Sundown

Chapter 10

As their last remaining days on Earth passed, Hades noticed that while Persephone seemed to becoming quietly excited to return, Demeter was becoming more and more cold and distant. For the most part, he avoided Demeter as much as he could, but he could tell it made Persephone unhappy. She would never ask that they reconcile because she knew how impossible that ask would be. He sensed that Persephone wished she didn't have to be torn between the two of them.

With only two more days ahead of them, Hades approached Demeter one morning while Persephone slept. Uncomfortable as it may be, he was willing to try to make peace with her to make his wife happy. If it failed, it wouldn't be for his lack of trying.

"Demeter?" she could feel her shoulders tense at just the sound of his voice. She turned towards him, giving him a dark glare. "Can I speak with you?" She eyed him warily; he rarely came around her if not accompanied by Kore.

"If you must," she huffed, admittedly curious as to what he could possibly have to say to her.

"I was hoping we could find ourselves on ... friendlier terms." She gave him an incredulous look. "For Persephone," he added. She scrunched her nose at his use of that name. Before him, she was still her Kore, still a maiden.

"She asked you to do this?" Demeter asked, askance.

"No," he admitted. "But I can tell it makes her uncomfortable-"

"Well of course!" Demeter interrupted loudly. "You've known her for so long, you know what's best for her without even having to ask!" she went on, voice thick with sarcasm. "That must be why you kidnapped her - surely you know what she wants without needing her word! Or her consent!"

Hades flinched at her words. He knew he'd have to answer for how he'd done this eventually. He had reconciled them with Persephone, but feared he'd never be able to appeal to her mother.

"Demeter, I-"

"If you're looking to ease your guilt, look elsewhere Hades," she said, turning away from him. "I'll be too busy spending time with my only daughter before she's taken from me again."

"I just want us to come to some kind of understanding so she doesn't feel torn between us. All I want is for her to be happy." She spun on her heel.

"And whose fault is it that she's "torn between us"? If you wanted her to be happy, you wouldn't have condemned her to the Underworld for the rest of time," she spat at him.

"Are you saying you would have given her the choice? To let me, or any man, court her and let her decide for herself?"

"How I raise my daughter is none of your business," she fired back. "You have no idea what it was like for us."

"I don't pretend to know either," he replied gently. He didn't want this to be about shifting blame. "Demeter, I'm sorry for abducting her. I'm sorry for how I took her from you. As her mother, I can't possibly imagine how you must have felt."

Demeter stared wide eyed at the God of the Dead. It was an apology she never thought she'd hear. Now that she did, she didn't know what to make of it.

"I wish things could be different," he continued. Hades thought of the past few days with Persephone in the world above. "I wish ... I could be with her here on Earth. That I could be a husband to her without making her leave behind the sun, the flowers, her friends, her life here with you." Demeter listened silently, shocked to hear such things from a god who was the king of his own realm.

"As much as I wish that were true, it was not the lot I was cast. I can't give her the sun, but I can give her a kingdom. She is a queen and my equal, the wealth of the Earth hers." When she said nothing, he continued. "I think I understand why you kept her from Olympus all these years. I assure you Demeter, she is protected with me." Demeter finally found her voice.

"Protected from everyone but you," she retorted. "I'd hardly call taking her away from the only life she's ever known protection. Just because you were stuck with that fate didn't meant you had to condemn her to it."

"I would never hurt her," he insisted.

"Have you ever considered that taking her away half the year will hurt her? That when this honeymoon period ends and the novelty of being with your wears off, she'll realize what a grave mistake this is? That she'll be forced to come to terms with it every year when she must leave?" Hades opened his mouth to respond, but she went on relentlessly.

"Did you once consider that you are depriving her from being the goddess of the flowers? The role she has known her whole life?" Hades sighed; she had started and showed no signs of stopping. "That someone like her does not belong in the Underworld? That she -"

"I'm in love with her." She was still, caught off guard, before quickly collecting herself.

"You may have used that word to trick her, but it will not work on me," she scoffed.

"I haven't told her," he replied quietly. "I didn't want to overwhelm her. I want her to express her feelings on her own terms." Demeter hated to admit this was more consideration than she expected from him.

"Everyone who meets Persephone loves her," she dismissed. "And lusting after her because she is beautiful is not the same as love. Your selfish desire to have her does not justify what you've done to her."

"I know it doesn't, and there's nothing I can do to take back what's been done. But I do love her. Please, if you believe nothing else-"

"You hardly know her," she dismissed. "If you really love her, what is she like?"

Hades looked down, struggling to find the words. She tilted her chin up in victory. He took a deep breath.

"She's ... kind. Truly kind, without being so just for the sake of manners, which is rare. And generous, without expecting anything in return. She's curious, trusting, and sees the best in people, even when they don't see it themselves." He smiled. "She's affectionate and whimsical and ... and so stubborn when she wants to be!"

Demeter watched Hades go on, struck by his vulnerability. It was one of the few times in her life she heard someone else describe her daughter with the same reverence that she would.

"I know I could not possibly know her as you would. You're her mother who has known her for her whole life. But I want to know. I want to know everything about her. I look forward to everyday with her and knowing her more deeply. Every new thing I learn has made me love her more."

She struggled to keep her cold composure. She had never envisioned marriage for Kore, but if she had, she would have wanted such a man to have this kind of devotion to her daughter. The last thing she expected was for it to come from her daughter's abductor, the God the Dead, the one who was taking her away.

Hades took a step towards her. "You don't have to like me, Demeter. You can despise me, if you want, and I wouldn't blame you. I just want her to be happy, especially in her last few days here. Can we put aside any open animosity towards each other, just for her sake?"

Demeter eyed him skeptically, gave him a curt nod, and walked away.