A silence filled the room as the realization of the gravity of his words dawned on the pair. Hades glanced away from Kore and started to stand. Kore pulled him back down in front of her. She rested her forehead against his. Both of their eyes were closed. Kore roughly kissed him once more.
"As I am yours." She breathed against his lips.

His eyes shot to hers. A feeling of contentment and relief washed over him. She may be willing to stay after all. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. Her hands buried themselves in his hair. She tugged gently on his shirt. Hades hovered over her. His hands-on were on either side of her head. He leaned down and kissed her deeply until they both had to part for air. An energy filled the room.

"Perse?" Hades smiled against her lips. "I thought you didn't want to go this far." He ran the tip of his nose along the curve of her neck. There was a teasing tone to his voice as if he knew there wasn't any further they were going to go. His warm breath tickled her neck. A pleasant chill ran down her spine.

"Hades." Kore chuckled breathily. "I said I didn't want to go, I guess you can say all the way." Kore blushed and inwardly cursed how juvenile that sounded out loud. "That doesn't mean we can't mess around though, at least just a little." She raked her nails down his back. She wasn't sure what she should be doing, so she simply went with what felt right to do.

"Fair enough, pet." Hades groaned softly. "As you wish." He bit down hard on her neck. She gasped sharply, and let out a soft whimper. Kore arched against him. A smirk played on his lips.

"Ah, so pain is your thing huh?" Hades gently licked the spot he had bitten. Her face burned.
Kore didn't answer. Though her body language told him all he needed to know, he decided to wait until she was willing to answer him verbally before he dared to do anything else with that knowledge. Hades kissed up her neck, along her jawline up to her mouth. Kore leaned up into his mouth. She tugged lightly on the collar of his dress shirt and leaned her head to one side. Kore led his lips back to her neck. Hades' kissed and nibbled down her neck, across her collarbone, and up to her ear. The pair could feel a presence in the room, though they didn't put too much effort into discerning who it was. They both simply hoped that it was Cerberus. Zeus stood in the entryway of the room. Not sure if he should announce himself or not, when things seemed to be getting steamy, he opted to simply wait to be noticed.

"As much as I hate to break this up." Hades whispered to her. "I believe my brother is here, and I don't really like the idea of him seeing what is mine." Hades practically growled. Kore chewed on her bottom lip. Hades gave her cheek a quick kiss before he sat up and turned towards Zeus.

"I assume there is a reason you decided to drop into my personal bedroom, without so much as a call first." Hades resisted the urge to glare at Zeus.

"Yes. Actually there is." Zeus glanced over at Kore as she sat on the edge of Hades' bed. Kore was watching Hades' reaction.

"Maybe, we should continue this somewhere more private." Zeus gestured towards the door.

"I don't think there is a room more private than my bedroom. " Hades scoffed. Zeus' gaze fell on Kore once more. "Ah. I see. You're worried about Perse's reaction, so I believe it is safe to assume that this is about Demeter." Zeus' eyes went wide at the sound of the nickname Hades had used. Hades ran a hand through his hair. He lifted his arm so Kore could rest her cheek on his chest. Zeus started to speak in protest. Hades cut him off. " Let me assure you, anything you have to say to me can be said around her."

"Fine. I'm not in the mood to fight with you about this. If you think she can handle it, then by all means you deal with the aftermath." Zeus sighed annoyed and began his story. "Do you want the long or the short version?"

"Is there a short version?" Hades raised an eyebrow in question.

"I mean there might be." Zeus chuckled a little. "Probably not though." He rubbed the back of his head, slightly nervous. Now that he was here in front of them, it felt wrong to force them to separate. Hades seemed more at ease with himself than he had in a long time. Zeus wasn't sure if he ever saw his older brother so relaxed. "I'm not sure if you noticed the sharp uptick of mortal deaths recently or not. Either way," He paused to try and find any words that would make this right. "Demeter is refusing to let any crops grow until Kore is returned to her. Hades, you know I would never step in unless there was no other way. She has to go back." Zeus couldn't look at Hades. "For what it is worth, I'm sorry. I never thought Demeter would take it this far."

The room fell silent. No one moved for a moment. Kore looked almost resigned as if she knew that this would happen, and she had lost a war. She glanced up at Hades' face. His jaw was set in anger, his eyes blazed. The rest of his face was stone cold. She didn't want to be the cause of tension between the two. Kore met Hades' eyes momentarily, as she rose.

"Okay." Her voice was hollow.

"No." Hades stood behind her, he rested a hand on her shoulder. Kore's eyes widened slightly.

"Brother. You don't understand that the Mortal Realm can not function without Demeter." Zeus was desperate. "I'm not saying she has to leave right now, and that she can never come back. I'm only saying she needs to return to Demeter soon. Besides, Kore can't survive here forever."

"Brother, I suggest you leave. Perse and I need to discuss this before we come to any rash decisions." Hades glanced pointedly down at Kore.

"Fine. '' Zeus held his hands up in surrender. "I won't force you. You know where to find me when you've reached your decision." He backed towards the door. " I will suggest you make the decision fast, as time is ticking away. " With that, he closed the door behind him.

Kore whipped around to face Hades.

"I will not let my mother hurt anyone else. You have to understand that." Kore tried to plead with Hades.

"I understand how you feel." Hades tried to relax but his body refused to let him. "I simply don't like the idea of you running head long back to her, in order to save everyone else. You deserve to be happy, Perse. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Do what makes you happy and be damned with the rest. I will help you take care of everything else. " Hades clasped her hand. "Just promise me you won't go back to her, unless it is what you want. You know you are welcome here as long as you want to be here."

"I know." Kore trained her gaze on the floor. " I know what I have to do, I just don't think I have the strength to do it." She paused, partially hoping he would interrupt her. Hades did not. He stood patiently in front of her and waited for her to continue. "Hades, you know I love being here. Zeus is right though, I was just telling you that I have to go back at some point at least for a few days. There is no reason, I can't go see my mom for a few days and come right back."

"Kore." Hades' shoulders slumped. "You know that she won't let you come back here. She will never let you see me or anyone again. You shouldn't have to live like that simply because Demeter is having a temper tantrum."

"Temper tantrum or not, people are dying Hades." Kore finally met his gaze. " I can't just stand here and do nothing when I am the only one that can help them." She stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. "I know that she will try and keep us apart, but I won't let her. I'll talk to Zeus, he has to be able to do something."

"Zeus….?" Hades' voice trailed off. He racked his brain as he tried to remember what Zeus had told him about the claim process. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he pulled Kore in for a harsh kiss. "Zeus! Of course! Kore, you are a genius." Kore eyed him with amusement.

"Everything okay?" She chuckled. "Zeus showing up out of nowhere didn't break your brain did it?" She smiled at him.

"Of course not." Hades scoffed. "He may have given me the answer to our dilemma though. What would you say if I told you that there was a way to essentially tether yourself to the Underworld itself?"

"Tether myself to the Underworld? What are you talking about?" Kore raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes. Tether yourself to the Underworld, not to me per say. In essence you would be able to leave the Underworld but you would have to return every so often. Not even Demter would be able to stop it, and it wouldn't be Zeus' fault or yours so she couldn't just pull the same stuff again." Hades paused. "Though I'm sure it will still not be pleasant for her or others but there shouldn't be a mass dying. This way, Demeter could blame me, and you would always have a safe haven here."
"Are you serious?" Kore looked at Hades as if he had lost his mind. "What are you talking about? Firstly, I don't think having Demeter mad at you is a good idea. Secondly, this seems like a big commitment. I mean, I would love to be able to be here for a long period of time, but I need to think about it."
"What is she going to do to me?" Hades laughed. "She can't kill me. Everything around me is already dead, and I'm the older brother of Zeus. She can't really hurt me." He kissed her cheek, to comfort her.

"Okay." She smiled and shook her head. "Look, I'll need a few more details and a little time before I agree to anything that drastic. Just let me go talk to her. I can calm her down. If she doesn't agree to let me be down here, or even around you most of the time, then we will talk about other options. I don't want to just drop something like that on her, when she is already murdering mortals because I haven't come home yet."

Hades nodded, a little sad she didn't agree right away. Although he knew it was illogical to assume she would drop everything to live with him.

"You know, I won't stop you from leaving. I just wanted to be sure that it is what you really want. " He held his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"It's not as if I want to leave. I have to, for myself and for the sake of the whole Mortal Realm. I promise I'll be back and I'll talk to you everyday." Kore glanced down and picked at her nails. "Maybe you could even meet me in my grove, or come see me at night after she goes to sleep." She chewed nervously on her bottom lip. "If you even want to, that is."

"I look forward to it." Hades held her face in his hands. "In that case, I had better prepare some things." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and rose to his feet. "That means back to work for me. I'll call Zeus and he will come pick you up. That way he can say he fulfilled his end of the bargain if need be." Hades pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Wait." Kore grabbed his hand. "I know I need to go back soon and I will go back. Just tomorrow. Can't I have you to myself one night before I go?" Kore bit her lip. "Unless you are too busy. I'm not trying to impose. I'm just really going to miss you, and my mother is terrifying and I know I need to go back but I don't really want to." Kore paused to take a breath, realizing that she had been rambling nervously.

Hades chuckled, shook his head slightly. He took his phone out, turned it off, dropped it on the nightstand next to the bed, and crawled back into the bed. He laid on his back and held an arm out to Kore.

"Care to join me?" He smirked at her. Kore smiled wide and jumped into bed. She snuggled up against Hades' chest.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Kore glanced at the now-off phone. "You ditching work like this?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I kind of do what I want around here." Hades scoffed. "It's fine, Perse. Besides, one night isn't going to be the end of the world."

"I suppose you are right." Kore laughed softly at herself.

The hours drove on. The nighttime hours ticked away. Hades gently rubbed the top of her head.

"I'm going to miss you." Kore smiled sadly.

"I'm going to miss you too, Perse." He kissed the top of her head.

The pair lay in solemn silence the rest of the night.