Chapter 2

Persephone

I often dreamt of a storm. The dream came infrequently, but persistently. I had had it for as long as I remembered. I was always doing something different in the dream. Sometimes I was standing in a field, sitting among the trees, or running by the river. The only consistencies were the storm and the feeling of anticipation as it came upon me.

It was a strange storm. I hesitated to call it a storm, but that was the closest thing to it. It seemed like a regular storm in most ways. It had howling winds, heavy clouds, and - occasionally - lighting. But it was also different from any storm I had actually seen.

Instead of rain or hail, white tufts fell from the sky and swirled about me. They reminded me of the falling of petals and blossoms from a fruit tree in the Spring. Except these white blossoms were cold and stung my cheeks as they landed on my face. When I reached out to touch them, they disappeared on my fingers.

I kept these dreams to myself. My mother either wouldn't understand or wouldn't care. Dreams were often the harbingers of doom. However, I felt no dread as I would gaze up into the skies. Only...waiting. In my dreams I knew that the course of my Fate would change soon.

I was sharply reminded of my dream as I watched Mount Olympus fade in the night. The black shape standing on its slopes disappeared quickly into the gloom. That same feeling of anticipation came over me, overwhelming and undeniable. Soon my Fate - whether or not it was a doom - would fall upon me.

For now, though, I had to deal with my monotonous life. I sighed a bit when the chariot came into the woods I had grown up with. Not loudly enough for Mother to hear, of course. She was in a foul mood tonight, and anything I did would probably get me a lecture. So, I was on perfect behavior tonight. I didn't even make a fuss when Mother ordered me off to bed immediately.

But before I could leave, Mother grabbed my arm. "Kore. Did you eat anything while you were there?"

I shook my head. "No, Mother. I did as you told me."

"Good." She looked steadily at me with her green eyes. "Remember to never eat anything unless I give it to you. It's more important than you know. Do you promise?"

Of course I promised. I didn't understand the reason for the promise, especially since I had seen Mother eating and drinking at the feast herself. But I promised because it seemed so important to her. She let me leave her then.

I walked into my room and sighed again.

Coming home no longer felt like coming home. When I was younger and my mother would take me with her to help the mortals, I would long to return to the familiarity of our villa and of the trees and plants that surrounded it. And when we got back, I would lay in my bed and reveal in the comfort and homelike smell of it. But that was when I was a child.

Now, my room felt lifeless. No friendly feeling greeted me, there was no relief from my worries. Only the insipidness of years uncounted reared its dull head. A dreary greeting.

I spent more and more of my time in the small room and villa. Mother would leave me at home in the care of servants as she went out. When I questioned her why, she only said,

"The world has become more dangerous, Child."

I couldn't fathom what dangers the world could hold for a grown goddess that it didn't hold for a child. Nevertheless, Mother had a will like adamant. I was forced to stay home nearly constantly.

I pushed my frustration out of my mind and stretched out on my bed. I was pleased, for once, with how my day had gone. Lord Hades didn't seem like the sort of man to be impressed by anything, which made it more exciting that I had earned his praise. I hadn't noticed him watching me dance, though I had seen him when I first came into the feast and had known who he was. I had been surprised when I found myself seated next to him and hearing him speak to me. Sitting by him had been an accident. In my hurry to get away from the crowd that hated my dancing so much, I hadn't paid attention to my surroundings as I bolted to the least crowded area.

Lord Hades…. He had been kind. Kinder than I would have expected. And when he looked at me-I couldn't say. Only, no person in the world that I had ever talked to had looked at me like that. I felt absurdly happy about it, but confused. It made me both want to smile and bury my face in my pillow.

My mind kept wandering until I fell asleep.

I dreamed that I sat on a stone throne in a dark room, dressed in black robes and surrounded by a crowd of men, women, and children. They all bowed before me. That didn't hide their trembling limbs or terrified glances. I breathed in, and power like I had never felt in my waking life coursed through me. It was a power that could be used to destroy every soul before me.

A voice, deep enough to shake the foundations of the Earth, spoke.

ALL HAIL PERSEPHONE, GREAT AND TERRIBLE QUEEN.

"All hail!" Every person in the room echoed.

"All hail," repeated a voice beside me, softer than all the rest. I turned my head to see who had spoken, but a firm hand turned my chin back to look straight ahead.

"Look, Persephone," the voice said. "Look and see what you truly are."

The crowd had disappeared, and I was suddenly standing before a great kingdom. It was vast in its wealth, pride, and glory. It rivaled even the power of the Zeus on his throne in Olympus, and it was growing. Even as I looked, buildings sprung up and roads unfurled themselves before my wide eyes. It was magnificent, and it was all mine.

I awoke just as the first light of dawn peeked through the trees and sat up.

I felt different.

Something was different about that dream, different in the same way as my dream of the snow. Power hummed around the memory of it. On a whim, I reached over to the potted plant by my bed and brushed my fingers over its leaves. At my touch, the buds burst into bloom, and new leaves unfurled themselves. I could feel my god-power going into the plant, but it was nothing like the power I had in my dream. It was just the same power that I always had.

I sank back into my bed, disappointed and feeling a bit stupid for having believed a dream. The sense of power was fading, but it was still in the back of my mind. I could only assume that it was the sort of power that the High Gods had - like my mother and Zeus.

As I lay there watching Apollo ride the sun and make its climb up the sky, other parts of my dream came back to me.

The voice had called me Persephone.

I whispered the name to myself, testing the feel and sound of it. Persephone.

The name almost felt familiar to me. It was like hearing a lullaby from infancy again, or seeing a place that you had thought existed only in your mind. Perhaps it was just the name of some obscure goddess that I had heard Mother speaking of before.

But why did I feel so deeply connected to it?

"Kore!" Mother's voice ripped through my thoughts, and I jumped to my feet. "You're still in bed, child? I told you that we were weaving today; you should have been at the loom by now."

"Yes, Mother," I said contritely, head lowered, hands folded docility in front of me, and no note of discord in my voice. Just as she taught me. I knew what she wanted to hear, and so I played to that. "I was only so overwhelmed last night and so upset, I could hardly sleep. And my dreams-"

"Dreams?" Mother asked sharply. Her green eyes held what I would have in anyone else called alarm.

I flinched at her tone, and it wasn't an act. Past experience with my mother had taught me to be careful. She caught the wince and - by some miracle - that seemed to soften her.

"Kore, child," she held out a hand to me, which I dutifully took, "of course you would be upset after being in such a horrid place as Olympus. I apologize." She paused.

"That's alright, Mother," I said, as expected.

She led me to the weaving room, and I put the dream out of my mind the best I could. It was time once again to be the dutiful daughter.