Halves

IX. Persephone

For a moment I forget how to speak, or even breathe. 

Hades stands on the dock, sharply silhouetted in light from the twin fires that flank the gateway. Above him looms the largest animal I have ever seen in my comparatively short life.

It stands at least twice as tall as Hades on four powerful legs. I THINK it is some kind of dog, though the three massive heads branching from its wide, muscular shoulders are off-putting, to say the least. The beast's entire body is covered in short, sleek black hair, and its thick tail is topped by a row of bony spines stretching down its length from base to tip. Three pairs of amber eyes glow, embers in the dark, and from beneath curling lips flash menacing teeth, longer than my hand.

No wonder, then, that this gate needs no door.

There is no tension in Hades's posture as he approaches this nightmarish creature. He calls it by name — Kerberos — and with outstretched hands cradles the salivating jowls of the middle head as it bends to greet its master. There is something in the way he strokes and scratches the chin of this terrifying hound that I did not expect to see from him. Tenderness, maybe? Affection?

He turns his head to see me, still crouched in the boat and uncertain. His eyes are warm and the curve of his lips betrays fondness, though whether it is for me or for his monstrous pet, I am not entirely sure. 

Perhaps both. 

"You have no cause for alarm, Persephone. I do not speak falsely."

I remember the oath I so impulsively made him swear in Hera's garden. It seems so long ago. A request that was made half in earnest hopefulness, half in a lighthearted exploration of new social boundaries.

And he swore it to me, in all seriousness. He would never lie to me.

Charon, the grizzled ferryman, offers me his hand so I can rise. The boat rocks gently, but his deceptively bony arm is strong and steady. I thank him quietly and climb onto the dock.

Hades is still watching my face, despite the indignant nudging of Kerberos's center head, which is miffed at his lapse in attention. The other two heads have pinned me between them with their burning glares. The head on the right bares its teeth in the beginning of a growl, but at a murmured word from Hades, it falls quiet again.

He holds out his hand to me once more, and I take it. The action feels more comfortable each time it is repeated, and I like the way his hold is firm but not too heavy. When Mother leads me by the hand, I fear she is never going to let me go. 

When Hades does, it feels like he is there in case I need him, but I have all the freedom to let go of him if I do not.

"No harm will come to you," he whispers, face serious. Then his expression turns wry. "Unless he drowns you with his drooling, that is."

I smile, and look up into the face of the head in the middle. 

There is nothing to fear. I am safe with Hades.

A damp, black nose the size of my entire face comes down to my level and sniffs at me, then blows out a long breath that throws my hair back and shakes a few petals from the flowers on my head. The other two heads are looking less suspicious now, sinewy necks lowering so they can inspect me more closely.

My courage returns and I grin up at Hades. "May I pet him?"

He looks more pleased than I have yet seen him. "Of course."

I raise my free hand to stroke the middle head underneath its broad chin. The hair is smooth and stiff beneath my fingers, and, prompted by Kerberos leaning down lower, I move further under his jaw to scratch. Apparently he likes this, and soon the head on my left ducks down and butts into my shoulder, a muffled whine rising in its throat.