WEDDING DAY
Kore stood in front of the floor-length mirror that was dragged into the middle of her bedroom, looking at herself, but not really seeing.
This could not be her, she thought to herself. Standing before her was a woman clad in a divinely extravagant drop waist gown with sequined bodice and a bellowing full tulle skirt. Long sleeves made up of lace, encrusted with tiny diamonds, delicately covered her arms travelling up to her neck, fastened behind her nape with a huge pearl button. Her back was entirely bare until just above her waist. A little inch lower and it will all be scandalous.
Her hair was scooped up into an elegant chignon, on one side was pinned a silver bejewelled clip.
If there was any doubt in her mind about the efficiency of Hades' people it has already been erased the very next day after their late-night conversation.
She woke up to find the palace already in full motion for the impending matrimony of their master. There were servants preparing the throne room for the ceremony, cooks and servers went in and out of the kitchen, and the moment she stepped into the threshold, she was instantly ushered to the drawing room where the seamstress and her apprentices were measuring for suits and gowns. She remembered wondering in the middle of all that chaos if Hades would still pursue with the ceremony if she hadn't provided her permission.
She gazed outside the window, it was nearly noon now, the ceremony will begin any time soon. She really didn't know how she was able to tell the time so quickly in Hades' land when there was no sun nor moon to help you with it. All she knew was that when it's daylight, the skies looked all the shades of orange and red, just like a midsummer sunset in Enna, and when nightfall comes, the heavens is specked with all the hues of blue and black.
She hates it most when the horizon suddenly turns all grey and gloomy. It always makes her feel constricted. She came to understand that when that happens, it is raining in the lands above. Although, it was quite odd to notice that the skies hasn't been like that for days now. Planting season was just about to start when she was...
"Milady?" a singsong voice of a nymph interrupted her thoughts.
Kore turned and met the sweet face of Orphne, head of Hecate's nymphs in the underworld.
"It's about time," the nymph beamed with a smile of innocence and gladness of someone who was entirely unaware of how everything had led to this day. In Hades' credit, the true details of how their marriage came to be was entirely exclusive to a few people he trusted. She never once had found herself being whispered about by his servants or all the others residing in his palace.
Oh how she wished her mother was here, she yearned. She'd know very well how to calm her down.
'Mother,' she thought fervently, 'Where are you?'
If only she could somehow get a message across to Demeter to tell her that she's alright, Kore wished. Just to let her mother know. That she's being treated well. It just troubled her to no end to think how her mother must be dying with worry for her.
"Milady?" Orphne inquired again.
Kore nodded in quick affirmation and allowed herself to be ushered out of the room. They made quite an entourage as they walked down the hallway. Leading them, were her two loyal guards who had forever stuck by her, flanking her was Orphne and a new younger nymph she'd failed to inquire about, and two others behind them who were managing the train of her veil.
They paused at the top of the grand staircase. Down at the bottom, were the palace guards, all regally uniformed in blue, lining up the way to the open door leading to the throne room. She was only able to take in a deep breath to steel her nerves before Orphne and the young nymph began to lead the way down.
Cautiously following their path, Kore realized that the mere act of stepping down the staircase was quite tasking. The nymphs managing her train were very gentle and sensitive to her every movement, but she was distracted to death by the thought that she might step at her own gown and fall all the way down to the bottom of the steps.
She wished again that Hades had not at all planned the event to be this extravagant. She feels ill at ease with it. But then again, she remembered Nyx's words, 'You can't possibly deny the ruler of the land a grand wedding. After all, he only gets married once. Regardless of the situation.'
She masked a calm look on her face to cover her anxiety as she reached the landing of the stairs, walking past the long line of blue-uniformed palace guards, but she only have to step inside the throne room to lose all her composure entirely.
Kore thought her eyes would get blinded by the mere brilliance of the room. She'd now gotten to understand why Nyx had, once or twice, referred to it as the Golden Room. Giant crystal chandeliers illuminated the room, whose light seemed to be reflected back by the marbled tiles that covered the floor. The room was lined with mirrors and gilded statues and pillars, all of which were gloriously encrusted with gold that only added to the room's radiance.
Her eyes suddenly fell at the tall figure standing just by the steps of the throne, impeccably dressed in his tailored suit and not a look of anxiety in those gray eyes. It must be the complete opposite of the look currently pasted on her face.
It was only then that she noticed the people present in the room. It's quite strange that she only noticed them belatedly when they were all standing and their heads were all turned towards her. Were they seated before she entered? She thought. She really wouldn't know.
She spotted Nyx at one of the front seats beside her husband, with a look of apparent awe and pride at seeing her. Though why the senior goddess should look that way, Kore couldn't understand. At the opposite rows of seats, she also saw the dark-haired Hecate, appearing grim-faced and seemingly displeased. It was pretty odd to note that the goddess had distanced herself from Kore after the official announcement of their marriage. It's as if the goddess was extremely upset about something, it made Kore feel like she'd make the entirely wrong decision. It's like she'd made something that's terribly wrong.
Suddenly, with that thought in mind, she felt her knees buckling. She positively thought she was going to faint, one foot had already stepped backwards, as if losing her balance, and then just as abruptly, she felt a firm hand steadying her.
"Milady?" a nymph's voice spoke to her.
Kore recollected all her sense of poise, her eyes falling surprisingly back to where Hades was standing, still with that unreadable expression in his devastatingly chiseled face.
"Thank you," Kore murmured, and glanced at the kind nymph, "What's your name?"
Arresting green eyes met hers, and the nymph replied, "They call me Minthe."
"Why, thank you, Minthe," Kore repeated.
She looked back at Hades, whose eyes had never left hers, took a deep breath, and walked the red velvety carpet as the orchestra was signalled to play.
He knew he was marrying a beauty. Hades wasn't prepared for a vision.
The moment Persephone had stepped into the throne room, a sudden hush was felt across the chamber, and as if by a spell, everybody stood up from their seats, without any urging, to welcome her arrival.
Although, he wasn't entirely certain if the goddess even noticed their presence when she entered the chamber, with that look of stunned awe painted all over her too beautiful face.
She was a vision in white, glittering with silver and diamonds. Unlike her usual preference, her hair was scooped up in a stylish chignon that called to attention her striking face. Her blue eyes and dark hair, emphasized to its fullness in its contrast to her long immaculately white gown.
Until yesterday, she had always been a vibrant, minor diety. Today she had become a goddess.
He saw her eyes settle on him, inquiring, searching, waiting for any sign from him. Maybe wanting some assurance from him. But he can only stare back blankly at her. For, by the gods, he wanted some assurance for himself at that moment.
His eyes fell on the blonde beauty beside his bride and he was back on the ground.
He saw Hecate at the third line of seats, facing him, and he steeled himself. They've been at odds for the past days. And he knew it was with good reason. He had included his paramour into the list of nymphs to be placed under her charge, as approved by Zeus – but without his knowledge on Hades' connection with the nymph - to make Persephone's stay in Hades' land easier to adjust with. And Hecate was completely appalled at the thought. It revolted her.
'You WILL place me into your household, Hades,' he recalled Minthe's threat that day by the meadow, 'I want to see the woman. I will see to it myself!'
Hades' eyes fell back to his bride, who looked like it had only dawned on her that she was facing a huge crowd of curious people, staring at her, waiting for her to make a move. For a moment, she appeared like she was going to faint but then her eyes met his again, and she was composed once more.
The orchestra began to play and she walked down the aisle with all the poise and grace that could make Aphrodite tremble with jealousy. If one may not know the true reason behind the quick ceremony, you'd think she was entirely taken with him by the way her eyes was rooted at him, as if her knees will somehow buckle out if she looked away.
When she reached him, Hades immediately took her hand and placed it by the nook of his arm, thinking that she'd faint if he didn't make a move. She timidly inched her hand along his arm and grasped for his hand gratefully. Her hands were tremendously cold, and he clasped it back tightly.
He looked at her and assured, "Don't worry," he said, "This won't be long."
She pushed herself up from where she had slept on the marbled floor and looked around her. It had all the semblance of one of the temples dedicated to her. But as to where the temple is located... she know not.
It was dark outside, and all around her the gigantic columns in the temple made menacing play of the shadows. And it was quiet, solitarily quiet. There was not even a hum of a bird or a whisper of a breeze outside.
'Where am I?' Demeter racked her tired brain. Her entire body was aching all over, it was hard to focus on just about anything at all, and then,
'Eleusis!' the name of the place came streaming back into her mind, and then everything else all rushed in.
Impatient and irritated with how there have been no news of Kore's whereabouts, she had set out to find her daughter herself. She was inconsolable, she was angry and she was frantic, she felt like she can get better chances of finding her own daughter than all of Enna, Sicily and Olympus combined.
Oh, she knew Zeus has got something to do with it. Though it's impossible to believe that he could lay a finger on his own daughter, but she knew - she just knew – he's got a hand into Kore's disappearance. She can smell it in his every breath.
And she was furious with him.
'That two-faced skunk!' she boiled, 'Telling her that he doesn't know a thing when, in fact, he really does know everything...'
She had been in disguise for days, searching quietly and probing thoroughly among the lands. She'd been careful not to let anyone know who she is for fear that they might just distract her away from her pursuit. Until Athena came along...
Demeter still has got no idea how the Goddess of Wisdom was able to track her down in Delphi. Half of Olympus could not track her down, but Athena did. And she arrived in all her challenging and impenetrable glory. Exchanging words with her, while still maintaining a cool and unruffled facade that that only triggered Demeter's heated nerves all the more.
'What do you think are you doing, Demeter?' Athena had asked, the very instant they were alone.
'I'm finding my own daughter, thank you,' she'd snapped right back, 'I can't stand incompetence...'
'Have you any improvement in your search then?' the younger goddess had questioned.
'No.'
'Have you any lead?'
'No.'
'Have you any clue, any evidence, any witness that can tell you of her disappearance?'
By this point, Demeter had already felt as if she was being interrogated, and she had exclaimed, 'Do I look like I have one...?'
Athena had looked at her straight in the eye and blatantly declared, 'Doesn't that make you equally incompetent?'
'Why, how DARE you!' she'd all but shouted.
'Demeter, it's been days,' Athena reminded her as if she wasn't painfully aware of it herself, 'If you think about it, it's actually been weeks... the crops need replenishing, the fields require ploughing...'
'What do I care about the crops?' Demeter had replied stubbornly, 'When my child is missing.'
'People are getting hungry,' Athena prompted, 'Mortals as they are, they'll die of starvation...'
'Oh, let them!' blurted Demeter, 'Mortals are like weeds, bad crops lots of them. They can multiply by the dozen regardless of war, famine or devastation.'
'Are you hearing what you're saying, Demeter?' Athena had challenged.
'Oh, I know what I'm talking about...!'
'Get a grip of yourself, goddess,' Athena reprimanded, 'I can stand grief. I cannot stand childishness.'
The moment she parted ways with Athena, Demeter quietly exited Delphi. For all Athena's wisdom, the young goddess was devastatingly loyal to her father, Zeus. Though heavens only know why, when Athena was worth ten of the father.
'Zeus!' her mind was burning with anger in her hurried escape from Delphi. Not knowing where to go, or where to look after. And then Poseidon happened...
'The fool!' she nearly cried remembering everything that had happened. The mad fool! He had taken advantage of her vulnerability, of her loss of direction, chased her and used her like some low-bred nymph or some common mortal, and then left her, half-conscious, in one of her own temple...
She stifled a sob.
'Now is not the time for weakness,' she thought, running a hand over her eyes. In some unknown, hidden place, her daughter might be needing her strength right now. She struggled to push herself up.
There will be a time for revenge, she assured herself. And, by the gods, she will make sure that Poseidon will pay. Poseidon and his brother, Zeus! Oh, they will pay for all their crimes done her.
But for now, she will find her daughter. Come all the tragedy in the world, but she WILL get her daughter back.
She moved slowly and reached the terrace, took in a deep breath of the hot night air and rested her hand on one of the pillars for support. She looked down at the dark fields below her and remembered one of the nymphs who had been asked about Kore's disappearance,
'One moment, she was just among us, and then the next second, she was gone,' the nymph had cried, 'It's as if the earth had swallowed her up without a sound...'
"Ungrateful Earth," Demeter spoke, her voice coming out strong in direct contrast to her feelings, "I have toiled for you, nurtured you, provided for you... but look at how you've repaid me," she stated, "In one of your fields I have lost my daughter, the one person that have meant everything to me, and you've failed to protect her," she clenched her fist, "Now, you will suffer, just as I've suffered. You will feel loss, just as I've felt my loss. You will experience darkness, just as I've experience darkness. You shall be treated, just as the same way that the Fates had treated me."
There was a sudden crack of lighting seen from afar, and then followed by a deafening thunder. She pulled back and turned away, just as rain poured heavily down unto the earth.
"Satisfy you thirst," she uttered, "For that will be your last for a very long while."