Light slowly flooded the dark living room, but everything was lit in just ten seconds.

I stood in front of the door, taking everything in. It felt strange to realize that just two nights ago at the very same spot, 'Aiden' revealed to me that I was Persephone, the Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld, and that he was Hades, the God of the Dead and the King of the Underworld.

The night that the life that I knew broke apart, and revealed a new one, the true one, that was hidden underneath the shroud of lies for too long.

"Have a seat, love," Hades said to me politely. "Your surprise will arrive in a few minutes."

Arrive? So it was a delivered surprise? Indeed, I was quite taken aback.

I didn't ask any questions and just walked over to the couch. I took a seat at one end, busying myself with smoothing the wrinkles of my skirt. He stood beside me, looking intensely at the plasma television in front of us.

Now, I became curious. "What exactly are we waiting for, Hades?" I questioned with furrowed eyebrows.

He didn't answer me. I was about to ask him once again when suddenly, I could feel a new aura of power in the room.

Now, I was very sure that this was not Hades' aura. This aura was not as powerful and dark as his, but it was still strong nonetheless. And it felt very fresh. It started small at first, so small that I might have not noticed it if I wasn't concentrating solely on it. And then it grew and grew and grew until I felt as though it radiated throughout the living room. I could feel this aura crawling on my skin, leaving goosebumps.

"Hades," I whispered worriedly as I looked up at him. "What is this?"

Hades didn't answer yet again. However, one corner of his lips lifted up into a smirk, and his eyes held a new amused expression.

Finally, he did answer me.

"It's an old friend."

Right after he finished saying that, a shadow suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of the television. I became really frightened at the sight of it, because it seriously looked like a ghost. I instantly gripped Hades' hand in fear and panic. His fingers twined with mine gently, while I was sure my nails were digging into his skin.

The shadow continued to form until it slowly took a solid figure. The shadow shaped itself to seem very humanoid. I could make out legs, arms and a head. And then there were curves on what must be the chest which determined that the figure had breasts, meaning that it was taking the shape of a female.

Suddenly, the blackness of the shadow disintegrated slowly, but the figure did not falter. In fact, as the shadow surrounding the figure disappeared, it revealed a woman underneath the shroud.

I couldn't help but gasp in shock.

The shadow surrounding the woman disappeared, but the aura didn't. It was more powerful now, and I could now clearly detect a lot of dark magic radiating from her.

I studied the woman, who was kneeling on the floor with her head hung. Her hair hung around her face like curtains, blocking my view of how she looked like.

I was quite taken aback by the colour of her hair. It was long, straight and looked very silky. It was black, but not as black as Hades' pitch black hair, with a dark blue tint to it. I would have suspected that it was dye, but I somehow couldn't deny the fact that it was natural.

I heard a chuckle from Hades, and he exclaimed, "Very dramatic entrance, Hecate."

My mouth fell open the very instant he said that name.

Oh. My. Gods.

I could hear a soft giggle coming from Hecate, and I whipped my head to her immediately. Slowly, she looked up, but she stopped laughing when she had set her sights upon me.

I was mesmerised by her face. Indeed, she was very beautiful. Maybe even more beautiful than me. I could see now that her hair reached her impressive bosom. She had enchanting dark violet eyes that held my gaze. Her skin was pale like the moonlight, only slightly paler than Hades'. But what stood out from the paleness of her flesh were her lips, which were painted a very dark scarlet.

She was tall, slim and had an attractive hourglass-figure. On her body, she donned an off-shoulder and floor-length midnight blue dress with long and flowing sleeves. The blue of her dress somehow managed to bring out the dark blue hue of her hair.

Hecate looked very bewitching. Very suitable with her title as the Goddess of Magic and Witchcraft.

Her expression was just as shock as mine. Both of us never tore our eyes off of each other as we both stood up slowly.

My hand which was gripped with Hades' was suddenly loosened from his hold. His hand traveled to my back, caressing it as Hades said, "Hecate. I am proud to inform you that I have finally found my wife and queen."

Hecate never responded to him, her face still had the shocked expression like mine. But then, she suddenly took a step forward. And in a few more graceful steps, she wrapped her arms around me and brought me into a delicate hug.

I stayed still as I heard her mutter something under her breath. Though this wasn't my first time hugging someone I now barely even knew (the first being Athena, or 'Elizabeth Craiss), this one seemed very awkward.

I looked over to Hades, who looked at both me and Hecate with a very amused look on his face.

Hecate then pulled away, but still held my shoulders gently and at arms-length. I could see now tears pooling in her eyes as a small smile graced her stark red lips.

"Queen Persephone," she murmured in a enchanting voice. "Indeed it has been too long. I am most certainly glad that finally, Lord Hades has found you."

Despite the fact that I felt quite weirded out by everything that was happening, a happy smile built on my lips.

"Hecate, my old friend. Somehow, on the inside, I feel as though I have missed you very much." And then, I murmured in a very sad voice, "It pains me to know that I cannot recall a single memory of you."

Her violet eyes were suddenly filled with confusion. "What are you saying, Lady Persephone? What do you mean? You do not remember me?"

I cast my eyes to the ground as I felt hot tears burning at the back of them. Hades' arm encircled me and he pulled me into a gentle hug as he said to Hecate, "Demeter has wiped away my queen's memories. She is only now beginning to recover."

Hecate then gasped and looked very sad and sorrowful. "My poor queen... I swear upon Styx that it does indeed sadden me to hear that such a predicament had happened to you, and at the hands of your own mother!"

I sighed and buried my face into the curve of Hades' neck, inhaling the woodsy and smoky scent of his skin to try and find comfort.

"But do not worry, my queen," Hecate said in an assuring tone. "When the approaching day when you and Lord Hades finally return to the Underworld arrives, all your memories are sure to return. Without a doubt, I guarantee it."

I then became confused.

Approaching day? What did she mean by that?

I pulled away from Hades to ask her about it, but was suddenly cut off when she exclaimed with wide eyes, "By the Gods! Surely we cannot celebrate this reunion without the children! Wait one moment! I will return with the prince and the princesses."

In an instant, shadows appeared all over her again, and she was engulfed by them into nothingness before the darkness disappeared.

I stood there, extremely stunned.

"Hades..." I muttered.

"Yes, my love?" he answered with slight worry in his tone.

I felt my heart stammering when I asked, "Did she just say she will bring our children?"

I remained still as he planted a soft kiss on the tender skin below my ear. I could then feel his lips right next to my ear as he whispered, "Yes, she did. Finally, you will meet our beloved son and daughters."

My heart skipped a beat then.

I couldn't believe it. In just a few minutes, I would come face-to-face with the children that I didn't know I even had. It was both exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time.

"I can sense that you are nervous," Hades murmured. "Tell me why."

I gulped my anxiety down and I stammered, "I don't know how to act in front of them. I am really ashamed that I had forgotten about them for fifty years. I've forgotten how they look like, how they act, their likes and dislikes..."

Without warning, I felt tears trickling down my cheeks. I was feeling extremely horrible, because I was thinking of myself as a mother who had neglected her children. her own flesh and blood, for too long. I knew I shouldn't feel this way, because I didn't know before-hand that I was even a mother this whole time, but the emotion was really very strong, and it was painful and unbearable.

Hades shushed me gently and kissed my forehead. As he held me in his arms, he whispered, "Please do not be sad, Persephone. It wasn't your fault at all. Don't worry about the children. Believe me when I say they still love you with all their hearts."

Thankfully, I felt better then. I knew that what Hades was saying was true. It now seemed silly to get so worried in the first place. Now, I felt excitement as I await the arrival of my children. Though I have forgotten everything about them, much to my guilt, I could feel from deep inside my heart that I have and always will love them dearly.

Suddenly, shadows began to appear again. I watched eagerly as they took on four shapes. Hades silently took my hand in his again, looking at me with a gentle smile.

Finally, Hecate began to take shape. And then, the three smaller shadow figures did as well. All of the other three figures were children, and had cream-coloured skin.

The first one was a girl that looked ten years old. She had wavy and dark brown hair that fell to the half of her back, and had eyes that was the colour of orange flames. But despite the darker shade of hair and eye colour, she looked very much like me.

Macaria, Goddess of Blessed Death, and my first child and daughter.

The second one was also a girl, and she looked a year younger than Macaria. She had straight, shoulder-length black hair with streaks of russet, and black eyes that had flecks of amber. She seemed to have attained her looks from both me and Hades.

Melinoe, Goddess of Ghosts, and my second child and daughter.

The last one was a boy, who looked to be six years old. He had short black hair that reached the half of his ears, and had black eyes. He looked exactly like Hades, except that his black hair and eyes were not as dark.

Zagreus, God of the Orphic Mysteries, and my last child and only son.

I gazed at them with many feelings exploding inside of me. But the one feeling that I couldn't ignore was happiness.

And the children apparently felt the same.

"Father! Mother!" all of them cried out loud, and immediately ran towards me and Hades. Hades instantly bent down to their level, and I did the same just as the three of them hugged us tightly.

As I hugged my children, I inwardly grimaced as I remembered reading online that only Macaria was Hades' child by an unknown woman, while Melinoe and Zagreus were mine with my father Zeus (which made me want to throw up violently now just by thinking about it). That was seriously a load of crap right now. Those 'scholars' and 'historians' don't know anything right.

I would proudly like to proclaim now that Macaria, Melinoe and Zagreus were indeed my children with none other than Hades.

"We've missed you so much!" Melinoe exclaimed in a tinkling voice. Funny, I've read many times that she was said to be a fearsome goddess who struck terror into everyone's hearts with her train of ghostly companions. But right now, being that she was right in front of me, she seemed so sweet and innocent, like any normal child. I also remembered that I've read from 'reliable' sources that she was half-black and half-white. I find the false information extremely stupid now.

Hades chuckled heartily and planted a kiss to her hair. Melinoe giggled and kissed his cheek. It made me smile on the inside, seeing Hades being so fatherly.

My attentions were then directed to Zagreus, who suddenly kissed my cheek as he said in a childish voice, "I missed you so much, Mother. I miss playing with you so much."

I felt warm on the inside when he called me that. I couldn't help but smile gently and plant a kiss to his nose, which made him laugh happily.

"I too have missed you, darling," I murmured to him. I know that I barely even knew them, but I honestly did feel as though I miss them so much. It was truth.

"Even though we love Lady Hecate for taking care of us, we really did miss you," Macaria exclaimed. "The Underworld seems so empty without our parents."

I reached out for her and pulled her into a gentle hug, which she returned with a hug as well. As I ran my fingers through her soft tresses, Hades said, "And we too have missed the three of you very much. There was never a day where I wouldn't pine to return to the Underworld and be with the three of you and your mother. Yes, that is indeed what I long for; for us to be together as a family once again."

Hearing him speak with so much depth made me feel so heart-broken. I could tell from his voice and the look in his fathomless black eyes that he was really pining to return to his true home in the Underworld. I knew now that he wanted to return to his old life so very much, to just return to being a god, a king and a father. I could just imagine how desperately he would really be, had he no control of handling his emotions.

Silently, I reached out for his hand. Macaria, Melinoe and Zagreus too did the same, and Hades looked at all of us with a loving smile.

Hecate, who had stood aside and watched our little reunion with a happy smile, then said gently, "And very soon, it will happen."

Unfortunately, I was too distracted with my children to ask her why she had said that.

Author's Note:

Aww! Happy reunion!

But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. And bad things usually follow afterwards...

Stay tuned for tomorrow's chapter!

Muse of Fanfiction