Hades and Persephone

Psyche and Eros

*Persephone*

I awake feeling oddly free - though waking up alone does put a small damper on my mood. Hades gone to work already? Ares must really have spent a lot of time making up for the lost time. He'll be judging all day, I reckon. 

"Hades sends his love," Jasmine calls from the other side of the door. "May I come in? He sent you some breakfast to eat in bed as an apology." 

"You may." I slide out of bed and grab my dusty rose robe to cover myself. I seat myself at my dresser and brush my hair. Taking in my reflection, it was painfully clear how tired I was. I had been tossing and turning all night, thoughts of a dreamy future roaming my head uncontrollably. I sigh, rubbing my face in exhaustion and reach for my beauty cream. 

"Are you alright, your highness?" Isabelle questions, wheeling in a tray filled with a bountiful breakfast. 

"I'm quite alright. Exhausted, and famished...that's all." I slowly rub the cream into my pores, soaking in its youth and energy I usually have automatically whenever I'm out in the sunshine.

"What is that?  If you do not mind me asking?" Jasmine looks in awe as every speck of imperfection vanishes from my face. 

"I have more talents than people realize." I giggle. "Now and again I do some things that aren't always related to flowers and spring. Now and again...I have other ideas." 

"Up above ground, I had never been a vain person." I calmly explain, inviting the girls to sit with me. "I did, however, take my beauty for granted. The sunshine radiated through me naturally. My hair shone brightly on its own, my skin had a healthy glow and a healthy tan was my natural appearance - but, once someone lives in the Underworld, some things change." 

Jasmine and Isabelle's eyes both widen in horror. "My Queen! Is the Underworld making you suffer? We will help in any way-" 

I shush them, amused. "No girls, it is not. Though I do have to do some things differently down here. I feed off of the sun. Without it, I find myself feeling drained more often. I am tired, I do not sleep as well down here, and my skin suffers." 

"Your highness, your skin looks spectacular, just as if you were basking in the sun just a moment ago. You do not even appear tired anymore at all." Isabelle is utterly astonished. 

I point to the cream. "Indeed, thanks to this. Without this, I would be suffering the consequences of terrible sleep and no sunshine." I smile proudly. "I made it myself. Now, don't tell Hades. He doesn't need to know how the Underworld is affecting me if I've already found a solution." 

The girls nod, but we are shortly interrupted. 

Isabelle and Jasmine dart out the door. "Someone has arrived in the Underworld, your highness." 

I send for them to check who it is, inwardly hoping that it is not an angry visitor. I don't know what I would do if Ares were to come back, even more angry than before. 

"Our Queen! It is a girl, looking for you. She says she needs your help." Isabelle bursts back into my room, breathless. "Do you wish to speak to her, or should I send her away?" 

"Hmm, that is odd." I hum curiously. "I will be willing to meet with her. She will just have to wait a few minutes while I dress." 

Isabelle and Jasmine do up the back of my yellow gown, and soon enough I am entering the front throne room. The small girl waited for me, humbly on her knees. Her fawn blonde hair flowed over her shoulders, concealing her face entirely...but one thing was for certain: she was just some mortal girl. A mortal girl absolutely terrified, but determined. 

I breathe out a gasp of surprise. Another mortal has made their way into the Underworld unharmed? Just to see me? What could I possibly do for her?

I sit in my throne. "You have my permission to speak, girl." I murmur, still in a curious daze at the girls need to meet with me. It must be important to have come to such a forbidden place - especially in the eyes of a mortal. 

"Thank you, your highness." The girl's voice is soft, almost angelic. She stands slowly, clearly exhausted from her long journey. 

"Girls, get her some water!" I quickly order. "Poor thing..." 

"No, no, thank you. I cannot accept." The girl quickly interjects. 

I turn to her abruptly, finally able to take a peek at the girl's identity. In return, the girl gawks back, both of us staring at each other's beauty. Her face is ungodly perfect, a feat nearly impossible for a mortal. She is a goddess herself, she has to be....but she isn't.

"Why not?" I question in awe. 

"Please, you must help me." The girl pleads quietly. "I am to complete a task for Aphrodite, so that she may allow me to be with my true love." She seems to revert back into herself shyly. My eyes travel down her body...I sigh in sympathy at the sight of her small pregnant belly. 

"And this is your loves child?" I whisper. 

"Yes." Tears begin to streak her cheeks. "He has been taken from me by Aphrodite, until I can prove that I am worthy of him. This all only started because she believed I was unworthy of my beauty. So...she has sent me here to retrieve the secret of your beauty." 

My thoughts instantly went to my beauty cream...but what would Aphrodite possibly want it for? She is already the most beautiful goddess out of us all. There is no beauty secret that I could possibly have that she does not have unless-

I frown sadly at the thought. The goddess sent this poor girl down here to die. What could this innocent girl possibly have done to deserve this? My heart is breaking at the mere thought of Hades being torn away from me while I was growing his child inside me. 

"Dear girl, why would Aphrodite punish you with certain death? A certain death you have defied, no less, somehow." I nearly laugh in astonishment. "Your man better love you after this." 

"I hope so." She nearly smiles. Looking down she reveals the truth to me. "The love I seek to rekindle with is Aphrodite's son, Eros. She had sent him to strike me with his arrow, making me fall in love with the most hideous monster in all the land...as she was threatened by my beauty. She wanted to give me a terrible life simply for daring to be born more beautiful than her." She weeps quietly, as she looks away. "Instead, Eros fell in love with me and made me his wife. I was so happy...so, so happy he did not do as his mother told him...but when she found out she ripped what we had all to pieces." Her sobs finally let loose, striking the poor girl with uncontrollable grief. 

I sit, overcome with her words. That hideous goddess...I suppose there is someone just as spiteful as my mother out there. I am beginning to agree with Hades. They are all imbeciles up there. 

I stand confidently. "I will aid you in every way I can. Now, what is your name?" 

"Thank you! You are so generous! I am forever indebted to you!" She weeps with joy. "I am Psyche." 

"Well, Psyche, you can repay me by never entering the Underworld again. I want you and Eros to live happily together forever."