Hades III

Earthly husband

Hades

I went to the kitchen the morning after, finding the room empty. There were no traces of her. I found some breakfast and went to work. Before I left, I noticed something standing in the corner of the kitchen. Cookie jar.

I opened the lid and smiled. My absolute favorite cookies. I grabbed one and stuffed it in my mouth, putting the lid back on, I went to work.

Charon was glad to see me, though he was too busy to stop and talk.

I was having lunch when he entered my office, his robe missing. He wore a suit.

"Hades, what are the rules regarding Persephone?"

I looked at him, really looked at him. "Is she here?"

Charon shook his head no. "No," he said. "But I need to know what to do if she comes by."

"As far as Zeus let me know, she's not to enter the Underworld, they're voting on her punishment, but even if she can come by, she's not allowed to use the globes, she's not allowed to reincarnate, there are certain things."

Charon nodded. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I said. "I'm sick and tired of Demeter meddling, but that was to be expected."

Charon smiled a rare smile. "That's to be expected." he agreed.

I shrugged.

"And the girl? Your mortal girl?" he asked.

I sighed. "Well, she doesn't remember me. That's to be expected, but it's oddly hard to be around her."

He sat down on the other side of the table. "Why is she around?"

"Macaria hired her to clean and cook." I said. "She's going through the third floor, Persephone's area. I don't really mind, it will make everything much easier when she eventually gets back. Nothing will be covered in dust."

Charon nodded. "Do you see her much?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "She leaves before dinner, and she wasn't there when I had breakfast."

"That's at least something," Charon said.

"But I know she's been there." I added and bit into the remaining cookie.

Charon eyed it suspiciously. "Your favorite?"

I nodded while chewing.

Charon didn't comment any further on it.

Stella

I went through a few almost bare rooms. I wasn't sure why there were so many rooms?

Oh, and I did find a huge dining room, complete with chairs and everything. Plates and flatware were found in the cupboards around the table.

The chandelier was huge, and I was standing on the table trying to remove the biggest cobwebs. I had yet to see a spider, but Macaria had promised they were only ordinary sized. As a max, an inch in diameter – the larger ones only lived in the forest.

Such a nice thing to know. I wasn't particularly fond of spiders, but if I had to come across one, a small one, I didn't mind. The bigger ones? Those I'd seen on nature programs from... from somewhere. Those I didn't want to meet.