The next thing she reckoned, she was in this great chamber all alone.
Persephone had questioned what she had done that subjected her to such cruelty, but she found no mistake in her past nor had she remembered having offended the Mistress of Soul. So why did this dreadful goddess take her down to the Underworld? Her mother would be worried sick and frantic when she did not return home.
Now Persephone longed for the comfort of her mother's ample bosom. The whole time she wept, thinking of the earth goddess, of her nymph companions, who pleased her moods with many a quip and jest.
The distraught goddess continued to sob by the side of the bronze brazier, which burned bright purple flames. Its light only made the room gloomier. It was a long time later that the grieving maiden finally fell asleep in exhaustion.
While she was sleeping, the door opened soundlessly and then entered a robust, nimble figure in an impossibly long black tunic that dragged across the floor.
Hades's shadow loomed over the unconscious maiden. She watched her for a moment before she knelt down beside Persephone. The goddess reached her hand out to touch that tear-stained cheek. Hades felt an unfamiliar pang of pity for the girl, but she knew that this was the only way she could have her.
Persephone's skin was warm against her cold fingers, so warm and soft that Hades, who was afraid of no one, became terrified of spoiling such a delicate thing. The dark goddess felt her heart quicken inside her chest. The beats were loud and unsettling to her ears. She quickly withdrew her hand from the sleeping maiden and stood up. Then after a few moments passed in silence, Hades tore her ardent gaze away from the girl and left the chamber.
After the next few days of haste and strangeness, Persephone began to feel even sadder and lonelier, but she found herself unable to cry despite the unkind reality. From all the crying, she hardly had any tear left.
During her unwilling stay, Persephone was attended to by the maids of Hades's Palace. They were the Underworld nymphs, daughters of the River Styx, Cocytus or Acheron. Though they had intriguing beauty, Persephone found them quite strange and different from the nymphs in her mother's woods. They rarely spoke, let alone gossip or sing. The young goddess could learn nothing from them.
Each morning, the bath was already prepared for her in the next chamber. It had an indoor pool, which filled with fragrant warm water. Fleecy towels and a jeweled comb and a flask of perfumed oil were laid ready along with dresses spun of gold and silver thread.
The nymphs also brought to her chamber the most delicious foods, but Persephone made herself difficult to please. She would not eat nor drink. She was also waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. Persephone waited and waited until she nearly lost her mind to anxiety and silence.
Then on the fourth night, while she was asleep on her grandiose bed, a strange chill came over her. She stirred but did not wake. She heard a powerful voice speaking into her ear, a resonant golden voice speaking so softly that she thought she was dreaming.
"You are Persephone, the most beautiful maiden in all the world. Beautiful enough to make even the goddess of love grows jealous. I have longed for you so much so that I do not know what else to do."
Persephone slowly opened her heavy-lidded eyes. Yet, she saw no one in the room. As she drifted back to sleep, she felt the weight of warm softness press hummingly upon her. There was a tranquilizing feeling coursing through her body, and she sighed. In a dream-like state, she sensed a soft fluttering upon her chest, going up her exposed throat and warm cheeks. It was like wet cotton or the belly of plump bees pressing upon her skin - it was like cold lips moving sweetly with a passion. Her whole body began to burn hot underneath her thin silk gown. It was then that she realized something, or rather someone, was moving stealthily atop her and pleasuring her.
A sudden fear recoiled like a snake in the pit of her stomach, and Persephone snapped wide awake. Her hands instinctively pushed the invisible weight off of her.
She sat up.
Her brilliant eyes opened and looked straight at the pair of obsidian ones although she could not see them.
"Who's that?" Persephone cried.
She could hear another heavy breathing and the thumping of a heart as quick as her own. In the deep silence, right in front of her eyes, a radiant face revealed itself, first, she saw the elegant narrow jaw then the proud cheekbones and the pair of shimmering eyes as black as the River Styx. Silken strands of raven hair unraveled and flowed thickly over a set of slender shoulders.
Hades finally appeared from the dark as she removed the Helm of Invisibility from her head.
Persephone gasped at the sight of the goddess. And she quickly backed herself away in fright.
"Your unexpected coldness towards me," Hades began to speak, eyes piercing, "has shown me how fruitless my patience is with you."
Persephone was too shocked to speak. She kept looking at the goddess fearfully, and this only led Hades to her own distress, but she tried to act tenderly to ease the maiden's dread.
"Don't be afraid of me," she said again, her voice softened even more. "You know not the power which impelled me to do what I have done."
Just then, Persephone was reminded of the cruel way Hades had frightened her when she came charging out of that hole in her golden chariot. She finally found her voice again and spoke to the dark mistress in disdain.
"Why did you bring me here? Take me back to my mother immediately. I wish to go home!"
"This is your home now, Persephone," Hades said. "You can have everything that is mine. Everything you ever wanted. Now that the gods already know of our meeting this way, I shall confess of my affection towards you. Stay here with me, sweet Persephone and be my loving consort."
"No! My mother is waiting for me. I have flowers to tend to. Here is not the world where I long to be!" Persephone began to cry, large tears rolled like sparkling diamonds down her cheeks.
“But I want you here,” Hades said. “You will be my queen. I would do anything to please your heart. Anything you wish.”
"No!” Persephone cried, “If you don't return me to my beloved mother, I shall starve and die of sorrow and refuse to succumb to your will. When my body withers and thus be blown off by the wind, you shall know you are the cause that draws me to my doom."
Hades frowned deeply at the maiden's declaration.
"Persephone, I began to feel a strange passion since the day I met you," the goddess said again, "It’s been tormenting my heart and even more so now that you are so stubborn. I shall risk the wrath of your mother and make you mine anyway."
"No! Take me back! Take me back! I just want to go home!" Persephone covered her face in her hands and cried harder. Hades’s dark vermillion lips pressed into a hard line in frustration.
Persephone could sense too that the older woman was furious, but she kept on weeping ceaselessly.
Hades then rose from the bed with a disappointed sigh.
"Cry all you want, but you will remain here with me forever and always," the dark goddess told her in an exasperated voice and just like that, she stormed off and left the room.
After the heavy doors slammed shut, Persephone could hear Hades's angry voice echoed down the hallway.
"She's like a baby! Never stop crying!" Hades spoke to someone outside. "She won't listen to me. The gods be damned!"
Another voice replied in a shilling, high-pitch tone, "Give her time, good Hades. Soon, she will learn to appreciate your company."
"I do hope so, or this will surely bring madness upon my mind!"
Persephone listened as their footsteps reverberated from the chamber and faded into the still air. Then she curled herself up into a ball, and a while later, her pillows were drenched from soaking away the tears of her despair.
CHAPTER five: temptation
Persephone could not tell how many days had passed. It was always night in the Underworld. Everywhere was dark and dull and lifeless. She felt suffocated being confined in her chamber all alone.
The maiden of amaranthine loveliness longed for the sunlight and the warm fresh scent of the earth. She missed her flowers and all the birds and fauna of her home. The goddess grew lonely and terribly bored.
Hades had not come to her chamber ever since that night. And for that she was grateful. Persephone was still terrified at the prospect of seeing her captor again. She wouldn't know what the fierce goddess would do to her.
Yet she needed to escape this tormenting loneliness that plagued her mind. And quietly, she rose and crept towards the doors of her chamber. To her immense surprise, they were not locked as she had thought. With a pounding heart, she opened them slowly and peeked outside. There was no sentries, no palace's maids, nothing but empty hallways lit up by green-flamed torches. They hovered eerily in the air.
Persephone gingerly stepped forward and out of the oppressing chamber. She looked around herself and found not a single soul, which was strange in a place full of them, she thought.
Suddenly, a red carpet unreeled itself and rolled out to her feet from the dark end of the hall. She jumped back with a shocked gasp. Persephone waited but nothing else leaped at her. At last, curiosity overcame her fear, and she decided to go explore the mystery.
As she began to walk down the hallway, her mind was captivated by the august size and splendid masonry of Hades's palace. It was said that after the three chief gods had decided their domains, Hades left Olympus and came to her new kingdom with a great disappointment. But she immediately set about building her underworld palace and made it greater, if not brighter, even than Olympus. Now Persephone couldn't help but agree that the place was strangely beautiful in its own way.
One of the torches had floated ahead of her, lighting the way. From the luminous glow, she could see full battle scenes between the gods and Titans on the walls. Persephone followed the floating torch. It led her through a long winding corridor before stopping suddenly before a grand double door. The doors were burnished gold and embedded with finely cut rubies and quartz of various colors.
As if on cue, the great doors opened themselves soundlessly, revealing a large hall inside. Persephone was hesitant, but couldn't stop her legs from moving forward. The doors closed behind her when she stepped into the room. Her heart skipped a few quick beats, but she saw nobody around there. Now the young goddess was even more curious than frightened.
The torch beside her whirled and glided away to join the others, which latched themselves onto each black marble column. There was a giant bronze brazier at the end of the hall. At least, it burned normal fire. The golden flames glowed and flickered like tongues of maniac dragons, lighting up the whole place.
At the center of the room was a long polished table. It had only two crested golden chairs. But on the grand table, she could see an abundance of delicacies and exotic fruits, overflowing from one end to another.
The bright-haired goddess hadn't eaten anything since her arrival, and she was instantly lured by the myriad of platters filled with mouth-watering dishes - a seasoned roasted lamb with garlic and herbs, goat cheese and grilled geese drizzled with olive oil. Persephone circled the table as if in a trance. There were fresh-baked sweetbreads and a dripping honeycomb and lemon cakes dusted with icing sugar. It made Persephone's mouth flooded with saliva at the sight of them.
But she had to remind herself to be true to her words.
She tried not to notice a thing, not even allowing her nostrils to twitch although the rich smells had awoken her hunger. Her throat felt raw from all the crying. Persephone swallowed and almost wished she could have a glass of cold wine to quench her thirst. Yet she knew she would not permit herself to touch anything in this place.
"Sit down," a familiar voice suddenly spoke from a corner of the room. She turned around, once again startled by the raven-haired goddess. Persephone realized that the darkness had enshrouded itself around Hades all this time.
"You again!" Persephone exclaimed, looking at the tall goddess in acrimonious surprise.
Hades was standing there, watching her with sparkling eyes.
To her amazement, Hades smiled at her though the smile seemed rather foreign on her lustrous crimson lips. The Mistress of the Underworld never smiled. But she took advice from the three old hags and tried to do it for the sake of her beloved Persephone.
Hades came forward slowly, and as she moved, the folds of her long black tunic rippled like waves about her elegant frame. It seemed like she was gliding. Her graceful movement reminded the young goddess of a stealthy serpent. Persephone's breath halted in her throat, and she quickly stepped away until her back was against the table.
Hades finally stopped before her. Her strangely handsome face was ablaze under the light. She was standing too close to Persephone that the young maiden could feel her powerful godly aura upon her skin. It sent a shiver through her bones.
Despite her intimidating presence, Persephone couldn't help notice how the light from the burning brazier rolling down Hades's coal-black hair, pouring over her pale skin, turning her radiant like gold.
"I feared that you would never come out of your chamber forever," the tall woman said softly. "I know your hunger bothers you greatly. I have asked the cook to prepare the most delicious meal for you. Come and join me."
As if Hades's divinity wasn't tantalizing enough, her mellow voice merely sent Persephone's heart galloping even wilder. The dark goddess leaned over and reached her hand out. Persephone flinched, but Hades only went for a goblet of wine behind her. Then she held it up to the maiden with an encouraging smile.
"Here, have a drink, Persephone," she said. “I know you must be thirsty.”
Persephone looked at the swirling red juice, its liquid sparkling invitingly under the bright flames. She could imagine the taste of that cold sweetness in her mouth. But anyone who had eaten the food in the Underworld would remain there forever. She had vowed she would starve herself to death unless Hades agreed to return her to earth. Now Hades was trying to tempt her and trap her forever in her gruesome land.
The daughter of the earth goddess reigned back over her jumbled emotions and roughly swatted Hades's hand away. The goblet of crystal shells smashed into pieces on the floor, splattering the wine like red blood.
"No!" Persephone snapped in bold discord, holding her head up with all her goddess dignity. "I will not eat a thing from your world. You're tempting me to stay, but you will never succeed. Soon, my mother will come and rescue me from this dark cruel prison of yours and you will never have me."
Hades's eyes flickered like black diamonds. Her elegantly arched brows furrowed as she stared intensely back at Persephone. Her effort to be gentle with the girl was all in vain. The goddess clenched her jaw and then, like a fierce lioness, she grabbed Persephone’s dainty form, wrapping her arms around her waist and pressing her delicate body against hers. The maiden gasped out loud, being caught off guard by the monarch's sudden change of mood.
"No one coming into my Underworld could ever leave, Persephone, not even you!" She growled, "You belong to me now, and I will make sure that you stay here for the rest of your immortality."
"No! You can't do that. Let me go!" Persephone cried, struggling to push the dark goddess away. "This is no home of mine! My mother will be livid if she knows you have treated me so unkindly."
"Persephone, you cannot fathom the feeling I have for you," Hades said vehemently again. "You would believe my sincerity if you knew of the terrible longing which consumes my heart."
"Curse you, Hades! You are as horrible as they all told me!"
"True!" The goddess snarled back. "And I can be even more so until you no longer resist my passion!"
Then her cold hands took hold of Persephone's blushed face and mashed their lips together in ardency. Persephone violently revolted against Hades's fierce kiss, but the dark goddess simply proceeded to force her ravenous tongue into her mouth. The young goddess felt it wagging and slithering hungrily against her own, causing all her thoughts to run as
tray. Try as she might, Persephone couldn’t break free from Hades's vise-like grip. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she whimpered for the taller woman to stop.
Instead, Hades reached behind the girl's buttocks and hoisted her delicate body onto the table. The platters of untouched food were sent to the floor as she laid Persephone on her back, holding her down.
"Stop!" The frightened maiden cried once she wrenched her mouth free from Hades’s. The maiden was struggling to escape yet to no avail. Hades’s ears were deaf with lust and her eyes blinded by passion. She ran her hot lips over Persephone’s smooth neck, tasting her delightful fragrant skin with her craving mouth. A terror struck when Persephone felt the older goddess’s hands ripped the fabric of her dress apart, tearing it from the neck and all the way down to her stomach, revealing her delicate maiden's breasts.
"No!" Persephone screamed with tears streaming down her face. More tears came and all she could do was cry and beg.
The Mistress of the Dead kissed down her panting chest, but before Persephone lost all her hope, she realized there was no more kissing and groping.
When she opened her tear-burned eyes again, Persephone found the dark goddess had released her. She stood back, looking at her with a flash of remorse and shame on her face.
Persephone quickly got up from the table and gathered her tattered dress to cover her nakedness. Hades's heart sank at the way Persephone gazed back at her.
It was the most wounded look she had ever seen. It pierced through her heart like a thousand needles.
"Persephone..." Hades wanted to apologize, but she did not know how to phrase it. The Goddess of the Underworld was not used to the feeling of guilt. She never felt the need to apologize or console anyone in her life. But now, she wished she could gather the shaking girl in her arms and tell her how sorry she was. Yet, Hades knew it would only frighten the young maiden all over again.
Hades: Goddess of the Underworld (Lesbian Version) Page 3
