This Persephone and Menthe are MINE! Anyone who uses them without my permission gets attacked by Cerberus.

Every other character/place/whatever else belongs to Disney. Use them at your own risk.

The REAL Cosmic Couple

Chapter XIII-- Persephone Gets a Present and Has An Odd Dream

"Well, I have to give the little twerps credit…it was a good idea, very clever," said Hecate thoughtfully, "And it just may have helped us in the grand scheme of things…"

Menthe rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. Great. Can't we just kidnap her already and get this over with?" She scowled. "I want Hades!"

"Be patient!" snapped Hecate, "You'll get what you want. Don't whine."

Menthe sighed, exasperated. "Fine…but we had a deal, and don't you forget it..."

"Hmm…" said Hades, pacing in circles by the bank of the Acheron river.

"Is there something wrong, Your Sparky-ness?" said Pain, waddling over to Hades with a frown. Panic scampered behind him.

Hades turned to them, not bothering to zap them for coming unannounced. "Where's Persephone?"

"Locked in her room," said Panic, "She tried to escape again."

"She bruised my foot," whined Pain.

Hades smirked. "I have an idea…"

Three days later…

"What the…?" Persephone had woken up no more then fifteen minutes ago. When she had absentmindedly placed her hand on the bedpost, she had found something odd—a necklace.

"What is this?" she wondered aloud, and picked it up. A little black crystal skull dangled from a (black) chain. She narrowed her eyes. "That jerk…thinking he'll get me to like him by giving me cheap jewelry…" she fumed, closing her fist around the necklace and standing up furiously.

"Persephone?" said Panic, coming in her room. "What are you doing?"

"Where's Hades?" she said.

"In the throne room," said Panic, "Why?"

"I'll be right back," she snapped, and stormed out of her room.

"Sephy, babe, long time no see…" said Hades smoothly the minute she entered, "Getting accustomed to life in the Underworld yet?"

"Don't call me Sephy," she said immediately, and then marched up to him and shook the necklace in his face. "What's this?"

"Looks like a necklace," he said calmly.

"Why was it in my room?" she demanded.

Hades smirked. "Looks like a present….ya got a secret admirer?"

"I don't want any of your presents," she said fiercely, "I don't want bribes, and I don't want you giving cheap jewelry to me thinking that it'll make me like you! It won't!" She slammed the necklace on the floor in hopes of breaking it. But instead…

The smirk on Hades' face didn't waiver as Persephone knelt and picked up the necklace. She had slammed it with a lot of force, and she was very strong (she was a goddess). Not to mention the floors in the Underworld were all made of hard stone. But the necklace didn't have even a scratch on it.

Curious, Persephone slammed it on the floor again. And again. And again. Each time, the necklace wasn't harmed. But…

"There are marks on the floor!" she exclaimed, stunned. But how could that be? The necklace was in the same condition it had been before she threw it.

Hades watched her, smirk still present.

Persephone picked up the necklace again, and raised her stare, looking at Hades. "What's this made out of?" she said slowly.

His smirk grew wider. "Diamond."

Her eyes widened. "D-diamond?" she said, faltering, "Like…the…the gem diamond? Real…diamonds?"

He nodded.

"How…how did you…" Persephone looked at him, "This must have cost a fortune!"

Hades shrugged. "Didn't cost a thing. I made it."

"You…" Persephone's voice trailed off abruptly and her eyes became even bigger. "You made this?" she said hoarsely.

"Don't say it like that; it was no biggie. I do the God of Wealth thing as a side gig," said Hades. Actually, making the necklace had taken him three days. He had been using powers that hadn't been used since he was a kid, and there had been a big risk the whole time that the entire plan would blow up in his face. Literally.

"You made this…for me," she said incredulously, staring at the necklace. Ya know, once ya get past the whole skull thing, it's not bad-looking…, she thought to herself, Kinda like Hades…

Whoa, where had that one come from?

"Hey…Earth to Persephone…zone back in, babe…c'mon…" said Hades, watching her with an amused eye.

She snapped back to reality. "Uh…sorry…did you…say something?"

"My, my, aren't you attentive today," he said, smirking again, "So ya like the necklace? Or should I get rid of it?"

"I…" Go on, Persephone…tell him you don't want it…throw it at him…see if it'll make a mark on his face… said a little voice in her head. But you don't want to do that…said another voice, one that sounded (to her) much calmer, Keep it. You want to. Don't lie to yourself. You love it. "I'll keep it," she said quietly, "Thanks."

His eyes widened in surprise. Ok…didn't see that one coming… "Uh…you're welcome, babe…"

Comeback, comeback, comeback…thought the desperate first side of Persephone. And the calmer side responded, You don't want to do that, and you know it. This time she chose to listen to the first side of her, because she was beginning to startle herself, and right now she just wanted to get the hell away from him to think about all this. "Thanks for the necklace, but you're not winning me over, Hades," she finally snapped, and turned and ran to her room.

Hades blinked. "Sheesh…women are harder to understand then the Oracle of Delphi…"

"It can't be…it can't be…it can't be…" Persephone repeated over and over again, as she willingly locked herself in her room and sat on the floor. That first, bitter half of her decided to chime in. You're right—it can't be…he's a jerk, you hate him… The other half added its two drachmas worth, right on schedule, But you don't want to hate him…

Persephone gritted her teeth and covered her ears. "I am going insane…"

That night, Persephone had the strangest dream she had ever had in her entire immortal life.

~Persephone is running, looking for something-- two warring gods. It's too dark to see who they are, but they're fighting…really fighting, trying to kill each other (of course they're immortal). As Persephone steps in between them, there is a dim light and she can see who the two gods are. The one on the right is Apollo, god of light, music, poetry, and the man who she is (was?) supposed to marry. He is standing in a field of light, sunrays surrounding him as he walks, as he fights with his opponent. His opponent is Hades, Lord of the Underworld, god of wealth and her husband of now—the man who she was forced to marry.. All that stands behind him is darkness…the Underworld? But they're fighting, and Persephone is standing in the middle of them, dead center, on neither's side…yet. ~

She woke up with a gasp. The dream had frightened her—the fact that it felt so real, and that she was sure it meant something. But what?

She didn't know at that moment she was going to have quite a few chances to figure it out—she was going to have the same dream the next day, and the next day and the next and the next and the next.