Forbidden Fruit

A/N: Note that I imagine Charon with a Scottish accent.

'Hades, where exactly are we going?' I asked him a little uneasily as we descended, down, down, into the darkness, the impenetrable darkness. I did trust him, but I was a realistic type of person and I liked to know where strange men in black cloaks and a mysterious air were bringing me. That kind of thing was a little more than a minor detail.

'To my Kingdome, like I told you already,' he reminded me gently as my skirts billowed around my ankles and his feet hit something solid, mine following soon after. Hades held onto my hand as though he were the one who needed support, pulling me after him toward who-knew-where. All I could see was darkness to the north, darkness to the south, darkness to the east and darkness to the west. Not to mention all the 'north-east's, and 'south-west's and etc. etc. etc. They were all shrouded in darkness too, in case you were wondering.

Finally he stopped and I imitated him, as he seemed to know his way around this dreary place. A draft tickled my skin and I shivered. Hades noticed and took off his cloak, politely draping it over my shoulders. I smiled at him in thanks and followed, this time not holding onto his hand, as he descended into a boat rocking lightly on water below that I hadn't seen before.

'So Charon, how's business?' he inquired politely, addressing an old, haggard man with a beard that draped over his knees and probably his ankles too. The man, Charon, was rowing the boat for us. I took an immediate dislike to him no matter the friendly tone in which Hades addressed him.

'Wall, ya know. No slowa no fasta. Same ol' same ol'.' It must have been hard for the old man to talk too much, as I noticed immediately that he was missing nearly all his teeth, and those that remained were made of gold, looking more like lumps than teeth. I smiled weakly at him when he looked at me curiously. 'An' who's this young lass?' he asked Hades, his bony arms rowing all the while without cease.

'My br-…my guest,' Hades told him smoothly after his little falter. Charon winked at him and then was silent the rest of our journey.

Finally we stepped out of the rickety old boat and onto dry land, Charon staying behind and Hades chivalrously giving me a hand as I got out of the boat. 'Thank you,' I murmured to him, my eyes focused on where I was stepping. When I looked up I could see a dog of enormous size, drooling and looking at me out of mean, beady eyes, fangs long and dripping. Oh yeah, and it had three heads.

Panicking, I grabbed Hades hand but he only looked at me with amusement flitting through his eyes. When he looked away from me he turned his eyes to the three-headed-dog, still smiling. From his pocket he produced a large stick and waved it tantalizingly in front of the dog. Or dogs. Or whatever. 'Cerberos, catch?' he crooned to the thing. Or things. The dog/dogs drooled some more and then launched itself/themselves at the stick that Hades had thrown, running away from us and thus letting us pass.

'What was that thing?' I asked Hades curiously once we were safely past the dog/dogs lair.

'That was Cerberos. He's a wimp really. Just there to look threatening, you know,' Hades told me smoothly and yet bluntly. I nodded as though I understood.

My eyes were lowered for a while as there was nothing to see but blackness. Then Hades stopped. When I brought them up I gasped at what was laid out before me: a black palace in the distance. Fields of green grass where many people frolicked and gossiped, large marble and gold tables laden with various delicacies: pastries stuffed with nut pastes and fruity jams, breads with raisins and nuts encrusted inside them, sweet cakes made of poppies, nuts, fruits, sugar. Then there was the chicken meat, roasted to golden perfection. The pork soaked in pure olive-oil. The duck, the lamb, the sheep, the rabbit…and then there were the olives. Olives in bowls with nuts and vegetables. Olive oil for dipping. Olive bread. Olive salad. Olives, olives, olives. But beyond that were fields of black, charred grass and hills. On one of these hills a figure pushed a boulder up to the top only to have it fall again. A man with drool dripping down his chin watched the tables with the food hungrily, but I knew he could not get to them. And so there were bad things as well as good in this place, Hades' Kingdom.

And, best of all…there were no flowers.

Hades turned to me and I turned to him when I was done soaking in this strange new place. 'Do you like it?' he inquired with some concern in his voice, taking my hand in his, his black eyes boring into mine. I gulped.

'Where are we?' I asked him simply, a question for a question. I wanted to know.

'We are in my King-' Hades began. But I interrupted him.

'Yes, I know, your Kingdome. But what is your Kingdome, Hades?' I wanted to know and I wanted to know now.

Hades looked somber. 'These, my dearest, are the realms of the dead,' he told me truthfully, his eyes clouded over. I think he suspected I would run back to the surface, back to my perfect mother and all those suffocating flowers. Shades of pink and baby blue, bright yellows and crimson reds…nonononono.

'Oh, that's nice,' I answered blankly, an innocent expression on my face as I gazed at the people being tortured. Hades smiled dazzlingly at me, happy that I wasn't planning on running back. I wasn't that much of a baby. He led me past the food, past the charred fields, and to the black palace.

'This is my palace, Persephone, the palace of Death' he told me quietly, pointing to the black marble turrets, the pointed fences surrounding it, the somber appearance. It was more a shadow of a castle. But it didn't matter; I loved it.

'Lovely,' I told him, and my words were greeted with another smile on his part. He led me through the large marble doors and into the palace, which was, unsurprisingly, black. It was alright, though quite boring. I told him so. 'Hades, this place, the idea of this place, is beautiful. But it's quite boring in reality. The inside I mean. What you need is an interior designer…'

Hades looked amused. 'Well, none of the dead people were very willing to help me furnish my home, you see. Do you happen to be an interior designer then? That might be handy.'

I smiled at him and kept up the illusion. 'Well, I was studying to be one, but then my learning got interrupted by a certain figure in black who came to abduct me. But I think I might help this sad place a bit. Yes, I'll play the part of an interior designer. Just for you.'

I said it playfully, but obviously Hades took my words to heart. Leaning in slowly, he pressed his lips to mine.

They weren't cold. They were warm and welcoming and nice and I loved the feeling of his rather gray lips against mine. He brushed my reddish locks away from my face gently and murmured something I didn't catch. After a while I realized I was pressed to him and slowly, gently, unwillingly, we pulled apart.

'That was nice. Let's do it again sometime,' I told him bluntly, grinning up at him. He was so much taller!

'It was nice,' he agreed, his eyes sparkling and dancing. 'Very nice. We should definitely do it again some time…Kore.'

I ignored that rather unnecessary comment and walked up to one of the two cold black thrones. 'To start with, I really think you should paint these silver. It would make them stand out in all this blackness, and it would make them look more majestic, more regal, don't you think? And you should hand a garland of crimson-red flowers above each. That would be nice, even though I don't love flowers. It would be a very decisive touch. Now these walls should have very faint, curly designs on them in a lighter shade of black. They should be truly visible only if you're up close. And this pointy-spear-thing? Nuh-uh. Has to go. Now, I think that those portraits…'

It went on and on. At one point, Hades stopped my rambling and his jotting down and leaned in to kiss me again. 'Whatever you say, Persephone,' he whispered in my ear. I blushed, though I felt stupid when I did it, and I had to admit to myself that I loved all this. Loved all this? I loved him. Loved Hades, the god of death. Boy, my mother sure would be angry when she found out that I wasn't planning on tending to those dumb flowers all my life.