Persephone and Hades

Rays of sunlight shined down brightly on the world of mortals, illuminating the young goddess’s blonde hair where she lay sunning herself on a rock. The white gown that she wore hugged her body, glowing in its own spectrum of light, one that only an immortal could possess.

Persephone had been in the same spot since daybreak, languishing in the passionate summer sun. She came to this exact field to escape it all when the universe had become too much to handle. After all, even an immortal had their problems. This was her escape, her own secret paradise unknown to mostly everyone, unless Zeus himself was watching down on her.

She knew that her goddess mother Ceres would be worried by this point, and although she should care of her mother’s worries, she did not. A mother’s grasp is always a grasp of warmth and comfort. This is a fact that has been known since the beginning when the first mother felt the kick of her first infant in the womb. Unfortunately, no matter how comforting a mother’s grasp could be, mothers were blind to the overburdening they sometimes impeded on their children too, and this sort of tight grasp is exactly what Persephone was fleeing from.

Although this is the burden that had her flee, it was not the only burden that was making the young maiden’s mind heavy. A large beast was taking homage within her breast like she had never known, causing her blood to run faster through her body and surely abdicating the obstruction of her humors. Behind her lids, underneath the sunlight was darkness. A dark figure with sharp, angular features and crisp, blue eyes were staring into her soul, unleashing the beast and then shocking it into a fury by a fiery bold of lightening. This very immortal, whom would surely be the death of her, was standing not even fifty feet away at that very moment.

How long had he been standing in the shadows she did not know. She had become aware of his presence around the time of noon, and ever since he had been watching her. Many times she had wanted to call out to him and many times her voice had been suffocated in her throat. Instead, she chose to lie on the rock like frozen prey.

Her abrupt and sudden movement shocked the both of them. Hades stumbled back a step as Persephone sat upright.

“I know you are there.” Her voice had finally reached her tongue. She heard a rustling in the trees behind her, and without turning around she knew Hades was now in the summertime field.

“I am here.” Hades announced, his voice deep but un-harsh. It was never harsh or cruel to Persephone, just melancholy.

“Why is it you’ve come?” Persephone asked. The field had a sudden coldness to it as the god of the underworld approached.

“I have seen you come into the field since dawn and wondered if you now suffer from a thirst or a hunger.” Hades explained. He came in front of her now, unleashing the beast once more through her. He pulled out his hand from his dark robes, revealing a pomegranate. Persephone’s eyes locked with his, unsure of what she would find once she had eaten the pomegranate. The fruit looked richer and then livelier than any she had ever seen before.

She took the pomegranate out of his hand and as she did their fingers brushed. His skin was sullen, cool, and surely felt like death. Her skin felt warm and sun-kissed from experiencing a thousand summers. Something inside Hades quieted, went limp at just her touch. Persephone pressed her lips to the plush skin of the fruit and bit into it. It was bittersweet on her tongue, but refreshing. Her eyes locked on Hades as she took a full bite, sealing herself to Hades in an immortal life of eternity.