The Earth was silent and, unbelievably, absolutely empty.

Just a few moments ago, there had been cities and towns, monuments and buildings, people and animals. Everything was alive… in motion… breathing…

But now, there was nothing left. There was not even a soul roaming through the open and lush green lands where the famous landmarks of the old world once stood. In fact, it looked as though it had never been there at all.

Time had been reset. Time had gone backwards. Time had taken a new turn.

This was a new Earth. It was now free of the environmental dangers that the mortals of the old Earth had once inflicted upon it. No spills of poisonous liquids in the now bluish-green waters of the oceans. No more garbage which littered the ground. No more poisonous gases that hung in the atmosphere.

Everything was new, fresh and cleaner.

The new Earth maintained the already-natural beauty that it beheld. The oceans, the lakes and the mountains are such.

And speaking of mountains, there is a mountain standing in the new land of Greece that was still bustling with life of a different kind. This mountain had made history in the times of old Earth, and it would continue to make history in the times of new Earth.

This mountain was called Mount Olympus.

In the dark shadowy abyss, the white-cloaked Fates were having a discussion amongst themselves.

"So what was to happen has already happened," Atropos said solemnly to herself, still trying to get over the new feel in her.

"I feel like I am looking back in the past," Lachesis mused. "It looked exactly like how it did in ancient times. There seems to be no difference."

At hearing this, Clotho jumped into the conversation. "Ah, that is true, dear Lachesis. And very soon, the old order will restart once again. The divine ones who reside on Mount Olympus, the mortal lands, the ocean waters and the Underworld will once again rule."

And then, pulling the hood of her cloak up, Clotho added, "Maybe it is time we pay a visit to Mount Olympus. Shall we, dear sisters?"

Without hesitation, Atropos and Lachesis nodded, and the both of them too pulled up the hoods of their cloaks.

In union, the Fates disappear from the shadowy abyss.

When I woke up slowly, my vision was blurry, my head felt heavy and my body felt stiff.

I groaned as I slowly moved, feeling the cracks in my joints as I did. I then brought my fingers to my temples, trying to massage away the throbbing feel I felt there.

But then suddenly, I felt someone else's hand being placed on my forehead. The hand felt warm and soothing, with its warmth seemingly seeping into my skin, but the touch of it was foreign to me.

In a hazy daze, I tried to look in the direction of where the hand had come from. But my vision was still blurry, and my mind was still entirely foggy.

When I opened my mouth, only a croak escaped from me. I then realized that my mouth felt really dry, as though I had not eaten or drink for days. It felt really uncomfortable, and I needed water so badly right now.

In a thick and croaky, I managed to mumble, "Mom? Can I get a glass of water?"

Instead of my mom's voice answering back, I heard a tinkling laughter. The laughter sounded so different to my ears, and I knew immediately that this was not the hand of my mother on my forehead.

I brought my hands to my eyes and started rubbing vigorously to try and get some of my sight back, but the hand on my forehead stopped me.

"No, my dear. Take it easy," a woman's voice said gently as she brought both my hands away from my eyes. "You're still recovering. Refrain yourselves from making too much movements."

This voice. I remembered it very well. But from where? And from when?

Luckily, my sight began to return just then, and I could see everything clearly in a few seconds, though my mind was still quite a fog.

I was in a room that was the size of a small house. In the front, there were huge and tall doors that were made of pure gold. On my left, against the wall, there was a long and intricately carved wooden wardrobe, the wood of the furniture polished so thoroughly that it shined. On my right, there was a vanity table that looked so majestic.

I then noticed the bed I was resting on. It was huge. About three times the size of my singular bed. I was covered in a white silk sheet that was deliciously soft and soothing to my skin, and there were many silk pillows that were all the colour of peaches. The bed felt as soft as a cloud and it was so nice to sleep on.

The room was so beautiful. It looked like it was a room of a palace from another era.

And at that thought, I suddenly began to realize that something was totally amiss.

But I was then distracted by the hands which were now cupping my face and turning my head to the right.

There was a woman sitting on a chair beside the bed. She had curly, shoulder-length hair that was the colour of a reddish-orange flame. Her eyes were a blazing bright yellow which held kindness. Her skin was like mine; the colour of peaches.

In my own silly opinion, she looked like a candle, with her hair serving as the flame.

She was smiling at me, and yet looking at me with concern. I, on the other hand, sat still, gawking at her.

I knew this woman very well. I should have already guessed who it was from feeling the comfy warmth that were radiating from her hands.

"Aunt Hestia?" I whispered, slightly in disbelief as though I could not believe that she was here.

Hestia pulled her hands away from my face, placing them on her lap, as her smile turned wider and she said, "Thank Mount Olympus that you can remember. I was worried that you wouldn't. In fact, I was getting worried that you wouldn't even wake up. You've been asleep for so long."

With each passing second, I became even more confused. What exactly was going on? What did she mean?

"Aunt Hestia…" I murmured, looking around the room blankly. "What happened? Where am I? Where is everyone?" And then, at that moment, his face flashed into my mind, and I became anxious as I asked worriedly, "Where is Hades?"

Hestia looked at me pitifully then. Slowly, she said, "You're on Mount Olympus, my dear niece. Everyone is either currently resting in their own rooms or doing their own businesses. Hades is currently having a private discussion with Zeus and Poseidon, although he did try very hard to stay here by your side."

As she talked, my mind slowly showed me images. Images that seemed so confusing, but yet made complete sense of what had happened before.

"It happened, did it?" I whispered, staring blankly at my hands on my lap. "The rapture happened? The prophecy had occurred? Earth had regenerated?"

Hestia placed a hand on my shoulder, but I did not turn to look at her. I was trapped in some sort of trance, trying to absorb the knowledge of the fact that everything I was seeing in my mind had in fact happened. I had escaped with Hades to Greece, Hades and my mother fought, my mother nearly died but she was saved by Hades at the very last minute, and all of us reunited with the other gods and goddesses to return to Mount Olympus just right before the rapture occurred.

"It did, my dear," she finally said. "It really did happen. I know, this is a lot to take in."

Hestia sounded so sorry for me, but I was confused as to why.

Alright, maybe it's about the fact that I had been initially upset that such a thing would happen. That the mortal souls would disappear as the Earth became reborn. It was that moment I remembered Henrietta, the only human who I ever considered my true friend. I wanted to cry at the thought that she was now gone, but I didn't. Somehow, I felt happy, but not in a bad way. Maybe she was at peace now. Despite her mistakes, she had always been a very good person. I knew it personally.

I was indeed happy that the Earth was reborn. It could start fresh. It was cleansed and renewed, ready to hold new lives to come.

And then, I was happy that I returned to my true home. That I returned to who I truly was.

A goddess.

All of a sudden, without warning, new images came into my mind. Images that were clearly not made up, but were actually memories. These memories must have been buried so deep within my psyche, and all of them appeared at one time. Everything was so crystal clear and it felt as though I had just experienced some of them yesterday.

Many images played through my mind like a slideshow. Me having fun with my half-siblings. Me playing around with some girls, which I guess must be nymphs, in a forest. Me crafting flower crowns as I sat by myself under a tree. Me nursing a baby with orange eyes, which I knew was Macaria. Me playing with my children in a beautiful field, with Hades watching from nearby with a smile on his face.

At that moment, in my head, I saw myself as the goddess I have always been. But I saw myself in two different situations.

The first was of me dancing a big field. The skirt of my dress twirled and my russet hair, which had a crown of flowers atop, sashayed as I spun around in glee. My amber eyes were wide and bright as I smiled. With each step I took, colourful flowers bloomed out of the green grass, basking in the rays of the sunlight.

The second was of me sitting on a jewelled ebony and gold throne, looking very regal and powerful. My hair and eyes seemed to be slightly darker, and my skin paler, but it was still the same old me. On my head was a silver circlet with a lone ruby centrepiece.

I saw myself as both the Goddess of Spring and the Queen of the Underworld.

"I remember," I whispered under my breath.

"What was that, my dear?" Hestia asked me, her voice sounding slightly concerned.

I turned to look at her then, and a small smile played on my lips. Hestia was quite taken aback, but she smiled back.

"I think everything's going to be alright, Aunt Hestia," I finally said to her.

I didn't know how, but I had managed to fall asleep after Aunt Hestia left to take care of some things first.

But I think I hadn't been asleep for too long, because it only seemed like a few minutes had passed until I felt a hand stroking the side of my face.

This hand was different, but I knew the feel well. I could already guess whose hand was it.

My eyes opened to meet a pair of liquid obsidian orbs gazing down at me, and I smiled.

I whispered his name in the most barest of voices.

"Hades."

In an instant, he leaned down to kiss me full on the lips. I responded by grabbing a loose hold on his hair, pulling him down to me closer, and kissing him back gently. His hands held the side of my face gently, his thumbs brushing over my cheekbones.

He pulled away after a while, and placed his forehead gently on mine. In a hushed whisper, he breathed, "I'm so glad that you're alright… I thought… I thought you wouldn't wake up…"

"Ssh…" I breathed and kissed his lips once again. Stroking his hair, I whispered, "Don't think like that, Hades. Please. I'm fine. We're both fine. Everything is fine."

Gently, he brought me up into a sitting position. Sitting on the edge of the bed beside me, he brought me into a loving embrace. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding onto him as though I was in an ocean and he was the life raft.

Hades buried his face into my hair, and he whispered, "Everything is always fine for me with you around, my lovely wife. You bring happiness into my life with each step you take. I am so blessed to have you."

I smiled at his kind words. He never seemed to stop making me feel so special, and I loved him entirely for that. In return, I would always consider him to be the most special person in my life.

"I should say the same for you, my dear husband. I'm truly the most luckiest goddess in the universe to have the perfect God and King of the Underworld as my one and only love."

Hades chuckled wholeheartedly, causing me to erupt into my own fit of giggles. For a while, we just held each other, both laughing to our hearts' content, until it finally faded in to silence.

"I remember everything," I said to him quietly. "All those memories that I thought I had lost. I remember all of them now. It was as though it hadn't been gone in the first place."

He sighed in relief and placed a kiss on my cheek. "Thank the Great Mother," he replied. "Everything is well once again."

I had a hand placed over the area where his heart would be, and I could feel the muffled pounding of his heart through his garments. It was a very comforting feel, and I did nothing but focus on it.

Suddenly, he said, "Very soon, we will return to the Underworld. We will stay there forever with our children and rule side-by-side."

At that moment, I became very still again as I dove into a deep pool of thoughts. To think, very soon, I would return to the Underworld, the realm I ruled alongside him. The realm where I had married him and lost my virginity to him. The realm where I had eaten the famous six pomegranate seeds, which then led to the agreement between him and my mother.

My mother…

I pulled away from the embrace then and asked him, "Hades, where is my mother? How is she?"

His expression became stony then and he looked away from me to the very large glassless window behind the bed. I waited patiently for him to answer, keeping my eyes on him.

Finally, he released the breath that I did not realize he had been holding in, and answered, "She's been fine, but kind of isolated herself from the others. I think she is in the gardens right now."

Then his eyes went back to me once again, and he asked, "Would you like to see her?"

I quickly nodded my head in answer.

Slowly, he helped me off the bed, keeping a firm but gentle grip on me as he did. I was glad he did so, because my legs gave out the minute I tried to stand on the floor. I would have fallen flat on my face had it not been for him.

When we exited the room, even though I quite remembered how the hallways had looked like, I was still completely amazed by it. The stretch seemed pretty long, the sides had rows of golden doors, and it was lit by the bright sunlight that was coming from somewhere. It was so beautiful and flawless.

Hades led me down the hallway to a majestic staircase. As we reached the first platform, I saw that there was another glassless window there. I beckoned for him to let me take a look, and he gladly complied.

I was so entranced by the view I saw outside. It seemed as though the palace was suspended in mid-air, and as far as I could see, there was only the clear bright blue background of the sky and the puffy white and silver-lined clouds that were floating. The sunlight was not too bright. Just perfect.

When I finally pulled myself away from the window, Hades continued to lead me down to the first floor of the palace. As we made our way to the garden (I remember only slightly the correct way), I was amazed by all who went past us. Satyrs (good ones at least!) and nymphs acted as servants to the palace, all of them bowing down to me and Hades if they were to pass us. I have always read about these creatures, and was completely amazed to see so many.

Finally, we reached another set of golden doors, which I knew led to the gardens. Hades stepped in front to push the doors open for me, before leading me outside.

The sight of the garden left me absolutely breathless.

It was huge, about the size of a small forest. In fact, it was like a small forest, complete with trees and such. There were all sorts of flora here, and I could even see the bright colours of the many flowers on the various bushes amongst the lush greenery. In the centre of the garden, there was a big and majestic marble fountain that had very clear waters flowing in it. The lip of the fountain was wide enough for anyone to take a seat.

And it was on that seat that I found Artemis, Athena, Apollo and Dionysus.

And when they saw me, they were all ridden with excitement.

"Persephone! You're awake!" Athena exclaimed and rushed towards me, followed closely by the others. In a second, I was suddenly in the middle of one big group hug.

I giggled and hugged each and every one of them back. I listened tentatively as each of them asked me about how I was doing and what did I think of the palace so far. I answered their questions patiently, just happy that they were here as well.

Suddenly, Hades coughed from behind me, and said, "Persephone."

I turned to look at him and saw that he was gesturing to something else. I looked over to where he was gesturing to.

I became still when I saw the back of my mother standing nearby some patches of flowers. I did not know why she did not even approach me when I first stepped outside.

And then, a little voice spoke inside my head.

She's feeling guilty…

Sadness overwhelmed my heart, and I then stepped away from all of them and made my way towards my mother. I heard Apollo say something about leaving me to my privacy, and then I couldn't hear my siblings anymore by the time I stood right behind my mother.

I reached a hand out, but I hesitated for a while, wondering if this was such a good idea. But in the end, I decided to get over my fear and just placed my hand on her shoulder. She was my mother. I did not need to be afraid around her.

"Mother?' I said, keeping my voice gentle.

She stiffened under my touch, but nonetheless, she turned to face me. Her face looked calmer now, and she looked as beautiful as ever. But her olive green eyes still held that tinge of sadness that pierced my heart immediately.

My mother's eyes darted to something behind me, and I looked back briefly to see that Hades did not leave. I was afraid that it would cause her to go into another burst of rage. But no, it didn't happen. She just looked at him calmly for a second more before looking back to me.

"Kore," she finally whispered. "How are you?"

I did not answer her question. Instead, I quickly hugged her tightly, feeling tears streaming down my cheeks. She too did the same, crying softly into my hair.

Through a heavy voice, I said, "Please don't leave me…"

She ran her fingers through my hair and replied, "I promise, my lovely Kore… And I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry for everything I have done to you…"

I only hugged her tighter, as a way to tell her that she was forgiven.

And just then, she pulled her away from me gently. I became confused at first, and even more when I saw her approaching Hades slowly. He did nothing but stay still and look at her blankly.

I could see my mother hesitate for a while, before she said in a guilty voice, "Brother, I also must apologize very much to you for all that I had done after all those centuries. My actions were foolish and cruel. You did not deserve that. I understand if you do not want to forgive me. I understand."

I watched silently as Hades said nothing, but he quietly took one of my mother's hands.

My mother looked down at the hand he took hold of before looking back at him. There was a slight smile on his lips as he replied, "I forgive you, sister. I forgive you completely. I too must apologize for what had happened in the very beginning of all of this. But now, let us just put our pasts aside and focus on a new future."

My mother gasped quietly in shock at what he was saying. I too was in shock, but overall, I felt glad that Hades was noble enough to do such a thing. It made me even more proud of him.

My mother sniffled quietly as she smiled and said, "I would be happy to, brother."

And then, they let go of each other and only smiled. From the side, I too smiled. I was so happy that now they have finally made peace, and it might remain that way for the years to come.

Suddenly, the golden doors opened, and a young god with short light blonde hair and spring green eyes was flying towards us, thanks to the aid of the winged-sandals he wore on his feet.

"Hermes?" I exclaimed in surprise.

Hermes gave me a grin before turning serious once again in the presence of my mother and Hades. After clearing his throat, he announced, "All of us are to assemble to courtyard immediately. We have special guests."

And then, Hermes flew off quickly. The three of us – Hades, my mother and I – made our way to the courtyard, where the rest were already there.

The very first thing I saw was three hooded white-cloaked figures standing in front of the golden gates of the palace. The three mysterious figures walked towards us before finally coming to a stop a few feet in front of us.

It was Zeus, who looked very much like the glorious and magnificent king he truly was, who spoke up first.

"Fates. Indeed it has been a long time. What brings the three of you here?"

I gasped when I found out that these were the legendary Fates. It sent my heart on an overdrive immediately.

All three of them pulled back their hoods to reveal youthful and beautiful faces. All had pale skin and bright green eyes, though their hair colours were different. The oldest had waist-length blood red hair, the middle one had shoulder-length black hair while the youngest had pale blonde hair that fell to her breasts.

It was the youngest who spoke first, with a beautiful smile on her lips.

"Welcome back, great gods and goddesses."

Author's Note:

Officially the longest chapter ever in the story, with 4005 words.

And this is the last chapter... WAIT! This may be the last chapter, but the epilogue comes out tomorrow, so look out for that!

Who knew I could go this far?

Muse of Fanfiction