"My wife, Persephone," Hades softly mumbled when he glanced at his wife who was smiling at him. He lifted both of his arms in the air, asking for her embrace. "Come here, I've been longing for you."

Persephone let out a lively smile before running into his arms. It was such a beautiful moment for the two Deities. To be reunited with the one you love.

If only Asche had popcorn, this scene would be more magical.

"You know that I was also longing for you," Persephone mumbled. Hades leaned closer to rest his forehead on hers. "Don't worry, months will easily pass by, and I'll eventually return to you."

"I understand, and I will always wait for you," Hades replied with a smile. "But how I wish I could spend a whole year without letting your mother take you away..."

Persephone giggled.

On the other hand, Asche was quietly watching the couples with amusement on her face. So this is how the famous underworld lovers flirt? How sweet!

'I'd also love to have a lovey-dovey reunion with my sexy lovely Hephae---'

That is what the pervert nymph was thinking.

Asche woke up from her delusions when she Persephone's voice again. She can't help but watch the lovely couple flirt with each other.

"You are silly, you can always visit me in the mortal world.."

"I love it when you suggest lovely things," He mumbled in her ears. "I'd do that, my wife. When your mother wasn't looking."

Ahem!

Hades and Persephone both glanced at Demeter when they heard her clear her throat. Wrinkles were forming on her beautiful face, she was clearly displeased with the 'Lovey-dovey' moment between the two.

"Hades, what do you need from me?" Demeter, Goddess of the harvest, asked to cut the conversation between the two lovers. "Make sure that this isn't one of your schemes to shorten the time I spend with Persephone."

Hades sighed as soon as he heard her question. He can see the frown forming on the Goddess' forehead. She didn't even bother to cover her distaste at all.

It's not like he wanted her to come into the underworld as well, but for the sake of the balance of this universe, he needed to talk with his mortal enemy.

The Mother of his beloved Wife.

A.k.a his mother-in-law. (And his sister)

"And Persephone, may I remind you that your 6 months with your mother is not yet done, why are you clinging to him like that?" Demeter asked her daughter with a serious tone. "We didn't come here for those reasons."

"Of course, I know, Mother," Persephone replied with a sweet smile. "But I cannot ignore my husband, especially if he's in front of me."

Demeter's frown went deeper.

"Fine, but you still have to come back with me after this," Demeter replied before glancing at her Forest nymph. The frown on Demeter's forehead disappeared when she saw Asche. "On the other hand, it seems like Hades had a pretty interesting problem."

Asche was startled when vines started to grow beneath her feet. The vines don't seem to be dangerous, but she can have a powerful aura coming out from it.

"What have you done to my Nymph, Hades?" She asked coldly. "Why is her soul in the underworld?"

Her vines started to crawl towards Hades' direction. Persephone and Asche both panicked, thinking that Demeter and Hades might fight with each other today.

However, Hades remained calm, he knew that the Goddess wasn't threatening him. He gently set Persephone beside him as he faced Demeter.

"I did it to question and investigate her. That Forest Nymph doesn't have any record in the underworld. Her name wasn't written in the book of the death, or even in the book of the living," Hades explained to the Goddess. "Therefore the Nymph doesn't simply exist."

Demeter glared at him.

"That's impossible, I was the Goddess who breathed her to life," Demeter denied. "Your wife and Goddess Artemis was the witness of her birth."

Asche felt relieved after hearing that Demeter had vouched for her birth. It felt nice that the Goddess who created her was now protecting her...

Asche's mother...

Probably her mother.

Perhaps it would be more appropriate to treat Demeter as her creator, but not as her mother. Asche wouldn't deny that Demeter was very protective of her Nymphs, but personally, she never had any special interaction with Demeter unlike she did with Goddess Artemis and Goddess Hera.

To simply put, they never had a bond that is comparable to a mother and daughter, and even if Demeter was the Goddess who breathed her to life, Demeter only considered one person as her daughter, and it was Persephone.

"I understand, but it wouldn't change the fact that her records were nonexistent," Hades took a deep sigh.

"How distasteful," Demeter mumbled with a frown. "This kind of problem wouldn't exist at all if you do your job properly."

Hades stayed silent for a moment before he took a deep breath.

It clearly wasn't his fault.

"I don't mean to offend you, but did you conceive the Nymph with a seed of another God?" Hades asked seriously.

"Hades!" Persephone toggled his clothes.

Demeter grew furious after hearing that. Her vines crawled to Hades' body, trying to choke him, but the vines quickly turned into ash.

"Such insolence! Never again would I let a man touch me," Shouted at him angrily.

Hades stared at the Goddess and gave her an apologetic sigh.

"I understand, I was only asking because only Gods who cannot touched by death would not have a record in the underworld," Hades explained, but the anger on Demeter's face didn't vanish. "Forgive my offensive question."

Demeter clenched her fist.

"If I have answered all of your questions, then I believe that it is our time to leave," She coldly told him.

"I have one last question for you, Demeter," Hades told her. "You were the Goddess who breathed the Forest Nymph to life, do you also know that her soul was not originally from this world?"

Demeter paused after hearing that question. The furious look on her face was replaced by a mysterious expression that even Persephone, her own daughter, could not understand.

Demeter glanced at Asche who was still surrounded by her vines. Shock was written on Asche's face when Hades mentioned that.

'Demeter knows something about me?'

Demeter signaled Persephone to come towards her, although hesitant, Persephone followed her Mother before leaving a kiss on Hades' cheeks.

"I'll see you soon," Persephone whispered.

Hades nodded his head with a soft smile.

"There are things that even the Gods like us should not bother knowing," Demeter said with a serious look on her face. "And that belongs to the origin of Asche's soul."

Asche took a step towards Demeter.

Demeter knows something.

Does she know about her reincarnation?

Before she could take another step, Asche stopped in her tracks.

That's right, why would she bother to know? This is her new life, as long as it won't bother her life, she doesn't have to know.

She wouldn't dare to open her own Pandora's box.

"If you are worrying about the records of my Forest Nymph, then I will swear in the river of Styx," Demeter declared to them. "My oath will be more valuable than any of your records in the underworld. That should be the perfect replacement for her record."

Asche was dumbfounded when Demeter declared that she would swear on the river of Styx. It was the most valuable oath known to Greek Mythology. Swearing on it means that Fate will watch you.

"That will do," Hades replied with a sigh.

Demeter nodded her head, she placed her hands on her chest to start her oath.

Asche was speechless the whole time as she watched how Demeter mumbled her oath. A golden scroll appeared in Demeter's hand, each time she speaks, a word appears on the scroll.

After finishing her oath, the scroll was given to Thanatos who was watching silently the whole time.

"It is done."

"Then we will leave now," Demeter told him before signaling Persephone to follow her.

Hades quickly glanced at Thanatos and ordered him to escort them out, before Demeter and Persephone left the underworld, Demeter gave him a warning.

"I am expecting that you'll return Asche to the mortal realm after this. I heard from Apollo that something troublesome will happen if Asche stayed too long in the underworld," Demeter told him before glancing at her Nymph.

"It would be best if you return her before Hera's son challenge the underworld."

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Hello, I'm kinda back 😅