Destroyer of Light

by Rachel Alexander

“Can the sun find its match in anything but the moon? Can the heavens lose interest in the earth?” Hades pulled away from her and

stroked her cheek. “Can death exist without life?”

“I love him so much. I can’t explain it without feeling ridiculous or wanting to burst apart at the seams. Do I sound foolish to you?”

“My lord, I love you. More than any… possibility, more than any future plan. The Fates laugh at our plans, anyway. I love every flaw, every virtue that outweighs those flaws a thousandfold. You were afraid I would reject you; you were only trying to keep your heart safe.”

Aidoneus tossed Persephone on the mattress and pulled the covers over them both, then promptly fell asleep, his arm heavy across her waist.

“Do not be afraid of hope, Persephone. Hope is a hard-forged blade, keen and shining. Used recklessly, it will maim and scar; but wielded with finesse, it will give you the power to carve a destiny of unsurpassed glory.”

Male and Female. Hades and Persephone. Names, an unending chain of what that duality of creation represented to all mortals coursed through them. Chaos and Void. Gaia and Ouranos. Anu and Ki. Shiva and Shakti. Ku and Hina. He and She. They were a thousand other names, to a thousand other peoples, with the power and responsibility of all creation at their fingertips. Their own private wishes seemed small and petty compared to this great expanse of Everything. Totality. Conjunction.

They’d created Paradise.