Work Text:
FADE IN:
INT: PERSEPHONE'S GREENHOUSE - UNDERWORLD, PRESENT DAY
Persephone is busy looking after plants in her greenhouse in the Underworld. Instead of roses, there is night-blooming jasmine; instead of chrysanthemums, there are red spider lilies; everywhere, instead of green leaves we see leaves of different shades of purple. Moths in blacks and glowing greens flit about the flowers as Persephone waters them.
She startles at the sound of a child coughing, and looks around, and sees CHILD HADES looking at her from behind a bench of swamp ferns, striped like tigers.
Persephone blinks, and then walks to the child.
He stays there, looking at her with big eyes and an awed expression on his tiny face.
PERSEPHONE
(kneels down to be eye-level with Child Hades, and smiles)
Hello there, what are you doing here?
Child Hades gulps nervously, blushing.
PERSEPHONE
(uncertainly, recognizing an eerie resemblance to her husband)
Aidoneus?
Child Hades' eyes widen further, and somehow, his blush deepens.
PERSEPHONE
(sits back on her heels, assessing)
Hmm. I don't think there's a magic plague turning beings into children. But stranger things have happened.
CHILD HADES
(suddenly blurts out)
You're beautiful and nice and we love you!
PERSEPHONE
(surprised)
I -- thank you?
Child Hades dashes away, then vanishes.
Persephone stands up, looking at the spot where Child Hades disappeared. She grabs her phone and immediately dials Hades.
HADES (phone)
(calm, happy to hear her)
Yes, goddess?
PERSEPHONE
(panicked)
Are you okay? Is Kronos back somehow? Where are you?
HADES (phone)
(now also panicking)
What? I'm okay, I'm at the office. Are you in danger? What's going on?
PERSEPHONE
I just saw a *child version of you* show up in the greenhouse!
HADES (phone)
(surprised)
You saw him?
PERSEPHONE
What? Yes! Do you usually have child versions of yourself running around at home?
HADES (phone)
(intrigued)
Oh, that's okay then. And, um, not usually. Not when I'm not present. I think. Did he say anything?
PERSEPHONE
(flustered)
I--something about me being beautiful and nice and he said, "we love you".
INT: HADES' OFFICE
Hades is sitting at his desk, holding his phone in one hand, and covering his eyes with the other. He looks extremely embarrassed.
PERSEPHONE (phone)
Hello? Hades? Are you there? What's going on?
Hades regains some composure.
HADES
He's not an enemy, and him showing up is not entirely unexpected. I'm coming home now and I'll explain everything... or, I'll try to.
PERSEPHONE (phone)
(dubious)
What do I do if he shows up again?
HADES
I don't think he will, this evening at least.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT: BEDROOM - UNDERWORLD, SOME TIME LATER, PRESENT DAY
Persephone is sitting in bed with Hades resting his head on her lap. She is wearing a sheer cami, and he is bare from the waist up, as far as we can tell; blankets cover everything else.
She strokes his hair from time to time as he talks about something difficult: both to express at all, even to a loved one, and to express coherently to someone else.
PERSEPHONE
(stroking Hades' hair)
So who I saw was... you.
HADES
(closes eyes)
It's complicated.
I didn't think anyone else could see him.
PERSEPHONE
Not Minthe?
HADES
(eyes open halfway)
Definitely not her. She would have mentioned him in our fights as another defect of mine.
PERSEPHONE
(gently, but reminding him of something)
Aidoneus.
HADES
(playfully grabs her stroking hand)
Right. Not a defect. But... difficult to explain, nonetheless.
(kisses her hand, and lets it go)
PERSEPHONE
(kisses his forehead in turn)
Do you want to explain? You don't have to. As long as you welcome him, I will, too.
HADES
(looks up at her lovingly, and reaches up to stroke her cheek)
I... want to try to explain him, to you. Only you. I don't think anyone else could understand, and I don't think they would want to, either.
Also, I think seeing him every so often and not knowing what he is would be unsettling even for you, goddess.
PERSEPHONE
(smiles, gently captures his stroking hand, and kisses it, then holds it tenderly)
I think you would be surprised what it takes to truly unsettle me these days.
HADES
(smiles up at her)
Touche.
(looks away from her)
It starts with... well, like many things in my psyche, it starts with my father.
EXT: KRONOS' MOUTH
We see six-year old CHILD HADES falling into Kronos' gaping maw.
HADES (V.O.)
When my father ate me, I did not die.
But someone did.
CHILD HADES POV
We watch as we fall deeper and deeper into Kronos' gullet, and the light above disappears. Bubbles stream past us.
HADES (V.O.)
It is a strange thing, to be present when that which you assumed was *you* breathes its last.
The bubbles disappear as darkness completely overtakes the frame.
HADES (V.O.)
I watched him die.
The frame is lit again, this time in deep red, and bubbles appear again.
HADES (V.O.)
And then, suddenly, I was him.
INT: KRONOS' STOMACH
What looks like Child Hades is suspended in the fetal position, surrounded by the white cloth of his chiton and himation (a long cloak worn over the chiton) floating around him. His eyes are tightly shut.
PERSEPHONE (V.O.)
I see what you mean about this being difficult to explain.
HADES (V.O.)
I think it's how a child understands dissociation.
Child Hades opens his eyes. They are instantly filled with terror.
HADES (V.O.)
But still. I felt that death.
I wonder if that somehow marked me for the Underworld, long before that position was chosen for me.
To know so early on that gods are not entirely deathless...
EXT: WOODLAND CLEARING - DAY, LATE TITAN ERA
Teenage Zeus is telling teenage Poseidon and teenage Hades, both still in their bandages, about the death of Rhea. In the back, we see her death playing out as Zeus experienced it. All three brothers are grieving.
HADES (V.O.)
A fact most gods never see proven directly to their face.
EXT: CAVE OF TARTARUS - END OF TITAN ERA
Young Hades stands before the ethereal, glowing pomegranate tree, reaching up to pick its single fruit.
HADES (V.O.)
I can't imagine that Erebus would have even talked to me had I not known that fact firsthand.
YOUNG HADES POV
In his hands, he holds the pomegranate, and twists it open. Ichor begins to bleed from the crack.
HADES (V.O.)
What use is a god who oversees the dead if they don't realize that they, too, will one day end?
INT: HADES' LIBRARY - UNDERWORLD, MIDDLE OLYMPIAN ERA
Past Hades sits in a neat Victorian-era suit in a library full of wooden shelves and books, working on paperwork under candle lamps.
HADES (V.O.)
After I arrived in the Underworld, centuries passed. And then, one day--
Past Hades looks up, and then looks surprised.
Child Hades stands on his desk, cute. Child Hades and Past Hades are nearly nose to nose with each other.
HADES (V.O.)
I saw me... him... again.
PAST HADES POV
We see Child Hades looking up at us with concern and worry furrowing his young brow.
HADES (V.O.)
He didn't scare me, but I was surprised.
OVER BLACK
HADES (V.O.)
I don't know if he's the same as the version of me that I watched die, and so was reborn, for however we want to define rebirth here...
Or if he's something new that my mind just manifested, because minds are strange, eldritch things we like to pretend are just biological clockwork.
At first, I thought he was just an illusion, visible only to me. But over the millenia, I would hear of strange dreams others had, where they heard his feet pattering across their dreamscape, or, much rarer, when they actually saw him.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT: BEDROOM - UNDERWORLD, PRESENT DAY
Hades and Persephone have changed positions: now he's lying on his back, while she rests on top of him.
HADES
However, I've never heard of him speaking to anyone other than me.
PERSEPHONE
Does he have a name?
HADES
(surprised)
I never asked. I mean. We're both us, so it didn't occur to me.
PERSEPHONE
(smiling)
Well, then I'll call him Little Aidoneus.
(thoughtful)
So... when does he show up? What does he do?
HADES
He shows up when I'm... very, very stressed. He checks in on me after my worst nightmares. When I'm awake, when he shows up he's usually trying to warn me when a situation has gone... bad.
Sometimes he even shows up when I'm being foolish and not admitting to feelings I truly have.
Once, during a meeting I had with Zeus, he was blowing raspberries into my brother's ears the entire time. I'm not sure how I got through it without breaking my jaw from refusing to laugh, but at the time Zeus and I were fighting, so it was a semi-welcome distraction.
Persephone and Hades both chuckle at this image.
PERSEPHONE
So what does it mean that he's showing up to me when I'm awake?
HADES
(beat)
I haven't the faintest idea. I always assumed he was just part of me. I didn't think he had developed that much independence to manifest to you.
PERSEPHONE
(musing)
Aidoneus, when you were little, what did you like to do the most?
HADES
(surprised at the question)
I spent all my time with my mother. The world was still relatively new, and she almost always never let me stray far from her.
(tears up a bit, and wipes his eyes, tries to laugh off his reaction, utterly failing to, then)
Would it be terrible to admit that I miss being taken care of?
PERSEPHONE
(strokes his hair from his face)
No. We all like to be taken care of. And you were alone for so long. You had to grow up so fast.
HADES
I suppose. However, these days I can take care of other people.
(reaches up and strokes her cheek)
I can take care of you. I remember how nice it was to, for a time, not have to worry about the rest of the world. It's difficult to think of a better gift for someone I love.
Hades and Persephone kiss.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT: PERSEPHONE'S GREENHOUSE - UNDERWORLD, PRESENT DAY
Persephone is tending to her greenhouse again. This time she's checking up on her collection of Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants to make sure they're getting enough meat.
She hears a small cough behind her, and turns and looks at Child Hades; or, Little Aidoneus.
PERSEPHONE
(smiles, waves)
Well, hello there, Aidoneus.
Little Aidoneus looks back at her, uncertain as to whether he's welcome or not.
Persephone kneels and opens her arms, welcoming him in for a hug.
Little Aidoneus grins and runs into her arms, and she hugs him, lifting him up off the ground. He laughs.
PERSEPHONE
Is there anything you'd like to do today?
LITTLE AIDONEUS
(frowns in serious thought; then)
Can we feed the turtles in the pond?
PERSEPHONE
(stands up with Little Aidoneus in her arms)
Of course. Let's go get some food for them! And while we're feeding them, you should think about what you want to do after that.
LITTLE AIDONEUS
(uncertain)
Is that okay? Is it wanting too much? I don't want--
(hides his face against her)
PERSEPHONE
(pats his back)
I made sure to have my schedule cleared, so we can do whatever you want! Within reason, but you seem oddly reasonable for a child.
LITTLE AIDONEUS
(looks up at Persephone with big eyes, then, conversationally)
We didn't have schedules back then. Or phones. Or computers.
(thinks hard, wrinkling his tiny brow)
Or books. Can we go look at the library after the turtles?
PERSEPHONE
(grins at the little nerd after her own heart)
Of course!
DISSOLVE TO:
INT: LIVING ROOM - UNDERWORLD - PRESENT DAY
Little Aidoneus is sitting surrounded by all the dogs, and taking turns to pet each dog's head extra well, including three times for Cerberus.
Persephone sits on the sofa, smiling, but looking tired. It's clear from the state of her clothes that she spent most of the day trying to keep up with Little Aidoneus.
Little Aidoneus finishes petting Big John, and looks up at Persephone.
LITTLE AIDONEUS
(shy)
Thanks. I had a lot of fun today. Um.
(thinks, frowning a tiny frown)
Is it okay if I go now? And okay if I come back some time later. I know you're taking care of him now, but....
(conspiratorial whisper)
... he can be a LOT.
(sits up, puffs out chest, responsibly)
I still gotta take care of him, too.
PERSEPHONE
(chuckles a little, and smiles)
It's okay to go, and okay to come back. And thanks for the help.
Little Aidoneus waves, and then vanishes.
Somehow the dogs are unperturbed, which does seem to imply that Little Aidoneus actually exists at Hades' house even when he isn't there, playing with the dogs.
Persephone sits back on the sofa and breathes in and out in a deep sigh of relief. The dogs change their focus to trying to snuggle her simultaneously, and the sofa is immediately covered in dogs.
PERSEPHONE
(scratching behind the ears of one of Cerberus' heads)
Today was nice, but maybe I should limit the number of possible heirs made to something low. Like one. Maybe two.
FADE OUT: