This is a sexual story written and copyrighted by Alexis Siefert 
and Shon Richards.  If you are not supposed to be reading 
material of an adult nature, either by virtue or your age, your 
personal inclinations (that is, you become easily offended), or 
the geographical location in which you reside, please do not 
continue.  

This story was written for the ASSM Easter-fest, and although 
there are no adorable bunnies or dead biblical characters, we 
feel that it is an Easter story because it deals with the origin 
of spring.  Comments will be appreciated, treasured and loved at 
ealexissiefert@yahoo.com


Hell Hath No Fury (Myth, MF)

	It wasn't a loud sound, the distinctive screech of the owl 
in the distance, but it sent a slight chill through her shoulders 
as she reached to pick the white blossom from the tree.  She 
tucked the flower behind her ear, burying it in the gentle folds 
of her hair.  As its fragrance surrounded her she tried to shake 
off the small feeling of foreboding that the cry of the bird had 
laid like a nest egg in her belly.  She turned and scanned the 
field behind her, looking for her mother.

	Demeter's voice echoed softly across the waving grass. 
"Sephone!  Where are you?  Persephone!  Come on back dear, it's 
time to move on!"

	Perhaps it was guilt that gave her the shiver, Persephone 
thought.  When the owl had screeched, Persephone had been 
daydreaming again, looking through the trees, making up stories 
about people who didn't have a goddess for a mother.  Her 
dedication to her mother was so strong, even daydreaming seemed 
to be unfaithful.  She quickly forgot the story she was weaving, 
leaving the fictional princess to come up with her own escape.  
Sighing softly, the young maiden stroked the rough bark of the 
cherry tree with her delicate hand, thanking the tree for its 
flower before she turned to go.  

	"Sephie!  Now please, we don't have all day!"

	"Coming mother," she called, wishing the tree a fond 
farewell as she let her legs carry her through the grass and back 
to her mother, her companion.  She was also fleeing from her 
daydreams.  As much as the world held temptations for her, she 
was too terrified to reap them herself.  

	His dark eyes watched her as she ran.  He allowed himself a 
small smile as he absorbed the sight of her legs working beneath 
her skirt.  The gossamer fabric floated around her thighs giving 
him just a tease of the lightly tanned flesh beneath.  She ran 
easily, smoothly, appearing almost to fly across the grass.  She 
reminded him of nothing more than one of her own butterflies, 
flitting from blade to blade, flower to flower.  This maiden 
offspring, this creature of delicate wings and flowing mane, this 
perfect being would be his.

	He stepped away from the tree, and had any casual onlooker 
been present it would appear that he seemed more to pull out of 
the bark rather than move from behind it.  Such was his nature.  
The rough covering of the trunk matched the deep bronze of his 
skin, and it was difficult to discern from a distance where one 
stopped and the other began.  But as formidable as his presence 
was, as overpowering as he appeared in the flesh, he moved with a 
grace known only to the gods.  The fluidity of his motions 
brought to mind the flowing of melting gold, or perhaps molten 
lava; the empty space he left behind, the feeling of absence that 
was palpable when he moved betrayed his divine origins.

	As he began to stride through the waving grasses, he gave 
the impression of leisure.  There was a casualness, a summer 
laziness about his pace.  Only if one was privileged enough, or 
foolish enough, to be near him as he walked would one see the 
muscles ripple under his skin, the set of his jaw, and the 
intensity of his gaze.  All of which betrayed the purpose behind 
this seemingly innocent stroll.  Not once since she had turned 
her back to the tree had his gaze left her.  Even now, as the 
last image of her floating hair disappeared over the rising mound 
of the earth, his eyes never faltered.  He didn't rush because he 
had no need to hurry.  She would come to him when it was time. 
All things came to him in time whether he desired it or not. 

	Persephone felt, rather than saw, the presence behind her.  
Whipping her head around, her hair flying around her face like 
the wind, she knew that she 'almost' saw whatever it was watching 
her.  She could feel the renewed presence of dread deep in her 
stomach, as though the owl had again passed over her on silent 
wings, temporarily blocking the protective warmth of the sun; 
leaving her with the unpleasant knowledge that all was not well 
in the world.

	Her mother's hand on her shoulder brought her back into the 
safety of their world.  "'Sephonie?  Darling?  Are you okay?  
Something's troubling you."  Demeter's voice was kind, nurturing, 
and reassuring to the young girl.  

	"No, mother, I'm fine.  It was just a passing feeling.  
It's gone now."  She spoke firmly, to reassure herself as well as 
her mother.

	"Well, then, dear.  It's time we move on.  We have a long 
ways to go before dark if we're going to check on the progress of 
the fields.  Must not dawdle.  We have obligations, you know."

	Persephone fought back the impulse to roll her eyes at her 
mother's chiding.  "Yes Mother, I know.  Crops to oversee, 
weather to watch, blah, blah, blah."

	Demeter smiled indulgently at her daughter.  She remembered 
what it was like to be young and to feel as though the world 
existed only here and only now.  Sometimes she would watch her 
daughter float through life, bringing Spring to whatever she 
touched, and Demeter would be brought back to her own youth.  The 
carefree times when immortality meant being young forever, not 
simply 'being' forever.  "Let her have her time," Demeter told 
herself.  "Let her enjoy her youth and the comfort of not knowing 
the darkness in the world."  She tugged lightly on the young 
maiden's arm, directing her into the movement of the wind, 
letting the breeze guide them to their next destination.

	Persephone followed her mother willingly, watching the 
earth around them change as they passed.  Spring, Persephone's 
time, was moving quickly into Summer and the crops would soon 
need tending.  Her mother would be busy overseeing much of the 
activity, although the reaping of the harvest wasn't technically 
her position.  So many jobs melded into each other, and things 
moved much more smoothly when the Beings simply worked together 
and ignored so many of the petty territorial arguments that were 
always threatening to boil over.  The biggest advantage, of 
course, was that Persephone would be granted some leisure time of 
her own, and there were always wonders to discover.  Maybe this 
summer, she would actually go exploring for them.

	As they approached their home, Demeter motioned to her 
daughter.  "Dear?  Didn't I see some of those wonderful 
elderberries ripening behind the house?  Go gather some.  They'll 
be wonderful after dinner."

	Persephone strolled between the bushes, gathering the ripe 
berries in the hem of her skirt.  As she pulled the fruit from 
the branches, she could feel the newly ripe globes strain against 
their skins, threatening to burst at the slightest touch.  She 
brought one to her mouth, savoring the feel of their shade-cool 
tautness against the warmth of her lips.  With just a hint of 
pressure, the fruit erupted between her teeth, bathing her tongue 
with its sweetness.  Her eyes closed as she enjoyed the simple 
pleasure of the treat, her lids fluttering lightly, her lashes 
brushing across the creamy skin beneath her eyes.

	A cry wrenched involuntarily from her throat as her arm 
brushed against his rough skin.  His voice was low, and she 
wondered at first if he had actually spoken out loud or if he had 
spoken directly to her soul.  

	"You've been waiting for me."  It was just like that.  A 
statement, not a question or an accusation, just a simple 
recitation of fact.

	Without thinking, she nodded slowly.  The voice was so 
confident that it demanded an answer before she could wonder who 
was doing the asking.  An excitement bubbled within her, 
recognizing that she had been waiting for - something - and now 
it was happening. 

	"You know, don't you, that there's so much more than what 
she's shown you."  He nodded towards the house she shared with 
her mother as he spoke.  Again, he wasn't asking or seeking 
confirmation.  It was as though he was reminding her of something 
she had forgotten.  "She kept you shielded from the rest of us.  
She's kept you locked away in your world of flowers and beauty.  
But you know that your cage, gilded as though it may be, is still 
a cage."

	She wanted to protest, to defend her mother against the 
accusations this, this, *person* was making, but she found 
herself unable to speak.  His voice was like a mountain slide, 
threatening to bury her with their strength of conviction.  The 
words pulled from her throat.  "My mother loves me.  I... I can't 
stay.  The fruit, dinner...."
	
	His voice flowed through her like heat moved through the 
air.  Not the gentle, healing warmth of the sun, but the 
crackling heat from the flames. "Yes. Go.  I'll wait."

	And as suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone.  

~~~~~~

	Demeter was worried.  Her daughter had been "off" for a 
number of days now.  At first she had shrugged it off to the 
fickle moods of young adults, but it had gone past that.  Her 
daughter was clinging to her mother at every waking moment.  She 
liked to believe it was due to a renewed fondness, but she was 
too wise to convince herself of that.  She could even pinpoint 
when the change had happened.  Since bringing in berries three 
evenings ago, Persephone had done little more than wander around 
the house, occasionally poking the embers of a dying fire or 
aimlessly rearranging a bouquet of blossoms, long past their 
prime.  
	
	Persephone sat at their small table, absently pulling 
segments from a ripe blood-orange.  The glistening pieces lay 
uneaten on the wooden surface; beads of juice stained the 
maiden's fingertips with their sticky sweetness.  Without 
speaking, she pushed her chair back, seemingly oblivious to the 
screech of the legs against the wood floor.  Demeter moved to 
intercept the girl as she headed to the door, wanting to offer 
comfort to whatever was bothering her daughter, but changed her 
mind, choosing to let her go.  "Perhaps the air will clear her 
head," the concerned mother thought.  "Getting out has to be a 
good sign, I don't think she's been out of the house in days."

	She wasn't sure where she was going, but Persephone was 
suddenly positive that she had to leave.  She had felt the 
confines of her mother's house so clearly this morning; she just 
had to get out among the trees.  Perhaps the cause of this 
fidgeting could be found among the greens and browns of the 
leaves flittering with the breeze.  As she stepped into her 
forest, she could feel the wind pulling her, tugging her along 
the path, deeper into the forest.  

	As the shadows lengthened, the world around her was 
abruptly brought back into sharp focus as He appeared before her.  
Although he was leaning almost casually against the bark of a 
maple to the side of the path, Persephone knew that she could not 
be more unable to pass him had he been standing in the middle of 
the path, spanning its width with his powerful body.  She stopped 
and stared, forgetting her home, forgetting her mother, 
forgetting even herself as her body reacted to his.  

	He gazed into her, and his eyes met her soul.  As though 
stricken dumb, Persephone could do nothing more than stare, 
absorbing the sight of his body into hers.  She felt herself 
drawn to him; the pull from her center was as irresistible as the 
pull of the moon upon the tide.  Silently he held out his hand to 
her and she found herself wrapped in his grip.  Although he held 
her lightly, she felt no urge to pull her wrist from his fingers.  
Rather, she felt finally as peace, the restless movement of her 
muscles relaxed.  This is what she was seeking.

	"Come, fly with me."  His voice reverberated in the ears of 
the young goddess as the world around her began to grow less 
real.  She felt the trees begin to melt and their roots beneath 
her feet began to roll, undulating like gentle waves lapping 
against the shore.  The sounds of the forest, once so familiar 
and beautiful to her, gave way to the strange music of hollow 
winds and shifting currents.  The dirt beneath her bare feet, 
always firm and reassuring, changed to the rough rubbing of hewn 
boards, planks separating her from dark water threatening to wrap 
around her narrow ankles.  Her eyes were locked in his, but she 
knew without stopping to let her rational mind see her new 
surroundings, that she was no longer a part of the world she had 
inhabited.  She knew that she was in his world now, and only with 
him would she be safe.

	"What you see here may frighten you, but it may also answer 
those questions you have within you.  What you see will open 
those doors within you and give you an understanding of that 
darker part, that desire you have but have yet to admit."

	She nodded dumbly, knowing that he spoke the truth.  She 
had seen the shadows left behind by the passing of the sun, and 
she had recognized their power and their beauty.  

	He continued, pausing only slightly to let her gaze drift 
to the waters below them and to the dark figures, she knew not if 
they were plant or animal, which dotted the shore.  His hand held 
hers, and her fingers tightened their grip around his palm.  Her 
pulse fluttered in her wrist, and he could feel the desire course 
through her body.

	Her ears heard only his voice, surrounded by the angry 
music of the wind blowing through her hair.  This was not the 
world she knew.  This was not the world of the friendly breezes 
playing hide-and-seek in her tresses.  This was a world of the 
primitive in the soul and the empty spaces between the stars.

	The small wooden craft bumped lightly against the shore, 
and he stepped easily onto the ground.  His hand still held hers, 
and she was pulled gently behind him from the boat.  Once she 
stood beside the water it gradually became clear to her.  She 
knew where she was, and she knew with whom she was traveling.

	Her mind screamed at her, warned her to flee as images 
flashed through her mind.  Stories her mother told her in her 
youth.  Stories of darkness and warnings.  This was Hades.

	"This is a world untouched by your mother," he said. He 
reached up and plucked a fruit from a tree.  "Here, taste 
something that your mother never grew.  It's just a pomegranate, 
but you'll find the flavor much more enjoyable than in the other 
world."

	Persephone held the fruit in her hand amazed that she 
didn't feel the slightest bit of connection with it.  It was 
liberating.  This fruit would grow, flourish and die without any 
influence from her at all.  It might be sweet.  It might be sour.  
Persephone wouldn't know until she tasted it.  The idea was 
tempting, but she gave it back to him.

	With no small effort, she found her voice "Thank you, but I 
know a little about your world," she said reluctantly.  "I know 
that if I consume anything of your world, than I shall stay 
forever."

	He smiled.  "Your mother taught you everything you needed 
to know to stay in her world, and yet she neglected to teach you 
much else."  

	She sat there in embarrassed silence while he simply 
watched her.  Persephone was worried that she had insulted him, 
but she didn't know what to say.  She tried to think of what she 
knew about people, but then realized that it was nothing.  It 
made her feel very lonely.

	A gray horse appeared, running towards them along the 
shore.  When the horse reached them, her host tenderly patted the 
huge creature.  It was twice the size of the wild horses in the 
fields near her home, and the muscles rippling beneath its flanks 
could gallop effortlessly over mountains.  The man swung lightly 
onto the horse grabbing a thick handful of the horse's black 
mane.  Persephone felt a moment of fear when she thought he might 
leave her.

	Without a word, he bent down and scooped her up.  She 
almost struggled but relaxed when he sat her in front of him.  
His arms wrapped around her slender body and locked together at 
the horse's mane.  His chest was a solid wall that she leaned 
naturally into.  

	"Daughter of the Above, let me show you my world," he 
intoned.  Persephone felt her heart accelerating until it matched 
the rapid gate of his steed.

~~~~~

	Demeter was beginning to panic.  Although she trusted her 
daughter's instincts, and she knew that Sephonie was immune to 
the physical terrors of the mortal world, she admitted to herself 
that her daughter had been sheltered from the more tantalizing 
facets of immortality.  As she searched the trees and woods of 
which her daughter was so fond, Demeter could feel a shift in the 
air around her.  She felt an empty place that was her daughter.  

	A stillness fell across the trees, silencing the leaves on 
their branches and sending the small animals to their hiding 
places among the great roots.  Demeter could feel the anger begin 
to boil within as she slowly became certain of her daughter's 
location.  There was only one realm in which she had no hold, in 
which she had no control.  Her one and only daughter, her reason, 
her inspiration was with Demeter' brother, Hades.  

	In her anger and fear, Demeter paid no notice to the sudden 
chilling of the air.

~~~~

	Persephone never expected to hear music here.  The chords 
were slow, mournful and intricate yet, there were flashes of 
hope.  She listened to the musicians with Hades, and she never 
let go of his hand as the music languished in the darkness.  

	It was another surprise in a day full of surprises.  Or has 
it been a week?  There never was a sun, and yet there was never 
completely darkness.  Persephone felt like she had been here 
forever and at the same time she felt like she was too late in 
her arrival.  Why had she taken so long to come here?

	The musicians were playing faster now, and from somewhere a 
wind blew through the grass in which she and Hades were sitting.  
The river was behind them and his horse was grazing quietly 
beside them.  They were sitting at the bottom of a hill; the 
musicians were sitting at the top.  Persephone couldn't help 
notice Hades had elevated the entertainers over the entertainees.  
She had a hard time imagining her mother letting mere mortals 
have a place of honor above her.

	Persephone sighed as the music ended.

	"I know how you feel," Hades said, not for the first time 
today.  "I find that death adds a new dimension to a musician's 
art.  Once they see that my realm holds no pain for them, they 
loose their most primal fear.  It frees their creativity and 
makes them alive for the first time."

	"Alive in the realm of the dead?" Persephone asked.  "If I 
hadn't have heard their music, I wouldn't believe such a thing 
possible."

	He smiled at her, genuine warmth behind those dark eyes.  
He placed her hand on his chest, and Persephone gasped at the 
power of the heart she felt beating there.  "Do you consider me a 
dead thing?" he asked.    

	"Never," she breathed.  She had never met anyone more 
alive.  For that matter, she had never felt more alive.

	Still holding her hand to his chest, Hades pulled her 
towards him with his other hand.  His fingers wound in her hair, 
guiding her yet also demanding.  He didn't need to demand.  
Persephone went to his lips willingly and once there, his heart 
pounded even harder beneath her hand.  The force of his throbbing 
heart frightened her for it matched the roaring that she too was 
feeling.

	They kissed, not quite like a man and a woman and not quite 
like a god and a goddess.  It wasn't a kiss from the Lord of the 
Dead to the Daughter of the Bounty.  It wasn't a tentative, 
innocent kiss between two lonely children.  It was a perfect 
kiss, and a kiss that changed the world forever.

	The kiss lead into another kiss, which lead into another 
and another until Persephone was drowning in his lips.  She 
pulled back, gasping for air.  Her gasps turned to small hisses 
through clenched teeth as Hades cupped her breast through her 
gossamer gown.  His touch was gentle but unyielding.  Her back 
arched, and she pressed her chest to his hand, offering to him 
more of herself than she ever intended, than she ever knew 
possible.

	He took her offering.  His hand massaged her breast and his 
mouth descended to her solid nipple.  Through the sheerness of 
her gown, she felt his mouth on her skin.  Her hands went to his 
back, fingers digging into granite-carved shoulders as his mouth 
teased her.  The gown was wet where his mouth tasted her; the 
cloth was so thin she could feel the sharpness of his teeth as he 
bit at the fruit of her breast.  Yet still, the cloth wasn't thin 
enough.

	She pushed him away, but only long enough to remove her 
gown.  His eyes drank her body while he removed his clothes as 
well.  Persephone blushed under his gaze as she stood before her 
chosen first lover; yet she felt no shame.  She wanted him, but 
she wanted to know that he desired her as well.  His eyes 
lingered on her smooth legs and rose to gaze at her stomach and 
then to her breasts.  Persephone glowed under his scrutiny, 
wanting to step forward and embrace him, but something unspoken 
made her stop.  His unblinking eyes rose to her face, and she 
could see the gold of her hair reflected in his eyes.  

	"Now," he said, and she ran towards his embrace.

	His arms folded around her and she collapsed into the 
sensation.  His mouth met hers, and at some point, she found 
herself lying on the ground.  Strange grass comforted her bare 
body as his weight pressed down on her.  His hands were 
everywhere as they touched her body.  She felt those powerful 
hands clutch at her thighs as she felt his mouth devour her 
breasts.  She cried out at the bottom of the hill as his mouth 
sucked at her nipples.  Her fingers pressed into his dark hair, 
pulling him closer to her.

	Persephone opened her legs to him, but impossibly, he 
wasn't entering her.  She moaned, not understanding why he 
wouldn't join with her.  His mouth left her enflamed breasts and 
traveled further down.  The young goddess lifted her pelvis 
towards him as his mouth nibbled at her hips.  She had no 
conscious thoughts beyond those of feeling and emotion.  All she 
knew was that she needed him and all that he had to give her.

	Hot breath from Hades on her sex made her scream with 
delight.  With surprisingly tenderness, he parted the gates of 
her underworld with his tongue.  Persephone hissed with intense 
sensation as his mouth fully merged with her sex.  His lips 
kissed while his tongue drew her desire from her.  She felt his 
godhood reaching towards her from his mouth.  All of his desire, 
all of his potency, and all of his divine loneliness was pouring 
into her from his sensual kissing.  

	Persephone writhed as his tongue found her clitoris.  
There, his tongue told of the unfair events that handed him this 
realm, this existence so far from the living world.  Thighs 
clutched his head as his tongue told her of how he longed for 
something fresh in his world.  Moans equal in pleasure and 
sympathy escaped her lips.  As her orgasm bloomed throughout her 
body, she knew of the darkness inside him that needed her.

	He rose from between her thighs, passion and desire raging 
on his face.  Persephone made her decision and reached for him.  
She took his cock, so virile and so potent, and she guided him to 
her.  She planted his cock between her thighs, sighing as he 
filled her so completely.  Hades came down closer till his chest 
pressed against her tingling breasts.  Eye to eye, they moaned 
together as they joined in a harmonious rhythm.  His motion 
proved he was brother to Poseidon and his throbbing was brother 
to the Thunder.  Persephone moaned as his passion quaked within 
her.  She looked into the eyes of Hades and saw the same purity 
of desire that she felt from his mouth.  She knew she wanted to 
return the knowledge.

	Persephone felt his impending climax and pushed him away.  
Acknowledging her willing desire and her consent of the 
consequences he rose to his feet, his cock red and yearning.  
Persephone knelt before the god and took his cock into her mouth.  
There, her tongue danced its own tale of loneliness, of the 
suffocating presence of a world in which everything living was 
also a daughter of her mother.  Her lips sucked at his cock and 
she poured her immortality into bringing him pleasure.

	His seed greeted her tongue and Persephone swallowed this 
strange new creation.  This seed was Hades' and Persephone wanted 
to consume it all.

~~~~

	Hecate, goddess of the darkness of the moon, came to 
Demeter in the night.  The shrouded goddess spoke in comforting 
tones to the distraught mother.  "I hear things that others do 
not see sister.  You must speak with Aeolus.  His winds carry 
word from Hades of your daughter's union.  She has joined him in 
his world; she has become his wife.  She has taken his seed."

The mountains rumbled with the echo of Demeter's anguished cries.  
An owl screeched in the distance as dark clouds formed overhead, 
blocking the sun from the ground.

~~~~

	"Where are all these people coming from?" Persephone 
demanded from her lover.  The flood of people recently arrived to 
the Underworld could be heard from across the river.  "Has Ares 
started another war?"

	Hades smile faded for the first time since she joined him.  

	"It's your mother," he growled.

	"That's insane," Persephone protested.

	"No, your mother demanded you back," Hades continued.  "She 
sent Hermes to me, to inquire how, being immortal, you had died.  
When I told him you were here, living and willingly, he came back 
later to say that Demeter demanded her only daughter back."

	"Why didn't you tell me she was looking for me?" Persephone 
asked.

	"You knew," Hades said simply.  "You knew, and I respected 
your silence on the matter."

	Persephone felt a chill despite the warmth of Hades' arms.  
She did know in the back of her mind that her mother must have 
looked for her, but she hadn't allowed herself to think about it.  
It was so easy down here to let time go by.  She looked at Hades 
and she looked at the horde of lost souls he was watching so 
grimly, and she realized her question had not been answered.

	"But why are these people dying?" she asked.

	"Starvation, mostly," he replied with an unfamiliar bite to 
his voice.  "Denied of one child, Demeter has decided to deny 
Gaia anymore children.  Crops are dying, babies are not being 
allowed to birth and the world has grown colder than I would ever 
allow Hades.  Your mother will kill the Earth until she realizes 
how selfish she is."

	"That's not possible," Persephone protested.  "My mother 
loves the Earth and its children.  She brings joy and warmth to 
its creatures.  She would sooner allow herself to whither away 
before she would harm even a single blade of grass.  You must be 
mistaken.  You can't be right."

	He drew her close as her body stiffened and clenched in 
rebellion.  With her face buried in his chest, his hand stroking 
her hair, he spoke softly into her ear.  "Persephone, my love, 
your mother has allowed herself to succumb to anger and fear, to 
her jealousy.  She has chosen to ignore her obligations to the 
mortal world in favor of her desire to prevent your union with 
me.  She will continue this selfish quest to have you back, and 
the world will continue to suffer until she accepts your choice."

	"Or until I stop being selfish," Persephone thought 
silently to herself.

~~~~~

	Hades was asleep when Persephone left their bed.  She had 
nothing to pack but her tears and nothing to carry but her 
memories.  Slipping out quietly, she made her way to the Gates.  
She could stand the moans of people murdered by her mother no 
longer.

	Cerebus stood at the Gate, and all three heads looked upon 
the Goddess as she approached.

	"Greetings, Persephone," the three heads said in unison.  

	"And to you as well," she said in return.  "Please step 
aside, I wish to return to my home now."

	Cerebus whined, a strange sound coming from the beast.  "I 
am sorry goddess, but I can smell something of His Realm in you.  
I can not let you pass."

	"But that's impossible!" Persephone countered.  "I never 
ate or drank a single dish or cup!"

	"Have you forgotten already?" Hades said behind her.

	She spun around, and dropped to her knees at the sight of 
her lover.  Persephone was confused at her captivity, upset at 
her mother's refusal to let go and worried about hurting her 
lover's feelings.

	"Hades," she whispered.  "I was hoping to spare you my 
leaving."

	"Leaving?  But you are mine, I you knew that," he said.

	"I am not yours!" she cried out.  "I've not eaten a thing! 
I must return or Mother will kill everything!"  However, even as 
she spoke the words, she knew the truth.

	Hades knelt beside her, and he still towered over her.  
"You have eaten of this realm.  My seed itself, remember?"

	With a sinking realization, Persephone knew that he was 
right.  She also knew that her actions had been her own.  She was 
experiencing a feeling that all mortals must face, but one that 
she had thought herself immune to.  The knowledge that her 
actions extend beyond her own being, and that her world was not 
an insular one.  In that one moment, Persephone had left her 
long, innocent childhood behind in favor of the world of adults.  

~~~~

	Hermes stood before Demeter, trembling slightly under the 
force of her wrath.  "No, Mother Earth, I'm sorry.  Hades refuses 
to set aside the agreement of Zeus.  Your daughter joined him as 
ruler of his realm.  She has consumed his seed, and she is bound 
by the ruling of the gods to remain with him.  I bring word to 
you from your other brother as well.  Zeus sends notice that you 
must end the senseless devastation you've brought upon the world. 
You must return to your duties.  You are also bound by the 
agreements made between the deities." 

	"Bound you say?"  Her voice was cold and frightening.  It 
sent chills through him, yet it also burned with the fire of her 
wrath.  "I am bound by nothing.  Until my daughter is returned to 
me, I have no care for anything else.  The Earth is strong and 
can survive.  It's only the mortals which concern my brother."  
The familial reference was filled with loathing.  She continued, 
the sarcasm evident in her tone. "Without his precious 
playthings, my brother has no one to pay him homage.  If his 
little pets perish there will be no more offerings made to him."

	Seeing a glimmer of hope, Hermes spoke quickly.  "True, 
Demeter.  Without the people of earth, Zeus will have no 
tribulations with which to stoke his ego.  However, as more lost 
souls fill the Hades' coffers he will gain in power and wealth.  
Your actions are serving only to make him stronger."

	With narrowed eyes, the angry goddess gazed down upon the 
messenger.  "Perhaps you are right, Hermes.  And perhaps you are 
merely shrewed.  Either way, I leave it up to you to bring 
Persephone back.  Travel again to Hades and negotiate for her 
release.  Do not return to me until you have succeeded.

~~~~

	Hermes paced nervously.  He jumped as a voice behind him 
interrupted his anguished thoughts.

	"Here now, Hermes.  What pains you so?"  Herakles placed 
his great hand upon the shoulder of the messenger.  

	"Oh, Herakles.  You have to help me.  We are on the verge 
of a war between your father, Demeter and Hades.  Please, tell me 
what to do."

	The two sat as Hermes poured forth the story.  Knowing the 
inevitable disaster that would result from the three deities' 
stubborn natures, Herakles agreed to make the journey into the 
underworld.  

~~~~

	The red sky burned overhead.  Persephone and Hades watched 
with a growing gloom as the lost souls continued their journey 
over the water.  The copper basin overflowed with coins as they 
dead paid for their transportation through the river Styx.

	"Persephone, my love, my darling.  You must understand.  As 
surely as these mortals are bound by the Fates, I am bound by the 
compacts made so long ago.  If I allow you to return to Earth, I 
will have broken an eternal agreement between my brothers and I.  
You are my wife and you are queen here."

	"But if you don't allow me to return my mother will 
continue to grieve.  The Earth will perish.  No more will we know 
the fragrance of the narcissus, the beauty of the dahlia, the 
thorn of the rose.  I can't bear to know that I am the cause of 
the dying of the light."

	Hades' response was cut short by the sudden arrival of 
Herakles.  The hero approached Hades with arms spread open, palms 
up in a gesture of peace.  "Hades.  I come to you for help.  I 
need your assistance.  You are the only one powerful enough to 
bring an end to the possibility of war.  No one will gain from a 
battle between the gods.  Olympus has become a place of fear and 
tension.  We need your help."

	The dark god chuckled low before answering.  "Oh Herakles.  
Your father must be very proud.  Transparent though your pleas 
may be, your argument is a sensible one.  I have no wish to war 
with Zeus and my sister.  Here is my proposition.  Convince 
Demeter to accept and you will truly be a hero to men and gods 
alike."

	Persephone held her breath in anticipation.  She wanted 
nothing more than to remain with her husband, to serve at his 
side in this world as his queen and beneath him in his bed as his 
lover.  But memories of her small creatures, images of their 
suffering because of her mother's grief, weakened her resolve and 
soured the joy she found in his passion.

"My wife will return to her mother, but only for half of each 
year.  After six months, she will be mine again both in body and 
soul."

Hades snapped his finger and his gray steed galloped to his side.  
With an easy motion, he lifted his bride to its back, and she 
gripped its mane in her hands.  "Hold tight, my love.  I shall 
send my mount to you in six month's time.  Return to me then, 
rule with me and warm my bed."

Her body quivered with desire as his voice filled her ears.  His 
hand rested in the small hollow of her back as he spoke, sending 
sparks of fire through her center, igniting the fire within. 

He smiled slightly, sensing the lust within her small body.  His 
voice echoed in her heart as the horse sped away.  "Remember that 
feeling, my queen.  Remember it well, and in time we will again 
be together."