Wanted Goddess: Chapter One
Persephone's POV
I am the villain of this story. I am the one who escaped from the clutches of the Underworld. I am the one who is hiding from those smouldering eyes, the sight of his chiselled jawline and youthful beauty set aglow by stygian, avoiding the feel of those soft full lips that hunger for mine. No, I shut my eyes letting the darkness wash away his haunting image, ignoring the stabbing in my gut.
I am no longer the girl who dug her own grave, craving to be with the boy who smelt of roots and dirt. The Fates sewed a teenage tragedy, casting me as a flower who needed darkness and light. And now, I can feel sunlight and I can breathe... As an Olympian fugitive, most wanted goddess, and disguised eighteen-year old mortal adolescent.
My eyes flutter open... It sucks. And I know, Hecate and Mother pulled a few magical strings to get me to be sitting here, in this lecture theatre surrounded by a hundred souls, ugh mortals, soon to be souls, at one of the most elitist universities in the Upper world but it's not Olympus. I suppress a sigh. I will never see it again. So, I grip my pen tighter to write the title of today's surely tedious lecture until my heart pounds against my ribcage. Ice rushes through my veins and my stomach knots like a ball of The Fates string.
Lecture 38: Greek Mythology.
No. No. No. Not good, not good. My mind has the common sense to scream and the pen snaps, pure black ink drowning my white fresh paper in darkness. An omen.
My trembling fingers find the pastel lilac straps of my flowery mortal rucksack and sling it onto my shoulders, force my feet to follow the descending steps to the solid ground and I head towards the doors with my blood rushing in my eyes as loud as one of Poseidon's tidal waves until- I freeze.
They've found me- The Olympian Gods have found me.
I want to move, I want to move so badly but I can't will my legs to spring into action. My eyes meet hers- Those intelligent grey eyes that trap me. Mortal glasses suit her. The entire mortal professor vibes fits her perfectly with books in her arms, hugged to her chest with her body clothed, no longer in a crimson toga but crimson tabard dress with a cream cardigan. A tiny owl pin blinking at me.
Smooth Athena.
She hasn't changed a single bit, with the Olympian glow of youth that leaves us all on the cusp of adulthood for all of eternity. The red lipstick, the colour of mortal blood induced from her warfare skills, a symbol.
"Where do you think you're going? I'm about to give a lecture and these lectures are compulsory unless, according to university policy, you have a family emergency and evidence. So unless that applies to you, Miss... Forgive me, what's your name?'
The professional, formal, sardonic tone of Athena's words wash over me, leaving fire in my veins. Her wit, her intelligence with every sentence that slips past her smiling lips- She always did like victory in a war, and she's achieved it after centuries of my divine disappearance from the depths of darkness.
I open my mouth but only air slips out and I stumble on words. Her cleverness catches me off guard and her sentences stab like a sword. I do not raise my shield so she leans closer and I feel her breath tickling my ear dancing dangerously.
"I expect you to do very well in this lecture and afterwards you will stay and we will discuss what you've learnt. Sit down with the mortals, Persephone. I will not ask you twice and if you make a fuss, I will tell Zeus when we meet up with him in a mortal hour and he will be even less merciful with your Mother and Hecate for having helped you escape from your marriage contract.'
I swallow hard as terror grips my every atom. I obey, of course I obey because The Fates guide my steps towards a front row seat. I bow to Athena's will like the Trojans did, she leaves me shattered.
"Good morning class. I am Professor Minerva and I am a specialist in Greek Mythology. My expertise are specifically in those of the Gods- Can anyone list them for me? Hmm.'
Athena's bright eyes find me, alone on the front row, like a lone plant in a field. Of course, flowers are destined to be picked. And so she picks me with soft words over soft hands. And all of the mortals eyes fix on the flower, examining it. I bet, most of them will just love to pick apart my lexis like petals.
Athena is dooming me. And she knows it.
"Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Athena-' She has the audacity to allow a smile over her lips at the mention of herself. 'Poseidon, Demeter, Hecate, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, Persephone.' Their names roll easily, though reluctantly off of my tongue. The taste of them in my mouth after so long is bitter and stinging.
Athena shakes her head disapprovingly, lowering her mortal glasses to stare me directly in the eye. "Who's the one you're not saying, Miss Korespring? Say it. Say nice and clear so all can hear you. Who is God of the Dead and rules over the Underworld? The one who took Persephone? The one who loves her and wept and caused earthquakes when she deserted him and broke sacred Olympian law?'
Tactical torture. Every question cracking my heart a little bit more every single time. I can feel the tears that bite and beg to slip down my cheeks like rain. They blur my vision until Athena is replaced by thick clouds of darkness and him- Those smouldering eyes, the stygian against his skin kissed by Selene's pale moon complexion and his handsome youth. I retreat to the depths of my own mind, where he still lurks haunting me in the shadows.
"Hades." His name escapes in a whisper as soft as a mortals final word before death. It is a ghost on my lips.
Persephone... He breathes in my brain. I will find you...
His voice, his actual voice is a tidal wave, it drowns me in thick black water and I struggle for breath, begging my lungs to inhale oxygen and vocabulary to fight back but the chords of his words, soft and silky pin me down, and so I am silent.
Logic hollers for me to run. To run anywhere. And so I launch my body into motion, rather than sit here and wait for Hades to find me after so long without so much as fight. I am not mortal, I do not have to sit here and endure Athena's torture. The Fates have not stitched this path, the path I'm currently taking as my feet hammer down the stairs and into fresh air.
I merely follow the random mortal streets with the wind whipping my brunette waves, snowflakes replacing what should be flowers as they land in my locks. My Mother knows the other Olympians have found me. They are her tears. The smashing gusts that howl are her screams.
Her power makes it hard for me to walk down these streets, a mortal town with the shops and cobbled stone pathways that are like a web, as if crafted by Arachne and I am the prey as I walk on, struggling to catch my breath with my mind whirling. The cold from the snow bites my skin, soaking through my lilac mortal jumper, black jeans and pastel purple sneakers. I am shivering and shaking, but still I walk on as if one of the mortals, who are slowly dwindling in numbers, hiding from the storm.
My Father's lightning cracks ferociously overhead and the sound threatens to split my skull. Again and again, bolt after bolt bombarding my senses and my brain.
I fall to my knees, soaking.
"MAKE IT STOP!" I scream as loud as I had screamed the same line all of those centuries ago when I was tumbling into the depths of the earth- Then the Gods had not answered my crying, but now they listen.
There is no more rain. There is no more lightning. There are no more mortals. There is silence.
But there is them- All of the Olympians, surrounding me in a circle as if this is an Olympian Council, leaning against shop windows, sat on the curb, standing on the pavement of this deserted high street. I am left in the centre. I am alone on the road for all of them to gawk at.
Wet, pathetic, cold, afraid. The Most Wanted Goddess is before them... finally.
"Persephone, look at me." Zeus' voice is as low as thunder and it sends waves of nausea rolling over my body. Don't look at them. Don't look at them, my mind behests but my common sense causes my eyes to raise upwards from the grey road to behold each one of their familiar faces.
Zeus. The suit and tie suits him, a young wealthy mortal business man in his late twenties beholding me as if I am a product, assessing every inch of me. The 21st century look flatters him.
Aphrodite. The Burberry pale pink trench coat and designer clothes beneath leave her with the air of an heiress. Her platinum blonde locks are still the same, tumbling to her back. She wipes away a tiny tear that slips down her cheek and stinks of Gucci perfume.
Poseidon. He's an out of place twenty-year old surfer hippie with the teal jacket over swim shorts. He didn't dress for a war between the Gods, nor my mother's disappointment. Though maybe the rain didn't bother him.
They all chose their disguises well. They are all 21st century mortals in their clothing but not in their powers of course. I can smell magic in the air.
I cast my eyes around all of them- Mother in tears, Hecate in tears, Apollo leaning casually against a music shop window with his hands in his ripped jeans and yellow leather jacket, then combing his golden hair. He looks drop dead gorgeous as a mortal, and he knows it. My eyes pass over Ares' punkness, Hephaestus' homeless vibes, Athena looking pissed at me as a professor and Hermes in his post office uniform. No Hades. No Hades. No Hades.
"Oh Persephone. I cannot bare to see you so... low. Sweet girl, let us restore you to your true glory as Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of Flowers. Come now, Hades won't want to see you in such a state as this. You'll break his heart all over again." Father mumbles.
Before I can mutter anything, I feel the moisture leave my hair with a click of Poseidon's fingers, leaving it thick and luxurious once more. I feel the wool of my jumper become the rich onyx satin of a ballgown and feel a blush on my cheeks, a gloss on my lips and a crown of black roses bury into my scalp with the mere hair flick of Aphrodite.
"There you are." Father smiles. "Now, remember sweet girl that we all love you very dearly and do not hold you accountable for having escaped from the Underworld at all- It was the trickery of your Mother. But nevertheless, you must return to Hades and we are here to see that the law is upheld, Persephone. Do not worry, okay? This will only be but a few seconds."
I open my mouth to ask what will only be a few seconds until they fade. They all leave me. I am alone in the middle of this no longer empty road. I hear mortal screams and gasps but all I can focus on is the mortal car speeding towards me and I cannot move. They have left me frozen here... To die (kind of)
I close my eyes, waiting.
I wait for death. I wait for Hades...
"Hello Seph."
To be continued... Please review, follow and favourite 3