Black Lily

7. revelations over dinner

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Sophie had complained to herself during the whole journey, up and down. Agatha really sent her Above for some grass?

Whatever, she thought. It's all going to die soon enough.

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Agatha sent off a scroll to Sophie as she moved further and further away from Tedros' room, telling the goddess to dim those Merlin-forsaken lights in the ballroom. She received a response in a matter of seconds.

"I don't know, Queen. The firefly souls seemed to tell me that your flower god enjoyed their glow. Are you really going to make him sad again? XOXO Sophie," it read. Agatha tore up the scroll afterwards. Tedros wasn't her flower god. He was a colleague. A chance to learn something new after spending the last decade analyzing the dusty sedimentary layers of the Underworld.

What's the use of ruling around here if I don't know how this domain works? Regardless, Agatha made Sophie remove most of the fireflies. Her head still pounded from that room — she made a note to herself to not walk through it for a while. I wonder if he enjoys sunlight like a common plant. That must be it, she thought, waiting for the two hours to pass. She had much to learn, but first, dinner.

Picking at her food, she watched in silence as Tedros heartily enjoyed the meal. She hadn't dined with anyone in ages, refusing to join Sophie for tea parties along the River Styx. It's not like immortals needed to eat anything in the first place, but she had to respect the rules of hospitality. The two sat at an obscenely long table, Agatha sitting at the helm, and Tedros to her right.

"This is really good," Tedros said between bites.

"It's a blend of herbs, spices, and souls that makes the dish taste that way." Agatha couldn't help herself.

Tedros dropped his fork, doing a double take at his food. "Souls?"

"I'm kidding — you above grounders are so skittish when it comes to jokes."

"Probably because I couldn't tell you were joking," Tedros responded. He slowly regained his appetite and continued eating. Agatha pushed her plate towards him, which he gladly accepted. She didn't know what to say, how to continue a conversation that had seemingly finished before she could get it off the ground. What she instead did was watch, as pink flowers began to bloom from Tedros' hair.

"There's something in your hair," Agatha tried to point out helpfully. "Didn't know you could do that."

Tedros reached up to his scalp, brushing his hand along the petals. Offhandedly, Agatha wished she could do the same. Tedros' cheeks grew pink to match the flowers. "It's not on purpose," he said into his rapidly diminishing meal.

So he can grow life in the Underworld by accident, yet I cannot do it after years of study? "Why did they grow then?" Agatha had to know more.

"Uhhhh," Tedros' eating ceased for the second time this meal, both times because of Agatha. "It's emotion related. The nymphs all used to make fun of me for it."

"What emotion is it now?" Agatha pressed. "Fear? Sophie wears pink to instill fear into the souls of mortals," she said, more as a note to herself than to Tedros. She could tell that Tedros was going to be a goldmine of information for her. Maybe it wasn't a mistake to bring him down here.

"Joy."

Agatha's mouth set into a straight line. She stared at him. "You're happy down here?"

"This is the best food I've had in ages."