While Wednesday went to Principal Weems' office to inform her of the break-in, Hades took Persephone up to her room. She was still weak from the effects of the Sleeping Nightshade and Hades was still extremely protective of her. He had his arm wrapped securely around her waist as she clung to his shoulder. Her leg wound was also bothering her again after the attacker kicked her.
"I feel so pathetic." She grumbles, frustrated that she had been poisoned and weakened by an unknown assailant. She also couldn't shake the feeling that she had forgotten an important detail. Her memories were fuzzy and jumbled into a chaotic mess, a side effect of the poison. So she couldn't give Wednesday any information about the attack. The only thing she could see is red.
"Why would you say that?" Hades asks her, outraged that she would think that of herself.
Persephone sighs as she tells Hades all her self-loathing thoughts. "I couldn't tell Wednesday who broke in. I couldn't stop myself from getting poisoned. I just feel a bit... useless."
"Sephy, you are anything but useless." Hades protests fiercely. "It's not your fault that any of this happened."
"I can't even walk to my own room without having someone help me." Persephone exclaims. "I'm just a burden to you."
Hades stops walking and turns to face the girl, cupping her cheek with his free hand. "You're not a burden. A burden is something you are forced to carry against your will. I choose to be a part of your life. You will never be a burden to me." Persephone stares up into his beautiful eyes, seeing nothing but desperation for her to believe every word he says.
"Thank you for taking care of me." She smiles lovingly at the boy who has always been there for her.
"I'll always take care of you." He replies affectionately, leaning down to kiss her nose which scrunches at the contact. Small giggles erupt between the two before they continue with their journey. Hades slows their pace as the door comes into view. "I should warn you, your room was trashed by the intruder." His expression darkens as his thoughts are clouded with anger and a hunger for revenge.
"I can deal with anything when I've got you with me."
◇ ◇ ◇
The damage was worse than she thought it would be. She wondered if Wednesday had accidentally set off a bomb... Or intentionally set one off. Because this place looked like a bomb site. Whoever her attacker was, they did a thorough search to find what they came for and stopped at nothing to get it.
"Please tell me my loft was left untouched." Persephone grimaces at the sight of the dorm, eyes scanning every inch to find something that wasn't damaged or destroyed.
Hades winces at her plea, knowing that the mess upstairs was even more disastrous. "If I told you that, I would be lying. And I really don't want a relationship based on deception."
Persephone couldn't deny that the word 'relationship' sent butterflies soaring through her stomach. But she scolded her eager brain for jumping to conclusions when Hades was simply referring to their friendship... right?
Persephone gasps all of a sudden as a thought pops into her brain. "Giulia's book." She hurries up the stairs as fast as Hades would allow her to go before halting at the devastation of her room. But she didn't have time to dwell on the mess as her mind was fixated on finding Giulia's necklace and the book. "Where are they? Please be here." She mutters desperately to herself as she searches throughout the wreckage of her room with Hades' help. All of her books had been tossed carelessly to the floor, so she gently stacked them to one side to keep them out of the way. She silently mourned for all the ripped pages and bent covers as she treated each one with the care they deserved.
"Sephy." Hades' calm voice ripped through her dejected thoughts like the sun peeking through clouds on a rainy day. "The necklace isn't here." The pair sit next to each other as Hades opens the cover of her mother's book to reveal that the necklace was no longer inside. Her despair is only heightened as she looks at the remaining stacks of books and finds that Giulia's is not among them.
"They took the book as well." Persephone's eyes brim with tears as she realises that her family heirloom has been stolen. "Whoever they were, they've taken Giulia's book and the necklace." She feels so disappointed in herself. She should've hidden them better. She should've fought back harder. She should've stopped this.
"I know that face." Hades comments, watching Persephone's defeated expression. "This isn't your fault. Please don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known this would happen."
"But I should've." She objects, enraged at herself. "I should've known that someone would want to steal something like that. My mother warned me that people would do anything to get their hands on it and I've failed her."
"Hey, shh!" Hades silences her cries by pulling the girl into his chest and wrapping his arms around her. He allows her to sob into his shoulder as he rocks them back and forth on the floor. A few moments go by with only Persephone's muffled sniffles filling the silence of the room. She finds herself gripping Hades' shirt in a tight fist as she listens to the steady rhythm of his beating heart to calm herself down. "You haven't failed anyone. This is a school. It's supposed to be a safe place where you feel protected. Not a place where people can break into your dorms, attack you and steal ancient books about the deadliest poisons in the world."
"But-"
"Nope." Hades stops her before she can even try to protest him any more.
"I-"
"Nuh-uh." He shakes his head as her doe eyes gaze up at him through her lashes.
"It-"
"No."
"Fine." Persephone huffs, plopping her head back down on Hades' chest. "It wasn't my fault." Hades smiles smugly as she finally agrees with him. "Have I ever mentioned how infuriating you can be?"
"Have I ever mentioned how you make me fucking crazy?" Hades retaliates, tugging the girl even closer to him.
"Don't blame me for your suffering insanity, Mr Addams." Persephone exclaims, jabbing an accusatory finger into his chest.
"You are my insanity, Miss Ambrose." He growls back, caressing her cheek with his thumb as he cups her jaw. "And I do not suffer from insanity... I enjoy every minute of it."
Persephone takes another glance around her room gloomily. "I can't believe someone would do all this to get their hands on the book. And how did they even know that I had it anyway? You were the only one I told."
"I don't care who they are or how they found out, but they're gonna pay for what they did to you." Hades vows, his jaw clenched as he remembers finding Persephone laying lifelessly among the rubble.
"As long as I get to help." Persephone bargains, smiling up at the boy who can't help but grin back.
"Of course." Hades affirms, as if it was obvious that he and Persephone would get revenge together. "We've got each other's back, remember? Your battle is my battle and we fight together." Persephone can't find the right words to reply. She just gazes up into his beautiful eyes which burn with a passion that cannot be described. Hades notices her stare and asks, "What is it? Did I say something wrong or-"
Persephone laughs lightly and quickly puts an end to his uncharacteristically nervous ramblings. "No, it's just... You've allowed everyone to believe that you're just some heartless murderer... But you're not."
Hades blinks in surprise as his lips curl into a soft smirk. "No, I'm afraid I'm just the regular kind of murderer."
"And yet I trust you completely."
"Aren't you afraid of my darkness, cara mía?" Hades asks her with mischief in his eyes.
"No, mon cher." Persephone replies. "You haven't seen mine yet."
Miss Thornhill had tried her best to plant seeds of doubt into Persephone's mind about Hades, attempting to drive a wedge between the two. One day she had asked Persephone a question:
"Tell me, if he handed you his bloodied hand, would you take it?"
Persephone's answer was plain and simple, and she will stand by it eternally.
"Of course... Because it is his hand."