Tangled Temptations [Hades & Persephone Retelling]

Chapter 5

Persephone

The night sky was filled with gray clouds and lightnings flashed almost the entire city, all due to Zeus' powers. From the distance, Persephone could see the storm in her father's eyes, threatening to break at some point. Surely, the news was a blow to the sons and daughters of Kronos.

Grief could be seen in their faces and eyes full of sorrow — though some were rather bleak at the sudden news. Some of them despised their father for treating them poorly, except for Zeus himself. There was a lot of history regarding their family, but at the end of the day, they became who they were meant to be.

The thunderstorms continue to rage outside the hall, causing loud claps to erupt every couple seconds. Persephone glanced over to the balcony overlooking the large room before turning away. Her eyes flickered over the crowd, which consisted of thousands of guests, none of them knowing the truth behind Kronos' death. Many members of the court stood around the perimeter of the room, conversing among themselves, whispering to one another with concerned expressions etched onto their faces. She assumed that they, too, had come to terms with the death of the Olympian's father.

However, unlike the rest of the courtiers and the gods, she knew that their grief wasn't genuine. They were doing it on purpose for the entertainment, hoping to get the attention of Zeus. Although she didn't agree with it, she also understood that the majority of mortals wouldn't care.

"Where has Hades been all evening?" Hecate questioned to no one in particular, her gaze shifting every corner of the grand hall to search for a specific person.

"Probably hiding somewhere, probably trying to avoid the situation," Artemis replied quietly whilst shaking her head in disbelief and frustration, her dark eyes flickering towards the other gods.

They were standing in a cluster of several hundred meters away from Persephone, talking among themselves. Whispers and murmurs spread throughout the hall like wildfire, wondering Hades' whereabouts but little did they knew, he was the one to give them information. No one but his brothers knew his secret and how he managed to get confidential information in a short period of time, however, he was much more reliable when it comes to this kind of situation.

Hades

His thoughts were in shambles. He didn't know where to begin or how to process the current information. His mind seemed like a blur and a mixture of different thoughts constantly played inside his head. However, he found himself unable to form a single coherent thought, especially after hearing the words that escaped his mother's mouth.

Kronos? Dead?

He couldn't wrap his head around that fact. He knew his father well. Likewise, he never cared for the affairs of the mortal world nor anything else that went on within the palace of Olympus. If anyone dared to offend any member of the court, then there was no doubt his wrath would rain down upon them in the blink of an eye. The god knew he had to stop these thoughts and start investigating his father's murder, but deep down in his heart, he knew that Kronos had a lot of enemies. Thus, the raven-haired man needed to interrogate every single one of them until his father was avenged.

That was the best course of action, and perhaps the only course of action, considering he'd be the one who would need to deal with his father's murderers afterward.

It was hard to concentrate on anything else other than the overwhelming thoughts that swarmed through his head like ants in a bottle. Everything felt wrong. Everything about this situation seemed odd, and it wasn't normal at all. Nothing made sense anymore to him.

"Hades," He heard Hermes whisper to him from his right side.

Hades turned to his left and spotted Hermes with a frown etched deeply onto his face, brows furrowed. "What are you doing here, Hermes?"

The younger god folded his arms against his chest and tilted his head slightly. "Hecate's looking for you."

"What does she want?"

"To ask you about the funeral arrangements," Hermes replied with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Doesn't she have anyone else to consult with?" Hades asked curiously.

Hermes gave a small smile and shook his head slowly, "Not really, no. But you know she always takes everything very seriously and cares deeply for you and your siblings."

Hades nodded silently and lowered his gaze to the ground for a while, "Alright. Tell her to meet me at my office."

Hermes merely nodded in reply and said nothing more. Hades remained silent before giving a nod to the young deity, dismissing him from his presence. With one last gaze at the grand hall of Olympus, he took his leave back to the Underworld where crime rates and poverty were high. Though, compared to the other Gods and Goddesses in Olympus, the underworld was much more pleasant. In fact, most of the criminals weren't the worst creatures in the world but most of them were certainly lowlifes.

The god quickly arrived back at his residence in the Underworld and immediately made his way towards the elevator in order to get to his office. The building lacked color as it consisted of black, gold, and white, but it was well-maintained by the staffs of the building. A perfect color scheme for the god of the Underworld. He entered his office and placed his hands behind his back. He walked towards the desk and sat down on the chair in front of it, leaning back into the comfortable seat with a sigh. It was difficult for him to accept the fact that his father was gone.

Ten minutes later, the large black doors opened to reveal Hecate, his most loyal advisor of the Underworld. He greeted her politely as she stepped inside. He watched as the older woman crossed her legs on top of the desk. The two gods stayed quiet while waiting for one another to speak up, neither of them knowing how to go on from here.

After the silence stretched out for a whole minute, he broke it, "I assume we're going to discuss the funeral arrangements. As the eldest, I suppose it is my responsibility to arrange and honor his death."

Hecate nodded and clasped her hands together. Her tone serious, "Of course."

Their discussion was then interrupted by the sound of doors opening, revealing none other than the goddess of spring herself. The two elder deities' gaze immediately shifted to her, much to their surprise to see who it was, and silence deafened the room for quite a long while.