The Underworld

chapter thirty eight

Alaina

Greek mythology stories had always been my favorite. The ones with happily ever afters. Persephone and Hades. Eros and Psyche. Baucis and Philemon.

Even the ones where you knew either the journey and ending would hurt. Zeus and Hera. Daedalus and Icarus. Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa. Orpheus and Eurydice.

The more you read the more you realized that the Gods and Goddesses weren't so different from humans. The only thing that separated us was the power they each wielded.

Actually, there was no difference. Humans had power as well. Over each other.

Money. Fame. Manpower.

You could do anything with those three things because no one could stop you unless they had more of those than you.

The Greeks truly believed in their Gods and Goddesses. Why else would they write about them? Were they the same ones that looked down at the rest of the humans? Was there an actual God or Goddess in charge of handling the fate of each human? What exactly lead me here?

In times where I wanted to get away from my problems, I thought of stories. I would imagined myself as the main character and replayed my favorite scenes.

It's a shame my first thoughts were of Hades and Persephone's story. Fitting for my situation.

How terrified Persephone was she when Hades kidnapped her and took her to the Underworld? She was taken from her home, away from the people she loved and that loved her. She lived in a world full of color and was forced to live in the dark with a man whose heart matched a corpse's body. Cold and withered.

What were her thoughts about his kingdom? To see that the only life there were the souls of the damned, including Hades himself. She must've compared it to Earth. I could imagine the horrified look on her face when she didn't see a single living plant. How many times did she look into Earth's sky at night and watched the stars. And yet with all the darkness, the only light she saw was the glow emitted from the souls of the dead.

Those were the Underworld's stars.

But Persephone knew that they would only shine for so long because even stars died.

And would soon be lost in the darkness.

How long did she have before the dark would take hers away?

I could relate to Persephone to a point only that our endings were different. Mine was the real ending. The one no one wanted to talk about. Persephone got the happily ever after that was only seen in books or movies.

"Ah there she is."

The hairs on the back of my neck rose and all my thoughts vanished. I slowly shut the book that laid on my lap as his footsteps neared. I kept my gaze on the guards that moved along the garden. He probably thought I was admiring the flowers, sky, and every other beauty in the property.

My breath caught itself in my throat when I felt his presence behind me. He placed his hands on the arms on the chair and leaned forward. His lips hovered beside my ear.

"Louis." His name felt heavy as it passed my lips. It even left a foul taste.

"Greek mythology," he hummed. "Mother used to read them all the time." He paused. I forced myself to not shift in my seat. What the hell did he want? The longer he remained silent the more uneasy I grew.