Chapter Ten: Psyche
The next morning, Persephone awoke to see her husband sleeping peacefully with Macaria, Zagreus, and Melinoe on his lap, also asleep.
Persephone smiled to herself and put on a black, slim, long dress with gold "P"; it reached her ankles and had glitter that shimmered vibrantly. She slipped on a pair of gold sandals and also placed her handmade necklace on.
As she left her room, she noticed Hecate, who was wearing a bronze skirt, a black blouse, and gold sandals. Hecate was waving around an ivory wand and reading a spell book. When she noticed the presence of her queen, she looked up and smiled fondly at Persephone.
"Hello my Queen; how are you this morning?"
Persephone nodded and said she was very well. She then noticed something that should not have been there. A flash of pink whirled past her, but before it could escape, she grabbed it on an impulse.
Immediately it stopped. It was a girl, who held a box that was latched shut. She had lovely kaleidoscope eyes that seemed to change colors constantly; she also had peach-colored skin, pink painted lips, a delicate rosy blush, and freckles sprayed across her face.
Persephone knew who this was. It was Psyche, the wife of Eros. "My friend, what are you doing here in this hellhole?"
Psyche sighed a breath of relief as the queen no longer had a "death-grip" on her. Psyche turned around and hugged Persephone, tears flowing at an irrational pace. "Persephone, my husband has…"
Persephone hushed her and looked at Hecate for help. Hecate simply smiled at Psyche and nodded.
"Start from the beginning, my friend."
"Eros had given me a trip to my sister's as our anniversary present. He had to leave but he said he'd be back shortly. That night my sisters told me that he was a beast in disguise. I was afraid so when he came back, he was so tired that he went to sleep. I grabbed a knife but when I saw him, I did not stab him; my sisters were wrong. But then an oil lamp had spilled oil onto his shoulder and he looked at me and said 'love is not possible without trust' and he left. I went to his mother Aphrodite and she said that if I take hold of some of your beauty, my husband will come back to me."
Persephone nodded and took the box in her hand before taking a look at Psyche. "Whatever you do, do NOT open this box again. You will fall into a deep sleep which is very hard to awaken from."
Psyche nodded eagerly and Persephone opened the box. She placed a delicate, nimble finger on the black velvet. After a moment, streams of laminating white flowed into the box and music entered the box as well.
When she was finished, she stumbled a bit on the marble flooring. She was almost completely drained of powers and of magic. She quickly handed the box back to Psyche, her hands shaking.
Then all of darkness consumed her, coming from every direction possible.
Persephone had fainted.
Hades was just starting to awaken when he heard Hecate screaming her lungs off. She was always the calm one, so something must be fatally wrong.
When he found Hecate, he also found his wife with bruises and marks over her body. And it seemed that more were just… appearing.
After he heard about what happened between her, Persephone, and Psyche, he knew something was definitely wrong.
Time passed by. It was no longer Fall, but the ending days of Winter. And Persephone STILL had yet to awaken.
Finally he grabbed the dream twins and demanded their help.
Morpheus put his index finger on her clammy forehead and closed his eyes, concentrating. Hypnos did the same thing.