demigod 2 - fire and sparks

12.

"Hades looked at Mingi. 'You have to stop fainting,' Hades said, holding out his hand toward his son. 'You have to master these powers, you know. How else will you be able to take over my role in the future?' Hades questioned. Mingi raised his eyebrows. 'I'm the god of love; I can't be trapped down here.'"

"Hey." The two males turned to look at the female voice that raised her voice at the words Mingi had uttered. Persephone walked over, almost stomping her feet to the ground. Her hair flowed down to her waist, stunning as always. Even Mingi found her attractive, and Hades hit him over the head; clearly, he'd been staring. For the first time, Mingi was seeing Persephone as a woman and not his grandmother. To sum it up, he had conflicted feelings about this.

"It's nice to finally meet you properly," she smiled at Mingi, who nodded. Last time, after all, he almost burst with joy thinking he belonged in her bloodline; now he felt awkward about it.

"So, technically, I'm your stepmother," she continued, sounding excited, but both Mingi and his father made a face. "I mean, so you won't feel as awkward," she clarified.

Mingi had this idea of Persephone as a proud, head-held-high woman, but to him, she felt a bit odd, or goofy. Hades went up to her side and leaned in to kiss her cheek, whispering something into Persephone's ear. She walked closer to him as Hades seemed to leave the room.

"So, you want to know about Allegra?" she spoke, and Mingi looked at her confused. "Allegra?" he asked, and Persephone nodded. "Yes, your mother."

Mingi felt faint again. "Was that her name?" Persephone looked at him confused. "How can you not know your mother's name?" she asked as she took Mingi's hand and led him to a couch. When he thought about it, this room felt familiar, like he had been there before.

Mingi sat down, and Persephone made a hand movement, causing two glasses of wine and a cheeseboard to appear. "Mingi, what do you know?" she asked again. "I now know that Hades is my father, Amelia is my sister, and that I have another sister, and my family is a bunch of cousins too," he said, leaning back. "Nothing about your mom?" she questioned. "Not really, no. All we know is that she gave birth to us," Mingi replied.

Persephone frowned. "Allegra would be so displeased," she shook her head. "Is that so?" Mingi asked, and she nodded. "Your mother was like spring itself. She was enchanting and breathtaking. I felt like I was walking on the surface," she looked happy as she spoke about the time with his mother. And that somehow made Mingi feel a bit good. He never resented his mother or father, though most probably would, but he didn't. He didn't know why he was alone; he hadn't known until now. "So she was a good person?" Mingi asked, and Persephone's eyes shot open wide. "The best person. I can see her gentle side in you, but you're so much like your father," she said with a soft smile. "Amelia is a lot of Zeus, the arrogance and all that."

Mingi watched her. "In all honesty, watch out for Amelia. I think she'll do anything she needs to and sacrifice anyone if needed. I've heard..." Persephone muttered but then got quiet. "I didn't mean to offend," she said, noticing Mingi's disapproving expression, which made her fall silent.

Mingi took the glass of wine and downed it. "Talk about my mother some more, please," he demanded. Persephone looked taken aback at his words, but she continued: "She was innocent and sweet. I never knew she had become pregnant nor that she had become pregnant again. I was led to believe she was a nymph, which she had said herself." Mingi watched Persephone closely.

A nymph and a demigod—wasn't that big of a difference in many ways, but still some. Nymphs usually can't get sick and don't age. "I realized that Allegra wasn't a nymph when she was getting sick from the food we had down here," Persephone said. "It was clear she was not a fire element nymph, but most noticeably, she became quite ill from the lack of sunlight."

"I didn't want to let her go at first, but Hades was getting jealous, and then I got jealous instead. But there was this instance I realized that Hades and I saw two different people. Hades even painted her," she said with a smile. "My spring garden is all for her."

"So she was a good person?" Persephone nodded. "When the fog lifted after she was gone, I understood who she had been. I went to look for her, and when I found her, she had just given birth. But by instinct, she had put the child up for adoption."

"And that was me?" Persephone shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I would think so. She chose to leave her child to keep it safe. Someone had convinced her of that," Mingi felt the fire ignite. "Made me an orphan? Someone convinced her of that?" Persephone made a face. "I don't think that was the case, Mingi. I think she believed it was the right family to leave you with."