the king of the death was tired . his usual flawless face now had bags under his eyes . it was hard for him , not knowing . he knew his brother had many ( many ) enemies . “ but who is stronger than the king of the gods ? ” he mumbled , not even realizing the words had left his mouth .
“my love.” the words are gentle as is their presence as persephone steps into the room. the news of his death had shook the gods but most of all she saw a change in hades and his brother, posideon. fear had settled in the goddess’ heart since the news. a gentle touch to his cheek, a thumb brushing against his stubble. “when is the last time you rested?”
gany stays true to his word – tucking hair behind his ear, rocking on his heels and staying quiet before 27, 28, 29, 30 – “okay, one. you’re getting grass stains on those nice pants. two – you’ve got a leaf in your hair.” he plucks it free before letting the wind take it.
“that’s all the bad news i’ve got right now. want to buy me a coffee?”
30 seconds of lurking over their shoulder didn’t sound like peace but they were a master at tuning out everything but nature around them. having their whole life to master such an art, persephone just sat in perfect silence until the hero broke it again with speech. a small smile ghosted across her lips as she listened. “stains can be removed,” the goddess counters as they look up at him and laughter followed the statement of the leaf.
buy him the coffee? the ghost of a smile picks up to a real grin as they stand, dusting off their “stained” pants and looking over at him curiously. “do you make a habit of asking for people to buy you things?” she wasnt offended or anything of the like, in fact she found it adorable and refreshing. “come on then, lets go get coffee.” persephone wasn’t much of a coffee drinker (she much preferred tea) but the company could be nice to have after recent events. at least with company the grief of losing her brother-in-law was pushed aside for now.
a soft chuckle passes their lips , before they let out a sigh when they feel the warmth of the sun on their skin — thankful for the gentle breeze that briefly quietens the insistent murmurs from beyond the grave. ‘ you and me both , ’ they start , inviting themselves to sit next to the other goddess. ‘ how have you been ? ’
How bitter her words could sound to the other goddess, though with a sigh Persephone shrugs as it to shake the question from tense shoulders. The death of Zeus plagues their thoughts as of late and it creeps to that of the quiet hours as well. If they had been mortal then nightmares were certainly in the books for their sleeping hours as well but luck graced them to be born a Goddess.
Eyes finally open as Melinoë takes a seat next to them, turning attention toward the other. “I have been worse but I have been better as well.” The truth for today is an okay day but there have been days previous even better (and worse, she admits). “Are you alright?”
There is sunshine on her face and that’s all Persephone could ask for in this moment. Quiet, sitting in the open grass with fingers running through the lush greenery, they felt at peace. The constant fear that seems to encircles her heart since the death of Zeus has left them cold and jumpy. But in this moment Persephone has found peace.
Eyes closed and face to the sky they send a silent thank you to Apollo for the warmth of the day. Approaching footsteps give them a sick feeling in her stomach and she doesn’t open her eyes but speaks. “If it’s bad news, please let me stay like this just a minute more.”
PERSEPHONE, GODDESS OF SPRING & QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD.
hande ercel, genderqueer. ––– persephone, dignitary of the springtime, rebirth, and the underworld. they appear to be twenty seven years old , but really they’re as old as time itself. they remind me of the smell of freshly picked flowers from your garden, dreaming of something bigger, and delicately made flower crowns that seem to drip with magic. [ @neongodsarchive ]
persephone is regarded as a young goddess, something akin to a child in the pantheon despite her great power and position as queen of the underworld. most still see her as a soft and gentle, almost naïve kind of person. some are shocked to find that persephone is the one in charge of punishments for souls of the underworld.
her birth name was kore and when they married hades, they changed her name to persephone. kore means maiden or innocent and she no longer felt as if that name was totally fitting for who they had become. her new name was regarded as their rebirth and she became “the bringer of death”.
depending on who you ask it may also have meaning for “destroyer of light” and “destroyer of death”. the second one more closely relating to her spring time powers of rebirth and growth.
uses both she / her + they / them pronouns interchangeably. does not mind he / him either though most tend to refer to persephone as the femme as they present as such. persephone is still referred to as “daughter” of demeter and that is fine and comfortable with them. the title goddess does not bother her either, but there is a bit of a pride swell when someone calls them “god of” instead. hades can use any title for persephone such as wife, partner, spouse, etc and it will not bother them at all.
THE STORY OF PERSEPHONE.
the daughter of demeter and wife of hades. persephone had felt suffocated by their mother after so long of being by her side and wanted something more for herself. the plan had not been to marry hades, in fact they hadn’t planned on marrying anyone or losing their maiden goddess status. she had run away from demeter in a desperate attempt to find her own place in the world and unknowingly had run straight into the underworld.
she had not expected to be met with such kindness from hades. she fell in love while they were there with him. demeter, unable to find her daughter, stopped tending to the earth and plunged the world into it’s first cold season (later named winter). eventually demeter learned of persephone’s hiding spot from hecate who had spied the young goddess with hades in one of her many trips too and from the underworld.
furious with hades for “kidnapping” her daughter, demeter began terrorizing the world and threatening to bring hordes to the underworld in order to bring back her daughter. zeus, aware of the goings on, stepped in and ordered persephone back to her mother. in a quick thinking, persephone ate six pomegranate seeds in a desperate attempt not to have to leave the underworld. upon learning they had done that, demeter spread the lies that hades had tricked her innocent maiden daughter into this. as a compromise, zeus stated that persephone was to spend six months with hades and six with demeter.
now as persephone spends those months with her husband, demeter does not tend to the earth and the seasons formed. when persephone must leave the underworld, the earth grows new with her presence and the cold is melted as her mother’s love spreads the earth with warmth.
HAPPINESS GUARANTEED.
after marriage with hades, there was a lot that they had to adapt to. a different kind of life, people begin to see persephone as someone other than her mother’s daughter & respect started to be shown to the goddess. persephone was never used to a lavish or expensive lifestyle before meeting hades and afterwards took much convincing for her to exude that kind of power over other people in order to have such a life. she was always in the habit of doing for themself and because of it lacked the ability to order about or ask people to do something for them.
life in the underworld became just a little more lively with tthem around, her own aura of warmth and beauty extending into the realm of the dead. people coming to the underworld found kindness and graciousness within persephone and she was often the one to help heroes find their way out (though not easily but doable) of the world into the upper again. cruelness is not in persephone’s nature and even those punished within in depth of the underworld or even tartarus are only done so fairly and with as much respect as they can give the souls. as the goddess of both rebirth and now death, she holds particular ideals about how both the dead and the alive should be treated.
MEET THE WRITER.
hey all ! name’s ace and i’m going to be writing persephone, wife of hades & daughter of demeter. you can find me on discord for plotting. i’m a full time working adult so activity will fluctuate so please don’t be alarmed if it takes me days to reply to a thread. i’m also severely adhd and i chase what makes me happy so some threads just get more replies than others depending on what sparks that joy. please don’t take this personally. you’re always welcome to poke me a reminder once in a while if i haven’t replied because i may have lost and/or forgot about the thread.
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