Page 8 of Arrogance
“The Goddess of love requesting a favor from me? I cannot say I am without skepticism over it,” Persephone revealed.
“Consider it a debt now paid. Do not forget, it was I who gave you this power, gave you this opportunity to rule as Queen of the Underworld. In return, you shall watch over this child for me until he becomes a man,” I stated with a more authoritative tone.
I needed to remind Persephone of all that I had done for her. She needed to be put in her place and realize that she should have no qualm and show no hesitation in heeding my request to take this boy from me in order to raise him.
Persephone was born a goddess on the surface. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, Goddess of harvest, agriculture and fertility. Needless to say, she was a stunning young woman as she grew into her own. Again, another threat to me and my beauty. All it took was a little command from me to my son Eros, to subtly shoot his arrow at the most opportunistic time to make Hades fall in love with Persephone. And as a result, he abducted and dragged her to the Underworld, where she married him, thus becoming Queen of the Underworld. It was all because of me that she now had such a prestigious title. Now she could remain the most beautiful woman of the Underworld, while I remained the most beautiful goddess of our own world and of Mount Olympus.
Yes, Demeter became angry at the loss of her daughter and expressed her wrath by causing havoc on the world, forbidding the Earth to produce for a while. But what’s a little famine? The world could handle it for a short time. As long as Persephone was no longer of this world and a threat to my very title as the Goddess of beauty, I was completely fine with that.
However, I would never dare to inform Persephone of my true intent, which was to send her to Hades for my own personal gain. No. I would spin this story around to make it as if it was I who was the one doing her a favor, which is exactly what I did. And the gullible wretch actually bought it.
“Fine. You have my word. I will watch over this boy as if he were my own flesh and blood,” Persephone gave in.
“Very well. It seems that we are all settled here now. So, I should be on my way. I’ve been down here far too long. I already sense the dampness getting to my hair,” I agitatedly remarked.
“Wait!” Persephone held the baby with one arm and reached out with her other hand to grab me by the wrist. Needless to say, I was quite taken aback by the action, and having been touched, for that matter.
“What is the boy’s name?” she asked me.
Well, I really hadn’t given this a single thought. Of course, the child would have to have a name. And I certainly didn’t want Persephone, nor Hades or any of their kind to give him some grotesque sounding name. I thought quickly and blurted out the first name I could think of that came to mind. “Adonis. His name is Adonis.”
Chapter 5
Adonis
A longing for the unknown. I had painted images in my head of what the other world was like. I had now existed in the Underworld for nearly twenty years, never having experienced anything beyond here. Over the years, I’ve only ever heard of stories about the world of the living from both men and women that have passed through here from the surface to my current world, ruled by Persephone and Hades.
When I was younger, I was often off by myself. Persephone was technically mycaretaker, which is what some might describe her as. But being Queen of the Underworld, she had minimal time to devote towards me. It was more of adon’t do thisormake sure you stay away from thereauthoritative kind of relationship, while her servants were the ones who often watched over me and gave me anything I pretty much desired. Although there was one thing none of them could possibly give me which was what I wished for above all else, access to the above world.
As I grew older into my later teenage years, developing into a young fit man, that was when Persephone started to come around more. I found it odd that she waited so many years to finally start taking a hands-on approach in raising me. Especially now, when I felt educated and pretty much learned all there was to know about the Underworld and its rules. One rule that I was forced to abide by was that Persephone forbade me from visiting the greater depths of the Underworld, beyond Elysium. Therefore, I grew up in the Elysian plains and fields, surrounded by the most colorful of flowers, beautiful and tranquil skies and weather. A sun that was permanently fixed in a set location on the horizon, locked in place to provide a constant warmness over the lands. Lakes and rivers here were cerulean and crystal clear blue, opposite to their murky charcoal counterparts like the Styx River in the further deepness of the Underworld.
I had never experienced the gory parts of the Underworld. I’d only heard about tales of those places from Persephone and her servants. The black eternal flames that lingered at every turn. The travesties and turmoil that were given to those mortals who committed atrocities on the surface were now damned in these unpleasant parts of the Underworld. The stories of men chained to rocks and ravaged upon by birds of prey, individuals forever rolling boulders up cliffs only to have them roll back down, people bound to eternally burning wheels that melted the flesh, and even victims who had to suffer insatiable hunger and ate their own body parts. The scenes described to me were so grotesque that I never dared to even go against Persephone’s wishes to visit these despicable places to witness such disgusting images. I would be content in Elysium for now.
Elysium was a place where only the greatest of men and women from the surface ended up in the afterlife. It was here where I learned about many of the heroic and tragic stories of the gods and goddesses, as well as mortals, up on the surface. Each man and woman that passed through Elysium offered me a new collection of stories and knowledge different from the previous passerby. The more stories I heard, the more I became invested in trying to escape from here and to find a way to live on the surface, perhaps even among the great gods and goddesses I heard of.
One day, I was bathing in a pond full of the most aromatic of white and lavender flowers whose smells permeated directly through my skin.
“Adonis! Adonis, are you there?” A voice called out to me.
I spun around, startled by the sudden shouting. I peered through one of the clearings from the nearby trees to see that Persephone was approaching through them.
“Ah! Adonis! There you are!” she exclaimed upon recognizing me.
“Yes, I was just cleaning off,” I explained before beginning to rise out of the water, revealing my fully toned body to her. My body was not overly muscular like some of the male warriors I’ve seen wander through Elysium, but it did curve at all the right angles and places to accentuate my fit features. My looks were something I consistently received compliments on from both men and women. It was not until I was in my late teenage years that I acquired this sort of feedback and attention. I quickly became aware that it was the reason Persephone often visited me these days. Her attraction towards me was blatantly obvious. I too appreciated her newly found attentiveness. After all, she was the Queen of the Underworld. I was captivated by her gorgeous looks, and above all else…her power.
In my experiences here in Elysium, I came across the most beautiful of men and women, many of which have thrown themselves at me for moments of carnal passion and pleasure. I accepted them from both genders. Over the years though, as I became older, I found myself establishing a set favoritism. It was the most masculine and powerful of men that truly captured my wandering eye and desires. The greater the muscles, the greater my urges. However, despite this preference, I still could appreciate the beauty a woman had to offer and found myself longing for them as well. Persephone was no exception. When Hades was away, she often invited me into her bed, and thus our relationship has blossomed ever since.
“No need to stop bathing on my behalf.” Persephone gave me a flirtatious wink. “Actually, why don’t I join you?” she suggested.
I seductively smirked in her direction and nodded, which was enough of a cue for her to drop her tunic to the ground and walk across the patchy green grass into the edge of the pond. Her milky, nude body descended into the water, moving closer in my general direction.
Her bosom pressed against my chest as her smooth palms cupped my shoulders. As much as I should be giving this marvelous goddess my focus, I felt myself completely distracted. My gaze shifted to the side. It instantly prompted Persephone to realize I was not my usual self.
“What’s the matter, Adonis? Is everything alright?”
I gave an exaggerated sigh, that sounded beyond disappointing. More so than I had intended for it to. “I don’t know. It’s just… don’t you ever get tired of it all?”
Persephone arched her brow at me, seeming perplexed by my response. “Tired of what, exactly?”
