The bitter fury boiled within me because I, of all the Gods, knew about Zeus and his laws. The only way to beat him was to ensure Persephone consumed food or drink from the Underworld to bind her to her realm. Demeter would not allow her to return should I let my wife go.
“Leave, I will deal with this,” I said flatly.
Hermes hesitated, then bowed again and vanished in a blur of speed, leaving me alone in the hall as the fluttering echoes of his wings disappeared. I began to pace the hall, knowing what I had to do.
???
I tried not to crush the fruit I carried as I led Persephone to her favourite balcony—the one where she used to spend hours looking over our vast realm. When we reached the final step of the staircase, she released my hand and rushed through the room and onto the balcony.
She was adorned in white and gold today. Each time she wore the jewellery I’d created for her, she honoured me. Her diamond-studded crown shimmered against the distance rays of light from the Elysian Fields.
“I’d forgotten how beautiful our realm looks from this viewpoint,” she said with a smile, turning to face me as I approached her.
“Beautiful, yes,” I said, keeping my voice low and deliberate before I placed an arm around her waist. “But it is nothing compared to you.”
Her smile vanished, and her lips trembled. Sorrow for my innocent wife touched my heart, and I knew it was time to unburden my heart.
“In the Elysian Fields, the flowers may never fade, but they lack the fire that burns in your eyes. The light may be eternal, but it cannot rival the warmth of your smile. Even the rivers that flow through the fields, clear and pure as they are, cannot match the depths of your spirit,” I said quietly, watching her eyes well up at my words.
“You speak as if I am more than I am,” she whispered with a sniff.
I shook my head, angry at myself for not telling her how much she meant to me sooner.
“No,” I said firmly. “I speak only the truth. The Elysian Fields are a reflection of what mortals believe to be perfect, but—you are perfection itself. You are the light that pierces the darkness of this real, the life that blooms even in the land of the dead. Without you, this place would be nothing but shadows and silence.”
Persephone searched my face, looking for a hint of insincerity, but she suddenly hugged me tightly, burrowing her head in my chest and causing her crown to tilt onto one side of her head.
“Hades—” she began to say, but her voice cracked, and she remained silent as my arm tightened around her.
“You are my Elysian,” I said softly, feeling at peace as I told her my most inner secret. “My paradise. My everything.”
Persephone chased away the loneliness with her beautiful spirit. She ripped the cold darkness away from me in our heated, passionate nights. The woman was the only Goddess for me.
I glanced at the pomegranate in my hand with renewed determination. I tore the fruit apart, watching the crimson juice speckle on her white and gold-edged chiton. As Persephone’s hands rubbed my back, I carefully counted the seeds before I tossed the fruit off the balcony. The temptation to feed her more than I should was too great.
“There is a way to ease your guilt and keep you here, where you belong,” I said, reminding her of our conversation in her garden.
She inevitably pulled away from me. A frown marred her face, confusion and hope warring in her expression.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
I stifled a sigh before I opened my palm to show her six pomegranate seeds.
“Eat these,” I said, raising my hand. “It will bind you to this realm, not as a prisoner, but as its Queen. You will have the power to ease the suffering above, to bring life back to the world, but you will return to our realm once your work is complete.”
Persephone stared at the six ruby seeds in my hand. She knew what I was offering. To eat from the Underworld was to accept it fully, to embrace her role as its Queen in a way that could not be undone. However, it was also a solution to end the mortals’ suffering. More importantly, to keep Zeus from leaving me to rot in eternal darkness once again. Her time would be split equally in both realms.
I swallowed when Persephone reached out, brushing her fingers against my palm as she picked up the seeds one by one, placing them in her mouth. Her eyes never left mine as she swallowed them.
We both knew what was done. She hadn’t touched a single morsel of food or water down here, knowing it would bind her to the Underworld forever. Her fingers traced her throat down to her chest.
Her eyes widened, and a look of awe filled her face. She glanced behind me to look at our realm's dark, majestic beauty before she spoke.
“I felt a surge and a connection to this world,” she murmured. “And I don't feel the sorrow anymore.”
My body relaxed as a mixture of relief and triumph rushed through me.
“You are mine, and I am yours,” I said calmly, struggling to keep my glee hidden from her.
