Hades

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Fifteen minutes later, I've wrestled my hair into a messy side plait and changed into my trusty penguin pyjamas — which I'd refused to let Zola destroy, despite her many attempts to throw them out when she thought I wasn't looking. I'd found that I had grown sentimentally attached to them over the last few months; they were a nice reminder of all the changes that had happened since I came down to the Underworld all those months ago.

Hades looks up when I quietly shut the door, a small smile curling up his lips. A smile immediately ricochets across my face in response. It hadn't even been an hour since I'd pledged to remain in the Underworld, and already I was seeing a change in him. He was smiling more, acting more comfortable around me, and had even 'changed' out of his formal attire; his suit jacket was carefully draped over the back of the couch, and he'd casually rolled the sleeves of his black shirt up over his elbows.

I'd be lying if I said seeing him like that didn't render me utterly speechless for a second. It takes me several moments to compose myself.

"What's that look for?" I finally ask, sitting down on the bed next to him.

"I am surprised that you still have those." Hades replies bemusedly, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "I assumed that Zola had thrown them out."

"She tried." I shrug. I smirk cheekily. "I just got very, very good at hiding them from her."

Hades chuckles. Then he falls silent, his gaze lowering. I frown, turning to face him head on. A chill shivers down my spine when I notice how empty his expression is.

"Hey." I say softly, nudging him. He looks up at me, his expression unchanged. "What's wrong? I was just getting used to happy Hades."

"I am just trying to figure out where to start."

My heart sinks. "Hades, I'm sorry, I—"

"No." He stops me. He sighs. "I promised to tell you the truth, and I do not break my promises. It is just hard to identify where to begin when there is so much to encapsulate."

I move closer and place my hand over his. "Start at the beginning."

"Very well." I know he probably doesn't think I notice it, but his fingers curl over mine ever so slightly. "Do you understand the initial myth of how Persephone came to live down here?"

I nod. He grimaces.

"I admit now that I am not proud of my actions. I was a very different person at that point in time, and I would like to hope that I have changed since then. Many do not realise what hundreds of years of solitude will do to one's state of mind, and spending all those years down here governing over the Underworld did not help. That solitude impacted me in ways I shudder to think about, and I detest to think of the man I was for those first few centuries. It was not until I met her that I..."

Hades cuts himself off, trepidation twisting up his features. I nudge him again, raising my eyebrows when he glances over at me.

"That you what?"

"Are you sure you want to hear this, Evie? I understand your desire for the truth, but I worry that—"

"You loved her." I state plainly. Abrupt shock wavers through his expression. I shrug. "Hades, I'm not stupid. It's as plain as the nose on your face that you loved her. I can't change that; I can't hope to change that."

Hades sighs and nods defeatedly.

"Yes, I did. That is where many renditions of my 'kidnapping' her go wrong. For many years, it was an unrequited love. I had stolen her away from everything that she loved and held dear, and I suspect that she never forgave me for that. I was an empty man when I kidnapped her; I did not fully comprehend the importance of love in one's life, how resolutely it dictates one's feelings and actions. When I first saw Persephone, I was blindly taken by her beauty, and the way that made me feel was so unpredictably alien to me that I had to know more. That is why I made the foolish decision to kidnap her and bring her down to the Underworld. But then I got to know her more, and discovered how beautiful she truly was, both in appearance and personality. Before I really knew what had happened, I loved her so completely that it scared me."