The Colour Of Pomegranates

Chapter 55

Hades stood in the grand hall, hands behind his back, overlooking Asphodel Meadows from behind the tall windows. The last few days Persephone was restless, always needing to do something. He didn't look up when Hermes entered the room.

'Would you look at that,' the god of thieves mused upon seeing Persephone. She ran through the Meadows at high speed and into the pine woods. Black flowers bloomed in her wake, a harsh comparison to the white spikey flowers of Asphodel. Hades wondered about those. It shouldn't be possible for Persephone to let flowers bloom Below. The last time flowers bloomed around her it was his doing - but this time it wasn't him.

'What do you want, Hermes?' Hades grunted.

'There are rumours going around. I bet you can feel it, too. Apollo's Oracle says the Fates talked to her.' Raising an eyebrow, Hades glanced at Hermes.

'That silly girl talks to someone else every other week, why should this be interesting?'

'She never talked to the Fates before. Normally they only talk to the Three Great Ones.' His slight mocking tone didn't escape Hades, but he chose not to respond to it.

'Is there anything you want to say?'

'It's the flowers. I wonder if she might be pregnant with someone more powerful. Someone who can make flowers bloom Below.' A curious sparkle lit up in Hermes' eye.

'Time to go,' Hades told the golden winged god. He turned to face him so a conversation between the eyes could take place. He knew what Hermes was going to say, because he had his suspicions already. 'I'll take care of it.' Hermes nodded gravely and walked out of the room before Hades could zap him out.

Persephone ran through the pine woods, her feet thumping on the soft floor, barely touching the stones. It almost felt as it did with Artemis and Apollo. She missed the twins horribly and wondered if she could punish Apollo to another 24 hours of Tartarus so she could talk to him. She giggled at the thought of that, while her mind travelled off to Artemis and Orion. Looking proudly over her shoulder she watched the flowers bloom - black tulips, roses and carnations. In her mind, she had only done it once before and it made her feel powerful.

Before long she dropped down between the tall grasses near Hecate's cabin. Her chest heaved with the exercise that left her breathless. Within minutes Hecate left the small cabin and wandered over to the goddess of Spring.

'Soon, one goddess will become three.' 

Persephone strained her neck to look up at her divine friend and smiled. 'What does that mean?'

'You tell me. Can't you feel it?' Persephone sat up and picked a couple of the black flowers.

'Can I feel what?' She didn't look up at Hecate, who judged her silently before sitting down next to her. The goddess of witchcraft knew better than to think of Persephone as naive.

'There is new life growing inside your uterus. Divinities come into being in various ways, but you will carry the pregnancy out the mortal way. Like your mother did with you.' Persephone nodded, still not looking at Hecate.

'Does he know?' she asked after a few minutes of silence.

'Of course he does,' Hecate sighed. 'All of us know.' That caught Persephone's attention.

'Even my mother?' 

Hecate shrugged. 'She may be in denial about it, but she does.' The two goddesses sat in silence for another while, until Persephone turned to the older one while an unsettling feeling rooted in the pit of her stomach.

'You said one will become three. It's not possible. Only Zeus can father twins.'

'Silly girl, I can feel their presence. They're about as big as sunflower seeds right now, but I can feel them. I can tell it's twins. And yes, only Zeus can father twins.'