Author: Basically this story is about her life, how she meets Hades before he kills her like he did in the first chapter. I like dark, twisted romances and Hades and Persephone are the prime example. I will not flower things up because Hades and Persephone are flawed. He is the god of death and as any god he manipulates events and people. As for her, she is an innocent goddess. Let the corruption begin. :3
FIRST MEETING
I recall my time in Olympus usually ran short. While my mother spent her time in counsel meetings with the other Olympians I would venture around the temple. It floated above Mount Olympus in the clouds. If I sat on the steps I could reach out and touch them. They would slip through my fingers.
Every Olympian was represented in the temple. The steps were a pale white mixed with stormy grey to fit Zeus's features. On the Corinthian columns though, there were vines to honor Demeter where the peacocks(Hera), quails,(Hephaestus) and doves(Venus) nested. In between each column there would be olive trees(Athena) and cypress trees(Artemis). There were usually dogs(Mars), leopards(Dionysus), and deer(Artemis) running in the hallways. At the entrance there was a pool(Poseidon) where storks(Hermes) would fly into. There was always music(Apollo) playing in the background to promote peace between the Olympians.
At this time they were discussing my marriage proposals. In truth, there was no need for me to be married. I was not an influential goddess and the male Olympians cheated on their wives every chance they got. Besides, Artemis lived as a virginal huntress, so I could do the same. My thoughts broke when I noticed a shadow hovering over me. I looked to my left and saw a man a foot behind me.
He was taller than most gods or men I have seen. His face was a hard in comparison to the Olympians. He did not look like any immortal I have seen on earth. He did not have the pointed ears like a satyr or the wings of a harpy. His entire form was human which meant he was not a part of old natural beings. He wear rich, ebony robes with a bracelet of silver around his right wrist. "What is a nymph doing here?" He asked me and I met his eyes. They were a light blue. Not warm, nor cold.
"Enjoying the sun and clouds." I asked with the tilt of my head. My mother warned me not to reveal who I was to men asking questions, whether they are human or otherwise. She feared one day a man would steal my innocence. He grinned at my answer and stepped down. "Do you mind if I join you, nymph?" He asked. I shrugged my shoulders. It did not matter if he did or not. Mother said I could be entertained by a flicker of light and be enthralled by it for the rest of the day. The clothed man sat down beside me with his feet hovering over the edge of the temple.
I peered at him with my golden hues. I was to stay away from men for my safety, my mother said, but he seemed alright. His eyes dropped to the earth below us. "A wonder, isn't?" he mused. I nodded my head and looked down. From this height everything seemed small even the 500 year old trees. "It is. To think the gods made this realm so far above the mortals." I added as I shifted my hands to lay flat on the step behind me. "For a nymph, I would think this height would scare you. Usually you are attached to the ground as some tree or in the riverbed." He commented now glancing at me. He seemed uneasy to have his legs dangling across the edge. I laughed at that and smiled at the man.
"Most of my friends think I am delusional for liking heights. But I enjoy the thrill that death could only be seconds away if I took the wrong step." I kicked my legs in the empty air to demonstrate my fearlessness. His eyes danced while he looked at me. "So, you do not fear death?" He questioned giving me a straight look. "No. If I die, I die there is nothing I could have done to prevent it. Well..." I held my finger to my mouth in thought. "Actually I could stop making hasty decisions and acting on them. I remember one time my friend, Willow, told me not to steal a hunter's bow and arrows, but I did." I admitted. "He came after me with a knife and almost cut open my throat, but a bear found him and maimed him." I did not add the part where Artemis heard my screams for mercy before sending a bear on him.
He chuckled at my mishap. "You should not flirt with death." His eyes glowed. "No, I assume not." I said then twisted my head around see a dove watching us before fleeing. I did not want to be watched over like a common child. I picked myself up. "Come on, I want to show you something." I said as I regained my balance on the bottom step. The man lifted himself up and followed me onto the temple's main level.
We walked down the aisle saying nothing. It was a comfortable silence though. He thought I was a nymph, but I still had no idea who he was. Olympus encountered multiple pleas from the immortal races, so he was probably just asking for more harvest next year for his people. When we both stood I came to his shoulder. Our robes, black and yellow, flapped in the wind as we walked past a dog and a deer resting side by side. I took the first right then the second left.
We ventured into a small room where boxes of flowers lined the walls and a pool of clear water stayed at the end of the room. At the bottom of the pool there was a mosaic of horses racing to the moon. "This is my favorite room." I said as I walked around the room. My hands touched the flowers and they would grow underneath my fingertips. I focused on a blue rose watching as it bloomed before my eyes. Every petal soft and full of energy. I cut it from its root before lifting it to my face. I breathed in the fresh scent and smiled before turning my attention back to the representative.
"I can see why." He walked to the body of water. It stood still at the moment, but then he reached down and touched the pool. Ripples spread out before solidifying under his touch. I tensed seeing it. I walked to the pool and watched as the entire pool become a different color. What is happening? "It is it?" I whispered. The crouched man looked up at me.
"You've never seen ice?" He seemed confused. "Ice..." I repeated testing the word out. "It's the frozen form of water. Here." He chipped off a little and handed it to me. A shiver ran down my spine when the ice dropped into my hand. It was cold and becoming water in my grasp. My eyes watched a drop fall to the ground. It was fascinating to watch it slide from my hand.
Then I felt something take hold of my left wrist and pull me away from the stone floor. "What are you doing?" I asked in a panic before I noticed I stood on the pool of water. "I thought you liked the thrill." he said still holding my wrist. I laughed at him and smiled up at him. If this is what men were like then they could not be as heinous as my mother said they could be. The man took a step back and I stepped forward feeling the chill from the ice under my feet. It was freezing, but I liked it.
"It's cold." I commentated and wiggled my toes. He took a step backward bringing me with him and pointed to the mosaic. "Look. Do you notice anything different?" He inquired as my eyes left him. He still watched my reaction. The ice hindered the quality of the image, but it also demonstrated a different element. In the water the focus was on the horses, but in the ice it was the moon. "It's beautiful. You notice the moon more in the ice." I walked closer to the moon mosaic. He still held my wrist as though he did not want to let me go without him. "Well done. Others see the horses in either form." He remarked. Was it a test? I tilted my head in wonder before he dragged me, so I stood on top of the moon. "Your eyes glow like the moon. Are you a lily nymph?" He questioned trying to figure out who I was. "No, I am no lily." I replied firmly. His fingers felt my pulse. They were frozen to the touch like the ice, but it did not bother me.
"Then who are you? I have not seen your face before." He wondered aloud. His eyes peered into my eyes. I trembled, not from fear, but from uncertainty. I could tell him, but what then? It would not matter. "It does not matter. I do not know who you are, so why should I tell you?" I reasoned. His eyes flashed with annoyance before dancing with pleasure. "Well played." He commented as one of the dogs from outside the room barked.
Then I just watched him as he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my inside wrist. I blushed thinking how intimate it was. Willow and other nymphs talked about their experiences with men. How they would lure a hunter while they bathed and took him under an oak tree. They would kiss his lips, neck, chest, and other parts as the man thrust into them. They had no shame in taking many lovers.
As he lowered my hand again, I felt his icy stare watching my face. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as he grinned impishly. "I must be going. I have an attendance with the Olympians. Perhaps I will see you around, nymph." He amused himself with. I gulped and nodded my head, too shy to speak. He walked out of the door. I stood planted where I was in the ice.
Who had that man been? He could freeze a pool. I heard stories about ice before in the Northern lands, but never seen or felt it. Was he a representative from the North? I walked off of the ice and went to the entrance to see if I could catch him. I poked my head out the entrance, but he had vanished.
I let out a soft sigh and returned to the frozen pool with blue rose in hand. I sat down and played with the flower feeling the soft petals. They moved as a twisted my fingers morphing the petals into warped patterns as my mind wandered. If other men were like that than mother had no reason for me not to meet some and even have some male friends. I felt a bit resentment at her stubbornness. He had introduced me to ice which seemed as enchanting as sunlight. I put my fingers on the ice. It was chilling, but it felt comfortable and safe. A deer peered into the opening with a maiden by her side.
The maiden appeared as a youth of bronze, curled hair and deep blue eyes. Her body was soft and her skin glowed like moonlight. "Persephone, what are you doing? Ice is not something to play with." Artemis explained and gestured me to get up. I placed the blue rose on the ice before I complied to her wishes. She was my elder sister and Olympian. "I wanted to get out of the open." I said as I exited the room with the frozen pool with Artemis and her deer. All the animals followed their respective when the Olympian was outside of the meeting hall. I had always wanted one of my own.
"Your mother refused all your suitors. Hermes was fuming by the end. He talked of your sweet face and kind nature and how no man would ever be able to appreciate it if you stayed by her side. Demeter cast cranes on him." My half sister sighed as we turned right down the hall. "Then Apollo tried to reason with her, but she threw his lyre across the room. This is why I am a virgin goddess. No one will ever argue over my marriage prospects." She gave me a light smile.
I bit my lip unsure of what to say. Part of me wanted to be a virgin goddess and never have a husband, but when I saw mortals with their lovers I could not help, but smile. They were so affectionate with each other with their tender touches. Then the stories I heard from my friends about being with men. I wanted that experience the one where I tremble from his touch. "But don't you get lonely?" I asked. "I mean I heard a man's touch can drive a woman to the edge of the world." I added.
She looked at me and raised her eyebrows. "Did you hear that from your nymph friends?" She asked with distaste. I nodded. "They lied. Men can be vile creatures and steal anyone's innocence by force. They do not care for your pleasure, only their own." She spat. "That is why I spend my times with maidens and go hunting in the forests. Do you remember when a man almost took you?" Her deep blue eyes became stormy and accusing. "He would have raped you bloody. You would be forced to walk in shame to your mother's meadow with blood trickling down your legs. Then you would have to admit to your foolish actions against him. Not only that, but his seed could have put a baby in your womb. You would have birthed a bloody mortal child if I had not sent a bear on him. Think about that." She hissed and glared at me. I lowered my gaze in shame.
Perhaps the blue eyed man had been right. I should not flirt with death. But that man was one out of thousands. Not all men raped women. I looked at the floor and we continued to walk in silence passing other creatures.
"No decision had been made for your husband, but you might have a few suitors come to you. Speaking words of kindness and bringing gifts. Do not be fooled into going around without an escort. Just because they are gods does not mean they won't rape you like a common moral. Be careful of Hermes. He's a charming man, but he still powerful enough to take you away. He is the god of thieves." She stated firmly. I kept my eyes on the floor. The messenger did not appeal to me. He was an impish, sly creature and I did not want to deal with his slimy self venturing into my bed. He was truly Zeus's son in that respect.
I heard stories about Zeus taking many lovers. Then the fates of his children with those women. Artemis and Apollo were the products of Zeus and Leto, a minor immortal, but Hera plagued her to walk the earth since every one shunned the easily pregnant woman. Another story told of Hercules where he was forced to do twelve acts to repent for murdering his wife and children. Hera had put a poison in his drink and put in the frenzy that made him kill him. I did not want to deal with the rage that came from a cheating husband. Even Aphrodite would cheat on her husband with Ares. One time they were caught in a golden net and threw about Olympus to display that she was a whore. I did not want to be the jealous wife, hurting and killing others to satisfy my rage.
Immortals were prone to jealousy and I, even though a fair maid, was possessive. In meadows mother granted me, I would promote the growth of wheat. Then when forest nymphs would come and plant their oaks or shrubs I would uproot the growths. I did not want other plants taking energy from my mortals' wheat fields, nor did I want their influence on my mother's territory while I resided there. It was my territory, so I controlled what grew there. Not only that, but I would seek out the criminals with Willow and make sure their plants would die.
Then I felt a tremble under my feet and the roar of thunder. Zeus must be angry at someone. Artemis perked up at the sound. "Hades is here." She explained with a frustrated sigh. I had never seen, let alone met Hades, but from what I heard from the other gods and goddesses there was no point. He took every life he could catch and sent them to the Underworld without a fair trial. As an immortal I would never have to encounter him and I would be fine with that.
"He demands more gates to keep souls from exiting the Underworld. Then Zeus insults him by saying it is Hades duty to figure it out, but the souls are escaping from holes outside of Hades reach. Despite being the death god, he respects other's godly rights." Artemis reasoned as we continued to the front of Olympus. It was odd to hear her comment fairly on men especially Hades. "Well, why are they out of his reach? I thought everything underneath the ground was his territory." I questioned. "Not exactly. Demeter still has influence under the ground, but Hades' domain literally is the spiritual grounds. In these spiritual grounds there are caverns where the souls can escape and get off Hades' ground and therefore Hades cannot enforce his order." She clarified. "But those are his souls, so shouldn't Hades be able to put up gates to keep his property in? They are his by right. It would be a waste to have one of his minions go looking for them every time." I said.
Artemis watched me with his deep blue orbs. "Zeus will never grant Hades what he wants or needs and for good reason. If Zeus gives Hades an offering, Hades will take the offering and multiple it tenfold." She spat, back to her regular men loathing self. "But those souls could wreck havoc on the living. Zeus has to allow those gates up to protect them. Not only that, but he cannot approve every gate especially when Hades finds more and the souls are fleeing before his eyes." I said, defending Hades' idea. She snorted. "If Hades had a better rein for the souls, they would not be finding ways out of the Underworld." The moon goddess stood still and petted her deer in front of the pool. "Go, Persephone, Demeter is waiting for you." She dismissed me like a child.
I watched at the front of the temple and noticed my mother. She was a short lady with golden hair and green eyes flashing. Her dress was a loose emerald green robe that reflected the weeds that grew around the riverbeds. "Persephone," Demeter smiled at me and gestured for me to come to her. I waved to Artemis before slipping to my mother's side like the obedient daughter I was. She embraced me and I hugged her back. "We have things to discuss." She said into my ear. I could feel my mother glaring at Artemis and the huntress glowered right back. Demeter despised Artemis for hunting in her meadows, woods, and other natural realms. The hunts would end with an animal thrashing about destroying the plant life.
I dropped my hands from her back as she stepped away from me. Another shake of thunder occurred. Her eyes glanced quickly up to the meeting hall. "We must descend before Zeus and Hades start a hailstorm." She said quickly and took my hand and we walked down the steps of Olympus.
I glanced quickly back to see the man I had met. We caught each other's eyes. My golden hues peering into his cyan pools. I paused just watching him. My mother would not be seen by him since she kept walking away. He looked furious, but his features softened when they saw me. He took a step towards me before Artemis glared at him, and we broke eye contact. With a distinct chill in the air I took another step, following my mother, not knowing if I would see the mysterious person again.