ᴘᴇʀꜱᴇᴘʜᴏɴᴇ | once upon a time [ EDITING ]

- ᴛʜᴇ ꜰʀᴜɪᴛꜱ ᴏꜰ ʜᴇʀ ʟᴀʙᴏʀ.

— ᴛʜᴇ ꜰʀᴜɪᴛꜱ ᴏꜰ ʜᴇʀ ʟᴀʙᴏʀ.

"Ah, back so early?" Loki watches the girl shuffle through the small cave entrance. She was obviously tired and her clothes were burned on the edges. "I had thought the Dark One would have more surprises for you in his castle," he muses, one of his eyebrows raised. Presley sends the god a heated glare and throws a horned golden helmet at him. "Here, as you asked. Your little stag helmet now concluded my tenth labor. Tell me my next so you can tell me what I need to know and I can go on with my journey," she snarls. Loki chuckles at her clear irritation. "As you wish, dear. But, I must warn you that this one will not be as easy to fulfill as your earlier labors."

His remark made Presley furious. "Easy? You call these labors easy?" She approaches the bound god, screaming at him in the anger that she witheld until then. "I defeated that witch and that Strigoi you wanted me to kill. I went to the Palace of Mirrors like you wanted me to and had to slaughter a ghost who presented itself as my loved ones. I had to withstand throwing myself into that ocean on the Siren Beach and the chance of complete invulnerability, the one thing that you know is so hard for me to fight, by turning away from the river Styx. And do not forget the Nemean Lion who wanted to rip my leg off, as Sif wanted to do to me when I cut her hair off! So, no, those labors were not at all easy and don't pretend like they were. Unless you want to sound like an old fool, of course."

Presley takes a deep breath while Loki backs a little on his rock. He knew that she could not truly hurt him, but it did not mean he was out for the pain she could definitely inflict on him. The girl takes a step backwards and clenches her fist. "Just tell me the next damn labor."

Loki clears his throat and acts as if nothing had transpired. "Your Eleventh Labor is to find Cerberus and defeat him." Presley frowns at his words. "Cerberus? Who is Cerberus, a wizard or something?" Loki shakes his head. "I wished he was a wizard, but no. Cerberus is a dog."

That caused Presley to scoff aloud. "You want me to defeat a dog? Are you running out of ideas for me to do, Loki?" The god chuckles after her words. "You are becoming cocky, Persephone. But I must warn you that Cerberus is no ordinairy dog. He has three heads and lives on the border of the world of the living and the land of the dead to ensure no souls leave the Underworld. No one has ever survived a fight against him before. Not even the greatest of heroes." Presley watches the god carefully as he speaks. She was hoping to see something in his face that meant he was lying or exaggerating, but for once he seemed completely truthful.

"Fine. I will.. defeat the dog." Presley sighs in defeat before turning away, leaving the cave again. During her time spent with Loki he had taught her a little bit of magic. Just enough to come by, he had told her. He had recently taught her a transportation spell where she would disappear in a puff of smoke and appear wherever she desired. Presley had been so angry that he had not taught her that immediately since it could have saved her quite a bit of precious time during her Labors. But of course she could not express that anger towards the person that was going to help her in the end, so she kept her fury at bay.