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Four chaise lounge chairs lay facing the fireplace. Set between are stone end tables. Some with candles, others decorate with the tall blossoms of red amaranth. Artemis choses a chair and I sat in the one directly beside her. Getting comfortable, we half watch the sky and partially watch the fire.
With a snap of her fingers, a cup of boiling tea and two cups pop onto the end table between us. The liquid sloshing from the movement. I pour a cup of tea for each of us. Pulling the glass to my lips, I melted at the smell of vanilla chamomile tea.
“I hope you like the tea. A friend of mine and I used to drink it when we couldn’t sleep.” A reminiscing smile crept onto her face. “Let me tell you, these pathetic excuses of dried leaves don’t quite compare to how she used to make it.” Artemis sighs.
“Was she a goddess?” I ask as I sip the tea.
The soft flavor reminds me of a tea my dad used to make when we were having a hard night.
“Yes,” Artemis muses. “She was the Goddess of Spring and Flowers.”
Damn it.
Why does she just keep coming up?
“So, you were friends with Persephone?” I ask. Perhaps she knows what happened to her or has an idea of how I'm to track her down.
“Yes, a long time ago.” Artemis sips the steaming liquid. The Goddess of the Moon stares at the fire. “She spent a lot of time in this palace. As the only heir to Arva, her mother tried from a young age to find a person who was ‘worthy of her hand.’ Like a son of Zeus.” Swirling my tea, I remain silent, hoping for her to continue. “And not any son of Zeus but his favorite son. Especially being that Hera and Demeter are siblings, that axed Hephaestus. Ares is the adopted son of Zeus and biologically son of Hera so that was a no go. Then it came to the illegitimate heirs.”
“Olympian family trees are confusing,” I rub my temples, trying to stave off a headache.
“You got that right,” she mutters. “Anyways, Apollo has always been the golden child of Zeus, so it was not a hard decision for our dad. My twin has always been a favorite of the citizens and of the gods alike. Zeus especially liked it because it kept an influential heir away from his throne and further strengthened the ties to Demeter’s Court. It even gave Apollo an unencumbered path to a throne. As a part of the betrothal, Demeter made a deal with Zeus. Her daughter would sit on the throne of Olympus to nourishing the plants, forests, and our people when she came to visit every spring.”
“There’s to have been a catch,” I state. Why else would Demeter make such a promise?
My friend nodded solemnly. “Yes. With gods, there’s always a catch. Political maneuvering is the name of the game. We all have goals, both private and public, that we attempt to accomplish. But with Persephone, she’d to tie herself to the throne, crown and the land.”
“Tie?” Raising an eyebrow at my friend, I watch the flames dance across her furrowed brow.
“Yes, like binding the land to her magic using the throne as a funnel of sorts while the diadem is a focus for her power. To Zeus and even to Apollo, this sounded like a great plan. But when she was taken from the realm, the world became a steaming pile of dung,” she sighed.
“Which is why mortals have to sit on the throne?” Quirking an eyebrow, I shake my head. Gods make no sense.
“That was by instruction of our oracles. A mortal is fated to cure the plague from our land.” Artemis shrugs. “But at what cost?”
“What do you mean,” I ask as I sip my tea.
“Athena and my brother have the best interests of the land in mind. I know they aren’t malicious, but we don’t see eye to eye on everything. Including this race to find the maiden.”
Raising an eyebrow, I ask, “But why did all of this need to start in the first place?”
“Right after Persephone left us 97 years ago, the oracles instructed us to use the maidens in her place. Every six months, they become a temporary fill in for the lost goddesses. But we are running out of time. Once a century has passed without Persephone, the curse will become permanent,” she explains.
“And all the gods will become stone?” My eyes widen in shock.
Artemis nods solemnly.
Stretching her legs, she continued after she repositioned herself, Artemis adds, “Too many maidens have been taken by the plague. It makes me sick. Personally, I think it’s time that we stop the witch hunt so no one else is harmed.”
Her words send a chill down my back. My throat feels crackly and dry. “What if we found Persephone and she was brought back to the Court?” I feel sick at my words. Apollo and I have had our ups and downs but the thought of his old love returning makes me ill.
But dad did say that I need to find her and that’s what it will need to do. Did he somehow know what was happening in Olympus?
Artemis laughs hauntedly, “If a goddess doesn’t want to be found, then that would be useless.”
“... But my dad told me that I need to find her,” I whispered.
In a vision. Hades, I don’t even know if it was him or if I'm losing my mind.
