Damari choked on his own saliva as his father's words sunk in, causing him to double over and attempt to catch his breath.

"What makes you ask that, Father?" Damari breathed, rubbing his aching throat while Maarika and his father made their way from the old cottage towards Alena, Rhadamanthus and the other woman.

Leon smirked, bumping Maarika up higher on his shoulders. "I know these things, Damari. Anyone with eyes can see that you're head over heels for that girl."

"I am not."

"Oh don't worry, she is too." Leon sympathized immediately with a horribly unconcealed smirk.

Pressing weary hands to his face, Damari let out a nervous laugh that shook his shoulders precariously as he looked at his father suspiciously.

"Why do I have the feeling that you are going to do something rather out of place, Father?" he questioned lowly, watching his father closely as he set Maarika down gently onto the ground and looked over at Alena inconspicuously.

"Perhaps, Son," Leon murmured more to himself than Damari, "that is because I am about to do exactly that."

With those cleverly placed words, Leon winked at Damari and then made a dead sprint across the fields, leaving Damari and his sister trailing behind him in his grassy wake.

"Father!" Damari shouted, staring at Maarika nervously as she moved closer to him with her doll held tightly in hand. "You can't just leave me with this little sea nymph!"

"Hey!" Maarika grouched, her hands fixing themselves pointedly on her tiny hips. "Only Daddy gets to call me his little sea nymph. Not you, Mister!"

At her fiery words, Damari's eyebrows rose of their own accord, making him look at her in shock while she nodded her head and gave him a cheeky smile before skipping off after their father.

Shaking his head lightly, Damari laughed as Maarika's hazelnut colored curls bounced back and forth as she skipped across the grassy fields, not stopping until she had finally made her way up next to Alena and the blonde haired woman.

~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure that this is the right house?" Alena asked nervously, watching Rhadamanthus carefully as he stood in front of the petite looking cottage, hands placed thoughtfully in his pockets.

He shrugged his shoulders and smoothed a hand through his hair nonchalantly, acting more like a creature above ground then one below it.

"As I told you, this is the house of the one you spoke of. How she responds to you is of her nature, not mine."

Grumbling to herself about uncooperative judges and lack of intelligence, Alena smirked, sliding her age old mask into place.

For the first time in what felt like eons, Alena felt her palms begin to grow sweaty, her heartbeat beginning to race while butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

Oh get over it already, it's not like this isn't your first time meeting.

Laughing under her breath she remarked. "It might as well be."

"Would you rather me knock?"

Rhadamanthus' soft spoken words caught Alena off guard as he held a hand over the ancient looking wood, waiting for her to give him permission to set her fate in motion.

Jerking her head to the right in a semblance of agreeing, Rhadamanthus knocked carefully against the door so as not to disturb or frighten the occupant that was in no way used to the company of visitors.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Alena clenched both of her hands tightly together as the seconds that passed between Rhadamanthus knocking felt like the centuries that she had fallen prey to the beast inside her.

A hand settled comfortably on her shoulder as tremors began to take hold of other limbs in her body, turning slowly she saw that Rhadamanthus held the same sorrowful smile on his face as he had when Damari had ran towards his father.

"Sometimes we have to break before we can heal again."

The words made the divide in Alena's heart grow wider until she felt that she couldn't hold it together any longer.

All the incisions and arteries that had been severed long ago in the frigidity of bitterness had gradually strung themselves back into place, bringing with them the emotions to feel loss and love, things that Alena hadn't cared to feel for since her banishment.

Those years of pain and suffering came flooding back into her mind's eye as the door to the cottage cracked open with a loud creak, only allowing room for a hazel colored eye to peak out from behind the mass of oak.

Alena cleared her throat when the eye behind the door widened, her feet shuffling awkwardly as she tried to find the right thing to say without sounding like a troglos.

"Um..well.. I know this must be rather sudden.. but I just wanted to see if you were--"

However before she could finish her rather embarrassing sentence, the door swung wide open to reveal a stunned blonde woman whose endearingly quirky smile was no where to be seen.

Her chest heaved up and down as she grabbed ahold of the precarious-looking doorframe.

"Alena?"

Her words came out airy, almost as if she were afraid to believe it were Alena standing only a few paces away from her in the flesh.

"Klari, I know you must be--"

Klari didn't give her enough time to answer as she sprang through the doorway and into the awaiting grass, running into her sister's arms with mindless abandon.

Tears poured down her face as she held as tightly as she could onto Alena, her nails digging sharply into her sister's skin while she couldn't find any reason to care if she was hurting her or not.

Alena squeezed her eyes shut as she felt Klari's shaking form against hers, holding her close as she tried to comprehend that her sister was in her arms and that she was safe.

"Its been so long." Klari sobbed, struggling to breathe properly as she held Alena closer. "Why are you here? Rhadamanthus told me you were never coming back."

Alena glanced over her shoulder at the man in question who instead turned his head in the other direction, refusing to look her in the eye as she turned back to her sister.

"I promised I would keep you safe." She answered quietly, gently easing back from her sister who nearly refused to let her go. "I broke my promise, and I believe that this is my way of somehow making it up to you."

"Alena, you don't have to make anything up to me." Klari simpered, finally pulling away from Alena long enough to look her in the eyes. "It wasn't your fault, I should have heeded your advice when you warned me to stay away from the water, it was my fault entirely and you need to forgive yourself."

Snorting loudly, Alena moved to Klari's side and stared daggers into the back of Rhadamanthus' head. "When I forgive myself, I believe the gods themselves will come down from Olympus with a reckoning."

Klari smacked her on the shoulder before laughing and giving her another tear stained hug. "You always were the overdramatic one weren't you?"

"I wouldn't say that, I mean, Father always favored me over you but--"

"He did not!' Klari shrieked, shoving Alena playfully while another much tinier voice called up to them as an equally tiny hand tugged on Alena's covering.

"My brother says he loves you."

Staring down at a brown haired young girl, Alena found herself speechless when a deep chuckled caused shivers to run down her back.

"Maarika, I don't believe those were Damari's exact words, more along one of our guidelines."

Alena spun around to find Leon standing next to Rhadamanthus who now had begun to strike up a conversation with the spit fire that she assumed was named Maarika.

Ignoring his feisty daughter, who had now yanked Rhadamanthus down to her height so that he could hear her riveting story better, Leon sidled up next to Alena with a fatherly looking mischief hidden in his eyes.

"Now, first things first," He mumbled under his breath, peeking over his should quickly, "Damari is going to come over here soon in a no doubt flustered mood, so do act as naturally as is possible for you. Secondly, when he asks you if we confessed anything to you, perhaps around the undying love kind, admit nothing! Let him suffer."

With another chuckle and wink, Leon slid an arm around her shoulder conspiratorially while Klari looked at the man as if he had lost his mind more than once in Elysium.

Raising his voice far beyond what was considered in the normal range, Leon shouted. "Well Alena, I do hope I was able to enlighten you of some rather concerning thoughts of yours about my boy. If you by any chance need any more questions answered, do ask and I will do my best to answer."

Alena raised an eyebrow and turned to ask Klari if she understood what had just happened when Damari himself came sprinting up behind her, clutching his side as he held himself up on the side of the house, his breath coming out in short wheezes.

"I really.. need.. to work more."

His breathy remark made Alena laugh all the more, watching as his angry expression connected with his father's far more smug one.

"What exactly was he answering for you, Alena?" Damari asked quickly, moving closer to her side as Maarika sprang out of her conversation in order to input her own opinion as well.

Her toothy grin met her older brother's as she took Alena's hand in her own.

"I told her that you loved her, Damari."

Damari's jaw dropped to the grassy covered ground as he stared at his sister in horror.

"You what?!"

"Told her you loved her, silly, it's obvious in case she hadn't noticed." Maarika rolled her eyes, wiping a smudge of dirt off Miss Marzipan's cheek. "If you weren't going to admit it now, you probably weren't going to ever."

Glancing at her father, she nudged Rhadamanthus with her hip and another roll of her eyes. "Men."

Klari was unable to contain her laughter, grabbing ahold of the small child to give her a quick squeeze.

Not a word was uttered until Maarika had been placed back down on the ground and Damari was quite surprised that there hadn't been a screaming match shortly after Maarika had been embraced.

"Now, why wasn't she screamed at for hugging you?"

Maarika gave Damari a quick once over while Klari hooked an arm inconspicuously through Rhadamanthus', who leaned over for her to whisper something hushed into his ear.

"I like her more than you." Maarika replied, lifting her chin at an angle when Rhadamanthus moved in front of the group of gathered individuals.

"It has come to my attention that, although this has been a lovely gathering, you both are still responsible for being judged by Their Majesties."

"Their Majesties?" Damari asked, staring across at Alena in confusion as he held onto Maarika's unwilling figure.

Gesturing towards the foot worn path that had led them into Elysium, a grim look passed over Rhadamanthus' face.

"His Majesty, Hades, son of Kronos and his wife Persephone, daughter of Zeus. They oversee all judgements of shades in this realm and it is my duty to have you delivered into their sight."

At the mention of Persephone's name, Alena shot forward to stand in front of Rhadamanthus' retreating form, who had expected them all to follow his suit.

"Is Persephone all right?"

Rhadamanthus watched Alena closely, the same dark and grim expression running rampant across his face before he closed his eyes briefly and opened them again with more restraint.

"Her Majesty is in good care, she has been for many eons as her husband cares for her needs and hers only."

Shaking her head, Alena tried not to scoff at the thought. "You're telling me that Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, has remained loyal to his wife throughout the years she has remained in his care?"

"Why would he not?" Rhadamanthus asserted, an even darker glint than before taking control of his stormy gaze. "His Lordship holds the utmost superiority and when it comes to the matters of his wife he does everything in his power to make her content."

"Then why has he not set her free!" Alena shouted, eyeing his growing stature with mild concern. "If he claims to be so loyal and caring then why has he not allowed her pardon from his care?"

"Because Her Majesty does not wish to be set free!" Rhadamanthus roared, his shadow impinging itself against the other souls that were unlucky enough to have stepped out from their homes with the commotion.

Staring at the darkened mass, Alena stepped closer, not letting herself feel threatened by Rhadamanthus' presence.

"That isn't true." she asserted forcefully, looking to Damari for some type of support, but he only backed further away from her. "I know it isn't true, Persephone would never abandon her Mother or me like that."

The evil laughter that released itself from Rhadamanthus was that unheard of from any human soul, the grating of its vibrato against his throat wrenching a whimper from Maarika as she hid behind Leon in fear.

Rhadamanthus' figure grew in size until he towered above them all. "Persephone may have wished to leave when she first arrived, but she has long since grown loyal to her protector, the man who would never allow anyone to harm her, especially someone as filthy as you, Siren."

Alena snarled, her sharpened teeth digging painfully into her low lip as she moved closer to Rhadamanthus. "No she wouldn't. I know Persephone, she wouldn't let a monster like Hades into her heart, no one would. He cares for no one, his heart might as well be made out of stone."

"The same could be said of you!" Came Rhadamanthus' raging reply, seizing Alena by the wrist as he jerked her in front of the startled face of Damari. "Do you not realize the monster that you had become! People and gods alike feared you at the mere mention of your name! Why should a man such as this, love a monster such as you?!"

Damari froze as Alena's eyes widened, disbelief falling into her eyes. "That's not possible."

"How can you deny it?" Rhadamanthus' hissed, his dark brown eyes condemning her insolence. "He loves you more than the moon does the stars and yet you hold him back from truly declaring his love for you by binding yourself with this far fetched fantasy! If you don't think Persephone would fall farther than anyone else for love, see it for yourself!"

Without giving her a second thought, Rhadamanthus snatched her up into a storm unlike any other, the winds carrying her and the others far away from the fields of Elysium and through miles of stone and rubble.

"The world has changed, since you were cursed long ago. Yet you still choose to believe it was your fault she was taken, that you were meant to be punished for eternity for your mistake, but you were never guilty in the first place!"

"What are you talking about?" Alena cried out, the harsh winds whipping at her skin.

Rhadamanthus suddenly halted in the air, turning to yank her to the ground by her hair, his face inches away from hers.

"I mean, that Persephone was taken for a reason, you were simply the garbage that was never taken out, the bystander left to clean up the mess, the sacrificial lamb meant to save the ton! If you don't believe me, ask your friend for yourself."

Throwing her to her knees, the rocky exterior of the floor bit into Alena's skin as she fought for anything to help her to her feet, until she saw where she knelt.

Two obsidian colored thrones were seated in the center of the room, chunks of gold and silver ore scattered at their feet with rubies and emeralds decorating the ceiling in a beautiful yet sporadic pattern.

Alena could hardly muster the courage to look past the thrones, waiting to see the one face that she had wished many a nights to rescue from harms way, only to fall short into the infinite pits of Tartarus.

A bell tolled from deep within the bedrock, causing the surrounding ground to quake as one figure entered from behind the first throne.

Hades' curly black hair nearly matched the color of his obsidian crafted throne as he stepped up to his pedestal, his high cheekbones reflecting the faint glow of the torches surrounding the chamber while he draped his cloak over the sheer glass at his disposal.

Standing in wait for his Queen, another bell rang out, this one much more softer than the first as the delicate sound of shifting fabric and heeled shoes echoed across the stone floor.

When Persephone rounded the corner, all Alena could think of was how time hadn't changed her despite its cruelty to most.

The same dark wavy curls flowed down the Goddess's back as she stepped into the light, a deep, violet gown accenting the curves she had always possessed and her eyes appeared alight in a way that Alena had never seen before.

Ignoring whatever laws could have prohibited it, Alena ran until she stood only a few feet away from the throne, staring up at Hades and his wife who had yet to look down on her.

"Persephone!" Alena called out, watching as Hades turned to her voice with annoyance before looking back to his wife. "Persephone, please remember me, tell me it isn't true! You couldn't have fallen in love with this man!"

However, instead of the kind, caring voice that Alena expected to respond to her, a cool and calculated one responded instead from behind the Goddess's shoulder with an articulate manner, rising above any and all noise in the hall.

"Oh Alena, I must say, it is a pleasure to finally see you again and like this. Nothing would please me more than to shoot you through with my pistol."

~*~*~*~*~*~