AN: I was writing this in a rush so it's a bit different.

Solitaire

Chapter 3

Persephone hummed while she braided Hebe's hair. Flowers fizzed into existence in her finger tips and she threaded them through the golden child's lochs careful not to pull to hard or press too firmly. People still were running towards the back garden. Hades turned to look at them before joining the crowd.

"I like that song." Hebe commented on Persephone's humming.

"It's the same song my mother sang to me when I was just about your age." Persephone explained. "Whenever I got scared or feeling down."

"Well. I'm not scared. I'm brave." Hebe said confidently.

"Of course. You're very brave. " Persephone finished the braid and locked it in with a tied flower stem. "Brave girls can still be scared sometimes. There." She patted Hebe's shoulder. "All finished."

Hebe hopped up onto her feet and giggled on her way to the fountain. She leaned over to find her reflection in the water. The golden girl spun as far as she could either way to see the braid along side her head and the flowers in her hair.

"Hebe!" Hera called, she landed between the fountain and Persephone. "Hebe, come to me."

A body was being lead in by a stretcher from the garden. Persephone rose and adjusted her dress. The wet hems still clung to her ankles, dripping onto the floor.

"Persephone." Hera called, clutching Hebe closer to her. "Persephone, Zeus needs to talk to you." Her voice was oddly cold and shaking. "Don't go anywhere."

"I won't." Persephone promised.

Hera darted her eyes around as she lead Hebe back up to her bedroom. No one, not even the young goddess had noticed the golden blood washed off in the fountain.

6:00am Persephone wakes up two seconds before her alarm. She rubs her eyes, yawns, and gets out of bed only to shiver and jump back in. She sits for a minute bolstering herself up to run to her robe. She makes her bed.

6:15am Persephone starts to warm up the water in her kettle then decided if she wants to grow her hair out longer or not. She decides to grow it out, doesn't feel it, then cuts it short again.

6:20am Persephone steeps a black tea in an old mug with a chip in it. And reads two to three chapters of the one of the books she snuck out of Hades' office.

7:00am Persephone writes her mother a letter.

7:30am Persephone adds the letter to the pile on her desk. Then she leaves for work.

7:45am Persephone nods at the shop keep who eyes her warily. She promises that after her 100 years are over, she's going to find out her name and eat one of her pastries.

8:00am Persephone enters Tower 1 through the back entrance and clocks in. She settles into the back of the library and begins her work, combing through the scrolls for valuable information for upcoming trials and organizing the scrolls back into order.

1:00pm Persephone takes her mandated thirty minute lunch. Eating a white bread sandwich in the supply closet because she's not allowed in the break room.

1:20pm Persehphone returns to work early.

5:30pm Her shift ends she clocks out and continues working until the streets have cleared out from rush hour traffic.

6:15pm She walks home, careful not to smile at others.

6:30pm She undresses right inside the door, jumps onto her own couch, kicks up her feet onto the coffee table and sighs and says "Good evening" to her plants. She tells them about her day and what all she hopes to get accomplished tomorrow. Then she hops back up again and puts on a t shirt and shorts before making dinner. It's usually pasta.

7:30pm -10:00pm Persephone reads more of Hades' books, switching it up with one of her old favorites that's she's already read one hundred times and will read one hundred more before her sentence is up.

10:15pm She washes her face and falls asleep with the window open because she like the cold breeze on her face as she drifts off, even though she knows that tomorrow morning it's going to be freezing and she won't want to get out of bed. She does it anyway.

Persephone does it all again.

Over.

And over.

And over again.

Until Hades showed up last evening. That was not part of Persephone's routine. The next morning she jumped right out of bed and into the shower a full 20 minutes before her alarm. She calmed down with her tea, only barely. This time when she sat down to write her mother a letter, she wrote one instead to Hades.

"Dear Hades."

Persephone's pen paused on his name. Dear Hades. She pondered on the two words together. She said the words allowed. Dear. Hades. With an emphasis on the "Dear."

The thud of her head on the desk resonated through the walls. "What is wrong with me."

"Dear Hades" She continued.

"Thank you for your company last evening. I won't tell anyone. I understand if you made promises last night that you can't keep. I don't really expect to see you again." The pen faltered and left a smudge. "Thank you for allowing me to continue my work. If you want an update on the library organization you know where to find me."

She wrote the last sentence with her head back on the desk miserably. After sealing it up, she placed the letter on top of the pile. Once her isolation was over, she'd have Hermes send them all.

Or maybe she would burn them all. She hadn't quite yet decided.

The rest of her day went on as normal.

8:00am Persephone entered Tower 1 through the back entrance and clocked in through the card machine on the wall. In the back of the library Persephone settled in to begin her days work keeping track of her goals. No one ever came to check on her progress.

1:00pm Persephone took her mandated thirty minute lunch.

1:20pm Snuck out of the supply closet, brushing off the sandwich crumbs and returned to work a little early.

5:30pm She clocked out but then continued to work.

6:15pm She walked home, careful not to smile at others.

6:30pm She undressed right inside the door, jumped onto her own couch, kicked up her feet onto the coffee table and sighed and said "Good evening" to her plants. She begins to clean. "Because I've been meaning to tidy up for myself for awhile." Not even her plants believe that.

7:30pm Persephone settled onto the couch with a book in hand and her white tea in the other.

7:34pm Someone knocked on her door.

7:35pm Persephone opened the door in shock to see Hades there on the other side of the threshold again for the second night in a row like she'd seen a ghost.

"I thought perhaps you could help me." Hades said. He grabbed something from his coat. Before Persephone could slam the door in his face again he put his hand on the frame and showed Persephone a chess set in his hand. "I'm apparently rusty."

Her eyes brightened. "I'm at your service." Persephone grinned and pulled Hades into her apartment.