Hades and Persephone

Chapter 11: Face Off

Bit of a normal chapter since the last one was twice the length I normally do. Feel free to comment (or vote).

One month. It has been one month since she was dragged from one cage and into another. She counted the seconds, having nothing better to do with her time.

There was a schedule too. Wake up, the door would open long enough for a plate of food to be placed, and then it was locked again. It would only open a second time, that evening, when it was replaced.

Her favorite time of the day was morning. It was when Thanatos would visit, before Lachesis- whoever that was- screamed at him for falling behind. It was not only someone to talk to, but someone Persephone admired. He could come and go as he pleased; and she did not just mean from his room. The ability to go between the living and the dead. He got two worlds.

And she got a room she constantly snuck out of.

It was also her favorite time of day because when he left the door was mysteriously left unlocked.

Hades would already be gone by that time, she found. Where he went she did not know, nor cared. It would give her half the day to explore. Sometimes longer if the servants did not catch her.

Persephone made a mental note each time her turned down a separate hall. Each had six sconces, only four of which were lit. The doors were all the same brown wood, with the same dark handle. She kept track of the path by the types of plants decorating the corners. Not so much memorizing which way would have which plant, but they whispered to her.

On the surface the forests like to spill their secrets to anyone willing and able to listen. Down here it was no different. Persephone normally blocked them out, but she had no one but the plants down here.

The poppies by the kitchen whispered recipes and secret ingredients the staff otherwise hid. The narcissi knew the path to the cypress trees, and the cypresses knew the paths outsides. Others talked of souls, which ones earned favors, and which deserved curses. Which nymphs slept together, which pined for each other, which broke oaths or cheated at cards or skipped work.

Honestly, it was no different than the surface.

As Persephone walked through the now familiar halls someone came running up from behind. His footsteps were lighter, and his gate shorter, than Hades'. Not to mention the nymph wasn't grumbling about being outside of her room.

"Hi, Octavian." She waved up at him, her form probably the youngest she had taken since being taken.

"You," he panted. "You- shouldn't be-" The poor nymph had ran through what felt like a million corridors and rooms the moment he found her missing.

Persephone put on her best pout. "I just wanted to stretch! The room is stuffy and lonely and I just wanted to find someone to play with and then I got lost-" The more she said the faster she spoke. Voice cracking, lip quivering, fidgeting hands, it was all second nature to her. A tear even pricked her eyes. Not enough to cry but enough to be noticed.

"Okay, okay," he cooed. "It's alright. But I do need to take you back." Octavian stood behind her, motioning for her to walk in the direction he came from. Persephone rationalized it as playing the part of a lost child. Yet, when Octavian not only refused to hold her outstretched hand but flinched away from her, it was the last straw.

Her act fell apart as swiftly as it began. "Why won't you touch me?"

Octavian was taken aback. Not by her question, but by how heartbroken she sounded. A month of isolation and loneliness all poured into a single sentence. Before Persephone had someone to talk to every day, and Thanatos was a much-needed friend, but she had never been alone. Persephone had always wanted that. And then she got it.

"Lord Hades said-"

Persephone did not let him finish before storming off. Her face was blank and she made no sound. Yet, the way she held herself- even looking as young as she was- was terrifying. The silent furry the nymphs associated with a certain, generally pissed off, god.

"HADES!"

The god in question heard his name being shouted down the halls. The voice was familiar- who was it? Obviously not a nymph. No, he recognized theirs enough to place a face. Then he noticed how the vase of flowers twitched and nearly broke its container. He did not even look up when the door to his study was thrown open.

"Would it kill you to stay in your room?"

"I have had enough of your bullshit!" The room shook under her rage. Hades stopped his signing paperwork until the room settled and his signature would not be ruined.

"You are going to have to be more specific than that." He unrolled the next scroll in the line and examined it.

She counted events off on her fingers. "You stalk me, kidnap me, give me a guest room next to yours, feed me, but otherwise treat me as a prisoner. I can't explore or talk to anyone or touch anyone without them flinching like I'll just eat them or whatever! I can't even leave the room without removing the gods dammed handle."

"And I appreciate the fact that you no longer remove the locks and door handles. It was a pain to replace them."

"You didn't seem to have an issue with ramming a metal pole through the wall and tying it shut."

"And I am frankly amazed you removed the adamantine and then used it to deface my door. Not to mention you destroying the room I so graciously gave you."

"Gracious?! You have the gall to think you're being gracious?!"

"Would you prefer I stick you in the dungeons? I have to warn you, they haven't been used or cleaned in a very long time."

"Go ahead! At least then I'd have a clear idea of why the Styx I'm here!"

Hades' eyes narrowed. Still refusing to meet her gaze he said, "You are here as a guest because your father asked me."

"Zeus. Zeus asked you to kidnap me?" She didn't believe him. "Even if that's true I'm sure he would love to know how you treat your guests."

"And I'm sure he would love to know your little secret, Persephone."

"You know, I'm sure he already does."

"Oh, no. Not at all. In fact, other than Minthe and Hermes, I am the only one who knows."

"You sonofa- wait, how do you know about Hermes?" For a brief second Hades shrunk, grew wider at the waist. His wiry hair turned ruddy. She had played dice with this man before. Then he stood as Hades once more. Persephone gasped in feigned wonder. "I thought that guy was suspicious! I should have guessed no one could be as bad at dice as the Hades!"

The god only growled. When he looked up to retort- he laughed. At her. "What's so funny?"

The way she cocked her little hips to the side, hands against them, only made his laughing fit worse. "I can't take a child seriously in this matter!" His fun was cut short by her hand slamming against the desk.

"How about now?!"

Persephone, the child, burned away in the two steps it took her to reach his desk. She stood at height with the god. A young woman, like Hades had first seen her as. Except where her skin was once flawless and dark, her hair the bright blond of her father, full lips and rose eyes, it was all wrong.

Her skin was a patchwork of colors. Every shade possible for mortals, and even a few reserved for nymphs. The hair was in strips, each a different color that blended together into a frizzed and tangled mess. The color of her eyes broken into a kaleidoscope of color. And those weren't what scared Hades.

It was like a porcelain doll, her face. Smooth, full. A familiar crack ran from her right eye and down to her throat, filled in with what looked like gold. Smaller ones branched off to make her face look like a puzzle that did not quite fit together. Chunks of different faces and hairs and skins and bodies. A glass doll that had been shattered and haphazardly glued back together.

The god went pale- or paler, if that was possible. Her true form rivaled his own.