Haidou

Trapped

Kore tugged at the adamantine chains in frustration. They clattered and grated loudly against the hulking block buried in the densely packed ash. The wound at her neck had stopped bleeding, dried ichor flaking on her skin. One sleeve of her blouse bunched in a useless scrap of material at her wrist. Blood and ash encrusted her in a thick layer, her hair hanging in thick clumps. A platter of ambrosia and nectar sat a few feet away. How they expected her to eat covered in filth was beyond her.

Groaning, she pressed her knuckles against her eyes. Those bolts of blue sliced through the ceiling, the floor, the walls, and her closed eyelids. The adamant surrounded her, closing in and suffocating her. Each breath she took was less stead than the last.

The door creaked open behind her, the polemistís that'd captured her before slipping inside. She struggled to recall his name as he sat another meal next to the first, Abaddon's chain looped at his hip. Before he could stalk out again, she slapped her own heavy chains against the floors, the sound clanging off the walls. "Where is he?"

Ignoring her, he stepped out of her cell, closing the door behind him. Before it shut completely she called out, "If you have no answers for me, bring me the one that's meant to restore order."

"As you wish, Goddess," He grunted to her surprise, slamming the door shut.

Kore waited. She paced. And she thought. With each passing moment she was kept waiting her anger grew.

"Goddess."

Pausing mid-stride, looking from Georgios and the polemistís still boldly brandishing Abaddon's chain. "Come in, toy soldiers. Please, help yourselves to ambrosia."

She stepped closer, kicking the untouched platters towards them. The nectar toppled, spilling in mirrored pools along the stone. Batting her lashes with an unassuming smile she swept her hand in invitation.

"How gracious," Georgios intoned.

Turning on her heel, she walked further into her cell. "Tell me, what does my father have in store for me."

"I hear you are more concerned with what I have in store for Abaddon."

"He was favored by your great lord Hades. I want to be sure you would do what he would have wished."

Georgios lips twitched. "I'm sure no one wished for you to whore yourself to a creature so beneath you."

Kore flexed her wrist, the shackles scraping against her raw flesh. "Do not let these chains embolden you. They will not be her forever."

"As for the lord Zeus and his plans for you, " He continued. "From here you will be taken home to Olympus."

Kore barked out a laugh. "Once he gathers the courage to step foot in these lands himself, he can drag my limp corpse to Olympus."

"He worries you've forgotten yourself under Hades' ownership. With him gone you can be returned to where you belong."

" I am owned by no one," She hissed. "I belong where I say."

With a pointed look at the shackles on her wrists, Georgios turned his back.

As the door closed behind the two lap dogs Kore swallowed the scream aching to be released. Instead, she corded the chains up the length of her arms and heaved. With each scrape of the stone against her nerves the rage seeped away, leaving behind a bone-deep weariness. Fighting took everything and gave nothing in return. Her eyes sank closed as she settled on the ground and tried to envision herself back in the blinding halls of Olympus or the fields she'd once frolicked in ages ago. The fields where shed last seen her mother, sneaking worried glances her way that said Kore was a stranger she only pretended to know. Where Hades' voice had drifted amongst the wheat stalks with the scent of narcissus whispering a single word.