𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐕𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄 ➤ 𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆

xi. the girl he loves

The room needed a bit more color.

No, the whole castle needed color and life.

That's what Persephone thought to herself as she lay sprawled across her bed one early morning. It had been three weeks since she arrived in the Underworld, and she had now adjusted to the realm.

But she did admit (not out loud, of course), that she often missed the upper realm.

She missed seeing the first rays of sunlight at dawn and feeling its warmth. She missed the fresh scent of her garden. She missed seeing real flowers.

She missed her best friends, Artemis and Athena.

Oh, Gods, Persephone couldn't imagine how much her two friends blamed themselves for her disappearance. They must be very worried and guilty.

She missed the boys, too. Eros, Hermes, and dear Apollo.

She longed to return home. And ... her mother.

But here in the Underworld, she felt free. She had the freedom to be herself. Although she still required an entourage of maids, she no longer had to worry about being watched by an overly protective mother.

To be honest, Hades was treating her exceptionally well.

"Maybe he wouldn't be that mad if I ..." she said to herself in a sing-song voice, leaping from her bed.

Perhaps it was a reckless and childish thing –

No. Persephone couldn't fight the childish urge.

Mountains of flowers sprouted up in the corridors, covering the floors, stair banisters, columns, beams, and pretty much everywhere else. She giggled to herself.

Persephone recalled a vivid childhood memory of decorating Zeus' grand throneroom with flowers during a rare visit with her mother. Demeter was appalled by the little goddess' childish behavior, but Zeus found it both amusing and adorable.

"Curse the –"

Her head snapped up.

She wasn't alone.

An unfamiliar cloaked figure emerged from the dark hall outside her bedroom and slowly made its way towards the door. Persephone felt a shiver run down her spine as she walked back to her large bed.

"Who would grow flowers in the early hours?"
The stranger's voice was grumbling.

"And who would dare to intrude on the King's castle in the early hours?" she spoke aloud, swallowing all the fear she felt before. "If you dare to harm me, I-I-I-I'll scream and call Hades!"

"Perfect, because I am looking for him."

The stranger unmasked. Persephone knitted her eyebrows in utter bafflement. "You?"

It was the nymph she and Hades had met a week earlier. The nymph who gave her a nasty look rather than a warm welcome; the nymph that Hades pulled aside, possibly triggering his dreaded mood swings.

What was her name again?

Started with the letter M.

"Surprised that you recognize me." the nymph said coolly, brushing the little flowers from her cloak. "Persephone," she said with a slight sneer, but she was polite enough to bob her head at the goddess.

"Mint. What are you doing –" The nymph's exasperated groan cut Persephone off. Had she mispronounced her name?

"Minthe," she explained, suppressing another frustrated sneer.