Zeus was not as tall as Hades, but his steps were faster, purposeful and harder to follow. She did everything she could to catch up with him, even almost jogging to match his pace.

"I'm not going to lock her up, if that's what you think." Zeus said with obvious nonchalance, as if talking about Demeter's fate was unimportant gossip.

Persephone was not foolish enough to take the bait. He was feeling her out, testing her reaction, her loyalty. But she was no longer a child begging for help, no longer so easy to intuit. She had lived walking on barbed wire, she had had to balance her emotions and hide them one after the other. Doing the same was now easy for her. So the young goddess laughed, adopting the smile she had perfected for so many years at her mother's side.

"I know." She said, stepping to his side. "You are the King of gods for a reason. There is no one wiser than you."

Zeus paused for a moment, lowering his gaze to meet her green eyes. "I am beginning to understand what Hades saw in you."

He was trying to decipher her as she did the same to him. He was covering up his expressions very well despite the surprise kept peeking out of his golden eyes. Surprise and curiosity. But Zeus didn't know Demeter's heart or her strength as well as Persephone did.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I will see you inside the room in a few moments." He said as he opened two shutters to quickly close them again, making it impossible for the young goddess to see inside.


Nervous as ever, Demeter wandered from place to place in order to calm her distraught mind. Mysterious and infinite were the laws of chance. She felt as if her whole life was summed up in that instant, that all her actions had led her there, at that moment, in that place. She had never felt so much fear inside her, her body wobbled fragile and her breathing was erratic and quick. She could still feel the hole inside her, as she felt it every morning when she woke up after her daughter's disappearance. It was not hunger or thirst. It was a hollow place, an emptiness where her heart had been, where her daughter had lived, and her brothers and sisters. Some mornings she didn't want to wake up. She would curl up under her blanket with her tired eyes closed and try to fall asleep. And she would fall asleep. That was the best thing, dreaming. She dreamed of her childhood, when she was just an innocent child; stronger, faster, wiser than now. And also of her little girl, the center of her universe. She dreamed that they flew together in a pink sky, where no one but them could go, where no man's claws could reach them. There she was the mistress of everything, of her destiny. There was no room for fears or old reproaches.

But for her daughter she could be better. Her pride and stubbornness had turned her into the person she had always hated. Persephone's words still echoed in her ears. Equality is a pleasurable feeling. The only man she had ever loved never treated her as an equal; he used her to satisfy his whims and then abandoned her to her fate, without stopping for a moment to think how she would feel, how she needed him, how she loved him. He used her and despised her, turning her into a jealous and selfish being incapable of seeing beyond herself. But her daughter, the best part of her, had taught her what real love was and that it was never too late to make things right.

She startled when she heard the door opening and when she saw the figure that had made its entrance, her shoulders jerked up into a feline alertness.

The room was a surprisingly brightly lit glass dome. The strange light of the sunless place pierced the thin panes of glass on the floor and filled the room with a fleeting light. Many windows guarded that place, far from the river Styx and overlooking the palace walls and the gently sloping hills sheltered by celestial forests.

"I apologize..." Said a muffled voice whose origin was solemnly approaching.

Demeter looked at him as he strode around the room until he reached the round table, where four chairs awaited their moment in the limelight. His burning eyes radiated an inner light that she could not identify, giving her the sensation of hot needles pricking her skin.

"It's nice to know you are at least paying attention to one of your brothers." Demeter said as Zeus approached her.

He merely blinked. "And so is seeing that you are not as impulsive as you used to be." He replied, looking at her with a crooked head, studying her. "You may sit."

She listened to him and sat down, turning her gaze away trying to hold back the urge to parse the god king's choice words.

"Ignore me as long as you wish, Demeter. I am none of your business." He added. "Only one person here is."

She glanced over her shoulder as her muscles twitched before her brain could react. He beat her to it, taking the words out of her mouth. "No, my dear, I don't mean you."

Zeus swaggered to the table and sat with serene and studied elegance on the chair with the highest back of all. Suddenly silence took over the room, making it impossible to bear.

Before speaking, Zeus cleared his throat, as if preparing to make an already studied speech. "We should talk before they arrive."

"What should we talk about? About how you allowed our brother to abduct Persephone? About how you covered it up?" She said in a tone of voice that came out more inquisitive than she intended.

His wry smile widened and he let go an exaggerated sigh. "Why do you always have to make it so hard, huh? I don't get it." He said in a patronizing tone. "I did it with the best of intentions."

"I don't believe you." She replied.

He smiled again and rubbed his forehead. "Ask me anything you want. Ask me a question and I will answer truthfully, I promise."

For a second she didn't believe him. He is not a man of his word, never has been. The first question that came to her mind was totally thoughtless. Has anything between the two of us ever been true? Those words almost slipped past her lips before she thought better of it and shied away from wasting her question.

He cocked his head, watching her think, as a cat watches a mouse, enjoying it; causing her skin to bristle.

"Do you think you look like Kronos?"

He was not disturbed because he knew his sister perfectly well. "Please Demeter, don't insult your intelligence like that." He spat as if it were poison. "Our father was a tyrant. He was alone in a world of his own making. He believed in nothing and no one." He said looking at her with shadowed eyes. "He tried to kill us, remember? He locked us in the bowels of his being never to come out of it."

"Well, I see a lot of him in you." She hissed.

"How much you hurt me!" He clicked his tongue in amusement. "Careful, I will eat your daughter." He said, mocking her.

"She is also your daughter."

The mention of the term "your daughter" quieted his listless protest. She could almost see his muscles dreading under his skin.

"I have sons and daughters scattered all over the place. I love them all, I care for them all." He said measuring, calculating, forcing his words. "And they all get the same fair treatment."

"Have you ever loved me?" She heard herself say.

Zeus let the comment slip out and continued as he rose from his chair. "Today you will behave like a civilized woman and come to your senses."

"Or else what?" Demeter snarled as he looked her over from head to toe.

"You will spend every day of your life regretting that you didn't listen to me." He spat with a coldness befitting a king. "I mean no harm to anyone, least of all you. After all, we share a past. The law is the law. And you are not above it."

Demeter rose from her seat and strode menacingly toward him, leaving a space between them. "Why are you like this?" Dementer asked, holding back tears, wanting to shatter him. Instead, only a torrent of words gushed from her that she could barely think before they came out raging. "Why are you still like this? You are king. We made you king. You shouldn't behave like a frightened boy anymore."

He grabbed her hard by the chin, managing to scare her and reducing her to silence. She doubled over, leaning backwards until she almost lost her balance. Tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks, following their course voraciously.

After a moment, he pushed her away, causing her to stagger and fall to her knees.

"As you tried to say, I am what our father made of me." He whispered and turned back to his seat.


Hades was waiting for her down the hall, a shadow in full dress uniform. Jet black made his eyes stand out, vibrant blue against his pale skin. He did not look frightened as he extended his hand toward his beloved and she gladly latched onto him hoping he would make her feel strong, safe or both. Persephone felt her lungs tighten, her chest constrict and her throat close. She swallowed saliva and let out a long sigh. "I didn't know I was so nervous."

"Calm down, my love. It is going to be quick." Hades said, holding her hand.

She focused on his firm, gentle hand. Her eyesight wavered. If it weren't for her feet she would stumble. Each step was harder than the last. "I just want this to be over." Panic was creeping up her back, she was drowning in the unbecoming bank of that place. She even counted her heartbeats, anything to keep moving forward.

The stones under their feet suddenly changed; the smooth, square tiles became steps and the huge door that presided over the room opened. Above their heads rose an overcast ceiling, smooth limestone arches with spiraling golden trim. Ahead, the corridor widened as they approached the main hall, a splendid circular enclosure under a glass dome. There were only four seats and a round table; two of them were already occupied.

It would seem that several years passed before the two gods arrived at their destination. Zeus waited in an opulent cloak, projecting an impressive figure of shimmering white. He wore the crown, which flashed as he moved, turning his head toward them.

Demeter rose as well, giving her daughter a coy smile, holding her gaze as if her life depended on it. Persephone knew her so well that she sensed her distress. It vibrated for an instant and danced like the wick of a candle. And just as easily it disappeared, leaving a smoky memory.

Zeus rose gracefully to greet them. When Persephone saw them from the side, their outlines became precise. Just as Hades' colors were black and gold, Zeus' were white. His eyes were a golden color that matched his beard and long hair. She unwittingly compared him to her husband. While Hades was slender and muscled, clean-shaven with light eyes that stood out against his white skin, the king of the gods was bearded and robust but strong like his older brother.

He sat back in his chair, leaning back and crossing his legs, letting his cloak fall from one arm while the other remained free. Hades sat next to his brother while his eyes were fixed on Demeter's body, which seemed smaller than usual, her shoulders seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. He tried to find out what was inside her, what fears and doubts she had at that very moment. But Demeter's gaze was fixed on the table, as if all this was not with her. Persephone also settled in her seat, in the middle of her beloved and her mother. Demeter only seemed to react when her daughter stroked her hand, giving her a shy and ephemeral smile.

"Shall we begin?" Zeus started. "We are here to resolve a situation that has gotten out of hand. Demeter made an attempt on the life of Hades, who is neither more nor less than the king of the Underworld, a unique and very complicated kingdom to manage. She tried to..."

"I made no attempt on his life." She interrupted, her voice weak and frail. "It was a mistake."

Ignoring his sister, Zeus continued. "As well as ignoring her duties as Goddess of the harvest and agriculture, causing many problems in the flows between the different kingdoms." Demeter fell silent, embarrassed. She knew she had been remiss but she was utterly convinced that she would never ever make another mistake of this caliber.

"Hades." Zeus pointed out, looking at him. "Do you have anything to say?"

Hades felt his wife's body tense beside him, not daring to look at her. He looked at Demeter, who was looking at him like a beaten dog, and felt a compassion he had never felt before. He saw himself reflected in her, as she begged for forgiveness. "Nothing at all." He replied. "All is forgotten." He sentenced, looking at his sister, who professed to him a look of gratuitousness he had never seen in those pink eyes. He felt his wife's hand entwine with his, giving herself to him.

"But," Zeus continued, rising from his seat and approaching the nearest window, his back to them. "Demeter has committed herself to righting all her wrongs and returning to the mortal realm where she will resume her role and heal the land together with her daughter."

"What?" said Hades, the question hanging in the air. He remained still, serene and quiet, just right for what is expected from a king, but behind his eyes burned fire. Next to him, Persephone gaped; a horrible, embarrassed sound escaped her mouth as she searched for something to say.

Zeus went on, dismissing his brother, avoiding looking at them. "So the two of you will leave again for the mortal realm and proceed with the restoration of the whole territory and you will be able to..."

"Zeus!" Hades burst out, rising from his seat, rapping his knuckles on the table.

The golden god clicked his tongue as if in pity. He moved so quickly that his garments rippled like a rushing river, joining his brother in the center of the room. They measured and devoured each other, neither wanting to be the first to break hostilities. Persephone felt the air around her tighten; it was hot, then cold, then dry, then sultry. The will of two kings was spreading around the others.

"Let me finish, please." Zeus sighed, begging his brother for patience. "Persephone is your wife and therefore Queen of the Underworld, a place that also belongs to her." Hades' shoulders relaxed at Zeus' words though his electric eyes were still waiting for him to finish the sentence. "Therefore, she will have to live in it."

Demeter, who had been calm and composed for a long time, rose from her seat clapping her feet on the floor. "That doesn't make any sense! She can't be in two places at once. Just because they are husband and wife doesn't force her to live here."

Hades looked at his sister with both sorrow and fear. He felt Demeter's heart fight for what she loved most, but he knew that Persephone could never ever leave him. No matter how much she wanted to.

"Mother..." Persephone mused. "I belong to the Underworld. I am its queen."

"If I had hidden you from him... If you had never..." Demeter stumbled over the words, they came out before she could stop them. She gritted her teeth, holding back something more emphatic, allowing another breath of silence. "I don't want to know what would have been."

"I do know." Persephone claimed. "I would have ended up destroyed, spiritless."

That confession burned Demeter more than the fire gnawing at her insides. It frightened her for what it made her feel, for what it made her understand. You can't hold someone against their will forever, and her daughter had been held all her life, because of her and then because of her husband. But now she was free, and she was choosing.

"And I have eaten the fruit of the Underworld." The young goddess added looking at her mother, who was still, as if frozen, her eyes fixed on the marble floor. She imagined she would scream to make this place a bursting chaos. But she was not moving.

Something gave way in her, smothering the fire she was trying so hard to hide. She approached the window with her hands clasped together in front of her. With the dim light on her face and the shadow behind it, she seemed torn between two worlds.

The tension in the atmosphere was suffocating and nothing seemed to end with it. The two lovers looked at each other and Hades' gaze hardened, turning steel blue.

"Well?" said Hades, finally looking at his brother, with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

The air seemed to thin out in the room as the three inhaled, awaiting the king's decision.

Zeus resolved in exhaustion, dropping back into his chair. He frowned for a few seconds and tied his beard, taking on a thoughtful countenance. The atmosphere crackled with a palpable mix of anticipation, anxiety, and the weight of imminent consequences. Nervous energy radiated from each deity, their expressions etched with furrowed brows and restless fidgeting.

"Persephone." Zeus said, causing her to jump up to look at him. "You ate the pomegranate knowing what it meant?"

She simply nodded her head.

"You did it freely?"

Demeter looked at her intently, waiting for her daughter's answer. "Yes. And I would do it again." She sentenced.

Hades casted a terribly sad smile, loving his wife more than ever.

"Good." Zeus muttered, pulling himself out of his seat with infuriatingly slow speed.

The room itself seemed to tighten, suffocated by the weight of the decision hanging in the air. The dimmed lights cast elongated shadows across the faces, emphasizing the gravity of the moment. Resting his hands on the table he continued. "Persephone is Queen of the Underworld and is also the Goddess of Spring." He began, causing the bodies of all three listeners to turn to look at him alone.

Persephone's stomach churned with excitement, with nerves, with fear. Zeus tried to hold her gaze though she averted it to Hades, who stood still as a statue, awaiting the verdict. The walls seemed to close in, suffocating the room with the weight of the impending choice. Time itself became a formidable adversary, stretching each second into an agonizing eternity. Hearts raced, amplifying the sense of urgency that permeated the air.

"Therefore, her place is between the two worlds. Six months in the Underworld she must be for the six pomegranate seeds she ate. The remaining six months, she must return to her mother to continue her obligations with the mortals."

A bittersweet blizzard of emotions flooded Persephone's entire body. Relief, like a cool breeze on a hot day, swept over her, momentarily calming the anxieties that had plagued her mind for so long. The weight of uncertainty disappeared from her shoulders and was replaced by a sense of clarity. Yet a subtle undercurrent of fear began to grip her. The path ahead, once shrouded in the mist of the unknown, was now revealed with unshakable certainty. The future now took on a definite shape, with its own set of challenges and responsibilities. Fear arose from the realization that this new certainty came at a cost. Her heart stopped when she looked at Hades and found that his eyes were already fixed on her, with the familiar bittersweet smile tightening his pale lips.

"When will she return to the mortal world?" Demeter asked, in a voice loud enough to impose itself over the silence.

Persephone and Hades exchanged glances amidst the shock of the news. He was the first to look away, in search of his brother's golden eyes.

"Tomorrow morning." Zeus replied.


Instead of warmth, she felt the air around them cool. That was enough to send shivers down her spine when he looked at her with those deep, burning blue eyes. Time dissipated with the current of cool air that cleared the thin barrier between the two of them.

She was perched on one of the window seats, leaning on a cushion with one thigh-high bare leg dangling below her flowing white dress. She did not turn around when he entered, giving him time to adjust to her presence. His gaze followed the surface of her leg before moving to her radiant blonde hair, which fell like liquid gold over her tanned shoulders.

She turned around at last and allowed him to admire her face. She gave him a sad smile the instant he kicked the door shut and crossed the room to take her face in his hands. Her skin was smooth and cool under his fingers.

She said nothing as he gazed at her features, concentrating on the ambient sound, trying to find her own voice. "I don't know what I am going to do without you." She told him parsimoniously as if either of them didn't know.

His caresses descended down her cheekbone, trying to mitigate her worries. "And how do you think I am going to do it?" He muttered. "Do you think I would have chosen this form of arrangement?" Something caught in his breath.

She snorted, running her thumbs under his chin. "I don't know if I can stand your absence."

His fingers dipped into her neck, smiling genuinely, twisting his lips a split second before he imprinted a kiss on them.

She touched his face. "I can't be without you." And she kissed him back. A light kiss, the merest brush of her lips on his, but he could feel her tremble as he slid his arms around her. "I want time to stop. I want to go back in time. We should have run away and lived where no one would find us."

He knocked the seats aside and lifted her up onto the bed, caressing her bare legs as he knelt on the floor, kissing them and inhaling her vanilla scent. He was on his knees, hugging her legs, making her feel his heartbeat. He knew she noticed his nervousness at once, and that it was beautiful what had been created between them, what she had created. It was a strange sensation, new, powerful, perfect.

He stood there for a few long seconds, maybe minutes. Kneeling beneath her. Then he rose slowly, climbing up to meet her eyes. After a few breaths face to face he decided to spend a few eternal seconds admiring the goddess before him. Her green eyes were an infinite, unreachable universe, full of life and an electrifying energy.

He kissed her with open eyes, trying to treasure that moment so that nothing would escape in front of him, giving her his soul. With their lips together, he understood that perfection was within his reach and that he would never be alone again.

He kissed her again, kissed her silent, kissed her until she moaned. Then he pushed up her dress and the silken shift beneath, climbing up and pushing her bare legs apart.

"My love", she whispered, "Hades". Her hands helped guide him, herself ready for him. "My king" She moaned as he thrust, "My king". She kissed his ear and stroked his black curly hair. She forgot about tomorrow, about all her worries, forgot her duties and her mother. Only his hands mattered, his mouth, his arms around her, him inside her. Hades lost himself in her flesh, feeling Persephone's heart beating in time with his own.


It was dark when her eyes opened, the dream of that night filled her with nostalgia for the coming of tomorrow. She tensed instinctively at not finding her lover sleeping in her arms but the figure of him wandering around the room calmed her.

He was already dressed, looking stately in the soft light of a few sparse candles. She watched him for a moment, without any mask or shield. She propped herself up on one elbow to look at him, so tall, so magnificent. He was wearing his favorite tunic, the same one he wore the day he took her by the arm to plunge her into the depths of darkness. His appearance with it produced in Persephone a kind of fear and excitement, the two faces of Hades; he could be fearsome as well as fragile and vulnerable. As he paced slowly, he tucked his curls behind his ears. Shadows surrounded his eyes, his appearance seemed more exhausted than last night, if such a thing was possible. She wondered if he had even slept or if he spent the night tortured by the thought of having to be separated from her. As soon as he met her gaze, he straightened up and regained his imperial bearing.

"Come on, my love. It's time." He whispered.

"I know." She grumbled as she stood up between yawns. She walked over to him and kissed his bare shoulder. "I will be ready in a moment." She crossed the room in search of a hot bath, thousand emotions sweeping through her, not comprehending half of them.

Demeter waited by the carriage, anxious to return home and get her life back. It had been so long since she had been herself that she could not remember what it meant to be a goddess. Her days among mortals had changed her and she didn't know if it was for the worse or for the better or for nothing. She still felt out of place and prayed to whoever would listen to her to give her strength not to go back to being who she was, but a better version of her former self.

A mix of emotions intertwined in her as she watched her daughter leave the palace with her husband. She was overwhelmed by that scene, her daughter had changed. She was no longer the child who nurtured the earth with her. She was a queen, a powerful goddess who reigned in two different realms.

The two rulers approached her, holding hands. Demeter gave them a small bow and took pity on them; she knew perfectly well how they would suffer because of their separation. She had lived through it and did not wish it on anyone, not anymore. She gave them a small smile and entered the carriage, giving them the intimacy that a farewell requires.

Persephone squeezed her husband's hand and when he squeezed back, something in her awoke. As if it were an unlocked river, drop tears began to flow from her eyes, making her crystalline eyes sparkle. Hades brushed her wet cheek with his fingers and then kissed her, making her skin curl.

"I told you everything was going to be alright." He said, in a strangely husky voice.

She said nothing, just looked at him; her eyes roaming over every corner of his face as if she wanted to memorize every detail of his face.

When his hands descended to her collarbone they became bolder, she accepted them without protest. "Remember what I told you one day. I will never give you up."

His consequent smile could light up the whole world, making her want to kiss him again.

He grabbed her waist and kissed her lips in a long, painful kiss. "I promise we'll be together again. If you ever get lonely, remember to look in the mirror." He told her in a soft, sad voice.


Notes:

Yes... it's been a while... don't know what to say fellas, sorryyyyyy a lot of things: no time, no inspiration... but mostly, no time. But here I am, as I promised! :D

During this time that I haven't written I seem to have unlearned...I've had to reread the story to reference my own writing. In fact, reading this episode I see that I have changed the way I write at times... does anyone else notice this? Maybe it's just me ^^

Anyway, hope you like the update, this is about to finishhhhh! one or two more episodes and that's all folks. PLEASE, let the reviews go my lovely followers.

And as usual, stay safe and have a very nice summer!