I die?'
'You will lose your soul to this place, just like everyone else here. And with it, lose the power to heal me.'
A small sob bubbled out of my throat before I could stop it, and he wrapped his huge arms around me. I knew with every fiber in my being that I would rather die than watch him be lost to Tartarus.
'We'll find a way to stop it. We'll find a way to stop so much bad happening in the world.' I knew I sounded naive, but I didn't care. I had nothing else. Hades stroked a hand down my hair, his sturdy warmth an anchor for my churning thoughts.
'My Queen, we have many obstacles to face before we even get to that. As long as you live in the Underworld, in proximity to Cronos, the other Gods will interfere. They want me to guard Tartarus tomorrow, instead of watching the Trial with them.'
'What? Why?' I pulled out of his embrace to look at him.
'They are worried about another sabotage.'
'But you think it's one of them?'
'Perhaps, yes. And so does Poseidon.'
'Which one?'
'I don't know. Honestly, I can't see a reason any of them would want to start a war or destroy Virgo.'
Hades fell silent and I blew out a sigh, trying to reign in my emotions.
'What if Zeus loses control again?' I asked him.
'I have thought about this hard,' he said, and there was steel in his voice. 'It will make more sense if I tell you about my dogs first.' I raised my eyebrows, an invitation to continue. 'Cerberus is the most well-known. I found him as a pup in the depths of the Underworld, born to monsters now trapped in Tartarus. In those lonely early days he was my only friend.' I felt a pang of love for Hades so strong I almost interrupted him to kiss him, but instead I sat on my hands and listened carefully. 'Cerberus ended up being the first of three dogs, and though the other two are not as dangerous as him, they are both lethal in their own way. They are called Fonax and Olethros. When you lived here, you spent two years bonding with them, and though it was a test of patience, they came to trust you eventually. Cerberus took the longest to come round, but actually, he ended up the most fond of you.' A lop-sided smile pulled at the corner of Hades' mouth. 'Back then you had enough power to survive your early attempts at making friends with them. I'm praying you do again now.'
'Surely I've got a better chance than Minthe,' I said, optimistically. 'They might remember me.'
'The river Lethe is a powerful thing. I doubt that it was any less effective at wiping the dog's memories than everyone else's.'
'Speaking of which,' I said, casually. 'Where is the river Lethe?'
'Persephone, you must never go there. I swear to you, it will only bring you pain.'
Frustration simmered and settled in my gut.
'Do you intend to keep this secret from me our entire lives?' What would be left of them when the godforsaken Underworld had stripped our souls bare.
'Yes. As you asked me to.' I rolled my eyes. He was never going to tell me. For the briefest moment I considered again telling him about the Atlas garden and the stranger, but I knew he would disapprove, and I wasn't willing to close off the only access to information about my past I had. It wasn't that I didn't trust Hades, but I hadn't made up my mind yet. The need to know what the old me was capable of was impossible to snuff out completely. Plus the stranger said even Hades didn't know the full story. If there was a chance I wasn't guilty of whatever the gods thought I was, then at some point I had to try to find out the truth.
Just not before I survived the hell-hounds and won the Hades Trials.
'Cerberus normally does my bidding exactly,' said Hades. 'But if my asshole brother loses control of him, he'll be operating on instinct alone, and that is to guard my realm. I do not believe that he will attack if you are not near the gates of Virgo. The other two will be guarding something else, I don't know what, but the same principle should apply.'
'OK. So get away from the gates or whatever the dog is guarding if it all goes to shit?'
'Yes.'
'I can do that.'
'And win.'
'I have to do that. You