A humid summer day many seasons later, Persephone sat out in the Olympian gardens, which stretched miles each direction, savoring the
last golden sunset she would see for a while. The birds sang farewells overhead, migrating in preparation for the brutal winter ahead. A cool
wind rustled the branches.
"Lady Persephone?" said a deep, mellifluous voice.
She turned to face Apollo, and he was only leaving a disquietingly small berth between them. He was known to invade personal space.
"Yes, Lord Apollo," Persephone sighed, familiar with his advances on young goddesses. He slipped onto the bench right next to her. His long
golden hair tickled her shoulder. This would be over in a minute. He would lightly touch her thigh, she would slap him smartly and march off
to her room to await the next morning. She smiled briefly at the thought of seeing her friends from the Underworld.
Indeed, Apollo did touch her suggestively, and she turned her head stubbornly away from him to escape his mesmerizing blue gaze in
preparation of hitting him.
"Persephone, I've known you for a very long time," he said quickly, "and, as time waits for no one, not even me, I need to ask you…" he
turned her head gently to face him "to marry me."
And he kissed her against her will. He was beginning to move her chiton, but Persephone pulled away, or yanked herself away, and scraped
up her arm badly on a rosebush in the process, leaving ichor streaking the leaves.
She left Apollo befuddled in the gardens. Persephone ran, and while tearing through the gardens, ran right into her mother. Her eyelashes
and fingertips were beginning to freeze, and her skin and hair slightly gray.
"Did you say yes?" she asked, not smiling.
Persephone let out a sob, but regained her composure. "Mother, I thought you didn't want me to marry! Why have you suddenly changed
your mind, and why Apollo?"
"If companionship is what you seek, and I am not sufficient, then a son of Zeus should provide you with satisfaction and protection."
The young goddess couldn't believe this desperate attempt to keep her confined.
Persephone ran down from Olympus, dazing the angels and nymphs guarding the gates. She ran past humans and animals and plants, who
all wondered why such a beautiful, rich girl would have any reason to weep so tragically. The goddess ran all the way to the entrance of the
Underworld. The doors wouldn't open. She banged on them with her petite fists, demanding someone to let her in. She collapsed outside
the door, in a pinkish pile of tears and red hair, until the doors did open. Cerberus pounced on her playfully, but noticed she was crying. It
let out a three-toned howl that would chill any living thing to the core.
"What is it, Cerberus?" came the call of a welcoming voice, at least to Persephone.
She smiled through her tears. "Hades!" she cried, and leapt to her feet, and ran into him. That was the biggest surprise of Hades' life.
"Seph? What are you doing here?" he asked, before he saw her tears. But after he did, he picked her up and put her on Cerberus' back, and
went off to his castle.
Persephone asked to be in the garden, and Hades obliged. Cerberus reluctantly went back to the entrance for guard duty, but Hades was in
no hurry. He stayed by the goddess's side. Her tears were gone, but the sorrow in her eyes was endless.
"And… and then he kissed me…" she explained shyly, like it embarrassed her to say it all. It obviously pained her to explain Apollo's
incivility, so he told her she needn't continue. But she finished her story, and by then Hades was steaming.
How dare that insolent little perverted singer-god violate dear Persephone! She didn't deserve it one bit. And her mother, expecting her to
say yes to the insult!
Persephone touched the petals of the plant they had put in together, which still hadn't bloomed, surprisingly.
She said softly, "I'm not going back."
Hades blinked. "What?"
"They all hate me. My parents, my family, all the animals for the winter. I don't really know how I could face them and still be able to come
back to you all. I love it down here."
Hades smiled slyly. "I suspected you had a crush on Thanatos."
Persephone looked at his face and burst out laughing, and cuffed him lightly on the shoulder. "You know that's not what I meant!"
The Lord of the Underworld sighed. "You are welcome to stay here. You know how much we all love you."
Persephone smiled, and tears began to form at her eyes, but she hastily wiped them away, and enveloped Hades in a hug. "Thank you," she
whispered into his cape. "Thank you so much, Hades."
That winter was the most joyful of them all.
Nothing happened between the god and goddess, not even a kiss, but the castle deep in the Underworld echoed with glee as it never had
since its existence had begun.
Persephone organized parties for the shades, even the ones in the Fields of Punishment. They were released from their eternal sentences
for a day to celebrate and dance. Hades would have never have thought of doing that on his own, but Persephone opened a whole new side
of him.
Pomegranate juices and tarts and sauces were being made as quickly as they were harvested. Persephone strolled down the rows of trees
ahead of the farming shades and touched the branches to produce plump, healthy fruits. The days and nights were both warm, and the
whole of the Underworld unnaturally light. The shades in Elysium sang her praises. Neither Hades nor Persephone had ever smiled so much.
That is, until the end of winter. Their plant had finally blossomed. It was a slender plant with a sprawling bloom. The flower had pure white
in the middle, fading to carmine red, and finally shifting to pitch black. Something from deep inside glowed, and the little pores on the
petals glimmered.
Persephone gave it water, and set the can on the ground. "It's beautiful," she sighed.
"Yes it is," Hades agreed, but he wasn't looking at the flower.
They were sitting on the ground, closer than life and death had ever been. His hand rested on the ground behind her, so she could lean
back against his shoulder. Her head was tilted like Cerberus, looking into his shining eyes. Their lips were only an inch apart.
"Lord Hades?" said a grave voice. Hades looked up, surprised. Thanatos stood there frowning. "You have an unannounced guest."
He stepped aside to reveal a very flustered Hermes. His winged sandals were frayed, his hair was wild, and his eyes matched the rest of
him.
"Lady Persephone," he breathed, as if he'd sprinted down from Olympus. "Lord Zeus and Lady Demeter demand your presence
aboveground."
Persephone paled.
"Must I repeat it?" Hermes whined, seeing her blank expression.
"I… I guess I knew that this would happen eventually," she said carefully.
"You must come up right now."
The goddess felt her face get hot, remembering her mother, and Apollo, and everything in nature, all angry at her for no reason.
"Says who?" said she, feeling defiant.
"Says Lord Zeus," Hermes warned. As if proving a point, thunder rumbled above and stones rained down. A boulder narrowly missed
crushing Hades and Persephone both. "I suppose that I cannot force you, though," Hermes said, though his eyes screamed: "Please come
up or I will be ground into the dirt with a lightning bolt."
Hades helped Persephone to her feet.
I'll go. I have to talk to them.
But, Seph, do you trust them to keep you safe?
Well, I know that you will not be safe if they think you are holding me hostage. I will go and tell them the truth.
Hades took off his cloak with his signature sweep and put it around her shoulders. Keep it. It will remind you of the ones who will always
love you, he thought to her. Tears brimmed Persephone's eyes, but she blinked them away and kissed him on the cheek. Her lips lingered
on his face, as if proving a point to Demeter and Zeus and everyone in Olympus.
Hermes' eyes were very readable, and he was obviously very torn between loyalty to his boss and what was right. But Persephone marched
forward, head held higher than Thanatos, which was saying something, because the god was very tall.
And Hades watched her disappear into the light.
A/N- These last few chapters will be longish, because then I can upload more!
In mythology, Apollo seemed to be a nice enough guy when you compared him to the others, but he still wasn't my favorite.
Anyway, this is rather unlike Demeter, isn't it? Desperate times call for desperate measures, but maybe it will be revealed how truly bad things are...
Thanks!
- A.Z.