Hi y'all! I apologize for my months long absence... again. Lol.

I've had so much on my plate these past few months. I'm a stressed out college student that also works whenever I'm not studying. This past month especially I've had shifts back to back as well as studying for midterms, writing essays in between, and taking the midterms themselves. So, it's not that I'm not still interested in writing, I've just had other priorities. 

BUT, I am back, and I hope to continue updating. I apologize in advance if this chapter doesn't have much imagery and is basically mostly dialogue, I just feel like I owe it to you guys since the last few chapters haven't had much talking. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it? Even if it's not my best, lol. I know you all love Hades!

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Hades

The boy dreams. 

The flutter of his dark lashes is contrasted only by the rays of sunlight caressing his cheek and the sheen of Persephone's russet locks as the breeze sways them gently about his countenance. She embraces him in scorned silence, his head upon her breast, seated on the edge of the waters beside her house as she gazes at him, careful fingertips dancing atop his cheek. 

The fields of Demeter welcome the early blessings of Helios' rays. Its streams glisten as they flow in serene praise, bleeding life into the healthy plants and blooming flowers decorating its long, complex path. It is a hidden sanctuary, and the very place where Demeter imprisoned Persephone upon hearing of her destiny. It is here where I took from her all she had ever known. 

And it is here where she wishes to do the same.

"I did not think... If I had known he would suffer..." 

Persephone's voice is broken, eroded by her weeping. 

"What would you have done, Perspehone? You would have hidden from me his existence and still, he would have been the bearer of much grievance." 

"That is not true! If I had known his godhood would remain, I would have raised him within my mother's fields!" 

I cast the boy a fearful glance, wishing I had taken him instead to the sirens, who although unfamiliar with the ways of children, would know what treasure was when they happened upon it, and would guard it fiercely. Surely this is the price for my foolishness, arguing with spring about the child's inception.

 I had witnessed his conception when I searched about his thread in the Underworld, and instead of evading Persephone, here I am, standing before her with disbelief as my only relief.

"Forgive me if your assertions befall deafness, Persephone. You have had much time to come forward and let me know of my fatherhood and yet you hesitated."

The boy mumbles as he stirs in his slumber, forcing me into silence. The burdens of his elders are not his to carry, and it seems even his mother understands this as she stands erect and takes him into Demeter's home. It is only when she returns that she approaches me with an expression akin to indignation. 

"Do you believe me a liar because the child is yours, or because you think me so heartless I would turn him away given what I know now? Had I known Daniel would have suffered in your kingdom I would not have given him to a human woman."

Her words cause a part of me to seize, but I know them to be true. The boy was suffering in my kingdom, no matter how much my efforts to the contrary were invested in his safety. 

"Persephone, what else do you wish me to perceive you as? You and I have never lain as husband and wife, the boy can not be mine. Surely, forgetfulness succeeds you." 

Certainly, when looking upon the boy's thread I saw myself embroiled with Persephone-- entwining about her mother's fields with an ardor I do not remember. The man bore my resemblance, but I remember no such thing. 

Redness begins to stain her features as she knits her brows in frustration. 

"You think I would so easily forget the one encounter I have had with my husband!?"

The urge to rub my temples in exasperation is tempting. 

"I would scarcely label myself as such."

We seldom spoke, much less do much of anything else. 

"Then what would you call our companionship?"

As if in tune with Persephone's disposition, the plant life stills in its movement. The trees cease their peaceful sway, the blades of grass and petals of roses, daisies, orchids and tulips all halt in their dance with the light breeze... expecting. 

"Disappointing."

She bristles at that, setting her lips and crossing her arms.

 "As opposed to what? What would you label entangling yourself with a human girl?"

Anger is quick to surge within me. She can demand no such information, it does not pertain to the boy. 

"That which I do with her is something only she and I are privy to."

Spring turns away her countenance, choosing instead to gaze at the glistening water. It begins to move at a slow pace, as if uncertain it was allowed to start again with ambivalence still clouding about her form.

"So you have lain with her, then."

Her words are a question seeking confirmation, but they escape her lips as a statement devoid of anything but resentment. At my silence, she returns her gaze to me, eyes burning with curiosity, though it seems she already knows the answer. 

A heavy exhale escapes me, our conversation draining me of good humor.

"What do you wish from me, Persephone?"

"To hear the truth from my husband's lips. Have you lain with her?"

In the distance, I can hear the hums of Demeter approaching, no doubt she is out to carry about her usual rounds on the fields, meaning my time to converse has come to an abrupt end. Thank the Fates. 

I shift to leave when her hand suddenly comes to rest upon my forearm, locking itself in place. The motion forces me to face her, to face her glistening irises, making agitation course within my veins as my own suffering is prompted forth within my mind. Of all the times I happened upon her and Adonis, of all the times I was bested within my own kingdom for the heart of the woman I married, now it is she who dons a cloak of sadness. And its likeness does not suit her.

Certainly not after she said to me all those years ago that I would never boast of finding someone apt enough to love someone as miserable as I. 

"Hades, please, just put me out of my misery and tell me, have you--"

"Yes, Persephone, yes!" 

The sharpness of my voice startles her. Irritation spills with every word that erupts from me, and though she trembles with every step I take towards her, her fear does naught to hinder my approach. 

 "Is that what you wish to hear? Yes, I have. Time and time again I have had her because she is lovely! Had you perceived her in nearness, you would have desired to do the same. And if that does not make clear my intentions, then if Fate is kind to me, I will have her again. And again. And again, and once more after that until we can no longer. I've come here only to ensure the child's safety, but if all which interests you is pursuing what no longer exists, then I will take him elsewhere and appeal before my brothers as was my intention."

Satisfied with her silence, I retrieve my arm to approach the house, determined to take the boy and instead entrust him to the sirens until the titans are dealt with. I would have succeeded in doing so had Persephone not stopped me again.

"I know you believe you and I are no longer bound by wedlock, Hades, but that boy's existence only attests to it. And I refuse to become as Hera is, so jaded by her husband and his negligence of her and the throne that she has become nothing but the echo of her sorrow and fury."

"There is no throne to lay claim to, Persephone. The boy is not mine, and the kingdom of Hades is mine, and mine alone."

Once again, she tightens her possession of my arm. This time, her eyes have gained a sternness to them that I have not seen upon her features before-- an undertone of desperation which has crept into her glare and the pressure of her nails on my skin.

"I. Will. Not. Be. Powerless. Again."

She gives me not a second to respond before she continues. 

"I am no longer the child you kidnapped from these fields. Do not mistake my affection for immaturity, because I will never be treated again as I was by you, my mother, my father and all of Olympus the day my agency was stolen from me. I know of the chaos which is overtaking our worlds, I was there the day you summoned the highest council. Believe me, Aidoneous, I will no longer allow the same men who forced me into a life of solitude and gloom dictate my future once more."

When she is finished, her chest is heaving and a flush has once again bled its way across her features. 

 I understand her frustrations and the uncertainty which comes from witnessing political change so closely, but it gives her not the right to create unfounded assertions. 

"I understand your desperation, Persephone. Truthfully, I do. And I have begged for your forgiveness more instances than I can number, but that does not provide you the right to claim we remain wedded, or that the throne of the Underworld is yours to assume. Perhaps the child is a result of your involvement with Adonis."

Demeter's voice becomes clearer, a sign of her proximity. 

"I must take my leave now, Persephone. If you wish to save our conversation for another occasion, we can. But my position will not change."

The fields around us return with life, only the grass has yet to move.

"If you do not tell her, Hades. I will."

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Thank you all for reading!

A special shout out to those of you that have stuck by me and have put up with my awful uploading skills! I am grateful to have dedicated readers, and it means more to me than you guys might ever know. Y'all are the reason I keep uploading, despite the fact that writer's block keeps beating my ass 😩

On a different note, what are your guys' theories on Hades and Daniel? Or Persephone and Hades? I'm dying to know! Comment down below what you guys think!