Part I
Kore was frequently discouraged from day-dreaming for too long. Her mother said that the activity - or lack thereof - was detrimental to her health and work. So, Kore tried to be aware of when she drifted off; especially in the presence of her mother. However, if she grew bored, or simply tired, she would give in quite easily to the wanderings of her mind. She would imagine far-off places that nymphs whispered about in excited tones, or about herself. She had heard her mother also say that pride and vanity would get her nowhere, but she couldn't help but want to think of herself as becoming great. Her mother declared it to be nonsense, as Kore was already a goddess, and therefore ought to not think herself capable of doing much better.
Kore longed for adventures beyond her everyday chores. If she was a goddess, she argued, why couldn't she do whatever she wanted? Her mother didn't take kindly to such disobedience, so Kore always found the tasks multiplied after she asked such things. She found solace in the nymphs wherever they went, for they were much more interesting than flowers. Most of the time.
By the time Kore was 10, Demeter moved the two of them to a somewhat-remote island that she insisted she had neglected for too long. Kore didn't question the move for the first few years, but then, after her mind began to sharpen, she wondered what had led her mother to inhabit such a finely stocked island. An island, too, that could easily bear the burden of a society five times the size of the one already inhabiting it. Nevertheless, she knew she couldn't change such circumstances, and contented herself to believe that the only things in the world were her, Mother, the nymphs, and the ever-distant island people her mother forbade her to meet.
She trained her self-discipline to keep herself from truly disobeying Mother and getting too close to mortals. With all her might, she tuned herself in to the daily work, and the chatter of nymphs. Every once in a very little while, her curiosity of the outer world could be satisfied by news from Nereids, though the words had often filtered through the Dryads and Nyads first. She would ask pointed questions, which the nymphs would refuse to answer, but soon found that they would answer if flattered from the start. After much sly practice, she could ask them the most shocking of questions that had made her mother blush, and be given an answer.
"Oh, my dear Dysis," Kore started out in a child's voice, "you are positively glowing! What is the occasion? Has something great happened since we last said goodbye?"
Dysis giggled lightly. "Kore. Oh, sweet Kore. I wish you could know the wonders of men, but alas! honored Demeter is set in her way."
"Pray tell me, what way is that?" Kore asked, feigning naivety; but underneath, calculating the answer.
"Poor, sweet Kore. Your esteemed Mother insists that you never know a man's embrace. She will protect you with all parts of a mother's power that you may never meet the fate she did." Just as the words slipped past Dysis's mouth, the nymph's countenance paled. Kore kept a stilled expression over indignant despise, and pressed on.
"I wish I could have some of your luck, but perhaps I am well-off enough just to know you!" Kore reached gently for the nymph's hands and squeezed ever so lightly at the exclamation. "Please, tell me what it's like, for I shall never know half of what you know." Thus, Kore learned worldly matters right under Mother's very nose, and the nymphs were wise enough to never say a word of Kore's cunning ways.
But when the heads of her Mother and the nymphs were all turned away, she practiced things that had been inspired by the very dreaming her Mother had always discouraged. By some mistake during her chores, she found that she could lift water right out of the soil, and even out of plants. After that, she played with her powers for long stretches - often after providing a puzzling distraction for any potential meddlers. Sometimes she would kill plants and bring them back to life from sheer will. She would peer into what the trees had witnessed for so many years. Kore never got clear pictures, but the memories were so homogenized that she would grow too bored to sort them all out. She was almost caught by a Dryad once, but after that she always checked carefully as to whether anyone was at home.
After a few more years on that island, Kore could even get the very young plants to tell her of secrets, or a dead leaf from the other side of the island to tell her what the people were like. No matter what she tried to content herself with, unfortunately, she found that her curiosity was insatiable. The more she learned, the more she wanted to know. It was the most frustrating thing she had come to feel in her life at that time, and the sensation began to rival her annoyance with her Mother.
When she was almost 17, she couldn't bear the secrecy any more, and directly challenged Mother on the subject of the world beyond the island. That was the first time her Mother ever hit her, and that night, there was a heavy silence over the island.
Part II
The very next day, Kore discovered that most of the nymphs were avoiding her and Mother's part of the island. She was rather thankful for the solitude, and sat on the beach of a cozy, small inlet, contemplating this new turn of events. Flattery couldn't possibly work on Mother because, as a full goddess, she was inherently smarter than what Kore was used to dealing with. Kore nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw legs appear next to her own bare ones. She turned, and saw a person she had never seen in all her life.
"Oh dear. I'm sorry to cause such a stir," the woman said with a smile melting her smart features into the very picture of warmth.
"Who are you? Goddess? Nymph? Human?" Kore, having been caught off-guard, had lost her grasp on the smooth charm she used as a weapon.
There came a buttery-sweet laugh, quiet and subtle, pleasing the very air. "I am Xenophon, a nymph visiting the island."
"Well, you might have come on a better day than this, for there is no company, and Mother won't be in the mood for guests, I'm afraid." Kore was stalling as she composed herself again. She looked the nymph over, and found her to be very different from any other she had known. Her skin was a dark, rich brown, and her black hair was gathered into a tight knot almost on the top of her head. She had a queenly look to her, with exaggerated, yet graceful, features, and long, slender body adorned with black patterns, the likes of which Kore had never seen. Her raiment was a white robe, elegant in simplicity. "Where do you come from?"
"I come from a hallowed land," Xenophon replied. Several questions raced through Kore's head, and she tried to sequence them so that they might all be answered. Maybe her ways might work on this nymph as well...
"Then you must be very blessed indeed."
"Some tell me I am. But I am no more blessed than others."
"What is this land, then? Others speak highly of you by your account, so now I am curious." Kore was about to resort to grasping, as it seemed that Xenophon would not have the pride or vanity of other nymphs. To her astonishment, Xenophon let out a hearty, full laugh with deep tones - not the stringy giggles of her sisters.
"Kore, Goddess of the Spring, your ways are well-known to nymphs, but I will dare your wrath and refuse your trifling. Nay, do not be angered, for I am here to offer you something that your acquaintances have of long deprived you."
"In such a case as this," Kore said warily, "I suppose I will stave off my need for revenge if you can keep your word. What do you think they have kept from me?"
"The society of mortals, of course," Xenophon said with ease, standing up and offering her hand to help up Kore.
"I can hardly believe you. Do you not know my Mother?"
"She wouldn't interfere. Trust me, it is all a part of the plan." Kore took her hand, and the two began the walk into town. The quiet didn't last long between them, as Kore thought up new ways to get this nymph to talk.
"So, you are a traveler, then? Or shall I be honored by knowing that you only visit me?" Kore asked sweetly.
"Yes, I travel frequently. I'd never come to this place before, and since I heard tell that Demeter herself had taken residence here, I decided that occasion had arisen for me to visit. This trip is only to visit the two of you."
"Where else have you gone?" Kore asked without thinking.
"I spend a lot of time around the coasts of this sea. I've been farther east than Persia, farther south than Egypt, and farther north than Macedonia."
"Have you been to the Western Ocean?" Kore asked, abandoning all attempts to regain her intellectual footing.
Xenophon gave another pleasing chuckle. "Indeed. I have seen it and all of its secrets. Tell me - do you often engage in conversation with mortals?"
Kore was itching to ask her watch she could possibly mean by the former statement, but supposed that she might answer a question or two to gain trust. This nymph was quite the worthy opponent. "Not for these seven years at least."
"That is very unfortunate for a young goddess! I wouldn't be surprised if it were even detrimental. Well, you need not worry, for I shall be your guide today. Oh! listen," she said, and the two came to a stop, straining their ears. Kore could hear it. Even the wind was different; for it struck buildings and not trees. It whipped through linen, pots, ropes, and in the far distance, the canvas of sails. The overtones of speech not spoken by nymphs whetted Kore's thirst for adventure. "Kore?"
Kore turned at the sound, and saw that Xenophon was holding a pair of sandals to her. She hadn't needed sandals in a long time. "Why?"
"These people... well, they haven't the cleanest of streets I suppose."
"There are streets? Are they paved?" Kore asked excitedly.
"Yes, dearest Kore. Am I right in assuming you've never been to a city?"
"I hardly remember my only time in one. I was very little, and now Mother goes without me."
"I believe, then, that an excursion to a harbor or a market would do wonders for you." Kore gasped in delight, and immediately adorned the sandals. She was more than ready for a little excitement in her life.
The trees thinned rapidly as they walked closer, and suddenly they were at the end of a quiet street. At the other end, stones began. "The only thing I ask, is that you don't leave me," Xenophon said. "Can you manage that? I would hate to have to come find you."
"I can do that," Kore acquiesced. Then, thinking quickly, added, "but you have to answer some of my questions, now." Xenophon nodded and then led Kore into town. Fortunately for the former, Kore was diverted in an instant by the new world before her. She loved the sights of houses and walls and children. She hadn't seen many children at all, besides herself! There were people casually talking, mothers hard at work, boys chasing girls with little creatures, and girls chasing boys with puckered lips. There were hardly any girls or boys her age about. When she asked about that, Xenophon said, "They are either learning skills for their married years, or making preparations for marriage."
That stung Kore. Why couldn't she have what they had? Xenophon could practically see her thoughts, and spoke softly so Kore couldn't hear, "In good time, goddess. You are still asleep."
The hurt didn't last very long at all, for suddenly the smell of food overran all sense of pain. The smell was coming from houses, and shops, and street-side vendors. There was pita and other breads baking, lamb roasting on a spit, sauces simmering with hard-earned spices, cheese melting, and on top of all those, the fresh sea air on a clear summer day, bringing the promise of open-air markets.