Acantha of theDamianos

Ακανθα υφ θε Δαμηυνως

(Thorn of the Tamer)

By lordnorton

(Disclaimer: I do not own the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone. But, I do own Hesperos. Please love him!)

"Daddy, tell me a story!" the young Hesperos tugged on his fathers deep black robe so that he wouldn't leave the boy's bedroom.

"It's late, Hesperos. You should get your sleep. I'll tell you a story tomorrow night." His father answered, patting the boys head.

"Daddy!" the young boy whined, looking up at his father with his best "puppy dog eyes". His father sighed.

"Fine, you win. Just, don't let your mother know that I let you pull me into this…"

"Okay!" Hesperos perked up in his bed, sitting up against the wall.

Hesperos' father sat down next to his child in the large bed Hesperos owned, getting under the covers and pulling his son to him.

"Which one do you want to hear?"

"You choose!" Hesperos said, his head on his fathers lap, looking up at his father's handsome face.

"Well… how about the story of Aphrodite?"

"No,"

"No? Hesperos, I thought you said that I could choose!"

"Daddy, when I say that you can choose, you get to think up different stories you can tell me and I'll tell you if they sound interesting or not!" Hesperos explained.

"Oh… so that's how it works! Well, then… the story of Zeus and Hera?"

"No,"

"Midas and the Golden Touch?"

"No,"

"Dionysus and Adriane?"

"No,"

"Pandora's box?"

"No,"

"Hades and Persephone?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Hesperos cheered.

"Alright, alright! Calm down or I won't be able to tell you the story!"

"Okay…"

"So… Hades, King of the Underworld, was a cold man, colder than stone…

ACANTHA OF THE DAMIONOS

Ακανθα υφ θε Δαμηυνως

Hades, King of the Underworld, was a cold man, colder than stone. He sat on his throne made of black marble, with dark rubies covering its arms, legs and back. Boredom had taken him hostage, making him very bored, terribly bored and finally bored beyond all recognition. He sat on his dark throne, practically asleep, when he turned his head to look to his right. His cold, black eyes fell upon the throne next to his own. His queen's throne. Her's was a bit smaller than his and a bit shorter, but was also made up of black marble and dark emeralds. Hades stood up from his place and moved to the queen's throne, touching the arm of it, the head, the seat.

'Who shall take this place?' Hades thought. 'Who shall be my bride? I love no one… not even Aphrodite is appealing to me. Who shall be my queen… my love?' He closed his eyes and sighed.

"There shall be no one," he declared in a whisper, but his voice still echoed within the room. "I shall be alone forever." His eyes opened and the god quickly left his palace, setting off to the river Styx.

Hades saw Charon, the ferryman navigating the small wooden boat he rowed to the bank that lead to the rest of the underworld, the same bank that Hades was standing at. The ferryman had three souls of once living people in the boat, two women and a man.

Hades, being the King of the Dead, could tell who these souls had once been and how they had died. One of the women, an elderly lady, was called Ranen Ancel. She was wrinkled and had died from a heart attack. The other woman was a young female. She had died from a stabbing with some sort of blade. Her name had been Ardea Pelagia. The last soul, the man, had been in his early thirties. His name was Alkibiades Ambrosias and he had left the world of the living only because of a small hunting incident. All three souls were wearing black.

As the ferryboat stopped at the edge of the bank, the three souls stepped out and made their way to the place of judgment. As they past Hades, they bowed their heads in respect. Hades watched them go by and, when they had traveled so far past that they looked like mere specks in the darkness, he whispered, "May your afterlife be well and joyful," He turned his head back to Charon who was also watching the dead pass through the Underworld, like he always did before he rowed back to the other side of Styx to pick up more souls. Charon moved his gaze to the King of the Underworld.

"Yes, Sir?" Charon asked, his deep voice magnified by the rocky walls of the cliffs that surrounded the river.

"I'd like to visit life," Hades answered as he stepped into the boat.

"Of course, Sir," Charon replied, taking up the ore and rowing back to the other bank of Styx.

There was a woman standing on the bank, waiting for the boat. As Hades got off, she bowed her head in respect. Hades walked over to the woman and touched her forehead with the tips of his fingers, excluding his thumb and pinky. She didn't move.

"May you have a peaceful afterlife." He said and removed his hand. As he started to walk along the bank of the river, she entered the boat, handing Charon her silver coin and the boat traveled to the other side.

As Hades walked away from the entrance to the Underworld, along the bank of the Styx, he ran his hand along the rocky cliffs until he felt a smooth stone. He pressed it in and the cliff started moving, rearranging the stones to make a large doorway. Inside the room, which Hades had just uncovered, stood four winged horses reigned to a glistening golden chariot. They were silent while their calculating eyes moved to look at their master. He entered the room and stroked the first horse to his left, a horse with a deep chestnut coat and black mane.

"Agapios, horse of love…" Hades whispered in the horse's ear, gently kissing the horse's cheek before moving onto the next horse. The one to Agapios' right was a black horse with black mane, white hair from the knee to the ankle and a white star on his forehead; he glared softly at Hades with his red eyes as he touched its mane.

"Acheron, horse of pain…" Its glowing red eyes relaxed their soft glare at the sound of its name. Hades kissed this one right on the star in the middle of its forehead, then he turned to the completely brown horse next to Acheron. Her black eyes had a look of sorrow and depression.

"Aegea, horse of the shield…" Hades kissed Aegea on the bridge of her nose then looked deeply into her eyes. He noticed a wave of happiness wash over her eyes, but they returned to their normal sorrowful gaze.

"Anastasia, horse of resurrection…" Hades had moved to the last horse, one with a pure white coat, shining white mane and pale blue eyes. She flared her nostrils and whined as he moved closer, but when Hades placed his hand on Anastasia's forehead, she instantly calmed down. He moved his hand, placing it under her chin, gently tilting her head upwards. He kissed the horse right on the lips quickly and then let go of her chin, his lips falling away from hers. Anastasia looked a bit angry now, and flared her nostrils again. He backed away from her but stopped when he was practically an equal distance away from each horse.

"Agapios, Acheron, Aegea, Anastasia…" Hades whispered each horse's name. They all looked up when their name was called and stared, unblinking, at him. "Love, Pain, Shield, Resurrection…" His voice was full of sorrow, he closed his eyes.

"Agapios, love… breathe within me… let me love for once; Acheron, pain… take my breath away… keep your painful light; Aegea, the shield… take my breath, give me your instead… protect me; Anastasia, resurrection… awaken not only my breath, but my soul, my spirit… let me live…" He recited the spell with emotion, enunciating each word perfectly.

He opened his eyes, his heart feeling lighter. The horses did not seem to know what had happened. They looked around nervously, waiting for something to happen, unknowing to the use of their powers which happened without their acknowledgement. The spell Hades had recited had unlocked the chain around his heart which kept him bound to the Underworld. The whole thing was a ritual to release him from the Underworld's tight grasp around his heart. The horses, kissing them, the spell… all a ritual just so that he could visit the world of the living.

Sighing, he climbed into the chariot and the horses rode out of the room. They ran the bank of the Styx, their silent hooves leaving the path completely markless, and galloped out of the Underworld.

When they reached the light of day, the horses took flight, their large wings spreading magnificently upwards, gliding through the air. Hades closed his eyes, feeling the cold wind rush through his shoulder-length black hair, making it fly out behind him. It felt… calming, relaxing, captivating, pleasant, luxurious and so much at peace that Hades felt like the whole Underworld and all of its dreariness was a mere dream. He felt so good that his usual scowl was about to turn into a smile. Then… PANG! His eyes jumped open. Hades felt some arrow like object hit him in the lower back, but Hades felt, not pain but… pleasure. His eyes lightened, his furrowed brows relaxed, his scowl lessened, his body loosened, his heart beat quickened, his hormones danced, his breath became quick and short, and he felt… want. He wanted something, anything, someone… that was right, he wanted someone. Someone he could share warmth with, feel the intensifying jolt of skin against skin contact with, become close to, love. He wanted to love; he yearned for it so badly it made his heart ache. His head turned, sensing something in the fields beneath him, and set his gaze upon the beautiful goddess picking flowers.

"Persephone," Hades whispered the goddess' name. The word tasted sweet upon his lips, like honey, and made his heart skip a beat.

"Love," His heart felt like it was swelling.

"I… I'm in love with… Persephone!" His heart was pounding so fast it felt like it would burst. He felt lightheaded, sick, dizzy. He knelt down in the chariot, one hand holding onto the lip of the chariot, the other over his humming heart. When his head stopped spinning and the butterflies in his stomach lessened their flutterings, he stood again. Looking over the edge of the chariot, he saw Persephone in the field still, but she was staring at him, or at least at the chariot. She had noticed that it had been circling around the field in the air for a while now and she was very curious as to why. But when Hades' eyes spotted Persephone and all of her amazing beauty his love sickness kicked in again and he felt like he was going to faint. He managed to grab hold of the reigns and he yanked on them. The horses pulled their wings in and started heading towards earth, landing gracefully in the field once they reached the ground. Persephone gingerly walked over to the golden chariot and peaked over the side. Her eyes widened as she saw the handsome man in the chariot, pale and shivering.

"Are you alright, Sir?" She asked, unknowing who the man was, except that he was a god. Hades stood up on the ground, feeling less likely to faint. After getting his breathing to a steady pace, he looked up and saw the beautiful Persephone staring at him with her large sapphire eyes, her golden curls swaying in front of her face with the small breeze that blew.

"Y-yes… I think that I am… I feel alright…" Hades was puzzled; he had been falling over in his chariot just from thinking about the woman he was looking at right now.

"Oh my goodness!" Persephone exclaimed, one of her delicate hands flying to her chest. "You've been hurt!" Hades was even more puzzled than he was before. Hurt? How was he hurt? He didn't feel hurt. Persephone gently pushed him so that his back was facing her. "There's an arrow in your back!" She pulled it out; he felt a small pang! of pain as it was removed from his body. Hades turned back around to face Persephone; they both looked at the arrow.

"This is one of Eros' arrows!" she said, looking back at Hades.

'Eros?' Hades thought. 'When one is pricked with an arrow that belongs to Eros they fall in love with the first person they see.' Then it occurred to him, that the arrow was why Hades had felt the joy in his heart when he had looked at Persephone.

"Sir, are you alright, your eyes just glazed over…" Persephone exclaimed, worry noticeable in her voice. Hades reached out and grabbed Persephone's wrist.

"Sir?"

"Come with me! Come with me to my lair, to my kingdom! Become my queen, oh beautiful Persephone! Goddess of spring, come live with me in my palace, in my love!"

"Release me!" Persephone yelled at him, her eyes wide and frightened.

"Please, Persephone, please… become my wife, my queen, my love!" Hades was pulling her into the chariot.

"Who are you?" Persephone choked out. She still didn't know who the strange dark man was.

"I," Hades started. Finally having Persephone fully within the chariot, Hades grabbed hold of all the reigns and yanked them; making the four horses spread their wings and take flight. "Am your lover!" And he kissed her passionately. Persephone tried to push Hades off of her but he was stronger and kept himself close to her. When he broke their kiss, she started screaming and waving her arms, trying to get away from him. But, Hades grabbed her wrists before she could hit him.

"LET ME GO!" She yelled, struggling to get out of his strong grasp. "LET ME GO!" Tears started overflowing out of her eyes, now that she knew that he had complete control of her.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go… please, let me go… please…" And she stopped struggling, tears flowing freely now. Hades let go of her wrists so he could embrace her, letting her cry upon his chest. Her hands took fistfuls of his robe and clung to him as he sat down on the floor of the chariot, letting the horses lead the way back to the Underworld. Persephone laid in his lap, crying on his shoulder, his arms loosely around her. And as she cried, Hades whispered into her ear, "Persephone, I love you," Still sobbing, she moved her head so that she could look him in his eyes.

"Persephone, I need you to know that I love you," Her eyes looked away. Hades moved his head towards hers, trying to kiss her.

"No!" Persephone cried, jolting her head down. "Please no… please… don't hurt me… don't hurt me…"

"Persephone…" Hades soothingly whispered. He hooked his finger under her chin, moving her head back up.

"Don't hurt me… don't hurt me…"

"Persephone…" He repeated.

"Don't hurt me… don't hurt me…"

"Why would I hurt you?" He said, burying her face in his shoulder, placing his cheek next to hers… feeling her warmth, her tears.

"Why would I hurt you when I love you?"

She just sobbed.

"Hades loves you," he said in the smallest whisper. And Persephone closed her eyes in defeat and slept within his warm and loving embrace, crying.

The door opened to little Hesperos' bedroom and a beautiful woman looked in.

"What are you doing telling him stories at this time of night?" She whispered at her husband, hurriedly.

"Now, now, Persephone, all that matters is that he is asleep." He looked down at his son, the boys head resting on his lap. He gingerly moved Hesperos' head so that he could get up and then tucked his son in, kissing him gently on the cheek, the forehead and the nose.

"Hades loves you," he said in the smallest whisper to his son, stood up and walked out of Hesperos' room with his wife.

"You told him the story of us again?" Persephone asked her husband.

"Yes, he wanted me to tell it… you know he loves our story," Hades said, walking with his wife to their own chambers.

"I know,"

They both entered their quarters and got directly in bed.

"Goodnight, Persephone," Hades said, giving his wife the kiss on the lips which he had saved specially for her.

"Hades loves you," he whispered gently to her and they slept in peace.