The Girl that Hades called Persephone

-39-

At times, the guards would switch out, and I was facing a new monster demon-like face. It was uncanny how they were, how they walk, how they spoke. I knew they didn't like me. Not just disliking me, but flat out hating me. 

They called me flower-child and earth-kisser, which I suppose was an insult. To me, I didn't find why it would be, but the tone was what got to me. 

Echidna came in after their food was given to me. She raised an eyebrow at me, and said, "Are you not eating?" 

I shook my head. "No." 

"Stupid child." 

I didn't say anything. I didn't want to give her a reason to have power over me. Remembering what Hades had said about the food in his world, I told her, "I'm in the underworld, right? I can't eat anything here, because I'll be trapped. Hades told me."  

She laughed. "Shocking that Hades would tell you that. He's the type to want to trap you." 

I shook my head. "No . . . he loves me." 

"I didn't say he didn't . . . but you must know he is controlling you right? In his own way, he loves you, but it's not love. It's sick."

"He's not controlling me-" 

"You know he does this a lot, right? He likes to control people, into doing what he wants." 

"That's not true. And Hades does love me." 

"He doesn't love anyone. You? Why would he love you anyway?" 

"Do you love him?" 

She stared at me, her eyes stabbing into me. I knew I got her, I knew that I had crawled into her skin and found a soft spot. "I do not love. Just my children." 

"So, why would you kidnap me?" 

She kneeled down, getting face to face to me. In her hands, she had the keys. To my surprise, she unlocked the cage door and swung it wide open. She held out her hand towards me, treating me like a beaten dog, trying to gain the trust of it. "Come, come here." 

I didn't move. I didn't want to be anywhere near her. "Why should I?" 

With the flick of her hand, my body gravitated towards her by force. I was in her arms, and she forcefully pulled me out of the cage. I stood up, looking up to her. She smiled at me, not the evil type, the kind type. She played with my long hair, twirling it around and around. 

"I need to dress up my pretty bait." 

"Are you going to hurt Hades?" I asked, nervously. 

"I'm only going to do what is right. You see, little Persophone, I know something about you. I know you are the daughter of Demeter. And I know how controlling she can be." 

I didn't say anything and instead tried my hardest to have a straight face, trying to act tougher than I knew I was. 

"Your own mother didn't tell you of all the wonderful things you could do. Would you like to learn?" 

"No." 

She laughed, and then wrapped her arm around my arm, and forced me to walk side by side with her. "Come, I would like to show you my home." 

Hade's POV: 

You know where to find your little flower

                         - E

I handed the note to Demeter. With shaky hands, she read the very short note at least a million times. She kept shaking her head. "Why is she doing this?" she asked. 

"I don't know," I said, looking out to the Underworld from the large windows. I could see everything from my palace. I could even see far out in the outskirts, and I could get the sense of where she was out there. "But we have to go to her." 

"But that's what she wants," Demeter said. "What if this is a trick? What if-" 

"No, Steffi is with her. And if we don't get to her fast, she will turn to a demon child, just like everyone else that meets her." 

"You got her into this mess, you know?" Demeter crossed her arms. "You did this, you did all of this-" 

That's when I snapped and turned around to her. "You lied to her! You are not innocent either!" 

Demeter was taken back, surprised that I would stand up to her. She always thought everyone should listen to her when she spoke, look at her when she moved. But that's because she was always in the Earth realm, always around humans. 

"But-t-t" 

I shook my head. "She thought she was dying, but that was just her powers coming out, shining through. You let her lay in a hospital, fully aware of what was going on, and you still let her think she was dying." 

Demeter looked to the ground. "Look, we can talk about that later. But for now, I just want my daughter back." 

"I want her back too, Demeter. I want her back too." 

"Hades, may I ask . . . why do you love her? Of all people, why did it have to be my daughter?" 

I thought about it for a while, and truth be told, I didn't have a simple answer for her. I wish I had, so I knew why it was her of all people also. I just shrugged. "She was sitting on the bench one day, and she spoke to me. She was so kind and so smart. She was just . . . she spoke with passion about everything." 

"You didn't have to fall in love with her." 

I laughed. "Yeah, I tried my hardest not to fall for her. Even though I can do nearly anything, no matter what it is, trying not to love your daughter is the one thing that is impossible for me to do." 

Demeter tighten her lips. "I still don't like it . . . but at least you have shown kindness to her." 

"Lets get her, lets bring her home safe," I said putting a hand on her shoulder. Demeter nodded, and we made our way to the Mother of Demons palace, far out in the outskirts of the land of the dead. 

Author Notes: 

Hello, I just wanted to thank so many people for reading this book so far! It truly means a lot to me, and I wanted to express how grateful I am for the number of people that love these characters as much as I do!