The Colour Of Pomegranates

Chapter 13

Although Hades told her she could use his private baths anytime, she felt uncomfortable doing so. Aia met her at the entrance, all radiant smiles, and followed her inside. Persephone allowed her to brush her hair and twist it into a bun. She let her apply the sticky honey that made her skin soft and hydrated. She even accepted a shoulder and neck massage from the nymph.

'How long have you been here?' Persephone asked her before leaving for the baths.

'A while now', Aia said. 'I really can't remember when I came here. I just am.' Persephone hesitated before asking her if she could leave at any time or if she was a prisoner. 'Not a prisoner', she said smiling. 'But I can't really leave either. I am bound to this place. I can't go back up.' She opened the doors to the baths, clearly indicating the conversation had reached its end. 

'Thank you, Aia', Persephone said and walked into the steamy room. Ultimately she spent all afternoon in the hot spring water, floating about and enjoining the calming smells. She thought about Above and her mother and Artemis and her other friends. She didn't miss the skies and waters as much anymore. The party Hades had thrown for her had made up for the lack of dancing and singing. She smiled thinking back to her request for a karaoke party, which he blatantly refused. 

She felt as reborn when she exited the building when she heard the cries that drew her Below in the first place. Her face turned to the castle which lay in the other direction. She hesitated once more, but decided it was her calling. It was the reason she entered the cave in the first place. With some misplaced feeling of regret she started in the direction of the hurt and agonised cries. 

Following a dark path through the thick pinewood forest Persephone couldn't help but feeling watched. She didn't know who or what was following her, but she did know why. Hades really didn't want her up this way. The path twisted into the dark hills of the Underworld and before long the forests thinned out and left a barren place. It looked and felt the way she thought the Underworld must have been intended. Unfased she kept walking through a rocky canyon.

'What are you doing here?' Minthe's voice sounded sharp. 'The Master doesn't want you here. He told you.'

'I don't even know where I am', Persephone lied, her voice just as sharp. She was close to Tartarus, she could feel it in her bones. That was where the cries came from. 'Let me through.'

'I can't. Even if I wished it so, even if I wanted you to see what it's all about, I can't.'

'You just need to. Step. Aside', Persephone ordered. 

'No. You are not listening to me.'

'You are not listening to me. Last warning, nymph. Take a step back or I will make you.' A wicked smile adorned Minthe's pretty face.

'You have no power in Tartarus. No one does. Only he, only the King of the Underworld.' Persephone looked past the pretty nymph and squinted to see. It didn't smell nice in Tartarus. It didn't look friendly. The cries and screams of souls in pain were loud and singed the goddess in her heart.

'I need to help them', she said, pleading. If there was any mercy or love in Minthe's being she would address it. The nymph sighed. Persephone knew it would be redundant - nymphs were not known for their sympathetic nature.

'Let her go through', a harsher voice behind Persephone said. Minthe winced when Hecate lifted her staff. 'Let her go through or I'll hit you on the head.' 

'Thank you', said the powerless goddess of Spring as Minthe stepped aside. Hecate followed her closely. As soon as they were out of earshot she cleared her throat. 

'You know you shouldn't be here', Hecate said with a motherly voice. 'You have no power here. You may be immortal in the Upper Realm, but here you are helpless. If the souls here catch wind of you they may cause you harm. Even the Fates can't see you here. You are left at the mercy of Hades himself.' 

'I really only wanted to have a look', Persephone reassured the goddess of witchcraft. 'The screams have been waking me up at night. Hades won't tell me anything about it. I needed to see it for myself.' Hecate took a deep breath.

'If you want to see, follow me.' They stepped away from the path and Persephone followed Hecate through a crack in the black walls towards higher ground.  As soon as they got up, Persephone could see what Tartarus was about - and maybe Demeter wasn't so wrong after all. Tartarus kept the monsters and Titans prisoner on chains. Their screams sounded hollow and angry. She saw the lost souls of mortals floating over the firy pits of a condemned hell.

'Can we go?' she asked Hecate softly. The older goddess smiled at her compassionately and took her by the hand.

'Yes.'

'The Titans looked different from what I imagined. Is it truly necessary to chain the ancient spirits so crudely? You don't need to tell me about their war with the gods - I know it all - but I am also aware of the fact it happened thousands of years ago. And those souls... Every singly one of them sounds like they're in pain.'

'Be comforted in the fact that the souls here did something in the Upper Realm that was so horrendous they needed to be punished here. They could never live in Elysium, because they are Chaos incarnate. They could never live in the Asphodel Meadows, as their restless souls would always seek destruction. They are in their rightful place, they earned the twisted right to be here.'

'Do you really believe that?' 

'I need to believe something', Hecate said, and Persephone followed her back to the more comforting parts of the Underworld.