Or Does She...?
So a few facts I left out from last chapter.
Persy's age... Well, digging through the show and even taking a couple one-liners way too seriously(ie 'You're acting like a bunch of two thousand year olds'). I figured since she's always being depicted as a relatively new god on the block- why not have a reason to explain why she looks and acts like a grownup, but yet is treated and seen as a child by her fellow gods? It did help with connecting Herc's mortality and her life thing tho, so ye.
So the Lampades.
Technically they're the maidservants of Hecate, but with her gone, I decided to (eventually) have them be Persy's minions. I went through lots of myths on these ladies, but I chose them because in myth it is Hecate who guided Persy to and from earth with her torches for the changing of the seasons, so using her minions wouldn't hurt. Plus they have been connected to Persy before, and Melinoe is no accident. Now it is not 100% confirmed that Hades and Persy had a daughter named Melinoe, she's just mentioned on a tablet on a list of epithets for Persy, but many speculated she was an underworld nymph, and whaddya know- Lampades are those.
But it is not uncommon for gods, looking at you Po-po, to have nymphs for daughters with their godly wives, so Hades having her for a kid is pretty plausible, but I decided to use her character differently. *shrugs*
Also I wanted to make Sisyphus' capture necessary… Like I didn't want a side quest, so I connected him with Persy's background, and it worked out I say, but with Hades in the know, trouble is sure to brew.
Agent of Teal: Lol, when I mean terrified, I don't mean I hate to write him, I love writing him, you gotta love characters who are evil for the hell of it. It's just he's pretty much the most popular character(and why I wrote this damn thing) and getting him wrong is one of my biggest worries for this fic. But yeah matching the scenes, oh my word, it's been a lifesaver.
Now this chapter Persy is depressed, but you would too when you realize your chaotic good tendencies are the reason you literally unleashed the powers of hell on earth. So please no flames- it's part of her development. She's been used by everyone- how would you feel about that?
"Don't forget it,
You'll regret it,
Mother knows best!"
-Mother Knows Best, Tangled
It was quiet.
Silence permeated across the entire cottage- small it was, but in such a cramped living quarters, comprising of only three rooms, noise carried easily.
In a word, the humble cottage was empty. It explained the silence which was actually a common day occurrence when there happened to be only two goddesses living there. Two divine beings who worked out in the fields and forests of the countrysides, seeing the small home as simply a place to rest their heads and stay away from the twittering tittle-tattle of the nymphs they found company with.
Yet there were a few occasions when they were home for a long respite.
There were two reasons for this long needed rest, though, one of them being the pouring rain that had rolled in as soon as they had arrived. Coming in with the thundering storm clouds and the hot white streaks that lit up the darkening skies, lightning painted the atmosphere into different shades of mauve and grey. With the arrival of the storms one could see the skies reflecting the thunder god's current mood, and with his bolts of white fire came the storms soon after, preventing any such activities required in the goddesses' work for what would be at least a full day after the rains stopped- if they stopped.
And then there was the other reason…
Amid the pounding of the rain, the screams of the mighty rolls of thunder, there were raised voices, or rather, just one.
A mother called out to her daughter, but she stormed to her room and slammed the door behind her.
No words exchanged, just the vibrations of the still shaking house- the silent command of: Leave me alone.
Demeter sighed and tried once more to call her daughter, but this time instead of yelling at her to stay put, she opted for the more diplomatic approach of bringing forth food. It took no time for a plate to appear, overflowing with all manner of fruits. All of them her daughter's favorites: apples, cherries, apricots, pomegranates- anything to make her daughter open up and tell her what was troubling her.
Kore was angry, maybe it was from this competition or finding out she had a father, or well- whatever else had happened in her two day absence. All those days she was under the influence of Athena and who knows who else was leading her poor girl astray.
Oh, she almost cursed Sisyphus for hosting a party for an older audience.
Next time, I'm bringing her along, no matter the occasion, the goddess swore. Even if it did mean that she'd have to tell her daughter about a few other subjects she had neglected to mention.
She'd waited a whole twenty years to allow her daughter some more room after her grounding all those years ago- a second chance, really, and what happened? This whole debacle of a competition of all things!
Oh how the Fates were testing her patience!
Making her way to the smallest room in the cottage, Demeter raised her hand to the door made up of thousands of overlapping, intertwining vines where small pink and white flowers usually bloomed, signaling whenever her daughter was in.
But now?
They were wilting.
It was just her sour mood, the goddess assured herself.
"Kore," Demeter lightly knocked on her daughter's door, plate in hand. "Sweetheart," she called again, using the same dulcet voice as before. "I brought food… I'm sure you're hungry…"
When there was no response, Demeter frowned. A part of her wanted to respect her daughter's privacy, but something wasn't right. The flowers on her door were wilting, and she was refusing food- two details very unlike her.
Waving her hand over the door, the vines parted and allowed her eyes to be given peepholes. The room she was peering into was small, and littered with articles of clothing thrown every which way, covering bedposts and furniture and yes, the floor, making the room appear even smaller than what it was. Lying underneath those clothes were the scrolls she had, no doubt, forgotten to put away in the criss-crossing trees that made up her book shelves on the wall.
Demeter huffed at the sight, Kore always left a mess no matter how many times she told her to hang her clothes and organize her things.
That was when she noticed the lump on the cot lying underneath a mountain of blankets and released the breath she had not realized she was holding. Smiling softly at the sight, Demeter was about to close the peephole when her eyes suddenly gravitated to the ajar window. The pouring rain was coming right in like an unwelcome houseguest and soaking the adjacent dresses and scrolls lying near it.
Not wanting to risk any more damage to befall the scrolls Kore slaved over tirelessly, writing down all of her hypotheses as she called them, Demeter decided to enter and close it.
Carefully stepping around her daughter's things, Demeter made her way to the other side of the room and set down the plate of fruit on Kore's bedside. She was about to turn and shut the shutters when she noticed another peculiar detail on her daughter's bedside.
There stood her daughter's oil lamp, tipped over on its side with the oil inside it spilled all over the wooden surface.
And now that she thought about it- the bedside was underneath the window, moved over a full foot length from where it usually stood.
Oh no…
Not wasting a single minute, Demeter threw off the sheets from the bed and felt her heart sink to her stomach. All of her pillows were cleverly positioned to look like she was sleeping, but now with the sheets off, the truth was as clear as day.
Kore was going to run for it!
A lot of people downplay the role of motherhood. That it ends after a specific set of years and then the child can do… things, I guess… I don't know, use your imagination.
Of course, we know the first year is strenuous having to deal with a creature that has no functioning neck and their infrequent bowel movements. Then of course comes the stage where the child is almost ready to learn independence. That step usually occurs when the child is able to understand that eating a grape is good while eating a similarly shaped object called pebble is not. After that, the child is safe in surviving the world. We're going to skip over the subsequent years, but let it be known that after that period, comes the rebellious stage.
I'm sure you're familiar, and as it were, Demeter was becoming even more privy to this particular stage.
Oh wait till the next stage.
"Kore, slow down, sweetheart!" Demeter called out to her daughter a second time as she once again evaded capture.
Now Demeter was chasing her in the very forest the young goddess knew better than anyone. She was a fast one, Kore, but she could see her blonde hair bouncing behind the goddess as she continued to run who knows where. Practically a torch in the dark woods.
Oh and it was pouring- what joy.
Persephone didn't know what possessed her to run. After everything you would think she'd be tired of running, but with all the secrets she was carrying on her shoulders it was enough motivation to get her to run to her room and open her window and sneak out of the house.
Yes, she was tired, emotionally drained ten times over, and gods were the hunger pangs starting to drift in. The large dark clouds covering the evening sky as it continued to rain made barely any light visible and with her currently weak aura, Kore could barely see anything. Still is was getting worse as the downpour started to come down harder, but she needed to find some peace before her mother interrogated her for real this time; without her running away.
Her mother was prying, like every good mom should, but she just wasn't ready to tell her the full story. Not until she could figure out her own concise list of questions that she wanted to ask her mother. Questions surrounding her newly revealed father, Hecate's spell taking some of her powers, and then there were the questions she couldn't ask her.
But could she trust her mother? A goddess with probably as many secrets as her? Perhaps more?
But gods, Hercules was back in Hades' clutches because she had to go and rescue him. Had to turn back and grab him out of the river. Had to revive him- had to put her entire trust on him, called him her friend, and for what?
The earth was burning, and with the rains, their would be clumps of wet ash in the morning, and after that? Just more work for a life she didn't find any reason to continue in.
Soon, Persephone found her feet slowing down and before she knew it was standing in the middle of an open meadow. A silent, solitary figure staring off into her self-made maelstrom of questions, emotions- everything that didn't make sense to her.
She never felt so alone.
So setting herself beside a wilting willow tree that marked the end of the forest and opened to the winding river that acted as a border between the world of the gods and that of the mortals. Persephone hid beneath its branches, trying to shield herself from the rain, and in doing so, hugged her legs to her chest, resting her head atop her knees.
No longer did the raindrops pour down as strongly on her beneath this dying tree, but she was soaked to the bone and getting more wet when she realized too late that she sat in a puddle of mud. Oh well, she's practically a plant, this should feel like normal for her. It rarely ever rained in Greece, so why didn't she feel happy?
Maybe it's because the rain wasn't the normal cooling water that brought relief from the warm months of the summer season, but this one- it was cold. So cold she felt herself shiver in her dripping clothes and wrapped the veil she had draped over her head around her legs.
How she wished she could be warm and dry, but the physical absence of such things only brought out how much emptier she felt. Was it really just this morning when she had the powers of the Underworld at her disposal?
To have all the billions of souls underneath her fingertips. Just the way their energy drummed together each time she swung her scythe, collecting more and more, a torrent of unmatched power. Oh, how could she forget the way the River Styx obeyed her? The uncontrollable mystic river that acted as a barrier between the two worlds. With both these powers alone it was unlike anything she'd ever done compared to her agricultural ones.
Powers used on such a small scale never gave her the sideways glance from her fellow gods and even the mortals, she was always just an assistant to her mother. Maybe that's why Kore had taken an instant liking to the little projects she had going on like this one new invention she had been super excited to pass on- this term she had coined called husbandry. Where she chose to select certain plants with favorable traits instead of unfavorable traits that barely produced anything for the mortals. Still variability was good, hence why she had chosen not to entirely eradicate the unfavorable plants in case the good plants were encountering a problem in their genetics.
To feel needed.
Persephone sighed, something else would pop up, or someone, she reminded herself. There was still a job she could take for now, a real worthy cause to waste her time: The freedom of Hercules.
The hero had done so much, from not only helping her see she was being tricked, but downright taking the fall for her. He didn't mention anything about working with Hades. He'd just given her the full benefit of the doubt, and what had she done?
Stood by trying to give him time, and that's it. Didn't even try to bargain with Hades for Hercules' freedom.
She had ran so much today. Ran away from everything- Athena, Hercules, Hades, and even her mother of all people.
But running was always something that came natural to her. No one had ever given her a reason to stop running, but her reason to stop now?
Because maybe it would be nice to talk to someone who truly loved her. Lied to her, maybe, but then again there have been worse reasons for lying. Lying to loved ones, though?
Easy, that's because some lies are easier to swallow than the truth.
The distant shouting of her name brought Persephone out of her thoughts and craned her neck to see her mother coming to an abrupt halt from what looked like a jog. The green goddess panted and released her long skirts she had held up avoid tripping. Her hands only rising to wipe the sweat that had trickled down her round face, or the rain- who knows.
"Kore, sweetheart! Oh thank goodness, you gave me a panic attack. I've been looking for you for the past thirty minutes!" She held up a torn sandal that matched the one Persephone was currently wearing on her left foot.
Huh, when did that fall off?
"If it wasn't for your hair, I would have never spotted you." Demeter summoned an umbrella that resembled a daisy and her thick bathrobe appeared around her pear-shaped figure. "Oh, the things I do for your sake…" her mother muttered as she began to fidget around and attempt to fix her daughter's appearance.
First she removed Kore's veil as it was thoroughly soaked and instead summoned a thick blanket to wrap her daughter in.
"I was running, Kore! I ran in the rain for you."
Persephone tried her best to stifle the chuckle that bubbled out of her, but still that little grin of hers was set into a small smirk, thank goodness only half of her face was visible thanks to the way her mom wrapped the blanket around her. "You didn't give me much choice when I said I wanted alone time. Although, I was right, wasn't I? Or you'd never have been out here- running."
"Oh, Kore," Demeter sighed and sat beside her daughter on the roots of the old tree. This time she began to fidget around with Kore's hair, trying to put it into a braid of sorts. "Jumping out of windows and running away is not what I did when I was your age."
"Gee, mom, I had no idea there were windows in Grandpa Kronos' stomach," Persephone found herself snap without even realizing she had spoken it aloud. When her own words hit her ears, the goddess' eyes widened at her own mistake. "Oh gods, mother-" she managed to allow her arms to escape from her wool cocoon, "-I didn't mean that!"
Demeter sighed, clasping her hands in front of her. "I know, honey," she almost whispered it. "Oh, I know…" she spoke in almost a quiet voice and gave a sympathetic pat on one of her daughter's knees.
Persephone had been sitting down on her bottom with her knees clutched to her chest, almost defensively, but now seeing how calm her mother was, the goddess stretched out her legs in front of her to better reposition the blanket.
When her daughter didn't respond, Demeter thought of an ice breaker, going through the topics of: What happened today? Why did she choose to not use Athena's help? The story of her father… But she settled on something a little off from what was on both of their minds.
"So… I always assumed you were past this phase," Demeter couldn't help but try and lighten the mood, her chubby fingers fingered the dark veil that she had hung over the branches around them, creating a makeshift roof.
"It wasn't a phase, I was just trying something new," Persephone miffed, and found herself shifting over a smidgen so her mother couldn't see her face.
Ugh, I should have changed before I left, Persephone mused, finding her black dress lots more interesting than the look her mother was giving her.
"Oh that's right," Demeter smiled as old memories flitted across her mind. "You loved hanging out with those goths at the Crushed Pomegranate. They were a rather… strange bunch, but I didn't say anything about you staying away from them."
In all honesty, Persephone loved those depressive dorks with all their talks of gloom and doom while drinking that pink drink of pomegranate juice. They had renamed the establishment in honor of the grove of pomegranates she had grown nearby the joint that was used to supply their famous drink. She'd created the grove to expand her experimenting with how well that particular fruit fared with the different soil types of Greece, how much iron they required, and water intake.
"That was because they were worshippers of Hecate, and… that was why I decided to stay away," Persephone added hesitantly, turning her eyes skyward, almost disappointed that the rainclouds covered the night sky.
Now she would admit, she did take random visits ever since Hecate said: Sayonara and went Northward, but just the goddess' association with her made her wary.
"Kore, we've been through this before. Hecate has done nothing but help you and treat you with kindness-"
"Then why did she take my powers?!" Persephone shouted. Her hands that were gripping the blanket began to spark and had it not been coated in rain water would have combusted right before their very eyes.
"Kore."
Persephone felt her chin being lifted as her mother spoke, and when she reluctantly opened her eyes, she was almost surprised at what she saw.
Her mother did not look the least bit angry, she was so calm and her large green eyes held all the warmth to rival Hestia's aura. "Is this what's upsetting you?"
Yes, is what she wanted to say, but then she would be lying.
"… Something like that."
"I know Hecate was… eccentric," Demeter selected her words carefully. "But she had good intentions-"
"Good intentions pave the path to hell," Persephone almost exclaimed, but at the thought, she started to wonder if that dig was directed at herself rather than her godmother.
"-she made sure you were healthy- safe. What more could I ever ask from a friend…" Demeter quieted for a couple seconds before she opened her mouth again. "But, she had her own darkness too- all of us do, but she… She really knew how to show it sometimes, and we used to argue about it all the times. It's why she left you know…"
Even in her melancholy mood, Persephone couldn't help but quirk her head up. "But… I thought she left to gain her own kingdom- I didn't even know you two had fights… you two were so close."
"Yes, we were," Demeter mused before a dark look crossed her round face. "But she wanted to do something that I found unthinkable and it was for your sake might I mention."
"Mother," Persephone couldn't help but feel herself shrink as she spoke. "What I consider unthinkable is very different from your definition."
And I've done them all.
"But I'm the mom, remember?" Demeter chuckled. "And my word is law. After all that you've pulled these past two days- you'd be lucky if you were just grounded."
Persephone just shrugged. Nothing new here, she was grounded for the past twenty years- what's another?
"You really scared me today," Demeter's voice became serious once again, but still kept that warm maternal tone. "I didn't know where you were- Hermes and Nemesis too. I almost got Apollo to look for you in my haste, but then your cousin- your sister showed up, and that's when I heard the full story about her plot to get you Hades' job."
The pale goddess couldn't help but stiffen at his name, but thankfully her mother didn't notice.
"All this time and none of you thought to tell me?" Persephone asked quietly, trying to shake other thoughts surrounding a certain god.
"I made Athena swear a long time ago, and other than her, I told Zeus- and Hera… she always knew," Demeter's face fell into a grimace. "They were the only gods beside Hecate and Nemesis for the longest time-"
"Until today," Persephone finished.
Demeter sighed. "Yes, until today," she affirmed. "I'm sorry it had to come out how it did," she reached out to hug her daughter.
"Don't worry about me," Persephone quickly shifted to the left, narrowly missing her mother's attempt at comfort, leaving her exposed to the rain. Oh how she desperately wanted a hug, but she was punishing herself. Leaving home- running in the biting rain- being soaked- all of it her own form of self-punishment. "I think Po-po took it harder than me…"
"Po-po?" Demeter shot a wary look at her daughter.
Persephone bit back a curse that was forming in her mouth. She really had to stop doing that. "Yeah," she began to play dumb. "I didn't know you two dated."
Now it was Demeter's turn to become nervous. "It was a long time ago," she snapped a little too quickly, allowing the feelings of worry and anger spill out into her next choice of words.
"And last time I checked you're still the one in the hot seat- quite literally skipped on it too. Queen of the Underworld? My daughter!? Can you imagine it?! I don't know where Athena comes up with these poppy-induced dreams." Demeter tried to make the last part sound like a joke, but all it did was make her daughter feel worse.
Each word pierced into Persephone's heart like arrows coated in hydra blood. Yes, she was such a fool listening to her supposed friends who made her believe she was actually needed.
When Demeter heard no response from her daughter, she looked at her- really looked at her and saw that it wasn't just rain dripping down her sweet face, but tears.
"Oh my sweet girl," Demeter wrapped her daughter in her warmest embrace, and brought her close to her chest just like when she was a babe. "You've been through so much," she stroked her daughter's back as Persephone began to sob.
"Grown so much, and I wasn't even there to support you. I may not know what happened in your quest, or why you're so upset, or what made the Underworld so appealing to you, but I know you matured so much and that makes me so proud of you," Demeter cooed, doing her best to comfort her still crying daughter.
"You were so bold today, collecting the souls and standing up for yourself and to Hades of all the gods!
Oh gods, if she only knew the truth.
"Yes, there were damages, I'm not going to sugarcoat that, but rebuilding is what comes naturally to life," Demeter shifted herself to be able to see her daughter's face, and cupped her cheek. "And I think you know life better than any being in all the cosmos. Life goes on… Gods we may be, but life is so unpredictable, and you are so much like it. You decided to take initiative and help the mortals instead of taking the simple road and that assures me that I did raise a fighter… After all I've done to protect you, it seems I never realized my little girl became so brave and clever."
Persephone jerked her face away from her mother's hand and stood up, wiping her face free of tears. "I am none of those things," she snapped, her heated violet eyes trained squarely at her mother.
"I was afraid and I acted out of fear," she muttered through gritted teeth, her eyes now closed shut, trying to hold back her the torrent of emotions. "I didn't know who to trust where to turn to, I just ran- ran like the child everyone thinks I am, and now Hercules is paying for it while I am wallowing out here in my own self-pity because I was so stupid thinking maybe just maybe-"
"Things would have been different if you listened to your head instead of your heart," Demeter finished, a sad smile graced her face as a trail of tears ran down it.
Persephone's eyes fell open, wide in shock. Every part of her freezing, even going as far as halting her rapidly beating heart. All she could do was stare dumbly at her mother, looking at her as if she was seeing her for the first time.
She knew.
"… h-how?"
Demeter slowly rose to her feet and took her daughter's hands that had been clenched into fists. "Because I was young once too… Let's go home, sweetheart, I think I have a story for you…"
By the time Demeter and Persephone were home, snuggled up side by side, wrapped in sheep skins next to the small fireplace that resided in the center of the house with bellies full of warm food, it was well into the morning. The storms outside continued to rage, though, giving it an appearance of night time, and with the rain still coming down there was no way they were needed to work today.
"Oh, where do I start- where do I start?" Demeter mused to herself. While her fingers drummed against her lips as images of the past flitted across her mind.
Nothing- absolutely nothing prepared her for this. She never spoke of her past- didn't want to speak of her past, but if she was going to get her daughter to open up she might as well open up too.
They both had a lot to talk about.
"This might be a stretch, mother, but how about the beginning?"
"Oh," Demeter paused to think about it. "No… No, that would take too long," she shook her head with each subsequent: No. "Hmm…"
Persephone sighed, but said nothing as she continued to munch every morsel of food that was assorted on the fruit plate. She had devoured all the apricots and cherries and still her stomach demanded more.
Her hand was about to grab the enticing red apple that was just begging to be eaten, but she hesitated at the last moment and reached for the pomegranate instead.
Hades already ruined apples for her this morning with his talk of Underworldian food, and she didn't need something else to remind her of that god.
"Well… There was a time before you were born… When Poseidon and I were rather… close." Demeter began to blush, but all of it went over Persephone's head as all of her concentration was on cracking open the fruit.
"Okay… How close?" Persephone asked, jamming her thumb through the top of the pomegranate in an attempt to crack it open.
"Oh… you could say quite close," Demeter found herself biting her lip, an old habit she hadn't done in several thousand years. "But don't get me wrong, he was wonderful, but I decided to play hard to get when he kept dodging The Question."
"The Question?" The pomegranate in Persephone's hands split open, cracking into two perfect halves revealing the rows upon rows of scarlet encased seeds.
"Why, marriage of course, sweetheart," Demeter laughed, but then realized her daughter was completely serious. "It's usually what occurs when a couple has been… dating for a while, and well, we were so close I thought it was inevitable."
"Oh…" was Persephone's only reply, trying her hardest not to roll her eyes. Great, now her mother was back to questioning her intelligence, wait a sec, her mind was still sharp…
"But, like all men, he didn't want to be tied down so quickly, so I ignored him- practically broke up with him. He tried to win me back, though," Demeter smiled as the memories rushed through.
"He created so many animals as gifts for me, most of them were odd- the hippo, the giraffe, the zebra! I adored them all, but by the time he made the horse he forgot the very reason he was making all those animals."
Persephone had grabbed a fistful of pomegranate seeds and was about to begin consuming them, but paused allowing a few of the seeds to slip from her hand.
"He forgot me… He didn't notice- didn't care- never came back…" Demeter's heart was in her throat as she struggled out the next words. "…until you were born. Like having his child finally made myself interesting again."
Persephone couldn't help but stiffen at the way her mother prefaced her. Now the red seeds in her hands didn't look as appetizing as before as they had been crushed within her grip. Its red juices spilling all over her pearly hands.
Pain as fresh as her own wound spilled out of Demeter and it was there that Persephone realized her mother's cruel trick.
Guilt- guilt was going to make her crack open, but not this time, mother, Persephone ground her teeth in quiet frustration.
"And Zeus oh, Zeus… He tricked me saying Hera was nothing to him, nothing, and I believed him. I completely believed that he'd divorce her like he'd done with Metis and Mnemosyne and Themis and Eurynome,* but I was wrong… I was so wrong… I gave him everything and we weren't careful and-"
"You kissed him at midnight," Persephone bit out, but even now as she said it, she knew it was more than that that created her. All it did was make her sound more childish.
"…And you were born," Demeter exclaimed tight-lipped, the realization of how innocent her daughter is catching her completely off guard, but she had to make her point. "But I never regretted it," she cupped her daughter's face. "Do you know why, Kore?"
"Because no matter how many suitors you line up you still can't marry me off?" Persephone deadpanned.
"Oh sweetie that's not why and you know it," Demeter pinched her cheek, and locked gazes with her daughter's violet eyes. "Because despite all the bad decisions I've made, they led me to have you. You may have lost at the last second, but there is always a hidden path we never see at the moment. Things happen for a reason and if not… Well, I'm sure the Fates will be knocking at the door if they weren't."
"Today- yesterday- the past was just a stepping stone to a new phase in your immortal life, and really your failures just show you where you don't belong. What's the point of going back to something that didn't work out? Poseidon- Zeus- they all never worked, and here I am living the life I want with my only daughter- what more could I ever ask for?"
"Do my dreams fit in your plan?" Persephone whispered, and lifted her red stained hand to remove her mother's own hand that still cupped her face.
"Of course, sweetheart," Demeter smiled reassuringly. "You may not have a chance in the Underworld, but I'm sure we can elevate your godly status. Soon you'll have your own temple and everything. Who knows what's in store for you, and remember I'll always be here for you, and if there's anything you need to talk about- I will listen. Remember I'm the only person in all the cosmos who truly loves you."
There it was.
The helpline her mother was offering her was tempting to say the least. To release all the tension in her chest and be free of the burden of so many secrets, but something else wriggled there: Hope.
Hope as fragile as a dragonfly.
If she chose to open up to her mother there were so many possibilities on what would happen, but one thing for sure would happen: Her mother would interfere in her problems and ultimately she'd never fix them herself like all those times before.
No, now was the time for her to grow up and be independent. Maybe not in the way her mother deemed best, but with her being in control in how she approached things. She wasn't going to run anymore. One day legends will write about her and she wanted so bad for those not to be about a goddess who was continually being dependent and used by everyone around her, she wouldn't be naive anymore.
But she had to admit her mother's whole speech was right in one aspect: Bad decisions can lead to something good, and if it wasn't for Hades she'd still be waiting in that field for Athena to show up and do her best to deal with billions of untamable souls, and perhaps stuck ruling in a desolate land- another land with no one to give her the company she so craved and no instruction manual on how to run such an operation. The fool's errand of the cosmos, and to think Athena was really okay with her having that job.
It was now that all her affairs were being settled in her mind, that Persephone finally felt peace.
She still had lengths to go to prove herself as a goddess and to get Hercules out of Hades' clutches, but her confidence was returning, and the smallest bud of hope began to bloom.
"I know mother," Persephone smiled softly, those dark violet eyes seemed to become a lighter shade, almost returning to their normal shade of magenta. "And I know that if I ever need you I will come and talk to you about it. I'm not going to hide my needing help from you, I promise."
But she knew even as she said it, it would not be enough to sate her mother.
"Look, Athena was the one who brought up the idea of me going for the Underworld position, but I decided to do it for myself. You can't blame her for putting the idea in my head, but some part of me didn't trust her so I ventured into the Underworld, and… I was led astray… But Hercules, he found me and he helped me, and for that I want to help him regain his freedom," Persephone explained, speaking in half-truths.
"And that's why I'm down. I felt I could do something to save him, but I got outsmarted. I had no idea Hercules had made a deal with Hades for his wife's soul, and I had to do something, but it was wrong and Hercules is suffering because I had to help."
Demeter quieted and processed her daughter's words. "Mm… It does make sense that Hades first target would be Hercules, he must have sensed him in the Underworld and managed to escape, but you were caught in the crosshairs weren't you?"
Persephone dumbly nodded. Wow, that was a surprisingly good cover story she could use.
"Oh, sweetheart, you could have been hurt!"
"But I wasn't… Hercules was there, remember?" Persephone reminded her, of course leaving out the part where she saved him. "And I made it home, but now I'd like to repay the favor."
"Sweetheart, it is an honorable thing to try and save Hercules from his fate," Demeter rubbed her daughter's exposed shoulder. "But he was the one who foolishly set up the deal with Hades in the first place," she pointed out.
Alarm shot through Persephone, "But, mother-"
"No buts," Demeter cut her off. "It is now up to Zeus to figure out how to save his son. I will not have any daughter of mine be tangled up with any dealings with Hades. If Zeus is so concerned with his son, so be it, but I will not do it at the cost of my daughter," she exclaimed adamantly, and there would be no power on heaven or earth that would make her change her mind.
"Yes, mother," Persephone bowed her head to hide the indignant look that flashed in her eyes.
Demeter sighed. "Hun, please don't be so down, tomorrow we've got a full day ahead of us, and- OH!" A sudden thought streaked across her round face. "I just remembered something I was going to tell you!"
Persephone couldn't help but frown. She knew that face all too well. "…okay? Shoot," caution was laced through her voice.
"Apollo was quite impressed with what he saw today- oh yesterday now, told me a little bit before you arrived in Athens," Demeter winked at her.
Persephone felt a chill ran down her spine. All her visions of hope became dashed away with a single momentary lapse in her facade, "HE WHAT?! He saw me?!"
Demeter brightened at that, taking her reaction as one of interest and not of fear. "Oh yes, he can see all the earth on his sun chariot you know. Everything the light touches is what he can see from up there."
Oh gods… This couldn't be happening!
Persephone felt all the food she had consumed beginning to come back out. No, she had to be smart about this, she forced her food to remain in her stomach. If there was anything she learned these past couple days, there is always a way.
"… I knew that… It's just I- uh forgot in all the ruckus," Persephone did her best to crack a smile. "So um… uh…" Gods, she couldn't believe what she was about to ask, "Did he- did he mention if he would like to… to… do an activity with me?" She couldn't make herself say date- and that's what slipped out instead.
Demeter couldn't stop her eyes from widening, followed by an excited grin. Of course! How could she have been so blind?! Her daughter didn't just want attention from the mortals, she wanted a romantic attention as well!
Sure, Kore had been rejecting the princes she had pulled out all across Greece when none of the gods even gave her baby a chance, but now all her daughter's choices made sense! Her daughter, her precious little flower was attracted to the sun god! She almost felt sweet relief pass through her, with all the bad luck her daughter's gotten in the terms of dating she'd been afraid she'd never have grandkids.
"I can set that up easily!" Her head bobbed up and down, nodding in affirmation. "See, Kore, it's all going to work out!" She aggressively hugged her daughter, squeezing out all the air from her lungs. "Oh and if everything works out, you'll be the wife of Greece's most eligible bachelor! The most popular god by far! I can just see it: The goddess of Spring and the Sun, it's perfect! We'll be working together for all eternity now! No need to be far from me anymore."
"Yaaaaay…" Persephone mustered out in fake enthusiasm as her mind switched gears from depressed to hopeful to scheming all in a matter of minutes because she was going to do everything in her power to keep all her secrets as clandestine as possible.
"Oh, Kore, and here I thought you were upset about something big- was it because you thought Apollo was still dating your friend, Clytie?" Demeter prodded.
"You know me, mother," she laughed nervously. "I'm always the last to know," Persephone crooned, patting Demeter's back, waiting for her to let go. "Always the last…"
*Zeus married seven times until he finally messed up and married the goddess of marriage, and yes Demeter was one of them, but of his marriages only the ones mentioned in this fic were the ones that were for allegorical reasons. By having so many marriages each one signified and brought important aspects to Greek culture. Through Metis: supreme power merged with wisdom and prudence, Themis: divine majesty and justice, Eurynome: harmonizing grace and beauty, and with Mnemosyne the marriage of genius with memory. Thus I'm considering those marriages as the only legitimate ones… well for this fic, and my perception of Greek mythology.
The dorks meet again next chapter, no need to un-fav for them not meeting. BTW if you haven't figured it out by now I'm not into swan diving into romance cuz well… They're still relatively beginning to know each other, I think Hades has some sense before rushing things, and Persy well, you know why- poor girl's clueless about romance.
Also odd question does anyone else feel that Meg's older than Herc- like by a lot?
As always please fav, follow, and review!