While Elspeth was left with her task, Hades returned to the Underworld and took his place back on his throne, but it was with a heaviness that weighed on his shoulders as he let out a heavy sigh. It did not go unnoticed, of course, as the sigh echoed loudly almost like a low rumble of thunder. Everyone present in the Underworld could sense that Hades was not in the best mood and no one dared to approach him in such a state, except for Persephone, because the only thing scarier than an upset Hades was an upset Goddess of Spring.
She approached, lifting up the floor of her gown as she made her way to sit on his lap, draping her arms around his neck like soft satin.
"Something troubles you, Hades," she spoke in a gentle tone as she ran her hand over the top of his head in a delicate manner. "Did Elspeth cause you grief during your visit?"
"No, it was no fault of her own," Hades replied leaning his head back into her hand and closing his eyes. "I understand her stress with this whole ordeal that has been placed on her shoulders. I cannot find fault with her speaking out or holding her frustrations against anyone. It is an unfair situation."
"Then what-"
"I slipped," Hades admitted, cutting her off. He could see the puzzled look on his wife's face as her eyes narrowed slightly and her brows furrowed together. Perhaps she was thinking that he had physically slipped and fell and that left to his foul mood.
"Are you hurt-"
"No, Persephone," he said pulling his head away and looking away in shame, " I slipped. I ended up telling her that her mother would deal with her. Of course, that led her to become confused because she didn't understand why Sorcha was getting involved. But I didn't mean her, I was referring to you."
A silence watched over them like a high tide on a full moon, leaving Persephone to stare at her husband with a shocked look. He didn't even have to peer over at her to know the expression on her face.
"Hades, you cannot afford to make slip-ups such as that," she whispered to him as if he didn't already know that. Why else would he feel horrible? "We made an agreement-"
Carefully moving to stand up without knocking her off, Hades stood up and walked away from his throne with a shake of his head. He was muttering to himself while Persephone watched him pace back and forth.
"I know we made the agreement, I know that," he said before turning to her, " but do you ever feel regret for what we did?"
"Regret?" Persephone repeated, leaning forward. "I feel no such thing, we did a beautiful thing for Sorcha and Caelan, Hades. They were loyal to us, beautiful wonderful people who made sacrifices for so many and they deserved to be rewarded. Look how happy Elspeth has made them and look how happy Elspeth is with them-"
"She could have been happy with us."
Standing up, Persephone made her way over and wrapped her arms around one of his before peering up at him.
"You were always concerned with how children would be raised here, fearful that the darkness would be too much and we were able to see how Elspeth has thrived. She would not be the same Elspeth if we were the ones to raise her, you know that. Sorcha and Caelan have done a wonderful job raising her, loving her and making her strong."
"I understand, it's just some days I wish we never made that agreement. When we have those moments, I cannot explain it, but it fills me with regret that we made the decision. I wish we would have gone to Hera just as Artemis did for her family to grant the couple with a child."
"You were kind, you did not wish to bother Hera."
"Zeus bothers her enough for everyone," Hades muttered before peering down at Persephone and offering a small smile. "I feel as cruel as him some days, especially with what I promised Elspeth."
"Oh, Hades, what did you do?"
"She was having difficulty committing to the task of bringing her friends together," he admitted, "I thought it was unfair that it was due to our own meddling that she was brought into the situation. She would have never interfered with the plan of the Morai if it was not for us placing her with Sorcha and-"
"Hades..."
"I told her that when it came to her time to pass that she did not have to enter the Elysian Fields, that she would remain with us...here...where she rightfully belonged."
He couldn't tell if it was disappointment on Persephone's face or pity that he couldn't bear the idea of allowing his child to live as a mortal as they had planned it to be. They had agreed to it when they handed the infant over to the couple, but he figured it was his way of still holding onto her.
"Do you plan on telling Sorcha and Caelan that their daughter will not be joining them in the Elysian Fields?"
"Does it matter?" he questioned in returned. "They will be in the fields, living their own happy lives with their own versions of Elspeth. They will not know she is missing from the fields, that should not pose a problem, right?"
Guessing by Persephone's silence, Hades could tell that she did not agree with the idea because it was not exactly honest on their behalf. It also didn't help that she didn't say anything before she walked away, leaving Hades with conflicted feelings as he stood alone. Perhaps it came across as selfish but he didn't see an issue with it if he wasn't hurting anyone. Elspeth made it extremely clear that she did not wish to enter the Elysian Fields and he didn't want her to go either, so it was a win-win, wasn't it?
Suddenly, Hades wasn't sure if he had made the right decision since it was based only on he felt at the time. Since Persephone had brought up Sorcha and Caelan, he felt like it was her way of saying that he needed to go speak with them and inform the couple of what he had done, to see what their reaction was going to be. However, even if they were upset, was he to go against what he promised Elspeth? After all, it was really the only incentive he had to convince her to interfere in her friends' lives because she really was against getting involved.
Her loyalty to her friends definitely would have placed her high in Hufflepuff rankings if she had been sitting under the Sorting Hat in the recent times. She only wanted James and Lily to be happy, even if it wasn't together, but unfortunately, Elspeth was failing to see the bigger picture and the final painting did not involve the two making it into the frame.
Elspeth sat on the edge of Sirius' bed, the Marauder's Map in hand as she was watching where James was in the castle, along with Lily. Of course, the two were on opposite ends of the castle, James in the company of Remus and Lily in the company of Marlene and Tucker. She let out a frustrated noise as Sirius sat behind her playing with a plush quaffle in his hands as he tossed it up in the air.
The two were brainstorming their next plot to get James and Lily together, as Elspeth tried to remember the advice that Hades had given her, although, it hadn't been much. Sirius had found the list of her plans that she had made and while he was down for hiring a dragon, he assumed that it was going to be difficult to manage.
"There are a lot of plans that involve murder," Sirius said glancing up at one point, " killing on your mind?"
"It seems to be the most simple, kill Tucker, kill Nola, then the two really have no choice, you know?" she shrugged her shoulders. " Don't worry it's already been abandoned as a plan. Apparently, it's their concern for me that brings them together...or whatever he said."
"Who told you that?"
Suddenly, the room grew quiet as Elspeth realised what she had, leaving her eyes to widen. She was just glad that her back was turned at the time to avoid having Sirius see the expression on her face or he would have assumed that something was up.
"My subconscious," she answered quickly.
"Your subconscious is a he?"
"Yours isn't?"
"Yes, but I'm...you know what, never mind," Sirius waved his hands before it became too complicated for him to process. "Anyways, listen, I think I have an idea. It has to do with what you said, their concern for you brings them together. Your subconscious is right, Lily seemed to actually agree with something at the time when it had to do with you-"
"I'm not letting Severus burn my hands again!"
"That's not what I'm saying!" he said pulling her back so that the back of her head came to rest in his lap so that she was looking up at him. "It won't involved you getting hurt, it involves you looking to be in potential danger, but not really because it's planned, you see?"
"I can only see up your nose, Sirius-"
He pulled her back so that she was sitting on his lap, giving her a look as she flashed him an innocent smile. She decided to boop him on the nose for forgiveness, leaving him to chuckle before nuzzling into her.
"No, I have a different plan," he said, " one that concerns James coming in to rescue the day again. You see, what if you went into the Forbidden Forest with Lily and you end up getting "lost" while you're out there. Then somehow James magically stumbles upon you and Lily and helps you two out of the forest."
"Okay, but what's James excuse for miraculously being out in the forest at the same time as us, we don't want him to look like a stalker."
Sirius seemed to ponder the topic as he tapped his chin. "Well, how about you happen to tell me that you're going out there and so much time has passed that I start to get concerned. I tell James that you went out into the Forest with Lily to look at the Unicorn herd or something and you two have been gone for a while. I put on the dramatics that I'm worried and I convince him to go to the forest with me to go looking for you."
"Alright, and what if I end up "losing" Lily by accident," Elspeth added, " somehow we get separated but not really, but enough that James only comes to Lily's rescue."
"And then I can come to rescue you-"
"I can rescue myself, Black, " Elspeth crossed her arms stubbornly in a playful manner as she looked away from him.
"Oh, really, can you rescue yourself if I'm the one coming to get you?!"
Suddenly, Elspeth found herself a victim of tickling as she kicked out her legs with laughter as Sirius' fingers dug into her side. She tried to fight to get away, but Sirius was physically a lot stronger than she was at the time. Not to mention, he had gotten her into the perfect position to get the upper hand.
"Alright, alright, you can rescue me!" she cried out." You can rescue me!"