Chapter Text
At this point her name is still Kore. She loves flowers and sunlight. She loves the wind in her hair and the soft earth under her feet. She is a good daughter. She loves her mother and works with her every day. She doesn’t spend that much time with her father though. Hera doesn’t like to see her or her mother on Olympus. A too cruel reminder of her husband’s infidelities. So Kore only sees him at formal gathering. When all the gods reunite on Olympus to sort the problems of the year. She loves those gathering. She always listens to the stories everyone is whispering in the glowing halls of the sacred city. Stories about darker times, when the gods were not born yet. When Cronos reigned. How Zeus defeated him. How he shared the world with his two brother, Poseidon, and Hades. How they are all master of their domain. She has never really met them. Some could consider them her uncles but such human laws don’t apply to the immortals. For her they are legends. They intrigue her beyond words. Every year she tries to get a glimpse of them. One time she saw black hair and pale skin. It was Hades. She has always been fascinated by him. He is maybe the god the most opposed to her. She brings life to the earth and he only brings death. She is the spring and he is the harsh winter. Her skin is the colour of honey because of the sun, his is a white as the snow. She is warmth, he is cold. And yet she feels strangely attracted to him.
Every year she tries to learn more and more about him. Most of the gods speak of him with a hint of fear in their voices. They never expand too much on the subject. They say he’s cruel but she doesn’t believe them. She knows death, since all flower must dies. But never has she thought of it as unfair. It’s just a natural part of life. Death make everything beautiful. The knowledge that something will dies is what makes it precious to her. That’s why she loves flowers so much, because they are so fragile. They are only gorgeous because they must die.
oOo
Her mother learns of her inquisitions, after she overhear her ask about Hades. She feels fear creep in her heart and decide that Kore will not set foot on Olympus ever again. She will keep her safe far away from the rest of the gods. Kore is only a child and cannot protest Demeter wishes. So, they leave for another land. An island far from Olympus. She still dances and make flowers grows. But now she also loves to watch them die. Every time a flower start to wilt she runs at its sides and watch it dies. That way she feels closer to him. Demeter worries but she doesn’t know what to do, so she says silent. And she hopes. She hopes that her daughter will never meet the dark prince she seems so fascinated by.
But of course, the fates are cruel, or generous, and that day comes. Kore is walking alone in a field. Flowers are dying nearby and she wants to watch them. As she walks she can feel a chill in the air. She shadows of the trees at the edge of the field seem more deep. But she keeps walking. When she finally arrives where the flowers are, she sits on the ground and watch. But what usually takes mere seconds seems to go on for so much more longer. It is almost as if the flowers are making a show of dying. As if death is taking its time. Showing her a myriad of details she was never able to notice before. Like how the colours fade and change. Like the way the petals are curving in themselves. This spectacle hypnotizes her. She feels a shiver go up her spine. She turns around, looking at the shadows but there is no one there, the chill she had felt in the air is gone as well. She is alone. But she smiles, because she knows he was there. She could felt him.
This discrete and silent wooing goes on for a few months. Hades comes every time a flower is about to die, he turns their deaths into magnificent spectacles that she will be the only audience of. Watching her smile at dying flowers is one of his greatest joys. He never grows tired of it. But he never dares step into the light and reveal himself to the maiden. After all she is warmth and he is cold. So he stays silent. In the shadows. He sometimes catches himself wishing she would come and find him. But then he remembers who she is, who he is, and pushes all those foolish thoughts aside.
Kore is far from being fooled by him. She can feel him watching her. If at first, she finds it exciting she soon grows tired of his discretion. She wishes he would come to her. Steal her away from her mother. Take her to the Underworld. But he never moves. She decides to act then. She comes up with a plan, because even thou she is innocent she is far from stupid, and she is not a child anymore. And so she stops to watch flowers dies. She abandons her habit. She leaves him waiting and desperate in the cold shadows. He doesn’t understand why she does that so suddenly. He is deeply disturbed by her abrupt desertion. He grows angry, how can she ignore him like that? How dare she turn her back to him when he has given her so much? And with his anger, grows the desire of making her his.
But he cannot go near her. She suddenly surrounds herself of servants, almost never leaving the company of her mother. So he has to wait. He has to be patient. But, finally, the occasion presents itself. She announces that she’ll go picking flowers with only one handmaid. He is so overcome with joy that he almost neglects his duties as king. And the day comes. She is alone, only one young woman accompanies her. Kore has never been more beautiful, she wears a grey dress that flows around her in the warm wind. Her golden hair feely brushing her shoulders. Her eyes sparkle with mischief and her laugh is clear in the sky.
Suddenly the earth shatters under her feet. From it arise an ivory chariot, hauled by two dark blue stallions. Her handmaid flees away in terror. But she stays still, smiling at the dark haired god towering over her. He is slightly taken aback by her smile, he had expected her to run, to scream with fear, maybe even to faint of surprise. But she stands. Almost amused by it all. And then it hits him.
“Oh, you are a clever one….
-Well…. I was getting tired of all this silence, she answers, a hint of defiance in her voice.
-I thought you wouldn’t appreciate my company, says the god, unsure of what to say.
-You thought wrong, my lord. But we do not have a lot of time, my mother will be there shortly….
-Will you come with me, dearest one? Hades asks, not entirely sure of her answer but deciding that he has nothing left to lose.
-Thought you’d never ask.”
And she hops on the chariot, holding on to his waist, seemingly not fazed by the coldness of his skin. She presses herself against his back and whisper in his neck “Go on, capture me, my love”. At her words the king feels a rush of adrenalin course through his veins and a chill go down his spine. He whips the horses, ordering them to dive back into the earth. And so they disappear, her delighted laugh ringing clear and loud in the summer night’s air.