Chapter 20:
Ba bump.
Ba bump.
A heartbeat.
His heartbeat.
For a short while, when she is first pulled into the pool, Persephone falls into his chest and she can feel his heart thudding.
She notices that its beat is slow, but also strong. And, for a small moment, she wants to keep her head on his chest and feel the rhythmic sound reverberate through her.
But only for a small moment, because once she gets her bearings together she pushes him away and swims away from him.
She looks back at him and sees that he still has a mischievous quirk to his lips. She doesn't like that look.
"You are such a brute, Hades."
He cocks his head to the side, and smiling, narrows his eyes. "Yes, I suppose I am."
Persephone swims over to the far side of the pool and runs her fingers through her now wet hair.
"Will you answer my questions now?" she asks.
"That depends," he says, staying on his side of the pool. "Will you join me for dinner tonight?"
Persephone glares at him. "You're manipulating me into joining you for dinner?"
He grins at her. "Perhaps."
"You're an ass."
Hades chuckles at that. "Oh Persephone," he laughs, "You wound me."
"You deserve it." She's getting a little bit more than irritated with him now.
"Tell you what, Persephone," he says, swimming over back to the entrance side of the pool, "Join me for dinner tonight, and I will answer every single question you ask me."
Persephone considers this for a moment. Every single question….But how can I be sure…She begins to smile as an idea pops into her mind.
"That's all well and good, Hades," she says, matching his mischievous grin. "But I how can I be sure that you'll keep your word?"
His eyebrows go up. What is she planning? he wonders. "I promise you that I will keep my word."
She shakes her head, all the while keeping the grin on her face. "How can I trust the word of a man who has kidnapped me against my will?" She sees him visibly flinch at the word 'kidnapped'.
"That's all I have to give you, Persephone. What would you have me do?" (What would you have me do? He's reminded of his dream from the previous night where Cronus told him to give in…A shudder runs through his body at the thought.)
Persephone's grin grows wider. Got you, Hades. "Swear it. Swear it on the River Styx that you will answer all of my questions tonight."
Hades narrows his eyes, and for a second Persephone feels fear at the anger she sees in his expression. "So be it," he huffs irritably. "I swear by the River Styx that I will answer all of your questions when you join me for dinner tonight. Now if you'll excuse me," he turns his back to her, "I've some duties that need attending to. Good day, Persephone." He gets up out of the pool and slowly begins to put his clothes on; Persephone stares intently at the darkness on his right side, catching Hades' subtle winces and twitches at each movement of the marking.
Finally, because she wants clarification – she wants to know that her assumptions are true, she says, "That mark on your side – it causes you pain, doesn't it?"
He sighs, putting on the last bits of a fresh dark blue robe over his chest. "More than I can describe, Persephone."
"…What happened to you?"
He smiles softly at her. "Save your questions for tonight, my lady." And with that, he turns and walks down the hallway, his footsteps lightly sounding on the stone floor.
Save my questions for tonight, she smiles to herself. Alright, Hades, but you'd better be prepared to answer them.
To say that Rhea is distraught would be an understatement. After she had left the Underworld, she immediately went to Olympus, hoping to speak with her youngest son Zeus. When she had arrived, however, she was greeted with the loud sound of Dionysus crashing into Athena's room and the uproar that followed between the two.
Dionysus, you idiot! Look what you've done to my room!
I swear, it wasn't me, it was A-
I saw you do it, you damn sack of wine! Who's going to clean this up?
Not me!
DIONYSUS!
Rhea only saw and heard glimpses of the fight, but it was clear that Athena was furious and was going to stay that way for quite some time.
When she finally caught up with her son, (in her distress she had entered his chambers without knocking) she was greeted with the somewhat unpleasant image of Zeus and Hera being rather passionate with each other on the bed. She managed to get the couple's attention by clearing her throat and awkwardly coughing.
"I need to speak with you son," she said.
Zeus made a frustrated sigh. "Can't this wait, Mother?" She shook her head.
"Fine, let me put on a robe."
That was three hours ago, and now Rhea is watching an argument between Poseidon and Zeus.
"You think that just because you rule Olympus you're stronger than me, Zeus?!"
"Oh, I don't think that, dear brother. I know that."
Poseidon growls incoherently and raises his trident; Zeus readies his bolt.
Rhea can't take it anymore.
"Boys!" she yells. "Stop this childish bickering at once!" The two gods immediately stop and look at her.
"Yes mother," they simultaneously say. Poseidon glares at Zeus, fiery red curls falling in front of his eyes.
"I hate you," he whispers.
"I love you too, brother," Zeus chuckles back. "Now, Mother, what's wrong?"
"It's about your brother-"
"Well, we all know Poseidon is always causing trouble," Zeus says, laughing. "That's nothing new."
"Very funny," Poseidon grumps.
"No Zeus, your other brother."
"Hades. You went and visited him?"
"Yes, Zeus. Just like you asked me to do after the solstice…I think he's been deeply disturbed by something…He – he-" Rhea starts to cry. Between sobs, she asks, " What aren't you two telling me?"
The two brothers look at each other. "Nothing," they say again simultaneously.
"Please," she cries, "Please just tell me what's happening!"
"We can't, Mother," Zeus says, looking remorseful. "It will only bring you pain."
"Please," she says, falling to her knees. "I just want you three to be brothers again!" Her crying begins to become uncontrollable, and Zeus holds her. "We will, Mother. I promise."
"Poseidon," he whispers. "Go to the Underworld and speak to Hades. We need to figure out what's going on."
"You want me to go?! Hades already said that Cronus is rising, what more is there to it?"
"Perhaps our father is gaining strength faster than any of us thought. I need you to go and find out."
"Damn it all, why can't you send Hermes?"
Rhea cries louder as their bickering escalates. "Shh, Mother, it's alright…Do you see Hermes here, you fool? Go talk to Hades."
"Fine," Poseidon resentfully says. "I'll do as you command, my king."
As he walks out of the main hall, he sees Aphrodite and Ares…conversing. Well, this is odd, Poseidon thinks. I hardly ever see those two actually talking and not…publicly coupling. Aphrodite waves him over.
"Poseidon! How wonderful to see you, my lord. May I ask where you are headed?"
"To talk with pompous older brother," Poseidon jokes.
Ares grins. "We were just talking about Hades, Uncle."
Much like the relationship between Poseidon and his brother Zeus, the relationship between Ares and his uncle was filled with quite a bit of animosity, which only grew worse as Ares got older.
It all stemmed, Ares guessed, from the fact that he was Zeus's son, and that Poseidon felt a great deal of resentment and scorn for his younger brother. One day, when Ares was still a child, he had grabbed Poseidon's trident while the god wasn't looking and had hid it behind Zeus's throne. Poseidon had searched for days, and when he had finally found it, he decided that he would forever hate Zeus's children - Ares and Athena being the ones he especially came to hate.
"Oh? And why would you be talking about him?" Poseidon asks, cocking a red eyebrow.
Ares looks like he's about to reply when Aphrodite steps in. "We have a proposition for you, Poseidon, one that we think you will quite like."
Poseidon grins. "I'm listening."
A/N: Ohhh look, an update. Like a month later. Hehe. Sorry guys, but you know how life goes! I am not giving up on this story, though, and I even have a sequel planned for when I finish this one, so stay tuned. Updates will likely be slow going, but they may not be sometimes – just know that I will finish this story, okay. :D As always, leave comments! Tell me what y'all think :)