King's Queen ✔

Chapter 42: Seeds She Sowed

Persephone sauntered into her garden after a long day of work at Elysium. These past couple of days the death toll had strangely increased. No one knew what caused this sudden traffic in the Underworld, but they all knew it meant overtime with their shifts. However, this lingering Wednesday had come to an end for Persephone and she got some time to spend in her own heaven.

The freshness of the soil nurtured her back to health, because strangely she's been feeling drowsy and nauseous. But she just shrugged it off because she didn't get any sleep last night. Persephone took off her shoes and walked barefoot on the thick and soft grass. Thankfully, her gut didn't lurch terribly and her head didn't swim when the strong scent of flowers hit her. Although, when Persephone approached the small pomegranate tree, her stomach growled loudly begging her to steal a taste. She didn't know what came over her when she got the greatest craving to eat some. She grabbed the closest ripe globe and ripped it open. Persephone was only able to pull out a batch of six seeds, when she was interrupted, by a bright light. She knew exactly what the light meant because she had seen it before back in Olympus.

She popped the seeds in her mouth before she confronted her unexpected visitor. The messenger of the gods appeared with his golden winged hat and golden winged sandals. He was handsome with soft brown hair and striking green eyes, but everyone knew better than to fall for his charming appearance. Hermes was a cunning god who loved nothing more than to trick others for his own amusement. And he was the only one apart from Hades and herself that could leave the Underworld without their consent.

"What message have you brought me, Hermes?"

Hermes was severely serious, which was unusual. "I have come bringing a message from your father," he said. "Earth is in grave danger and Zeus needs you to come to Olympus."

Persephone was stumped. "This is no trick, is it?"

"I play a lot of tricks, queen of the Underworld," said Hermes. "But I don't play games when it comes to the livelihood of my precious Earth."

"What has happened?" she asked.

"It's dying," he revealed gravelly. "All of it is dying."

Persephone's gut lurched sickly. "How is that even possible?" she asked astounded. "What about Zeus?"

"Zeus cannot stop your mother," said Hermes. "She has drowned herself in despair and has given up her duties."

Persephone clenched her teeth to conceal her panic. "I see," she said. "Thank you for relaying the message."

"What will you do?" asked Hermes eagerly.

"Tell my father that I'll be coming to him soon," she instructed. Hermes stiffly nodded and left how he came, with great speed.

Persephone ran to her chambers with haste. She burst through the door and found Hades behind his desk.

"Don't tell me you were so eager to meet me that you ran all the way over to-" Hades eyes lifted off the papers and he froze when he saw her wet eyes. "What happened?" He got out of his chair and gathered his wife in his arms.

"It was Hermes," she wiped her tears, "he said that it's all dying. Earth is dying because of me."

"Slow down," calmed Hades. "Hermes visited you. When?"

"Yes, right now," she said. "He said that Zeus can't do anything about my mom. She gave up her duties because of me. And now, Earth is paying the price."