Persephone's POV

It just happened. The day had been completely and utterly insignificant as though everything of importance and mystery had been pushed aside for the strange event that would occur. The gods and goddesses of Olympus were all going about their business, and so was I. My mother, Demeter, had left me on a field on earth while she carried on about her business, as she often did. I was never sad or angry about this arrangement. My mother was a busy goddess, and my father... Well, my father had never shown much interest in any of his children.

So there I was, in the Field of Enna picking flowers with Leucippe for company. Leucippe had gone further down the field to greet some other nymphs. She had offered me to come with her, but I declined her offer.

The sun was high overhead bringing warmth and comfort to the earth. I had just smiled, thinking that humans were very lucky to be able to live in such a beautiful world.

The scent of the various flowers in the sun was intoxicating. I almost didn't notice when a vine of the most beautiful flowers sprang up from the ground. Almost. I looked down at the vine, no longer smiling. Where did these come from? I thought, but I did not dwell on it for very long. So entranced was I that I dropped all the flowers I was holding and stooped to the ground to get a better look at these beautiful flowers. Their scent overpowered that of all the other flowers around me. They were more beautiful than all the others as well. I knew I just had to have one. Just one and I would be satisfied. I decided that I would give it to my mother who would appreciate it possibly even more than I did.

I plucked the flower.

Immediately I knew that I had made a mistake. The earth shook with a force that probably should have killed me. But it didn't. I was merely knocked to the ground. I called for Leucippe to help me. I waited for a moment. When she didn't come I called again. Three times I called for Leucippe to help me. It didn't happen. In a few seconds, I knew I was going to be dead.

Then, suddenly, the earth split in two. The crack grew wider and wider, as though it expected someone to go into or come out of it.

Again, I waited for my death.

I was just about to close my eyes when he appeared. Tall and handsome with creamy skin, dark cerulean eyes, and straight black hair that fell carelessly into his eyes. He was riding a chariot of black Ebony, staring down at me. I didn't even know him and already I could tell that he was fearsome force to behold.

The look on his face startled me. I would have expected someone like him to wear a permanent sneer, to look down on any- and everyone. His expression was haughty enough, but what surprised me was the recognition in his eyes. He seemed to know me. He appeared to have been waiting for me for a while. I stared back at him, and I knew he could feel the terror in my eyes.

The earth was shaking even more now. The once bright sky had gone completely dark. There was no light save the faint, yet eerie glow that seemed to come from this stranger and his chariot.

I felt lightheaded. I looked up at him pleadingly, begging him with my eyes that this would not be my last moment. As if he understood me, he reached down from his chariot with long, muscular arms and heaved me into the chariot. He pressed me gently against his chest with one hand and steered with the other. In this position, we rode back into the crack in the earth.

The last thought I had before I lost consciousness, was that he was the reason for the flower I still had in my hand.

Hades' POV

I had watched her longingly for the majority of the year, ever since I had seen her on my annual visit to Olympus. She was young, just on the verge of womanhood with bright brown eyes, fair skin, and hair darker than the midnight sky. Her mother, my sister, never allowed any man near her, and I can see why. Persephone was a beautiful sight to behold, especially to me, Hades, Lord of the Dead.

How it was possible for Zeus and Demeter to bare such a gorgeous creature was beyond me. My sister was plain and Zeus was, if anything else, worse. But how she came to be so unrealistically aesthetic, I didn’t care. All I worried about was how I was going to make the beautiful Persephone mine.

And, like a flash of my impertinent brother’s lightning, an idea came to me. Demeter would never allow her daughter to come to me willingly. So what was stopping me from simply taking her? Absolutely nothing.

So I plotted and schemed on how I was going to bring Persephone to the Underworld. The best time to do it, I had decided, was when she was completely alone and vulnerable, perhaps when she was on earth without her mother. Demeter would be the bane of the operation. I would ascend from the Underworld and simply take her. It was decided. I would watch her for the moment when she was alone on earth. I would take her away from her mother and bring her here, in the hopes that she would one day consent to be my queen.

Finally, after many weeks of impatient waiting, an opportunity finally arrived.

She was in the Field of Enna with a Nymph. This was not a problem. Nymphs are foolish and are hardly good to have around in case of an emergency, but just in case this Nymph was an exception, I waited until it had gone before I acted out my plan.

From my chariot, I willed a vine of the most beautiful flowers to grow near Persephone. For a moment I thought it had not worked. There were so many other flowers around her. But when she looked down at the new group of flowers, my hopes were restored.

I drove my chariot directly under the vine and waited as patiently as I could for Persephone to pluck a flower.

When finally she did pluck the flower, I used the time it took to get to the surface to appear calm. The last thing I needed to do was disgrace myself in front of the young woman who could very well be the most beautiful goddess in all of Olympus. When I saw her sprawled onto the ground looking frightened, my heart ached for I knew it was I who was causing her this turmoil. I studdied her face for a moment and pulled her into my chariot.

As we were descending into the throne room, I felt Persephone grow limp against my chest, and I knew she had fainted. I hardly blamed her.

I climbed out of the chariot with Persephone in my arms. I had had her room prepared weeks before her arrival. I carried her through the various halls and up the many flights of stairs to her room. I had ordered the most spacious of all the unoccupied bedrooms in my palace to be made ready for her. I opened the door and walked slowly toward the bed. As I laid her down, I had a sudden powerful urge to reach out and stroke her cheek. You have no time for that, my sensible side told me. Her mother is probably already worried about her. You need to think of what to do next.

What harm could it do? Asked my lovelorn side. She is asleep as it is. Touching her cheek will not incur any more of Demeter's wrath than you already have.

These two sides of me raged on. I was sorely tempted to completely ignore my sensible side, so strong was this urge of mine. It was, however, my sensible side that won when I noticed Persephone stir. I exited the room quickly and quietly, but not before I took one more look at her asleep on the bed.

Persephone was beautiful, and one way or another, I was going to make her my queen.