Chapter 48 - Persephone

I wake up lying down on a field of flowers. The string is gone but I'm still wearing Gustave's coat. There's stuff in his pockets. Gustave things.

Scraps of paper, a pencil, a button, a handkerchief.

I feel the strangest kind of joy over this, while still shedding tears, having these little pieces of him with me. I hope nothing happens to me in the next paintings so I don't ruin the jacket or lose anything.

It kinda feels like I'm still wrapped in his embrace somehow. I hope this means I'll be able to get back in his arms once again.

But in the meantime, I'm here, so I might as well explore.

I sit up and look around myself.

There's a woman in a pink flowy dress not to far from me. It looks from where I am that she's picking flowers, but as I get up and closer to her, I realize she's planting them.

But like. There's some kind of magic that goes into what she's doing.

And now I'm slightly worried, and before I have time to run away from her, she clocks me.

"Oh hello," she says in a melodic voice.

This is not the voice of a mere mortal. It gives me chills. It's really weird.

I give her a little wave, my feet frozen. "Hi. Sorry for disturbing you. I didn't mean to," I basically squeak.

"It's okay. You're not disturbing me," she replies with a smile and tilts her head, studying me. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"I'm not. But I won't stay long," I tell her, so she knows I'm not a treat. I would really like it if I didn't get killed today.

"That's fine. What's your name?" she asks.

"I'm Melody," I tell her.

"Persephone," she replies.

I look at her with eyes slightly narrowed. Could she be? These are paintings. She could be.

"I'm sorry to ask, but are you Demeter's daughter?"

She chuckles at the question. "Yes, I am."

"And... are you married?" I ask. Maybe Hades hasn't kidnapped her yet. Maybe I can save her from that. She seems nice. It's the least I can do, to warn her.

I know this myth. Hades kidnapped her, and keeps her in the underworld half the year. That's why we have winters.

"I am," she tells me, her expression unchanging.

Poor girl. Even when she's a goddess, she's had to follow them whims of a man.

"Can I do anything to help? My death is not permanent in this world, so it doesn't matter whatever Hades ends up killing me. Would stabbing him potentially mean you can stay here longer?" I throw at her. I'm really not sure what I can do to stop her from being trapped in that marriage. I don't know if Greek gods can be killed. I think they can, but not by mortals.

Persephone looks at me a little shocked now. "Why would I want you to stab my husband?"

"Well... he forced you to marry him, right? He kidnapped you."

She chuckles, shaking her head, looking at me like I'm an idiot child that doesn't understand something simple. "He didn't kidnap me."

"But the story?"

She snorts this time. "The story that my mother tells everyone who shall listen? So that she can find a way, some loophole to make sure I stay with her all the time? Hades and I made sure our plan was ironclad."

I blink slowly. Am I hearing this right? "Wait? You wanted this?"

"Yes."

"Do you... you love Hades?"

Her answer is firm and immediate. "Yes."

"Why?" I reply a bit against my own will.

"What?"

"I mean, he's the god of death, isn't he? You're like in love with the grim reaper."

Sure, some people fantasise about dating supernatural creatures like vampires and stuff, but in practice, it's not exactly a good idea.

This girl must have it pretty rough.

She shakes her head. "He's the god of the dead. And of riches. He's the King of the Underworld," she said, her voice carrying weight, before going into a rant, "Sure, he's a little gloomy sometimes, because he feels the pain of every new dead person that comes into the Underworld, but at least he actually cares. He's a good King. A much better one than Zeus. All Zeus cares about is sleeping with literally anyone that catches his eyes. My husband is faithful. And he takes his job seriously. He's kind and fair. He's quiet, but he's an anchor. He's reliable. And beautiful."

I chuckle softly. Yeah. She clearly loves him. Even if she hadn't said all of this. I can see it now. I can see it in her eyes. Isn't this an interesting turn of event. "Well, wow. I'm sorry for believing the other stories."

She shrugs, and plants another flower. "It's fine."

"So, like, you really love him?"

"I really love him."

"You must miss him," I sigh.

"I do."

"I miss my husband too," I add a little thoughtfully. I wonder what Gustave is doing. I wonder if he was sad when he woke up without me. Did he cry? Because I did.

"You're married?"

"Yes.," I smile after admitting that. He's my sham husband, but in my heart, he's my real one. "To an artist with a heart of gold and the physique that fits with it."

Persephone laughs. "We shouldn't simply judge someone by their looks... but it's nice when they're beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, really nice."

"How are you separated from him?" she asks me, sounding genuinely curious.

It nice, this conversation.

"I'm curse. I move to different realms. And I never know when I'll go back to his," I explain.

She gives me a sad, understanding smile. "I'm so sorry. I can imagine how awful it is. At least I know when I'll see my husband again."

I'm about to say I'm fine, but back track, and I'm honest with her instead. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because she really can understand me. "Honestly, I wanted to say, it's okay, but it's not. I'm... I'm really scared anytime I see him will be the last."

It's relieving to admit this to someone else.

"And it must be hard for him too, waiting for you."

I nod. "Yes, the way it must be hard for Hades to wait for you too."

"At least Hades is busy with work," she said.

"My Gustave is busy painting."

Persephone looks at me in the eyes, her tone serious in her melodic voice, "I hope you'll find your way back to him."

"And I hope you get back to Hades soon."

"Still three more months," she sighs, clearly annoyed.

"Three months?" I make a grimace. "That sucks. How's your mother?"

She snorts, planting another flower. She's careful with that one, her hand overing a little longer over it. I can see some kind of green spark between her hand and the flower. "I had to fake getting kidnapped to get away from her. How do you think she is?"

"Oh yeah, probably not the nicest summer vacation."

Persephone sighs again, looking at the landscape around us. "I love her. But I don't like her. She wants to control everything about me. And she doesn't want me to change. She wants me to rely only on her. To live only for her. She was lonely for a long time, and she wants me to fill that void."

"That's unfair for her to ask. You're your own person," I say.

"She doesn't understand that," she says with a shrug.

"So, I guess it really is a good thing you found yourself a husband," I say, trying to change her mood.

She smiles again. "Yes."

"How did you meet then? If he didn't kidnap you?" I ask, curious now.

Her smile grows, her expression fonder. "Hades doesn't really like to come to the mortal world. He doesn't really care for it much, but he likes to come see some flowers bloom sometimes. I found him sleeping by a cypress tree on top of a hill by the water one day. I had never seen him before. He was beautiful and looked peaceful, so I went to bother him. We kept meeting after that. We said it was a coincidence the first few times. But after that, we actually planned our meetings. I loved making him smile. He thought I was funny. But one time, when he came to visit me, one dead soul followed him to hurt him. It hurt me instead. So, Hades brought me back to the underworld to take care of me." She had been gazing past me, remembering, but now she looks back at me. "I like his home. I liked his world. I liked him. And I realized I didn't want to leave."

"And so, he never kidnapped you," I finish.

She nods. "I followed him quite willingly."

"It's a really cute story," I admit, smiling.

"How did you meet your Gustave?"

It was my turn to smile fondly. "He was the first kind person I met after being cursed. When I met him for the second time, I don't know what it was. He was kind, and he was beautiful and he felt familiar. In a good way. He's a constant. He says I'm his sun. That he can live without me, but it's better when I'm around. I like that. I like that he doesn't need me, but that he wants me."

"Hades says sometimes similar to me."

I could understand it. She felt like the literal sun.

"This is nice," I find myself saying out loud.

"What?"

"Talking with you, like this."

"It is," she agrees.

Never thought in a million year a goddess would enjoy speaking with me. This is quite wild. "You're a good goddess Persephone."

She makes a face. "Ah, I don't know about that, I do leave for half the year to get railed by my husband."

I burst into laughter, completely taken by surprise by the comment. "Jesus Christ. Wow."

"Who's Jesus Christ?"

"Oh, you wouldn't know him, would you?" I chuckle, and then explain, "It's just a swear word from my world."

"Interesting."

"Anyway, what were you doing before I randomly appeared?" I ask, changing the subject.

I'm pretty sure I am not psychologically prepared to talk about getting railed with a literal goddess.

"Tending to this field. You want to look?"

"Sure."

So, I follow her around for the rest of the day, looking at her growing things and inspecting them. She smiles at the plants, and is careful of the animals. She walks lightly around, almost like she's floating because of how graceful her steps are.

The sun shines around her in a special light.

She really is a goddess.

And I feel like if more of the gods were like her, I would have an easier time believing in them and worshipping them.

She feels real. But she feels otherworldly too.

I feel a strange warmth standing beside her.

She tells me more about the plants around, and I listen. We walk for I don't know how long.

When we finally sit under a tree for a break from the scorching sun, against my own volition, I doze off, and disappear from Persephone's side.