Page 58 of Song of Memories

"I'm starting to see why Cronus wanted to eat everyone," Hades grumbled under his breath, making his way back to his throne and collapsing down onto it. He said nothing as Persephone brought Makaria up to speed, who didn't comment until Persephone was done speaking.

"But how do you feel, dearie?" Makaria turned to look at Eurydice first, her eyes filled with concern.

"I want Pan," Eurydice sighed, looking at the trio of gods before her. "I don't know how, and I understand why Hades did what he had to do, but...it seems horrific if I'm staring down at a future without him."

Persephone, Hades, and Makaria nodded in agreement, all of them looking imploring at one another as if one of the gods would have an answer to their problems.

Eurydice was horrified when she realized she had started to cry again, quickly wiping away at the tears on her cheeks. Makaria leaned over and helped her, using the hem of her own chiton to help Eurydice. Persephone looked between Eurydice and Hades, her expression changing from sorrowful to inquisitive.

"Hades," she looked up at her husband, "you're open to some suggestions on how to fix this mess, correct?"

Hades stared down at his wife with a deadpan expression. “Persephone, what makes you think that you wouldn't tell me your ideas anyway, and when have I not listened?"

Eurydice couldn't help but chuckle a little under her breath at how Persephone had Hades wrapped around her little finger. Makaria nudged her shoulder, apparently picking up on the same thing.

"Well," Persephone looked at Eurydice, "everyone should have a fair chance in life, don't you think?"

Hades's mouth pulled into a thin line. "Yes, I'd like to think that's how this realm has been governed since long before you came along." Persephone glared at him, and Hades held his hands up. "But you have made such great improvements. Carry on."

Persephone smiled. "Orpheus had the same chance as Pan when he exploited the loophole regarding the Underworld. Shouldn't Pan have the same chances as Orpheus?"

Total silence fell over the room. Eurydice was trying to figure out what Persephone was talking about. Surely Pan didn't want to become a poet or have his chance at being an acolyte of Apollo.

"Are you talking about trying to curry favor with Apollo?" Makaria interrupted. "That would be rather impossible since he's dead. I can't say that I feel sorry about that either."

"I'm well aware," Persephone and Hades answered at the same time. Hades immediately motioned for Persephone to continue.

"I'm not talking about Apollo," Persephone said, her smile growing across her face. "I'm talking about the chance to lead Eurydice out of hell."

You could hear a sewing needle drop in the great hall. Eurydice's heart jumped up into her throat. Could Persephone be suggesting what she thought she was? Would Hades give her a chance to follow Pan out of the Underworld, the way she had tried to follow Orpheus? Eurydice almost didn't dare to hope. She wasn't breathing as she stared at Hades's face.

He looked stunned, deep in thought as he looked at Persephone and then Eurydice. Finally, when Eurydice thought she might be sick, Hades started nodding slowly.

"It would only be fair." His grin turned into a wide smile. "Pan should be allowed the opportunity to succeed where Orpheus failed. Eurydice, do you have any objections to the proposal?"

Eurydice thought she was going to faint. Could she do this again? Would she be able to make that journey? She loved Pan more than she had ever loved Orpheus, but that journey was not for the faint of heart. She had nightmares about it until the day she drank from Lethe and forgot about it entirely.

Isn't it worth it, though? For Pan? Eurydice realized that her mind was already made up; she was just nervous about it. She slowly started nodding her head, her hands trembling in her lap. Makaria held her tighter.

"Yes." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I would do it again. If it was for Pan... I trust him. I would make that journey for him again."

Hades turned to face Eurydice, offering a slight bow of his head. Persephone clapped her hands together in joy as Hades decreed it. Eurydice felt the words of another bargain with the Lord of the Dead sink into her skin.

"Eurydice, nymph of the forests, twice now you have died and been sent to my realm. For the third and final time, I offer you the opportunity to escape the Underworld. You can follow Pan out of the gates of hell. If Pan does not look back, if he does not look behind even once to confirm that you are there, then you shall step into the sun and become an immortal, living nymph of the green earth above again. Do you accept?"

Eurydice's nervousness was suddenly gone, replaced with a warm, gooey feeling of memories of Pan and running in the sunshine of the mortal realm. She saw the excited and supportive smiles of Persephone and Makaria, both of them who had been alongside her almost every step of the way.

Eurydice stood up and took a deep breath. She squared her shoulders back and looked at Hades, meeting his gaze.

"I accept."

Eurydice was going to crawl up from hell for the second time.

29

Eurydice expected to feel a deep sense of anguish and anxiety douse her system, but instead, she only felt a stoic sense of calm. That journey haunted her nightmares until the day she swore herself off those horrors and drank deeply from the river of Lethe. But this was not that memory, and she was not that woman who'd suffered at the hands of Orpheus's ego.

Eurydice took a long, steadying breath and looked around the room. Makaria, Persephone, and Hades were all staring back at her with either warm or neutral expressions. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that she had found the favor of the gods all on her own. While Orpheus had only ever had the favor of Apollo, she had stumbled into the support of three of the Underworld's most infamous keepers.

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