A Thousand Thrones

Seventeen

Seventeen

The dozen people sitting in the living room of Damon's house, not including Zoe, were, unlike what one of the guys said, were totally intimidating.  I don't know why they thought they weren't. 

They were all dressed similarly to the way Damon had been when I first saw him in the cafeteria of my school.  Dressed to the nines, in suits and dresses, they all stared at me like they hadn't seen me in years...which was more than likely exactly the case.  None of them looked any older than twenty-five, though I knew all of them were much older than. 

And I felt totally underdressed in my jeans and t-shirt. 

"Don't scare her, Uncle," Zoe said, smiling from her place on the couch.  "She's had a lot go on in the last two or so weeks."

"Of course," the same voice said, but now I could put the face with it. 

One of the men stood and walked slowly up to me.  He was around five-ten and had blond hair and blue eyes.  His smile was dazzling and it was like he was trying to charm me.  I could feel Damon tense up beside me, just by the feel of his hand in mine. 

"Well, if it isn't Persephone.  Where have you been all this time, my dear?" he asked, looking at me with a smile.

I really didn't know what to say, so I looked up at Damon, who had narrowed his eyes at him. 

"Zeus, she doesn't remember anything.  You know that," he said.

I looked back at the blond guy, now realizing exactly who he was. 

"You know I like playing with her.  She usually finds it funny," Zeus said, still smiling at me. 

"Yes, but she doesn't remember anything," he said.

"Yes, I know that, too."

During their little exchange, I was looking around at everyone else in the room.  Their eyes were still on me, watching my every movement. 

One of the women was stepping forward like she was wanting to go to Zeus' side.  There were two standing close together, a man and a woman, and they looked like they must have been twins.  Then there was another woman who was probably the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, her golden blond curls framing her flawless face.  Two men stood on either side of her, both showing signs of possession.  One of them looked fierce, all muscled up, while the other looked more calm.  One of the other men was standing beside a woman, both looking like they would rather not be even remotely close to one other.  And last, there were two other women and a man, both women with dark hair and the man with blond, sitting on one of the couches. 

And I could basically point each and every one of them out just by looking at them. 

Zoe was watching me with a smile on her face.  Her eyes would mostly go down to my hand in Damon's and her smile would practically be blinding.  I knew what she was thinking.

She had all of her family back together now. 

"...going to happen."

I looked back up at Damon, who had been the one speaking. 

"What was that?" I asked. 

"I said, we were going to tell you what's been decided and what was now going to happen," he said. 

"It's more or less going to be the same as every time," one of the women said, standing up.  Just by the way she was holding herself, I knew she was Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy.  "Hades, or Damon as you've always called him, will take you to see Mnemosyne.  Hopefully she'll be able to restore your memory as she's been able to before."

"Well, she never gets it all, does she?" Zeus said. 

I knew what he meant by that.  Damon had mentioned it before, when he was telling me the truth about everything.  Mnemosyne was never able to get my memory of who took me.  That memory was always erased completely. 

"When are we going?" I asked, looking up at Damon. 

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  "What do you mean?" he asked. 

"I mean, I want to go now," I said. 

"Now?"

"Now."

"You heard her," Apollo, one of the twins, said, laughing. 

"Persephone..." Damon started. 

Zeus turned toward everyone who was sitting around on the couches.  "Let's give these two some time, shall we?" he said, waving his hand forward. 

The woman closest to him, Hera, threaded her arm through his right when he started toward me.  She smiled at me, grasping my hand before they headed for the front foyer.  The others followed suit, touching my hand, my arm, or my hair and smiling at me. 

But once they were all gone and I heard the front door close behind them, I felt like I could breath a lot easier.

"I want to go now," I said, looking back at Damon.  "I'm tired of being in the dark about everything.  Yes, you've told me a lot, but there's so much more that you aren't telling me.  I just know it."

Damon didn't say anything at first.  His eyes just locked with mine for a moment before he looked over at Zoe.  She was still beaming and I didn't have a clue why.

"Zoe, can you excuse us for a minute?" he asked.

She nodded as she stood up and skipped to my side.  "Of course, Daddy," she said, smiling.  Before she left the room, she kissed both my and Damon's cheeks and skipped off toward the stairs. 

"Persephone," Damon said, turning toward me.  "Yes, I agree that you should get your memory back as soon as possible, but now?  Don't you maybe want to wait a day or two?"

"What's the hold up?" I asked.  "I mean, it's inevitable.  I'm going to have to know anyway."

"Yes, you will..."

"Then why can't we go now?"

Damon sighed and squeezed my hand almost subconsciously.  I'd even forgotten that he was holding it.  It just felt natural, like I was supposed to do it. 

"Because the way I get into the Underworld won't be open for a few more hours.  Yes, we could go now, but it's better to do it under the cloak of darkness...and among other things," he said.  His mouth quirked up in a smile.

"Says the god who can shadow travel.  Why can't we just do that now?"

"Trust me," he said.  "You'll want no one to know you went into the place we're going to be going.  It's exactly why I made it a gate to the Underworld."

***So...Persie's going to find out what's really going on!  Whoo!

And as you can probably tell, we're getting to a big part of the story.  I'm thinking that this is going to be around 24 chapters, so we're kind of nearing the end!  

Comment, Vote, and Like!!!1***