Unseasonable Chill

The mother looked down at her daughter, face obscured by the communication device in her hand. She had been trying to get her to answer as they walked to the campsite they had formed for the night.

The daughter was not ignoring her mother, but she insisted on calling her by her old name. She was now a queen, and had a name befitting her title. She refused to go by Kore anymore, and wanted her mother to recognize that wish.

"Persephone, we do not have time to waste on pettiness." Demeter said relenting to her daughters will.

"Then it would be best if you called me by my name. Not what you wished my name was wouldn't it?" She asked looking up to her mom.

"Excuse me if I don't want to call my daughter something akin to "Bringer of Death." she said air quoting as she spoke.

"It is my name however." She said returning her attention to the device in her hand.

"I curse the very day Hephaestus made that thing." She said wishing she could slap the small thing out of her daughters hand.

"Why? You commissioned him to make it." She said not looking up as she walked around any obstacles on her way to the impromptu cabin her mom made for the night.

"Only because you threatened to eat yet another six seeds of that foul fruit." She said looking at the basket of grain in her hands. She had enough for dinner that night, maybe enough for breakfast as well. "What even claims your attention with that thing?"

"My husband." She said.

"You're kidnapper." Demeter said with a sour tone.

"No, my husband." Persephone said looking up with a glare. "The arranged marriage was sudden, but I was given by father."

"And I will never forgive him for that." Demeter said, "And of all the Gods in the world he chooses the one beneath us? Why?"

"Apparently he promised one of his daughters to him, and he chose me." She said looking down slightly smiling at whatever correspondence she had received.

"It has been a thousands of years, not even the mortals practice arranged marraiges, why do you stay with the lord of the dead? You could be up here in the sun for ever if you wanted, I'm sure." She asked trying to get a small look at her correspondence, but her daughter kept it out of her sight.

"A husband who treated me as an equal? Loves me with everything he has? Doesn't cheat on me? Has an adorable dog? Gee, I wonder why I stay." Persephone said listing off her points with her fingers.

"Cerberus? Adorable? Has the underworld made you blind? It's a three headed hell hound with a mane of snakes. Sounds precious." She said sarcastically. "He isn't even spotted why did Hades name him that?"

"Yes he does. It's on his tummy where he likes getting rubs and scratches." She said before remembering something. "Besides, you laughed when I showed you the recording of Hades putting hats on him." She said smirking.

"The man was drunk and had gotten bit by one of the snakes and fell, of course I laughed." She said spitefully as she placed her basket down in front of her cabin.

Persephone let out a sigh. It really had been thousands of year since her marriage and her mother still had not come to terms with it. Always finding a way to insult her husband, and it was grating this day.

She enjoyed spending time with her mother on good days, but she was left with little to do as of late. They were in the middle of one of the united states famous for farming, and she had to attend the flower nurseries and green houses, everything else was for her mother to bless and enrich the lands. Her work was done by the time the sun was midway across the sky.

She was more worried about her other realm. Her realm. Her kingdom. They had an influx of souls coming to the underworld. Not many that worshiped them, but instead worshiped the old pagan ways, and landed instead in her realm. Most mortals follow their own after life, but the new rise in pagan worship had brought more souls to their realm than they expected. The earthly sickness that had been traveling through the mortal realm had also contributed to the high influx of guests.

Her husband was overseeing some expanses of their kingdom and had promised to keep her informed of decisions made, and ask her opinion on matters he wasn't sure of.

Well, that was what some of the texts were. He also just liked talking to his wife, and the feeling was mutual. He was asking her to walk him through one of her favorite recipes, and she had suppressed laughter when he sent her a picture of him in long rubber gloves, goggles, and a nose plug. He was getting ready to cut the onions for his meal, and he just hated how much the smell stung his eyes.

Her mother had brought her out of her conversation with a cough, "I just wish you took your responsibilities more seriously. We have a lot of work to do this spring."

"No, you have a lot of work to do." She said, "I just tend the flower shops, and the few fields we find that haven't been claimed by a mortal. The farmers depend on you."

"You are the Goddess of Spring. Not just a flower goddess."

"Again, no. That's you. I show up and you make spring happen. I am the Queen of the Underworld. My job, even up here is to tend to my kingdom." She said pointedly. "All I do up here, is basically give moral support."

"Well sorry for wanting to spend time with my daughter." She said sorting through the grains she had in her basket. "I just want to talk to you without hearing about him."

"And I'm not sorry about talking about him. My responsibilities down there do not stop when I come up here for you mother. You never talk to me about what I do down there. It's always, Why am I married to him? Why don't I leave and become a full time nature goddess? What do I see in him?" She said before glaring. "I'm happy and respected being with him. Why isn't that enough for you to come to terms with my husband?"

There was a pregnant pause as they two stared at each other as the last of the golden rays finally settled beyond the horizon. "I wish you wouldn't call him that. If you hadn't been given to him, I doubt you would have any love for the king of the dead." Demeter said resolute.

Persephone looked back in annoyance and let out a long breath. She then turned around and walked off.

"Kore? Where do you think you're going?" Demeter asked with a small notch of worry in her voice.

Persephone turned around with wild angry eyes and yelled, "I'm going home for the night! I'm going to lay with my husband in our bed, and if he isn't in the mood I'll make muffins. In fact that sounds good, regardless of whether or not I make sweet love with my husband I'm making muffins!"

"Persephone you don't even have a ride to that awful place, just come inside and I will make some tea." Demeter said trying to calm her daughter.

Persephone in turn smiled and held her device in her hands and stamped her foot on the ground twice. As she did so the earth behind her opened up and the king of the dead himself rose out in his chariot pulled by his black stallions.

"Persephone wait!" Demeter called out, but it was too late as no sooner had Hades leveled out his chariot did his queen step on and they dove back under the ground.

Demeter felt her heart grow colder from her daughters absence, and the air around her began to chill until her breath formed thick clouds in front of her. Icy anger seethed through her as she grabbed her grains and headed to her cabin. "More mint tea for me then!" She yelled at the empty air and slammed the door.

As she prepared her tea, the air cooled and dried, until flakes of snow had started to fall. She looked outside the door to watch the falling ice and with a shrug spoke to herself. "The mortals can deal with a night of snow. Helios will fix it as he passes tomorrow." She knew herself and her daughter. They often fought like this, and Persephone often made small visits early into spring when they locked horns. She should be back by the morning, or at the latest the morning after that.

Persephone herself knew she would be back in the morning, but cradled the warmth of her husband in her arms as he drove them both home with supernatural speed. She would enjoy a nice dinner, some mint ice cream for dessert, and enjoy her visit with her husband.

Hades had come to expect excursions like these, and valued the small visits he would get from them. So he always had his horses ready to retrieve his wife, and spend as much time as he could with his queen.

The mortals however, would just look out their door the next morning and curse, "Why is it snowing in goddamn April?"

a.n. full disclosure it snowed here this morning, it has been consistently 60 degrees outside all week, including the today, and I got gotten this image of demeter and persephone arguing being the reason that made me laugh, so I decided to write it down.