Chapter Text
Prologue
The rain was coming down hard. It was a strange storm for Olympus, they didn’t often get rain like this. If they got rain, it came in the form of a short but violent storm of thunder and lighting, a sure sign that Zeus and Hera were going at it again, although in what fashion, no one could say. Occasionally they got the light, misty rains that plagued the Underworld so often, when a brave little rain cloud decided to glide it’s way towards the city. No, this rain was different, and not just because it was lasting for hours longer than their typical rain falls. It moved in waves between steady downpour and cascading sheets so strong that some of Olympus’ residents feared they would wake up to flooding in the morning.
Everyone buttoned up their houses. They locked their doors, they closed their curtains, they took the rain as a good excuse to stay home, watch a movie, go to bed early, forget about the outside world. Nobody watched the storm from their windows, nobody popped a nose out of their door. Which was a pity really, because everyone missed the strangest part; the little pink Goddess who was striding barefoot through the streets of Olympus, seemingly unphased by the fact that she was out walking in one of the worst rainfalls the mountain had seen in centuries. If anyone had looked out they might have noticed her scarlet eyes. If anyone had looked out they might have seen the red vines that were mixed in with her long pink hair, which somehow, despite the rain, flowed out behind her as she walked. They even might have noticed that perhaps the little Goddess was not as little as they all once thought, she was mighty and staggering
Persephone wasn’t bothered by the rain, in fact she welcomed it. Each blessed droplet that landed on her felt cleansing, and strengthened her resolve as she headed to her destination. She hadn’t felt so clean since she moved here. The rain felt warm against her skin, which was also strange. A small part of her brain noted that warm rains were usually reserved for August, not March, and perhaps it was her skin that was hot, not the rain. The rest of her brain though was singularly focused on the task at hand. She didn’t want to fly there either, somehow walking felt more appropriate. Each step she took became a declaration in itself, another affirmation of the campaign she had chosen.
Eventually she reached the house. She lifted her arms to knock on the door, and then stopped abruptly. Oh no, she thought. What if he doesn’t open the door? For the first time that night, something was interrupting her resolve. The scarlet colour left her eyes, and little green bulbs began sprouting at the end of the red vines in her hair. What if one of the kids gets it? Or worse, what if…? Something stronger took over her, pushing the thoughts from her mind. The scarlet colour returned to her eyes and she knocked on the door. After 30 seconds or so Eros opened the door. The little voice of doubt in her mind breathed a sigh of relief.
“Persephone? What are you doing here? It’s after midnight” he said while rubbing a sleepy eye. She had clearly woken him up. He was wearing pajama pants but no shirt, and his normally tidy curly hair was a wild mess. His eyes widened when he finally realized what he was looking at, chasing away the last bit of drowsiness. “What the hell is going on?” he asked, concern clear in his voice.
“I need to talk to your dad” she said. If Eros’ face was confused before, it was completely shocked now.
“Wh-what?” he stuttered. “Listen, get out of the rain, let’s talk a-” but he never got to finish, because as Eros pulled Persephone into the house, Ares had rounded the corner to see what was going on.
“Hello Kore” he said. There was no hint of sleep in his voice, in fact he sounded practically unphased by her sudden appearance at his front door in the middle of the night.
“Did you really come back from the mortal realm because of me?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer. Ares nodded.
“You called, I answered, that’s how it works” he said.
“Good” she said. “Because I’m ready for that war now.”
There was silence in the house. Persephone watched Ares expectantly, Eros was too confused, and a little too scared to interrupt, and Ares expression was unreadable. Then a wide smile erupted on Ares’ face. It was a smile that might have scared Persephone in the past, but right now it was exactly what she wanted to see.
“Oh Bringer of Death” he practically sang, “this is going to be so much fun!”
Chapter 1 - Three days ago
After her “boundaries” discussion Hades on Monday and the blow up with Apollo on Tuesday, Persephone had had just about enough drama for a lifetime. The last week and a half had been absolutely ridiculous. She was in Olympus to study, and seeing as she got a B on her last test, she clearly wasn’t doing that. What she needed to do was forget about everything that had happened and focus on school. Sure, seeing Hades at her internship might be a little difficult, but you know what would help that? Work. Doing her job that she was hired to do. As long she focused on school and work, she was sure no more drama could touch her.
She went to class Wednesday morning. News that Peter had had his eye returned to him had gotten around. There still seemed to be an air of general mistrust still hovering around her from her classmates, but the outright hostility was gone. It wasn’t great, but it was a start. If things continued like this, by Monday Persephone could bring in a batch of her irresistible brownies and all might be forgiven.
She took more notes than anyone during that day’s lecture, scribbling them furiously in her notebook. She opted to leave her laptop at home, it didn’t travel well, and a chunk of the case fell off the last time she brought it to the University. Everytime any thought popped into her head that might stray her focus away, she began seeing if she could dictate the lecture word for word. Anything to keep her mind here instead of… well… elsewhere.
After the lecture ended she packed up her stuff and headed for the door, but her professor stopped her.
“Persephone, can I speak with you a minute?” he called. Persephone stopped dead in her tracks. Oh no she thought as she turned and head towards his desk. He knows, he knows everything! No, wait, calm down, you have no idea what he knows just take a deep breath and - “You weren’t in class yesterday” he said. Persephone had expected an accusatory tone, but his was full of concern. She nodded, and bit her lip while she thought of a lie. There was no way she was going to tell him why she really wasn’t in class.
“I, um, think I got food poisoning” she said. “I was throwing up all morning, and then after that-”
“Say no more” he said. “I have been there and done that, you don’t need to explain any further.” He offered her an encouraging smile, and it somehow made her feel a bit better. “Look, I’ve you’re having a hard time with things, you know-”
“Oh no, I’m fine” she said, maybe a little too quickly.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to…” he stuttered. Clearly as a biochemistry theory professor, this part of teaching doesn’t come so easily. “I just mean that… Look, I’ve seen it time and time again where students who excel in school suddenly come to university and they don’t do as well. And for some people that can be really tough.” He paused and looked at her blank expression. “I’m not saying that’s you” he said, back tracking a little. “But just know if you are having a hard time with things, there are resources that are available to you. I mean, you can talk to me, or the university has counselors you can talk to…” He trailed off, and Persephone figured he had no idea what to say next.
“Thank you” she said. “I really appreciate it.” She smiled at him, a real, warm smile. She didn’t know what she expected from this conversation, but it wasn’t this, and knowing there was someone looking out for her here made her feel great. “Um, I have to get going” she said, really not sure how to end this conversation. “I’m going to be late for work.” She waved awkwardly, and then scurried out of the classroom.
She took the train into the Underworld, doing the reading from one of her textbooks to kill time. She rather liked the train. There was a strange comfort to be surrounded by people and yet having each one them being entirely alone. Was this what Hades was talking about when he spoke of her melancholic nature? Gah, no Hades thoughts, only studying, she thought, and then refocused on her reading with a new intensity.
It was past lunch time when she arrived at Tower 1, so she hoped that meant that Hades was situated in his office, and she wouldn’t need to have any awkward encounters with him. She walked into the elevator and smiled at the little red sprite who worked as an elevator attendant. “Floor 96 please” said Persophone, and the sprite beat her little wings to fly all the way to the button for the 96th floor. The elevator doors were almost closed when a familiar voice made Persephone’s heart do a somersault.
“Hold the door please!” called the King of the Underworld.
Damn thought Persephone. So close.
Hades rushed into the elevator and the doors quickly closed behind him. He didn’t need to say anything to the sprite, who automatically flew up to the floor 99 button. He didn’t notice Persephone at first. He seemed distracted, and slightly out of breath, which couldn’t just be from his run to the elevator. His hair was a little messier than usual, like it had been ruffled by the wind, but it still looked just as perfect as -
Stop it.
“Oh! Hi” he said when he finally noticed she was there. He blushed a deep navy, although Persephone didn’t know if it was because he didn’t notice her or because he was anticipating a long and awkward elevator ride.
“Hi” she said shyly. She avoided looking at him. She really did not need to go on another internal soliloquy about his hair.
“Are you just getting in?” he asked, his tone casual.
“Yeah, I had class this morning” she replied.
“Oh” he said simply, and then stayed silent.
I hate small talk, she thought. This is awful, if I didn’t need the money from the internship I would talk to Hera, but I do, and Sweet Gaia, could this elevator move any slower?
“Oh!” he exclaimed suddenly, shocking her out of her internal monologue. “I have something to show you!” Persephone watched curiously as he rummaged through his pocket. “I can’t believe I forgot to text you this…” Persephone’s heart gave a little leap when he mentioned texting her. Even if he forgot, he still thought he should, meaning they still have a texting relationship. Gods, that should not make me this happy. Hades scrolled through his phone until he found what he was looking for. “Take a look at the latest addition to the pack” he said and showed Persephone a picture of the cutest little pup she had ever seen.
“Oh my goooooods” cooed Persephone, grabbing Hades’ phone instinctively to get a closer look.
“She is the sweetest thing” said Hades.
“What’s her name?” she asked, note taking her eyes off the picture. She had beautiful honey coloured fur, and big brown eyes that just made your heart melt. It took a moment to realize that Hades wasn’t answering her. She looked up to see he was blushing again. “What?” she asked.
“Her name’s Pomelia” he admitted, and Persephone’s heart gave another leap of joy.
“Hades…” she said, looking at him adoringly. He stared back at her, with a gaze that made her feel like she was the only person in the whole world. She didn’t know what else to say. It was the sweetest things she had ever heard, she wanted to hold his hand and kiss is dumb face but how was she supposed to say that. They were supposed to be putting between them, then he goes and does pulls this adorable crap, how was she supposed to deal with that?
The elevator dinged, and the door opened, and Persephone lept to the other side of the elevator like she had been electrocuted. They were on floor 78, and a river nymph (not Minthe) walked in, staring at her phone, and positioned herself between Hades and Persephone without even looking up.
What was wrong with her? Why did she feel like she just got caught doing something wrong? She looked over at Hades, who also looked like he was just caught with his hand in the cookie jar. In a weird way seeing that expression on his face made her feel better, at least this wasn’t all in her head. He noticed her looking at him and gave her a sheepish grin. Persephone let out a small giggle. How ridiculous they were being! His smile turned genuine at the sound of her giggle. Now they were two dorks, giggling at each other in an elevator. The river still didn’t look up.
The elevator dinged when they got to floor 96. “This is me” said Persephone. “See you later Mr. Hades!”
“See you later Kore k- Kore” he said as the elevator doors closed.
Did he really just stutter? She wondered as she made her way to the library. Or did he…? Her phone buzzed.
Hades, King of the Underworld: I almost just called you Kore-cob
Persephone: And you were almost 100% scoundrel
She should have been annoyed that he nearly called her an embarrassing nickname at work, but instead she wore a goofy grin all the way to the library.
She met Hermes in the library, who was looking distressed reading a mortal’s scroll, and was surrounded by many others. “Finally! My saviour! I’m drowning in scrolls” he cried when he saw her. She giggled at his drama.
“Sergeant cutey, reporting for duty!” she said. “So what exactly am I doing here?” she asked.
“So you have a scroll, and you have a file” said Hermes. “You read the scroll, and fill out all the requested information in the file.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad” said Persephone. “What’s the big drama?”
“These mortal’s lives are sooo boring!” exclaimed Hermes. He flew over to her and leaned into her shoulder. “Save me Goddess of Spring, you’re my only hope!” he said. Persephone burst into laughter. Hermes was such a drama king. Without another word she picked up a scroll, picked up a blank file, and sat herself at one of the empty desks and started to read.
Persephone understood why some people might find this boring or tedious, but she found it fascinating. She loved reading about the mortal’s lives. She loved reading about their petty squabbles and meaningless worries just as much as she loved reading about their simple joys and the loves of their life. It reminded her of being back in the mortal realm with mama. She got so wrapped in reading their stories she even accidentally stayed late, not noticing the time until it was an hour passed when she was supposed to leave.
She rushed home after that, said hello to Artemis on her way in, heated up some leftover vegetarian lasagna for dinner, and then went to her room to study. She studied late into the night, until she almost fell asleep at her desk. She went to bed, thinking that while there might have been a few awkward moments, compared to the last week, it had been a really good day.
Thursday passed without event. She had a full day of classes, and when she wasn’t in class she was in the library studying. Some of her classmates even smiled at her, albeit awkwardly. It gave her hope. Again, she went home and spent most of her night studying, Artemis comments she hadn’t realized how big of a nerd she was. Before she went to be she thought that these past two days were how her life in Olympus were supposed to go. Maybe, just maybe, things were actually starting to become normal.
Persephone was feeling so good about things when she woke up Friday morning. She had totally forgotten about what was happening on Friday, until she was making herself some breakfast, and Artemis asked her what she was making for dinner for movie night.
Persephone’s happiness shattered in an instant.
“R-right, I forgot about that” said Presephone. She hid her face from Artemis so she couldn’t see the fear that was starting to creep in behind her eyes. “Well, I’m working all day today so I’ll stop by the market on my way home.”
“Working? I thought you were off today” said Artemis.
“I’m off from school, but I’ve been scheduled for a regular 9-5 down in the Underworld” she said. Artemis shuddered.
“I still hate that you’re working down there” she said.
“It’s actually really fun!” said Persephone to a very sceptical looking Artemis. “I get to read about all these mortal’s stories, hang out with Hermes all day, I mean sometimes Thanatos is there, and he’s a bit of a downer, but he’s not there too often.”
“Meh, to each their own I guess” said Artemis.
Persephone finished getting ready work and headed out. That morning she spent her entire train ride trying to put the evening out of her mind, but no matter how hard she tried Apollo’s golden eyes kept creeping into her vision. One part of her was saying that they had a deal, but had they really actually made a deal? And even if they did, did she trust Apollo not to break it?
Maybe if she had another person there as a buffer, but Hermes wasn’t supposed to come tonight. She had 8 hours to convince him to join them, so she would just need to dial up the charm.
She was early into work, so the elevator ride up to the library was a solitary one. Unfortunately Hermes wasn’t in the library with her that morning, it was just her and the shades. It was a little more difficult to get totally absorbed in her work, she kept looking up at the door to the library hoping Hermes would walk in so she could talk to him. Her wishes were granted shortly after lunch, although they came with an unexpected surprise.
When Hermes walked into the library he was accompanied by Hades. Peresphone’s heart gave a leap when she saw him. She was already such a nervous wreck she didn’t really want to risk an interaction with him, but she would just have to suck it up.
“Hello Persephone” he said cheerily as he came in. “I met Hermes on the beach and thought I would accompany him up here to pick up the shade files from you, save you a trip up to my office.”
“Oh, thank you!” said Persephone. That was so kind of him. But was he just doing that to avoid Persephone going up to his office? Was he trying to avoid being alone with her? Or was this an excuse to see her, since she wasn’t even planning on going to his office to deliver reports at all today? Was she overthinking this? 100%
She handed over the shade files over to him and he did a cursory flip through a few of them. “Hermes” he said with his nose still in one of the reports.
“Yeah boss?” said Hermes.
“I would like you to note that Persephone’s reports are typed instead of your usual chicken scratch” he said. “There’s colour coded highlights, there’s tabs.”
“There’s also an appendix in the back with graphs” offered Persephone.
“There’s an appendix in the back with graphs!” said Hades pointedly. “Need I say more?” He turned his back on them and threw his hands up in the air exasperated. “Need I. Say more.” With that, he left the library.
“You know you can stop sucking up to the boss any day now” said Hermes with slight annoyance.
“You know what? I don’t think I will” said Persephone, only half kidding. She let him get settled in first before she broached the topic of that evening. “Speaking of sucking up, I have a favour to ask you.”
“I know what you’re going to ask, and the answer is no” said Hermes without even looking up from the scroll he was reading.
“What? How do you know what I’m going to ask you?” she said.
“You’re going to ask if I want to come over for movie night and the answer is no” he said. A small amount of panic began to set into Persephone, but she wasn’t going to give up so easily.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Besides how well Artemis took me being over the last time, I have a date” he said, but Persphone wasn’t buying it.
“You have a date?”
“Yup”
“With who?”
Silence.
“Okay, I don’t have a date, but Apollo’s been so moody lately, I just don’t want to deal with him!” he finally admitted.
“How do you think I feel? Him and Artemis are going to be bickering all night, I just need a buffer!” She had prepared these lines carefully all morning, and technically it wasn’t a lie. “I will make whatever you want for dinner, please Hermes!” There was a long pause, and then finally Hermes spoke.
“Pizza”
“Pizza?” Persephone was a little surprised at his mundane request.
“Yeah, pizza, but like fancy homemade pizza, none of this delivery crap” he said.
“You got it!” said Persephone with joy in her heart.
After work Persephone went straight to the market to pick up everything she needed. If Hermes wanted pizza she was going to pull out all the stops. By the time the boys arrived, Artemis opened the door for them with almost uncontainable excitement. “Look at what my amazing roommate did!” she announced as she led them into the kitchen. Persephone smiled warmly at Hermes. She avoided eye contact with Apollo, mumbling a greeting. She could already tell he was not happy with the welcome. Artemis didn’t even notice. “Welcome to the build your own pizza bar!” she said, while motioning to the array of ingredients that were laid out on the kitchen counter. “Persephone, take them on a tour!”
“Well we begin over her with homemade pizza dough, obvs” said Persephone. She had rushed to get it all done and proofed, then to roll out the perfect pizza sized portions. “For sauces, we have regular tomato, spicy tomato, and pesto. I got not one, not two, but five different kinds of cheese for your pizza pleasure.”
“This is the best part!” said Artemis.
“And finally, everyone’s favourite toppings” announced Persephone.
“She was texting me from the market to make sure she had everyone’s favourites, isn’t she the best?” said Artemis, throwing her arms around Persephone.
“I don’t know” said Apollo, and the joy Artemis’ excitement had brought Persephone faded away. “When you invite someone over for dinner you don’t expect assembly to be required.”
“Don’t be ungrateful, Persephone put a lot of work into this” said Artemis to her brother. Thankfully Apollo didn’t argue after that. They all made their pizzas, Hermes especially having a blast at putting his together, and Persephone stuck them in the oven. Once they were done baking they headed into the living room, figuring they would eat and watch the movie at the same time.
Apollo plopped himself down in the middle of the couch, and then Hermes sat on his left. There was still one seat on the couch left. Persephone looked at it, and then looked over to see Apollo staring at her, waiting to see what she’d do next.
“I think I’ll sit on the floor” she said.
“What?” said Apollo, sounding much too upset than he should be. “Why would sit on the floor when there’s a perfectly good seat right here?”
“I just like the floor” she said simply.
“That’s so fucking stupid” he said.
“Would you calm your ass down?” said Artemis as she sat in the empty seat next to her brother. “Gods, you are being so testy tonight?” Apollo gave Persephone a dark look that shot a lighting bolt of fear down her spine, but he didn’t say anything further. Persephone took a deep breath to try and calm herself, and began to nibble on her pizza.
After that, they almost got through the night without incident.
Almost.
The movie was almost over. Persephone was struggling to keep her eyes open, and Artemis had lost the battle, softly snoring from her side of the couch. Apollo was scrolling through his phone.
“Woah, dude, be careful with that stuff” said Hermes suddenly. Persephone looked over, it seemed Hermes had accidently seen something on Apollo’s phone.
“What? Oh right, I forgot she sent me those” said Apollo nonchalantly. The panic was beginning to creep back into Persephone. Was he talking about what she thought he was talking about? But it couldn’t have been here, there would have been a different reaction from Hermes.
“Listen man, you can’t be so casual about that stuff, that’s for your eyes and your eyes only, I’m sure that nymph doesn’t want me seeing her like that” said Hermes. Apollo shrugged and put away his phone.
“I don’t know man, I think people who take pictures like that are the ones that need to be more careful, it’s a big risk to have yourself exposed like that on camera” said Apollo. Even though Persephone was intentionally looking away, she could tell Apollo was looking at her.
“Exactly! Which is why you shouldn’t go around accidently showing people that shit” replied Hermes.
“You got pictures like that of you running around, it’s only a matter of time before they get out, and I think those people deserve what’s coming to them when-”
“I’m going to bed!” said Persephone. She spoke so suddenly that Artemis was shocked out of sleep, and Hermes turned around like he forgot she was there. Apollo just sneered at her, and Persephone felt like there was something trying to crawl its way out of her.
“But the movie’s almost over, stay” said Apollo, with a voice sickly sweet it made Persephone think of rotted fruit covered in honey.
“Let her go to bed” mumbled Artemis, cuddling back into the couch and closing her eyes again. Persephone didn’t wait for any further conversation, she quickly got up and left the room. She changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth and then lay down in her bed, staring at the ceiling.
All the fear she had felt earlier was changing, shifting into something else.
He threatened me
A strange sensation began to manifest itself in her stomach, like a fire deep within her, hot and dancing around her insides.
Nobody threatens me.
It was rage, and it felt like a missing piece of her had just been returned.
She waited until she heard the boys leave, and then for Artemis to actually go to bed. She didn’t change out of her pajamas, she didn’t even put on shoes. She left her bedroom, left her apartment, and began walking out into the rain.