Persephone's eyes widened.
"Lord Zeus?" she whispers disbelievingly.
But before she could do anything else, Hades was pulling her off her throne in a flash, leading her to a private door at the side of the room.
"Hades! What are you doing? It's my father!" she exclaimed.
"I know," he answered sharply as he approaches the door with her in tow. "Which is why I want you to stay hidden until I'm finished with him."
She frowns. "He doesn't know I'm here, does he?" she questioned, trying to restrain herself from being pulled by Hades. Suddenly, he turns around in a flash and grabs her arms gently. He leans in and whispered, "Please, Persephone. Have some trust in your husband. Stay hidden."
Despite the tiny seed of anger that had been implanted in her, she immediately softened at seeing her husband's pleading eyes and sighed. "Okay," she murmured.
She obediently did as she was told and went out of the door, Hades shutting it shortly afterwards. But she still wanted to know what was about to go down. So she placed an ear against the wood, attempting to hear the conversation between her husband and her father.
When Hades was calm, he sends Thanatos out to let Zeus in. Seconds later, only his blonde-haired, grey-eyed younger brother entered. His radiance shone in the midst of the throne room's dark setting. It could have blinded Hades.
"Zeus. What brings you here?" he asked.
Zeus clears his throat before he said loudly, "I've come here to talk to you about Persephone."
Straight away after he said that, Hades immediately heard his brother's voice in his mind. He was speaking to him telepathically.
Brother. I know she is nearby. But I beg of you to not expose me as the one who instructed you to take her from the Earth. I do not want to ignite her fury towards me or you.
Hades silently nods his head in understanding. "What about Persephone?" he asked.
Zeus sighs. "Ever since the day she had disappeared to the Underworld, the world above has since turned into a barren land of coldness and darkness. It is Demeter who had done this; all out of her grief. She too had disappeared, isolating herself to mourn the loss of her daughter. But due to her actions, the growing of the crops and the fields has stopped, and mortals and animals are slowly dying from lack of food."
Hades' hands clenched into fists. So that was why there was an increase of mortal souls entering his realm. It was because of Demeter's actions that were causing them to suffer.
"And? What do you want me to do?" he questioned, not entirely liking where the conversation was going.
Zeus pursed his lips, hesitant of what he was going to say next.
"I suggest you…. give Persephone up."
Suddenly, a loud boom emanated throughout the room, because Hades had brought his tightly-clenched fist down onto the armchair of his ebony and gold throne with strong force and pure anger.
"WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU SAYING? ARE YOU TELLING ME TO GIVE UP MY WIFE?" he shouted in rage, standing from his throne to show that he means serious business. Then, he spats, "You were the one who gave me your blessings to marry her! And now you go back on your words?"
Zeus stood firm, watching his brother seethe in fury. He knew that this would happen. His older brother's anger is not something that one would want to mess with.
"I had no other choice but to ask you of this, Hades. Unless you give the spring goddess back to the land above, her mother will continue to make the mortals suffer," he said calmly yet with determination.
Stomping down the steps of the dais, he snarls, "Fine! Let them die! I don't care! But there is no force in the entire universe that will separate me from my wife!"
Zeus watches as Hades approaches him, looking as though he was ready to strike him. He didn't want to fight, but he was not going to back down.
"So you may not care. But think of the others on Mount Olympus, Hades," Zeus said. "They are not able to answer the mortals' prayers because of what Demeter had done. If it continues, the mortals would lose faith in the gods, and we would grow weak if we lose our worshipers. Are you willing to make your own family suffer like the mortals?"
In an instant, Hades froze.
He knows he did not want such a thing to happen to his family. He would not be able to bear it if they became weaker every day from the lack of the mortals' worships. But the thought of being separated from Persephone made his heart ache.
Zeus comes forward and places a hand on Hades' shoulder. "Do not worry. You do not have to give her up as of yet. Helios had seen everything, but he wants to wait until Demeter has been found before announcing to everyone. But the day the truth comes out, I will assure you that I will not hesitate to send Hermes down to your world to collect Persephone personally." Then, with a sympathetic tone, Zeus said, "I'm so sorry this had to happen."
Hades does not respond, so Zeus took this as his cue to leave. The Underworld lord listened as the tall doors closed shut in his brother's wake.
When he was finally sure that he was alone, Hades turns to the private door where Persephone was hidden. He knew she heard everything, and who knows how she was reacting now.
But when he pulled the door opened, she wasn't there.
He panicked.
"Persephone? Persephone!"
He immediately runs off, searching for wherever she may be. He was worried that she might do something rash. He only hoped with all of his heart that she didn't.
He searched everywhere; the dining room, the libraries, her old bedroom, their chambers, etc. He even went to the Elysian Fields to see whether she was there or not. He asked Charon, Thanatos and Hecate if they had seen her, but none of them did. All three of them noticed the weary and panicked expression of their lord's face.
As he walked through a hallway, he began to think to himself, Surely she could not have ran away from the Underworld. Where would be the one place where she would go?
Probably somewhere with the things she loved most.
Immediately, Hades knew where to find her. He ran through the hallways to the back doors of the palace, which he immediately threw open.
True enough, as he stepped into the garden that was now full of life, beauty and colours, there was someone sitting under a tree, crying.
He approaches Persephone slowly. She had her knees drawn up and her forehead was placed on it. She was trembling as she cried loudly. It made Hades realize how she looked like a small child who was crying after she had lost something dear to her.
He felt his heart going heavy. It pained him to know that she was feeling so much pain, but he didn't know whether or not it was because of him. Nonetheless, he wanted to comfort her.
"Persephone, love?" he says softly.
Slowly, Persephone's head lifted up, revealing her amber eyes that were full of tears and tear-stained cheeks. She looks at him through the tears as she sniffles softly.
Hades slowly sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her. At his touch, Persephone shifts closer to him until she was seated on his lap. She lays her head on his shoulders, crying into the curve of his neck.
"I'm so sorry you had to hear that," Hades whispered guiltily, wiping away her tears with his finger.
Persephone shakes her head. "I'm not angry at you, or at my mother for what she is doing. I am sad that she is in so much grief that it had caused her to do such a thing. It pains me to hear that my mother is in much sadness. How I wish I could comfort her. But yet, when I heard my father telling you to give me up, I felt as though my heart shattered in a million pieces. I cannot bear to live without you, Hades. You know that."
Hades wraps his arms around his wife in an attempt to soothe her. "I know that, Persephone," he replied. "I too cannot live without you."
She breaks into fresh tears as she exclaimed angrily, "This is not fair… We had just started sleeping together… And now we must part? Why are the Fates being so cruel to us?"
He sighs. "I don't know, Persephone… I just don't know…"
Just then, something fell from the branches of the tree they were sitting under. Hades' eyes snapped to it, and he was shocked by what he saw.
A ripe, red fruit. A familiar-looking one.
"A pomegranate?" he muttered in surprise and disbelief. Quickly, he looked up and was amazed to see many pomegranates hanging from the branches.
Persephone looked up as well and then, she smiled slightly.
"I grew this tree the day you first brought me here. I wanted something to remind me of us, and I chose the pomegranate tree because we first fell in love under a pomegranate tree."
He looks over to the pomegranate that fell just a few feet away from them. With his eyes solely on it, he murmured, "That is so loving of you."
He turns his head to plants a kiss on her forehead. Then, he whispered, "Come on now. Let's not be sad. Let's enjoy the time we have together."
Smiling at his words, Persephone smiles and gets off his lap so that both can stand. They walk away from the garden, holding each other's hand. But before he entered the palace, Hades cast a sideway glance at the pomegranate tree, especially the dark red fruits that it holds.
It was a new thing to him; that pomegranate tree. It was the first source of food that grew in the Underworld.
It made Zeus frustrated that he had to ask Hades to part from Persephone. It was like he was stealing away his brother's only form of happiness. It made him feel cruel, but he had absolutely no other choice.
As he sat on his golden throne in the throne room of the palace, he remains silent. Hera, who was seated in the throne next to him, notices this.
"Zeus. What happened to you?" she asked, curious about her husband's strange attitude.
He shakes his head. "It's nothing. I'm just getting slightly fed up with all of this mishap. If only Demeter had not done such a thing."
"I agree," Hera exclaimed. "But I have a feeling that is not why you are so bothered lately. I can see that there is something else."
Shutting his eyes, he muttered, "I really don't want to talk about it, Hera."
Hearing this, she rolls her eyes. "Fine. Don't tell me then. I won't bother you about it any longer," she exclaimed dramatically.
He was absolutely thankful for the silence that followed.
"My lord. I'm truly sorry about it," Hecate murmured sympathetically.
Thanatos had told her about Lord Hades and Lord Zeus' conversation. She knew her king would be upset, and had taken it upon herself to check up on him.
When she had entered the throne room, she only found him there. When she asked him where the queen was, he told her she was resting in his chambers, having been worn out from the tears she had shed.
He said in a blank voice, "Thank you, Hecate. It is kind of you."
Hecate's purple eyes studied her master. He was sitting nonchalantly on his throne, an elbow resting on an armrest with the hand supporting his head. He was staring blankly at the chandelier above.
She could tell that he was very exhausted and frustrated. She knew him too well. And honestly, it made her worried that he was like this. The last time he acted this way, it was many, many years ago, when his friend Leuce had died in the Elysian Fields. But even then, it wasn't as bad as this.
She too worried about the queen herself; pitied her even. Persephone had just started getting used to the dark realm after being here for quite a while, and had finally accepted her position as Hades' queen and wife. But just as soon as it had happened, something as terrible as this had to happen.
"My lord. I hope you do not mind me asking, but what are you going to do to keep Queen Persephone here?"
Hades simply shrugs his shoulders. "I can honestly tell you that I have absolutely no idea, Hecate."
Now that was definitely a first for her. Never before had she heard Lord Hades so defeated before. But of course, considering the situation, it had rendered him powerless.
"I hope you don't mind if I am allowed go to your chambers to see the queen, Lord Hades," Hecate asked for his permission.
"You are allowed," he said.
She bowed once before leaving the throne room, with Hades left alone to his thoughts.
Hades was entirely frustrated. Never before had he felt so helpless.
He didn't know what to do. He felt like Atlas, for the burden on his shoulders seemed equivalent to the mass of the Earth that the punished Titan had been condemned to carry for eternity.
He did not want to hurt his family for his actions. It would make him so ashamed of himself. But he too did not want Persephone to leave. It would cause him great grief that could be compared to the grief Demeter was going through.
He wanted a way to keep Persephone here, yet will also make the other gods happy. But what?
As he continuously pressed his temples, Hecate's question rang through his mind.
My lord. I hope you do not mind me asking, but what are you going to do to keep Queen Persephone here?
And he remembered his reply.
I can honestly tell you that I have absolutely no idea, Hecate.
But the minute his own words played through his head, another voice spoke up.
An eerily familiar voice.
"Perhaps we can be of assistance."