Grecian Urn...

"HADES!"

Demeter's voice rang out ahead of her as she stalked across the courtyard from her temple to that of Zeus, searching out a different brother. he had awoken with a cold vise around her heart, a feeling she knew all too well when her daughter was taken from her, taken away to the land of the dead by Hades.. the thief. But it was too early! too early for her to go.. it wasn't his turn yet. He was going to pay for this.

He was really going to pay.

She barged into the temple, waving a hand at the first person who tried to stop her, calling out again fro her brother.

"HADES.... Where are you. Where is she?!?"

Hades appeared on Othrys, skin pale and eyes dark. He'd been too wrapped up in relishing the return of his power to notice what else had changed, it was only when Persephone pointed it out the quiet that Hades realised something was...off.

She was wrong of course; it wasn't quiet, it was silent. The world was never silent, how could it be when it was filled with the living? Life was noise; silence belonged to the dead.

But the world was silent, which Hades had found...more than slightly worrying. Obviously life still existed, but it wasn't really living anymore.

And he'd found out more. The clouds weren't moving, the trees weren't moving, even the sun, although still shining brightly in the sky, was transferring no warmth to the ground. Everything had just...stopped. Aphrodite's spell hadn't worked after all.

No, that wasn't right because the spell didn't originate with Love. It was Cronus' spell, and it had definitely worked.

Hades had left his wife with her mother and headed off to the Underworld to take back his rulership...only that hadn't worked out quite so well. He was God of the Dead again, and his other titles had been restored in full, but he wasn't king. Couldn't be king. It just...wasn't letting him take it.

Now that was really annoying.

He took a path up to his father's temple, the warm Othrys breeze doing little to remove the chill in the air that Hades left in his wake. It looked better than the last time he'd been here, closer to its former glory. It was unsettling.

Stopping, he looked up at the building, letting his eyes take in each refurbished detail. Hades didn't knock.

"Cronus! What have you done?"

Brushing a strand of autumnal hair behind her ear, Persephone looked at the bronzed god walking beside her, his beautiful sea-blue eyes fixed on the horizon, his hand warm in her grip. She smiled.

"Stop it," Hades said, turning to look at his wife.

"What? I was just looking," she defended.

"You were admiring, Persephone."

"And why shouldn't I, hmm?" She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "It isn't every day that my husband looks like a hot young Olympian."

"You're pushing it now."

Persephone laughed and linked arms with him, resting her hand on his upper arm. "I missed you. How long are you staying?"

Not long enough. "Until Apollo's spell is reversed, then I'm going home."

"Our home?" Her eyes widened with concern. "Hades no, you can't go back. I forbid you to go back."

"Seph-"

"They took your throne! You can't just go there and take it back from them, not without starting a war or getting yourself killed or-"

"I'm Deathless."

"That isn't the point! They got rid of you once, they could do it again."

"They won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I’ve seen them. I’ve fixed it.”

She blinked. “Oh. What do you mean you’ve fixed it?”

“Hephaestus is a reluctant King, he doesn’t want the Underworld,” Hades told her. “I agreed to give him access to raw materials and he agreed to give me my crown back. A fair trade.”

Persephone narrowed her eyes. “You mean you made a deal with them?”

“I had to.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “No you didn’t. You don’t EVER have to make a deal with those usurpers.”

“Persephone…“

He reached out to brush his fingers down her arm, but she batted them away. The goddess shook her head, taking a couple of steps back.

“No, Hades, I can’t just…be okay with you working with them. Do you even remember what they did to you?! What they did to Poseidon? What they did to Zeus? If they’re giving you you’re throne, it’s only because they don’t think they have a choice!” Persephone sighed and headed back towards her mother’s retreat.

Hades huffed and began to follow her. Persephone didn’t want him to fight for his kingdom, but she also didn’t want him to negotiate for it either. He couldn’t win.

“I didn’t have a choice either,” he said, grabbing the cuff of her sleeve.

She stopped, looking down at the hand on her sleeve before meeting her husband’s gaze again.“Really? Why not? They’ve taken everything away from you. What do you have to lose?”

“You.”

Persephone rolled her eyes. “Hades, really-“

“The Smith has my kingdom but Love pulls his strings. She convinced Hephaestus to return my power.” Hades let go of her sleeve and brushed his fingers across his wife’s palm. “If I’d attempted to take my kingdom back using force, what do you think they would have taken from me?”

She smiled, threading her delicate fingers through his. “You are such a softie,” Persephone told him. Hades threw his wife a look that disagreed with her assessment and she grinned at him before apologising with a long, drawn-out kiss.

“We don’t have much time before the spell is undone,” he told her, brushing his lips across her neck.

“How do you know?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“I know.”

“Mm. How do you suggest we spend the little time we have?”

Hades kissed her neck. “I think you know.”

She did. “What about my mother?”

“She’ll get over it,” he purred, pressing his lips to her jaw. “I’m not abducting you.”

Persephone smiled. “This time.”

Having concluded the issue of getting his kingdom back, Hades left his brother’s palace to seek out Death. It took him longer than expected, but eventually he found Thanatos, who was more than willing to take Hades to Demeter’s retreat as long as he could return in time for Eris’ dinner party.

Hades didn’t ask.

He dismissed Death once he’d reached his sister’s desert hideaway, ignoring a squeaky voiced nymph that was trying to tell him he shouldn’t be there. Hades walked past the creature and approached Demeter’s temporary home where another nymph reluctantly granted him entry. He was shown to a sitting area to wait while the nymph tracked down her mistresses.

Hades followed after the nymph, passing her in long strides as she shouted at him to stop. Another attendant joined in and attempted to block his path, but he pushed her aside and continued his search. As the two of them chased after Hades, pulling at his coat, a third attendant scurried off to find Demeter.

Persephone heard the commotion. Turning away from her attendant, she half-ran down the wide corridors of her mother’s temple, past a nymph who was trying to tell her about an unruly guest.

Out of all the Gods above and below, who would disrespect Demeter in her own home?

She came to a dead halt as she turned the corner. There was her answer. There was no chill in the air, no pale skin, no dark eyes, but it was still her Hades. Persephone smiled, her eyes filmy, and rushed to greet him.

He caught her and swept her up off the ground, spinning her in a circle. Persephone’s cool fingers stroked the back of his neck as warm tears coursed down her cheeks. “I thought you were gone,” she sobbed. “I thought they’d gotten rid of you, I thought you were gone.”

Hades put her down and shook his head silently, wrapping his arms around Persephone in a tight embrace. She pressed her face against his chest, tears soaking into his clothes as his fingers combed through her hair.

She looked up him, running her hand up his cheek. Hades nuzzled her palm and she turned his face to hers, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Hades returned the kiss and let his hands fall to Persephone’s waist.

Demeter’s frail form came upon the sight in the corridor and she groaned. The couple, whose mouths were busy reacquainting themselves, ignored her presence as though she wasn’t there. The goddess huffed and turned her back on her daughter’s…emotional reunion with her husband. Unfortunately, it was too late to throw him out now.

After they had finished their meal, she had brought them both back to Olympus, conversing quietly as they moved from her temple towards that formerly of Zeus, not that far a distance. She didn't want to be having this conversation already, really... but the Eros situation had shifted her opinion on an appropriate time line for change. Her arm slid through Anteros' as they walked, and she smiled absently at him.

"I do appreciate your serving as distraction. Hopefully it will be no trouble."

She doubted there would be much trouble at all... no matter what his power, he was a charming man, And she didn't think Styx so petty as to visit assumed sins of a parent on a child... though she'd not put it past her, really. She paused as they reached the entrance to Zeus' home, and looked up at him.

"Ready, then?"

Hades: Hades swept through Love's temple, a skittish attendant guiding him to a sitting area to await the arrival of his brother's replacement. Hmm. Maybe it was stereotype talking, but he'd expected something a little more...pink. This place wasn't nearly as offensive to his over-sensitive senses as he'd assumed it would be.
Aphrodite: She had just returned from putting out the fire that was her youngest child's mishap, about to return to Anteros when an attendant told her she had a guest. She was content to tell them to wait, until she was told the name of who it was that was visiting her. She nodded to the servant, ordering wine and fruit to be brought in, and instead headed to the salon he was waiting in, opening the doors quietly. "Hades..."
Hades: "Aphrodite," he said, giving her a small nod.
Hades: "Or should that be Queen?"
Aphrodite: "Have you become a denizen of the sea, Hades?"
Aphrodite: She stepped in and let the door close, offering him a curious smile. "I can't say you're an expected guest."
Hades: He smirked. "Not quite."
Hades: "I can imagine I'm not, but I'm here nonetheless."
Aphrodite: "Make yourself comfortable." She lowered herself onto one of the chaises, motioning him towards another seat. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Hades: He sat down across from her. "Business. "
Aphrodite: "Ahh... Not pleasure at all." She paused as the door opened, an attendant silently bringing in a tray of wine and fruit, waiting til they were once more alone to speak. "Why don't you lay out for me what you're here to discuss?"
Hades: "Simply that I want my kingdom returned to me. I understand why it was taken away, very clever I must say, but I would like it back."
Aphrodite: "An understandable request... But I don't have your kingdom, Hades."
Hades: "I'm aware of that. However, being...temporarily unwelcome there, I cannot make that request to its current sovereign."
Aphrodite: "Have you tried his temple here? He's probably in residence. Or are you asking me to intervene?"
Hades: "I might be."
Hades: "I have been told there was a meeting about the switch. A meeting that you held."
Aphrodite: "There was. If I was aware you were around, I would have sent an invitation."
Hades: "Isn't that the job of the sky god?"
Hades: "I don't recall Poseidon ever taking such an interest in Zeus' affairs."
Aphrodite: "Why? The sky is not the only place affected, Hades. All three realms were. And the change has affected some more than others. It seemed in the best interest of all to not quibble about responsibility, and to simply do what needed to be done. I think you'll find, Hades, if you were already unaware... I am not Poseidon."
Hades: "You aren't. And you make a good point. But since all three realms were affected, what's there to quibble over? The responsibility is shared. What did the other two regents contribute to your meeting?"
Aphrodite: "I believe that would be between myself and them, don't you? Do you think you would have done things differently, then?"
Hades: "Perhaps. If I had been in power."
Aphrodite: "Ahh.. .but were yourself and your brothers in power, would it have happened in the first place? Probably not." She smiled, reaching forward to take a bunch of grapes, plucking one lightly into her mouth and taking a moment before speaking. " So you wish your throne back... As I said, understandable. I have to admit to being a bit surprised that you're hear talking to me, and not just... planning to take it back with force. Are you looking for a non-violent return? And if so, are you thinking I will be of assistance?"
Hades: "Good point," he replied. Hades' hand dipped into the bowl and hovered over a pomegranate for a moment, then moved to pick up an apple. "I want my kingdom back, and mine alone. If I wanted all three, violence would be the better choice...but I don't. Making enemies of those presiding over the sea and the sky would only hinder me."
Hades: "I think you could be of assistance, yes. You organised the meeting on Olympus. You were the only regent on Othrys when Cronus made his return. Circumstantial, I know, but for someone who has no need to fill Zeus' shoes, you do a good job of it."
Aphrodite: "Compliments... I'll take them with pleasure, Thank you. You know your realm is currently held by my husband. I'm sure you can see the advantage there, both in me helping you, and in him keeping the throne. You say you're only interested in your own realm... how can I be sure you don't wish to then avenge your brothers?"
Hades: "At this point you can't be. Should I regain my crown, I'd still be outnumbered. While my subjects are loyal and greater in number, Olympus has more power." He turned the apple over in his fingers. "But if you want me to swear on the Styx, so be it. You can take my brothers realms with pleasure, the only thing I want is the Underworld."
Aphrodite: She laughed softly. "Styx hates me with a passion and fervor that goes far beyond the normal range of duties entrusted to a goddess of Hate. I'm sure Any oath made to me on the matter of maintaining my Crown would be fairly simple to work out of. So not to be mercenary, Hades... but what's in it for me?" She fingered another grape for a moment before sliding it into her mouth, thinking over the possibilities... with Heph in control, She had more influence to achieve her goals... With Hades in control, there'
Aphrodite: d be less to worry about. It was an interesting idea, at the least.
Hades: "Hephaestus doesn't have my influence. He may wear my crown, govern my realm and rule my subjects, but they aren't loyal to him. Styx, as you've mentioned, does hate you, but she doesn't hate me. My word goes, regardless of whether she grits her teeth over it or not. And she isn't the only one..."
Hades: "If you want to continue your reign in relative peace and concordance, restoring mine would secure that."
Aphrodite: "Do you think I didn't plan that far ahead? I'm not new to gaining influence... for myself or others. Granted, your return would make it a bit harder. And I'll admit Hephaestus is perhaps not the ruler you are. But he's not here, and you're asking me. What do I gain, Hades? If I use my influence on my spouse and convince him to relinquish something he worked for?"
Hades: "My return could make it a lot harder," he replied with a smirk. "If you want the loyalty of the Underworld, I can give it to you on a plate. You wouldn't have to win over any of my subjects. Your husband has trust on his side, but as you said, he isn't me. I can run a much tighter ship, I have done for millennia."
Hades: "I could change my mind on all of this, quite easily...but so could you. I have no guarantee that you couldn't or wouldn't remove me from power. You've done it once before, you could do it again."
Hades: "Taking that into consideration, I have no real position to challenge you once reinstated."
Aphrodite: "You're offering me logic... which I can't really refute. I don't wish to be at war with the Underworld, no matter who is the ruler. Realize, Hades... your removal wasn't personal. Just necessary at the time." She smiled lightly. "I like that you're not trying to flatter me into it. And between you and me, I think you've a much better position to rule from then Hephaestus. But I do not think he'll want to simply hand it over."
Hades: "Had you left Poseidon and I in power, we would have challenged you, there's no doubt about that. Your motivations for removing me are understandable. As for flattery, I've seen it often enough to know it's a waste of breath."
Hades: "It's a lot of power to give back. Considering the dearth of materials he has access to at this time, I cannot see why a smith would give it up with ease."
Aphrodite: "Perhaps a compromise, then. You want your throne. Hephaestus is happiest in his forge. Allow him access to the metals and materials he craves."
Aphrodite: She laughed lightly, thinking Hades was perhaps the first to ever think flattering Love was a waste of breath. "Let me offer him that, and I shall see what I can do."
Hades: Hades gave a nod. "A small price to pay for my kingdom."
Aphrodite: She nodded slowly... given her latest dealings with her lover (former lover) and her spouse, it seemed on the surface at least the best alternative... one she had already considered. She hadn't expected it to come to her so easily, however. " There are going to be changes, Hades. There will need to be. Do you think we'll be able to work together?"
Hades: "I worked with Zeus. I would be surprised if you did worse with your given lot."
Aphrodite: "I suppose not being Zeus is the one thing I have going for me... Or that Ares has going for him." She nodded again. "I will talk to Hephaestus. Offer him the mining rights, and with a bit of persuasion, I am confident I can get him to see the logic in my words. I will ask for time, however. It seems I'm quite in demand these days. But I will make it a priority."
Aphrodite: "Of course... I do not think return of your crown will get you back to your home before the switch..."
Hades: "Time is in short supply for a monarch, I'm aware."
Hades: "The god of the living has no place in the land of the dead. I noticed that on my last visit."
Aphrodite: "Thanatos is suffering the same, as I'm sure you're aware." Her smile turned a bit apologetic. "There's a solution in sight. Though I'm sure it won't be quite over then... the rest can wait until people are themselves."
Hades: "Yes, I've heard about the solution," he said, frowning a little in concern. Getting help from Cronus didn't sit well with him. The old goat had to want something in return for being able to reverse the spell. "Thanatos is also trying to figure out the mistake. Mostly for his own sanity, I suspect."
Aphrodite: "Have you? I was unaware I'd shared it fully with anyone yet. But then it's so hard to keep anything to oneself around here... everything eventually trickles through the grapevine. Once I speak to Hephaestus, where shall I find you to deliver any information I've obtained?"
Hades: "Then you should be careful who you entrust the information to. Cronus has a big mouth." And wasn't Hades well aware of that? "As for where I'll be? Try my brother's former residence."
Aphrodite: "He does indeed... But he doesn't know all that he thinks he knows. Which works just fine. Very well... give me two days. I will speak with Hephaestus."
Hades: Hades quirked a brow, but remained silent. interesting. "In that case, I believe our business is done."
Aphrodite: She unfolded her legs and stood up, Holding out her hand. "It's been interesting. And a pleasure."
Hades: "Indeed." He got to his feet and closed his hand over Love's, giving it one single, firm shake.
Aphrodite: She walked him toward the door, opening it and leading him out into the main hall. "I've kept others waiting. I trust you can find your way out. "
Hades: "I can." With that, he left Aphrodite's home, heading back towards his brother's palace.

Demeter had deserted her temple on Olympus. Persephone was not to be found there either.

Demeter may have preferred to go somewhere desolate and barren to spare life and not hinder the regrowth that spring ushered in. Thanatos searched a few different such places on earth before he finally found her in an oddly flourishing desert where he was greeted by a desert nymph who was cursing the day she saw Famine. She was none to friendly to Thanatos either, demanding to know who else was going to come into her desert home bringing so much of the green of life? He assured her he was not there to touch or change anything and that he'd came to give a message to Demeter's daughter Persephone. The nymph lead him to rock formation that with a little bit of imagination upon viewing it resembled Demeter's temple on Olympus. It was there he saw Queen Persephone sitting at what looked like a stone picnic table outside of the temple.

He approached her and kneeled, taking her offered hand, "Fair lady, I bring you good tidings. Lord Hades lives and has plans to restore the two of you to your thrones. He has bid me to tell you that when the time comes he will send for you."

After relaying Hades' message he did not stay long feeling uncomfortable when Demeter joined the two of them at the outdoors table, but returned to Olympus with the token Persephone had bid him to bring back to Hades.

He entered the temple...

( Hades And Cronus Chit Chat )

With the meeting over, Hades disappeared from Mount Othrys, returning to Olympus where he'd been before the pull. He crossed the courtyard with a swift gait, heading for Zeus' temple. It wasn't like his brother really needed it now.

And if there was anyone was left inside...tough. He had more right to be there than they did. Besides, where else could he go? His Underworld was no longer his, and even if it had been, he couldn't stay. Not as long as he was God of the Living.

Hades didn't want to think of what had happened to his other titles.

Pushing the doors open, he headed inside, trying to get his bearings as he wandered wide, opulent corridors with marble floors. He missed having an Underworld.

Finding a semi-decent (in his view) sitting area, Hades threw himself down on an upholstered chair and began to reflect on his...rather ineloquent comeback.

It was an insistent tug that pulled at those old enough to remember... the strongest felt to those closest to Othrys. Rhea had felt it days ago, pulling her out of the reclusive home she'd kept herself in since the rise of her children. It was an insistent tug that pulled at those old enough to remember... the strongest felt to those closest to Othrys. Rhea had felt it days ago, pulling her out of the reclusive home she'd kept herself in since the rise of her children.

She knew, you see... she knew something was coming, and it could only be him. She'd been waiting... though the portents and omens all pointed to doom... doom for someone, at least. It tugged at them, this force, like a magnet pulling back those that would remember, who'd understand what this meant... and what it could mean for the future.

( Othrys looked like liked the shadowed forbearer of Olympus that it was... decrepit, run down.... a mountain of temples sitting in ruins. One would expect more of the flora and fauna to have taken it back, but there was something that kept out all but the most stubborn, as if Gaia kept this place the way it was, so much a she was able. )

Hades had been overthrown.

He'd assumed that his sapped strength and the heaviness in his limbs were caused by the frozen state he'd been in, but no. His power, at least in ruling the Underworld, had been ripped out and given to someone else. The new King. The traitor. Hades felt kind of stupid for not working it out sooner.

The Underworld knew it too. When he reached out and touched something - the ground, the trees, anything - he could feel a crackle of acknowledgement, but it wouldn't obey him. You have no power over me, I belong to someone else now it whispered. Under new management, as it were.

Hades looked down at his hands. He'd spent millennia in the Underworld, and like Poseidon, he'd taken on aspects of his realm...almost as a side affect of being there. Light eyes had grown dark and his skin had paled to the point of white. There was an undertow in his voice, something raspy and monstrous that surged through his vocal cords whenever he raised his voice. There was no warmth in his body either. It wasn't just cold; Thanatos was cold, but Hades' mere presence could chill rooms. He was a living embodiment of the Underworld.

Not anymore. All of that had disappeared, along with his power. His skin was an even fleshy colour and his voice had reverted back to how it was before he began his rule. Hades was certain his eyes were now a lovely shade of blue as well. It was a good thing Persephone wasn't around.

Persephone. In his last memories before waking up in the cave, Hades remembered Persephone. She was home, just as she always was during the winter months, while her blasted mother had no doubt laid waste to the earth, taking out her misery on the crops as she pined for her precious daughter.

But she wasn't here now, it was spring. Spring. The feet of whoever had stolen his kingdom were far under the table. Not that they were here now though. Part time job, was it?

Hades left. In truth, he felt sort of glad to get out, and the feeling appeared to be mutual. His former kingdom left him feeling stifled and uncomfortable...but that could've been the fact that he didn't run it anymore. Either way, he needed to find out who did, and there was only one place to do that: Mount Olympus. Somehow, he doubted he'd run into Zeus; you didn't steal the silver and ignore the gold, after all.

He found himself in a central courtyard that was as dead as...well, did it really need saying? It should've been more lively than this, but no matter. Hades decided to head to Zeus' temple, and if anyone crossed his path before he got there...well, they'd better have a lot of good answers.

There were no dreams here, just silence. You could've called it darkness, but that would suggest knowing something, being conscious of colour, of emptiness. Hades was conscious of nothing; he was dead to the world...and to himself.

Or at least he had been.

Coming round had been the easy bit, realising that he was conscious but completely paralysed took a little more getting used to. Had he not known better, he would've thought he was dead.

Hades wasn't dead though, no. He was numb. His body was there, he knew it was there, but it wasn't responding. It was as if he'd been frozen, head to toe. Even his eyes didn't work. But where had he been before now? He hadn't gone to sleep, he knew that, because he'd gone to see someone...someone...important? Then there was pain, unbearable, searing pain, like someone was ripping the flesh right off his back. After that there was nothing other than what he was experiencing now.

Nope, that definitely wasn't right.

Still, he'd woken up somehow; getting his body to do the same had to be possible.

In truth, it was like being thawed from the inside out, but eventually things came back. He opened his eyes...twitched his fingers...stood up, although not without faltering. Everything was heavy and inflexible. Hades felt like someone else had been wearing him.

As his body got used to itself again, he looked around. Not the Underworld. Not Greece. He certainly wasn't here out of choice.

Returning to his home should have been easy, but when he tried...he found that he couldn't get there. Hm. He'd have to go the long way then.