Chapter Four:
The night had passed slowly for the frightened Goddess as she lay in Hades' chamber. It had inched by at a crawl, as if to draw out her torment, as if it enjoyed her grief.
Hades had not returned since their row, but even though she was free of the Dark Lord's presence, she had been unable to sleep. Not because of any fear or tension, but because she missed the light of the stars above her and the smell of flowers around her. She simply could not drift into a peaceful slumber without them, and her homesickness grew to such an alarming level that she wanted to cry again.
She had grown weary of her tears, and although she was naïve and ignorant in many ways, she knew that her weeping was gaining her naught but sore eyes along with a sore heart.
However, she still had not been able to stop fresh tears from streaming down flushed cheeks.
Hades had returned then and he had drawn his dark eyebrows together in a concerned frown.
'My dear Persephone!' he exclaimed in that velvety voice, 'your tears pierce my heart, please, cry no longer. I shall hurt you not, my love. You are safe within the embrace of Hades.'
Silken sheets had stirred and shifted as he sat upon the bed besides the exhausted Goddess, and she had shaken her fair head with eyes swollen from sorrow.
'No. I long for the home you tore from me. I long for the beauty of the night sky… for the stars that sing to my heart.' Hades listened carefully, his dark eyes flickering with unreadable thoughts. 'And I miss the smell of nature about me. The smell of fresh flowers and the smell of the wind as it flies across the fields which I love so dearly.'
Hades said nothing, his stern face sad, his cold hands locked together in contemplation, and instead he simply gave a small nod and pulled the sheets up about her shoulders. She shivered at the touch of his cold skin and she took a hand in hers.
'Why is it that you are so cold? Are you not uncomfortable?' she asked with some concern. Hades looked at the girl in surprise. She was grieving, yet she asked him, the one who deserved her concern least of all, if he was uncomfortable?
'I am not.' He replied in a whisper, dark eyes battling with the pure light of hers. His voice then caught as he said, 'sleep now dear Persephone. The hours pass and morning rushes towards us. The Kingdom awaits your judgement tomorrow, and there is much to see.' Persephone averted her eyes and clutched her wreath under her chin lovingly, and called out for rest.
Somehow sleep did manage to claim her, even as the Lord of the Dead sat close by her side.
The underworld was not completely devoid of light, to Persephone's great surprise.
'The fields of Elysium!' Hades had announced with a rare smile and a stroke of his arm eastward. Persephone rushed forward without heed then, into the tall grass and warm sunshine.
But it was different. The sun, it was not Helios. No, it was some other magic that brought light to these fields. It was if it were an illusion… all of it.
A small pool was in the middle of the fields and Persephone watched as a few souls knelt before it, hands cupped as they filled them with the sweet sparkling liquid and drank greedily.
'That is the pool of Forgetfulness. It allows the souls to be born again into the world above, to leave this paradise and experience life once more.'
Persephone watched with great envy. 'That I could drink from that pool…' she thought sadly.
Hades offered a strong arm and Persephone, looking up at him unsure at first, accepted. They walked together then, over the fields, night courting the day, and Persephone took in the flowers and trees around her. They were not as beautiful as the trees upon the surface however. They had not the stories to tell, the songs to sing that she so loved from the ones beneath the real sun.
There was light here that was true, but not real light. The thought saddened the Goddess more than her captivity. She would have no reprieve from the darkness.
'Are the Fields not beautiful?' Hades had asked, his voice proud. Persephone, Goddess child, had heard what was unsaid. 'Is this enough for you? Look how much I have to offer… surely you will accept me now? You could be happy here.' he seemed to say with those black eyes.
For some reason, words of anger at his presumptuousness would not come, and so, with great wonder at herself, Persephone nodded. Hades eyes were afire with joy and they stopped, his hand drawing her knuckles to his lips with great affection.
Fire on ice.
Their eyes met over her bent wrist and Persephone took a shaky breath, emotions she could not name rising in a tumult of feeling.
Darkness pursued the fleeing light.
She pulled her hand away and clasped it at her front with her other hand, head bowed, heart racing with confusion and body burning as if with fever. Hades had seen the wonder and confusion upon her pale face and had felt something within him twist with delight. Her naivety was beautiful to him, her innocence pleasing.
'Let us return. A great feast has been prepared in your honour.' His mouth snaked upwards at the corner and he said, 'Tonight, the dead shall rejoice.'
