There were few things that scared Zeus, but the Fates were one.
“Is this true, Demeter?” He looked to the goddess for her answer, but Hades responded instead. He was ready for this to be over.
“It was what the Fates demanded in exchange for giving her a daughter.”
“I will never believe that she came to you willingly!” Demeter seethed. “The Fates be damned.”
“I am sure Hecate would be happy to testify on my behalf,” Hades added.
“That will not be necessary,” Zeus said, and he knew his brother did not want to appear as if he were questioning the Goddess of Witchcraft. Theirs was an old friendship, a strange one, and just as Hades relied on her for advice, so did Zeus. “Demeter, I will not grant your request. It seems your wishes are not in line with the will of the Fates.”
Demeter’s fury gathered, and massive roots broke through Zeus’ marble floor. Hades cast his magic like a net, enveloping the entire place in shadow, blinding the goddess and Zeus. Their battle was short-lived, however, as a bolt of Zeus’ lightning separated the two. With their concentration lost, their magic faded.
“I will not mediate childish fights between you two,” Zeus said. “My word is law, and you will both abide.”
Hades glared. Childish fights? There was nothing childish about his love of Persephone, nothing childish about the wrath of Demeter. Still, he was thankful Zeus had sided with him, not that it meant a lot in the end. Persephone was her own person, she had free will. If she wanted, she could leave him.
“There is another matter we must discuss,” Zeus said. Hades did not think it was possible, but the mood of the room darkened. “A goddess has not been born in centuries. Has she any power?”
“None to speak of,” Demeter answered quickly. Hades glared at her. She answered too fast.
Zeus looked to Hades. He would have to respond truthfully. “Her power is dormant. She has shown no ability to wield it.”
“Hmm.” Zeus was quiet, ever suspicious of new gods. It was only fair that he feared a rebellion like the one he had led against their father. “I wish to meet her.”
“No.” The two said instantly.
Zeus’ eyes flashed.
“Persephone has no desire to embrace her Divinity as of yet,” Hades explained. “Introducing her to Olympia too soon may scare her away. We would never know how truly powerful she was then.”
His brother studied him.
“Let her remain where she is,” Hades said. “Hecate will train her, and when her powers start to surface…I will bring her to you myself.”
It was the only way he’d allow the meeting to take place. It was inevitable, but it would be inevitable with him by her side.
Zeus’ eyes narrowed, and then he chuckled. “Ever the protector, brother. Very well, as soon as she shows her power, you will bring her to me.” He paused a moment, his hand resting on his stomach, and shook his head. “A goddess, masquerading as a mortal journalist. No wonder you fell in love, Hades.”
Once they were outside Zeus’ office, Demeter turned to him.
“Your life may be woven with my daughter’s, but that does not mean you were meant to love one another.”
“I will always love her,” Hades said. It was the only thing he could promise. “And I care for what I love.”
“If you cared, you would have never touched her. She is a Daughter of Spring!”
“And a Queen of Darkness,” Hades countered. “If you wish to be angry with anyone, be angry with yourself. It was you who planted the seed of her betrayal, you who pushed her further away with your tyranny, you who left her powerless and afraid. She deserves loyalty and freedom and power.”
“And you think you can give her that? King of Death and Darkness?”
“I think she can take it for herself,” he replied and vanished, leaving Demeter alone with her fury.
***
In the weeks that followed, Hades tried to distract Persephone from her mother’s wrath, but she seemed to grow more morose. He saw it most when she thought he was not looking—in the moments before he surprised her by appearing in the library while she read, or just before she left the palace for a walk, or in the early mornings when she rose before him to shower and dress.
She was creating distance between them. He could feel it growing, pulling at the threads that bound them for eternity, and it hurt.
He found her standing in front of her still desolate garden. He hated to find her here, staring at this patch of land that had come to mean so much to the both of them.