“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Persephone repeated for the third time.

“It’s all right, really.” Thea sat in what she’d been told was her room, and Shae sat beside her, looking at her with worry. “It was just a shock, that’s all.”

“Oh, but I feel awful; I thought you would love it. Shae has told me so much about you and I knew you two must be close…”

“No, I did - I loved it,” she smiled at Shae. “Best surprise I’ve gotten in the long time.”

Shae smiled hesitantly and touched her hand. Her hand was cool but not unpleasant. After making a spectacle of herself in the main hall, Persephone had dragged her to her bedroom on the first floor, with Shae following close behind. When Hermes had tried to follow, Persephone had kicked him, literally kicked him out the door. It was funny to watch her kick Hermes, she was too small and delicate-looking to inflict any damage but Hermes had gotten the message. Shae had remained silent, just watching Thea with concern.

“How did this happen?” Thea murmured, her tears finally drying up. “How did you end up in the Underworld?”

Shae looked at her hands. “My memories of my death are a bit…hazy, but when everything became clear, I wasn’t alone. Hermes was waiting for me.”

“Hermes?” Thea asked, surprised.

“Yeah, he told me he would bring me here, to protect me until it was time.”

“Time?”

Shae glanced at Persephone. “Time to make my choice. I wasn’t sure what they meant but then Persephone told me you would be coming down here to see her. She explained about your situation and Hades gave me time to make my choice so I would get to see you.”

“I don’t know why you would want to see me - it was all my fault. I can’t begin to think of how to apolo -“

Shae pinched her lips. “I don’t want an apology, Thea. I don’t blame you at all. I will admit, at first I was pissed about what had happened - I mean why did I deserve to die?” Her voice choked and Thea started to cry again. “But when I learned what you were going through, and what these guys are asking of you, I was furious. I mean - and no offense Persephone - but they’re Gods! Why do they need to drag you into their damn problems? And you were right, I should have listened to you that night. I was stupid.”

Shae leaned over and gave her a hug. “I know it’s not my fault but I’m sorry about all this, Thea. You’re the nicest girl I know and for you to be dragged into this - well, it’s shit.”

Thea hugged her back. “The same goes for you, Shae. This shouldn’t have happened to you. I’m sorry.”

She felt Shae hesitate. “My parents, are they okay?”

She didn’t know what to say. Thea hadn’t seen them since the funeral. She didn’t want to lie but she didn’t want Shae to worry. “They’re getting there,” she lied, hoping it was close to the truth.

Persephone started bawling and they jumped. “Oh, I feel so awful! I should have known this would happen. I was just so excited to surprise you.”

Shae went over and patted her hand. “It’s okay, Persephone. It’s good we got all this out to begin with. Clear the air, so to speak. It also means we’ve got time to move onto the important stuff.”

Persephone looked up with watery eyes. “Important stuff?”

An evil gleam took shape in Shae’s eye and Thea could see her old friend shining through. “Yeah, like the fact that Hermes wants to jump my girl here.”

“Oh, yes!” In an instant, Persephone was smiling again, tears gone as her excitement took over. “I saw it too! He couldn’t take his eyes off you –“

“Whoa! Just hang on a minute, you two. There is nothing going on between us.”

Shae slapped her arm. “Don’t lie to me! I saw the way he looked at you. Man is just waiting for his chance to get into your pants.”

“Shae!”

“Oh, he hasn’t already, has he? Have you two –“

Thea flushed and Shae squealed, “Does that mean -?”

“No, we haven’t!” she practically shouted.

“But something has happened,” Shae was beaming as she stared prodding Thea with her finger. Even though it was annoying, Thea had secretly missed her prodding.

“He kissed me – but only because he was checking out my soul!” she added as Persephone and Shae started bouncing around the room like teenage girls. She swore they were as bad as each other.

“Your soul isn’t the only thing he wants to check out, Thea.” Persephone giggled and Shae joined her while Thea groaned.

A knock sounded at the door and Hermes voice drifted through. “What is going on in there? I thought you were all upset?”

Thea opened her mouth to answer but Persephone beat her to it. “Never you mind. We’re just getting better acquainted. Go and annoy Hades!”

The door opened and Hermes walked in. “He left to check on something. Said he would be back later.” He glanced at Thea. “What are you guys talking about?”

Shae opened her mouth, and Thea instinctively reached over and put her hand over her mouth. Shae would tell the truth and there was no way she wanted Hermes to know they had been talking about their so called ‘kiss’.

Unfortunately she hadn’t counted on Persephone. “Actually, Hermes, we were talking about how you –“

Thea switched places and grabbed Persephone in full panic. “Why don’t we get started on my training? No time like the present, right?”

“But you just got here,” Persephone protested as Thea dragged her to the door.

“That’s alright, I’m not even tired! Let’s go.” She shoved her out the door and attempted to navigate her way back down the stairs.

Persephone took the lead as she started to get lost. She glanced back at Thea. “Shae was right about you, you are adorable! However, I don’t think you see the flaw in this plan.”

“What’s that?”

“You stopped me from talking to Hermes but you’ve now left him alone with Shae.”

She froze. “Dammit!”

“Oh don’t worry, Shae won’t embarrass you. If anything, she’s probably making sure he’s been taking care of you. She was quite worried after I told her about Lissandre and why we needed you.”

“She shouldn’t be worrying about me,” she said quietly.

They walked through the main hall and passed a couple of souls who bowed to Persephone as they passed. Persephone smiled and greeted them by name before responding, “She’s a very sweet girl. It is awful that this has happened to her. She hides her sadness but it breaks through every now and then. I believe Hades has offered her the chance to drink from the river Lethe. I do hope she does; she deserves another chance at happiness.”

Thea agreed. “I hope so, too.”

They walked out into the little forest and Persephone stopped.

“Do you like my forest?” she beamed. “It took me forever to get it right - every year I have to fix it because Hades never takes care of it. Says he’s too busy, but I know he’s just afraid he’ll wreck something and upset me.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to wreck something than let it die?”

“I guess so, but you know men; they’d rather not get involved at all. They think if they don’t do anything they won’t get into trouble. When will they learn? It doesn’t matter what they do, they’ll always be in trouble!”

Thea grinned. “So true.”

Persephone stopped in front of her. “All right, Thea, I’ve never had to teach anyone before so forgive me. What have you been doing with Hermes and Poseidon –actually I know what you’ve been doing with Hermes, so what about Poseidon?”

Thea rolled her eyes. “Ha ha. Basically, I’ve taught myself. Hermes still didn’t like me when he was teaching me so I learned a lot of it on my own and Poseidon was busy dealing with Nyx so he didn’t really do anything.”

“Men,” she snorted. “Absolutely useless! Right, well, I think we’ll start with the basics then. I don’t think it will take you long to relearn this; Lissandre was practically nature herself so it should come back to you in no time.”

She looked around, thinking. “Alright,I think the first thing we’ll do is learn how to move and control earth. It’s pretty simple and once you can do that, the rest comes pretty quickly.”

Persephone dug up some earth and placed it in Thea’s hands. “Try and move that piece of earth from hand to hand. Feel the texture, the life it breathes.”

Thea nodded, running her fingers through the cool earth. Sitting down, she focused on the dirtearth. She could feel the dirt and traces of rock, moist in her hands, and she closed her eyes, trying to memorise the sensation as she had with water. The feeling was different though; with water, it had flowed and she had moved with the current, but earth was heavier, more steadfast.

Holding her hands apart, she opened her eyes and attempted to move the earth from her hand when –

“Achoo!”

The dirt went everywhere and Thea coughed as it flew in her eyes. Persephone started laughing, which only intensified when Thea glared at her, face covered in dirt.

“Oh, you poor thing.” She brushed the dirt from Thea’s face. “Why don’t you try again tomorrow? You must be exhausted after everything that happened today. Don’t push yourself so hard.”

Thea shook her head. “No, I want to do this. I can sleep any old time.”

“True, but Hades is summoning me and I can’t stay. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“I can keep going by myself, can’t I?”

Persephone looked worried. “Are you sure? You should rest. It can wait until tomorrow –“

“No, it’s okay, really. I’ll only stay out here for a couple more hours and then I’ll head back in.”

“All right… Stay here and don’t wander off. It’s quite easy to get lost in the Underworld.”

Thea nodded, already gathering more dirt. Cupping the earth in her hands, she closed her eyes and focused again. Her awareness spread from her hands and she could feel Persephone’s light steps on the earth as she walked away. They were soft, and Thea could feel the earth’s happiness at her touch wherever she tread. She tried to sense the earth beneath her, to see what it felt, but there was nothing and she frowned. Shaking her head, she refocused on just the piece of earth in her hand.

For the first hour she didn’t try anything - she simply felt the earth in her hand. She wanted to rush this and learn it in one go like she had with water, but earth was proving more difficult. She knew it was pointless to rush. It got her nowhere and she was too tired to focus properly. She should have taken Persephone up on her offer to sleep but she didn’t want to sleep. The thought of sleeping in the Underworld with souls floating about everywhere gave her the heebie jeebies.

“Hey.” Shae came and sat next to her, glancing at her hands. “Wow, dirt.”

Thea smiled. “I’m trying to learn - or remember - how to manipulate it.”

“Oh, okay. Can I see what you know already?”

Thea showed her what she could do with air and water, which left Shae amazed. “That’s amazing. I can’t believe this is what the headaches were all about.”

“Yeah, I have trouble believing it myself sometimes.”

“So, what’s it like meeting all these Gods?”

She rolled her eyes. “Basically, they’re all hot, scary or insane. Sometimes they’re a mixture of all three.”

Shae laughed. “But they’re hot, so it can’t be all that bad, right?”

The earth forgotten, they started talking about everything that had happened. Thea told her what had happened from when she had met Hermes until she saw Shae again. When she mentioned what happened with Josh, Shae was delighted.

“You had two sexy men fighting over you! It’s like every woman’s dream, and instead of letting them rip each other’s shirts off, you stepped in and got whacked. Did I teach you nothing?”

“I couldn’t let them fight, Shae. It was stupid.”

“No, it wasn’t. It’s obvious Hermes had a thing for you back then. You said he saw you in the black dress, which I am so happy you wore for your date with Josh, by the way. Did he say anything?”

Thea thought back to that awful night. “He originally didn’t want me to go out. He was very…quiet.”

Shae clapped her hands. “I knew it! He does like you!”

“Shae, don’t start –“

“I’m not starting anything, girl - you started this the night you wore that black dress, I’m sure.”

“No, I didn’t! Why does everyone seem to think there is something happening between us?”

Shae shook Thea’s shoulders in annoyance. “Because there is! You’re too scared to do anything about it. You said he kissed you to do his little soul trick even though he didn’t have to! Did you like it?”

Thea didn’t answer and Shae grinned. “That’s a yes.”

“Look, Shae, even if I did like him -”

“I knew it!”

“If,” she pressed. “There is no chance he would like me that way. We may have sorted through the whole Lissandre nonsense but he just likes teasing me. There’s nothing real behind it. Ow!”

Shae slapped her across the head. “Yes, there is, you stupid woman! This back and forth thing going on between you is getting on my nerves and I’ve only been hearing about it! That God is into you like a fat kid is into cake. He just wants to lick and eat you up.”

“Shae!”

She poked her tongue out. “It’s true and you need to get past this whole denial thing you’ve got going and just jump him! If you don’t do something, Hermes is going to go somewhere else to appease his needs.”

“Shae! Seriously, do you have no censor? That’s gross.”

“There’s no censor on the truth, girl. He may be a God, Thea, but he’s also a man and I know lust when I see it. He is lusting after you so bad, he’s going to need looser pants soon to disguise it.”

“Shae, enough!”

She grinned. “Girl, you know I’m right.”

“Can we talk about something else please?”

“No way, this is the best conversation I’ve had for weeks!”

Thea stood up. “Let’s go in and get something to eat, then. I’m hungry.”

Shae nodded. “Okay, but I won’t be eating. One of the things about being a soul. I don’t have to eat.”

“Really? Do you miss it?”

Her smile fell slightly. “Not really. I don’t get hunger pains, but every now and then I get a craving for chocolate or coffee.  Then it’s gone just as quickly as it appeared. At least I don’t have to stress about my weight every day. Trying to keep slim was hard!”

“Shae, you’re a rake handle as it is.”

“Because I worked for it.”

They walked back and Thea carefully ventured in dangerous territory. “Persephone told me about what Hades offered you - drinking from Lethe. Do you think you’ll do it?”

Shae didn’t answer as they passed through the main gate and walked up the steps. “I still haven’t decided yet. I’ve got plenty of time to sort it out though.”

Thea sensed she wasn’t telling her everything but she didn’t push it. Shae showed her to the dining room.

“You aren’t joining us?”

“No need to eat, remember? I’m going to help Zoe in the kitchen. I’ll catch up with you later.”

She opened the door, closing it quietly behind her. At one end was a large fire, two huge statues of naked men stood on either side of the mantle, their hands raised to the heavens. Persephone was talking with Hades, who had a smile on his face. Thea felt her heart do a backflip at his smile. He looked hotter when he smiled. Persephone glanced up as the door closed.

“Oh good, you came back! How did it go?”

“Okay, I’ll get there,” she glanced around. “Where is Hermes?”

“He received a summoning from Zeus. He’ll be back tomorrow morning. I hope you don’t mind our company,” Hades murmured.

She shook her head. He stood up and pulled out a chair for her opposite Persephone, and she sat down. The food was brought out promptly and Thea’s mouth watered at the steak and vegetables. She’d been living on fish for the last few weeks, and the sight of red meat made her feel strangely happy.

They ate in silence and Thea looked around as she ate. She noticed, above the mantle, a half-eaten pomegranate sitting in a glass case. Persephone followed her gaze and smiled. “Did Hermes tell you how I came to reside down here?”

She nodded, “A little bit. The rest I knew from research. Is that -?”

“It is,” she smiled. “Hades likes to keep it up there as a trophy so everyone knows he won me.”

“I thought he abducted you?” Thea bit her tongue as she felt his gaze land on her. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said calmly. “That is exactly what happened. I, however, do not regret my actions.”

Persephone shot Thea a grin. “I do admit that when it first happened, I was not happy. Hades had a hell of a time dealing with me during those first few decades. I refused to have anything to do with him. I thought he was nothing but a monster because that was what mother had always led me to believe.”

“Why did you change your mind?”

“Well, one day I was sitting in my room, sulking as always, when I decided to try and escape. It wasn’t my first escape attempt but I couldn’t give up now, could I? I snuck downstairs and saw Hades sitting on his throne, meeting those souls who were seeking counsel, and I don’t know why but I stopped when this little girl walked forward. She was only twelve years old. Such a pretty little thing, too.

“She told her story, how for years she had remained in the Valley of Mourning. She had been unable to accept her death, poisoned by a man who had hated her father. Her death had been long and painful. She spoke of her ordeal, of the pain she suffered as she waited for death to take her away. She had even prayed to Hades to come and take her himself. I watched as he listened to her and when she finished, he simply asked, ‘Have you forgiven him?’

“‘I could never forgive the man who killed me,’ she had cried.

“‘I speak not of the man who poisoned you,’ he had said gently, ‘but of your father. It is he you have blamed for so many years and it is that hate which stops you from obtaining the peace you deserve.’

“The girl had looked shocked, as if she had not realised this herself. He then told her to return in another thirty days after she had thought it over, and if she had forgiven her father, then he would grant her entry to the Asphodel fields.” Persephone took a sip of wine as Thea listened. “I remember feeling so confused. I had just seen the God my mother told me was a monster treat this young soul kindly and justly. He told her to return instead of casting her aside, and he took the time to help her find her peace.

“After that, I would watch every day as he met hundreds of souls. Not once did he get angry or impatient. He listened to them all, offering advice, and with each passing day, I fell in love with him.”

Thea smiled and glanced at Hades, who was playing with his food. Persephone grinned and leaned over, kissing him in front of Thea. “I haven’t stopped loving him since. Of course, the other Gods have never seen this side of him so they all think I’m crazy and maybe I am, but I don’t care.”

She sat back in her chair but Hades kept her hand. Thea’s stomach churned with envy. They had something she wanted. Something she feared she would never have.

They finished their meal early and Thea went to bed. She walked up the stairs, fingers playing absently with her necklace. Was Shae right about Hermes? Maybe it was denial holding herself back.

“Something on your mind, Peaches?”

Choking on a scream, she slipped on the stairs and fell back into Hermes. “What the hell, Hermes?”

He grinned and put her back on her feet. “It was just a question. No need to get freaked out.”

“There was also no need to sneak up on me!” He grinned and pushed her up the stairs. Her heart stopped pounding and she kept walking. “I thought you weren’t getting back until tomorrow?”

“I wasn’t, but I ran out early. Zeus was pissing me off. He wanted an update on how you were progressing, but was more interested in determining how much you were like Lissandre.”

“Why would he care about that?”

“Because if you’re not like her, then he thinks he’ll finally get the chance to screw you.”

“What?” She spun around and Hermes grabbed her shoulders to steady her. “Is that all he cares about? What about putting Cronos back in Tartarus? What about worrying about his scary ass dad usurping him?”

“Don’t worry, Hera basically said the same thing to him, though she used her fists rather than her words. Highlight of my day,” he grinned.

She sighed and kept walking. “Will I have to meet Zeus? I don’t think I want to.”

“I doubt you’ll be able to get out of it. Hopefully Hera will be with him, so you won’t have to worry.”

“Hmm, I hope so.”

She reached her door and pushed it open. Hermes said good night and walked down the corridor to his room, when she thought of something. “Wait.”

She raced up to him before she could chicken out and gave him a hug. She felt his shock as his hands came around her automatically. Feeling brave, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for what you did for Shae. I really appreciate it.”

He nodded. “I wasn’t going to leave her alone. It was our fault that she died.”

She nodded and felt his hands press deeper into her lower back, waking her up. She moved away after they’d been hugging for nearly a minute. “Um, well, yeah, thanks. Good night, Hermes.”

She started to move away but was pulled back. He pressed a light kiss on her lips and her heart skipped a beat. “Good night, Thea.”

He let go and walked away, and Thea couldn’t help but hear Shae’s words in her head. Even though she still didn’t fully believe them, she could feel her denial wavering.

*                             *                             *                             *

For the first time since this mess had started, Thea was actually enjoying herself. Persephone took the time each day to teach her something new and to see how her progress was going. Shae was a constant at her side, making sure she stayed on track when she started getting bored.

Having Shae around made everything feel normal and she liked having someone familiar around. Nothing else happened between her and Hermes. The kiss had happened five days ago now and he hadn’t tried anything again. She had to admit though, they had both been busy, so she hadn’t seen him that much.  Hermes was away helping Hades with some souls down near the River Acheron and Thea spent most of her days out in Persephone’s forest, learning to move earth.

As it had been with air and water, once she got the hang of it, the rest seemed to come easy. She had finally moved the dirt from hand to hand on her second day, to Persephone’s delight. After that, she moved onto forming the earth into different shapes and making the earth quake. She only made small ones; Persephone was worried she would destroy their home if she made one too big and Thea was happy to comply. She didn’t want to get on Hades’ bad side. He seemed like a nice God but she could sense his power and knew he wasn’t to be messed with. He was the God of the Underworld after all.

Thea had learned not to ask Shae about what she was going to do. Every time it was mentioned, she closed up, changing the subject to something else - usually Hermes related, because she knew it flustered Thea.

She loved having her around again but she sensed Shae wasn’t happy. She was struggling with her decision and Thea felt it had something to do with her.

On the sixth day, she laughed in delight as she finally made a small shoot grow from the earth.

Persephone grinned. “You’re getting this so fast! You won’t need me at all soon!”

Thea smiled and moved so Shae could see. “Look, Shae… Shae?”

Shae was looking behind her, the usual smile on her face gone. Turning, she saw Hades watching them. His eyes were on Shae, his expression grim.

“I’m sorry, Shae, but your allotted time is up. It’s time to decide your fate.”