In the final resting place for departed souls where bodiless ghosts flitted across the dark Fields of Asphodel, joy flowed over the gray land and the valleys. The Underworld held high festivals, and the ghosts amused themselves at the nuptial feast. A joyous banquet and singular songs broke the gloomy silence since the wailing and moaning were hushed for once.

No longer was Sisyphus's stone rolling downhill, nor the water and fruit withdrawn from Tantalus' lips. Charon crowned his uncombed locks with sedge, and he sang as he worked his weightless oars over the great Styx. By the Gate of Hell, the three-headed beast, Cerberus, indulged himself with some nice juicy bones. Even the vicious Furies with all their snaky hair made ready their wine-bowls and drank themselves forgetful of crimes and dread wrath.

After the celebration was over, the palace maids hastened to assist their holy mistresses. Some held back the curtains of the doorway. The chamber was decorated with crocus, violet, iris, and lily blooms like a springtime meadow. They had also fastened the branches of white cypress and embroidered hangings in the bridal chamber. In chaste bands, the matrons of Elysium honored their new queen with songs before the newlywed goddesses went to their secluded room.

Through the open windows, the breeze from the five rivers carried the sound of hissing waves dashed against the thirsty black shore. Inside the chamber, a bronze brazier burned away with its brilliant flames. The flower-scented space was finely lit like a dream. Their marriage bed was neatly made for them with red petals of roses laid beautifully.

With genial and kindly fashion, Hades induced her young wife to sit on a soft cushioned seat beside herself.

The two deities then proceeded to drink the sweet nectar from their golden cups and enjoyed a rich repast befitting their godly status. It was quiet after the ceremony; nevertheless, Hades's heart kept marveling over the joys of this wedlock, for without her Persephone, all she could foresee was the eternal gloom of her world and the never-ceasing despair of her heart.

With her coal-black eyes gazing so tenderly at her young beautiful bride, the stern goddess felt her insides grow warm with love like the sun's fierce heat over the dead winter. Just the sight of the maiden in her wedding dress and queenly crown for the first time was enough to reign over Hades's steely heart forever.

The dark goddess brought her long slender fingers to trace that lovely sweet cheek, causing a glowing blush to mantle Persephone's clear face. With a mounting passion suffused her own fair countenance, Hades could not have enough of her. The goddess leaned forward and planted her cold wet lips upon the maiden's forehead. Persephone shivered from the effect and blushed harder, but this very gesture, the dark goddess sent her a wordless pledge that as long as she was known as her wife, Persephone would always be protected and valued above all things.

It wasn't so long ago when Persephone was only the child of the corn-bearing goddess. Until the day, she was burned with a fierce desire to gather flowers and so filled with the spoil of the blooming fields that everything changed. The day Hades watched surreptitiously from her dark realm as the young girl skipped with her flashing ankles and her garlands of flowers, it was set that their fates must mingle together.

Now, Persephone was made the third realm's queen. Her words would be laws and her tears could master even that unbending Goddess of the Dead. Unmistakably so during their marriage vow, Hades, the Lady of Avernus, promised her bride no small things, "A prouder scepter shall be yours, my darling Persephone, for I am the goddess, who rules the framework of the universe, and whose power stretches through the limitless void. This is my true oath by the holy Styx. Think not you have lost the light of day as other stars are yours and a purer light shall you see under Elysium's sun. There is, too, a precious tree in the leafy groves whose curving branches gleam with living ore - a tree consecrated to you. O Persephone, you are the queen of blessed spring. Whatever the sparkling heaven embraces, whatever earth nourishes, the seas sweep, the rivers roll, and the marsh-lands feed, all living things alike that journey from the mortal world to the land of death shall yield themselves to you. All - I say - that dwell beneath the orb of the moon and the seventh planet shall bow to your feet. You will give doom to the guilty and rest to the virtuous. Before your judgment-throne and mine, the wicked must confess the crimes of their evil lives. May Lethe's stream obey your words and the Fates be your handmaidens whenever you step foot in my kingdom."

Hades's sacred oath had moved Persephone to tears, and she had smiled and acknowledged the dark goddess as her rightful wife.

Now clad in starry raiment, Persephone quietly rose from her seat and turned towards the bed blessed by the union of their marriage. Hades remained where she was, but her piercing dark eyes followed the maiden's every move.

The young goddess stood in silence for a moment before she slowly unfastened her brooch, which was cunningly used to support her thick cloak studded with purple jewels. Then she loosened the splendid bodice that held her plump maiden's breasts and freed her radiant body. Her golden hair, secured only by a Cyprian pin, parted into many locks as the braid came loose around her bare shoulders. Left behind just a shawl from the loom of Athena- her wedding gift, she let Hades's eyes feasted on her whole virgin form.

Her charming, ambrosia-like complexion intimated even the earlier Aphrodite when that goddess was still a blooming maiden.

The gracious flush of her skin and those nimble limbs stirred a coursing fire in Hades's veins. Her stare darkened further. With such an unblemished beauty by appearing naked except for a thin silken garment veiling her entrancing lower parts, Hades secretly wished a gust of wind would have blown that garment aside so that it would reveal her virgin bloom; but she was also glad that she was the only one, who would wantonly breathe directly upon it, clinging tightly to the scent of her pleasurable flower.

And at last, Hades rose from her seat and approached her beloved wife.

Persephone turned to face the tall goddess, and they stood, admiring the strength and grace of the other.

"Forgive me for such a modest event," Hades spoke softly, "I know you would expect the marriage and festal torches and a wedding song to be sung in heaven, but I promise you, I will treat you like my glory, my comfort, and my one true queen."

Persephone smiled and brought her soft palms to Hades's face, tracing her smooth skin with her thumbs. Now that their love coursed like two converging streams, she was emboldened to touch her with her own passion.

"The highest bliss for me would be to live with you even though it was in the humblest thatched cottage and not a grand celestial palace. You must know that this long separation has caused a great current of yearning I had never known."

Then Persephone encompassed her arms around Hades's tall frame.

"O Persephone," the raven-haired goddess sighed in contentment. For a long moment, they simply stood, savoring the euphoric feeling of each other's company.

Persephone looked up and her bright eyes bore deep into her lover's.

"Hades," she whispered. "My full heart urges me boldly to share the marriage bed with you tonight."

A spark ignited in Hades's obsidian eyes. She felt a flutter in her stomach. The mere thought of claiming Persephone's maidenhead tonight made her mind spin.

Hades stepped closer and lifted her hands to untie the knot of that remaining silk. She let the fabric fall to the floor. Her fingers trailed over that delicate skin, feeling their ways over Persephone's divine form.

Hades was in awe of the young woman, and in her heart, storms of unsleeping desire raged without ceasing.

Doffed off her queenly robe, the young maiden was more radiant like the rosy dawn, in which the Underworld was deprived of.

And when they both lay onto the bed, their hearts pounded against one another. Hades tipped her wife's chin up and proceeded to taste those sweet supple lips. The nectar juice mingled with the taste of their divinity. Hades undid her own robe, and Persephone helped push it out of the way. Her breath came out uneven and short. As she stared at her wife's nakedness for the first time, an excited lump stuck in her throat.

Hades was beautiful beyond description. An older goddess of the Olympians, daughter of the Time Lord Cronus and the Titaness Rhea, no doubt her unearthly beauty was frighteningly radiant and timeless. Persephone was certain that if any mortal ever set their eyes upon her true form, their fragile lives would be burned into ashes. Even she, herself as a deathless goddess, felt immensely overwhelmed by Hades's perfection. Her eyes lingered at the elegant throat of the older woman, at her desirable beautiful breasts, a marvelous sight, and then back to her eyes that were shining like the deadly Styx.

With a floaty motion, Hades reached for Persephone's beautiful ankle and brought her lips down to kiss it. The maiden gasped at the sweet gesture.

Then the Dark Queen climbed atop her maiden, getting in between her shapely legs, causing every sensation to intensify. Hades buried her face into Persephone's neck and breasts. It sent a wave of shocking pleasure. once their skin made contact. The maiden craved for Hades more than ever. She enjoyed the goddess's weight above her, the thrilling touches on her skin. It was both delirious and surreal -like a dream within a dream.

"I love you, Hades," she blurted, but she did not regret saying it. The goddess's amorous words were hot against Hades's lips, branding them upon her skin. "You are my first joy and my last."

Hades's heart swelled, and she was rendered speechless with that sincere, unadulterated declaration. Because why should the nether kingdoms know not love? When one had to cross between worlds to be with the other, the purest form of love bloomed and flourished even in the darkest place of Erebus.

Hades kissed Persephone on the mouth so deeply, drawing on her beautiful scented breath like it was her own. Leaving the maiden gasping for air, she licked her way down Persephone's chin and burrowed her face into her firm round breasts. The dark goddess squeezed and devoured the hardened nipples earnestly. It made Persephone's heart leap against her ribs, and she gripped the silk on the bed and arched her dainty form. Her lovely face contorted with a strange new pleasure. Hades's hot tongue scorched her skin like melting lava. The goddess pressed her lips down Persephone's stomach and farther down.

Hades felt the maiden's shaking fingers lacing through her raven hair with anticipation, and her lovely legs parted open on their own. With that silent welcome, the impatient goddess made no delay. This was the moment she had been dreaming of since the day they met. The sight of her lovely wife's wetness glistened deliciously sent her mind reeling. She felt the throbbing sensation stir up in her own belly.

Hades could not wait another moment to claim what now belonged to her alone.

Between the virgin's legs, the mistress of souls bent down and gently traced the tender region with her long fingers and tongue, tracing the slick entrance sensually and kissing it with her lips. Then she started nibbling every inch of Persephone's delicate rosy petals, eliciting a moan and a sweet whimper. Hades was shocked at how wonderful the maiden tasted. Persephone was sweeter than all the nectar in heaven. She wanted nothing but to suckle more and more of that life-giving juice like a butterfly sipping from full bloom. As she was enjoying Persephone with a hungry open mouth, the young goddess bit her lips from moaning too loudly. The rich-haired goddess rolled her hips as if she was trying to escape the carnal torture but at the same time aching for more.

In the midst of their passion, Hades crawled back to claim her wife's gaping mouth and began pressing herself into her sweet hotness.

"Oh, Hades..." Persephone mourned. She felt her wife going and going, deeply searching for the core of her innocence, and when Hades found it, a strike of lightning zapped her whole body. Persephone writhed and twisted with a gripping bliss she had never known.

Hades began taking her more ravenously until Persephone's breaths faltered, her heart raced out of control. She could sense an unraveling crescendo coming upon her. Like a tremendous storm waging within her youthful womb, shaking her walls until they crumbled all around, Persephone felt her world shattered, giving birth to a new one. Her toes curled, her legs stiffened and her midriff convulsed with a shocking pleasure. She tried to muffle her screams but to no avail. Until she was out of breath and her lungs heaved for air that the spasms stopped.

Then she found her whole being shaking and shivering like a newborn deer. It left every marrow of her bones hollow and her muscles weak. Hades kissed her breasts with a smile and let her rest limply beneath her. She stared into her queen's glazed eyes with longing.

"Persephone, the fairest of all maidens, be it yours, my heart and soul," she whispered soothingly into her ear, her lips caressed her skin. "Though one day we shall part, we shall surely meet again, and the ties which bind us are not ties which end but will bind us forever."

With those truthful words, Hades gently gathered Persephone into her arms. The still-trembling goddess snuggled against her wife's soft pale bosoms. She found comfort and warmth with the older woman, who was so different from the image of a cold-hearted ruler she once thought.

"I take your words to heart, my bed companion, my arms, my pillow, my beloved Hades."

Once again, Persephone found the dark goddess's lips with her own and their bodies entwined with one another. Their immortal hearts filled with an overflowing joy for their love shall stand the test of time.

Outside, all was quiet under the dome of the Underworld. As the married couple lay together, none dared overstep the threshold of the black palace or disturb the newly wedded pair during their honeymoon. Death walked not on earth and no one wept beside the funeral pyre that night. The wave brought no destruction to the sailors, neither the spear to the warrior's heart and cities flourished as mankind matured from the hardship of the winter.

~The End~