It wasn’t a pretty sight, watching as the Lord of the Underworld appeared in the room. A slow, swirling cloud of black seeped across the room, chilling the others. Heads turned to watch as a small spot at the head of the table began to bubble with the cloud. It was silently growing, bigger and bigger until it was about the size of a man. Only then, did Hades steps forth, his form ominous and pressing.
Stepping through the dark mists, the god slowly made his way forward. His arms crossed over his chest as he stopped, his gaze hidden behind the dark helm that rested upon his head. Steadily, the room grew darker, colder. All of the eyes were on him. Fear radiated from him, seeping into the gods around the table, forcing a few of the others to fidget in their seats.
“Is there a reason that you have summoned me in the middle of my work?” Hades voice was low and quiet, his form standing out amidst them all from the faint blue glow that spilled from the plume of his helm. “You all realize that I have better things to do than sit around a stone table and babble on about the mortals. I actually have to deal with important matters.”
A warm light grew to his right as Ares stood up, his anger shielding him somewhat from the effects of the helm. “You don’t actually do anything down there. You sit on your ass and-”
“Enough!” a voice boomed out, commanding and impatient. “Stop this nonsense! Hades. That is quite enough of that. Take that absurd thing off you head right now. You agreed, just like the rest of us, to come to the council meeting once a year. Don’t complain because you don’t want to follow the rules.”
A large man was standing at the far end of the table, his white beard quivering with rage. His hands gripped the table, knuckles white, and for a moment, almost every god and goddess who sat at the table was suddenly afraid that the table would go flying. For a moment, silence descended on them all as the two brothers stared at each other, both with a storm of rage whirling within, both waiting to see who would start first.
A fourth god stood, his tanned hands held out in a calming gesture. An easy smile graced his roughhewn face as he looked from one man to the other.
“Hey now,” he spoke in an easy, jovial tone, still smiling at them, though his blue-green eyes held the hard edge that his voice didn’t. “Come on, brothers. Let’s just sit down, and finish this. We’re almost done,” he added, looking straight at Hades.
Another tense moment passed before Hades reached up from beneath his robes, his pale hands pulling the helm from over his head. Saying nothing more, he sat. He didn’t need to say anything else. The look on his face was just as harsh as the words he had first spoken when he stepped forth. The mist that had engulfed the room slowly recoiled back to him, seeping back into the helm itself.
Slowly, the council meeting of the gods resumed.
From further away, a small table of minor gods had watched in terror. Though not allowed to participate in the council meeting, a number of minor gods often came to watch in hopes that one day they would be included. Now, however, they all seemed to agree that they could have much rather been at the small table than anywhere in the middle of that whole spectacle.
All except one curious young goddess.
Her bright green eyes held curiosity alongside the fear that they had all felt. She was curious about the god, the Lord of the Underworld. Everyone had told her, as she grew, that he was an evil, vile sort of man. But she didn’t see that.
Persephone watched as the god before her fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, despite the fact that every other god was paying him no more attention than a side glare every so often. She saw him as a little afraid, a little angry, and a lot desperate to be anywhere but here, surrounded by the people that hated him. She watched as Hades scowled down at his brother, and she could see the jealousy that was etched forever on his face.
As the beginning of a wild urge to get up and comfort him started to overcome her, the meeting ended. As Poseidon had said when Hades first arrived, the meeting had ended quickly. Persephone rose with the rest of the minor gods, the council members already disappearing off into the world of Olympus. She looked around for the Lord of the Underworld, but could find nothing but the wisps of smoke that he had left behind.
A year had passed since Persephone had been allowed to attend her first council meeting. The excitement that had happened, she was assured, would not be appearing every meeting. After all, most years, Hades simply resigned to the fact that he was required to come to the meeting.
Still, though, the young goddess sat eagerly awaiting the arrival of the rest of the gods. There were only a few missing now, including the elusive Hades. The minutes ticked by, turning into hours as they waited. One or two trickled in as the time came to start the meeting. But not the Lord of the Underworld.
Impatience flickered through the gods and goddesses that were gathered, each looking to Zeus as he continued to refuse to start without his brother present. The effects of the last meeting seemed to have hardened his adamancy about Hades being present. Ares was the first to complain.
“We really don’t need him here, do we? I mean, what use is a god who doesn’t even interact with the mortals?” the war god snarled, his form rising to stand at the table, looking around at the others. A few of them nodded in agreement. “Should he even be coming to these meetings in the first place? Wouldn’t it be easie-”
“Shut it,” Zeus’ voice rolled easily over Ares’ without the leader of the gods even raising his voice. “Hades agreed to come. By our law, he is required to be here, just as the rest of you. If you’re too impatient to wait for him, perhaps you’d like to fetch him here for us, Ares. Please.”
Ares glowered at the older god, looking for an instant just as angry as Hades had. His mouth opened again to argue, though with his eyes rolling Zeus raised a hand and waved it, commanding silence. The god of war bit his tongue and settled back down. He wouldn’t dare outright defy Zeus in front of everyone else.
“Good. Now that that’s settled. Does anyone want to go and retrieve my brother from the Underworld?” he asked, his bright blue gaze wandering around the council table, looking each god and goddess in the face until they each dropped their eyes from his to become interested in the suddenly interesting stone table. With a sigh, Zeus shook his head, glancing desperately at his wife. “Fine,” he huffed, stepping forward.
He motioned for Hera and Poseidon to join him. The two looked at each other before they rose with a sigh. Standing beside the first god, they watched him as his bright blue eyes filled with a blinding light. Everyone was still, breathes held as they watched him glow with a sky blue light. Zeus reached out, his hands grabbing his brother’s shoulder and his wife’s hand. Silence consumed the council.
The king of the gods grew brighter and brighter, the seconds ticking by like ears and milliseconds all at once, until at last, a bright flash of white light filled the room. The sudden, yet silent, flash of light was soon clouded over by black mist; Hades was in the midst. He stared at them for a moment, his mouth gaping open as if he had just been taken in the middle of a conversation. His icy eyes narrowed as his brain caught up with his situation.
“Is there a reason that I was pulled away from my work in such a disagreeable manner?” he asked, voice laced with venom. His eyes roamed the room until they finally came to rest on Zeus, his brother grinning broadly at him as his wife and their middle brother avoided the gaze of either man. “Truly,” Hades continued, “You are the most obnoxious.”
“Well, now that you’re here!” Zeus said, turning on the spot to return to his seat at the far end of the table, looking rather pleased with himself. “We can start. At last. You’ve made a bad habit of being late, Hades. I’d rather wish you wouldn’t. I don’t much like these meetings myself, but hey. That’s why we have a party at the end, right?”
Drawing in a deep breath, Hades closed his eyes, a hand running over his face. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he let the breath out and moved to sit in his seat, looking dull-eyed and sullen. His attention strayed from the council table, his eyes glazed. Hades sat without listening, without seeing.
Persephone, however, couldn’t help but watch. Her bright green eyes curious upon him as he sulked. She turned to her friend, Adrestia, and questioned, “Why does everyone hate him? And why does he have to be here?”
The second goddess glanced towards where her friend was looking and shrugged. A small god sitting beside them turned to look in the same direction, his eyes finding Hades.
“Well of course,” he huffed, “He’s, like… the god of the dead or something. That’s a terrible thing to be, isn’t it? And he’s a jerk besides.”
“He’s only that way because they were mean to him first!” the female said, defensively. She scowled at the other minor god for a moment, before her green gaze turned back towards the Lord of the Underworld.
Persephone felt full of empathy towards the god. She could sort of relate with him – with such an overprotective mother as hers, she was more in the background than anything. She watched as Hades glowered at his youngest brother, the jealousy was etched deep on his face, unmistaken. Her bright eyes followed his blue gaze to see that everyone was watching as their leader spoke with such vigor that he held everyone captive. All eyes were on him, whether filled with disdain or holding him up on the heroes’ pillar that so many placed him on. And for a brief moment, just a ghost of a moment, Persephone wished that her father wasn’t Zeus. She felt Hades’ rage, she felt his contempt. She felt her emotions on the same page as the Lord of the Underworld.
After all, she shouldn’t even be here.
She wasn’t Hera’s daughter. She was Demeter’s. Therefore, she was shunned by her father half the time, and hated by his wife always.
Persephone grabbed at a few small pages from the smaller table that the minor gods were sitting, fiddling with them beneath the table. Adrestia shot her a curious look, but the younger goddess simply ignored it. There were rumors about everything that Hades touched dying. Well, maybe the god just needed something to live alongside him. Maybe it would make him feel better to have something warm and alive beside him.
Within moments, the goddess finished. She pulled up a small violet flower from beneath the table, a wide smile gracing her lips. Twisting the black stem between her tanned fingers, the goddess made sure it was perfect before she stood. Persephone could hear the protests from her friends as she dashed away towards the large council table, though she ignored all of them.
Hades’ gaze had left his brother by the time she reached him, instead he was staring listlessly off towards the clear blue sky. He didn’t even hear her approach. Persephone simply appeared off his left side. As she tugged gently on the arm of his robe, he blinked down at her in full surprise. Having no idea what else to do, the god simply stared down at her. With a smile, the young goddess held up the deep, pomegranate coloured flower.
“I…” he hesitated, watching her. With a glance at the rest of the table, Hades saw that no one else had noticed her. “I really… I can’t… No, not that I don’t want…” He had never seen this girl before. He’d had no interaction with the minor gods and goddesses in such a long time. “Things just… they don’t… It’s complicated.”
The female didn’t say anything but nudged him with the flower. Her hand was nearly hot against his pale and clammy skin. With a sigh and a frown, Hades reached out and took the flower from her, hoping he wouldn’t have to explain about death to the young minor goddess. To his absolute surprise, however, it stayed in his fingers, alive and vibrant. Mouth gaping with shock, he stared down at Persephone.
“A present!” she said, beaming up at him. “For you. ‘cause you deserve it!”
“I… mm… What…”
“You’re welcome!”
Persephone smiled again at him before she turned around and wandered back to the small table. Hades couldn’t help the tiny smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. He tucked the flower into the pocket on his chest and turned back to the meeting, feeling… happy.
END.