HER VOICE SOUNDS like claw marks against a chalkboard. "Going somewhere important? Without visiting me?"

For a person who appeared out of thin soil, the lady was exceptionally beautiful. She had a motherly feeling to her, with her kind green eyes and her blonde hair pulled up in an elegant updo. Her face is thinly covered by a flimsy veil, which blows softly in the wind.

Her long, green gown shimmers under the morning sun. The material seems to be woven out of new born leaves of grass and the air around her exudes the smell of sickeningly sweet flowers.

She glides over to us, and our horses turn skittish, making us unsteady on their backs. I jump down to avoid being dropped by Orphnaeus. The lady's eyes settle on me, her lips curling in disgust.

"Cynthia," she rasps and I flinch at the throaty tone of her voice. "How nice of you to finally come find me."

I step away from her, taking my falcata into my hands. The horses start kicking and whinnying the closer she gets. Everyone follows my lead and drops to the ground. Macaria makes a fist with her hand and the horses turn to mist.

The lady laughs, her veil shimmering softly before it disappears. "Impressive. Hades teach you that little trick?" She asks Macaria.

Her jaw clenches and she holds her sword in her hand, balancing herself in a fighting stance. "I don't believe I owe you any answers."

Still giggling, the woman in green approaches me. I freeze, unable to move or step away. Forcing my feet to move feels impossible; it feels like being stuck in quicksand. I slightly move my head to look below and nearly topple over from the shock.

Tendrils of grass curl upward and around my ankles, locking me effectively. I see Matthew shift closer to help but I put up my hand to stop him. For some inexplicable reason, this psychotic goddess had it out for me. I was not going to let anyone fight my battles.

Anger flares in my veins and my eyes almost shoot fire. My body involuntarily draws strength from the earth and for once in my life, I am extremely grateful for this energy. I can feel my hands grow warmer with heat, and that gives me the confidence boost I needed.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?" I snap.

The heat radiating from me does not seem to deter her. If anything, it attracts her nearer, so much so that there is just a foot's gap between us. The smell of ripe fruits, blossoming flowers, and damp earth becomes stronger.

"Are you sure you don't know me? I would expect better from you. After all, you're the daughter I spent months searching and crying for. How did you repay me? Leaving me and letting yourself be destroyed for a man who kidnapped you!" 

I gasp, suddenly realising who she is. Of course, it made sense right from the beginning. "Demeter?" 

Demeter laughs again, her eyes now dark brown pools of rage and sorrow. "When that abductor stole you from me, I weeped and begged for you to come back. The gods granted half my wish but of course, Hades could not stop at that.

He raged a war, divided the gods, and once again, he took you away from me. Now that I have found you, away from those wretched lands Hades protects, you will not be going back to that maniac."

I bit back the nausea in my throat. I felt five pairs of eyes on me, debating whether to step in or watch. I gritted my teeth, stopping my hands from shaking uncontrollably. I raise my falcata, jutting the tip towards the goddess.

"Look, I don't know what the hell you are talking about. I am not your daughter and I am definitely not going to go anywhere with the likes of you. Let us go in peace and I will promise to help you find Persephone," I say the last part placatingly, hoping she would relent.

How much harm could a goddess of agriculture cause?

"Do not test my patience, you insolent child. You will leave this nonsense and take your rightful place beside me as the goddess of spring. I have held back from using my powers since Hades started ruling. We can bring back paradise on Elara. Join me again, daughter," she says, smiling in the most creepy motherly way possible.

I place my left leg diagonally behind my right, maintaining my centre of gravity. I draw more fire from the earth till I am sure I am glowing. I had had enough of these daughter revelations. I was not this madwoman's daughter and I definitely did not have a daughter myself.

I scoff at Demeter before slashing out with my falcata, fire blazing on the metal. The blade cut right by Demeter's side, singeing the material of her clothes. My friends collectively gasp, unable to comprehend what is happening in front of them. Her eyes blaze and she charges, a long golden sword materialising in her hand.

Our blades clash, showering the surroundings in sparks of fire and light. I push my weight on her sword, hoping to find a weak opening. I suddenly pull my falcata down and duck, causing Demeter to fall forward. 

Moving around her falling frame, I grab her from behind, bringing my curved blade right below her chin. Demeter wheezes and gasps, shock trembling through her veins. She struggles against my hold, but the earth lends me enough energy to keep her trapped.

"Out of practice?" I ask and Demeter wails, a horrible, screeching sound filling the quiet terrain. I drop my hands to cover my ears, my first mistake. 

Demeter immediately takes advantage and flips around, hitting in the chest with the hilt of her sword. Her blow sucks the breath out of my lungs and I stagger back, fighting for air. She glides towards me, a smug smile on her face.

"I am usually very level-headed, Cynthia. But since you won't be going down without a fight, I'll have to do something you will regret."

Hate burns in my heart and I sneer at the goddess from where I stand. Clenching the falcata tightly in my hands, I say, "Do your worst."

Her laughter trills over the beautiful plains, somehow making the lush landscape look horribly haunted. The flowers lose their shine, the grass starts drooping, and the trees seem to be turning a murky shade of green.

"Don't blame me," Demeter says and raised her arms on both sides. Immediately, the ground crunches and breaks, the roots of flowers and grass uprooting themselves. They swirled in groups of large tornadoes, pushing us away with their momentum.

Demeter harshly brings down her hands and the dirt and roots solidifies into five, forty foot tall giants. They bellow from their slit like mouths in their dirt faces before targeting my friends. They scream and fall away from the giants' feet, narrowly missing death by inches.

Their feet made crater like indentions on the ground; if anyone had been a second late, they would have been crumpled to their deaths. Matthew, Macaria, and Lorrenia pull out their swords, slashing at the monsters' knees with ferocious speed.

The giants fall but the ground immediately works to supply them with new soil feet. Katrina blasts her rifle at the monster chasing her but it does nothing more than to rip a hole in its face, which heals itself. Darsh was faring no better; each time he detonates a bomb, the giant dissipates and reforms.

I whirl on Demeter, my eyes glowing from the power I am receiving from the earth. "How dare you! Release my friends right now, or I swear to Zeus, I will cut you down where you stand!"

She just pouts like a spoilt brat. " I do not want you rescuing any power hungry god. Come with me, and I shall let them go. I promise on the River Styx."

I stop dead in my tracks. Demeter mentioned something, something I hadn't believed before. "Rescuing? So, you know Hades is in trouble?"

Her lips curl back in disgust. "Even now, you want to ask about him? He left you in the Underworld, all alone, just to claim this earth! My sweet child, I saw what the Underworld was doing to you, but I was too late."

"Why? Why were you late? What happened?"

"Hades gave you equal hold over the Underworld. So, when he left, the monsters stirred. You fought them in the trenches of hell, abandoned and scared, but you never backed down. Eventually, it became too much for you and your essence scattered.

"It reassembled years later," Demeter's eyes soften for the first time. I notice the giants turning sluggish, their movements becoming laboured. So, I keep her talking.

"Into what?"

"Into you," she says, meeting my eyes head on. "Now that you have reformed into a material body, you are no longer bound to the Underworld. I just want you to come home."

And in a move so foreign when facing an attacker, my heart breaks. My heart breaks for a mother who lost her only daughter, a daughter she loved more than anything in the world. Demeter must have noticed my change in emotions because the giants crumple into heaps of earth over my friends.

"So," she asks, "what is it going to be?"

I think about my true self, as a goddess. I could return everything back to normal, if I left with Demeter. I could command Harvey to step down as I am an equal counterpart to Hades. Demeter and I could bring back paradise on Elara, it would never be so dry again.

And then, something clicks in my heart. I could definitely seek Deemeter's help and resume my position as an immortal. But I would never again be able to live with my parents, my mother, my father, my brother, or my friends. 

I would become a distant figure to them. I would watch them die and there would be nothing I could do to stop it. I would have to go on for aeons without them. The only way to go back to my family would be to help Hades return to his rightful place as Elara's king. 

My heart knows my mother is Clarissa Meyers, and it did not care what anyone else said. As soon as I come to this realisation, the Mark of Love glowed on my palm and I know I made the right decision. 

I bow my head. "I am not you daughter. You know that as well as I do. Persephone would not have hesitated to leave with you. I, on the other hand, have a mission I must complete. I promised you would get her back. And I intend to do well on my oath."

Demeter stays silent for the longest time, as my friends finally break free from the heap of soil on their heads. She nods at last, looking at me with greater respect.

"Very well. But you have until the tenth of June to get her back. If you fail," she stops, leaving the threat hanging.

"I understand," I say and she whips her sword, vanishing in a shower of corn husks.

"What in the Underworld was that?" Darsh shrieks and I laugh as I walk over to help.

Ten days. We had ten days.

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