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kinkfestTitle: Love Me, Love Me Not (Part One)
Author/Artist:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
syvia
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, a few humorous sexual situations, adult themes
Word Count: 12285
Summary: Hades and Persephone got married. That's fact. Whether they loved each other... well, the muses are still trying to figure that one out.
Prompt: - Crossover: Kingdom Hearts/Greek Mythology, Hades/Persephone: Dominance (aka, "who wears the toga of the house") - The entire world may think Hades is in complete control of the Underworld, and is the boss of his home. But the truth couldn't be any more different, especially with a rose-with-thorns woman like Persephone.
Author's Notes:Ceci and Os deserve a really, really big hand for this. I think I nearly drove all of us nuts trying to decide what this fic was supposed to be and not let it getfurther than one chapter out of hand. I wanted to finish by the due-date, and I didn't want to write multiple chapters. XD No, it's not more than one chapter- it's a one-shot that didn't fit into a single post.
I wanted to make it enjoyable- something people would enjoy reading and something I could say I was happy to have written. I'm happy I wrote this.
The rest is up to you.
"They're here somewhere," Sora says, holding the branches for Kairi. "Just follow the singing."
"Sounds more like arguing to me," says Riku, turning his head. Somewhere off in the distance, through the lovely, shady forest, there are raised voices.
Although lovely, although perfect in all their celestial, melodic unification, they are anything but harmonious.
The muses are fighting.
Naturally there's singing involved.
Kairi pauses, turning her head this way and that. Sora and Riku glance at her.
"Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" the boys ask.
"A... I think it's a bass solo."
Sora grins. "Typical around the muses," he says. "I think they have an invisible jazz band. C'mon!" He grabs her hand and pulls. Riku follows after them, shaking his head.
They had been to Atlantica not long ago and he'd thought they were done with musical numbers.
But when was he ever that lucky?
The solo is indeed real and grows louder as they round a tree and find themselves in a clearing, soft grass under their feet and light poking through gaps in the trees to create spotlights here and there.
Abruptly, the voices are joined in melody, but a counterpoint- two against two. A pair of muses stand in one spotlight, and two in another. The fifth and eldest has made herself comfortable among the roots of a tree. Her expression is resigned, amused.
Does she love him?
(Or does she not?)
Does he love her?
(Or does he not?)
One way or another,
we're gonna get the story straight.
The eldest sighs.
One way or another,
I wish ya'll would end this debate.
Sora bounds forward, his friends close behind. The muses look up, blink- then one smiles and waves.
"Sora!"
Her sisters have similar reactions and welcome him as he leads his friends closer.
"Boy, look how big you are!"
"How handsome too!"
"You must be his friends-"
"Hi!"
"This is Riku, this is Kairi-"
"Whoo- I think I've found my newest inspiration-"
"Ladies, ladies-" the eldest glides forward, smiling, and her sisters subside. "It's good to see you, darling," she pinches Sora's cheek and chuckles at his blush. "Have you come to compete in the Coliseum? It's been a while since anyone fought a really epic battle."
"No," Sora grins, "not this time. We're here for recon, but since you guys know everything-"
"We do!" one of the younger muses sings out.
"-we came to ask you first."
"Ask what, honey?"
Sora rolls his eyes to Riku and smirks.
"Is it true that Hades got married?" Riku asks.
"He didn't believe me when I told him," Sora says despairingly.
Kairi laughs, and all the muses grin.
"Actually-" they say as one, the eldest continues, "we were just discussing that. We'd be happy to tell you all about it!" They do sound happy, happier than Riku is comfortable with, because his eyes narrow.
"Yes," another of them smiles, "it's a fabulously epic poem lasting five days and-"
The trio's heads whip around to that muse, eyes wide and mouths falling open.
"I don't think they have that kind of time," the eldest says wryly.
"No," Riku breaks in, "we don't. The longer we wait, the longer any trace of Maleficent in the Underworld will fade."
"It's not that we wouldn't like to hear it," Kairi says diplomatically, "but-"
"But we just need to know what's different in the Underworld now that Persephone rules half of it," Sora explains, shrugging. "I mean... it seemed like she wore the pants... er- toga, you know? If Hades does what she says, maybe she'll make him answer our questions."
One of the younger muses sighs. "They need the short version."
Her sister looks slightly panicked. "But we can't tell a romance story about two gods- two gods you wouldn't expect to get together- in a short poem!"
The argument breaks out again. Given their beauty, their harmonics and their fervor, it's only natural that Sora and his friends feel a bit overwhelmed.
"Ladies!" the eldest breaks in, patting Kairi on the shoulder, "let's make it a contest. Each of you will tell one story about their courtship, making your case for, or against. At the end, we'll ask our visitors whether Hades and Persephone love each other or not."
"But-" Riku begins.
"Now now," the eldest shoos them towards the tree she'd been sitting on, "it's only fair. You'll get an overview of the rulers of the Underworld, we'll finally get to," she clears her throat, "put this fight to bed."
The muses glance at each other, nod, and the bass solo strikes up again. Other instruments join it as the off-world trio sits down and the muses dance into a line.
It's a story-
(she loves him not)
and a courtship
(he loves her not)
One of the ladies sweeps her arms outward for the solo.
lasting one hundred and eighty-two days
One of the muses blinks, wiggles her fingers as if counting and taps her sister on the shoulder.
one hundred and eighty-three days
Her sister disagrees.
one hundred and eighty-two days
They drop out of the song to argue.
"Eighty three."
"Eighty two!"
But even that retains a musical quality.
Until one of their sisters bursts between them with a smile.
"I'll get the party started with their wedding, alright?"
Her sisters step into backup-mode and the center stage muse walks into a spotlight, throws back her shoulders.
It's a story-
(she loves him not)
and a courtship
(he loves her not)
And after Sora, the little Keyblade Master
and our man Hercules had kicked Hades' behind,
he hatched a plan that made his past mistakes,
seem the ideas of a completely rational mind!
After the whole Auron debacle and the issues with the Keybrat, Hades decided it was time to slow down- check up on the imps' productivity. Think up new ways to torture the souls in Tartarus. Tantalus had gotten a drop of water the other day- the imps in charge of keeping it just below the schmuck's bottom lip got to be target practice and swear they'd do better for the rest of eternity.
Hades hadn't seen Pete or Maleficent in the last couple days and he decided that was fine with him. He'd had his full of Herc-u-lutz and was more than ready to forget about the jock for a while.
He was in control of the Heartless futzing around his place, he hadn't seen any Nobodies since that skinny guy with the giant playable wang. Things were fine- and after the last three plots had ended up like Pompeii and blown up in his face, he was more than ready to fireball the next idiot who suggested he try and take over Olympus. Or kill Hercules. Or kill Hercules and take over Olympus. It just Wasn't. Worth. The. Effort.
But he was bored. One could only torch the imps so many times before it got old. Auron had been interesting- nice little exercise in subjugation. The Keybrat was good for a laugh and a fight and...
Titans in freaking tutus, he sounded pathetic.
Well so what? So what if he'd gotten used to having something interesting to stir up the monotony? So what if he liked having someone to talk to with a higher IQ than your average imp? Was it too much to ask that he have someone around to provide intelligent conversation without being forced into it?
Well... since none of the other gods would come down even with the Olympus Stone, yes. Yes, it was too much to ask.
But wait... he could steal someone! Captive audience was still an audience! He could get someone... obligated. Or make someone obligated. Hades stroked his chin, humming. He was having a thought here- it was murky, but it was coming.
Something about Pete... what was the Catboy always prattling on about? Hades smirked and tapped his fingers together. A wife. Catboy had a wife and mini-catboy back home.
When Hades stayed quiet for too long it was 'my wife' this and 'P.J.' that. Too bad for the kid, being named after a yutz like Catboy.
A wife. That sounded... interesting. He could pick up some attractive chick and if things worked out, great, and if they didn't, well, it wasn't like anyone stuck around here if they didn't have to. Why not? The more he thought about it, the better it sounded.
He could find some mortal- he could find some goddess. He ruled here, and if he said someone was staying, they stayed!
Plan achieved. Step two... find chick, and why not aim high, since he could?
He snapped his fingers, poofed into the plotting room (which used to be a family room but got redecorated as he had more plots than family) and stalked over to the chess board. He called up the figures traipsing around Olympus.
"Aww," he gushed, clasping his hands and making smooshy lips at the board, "all da widdle gods and goddesses- so pretty, so colorful, so annoying," he fisted a hand, slammed it on the board and knocked out half the squares- and all the male (and those like Hermaphroditus, because he just wasn't into that) deities with them. He scanned the board, slammed again and got rid of anyone married. History was filled with sad little yutzes who'd tried to snatch another man's wife. They never ended well- he knew. He had a bunch of them here.
So who did that leave?
Artemis.
Ugh- prude.
Athena.
Too athletic.
Hades took a moment to blink at the board- and the sudden layer of dust on each of the ladies. He looked up.
Another puff of dust and the distant rumble of... something.
He hadn't ordered an earthquake. The Titans hadn't been out since the Hades Cup last year.
"Must be that remodeling project the imps should have been working on last month," he muttered.
At least the little yutzes were getting busy.
Back to selection.
Demeter.
Been there- got rejected.
Eos.
Too... active.
Nyx.
Could work. Hmm. Nahhh, she might be interested, but she was one of the few goddesses more powerful than him- than just about everyone. The point was his future bride sticking around.
Another rumble and more dust. Hades flinched, cast a grimace at the ceiling. "Can we watch it up there, boys?" he called. "I'm plotting!"
Who was left on the board?
Persephone.
The rumbling started up again but Hades ignored it.
Hmm. She was a little pink, but she had great curves. Mommy Dearest had hidden her away for years, so she had to be used to isolation. She held dominion over... spring, right? Either way, she was Demeter's kid, so she was earthy. This... could work. She was one of Zeus' many (many many many) offspring, but he wouldn't hold that against her! He thought back to this or that all-pantheon dinner. Nice kid- no sneering or sudden needing to be on the other side of the room just because he happened to be standing there (Demeter was quick to do it for her).
That might work.
Rumbling. In a big way.
Rumbling bad enough that Hades put his hands on either side of the chess board to brace himself. He grimaced. When this stopped, he was going to find the party responsible and-
The ceiling ripped open.
The earth shook and growled in the trembling. The opening was enormous but deep- black all above his head and he could hear... something, above the earth's protest.
Screaming. A... woman. Screaming.
Hades blinked, shouted in alarm as a white and pink figure literally fell into his lap.
Well- not into his lap. More like on his chest.
There was pain- there was a moment of silence, and then a very pleasant feminine voice originating from somewhere near his left arm.
"...Ooooooooow."
Hades lifted his head.
Slowly dimming celestial glow- blond hair- white outfit- pink skin.
"Persephone?"
Said blond hair swiveled towards him and a dainty pink hand shifted some of it out of the way. Yep. Persephone- current in the running to be Mrs. Of-The-Dead and all-around companion to one Hades, Mr. Of-The-Dead. She'd just been pushed to the winner's circle.
He was a god- he knew a sign when he saw it.
"Sorry to drop in on you like this-" Persephone let him pull her up, grinned when he snickered at her pun. "This bush had really strong roots, I was annoyed and got carried away pulling it ah-ah-" she clung to him, and took her weight off the ankle she'd obviously twisted. It would mend soon and Hades didn't seem to mind, shifting his hands to hold her better, one arm around her waist- the other- swinging under her legs so he could carry her.
"Woah! Oh... okay-"
"Let me get you a comfortable seat." He smiled in what, probably, was supposed to be a suave and debonair manner. Well, it was cute, but a little creepy.
She was blushing. She hated to blush- her entire body deepened to red. Persephone smiled and tried to cut it out.
"I'm terribly sorry about the roof."
"Eh, no worries! The imps'll fix it."
One blink- then another and Hades was settling into his throne- with her on his lap. Well, it was a seat. She couldn't say it was uncomfortable. Persephone left her arm around his shoulders. He didn't seem to mind so-
"PAIN! PANIC!"
Had she squeaked? She was pretty sure she'd squeaked. Persephone made a face, set a finger in her ear and wiggled.
Hades noticed, gave a short laugh. "Oops, sorry. Habit."
"As long as it's not in my ear, it's fine." Persephone lifted her foot, rotated the ankle and patted him on the shoulder. "You can let me down now."
Hades grinned... no, that was a leer. "You're comfy, right?" One hand around her back, supporting it. He was solid without holding her too tightly and it was... nice. She fit into his lap and he was warm and his robes were soft and....
Oh, there she was blushing again.
"I... yes... I am."
Then there were imps, who stared. She wondered was it that she was a goddess or that she was sitting in their master's lap?
"Round up a priest, boys!" Hades stood up, let her stand up, and her ankle was just fine, thanks very much, but his arm wrapped around her waist and he was holding her close. Not that it was any less comfortable than his lap but what was that about a-
"For what, exactly?" she asked, brows drawn close over her eyes.
Hades grinned.
Townspeople as far away as Sparta looked up in confusion at the sudden incredulous shriek that split the air.
Eventually the assembled gods and goddesses figured it out.
Apollo had seen the whole thing, after all, and came forward- it was terrible and horrible and surely an evil plot on Hades' part to capture the poor defenseless Persephone. He obviously wanted to do terrible and horrible things to her, perhaps hold her for ransom. Surely Hades wanted to kill Zeus and overthrow Hercules or was it kill Hercules and overthrow Zeus?
In reality, Persephone had thrown a hissy fit on some shrub in the middle of a field and made a crevasse, into which she had fallen. But you couldn't tell her mother that.
Apollo was more than smart enough not to try. "Yes, it most certainly is the most horrible thing I've ever heard of, really and oh gee, look at the time, I really have to be going- places to go, sun to drive, so sorry I can't stay for the rest of the meeting, everyone!"
He extracted himself from the frantic goddess of the earth and literally ran to his chariot.
The remaining deities wished they were all so lucky. Because it should have been easy to walk down into the Underworld and bring her back- should have been simple to drop in, say a very abbreviated hello to Hades and walk back out with Persephone.
Except for one very small problem.
"It just can't be done, Demeter," Zeus was not cringing. He was not shrinking back from his sometime lover and he was not two seconds away from hiding behind his wife.
"Why not?" Demeter said, sweetly and accompanied by a shifting of tectonic plates. "Just hand me the Olympus Stone and-"
"I would," he said very calmly, no trembling in his voice, "but it isn't here."
Hercules, called up for the meeting and to plan the rescue party, violently flinched.
Demeter noticed and walked over to him, her kind face twisted in rage, the leaves of her crown fluttering in violent agitation. The cloudbank marble of Olympus' great hall cracked beneath each tramp of her small feet and her voice was very calm as she looked at him.
"Hercules," she said with the danger of a building rockslide, "dear, dear," she put her slim green fingers on the straps of his armor and pulled inexorably downward, "sweet, little Hercules."
Zeus edged forward, ready to jump between them if need be- then, realizing his son was actually more likely to survive Demeter's wrath, edged backward again.
"Sweet," she said, putting her hands on his cheeks and squeezing as gently as a hundred-kilo boulder, "boy. Where is the Stone?"
His voice squeaked out from between fish-pursed lips.
"I let Sora borrow it!"
"No no NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!" and boy could she shriek. Hades was a god of impeccable taste if he said so himself- and he did, often and to anyone in the vicinity.
Beauty, brains, voice, and damn if he hadn't found a personality that actually stood a chance of being compatible with his own.
She wasn't weeping- wasn't kicking or scratching (although it might have made things more interesting) just standing there and shrieking- well, shouting in sometimes a very shrill voice. Her voice was light and sweet when happy, loud and outraged when she was mad, and her range- woah.
"Listen here, you," she hissed, poking him in the chest. "I want to go home, and I want to go right now."
He couldn't stop grinning. "Sorry, babe. No can do."
Maybe that was why she lifted a dainty foot...
and kicked him between the legs.
"I mean," she ranted as she pushed him upright- Hades' eye continued to twitch, but he was more or less standing at his full height, "most gods don't find it difficult to walk up to you and say 'Hey! Wanna go get a cup of ambrosia with me?'" The bush she'd meant to transplant from its eye-catching and unwieldy place in the middle of the field was still clutched in her other hand, as it had been the entire time, and budding.
Small, blood-red flowers, all over the bush. Persephone hardly noticed.
"Look at me, Hades," she said, waving the bush and pointing with her other hand. "Do I look dressed for a wedding?"
He made some high-pitched noise, tried not to reach down and cover certain parts of his anatomy as she gestured expansively in various directions.
"Not that gods don't do it all the time," she admitted, wide blue eyes indignant, but not really... scared. "But so what if you're attractive, I'm-"
His brain fizzled and shorted out- along with his ears- because he didn't hear much of what she said for the next five minutes. She thought he was attractive? Score!
Persephone had paused the rant, pulled a full-length mirror from netherwhere and was standing in front of it, snapping the fingers of her free hand. Another time, Hades would find it oddly hypnotic to watch her outfit change. At the moment he was in pain and glaring down half of the imps under his employ.
Doubtless some of the imps in attendance were already fearful of their new mistress and cringing appropriately. The rest thought it was high time their ruler had gotten a taste of his own medicine and were trying not to be too obvious about their gloating. The snickering got on his nerves- quickly shriveled under the heat of his stare.
"I go from almost total solitude to Queen of thousands upon thousands of souls in less than an hour when I thought I'd never get married-" Persephone muttered, dispersing the mirror and moving to Hades' side. Her hair was up, her stola some color that... matched his outfit, and the shrub held demurely in both hands. She nudged Hades in the ribs.
The God of the Dead was sure he'd bruise there too.
"Stand up straight," she muttered.
"Yeah," Hades grinned at her, "you don't seem all that pissed about this."
"I'm not!" she half-shouted, then checked, blinked and looked away. "I'm... not," Persephone muttered, this time to herself. "I... I've always liked the idea of getting married. I just never actually... thought I would do it."
"Well I'm here," he said, "and you're here," he gestured at her. "Like you said, gods do it all the time. So let's get hitched- have some laughs, see what it's like." He put out a hand for her to shake.
She pursed her lips, took time to think about it now that it seemed less like she was being coerced, tapped the fingers of one hand on the other. Eventually she narrowed her eyes like he'd just challenged her to a game of dice. She took his hand.
"Let's." They shook, once, and let go. Hades grinned a little more and she responded to it. Nice smile Mrs. of-the-Dead had on her. He hoped he'd still see it after she found out that lockdown he'd put on to keep her in the Underworld wasn't being unlocked any time soon.
"You!" she pointed at the transparent priest of Hera that Hades had called out of Elysium for the occasion. The ghost flinched a little and tried to maintain his serenity. Persephone smiled kindly, "Please," she said, the perfect example of manners and gentility, "begin the ceremony."
The priest looked to Hades, as if asking whether he was sure about this.
Hades grinned, gleeful, but not without a little pain.
"What she said."
So does she love him?
(she loves him not)
And does he love her?
(he loves her not)
I mean, Olympus Stone- or no Olympus Stone,
she could have raised an awful big fuss,
made him decide she wasn't worth the trouble,
she could have shouted and screamed, a horrible ruckus-
I think she loved him
(she loved him, oh)
I think he loved her
(he loved her so)
Her sister glides up, putting an arm around her shoulders.
But she could have been trying something new-
I mean marriage is what all the 'fashionable' gods do-
Zeus gave away Aphrodite as soon as she was spawned-
she's married to Hephaestus and has Ares too.
Persephone just dropped in on Hades-
he figured it had to be fate-
he still didn't think it was serious
he wasn't planning on a life-mate!
They were just playing around!
(he loved her not)
Seph-girl was trying it out underground
(she loved him not)
She thought she could go up and down the stairs.
She thought she'd be back home in a day, or maybe two
but Hades kept the Underworld on lockdown,
and Seph didn't realize what a lack of food would do-
"Even to a deity."
"So she got a little hungry avoiding the food of the Dead," one of her sisters says. "It's not like she could die from it!"
"But!" the first argues, taking center stage, "It's one more bit of evidence that Hades wanted what he wanted- instead of what was best for her."
Her sisters stare. "Uhm," one says, "it's Hades."
"That's, exactly my point, and it wasn't the only time he put her in a situation without telling her about the fine print! It was the day Hercules tried to talk some reason into him-"
"Hah!" one of her sisters laughs. "Good luck."
Hercules snuck downstairs, looked around. So far so good. No sign of Hades, no imps- a few Heartless were fine, he could deal with them. He just had to find- woah. Wait.
"Persephone... is that you?"
There was a beautiful young woman striding across the Underworld crossroads toward him- a beautiful young woman with elaborately coiffed blond hair and a stola of very dark purple. Persephone was possessed of a regal bearing Hercules never would have expected from the goddess he'd last seen walking barefoot through fields; grass stains on her feet and a crown of petals as pink as her skin.
At least the smile hadn't changed.
"Hercules!" she grabbed him, hugged him, and it was obvious she was happy to see him but she didn't have that air of... desperation that Meg always did when he rescued her. "It's so good to see you!" She muttered into his ear, "It's so good to see anyone over two feet tall who isn't dead or Hades. Not that the imps aren't interesting to look at, but-"
"Are you okay?" he asked, more than somewhat bewildered.
She drew back, still holding his hand, waved the other in a wide circle. "I'm fine. So we're leaving now, right?" She stood there, smiling, hopeful.
Hercules winced. "About that..."
"Yeah!"
They flinched, looked around. Hercules drew his sword and had it pointed as Hades put in an appearance, arms crossed and a smirk firmly planted over his annoyance.
"Tell her about that, kid," he walked over to them, put an arm around Persephone's shoulders. The goddess sighed, shook her head, but didn't cringe at the treatment. She looked put-upon, not fearful, and didn't try to shove him away. Persephone didn't look like she'd even considered it.
Hercules kept the sword out. "Unhand her and release the lock around the Underworld, Hades! Let Persephone go!"
It was very grand and heroic and Persephone smiled as one does at a five year old playing warrior. Hades was unimpressed.
"How about no?"
"Look," she said, shrugging out from under Hades' arm, "there's no need for any of that, just give me the Olympus Stone and-"
"He can't," Hades grinned.
Hercules said nothing, but his jaw tightened.
Persephone's cheerful face closed off into something not-so-cheerful. She looked like her mother.
Hercules swallowed.
"Why can't you?" she asked.
"Well, see- there's this friend of mine named Sora..."
The Spartans collectively flinched and looked around for the second time that month.
Hercules took a flying leap out of the Underworld, followed by a scream-
"AND DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK WITHOUT IT!"
It was only walking back to the coliseum that he realized he'd seen flames adorning Persephone's head- a small band of white fire across her brow, camouflaged in her hair until she'd grown angry, and they had deepened to gold.
She wasn't his captive she was his....
Uh-oh.
"That," Hades said, pointing, "was nicely done."
Persephone gave him a florid curtsey, grinned and kept walking. "Well you have tried to kill him... what is it, three times now?"
"Meh- water under the bridge! He's my brother-in-law now."
Persephone rolled her eyes, kept walking. Hades followed along, not in any particular hurry.
"Besides- who has time to plot with a gorgeous young wife to tend to, eh?"
She stopped, put her hands on her hips and chuckled, shaking her head. She accepted Hades' arms snaking around her shoulders, his lips on her cheek, her neck... her-
"O-kay, okay," she wriggled and he let her go, not before smooching the back of one hand. "You realize," Persephone turned, clasping his fingers, "that we could bypass the fighting if you'd just end the lockdown. Let me up for air, talk to my mom, get some work done, come back downstairs."
"Except," Hades said wryly, "the last bit would never happen. I let you out, you're gone."
"No I-"
"It's the story of my life, Seph," he smirked, shrugged, and they started walking again. "No one ever sticks around here that doesn't have to. The Dead would skip out if I let them."
Persephone got a nervous little grin on her face, tapped her hands together lightly. "Yeah... about that." She drew her hands apart- a scroll appeared and lengthened between her palms. Persephone clutched it for a few seconds, then thrust it in Hades' face.
The god of the Dead blinked, grinned at the way his wife was nibbling her lower lip. He'd never seen her look nervous before. He took the scroll, opened it, started muttering.
"Twelve-step program for soul... rehabilitation?"
"I mean this isn't for the ones in Tartarus," Persephone said hurriedly. "They're in there for a reason- they deserve to be there, but I was thinking-"
"'Counseling and group therapy...'" he read, brows inching upward, "'first step... admitting that you're dead'. Uh... where were you going with this, exactly?"
"I thought," Persephone did the hand thing again, "maybe we could decrease the population in Asphodel. I mean," she sounded nervous, but excited, "they're not doing anything but wandering around- if they learn what a difference they can make in the world- how they can contribute, maybe they'd want to go back! Be born again, have new lives! Maybe some of the souls in Elysium are bored. Maybe they'd like to make another mark on the world- you don't like it."
Hades winced at the sudden loss of her smile and tried to stop grimacing. "No- I mean... I- no, I don't not like it I- uh... who were you going to get to run this?"
"Oh, I would! I'd train a few of the imps to do this or that thing, but I would take care of it-"
"But what about all the... other things you do?"
Persephone groaned, shook her head. "Never mind."
"No, hey- wait," Hades grabbed her shoulder, halted Persephone's retreat, "c'mon, I didn't say no. Talk to me."
She wasn't shy about revealing her aggravation. "Okay. The things I do- like what? What do I do, Hades? I had duties upstairs. Now I can't go upstairs to tend to those duties and I-"
"I have a garden," Hades offered.
"I know," she said, rolling her eyes, "I've taken care of it."
She what? "You have?"
"It was a mess when I started," Persephone shrugged, "but I re-trained the imps, I convinced the puppy not to bury random body parts there and I've been keeping up with the weeding. It's much better organized and I only need fifteen minutes a day to maintain-"
Hades' mind had not yet decided whether to break at Persephone terming Cerberus as 'the puppy'. "Fifteen minutes? My garden? My thousand-acre garden?"
She gave him a small, pleased grin. "I'm usually responsible for the entire world, Hades."
So she was bored- she wanted something to do. What irked him was not that- he worked, why shouldn't she? It was just... she wanted to break into his work.
"Look," he said, pressing the scroll between his hands and into the netherwhere they kept relevant bits of reading material, "I'll think about it, alright?" But in the meantime- "Hey... I've got an idea."
The warrior flinched, drew his sword and squinted at the sudden light flooding the room. Hades, come to try and subdue him again or... perhaps not. A young woman stood beside the god, her arm curled around his, one eyebrow raised.
"This yutz-" said the god, pointing at him, "is one of my failed attempts at rehab. You get him to move on to Elysium, I'll okay the twelve-step idea."
The woman looked at Hades, skepticism obvious. Well anyone who lingered too long around him knew he lied with a smile and alarming frequency.
"This is a trick," she said, but rather than annoyance, she seemed to smirk and take it as a challenge she planned to win.
"Not really," Hades smirked back. "He doesn't like me, but he's all noble and honorable and gushy- and you're a girl." He kissed her on the cheek and backed up so she wouldn't go with him when he left. "Have fun, kiddies!"
The woman- goddess, as there was fire on her brow which didn't burn her hair, shook her head and smiled.
"He's impossible. Hello," she held out a hand to him, "I am Persephone, and you are-?"
He paused for a moment only and took it, nodded over it. "Auron."
"Oh, that Auron," the current soloist fans herself. "He's one hunka-hunka burnin'-"
The eldest clears her throat very loudly.
"Anyway-"
Does he love her?
(he loves her not)
Does she love him?
(she loves him not)
That wasn't the first trick and
it wasn't the last shot
even though Persephone gave
as good as she got.
They had dinner together a week later- Hades smirked as he ate and Persephone slumped back in her chair, stomach growling, and made a face at him.
"You're absolutely hilarious," she said.
His smirk grew wider.
"You pull a self-placed soul from Tartarus, do a patch job on his soul to give him back his body so he can kill Hercules for you, steal his will to try and make him do it when he won't volunteer. This, this is the soul you bet I couldn't convince to move on. The one soul in the realm with valid reasons not to. You set me up to fail."
"Well... yeah- but he hasn't maimed any minions lately. You must be doing something right."
Despite herself, Persephone grinned.
"Hey," he said, "it's not that your idea is a bad one. But I'm not gonna do it- I can't let the imps do anything without supervision, and you're not gonna be here long enough to-"
"-leaving, blah blah blah, Olympus Stone, blah blah," she worked her fingers up and down like a mouth, talking over him. "If I'm eventually going to leave," she sighed, "why are you going to so much trouble to keep me here?"
He shrugged, "Having fun while it lasts."
"Yeah, you are," she put her chin in her hand, grimaced. "I'm hungry. I'm also bored and aggravated. You won't let me out, you won't let me work. You haven't held a Cup lately so there's no entertainment. We're not having sex-"
He choked on a hummus-covered bite of pita and coughed. Persephone made a face and waited for the fit to end.
"Wait- does that mean you want to?"
Her voice was as bland as her expression. "You leer at me often enough- we've been sleeping in the same bed since I got here. No- I don't really want to at the moment because I'm annoyed with the way you've been treating me. The point is," she said, starting to glare, "we're married. I've given up a lot as a result and gotten nothing in exchange."
He met her gaze silently, waiting for the other sandal to drop. She was right- and he didn't plan on changing anything so....
"I'm going to start that program," she said. "If you have any protests, tell me now."
"Yeah. I don't want you to do it."
The pleasant tone was just as fake as her smile, "You'll get used to it."
She got up and left the table.
Part Two
Author/Artist:
syviaRating: R
Warnings: Language, a few humorous sexual situations, adult themes
Word Count: 12285
Summary: Hades and Persephone got married. That's fact. Whether they loved each other... well, the muses are still trying to figure that one out.
Prompt: - Crossover: Kingdom Hearts/Greek Mythology, Hades/Persephone: Dominance (aka, "who wears the toga of the house") - The entire world may think Hades is in complete control of the Underworld, and is the boss of his home. But the truth couldn't be any more different, especially with a rose-with-thorns woman like Persephone.
Author's Notes:Ceci and Os deserve a really, really big hand for this. I think I nearly drove all of us nuts trying to decide what this fic was supposed to be and not let it get
I wanted to make it enjoyable- something people would enjoy reading and something I could say I was happy to have written. I'm happy I wrote this.
The rest is up to you.
"They're here somewhere," Sora says, holding the branches for Kairi. "Just follow the singing."
"Sounds more like arguing to me," says Riku, turning his head. Somewhere off in the distance, through the lovely, shady forest, there are raised voices.
Although lovely, although perfect in all their celestial, melodic unification, they are anything but harmonious.
The muses are fighting.
Naturally there's singing involved.
Kairi pauses, turning her head this way and that. Sora and Riku glance at her.
"Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" the boys ask.
"A... I think it's a bass solo."
Sora grins. "Typical around the muses," he says. "I think they have an invisible jazz band. C'mon!" He grabs her hand and pulls. Riku follows after them, shaking his head.
They had been to Atlantica not long ago and he'd thought they were done with musical numbers.
But when was he ever that lucky?
The solo is indeed real and grows louder as they round a tree and find themselves in a clearing, soft grass under their feet and light poking through gaps in the trees to create spotlights here and there.
Abruptly, the voices are joined in melody, but a counterpoint- two against two. A pair of muses stand in one spotlight, and two in another. The fifth and eldest has made herself comfortable among the roots of a tree. Her expression is resigned, amused.
Does she love him?
(Or does she not?)
Does he love her?
(Or does he not?)
One way or another,
we're gonna get the story straight.
The eldest sighs.
One way or another,
I wish ya'll would end this debate.
Sora bounds forward, his friends close behind. The muses look up, blink- then one smiles and waves.
"Sora!"
Her sisters have similar reactions and welcome him as he leads his friends closer.
"Boy, look how big you are!"
"How handsome too!"
"You must be his friends-"
"Hi!"
"This is Riku, this is Kairi-"
"Whoo- I think I've found my newest inspiration-"
"Ladies, ladies-" the eldest glides forward, smiling, and her sisters subside. "It's good to see you, darling," she pinches Sora's cheek and chuckles at his blush. "Have you come to compete in the Coliseum? It's been a while since anyone fought a really epic battle."
"No," Sora grins, "not this time. We're here for recon, but since you guys know everything-"
"We do!" one of the younger muses sings out.
"-we came to ask you first."
"Ask what, honey?"
Sora rolls his eyes to Riku and smirks.
"Is it true that Hades got married?" Riku asks.
"He didn't believe me when I told him," Sora says despairingly.
Kairi laughs, and all the muses grin.
"Actually-" they say as one, the eldest continues, "we were just discussing that. We'd be happy to tell you all about it!" They do sound happy, happier than Riku is comfortable with, because his eyes narrow.
"Yes," another of them smiles, "it's a fabulously epic poem lasting five days and-"
The trio's heads whip around to that muse, eyes wide and mouths falling open.
"I don't think they have that kind of time," the eldest says wryly.
"No," Riku breaks in, "we don't. The longer we wait, the longer any trace of Maleficent in the Underworld will fade."
"It's not that we wouldn't like to hear it," Kairi says diplomatically, "but-"
"But we just need to know what's different in the Underworld now that Persephone rules half of it," Sora explains, shrugging. "I mean... it seemed like she wore the pants... er- toga, you know? If Hades does what she says, maybe she'll make him answer our questions."
One of the younger muses sighs. "They need the short version."
Her sister looks slightly panicked. "But we can't tell a romance story about two gods- two gods you wouldn't expect to get together- in a short poem!"
The argument breaks out again. Given their beauty, their harmonics and their fervor, it's only natural that Sora and his friends feel a bit overwhelmed.
"Ladies!" the eldest breaks in, patting Kairi on the shoulder, "let's make it a contest. Each of you will tell one story about their courtship, making your case for, or against. At the end, we'll ask our visitors whether Hades and Persephone love each other or not."
"But-" Riku begins.
"Now now," the eldest shoos them towards the tree she'd been sitting on, "it's only fair. You'll get an overview of the rulers of the Underworld, we'll finally get to," she clears her throat, "put this fight to bed."
The muses glance at each other, nod, and the bass solo strikes up again. Other instruments join it as the off-world trio sits down and the muses dance into a line.
It's a story-
(she loves him not)
and a courtship
(he loves her not)
One of the ladies sweeps her arms outward for the solo.
lasting one hundred and eighty-two days
One of the muses blinks, wiggles her fingers as if counting and taps her sister on the shoulder.
one hundred and eighty-three days
Her sister disagrees.
one hundred and eighty-two days
They drop out of the song to argue.
"Eighty three."
"Eighty two!"
But even that retains a musical quality.
Until one of their sisters bursts between them with a smile.
"I'll get the party started with their wedding, alright?"
Her sisters step into backup-mode and the center stage muse walks into a spotlight, throws back her shoulders.
It's a story-
(she loves him not)
and a courtship
(he loves her not)
And after Sora, the little Keyblade Master
and our man Hercules had kicked Hades' behind,
he hatched a plan that made his past mistakes,
seem the ideas of a completely rational mind!
After the whole Auron debacle and the issues with the Keybrat, Hades decided it was time to slow down- check up on the imps' productivity. Think up new ways to torture the souls in Tartarus. Tantalus had gotten a drop of water the other day- the imps in charge of keeping it just below the schmuck's bottom lip got to be target practice and swear they'd do better for the rest of eternity.
Hades hadn't seen Pete or Maleficent in the last couple days and he decided that was fine with him. He'd had his full of Herc-u-lutz and was more than ready to forget about the jock for a while.
He was in control of the Heartless futzing around his place, he hadn't seen any Nobodies since that skinny guy with the giant playable wang. Things were fine- and after the last three plots had ended up like Pompeii and blown up in his face, he was more than ready to fireball the next idiot who suggested he try and take over Olympus. Or kill Hercules. Or kill Hercules and take over Olympus. It just Wasn't. Worth. The. Effort.
But he was bored. One could only torch the imps so many times before it got old. Auron had been interesting- nice little exercise in subjugation. The Keybrat was good for a laugh and a fight and...
Titans in freaking tutus, he sounded pathetic.
Well so what? So what if he'd gotten used to having something interesting to stir up the monotony? So what if he liked having someone to talk to with a higher IQ than your average imp? Was it too much to ask that he have someone around to provide intelligent conversation without being forced into it?
Well... since none of the other gods would come down even with the Olympus Stone, yes. Yes, it was too much to ask.
But wait... he could steal someone! Captive audience was still an audience! He could get someone... obligated. Or make someone obligated. Hades stroked his chin, humming. He was having a thought here- it was murky, but it was coming.
Something about Pete... what was the Catboy always prattling on about? Hades smirked and tapped his fingers together. A wife. Catboy had a wife and mini-catboy back home.
When Hades stayed quiet for too long it was 'my wife' this and 'P.J.' that. Too bad for the kid, being named after a yutz like Catboy.
A wife. That sounded... interesting. He could pick up some attractive chick and if things worked out, great, and if they didn't, well, it wasn't like anyone stuck around here if they didn't have to. Why not? The more he thought about it, the better it sounded.
He could find some mortal- he could find some goddess. He ruled here, and if he said someone was staying, they stayed!
Plan achieved. Step two... find chick, and why not aim high, since he could?
He snapped his fingers, poofed into the plotting room (which used to be a family room but got redecorated as he had more plots than family) and stalked over to the chess board. He called up the figures traipsing around Olympus.
"Aww," he gushed, clasping his hands and making smooshy lips at the board, "all da widdle gods and goddesses- so pretty, so colorful, so annoying," he fisted a hand, slammed it on the board and knocked out half the squares- and all the male (and those like Hermaphroditus, because he just wasn't into that) deities with them. He scanned the board, slammed again and got rid of anyone married. History was filled with sad little yutzes who'd tried to snatch another man's wife. They never ended well- he knew. He had a bunch of them here.
So who did that leave?
Artemis.
Ugh- prude.
Athena.
Too athletic.
Hades took a moment to blink at the board- and the sudden layer of dust on each of the ladies. He looked up.
Another puff of dust and the distant rumble of... something.
He hadn't ordered an earthquake. The Titans hadn't been out since the Hades Cup last year.
"Must be that remodeling project the imps should have been working on last month," he muttered.
At least the little yutzes were getting busy.
Back to selection.
Demeter.
Been there- got rejected.
Eos.
Too... active.
Nyx.
Could work. Hmm. Nahhh, she might be interested, but she was one of the few goddesses more powerful than him- than just about everyone. The point was his future bride sticking around.
Another rumble and more dust. Hades flinched, cast a grimace at the ceiling. "Can we watch it up there, boys?" he called. "I'm plotting!"
Who was left on the board?
Persephone.
The rumbling started up again but Hades ignored it.
Hmm. She was a little pink, but she had great curves. Mommy Dearest had hidden her away for years, so she had to be used to isolation. She held dominion over... spring, right? Either way, she was Demeter's kid, so she was earthy. This... could work. She was one of Zeus' many (many many many) offspring, but he wouldn't hold that against her! He thought back to this or that all-pantheon dinner. Nice kid- no sneering or sudden needing to be on the other side of the room just because he happened to be standing there (Demeter was quick to do it for her).
That might work.
Rumbling. In a big way.
Rumbling bad enough that Hades put his hands on either side of the chess board to brace himself. He grimaced. When this stopped, he was going to find the party responsible and-
The ceiling ripped open.
The earth shook and growled in the trembling. The opening was enormous but deep- black all above his head and he could hear... something, above the earth's protest.
Screaming. A... woman. Screaming.
Hades blinked, shouted in alarm as a white and pink figure literally fell into his lap.
Well- not into his lap. More like on his chest.
There was pain- there was a moment of silence, and then a very pleasant feminine voice originating from somewhere near his left arm.
"...Ooooooooow."
Hades lifted his head.
Slowly dimming celestial glow- blond hair- white outfit- pink skin.
"Persephone?"
Said blond hair swiveled towards him and a dainty pink hand shifted some of it out of the way. Yep. Persephone- current in the running to be Mrs. Of-The-Dead and all-around companion to one Hades, Mr. Of-The-Dead. She'd just been pushed to the winner's circle.
He was a god- he knew a sign when he saw it.
"Sorry to drop in on you like this-" Persephone let him pull her up, grinned when he snickered at her pun. "This bush had really strong roots, I was annoyed and got carried away pulling it ah-ah-" she clung to him, and took her weight off the ankle she'd obviously twisted. It would mend soon and Hades didn't seem to mind, shifting his hands to hold her better, one arm around her waist- the other- swinging under her legs so he could carry her.
"Woah! Oh... okay-"
"Let me get you a comfortable seat." He smiled in what, probably, was supposed to be a suave and debonair manner. Well, it was cute, but a little creepy.
She was blushing. She hated to blush- her entire body deepened to red. Persephone smiled and tried to cut it out.
"I'm terribly sorry about the roof."
"Eh, no worries! The imps'll fix it."
One blink- then another and Hades was settling into his throne- with her on his lap. Well, it was a seat. She couldn't say it was uncomfortable. Persephone left her arm around his shoulders. He didn't seem to mind so-
"PAIN! PANIC!"
Had she squeaked? She was pretty sure she'd squeaked. Persephone made a face, set a finger in her ear and wiggled.
Hades noticed, gave a short laugh. "Oops, sorry. Habit."
"As long as it's not in my ear, it's fine." Persephone lifted her foot, rotated the ankle and patted him on the shoulder. "You can let me down now."
Hades grinned... no, that was a leer. "You're comfy, right?" One hand around her back, supporting it. He was solid without holding her too tightly and it was... nice. She fit into his lap and he was warm and his robes were soft and....
Oh, there she was blushing again.
"I... yes... I am."
Then there were imps, who stared. She wondered was it that she was a goddess or that she was sitting in their master's lap?
"Round up a priest, boys!" Hades stood up, let her stand up, and her ankle was just fine, thanks very much, but his arm wrapped around her waist and he was holding her close. Not that it was any less comfortable than his lap but what was that about a-
"For what, exactly?" she asked, brows drawn close over her eyes.
Hades grinned.
Townspeople as far away as Sparta looked up in confusion at the sudden incredulous shriek that split the air.
Eventually the assembled gods and goddesses figured it out.
Apollo had seen the whole thing, after all, and came forward- it was terrible and horrible and surely an evil plot on Hades' part to capture the poor defenseless Persephone. He obviously wanted to do terrible and horrible things to her, perhaps hold her for ransom. Surely Hades wanted to kill Zeus and overthrow Hercules or was it kill Hercules and overthrow Zeus?
In reality, Persephone had thrown a hissy fit on some shrub in the middle of a field and made a crevasse, into which she had fallen. But you couldn't tell her mother that.
Apollo was more than smart enough not to try. "Yes, it most certainly is the most horrible thing I've ever heard of, really and oh gee, look at the time, I really have to be going- places to go, sun to drive, so sorry I can't stay for the rest of the meeting, everyone!"
He extracted himself from the frantic goddess of the earth and literally ran to his chariot.
The remaining deities wished they were all so lucky. Because it should have been easy to walk down into the Underworld and bring her back- should have been simple to drop in, say a very abbreviated hello to Hades and walk back out with Persephone.
Except for one very small problem.
"It just can't be done, Demeter," Zeus was not cringing. He was not shrinking back from his sometime lover and he was not two seconds away from hiding behind his wife.
"Why not?" Demeter said, sweetly and accompanied by a shifting of tectonic plates. "Just hand me the Olympus Stone and-"
"I would," he said very calmly, no trembling in his voice, "but it isn't here."
Hercules, called up for the meeting and to plan the rescue party, violently flinched.
Demeter noticed and walked over to him, her kind face twisted in rage, the leaves of her crown fluttering in violent agitation. The cloudbank marble of Olympus' great hall cracked beneath each tramp of her small feet and her voice was very calm as she looked at him.
"Hercules," she said with the danger of a building rockslide, "dear, dear," she put her slim green fingers on the straps of his armor and pulled inexorably downward, "sweet, little Hercules."
Zeus edged forward, ready to jump between them if need be- then, realizing his son was actually more likely to survive Demeter's wrath, edged backward again.
"Sweet," she said, putting her hands on his cheeks and squeezing as gently as a hundred-kilo boulder, "boy. Where is the Stone?"
His voice squeaked out from between fish-pursed lips.
"I let Sora borrow it!"
"No no NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!" and boy could she shriek. Hades was a god of impeccable taste if he said so himself- and he did, often and to anyone in the vicinity.
Beauty, brains, voice, and damn if he hadn't found a personality that actually stood a chance of being compatible with his own.
She wasn't weeping- wasn't kicking or scratching (although it might have made things more interesting) just standing there and shrieking- well, shouting in sometimes a very shrill voice. Her voice was light and sweet when happy, loud and outraged when she was mad, and her range- woah.
"Listen here, you," she hissed, poking him in the chest. "I want to go home, and I want to go right now."
He couldn't stop grinning. "Sorry, babe. No can do."
Maybe that was why she lifted a dainty foot...
and kicked him between the legs.
"I mean," she ranted as she pushed him upright- Hades' eye continued to twitch, but he was more or less standing at his full height, "most gods don't find it difficult to walk up to you and say 'Hey! Wanna go get a cup of ambrosia with me?'" The bush she'd meant to transplant from its eye-catching and unwieldy place in the middle of the field was still clutched in her other hand, as it had been the entire time, and budding.
Small, blood-red flowers, all over the bush. Persephone hardly noticed.
"Look at me, Hades," she said, waving the bush and pointing with her other hand. "Do I look dressed for a wedding?"
He made some high-pitched noise, tried not to reach down and cover certain parts of his anatomy as she gestured expansively in various directions.
"Not that gods don't do it all the time," she admitted, wide blue eyes indignant, but not really... scared. "But so what if you're attractive, I'm-"
His brain fizzled and shorted out- along with his ears- because he didn't hear much of what she said for the next five minutes. She thought he was attractive? Score!
Persephone had paused the rant, pulled a full-length mirror from netherwhere and was standing in front of it, snapping the fingers of her free hand. Another time, Hades would find it oddly hypnotic to watch her outfit change. At the moment he was in pain and glaring down half of the imps under his employ.
Doubtless some of the imps in attendance were already fearful of their new mistress and cringing appropriately. The rest thought it was high time their ruler had gotten a taste of his own medicine and were trying not to be too obvious about their gloating. The snickering got on his nerves- quickly shriveled under the heat of his stare.
"I go from almost total solitude to Queen of thousands upon thousands of souls in less than an hour when I thought I'd never get married-" Persephone muttered, dispersing the mirror and moving to Hades' side. Her hair was up, her stola some color that... matched his outfit, and the shrub held demurely in both hands. She nudged Hades in the ribs.
The God of the Dead was sure he'd bruise there too.
"Stand up straight," she muttered.
"Yeah," Hades grinned at her, "you don't seem all that pissed about this."
"I'm not!" she half-shouted, then checked, blinked and looked away. "I'm... not," Persephone muttered, this time to herself. "I... I've always liked the idea of getting married. I just never actually... thought I would do it."
"Well I'm here," he said, "and you're here," he gestured at her. "Like you said, gods do it all the time. So let's get hitched- have some laughs, see what it's like." He put out a hand for her to shake.
She pursed her lips, took time to think about it now that it seemed less like she was being coerced, tapped the fingers of one hand on the other. Eventually she narrowed her eyes like he'd just challenged her to a game of dice. She took his hand.
"Let's." They shook, once, and let go. Hades grinned a little more and she responded to it. Nice smile Mrs. of-the-Dead had on her. He hoped he'd still see it after she found out that lockdown he'd put on to keep her in the Underworld wasn't being unlocked any time soon.
"You!" she pointed at the transparent priest of Hera that Hades had called out of Elysium for the occasion. The ghost flinched a little and tried to maintain his serenity. Persephone smiled kindly, "Please," she said, the perfect example of manners and gentility, "begin the ceremony."
The priest looked to Hades, as if asking whether he was sure about this.
Hades grinned, gleeful, but not without a little pain.
"What she said."
So does she love him?
(she loves him not)
And does he love her?
(he loves her not)
I mean, Olympus Stone- or no Olympus Stone,
she could have raised an awful big fuss,
made him decide she wasn't worth the trouble,
she could have shouted and screamed, a horrible ruckus-
I think she loved him
(she loved him, oh)
I think he loved her
(he loved her so)
Her sister glides up, putting an arm around her shoulders.
But she could have been trying something new-
I mean marriage is what all the 'fashionable' gods do-
Zeus gave away Aphrodite as soon as she was spawned-
she's married to Hephaestus and has Ares too.
Persephone just dropped in on Hades-
he figured it had to be fate-
he still didn't think it was serious
he wasn't planning on a life-mate!
They were just playing around!
(he loved her not)
Seph-girl was trying it out underground
(she loved him not)
She thought she could go up and down the stairs.
She thought she'd be back home in a day, or maybe two
but Hades kept the Underworld on lockdown,
and Seph didn't realize what a lack of food would do-
"Even to a deity."
"So she got a little hungry avoiding the food of the Dead," one of her sisters says. "It's not like she could die from it!"
"But!" the first argues, taking center stage, "It's one more bit of evidence that Hades wanted what he wanted- instead of what was best for her."
Her sisters stare. "Uhm," one says, "it's Hades."
"That's, exactly my point, and it wasn't the only time he put her in a situation without telling her about the fine print! It was the day Hercules tried to talk some reason into him-"
"Hah!" one of her sisters laughs. "Good luck."
Hercules snuck downstairs, looked around. So far so good. No sign of Hades, no imps- a few Heartless were fine, he could deal with them. He just had to find- woah. Wait.
"Persephone... is that you?"
There was a beautiful young woman striding across the Underworld crossroads toward him- a beautiful young woman with elaborately coiffed blond hair and a stola of very dark purple. Persephone was possessed of a regal bearing Hercules never would have expected from the goddess he'd last seen walking barefoot through fields; grass stains on her feet and a crown of petals as pink as her skin.
At least the smile hadn't changed.
"Hercules!" she grabbed him, hugged him, and it was obvious she was happy to see him but she didn't have that air of... desperation that Meg always did when he rescued her. "It's so good to see you!" She muttered into his ear, "It's so good to see anyone over two feet tall who isn't dead or Hades. Not that the imps aren't interesting to look at, but-"
"Are you okay?" he asked, more than somewhat bewildered.
She drew back, still holding his hand, waved the other in a wide circle. "I'm fine. So we're leaving now, right?" She stood there, smiling, hopeful.
Hercules winced. "About that..."
"Yeah!"
They flinched, looked around. Hercules drew his sword and had it pointed as Hades put in an appearance, arms crossed and a smirk firmly planted over his annoyance.
"Tell her about that, kid," he walked over to them, put an arm around Persephone's shoulders. The goddess sighed, shook her head, but didn't cringe at the treatment. She looked put-upon, not fearful, and didn't try to shove him away. Persephone didn't look like she'd even considered it.
Hercules kept the sword out. "Unhand her and release the lock around the Underworld, Hades! Let Persephone go!"
It was very grand and heroic and Persephone smiled as one does at a five year old playing warrior. Hades was unimpressed.
"How about no?"
"Look," she said, shrugging out from under Hades' arm, "there's no need for any of that, just give me the Olympus Stone and-"
"He can't," Hades grinned.
Hercules said nothing, but his jaw tightened.
Persephone's cheerful face closed off into something not-so-cheerful. She looked like her mother.
Hercules swallowed.
"Why can't you?" she asked.
"Well, see- there's this friend of mine named Sora..."
The Spartans collectively flinched and looked around for the second time that month.
Hercules took a flying leap out of the Underworld, followed by a scream-
"AND DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK WITHOUT IT!"
It was only walking back to the coliseum that he realized he'd seen flames adorning Persephone's head- a small band of white fire across her brow, camouflaged in her hair until she'd grown angry, and they had deepened to gold.
She wasn't his captive she was his....
Uh-oh.
"That," Hades said, pointing, "was nicely done."
Persephone gave him a florid curtsey, grinned and kept walking. "Well you have tried to kill him... what is it, three times now?"
"Meh- water under the bridge! He's my brother-in-law now."
Persephone rolled her eyes, kept walking. Hades followed along, not in any particular hurry.
"Besides- who has time to plot with a gorgeous young wife to tend to, eh?"
She stopped, put her hands on her hips and chuckled, shaking her head. She accepted Hades' arms snaking around her shoulders, his lips on her cheek, her neck... her-
"O-kay, okay," she wriggled and he let her go, not before smooching the back of one hand. "You realize," Persephone turned, clasping his fingers, "that we could bypass the fighting if you'd just end the lockdown. Let me up for air, talk to my mom, get some work done, come back downstairs."
"Except," Hades said wryly, "the last bit would never happen. I let you out, you're gone."
"No I-"
"It's the story of my life, Seph," he smirked, shrugged, and they started walking again. "No one ever sticks around here that doesn't have to. The Dead would skip out if I let them."
Persephone got a nervous little grin on her face, tapped her hands together lightly. "Yeah... about that." She drew her hands apart- a scroll appeared and lengthened between her palms. Persephone clutched it for a few seconds, then thrust it in Hades' face.
The god of the Dead blinked, grinned at the way his wife was nibbling her lower lip. He'd never seen her look nervous before. He took the scroll, opened it, started muttering.
"Twelve-step program for soul... rehabilitation?"
"I mean this isn't for the ones in Tartarus," Persephone said hurriedly. "They're in there for a reason- they deserve to be there, but I was thinking-"
"'Counseling and group therapy...'" he read, brows inching upward, "'first step... admitting that you're dead'. Uh... where were you going with this, exactly?"
"I thought," Persephone did the hand thing again, "maybe we could decrease the population in Asphodel. I mean," she sounded nervous, but excited, "they're not doing anything but wandering around- if they learn what a difference they can make in the world- how they can contribute, maybe they'd want to go back! Be born again, have new lives! Maybe some of the souls in Elysium are bored. Maybe they'd like to make another mark on the world- you don't like it."
Hades winced at the sudden loss of her smile and tried to stop grimacing. "No- I mean... I- no, I don't not like it I- uh... who were you going to get to run this?"
"Oh, I would! I'd train a few of the imps to do this or that thing, but I would take care of it-"
"But what about all the... other things you do?"
Persephone groaned, shook her head. "Never mind."
"No, hey- wait," Hades grabbed her shoulder, halted Persephone's retreat, "c'mon, I didn't say no. Talk to me."
She wasn't shy about revealing her aggravation. "Okay. The things I do- like what? What do I do, Hades? I had duties upstairs. Now I can't go upstairs to tend to those duties and I-"
"I have a garden," Hades offered.
"I know," she said, rolling her eyes, "I've taken care of it."
She what? "You have?"
"It was a mess when I started," Persephone shrugged, "but I re-trained the imps, I convinced the puppy not to bury random body parts there and I've been keeping up with the weeding. It's much better organized and I only need fifteen minutes a day to maintain-"
Hades' mind had not yet decided whether to break at Persephone terming Cerberus as 'the puppy'. "Fifteen minutes? My garden? My thousand-acre garden?"
She gave him a small, pleased grin. "I'm usually responsible for the entire world, Hades."
So she was bored- she wanted something to do. What irked him was not that- he worked, why shouldn't she? It was just... she wanted to break into his work.
"Look," he said, pressing the scroll between his hands and into the netherwhere they kept relevant bits of reading material, "I'll think about it, alright?" But in the meantime- "Hey... I've got an idea."
The warrior flinched, drew his sword and squinted at the sudden light flooding the room. Hades, come to try and subdue him again or... perhaps not. A young woman stood beside the god, her arm curled around his, one eyebrow raised.
"This yutz-" said the god, pointing at him, "is one of my failed attempts at rehab. You get him to move on to Elysium, I'll okay the twelve-step idea."
The woman looked at Hades, skepticism obvious. Well anyone who lingered too long around him knew he lied with a smile and alarming frequency.
"This is a trick," she said, but rather than annoyance, she seemed to smirk and take it as a challenge she planned to win.
"Not really," Hades smirked back. "He doesn't like me, but he's all noble and honorable and gushy- and you're a girl." He kissed her on the cheek and backed up so she wouldn't go with him when he left. "Have fun, kiddies!"
The woman- goddess, as there was fire on her brow which didn't burn her hair, shook her head and smiled.
"He's impossible. Hello," she held out a hand to him, "I am Persephone, and you are-?"
He paused for a moment only and took it, nodded over it. "Auron."
"Oh, that Auron," the current soloist fans herself. "He's one hunka-hunka burnin'-"
The eldest clears her throat very loudly.
"Anyway-"
Does he love her?
(he loves her not)
Does she love him?
(she loves him not)
That wasn't the first trick and
it wasn't the last shot
even though Persephone gave
as good as she got.
They had dinner together a week later- Hades smirked as he ate and Persephone slumped back in her chair, stomach growling, and made a face at him.
"You're absolutely hilarious," she said.
His smirk grew wider.
"You pull a self-placed soul from Tartarus, do a patch job on his soul to give him back his body so he can kill Hercules for you, steal his will to try and make him do it when he won't volunteer. This, this is the soul you bet I couldn't convince to move on. The one soul in the realm with valid reasons not to. You set me up to fail."
"Well... yeah- but he hasn't maimed any minions lately. You must be doing something right."
Despite herself, Persephone grinned.
"Hey," he said, "it's not that your idea is a bad one. But I'm not gonna do it- I can't let the imps do anything without supervision, and you're not gonna be here long enough to-"
"-leaving, blah blah blah, Olympus Stone, blah blah," she worked her fingers up and down like a mouth, talking over him. "If I'm eventually going to leave," she sighed, "why are you going to so much trouble to keep me here?"
He shrugged, "Having fun while it lasts."
"Yeah, you are," she put her chin in her hand, grimaced. "I'm hungry. I'm also bored and aggravated. You won't let me out, you won't let me work. You haven't held a Cup lately so there's no entertainment. We're not having sex-"
He choked on a hummus-covered bite of pita and coughed. Persephone made a face and waited for the fit to end.
"Wait- does that mean you want to?"
Her voice was as bland as her expression. "You leer at me often enough- we've been sleeping in the same bed since I got here. No- I don't really want to at the moment because I'm annoyed with the way you've been treating me. The point is," she said, starting to glare, "we're married. I've given up a lot as a result and gotten nothing in exchange."
He met her gaze silently, waiting for the other sandal to drop. She was right- and he didn't plan on changing anything so....
"I'm going to start that program," she said. "If you have any protests, tell me now."
"Yeah. I don't want you to do it."
The pleasant tone was just as fake as her smile, "You'll get used to it."
She got up and left the table.
Part Two
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Date: 2008-06-16 07:18 pm (UTC)"Not that gods don't do it all the time," she admitted, wide blue eyes indignant, but not really... scared. "But so what if you're attractive, I'm-"
His brain fizzled and shorted out- along with his ears- because he didn't hear much of what she said for the next five minutes. She thought he was attractive? Score!
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Date: 2008-06-17 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-16 08:27 pm (UTC)The tone, the singing muses (great job on the lyrics!), everything is absolutely perfect. ♥
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Date: 2008-06-17 05:53 pm (UTC)The muses literally saved my ass. Their contest was a late addition- it became the purpose of the story and added exposition- and humor! XD I like to write a little poetry now and then. :3
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Date: 2008-06-17 05:00 am (UTC)And Hades getting kicked in the balls... *dead again* ... *muses sigh and give out second Pheonix Down*
Oh, and the bit with Auron. XD *muses look irked* =D ... <.< Ok...
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Date: 2008-06-17 05:53 pm (UTC)