I

The faire young maiden sat on a rock with her feet dipped in the cool refreshing waters of the river. Her long auburn (with bits of golden highlights from the sun), were blown around by the wind. Tucked into her right ear was a white flower that her mother had placed,

"It is as pure as you are Kore," she commented.

Her mother always dressed her in a white dress, and wished for her hair to be open. She thought it made her look like young child— which she was not. When she was younger she asked her mother when she could be able to wear rich dresses like Lady Hera, Athena or Aphrodite to which her mother would reply, "When you're older."

How old did she need to be?

The hot harvest days were sometimes too much for her, which was why she always loved to cool off by the river where the beautiful nymphs would come to play. She was very fond of on particular nymph— Althea. She was a few years older than her with long mint green hair that would always cover her breasts. Her eyes were a beautiful crystal blue. Althea was very mischievous as were most nymphs, which was why her mother did not approve of her innocent daughter hanging around with them.

"You shouldn't play with them Kore! They are full of mischief. I do not like you playing with them." She said strictly to her daughter when she was younger, causing her to pout and cross her arms.

"Well then who can I play with mother? I can't play with you all the time." She said.

"Anyone, but those foolish nymphs! They are nothing but trouble Kore."

She did not consider herself to be a rebellious girl, but she disobeyed her mother and played with them anyways. Mother still did not approve, but Kore saw no harm in being around them. She'd rather them than some drunken brute in a nearby village.

"Persephone!" She heard a familiar voice call. She smiled and tucked her locks behind her ear and scanned the river for her friend. She could not see her, however in seconds she felt two hands grab hold of her by the ankles and push her into the cold river water.

"Good heavens!" She yelled as she quickly pulled herself up onto the rock. She was soaking.

"Oh Persephone!" The nymph, Althea snickered— she was well known for being a trouble maker. But, Persephone enjoyed her company nonetheless.

"Althea!" She yelled, "Look at me! I'm soaking! Mother will be so angry!" She said as she looked down upon her body. Unfortunately for her, her mother only allowed her to wear white dresses to further add to her innocent nature. Now, the thin white fabric clung to her body and some dirt remains from the water stained the dress. Her perky breasts were completely visible which is why her mother would freak.

But, the splash in the water did cool her down.

"Calm down Persephone. It's so hot out today. Helios will look out for you and make sure you are dry before you return home." Althea soothed, "Besides, it's just us girls." She said with a giggle. Persephone sighed and gave her friend a smiled.

" I suppose so. It's just that mo—"

"Can you please not talk about your mother for one moment?" Althea asked politely.

Persephone shook her head and squeezed the excess water out of her long hair with her hands as she sat down on the warm grass where the sun was at its brightest. She twisted her dress to help dry herself off faster. When she finished she crossed her arms over her chest so as not to expose herself as much.

"Mother hasn't been too fond with me going out nowadays." Persephone said. Althea raised her mint green brow.

"Why? Lady Demeter loves the outdoors."

"Well you see—" Her sentence was cut short by a cry that sounded an awful lot like her mother from a distance.

"Kore! Kore!" She could hear someone call. Persephone's eyes widened and she looked to her friend with plea in her eyes.

"Let me see who it is." Althea whispered. Persephone hugged herself tighter and prayed to Helios to dry her quickly.

Althea stood on the very rock she sat on and narrowed her eyes in hopes to see who was calling Persephone by that Gods awful name— Kore. She hated that name. The more she squinted the more she could make out a faraway figure. The person was flying; they had wings and were clearly slightly muscular. Althea knew exactly who it was.

"It's just Hermes. You're okay." She reassured her friend but unfortunately that didn't help much in Persephone's case. She didn't seem all too happy to hear of him, she had rolled her eyes to the mention of Hermes. "What is it?" She asked.

"The thing is—" She was cut off again, by the same person.

"Kore!" She heard a young voice call. Persephone bit her bottom lip. Althea was kind enough to pull Persephone's long auburn waves over her breasts to cover them slightly even though her hair was still damp. Persephone gave Althea a genuine smile causing her lone dimple on her left side to show.

'Thank you" she muttered to friend in which Althea just shrugged.

'Kore!" she heard Hermes call again. She turned around slowly and watched as he descended from his flight and walked on the grass in the meadow. "How are you?" He asked with a smile, and then his lips twitched into a slight smirk. Persephone noticed that his eyes wandered over her chest causing her cross her arms over them again.

"I'm fine, thank you Hermes." She said politely, but gave no indication that she wanted the conversation to continue. Hermes didn't understand the signal.

"I just wanted to ask if you and your mother were coming to Olympus tonight for the dinner?" Persephone cocked her head to side and furrowed her brows.

"I did not even know there was a dinner tonight. That probably means mother and I won't be going." She said truthfully, Hermes nodded, shrugged, and took one last look at Persephone's damp figure before taking off.

"Alright then Kore. I shall see you soon" He bid goodbye, flapped his wings and then left as Persephone rolled her eyes and glared at him as he left. That was odd of him. She had known him for years and never once had he looked at her like that before. Maybe her mother was right; all men probably were the same.

"There was a lot of tension there, I could sense it." Althea said after a moment of silence. Persephone shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "What happened? You like Hermes." She added, puzzled.

"Not as of recently." She muttered.

"Why?"

"He kissed me." She blurted out causing her skin to blush a bright shade of red in embarrassment. Althea laughed and shook her head.

"He kissed you?" Persephone nodded, "So what? No one's kissed you before?" She nodded again.

"Yes. And mother saw everything!" She added causing Althea's laughter to die down. It was no secret how protective Demeter was of daughter which was fair seeing as how beautiful Persephone really was. "Then he asked for my hand in marriage." She muttered while she picked some of the grass around her. It wasn't unusual. She had gotten a marriage proposal from Apollo and the mortals in nearby villages as well. However Apollo and the other suitors were smarter than Hermes was and presented her with a genuine gift rather than a kiss. Althea cocked her head to the side,

"What did you say?" She asked.

"Me? Nothing. Mother yelled so loudly at him I bet Lady Hera could hear her from the heavens." She said.

"What would you have said?" She asked. Persephone shrugged.

"No most likely." She answered truthfully. "I don't see much of point in it to be honest. I'm not missing out on anything. I don't even like Hermes in that respect. He's just a friend—that's all I need."

"How do you know that?"

"I've liked having friends. Why should he be any different? "

The two of them started talking for hours. As time flew by some of the other nymphs came to say "hello" to Persephone. Her prayers were answered by Helios and she dried up quickly. Althea and two of the other nymphs braided Persephone's hair into a nice long thick plait that started at the crown of her head and hung off of one side of her shoulder. Althea and thrown the white flower away and she added some colour to hair by adding flowers of pinks and reds making Persephone look her age for once and not so child-like.

Unfortunately she heard her Mother calling her not long after. Persephone bid her friends goodbye and walked back home. Nyx had appeared in the sky and Helios had left which meant that her Mother definitely wanted her home fast. Persephone was not allowed to go out after sun down.

Authors Note: So unfortunately this is one of those beginning chapters. But bear with me and trust me when I say that the next chapters will be enjoyable (i hope). Thank you