Thanks for the reviews, favs and follows you guys! I appreciate every one! Also, I am going to try to go to posting twice a week, probably on Wednesday and Sunday to put myself on a schedule, and because I am taking summer classes and have to manage all my work carefully. That being said, I am out of town this weekend but will try to post Sunday night. Have a great weekend everybody and enjoy!
A new day was dawning in the Upperworld as Hermes entered the throne room on Olympus. It was markedly different from the one he had last come from, as it was white and had pristine glow. Zeus sat at his great golden throne, a crown upon his head to match, his long grey beard making the youngest of the three look older and more deserving of the title king of the gods. Next to him on his right was Demeter, holding herself together but just barely. As Hermes neared the two, she could not wait.
"Well, do they come?" she demanded.
Hermes ignored her for a moment to bow to his king, and then turned to address her.
"My lady, I cannot say."
"You cannot say?" repeated Zeus.
"No my king, lord Hades would not give an answer." Hermes replied.
"This is not to be! He cannot refuse a summons from his king!" Demeter cried out, looking from one god to the other.
"So he was, displeased by the request?" Zeus continued probing his messenger.
"Amused more than anything my lord. Persephone however…" Hermes trailed off, not sure how to say it or if he should say it at all.
"My Persephone, you saw her?!" Demeter gasped.
"Yes, great lady, I did." Hermes answered.
"Was she badly abused? What has he done to her?" Demeter continued, becoming frantic.
"Calm yourself," Zeus commanded, but Demeter barely heard it as at that moment the golden doors of the throne room swung open to reveal the lord of the dead himself.
Silence. No one spoke or practically breathed as Hades strode towards the throne, dressed in a black tunic and matching himation, looking every bit his title. He came to stop a few steps before his brother and bowed as was expected, though on the inside Hades was seething at having been summoned like a child to be scolded for stealing another's toy. But he hid that emotion well behind his much practiced expression of cold indifference.
As Hades rose his eyes fixed on Zeus. "Greetings, brother." His deep baritone broke the potent silence.
"Brother," Zeus inclined his head to Hades. "How good of you to come so quickly. We were afraid you weren't coming at all." He said looking to Hermes who shifted a little under his gaze.
"Have I not always done your bidding, little brother? Have I not always done as you commanded?" Hades returned, matter of fact but with great meaning that he knew Zeus recognized.
Zeus had mentally winced at little brother, but bowed his head slightly as he answered. "Always."
Demeter, not being able to wait any longer and distraught that her daughter was not with present, practically yelled at Hades now.
"Where is she?! What have you done with her?! Were you not ordered to bring her with you?!"
"Silence!" Zeus thundered at her and she seemed to remember herself a little, though her eyes were glued to Hades for an answer and her chest was rising and falling quickly.
Hades barely acknowledged her. He did not answer to her, and would not.
Zeus sensed as much, and continued his questioning.
"Hades, I believe you have a certain someone in your possession…that you did not have rights to take." He said carefully.
Hades' eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Oh? Did she belong to some other god? Was she betrothed?" he answered almost mockingly.
"She belongs to me! And she was never to be betrothed to anyone!" Demeter cried again and Zeus turned his body around to face her this time.
"You will silence yourself before my throne or you shall return to your barren fields!" He yelled and she immediately fell silent, tears welling in her eyes. She looked as though she were biting her tongue in half, but did not move to speak again. Hades thought that she looked much older than when he had seen her in that same room only months ago. She had driven herself mad and aged herself prematurely. He did not feel sorry for her.
Zeus, appearing satisfied that she would hold her silence, turned from Demeter and back to Hades.
"Brother, I would be inclined to let you keep your bride if she were anyone else, but, for the sake of the earth, and for the mortals whom you of all must know are plummeting towards extinction, I cannot allow Persephone to remain in the Underworld with you. The cost would be too great."
Demeter was practically trembling from where she stood, infuriated by her former lover's words that she now considered his greatest betrayal of all. And he was her father! Yet he would let her go to such a place and such a one as Hades if he could. She remained silent however, waiting to hear uttered the command for Persephone's return. She practically held her breath.
Hades huffed, mostly under his breath, but Zeus caught it. A wry smile played on Hades' lips as he regarded Demeter and then met his brother's eyes again. "Persephone-my queen and consort- has tasted the fruit of my realm, and so cannot return to this one. It is a binding and undoable act, as you well know." He said smoothly and saw Zeus's eyes widen a bit. Next to him, Demeter began to sob.
"That cannot be!" she choked out. "She cannot be lost forever…."but it was less a question and more a lamentation.
Zeus did not hear Demeter, for he was silently considering Hades' words. This would not do. Demeter was beside herself and if faced with losing Persephone forever, would likely not have the strength to carry out her duties even if she were inclined to. He had promised her that he would bring their daughter from the land of the dead in exchange for her restoring the harvest and setting the world right again. He could not break his word, or let the earth die beneath them. But he was playing with ancient and powerful magic, and so must tread carefully.
"She tasted the fruit of your realm? What do you mean, specifically?" Zeus inquired, trying to find a way around the dilemma before him.
Hades laughed internally. Demeter would likely faint, if not throw herself on him in violence, if he were to truly and fully recount the story of what had happened to that pomegranate. He suppressed a wicked smile and answered simply, "She ate a pomegranate, specifically."
"But she did not eat the entire thing?" Zeus pressed him.
What was he getting at? Hades wondered to himself. "What does that matter?" he asked, growing impatient, and realizing too late that he had thus given Zeus the answer.
"So she didn't eat the entire thing. How much then?" he continued.
Hades bristled. He did not like this. Clearly Zeus had hit upon something, known or realized something that he had not. He wanted to say no more, but knew now that he had given so much away that his brother would be able to tell if he was lying. Zeus was good at that. As the king of a devious and deceptive collection of gods, it was a highly necessary skill.
"Half," Hades answered through gritted teeth and he could feel his face becoming hot with anger.
"Ahh. I believe then I see a solution that should suit the both of you." Zeus said, smiling triumphantly.
Demeter stopped her sobbing long enough to look up at Zeus with red eyes. Hades felt his hands balling into fists, almost involuntarily, the mere thought of some sort of compromise enflaming him.
"As Persephone only ate half of the pomegranate, she will remain in the Underworld for half of the year. The other half, she must return to the Upperworld to reside with her mother. Thus, both of you shall have her, no one of you for a greater amount of time than the other."
Zeus obviously seemed to think this was a marvelous and clever solution. The other two parties in the room however could not have been in greater disagreement with their king.
Hades made a low, growling noise as his pale face turned red with rage. Before he could lash out at this brother though Demeter screeched from her place beside the throne.
"I have to share her with that monster?! After he stole and raped her?! That is your solution?! You promised—"
"I have never raped her you sniveling, pathetic, wretched excuse for an immortal! I may have abducted her but I have never laid a hand on her in harm! I made her a queen! You would have kept her a child for the rest of eternity if you'd had your way!" Hades bellowed as he could endure no more from either of them.
"Better forever a child than ever your bedmate! She will never love you! You vile, hateful, despicable monster!" Demeter shot back, having forgotten the command to control herself.
"ENOUGH!" Zeus's voice shook the room like thunder itself. The two warring gods held their tongues and starred daggers into each other.
"This is a fitting arrangement, and as I am king, it is law. You, Demeter, forsook your most sacred duties and as such countless mortals went to the Underworld before their time. You think you should be rewarded for this?" He said sternly as he was angry now, tired of the petty back and forth that had been occurring between the two ancient gods.
"And you brother. Do you not think you should be reprimanded for stealing a virgin goddess? Simply picking her from the fields as though she were a flower herself, without asking my permission first? Especially given she is my daughter. Had you desired a bride, why did you not come to me? And you cannot tell me that you had no idea as to why so many mortals were passing into your realm so soon after taking Persephone as your wife. You are as guilty for the devastation on the Upperworld as she." Zeus said, jerking his head towards Demeter. "If Persephone had not eaten the fruit of your realm, I would command you to return her for good." Zeus finished hotly.
"And you would have to come down to the Underworld yourself to retrieve her." Hades' words were dangerous and his voice low. His eyes blue eyes shown like ice and he trembled he was so overcome with fury.
"Do not challenge me Hades, you are among the most intelligent of our kind. You knew you would have to answer for this." Zeus's voice came just as dangerously. "And for that, you will return Persephone immediately. She will dwell with Demeter for the next six moons, only then may she return to you."
Hades felt as though he had been punched squarely in the gut. He felt as though the air had left his lungs and he couldn't think clearly for a moment. He knew he had heard his brother correctly, but tried to convince himself otherwise.
She was going to be taken from him. And immediately. Not in a few months, as she had not been with him six moons yet, but right now. This could not be. He had followed the ancient rules and rites. She was bound to him and his world. Yet, the king of the gods had just ordered her return to the Upperworld. He had completely forgotten Demeter was in the room until she broke the silence.
"Fine. But while she is with him, while she is gone from my side, I will allow nothing to grow upon the earth. I will mourn her every second she is in his realm." Demeter declared and moved in front of Zeus's throne to bow and dismiss herself. As she walked past Hades she stopped and added hatefully, "I expect her by nightfall." And strode from the room.
Hades and Zeus regarded each other silently for a moment, each taking in the other's resolve and neither wanting to tempt the other any further. They generally held each other at arm's length, always endeavoring to keep peace between them. Hades had learned to control his anger and rage over the years, but Zeus knew that his brother had been a ruthless, mighty and blood thirsty warrior in his youth, and that the wild killer still lurked somewhere deep down inside him. He wanted in earnest for that part of him to remain dormant for the rest of his existence, unless he ever needed to call on him for defense.
Hades, while not afraid of his brother, knew that Zeus could likely do even worse than he had just done, and did not want to risk anything else where Persephone was concerned. He had known he would have to answer for this eventually. That he would likely even be punished. But he had never imagined it would be like this. This was the worst punishment Zeus could have possibly devised, save for parting them forever.
Zeus waited for Hades to say something. However, after another long moment, Hades turned and walked from the room. Zeus had expected him to say something, anything really, but not walk away silently. Somehow, that was the most frightening thing he could have done. For as Hades had told him with his eyes, he would find a way to repay Zeus for this. And he was going to have months to consider how while he waited for his queen to be returned to him. Zeus had not wanted this, but as he had said, Hades and Demeter had actions to answer for, and he could see of no better solution.
As he sat on his throne, Zeus wondered if he had truly heard the last of all this. Someone, he knew he had not.
In the royal bedchamber deep beneath the earth, Persephone was just waking after having spent what felt like hours crying herself to sleep. The preceding night had been the worst of her life. She had discovered that she was the cause of the many recent deaths among the mortals, that her mother was devastated in her absence, and that her husband had been lying to her.
The last thing she wanted to do was travel to Olympus and come before her father. She wanted to go back to sleep, only to wake and find the night before had been but a bad dream. She did not know what to make of Hades' actions. She was too upset and worried about her mother to attempt to understand what he had been thinking or put herself in his shoes, as she always tried to do—that is to see things from his perspective. She wished that he would do that with her sometimes.
While she was indeed no less angry with him this morning, her thoughts were largely on her mother. She had not thought about her enough, she reprimanded herself. She wondered if she would be at Olympus as well. How she would receive her after all of this. If she would blame her or Hades or both of them. She would tell her mother and father how she had begged this of Hades, how it was not his fault and of how desperately she loved him. Hopefully her mother could at least understand that much, for she knew she had once loved too.
Persephone looked to the other side of the bed. It was untouched as Hades had never come to it. She wondered where he was. She was surprised he had not come for her yet, but truly she did not know how long she had slept. She did not feel well rested at all. Pushing herself up and out of bed, she went through their chambers to look for him. Passing from room to room, he was nowhere in sight. Becoming angrier by the second, Persephone sat out for the throne room, sure she would find him there. Likely he slept there all night, she thought. Serves him right.
But as Persephone entered the throne room, she noticed he was not there either. Becoming very irritated now, she turned to seek out Hecate. Hecate somehow always knew where their lord was. She knew a lot of things and Persephone was always astounded and almost frightened by the depth and range of her knowledge. The goddess had expanded her understanding of just about everything over the months that she had been in the Underworld. And for that Persephone was very thankful.
After a few moments of scouting all of the usual places, Persephone finally spotted Hecate coming from the garden. The goddess had a great knowledge of plants and was usually very active at night, so Persephone figured that Hecate was returning from another nocturnal venture of hers.
As she approached, Hecate greeted her warmly. "My queen, you are awake early to have been up so late." She said knowingly.
"Yes, yes I am. As is the same for my lord husband. Have you seen him?" Persephone asked, not having the patience this morning for pleasantries.
"I saw him, yes. He left for Olympus some time ago. Hermes came late last night to summon him, though I believe you saw the messenger god yourself." Hecate answered her queen casually, not knowing the impact and gravity of her words.
Persephone refused to believe her ears. She did not speak, but felt hot and angry tears forming in her eyes. He had lied to her again. He had betrayed her trust and gone without her. He was saying gods know what, and perhaps her mother was there too. So many painful thoughts ran through her mind as the realization of Hecate's words thoroughly sunk in. She blindly walked past the goddess, not hearing when she called to her, inquiring what was wrong. Persephone simply walked away from the palace and aimlessly into the grey wastes. Tears were flowing freely down her face now, and suddenly she was too hurt and overcome to have any more thoughts at all.
Thanks for the reviews, favs and follows everyone! I appreciate every one! Also, I am going to try to go to posting twice a week, probably on Wednesday's and Sundays to put myself on a schedule, and because I am taking summer semester classes and have to manage all my work carefully. That being said, I am out of town this weekend but will try to post Sunday night. Have a great weekend everybody and enjoy!