A/N: Hey guys, hope everything's going well for you. For those of you haven't read my profile update yet, I've decided if I don't get reviews by chapter 12, I'm discontinuing this. Sorry guys, but reviews are my motivation. I really wanna give the biggest apology to my BF, who is probably my biggest fan. Dustin I'm so sorry. I love you, but people aren't liking this I'm guessing. Anyway, without further ado, here's…

Chapter 10. Hurt

Pain…

Suffering…

Misery…

If anyone knew about it, it was him. He only fed on it for centuries on end. Its bitterness resonated within him for all time, eating its own way through his mind, webbing through the many cracks and crevices of his sanity. It built that cold, frozen wall around his heart, making next to numb from the inside out. No pain, no suffering, no misery could be found greater to Hades, the now ex god of the underworld.

But then a miracle happened. A miracle in the form of an innocent young woman, a story teller by the name of Persephone. She was the warmth and the love he'd always wanted and had always been deprived of. Those few years he spent with her as a mortal man were the happiest in all his years even as a god. Their love was of the purest kind, and often he found himself wondering why the fates hadn't given her to him earlier on, when he needed her most. With her, that misery, bitterness, and pain seemed a mere distant memory.

But then it all ended in the most heartbreaking way possible. She died and suddenly everything just flooded back, but this time a hundredfold. His whole life had become meaningless. Many times he tried to find a way to escape the curse, to end his life and be with her some way, anyway. But the curse was relentless, keeping him forever in its hold, cutting him off from the one he held dearest to his cold heart. Seeing no other way, he lived without ever truly living, just merely trying to get by in life over everything else. Centuries passed by, the world changed around him, and he felt his existence get less and less meaningful. He was wasting away, inside and out. He was nothing.

Thanatos' taunting didn't help either. He would show up every other century or so. It was mostly to check on his victim, but also to serve as a constant painful reminder of his beloved's fate, a fate shared by all living things. But soon, the taunts served to be a motivation. They lit a determined fire in him. He couldn't give up. He had to find Persephone's soul, no matter the cost.

And just a few days ago, he did. And she was here, safe in his arms, where she belonged. Granted, it wasn't entirely her, but her soul was deep within Stephanie Kore. But still, Stephanie was her own person. He couldn't force her to be someone she was in the past life. Hades knew she cared about him, she wouldn't have gotten upset earlier if she didn't. And her vision…she couldn't deny now that she was once his Persephone. Looking down at her on his chest, Hades realized Stephanie looked almost just like her. If her hair was the same orange red, it would've been perfect. She said it had been once…if only she'd kept it that way.

But Stephanie wasn't Persephone, not entirely at least. He had to keep telling himself that. Then why was he holding her now? Why did he let her stay in the same room, the same bed, as him? Why had his heart thudded so loudly as she listened to it? Why was it calm now? God, why everything?

Hades sighed. The temptation to love…oh it was great. With her every breath, his willpower weakened. A part of him wanted to love her, but he couldn't. The curse, and the pain he felt still, wouldn't allow it. Hades gently moved so he could take the sleeping teen to her room. If he held her any longer, he knew somehow there'd be no holding back. He'd love her and inevitably it'd kill them both.

He set her down on her bed carefully. She stirred but didn't wake, snuggling into her pillows and smiling in her sleep. At least one of them would get decent sleep tonight. His heart thudded wildly inside him. The temptation was getting stronger. Hades clenched his fists, trying to strengthen his resolve and battle the growing feelings within him.

"Enough!" he thought, "You belong to Persephone, no one else. Stephanie isn't her!"

Hades knew though, deep inside, it was over. He could control his thoughts, his words, his actions, but he couldn't control one thing: His feelings