AN: I'm sorry if I kinda dragged on Persephone's pain…and really, does this story have no plot evolution? Well, I'm sorry too if that's the case…anyway, enjoy reading if you can and please do review, they're nice…

I'm also sorry for the late update, I'm busy with school and I also have other stories in progress…

The Petals of the Soul

Ask me how many times my heart has been broken and I will tell you to look in the sky and count the stars.

-Source Unknown

She ran to her refuge and once again broke down on the grass. Only to find out that it was cold and stale.

She took one fallen flower from the ground as her tears fell in great gushes of pain and sorrow.

This was her sanctuary. This is hers. This place was built on foundations of love and happiness.

She looked around once more, her heart breaking with everything she sees.

Elysium is frozen. The shades despair.

I am sorry.

Everything was dead. Everything was cold.

Why did I do this?

Then she remembered. She was hurt-too much. She was in a pain so unbearable, everything so dear to her was affected. Everything she cared about, the rest of her life that cared about her, they all suffered because of her selfish grief. It was grief and desperation that drove her to do things, to hurt things, to let everything, let everyone, endure.

I am sorry, she thought once again with tears flowing freely down her cheeks of ivory.

It was what she thought as she caressed the frozen ground of Elysium, as she tenderly touched a cold branch, as she inhaled the non-existent scent of flowers that were too cold to flourish, as she strained to listen to the lamenting songs of the birds and the quiet flutters of wings of the butterflies that were too weak, as she saw the faces of bereavement of those who treated Elysium as their home.

Elysium will be free of my bondage.

The ice started to melt. Her sun rose in gentle rays of heat that brought life back to the almost lifeless place.

Once again, the proud splendor of the Elysian Fields boasted.

And part of her was happy, as she felt a small smile crawl to her lips. Elysium embraced her even through all her conceited attempts to neutralize the sting that plagued her heart. And then she knew-Elysium loves her and it always will.

Elysium is the one place that will always be hers. Always.

You will never be corrupted again. You are all that is left.

"Marpessa."

Marpessa looked at her mistress whose eyes were red and swollen, whose voice was hoarse an whose smile was broken.

"My lady."

"I am sorry."

"For what my lady?"

"For sharing my grief with you. You should have never been involved."

Marpessa smiled at her mistress, heart glowing with appreciation and pity.

"If you needed someone to share an eternity of pain with you my lady, then I would gladly fill that position."

"Thank you Marpessa."

"My Queen," Amus said as he curtsied," A nymph is here to see you."

Persephone's expression must have varied considerably because Amus added, "she said she comes at your service my lady."

"Then send her in Amus."

Liasa walked in, half terrified, half-determined. She was not sure if this was the right decision. If the Queen was as cold as she thought her to be then she would be threading on dangerous ground by even mentioning that she was an acquaintance of Minthe.

She saw Persephone, and all her fears fled. Standing before her was not a merciless queen, but a monarch who smiled and graciously stood to welcome such a stranger as herself. It was because she can feel this queen's pain, that all harsh words were drowned in her throat.

"Good day, young woman. What can I do for you?"

"Your majesty, forgive my intrusion but I am here because I am an acquaintance of Minthe."

Persephone went slightly stiff but she beckoned Liasa to continue.

"My name is Liasa your majesty but I come for you, not Minthe." This is it, no heading back now, she thought. "I came here to inform you of the suffering mortals."

Persephone stepped down from her throne.

"Child," she said softly, "I know."

Persephone was now directly in front of her.

"It is because I am selfish and vain and I wanted to share my pain to the world."

"No, I do not accuse you your majesty," she said in alarm.

"I know that you do not accuse me, you are acting because you, unlike me, are much better at dealing with things."

"Your majesty…"

"I should not have done it, because part of my pain is my fault too."

"My lady!" Marpessa interrupted.

"I might not have given enough, I might not have done my best," she said ignoring Marpessa's opposition.

Liasa's brows furrowed.

Is this the damage Minthe caused? Is this what her foolish whims told her to do? She thought with both shame and disdain. She does not deserve this.

"Come," Persephone said to Liasa, "come with me and Marpessa."

"Where to your majesty?"

She smiled, all gentle urging and guilty reprieve, "let us free the mortals of this plague I have caused."

They fled the vast expanse of the earth, taking in the death and demise the frost have caused.

For every dying man, for every weakened plant, for every hungry animal, Persephone shed tears.

"Is is because my heart was bleeding," she said, touching a man's dying face with equal agony, "it was because I have felt too strongly of the hurt that crushed my heart."

Liasa looked at Persephone and decided that Minthe must have done too much; Minthe must have been the one at fault.

Someone like this is not capable of truly intending to hurt. Someone like this is too pure to be at fault.

And so, the earth, engulfed in frost, felt the first signs of an almost forgotten spring.

The radiating sunlight was once again able to stream through the now clearer sky.

Everywhere she walked, life was given off.

And the people felt their cold bodies and souls slowly warming up.

The earth was alive again. New hope was born as their hearts and minds took in the disappearing snow.

A mother no longer weeps for a son who would be dying.

His embrace and bright eyes reassure her that everything was fine.

The chants of numerous worshippers still rose in the air.

Their voices now spoke of gratitude.

They were no longer confused, no longer scared.

"Kind gods, accept our gratitude," their once anxious hearts spelled out the new satisfaction they felt.

Their voices of chanting still rose high in the air.

The fields are no longer empty as their hearts are no longer broken.

The crops would now grow.

All will thrive, all will live.

Their gratefulness now reaches the heavens.

Divine eyes grow in astonishment as they felt and saw the scarlet snow recede.

The lives they have tried to sustain can now fend off for themselves.

Alseids. Auloniads. Leimoniads. Naiads. Heleads. Dryads. Oreads. Oceanids. Nereids.

All watch in delight. All rejoice in happiness.



But it was not as beautiful as the past springs were.

The smell of the flowers was weak.

The voices of the birds were frail.

The growth of the crops was not as vigorous.

The sun was even weak in its light.

Because she is still weeping, her heart is still broken, thought the knowing minds of wise men.

The earth thrives solely on her mercy; her emotions are still turbulent, thought the divine beings who are all-seeing.

It was no longer an intense winter.

But it was a fragile spring.

"Look Lady Aphrodite, the snow has stopped," Apollo said as he observed the world below. "Is it all over?"

"Not yet," she said grimly, "the worst is yet to come."

"But Lady Aphrodite," Apollo said, slightly alarmed, "the mortals cannot take another blow."

"You misunderstand me Lord Apollo. The worse will happen in the Underworld. Something will spring forth as a sign of things past."

Apollo wondered at Aphrodite's cryptic words. The goddess was usually direct, never one to speak of riddles.

"Do you say this because you feel it? Do you feel someone else's heart?"

"I might," she paused, thinking of how incredibly out of character her next statement will be, but decided to continue, for this was after all Apollo, God of truth," but it is my heart that tells me of these things."

"Indeed Lady Aphrodite," Apollo said, slightly amused, "And that is why despite what everyone else says and thinks, I still think no other goddess can be a goddess of love."

"But I do not often listen to my heart Lord Apollo."

Apollo nodded.

"You do not want to hurt as much as those who worship you do."

"You seem to know a lot Lord Apollo."

"God of truth is not just a title to impress, it is of substance."

"Aah," she said, having nothing else to say.

I can see you.

She stands in the distance, looking at the woman whose place she was determined to take.

You must vanish.

She did not care if some shades looked at her with abhorrence.

You will all bow down to me in due course.

She stands in Elysium that fully embraces her divine presence.

It comforts her, eases her pain.

Yet the tears cannot stop, her heart still aches in pain.

Her sanctuary is still not enough to make her forget.

She is still as broken as before.

Hecate grasped her chest as a surge of pain went through her.

There was something, something in the air.

It is pain, love, regret, longing and so much more.

Such strong feelings are too much to handle.

Sooner or later, a heart will burst.

She narrowed her eyes in foreboding.

AN: I think you could've known by now that the next chapter is the chapter you're (we're) anticipating…I'm really trying hard to write it and I hope I could execute it well…thank you very much for reading and please review