"Bloom.” And by Persephone’s will, they were transported to the edge of Elysium.

"It’s real," breathed Sisyphus. "It’s real! At last, a worthy prize!” His wound troubling him no longer, he scrambled to his feet to better survey all the wonders of Persephone’s Blessed Isles. After a pleasure-filled sigh, he covered his countenance with pride and stepped forward.

"Not a word of thanks for your savior?" spoke Persephone.

"You have seen justice done, milady," replied Sisyphus. "Find your satisfaction in that."

But Sisyphus' pride and pleasure were short-lived, for he achieved only a few more steps before his leg caught in its place and would go no farther. He pulled forward again and still could not continue. He tried and tried and could only fail, restrained by some unseen binding. He groaned, he growled, and at last, he shouted, "What is this?!"

Persephone covered her wicked smirk, feigning concern for the king. "Those who would enter Elysium must deposit their burdens into the river Cocytus as they pass," she explained. "For some, it is the sword. For others, swaddling cloths. For you…” She pointed to the base of a nearby hill, where awaited the boulder that had been her prison and, for much longer before, his. His spiteful gaze burned into it. Hades looked away to hide his amusement.

"That boulder is the culmination of your enmity with the gods," said Persephone. "Simply roll it into Cocytus, noble king, and you will enter paradise."

"Agh! Fine! Where is this Cocytus?”

"Just on the other side of the hill."

Sisyphus faltered then, but upon recognizing at last the mirthful gleam in Persephone's gaze, he stubbornly set his face like flint. He stormed toward his burden, pressed his hands against it, and pushed. Heaving against it with all his might, he failed to make the great stone budge even slightly. His features twisted into a caustic scowl, and he whipped around to stare daggers at the goddess.

"What cruel sorcery is this?" he seethed.

Persephone shook her head. "No sorcery. If your will is unbending and your heart is true, the stone can be moved. I give you my word."

He glared at her for several moments more before returning to his desperate struggle. He pushed and shoved, then backed away and slammed full force into the stone. He enjoyed a moment of elation when he felt the boulder roll ever so slightly forward.

"Ha!" he exclaimed. "So it moves after all. My triumph is within reach. Victory at last."

Sisyphus struggled, and the deities watched. The Underworld King thoughtfully stroked the thick curls of his beard.

"He will never succeed," Hades observed.

"I will see personally to that," said Persephone.

It would be a day before the cunning mortal managed to move his burden one foot, and a full month before he reached the foot of the hill. Half a year would pass before he made it a quarter of the way up, but he would falter and be forced to restart. In half a decade, he would get it halfway. In half a century, he would reach the top of the hill, and from that high perch, he would turn and glimpse once more the glory of the Blessed Isles. And that was as far as he would ever get.

He would push for eternity and never surrender, boasting of his cunning and preeminence all the while, for on the other side of that hill which he could never scale lay his final victory over the gods.

But at the base of the hill lay defeat, and for Sisyphus, defeat was far worse a fate than death.

"Persephone…” The goddess turned to Hades, who still struggled to overcome his speechlessness. "What have I just seen? I do not know what to make if it."

"You could have stopped me," she replied. "You are the king over all the Underworld, are you not? Yet you have stood idle while I set Sisyphus to his eternal task. All that I have done, I achieved with your blessing."

"I have not revoked the power I offered you. It is yours until you cleanse yourself in the Lethe."

Persephone shook her head. "It is mine until time itself should meet its end."

Hades’ mouth hung ajar, and his tongue struggled after words he could not find. Persephone gingerly took his hand in her own.

"You have proved true to your word, Hades, and you have given me something that I have always been told I could never have. I do not know what I feel for you, or if what you feel for me is the true product of the arrow of Eros. But for these things alone, you have earned my admiration."

The spring goddess smiled. "I will stay."

For a moment, genuine mirth lit up Hades’ sullen features, but his joy was tempered by the truth of the situation. "If you stay here," he said, "you will too soon be joined by all mortal beings that walk the world above as they starve and die by your mother’s sorrowful will. By no means can that be allowed to stand."

The brows of the goddess drew together as she considered the fact for a time. Her pensive gaze intensified, and a stalk erupted from the ground beside her feet. She stepped aside to let it sprout into a full grown tree, which swiftly bore fruit at her command.

"Drink of the Underworld, and you are doomed to forget it," she recited. "Eat of the Underworld, and it never will. I have heard this said several times since you brought me here." She plucked a supple pomegranate from the tree that she’d created. "If it is so, then let me be thusly bound."

"Persephone!” Hades reached out to stop her, but she pulled away.

"I have power now!” Persephone dug her fingers into the fruit and plucked four seeds from within. "And I have you. Even if I return to Mother's side, I will never be the same innocent Kore I was. The Lethe may strip me of the memories, but these scars are as eternal as you or I."

She pushed one of the seeds into her mouth, and Hades’ gaze softened. "For the sake of the Earth, I will spend the better part of the year upon it to share my light and mollify my mother. For the sake of myself, I will spend the remainder here, and I will reign at your side."

Hades watched her swallow one seed after another until all four were gone. Worry colored his features, but even as concern over the consequences raced through his mind, a subtle smile yet found its way back onto his face.

"Oh sweet Spring Maiden," he said, "what have you done? There is no reversing this."

"Then let it never be undone," replied Persephone. Tilting her head, she smirked. "Have you come to regret offering me the throne, my king?"

"No. Never."

His finger twitched, and he reached out. Persephone smiled and grabbed hold of him with her free hand, clutching the mangled pomegranate in the other.

"I will lead you to your mother now," said Hades.

"And we will cross the Styx on the way?"

"Yes, of course. Let us take the long path."

"I’d like that."