Hades and Persephone

Chapter 5

Hades

I visited Persephone nearly once a week. We would wander the woods together or sit in fields, soaking in the sunshine while she told me about her life. I didn't contribute to the conversations much, but she didn't mind. She would talk about anything and everything. She described her childhood with her mother, how she grew up with only nymphs for playmates. Often, she would complain about her mother's suffocating nature, but I tried to reassure her that it was all in her best interest.

"She's just so damn controlling!" she cried again. "Did you know she locks my phone at eight? Eight in the afternoon like some twelve-year-old. And she expects me in bed by nine. Just because she's centuries old and gets cranky doesn't mean I do." Her brow was all scrunched up in that cute way of hers, her cheeks flushed.

"It seems to me that you do get cranky without your sleep," I said, chuckling. She just pouted.

"Don't tease me. My mother is horrendous."

"Can't be as bad as my father, Kronos."

"Why?" she said, instantly curious.

"He ate me when I was a child," I said, smirking slightly.

"Oh," she said, her face down-cast. "I'm sorry. Makes me feel bad about complaining."

I shook her off a smile. "It's fine. I had a loving mother." She was still frowning. "You know, your mother was also eaten by Kronos," I told her.

"Really?" I nodded.

"That could be why she's so overprotective," I said. "She was hurt as a child, and she wants to protect you in any way possible." She sighed, running a hand through her braids.

"I know she does everything out of love, but... it doesn't stop it from being suffocating."

"She can't hold onto you forever," I reminded her, hating the downcast look in her eyes. "Soon, you'll be able to move out and be free."

"Where will I go, though?" she said, staring at the horizon. "This is the only home I know."

"Wherever the wind pulls you, I guess." She looked up at me then, a look in her eyes that I didn't dare to read. After a moment, I broke her gaze. The world had darkened around us, dusk approaching swiftly. "You should get home before she worries."

Persephone sighed, looking downcast. "Do I have to?" she asked me, silver lining her big green eyes.

"You don't have to ask me," I told her, running a finger down her cheek. "You don't have to ask your mother. The only person you have to ask is yourself. But, for her sake, I don't think tonight is the night to run off."

"And if I ran off," she said, her words barely a breath of air, "would you let me run to you?" Her question was so abrupt that it startled me in place. Reading my hesitation, her face dropped and Persephone turned to leave. Regaining my wits, I reached out, taking her hand.

"Would you want to run to me?" I asked her, pulling her close. "There is a world out here that you've never seen. A world full of life, and joy, and light. Would you run to me when all I can promise is a world of darkness?"

"What's the joy in exploring the world when you have no one to explore with?" she asked, resting her head on my chest. "Exploring the world is only thrilling when you have a home to return to each night." We stood there in silence for a long time, neither willing to let go. After a while, I spoke.

"Don't run for the first new thing you see," I said to her. "Try things, meet people. After that, if this is something you still want, I will gladly see the world with you." She pulled back, looking me in the eyes, in the soul.

"Promise?" she whispered, such quiet hope in her face.

"Promise."

Persephone

      "Where were you?" Not even three steps past the threshold and my mother was already pelting me with questions.

"Out in the fields," I said, trying to keep the annoyance from my voice.

"You're late," she said, her arms crossed over her chest. She stood in the middle of the kitchen; her dark hair pulled into a clean bun. The look in her green eyes told me I wasn't getting out of this argument, but I still tried to shoulder past her.

"Lost track of time," I muttered, heading to the stairs. I wanted nothing more than a hot bath, but my mother wasn't having it.

"Why did you lose track of time?"

"It's none of your business," I snapped back. Silence. Then—

"Who do you think you are, young lady?" she demanded.

"Who do you think I am?" I shot back, whirling on her. Her eyes narrowed

"What do you—

"Am I a child? Am too young to young to leave the house without permission?"

"Kore—

"Don't call me that?!" I shouted. "I'm not your little girl. You think you've been protecting me from the world. You believe I'm a delicate little flower, a child in need of coddling. News flash Mom, I'm eighteen!"

"Don't you use that tone with me," she said, her jaw clenched.

"No, I will use that tone with you, because it's the only time you seem to listen. You don't control me. I am my own—

"As your mother, I do control you, Kore," she said. "You live under my roof, under my rules. You will respect me and do as I say. Now go to bed, you're tired."

"I'm tired of you!" I screamed back. "I'm sick and tired of living under you thumb. I can't—

"I'm going to count to five. If you are not in your room by then, then no desert for the next month." She held a hand up and began to count down.

Shocked by how little she listened to me, I turned on my heel, slipped into my room, and closed the door with barely a click.