A Bloom So Deadly: Hades and Persephone Retold

The Admission

Hermes looked back and forth between the two figures before him, unable to hide the surprise in his eyes. He cleared his throat and finally settled on an awkward smile. "Where," he asked, eyebrows raising, "-is Persephone?"

Demeter scowled, her fists clenched. She did not want to be at the gates of Olympus and she certainly did not want to hear the name the damned Fates had cursed upon her baby.

Kore.

She shifted on her feet, looking away from the young Hermes and inhaling sharply through her nose. Her baby. The one good thing that had come from her assault and self-exile. Her kind, curious, beautiful girl. Gone.

She could feel the absence deep in her bones, unlike any other heartbreak she had suffered - and Demeter had suffered many most foul. The pain was a gnawing thing, like a hole in her chest and a weight in her stomach all at once, one that stole her breath and made her want to collapse into herself.

"Not here, clearly," Ares said through clenched teeth. "We believe she has been stolen and seek an audience with Father."

At this, Hermes' eyes shot back over to Demeter and she again shifted on her feet, angry that she felt a flush of embarrassment. Kore did that, too - shifted her weight when she was feeling out of sorts. Demeter had always gotten onto her about it and there she was, doing the exact same thing.

Demeter tried to look at Hermes, tried to be the calm and collected goddess she was known to be, but her eyes quickly darted down to the ground between them. Did he know what Zeus had done to her? Was that the cause of the small quirk in his brow, not unkind, as he looked to her?

"Thanatos also sought an audience with your father," Hermes replied to Ares, though Demeter could still feel his eyes on her. "On behalf of Nyx. It could be awhile. Perhaps I should see if Hera would be accommodating in his place."

Demeter looked up, breath caught in her throat. It was clear in her eyes that seeing Hera was as equally terrifying. Her True Match - the one great love of her life - and Demeter had run off and hid from her for two millennia. But Hermes only gave her a kind smile and, in response, she gave a tight nod.

"What business does Thanatos have with Father?" Ares spat, suspicion laced in his tone. Thanatos never came to Olympus, not unless he was running an errand for the Underworld.

Hermes merely lifted both hands upward with a shrug. "He was most secretive about it," was all he said in reply.

Ares straightened his shoulders, mouth twisting in a snarl as he pushed past Hermes. "Take her to Mother, if you must. I will speak with Father," he said, storming up the path toward Olympus.

Hermes looked after Ares, mouth open as if to protest, and then deflated upon realizing he wouldn't be able to stop an angered Ares alone. He turned back to Demeter with a worried tuck to his brow.

"You think King Hades has found her?" he asked quietly.

Demeter's brow twitched, the corners of her mouth becoming more pronounced into a frown. "I don't know, Hermes," she whispered. "She was there when I left and by the time I was back, Ares had our house and field torn apart looking for her. Kore has never wandered off, she knows the importance of staying within the briars." She broke off, a nervous whimper carrying from her throat as her face crumpled. "I am so afraid that she is hurt somewhere."

Hermes sighed and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You know King Hades would not harm her needlessly," he said and she shot him a look.

"He would throw her in that hell he created to rot," she said, a note of hysteria rising in her voice. "And if it wasn't him, then what if a mortal saw her and stole her? She is beautiful, Hermes, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. They could be doing any number of vile things to her. And I don't trust that Hades wouldn't do the same if he had a mind to."