The temperature had dropped several degrees in the last few hours, taking away the rainy and temperate days and replacing them with icy gusts of wind that had swept any presence from that place. Hades stood silent, only listening, thinking with a confused scowl. Every now and then he would glance towards the brooding landscape, as if it would ease his mind. He was perplexed, wondering about a broad range of possible scenarios.

"If what you say it's true," Hades demurred. "What choices do I have?" Gloomy eyes asked desperately seeking for an answer, waiting for the reply.

Images of his wife ran through his mind again and again, evading his thoughts like a sweet poison, blurring his senses with her sweet smile, her voice, her body. The more he thought on it, the more he came to realize how lucky he had been, how in a few months they had settled things out and now lived in peace in their own world, where only the two of them matter. Everything in his heart and soul stopped working for a moment. He was sure of his feelings for his Queen and, more important, he was now sure of her feelings for him. It was unthinkable for him to change anything now. But everything was turning into a wicked fairy tale.

"She has to return." Hecate sentenced. "Demeter is devastating everything with her rage and sorrow. She has been searching for her daughter since the day she had disappeared. The earth is dying, Hades. The mankind will end if Demeter doesn't do her duty. Your world will collapse too…" She hesitated for a moment. "And Persephone with it."

Hades gave a frustrated sigh, turning his back on her, allowing his fingers to ran upon his arm restlessly. His face had contorted into one of annoyance, his brow creased and his eyes narrowed. A large hand rose to absently toy with his chin, thinking on what to do as he glared off into the dark space.

"I can't keep covering you." The dark Goddess continued. "Things are getting really ugly up there. Zeus' discontent... He has asked me to talk to Demeter, to advise her to go to Helios so that he can guide her in her search. Soon everything will be known." She tried to couch her words more gently. "It was a matter of time. In your own best interest, proceed wisely is all I ask."

Hades' eyelids became hooded as he raised his chin. "I can take care of myself." He said defensively, now facing her.

"My deepest concern has always been for Persephone and for you. I know you will do what is right, my lord." Hecate's face softened while the dreadful king of the Underworld felt a strange fluttery sensation that could almost be labelled as panic.


A dark atmosphere. A quite scene. And for those drifting moments between sleeping and waking, Hades imagined himself back in his throne, circumspect, brooding, taciturn. Without his Queen at his side.

Then he opened his eyes to find Persephone's head on the pillow beside him. The Flower Goddess lay so peacefully; blue eyes slowly scanned her, quickly searching for what had become his first image for the last months. Persephone's back slept naked, half-covered by a thin sheet of silk hiding part of her figure. Beneath the sheet hinted the curve of her waist, the gentle movements of her harmonious breathing, as if it was a calm sea. She was a rose within the night, shining like a mirage in the middle of the desert, tempting and driving mad all who dared to approach it.

Clinging to his wife's back, he started kissing her shoulder and rested his head on her back, closing his eyes to treasure that moment. Gradually, his long, restless fingers began to trace her spine, drawing waves in his path. Persephone began to murmur something intelligible, as her body arched due to her husband's movement.

With nothing between them, his hand travelled down her body, now caressing the creamy flesh of her stomach, wandering lower to found his price, while his breath smooched her neck. Lusty grins fanned hot against Persephone's neck, as the pace of his most intimate caress grew faster, soon tearing a breathy gasp from the Goddess. "My King…" she purred longingly.

Persephone's body quickly responded to the familiar touch and her legs parted as his fingers swept the inside of her tights, inflaming her with a vigorous fire. A gasp escaped her, she could feel his moist lips against her skin and decided to claim them. She shifted instantly, catching his face with her right hand, demanding his mouth while with the other one fondled her own chest.

"My love." Hades said, a want in his voice, breaking their kiss. "Come to me…" He growled, his hand still exploring her, making her thighs tremble. With a light movement, Persephone daringly moved on top of him, her desire for him emboldening her as she pressed her lips to his mouth, realizing that he was smiling under her touch. That gesture of his only served to arouse her further, as the fingers toying with his hair lowered to touch his muscular chest. Her fingernails explored him, biting passionately into his biceps, kissing his shoulders slowly, like she was healing him from a wound, moving sinuously against him.

She could feel his desire, tight under her, and before she opened her legs for the entrance of his length into her, she looked down on him, looking those deep-seep blue eyes which always managed to make her feel dizzy. She stopped, amazed for the force of the fantasies that the mere sight of his body unleashed in her mind. He was everything she had, her reality, the only thing she really knew. The brand-new Queen of the Underworld thought that it was the calm of the gesture that enchanted her, the direct way he looked at her as he did so, the perfect beauty of the act that appeared on him again and again and yet she could recreate in detail.

Persephone quivered when her husband entered her, grabbing his arms and putting them on her waist, holding her as the sensation of Hades inside of her took hold of her full attention. Her heart was pounding in her inner ear. Persephone moaned, savouring the way his husband's size felt inside her. The roundness of his shoulders, the perfect curvature of his back, the softness of his hair. There had been no man before him. That day the desire was born, learning a new language; a living, exuberant and innovative language that she suddenly discovered and could speak, feeling how her tongue struggled to master it in a moment for becoming silent afterwards, letting her husband speak, feeling the strength of his hands compressing her flesh, the way he held her by her hips and the caution he directed his hardness within her, the firmness of his gestures, the vigour of his arms holding her in that new experience.

Exhausted, and as bliss lifted her up to the stars, Persephone lost all her forces and she lazily moved off of him, lying next to her dark lover, trying to catch her breath. They embraced and she laid her head on his chest. Hades' heart thumped, then quickened. Her nearness always broke his collected manners, filling his heart the same way she did it with the earth. She looked up searching for his eyes, her check already resting over his chest. Hades' gaze was lost, he was clearly preoccupied, as Persephone watched him with fresh eyes, easily picking up on his body language. "Is it everything okay?" She asked, concerned.

"Of course it is." He gently answered kissing her forehead. "I was just thinking how lucky I am."

"We are." She corrected not bothering to look at him. "I didn't trust you at the beginning."

"I know." He chuckled. "Yet you remain."

"So I can prove you wrong." She answered, smiling. "All my life I had done nothing but wait. Waiting for something to happen, wanting something I didn't really know. Until you found me. Having second thoughts?" She teased, looking now at him, sitting up on her side.

"Hardly." He answered while his two blue eyes pierced her like two swords, studying her as if memorizing her. He buried his left hand in her hair and kissed her with eyes closed. Hades' lips caressed hers, nibbling in a way that had Persephone's heart beating with something other than desire. "Just tell me something. And please, be sincere. That's all I ask of you." The Goddess of the Spring blinked, looking at him genuinely puzzled, intrigued by his words. He grew quite but he finally found the words. "Are you happy?'" He asked, exhaling as if he had gotten rid of a great weight. "I mean, do you like living here, in the Underworld?" Hades' eyes slowly going down just to turn again towards her with interest. "With me?"

Her face softened and she took on a daydream expression, seeing her past and their future in a different way. They were together now, all barriers down. "I don't want to be elsewhere. I want to be here. With you." She answered softly, resting her head again on his chest, hearing his heart dancing under her ear.

Sleep came like a heavy slab to close green eyes that she could no longer keep open, while Hades stood awake, stroking his wife's hair, his body resting next to his lover meanwhile his thoughts were fighting a war. He didn't want to close his eyes; he didn't want to wake up from that dream. In his mind, their own secret world was safe that beautiful night, but tomorrow could came tumbling down. How much it would last? His friend's voice echoed in his brain. Soon everything will be known. Could this be their last embrace?

He was conscious now of how fast time had passed, turning the countless years into blurry memories, as if time, disguised as a healing balm, wanted to erase from his memory all the suffering and anguish of a past life. It amazed him how he could be so unsure of whether this was merely a dream or reality.

Everything before her was no more than a distant and unattainable nightmare. So pathetic was his situation back then that the rain was his main adversary; he had never felt so jealous of the drops, as they fell slowly through her skin, as she received them with satisfaction reflected in her placid face. He felt anger, he envied it, his hands had never been so close to her body as those refreshing drops. He felt desperate; broken. Destiny had given him a dark and lonely existence; bad luck had accompanied him from the day he was born. His own father swallowed him out of fear that the prophecy would be fulfilled and his children would end up overthrowing him. So many years alone in that terrorific and dark place… Only to have to continue in another place of similar characteristics, after luck intervened with its always sour-sweet imprint, burying him under the farthest layer of the earth, separated of all life and bounded to death forever.

No, he wouldn't go back to that. He refused. Not after having her.

Daybreak came slowly, a dark and solemn sort of morning. He himself had barely slept, unable to calm his nerves, and had spent the night thinking in circles, watching his Queen sleep next to him. Hades had slipped away without disturbing the young Goddess as she slept still, covering her with the silk sheet before closing the door behind him.


Persephone entered the throne hall with light and delicate steps. Sitting upon the throne, Hades was concentrated writing several notes on a very long old parchment. "Good morning, my King." She said, speeding up the pace until she stood in front of him, waiting for him to look up.

"My Queen." He welcomed her giving her a fresh smile.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked, looking down on him.

"You were so asleep... I didn't want to bother you. I woke up even earlier than usual and, by the way, you hadn't slept many hours last night..." He smirked, narrowing his eyes.

"And whose fault is it?" She chuckled with a playful tone, receiving in response the blissful embrace of her husband, who snaked her waist to pull her into him possessively, throwing the parchment to the ground. When Hades took her in his powerful arms, she couldn't help but feel safe and secure; he had become her shield. Persephone kissed his hard check, then his forehead, then his chin, and finally his lips.

With their noses touching, Persephone rested her head on his forehead. "And why did you wake up so early? Are you perhaps avoiding me?"

He stated calmly, narrowly avoiding the question. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"I'm just preoccupied, that's all. We have a lot of work to do." He replied, intentionally omitting the whole truth about his anxieties.

"I know." She paused looking intently at him for a few seconds. Glancing down at him, it seemed he was struggling with his thoughts, but she didn't want to insist. "I'm going to see Charon. I do believe he needs me."

"Meet me here when you have finished." Hades said as his wife stood up of his lap, kissing him with a slight touch.

The horse brought the carriage closer to the gates of Charon's shore. The bones of the grounds and the arch were still there as the Goddess remembered; everything was there like the first time she had been at the Underworld, when she was no more than a regular Goddess, when she still ignored what fate had written for her. Short columns supported an iron arch dominated by the God's crest, which was wrought in pictures in brilliant red as a nod to the crimson clay from the Underworld undergrounds, and included the image of a chained skull, very dark and dreadful, in her view.

The particular calm of that place was broken by thousands of voices in a row; agitated people wandering from place to place unbridled. Green eyes began to search among the seething crowd until they found the black looming figure beside the shore. He was clearly troubled.

"What is going on here?" Persephone asked loudly, passing between the waiting passengers until she reached Charon's side.

"Oh, my Queen, this is a disaster." The bald man voice came nervously, causing his fingers to twitch.

"Tell me what happened." She said confidently, trying to calm the worried ferryman.

"I do not know what is happening up there, but every day the newcomers are multiplying themselves. This influx between realms is very rare. I haven't been this busy since the various plagues that have ravaged the land. But this…" Charon explained with a confused frown. "This is different."

"What do you mean?" She asked intrigued.

"The reason why all this troubled souls are here... I'm afraid is not their fault. Something bad is happening in the other realm, Gods are playing their games and the mankind is paying for their quarrels… The wicked games of the Gods never cease to astound me."

"These people have coins for fair, they deserve to be granted passage across the Styx. Let me talk to Hades. I will solve this." She declared.

"Thank you, my Queen. Your kindness is overflowing." He said as he parted on his boat to continue his busy work.

Back at their palace, Persephone hurried back to the throne hall where she had left her husband. An instant rush of warmth breezed her skin, welcoming and inviting from the flowers as the smell of lavender floated upon the air. She herself had decorated the stance with their powers, making different types of flowers bloom every morning. The throne was empty and she quickly thought where its owner might be, and driven by her intuition, she climbed up to the beautiful back garden of the palace.

There he was, sitting in one of the chairs beside the porch, slumping and rubbing his temple lightly with a gruff sight; almost as if he had forgotten that they had to meet at the throne room. The dark King didn't notice her presence, and Persephone grew concerned, as she cleared her throat. "Hades."

Distracted by his thoughts, he lifted to welcome her. "Persephone." He said as he touched her hand and kissed her.

"We have to talk." She began. "Charon has told me something that has left me worried." She said as she looked upon the table next to Hades, where there were some papers scattered around the large table, trays and platters of fruits and a bottle of wine.

Hades reached for a cup of wine and took a sip, willing the drink to calm his nerves. As he took small sips from his glass, Persephone had to make serious efforts to concentrate on not looking at his mouth or the way he moistened his lips with the wine.

In order to distract herself from those thoughts and ready to talk about the question that had carried her there, Persephone grabbed one of the fruits from the table and she continued. "I have been in the shore and I…"

"Stop!" Hades interrupted her, holding up a hand trying to stop her.

"What's wrong?" She gazed him, searching for his face.

"Don't eat it." Persephone could feel his heavy swallow. "If you eat this fruit, you will be committed to this place forever. You will be tied to this land for whole eternity."

"Well, I already am." She murmured, giving him a cocky look.

"No, you don't understand." He sighted, casting a sad smile. "It will force you to stay here, no matter how much you don't want to."

"Yes, I do understand." The young Goddess countered, her emotions getting stronger in her voice. "I am with you." She said softly, an innocent and honest confession that made Hades' insides clench. "Do you think I will change my mind after all that we've been through?"

A silence passed between them, forging a bound of understanding between the two rulers. Suddenly, Persephone's brain made the connection. "Does all this have anything to do with what is going on in the Styx?"

Hades simply nodded.

"Please. Tell me the truth." She urged, facing him.

"Mankind is suffering because of what I have done." He started. "Your mother is desperately looking for you, and such is her desperation that she has decided to punish the world for trying to calm her grief." Persephone listened intently as her spine stiffened, and the muscles in her shoulders tensed. "It is getting worse and Zeus has decided to intervene. You have to return to her for the sake of every living soul."

Persephone's heart started beating faster as her breath stilled. Her wide eyes wavered, glossed with tears yet to fall. She had built a new life, a real life beside him, and now reality was clashing everything she had hold dear. "This will end. No one else is going to die because of me." She said, looking down. "But this changes nothing. My place is here now."

Hades gulped down the emotion wedged in his windpipe. "But you don't have to. I never want to force you to do anything you don't want to do again." A wave of guilt hitting him. "You are and will always be my Queen, forever more. Nothing can change this."

The Queen of the Underworld bit her lip, her heartbeat drumming within her ears. "Yes, I have to." She argued. "You don't know my mother as I do. She will never let me back to you."

"We will find a way." He mumbled carefully.

"No, we won't." She protested, shaking her head. "This is my call." And grabbing a handful of pomegranate seeds, she put them in her mouth and swallowed them; her green eyes shining with determination.


Notes:

Once again, I hope this chapter is okay :) Btw, any Muse fan? While I was writing this chapter, "Resistance" was playing and it has inspired me in a part of the chapter^^ someone will guess? hihi

And please, let the reviews coming! let me know what you think!

As always, stay safe my dear followers!