A gentle breeze grazed the porcelain skin of a young woman who had taken it upon herself to sit in the middle of a newly bloomed meadow. The sounds and smells and spring surrounded her and for the first time in a long time, she felt at peace. Her mother would not have been happy about her desire for solitude in the middle of nowhere without a proper chaperone but she was uncaring of what her mother wanted for her. In fact, she rather despised how much the woman tried to control her life, often bringing her to meet random men she deemed fit for marital introductions. As for her mother, she was solely concerned with her being married to a man who could take care of her daughter so that she no longer had to. Although Persephone was certain that she was also worried of her daughter’s reputation of a potential spinster. 

Persephone was completely uninterested in that life. She dreamed of a life full of adventure and real romance, something epic like the stories of their deities. Olympus always seemed like such a fascinating place but it was a million miles away from the life she led. The mundane and boring life of a mortal was the hand she had been dealt and she was sure that she would spend the rest of her days, however many she had left on this Earth, wishing she had been dealt better cards. 

A sigh escaped her lips as she allowed her form to fall amongst the foliage, the greenery tickling her skin as it danced in the wind. “When will this torturous boredom end?" She asked into the silence. As far as she knew, she was completely alone so it wouldn’t matter if she conversed with the universe for a short while. “I wonder if anyone would even notice if I stayed here for the rest of time? I do not want to go back to that retched village. I do not believe there is a single man left that my mother hasn’t tried to give me away to. She just does not understand that I want more than that. I need more than that.” Persephone sighed once more, followed up with a chuckle after realising how ridiculous it was to be voicing this out into the open space of the meadow. 

She recalled the most recent introduction. Her mother had found a perfectly eligible man. Christopher was among the most handsome of men she had brought her way so she should have had no problem being attracted to him. He had enough money to be able to take care of her for life and he would have been able to provide her with a perfectly safe environment to thrive in. She could have had a family with him and settled down into her role of housewife and mother. But safe was far from her yearning. She hadn’t meant to run away from him but she couldn’t help the need to get out of there. He was almost insufferable but that was because of her. For anyone else, he would have been the perfect gentleman and husband material. 

Persephone did understand why her mother wanted this for her. It was expected from society and her mother just wanted her to fit in but that was something Persephone could never foresee happening. Of course, she had a deep rooted love for the woman who had given her life but she was slowly dimming the light she had in her trying to force her into the boxes everyone else expected her to fit in. This was one of the many occasions she contemplated running away, starting a new life somewhere but the only thing that stopped her from leaving was the lack of a clear destination. 

The woman sat up once more, allowing her fingers to run through the grass until they came to rest on the stem of a beautiful apple blossom. She pulled on the stem and rose the flower to her nose and breathed in the scent. 

“You are a rare thing.” She said with a smile before weaving the flower through her hair. The white of the petals were the perfect contrast against the red mane of hair that fell in curls below her shoulders. It almost complimented the pink blush center of the blossom that now acted as an accessory to the woman. 

“What is wrong with me?” She asked, wondering if she would find the answer here in the depths of the meadow.

The soft thud of the back of a skull against wood was followed by an indignant sigh, as Cerberus bark carried through once more, signalling the attempt of a soul to escape. Despite meeting on the way in, some souls always grew a hubris thinking themselves clever enough to sneak past his beast. The man rose from his throne of ebony wood, and made way to lecture the foolish whomever.

He was silent a long while upon arriving, as he had learned to be the best method to make the souls who dared oppose the turn of the world squirm, scared enough from hushed tales of being told all their life to not dare speak his name. 

Then. Quick as a robin darting out from a bush at the slightest noise, he leaned forward; face set impossible cold, light above casting a shadow hiding his eyes, too close for comfort for most.

“Here you are. Here you remain. I will be fair this once, try again and you will find that there are worse fates than the rivers.” voice booming and dripping lower with each word, darkness grew ever closer and imposing until he saw the defiance drain entirely from the guest before him. Sentence punctuated by a growls from each of Cerberus heads. He did not wait to see where the soul went, they would either listen, or they would not. Instead turning his face to the Acheron.

It was rare that Hades left the Underworld, though rarer things there were. Once stood with the gentle breeze brushing strands of hair against his cheek, he agreed with himself that it had been a good choice. The sounds of life surrounding the sparse woods he found himself in, which he wandered. Unlike the mortals that walked the lands, the trees and the flowers had an ebb and flow of their own, reborn each spring to grow anew.

He had not wandered far when a voice travelled the winds towards him, his steps trailing to a stop to listen, before continuing anew towards the sound; which was coming from the meadow just beyond a few rows of trees. Eyebrows rose as the voice, clearer now, asked if anyone would notice if they stayed in the meadow for the rest of time, of a mother giving her away—of needing more than that. Eyes wandered the field before noticing the figure, not sitting, but laying, in the grass.

Then she sat up, and any thought of mortals and their issues vanished from his mind, as did every other thought he had ever had. Red mane tussled in the wind, a gentle face, a hand travelling the expanse of the grass to pick a blossom almost as beautiful as her but not quite. She spoke again, smiled, and perhaps she was right to, as the flower looked quite lovely in her hair. She asked what was wrong with her, and he had to refrain from speaking. The ease in which he wanted to concerned him.

He knew nothing of this woman, yet he wished to speak with her; tell her she was prettier than any apple blossom, that she was right to find any man unworthy of her, as if he knew anything at all about her other than her smile. A sudden though striking him, he could give her more; a whole kingdom. Why stay in a meadow to escape a village when she could have the entirety of the Underworld at her disposal. His eyes glances towards the flowers on the meadow away from her, remembering with sudden clarity who he was, the soul before him a time earlier. Much like them if he were to step out into the meadow she would surely run, back to the village, back to her mother, away from the meadow that seemingly brought her some joy.

Eyes drifted to the apple blossom in her hair, thought of how she’d plucked it from its stem. Taken from its home in the meadow to the glorious seat amidst her locks. Taken from its place and given a better existence. It made sense, did it not. This wonderful woman wanted away from her village the way a blossom begged to be off its stem, needed more than just a man to marry, more than just a branch to wilt off of. He could show her the kingdom, could give her anything she could ever want if only she lost the fear mortals held for the Underworld—With a bite she wouldn’t have much choice but to find peace with it, eventually grow to love it and all it had to offer.

One minute she had been sitting in a meadow full of colours and life and the next she was no longer there. The meadow was now void of any human presence as it had been before she arrived. For anyone now passing through, they would fail to find any evidence that Persephone had even been there in the first place. Though, she did not choose to leave. Instead, she had been taken from her place in the pasture just as easily as she had taken the apple blossom from its root. 

The events of her abduction would not be remembered – in fact she simply lost time as though she had fallen asleep. At first, that is exactly what she assumed had happened since she found herself lying down with her eyes closed when any real consciousness returned to her. Although her eyes were closed, she knew that she was no longer in the meadow. The grass had a particular feel below her body and what she felt now was far softer than the soil she had resided upon. Perhaps she had fallen asleep and whoever her mother had sent to look for her had found her and carried her home. In her confused slumber-induced state, that made logical sense, but she would have been awakened if that had been the case and whatever shrouded her body now was softer than any bed she had ever laid upon. 

Persephone eventually managed to open her heavy eyes, blinking a few times before she could really focus on any specific details. At first, she noticed the darkness. Everything was dark. Then she felt the cold. It wasn’t a dip in temperature that caused her to shiver, but more an emptiness one might feel when the world had been stripped away. 

She sat abruptly and blinked a few more times before noticing that she had been laying upon a bed covered in the finest silk. It only added to her confusion. Her heart had started to quicken as fear of the unknown started to engulf her. She moved her body around, allowing her legs to dangle off the side of the tall bed and took a second to look at her surroundings. 

Then her heart stopped. Dark eyes were staring at her; through her. The man before her oozed dominance and was the perfect image of fear embodied. He wanted to be feared, or at least that is what she could infer by the way he held himself. 

“Wh-where am I?” She asked, her voice holding far less confidence than she was used to. “Who are you?” 

Persephone proceeded to move off the bed and attempted to look around for some kind of escape, although the man looked as though he could slice her throat open before she could even reach a door if he so wished. Even so, there was little light illuminating anything besides the figure who had seemingly been watching her. 

The empty feeling became more prominent. Wherever she was, was not somewhere she was meant to be. Persephone almost felt unbalanced, but it was not really a feeling she could have described. Then she became full of dread as a possible explanation came to the forefront of her mind. Her eyes widened as her attention moved back towards the man in the centre of the room. 

“Am I dead?!” She searched her memories for any clue or indication of what might have happened but the last thing she remembered was talking carelessly into the wind. There was no conflict; no pain; just peace. “I’m dead aren’t I? Are you here to take a lock of my hair? Are you Thanatos?” 

“Hades!” A voice came from behind her. Her startled form turned to look at the figure it belonged to, not noticing anyone else being in the room before. “What is a mortal doing here in the Underworld?” The man moved towards her, inspecting her closely. It was almost as though he could not believe that she was there and as his hand took her wrist he sighed. He was checking for a pulse to confirm that she was in fact still alive. He dropped it softly and turned away from her. “I knew I could feel something off. You need to put her back. Living souls do not belong here. I shouldn’t need to tell the King of the Underworld that. You know my part of my job requires me to report back to Zeus if anything is amiss. I think this qualifies.”