“She could not ask life to flourish and start anew. Not in our realm.”
Minox nods slowly, understanding. He parts his lips to speak but visibly refrains.
I cannot make the argument that those who dwell in the mortal realm do not need my queen to provide for them. They do. They need new life and renewal. They need a harvest that is not struck down by disaster. They need bounty and abundance. Which Demeter can provide, but they also need new life. New hope. She serves a beautiful purpose to those in the mortal realm.
Yet those who dwell in the mortal realm are not the only souls in existence.
“She is needed here,” I state, keeping my voice level. “There is chaos in my realms, and they pray to her as much as they pray to me.”
Minox’s gaze falls to my face, and I look back at him. Though he stands still, his robes still move from the slight breeze. With it, the ash drifts against the stone wall, reminding me of my recent deeds.
His expression reveals nothing to me. I cannot tell what he is thinking. I only know that he is thinking, because Minox is always thinking. He’s always calculating.
I do not know what my expression shows him.
His eyes move over my features. Perhaps my face is showing him that I know what it is that he knows. The chaos in my realms is not only the fault of Demeter. I have caused chaos here. I have torn souls apart. I have shaken the foundations of the Underworld. I have sent souls scrambling for places to hide.
For a time, they were silent as the ashes fell. None of them wanted to draw my attention. They feared it. The depth of their terror was felt in silence.
Now, not all of the souls are silent. Some of them have come out of hiding, and they’re fighting among themselves. On what has caused this and the threat of war. They argue on who is to blame. This fighting only brings more uncertainty. It only leads to more fighting. More arguing. Soul against soul. It may spread to realm against realm, and then there will be even greater chaos. The sooner she is returned to me and this is ended, the more peace there will be.
In my chest there is a deep ache for her. An impatience that I cannot shake. There were times when I was imprisoned that I felt this way—as if I would lose my mind if I did not have a chance to move, to stretch, to claw at the walls. It was never worth it to spend the energy on those attempts. It only made me more frenzied. It only made me more desperate to get out, and desperation made the hours stretch out into centuries.
“Persephone is needed here now more than ever.”
“That may be,” Minox says and peers out the window, avoiding my gaze. There’s no chaos in my gardens as of yet. The areas of the Underworld closest to my home will be the last to fall, as the souls will try to stay out of my sight until they cannot do it anymore.
We stand in silence. Cerberus gets to his feet and pads in a circle around the room, sniffing every so often at the ash and stopping to listen occasionally. He must decide everything is as it should be, because he returns to my side.
“That may be?” I question, not looking at Minox.
“I know our queen is needed here, my Lord.” He emphasizes the word and replies quickly.
“But?” I urge him to continue.
Minox unfolds his hands, then refolds them. “Demeter says that she will bring death again if you take her back. She is willing to stop now that Persephone has returned, although there was no punishment for her abduction. She suspects Zeus played a part. Her anger has dimmed but only because she has not received a consequence for her reaction either.”
The impatience inside of me heats until it has the form of rage once again, then irritation, then disgust.
Demeter would bring death again. Demeter would ruin the harvests in the mortal realm so that thousands starve and die a most painful death. The selfish goddess will not feel her loss alone. Demeter would burn the silos where grain was kept. Demeter would turn the mortals against each other in wars for food and water.
Demeter would make the sky above the Underworld bright with souls. Demeter would send so many that they would overwhelm the rituals in place that keep judgments fair and swift. Demeter would make my realms too full of souls, too crowded, too uncertain. It will crumble. It will fall apart. And Persephone would not be able to take those souls back to the mortal realm… not while she’s beside me.
Demeter would do all that—to the mortals—because I had gotten what I wanted.
What I need.
Demeter will not stop there. She will bring all the realms down on one another. There’s only so much death she can bring to the mortal realm before there will be no one left. Souls cannot leave the Underworld, and they are trapped here for all eternity. There will be no rest.
When all the mortals are dead, the Underworld will die, too. It will stagnate.
And so will Olympus. Has Demeter thought of that yet? The souls in the Underworld do not pray to the gods and goddesses on Olympus. They do not need Persephone to bring them life because no life dwells here. They do not need Demeter to bring another harvest to the land because the Underworld has all abundance.
What will the gods and goddesses on Olympus do if no one prays to them? What entertainment will they have if they cannot influence the mortal world with their whims? If there is no one left to light candles at their altars…what will their purpose be?
Perhaps Minox suggests that I could save all these realms by giving up my rights to Persephone.
That cannot happen. Persephone has eaten the pomegranate seeds—I have a claim to her. It was accepted by her. She put the seeds in her mouth and ate them before my eyes.
