The Colour Of Pomegranates

Chapter 33

At night, Demeter got into the bed with Persephone and crept toward her daughter. She brushed her curls from her face and kissed her cheek before lying next to her.

'I'm sorry', she sighed softly. 'I don't want to fight. It's just that I can't get the image out of my head of that foul creature touching you.'

'Please', Persephone muttered, 'don't call him that. It won't make the situation better. For any of us.'

'It's not like you would understand a mother's pain', Demeter piped, 'I thought he kidnapped you, I thought he kept you prisoner - imagine my surprise my daughter was chilling in his Castle, playing a game of 'imagine being Queen of the Underworld.' Persephone turned around to look her in the eye.

'I wish you wouldn't be so heartfelt honest about your zeusdamned feelings, mother. Something called out to me from Below. You always taught me we need to listen to a mortal in pain. I did and it brought me to him. Get used to the fact I am no longer a virgin. Get used to the fact I am no longer your little girl, but a woman, and I wish you would respect me as such.' Demeter closed her eyes. 

'You are right', she muttered hardly audible. 'I'm sorry.' Persephone didn't respond and for a while they lay there in silence before Demeter crept out of the bed and sneaked outside of the room. Persephone's heart broke under the pressure and the sadness she felt for her mother. She really needed a supporter right now, not Demeter's negative aura. Yet, she didn't want to disappoint or hurt her mother either.

Apollo was handsome, there was no point denying that. He had the same hazel eyes as Artemis, the same scattered freckles on his cheeks. His copper hair fell over his brow at one side, giving him a mischievous look, and his thick long eyelashes tempered that look with mock innocence. He had come by the cottage two days after their encounter in the tavern. As they walked into the fields behind the woods, he plunged down in the grass and sighed deep. She sat beside him, concluding silently that he wasn't as horrible as she first thought. It was the same with his twin - Artemis seemed haughty, but she was careful; Apollo seemed rude, but it was just stupid boyish humor. She had forgiven him before they reached the cottage two days ago.

'I'm really happy you're back', he yawned as he stretched his arms above his head. 'It hasn't been the same Up and I really need my tan.' She laughed.

'You are so vain.'

'I'm not! Vitamin D is super important, just so you know.' He looked at her with a lazy smile, lying on his back in the grass. 'Artemis told me you were still hung up over Hades.' Her smile fell and he sat up, grass in his thick hair. His half-smile was sincere, and she dropped her defence.

'I suppose', she said as she got up, not wanting to talk about Hades. 'Let's go to the river. I feel like going for a swim.' Grinning, he got up as well, freeing his shirt from his waistband.

'If you want me to take my clothes off you should just say so.' He pulled the shirt over his head, leaving his torso bare. Blushing she turned her eyes away. He chuckled and walked past her, in the general direction of the river.

'Let's go, Persephone', he said with a teasing smile, 'otherwise you might miss me taking off my pants.'

'You don't need to take them off', she sighed. 'I have seen just about enough.'

'Would you really say all this' - while gesturing his muscular torso - 'is already enough for the young and hormonal goddess of Spring? I guess Hades must've been lacking, then!' Laughing he started running and angrily she followed him.

'Don't talk about him like that!' He stayed ahead of her and the crimson anger faded before it even rooted in her core. Their footsteps thudded against the pine needle floor, going up and down as the forest heaved up and down, from valley to hill. She smiled, aware of the fact Apollo was actually cheering her up.

Hades hadn't touched any of his food for the past month. Not for the first time in his existence he wished he wasn't immortal. Wasting away on his own terms was a nice compromise to the pains of immortal existence. Tired he lay in his bed, thinking about her dark curls, lighting up under the lights of his chamber fires. He loved her truly. Would she like seeing you like this? He knew she wouldn't. She would actually cuss him out, reprimand him for it. Oh, how she could pout and yell. He liked her intensity regarding the frugal.

'What's that? A teeny tiny smile?' Hermes asked, bending over his face. Hades blinked and crawled up.

'Why are you here?' the moody god grunted.

'You asked me for a weekly update, remember?' Hermes said with an arched eyebrow. 'You wanted to know when Spring had come. April is already ending, flowers are blooming in abundance. Winter is officially over.' The god of the Underworld fell back down on the bed and let out a hurt sigh.

'Thank you, Hermes. You can go now.' The god of thieves walked over to the tall windows overseeing the balcony. Pitying the souls below in the fields, he looked at the one and only apple tree in the middle of the field, where once an orchard had been.

'You know there's a possibility she'll come back, right?' 

'There's not.' With a flick of the wrist he sent Hermes to the entrance of the cave and thought nothing of it anymore.