Thousands of years in the past
Atlantis
Katherine and Jake sat with the people who lived in the Underworld to witness the wedding of Hades and Persephone. It was a joyous occasion, and since Persephone’s changes were placed into effect, they were not only happy to have her officially announced as their new queen, but they were relieved that her presence brought light and love to the place.
Katherine thought Persephone made the most beautiful bride she had ever seen. Her black dress and black flowers didn’t detract from her appeal. She lit up the room without even trying. Persephone would be a blessing in this place, and Katherine was thrilled she got to witness the transformation of the Underworld.
Around her, she saw imperfect people who had more joy in their lives than anyone she recalled seeing above ground. She’d learned that happiness came from within. It was what one did with the circumstances given to them that determined the quality of their lives, not the circumstances themselves. Finally, there was no reason to envy Amanda anymore.
“With all my heart, I pledge my loyalty, love, and life to you,” Hades promised Persephone during his vows.
“And I return the same to you, my best friend, husband, and lover,” Persephone finished their exchange.
He slipped the diamond and onyx ring on her finger before he kissed her.
Everyone clapped and cheered as the marriage was sealed. Children giggled at the sight of two people kissing, and their new parents laughed at their response. Already, relationships between men and women were developing, which would lead to their own marriages.
Jake reached out and gently squeezed Katherine’s hand. She glanced at him in surprise. She blushed at his smile, suddenly realizing he liked her romantically.
“Now we dance and eat!” Hades announced.
“You’ll do no such thing!” Zeus thundered as he and Hermes ran to the happy couple. “You must stop this wedding at once.”
“Even you won’t spoil my day today,” Hades replied, not the least bit disturbed by his brother’s unexpected outburst.
“Persephone, you need to return to your mother,” Hermes told her. “She won’t let you stay down here.”
“We love each other. She’s now my wife,” Hades replied. “She belongs down here.”
“No,” Zeus argued, his face getting red with anger. “She belongs with her mother. Demeter is furious. She has sent the whole city under a pile of ice and snow. We are not prepared for such extreme cold. It’s only a matter of time before people freeze to death up there.”
Persephone gasped. “What?”
“He’s trying to scare you,” Hades told her. “Demeter’s doing no such thing.”
“Zeus isn’t bluffing,” Hermes replied. “If you don’t believe us, take a look for yourself. You have a view of the world above ground from the den in your mansion.”
“I knew she would be upset, but I had no idea she’d risk the lives of innocent people to get me back,” Persephone said. “This is much worse than I expected.”
“Zeus, what good is being the head leader if you can’t control the leaders under you?” Hades snapped. “Put a stop to her antics, and we’ll be just fine.”
Zeus shook his head. “You, of all people, know how difficult it is to control others. You do as you please regardless of what I think.”
Hades huffed. “Only because I know a better way to do things. Look around you, Zeus. What do you see? This is the Underworld, a place for the unloved and unwanted. Yet Persephone has made it a haven where they can be accepted as they are.”
“I can’t let her stay,” Zeus said. “The citizens above ground are adamant. She must return to her mother at once. Then, they will be happy.”
“You were always weak. Life is more than a popularity contest.”
“Enough of this rivalry,” Hermes protested. “Come with me, Persephone.”
Before she could protest, he grabbed her and flew towards the entrance of the Underworld.
Hades tried to follow them, but Zeus knocked him to the ground and turned to leave.
“You haven’t seen the last of me,” Hades promised, his voice grim with determination.
Zeus ignored his threat and continued out of the place.
***
Pallid didn’t require sleep like other people since he had the Stone of Immortality. He sat on his bed thinking about everything that had transpired since Jake called him. He had hoped for this moment, when he would be back on Atlantis, surrounded by familiar things. He loved this place. It was his home.
And yet, there was something missing.
He didn’t understand it. He expected to feel complete again. He had been content in the past. He sighed. Well, he had been content, except for one detail: Daphne.
That had been his wife’s name. She was long since dead, of course, and he had forgiven her. But, because of his perfect memory, he could never forget any detail about her existence or how things had been between them
She was remarkable. He’d loved her with all of his heart. He’d thought she loved him, too. When they discovered they were incapable of conceiving a child together, it made little difference to him. He sympathized with the leaders’ disappointment, but producing more Infers wasn’t his primary concern. The leaders could easily make more. Their technology enabled them to create him to begin with, and cloning was a common practice in the city.
Daphne, however, was devastated. She hid her feelings very well from him, for he never guessed she was so adversely affected. She pretended all was well, and things went on as usual between them. She put on the pretense for six months.
He couldn’t believe how blind he had been. Looking back, his only hint that something was wrong was the fact that she spent more time away from their home. He never found out where she went when she wasn’t collecting memories the leaders gave her to remember.
The day he learned of her accident was the worst day of his life. He had just left Hestia’s office, mentally recording the creation of Avar as she’d divulged it to him, when Hermes informed him Daphne had fallen from the stairway in the arc. He rushed to see her in the medical lab where Hestia tried to repair the damage done to Daphne’s legs, arms, and face.
After many hours, Hestia could only recover the use of Daphne’s legs and one arm. She was lucky to even walk, Hestia had said. Her left arm had to be cut off, and her fate was decided. She had two choices: go to the Underworld or die a dignified death.
When she woke up, she chose the Underworld. At the time, he didn’t understand why she was so insistent on going to the Underworld. He would have taken the lethal injection, if it had been him. It was preferable to die than to live in a constant state of misery. He’d tried to say good-bye to her, but she told him it was best if they not prolong the inevitable, adding she couldn’t bear to say good-bye to him. It wasn’t a memory she wanted to have to recall.
He thought it was odd but assumed it was a natural reaction to the shock of having gone through everything she did. He watched her leave, but she didn’t look back.
Afterwards, he returned to their empty home. Within two hours, he was notified he would be forced to move to a small apartment close to the arc since he was no longer married. He moved out the next day, only taking the things that belonged to him. Her picture was one of the few items he took, though it was an inadequate replacement of her.
Days passed and became weeks. The weeks became months, but before the year was up, he made up his mind. He would go to be with her. He would rather go through the rest of his life in a horrible place than enjoy paradise without her. So he left his apartment one day and went to the entrance of the Underworld.
He made it down the staircase and walked through the dismal corridor, aware of the painful groans that greeted him. He shivered despite the warm atmosphere. He considered going back but knew he couldn’t bear another day without her. And so he continued his trek down the long corridor.
Finally, he came to Cerebus who guarded the gate to the infamous place. He didn’t bother to greet the dog. He simply waited for the old man to come on his boat, just as he knew the old man would. It was one of the details he recalled from Hades’ description of his domain. Cerebus growled at him, showing him he wasn’t welcome in this world. He ignored the dog, not disturbed by its behavior. Just as expected, the old man rowed to the shore.
The old man seemed surprised to see him there. “You do not belong here,” the old man said as he walked over to him. He quickly motioned for the dog to quiet down, which Cerebus reluctantly did.
“I came for my wife,” he replied. “I want to be with her.”
The old man shook his head. “I have been told to refuse you entrance.”
The unexpected response aroused his anger. He came all this way to be with her, and he would join her whether the old man consented to it or not. “May I ask why?”
“She doesn’t want you here. Her instructions were very clear.”
“You lie.”
He began to walk past the old man, but the man put his hand up to his chest.
“I’m going whether you let me or not,” he spat and swatted the man’s hand away in aggravation.
“This is no place for you. Turn back before you regret it.”
He ignored the man’s warnings, figuring the old man didn’t know what he was talking about. He knew Daphne. She would want him there.
“Cerebus, go,” the man whispered.
Pallid ran to the boat the man had been on, and he almost made it to his target when Cerebus raced up behind him and knocked him down. He fell into the River Styx. As he tried to get out, a slithery creature wrapped around his ankle and pulled him down.
The old man quickly rushed to help him get up, but the creature’s hold was too tight, and Pallid found that struggling with the beast only made it wrap its long and thick body tighter around his waist. He stopped moving and gave in.
The snake took him down under the water and to the bottom of the River. A mutated octopus with two heads came up to the snake and began to fight it for the right to claim Pallid as its prey.
As the two creatures struggled with each other, Pallid held his breath, trying to wiggle out of the snake’s hold without attracting too much attention. It worked. His body softly landed on the river floor. His lungs began to burn with the need to inhale air. His fingers dug into the soil, and his fingers brushed something hard and round.
He didn’t know what it was, but he grabbed it and securely held onto it. Something shoved him, shocking him. He unconsciously released his breath and breathed in the water. The shooting pain in his lungs was the last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness.
He didn’t know how much time passed before he found himself on a shore somewhere in the Underworld. He coughed up some water as his lungs finally expelled the foreign substance out of his body. Sitting up, he hardly noticed his dirty outfit or messy appearance. He opened his hand and examined the stone in his palm. It wasn’t very big, but he recognized it. It was a Stone of Immortality.
He stood up. He still needed to see his wife. He walked along the narrow shore, passing by dwellings that were carved into the cave. He soon realized these were the places the inhabitants of the Underworld lived. He found one inhabitant, a morbid old man, and asked him if he knew the location of the Infer without an arm who’d recently moved there. The old man nodded and notified him of her location.
He thanked the man and followed his directions. He found her, sitting quietly outside her dwelling, her eyes closed, but not sleeping, in her simple chair.
“Daphne,” he whispered, overwhelmed with joy to see her again.
She quickly opened her eyes, startled. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to be with you!” he announced.
She shook her head. “But you can’t.”
“Of course, I can. I decided to leave the world above ground. I won’t go back. We can be together again.”
She looked so baffled that he misinterpreted her expression for joy.
He was about to take her in his arms when someone walked out of the dwelling. It was a man, a common citizen on Atlantis. He was limping.
“You shouldn’t have come,” she said, her tone void of emotion. “I warned you to leave the past behind.”
He quickly assessed the situation, and a chill raced through his heart. “I see. You planned the accident.”
“I couldn’t be with him while I was married to you, and the leaders denied my petition for a divorce. I had to do something,” she quietly explained.
“We never meant to fall in love,” the man added. “It just happened.”
“Did I ask you a question?” Pallid snapped, his eyes sharp.
“Please, leave us,” she told her lover.
Her lover nodded and went back into the dwelling.
She turned back to him. “I didn’t want to hurt you. I wanted your last memory of me to be a good one. That’s why I asked for you to not say good-bye.”
“How long were you with him before the accident?” His words were bitter.
“Two years.”
He blanched.
“I intended to quit my affair since I was married to you,” she began, “but when I found out we couldn’t have a child, I realized there was no reason to be with you. I only stayed with you so that I could fulfill my mission and have a child who retained memories as perfectly as we do. The leaders designed us for that.”
“Were you going to leave me when the child was born?” he asked.
“I tried to love you. Really, I did,” she said. “But you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
Her words did little to ease the ache welling inside of him. He took a deep breath. “Enjoy the rest of your life,” he finally stated.
This time he was the one who left, not looking back. He quickly found his way out of the Underworld, passing a surprised Cerebus. At that moment, he decided that he would never get close to anyone ever again.
Though he forgave Daphne years later, he kept his promise. Atlantis sank, and he found a way to a new land where he became another face in the crowd. Centuries passed and he hid his stone in a white cane he bought. He held onto the promise of Atlantis’ future rise. He had seen this predicted in the leaders’ large mirror. Atlantis became his sole passion as he calmly waited for the day when he would go back to the city he loved so much.
And resting here now, on his bed, he was back home. He was acutely aware of the emptiness in his heart. For some reason, Atlantis wasn’t the fulfillment he had longed for.
***
Hades led Jake through the tunnel that connected the Underworld to his office in the arc. They entered his office without being noticed, since his office window had a black covering over it to maintain his privacy. The rest of his room was ivory. Even his desk and chairs were ivory. The only other black object in the room was the picture frame, which held his picture in it.
Jake was struck by the irony that the office was so bright while the Underworld was so gloomy. He could see how Hades got to be moody. He did, however, notice that Hades’ mood had considerably brightened since Persephone agreed to marry him.
Hades opened the door to his office, noting the lack of activity in the arc. “Usually, it is busy through here,” he informed Jake.
As Jake left the office, he was struck by the grandeur of the place. It was more impressive than anything he had ever seen on Earth. He could understand and appreciate the appeal of this place, though he could not accept what it stood for.
Hades turned to him after he closed his office door. “Thank you for doing this,” he said.
Jake shrugged. “It’s the least I can do for Persephone who made the Underworld a better place.”
They quietly walked up the steps to the top of the arc where Demeter was embracing Persephone. Zeus and the other leaders were there to celebrate her daughter’s return.
The once disgruntled citizens were leaving, and the leaders closed the arc so they could enjoy the rest of the day.
As soon as Demeter noticed Hades, she yelled, “Get out of here, you beast!”
“I have every right to be here,” Hades replied. “Persephone ate a pomegranate while she was in my domain, and I brought the man who witnessed it.”
Demeter’s face turned pale. “Say it isn’t true!” she told Persephone.
Zeus walked over to Jake and asked, “Did you see her eat while she was in the Underworld?”
Jake nodded. “I saw her eat six pomegranate seeds while she was outside the mansion.”
“It can’t be true!” Demeter denied.
“We have a witness,” Zeus told her.
“Persephone, tell me this man is lying,” she insisted.
Persephone shook her head. “I cannot tell you that.”
“The matter is settled. She belongs with me.” Hades crossed his arms and grinned.
“But this cannot be. I won’t allow it!” Demeter fumed. “I will send back the wintery blasts.”
“Let’s not be hasty,” Athena intervened.
“We all know how wise Athena is,” Zeus said. “It would behoove us to listen to her.”
“A compromise is the best way to handle this,” Athena continued, smiling at her father’s compliment. “There are twelve seeds in a pomegranate, and Persephone only ate six of them. There are twelve months in the year. For six months, she will be with Hades. For the other six months, she will be with her mother.”
Zeus nodded, pleased by this arrangement.
“Fine,” Demeter consented. “But when she is in the Underworld with that brute, I will send fall and winter to Atlantis. Things will slowly get colder and the vegetation will die. No longer will I let everyone enjoy spring and summer all year long. If I mourn the loss of my daughter for six months, then the rest of Atlantis will suffer with me.”
“We will make the necessary materials to accommodate cold weather then,” Zeus agreed.
“She will stay with me for the next six months,” Demeter said.
“Very well,” Zeus replied.
“But you’ve had her for her entire life,” Hades protested. “I should be the one who gets her first.”
“We aren’t prepared for her to be with you yet,” Athena pointed out. “We have to develop heaters and warm clothes. That will take us at least six months to supply everyone with the necessary arrangements.”
Hades sighed. “Alright. Agreed.”
“But I get tonight with him,” Persephone said.
Demeter looked appalled that she would dare make such a suggestion.
“It is my wedding day, Mother. I would like to enjoy my wedding night since I have maintained my virginity for this moment,” she explained.
Hades chuckled.
Demeter groaned. “The only good thing I can say about this union is that the Stone of Immortality will prevent you two from producing any offspring. One night. Then I get you up here where you belong for the next six months.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Persephone said.
Jake followed Hades and Persephone back to the Underworld. This time they went through the city since Hades did not wish for the other leaders to know of his secret tunnel. Jake marveled at the wet and slippery ground. He shivered as he thought of how it must have been while Demeter was protesting the loss of her daughter.
Jake was eager to see Katherine again. He had never encountered anyone as compassionate as she was. Meeting her and experiencing the improving conditions of the Underworld helped him come to terms with what his father had done to him. He could, at last, forgive his father.
Katherine had taught him it wasn’t his fault his father had rejected him, but he could make choices that would make his life worthwhile. It felt wonderful to be free of the anger and bitterness that had plagued him since the day of his mother’s funeral.
He examined the people around him, looking for Pallid or Amanda, but he didn’t see them. He wondered where they were and what they were doing. Would it be long before they would come for him and Katherine so they could go back to the future? He hoped not. Now that he had gotten his past settled, he was eager to live his future.