Persephius

Goodness! I don’t understand why Hades keeps badgering me. What difference does it make that I’m Demeter’s son rather than daughter? Especially when she herself is my aunt, not uncle. 

In fact, I should be the one surprised.

She refused to believe me until the end. She even came down from her throne to stand before me, examining me with all manner of frowns, circling me once. Just like a shepherd inspecting sheep or cattle before buying or selling. 

But since I was a perfectly handsome young man without any flaws no matter how she looked at me, she changed her strategy. She decided I must be lying. 

She labeled me as some idle youth who had dressed as a woman to mingle with nymphs, and immediately ordered Thanatos to take me to Charon.

How absurd! I quickly stepped forward and presented my proof. It was my mother’s brooch, barely hanging from my shoulder.

“Look at this. If I’m not Demeter’s son, where would I have gotten this?”

The golden ornament, skillfully inlaid with grain-shaped patterns, was originally meant to secure my peplos to hide my hair and face. During my abduction to the underworld, the peplos must have flown away, unable to withstand the speed. 

I was fortunate that at least this brooch remained. Otherwise, I would have been unceremoniously driven out by the underworld queen’s imposing presence.

I didn’t care about losing the peplos. Every time I had to wear it, I wanted to bang my head against a pillar in my mother’s temple. And that dreadful pink color! 

Completely unsuitable for a grown man like me. Yet my mother deliberately chose pink. Whether it was delicate pink like a rosebud, intense pink like the twilight sky, or capricious pink like the inside of a rabbit’s ear, it never failed to appear among my garments.

Hades visibly furrowed her brows. She looked like she didn’t even want to properly look at Demeter’s token I was holding out.

“Here, look at it. I’m telling you, I am Persephone!”

More precisely, Persephius. But people know me as Persephone. Just like I’ve always called my aunt Hades. Of course, Persephius isn’t a name my mother gave me either. 

I thought I needed a masculine name to remember that I was male. Though I never revealed it to anyone or asked to be called by it, it was effective enough when comforting myself.

Come to think of it, I suddenly wonder. Is Hades really Hades? Such a splendid goddess couldn’t have been born with the name Hades. Surely she must have a secret name like mine, a name fitting for a goddess with white skin and black hair?

Hades didn’t seem to notice my curiosity. She took the brooch using only her index finger and thumb, handling it like a repulsive spider. Then she returned it to my palm without properly looking at it.

“So, you’re Kore.”

(T/N: “Kore” (Κόρη) means “maiden” or “young girl” in Greek and was Persephone’s name before her marriage to Hades. It literally translates to “virgin”)

If there’s a name I dislike more than Persephone, it would be Kore. Virgin, really!

She probably anticipated that I would bristle at being called Kore. When she saw me clench my fist momentarily, she gave a faint snort. 

Her green eyes, fixed on me, revealed her desire to somehow smooth over this situation. She hoped I would behave rudely, giving her a reason to kick me out of the underworld immediately. 

Unfortunately for her, I had no intention of granting her wish.

“Yes, well, call me whatever you like, Aunt. Though it’s a rather ridiculous nickname for me.”

“Enough. I don’t need to call you anything anymore. Go back to your mother’s arms. Thanatos will escort you to Charon. Take Charon’s boat across the river, climb up the valley, and you’ll find your beloved daffodil field. Then everything will end without incident.”

“End without incident?”

“You’ll return safely without any injury or loss, so that’s certainly without incident.”

I was gradually becoming irritated. She was clearly the one who had pulled me into her chariot and brought me to the underworld. Yet now she was speaking with no acknowledgment of her responsibility, treating me like I had barged into her palace uninvited.

“But I lost my peplos. It flew away when you snatched and dragged me here.”

“Peplos?”

I had never seen a woman who frowned as much as Hades. While she naturally had a pale and gloomy appearance, she would certainly look prettier if she smiled. Is smiling forbidden in the underworld? 

Unaware of my questions, she made a face like she was chewing poison whenever I used words like “snatched” and “dragged.”

“What’s a mere peplos worth? What color would you like? I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“And perhaps throw in a manly sword too,” Thanatos, the red-haired figure standing beside her, chimed in.

She responded to me like I was a whining child, and Thanatos beside her joined in. A manly sword? 

I gritted my teeth. Then I stood firmly with my feet shoulder-width apart.

“I’m not going. I can’t go.”

“Why? Did you lose something else besides the peplos? Tell me, and I’ll compensate you tenfold.”

“Even if you gave me your entire treasure vault, I wouldn’t go. Really.”

“What stubbornness is this? What do you intend to do by not leaving? What could Demeter’s young child possibly bring to bloom in the underworld? Don’t talk nonsense. I’m already exhausted because of your father. That’s enough.”

Hades placed her slender hand on her forehead and spoke thinly. I noticed that at least the inside of her mouth was red.

“Since I acted rashly in anger, I intend to compensate you. Is there something you want? It doesn’t have to be something you lost. Whether it’s a sword or a spear, I’ll give you whatever you ask for. I even have a bow so excellent that even Apollo would approve of. Or perhaps a belt studded with sapphires as brilliant as your eyes. You’ve heard that your uncle, no, your aunt is actually wealthier than your father Zeus, haven’t you?”

“Well, everything buried underground belongs to you, Aunt.”

“You’re not an unreasonable child. Very good. So, son of Demeter, what would you like to have?”

“Nothing. I just want to stay here for a while.”

“For goodness sake!”

She couldn’t contain herself and growled. Like a black dragon with smooth scales. 

I flinched. But I managed not to take a step back. If I acted like a frightened child here, everything would be in vain! 

While pretending not to be afraid of the angry underworld queen would be boastful, it seemed better than her constantly furrowing her brow.

By the way, did she just say my eyes were as brilliant as sapphires?

“Do you think this is some kind of resort? Do you think you can poke around as you please and then disappear without consequences? How can you be so immature! This is the underworld!”

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

“You shouldn’t know! If you knew and still acted this impudently toward me, I wouldn’t let you off so easily!”

“Didn’t you bring me here knowing full well who I was? Am I an object? Something you can take and return at your whim? Even livestock at the market aren’t treated this way!”

Ha! She turned her head away. A sign that the advantage was shifting to me. I seized the opportunity and pressed on.

“If you send me back like this, I won’t stay quiet.”

“Oh, really? You won’t stay quiet?”

“No.”

“What could you possibly do? What could Demeter’s virgin daughter do against the god of death, the ruler of the underworld?”

I lifted my chin. Looking directly into her eyes, I said:

“I’ll tell everyone you forcibly took my virginity.”

After that, well. There was no such commotion.

For a moment, everything went quiet like someone had thrown cold water over the scene. No, that’s not the right comparison since the underworld is always cold like dawn. 

After the brief silence, agitated reactions erupted from all directions. Even a spark falling into an oil barrel in the dead of winter couldn’t have caused such an uproar.

But the ghost-like attendants didn’t capture my attention. I was focused solely on her. She wore an expression of complete incomprehension at what I had just said. Her irritable black eyebrows jumped up like a startled cat, and her eyes widened to their limit. 

Looking at her now, I noticed her eyes were slightly downturned at the corners. On another woman, this might have created a languid impression like a spring night, but on the underworld queen, it seemed more like a sign that she found everything tiresome or annoying.

What could possibly exhaust her so much? Didn’t she have everything? 

Humans feared the underworld yet considered it the ultimate testing ground for heroes, and even gods revered Hades. 

What would it be like to live a life synonymous with adventure, measuring true heroes, and being worshipped oneself? Just imagining it made my heart race. I didn’t think I would ever feel tired in her position.

“I did what, forcibly, to you?”

Hades finally managed to speak after gaping for quite some time. For a while, her pearl-like lips remained parted, revealing her neat teeth and red inner flesh. 

Unconsciously, I ran my tongue along the inside of my cheek. It was strange to think that even the god of death had such soft and vulnerable parts.

“You took my virginity.”

I placed both hands over my chest, imitating a modest nymph. Someone in a dark corner burst out laughing. The blue flames fixed to each pillar flickered, creating confused shadows.

Hades tried to mock my words but seemed too tired to do so.

“What nonsense! Why would I, Hades, desire to take the virginity of a youngster like you? Who would believe such a thing?”

Why was she acting so coldly?

I couldn’t understand. No matter how much I thought about it, no plausible answer came to mind. Just as she said, I was a youngster. 

Though I didn’t want to admit it, I was merely Demeter’s son who was raised as a daughter. Because my mother had sheltered me like a child, I hadn’t developed any divine powers or sanctity. 

What great inconvenience could a young person like me cause in this enormous palace? Since I had already arrived in the underworld, why was she so averse to letting me look around for a few days?

I folded my arms and puffed out my chest.

“We’ll see about that. Who would have imagined that Hades would abduct me and bring me to the underworld? I think my testimony would be quite believable.”

Return to my mother? Go back to Enna Valley? And then what?

I would have to live the same tedious life, wearing the same clothes in the same place, under the surveillance of the same nymphs disguised as attendants. 

My life would hold no dangers greater than a sudden shower, no long journeys that would wear out leather sandals, and certainly no brave adventures with great swords and bows. I would be called Persephone and praised as Kore. My mother would treat me like a nursing infant taking its first steps, despite my being a head taller than her.

Return obediently for such a life?

The mere thought made my throat tighten. Less than half a day had passed since I left the daffodil field, but I already never wanted to smell that stupid flower scent again for the rest of my life. 

Though everything here was cool, dark, and eerie, there was no mother, no nymphs, only me. Persephius, a handsome young man facing an unknown world.

Hades glared at me. I tried to glare back at her. But I failed. She was the ruler of the underworld and a beautiful woman, while I was unaccustomed to aggressive expressions, whether making them myself or seeing them on others.

‘Why won’t she listen to me? This should be acceptable enough. Am I not pretty?’

Yes, that was my genuine question. With me being this pretty, how could she reject me?

She was right that I was a youngster. To some extent. Of course, anyone who had spent their entire life confined to a limited flower field would naturally be more immature or innocent than others. Or both. Especially someone like me, a handsome only son.

My mother loved me to the point of exhaustion, and the nymphs she assigned to me raised me with tender care. They were my nurses when I was young, playmates as I grew, and now excellent guardians who loved me. I could whine for anything, and they would never refuse. 

Except for the taboo of leaving the boundaries set by my mother, they would do anything. The nymphs of rivers, forests, and meadows never tired, and I could never escape from their games of tag.

Whenever I wondered about the world beyond the valley, beyond the mountain slopes, beyond the winding paths and steep cliffs, they would laugh and sing, dance and twirl around me. 

But they praised me for being prettier and taller than any maiden on earth and gave me devoted affection like sisters to their youngest brother. 

Though suffocating after I matured, I must have unknowingly become accustomed to such treatment. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have developed such stubbornness.

However, regardless of my childishness, the noble Hades was indeed acting unnecessarily cold, especially since she was the responsible party in this situation. I found her fascinating, enviable, and intriguing. 

But I had no idea how she viewed me. It hadn’t occurred to me to wonder why she had brought me to the underworld in the first place, why she had chosen me specifically.

Hades looked angry. A red flush from her anger rippled around her previously pale eyes. A cold, dark energy creeping out from the hem of her black tunic bit at my ankles like a snake. 

But it was good to see her expression showing a hint of vitality. She looked more like my older sister than my mother’s sister.

“You will not stay anywhere, nor will you taste anything. Let’s see how long you can last.”

With those words, she vanished into darkness.