WHEN THE SEASONS CHANGE | Hades X Reader
Hades X Persephone!Reader | Record of Ragnarok
"In which the god of the underworld falls in love with a young goddess of spring."
WARNING. stalking, hades being a little creep(?), reader is persephone. FEMALE READER
Among the deities of the Greek pantheon, (Name) was always a curious little thing compared to everyone else around her. The strange momentary union between the king of the gods and the goddess of agriculture came unexpectedly. When the young goddess was born, her mother, Demeter, took her in her arms for the first time and swore to herself that she would never allow anything to happen to her sweet girl.
(Name) grew up and lived in her mother's domain, who kept her away from the eyes of others and any greed of thirsty gods. The girl on the other hand, was eventually becoming a beautiful and adorable deity.
Something her mother always told her was to never go to corners of Valhalla that did not belong to her domain, or any corner where the young goddess was not under her watchful eye. (Name) however, never worried about such words, obeying her mother without any protest, preferring to be among the beauty of the flowers and the abundant flora than among so many gods with curious looks.
Zeus was an interesting father, but he rarely saw her; on one of those rare encounters, where (Name) was walking through a forest right before playing with some flowers that sprouted from the ground thanks to her presence. Her father appeared and became very excited when he invited her to her first meeting among the gods, where every thousand years they would all come together in a great council and decide the fate of humanity.
Her mother, of course, immediately objected, firmly stating that there was no need for her daughter's presence as she was still a young deity and that she did not wish to expose her so soon to all those male gods so eager to feel at least a single taste of his much-loved daughter. And if (Name) didn't want to go, she definitely wouldn't have to.
And oh, how Demeter wished she had denied it. But (Name) put on her best dress made of flowers and roots that matched her (h/c) hair that was always blowing in the wind adorned with small flower petals scattered among its strands, and decided with determination that she would attend.
(Name) always thought that her first time at the council of the gods wouldn't be a big deal, but oh, she barely noticed when she started getting looks from all around, which were furiously returned by the icy, dangerous-looking gaze coming from the goddess of agriculture, who uttered words like “stay away from my daughter”.
Gods from different pantheons who observed with curiosity — others even with desire — the mysterious so-called goddess of spring of the Greek pantheon who for some reason was so well kept from everyone.
When the council finally began, (Name) sat in her seat among so many others — Demeter at her side, as always — and listened to everything her father, in the center, had to say, about how humanity could be poor and at the same time beautiful, and how mortals could or could not receive back everything they accomplished, whether good or bad. Some gods had their own arguments, about how they deserved to perish or live. Some of them just interested in causing disorder instead of really caring about such things done by humanity, others wishing they lived because they deserved it, despite the world being beautiful and also cruel. Others just remained silent listening attentively to everything the council had to argue.
And he was one of those last.
Initially, (Name) was able to notice that someone was watching her longer than usual; Normally, Demeter would notice even before she did and would make such a deity look away immediately. However, the older goddess was too busy having her own arguments, whether good or bad.
The feeling never disappeared since the beginning of the council, and trying to remain discreet so that no one would notice that something was bothering her, from the corner of her eye (Name) carefully observed any corner of that place in search of that god or goddess that the watched tirelessly. And then, her eyes met him.
At no point did he remove his gaze from her, even after she noticed. He was a deity of the Greek pantheon, and she recognized that guy very well, even though she had never met him in person. He was a tall, well-built man with platinum hair and was well dressed, his serious face, one of whose eyes was covered by a type of mask with a bright blue sphere. One of his parents' older brothers, Hades, the ruler of Helheim.
(Name) felt her body a little strange, not because of discomfort caused by that powerful god, but out of curiosity. Why did he look at her more than the others?
The young goddess was barely able to pay attention to the rest of the council and all the words spoken went in one ear and out the other, as if they were just muffled sounds in the distance. The feeling of being watched never disappearing, (Name) having the desire to be able to look at in the corner of her eye again only for their eyes to meet again, as she knew very well that he remained the entire meeting looking directly at her.
She wondered if everything that was said at the meeting also went in one ear and out the other for him.
In the end, Demeter instructed her daughter to return to her palace where they both lived. (Name) obeyed, however, before leaving, she saw him again. Some god was talking to him about something, he seemed barely aware that Hades' gaze remained fixed on her. The young goddess looked at him one last time and disappeared along with the wind that carried flower petals into the air.
And then spring arrived.
As time passed, (Name)'s visits to Valhalla became more and more common, but not frequent; especially when the young goddess ended up making a friend with the goddess of love, Aphrodite, who seemed extremely excited about something involving (Name).
In this period of time, all the previous sensations felt by her during the council returned from time to time, whether in Valhalla or in some other realm. (Name) knew he was watching her from afar. She didn't feel scared, on the contrary, curiosity spread throughout her divine body when she thought about that god, wondering why he was watching her so much, at that point, Demeter would have already intervened, and like her mother until that moment didn't show any reaction, (Name) guessed that she most likely still didn't even have in mind what was happening between her beloved daughter and the ruler of Helheim.
Not that anything was really happening, sometimes, during the very few moments they met — which basically consisted of events happening in Valhalla, he was always with one of his brothers and she was with her mother or Aphrodite — they never even exchanged a one single word, just quick glances, he kept while she looked away when he noticed.
He didn't look at her seriously, much less severely, nor with disgust. His look conveyed something that seemed more genuine, as if he wanted to get closer to her but never knew how, maybe greet her and kiss her hand. However, he just looked away back to what he was focused on as nothing happened. And then everything was repeated.
The only time (Name) felt watched outside of Valhalla was when she was in an open field in Midgard as she used to do for fun or just to pass the time. She sat on the greenish grass in front of a lake where a large group of different flowers with different colors were blooming around it, giving the field a more lived-in look along with some trees present there.
And then it was as if the air had cooled and all that color was slowly disappearing as the flowers were dying. (Name) stood up and looked back, and then she saw him. Hades was standing about ten meters behind her, with his usual well-groomed appearance and elegant suit; the common stoic face looking straight at her. (Name) didn't move, didn't get closer, much less try to run away. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, until he slowly approached, and she finally said something.
— "Why are you here?"
— "I wanted to see you." — It was the first time she heard his voice, it was worthy of a powerful god, it only sounded melodious to her thanks to the way he spoke with such calmness in his tone.
— "Why here?" — (Name)'s voice was soft like the breeze that swayed the flowers and leaves. — “We used to see each other in Valhalla... you could have talked to me a long time ago."
And then he stopped five meters away and observed her as if he were analyzing her being, (Name) almost wanted to ask another question, but her eyes met again until he said:
— “The way those other gods looked at you... in such a thirsty way as if they were doing everything to be able to resist temptation...” — He said calmly and seriously, despite his voice seeming distant. — “I felt like I couldn’t resist the urge to gouge out their eyes.”
(Name) didn't respond immediately, feeling surprised by such words spoken by the powerful god in front of her. And then she pressed her lips into a line to keep from gasping and slowly turned her body to the side, watching the flowers at her feet lose their color — not literally, but as if Hades's presence alone was enough to take away the life of anything, it was to be expected that Greek mortals would fear him so much.
— “You were also watching me...” — She murmured without taking her eyes off the flowers.
— “Not like them.”
And then her eyes met once again, (Name) felt as if she was back to her first time at the council of Valhalla, where their eyes first met that time, when he remained watching her from afar while she was unable to pay attention to anything else thanks to that.
And then the god approached again, and (Name) made no protest at that, much less when she felt him carefully hold one of her strands of hair and wrap it around his own index finger.
— “Demeter has always been very protective of you.” — He said, looking at the strand now in her palm. — “I wish I had met her sooner.” — He closed his eyes and let out a short sigh. — “I don’t blame her, to be honest. It bothers me so much just to think what would have happened if someone had gotten there before me.”
(Name) was not a fool, she recognized that there were many people out there who would love to do things against her will, Demeter always warned her to be careful, perhaps that was one of the reasons why she was such a protective mother. But (Name) never complained, after all, she loved her mother and greatly appreciated all her care.
And then she turned to face the god, and despite also being a goddess, the way Hades' aura was so powerful it even almost knocked her off balance, which was no surprise, since the he was one of the three great gods of the Greek pantheon along with Zeus and Poseidon.
— “I talked to Zeus about you.” — Hades spoke in his usual calm and stoic tone. — “He said you were a lovely goddess, you know?”
(Name) hummed in agreement. — “I once asked Aphrodite about you... she seemed pretty excited about it.” — She informed and Hades threw his head back and let out a grumble.
— “I know a lot about that woman...” — He mumbled before returning his face to the front, where (Name) could see a small frown. — “I know exactly what she plans.”
A short silence fell between the two, but it was quickly dissolved when (Name) decided to question:
— “And what does she plan?”
The god faced her in silence, taking two steps forward, making both (Name) and him feel each other's soft breathing, Hades tilting his face down so he could be face to face with the goddess.
Normally in a situation like that (Name) she would have been instructed to turn her back on the god and leave that place as quickly as possible, as Demeter had instructed her since the young goddess was able to understand the world around her. But instead she didn't move, she was curious and wanted to finally face it, she remained still in front of Hades while he moved one of his large hands against (Name)'s soft face.
And then he brought his face closer to hers.
— “Do you want to know?”
(Name)'s head slowly bobbed up and down in confirmation, and the next moment their lips came together. And he kissed her, it was a calm and unhurried kiss, but there was a flame of desire that seemed to already burn in the god's chest while something hot was lit in the goddess's.
Hades' other free hand then grabbed (Name)'s waist and pulled her closer, both of them pressing their bodies against each other while the girl's arms wrapped around the god's shoulders, pulling him closer and giving him more depth to the kiss. It was as if time had disappeared, not just time but everything around her; the sky, the wind and even the flowers. It was as if there were only both of them in the world as their lips intertwined sweetly in an act of longing.
When they separated, still extremely close and never looking away from anything other than each other, Hades ran his thumb close to the lower lip of (Name's) half-open mouth, who was panting softly and imperceptibly. The god's eyes left (Name)'s eyes to now stare at her pink lips, as if he were about to place another kiss there, this time even more intense, the goddess recognized this when she noticed a certain type of sparkle in the god's eyes in front of her.
And then he looked at her once more.
— "Close your eyes." — He instructed, and without thinking twice, (Name) obeyed.
The ground shook, but it didn't bother her. And then she heard the sound of a crater being opened, and it was when she felt the ground beneath her missing that she realized she was falling. But that didn't bother her.
Later in that same greenish and sunny field, (Name)'s mother arrives, calling her daughter after spending the whole day looking for her. But with no sign.
And then winter arrived.