Hades and Persephone

The Dark Divine Chapter 6
  
  Demeter was relaxed.

  Or at least she would have been had her nerves allowed her to. She was in one the most relaxing spa environments known to mortal or god. She was surrounded by lavender walls with a mural of the afternoon sky on the ceiling. Soothing, sweet music played above her head, the faint sound of a stream trickling could be heard in the background, all whilst nymphs wove small flowers into her thick hair.

  "Are you absolutely sure she arrived there okay?" Demeter asked one of the nymphs tending to her, for the thirtieth time that hour. Now the Oakson's Resort for Your Inner Goddess had seen stressed. They had seen frazzled, tensed, jittery and jumpy, but when they received the Goddess of Harvest she had been border lining hysterical.

  This was partially because she had been physically dragged here from her autumn gardening work, only hours after seeing Kore off with those mortal children, while being told that her daughter had been offered and accepted a place at a summer camp for six months, but still after the multiple explanations she was given as to where she was and where her daughter was, she should have at least calmed down enough to enjoy her seaweed wrap. A nymph named Tala answered her previous question still keeping her braiding fingers moving through Demeter's wild red mane.

  "Yes ma'am, remember Lord Zeus himself said he saw your daughter off personally to her summer camp." She replied patiently. Demeter drummed her fingers against the soft reclining chair as if tapping out her thoughts through Morse code. "I know, and that is what's suspicious about this whole thing. Zeus doesn't do anything 'personally'."  

  She paused resting her now manicured hands against the armrests. "And I've never even heard of this summer camp he spoke so highly of. Subere Camp for Young Goddesses, I wasn't even able to have Hermes do a decent background check on the place. My precious Kore could be running amok with some mortal hooligans and I won't even have anyone there to look after her." The goddess lamented and continued to tap her fingers on the cream colored armrest.  

  Tala looked confused as did most of her co-workers. "Pardon me, but isn't your daughter now of an age to be capable of taking care of herself? She has the powers of a goddess after all."

  Demeter sighed and leaned against the back of her chair shutting her eyes, her face looking as if she was about to crack any second. Knowing that her Kore may not even need her was even worse than if she would have been trapped in a cage full of angry centaurs. And if the time came when she used those unspeakable powers of hers, her baby would be gone forever.   

  "That's what I'm most afraid of."         
                             

  When Hades pushed open that large grey door Persephone was expecting the worst. Like a giant goddess-eating monster was going to jump out and devour her in one bite worst. But when it revealed nothing but and empty hallway that was an unflattering shade of gray as well she let out a small sigh of relief she hadn't realize she had been holding in. After relishing in the fact that she was still in one piece Hades welcoming statement finally sunk in.

  "I'm sorry, we're where?" Persephone asked, trying to stand and get her legs steady enough for proper use. She stood and concentrated mainly on not tripping as she crossed to the far corner of the room where Hades was waiting for her.  

  "Well, technically we're in the garage attached to the Sorting Room, but it is still in the Underworld." Hades replied shoving his set of keys back into his pockets, even though there was a wall hook next to three other similar pairs. Seph's head peered cautiously around the room, as if something was about to jump out and scare the life out of her. "The Underworld has a parking garage?" Seph asked skeptically, eyeing the room. It did make sense, being that there were three different kinds of vehicles just on that level, but still it was the Underworld; darkest, most disliked place in existence. . .not exactly the typical place for a garage full of cars.

  "No, Princess we keep our vehicles in the dungeons next to the decomposing skeleton remains." Hades replied dryly and motioned for her to move forward into the opened door.

  "You don't have to be rude. It was an honest question." Seph replied bravely and took a step towards the equally dim room. The floor had slightly changed again, this time looking more like a train platform. But before she could even connect her foot to the floor she was instantly jerked back and against a very solid chest. A flash of white appeared the dark hallway that formed a 'T' to the garage door. It zoomed past her at a blinding speed and, had she been just another inch closer, would have taken off half of her face.

  "Gods, Persephone! After all of the extremes your mother goes through to protect you from danger she never bothered to teach you basic traffic rules?" Hades growled and kept his hold on her waist. She seemed even smaller right next to him, the top of her head barely reaching his nose.  

  Seph's heart went into a mild state of arrest from that almost mishap and was almost thankful that Hades had been there to pull her out of the way. Almost, but not quite. She jerked back and away from him suddenly realizing how close together they were. "What was that?!" She asked trying to regain what little serenity she had mustered up from her ride down and pointed at the once again dim opening in front of them.

  Hades looked down at his phone. "Must be the 3 o'clock, right on time as usual." He said vaguely and put his phone back into the inside pocket of his trench coat.

  Persephone was confused again. She had been in the Underworld for exactly five minutes and any previous knowledge of the place had been shot, well . . .to hell. According to her mother the Underworld was supposed to be dark, and sinister, full of fire and souls crying out in agony.

  Mother never really officially spoke to Seph about the Underworld, but from what Seph could pick up from her mother's conversations and the gods stories the Underworld was the most despicable place imaginable. So far she had seen a garage, while it was not exactly attractive, it wasn't anything terrifying, and a white blur that could have been anything from a train or an incredibly fast marshmallow.

  Where were the fiery pits that souls burned in?

  Where were the evil minions that tortured every living thing for the fun of it?

  Where were the rivers that souls were tossed in because they couldn't pay their way into the judgement of Hades?

  This made no sense to Seph whatsoever, and her natural need for knowing about things kicked into gear. "What happens at three o'clock?" She asked looking back at Hades who was still none too happy about her almost accident within the first five minutes of her stay.

  "New souls arrive every day at nine and three. They are sorted from ten to eleven and from five to six and then judgement begins at exactly seven o'clock." Hades replied academically, like a college professor before they've had their coffee. Looking back down at his phone for the time, he cursed silently when he saw it.

  This girl was seriously screwing up his schedule. He should have been back at his office fifteen minutes ago.

  Temporarily forgetting about the goddess behind him, Hades set off across the platform and into a long hallway. This was already proving to be a busy day for him. He had a meeting with the Fates right before it was time for the seven o'clock judging, and then there would be the paperwork to fill out from yesterday at the party, and gods only knows what Eris had gotten into while he was away.

  Hades was already halfway down the hallway before he realized that there was another person that should have been following him. He stopped and looked back to where Persephone was still hesitating at the platform. 'This whole playing host act was going to become very tiresome very quickly.' Hades thought to himself and shouted to where the spring goddess was looking both ways.

  "Are you coming Princess, or are planning on spending the next seven months in the garage?" Hades called back to her waving his hand impatiently, motioning for her to hurry along. Her head snapped to attention, and after hesitating again she gave a last glance both ways, and quickly skittered across the platform to the level Hades was on .

  Apart from the train tracks splitting the room they entered in half, it looked like a standard business office hallway. Three of Seph's small steps equaled about one of his long strides. Since her legs had returned to full working order she was able to focus more on her surroundings.

  About every ten feet or so hung a different painting with a small light in between each one. Hades was speed walking again so Seph couldn't really stay and admire them properly, but a few names caught her attention. Degas, Monet, Dali, they were all there.

  These were all after the age when the gods were a popular painting subject and the only reason she recognized them was from the art appreciation course she had taken at that mortal high school.

  A thought struck her and she quickened her pace so that she was right beside Hades, who was scrolling through something on his phone with that same tight expression on his face.

  "How did you get all of these?" Seph asked. "Shouldn't these all be in some mortal museums or something?"  

  Hades never even looked up from the screen and kept his insanely fast pace.  "It is clearly printed on the plaque underneath: A.D.; as in after death. These were all painted while they were waiting for reincarnation." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  "You mean people can paint down here?" Seph inquired astonished.

  "Paint, read, play baseball, whatever keeps them quiet." Hades said irritably taking a sharp turn into a different hallway. His shiny black shoes moved with an unnatural grace almost like they were gliding across the floor. Seph in the other hand was doing an awkward mix between a jog and a hop just in order to keep up with him.  

  They took many turns through the winding hallways each one looking identical to the next with the exception of the paintings on the walls. Each one was different, but the same too. The individual techniques were there, as were the common subjects, but something was missing. It was like the life in them had been dimmed just like the lights in the hall. Wherever they were it was obviously built so that no could get in or out without the help of someone who lived here.

  Not that Seph really wanted to escape. Sure Hades wasn't exactly first choice of company... come to think of it he didn't even make the top twenty, but it was still time away from her mother's 'loving' grip.

  Seph felt a sick twist in her stomach. Waves of guilt and shame crashed over her like high tide at Palm Beach. Her mother had been the only reliable, partially accepting person in her entire life.
  
  What kind of heartless daughter was she?

  Seph was literally knocked from her thoughts when Hades stopped short in front of her. She flung her hand out to steady herself and incidently caught it on Hades arm. After righting herself, Persephone instantly retracted her hand like she had been burned. It was like Zeus had struck her hand with one of his bolts, every nerve was alive and tingling like crazy. Hoping that it was just a static electricity fluke, she backed up a few steps behind him. It wasn't a bad feeling, just new, alien.

  Hades showed no signs of feeling this, so Seph tried her best to brush it off and waited for him to explain why he had stopped. He turned to face her, with a serious expression on his face, completely emotionless.

  "We need to go into the Sorting room for a few minutes. Since you have shown quite a talent for slowing me down and stirring up trouble,  I'll make this simple for you. Do not speak to anyone, do not listen to anyone, and above all else do not touch anyone. The shades here feed off of life and light something you seem to have in spades." His eyes narrowed slightly like he was disgusted at the very thought. "They are not like those airheaded nymphs that work for your mother, and they will not be kind." He paused letting his warning sink in.

  "Am I understood?"

  Persephone nodded mainly because she didn't know what would happen if she said no. Hades gave her another firm look before unlocking yet another door that seemed to appear from nowhere. 'Where are all of these doors coming from?' Seph thought to herself.  Was she really so unobservant that she was missing entire doorways now?

  Seph took a deep breath, something that was becoming a regular thing with her now, and tried to clear her mind. This was what she had been preparing for this entire time, the horror, the tortured souls, the fiery pits of hell, it was all probably hidden behind that door.

  The door opened and let in the most light she had seen for the past thirty minutes, which still wasn't very much. Holding her hand to let her eyes adjust, Seph stepped through the door and gasped at what she saw. It was an airport or a train station or something. It had to be.

  The room seemed to go on forever but was still crowded. Transparent people were lined up staring wide eyed above, beside, and beneath them. The faint sound of music was being played from an unknown source and sounded suspiciously like Katy Perry. Hades was on the move again, and moved right in between the dozens of lines that parted like the Red Sea as they walked past. Translucent eyes followed them with an unwavering amazement, and Persephone felt like one of those mortal side shows at a carnival.

  From what she could tell the Underworld wasn't that different from a mortal train station. Furies with permanent scowls etched into their brows sat behind tall booths, each with their own letter of the alphabet labeled on the front, and directed the souls to one of two places. The massive body of souls all seemed to trickle out into two infinite lines; one leading to where the signs all pointed towards Charon's Ferry Service and the other lead to a rather large gray metal structure, that looked a bit like a metal detector at an airport. Seph hadn't realized her pace had slowed until Hades' baritone voice called back to her, "Try to keep up Princess, this is not the place to get lost in."   

  She quickly ran back to him and tried her best not to touch anything or anyone. There was something about these people that was unsettling. It was most likely because she could quite literally see through them, but something about their eyes, their entire demeanor in general really, was. . .lifeless. Like their was no point of doing anything, ever.

  "What are all these people doing down here?" Seph whispered, even though she already knew the answer.

  "I thought it should be quite obvious. These are all the mortals that died today." Hades replied, and stopped at the 'M' booth to sign a clipboard that a shade had handed to him.

  Seph almost felt sick. There were hundreds, no thousands of people around her, all waiting to get to the other side of the River Styx. Hades turned to face her.

  "I need to take care of something by the docks, do you think you can handle staying here for a few minutes?" Hades asked in a condescending tone. Instantly, Seph's fear faded a little and anger was inserted in its place. Hades seemed to have a talent for ticking her off.

  "Yes, I can handle it, I'm not a child you know." She snapped putting her hands on her hips for emphasis. Hades gave her a look showing how clearly unamused he was before walking past the gates that confined her and the souls here, and out of sight. Seph folded her arms across her chest still not pleased with Hades earlier insinuation about her capability. Honestly, she was a goddess for Psyche's sake, she could take care of herself, and contrary to popular belief, she did not need a babysitter.

  Minutes passed, and Seph watched with mild interest at the steady stream of souls being checked into the Underworld. 'Who knew dying included so much paperwork?' she thought to herself craning her neck to get a better look at the papers the soul of an elderly man was signing.

  Suddenly, Seph felt something like a cold chill go through her. A cold chill made of knives. She whipped around to see a soul of man looking at his hand in amazement. Right before he took another step forward in line the slight glow around the goddess of spring became too much of a curiosity for him and he reached out for her. The sensation of when his hand touched her perfect skin was indescribable. For a minute, it was like he was alive again, some of the color had even returned to his hand, and for an even shorter moment he could have sworn he felt his heartbeat. It was incredible, it was exhilarating, it was addicting. He must have it again.

  Without thinking twice he reached out for Persephone's perfect skin again. Seph was still in a small state of shock from the first touch and didn't even attempt to deflect his attack. Another sharp chill racked through her body as she stopped in her tracks. Not only was it painful, but it was exhausting, like she had just lifted a fifty pound dumbbell for three hours.   

  The other souls in line had been watching this display with as much interest a dead person could have. The braver ones cautiously stepped out of line to get closer. Then, the unenviable happened. An older woman, possibly fifty or so, reached out as well, and experienced the same blissful feeling as the soul before her.

  Seph was panicking now, but with not even enough energy to move her feet, she had lost the ability to scream as well. Souls were starting to swarm around her like sharks waiting for their opportune moment to strike. Her head was spinning, and her vision was starting to flicker. With a small touch to her neck Seph crumpled to the floor, wrapping her arms around her and trying to curl into herself or make herself disappear completely.

  Her last memory was the faint sound of her name being shouted by the most beautiful voice, before the darkness she had feared from the beginning finally consumed her.