Chapter 5

Hades

I fidgeted nervously in the forest that the Fates had described to me. I kept running my fingers through my hair, or playing with the cuffs of my jacket. They claimed that this was where Kore would be alone next.

It had taken quite a long time just to get that much information out of them. They had kept getting distracted by the strings that surrounded them, stopping mid-sentence to cut one string or weave another two together. I already knew that each string was someone's life, but every time I saw the way the Fates so easily manipulate things, it would hit me again that so many things in life weren't chance; they were planned. It made me wonder if they also control the gods' fates, but I never asked. Better not to know. But eventually, I was able to get what I needed and leave.

And so here I was now in a clearing, concealing myself the best I could among the trees that fringed the edge. I tugged at my cuff again. The action made me realize that I was still wearing my scruffy clothing from earlier. Cursing myself, I wondered if I had time to change into something cleaner. No. If I wanted to see Kore at all, it would have to be while looking like this.

Where was she? I glanced at the dying sun and wondered if maybe I misunderstood the Fates' instructions. No, wait. I could hear something approaching.

I buried myself deeper within the shadows as Kore ran into the clearing. A tree root jutted out from the ground in front of her. She didn't see it, I supposed, and tripped. She stayed laying on the ground, with her gold hair shining in the last rays of the day. It was then I noticed the shaky rising and falling of her back, and I realized that she was crying. As a general rule, tears made me uncomfortable and I avoided them-but I felt an overwhelming urge to help her. I stepped out of the trees.

A few seconds passed by. She slowly quieted to fewer and fewer sobs, but stayed with her head pressed against the ground. Again, obeying that irresistible impulse, I moved forward as lithely as a cat. She was so near me now, I could have easily touched her. I held back.

"Why are you crying?" I asked.

She gasped at the unexpected sound and bolted upright.

"Hades!" She said somewhat breathlessly. "What are you doing here?"

"I was walking nearby and I heard you crying," I responded, the half lie coming easily. Kore nodded as though it were the most natural thing in the world to find the god of the Underworld taking a walk in the woods. Perhaps, to her, it was. "Is everything alright?"

Kore's lips quivered, and she raised her hand to her mouth to hide it. She was one of those women who cried beautifully, I noticed. Her face was white as ivory instead of blotchy red, and her sobs were like the sighs of the river. No mortal woman could have done it, and no immortal woman could have looked as beautiful as she.

Feeling awkward looming over her, I sat on the ground and waited until she composed herself enough to speak.

"It's nothing. It's just - sometimes I want to get away from my life and be someone else. I mean, be myself, but be a different me." She stopped. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I suppose it doesn't make any sense." She wiped her tears away on the corner of her chiton.

"It does," I said softly. "Where would you go, if you could?"

Kore pulled her knees close to her chest. The pose made her look even more vulnerable than before. "I'm not sure. Maybe another land, one far away from here." She looked up at the darkening sky and continued slowly in a wistful voice. "I love the trees and sun and flowers, but I feel like there's a whole world I don't know. What's the world like at night, I wonder? This is the darkest I've ever seen it. Even when I sleep, Mother makes sure I have lamps lighting up my room. She would have me live forever in a world of sun if she could. That's why she-" she stopped abruptly. "That's why she keeps such tight control of my environment."

I was sure that wasn't what she had been about to say, but I didn't press it.

I stared at her upturned face and felt a rush of sympathy. Yes, I sometimes wished more than anything to be able to walk freely in these woods, but after hearing the tone of her voice, I was no longer sure I would completely give up the gentle beauty of shadows for the more garish brilliance of light.

"At night, the world is transformed. You feel more alive, in a way, when you can hardly see," I spoke almost at a whisper. "Things like hearing and touch become more keen - deeper. You feel alone, but not lonely, because your thoughts are louder than they ever were before." As I spoke, Kore shifted her gaze from the gently emerging stars to me.

I felt, in that moment, a terrible void in my heart. I had felt it before, but never as sharp and acute as it was now. I had a sudden image of me taking Kore in my arms and simply holding her tight to my chest. Something told me that she could lessen the ache that was there.

"It sounds wonderful," Kore smiled.

I reached out and tentatively brushed my fingers on her cheeks. "Kore, I-"

She flinched.

"I'm sorry," I said confusedly, quickly pulling my hand away. "I should not have taken such liberties."

"No, it's just-that name." She looked down at her feet and bit her lip. "I don't like it."

My embarrassment eased.

"What name do you like, then?"

She continued to look down, and her hair slid over her face so that I could no longer see her expression.

"I like...I like the name Persephone."

I was taken aback. Where did she hear a name like that? Persephone meant Bringer of Death in the ancient tongue. It was a suitable name for one with eyes of death, but she was the goddess of Spring, a bringer of life. Perhaps she didn't know the dark meaning of the name, but perhaps she did. Either way, I liked it better than the simple name of Kore.

"Alright, then. Persephone."

As the name fell from my lips, Persephone suddenly looked up and gasped slightly.

"Y-your voice," she stammered. "I heard it once in a dream."

"You dreamed of me?"

Persephone acted as though she hadn't heard me. "I should go," she stood hurriedly, "or Mother will send someone to look for me."

I got to my feet, not wanting this night to end so quickly. An impulse made me grab one of her hands.

"Persephone…."

She shivered as I said the name again.

"Let me see you again?" I whispered the plea. I hardly dared believe that she would choose to grant it.

Persephone took a halting step towards me, but suddenly stopped herself.

"I can't."

Though I was expecting it, the rejection took my breath away.

"My mother has...arranged a marriage for me. To Apollo. I don't think it would be wise for me to see you again."

"Apollo? Why?" I demanded.

Persephone glanced away bashfully. "I think its because she's afraid of you being in my life."

"Do you want to marry him?" As soon as I asked the question, I knew the answer. Persephone's hand, still resting in mine, gave a convulsive squeeze.

"I've never met him in my life," she said, almost desperately. "All I know is that, with him, I would be in a world of sunlight forever. This will probably be the only time in my life that I get to experience true night."

She sounded truly regretful. She sounded frightened. She sounded wistful.

I couldn't say what I was thinking in the next moment, because I don't believe I was thinking. I just knew in that moment that I loved her. I took her in my arms, and kissed her once softly on her lips.

Persephone's wide eyes looked up at me, and my heart almost broke when I saw tears in them. She placed her hand on my cheek, mimicking my earlier touch.

"I'm so sorry, Hades," she murmured. "But- thank you."

Persephone smiled sadly and then broke from my arms to flee into the moonless night.