Page 48 of Hades

A red rose.

Persephone had created the eternal bloom for him a long time ago, a token of her affection that she had given to him to comfort him through the times she had been forced to leave him to attend to her duties in the mortal world or on Olympus. He cherished it, not only because it did indeed comfort him, but because it was a symbol of her deep love for him.

It had taken much of her power to make this gift. She had spent days recovering from the toll of creating it, suffering so he no longer would whenever they were apart.

He turned it in his hand, watching it sparkle softly, warmth spilling through him to chase the cold away and ease his heart.

It was red for a reason.

She had spilled her blood to make something deeply linked to her, had forged this delicate flower from it, creating a flower that would live as long as she did. It offered him comfort on two levels.

It was both a sign that she was still alive, and a way of finding her.

Hades held it out to Cerberus.

Although Cerberus couldn’t see him, all three of his heads immediately honed in on the flower and he inhaled deeply, taking Persephone’s scent down into his lungs just as Hades had hoped he would.

And then he was off.

Hades leaped the fence only a few feet behind Cerberus, his legs pumping hard to keep up with the beast as he thundered across the black land, his giant paws clawing up the earth as he raced towards a jagged mountain range.

Tracking Persephone’s scent.

Cerberus slowed from time to time to sniff the ground, allowing Hades to catch his breath and glance back at the palace.

When he saw it was far in the distance now, lost beyond a mountain, Hades whistled to Cerberus, calling him back. The great black beast trotted back to him, muscles tense as he kept looking over his body in the direction he had been heading. Hades could feel how anxious he was to continue tracking Persephone, but he had to wait.

Because Hades needed one last thing.

He held his bident out and focused on the track, unleashing a fraction of his power. Not enough that anyone would sense him, but enough that he could call forth what he needed.

The black ground trembled, the vibrations scattering stones in all directions from one central point. The earth there cracked and split open, the fissures widening, and air burst from them, sweeping past Hades.

Carrying distant whinnies and snorts.

Anticipation built inside him as the ground pushed up on either side of the widest fault, earth tumbling down the steep slopes.

His breath gusted from him as four huge black horses erupted from the fissure, throwing their heads as their wild crimson eyes sought him and their enormous hooves beat at the ground. Their manes streamed behind them as they thundered past him, two by two, hauling his black chariot into the Underworld, and then they reared as one onto their hind legs to kick at the air when they stopped a short distance away.

Hades approached them, removing his helmet just long enough that their frenzied scarlet eyes could see him, reassuring them that he had been the one to summon them. They calmed in an instant, only the front left beast, the oldest of the four, showing any sign of agitation as he dug at the earth with his hoof.

“Easy,” Hades murmured as he donned his helmet again and stroked the horse’s flank. It calmed and snorted, and then shook its great head. “We must be quick. As quick as Cerberus. Are you ready for a run?”

All four horses neighed, tossing their heads and restlessly moving in their harnesses, jostling one another.

Hades took it as a sign they were and mounted the chariot they pulled. He secured the rose in one of the golden handholds and then twisted the reins around his right fist and thrust his left hand forwards, directing them with his bident as he cracked the leather straps, the snap of them loud in the still air.

Cerberus took off.

The four horses bolted into action.

Hades narrowed black eyes on the horizon in the direction Cerberus was leading him, the darkness rising to seize him again as he thought about Persephone, as he planned what he would do to Mnemosyne when he got his hands on her. Shadows streamed behind him, billowing like smoke wings.

He urged the horses on, his grip on his bident and the reins tightening.

His voice a black whisper as he growled.

“I am coming, my love.”

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