Ok people, you know the score. I don't own Disney's Hercules (unfortunately) or any of it's characters or places I only own my Persephone and any other characters that I make up along the way so if you wanna use them please ask me.
Please review and be honest with me… my story is taking things from both the series and the film. And remember people, Disney twisted a lot of myths for their storylines so don't complain to me if you don't like my inaccuracies of events I may present you with…
…and please feel free to check out my deviantART page (address is in my profile page)…
thanks for your time…. DitzyMinx….
The Plight of Persephone
Hades lent against his pillar and sighed heavily. Persephone might only be a few feet away trying to convince her mother that she could do a lot worse than marry him but it didn't stop the mind-numbing boredom that was now crashing over the fiery god. Hades' heavy-lidded yellow eyes lazily scanned the crowds of happy gods until the sound of arguing attracted his attention.
Swivelling his flaming head towards the source of discord in an otherwise happy environment, then a wide snake-like leer twisted Hades' full blue lips as he caught sight of Ares and Athena arguing.. If it wasn't his favourite pair of duelling deities… Good old Ares, he could always be counted upon to heat up a party just the way Hades liked it…
The fiery Lord of the Underworld snickered to himself at the memory of Pelus and Thetis' wedding fifty years ago. Man, that had been a hoot… Of course Hades hadn't been planning to go, then Ares had shown up in the Underworld insisting that this was not something the fiery god wanted to miss. So Hades had went and the two gods had roared with laughter as Zeus tried desperately to control the situation before eventually giving up, leaving his wife Hera, daughter Athena and Aphrodite in the hands of a flustered and stressed out Hermes.
Hades' eyes narrowed at the two warring siblings as he listened to their snide remarks, the other gods nearby were deliberately ignoring them…
'Well, dear brother..' Athena was saying with a satisfied smirk. '-as I've said before, possession is nine tenths of the law and my minion possesses her..'
'She's not an object..' Ares puffed out is big red chest and glared a his slim blue-armoured sister. '-she's a Spartan princess and you better return her to my city or else I'll invade Athens and have her brought back..' Ares paused then remembered something else, smirking at his sister with a devious leer. '-by the way, what happened to said minion anyway?'
Athena blinked with momentary surprise, realising that she actually had no idea what had happened to her minion since he had gone on some mission to get himself a Spartan bride. Recovering and smiling, the Goddess of Wisdom decided to bluff.
'He's on a top-secret mission..' She sounded snottily while folding her arms tightly across her chest causing Ares to burst out laughing.
'Oh yeh, right…' The God of War snickered the rolling his eyes. '-last I heard, him and his stupid buddy Pierithous were off on some hair-brained mission to grab another bride.'
Athena paused before glaring at Ares who was smirking in a self-satisfied manner.
'Oh don't be so ridiculous..' She pouted moodily, narrowing her deep blue eyes. Unfortunately, she had a sneaking suspicion that Ares was correct. She hadn't seen Theseus in six months.
When Theseus returned to Athens after defeating the Minoutaur, with a little help from a teenage Hercules of course, it took him a while to get used to becoming a king. Naturally, it did help when he finally gave up on that 'Grim Avenger' nonsense and stopped self-commentating everything he did. Still, Athena had never approved of his friend from Lapith, she thought he was a law into himself and that Theseus would land himself in some serious trouble if he continued to let himself be led on by this 'Pierithous'.
'-Theseus knows better than to run off with that hooligan..' Athena sounded firmly reminding herself of the firm discussions she had had with the former hero on the subject and how the young king had assured her that he wouldn't let himself get sucked into anything stupid.
Ares merely chuckled amused by his perfect sister's loss of modesty.
'Well it doesn't change anything..' He sounded sternly getting back to the main issue. '-he better hand back Helen or else it's war Athena..'
'Bring it on you war mongering twit!' The Goddess of Wisdom hissed…
Hades flashed a nasty leer in their direction… it seemed that those two nitwits in the Chair of Forgetfulness had been causing more trouble than he realised. So they had stolen some Spartan princess and irritated Ares in the process. The fiery god rubbed his hands together with devious glee… oh, if anybody could be counted on to overreact it was Ares, plus the fact that it was one of Athena's minions that had ticked him off was the icing on the baklava…
Oh-hoh, he was getting married and a war was about to break out… this autumn was going to be sweeet..
'Hades, we need to talk..' A female voice sounded causing Hades to suddenly swivel around to see Persephone and Demeter were standing beside him. The fiery god blinked at Demeter's words then clocked Persephone's expression, she looked slightly concerned and this made the fiery god nervous.
'I won't pretend that you were the kind of god that I pictured my Cora marrying..' Persephone felt a scarlet blush cross her cheeks, why did her mother have to be so embarrassing? '-but after talking to my daughter I can see that you both feel very strongly for each other..' For a moment Hades stared blankly at her before smiling widely.
'So… your ok with me marrying your daughter?' The fiery god responded in amazement.
'Of course, I just want her to be happy..' Demeter sounded softly smiling at Hades. '-besides, you rule your own realm, my daughter could do a lot worse..'
'Heh… that's a matter of opinion babe..' Hades snickered causing Persephone to elbow him in the ribs with a slight frown.
'So what happens in the spring when I'm supposed to live on the surface..' Persephone sounded softly but to her surprise Demeter smiled amused by her daughter's words.
'Persephone, sweetheart… Zeus only said that you had to make sure life continues and you don't have to live on the surface to do that...' The Goddess of Nature flashed them devious smile. Persephone blinked in amazement at her mother while Hades' eyes narrowed as a smirk twisted appeared on his full blue lips.
'Demeter, you sneaky little fox..' The fiery god nudged his future mother-in-law, raising his brows delighted by the fact that the usually goody-two-shoes goddess had a crafty side.. it proved that the two of them were related.
Demeter chuckled lightly.
'There is just one little thing that might be an issue..' The green-skinned goddess sighed suddenly looking glum.
'What is it mother?' Persephone sounded nervously while Hades rolled his eyes in an 'I knew it was to good to be true' manner..
'A lot of gods up here don't want you two to get married..' She sounded gently and Hades snorted with casual disregard. '-they're still irritated about how you stood up to Zeus and duped him into getting Hades off the hook..'
'So what?' The fiery Lord of the Underworld shrugged then frowned. '-I don't care what those cloud-loving, Zeus-kissing losers think…'
'Perhaps not..' Demeter continued. '-but Zeus does, and although he doesn't have an issue with the two of you being together, if enough of the gods banded together in protest he would have to decree that you cannot be wed just to avoid being ousted like our father Cronos..'
'What are you saying mother?' Persephone said softly, her large green eyes widened anxiously.
'Well..' Demeter sounded thoughtfully. '-if the two of you married before they found out about the engagement then there's nothing they could do, they would just have to accept it..'
'Isn't that how Hera and Zeus decided to get married when Rhea objected to their union?' Hades asked pondering over the idea.
Demeter sighed and narrowed her eyes at her brother and future son-in-law.
'Yes Hades, it is.. and would it kill you to call her mom?' She sighed shaking her head at the fiery god's refusal to acknowledge Rhea as his mother.
'Demeter, babes..' Hades drawled leaning into her with a lazy smirk. '-she didn't raise me so as far as I'm concerned.. she ain't my mom, 'kay..' The fiery god frowned at her for a brief moment, as far as he was concerned his only parents were Nyx and Erebus, they were the ones who had raised him and loved him as one of their own. Rhea might be his birth mother but she had never been present in his life and the only time Hades ever labelled Cronos 'Dad' was when he wanted to show what a rotten parent he was, there was no way he would ever want to have anything to do with that twisted, creaky old Titan… he could just stay in Tartarus and rot for all Hades cared..
But still… Hades liked the idea of a secret wedding, they could do it in the Underworld where the other deities couldn't pry… of course, he'd have to fish some high priest out of the Styx to conduct the wedding but that was no biggie, the imps could do that while he decked out the throne room for the gloomy wedding…
'But mother..' Persephone's voice cut through Hades' mental wedding preparations. '-you won't be able to come..' The Great Harvest festivals would continue over the next month if they were to marry without the other knowing they'd have to get hitched while the nature goddess was busy.
'I know..' Demeter sighed heavily. '-but that's just the way it's meant to be… but don't worry, once winter is in effect I will be down to check-up on the two of you..' She beamed at the two deities widely.
'Oh joy..' Hades uttered half-rolling his eyes, just what he wanted… an interfering mother-in-law.
The fiery god glanced out and noticed that the sun was setting in the west, realising that the imps had been left in the Underworld by themselves for far too long Hades needed to find a way of leaving the festivities now. The problem was finding an excuse that wasn't going to make him come across as a complete jerk to his mother-in-law… somehow Hades figured his usual pretexts just weren't going to cut it.. Luckily for the fiery god, his amazingly perceptive and understanding missus caught sight of the slight crease of concern that crossed his brow and .
'We have to go don't we?' Persephone sounded gently entwining her dainty lilac fingers in his large greyish-blue hand. Hades flashed her a grateful smile before sighing heavily.
'Unfortunately, we do babe..' The fiery god responded softly. '-it's the curse of the Underworld, while all these gods get to lounge around up here we get slapped with a full-time gig-' Hades turned and gestured in the direction of a drunken Zeus who was now hanging off of Hera. '-thanks to that yutz over there..' Hades glared over at him, although he was secretly grateful that at least he couldn't get loaded enough to make a total twit of himself in front of the entire pantheon of gods… mind you, he had always been an angry drunk and he'd probably end up picking a fight with one of the other deities over something stupid..
The three of them headed out of the Great Coliseum and over to where Hades had parked his griffin. The fiery god let Persephone board the twisted black chariot first before he got in beside her and twirled the thick black reins around his large greyish-blue fingers. Persephone lent over to her mother who was looking tearful once more.
'I guess your not my little flower anymore..' Demeter sighed dabbing a tear away with a small white handkerchief. Persephone smiled and shook her head.
'Mother… you know I love you but do you think you could do me one thing?' The Goddess of Life said still beaming in her girly fashion.
'Anything pumpkin..' Demeter replied smiling tearily back.
'Please stop calling me Cora.. I'm not a little kid anymore..'
Hades flashed Demeter one of his nicer smirks, but it still managed to come off as some-kind of twisted leer, then without a word he yanked the reins hard causing the griffin to spread it's wings with a heinous cry. As the chariot shot forwards Persephone's arms wrapped tightly around her beloved god's waist and her long golden hair streamed out behind her as they shot off the cloud into the cool night air.
As the chariot dropped Persephone twisted around and readjusted her grip so she could wave her mother off with one last smile before she and Hades dipped below the cloud line, hurtling downwards towards the Underworld…
Demeter waved them both off with her small chubby green hand. She felt a hint of sadness about the fact that her last baby had finally left the nest, but she felt a hint of contentment too because her daughter had found happiness… perhaps it wasn't with someone she had originally intended her daughter to be with but he loved her for who she was…
'I know your not a little girl…' Demeter uttered softly, knowing her voice would be carried on the wind. '-and I'm proud of you..'
Little Notes:
Hey Everybody, I must admit I was really sad when I finished writing this story… writing this has been so much fun and I never wanted it to end… but it's also been an emotional journey for me too, in many cases during writing this I've had to dig deep through my own emotional well just to find the right way of expressing things like loss, pain and grief… I've tried so hard to keep most of the characters the way Disney intended them to be without betraying the myths themselves.. It has resulted in a lot of painstakingly tough research and tweaking of the original myths to give them an original edge but I am pleased with the final result..
…I know there are probably going to be some of you who are dissatisfied with the fact that I don't make Persephone travel back and forth every six months like she does in the 'popular' myths but if you do your research properly there is a lesser known version. In this version Persephone refused to return to the surface choosing to stay with her husband in the Underworld, it does cut out the cutsie springtime story but also explains why Persephone is always in the Underworld ready to greet those few who arrive, i.e. Psyche, Orpheus (both who will be appearing in stories soon) and heroes like Hercules…
…I would also like to point out that the all-important pomegranate will be used in the sequel to this story which I will begin writing soon now that I have outlined the basic plot… more info on this will be at the end of the epilogue…
…ok, the aftermath of Theseus' theft of Helen was pretty much how it was written in myth (with of course, a few tweaks to the myth.), his mother was kidnapped and held for random, but I thought that it would be fun to include Athena and Ares in this little spat as they were always looking for an excuse for a fight in the series of Hercules… while Hades pretty much reacts just as you would expect him to.. (I used the Tiff on Olympus episode as inspiration for this)..
Lot's of Love…. Ditzy xXx