A/N: Media is poor Hades! His poor little heart </3

Persephone IS the tree of Spring.

The tree created her. Because Demeter demanded a way to defeat the Lord of Death. 

She was a spell to entrap Hadrian— Demeter's wish.

The rush of realisations spiral to my gut— feeling is returning to my body, and the rumbling all around makes me certain the tree is spitting me out once more. Surprising myself, I demand to stay.

'No! Wait! I have to know what happens next,' I plead, to the surrounding darkness.

If a tree could seem amused, then this one chuckles. You know how this story plays out, it replies.

'I don't,' I contradict it. 'I only know the ending. But the middle...that's very important.'

I have to know, I beg it, silently. I have to see for my own eyes...because if Persephone was a creation of the tree, an extension of itself, because both had the power of Spring— then what am I?

Scenes unfold rapidly before my eyes, as if the tree were sighing and saying, 'Well, keep up.'

Back into the tree's past we fade, until we watch from Persephone's eyes her daily life with Demeter. In the first few memories, Persephone is entirely alone, walking out in the green forests of the district. In another, Demeter watches from nearby, her eyes narrowed, until one day, she shows Persephone how to climb a tree to watch the world below. Demeter laughs as they teeter on a branch and Persephone turns a sleet grey. In another memory, Demeter cradles a baby fox, handing it to Persephone to take care of. Then they're plaiting their hair with wildflowers and dancing with one another at festivals.

Demeter loves Persephone greatly. The tree doesn't need to tell me. I feel it, with every fibre of my being. Demeter's eyes shine in a way they hadn't earlier.

Then, a darkness comes to Spring.

In the memory, Persephone sits with Demeter on their throne in the courtroom, awaiting a guest's arrival. My heart jolts as I see the double doors fly open, and a familiarly handsome figure stride through. Hadrian.

Clothed head to toe in black, including leather gloves and boots, he looks every bit the Lord of Death as he approaches the two women of Spring. Beside Persephone, Demeter's mouth thins, and she glances at her daughter. This Hadrian has a swagger of invincibility, a squaring of his shoulders that is not yet wearied by the world.

Her daughter's mouth hangs slightly agape.

When Hadrian addresses her, she blushes crimson and looks to the floor.

Just like that, Persephone appears to fall in love.

And, with a sickening trepidation, I watch as Hadrian gazes at her, his eyes focused on her face, her eyes, her blush, her lips— and I read him as well in a memory as I do now. He is as curious about the Spring Princess as she is of him.

And then I notice the woman behind Hadrian, standing in every shade of midnight, her arms folded and her eyes narrowed.

Hecate watches as the two fall for one another.

So came the beginning of the curse, the tree whispers, and the memory blurs and changes.

'But she was a spell,' I say aloud, as the darkness sweeps around my vision. 'If she was magic, did she love him?'

The tree is quiet for a moment. Finally, it says, 'Why is that important?'

My vision clouds. I want to scream, it's extremely important!

I'm distracted by the focusing of another moment. The memory shows an altar. Two people stand at the foot of it, their bodies mirroring one another. Hadrian looks resplendent in a sculpted black suit, but my eyes are drawn to the woman beside him. Persephone's dress is simple, elegant— white. Bridal white. Around her head, a wreath of spring flowers adorns her long hair, and a veil covers her face. A tiny smile plays around her lips, her features half hidden. Something tight closes around my heart.

The doors behind them fly open, interrupting the wedding. Darkness leaps through, shadows dancing along the walls, frost rising across the floor. Persephone's breath fogs the air as she panics, clutching tighter at the pink bouquet in her hands. Hadrian's arms come around to shield her, but too late— the spell hits her square in the chest as Hecate storms in.

Persephone crumples, her knees buckling to the floor and her eyes shutting in pain. The mark on her chest where the magic hit her blooms around her heart, pulsing slowly outwards. Hadrian grabs her, his eyes wide, as he looks up at his former friend in disbelief.

'Hecate?' he stammers. The earlier swagger crumples to a look of loss and hopelessness. 'What are you doing?'

Hecate ignores him, flicking her hands towards the unconscious bride.

'Death will come to Spring,' Hecate whispers, and the black spell glows, illuminating Persephone's veins. 'The bond between Spring and the Underworld will break, and at that moment, your power will be mine, your court will be mine. You will be mine.'

The spell washes over Hadrian without protest— he's too busy staring at Persephone, her chest rising and falling in weaker effort. A guard dashes, too late, behind Hadrian— Char is panting in effort, his face slackening as he surveys the scene.

Bang. A chair topples as a woman stands. The figure moves behind the group, hands clenched, anger ready. Demeter stares at her daughter through distraught tears.

'Spring will be reborn,' Demeter hisses. 'And return to me.'

Demeter's spell adds to Hecate's, circling around the darkness like a promise of light.

Hecate's lip curls, and she lifts her hand, ready to lay down another spell. 'You fool,' she says, laughing quietly. 'You think you can change her story now? She's going to die.'

Demeter's eyes narrow, but she retains her cool demeanour, shaking her head in disbelief instead.

Char snarls through the quiet standoff. 'Where are your court, Hecate? Did they not condone these actions, or just leave you alone to do this job?'

It's a blow that makes Hecate flinch, but she recovers fast, replacing her mask with one of a forced smile. 'My court has left me, but I do not need them. I will have my own army.'

'Where is that army now though?' Demeter's fist clenches over, and in her hand, is a dagger. She moves towards Hecate, who slides away with a laugh. Then, both queens are pushed out of the way by a shorter, stouter woman with skin like moulded wax. Another, identical, appears next to Demeter, and the third takes the longest entrance walking up the aisle.

I stifle a gasp; I recognise the three Moirai, the Fates, from my time in Elysium. They're hard to forget.

Hecate's shadows shoot towards them, and are cut dead, dropping before they reach their targets.

'You can't attack the Fates, girl,' one of the crones says. 'We have diplomatic immunity.'

All three have eyes that are sewn tightly shut, but they peer down at the scene of Hadrian cradling Persephone with an eerie clarity.

'Tch,' says the second. 'This is a mess.'

The third steps opposite Hecate, and folds her arms. 'You always were dumber than I hoped.'

Hecate hisses.

Hadrian, staring at the Fates with a disturbingly blank look, asks, 'What did she do to her?'

He gestures at the girl in his arms. 'Why won't she wake?'

'Because she's dying,' the first Fate says.

'Because you've both been cursed,' the second Fate sighs.

The third Fate nudges the unconscious girl with her toe. 'It's alright, guys. This is the wrong girl anyway.'

Outside of their circle, Hecate tries to press inwards. 'You can't remove my spell,' she warns.

'Nothing can change that spell,' the first Moirai agrees. 'But we have some power over people's fates. Now...leave us.'

Her command flicks up a barrier around the small circle. Hecate forces her hands on it, only to yelp backwards, staring at her charred skin. Grimacing, the woman steps back, eyes narrowing.

'Be gone,' Demeter says, waving a hand at Hecate. 'You've done enough damage.'

But Hecate folds her arms, waiting. 'I have to know the rest of the spell,' she says, leering. 'And you can't move me until that barrier vanishes. We're at an impasse.'

Demeter opens her mouth to argue once more, but stops and makes a sound like a cross between a scream and a sob.

At her feet, Persephone begins to disappear, her body scattering like petals on the wind. Hadrian cries out, trying to hold onto her, but the movement only speeds up the process. A wave of light pulses outwards, rising from her chest, as she returns to her former state: magic.

'It should have returned to me at that point,' says the tree. 'But Demeter had cast a spell to ensure the magic's return. That's where you come in.'

How ironic, I think. The very thing Demeter wants— power— is what she gave away.

The second Fate places a hand on Hadrian's shoulder. 'We cannot remove her spell, but we can add to it with a few of our own.'

The third Fate grins with a toothless mouth. 'Hecate's curse will not have immediate effect. Five hundred years will be enough to find her, I should think.'

I swear she glances towards where I stand watching. But I'm in a memory— I don't exist.

Hadrian still stares at his empty hands, as if willing Persephone to reappear. 'Find her?' he whispers. 'She's alive?'

The third Moirai cocks her head again towards me, considering. 'She will be.'

He looks up, his eyes filled with longing. 'And what do I do when I find her?'

The third Moirai kneels beside the fallen King and beckons him over. She whispers into his ear, her sightless eyes watching me as she does so. And even though she whispers, I hear every word as loud as if it were my own thoughts.

I wake from the tree gasping Hadrian's name. The bark opens and throws me out onto the courtroom floor in a wave of bruises and exclamations. On my knees, I groan, my joints stiff and sore. How long have I been gone?

A door slams, and I look up to see Sybella, her eyes panicked. When she sees me picking myself up, in one piece, she relaxes. 'What's wrong?' she asks. 'I heard you cry out. Why are you on the floor?'

'It's a long story,' I say. 'But we have to get back to the Underworld. We have to see Hadrian, now.'

'But we're supposed to be meeting that centaur...' Sybella began, 'And Dio wants to show us—'

I shake my head. 'Please. This is urgent. Something is going to happen at the wedding tomorrow. Something disastrous.'

I can't bring myself to say my wedding. The omen feels too great. My first wedding had been the death of me, and Hadrian's first wedding had been the death of that bride, even if she had been a magic spell in the form of love.

Even if...even if Hadrian is marrying, this time, for the right reasons. Even if the words the Third Fate told him resonated as strongly with me as they must have done with him.

You're nothing like her, he'd said.

I'd taken it as an insult.

Sybella is talking quietly beyond the door, and I see Quill nodding, frowning, looking through at me. Then he agrees with Sybella, much to her surprise.

'I'll find us a way back,' he says. 'Hang on a second.'

He disappears once more. I turn and stare at the tree, my brain running through what I'll have to tell Hadrian, and whether he'll agree with my machinations. Cerelia plans something at the wedding, and it wouldn't surprise me if Hecate saw poetic justice in creating a disturbance and turning it full circle. But still, something niggles at my mind, something I've missed, something I'm not considering...

And then I return to the words of the Third Moirai, whispered nearly five hundred years ago, to a king I hadn't met, of a feeling I hadn't been able to describe.

Until now.

'Sometimes, a person walks into your life, and it doesn't matter that you've known them for only a few seconds— you know they're different. You know they're going to shape you in some way. This girl won't meet your expectations. She'll change them. She won't comfort you. She'll become your support. And she won't ask you to love her, but you will, and you'll know. So here is my gift to you, to break your never-ending winter. When you find her, and when she finds you, she'll reawaken the earth and bring back spring.'

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A/N: SO I hope that clears up the confusions of the last chapter, which ended on a strange cliffhanger. I hope it also added a little bit of how Hades and Persephone fell in love and how it ended so badly...

This chapter should have been out about a week ago but I got super ill with a virus and it knocked me out, quite literally, for days. 

There's some huuuuuuuuge chapters coming up, I'm so excited I don't even know where to start... *.* 

What would you like to see happen before or during the wedding?!?

lots of love

Larissa