on the river and as I spoke another memory arose to the surface. "This is not water. These are memories of the deceased. This whole river is made entirely of memories. That is why it is called the River Lethe; The River of Forgetfulness."
She looked at the river in awe and wonder. "These are all memories? Why can't I touch them?"
"If you touch the River Lethe you will lose all of your memories. You will remember nothing of who you are, where you are, how you came to be there. You will become a blank slate. I doubt you'll be able to talk at all." It was a harsh truth but it was indeed the truth.
She scooted further into the boat and away from the river. She kept her arms inside the boat for the rest of the trip.
We floated up stream for about thirty more minutes. She occasionally looked into the river to see all of the memories. One time she turned her head quickly away from the memory that she was looking at blushing. I smiled and casually looked to see what she saw. Once I had found what made her blush I smiled even wider.
"Is it embarrassing to look at other people's personal lives even though that person is dead?" she asked, still blushing. Her face was as scarlet as a rose.
"Yes and no. I usually don't look into the river so I don't see those memories often and I usually visit my own personal memories when I am feeling lonely or sad."
That made her blush more, she knew what I was talking about. She just looked down at her lap and stayed silent for the rest of the trip.
I don't know how much time had passed when I felt the current pick up speed. We went faster and faster the further up stream we went. I told her to grab the side of the boat and to hang on. I put the oar into the river and pushed us with the current. We picked up more speed.
The boat started rocking side to side as the memories hit us in waves. None of them landed in the boat or touched us though. They stopped as if they had hit glass and slid back into the river. Poor Persephone started to look a little green in the face.
I looked into the distance and I saw what I was looking for.
A waterfall.
I pushed us faster and faster towards the waterfall and when we were two feet away I put the oar back in the boat and sat down just in time for us to plunge over the side. Persephone screamed and held on as we plummeted towards the water.
We didn't crash or tip or break the boat, in fact, we evened out just before we hit the water and we came down with a light splash. Persephone stopped screaming and her eyes were wide as she held on to the boat with a death-grip. I stood and approached her.
"Persephone, you're okay. See we made it all the way down without crashing," I said in a soothing voice as I tried to pry her hands off the boat.
She let go of the boat after much prying and comforting words and lost the wild look in her eyes. She looked around and saw that we were near a bank. I put the oar back in the water and pushed us toward the bank. Once we surfaced I pulled the boat on to the shore and helped Persephone out.
She stood on wobbly legs and stepped out onto the solid ground. I led her up a small hill covered in Asphodel flowers. When we reached the top of the hill I heard her gasp.
The Fields of Asphodel stretched on and on forever before us. In the background stood a magnificent dark palace. To the left was the beautiful Isles of the Blessed; cut off from the Fields of Asphodel by twelve foot tall iron gates. And to the right just beyond the Fields of Asphodel were the Fields of Punishment.
I took Persephone's hand in mine and lead her to the left towards the Isles of the Blessed. As we approached the iron gates I felt her hand squeeze mine. I stopped and looked at her. "What's wrong?"
She hesitated, "I remember this place. I don't know how, but I do. It's all so weird."
Hope flooded through me. "Really? You remember this place? That's wonderful!"
She nodded, "Yes, I think I am finally remembering who I am."
I smiled and looked back at the gates. I took three steps toward the gates and then I pushed a button located in the middle of the left door.
"Hello, welcome to Elysium. My name is Margaret how can I help you?" buzzed a voice from a speaker on the door.
"Hello Margaret, this is Hades. If you would be a dear and open the gates that would be marvelous," I said to the clearly bored speaker.
"Oh! Of course Mr. Hades, right away sir," she said in her most perky voice.
There was a small buzz and then the gates opened wide. I gripped Persephone's hand tighter and lead her through the gates to the beautiful islands on the other side. The lanterns were lit and a soft glow covered all of the beautiful houses and spirits.
The spirits here seemed just a tad bit more solid than the spirits elsewhere. They seemed less transparent and distant.
She gasped at the beauty of it all and she pulled her hand out of mine to go explore the islands more thoroughly. I followed her silently as she greeted all of the spirits. She paused to smell all of the flowers and when she sniffed the red and white roses she smiled.
While she was preoccupied with talking and smelling I picked a couple of the roses. I tapped her back and when she turned I handed her the small bouquet.
She looked from the roses to me and back again. She took the roses from me wary of the thorns and smiled. "Thank you, they're beautiful." She smelled them again. "Why did you pick them?"
"Because you smiled when you smelled them and I wanted to see you smile again." That was cheesy I know, but it was the truth. I loved it when she smiled.
"That was a really cheesy line, but you know what's worse than saying that line? Believing it." She smiled and blushed a bit.
I had to laugh at that. She had thought what I was thinking and then she confessed that she fell for it. Ha! That was hilarious.
She laughed when I had started and we both just laughed together. We didn't laugh at each other, we just laughed with each other. I wanted to pause this moment and cherish it forever.
She turned and continued her walk when she had laughed it all out. I saw that she occasionally smelled the roses while she talked.
When the lamps started to go out I reached for her hand again and whispered in her ear, "We might want to get going if you want to be back before nightfall."
She looked at me and said, "It's been that long! Wow, I must've spent longer than I intended here. I wanted to go see the palace as well and maybe the Fields of Asphodel."
"There will be other times I assure you. We can come and go as often as you want. I am glad that you like it here." I tugged on her hand and lead her back to the gates.
When the gates had shut behind us I lead her back down to the boat. When she stepped in and sat down I pushed us off of the bank and stood at the back and steered us down river.
The trip wasn't as long or as bumpy as the trip in. As we passed an opening in the cave that we traveled in, we passed another river. Only this river was made entirely out of fire.
Persephone gasped and looked at me for an explanation.
"That is the River Phlegethon. The River of Fire. That river flows into Tartarus and leads to the darkest corners of the Underworld. You have heard of Tartarus before right?"
"Yes I have heard of Tartarus. Isn't that where your father and all of the evil creatures are held prisoner?"
I nodded and looked at the entrance to Tartarus in disgust. If it were silent enough I would've heard my father cry out in fury and the monsters slam themselves against the walls. They never learned, even after all these centuries.
I looked back at the River Styx and steered us further away from the River Phlegethon.
"Will I be able to see all of the rivers when I come back?" she asked curiously.
"Sure if you want to. There are five rivers and they are very long, and much like the River Lethe, they can get pretty bumpy."
"What are their names?"
"Archeron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, Lethe, and Styx. Styx and Phlegethon were lovers and then when Phlegethon died he became a river here. When Styx died she asked the gods to turn her into a river as well, so we did and now she runs parallel of Phlegethon.
"Phlegethon and Cocytus flow into Archeron. Cocytus is the River of Lamentation or the River of Tears. Archeron is the River of Pain. These are the five rivers of the Underworld."
I looked at her and said, "Any questions?"
"Yes, one: why is the Underworld so doom and gloom?"
Was she serious?
I tried to resist a smile as I answered, "Well, it is the Underworld. What did you expect? Bunnies with cookies?"
"Well no, but that would be nice. I'm starving!"
I reached into my pants pocket and pulled out a small package of a golden food. I unwrapped it and broke off a tiny sliver and handed it to her.
She took it cautiously. "What is it?" She carefully analyzed the gold food.
"Ambrosia. You only need a tiny amount because you are human, but since you're still part god I don't think that it will burn you up."
Her eyes widened. "You don't think? What if it does?" panic laced her voice as she tried to hand back the Ambrosia that I gave her.
"If it does then your human form will burn away and you will take on your natural form."
She eyed me and the Ambrosia then with much hesitation she popped it into her mouth and chewed slowly. She swallowed and when nothing happened at first she looked at me and said, "Well what happens now? I'm still hungry."
I held up a finger. She gasped a little when the Ambrosia had taken effect.
"Hungry now?" I asked kinda mocking her.
She shook her head and looked at the Ambrosia that was still in my hand in wonder. "That was amazing! No wonder you gods eat that all the time. It was delicious."
"You can only have small amounts though." I took a big bite of the Ambrosia and swallowed the sweet, thick food. It almost had the consistency of bread.
"Don't rub it in my face that you can have loads of that amazing food and I can't!" she pouted. Her bottom lip stuck out slightly. It was a new face that I had never seen on her, and quite frankly I thought it looked pretty…hot.
I took another big bite just to annoy her. She frowned and looked away. We finished the journey back to the port and then I led her out into the funeral home's lobby.
"Oh my gods. When did all these gho—I mean spirits arrive?" She looked around the lobby and took in all of the spirits lounging about as if they weren't dead.
"They've been here you just couldn't see them until you entered the Underworld, now you can."
"Will I be able to see them all the time now? Even outside of the funeral home?" She seemed wary of what I might say.
"Not if you don't want to. Only my sons and daughters can see them and communicate with them on a daily basis. And of course me and all of the other death deities."
"You have kids? How many? Who are their parents? ...Are any of them mine as well?"
I laughed. Of course she wouldn't remember this part of the Greek gods' role. "Yes I have kids. I think I have ten worldwide. I won't tell you who their parents are because of confidentiality. No the demigods are not your kids as well."
"Oh, the demigods." She gave me a look then she said, "I leave for eighteen years and you go and hook up with ten women! Ha, see if I leave you for more than four months again."
She stomps out of the funeral home and right out onto the street. I stare at her with an open mouth in complete astonishment.
This was a new Persephone. She never minded before when I had affairs with mortal women. I guess it was the human in her. She was jealous.
A male spirit around the age of sixty approaches me and says sympathetically, "Women, you can't live with `em, you can't live without `em."
I glare at him and he backs off.
"Persephone! Come back please. I can explain everything." I follow after her and catch up to her rather quickly because she has no idea where she is or where she's going.
"What is there to explain? You slept around like you always have. You're just being who you are and I just have to deal with that. Yes it's not my ideal type of relationship, but if it worked until eighteen years ago I guess it's just going to have to work now."
I am speechless.
She made me think that I was going to get into big trouble and then she goes and turns all reasonable on me?
Women are confusing! Especially goddesses.
"What!? I thought you were mad at me. Are you mad at me? Because I would totally understand if you were mad—"
She put her finger against my lips when I started to ramble. I stopped instantly. This was as close as she had come to me since the night before she disappeared.
I closed my eyes and relished her touch. When I opened my eyes she had leaned forward a bit. I hadn't realized how close we really were until now. Her body gently pressed against mine and with her face even closer now I thought she was going to kiss me.
I cupped her face in my hands and turned it upward so that all I would have to do was close that small space between us. She had moved her finger from my lips. Her lips parted as I got just a breath away.
I couldn't wait any longer. I closed the distance quickly and pressed my lips to hers. She gasped as my lips met her soft, warm mouth.
I was in pure bliss when suddenly she pulled away gasping for breath.
"What's wrong?"
Hope you guys liked that. Sorry for yet another cliff-hanger. I seem to be constantly doing that to you guys. Sorry. _
If I get enough reviews maybe I'll post again before Wednesday. I'll be leaving on a trip for a few days on Wednesday so I won't be able to post until at least the following Monday. So, yeah. Review, favorite, share. Do whatever it is you guys do.