For who could ever learn to love The One who doesn't know love?
By Asso
Chapter Twenty- Eight
Stupid?
Love, stupid?
So did I say?
But not at all!
Love is smart, it's blind but smart.
It understands.
It understands everything.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Persephone snapped.
Enough now!
That was enough!
"I do not believe it!"
Hades seemed to turn in stone. Literally. An alabaster stone statue.
He was not even capable of showing annoyed, not to say frankly angry, for her tone, for her brazen claim.
He was not even capable of replying, of trying to ask what she meant.
Also because he knew very well what it was.
Gods, however great and powerful, do not differ much from humans after all. How would a Human react at feeling discovered? Would he accept the fact? Maybe. But, most likely, he would get angry.
And so Hades did.
It was Persephone who spoke.
And vehemently.
"You never lie, Hades. Of course. But you don't always say everything there is to say. You don't lie, but you omit."
Anger started to make its way inside Hades.
Anger at her. But actually anger at himself.
He had understood that she had understood.
And anger rose within him. Whether justified or not, it grew increasingly.
The anger against himself that made him speak angrily against Persephone.
"Persephone, how dare you ..."
And unexpectedly, she laughed.
And Hades stood open-mouthed.
And without words.
"Hades, my Lord, you can no longer scare me."
Her laugh turned into a smile.
"By now I know I love you. But I also know you love me."
She laughed again.
Naughty and mischievous.
"You can no longer scare me, my love."
And that "my love" was pronounced forcibly, with calm emphasis.
Hades' anger cooled off in one breath.
How can you be angry if you are amazed?
And smug, too? And very pleasantly.
If you are... - Hades realized. He would not even have been able to understand the meaning of such a term, before. But now yes. Now yes! - ...if you are happy?
He shook himself. He tried to do it, at least. Proudly he straightened his shoulders and tried to appear, to talk, as the Lord of the Underworld had to... should do.
"Persephone, remember who you are talking to. Remember who I am!"
Persephone' smile became even more impish. She looked at Hades from below, raising her eyes to his. Her long lashes batted impudently. Maliciously.
Deliciously.
And those sparkling eyes of her were smiling as and more that her voice.
"Oh but I know who you are, my Lord. You are my enamoured beloved."
Hades desperately tried to resist. He tried to retort as one should expect he was to do.
"Don't exaggerate, Persephone! Don't take advantage of the sentiment you, I admit, were able to make born in me! I am violence, Persephone! In violence I was born and in violence I live! I can appear cold and aloof and distant, but violence dwells in me. And..."
"And would you be capable of being violent with me, my Lord and love?"
And Hades fully understood what capitulation meant.
And understood a lot of other things.
He understood what his life was going to be from now on.
He understood that he could be the Lord of the Underworld, the feared, the frightening, the dreadful Hades.
The mighty Hades.
But he realized that, in front of her, in front of Persephone, he was none of this.
In front of her, he...
He was simply a God in love.
He held the reins of the afterlife, of the vastest of the three kingdoms.
And she held the reins of his reborn heart.
And therefore never ever from now on he could get the better of her.
From now on, hers the command would be.
Hers, the last word.
But, to think of it... - Hades felt something, like a sort of a surprised and contemporaneously amused smile, arise inside him - ...it wasn't that bad, after all.
The chariot was stationary in the air; stationary the infernal steeds it was attached to.
And stationary was Hades. Like Persephone.
Who looked at him with those beautiful eyes of her, now full of sweet malice.
Stationary was Hades, as looking at his wonderful lover.
Lover!
His lover.
And his woman.
His woman forever.
And the smile he had felt born inside made its way to the surface, until it emerged, wide and jolly, on his lips, on his entire face.
His hand rose to gently caress her silk cheek.
"My impudent little girl, I could spank you, you know?"
Persephone giggled.
"From over or from beneath my garment, my Lord?"
"I would act without such an impediment, Persephone. Better freeing totally you of it."
"Oh, what unheard of violence, my Lord!" - Persephone' soft giggle became a saucy silvery low gleeful chuckle - "I feel tremble at such a prospect!"
Persephone's eyes shone mischievous and impertinent.
"By fear, my Lord! By fear, I mean!"
And Hades chuckled too. It sounded strange - really - on that skinny and austere face of him. But it happened. He could not avoid it.
Oh yeah! Persephone had really changed his life. In many ways.
And this too was not bad at all.
"I will postpone this fair punitive violence to a more opportune time and place than these we are in at present, Persephone."
"I am humbly grateful to you, my Lord."
And her eyes laughed.
Like Hades'.
"But if you really want to avoid me from making up my mind to punish you here and now, you have to do one thing, Persephone."
Persephone's expression turned serious.
The game was over. And she understood it.
"What did you mean, Persephone?" - Hades' face was also serious now. – "What did your words mean?"
Hades' annoyance and irritation at being discovered were gone. He no longer felt anything like that.
But it was right for Persephone to express what she had understood.
And Hades, at this point, wanted it was her to reveal it. And not him.
Thinking about it, now that the moment of anger had passed, it was a source of pride for him, and not of irritation, that she'd understood.
What sort of a matchless woman fate had wanted to pay back him with, for all he had accepted to be!
Beautiful. Oh yes! Damn beautiful!
And hot!
And passionate!
And exquisitely, deliciously impertinent and mischievous!
But also insightful. Intelligent. Intuitive.
And strong.
Courageous.
Brave.
So strong and brave to be capable of silencing her own fear.
So, now, after his initial disgruntlement, he would feel pleasure, would be glad, that she could give demonstration of these qualities.
It was the qualities of his woman!
So his gaze was far from Hade's empty, cold gaze when he said those words.
There was sweet encouragement in it.
And so Persephone finally made up her mind to answer, to clarify.
Of course. Because it's not that she wasn't intimidated.
One thing is to burst out, under the lash of the irritation, of the sensation of feeling someway teased, unfairly. Another thing is to give a coherent voice to such feelings.
And, although it was now more than evident that Hades somehow acknowledged some sort of... well yes ... of influence on her part on him ... well! It was still Hades!
Hades!
And she had dared to burst out against him!
Love or not, she didn't have to... she didn't have to get a single word wrong!
She had succeeded, and it had come naturally to her, both in ways and in substance, to make him calm down, but now she had to choose her words well.
She had to... yes, she had to prove she was worthy of him!
And of the influence on him that, it was clear, he recognized to her.
And this was something that transcended love.
Persephone withdrew a little, lowering her face, concentrating, looking for the right words.
Then she raised her gaze and looked at Hades with an intense expression.
"I apologize for my intemperance, my Lord. I realize that I have gone beyond the sign."
She silenced Hades, who was about to reply, with a soft move of her hand.
"But I'm sure you can understand me, you can understand my way of behaving"
Hades was watching her with great attention.
He was listening to her with great attention.
"The world that was my world no longer exists to me. Now I belong" - Persephone emphasized with soft force that "I belong" - "to this world."
She felt, sensed Hades' flinch.
"You have kidnapped me, my Lord, which did not pass without leaving marks on me, I cannot deny it and I'm sure you fully realize it. Yet I was the one who chose to follow you in your kingdom. And this also did not pass without leaving marks on me."
Hades was absolutely still, almost not breathing.
Persephone was making him glimpse the storm through which she had passed.
And by his hand!
"Then, my Lord, I discovered - I had to admit that to myself - that I was in love with you."
Persephone smiled almost sadly.
"In love! With you! With the nightmare of every God and Mortal!"
She widened her eyes, suddenly terrified by what she had just dared to say, bringing her hand to her mouth to nibble it nervously.
But Hades showed no sign of being resentful or offended.
He simply kept looking at her and listening to her, without moving a muscle.
Persephone felt heartened.
She wiped her hands from the sweat that had suffused them by passing them over her garment.
She gathered her courage and continued.
"Strange thing is Destiny, my Lord. Inscrutable, its will. I had perceived - well before you put me in front of my fate; ever since I was magnetically attracted to your empty throne in the great hall of Olympus; ever since, the night after my consecration, I felt your presence around me, inside me - that you were my destiny. And I railed against my destiny! Yes. I got despaired this were its will! "
Now Persephone wasn't stopping more.
Words flowed spontaneously and fluently from her heart.
"And then I blessed it. I blessed fate for wanting me to be yours. I blessed it for the love it wanted me to feel for you."
Persephone's eyes fixed on Hades'.
They shone.
Her voice shone.
"For the love it wanted you to feel for me."
For a long moment Persephone stood looking at Hades in that way, with that bright and happy look, while Hades returned her gaze with an expression that no one could ever recognize in him.
Then Persephone shook herself.
She lowered her eyes and, without looking up, spoke in a soft voice.
"And finally, your will not only to make me rise to being your woman, but even your bride and queen."
Persephone's eyes went up.
Something in them... as dumbfounded amazement... yet also joy...
Hades saw it. He saw it clearly.
"Me, the Queen of the Underworld. Me, who, in father Zeus' words, was destined to be the bearer of a new light in the supernal world."
Persephone's lips curled into a sweet smile. Her eyes looked at those of Hades with a dreamy glitter.
"And me, finally, who accept and desire with all my heart to be part of your darkness, to welcome it in me."
Almost a flash of fear now in Persephone's eyes.
"And who acknowledge and let free to be the darkness that is in me."
Hades' hands snapped towards Persephone's cheeks. They wanted to caress them, wanted to try to make her understand that he understood. That he understood everything!
But her hands gripped his. Gently, but forcefully. They stopped them.
And her voice rang out again.
Sweet. Low.
Bewitching.
As her gaze.
Softly staring at his.
"Can I be forgiven for my impudence, my Lord? Can my words be enough to explain? To justify me for my insane daring?"
Hades was silent for a moment, staring intently at Persephone, his hands still clasped in hers.
Then he freed his hands and gently grasped hers in turn.
He brought them to his lips.
He kissed them.
"Tell me what it is you don't believe, Persephone."
His tell was serious and sweet.
Very sweet.
As sweet as no one could believe Hades' tell may be. Hades. The King of the Underworld.
"Tell me why you say I don't lie, but that at the same I am omissive."
Extraordinarily sweet.
Yet there was no doubt. It was his voice.
"Allow me to be proud to hear the truth in its entirety from your mouth. To feel proud to be able to have you as my woman."
Persephone swallowed.
It was not easy.
Hades had made it clear to her that he would be proud to hear the reasons for her outburst from her own voice. That he even wanted to hear her say it to feel proud that she was his woman!
Magnificent!
But still it wasn't easy to say what she was claimed to say.
Anyway… anyway Hades had affirmed… had affirmed flat out he was now proud of her boldness and that he would be proud to hear what she had understood.
So Persephone made up finally her mind to give voice to what she had figured out. And to the way and the why she had come to comprehend.
She endeavoured to speak in a firm voice and with scrupulous accuracy.
And she managed to do it.
She did not look him in the face as she spoke, but grabbed almost unconsciously his hand and squeezed it.
"You never lied to me, my Lord. This is true and undoubted. But do not deny, please, that you have very often avoided revealing things to me in their entirety. "
Persephone sighed.
Her hand tightened more around Hades'.
"Oh I can understand it! How can it be possible for you to make clear, in all its aspects, what is right - yes, right! - that my confused mind has to come to learn by grace of its own understanding?"
Persephone sighed again.
"There is a whole new world ahead of me! And I... I can't make it mine simply through you! I have to get to find out and understand it with my own strength! With my soul and my mind! "
Persephone looked up at Hades.
She smiled sweetly and proudly at him.
"You are wise, my Lord. Far wiser than any other God."
The grasp of her hand intensified.
"And respectful. No other God would have for any woman he wanted the respect you show you have for me. Kidnapping or not kidnapping. I am a very lucky Goddess!"
Persephone sighed again, happy, nearly ecstatic. But then she frowned and lowered her eyes again.
Her hand didn't let go his, held it tight even more.
"But the fact remains, my Lord. You tend to never tell me everything. You don't lie to me, but you omit."
Persephone abruptly looked up at Hades, a flash of worry in her eyes.
Her words were precipitous.
"For my good, my Lord! For my good! I know!"
The grasp of her hand went almost spasmodic.
"But you do!"
Hades started to raise his arms. He wanted to hug her, he wanted her to understand how much he understood what she meant. And how much guilty he felt.
But Persephone did not allow it.
She let go of his hand and turned away, her gaze lost above, towards the filtering light of that world that had been hers.
"Just like you did with the Guardian of this dark world. With Cerberus."
Persephone's voice was low.
And it sounded almost doleful.
Hades felt something, like a vise, inside him.
He struggled to understand.
Pain had so far been unknown to him; he had never felt pain for himself or for others, he didn't even know what it was. So far he had been nothing but marble flesh without feelings.
But now he understood what pain was.
His own and that of others.
That of Persephone.
And that grip, that vise... it was a vise of pain.
For the pain she felt.
This also! This too she had taught him!
Hades spoke.
In a low and uncertain voice.
"I ask for your forgiveness, my love."
Persephone turned abruptly.
She looked at Hades with wide eyes, almost wild.
"Don't ask for my forgiveness, Hades! There is nothing I have to forgive you! You have given me more, much more than I have lost! I will never regret the world I leave for what I now have! I will never be able to fully express my happiness for what I found in you! You have kidnapped me, but you have given me your respect and your love. You have kidnapped my heart!"
Hades stood silent.
And what could he say in front of those wonderful words of hers?
He could not do anything else than keeping silent and staring at her with a look that was pure amazement.
And happiness.
And at that moment... at that precise moment... unexpected, sudden, veridical, a thought arose in him mightily.
Whatever had happened from now on, whatever the fate that lay ahead of him, he would never be the same again.
Hades, the old Hades, did no longer exist, nor would he ever exist again.
There was a new Hades now.
The same yet very different from the previous one.
There was the Hades who had met Persephone.
And who had joined together with her.
And the words arose spontaneously from him.
"Everything you say you have found in me, Persephone, is nothing compared to what I have found in you, to what you have given me."
Hades' gaze was so intense that it looked burning. Persephone felt, perceived, its warmth. She felt herself get flared up, be burned in it.
"You have given me life, Persephone."
A chariot, an infernal chariot, pulled by infernal steeds, suspended in nothingness.
Suspended between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
Between life and death.
And on that chariot, life and death understood that had come together.
On that chariot, Persephone and Hades, life and death, discovered, really in all the depth, that they belonged to each other.
Forever.
That they have exchanged each other the greatest of the gifts.
The love.
And that this would be forever.
Persephone was speechless
Silent and dumbfounded, she remained watching Hades in silence, getting lost in the heat of that look of him, which of infernal had nothing anymore.
She roused herself at last. And stammered in an insecure voice.
"I... I think... I think I will pass the test."
Hades' eyes got veiled with misunderstanding.
Then he too shook himself.
He laughed.
His laugh.
The ostentatiously sardonic, yet to her eerily fascinating, laugh that Persephone had come to love.
"Oh sure! The test. I almost forgot about it. Cerberus, you mean, don't you, Persephone?"
"Exactly him. Him in person, my Lord."
"Of course, of course. And what makes you think you'll get over it?"
Hade's voice was cheerful. Exactly so.
Persephone smiled slyly.
"Your omission, my Lord."
"My omission?" Hades smiled. It was now a game. A beautiful game. "Ah yes, of course. I am one who does not lie, but omits."
His eyes winked.
"And what would I have omitted in this case, my insightful Lady?"
A light, almost of mischievous nastiness, shone in Persephone's eyes.
"That it's a fake test."
End of Chapter Twenty-Eight
TBC
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Oh wow!
And now?
What does Persephone want ever to mean?
Are you curious, my friends?