Something was coming. She could feel the darkness pull at her heart. It was time.
Persephone had been conversing with her mother, but suddenly stopped as the feeling overwhelmed her. Her smile faded. Her mother also stopped talking and looked in the direction her daughter was facing. There, coming up the walk at the foot of the great temple on Mount Olympus, was the dark shape of an emissary of the Underworld. He was here to collect Persephone.

As mother and daughter sat there, not willing to say anything about the figure nor the short time they had left together, Persephone wondered again what the God of the Dead saw in her. She was a beauty, but could never hope to rival Aphrodite. She was smart, but did not come close to the level of Athena. She was brave, but not nearly so much as Artemis. No, Persephone was just the daughter of Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest. She had hoped to one day stand at her mother's side as a fellow Goddess of the Harvest and the Seasons.
But now she was not her mother's partner, but she was her equal. For because of Hades, her lord and husband, she had become the Goddess of the Dead, Queen of the Underworld and it's inhabitants.

The flowers in the large vases around them started to wilt. Her mother was already beginning to mourn her absence. Giving her a sad smile, Persephone hugged her mother tightly and said her words of goodbye, reminding her that they would see each other again in six months, per Lord Zeus' decree.

The young Queen stood and breathed deeply, closing her eyes as the shadows appeared under her feet and wrapped around her body like smoke, turning her clothing from the white linen of Olympus to the dark satin of the Underworld. The black dress was much more form-fitting then the white linen, but she knew it pleased Hades.
Saying goodbye once more to her mother, Persephone left her in the small garden and headed towards the large main temple where the immortals of Olympus gathered. She had to appear before Lord Zeus before leaving for her husband's realm. Perhaps she would see a few of the other gods and goddesses as well and tell them goodbye. The only time she really got to interact with them was during the six months she visited her mother. Hades always came when his brother Zeus requested, but normally he preferred to keep to himself and his privacy.

Persephone found herself wondering if her husband would come to fetch her himself this time or if he had just sent one of his creatures to escort her home.
Home...? Had she really come to accept the world of the dead as her home? She missed the light and the life of the world above, but she had been in darkness and shadows so much that they were starting to feel more like a part of her. Sometimes she had to work hard to imagine that she had ever had another life.

Not that Hades was ever cruel or harsh with her. He had never abused her in any way, had never harmed her... on purpose...
Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of voices in the temple. Who would she be seeing before her departure? Who would she be telling goodbye? She hoped it wasn't Hermes. The god liked to flirt too much for her tastes. It often made her marvel at how blatantly immoral some of the gods and goddesses were, even the married ones committed infidelity often and with multiple partners. Zeus himself was a known philanderer who often lusted after human mortal women. It made Persephone wonder if Hades had ever...

Hades walked out of the shadows, his body was bulky with spikes covering his body, chains wrapped around his arms and armor on his legs, they chains ending with gruesome hooks that are truly fearsome, his head covered with a helmet with slits in the face area that glowed like Hellfire, he had come for his wife and queen Persephone, he walked up to the Main hall and pushed the door open and he saw His wife talking with his little brother Zeus, he then walked up to them and chuckled, "Persephone?" he walked up as the voices got closer to their location, He then looked at His Brother and nodded, "I still agree with the terms of the Deal Zeus, she will return in 6 months time" he looked at her and held out his hand to her.

Aphrodite sat with Dionysus, laughing and carrying on about her party tomorrow. It was her birthday, and she’d planned a grand feast. Dionysus was bringing the wine, and she’d gotten started talking about some of their fellow deities after an accord had been reached about how much to bring. He asked if her husband was attending, and Ares, and she hesitated, laughter having stopped.

”Yes… both are. I imagine they’ll not want to interact with one another though,” she said, giving a meager smile, and blue eyes shining a bit. She knew she was in the wrong with her feelings, but she knew better than most that sometimes feelings could simply not be helped. Especially when one was married off against their will.

”Well, tomorrow then,” she said with some friendly finality before rising and turning away from the god of madness who seemed to chuckle softly as she left, probably imagining how tomorrow could possibly turn out badly. After all, getting all the gods and goddesses together at once in one place was… well, an experiment to say the least.

Aphrodite decided to stop by her temple that had been recently completed and grant some lovers’ wishes. After , without their sacrifices and prayers, she’d be nothing. She lived on love.

Glorious was the grand palace that sat atop Mount Olympus. Neither rain nor snow dared to fall upon its marble floors and the the strongest winds touched not its halls. From his perch, Apollo could gaze upon all of Greece, but now, he had other things on his mind. Fingers lightly brushed against the laurel wreath in his hair, a harsh reminder of his past failed endeavours in matters of the heart. Consorting with mortals was a tricky affair, always yielding such unpredictable results. Sometimes, he just didn't understand what he did wrong, but all of that was in the past now. He had his beloved Hyacinth in the mortal world below, and he just couldn't wait to see him again. Lately, he'd been too occupied with conferring with the Delphic Sibyl and the Muses to even have time to visit. But today, after he bid his farewells to Persephone, Apollo resolved to finally take some time out of his day to call on him.

Turning on his heel, Apollo began to make his way to the main hall, from where the sounds of conversation originated. He hadn't bothered to check over his raiments before this, but then again, he'd never been the vain one -- that was Aphrodite's job. Clad in the billowing, white robes common on Olympus, however, Apollo had to admit that he did cut a rather handsome figure. But he wasn't going to stand around contemplating his looks, after all, he had places to be and things to do. Despite not being on the best of terms with Persephone, he still wanted to say goodbye to her before she returned to the Underworld for another six months. Apollo wasn't quite sure why, but he supposed it was only seemed polite to do so... not that gods ever really cared about the basics of social etiquette.

In the distance, a black-clad figure could be seen. Apollo wagered that the silhouette belonged to Hades, come to collect his wife, once again. How Persephone was able to stand being in the darkness of the Underworld for such an extended period of time was a mystery to Apollo. He knew the pomegranate she ate bound her to the Underworld, but they [i{were[/i] gods and goddesses. Surely if she really wanted to, she'd be able to find a way out of this predicament. Not wanting to incur the wrath of Hades, however, Apollo opted to remain silent on this matter. His own abilities were great, but they would no doubt be overshadowed by his uncle's.

"Persephone," Apollo called, the corners of his lips turning up into a slightly sympathetic smile. Of course, he greeted Hades similarly, to do anything else would be downright rude, but that was it for their interaction. He really couldn't be much more different from his uncle, even if he tried. "Such a great shame that you have to go back to that dreadful place again, isn't it?"

Hades heard Apollo in the distance, for being surrounded by the screams of agony and pain and death in the underworld his whole life, wow can he hear, and he looked directly in Apollos direction, "Dreadful, my Nephew, you not even Know the Meaning of the word, its more, hmmm, whats the word, My Zeus, oh that's right, Horrifying, than it is Dreadful, you should come down for dinner sometime." He laughed at his crude humor, he knows that anyone to part take in eating any food of the underworld would be trapped there unless Hades wills it, that was the only reason how Persephone was able to come up to Olympus ever 6 months.

A Wraith, one of Hades' creations of the Underworld came up to him and whispered in Hades' ear, Hades looked at the Wraith and flared as steam escaped his Helmet "A MORTAL DID WHAT!!!!" his voice in Anger echoed throughout Olympus, and it was enough to make (pardon my french) little Cupid shit his diaper and hide behond his mother Aphrodite. Zeus stood and walked down to his Brother and asked What was wrong, Hades turned to his Brother "A MORTAL HAS ENTERED TARTURAS!!!" Zeus' eyes flared causing Thunder and Lightning to strike and flash.

Deep in the Underworld a mortal fool had Foolisly walked into the Prison of the Titans, Tarturas. It held some of the greek titans, but the most powerful was Gaia, the titan of Earth. She had most likely summoned or called to the mortal with what little power she had in store, she knew this mortal could help her with proper persuasion.

Persephone turned from Zeus as her name was mentioned by two separate people. She tensed when she recognized her husband. He was in his terrifying form. She hated that stocky, overweight form of his. It was vastly different from his other form: a tall and handsome male who didn't look like he would snap her in half with one finger.
"My husband," she acknowledged, nodding her head. It was time to return once again to the darkness of the underworld.

But then Apollo spoke. Persephone winced at his words. Was he trying to anger his uncle? Apollo was handsome but rather foolish at times. This being one of those times.
Before she could reply to him she cringed as Hades roared in fury.
A mortal had entered Tarturas?! It was impossible! Unheard of! But even in her shock Persephone found herself thinking...
if it was possible for a mortal to enter Tarturas... was it also possible for an immortal to do the impossible as well... such as break unbreakable ties...?

Did she even want to? There in lied the question. Persephone hated her husband it was true, for forcing a marriage and a life she didn't want on her, but at the same time she couldn't help feeling... appreciative? Was that the proper word? The god of the underworld could have chosen any goddess, far better than she, but he had chosen Persephone. She had often wondered why, had even considered asking Aphrodite why or even for help. After all, the goddess was known for causing feelings of love. It only made sense that she could take away those feelings. Perhaps if she took away whatever the feeling Hades had for her he would let Persephone go.
But then what? Who would want her after that? She was the goddess of the dead. She had no place in the light anymore.

Persephone pushed her thoughts and feelings aside for the moment. The important thing was calming her husband before he went on a rampage in his fury. Walking up to him, she placed her soft and gentle hand on his arm. "My husband," she said soothingly. "It is of no great matter to you. Simply find and punish the foolish mortal who dares enter your realm. A mortal is not worthy of your anger."
As she spoke, her hand rubbed gentle soothing circles on his arm, trying to calm him. He usually liked it when she spoke to him this way, when she touched him and soothed him, but Hades was known to be unpredictable so she wasn't certain what would happen.

Another day another battle, that could be the unofficial motto of the Spartans, and that was especially true for Alexandros at this moment, a helot rebellion was not a rare occurrence within Laconia, but they were well armed and had armor, which meant someone was trying to destabilize the Sparta, but who was he to question he was a warrior and this was just another day for him. His being in thought nearly got him killed as a slave cut his right shoulder, the warrior drove his spear through the slaves heart and let go drawing his short blade on his belt and hacked away at another who came to help his comrade.

All around Alexandros was the chaos of battle, the smell of blood and ash filled the air, there were screams of pain and calls of mercy as the Spartan host pushed through the small village, though like every battle it must end and it ended with a pile of dead slaves and the survivors being rounded up. "Alexandros." One of his brothers called out "What is it?" He asked

"The King wishes to see you, it's urgent."

Alexandros nodded and left the clean up to him, the king was only a short walk through the village, and when the young warrior found him he was being treated for his wounds "Get off of me, they are only scratches." The king shouted but from Alexandros' view they were not scratches one of them cut deep very deep at that. But they listened to the king and he spoke to Alexandros' "Alexandros, you are to go to the oracles and try to get them to shed some light onto what happened here." Alexandros saw no need for the oracles and so he spoke out "M'lord, we all know what happened here, someone tried to arm the Helot's." The king looked at him and chuckled "Our big friend over there would disagree that this was a normal uprising by Sparta's enemies." He gestured to what seemed to be a giant beast and when Alexandros investigated it further the beast was a hideous looking thing but what stood out to him was the one eye that stood in the middle of it's head. "Alright M'lord i will go." He said and he left on a journey of his own.

Hades flared but the soothing touch of his wife always calmed him, he sighed and looked at his wife and changed to his more respective form, and held her hands and kissed them and smiled, "then i shall, punish, this Mortal accordingly, your right, no mortal deserves my rage, but that doesnt stop me from punishing the mortal severely" he turned to his brother and then he looked to his wife and smiled then started to chuckle as he looked at the wraith, "Dispatch..." he pondered for a moment "...no...thats not punishment enough, dispatch two Minotaur's to hold his chains, but they must put him back when he's through" Zeus looked at Hades and asked 'Who Brother" Hades looked into his Wife's eyes "The Only Beast in MY realm thats capable of tracking a soul down in tarturas easily" he looked at the Wraith as it nodded and left with its orders

Deep in the underworld the wraith summoned two minotaurs to the chains of the beast to be unleashed, the minotaurs were hesitant but they nodded knowing it was the order of Hades, so they grabbed the chain and the steel gate that held the beast started to rise, and 3 sets of eyes opened and peered out of the cage, and a large black paw stepped out and drool dripped onto the ground and sizzled away, its ears twitched and its nose had picked up the scent it was looking for and 1, 2, 3 heads looked in the scents direction, and the Large 3 headed beast charged in the scents direction...Cerberus, has been unleashed

Persephone shivered a bit at her husband's promise of great punishment to the mortal. She hoped she would not be able to hear his screams.
She turned and bowed her head to Zeus out of respect. "Thank you for your hospitality my lord. Please, be attentive to mother. Perhaps ask Hera or Aphrodite to visit with her?" Persephone suggested and nodded to Apollo. "Nephew," she said, trying to convey that he needed to be more respectful towards his uncle, or else things would not go well.
Finally she turned her attention back to Hades. "Shall we return home?"

---

Once they entered the underworld Persephone shivered again from the cold of the area they were in. Shadows quickly wrapped around her and formed into a silk shawl. "Thank you my husband," she said, grateful for his thoughtfulness. She placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him walking and came around to place her hands on his chest and look up at him. "Please," she asked. "May I be in my room while you are punishing him? I do not wish to hear his screams of agony."
Her husband knew that she had a gentle heart. She did not relish in the pain of others, no matter what they had done. She often requested to not be present when he punished and tormented the souls that did not make it into the Elysium fields.

Even though she slept with her husband in his bed, she had her own room that was her sanctuary. It had flowers made of stone, ones that she could not kill. It had been an attempt by her husband to give her something of what she had lost. She was appreciative of the thoughtful gift, but she still found herself wishing she could once again touch real flowers.

Hades looked at his Beloved and nodded "Of course my dear, but be quick, soon Cerberus will be sinking his teeth into the mortal even as we speak" he smiled and turned to the balcony looking over the underworld and he chuckled as the mighty hellhound bayed in the distance "Cerberus is closing in on the mortal now" he turned to Persephone, and placed his hands behind his back, for a cruel being he always stood with such nobility. He then walked his Beloved to her room