Percy Jackson's Greek Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians companion #5.5) - Rick Riordan Page 0,39
meadows with her nymph friends.
She looked at the luscious fruit, and her stomach howled in protest. It had been days since she’d eaten anything. She was immortal, so she couldn’t die; but she felt like she was starving.
A little bite won’t hurt, she told herself.
She sat down, put one seed in her mouth, and couldn’t believe how good it tasted. Before she knew it, she had eaten a third of the fruit. She probably would’ve eaten more if Hades hadn’t returned with his visitor—the god Hermes.
“My love!” Hades called, and his voice sounded like he’d been weeping.
Persephone shot to her feet. She hid her sticky purple fingers behind her and hoped she didn’t have juice running down her chin. “Mmm-hmm?” she mumbled, working a few half-chewed seeds around in her mouth.
“This is Hermes.” Hades’s face looked broken with despair. “He—he has come to take you back.”
Persephone swallowed. “But…you said—”
“Zeus commands it.” Hades sounded so sad that Persephone forgot this was good news. “I would gladly fight any god for your sake, but even I cannot fight against the entire Olympian council. I am…I am forced to give you up.”
Persephone should have been shouting with joy. This was what she wanted! So why did she feel so bad about it? She couldn’t stand the look of devastation on Hades’s face. He’d made this garden just for her. He’d treated her well…at least after the initial kidnapping, and that had been Zeus’s idea. Hades had been ready to open the gates of the dead for her sake.
Hermes didn’t seem bothered by any of that. “Well, excellent!” He grinned at Persephone. “Ready to go? Just some regulation questions I have to ask first—you know, customs stuff for crossing the border. Have you come into contact with any live animals?”
Persephone frowned. “No.”
“Visited any farms?” Hermes inquired. “Are you carrying more than ten thousand drachmas in foreign currency?”
“Uh…no.”
“Last question,” Hermes said. “Have you eaten any food in the Underworld?” He held up his hands in apology. “I know it’s stupid question. I mean, obviously you’re smarter than that. If you ate any food in the Underworld, you’d have to stay here forever!”
Persephone cleared her throat. “Uh…”
I don’t know if she would’ve lied or not, but before she could answer, the gardener Askalaphos said, “Show them your hands, my lady.”
Persephone blushed. She held out her hands, which were stained purple. “One third of a pomegranate,” she said. “That’s all.”
“Oh,” Hermes said. “Whoops.”
“She can stay!” Hades danced in a circle, grinning from ear to ear, then seemed to realize he didn’t look very dignified. “Er, I mean, she must stay. I’m—I’m sorry, my dear, if that makes you sad. But I can’t pretend I’m not delighted. This is wonderful news.”
Persephone’s emotions were so jumbled that she wasn’t sure how she felt.
Hermes scratched his head. “This complicates things. I’ve got to report for new orders. Back soon.”
He flew to Mount Olympus and told the other gods his news.
When Demeter heard the problem, she flew into a rage. Somehow she managed to send a powerful curse straight through the ground, into that Underworld garden in Hades’s mansion. She zapped the gardener Askalaphos into a gecko because he’d told on Persephone.
Why a gecko? I have no idea. I guess, off the top of her head, a zombie gecko was the worst curse she could think of.
Demeter threatened to let the world keep starving unless she got her daughter back. Hades sent a new message via Hermes, warning that the dead would rise in a zombie apocalypse unless Persephone stayed with him. Zeus was getting a splitting headache, imagining his beautiful world being ripped apart, until Hestia came up with a solution.
“Let Persephone divide her time,” suggested the hearth goddess. “She ate one third of the pomegranate. Let her spend a third of the year with Hades, and two-thirds with Demeter.”
Amazingly, all the gods agreed. Hades was happy to have his wife, even for just a third of the year. Demeter was overjoyed, though she never got over being mad at Hades. Whenever Persephone was in the Underworld, Demeter turned cold and angry and wouldn’t let the plants grow.
According to the old stories, that’s why there are three distinct seasons in Greece, and during the colder months of autumn, crops don’t grow.
As for Persephone, the whole experience kind of forced her to grow up. She fell in love with Hades and made a place for herself in the Underworld, though she still enjoyed spending time in the mortal world with her