Pomegranate Seeds ( ✓ )

II : Pomegranate Seeds

Demeter told Hades to leave soon after that, disgusted and unaccepting of the possibility that her daughter would ever leave her. Everything had been taken from her, and she refused to lose the only thing she had left. She ordered Persephone to go to bed, forbade her from ever speaking to Hades again or going to Olympus. She would remain in Sicily with her mother forever, and learn the values of family and self-respect. It was nonsense to think Persephone would ever need anyone aside from her mother.

The couple met in secret during their first few months of dating, always by the water where they had first met. Hades would bring her little gifts from the underworld, usually flowers that had already begun to die the longer he held them. She would take them from him and kiss his cheek, always giggling as he apologized profusely for his inability to keep anything plant-related alive. The nereids and nymphs watched on with interest, trying to give them their space but condemned to remain close to the sources that gave them life.

"How would you feel about visiting the Underworld?" Hades asked one day as Persephone laid her head in his lap. He ran his fingers through her dark hair, soft like a flower's petal. Although she had been distracted by taking inventory of the flora in the area, she dropped her notes and looked up at him, bewildered.

"Like, leaving here? To go... there?"

"Yes, that is what 'visiting the Underworld' means. I mean, unless you like this place..." Hades gestured to the environment around them: beautiful, but definitely familiar. Persephone sat up fully now and he frowned, already missing her warmth.

"I'd love to go there! When?" She had a giddy smile on her face.

"I mean, we could go now..." Hades trailed off.

"What's stopping us?" The goddess stood up, offering her hand to Hades. He knew she would not be able to lift him, but he entertained the thought and grabbed her hand, pulling her back down and into his lap. She stared up at him, frozen as his hand tilted her chin up and brought their lips into a searing kiss. When they pulled apart again, her eyes were filled with all the stars that would ever fill the night sky.

"Let's go," he whispered. He helped her into the chariot, pulling her close as the horses took off, their manes whipping in the wind as they broke the earth's surface and descended into the darkness.

Gradually, the darkness gave way to an orange glow. It was warm, almost unbearably so. A warmth like nothing the sun had ever given her. Hellfire bordered the landscape, a haunting song of the millions of souls wandering for eternity ringing in her ears. The horses slowed.

"Welcome to the Underworld, my love," Hades gestured to the world around them. The River Styx flowed, littered with remnants of thousands of dreams never to be fulfilled, promises broken and the overwhelming feeling of 'what if'. She could see transparent souls wandering through Asphodel, hear the cries of the damned as they served their eternal punishments, and watched the ever-growing line of the newly-deceased as their fates were decided. Cerberus barked in the distance, his three heads tilted to observe the souls as they passed by.

He led them to a palace with obsidian walls and high towers. The Furies circled overhead. Inside, the halls were decorated in fine tapestries and littered the most beautiful jewels Persephone had ever seen. She held his arm as they walked and he discussed the decoration route he had taken when designing the palace. In its center, there was a beautiful garden of some of the strangest flowers she had ever seen. Petals of gold and yellow littered the walkways, and pomegranate trees loomed high overhead, their fruit thick and delicious-looking.

"Powerful fruits, those pomegranates," Hades noted.

"Why is that?" Persephone queried.

"They're sacred to me. An allegiance to the Underworld and acceptance of its rules. Upon consumption, one must remain in the Underworld for the rest of eternity, or at least that's the way the heroes understood it," he explained. "It's really just a vow you take, acknowledging this as your final resting place once you have died. It keeps the dead from walking the earth again."

She plucked one when he looked away.

He led them into the throne room next, her mouth falling open at the sight of two thrones placed together side by side. They were plush, with scarlet cushions and bejeweled in a thousand diamonds. The larger of the thrones looked more worn than its counterpart. Persephone separated from him and walked towards the throne, fingers gliding against the fine craftsmanship. "There are two here," she said lamely.

Hades walked up behind her, arms encircling her waist. "I've waited a long time for you to join me, my love. I wanted everything to be perfect."

She turned in his arms and embraced him, pulling them into another fiery kiss. "Anything would be perfect with you."

He finished the tour, guiding her through spiraling staircases and hallways each more elegant than the last. When it was time to leave, their smiles were wide. Persephone held tightly to him as they broke again through the earth's crust and skidded to a halt at something, or rather someone, blocking their path. Demeter stood, arms crossed and a belligerent look on her face.

"You thought I'd never find out, didn't you? There's only so much to be studied by these waters, Persephone. And to be here with him, against my orders," she seethed, pointing an accusatory finger at Hades.

"Demeter, I've told you before that you have no control over who Persephone spends her time with. She is a grown woman," Hades insisted.

"Mother, please!" Persephone cried.

"He's too old for you, Persephone. Not good for you in the slightest. He'll break your heart and leave you with nothing. And who will be the one to pick up your broken pieces? Me. I'm the only one you can count on."

"Mother, I love him!" The young goddess refused to leave Hades' side. "And he loves me. We're meant to be together. I will not go another day without him. He knows me better than anyone, respects me for who I am and what I want from life. He is patient and kind, and I want to marry him."

"Persephone, I have given you everything in this life I can. I have kept you safe, and warm, and happy," Demeter argued.

"I am not happy," Persephone snapped. She pulled her shawl aside and revealed the pomegranate she had stolen from his garden. She willed it to break. It cracked and she pulled seeds from the fruit, fingers already staining red. Then, she ate them.

"Persephone, what have you done?" Hades cried, slapping the fruit away from her, but it was too late. "Don't you remember what I said?"

"I remember exactly what you said," Persephone reasoned.

"Hades, it's the only way she'll let us be together. By consuming these seeds, I accept my fate and bind myself to the rules of the Underworld."

"Persephone, you can't do this!" Demeter shrieked, racing towards her daughter. Persephone waved her hand and the earth cracked and crumbled beneath them, leaving a crater between herself and her mother.

"It is done, Mother. It will be better to live in the Underworld than to simply exist in the world above," she turned to Hades. "Do you accept my vow?"

He eyed her, throat bobbing in uncertainty. Demeter had a deep frown on her face, willing him to reject Persephone. To confirm everything wrong with love that she had ever taught her. To confirm that the gods were nothing more than users and that she would never be happy. His determination to prove her wrong only grew.

Defiantly, he said, "I accept."

Persephone smiled, grabbing his chin as he had done to her earlier and kissed him. Demeter watched on hopelessly, no longer in control of the woman she had raised. She wanted to be happy for her, to maybe even let herself be proven wrong, but the blatant disrespect the pair had shown her festered, and she stubbornly trudged away.

Hades deepened the kiss, unable to get enough of his soon-to-be bride. He grabbed the reins and pulled his horses into action again, the smile never leaving his face. They descended into the darkness again, no tortured sound of the Underworld able to break his spirit. As they came upon the palace again, he took her hand and slid a beautiful ring encrusted in diamonds and rubies on her finger.

"Welcome home, my love."