Underworld

one : brewing hurricanes that thrive in the dark

THE FIRELIGHT ILLUMINATING the small cottage in one of the most secluded corners of Greece was nothing short of beautiful, the miles of estate belonging to the Goddess of Harvest plentiful in bountiful crops, flowers abloom and the most rich soil you could find in the entirety of the universe. The nymphs and other entities of nature would argue that the estate shone the brightest underneath the sunlight, but the Goddess of Spring would always be the first to disagree. Because underneath the light of the silvery moon, her home was stunning. Even for the limited amount of sights the young seventeen year old Kore has ever seen, nothing would ever come close to her blooming flowers and rustic bedroom.

But in the years she's occupied the estate with her mother, Kore came to notice just how special the world would become days before her birthday. Of how the skies were even bluer and the roses were even brighter. It gave her a sense of hope that maybe the father she had only ever met once truly did love her, and that each year the confirmation of Demeter's love ran even deeper through the language Kore could effortlessly speak: through the flowers she loved with every piece of her immortal being.

Kore's room was bright from the hanging moon outside, the dreamful imagery of the stars greeting the beautiful twinkling planet leading Kore to push the covers from her body, feet shakingly moving forward towards her window, the warm summer air outside lightly breezing through her fiery long curls. She had minutes. Minutes until adulthood would be claimed with just a tilt of time. Each tick of the clock was led by her thundering heart, excitement running rampid in her body. Resting her head against the albany frame of the window, her molten brown eyes twinkled with glee. How could something so dark be so peaceful?

The sounds of the crickets chirping was chilling magic, the fireflies illuminating the skies utterly breathtaking. To lay under that blanket of stars and wish, truly wish...

She ached for the night. It was almost embarrassing telling Athena and Artemis that she had never stepped foot outdoors under the light of moon. Demeter was much too protective for that, afraid that Kore's kindness would lead her to her fall. Except Kore never had it inside of her to inform her mother that keeping her hidden from the world was physically killing her...in a way that had been ongoing before she could remember. Even if she wasn't completely aware of the mentality that her mother pressed upon her, it was still painful enough staying on the same grounds the entirety of her life, hoping for something she would never truly have.

No. Kore shook her head, betraying her own thoughts. She was being silly. Mother was right, simply because her mother loved her unlike any mother has ever loved their child...and that was enough to assure her that Demeter just wanted her happiness. She belonged here. With the fields of flowers and the nymphs that ran wild with her.

Right?

"Right." Kore uttered under her breath in a breath that barely assured her, the world titling back on it's axis as she pushed her cracking heart aside, the tick of the grand grandfather's clock in the corner signaling mere minutes until midnight.

Kore faced the window again, pulling her light satin cardigan over her, wonder in her eyes as she looked to the ruffling grass under the moonlight. Eighteen. A booming number even for a goddess...surely it should be celebrated specially? Surely even a flower princess was deserving of just one moment of resistance?

But Mother.

As if she was behind her, Kore faced the closed door feet away, a dimension closing her from what she wished for and what would be twisted as disapproval.

Tick.

Seventeen years leading to eighteen for the decisions she never once made alone.