5-7-04: I Know You guys will probably feel cheated since this is only an author's note and not a chapter. However, I promise I will replace it with the second chapter soon. I just need a temporary break from this story... I can promise that you can expect the next update within two weeks- pinky swear! meanwhile, keep reviewing- I love constructive criticism!
Woo-hoo! (wasn't expecting this many reviews...) Thank You for reviewing! You guys made me happy! =)
zagato: thank you for your sweet review!
kory: I really appreciate constructive criticism, so thank you, too! I actually prefer happy stories, too. I find it very odd myself that I chose to write about Persephone & Hades. About mistakes I made- I will try to go back and fix my errors. I know I was a little sloppy with spelling... I'm sorry. Thanks for pointing that out.
Loveawaitsinthenextmeadow: Thank you for reviewing! I'm so glad you like it!
jylphoenix: I'm not good with reviews either... lol! thanks for your review, though! I hope you come along for the rest of the fic
dark angel: thank you for reviewing! :-) I hope you enjoy this chappie.
anonymous: thanks! I hope you like this chapter too!
Yasamiya Reiko: Thank you for reviewing- I'm really glad to get constructive criticism! I'll definitely keep that in mind.
Aeriel Ravenna: I'm glad you like it! I will definitely work on working in more dialogue, I liked your story, too! Thanks for your review, by the way
bushyhair: Thanks for your wonderful review and tips! I will definitely keep them in mind!
Disclaimer: I own absolutely NADA...
I profusely apologize for the late update! I hope you accept my excuse of STAR testing. Thank God that's over with for now...
I have to warn you that this is SOMEwhat AU meaning that you might recognize character names but they might not be EXACTLY the same as in the mythology- and also, this chapter has some mild swearing, so no flames, for you have been warned. Anyway, Enjoy!
CHAPTER TWO: NOT WITHOUT HER
Laughter. Aphrodite's laughter perhaps. Or it could have been Hera. Demeter was not sure of herself as she walked by the double doors. She heard music, too. Apparently he was still entertaining. Demeter curled her lips in disgust. Didn't they have better things to do than sit in that room all day and watch muses dance?
She turned a corner and continued down a stark white hallway. Then she stopped in front of a large oak door and knocked softly.
"Come in!" a rather gentle voice called from inside and Demter turned the doorknob and went in.
A young man sat at a creaky, old-fashioned desk in the middle of the room. Besides a marble bust (probably of Zeus himself) in a corner, a beautiful exotic rug on the floor, the desk, and a chair, the room was empty. However, there was a lovely enormous arched window through which sunlight streamed.
Opposite the marble bust, Demeter spied a hook where an extraordinary silver helmet hung. Attached the helmet were a pair of small fluttering wings, still at the moment. And underneath the helmet was a pair of sandals, neatly juxtaposed. Attached to them, was a pair of wings. The young man who sat at the desk was called Hermes.
"What is it, Demeter?" Hermes asked, looking up.
"Persephone's gone," she said crisply, facing Hermes with her blue eyes. They were a hue of azure that immediately turned heads, especially now they were especially noticeable.
Hermes raised a brow. "I suppose you want to speak to Zeus." Demeter nodded gravely. "I'll schedule you an appointment as soon as possible, but I can't guarantee that he'll show up on time... You know how he is with these things."
"As long as he DOES show up."
"Alright. I'll set the date for tomorrow, if that's fine with you," he replied calmly and he scribbled the date down on a piece of parchment and tucked it in a leather-bound appointment book.
"Any date," Demeter felt her voice shaking as it grew hoarse.
"Have something to drink before you go," Hermes offered and Hebe immediately appeared with a glass. Demeter conjured her own chair and sat opposite Hermes.
"Don't you have any duties at the moment?" Demeter asked, lifting her glass to take a sip.
"Not at the moment, really. Everyone is preoccupied with harvest. I assume you and Dionysus are the most busy of us all."
"I was busy," said Demeter, looking forlornly inside her glass," But without Persephone, I can't seem to do anything." A tear welled from her deep azure eyes and splashed inside her glass, she watched the ripples in the water and then looked up. "Thank you," she said with high emotion and put her glass down. As she stood up, her chair disappeared instantly.
"You're welcome," he replied as she turned on her heel and strode back to the door with her elegant gait. Hermes leaned back in his chair as she closed the door with a dry click.
The next day came, but the next day went and nothing happened. Demeter traveled to Olympus again but Zeus never came to meet her. She sat in a chair in his office for vast amounts of time. She was unsure of how much time had actually passed when she finally got up, hopeless. Demeter did not schedule another appointment. Instead, she put on her cloak and left crestfallen.
Demeter, herself made her home in a small manor in the middle of a bright forest. Actually, she preferred the outdoors to her manor and was usually outside, enjoying the nature and working to make trees bloom, bear fruit, green leaves from dawn to dusk. Rarely, she left the realm of nature but she found herself in deep despair at everything she saw outside because it all seemed to pertain to her daughter.
So she found herself wandering inside and up the staircase into her bedroom. Her room was rather simple since she rarely spent time in it. The furnishings included a bed with a brass frame, a bedside table and a candle. There was a large window across from the bed that had no curtains. The only other piece of furniture was a full-length mirror. The other walls were stark white.
She fell on the bed, not even bothering to remove her cloak. Always barefoot, she did not have shoes to remove. She found herself shedding bitter tears unto her pillow and shaking with sobs.
After the tears had all fallen and her sobbing subsided, she got to her feet and tossed the cloak rather carelessly on the hardwood floor. She walked into the adjoining room. It, too had an air of simplicity, but it was beautiful and colors were vibrant everywhere.
For one thing, there were flowers everywhere- a chain of daises threaded around the window frame, the doorway. There were no curtains, either, but on the window sills stood a whole row of beautiful bouquets in simple vases. The bouquets were spread all over the room, making it wonderfully fragrant.
In one corner, was a small, but comfortable-looking cot. Besides, that, a candle stub, the curtains, and the flowers, the room was bare. Demeter walked over to the cot and laid herself down on her back. She looked at the vaulted ceiling as dusk fell. She saw the magical lights from the sunset flood the room and the pink, purple, and red shades thrown on the ceiling.
When the sun had completely set, she closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed and became more rhythmic, and she fell asleep.
The next day dawned again, but she remained asleep.
The dew drops clung to the crisp, yellowing leaves. Hadn't they been a ripe, luscious green just yesterday? The flowers had all bent over, as if from grief, limp and lifeless. The crops were shriveled and lacking. What had happened to Demeter? everyone asked. Where was she when everyone needed her most?
The sun rose on a warm, humid autumn day. The fields were empty and the smell of hay and overripe foods were overtaking the whole countryside. The vegetables and fruits were either dry or rotten. The farmers, devastated went to the temples everyday, but for naught. Where was their goddess?
After a week it was plainly obvious that something strange was happening. People had no food to eat and nothing had been stored because the harvesting season had only just begun. After a week people were beginning to beg- on the streets, in alleys, at houses of the elite upper class, anyone who appeared to better off then themselves.
The leaves had long since fallen from the branches and the towns looked almost ready for winter, though autumn had just come. The god could no longer ignore the dying plant life or the beggars roaming the country. Greece was starving and someone needed to do something.
There was a quiet knock on the heavy oak door. Almost so quiet that he did not hear it. But the place was so quiet that it did not escape his ears. He sat on a small stool with the Aegis, his shield, next to him. It was quite enormous and polishing it was a very tedious task. He put it down for a moment.
"Come in," he said in a rough voice.
The door opened with a loud creak and in stepped the slender figure of Iris. She closed the door behind her very softly and looked at him with large, pleading eyes.
He ran his eyes over her figure tastefully, admiring the well-curved hips and small waist. She cleared her throat, "Thank you for accepting my call without previous notice."
He simply nodded. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked, looking at her attentively.
She clutched her hands nervously in front of her, "Ehr.. well... I don't know if you noticed bu-" she looked at the marble floor in front of her. She felt so small and timid in the large room. The ceilings soared with large windows through which sunlight streamed. Zeus was in the center of room, sitting on a stool with his Aegis. Besides that there was nothing else in the room. This only emphasized her humbleness. She swallowed.
"Well?"
"I don't know if you noticed," she began again," but your daughter is missing." He looked at her questioningly. "Persephone, I mean," she added quickly and the tense muscles in her face relaxed.
He looked at her pensively for a moment. "How do you know?"
"Well, we went out together one morning and we-uhm... we-uh played a game... and- ehr, she- uhm... never came back."
"Came back from what?"
"Well, m'lord, we were playing, uhm, hide-and-seek... We, the nymphs and I, think that she may have been kidnapped."
"Did anyone, ehr, bear witness to her abduction?" he stood up and in swift strides was walking towards the door, towards her.
"N-n-not that I know of-" she eyed him apprehensively. Her hand were growing extremely clammy as he neared her.
He walked up to her, it felt much closer to her than he really was and she felt her space was invadaded and prespired more. It seemed to her that she could feel his breath in her thick mahogany-colored hair. Iris felt some sort of panic arise in her, and she felt her heart pick up speed dramactically. "What's wrong?" he asked her, in his deep tenor voice.
She took a step back. "I thought that maybe you should know the crops in the fields have desintigrated as well-"
Suddenly, she thought she saw him sweating, too. " You havent' seen Demeter around Olympus, either, have you?
"I haven't been to Olympus anytime recent.
"That's right. I'm sorry.
"It's alright," she said, shaking her brown curls.
"You're probably wondering what this might have to do with Demeter," he said, reading the thoughts off her mind. Suddenly the realization did come to her, but he continued nevertheless, "Demeter cannot seem to function without her daughter-"
"-your daughter-" Iris found herself correcting him.
He cleared his throat, "Yes, our daughter- they are indeed very close."
"Yes, I know," she tried to sound meek and humble, while actually being rather annoyed at him for stating the obvious.
"I know you have things to do, Iris, but would you kindly stop by her house on your way back? Just check up on her... I'm a bit worried." he asked politely. "Hermes will come with you.
Iris considered his request skeptically. It was his daughter who was missing, couldn't he show more caring? But she found herself saying, "Alright. Thank you for your time." she curtseyed quickly and left the room, closing the heavy door behind her, but even as she did, she felt his eyes on her back, as if they were looking through the closed door for a long time. When she turned the corner, she felt relieved.
She knew her way around fairly well, and with her conversation with Zeus off her mind, she concentrated on Hermes. She found him at his old-fashioned desk in a room almost as bare as the one she had been directed to earlier to talk with Zeus. Together, they made their way down from Olympus. Hermes donned his helmet and sandals and held Iris' hand on the journey through to the air.
She loved traveling through the air, her hair would flap in the breeze, but she could care less. The flight was exhilarating and she barely gave Persephone or Demeter another thought until they neared the house.
They found the door unlocked, which was not unusual, but when they went up the staircase, they found Demeter upstairs. She was lying asleep in Persephone's room, which was still fragrant with flowers. Hermes had to nudge her several times until she finally awoke.
She looked at them, but said nothing. Tears began to well in her eyes. "Please Demeter," Hermes said, a pleading look in his handsome blue eyes, " the people are starving. Do something."
Demeter simply rolled over on the cot and faced the wall. "Please, Demeter," Iris said. "Zeus promised he will try to find Persephone!"
At this, she turned to face them once more. "I can't do anything without my Persephone," and she sadly shook her head. "I won't do anything without Persephone."
"Not without Persephone, m'lord," Hermes said.
Zeus sighed. "I suppose there's nothing to be done besides look for her."
"Where do you propose we would search first? After all, she could be anywhere."
He found himself sighing once more. "We should consult Apollo's oracle before we do anything-"
"Rightly so."
The next day, Zeus himself went to Apollo, who brought the Oracle to Olympus. The meeting was very brief and there was hardly an exchange of words.
"Persephone- where is she now?"
The oracle was silent for a moment or two. Finally he said, "The lord of the underworld has her."
Already, Hermes was sent on his way to retrieve her.
I'm sorry, I know that probably wasn't worth waiting so long for, but let me know what you thought of it anyway. Click that button! Thanks!
Woo-hoo! (wasn't expecting this many reviews...) Thank You for reviewing! You guys made me happy! =)
zagato: thank you for your sweet review!
kory: I really appreciate constructive criticism, so thank you, too! I actually prefer happy stories, too. I find it very odd myself that I chose to write about Persephone & Hades. About mistakes I made- I will try to go back and fix my errors. I know I was a little sloppy with spelling... I'm sorry. Thanks for pointing that out.
Loveawaitsinthenextmeadow: Thank you for reviewing! I'm so glad you like it!
jylphoenix: I'm not good with reviews either... lol! thanks for your review, though! I hope you come along for the rest of the fic
dark angel: thank you for reviewing! :-) I hope you enjoy this chappie.
anonymous: thanks! I hope you like this chapter too!
Yasamiya Reiko: Thank you for reviewing- I'm really glad to get constructive criticism! I'll definitely keep that in mind.
Aeriel Ravenna: I'm glad you like it! I will definitely work on working in more dialogue, I liked your story, too! Thanks for your review, by the way
bushyhair: Thanks for your wonderful review and tips! I will definitely keep them in mind!
Disclaimer: I own absolutely NADA...
I profusely apologize for the late update! I hope you accept my excuse of STAR testing. Thank God that's over with for now...
I have to warn you that this is SOMEwhat AU meaning that you might recognize character names but they might not be EXACTLY the same as in the mythology- and also, this chapter has some mild swearing, so no flames, for you have been warned. Anyway, Enjoy!
CHAPTER TWO: NOT WITHOUT HER
Laughter. Aphrodite's laughter perhaps. Or it could have been Hera. Demeter was not sure of herself as she walked by the double doors. She heard music, too. Apparently he was still entertaining. Demeter curled her lips in disgust. Didn't they have better things to do than sit in that room all day and watch muses dance?
She turned a corner and continued down a stark white hallway. Then she stopped in front of a large oak door and knocked softly.
"Come in!" a rather gentle voice called from inside and Demter turned the doorknob and went in.
A young man sat at a creaky, old-fashioned desk in the middle of the room. Besides a marble bust (probably of Zeus himself) in a corner, a beautiful exotic rug on the floor, the desk, and a chair, the room was empty. However, there was a lovely enormous arched window through which sunlight streamed.
Opposite the marble bust, Demeter spied a hook where an extraordinary silver helmet hung. Attached the helmet were a pair of small fluttering wings, still at the moment. And underneath the helmet was a pair of sandals, neatly juxtaposed. Attached to them, was a pair of wings. The young man who sat at the desk was called Hermes.
"What is it, Demeter?" Hermes asked, looking up.
"Persephone's gone," she said crisply, facing Hermes with her blue eyes. They were a hue of azure that immediately turned heads, especially now they were especially noticeable.
Hermes raised a brow. "I suppose you want to speak to Zeus." Demeter nodded gravely. "I'll schedule you an appointment as soon as possible, but I can't guarantee that he'll show up on time... You know how he is with these things."
"As long as he DOES show up."
"Alright. I'll set the date for tomorrow, if that's fine with you," he replied calmly and he scribbled the date down on a piece of parchment and tucked it in a leather-bound appointment book.
"Any date," Demeter felt her voice shaking as it grew hoarse.
"Have something to drink before you go," Hermes offered and Hebe immediately appeared with a glass. Demeter conjured her own chair and sat opposite Hermes.
"Don't you have any duties at the moment?" Demeter asked, lifting her glass to take a sip.
"Not at the moment, really. Everyone is preoccupied with harvest. I assume you and Dionysus are the most busy of us all."
"I was busy," said Demeter, looking forlornly inside her glass," But without Persephone, I can't seem to do anything." A tear welled from her deep azure eyes and splashed inside her glass, she watched the ripples in the water and then looked up. "Thank you," she said with high emotion and put her glass down. As she stood up, her chair disappeared instantly.
"You're welcome," he replied as she turned on her heel and strode back to the door with her elegant gait. Hermes leaned back in his chair as she closed the door with a dry click.
The next day came, but the next day went and nothing happened. Demeter traveled to Olympus again but Zeus never came to meet her. She sat in a chair in his office for vast amounts of time. She was unsure of how much time had actually passed when she finally got up, hopeless. Demeter did not schedule another appointment. Instead, she put on her cloak and left crestfallen.
Demeter, herself made her home in a small manor in the middle of a bright forest. Actually, she preferred the outdoors to her manor and was usually outside, enjoying the nature and working to make trees bloom, bear fruit, green leaves from dawn to dusk. Rarely, she left the realm of nature but she found herself in deep despair at everything she saw outside because it all seemed to pertain to her daughter.
So she found herself wandering inside and up the staircase into her bedroom. Her room was rather simple since she rarely spent time in it. The furnishings included a bed with a brass frame, a bedside table and a candle. There was a large window across from the bed that had no curtains. The only other piece of furniture was a full-length mirror. The other walls were stark white.
She fell on the bed, not even bothering to remove her cloak. Always barefoot, she did not have shoes to remove. She found herself shedding bitter tears unto her pillow and shaking with sobs.
After the tears had all fallen and her sobbing subsided, she got to her feet and tossed the cloak rather carelessly on the hardwood floor. She walked into the adjoining room. It, too had an air of simplicity, but it was beautiful and colors were vibrant everywhere.
For one thing, there were flowers everywhere- a chain of daises threaded around the window frame, the doorway. There were no curtains, either, but on the window sills stood a whole row of beautiful bouquets in simple vases. The bouquets were spread all over the room, making it wonderfully fragrant.
In one corner, was a small, but comfortable-looking cot. Besides, that, a candle stub, the curtains, and the flowers, the room was bare. Demeter walked over to the cot and laid herself down on her back. She looked at the vaulted ceiling as dusk fell. She saw the magical lights from the sunset flood the room and the pink, purple, and red shades thrown on the ceiling.
When the sun had completely set, she closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed and became more rhythmic, and she fell asleep.
The next day dawned again, but she remained asleep.
The dew drops clung to the crisp, yellowing leaves. Hadn't they been a ripe, luscious green just yesterday? The flowers had all bent over, as if from grief, limp and lifeless. The crops were shriveled and lacking. What had happened to Demeter? everyone asked. Where was she when everyone needed her most?
The sun rose on a warm, humid autumn day. The fields were empty and the smell of hay and overripe foods were overtaking the whole countryside. The vegetables and fruits were either dry or rotten. The farmers, devastated went to the temples everyday, but for naught. Where was their goddess?
After a week it was plainly obvious that something strange was happening. People had no food to eat and nothing had been stored because the harvesting season had only just begun. After a week people were beginning to beg- on the streets, in alleys, at houses of the elite upper class, anyone who appeared to better off then themselves.
The leaves had long since fallen from the branches and the towns looked almost ready for winter, though autumn had just come. The god could no longer ignore the dying plant life or the beggars roaming the country. Greece was starving and someone needed to do something.
There was a quiet knock on the heavy oak door. Almost so quiet that he did not hear it. But the place was so quiet that it did not escape his ears. He sat on a small stool with the Aegis, his shield, next to him. It was quite enormous and polishing it was a very tedious task. He put it down for a moment.
"Come in," he said in a rough voice.
The door opened with a loud creak and in stepped the slender figure of Iris. She closed the door behind her very softly and looked at him with large, pleading eyes.
He ran his eyes over her figure tastefully, admiring the well-curved hips and small waist. She cleared her throat, "Thank you for accepting my call without previous notice."
He simply nodded. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked, looking at her attentively.
She clutched her hands nervously in front of her, "Ehr.. well... I don't know if you noticed bu-" she looked at the marble floor in front of her. She felt so small and timid in the large room. The ceilings soared with large windows through which sunlight streamed. Zeus was in the center of room, sitting on a stool with his Aegis. Besides that there was nothing else in the room. This only emphasized her humbleness. She swallowed.
"Well?"
"I don't know if you noticed," she began again," but your daughter is missing." He looked at her questioningly. "Persephone, I mean," she added quickly and the tense muscles in her face relaxed.
He looked at her pensively for a moment. "How do you know?"
"Well, we went out together one morning and we-uhm... we-uh played a game... and- ehr, she- uhm... never came back."
"Came back from what?"
"Well, m'lord, we were playing, uhm, hide-and-seek... We, the nymphs and I, think that she may have been kidnapped."
"Did anyone, ehr, bear witness to her abduction?" he stood up and in swift strides was walking towards the door, towards her.
"N-n-not that I know of-" she eyed him apprehensively. Her hand were growing extremely clammy as he neared her.
He walked up to her, it felt much closer to her than he really was and she felt her space was invadaded and prespired more. It seemed to her that she could feel his breath in her thick mahogany-colored hair. Iris felt some sort of panic arise in her, and she felt her heart pick up speed dramactically. "What's wrong?" he asked her, in his deep tenor voice.
She took a step back. "I thought that maybe you should know the crops in the fields have desintigrated as well-"
Suddenly, she thought she saw him sweating, too. " You havent' seen Demeter around Olympus, either, have you?
"I haven't been to Olympus anytime recent.
"That's right. I'm sorry.
"It's alright," she said, shaking her brown curls.
"You're probably wondering what this might have to do with Demeter," he said, reading the thoughts off her mind. Suddenly the realization did come to her, but he continued nevertheless, "Demeter cannot seem to function without her daughter-"
"-your daughter-" Iris found herself correcting him.
He cleared his throat, "Yes, our daughter- they are indeed very close."
"Yes, I know," she tried to sound meek and humble, while actually being rather annoyed at him for stating the obvious.
"I know you have things to do, Iris, but would you kindly stop by her house on your way back? Just check up on her... I'm a bit worried." he asked politely. "Hermes will come with you.
Iris considered his request skeptically. It was his daughter who was missing, couldn't he show more caring? But she found herself saying, "Alright. Thank you for your time." she curtseyed quickly and left the room, closing the heavy door behind her, but even as she did, she felt his eyes on her back, as if they were looking through the closed door for a long time. When she turned the corner, she felt relieved.
She knew her way around fairly well, and with her conversation with Zeus off her mind, she concentrated on Hermes. She found him at his old-fashioned desk in a room almost as bare as the one she had been directed to earlier to talk with Zeus. Together, they made their way down from Olympus. Hermes donned his helmet and sandals and held Iris' hand on the journey through to the air.
She loved traveling through the air, her hair would flap in the breeze, but she could care less. The flight was exhilarating and she barely gave Persephone or Demeter another thought until they neared the house.
They found the door unlocked, which was not unusual, but when they went up the staircase, they found Demeter upstairs. She was lying asleep in Persephone's room, which was still fragrant with flowers. Hermes had to nudge her several times until she finally awoke.
She looked at them, but said nothing. Tears began to well in her eyes. "Please Demeter," Hermes said, a pleading look in his handsome blue eyes, " the people are starving. Do something."
Demeter simply rolled over on the cot and faced the wall. "Please, Demeter," Iris said. "Zeus promised he will try to find Persephone!"
At this, she turned to face them once more. "I can't do anything without my Persephone," and she sadly shook her head. "I won't do anything without Persephone."
"Not without Persephone, m'lord," Hermes said.
Zeus sighed. "I suppose there's nothing to be done besides look for her."
"Where do you propose we would search first? After all, she could be anywhere."
He found himself sighing once more. "We should consult Apollo's oracle before we do anything-"
"Rightly so."
The next day, Zeus himself went to Apollo, who brought the Oracle to Olympus. The meeting was very brief and there was hardly an exchange of words.
"Persephone- where is she now?"
The oracle was silent for a moment or two. Finally he said, "The lord of the underworld has her."
Already, Hermes was sent on his way to retrieve her.
I'm sorry, I know that probably wasn't worth waiting so long for, but let me know what you thought of it anyway. Click that button! Thanks!