Persephone

Chapter 3

When I had finally calmed myself down, I shoved him away. I scrambled away from him immediately. When I got far enough, I stood up and ran. I got about 5 feet away before I screamed and ran the other way. I'm not surprised by myself quite honestly. Considering there was a huge old lady with wings on her back and two others just like her. I was screaming and I scrambled back until I hit another person. I looked up to see Hades and screamed again. I'm all about the screaming, aren't I?

Hades grabbed me pulling me up beside him. I shoved him away, giving him the nastiest glare I could.

"Get away from me you creep! Just let me go! This isn't-" I started screeching. 

Something grabbed me and suddenly I was high in the air. I whirled my head around seeing the old woman with the wings. She started pulling at my arms stretching me out. I swung my legs around wriggling around until she finally dropped me. I screamed falling through the air. Warm arms wrapped around me. I looked up seeing Hades face. I pulled myself to get up and pushed him away.

"I want to go home. Just leave me alone and let me go!" I yelled at him.

"You can't leave. You just got here" I was not in the mood.

I turned and ran. I don't know where. I heard him sigh in frustration. I wonder why he was frustrated while I was the one running for my life. 

Either I was an extremely slow runner or he was just extremely fast because suddenly I was caught, thrust into the chariot and we were off again just like that.

"Get me out of here! I don't. I don't want to be here!" I yelled at him

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious love. Because I had no idea" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Your sarcasm isn't exactly appreciated here" I deadpanned.

Suddenly I was inside of the scary palace. It was just as dark as it was inside and it bothered me. A lot. The walls towered over me and the veiling caved in swirling into a circle seemingly like the labyrinth. The ceiling itself seemed to be made of roots. Excitement shot through me. Roots. Roots meant plants. Plants meant good.

The walls seemed to be made of obsidian judging by the sheen and the darkness of it. The ground was marble. It was beautiful in a way a panther or a lion could be. It was dark, spooky and clearly not the warm fuzzy feeling I was hoping for.

"The palace is yours to explore. If in a month you wish to leave, you may." Hades voice sounded defeated and tired. I almost felt bad. Almost.

"Thank you" I spoke quietly.

He nodded.

"Anna will take you to your room" He left. I turned to see a small girl. My best bet was she was around 8 or 9.

"Hello, Anna" I smiled warmly at her. She nodded. She held her hands out to me motioning for me to grab it. I held onto her hand as she led me down a twisted hallway. We walked around as I took in my surroundings taking into account the small pond, the large gardening center that was fully empty and the library. She led me to an empty room.

"Hades has asked me to tell you that you may decorate this room with what you wish. "

"Thank you Anna" She left after that and the loneliness settled in. The bed was also high and had a covering over it. IT wasn't dirty, It was actually spotless with warm white sheets and large comfy looking pillows. The walls were made of dirt. I brushed my fingers against the dirt. I thought about the meadow and all the plants there. I looked behind me seeing a trail of flowers lining the walls. A smile broke out on my face. I pressed both hands against the wall moving it up and down. Wherever my hands touched, more vibrant flower appeared and the brighter the room seemed to get. I continued on the dirt floor of my room was covered in a soft grassy bed. The walls were covered in a variety of herbs and certain parts of my room were filled with spring colorful flowers.

I was way more at home now. I looked around the room satisfied with my work. I headed down towards the large empty gardening center. I began to dig the dirt. My hair was pulled up and my arms were getting dirty but flowers were growing. Daffodils in one lane, rose bushes in the other. Gorgeous Magnolia trees burst from the ground filling it up. The colorful honeysuckle vines lined the walls. The yellow and white flowers dotted the entire room. I was so thankful to my goddess gift for once.

I was busy making the room nicer when I heard a crunch. I whipped around seeing Hades enter the room. He looked about.

"Uh. I'm sorry if I shouldn't have done this. I can-"I started.

"No. No. It's lovely. I just didn't realize things could grow here." His face remained thoughtful as his eyes studied the room. I said nothing as I watched him study my work. His eyes were dark and his chin had a slight stubble on it. His full lips were a rosy color and his olive skin and dark hair went well. His jaw line was prominent as well as his high cheek bones. And this man wanted to marry me? He was creepy and deadly and weird yet no one could deny his attractiveness. Not even me.

"I once saw a mortal eating one of these. I did not understand" His voice was polite shaky even, I laughed a bit in my head. He was nervous! He was nervous talking to a girl like me!

"Yeah. You can eat those. Maybe I can teach you"

"I'd like that" He gave me a small smile. He walked away.

"Well don't you want to learn how?" I asked him nervously. 

He turned around his face seemed happy, almost excited.

"Come here." He came towards me. My head reaching the top of his chest. If I even leaned back a bit, my entire body would touch his.

I leaned over to get one flower off of the vine. I handed him one. It died in his hands. I winced as his face dropped. 

"Here don't tighten around the flower." I handed him another one. "Now don't think about killing it. Think about it growing."

He simply nodded. My advice worked. It didn't grow but thankfully it didn't die.

"Now all you have to do it pluck the green bit at the bottom and pull the string. You'll see a little dew drop and you suck on that and then throw the flower away"

He copied me. He smiled, his eyes lightening.

"See? That wasn't too hard now was it?"

"No.I suppose not." He seemed embarrassed

Hades leaned down close to me. His lips were so close to mine and suddenly they were touching. My eyes widened and I froze. A want flooded through me. I shut my eyes pressing my lips against his. He froze as if not expecting me to kiss back. And honestly I'm not going to lie, that would have been expected. I pushed my feet up so I could reach his lips better. My hands went up to his silky dark hair rustling and running them through his hair. He groaned as I kissed him. He pulled my legs up around him twisting them around his waist.

"Persephone....love" He chuckled in my ear. He pressed a kiss on my neck trailing down. I let out a gasp.

"No." He suddenly put me down. "You. You aren't ready for me. Not yet. Not yet"

I suddenly got up. I kissed a man. I kissed someone. I kissed a boy. I kissed a guy. I kissed a person.

"Oh. Oh my gosh. I didn't just- Oh gods... I didn't-"

"It's okay....shhh"

"I'm okay. Yeah. Okay. I just maybe I should've-"

"I shouldn't have either you're not ready for me like that yet. You need romance and fluff before anything. " He muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing love. Nothing"

We were silent standing in a garden of my creation. I wanted vines to come and strangle me now for my stupidity.

"You... you were actually beautiful you know. I loved it"

"The funny thing is that I did too. I really liked it too"

"Come. Your father wants to talk to you"

"I don't have a dad"

"You do. And he's here now"