Chapter 24

Persephone

I felt a prickling sensation at the back of my eyes, then blackness began to creep around the edges of my vision. I shook my head to be rid of it. That only made it worse. I tried to take a step towards a bench that was in the garden, but before I could, the ground rose to meet me as I fainted.

When I awoke, I was being held in Hades's arms. It was the first time we had interacted since I had found him in the garden before. He saw my eyes open.

"Persephone, how do you feel?" His voice was full of concern as he gently moved my hair from my face.

"I'm fine," I said, rising to my feet. Hades tried to help me, but I brushed him off. "Leave me! I'll be fine."

"Persephone, you're not well. Please, let me get you some water, food…?"

I looked at him suspiciously. "Why do you want me to eat?"

He looked taken aback. "What?"

"You always want me to eat, and I want to know why."

"I just... I mean, all I want…"

My knees gave out from under me, and Hades reached out to catch me.

"No!" I pushed him away. "Just leave me be."

I stumbled to the bench and laid my head back with my eyes close. I didn't hear anything for a few moments, then I heard the sound of footsteps walking away.

"Change what you have control over," Aspasia had said.

You can't control him, a small voice in my head whispered, but you can control yourself. If you're going to change, you're going to need to start with the real problem: Hades. And besides, he is trying to be kind to you.

I was right. I opened my eyes with an effort and called out,

"Hades!"

He stopped. I sucked in a breath of air through my teeth, thinking of what I could possibly say.

"I-I am sorry. I know that you were just trying to help." I hesitated. "Thank you."

A hint of a smile came to his face, and I realized just how little I had seen him smile. It changed his face, smoothing out many of the harsh lines around his mouth.

"I never thanked you for helping me earlier," he remarked. "I'm afraid that I wasn't at my best then, so I apologize for that. But, I thank you."

I blushed, remembering how I had held him. Perhaps he remembered as well, because his eyes softened. The look he gave me was almost tender. I quickly avoided his gaze.

Despite his benign mood, I didn't dare just yet to ask Hades what had happened to him. The peace we had at the moment was so fragile, the smallest whisper of trouble would shatter it. So, I didn't ask the questions I was longing to.

"It was nothing," I muttered.

Hades gave me a peculiar look. "Kindness is always worth something, even when it may seem nothing to the giver," he said seriously.

I didn't know how to respond to that. We both looked away from each other, almost bashfully.

Suddenly, Hades began to chuckle. I gave him an inquiring look.

"I was just thinking how many of the gods would be surprised to hear the Terrible Hades thanking someone."

I remembered how much fear had always been in anyone's voice that mentioned Hades, and I realized he was right. I could just imagine the look on my mother's or my nurse's face if they could see him like this. Or in almost any of the moods I had seen him. I began laughing as well.

We both continued to laugh, just because it felt good. I hadn't felt this content with Hades for weeks.

I trailed off as another wave of dizziness came over me. Hades knelt down beside me and took my hand in his, his face creased with concern.

"Maybe you had better rest for a while now," he suggested kindly. I was too tired to argue, so I let him help me up and lead me to my room. I was more grateful than I thought I would be for his strong arm to lean against as I walked. Something about it felt right. The feeling confused me, but I was too tired and hungry to try to figure out what it meant.

Halfway to my room, I collapsed again. In a moment, Hades had me in his arms. He carried me with ease the rest of the way. I let him without protest.

"You know I hate you?" I murmured, only half aware of what I was saying. "More than I've hated anyone else before."

I turned my face into his shoulder and closed my eyes, breathing in his scent.

"I know," I heard him say quietly.

He laid me down on my bed. I fell into a better sleep than I had known for a while, though it was still littered with nightmares. The dark creatures who had pursued me before were always on the edges of my dreams. Strangely enough, the only thing that kept them from destroying me completely was a tall figure on a dark horse.

When I woke up, I didn't feel as faint as I had. But if some miracle didn't happen soon…. I tried not to think about it.

I got to my feet slowly, then began working on the garden again. Gardening would help me more than sleeping would. Those phantoms that haunted me were always in my dreams one way or another.

Though I did spend a great deal of time in the garden, I also visited Cerberus once in a while on the days that I felt particularly strong. The monster dog turned into a puppy when I was around. He would bound back and forth, wagging his sleek tail, yapping at me until I scratched and petted each of his heads.

He became my confidant. I could almost believe that he could understand what I was saying. He would look at me with his doleful eyes when I would cry, growl when I was angry, and whimper when I left. I never thought that any animal, especially a dog, could bring me as much comfort as he did.

Something started to nag at my conscience every time I played with Cerberus, though.

Charon.

I now realized that I had probably gotten him into trouble by convincing him to let me leave. Not only that, but also the look in his eyes when I talked to him. It was the most mournful look of longing I had ever seen.

Deciding that it would do no harm if I just talked to him, I gathered my courage and went to see Charon. I wasn't afraid of Charon. He seemed like a nice man, if a bit strange. No, it was the memories of that disastrous journey that made my step hesitant as I walked the stony banks of Styx once again.

This time, I didn't have to wait for him to cross; he was already on my side of the river. Large numbers of deceased disembarked from the ancient boat. I kept my distance from the pale creatures. Even though I had gotten more used to them over the weeks, I could never bring myself to actually speak to any of them.

Charon saw me approaching. Moving with as much speed as his old body could summon, he tried to get back into his boat and push off before I could reach him. Even in a weakened state, I was too fast for the aged man. I rushed up to the large boat and stepped in. Charon regarded me with confused disbelief. He took his long pole that he used to propel his craft and carefully poked my ankle with the end. It was as though I were some bird that had accidentally alighted on his boat, and he wanted to get me to leave without scaring me.

I smiled at him as nicely as I could, pretending not to have noticed his prodding. He seemed momentarily stunned by my smile. I toned it down to a more mild level.

He ducked his head down, as though refusing to be taken in by me again. "...not allowed," he muttered to his toes.

"I'm sorry, Charon, what was that?" I asked sweetly.

"You're not allowed. I need to transfer souls across, but not you. The Master…" he trailed off.

"Don't worry, I don't want you to take me across," I assured him.

He looked up at me sharply, his eyes suspicious. He gave me another poke with his stick, which I took to mean "Then why are you here?"

I stifled a laugh at his peculiar actions and answered his silent inquiry. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry for causing you so much trouble before. It was very thoughtless of me, and I won't be doing it again."

He squinted his wrinkled eyes at me, and I was sure he didn't believe me.

"Your hair is different," was his surprising observation. "Brown, not gold."

I frowned at the reminder. "It's the lighting," I dismissed his comment with a wave of my hand.

"Same lighting," he muttered, shuffling back and forth.

"So it is," I said cheerily, as though I had just noticed. "Anyway, I should let you continue with your work. And, I'm sorry again for anything he might have done to you because of my actions."

I climbed out of the boat and waved a farewell to him.

As I walked away, I heard Charon murmur something about punishment. I turned back with a smile. "What was that?"

Charon frowned at me, but said in a slightly clearer voice. "I wasn't punished. He said next time. He took it, but not again." He began to push off from the shore.

I furrowed my brow, trying to sort through those confusing statements. "Hades didn't punish you?" Was all I could get. He didn't answer, but just kept rowing away. I called out again and got no response. After a few moments, I gave up and went back to work in my garden.