Okay, I have absolutely no excuse for the time in between updates. I should have updated months ago, but I got caught up in school and exams and the stupid AP test, but that would be an excuse. I would not blame you if no one kept reading, because I am horrible at updating regularly.

And another thing, I know this was originally a rewrite of Aphrodite's Plan, but I have been thinking about it, and realized they are nothing alike except for the characters. Therefore, it will be a different story all together, so expect new plot twists. I will keeps some things, like Eros/Hermes, 'cause they're adorable, and I like how I described the Fates, but other than that, I think it will pretty much change.

The waitress came over to me as soon as Persephone was away from the table. She was kinda old, at least thirty, with hair that had been bleached way too many times, her skin was overly tanned and wrinkly, and she was kind of fat. She also looked like a recovering drug addict. Maybe not even recovering.

“She your girlfriend?” she asked, nodding her head towards the bathroom. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, both hands at once.

“I wish,” I said tiredly. The waitress (who’s nametag said SHARON) laughed.

“A handsome guy like you will get her in no time.”

“I don’t know what happened. When we first met I was really confident, and then, I don’t know, something changed, and now I can’t talk to her.” Sharon nodded her head thoughtfully. “What?

“Nothing, it just seemed like you were doing fine at dinner,” Sharon said, sitting and lighting a cigarette. She inhaled deeply and spoke. “She seemed enraptured with you. She couldn’t take her eyes off you the entire time. And don’t tell me you didn’t notice the ice cream scene.” I blushed and nodded.

“Yeah, she did seem a bit flirty with the ice cream.” Sharon laughed and stood.

“Just be your handsome self, Hades. You’ll do fine.” I looked at her in shock that she knew my name.

“How do you know my name?” I asked, instantly on the defensive. She smiled.

“Calm down, I won’t hurt you. And besides, did you really think I wouldn’t recognize the King of the Underworld. Especially when you start talking about the Furies and calling them your Lovely Ladies, and then even going so far as to name them and Selene and Hecate! You should know better!” she scolded. “They recognized you too!” She nodded her head at the old guys at the bar. They smiled and waved at me. I groaned. “Honey, practically no mortals eat here anymore. They all think it’s haunted. Good for discreet Immortal Meetings, bad for business.” I nodded. Just then Sharon got up quickly and started wiping down the table next to mine with a wet rag. I was about to ask what was wrong when Persephone walked out of the bathroom.

“Ready?” I asked. She nodded and grinned weakly.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I confirmed. She nodded, pressing her lips together. I smiled at her and offered my arm to her. She grinned and hooked her arm through mine. As we walked out the doors I glanced back and saw Sharon and the old men waving at me and winking and giving me a thumbs up. One of the old men was egging me on with a slightly obscene hip thrusting movement. I winced lightly and smiled back at them. I helped Persephone onto my motorcycle and got on in front of her.

“I’m gonna ask one more time, ready?” I turned my head and spoke over my shoulder.

“Just go already, Hades!” She wrapped slender arms around my waist, pulling her body forward until she was pressed fully against my back. I swallowed hard, trying to tone down my excitement at having her so near me. I kicked off and we roared out of the little town. She squeaked a bit at the sudden jolt and tightened her grip around my waist. I licked my lips and concentrated hard on driving so that we didn’t drift off the road. We drove for hours. Hour after hour past unchanging scenery. Around the fifth hour I felt Persephone’s grip loosen around my waist. I stopped quickly, afraid she would fall off. I turned as soon as we were parked.

“Are you okay?” I asked gently.

“Yeah, I’m just a little tired,” she said, rubbing her eyes. I smiled softly.

“Sleep.” I motioned to the soft grass field next to where we had stopped. She smiled, running a hand through her windblown hair. Or at least, tried to run a hand through her windblown hair. Really it was less windblown and more windknotted.

“Ugh. My hair is gross,” she said, stumbling towards the grass. I smiled and hurried to catch her before she collapsed. She pushed off my arms, stumbling a few steps on her own.

“When was the last time you slept?” I asked. She thought, sitting down in the grass.

“Over a day,” she said sleepily, laying down on the grass. She was asleep within seconds, her face smoothing out. Her arms fell on either side beside her, and her legs folded under her. I laid myself gently down beside her, leaning on my elbow for support. I gazed at her while she slept, taking time to memorize the pale perfection of her porcelain skin and her pomegranate colored lips. Her eyes darted in her sleep, stretching her eyelids. She turned towards me suddenly, muttering in her sleep. I felt a bit bad about it, but I just had to see what she was saying. I leaned my head down so my ear was close to her mouth.

“Hades…” she breathed softly. I fell back as if slapped. What did she say? I couldn’t believe she had said my name while dreaming. What was she dreaming? I leaned my head down again, trying to catch a few more syllables of her soft voice. She had stopped talking though, and it looked as though she was going to wake soon. I pulled back quickly so it would not look like I had been eavesdropping on her dreams. She opened her eyes slowly, softly. Blinking a few times she sat up, leaning back on her arms. She looked over at me and smiled.

“I think we can go now. I’m rested now.” I grinned at her and stood, offering her my hand. She slipped her small, tan hand into mine. It took almost no effort on my part to pull up her delicate frame, seeing as she weighed almost nothing.

“Does Demeter starve you? Because you don’t weight anything.”

“I’m just naturally small,” she explained, dusting off her long white dress with blue flowers decorating it. I held her hand and helped her onto my bike, climbing on in front of her after she was safely on. She wrapped her arms around my waist again, pulling herself close. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply before we set off. The soft smell of grass and spring and soap and some kind of perfume I couldn’t place. I kicked off and we roared out of the field we had stopped in and back onto the country road.

Hours of really super boring driving later, when it was getting dark, we finally found one of the entrances into the Underworld. To any mortals (and any immortals who had not been enlightened) it would just look like a derelict cave.

“Hades, what are we doing here?” Persephone asked, looking over my shoulder at the cave entrance.

“We’re here,” I said, stepping off the bike. I gripped her waist and lifted her off. “Close your eyes.” She complied and I placed both my index fingers over her eyes. “Anta, agnoia,” I muttered. Look, know. With that she opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the cave entrance transformed into great black iron gates. The gates themselves looked pretty formidable, but on top of the spokes there were large black iron spikes, reaching to the top of the cave entrance. The spikes were on top of every pole except for the middle two. There was a platform above them with a great stone figure perched on top. It was a stone gorgon, crouched with large stone wings extended, ready to take flight. Snakes hung around its distorted face as wet hair hangs around a person’s face. I took Persephone’s hand and lead her through the gates that opened as soon as we got near.

“So do they just open for anyone? That doesn’t seem safe,” she commented as we walked down a hill so we were slowly descending even lower underground. Burning torches lined the walls in iron brackets. When the light from one faded, there was another one. I chuckled.

“I have them set to recognize only me. Anyone else who wishes to enter the gates and not be attacked by the Gorgon will need to passcode.

“The Gorgon? On top of the gates? It can come to life?”

“It is not dead, or asleep, or even stone. It shows only what it wishes you to see. If it needs to stay unnoticed, it will become stone, or iron like the gates.” She shivered and linked her arm through mine.

“Scary thought.” I grinned and held her close.

“I know. I need maximum security, being who I am.”

“And who are you really, Hades. Because the Hades I have seen is in no way the same Hades I have been warned of since childhood. You are not the same Hades the mortals fear.”

“What, you think I can’t be fearsome?”

“I am sure you can, but I think you repress it around me. I have not seen you act violently towards anyone. You do not seem like an all powerful god.”

“I can show you a demonstration of power, if you do not believe that I have any.” Before she could respond, I pulled away from her, walking a few feet in front of us. Torchlight flickered over my face as I turned back to look at her. I raised my arms so they were a straight line, perpendicular to the rest of my body. Concentrating hard I imagined myself floating, like the air was turned to water, or like I was attached to wires holding me up. But this was no movie, and there were no special effects. It was real. And finally my body responded, slowly at first, not wanting to break the rules, but slowly it accepted, and I floated up. I heard a gasp, but it wasn’t like normal. It came slowly into my consciousness, like it was fighting it’s way through water. Now for the really difficult part. I fisted my hands, as if I was grabbing something, and slowly pulled them to my chest. As soon as my hands started to move, the stone walls around us shifted and pulled towards me. Persephone screamed and I lost concentration. In an instant the walls were back in place and I was crumple on the ground. She ran over to me, tears in her eyes.

“Oh my gods, are you okay? Did I hurt you?” I inhaled deeply and stood.

“No. It’s just a major drain of power to do something like that for too long. I can become invisible much easier. I pulled my Helm of Invisibility out of my leather jacket pocket. Persephone looked at me like I was crazy. To her, it looked like I was pulling out a black beanie. I pulled it over my head and grinned when her hands flew to her mouth. I walked around her, touching her arm, caressing her cheek. She kept turning, like a dog chasing it’s tail, trying to see me. Finally I stopped in front of her, my forehead almost touching hers as I bent over. Without thinking, I kissed her softly, wrapping my arms around her waist. She moaned softly, feeling for my arms. Her small hands traveled up my arms, to my neck, my face and finally she found the edge of the beanie. She gripped the edge and slid it from my head. I became visible immediately and pulled back from her, as if it were better to kiss her when she could not see me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me farther down the tunnel.

“Come on!” she laughed. “I want to see if the rest of the Underworld is just as beautiful!”