Persephone nodded, unable to speak.
Demeter’s hands were gentle, massaging her scalp as she chattered on, “I searched. Know that I searched, but there was no news of you. And when I went to Erysichthon… Well, he was no help.”
Persephone listened in silence, letting her gaze wander about the room to avoid her thoughts.
“… Zeus was less than helpful. Hera seemed to think you’d run off with a lover. I could convince no one of the truth. So I searched. When I came to Eleusis, I’d lost all hope.” She paused, pouring water over Persephone’s head. The water clouded about her knees, disturbing the surface. Her reflection vanished, lost beneath the foam and oil.
She swallowed, feeling lost too.
Her mother chattered on, wrapping her in a clean tunic and brushing the tangles from her hair. She was never quiet, Persephone noticed.
“Sleep now,” Demeter said, hugging her close. “Rest and forget all the ill you’ve seen. You’ve the sweetest soul, one too long missing from this realm.”
Persephone lay back, pulling up the furs and blankets as her mother crept from the room. Once the door was shut, Persephone rolled into the furs and sobbed until she could sob no more.
###
“The entrance is guarded by the three-headed beast,” Sartirios whispered.
“I see no one, nothing else…” Erysichthon’s eyes scoured the darkness of Hades’ caves.
The men, souls fading in the rising sun, crouched behind a boulder.
Taras hissed, “Can we kill it?”
Cerberus was staring at them. Cerberus would not leave the darkness of the cave, but stood ready. Their eyes, all six, flashed yellow in the gloom. When the wind fell still, the hiss of the serpents was audible.
“No. It is dead, like us,” Sartirios responded.
Erysichthon smiled, meeting the eyes of the monster. “It will have a weakness.”
The creature growled, rising up on thick legs. The jaws snapped, drops of drool flying out onto the grass beyond the cave’s mouth. The grass curled, turning brown then crumbling to black.
“What a vile beast.” Taras shuddered, turning away from the cave’s entrance to lean against the boulder.
“Be mindful of what you say,” Erysichthon laughed. “It will serve us soon enough…”
“Or drag us to Tartarus,” Sartirios warned.
Erysichthon ignored them, too transfixed by the vicious brutality that shone from Cerberus’ gaze. Did the animal know him? Or did it gaze upon all souls with such hunger? It mattered not.
He pushed off of the rocks, walking in front of the cave. He heard Cerberus howl in fury, but ignored it. He’d nothing to fear, for now. He motioned for the men to follow, speaking to them as they made for the cover of the trees.
Sunlight broke over the mountains, erasing all traces of them in the light.
He hated the sun, almost as much as he hated Hades… And Demeter. The sun took his strength, his form, his being… While Demeter and Hades had taken his purpose. His anger warmed him, buoying his confidence.
“Time is our ally,” he assured the men. “Night will come soon enough. But now, make use of the light. Go and learn all you can about the beast. There must be some who know how to tame it.”
Sartirios nodded, leaving them as they entered the trees. Men waited, too many for Erysichthon to count. More came every day. Broken souls, lost and bitter. Erysichthon was learning quickly, nothing was more dangerous than one forgotten. He offered them a way to be remembered.
“Panoptes,” Erysichthon continued. “What of the rivers?”
“We cannot cross them. Some force, some magic, prevents it.” Panoptes sounded defeated.
“What of Charon?” Erysichthon asked. “What of making him an ally?”
Panoptes took no pains to hide his disbelief. “Charon?”