Page 67 of His in the Dark

Is this what it feels like to go mad? I used to think that the great abundance that surrounded me would shield me from such madness. I gave so willingly, wanting those to have fortune I possess.

But there is no abundance without Persephone. There is nothing without Persephone. Nothing without my daughter.

Covering my eyes with my hands, I press my palms to my reddened eyes.

I am supposed to be the goddess of abundance. I am the goddess who gives of the harvest so that the earth can keepturning. So that mortals can continue in their cycles. So that the realms work as they should, in accordance with the Fates.

My gaze settles on a sliver of quartz that falls from the chiseled wall. It shook free as the door slammed. A thin sliver with rough edges.

“All will feel this pain,” I whisper, dropping my hands and throwing the words at my window. “It does not leave me, so it will not leave you.” I carve a sigil into the wooden floor. The ragged rock digs into my flash and blood drips to the tip of the crystal, filling in the etching.

The sigil; agony.

This pain willneverleave me. Not until Persephone is with me once more. This pain consumes me like fire, but it does not bless me with light. It only scorches the loss.

“Agony,” I pronounce. I do not know who I’m praying to. All I know is that I will not pray only for the return of my daughter. “I wantagony. All mortals shall suffer crippling agony, and may they blame it onyou, Zeus. May they blame it on your incompetence. May they blame it on your lies. May they blame you for all their suffering. May youpay. May all feel the agony of loss. May it be felt as if it was their own.” I stare down at the carving and whisper, “Until she is returned, all will feel my pain. So mote it be.”

HADES

Agitation grows within me. From the message of the Fates to the God of Thunder’s demands. I cannot meet with Zeus through the mirror this time.

No— he will not accept a meeting through an intermediary that keeps such distance between us.

I would rather have muchmoredistance between us. The desire to end him is strong. If only I remove him, no one would know. But the Fate’s tellings pull me back.

He must sense as much, because he is satisfied with meeting where the Fates dwell.

Between realms. Neutral ground. I follow the path to their dwelling-place with my teeth gritted and my eyes focused straight ahead. My hands do not move from their clenched position.

We will meet. We will discuss what has happened. And afterward, Zeus will attack the Underworld or he won’t.

Oh, there’s no need to pretend. He will move against me. The only thing left to be decided is the method.

Or perhaps he’s already made up his mind.

For the Fates to warn me not to fight… I fail to heed their warning in my mind but I close my eyes, having faith that they see another way. They see her with me. That is all that matters.

I follow the path to the dwelling, stride up to the door, and go in without knocking.

My blood freezes as I gaze upon the dwelling. Zeus waits inside. His long white robe and golden cloak at odds with my darkly mirrored attire. His golden silk to my thick velvet. The stark white to my pitch black. I take a moment, as the door closes behind me with a soft click to note the darkness under his eyes and the growth of his beard. He is plagued and for a moment I feel certain sympathy for him.

“Hades,” he greets me and in his tone there is desperation. My head tilts as I answer him, “Zeus.”

Zeus sits in the center chair, but gets to his feet. A quick glance at the walls says they are more solid than they seemed before.

Perhaps that is Zeus’s wish. He wants them to seem like the walls of Olympus. As if he owns this place, too.

He does not.

The Fates are nowhere in sight, though their influence is all around us in the stillness of the air, as if they’re watching.

Zeus tampers his scepter on the old floor and his crown, a wreath of olive leaves, slips slightly. A challenge, of course. I can tell from his eyes that he is sizing me up. That he did not think of this as a meeting between equals, perhaps. That he thought this would be a chance for him to issue commands

If he thought so, he is discovering now that he is wrong. This is not a meeting between equals, nor one where he is free to issue commands.

I am more than he is. I am more than he will ever be.

Because I have Persephone.

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