Chapter 28 - Villain

◆◆◆

Persephone lay on her bed, her mother reclining next to her. The snow and ice had vanished and already the pink and white buds of spring were covering the barren trees of the temple. The rivers ran freely once more, bubbling merrily in the meadows, and birds’ songs echoed across the forests. Persephone had never felt more miserable.

Demeter picked up her daughter’s hand, her eyes moving sadly over her daughter's face. “Can you forgive me, Persephone?” she asked quietly. “It was never my intention for you to lose in all of this.” She had told her everything that had happened, that she had sought out Aphrodite, enlisted her help; that it had been her who had shot Hades.

Persephone threw herself into her mother’s arms. “Of course,” she cried. “Everything you did, you did to protect me. I cannot say the same of Aphrodite.” She finished, drawing back to look at Demeter. “Did she get what she wanted?” she asked bitterly. “Did Ares fall in love with her?”

“That part of the story is still unwritten. I do not know what happened after you and Hades vanished. I took your bow, which somehow has disappeared as well, and when I returned to the temple, it was empty. Since then, I have been righting the wrongs that I brought to the land.” Demeter’s eyes lowered. “That is a burden I will always have to bear.”

“Mother,” she said softly, “we have all been a part of this sick game, though we knew it not.”

“Are you alright, Persephone? Truly alright?”

“I miss him,” she said, “I feel like half of me is missing, that I am incomplete in every way. I love him. No matter where I go, I am always leaving someone I love behind,” she whispered.

“Oh daughter, forgive me for the part I played in this.” Her hands tightened over Persephone’s and then she stood. “You should rest now if you can.” She bent, kissing her daughter’s forehead. “Goodnight, my love, I will see you in the morning.”

Persephone turned on her side, staring at the half-moon through the window. “Alone again,” she whispered.

Persephone.

She sat up suddenly, peering through the moonlit shadows. “Hades?” she breathed. “Are you there?”

He was standing over her, the helmet of invisibility held at his side. She jumped from the bed with a shout of joy, wrapping her arms around him. “What are you doing here?” she cried in a hushed whisper.

His dark eyes moved over her. “Breaking the rules. I needed to see you.”

She pulled him close, pressing her face against his chest. “Would you love me even if I was wicked, Persephone? I am the villain in this story.”

She moved back to look at him. “I love every part you,” she replied with a confused smile. “And you are not the villain. That role belongs to another.”

“How sweet your words are,” he whispered. He raised a finger to his lips, and took her hand leading her from her room, moving through the quiet halls to the just blossoming garden outside.

“Let me have you, one last time until you are back with me. I have to taste you one more time. Will you let me?” His eyes burned at her and when he began to pull her dress from her slim arms she did not stop him.

He pressed his lips against her neck and he lifted her gown higher, pushing her up against a tree, and she wrapped her long legs around his waist. He pushed himself into her tight entrance and she gave a small gasp of pain, but his lips were there to swallow it and then she was throwing her head back as he began to move. A strange lassitude was stealing over her and she wondered if this was merely a dream. He whispered words to her, dark words she did not comprehend and then he leaned forward murmuring in her ear. “My power will grow inside you.” And he reached between her legs as she shattered into oblivion. “When the first snow moves over the meadows,” he promised. Darkness consumed her and she felt herself falling as strong arms wrapped around her.