Hades and Persephone

Chapter 1: The Deal

"You want me to do what?" Hades stared at his brother in disbelief. His sudden movement had startled him, causing Zeus to spill his drink. It glistened on his white beard, staining it gold. He had allowed the tiredness he was feeling express itself in his physical form.

Zeus, once young and fairly handsome with his blonde hair and olive skin, had streaks of gray. His young face still held the strong jaw and sharp nose, but was covered in wrinkles. Dark circles encased his blue eyes. Even his voice felt the toll.

He looked at his older brother with disdain. With a flick of his wrist the spill cleaned itself. That, however, did not fix the fact that it had happened in the first place. "As I said before-"

"Yes, yes," Hades waved him off. "I heard. I heard. But- you know my feelings, Zeus."

"Which should tell you how desperate I am."

It did. Hades took a long sip from his own glass, perfect in every way. For once, he looked younger than his brother. He was in a better position than his brother. Zeus, king of the gods and the skies, envied him.

Hades lost himself in thought, savoring the moment. He had not realized when his brother began talking again. "-safe but Hera is getting bolder. Once she can get to her I am afraid, Hades. I am afraid." As if to prove his point a paperweight, so precariously placed on the edge of his desk, fell onto the floor.

Zeus stood up with a start, looking around the room feverishly. His glass had shattered, the golden wine seeping into whatever cracks it could find.

"Relax, brother. You wanted a private conversation, so I made sure she was gone for the day." The words did little to calm him.

"A-Athens. Wasn't it?"

"Yes, brother. Athens." Hades coaxed him back to his seat. It was larger than his, but he had won the footrest. Once Zeus settled he dropped the next bombshell on him. "I told her you had fucked some Athenian girl."

His face went as pale as his brother's. Whatever words he attempted to say got caught. Only stammers had made it.

"Relax, brother. You have nothing to worry about, she will find no evidence of that." There was a pause as he sipped his drink. "Unless, you did bed some poor girl?"

"What- no!" Zeus grew defensive, rage overcoming his fear. "I did no such thing!"

"Good, because then you would have Athena to deal with as well." The glass magically refilled itself once it neared the bottom. "Now, what do you expect me to do about this whole situation?"

"Protect her."

"That is not specific, Zeus. Protection can be reinforcing those wards, kill it if you are worried about a soul," he mocked the very use of the word. It left a bitter taste in his mouth not even the sweet ambrosia could remove. "Mark it so people fear it," he finished.

"Nothing of that sort!" Thunder boomed dangerously outside. Its effect was lost on Hades. It always had.

"Then be specific."

"Just- just-" he sighed. Zeus shrunk back into his chair. "You know how Hera can be."

"Yes. I see the aftermath most days."

"Then you know what she is capable of doing," His eyes grew wide; pleading, pathetic. "I can't let that happen to my daughter, Hades. I can't let that happen to my little Kore."

Hades looked at him for a long, long, time. He liked how his younger brother was pleading with him. He liked how he now held all the cards, instead of just managing the messes they made. But, Kore should not exist. It should not breathe, think, be capable of life. In his eyes it was an abomination. He would watch souls, prepare them for life, but Kore had never had one. He had never found one.

"Alright, brother. If only because I hate seeing how pathetic you are in this moment, I will protect it." Zeus' eyes lit up. "Now we can talk about my price," of course. No one works for free.

"Anything. Anything, so long as it is in my power." Hades only sat there, in silence, waiting for an offer. "More power?"

"No, thank you. I am already a king."

"Wine?"

Hades smirked and drank from his glass for a long time. Zeus' face lit up. "No. I have my own." He was enjoying this too much, watching his brother's roller coaster of emotions.

"Women." Zeus' temper was beginning to show.

"Don't need the responsibility of caring for someone longer than I need to."

"Gold!"

"I am richer than you."

"Then," Zeus threw himself from the comfort of his chair. Thunder resounded through the chamber and echoed down the halls. "What do you want?"

Hades finished his drink. He calmly, carefully, placed the glass on the table next to him. With a single finger he held it in place until the world stopped shaking. The faintest fluttering of wings in the distance broke his brother of his fury.

"Simple," he began. Hades scooped up a helmet, black with inlays of carved bone, and put it on. With that, he vanished. Zeus jumped at the sound of his voice next to his ear, "Hearing you beg is reward enough." He let out a laugh. To him: it was playful. Filled with that taunting that was so common between siblings. To anyone else: it was a rarity to hear his laugh. It was unnerving, terrifying. Even to the other gods.

Zeus was only vaguely aware of his footsteps as he walked away. He slumped back into his chair, defeated. Something in the back of his mind told him he had just made a deal with the devil. Though, he replied, there wasn't much of a deal now was it?

Hermes stumbled into the room. "You summoned me, father?"

Zeus was about to reply that he did no such thing when he sensed some power. It was hardly there, either distant or masked. Like some sneeze he waited for but never came. Hades. "Send for Demeter," he said.

*****

Hades had refused to use his chariot to keep up with the boy. It would be too obvious, he told himself. Instead, he tracked the flying Hermes by foot. Through the forest. It took all his power just to keep him within sight, let alone keep up. Even so, Hades lost his nephew on more than one occasion.

He was led into a familiar forest. Though, the centuries had made it grow thicker and more gnarled the deeper he went. Hades had an idea of where he was being led. But he did not want to believe it.

Finally, the trees gave way to a clearing. It was a familiar sight: the cage of trees. Their red trunks were woven in and around each other, forming walls without windows. The canopies of green and white leaves shaded the inside from prying eyes.

It was the very place that thing had been born.

It was the place Demeter had made her home.

The place she refused to leave unless absolutely necessary.

It was Demeter's prison. The prison that It made for her.

How he wanted to brake it, shatter it. Both abomination and cage. As if that would somehow return his sister to him.

Hermes flew down from the sky to what was probably considered the front door. A nymph was already standing there, the moonlight giving her lavender skin a pale glow. She was angry, clearly yelling but trying to keep both their voices down. Then the argument abruptly died.

Her form melted away from that of a lavender nymph with matching hair. Standing there was now a woman of dark skin and even darker hair. The color of fertile soil and damp riverbeds. Even from that distance Hades could see the piercing blue of her eyes. Demeter soon ran off after Hermes.

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-Al