Persephone wandered the meadows and the forests for days on end. She couldn't remember where the entrance to the Underworld was. She traveled to and from it every year, but Hermes led her there so fast, she could never memorize the route. She wasn't paying much attention when she stumbled upon the entrance the first time either. She was too focused on the strange trail of Hyacinths that led her there.

This time, however, Persephone was aware of everything around her. She took note of every detail of every path she took. If she managed to find the entrance to the Underworld, she wanted to make sure she remembered exactly how to get there.

Persephone's determination was so great that she went days without resting or eating. She walked none stop, coming upon many clearings in the woods, but none of them held the large expanse of rock she was searching for.

Finally, Persephone grew tired. She sat on the ground in the middle of nowhere and wept. She had been searching for so long and had found nothing. She was just about ready to give up. She threw herself farther on the ground, laying on her back, and sighed. There was no way she would be able to see her husband until winter. She was sure of that now.

Suddenly, she noticed someone standing over her. She could only see the legs of the person and the distorted nature of the rest of the body that came from looking at someone upside-down. She assumed it was Apollo; she couldn't really tell who it was, but she could tell it was a god and he held the same air of warmth and regalness that Apollo always carried. She sighed again and closed her eyes.

"Unless you can get me to the Underworld— which I highly doubt you can— I don't really want to speak with you." The god simply chuckled at Persephone's statement and Persephone sat up, turning around to finally get a good look at the man. She could tell by his laugh that he wasn't Apollo. Looking at him, she knew that he definitely wasn't Apollo.

"Who are you?" She asked. Looking at the god, Persephone could tell that she had never seen him before, but he seemed strangely familiar somehow.

The man bowed before answering, "My apologies. How rude of me not to introduce myself." He stood up straight and smiled at the young goddess before him. "I am Zephyrus, the West Wind." It suddenly clicked why Persephone thought he seemed so familiar. Zephyrus represented the springtime much the same as she did. While she came to represent the growth of the land, he represent the warmth of the earth.

Persephone was confused as to why Zephyrus was paying her a visit. It must have shown on her face, too, because Zephyrus explained, "I was sent here by my master to help you."

"And who might that be?" She asked.

Zephyrus held out his hand to help Persephone off the ground. She took it cautiously and Zephyrus pulled her up. Once Persephone was standing, he replied, "I think you know."

She racked her brain for the names of the different deities. She remembered Apollo mentioning Zephyrus one time, but she couldn't remember the context in which the god was mentioned.

"I honestly don't."

"Eros is my master," he said, chuckling lightly at the look of surprise on Persephone's face. "He took notice of your determination to find your husband and asked me to lead you to him."

"How could you possibly know where to find him?" Persephone asked with disbelief.

"Who do you think led you to him in the first place?"

Persephone thought that over for a minute. Could it be that her meeting Hades wasn't an accident at all? Had Eros really been the culprit behind their marriage?

"Those hyacinth flowers are very special to me. Surely Apollo has told you that story. I knew you would be attracted to them so I put out a trail of them to lead you to the Underworld." Persephone was still in a state of disbelief. When she asked why, Zephyrus continued, "Hades had seen you on Mount Olympus one day and fell instantly in love. He asked Zeus if he could arrange a meeting with you. Zeus gave some very poor advice, knowing your mother would not stand for the meeting. Hades decided to ignore Zeus's advice and went to Eros instead. Eros shot you with one of his arrows, although you probably never noticed. I, then, led you to the Underworld."

"But I am not in love Hades. I admire him greatly and care for him, sure, but I do not think that what I feel for him is love."

"You call your determination here… what? An act of amity?"

"Well, no…" Persephone was doubtful now of how she felt about Hades. She never thought she loved him, but he was definitely more than just a friend or companion.

"Alright," she said, "say I am in love with Hades. So I affections for him are fake then?"

"Now why would you say that?" Zephyrus looked amused Persephone's question.

"Well, if I was shot with one of Eros's arrows, then the love I feel for Hades is fabricated. It isn't real. It's simply a god messing with my emotions.

"While you are correct," Zephyrus answered, still amused, "you are wrong. Eros's affect on you lasted up until your marriage. Your first impressions of Hades were not of fear, which they should have been. You were drawn to him from the start because of Eros's interference. However, once the two of you were married, Eros's magic wore off, yet your feelings for Hades never changed. My master's hand in all of this wasn't to warp your perception of Hades, but to give the two of you a bit of boost. We feared you may not have stuck around long enough to get to Hades the way you have if you hadn't been struck by one of my master's arrows."

Persephone was more confused than she had been before. Why had the gods bothered to mess with her fate like this anyway? Where they just bored one day and decided 'You know what? Let's mess with Hades and Kore today?'

"I'm sure you have many questions." Zephyrus said softly as he held out his hand, "But you have something to do, remember?"

Persephone took Zephyrus's hand and he led her through the forests to the meadow where the entrance to the Underworld resided.

Hades had been bitter. All the gods noticed that he was much less reasonable than he was before. It had been many years and nothing seemed to improve his mood. In fact, everything seemed to make him all the more irritable.

Hades was sitting in his throne room, glaring at the floor, as per usual. He looked up when Thanatos walked in, but continued his glaring.

"M'lord," Thanatos said with a curt bow, "you have a visitor."

"Send them away!" Hades shouted and continued glaring at the floor.

"Trust me on this, sire. This is a visitor you will want to take."

"I don't know anyone who could be so important."

"Your wife, sire."

Hades looked back up at Thanatos with a hint of surprise. His surprise was short lived, however, and he shot out of his throne in anger.

"Especially her," he bellowed, "Send her away!" Hades stormed out of the throne room and didn't notice as Thanatos wore a smirk behind him.

Hades headed towards Persephone's garden. He spent a majority of his time there during the summer. Even though he was furious with her, he still missed her greatly. What Hades didn't know, however, was that Thanatos was almost certain Hades would come to the garden, so he sent Persephone there to wait. As soon as Hades noticed Persephone sitting on the bench in the middle of the path, he froze. He didn't know how to approach her. He didn't know what to say to her.

Persephone noticed Hades and smiled slightly. She knew he wasn't too happy to see her.

"Hello," she said softly. She stood up and took a few steps towards her husband. They stood there for a moment, neither of them saying a word. The air around them grew thick with tension.

Finally, Hades spoke up. "What are you doing here?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

"I wanted to talk," Persephone replied. Her voice was soft and she wouldn't meet Hades's eyes.

Hades looked at his wife, his face holding no emotion. "There is nothing to talk about."

Persephone looked up and, for the first time, she was not able to tell what her husband was thinking. She usually read him so easily, even when his face became stoic.

"I wanted to apologize for-"

"You think you can make your behavior acceptable with a mere apology?" Hades interrupted. His face showed little emotion, but his voice was filled with rage and betrayal.

"No." Persephone squeaked, looking away from here husband again. "Nothing can ever make what I did to you acceptable."

"Then I believe we are done here." Hades turned around to walk away, but was stopped as Persephone placed her hand on his arm.

"Please don't leave me," Persephone begged, "I want so much to work past this. Can we please just talk?"

Hades could see tears forming in Persephone's eyes and his expression softened. He sighed and walked past Persephone, sitting on the bench. He motioned for Persephone to sit as well, and she did.

For a long time, the two of them remained silent. Finally, Persephone decided to start the conversation. She explained that her relations with Adonis had never been intimate, but also that she knew that didn't make things better. She knew she was in the wrong for treating Hades the she did, and she told Hades exactly that. With a lot of yelling on Hades's part and a lot of pleading on Persephone's, the two finally found themselves at a stalemate. Hades's anger had subsided, but he felt different about his wife. Persephone had nothing left to say and nothing left to explain. They sat in silence again, avoiding each other's gaze.

"So…" Persephone began, breaking the silence, "What happens now?"

Hades sighed and looked at Persephone. Her face was red from her crying, but she had long since calmed down.

"You go back to your mother," Hades said, noticing Persephone hang her head in defeat. "We'll wait until winter and see where we stand then."

Persephone sighed and nodded in agreement. She stood up and was about to say something to Hades before deciding against it.

Persephone had reached the end of the garden's path when she heard Hades say, "Perhaps we can mend this with time."

Persephone left the Underworld then, still as miserable as she had been before.