For Persephone - Chapter 17 – Another Woman (1)

The end of the snake shaped wand held by an amused Hermes’ pointed to the king’s scepter held by Hades.

“That’s my next goal!”

Smiling, Hades relaxed and rubbed his chin.

“Utter nonsense.”

“Just you wait, you’ll see. A thief’s most important virtue—”

“—is persistence. Yes, yes, I’m sick of hearing that.” Hades rolled his eyes.

Hermes burst into giggles and shook his head.

“That’s right. I’ve been waiting long enough for the day to beat Sisyphos, haven’t I?”

A long time ago, Autolycos was caught stealing by Sisyphos. Using that as an excuse, the sly Sisyphos threatened Autolycos to give up his daughter for the night. After doing that, Autolycos committed suicide. The problem was that Autolycos was caught red-handed, so he couldn’t help being punished. But the fact that the daughter, not the thief, had to suffer because of the crime of the father caused Hermes’ displeasure.

“What did Zeus say?”

“He sent for Ares.”

“Did he respond obediently?”

Hermes shrugged, not telling him that he hadn’t actually delivered the message.

“He will. And once the fire is on, it’s over. If we waste time that guy will instigate humans and go to war in Corinth, but what’s a war if people don’t die? But until then, we need the power of the underworld to take care of the earth.”

“Bring Ceres.”

Hermes frowned almost instantly.

“She gives me goosebumps.”

“Shall I do it myself then?”

“I know you’re joking, but if you’re going to do it yourself, I’m all for it…”

Hermes pretended to hurl ‘hoorah’ with an exaggerated tone.

A moment later Hermes noticed Hades staring over his shoulder at something. Hermes bent over backward instead of just looking back, and found a girl hanging from the floor like a bat, in the upside-down landscape.

Persephone, soaked to the waist, stood bravely.

“Oh, you’ve arrived, have you?” Hermes straightened up and mused.

He had praised the girl’s wild attempt to steal gold coins from him and had gladly allowed her to cross the rivers of Acheron, Kokytos, and Plageton. The Lette River was only waist-deep, so he had thrown her out of the boat because she had tried to steal from him after all.

“I ran into this little kid on the way, she said she knew you Hades.” He explained to Hades who was looking at him strangely.

“I’m not a little kid,” Persephone said in a fiery voice.

Hades rubbed his forehead and let out a shallow sigh. The two behaved as if they were acquaintances. It wasn’t difficult to grasp the circumstances. He didn’t want to purposely worry, but Hermes was just as nosy as ever.

“You don’t like that I’m here Hades?”

Hades stared at her without saying a word. She was just the same as the first time they met; a face full of excitement, bright red cheeks, and eyes marked with the beginning of disappointment. The girl whose thoughts had been scattering his brain for quite a while was standing right in front of him. His feelings were something quite indescribable, but displeasure was not one of them.

“You don’t want me here?” She persisted like always.

“I never said that.” He quickly denied, and saw Hermes tilt his head.

“So, it’s okay if I stay?”

He remained silent, unable to say no to the girl, but unable to say yes too.

“It’s okay, right?”

Persephone ran to Hades and hugged him in excitement that he hadn’t turned her away. Hermes, whose eyes shifted back and forth between the two carefully, scratched his neck deep in thought. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

‘…I knew it, I knew she looked familiar…I’ve seen her somewhere.’ He thought to himself.

After a rollercoaster of emotions, she felt like she was on cloud nine. Persephone’s excitement when she had set foot in the underworld for the first time in a long time, had given way to confusion and fear when she met Hermes, she felt victorious when she was able to cross not only the Acheron River but also the other two large rivers without suffering, but then anger washed over her along with the Lethe river water because Hermes threw her into it and left. The only reason she wasn’t upset anymore was Hades didn’t forget her and didn’t kick her out. But her mood hit rock bottom again, because of a young goddess who appeared at the call of Hades.

“Ceres! Good, you’re here. You have to go up, I have a job for you.”

“If we leave Thanatos in charge of cleaning up, then what about Tartarus?”

The long black-haired, slim woman was wearing a bow on her shoulders, a sickle on her back, and a doric chiton that exposed one of her legs.

‘So beautiful.’ Persephone thought.

There was another reason why Persephone couldn’t take her eyes off the goddess. She spoke in several voices with a single mouth. ‘So, are we going?’ ‘I see, it’s been a while since I’ve gone up to the earth.’ ‘Let’s look back at the festivals.’ ‘Sounds like fun.’ Man’s voice; slave’s voice; woman’s voice. It was bizarre.

Before long, Hermes shoved Ceres’s back and said goodbye.

“Then I’ll deliver the news.” He nodded and disappeared without another word.

Now only two people were left in the lonely space. Looking at the door for a long time, Hades explained.

“Ceres wears a lot of hats, while enchanting the dead.”

“Her voice is unusual.”

“More than ever.”

“Are you close with that woman?”