A/N: Good news guys! This fic got nominated for the Solangelo fic awards 2021! I have no idea which one of you it was, but… thank you so, so much. Of course I would appreciate it if you voted for this fic. You can vote not for just mine, but for many more lovely fics on solange-lol, A Tumblr account.

In this chapter, Persephone takes the stage...

'Oh, ma'am, good morning…'

'Yes, good morning, Nico.' Persephone gave me the side eye, while she kept walking.

'Eh…'

'Hades is in the study.' My father has a study?

'Okay. Thank you.' I turned to the direction opposite to hers, hoping my fathers' aforementioned study was that way.

'Dad?'

'Nico!'

'Hey, hello.' He looked happy for a few moments, before a nervous shadow fell over his face. 'What is it?'

'Do I… do I have to hug you now?'

I tried not to laugh (And failed). 'No, dad. That was just… Dionysus was just as confused as you are, I think.'

'Hm.' He shrugged, but at the same time he looked relieved. 'Oh, eh, Persephone's here.'

'Yes, I know, I already saw her.' I leaned against the doorframe. 'Why… why aren't you with her? Or something? After, you know, six months of...'

'Well, eh… I wanted to give you the chance to talk to her.' You what? 'Because then… you have some time to talk with each other?'

The man meant it so well. 'Eh… okay, I'll… I'll see, and I'll see you in… a few hours then?'

'Yes, sure.' He turned back to whatever it was that he was doing. I spun around and walked back into the hallway.

No way in hell was I going to…

'Nico?'

I immediately turned around one-eighty degrees. Persephone was standing behind me in the hallway. 'Can you come with me? I promise I won't change you into a dandelion. Or something like that.'

People can promise a lot without meaning it, but I decided to go along with her.

She led me to a salon, from which we could see her bedazzled garden. The shine of the prunes hurt my eyes.

Persephone sat down in a chair that looked more like a throne. I decided to sit on a small couch next to the hearth.

She slowly ran a hand through her hair. 'My husband told me that you have been seeing a therapist.'

Did he also tell you who that therapist was? 'Yes, that is correct, ma'am.'

She slowly pursed her lips. 'Did you talk about me?'

'Not a lot. But eh… I did mention the dandelion incident.'

'Well… sure.'

'And… eh…' I looked at the ground. It was true that I had not said a lot about Persephone. But what I had said had not been very nice.

I heard Persephone sigh. 'According to my husband, you are often the one who has something to say. But today I want to give you my two cents.' She straightened her back.

'Eh… okay.' Although I am not always the person who knows just what to say. That is just the impression my dad has of the therapy sessions.

'Hm. Today you obviously don't.' Spot on. She shook her hair back. 'From what Hades said, I understood that you came to the Underworld quite often in the past year.'

I waited until she continued, but then I realised that she wanted me to answer. 'Eh, yes.'

'And I have also understood that that is not going to stop during the autumn and winter months. That means the three of us, and Zeus knows whoever else joins, will have to get along.'

Ma'am, I don't think Zeus knows… anything really. I didn't say that out loud. Instead I just nodded. 'Yes.'

'Now I am going to be upfront: I don't really like you. Not because of who you are, you're pretty fine. But I… Although I can live with it, I don't really like my husbands' affairs. I mean, I get it. I fall in love with a handsome mortal every now and then as well. But still.'

I nodded again.

'Yet, I also think that… you should still be allowed to come here. Because Hades is your father. And I understand how important a parent can be, most of all if the other one is… not there for whatever reason.'

She looked at me. 'Yes.'

'So, if it is up to me, you can still come here. However, at least at the beginning, I am not going to be involved much. Because as of now, I do not want to have anything to do with you.' She nodded a single time, as if she was proud of herself for saying it.

I sat on the couch and watched the trees in the garden outside. '...okay.'

'Is that all you have to say about it?'

'Eh...' I put my hands into the pockets of my aviator jacket and got out two cans, which I had initially gotten for me and my father. 'Well, I want to thank you for being so upfront. I don't think a lot of gods would have taken the time to talk to a demigod like this.'

She shrugged. 'Oh well. I thought, I better get my intentions clear. What is that?'

I looked at the two cans. 'Eh… Persephone's peach juice.' I got a little red. 'I didn't really think about it. I needed something to drink and it was on sale in the camp store.'

'Hm.' She picked up one of the cans, opened it and took a sip. 'Tastes good. You took it here yourself, so you should drink some of it as well.'

I took the second can off the table and pulled off the tab.

Persephone sighed again. 'Now that we are here talking anyway, and you are taking it so well, I also want to say that… eh, I think I'll never want to be a mother figure to you.'

I was getting a little confused. I wanted to say that I didn't even want her to be that, but I decided to be civil about it. 'That is understandable…'

'That is partly because I don't want to take the place of your actual mother.' She got a sour look on her face. 'I have to give it to you, she… certainly was something special. Once she punched Hades in the face, because at first he wanted to leave the three of you in Italy, even though Mussolini's intentions were clear.' She took another sip of peach juice. 'Not that I like her, but she was respectable.'

I kind of wanted to ask her if she could blame my mother for falling in love with Hades, but I decided that now was not the time.

I took a deep breath and a sip of juice. 'Lady Persephone, if I can be totally honest, I agree with that. I don't think you can take the place of my mother. Because you'll never be her. Not, eh…' suddenly, I got a small lump in my throat. 'Not that I really remember what my mother was like. My memory of her is… it has almost faded. And I don't really know why.' I looked at my can. I didn't know what had suddenly made me say that.

Persephone gave me a concerned look. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She seemed to go back and forth a few times, before sighing and taking a few big gulps. 'Nico, I… I cannot help you with that today. You should talk about that with your therapist. And I think it is better if you leave now.' She looked out the window, at her trees.

'Yes, okay. Thanks again for taking the time to talk to me.' I got up and quickly got out.

It was a lot to think about, but I could only appreciate Persephone for acting the way she did.

I knocked on my fathers' study, before pulling open the door. 'Dad…'

'Nico!'

He jumped up and almost ran towards me. 'Did you talk to her? How did it go?'

'She was the one to come to me. And eh, not to be the bringer of bad news, but she told me she doesn't really want to interact with me right now. However, she also said that she would not stop us from doing things together. I even think she believes that to be a good thing.'

'Oh. Ah. Eh, alright then.'

'Maybe it is better if you talk to her as well.'

'I did!'

'Again. And maybe again after that. Be crazy, make it a habit.'

'...hm.'

I laughed a little. 'But I think I want to go back to camp half-blood now. It is a lot.'

He looked a little confused, but he nodded. 'Okay. Bye, then?'

I nodded. 'Yes, bye.'

I turned around and walked away. It was not just Persephone. Our talk had jogged a memory about my mother. I truly did not remember her, now that I thought about it. That should be impossible. What even happened?

A/N: I did not want to have Persephone drink pomegranate juice. That is just too symbolic and I don't think she'd want it.

Imagine taking forever to write a chapter about Maria and then thinking the chapter about Persephone that preludes it is better…

In The Last Olympian, or in The Battle of The labyrinth, or both, Nico says he does not remember his mother. Hades does tell him something, but I think it still irks him. Anyway that is for next chapter.