Author's Note: I have heard/read many versions of the Persephone (pronounced: per – SI – fonee) myth and I decided to write about the one in the following chapter. The 'made up part' of the myth in this story is the part I myself made up. (That will make sense after you read this) The rest of the myth is from various resources about mythology. Not much action in this chapter. Sorry. More fun with Riley on its way, I promise! Oh, and a big thanks to all my reviewers!
Chapter Seven: The Treasure of the Underworld
The next day Riley got a phone call from Ben asking him to be at his house that evening at seven. Riley said he would be there. He had no idea what to think now. Ben didn't seem to be mad about anything. In fact, he seemed surprised and almost happy about the bar incident. Well, happy with the part about Riley defending Ellen. Not so happy about the guy being a jerk to Ellen. Either way, Riley felt he was in the clear.
He arrived at Ben's house just before seven. He was walking up to the door when Ellen pulled into the driveway. Riley stopped to wait for her but she didn't see him at first. Ellen was far too busy singing her little heart out to whatever it was she was listening to. She turned her car off, and upon climbing out, she noticed Riley.
'Hi!' she said with a big smile.
'Hey,' Riley replied.
Ellen walked towards him, threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. Riley was caught off guard so he just stood there. Before his brain could tell him hug her back, you idiot she let him go. They smiled at each other and began to walk up to the door.
'So, you made time for us tonight?' Riley asked.
'Yeah. I just had a teachers meeting earlier this afternoon…' she replied. Then she made a face to show just how boring it had been.
Riley laughed as they reached the door and let themselves in.
'Ben? Abi?' Riley called. 'We're here!'
Abi came around the corner into the kitchen. 'Oh, you came together!' she said.
'Oh, uh, no, we just ran into each other in the driveway,' Ellen replied.
'Oh… oh well,' Abi said, seemingly a bit disappointed. Ellen and Riley exchanged confused looks as Abi called out for Ben. 'Ellen and Riley are here!'
She gestured for them to follow her into the sitting room. 'Ben's been up there on his computer all day, researching the myth and the museums. Hopefully you'll be able to enlighten us,' Abi said to Ellen.
'Oh, I'm well familiar with the myth of Persephone, so hopefully I can be of some help.'
'Good, you both made it!' Ben said as he came into the room. He joined Abi on the couch opposite of Riley and Ellen.
'Okay, so what exactly is the myth of Persephone about?' Abi asked Ellen.
'Well, it's basically the story of this girl Persephone being kidnapped by Hades and then being tricked by Hades into staying with him for half of every year,' she began. The other three nodded to her, so she continued. 'Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Zeus had several children with women other than his wife Hera, and so Demeter knew that Persephone would be with her, Demeter, not her father. Everything was fine for a while, until Persephone grew up from a little girl into a beautiful woman. Hades, whose brother is Zeus, became infatuated with her and kidnapped her while she was picking flowers in a field – '
'Wait,' Riley interrupted. 'Hades became infatuated with his niece?'
'Yeah. Things were kind of different then. Plus they were gods, so they could do loads of things mortals wouldn't. But the fact that she was his niece was the least of the problems. Demeter, who could control the weather, got angry because she couldn't find Persephone. So she made it winter all over until she got Persephone back. Hades finally agreed to let Persephone go, but before she left, Hades offered her a seed to eat. She did, and in doing so, she bound herself physically to the Underworld, meaning she would have to stay. But because of Demeter's powers, and the fact that Persephone's father was Zeus, who may not have been the most involved parent but who would ultimately win a fight with Hades for Persephone's return, Hades agreed to let Persephone stay with her mother for six months out of every year. Demeter wasn't exactly thrilled, but she had to accept. Thus, the seasons were born. Summer and spring are for when Persephone is with Demeter, fall and winter are for when Persephone is with Hades.'
'What did Persephone think about all this?' Abi asked.
'Actually, she was angry and scared at first, but she grew to love Hades, despite what he'd done,' Ellen replied.
'Okay, I understand the myth now. But Stewart had mentioned something about other parts to the myth that may have been made up,' Ben said.
'Ah yes. The stones and the treasure of the underworld?'
'Yeah. What's that all about?' Ben asked.
'People came to know this myth by the stones that were found. The stones, called the Persephone Stones, tell the story I just told you. However, some mythologists and archaeologists believe that there are metals from the gods hidden inside these stones that tell the whereabouts of the Treasure of the Underworld. Zeus supposedly offered a massive treasure to Hades in exchange for him returning Persephone to Demeter. Hades took the treasure and promised Zeus he would return Persephone, but shortly after hiding the treasure, he offered Persephone the seed, thus breaking his promise to Zeus. Zeus demanded the treasure back, but Hades claimed that he held up his part of the bargain because he technically did return Persephone. For how long she would remain with Demeter was never discussed between him and Zeus, so in fact Zeus could not take the treasure back. Apparently, these metals were inserted into the Persephone Stones by Zeus so that someone would eventually find them and take back the treasure from Hades.'
'Stewart seemed to be very much against this idea. What do you think about it?' Ben asked Ellen.
Ellen paused, thinking. 'Well, the stones are real enough, but whether or not they tell a true story or a fictitious myth is up for grabs. As a historian, I don't believe it. But…' she paused a smiled a little. 'It would be kinda cool if it were true.'
'Well, I wouldn't put a leap of faith past any Gates,' Riley murmured. The other three laughed, realizing that was true.
'Well, I would need some sort of proof that those metals existed before I believed in the treasure. But there's part of me that wants to believe in it,' Ellen admitted. 'But Ben, you mentioned something about scrolls?'
'Yeah, Stewart said that the curator at some museum in Athens is claiming that the scrolls we found and believed to be from the Library at Alexandria are actually from the Palace of Knossos and have something to do with the myth of Persephone.'
'What do the scrolls say?' Ellen asked.
'Stewart said no one can agree on a translation,' Riley answered. Ellen was silent for a few moments, thinking.
'Hm. That seems kind of odd, but there's so much speculation surrounding this myth, I wouldn't be too surprised if all this treasure business turned out to be true,' Ellen said.
----------------------------------------------------
About an hour later, Ellen and Riley got up to leave. They were almost out the door when Ben stopped them.
'I mentioned this to you yesterday,' he said, indicating Riley, 'I still have an odd feeling about all this. So, be careful. Both of you.'
They nodded. 'We will,' Riley said.
As the door closed, Abi turned to Ben.
'Ben, what do you mean by odd feeling?'
'I don't know. Stewart got done explaining everything to Riley and I yesterday, and I just got this bad feeling of foreboding… or foreshadowing, I'm not sure which.'
'About what?'
Ben paused. 'Ian.'
'Ian? What would Ian have to do with this?'
'Stewart said that this behavior is odd for the Athens museum curator. And this myth boils down to whether or not the treasure exists… doesn't that sound familiar to you?'
'Well, a bit. But I doubt Ian could steal those Persephone Stones and those scrolls from either museum.'
'Remember when you told me no one could possibly steal the Declaration of Independence?'
Abi paused. 'Maybe…'
Ben couldn't help but smile. 'I'm sure there's probably nothing to worry about. I've just got a bad feeling. It'll probably go away soon. In the meantime,' Ben said, pulling Abi close. 'We've got a wedding to plan.'