Spring in Hades ✔

Chapter 5

Persephone awoke panting, her body covered in a layer of sweat. She had to propped herself up, breathless and weary. A sleeve of her chiton has fallen off of her shoulder, exposing half of a breast. The milky orb looked like it was about to fall out of her tight chiton. The bottom hem of her chiton is lifted up to her knee, exposing her hitched leg. Persephone clicked her tongue when she realised the state of herself. She pulled up her sleeve, then a small smile carved on her face. She brought her hand to touch the cheek that her dream god had touched the night before. She recalled her dream; her chest heavy, heat oozing out of her core. Never in her immortal life had she felt like this before – hot and bothered.

"Kore!" the voice of her mother startled her and brought her back to reality.

"Yes, mother," she answered, trying to control her voice. "Wake up, my petal. I want you dressed before I go," ordered her mother.

Persephone cleaned herself up and got ready. As she emerged out of her room, she saw her beautiful mother getting ready for the Dodekatheon Symposium. Demeter wore an olive green peplos, innocently accentuating her shapely figure. Her fair hair was loosely braided and pulled into a chignon, crowned with a wreath of poppy and barley flower. The Goddess of Harvest looks stunning.

"What are you up to today, my dear Kore?" Demeter's obligatory question to her daughter.

"I like to practise some more for my presentation, for my installation, mother," Persephone answered, watching her mother fuss over the straps of her sandals. Demeter looked up to her daughter with a scrunched up face, annoyed with her sandals' straps; Persephone giggled. "I'll only be gone for a while. I expect to be back home by nightfall. Will you be alright alone, Kore?" worry in her voice.

"Don't worry, mother. The nymphs are nearby if I need any help. Besides, I'm not a child, mother. I'm an old woman, you know," Persephone answered, winking mischievously at her mother. Demeter looked at her daughter, annoyed. Persephone gave her mother a reassuring smile. Demeter said slowly, "Alright then. I'll see you when I get back. Take great care of yourself, my Kore."

Persephone hugged her mother. "Goodbye, mother. Send my love to Artemis and Athena. Tell them I can't wait to see them in a few days," she said, giving her mother a peck on the cheek. "Goodbye, Kore dear. Be good," Demeter pressed on. "I always have," Persephone giggled. Both of Demeter's eyebrows shot upwards. She looked at her daughter closely, before feeling satisfied enough to leave her daughter alone for the rest of the day.

* * *

Persephone set out into the Nysian plains, both hands outstretched, feeling the earth's powers coursing through her. Blooming flowers trailing in her wake. The thought of her daunting presentation worries her. Her half-sisters, Artemis and Athena, are so much younger than her, but they are already a part of the Dodekatheon. Athena already has the city of Athens named after her, while Persephone has only had a handful of people in Eleusis to pray to her as the shadow of her revered mother. The insignificant first-born, she thought to herself dejectedly.

She lay down on the ground, soft moss lined her back. Both palms of her hand splayed open on the earth, her spirit in-sync with nature; she relaxed. The image of her mysterious god came to her mind, making her smile incandescently to herself. The thought of him lifted her spirits so high that she jumped up. She could barely feel the ground at her feet. She ran and tumbled across the field, a disarrayed explosion of crocuses, lilies and larkspurs all around. She looked at her masterpiece of colour, satisfied and laughing and singing to her heart's content.

* * *

As Hades travelled above Thebes, invisible in his helm, something caught his eyes from down below. "What's this?' he whispered to himself. A messy burst of colours across the Nysian plains. "Strange. Did the fields have this much colour before?" he asked himself. The patches of colours across the grassland are wild and disorderly. Its... beautiful, he thought. Curious, he lowered his chariot to have a better look.