Prologue
September 2005
Angie this is for you.
I've never met my real parents. This doesn't bother me much, as I have always been wonderfully looked after by my surrogate parents, and I love them all the same. They have cared for me, encouraged and supported me my entire life. They accepted my differences and found my quirks endearing, like my tendency to read a person as they walk into a room and then be able to tell them there life story, and said it made me even more special. I used to believe I was a fairy when I was little, I've always been very pale with long raven hair and icy sea coloured eyes. As I got older, I kept my long hair, but stopped telling people I was a fairy, it was better not to be noticed. Other than my quirks, I am quite tall for a girl, 5ft and 9 inches, but not giant. My eyes have always been the main physical feature that set me apart from my parents, well that and my Dad is ginger! They tend to change colour, and are linked to my emotions. Most days they are an icy blue/grey with hazel flecks around the iris, but when I get sad, they go a moss green and shine. When angry they go almost silvery grey. They seem to reflect light like the sea, one-minute crystal clear, and the next dark and foreboding. I've always known that there is more out there and that I don't necessarily belong where I have grown up; I'm happy, but not complete.
Home was in the Brecon Beacons, wild Welsh countryside, it was peaceful and slow and a joyous place to live. I spent my time growing up by, singing, painting and reading, learning to sew and travelling with my family and friends. I was born and lived in Germany until I was 5, we then moved to Wales. I could spend hours with my nose in a book and truly escape too far off lands where fairies, witches, and magic existed. I used to pretend to slay dragons and run in forests with elves and good would always triumph over evil; some days I was a princess and other days I was a pirate, I think I still want to be a pirate?! It was a blessed childhood full of happy memories. As I got older, I hoped to be the princess that would find her prince and live happily ever after, a girl can always dream!
I've just noticed that I haven't introduced myself, I've given you the basics, well more than the basics, of my life story and never gave you my name. I'm Persephone; Persephone Elizabeth Richter, but I ask nearly everyone to call me Percy. I asked my parents why they chose Persephone, and they told me my birth mother chose my name. I had a book of Greek myths, I devoured the myths and legends and heroes of old, imagining being on there quests with them. Then one day I read the story of my namesake. I wanted to share it with you.
Persephone and Hades
The first living visitor to the Underworld, though an unwilling one, was the goddess Persephone. The only daughter of Zeus and Demeter (the goddess of grain, agriculture, and fertility), Persephone was an innocent maiden, a virgin who loved to play in the fields where eternal springtime reigned.
Nevertheless, Hades had other plans for Persephone: He would steal her innocence and virginity and turn her into the dreaded goddess of the Underworld. Hades, god of the Underworld, fell in love with Persephone and wanted her as his bride. His brother Zeus consented to the marriage, or at least refused to oppose it. Yet he warned Hades that Demeter would never approve this coupling, for she would not want her daughter spirited off to a sunless world. At Zeus's suggestion, or with his tacit understanding, Hades resolved to abduct the maiden.
Persephone was gathering flowers one day on a plain in Sicily. Hades suddenly appeared, thundering across the plain in his four-horse chariot. The god swooped down upon Persephone, scooped her up with one arm, and literally and figuratively deflowered her - leaving the plain scattered with blossoms of every colour.
The appearance, abduction, and disappearance happened so swiftly that none of Persephone's companions witnessed the kidnapping. Though she called out to them - and plaintively called for her mother, no one heard her pleas. The earth opened up before Hades' chariot and the god drove the jet-black horses down into the chasm. As Hades and Persephone disappeared into the depths, the hole closed up behind them.
Demeter soon came to collect her daughter, but could not find a trace of Persephone. Distraught and desperate, Demeter searched high and low for her daughter. She travelled to the farthest corners of the earth, searching for nine full days and nights without ever stopping to eat, drink, bathe, or rest. Demeter was in a fury. She destroyed lands, crops, and livestock as she bewailed the loss of her daughter.
Finally, on the tenth day, the goddess Hecate told Demeter that Persephone had been carried away, but she did not know by whom. The two goddesses went to Helios, the god of the sun, who saw everything that happened on Earth. Helios did tell her what had happened, but also tried to persuade Demeter that Hades - as Zeus's brother and ruler of one third of the universe - was not an unfit husband for Persephone.
Demeter refused to accept Hades as a suitable mate for her precious daughter. Enraged by the news of Persephone's abduction (and Zeus's possible complicity), she refused to return to Mount Olympus. Instead, she roamed the earth in the guise of a mortal, forbidding the trees to bear fruit and the earth to nurture vegetables and herbs.
After a full year of famine had plagued the earth, Zeus realized that if he allowed Demeter to persist, all of humankind would starve - leaving no one to honour and make offerings to the gods. Zeus sent a parade of gods and goddesses to Demeter to beg her to come back to Olympus and to restore fertility to the earth.
However, Demeter refused to budge until her daughter stood by her side. Zeus had no choice: He relented, promising to bring Persephone back to her mother. Hermes, summoned by Zeus, raced down to Hades to fetch Persephone. Hades shrugged compliantly and agreed to let her go. Persephone had not eaten a single thing - whether from sorrow, loss of appetite, or stubbornness - since her arrival in the Underworld. Nevertheless, before she left, Hades urged Persephone to appease her terrible hunger by eating a single pomegranate seed. Sadly, this apparent act of kindness was a trick: Anyone who tastes the food of Hades must remain in the Underworld.
The deed having been done, Rhea - the mother of Zeus, Demeter, and Hades - proposed a compromise that her children reluctantly accepted: Since Persephone had eaten there, she had to dwell at least part of every year in the Underworld. Rhea suggested that Persephone spend six months as Queen of the Underworld and the rest of the year with Demeter.
After agreeing to the deal, Demeter restored Earth's fertility and returned to Olympus with Persephone. But when the time came for Persephone to return to the Underworld, the earth became colder and less fertile until her re-emergence months later. Since the abduction of Persephone, spring and summer have given way to autumn and winter, and the earth's fertility has followed the progression of seasons. In the fall, seeds - like Persephone herself - were buried underground. However, in the spring, Persephone and the earth's crops came out into the sun once more.
Having read all about the tormented world my namesake lived in, the question I could never answer was, what inspired my mother to call my Persephone too? On to lighter topics, what else should you know?
I'm 18 years old, scared bugs, aliens and spiders. I'm really terrified, deathly terrified of Snakes. Not that fond of heights, but I can cope. I'm rather clumsy, always falling over, dropping things and bruising myself. Regardless of my clumsiness, I've only ever broken my little finger on my right hand! As much as I love nature, I cannot stand sleeping in it. When I cry it often rains, but that is just coincidence. I am as stubborn as a mule and can argue 'til the cows come home and then a bit more, but I never understood the need or want for violence. I'm not very good at being told what to do, I'm rather independent and like my freedom, I hate being caged and forced into another's ideals, but that might be my youth. Mum always called me a goat and not a sheep; I think that's a compliment!?
My best friend is Angie, Angela Watson. She has an older brother called John and an older sister called Harriet, who is known as Harry. Angie is brilliant, she is a bit older than I am, well five years older, but that never stopped our friendship. We have adventures together, chasing dreams and solving mysteries, Angie would be a great detective; she is so clever and observant. If I could choose a sister, it would be Angie. Angie has gone now I miss her so much.
I'll tell you more later, I'm supposed to be doing my course work, I only started Art College a week ago and already I'm letting things slip.
8th August 2010 – The Great Game
At the pool, red dots of snipers trained on John and Sherlock, Jim prattling on. I obviously missed the earlier theatrics, I got there as fast as possible, and my train ran late coming into London. Sebastian had been keeping me informed. I fish my phone out of my bag and call Jim, spotting John Watson, there was a woman, who seemed familiar but I could not place her. I knew that I needed to halt the madness. His phone rings, ironically its "staying Alive" by the Bee Gees, oddly inappropriate in the current situation.
"Do you mind if I get that?" Asks Moriarty. He looks a tad sheepish and annoyed.
"Please, you've got the rest of your life." Replies a tall dark haired man, slightly bored, but I can hear the fear in his voice.
"Hello..."
"Darling, killing two unknown men? Is it worth it, really? It's going to cause more problems than it's worth. This place is attracting too much attention. I'm stood next to Seb, I'm waving at you." I say, in a sugar sweet voice.
"Yes, of course it is. What do you want?"
"I want you to come home. I don't want you to get hurt. Is this petty jealousy, a childish feud?"
Moriarty shouts, "Say that again." He repeats himself, more quietly, a sinister edge filling his voice. "Say that again."
"I said stop and come home. End this now and you'll love what you're coming home to." I can hear the frustration in his voice; he knows when he is beaten, also 'that' is an offer he can rarely refuse.
"Know that if you're lying, I'll find you and I will skin you..." He says, trying to scare me.
"Oh, stop your idle threats, playtime is over. I'll be waiting in the car outside."
"Wait..." He almost pleads into the phone.
"Bye bye." With that, I hang up and survey the scene below me. Moriarty focuses on John and Sherlock again.
"Sorry, wrong day to die." With that final sentiment, he leaves whilst shouting more idle threats into an idle phone.
"Get a better offer?" Speculates the tall dark man.
"Someone obviously changed his mind." Replies John.
"Yes, but whom?" Asks the unknown man, the question lingers in the air. As Moriarty snaps his fingers and the snipers disappear.
"I did John, I couldn't let you die." I whisper to the darkness. I quietly leave, happy that I have managed to keep him safe once more, and save Jim the guilt.
15th January 2012 – The Reichenbach Fall
I will never forget the day Jim came home covered in blood.
It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and I was sat in one of the large bay windows reading, a mug of tea steaming away next to me. I had cleaned the house, made it ready for Jim, he'd been away for a week with work. I knew he was busy, he'd sent me a text saying he might be late tonight, but he would let me know when he was on his way. I was so excited to see him; work had kept us apart for the last couple of weeks; I had been away with the week prior. We needed some time alone away from work, our respective families, and friends to reconnect. I finished the chapter, put my book down and finished my tea. I picked up both and walked into the kitchen to wash up my mug. As I stood up from putting the mug in the dishwasher I looked out the window and saw a sleek black car pull up in front of the flat. The car seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't place it. I was pulled out of my musings when I saw the two men exiting the car, Seb carrying Jim who was covered in blood. I rushed through the flat, leaving the door on the latch and sprinted downstairs to open the building's secured front entrance. I helped Seb get Jim into the flat. I ran a bowel of warm water and got towels from the bathroom.
"What happened?" I asked frantically.
"There was a man, he jumped. He jumped off a roof." Replied Jim quietly.
"Seb thank you for getting him back safely, I'll look after Jim now, and you go home." I let Seb out of the flat and turned back to Jim. I kneeled down in front of him and helped him take of his sodden suit jacket and shirt. Gently I started to wash the blood away. "Darling what happened, it's alright your home now."
"It was a job. It went a bit wrong." Jim was still quiet, whatever had happened, had shaken him.
"What went wrong?" I asked as I continued to wipe away the blood.
"He was supposed to be proved to be a fraud, but he made it so hard. A worthy opponent, but he could've lived if he hadn't pushed so hard. To get the plan to work I had to make him think I'd..." Jim trailed off. Never a good sign; if a job had gone badly usually he'd tell me all the minute details and we'd work it out together, on the rare occasions he didn't tell me, it was usually something I really didn't like when I found out.
"Make him think that you what?" I asked apprehensively.
"He had to think that I'd shot myself, committed suicide."
"Right, but you're ok now, home and safe and we're together." I said as reassuringly as possible.
Hours later as we lay in bed, I couldn't sleep. I kept having the same nightmare. That word, suicide, it didn't fit, it was wrong, haunting me. The numbness that overtook me was odd; it was like an out of body experience. I could see and hear the world around me, but my body and emotions would not react properly. It felt like the world around me was an echo of reality. Time was in flux, moving too fast or too slow. I had to keep reassuring myself Jim was next to me, asleep in my arms.
It took us some time to recover from that day. We started to drift apart a little, we weren't as happy as we had been before. I found an escape, my parents want me to house sit for them. They are off on a round the world cruise for the next six months. It was also a good excuse to avoid the London Olympics during the summer. I packed my bags, taking everything of importance, something about this trip home felt like a turning point in my life.
