I woke up slowly, not sure of where I was, not remembering the horrors of the day. A part of me believed that I was warm in my bed at my mother's house. Another part believed that I was on my cot in Deanne's house, safe from harm and protected by Poseidon. However, as I opened my eyes, the truth came back to me quickly and painfully.
I had been lain on a large black bed in the depths of what appeared to be a cave. It was dark with only enough light to see things that were closest to me. As I looked around the cavern, I was overcome with many emotions, sadness, fear, anger. A tear fell involuntarily down my cheek as I remembered what had happened.
"Do not cry," a voice from the shadows spoke slowly. Not knowing anyone was there and not being able to see in the darkness, I turned my body towards where the sound had come from. "Do not be afraid," the voice continued in the still, calm voice. The voice felt safe and warm and I felt my fear start to disappear.
"Who-who are you?" I asked, moving towards the edge of the grand bed. I could not tell what the gender of the speaker was. All I knew was that the voice was calming and that I was drawn to it as I had never before been drawn to anything.
"Who do you want me to be?" asked the voice, growing louder as footsteps revealed that the speaker was drawing closer and closer to me. I slid off the edge of the large bed, unafraid, unaware, just wanting to be wrapped in the warm embrace of the voice.
At long last, the speaker drew into the light and I looked into his face. I saw the god of the underworld, my future husband. Seeing his face snapped me out of the enchantment that I had been in under his voice. I scrambled back upon the bed, wishing to get away from him.
"What my dear? Is the sound of death, calm and warm, more pleasing and safe-sounding then the face of your future husband? For you know, for many, death is just a warm embrace." Hades stepped closer with each word that he spoke, until he stood over the grand bed. He leaned close to me and I stared into his eyes, hypnotized.
"I do not wish to be your wife. I want to be with my mother," I said in a hoarse, weak voice that I knew would not convince him to let me go. For some reason, the more I looked into his eyes and the more that he spoke, the more drawn I was to him. "I want to go home." The more I looked, the more beautiful he became.
Slowly, his face went from the terrifying mask of the man who had kidnapped me into a face that was not unkind. "I had hoped that you would come to consider this to be your home. Hades. Me. The area around you." He moved swiftly onto the bed, so that his body was on top of mine, his face inches away. "I truly do love you Persephonia. I know that you do not believe it, but I do. I kidnapped you out of necessity, for this is the only way that you can be mine." He drew his face closer and closer to mine, until slowly he gave my confused lips a slow kiss.
Since it was my first kiss, I could not say whether it was a good kiss. However, I can tell you that I was filled with a warmth that should not have been felt in such a cold and dark cavern. It filled my body, starting with my lips and worked its way down, even to my toes. After what seemed an eternity, he pulled his lips away.
"It seems that you may have been lying after all. That was not the kiss of one who did not desire to be kissed. Perhaps you will be happy to be my bride, after all."