Chapter Twenty Three The First Dream - Part Three

Persephone stared out at the sea from the top of Stella’s tower. It was nothing like her tower on Mount Olympus. She faced south and the sun beat down on her skin. Her skin never used to feel burnt when it was hot out. She used to love heat and in her current skin, it felt like she was going to fry to a crisp. She backed away and waited in the shade.

Stella’s body was both a nuisance and a comfort to Persephone once her memories were restored. It was a nuisance because it was mortal and tired easily and was frail as blown glass. It was a comfort only because it allowed her to be with Sethos.

Mortality was a hard bargain, especially the eating part. Food had only been for pleasure when she had been a goddess. Now she hated the sweat it formed on Sethos’ brow as he labored to keep her well-fed. She couldn’t stop him from doing it. He fished, he hauled water, he picked fruit and dried plants. Didn’t he realize he was wasting her life? The more time he spent fussing over her diet, the less time she got to spend with him. Now that she recognized the precariousness of her position, she knew that she may not even get to spend the remainder of Stella’s lifespan with him.

Hades would find her. Her disguise wasn’t good enough to fool the God of the Underworld forever. His specialty was in sorting souls and he knew the texture and taste of hers very well. Even if she had hidden hers in rotting human flesh, he would find her. She had to make the most of the time they had.

Because she had lived as Hades’ wife, she could not enjoy the comfort Sethos offered her as her lover. The truth was, life with Hades had left her too sexually abused to want to take that step. She loved Sethos, but she was afraid to let him touch her. What if sex with Sethos was just as painful and horrible as it had been with Hades? They kissed, and she never wished it was more.

And when they kissed, her mind filled with visions as glorious and intense as heaven. She had visions of flying with him. She saw them swimming. He embraced her like she was sacred. He knelt before her as he did the first time. She breathed the fragrance of the sea on his skin. It was enough for her.

She felt happy like she used to long ago.

Even though her immortal coil had been shuffled off in favor of a disposable one, even though she had suffered the abuse of a god who would never tire of tormenting her, she had escaped for one glorious moment into the arms of an enemy.

She stretched her limbs on Sethos’ bed and waited for him to join her. He was away, visiting his mother. When would he be back? Before the sun dipped behind the mountain range? Before the room grew dark orange? Before her pulse beat ten times? Or five times? Now? Would he arrive this very second?

Just then, she heard the sound of feet alighting upon the north balcony. Persephone leaped from the bed when a figure entered the room that was not who she was expecting.

White hair blew in strands against his pale face and parted to show scarlet eyes.

Persephone stared. Hades had found her. How? She knew at once. It was her memory. As soon as it returned to her, he had been able to track her.

“Wife,” he said darkly. “You’re breaking your contract with me.”

“I was tired of staining my arms black doing your dirty work,” she said. Stella’s voice sounded weak and counterfeit when placed next to the God of the Underworld’s rich tones.

“You break my heart,” he said, approaching her in full battle armor. He carried his helmet in his arms and the length of his snow-white hair fell against his black breastplate.

“You broke my spirit,” she retorted.

“Apparently not, if you have the impudence to run away,” he said as he examined her current form. “You’re not beautiful like that.”

“I don’t care,” she mouthed, tears coming to her eyes. Now that he had found her, she didn’t know what was to be done. What was he going to do? If he was to rape her in her current form, it would be better to jump off the tower before he could touch her. At least then she could go back to being Persephone and her goddess body could take his abuse.

“But you’re a virgin again,” he murmured. “How interesting! Do you—the Goddess of Fertility—really want to live like that? A virgin? Untouched?”

“Don’t come near me!” she hissed, inched her way to the second balcony.

“I won’t if you don’t want me to. I know how delicate you are in that state. I want to talk to you. All these years we’ve been together, did my feelings for you never get through to you?”

“Your feelings? The only feelings of yours I saw were hate and revenge. I know you wanted me to be hungry for power. I know you wanted our partnership to be the greatest alliance in history, but I never lived up to your ambition. You hate me,” she said, grabbing the door frame of the balcony to steady herself.

“You think I hate you?” he asked quietly.

“What else could you feel? You don’t treat me like your wife. You don’t even treat me like a goddess. You use me. You use me any way that suits you, and I’m not half strong enough to counter you.”

“So, I’ve driven you to this? I’ve driven you to seek comfort out of my realm in a body that dies every moment you live in it?”

The sun fell behind the top of the mountain. She prayed Sethos would not return to the tower with the setting of the sun.

“I have not been cruel to you,” he said fiercely, the anger of a god thundering in his voice. “I originally sought your hand through the proper channels, but your meddling mother condemned our union. What else was I to do? I didn’t want anyone else but you.”

“You stole me away from my home and robbed me of my innocence in the most spiteful way. How can you say you haven’t been cruel to me?”

He exhaled heavily and yellow vapor escaped between his lips. “I still maintain that there was no other way to achieve you. If I had waited to consummate our marriage, Apollo would have brought war. Then everything would have been in vain. The way I acted could not have been avoided.”

“And what about since then?” she wept, falling to the floor with her back to the wall. “What do you say to justify your unkindness since then?”

“I have been kind to you,” he breathed, his breath becoming orange. “I admit I have been frustrated with you. Why can’t you forgive me for those first crimes I was forced to commit? I have tried in so many ways to entice you to open your heart to me, but you are unmoved.”

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. His attempts at tenderness tasted the same as his first crimes.

“You don’t want to forgive me,” he said as though he comprehended it for the first time and the knowledge deflated him. His breath turned white. “You want to leave me.”

Her tears came like a waterfall as she fell on her face at his feet. “Yes. Please, my lord, let me go.”

“I can’t,” came his stiff reply.

“I know you can’t let me go forever, but can you let me live here until this body dies? It would be the first tenderness I asked of you since the moment you dropped those seeds between my lips. I beg you!” Her fingers rested on his sandals. It was the first time she had voluntarily touched him since their marriage.

His shoulders fell. “What would you do with your time here?”

At that exact moment, Sethos landed on the north balcony.

The room turned dark orange.

Hades turned and saw the half-siren.

Through Persephone’s tears, she saw Sethos’ wings retract. He didn’t speak but dropped to his knees to mimic her. She didn’t need to tell him who her visitor was. It could only be one person.

Hades kicked Persephone’s fingers loose. “If this is what you plan to do,” he said, indicating Sethos and drawing his sword. “Then why haven’t you done it already?” He used the flat of it to raise Sethos’ chin.

“My lord?” Sethos asked vacantly. It was clear that he had no idea what they were talking about before he entered.

“Silence!” He turned to her. “Persephone, answer me.”

“You misjudge me. I am not the same as those red-blooded gods on Olympus who find pleasure in making conquests of mortals. I would die as I am now—a virgin.”

“I believe you,” he said resting the point of his blade above Sethos’ heart. They both knew he would see through her lies, so she told none. “So, what do you want with this... siren?”

“He has been providing me with food,” she answered, stretching the truth as far as she dared. “You know who he is?”

“Of course I do. He owes you a debt larger than he is paying. Though I don’t want you to use him as your plaything, you must do something else to him to show your anger and resentment toward his mother.” Hades removed his sword and used his free hand to help Persephone to her feet.

“Such as? Isn’t it enough that he labors for me all my life?”

“It would be, except that I know your wrath toward his mother. Does she still live or have you stopped her heart?”

“She lives. I was not kind enough to kill her.”

“And you think I’m resentful toward you? Your scorn is immortal,” he said, his breath becoming black like the walls of the Underworld. He placed the handle of his sword in her wet palms. “I’ll make you a bargain. If you cut him, I’ll allow you to live here all the days of your natural life.”

Persephone didn’t dare to ask what would happen if she didn’t. She flexed her fingers around the handle and looked at Sethos. He kept his head down and knelt as though he expected her to sever his head. She knew what this moment meant to him. He would allow her to cut him without even letting her see his eyes for fear that his expression would give her reason to pause. He wanted her to cut him with confidence like his life meant nothing to her. That was the only way they could stay together.

She smacked her lips. They were cracked. “I won’t sever anything,” she said. “I would hate to see a mutilated man serving me for the rest of my life. It would be too pathetic.”

“So be it,” Hades agreed, crossing his arms and waiting for her strike.

She judged the shoulder to be the best place to pierce him and straightway dealt the strike. Sethos did not move or cry out. He took it bravely and as she drew out the point, he braced himself as though he expected another stab.

“Are you satisfied?” she asked, wiping the blood on the hem of her dress.

Hades didn’t answer but seemed to be thinking of something carefully. He took the sword from her and sheathed it. “I am not satisfied, but you have fulfilled your half of the bargain. I will let you live here as long as you like in that body.” Then he went to the balcony door. “We will meet again,” he said before he disappeared in a cloud of black fog.

Persephone watched as his form disappeared into the ether. When she was convinced that no part of him lingered, she ran to Sethos’ side.

“Thank you,” she muttered. “I tried not to do it deep. Will you survive?”

“More than that,” he said, his eyes filling with humor.

“You were so strong,” she commended.

“I thought you were the one that was strong. I know how afraid you are of him. You were valiant.”

She retrieved a length clean cloth and tied his wound. “Will it take long to heal?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said as the fabric absorbed his blood. “I’m already better. I have been given permission by your husband to live by your side for the rest of your life. I’m in heaven. This is heaven.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips.

She kissed him back and to her surprise and wonder, he lifted her off the floor with his bad arm and carried her to his bed.

Night’s darkness spread across the land. The last remaining sparkles of the sun’s rays had dimmed and the stars began to shine like coins flung in a pool. Sethos lay in her arms despite her meeting with her unwanted husband.

Sethos’ kisses tasted like hot rain and his mouth worshiped hers in the true fashion of love-making, the one she wasn’t familiar with.

What time passed between their kiss and the arrival of an arrow that pierced the headboard over Sethos’ head, Persephone knew not. She didn’t know what attacked them. Exerting great effort, she roused herself from the bed and rushed to the balcony. Swarming the tower flew the army of the Underworld. She knew them as her eyes scanned the horizon. She knew parts of them: their howls and the sounds of their discontented scratching, but she had never seen them in full array like this. The archers flew on black wings with arrows pulled at the ready. When Persephone filled the doorway, they stayed their hands, but only temporarily. One corrected his aim. An arrow flew past her ear and struck the bed where Sethos had been only a moment before.

“They’re here for you,” Persephone yelled. “You have to hide!”

“No,” he said, displaying even more courage than when she had spilled his blood. His expression was fathomless. “I’ll fight them.”

“You’ll die,” she yelled, spreading her arms wide to stop the army from shooting.

“Then I’ll die, but I will not do you the same wrong my mother did.” Sethos pulled twin swords from under his mattress and spread out his wings to battle his foe across the skies while Persephone stood, clenching her dress and fearing the outcome. He flew fearlessly into the night and began to cut down the line of archers. Ribbons of his blood streamed across the sky as he took damage.

Then Persephone saw him. At the end of the line of archers, flying dogs, and ancient warlords, she saw him—Hades. He rode on Cerberus’ back and watched the battle from the top of a hill. She could see the glint of his hard red eyes even from that distance.

Hades had seen their secret extended kisses. That was why he retreated temporarily, to spy on them. She had broken no promise. Adultery was not one of her sins. Forbidden love on the other hand was definitely the chief of her wrongdoings and he was punishing her for it.

Now she understood. Hades was willing to let her live on the island for as long as she wished. There was no expiry date to the bargain, just so long as she didn’t live with any man, she was free. It didn’t matter to Hades if she dallied with Sethos sexually or only harbored feelings for him, one was just as objectionable as the other.

What if she agreed to go back to the Underworld with him now? Would he forgive her and save Sethos’ life?

That was what he was waiting for. That was what the demon was doing watching the battle with such an easy spirit. His forces could have easily overpowered one half-siren. He was waiting for Persephone’s will to crack. He was waiting for her to fall at his feet and beg him to call his soldiers off.

Persephone was paralyzed.

From across the valley, Hades gave her a look. She knew that look. It said, “Make up your mind, or I’ll make it up for you.”

Her brain worked furiously. She couldn’t see how begging Hades to stop would make him stop the attack. Even if she gave him what he wanted, he would kill Sethos anyway and see that his soul was sealed in the ninth circle of Hell. Was there even one thing she could do to save him?

Time was up and she hadn’t answered Hades.

Hades was finished waiting. He put his hand up in the air to call off his goons and they all fled from Sethos like scattering spiders.

Sethos held his position in the air, his swords lowered in his clenched fists. His shoulders and arms were badly cut. Blood fell in red strings across his bare chest and in stark contrast on his white wings. He’d taken gashes everywhere. Worst of all was his eye. One of his eyes had been gouged out.

Persephone’s lips quivered in terror and her breath became ragged as she looked upon him.

Hades pulled his bow from his shoulder and notched an arrow. There was no way he would miss.

“Sethos!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Come here!”

He shook his head and spread his wings as if he was going to charge Hades.

“Seth, come to me!” she tried again.

Hades' arrow flew true and struck Sethos in the heart.

Persephone screamed.

Hades lowered his commanding arm and his army descended upon Sethos. New arrows struck home, fangs found his throat, his wings rent from his back, and knives pierced his flesh until Hades called them off. Their last order was to drop his mutilated corpse on the balcony in front of Persephone.

A muscle in her chin twitched. For a moment she dared not look down. There was a warm wet wind blowing across her face and down the sweaty expanse of her chest. She lowered herself to her knees on the stone balcony and kept her eyes to the sky. She looked out onto the sea and the starry night sky. Reaching out, she touched her love and felt the hot wetness of his lifeblood. Closing her eyes, she felt his body with her hands until she found his mouth. Kissing him, she tasted the blood he had choked on. Now her hands and lips were drenched in blood and swollen tears streamed down her cheeks freely.

Opening her eyes, she forced herself to take responsibility for what had just happened. What had Sethos hoped for? Was he hoping to undo his mother’s curse? She was dizzy and it didn’t matter what he had wanted. He had died because of her. He had died for her.

His blood pooled and stained the dark stones of the balcony. His body was practically hacked to bits. He was missing fingers and Hades’ arrow was stuck through his chest and two knives protruded from his abdomen.

Seeing him thus defaced, her lip trembled and the anger that boiled in her system could not be contained. Those bastards! Damn them! Damn everyone! She knew what to do. She was not the Goddess of the Underworld for nothing. She had come to this world for freedom, not to be stomped down in this fashion. No matter how Hades ended her escapade, she wouldn’t let him remain conqueror. She would not surrender. The battle would go on, and she knew who her first victim would be.

She wrenched one of the knives from Seth’s stomach free. Bending down, she kissed the bloody gash.

“I love you so much,” she whined, her voice broken. “You can’t die like this. I’ll give you a different ending.”

With that, she took the knife and put it to her own throat, slitting it with such violence that she managed to cut herself ear to ear.

The last thing Persephone heard before she entered the Underworld was a howl. Hades had not expected her to do that and now he was so angry he was screaming himself hoarse.

***

Persephone arrived in the Underworld within the blink of an eye and woke up where she had left her immortal body, in bed. Her body yearned for her spirit to return and called out to her each second they were separated.

She hadn’t a moment to lose. Swinging her feet to the floor, she reached for the bottle on her dressing table, the one that housed Stella’s soul. The bottoms of her slippers resounded on the marble as she charged through Hades’ palace to the entrance.

She had to find Sethos’ soul. He would be wandering and she had to beat Hades to him. If she was too slow he would send Sethos to the tenth level of Tartarus for sure.

Rushing to the mouth of the Styx, she leaped into Charon’s waiting boat and ordered him to cast off.

“Money,” he said, pushing out his hand.

“What do you need money for, you stupid ghoul?” she shouted. “You spend eternity here running up and down the river as a slave. Why do you need money?”

“I just do,” he said, turning his head away and extending his open palm to her again.

“Why?” she questioned, ripping the slippers from her feet. “The way you always demand payment is starting to make me feel like I should keep a coin under my tongue, and I’m the blasted Goddess of the Underworld!”

“It would be a wise idea,” he said as he picked several gemstones off the toes of the slippers.

“Get moving! I have no time to banter and barter with you. I have to find a soul before Hades does.”

Charon seemed not to have heard her as he pocketed the rest of the jewels. He tossed the slippers back at her and took the oar with an experienced hand. “If you tell me the soul’s name, I’ll find it for you, but I won’t give you a ride back unless you pay me again.”

“Done,” she said, knowing full well that she didn’t have anything else of value on her person. “Sethos.”

“Arrow to the heart,” he said, pointing to the far shore. “I’ll take you there.” And for once, Charon seemed to be putting some effort into his job. He moved the oar as Persephone had never seen. The water parted in huge waves behind them and the sparkling lost souls on the banks were sprayed with gray water.

High up on the banks, the lost souls gathered together in huge groups. How was she going to find Sethos in this mess?

“He was murdered by Hades himself, so his soul will take on a red tinge. You’re on your own. I cannot leave the boat. You can safely wade in the water, goddess. It’s not death to you.” Then he took a deep breath as though their journey had tired him. “Get out.”

“Thank you,” she said, jumping out of the boat into the slippery water. She steadied herself with one hand on the lip of the boat, but she still managed to lose one of her slippers straight off.

Then Charon laughed. It was a deep laugh rather like a chuckle and it was the first sign of a personality she had ever witnessed in the ferryman. “Hades would never imagine that you would do this. To him, it’s raw sewage. He won’t come here or find you. I recommend you leave that bottle somewhere along the way. If you keep it with you, he’ll take it from you.”

“You know your master well,” she commented, letting go of the boat and preparing to go on her own.

“I know how he feels for you well.”

“Do you think I’m ungrateful?” she asked haughtily.

“I wouldn’t help you if I thought that.” Then he cast away from the shore and left Persephone to search for the red specter among thousands of blue ones.

***

She was a goddess. Finding Sethos shouldn’t have taken any time at all. She should have just looked at the clusters of soul lights and seen the red one, but she didn’t. She measured the time. It had been one hour since she began, one whole hour. That was when her frustration peaked.

Uncorking the bottle, she spoke to Stella, “All right, Stella. I’m looking for your family now. You have to help me find them, but you can’t come out of the bottle. If you do, your soul will naturally begin wandering.”

“How do I help you look, if I can’t get out of the bottle?” Stella whined.

“Tell me their names and I’ll attach a spell that will turn their spirit bodies golden.” It was the same spell Charon had done when he dropped her off. She only needed to see it once to replicate it.

Stella told her their names and Persephone replaced the cork. It wasn’t that she was particularly interested in finding Stella’s family, but she did make a promise she had to keep. Stella gave her eleven names. Maybe she’d have more success looking for twelve people than one.

She was right. She found three members of Stella’s family within minutes. Behind a rock, she found two more huddled together. Why was it so hard to find Sethos? She found gold-colored souls each way she turned, but the scarlet one she sought was nowhere.

Finally, when she had gathered up all eleven of Stella’s family members, she turned to rest on the bank. Her feet hung in the water and her mind was filled with desolate thoughts. Maybe Hades had guessed her plan and sealed Sethos’ soul immediately after his death. She plopped the glass bottle beside her and raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. It didn’t matter what moves she made, Hades was always ahead of her.

Persephone twitched. Something was crawling in her ear. She brushed it away. It came back. She slapped it away. Did insects live in this cave?

It buzzed in her ear a third time and she caught it in her hand. It was her red light, Sethos.

“Thank heaven I found you,” she cried.

“You didn’t find me,” his sorrowful voice murmured. “I have been following you.”

“Have you?”

“I’ve been on your back almost the whole time. You wouldn’t turn around. Thank you for searching for me so carefully.”

“How did you know it was me? I look so different now.”

“I’d love you in any shape you took, and your eyes are always green. Persephone,” he asked in a low voice. “What’s going to happen to me now? Hades will certainly send me to hell.”

“I won’t let him send you to Tartarus. I have a plan. You are going to be born again. I’m going to take you back to your mother.”

Persephone eased Sethos’ soul in the bottle with Stella and started down the road to Gaia, where she would alight in front of the cave where Raidne and Teles lived. She needed to have a talk with them about how to break their curse and how to set her free.

***

In all the time that Persephone lived on the island, she never once went to the cave where the sirens lived. It was none of her business. They disgusted her.

Now that she was there, she was startled by the looks of things. They lived in a cave that had been hollowed out of the side of a cliff and even though it was always flooded at high tide, it was an incredibly beautiful place when it was drained. Inside, the water from the sea ran in a river that rose and fell with the tide. Some rooms were available during low tide and others were too high to be flooded during high tide. There were bridges that crossed the water and torches that lit the rooms decked in treasures scavenged from wrecked vessels. The cave walls glittered with coins and gemstones.

Persephone made her way through the rooms and corridors, holding her bottle in one hand while she pinched her nose with the other. It smelt rank. No one else would have noticed anything other than the smells of sea salt and the mess that always came with the ocean, but she smelled nothing but the servants who betrayed her.

The sirens were in the furthest chamber from the entrance, it was the only room that had a door on it.

Persephone grabbed the iron ring used for a door handle and swung the door open without knocking.

Raidne and Teles saw her enter and nearly fainted for shame. Well, they should have felt desperately filthy being caught feasting on Stella and Sethos’ dead bodies by Persephone herself.

Persephone turned her head in revolt while the sirens prostrated themselves before her, shrieking apologies.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said after she’d heard sufficient whimpering. “You are cursed and wretched, so you are compelled to behave without conscience or manners. It’s not as if you killed us. Raidne, answer me something. How many children have you birthed all these years?”

“Three,” she answered. “Sethos was the first boy.”

“Do you like raising children?” Persephone asked coldly.

“I would like it better if I were not a siren,” she replied miserably, her jagged teeth looked sharper than ever.

“Well, I have a task for you. Fetch me a bottle.”

Raidne ran and got one immediately.

The goddess took it in her hands. She didn’t want this interview to last any longer than it had to. The sight of Stella and Sethos’ mangled corpses made her feel infinitely sickened and saddened at the same time.

She set the two bottles on the table and uncorked the one with Sethos’ soul in it. She grasped the red flicker that was his spirit and trapped it in Raidne’s bottle before it could be pulled back to the Underworld.

“Listen to me. I hate you both, but I will tell you how to break your curse.”

“How?” they begged, pressing their foreheads against the stone floor.

“First, Raidne, you must give birth to this child again. Each time you birth him, you must mark the number of times on his throat.”

“I’ll have to do it more than once?” Raidne asked timidly.

Persephone snapped. “You’ll do it as many times as it takes for you to get the combination right. He must be an adequate tool for me to use. If you fail, he’ll die. He’ll die over and over again until you get it right. Prepare yourselves. You sent me through hell—you won’t break the curse until you walk the path I have trod and doubled back again.”