Persephone

Persephone

Chapter 6

*****

    "Athena take her out and stay with her until she is conscious". Said Zeus. Without a word Athena obediently went to Persephone, lifting her in her arms and leaving the room. There was silence in the room, until finally Demeter spoke up, "you released her Hades. Please leave her be".

 "I allowed her to visit her mother, now she has to come home", he stated matter-of-factly.

"I will not allow her to go Hades. Her mother cannot bring the harvest with her daughter gone and so the land goes barren and so the people starve". Zeus told him. One of the three woman, the Moirae, that had entered with Hades spoke for the first time, "she has eaten fruit from the Underworld, and so that is where she shall spend eternity". No one spoke for they all knew this was a law made by the Moirae long ago and it was always followed.

     The Moirae were also known as The Fates, as the very fate of men and gods were on them. Clotho, was the spinner of life thread, who was present at every birth whether it be man or god. Lachesis was the measurer of the life thread and Atropos carried out the inevitable cutting of the life thread. And more or less everything that came in between was in someway due to these three women. They were the most respected and feared beings of all three realms.

     "He tricked her into eating, she cannot be damned for that!". Roared Ares.

"It is final, she goes to the Underworld" said Lachesis, looking directly to me.

"The people will die. In time we all shall perish because of this. You cannot allow this to happen", Zeus exclaimed. The Moirae whispered among each other for a moment then the smallest of them, Clotho, stepped forward and spoke loud and clear, "Persephone shall go to the Underworld. She shall return, if she wishes, to Olympus to spend six months with her mother, the other six months of the year she shall spend in the Underworld. Our word is final."

     Demeter let out a quiet whimper and Hades headed toward her. Poseidon was before her in an instant, blocking Hades path, "stay away from her brother. She need no more heart break.". His gaze moved to Poseidon then back to Demeter, and in the sweetest tone he spoke, "don not cry for your child, she will be Queen, loved by a God. The people will worship her and no harm will come her way. And every half year, she will spend in your arms.". The words astounded everyone in attendance and the room fell silent. Demeter studied his face for any signs of insincerity, but found none. Despite the circumstances, his words had actually comforted her.

*****

     I looked myself over in the mirror. I barely recognised the person looking back at me. My brown eyes looked almost black, the red in my hair blazed in the fire light. The dress I had on was looked fresh and light when I was in Olympus, but in this light it looked ragged and dirty. I seemed to fit in with the ominous look to the rest of the place. I headed for the dinning hall to talk to my future husband, Hades.

     The dinning hall was massive to say the least. On one wall there was a great fire place that could have fit six people standing. From the ceiling hung a beautiful chandelier, with hundreds of tiny flickering candles, lighting up the giant oak table that sat underneath it. On top of the table was a banquet that could have fed fifty people, there were foods of all sorts, chicken, fruit, rice dishes, things I had never seen before and could in no way identify them. At the far end of the table sat Hades. I let out a sigh and headed towards him. He stood up at my approach and gave a slight nod to me. "Evening", he said as he pulled out a chair for me. I sat down and he sat to my right . "It's hard to distinguish between night and day here, I hardly knew it was evening.". I said, looking at the plate in front of me.

     "So we are to be married in seven days from now, that should give you time to get settled in here. And for us to get better acquainted with each other."

"Oh. That will be terrific", I said as sarcastically as I could manage. Instantly embarrassed by my outburst I felt my face go hot and I looked at him, about to apologize. Instead of seeing an angered God of the Underworld in front of me, I saw a face of understanding. He placed a hand over mine and my eyes followed the movement. For a moment my eyes lingered there before moving back up to meet his gaze. The sapphire eyes startled me for a moment, I had never realised just how blue they were, of course I had probably avoided eye contact with him until now. I began to lose myself in the ocean of blue, my very soul felt like I was yearning for him, I felt like I was falling and I needed his touch to steady me. My head flushed with images of me with him, happy and in love, then feelings of being away from him and I felt like my hole soul was being ripped away and I was left burning. Without realising it, I had snaked my arm around his waist as tears began to roll down from my eyes involuntary. He gently pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me. "I don't want you to be miserable here Persephone. I will do anything to keep you happy. If you cant be happy here with me then... You can go.". He sighed in resolution. My heart skipped a beat at that. My head was spinning with these new emotions that were engulfing me. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I looked back up to his face and shook my head. "I don't know what's happening to me. It's like every part of my being is calling out for you. Like if I was to leave you, part of me would be missing. Yet every logical thought should be telling me to despise you, to run and never look back. I don't know how to explain it. It's confusing.". the words came out of my mouth in a rush before I could stop them, my grip tightened around him and I sobbed into his chest. "My sweet Persephone do not cry. Everything Is right, those feelings are nothing to fear, it's the same feelings I started getting when I first saw you, its our souls way of saying we were created for each other.". He held me tight and kissed my head, his words had sounded familiar. I was sure I had heard that was what had happened to Cronus and Rhea , it was what happened when you found your true life mate.