Chapter Text
Hades has never been so afraid in his life. Which is saying a lot, considering just how long that life has been.
He tears himself away from his bride, still unconscious in their bed, and leaves her in the care of the few shades he trusts enough to watch her. In minutes, he's dressed impeccably. Before he leaves, he presses a kiss to Persephone's head, choking on tears he will absolutely not allow himself to shed.
Hermes is already waiting for him when he gets to the station.
"What-"
Hermes shakes his head. "Sorry, boss. This is way above my pay grade and security clearance. Best talk to your mother-in-law before she causes an extinction we can't come back from."
Hades' stomach drops. He makes his way to the mortal realm, his mind always on Persephone, alone in their bed.
The night had been so perfect. Probably too perfect, he thinks now. He should've known something would go wrong.
But this... he'd never seen Persephone look so terrified as the seconds before she fainted. She'd said everything was dying...
What on earth was Demeter doing?
"Hades! You bastard!"
He was about to find out.
The moment he emerged on the surface, he simultaneously noticed two things.
One, obviously the enraged mother screaming at him. And two, the freezing temperature that would be extreme in the dead of winter, let alone the middle of autumn.
"Dem, stop this!" Another voice. Their younger brother, Zeus, king of the heavens.
Hades walks over dead, crunching grass to meet them, holding Demeter's gaze, even though she glares at him. He can do this. For Persephone, he can have this fight.
"Where is my daughter? Answer me, Hades!"
"Your daughter? She's unconscious in our bed. She fainted after she said you were killing everything. Care to explain that, Demeter?"
To her credit, her mask of fury does falter with concern for a moment, but it returns with a vengeance.
"Me? Explain to you? Oh, no, Hades, you don't get to pull that card right now. You took my daughter from me!"
"I didn't take anything, Demeter. She came with me. Quite willingly."
"You expect me to believe-"
"That your daughter was miserable here? No, I don't expect you to believe that, because I know you. You will deny that Persephone has ever been anything other than blissfully happy during her time here because your ego can't handle the idea that you were not enough for her. You sheltered her, dismissed her, denied her the freedom any other god would have, and now she's passed out, in pain because you're taking your misplaced anger out on the entire world! You're killing her!"
Hades hadn't intended for his voice to rise as he spoke, but he's always one to match his siblings, one for one.
Demeter pales and rushes to defend herself.
"I am not killing her, how could you say that! I love her!"
"Look around you, Demeter! Look at the earth. Look at the trees. Persephone is the earth, she is the trees, she is flowers and nature and all things living. How could you think this wouldn't hurt her?"
"I still can't believe she would ever go with you."
Hades takes a step towards her, but Zeus holds up a hand.
"Dem. This can't go on. Hades has always been responsible and honorable. If he says she went with him willingly, we will believe him. Persephone has made her choice. As much as it may hurt you, no one has taken her. She left."
For a moment, it looks as though Demeter may sob, but she's known to give her brothers a run for stubbornness.
"I can't live without her. Until she returns, this will not end."
Silence. For a very long moment, both men look at her in disbelief.
"Dem, you can't-"
"She's my wife!"
Hades does finally advance towards Demeter, not surprised when she stands her ground.
"You are the one who is trying to take her from me. She will never go with you, not willingly. If you do manage to get her back, she'll resent you for the rest of our lives. Do you really want that, Demeter? You may still have a chance to rebuild a relationship with her, based on mutual respect, and instead you want to lock her away like a child."
"She is still a child!"
"She's over a thousand years old, Demeter! What are you talking about? And while we're up here arguing, she's in the Underworld, alone. She could be rotting away for all we know!"
Hades turns to Zeus, the Great Mediator, and pleads.
"Please, brother. This has to stop. Who knows what could happen to her..."
Zeus holds up both his hands and speaks clearly.
"Alright. There is a compromise."
Hades and Demeter both start to protest, but Zeus silences them.
"Persephone is the Goddess of Spring. Presumably, her domain is dormant in the colder months?"
Demeter nods.
Zeus sighs, clearly unhappy that he has to make this decision, but knowing he has to make it, nonetheless.
"Very well. Persephone will stay on earth for spring and summer, then return to rule the Underworld with Hades the other seasons. Six months each."
Demeter immediately fights back, but Hades gapes in despair that slowly turns into quiet rage.
"Six months... I am to be without my wife... for six months. My kingdom is to be without its queen-"
Demeter stops her ranting to interrupt him. "Your kingdom has had no queen for centuries, Hades. Kore-"
"And now it does! And we deserve to have her as long as she pleases! Persephone chose to be my queen, doesn't that mean anything? Doesn't her choice mean anything?"
He glares at both of them accusingly.
"I will agree to this. Only if you swear to reverse all this-" He gestures to the decay all around them. "-immediately. The longer it stays like this, she longer she is in pain."
Demeter nods and slowly, the grass beneath their feet comes back to life. Only a few fallen leaves remain on the ground, the rest are still brilliant orange and gold on the trees.
"I only did that in case you're telling the truth about her being ill. I still think she should be here with me all the time."
Hades rolls his eyes. "Why is it so hard for you to believe she wants to be with me? Do you find me so unlovable, sister? Can you not possibly believe I could have anything to offer her?"
"What have you offered her, hmm?" Demeter raises a harsh brow. "Nothing but pretty things and power I'm sure."
"You think so little of your daughter that you assume I could woo her with something she already has? No, Demeter. She doesn't want pretty things, or power. She wants love and freedom. That is what I have given her. My love, my heart, my life. And I have made her a queen, with the freedom to do whatever she pleases, as she always should've done."
Zeus has to conceal his look of admiration when Demeter snaps her head over to look at him.
"Is there really no other way, brother? Please, she's my daughter."
"We're all aware of that fact, Dem. But she's also Hades' wife, and we can't take that from her. Or from him. That is the only compromise I'm willing to offer. If you two would like to settle this yourselves, I'd be more than happy to leave you to it-"
"No. She'll never accept that I want what's best for Persephone, too. She'll always see me as the monster who took her daughter away from her. Let's get this over with."
Hades holds out his hand to his sister, daring her to break honor and refuse. After a long moment of staring at his hand in disgust, Demeter takes it, her palm small and calloused against his.
"Very well." Zeus recites. "Persephone will stay with Hades until the spring equinox, at which time she will return to the mortal realm to perform her duties as the Goddess of Spring and assist her mother, Demeter in the planting of the harvest. At the fall equinox, she will return to the Underworld to rule alongside Hades as Queen of the Underworld. This will happen next year and every year after. Demeter, do you agree to these terms?"
Demeter grits her teeth. "Yes."
"Hades, do you agree to these terms."
Hades sighs, defeated. "Yes."
Zeus touches their joined hands and they glow briefly.
"The deal is made. It is now unbreakable."
He materializes a contract for them to sign, Hades' neat signature next to Demeter's utilitarian scrawl. Hades turns to leave when Demeter calls after him again.
"Hades! Tell Ko- Persephone... that I do love her."
Hades clenches his jaw at the audacity. He speaks over his shoulder, keeping his back to her.
"I will tell her no such thing, Demeter. You've made your bed, now lie in it. If your daughter hates you, you have no one to blame but yourself."