After the events on Olympus, Hades had not wanted to return to his palace. It would mean facing the reality of everything he had done and would have to do. It would mean that he would have to face Persephone once more, having deceived her, but without being able to say that it had been for her own good. It had been in the sense that he took the blame for what had happened, but he had felt sure that he could keep her safely in his realm forever, and now he would have to tell her that he could not. He had failed her, and if he forced himself to be honest, he had lied to her.
What kind of husband was he that he could not even protect his own wife? That he could not keep her with him? His blood boiled at the mere thought of this brother. How many lovers had he taken? Immortal and mortal alike? Had he cared that they were virgins, married, or at times even unwilling? No, and he had never even loved. Hades did not believe he even could, or at least he was certain that he had never had anything like he and Persephone did.
Well, that was assuming they still did. Persephone was going to feel even more betrayed than she did last night. In her hurt and her anger, coupled with being so quickly returned to the Upperworld, Hades wondered if he would not lose her forever. They would have no time to reconcile, and she would remember all the things she loved and missed about her mother's home. The fields, the sun, the flowers that she loved so much and had been so long without. The chance to use her powers again, to grow things and create life as was her gift. Were those things enough to reclaim her heart from him? If they were, he knew it was his fault for causing her heart to ache and their to be separated in the first place. She most likely felt she could no longer trust him, and trust had been one of the main reasons she'd begged him to take her that night in Nysa. She had trusted him completely, believing that he would love her and care for her no matter what happened. He had ruined all of that now. The fates had given him one chance to love in his long and lonely life, and he had destroyed his brief happiness forever.
He had no idea how to tell her what he had done. She would not understand as she had not understood when he attempted to explain himself the night before. She was already furious at him, and when he brought her this news, she would turn from him forever.
Knowing he could put it off no longer, Hades returned to his palace. He walked slowly towards their chambers, wishing time would stop. As he entered their bedroom, he looked around but saw no sign of her. He did not even sense her near. Puzzled and growing even more anxious, he tried to quiet his mind and search for her that way, trying hard to feel her wherever she was. He did not believe her to be in doors after not feeling her presence anywhere in his palace, which was vast but she only kept to a few parts. Deciding that she must be outside, which should have occurred to him, he made his way back out of his palace.
Passing through the courtyard, he saw no one, dead or living. That suited him, he wanted to encounter no one except his wife. His mood made it impossible to be cordial at the moment, nor did he want any creature to behold the emotion that was becoming too much for him to control. These feelings, all of the feelings Persephone had kindled in him were brand new and at times he knew not how to manage them. He hid behind a mask of indifference before all but his wife, whom he showed almost everything to. He had not shown her his insecurities or his worries, and now knew that had been a great mistake. If she could forgive him, he would never make that mistake again.
Hades caught sight of her. She was walking so slowly that she was barely walking at all. More wandering aimlessly, her head tilted down towards the ground but not really looking at anything. He had wondered if he would find her more sad or more angry, and she appeared so forlorn that he almost could have mistaken her for a shade. Her being sad was worse to him than her being angry. His heart bleed at the thought of having wounded her so, and to make it worse he had no idea how to set it right.
He inhaled deeply and began to walk towards her. He wished she had been inside, where he could sit her down in their chambers and break it to her as gently as he could. As he neared her he could tell that she sensed him, yet she did not turn around to acknowledge him.
Persephone heard, and felt, Hades approaching. She had stopped and resumed crying several times since she had learned Hades departed without her. Her eyes had been dry, but now that he was so close she felt tears threatening her again. She did not turn. She did not want to look at him. She wanted him to know just how profoundly he had wounded her, and she knew that ignoring someone was worse than being cruel to them.
He was so close now that she heard his footfalls in the grass, stopping a few paces from her. She twirled an asphodel bloom in her fingers, studying it intently in attempt to focus on something enough so as not to give in to her emotions just yet. She was waiting for him to speak, and the passing of seconds was agonizing. Hades waited for another moment before he softly spoke her name.
"Persephone…" his baritone voice was timid and careful, not its usual booming and confident self.
She turned her head halfway towards him, not actually looking at him but enough to acknowledge she heard him. She looked back to the flower in her hands.
"Persephone, you must understand-"
"I understand well, Hades." Persephone cut him off coldly. "You are incapable of being honest with me because you do not trust me or think me capable of making my own decisions. But even then…" she said turning around to look him in the eyes now "…you could have out right refused to take me to Olympus instead of deceiving me yet again! How am I supposed to trust you now?!"
Hades did not attempt to argue with her. He looked on her with a sorrowful expression and pain in his eyes. He had expected this sort of reaction, but it still hurt to see it playing out.
"I do trust you, my love. I simply do not trust others. And I love you so much, so completely and powerfully, that I want to protect you, from everything and in any way I can. My mistakes have been made only with that in mind. I have no more excuses for you, only the admission that this is all my fault."
Hades did not want to argue anymore and decided to immediately launch into an apology and admission that he was completely to blame. Hopefully, that would appeal to her heart, if she still loved him as much as she did that night he brought her down there.
Persephone silently took in his words. He heard her sniffle and knew she was crying. He tried to wait patiently, but her lack of response was killing him.
"Persephone?" he called gently and more quietly than before, pleading with her. "Can you forgive me?"
Persephone turned slowly to look him in the eyes, tears staining her face just as they had when he last saw her in his throne room. He thought he could actually feel his heart breaking as he witnessed her pain and knew he was about to cause much more.
Persephone looked at her husband saw the pain in his eyes. Last night they had been full of anger, pride, and offense. Now they were remorseful and miserable. And he had apologized, which surprised her a bit. Her husband was absolute, dominant, and confident. He could very easily be arrogant, though he generally was not with her. The look on his face now was so out of place on him that he practically looked like a different god. Her love's distress and apparent depression were stabbing at her heart, and she felt at war with herself. She was still angry and still felt a little betrayed. But he knew he had been wrong, and he said he was sorry. She knew that had taken a lot for him, and felt herself slowly melting towards him.
Persephone let the flower fall to ground. Hades watched her, not moving, not breathing, as she closed the distance between them. She looked up into his icy eyes and saw their earnest sincerity. Bringing her arms up to lay around his neck, she answered "Of course I forgive you, Hades. I love you."
She laid her head on his shoulder, nestling her face into his neck to rest it there and close her eyes. Hades exhaled the great breath he'd been holding and wrapped his arms around her to crush her body against his. He laid his head against hers and closed his eyes, savoring the feel of her body, the smell of her hair, the comfort he knew only in her arms.
Why could it not stay like this? He was about to lose her, perhaps irrevocably. If only he could stop time and hold her like this forever. He thought of the story of Baucis and Philemon who turned into trees, eternally intertwined. Tears threatened his eyes now, something that had never happened in his long, immortal life. He was trying to steady himself before he summoned the strength to tell her. He wondered if he would physically be able to make himself say the bitter and hateful words.
Persephone sensed something was wrong. She felt his heart beating quickly beneath his chest and his body was tense in their embrace. Not breaking away from him but tilting her head up to his, she saw his tell-tale eyes.
"My love, what is wrong?" she asked, concern covering her face.
He looked into her soft brown eyes, only an inch from her face. Quietly, he answered her.
"You must return to your mother."
Persephone felt like he had plunged a blade into her stomach. The words, impossible though they seemed, hit her instantly. The pain in his eyes had told her before he spoke that what he said was true, and her only reaction was to try and force herself from his embrace.
He would not let her go, though. He held onto her with an iron grip, and though she pushed and shoved against him with all her might it felt like nothing more than the brush of butterfly wings against his solid chest.
"Let me go!" she cried as she fought him, tears coming anew and her voice punctuated with sobs. "Let go of me, Hades!"
He held onto her regardless, looking down at the agony and hurt on her face as she tried to escape his grasp. She was beginning to tire and became limper and limper in his arms. She balled her fists and brought them down on this chest, though he could tell she held herself at bay. The feel of them was dull against his powerful muscles but it cut his heart with searing pain.
Sobbing and whimpering, she finally tired to the point that she relinquished her attack on him, falling against his chest and sobbing loudly. He bent his head and leaned it on hers, letting his own tears fall down his face now.
Persephone felt his tears falling on her. As for herself, she felt as though the entire world had fallen on her. How could this be? He had said no one could take her from him, but that is exactly what was happening. How did he, the eldest of the three and second only in power to her father, have no way of preventing this?
She raised her head, with only the strength to whisper and asked, "How? Why?" through still streaming tears.
His eyes were bloodshot. Tears were collecting in his beard which was wet and glistening now. He slowly shook his head "Your mother has threatened the very existence of humanity in her grief; and your father is powerful enough to bend even the strictest laws of magic to his will."
He was crying the entire time he spoke. Persephone vacillated between feeling furious at him and feeling as though she would die if separated from him. It was maddening.
"So we are to be parted forever?" she wept.
"Six months in the Upperworld, six months in the Underworld. For the rest of eternity" He answered simply.
Persephone sniffled, letting it sink in. "So, I can stay with you until I have been here six months, then return to my mother for six?"
Hades' expression darkened even further. "No, my love. You must return to your mother tonight." He said sorrowfully. It was as though every time he opened his mouth is was to hurt her further.
She looked at him, shattered and in disbelief. Shaking her head and crying even harder now, she demanded to know why.
"Why? Could they not let me simply remain until three more moons passed in the Upperworld? How is that not fair?! Are you not a king? Am I not your wife and queen?!" Persephone practically screamed at him.
Hades closed his eyes. He felt like a failure; as a god, as a man, as a king, but mostly as a husband.
Keeping them closed, he answered her. "Being robbed of you now is my punishment for abducting you."
Persephone felt anger flood her veins again, like boiling water had replaced her blood. "That is what you allowed them to believe?! You did not tell them the truth?" she implored him.
He did not answer her, only stared at her in undeniable guilt.
She pushed away from him and this time he let her go. "If you had taken me with you, if you had let me tell them all the truth, none of this would be happening Hades!" she cried in despair.
"What do you want me to do Persephone?! I have apologized, I know this is my fault, but I cannot defy the commands of your father, nor can I alter what has already been done!" he petitioned her but she would hear no more from him. Her heart could not bear it at the moment and she strode past him, angry tears wetting her face yet again. She sobbed loudly and freely as she made her way towards the palace.
Hades did not attempt to follow her. He only looked at his hands and balled them into fists at the feeling of helplessness that consumed him. He wanted to cast his brother and his former lover in the very depths of Tartarus. His chest heaved and despite his best efforts more tears fell down his face. He looked skyward, wishing the entire Upperworld would fall to destruction ad devastation above him.
Some hours later, Persephone woke from a fitful nap. She lay crumpled in their bed where she had fallen asleep crying for the second time in the space of a few hours, having done so the night before as well. She was so angry at Hades; if he had not been so possessive of her that it blinded his judgment, none of this would have happened. If he had only trusted her, if he had only taken her with him to Olympus, she may have prevented this.
She remembered how she had loved his possessiveness, though. The way he held her hand, the way he grasped her in his arms and held her as though he needed her like he needed air. She knew in her heart that what he said was true; he had done all that he had because he loved her and wanted to secure her as his forever. Still, he had gone about that all wrong. She couldn't help but be angry at him, devastated as she was to be parted from him and as much in love with him as she was, which was as much as she had ever been.
The hours were passing and she knew the time was drawing near. She rose from the bed and began to make herself presentable. As she combed her hair, she regarded all of the jewels Hades had gifted her. She would not be taking them with her. She was not a queen in the Upperworld. Only when she was here, with her lord, would she dress as such. When she was with her mother, she would clothe herself simply, in black gowns and asphodels as her only adornments. She would mourn the loss of her lord while she walked the earth and was separated from him. She would make her mother and father see what a hollow victory they had wrought. If her mother would let nothing grow in her absence, she would make no flowers or anything at all grow while in the Upperworld. Damn what Hades had told them about her 'abduction.' She would show them how wrong they were about their love.
As she finished preparing herself, she heard Hades approaching cautiously. Turning to see him standing in the doorway, he looked far worse than she. Eyes still bloodshot, tired and grave in appearance. He was reluctant to speak, and could only force himself to mumble, "It is time."
Persephone nodded and pulled a cloak over her black gown. She crossed the room and walked out of the door right past Hades. He shut his eyes and exhaled. Opening them just as quickly, he followed her out of the room. He kept a little bit of distance between them, not wanting to upset her further as she obviously did not want his company. This was not how he wanted them to part. Perhaps he had been right when he feared she would turn from him forever.
They strode out of the palace and towards the Styx where Charon waited to ferry them to the other side. During the journey, Persephone would not look in Hades' direction. She turned her back to him as she sat. He stood behind her and tried to burn the image of her into his mind. Her graceful features. Her long and wavy hair that fell nearly to her bottom down her back. Even so simply dressed, she looked every bit a queen. Beautiful and regal. His queen. No matter what happened, no matter how long they were parted, no matter if she stopped loving him entirely, she was his one and only queen.
As the ferry reached its destination, Persephone laid eyes on the Upperworld that she never thought to set foot on again. The sun was beginning to set, and she had forgotten how beautiful the sunsets had been there. Orange, yellow, purple and pink blazed across the sky.
Standing on the bank and waiting to escort her back to her mother was Hermes. She steeled herself, not wanting to break down again and in front of others. She wanted to at least appear like a queen.
As the ferry gently bumped into the bank, Persephone stood up. Hades had extended his hand to her and she took it without looking at him. He stepped out of the ferry first and helped Persephone out.
Hermes greeted them both. "My lord Hades," he bowed to him and then turned to Persephone. "My lady," he bowed to her as well. Hades had barely inclined his head but Persephone greeted him by name.
Turning to Hades to look at him finally, she bowed deeply to him but with a stoic expression. "My lord," she said evenly and turned to go with Hermes. Hades watched her with a heart that was splitting down the middle. He knew she had every right to be upset, but it destroyed him to see her leaving with such a curt goodbye.
Persephone felt the air leave her lungs as she began to walk away from her love. Angry as she had been, she felt it all fall away at the realization that this was it. They were parting and there was nothing either of them could do to stop it. She would not fall asleep in his embrace tonight, or tomorrow night, or the one after that. She would not wake to find herself still in his arms. She would not enjoy her dinners sitting next to him, she would not bid him chase her through the dark hallways when he was not on his throne, she could not kiss him whenever she had the urge. Tears welled in her eyes and she was amazed that she had any left. Suddenly overwhelmed, she turned to look back at him.
He was just as he had been when she turned, like a statue watching her go, no emotion betraying his face in the presence of others.
Persephone turned around to run back to him, throwing her arms around his neck and clutching him as though it were possible she would die without being in his arms. She wept loudly and unashamedly, her face in his neck. Hades wrapped his arms around her and brought his forehead down to lean on her shoulder.
"My love, my love…." He whispered into her hair.
"I can't, I cannot-"she answered.
Hermes looked back at them, and thought at how cruel and nonsensical this all seemed. He then looked up at the setting sun, wondering how long he should let them carry on. By the order of Zeus, he had to have her home before nightfall.
Hades gently rocked her back and forth in his arms, relieved that she was embracing him and no longer angry with him. She sobbed loudly into his neck.
"Shhhhh, my love." He soothed her out loud, and then spoke to her mind as he had when he first ever spoke to her. I will visit you my love, as I used to. Be not so sad now.
She heard him and looked up into his eyes to acknowledge it. Locking eyes with each other, the one silently assured the other of their devotion. Regaining her composure, Persephone broke away from him and stepped backwards. Hades held onto her hand and kissed it gently before he let it go and she stepped away from him to again follow Hermes.
Hermes strode onward, intent on his mission. As Persephone followed him, she turned once to look upon her husband's face again. He was still watching her. Soon my love, she heard him say. She turned back towards the horizon, smiling the smallest smile to herself.
Hades turned back towards the Styx and as he stepped into the ferry, Charon pretended not to see the tears in his dark lord's eyes.