Hades and Persephone Ch 15 2.docx

1、Hades and Persephone Ch 15 2Sisyphus ismineto deal with, and I assure you my justice will be hard and swift, he growled.Youll never get the chance to exact it, Aidoneus! Hermes said. The world is ending. Because you insist on keepingherthe world is ending!Hasnt yourkingtaken enough from me already?!

2、 He leaned forward and gripped the arms of his throne, his knuckles turning white. That scroll you delivered was adeclaration of war!Aidon, my beloved, no Persephone said, her voice low. She placed a hand on his. He turned to her and caught it in his grasp.What choice are they giving me? he pleaded,

3、 wide eyed. What choice do I have?! You heard what he said!Reason with your husband, madam. The world cannot surviveYou will be silent, Hermes! she said, her voice ringing through the hall. She turned back to Aidon and stroked his cheek. My love, think about what youre saying.I have, sweet one, he r

4、umbled. Ive thought about this from the moment Charon ferried me across the river all those thousands of years ago. He turned to address Hermes. If it were not for me, if it were not for everymomentI spent planning, fighting,killingin the Titanomachy, they would all be in Tartarus right now! Iwon th

5、at warfor them and this is the thanks I get?! Is it not enough that I was forced to be the warden of Tartarus, night and day, for all eternity?!But, AidonIf it were not for my own accursed suggestion to divide the lots, I would be sitting Olympus right now, ruling over all by birthright, instead of

6、beingdiscardeddown here! I should have trusted my instincts andneverleft the rulership of the cosmos to that bloviating, philandering fool!She turned to him, shocked. Aidon, what are you saying?That I should have done this aeons ago, and now is the time to correct my mistake! They are weak. Look at

7、them cower before us even now, Hades said, pointing dismissively at Hermes. Every moment that Demeter starves the earth only enriches our kingdom and weakens theirs.Persephone watched the rims of his irises begin to glow with the fires of the Phlegethon. She shook her head gently, considering her ne

8、xt words carefully, and spoke to him where Hermes could not hear them.I cannot support you in this.Aidoneus, please. Tartarus is reaching through you. CronusThis has nothing to do with my father!He turned away from her frightened gaze.He has no power over me.But these are not your words, she said.Th

9、ey sound like his!Cant you see what is happening?!His eyes returned to dark brown and grew wide, his panic palpable.They are separating us forever! Their oaths, their laws, now mean nothing and they are making you and I and every mortal on earth victims of their capriciousness! They care nothing for

10、 us, and nothing for them!He gripped her hand in his. Allow me to put end their foolishness, he said aloud.These are not your words, she repeated.I am the eldest of my generation and you of yours. You and I are the rulers of the cosmos bybirthright! It is time for us to embrace our fate, my love. Pl

11、ease; I need you. He knelt forward from his chair, and fell to his knees in front of her throne. Aidoneus took her hands in his.She looked down at him, mapping the fear and desperation on his face, her heart beating out of her chest. Persephone considered acquiescing considered telling him to unleas

12、h the Erinyes, the Keres, the Tribe of the Oneiroi, the Hundred Handed Ones, all their innumerable allies and go to war. Then she remembered what she had seen in Tartarus. The throne. The fall. The rising embers. Destruction. Rape. Death.Aidoneus squeezed her hands, drawing her attention back from t

13、hose frightful visions. The Olympians have never taken responsibility the way that you and I would look how they wantonly destroy the very threads of existence itself! Youknowin your heart that we can rule more justly than they ever did. Say the word, Persephone, and we will cast down these oath bre

14、akers. I will exalt you as queen of heaven, the earth and the seas, of everything above and below. You and I will reign over the cosmos and restore order and honor and justice.Persephone shook her head in horror. Absolute power drove your father to madness, Aidoneus. Just as it did to your grandfath

15、er. It will do the same to you and to me. And to any immortal. We are the rulers beneath the earth, and only there. And the earth above isdying! Chthonias borders are weakened, and we must tend to our own realm.Theyre not as weak as you think, he muttered, out of earshot of Hermes. And neither are w

16、e.You saw what happened when they tried to take Sisyphus to the Pit. Nothing is safe anymore, my love. You know whatheshowed us! Cronus and the rest of the Titans will break free if this disaster continues. They will killeverything. Destroyeverything; destroy us! He is influencing you even nowPlease

17、, Persephone, he supplicated. My wife, my queen, I ambeggingyou to join me! Theyll take you away from me forever if you dont!He was right. She would never see him again. He would never hold her, they would never wake up in the grove as they had this morning, and he would never be able to whisper to

18、her again that he loved her. But if she supported him, they would witness the end of all things. The unthinkable would happen. They, the deathless ones, would die.Aidon, she said, and squeezed his hand. Husband. You once told me that youve loved me forever; that you would love me until the stars wer

19、e shaken out of the sky.He squeezed his eyes shut to keep the welling tears from streaming down his face. Persephone brushed her hand along his cheek, and he shivered. Persephone.please, he whispered.Are you ready for that? Do you really want that so soon?No! He looked up at her again. No, sweet one

20、, we have time. We can cast them down; you and I can save this world together he said, his eyes watering as his voice choked.Everything will end, my beloved. The heavens, the earth, you and I, everything, she said, watching Aidoneus shoulders slump involuntarily, knowing in his heart that she was ri

21、ght. She ran her hand along his face, tracing his cheek as she spoke, her palm now wet with his tears. But before it does, if you do this, Tartarus will be unleashedNo.and every threat Cronus made against you and me will come to passPersephone, dont! His voice cracked over a whisper. Please dont.No,

22、 my lord husband. You asked for my counsel. But before you ask me again to join you in declaring war on Olympus, hear this, she shuddered, then composed herself. You and I already know the outcome. We were there; we saw it. The last thing you will see before the end of all things, the very last time

23、 we will look into each others eyes, will be as Cronus devours my violated body.He stared up at her. Aidoneus was motionless, his eyes staring through her, fixed and dark and distant.Is that what you want?Silence filled the room. Then Hades Aidoneus, Lord of the Underworld, crumpled forward, his for

24、ehead falling into his wifes lap. His entire body wrenched and shook, and he wrapped his arms around the small of her back. A long, tortured wail echoed through the hall, a sound shed never heard before from him. Persephone ran her hands through his hair and huddled over him, shaking, tears pouring

25、down. Aidoneus gasped in air around each sob. Hermes held his breath and took several steps back, the scene before him terrifying and unsettling. Hades shuddered quietly, going silent.I was finally happy, he whispered, his words muffled as his hands balled into fists in the skirts of her peplos. She

26、 sucked in deep breaths, trying to steady her voice and calm her heartbeat. She needed to be strong for him. Tears spilled out anyway. Persephone stroked her husbands back and hunched forward to kiss him on the back of his head. He whispered it again. I was finally happy. Fates, for the first time i

27、n my life.I will come back to you. Iwillfind a way back to you; I promise. she whispered against his neck. They cannot keep us apart. Ill find a way. I love you, Aidoneus! Ill find a way, I love you. I love you.Hermes turned away as bile crawled up his throat, sickened at himself and his orders. Hed

28、 listened to Apollo singing about love, hed used the word enough times to lay with nymphs and mortal women, and had even bedded the goddess of love herself. This was different.Aidoneus wasnt his king, but hed always deeply respected him. Having seen all that the gods did to mankind and to each other

29、, even what hehimselfhad done, he doubted he could say the same for many of the other immortals. Even his own father. Hermes walked out to the terrace and bent down to retrieve his hat. Hades was willing to tear down Olympus and end the world to keep her. Could he have ever said that of a woman, exc

30、ept when he was in the middle of seducing one? Who among the others loved their mate enough to not only stay true to them, but to wager their immortality to stay with them? Hermes looked out at the swarms of souls crowding the far shore of the Styx.He could do it,the Messenger thought with a shiver.

31、Not easily, but he has no idea how weak we truly are right now.He toyed in his mind with the idea of we a bit longer than he should have. Hermes knew his history. Prometheus and Epimetheus, the Titan sons of Iapetos, along with Helios and Selene, Hyperions twins, had sided with the Children of Cronus during the Titanomachy. Turning against his kin and king wasnt outside the realm of possibility. He paused, grinding his teeth, trying to picture a cosmos ruled by the austere masters of this realm.It doesnt matter, he thought.If it came to war, there would be nothing left to rule over.Mes