Discord & Death

Based on the characters from Disney’s “Hercules” film & TV show

Chapter 10

“That went better than I thought,” Hades grinned mockingly as he and Persephone stepped off of his chariot now they were back in the Underworld.

“I guess,” Seph murmured, only half listening.

He blinked, picking up on this. “Seph, stop worrying all the time," he sighed. "It ain’t good for yer…”

She nodded, turning to watch him as he slipped off the chariot and took his griffin's reigns in hand. “I can’t help it, Hades,” she replied.

“C'mon, what's to worry about? Your dad’s all right with it, Hera is --”

“But my mum isn’t,” she stated firmly. “I just don’t understand her!”

“Nor does she understand you," Hades shrugged. "It’s a parent thing. Happens all the time.” He then turned around and yelled, “Pain! Panic!”

The two Imps were at his feet in an instance. “Yes, your magnificence?” they asked, before they gave Hades a salute.

“Put the griffin away, boys,” he ordered, dropping the reigns into their hands and leaving them.

The two Imps watched him glide off with Persephone and leave them alone with the black monster that pulled his chariot. They looked at one another. “Oh boy…” they sighed in stereo. They had never gotten on with the griffin…

Hades and Seph meanwhile rounded a corner and ascended the stairway toward the throne room.

“I don’t want to fall out with her forever over this," Persephone said to him. "I’ve gotta live with her for 6 months of every year, after all!”

“I know, babe,” Hades replied casually. “Look, she’ll be fine! Just let her get used to everything. People just don’t like change, and us gods are even worse for it.”

“I guess you're right,” she sighed.

They walked into the throne room of the Underworld and Persephone stopped by the map in the room’s centre, whilst Hades mooched over to his throne and looked at it from a short distance. "Hmm... gonna have to get you one of these, aren't I?" When he turned around, however, he saw that Seph was staring blankly at the map, and looked more than a little distraught. He shook his head and heaved another sigh. "Seph," he said, walking back to her side and placing a hand about her shoulder. “Just relax.”

She leant onto him and a tear rolling down her face. “I’m trying,” she uttered almost inaudibly. "Believe me, I am."

“Your moods are swinging faster than Poseidon at a Bacchanal!” he said half-heartedly, trying to cheer her a little.

She smiled weakly, wiping the tear from her eye. “I know. I can’t keep up with them. One minute I’m strong, the next I’m angry, then I just want to cry… it’s too much…”

“Don’t worry, tuts. Just a few more months and it’ll all stop.”

She frowned at him. “‘Just’, you say…?” she asked. “It doesn’t end there, you know.”

“Too true,” Hades agreed.

Seph then turned her eyes down to look at the map again. It had once been covered with miniatures of various gods and monsters, but, since one of Hades’ more recent bouts of anger, it seemed that many had been incinerated. There was one unfamiliar one that really caught her eye, though. Frowning, she pulled away from Hades and leaned over the table, grasping the model between her finger and thumb. As she turned it over in her hand, she realised who it was.

Hades smirked knowingly as he watched Seph gape at the model. “It’s me…” she said.

Hades nodded. “Bonus point to Seph,” he smirked.

She looked at it closely again – it seemed to resemble her perfectly, with her poise accurate and everything. “Why haven’t I noticed this before?” she asked. “Did you…?”

Hades shrugged. “I did something productive whilst you were away for yer 6 months. I made a little you to go with a little me… coz I missed yer…”

She laughed quietly and gave him a quick hug. “It’s flawless,” she said in awe, running a finger down its perfectly carved edges. “I didn’t know you could make these!”

“Ya do now,” he said, leaning upon the table and looking upon her dotingly. “Cheered you up?”

“Hell yes,” she nodded, putting it back upon the table next to the replica of Hades, standing over Tartarus.

“I only just put it out yesterday, before you came back from Hera,” he explained, leaning upon his elbows as he looked across the table. Seph shifted herself to his side and leant her head onto his shoulder.

“I guess I wasn’t sure before whether yer wanted a ‘mini-Seph’ on my map or not," he said.

“I don’t mind,” she whispered. She slowly turned to him, “Besides, there’ll be something of a ‘mini-Seph’ running about here soon, anyway.”

He slowly turned to her, grinning. “Good one,” he said.

She smirked in return. “I am learning from the master,” she whispered, leaning toward him and giving the end of his nose a playful nip.

He smiled back and stooped down to kiss her properly, lifting her up in his arms and sitting her on the table before him. They locked mouths for a long time, Hades gently forcing Seph back onto the table, until he was leant over her, and they then parted, breathing lightly in one another’s faces. Persephone traced the lines of Hades’ bony countenance with her fingers, and stroked down his nose, across his cheek, and then down below his chin, smiling all the time as she did. “I think we’ve got into enough trouble from this kinda thing,” she whispered.

He nodded. “Yeah, damn right,” he replied in a hush tone. He then hoisted himself onto the table and lay down by her side, before he lightly placed his hand over her abdomen and began to stroke it delicately.

Seph watched his face as he did so. “What is it?” she asked, seeing something in his eyes that she wasn’t familiar with. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he replied hushly, looking a little self-conscious. “I just can’t believe my kid’s in there.”

Seph smiled at him. “I love your sensitive side, Hades,” she whispered, “It just doesn't suit you at all.”

He chuckled in return. “I know… scary, isn't it?” He paused again. “I really never thought that this would happen to me, though.”

He looked straight into her eyes. “All my life, I’ve been alone, since I was plonked down here Cronus-knows-how-many-years-ago. I never thought I’d ever marry, much less have any children.” He turned away again and stared at the ceiling. “It sounds pathetic, doesn't it?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Seph replied. “It proves you’re not afraid to have fear things, and to then tell me about them.”

He smiled a little. “You're just saying that, you know?”

“I’m not. I’ve feared the same things.”

He nodded steadily. “If you say so."

“We’re birds of a feather,” she smiled, hugging him and giving him another kiss on the cheek.

“It’s not just that,” he continued. “We’re gonna be separated for the first few months that our kid's in the world. What am I supposed to do about that?”

She looked down knowingly. “It’s the fate we’ve set ourselves, Hades,” she admitted. “I ate the seeds, and it’s just worked out this way.”

“Yup. Ah well, I guess it was for the best. If you hadn’t eaten the seeds, you would never have seen yours truly again."

“And then this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Exactamundo!”

She smiled again. “Well, as long as you’re with me when our baby’s born, we'll manage.”

“Mark my words, Seph, even Zeus won’t keep me away."

Back on Mount Olympus, in Hera's quarters, Demeter was talking over the morning's events with the queen of the gods. It was fair to say she was still in shock.

“I cannot believe it, Hera,” she said. “My baby is having a baby by that… man.”

“I don’t see it as a problem, Demeter,” Hera replied, offering Demeter a glass of fine nectar. Demeter happily accepted.

“Having them marry I could get over. Eventually. But this...?" Demeter took a swig of the nectar. "Persephone’s not ready to be a mother! I really don’t think that she is!”

Hera took a sip from her own glass of nectar and nodded. "Maybe not, but she will learn, as we all do."

“But they’ve not even known one-another for a year!”

Hera made another smile. “Oh, Demeter, they just feel very passionately for one another. It was inevitable that they should want to show their love for one another in a more ‘physical’ way. I’m sure they were as aware as any other couple of what that leads to, sooner or later.”

Demeter shook her head. “He must have forced himself upon her. You know what he's like.”

But Hera denied it. “I very much doubt it," she said. "Hades is a very different man with Persephone. I've watched them closely for these past two days. He respects Persephone far too much to do anythung underhanded to her. Trust me.”

“Do you really know that, though, Hera?" Demeter continued gravely. "He's fooled us all before. For Zeus' sake, we’re talking about the man who tried to kill your son!”

Hera looked down, reminded of that terrible sting in her past. “I know,” she replied steadily, “And I shall never forgive him for it. But seeing him as a murderous maniac forever isn’t going to make anyone's life any easier. Around your daughter, Hades has become more human - so to speak. You saw him earlier,after all. He couldn’t be happier to be a father. And he loves your daughter so dearly. I believe that Persephone is truly the remedy to all our 'Hadian' problems.”

“Is that all she is? A tool?” Demeter asked furiously.

Hera rolled her eyes. “O, Demy, calm down! You’re so far in denial, it’s frustrating.”

Demeter silenced for the moment.

“If your daughter was married to and pregnant by any other god, you’d probably be fine with it,” Hera continued. “Just let them be. Your daughter is going to need all the support she can get when she returns to us in four months. You must be there for her because Hades can’t be.”

Demeter slowly shook her head, “Oh, Hera, I’m so confused,” she confessed. “I just wanted my daughter to be happy, and to lead a fine life. I didn’t want her to mess it up and damn herself forever to that pit below the earth.”

“She hasn’t,” Hera reassured her. “Bacchus can see it. He’s so very calm about the entire affair, and quite happy about the prospects of becoming a grnadfather.”

Demeter huffed. “Oh, he’s calm about everything,” she grumbled. “But to lose her to Hades for 6 months a year… to have her become a mother so soon into their ‘relationship’… it worries me.”

Hera only offered her another smile. “Like I said, they just share a very passionate new love. Your daughter is very happy with him, and the only thing that's really troubling her is the way you are reacting. Just think about the joy this is going to bring your daughter, and the joy it will bring to you. She's having your first grandchild, after all.”

Demeter smiled a little. “I have always wanted a grandchild,” she said.

Hera nodded. “Exactly. I know having Hades for its father should be... interesting, but you can’t damn the child because of its parentage.”

“I wouldn’t,” Demeter said certainly. “Never…”

Hera wasn’t so sure, but shrugged that off, anyway. “I suggest that you don’t put a damper on your daughter’s choices any more,” she advised, taking another sip of her nectar. "It'll make both of your lives so much easier." She paused and watched Demeter take a huge gulp from her glass. "So," she continued. "How is the situation looking now?”

Demeter sighed, “Not as bad, though it isn’t one I would ever approve of…”

“Just think of your daughter, Demeter…” Hera reminded her. “She will need you, whether she likes it or not.”

Demeter nodded in agreement, “Yes...” she acknowledged. “She will…”

To be continued…

Quid dulcius hominum generi a natura datum est quam sui cuique liberi?