Hades could recognise the shrieking of his least favourite sister anywhere. It travelled from the River Styx all the way down to where he was sitting. That was how he knew it had to be Demeter. Shrill as she was, Hera would rarely deign to come to the Underworld, and her shrieking could never have carried so far. Hades ignored it as best he could and managed to put his attention back to his scroll. Unfortunately, his servants were not so capable as him.
A wraith-like figure approached him, head bowed so low and twisted awkwardly to one side, hands clasped over his sternum. It took him several moments to feel he was able to speak without irritating the underworld god.
"Pardon the interruption, my lord…" he said. When Hades looked up, he felt able to continue.
"Demeter is requesting to speak with you immediately."
"Yes, I can hear her harpy calls."
The servant made no comment about his description of Demeter's voice. It wasn't his place to determine how Hades was to speak about the Olympians.
"Will you see her, my lord?"
"I suppose I must if I want any peace" Hades said, handing off his scroll to a waiting attendant and rising to his feet. Without another look at the servant, he walked leisurely towards the Styx. He wasn't going to hurry himself just to speak to his sister. The only one of his siblings he had any interest in speaking to was Hestia. Poseidon occasionally became the second siblings on the list, but only in the rare instances they teamed up against Zeus.
Charon was drifting aimlessly in the middle of the Styx. Souls were beginning to pile up on the other side, stretching out their white hands clutching coins and begging for their rightful passage. But Charon was unable to collect them as was his duty. He was kept at bay by the fuming figure of Demeter. She gestured at him furiously.
"Come here now!" she shrieked. It was clear to Hades that she wanted passage into the Underworld. Charon was required to refuse, of course.
Hades chuckled to himself as he clasped his hands behind his back and sauntered up to the edge of the Styx. Soon he was opposite Demeter, her fury penetrating the air between them.
"I always thought you were more intelligent than that, sister dear" he said, the ghost of a smile on his lips. "You know that only souls can be carried on Charon's boat. Anything more substantial and it will sink before the halfway point. Unless I give permission for you to enter of course."
Demeter fixed her glare on him, throwing out one hand to point at him. The action reminded him of a warrior throwing a javelin. He was entirely unthreatened. She was not capable of entering his domain unless he explicitly permitted it.
"Now tell me why you are disturbing the peace of the afterlife" Hades said. "The dead had to suffer your whims and moods during life, don't make them do the same in death."
Demeter's glare changed into a scowl. "Hades. Give me back my daughter."
"What are you talking about?"
"You have my daughter. Give me back my daughter!" she repeated, her voice raising to an ear-splitting shriek. Hades was certain he saw at least a few souls cover their ears, anticipating pain they could no longer feel. They all certainly cowered away from her.
"I do not have your daughter. Who even is your daughter?"
"You know her name! Kore!"
Hades raised an eyebrow at her. The name didn't ring any bells for a moment. Then he recalled the young girl who had somehow managed to convince him to let her cross the Styx. He was almost certain her name had been Kore. Now that he thought about it, she certainly bore a vague resemblance to Demeter. Though Kore was certainly more pleasant to look at.
"Kore is not here. Perhaps you misplaced her. You aren't the most responsible of mothers."
If she could have torn him apart with her bare hands in that moment, she would have. Unfortunately for her, the Styx prevented her from reaching him. Instead she just began to throw unintelligible streams of sound at him. Hades stared back impassively, waiting for it to be over. Once it was, he took a moment to clear his throat before speaking.
"If you'd be so kind as to leave now. Better luck finding your wayward daughter under the sea with Poseidon, though I hope she's finally managed to escape your clutches."
Demeter started to say something else before being distracted by someone behind him. She changed to point at the newcomer and hissed the words at an alarming volume.
"You! You are coming home, this instant!"
"No" Kore said, moving up to stand beside Hades.
He jumped when she appeared and looked at her in annoyance. "You. What are you doing here?"
"You told me I could look around" she said innocently.
"I said you could look around for three days, not three months!"
"Give me my daughter back!" Demeter shrieked again, finally breaking Hades' patience.
"Be silent, woman!" he roared, his voice thundering around the cavern. The waters of the Styx stilled for a moment and the souls fell to their knees. Only Charon remained standing though he had bowed and turned his head away from his master. Even Demeter was pale and worried. Only Kore was entirely unconcerned. In fact, she was examining her nails and wondering exactly when her gold nail polish had begun to chip.
Demeter was obediently silent and Hades allowed some noise and movement to return to the area. Giving her a look to make sure she'd remain quiet, Hades turned to Kore.
"Return to your mother."
"No."
"I'm sorry?"
"I forgive you."
Hades was thrown for a moment and simply stared at her. She was so small, he never could have imagined her standing up to him, much less getting sassy. He suddenly had a lot more respect for her. Especially when she never dropped his gaze. Kore continued to meet his eyes, her slight smile a definite challenge.
He liked that. He liked that a lot.
"You have no desire to return to your mother?" he asked.
"None whatsoever."
Hades turned back to Demeter, knowing she had been straining to hear their conversation. She couldn't because he hadn't allowed it. Not even sound could travel the Styx unless he allowed it. It infuriated her that he had that much power, especially when he was using the power to keep him away from her favourite daughter.
"I cannot force her to leave."
"What?"
"I am not her father, her husband, her brother or her son. I have no power to command her."
"You are her uncle. Command her!"
"While her father lives, her uncle has no power to command. You know the laws, Demeter."
She did know them, but that didn't mean she liked them. She let out a noise of rage and actually stamped her feet multiple times. But nothing she did swayed him. When Demeter saw that her efforts were in vain, she issued a threat.
"You will regret this, Hades. I will make sure of it."
"I already do" he said as she turned and disappeared from sight. He could feel the beginnings of a headache drumming in the back of his skull. Demeter tended to have that effect on him.
"So I can stay?" Kore asked happily.
"No. You can't."
"But you said-"
"I only said I couldn't order you to leave. I'm still not letting you stay."
"Why not?" Kore asked indignantly, following after him as he started to walk away. She had to be careful not to tread on the ends of his robe. They were much longer than any she and her mother had worn.
"Because I don't want you here."
"I don't think that entirely true" Kore said with all the wisdom of a youth. "I think you want me to stay."
"You're as delusional as your mother" Hades said with a roll of the eyes as he tried to turn. She was immediately in the way.
In an instant, the flowers making up her circlet turned black and dry with depth as fury filled her eyes. "I am nothing like my mother!"
Hades recoiled slightly in shock by the change in her demeanour. It was over in a moment. The flowers bloomed back to life and she gave him a cheery smile and said "We'll get along a lot better a lot faster the sooner you accept that."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm sure you're right."
"Of course. I'm always right about these things" she said. "So I'm going to stay."
"Zeus is going to be furious with me."
"Since when have you cared about that?"
"You make a compelling point" Hades said, sitting down on his couch, his feet raised and crossed as he reclined. Kore took it upon herself to recline on the other couch. "Women aren't supposed to lay on couches."
"I don't care. Laying is more comfortable."
"Do whatever you want then. It's hardly my concern what you do."
"I know" Kore said. "As you told my mother, you're not my father, husband, brother or son. Though I wouldn't mind having you as a husband."
Hades shot her a look of pure shock before quickly covering it again. "How did Demeter manage to raise such a horribly outspoken child?"
"I just think to myself, what is the last thing Mother would want me to say? And then I say it."
"That explains that then" Hades said. She really was an amusing girl. Maybe he wouldn't mind if she stayed. Then he remembered how she had said she wouldn't mind him as a husband. He pulled a face. Husband? He had never planned on being anyone's lover let alone a husband. The one time he had ventured into a romantic relationship, he had found it largely dull and unfulfilling. He wasn't entirely sure how all of the others continued with affair after affair. It really was a mystery.
He realised that Kore had been trying to get his attention when she threw a grape at his forehead. He blinked in shock before looking at her, propping himself up on one elbow. "Did you just throw a piece of fruit at me?"
"Yes. You weren't listening to me" she said, as though that justified any action.
Then Hades noticed she was chewing. "Wait, wait, what are you eating?"
"A pomegranate. I love them."
"No, no, no, spit that out. Right now" he said urgently, actually getting up.
Kore looked at him in alarm. "What? Why?"
"Because if you eat anything from the Underworld, you have to stay in it."
An unnerving glint appeared in her eye. She tried very hard to hide it, but it was still there. "If I eat this pomegranate, I have to stay in the Underworld?"
"Yes. So spit it out, now."
Kore looked him right in the eye and swallowed her mouthful. He really should have seen that coming. He realised that the instant she had swallowed.
"What did you just do, you stupid girl?" he asked in exasperation.
"I am not leaving" she said with a sweet smile and picked up another pomegranate.
"Oh sweet Olympus…" Hades breathed as he sat down and dropped his head into his hands. "I am so lucky Zeus can't get in here."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you from everyone."
Hades raised his head to give her a look. "You are the bane of my existence right now. Do you have any idea what your mother is going to do to me? I can never leave the Underworld again."
"I didn't think you ever left the Underworld anyway."
"Of course I leave. I just don't do it with the fanfare of the Olympians."
"They are really into themselves, aren't they? Aphrodite is the worst! At least Apollo is funny with all his arrogance."
"Apollo does annoy me less than the others."
"Is he your favourite?"
Hades scoffed. "I don't have a favourite" he said, then added immediately afterwards. "Hestia."
"Good choice" Kore said.
"No, you're not distracting me like this. I can't believe you voluntarily just trapped yourself down here!"
"Does it really count as trapped if it's voluntary?"
"Stop asking me rhetorical questions."
"It wasn't rhetorical."
Hades sighed. "Fine. No, it doesn't technically count as trapped if it's voluntary. But it was still a stupid thing to do."
"I know. But I really want to stay" Kore said, giving him a slightly pleading look. "Please don't make me go back to my mother. I want to be my own person and this is the only place she can't come and control me."
Hades couldn't find it in him to deny that. This was something she clearly needed. She wanted a chance to grow up and he knew Demeter would never give that to her.
He sighed, realised that he was about to surrender himself to at least a thousand years of tantrums and shrieking. And then he gave in. "All right. I'll let you stay."
Kore shrieked in delight, jumping up and clapping happily. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you everything!"
"Yes, all right. You're welcome" Hades said, clearing his throat awkwardly and stepping out of her reach before she could attempt to hug him. Fortunately, she didn't make any real attempts.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Hades relaxed. "Help yourself to anything here" he said. "I'm sure I'll see you again at some point in the near future." With that, he made a dignified escape to the further corners of his domain.
Kore watched him go, still smiling with so much happiness it was almost splitting her face.
"I get to stay" she told anybody who was around to hear. "He's letting me stay."
She had never been happier.