Although she had no need of sustenance or water or any of the other conventions for mortal existence, Persephone did eventually require sleep. Hades briefly introduced her to the goddess of the night, Nyx and her son Hypnus who were just in their way out of the Underworld to bring darkness to the upper realm before informing Persephone that he now possessed her very own chambers within his House. As the clatter of hooves sounded off into the distance and Hypnus drove his mother's chariot high into the sky, Persephone tried to find some way to thank her host for his generosity.
"Oh, my Lord!" Her eyes sparkled with gratitude she didn't feel she could express properly. "You didn't have to… I mean, I really do appreciate…"
"Daeria will be your handmaiden for the duration of your stay," Hades told her, taking quiet pleasure from her obvious gratefulness. "If you need anything further, if the room needs adjustment, just inform her. She is to grant your every wish."
Persephone beamed at him and to Hades it was though he could suddenly feel the warmth of sunshine. He was relieved he'd been able to dispel her fear and hopelessness with a simple walk around and a few basic courtesies. If only everyone was so simple to please! He considered it a simple thing to grant her wishes when it was out of his ability to give her the one thing she wanted the most – to be sent home.
"Thank you so much, my Lord." Persephone's sincerity shone out of every particle of her and she also gave him a deep bow. Hades gestured and Daeira stepped from the shadows. For a long time after the two women had left the entrance hall he could detect the sounds of their soprano voices mingling pleasantly and even a few short bursts of laughter as they talked. It made him glad – Daeira was a good and faithful servant who would evidently be trusted to keep Persephone in a positive mood, even here in the Underworld.
He had endeavoured to keep his tour to the lighter, relatively gentler parts of the Underworld so as not to scare her but Persephone's unfailing curiosity had taxed his resolve; she wanted to see and understand everything! Understandably, she had been cautious at first but inquisitiveness soon banished most of her fear when it became abundantly clear that Hades could ensure her complete safety. She was unfailingly polite, perfectly happy to listen to his explanations for everything and to intelligent questions when he ran out of words. Her patience and adherence with his restrictions on her explorations was admirable; she never argued against his dire warnings about the consequences of eating the food of the dead or touching the forgetting waters of the River Lethe. She was content with his allowances and clearly intrigued by everything she was permitted to witness. He had spelled out in plain words that there were some secrets the living were not privy to and she had not raised any disagreements to this. Considering the fact that Hermes had just informed her point-blank that she was trapped, her audacity was more than he had anticipated.
Certainly, Hades considered her pleasant company. Hermes had not been wrong to compare her to a flower in his opinion – she was as bright, pretty and just as likely to lighten anyone's mood as any blossom.
But now that Persephone was resting in her newly renovated rooms, Hades could attend to the tasks he'd neglected to entertain her. He adjourned to his study – a practical room filled with dark wood bookshelves that teemed with 'dead' volumes no longer in existence in his brother's realm – hoping to hide from interruptions.
However, he was almost instantaneously thwarted by a tapping on the door. Hades buried his head in his hands for an instant, and then shrugged his exasperation aside. He hoped it was an important matter and not some trivia he could easily see to at another time. Hades bade whoever it was to enter.
One incredibly long-nailed hand slid into view from behind the door and Hades threw his scroll aside, resigning himself to a very long-winded and possibly pointless conversation. Hecate never could get straight to the heart of any matter.
The goddess herself stepped into his study, a broad and inviting smile on her face. Her impossibly long and tightly coiled hair made her an impressionable figure, coupled with the inordinate amount of heavy ornaments at her throat, bust, wrists and adorning the length of her forearms. She wore a jewelled headpiece of exquisite and charmed black metal she had forged herself that sometimes got lost in amongst the volume of her hair. Her billowing black dress erupted at her tiny waist to spill far and wide to the fall in a dramatic waterfall of fabrics. Hecate was seldom ignored and did not strike anyone as a subtle goddess; she was at all times a fabulously exotic creature.
She raised a long-nailed hand coated in rings and symbols in black ink to smother her giggles.
"It seems to me that we have a guest," she intoned around her mocking giggles. Hades sat back in his chair heavily and merely stared at her, begging with his eyes for her to get to the point sometime before his patience snapped. She battered her eyes at him.
"What do you want?" he asked frankly, as she failed to acknowledge the fact that he was busy.
Hecate's leering smile grew at his tone.
"You have put aside your work for today until the last minute… That's not like you, my friend." Hecate moved with wide, sweeping steps to the bookshelves, her voluminous dress rustling like a snake as she moved. "Falling behind schedule… Why, I can't even remember the last time I saw you do that…"
Hades didn't give in to her taunting; he just continued to stare, his question still unanswered. This made Hecate giggle again.
"Oh, I just popped in because I thought you'd like to know that, although getting Hermes down here was a smart idea, there's no way he'll be able to get the mortal woman out of this pit. Zeus won't be any help, either." Hecate raised her eyebrows knowingly at Hades. "Strong forces have her locked down here."
Now she finally possessed all of Hades' attention.
"Your magics can tell by whose will she is here?" he asked, seeking to confirm that he understood her correctly.
Hecate sighed theatrically. She really was one for drama, in Hades' opinion.
"It's obvious, really," she pointed at him to emphasise her argument. "If you can't put her back than the forces have to stronger than your will. That could only be the combination of…"
"The Fates and Zeus himself," Hades interrupted, the weight of his frustration clear in his voice.
Hecate shrugged. "Sorry to break it to you but she might be here quite a while, if they want her to be. My magic can't budge that and neither can you or anyone else but…" Her thin black lips widened and parted into a wide grin of anticipation. "I get a new girlfriend to chat to!"
"If she desires your company, she is welcome to it," Hades muttered darkly, pulling a scroll on his table towards him. "Just be on your way and leave me in peace so I might finish my work."
Hecate's hands jumped to her hips and she pouted.
"Why haven't you introduced us yet, then?"
"I will do so after she has rested!" Hades shot back. The goddess immediately brightened and clapped her hands together in excitement. "But for the moment…" He made a shooing gesture and turned to the work laid out before him. Heacte blew him a kiss.
"Gosh, you're a treasure," she told him as she flounced out of the study, simply delighted at the thought of new female company. Hades just shook his head slightly at her absurd theatricality but said nothing, grateful for her departure.
For hours he remained uninterrupted. One of the Lampades entered briefly to pass on a list of the newly admitted souls on the Isle of the Blessed but scuttled out without a word to her master.
He was in the middle of reviewing the security of Tartarus when he became aware of another inhabitant of the Underworld stood outside his door seeking his attention.
"Enter!" he called out, content to put down the report in his hands for the moment.
The kindly, solemn being that entered made absolutely no sound and lengthened the darkness in the room with his mere presence. A cold, shivering kind of aura preceded his appearance and as he entered every bit of life in the room faded, as though greyness had crept in with him to drain the colour from everything nearby. In this monochrome atmosphere walked Thanatos, the giver of death, Hades' most trusted companion. Slim and wrapped in a shroud of black, only his watchful and impressively unfathomable eyes could be made out in amongst the gloom he always carried with him. Silence hung much heavier in his presence.
Thanatos had no need to bow to Hades but he inclined his head in greeting to the Lord of the Dead. They were equals, co-workers and confidants to each other.
"Something has happened," Thanatos informed Hades in a voice that was impossibly deep and softer than the most cautious whisper, a voice that embodied all the stillness, inevitability and comfort of death. He was death. Hades watched Thanatos weigh his considerations carefully before he went on.
"The Fates have dealt me a new set of orders," Death explained. "Many, many thousands of mortal souls are about to seek your halls to stand in final judgement."
This was a revelation to Hades; it was completely unanticipated.
"Why?" the Lord of the Underworld asked, disconcerted by the news.
Death's scythe gleamed momentarily in the gloom, its sharp edge reflecting the light of a newly dead soul. It was a sure sign that it would have much work to do in the very near future.
"Famine," Thanatos replied. "For the most part, at least. Starvation. Terrible hunger. Poison and disease, the results of desperately ravenous people. Much livestock and many beasts are about to fall in their thousands, too."
Hades openly gasped as he considered the ramifications of what he was being told.
"Which divine being is responsible for what is to transpire?" he demanded. There was no question that this foretelling was to be the work of someone with serious powers and an even more ferocious will. Death looked downcast.
"It has not occurred yet, so I am unable to know the cause for this retribution upon humanity. I thought we ought to be prepared, though. Lachesis is measuring out the sudden end for these mortals as we speak."
Lachesis, the second of the three Fates, was responsible for choosing a mortal souls' length of time in Zeus' realm before their death. Her younger sister Clotho began spinning the thread of life for any mortal being at their birth while the eldest of three, Atropos, gave Death his orders when she sliced through the thread and ended a life.
Hades grew vindictive at the thought of how much strain a sudden influx of thousands of souls would result on his defences and his time. He ran a hand through his hair, worrying.
I curse whichever selfish god or goddess is to bring this down upon us all!
"Famine…" he mused to himself. "That could be Hera. It could be Helios, if he had a mind to stray from his path in the sky. Could be Athena, although it is not her usual style… Even Dionysus could manage it, if he were not constantly affected by drink!" Hades sighed, resigning himself to ignorance. "I am sorry, my friend. This will mean much additional toil for you, I will find someone to assist you."
"That will not be necessary," Thanatos stated with calm assurance. "You are now forewarned and I will manage my duty." Hades thanked him and Death left in a silent rush of darting shadows to see to his tasks, which were never ending.
Hades was left alone once more. He resolved to pay the Fates a visit once he had seen to the other chores set in front of him.