The Titans were the original gods of this land. They deserve to be loosed.”
“Yes, that is the theory of your people, isn’t it?” She rolled her eyes. “Let out the monsters of Tartarus and return the world to the rightful powers. Is that right?”
He nodded frantically. “Yes, that’s exactly it. Then, Hades and Persephone could wander the mortal realm, not just the Underworld.”
“And wouldn’t that be lovely? Giants wielding fire. Horrible creatures with mouths full of swords eating humans for snacks. That’s the world I want to live in.” Again, she rolled her eyes. “Mortals. You’re all so shortsighted.”
He wasn’t so sure of that. Without mortals, the gods would be nothing. He refused to believe they didn’t have a powerful part in this realm and the world at large. But more than that, he was certain Persephone’s story was turning in another direction he knew very well.
Confident, he kept his shoulders straight as he joined the Oracle at her fire. Ambrosius held out his hands and warmed his chilled fingers. “So when she returned home, she sees the people worshipping her, correct?”
“Yes, she does.”
“And this is when she realizes how much my people do for her.” The Eleusinians were a secretive lot, but they loved their goddess more than life itself. “This is when she provided us with her decrees.”
The Oracle gave him a censoring glare. “Did you not listen to my story at all? Heracles himself went through your trials. He did all this before Persephone had any idea the humans were worshipping her.”
He frowned. “This makes no sense. She had to know because it’s her words we live by.”
A rumble of thunder accompanied his thoughts. He ducked, fearful that Zeus himself was about to strike him down from the very sky.
The Oracle laughed. Rain began to fall in earnest, a sudden storm slamming all around the Oracle’s mountain. But not a single drop touched them underneath the terracotta tiled roof.
Had she known it was about to rain? Looking at the sly grin on her face, Ambrosius was certain that she had predicted the weather. And that was why she moved them underneath the protected area.
“Hades could have fought harder for her to stay,” he grumbled. He took another step closer to the fire so the rain wouldn’t chill his back.
“And start another war in Olympus? He would lose.” The Oracle shook her head. “They always lose against Zeus.”
“He should have done something.” The fierce love for his goddess burned bright in his stomach and in his heart. “I would have.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” The Oracle gestured for him to take a seat by the fire. “A mother’s love is strong. And Demeter was obsessed. She would make a martyr of herself and all the gods if they didn’t bring her child back. Zeus knew this. Hermes knew this. Even Persephone herself knew that if she didn’t return to her mother’s side, then all the world would suffer. Isn’t that why you love your goddess? She provides for her people?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t judge the decisions she had to make. She wanted the mortals to live. She wanted her husband. And in the end, she chose the mortals over him. Or haven’t you heard the story?”
Ambrosius knew this part, although it was all twisting in his mind. “Yes, she was good to the mortals. She came back, and she gave us a reason to believe the afterlife would be good for us. All who followed her would be provided for.”
The Oracle laughed again. “I forgot that’s what you all believe. Yes, of course she did. But not just for the people of Eleusis. Persephone isn’t so grave a person that she would only allow those who followed her laws to have everlasting life.”
Ambrosius took a seat again. “What else happened?”
“Well,” the Oracle replied. “First, she had to find her way back to the Underworld.”
Chapter 34
Persephone didn’t argue while Hermes carried her back home. What could she say?
The Underworld was her home. He knew that, and he was still doing Zeus’s bidding. Zeus himself had to be aware that she’d fallen in love with the place Hades had built. And they all still wanted her to come back to appease her mother.
A part of her wanted to return home. She glanced behind them at the opening to the Underworld that slowly closed. All that vivid darkness, the glorious nature of those who lived within it, were far from her sight now.
Sighing, she turned her attention back to the mortal world that had changed