Chapter 32 - Ophelia #2
"He overthrew Uranus." I'm not really asking, simply drawing on Persephone's memories. "Started the Golden Age of the Titans." I shiver.
Hades's eyes snap to me.
"My memories have returned," I say softly.
Everyone inhales sharply, and I realize none of them knew. "We can discuss that later," I say, mostly for Hades's benefit. "Let's focus. Cronus is dangerous, cunning, and ruthless. And he has every reason to want revenge on us."
Hades's fingers dig into my thigh, and I try not to react.
"Do we know what he wants?" Hecate asks. "Beyond revenge?"
Aphrodite shakes her head. "Demeter said he could restore the pantheon. Bring back the faded gods. I don't know if it's true. I don't know if she even believed it. But that's what she was promising to Hermes, and I suspect others."
"Others?" I ask. "Who? Who is even left?"
Aphrodite shrugs. "She wasn't specific, but I don't think Hermes was her first choice. I suspect she made the offer to someone else before him."
"We need to find Cronus," Zeus says. "Before he gathers more allies. Before he makes his move."
"Agreed." Athena leans forward. "I suggest we disperse. Search our own territories. Hecate and I will enact security measures, coordinate intelligence."
"I'll reach out to the other gods," Zeus starts. "We will need to band together—"
"No." Hades's voice cuts through. "We don't know who else might be working with the Titans. Demeter fooled us all. Hermes was in her clutches. There may be others who want to bring back the fallen but didn't trust Demeter. We can't risk bringing in others until we know where their loyalties lie."
Zeus grudgingly nods. "Fine. We keep this tight. Just us for now."
"I'll take the Underworld," Hades says. "If Cronus is moving souls or trying to access Tartarus—"
"I'm going with you."
Hades's lips thin, but he doesn't argue. For now.
The meeting continues: plans, strategies, contingencies. I listen, absorbing information about divine politics and ancient wars, my two sets of memories providing context I didn't have before.
But I'm also aware of a growing pressure in my chest.
This is too much. Too fast.
I died. Hades died. I killed my mother. I have memories of a life I didn't live. And now we're planning for war against Titans who want to destroy everything.
I need to breathe.
Finally, the meeting ends. The others filter out until it's just me and Hades in the conference room, the Vegas lights twinkling below us.
I feel like I can finally breathe.
"Why didn't you tell me your memories returned?" Hades asks, accusation in his tone.
"Wasn't really time with all the sex."
He glares, and I roll my eyes. "I wasn't keeping it from you."
"Ophelia. Persephone." He runs a hand through his hair.
"Exactly," I snap, standing up from the table. "That right there."
"Because I don't know what to call you? I don't care what name you carry."
I know that. But I do care. And that's the problem.
"I need to talk to you about something." I feel my shoulders fall, because this is the last thing I want to do.
"I want to marry you," Hades says before I can continue. "Properly. In the Underworld. Make you my queen officially. I should have done it before. Should have—"
"Hades." I touch his face, cutting off the words. "I need space."
He goes very still. "What?"
"Not forever," I say, struggling to find the right words. "Just... I need a breath. Some time to process everything." I take a shaky breath. "I need to go back to my world for a bit. Figure out who I am now, and sort through what all of this means."
"You are Persephone. You're my wife—"
"I'm Ophelia too." My voice cracks. "And I don't know how to be both.
I don't know how to be this new thing that's neither and both.
And I can't figure it out while planning for war and living in your world.
" I swallow thickly. "I love you. A lot.
But imagine how hard this is for me? You don't even know what to call me. "
His expression shutters. "You want to leave me."
"No." I grab his hands. "I want space. Not separation. I need to go back to my apartment. Maybe my shop. Just normal things. Mortal things. I need a moment to deal with everything."
"Because I lied to you." His voice is flat. "That's what this is about. You don't trust me—"
"This isn't punishment." I pull him closer, forcing him to look at me. "This isn't about trust. It's about me. About needing time to breathe and think and not be in crisis mode."
"The Titans—"
"Will still be there in a week. Or two. Or however long I need." I cup his face. "I'm not running away from you, Hades. I'm running toward myself. Do you understand?"
He doesn't. I can see it in his eyes: the confusion, the hurt, the fear that I'm slipping away.
But he nods anyway. "How long?"
"I don't know. I'll come back when I'm ready. When I've figured out who I am and what I want."
"And if you decide—" His voice catches. "If you decide you want the mortal life? Your flower shop and your apartment and—"
"Then I'll tell you." I lean up and kiss him. Soft. Sweet. A promise. "I won't just disappear. I won't ghost you. I'll come back and we'll talk. But right now, I need this. I need you to let me go. Just for now."
He's quiet for a long moment.
Then he pulls me into his arms, holding me tight enough that I can barely breathe.
"Come back to me," he whispers against my hair.
"I will." I kiss his jaw, his cheek, his mouth. "I promise. I'll come back."
"When?"
"When I'm ready." I step back, already feeling the loss of his warmth. "Trust me?"
It costs him something to say it, but he does: "Always."
I kiss him one more time.
Then I walk out of Erebus, out into the neon-soaked Las Vegas night, and I don't look back.
Not because I don't want to.
But because if I do, I'll never leave.
And I need this.
I need to find myself before I can fully give myself to him.
Even if it breaks both our hearts to do it.