Her arms extended to keep balance, Persephone walked atop the wall while Hades walked along the streets. She kicked up the edges of her dress and watched how the fabric fell back down in waves. They had dropped off the urn at a house one or two blocks back. He allowed her to enter but hadn't allowed her to go up the stairs with him. Instead she sat in- what she assumed was a living room? There was so much fabric thrown everywhere she couldn't tell what-was-what.
White marble seemed to be the theme in this area. It made the streets, the homes, the sidewalks and the very wall she walked on. Though, it was perhaps closer to a fence. The extra two feet made her perhaps a head taller than Hades.
"I never thought a kingdom could be as big as this! I can't even imagine the size of Olympus!"
"It's actually much smaller. Maybe less than a fourth," Hades replied. The streets were barren in this part of the city, something he was grateful for.
"Really? Everyone always talks about how Zeus has the largest domain."
"I suppose he does- or did. His realm is finite. As is Poseidon's. The underworld is ever-expanding to accommodate the dead."
"So, all the dead live here?" It was perhaps a dumb question, she knew, but why else would he have such a large city? His own Olympus four times over.
"No. Most are in the meadows." She gave a questioning look, asking him to elaborate.
"Asphodel Meadows? What, do mortals not speak of it anymore? It is where the unexceptional go after death. They do not do bad in their lives, but they did not do much good either."
"That seems rather cynical."
He shrugged. "Perhaps. But it is true. Think of it as similar to the surface. The souls construct their own governments and societies. They still possess freewill. They trade, they talk, they create."
"That sounds very different to how it's describe."
"Most mortals I've talked to imagine it as a sort of limbo. The reality is it gives souls a chance to do something with themselves. Because they are left to themselves, though, it can warrant certain spirits being reassigned. Some to Elysium, others to the Fields of Punishment. Or potentially Tartarus." He said it with disdain. As if a memory left a sour taste in his mouth.
"When was the last time that happened?"
"Tartarus? Some centuries ago a shade watered the ambrosia orchards with waters from the Phlegethon. Set fire to the entire crop.
"When we questioned him, he did it on purpose. Something about making the gods pay for his 'eternal damnation'. Was not much of a trial because he admitted his crime, but it earned him Tartarus."
"Wait, ambrosia? That's grown here?"
Hades stopped and turned to look at her. "What does your mother teach you up there?"
She shrugged. "Not to eat the fruit of the dead." It was a moment before Persephone realized he had stopped walking. She turned and found herself looking down at the god. She smirked internally.
"I assume that is why you haven't been eating?" She nodded.
Hades sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Well, you have it half right. Food of the dead has no effect in the realm of the dead." He picked up his stroll, catching up with her. "But on the surface, it can turn- harsh. Even gods have to be careful with ambrosia. It's the same with food of the living."
"So, just don't eat what isn't native."
"Precisely."
"So," Persephone paused long enough to jump down off the wall. Hades stood and waited for her to catch up. "How do you get ambrosia?"
"There is another orchard on Olympus. Zeus provides for the underworld and I provide for the surface." She was clearly brimming with curiosity, but there was an air about her. Something hesitant. "Still don't trust the food of the dead?" She nodded, a sour look on her face. "Trust me, I do not want you down here any longer than you have to."
"I feel so loved," she drawled.
"I'm surprised you can," he mumbled.
"What was that?" Persephone asked, not quite hearing.
"Nothing. Talking to myself."
"About?"
"The Titans," he replied a little too quickly. "Trying to remember the last time the gates to Tartarus were checked."
"Who?" Hades stopped in his tracks, shocked.
Persephone saw a torrent of emotions on his face. Annoyance, anger, disgust- though she had grown used to it- and- concern?
"What?" She asked. He was looking at her as if she grew a second head; not that she would be wholly surprised, being in the underworld and all.
"The Titans? Iapetus? Crius? Hyperion? Atlas? Rhea, for crying out loud!" She made no sign of recognition. He placed his head in his hands, shaking it slightly from disbelief. "Please tell me the name Cronus is at least familiar."
"No...? Is it supposed to?"
"You're telling me you know nothing about the Titanomachy?" He snapped.
Persephone flinched. Internally he smirked. "The what?" Her voice was small, quiet. Like a child who was about to be scolded.
"I honestly do not know if I should be happy about this or irate." One moment Hades had his arms thrown in the air in defeat. The next he grabbed Persephone's arm harshly and dragged her back to the palace.
*****
"Sit." He commanded, leaving her standing in front of a chair.
Persephone was in a room she had never seen before. The size rivaled that of his throne room, though it felt significantly smaller. Shelves took up every available space, only sharing it with the occasional table and chair. They held neat stack upon stack of loose paper, scrolls, stone tablets, even tapestry depicting various events.
Hades disappeared among the shelves, leaving Persephone to her own thoughts. She felt tiny in that room and Hades didn't make it any better with his clear annoyance at her ignorance.
A light blush settled across her neck and collar as she played with the hem of her dress nervously. The dark wood chair was simple and uncomfortable, designed for convenience rather than comfort.
Hades returned some time later. He ignored her obvious distress and slammed a thick, purple, tome onto the table.
"Here. The Muses compiled every account of the Titanomachy- first or otherwise. Feel free to learn about your family. Or at least your blood."
Hades turned and left.
"Hades." It was hardly a whisper. He turned to look and immediately felt regret for his actions.
Persephone sat stiffly in the chair, as if the library and all its contents would poison her at the first opportunity. Her cheeks a shade darker than normal and her face held guilt. She looked- *Stop. Stop feeling bad for it.*
"What?" He tried his hardest to keep his tone even but only half succeeded.
She didn't seem to notice, though. "I can't read."
Hades felt his expression soften, his walls weaken. And he didn't care in that moment. How could she think it wasn't okay that she didn't know something? How could she think it was something to be guilty about? How could she think she was in the wrong?
Because that is all I have ever shown her.
With a sigh Hades released all the anger he held in that moment. The tension in his body released after another and his shoulders dropped.
"Then let's start with something simpler." He went to the nearest shelf and pulled a far thinner book. The pages were worn and the print large. It was what nymphs would read to the youngest shades to calm them.
He placed the book down gently and pulled a second chair out from the table.
Persephone wanted to ask what it was but instead bit her tongue. As if reading her mind Hades responded, "It's just a collection of poems and children's stories. You might recognize a few."
She shook her head. "Mother only ever told me one. And she made it up."
If anyone is wondering why a triple update it's because I wrote the previous two chapters tonight and this one like a month ago