Hello everyone! I'm back (finally)! Sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but my finals have tired me out... Still, I hope you enjoy it. Please review! Kisses to all

Once in her room, she didn't feel like going to sleep right away, her guilty conscious wouldn't let her even if she tried. Persephone was mad, not at Hades, but at herself. It wasn't the first time they had kissed, it wasn't the first time that she had liked and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

They had spent hours talking that night. Hades had been talking about his childhood, telling tales about her mother and some battles he had fought side by side with Zeus. Persephone listened intently and laughed at most of the scenes that he described. Since he seemed to know so much about her, she figured that it was only right for it to go the other way around. She didn't want to be married to a complete stranger for the rest of eternity, so she figured that, whenever she felt the need to, she would inquire him some more. She didn't quite know how that conversation had started nor had she realized that she was enjoying herself so much. As their conversation progressed, so did their tiredness, both Gods ended up falling asleep on top of the cetin cushions. In her sleep, feeling cold, she unconsciously managed to find warmth by molding her body against Hades', ending with her head nuzzling in the crock of his neck and with a leg on top of his. The blond God stayed sleeping on his back, but his hand, as if having a mind of its own, found its way around the female's waist, grasping her possessively. Both slept soundly until the first waves of fiery light hit their closed eyes.

Hades was the first to open his eyes, there was something different about that morning that didn't quite match the others. He didn't remember going back to his room that night and there was a strange weight on top of him. Glancing down, he came faced with a bundle of messy light brown hair tainted with the morning light. He smiled softly, she looked so peaceful. The scene felt right for him in a way that he couldn't properly express, he longed for the day that waking up that way wouldn't be just a coincidence or an accident. Gently he passed his hand through her hair, trying to wake her up, 'Persephone wake up, my dear' he whispered in her ear, they were so close. His wife began to stir and her brown eyes opened ever so slowly in the direction of his deep voice. It seemed that she wasn't even aware of the compromising position they were in. She thought that she was dreaming again, something that had begun some weeks prior, but she never paid much attention to them. Most had been about her sitting on the throne next to him but then there were the romantic and sentimental ones where she would be with him with no restrains holding her back. For her what was happening was one more tempting dream. Persephone looked up at him and realized how close his face was to hers and how close her lips had gotten to his when she glanced up. His eyes were looking directly into hers, holding her stare and mind hypnotically. Losing control of her senses, the Goddess leaned closer to him, temptation washing over her. Her hand moved up his chest slowly, her eyes closed and her lips, softly, came in contact with his, chastely kissing him. Hades' eyes became wide with surprise at her behavior but soon enough he responded. He had longing for that kiss for so long that he wasn't going to turn it down. Afraid that she might slip away from his grasp, he held both of his strong arms around her figure, one hand on the back of her head and the other on the small her back. It was when the kiss had gotten more heated that she woke completely from her daze. As soon as she realized it, Persephone quickly broke away from him, clasping her hand over her mouth, with her eyes wide and skin flushed. 'Is there something wrong, Persephone?' he asked, looking worried. 'I… Hum… I should go…' she stammered before jumping and running off the room. The blond God still tried to catch her, but he was too late, she already had her bedroom door closed when he got there. 'Shit!' he bellowed, his hand running down his face.

The memory faded from her mind as she rolled on her bed. She would have loved that kiss, hadn't it been the guilt the consumed her. 'He took you away from home without your consent, you idiot!' she reprimanded herself, 'And you still want to kiss him!' her superego went on. It felt like there were two sides of her fighting in the arena that was her head. The one that desired him and the one that was still hurt from her arranged marriage. All she wanted to do was to bang her head against the sparkling wall of her room. She knew she couldn't keep on running away from him forever, but how was she supposed to let herself go? She didn't know. She knew that she didn't feel any love for him, it was too soon for that, but she did enjoy his company greatly, she appreciated everything he had done to make her comfortable and, mostly, the patience he had demonstrated towards her. Another thing that she knew was that she'd found her self-control starting to slipping away from her grasp, and she was afraid of that. However, Persephone had never forgotten her first week there, nor how she had been lied to her whole life. She felt that, when she enjoyed the feelings his kisses brought her, that she was betraying her mind and self.

Persephone let her fists punch the mattress as she sat on her bed, she wanted to scream so badly. Letting her body fall on her bed faced down, she muffled a cry in one of the large cetin pillows. In the middle of her cry, the brunette remembered that she still hadn't read the letters sent by Clio and Terpsichore. The manuscripts had been left forgotten on top of her nightstand. Making white candle lit appear, the Goddess began to read them as she set her head resting on top of the pillow. It was clear which belong to whom even without reading the names scribbled on the front. The first was a very clean one, the handwriting spotless and beautifully drawn, clearly it was Clio's. The same couldn't be said by the other one, there were many crossed words and a black smudge here and there, the lines of the words also seemed to be a little rushed, 'Terpsichore never had much patience to write' she thought amused. Both scripts showed extreme concern for her, asking her how she was doing and how, using Terpsichore's words, the bastard was treating her. Apparently they had gone to her mother asking of her whereabouts and wellbeing, they had found her absence strange. All that Demeter said – screamed – was that Hades had kidnapped her daughter and that Zeus wouldn't do anything about it because he feared that the dark God would unleash the Titans upon him, 'The house was a complete chaos and it appears that your mother hasn't paid too much attention to bathing. But don't worry, your siblings, Aerion and Despôine are just fine. Oh! There might be another on the way…' one of them wrote. Persephone eyes bulged out, 'What?! The child is doomed!' she thought panicked, she had to raise the other two, how will this one turn out to be? After that, the muses wrote that they weren't very satisfied with the answers they got from the hot headed Goddess. Knowing that Zeus wouldn't say anything to them, they went to the one person they knew would say and do anything they wanted – Hermes. 'We are so glad that you didn't marry him. We know were smart but the carnivorous lily was genius!' wrote the dance muse, Persephone just chuckled, Hermes must have told them about his proposal. The muses didn't need to do much to get the information they wanted out of him, a sway of the hips and the boy was all talk. He didn't think twice on going into Tartarus just to send the letters for them, 'He is a cheap PIG!' wrote Clio, at that the brunette was able to let out a small laugh while trying to imagine Hermes launching himself onto the muses. After that, both muses had different advices for her. One told her to go on her own pace and not to worry about intimacy, in the end she would love it more then she expected because he knew what he was doing – this one was from Terpsichore, 'Take it from someone who knows it from experience' she wrote, Persephone face palmed, but she went on reading, she also said that she should remember everything she had thought her about sex, 'I wasn't teaching you all that for you not to put it to good use' reprimanded the muse. 'Oh! Before I forget, there is a little card along with this letter. It's for Hades. He can consider it a small warning' she went on. The Goddess got curious about what was written on that card and knowing that she couldn't open it, she placed the card in front of the fire that burnt the candle and the shadow of the letters appeared.

Hurt her, or even try to, and you'll pass from infertile to eunuch while you sleep!

Terpsichore

Persephone shook her head smiling. She knew she could always count on the muse. Then there were Clio's advices, theses ones referred to the library. 'Don't be stupid and take advantage of it, there are countless works that are impossible to find in the Olympus, with numerous secrets in them. There might be some autobiography of Thanatos, I've been trying to get my hands on it for some time, but I couldn't find it. If you have a chance, could you send it to me?' she wrote. 'Too late, already found it and there are some details that I didn't have the need to know' though the Goddess in regret. She continued on reading a list of historical books the muse recommended until she got to an interesting indication. 'I have something to give you that might help you if Hades turns out to be much less interesting than Terpsichore had described. I believe that a little companion would do you good. And I know you can't create an animal life, so here I send to you a summoning spell for you to use. It will work only once, so think wisely first about what you want and be sure to practice your magic first. I bet that there are tons of works on that library that can help you', Persephone only raised an eyebrow, she had been practicing but she never summoned animals. Even though, the idea excited her greatly. 'Maybe I'll get a cat' she wondered, smiling brightly. Both letters ended with them saying that they wanted news from her and to warn them if Hades was mistreating her in anyway.

That had improved the Goddess' mood immensely and, at the same time, brought some tiredness to her, enough to get her to sleep. It didn't help her with the ordeal that was settled on her mind, but had made her feel much lighter. They were her friends and they were always concerned with her, ever since she was a small child, for that she would be forever grateful. She blew out the candle and settled back in bed. Soon enough she would be sleeping soundly.

Meanwhile, Hades was smiling brightly at the memory of the kiss, thinking about the possibility of having a much more harmonious relationship with her and that her fate could be saved maybe sooner than he thought. That brought another question to him, would he be able to go through with what was accorded once the year was over? Hades hated to go back on his word, but at that point he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if she was to disappear like that. He had become too attached to her for that. He wouldn't call, what he felt for her, love, but it was something that was very close that and it was something that grew heavier each passing day. The blond God was somewhat relieved that night. Knowing that he wouldn't have to hold back as often made him feel less frustrated, even though he knew he couldn't push the boundaries that she had set. It felt wonderful just to be able to kiss her soft lips and to hold her against him with no restrains, and knowing that she was wanted that as well. Hades moved his eyes to his left and set them on the white narcissus she had given him so long ago and smiled softly, much like he did every night. Soon enough he fell into a heavy sleep, his mind obliterating for some hours the scroll Zeus had sent him.

The next dusk came easier than the previous night's ending. He was sitting bare-chested on his bed, with his back leaning against the wooden headboard. On his lap laid the scroll he had received from Zeus. There was going to be thrown another feast in Hera's honor, it was her birthday or something of sorts, he didn't pay much attention to the details. Hades let out an exasperated breath and looked at the ceiling as if it had the answer to which excuse he would use for not attending that one. That was another reason he had secluded himself from the rest, there were thrown constant feasts for no worthy purpose whatsoever. In the beginning he had tried to enjoy them, but that didn't last very long. Those feasts basically ended with heavy drinking and sex. He wouldn't lie, sometimes he would come back home with a female, or two, in his arm, but for some reason it all turned out to be more disgusting and unworthy that he had figured it to be. Most would clumsily bounce around the great hall of the Olympus with a chalice of wine spilling all around them, their attempts of verbalization no longer making sense. In his eyes, as Gods, they should be an example to be followed by the mortals. He was tired of seeing so many souls getting punished for the same sins his relatives were committing, only to prove that they weren't as worthy of the position they held as they preached to be. But Hades wouldn't say or do anything, in the latest he would just make an appearance, stand there for some toasts and be headed back into his dark, quiet and surprisingly peaceful refuge. The other end of the letter referred to a meeting that he didn't really wanted to attend either, a council with Zeus and Poseidon. The matter – Demeter. As it seemed to be, since he had brought Persephone with him, the blond Goddess had refused to help the crops as she was supposed to. When that scroll was written there were farmers that were sacrificing children and animals in hopes of pleasing the Goddess, which wasn't working at all. Demeter stayed angry, the lives that had been taken didn't bother a single golden strand of her head. All the way she demanded that her daughter should be retrieved, as if she was some kind of object, back to her. If it had been one of her usual tantrums, Zeus wouldn't have seen it necessary to call Hades. The three brothers were to discuss the matter to try to find a solution to the problem. It was impossible to force Demeter to collaborate, Zeus had already tried everything he knew and nothing positive had come out of it. Hades wasn't intending on, ever, letting go of Persephone, much less because his sister was having a fit that would suppress one of a three-year-old toddler. The matter was already giving him headaches and he wasn't even facing the Goddess. Wanting or not, he would have to talk to his wife about it. It was her right to know what her mother was doing. 'I'll have to speak with her about this later. She'll probably want to go with me' he thought tiredly, he didn't like that thought very much, since he still hadn't recovered from Hermes little and annoying visit. The notion of having another being, God or not, eyeing his wife in such manner angered him greatly. She deserved far better, and a God with little wings on his feet certainly wasn't it. With the boy she would never get the honors she deserved, she was worthy of being a Queen and nothing less than that. He started pondering his options: he could take her with him to the council, but that would probably end up with him trying to murder someone and with Demeter trying to snatch his wife away; he also could leave her in the Underworld, but she would probably hate him for that, since she had been locked there for over two months. 'Might as well face the beast and get this over with' he breathed out as he made his way to the bathing room. 'Breakfast should be interesting.'