The next morning that came wasn't as golden as the one that came before. The moon still faintly lingered in the clear sky. Kori was awaken almost at midday only when Eros called for her.

"Kori, have you seen this!?" his voice called and Kore rolled out of bed, dragging her feet to his voice coming from the window.

The love cherub was flying outside her window, awed at the vines sticking along the tower wall.

Kori jolted awake seeing the vines still there.

"They're still here! Oh Cupid do you see? I call them moonflowers. They only open at night."

"Yeah ok, but aren't they dead?"

Kori rolled her eyes.

"You could at least pretend to be happy for me," she pouted, throwing her face on her hand, her elbow resting on the window sill. "They were quite alive last night."

While Kori was busy whining, Cupid noticed something interesting.

"Hey Ko, let down your hair?"

Kori tossed him a questioning brow but rolled her eyes and decided to entertain him, letting down her hair.

"By styx, these vines are so dead, they could pass for your hair!" he teased.

Kori had enough. She pushed down on the windowsill and roughly heaved up a vine, using it to swing herself out of the window launching at the wide eyed cherub and bringing him down to land.

"That. Was. AMAZING!" A voice squeaked their way. The two friends turned to find the daughter of Hephaestus gleefully walking towards them.

"Oh Thalia! So glad you ran into us!" Kore intertwined her arms with the nature nymph and the two girls twirled in their embrace.

"You see these? I call them the moonflower vines. I made them up last night, but there's still so much to be done. And mother won't help me and you're a deity of nature yourself. So..."

"You want my help?" asked Thalia, who just a few years older than Kori but had long worked under Demeter.

"Would you please? That would be such a blessing!"

"Well, only if you help me get over my fear of heights."

"You have my word!"

"As you have mine. So, I assume these moonflowers only work at night?"

"You are correct. But mother has no interest in helping me."

"SoOo, then how do we do it if Demeter won't help?"

"We could... go behind her back?" Kori twisted her words along with her fingers. "And it's not like I'm doing anything illegal, we'll technically be doing our job!"

"Oh, you're clever like that, aren't you!?"

"Well, not exactly. We obviously can't use the front door without mother knowing."

"Why don't you use these vines? Like how just now you climbed down?" Cupid suggested.

"B-but, I couldn't!" trembled Thalia. "I'm scared of falling!"

Kori grabbed her shoulders and spun her.

"Eros's right. I promised to help you get over your fear, this will totally help! We'll just need a secret word for me to know when you're here."

"How about: Kori, oi, let down your vines?" Cupid started.

Kori laughed. "Oh that's not subtle at all. But I like what you're thinking."

"Princess Kori, come out to play?"

"I don't think we should be using my name."

"Obviously."

"Ri? Pea?" suggested Thalia.

"Don't you dare call me pea! I'm not two, you know."

"Well what do you prefer? Princess?" Cupid scoffed.

"Well actually, yes!" Announced the daughter of Zeus, throwing her hands on her hips

"Oh very well then! I know, how about: Princess, oh princess, let down your hair! Y'know, cause the vines... well, they really do look like..."

"My hair! Yes of course, that's perfect dear Cupid. So tonight when you come by, Thalia, this is what you shall say, and I'll sneak out!"

"Wonderful! What do we do till then?"

"Let's go play in the orchards! We can climb trees and have lunch!" Cupid offered.

"Don't you mean breakfast?" Kori asked as the trio made for the orchards.

"Breakfast? Why would it be breakfast?" Thalia wondered.

"You've woken up past noon, your highness!"

"Oh is it! I hadn't a clue."

"What kept you up?"

"Oh wouldn't you like to know!"

The young gods spent a while playing in the orchards, climbing trees and picking fruits. They heard Kori's mom call for her and the two nature goddesses dropped their play and instantly began their chores before Demeter walked up to them. The original goddess of nature observed their work for a while before she shooed the cherub away and took the girls to class.

That night, the girls tested their getaway successfully and instead of running, Kori conjured up a vine of moonflowers and the plants happily twirled the two to where Selene hung. The lesson they learned that night was that it was best to let Selene pick her resting spot before starting on the vines; because before she did that, Selene and her lantern literally travelled across the sky chasing out the last of the sunlight and finding the perfect place to rest.

Again this night Kori and Thalia worked long into the late hours and managed to once again avoid Demeter on her way back in. The next morning wake up wasn't as eventful as yesterday's. Kori woke up a little earlier than noon and went down to her parlor to find her mother still home.

"Morning, mother. You've not left yet?"

"Not yet, dear. Today I'm leaving for the humans. Listen to some pleas and prayers and what not. I'll be gone for 3 weeks."

"Oh can't I come along, mother?! I promise I'll help!"

"Oh but my dear Kori. You have still so much to learn up here. So practice while I'm gone, and if you impress me, we'll go together next time."

"Shall I walk you to the passage?"

"I would love it if you did, my dear. Let us be off, then."

The mother and daughter left their tower arm in arm on their way to the passage down to Earth. They had almost crossed a bridge when they stumbled upon Dionysus, or more truthfully, he stumbled upon them.

"You's most likerly slept thru th 'night, right Goddez Demeter?"

Demeter had no patience for the god of wine.

"Of course, Dionysus. I have much to do in the mornings, as I do today. So if you please,"

"Wheel let me tell youz what I saws last night! A dancing princess!"

If Kori hadn't been awake before, she certainly was now!

"No, not one! They were them 2, 3, TWELVE these dancin' princesses! Saw them with me own two eyes. Then they vanished, poof, gone!"

"Dionysus, please do indulge less in your creations, dear. It's supposed to be for the humans. And Gaia forbid you run out of ambrosia! Oh what the gods would do to you! Now excuse me, I have prayers to attend."

Demeter pushed past the drunken god and led Kori to the passage.

"Now, I may be gone, but someone still needs to tend things here. You'll be in charge while I'm gone."

Kori perked up.

"Oh I won't disappoint you mother! Have a lovely trip!"

When the cat's away, the mice will play.

With her mother gone, Kori had as much fun as she could enjoy. She hung out with her nymph friends, teamed up with cupid to annoy older gods, and even played dress up with Hera and Aphrodite. But soon the fun grew monotonous and Kori directed her attention to her godly duties for a change, but working was really no fun.

It had been two weeks since mother had left, and Kori was just now getting done for the night. She left the gardens to head towards the tower, crossing several hallways in her path. Until one stopped her. It was as if someone had called to her by name.

Kori. Kori. It chanted.

Kori froze and looked about; no one was near her, and she was feet away from the forbidden room. The princess checked her surroundings, then dashed to the room, all her weariness gone. It wouldn't hurt to have another play thing brought to life, she thought. But the only god she knew who could do that, was the God of Hell himself.

But she didn't have a toy in hand, and was much too tired to go back and forth. Kori, goddess of nature in training, touched the blue flowers growing by, sensing their life source, and willed herself to recreate them. It took practice, but she eventually managed to grow a small bush.

The pentagram was no problem; she copied the design on parchment put together by leaves. The ultimate task was the fire itself; how do you carry the eternal fire back home? If she couldn't take the fire, then everything was useless.

Feeling dejected and heartbroken, Kori left the room and sadly walked back in the direction of her tower.

"Kori?! Kori!"

Kori didn't look up, imagining it to be just another voice.

"Kori!" Thalia grabbed her friend's shoulders and shook her senses back.

"Oh, Thalia! It's you."

"Yeah. So, more moonflowers tonight?"

"Not really. I'm not feeling too hopeful."

"How precious; you miss your mother?"

"Yes, that's it."

"I know how you feel. My father's left Olympus too. I can't wait for him to come back. He always brings presents."

"Thalia, your father's a smith, right?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm wondering, would you be able to sneak me a goblet from his workshop? I broke one of my mother's, maybe Hephaestus has one that's unbreakable? Strong enough to even hold the eternal fire?"

"Let me go see. Stay right there." Thalia ran off to her father's workshop, leaving Kori alone on the bridge. Kori took a nap and woke when Thalia came back with a goblet, ensuring that it was unbreakable.

The conniving princess thanked her friend and brushed her off, promising to spend more time later. Soon as Thalia was out of sight, Kori ran back to the forbidden room and scooped up some of the fire, then grabbed the rest of the things and willed the vines to take her back home.

In her room, Kori chose a good spot for her pentagram, away from the door so her mother wouldn't stumble upon it. She used her mother's kohl to draw the diagram, and then busied herself to make some indigo plants. Eventually, everything was set up; flowers, pentagram, fire. She didn't think she'd needed the right room, so on she went to conjure the portal to hell. Kori squeaked like a very amused child as the blue fire sparked up in pillars. So excited she was that it took quite a lot of dust to fall on her for her to realize her room would not support a highway to hell.

Kori froze, staring at the fracturing ceiling. She couldn't scream; who knows how much trouble she would be in if she got caught. Oh what would mother say. Oh what would mother do!

The portal took on its final form and the roof finally caved from the pressure, but the young girl standing under still couldn't move. Not until a huge force grabbed her and took her away from the direct trajectory of the rubble.

Kori pushed her arms so close to her body they would meld together if they could. When the rumbling finally stopped, she dared to look past the body above her and directed her gaze to where she was minutes ago. Giant chunks of the broken ceiling floated in the air not taller than her head had she been standing. The rubble was transfixed in place, surrounded by a blue aura. Kori finally looked above her and came nose to nose with Hades himself.

"Did you have a death wish, or simply bored again?"

The paralysis wore off and realization hit her in the face, as did tears the size of marbles.

Hades wrapped an arm around the sobbing girl and used the other to push off the ground, walking unaffectedly to the bed. He attempted to drop the girl off, but she fisted his robe, trembling in fear and sadness.

"You're quite alright, my dear. No harm could come to you." He whispered in her hair

"Mm-mother will kill me."

"What the styx for?"

Kori pulled her face away to look at him, sniffling.

"What for?! I broke her home and almost got myself killed."

Hades laughed.

"Well there's not a scratch on you, love. And as for the roof, observe."

Kori watched as Hades barely twisted his wrist and the broken ceiling fixed itself with not a trace.

"Now, can I know why I was summoned?"

"Well, mother's gone to the humans for the while, see. And I thought I could have all the fun in the world, but I've already exhausted almost everything fun I could imagine."

"So why not bother the god of Hell?"

"That's not how it went, originally. I was walking home from the gardens and I so terribly wished for a plaything. And then I heard the forbidden room calling to me."

"I see." Hades was amused by the revelation. There weren't many who could conjure disembodied voices.

"You don't believe me."

"On the contrary, love. I might be the only one who would."

He'd have a word with the three who could.

"Continue."

"Well, then I remembered how you brought a toy to life for me. I only wanted another one, but I didn't have a plaything at hand."

"So you brought the portal home instead."

"I was much too tired to do the back and forth."

"A little walking would have been better than risking your life, Sapphire."

A little scolding brought on the tears again.

Hades sighed.

"Why are you crying?"

"Y-you're mad at me," she sobbed.

"My dear, if I was mad, well, let's just say your mother would surely kill me."

Kori instantly regained her composure. Bothering the god of hell was no menial job, saved only for Zeus for important matters.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"That's fine. I could use the distraction. Now, let's make this visit worth the trouble. Have you got your play thing?"

Kori nodded with a hiccup and willed the vines to bring her the toy she wanted. It was made almost in her image, wearing a blue dress and hair made up in a tail.

"She's beautiful. Let's see here." Hades took the doll and did his thing, drawing up her soul. It rose in a blue reincarnation, still in sleep.

"Your princess is asleep, now mine needs to be in bed as well. In you go."

Kori obeyed. THE Hades had called her his princess.

Hades held the bed covers for Kori and tucked her in.

"Will you stay till I'm asleep?"

"Sure, but make it quick."

"You could tell me a story."

"Kori, I am the god of Hell. I don't have bedtime stories."

"Would you tell me, then, what the Fields are like?"

"The Elysian Fields?! Who told you about them?"

"Selene mentioned something."

"I see. Well...."

Hades recounted beautiful memories from the fields and lulled Kori to sleep. He then planted a goodnight kiss on her head and went home.