Hades and Persephone

Chapter 29: Revenge

It's 3am! I have work in the morning! This was a horrible idea! Yall should be worried by the title of the chapter!

They were slumped over the desk, head in hand. Old parchment was supposed to disintegrate or crumble; papercuts were dull shooting pains from the fingertips up through the body; the ink was supposed to bleed into the fibers. Instead, the freshest pieces shattered when unrolled. The papercuts became slices of a knife across the hand.

Clinking filled the room to give the bitter cold a voice. Sharp pen tip against a layer of ice left chips on the desk. Slow—clink—careful—clink—gentle—clink—taps—clink—or—

It went straight through the parchment. Sharp edges snagged the pen as they tried to salvage what was left.

Persephone slammed both pen and paper onto the desk. She rubbed her temples, pressing her forehead to the cold stone. Stray puddles from the melted hoarfrost quickly refroze, sticking her skin and hair to the desk. "Oh, come on!" she roared.

A layer of skin threatened to tear off while her hair threatened to take her scalp with it. Tears refused to fall as they would only freeze and make it worse. Without thinking, she took a nearby letter opener and chopped away the hair. Ice shook and fell in sheets at her frustration, her forehead raw but otherwise unharmed.

Unwelcomed fingers combed their way through her knotted hair untangling knots and dislodging ice. "Come back to bed, Persephone. You should be resting not worrying," Hades cooed. His fingers caught in a particularly bad tangle, yanking on her skull. With a grunt, she handed him the dull blade.

"Just cut it out."

"It won't look pretty."

"Don't care. It'll grow back." The god obliged, cutting her long blonde hair into uneven locks. When he was done she leaned back into him. Her forehead matched the warm red of her fingertips and contrasted the pale blue of her lips. A thumb absentmindedly trailed across them, feeling the rough chap.

"I'm not tired," she finally answered, looking up at him.

Hades thought for a moment, caressing her jawline. "Then you're at least exhausted. Come on, let's go for a walk and take a break." He waited for her to argue—as he would.

Persephone groaned as she uncurled her legs from under her. Her knees protested as she stood, bare feet wanting nothing more than to go back between a warm body and the soft chair. The god offered the crook of his arm and led her to the much warmer hallway. She leaned against him until the stiffness lessened.

"Are you cold?"

She sighed. "No more than normal."

He raised a brow. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'm fine, Hades. Stop worrying." Flashing colors caught her eye from the city outside. It was clearly music filtering from Des, though only the vibrations of the earth made it to them. "What's that?"

"A party. Would you like to go?"

"What for?"

His grin was more mysterious than anything. A twinge of gentleness in it, but mischievous. "It's better to experience it. Come on." He unlinked their arms only to pull her along like an excited child.

"Wait, I'm still in a nightgown!"

"It's white!"

As if that made anything better.

******

Shades and nymphs went scattering across the streets, ducking behind stalls and between buildings. The former were bright, glowing a soft light that was even more prevalent with the street lamps unlit. Nymphs had their own light source with small vials of firewater around necks and hips.