“It is more than nothing,” said Persephone, approaching. “And are they not memories worth keeping?”
“Not if it hurts this much,” he said, clutching his chest. “I am tired of the pain. I thought that was the point of dying.”
Hades and Persephone exchanged a look, and then she inched closer, placing a hand on his back.
“You know that is not the point of dying,” said Persephone. “You are here to heal.”
“How can I heal when I am being broken again?”
“But you have healed, Apollo,” she said. “More importantly, you have helped Hyacinth so much, he is ready to ascend. Do you not see the role you have played?”
“So you are saying this is my fault?” he said, breath stuttering, as he met her gaze.
“No,” Persephone said. “There are no mistakes here, Apollo.”
“Hyacinth has been here for thousands of years, and in all that time he made no progress until you came,” said Hades. “You have changed him for the better, and because of that, he has a second chance to live a full life, something he did not have in his previous one.”
They were quiet, the silence disturbed by Apollo’s sniffling.
“He has changed and I have not. I am just as selfish as I was the day I arrived.”
“You are in love, Apollo,” said Persephone. “It is not selfish to want the person you care for most to be by your side forever. There will come a day when you have that, when Hyacinth returns for good.”
Apollo swallowed. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“You are never alone, Apollo. We are here for you, always,” said Persephone. Unless he drank from the Lethe, which was truly a lonely existence, but she did not say that aloud. “Oh!”
Apollo’s eyes widened as Persephone bent forward. Her stomach felt tight, like it was being squeezed. She wouldn’t describe what she felt as pain, exactly, but she was definitely uncomfortable.
“Persephone!” Apollo and Hades said in unison.
The God of Music’s hands braced her shoulders like he thought she might fall while Hades’s went to her waist.
“I’m all right,” she said, straightening. The feeling had passed.
“You’re lying,” said Hades.
She glanced up at him, glaring. “I’m not lying. This is just part of giving birth.”
“It’s starting?” he asked.
“Not exactly,” she said. “But I think we are getting close.”
“You mean to say I’ll be an uncle any day now?” asked Apollo.
She smiled. “Yes, Apollo. You will.”
Chapter 10
Hermes
It was the third time Hermes had tried to clean his nails in the river outside Circe’s home to no avail. They were still caked with dirt and pig carcass. His skin crawled at the thought, and he curled his fingers into fists. He wished he could just peel them off and grow them again, but that was out of the question as a mortal.
If only I had my magic…
He stopped himself from finishing that sentence. He’d found himself thinking and saying it since he’d arrived at Aeaea, but it was pointless. The reality was that he was mortal for however long Hecate chose, and the sooner he accepted it, the better.
He sighed and abandoned his attempt at clean nails. It didn’t matter anyway. Circe would likely put him to work on a new, worse project.
