DIVINE - A Persephone And Hades Retelling

THIRTY SIX || Dark And Deadly Things

HADES POV:

Hades nodded along as Thanatos rambled on as only he could. He was reviewing the weekly reports of the Underworld's intake of souls. Hades had always required it, but at this moment, he could not remember why.

His mind seemed to return to his wife, Persephone, as it always did. This time he wondered what she was doing while with her mother. He had seen her in the garden from his window. Demeter and the nymph she had brought followed Persephone as she walked them through her garden. Hades had smiled as he watched her wave her hands animatedly around her as she spoke, no doubt excited to show her garden to someone who appreciated plants as much as her. He had always tried to be interested in her work, but he could not tell the difference between any of the blooms, not as she could. Still, he always tried, and she had always said she appreciated his effort, but he knew she wanted to discuss her passion with someone who understood. He hoped her mother had been kind to her. He knew how excited she had been for her mother's visit. It meant everything to her.

Suddenly a knock echoed from the door, interrupting Thanatos. Hades frowned, Thanatos had been his last meeting of the day, and if it was Persephone, she wouldn't have knocked.

Hades nodded for Thanatos to open the door, and when he did, it showed the cold expression of Demeter, waiting on the other side. "Could we have a moment?" she asked, although he doubted it was a question.

Hades nodded, "I'll find you when I'm done here, Thanatos." He said, dismissing the god to leave. If Thanatos could have run out of the room any faster, he would have.

"I've been expecting you to come and find me," Hades said as he watched the goddess sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He had assumed Demeter had a business she wanted to discuss with him in private. While they had spoken in the Olympian gardens and at the trial, they had yet to speak on the topic without Persephone there. They both had things to say that would only upset her if she was present.

"Yes, well, I think you and I should finally have that talk the both of us have been waiting for." Demeter agreed, folding her hands in her lap.

"Does Persephone know you are here?" he asked, wondering where his wife was, if not with her mother.

She shook her head, "My daughter is getting ready for dinner," she explained to him. He did not miss when she emphasized that Persephone was her daughter, not his wife. He neatly put away the papers that cluttered his desk as he waited patiently for her to say whatever she had come to say. "You've played your cards well," she told him coldly.

He looked up at her trying to decipher what she had meant, but all he could read was her clear hate for him. Still, she remained calm in her hatred, clearly a calculated move. He must have been right when he assumed she had come here for a purpose.

"Excuse me?" he asked her. He was not loving what she was insinuating.

"You and your brother have me right where you want me, and I commend you for it. I took you to trial, and I'll admit I lost. But it's time for this all to come to an end." Her eyes were cold and calculated, which Hades had expected. He knew her as a ruthless and vengeful goddess. But he had never seen her also desperate.

"Demeter, this is not a game to me," Hades said, his fist clenching. The fact Demeter saw Persephone as an item that could be owned angered him.

"Oh, of course, it isn't," Demeter said, laughing at the idea. "I get it. Name your price," she said.

For the first time in years, he was shocked into silence. He had known Demeter would come to him, to threaten or beg him he had not been sure, but he had not expected this. He could have never foreseen Demeter offering to buy Hades' wife from him. How could she think he would allow her to?