A note from the Author:

Hello, readers. Depending on when you're finding this, there's actually been a long hiatus between publishing this story my last. The idea behind this collection of flash fiction is simple: a series of encounters between Hades and Persephone in different scenarios while exploring different emotions. As always, constructive criticism is welcome, but I also have a favor to ask of you all. If you have any ideas for different encounters between the two deities, please leave them in the comments. I'd love to hear from you! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Hugs!

Each scroll was a life. The sheer size of the library made Persephone feel no bigger than a mouse, but the fascination that each mortal life was before her now kept her rooted. She was in Olympus with her mother. Demeter had important business with her sister, the great goddess of the hearth, and left her daughter to her own devices with the warning that she stay out of trouble lest she ever comes back.

Persephone thought the library was the last place trouble would find her. She chose a row at random and pulled a yellowed scroll just above her head, halfway down. Eudoxos had been a farmer for fifteen years, married with six children, and, as far as farmers go, was generally wealthy. Persephone read through his life back from the beginning, discovering that Eudoxos had two brothers, lost his mother at a young age, and inherited the family farm. Persephone read his memories of his brothers' weddings as well as his own. Towards the end of the scroll, Eudoxos' memories began describing his wife and the births of his children. Persephone felt the love and pride Eudoxos felt with each new life brought into the world. She smiled and unrolled the bottom of the scroll, where the smile replaced wide eyes.

The scroll was writing itself! Persephone watched words form in a crooked, steady hand and realized the scene developing was another wedding. Eudoxos was giving his oldest daughter away in marriage, and Persephone was reading it all as it happened. She rolled the scroll up and went looking for a place to sit and read. Farther back among the shelves, she found a bay window stacked with pillows. Falling into the mountain of cushions, Persephone unrolled the scroll and found her place once more.

Persephone learned that the home hung with yellow and red flowers. The bride wore a brand-new gown made from the most beautiful linen. Eudoxos was currently giving his daughter a grand feast, and nearly one hundred people attended. The wedding flew off the page around her. She was no longer in the library; now, she was sitting at the banquet table herself watching the blushing bride enjoy the meal before her. Persephone's smile widened, and she leaned back against the mountain of pillows. She felt her eyes close, and dreams of her wedding filled her mind's eye. She saw her white gown, her mother smiling at her, the hall decorated with flowers she had grown herself, and her bridegroom standing at the front of the feast. She could not see his face but knew he was beaming at her.

A crash woke Persephone up from her dreams. The shelves and scrolls disoriented her until she remembered she had fallen asleep in the library. Now spread across her lap, Eudoxos' scroll had stopped writing itself. The day ended with Eudoxos helping his daughter into the wagon with her husband and crying while she drove away. Persephone rolled the scroll up and went to put it back where she'd found it. Daydreams from the mortal wedding and her own still danced in her mind, and she didn't realize she was on a collision course.

Persephone tripped over something hunched in the aisle, rolling a somersault and smashing into the stacks of scrolls. She groaned and opened her eyes. She had just enough time to register the scriptures teetering above her face before they fell. She turned her face away, but nothing hit her. The scrolls hovered above her head. Persephone gasped and stayed motionless until the hand moved away from her. Looking above her, she saw the upside-down image of a muscular figure watching her. He stood up and replaced the scrolls on the shelves before offering a hand down to her. She blinked and took the extended hand before her. Now in a standing position, Persephone recognized the man beside her. She took a step back and gasped again.

"Please," he said, gently, "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Your Highness." She bowed to the king of the Underworld.

Hades touched her shoulder, and she shuddered. "No need for such formalities. I'm keeping a rather low profile currently." Persephone looked up at him curiously, and he smiled sheepishly.

"What areyou doing here?" she asked, sounding harsher than intended.

Hades looked around the library and then back to Persephone. "I like to come up here and read from time to time."

Persephone's eyebrow shot up. "You like to read?"

Hades chuckled. "Not many people know that. I have a reputation to keep, you know. Just what are you doing here, milady?"

Persephone blushed. "I' m-I'm waiting for my mother. She's visiting with her sister."

Hades' eyes went wide with understanding. "You're not Demeter's daughter, are you?"

Persephone sighed. She'd never have her own identity, she thought; she would always be Demeter's daughter before anything else.

"Kore, isn't it?" he asked.

"No," she answered coldly. Hades took a step back in surprise, and her voice softened. "I mean, I prefer Persephone."

"The lady Persephone." He pondered the name for a moment. "It's a beautiful name, and I think it suits you better than Kore." Hades looked her up and down and watched the blush creep up her neck again. When she did not answer, he changed the subject. "Are you hurt? You did not hit your head, did you?"

Persephone brought a hand to the back of her head. "No, I'm fine, thank you. I'm sorry for tripping over you. I should have been paying attention. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Hades chuckled deeply. "I'm fine, thank you, milady. It takes more than a dainty flower tripping over me to cause injury."

Persephone huffed. "I'm not that delicate, you know."

"You can't be," Hades agreed. "You live with Demeter." He saw that she was ready to argue, but the response seemed to evaporate as the truth sank in. "Would you like to find a place to sit down while you wait for your mother?"

"I don't want to pull you away from your reading."

His smile was mischievous, but Persephone did not seem to notice. "Not at all, my dear. I thought that I was here alone, but now I cannot leave a young lady unattended."

"Shouldn't we have an escort or chaperone or something?" Persephone rolled her eyes.

"Do you want one?" His voice matched his smile now.

Persephone gulped and felt an unfamiliar warmth spread through her core. She tried to speak, but her voice failed her, and all she could do was mouth the word "no."

"You're very trusting, aren't you? How do you know I'm not a devilish rake like my baby brother?"

Was he teasing her or trying to warn her? Had she just put herself in danger by not running away from him? He was one of the three kings. Still, in all her existence, Persephone had never heard of the king of the Underworld having the same sexual desires and lustful endeavors like those of the younger brothers. In fact, until today, Persephone never would have guessed he ever left the Underworld.

"Thinking about running away?"

"No, I was trying to think of a time anyone had described you as a rake," she answered, "but I can't think of one."

He gaped at her. A spark of interest replaced the sultry glint in his eyes. This young goddess, barely older than an infant compared to him, had admitted that he was not in the same as his ravenous siblings. Of all the beings that might admit he was not a savage sexual beast, it had been the only child of the strictest mother Olympus knew.

"Have I said something wrong?"

Hades shook his head, and she came back into focus. "Not at all. It's quite refreshing to hear someone does not group me in with those two rouges. Although I never thought I would hear it from you."

"Why not?"

"Your mother and I aren't—." He stopped and thought for a moment before speaking again. "Your mother does not have a high opinion of me. She believes that my brothers and I are one and the same, and she keeps such a watch over you that I'm astonished to have found you without a guard or an escort." He shrugged. "I'm sure she would kill the crops if she knew you here with me."

"That's not fair," Persephone answered quietly. She leaned against one of the shelves. "Now that I think about it, I don't think I've heard her say anything kind about any of you. I'm sorry."

"I suppose it comes with the territory. The king of the Underworld should be dark, brooding, and unhappy all of the time."

Persephone thought for a moment and looked Hades straight in the eye. "Why do people forget that you are the oldest brother?"

It took Hades several minutes to answer, but her expression told him she would wait. "I don't know," he answered slowly. "Perhaps it's because I do not come to Olympus enough to remind everyone who I am." He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "It's not something I ever thought was important. I'd rather Olympus know that I am not a sexual savage like my lustful brother."

"Kore! Kore, where are you? We are leaving."

The voice came from the front of the library and was a distance away, but Persephone blanched anyway. Hades flinched at the sharpness of the call too.

"I have to go," Persephone said in a panic. "I can't keep her waiting."

Hades pointed behind him. "Go that way. I'll stay here out of sight. Wouldn't want you getting into any unnecessary trouble." He winked at her.

"Zeus help me if I get caught with someone Mother doesn't approve of." Persephone giggled and jogged to the end of the shelves. She turned before she disappeared around the corner. "You said that it's not important for everyone to remember you are the eldest brother." She smirked playfully. "Perhaps it's time you reminded them."

She disappeared towards the shrill voice, still calling for her and left Hades in a near stupor. There was something about that girl that made Hades wish she hadn't left that library. The previous conversation was so frivolous, at times painful, that anyone watching would have assumed he had merely been offering to find a scroll for her. Her scent lingered in the air, and Hades thought the end of the shelf was brighter where she had walked.

When he felt safe enough to venture out, Hades followed the path Persephone took, wondering if future encounters were possible. He had heard from his brothers and from Hermes just how short a leash that poor girl was kept on. Demeter was the harshest parent in Olympus, and Hades was sure this had been the girl's first visit to the palace above the earth.

"She won't be back until her presentation," Hades mumbled to himself," which is probably the Fates telling me to leave off." As he said those words, butterflies flew around his stomach, and he smiled despite himself. "No," he whispered. "No, I'll see her again. How can I not?"

Hades adjusted his toga and walked out into the openness of the entrance to Olympus. His eyes adjusted to the radiant sunlight pouring through the skylights. He started around the fountain towards his brother's chambers, but as he did so, a glimmer caught his eye. Hades caught the quickest glimpse of Persephone waving after him before she was pulled away by her mother. Thank gods Demeter did not see her daughter waving. He smiled wide as he turned back towards the corridor.

"Yes," he agreed with himself. "We are definitely meant to cross paths again."