Hades and Persephone

Chapter 27

Someone knocked softly on the wooden door of Hades' chamber. He decided to ignore it. He was enjoying the first morning of the rest of eternity with his new wife. The knock came again, slightly louder. He screwed his eyes shut. Didn't they know he was trying to sleep? The knock came again. Hades sighed and threw off his blankets, making sure not to wake Persephone.

He strode over to the door and yanked it open. Thanatos stood there, a fist raised to knock again.

"What are you doing here?" Hades hissed.

"My Lord. You have a visitor."

"Well then they can wait until later. Do they know what time it is?"

"My Lord. It is your brother."

"Which one?"

"Zeus."

Hades swore under his breath. He heard Persephone move in her sleep while closing the door gently behind him. 

Thanatos led Hades to the throne room, where the King of the Gods stood waiting.

"You never usually keep me waiting, brother." Zeus stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed.

"What do you want, Zeus?" Hades waved Thanatos away.

Zeus pouted. "Can I not visit my brother for the sake of visiting?"

"You never visit me unless you want something."

The god of the sky cleared his throat. "Fine. I'm here for something. I understand that you have something that belongs to me, or rather, to a past lover of mine."

"I can't send back souls of the dead, you know that."

"No, no. Not a mortal lover. I understand you are in the possession of Persephone, daughter of Demeter."

Hades remained silent.

"Now, normally I would congratulate you, it's about time you got a wife, but unfortunately Demeter has placed me in a tough position." He walked up to his brother. "You see, Demeter has allowed the mortal world to grow barren. The mortals are dying and we cannot allow that. You must return Persephone to her mother."

"Persephone does not belong to me. She makes her own decisions."

Zeus sighed. "You must make her see reason! She must return to Demeter or else there will be no mortals to worship us and our powers will fail. Is that what you want? For us, the very gods, to become mortal and die away in turn?"

"This is the time you decide to act like a king and a decent god, Zeus? When my happiness and the happiness of the one person I actually care about is one the line!" The air around Hades grew darker and thicker, swirling around him. 

Zeus took a step back. "Brother, you know what Demeter is like. She will stop at nothing to get Persephone back. I stepped in this time, but Demeter also knows where her daughter is. Next time you won't be so lucky."

Hades glowered. 

"Hades?"

He spun around. Persephone stood by a pillar, a silk sheet wrapped around her body. "Is something the matter?"

"I'll leave you two alone. Hermes will be here to escort her back to Demeter by the end of the day." Zeus backed away and disappeared into a warm breeze.

Persephone clutched the sheet tighter to her body. "What's wrong? I woke up and you weren't there."

He hesitated, unsure of how much to tell her.

"Come on, we're married now so you have to tell me things."

He sighed. "Your mother has found you."