"Mamá..." Cyrene spoke, tears descending her face as her mother –Thea– took her last breaths. Thea was lying in her bed in their cottage.
"Cyrene... I will always love you, do not despair, you have family out there in the world. Your father, he is still alive."
"Who is my father?" Cyrene, while still upset, was curious wondering if her mother knew the identity of her father.
"Your father is Hades, my darling," Thea said, her words quiet like every word hurt her.
"Why did he leave us? Can he save you? Can I meet him?" Cyrene spoke, rapid-fire.
"He left us because he had to. If you want to meet him you must journey to the Underworld. You must barter with him to get me back, but Persephone –his wife– will not want me in the land of living. If you are to travel to the Underworld, I must tell you this: before your father left he gave me your necklace and told me it was for your protection. It will turn into a dagger on your command." She spoke with each word getting quieter, "I love you my dear." was the last thing Thea said before she fell asleep, never to wake again.
As Thea took her last breaths, her daughter made a promise to herself. She would journey to meet her father, get some answers as to why he left, and get her mother back. So, Cyrene packed a bag and set out on her way.
Cyrene had been traveling for days with no idea of where to go and how to survive the harsh landscape of Greece.
She had been traveling for about a week and a half, when she met two other kids practicing with weapons and using their powers. Curious, Cyrene went to take a look.
"Excuse me, who are you?" the girl asked, clearly scared to have been discovered.
"I am Cyrene, daughter of Hades, god of the Underworld and the dead. Who are you?" Cyrene asked, obviously on edge as she took out her dagger. She was unsure if the two kids were dangerous.
"I am Lydia, daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest," the girl, whom she now knew to be Lydia, said.
"And I am Hector, son of Hephaestus, god of fire and forge," the boy said proudly.
"May I train with you?" Cyrene asked, eager to meet new demigods.
"Why should we let you?" Hector asked, tone harsh.
"Because I seek to journey to the Underworld, to meet my father and ask him to let me bring my mother back to the land of living."
"Fine, you may train with us, but, you must let us join you on your quest to the Underworld," Lydia said.
Cyrene had been training with Lydia and Hector for weeks and they had collectively decided it was time to start their journey to the Underworld. They cleared their training area and were on their way.
They had been walking for hours when they ran into their first monsters, the gorgon sisters, Stetho and Euryale. While not as dangerous as Medusa, their blood could kill you or give you a powerful healing medicine. Now, they were currently trying to avoid touching anything the gorgons had touched for fear that they would be killed.
Cyrene had taken out her dagger, pointing it at the gorgons, daring them to come any closer. Lydia and Hector took their weapons out–twin daggers and spear respectively–and assumed a fighting stance.
The gorgons attacked, slithering, hissing wildly. Cyrene, Lydia, and Hector launched themselves into battle, fighting the gorgons. Lydia and Hector were fighting Stheno together, while Cyrene was left to deal with Euryale on her own.
Cyrene became a blur hacking away at Euryale while the gorgon tried to capture her with her tail. Soon enough, Euryale was nothing more than a pile of gold dust. Finished with her gorgon, she looked over at Lydia and Hector who had finished Stheno off.
They were exhausted and decided to camp out for the night. Hector headed out to find wood to start a fire while Lydia and Cyrene made a shelter.
They worked in silence, Cyrene thinking longingly back to when her mother and she would go camping not too far from their home. The more she thought about her, the more memories that came back which made Cyrene bite back tears. She had to stay strong. So, Cyrene wiped all evidence of her just crying off her face and returned to making a shelter.
Hector finally came back carrying as much wood as he possibly could, breathing heavily from exhaustion. As Cyrene and Lydia finished up their shelter for the night Hector started the fire.
No one spoke that night, they ate and went to bed tired from the long day of fighting the gorgons and traveling.
The next morning they packed up camp and were on their way. Cyrene found that using the shadows she could tell if they were near the Underworld.
Cyrene could feel them getting closer to an entrance. She took a step and WHOOSH! She was in some sort of ditch with a door that had a glowing epsilon on it. She peeked behind the door, she could see Cerberus. It was the Underworld! What she had been looking for!
"Lydia, Hector, I'm fine. I found the entrance to the Underworld. Come down here!" She yelled, eager to get a move on. Lydia and Hector jumped down and headed to where they heard her voice.
They headed in, Cyrene looking very excited. They heard growling; it was Cerberus.
They ran past him before he obtained a chance to smell them. They didn't stop running until they reached Hades' palace. Huffing and puffing, they made their way towards the entrance, a grand archway with skeletons guarding it.
The skeletons let them pass. As she walked in, Cyrene looked around in wonder. For some reason, Cyrene felt like she knew this place like she knew instinctively that she could go anywhere in the castle. With that knowledge in mind, she led her friends to her father.
"Father, Lady Persephone." She spoke, bowing down.
"My husband's bastard. Why are you here?" Persephone spoke in a degrading voice.
"I have come to ask for my mother like Orpheus did for his wife before me."
"YOU DARE? You come to the Underworld expecting us, me, to let you bring your mother back, another reminder of my husband's infidelity. If you truly wish for your mother to come back to the land of living, you must beat me in combat."
"CYRENE, NO!" Lydia and Hector yelled, worried.
"Fine, if that is what it takes to bring back my mother, then so be it."
Persephone sauntered down from the platform her throne was on, taking out her scythe and getting into a battle stance. Cyrene made the first move, aiming for a hit on her shoulder.Persephone parried her attack, this time, she being the one aiming for a hit.
After what felt like hours to Cyrene, Persephone's scythe toppled from her hand.
"Father, why did you leave us?" Cyrene spoke emotion thick in her voice.
"I did not want to leave you, daughter, but Zeus made me. I am not meant to be in the mortal world. Now, I believe you are deserving of a reward. What is it you want, daughter?"
"I would like Mamá back and a way home."
"Of course," Hades waved his hand and four crystals along with Thea appeared before her.
"Mamá!" Cyrene spoke in excitement.
"As for a way home, well, the crystals will take you home, simply hold them while saying your destination three times and you will appear where you desire," Hades explained with a slight smile on his face.
Thea and Cyrene held hands while chanting home. Lydia and Hector did the same.
Cyrene collapsed on her bed in exhaustion from the journey. Thea smiled down at her daughter, happy to be home and out of the Underworld, alive.
THE END