𝑃𝐻𝑂𝐸𝐵𝑈𝑆. (𝑂𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠)

six - then

Hello! This is the first author's note that I've done but I wanted to say thank you for reading this far and for continuing to support this story. I know the updates aren't super frequent, but school kind of gets in the way of things at times, so I'm trying my best! Send some love my way though, it helps me push myself to put out chapter's faster I swear! :) But seriously, I love getting feedback (just don't be rude lol). Let me know if you like the direction the story is going. Who's your favorite character so far? Who would you like to see more of? Is there anything that confuses you that you think I should address? Let me know!

Then.

"Everyone keeps asking about you." Aphrodite couldn't keep the excited gleam from shining in her eyes.

Adoria and her two goddess friends sat in Persephone's garden amongst rows of flowers and vines. This place used to be a lot brighter but it had changed, because when Persephone had begun seeing Hades her view on beauty did as well. The roses that were once bright pinks and white were now the color of blood; no longer did she care to control the growth of the vines within the gardens, instead allowing them to spread as far and wide as they desired, wrapping around her gates, tables, benches, and whatever other furniture the little plot of land held; where there once stood apple trees and cherry blossoms there now emerged overgrown oaks, sequoias, cedars, with darker green leaves and larger branches to block out more sun - as if the goddess of spring needed the sun to grow her garden. And her most prized possession grew tall in the corner away from all the other plants the garden held, a gift from Hades after a few months of courtship: a pomegranate tree. All of these things, she said, reminded her of the Underworld, a place she'd grown to love for two reasons specifically. She was free there without question, to do whatever she wanted. And it had Hades. That was enough for her.

"She means to say that a certain god in particular keeps asking about you," Persephone teased.

Adoria laughed at their ridiculousness and fell gracefully back into the soft grass. "Is it Hermes? I told him I could beat him at a foot race and I think he's holding a grudge."

"No, you halfwit," Aphrodite couldn't take her friend's ignorance any longer, she'd been trying to hint at Adoria that Apollo was most definitely interested in her since they'd left the Underworld that night of the party. "Apollo."

"Apollo?"

"Apollo."

"You're jesting."

"I'm not," Aphrodite pushed on, "and I can prove it. I stole a love poem he'd written while visiting Olympus. I believe it was supposed to be private but when I read it I knew it was about you. So obviously I stole it to show the both of you. Read it out loud," the goddess demanded as she handed it over to mortal girl.

Adoria sighed. Not feeling like fighting with her friends any longer, she decided to let them have their fun.

"Dearest muses, speak of the beauty,

Her eyes, her voice, her smile,

So winsome my mind has forbidden me to forget it,

A millennia on this earth has never seemed so pointless,

If not for her presence,

If not for her laughter,

If not for her.

Dearest muses, speak of the moment,

A quick-witted remark,

A long winded profession of desire,

And I wondered how in a place such as Hades

She could outshine even the sun,