Asphodel (The Underworld Trilogy)

“Probably not. I’m just getting my strength back. It might take a few more days.”

He scrunches his eyebrows together and looks at his hands. “Was it the flu or something?”

I turn my head. “Something like that.” I wonder if he can sense that I’m distant. I examine his face. No. He looks happy, smiling brightly, eyes sparkling, dimples indented in his cheeks.

“I heard you yesterday. I wanted to come over then, but I thought you might have wanted a day to yourself.”

“You heard me?”

“You were shouting. A name. Hades.”

“Oh,” I say, trying to keep calm on the outside. On the inside I’m panicking, racking my brain for another lie. In my moment of grief I forgot about the neighbors. I didn’t think anyone would hear me. “I was delusional. I had a fever,” was all I could come up with.

Adonis rests his palm against my forehead. The warm sizzle I used to feel when he touched me isn’t there. It’s just another sweaty palm. “Not anymore,” he mus

es. “You’re as cool as a cucumber.”

Adonis mentioning Hades punctures a hole in my heart all over again. I don’t want to talk anymore. I don’t want to think anymore. I want to lock myself away in a closet and never come out again. “I’m tired,” I announce as I stand. “I’m going to turn in for the night.”

He remains seated and a spark of concern resonates in his creamy brown eyes. “Persephone, wait.”

But I don’t wait. I turn on my heel, slamming the sliding glass door, and leaving Adonis alone on my back patio to admire the moon.

That night I dream of Hades again. But this time he doesn’t come to me. This time it’s like an out of body experience and I’m watching events unfold. We’re in the Hall of the Gods and Hades is on his knees in front of Hestia, Mom, Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus. He hangs his head low and Zeus is shouting, his face red with fury, and he’s shaking a fist, but I can’t hear the words coming out of his mouth.

My heart palpitates. My breaths quicken. And before I know it I’m running then sliding on my knees next to Hades. I glimpse over my shoulder at the other God’s and Goddesses and shriek, “Stop! Stop it! He didn’t do anything wrong!” Then I try to cup his face with my hands, but they slip right through him. Frustrated and terrified for him, I throw the weight of my body into him, but once again I slip right through him. There is pain on his face and I swear I can see a miniscule tear dribble down his cheek.

Then it hits me and I bolt upright in my bed, gasping. Oh God. Hades projected the dream. He’s able to put images in my head. Yesterday… Yesterday he was lying. He wants them; the other God’s to think he doesn’t love me. He wants them to think he’s cut off communication. He’s trying to protect me from something. I know it. I can feel it. But what is it that he’s protecting me from? My mom? Could it be Zeus?

Confusion drenches me and I fall back against my pillow. Instead of trying to come up answers to all the questions sounding off in my mind, I come up with a solution to everything. The only way I can get back to him is by finding a pomegranate and eating it. But thanks to Zeus every tree on the planet is now ash. I’m sure Hades supply has been cleaned out.

I hop out of bed and race down the stairs, mapping out a plan in my head. I pace in the kitchen. Without pomegranates there would be no seeds so growing my own tree isn’t an option. Think Persephone, think. I sit down at the table and massage my temples. Zeus may be one of the worst father’s on the planet, but he is smart. He’d never destroy every tree in the world. He’s always been obsessed with control and you can’t control something that doesn’t exist.

Racking my brain, my mind goes back to a time during my childhood. I’ve always been curious and at time mischievous and I recall one time where I’d wandered into one of Zeus’s private rooms in the Hall of the Gods. I’d only been in there for a second before my mom scurried in after me, scolding me. “Persephone,” she’d said gripping my hand and pulling me out of the room. “This is Zeus’s private room. You’re not allowed in here.” Right before we exited the room. I caught a glimpse of it a tree growing in through the window, plump balls of fruit with reddish skin dangling off the branches.

I jump up from my seat. I don’t why I didn’t realize this before. I knew when I saw the fruit initially there was something vaguely familiar about it. One tree left in the world. One way back into the arms of my beloved. One item to use as a bargaining chip for his freedom. I have to get to that tree. And that means I have to go back to place that I haven’t been to in five thousand years. My one and only true home. Mount Olympus.

Epilogue

Pomegranate

I pack my things in hurry, tossing random items into a duffle bag. Then double checking to make sure I have everything; identification, clothing, my passport, and extra cash.

Sprinting to the front door, I mentally tell Hades not to worry. I’m coming. I know and I will save you. I promise. I know he can’t actually hear me, but somehow it makes me feel better saying the words. Even if they’re in my head.

At the front door, I reach for the knob, but someone is on the other side of the door, twisting it and the metal jingles before I yank the door open. Adonis stands at my front door, lowering his hand a suspicious loo in his eyes. “Good morning, Adonis,” I say stepping outside and closing the door behind.

He holds his chin with his thumb and forefinger, looking at me puzzled. “Um, where are you going?”

I walk to my left and he follows. Then I walk to my right, trying to get around him, but he still follows me. “Adonis, look,” I sigh frustrated. “Can you please get out of my way?” He eyes me oddly and I try to dash past him again, but he stops me. “I have to be somewhere! Stop this! It’s important!”

Adonis doesn’t move.

I shove past him and he clutches my shoulders and pushes me back. “You’re going to him, aren’t you?”

“Him?” What is going on here? What is up with him? “What are you talking about?”

“You’re trying to save him, aren’t you? I don’t think you’ll make it in time.”