dancing in the dark

hades and persephone go home.

Suddenly, the falling stopped.

It was a bit dramatic, Tony had to admit, but he liked to perform when he got the excuse. Once they were about three quarters to the bottom, he used the shadows to carry them the rest of the way until they were standing in the throne room, feet planted firmly on the floor.

"Well, that was exhilarating," he said pleasantly, referring more to Steve's closeness than to the fall itself. The fall he had done before. But this? This was new. "Welcome to the Underworld, Steve." With a sweeping motion, he gestured to the vast room surrounding them and the world beyond it.

The throne room was grand - albeit, a bit lonely. At the head of the room was the throne, made of beautifully carved onyx and encrusted with thousands of gems. The floors were of shiny granite, gold and silver and every other precious metal and gem shining through in flecks. Grand pillars, not dissimilar to those in Olympus, were on either side of them, but there were no ceilings for the pillars to meet. It never rained or snowed or got too sunny, so all they saw was the unending dark.

"Are you alright?" he asked, when he realized his beloved had yet to speak a word. He turned to face Steve, who spent his time staring at their surroundings with pure, unbridled astonishment.

The Underworld was unlike anything his mother told him about. When he was but a babe, susceptible in every way a young godling could be, she would weave stories of infinite torture and