Who: Persephone and Arion (with Hades, Cerberus and Delaney) What: A panicked horse indoors Where: Perse and Hades's Home When: Friday night Warnings: None
CRASH!
Hades was instantly out of bed. In one fluid movement, he had grabbed his blade of darkness, his gun and went invisible. He didn't turn to see if Persephone had awakened. The stillness of the depth of the evening. She had to have woken up. He had other concerns.
Throwing open the door, two sounds echoed in the halls: a complete racket, like a stampede going down the stairs toward the lower floors and Delaney screaming from her room. “[Persephone, secure Delaney!]” he commanded, his voice stern with all its former authority as it was furious.
Zale's door looked like it had been exploded, his room itself a sudden bedlam inside. The viscous, cruel King of the Underworld raced down the stairs in pursuit of the noise. Be it Titan, Subrosa or other... The kidnapper would not escape the house alive.
Persephone hurriedly slipping past Hades and down the hall to Delaney's room. She picked up her daughter, cooing at her to get her to stop her screaming. "[It's okay, little one. It's okay.]" She, of course, was not certain that it was okay, but she knew that her daughter was safe now that she was with her.
The sirens of the alarm system began to blare and Hades growled to himself. Now his security system kicks in? Did the intruders come from the roof? But the house echoed with more growling now. Deep and in triplicate and it made the Dark One snicker as he came around the corner. Whomever broke into the house hadn't expect Cerberus.
Cerberus had displaced much of the furniture of the room when he/they reclaimed its true size, but it also had cornered the intruder in the corner.
But it wasn't an intruder. Not exactly. In the corner, a scared foal looked in every direction for a means of escape. This wasn't the wide open fields. This wasn't even the house he remembered his Momma living in. And most importantly, Arion knew what beast loomed over him. How had he gotten...?
Hades blinked at the frightened neighing. “[Cerberus, down,]” he commanded and the beast backed up a few feet and laid down. Indeed, the cornered creature was no Titan or Subrosa agent. Lowering his weapons, his anger cooled. There would be no murders tonight. “[Zale.... um, Arion, calm down. You're home. You're safe.]”
The foal's eyes widened more. He didn't see anyone speaking, but that only confirmed to his mind who it was. Who else could command Cerberus? “[Stay away from me!. Let me go!]”
Once Delaney had calmed down a bit, Dahlia tucked her in with Quackers. She hovered still by the door, listening to the chaos downstairs. That was Zale's voice with Hades. "[Is everything okay?]" she called out.
At the sound of her voice, the foal looked in all directions, his voice trembling but like every cornered animal, he found a sudden burst of courage, “[Why did you take me, too? Let me go! Isn't it enough you took my sister?]”
Invisibly, Hades flinched and reared away. He understood why the words were being shouted at his general direction, but they didn't make them hurt any less. “[Persephone.... Come down here.]”
"[Fine, but you have to come up here before our daughter starts screaming,]" Persephone called out, making her way out into the hall and hurrying down the steps, cradling her stomach. Ugh. The living room was a mess! "[What's going--oh.]"
She paused when she saw the horse there. Yes, she knew about Zale and Arion, but she had yet to witness it firsthand. Frowning, she shooed off Hades and Cerberus, quietly and calmly approaching the foal. "[Oh honey. Shh. It's okay.]"
Hades allowed himself to be shooed away. He knew he shouldn't take it personally, but it made his heart ache. Part of Zale's soul was scared of... He shook his head and was glad to be invisible. No one had to see him then. He had a daughter to care for. Persephone would deal with this. “[Cerberus, be small and follow].]”
The beast obeyed and stalked up the stairs behind the invisible man. Only one head looked back to the foal, a hungry glint in its glowing eyes.
The foal waited until the monster was away from him and Persephone was much closer before trotting to her, his hooves clapping against the hard floors. He nuzzled against her belly with his head, “[Sister! So long.... What am I doing her...?]” Then the little horse paused, all four hooves tapping backwards as he touched his nose to her belly, “[You're pregnant?]”
"[Brother...]" Persephone smiled, running a hand over his mane. "[Yes, I am pregnant...it seems things will take some explaining.]" She bit her lip, thinking on how to begin. She wished her mother were here to advise her or help the poor lost foal. What would she had done? She thought hard on this, and then realized, her mother would start with food as a distraction. "[Do you want a carrot?]"
Arion's eyes went wide at the suggestion, “[Would I have to stay here forever then?]”
Persephone fought the urge to laugh. Instead she shook her head, pointing over to a large potted tree in the corner. "[This isn't the Underworld, Arion.]"
“[That doesn't mean it isn't the Underworld,]” He lowered his head and snuffed at her feet and the ground lightly, “[You're here with him. Wouldn't that mean...?]”
"[There is a lot to explain, Arion.]" Persephone said firmly, patting her brother's side. "[Just trust me. I'm your sister, and I would not trick you into staying in the Underworld. I just thought you might like a carrot.]"
If horse's could smile, Arion would have then, “[Alright. I would like a carrot... Wait, but Cerberus was here, too? Where is this?]”
"[Cerberus is actually a fairly recent addition to our home. We're in a place known as Miami, Florida,]" Persephone started to explain, leading Arion into the kitchen where she pulled a carrot out for him. "[In a country called the United States of America. We're half a world away from Greece.]"
“[Right.]” Arion trotted behind her, watching her carefully and curiously. “[Momma wasn't living in Greece when I got lost. It's weird but I understood.]” He then moved to her side of her, swishing her with his tail as he laughed, “[It's so great you're free now!]”
Persephone held the carrot out so that he could nibble on it while they spoke. She wasn't sure how to begin this next part. "[Arion, you should know something. I am still with Hades. He is...well, he's my husband.]" Not by the current law, but what would a horse know about that anyway. "[And I do love him. This child inside me is our second.]"
Nibbling on the carrot as he thought, he trotted around to face her, “[I thought you couldn't have kids with him.]”
"[Because of the Underworld,]" Persephone offered as an explanation. "[He has not been there in a long while, and neither have I. So now we're both able to bear children.]" She was not going to mention the twins. Her family often took umbridge with Hades's choices--hell, she was surprised Zale and Amara had zero problems with him. "[There's more we should discuss when you finish your treat.]"
“[Well, if you really do love him, I'm glad then. I remember you looked at the other goddesses all jealous about their children. Now you have your own.]” Arion then nibbled on the carrot until he reached the end where she was holding. Finished, he pressed his head to the side of her belly, “[Can you hear babies?]”
As if recognizing her uncle, the baby gave a healthy kick. Persephone laughed. "[They find ways to make their presence known...Arion, did Momma tell you about our other siblings?]"
He looked up at her, “[What do you mean?]”
Persephone sighed, worried about how to proceed. "[She had some children with Poseidon after she left Greece. Amara and Zale. Did she tell you anything about them?]"
“[Oh. No, she didn't. She always wanted to keep me close or get me back into a bed.]” His tail swished happily behind him as he shook out his mane, “[But I know about Amara. How could I not know about her?]” She was still his twin sister, even though the name was wrong and all of this was strange. His tail stilled a little as his voice grew serious, “[I know about being Zale, too.]”
"[Oh. Oh good,]" Persephone breathed a sigh of relief. "[I was afraid that was part of your confusion...you'll forgive me for not wanting to impart that news upon you.]" She smiled, leaning over to give him a hug. "[Momma was having another baby and left to make sure she could safely have it. Amara is with her father, and we're taking care of Zale...which means we are taking care of you as well. And we will take very good care of you, Hades and I.]"
He pressed into her hug, twisting his neck to hug her back in his own horse way. “[Is Momma okay? When is the baby due? Can we go see him or her afterwards?]”
“[She...did things very quietly,]" Persephone explained, a little sadness in her voice. "[She wanted to be alone, and so she didn't tell us where she was going. But Momma is fine. She should have had the baby by now.]"
His eyes were as bright as his fine coat at her words, not quite understanding her sadness. It was wonderful, wasn't it? They had a new baby sibling! “[So, when does she come back?]”
"[I'm not sure,]" she replied, smoothing a hand down his snout. "[We'll just have to be patient until she does.]"
Now, he began to understood. His own heart sank a little as he let out a loud snuff, “[I hope she comes home soon. If I have to be a foal again, I want to be with Momma.]” Something clicked in his head at his own words and he lifted his snout to press his nose to her cheek, “[Not that I don't love you a lot but, you know...]” She wasn't their mother and he was a touch uncertain still about this Hades deal.
"[I understand,]" Persephone nodded, planting a kiss on his head. "[Now can I get you up into bed without any more trouble?]"
“[Do I have to?]” If a horse could frown, he certainly would be. The expression, still, was clear enough on his long face, “[Do you want Zale back so much?]”
"[I want the both of you safe,]" Persephone said firmly. "[If you don't sleep, then he's tired all day. It's just not good for either of you...we'll try to find a better arrangement okay?]"
“[He can sleep tomorrow then. I want to go outside. Do you have grass?]” The foal lowered his head to the ground with another loud snuff. She didn't have anything on her feet on this... He tapped a hoof to the ground. Stone? Stone floor. “[Aren't your feet cold?]”
"[We can take a quick walk,]" Persephone chided, petting her brother's back. "[But Zale has obligations that you don't. And my feet are fine...]" She started leading him towards the backdoor, hoping he wouldn't be an annoying kid brother the rest of the night.
“[Deal. I wish I was an adult again...]” Arion stood as he stepped out the door, taking a little leap to reach the grass and frolic for a moment before looking at her again, “[Then you could take a ride with me.]”
"[Well, that will happen again someday,]" Persephone promised, patiently waiting for him to get his frolic out.
After a few minutes, the foal began to slow in his racing and leaping and rolling. He took a deep breath and looked up at all the stars. He could almost smell the ocean if he sniffed hard enough. This definitely wasn't the Underworld. He wished he was on the beach. He wished he didn't have to go back into the real house... “[Hey, how about one more deal?]”
"[Hmm? What's that?]" Persephone asked, leaning against the doorframe. She could feel her pregnant ankles swelling.
“[I'll go to sleep, but can I sleep out here?]”
"[Can I take Zale inside when you're asleep?]"
"[Sure. It's just so nice out here.]" Moving toward her again, he wrapped his neck around her in another hug in gratitude, "[Are you okay? Sitting in the grass might make you feel better. You can lean against me...]"
Persephone smiled, willing to take him up on that offer. She carefully made her way down to the ground. She waited for her brother to join her.
Arion settled down to the ground near her carefully, no matter how haphazardly it may have looked. No foal or horse for that matter was incredibly graceful when it came to laying down. He looked to her with a smile as he seemed to relax in the grass. He needed a nice quiet moment to relax. This night had been so terrifying on the onset, though now, with everything his sister had told him, he felt a little guilty about his own actions. And it seemed so late and she was so pregnant. He really hadn't meant to be nuisance to his big sister. “[Sorry about waking you up like that. And um, can you tell Hades I'm sorry for yelling at him and making a mess? I mean, if he's helping to take care of me, and you and Momma are okay with that I might just be missing something, but Momma didn't raise me to be rude, you know?]”
Persephone placed an arm along Arion's back, smoothing her hand along him comfortingly. It was sweet that he was doing his best to be polite. She could only imagine how strange their current situation would seem to someone who hadn't directly lived through the Fall. "[I'll make sure he knows.]" While it would be a challenge negotiating Arion's existence with Zale's life, for the moment, it was nice for Persephone to have another sibling in her life.
Summary: Persephone explains the current state of their family to her bewildered brother, Arion.