Monster Whisperer - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,4
I’d eaten before. I didn’t trust Hades, but I trusted Cerberus. I remembered the stories of Hades and Persephone. I would not eat this food and get tricked into staying here as she did.
Cerberus assured me the food was safe, and Persephone was perfectly lovely. She could come and go as she pleased and wasn’t a prisoner here. I was trying to get to the bottom of what I knew about Greek mythology while I filled my belly. I was starving.
“Persephone wasn’t tricked into staying here. Hades saw her picking flowers and romanced her. She came willingly. Her mother raised all manner of shit because she didn’t agree with her daughter’s choice of husband and started causing draughts that killed people to make her come home. The pomegranate seed is a lie to appease Demeter. It allowed Persephone to keep her relationship, and Demeter stopped killing people. It’s been millennia, and Demeter is not happy with the arrangement anymore. That is why Hades is acting the way he is. I wouldn’t have stayed loyal to him this long if he always acted this way.”
“He still has a lot to prove to me. All I know is what he’s shown me, and that’s a kidnapping asshole.”
“He’ll show you when he gets back. He’ll explain everything. It may or may not make you feel better, but there is a method to his madness.”
“In the meantime, what did you eat for breakfast? Did Hades take my advice about food? How are you feeling?”
Cerberus let out a little huff.
“Hades was on the warpath when we got home. He got you situated, and then he brought the pamphlets you gave him down to the kitchens. Then, he went to his computer and started looking up recipes for me. He printed them out and brought them to the chefs. I had quite the feast for breakfast, and I’m feeling much better.”
“And he didn’t kill anyone in the kitchen like he did the vets that were treating you?”
“Hades didn’t really kill anyone treating me. He was testing you. He took me to several, but they are all quite alive. He wanted to see how you held up under pressure because he wanted to bring you here.”
“Do you know the big secret? Why can I talk to you like this?”
“I only know my nose, River. You smell different from most humans I’ve met. If Hades promised that answer, then he knows why.”
“Am I in danger here, Cerberus?”
“The Underworld is a realm, River. It has several parts. Tartarus is the most dangerous. This is where all the nasty people live. Hades is here for a reason. Hades and I will protect you from harm. He will explain. Please, don’t fault him when he’s gruff with you. He has his reasons.”
“I’m not sorry I punched him.”
“Then remember he didn’t hurt you when you did. He’s a God, River. Any other God would have killed you on the spot. Hades’ brothers and sisters wouldn’t have stood for that.”
I guess he was right. I punched a God in the face. He deserved it, but he could have hurt me or killed me for that.
“How does one get from my vet clinic to Tartarus? I’m guessing you can’t take a car. Was that flash of light outside my clinic before Hades knocked him arriving by magic?”
“No one knows the way into the Underworld except Hades and Hermes. Or that was how things used to be. They are Gods, River. They just think where they want to be, and they appear there.”
“So, the Greeks had it right this entire time?”
Cerberus let out a little chuff. I was pretty sure when he made that noise, he was laughing at me.
“Everyone had it right, and no one had it right, River. Expand your horizons for a minute. You live on Earth, which is a realm with its own universe. But you share it with other beings with their own belief system. You share your realm with many supernatural creatures that came from different realms at one point.
“Humans used to share the Earth with the creatures in the Underworld. They came home when humans turned on them. Humans treat Hell like it’s a punishment, but it’s a realm, and I’ve heard it’s rather lovely. I’ve heard that the Fae have recently tried coming back to the Earth realm.”
“How? Humans don’t even like other humans with different beliefs coming into their country.”
Cerberus rested his three heads on his paws and rolled all six eyes.
“Humans are too busy hating