IV
o0o0o0o
Persephone gave her aunt the usual polite congratulations that anyone would give to someone who'd just had a baby, injecting enough warmth in her words so she didn't come across as fake, but she honestly didn't see what the big deal was. Yeah yeah, a new god was born and all that, but she'd seen enough of those and been to enough of these parties.
Little baby Hercules could lift his father over his head… ooh boy, that kid was going to be a handful, wasn't he? Especially with a father like Zeus, and siblings like Apollo, Ares, Bacchus, and Hermes. At least Mom got distracted with spending some time with her sister and newborn nephew, so Persephone had the time to wander off.
As she did, she thought about her mother's distaste for Hades. It made sense from a neutral perspective. Mom was a goddess of the earth and life, of fertility and abundance. Death was the opposite of life, so while she didn't hate Hades, the nature of her powers meant that his proximity could be considered unpleasant, even though Hades never intended for it to be that way.
Weirdly enough, Persephone wasn't bothered by it. She sensed it, but it didn't impact her any more than the color of his skin did. It was just part of him and who he was.
"What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?" she heard a now-familiar voice say. She almost rolled her eyes but smiled faintly as she turned to see Hades.
"The same reason you're here, I'm certain. Lipservice to Zeus and his brat."
"Ah, you know me too well," he said with a light chuckle as they stood in the shadow of a pillar. "But I'm sure our next date will be better," he joked. She snorted at that and took a sip of her ambrosia, basking in the comfort of Hades's company.
"Persephone!" she heard someone call out and turned to see Apollo. She knew that Apollo was one of the men that Mom considered a potential match for her daughter. After all, the God of the Sun and the Goddess of the Spring, didn't that sound lovely? A union of two forces of nature, and all that.
So then, what did it mean to put the God of the Dead and the Goddess of Spring together? She put a polite smile on her face as Apollo approached them.
"What're you doing in the shadows? Don't tell me that Hades pulled you into his doom and gloom," Apollo said with a chuckle, slapping Hades on the shoulder in a gesture reminiscent of his father. Persephone saw Hades fight back a finch as he squared his shoulders.
"The shadows can be very cooling and restful after being out in the sun," Persephone replied pointedly. A glance in Hades's direction revealed that he was biting back a smile. "After all, my skin is so fair, I worry about getting sunburned."
Now she was certain Hades was holding back a guffaw, especially with Apollo's surprised expression. The younger god was used to having women swoon over him, much like his father did.
"Well… I'll get you sunglasses and a straw hat. I certainly wouldn't want to overwhelm you with my radiance," Apollo offered with a smile most girls would have found handsome. And Persephone did, in an objective way. It wasn't hard to see why artists or sculptors would want Apollo as a subject.
Too bad for Apollo that she wasn't one of these women so easily swayed by a pretty face. Suddenly, that face was much too close to her own, Apollo leaning in and giving her a smile that worked on so many women – and men – before.
She took a step back. "Hasn't anyone had a discussion with you about personal space?" Persephone asked with a strained smile.
"I know I can be overwhelming, but don't worry, I'll make sure you don't get burned-"
"Hey, the lady turned you down twice, and much more politely than I would have. Take a hint buster," Hades said, trying to not let his flames rise too high. Tempting it was to throw a wrench in this charming little party, he wasn't in the mood to get blamed for yet something else.
Apollo puffed out his chest before Zeus's booming voice rang through the air.
Oh, thank Gaea, Persephone thought as Zeus gave one of his speeches, giving her the chance to slip away from Apollo, Hades taking his cue and slinking off in the other direction.
Mother gestured her to come and sit with her, and Persephone offered no argument, sliding over as her mother regarded her with a fond and approving smile. Zeus and Hera thanked everybody for the gifts and well wishes and reminded everyone to have a good time. Hades came forward to pay his obligatory respects to his brother and sister-in-law. And there it was… Zeus picks on Hades again under the guise of brotherly love, willfully blind to Hades's scowl and body language.
The King of the Gods was also oblivious to Hades's pointed comment about having a full-time job. And oh no, a dreadful joke from Zeus about working himself to death. Hades muttered something to himself before slinking off into the shadows.
Persephone had no siblings, though sometimes her mother might adopt a nymph or orphan child, raising them in her service. She knew siblings quarreled and had disagreements, even Mother with her sisters Hera and Hestia. Most quarrels that sprung from power dynamics were relatively minor from what she'd witnessed. But the constant mockery and mistreatment of Hades went beyond that. Just as Hades had suffered all these centuries, Zeus and the others carried on that mindset, further cementing it within their psyches. When Hades tried to stand up for himself or step out of the place Zeus mandated for him, he was bullied for it.
Out of all the men that she could have developed serious feelings for, it figured she'd fall for one with serious issues. But she couldn't hold that against him, that wouldn't be fair to him, would it? Sure, he could be smarmy or sarcastic at times, but his affection for her was genuine, and she reciprocated it. He had a roguish charm, and he was funny.
And he treated her with respect. A huge point in his favor. She smiled to herself quietly, looking forward to her next date.
o0o0o0o
Hades muttered to himself as he thought about what the Fates had told him, and how Zeus's little brat was the one thing that stood between him and control of the cosmos. He stroked his chin as he thought about a trump card he'd been holding onto for centuries. It was a potent brew that had been fermenting since nearly the first day Hades had been relegated to the Underworld. He was determined to find some use for the negative energy that filled this place, and through what seemed like an eternity of distillation, it floated before him, glowing a sickly purple in the container he kept it in.
He'd often thought about using it on Zeus, but could never think of the right time or opportunity to take such a drastic measure. But now, it looked like that scheme was about to pay off in a way he hadn't anticipated.
Hercules already proved incredible strength as an infant. He'd be insufferable as an adult, especially as yet another mighty son of Zeus. So the little brat would be taken out of the equation as soon as possible.
"Make sure he drinks every last drop of it," Hades instructed his servants. Pain and Panic nodded eagerly, saluting before they took off.
o0o0o0o
"Come on, come on," the pair of demons whispered as they watched Hercules drink the liquid death, his godhood slipping away from him. Suddenly, they heard voices, and their nerves were already so frayed from their mission that the bottle slipped from their hands, the last drop falling into the dirt as they scrambled away.
They watched as a peasant couple made their way up the path, coming across the baby. Pain and Panic looked at one another as the couple decided they would keep the baby.
"Well… that's hardly the worst outcome," Pain whispered. "He's not a god now, and they're just peasants. He'll live an ordinary life and die an ordinary death. A mortal couldn't stop a mighty god, anyway!"
"Yeah," Panic replied. He looked down at the golden disk that had been around the baby's neck. "What to do with this, though?"
"We'll just give that to the boss as proof that we did the job," Pain replied decisively. The demons grinned and nodded at one another before disappearing.
o0o0o0o
The peasant couple who found the seemingly abandoned baby adopted him, believing the gods had answered their prayers after years of struggling to have a child. And in a way, that was just what had happened, except that it was Hades that inadvertently granted them this boon.
They named their baby Alcaeus, and he was just like any other babe, but for his immense strength.
And up in the reaches of lofty heaven, Zeus and Hera mourned the loss of their child, now rendered mortal by some cruel, unknown force, and could only watch him from afar.
o0o0o0o
The disappearance of baby Hercules surprised Persephone. She wondered if perhaps the baby, with his immense strength, had crawled out of his cradle and gotten himself lost in some misadventure, but what was even more shocking was the news that he'd been rendered mortal. So he could not come back to Mount Olympus.
Which made no sense to her, to be frank. Whatever made him mortal, he was still the son of the king and queen of the gods. Weren't they going to fight for their son?
But then, if he was mortal, perhaps it was better that he live among them, surrounded by people like him. Who knows. Regardless, she wished the kid luck.
o0o0o0o
Persephone shivered as she felt Hades slide his hands along her shoulders. She would be lying if she said she never entertained thoughts of intimacy with him, especially after every successive state. It seemed to get harder and harder to pull herself away from him every time he drew her in. Sneaking away when her mother was distracted was all good and fun, but she wanted more.
"I know you think it's a boring place and you got the raw end of the deal with your brothers, but I'm still curious about the Underworld," she said as she felt his warm breath on the side of his neck.
"I know that people say the grass is greener on the other side, but babe, there's no grass to speak of here."
"That's quite all right."
He regarded her with a bemused expression. "I don't get it. I make sure to pick good spots for our dates…"
"And you've done a fantastic job there, no complaints. But I still wanna see."
"Well, how could I say no to that sweet little face," Hades finally replied, running his finger under her chin. "Let me spruce things up first, hmm?"
"Fair enough."
o0o0o0o
I have high regard for canon, but I decided to play around with Hercules's story a little so that it would fit in better with my introducing Persephone to this tale. In classical mythology, that was Hercules's birth name, he did not become known as Herakles until he started his penance well into his adulthood.