In the dark room furnished with splendid tapestries and heavy silk curtains, Persephone lay sobbing forlornly to herself. Her mind still relived the terrible journey down the strange, unpleasant world. She remembered flying on the chariot of beaten gold across the black rivers, the innumerable moving shades lingered by a massive gate. She saw a gigantic beast with three bobbing heads, barking in a fit of excitement.

The frightened maiden cried and tried to wriggle herself free, but the strong grip that held her was unshakable. Her pleas and protests went unheard. All she saw from the black-robbed woman that had taken her against her will was the same pale mask-like face. And when those sparkling dark eyes turned to her, they pierced through her soul with such intensity, Persephone felt a gripping chill in her body. Then, everything else passed by in a blur.

The next thing she reckoned, she was in this great chamber all alone.

Persephone had questioned what she had done to merit such cruelty, but she found no mistake in her past, nor had she remembered having offended the Mistress of Soul. So why did this dreadful goddess take her down to the Underworld? Her mother would be worried sick and frantic when she did not see her returning home.

Now, Persephone longed for the comfort of her mother's ample bosom. The whole time, she wept, thinking of the Earth Goddess, of her nymph companions, who pleased her moods with many a quip and jest.

The distraught goddess continued to sob by the side of the bronze brazier, which burned with bright purple flames. Its light only made the room gloomier. It was a long time later that the grieving maiden finally fell asleep in exhaustion.

While she was sleeping, the door opened soundlessly. Then entered a robust, nimble figure in an impossibly long black tunic that dragged across the floor.

Hades's shadow loomed over the unconscious maiden. She watched her for a moment before she knelt beside Persephone. The goddess reached her hand out to touch that tear-stained cheek. Hades felt an unfamiliar pang of pity for the girl, but she knew that this was the only way she could have her.

Persephone's skin was warm against her cold fingers, so warm and soft that Hades, who was afraid of no one, became terrified of spoiling such a delicate thing. The dark goddess felt her heart quicken inside her chest. The beats were loud and unsettling to her ears. She withdrew her hand from the sleeping maiden and stood up again. Then, after a few moments passed in silence, Hades tore her ardent gaze away from the girl and left the chamber.

After the next few days of haste and strangeness, Persephone began to feel less frightened. Though she was sadder and lonelier, she found herself unable to cry despite the unkind reality. She hardly had any tears left.

During her unwilling stay, Persephone was attended to by the maids of Hades's Palace. They were the Underworld nymphs, daughters of the River Styx, Cocytus, or Acheron. They had intriguing beauty, but Persephone found them rather strange and different from the nymphs in her mother's woods. They rarely spoke, let alone gossip or sing. The young goddess could learn nothing from them.

Each morning, the bath was already prepared for her in the next chamber. It had an indoor pool, which was filled with fragrant warm water. Fleecy towels and a jeweled comb and a flask of perfumed oil were laid ready, along with dresses spun of gold and silver thread.

The nymphs also brought to her chamber the most delicious foods, but Persephone made herself difficult to please. She would not eat nor drink. She was also waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. Persephone waited and waited until she nearly lost her mind to anxiety and silence.

 On the seventh night, while she was asleep on her grandiose bed, a strange chill came over her. She stirred but did not wake. She heard a powerful voice speaking into her ear, a resonant golden voice speaking so softly that she thought she was dreaming.

"You are Persephone, the most beautiful maiden in all the world. Beautiful enough to make even the goddess of love grow jealous. I have longed for you so much so that I do not know what else to do."

Persephone slowly opened her heavy-lidded eyes. Yet, she saw no one in the room. As she drifted back to sleep, she felt the weight of warm softness pressing hummingly upon her. There was a tranquilizing feeling coursing through her body, and she sighed. In a dream-like state, she sensed a soft fluttering upon her chest, going up her exposed throat and warm cheeks. It was like wet cotton or the belly of plump bees pressing upon her skin - it was like cold lips moving sweetly with passion. Her whole body began to burn hot underneath her thin silk gown. It was then that she realized something, or rather someone, was moving stealthily atop her and pleasuring her.

A sudden fear recoiled like a snake in the pit of her stomach, and Persephone snapped wide awake. Her hands instinctively pushed the invisible weight off of her.

She sat up.

Her brilliant eyes opened and looked straight at the pair of obsidian ones, although she could not see them.

"Who's that?" Persephone cried.

She could hear another heavy breathing and the thumping of a heart as quick as her own. In the deep silence, right in front of her, a radiant face revealed itself. First, she saw the elegant, narrow jaw, then the proud cheekbones followed by a pair of shimmering eyes as black as the River Styx. Silken strands of raven hair unraveled and flowed thickly over a set of slender shoulders.

Hades appeared out of the darkness after she removed the Helm of Invisibility from her head.

Persephone gasped at the sight of the goddess. And she recoiled from Hades in fright.

"Your unexpected coldness towards me," Hades began to speak, eyes piercing, "has shown me how fruitless my patience is with you."

Persephone was too shocked to speak. She kept looking at the goddess with fearful eyes, but this only led Hades to her distress, and she tried to act tenderly to ease the maiden's dread.

"Don't be afraid of me," she said again, her voice softened even more. "You know not the power which impelled me to do what I have done."

Just then, Persephone was reminded of the cruel way Hades had frightened her when she came charging out of that hole with her golden chariot. She finally found her voice again and spoke to the dark mistress in disdain.

"Why did you bring me here? Take me back to my mother immediately. I want to go home!"

"This is your home now, Persephone," Hades said. "You can have everything that is mine. Everything you ever wanted. Now that the gods already know of our meeting this way, I shall confess of my great affection towards you. Stay here with me, sweet Persephone, and be my loving spouse."

"No! My mother is waiting for me. I have flowers to tend to. Here is not the world where I long to be!" Persephone began to cry, large tears rolled like sparkling diamonds down her cheeks.

“But I want you here,” Hades said. “I will make you queen. I would do anything to please your heart. Anything you wish.”

"No!” Persephone cried. “If you don't return me to my beloved mother, I shall starve and die of sorrow. I refuse to succumb to your will. When my body withers and turns to dust, you shall know you are the cause that draws me to my doom."

Hades frowned deeply at the maiden's declaration.

"Persephone, I began to feel a strange passion since the day I met you," the goddess said again. "It’s been tormenting my heart and even more so now that you are so stubborn. I shall risk the wrath of your mother and make you mine anyway."

"No! Take me back! Take me back! I want to go home! I don't want to be here with you!" Persephone covered her face with her hands and cried harder. Hades’s dark vermillion lips pressed into a hard line in frustration.

Persephone could sense that the older woman was furious, but she kept on weeping ceaselessly.

Hades then rose from the bed with a disappointed sigh.

"Cry all you want!" The dark goddess told her in an exasperated voice. "But you will remain here with me forever and always. The Underworld is your home now." 

With that said, Hades stormed off and left the room.

After the heavy doors slammed shut, Persephone heard Hades's angry voice echoing down the hallway.

"She's like a baby! Never stop crying!" Hades spoke to someone. "She won't listen to me. The gods be damned!"

Another voice replied in a shilling, high-pitched tone, "Give her some time, good Hades. Soon, she will learn to appreciate your company."

"I do hope so, or she will surely bring madness upon my mind!"

Persephone listened as their footsteps reverberated from the chamber and faded into the still air. Then she curled herself up into a ball, and a while later, her pillows were drenched from soaking away the tears of her despair.