Chapter 7: The Adventures

The stone sill was cold beneath her hands as Hades stood by the window looking out, but she didn't notice the coldness nor the dampness in the air. Stretching off into the distance lay black hills, valleys, and mountains of the Underworld.

Hades watched all the dark shades of the dead flicker beyond the palace's ground. She saw her servants soaring over the Erebus fields, herding the dead to their trials by Minos.

Soon she would have to decree their punishment or grant their rewards. At the moment, her mind seemed to have a knack of wandering off to a certain maiden. Persephone, who locked herself in her chamber all day, had refused every gift from Hades' proffering hands. She would not eat and remained steadfast in her persistence. Her adverse demeanor caused Hades great sadness and distraught.

How she wished the maiden of her heart would accept her and all that existed in her world as her own. Hades had never felt so lost and helpless like she was now. She did not know what to do. It felt as though she was stuck inside her father's gut once more, unable to move or breathe. It was now worse than ever since the goddess had to endure the weight of hopelessness all alone.

Then she heard someone coming to her chamber and turned around from the icy stone window.

A nymph, who was tasked to look after Persephone had come to report on the maiden's request.

"Lady Persephone wishes to venture outside the palace, my lady," the nymph said in a respectful voice. "Do you allow it?"

The dark goddess was surprised to hear that and also glad of the sudden progress. A tiny smile crept its way onto her lips. She turned back to the window again.

"Let her," Hades said, "Let her go and explore her new kingdom. She has to know that it is hers, too."

~*~

Through the Field of Asphodel, where the dead who had done neither good nor bad roamed, Persephone was greeted by twittering thin glee-like bats.

Persephone was dying of boredom. Every day, she awoke to the cold dark place with no sunlight and no green things in sight. When she looked out the window, all she saw was a starless dome of blackness. She missed the birdsongs and the blooming buds above the ground, but she was also curious about what was out there in this realm.

She had ordered the maids to leave her alone and they obeyed her wordlessly. Hades had warned them not to upset the young goddess, and they had heeded her words.

As she wandered off, Persephone saw only the black ground, rocks, and dark mist drifting like flocks of crows. There were green and blue fire-orbs lying all over this mysterious land, burning off the stream of natural gas while raw minerals sparkled along the path.

When she raised her face up, the vastness of the black empty space made her dizzy. Persephone wondered how Hades could have spent countless eons in the darkness of this world. Perhaps, the goddess was made for such isolation and gloom. That would explain why Hades was the way she was. Somehow, within her stubborn heart, Persephone pitied the goddess.

As she passed a hillside, she saw a funny man trying to roll a huge block of stone uphill only to have it fall down again. She watched him start over and over until she decided to help him. When they both rolled the stone up to the peak this time, it did not roll back down. The man heaved out an exhausted sigh and dropped to the ground from fatigue.

"Thank you, my lady," he spoke between loud breaths, "I haven't had a moment of rest for a very long time."

"Who are you?" Persephone asked, "Why must you perform such meaningless labor?"

"I am Sisyphus, my lady, and this is my punishment."

"Hades is so cruel to do this to you," Persephone said out of innocent pity.

"No, it's Zeus who punished me. Hades only carries out the decree of torment."

Persephone had no word to respond to that. Sisyphus' suffering was from a horrible crime he had committed by releasing the mountain rocks over innocent travelers who reached his dominion. Persephone didn't know how to help any more than she already did. After a while, she bade goodbye to Sisyphus and continued on her away. When she was gone, the stone rolled off the summit to the plain below once again.

Persephone walked past a stream and encountered Tantalus, who was condemned by her father Zeus to eternal punishment for killing his own son and serving him up to the gods. He was tied to a rock and plunged into the water up to the chin. There as he stooped to drink, water always receded from his parched lips. Also, Tall trees with spreading branches laden with delicious fruits hung temptingly over his head. As soon as he raised himself to grasp them, the branches rose beyond his reach.

Persephone pitied the starving man for she understood his hunger and thirst. The maiden then cupped some water in her hands and gave that to him to drink and fed him some fruit. Tantalus thanked her in a deep sad voice because he knew his torment would return ten folds once she left. This one flash of hope from the reprieve made the ordeal worse than ever.

Along the way, she met the Danaïdes, who were the fifty daughters of the king of Argos. By the command of their father, who had been warned by the oracle that his son-in-law would bring his death, they killed all their husbands in one night. Their punishment in the Underworld was to fill with water a vessel full of holes - a never-ending and useless task. Persephone helped them fill the vessels and the water stayed unleaked. But these vessels would empty out as soon as she left.

Persephone went on with her adventure and she chanced upon a field where spirits danced and sang in merriment. Persephone had heard of the Elysian Fields. All noble heroes and just kings were blessed to stay there. This blissful region was repletive with all that could charm the senses and please the imagination. The air was balmy and fragrant. Rippling brooks flowed peacefully through the smiling meadows and they glowed with the varied hues of a thousand flowers and more. The groves resounded with joyous songs of birds.

Persephone was delighted by the sight. It was the closest thing to her home back on earth.

A few of the spirits saw the goddess and invited her to join the party. Their lyre music and songs about the land battles and sea battles moved her. The playful jests and merriment dispelled her homesickness and made her laugh and smile in spite of herself. For once, Persephone found herself enjoying the moment in the Underworld.

"You must have done a great deed," one of the heroes spoke to her. "That's why you are here with us."

Persephone realized they didn't know she was a goddess. The maiden blushed in embarrassment.

"No, I have done nothing nor am I dead," she told them honestly.

"This has never happened before!" the spirits cried in surprise, "No one has entered the Underworld without a touch of death."

"Tell us your story, young one," the others said, "how you come into this realm?"

She dropped her gaze to the ground and her smile faded from her lips.

"Hades took me down here," she said. "I did not come on my own free will."

Persephone felt her heart grow heavy like a stone, sinking deeper into sadness.

"You must be special!" one of them said.

But Persephone did not wish to be special. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She covered her face with her hands then got up and ran off from the field before anyone could say another word.

Later, Persephone miraculously found her way back to the palace after several wrong turns. She did not care if she would get lost. She was already lost in a sense.

When she entered the hall, Hades was there to greet her with that steady black gaze of hers. The dark goddess gingerly walked over, careful not to frighten the maiden again. Persephone was so tired from her wandering that she didn't have the heart to put up her rebellious front.

"I was waiting for you to return, Persephone," the goddess said to her. "You took so long I was starting to get worried."

"There are so many people you have subjected to torments. If you think I tried to run away, you could easily punish me right along with them."

Persephone was upset and her hunger made her even more irritable. Hades' brows knitted together as she looked at the maiden for a long silent moment. Then she stepped closer towards her, causing the chaos to stir up inside Persephone's heart once again. Hades held both hands to cage her against the wall. Their bodies faintly brushed one another. The tall goddess drew her face close to Persephone's until their noses almost touched. Her cold breath fanned her face like a fragrant breeze.

Persephone gazed back into those deep stirring black pools, seeing Hades' long black lashes shadowing her cheeks. She was shocked to find the internal anguish, longing, and tantalizing needs in those intense eyes.

"I wish you could see the torment you have placed upon me," Hades whispered, her gaze lowered to the maiden's lips then back to her eyes again. "I rule this kingdom, but you are the one who rules my heart."

Hades could have leaned in and joined their lips in passion and Persephone would have allowed it - willingly or not, but the goddess of souls simply pulled herself away from her and stood back.

After a few heartbeats of awkward silence, the black-robbed goddess turned and disappeared by the corner. Persephone realized this whole time she hadn't been breathing.

She walked back to her chamber in a daze. Slowly, she sat down on her soft fleecy bed and was stunned. She did not recognize this feeling within. It was new and wild and yet very vague. She lay down and closed her eyes, but she was awake for the longest time having the look on Hades's face on her mind.