Persephone and Hades: Victorian Edition.

Prologue II : Hades

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Hades's Point of View
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"Cursed child."
"Unappealing."
"Unapproachable"
"Not fit to be King."
"Cold."
"Causes trouble wherever he goes."

These are all rumours of Hades, none of which is true. He who has a warm heart is not "cold", he who is congenial is not "approachable" either. And he certainly does not "cause trouble wherever he goes" rather, he'd avoid it.

Hades had a personality like his friend Zeus and grew up to be very close friends with him. As a child, he was unfortunately cursed. He accepted a tempting deal from an unknown source in which was trading something precious to him, for being a King, and obviously he accepted with the curiosity and innocence of a child, he didn't know what was coming. He grew a mark of swearing to the curse on his right side of his face which caused him to look abnormal to others. He began from very young, getting rumours and conspiracies about him due to the mark; people thought it was a curse.

He was sick of it.

He grew up unfairly treated and being the "King of the Underworld" didn't really suit him as a person. It's unusual why he is the "King of the Underworld" instead of something more pleasing to the eye, gentler that reflects his personality. However, he understands this is a walk of life, he chose to be on.

A letter from the Emperor himself, which briefly invited him to a "debutante" and crowning of her daughter Persephone, the soon to be "Goddess of Spring", the rumoured "jewel of the Empire" in which he had heard many times from others mouths.

At the set date the letter was planned for, Hades put on a black tuxedo that fitted his broad-shouldered, statuesque build perfectly. The tuxedo was black with silk lapel facings, the jacket was cut like a short sack coat with a single-breasted closure. It hung straight from his shoulders to his hip. The buttons were a shiny silver which shone in the moonlight, a colour which is a symbol of royalty from the Underworld. Hades wore a half-mask to cover the "curse" that people will most definitely see and whisper about but left the other side open since it is not a masked ball. He styled his noir-like hair lightly with gel to keep that trendy but youthful and friendly look, like the man he is. He took the gift for congratulating Persephone which he kindly brought in advance and began to make his way to the ball.

Hades stood next to the Emperor, chatting for a while and catching up on the time they'd lost. As expected, he's still the kid-like friend that he first met, just now aged, and seeming more cheerful, possibly due to the atmosphere? And that he had a few drinks. Suddenly, they stopped their small talk, to face the opening doors of the entrance.

She looked ethereal.

As soon as Persephone entered the ballroom, she was a magnet for his eyes. She looked like the rumours say. She was like a pleasure to the eyes.

Hades went to take a glass of wine that was served on the table, and returned to his position, smiling and lifting his glass at the Emperor to say "cheers", before glancing back at the princess, or should he say the new Goddess?

Coincidentally, she also looked back at the same time and...

It seems like he met her eyes