Persephone sauntered into her garden after a long day of work at Elysium. These past couple of days the death toll had strangely increased. No one knew what caused this sudden traffic in the Underworld, but they all knew it meant overtime with their shifts. However, this lingering Wednesday had come to an end for Persephone and she got some time to spend in her own heaven.

The freshness of the soil nurtured her back to health, because strangely she's been feeling drowsy and nauseous. But she just shrugged it off because she didn't get any sleep last night. Persephone took off her shoes and walked barefoot on the thick and soft grass. Thankfully, her gut didn't lurch terribly and her head didn't swim when the strong scent of flowers hit her. Although, when Persephone approached the small pomegranate tree, her stomach growled loudly begging her to steal a taste. She didn't know what came over her when she got the greatest craving to eat some. She grabbed the closest ripe globe and ripped it open. Persephone was only able to pull out a batch of six seeds, when she was interrupted, by a bright light. She knew exactly what the light meant because she had seen it before back in Olympus.

She popped the seeds in her mouth before she confronted her unexpected visitor. The messenger of the gods appeared with his golden winged hat and golden winged sandals. He was handsome with soft brown hair and striking green eyes, but everyone knew better than to fall for his charming appearance. Hermes was a cunning god who loved nothing more than to trick others for his own amusement. And he was the only one apart from Hades and herself that could leave the Underworld without their consent.

"What message have you brought me, Hermes?"

Hermes was severely serious, which was unusual. "I have come bringing a message from your father," he said. "Earth is in grave danger and Zeus needs you to come to Olympus."

Persephone was stumped. "This is no trick, is it?"

"I play a lot of tricks, queen of the Underworld," said Hermes. "But I don't play games when it comes to the livelihood of my precious Earth."

"What has happened?" she asked.

"It's dying," he revealed gravelly. "All of it is dying."

Persephone's gut lurched sickly. "How is that even possible?" she asked astounded. "What about Zeus?"

"Zeus cannot stop your mother," said Hermes. "She has drowned herself in despair and has given up her duties."

Persephone clenched her teeth to conceal her panic. "I see," she said. "Thank you for relaying the message."

"What will you do?" asked Hermes eagerly.

"Tell my father that I'll be coming to him soon," she instructed. Hermes stiffly nodded and left how he came, with great speed.

Persephone ran to her chambers with haste. She burst through the door and found Hades behind his desk.

"Don't tell me you were so eager to meet me that you ran all the way over to-" Hades eyes lifted off the papers and he froze when he saw her wet eyes. "What happened?" He got out of his chair and gathered his wife in his arms.

"It was Hermes," she wiped her tears, "he said that it's all dying. Earth is dying because of me."

"Slow down," calmed Hades. "Hermes visited you. When?"

"Yes, right now," she said. "He said that Zeus can't do anything about my mom. She gave up her duties because of me. And now, Earth is paying the price."

"Demeter can't possibly just give up her duties like that," remarked Hades grimly.

Persephone pushed her hair back. "That's why there were so many dead souls these past couple of days. I didn't know what had caused it, but it was this. There's no harvest for people to prepare and eat." She laid her head in her hand. "This is all my fault."

"No, it's not," said Hades. "Demeter knows very well what the consequences of her actions would bring. This is all of her fault."

"But she's like this because of me," countered Persephone. "I pushed her to do this. And now, people have fallen ill and all of that harvest is dead." Hades grumbled a dangerous curse under his breath. "Take me to Olympus," she requested.

Hades didn't waste any time. He opened a portal for them and they both left their kingdom and entered Mount Olympus. Persephone rushed into her father's court. She spotted Zeus seated upon his throne grimly observing his Earth below.

"Father!" she called out.

His sea blue eyes lifted. "Persephone," he got out of his seat.

"Where is she?" asked Persephone. Zeus took her to Demeter's dark chambers. Persephone pushed open the golden door, and instead of finding her mom's room, she was faced with disaster and chaos. All the flowers were dead, mirrors shattered, curtains closed and it smelt unpleasant like poison had started to fester in the darkness. "Mom," she called out gently.

Demeter's blank hazel eyes lifted. "My baby," she croaked though her dry voice. "Is that you?"

"Yes," Persephone kneeled on the ground to join her mom. "It's me, your Persephone."

Demeter's eyes finally showed a glimpse of life. "I thought you left forever," she said softly.

"Mom, what have you done?" Persephone didn't recognize the woman in front of her. "You've forsaken your duties as a god."

Demeter lifted her pale hand and laid it on Persephone's warm cheek. "I didn't feel like giving life when I almost destroyed yours."

"Oh, mom," Persephone gathered her mom in her arms. "Let's get you out of here." Persephone helped her mom on her weak feet. She took her out of the grim room, but once they did, Persephone noticed a small flower begin to bloom again. Persephone took her mom to her old bedroom. She laid Demeter down on the fresh, clean sheets.

"Don't leave me," her mom cried. "Don't leave me again."

Persephone closed the door behind her.

Zeus paced impatiently. "We can't have this go on any longer. The whole world is going into panic if we don't do something," he declared when he inspected Persephone for a long moment. "You ate the seeds of the Underworld."

"How'd you know?" Persephone was taken aback.

Hades stepped forward. "What?" he asked them both.

"Six seeds," mumbled Zeus. "Persephone, we need your mother back on her feet. I need you to stay here until she does that."

Persephone remembered her mom's pale skin and lifeless eyes. "This isn't something my mom will just get over," she said. "She thinks I'll leave her again when I get the chance-"

"For six months then," interrupted Zeus. "You ate six seeds, so six months."

"No!" roared Hades. "I won't have you steal my wife."

The sky thundered with terribly lightning. "Hades, this is a matter of Earth's survival!"

Black smoke gathered around Hades. "I. Don't. Care," he gritted out.

"Isn't there another way, father?" asked Persephone.

Zeus shook his head. "I don't see anything else that will please your mother as much as this."

Persephone may not agree with this solution, but this whole epidemic was because of her. She needed to do anything she could to solve it, even if it meant to split her time between two homes.

Hades stepped in front of her. "You can't honestly be considering this," he said.

Persephone looked into his scarlet eyes. "I caused this storm, now it needs to end with me."

"How am I supposed to live without you for six months?" asked Hades.

She put her hand on his tense arm. "This problem is much more severe than just our marriage," she said. "Let me fix this because I believe this is the seeds I sowed when I married you."

Anger on Hades face subsided with grief. "Is this what you wish, my queen?" he asked.

Persephone smiled for him when her heart was crushing inside of her. "Yes, my king."