Kidnapped

Chapter 14

We began walking down the stairs slowly, with a smile on my face and my head held up. The talking had stopped and all eyes had fallen on us. I held my breath the whole time.

"Everyone, the birthday girl, Persephone," Hades exclaimed loudly then everyone clapped and started talking again, and that's when I let out the breath I was unconsciously holding in. A very beautiful woman walked towards us, just looking at her made me extremely jealous.

"So, you're apparently the gorgeous girl who's engaged to Hades huh?" She looked me up and down with distaste, " not much from what I can see."

"Aphrodite," Hades warned.

"Oh come on, what do you see in her  that you don't see in me?" She whined. I was just about to reach out to slap her when I remember rule number two, be polite to everyone, even if they piss you off. I took back my arms and placed them at my sides, Hades silently thanked me by grabbing my hand and squeezed it.

"Because she is beautiful, inside and out, unlike you," oh snap, he just went there. She gasped and walked back to where she came from, but not before giving me a death look.

"Well, she's just delightful isn't she," I told him.

"No she's not, she's annoying as heck," Hades scoffed.

"Honey, that was sarcasm I was using," I laughed.

"Honey, huh. Should I call you sugar pie then," he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh please no," I begged

"As you wish sweetheart," he winked, I was just about to slap him when two people came up to us.

"Hey favorite uncle," a girl and boy said and hugged Hades tightly. "Oh, and you must be the fiancé and birthday girl, happy birthday and welcome to the family, I'm Apollo," the boy said and also gave me a hug.

"Thank you so much," I said relieved to meet someone nice.

"I'm Artemis, this idiot's twin sister," we both laughed while Apollo denied being an idiot. We talked about  the cool adventures they'd been on, while Hades excused himself to talk to some others. After a few minutes of chatting, I excused myself so I could introduce myself to other people. I found Hades talking to Zeus and a woman in her early forties, but still managed to look very pretty.

"Hello father," I acknowledged him first 'cause Hades and the woman were talking.

"Hello daughter, happy 18th birthday," he kissed me on the head, " at 11:58, I'll gather everyone for your ceremony."

"Ceremony?" this is the first I have heard of this.

"Yes, you are going to have to drink out of that golden cup," he gestured to a golden cup, sitting on top of a podium on a small stage setup in the middle of the room. "Once you finish every single drop, you will gain your powers and immortality," he said.

"Why 11:58 though?"

"Because it's a tradition. At 11:58, I'll tell everyone that you will be soon drinking out of the cup to gain your powers and immortality. When the clock strikes 11:59, you have exactly one minute to finish the drink before midnight," he explained. Seems like a low-key version of Cinderella. "Excuse me, I have to go talk to Poseidon, I'll see you later," he nodded at me and left.

    I turned to the woman and introduced myself, "Hello, I'm Persephone, nice to meet you."

"Oh, you're more beautiful than I thought you were. I'm Hera, his sister," she pointed to Hades, " it's very nice to meet you." I was honestly surprised at her kindness towards me, I expected her to hate me since I'm the daughter of her husband who tried to keep a secret. But I accepted her kindness.

"You too," I smiled.

"So, is my brother treating you right?"

"I mean, beside him kidnapping me, he's been good so far." I laughed.

"Wait, he kidnapped you?" She asked, confused.

"Yeah, I thought you knew," I said, confused as well. We both looked at Hades.

"Yes, she is Zeus and Demeter's daughter Persephone, and I kidnapped her," he shyly admitted.

"Oh yeah, now I remember," she paused before continuing,"so you're the reason why De-" she was cut off by Hades putting his finger to her lips to stop her.

"Yep, I'm the reason why uhh... dead people, well, die. But it's really Thanatos job to kill people, since he is the personification of death, I just take care of where they go in the afterlife," he spoke quickly, quickly enough to make me suspicious, but not enough to ask him about it. Hera gave him a look I didn't understand, then a look of realization, but I was still confused.

"Well, Persephone, let's go meet some other people, bye sis." he said and dragged me towards more people. The ballroom was huge, so there was plenty of space for people to dance, The music was being played amazingly by a group of women (I'm assuming The Muses) singing a very familiar song, and I realized it was an acoustic version of Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys. There was a man sitting at a table by himself with a beer, looking a bit annoyed.

"That's Dionysus, the wine God, he doesn't really like social gatherings" we both secretly chuckled.

"Poseidon and Amphitrite, meet Persephone the birthday girl and my fiancé," he told a man and woman. The man was wearing a tux and smelled like saltwater, that's obviously Poseidon. And the stunning woman stood next to him, his wife Amphitrite, wore a beautiful royal blue  dress.

"Persephone, it's nice to meet you. Athena showed me the drawing of that dress you made, it was very good. She began working on it three days ago, and let me tell you, it's turning out gorgeous," she exclaimed.

That's when I knew we would get along. We started talking about the wedding design and stuff like that, while Hades and Poseidon were talking. After about five minutes, I turned to give Poseidon my attention.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you Poseidon," I said politely and shook his hand.

"Same goes to you, how old are you turning? Eighteen right?" I nodded, "So, are you excited to get your powers?" he asked.

"Yes, very excited, but also kinda scared. Like, what if I don't do my job correctly?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure you will do great. You wouldn't have been assigned to it unless you were perfect for the job" he assured me.