Chapter 12: The Springtime

When Hermes and Persephone reached the entrance of the Underworld, they had come to a shadowy place of the dead and passed through black gates that hold back the souls.

The first thing that greeted the kidnapped goddess was the harsh bright light, which filtered through some crooked branches of the trees. Ever since she was spirited off to a sunless world, the earth was in a severe barren state.

Persephone expected to reemerge to the fields where eternal springtime reigned but all she found was snow and ice covering the hardened ground, like a white blanket over the poor globe.

The young maiden stared blindly in confusion. The forest that surrounded her was no longer the lively version she once remembered. The trees were stripped of their green leaves and draped in glittering frost with ice and snow. The pale grey sky was a strange view to her eyes. Her skin prickled in the biting cold. Oddly, the earth no longer felt like home.

"What happened?" Persephone whispered in disbelief.

"My dear cousin, your absence has created the first winter for mankind," Hermes told her. "Once your mother learned of your missing, she searched high and low to try and uncover your fate. After finding evidence suggesting you had been taken by Hades, Demeter's grief was so overwhelming that she cursed the land so that nothing would grow."

It wasn't just the plants and flowers that died out but the whole animal kingdom could not survive without the maiden's presence. It was only fitting that the goddess, whom so much depended upon, must be restored to the upper world so that all nature may revive with her return.

Persephone stared down into the Underworld, and a sharp pang of sadness pierced her heart. All the memories of Hades flooded back into her mind. As dark and foreboding as the goddess might seem, she showed some hint of sympathy towards the dead souls she supervised. She watched over them in tender solicitude, rewarding truth, amnesty, and righteousness while severely punishing the unjust and the cruel.

Now the young goddess finally understood that Hades just wanted someone to love her and probably occasionally play games with her.

"Come forth, Persephone; your mother is waiting," Hermes coaxed her.

She began to walk but was still transfixed and blinded by the strange grievous sight. With each step the goddess took, the ice and snow melted and the ground softened; new green grass and flowers began to sprout, grow, and bloom lively beneath her tender feet. Soon, a beautiful meadow spread, and the trees shot out their budding leaves.

"Look, the world is rejoicing over you," Hermes said, but the goddess' attention was drawn to a tall green-clad woman under an olive tree. Her heart was beating so loudly that she had to clasp her hands over her chest.

Demeter had lost the brightness of her rosy face and her swelling heart was lashed by sorrows, but the moment she saw her daughter's pale yet lovely face emerged, she was overcome by a mother's joy. The earth goddess went and enveloped her sweet child in her arms.

"Oh, my beloved daughter...my sweet Persephone!" Demeter cried, squeezing her tightly to her bosom.

As her name streamed from the lips of her over-joyous mother, Persephone felt her own heart swell with overwhelming emotions.

They hugged each other and wept for a long while, then they pulled away. Demeter stroked her daughter's face with a great pity in her heart.

"Did she hurt you?" she asked, raged burned deep in her green eyes. But Persephone quickly shook her head to reassure her mother.

"Hades did me no harms, mother. I was well-treated in her realm. Don't worry...I am fine," was all she could muster up to answer.

Demeter made a disgusted face and scoffed. Though Zeus had tried to persuade her that Hades-as Zeus's older sister and ruler of one-third of the universe-was not an unfit wife for Persephone, Demeter couldn't shake the thought of how the uninvited and unbetrothed Hades was to ravish her beloved maiden. Her whole body began to fill with rage again.

"It was fortunate that you did not eat anything there," Demeter said, staring at her child's lovely face. "I would still be weeping bitterly and there would be no rest in the raging fire of this world had you not returned to me."

Then Demeter turned to the messenger god.

"Hermes, if you see my sister again, tell her that she will never get my child back to the dark filthy kingdom of hers," she said with high determination then looked back at Persephone again. "My girl will never be the bride of Hades nor will she be a queen of the dead."

Hermes bowed at the older goddess and flew away.

Now that her daughter was safe, the golden-skinned goddess rejoiced and her grief vanished. Yet the mother noticed some subtle changes after receiving the girl back from the black veil of the Underworld. Persephone had gone to Hades' realm as an innocent sweet child and come back a grown woman. Her eyes, like the dew or the raindrops, reflected such a depth her mother had never seen. But the joy of seeing her daughter distracted her and she thought nothing of it. Then the reunited pair boarded their swift drakon-drawn chariot and journeyed back to their home.

~*~

In the netherworld, Hades sat slumped on her black throne. Her head in her hand with a deep mourning frown. It was no doubt that Persephone's departure had brought her more sadness than ever.

The dark goddess reckoned the golden girl for the first time in the great hall of Olympus. She reminisced how she felt when she saw that stalk-slender child in her flowing tunic and green shoes moving under the sunlight, with her paint-pot among the dancing flowers; the fever that ran in her blood when she first put her arms around that maiden's waist; how she silenced her cries with her cold lips and tasted her tears; and how happy she was in the blooming garden as they exchanged passionate kisses.

Now the grief and sorrow struck upon her as Hades lost Persephone again to her mother by Zeus's decree.

When Hades let out yet another long deep sigh, Minos came in and informed her that Ascalaphus, the gardener, wished to speak to her.

"Let him in," she said.

Ascalaphus drifted into the hall like a pale shadow - his hand holding a split pomegranate. He knelt down and proffered the proof of Persephone's deed to Hades. After hearing that the maiden of her heart had eaten six seeds of the pomegranate, the goddess' eyes sparkled with new hope. She wasted no time and ordered Minos to mind her court while she would pay her brother Zeus an urgent visit.

At home with her mother, Persephone was pampered by the wood nymphs. Her mother was so overjoyed to have her back that the earth was released from its infertile state. The fields came alive with its lush green hue and bushes of all sort popped out golden and crimson flowers - all growing with life. Frozen rivers began to thaw and flow; wild birds started singing once again for spring had begun.

As Demeter braided her daughter's flowing hair, she noticed a sad look on Persephone's face through the mirror. Her child's distress surprised her.

"In spite of your being here, you don't seem to share my joy, Persephone," the goddess said, "Tell me what is troubling your mind?"

"Nothing, Mother. Forgive me as I still adjust my mind to the new scenery," she replied.

"New scenery? This is your true home, my dear girl," Demeter said, "You must be so sad and miserable from being starved and confined in that dark palace below."

Persephone quickly and vehemently shook her head. "No, mother, no really. There are so many things in the boundless Underworld to explore. During my time there, I have seen so many fascinating people and places. There is the Pool of Memory that rests under the shade of a white poplar tree. The pool shows the aspect of memory in physical forms for those who miss their loved ones. Then there's the Vale of Mourning for those who died of broken heart. Also, the Acherusian Lake where the souls would cry out to those they had wronged, asking for forgiveness..."

"Stop that now, Persephone!" Demeter hushed her sternly, "I have suffered so much to bring you back and now you start talking only about the dead. Did your stay in Tartarus make you go mad? You sound just like the grim spirited goddess who only listens to men swearing oaths and invoking curses in her name."

"Mother! Hades is not as fearsome as everyone thinks of her," the young maiden protested, "In fact, she is the least evil in the entire pantheon. Pushing a rock uphill forever, having venom slowly dripping onto one's face for eternity, having a bird eat one's liver alive each day - that was all Father Zeus's doing!"

"Enough!" her mother growled in rage. Persephone had never seen her like this. "I will hear no more talk of that woman; do you hear me?"

The young girl lowered her head and nodded, but a single tear quietly dropped onto her white tunic when she thought of Hades.

All of a sudden, they heard the flapping sound of the wings and the same shrilling herald. Hermes had flown down from Olympus, carrying yet another message.

"O blessed Demeter, my apologies for interrupting your sweet reunion," he said with a bow, "but Father Zeus has summoned you to his court right at this moment."

The earth goddess groaned and snarled at once.

"What business does he have with me now?" she asked with exasperation.

"You will see for yourself, my lady," he said, "but you best bring Persephone along."

Demeter turned to her daughter with a questioning look. The young maiden's face blushed and she dropped her eyes to the ground.

Once they arrived at Olympus, the goddess of harvest moved rigidly with her girl, hastening along the paths of high heaven with despondent steps.

By the time, they reached the throne room, Hades had already presented her case to their brother. With a glimpse of the pomegranate in Hades's hand, Persephone's heart almost jumped out of her chest. And when those onyx eyes found hers, she felt her body flushed all over. Stood frozen beside Hades was Ascalaphus. Hades's face showed a blush of joy that remained from when she learned that her love had eaten the seeds of the pomegranate.

"What do you want?" Demeter growled with anger filling her voice.

"Calm your temper, sweet sister," Zeus said, "It has come to light that Hades has found that your daughter already ate the food in her world."

"What?" the golden-haired goddess squeaked, "Liar! Persephone did no such thing."

"Hades has a witness. Her gardener Ascalaphus saw it all," the king of gods spoke.

Demeter looked at Persephone in shock. "Is it true?"

The girl looked between her mother and Hades. Then slowly she nodded.

"Yes, it is true, mother," she said. "I was too famish to resist and had eaten six seeds of the fruit in Hades' land."

Her mother let out a tearful scream when she heard the confession. Persephone rushed to hold Demeter and support her from collapsing in despair.

"Now that your daughter has eaten six seeds of the pomegranate, she would have to spend six months with Hades each year without fail."

"No!" Demeter cried.

"Never mind, Mother," said Persephone soothingly, "Don't cry. We must be happy for the time that I am here. I will still see you half of the year."

"But I suffer!" cried Demeter. "I suffer! Here...Here - in my mother's heart." She struck herself on the chest. Then the goddess sent a sharp glare at Zeus and Hades. "And if I suffer, then everyone else shall suffer with me. Your clever trick has robbed my daughter from my arms, but for the months that she spends below the earth, no grass will grow, no flowers will bloom, and no trees will bear. So long as she is with Hades, there will be desolation everywhere."

Demeter's anger then flared at the poor gardener for he alone was a catalyst for her loss.

"And you...you will suffer, too!"

She turned him into a creature with a beak, feathers, and enormous eyes. Transformed, Ascalaphus wore great tawny wings, his head swells humongously - a loathsome bird, ill-omen for mankind, a skulking screech-owl, and sorrow's harbinger. That telltale tongue of his, no doubt, deserved the punishment.