Part 2: Chapter 13

Ariadne

While I continued to gaze and admire the beauty of this mystical place all around me, still unable to believe the fact that a place as beautiful and as ethereal as this could actually exist, I heard a familiar kind voice speak from behind me.

"Welcome to the Elysian Fields, Ariadne."

Instantly, I turned, and felt my eyes widened at the sight of the Queen of the Underworld herself approaching me.

Now that we were not in the dimly-lit room where I had previously been in, I could see now how absolutely beautiful she truly looked. In the soft light of this ethereal world, Persephone shone so radiant and magnificent that it was almost as though she was the one radiating light. Her beauty – one that looked so innocent yet so majestic – was indeed a sight to behold, and I knew that all women – which would partially include me – would be green with envy – green as the grass here, most probably – of her looks.

In my awe of her appearance, I made to curtsy in respect for her. But before I could, I was stopped.

"Oh, no. Please don't," she said kindly. "We are not in the presence of my husband, so we can be friendly with each other as we want. I think we should start with introducing ourselves to each other properly."

In a surprising turn of events, she came forward and took my hand in hers. I was taken aback by the gesture, but then was distracted by the friendly smile on her perfect lips.

"I am Persephone. A half-sister of Dionysus, which would indirectly make me a distant sister of yours through your marriage," she said cheerily in her musical voice. "I have heard so much about you, especially from Artemis, who is also my half-sister and a very close friend of mine. She speaks of you and tells me everything about you, and from her stories alone I feel like I know you myself. Of course, my statement would not be true, until right now as we see each other for the first time."

As she continued to hold my hands in hers, Persephone smiled at me with so much friendliness and kindness and warmth that I felt my heart melt. It was the kind of smile that was obviously genuine and one of a kind-hearted individual's.

But I was still so overwhelmed by the shock and surprise that I could only continue to stare at her, probably very flabbergasted.

Persephone seemed to have taken notice of this, for her smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of confusion and concern.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked me. "Did I say something to offend you?"

It was then I immediately snapped out of my stupor. "Oh! Oh, no, no!" I instantly exclaimed, feeling slightly embarrassed that I had done nothing but stare at her – sure to be in a weird manner – while she was giving me a kind and friendly greeting and starting a conversation.

I cleared my throat, feeling all too flustered already. "I had not intended to be rude," I shyly muttered in apology. "I am just… overwhelmed… by all of this," I said as I gestured to the environment surrounding us. "I will admit that I have never seen anything as enchanting or as mystical as this before."

At that, Persephone smiled once again, and replied, "Oh, yes. The Elysian Fields truly is a beautiful place, is it not? A wonderful realm for only the most deserving of souls – who have committed strong good deeds in their past lives – to reside in. Forever tranquil and peaceful, with no such thing as sadness or danger, this is certainly a place where they deserve to be in to spend their afterlife."

"And to think that I actually get to be here…" I breathed, my eyes going back to admiring the beauty of this realm.

Persephone's hold on my hands tightened slightly. "Of course, you deserved it," she said thoughtfully. "You saved Dionysus' life. Doing so makes you more deserving of being a resident of the Elysian Fields above anyone else. Do you know how rare it is for a mortal to be willing to sacrifice themselves for a god? It's almost non-existent, but you proved that wrong."

Even more shockingly, Persephone released my hands and came forward to take me into her arms. At first I froze, not knowing why the Goddess of Spring and the Queen of the Underworld would hug me. But I did not hesitate to wrap my arms around her just as gently, oddly finding comfort in her embrace.

It was a quick friendly squeeze before she pulled away to look at me with her smile still on her lips. "I hope you do not find this strange, but you honestly do not know how grateful I am that you had done so for him. You see, although we may not be full-blooded siblings, I still treat Dionysus as family and care for him as such. And for what you had done for him, it proved a good reason for me to take a liking to you. However, it is still so upsetting that you…"

She did not continue, pursing her lips to stop herself from saying what she was about to say. But even I knew what that would have been. Persephone placed her fingers over her lips, displaying humility over her statement. "I am so very sorry," she apologized sincerely. "I should not have…"

I stopped her before she could go on, telling her with a slight smile on my lips, "It is alright, your grace. I do not mind."

But she quickly smiled again, and told me, "No need for any formalities between us, Ariadne. You are the wife of my half-brother Dionysus, which makes you family as well."

Family.

Oddly enough, that word made me smile, but also think.

Do I consider Persephone as family? Of course, it would be strange to do so, since I have never met her before this, and I had been so used to the mental image of her being miserable and pained and dreadful in the Underworld that to see her being the exact opposite of my assumptions – which was kind, warm and gentle – made me feel a bit strange.

However, I could not fight the urge to actually do consider her a family, for she had been so very nice and kind to me thus far, and I could tell from her personality that she would be friendly and very easy to talk to.

"Thank you… Persephone," I replied, smiling a smile that might mirror hers.

"Of course, Ariadne. However, I should return to my husband now," she told me with a tone of disappointment. "There are still plenty of souls that need to be judged today, and I should leave you to enjoy your new home. But I do wish to see you again very soon, and get to know you better."

She bowed her head to me kindly, and I returned the gesture with a smile. And then, before my very eyes, Persephone vanished into thin air.

Like she had said, I started to walk around the realm that I am now to call my home. To be more precise, it was the lake I went to.

When I had reached an edge of the lake, not far from a group of people who were sitting down and chatting, I knelt down on the grass and leaned forward, bracing myself for what I was about to see in the reflection.

I felt surprise overcome me when I saw that I was still me, but still so very different. I realized why, and it was because I now looked younger.

I could clearly see how many years had been taken off my looks. No more were the lines of age that used to crease my face, and my skin was now smooth with youth. In fact, I had gone from looking like a woman to a girl again.

I could not deny the part of me inside that was actually glad that I was young again. A smile played on my lips as my fingers reached up to touch my cheeks, relishing in the feel that it was silky smooth and flawless. As I continued to gaze at my once-again youthful face, I giggled in joy and excitement, feeling so very lively.

This was amazing. If only Dionysus could see this.

And then, all feelings of joy and excitement, and the smile on my lips, vanished in an instant, and more pain and sadness followed after, at the thought that I was no longer with my beloved husband. However, I could not bring myself to cry at this moment, for my conscious told me that I did not want to ruin the peaceful atmosphere of the Elysian Fields. Of course, this realm was of happiness and tranquility, and no pain came to those who resided here.

Unfortunately, that statement was not necessarily true, as seen in my case.

Subconsciously, I placed my hands over my heart and shut my eyes, trying hard to subdue the feeling of sadness inside me as I continued to sit at the edge of this beautiful lake. I kept quiet, somewhat afraid that if I opened my mouth, only pained cries would come out.

But I was pulled out of my silence when I felt a hand being placed gently on my shoulder.

"Why do you look so sad, my dear girl?" a soothing voice of a female asked from behind me.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked up to the side at the woman who was now standing behind me with her hand on me.

The woman looked to be about decade older than how I looked now, give or take a few years. But she was very beautiful – not beautiful as Persephone (clearly), but very beautiful in the standards of mortals – with pretty doe-like hazel brown eyes and long curly locks of dark chestnut brown hair that framed her face perfectly. Her facial expression as she looked at me was one of kindness and friendliness, and also concern for my condition now.

I did not answer her, simply because she was a stranger and I was not comfortable with talking to strangers.

She continued to speak in her gentle voice. "Are you new here?" she asked.

In response, I nodded my head.

"Is everything alright?"

I kept silent, not doing anything.

"Why do you look so sad? If you do not mind me asking, for seeing you sad makes me feel concern."

With a deep breath, unable to keep it to myself any longer, I did reply to her question.

"I am sad for I have parted from my husband, good lady," I told her in a murmur, looking away to look back at my reflection in the water with sadness clear in my eyes. "I am saddened for I feel so very lost without him, and I feel pained at the thought that I would never see him again."

From the corner of my eye, I saw the woman sitting down beside me, but her hand remained on my shoulder in a reassuring manner. I looked to her and saw her smiling at me in reassurance.

"Do not worry, dear one, for there will surely come a time where you and your husband will be reunited in the days to come," she told me gently. "All it takes now is patience, my dear girl."

Unfortunately, her words were so very untrue, and I shook my head in disagreement, feeling the pain overwhelm me again.

"You do not understand. I will never be with him again, for he is deathless," I exclaimed in a choked sob, feeling myself shake to control the sadness within.

The woman's hand moved from my shoulder to place it above mine on my lap. Her pretty brown eyes gazed at me gently, but I could see a hint of pity and concern underneath. Her lips were still pulled into a smile that wished to comfort me in this time of pain of mine.

"Tell me," she said. "Tell me if you wish, and I will listen."

So I did tell her.

Perseus

The city's temple that was dedicated to Dionysus was the last place I would ever think of setting foot upon.

It was in the silence of the night that I had decided to go to the temple myself. It was in the center of the city, alongside other temples dedicated to the Olympians. Going there was no danger, for the women who had been placed under the curse had now returned to normal, and had now reunited with their family members as they pray to their respective gods and goddesses for forgiveness and repentance for their cursed-induced actions.

The temple was completely barren, because I had commanded it to be so from a few weeks ago, when I still held disbelief against the god. The floor was littered with dead grapevine leaves coated with a thin layer of dust. The oil lamps had long been extinguished, and the sacrificial and offering temples sitting at the foot of the statue of the god was completely empty.

When I entered the temple, I made my way to the table where offerings were made. I wiped and blew away the layer of dust that lay on the surface before picking up the bowls and chalice that were resting on the floor beside it. When I had arranged the bowls and chalice on the table, I proceeded to pull out the things I had brought with me.

In one bowl, I placed small bunches of ivy leaves, some with its young fruits still hanging on to it. In another bowl, I placed the root of an orchis plant. In the last bowl, I placed a cluster of ripe rich dark purple grapes that I had picked from the garden of the palace. Finally, from a water skin, I poured in the finest of wine in Argos into the empty chalice.

All that I had set up were some of the offerings that were traditionally made for Dionysus before a prayer to him. To think that after what I had done to him, I would actually come to a temple and pray to him.

But I could not help it. The immense guilt I felt towards him for what I had done to his wife kept on eating at my soul ever since the moment it had happened. Even while I tried to push the thought away, instead trying to focus on the fact that I had managed to save my people, I still could not shake it off. In fact, it seemed to grow more and more with each passing second. It made me unable to eat, unable to sleep and unable to think. It was horrible, feeling it gnawing at my heart.

It was what drove me to do what I was doing right now.

As I knelt at the offerings table, I looked up at the statue of the god right in front of me. It resembled Dionysus slightly, but it looked nothing like the god I had dueled against earlier in the day.

With a deep breath released into the dark and silent air, I began to say all that I had been keeping in.

"If you are listening, please do hear me out. Even if you are not, I will still speak, for this is something I cannot keep to myself for long. What I wanted to say was that what I have done to you – what I have done to her – makes me wrecked with the utmost guilt. I had not done it on purpose; I will admit that you were my main target. But I had absolutely no intention to kill your wife. I would never have done that to her. But then again, I should never have plotted to do such a thing to you either. What I had committed against you was indeed stupid and insolent of me, and I now finally see that I should have allowed myself to be punished. What right had I to insult you, challenge you, and then take your wife away from you? I face what might be the biggest of all shames for I had done this to you, who I share the same father with. The Fates had weaved a terrible event today; for you to lose your wife by me who would end her life when she was still so very young. None of this – everything that happened between you and I and everything that happened to your wife – should not have happened; not to you."

With a silent deep breath, I clasped my hands and brought them to my forehead, my eyes shut tightly as I began to apologize in quiet mutters.

"I am so sorry, for all the wrong I had committed to you. I am so sorry insulting you, for challenging you and for hurting you both physically and emotionally. But most important of all, I am so sorry for the fact that I had taken her from you. She who was innocent and a loyal wife, I took her from you by accident in a blind act of revenge. I do not expect you to forgive me, for my sins are too horrid to deserve your divine forgiveness. But nonetheless, I will compensate you by allowing your rites to take place in Argos again, and allow your followers to practice your rituals. I will not allow any harm to come upon them, and will accept your acts. It is the only thing I can offer to tell you how immensely apologetic I am for your loss at my hands."

At that very moment I finished my words, something strange happened. It had still been dark the whole time I was here, because I had not made to set light up the oil lamps. But suddenly, a gust of wind entered the temple, and the oil lamps were suddenly lit.

Now that was absolutely strange, for what sort of wind gust could actually do the opposite of what they could do by lighting up the oil lamps in the temple instead of extinguishing it?

But I knew that this strange event must be a response to my words of apology. There was nothing I could think the strange incident of except that theory. Dionysus must have heard it me speak, and this may be his way of accepting my apology. But even if it was not, and he had not forgive, I could take this as some sort of sign.

With the thought of that in mind, I continued to pray to Dionysus.

Ariadne

"So you are the wife of a god," said the woman.

I nodded in reply, quiet as I thought to myself whether or not it had been a good idea to reveal all that I had just told this stranger woman. But then again, I was already dead, so what would happen if I told her?

But surprisingly, the woman took the fact with nonchalance.

Curiously, I pointed out, "Pardon me for asking, but you do not seem so shock, or even the least bit surprised."

She looked at me with a small smile, and replied, "You are not the first one to ever meet a god, my dear girl."

"Did you know one?" I asked.

The woman's smile turned sad, and she looked down at her lap as she twiddled her thumbs, "Had a son with one," she told me quietly. "I was his lover, and the act of revenge by his wife was the reason why I am here now."

That certainly did shock me, just as it made me feel pity for her. "I am so very sorry, my good lady," I told her remorsefully, feeling sad at the thought that this poor soul had died at the hands of a wrathful goddess.

She looked up a bit and smiled at me soft but thankfully. I smiled back, but then asked her a question that now aroused my curiosity. "What happened to your child, if you do not mind me asking?" I asked, careful to not make it sound to rude.

The woman gave a delicate shrug. "I do not know what had happen to my unborn child," she admitted with a sigh. "But I have a feeling that he is still alive, for a small part of me still seems connected to him."

She exhaled a sigh, before turning her head to look out the distance. I did the same, and was met with the sight of the 'Sun' of the Elysian Fields starting to set, with the skies turning a soft orange as evening arrived.

"It is going to be night-time soon," the woman remarked. "We should start settling in."

Uncertainty washed over me at the thought of having to spend a night by my lonesome here. While the Elysian Fields indeed gave off a sense of security and peace, I still quivered at the thought that I was alone, with no one else – no one that I knew – to give me company. But before I could be troubled by these thoughts, I felt the soft hand of the woman being placed atop mine.

"If you wish, you can stay with me, my dear girl," she told me with a kind smile. "You must be alone, but I am willing to keep you company. I too am here by my lonesome for so long a time, but it would be nice if you would be willing to stay. We can keep each other company."

The kindness and graciousness of the woman's offer was what made me smile, and I could now fully feel the safety of this realm. It did not bother me too much that she was still a stranger and I did not know her at all, for her kind and friendly demeanor made me sure that she was alright.

"Thank you so much and kindly, my dear lady. I am in your debt," I said to her with thankfulness.

She only smiled in return before standing up, also helping me to stand as well. I followed beside her as she walked in a certain direction, but it was then I realized that we have not actually introduced each other, which was silly for we had spoken of the most sensitive of topics just a while ago.

"My name is Ariadne."

She turned her head to smile at me kindly, and she then told me her name.

"My name is Semele."

Author's Note:

So Persephone and Ariadne meet for the first time, Perseus repents for his actions (by the way, this is his very last appearance in the tale), and Ariadne meets a woman who holds an importance in this tale! Can anyone guess why?

But while Ariadne seems to be about to settle into the Elysian Fields, what goes on with Dionysus up in the land of the living? How does he fare?

See you on the next chapter on Friday!

Muse of Fanfiction