2The night was surrendering to morning, snowy haired Selene, with eyes as beautiful and silvery as the Moon, went to Earth for golden haired, bright eyed Eos. The Sun rose, a golden chariot begining its race across the sky, painting over the starry midnight blue with hues of pink and orange. Quiet rays of light illuminated the field, dancing off the trees and waking up the critters of the day and bringing in the ones of the night.
"Wow…" A gentle and young voice murmured, feeling the air, "It's so…. wow," she repeated breathlessly.
She was laid out on her back, a sea of flowers underneath her, her left hand reaching out to stroke the silk-like petals of a peony, while the other one pet the head of a fawn, who was resting beneath her. Dark hair fanning out around her, tied with flower petals, large eyes staring up at the sky, making her seem more like a young child than the Goddess of Spring.
If I was in the sky, everyday would be an adventure, I'd see the whole world, every desert, every island and every forest. Nobody would think I'm delicate, and nobody would think that the only place that was safe for me was my home. She dreamed wistfully, thinking of all the places she still hadn't seen.
"Mother come here! You must look at this!" Persephone sat up excitedly, looking around for her beloved mother before seeing her working dutifully in the fields. There was a look of quiet, but powerful, determination on her face.
With her raven hair, entwined with grain, brown skin, and kind eyes, there could be no question that Demeter was Persephone's mother. On her arm was a woven basket seemingly filled with simple seeds, though when she reached down and gently planted one in the grown, a tree, strong and fertile, boomed from the ground, bright, healthy, red apples on every branch.
That wasn't enough for Demeter, one of the elder Goddesses. Her lips would purse, and she'd inspect every apple in the tree, making sure each met her high standards.
Her ears perked at the sound of her daughter's voice. She turned to face her, a tired but warm smile on her face and her head shaking slightly as if she was used to seeing this.
"Persephone my love, " she began warmly, "yesterday, those two Goddesses did the transition from night into day. Tomorrow the same display will happen. For every single one of the eternity of days the same thing will happen. Selene and Eos will do their duty, lowering the Moon and raising the Sun. We have duties to…", Demeter paused, golden eyes sparkling as they did only for her daughter, ". . ., but I don't think sprawling on our backs and playing with woodland creatures is one of them," She smiled softly, teasing laced in her voice.
Duty, the tiny word spoke volumes to Persephone. The other gods and goddesses spent their days wooing mortals and having tantrums that destroyed cities. Not her mother though, Demeter always went up in the morning and brought life to the world with no complaints. No desire for glory or towers in her honor, she just wanted the first slice of bread from every harvest.
The maiden goddess looked down her cheeks turning a light shade of pink a shy smile growing across her face, "Are you sure? I could have sworn that playing with cute animals was the most important duty that could be done." She let out a mirth filled giggle, sending the deer off into the woods.
As the flower child got up, Demeter went to her running a hand through Persephone's hair tenderly looking down at her, mother's love shining in her eyes. "I understand that watching me make wheat grow, and helping me in the young hours isn't the activity that young girls like you dream of doing, but bringing the harvest to feed families is as important as controlling the sea or controlling the weather. You understand that right?"
Persephone nodded to herself, closing her eyes for a moment trying to imagine what it'd be like live in the cold sea with her mother's brother, or to rule over the gods like her father Zeus on a hard marble throne with the power of lightning at her fingertips.
She shook her head, she liked freedom not ruling. She decided she liked accompanying her mother across fields and farms more than those two.
This is one of the few times I'm allowed outside my room, so it's no use dreaming of being in the sky when I'm down on Earth. She scolded herself internally for the thoughts she had earlier, her mother does everything for her and she was dreaming of leaving.
Her mother deserved a better and more grateful daughter than that.
The two continued their journey on earth the only two people walking down the grassy path. They could have simply appeared in the farms in less time than it takes to blink, but Persephone enjoyed the walk and Demeter enjoyed Persephone so they walked like mortals.
They would go to farms where the owners did their offerings and prayers and Demeter would allow the crops to soon grow into plants of plenty, running her fingers in the dirt making it teeming with life.
Persephone would help the flowers grow in all types of colors, and the baby animals would grow healthy and strong for the farmers.
The simplicity of growing flowers compared to the intricate nature of Demeter's work left her much time to relax, occasionally, Persephone would get lost in her own thoughts about the world. She knew her royal father and she was pretty sure he loved her, Athena and Aphrodite would sometimes watch over her when her mother was gone. She's ridden horses across the sea with Poseidon, watched the fire with Hestia, and sipped wine and enjoyed theater with Dionysus.
She was courted by many being the object of songs written by Apollo comparing the light of her smile to the light of the sun. Having adventures and hearing stories from Hermes, and Ares vowing that if anyone hurt her he'd tear them into pieces but that was more terrifying than romantic and her mother said no to every single one of them.
That made her sad, maybe it was because of all the time she spent with Aphrodite but she wanted to fall in love. She's heard thousands of stories about love when she was little, about how mortals lived, killed, and died for love. Reading however, was one thing, but she didn't know how love was supposed to feel. Did Zeus love Demeter; did he love his wife with the dark hair and sharply elegant violet eyes? She figured he didn't; when you love someone everyone else dims in comparison to that one and you shouldn't even dream of trying to romance someone else and she had hundreds of siblings from him who all said the thunder god 'loved' their mother.
Persephone tried to imagine herself, kissing any of her suitors in front of all the gods and goddesses. She tried to imagine herself having children with them and being with them for eternity. She tried to imagine her love for them consuming her.
And she failed.
I could always marry a girl; they're prettier and smell better, Persephone thought to herself sarcastically. Imagining the reaction her mother would give her if her daughter explained that and she had to keep herself from cracking up.
There was one god though. A god she only knew very little about, the brother of her mother, the watcher of departed souls. According to stories from mortals and gods alike, he was cruel, and spent his time torturing the dead in the underworld for fun and may feed them to his three-headed beast.
His name was Hades, and he was the terror of the mortals. He was never mentioned in Olympus, and when she asked for more Demeter refused to tell her explaining that more stories about him would break her young floral heart so she didn't ask.
Persephone figured she'd probably not be the nicest person in the world if she lived in the land of the dead, but she wouldn't take her fun out on torturing people. Who would do such a thing? She couldn't imagine someone being too evil, but she'll never die so she'll never meet Hades and find out for herself.
"Persephone! You got your beautiful hair all dirty" Her mother scolded her out pulling Persephone off of the ground fussing with her daughter's dark hair until it was back in it's flowery braid.
Her mother was hardly one to talk; the simple dark green dress that her mother was wearing had scotches of dirt and juice on it though Demeter didn't seem to mind. "We have one last place to stop, and I'll get you right back home with Aphrodite to watch over you until I come back."
Aphrodite was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside, yes she could be vain and frivolous, but she loved spending time with her braiding hair and gossiping as she did with Athena learning about the arts and trying out crafts.
Persephone smiled brightly, dimples popping into her cheeks, "Okay! When will you get home?" She tilted her head curiously, wrapping their arms together.
Demeter frowned softly, "Most likely deep in the night, this is one of the lengthier meetings." She explained, Persephone knew her mother hated being away from her, she just wanted to keep her daughter safe forever from anything that could possibly hurt a hair on her head.
It was Persephone's favorite thing about her mother and the most infuriating thing.
She was sad that her mom was sad, but the longer she was gone the longer she was able to go into the woods and imagine that she exploring some new lands. Persephone rubbed her mother's back sympathetically, "I'll be fine, and you don't have to worry about me." She repeated the words that she has said for years to calm her mother but they had the same result.
"Come back to me when you're a mother of a pretty young goddess, and we can talk." Demeter told her with rare sharpness.
Persephone just sighed softly and walked with her to the final farm.
Right next to thick woods was the largest farm Persephone has ever seen with rows and rows of crops and a field of grass that reminded her more of a sea. Various barns were scattered around the land each filled with animals what amazed Persephone most was what was in the middle.
A giant marble statue of someone who she supposed was her mother was in the middle, dressed in an elaborate dress with fruit for a necklace and a crown made from golden wheat.
"That doesn't look at all like you." Persephone observed looking to her right to see her mother's reaction.
Demeter was laughing softly covering her mouth with her hand, "This is actually one of the more accurate ones Sweetling, mortals spend years making statues dedicated to us and they end up looking no more like us than the rock looks like you. Now we don't have time to admire this stunning farm, more rows of crops means more time to finish."
Her mother hurried off too the far side of the farm while Persephone made her way to the gardens this family had.
It was extravagant, but nothing compared to the garden Persephone created outside her home.
Bushes of lilacs, and lines of tulips and roses decorated this garden, bunches of pansies hung from the columns above. A bubbling fountain in the middle was decorated with pastel water lilies giving the water a sweet scent.
Brightening the flowers up was as effortless as waving an arm, and she was just about to leave to explore into the woods and get back before she give her mother a scare when she saw a mosaic on the side of the home facing her.
The woman who she recognized as her mother was going across a field, the area behind her a fertile green and the area in front of her a deceased brown. What shook her was that behind Demeter was a young girl in an airy white dress holding a bundle of roses in her hand, large eyes looking up at her as if wondering what to do next.
That's me, Persephone thought to herself, not being able to take her eyes off the picture, This is how the mortals see me, as a little girl who needs her mother to help her take a step. I'm not my own person; I'm just an accessory to the real goddess.
Persephone needed to be more than that, she loved flowers and animals, but she wasn't just a pretty girl with flowers in her hair…well even if she was she needed to become greater than that. She wanted to be in stories of her own that are told to little children, she wanted people to pray to her and respect her. Demeter was amazing and Persephone loved her more than anything.
But she wasn't just her little daughter.
She needed to go and clear her mind, so she went into the woods feeling instantly calmer with the dark and sturdy trees surrounding her like knights, it made her feel as if they were protecting her in her own type of way.
The thickness of the trees, made only splashes of light hit the forest floor making it seem like there were columns of light, that made her feel like this forest was more magical than real.
I could stay here forever, with the tree spirits as my friends and my mom could still visit me. Persephone thought absentmindedly feeding a chipmunk that went near her going deeper into the woods. Trees are like flowers, they start from simple seeds and they grow when you give them water and sunshine, I could grow trees of all types of colors from pink to blue. That would be an amazing sight, I'm sure mortals would paint scenes of it and they'd all be surprised that it was me who did it. She continued before she looked down and saw a flower.
Flowers weren't a particularly rare sight for the goddess of spring; it was bright white, the petals forming more of a star than a flower. The middle was a bright yellow. Persephone leaned down and sniffed it but got no scent.
A Narcissus! She realized, it one was one of her favorite flowers though she rarely made them, the story behind them was more interesting to her than the actual flower.
A man who was so arrogant that the only person he was able to fall in love with was himself, and he ended up falling into a river and drowning just to be with his own reflection. She remembered Aphrodite telling her that story once, about the strangeness and power of love.
Persephone suddenly felt the desire to pick it, she didn't know where it came from but all she wanted to do was to feel her petals. She reached down to grab it before it disappeared for a moment and appeared a few feet away from her.
She furrowed her eyebrows, maybe whoever were the spirits of this particular forest wanted to play with her. Persephone wasn't one to turn down a game so she continued to chase it, not noting the scenery changing before the flower finally stopped.
"I win!" Persephone cried out happily, feeling her heart sore picking it up victoriously, and turning to leave before she heard a loud shrieking sound that could only come from a horse.
Persephone told herself to turn around, before she was frozen in her spot.
In front of her were three horses that seemed to run from out of her nightmares. Jet black and huge, they went on their hind legs as if they were planning on running her over. They were covered in a dark grey armor, and when she looked closer at their mane and tails she realized.
They were made from black fire, waving in the air letting out smoke.
Black horses made out of fire, Persephone nervously ran it through her head trying to think of who would have it. She needed to run away to her mother, and apologize for leaving and swearing that she'd never ever leave again.
When she tried too, her body wouldn't move, she wanted to look away but she couldn't so she just looked up.
The three horses were pulling a chariot made by a dark metal that gleamed in the light of the sun; with various jewels that would make a rich and poor man alike salivate.
Dark chariot, precious metals, Persephone told herself before she clicked it and her eyes widened.
The man in the chariot had silvery blonde hair almost white that seemed to go in all directions and stopped at his chin, he was dressed in armor of black pierced with blood rubies and diamonds, he stood in his chariot looming over her. With Persephone in it's shadow shaking and wrapping her arms around herself. The thing that terrified the most about him though were his eyes.
As dark as night, and even sharper against his pale skin and they stared right at her and when he looked at her Persephone knew. That he could see her, all her fear and insecurities, every flaw in her personality. When Persephone looked up at him she felt worthless.
But she refused to allow herself to look down, she gathered all the courage she could to form a voice. She tilted her chin up at him and attempted to still herself, "Hades."
She forced herself to say his name, to show she knew who he was.
The god didn't say anything to her, he simply stared at her uncaringly before he yanked on his reigns and the horses galloped and jumped over her and seemingly disappeared.
A breath she didn't know she was holding was released and Persephone allowed herself to fall onto the floor resting her head against a tree. Her breathing was growing ragged and she tried to calm herself down.
I was face to face with a monster.
He may not look like a monster, but if even half of the stories were true than he was the worst of them all. He wasn't going to hurt me, She reminded herself and why would he? She was an immortal he will never have her soul.
Persephone felt all her energy drain out of her, and she could hear her mother calling out for her, sounding like she was crying due to the fear that something could have happened to her. I should tell her, Persephone thought to herself this time with a strange calmness, She'd want to know.
She won't though, if Demeter found out her daughter was to face with the god of death, Persephone would never be allowed to be out again.
So she now had a secret to keep from the woman who gave her life, but it was hers. She slowly got up to go back and her thoughts were filled with silvery hair and fiery horses.
Her eyes are so green, like spring itself, what was I thinking? She's beautiful, she's flowers and hope, and I'm hopelessness and grief, Hades thought dismayed back in the underworld, he sent the horses away and sat on the throne that towered above them all, made from obsidian with skulls carved into the side and threw his head back.
She was afraid of him and why wouldn't she be? The gods up there most likely made her believe that he bathed in baths of blood and ate his meals off the ribs of children.
He'd run screaming for the hills if he was her.
Though she didn't run or scream, her shaking and her eyes betrayed any attempts to mask her fear but she was relatively calm. She looked at him with those eyes of hers and talked to him, and he realized that she would never be his.
It started purely by accident, he was coming to punish a woman who didn't put a coin in the mouth of her dead husband and when he left to go back into his realm. The land that was just as much home to him as Olympus is to Zeus and the sea is to Poseidon, he saw her.
Rays of sunlight were hitting her making her look more like an angel, she was smiling one of her perfect smiles at a rabbit she was trying to catch to keep her company. In an airy blue confection of a gown with pearls, and her curls tied back with vines and buds.
He was sure that he saw the most beautiful goddess in the world, a goddess who could bring Aphrodite to shame
With the ability to see above the underworld without leaving, he watched her go about her day with the dreadfully plain woman he called his sister seeing her bring flowers, and watching her spend her days in her room tending to her garden. Sharing laughter and friendship with the other goddesses.
Then the suitors came in, Apollo with his flashy style and prose so thick it made him sick. Hermes reminded him more of an overly energetic child than a suitor. It was that brute Ares that did the worse though, he was the god of the underworld but he didn't kill them. He just waited for the souls to come to him, the war god rode on a wave of blood and destruction and he'd give up his immortality sooner than watch what would happen if his little rose was stuck with him.
Why am I considered the beast that children should be afraid of, when that man gets to live above?
Refusing those gods to continue with that nonsense they called courting was the first time Hades agreed with his sister.
The underworld isn't want it's like in the pictures, there's no fiery pits or cave of bones. He didn't actively try to torture the souls unless they sinned when they were alive, Cerberus was more like a dog than beast and Charon was a simple guard.
The beauty seemed to be lost on most people, the singers didn't talk about the riches in the underworld and the silver and gold; they didn't talk about the rivers and the caves. They certainly didn't talk about how he allowed to souls to communicate and even have music and fun for them.
What they talked about were heroes, usually handsome and brave diving into the underworld and somehow tricking a god who had thousands of years of knowledge and retrieving some lost love whose death Hades had no part in.
They sand about Zeus and Poseidon who cheated on their wives with mortals and usually punished them by a method that would make the underworld seem like the Garden of Eden.
Songs and shows about chivalry and bravery were for them; songs and shows about cruelty were for him.
And his love most likely heard all of them.
He let out a groan feeling his head hurt, he never asked for the underworld, but he took it and made it a realm. He didn't ask to be the king of the damned but he made the best of it and here he was.
Hades wanted to be by himself so he pushed himself off of his throne, his scepter in his hand with the diamond on top and made his way to his chambers, rudely sending off his servant who asked what he wanted for dinner.
I fucked it up, He thought to himself; today he was planning on taking her as his wife today. He asked Zeus months ago if he could take her for a wife, and Zeus just replied that he'd have to get around Demeter first.
That wasn't an explicit no though.
He was ready to snatch her when he saw her cheering happily, at picking a simple flower. She looked so pure, he realized that any hope of her coming here and seeing the underworld as her home when she was used to the sunshine up above was only a dream birthed from hope.
He wanted to protect her, all he wanted was to take her from the danger of the hedonistic gods, and bring her somewhere safe and take care of her. If I take her from her world to mine just because of a whim I have than I'm no better than my younger brothers.
He imagined her being down here with him, and being happy to rule side by side. He wouldn't shame her like Zeus and Poseidon did to their queens, he'd give her everything she wanted and make sure that she was happy and contented every second of every day.
It felt so real it almost meant like a possibility.
Maybe she should be with Apollo, he's handsome and I'm sure he'd be good to her, He attempted to make himself feel okay with letting Persephone go and be happy with it though it didn't work.
He ran his thumb over the cold diamond before the smoke inside the diamond cleared to reveal the very Persephone sitting on her bed talking to Aphrodite while the love goddess braided her hair.
Aphrodite seemed to be teasing her as she kept laughing, her white teeth going against her dark brown skin while his little rose was blushing and looking down shyly.
Aphrodite would probably crack up if I told her about my feelings for Persephone, if he wanted to he was sure he could get Aphrodite to put a blessing on him and get them to fall in love. That was trickery though, and he wanted his life with Persephone to be real.
Persephone leaned back to ask her something and gestured out to the sky and Aphrodite shrugged and nodded.
Hades knew what that meant, every day she would jump out of her window and lay in the ground to look at the sky change. It was one of the most endearing things Hades has ever seen.
He watched her jump out of her window and go on her back and look up her flowing behind her, an eager look on her face that made his heart skip a beat.
The god wanted to be near her and watch the sky, to see her in person, but this time with her in her safe place. It wouldn't change much for her, but just seeing her would be enough and maybe just maybe she'll find out more about him.
Hades couldn't hold it anymore and got up from his bed and walked out of his room the servants bowing to him before one of them, a pale and emaciated man went up to him.
"Does your grace need me to get your horses ready?" He asked him in a thin and raspy voice that would make children cry.
"No," Hades said in the steel voice reserved for the spirits, "I won't be needing them." He replied leaving emotion out of his voice though he actually was nervous seeing her again.
He went in his own personal ferry on the few instances he left the underworld and in only a few moments he was on earth. No flaming horses and looming chariots this time.
His goddess didn't notice him, which he was thankful for because he didn't want to spook her just yet she looked so happy he wanted to watch her smile for a few more moments.
Those moments didn't last though when Persephone looked over at him and her eyes were wide with fear, she quickly got up and pointed a dagger at him, "G-go away!" She insisted, her voice shaking though the dagger was pointed at him.
Hades violently shook his head putting his hands in the air and getting down on his knees in submission to her, "I swear I have no intention hurt you my goddess." He looked up at her hoping she would believe him.
"What about my mother? Are you planning on hurting her? And how am I to believe you?" Persephone demanded her voice was half anger and half fear but it was all strength. "S-she's here, and when she finds you any of the tortures you do down in the underworld will seem sweet." She threatened, her eyes narrowing.
He knew the last part was a lie; Demeter only left someone with her daughter when she was gone. "All you have is my word my goddess, I don't desire to hurt anyone I just wanted too…." He tried to think of something to assuage her, "Look at the sky."
"There are other places than this." Persephone snapped back at him angrily, her eyes filled with fury.
Some of her father here in this one, Hades th/ought to himself bitterly.
"I like this one," It came out snarkier than he meant and was more from instinct of being sarcastic with everyone who comes into contact with him.
That didn't help calm down Persephone as she pointed the dagger to him, "What trick are you trying to play on me? If I find out you bring me to the underworld or if this is some plot-"
"I'm not playing a trick, and that dagger won't do anything," He told her raising her eyebrows, "When your mother comes I promise I'll leave."
Persephone let out a huff and stopped her feet before throwing the dagger to the ground in a fit and storming over to him pointing to him, "Just look at the sky, don't touch me, don't be near me, and don't talk to me." She ordered looming over him
Hades nodded, "I promise on my honor," He looked up at her.
"You might as well swear on your teats then," Persephone told him sharply before going on her back again looking up at the stars, her body relaxing again and her face softened slightly.
Hades watched his rose more than the sky, noting the slight quirk of her lips, but the tense. She loathes me, he kept telling himself though he still wanted to be near her.
Nyx rose bringing in a sheet of dark blue to cover up the pinks and purples of the sunset before her the stars danced across the sky like jewels. Selene eventually brought the moon up full and white shining down upon them.
Night eventually settled and Hades looked over.
His goddess was curled up sleeping soft snores escaping, her face as calm as water and occasionally her lips would quirk into a smile. Her hands were under her head.
Considering that was the closed Hades probably will get to see her smile for him, He could have watched her sleep all night, but he heard the scratching sound of her mother calling for her and Hades did the thing he thought he had to do, he was sure that if Demeter saw her sleeping on the ground she'd be convinced that she was taken by some monster and put back.
Instead she was with me, if that's better or worse it's for you to decide.
He scooped her up in his arms and went into her room gently laying her on the bed making sure she was under her covers and comfortable.
Aphrodite was there, lovely as usual and she didn't say anything she just looked at him with her golden green eyes and had a knowing smile on her face before Hades left for his home.
Aphrodite doesn't know what it's like; people love love. They love her. She's the maiden.
People are afraid of him.
People respect him.
But nobody will ever love him.
A/N: I have to say I'm pretty happy with this, obviously people have different interpretations of Hades and Persephone and this one's mine! I'd love to know your own and I hope to know what you think in reviews. Have a nice day!