Rosalind

Two

Rosalind shut the door behind her, in her father's office, it was stacked with books. There was a history section she went right to. She scoured the shelves for a mythology section, she pulled out all the books she could find. Roman myths, Greek myths, Norse myths, Egyptian myths- any myth.

"Please." She sighed and began flicking to the underworld and death sections.

Not that she believed she had actually visited the underworld, but maybe she'd read about it when she was younger, and she dreamt about it now.

Finally finding something that resembled what she dreamt about, she took the Greek myth book downstairs to the sunroom.

Asphodel Meadows, Tartarus, Mourning Fields, Elysium, Cerberus, River Styx, it was all coming together. She must have been in the Palace of Hades, it looked different from the depictions of it in the books, but I suppose no living being would have been there to accurately describe it.

She began to wonder, where did her mother end up? She never knew her grandparents, what about famous dead people? She didn't remember seeing any dead people, just the recently deceased, like Drew. But after that, where do they go?

Rosalind read that Tartarus was a place for evil souls, something she knew her mother was definitely not. Then Mourning Fields, a place for those who dedicated their lives to unrequited love. Certainly not her mother. Back at eight years old, she felt herself sick at the sight of her parents kissing and flirting, but now, she'd give anything to see them reunite.

Elysium was for heroes and demigods, as far as she knew, her mother, Desdemona, was not one. So that left Asphodel Meadows.

In bed with a tummy full of dinner, exhausted from her workout she always said she'd do but never did, Rosalind struggled to sleep. Worried that maybe it was a one off, maybe she'll never dream of it again. She'd thought that maybe her mum would one day come see her in a dream, maybe tonight could be that night. What has she to lose?

Eventually, her brain worn of thoughts, her eyes fell closed and slowly, she was asleep.

Back in the same building, the Palace of Hades, she walked out of the familiar foyer and past a few people with fish fins for ears, they were green, their skin almost duo chrome, shining different colours. It reminded her of the ocean. She was mesmerised by their beauty, before she caught the eyes of one of them, their beautiful face pulling her in closer, someone stood between them.

"Thetis." The short lady with dark hair glowered at the fish-like woman. "Go back to your desk." She waved her inside and turned back to Rosalind.

"Sirens are nasty things, aren't they?" She chuckled and smiled lightly.

"Thank you, I've got to be on my way." The woman nodded and walked into the building.

Rose noticed a lookout point, it was almost like a turret, she walked over and gazed over the land. There were the crowds of people, Cerberus keeping them in line. She looked to the right and saw the fields she found herself lost in the previous night. Right, that's where I'm headed.

Determined to go back, to try and find her mother. See if there was a way, she could talk to her and see her again, she walked down the obsidian path, following the asphodel flowers down to the meadow. Since she passed through the crowd of recently deceased, she thought she heard someone following her down there. She turned back but saw no one. She continued, as if she belonged here, in case she got caught. But she knew it was a dream. But there was a feeling there, one that she couldn't shake. It felt a little too real.

Once at the flower archway, she stepped in, and called out, at first quietly, "Mum?" There was no echo, no reply. Just silence. "Desdemona Hemlock?" She called out louder. She noticed that the longer she stayed in the meadow, the orbs began to take shape. Slowly, very slowly, they formed into men, women, children, all these colourless ghosts of themselves. None took notice of her. She passed through them; she was colder than usual. Eventually, as she kept walking, she spotted her mother, Desdemona. She rushed toward her, crying out her name, "Mum!" She stopped breathlessly.