Cold Above (Greek Mythology)

[badass_tiger]

Title: Cold Above
Prompt: ice
Fandom: Greek Mythology
Pairing: Hades/Persephone
Summary: Persephone discovers the extent of her mother's retribution upon the Earth whenever she is away with her husband.

Persephone had tried to explain to Hades on several occasions that she was more than capable of seeing to some of the administrative work involved in governing the dead. She didn't know why he had a special objection to her overseeing the flow of incoming shades seeing as he trusted her in all manners of queenly duties. Possibly, he thought it was beneath her. But then came a time when mortals seemed to be doing nothing but flowing into the Underworld, though there was no major war being waged above, nor a decree from any other god that they should be punished, that Persephone was annoyed by Hades' neglect of her.

'Let me ease your burden. Or are you deliberately avoiding spending time with me?' she said with an exaggerated pout.

'You know that I would much rather be dining with you than doing any more of this,' he retorted, barely sparing her a glance over the parchment in his hand, 'but these blasted shades must be dealt with.'

Hades must be under more duress than usual to ignore her sulking. 'Why is it that so many of them are arriving now?'

'Your mother's objection to your absence.'

'What do you mean?'

'I will tell you later.'

'Hades!'

'I must finish this first.'

'Just let me help you, you awful man! Do you think I can't do it?'

'Do you want to do it?' Hades gave her a disbelieving look which, with his dark eyes and brow, was borderline disdainful.

'I want to help you, darling.'

At length, he relented to giving her a share of the work. She was surprised to discover that it was fairly simple work, if tedious and menial. So many little decisions to sanction and approve which demanded the attention of the king, though he had filtered so much of it through his army of servants and councillors - the finest councillors in all the worlds, for they were assembled from dead, ancient kings and queens from all the lands. All returned to Hades eventually, except for those few so favoured by the gods that they ascended to Mount Olympus.

'I told you you wouldn't like it,' Hades said when Persephone signed a scroll and tossed it aside with a yawn.

'On the contrary, I like it very much, because I am here with you instead of boring myself out of my mind alone,' she said haughtily.

'I didn't realise you hated being alone so much. There was a time when you were always telling me to leave you be.'

'That was a very long time ago!'

'Since then, have you not discovered what your mother does to the earth while you are away?'

Persephone was surprised by the question. 'I know that she takes away the bounty of the land, but of course, I have never seen it for myself.'

'Come, then. I will show you as far as we can go.'

Delighted by the opportunity for an excursion, Persephone jumped to her feet, face glowing with happiness. Hades rose more slowly, watching her carefully. She knew that he was basking in the light of his expression, just as the flowers over which she had so much power blossomed in the sun. It pleased her to be his light, down here where no light from the sun ever penetrated.

Hades summoned one of his horses to take them to the entrance to the Underworld. His horses were magnificent creatures, not quite as intimidating as Cerberus, but only because nothing was as fearsome as Cerberus. They were huge and dark, their manes and hooves seemingly engulfed in flames, their eyes glowing like rubies. Even their tackle was splendid lined with jewels and gold detailing. Hades lifted her onto its back and she felt as regal as she had ever done. No queen from the Underworld to the skies had ever ridden a horse so magnificent; nor been escorted by a king so majestic and so fearsome, she thought, as Hades mounted in front of her. She wrapped her arms around his muscular bulk and they rode away.

So far beneath the earth was the Underworld that it seemed a long time before they arrived at their destination. Everything was completely dark around them, although the King and Queen needed no light to see the surroundings over which they had complete dominion, up until the very moment they reached the entrance. It was quiet there, Thanatos having completed his duties for the night. Persephone smiled as she watched the sun break over the horizon, then she gasped as it lit up their surroundings. Glancing down at the ground, she realised that their horse was standing in a puddle of water from its fire melting the frost which covered the dirt.

'What is this? This - this substance -'

'It is snow. Don't bother getting down. You can go no further than this right now.'

'But you can. Bring some to me so I can feel it!'

He dutifully obeyed. Persephone was amazed by the sound of the grass crunching underneath his feet as he stepped over it. He returned to her with a handful of snow, packed tight into a ball in his fist.

'It's so cold,' she exclaimed, little particles sliding off her finger as she touched its surface. 'And wet!'

'It is only water.'

She pinched and rolled pieces underneath her fingertips until it had all melted between Hades' fingers. It disappeared within moments, but when she looked out on the land again, she was staggered by how much of it there was, covering everything like a cold, cruel blanket.

'I have seen water become like this before, I think, but never so - so much of it,' Persephone said.

'This is how rain falls when it is winter - when you are away from your mother, and she neglects her duties in her grief.'

'And this is what causes the mortals to die in great numbers?'

'Not only this. The prolonged cold, the covering of all vegetation, the freezing of the water - all of it combined serves to slowly destroy the mortals as surely as war itself.'

Gazing out at the white landscape once more, Persephone was in awe of her mother's power. The mortals spoke of Demeter giving and taking away bounty completely and she had never understood what that entailed until that moment.

'It is terrible,' she said. 'How the mortals must suffer! But it is so beautiful too.'

'The mortals who can afford not to fear the cold enjoy it at times,' Hades said contemptuously. 'The ones who shelter in palaces, toasting their hides before the fire, while their servants confront the winter in order to keep them comfortable. It is those servants who die, not the lords and kings in their big houses.'

The Underworld was never particularly hot or cold, and to Persephone, who only walked the Earth when it was warm and prosperous - a little wet, at worst - the winter air was uncomfortable on her skin. She stepped closer to the side of the horse, shielding herself from the entrance and absorbing a little of the creature's warmth.

'Would you like to go back?' Hades asked. She nodded.

His hands, as he helped her mount, were still slightly chilly. Hades was like the snow, she thought, seemingly as cold and rigid as packed ice. But in her hands, which she wrapped around his body as they rode away, he changed form just slightly, into something that could even give life, just as he gave her love as her husband, as he gave her power to be his queen.

'When you first took me away, did you know what my mother's reaction would be?' Persephone said.

'I knew that she would be angry, but I could not have imagined what she did to the earth in response,' Hades replied. 'Up until that time, the land was always bountiful, and everything plentiful. That she would even attempt to cover up the sky when Helios tried to tell her of your whereabouts was unthinkable to anyone.'

'Then you didn't take me away so that your domain would grow in greater numbers?'

He turned around to give her a very cool look. Persephone giggled.

'Do you imagine that I brought you here so I could increase my own workload?' he said.

'Oh, I don't know. Perhaps you wanted to compete with Zeus and Poseidon to have the largest kingdom.'

'I have no need to do that. All mortals will arrive in my realm sooner or later, and so will my realm become larger even than the skies and the seas combined. There is no need for me to hasten that time. I took you for my own because I wanted you. There is no other reason.'

Persephone waited until they arrived at the House before she said, 'I know you had no other reason. I just wanted to hear you say it.'

The hard lines in his brow eased ever so slightly. Hades' gaze was never warm, but Persephone knew well enough to know that, with him, an inch was as much as a mile.

'I will say it as often as you wish,' he said.

She hugged his neck, he drew an arm around her waist, and like the snow, he melted against her lips.