Persephone's Prison

Chapter 3

Persephone sits in front of her vanity mirror and examines herself. Her brows are thick and black and a little blocky, the tail turns downward instead of her having a normal arch, under sat almond dark browns eyes rimmed with eyeliner, and a small button nose, her full lips were tinted with dark brown lipstick, her skin was brown with an underlining tint of yellow giving her a golden glow, her black hair reaches her shoulder and expands outward in corkscrew curls. She has never felt more self-conscious than at this moment. Normally she doesn't let things get to her but going to the annual family dinner for the first time since before the fall is making her extremely anxious. She grabs the pink rose she specifically grew for the night and places it in the corner of her hair near her right ear. She gets up and turns to her bed where her dress lies. It's long and flowy, a light pink ombre that leads into a hot pink bottom, and the neckline plunges to the middle of her stomach exposing cleavage. She switches out her robe for it and puts on her white suede close-toed stiletto heels. She's not much of a heels person but she wanted to make an impression.

She takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes for one last moment of peace and solitude before she sees her family for the first time in 2400 years. She leaves her room and grabs her invitation on the kitchen counter. She takes out the card that reads the dinner started 45 minutes ago; did anyone think she would actually come on time? If they are literally giving her a welcome home party, she's gonna make an entrance. She grabs the pair of white wings placed in the envelope. They were put in every invitation, a gift from Hermes, free transportation. There is a little paper that explains the instructions; place a single wing under your tongue to get to the party as soon as it dissolves, the other wing is to get back home. Well here goes nothing, Persephone thinks as she grabs her clutch and does as told. The wing taste of lemon and burns a little.

"That little punk," she curses knowing the flavor was a little prank by Hermes himself. The familiar dark night sky returns and suddenly she's in a lobby of a fancy hotel they rented out for the dinner.

"You're here," Persephone turns to see a petite woman with straight and thick black hair, her brown, tan skin is smooth despite the fact that the woman is clearly middle-aged, her hair reaches her waist easily, and she like Persephone has dark brown almond-shaped eyes.

"Mom," Persephone greets Demeter, and they embrace.

Persephone feels her mom shake a little bit and knows she is crying; she feels her eyes water but fights back tears. She can't appear weak at a moment like this. She just holds her mother tightly and inhales her scent; she has always smelt like the earth after it rains. Persephone lets herself have a moment to just hold her mom tightly. After what felt like an eternity, she pats the older goddesses back and they slowly pull apart, she was right; Demeter has tears streaming down her long face. Persephone whips them away and smiles sadly.

"I'm here, I'm back, I'm sorry and I'm not going anywhere don't worry."

"Where did you go? Why did you leave?"

"Mom, not here, please, it's my coming home party. We'll talk later I promise." Persephone reassures and grabs her hand before walking towards the party entrance doors.

The mother and daughter pair step through the doors with their heads held high and all eyes fall on them, the talking stops. Dozens of Gods and Goddesses stand around the room with drinks in their hands. They were talking and laughing but now the only noise is the music continuing to play while they look at the latest arrival. Zeus stands on the opposite side of the room but still directly across from Persephone and Demeter.

Persephone's eyes find her father while she scans the room. He steps away from his wife Hera and marches toward Persephone. He embraces her quickly and she awkwardly pats his side. When he pulls back, he smiles down at her. His crystal blue eyes sparkle in amusement and joy, his chiseled cheekbones round out in a wide smile that shows off pearly white teeth, and his thick light brown eyebrows rise in surprise. He steps back but keeps a hand on her arm before motioning to all the guests with the other.