Pale Rose, Persephone
Finishing her meetings for the day, Persephone retired to her private villa along the coast of Pláka Litochorou. The villa was close enough to the base of Mount Olympus that she could stay there even in the spring, but far enough that she didn't have to see her Mother in her Palace as they tended to their duties.
Idly sipping on a glass of nectar as she stared out towards the coast, Persephone reflected on the first conversation she's had with her youngest daughter in over eight years. Korie had stolen her breath away with the beauty she had become even on the barren wasteland of an Isle; Her smallest seedling had bloomed into a wonderful flower without her. With Melinoe and Macaria, she had had time to nurture and care for them alongside their father, and had decades of experiences watching them mature. Her husband had shielded their daughter from the worst of the Isle, and she was able to make her own niche within the barren landscape. The stories of Poseidon's granddaughter and her crew were amusing, and she was happy to hear she connected with others. Her story of her friend Gil was particularly enjoyable, the young man had tried to help her daughter and her friend Dizzy in the bakery, but had gotten flour in his hair when his friend Harry had barged into the room calling for him; The boy had apparently forgotten about the flour until it was too late, at which point it had mixed with water and dried, leaving it stuck to his hair for a week. As she had listened to her daughter speak animatedly about her new experiences both on and off the Isle, she simultaneously felt grief and relief.
In any other situation, she could almost understand her own mother's obsessive love for herself; With Korie, the thought of having only a limited time with her and to one day lose her youngest child, sent a chill through her being colder than Khione could ever hope to produce. Her daughter was seemingly mortal, and while the godly magic of the barrier would have kept her forever alive, she had not been living. That Isle only existed for two decades and it was already considered a cursed life to be there; In Auradon, it was the highest and harshest punishment to be sentenced to the Isle, a practical death knell to those who were threatened to become one of its citizens.
Even worse for the newest generation, their citizenship was forced upon them as soon as they were brought into this world; To the children of Auradon, who were cushioned and coddled from the harshities of reality, the Isle was a bedtime story, a tale of unity under a supposed just cause, a painting of black and white where the good guys lived among them and the bad guys were trapped in a place far away; To some extent they knew, but they did not truly know.
When Ophelia had brought her a missive in the middle of a required meeting with Demeter, she had been shocked at its details; For years she had petitioned for her daughter's freedom only for mortal politics to stand in her way, and now she finally had a chance. Though she had later felt annoyed that her Mother had been present when she read the urgent letter.
She would have preferred Korie away from the forefront of Demeter's mind while she reunited with her daughter, even if the part of her that was intrinsically Kore knew her children were always on the mind of their Grandmother; Persephone tended to shut those thoughts and feelings out, having been too hurt and betrayed by her Mother to be the naïve daughter once more. Korie's fundamental years would have been rife with joy and laughter, lavished and loved by family if not for Demeter's actions-
Persephone closed her eyes as she cut off that train of thought; It was not solely Demeter's machinations that led to the present, but the damage had been done. Sitting her glass down, she forced herself to think of the positives; Korie had met the youngest of Hercules' children and befriended them, and was experiencing new things every day. She was slightly worried for Korie when she brought up her burgeoning abilities, but was in part excited to teach her control; Between the three of them, Korie was her only child to inherit her abilities, while Melinoe and Macaria inherited abilities closer to Hades'. The magic Demeter had placed on the Isle to spite her husband had unintentionally caused her sudden influx of power, seeing as both Hades and Korie had been able to access the bare minimum of their innate abilities with the crack in her husband's 'office'; If not for the additional restrictive magic, she would have been able to influence plant life, albeit slowly and sparsely, on the Isle as well. Persephone had tried to break Demeter's curse, but it was fully integrated into the land itself, as well as intertwined into the barrier restricting their powers; To be able to remove the curse from the Isle she would have to be at full power will on the land itself, and that wouldn't happen unless the barrier was modified by Hecate and Hephaestus.
Placing her glass in the sink, she strolled through the hallways, and smiled as she passed by all of her daughter's rooms, brushing her hand against the door as she passed Korie's room; Even if she had never been to the Villa, Persephone had kept a room up to date in the hopes her daughter would finally be able to use it. She hoped the room would be to her youngest's liking, though she wouldn't hesitate to change any details to her desires; She wanted Korie to be as comfortable as possible, and to hopefully make a home at the Villa. It wouldn't be the only home to Korie, as she in time planned to show her the wonders of the world, including their other properties. While she wished Hades would be there for all of it, she also wanted to show Korie around their kingdom in the Underworld; Even if she was pseudo-mortal, any child of Hades or Persephone would be freely welcome at their pleasure.
Walking into her study, Persephone went over her agenda for the week; The quicker she finished her itinerary, the quicker it would be for her video call with Korie once more. Looking over the entirety of the month, she realized if she rearranged her schedule a bit, she could surprise her daughter at Auradon Prep's Family Day; Making a note of it, Persephone decided to pencil in a visit to the Underworld as well- It would be wonderful for Korie to meet her sisters.