Persephone

Chapter 9: A Dam Broken At Last

Chapter 9: A Dam Broken At Last

Percy couldn't take much of the dreams that haunted her in the day, as much as it does in the night. It itched her head and formed illusions in her eyes, and she couldn't escape them whatever she does. It doesn't mean that she fought it to clear her sanity, more like she watched it all the time with straining eyes like a never-ending movie.

Just like now, she floated in the middle of a black matter, picture boxes flying by her head yet she never collided with them. It was always the same. A woman, and two very different boys. Or...males... She didn't know what to call those two.

For one was angelic, yet something red seeped out of his mouth. Fair-haired, golden eyed, a light grin that could melt butter. And a pair of white, heavenly wings. The red was always there though, turning it into a morbid picture she couldn't look at for so long.

The other one however, was a figure swathed in black, a dark mist surrounding him. Raven black hair and incredibly grey eyes that showed so much hurt, eyes that knew enough pain to even describe it in words. Large black wings sprouted from his back, more majestic and regal than the other. And whatever she did, she always chose the black one. Like her fingers were drawn to him, her whole body, her heart, her soul. She always felt a longing to be with him, and when she did, the sound of glass shattering would echo, and the woman would try to yank her back. She always heard the same name.

"Persephone!" 

"So you heard her voice, yet you don't know her name?" someone on her right -- someone childish-- said to someone that was probably on her left. 

"She never gave it to me, to be truthful," second speaker said, most clearly a guy. "She just stalked off mad at me 'cus I probably invaded a personal space..." 

"You what?" Childish Voice seemed to gasp. 

At that moment did Percy flit her eyes open, and see a girl and a guy -- as she suspected -- seated on either of her sides. She coughed, and tried to sit up, her vision still blurry. Everything felt like a dream. But then her vision cleared. "YOU?!" she gasped at the Hernes guy. The same guy she wanted to punch on the beach. The same guy she wanted to leave strewn on the rocks. The same guy who annoyed her before and now.

Evander looked at her pointedly. "At least a 'thank you' would be nice, y'know," he said nonchalantly. "How are you doing?" he asked her.

Percy got the remnants of another dream, but this one involved getting her eyes sunk in red. She rubbed her nape, and checked her fingers if they were numb or not. She looked at him to the girl who sat back, examining her also. Percy felt irked, yet clean at the same time. "Mind if you tell me where I am first?" she asked either of them.

"If we did, then you would put us in danger," the girl said and hopped off the stool. "Come, I believe you're strong enough to stand on your own two feet. There's so much to discuss."

"Discuss?" She could indeed move her legs and Evander rushed to help her, but she pushed him away, glaring at him. "I can move on my own, thank you," she said frostily. Hernes (she chose to call him that instead because she was still suspicious of him) moved away, his face neutral. 

"Why, yes. It concerns your mother, and maybe why you can't remember anything," the little girl said.

"Whoah, wait, wait, what do you mean I can't remember anything? I can remember anything, and I didn't have amnesia or anything, for your information." Percy's feet touched the ground, but then she swayed slightly and had to lean back on the bed. She could see Hernes' smirking, but she pushed herself up and then began to follow the girl who held the door open for her. When she didn't make a move, the girl sighed and then went in first, followed by Hernes. Now the two waited for her at the other side.

Percy, who was feeling a little bit dazed still, looked at them as if trying to analyze their faces. There was a fleeting feeling that made her feel like she had met them before, and little by little, she suddenly knew that she knew the little girl. At first it felt like slamming her head on a wall, her mouth repeating What What What all over and over again. Adonia, her name is Adonia, she told herself. How the hell did I know that? "Adonia..." she whispered, and the name tasted like familiarity.

The little girl -- Adonia -- smiled at her. "That was quick. Come on, then." 

Percy quickly crossed the door and found herself in a tavern-like room lit up with yellow lamps on the ceiling. Wooden furniture were strewn around above carpets that had intricate designs of blue, gold and silver, green, purple and white, autumn red, jet black and neon. A few people were hanging around the room in different colored robes. Some were on tables, looking into wooden bowls, others were reading leather-bound books with some weird things drawn on them. There was the scent of insence and jasmine in the air, and immediately, Percy felt relieved to be here even though she had no idea where she was.

A huge fireplace stood by the left corner, a large painted picture hung above it, gilded in gold. It was a picture of a woman whose face made Percy drawn to it immediately. Without wanting to, or any thought of it, Percy walked towards the painting, Adonia and Hernes following behind her quietly. "Who's that?" she asked.

Adonia went beside her. "That's Ceres Velladonna, the greatest White Witch to ever live."

"--You'll be like me, one day, but more powerful." Ceres tucked a strand of hair behind Persephone's ear, and rested her hand on her beautiful daughter's cheek. She felt proud of her, her little girl, her precious flower. Ceres envisioned that she would be twice as great and powerful than her when she grows up, but then... She wouldn't be there to see this happen. She smiled brightly at the doe-eyed child instead. Persephone herself was an enigma; Ceres didn't know what she could become, and time was passing quickly. She felt them closer already. "Come along, my little flower, we'll be visiting an aquaintance of mine." 

Percy was gasping when the memory ended; she felt like she was thunderstruck and electrocuted to the bone. She was seated on a chair, and Hernes was frowning at her, Adonia wiping her brow with a soft dampened cloth. Percy blinked, and breathed out levelly, trying to get her heart rate down back to normal. It was beating like a hyper-active rabbit. 

"It must be taking a great toll on you, isn't it?" Adonia asked quietly as she cupped Percy's face to look at her better. Percy barely nodded her head. 

"She's my mother," she said chokingly. 

Adonia sighed in relief. "Yes. She was."

"What do you mean, she was? Where is she?" Percy sat up a little straighter, feeling her clothes stick to her back from sweating too much. 

Adonia tightened her lips. "You really don't remember anything?" 

Percy shrugged. "As you said, I seemed to have forgotten everything. And being here, and seeing all this and knowing you immediately, proves that point. I know something, but I can't remember it. It's like, blocked out of my head." She took a deep breath and then looked at the picture again. There was a flower in Ceres' hand, a Lilium Stargazer. She loved that flower. And Percy's blurry head seemed to sharpen now that she was somewhere she knew. "I want to know." 

Adonia patted her cheek. "Good. Let's get started then."