Dark Petals (A Hades and Persephone story)

Chapter One - Hades

"Dear brother what do I owe for the pleasure of this visit?" Demeter asked me as she felt my presence enter the room. Clipping each flower, she arranges them within the amphora in an array of colors.

"'You know I can get away every once in a while sister" I said glancing around the small cottage she called home.

"Time is such a hard thing to keep up with, what has it been – 100 years?" she responded carrying the amphora to the window seal and placing it inside the open window.

Turning toward me her smile slowly slips "Oh Hades, you are dreadfully pale. It has been a long time, hasn't it?"

Shrugging I turn looking out the open window gazing across the golden wheat field, the wheat stalks swaying in the breeze. It has been a long time since I walked the planes of Earth. Confined to the rock and darkness of the Underworld I had begun to forget how the Earth's beauty radiated with its simplicity "It was time to get away" I said without elaborating further. My brothers and sisters didn't know what it was like to be confined to the darkness – never to be able to gaze up at the sky or enjoy the breeze against your face... how you and the darkness eventually become one. But I had learned millennia ago to live with what was mine and my domain was beneath the Earth among the dead.

"Well then come along brother" she beckoned me as she made her way to the door "Let's take a walk and enjoy this unexpected visit."

Without a word I follow her, matching her pace as we walk along the edge of the wheat field. My sister radiated peace but then again this was her domain just as mine was the darkness, I believe that is why we share the bond we do. She and I have always been closer than our other siblings – she is the brightness to my darkness. We are content in just the silence between us as our company is enough. The breeze tousles my hair just as it had with the wheat stalks I have to squint against the rays of sun, my eyes were unaccustomed to the brightness and had yet to adjust. I allowed myself to soak in the forgotten noises and chatter surrounding us from the living creatures within the trees, how different this plane was from mine.

Demeter breaks the silence between us asking "Is the goal still to work your existence away?" She has never agreed with my idea of how to live out my existence, however long that may be. My siblings and I have higher purposes than just simply existing so there in turn we had responsibilities that had to be dealt with, mine just happens to be ruling over the souls who cross over into the Underworld upon their deaths. Running my kingdom allows me limited time to venture out from beneath the inner layers of the Earth. My siblings rarely visit me and honestly why would they subject themselves to the darkness and damp rocks when they had all this to call home.

"I have my job just as Zeus and Poseidon" I said solemnly as we continue on putting the wheat field behind us following the path around a bend toward what sounds like a creek.

"Neither Zeus nor Poseidon submerse themselves into their duties as you do, and you know it" she said looking toward me before gesturing toward the meadow just off into the distance.

Shrugging I say, "That is no concern of mine"

"I do worry for you Hades, what kind of existence are you living down there with only the dead to keep you company. You must be lonely. Have you thought of attempting to find a wife?" she asked, her question taking me off guard.

"Wife? Why would I want to subject someone else to the life that was forced upon me?" I asked a little more sharply than intended.

"A wife to share the responsibilities with you... to love you" she continued not paying any mind to my tone.

"Love... have you been speaking with Aphrodite dear sister?" I asked glancing at her from the corner of my eye.

Chuckling she says shaking her head "Of course not, I just worry for you is all. You have become so distant as the years pass, I only wish to help you come back to the land of the living."

"That is not my destiny as you are well aware" I replied stopping the conversation before she can carry it any further.

Placing my hands in my pockets we walk along the path with neither of us displaying any signs of hurrying along, both simply enjoying the world around us. Laughter floats along the breeze causing me to stop and listen, it washes over me sounding as beautiful as any music that has graced my ears before. I have the urge to follow the laughter, but I stop reigning myself in I ask, "Is someone nearby?"

Demeter turns looking at me "My daughter is within the meadow."

As we top the hill we don't have to wait long before reaching the meadow she spoke about, but it isn't the gorgeous meadow full of wildflowers that has me rooted in place. No... it is but the loveliest woman I have seen in all the millennia I have roamed this Earth. Dancing through the flowers her fiery red hair flows in soft curls, her white lace dress billowing around her as she swings and atop her red hair sits a crown of daisies. As she slows her laughter still floats around the meadow creating a beautiful melody the wind is sharing with the open space. Even from afar I can see her cheeks are adorned with hundreds of freckles scattered across her alabaster skin. My voice comes out a whisper as I asked, "What is her name?"

Demeter responds, "Persephone"

With that name my heart fluttered causing me to bring my hand to my chest, unable to take my eyes off the young woman I rubbed the spot above my heart attempting to remove the foreign feeling growing in my chest.  

* I hope you enjoyed! There is more to come stay tuned for chapter two!