Chapter Text
On the road to hell, there was a small town.
The cold winter winds blew through the small little town, the work having run dry due to the bitter winter.
The people who would be out working during the scorching summers hunkered down inside their homes, blowing into their frostbitten hands to keep warm.
In the centre of the town, like a beacon of hope and warmth, was a motel, where everyone who lived and worked huddled together and shared out food and warm coffee as they tried to ease the cold from their bones before falling asleep in the rooms upstairs.
This motel was owned and run by none other than me, John Macnamara, better known as Hermes, God of stories, and the narrator of this particular story.
Now, let me introduce the other players in this story.
Looming over everything, watching everything play out as they deem it, are the three Fates. Melissa, who spun the lives of everyone, both gods and men. Linda, the allotter, who determined how long their lives were, and Sheila, who cut the threads of people’s lives to end them. The three Goddesses even Zeus refuses to cross.
On a long train journey, sat alone, with flowers in her hair, was the goddess of seasons, and queen of silicon herself, on her long journey back to the Underworld.
Anxiously awaiting the return of his wife, on the other end of the tracks, was the king of the underworld, clad in denim as he surveyed his offices and his workers.
And the last major godly player, myself, the god of stories, god of travellers, Hermes. Someone has to tell this old story of love, hoping it will turn out better this time.
Now, I must introduce our star crossed lovers.
In my motel, there was a poor boy sitting in his room, strumming his guitar, working on his song. The poor boy, Ethan, has been working tirelessly on this song for months.
Ethan went downstairs to work on feeding everyone and handing out blankets.
Outside, in amongst the snow and the ice, a hungry young girl and her sister were feeling the cold chill her to the bone. they knew that if they just kept walking, she would find somewhere warm to curl up. You see, these young girls had been travelling to find work for far too long.
The elder of the two saw the lights of my motel and slowly made her way inside, holding her sister’s hand.
The hungry young girl pulled her too thin coat tighter around her as she walked further in. She kept her head low, looking at the floor for any forgotten loose change or small items she could use.
Ethan, the poor boy with a song, was walking around the dining area, picking up all the dirty dishes, his mind distracted with the song he was working on.
He bumped into someone, who looked up from the floor and met his gaze.
Ethan was dumbstruck by this girl, it seemed like the Fates themselves decreed that he would meet her. And the girl, Lex, was stunned. It was like lightning had struck the pair of them at the same time. They stared at each other and it was as if spring had bloomed for the pair of them, all warmth and freshness.
Lex coughed and scarpered away, feeling as if she had just touched an open flame.
You see, Lex was no stranger to the cold and the wind, unwillingly familiar with people turning on her like the winds, like a cold snap. But this feeling, of hope, and of new life, was strange. The only person in the world she could rely upon was her younger sister, Hannah
Ethan took a discarded newspaper and began making a flower out of it, thinking it would be a good conversation starter.
“Ethan?” I said as he went to approach her.
“Yeah?” He replied.
“Don’t come on too strong, son.”
Ethan nervously approached Lex, who was sitting and eating while her sister slept.
“Come home with me?” Ethan smiled hopefully, holding out the paper flower toward Lex, who was sipping a coffee.
“Who are you?” Lex turned toward Ethan, her hair falling down in front of her face.
“The man who’s gonna marry you… The name’s Ethan.” Ethan grinned. Lex looked at him like he had grown two heads.
“I’m Lex…” She replied, looking at Ethan and taking him in, seeing the punk rock vibe he had.
“Your name’s like a melody.”
“You’re a singer?”
“I also play the lyre.” Ethan held up his guitar.
“A liar and a player too.” Lex smiled, impressed by her own wordplay. “I’ve met too many men like you.”
“I ain’t what you’re thinking… I’m working on a song that’ll bring the world back into tune, and once it’s done and I perform it.. Spring will come again.”
“You serious?” Lex’s eyes widened in surprise. “When? Haven’t seen a spring or fall… like ever.”
Lex wondered about the feeling of spring, only having vaguely heard of it in stories before.
“Why would I marry you?”
“Because he’ll make you feel alive.” I responded, helping him out.
“Alive, huh? That’s a pretty sweet deal… But, you have to pass the sister test.”
“Sister test?”
“If Hannah doesn’t get on with you… this is all a moot point.” Lex grinned.
“Okay, deal.”
The following day, Ethan started befriending Lex’s younger sister, Hannah, who was unique and had a unique insight into the world, due to her connection to Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
Lex was slow to trust Ethan, wanting assurance that both she and Hannah will have somewhere stable to stay and some financial stability. Ethan assured her that once he finished his song, nature itself will provide whatever they needed to live.
“Why don’t you sing the song?” Lex asked one day as they sat in the motel diner.
“It’s not finished.”
“Sing it.”
“Lex…”
“You wanna take me home?” Lex grinned, picking up the paper flower and twirled it in between her fingers before poking Ethan on the nose with it. “Sing the song.”
Ethan pulled out his guitar and began to play his song, not singing the lyrics, but singing the melody along with it.
As he sang, a fresh warmth surrounded the table as spring came to just the tables. Lex swore she heard birds sing in time with the song, that she smelled fresh grass and beautiful spring flowers as the paper flower magically turned real to her amazement and Ethan’s surprise.
“How did you do that?” Lex asked, sniffing the flower. “Even though it’s not finished… it can do this…”
Ethan smiled in surprise, wondering how in hell his song was able to do this.
“You have to finish it.” Lex grabbed his hands excitedly, elated at the possibility of spring returning.
I watched on as Ethan played the song… the old song of long ago, the song of Hades and Persephone’s love. It’s been so long since I last heard it. This song was ingrained into the very seasons themselves, being the very reason they exist.
“Where did you get that melody?” I asked Ethan.
“It just came to me… Like I knew it all along.”
“You have…” I lit a cigarette and took a drag. “Remember the story I told you… about Hades and Persephone?”
“Yeah… Want me to tell it?”
“Yeah.”
And so Ethan began to tell the tale of Hades and Persephone.
Persephone, the goddess of flowers was in her mother’s beautiful green fields, picking flowers in vibrant colours. Hades watched from afar, entranced by her beauty and singing voice.
He came back again and again, watching from afar.
He would watch her at parties where all the gods were invited.
And then one day, he plucked up the courage to beg for her hand in marriage, getting his clothes muddied in the soil as he did so.
Hades begged, wanting nothing more in the world than to have her as his wife.
Persephone had noticed him too, always lurking at the edge of things.
Then he took her home and made her his queen.
However, when she was down in the underworld, flowers wouldn’t bloom and the sun grew cold and hid away.
To save the people of the world, Persephone created a bargain where for half of each year, she would walk up above and the plants would grow, and the other, she would be with her husband down below.
And so, the cycle of seasons was born.
But that was long ago, before we were all on the road to hell.