Wednesday and Bianca brush past each other; one wearing a smug smirk, the other wearing a blank expression. The Addams siblings (with occasional input from Persephone) had been scheming all night to ensure the Poe Cup would not end up in the hands of Bianca Barclay.
"We're all set." Enid informs the gothic girl excitedly as the three girls meet up before the race. She's hopeful that she may actually win this time.
"Good. Thing's in position." Wednesday replies before eyeing Persephone. "You know what to do?" Persephone nods once in confirmation.
"Wanna tell me what you guys have been up to all night?" Enid inquires, having been kept in the dark about the trio's plans.
"Oh, E. That would spoil the surprise." Persephone remarks as Wednesday nods in agreement.
"Speaking of surprises, your costume's in the tent!" Persephone is sure that Enid will burst from eagerness while Wednesday's face is full of panic.
"Costume?"
◇ ◇ ◇
"Oh, wow!" Hades exclaims as his sister emerges from the tent in a latex bodysuit and cat ears. "Sephy! Take a picture!" He throws an arm over his sister's shoulder, pulling her closer as he grins smugly. Persephone quickly pulls out her phone and snaps a few photos. She even manages to get some action shots of Wednesday almost dislocating Hades' shoulder as she removes his arm from around her. The slightly pained boy groans, "Did you get it, Seph?"
He stumbles over to her as she holds out her phone to show him the photos. "Yes, I got it, honey." She pats his cheek teasingly, before her face morphs into one of concern. "How's your shoulder?"
Hades rotates his arm to try and ease some feeling back into his shoulder. He winces but manages to grit out, "It was worth it."
"OMG, you look purr-fect!" Enid squeals, joining Wednesday in the cat costume with dark lipstick and painted whiskers on her cheeks. "Only thing, where are your whiskers?" She looks over her shoulder at her other roommate, who is adding her new Hades photos to her designated album. "Persephone! You were supposed to be on whisker duty!" She scolds, placing her hands on her hips.
"I valued my life too much to even attempt to go near her with a paint brush." Persephone replies, trying to avoid looking at Wednesday's sour expression. She didn't know why they had given her another artsy task. They obviously hadn't learned from her disastrous attempt at painting the boat
"A wise choice. I know 100 ways to kill someone with a paint brush." Wednesday warns before turning to Enid. "Ask me that again, and you'll be down to eight lives... and you'll be needing a new paint brush."
"Seph, your costume is also in the tent." Enid informs her friend with a smirk. Persephone, who knew she wasn't part of the team that would be rowing, hadn't been expecting to have to wear the same costume as everyone else.
"My what?!"
◇ ◇ ◇
The four boats float at the starting line, ready and eager to take off. A crowd of students and teachers stand cheering behind them, although a certain pair are surprisingly absent. This thankfully goes unnoticed by the other teams who are too focused on the competitors in the boats next to them. Some are a little too focused on their competitors...
Enid gives Ajax a shy smile as they lock eyes. He is glad that his chalky face paint hides his sheepish blush as looks down bashfully. Their moment is interrupted by Addams sibling sitting behind the blonde. "Focus." She hisses, before she also locks eyes with someone from the clown-faced boat: Xavier.
"What do we have here?" The taunting voice of Bianca rings out. "The runt of the litter." Her lips are painted black and she has fierce gold and black pigments decorating her eyelids. Her face, which remains smug, also shows hints of discomfort as she fidgets in her seat. The rest of her team also appears to be having the same problem, although some of them are scratching at the material of their costumes.
Wednesday chooses to ignore the previous comment. "For the record, I don't believe I'm better than everyone else. Just that I'm better than you." She pauses for a moment to let her words sink in before adding, "I bet your team are just itching to start." Bianca's eyebrows scrunch before her face falls.
Weems' voice booms across the crowd as Enid leans back in her seat to whisper to Wednesday, "What did you do?"
Wednesday turns away from Bianca. "Technically, it wasn't me," She explains truthfully. "Persephone has become quite adept at growing poison ivy. Some of it may have slipped into Bianca's team uniforms." Enid lets out a small snort, already loving the angry expression on Bianca's face.
The two girls tune back into their surroundings as Weems announces, "Let the Poe Cup begin!" A gun is shot into the air as the boats are pushed off and the teams begin to row.
Meanwhile, Hades and Persephone are waiting on the shore of Raven Island. Hades is peering through his binoculars, watching as the boats edge closer to the island. Persephone had refused to wear the cat ears but had given up trying to argue against Enid about not wearing the costume. Hades was a blushing and stuttering mess when he saw her in the bodysuit, he could barely string a proper sentence together (Enid made sure to get photos of his reaction to send to Persephone). He was bitterly disappointed when he was stuck on lookout duty, as he would much rather spend his time admiring the bewitching angel perched next to him.
"Woah! Weds is about to get decapitated by an axe!" Hades gasps in a delighted tone before sighing in disappointment, "Never mind... She ducked."
"She needs to survive if we want to win the Cup." Persephone reminds him with a roll of her eyes. Hades groans at the hint that he has to make sure his sister stays alive. "Any signs of the sirens' sabotage yet?"
"If you count a boat being mysteriously pushed off course and being forced to crash as 'siren sabotage'... then yes, there are a few signs." Hades drawls monotonously.
"They definitely did that last year." Persephone complains. The sirens really weren't creative in their tactics. "I could forgive them for the sabotaging if they just changed it up every now and then."
"Love, are you critiquing their style of cheating?" Hades laughs, removing the binoculars from his face to look at the girl.
Persephone immediately shoves his face back in the direction of the race. "Keep watching, binocular boy!" Hades smirks at the fact that he can get under her skin, before obeying her orders and focusing on the race once more.
"That siren is heading towards our boat." Hades nudges Persephone gently, seeing the scaled boy plunge into the water. She nods and pulls out a compact mirror. She angles it so that it catches the sun and aims it to signal to Wednesday.
Noticing the distracting light, Wednesday stops rowing and swaps her oar for a telescope. She spots the siren boy splashing towards them. "Thing." She orders, watching as the hand prepares to launch one of the boat's newest improvements. Flicking the lever, he releases a net which traps the siren and prevents him from wrecking their boat.
"That clown team is nearly here. We should get moving." The Addams boy warns, taking Persephone's hand and retreating into the trees. They reach their second hiding spot near to Crackstone's Crypt, hidden just out of sight from the pair of jokers running down the path. Persephone extends her right arm, focusing on the exposed root of a tree. Rotating her hand to manipulate it, the root extends from the ground and successfully trips the two boys. Their bodies make a loud thud as they smack into the ground, making Hades and Persephone slap their hands over their mouths to muffle their laughs.
"What the hell?" The boys cry out in confusion, glancing around before scrambling to their feet. However, the distraction has provided Wednesday with some time to catch up. The jokers reach the crypt and pull out their flag, starting their race back to the finish line.
"Later Wednesday!" Xavier yells as he passes the girl. Persephone notes that the boys seem more cautious of where they're running this time, as they avoid tripping on the protruding root. However, with their attention focused solely on their feet, they fail to notice the low hanging branch that Persephone has steered directly into their faces. Their tall statues cause them a disadvantage as the branch thwacks their heads and knocks off their hats. "Oh, come on!"
"That'll buy Wednesday some time." Persephone mutters smugly. Unfortunately, this causes the boys to glance in their direction, searching for the culprit. Hades carefully tugs Persephone to the ground and the pair hold their breath as they wait to hear the sound of retreating footfall. Relieved sighs are heaved before the reality of their position sinks in. Hades is propped up with his hands resting on either side of her head as her hair fans out around her head like a halo. Their noses brush against each other as Hades' eyes flicker down to her soft lips. Being just a few centimetres away from her heavenly taste was the cruelest torture.
A loud thud has them pulling away and looking up at Wednesday, who is lying on the forest floor in a trance. "Bad timing, Weds." Hades grits out, rushing from their hiding spot to tend to his sister while Persephone keeps an eye out for the siren. "Weds, I'm gonna need you to snap out of this quickly." He groans as Wednesday appears to be deep in a vision.
"The sirens are coming." Persephone calls out, watching the two jogging up the trail, still scratching at their irritated skin. She is able to use the same root trick on the girls, slowing them down but they still reach the crypt before Wednesday has woken up.
"Did Persephone really think her little poison ivy trick would slow us down?" Bianca taunts Hades, who sends her a quick warning glare.
"She's more powerful than you think." He argues back, believing wholeheartedly that his girl had simply been held back from unleashing her full potential.
"What's she going to do? Attack me with a bouquet of flowers?" Bianca jeers, unaware that Persephone could hear every word. Normally she would've been embarrassed at the insulting digs at her power. But Hades' words stuck in her head. She's more powerful than you think.
Hades has grown frustrated as the sirens' taunting laughs fill his ears. "Wednesday!" He shouts before resorting to his speciality: violence. He delivers a series of swift pats to his sister's face which seems to do the trick, as Wednesday awakens from her vision.
"Taking a catnap?" Bianca teases, grabbing her flag. Before she sprints off, she takes the time to send a flirtatious wink to Hades, which causes him to recoil with disgust. Persephone, fed up with Bianca's games and humiliation, emerges from her hiding spot. The ground rumbles and shakes, matching Persephone's fury. The sirens are forced to a stop as the muddy earth encases their feet and slows them down. Seething with anger, Persephone throws out her hand as the tree roots rapidly shoot up from the ground and wrap around the two sirens' ankles. They tumble to the ground as their feet are harshly yanked out from underneath them. The leaves of the trees roar with anger as the branches sway and swish. Rocks swirl around her outstretched arm as the entire forest seems to come to life at Persephone's command. Everyone stares open-mouthed at the girl responsible.
Persephone had never felt anything like that before. Whenever she's used her powers intentionally, she has always been calm and collected. This time was different. She was angry. She was enraged. She was jealous. And her powers had reacted according to her emotions. She felt... powerful. This was not a feeling that was familiar to her. People had always viewed her powers as harmless and elegant because she could grow flowers. But they had no idea that she was capable of so much more.
Looking down at her shaking hands, Persephone realised that she had unlocked a newer, darker side of herself. Unsure of how to feel, she turned to glance at Hades and judge his reaction to her. She was terrified that he would fear her, call her a monster or a freak. Instead she saw pride, admiration and another emotion that she couldn't quite place. Hades, the Lord of Darkness himself, is kneeling before her. With him, she finally realises her true potential. She is half goddess and half hell. Both hellfire and holy water.
This rose had just grown thorns...
And she fucking loves it.