Hades and Persephone

Chapter 8

Persephone groaned as the sunlight streamed through her window. She cracked open an eye and glared at it. Since she started staying out all night in the Underworld, she had begun to despise the morning. She rolled onto her stomach and sighed. This couldn't go on forever.

"Persephone! Time to get up!" Demeter could be heard moving about the cottage outside of her door.

She groaned again in response. 

There was a hard knock on her door. "Persephone. Get out of bed now."

She threw back her sheets, her feet hitting the ground. "Coming!"

Her mother was waiting with breakfast sitting on the table. Demeter pointed to a bowl with a spoon. "Eat your ambrosia." She turned and went back to her plants.

Persephone sat down hard in her chair, spooning her ambrosia oatmeal into her mouth. She eyed her mother warily; she seemed much too chipper.

"What's going on?" Persephone finally asked.

Demeter toyed with her plants. "Oh, nothing."

Persephone raised an eyebrow. "Tell me."

Demeter turned around, a flower tucked behind her ear. "I heard that Hades has finally found a goddess! I knew he would, that rascal."

Her daughter choked on her oatmeal. "H-Hades?" She cleared her throat. "How did you hear?"

"Oh, Hecate. She knows everything." Demeter spun back around to her plants. "Anyway, finally his brothers will get off his back. Zeus has been pestering about him not having a wife for centuries."

"Who do you think it is?"

"Oh I heard it was some nymph. They probably met when he came up for air."

"Up for air?"

Demeter's head bobbed. "Yes. He likes to come up above ground every now and then. Sometimes it's just to get some fresh air, other times he comes to me for herbs. He will always be welcome here. He was always so nice to me at Olympus."

Persephone smiled. "Really?"

"Oh yes. After the whole . . . incident . . . he really helped me out. Zeus, of course, could have cared less. He's the most selfish god I know of. Curse him!" She said the last sentence with such venom that Persephone simply stared at her mother, mouth agape.

"Anyway, that's all in the past." Demeter moved on as if nothing had happened. "Do you have any plans for today, my love?"

"I'll probably take a walk in the woods."

"You should help me with the garden. It's getting all tangled and full of weeds, especially your section. Negligence is not good for nature, Seph."

Persephone scowled into her empty bowl. "Yes, mother."

She wanted to spend time with the nymphs today. She felt like her whole world revolved around her mother and her stupid garden. She loved it, but sometimes she felt like it required too much of her. She huffed.

Persephone ended up spending the whole day in her garden. She had dirt covering her arms up to her elbows, and some even smeared on her cheek. A twig had gotten itself tangled in her hair. She had started out angry, ripping at the weeds, but eventually she had calmed down. Gardening had always been therapeutic for her. 

That night she and Hades discussed the dinner they were to have the next day. She was disappointed she wouldn't be able to actually eat any of the food, but Hades assured her they would have a good time. She had no idea what they would do if they couldn't actually eat together. What was the point of having a dinner if she couldn't eat? But she trusted in him. And she was excited.