Hades And Persephone: Curse Of The Golden Arrow

by Heidi Hastings

  Hades stared at him and Persephone felt a chill of uncertainty at the shadows in his eyes. “Make sure that you do not. If you trust her, all will be well. Otherwise, you will live with the ghost of regret.”

  Orpheus was ushered out and Hades stood. “I think this is enough for one day.”

  He put his hand out and they left the throne room together, Olive trotting contentedly behind. They walked out into a secluded courtyard she had never seen before. It was filled with flowers made of emerald and ruby and a fountain tiled with lapis lazuli sat in the center of the hidden jeweled oasis. Persephone watched with a light heart as Olive walked to the fountain, drinking the clear water. Persephone turned eagerly to her husband with a smile on her face.

  “When will we know when Orpheus and his wife reach the top?”

  Hades looked down at her with his dark, enigmatic gaze, finally turning away and she watched as he bent down to stroke Olive.

  “He will make it to the top,” he said with his back to her, “But before he gets there, he will lose faith, look back, and lose her forever. I saw the doubt in his heart. His weakness will cost him what he loves most.”

  “But you must warn him,” she cried.

  She grabbed his arm angrily and turned him around to face her and she could feel the strength in his body as he allowed her to move him. Weakness, the word repeated in her mind, she understood it all too well, she thought bitterly.

  “Please do not let them be separated. You have the power to stop this! He loves her. Do not let this happen!”

  “This loss will inspire something greater,” he replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It is meant to be. It is fated. He was always meant to lose her."

  "It is cruel!" she said jerking away from him. “You are cruel. You gave him hope when you knew that he would never see her again. It would have been better to have sent him away!”

  “He was given what he asked for, it is his own weakness that will betray him. And you asked for me to give him what he wanted, did you not? He could have waited for her, lived out his years until death united them once more, but he was not satisfied with that. Whenever possible I do not interfere with the free will of humans, Persephone.”

  “But you did not mind interfering with mine!” she cried angrily. “Why do you choose not to help them?”

  “You forget,” he replied calmly, “it was not I who interfered with your free will. In any case, Orpheus will inspire love in hundreds of generations. Is that not enough compensation?”

  “I hate this idea of love,” she said pacing. “It is cold, painful and punishing. Why even give him the hope? Why pretend? It was needlessly cruel!”

  Why indeed, Hades wondered. The truth was, the music of Orpheus had bewitched him. And the sweet pleading words of his wife. He simply could not resist her with the music of the lyre in his ear. He regretted what he had seen in Orpheus’ heart, but he could not change it anymore than he could change his own. He understood Orpheus too well, the consuming infatuation, the doubt -- he bore those same detestable traits in every infinitesimal fragment of his wretched soul.

  He reached for Persephone and pulled her into him, ignoring as she stiffened in his arms. “Forget Orpheus, he had his time with his wife.” He tilted her head back and traced her plump lips with his finger, even as her eyes flashed at him. “I think I deserve some time with my own.” He lowered his head and caught her full lower lip between his teeth and bit down hard enough so that she gave a delicious shiver. He rubbed his lips over her own and for a moment she was soft and pliant in his arms. He felt her lips begin to part when she hurriedly shoved him away.

  “How dare you,” she choked.

  Hades dropped his hands and felt impatience and anger pull at his heart, his wound pulsing angrily.

  “Something holds your heart back from me,” he said, “It is always at the forefront of your mind, but you push it away, hiding it deep inside – a wound that no one else can see.” She stepped further back from him and it enraged him that she should fear him. The small tentacles of madness slipped into his mind, and try as he might, he could not seem to push them away. He wanted to make her as miserable as she was making him. He stepped closer to her and twisted his hand with a quiet laugh. “But I can see it, Persephone, even if you will not share with me.” With a wave of his hand he drew out her memories and they danced before both of their minds as he caught glimpses of her past, foggy and distorted visions that were fading in and out - flashes of her with a tall, shadowy figure, embracing, kissing, touching. He jerked himself from her mind, his heart beating wildly.

  “You…you are in love with someone else,” he murmured.

  She staggered away from him, almost falling as she looked at him in shock, her cheeks flaming. “No. No, I am not.”

  Hades breath came in short spurts, it explained everything! Her hesitation to lay with him, her revulsion at his touch. What hope was there of winning her heart now? Jealousy curled like an angry snake around his heart and he felt rage begin to join that ugly emotion. She was his, damn it, and he would not share her with anyone.

  “You are a liar, Persephone,” he hissed at her. “I saw your embrace. Who is the man? Who is your Orpheus? No wonder you were so sensitive to his plight. Tell me his name and I will summon a misfortune so great he will wish he had never been born. If I cannot have you, neither will he!”

  Persephone looked at him with cold dislike. “You are disgusting, you are just the same as all the others! I am nothing more than an object for you to claim. And you wonder why I do not like to be touched? I have seen the weakness of your sex -- enough to revolt me! There is no other man, there is no man at all for me.”

  Hades sneered at her, stepping closer, too incensed to hear her words. “How you protect your lover. Do not lie to me - I have seen it. You ran to him and kissed him in the forest. You laid with him! I can see his revolting hands running up your thighs. No wonder you dislike lovers separated.”

  “How dare you!” she yelled, visibly shaking. “Stay out of my mind! Is it not enough you hold my body here, now you want my memories as well? Stay out of my head! You are not welcome there.”

  “You act as though I have you locked up in Tartarus.”

  “A kingdom with you is still a prison!” she shouted, “You hold me here against my will and then insult me. You accuse me of things you do not understand, and of which you have no right to know.”

  He stared at her and then laughed, pulling at his hair. “You think you are in a prison. Have you any idea the torment that consumes me day after day, the poison that seeps through my body with the need for you? My body is a cell that I cannot escape, my mind is an enemy that never gives me rest, and you are my captor, Persephone. You who delight in my captivity.”

  She stared at him like she was seeing him for the first time, her solemn green eyes looking into his and he felt himself falling into her. He wanted to fall to his knees before her, to bury his face into her soft flesh and let her take away his pain. She raised a hand towards him but he jumped back like Medusa was touching him. It was weakness -- this feeling.

  A voice whispered into the back of his mind, “She makes you so...weak”. This sick desire to touch her he could not allow himself.

  “No,” he said in a low voice. “No, I do not want your pity, you fear me. But the truth is your fear is nothing compared to the fear I have of losing myself in the madness of wanting you. Do you think I want to feel this way?I will never be free from this torment.”

  He turned suddenly on his heel and forced himself not to run from her. His chest was aching and his mind felt fragmented. He had, of course, touched the souls of mad people before and it was eerily similar to the fracture he felt in his own head. A breaking point was coming -- the curse was growing stronger. There was one person he needed to see, one who may hold answers, and he only hoped it was not too late.

  Persephone stared after his disappearing form, anger and sadness welling up inside her. How could she
long to both comfort him and thrash him at the same time? And underneath everything else that was going on burned the hot flare of desire, an insidious burn that was blooming despite her best efforts to quench it. She wanted to weep in frustration for herself and for him.

  But how right he was. She kept secret demons locked away in the darkest corners of her mind. If only she had said how she felt and told him the truth. Why could she not admit that she was lonely? Was it not the very thing that drove her from her mother’s temple? She wanted to run after him and tell him that they were in this together and that they would figure something out. He was no more to blame for this predicament than she was. How much she wanted to say but was too cowardly to be as open and honest with her feelings as he just was. She had hidden truths in the dark for far too long, allowing those truths to fester and poison her heart. What was her other choice? To marry Ares? She could never do that!

  “I do not hate you, Hades,” she whispered, “but I can never love you.”

  Hades paced in his study and then spoke aloud, “Charon bring Venus to me.”

  He hated to allow any of the Olympians to enter his kingdom; the games they played held no appeal to him, the stakes were always things that he would never risk. Nothing held meaning for them except to gain power. Venus was perhaps the most dangerous of them all -- with the pretence of love she offered to mortals and Gods alike. He did not trust Venus anymore than he trusted Zeus. They all had their own agenda, but he no longer had a choice. It was one of her arrows that had begun this madness and she may have an idea of how to undo what had been done to him. She may help him -- for a price of course. If she did not, if she was unwilling to offer assistance, he feared what would happen to his kingdom.

  Bending over the desk he looked down at the golden arrow, brushing a hand through his hair. The wound in his chest throbbed with a force that would have brought a village to their knees.

  “She loves another,” he whispered.

  The pain could be endured, he had felt pain before, though even having his body torn apart by the demon paled in comparison to this hurt. However, if he lost his mind… well the thought was frightening. Images of his father played in his thoughts and he felt the familiar terror begin to clog his throat. He had learned long ago to suppress those memories, to control his reactions to fear. But he seemed to be losing his grip on his restraint. What scared him most of all was the blinding realization that losing Persephone would be worse than losing himself.

  He kept replaying the foggy memory, slowing it down to watch her. The look on her face as she ran to her lover. It had been love in her eyes. How long had he waited to see even a glimpse of it when she looked at him. He looked at his own eyes in the reflection of the arrow. All that glanced back was a hardened and bitter king that no one could ever love.

  There was a knock on the door. It was Charon, "My King, Venus wishes to speak with you."

  Setting the golden object on a shelf, he let out a breath, "Let her in," he replied, letting the familiar coldness settle over him. Never let them see your weakness, a long ago voice whispered sweetly in his mind.

  Venus sauntered into the room. She was so mesmerizing it was almost painful to look at her. Her pale skin emitted a white glow and long silvery hair fell to her feet and topped her head like a halo. Guileless blue eyes stared up at him and it was like looking into a fathomless sea. Perfect, plump pink lips seemed to beg for attention and as she stepped closer the scent of gardenias filled the air. She was beauty itself and Hades fought the need to gag at the cloying flowery smell. He had never liked gardenias. Her nipples were erect under her diaphanous gown and if he looked close enough he could make out the outline of her pink areolas. They regarded one another and then she moved closer to him so that her breasts brushed against his arm as she pressed a kiss against his cheek. He could not be sure if it was the memory from many years ago of those sweet lips wrapped around the cock of Zeus, or the fact that she was every bit as vicious as his brother, but he fought the urge to wipe his face.

  “Pluto,” she whispered in a throaty voice. “Or do they still call you Aidoneus? I much prefer that name.”

  “I no longer answer to that name,” Hades replied coldly.

  She licked her lips. “Very well, Hades, How can I help your majesty? It is such a rare occasion that you seek the presence of the other Gods,” she finished with an obsequious smile.

  “You know why I sought you, Aphrodite,” he said in a low voice. “It was your arrow that pierced me.Tell me how to break this spell.”

  A look of delight crossed her face and her cheeks flushed even as her eyes dilated. Was she close to orgasm he wondered in revulsion.

  “Oh you know the answer to that Aidoneus,” she replied drawing out the “s.” She stepped closer to him again and ran a finger down his wound towards his groin. He grabbed her hand with just enough pressure to halt her movement and she smiled at him, arousal darkening her eyes as the smell of flowers intensified. He let go of her quickly and a look of anger flickered in her face.

  “The love of your queen will break the spell.”

  He stepped away from her with disgust and rubbed his hand against his chest, smearing it with blood. “This,” he said, showing her his hand, “this is the love of my queen. She does not, cannot love me. There must be another way. Do you know who directed this arrow at me? ”

  “Your enemies are too many to name, Hades, it could have been any who sought to destroy you and your little wife. You could pierce her heart,” Venus continued with a smile. He turned angrily and he felt her step with him, like a malicious shadow whispering in his ear. “Think how lovely it would feel, to have her hot blood all over your hands. Does she not deserve it? Is it not her turn to bleed? It would feel so good to have her beg you to fuck her, just think of you sliding into her warm, tight--”

  He twisted towards her and grabbed her roughly, halting her words, his cock aching at the images she was weaving. “Stop it! Find another way to break this spell. You must know!”

  Another smile lit her face and he noticed for the first time that she had particularly sharp teeth, like a snake he thought. “But Hades,” she whispered, “Persephone does love you.” He glared down at her small form and then blinked as Persephone stood before him suddenly. Her green eyes stared at him with unmistakable desire even as she shoved her hand beneath his robes and he groaned as she began to stroke the head of his cock. Her other hand pulled the dress from her shoulders exposing her small perfect breasts. She pulled at one breast with the same motion that she tugged at his cock and he closed his eyes as sensation began to pull at him. He had wanted this for so long, his lust filled mind thought as the scent of flowers filled the air around him. Gardenias. Not the smell of the meadows, the fresh, pure scent of morning. Not Perspehone. He pushed her away from him suddenly and she stumbled to the floor pushing her long blonde hair from her face as she looked up at him with a smile.

  “You are growing weaker, King, to be so easily fooled.” She spread her legs apart and put her hand between them. “I have laid with both your brothers, I have always wondered what you would be like. Your cock is considerably impressive even among God's standards and there is no reason that Persephone would have to know.” She lifted her wet hand to her mouth and licked it, closing her eyes with pleasure. “And I am delicious.”

  “I desire you even less than my wife does me,” he replied coldly.

  “Oh Hades, then you must want me very much,” she groaned with a little shiver of delight. “She has longed for you for so many years. To love her. To fuck her. Oh, all manner of delightful thoughts,” Aphrodite said closing her eyes. “Even I may blush.”

  Real anger pushed at him, she was simply trying to torment him. Persephone had not even known who he was before he had met her at the fields. He wanted to rip Aphrodite limb from beautiful limb. She knew how much he wanted his wife, how he longed for her to love him.

  “Stop playing games with me,” he said in a dangerous voice.
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  “Or what, Hades? What will you do to a God?” The question hung in the air between them. She was ancient enough to know and he could see the knowledge in her face as fear flickered in her gaze. She looked at him for a moment and for once there was no trace of malice. “I do not play games. You should be happy Aidoneus - you have what you desire."

  "Not like this. I did not want it like this.”

  She stood slowly, her large breasts swaying as she smiled again. "It does not matter how we get what we want -- as long as we get it.”

  He made a noise of disgust. “Of course you think that. You fit in well amongst the Gods, each intent on their own pleasures, a coven of madness.”

  She fell to her knees before him and tried to pull at his robes again to get a glance. “Speaking of insane,” she said casually as she brushed his shaft, “did you forget what is approaching rapidly?”

  He grabbed her wrists with one hand and pulled his robes tightly shut with the other. "I do not know what you are talking about,” he said through gritted teeth. “And if you try to touch my cock one more time I will cut your hand off.”

  She pouted up at him, “It would just grow back. Hmm, though, think what we could do with an extra hand,” she said, her face alight with interest. “The possibilities are endless. And besides I just want a look. It is so big.” She sighed at the look he gave her and then stood up, pressing her erect nipples against his flesh. He tried to push back but she pulled him closer, a surprising amount of strength in her thin wrist. She bent over and whispered in his ear, “Here is my advice then. Pluto, your planet, squares Venus in the sky soon. How well will you be able to hide your infatuation then? You better protect your little lamb, so she does not get eaten by the wolf.”

  Once again she turned and his wife was before him. She let her gown drop to the floor and this time her fingers curled into herself and the sight of her sweet body was almost more than he could endure, and he pushed her against the desk, pressing his face into her neck.