Asphodel (13 page)

Has Hades sent someone in here to wash my face? Does he have servants? Besides Charon I hadn’t seen another actual person. And if he did send someone in here to aid me, couldn’t they wait until I wake up? I haven’t even opened my eyes yet.

I lift my hand and fling it at an invisible person. “Stop it!” Turning my head, I create an even bigger wet spot on my pillow. Where is all the wetness coming from? My eyelids flutter and open. Dangling next to me is a giant glob of slobber. Clear and thick and its seconds away from falling onto my face. I scoot over and follow the drool with my eyes to its source.

My eyes bug out and I suck a large gulp of air, holding my breath. There is a large beast in my bed. With a shiny coat of short black fur so shiny it seems like it’s been greased up with a can of Pam. Three massive heads loom above me. And the beast’s beady black eyes slit at me. Don’t move I tell myself and my spine stiffens. I’ve seen and read stories about animal attacks where you’re supposed to be completely still. A person is also supposed to seem fearless because the attacking animal can sense the fear inside of you. And by the way this beast-like animal is eyeing me; I know it can tell I’m petrified.

The beast lowers its middle head, showing its long pointy teeth and lets out a low, menacing growl. More large sticky globs of drool hang down from its jowls, unfurling and breaking off like plaster in an abandoned building. I can feel my whole body shaking my bed. Like one of those vibrating mattresses in a cheap motel room. All I need is two more quarters and I’ll be able to move the dial from gentle massage to hyper speed.

Then it starts barking and I yelp, “Help me!”

Not even a second later my door flies open and Hades eyes the beast, his Aegean eyes narrowed. “Cerberus! Heel!” he commands.

I slide back slowly, fall off my bed, and scramble over to the corner cowering. “That thing has a name,” I gasp finally able to breathe.

“That thing is not a thing. He’s a unique type of dog, guardian, and he’s my pet.” The dog-beast hops off my bed, strolls over to Hades, and rubs his head against the top of Hades thigh. “Cerberus has been the most obedient servant and loyal companion for the last five thousand years.” He crouches down and roughly scratches all three heads. “Haven’t you boy?”

“Your pet?” I squawk. “That thing is a monstrosity and belongs in a freak-show. It shouldn’t be anyone’s pet.”

He stares into each set of the dog’s six black eyes. “You hear that Cerberus? The queen isn’t fond of you. But tell her, she’ll have plenty of time to get to know you, won’t she?” Cerberus howls out and Hades stands up. “Okay, enough play-time.” He points out the open door. “Cerberus! Out!” And just like that, the beast drops its three heads, lets out a muffled whimper, and struts out my door.

I stand and place my hands on hips. “How did he get in my room?”

Hades vanishes from the doorway and reappears on my bed. “I came to check on you earlier to see if you were awake. I left the door open and wasn’t even gone for ten minutes and Cerberus must have come in then.”

“That dog is terrifying and revolting.”

“You will learn to love him. He can be quite the gentle giant once he gets used to you.”

“I will never learn to love that…that…thing!” I shudder and wipe my cheek again, hoping that the drool is gone.

Hades leans back on my bed, both of his arms behind his head and the short sleeves on his black t-shirt rise up revealing bulging muscles in his forearms. “So,” he begins, “I was thinking you and I could come to some sort of arrangement.”

I walk closer. “What kind of arrangement?”

“You want to go back to earth, right?”

“Yes.” Last night I had divulged my own plan on how to get back to earth, but if his idea sounds better I am open for suggestions. “What do you have in mind?”

“How about you give me five days? And if after those five days you feel nothing for me at all I will release you and you will be free to go back.”

“And this isn’t some sort of trick?”

“No it isn’t. I promise.”

“Five days, starting when? Today?”

He doesn’t verbalize his answer he only nods.

“But that’s not fair! I’ve already spent two whole days here!”

He shrugs. “That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

I stare at the floor. Black marble blurs in my eyes and tiny specs of glitter sparkle and the floor reminds me of the sky at night. At this point, his offer sounds tempting. Then I won’t have to navigate through this world alone in search of a way out. He’s handing me my freedom on a silver platter because I know there’s no way I could possible feel anything for him in five days. But could I go that long without eating? Starvation will not kill me so I’ll have to try. I lift my head and stare into his eyes. “I accept your offer,” I tell him. “I will remain here for five more days with you.”

“Good,” he says as he gets up and starts for the door.

“Wait!” I call. “Where are you going?”

He doesn’t give me a straight answer. “Wash up and change your clothes.”

He turns right outside my door and I follow him. “What?”

“I have something special planned for us,” he says. “Just do what I told you to.”

He is not my parent and I don’t like being told what to do. I’ve been told what to do for five thousand years and look where that got me, trapped in hell with him. So far, Hades has been pretty tolerant of my radical spontaneous behavior and I am at the point where I want to see just how far I can push him. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

“But why?”

I rush around in front of him, planting my face directly in front of his. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?”

He clenches his jaw and grits his teeth. “Persephone! Stop this nonsense now!”

One more time. “Why?” I pretty much always like to have the last word anyway.

He takes me by surprise when he whips around, clutches my arm and backs me up into the wall, his cheeks flushed and red, full of rage. “Are you a child?” he growls.

For the first time since I’ve arrived here I fear him. A startled gasp gets stuck in my throat. His eyes pierce mine and slowly that fear melts away like ice when the seasons change from winter to spring. His clenched jaw relaxes and he’s breathing heavy, cheeks still flushed and the color in them slowly fades from red to pink. Then I notice something else for the first time since my arrival. He’s beautiful, terrifyingly beautiful. He reminds me of a lion. A fierce and brutal predator, yet at the same time there’s a certain gracefulness and beauty in the way they pounce on their prey. And his outburst a second earlier made him even more beautiful to me.

He’s not soft, but isn’t that how a man or God is supposed to be? Fierce and warrior-like. Fearless. Hades isn’t used to company or having someone question him. He’s spent an eternity alone. Answering to nothing and nobody. I’ve been brought here and I assume it’s going to be an adjustment for him to get used to having another person around. Even if it is for a short time.

I’m captivated. Lost. Staring at a spark of emotion in his radiant eyes. I can’t even speak as he stares down at me. There’s a magnetism in his eyes like he’d rather spend all day gazing into my jade-green eyes than perform all of his tasks for the day. Then I see it. Him taking me wasn’t just about loneliness or there being a thrill in chasing me for all this time. He feels something for me and I can tell he senses me catching on.

He lowers his gaze and backs away from me. His cold front back up. “I apologize for being forceful,” he says sincerely. “Just meet me in the dining hall in two hours.” And a second later he’s gone.

Me, I’m staring at the spot he’d just vanished from. I can’t bear to tear my gaze away from it. Almost like he’s still there and all I want to do is watch him. An illusion of him is better than facing the reality of him not being here. I close my eyes and see his eyes, glowing turquoise orbs in the middle of a dark room. So beautiful and so enchanting they can light up even the darkest of worlds. Opening my eyes, I look at the floor, blink several times, and snap out of the trance I was in. What’s wrong with me? Has Hades cast some spell over me? Shaking my head I swallow my feelings and walk into my room.

A long flowing dress the shade of crimson is already laid out on my bed. Who put that there? Lifting it up, I caress the tulle material between my fingertips and hold them the dress up to my body. My eyes dart around the room and zoom in on the floor length mirror in the left corner of the room. I waltz toward it and examine the red dress against my skin. The bodice is fitted at the top with a sweetheart neckline and the bottom flows out at the waist.

I spin around and laugh. I haven’t had the opportunity to dress up like this in ages. Mom never let me go to any balls, parties, or school dances. I’d always liked to dress up and I always hated watching all the other girls my age that got to attend homecoming and prom. Their dresses all vibrant shades of pink, purple, and blue standing out in their yards having their pictures taken with their dates while we drove past them.

Lying the dress back down on my bed, I walk into my bathroom, desperate to Cerberuses slobber stains off of my cheeks. Turning on the water, I dip my hands underneath the cool stream and splash the icy water onto my face as my roaming thoughts take over. Slowly I can feel my dislike and disgust for the dictator of the dead subsiding. Drying my face off with a soft violet hand towel I can feel a kinship growing inside of me. It begins as a small tingle in my heart and spreads like a drug addict who has just shot the substance into their veins. Soon, I’m tingling all over.

Mom was wrong about him. Wrong about Hades. I get the sense that there is more to him than he lets on. And there is more to him than mom gave him credit for. He’s not all debauchery and manipulation. He’s just a God who has been misunderstood for thousands of years. But I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to like him in an emotional, longing kind of way. I mean I know I feel something, but whether that something is like or pity is what I’m not sure of. Yet.

Demeter

D
emeter paced back and forth in front of Zeus’s throne in the Hall of the Gods. White flurried marble flurried in her eyes like fresh fallen snow on a winter morning. She lowered her head, dropping her gaze. Thinking of the snow reminded her of her daughter. Persephone loved the winter. Mainly because of Christmas. During their time on the run, Demeter had allowed her child experience some of the indulgencies the mortals did.

Even though the spring was Persephone’s most favorite and cherished season. Demeter would never forget the way her eyes lit up at Christmastime. The decorations, the snow, Persephone had loved it all.

“Demeter!” Zeus called from the door.

She turned snapping out of her trance. “Did you find him?” the Goddess inquired.

Zeus nodded. “He’s on his way.”

“That was quick,” she commented.

“This whole plan has to unfold quickly. We don’t know how long Persephone will be able to hold out without eating.”

Demeter walked to the window and gazed out at what Greece had become in the last five thousand years. There was still a quaintness to Athens. The way the white square homes were clustered together into the sides of the hills. The vibrant blue color of the sea. Boats lined the docks as fisherman unloaded nets full of sea creatures. “I know my girl,” she said with confidence. “She’s smart.”

Zeus approached her and looked out the window over her shoulder. “But what if he has bewitched her? We all know what Hades is capable of and what lengths he’ll go to, to get what he wants.”

“That’s why you summoned the messenger isn’t it? He’ll be able to retrieve her regardless.” Zeus nodded and she sighed. “I think we should prepare ourselves though. I have this feeling that Hades isn’t going to let this go. There will be a fight.”

“Let him bring it,” said Zeus. “If he wants a fight, he will get one and I promise you it is a fight he’ll lose.”

“I hope you’re right.” Demeter shifted in her spot and turned to face Zeus. “The last thing this world needs is another epic battle. We don’t want another war like the one involving the Titans. Hades is a fighter.”

Zeus placed his hands on her shoulders and met her gaze with an understanding look in his eyes. “That won’t happen. For one, the Kraken has been dead for thousands of years. Two, I honestly doubt that Hades will make that big of a fuss over Persephone. He can have anyone he wants. Why put up that much of a fuss for one Goddess?”

“To prove a point,” Demeter whispered. “Because I’d kept her from him.”

“You need to swallow your doubts, Demi. I won’t let anything bad happen. And you know Hades has never been more powerful than me.”

She knew Zeus was right. After all it had been Zeus who freed them from Cronos. Part of Hades built up anger came from that. Demeter knew that Hades thought Zeus had damned him to an eternity of misery, commanding the dead while Zeus basked in the glory of running everything. Even Poseidon was better off being the God of the Sea.

Demeter broke away from Zeus and sat down on the marble steps in front of throne. Her eyes darted around the massive room, stopping for a moment as she took in each marble column. She’d missed her home. And it saddened her that no one lived here anymore. The only time the Gods used Mount Olympus was for meeting purposes.

Her attention averted to the far end of the room as Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon strutted toward them. Zeus had called a meeting into session with five of the six originals without Hades knowledge. One; it was best that he be left out of it because he might react brashly. Two all five of their votes would override Hades sixth so there was nothing the God of the Dead could do anyway.

There were twelve Gods and Goddesses in total that attended most meetings, but for secretive meetings like this one the others weren’t needed. The original immortals made all of the final decisions no matter what the other’s votes were. After all, they were created or offspring of the originals themselves.

Hera extended her arms to Demeter and helped her up. She stared at her lovingly and smoothed back a piece of Demeter’s hair. “How are you holding up?” she asked, her eyes full of concern.