Hades' castle looked magnificent and proud as its master. Dark, rough rock walls contrasted with the bright, shiny marble floors; huge windows with emerald crystals covered the walls of the castle's entrance, letting in the strange light from outside, a mix of colours that led to a mysterious and tantalizing dim light along the magnificent wide entrance. Many arcs with different shapes adorned the large windows, where glazed glass could be felt; little white and red diamonds disguised as lights. The Underworld had no sun, but with all that the Goddess had seen, it did not need it. Life opened its way in a lifeless place, each object fulfilled its function, everything seemed to be related, everything had a role, everything seemed to matter.
With a firm, secure step, Hades' robe slid down his silhouette, tall and thin like a statue. Persephone kept her eyes fastened on him. White, cold, hard, beautiful. Like an ice sculpture. Hades was the complete opposite of what the blonde Goddess had lived: mystery, darkness, death. Such was the fascination that the dark God was awakening in Persephone's sweet eyes that even she could not understand it. No one had ever aroused in her the desire to unravel a riddle, to reach inside a God who kept in him secrets that he must treasure, a shield of silence and good manners that the Goddess had to discover before returning home.
Cursing the length of her steps, Persephone pursued her new goal with a fast step while Hades opened the door with all the ease of the world. Before her eyes there was now a new stage, a huge courtyard with different flowers all around; flowers she already knew. Red flowers like vibrant fire rose above all the columns and structures they encountered, leaving behind the dead landscape outside the castle. Incredulous, the Goddess' eyes ran to find those blue eyes. "This flower..." She sighed, catching a flower between her hands. "I created this flower myself." She said, lowering his gaze, almost embarrassed.
"Yes." The dark God answered, quickly approaching the young Goddess, who was staring at the flower. "You gave it to me the day we met." He said staring longingly at her.
With those words, the Goddess' memory suddenly flashed, as a revelation. Flickering, a blurred memory began to pop in her mind. Shy tears falling through tender green eyes, grass plucked from cumulative rage, accelerated breathing. And suddenly a long shadow before her. Few words but enough. "You were the man I saw that day... That is the reason why I feel like I know you... That is because I really know you!" She said as her eyes moved rapidly searching for something she did not know. "You were not a dream; you have always been real. You have been a latent memory now being reborn." Huge green eyes flashed at every step of the memory.
A heavy hand rested on her shoulder, touching the fabric that covered Persephone's slim body. "I am glad you finally remember me." He said in a strange tone. "My life changed that day. Or let me correct, you changed my life. You gave it meaning."
"Excuse me, my lord, but I do not understand..." Her voice steeply cut off as she turned, looking up to find the bluest eyes she had ever seen focused on her. She could feel her nerves rising for seconds, the essence of Hades infiltrating her lungs, drowning in a sweet sensation. Her legs were betraying her again, as they had done before. Her green eyes were enormous set in a porcelain face of striking features. Hades' smile grew as he sensed Persephone's odd nervousness.
Persephone could not remember being so close to a man before. Her mother never allowed her to interact with any man. Demeter had always told her that she was too far special to be the mere truffle of a God, that she deserved much more than to be the wife of, that she was born out of grace. She was meant to be a Goddess of worship, one Goddess of Virginity as great as Athena and Artemis herself. She was only allowed to spend time together with Hermes because Demeter had never considered him a potential suitor for his daughter. But now she was in front of a mysterious and different man, who was awakening in her feelings she had never experienced before. Apollo had once tried to court her, without any result; the discomfort that caused her had nothing to do with what Persephone was feeling right now.
"I feel that our destinies are bounded. I cannot be me without you." He said with all the confidence of the world in his words. "I know this from the day I saw you." Slowly, his hand moved from her shoulder to her cheek, moving with a gentle scroll, causing a chill across the entire body of the Goddess. Her heart was pounding with excitement and fear. Hades' free hand joined the other; frozen hands cracking as they felt the temperature of the Goddess rising. His two hands were now placed at the nape of her neck, kindly holding her in place. "I understand you can find no sense in everything I am telling you. I hardly know you, and you do not know me at all. But I can't wait no longer, not after being with you, not after having enjoyed the indescribable company of yours."
Unprepared for what was going on, she was also unready for the jolt that went through her, making her whimper soundlessly. Swiftly, Hades bent to kiss her. It was a gentle kiss, their bodies were not touching each other and, had she wanted to, she could easily have escaped from his touch. But she did not. She stood paralyzed by his words and allowed the kiss. Hades' touch electrified her. The touch of his delicate hands, his lips touching hers, his confidence… She felt so different. The connection she had felt with every word they had exchanged in the few hours together held, grew, binding them as they glided together, perfectly matched.
The King of the Underworld broke the kiss. She was completely different to all the Goddesses and deities he had known. There was something about her he had never experienced. Her essence, her naive that seemed to come through in her every gesture. He was finding himself looking now at her, with his hands touching her face still, fascinated by the fire that seemed permanently to burn in her eyes.
Persephone, still confused by that confession, raised her right hand to caress Hades' hand, which still rested on the Goddess's neck. Hesitating, noticing the waiting response from his eyes, Persephone managed to speak. "My lord, I…" She said looking down, breaking the permanent eye contact between the two of them. Hades remained silent; he was not able to stop staring at her. She was a vision, cheeks rosy, hair slyly ruined and shining like strips of gold, the smoothness of her skin. He could not help the way his heart played its own melody of yearning. "I never stopped thinking about you." He confessed, prompting Persephone to rethink what to say again.
Suddenly, a feminine voice broke the private world they had created, where none else existed. "I am back. Is everything okay? Do you feel sick?" Hecate asked with a genuine concern in her voice. As if the voice was a tenderly touch to wake up after a dream, Persephone blinked and took a quick step back to put distance between her and Hades.
"Ye…. Yes." She said hesitant. "Everything is all right." Hades was still in the same position that Persephone had left him, staring at her without paying too much attention to her companion from the Underworld.
"We have to go. If we take longer, Demeter will be mad on me, and if I can avoid it… better." She said as she invited Persephone to join her in order to return to the Olymp.
"Yes… yes." She responded looking shyly to Hades. "It has been a pleasure, my lord." She said facing him again. "Thanks for everything. I have had a wonderful time. I do not remember a day that I enjoyed so much. I want you to know that…"
"Come on Persephone, I have the chariot waiting for us." Hecate impatiently said, cutting of her friend. Persephone nodded, giving Hades a fond smile. Her lips quivered with the want to say so many things to him, but could not settle upon any of them. Holding Hecate's hand, they departed from Hades' castle, but before crossing the door the blonde Goddess find her words. "Will we see each other again?" She asked looking at Hades.
"Absolutely." He said while Persephone abandoned the room to catch the chariot, leaving him alone in his castle, again.
