When Darkness Met Her

Lily of the Valley

"Well it certainly looks, lively in here"the god of death said as he looked around the new digs at the House of Hades. His counterpart Morpheus held out a cup as a young goddess filled it with hot lemon tea, the aroma filling the room as Hades watched his wife with hungry eyes. The goddess of spring looked over at her king with hooded lashes, a blushed smile returning his look with promises for later when their guests had gone.

"Well, my wife certainly has a way of brightening the room" Hades said, a short beard now growing on his face, his dark hair now longer that he pulled it back in a stylish bun. It was true, the once sleek dark room still remained as black and modern as it could, but touches of life were decorated in various spots. Flowers and plants were spotted now in the corners of the room, the place having a distinct scent of life in the air. Thanatos looked at the vase of lilies to his right as a example. While the couch, walls, and floor were a glossed black, the vase was a stark white, the lilies a beautiful magenta and creamy white.  The contrast was prominent, but no unpleasant to look at, it was just a nice surprise after it being bleak for so long.

But the God of the Underworld was looking less bleak as well, a nice color to his cheeks and his sharp pale eyes didn't have the same edge of coldness as they had for many centuries.

"Lord Thanatos? Can I get you anything else?" Persephone asked, the woman looking at him with less than fearful eyes. It was nice to be looked at, not stared at, being a rotting skull in floating robes usually could turn a person off. He was used to the averted gaze, the shiver of the flesh, the sweat around the brow and hands. Instead the Queen of the Underworld waited patiently for his response with that sweet smelling liquid.

"Yes"he said nodding, offering his cup "Thank you Kore."

Persephone modded happily filling the old gods cup and then whisking away into the kitchen, knowing Hades's eyes were following her. It had been nice couple of months actually,  Hades had used his very accumulated vacation time to spend some "nesting time" with Persephone since they had done the deed. And they had been doing it almost every night ever since, sometimes multiple times Persephone thought wickedly, her face growing hot thinking about her rugged husband.
She was putting away the teapot to cool on the stove, sneaking glances at him as he takes shop with his business partners and Gods of Below. His lengthy arms that could wrap around her spread out over the couch, his torso cut and thick from nearly a millennia of fighting and ruling, his muscles revealed slightly when he stretched his arms. Persephone would be caught by him sometimes staring, his sly grin an indicator that he would let her touch all she wanted.
"Jeeze calm down Nympha" Persephone said to herself chuckling a little, "you've had him all to yourself for almost nine months, you don't need to be all over him all the time."
But she still wanted him, taking it upon herself to excuse herself out of the room to take Cerberus for a walk. She realized Hades had given the dog willpower to change breeds at their discretion, so now her once little puppy had decided to switch to a Saint Bernard size. Although walking her companion had become a challenge, Persephone welcomed it, testing her strength.

Since the Hydra, besides being tangled in the sheets with Hades she had been testing her powers. Her husband coached her on, giving her feedback on how to grow her strength through meditation and use her divine powers to make wonders happen. She had started by redoing parts of Ambrose Fields. Hades had taken her out to a large empty part of the fields, the soft wheat looking like a rolling golden sea, the wind mild as it flowed through her pale hair. She remembered turning to her husband, those eyes of his watching her but thinking deep at the same time. Oh how she wished sometimes she knew what he was up to in that head of his....

"What do I do?" She had asked, looking out at the vacant golden sea.
"Whatever comes into your mind" Hades said walking quietly beside her "There are no limits, this world is yours to mold. It's been yours since we were married."
"I don't even know where to start" Persephone said getting a bit nervous "My powers are to help things grow, I've never terraformed an area all by myself."
"What fueled all that power behind the Hydra?" He asked putting his hands behind his back, taking away his emotion and fear he had felt. His wife was beginning to realize she wasn't just some second rate goddess anymore. She was now one of the top three, just like Hera and Amphitrite, a Queen of Olympus. He was doing his best to help her concentrate, giving her support and advice when she asked.
Persephone had looked at the big open field and had smirked, feeling that fire grow deep inside her, running through her veins and making her fingertips buzz with power.

"I can do anything?" She had asked.

""Anything"he softly said.

Persephone let her fingertips spread out, the power glowing from her palms. The wheat started to shiver, growing up towards her,  rushing past the pale pink summer dress. The earth below her hummed and welcomed her presence, it's life force filling into her own, her lungs filled with flowers and soil and air....

She had closed her eyes and imagined the field before her, the golden sea flowing in waves, suddenly dots of color filling the tumbled as the wind blew, flowers of every imaginable sight sprouting up. It was a kaleidoscope of color that tumbled and waved, the air now filled with petals and soft smelling aroma.

And when she opened them, the field she had envisioned was before her. She had remembered feeling elated, amazed at herself, turning to Hades thinking maybe he had helped her accomplish this somehow but her husband stood with wife eyes looking out at the spectacle.

"Well?" Persephone hesitated.

"It's like a dream" he said as his eyes became lost to her, staring out at the field of flowers "It reminds me of....I think it reminds me of when I was younger, before I went into Kronos's stomach. My mother would let me wander the world, seeing its sights before my father decided to eat us. I used to dream about a field like this I had seen, but it always was just a dream...."

Persephone had felt her heart melt at his words, his voice soft and even but a sadness hiding just right below its surface. How had she missed him all these years? Everyone thought her man to be a cold and calculating God, instead he was a lot deeper than most of them, he cared and understood the balance of things. Even when he had to be cruel, he did it in the kindest way.

Now though, Persephone was going to take the reins for a bit. She had been keeping up with the status of the world, making sure her mother wasn't throwing one of her famous fits and having the earth dying again. But thankfully, her mother was dealing with mortals trying to kill her realm more than worrying about Persephone, so the seasons continued to go as planned. Although she would admit it had been a tad of a colder year since she had been snuggled up warm with her mate.

Grabbing Cerberus's leash and bidding the hound come she changed herself into some walking gear and headed out the door, giving a wave to the trio of gods before she darted outside.

"I have to say my lord" Morpheus said "I am glad to see how in such high spirits. And the Queen has been getting more comfortable around here."

"I'm glad you said that gentleman" Hades said taking a sip of his lemon tea that he had conjured to have a bit of bourbon in it for a nice afternoon kick "because I want my wife to start taking on a bigger role for Underground Inc."

"Oh yea?" Morpheus said intrigued at his bosses proposal "What would the you g goddess be doing?"

"Oh I think she should be in charge of Authorities" Hades said waiting for their responses.

"Authorities? You think she has the stomach for it? I've have to pick real hard asses to fill that position. But it would be a fitting job for a Queen, I mean, head of Authorities is like second in command to you" Morpheus said thinking it over, Thanatos nodding beside him.

"I think she will do well" the God of Death proclaimed, taking a sip of tea.

"Then it's decided" Hades said with a confident smile, his plans in motion as all the wheels started to turn "I will be King of the Underworld, and my Queen will rule it."

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-Special thanks to @buckiplier for waking my soul from the dead with some hilarious re-reading comments and getting my Frankenstein ass alive to write a new chapter. Hope you like it and check out my new Dungeons and Dragons novel I'm working on and I'll try to bust out another chapter for this one!