Author's Note: I supposed this could be considered a sorta-prequel to my fic 'Golden Child of the Underworld' (I say sorta because it doesn't quite match up), but this is definitely a stand-alone fic and doesn't require the other to be read to understand this one. I do have to thank the FF community for alerting me to Zagreus's existence, but I've only seen one fanfic actually introduce him as the son of Zeus and Persephone and before her marriage to Hades no less.

Also, I had literally no idea what to name this thing. All of my creative juices went into the artsy prose style. It's better than my first title, but I'm still not sure I'm satisfied with it. Maybe I'll change it later.

IMPORTANT: It needs to be said more often, but especially in light of the Hades and Persephone relationship/myth, people need to remember that they're reading classical literature that was both translated and already old and language doesn't stay the same over time. Just think back to when you had to read Shakespeare plays and how that was like reading a completely different language despite it being English. It's the same for the Greek myths. The archaic literary meaning of the word 'rape' is a GENERIC word that means seize by force with sexual violation being one of the different types of rape (theft of property would be considered a type of rape under the generic definition). Only in current modern, social context does the word automatically equate to sexual violation. Similarly, the archaic meaning of the word 'ravish' is to seize/carry off by force. In the context of the tale of Hades and Persephone, 'rape' and 'ravish' are most probably just both synonyms for 'abduct'.

3/31/18: Aha! I finally figured out the geography of the damn Underworld rivers! I've made a few adjustments as a result.

Disclaimer: I'm dabbling in Greek mythology, so I'm pretty sure there's no copyright stuff, but most of the stuff about Zagreus came from Nonnus, Dionysiaca Book 6 (it's the most detailed version I've found). My perception of Hermes' relationship with Hades comes from Lucian, Dialogues of the Dead 15, a fun little bit of reading.

In the Wake of Tragedy

The First Meeting

"Hades! Lord Hades! Uncle, hellooo!"

The Lord of the Underworld felt a vein throbbing angrily in his temple as the familiar tenor magically echoed through his realm to reach him in the throne room of the Royal Hall where judgments took place. Hermes regularly shepherded departed souls to the Underworld and as such, he was the only Olympian god Hades saw on a semi-regular basis. Most of the time, he got along with his nephew rather well and didn't mind his company even if he was a compulsive liar with sticky fingers and was a non-stop chatterbox to boot. However, today he was not in a mood to humor his youngest brother's son, especially not when said brother was the root cause of his current headache.

The doors to the throne room did not burst open, because that would imply they had been closed in the first place, and the idea that they were even capable of being closed right now was laughable. Regardless, Hermes swooped through swift and fleet-footed as usual and paused in the air only long enough to meet his eyes before darting forward, not even sparing a passing glance for the crowding swarms of shades spilling into the throne room en masse.

The wiry lad set down lightly on the dais beside his throne, words spilling out of his mouth as he did so. "Lord Hades, please, your presence is needed outside if you would just come-"

Hades' arm snapped out to the side as the young messenger god reached for his arm and he caught Hermes' wrist, fixing him with a dark, steely glare. Only then did the youth still, his eyes wide with fear. He really… really… wasn't in the mood for his nephew's antics right now.

"In case you haven't noticed, boy…" he growled irritably, his voice dripping with the weight of his authority. "I am literally eyes-deep in dead souls right now and this mass of dead you see swarming into my courtroom is the mere tip of the iceberg compared to the countless numbers of dead souls that are meandering aimlessly beyond the black gates on the other side of the Styx because they cannot pay Charon's fee. Your wretched father razing the Earth with fire and then drowning her wounds with heavy rains has prematurely killed countless numbers of mortals and I have to both process the souls who have already crossed and find a solution to help those who can't because they weren't buried properly through no fault of their own. So, as you can see, I am overworked, I am exhausted, I am sleep-deprived, and I have no patience to deal with whatever trivial little thing you think is so damned important."

Hermes gulped audibly. "But Lord Hades, Demeter wanted to see you, so I brought her here with me-"

His long-enduring patience finally snapped. "-I'M TOO BUSY TO BE ENTERTAINING GUESTS, NOW TAKE HER BACK!" he roared.

"My Lord, I can't, I knew you'd be busy, but she was begging me to come! She said you're the only one who can help her daughter!" Hermes squeaked out quickly.

Just like that, Hades' rage subsided like the ocean tides. "Her daughter…?" he repeated. "What does that woman possibly think I can do for Persephone?"

Hermes shook his head. "I don't know, but she's waiting for you outside the palace. Should I bring her in here?"

Hades looked out at the vast crowd of shades still waiting to be sorted into Elysium, the Asphodel Meadows, or the Fields of Punishment. He was both king and judge here and he had no problems being able to handle the usual flow of dead on a daily basis. Even the occasional spike in deaths due to a plague or war was still manageable, but a catastrophic disaster like this? It was even worse than the Great Deluge a few centuries ago that had killed all of mankind except for Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha, because there had not been as many humans then. No matter how many souls there were though, he was the only one who could judge them (1), but he was only one god. Many of these souls would still be standing here waiting for their judgements in a day or two.

Deciding at this point that he probably wouldn't be caught up on soul judgments for several weeks anyway and a few minutes doing something else wouldn't make that much of a difference, Hades sighed and stood up from his obsidian-black throne. "Alright Hermes, take me to Demeter. Let's see what she thinks I can give her and what she's willing to pay me for it."

Hermes nodded and led the way out of the throne room into the antechamber, which was just as packed with shades as everywhere else. Despite the lack of space, they parted and made a clear path for him as he approached. He swept through his palace from the throne room in long, purposeful strides out of the royal hall and down the smooth marble steps into the central square where yet more shades milled. They too made way and he finally stepped out of the palace proper, greeted with the sight of yet more shades disembarking from Charon's skiff from the Acheron lake that the Acheron river led into on this side of the black gates. Beyond those gates was where the Acheron river became the Styx instead and though it and the land it touched was still a part of his kingdom, it was from there that none of the unburied dead could gain passage. Hades followed Hermes who veered right following the Acheron's marshland banks and approached two solitary figures standing a short distance away among some of the cypress trees. Unlike the nearby shades, their figures were clear, solid, and emitted that faint divine light from under their skins that signified their status as gods, or goddesses in this case. The taller of the two figures had her arms wrapped around the shoulders of the smaller one as if she were supporting her and he recognized his second sister at once. He could only assume that the other one was her daughter.

"Hello, Demeter. I never thought I would see you in my realm," he said once he was close enough to the two women.

He and Demeter tolerated each other well enough for siblings who were the God of the Underworld and the Goddess of Harvest. They were required to dislike each other on principal because of their work, but shared the similarity of living apart from Olympus despite being one of the original six children of Cronus and Rhea. They were not friendly with each other per say (of their siblings, Hades really only considered himself friendly with their eldest sister, Hestia), but they respected each other and didn't try to disturb the workings of the other's realm.

"Hades…" Demeter said in a choked voice and unexpectedly launched herself at him. Stunned and staring at her like she had grown three heads, Hades caught her and she gripped the front of his tunic, sobbing heavily into his clothes. "Hades, please… please help me… please help my daughter… You're the only one…" she begged through her tears.

Hades looked up from the top of his bereft sister's head and stared at the girl in question. She looked thin and willowy, like a stiff breeze could knock her over. Her face was withdrawn, her eyes a dull dark green, and her light brown hair hung lank and uncared for. Hades had a feeling she didn't usually look like this. She didn't even seem to have noticed her mother's absence from her side. If he had ever met her, it could only have been when she was a baby because he didn't have any recollection of her face, though he doubted he would recognize her anyway in this state. He and Demeter both traveled to Olympus so frequently after all. While he had no memory of the girl, he had heard of her. Unfortunately, he had heard a lot about her recently. He supposed her features could be beautiful if she didn't look so dead inside. She was young, too young even and he barely restrained himself from sneering in disgust because Persephone did not need to see an expression on his face that was not even meant for her. He'd known Zeus was depraved and unrestrained in his lust for women, but this was a new low, even for him. Persephone was only just barely a woman and his own goddess daughter. He thought his brother had some standards, minimal as they were, but apparently not.

Turning back to the sobbing woman still in his arms, he said gently, "I don't know what you think I can do for her, Demeter. I rule the dead, not time. I cannot remake her maidenhead and if it's her son you want me to return…" he looked out over the mass of shades that had arrived on this shore and turned his head in despair to the opposite shore hidden by the gray mists and the black gates where hundreds more were waiting. "… there are still far too many dead for me to sift through and due to the circumstances of his death, I don't know if Zagreus can even come here."

As soon as he said the name of the dead godling, a soft moan escaped the dead-looking girl and she collapsed to her knees on the ashen earth. Her arms wrapped around her middle and her head bent forward. Her hair hid her face, but not the ragged scream that tore out of her throat, like she was being repeatedly stabbed with a knife. He recognized the sound, though not as personally as Thanatos (2). It was the agony of a mother suddenly and violently losing her only child. Demeter promptly abandoned him and collapsed on the ground next to her grief-stricken daughter, holding her and suffering with her. Even Hermes was not unaffected. His face was red and tear-streaked and he was gasping for air.

As for Hades, he had heard such screams many times from recently-dead mortal mothers unable to accept their demise and the separation from their children, either still-living or dead along with them. This was the first time that the sound cut through his hardened exterior and penetrated deep into his body… into his heart… into his soul. For one dreadful, terrifying moment, all sense left him and he would have done anything… anything at all if it would bring her son back to her and end this girl's suffering. If Zagreus's soul was in the Underworld, he'd have returned him at once. If he was lost on earth, he'd have overturned it to find him. If the Titans who'd eaten him had survived Zeus's incineration, he'd have ripped them apart. If he'd been secreted away in the oceans, he'd have drained his brother's realm dry. His sense came back to him with a jolt and he stood there panting and dizzy with feeling with his hand over his pounding heart. What had that girl done to him?

Persephone's tortured scream had since ceased, but she was still bent double on the ground, sobbing her heart out with her mother beside her and rubbing her back in a soothing manner. He hardly knew the girl at all and yet for reasons he couldn't explain, his heart ached to see her so miserable like this. She and Demeter had come here hoping to find Zagreus and beg for him to be released from the Underworld, of that he had no doubt. He wouldn't have even denied her and that scared him. It was a rule he was strict on: none of the dead may return to the land of the living before their time. And yet, he was willing, even now, to make an exception for Persephone.

He walked forward slowly to the kneeling mother-daughter pair and crouched down before them. "I can't do anything about Zagreus," he said quietly, "but I can take this pain away, if you wish it."

Persephone tilted her head up and their eyes met for the first time. Hers were bloodshot and glassy with tears, and there was a desperate spark lying there. "Oh yes, please!" she breathed and reached out to grasp the front of his tunic as her mother had done not a minute ago. "Please, my lord, make this pain go away! I can't bear it anymore!"

"Hear what I have to say first before you decide," he said as he reached for her small, delicate hands fisted in his clothes.

He carefully pried them off, but did not release them afterwards. Instead, he held them tight in his own in the small space between their bodies. He wanted to let go, but he couldn't. His own hands resisted the thought and he couldn't explain why.

"I can offer you a drink from the waters of the River Lethe. It's a special river down here in the Underworld that has the power to make people forget. If I give you a small sip of the Lethe, it will make you forget everything that has happened these past few years. I can make sure it is enough that you will even forget Zeus forcing himself upon you, but you will also forget everything about Zagreus. To you, it will be as if he never existed. Do you still want this, Persephone?" he asked. It didn't even occur to him to ask her for repayment of this favor. She'd suffered enough.

He could read the conflict in her eyes. He was offering her the chance for peaceful oblivion, but at the cost of never knowing her son, the son whose death was killing her.

At last, she lowered her head to their entwined hands and she brushed her lips against his hands, pressing soft, reverent kisses to his skin. "Yes, my lord, yes. If I must forget everything to ever feel happy again, please grant me this," she pleaded.

Her tender ministrations stirred a burning warmth that consumed his insides and made him weak in the knees. It was overwhelming and yet surprisingly familiar. The last time he could remember feeling anything even remotely resembling this had been… with Leuce, his first love (3)… Startled by this revelation, he released one of her hands and caressed her cheek, smoothing the tears away from her skin and laying his hand lightly there. She had stopped her frantic worship of his skin and was instead gazing up at him in wide-eyed wonder, like she'd never looked at him properly before now and what she saw held her spellbound. He knew it was true because he felt the same way. Grief still marred her face, but it was counter-balanced by a new hope and with it, new life. Finally, Hades could see hints of the true beauty she carried that had unhappily drawn so many suitors (4) to her.

"Come with me," he murmured, the words escaping from his mouth unbidden.

She cocked her head sideways in a silent question, still innocent despite the loss of her maidenhood and the loss of her child.

"To the Lethe," he added hastily, though he knew that was not quite true. Those words had been heavy with other implications, but even he didn't know fully what he had meant.

Her hand was suddenly snatched out of his. Bewildered, he faced Demeter who was now holding her daughter's hand. Her expression was set and her eyes not-quite-glaring at him. For a moment, he'd honestly forgotten she was still there. He rose to his feet quickly and the two women followed suit.

"The Lethe is this way," he said, pointing down a path to the left of the palace through a thick, gray-tinted green forest and led the way.

Hermes flitted about with his winged sandals in every direction among the trees, hovering ahead, behind and beside, unable to keep still. Hades walked just slightly ahead of Demeter and Persephone who walked next to each other, Demeter still keeping a tight hold on the hand she'd stolen from him while her other arm supported her daughter by the shoulders. Though, from what Hades could observe from his fleeting glances at the flower child, she somehow seemed a bit livelier than before and it didn't look like she needed her mother's support as much. The forest opened up and he brought them to the banks of the Lethe, its presence marking its border alongside Elysium on the other side.

Hades conjured up a pitcher and a goblet out of thin air and he got down on his knees at the river's edge. He could not see his reflection, or those of the others behind him naturally, as he stared down into the strangely-dark water. The Lethe's power was such that it even forgot the faces of those who gazed upon it. With one hand, he scooped up some water with the pitcher, careful not to touch it himself, and poured into the goblet until it was full. He emptied the remaining water in the pitcher back into the Lethe and waved the pitcher into nonexistence. Just as he made to offer the goblet to Persephone however, Demeter stepped in front of her, half-blocking her daughter from view and she was still staring up at him with that odd not-quite-a-glare and trying to look imposing. He was not impressed and was more irritated than he rightfully should have been.

"Do you think I don't know the laws of the Underworld, Hades?" she said warningly. "Namely that any who partake in food or drink of the Underworld are bound to it for all eternity?"

Now he was rightfully angry. "You come to me in my own kingdom while I am overloaded with souls begging for me to assist your grieving, traumatized daughter in any way I can. I offer her a reasonable solution and you accuse me of trying to trap her here, and right under your very own nose even," he sneered. "Really, Demeter, I thought you had more sense than that. The Lethe flows through the Underworld, but its particular brand of power, like those of the other rivers here, is all its own and she is not beholden to the Underworld's definition of 'drink'."

"Mother, please," Persephone said quietly and placed a hand on her goddess mother's shoulder.

Her words were placating and her touch was gentle, but Hades wondered if Persephone was even aware that her jaw was tight and there was a crease between her brows. Such tiny little displays of frustration were so small they were hardly worth noting and yet, for exactly that reason, they were worth noting.

Demeter calmed down, but whether it was more due to the logic of his words or her daughter's plea, Hades couldn't say. She stepped aside and he once more offered the goblet to Persephone, but it's journey was halted again and this time by the girl it was intended for. "Wait a moment, my lord," she said and deliberately pushed the goblet away from her.

Bewildered, Hades retracted his arm and watched her fumble around with something hidden in her dress. She pulled back her hands eventually and they were closed together around something. She moved forward almost into his personal space and held up her hands. He stretched his free hand out to her, palm up, and she placed her hands in his, slowly spreading them sideways. He felt multiple small somethings land in his palm and when she pulled her hands away (but made no move to step back), he saw that there were about twenty fleshy red seeds.

He was just about to ask her what they were, but she beat him to it. "They're pomegranate seeds," she said with a hitch in her voice. He looked up from the seeds in his hand and saw her staring fixedly at them, her eyes oddly bright and her bottom lip trembling. "They're… they're all that's left… the only thing they could find… it's Zagreus's blood (5)…"

Hades felt his stomach lurch and he stared at the harmless-looking seeds with a kind of fascinated horror. Their deep blood red color took on a whole new meaning in this context. "Persephone, I… I don't understand. Why are you giving these to me? If this is Zagreus's blood, then they belong to you-"

Persephone shook her head violently and cut him off. "-No, I can't. I can't keep them. Once I drink the Lethe, I'll forget what they are and why they're so important to me. I might even eat them, or worse, thoughtlessly throw them away, and I can't bear the thought that I might do something so horrible to my son's remains, even if I no longer remember I'm his mother. That's why…" Hiccupping and teary-eyed, she reached out and gently closed his fingers into a protective fist around the seeds. "I want you to keep them safe for me, from me. Maybe you could plant them and grow new trees here, to honor and remember him after I no longer can?"

"Kore!" Demeter exclaimed in an appalled whisper, but Hades was more shocked to hear his sister call her daughter by such a childish and inappropriate title for her age.

Persephone hung her head low, not taking her eyes off his closed hand, and continued speaking as if she hadn't heard her mother's affronted gasp, "I know it's presumptuous of me to even consider asking you to do this. I'm just a minor goddess and you're the Lord of Souls and the Underworld who answers to none but Zeus, but I-"

"-Persephone, look at me," Hades commanded gently, wishing that his hands weren't currently occupied or he would have raised her chin himself. She eventually did so and her dark eyes met his light ones. "I understand and I am honored that you would entrust me with your son's remains. I will do as you request and I will plant them in a garden that I will have built exclusively for these seeds as a tribute – a memorial – to Zagreus. For you, I will try to nurture them into beautiful, fully-grown trees, but… I can't promise that I will be successful. Not much grows in the Underworld, and those plants of the living world even less so. Even so, I will still try."

Those beautiful dark green eyes of hers stared up at him in amazement, but then she smiled. "Thank you, my lord."

A tiny explosion occurred inside his chest right where his heart lay. Her smile was small and sadness still lingered, but it was real and warm with the promise of light. It was the most blessed thing he'd ever laid eyes on, this soft smile from this precious girl, and he knew he was lost. Regretting this more than she could ever possibly know, Hades offered the goblet to Persephone for the third and last time, and this time, she accepted it, her small fingers brushing against his as she took the goblet from him. His skin tingled pleasantly where she'd touched him just as it had with her kisses earlier. She lowered her lips to the rim of the goblet and slowly tilted her head back. He watched her throat bob up and down with every swallow of the magical water. Standing there and silently watching as every swallow stole away more of her memories was surprisingly difficult to bear. He had to remember not to squeeze his right fist out of frustration so as not to accidentally crush the pomegranate seeds that he was still holding.

When she finally lowered the goblet, her dosage of Lethe consumed, and looked up at him, it was like a completely different person was staring up at him. Physically, her features had not changed at all. The sadness had disappeared completely and in its place, a wary kind of curiosity had taken root and her earlier innocence was magnified a hundred-fold, coupled with naivety, and she appeared so much younger for it. So… this was Persephone before Zeus had violated her, stolen her child, and then failed to protect that child. No, he wasn't sure this was Persephone at all. Kore seemed a more appropriate name for her after all. These observations of his occurred in the single minute that Kore stared at him in confusion before her eyes darted around anxiously until they landed on her mother.

"Mother!" she squealed, her whole countenance lit up like the sun, her eyes bright and her smile wide. She dropped the empty goblet to the ground in her haste and she happily threw her arms around Demeter.

Demeter's arms came around her daughter and she was beside herself with joy. Tears were spilling from her eyes as she murmured into Kore's hair. "Kore, Kore, my sweet Kore, my beautiful baby girl, you're alright. Everything's alright."

Happy as she was to see her mother, little Kore could hardly miss the words her mother was chanting over and over into her ear like a mantra. "What are you talking about, Mother? Of course, I'm alright!" she said and pulled away to give her mother a reassuring smile, but at the sight of Demeter's distress, even through the happy tears, her smile faltered. "What, was I sick or something? I don't remember anything bad happening though."

Demeter choked back a sob and started speaking shakily. "Yes, Kore… You were sick, very sick, and I couldn't do anything to help you get better, so I brought you with me to the Underworld to ask your Uncle Hades if he had any strong medicines or magics that could cure you."

At the mention of him, Demeter gestured half-heartedly back towards where he was standing next to the Lethe and Kore obediently turned to look at him with a curious, interested expression. But then she noticed Hermes hovering off to his left and her brilliant, burning smile returned once more. Again, it wasn't directed at him and his own expression became grimmer in spite of himself.

"Hermes, you're here!" she exclaimed.

Hermes gave her a cheeky smile and a wink. "Of course I am! How else do you think you and your mama got down here in the Underworld?"

Kore pursued her lips and looked down. "I don't know, I don't remember the trip…"

"That's not surprising. You were delirious and barely conscious as it was when your mother finally arrived at my doorstep," Hades said gruffly, playing along with Demeter's story, and Kore jumped in shock as if his very words had scalded her.

Demeter picked up the thread from there. "Yes, he's right. He gave you a special potion that was able to cure you completely, so you're all better now, little one."

There it was again, so slight Hades nearly missed it. Kore's jaw tightened and a crease appeared between her brows before it smoothed over. It was the same small display of frustration he had observed on Persephone's features when Demeter had stepped protectively between them. It occurred to him then that perhaps Persephone wasn't born out of the trauma she'd endured, but rather Kore had been killed by it and the young Persephone had been overwhelmed, not knowing what to do with herself in the face of such loss.

Kore gave him a polite smile and bowed her head respectfully. "Thank you, my lord," she said and abruptly turned back to her mother. "Since I'm all better now, does this mean we can go back home?"

Demeter smiled warmly down at her daughter and nodded. "Yes, Kore. We can go home now. There is much work for us to do."

Kore nodded absently as Demeter turned her around back the way they came and she looked around curiously. "I thought the Underworld would be all pitch-black, gloomy, and miserable, but it's actually not that bad. Sure, everything's got this grayish tint to it and I didn't expect all the mist, but it's beautiful in a 'misty night in a forest near the river just outside of an ancient city' sorta way."

Hades couldn't help the laugh that escaped him and caused both women to jump and stare at him: Demeter in alarm and Kore in fascination. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he said, smiling and speaking directly to Kore. "It's just that I've never heard anyone call this place beautiful before, and I was amused by how specifically you chose to describe it."

Kore's eyes crinkled at the corners and she smiled softly at him. It was a pale echo of the impassioned gratitude she'd bestowed on him with her smile when he promised to plant the pomegranate seeds, but it was still enough to send his heart racing. "You should smile and laugh more, my lord. You look more handsome like that."

Hades gaped at the girl in mute shock and Demeter grabbed her arm a little more forcefully than was necessary. "Come Kore, we've imposed on your uncle long enough," she said stiffly as she dragged her daughter along with her. "He has a lot of work to do and so do we. Hermes, are you coming?"

"Ah! Yes, ma'am!" Hermes said and made to follow them, but Hades caught one of the wings on his sandals before he could go very far.

"In a moment, Demeter." She snapped her head over her shoulder, her bright golden curls like their Titan mother Rhea's (6) slapping her face with the sharp movement, and her eyes watched him warily. "Since I have Hermes down here already, I need him to relay a few messages for me, but I shouldn't be long and I'll send him right to you once I'm finished with him."

Demeter stared at him a moment longer, her eyes gleaming with suspicion, but then she turned her head back around and stalked off to the banks of the Acheron where Hermes had dropped her off earlier.

"What messages do you have for me, Lord Hades, and to whom should I deliver them?" Hermes asked once Demeter and Kore were out of earshot.

"Once, you have escorted Demeter and her daughter out of the Underworld and returned them to the surface, I want you to inform the twelve Olympians and all the known gods of the earth, sea, and sky of the following. Persephone has consumed the waters of the Lethe and has no memory of anything after her mother hid her away in a cave after receiving a prophecy from the Titan Astraeus regarding her daughter's fate. They should not speak to her of anything that occurred after that point that Persephone may have heard or noticed in the world around her."

Hermes smiled grimly. "So basically, nobody should try to comfort her about her dead son or talk in her presence about how Lord Zeus razed the earth and then flooded it again," he summarized.

"Exactly," Hades said with a solemn nod and released his hold on Hermes' sandal wing.

But Hermes did not leave immediately as he expected. Instead, he looked down at Hades with a curious expression on his face. "Just how much of that prophecy from the old Titan do you know?" he asked.

Hades frowned up at his nephew. "I know he made one, but I don't know its contents. Why?"

Hermes smiled enigmatically down at him. "Because his children, the Four Winds and the morning and evening star, were also present when he spoke his prophecy to Demeter, and the Winds are especially talkative individuals."

"They told you what the prophecy said," Hades accused.

"Guilty as charged," Hermes said unashamedly and then his hazel eyes glittered mischievously. "Would you like to hear it?"

Hades crossed his arms and stared the youth down. "Whatever words Astraeus spoke to Demeter regarding Persephone are none of my business or yours."

Hermes cackled gleefully and slapped his thighs in mirth as if Hades has just said something extremely humorous. "I beg to differ, Uncle. Words and speech are my business and those lovestruck looks you were giving Persephone definitely make it yours."

"I was not-!" Hades insisted heatedly, though his cheeks weren't flushed from anger.

"-Astraeus prophesized Persephone's violation, you know," Hermes interrupted and Hades found himself fall silent. Hermes seemed determined to tell the prophecy to him whether he wanted to hear it or not, and he was ashamed to admit that he was interested.

Smiling in smug triumph, Hermes continued, "Oh yes, Zephyrus of the West, Eurus of the East, Notus of the South, and even solitary Boreas of the North were very keen to tell me about this prophecy. It's not every day one is made regarding the marriage fate of the firstborn full-blooded Olympian after all, and a prophecy by a Titan no less."

Hermes was baiting him. "If you want to share what you heard of the prophecy, then there's nothing I can do to stop you, but if your only goal here is to taunt me about it and try to make me beg to hear it, you better get going because I won't give you that satisfaction and I still have a lot of work to do," Hades warned.

"You're no fun," Hermes grumbled with puffed-up cheeks, but then resumed his story-telling mode. "But yes, Demeter knew before the deed occurred that her daughter's virginity would be stolen, for the words Astraeus spoke were thus: You will see before marriage a false and secret bedfellow come unforeseen, a half-monster cunning-minded. You see? That's why Demeter tried to hide her away in a cave-"

"-But that 'false and secret bedfellow' ended up being the almighty Zeus and no woman is safe once he sets his eyes on them unless they've taken the vow of chastity," Hades said with an unexpected snarl. His little brother's conquests, though irksome, irresponsible, and disrespectful, had never personally offended him before. "Was that all?"

Hermes snickered and shook his head fondly. "Oh, my Lord Hades, hardly! That was just the middle part of the prophecy. I haven't even told you the beginning and the end yet."

"There's more?" Hades muttered dumbly.

"Of course! And the beginning is hardly better than the middle, for Astraeus proclaimed: When the rays of the Moon are stolen under a shady cone and her light is gone, guard against a robber-bridegroom for Persephone, a secret ravisher of your unsmirched girl, if the threads of the Fates can be persuaded."

"A robber-bridegroom? Even after everything Persephone has already been put through by Zeus, someone will still come to steal her to be their wife on the new moon?!" Hades demanded in outrage with anger and fear coursing through him.

Hermes spread his hands wide and shrugged. "Not unless the 'threads of Fate can be persuaded'," he said with an ironic grin. "Persephone's destined relations with men sure aren't happy ones."

"You said there was an ending too. What else was left?" Hades snapped.

Hermes crossed his arms and legs as if he were sitting on the ground while he was still floating in the air and he hummed to himself with a pondering expression. "You see, it's a little odd because despite the first two parts of the prophecy and knowing how protective Demeter is of her daughter, Astraeus told her: But I proclaim you most happy: for you will be known for glorious fruits in the four quarters of the universe, because you shall bestow fruit on the barren soil. See what I mean?"

Hades frowned along with him. "I do. It is odd. Demeter being 'most happy' after such unhappy troubles is just not possible."

"I get the part about how she will be known for 'glorious fruits in the four corners of the universe' because she's the Goddess of Harvest, but isn't she already known for that? Hardly seems worth mentioning," Hermes prattled aloud.

"No, you have to read the whole sentence as one unit, not just part of it," Hades pointed out. "She will be known for 'glorious fruits' because she will 'bestow fruit on barren soil'."

Hermes snickered. "So, what? She's going to start making corn and barley grow for people in the desert? Because apart from the Underworld being incapable of growing true living plants, that's the only kind of land I can think of that has 'barren soil'."

Hades shook his head slowly. "I don't know, Hermes. Like with most prophecies, I feel there's more to it than the surface words indicate. Now get going, nephew. You don't want to keep Demeter and Persephone waiting down here longer than necessary or your aunt may flay your hide for the delay."

"Zeus forbid!" Hermes said with a dramatic shudder, but took off through the trees back to the Acheron.

Hades stood there on the Lethe's river bank watching Hermes' departure until he was out of sight and later sensed his departure from the realm completely. He was completely alone again. He half-heartedly stooped down to pick up the fallen goblet with the aim to deconstruct it back into nothingness. It had served its purpose here and he had no need for another empty goblet. But as he moved to erase it from existence, he paused, his hand just barely hovering over the object. Persephone's hands had held this goblet and her lips had graced the rim, just as her hands and lips had blessed his own pale flesh.

He scowled at himself and the direction his thoughts had taken him, but he picked up the goblet all the same and carried it back with him to the Judgement Hall, hoping that the tremendous amount of souls still needing to be judged would be enough to distract him from further thoughts about Persephone… or Kore, whoever she was right now. Not feeling too optimistic about his feeble hope being successful, he glanced down at his right hand still closed in a fist and slowly opened it. The twenty pomegranate seeds still lay there, their red flesh shimmering innocuously in the misty half-light, innocently hiding their true, literally bloody origin. His expression softened with sad remorse as he gazed upon Persephone's gift, a gift she couldn't even remember giving. Hades brought the goblet in his other hand to the edge of his palm and carefully tipped the seeds into the container, taking care not to drop a single one. He would do as he promised Persephone and try to plant the seeds later when he had time and wasn't overburdened with dead souls. For now though, Persephone's goblet would hold and protect the last of her forgotten son's precious blood.

Events have been set in motion that cannot be taken back. Every action occurs by design with a specific purpose in mind that only us three Fates can understand. All that has been foretold will come to pass and all that is unknown will become known in time. No one, not even the gods can thwart our omnipotent threads.

It hardly needs to be said, but Zeus is one sick son of a bitch.

(1) At this point in time, Hades doesn't have Aeacus, Minos, and Rhadamanthys assisting him in judging the souls of the dead, so he's the one stuck doing it.

(2) Thanatos is the God of Death who reaps the souls of the living from their bodies.

(3) From what little I've read of Leuce, she seems to have been a nymph that Hades genuinely loved and who loved him back sometime before he married Persephone. She lived the rest of her life in the Underworld until she died and to honor the love they shared, Hades created Elysium as a memorial to her and her body turned into a white poplar tree.

(4) People generally seem aware that Hermes and Apollo were suitors for Persephone before Hades claimed her, and some know that Ares was also one. However, Persephone had a fourth suitor: Hephaestus. Apparently, according to Nonnus, Dionysiaca, he had already divorced Aphrodite after catching her with Ares. Poor guy.

(5) It was said somewhere (I can't remember where), that Zagreus's blood became pomegranate seeds which I found VERY ironic given who his mother is and the meaning those seeds will have in the not-too-distant future. In fact, it's so ironic, I don't believe it's a coincidence at all.

(6) I found some brief physical descriptions of Demeter and her mother Rhea (again, can't remember where). They were both described as 'rich golden-haired' (and 'bright-coiffed', though I have no idea what that means), so I figure Demeter probably looks a lot like their mother.

The full prophecy of Astraeus reads (without the other astrological stuff that he mentions in-between that I don't understand): Fond mother Demeter, when the rays of the Moon are stolen under a shady cone and her light is gone, guard against a robber-bridegroom for Persephone, a secret ravisher of your unsmirched girl, if the threads of the Fates can be persuaded. You will see before marriage a false and secret bedfellow come unforeseen, a half-monster cunning-minded. But I proclaim you most happy: for you will be known for glorious fruits in the four quarters of the universe, because you shall bestow fruit on the barren soil.