Chapter Text
Unlike the Mortal Realm, snow was a regular feature in the Underworld. It was too warm up above for snow to fall; a land of eternal sunshine with bountiful harvests for all and no need to worry about the cold beyond a gentle breeze.
Persephone had been amazed the first time she’d seen it- awestruck by the twinkling white sparkles that lazily fell from the sky in unpredictable showers. And since joining Underworld Corp as a Shade Coordinator, she’d been able to enjoy the snow more often than she’d ever dreamed.
Her mother, Demeter, had warned her against seeking out snowy places many years ago. Though there were none to be found within their domains, she’d heard tales of the harsh conditions that plagued their Norse counterparts. Demeter had warned her that the snow was brutal and treacherous, beautiful but wild, and its mood could change with the wind to create dangerous conditions for all travellers, even goddesses like themselves.
Despite her warnings, it had become something of a running joke in the offices of Tower One, that Persephone loved the snow. For the residents of the Underworld, snow was just another part of life in the lower realm. For Persephone, though, it still held a wonder that would see her running to the rooftop each time a new flurry started.
It had snowed on Monday, prompting a cheerful Hecate to poke her head around the corner of the coordinators’ office and announce the arrival of snow over Tower One. Persephone had hopped from her desk with glee, much to Thanatos’ irritation, and thrown her coat on, rushing outside to enjoy the weather.
It was cold, painfully so at times, but she loved the way the snowflakes danced on the wind and how her body responded to the warmth it received when she reentered the building. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before and she loved it. Like everything about the Underworld, it had an edge to its underrated beauty that she’d come to appreciate in her time there.
Snow never lasted long in the heart of the Underworld though, vanishing just as quickly as it arrived, and leaving nothing behind but a series of sad puddles on the ground.
She’d said as much out loud to Hecate that same day, when the Goddess of Witchcraft had decided to join her on the roof for her excursion.
“I wish the snow didn’t have to go away so soon.” Persephone complained, watching its icy white petals vanish the moment they connected with her pink hands.
“Why don’t you go to the mountains then?”
Persephone looked at Hecate in confusion, “The mountains?”
“Oh, did you not know? The deeper you head into the Underworld, the more snow there is. Once you hit the mountains that lead into Tartarus the place is covered all the time.”
Persephone’s eyes sparkled in delight, “Really?!”
Hecate laughed at her excitement, “Really. We even make a sport of it- I’ll show you once we’re back inside.”
True to her word, Hecate had spent the hour that followed hovering at Persephone’s desk, showing her everything there was to know about the Underworld’s ski zone. First, she’d had to explain what skiing was, and ever the adventurer, Persephone only beamed at the thought of throwing herself headfirst down a mountain with nothing but a pair of sticks on her feet to keep her steady.
She’d shown her pictures of New Asphodel, the small village that sprung up around the base of the mountains to accommodate the swarm of tourists that ventured there for vacations throughout the year.
Persephone was amazed, eyes wide and pointing excitedly at every little thing on the screen. She needed to go there as soon as possible, preferably that very weekend, and launch herself into the powdery white snow drifts at full speed.
There was even a train that went straight from the capital to New Asphodel, so she could go right after work if she timed things right. She could be there in less than five hours, but five hours there and back was a lot of travel for just a weekend stay.
“Do you think Hades would let me take some time off for this?” Persephone asked.
“I’m sure he won't mind. You work yourself to death and haven’t had any time off yet this year. You deserve a break,” Hecate replied warmly, “and if he has a problem with that then just let me know and I’ll beat him up for you until he says yes.”
The two women laughed, causing Thanatos to scoff under his breath and roll his eyes. Hecate shot him a warning look that shut him up immediately.
“Is there a problem, Thanatos?”
His grey skin took on a sickly pallor as beads of sweat formed at his brow, “Not at all, boss.”
“That’s what I thought,” Hecate said sweetly, and the two went back to planning Persephone’s vacation itinerary.
**
Persephone made her way to Hades’ office after her lunch break to ask him for some time off. It wasn’t much, just Thursday and Friday, and she’d be back to work on Monday morning, rested and ready to go.
Minthe, as usual, had been antagonistic to the point that Persephone wanted to scream. But she didn’t. She held her shit together like a good little goddess and resisted the urge to train her bees to follow Minthe around and sting her at random intervals. Making them spend all of their time with Minthe wouldn’t have been fair on the bees though, she’d reasoned. It would have been more of a punishment to the bees than to the nymph.
In the end, Persephone did what she’d started to do during most of her interactions with Hades’ personal assistant, which was to ignore her altogether.
She rapped at Hades’ door and opened it just a touch, letting him see that it was her and not Minthe or some other unwanted guest. Persephone was always welcome to visit him, he’d said, and it was true for the most part. The only time she’d not been able to speak to him at work was when he was busy attending to other staff and even then he always had time to shoot her a little wave or a smile.
Hades looked up from his computer, papers spread haphazardly around his desk, and lit up when he saw Persephone waiting in his doorway. The black circlet around his head bobbed as he jumped up to greet her.
“Persephone! To what do I owe the honour? Am I in trouble?”
She clicked the door closed behind her, well aware of the way Minthe was furiously glaring at her, and entered the space confidently.
“Should you be?” She teased.
“I’m always in trouble for something- comes with the territory.”
He sat on the edge of his desk, casual and relaxed around her like he always was. She loved the way he melted in her presence, completely at ease as they caught up about her day.
“Did you see the snow earlier?”
“I did! Hecate took me outside for it, which is actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” Hades said, raising an eyebrow curiously.
Persephone pulled her phone from one of her pockets and showed Hades the website for the hotel she’d found online. It was simple, but it was cheap enough for her to afford without damaging her savings and close to both the train station and village centre.
“Hecate told me about New Asphodel while we were outside and I was wondering if I could take Thursday and Friday to visit?”
Hades took the phone from her hands and looked at it with poorly hidden disdain. Oh no, Persephone thought, she’d finally pushed too far. She knew her luck was due to run out one day and here it was.
Hades had looked at her with concern and placed the phone down between them to look at the hotel together, “I don’t have a problem with you taking a few days off, gods know you deserve it, but this place? Really? Persephone, the room doesn’t even come with its own bed sheets- you have to take your own from home!” He read the description again and his face grew redder by the second, “And there’s a communal bathroom! Persephone, I can’t let you stay in a hovel like that.”
“The showers are private though, I just have to wait for my turn to use it and the sheets thing isn’t too big of a deal, I’ll just take mine with me as you said.”
Hades pushed the device back into her hands, “Absolutely not. I refuse to let a goddess of your standing stay anywhere less than the palace you deserve. I have a cabin up there, let me check with the management team if it’s available for you to use.”
He was already dialling their number before she could object, “Who are you planning to go with by the way? Artemis?”
Persephone looked embarrassed, “Actually, I was going to go alone. Nobody else seems to like the snow like I do.”
Hades knit his brow at her words, holding a finger up to indicate a pause when the phone was answered on the other side.
“Yes, hello? I wanted to know if my cabin is available this weekend- Wednesday til Sunday would be the dates.”
He nodded his head a few times, making ‘uh-huh’ and ‘hmm’ noises as the person on the other end of the line spoke.
“Perfect, can you have someone flip the heating on tomorrow and do a grocery run on Wednesday morning? I’ll send a list and we’ll be there in the evening.”
The person on the other line squeaked a few questions at Hades, earning ‘yeses’ and ‘nos’ in equal measure.
He looked over at Persephone, “How many guests? Just two. Names? Of course, the first guest is me, and the second is Persephone, the Goddess of Spring.”
They spoke a little more, swapping thanks and salutations before Hades hit a button to end the call and smiled toothily at Persephone.
“It’s sorted. You can stay at my cabin and I’ll tag along as your guide. New Asphodel can get a bit wild at weekends so I’d rather you have someone nearby who can help if needed and if you’ve never skied before you’ll need someone experienced with you on the mountain.”
Persephone felt that familiar rush of excitement that hit her whenever it came to Hades. Not only was he letting her stay at his own personal cabin, but he would be joining her. Joining her alone. In a cabin in the mountains. Miles upon miles away from anyone and everyone they knew.
Persephone’s heart pounded in the glow of his smile and her pulse thrummed dangerously between her legs as sinful thoughts entered her mind. Her dream of skiing had suddenly been replaced by flashes of pink on blue, laid out before a roaring log fire while the snow fell, ignored, beyond the cabin’s windows.
“Are you sure, Hades? I really don’t mind staying at the place I picked and you don’t need to miss work on my behalf.”
“Bah,” Hades dismissed, placing an electrifying hand at the small of her back as he led her out of the room, “To be honest, I needed a break myself and I’d much rather spend it with you in New Asphodel than trying to stop Russell eating my shoes.”
“But how will we get there?” Persephone asked, “I was going to take the train.”
“Nonsense, I’ll drive us straight from here. Bring a case with you on Wednesday and we can leave at lunch and arrive in time for dinner.”
“Are you sure this is okay?” Persephone grinned.
“Goddess, if it wasn’t okay you would know. Trust me.”
Wednesday came slower than Persephone could tolerate.
She’d told Artemis her plans, leaving out the part about staying in an isolated cabin alone with Hades, and packed her bag as agreed on Tuesday night. She’d read about clothing and ski rental in the village so she hadn’t bothered to buy any winter wear, but she had packed a few cosy sweaters and thick pairs of stockings to protect her against the chill.
By Wednesday morning, she was practically squirming in her chair in delight, watching the clock tick agonisingly slow until it hit twelve while Thanatos was glaring at her like he usually did.
“Got somewhere else to be, Kitten?” He said in a mocking tone, using the weird nickname he only called her when other people weren’t around. On anyone else, she was sure it would sound endearing but Thanatos loaded the name with malice each time he used it.
Persephone ignored him, “I’m finishing at lunch today so I can go to New Asphodel!”
Thanatos regarded her cooly, “Hades let you have time off? Tsk, you really do get to do whatever you want, don’t you?”
“Enlighten me, Thanatos, as to why you seem to think our dear Persephone is not allowed to use her allocated amount of annual leave as every other employee of Underworld Corp is entitled to?” Hades’ irritated voice cut through across the room, having entered quietly through their office’s side door.
Thanatos shrank in embarrassment but Persephone shone at his arrival, little blue petals blooming around her ears, “Hades! I’m so excited!”
Hades chuckled, taking in her excited expression and the pink suitcase stuffed to bursting beside her desk. He was dressed smartly in a long black coat with a rich blue scarf tucked around his neck.
“I know I said we’d leave at lunch, but what do you think about skipping out early?”
Persephone bounced up from her desk and squealed, already closing down her computer and gripping the handle of her suitcase. He didn’t need to ask her twice.
“Wait, you’re going together?” Thanatos spat at them.
Hades scowled, “I fail to see how that is any of your business, Thanatos. If I were you I’d concern myself more with improving my output rather than Persephone’s vacation plans.”
Persephone waved cheerfully at the humbled Thanatos, “Bye, Than! I’ll be back on Monday!”
Then she was out the door, dragging her heavy pink case behind her while a bemused Hades followed shortly after. She had no idea where his car was parked but that didn’t stop her. She had a cabin to get to.
The drive to New Asphodel had taken five hours but felt like five minutes as Persephone shared every last detail of Hecate’s itinerary with Hades.
When she wasn’t talking she was reading, something of a guilty pleasure she’d developed in the time since she’d started working in the Underworld. The reading itself wasn’t a guilty pleasure, rather it was the content of what she was reading. It was smut. Complete and utter smut. Shameless and vivid, she drank in the contents of her illicit materials provided by Nymphazon’s digital reading service.
It had been Eros’ suggestion. A way to indulge her urges and scratch the itch that burned at the back of her mind whenever she was around Hades for too long. She had to keep it together for the rest of the year or at least until her internship was over and she had enough money from her salary to get her own place and move out of Artemis’.
Her intentions to join the Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood had already been paper thin at best when she moved to Olympus, but they’d turned to an unrecognisable mush the second she’d met Hades at the Panathenaea.
She wanted him badly. She wanted to push him down, rip the clothes from his body and savage him on the nearest available surface, but she couldn’t. Not until she was free and clear of any remaining ties to TGOEM.
Artemis hated Hades to the point that Persephone was banned from even mentioning his name in their home, and she’d already gotten into heaps of trouble with Hestia for simply receiving an innocent gift from him. She dreaded to think what would happen if they found out she’d gone to bed with him while still an initiate with their organisation.
She couldn’t keep denying it though. The intensity of her feelings were overwhelming and ever-present, something which had led Eros to suggest a way to subtly vent her sexual frustrations. And vent she did, pouring over passage after passage of absurd stories about wayward nymphs and their lovers in increasingly strange and sensual scenarios.
It scratched the itch a little bit but, in other ways, it had only made things worse. Somewhat shamefully, she’d loaded her e-reader with stories about romantic getaways and passionate escapades the moment she’d gotten home on Monday ahead of her trip with Hades.
She’d left the reader open on her lap at one point during the drive, allowing Hades to catch a glimpse of the title when he’d glanced over to check if she was okay while she was looking dreamily out of the car window, completely unaware of her digital betrayal.
“‘Nymphs in New Asphodel: A Snowy Thriller’?” Hades asked aloud, “What’s that about? Some kind of crime story?”
Persephone had snapped her gaze back to him, blazing with embarrassment and flipped the screen down to face her lap. Thankfully, Hades had misread the intention of the word ‘thriller’ but it was too close of a call for her comfort.
“Something like that.” She’d squeaked and turned back to the window, uncomfortably aware of the way the vibration of the car’s engine was affecting her. Stupid nymphs, stupid Eros and stupid Hades, she’d grumbled internally.
Once in New Asphodel, Persephone had shrieked in delight at the scene unfurling out before her. The houses were nothing like the villas of the Mortal Realm or the sleek apartments of Olympus and the Underworld. Instead, they were made of solid wood logs laid intricately on top of one another to keep out the cold. Tall hotels rose up in the distance as they approached the foot of the mountain while restaurants, boutiques and bars lined the cosy village streets.
As Hades’ car trundled towards his cabin, thick layers of snow crunching beneath his wheels, Persephone noticed people stopping to stare at the vehicle. They knew who was in the car, no doubt, craning their necks for a view of their king and the mysterious goddess riding in his passenger seat.
Hades turned the car up a small side road with a wide smile on his face and parked the vehicle in a heated underground garage that had opened at the click of a button on his car keys.
“This is us.”
Persephone threw herself out of the car and excitedly ran back out onto the driveway to marvel at their home for the next few days. The chill of the cold was bitter against her skin and the snow was level with her hip but she didn’t care. It was perfection; better than anything she ever could have imagined.
Hades’ cabin was big; three stories made of mixed wood and grey stone, not including the basement, sprawling out across the secretive corner of the mountain it inhabited. Nothing less for a king, she thought.
There were a few other cabins nearby, cut off from view by a tactical line of artificial pine trees, but she could hear the giggles and chatter of other groups enjoying a snowy getaway. Nothing grew in the Underworld, she knew, but the fake pines were a pleasant touch.
Hades followed her out into the snow and laughed, “So what do you think?”
“It’s amazing!” Persephone exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Hades’ neck and hugging him tight, “Thank you so much for letting me come with you!”
She felt him dissolve beneath her and he enclosed her waist with his own arms, pressing his forehead up against her own with a smile.
“It is my honour to please you, Little Goddess, but it’s quite cold out here so I think that we should probably go inside before we both freeze.”
The cabin was huge inside, bigger than its exterior suggested, and decorated in crisp whites with great wooden beams across the ceiling. Exposed brick formed a grand fireplace at the heart of the living room while tall panoramic windows wrapped around the room to provide the most breathtaking views of New Asphodel’s jutting mountains range.
Persephone heard whispers coming from behind her while her face was pressed eagerly against the room’s windows and she turned to face where the sound was coming from, finding a trio of giddy Underworld nymphs hovering near the kitchen. Their matched black uniforms told her that they were employed by the cabin’s management service.
“Ah! Hello! I’m Persephone.” She greeted.
One of them, strangely, had the beginnings of tears in her eyes when Persephone spoke to her and the other two looked ready to faint at the slightest gust of wind. Persephone wondered if all New Asphodel people were this strange.
The most composed of the three cleared her throat and approached Persephone, offering her a deep curtsy. The other two followed suit on unsteady legs.
“Apologies, My Lady. We simply couldn’t believe it was true. King Hades has never brought a consort to visit us before. We’ve been waiting for this day for so long.”
The other two staffers nodded their heads in agreement, but Persephone wasn’t paying them much attention. Her heart was caught in her throat. ‘Consort’ they’d called her, Hades’ consort. She didn’t hate the sound of that.
“Oh no, I’m no-”
“Ladies!” Hades sang jovially, entering the room and slipping his arm around Persephone’s waist to grasp her hip with his hand, “I see you’ve already met the lovely Persephone.”
Persephone swooned internally and waved nervously. Her heart thrummed and the pressure between her legs began to swell again. Sugar snaps, she cursed, of all the times to be getting turned on, this was not the one.
“We have, Your Majesty.” The leader said cheerfully and offered Hades a curtsy even deeper than the one she’d shown Persephone, “How wonderful of you to grace us with your presence. We are truly honoured to have you here, and Lady Persephone as well.”
Hades smiled and slipped the polite nymph a bill whose denomination Persephone couldn’t make out.
“We are all honoured by her presence.” Hades laughed, pulling her against him even tighter. Persephone put her hands out and pressed them against his body, smiling brightly at the trio of nymphs.
Scoundrel. Absolute scoundrel.
The nymph with tears in her eyes lost it, sniffling and leaning against her colleague as she was shuffled gently out of the room while her colleague offered them an apologetic look.
“Will you be dining with us tonight, Sir, or shall I make reservations in the village?”
Hades looked down at Persephone adoringly, “What would you like to do?”
She was melting despite the falling snow outside. Her body burning with desire for this wicked man who, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be showing her off.
“I’m not sure,” Persephone confessed, “I’ve never been here before and I don’t really know where there is to eat.”
She did know though. She’d planned her visit meticulously with Hecate on Monday, browsing review after review of restaurants that claimed to offer vegetarian cuisine. She’d gone completely blank, however, under the combination of Hades’ tender hold and the emotional response of the cabin staff to her presence.
“I’ll give you some time to think about it.” The nymph said, “The ski fitter will be over at nine tomorrow morning as agreed, and we’ve left Lady Persephone’s winter clothes in your room.”
“Winter clothes?” Persephone asked, looking between the two.
“King Hades made us aware that you were in need of appropriate wear for the mountain, so we prepared some clothing in advance for you.”
“Thank you, we’ll let you know our plans for dinner as soon as the goddess has decided what she’s in the mood for.” Hades said softly.
“Of course.” She said, offering them another curtsy as she backed out of the room, “King Hades. Lady Persephone.”
When the door clicked shut and she was certain that the nymph’s footsteps were at the bottom at the staircase leading back out onto the street, Persephone rounded on Hades and batted at his chest playfully.
“Scoundrel!” She yelled, “Utter scoundrel! What was all of that about?!”
Hades let out a cackle, throwing his hands up in delight while his serpentine tongue flashed against his teeth.
“My cabin is looked after by an elite management team. It’s their job to make their guests happy during their stay.”
“And the ‘My Lady’ stuff?” She squealed, continuing to bat at him until he caught her wrists and pulled her against him.
He laughed and lifted her from the ground, ignoring the weak kick of her legs against him, “Just relax and enjoy the attention. Let them spoil you like you deserve.”
Persephone laid her hands against his shoulders and pushed him with a playful smile of her own on her lips.
“Why don’t we have dinner here tonight and go for a walk after? I’d like to explore the village before the morning, and get an idea of where things are.”
“A wonderful plan, My Lady.” Hades agreed with a smug smile, earning him a glare from his companion.
“Not you too.” She groaned.
All Hades did was laugh at her.
Dinner at the cabin was an unexpectedly formal affair, despite the casual atmosphere between herself and Hades.
The dining room had been decorated in the colours of Hades’ heraldry and the table had been laid out perfectly by the staff, complete with fine linens, several plates, multiple utensils and a fancy bottle of wine.
It had already seemed too much for the two of them, but when a private chef emerged from the kitchen with what she announced to be the first of many courses, Persephone realised that this would be no normal dinner at home for the two of them.
A team of servers and even a sommelier were on hand throughout the meal, checking in on them at careful intervals.
Hades had watched Persephone intensely while they dined, listening to every strange tale she told him about life on the ground at Underworld Corp and her time as Artemis’ houseguest. He was sipping wine, a deep red that probably cost more than Persephone’s annual salary, and leaning back in his chair with a lazy smile.
They’d gotten changed before dinner, Persephone taking over one of the cabin’s magnificent bathrooms to dress in a black faux-leather skirt paired with a red batwing sweater. Little black boots adorned her feet to tie off the look; relaxed but smart.
Hades had followed a similar thought process, switching his usual button-up for a rich black sweater. He looked more relaxed than she’d seen him in weeks, and he oozed a type of effortless sex appeal.
Away from the glare of the Underworld’s capital and the potential lens of paparazzi, Hades could truly relax.
Persephone crossed her legs beneath tight the table at the sight of him. She wanted to devour him and savour each drop that hit her tongue like it was the last thing she would ever taste.
There had always been a tension between them- a ‘will they, won’t they’ that sometimes skewed into ‘will they’ before spinning back into ‘won’t they’ a breath later. They’d kissed passionately in the rain during a thunderstorm one evening, spent the night sleeping in each other’s arms and then put a list of rules in place the morning after to stop it from happening again.
She loved spending time with him, loved the way he made her feel and she even loved the way he tugged at the deepest desires she had to fight to lie back and let him ravage her. He was a blissful temptation that she knew she would never be able to get enough of.
And now they were alone, save for the handful of employees who helped to keep Hades’ snowy cabin in his absence.
Somewhere between the third and fourth courses, Hades had reached his hand across the table to hold hers in his own and stroke the back of her hand gently, rubbing his thumb across the skin in tender motions.
The sommelier had blushed furiously when they saw the gesture and hurried away from the table as fast as they could after topping up their wine glasses.
Persephone had leaned forward too, elbows on the table in a shocking lack of table manners, and placed her head on her free hand, staring lovingly at the King of the Underworld while he told her his own tales of his brother’s antics and the politics of running the largest corporation in all the realms.
She wished the moment would never end, so they did their best to make sure it didn’t. By the time they could bring themselves to pull away from the dinner table it was pushing eleven, leaving no time for the exploration they’d planned.
Their bedrooms, two of five potential rooms, were located on the same floor, separated by a small hallway.
“Remember, the ski fitter is coming by at nine tomorrow, so don’t sleep in.” Hades reminded her, leading her up to their rooms by the hand.
“I’ll be sure to set my alarm!” She laughed. Then, she floated up to Hades’ height and laid a kiss on the tip of his nose, sweet but hesitant, “Thank you for bringing me here, Hades. It’s beautiful.”
He wrapped one arm around her waist while his other caught one of her wrists to pull her in closer, chest to chest and close enough to feel his breath on her lips.
“It’s the least I could do for you, Little Goddess.”
He kissed her lips, featherlight and somewhat shaky, pulling away just as quickly as he’d pulled her in.
“Sleep well, Sweetness.” Hades whispered, leaving her burning red and reeling in the hallway as he escaped into the sanctum of his chosen room for the weekend.
Persephone slipped into her room own seconds later, clicking the door shut behind her and sinking down against it to sit on the floor, willing the pounding of her heart to calm itself and wondering how she was going to survive the rest of the trip if this was how he planned on behaving.