The updates will come better spaced out from here on out. I'm focusing a lot on just between these two, there is much ground to cover and my mood reflects in my writing. I'll start working on a bit of an outside plot, but don't expect much, from here on I've deviated from the original story outline and I'm writing instead of filling in the blanks. My favourite character makes a short appearance and I'll leave you with a chapter that ends on a happier note this time around.
Thank you for the reviews, it's what keeps me writing.
Read, enjoy, review!
Chapter 12: Eager
They lay there for hours, Hades stroking through her hair as she dozes easily in his arms, eyes never leaving her sleeping form. Known for his volatile temper, the god never had control of his moods, at least not where Persephone was concerned. She could incense and enrage him so easily, then soothe him a moment later. Each time his calm exterior was wound up and his ire turned to his wife, she could always assuage it. Patience. Patience is something any immortal should have in spades, yet he finds himself unable to hold back as she regains her memories. He is in a near constant battle with himself to exercise restraint with the woman. Fascinated, he watches her eyes flit beneath their lids as she dreams.
A young woman named Pela stands outside the extravagant abode she shares with her mother, the yard only illuminated by moonlight. Bowing her head at the man standing before her, she gives him an amused smile, his hand open and offering the same symbolic gift he had before.
"No, I don't want this. My mother needs me here. I believe what you say, but you've always found me again. Not this time, love," she speaks quietly, as if to soften the blow.
"She's faking it! Immortals can't die, your mother isn't ill! She's guilting you into delaying this. You can come be with me and she will be perfectly fine!" Hades grounds out, eyes narrowed with the accusation.
"Then what happened to me the first time? You have all the time in the world, what is her recovery time compared to one who has lived millennia? Can you not be patient for me a little while longer?" she murmurs, closing his hand around the seeds and petting the back of it.
"Fine. We will do it your way, my dearest Perseph-" he pauses before correcting himself, "Pela."
Giving him an exuberant grin, she leans up and kisses him on the cheek, the wind whipping her blonde hair around her before parting from him, unaware that her mother had overseen the entire exchange.
Pela spends the next few weeks caring for her mother, never noticing the calculating gaze that settles upon her each time she leaves the room. Eventually, her mother "recovers" enough to function.
"Pela, let's take a trip, shall we? I'm feeling much better and I think a vacation is something that is well-deserved. I've purchased two tickets for a maiden voyage on a new ship that's been built." Her mother discusses with her, her tea cup pausing just before her lips.
Deciding a little while longer wouldn't be too much to wait, Pela nods, grinning happily as they enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Soon, April rolls by and standing on the docks as the crew takes their luggage into the hold of the ship, Pela's eyes widen while taking in the massive ocean liner. Once aboard, the giant vessel departed the port, on time at noon, heading for it's destination of New York City on what was the first voyage of the RMS Titanic, not knowing that it would never arrive.
Pela found herself among the panic the moment the ship had started to sink. Reaching out towards her mother, she instead finds herself trampled under the panicked feet of the other passengers. She wasn't given the chance of survival on the lifeboats and once again Hades was left empty-handed.
Paige stirs, her face contorted in a mask of displeasure. She turns towards Hades, her hands clutching the front of his robes, and presses her body flush against his in her sleep. Pulling herself closer, she rubs a heated cheek against the cool column of his throat. When he shifts her slightly in his arms, she utters a sound of protest and breaks halfway from her rest, slipping in and out of consciousness while struggling to fully awaken.
"Persephone…" he whispers softly to her, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest.
"Yes, my husband?" she murmurs, unaware of another woman's words falling from her lips.
A cool hand lulls the drowsy woman back into sleep. Hades grins to himself as he buries his nose into her hair and inhales the familiar fragrance while speaking softly.
"Not a thing, wife."
Paige wakes up on her belly, her body aching slightly from the odd position she left her arms in as she slept. She turns her head to gaze up at her abductor, her supposed husband, a god. Watching him sleep, she traces over the ever-present dark circles under his eyes with a feather-light touch. She then allows her fingertips to travel and trace over the bridge of his nose, along his jawline and over his chin, tentatively laying a kiss on the corner of his mouth before slipping out of his bed and chambers. Walking down the hallway, she finds the room she was searching for. She opens the door to the grotto and slips inside, eager to return to the waters.
She feels them before she hears them, the familiar massage of the two nymphs cleaning and easing her body further as she unwinds from their attentions.
"Persephone…?" one of them inquires.
"I've come to terms with that… I know who I am, but I still feel like Paige." She murmurs lazily back to them.
"You will always have your mortal memories, but you are not entirely mortal now, my queen." the other says softly, her hands running through Paige's hair, washing it meticulously. As they continue cleansing her entire body, she nods off once again in their care.
Hades wakes up to a cold bed. With his eyes yet unopened, his hand and arm search the other side of the bed, finding it empty and devoid of any warmth. Sitting upright, he throws back the covers and scans over the empty room for his wife. Unable to find her, he reapplies his armor and scours the hallway.
He soon comes across the sounds of water splashing and feminine giggles. Pushing open the door, he peers inside, garnering the rapt attention of all three females.
"Perse… Paige. I'll have food sent to the study for you. Do not venture off the grounds or into the maze. We have much to discuss, but for now I have business to attend to. Stay safe, behave and I will see you tonight." Hades speaks softly to her, yet commanding enough that she instantly responds, as she always had in her first life.
"I understand, my lord." she whispers to him, foreign words escaping her once more before she realizes what she's saying.
Relaxing back against the rocks, she watches him in slight fear and blushes darkly when he stands there too long, gazing upon her nude form. Becoming aware of her distress between embarrassment and fear of the repercussions if she were to turn her back to him, he turns away without another word, clearing his throat and exiting the grotto. She lets out a breath she was not consciously holding. Paige lounges for a few more minutes before slipping out, dressing herself with just a thought in a blue sundress, not too unlike the one she had worn a few days prior. She then saunters in and out of various doorways, keeping true to her vow of behavior and walking into the study.
She contents herself by poring over scrolls and books. Finding a set of charcoal and paper, she wastes hours drawing and doodling; lunchtime comes and goes, her food remaining untouched. With an exasperated sound, she ceases her activity and leaves the study. Keeping to the hallways, she finds her way outside. As she stands along the coast, her breath catches in her throat; she had spotted the rotted man she vaguely recalled seeing after her capture, the memories of him floating back into her mind.
"Having fun, my queen?" the disfigured, shamble of a man asks, regarding her with one piercing eye.
"With this stupid war going on, he has no time for me!" Persephone complains, heaving a large bone the size of her forearm past Cerberus. She watches the beast bound after its temporary toy, its three heads fighting one another over it. Two of the heads manage to snap down on the bone at the same time, breaking it in half and crushing it between their massive jaws.
Charon leans on the pole, watching as the goddess heaves another bone towards the canine, her cheeks rosy in her anger.
"You know, death fertilizes the land you love so much. Just because you're down here doesn't mean you can't help him with judgement, nor does it mean you can't have your own garden to cultivate. It's been a while since you've created a new plant." The ferryman chuckles at her when she casts a furious glance his way.
"Well Charon, maybe I don't wish to help him. You'd think after all the work he put into trapping me down here, he'd have more to show for it!" Persephone snaps back at him, nose turning upwards in a haughty manner. She walks across the water, heading in the direction of the Room of Judgement to address her grievances with her husband.
The last thing she hears before she's out of earshot is a loud guffaw from the usually stoic ferryman.
Snapping back and shaking her head, she watches as he glides past on the rust-colored skiff. His eye flashes and widens as she raises her hand, waving at him enthusiastically.
"Charon! I remember you!" Paige calls out, grinning widely as he stops pushing across the river, the momentum still carrying the boat across.
He doesn't reply. He simply stares, jaw hanging open in disbelief at the sudden greeting. The last time the girl saw him, she fainted. Now she was almost happy to see him? The ferryman lifts a hand to wave back at her, the dumbfounded look changing into a gruesome smile after a few moments.
"Come give me and Cerberus a visit sometime, my queen," he says, his voice carrying over the water easily and his smile never dropping as she gives him a short nod.
"This will prove interesting," he mumbles to himself, his heart much lighter from the same warm greeting that he had been accustomed to all those many years ago.