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 XXIV-- Hades and Hecate Negotiate
"Nice entrance," said Hecate dryly, as Hades walked calmly over to her (tossing the necklace to Persephone as he did).
"Style is everything," he said, just as dryly, "Now…then…" Suddenly and without warning, he flared bright red. "Let's talk business, shall we?"
"I'm up for a…negotiation," said Hecate, raising an eyebrow.
Hades blinked a few times, then smirked. "A negotiation? You want to negotiate? Ok…" He pressed his palms together, and then after a second he grabbed Hecate by the collar and lifted her to his eye level. "Here's a negotiation…how about you let Persephone go and I don't rip off your head?"
Hecate remained calm. "Come now, Hades, we must control our temper…" she chided, a slight smirk of her own playing on her lips, "We wouldn't something unfortunate to happen the next time you have an outburst like that, hmm?" She nodded to Menthe, who, as if on cue, held the point of her stick to Persephone's throat.
Persephone blinked, and gulped.
Hades glanced to Persephone, back to Hecate, and then released the witch. "Don't touch her," he said finally, "What do you want?"
"Oh no, he won't fall for it at all," said Menthe sarcastically to Persephone, "Excellent judge of character ya have there."
"Oh, shut up," snapped Persephone, "You don't know anything."
"Ladies," said Hecate, grinning crookedly, "Please. Let the big kids talk business, hmm?"
"Witch," spat Hades.
"Thank you!" said Hecate, "Now then. If we could talk some place in private, how about…"
Hades sighed, cringing inwardly. "Why do I think I'm not gonna like this at all?"
Leading him by the arm to another small room, Hecate muttered to herself, "Because you're not…"
"You're crazy." Hades stared at her from across the table.
"I'm not," Hecate crossed her arms solemnly, "I'm making an offer."
"Then it's the offer that's crazy," he replied.
"It's a simple offer."
Hades leaned back. "One of the two is crazy. If it's not the offer, then it's you." He tilted his head. "Am I right?"
"Oh, please. It's a reasonable offer," Hecate scoffed, "You're being overly dramatic." She smirked wryly. "Then again, that's sort of how you work isn't it?"
He ignored the last comment. "A reasonable offer? You call that a reasonable offer?! All of this is reasonable to you?!" He stood, shaking his head in disbelief. "You are crazy. The last time I checked, asking someone to choose between their wife and their kingdom is not reasonable."
"It's Persephone or the Underworld," was all Hecate said. That, and, "Pick one."
Hades stared at her, with even more disbelief then before. "And just how does a person make a decision like that?! I sincerely doubt that 'Eeenie Meenie Minie Moe' will work in this case…"
"Don't tell me that you have to think about this!" exclaimed Hecate, feigning surprise. She stood up as well and floated to Hades, who stood with a scowl, arms crossed. "Shouldn't it be simple for you?"
"…what do you mean by that?" he said suspiciously.
"Don't get worked up. It's nothing of real importance…" The crooked grin returned. "Just…Menthe and I have been keeping an eye on you since Persephone's oh-so-suspicious kidnapping…"
"You—" His voice broke off, and Hades looked at her. "Ah, jeez…"
She shrugged. "Granted, I did receive a little more then I bargained for…"
Hades understood immediately, and attempted (and succeeded) to cover up his disgusted surprise. "Hmmph…I always knew you liked that sort of stuff." He smirked.
Hecate scowled. "Shut up. You're the perverted one…kidnapping a girl half your age, forcing her to marry you, and then…well, you know. If I didn't know better, I'd call you a pedophile."
Hades blinked. "Sheesh. And I thought I was the evil one." Under his breath, he muttered, "Pedophile…jeez…"
"Anyway…" Hecate clapped her hands, and returned to her seat. "What's it gonna be? Your lovely wife? Or the lovely Underworld?"
He thought for a second. And then, with the tone of a three-year old child, he whined, "Do I have to?!"
"It's one or the other, and nothing in between," said Hecate firmly.
Hades sighed dejectedly. He was trapped. He couldn't give up Persephone, not in a million years would he ever. But… "I can't give up the Underworld," he said suddenly, and he sat down, slumping in his seat.
Hecate's eyes flashed, but other then that she showed no sign of anger. "And why not?"
He debated with himself. He couldn't tell her, could he? He had never told anyone—sure, some people (like Rhea, for example) had known it from the start, but other then that… And honestly, if he had to tell someone, it wouldn't be Hecate. But Persephone was being tormented in the next room, and for her… "I'm the only one," he said finally, "who can rule the place."
Hecate managed to control her temper. "Isn't that a little conceited?"
"I'm not being conceited. It's a fact. Talk to the Fates if ya don't believe me." It was the only reason he was so attached to the Underworld. Hades was the only one who could successfully run it, and he was (sort of) proud about that. If he ever ended up ruling the universe, he'd rule the Underworld too. He didn't have a choice.
"That's ridiculous," she protested, "And it can't be possible."
"If I gave you the Underworld, you wouldn't last XX minutes," he said flatly, "All the creatures would tear you to shreds. And then all the other beings that live there—the five river gods/goddesses, the Furies, the Miseries, the Curses, the Madnesses, the Retailations etc.—would kill you. Literally." Hades shrugged half-heartedly. "It really doesn't make a difference to them that you're immortal. They'll find a way."
Hecate narrowed her eyes. "Liar," she spat.
"I'm the only one that they'll listen to. Me and—" Hades broke off abruptly as he realized that the entire time Persephoen had been down there, nothing had even tried to attack her… "Me…and Persephone," he finished hoarsely. "She was meant to be Queen."
"Make your decision," hissed Hecate. She was done with hearing this jibber-jabber, the lies that she was sure he was telling her just to scare her—ghost stories.
"If I gave up the Underworld…all Hades would break loose," he said quietly, "And the universe would be plunged into turmoil—more then it already is, thanks to my lovely mother-in-law, Demeter…" Hades shook his head and looked upwards absentmindedly. "Everything would be utter chaos. You have no idea how dreadfully insane it would be…"
"But you're willing to risk it all for Persephone, aren't you?" she questioned tentatively, feeling her anger start to boil over. Ridiculous. Ridiculous! It was all ridiculous.
Hades thought for a second. "Yeah," he said.
"And your choice is…?" she pressed, leaning forwards slightly. All her anger disappeared. So close, so close!
He wanted Persephone back. He needed Persephone back, and she felt the same way, he had seen it in her eyes. But she was smart. And she had a good heart.
And Hades decided to do what she would have wanted him to do.
With a heavy heart that was growing heavier by the second, Hades said quietly, "I choose to keep the Underworld."
~Author's Note~ Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!