Chapter 24:
When Poseidon comes back, he finds that he has to hold the palace together when Zeus's anger causes all of Olympus to shake.
"He said WHAT?!" Zeus yells, smashing his fist against a pillar.
The palace rumbles.
Poseidon sighs. "He said 'no', brother. Really, this isn't that hard of a concept to understand Zeus. Even for you."
Zeus grabs his lightning bolt, readies it. "Don't you condescend to me, Poseidon," he hisses.
Poseidon shrugs. " You deal with him now – I have to go back to my kingdom."
"I need you stay here," Zeus booms. " Hermes came back from his trip sick."
Poseidon's red brows go up in fake surprise. "Oh, did he now?" he asks curiously. "How…unfortunate." He tries to keep himself from grinning.
In truth, he knows that Aphrodite poisoned Hermes – it had been a part of her plan all along. When he arrived after ransacking and stealing Apollo's cows, she had been the first to greet him, and gave him a goblet of nectar containing the poison. How Aphrodite ever learned how to poison a god, Poseidon doesn't know, but he does know one thing: he's glad that, for now, they're on the same side.
He frowns. Now we are allies, he thinks. But for how long? Hades is just a tool for all of them, he knows; a way to unseat Zeus from his throne, and make a move for the throne themselves. The major problem is that, while Ares and Dionysus only want the war, Poseidon and Aphrodite want to rule Olympus. Poseidon suspects that Aphrodite will try to rule through her son Eros. And then there's the whole issue of Hades ruling…It doesn't matter – he will remove Zeus from power, then I will challenge him and take Olympus as my own. He plans to use Aphrodite and her son when he fights Hades; and when his older brother is defeated, betray Aphrodite and take the throne for himself.
Things aren't going to be that simple, of course, he thinks. Aphrodite will have a trick up her sleeve…but I'll be ready for it.
Outwardly, he puts up his most sympathetic face. "I'm sorry, Zeus, but I really must go. Hermes is your errand boy. I am not.s"
Zeus scrunches his brows together. "I told you that he is sick."
Poseidon shrugs once again and begins to head out of the palace. "I guess you'll just have to sit and wait for him to get better then," he calls from over his shoulder.
"Yes, and in the meantime the humans will die," Zeus groans. He sits on his marble throne and rubs his temples. Being king is not all it's cracked up to be…
"Where are you taking me, Hades?" Persephone giggles. She's blindfolded.
He's leading her by the hand.
"It's a surprise," he says, and even though she can't see him, she knows that he's smiling.
They walk a few more moments in silence until Hades abruptly stops in front of her and she almost bumps her head into his back.
"We're here," he says, with an air of pride in his voice. She feels him kiss the top of her forehead and she knows she's smiling stupidly. "Are you ready?" he asks.
She nods her head and becomes aware of his presence behind her, feels him untie her blindfold.
"You can look now." His voice is soft in her ear.
When Persephone opens her eyes, she is distantly aware that her mouth falls open in shock. Another part of her is also distantly aware that he is resting his head on the crook of her shoulder and that his arms are wrapping around her waist from behind.
"Do you like it?" he asks, placing small kisses against the back of her neck.
"…It's…beautiful," she states.
It is.
They're in a gigantic garden, filled with thousands upon thousands of different plants
and flowers, with rubies, diamonds and pieces of silver and gold scattered in there for good measure.
When Hades had taken her to Elysium, she had thought she had seen the most beautiful thing his kingdom had to offer.
Clearly, she had been wrong.
"It's so beautiful," she whispers.
"It's for you," he replies. She feels his lips move on her neck and she sighs.
They stay like that for a moment longer, with him holding her; neither one wanting to move or break the silence. In the end, Hades is the first to let go. She turns around.
"Where are you going, my lord?" she asks.
He smiles faintly back at her. "Just because the kingdom can wait does not mean it can be ignored," he pauses, plucking a large red fruit from a tree. He holds it up to her face, his blue eyes peering at her intently. "Do you know what kind of fruit this is?" he asks.
She stares at it for a moment before shaking her head, 'no'.
"It's a pomegranate," he says, tossing the fruit up in the air and catching it three times.
"Food of the Underworld," she replies.
He nods and stares at her intently again. "Do you know what it means if you eat the food of the Underworld?"
"You can never leave this place."
He nods again and moves his eyes from hers to the fruit. His grip around it tightens and he looks torn. She walks up to him and lightly kisses his lips.
"Persephone, I need to tell you – "
"Shhh," she says, cupping his face in her hands. "You have a kingdom to run; I have a garden to explore."
"Persephone, I lo – "
"I'll meet you in the throne room later tonight."
"I love you," he says simply. He knows it's been a short while, even for a god, but dammit he's fallen and he's fallen hard.
For a moment she just looks at him; into his clear eyes.
"…I –I. " Her shock at his words keeps her from saying much. "I love you, too." Why is that so hard to say? It's true! Right? Is it true…? Her brow furrows in frustration.
He smiles wryly down at her. "You can say that you love me too, you know." There's an amused lilt in his voice that lets her know he's teasing.
She matches his smile. "That's quite a bit to assume, 'Lord Hades'."
His expression abruptly changes. He looks almost… hurt. "…You don't…"
She laughs and manages to kiss him, and kiss him deeply, before he can pull away.
"What does that tell you?" she breathes into his ear. She hears him raggedly laugh. "Now, go be a king."
As Hades sits in his throne, he tosses the pomegranate up and down in the air, and feels a sharp spark of pain in his side that makes him see stars in front of his eyes when he sends a soul to Tartarus. She doesn't love you, he hears Cronus whisper in his mind. If she did, your curse would be broken.
Hades squeezes the fruit in his hand. He knows the curse isn't broken…but he also feels like Persephone was telling him the truth. He grits his teeth as a wave of pain rocks through him when he sends another soul to Tartarus. Perhaps there is more to this curse than what the Fates told me…
At the back of his mind, he can hear his father laughing at his thoughts. Hades knows that he is the one losing this battle. Persephone…do you really love me?
A/N: Woot, another update! Things are coming along, folks. :D Please leave reviews!
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