Hades and Persephone 1

A full moon shone down on a sparkling brook in a lush, green field filled nearly entirely by flowers of every shade from red to violet and back again. The night was entirely silent save for the quiet run of water and the gentle slurping noise as a doe lapped thirstily at the stream.

Some would say that such natural beauty should never be tainted by a human presence, but those people had obviously never laid eyes on the youth who, even now, seemed to blend ever so seamlessly into the peaceful environment.

His name was Jack, and he wasn’t a human presence at all, or not entirely, at least.

No, Jack was the son of a goddess, the genetic explanation for his nearly-supernatural beauty. His skin and hair were the color of the moon itself, and the fingers of a pale hand were engaged in skimming over the stream's cool surface, the boy’s free hand lightly petting the female deer’s head, the skittish, people-shy creature not even twitching at the touch. His innocent aura seemed horridly corrupted, though, by the forlorn look in the ruby eyes the young man sported, the red eyes in and of themselves telling that even for a god (half-god actually, having a mortal father) he was not normal.

Yes, Jack had been born with a rare birth defect that caused babes to be without coloring and to possess demonic eyes, but his heritage gave the look far more beauty than a mortal would have, and even if it didn’t, his mother loved him despite it, and the love of Demeter, the beautiful goddess of the harvest, regardless of the kind of love, was rivaled in desirability only by the goddess of beauty herself, Aphrodite.

Speaking of the woman, Jack suddenly felt delicate hands lay atop his shoulders and, turning slightly, he saw the soft, smiling expression of his loving mother.

“My beloved son, I can feel your unhappiness like a dark shroud around you. It pains me to see you this way, you know. What troubles you so, my dearest Jack?”

The boy sighed helplessly. “Oh, mother, I don’t know...lately, I’ve just been feeling as if...as if something is missing from my life.”

“Missing?” The woman was awestruck at her son’s words. “What in Tartarus do you mean, my child?”

Jack cringed at the baffled tone, knowing Demeter wouldn’t understand what he was about to say. “Mother, it’s not that I don’t enjoy these nights, I do, but it’s the same thing again and again. I guess I just want...something different, is all.”

“If this is your way of trying to see the daytime, my son, I won’t have it.” Jack’s birth defect had left him sensitive to sunlight, and being half-god, while he was unable to die naturally (and would actually cease aging in a year or two) he could still get sick or hurt and then die from that, and Demeter insisted she wouldn’t lose her son to the Underworld. The boy’s protective mother had always hidden him away before the coming of dawn, only allowing him outside after dusk had fallen, and in truth, Jack had never even seen sunlight. Needless to say, of course, the woman had only become more strict on the issue when her son’s mortal father had died, leaving mother and son alone. “I won’t lose you to some...some thrill-seeking phase!”

“No, mother, it’s not that, really!” Jack insisted. “I was actually sort of thinking about...well, love, I guess. I’ve never been in love before.”

“Love?” Demeter laughed at the suggestion, not even noticing the look of crushed hope in the boy's eyes as she said it. “How silly, my son! You don’t want the god of love to shoot his arrows at you. You are much too young, and his arrows will hurt. Besides,” her musical voice spoke as she wrapped her arms around her son, “you have my love; that’s all you need.”

“Yes...” Jack sighed in resignation, leaning back into the woman’s embrace, “of course, mother.” It was needless to say that the boy remained entirely unaware of the avaricious golden stare that was locked firmly on him through the whole of the conversation.

Another set of eyes, too, watched the scene unfold, but these eyes belonging to the King of All Gods, Dashi. The man 'hmm'-ed thoughtfully, taking in the situation before calling two other gods to him, Omi, the son of Aphrodite, and Raimundo, the newly-declared messenger god.

"Boys...I've got something I'd like you to do for me..."

--

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand." the God of the Dead demanded of the male before him who had entered his throne room entirely unannounced.

"Hey, hey, easy, Chase," Raimundo spoke, hands raised in a gesture of harmlessness, "don't shoot the messenger! I've actually got some good news for you."

An elegant eyebrow arched challengingly. "Oh?"

"Yeah, see Dashi has been watching you for a while, and apparently he's sick of watching the old 'run-around', because he finally sent me down here to give you permission."

"Permission?" the man scoffed, "And what, pray tell, have I been given permission for?"

"Oh, come on, Chase, we both know what we're talking about: Demeter's kid, what's-his-name."

Chase tensed ever so slightly, supplying, "Jack."

"Yeah, him! See? You know! I envy you, really, Chase; even with the part-mortal thing and the...well, whatever that whiteness thing is, he's pretty hot, isn't he?"

Biting back an annoyed growl, the older god ran a hand through his long, inky black hair, asking, "What are you babbling about?"

"Jack, of course!" Rai said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Dashi sent me to tell you that you have free range on the kid; you can do whatever you want with him, and if he gives you any trouble, Omi's standing by if you need him."

"...You're joking." Chase accused.

"That's the best part," the messenger laughed, "I'm not! You'll get to fulfill all your sick little fantasies on him, no questions asked. Dashi must really think you need to get laid to go out of his way like this."

Chase scowled, crossing one leg over the other. "Hm. And how does my brother," he spat the word like venom, "intend to keep Demeter from discovering that her precious son is practically being handed over to the one who already holds the soul of her beloved mortal husband in his kingdom?"

"Um...he..well, I don't...actually know...But he's probably got something!"

"Something, eh?" the man spoke mockingly. "Well, then, how about I tell you something? I care more about my harvested souls than for Demeter's pathetic little half-breed son!" This was certainly a statement, because once a human's soul passed on to the Underworld and was sent to Tartarus, Cerberus's guarded station, or the increasingly rarer Elysian fields, Chase would have absolutely nothing to do with it ever again, barring only the case of Orpheus and his lover, which ended for both in absolute tragedy. "If it were up to me, I'd have killed the useless whelp myself instead of simply waiting for him to die!"

"Sheesh," Rai said, backing off, "no one said you had to take advantage of the offer. But, you know, Dashi figured you'd say something like that, so he said it won't expire, so you know...well, if it were me, I'd rethink it. I mean, a cute thing like him at god status with none of the powers..." he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "just give it some thought."

The second the messenger had left, Chase's scowl faded into a malevolent smirk. Feigning disinterest had been the perfect tool to throw off his competition; it was ridiculously obvious that Raimundo had an interest in Jack, and things would be far simpler if Chase wasn't going to be suspected as a rival.

He had been waiting for this kind of opportunity for quite some time, and he was not so foolish as to pass it up now that it had been handed to him on a silver platter, regardless of the fact that it was the hand of his good-for-nothing brother that presented it to him.

Oh, yes, he would take full advantage of this...

--

Jack sighed, curling his fingertips around the stem of a nearby flower as he gazed listlessly at it.

He and this plant shared the same fate in a way, only truly alive at night (being that it was a moonflower) and simply living out their monotonous existence until it was to be ended. The flower, though, would eventually die, but as Jack was unable to do so naturally, and with his mother, being killed was unlikely, he had no choice but to wait.

After all, time couldn't go on forever...could it?

The youth frowned, tugging harshly on the flower, snapping the stem and severing the plant's lifeline; between his fingers, he could already feel it slowly begin to die.

Dropping it to the ground, he decided he envied the thing in a way, because it could do what he could not, could never do: die.

"He wishes for death?" Chase pondered in his mind before easily dismissing, "No, he is too young; he no longer knows what he wants, not since Demeter interfered. But...if the boy wants to go to the Underworld..."

"A gorgeous night, is it not?" Jack jumped at the silky voice that pierced the night like an arrow of Artemis, turning his head to meet the newcomer.

What met his eyes made his heart pause in mid-beat.

Long, inky-black hair gave off a glossy shine in the moonlight as it lay elegantly over broad, strong shoulders in addition to framing a handsome face that Jack almost instantly found himself enamored of gazing at, along with those piercing bronze eyes that made the human stranger all the more exotic and appealing to the youth. The figure before him had such a masculine figure, clearly powerful, and yet he still managed to be so...beautiful! It was a dark beauty, of course, the man practically exuded darkness, somehow, but beauty nonetheless, and through this thought alone, Jack's mind was sent wandering without his realization or consent.

Obviously, then, the mental image of those strong hands touching him jolted the youth fiercely back to reality, where naught but a few seconds had passed, and as a pink flush stained his cheeks, he stuttered out his answer to the other's question. "Y-yeah, it's nice out tonight..."

Chase smirked at the boy's reaction to him, quite obviously smitten if the blush on his fair skin was any indication. This was going even better than he had expected; at this rate, he could probably charm Jack into his bed before sunrise!

But no, he couldn't take the chance of being refused, not when everything was falling so perfectly into place.

And so he would do this properly, with as little chance for error as possible.

Taking a step forward, the King of the Dead gave as friendly a smile as he could manage and gestured to the general area where Jack was sitting, asking, "Is this seat taken?"

"Uh, no, the...the ground's free..." The half-god flushed even further at how nervous he sounded to his own ears, turning away from the other in embarrassment.

With a smug smile, Chase did as he had intended, and quickly decided he enjoyed the warmth from the pale youth beside him. Gently taking the other's long, artistic fingers in his grip, he lightly pressed his lips to the back of the snow-white hand. "My name is Chase, and it's a pleasure to meet someone as lovely as you."

"Jack, likewise." By Gaia, this was supposed to be impossible! An absolutely gorgeous man who was not only speaking to him as an equal (whereas he usually got 'inferior' because of his lineage and looks), but who also appeared to find him attractive; this could be just the thing he had been hoping for, a reprieve from the moonlit monotony that had become his life!

And so they talked, about anything and everything, but mostly nothing, essentially gossip, such as Aphrodite's promiscuity to her loyal husband Clay, but they also touched on the more morbid topics, ones that, had they both truly been mortals (or at least fully mortal, in Jack's case), they would not have dared to speak of so casually: Atlas and his eternal torture of holding up the world, Prometheus and how he was forced to endure the pain of having his liver eaten out daily, only to endure it again the very next day, and in general the folly of those who were rightly (or wrongly, it was all the same amusement to them) punished by the gods.

Of course, it had never occurred to Jack that, at the mention of his personal favorite, Tantalus, the man cursed with never-ending hunger and thirst for attempting to steal the nourishment of the gods, ambrosia and nectar, Chase had smirked wickedly and a dark glow had enveloped his form; the elder's pride in his work could have given him away, but luckily, Jack was naïve enough to pass it off as as a combination of his mind's fantasies running away with him and a trick of the moonlight.

As far as Demeter's beloved son knew, Chase was merely an ordinary mortal who had happened upon him entirely on accident, just as he was supposed to.

It was very late at night or very early in the morning that found the pale youth giggling like a school-girl at an amusing quip from his companion. When his laughter died down enough for him to speak, Jack sighed, admitting, "I really enjoy your company, Chase. I have a feeling that tonight was better than all of my other nights just because you were here."

"I enjoy your company as well, Jack," the elder replied, laying a hand over the younger's in a common gesture of what could have been either friendship or affection, "and I should not wish to part with it."

The boy smiled earnestly, basking in all of the possible meanings of the statement, all of which led to the fact that someone besides his mother liked him, minimally as a friend if nothing else.

For the first time in the six years since his mother had become so overprotective, Jack felt happy.

Of course, the sky had to take it upon itself to visible lighten at that moment, and the half-god's eyes widened at the realization of the time. "It's almost morning! Oh, mother will be here soon. I'm sorry, Chase, but it looks like our time just got cut short." And right when they had been getting along so well, too!

The man grinned just enough to cause the red-eyed boy a slight uneasiness and answered, "Oh, I don't think that will be an issue..."

Jack blinked, confused, a curious noise escaping his throat. What was he talking about? He was only further puzzled when one of Chase's strong hands held the back of his skull, though not uncomfortably so, as if to keep him from moving his head.

It suddenly made sense, however, as he was kissed full on the lips.

He had no time to react to this, because almost immediately after the kiss was initiated, he felt dizzy, like the earth had fallen out from underneath him. His eyelids felt heavy and his body made of lead as he quickly lost consciousness, moaning softly into Chase's mouth before he was utterly engulfed in blackness.

Pulling away from the boy's limp form, the dark stain of the toxin Chase had used to render Jack unconscious faded from his lips as he willed it away. Being god of the Underworld certainly had it's perks, namely "the death"; although he rarely collected the souls of the dead himself, he was still gifted with the ability to produce a kind of venom that transferred through skin-to-skin contact, meant for the purpose of taking those who fought against their deaths to the Underworld. It didn't last very long, just long enough to keep the victim under until they had been brought to Chase's gloomy, black kingdom, and that was just what he intended to do with Jack.

This victim wasn't dead, but by the time the sun peeked over the horizon, he would be among them.

Chase gently draped the pale youth over his shoulder, being careful to assure that he wouldn't be jostled too badly, and felt a small thrill when Jack, body and mind still anesthetized by the mild poison that coursed through his blood, squirmed in his grip, not in an unconscious attempt to escape, but to shift himself more securely into his captor's hold.

"Demeter," Chase thought to himself, "will have wasted her time in coming for her son."

Dark, black fire scorched the air at the god's departure of the mortal realm, and the sun rose to greet an empty field.