A/N: Thanks for your reviews! I have a little bit of an announcement. I'm going to be out of town next week, so I won't be able to post on Friday. So look for the next update TWO weeks from now. I'm going to the San Diego Comic Con! It should be amazing! Okay, back to the story. Sorry this is another short update. What do you think Charon's reaction to Persephone will be?

Chapter 15: More Conversations

After his rather intriguing visitor that afternoon, Charon sought out Hecate and Thanatos. They had kept the news of the goddess to themselves for far too long, and he wanted the story behind her now. He found them in a sitting room, enjoying after-dinner drinks and conversation. Hades and Persephone were nowhere in sight. That made it easier to question the other gods, but it also turned his curiosity rampant. Where were they? Were they together? He approached Thanatos and Hecate.

"Who is she, and what is she doing here?" he asked boldly.

They paused in their conversation to look up at him. He didn't come to the palace often. It wasn't that he was not welcome here; it was more of an ongoing disagreement with Hades. Charon remembered a few things that Hades would rather he forgot. Charon refused to forget, and Hades preferred not to remember. It was easiest when they avoided each other. However, the inducement of the new guest had drawn him from his rivers.

"We were just talking about her," Hecate said. "Sit down, you're giving me a crick in the neck."

He pulled a chair over and sat. There was no pretending they didn't know what he was talking about. The young goddess must have stirred them as much as she had him. "So… who is she?" he asked again.

"The daughter of Demeter and Zeus," Thanatos said. "She ran into a bit of trouble in the upper world, and Hades agreed to given her asylum."

"What kind of trouble, and for how long?" Charon asked, determined to find out as much about Persephone as possible. If what he suspected was true… Hecate and Thanatos were indulging his questions despite his rudeness, which meant they were thinking along the same lines as him.

"Some of the gods took a rather avid interest in her," Hecate said grimly. "As for how long, no one has said." She shrugged.

Charon leaned back in his chair. "That's not like him. Hades has not involved himself in the affairs of the upper world before," he mused. "How is he around the girl?"

"Besotted," Thanatos snorted, torn between disgust and amusement.

"He's confused," Hecate said in a gentler tone. "He's drawn to her, but fears he is not an appropriate mate."

"He tried to push her away this morning at breakfast," Thanatos added, shaking his head. "Probably on some awful reasoning that it was for her own good."

Charon rolled his eyes. "Let me guess: he's still on about that being the god of the dead thing?"

"Even more so now because Persephone is a maiden goddess of spring," Hecate said sagely.

Charon sighed. "You would think he'd remember that even though this is where people go after they die, this is also where they wait to be born again. There is as much life as death down here."

"Yes, but we all know how Hades hates to remember certain things," Hecate said with a pointed look at Charon.

"It's his history," he said stiffly. "He shouldn't try to forget it."

"But sometimes it hurts too much to remember," Thanatos interrupted before they could start arguing.

There was a short silence, before Charon cleared his throat. "So, what did you do about it?"

"I flirted with her," Thanatos shrugged.

Charon sat back and surveyed the other god.

"You still have all your limbs, he must not be that interested in her."

"On the contrary," Hecate smirked, "He got dragged from the dining room."

"You don't have to be quite so smug about it," Thanatos scowled, rubbing his arm.

"Yes I do."

"Yes she does."

Hecate and Charon exclaimed at the same time. They exchanged an amused look at Thanatos' expense.

"So what did he do to you?" Charon asked.

"Not much," Thanatos confessed. "He couldn't confront me without admitting how much she means to him, so he mostly settled for getting me away from her."

"And what was her reaction to you?"

"Trying to be brave, but mostly frightened. She definitely isn't interested in me. I don't think she sees anyone but Hades."

"That was at breakfast, did they spend any time together since then?"

"I sent her on a trip past the throne room at the same time he would have finished judging," Hecate said proudly.

Charon stared at her. "He lets her watch him judge?"

"And they have lunch together after," she said triumphantly.

"A two hour lunch," Thanatos added with relish. "And they looked quite cozy when I came in, if I do say so myself."

"That does sound promising," Charon nodded in satisfaction. "For my part, I can say that she is completely taken with him. You should have seen her every time I even hinted at his presence."

"You're telling her your stories?" Hecate gasped.

"It was his idea," Charon said nonchalantly, pointing at Thanatos. Hecate turned an accusing look on the god of death. He shrugged.

"She asked to learn more about the Underworld," he said. "Who better than him?" He inclined his head toward Charon. "Besides, it's better that she knows them now, than later when she has already committed," he added firmly.

"And you don't think they will frighten her off early?"

"I'm not sure that's possible at this point," Charon mused. "I don't believe she can be much more committed without a ring on her finger."

Hecate and Thanatos exchanged a look that Charon saw. He leaned forward in his chair.

"And you think so too!" he exclaimed. "You've already been testing her! You, what did you do to her?" He pointed at Hecate.

She raised her chin in defiance. "I've done nothing wrong," she declared, then relented. "But she was interested in the workings of the palace. I took her around like a new maid and set her to every task I could think of. I must have given her a dozen different tasks, and she worked as hard on all of them. I could have been gentler with her, but she never gave a peep of complaint. Even when I set her on the laundry."

"And?" Charon said impatiently, rolling his hand at her.

"And… I agreed to teach her witchcraft," she admitted.

Thanatos started in surprise. "You did? She asked you?" Hecate was notoriously picky when it came to who she taught her witchcraft to. She had turned down kings and other gods before.

"I offered," Hecate sniffed. "I found her a worthy student."

"What did you do to her?" Charon demanded, abruptly shifting his focus to Thanatos.

"I took her around on my foreman rounds," Thanatos began. "Like you said, not a word of complaint, though she didn't know what she was doing and I didn't tell her. Did her best not to slow me down either, even if she was tripping over her feet to keep up."

"But what happened?" Charon insisted.

"One of the miners grabbed her, and tried to steal a kiss."

Hecate and Charon stilled, and the air grew thicker. Hades was not the only deadly deity that lived in the Underworld. Three more of them were in that room. Thanatos nodded.

"I wanted to rip the man to shreds with my scythe. I almost did. You can bet that Hades would not have hesitated."

"So why did you?" Hecate accused.

"Because she just froze," Thanatos complained. "Didn't try to defend herself or anything. Part of it was her fear from previous encounters, but part of it was that she gave up!" He clenched his fists in frustration. Thanatos couldn't stand people who gave up. He never had. "Can you imagine what a liability she would be to Hades? She'd get him killed."

"So what did you do?" Charon asked.

"I got her away from there, and showed her how to get out of a grab. She was still too timid though. I ended up drilling her in defense. She tried to give up, again. Would have laid there and died, until I mentioned Hades. I said some things maybe I shouldn't have, and she came up fighting. I didn't go easy on her either. I couldn't have pushed her harder than if I was sparring with a fury. She would have let me run her into the ground if I didn't stop her."

"Thanatos!" Hecate scolded, while Charon laughed darkly.

"You see?" he said. "Both of you tried to break her today, and she came back for more. You think a few of my stories will scare her away? You're wrong. She's already in love with him."

Both Thanatos and Hecate jumped in surprise.

"Do you truly believe so?" Hecate asked delicately.

Charon nodded. "You don't realize what she's doing? She's learning more about the Underworld to impress him. She wants to fit in so he'd notice her. You two are so blind."

"It isn't like we've had to deal with this before," Thanatos snapped. "He's never shown interest in a woman before."

"Or anyone," Hecate said in a calmer voice. "And the only woman who was interested in him was that evil nymph."

Charon grunted. "True enough. Speaking of Hades and Persephone, where are they, anyway?"

"This time of night? Still in his study, I imagine," Hecate said.

"His study?" Charon choked. His eyes grew wide, and suddenly he burst into loud, deep laughter. The other gods stared at him while he pounded his fist on his leg.

"He's already chosen her as his queen," he gasped between peals of laughter. They continued to give him blank looks.

"Oh, come on," he wheezed. "Don't you see it? He took her to his study! That's like his private sanctuary. It's practically in his bedroom with the connecting door. You can wager he's thinking of bedding her every time he brings her there."

"Don't be crude," Hecate snapped.

"We know he's too honorable to make a move on her," Charon waved his hand dismissively. "That's my point, get it? He is honorable. If he's keeping her so close, then he's considering her for nothing less than his wife and queen."

Stunned silence followed, but there was no disagreement. Charon felt entirely smug to have seen it before them. Then again, there was a lot they had missed about Persephone.

"She's even acting like his queen already," he pointed out reasonably. "She's going around learning about his kingdom."

"She's trying to replace us?" Hecate asked sharply.

"Don't be stupid. She's doing exactly what Hades did when he first came here, after all the… burning… was done. He did everything by himself, until it grew too large for him to handle on his own. He only started to delegate to us a few thousand years ago, when his duties became too much for one person. What she's doing is learning just like him. You know how he still likes to keep his hand in every once in a while. After we've trained her, she'll be fully his equal in rule. I doubt that's why she's doing it. She might not realize that she loves him. But she is doing her best to make him proud of her."

"Bloody Tartarus," Thanatos breathed, then began to grin. Hecate smiled, and the three of them shared a moment of triumphant joy for their lord.

"So," Charon rubbed his hands together briskly. "What's the plan to get them together?"

Smiled slid off two faces. Hecate cleared her throat delicately.

"We've tried that, actually," she admitted.

"It didn't work out so well," Thanatos said flatly.

Charon looked between them in surprise.

"He told us to stop," Hecate added.

"What, and you listened to him?" Charon asked incredulously.

"He forbade us from interfering!" Thanatos snapped.

Charon sat back thoughtfully. "He hasn't forbid me from doing anything," he mused out loud.

Thanatos and Hecate exchanged looks of alarm.

"It might not be a good idea to let Hades know you've been talking to Persephone," Hecate suggested. "He probably won't be pleased by the things you can tell her."

Charon frowned. "It's her right to know, especially once she becomes our queen."

"Truly," Thanatos insisted, "He has forbidden us from acting, but there are still subtle ways that we've been helping. The best thing you can do is continue to share your histories with her. I fear if you attract Hades' attention, he is likely to lash out at both of you. It will ruin his chances with her."

He nodded unhappily. "And what does he think of what the two of you are doing to her?"

Ominous silence answered him. He rubbed a hand over his face. "You aren't telling him. Lovely. There are so many ways this can go wrong. But I understand you, truly I do. You are in my same boat, as it were." He grinned briefly at his pun. "But when he's with her, is he happy?"

"More than we've ever seen him," Hecate confirmed.

He sighed. "Then… I leave it in your hands. But I expect an invitation to the wedding!"

Hecate and Thanatos nodded.

"Would that we be so lucky," Thanatos intoned.