"I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you about this since Hadie only told me because we have a no-secret policy."
Date with Hades
THE SECOND I REALIZED I was sitting on a chair and not on the ground in the wood, I knew I was no longer in this world.
My eyes fluttered open and I saw a beautiful lady wearing a silver gown watching me with a worried look on her face. I recognized her instantly.
"Persephone." I swallowed a lump in my throat and forced myself to speak despite the hoarseness in my voice. "What happened?"
"Someone sent you here."
That was one short answer that could be interpreted as someone killing me and that was the reason why I was here or someone (possibly a god) brought me to the Underworld.
"Who?"
"Someone who took his mother from here, and made her a goddess." Persephone waved her hand and a glass of red wine came out of thin air then landed on the table (which I swore wasn't there before) in front of me. "Drink?" she offered.
The last thing I wanted was to get drunk so I shook my head and proceeded to ask her instead, "who sent me here?"
"One who also brought his wife back to life and made her immortal," she answered vaguely.
Seriously. Everyone should know by now that I was bad at history, especially the one about our kind.
"You should drink." She pushed the glass a little closer toward me.
Maybe if I drink this, she would tell me. I grabbed the glass and took a sip. Unlike the wine that I'd tasted before, this wine was incredibly sweet, even for a sweet tooth like me.
I placed the glass carefully on the table as the warmth spread from my throat, jaw, then all the way to my cheeks. If the light wasn't dimmed, she could probably see how red my face was right now. "Could you just spell the name for me instead of giving me hints?"
Persephone heavily sighed. For a split second, I could see her pout in annoyance. A rather childish movement that didn't suit her elegance and glamorous look. "He's my half-brother. The god of wine, vegetation, pleasure, festivity, madness, and frenzy," answered her, still not giving his name.
Her first sentence, however, caught my attention. "Wait." I held up one hand. "Did you just say that he's your half-brother?" I forced my exhausted brain to think. "Does that mean he's one of Zeus' sons?"
Persephone nodded eagerly. "Yes." She looked at me expectantly, hoping I would be able to guess.
I frowned. "But he has a lot of sons considering he hooked up with nearly everyone."
"That's why I gave you the wine as a hint." She clicked her tongue disappointedly. "I thought you'd be able to figure it out."
I lifted my brows as I argued, "how would I know that it's a hint?"
Persephone, the goddess of Springtime and Flowers, Queen of the Underworld, rolled her eyes at me. Sometimes I forgot that she was almost the same age as me. "I asked you multiple times to drink. Plus, I gave you the sweetest wine possible so you'd definitely know something was odd."
I nodded. "So that ridiculously sweet wine was on purpose."
"Well, duh." She shrugged one shoulder, giving me a pointed look. "If you don't recall, I'm also the Goddess of Vegetation. Do you think I'm not able to produce the best grapes and make a good wine like my half-brother?"
No one would believe that I had this kind of conversation with Persephone. Yet again, not everyone had the honor to meet her in person.
"Okay," I held both hands, defeatedly raising my white flag. "So your half-brother decided to zap me back to Underworld. But why? I have nothing against him."
Hell, if I was honest, I didn't even know him.
"I don't know." Persephone shook her head. "But I believe Dionysus has reasons for his action."
Aha! So his name was Dionysus. Why did that name sound so familiar? I began to wonder if he was perhaps one of the characters in Percy Jackson, which was my only source of Greek myth since I was too lazy to read thick history books.
She rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward. "Do you have any recollection of what happened before you were sent here?"
"I remember being chased by some old faction members. They were able to outrun me so I gave up running." I recalled waving at them, telling them that I surrendered.
"What happened then?"
I looked up, locking my eyes with her golden brown eyes. "A fire came out of nowhere and started to burn everything. There was something soothing in the middle of it and it pulled me into its core." I noticed Persephone was listening to my every word and found this rather odd. "When I opened my eyes, I was here."
We were busy with our own thoughts for a full minute before Persephone opened her mouth and spoke, "that's not how you suppose to travel to the Underworld."
"I know one way is to die. I mean, that's how I got here all the time. What's the other way?" I asked curiously.
She looked at me as if deciding whether it was alright to tell me and that made me even more curious.
"What is it, Seffie?" I asked her, using the nickname that my father, Lord Hades, had given her.
She bit her bottom lip anxiously. "I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you about this since Hadie only told me because we have a no-secret policy." Persephone sighed. "Well, the thing is, there are some ways to get here. But there's only one special way a mere human could cross."
Chills ran down my spine as curiosity won over me. "Which is?"
Persephone opened her mouth to say something, then obviously thought the better of it, clamping her lips shut. "I can't say."
I groaned. "Oh, come on now. You're killing me. What's the special way to get here?"
"Using a special key," answered a deep voice laced with both authority and superiority. "A special key that I gave to someone out of kindness and pity."
Standing in the doorway was my father, Lord Hades, with Cerberus (or what I'd like to call Cerby) on his side.
"Papa!" I jumped on my feet and ran towards him. He waited for me with open arms that enveloped me in a hug.
"I'm so happy you're here, Avery," greeted him. It was the first time he called me using that name as previously he always used Isabelle.
I pulled away and grinned. "I'm happy to be here too, Papa. I miss you."
He smiled. "I miss you too, sweetheart. We all do."
"Pa," I locked my gaze with his and swallowed convulsively. "I want to know the reason why I am here. And also, what's with this special key?"
"I'll answer that over dinner." Unlike Persephone, Hades didn't have to make a gesture or click his hand, a round wooden table suddenly appeared and we all suddenly were seated in chairs surrounding it. Many types of foods and fruits are placed on the table along with glasses of wine and cold water.
Once we got to desserts, I could no longer hold back my tongue. "Pa," I started.
Hades smiled, shaking his head lightly. "It took you longer than usual," commented him, making my cheeks blush. I should've known that my father knew me better than anyone, except maybe Vlad.
He wiped his mouth and placed the napkin on the table on the side of his plate. "That key allows anyone to open any door which could lead to the Underworld."
"Who possesses the key?" I asked.
"Hadie gave it to a woman named Cassandra," Persephone answered it for him as my father was busy with a glass of wine in his hand.
I didn't recall any Cassandra. "I'm sorry, who?"
"Seffie, you're always bad with names." Hades chuckled. "It's Cassandrhea, not Cassandra." My father turned his gaze to me and smiled. "But I think you're more familiar with her nickname Rhea."
I nearly choked on my wine. "As in Queen Rhea Christoulakis?!"
If I was having a feast with any gods other than these two, they would've turned me into a frog or something worse due to my outburst.
Both Hades and Persephone seemed to enjoy my moment of utter shock as they shared a satisfied look.
"As a matter of fact," said Hades as he raised one hand and pointed at me, "you have it around your neck."
* * *
Surprised? If yes, then I think I did a good job. So, my lovely angels who are patient enough to wait for this long overdue update, what do you think will happen? Why did Hades give the key to Queen Rhea? Why do you think she needs to go to the Underworld? Let me know in the comments ♥
Loads of Pizza,
Your noob neighborhood author,
agatha x