PERSEPHONES POV
I lay in the field thinking of the world. Is this all that life offers for me as the spring goddess? Just to tend to flora? Are there other gods and goddesses other than my mother? Ive read books of three brothers who rule a place. . . what was it called? Olympus. . . the home of all gods. The three brothers who ruled were known as Zeus, the god of thunder. Also known as the King to Olympus. The princes are Poseidon, god of the seven seas and Hades, god of the underworld. Death. . . Why is he the god of death? I've seen pictures of him. . . He looks scary and it seems everyone is terrified of him. But then again, these gods and Olympus are all just myths.
I think about Olympus and how many gods might be there. The different types of nymphs and the three brothers. How did gods come to be? I keep asking myself questions before eventually falling asleep under the starry night.
My arm is yanked as I'm dragged down into the underworld by Hades. He holds a pure black scythe staff as he begins to open a portal to hell. He walks in dragging me along.
"LET ME GO!" I scream and thrash at him but he only tightens his grip. When he looks back at me, red eyes appear from inside a dark hood. I see his white teeth show as a smile forms on his face. He chains my arms and watches me trying to break through them.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! IM NOT SCARED OF YOU, LET ME GO!" I scream making a chuckle escape from him.
"Your not scared? Lets see about that." He removes the cover over his head to reveal pitch black hair and a scar under his chin. I feel coldness surround my body making me shiver. My heart begins to race as he walks up to me and around me.
"Such a weak little goddess. . ." He says as he circles around me.
"We have gods and goddesses of war, thunder, the seven seas. . . DeAtH." He licks his lips and cups my chin making me look up at him into the eyes.
"And the weakest of them all. . . Kore Persephone, little goddess of flowers." I clench my teeth and kick him back. I feel my heart begin to pump fire through my veins and I break the chains restraining me. I summon a scythe with thorns and roses poking out everywhere on it. My hair leaves my shoulders and back lifting into the air. I lift my weapon to him and feel my eyes begin to burn.
"Goddess of SPRING." I yell before throwing my weapon side to side making everything around us crumble. Black roses begin to cover the ground below me wherever I step.
I jolt out of bed rubbing my head. It was just a dream. . . just a dream. I stand up looking all around me. Everything looks the same making me let out a sigh.
"Just a dream. . ." I walk into my house to see my mom has made breakfast.
"Goodmorning mother." I say before setting the table and taking my seat. She brings the food over to me setting it in the middle of the table.
"Goodmorning Persephone, did you sleep out in the field today again?" I nod my head filling my plate with food.
"Thats a lot of food Persephone, whats wrong?" I shake my head smiling at her.
"Nothing mother. I'm fine." She shakes her head filling her plate.
"You eat a lot when your stressed or worried about something." I smile gently and begin to cut up my eggs.
"Whose Hades, mother?" She begins to choke on her food and quickly takes a sip of her water smiling at me.
"W-where did you hear of that name?"
"The mortals have a library of other gods and goddess living in a place named Olympus and well. . . I keep having dreams of Hades. . ." Her eyes immeditely show how enraged she is.
"Didnt I say not to read books from the mortals libraries?" I nod my head.
"So, there is such a thing as the three brothers, olympus, and other gods and goddesses other than us?" I say questioning her. She lets out a sigh continuing to eat.
"No, they are just myths." I sigh and feel my stomach grumble so I begin to eat my food. . . I hope your not lying to me mother. I begin to feel my heart burn like in my dream and clutch my chest. What is this?! I slowly begin to calm down and finish my food. I wash the dishes and put them away. We didnt have any leftovers so I dont have to put any food away.
I go back outside with the flower nymphs who are all running around and grab my best friend, Rosetta.
"Rosetta?" I call her smiling. She walks up to me brushing her hair out of her face with her finger tips.
"Yes Persephone?" I sit down in the field with her whispering so the other nymphs and my mother doesnt hear us as she tends to the field.
"Is there a such thing as Olympus and other gods and goddesses other than me?" I ask with anticipation.
"W-well I mean. . . no?" She says completely unconvincing.
"Dont lie to me Rosetta." She sighs and looks back at my mom to make sure we are a safe distance from her.
"Yes, but please dont tell Demeter I told you." I nod my head.
"So Zues, Poseidon, and uhm. . . Hades, are real?" She nods her head and shushes me as my mom walks up to us.
"What are you pretty girls talking about?" Rosetta smiles at her awkwardly.
"I saw some boy water nymphs down by the river and they had invited me to go and play with them!" She exclaimd with a fake smile and cheersome voice.
"Oooo~ how did that go?" My mother asks smiling while leaning down next to us.
"Great! I'm going to hang out with them later with Persephone if thats okay with you." Her body begins to shiver in fear.
"Oh, of course dear! Just don't stay out too late with my little princess." Rosetta nods her head towards my mother as she walks away tending to the field.
"Come on Kore." She says standing up and motioning for me to follow.
"Why?" I ask in confusion.
"Were going to the river to hang with the boys of course." She smiles awkwardly while winking and nodding her head towards my mother. Ohhhh. I follow her to the river where few boy nymphs are. We sit on a large tree root.
"Kore, please dont tell your mother anything related to what I told you, please." Why does she seem so scared of my mother? She can't be THAT scary.
"Okay, but why?"
"Remember when Sunny went missing? It wasnt a coincidence it happened right after she gave you a mortal book about Olympus. Your mother KILLED her." KILLED HER?! No, she wouldn't.
"Rosetta, I don't think my mom is capable of killing a flower nymph." I say trying to convince myself more than her.
"Why do you think we avoid as much contact with her as we can?!" It is true. . . the nymphs hardly talk to my mom and I can see them sometimes trying to avoid her. They usually work as far away in the fields from her as they can. But murderer of a nymph?
"Why would my mom do that over a secret?" I scoff. This is stupid, she hides a large part of me from ME and kills whoever gives me hints as to what it is?!
"She doesnt want one of the brothers to take you as a bride! I just think its because she doesnt want to be lonely in the mortal realm." I shake my head and grab a strand of my hair twirling it around my finger.
"So my life has been a lie?" My heart begins to slightly feel heavy as thoughts and lies about my mother race around. How many other things could she have lied to me about?
"Persephone, just don't tell her I told you and don't go back to the mortal libraries for more books." She says grabbing my hands and looking into my eyes. Her eyes are fierce and pierce through my body.
"I won't tell her but why cant I go to the library? You wont get in trouble for that." I exclaim. I dont even get into MUCH trouble for going to the mortal library.
"I know what you would try doing. You would research about your mother and she would know one of us nymphs told you something related to Olympus." I nod my head. I have to though. . .
"Do you actually understand and you wont go to the mortal libraries anymore?" Rosetta says with concern in her voice.
"I won't go to the mortal libraries anymore." Thats was a lie. . . I KNEW I was going to. I had to. I needed to know what was actually happening or had happened with me just being oblivious to it all.
Night had slowly approached us as we were hanging out with the boy water nymphs in the river so we headed home. Rosetta went to sleep in the field with the other nymphs and I stayed up waiting for my mother to go to bed. I hear our wooden floors creak as she approaches my door.
"Im going to head to sleep now Persephone, need anything before I do?" I shake my head and cover up in the blankets pretending to try and get some sleep. She walks away and I hear her door close. I quickly jump out of bed and grab my sash. I need to know who my mother REALLY is. Not just the fairytales she feeds me. I open my window and begin to crawl out. When my feet make contact with the ground i feel hands touch my shoulder. I turn around to see Rosetta with a fearful look.
"Please Persephone, if your caught, she will kill some of us until one of us takes the blame." She says in a whisper with her body quivering and voice breaking. Tears roll down her cheeks making my knees shake.
"Rosetta, I promise I wont get caught. I NEED to know what she has been hiding from me all this time!" I say in a hushed yell.
"My life is a fake fairytale that she has fed me! Its all been a lie. Please just. . . I promise I won't get caught." She nods her head in defeat and looks down at our feet.
"I'll hold you to that promise." She drops her hand from my shoulder and walks back over to the other nymphs taking her place among the field and laying down. I grip my sash tightly. I promise I wont let anything happen to you or any other nymphs.
I open the doors to the mortal library quietly and tip toe over to the gods and goddesses section. Sunny had taught me to read and over time, I just gotten really good. I rub my finger down the aisle looking for the letter D. I come across it and look closely at the books. I open my hand and make a flower bloom on it. The middle of the flower glows yellow along with the pollen that slightly floats above and around the flower.
"The secrets behind Demeter, goddess of agriculture." I grab as many books that have a similar title and walk over to a chair sitting down and opening the first one I saw. I read the whole book as quickly as possible before putting it back and keeping the others in my sash. Rosetta was right. . . My mom is not as innocent as she seems. She went on rampages killing flower nymphs when she didnt get her way. . .
I turn around to head back out of the library and feel a hand squeeze against my shoulder. A sharp pain is sent through my back. My heart begins to pound against my chest aggressively making my breath become unsteady. I turn to see who it is and my heart stops.
"Kore Persephone. . ."