The meadow was quiet aside from the gentle patter of the spring rain falling. Only a single, lone figure could be seen in the lands surrounding the cottage that day: a young girl dancing as the warm rain soaked her hair and dress. Kore, the goddess of spring, was unbelievably content. It was the first day in centuries that her mother had left her alone at the cottage. Demeter had made it a habit to take her dear daughter with her wherever she went. Normally, Kore was allowed to roam the fields by their cottage, but only within the bounds of her mother’s property. When Demeter was busy, her nymphs were to watch over her daughter. Kore had longed for even a brief respite from her mother’s suffocating supervision for as long as she could remember. It wasn’t until that morning that she had convinced her mother to allow her to remain at the cottage while she went to attend to her duties on Mount Olympus. Of course, the nymphs were still to keep an eye on her, but there was one place she could go to find some semblance of privacy. The innermost field on the property had been gifted to her by her mother upon her 1800 birthday. She was allowed to forego supervision within that small field on account of the numerous fields of nymphs surrounding it on all sides. Her mother had hoped she would use it to grow short, delicate flowers and such, but Kore had had other ideas. She had immediately gotten to work growing tall thick trees around the perimeter with vines filling in the gaps between them. Her foliage formed tall walls to block out the prying eyes that surrounded her, allowing her privacy to do as she pleased when inside. Instead of white lilies and gardenia and daisies, she grew narcissus and asphodel, blood red poppies and black roses covered in thorns. Her mother would be appalled if she knew. Instead of the flowers of purity and innocence her mother chose for her, she filled her sanctuary with the colors of sinners and the flowers of the dead; they calmed her. The moment her mother was gone she had gathered the clouds overhead and coaxed the gentle spring shower from them. The daughter of Zeus had been forbidden from using her control over the skies very early on. Her mother despised the rain. It reminded her of the King of the gods that she hated so much. No, she had decided right away that Kore should be raised as her daughter and hers alone. To use the talents she got from her father were a betrayal and an insult in her mother’s eyes. Still, Kore didn’t agree with her mother’s way of tending to the fields. Watering the vast expanse of foliage by hand and using magic to make up for the difference never felt right to her. So she took this rare chance to enjoy the rain. It wasn’t harsh like her father’s storms were known to be, and it certainly wasn’t as warm as the endless sunny days that her mother ensured. No, it was something else entirely. The warm raindrops soaked into the earth gently, providing for the soil and all the plants in it. Each drop that cascaded down Kore’s smooth, tan skin was as soft as a kiss, and she relished in the feel of it. It was as if all the worries and stress that had built up over the past two millennia melted away with the rain. She decided that she could spend hours, maybe even days just letting the rain shower her. However, the sight of rain on Demeter’s property was unheard of. The clouds stayed low to avoid the nymphs prying eyes, but nothing could hide her clouds from above, and the inconceivable occurrence alone was enough to spark the curiosity of a certain God that happened to be flying by. 

Hi There! Author Here! I will be putting the meanings of any flowers used in the chapters in the episode descriptions, and the meanings do explain my choices in flowers if you're all curious! So keep an eye out!