Up?" I screeched. "Is that possible? That's not possible! How is that possible?"

"It's possible," he confirmed. "Here, let me show you." He held out his arm to me, in the "gentleman" position. I batted it away.

"No thanks!" I said. "Especially if you're going to treat me all lady-like and whatnot." I muttered under my breath, just loud enough to hear. Hades frowned.

That's right! My inner voice said. I'm not going to be treated like I can't fend for myself!

"If you don't take my arm, we can't go to the lava cliff thing." he sighed.

"I could've just held onto your shoulder." I retorted. He sighed.

"Well, then take my shoulder." No sooner after he said this, a hurdling, jumping black, furry figure barreled into us.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" I shrieked from the ground. "Ah! Ah! Ah!" I yelled, backing away from the unmistakable snakeheads snapping at me. I withdrew, still on the floor, right into a wall. What the heck?! Where did the stupid wall come from?! It wasn't there a moment ago! Stupid wall! Back against the wall that appeared out of nowhere, I watched Cerberus look in my direction.

"No! Cerberus!" Hades yelled frantically. "You can't eat her! No! Come here, boy!" His shouts were in vain. Cerberus was getting closer, and closer within each second. I looked Cerberus in the eye. Later I would curse myself for doing this. I knew perfectly well that looking a dog in the eye into his black eyes, I realized there was no going out of there. I was trapped. I was trapped in those forbidden, mesmerizing eyes. I sat there, paralyzed. My mind at a stop. Well not at a complete stop. I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! Was the frantic thought repeating in my mind. With the little voice and I panicking, a very rare side of me decided to take over for a minute or two.

What do you think you're doing? Lieutenant Persephone screamed. Get your sorry butt off the floor!

But...But... The scared-as-heck Persephone replied.

No buts young lady! I swear to the gods that the other side of me is just plain pathetic! it grumbled.

Well...I... The terrified part tried to protest

Well...I... The other part mocked in a very high pitched voice that sounded nothing like me. Don't ask how I knew it was high pitched. It just was. 

Sassy Persephone continued. Helpless little-

Excuse me? I was starting to get angry. For your information, I'm not helpless.

Ooh! Is Persephone getting mad? it taunted.

Oh yeah, I'm mad!

Ooh! Are you going to attack me?

I just might!

Keep in mind, it's not like you could hurt me. it scoffed. First of all, you're way too weak. Second of all-

"OH JUST SHUT UP!" My eyes widened. Did I really just say that out loud? Oh no! I whipped my head up to see how Cerberus would react.

He had stopped. Is that good or bad? That's good, right? Or is that bad? Oh no! That's bad! Or is it good? Ack! I don't know! I decided to try talking to Cerberus.

"Uh, hey Cerberus. Last time I saw you, you were on the ground sleeping. Ca-Can you do that again?"

He growled softly and-God forbid that to be what I think it was! Did he just shake his head?! I'm going crazy. He shook his head again. No? I'm not going crazy?

He shook his head.

Yup, definitely going crazy.

You're not going crazy. said Cerberus.

Uh, yeah I am. For Pete's sake, I'm talking to a three-headed dog! How am I not going crazy?

You're not going crazy. I can make my thoughts known to people.

So... I'm not going crazy?

Nope. Still going to kill you though.

Uh... could you not?

Nope.

So you're really going to kill me?

Yup.

No! I will not die here!

You won't die-

Oh, thank goodness.

IF...

Really?

Yup. You won't die if you say the right thing.

Wow. Vague, much?

Turning away from Cerberus, I glared at Hades.

"Do something you blithering idiot!" I screamed at him.

You're on the right track... Cerberus encouraged.

I blinked in surprise.

I am?

Yup. Keep going.

Um... here goes nothing.

"Work faster!" I yelled at Hades.

You're kind of getting there... Cerberus said.

So yelling at Hades is the secret?

Not exactly. Your first try was closer than your second.

Wait... An idea popped into my mind.

"Hey, Hades!" I yelled. He didn't look up. "Hey, doofus!"

There we go!

It's insulting Hades?

Yup. Cerberus sat by my side. It's pretty fun. He can't hear my thoughts, so you know.

Wait, only I can talk to you?

No. I only make my thoughts known to the people I choose.

Ahh. Why me?

You seem...different.

Me?

Yes, Persephone. You don't fear Hades. I can tell. You will stand up to him. You're strong. You

sometimes have inner conflict, but you keep going. You may have let negative emotions encase you once or twice, but you stay strong. You will stand up for yourself, for your friends. You have your beliefs. You have very little patience. Just like Master.

I'm not those things. Except for the patience one. I do fear Hades, if only a little. I haven't stood up to him-when I tried, I was carted off to a room.

Ahh, but Persephone, you still tried. You're not afraid.

Okay, maybe that part is true. But inner conflict? Where in the blazes would I get inner conflict?

The little voice that had been inside of my head came back.

Persephone! it scolded. Quit lying to yourself!

Cerberus continued.

Persephone, you've always had a sparky personality. You can't deny it. You're sassy, you're adventurous, daring. Your mother though, wanted you to be sweet and kind. You formed-no, forced-yourself to be what she wanted. You Demeter's. But you didn't want to sit around all day doing needlepoint. You wanted adventure. You wanted fun.

Soon, you began to drift away from your mother. You went out and made friends. Friends that you could actually depend upon. Your mother, still viewing you as her baby, didn't approve.

You two fought. You declared that you were old enough to take care of yourself, that you could be independent. She said that there was much too bad in the world for you to be alone. You argued that you wouldn't be alone. You would have your friends. She screamed that your friends would bring you down, nothing more. In the end, she was on the floor crying. You decided that you would give her a second chance, even though it was not in your nature to do so. Her had words stung.

Later, your relationship grew icy once more. You still tried to be sweet for the sake of your mother. 

Soon, other gods began to take notice of you. They wanted to court you, and you wanted no part in it. You were grateful that your mother angrily refused every offer. You wondered, who would want them? They talked to you like you were an inferior when they did talk to you. No, scratch that. They talked to you like you couldn't do anything for yourself. They had to accompany you in every little thing.

Then, Hades captured you. Though you still resented your mother, you were a bit angry with yourself. You hadn't heeded her warning, and this time, it really got you into trouble. Then you began to think of your friends. You missed them. You really, really did. They were part of your life.

That... sums up my emotional life pretty well.

Cerberus chuckled. I think. Not sure. Are dogs able to chuckle?

Point is, Persephone, you've gone through a lot. Yet you're still going strong. That's something to be proud of. 

Before I could answer, I heard someone calling my name. I had been so focused on listening to Cerberus, I had failed to notice Hades talking to me.

"Persephone!"

"Yes?" I said.

"Whew," he answered. "For a moment there, it looked like you were talking to Cerberus! Crazy, right?" I remembered what Cerberus had said. Hades doesn't know that I can communicate my thoughts. He must have a reason for doing so.

"Uh... yeah. That's pretty crazy. I mean, who would be talking to a dog?"

I heard Cerberus growl slightly.

You, that's who!

I mentally shushed him.

"Well then. It looks like Cerberus has decided that he likes you." I bit back a grin.

"Yup. We can really connect." 

We continued walking in silence, Cerberus tailing us.

"Do you want a tour?" Hades asked out of the blue.

"Sure," I answered.

He looked around.

"Let's see here," he muttered to himself. "Do you want to go to Elysium?"

"That sounds... fun!"

He kept looking around, furrowing his brow.

"To be honest, I have no idea where we are right now. It's not right. I know the Underworld like the back of my hand."

"That's a bit odd," I said, now looking at our surroundings. We had stumbled (quite literally) upon a path a little while ago, and huge figures creating shadows could be seen in the nearby distance. I pointed them out to Hades.

He glanced up.

"Already saw those." 

I suggested, "How about we go see what those things are?"

"Are you nuts?" he shouted. "They could be harmful!"

"So? What's a little danger? Besides, if you go check it out, you'll know it. You can reference it later."

He looked tempted.

"Fine."

We walked down the trail, toward the looming figures. Once we got close enough I could see that they were actually...

Drumroll, please.

Gigantic, humongous bones! That's right people, bones! Don't get me wrong, I mean, bones are cool, but those were a little creepy. Only a little. I promise. Only a little.

"See," I said, trying to be cheerful. "Nothing's wrong. Nothing's dangerous."

I saw a flicker of movement. Definitely not creepy at all. Unfortunately, Hades had seen it too.

̈See, I told you! I told you this place was dangerous! Come on we're leaving! ̈ he shouted.

I swallowed my fear. After all, although this place was weird, I wanted to explore it. Besides, I thought. I won't be staying here for long. It's not every day, if any day, that you see giant bones sticking up out of the ground in Olympus. Playing my last card, I jeered,

̈What? Is Hades, the god of the dead, the Underworld and spirits scared? ̈ I added a note of mocking disbelief into my voice.

"No!" he screeched, much too quickly to be believable. "I'm not scared! No! Definitely not!"

I snorted. At least, I tried snort and make it sound like I didn't believe him.

"Oh, really?" I asked.

"Yes! Fine! I'll prove it!" He took my wrist and  dragged me to the very center of the bones.

"See?" he said, a slight quake in his voice. "I'm not scared." I shrugged.

Very nice, Persephone. Cerberus said.

Nicely done! screamed the little voice.

I did a mental bow.

I heard a cracking noise farther down the path.

I walked a couple paces closer, trying to figure out what it was. Hades noticed the action.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

I kept straining to hear the sound. Hades soon started repeating the action. Honestly, I have no idea why. Maybe monkey see monkey do?

There it was again! The crackling noise!

"Did you hear that?" Hades whispered. I nodded my head, then began to creep forward.

Yanking my arm, Hades whisper-screamed, "No! It's probably dangerous!" He loosened his hold on my arm. Rolling my eyes, I shook my arm free, then proceeded to go down the path. Cerberus obediently followed. Hades, running after me, tried to stop me.

Not happening. The little voice said.

The cracking noise became louder and more defined until I was able to identify it.

"It's an egg!" I shouted out of excitement. The egg was ivory, with an emerald green radial pattern splattered throughout. And... the pattern had pineapples! What? Why pineapples?

"Oh, no," Hades whimpered. "It's hatching." I noticed a crack in the surface. Then a familiar noise came into the air as another crevice surfaced.

"What is it?" I asked. "What's hatching?"

"I don't know," Hades admitted. "But for safety reasons, I think you should stand behind me."

I frowned. "You know, once I saw a friend of mine die because he was standing too close to a foreign egg and it jumped out at him," he added. 

At this, I quickly scurried behind him, although not very happy.

As more and more cracks grew on the surface of the egg, I became more and more excited. I pushed forward eager to see the hatchling, until I was a little bit in front of Hades. I began to doze off ever slightly, until a small 'pop!' aroused me. I looked up to see... 

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