Olympus Academy

Persephone

As she blankly watched the botany teacher explain the different stages of photosynthesis, Persephone braided her hair. Even though the other students were nodding off, she found it easy to stay awake during class, although her teacher was pretty dry. She only had time to begin explaining the function of the thylakoid membrane before the sweet sound of the lunch bell alerted everyone to pack up. They piled on top of each other, trying to escape the classroom before any homework could be assigned.

Persephone finished her braid, leaving class calmly. She attached pastel flowers to the braid; the product was quite a lovely hairdo.

Everyone stereotyped Persephone as a weak, sappy baby. On the contrary, she was only acting that way to blend in with her friends: Aphrodite, Eros, Philotes, and Anteros. Her cousin, Demeter, had taught her to blend in during her freshman year.

After navigating the halls, Persephone found her locker and grabbed her plain lunchbox, then checked her reflection in her mirror and left to find her friends. Aphrodite was waiting by the lunchroom door; Eros, Aphrodite's cousin, wasn't far behind. Eros left to join the lunch line as the girls sat at "their table". Philotes and Anteros joined them a minute later.

Persephone took out her sprout sandwich and pretzels with hummus as Aphrodite started on her carrots and ranch; Anteros and Philotes started daring each other to eat each others' meals from the hot lunch.

"I bet the nuggets are made of rat brains," complained Philotes as he picked one up with two fingers.

"The applesauce probably has ground worms," added Anteros, who looked a bit disgusted.

"It's not that bad," Aphrodite said pleasantly. "Zeus ate bulls' parts before but still has a good complexion."

Anteros and Philotes glanced at each other, then haltingly started eating together. Eros placed his tray on the table, then put an arm around Anteros' waist.

As Persephone took another bite of her sandwich, a cold hand rested on her shoulder. She was wearing a white sleeveless blouse (OA's uniform had a lot of loopholes), so she shivered and looked up. Her boyfriend, Hades, sat next to her and ignored everyone's stares. Aphrodite accepted their relationship but Eros, Philotes, and Anteros clearly didn't like Hades.

Hades started eating pomegranate arils from a container. It was one of the few things always in his lunch; sometimes she worried about him since all he ever did was hang out with her and Charon and mope around.

Philotes and Anteros started squabbling, their "rat brain" nuggets being pushed back and forth between the two. Aphrodite and Persephone ate in silence while Hades texted Charon.

Hades soon stood, kissed the top of Persephone's head, and said, "Your hair looks cute. Cerberus escaped and Charon is afraid someone's gonna find him. Sorry...."

"It's fine," said Persephone, flattered at the hair comment.

Once he was gone, a chicken patty flew at Eros' face and he yelped. "Stop touching the food," Aphrodite ordered.

"I'm gonna go wash my face," Eros announced, standing. He tossed his hair and glared at Philotes, then stalked out of the cafeteria. Aphrodite turned to Philotes and Anteros. "He's such a drama queen."

"I know," Anteros, "but I still love him. Philly, you're pissing off my boyfriend, buzz off."

Philotes was obviously fighting back laughter. "Sure, buddy, whatever you say."

Persephone stared at the doors blankly until her thoughts were interrupted by a huge black dog, which bounded into the cafeteria and started licking her face. "Cerberus!" she cried.

Hades rushed in, saw the silent cafeteria, and stopped right inside the doorway. The teacher on duty, Professor Kronos, hurried over; Cerberus ran toward the lunch line and started chasing his tail.

"Whose dog is this?" he shouted at the students. "I demand to know!"

"Mine," squeaked Persephone in a small voice as she shakily stood - she was either really brave or really stupid.

"What was that, Persephone?!" yelled Professor Kronos.

"Mine!" she shouted. "Right, Cerberus?"

Cerberus bounded over to her and licked her face when she crouched down. She knew Hades had severe anxiety, and she'd rather take the blame than let Hades.

"And why, Persephone," he seethed, dangerously quiet this time, "do you have a pet on campus?"

"I... was experimenting on him," she said confidently. "In science, we learned about... biochemical infusion...." She hoped Professor Kronos knew nothing about science, because she had no idea what she was talking about. "I wanted to do a bit of extracurricular research. I was gonna order some jumper cables and such, maybe see if I could grow him some... extra limbs...."

Professor Kronos looked convinced. He taught history, so he didn't see through her BS. She saw Athena start to open her mouth, probably to claim that biochemical infusion isn't a real thing, but Persephone shot her desperate look and she closed her mouth.

"Alright," Professor Kronos said, "you may keep it in your room for now. But if it causes anymore disruptions...."

The bell rang and Persephone led Cerberus back to her dorm. Hades was already in there, texting Charon about the dog situation.

She sat next to him and Hades looked up, grinned, and kissed her happily. "Thanks for taking the blame," he murmured against her lips.

"It's fine," she replied. Hades' phone chimed and he read the text, paled even more than usual, and turned the screen so she could read it.

"Hestia just told me Iris is summoning a Titan for her history project?" Persephone read. "That is not good."

"No kidding," Hades replied, standing. "Let's go talk to her."