Persephone felt a pressure on her chest and opened her eyes.
It was Max who was seated on his haunches on her stomach. He yawned hugely. “Good morning, my queen. I normally wouldn’t wake you like this, but the matter is pressing that you learn about using ether here.”
“Ether is an old word for magic.”
“Yes.” Max mewled coolly. He swiped his tail across the coffee table and a solid red delicious apple popped into existence. “Your ether when you adjust to this environment will be much more beautiful than mine.”
“What do you want me to do, Max?”
Max’s tail curled into a question mark. “I want you to try and bring me the apple. You can sit up, but don’t go and get it. Bring it to me with ether.”
Both spent most of the morning watching Persephone damage the apple. Every time she did this, Max replaced the damaged apple with a new one. They did this with varying levels of success, at times the apple becoming incinerated or mutating into strange steps. Persephone was growing more and more frustrated. The apple finally morphed into a banana before her stomach grumbled loudly.
The werecat licked his paws in a sort of grooming gesture. “Oh my, goddess of spring? I forget you do need sustenance or you will become emancipated again. What would you like, my lady? Hades prefers meat.” As he said this, he made a large wooden table appear. It was heaping with meat.
Persephone felt bile rise to the back off her throat. “No, Max.”
Max’s claws scratched together in a strange clear sound and the table vanished. He stretched again, making a nail file appear so he could file his claws.
Persephone shivered. “This room feels so cramped. I miss the animals and plants I tended to while working with my mother. It’s hard when there’s no life, Max.”
“My queen, you are life itself. If you want to create something, you can. The exercise was designed to show you that you shouldn’t approach the problem in the old manner. This isn’t the above world, this is the Underworld.”
As Max was reiterating this, Hades strode into the room. Persephone grew very still.
Max cleared his throat. “Sir, though I am quite pleased to see you home early, it’s impossible for you to have finished cleaning the pit of souls in two hours.”
Hades opened his mouth to respond, but the fireplace lit up into a roaring fire. Everyone turned towards the heat. A flaming letter spit out of the fire and landed square in Persephone’s lap.
Hades exchanged glances with Max.
Persephone batted out the flames and turned it over. “It says it’s for me.”
“It’s probably something that can—” Max’s words died in his mouth as Persephone opened it.
“It’s from my mother.”
Hades sighed deeply. “I’ll leave you two alone.” He levitated Maximillian who dropped his nail file and was fairly exasperated at being manhandled by a god. He struggled before finally submitting to being carried unceremoniously out of the room by Hades.
Persephone looked down at the aged parchment paper. She unfurled it and as she did, words bled onto the page. As they inked out, she could hear Demeter’s voice in her mind.
Demeter was frantic. “How are things there? Did you get enough sleep? Is it even possible to sleep because it’s so hot? I know they call it hell for a reason. Is he beating you? I knew he would. I’m trying everything I can to get you out of there. He’s such a violent person. Hades is known for ruling the Underworld with such an iron fist.”
Persephone spoke out loud, not having a pen or a quill appear for her to respond. “Mother, you’re overreacting. Everything is fine here. Hades has been nothing but kind to me. I haven’t really been out too much to be honest.”
Demeter’s words burned darker and Persephone let go of the parchment as her hand burned from the intensity of the goddess’s words. “Are you having intercourse? You’re much too young to be queen. I can let Zeus know and we can make it so you can spend some time home with me.”
“No, mother, I want to be here.”
“I’ve been hearing from the souls, that your face is ashen. You look drained. How do you expect to thrive there if you can’t even last twelve hours without fainting? How are you going to defend yourself? There’s nothing living. How will you eat, my lonesome love bug?”
“Then I’ll make something living. I did run Divine Right, mother. Hades made me my own flower shop here in the Underworld. It’s lovely. There’s a nice werecat and there are so many things I can try here.”
“So that’s what he’s having you do. He stole you from me so he could grow a flower. He’s playing you and taking advantage of the fact that you can’t do anything.”
“Mother, I don’t want you meddling in this. I want to try and make it work. I don’t want to be weak and known as the pity of Demeter. I need to do this.”
“Mom will fix things for you.”
“I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
“I’m doing all of this for you, flower. You’ll thank me someday. Don’t you remember how we were? Wasn’t I happy?”
After this, the paper curled into itself and disintegrated in Persephone’s hand. She tilted her hands and the ashes flew away. Persephone saw the tear trickle into her hands before she felt the tremoring sobs rack her body. She curled into a ball and let the misery have her. She hated this situation, she felt like she didn’t have any control over her life and that choices were being made for her that she didn’t understand at all.
Hades hearing the soft sobbing and was about to confront her, when he felt Maximillian’s claws dig into his arm. He glared down at the cat.
“Max?”
“Sir, I need to teach her before you touch her.”
“She’s hurt.”
“No thanks to meddling. She’s never had freedom before so she’s struggling to figure out what to do with it. Whatever that woman she calls ‘mother’ did to her, we don’t know. A lot of changes are coming to the Underworld and she will be the source. You cannot help her in this. She is the flower and you are the tree. Your roots will choke her if you’re not careful.”
Max was expecting the ruler to grow angry, but instead, Hades was strangely complacent. “I want to give her a life.”
Max wiggled out of Hades’ arms. The god left as Max paddled up to Persephone and buried himself in her lap. Persephone initially did not pet him, but as his warmth reached her, she accepted his comforting presence.
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