Persephone

Persephone’s hands, as smooth and unblemished as silk, plucked a daisy from the dirt. She wove
the stem into her flower crown. It was a wealth of color, blooming with velvety purples, robin’s egg
blues, and beaming yellows. Her elaborately lacy dress billowed out below her, draping across the earth
as she kneeled in the field.

“Can we talk?” Demeter interrupted. This field, those trees, these flowers- the world’s life- were
hers. She tended to her duties as a Goddess of harvest and fertility with vigor, just for Persephone to take whatever she pleased.

“About?” Persephone said without looking away from her crown.

“You’re far past the age for this. You have so much potential, darling, if you’d just get out into the world! I’m afraid I can’t allow you to live off of the offerings my worshippers give me anymore.”

Persephone’s face went cold, a thin layer of ice over tumultuous waters. When at last, she glanced up at Demeter, her voice poured from her mouth sweet like honey. “I don’t understand.”

“No daughter of mine will be idle.” Demeter avoided her gaze. “You need to take your life into your own hands; it is what every respectable goddess must do.”

Persephone ripped a flower from the ground with great force, as if her mother could feel the pinprick of pain. She had lived in the lap of luxury for all of her immortal life, and now her mother had the nerve to try to steal it from her?

“I can’t treat you like a princess anymore,” Demeter said and turned away.

*

Vultures were hideous, universally disliked creatures, looked upon with disdain for their unsavory job. Hades was similar.

When the world was divided up, Poseidon leaped for his chance to rule the seas and Zeus snatched up the role of King of Gods. Hades received the scraps: a rotting kingdom full of rotting subjects.

Although, if it weren’t for Hades, evil souls would never see justice and the past would spill over into the present. His job is more important, his work ethic stronger, and his moral compass more aligned than his brothers’. Yet, he’s spat on by humans and gods alike for the nature of his work.

Persephone strut into his sweltering throne room and snapped open her hand fan. Her vivid crown and delicate clothing stood out like a blossom in a wildfire in the miserable, drab courtroom.

“Pleasure to meet you,” she said.

Hades gripped the edges of his chair, “It’s never good when a goddess seeks me out. You only ever visit to steal from me. Olympus has sucked me dry! Aren’t you satisfied!”

“Oh, you poor thing.” She crossed the room and patted his hand as if he were a lapdog rather than a hellhound. “I’m here for nothing of the sort.”

His eyebrows furrowed together. “Poor thing? I- I’m not…”

“I have but a simple request, Hades. I hear you have no wife?”

As her eyes swept over every corner, she was already thinking of ways to improve it to her own design.

*

Persephone straightens her crown. It’s heavy and cold; light from nearby fires reflects off the bounty of jewels embedded within. It was the furthest thing from daisies and daffodils. Who knew? Life in the underworld is marvellous when you’re Queen.

She draws in a deep, gratifying sigh and leans against the palace balcony, basking in all that’s hers.

Her husband stands beside her. “I’ve never seen this before: there’s been an influx of arrivals to the underworld. The world’s wilting, starving, falling to pieces. Demeter’s failed to keep them fed.”

“That’s interesting…”

“She thinks I kidnapped you. She’s been sending messenger after messenger, saying she’d do anything to have you back.”

“Well, we can’t have that! I suppose I’d be willing to sacrifice myself. What do you say I spend half of the year overworld, and the other half here?”

Ha! What a change of heart Demeter’s had. Next to her new wedding wing, Persephone imagines
Hades and Demeter wrapped around her finger. She’s right where she belongs, with all the world to boss
around and be pampered by.

Oh, how fine it is to be a princess and a queen all at once.

Megan Malone is an avid nature and animal lover who is passionate about growing as both a writer and a person with everything she does. For as long as she can remember, she’s loved creating stories! She wrote her first book at 14, and she dreams of being a published novelist someday. As well as being a regular contributor for ‘Hey! Young Writer’, she writes blog posts for ‘Young Eager Writers’. Check them out at: https://www.youngeagerwriters.org/blog.

Featured Image by todd kent on Unsplash