Persephone took a single step off the marble path and into the fresh dirt without further thought. Her eyes closed as her bare feet dug into the soil. Suddenly the stress was gone, the worry and the sadness gone, and she was home. If she could, she would walk barefoot for the rest of her life. It was the single thing that made her feel like herself again. She was now the queen of the Underworld, but she would always be the goddess of spring.
Many thoughts should have been buzzing in her mind, many events she would later think of once she was alone, but in this second, her mind was clear. She could smell the fresh air, feel the buzz of the growing roses, and feel the warm afternoon breeze on her exposed skin. It was all she needed.
After the trial, her mother's exit, and after all the whispers had begun, she knew she had to get away, if only for a moment. Currently, everyone was inside the hall celebrating what they were all calling a success. She knew they were not celebrating her and Hades' victory, there were still many who, if they had the chance, would have voted against them. But instead, the gods were using the party as an excuse to elevate themselves. She could not watch it happen, not now, not after what had transpired.
Flashes of the tribunal played over in her mind, and she knew she would not be able to push it out of her mind for long. Still, she forced herself not to think of her mother, of her cold eyes, and of her disappointment. Persephone remembered how she herself had acted, of the power she had tried to display, just as Hades had suggested. But it wasn't an act, it might have started as one, but she knew that it had become her who was speaking, not the image she was trying to portray. She did not know how, but a version much different from her usual self had been hiding under the surface, waiting for someone to let her out.
She also remembered the fates and the words they had spoken to her. She had hoped to prove them wrong, but as everyone must learn eventually, there was no outrunning fate. It scared her to think it, but she was beginning to believe that the power she was starting to feel within her might be the evil and corruption the fates had talked about. Flashes were on constant rotation, her in the fates cave with her voice raised, her mother's wrist caught in her hand, Poseidon's smirking face. These were not normal events for her, these were never anything Kore would have done. No, these were much darker.
Unexpectedly, a voice came from behind her, startling her out of her thoughts, "Where is Hades?" Turning, she saw Hera walking in all her queenly glory down the garden steps towards her.
"I believe he's talking with his brothers," Persephone said. She remembered watching Zeus and Poseidon whisk Hades off in celebration into the crowd. Although Poseidon had not said a word during the trial, she was still wary of him. But ultimately, she knew he was Hades' brother, and Hades had been cut off from his family for so long that she hoped somehow this could bring them closer together. Even if it meant socializing with the God of the sea.
"Oh dear, they should not be left alone for long, or there might be a small war on the horizon." Hera laughed as she joined Persephone at the edge of the garden. "You were very brave today, Persephone."
"You do not call me Kore?" She asked the queen of the gods. They had never met before, and she expected the goddess to refer to Persephone with her given name. No matter what was used in the trial, she knew that all the gods would always know her by her original name. No matter how far she was raised, she would always be the little goddess of spring.
"No. Persephone suits you nicely. Do you know, it means destroyer?" She said, looking out over the immense garden. Persephone quickly remembered everything that had happened since Hades asked her to be his queen, how much she had grown, how much she had changed. "You are now the destroyer, and every time they use your name, they will remember that. They will remember today and how strong you were. How you stood up to one of the first six gods and won." Hera did not disguise or hide her words. She said what she meant and regretted none of it.
YOU ARE READING
DIVINE - A Persephone And Hades Retelling
Historical Fiction"I've told you, Hades, I can not become your mistress." she sadly told him. She had always lived in her mother's shadow, and if she followed Hades, she would once again be living in another's shadow. Even though she loved him, she did not think she...
