Descending into Darkness Ch. 01

Hi, all. This is my first submission - I'm quite excited. I fell in love with someone else's story about Persephone and Hades and I just decided that to stem the obsession, I would have to write one myself!

Critiques are valued, but please be gentle! This is my first submission to Literotica and my first submission of writing in years.

-GP

*****

Hades allowed one finger to lazily trace an invisible circle on the arm of his massive onyx throne. Where his finger passed, a single lick of black flame followed, only to disappear in the breeze of the overcast throne room. He sighed, his chest heavy with the boredom he felt as Hermes continued to drone on.

Hermes had just delivered another soul to his Styx, where Charon was escorting the new soul into Hades' realm. The dark lord wasn't sure why Hermes felt the overwhelming need to babble every time a new soul or group of souls arrived to reside in his world, but at this point, Hades would prefer to keep these interactions brief.

In all honestly, he couldn't blame Hermes for his bubbly exuberance. He was one of the beautiful, golden, Olympian gods. Hades looked up to examine the face of the other immortal. Hermes had golden curls that fell just below his ears. His skin was a bright bronze and his green eyes shone bright; he was animated. Hades couldn't recall a time that Hermes walked like the other flightless gods. He was ever hovering with his flight-giving shoes, which exaggerated all of his movements into dramatic flourishes. On top of just being a true-to-nature, beautiful Olympian immortal, Hermes' aura shown bright like the sun. Obviously this shine was much less than that of Helios, but it was far brighter than any aura Hades' put off. The dark god extended an arm and the thin, black flames that grasped around his flesh danced with the movement. One more reason he couldn't compete with the other Olympians; one more reason he was so different from them.

"Am I boring you, my Lord?"

Hades arched one, thick black eyebrow over one pure-onyx eye as he looked up at Hermes. "My apologies, Hermes. My mind wandered elsewhere."

Hermes gave a little huff and crossed his arms, his whole body bouncing in the air with the movement. "Understandable, I suppose, my Lord."

"Understandable?" Hades questioned as he stood. Charon was almost out of sight, signaling the appropriate end to this interaction.

"Of course, my Lord. Dionysia is tonight. I know several of the other gods and goddesses are going. Aren't you also planning on attending?"

Hades pondered that a second, shifting his weight to one hip as he grasped the shaft of his bident. The weapon was long and platinum silver, the two prongs reaching well over his head. He stood just over 6 feet 4 inches, so his weapon was as impressive as his stature.

It had been many, many years since Hades had traveled to the surface. Being out of his realm drained him, so being out for any length of time was tiring. He excused himself from any future excursions with this explanation, but...it had been a long time since he talked to someone other than Cerberus, Charon, random guards, or listened to Hermes incessant chatter. He should go, if only to just escape the life of the Lord of the Underworld for an hour or two. The Dionysia festival was an animated one, with plenty of wine and theatrics. It would definitely prove an entertaining outing to be sure.

"Thank you, Hermes for the escort of the new soul."

Hermes seemed miffed that Hades wouldn't actually answer the invitation, but nodded at the dark lord even so. "Until next time, my Lord."

-

Persephone giggled as her friends pulled her in the direction of the festivities. They were nymphs in full human form for the festival, as was Persephone. There were other goddesses and gods who would be attending tonight, all of which looked exactly like perfect, beautiful men and women. Persephone knew them by their gold glow, which was barely visible over all of the candlelight. She spotted Athena and Artemis and her mother Demeter further off in the crowd.

This was one of Persephone's favorite festivals. She was dressed in a long, tan gown with a wreath of flowers in her hair. Her nymph friends tugged on her hands and she laughed aloud as her golden sandaled feet stuttered across the stone pathway. They were on their way to get food at the shared table.

They passed by actors in brilliantly colored costumes, all whom had plenty to drink and were stumbling around in path. Many of the towns people were dressed in slightly less brilliant than the goddess, but the lights all over the town made everyone sparkle.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark shape. It looked to be a tall man. As she swiveled her gaze to look at him, it disappeared. She had little time to ponder on the shape as a nymph pushed a drink into her hand. "Come, Kore!" The nymph giggled, tugging at the flowers in her long, golden hair. "Time to watch the actors!"

-

Hades felt incredibly foolish. He tugged at his dark chiton. He felt incredibly vulnerable in something so loose. He pondered that perhaps his real issue was that it felt like his arms were useless without his bident. The dark lord had taken the appearance of the human for a night, taming his longer black hair into a shorter cut. His skin was more tan and he was shorter than his normally large stature. He did, however, still have his onyx eyes and the flames of his underworld still licked at the soles of his sandals as he moved, disappearing with the breeze.

He spotted several of his family in the mix of peasants outside of the temples. Hera and Zeus were off a way, as was Demeter and Aphrodite, both of whom had a small cluster of men in their midst.

He could faintly see other god's aura over the candlelight, but everyone seemed to be mixing without a care.

As far as Hades could tell, they had food on one section of the courtyard and singing and dancing on the other. Wine was everywhere; and everyone had a cup in their hand.

The dark lord slithered through a large mass of dancing people and helped himself to one of the cups on the table to his right.

"Hades!"

He flinched, looking back over his shoulder to see Hermes grinning from ear to ear. "My Lord, you came!"

"Yes, Hermes." He was curt as he took a sip of his wine. It was bitter against his tongue, but not at all unpleasant. As the cup was pulled away, he ran his tongue over his lips and looked again at the god in human form. "I decided to make an appearance. It's been ages since I've come for a festival."

"And such a good choice of one, my Lord!" Hermes beamed. Hades couldn't believe his luck - stumbling across him of all people right after they finished their last interaction only a little while ago.

"Yes, of course. I wouldn't miss the chance to see my family, of course." Hades nearly spat. Hermes lost color in his rosy, human cheeks but didn't falter for long before launching into how he should really stop by and see Zeus before he decided to be done at the festival.

Before he could think up a retort, Hades was completely awe-stuck by a beauty in a circle of nymphs. Her golden hair came below her breast and was braided into two long strands. Flowers were strategically placed in periodic twists in the golden strands. Her eyes were a bright blue, bright and shining like the sky and her giggle carried across the courtyard to tempt his ears.

"Oh, yes, it has been a long time, my Dark Lord."

Hermes' statement brought Hades out of his daze. A dark eyebrow arched as the god eyed him. "What do you mean by that, Hermes?"

"That fair maiden," Hermes replied, motioning to the girl who captured his attention so abruptly. "Is Persephone. Demeter's daughter, goddess of spring. Quite fitting, wouldn't you say? She is always decked in flowers from head to toe!" He gave a chuckle before downing another gulp of wine unceremoniously.

"I see." Hades said as he continued to gaze at her beauty. "Tell me of her, Hermes."

The golden god seemed to be taken aback by Hades actually participating in the conversation, but again, he recovered quickly. "Well, you know, same old. Zeus is her father and despite being of age to marry, Demeter swears she will never marry another god on Olympus."

Hades chuckled under his breath. True to his word, Hermes described all of the drama Hades did not miss from Olympus. The constant battles and gossip were things he much preferred to stay out of. But until now, he never felt like he was missing anything.

Suddenly, Persephone shifted her gaze from her circle to Hades'. He could feel her beautiful blue orbs on his own onyx and he shivered slightly at the contact with the fair maiden. Hades was so enthralled with her that he didn't notice Hermes mutter something and wander off to find more drink.

After a few moments of daze, he knew he must retreat before he sought even more contact from the girl.

-

Persephone could feel someone watching her, paranoia not brought on by the drink of the festival. She looked around but was always pulled back into the festivities by her friends.

Finally, at one point, she looked up and met eyes with a stranger. He was standing next to Hermes in human form. The glow of his golden companion seemed to be swallowed in his aura of darkness. Despite looking like a human, the dirty blonde hair and tan skin didn't hide the fact that Persephone knew he must be more like her than the mortals around them. His eyes were black as the night and his jaw chiseled and sharp. She felt her chest constrict and she pulled away from her friends to stalk towards him.

A merry mortal carrying a cup of wine almost overflowing struck her suddenly, wine cascading down over her tan and embellished peplos. She gasped at the contact and immediately began apologizing to the mortal, but continued on her path towards the dark-eyed stranger.

When she looked up from her stained dress, however. He was gone, leaving only faint and fleeting black flames in the spot where he had stood.

-

Hades sighed as he stalked through the masses of people, careful not to use any of his powers close to the mortals. He knew he had to leave before Persephone got to him, lest he actively tempt her into his bed. He was not Zeus and wouldn't use the goddesses for his more carnal needs - instead taking pleasures in mortals from time to time.

He was pulled from his thoughts as someone grasped his hand, pulling him backwards. He turned and saw it was the beautiful Persephone. Looking down, he was saddened by how his own uncontrollable dark aura seemed to suck the splendor out of hers.

"My Lord?"

Even her voice was music to his ears. It was a light and breathy sound. Melodic in its delivery. Hades felt a rock form in his gut as he looked up into her eyes. "You know me, child?"

Her sapphire eyes glistened as they took in his human form. "I do not, but I know you must be someone like me?" The hand that wasn't still grasping his wrist motioned to the dark, cloudy aura surrounding him.

-

"I am, little flower. But we are also from different realms."

His voice was deep and incredibly dark. It soothed something deep in Persephone's gut. She wanted to make him talk even more. "What do you mean, my Lord?"

His darker blonde hair was a stark difference to her own golden blonde locks. He stood much taller than her and she had to crane her neck to even look him in his dark, onyx eyes. Pleased that he had yet to break contact, she squeezed his wrist, which felt like cold marble in her grasp. "Please?"

Her insistence looked to make the dark stranger sad, or perhaps more morose than he looked already. "Goddess— "

He was cut off by Hermes suddenly at Persephone's side. "Persephone! Your mother is looking for you. You had best be off to see her!" He chimed in. His sudden arrival startled the goddess enough to break the grasp she had on her dark stranger, which allowed him to take a step backwards. The distance between them now seemed too much and she wanted to bridge it as quickly as she could.

Hermes grasped her arm and pulled her back towards the party before she could. She huffed as he swiveled her around to turn her back on the dark figure. He was already moving away, almost too far away to hear Hermes say, "Goodbye, Hades! I'll see you on my next delivery!"