- Kore -
It felt like I was still in the water. My eyes struggled to open, my mind trying to make sense of the noise around me. After a long moment, the sound started to focus.
"Kore, please wake up! C'mon, open your eyes. Kore, please!"
I groggily opened my eyes, my vision focusing on the man above me. Hades.
I suddenly lurched forward, coughing up water. I winced- it felt like I had been hit with a boulder. "Hades?" I asked, trying to piece together what on earth just happened.
"What were you thinking??" He fumed.
Hold on. He..was mad at me?
I looked up at the man, squinting my eyes in confusion as I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders tighter. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," the man snapped. "What, did you think the River Themes would make for a good ol' swim? Just thought you'd saunter down into the Underworld without anyone to guide you, or to help you? By the heavens, Kore, you could have been killed!"
I suddenly felt wide awake as, for the first time, anger started to build in the pit of my stomach. "Excuse me?" I repeated incredulously, staggering to my feet. "You think I did this on purpose?"
"I know Hecate certainly didn't bring you here," Hades retorted, his hands on his waist as he stared me down. "I know you were childish, but I didn't think you were stupid to boot!"
My face froze as his words dug into me like a knife. There was a long pause between us as I stared at the ground, my hands forming into fists. "How dare you."
I looked up at him, my anger blazing. "How dare you," I repeated as I started to walk towards him. "You drag me out of that hell, and ask why I purposely did it? Without giving me a chance to explain?"
I jabbed him in the chest as his eyes started to widen. Good, I hope the idiot got the message he mucked up.
"I was pushed in," I snarled. "I was pushed in and nearly killed by these awful spirits. I may be childish, Hades, but at least I am not miserable and alone like you. By the way, the reason that you're alone is because you treat those who love you like trash. If this is what your kingdom is like, then I want nothing to do with it!"
Hades' stance slackened. "Pushed?" He repeated, a bit dazed. "By who?"
I threw my hands in the air. "Like you care? I am done with this, Hades! I just almost died trying to get to my father after you have ignored me for a week straight, and all you can care about is lecturing me on my childish nature!"
"Your father?" Hades interrupted again. "But he isn't here."
"I gathered that when that woman pushed me into the damn river!" I replied hotly. "Listen, if you and Clarey are still so involved, then you had no business paying any attention to me."
"Clarey?" Hades repeated sternly. "Clarey would never do something like this, Kore. How could you pin this on your own sister?? Is this jealousy talking? Did you stage this for my attention?" He growled, his voice raising with each word.
"HERMES!" I screamed, praying that the messenger god could hear me. I couldn't handle this. Perhaps Hades was right- I was childish in that I had no idea how to handle these kind of emotions. I needed to leave, and there was only one man who could help me with that.
Right on track, the man appeared, obviously confused. "Kore? Good grief, child, you're sopping wet!"
"Take me to Olympus," I demanded, my tears threatening to spill over as I stared at Hades. "Take me back immediately."
Hades stepped forward, his hand outstretched. "Kore, listen, I didn't mean-"
"Please, Hermes," I begged, turning my attention to the bewildered god. "You're the only one who can get there. Take me back.." I continued, tears starting to spill down my face. "Please. Take me back."
Hermes took one long, sorrowful look at Hades before gently taking my hand. "Your Mother will be upset you've left the island," he responded quietly.
I shook my head, trying banish the traitor tears as the fire left me, leaving only exhaustion. "I don't care. I'll handle it. Just..take me home."
In an instant, we were gone from that hellish river, and I found myself above ground, the salty scent of the ocean air leaving as we started to ascend towards Olympus.
I felt used. I felt betrayed. But most of all, I felt like a complete fool. I had been warned all my life of how the world was, how men were, and yet I still found myself stuck. My own sister tried to kill me, apparently out of jealousy..and Hades, the man who had said how much he loved me, had defended her and ridiculed me.
If this is what freedom brings, I don't want it.
- Hades -
I stared at the spot Kore had just stood, shocked to the core. It started when I had heard Kore's cry for help- I still couldn't figure how she broke free from the river spirits.
I slowly turned as the fight played through my mind. "Stupid," I reprimanded myself. "Absolutely stupid.."
But to me, it seemed obvious what Kore was playing at. This was Olympus's favorite game- test your lover to see if he was true. She was testing me, seeing if I still loved Clarey. I could have Clarey thrown in Tarturus for trying to kill Kore..and to most goddesses, seeing their potential competition locked away forever would be the ideal plan, even if they weren't guilty.
I shook my head, disgusted. "I thought she was different," I scoffed to myself. "Idiotic."
My heart felt like it was breaking. I had let Kore inside my walls, and for what? My happiness seemed snatched away as, yet again, I was played the fool.
I turned the corner when Hecate stopped me. "Lord Hades?"
"What?" I grumbled before looking at my assistant. Her face was like stone- something was wrong.
"You have a visitor," she informed me, her voice clipped. "Lady Clarey has come to call."
Clarey?
I turned into the throne room to see the woman who scorned me so long ago, the woman who just moments ago Kore claimed to have tried to kill her.
She didn't look like she had been tussling a goddess on the river banks. She wore a long, deep red gown, a plunging back facing me as she studied the paintings on the wall. I froze, my broken heart reaching out. "Clarey?" I whispered, feeling like a gutted man.
She turned, a vision of dark beauty. Her face was pulled into a frown as she quickly walked towards me, her arms outstretched. "Hades.."
I stared at her, my face blank as she pulled me into an embrace. "I am so sorry, Hades," She sobbed. "I never should have left you."
She pulled away, her black eyes staring into mine as a tear slipped down her cheek. "When I heard you had brought another goddess to court, I couldn't believe my ears. I have been trying for decades to find a casual way for us to reintroduce, for me to apologize..but when I realized your heart was leaving me, I couldn't stand waiting and planning."
There was once a time when I would've given anything to hear those words. At one point in my long life, I would've begged for Clarey to choose me.
But that was a long time ago, and with Clarey's sudden appearance, Kore's words kept tumbling through my mind.
"Did you push her in?" I asked, my voice cold and clipped. I could feel her body tense up as she realized things weren't going her way.
"What?" She asked, her voice high and soft- her tell that she was lying. My jaw clenched as I carefully pushed her off of me.
"Did you push Lady Kore, Goddess of Spring and Growth, Daughter of Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest and Zeus, God of Thunder and King of Olympus into the River Thymes?" I repeated, using Kore's full and lengthy title as I stared the woman down.
My eyes were cold and harsh- something that she was probably not used to. I watched silently as she fidgeted, hemmed, and hawed around before finally letting out an impatient sigh of disgust.
"That goddess," she spat, "Is nothing more than a child, and a silly daydream for you. We have a history, Hades, and you and I both know we have a connection."
I let out a bitter laugh. "Connection? The only connection we have now, Clarey, is that we once had a past together. But I have no interest in pursuing a future with you, and thanks to your manipulation, I may not have a future with the one I want one with either. I took your worthless word over someone who is nothing but pure and kind," I continued, my voice rising as my temper flared, "And I have turned to you instead of defending the person I love more than anything."
Clarey sputtered, her temper rising quickly while I signaled for Hecate, quickly cutting off any protest Clarey had. "Take our visitor to the Mortal Realm Gates, and see her off," I told her blankly, my voice dry and monotone. "And be sure that she doesn't enter this realm again."
Hecate failed to hide her glee at the news as I turned away from the now seething nymph and quickly headed towards my office. I had an apology to write, and quickly.
***