Author's Note: DID YOU LIKE IT?! Sorry I got all Shakespearean on you in the end, with Persephone's dialogue. I'm still not sure how long this fic shall be,

Disclaimer: OKAY THIS HAS TO STOP.

Summary: Persephone awakes between a rock and a hard place...No! Not like that! Ugh. Pervert.

Persephone was now lying in the caverns of Erebus, on an elegant divan cloaked in black.

She stirred not, and one might be curious as to whether or not she still breathed.

Hades had left her to her sleep, as so not to waken the angel from slumber. But now she rose, and taking in a few seconds she had assessed her surroundings. Frightened, she threw herself upwards, barely missing the bed's canopy.

This place was dark, dreary, filled with mist. She shut her eyes and lifted her head. She felt sadness, pain, hopelessness, fear, anger, loneliness, and death. As quickly as her eyes had closed, they suddenly opened.

"This is Erebus." Her conclusion was simple, but accurate.

She lifted herself from the divan that had she not been in fear of her surroundings, she might have taken the time to admire. Kore walked toward the rock walls of her prison and gently placed a hand on it. She stayed that way for a bare moment when the slightest noise coming from across the room took her from the trance.

"You're awake? Good." A small voice mumbled to her. The creature to which that voice belonged to was small, pitiful. Kore decided that it must be an attendant to Hades.

"Why am I here?" Since she had no interest in the origin of her only company, she chose a question that she did indeed want the answer to.

"Ah...Well..." He straightened up, "Hades, Lord of the Underworld, has chosen you, fair lady, as his Bride." The creature beamed a lively smile at her. But this smile quickly dies with the growing terror in her eyes.

"What great misfortune have I, that I must be bound to this treacherous prison for eternity?!" Her cries were now even more severe than they had been when she was swallowed by the ground. "Oh Father Zeus! Oh Mother Demeter! Oh save me from my dark fate!"

The attendant tried to comfort her, "Hades is a well suited consort. He rules the Underworld and is brother to your Mother and Father. A powerful God by anyone's standards!"

But Kore, in her anguish, heard not what he said. So, with disdain, the attendant left.

As the door closed behind him, the creature returned to his typical form as Hades. Her voice had been the chorus of angels. He began walking toward his quarters, but suddenly turned and looked behind, just to expel a sigh that had been living in his chest.

After Persephone's tears had ceased, the attendant returned to her. This time he beared a plate of fruit for her. But she refused, for in her sorrow she could not eat.

"Hades asks what in this place is unsatisfactory." The attendant inquired.

Kore looked up at him for the first time since he walked into the room. Her face pale and drenched with tears.

Those eyes.

"This Hades, if he is to be my husband, and I his wife, then why is it that we only communicate through you?" She seemed quite angry now, and the attendant worried.

"If it would please the lady, I could arrange you to speak with Hades about your discomfort here." A meek smile came to his mouth.

Kore was silent at first, then replied, "It would please me."

"Very well. I shall have you meet Lord Hades soon."

Hades now sat in his throne room, deep in thought. He contemplated how to bring about his meeting with Kore. From what he knew of her, she would no doubt be in fright at the sight of him. So, he didn't want her to see him, no, not yet. She would first have to be accustomed to her surroundings.

This, in itself, was a challenge. Kore loved beautiful things, he had studied her long enough to know. She would be overjoyed if this place had at least one area for her, not unresembling the world she was from.

So, Hades had made up his mind. He would bring her a garden, a garden that Eden itself might envy. And he, would not be seen by her.

Kore now followed the attendant toward the throne room, to meet for the first time, Hades.

She was surprised by the sudden speaking of the attendant, "Hades has a gift for you."

She furrowed her brow at the thought of what it might be. "It that so?" Without even glancing back at her the attendant slowly nodded.

She was hesitant to ask her next question, but began to anyway, "What is this present that Hades would...Give...?" Her words were cut short when they'd walked through a narrow path that exposed the garden that Hades had created for her.

"Hades has asked that you wait for him in here." Seeing her amazement, the attendant gave a pleased smirk before leaving once more.

Kore found the garden absolutely fascinating. Plants of every kind, all of them gorgeous. There were places for her to sit down, furniture encrusted with the most beautiful of gems. This garden was the only place in Erebus that didn't live in a cloud of mist. She was tearing up from the sight. Then she smelled them. An aroma all to familiar. She flocked to them, those enchanting flowers, still as perfect as they had been when she had first laid eyes on them. Thought now she was hesitant to touch them.

"They're perfectly safe." A voice told her after a while. Surprised, she looked in the direction it had come from. The fog hid the owner from her.

"Who are you?" She asked with clear irritation.

"I am that which you have come here to see." Hades, she realized. His voice was more gentle than she had expected.

"Well then, Hades, if I have come here to see you, then shouldn't you actually let me see you?"

He was quiet at first, then, "All in good time...And the garden? Is everything to your liking?"

Not wanting to admit that she loved the place, she replied, "Why did you put these flowers here?" Showing him those that she remembered so well. "To remind me of my capture? That this is still my prison?"

Hades quickly answered her, "Of course not! This is no prison! If you would like me to have them removed, I shall do so at once."

The response frightened her, as she did still love the flowers, "Oh, that won't be necessary. I don't mind them, I was just curious."

Hades once again drifted into silence. "Is there anything else you require, Kore?"

At the use of her name that was reserved for her loved ones she became angry again. Then gave this cold response, "You may call me Persephone. By my full name and nothing else."

"...Of course, Persephone."