Welp here I am again and it's rather short XD. Work and inspiration has become a bit hard. Also I imagine Richard Armitage specifically as Hades and have yet to find an actress for Persephone that I would like.

The air for the first time in her remembrance held a bitter sulfuric taste. Before opening her eyes it was the first sense that awoken. When she had graced the courage to do so she found it was rater useless. Blackness with the occasional strikes of light. She blinked several times to make sure that she in fact had opened them in the first place. Slightly squinching her hands she became aware the she was lying on hard stone with a few crumbles littered here and there.

"What was this place?" She thought. Tracing back bit by bit it became clear. There's only one place that leads from the top of the earth.

Panic stricken she began to crawl and shuffle trying to find a border to the endless black. She moved two feet or perhaps to 10 before a fire lit its self not more than 5 feet from where she sat. Still and transfixed she began to realize that it was slowly moving towards her and as the lights reach began to spread it became apparent that not only was it a torch but a hand was grasping it. She scooted back slightly until "it" came to a stop a mere two feet in front of her.

"Greetings my fallen one," it or now he spoke.

She sat in silence for a moment before weakly replying, "Wh-where am I?"

"Why my fair maiden you have been cast into the land of the dead."

….

Pacing back and forth, left and right. Hades rung his hands together. It felt good and kept up with the pace of his nervousness. Walking back towards his mirror within his bedroom for the thousandth time he checked his appearance. Short black hair complimented a goatish beard that had outcasted flicks of white near the edges. Sharp oval features with uncommon light blue eyes gazed back at him. He appeared a king but his behavior spoke otherwise.

She would be approaching the shores of Styx by now. "Be gentle," he lightly pleaded to its gatekeeper. Only a slight smile and a small nod replied. He had chosen a long black robe with a full collar that engulfed his neck. Small gold strips bordered the right edgings that followed the collar and then down to the coat's opening. He looked well but he needed to calm himself. How brave was she to be when a meek trembling child came to greet her at the mouth of hell?

He turned from the mirror and moved towards the small bottle of wine on his table. Pouring another he quickly shot it in the hopes that the effect would quickly follow suit.

He was needed at the opening. A duty he never held highly but he was never held shy of responsibility. He moved out of turn within the first few strides. Perhaps he had drank too much? A few more and he was following an invisible straight line that imbedded the cobbled black marble beneath his feet. With each step his mental holding began to come into place. Reputations needed to upholded. Cold and yet graceful. Stern and yet willing comprehend reason. He mused that perhaps this was the behavior that fit best with dealing with her. Although at the current moment his emotions betrayed him it would become tiring after a while to continuously play the doting lover. This bubbly, giddy emotion would eventually subside as all divine things did with the tide of time. Regularity held its place for a reason. Why fill her to only lead to an unsatisfied subside? Aïdōneus hardened his reflection.

…

Kharon as he called himself was unnaturally pale. Like blocks of marble his eyes were mostly white with veins of black that lead to a lifeless center. He offered his hand slowly and flicked his fingers to edge her closer. She stared dumbfound. Had she died? Was it possible? She entertained the possibility of inquiring these questions to this unseemly character but thought that perhaps it wasn't his place to answer. Curiosity overcame fear as he stood before her beckoning.

Refusing to take his hand she walked forward. The tips of his mouth peaked for a moment and then turned to lead them on their way.

Blackness blanked the water removing any semblance of reflection. Back at the shore he directed her to a mid-sized boat that swayed in the water. He offered out of strange courtesy his hand and she took it shyishly. For a time only the sound of routine rowing and slow moving water echoed off the wide expanse of black cave rocks. Thought and reflection was always best in these quiet moments but given her circumstances fear and paranoia was more than likely to prevail. Dimming her eyes she focused on the soft surrounding sounds. The lovely rhythm seemed calming, so much so that she felt herself drifting. For a moment she thought herself dreaming. A slight distortion began to call out beyond her. Like soft drumming that began to cry louder as they moved forward. After time the drumming that seemed to move as one began to separate unto a full tempo of wailing, screaming, and a mass of distorted cries and paranoid jabbering. The blackness beneath her eyes began to grow orange flames that danced and swayed. She could feel from the rippled rhythm of Kharon's rowing that he had begun to pick up speed. A strange sense had begun to dawn on her that their journey was soon to be coming to an end.

Fear had stricken but she couldn't walk blind. Inhaling deeply she flashed open her eyes. Pale mourners were drifting in the water while rivers of fire streamed down rocked caverns in the distance. On the shore to her left and right stood multi-armed men guarding over shackled man and woman alike. All too full of grief to notice them drifting down the black river. But before them to all its frightening glory stood like an island between the red and black rivers a grand palace. Several quarters were cast in black while others were made of the dark blue rock that it perched its self on. Horizontal in bulk and stature it stood like a malevolent lighthouse that watched and dictated all. Several basins lit with flame hung and guarded each window. To the shore beyond stood a massive dock which lead to what looked to be large black marble columns that lead to this kindom's entrance. A black speck stood in the median of them. The closer they drifted it became a semblance of a man who's features were still hidden, the light from the basins only outlining his frame…