Even on the first of the steps, with sunlight still upon them, a cold air drifted up from the depths and enveloped the dark god and his spring goddess. Soon, there was nothing but the cold. There was wetness in the dark—a dewy chill in the air, and glistening moisture on the cave's weeping walls. Somewhere beyond the veil of darkness there was a sound that may have been the murmuring of water, and a distorted dripping that sounded less like itself the more one listened.

Hades moved down steep and treacherous steps without the need to see, and he was glad for a moment that she could neither see him. He didn't speak to her, though he wanted to offer her words of comfort and love; not here. He made himself like stone, both against her physical struggles and any words or sounds borne of her fear. There was nothing he could say, here and now, to help her. It would be better, soon.

As the bottom of the steps approached, an unearthly light began to break through the emptiness. It should probably not even be described as light, but rather, a softness. A touch of color and smoky mist that lent outlines to the two immortals and the cavern around them. The sound of water grew louder, though the sound was still and perhaps not akin at all to the sounds beneath the darkness of the stairwell.

Suddenly, everything opened up before them. Hades stepped out into a cave that was not a cave—a space that was dark and cold that had the distinct feeling of being inside, though every direction that one looked there was no ceiling or walls except around the cave from whence they came. And even that, now, appeared to be the foot of a great mountain, whose top they could not see and whose sides curved sharply away from the river that lay before them.

The water was black, inky black, though that may only be the world around them reflected in its surface. For a moment there was nothing, only the water and the fog. But then a light penetrated the silvery mists. A light it was in truth, but small and threatened by the darkness around it. It shone, but only so far, before the very nature of the Underworld devoured its efforts.

The light was attached to the front of a small boat, which came to rest at the edge of the water, waiting. Hades moved closer and the ferryman at the boat's head came into to view. Only just, as his cloak was black as everything else and it cast a shadow over any glimpse of his true features. The man, or spirit, or whatever it may be, nodded his head respectfully to his approaching lord.

Hades stopped before stepping onto the boat. Without looking at her, he asked Persephone, "May I set you down?" and the intent of the question was clear. Would she ride in the boat with him, without causing trouble, knowing there was no place for her to run? Or would she continue to assert her light and her life against the power of all that she was not?

ooOoo

He began walking into the dark with her, and Persephone began to cry. She couldn't help but letting a small whimper as they walked into the terrible darkness. But, soon her fear was overpowered by her frustration and anger, even as the dark touched her skin—which was painful for a creature that had never been touched by darkness. She could feel it wash over her and creep all over her skin. Her fear was overpowered by her despair.

All along, her mother had been right. Her mother knew that all men were like this. And because of her daughter's foolishness, because of Persephone's naivety, she had trusted a being that her mother had always warned against. She was trapped and all hope was lost. She would be taken and kept away from her mother for all eternity, all because she had believed that this one god could be different. But he wasn't different; he just played a different game from the rest.

"I am such a fool." She said through her tears. She didn't speak again for the rest of their journey, but her tears became more and more sorrowful. She trembled with fear, but her tears grew deeper and deeper with despair. She knew it was all over... She might never see the sunlight again. She would be trapped in this darkness, in the cold, for all eternity, all for the pleasure of her captor. And when her thoughts went further than that, she shivered with a new fear of what his plans were for her. He was her father's brother after all.

She knew they were moving, and she knew it was getting colder and colder, but she couldn't see anything. He could have been standing still and gently rocking her for all she could tell. Eventually, she saw a small something through the darkness. She couldn't call it light, but it wasn't darkness either. It was just… a brighter darkness, strangely.

They came to a strange dark water that was unlike any she had ever seen before. It was thick and dark and it reflected nothing. As frightening as the darkness was, she found that she would rather be back in total darkness then go anywhere near that awful stuff. As they came closer and closer, she realized that the soft, tiny light, which was not even as bright as the light that radiated off of her own skin, was attached to a boat. Inside of a boat was a ferryman that she could not really see well. Her eyes had a difficult time adjusting to the darkness, even with the light, and her tears made it even more difficult. But, it was like he wasn't real; He was a shadow that moved on his own. He was darkness that was alive. She had nothing to fear from him of course—for she was a goddess—and even in this darkness, she could tell that there was nothing this spirit could do to harm her. But he certainly didn't make her happy. The only thing she really had to fear was the being holding her. Hades was the only one that could overpower her, but this was his kingdom. She had no power against him, and the thoughts of his intentions brought a new wave of fear and despair into her heart.

He hadn't spoken a word to her the entire journey. He didn't speak to her... And Persephone realized that he didn't care about speaking to her. Whatever impressions she had gotten of him from their tree was a lie. He wanted to deceive her enough for this moment. He must have been planning this from the moment he met her, and she was stupid enough to fall for his tricks. He didn't care about her feelings or how terrified she was. He only cared about one thing: keeping her here forever, against her will, all for his own pleasure. He would keep her down here, regardless of how she felt about it, because how she felt was irrelevant to him. He had tricked her, and now he would keep her here to force himself on her whenever he pleased. He would do his brother, her father, proud.

When he asked if he could put her down in the boat, she understood the question. He was asking if he could put her down without a fuss. As terrified as she was of him, she couldn't stand how he was speaking to her now. It was condescending, and no one had ever spoken to her that way. She was sad and scared, but she was a goddess, even if she wasn't as strong as he was. She took a deep breath and slowed her tears long enough to raise her eyes and glare at him.

"Put. Me. Down." She said slowly and hatefully. She could do nothing in this darkness and cold. She could feel her powers limited in this world, so she knew there was nothing she could do to fight him. But the more she thought about it, she could feel a coldness of her very own spreading through her heart, and she wanted to move away from him immediately. She might be trapped in the darkness and cold, but she would not be in his arms.

ooOoo

Persephone's words cut through him like a hot knife, but the dark god's still expression did not change. Hades set her down, slowly, silently, and felt the warmth of her closeness melt away from him. Where it left, he did not regain himself. He was just… empty.

But he would not allow himself to think his actions a mistake. He looked at her, finally, in that whispering darkness. And she was beautiful.

For all that the power of his realm had tried to steal the light from her, she kept herself, perhaps better than she knew. She was color and life in a place that knew them only as distant memories. She could not shine like the sun, for the Underworld quenched all that was given, but she held light in her skin and in her eyes. She could be a goddess of the moon or the stars with such a light that defied the darkness but did not break it. It was cruel and yet fitting that the God of the Underworld should lose his splendor in the harsh light of day, yet the earth's Goddess of Life, brought into his world, became only a different kind of magnificent.

Her face was wet with the tears she had cried in their descent, but it was anger that stirred in her expression now. Hades clenched his teeth at the concrete sight of her anguish, and for a moment he had to avert his eyes again. He stepped into the boat, and only then did he turn back to her, thinking to offer his hand to steady her as she followed. But, he quickly thought better of it.

The boat began moving, almost imperceptively, as soon as the two of them were aboard. Though even that gentle of a motion may be enough to put one off balance, Hades remained standing, watching to see what Persephone would do.

He had put so much thought into how he would take her. He could have used his power to bring them straight to his castle, bypassing all these usual channels, and have her safe there even now. But she would still be screaming and fearful, and his home would be nothing but a prison in her eyes. A prison surrounded by darkness that she would never want to venture out and see.

This choice was harder for him, both to control her and to bear witness to the worst of her resistance, but he believed it would be the best for her. He could not make the transition from light to darkness any less stark, but at least for the rest of the way she would have time to calm and to process the strange world around her. Though already she looked at what little she had seen with fear and hatred, it was only because of the circumstances. She just needed time. Hades thought of Hera's words to him in the Heavenly Gardens, about how Persephone would learn to love being a queen. But it wasn't the titles and power that he hoped she could grow accustomed to.

"No harm will come to you here," he said, trying to offer comfort. His voice was as gentle as it had been in the flowering tree, but in the world that he ruled it was difficult for him to not seem commanding. He wanted so badly to gather her up again in his arms, and hold her close and kiss her and whisper soothing words. But he didn't want to frighten her, any more than she already was.

He moved closer to her and reached out a hand, cautious, just to brush his fingers past her hair. "Please don't be afraid," he said softly.

ooOoo

She got into the boat without a fuss, but she did not sit. The black water terrified her, and she did not want to get closer to it by sitting. Every movement the boat made was far too violent, and she could imagine the boat tipping over and the dark water swallowing her up. The ferrymen was rowing in very steady and smooth strokes, but no matter how still he kept the boat, she could just imagine falling into the thick blackness. The water didn't even make any sound.

He spoke to her, but she didn't reply. His words were meaningless. He had proven that he only cared for his own desires, and she would not accept any more lies. She thought back to their moments in her tree and how easily she had been tricked. At least other goddesses (and even mortal women) had the excuse of being forced physically by hungry gods. She had been defeated because she wasn't clever enough to see through his words. She had been shamed by her own foolishness and stupidity. But Persephone swore to learn from her mistake. All might be lost, and she might be trapped in this horrible darkness for all eternity, but she would learn from her mistake. She wasn't going to listen to his words anymore.

When he touched her hair, she couldn't hold back her anger any longer. She was careful not to move very much, in fear of the boat tipping over, but she turned to send him a glare that her mother would have been proud of.

"Don't you dare lie to me anymore. I will not listen to another word you say."

And with that, all of the anger that she could summon was gone, for it was against her nature to hold a grudge, even against a god that had destroyed her future. Life was about growing and moving forward, and the nature of hate went against the most basic concept of life. Hate lead to destruction, not creation, and Persephone had to make a great effort to hold on to it for very long. Once the powerful emotion faded away, her eyes lowered and the fierce anger melted away, leaving her features soft and pretty, although it was tainted with deep despair.

"I should have known though. You are my father's brother after all." She turned away from him, hoping to find a few moments of solitude before they reached their destination and all was lost. She wanted to be alone in her despair.

She wondered if her mother had even realized what had happened to her yet. She wondered if the rest of the gods and goddesses knew how Hades had tricked the stupid Persephone, and now she was a fallen goddess, trapped for all eternity in the Underworld. She thought of the tree, which had inspired Persephone to rise into her role as Goddess of Life. It had grown for her, but she had blessed it because of the moments she had shared with Hades, which were all lies.

Persephone had no way of knowing, but on the surface, her dear tree was dying. All of the flowers fell off of the trees, and it seemed as if it was completely dead. Demeter looked upon this tree, seeing it die on the outside, yet she felt that the core of the tree still lived and waited. And Persephone's mother knew that there was still hope.