Pomegranates

Prologue

"I sing now of the great Demeter

Of the beautiful hair,

And of her daughter Persephone

Of the lovely feet,

Whom Zeus let Hades tear away

From her mother's harvests

And friends and flowers—

Especially the Narcissus,

Grown by Gaia to entice the girl

As a favor to Hades, the gloomy one.

This was the flower that

Left all amazed,

Whose hundred buds made

The sky itself smiles.

When the maiden reached out

To pluck such beauty,

The earth opened up

And out burst Hades ...

The son of Kronos,

Who took her by force

On his chariot of gold,

To the place where so many

Long not to go.

Persephone screamed,

She called to her father,

All-powerful and high, ...

But Zeus had allowed this

He sat in a temple

Hearing nothing at all,

Receiving the sacrifices of

Supplicating men."

-Homeric Hymns, Demeter.

THE MUSES gathered as they wove wonderful inspirations to musicians and poets while The Moirai worked gallantly on their never-ending threads subjugating mankind, gods alike to fates none have power to go against, not even the mighty Zeus, son of Kronos. It was one evening or morning, or afternoon or night, for time was not of essence for gods and the Underworld where they resided that the three sisters; the spinner Clotho, the allotter Lachesis, and the unturnable Atropos came upon the realization that not only did their lord suffer disrespect, he suffers loneliness like no other.

For the oldest son of Kronos, Hades, Lord of the Underworld despite his noble cause was hated by mortals and gods alike that his mere name erected fear, and offerings were given without as much as a glance by the mortals. The Moirai had never been one to indulge themselves in the affairs of gods and mortals alike, as focused they were to their work of threading fates but they were admittedly fond of the Underworld Lord, for he let them live in his domain with respect and lack of disturbance or testing of fates as had been done by his siblings. It was not that the lord had never indulged in companion, the nymph Minthe attested to that for she had been a valiant pursuer of the Underworld Lord and Hades had indulged in her once prompting the shameful pride the nymph bore.

"This cannot be so," Clotho had said as she pulled a new thread, a new life borne.

Lachesis sighed dramatically as she worked on the new thread, skillfully spinning the life the new one shall live in commenting, "Yes, surely Hades deserved better than the pining of a nymph. Oh dear, what a blasphemy for a God of the Dead and Riches as himself to simply lower himself to a mere nymph."

"Now, now, sisters," Atropos laughed airily as she snapped a thread, welcoming another soul for their domain, "Surely the fates have a plan in store for young Hades," she added cryptically which earned a gasp from young Clotho and stunned silence from middle Lachesis.

"You know something, sister!" Clotho accused with all the cheerfulness of a youngest as Lachesis stared down the eldest Atropos with a disapproving frown as she drawled, "Well, are you or are you not going to share what news had been divulged to you?"

Atropos smiled an indulgent smile as she put down her shears, used to cut the life thread of mortals. She signaled for her sisters to lean in and as they did so was she thus she whispered to her sisters of things that will come, of the fun, they will see. With smiling faces, The Moirai, the Fates leaned back before resuming their work as they waited for time to pass. Oh, what a scandal shall the gods see in years to come and such delicious romance to occur. With determination, the sisters swore to suppress their glee until that time was upon them even as the threat for it bubbles through each time Hades had come to their domain for refuge and companion.

A/N: Hello and nice to meet you. I hope you like my rendition of 'The Rape of Persophone', a classic Greek Mythology. The original title for this work is 'Of Pomegranates and Changing Seasons'. A mouthful, I know. Anyhow, please enjoy and comment.