Olympus had never seemed so dull to Persephone.
The lovely singing of the muses was now annoying and incessant. The goddess would stay in her room, tending the flowers along the sill
and keeping thick vines over the doors. Apollo would try to climb up the wall's ivy to her, but the tendrils swatted him away like a fly. Even
Demeter's powers could not kill off the vines. There was some force much stronger than magic fueling Persephone.
She watched many a night and day tick by, never seeming to end. The mortals, farming below, were confused by the cool summer.
Sometimes a frost would come, and harvests were lost. She would lie on her bed at night and stare at the ceiling, etched with pictures of
birds and flowers, and wish that there was someone with her. Of course, Apollo offered, but Persephone never said a word to him.
The humans were very bewildered when the autumn became warmer. Now the goddess paced in her room, dreaming of her true home with
Hades and Cerberus and Thanatos. One day in mid-fall, she flew out her window in the form of a bright little swallow and landed right in
front of Zeus. She bent her head down as a bird, and stood as a proud goddess.
"Ah," Zeus said, not considerably startled, "Persephone. What brings you here?"
"When I go to the Underworld in a few weeks, I am staying there," she announced firmly. "Aboveground, my mother and Apollo mistreat
me, and I will not live confined in my room. Understand my wish to make my own choice."
"Yes," Zeus responded thoughtfully, and paused. "I thought you would say that."
Suddenly, Zeus's guards leapt out and grabbed Persephone by the arms. She shape-shifted frantically, but they captured her mid-flight and
put her in a cage. The cage was much too small for her to shift back to humanoid-form, so she uncomfortably hopped around.
She was handed off to Demeter, who, with a pitying click of her tongue, took her to her room. The nymphs giggled at her on her way. When
she was placed safely in Demeter's room, she was left with Apollo.
The gorgeous god opened the cage. Persephone stayed as far away as possible. He reached his hand in, and she bit it. And not just a nip,
either. Apollo jerked back his finger and rubbed it a moment, then recovered and flashed a smile at her.
"You will be mine, you know," he said. "I can't even imagine why you would want to stay below with corpse-breath."
Persephone's anger flared. "Any breath is easier to endure than your ego, pig," she snarled, but to him, it was only a squawk. "Well, if
you're not going to cooperate, I'll leave you to yourself," he said, and locked the cage and left.
Hades sensed some sort of disturbance. He felt claustrophobic and small all of a sudden, despite being in the wide open Fields. Then came a
headache. He didn't get those very often, since he got used to the moaning and wailing of the shades. Nearly falling over with a wave of
vertigo, he stumbled back inside the castle. Thanatos gave a confused smile as the Lord of the Dead went fumbling past.
Once Hades was in his room, he sat on the bed and held his head. The room was spinning. He didn't understand. He had felt fine moments
ago. He had never felt this way before. But, he hadn't been himself since… That must have been the answer, he recognized. Looking around
as if she must be in the room, he knew that there was something wrong with Persephone. He tried to look upon her, but something magical
blocked his vision and only made him dizzier. What kind of trouble was she in?
Persephone hopped around, from perch to perch, pacing like… well, like a caged bird. She pecked at the bars and fiddled with the lock, but
she couldn't do anything in the form of a little bird. The cage was enchanted, so she couldn't shape-shift at all.
She froze immediately when a simple-minded nymph came singing past. She stopped by the open door and listened as Persephone whistled
a song. The nymph was very pleased and applauded her, not knowing it was the goddess.
"Oh," she crooned, "poor birdy. I'll let you out." The green-skinned nymph unlocked the cage and opened the door.
She smiled benevolently at the seemingly normal little bird, until she said, "You will be rewarded!" in her regular voice and took off.
Then, the nymph knew something was wrong. But the poor creature was much too embarrassed to report it to any of the gods, so sidled
away quietly, buying Persephone much-needed time.
No one understood what Persephone felt for Hades, including herself. The true loyalty and generosity and friendship he had given to her
and what she wanted to give back to him.
Of course, he was not the most handsome god. Apollo and Ares and even Hermes beat him by a long shot. He was not the most powerful.
He was not the most celebrated. But it wasn't his fault he got stuck with a bum job. He at least deserved a good friend.
There was only one person who could possibly understand or at least respect what this was.
Persephone beat her wings as quickly as she could, miniature heart thumping. She tumbled into the lovely temple in a mound of feathers,
and tiredly morphed to humanoid form. "Cousin!" she called, to the young woman standing against a column.
"Persephone?" she replied, turning around, revealing a breathtaking face. "What are you doing here, dear?" Aphrodite was always
welcoming, even if you were sought after by every single god in Olympus, and not for a happy reason.
Persephone knelt at Aphrodite's feet, which was their custom for asking a favor of the most gravity.
The beautiful goddess frowned. "What is wrong? No one ever comes to me unless…" Then her face lifted up and she squealed. "You're in
love, aren't you! Oh, my dear little Kore, I never thought it would happen! Who is it? Is he a mortal? I can fix it. I can make any match
happen!" she gushed excitedly, raising Persephone to her feet. She saw she looked doubtful. "I can, you know."
"Hypothetically, if I wanted to be with someone from the Underworld, what would I do?" Aphrodite looked baffled for a moment, and then
said, "Oh, I see, you're in love with someone who's passed away. I suppose I can pull some strings."
"Um, no, not a shade."
The goddess looked shocked again, and hopefully said, "Yes, I suppose Thanatos is rather handsome, in a badly-lighted room…"
"Cousin," Persephone sighed, "you know who it is."
Aphrodite sighed in return. "I've always known. I just wanted to preserve your feelings, Kore."
Persephone hated it when people called her that. It reminded her too much of the good days with her mother, as an innocent little girl,
which were now long over and would never return. But she accepted Aphrodite's comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Is there any way I could see him?" she asked.
The love goddess's eyes dilated and shrank and she suddenly looked like she had a headache. "I cannot see him. Zeus must be blocking
communication."
Right on cue, thunder rolled far off. From the look on her face, Persephone could tell her cousin was hiding something.
"Is there any other way?" she asked quietly.
"Well yes… but it's not allowed."
"But I thought you adored forbidden love."
Aphrodite winced. She did love that. "Oh… okay! But you can't tell anyone."
Persephone smiled, the first time she had in a while. The goddess looked around as if she was afraid of being caught, and suddenly the floor
beside her fell away. There was a narrow corridor going down into the ground, which made Persephone smile in remembrance of her yearly
trek.
In the poorly-lit room that Aphrodite led her to, a couple of torches smoldered on the walls. A single full-length mirror stood elegantly
against the wall.
"Go stand by it," Aphrodite instructed, "and think of him."
She looked very worried, and Persephone almost didn't want to put her through it. Nobody liked seeing Hades. God or not, everyone
considered it bad luck. But Hades was the only one she really wanted to see.
She eagerly walked over to stand in front of the mirror. Her reflection was surprising. Persephone looked pale and her hair and eyes had
lost color. She looked frailer and like she was very cold.
She only looked at her consternating appearance for a moment, and it faded away to be replaced with the figure of Hades, sitting sullenly
with his head in his hands.
Hades paced. He did not want to leave his chambers, not to face Thanatos or Rhadamanthys or any of the shades. The only way to be
Persephone's hero was to go aboveground and ascend to Olympus. Hades was not afraid of death or sickness or hunger. He was not afraid
of any monsters or the dark or the moans wafting through the windows.
But he was afraid of facing his brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. After millennia of refusing to stay with them, they would not
accept him again. There was no real rule keeping him from the holy island, but he was not even sure if the angels would let him in.
And, after he had kidnapped Persephone, he knew a fate worse than death awaited him in Zeus and Demeter's rage. Because he had had
an influence on Persephone (whether he knew it or not). And whether it was positive or not was anyone's guess.
His headache pounded, and he needed to sit down. He sat on the foot of the bed, where they had shared rather embarrassing stories of the
gods and became closer, and rubbed his head.
"Hades!" a beautifully familiar voice cried.
His head snapped up, but there was no one in sight. Nothing on the balcony or in his doorway or by his bed. Then he noticed the spark of
red in his mirror. He jumped up, and ran to the body-length mirror he had ordered to be made for Persephone, where the goddess herself
stood. Strangely, she was in the reflection.
"Seph?" he asked. She nodded, tears in her green eyes and grinning. He could not break through to her; they were like people on two
different sides of a glass wall.
She pressed her hand against the glass, and he flattened his long fingers against hers. He wished badly that he could be closer than this,
that she was really in his arms. But seeing her would have to suffice.
"How… what… who…?" Hades wasn't sure what to ask first.
Persephone shook her head. "Please, don't ask questions. I'm coming down, and I'm not going back."
"If you come, I won't let you go back," Hades agreed stubbornly, disregarding the pact he made with Zeus all those many years ago.
Then he noticed how she appeared. She looked ill, and her tears were turning to ice as they fell. She looked through the tears at his face.
"You're not well," he stated.
She smiled sadly. "I will be, once I'm with you," she said softly, and pressed her forehead against the glass.
"Aww," a pretty voice said. Aphrodite stood behind her, her hands folded. Hades smiled appreciatively at her. Persephone looked at him in a
way that he hadn't remembered anyone ever looking at him before, not even his dear mother.
"Hades… I…" she couldn't seem to finish her thought, choked up by too many things to say at once.
He knew the feeling.
Aphrodite sniffed. "Kore, do you hear something?" she asked, looking behind her.
All at once, heavily armed guards burst into the chamber. They took Aphrodite by her arms, but she put up an impressive fight, all the way
up the stairs. Persephone screamed and moved protectively against the mirror, and Hades could only see them taking her as well, and the
mirror fell over.
The glass in the mirror spider-webbed and the image faded, leaving Hades alone with his broken reflection.
A/N- There is not much more gratifying than the feeling of having achieved a good cliffhanger.
Thanks for reading!
-A.Z.