Another Encounter

For the next five days after that day, Hades and I stopped seeing each other, only because those five days were working days, which meant that I would be at the flower shop all day and around Mom all the time. As much as we both wanted to be with each other as often as possible, we knew that it would pose too much of a risk for he and I to try to meet for fear of her getting suspicious or, even worse, catching us in the act.

However, we continued to maintain contact with each other through our own respective cell phones during the night. It was these night-time long talks on the phone that was able to give me the ease that he was still there and keep me going for the next day. Still, not seeing him in person still made me miss him. I guess it's because we had found each other again after a long time, and it was simply unbearable for us to be apart for one more day. But in the end, it was better to stay safe than sorry.

On the other hand, my relationship with Mom stayed the same as always, because I had to bear in mind to act normal around her so that she does not suspect anything. I still did normal things with her like having breakfast before work, arranging floral arrangements and selling off premade ones, and going grocery shopping after work to prepare for dinner.

However, as much as I managed to put up a façade of normalcy, I still had to fight the feelings of strangeness and wariness after the truth I had found out about her. While a part of me – most probably the part that was still Melindia Hagne – still saw her as Mom, the part of me – the other half that was Persephone – could only see her as Demeter. And when I see her as Demeter, I could only think about all the deeds that she had committed in the past, and fight the urge to confront her and question her about her intentions.

But each time that urge came up, I was quick to squash it down. Because if I didn't, I was afraid about who-knows-what would happen to me if it managed to overwhelm me and reveal the truth.

XXX

It was Friday, and it was – UNFORTUNATELY – a slow day.

Mom was in the backroom, discussing with our supplier for an incoming delivery of peonies and gardenias that was coming in sometime next week. With her being unavailable for that moment, I had to be the one to man the counter and welcome any customers that were coming in. Unfortunately, we haven't had a customer for the past hour, and I could do nothing but just look out the window and be all bored.

Every once in a while, I would take out my cell phone from the pocket of my long skirt and read through the text messages that Hades had sent me. Although I had read all of them for the umpteenth time, it still managed to put a smile on my face to read the sweet conversations I have had with him. But also, I would hope that a new text message from him would suddenly appear. He hasn't contacted me today, and although I know that I will be talking to him tonight, I still missed him.

Soon, Persephone… I reassured myself with a sigh. He's not gone… He's still around… You will talk to him soon… You'll see him soon…

The sound of the bell above the door jingling was what broke me out of my thoughts, and I snapped into attention and immediately prepared myself to greet whatever potential customer who had just entered.

However, I stopped short and smiled when I saw Henrietta coming in.

"This is a surprise," I remarked as I relaxed back into my seat. "You never come into the flower shop before. And aren't you supposed to be at work?"

Resting her elbows on the countertop, Henrietta answered, "My co-worker Maxine is taking over my shift for today. And I bring myself to this quaint little flower shop today to, obviously, get some flowers. I'm having a guy over for dinner tonight at my place, and I plan to make it as romantic as possible with the meal I'm cooking."

"You can cook?" I snorted in disbelief as I raised a brow at her questioningly.

Henrietta swatted my arm as she gave me a look of mock insult. "Hey! Microwaving two packs of microwaveable baked chicken and potato is still somewhat of a cooking skill, okay?" she huffed indignantly. "Besides, he won't know the difference."

I could only roll my eyes and shake my head before I slid off my stool and emerged from behind the counter. "Alright, so let's get down to business," I said as I started go through the various baskets which held different types of flowers and the baskets which contained some premade bouquets. "What do you have in mind?"

Tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully, she said, "Something that means 'romance'. It's a romantic dinner date I hope to achieve, so there should be romantic flowers to add to the ambience."

Inwardly, I rolled my eyes, wondering to myself why I had even bothered to ask Henrietta when I myself had already knew what she had in mind. But I kept mum about the matter, and simply went on to collect flowers that held the meaning of 'romance'. Being a flower fanatic – and maybe also the Goddess of Spring – I knew very well the meaning of each flower in the shop. So it wasn't difficult for me to have some flowers to come to mind already.

"Alright, so we're going to need roses, daisies, lilacs and carnations…"

Look to the window

At the sudden unexpected sound of Clotho's voice, I gasped and immediately froze. A quick and frantic glance around the flower shop had me realized that the Fates were nowhere around, which meant that her voice was actually coming from within my head. I could feel my heart starting to beat rapidly at the thought of hearing her in my mind, and it was enough to send shivers running down my spine.

However, as afraid as I was, I did as her voice told me to. I turned around, away from the flower arrangements, and looked out the window…

…Just in time to see Seamus Trent walking down the opposite side of the street.

Right at that very moment and without a second of hesitation, I started making my way to the door in an immediate rush, pushing Henrietta aside in the process. I did not mind her when she hit against the wall with an oof, only exclaiming over my shoulder for her to pick out whatever she wanted and make her purchase as I pushed open the door and ran out onto the pavement. I did not stop there, instead going on to run onto the road, narrowly missing getting hit by any of the cars that were blaring their horns at me. When I had reached the other side of the road in one piece, I continued to run down it until I finally caught up with him.

"Hey, you!" I yelled out, slowing my pacing down as I approached him. Ignoring the stares I got from the crowd, I exclaimed, "Seamus! Seamus Trent!"

At hearing his name being called out, he promptly stopped and turned around, his ocean green eyes searching the crowd behind him, until it finally settled on me as I finally came to stand right in front of him.

His eyebrows raised in surprise and his lips quirked into a smirk as he greeted politely, "Hello, Miss Hagne. Didn't expect to –"

"I know everything."

Hearing my interrupting words, Seamus' smile then fell away and he frowned at me in what could be confusion, or uncertainty. "I'm sorry?" he asked, as though he did not catch what I had just said.

Taking another deep breath to calm down my steadily racing heart, I replied, "I know that I'm Persephone."

When I had said the last word, Seamus scanned the crowd, as though he was looking out for any incoming dangers – I could only assume that he was looking for that certain someone. When he saw that all was clear, he grabbed my hand and led me away into a nearby alleyway. If it had been some other strange man or if I still had not known the truth of my identity, I would have screamed for help and maybe even attack him in self-defence. However, instead I followed him willingly, wanting to hear what he had to say or see what he intended to do. But if he dared to lay a hand on me against my will, I was sure that I could make something much worse than the flower vase incident happen.

When we had ventured far enough into the alley to not be seen by anyone else, he released his hold on me and immediately questioned, "How much else exactly do you know?"

Moving to lean against a nearby wall, I answered, "I know about the Olympians' fall, our rebirths and return to the Abyss, and how my mother made me lose my memories." And then, I admitted to him, "But I don't know the identities of the other Olympians. Including yours."

"Think hard, Persephone. Remember what I first told you when I introduced myself at the flower shop," he advised me, before pointing to himself and repeating those same words, "'CEO of Trent Marine Life Corporations. It's my duty that our Earth's oceans stay safe and protected."

When he had put a lot of emphasis on the two obvious keywords, it didn't take long for my mind to put two and two together. And with the resemblance of the ocean in his green eyes, I knew that my guess was definitely correct.

"Poseidon."

I knew my answer was correct when he smiled widely and let out a chuckle of relief. As he did so, an image of him in another form started to appear in my mind, which I knew very well was one of my memories as Persephone that was now revealed after this revelation. The memory was of Seamus Trent as the actual Poseidon, the great God-King of the Earth's seas and oceans. The only difference between Seamus and Poseidon was that Seamus had short and wavy brown hair instead of Poseidon's straight silvery-white hair. But high heavens, Seamus still managed to attain Poseidon's godly beauty.

"It's good that you finally remember," Poseidon remarked cheerily. "It's really been a long time, Persephone."

However, I could not say that I was in the mood for a joyous reunion with him. With me having had another chance encounter with him and with him acknowledging the fact of who he really was, I took this opportunity to ask some question.

"Why are you here in Heatherton?" I questioned him intently. "Is this about me? Or is it about Hades?"

Taking note of all seriousness in me right now, Poseidon's smile disappeared and turned serious and no-nonsense as well. "It's about the both of you, to be honest," he admitted truthfully. Taking a step closer to me, he continued to explain, "I came here to Heatherton to find Hades, but I found you at the same time. It's a good thing I did, or else it might have been too late."

The strangeness of the last part of his sentence was what caught onto my attentions, and my curiosity heightened at the meaning behind those words. At the same time, it caused an uncomfortable feeling to arise from within my gut, as though I could sense that what it meant was not good news at all. I knew then that there was some grave importance to his words that I knew I needed to know.

So, of course, I had every intention to ask him what he meant by what he had said.

But before I could, Poseidon was suddenly yanked away from in front of me to the opposite wall in front of me, pinned to it about a foot above the ground. His back hit the bricked surface with a hard thud, and he yelled out in surprise. He had been thrown against the wall so fast and by some invisible force that I jumped at the sudden abruptness of his position, and I began to wonder what had happened.

It was then I finally noticed the god who was lifting him by the lapels of his jacket and pinning him right against the wall with just his own two hands.

"Poseidon," Hades said his name in a growl. "What are you doing here? And with my wife?"

Poseidon, although looking at Hades with utmost surprised at his sudden appearance, smiled a big smile and chuckled. "Honestly, big brother. I had hoped that our reunion would be a lot more pleasant than this," Poseidon remarked jokingly. When Hades only replied with a throaty grumble, he raised his hands up, with his palms showing as a sign of innocence, and said, "And I didn't do anything to Persephone. We just bumped into each other again and told me that she knew everything."

Hearing this, Hades suddenly dropped Poseidon to the ground, not caring to put him down carefully, and turned to look at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. "'Again'? You've already met him before?" he questioned me. The looks on his eyes held a sort of accusing glance.

Being truthful, I nodded my head in admittance. "It was the day after what happened in the park," I told him honestly. "He came to me in the flower shop and told me that he knew who I was."

Suddenly, Hades was standing right in front of me, gripping my arms gently. I gasped in shock at his super speed, but was amazed because it was the first power of his that he had ever displayed to me.

With such worry and concern that he showed, he asked me, "Did he do anything to you?"

I shook my head and told him, "He just made me annoyed, but it had been enough for some hidden power in me to be unleashed and break a flower vase into pieces. But other than that, he never did anything to me." But yet, the worry and concern look that was still on his face still had not disappeared, which was what prompted me to cup his cheek comfortingly with my hand and say, "It's the truth, Hades."

He must have been rest assured by then, and he took me into a gentle hug. I did not hesitate to embrace him back in return, wanting to comfort him at this moment. This was a first for me to do so to him, but I really felt like I had to. It must be the Persephone in me that was acting up, wanting to comfort her stressed husband. I easily and willingly complied, wanting to do so as well.

Behind us, Poseidon finally got up onto his feet and started to brush away the dirt from his jacket and trousers. With a grumble of annoyance – and some complaining about having 'just got this dry-cleaned' – he said, "Honestly, Hades, I know better than to lay even a finger on your Persephone. You think I would dare, or even want, to risk getting tortured by the Lord of the Underworld?"

Hades' face turned into a grimace as he turned his head to glare at Poseidon over his shoulder. It was clear that, for some reason, he was not happy at his brother's sudden presence here in Heatherton. And the thought that I have already met Poseidon as Seamus before this moment seemed to make him even more annoyed.

Suddenly, without looking away from Poseidon, he told me firmly, "Persephone, go back to the shop."

Immediately, I questioned, "Why?" I have finally met another Olympian who had said something somewhat ominously, which had naturally made me intrigued and questionable. So, of course, I was not going to pass up the opportunity to have even more questions answered.

But then, Hades turned to look at me almost pleadingly, wanting me to follow what he instructed. "Your mother would wonder where you had run off to. And Poseidon and I have some things that we need to discuss in private. Please, Persephone. Just do as I say. I promise that I'll tell you all of this soon."

As much as I wanted to protest against his wishes, the begging look in his eyes was what made me stop and change my mind. He looked very stressed and I did not want to make things more difficult for him. Despite how much I wanted Poseidon to explain to me what he had meant, I had to think of Hades first.

Obediently, I agreed, giving him another hug before I walked away from the scene without another word, leaving behind the two brothers to have some privacy for their discussion.

XXX

When I got back to the flower shop, Henrietta was just finishing her purchase of her own custom-made bouquet with Mom. Both of them had their attentions directed to me the moment I walked in.

"Mel! You're back!" Henrietta exclaimed in relief. However, the same could not be said for Mom.

"Goodness' sake, Melindia! Henrietta just told me that you just ran off without any warning! That's very irresponsible of you!" Mom scolded in disapproval. "What was so important outside that you just forgot about your duties and left the cash register unattended?"

I kept a nonchalant face as I faced Mom's scolding, before calmly replying, "I just saw an old friend."

"Brother, I would never have imagined you to be taking up residence in a place so small," Poseidon remarked in the kitchen as he poured whiskey equally into two glass tumblers that had some ice cubes in them. Putting aside the bottle and taking the two tumblers into the living area, he asked, "Don't you miss living in mansions or penthouses?"

Hades accepted the tumbler of whiskey 'on the rocks' with a nod of thanks before replying, "I don't mind where I stay as long as it's comfortable, Poseidon. Besides, this is only temporary lodging." Poseidon sipped his whiskey and then took a seat beside him on the couch, leaning back to make himself more comfortable and even putting his feet up onto the coffee table.

Hades rolled his eyes at his younger brother's taking too literal of the term 'make yourself at home' – which had not been given to him, actually – before taking a gulp of the cold whiskey. The alcohol was extremely mild to his tongue and only caused a very extremely muted sharp and burning sensation to his throat that was just fleeting. The alcohols of the mortals were never strong enough to intoxicate a divine being as strongly as ambrosia, wine and mead in Olympus. In a way, it was kind of like water or fruit juice to them – thirst-quenching and quite tasty, but just something very simple and not very special.

As the silence between them continued, Poseidon snapped his fingers and made swirling motions with his pointer. On command, the whiskey from his tumbler suddenly flowed out of his glass and into the air, in swirls akin to the actions of his finger. And then, it came close to his lips, and he sipped it all in one go.

"Nice trick," Hades, who had been watching the act, commented with a smirk.

Poseidon smiled at his older brother's compliment, internally happy to see Hades smiling – which, truthfully, was something that he hadn't done in a long, long time for the past decades.

But that moment was brief, for Poseidon was quick to go into more important matters.

"You know, you've been gone from all of us for too long," he stated knowingly, swirling the remaining whiskey in his tumbler around. "I know you've done this several times before, and I know why you do it. And for that, we do not question and just let you go. But it's a crucial time now, and you being gone for this long are making us worried. I've been sent to find and bring you back because even he was getting worried about your well-being. But now you've found her, finally. There's no need to waste another precious second. You and she can come back to us, before it finally happens."

Hearing that, Hades put his tumbler down on the coffee table with a heavy sigh of contempt, before saying in a mutter, "I haven't told her."

"Beg your pardon?"

With another sigh, this time at the dislike of having to repeat himself of those horrible – at least, to Hades – words, he said in more clear elaboration, "I haven't told her about that. She still doesn't know."

Poseidon, having finally understood, felt the shock and disbelief suddenly overwhelm him completely. He looked at Hades with wide eyes, wondering why in Tartarus had his older brother not told his wife, who he had been searching for in decades, about what was to come for all of them soon.

"Why not?!" Poseidon questioned loudly. "Hades, you know how important this is! If you do not tell her..."

"I do plan on telling her!" Hades replied indignantly, glaring at Poseidon, who stopped talking and became silenced completely. But his sudden anger was only fleeting, and he calmed down only seconds after. However, the anger and frustration in him did not dissipate, as shown in the heavy sigh he heaved in breath. Bringing his hand to rub at his face as though he wanted to rub away any signs of his anger and frustration left there, he muttered, "It's just… Not now… She just found out about everything, and it's already quite difficult for her… I just don't want to add to her burdens…"

"But she's going to have to find out soon," Poseidon reasoned defensively, still unbelieving of the fact that Hades had purposefully neglected to tell Persephone of the most important detail. But then, putting a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder, he lowered his voice to a more gentle tone and told him, "You cannot keep the truth from her forever."

Hades felt a sharp pain on his heart at the thought of how breaking the news to Persephone might cause her to react. If he knew his wife well, there was no doubt that she would feel utmost pain and hurt about it, maybe it might make her cry as well. So it made Hades cringe at the thought of having her go through that, and he would do anything to stop it from happening.

But he knew that what Poseidon said was true. He could not keep it from her forever.

Author's Note:

So a second encounter with 'Seamus Trent' aka. Poseidon has occured, which led to a short mini reunion for both Hades and Persephone. But it appears that Hades had been gone from the Olympians for quite some time, and during the most crucial of timings.

Answering reviews!

fan : Hold on, hold on! Those will come soon. But let's just sit back and enjoy the drama for a little while, yes?

gracefish21 : Thanks!

GreekFreak : Thanks for the reviews! I see your hesitance for reading this because of loyalty towards The Reincarnation, but why would there be hesitance when the story are exactly the same, with Divine Reborn being just a new and improved The Reincarnation? But thank you so much for liking how the story is going so far!

Nicolover11 : Well, I'm uncertain if we are truly twins, dear! (Maybe in spirit perhaps? 0.o) And trust me when I say that I had to fight to keep my hair long! (My parents always want my hair to be short, with my father even wanting me to style it in a boy haircut!) And embrace your tan skin, girl! There are other girls who would have paid lots for a fake tan, so be glad that you have a real one!

With the end of this chapter, this leads to the a bigger question raised; what exactly will happen in the time to come?

Muse of Fanfiction