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Chapter Text

This is the story of how a mother lost one, two, three of her daughters.

But don't worry, this is a very entertaining story, told with great honesty.

In fact, it's not even about the mother. Not really. Not even about daughter one or about daughter two.

This is the story of a very peculiar goddess named Perse, and her story begins with the sun. Or at least that's what some say. Some say that her story began with the long and tortuous journey of her older sister, Persephone, others say that the story of the young goddess began with the mistakes of her parents and uncles, but the truth is that it began long before any of the gods were even born.

For every small act already performed, a consequence is immediately created. For every action there is a reaction, and for every small act of the gods, every mere movement altered, a new line in time and space is created. And in the midst of it all was always Perse.

It was curious to think about the various different paths taken by the now daughter of Demeter and Poseidon, how many lives she had already lived. Each small act leading her to now find herself in a new scenario, leaving the Fates curious and entertained, wondering if the young goddess would prefer her life as the daughter of other gods, as a young demigoddess, or perhaps as a mere mortal.

Theories and even more theories were created, everyone curious to know how that particular life of Perse had actually started. How it had unfolded until it finally became what it was in the end.

Perhaps the version that comes closest to the truth in this specific reality would be the one that says it began when Kronos, the youngest of the Titans, dethroned his powerful father. The moment the curse on his lineage was spoken, the moment that would define the fate of the Cronids, but above all the fate of Demeter, Hades, and Poseidon, was the moment when the Fates began to weave the long thread that would become the story of that time line for that particular Perse.

The real truth is that forces far more powerful than any of the gods were already operating on the beautiful and tragic story of the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon, but the truth is also that if there was a goddess who could have the power to challenge whatever fate was imposed on her, it would be the goddess who truly has seen everything, Perse.

-

When you work for a goddess, especially one as powerful and volatile as Demeter, you don't ask many questions, regardless of what you are told to do. The easiest solution was to simply accept it, knowing deep down that you can't do anything to change the minds of those who were so powerful and that you don't have enough strength to stop them from doing what they want.

Kalligeneia learned this early in her life, after all, she knew Lady Demeter better than any other nymph, but she had also failed the goddess of agriculture like no other nymph. When she was younger, a foolish but definitely lighter and freer being, Kalligeneia had accepted the role of utmost importance given to her by the lady of the grains herself, the second daughter of the ancient rulers of the earth, to take care of her firstborn, her beloved Kore.

For years and years, the naiad of the sacred spring of Kallikhoros was as happy as could be alongside the two goddesses, Lady Demeter and the little princess Kore, who made Kalligeneia the luckiest nymph who ever lived. They lived in complete harmony amid nature, no problem from Olympus ever bothering either of the two powerful goddesses, and by extension, Kalligeneia's life was fulfilled and happy. The daughter of Cephus witnessed the exact moment of Kore's birth and was there to see her development, how she blossomed into the most beautiful of flowers, and there was no place in the world she would rather be.

And her beloved Demeter, the goddess to whom she had dedicated her life, never seemed happier and more complete than in those years filled with light and joy. Every day Kalligeneia could see a sparkle in the eyes of the goddess of agriculture that had never been there before the birth of her precious daughter. The world had never known such beautiful times, such bountiful harvests, and such abundant nature as after little Kore came into the world, and Kalligeneia had never known a goddess who had as many stars in her eyes as Lady Demeter when looking at her most perfect creation. How could she feel anything but the purest love for the two goddesses who gave direction to her life, who served as her guiding light, as her reason to continue her daily tasks with a bright smile on her face?

Being able to witness the growth of a goddess whom she knew, simply knew, would be revered and loved, was one of the best rewards Kalligeneia could have received for all her hard work. As time passed and more nymphs arrived to assist her work, Kalligeneia never minded, not when Lady Demeter still came to her for advice and to vent about her feelings? When Kore still ran toward her with a smile almost as bright as the one she directed at her own mother?

Even millennia later, Kalligeneia still wondered how everything could have gone so wrong.

What none of them could have known was that while Lady Demeter was concerned that the problems of Olympus would not reach her small private paradise, the underworld had slipped right under her nose.

Kalligeneia still remembered as if she were still there at the moment when the goddess of agriculture realized that her beloved, precious, cherished, desired, and most beloved daughter had been stolen from her home. She could still hear Lady Demeter's cries of pain, the screams that came from her being as if she were in the purest agony she could feel. And indeed she had been. Kalligeneia firmly believes that her beloved goddess never felt such pain as on the day her obscure, but so beloved at that time, brother stole her daughter from under the watchful eyes of all who loved her.

Her form was distorted, the almost human shape she had previously assumed near her beloved daughter was nowhere to be seen. Kalligeneia was not foolish or proud enough to admit that she trembled with fear when she saw the mortal-looking body distort and break apart until a macabre being emerged from it. The once dark-haired, brown-skinned woman had transformed into what could only be considered divine, the divine side that mortals wished they would never know. Her body rose, more than five times her original height, her eyes completely black, her hair turning to wheat, and her torso stretching, allowing her to look down on all the nymphs as if they were nothing, mere ants compared to her size. That was not all. What should have been her belly opened into long claws, pointed like nothing Kalligeneia had ever seen and sharp enough that the daughter of Cephalus could see her own terrified gaze reflected in their gleam. Inside, it was possible to see a vast collection of fruit—all rotten and dead. Underneath it all, long, thick brown bear paws supported the long structure, the fur thick and voluminous, the claws long enough that Kalligeneia had no doubt that her beloved goddess spent all her time imagining them destroying the dark entrance to the world of the dead, the kingdom of her hated brother.

Those were dark times, when sweet Kore was stolen from her mother, for everyone. Poor mortals experienced the worst scenario they could have hoped for, there was no place that could generate life, every crop was doomed to death, the soil, by the pure will of its goddess, would not germinate even the best of grains. Thousands died, and not for a moment was her goddess Demeter moved by their pleas, prayers, and offerings. In fact, Killageneia was certain that a small, wicked part of the goddess of agriculture, so much the daughter of her dark father, was content with all that suffering. Her once green eyes, now completely dark, seemed to shine with satisfaction at the suffering of all those who, in her view, did nothing to return her little Kore to her.

What right did mere mortals, who lived by the kindness of the lady of agriculture, have to be happy, to have their children, when the daughter of Cronos had lost the love of her life?

Kalligeneia did not even like to remember those times, much preferring to turn her mind to the times when she had been the happiest nymph any of the kingdoms had ever known. To remember the time when her lady Demeter had lost her daughter was to remember the time when the daughter of Cephalus had lost the love of her most beloved goddess. After what had been done by her brothers—the abduction of Kore by Lord Hades Aidoneus, the betrayal by Lord of Lords Zeus Cronides, and the violence suffered at the hands of Poseidon Cronetos that produced the much less beloved children, Despoina and Arion—her beloved goddess Demeter no longer looked at the world in the same way. Even Kalligeneia suffered the wrath of the goddess of agriculture, but in a more cruel way, with her silent contempt.

If mortals angered Demeter Brimo simply for having their lives and children, Kalligeneia earned Lady Demeter's contempt for not being enough to save sweet Kore, after all, her role there was to care for Kore. By the gods, she had nursed the little goddess of spring, and she had failed in the only mission entrusted to her.

As mentioned, Kalligeneia avoided thinking about those dark times as much as possible, but upon hearing once again the cries of her even more beloved Lady Demeter and the way her fingers, now claws, pierced Kalligeneia's slightly blue hands, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to the even more agonizing cries that the goddess of agriculture had let out millennia before.

The daughter of Cephus still did not know for sure how it had all happened, and to be honest, she was a little afraid to know what had actually happened, but the feared and beloved goddess of agriculture had appeared pregnant after one of the fateful winter solstices on Olympus. Kalligeneia spent a few long days, and even longer nights, listening to the lamentations of her lady Demeter after the goddess discovered the new life growing in her womb. In a matter of days, the freezing but still calm place turned into an emotional mess for everyone who lived there. There was not a single nymph who had not witnessed the long crises her goddess went through during her pregnancy.

What had become clear was that after the birth of that little goddess, Lady Demeter would hand over the young deity to Olympus, or to whoever the child's father was. Kalligeneia almost sighed at the news. Despite the guilt she felt in the pit of her stomach, knowing that she would not have to deal with a new child, one that she now knew could disappear just as Persephone had disappeared, relieved her immortal heart.

Some of the guilt had dissolved during her lady's labor after hearing everything the goddess of grain had to say about her or the goddess to be born.

"How could I have let this happen? How could I have been so stupid?"

"Someone take this away from me before I lose my patience."

"By Kaos, Hera Hupercheipia, why prolong this more than necessary? Why extend this dark moment?"

"Damn him for giving me fruit without even knowing if I wanted it! I didn't want it!"

"My sweet and perfect Kore never did this to me!"

And Kalligeneia remembered well, regardless of how Kore had been conceived, the birth of the beautiful goddess was like the dream that all women had, short, meaningful, and as painless as possible. When the little goddess of spring was born, it was as if everything that was most beautiful rejoiced. Her goddess Demeter had hardly suffered during her birth; it could not have been more perfect.

In the silence of her mind, Kalligeneia wondered if the universe was somehow trying to comfort her beloved goddess with a quick and painless delivery so that it could compensate for all the long and terrible pain that her beloved daughter would bring her.

A long cry pulled Kalligeneia out of her tortuous and treacherous thoughts. The new deity had been born at the exact moment when Helios' sun rose into the sky and colored the world with its brightness, but Kalligeneia did not feel the same butterflies in her stomach as when Kora, her sweet, beautiful, and perfect little Kore, was born so many millennia ago.

"It's a girl, Lady Demeter. A little goddess!" exclaimed Adrasteia, with an enthusiasm that Kalligeneia did not feel at that moment.

For a long moment, Lady Demeter did not move a muscle, as if she had momentarily abandoned her body. Kalligeneia raised her gaze to focus once more on her beloved goddess, not bothering to glance even briefly at the new goddess who had just been born. Her brown skin seemed to have lost some of its natural glow, her black eyes—which never regained their green color after Persephone came to life—fixed on the trees she had raised so that not even Helios with his golden chariot could see what was happening, and her red mouth half-open in what seemed to be the longest of shocks.

"Would you like to hold her, my lady?" Kalligeneia wanted to roll her eyes and scold the beautiful Meliai; it was obvious that their goddess would not be interested in holding that goddess, it was foolish to even suggest it-

"Give her to me," said the lady of agriculture, her voice hoarse but demanding, leaving no room for the slightest question. Her arms stretched out, the claws still evident at her fingertips, as she moved her gaze to the nymph who had nursed her brother-king.

"Here she is, my lady, your daughter!"

When the baby finally settled into the arms of her lady Demeter, it was then that Kalligeneia looked for the first time at the new goddess who graced them with her presence.

She was the most beautiful little goddess she had ever laid eyes.

Kalligeneia hated her on principle.

Her skin was a little darker than her mother's, closer in color to that of the god whom Cephus' daughter now knew to be her father—the king of the seas, Poseidon—her hair was as dark as the center of sunflowers, so thick that Kalligeneia could wrap her blue fingers around it if she wanted to, and she had a cute face, even if contorted in tears. When the little goddess finally opened her eyes, it was the confirmation Kalligeneia needed of who her father was. From the few times the goddess of grain had taken h e r to Olympus, the kingdom of the gods, Cephus' daughter remembered perfectly distinct green color, so similar to the sea, that the god had passed on to his youngest daughter.

She was truly beautiful, no one could say she wasn't, it would be foolish to say that this goddess was anything other than meticulously sculpted by the Fates themselves. It was in her perfectly drawn features, proof that she was much more than Kalligeneia could ever be.

But in all her beauty, she did not equal her perfect Kore when she was first born. Her hair, as dark as the eyes of her godess Demeter, did not compare to Kore's red waves, so similar in color to the most beautiful butterflies that appeared during the spring goddess's youth. Her skin was not the shade that reflected the feathers of the swans that passed by the stream near where Kore planted her best flowers. her mouth was too red when it should have been pink, her eyebrows were thick when they should have been thin and almost colorless. There was something about her that was very similar to the sweet goddess of spring, but it was not enough to warm t h e heart of the nymph who had already suffered and loved another daughter of the goddess Demeter.

"Ida," her lady called, her voice low, as if not to disturb the baby who looked at her with pure adoration. "Prepare a cradle for my daughter."

Quickly, Kalligeneia turned her eyes to Rhea's daughter, who kept her eyes completely focused on her new goddess, her head slightly tilted to the side, like the confused deer that often appeared in the goddess's fields. There was no sign of the bright smile and overwhelming happiness she would show at the birth of her firstborn, or the anger and anguish at the birth of her cursed twins. This was almost enough to make Kalligeneia believe that perhaps the cradle was just what her goddess would use to transport the baby to the palace under the sea.

Almost.

But then Cephus' daughter noticed how the eyes of the goddess of agriculture began to change color, how black seemed to give way to green, as bright as trees after a night of rain. The green that Kalligeneia had not seen since the king of the dead kidnapped the sweet goddess of flowers was there, with each passing moment taking over more and more of Lady Demeter's eyes until all the black that had been present was replaced by the vibrant and vivid color.

"...A cradle for transport, my lady?" asked Ida, in a voice lower than Cephus' daughter had ever heard in all the years they had lived under the command and care of Lady Demeter.

"No. Prepare the best of cradles, find the best of materials, I want my daughter to have only the best you have to offer," replied Lady Demeter, heir to her father's agricultural domains. In her words, Kalligeneia did not find the answer to Ida's question. That young goddess could have the best of cradles, but it would still serve to transport her to Atlantis. "Come here, Adrasteia."

Faster than Kalligeneia could see, the older nymph, another who had nursed the king of the gods in his mother's absence, ran to the side of the goddess of agriculture, her eyes turning from the baby in her arms to the stone-carved face of her goddess.

"Don't you think she looks like my mother?" asked her goddess Demeter softly, in a voice much lower than any of the nymphs in the forest were accustomed to.

"She... yes, my lady. Queen Rhea would certainly be delighted to see that her new granddaughter looks so much like her," said Adrasteia with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm sure she would love her granddaughter right away. She's perfect, my lady."

The answer obviously delighted the mother, Demeter, who moved her lips in what could be a smile. It was such a small gesture that most would not have noticed, but Killageneia had spent most of her immortal life cataloging every little gesture of the goddess of agriculture. She knew when she was sad and when she was happy. She knew her good days just by the way she entered a room. Killageneia's being had been molded to love and catalog every part of her goddsess.

That said, the smile her lady Demeter had shown, even if small and discreet, spoke more than a thousand words. With that small gesture, Killageneia already knew that the new goddess was not going anywhere.

"Look at your little mouth, it's doing exactly what mommy used to do when she was unhappy with us!" commented the goddess Demeter cheerfully, her eyes now truly shining as she looked at her daughter. Shining indeed, from where Killageneia had been standing to her right since Demeter had begun to push the new goddess into the world, she could see the way a soft green glow came out of her beloved's eyes and reflected on the baby's skin. "Even the eyebrows are the same. And look at her little mole, it's exactly the same as the one her mother had."

"She also looks a lot like Persephone, my lady," added Thelxiope softly, watching everything from atop a branch of the thickest tree in the area.

The name seemed to echo through the place, almost ghostly. The fact that it was winter— even though it did not affect the beautiful place untouched by Demeter Brimo's fury—only aggravated the name that had been spoken.

For a moment, it was almost as if the queen of the dead, the little flower, was there with them. Her presence was almost too overwhelming for Kalligeneia to bear, the name carrying so much weight, so much history, so much suffering and destruction that it seemed a sin to speak it aloud, even at such a moment. Cefos' daughter wanted to scream, pull her white hair, and cry at the mere sound of that name. It had been so long since she had heard that name, even though it echoed constantly in her thoughts, it was not commonly spoken where she could hear it. It was as if that vast place of life was a refuge, a portal where the name Persephone could not enter.

But it did not last long; as quickly as it had arrived, it was gone. Its energy disappeared with a breath, almost as quickly as its bearer had vanished from her life, from her sight.

Kalligeneia knew she wasn't the only one who felt an immediate urge to hit the Siren, after all, she saw Molpe and Aglaophonos, the other two Sirens, gently pushing her sister so that she almost fell from her branch.

A moment, two, and the baby began to cry.

Everyone's gaze shifted from the Siren to the young goddess, who was struggling in her mother's lap, her eyes overflowing with tears. It wasn't difficult to figure out the reason behind the crying, and you didn't need to be an expert on baby gods like she was, but the places where the goddess of agriculture had squeezed her daughter too hard were visible. The long claws of her goddsess Demeter had not yet retracted, causing injuries to the perfect skin of the dark-haired young girl, where the tips of the claws had dug in, pure and innocent ichor dripping onto the sheets.

"Sh, sh, my little goose. Don't cry. Don't cry anymore," whispered the goddess Demeter, her claws disappearing into her skin, causing only more ichor to flow from the new goddess's small wounds. "Mommy is here. I'm not going anywhere, believe me. Neither are you, my little goose."

Her words were soft as she ran her hands over her daughter's soft hands, her tender touch healing any wounds that were already there. The baby quickly stopped crying, her striking eyes fixed on her mother, as if the rest of the world did not exist, her only focus was the woman who had just hurt her and who, in the blink of an eye, had healed the wound.

Not without leaving bruises, Killageneia thought as she looked at the ten small pale marks on the little goddess's arms.

"My little Perse," whispered the goddess of grains once more, the daughter of Cronos, the mother of Persephone, but to Kalligeneia it was as if she had shouted at the top of her lungs. "You're right, Thelxiope, she reminds me a little of Kore. The perfect little mix of my mother and my daughter. How precious you are, my Perse."

"What a beautiful name, my lady," said Ida, already working with her hands on the cradle that had been requested for Perse, after a very deep silence that followed the revelation of the new goddess's name. Perse. "I'm sure Kore will be very happy to meet her new little sister."

"No."

And Kalligeneia might have agreed. For all that might have changed in her sweet, loving little Kore since the day the god of the underworld abducted her, the possessive feeling the girl had always had toward her mother was probably not one of them. of them. Cephus' daughter still remembered how the goddess of spring had reacted when Syke had a daughter and the new nymph was introduced to Lady Demeter, just as was expected of her. Although the little nymph remained in the arms of the lady of Kalligeneia for less than a moment, it was enough for the no longer so young Kore to have a fit that destroyed the entire crop that she and the goddess of agriculture had planted that same day.

It took a lot of encouragement, but Kore finally forgave her mother for the terrible act of holding another deity in her tender arms, which, in her view, were molded only to hold her. Not that Kalligeneia thought her lady had taken offense; on the contrary, the goddess Demeter seemed more than satisfied with what had happened, regardless of the fact that it had robbed poor Syke of a night's sleep, as she feared for her daughter's safety.

If there was one thing that mother and daughter had in common, it was their possessiveness. Demeter Chloê was happy that her beloved daughter loved her as deeply as she loved her, that her precious flower was as possessive in her love as the goddess of agriculture herself was for her daughter.

So no, Kalligeneia didn't think it would be a good idea for her sweet Kore to meet her new sister, especially after what happened to her last sister, who happened to be Perse's full sister. She felt a certain relief in knowing that her beloved goddess was aware of her eldest daughter's somewhat... strong feelings about her mother. It made no sense to subject the goddess of spring to any additional stress on account of a goddess who had just been born; in the end, it would make no sense to wear down the sweet goddess for Perse, a little goddess she would see for less than half a year each year. It was completely understandable that she didn't feel the need to-

"Until I change my mind, Perse will remain in our care, in my care," said the goddess Demeter as she turned her now once again somber gaze to each of the nymphs who had witnessed the birth of the young goddess, Perse. Her gaze, now completely blackened, lingered even longer on Kalligeneia, as a warning. "The news of her birth must not leave this place. For all intents and purposes, Perse was never born. I will know if any of you say anything to anyone."

Her voice contained a warning, even clearer this time. It reminded each of them, above all, that despite their good company and years of loyalty, she was still Demeter, the second daughter of Cronos, one of the most powerful goddesses who controlled the world and could make even the most powerful beings on the planet fear her when they witnessed her wrath.

She was also the goddess who almost destroyed everything mortals knew and loved, everything the gods knew, for the love of her daughter.

"No one must know what happened today. I will take all necessary measures so that no one, regardless of who they are or their power, can know about my daughter's existence." With her words, the trees bowed, their leaves seemed to grow in size, covering any trace of sunlight or view of the sky. Nature listened to its goddess, bowing to her will and desires, protecting the youngest daughter of the one who commanded each of the plants and nymphs present. "History will not repeat itself, I will not allow it."

When her dark eyes turned to her daughter, once again their color changed, returning to the most beautiful shade of green, much more vibrant than any of the trees under the command of it's goddess or her nymphs.

But Kalligeneia knew that sweet and cruel goddess like no other nymph. She saw the way her eyes, even though literally shining with joy, seemed to look through Perse, her happiness directed at the new goddess only to a certain extent. It was not fair to the little goddess that she did not at least win her mother's heart.

That Demeter Brimo's heart was already completely taken by her one true love. Kalligeneia knew this feeling very well; she herself had to understand that no matter how much she devoted herself to the goddess, she would never compare to even half of the love that Lady Demeter had for her sweet Kore.

Thinking about what was to come, about the consequences of that event, the daughter of Cephus could only shudder despite the mild weather among the trees. What would happen to them, to the world, when the daughter of the goddess Demeter and the god Poseidon realized that her love would never be reciprocated, even if it was her mother? The love of a deity is something possessive, something that consumed the god completely, and none of the children of Cronos and Rhea were particularly keen on sharing those they loved. What did this mean for their children?

"I refuse to lose another daughter," exclaimed Cronos' daughter, her eyes now true with golden details looking up, as if challenging the cruel weavers of fate to do as she said. Power vibrated throughout her body, strong enough to make all the nymphs shudder and the plants wither and vibrate in equal measure. Perse didn't even blink at her mother's display of power. "No one will take them from me again."

The nymph wondered exactly how much of her protection involved genuine love for the dark- haired goddess and how much was just a reflection of her love for her mother and her eldest daughter.

She didn't think anyone would like the answer to that question.

The slip of the tongue—no one will take them away—only proves Kalligeneia's point. Even with her certain contempt for the green-eyed goddess, Cephus' daughter cannot help but feel sorry for the new goddess.

"Kore and my dear mother were taken from me, but you, Perse, you will always be my little goose," said Lady Demeter, turning her gaze to her newborn daughter. The contrast in her tone of voice was clear, but Kalligeneia knew that during Kore's birth, her voice had been as soft as silk, her emotions as raw as the flesh offered as sacrifices to t h e goddess of agriculture in times of difficult times for mortals, when they begged for salvation, any sweetness she could offer her youngest daughter would not compare to the love she had given to the perfect, beloved, desired, complete, beautiful, sweet, intelligent, and now gone Kore.

Kalligeneia knew only one thing: in a contest for the heart of her lady Demeter, Perse would always lose. There was no winner for that particular prize other than Persephone Kore.

Chapter Text

For as long as Perse could remember, she had always heard the most fantastical, curious, frightening, and enchanting whispers. The goddess couldn't explain it even if she wanted to, but even in her loneliest and darkest moments—which were not few—she found comfort not in words, but in feelings whispered in the wind, whispers that only she seemed to hear.

Not that she would confirm this theory.

If you asked the daughter of the great Demeter if she would have the courage to tell her mother what she had been hearing, the feelings and desires that had been sending shivers down her spine day after day, she would laugh in your face. Just the thought of telling her mother what she heard gave her the worst of feelings.

Don't get her wrong, Perse loved her mother deeply. In fact, the goddess doubted that she would ever be able to love anyone the way she loved the goddess who gave birth to her, who raised her in the greatest and most perfect of paradises, far from all the absurdities, betrayals, and discomforts that were found outside the small refuge built just for her. Perse's entire existence revolved around her mother; it was unthinkable to imagine a life without her beloved mother. Perse had a hole in her chest shaped like her mother and her love.

That said, Perse was absolutely certain that she would never tell her mother-lady about the whispers. As her long years in her mother's personal paradise passed, those little moments when she simply felt so deeply, so positively, became a kind of refuge for the youngest of the meadow.

It was one of the great certainties she had always had: the nymphs helped and cherished the goddess of agriculture, the animals of the meadow were always in perfect harmony, her mother would never let her leave that perfect paradise, and Perse could hear things that no one else there could. In a way, knowing that those words, those feelings and visions were hers alone, and no one else's, brought her unimaginable comfort. Perse couldn't say that many things were hers alone, including the love of her beloved mother, so the thought that it could be taken away from her was terrifying.

Not that she worried about it much. If it were a real danger, her beloved voices would have warned her about it; that was what they did, besides keeping her company, of course.

How often did Perse need to be saved from trouble, other than when the place she was raised was forged as the safest and most perfect environment she could ask for? In any case, when she did need to be saved—like when the bear cub finally grew up and decided that the youngest goddess was the most delicious thing to taste—her voices always warned her. When it could be easily avoided, they made her body shiver, but when they sensed that danger was already close to consuming her, Perse could hear two female voices screaming in her head.

Was it wrong that she sometimes longed for those moments? Even though they represented moments of danger, especially when the screams were necessary, Perse found great comfort in their voices, in their presence, which was so completely hers. Would it be crazy to expect to encounter danger for the simple sweetness of not feeling so completely lost and alone?

In any case, it made no sense to be afraid that her mother would find out. After all, for that to happen, they would need to have deeper conversations than they did.

"Good morning, Mom," Perse greeted her as she approached her mother.

As she drew closer and closer to the goddess who ruled over this little paradise, Perse noticed how her posture seemed more relaxed than usual, how her eyes sparkled with a more vibrant hue as they turned toward her. Encouraged by her slight smile, Perse moved forward to touch her red lips to her mother's cheek, the contact leaving her with a pleasant sensation throughout her body, the purest happiness as she felt her mother's sigh of happiness at her affection.

"Good morning, my dear little goose," replied Demeter, her mother goddess, with an even bigger smile as she placed her two hands on either side of Perse's face. "Did you rest well, my sweet girl?"

"Oh, yes!" Perse replied quickly, perhaps too quickly. But who was counting, right? "Thank you for asking, Mom."

It didn't matter that the gods didn't need to rest like mortals; it was simply what happened to Perse; it had always been that way. The goddess of agriculture, at least, had never complained about her overly mortal habit of returning to her chambers every night and simply sleeping. Quite the contrary, in fact, her mother always said that it was a habit that her own mother, Queen Rhea, had before the Void took her into its dark arms. Perse didn't know exactly what to think about that, about her grandmother, the queen of the Titans, but if it meant that her mother would allow her the luxury of rest, the new goddess would accept it.

Of course, Perse didn't need to reveal to her mother what happened during the moments when she closed her eyes. It was as if her consciousness left her body, or rather, that other consciousnesses entered her immortal body. Images and scenes filled her mind, places and beings she had never seen or even heard of appeared the moment she closed her eyes.

Dreams.

At least that was what Perse had gathered from one of the conversations she had with Ampelos. The two were lying among the trees, near a beautiful, crystal-clear stream, both without their clothes, only their bodies covering their naked bodies, when the nymph began to talk about some mortals she had met when her goddess, Perse's mother, let her wander among mortals. The vine nymph told her how mortals had the same habit as her, of closing their eyes to rest, and how they ended up in the realm of Morpheus, the god of dreams.

But it was strange, in those moments Perse could not feel the presence of any god greater than herself. In her dreams, Perse was supreme, she could feel everything and everyone, but no one seemed to even know she was there.

"Where have your thoughts gone now, my little goose?" asked Demeter, pulling Perse from her deepest thoughts.

"Ah... nowhere, Mama" replied the younger goddess as she covered her mother's hands with her own darker hands. For just a moment, as Perse looked deeply into the eyes of the goddess of grain, she saw how the green briefly gave way to an empty black, the white part of her eye also being consumed by the same darkness. And then, before Perse could try to comfort her mother, everything returned to normal. "Are you okay, Mom?"

"Of course, my dear," but now her gaze was distant. Her forest-green eyes looked at her but at the same time passed right through her as if she weren't there. "Did you know your grandmother did the same thing? It was the funniest thing, her long daydreams and crazy thoughts. One moment she was with me and the next she was gone."

Then Perse felt her mother's fingers squeeze her cheek and her nails becoming sharper at their tips.

"Just... don't get lost like she did," said the goddess Demeter, her eyes now golden, her eyes still passing right through her, even as she pressed her fingers and claws into Perse's cheeks. "Stay with me, Perse. Don't get lost from me, not like they did. Promise me."

Perse couldn't respond immediately, her mind consumed by her mother's golden gaze. For a moment, she was transported back to her dreams, to a male figure with blond hair and golden eyes, mirroring those of her mother, looking at a female deity, whom she could only see from behind, her long dark hair mirroring her own. He spoke the same words to the woman that her mother had just spoken to Perse herself, the echo leaving a feeling of discomfort throughout her being.

As if that weren't enough, the younger goddess began to hear low echoes of female voices in her head, her body shivering as their voices grew louder, shifting from the tone that was always in her head to the one they used when they sensed a threat to Perse.

That was nonsense, Demeter, her beloved mother, would never hurt Perse.

"Promise me, Perse-," repeated the goddess of grains, interrupting herself before she could finish whatever she was about to say next, her voice now multiplied, but it could just be the confusion going on inside the darker-haired goddess's head.

"I promise. I promise," Perse practically shouted.

In a second, Demeter's grip loosened, her green eyes returning to their original shade of green. It was as if nothing had happened, any sign of the previous storm in her mother completely left behind, her green eyes, her soft hands, and her kind smile. Perse could almost have forgotten what had just happened.

But then the voices continued to grow, her body remained on alert, and Perse felt the tiny scars dotted across her arms burning as if they had just been made, distracting her attention from the gentle pain on her cheeks.

"Good, my little flower," and something passed over her face when she said that, but Perse couldn't tell what. What mattered was that now her fingers were caressing his cheeks delicately, causing Perse's head to tilt toward her gentle love, her adorable care, and her soft apologies.

As she always did.

As she always would.

"Now, tell me, what are you going to do today, my little goose?" asked the goddess of agriculture, her eyes finally looking at her again.

"Oh, I thought I'd spend some time with Molpe by the stream. She told me that lately it's been even more beautiful than usual. According to her, a beautiful swan was there yesterday morning," said Perse enthusiastically, thinking not only of spending time with Molpe, the most beautiful of the Sirens, in Perse's humble opinion, but also because she herself had seen a swan in her dreams and couldn't wait to find it outside the rest area. "She said it was just beautiful! I want to see if I can—"

"Nonsense! Swans here? Of course not. I would know," and her tone was so convincing that Perse believed her. Even so, the younger goddess wondered how that could have happened. Syke seemed so excited telling her that, with such certainty, that Perse found it hard to believe she had made it up. She must have gotten confused, that's it, it had to be. "I know exactly what you're going to do today, my dear."

It was then that her mother finally released her face, walking closer to an ancient oak tree that had been there long before Perse was born.

Immediately, the two voices stopped their shouting, returning to their constant tone that was always present in Perse's head. The goddess didn't want to think too much about it, but deep down, not for the first time, she felt anger bubbling up in her chest, like a boiling river. But not directed at her mother, of course not. How could Perse feel anything but the deepest love for the woman who gave her everything, including life?

How could she? How dare she?

"You're going to spend some time with Kalligeneia. I've already planned everything with her. I need you two to review the southern part of the meadow to make sure everything is as it should be."

"Oh, okay! Is that all we need to do?" asked Perse, ignoring the sinking feeling she felt at the prospect of spending an entire day with the nymph closest to her mother.

"Mainly to check if the barriers are still intact, if there's nothing trying to get in," and with that, Perse cheered up, as if any hesitation she had about spending time with Kalligeneia disappeared in the blink of an eye. It had been so long since her mother had let her venture near the borders, but now being able to check the barrier was unprecedented, something that had never happened before.

"Thank you so much, Mom! I won't disappoint you, you'll see," exclaimed Perse, her feet standing on tiptoe with pure happiness, the grass between her toes providing a pleasant sensation amid such joy. "I knew you would consider my request to cross the border!"

"No, no. I think you misunderstood, little goose," Demeter interrupted, her green eyes turning to her daughter with what Perse thought was a mixture of amusement and pity. "You will accompany Kalligeneia, that is what I have considered. No crossing, you will remain at a safe distance outside."

"But mother—"

"Now, that's silly," laughed the goddess of agriculture, her brown hands rising to her own face in an attempt to hide her laughter. She failed. "Of course I wouldn't let you cross, my dear. You know how dangerous it is for you outside our little personal paradise."

"Mom, I promise I'll behave, I'll follow all the instructions you and Kalligeneia give me. What danger could I be in when I'm on your territory? Especially with your nymph by my side?"

Once again, whatever Perse said was too much for her mother because her body froze as she slowly turned until her gaze was completely fixed on the goddess she called her daughter. In those eyes, Perse could see thousands of emotions, but she couldn't decipher any of them. How could it be that she couldn't understand the person she loved most?

"My lady Demeter?" came a voice from a little distance away from where mother and daughter stood.

It was Kalligeneia, her blue skin shining as it always did. She was beautiful, one of the most beautiful nymphs who lived in the meadow with her and her mother, and for a long time Perse had wished and dreamed of winning the love of the nymph her mother held in such high esteem—and not even in the way she had won over the other nymphs she had slept with and been involved with, but in a much purer way. Perse couldn't understand why, but the white-haired nymph never allowed her beloved goddess's daughter to approach her, as if Perse's mere presence bothered her.

The goddess would like to say that it didn't matter, that she was a goddess and didn't care what a mere nymph thought or didn't think of her. But that would be a lie, wouldn't it? The clear contempt that Kalligeneia directed at Perse hurt her, it made something inside Perse boil, she wasn't sure what, perhaps anger or even sadness.

"Hello, Kalligeneia! Come, we were just talking about you," Demeter greeted her, her posture changing instantly when she saw the nymph daughter of Cephus.

"Yes, my goddess?" continued Kalligeneia, moving even closer to the two. It was evident how the nymph leaned toward Perse's mother, and not for the first time did it cross Perse's mind what exactly the relationship between the two was. Even with the nymphs she was closest to, with whom she had slept countless times, Perse was not as close and intimate as her mother and Kalligeneia were.

Perse wondered if that was why the nymph didn't like her.

"As we discussed yesterday, you will be responsible for Perse today. In addition, I need you to give me a detailed report on everything you find," her mother continued. Her tone was light, but when she spoke about the responsibility of caring for her, her tone became more serious, her gaze fixed on Kalligeneia with a force that Perse rarely saw in her mother when it came to the white-haired nymph. 

"You can count on me, my lady," Kalligeneia replied, her voice soft and reverent toward the goddess of agriculture. "Is there anything else you would like me to do?"

"That's all for now, my friend," said Demeter, turning her attention back to her daughter. A brief silence stretched out as the goddess of agriculture assessed her, her eyes attentive and alert to something Perse had no idea about. "Enjoy yourself, my daughter. And always remember, I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," Perse replied as she forced her body to follow Cephus' daughter. Speaking those words was more natural than anything she had ever done in her life; everything she knew, everything she was, was because she loved her mother. An undeniable truth: Perse loved her mother more than anything else in the world.

Another indisputable truth? Perse believed that her mother did not love her more than anything and anyone else.

"Well, let's go, young lady," said Kalligeneia, but her heart didn't seem to be in it. Any enthusiasm that had been in her voice as she spoke to her goddess vanished in that instant, as if her mere presence sucked all the good humor out of her. "We have much to do, and you have much to learn.

"Kalligeneia," Demeter called after the pair had already turned to leave.

"Yes, my goddess?" replied Cephus' daughter, her face breaking into a beautiful smile. Once again, it was clear that the nymph was beautiful, and if it weren't for the fact that she thought the woman was closer to going to her mother's bed than hers, Perse would certainly have tried something. Oh, that and the fact that Kalligeneia didn't like her.

"Don't fail me again," with a simple sentence, Perse's mother completely wiped the smile off the nymph's face.

Perse, who was at her side, could feel the moment when the words completely impacted Cephus' daughter, her body shaking as if she had been electrocuted. Kalligeneia's skin, already light blue, became even paler, her eyes filling with sadness, regret, and despair.

For something Perse had no idea about.

"I wouldn't even think about it, my lady Demeter.”

-

The road to the border of her paradise was long, and it only seemed to get longer with the silence that settled between Kalligeneia and Perse after her mother's not-so-strange message.

"Do you know if there's anything specific Mom wants us to see?" asked Perse, trying to break the strange mood—even stranger than usual—that had settled between the two.

"No, I don't know, Lady Perse," was all Kalligeneia replied.

All right, then.

To distract her mind from what her mother had just said, Perse tried to focus on the landscape around her. After all, it wasn't every day that she was allowed to explore so far from the property where she and her mother lived and spent most of their time. The trees varied in shape and color, some with longer trunks and others shorter, some thicker while others seemed as thin as the arms of the nymphs who controlled them, although none seemed anything but strong and secure. With every step she took, she found another reason to admire her mother. Everything in that perfect place was coordinated by her mother, whether through her raw power or her power over the nymphs. This was Demeter's world, her little kingdom in the midst of a harsh and volatile world.

At least that's what she told Perse.

She remembered being much smaller, being carried in the strong arms of her beloved mother. Perse thinks she could never forget the amount of happiness she felt in those moments when it was just mother and daughter, the two of them against the world.

Perse liked to remember all the games they played together, it was even difficult to choose her favorite. Whether it was on the swing made of plants that her mother made just for her, playing tag among the flowers, making art with the paints of all the fruits they could find, or competing to see who could climb the tallest tree in the shortest time — all these games, all these fragments of the best moments of her life, made the little goddess's belly ache from laughing so much.

Her mother, one of the most powerful goddesses in the world, would stop all her duties with the nymphs and her tasks as goddess of agriculture to fulfill Perse's wishes, whatever they might be. She could remember perfectly the time when a nymph from outside the meadow had visited her mother, trying to negotiate something with the goddess of agriculture that Perse was too young to understand, but Demeter had allowed her daughter to sit on her lap despite the seriousness of the situation.

In the end, the nymph had come to stay, and before long Akheloides became one of Perse's closest friends.

It was funny how when Perse was little, that place seemed infinite. Of course, the meadow her mother had built for her and Perse was gigantic, so big that Perse was absolutely sure she hadn't discovered every part of it yet.

But she also remembered the day she discovered that the world she knew was not all there was. She was still small, small enough not to reach Demeter's waist, when the two decided to spend some time near their home, but a little further away than Perse was normally allowed to go. It was a magical day for the younger goddess, her mother by her side laughing at everything she said and did. She had never been so far from home and was enjoying every second of her new adventure.

Everything was going well. Perse was ecstatic, and her mother seemed, for the first time in a long time, truly, purely happy.

Until Perse found her undoing.

While Demeter picked some fruits and berries, Perse was supposed to wait patiently until her mother was satisfied with what they had gathered to take to her nymphs. That was the plan. Perse was fine with staying by her mother's side; in fact, it was even better than getting lost. But Perse was never good at following plans.

At a moment when the goddess of agriculture ventured a little further among the fruit trees, Perse spotted a beautiful and magnificent swan. It was enormous, perhaps as large as the goddess herself at the time, its feathers shiny and its beak large enough that anyone would have feared its sight. But not Perse. The young goddess looked in awe at the majestic animal in front of her, having never seen one before in her entire life. The two beings stared at each other for a long moment before the swan turned its head, as if calling her to follow it, and began to walk away from where Demeter stood, still holding her fruit, humming slowly.

It was a foolish decision, but at that moment little Perse saw no way out but to follow the huge animal.

At first, Perse walked as quietly as she could, unconsciously hoping that her mother wouldn't notice what she was doing, so that her adventure would last just a little longer, but then the swan began to run. She ran and ran, her little legs and feet making an absolute effort so that she could catch up with the swan, which seemed to run even faster than she did.

In the midst of her chase, she noticed how she seemed to double at times, but not exactly. One moment she was chasing a white swan, and the next it was an even bigger swan, only black, its feathers even brighter than its lighter counterpart. And then in the blink of an eye there were two of them, side by side, running in sync, their movements coordinated as if they knew each other well enough to know what the other was going to do next.

She had almost caught up with them when she felt, at the same moment she heard a desperate cry:

"PERSE!"

Her mother's cry finally stopped her, even though every instinct she had screamed for her to keep running. From a distance, she saw the exact moment when the black swan disappeared, just as the goddess of agriculture got close enough to Perse to touch her, leaving her white version completely alone and still running toward a place Perse couldn't see.

"Oh, my daughter," said Demeter as she picked up her daughter as if she weighed nothing to her. Amid her euphoria, which diminished with each passing moment, Perse noticed how her mother's eyes were completely blackened, not a trace of the beautiful green they usually had. "My daughter! Never do that again! Do you hear me? Don't stray from me like that, Persephone!"

"Is that my name, Mom? Persephone? I thought it was just Perse," replied her younger self, her small hands holding her mother's hair, which now looked more like the wheat she brought to life than her curls.

The comment made her mother stop where she was, her eyes still wide as she looked at every inch of her daughter's face.

"No. I'm sorry. No," replied Demeter, her hands trembling as she cupped her daughter's face in her hands and brought it close to her albino so she could plant a hundred and one kisses all over her face. "I'm sorry, Perse. Mommy just got confused. I was so worried about you, my little goose. Please don't ever do that to me again."

"It's okay, Mom. I'm sorry too," replied Perse, trying to forget what had just happened—about the swan, about her mother's screams, about the name Persephone, and about the first apology she had ever received from her mother—as she leaned in even closer to her beloved mother's kisses.

"What were you thinking anyway? Running like that," Demeter asked, looking into her daughter's eyes.

She was going to talk about the swan, about its elegance and how it seemed to be calling her closer, but she stopped herself before she could even understand why. A great shiver ran through her young body, the voices that were her greatest companions growing louder with every moment she thought about telling her mother the true story.

"I was just curious, Mom," the young goddess finally replied. Her eyes dropped to her mother's neck as the lie left her lips. "There was so much space for me to run. It's all so beautiful."

"Yes, yes. It's all beautiful," said the goddess of agriculture as she lifted Perse's cheese with her fingers. Under her gaze, Perse felt examined, analyzed until there was nothing left, but then her mother's eyes returned to their vibrant shade of green and everything was fine once again. "When you want to see new things, tell me. Mama can do whatever you imagine in the blink of an eye."

Perse could only nod positively as her mother fit her small body into the curve of her waist. It was at that moment that Perse saw a slight glow on the horizon, a glow that was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

"What's that, Mom?" asked Perse, her still chubby finger pointing to the suspicious glow between the trees, on the line where the sun descended to meet the earth.

"Ah," said Demeter, her tone losing the warmth she had shown her daughter until that moment. "It's what protects us from the outside world."

"The outside world?" asked the young goddess once more, her face now turning to look at her mother, who had stopped walking toward their home. Perse could see that her mother was struggling with herself, but she still couldn't tell what about.

"The world beyond the barrier is a terrible, dark place. It is gloomy and selfish and cruel. Mommy wants you here, where it is safe," Demeter continued, now quickening her pace. Perse could only wave as the sight of the light that had aroused such emotion in her faded with each step her mother took. Any hope of finding the swan, the two swans, faded along with the euphoria she had felt just moments before.

"We're here."

Killageneia's words finally pulled Perse out of her memories, bringing her back to where the nymph had stopped abruptly.

When her consciousness returned, Perse realized with amazement that she was in exactly the same place she had been when she was still just a tiny thing. Looking around, she could remember in even greater detail the scene that had just invaded her memories. The trees were exactly the same as she had seen hiding the glow of the border, the fruits that had fallen from her mother's basket were still in the same place as last time, and the glow was as curious and striking as it had been when she was even younger.

"Come on, we have to check what your mother asked for," called Kalligeneia, her tone demanding, in a way that was never the case when her goddess was present. Her blue hand reached for Perse's chestnut, her fingers intertwining with enough force to hurt if she were anything other than a goddess.

"Calm down!" Perse almost shouted, feeling almost outside her body with the overwhelming feelings that suddenly took hold of her. It wasn't the chill she felt when she was in danger, but rather a tingling that ran through her entire being, an itch beneath the surface of her false mortal skin, the voices for the first time since she could remember, low and almost imperceptible.

It wasn't a whisper or a scream that stopped her; no one needed to warn Demeter's daughter that something was about to happen. She just knew.

"I have a better idea," the world seemed slower, the noises quieter, and everything a little brighter. Perse had no idea what she was about to say, her mouth acting on pure instinct, the words coming out before she could reflect on them. She just knew they would work. "Why don't we split up?"

"No way! Lady Perse, you know you have to stay with me," exclaimed Killageneia, her fingers tightening around her beloved's daughter's. Perse might have felt sorry for her wide eyes and frightened face, but she didn't have time for that. She had to act.

"Yes, yes. But Kalligeneia, we both know that I am already a grown goddess. If I can't protect myself, you won't be able to either. With all due respect," argued Perse, her body tingling with every word that came out of her mouth. "Besides, this is my mother's little paradise. It couldn't be safer! No one can harm me while she’s here."

"Lady Perde, you can't! Your mother would be furious if she knew, she would kill me," said Cefos' daughter, her tone alarmed as she realized she would not be able to change the mind of the goddess she had promised to care for.

"But Mom will never know. Everything will be perfectly fine," replied Demeter's daughter, her tone calming, her instincts now completely taking over. She knew that her agitation would only make the situation worse; the calmer she was, the calmer the nymph would be. "Besides, think how pleased Mom would be with you! Her best nymph finishing the tasks assigned to her so quickly. Your report complete and her daughter delivered safely. You would earn even more respect from your goddess."

"I...," and Perse knew she had won. The temptation to receive more and more from the goddess of agriculture had always been and always would be Kalligeneia's weakness. Every part of her body bubbled with energy, begging her to act quickly, to walk away and go exactly where she knew she should go. Her mother would forgive her, but she couldn't say no to that. "All right, but you must never let your mother know about this."

"Of course, Killageneia. Don't worry," replied Perse, feeling the deepest roots of the soil rising to match her euphoria. "She'll never know about this. I promise."

"All right," Kalligeneia repeated with a heavy sigh. "I'll take that side and you take the other. You have until I call you to check if the barrier is completely intact. Understood?"

"Absolutely," replied Rhea's granddaughter.

"Be sure to check the strength of the border, you can't let anything slip by," said Cefos' daughter nervously as she released Perse's mother, her eyes turning only once to her before she saw an affirmative nod and set off for the right side of the meadow.

A moment, two, and Perse shot to the left side. For the first time in a long time, she felt truly elated, her dark curls flying with the speed she ran in the direction she knew was right. In not a moment did she worry about the noise or the concern that something might happen to her. The guilt of technically lying to her mother and her nymph was nowhere to be seen amid so much excitement.

Perse would have stayed right there if she could.

But then, the young goddess suddenly stopped. Her body was tingling in a way she simply could no longer ignore.

There it was, just behind the trees with the most leaves: a gap.

It was difficult to describe exactly what Perse felt at that moment, but she knew it would be even more difficult to recreate the feeling of accomplishment she felt. Demeter's daughter wasn't sure why such happiness had sprung up within her—she should have been terrified, that was exactly what her mother had told her to be careful about since she explained the purpose of the border—but she just knew that this was right.

Slowly approaching, Perse noticed how the crack was larger than she had expected, perhaps wide enough for an arm if she tried hard enough. But that wasn't what caught her attention the most. What made her green and blue eyes shine like the rarest jewels was the strange matter leaking out of the "outside world." It was a kind of foam, but much softer and at the same time firmer, it was cold when Perse touched it, much colder than the water she collected to deliver to the nymphs, and it left her mother with an incredible sensation.

Whatever it was, it was beautiful, more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. The color was so white that it almost looked blue, and it contrasted beautifully with her skin. Something about it called to her, begged to be hers.

Perse had no idea what it was, but she knew it was important. Important in the way that Perse's whispers and dreams were, even though her mother or any of the nymphs could or should know. This would be another secret she would keep only to herself.

Before she could think properly, Demeter's daughter was already using leaves and twigs to cover the gap in the barrier. She had never been so nervous and excited at the same time. She didn't know what would come of it, she didn't even know why she was doing it, but she was absolutely certain that she needed to do it. Whatever it was she had just discovered, whatever had just happened, it was meant to happen exactly the way it did.

As she covered more and more of her new discovery, Perse could only think about how happy she was that she had been chosen to come with Kalligeneia to the border, how right it was that she had tricked her mother's favorite nymph, and how it was always meant to be her to find what would surely have been ruined by any other being.

It was then that she had the best idea she could have had. Demeter's daughter used her powers, those she had never had contact with—like everyone else—and pulled as many roots out of the ground as she could until her own barrier was erected under the mysterious hole.

"Lady Perse!"

At Kalligeneia's cry, Perse finally stepped away from her masterpiece. Perfect. Now even if someone stumbled there or knocked on the barrier looking for a flaw, they would find nothing.

Her secret would be kept with her.

"I'm coming! Just a minute," Perse shouted back, taking one last look at what would surely be the cause of her unease until she could check it one more time. And well, if she had any doubts that she was on the right track, those doubts were buried by the whispers that told her that she had done well.

"Any irregularities, my lady?" asked Kalligeneia as she saw her goddsess's daughter coming toward her, completely fine, without the slightest sign of injury or distress. Quite the contrary, Perse was sure she couldn't have had a bigger smile on her face.

"Everything is perfect, Kalligeneia!" replied the goddess, her being stirring, but not with guilt, no. What she felt bubbling inside her was a tremendous excitement, and Perse wondered what might happen if she just allowed a small portion of all that feeling to leak out.

The world would go up in flames.

Chapter Text

As soon as Perse opened her eyes, she knew that what she was seeing was a dream.

More than that. The goddess couldn't explain it, but something told her that whatever she was about to witness would change the course of her entire life.

It wouldn't exactly be the first time, after all, it was rare that her visions while resting didn't change her life, even if only in the slightest. It was strange, but she usually knew if what she was seeing was already in the past, if it was happening, or if it was yet to happen. The whispers didn't need to tell her, even if they did anyway, she just knew.

But this was different. As she continued to look at where she was—a beautiful island, with plants everywhere, even if they were different from the ones she had known before, with the most beautiful shade of blue sky and the brightest sun she had ever seen, outshining any sunset she had ever witnessed alongside her beloved nymphs among the trees — Perse couldn't say exactly where in time it fit. She felt in her being that this was her past, as well as her present and future. The sensations enveloped her, embraced her, comforted her, and made her dizzy with desire for something, or someone, she had not yet unraveled.

As she took her first step forward, Perse was overcome by one of the sweetest and most fulfilling sensations she had ever felt. With each step the goddess took, the whispers that always accompanied her grew louder, but in a very different way from when they warned her to flee. In their melody, the two voices encouraged her to continue on her way. The symphony made her dizzy with excitement, an anticipation so similar to what she felt when she had first escaped from Kalligeneia, but it also made her curious.

Perse had heard many melodies before—her mother loved to hum while working on her beautiful plants, the Meliae, Ida and Adrasteia, used to sing to her when she was still a little goddess, and her nymphs took great pleasure in singing beautiful harmonies while braiding her hair and laying her in her bed—but their whispers had never done anything more than... whisper.

The music guided her, each note leading her into the unknown, yet somehow so familiar. Perse paid little attention to where she was going, her mind clouded by an enchanting mist, although she noticed that the vegetation seemed to part for her to pass, not in the way it did in her mother's paradise, but in an even more reverent, yet curious manner. They hesitated but still made way, not because they were servants of the goddess of grains, but because of a much greater force.

It was almost a surprise when a third tone joined the soft humming. It was a new voice, a tone she had never heard before, deeper, unlike anything Perse had ever heard in her centuries of life. The sound filled her inside, warming her in a way that even the fire burning in her home could not replicate.

Unlike the familiar voices that kept her company even when her mother had to make inexplicable trips to the dangerous outside world, the third voice did not seem to come from inside her head. Quite the contrary, Perse could feel the vibration throughout her body, passing through every inch of her exterior until it found a place that allowed it to enter her being.

It was the most... unique sensation she had ever experienced. Perse still couldn't say she understood it, but she knew that with each vibration, the goddess felt her being expand, her corporeal version begging to be freed and become everything and, at the same time, nothing.

Then she saw him.

How could she explain exactly what she felt? The goddess, daughter of Demeter, thought she would never be able to do such a thing. Perse had never seen anyone like the being standing before her, certainly not where she grew up, but even in her dreams—where she had already learned that the world was not made up solely of nymphs and female beings—the goddess had never met anyone like the being standing right in front of her.

He had an aura of power that Perse had only seen before in her mother, power orbiting him magnetically, but it did not make her fear him, it did not leave her with a feeling of helplessness, his power seemed to resonate in her being as an equal. From behind, he displayed his long, beautiful golden hair, which somehow seemed even more brilliant than the sun that had won her admiration. His back was enormous, small dots all over his skin like constellations appearing in the sky of her little paradise, but instead of being silver like the stars or dark like her own skin, they were golden like the color of his hair.

Perse could have spent the rest of her time just admiring the beautiful creature, attentive to every detail she could identify.

But then he turned, and with that, everything Perse thought was true turned with him.

His face was even more beguiling than anything Perse had ever laid her eyes on; the harmony she had been listening to was nothing compared to the harmony of his features or the sense of peace that simply looking at his face gave her. Every little detail filled her with admiration—his nose, his mouth, his skin. Perse could have been unsure which part she found most mesmerizing, if it weren't for his eyes. Those two blue orbs seemed like a window to everything she desired and didn't know about it yet, and Perse had to take back what she had thought before — that specific shade of blue was hundreds of times more beautiful than the sky above them. 

And the moment his eyes met hers, blue in green, green in blue, the whispers that had accompanied her for as long as she could remember abandoned her.

The goddess should have been terrified, afraid of what this could mean, frightened by the absence of one of the greatest constants in her immortal life and, above all, concerned about how she could identify dangers and the perfect moment to leave. But she did not allow any of this; a great peace took hold of her being.

In the back of her mind, Demeter's daughter found herself amazed. It was the first time that anyone who inhabited her dreams had noticed her, looked at her as if she really existed, as if they really saw her.

Perse found herself wishing he would never stop.

“Who are you?” the being asked, his tone inquisitive but with an undertone of, perhaps, desperation. 

When she heard his voice, Perse was certain that the third voice, the third tone that hummed, belonged to him. His words were strong but also had a humming undertone. Perse didn't know how he was doing it, she just knew that she didn't want him to stop under any circumstances. It was completely crazy that mere three words could affect the goddess so much, her body shivering, but nothing like when she felt in danger, it didn't seem like her powers were acting to protect her from something.

It was pleasure that ran through her body.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my dreams?” Perse retorted, her tone coming out harder and straighter than she expected. It was a tone she had never used with anyone before, she didn't even know she had it in her, it had simply come out of her before she could restrain herself.

It wasn't something she would do to her mother or any of her nymphs, not because she didn't want to, but because she couldn't. The idea of purposely doing anything to displease them made her panic; she didn't think she could put her discontent into words or even convey it in her tone in a truthful way.

But there was something about him that made her believe she could be truly free.

“Hmm. Bold, I see,” replied the blond, his tone lighter as he rose from where he was sitting on a moss-covered rock, his hands clutching an object she had never seen before. “I am the god Phoebus Apollo, of course.”

Apollo.

Apollo.

The name echoed in her mind like a hymn, like a promise, and Perse couldn't help but mimic the sound with her mouth, silently. His voice, still melodious, contained a touch of cockiness, which surprisingly did not bother the goddess, who simply followed an unknown instinct that guided her forward, her bare feet advancing through the wet grass toward Apollo.

“A-po-llo,” Perse said louder, her mouth testing the name, trying to understand and feel each syllable. The god's blue eyes followed, almost hypnotized, the movement of her lips, which should not have embarrassed Perse, she was no longer an innocent goddess, she had already slept with almost all the nymphs of the meadow at least three times, but it did. Perse felt her cheeks flush with her flaming ichor, but she didn't want the feeling to stop for even a second. “My name is Perse.”

The god looked at her expectantly, tilting his head forward as if to encourage her to continue.

“Just Perse,” emphasized the goddess, her chin lifting in a way that was new to her. For some inexplicable reason, she didn't feel the slightest fear that he might dislike her actions, as if she didn't need to reflect on every little action or every single word.

“Per-se,” said Apollo, repeating what she herself had done with the god's name. His rose-colored mouth articulated each syllable, as if he were carefully savoring each letter of her name, his eyes looking at her with curiosity and something more. “Well, just Perse, I have no idea how I ended up in your dreams, but I'm very happy that it happened,” his tone made it clear that he wanted her to ask why, it was clearly a trap, but she didn't care in the least.

“And could you tell me why that is, Phoebus?”

“Because I met you,” he replied, with the utmost naturalness in the world, while making Demeter's daughter lose her words with the simplicity of a few well-articulated words.

“Ha! How funny you are,” commented Perse, her tone sarcastic, her eyes rolling as she noticed the way he let out a melodious laugh with his words. Even so, she took a few more steps forward, feeling an invisible force pushing her toward the god who looked at her as if she were the only thing he was focused on at that moment.

Well, he would be the first one to do so.

“I'm the funniest of them all, my dear,” said the blond god, his eyes fixed on Perse's, as if checking to see if she would really blush at the affectionate name. She did. That didn't stop her from letting out an ironic laugh as she moved closer and closer to him. “And you mock my abilities, how cruel you are. My sister would love to meet you."

“Your sister?” asked Perse, her eyebrow rising. Obviously she knew what sisters were, many of her nymphs had several sisters, but it wasn't until that moment, when she felt freer than she had in all her centuries, that she realized she didn't know if she had a sister at all.

“Oh, yes. My lovely younger sister, she loves to laugh at me. She would find it hilarious that, well... you don't think so as well” he added as he moved closer to her and hung the strange object on his back using a string that went from one end to the other. “‘'It's a sibling thing, you know?”

“No,” replied Perse, her voice shy as a feeling of emptiness formed within her. 

Even as she spoke, something inside her, not the voices, something deeper, told her that it wasn't quite true, but how could she know? Perse had no siblings. Even the nymphs she grew up with weren't exactly her sisters, not only because of their strange relationship with each other, but also because they never did what Apollo said was “‘a sibling thing’,” they always seemed too afraid, too fearful, to actually tease and play with her.

“Ah, well,” Apollo replied, his smile faltering only for a moment before returning with an even bigger one, his eyes betraying a hint of embarrassment but clearly trying not to show it. Perse would let it slide, just this once. “I suppose not all nymphs have hundreds of siblings. My apologies.”

“I'm not a nymph,” Perse replied, her face closing, but not because of any discomfort she felt about the question; she knew she was different from the other deities. She didn't expect him to guess that she was a goddess; she just wanted to see if her lack of enthusiasm would make him have some funny reaction, such as apologizing.

And she guessed right, when the golden haired god processed what she said, he stood still, like a statue, just looking into her green eyes, as if trying to figure out what she could be and failing completely in his mission.

“That explains it better then,” said Apollo, his words slow, as if he were trying to see how his words would be received. After all, being stared at by her mother's stern face from time to time wasn't so bad—she learned a trick or two from it. "Nymphs hardly ever have dreams; mortals are much more prone to them. A little trick done by Morpheus, I'm sure."

“Mortals?” asked Perse, her voice trembling, wanting to laugh but probably being interpreted as the voice of someone about to cry.

“No?” asked the blond god in return, his eyes apprehensive, he kept looking into Perse's eyes as if the goddess were about to cry at any moment.

Frankly, what was it with the gods that they always believed she was on the verge of tears? Perse was a well-formed goddess, surprisingly good at dealing with her own emotions, and had not had a crying fit since she was a little goddess and had a dream in which her mother screamed as if in the depths of pain. It had been centuries; she wasn't going to burst into tears over a single comment from that god just because he hadn't guessed she was a goddess.

“No,” was all Perse revealed.

“A goddess?” asked Phoebus, hesitant until he saw the slight nod the goddess in front of him gave him. His eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. “A goddess? Impossible. I would certainly remember if I had ever seen you on Olympus, I wouldn't be able to forget even if I wanted to. I apologize, my lady. I am deeply—”

Perse couldn't hold back any longer, the laughter that escaped her was so completely pure that Perse doubted she had laughed like that since she was younger and played all day in the meadow with her mother.

Meanwhile, Apollo could only stare at her, almost pathetically, which only made the goddess laugh even more. The blond haired god's face was so perfectly hilarious that she couldn't control herself, even as she watched Apollo's face change from shock to amusement disguised as anger. In her laughter, she felt happier and more alive than she had felt in perhaps centuries. At no point did she feel compelled to stop, to lower her head to avoid embarrassing the god in front of her, or to lower her tone so that it would be appropriate for a young lady—as Ida and Kalligeneia made a point of reminding her. 

“Ha. Ha. Wow, I don't know why I believed that,” commented Phoebus, his arms crossed and his face forming a pout, yet his blue eyes sparkled as he looked at the goddess continuing to laugh at him. “Okay, I get it. I'm hilarious.”

It took a few more moments for her to finally stop laughing, because every time she stopped, she saw the god's face, his adorable pout, and immediately started laughing again.

“Your face was priceless,” said Perse, letting out one last laugh.

“Oh, yes. It must have been really funny,” replied Apollo, moving closer to the goddess so she could see how he was struggling not to smile, his lips trembling as he watched Perse still giggle.

“I've never seen anything so hilarious,” said Perse, pressing her lips together to give herself an air of seriousness, which was completely undermined by the sparkle of amusement she knew was in her eyes.

“But seriously, are you really a goddess?” asked the god, his eyes regaining some of their initial seriousness. He seemed conflicted, as if he really wanted to know but was afraid she would be offended by having her divinity questioned. While Perse wanted to say she was completely focused on the feelings of this unknown god, she was mostly focused on the way the sun reflected off his hair and made her feel things she had never felt before. “I would certainly believe that you are a goddess, looking at you I would have no doubt, but I have never seen you anywhere before.”

His gaze swept over Perse completely, starting at the top of her head where her dark curls unfolded to the point of her foot, which was intertwined with the small leaves fallen on the ground and the grass. He looked at her as her mother's nymphs looked at the goddess they so worshipped, and Perse couldn't help but find herself longing for that reverence, for that joy in his gaze that had never quite been the same as when it was directed at the goddess of agriculture.

“Don't worry, Phoebus, you haven't offended my sensibilities,” said Perse, jokingly but also wanting him to feel at ease. It had been a long time since she had felt so free in someone's company, and she didn't want anything she said to ruin it. “But yes, I am indeed a goddess. And once again, don't worry, I also haven't seen you before. Nor any other god.”

That information seemed to snap Apollo out of his shock, causing him to move the short distance that separated them, his golden fingers reaching out to touch her shoulder.

But then his fingers passed right through her, as if neither of them really existed. Just an illusion, a blurred image in a mirror. 

It was as if a spell had been broken, Perse finally came to her senses, remembering that this was just a dream. Unlike any other she had ever had? Certainly, but still just a dream. Even if that god, Phoebus Apollo, did indeed exist, she doubted that she would ever meet him outside of her mind, just as had happened with all the other dreams in which she had visualized something more than an abstract moment. Not only that, but she had never dreamed twice about the same being, so the chances that she would ever see that wonderful being again, who made her feel free, light, and simply a little more like Perse, were almost nonexistent.

That was when Perse noticed how her vision seemed blurred. She looked at both her arms and realized that they looked the same as when she and Kraneia threw stones into the tiny lake near her old tree.

Perse was waking up.

“I'm waking up,” whispered Perse as she turned her gaze back to the face of the god, Phoebus Apollo. By Kaos, she didn't want to forget that name.

The voices of the women returned to her, their once comforting whispers now just a grim reminder of what she was about to lose. She wanted to despair, to ask for just one more minute on that wonderful island with that curious being. She then realized that, as always before, there were only two tones circulating in her mind, two voices humming happily where only she could hear them, and she realized that a third was missing, a third tone to make the melody sound even more harmonious.

“I'm waking up,” said the goddess, now louder, seeing Phoebus's eyes widen in horror. Once again he tried to grab her shoulders, this time with both hands, only to realize that he couldn't and that each attempt made her presence fade faster.

“Tell me where I can find you!” Apollo exclaimed, his voice louder than necessary, but it made Perse feel... good. It was at least comforting to know that she wasn't the only one devastated by the end of that sweet dream.

That he would miss her.

“I—”

And then the dream, just like her, was completely gone.

-

When Perse, daughter of Demeter, woke up, she immediately wanted to burst into tears. 

Which was a foolish thing to do. The goddess didn't like it when her mother interpreted her as a crybaby. She was already a goddess with centuries of life behind her—younger than everyone else in the meadow, but still a goddess—and she didn't want to be seen as weak, someone who should be treated with kid gloves by the nymphs who were, if not her friends, then her partners.

But the moment she opened her eyes, it was as if none of that mattered. She didn't even know what she wanted to cry about. For the first time in centuries of dreams and visions, Perse couldn't remember almost anything she had seen. There were some sensations that stayed with her. Perse could remember seeing the beautiful sky, feeling wet grass against her toes, feeling free, but she couldn't grasp the idea of what exactly the dream had been.

And perhaps that had been the worst part of it all.

She looked around her room, her eyes scanning the walls and plants, the sounds of birds coming from outside and the chatter of nymphs, but her mind was elsewhere, nowhere to be found.

Quickly, her mind was once again taken over by the agitated voices, the two female tones speaking at the same time, but something about them struck Perse as strange. It didn't make sense; the voices always whispered or spoke or shouted, those were the only possible variations in the many centuries they had kept her company.

So why did Perse feel as if they should be humming?

“Awake, my lady?” asked a voice lying beside her, soft as the sounds of songbirds.

It was Morea. The nymph was beside her, her beautiful purple hair spread across Perse’s pillows like a beautiful painting. Both were without their clothes, the memory of their actions before Perse fell asleep still burning in her mind—even though she, shamefully, preferred to remember her recent dream—especially when she looked up and found small marks on the purple skin of the naiad nymph of the mulberries. 

“Oh? Yes, of course,” replied Perse, even though she still felt as if she hadn’t really returned, her mind stuck somewhere else entirely. Even though she didn’t even know where that place was.

“I think you had a very good rest, my lady,” said Morea as she raised her torso to look more easily at the goddess. “You smiled so sweetly the whole time. It had been so long since I had seen you so... lighthearted as you are today.”

“I'm sure your help was essential to such relaxation, my dear,” but even as she spoke, she knew it wasn't exactly the truth, yet the lie came out of her mouth as easily as it was for her mother to control the plants in the meadow. On the other hand, the affectionate name burned in her mouth, coming out difficult, as it had never been before. After all, Morea was very dear to her, one of the nymphs she had always been closest to. But now something about it made her feel a great emptiness in her being, not as if she were lying, but as if something were missing, as if something were not right.

“Really?” the question was asked in a hoarse voice, the nymph's eyes now staring at Perse's lips, her breath slightly labored as she bit her own lip, desire written all over her face as she continued to bring her face closer to Perse's.

“Uh-huh,” Perse replied, her eyes trying to focus on Morea’s eyes, or at least her lips, as they kept drifting to the nymph’s exposed breasts. The kind of hunger she felt would not be satisfied even with the largest portion of ambrosia in the world. “If I remember correctly, you yourself weren’t in much better condition when I finished with you yesterday.”

“Wow. My memory has been a little weak these last few days, you know, my lady?” The response, though unintentional and not ideal for the moment, was a jab at Perse's feelings, and the little pout she made, for some reason, didn't help at all. “Would you mind refreshing it for me, my dear goddess?”

And then the two were kissing. For a moment, Perse forgot all about dreams and their sensations, her hands rising, one to hold the nymph's face, her thumb gently caressing the purple skin while the other squeezed Morea's left nipple, causing her to let out a moan that was almost a whimper. 

In an instant, Perse climbed on top of the naiad, her thighs on either side of Morea's body. Both were getting closer and closer, but Perse was always careful—always hyper aware of her strength, that she was a goddess, daughter of a great goddess, while the nymph beneath her was just a nymph—which didn't stop either of them from rubbing their bodies against each other. With a soft sigh, Morena took her mouth away from the kiss to make room on her neck for the goddess to leave even more marks, her body arching with the contact, as responsive as ever.

But then Morea placed her hand on Perse's shoulder, and it was as if she had once again awakened from her fever dream. The movement was the echo of something, something Perse simply couldn't quite remember.

The goddess abruptly pulled away from the nymph, her mouth separating from the already bruised neck and her body falling to the side, collapsing next to the smaller body. Her hands went almost automatically to her eyes, covering them in an almost completely involuntary movement, her body trying to make her return to her dream, to reach who knows what—or who. 

“My lady?” came Morea's concerned voice, her tone distressed in a way Perse had only heard a few times before. “Are you all right?”

“Yes!” The exclamation should have come out more abruptly; she wanted to scream at that moment, even though she didn't know exactly why. But she couldn't, she wouldn't. Suddenly she felt trapped, confined, not just in her bed or her room, but in that place, among those same nynths and her mother. It was absurd, absolutely revolting that she could even think that way, but she couldn't suppress the wave of irritation that rose in her chest, discontent bubbling up inside her.

She felt ready to explode.

“Was it something I did, my lady?” the nymph continued to ask, her delicate hands hovering over Perse's tense body, as if she wanted to comfort her but was too afraid to do so.

It had always been this way, not only with Morea, but with the nymphs. Even those she took to her bed, those she lay with in the midst of nature, all touched her when the moment of burning desire arose, their hands everywhere Perse allowed them to go, always making room for the goddess to touch more and more and more. But when the flame became too much, when her burning desire could not be contained in their intimate moments and passed into her emotions, it was as if none of them knew what to do, how to deal with her.

So, Perse locked herself in her mind. Never free enough to let her feelings out, to at least try to build something more with any of them.

“No,” her voice came out controlled, measured, carefully regulated so as not to further frighten the poor nymph who still hovered over her. “It's okay. Just... Just lie down next to me for a while.”

Then Perse laid her body on her pillow, her body sinking into the soft material, waiting for Morea to follow suit. Even as the two lay there, their bodies fully exposed and pressed together, Perse felt a chasm between them. 

Her mind began to wander, trying to pull anything else from her memories, opening and closing her eyes as if that would somehow help her with her treacherous mind. The entire room came under her careful inspection, her evaluation, her questioning if anything there could help her remember the dream she should never have forgotten. It was then that her gaze passed through the space made for her to see outside her room. Through the portal, she saw the nymphs working and birds flying, but mainly she could see the sun passing by, and something in that, in the golden glow of the sun, made a spontaneous comment escape from her chest.

“You have many sisters, Morea,” said Perse. It was not a question, it was a fact. The goddess knew all the nymph's sisters as intimately as she knew the Naiad of the mulberries—which could be a lot or a very little, depending on what you were evaluating. 

“Yes, my goddess,” replied Morea, her voice still delicate, her body tense like Perse's, which only caused the voices to begin to rise in volume, growing louder and louder. “Ptelea, Syke, Aigeros, Karya, Kraneia—”

“Do I have any sisters, Morea?” Perse interrupted, feeling even more suffocated than before by Morea’s nervous speech.

The silence that followed was immediate. Morea's body, previously tense, was now completely still, as if she thought that if she stood still long enough, Perse would forget she was there and then she wouldn't have to answer her question. Unfortunately for her, that didn't work and only made Perse turn her head to look at the nymph, her eyes registering her behavior as a preliminary answer.

“A sister, my lady?” Morea returned the question, her eyes darting from Perse to the door as she covered her naked body with the discarded sheets. 

“ Yes, any sister,” said Perse, her eyes not straying from Morea for a second, even though she felt terrible for being the cause of her frightened look.

“I don’t know for a fact, my lady,” the reply was low, her gaze on her own hands, permanently avoiding her mistress’s suspicious gaze. Perse didn’t believe that answer for a second, and didn’t know if she hated the not knowing more or her nymph’s attempt to lie to her.

“Oh, no?” She received a negative shake of the head in response, but still without looking at Perse. “I was wondering, you know?”

“May I ask why, my lady?” Morea asked, her eyes finally turning to the goddess's face.

“Because you all have several sisters, and I apparently have none,” said Perse, her voice carefully controlled, trying her best not to scare the nymph, not to lose control over her behavior. “And I kept wondering how that could be possible. Mom is a goddess of fertility, isn't she?”

The nymph's deep purple eyes widened, finally fixing themselves on the goddess's face. For a brief moment, neither of them spoke. Perse simply let the weight of her gaze exert its power, her desire to know almost suffocating her.

It was almost enough to make Perse consider using other means to find out. But she could never, would never do such a thing.

“My lady!” Morea finally replied, so alarmed that her skin began to change to a darker shade of purple. “My lady Demeter, she... how did you—”

“And my father, Morea?”

“Your father, my lady?” Morea swallowed hard, her eyes blinking rapidly. She almost seemed to prefer the previous question to this new one. For a moment, Perse wondered if a nymph could die from pure shock.

“Yes, Morea. My father,” said Perse, not letting her frustration show in her words. Why did the nymph feel the need to repeat all her questions, beyond the goddess's understanding? “Everyone has a father, you have yours, the Meliai have theirs, the Sirens too. By Kaos, even my mother has her father,” the comment received a stifled sigh from Morea and a scandalized look. “If my mother has no children, then does my father have any?

“I—”

“My lady. Morea,” came the voice from the door. Kalligeneia.

A chilling sensation ran through Perse's entire body, even though she did not let her exterior show it. Kalligeneia had been at her bedroom door for who knows how long, may have seen things, heard things, that she should not have known. At that moment, Demeter's daughter didn't care if she had seen her intimate moment with the nymph. Frankly, at some point, everyone there had seen something more scandalous than that, but the thought that the nymph most loyal to her mother could have heard the conversation was chilling, to say the least.

The voices were shouting.

The times when Perse could identify what they were saying were few and far between. Perse wouldn't say she had managed to do so more than a hundred times over the centuries, but at that moment, Perse was sure they were saying the same thing in unison:

“So close.”

“Go get ready, young lady, dinner is almost ready.”

-

“How was your day, my dear?” came the question from across the table, from her mother, Demeter. 

The first meal of the day was quieter than usual, her mother seemed more tense than ever and trying to compensate with smiles that didn't seem to reach her green eyes.

Perse was sure something was about to happen, the voices were restless and so was she. Perse didn't want to upset her mother, she never did. At that moment, Perse wished she had never asked Morea anything, that she had let the subject drop, that she had just remained silent once and for all. Her fingers dug into her flesh, her nails leaving marks where there should have been none, the comfort coming with the pain that the gesture brought her.

“It was very good, Mom,” Perse replied, eager to please her mother. She could feel her own eyes shining toward the goddess in front of her, as bright as they had always been for the goddess who had raised her, loved her, and given her life. “I rested very well last night. It was wonderful. How was it for you?”

“Very well, my little goose. Thank you for asking,” her voice was soft, delicate as the swaying of the trees that grew taller and taller, and sweet as the ambrosia they tasted. 

Once again, silence stretched between the two, an invisible barrier, a precipice separating them, as always happened when Perse had much to say and no courage to do so, and Demeter had many feelings within herself and very few truly for Perse.

Ichor dripped from Perse's fingers, dripping onto the delicate material of her chiton.

“A curious thing,” added Demeter, her gaze shifting between Perse and the ambrosia she held. As if to torture her daughter a little more, the goddess of agriculture slowly put the food of the gods in her mouth and tasted it more slowly than necessary. “Kalligeneia was telling me about a conversation between you and your dear Morea earlier today.”

A loud noise was heard in the hallway leading from her dining area to the outside of her dwelling. Through the crack in the door, Perse could see Kalligeneia drop whatever she was holding onto the floor, her hands trembling as her long ears turned toward where the two goddesses were talking.

At least her mother had no problem handing over her beloved Kalligeneia. 

At least Perse was sure who she could no longer trust.

At least the goddess Demeter admitted where her information came from.

Although Perse doubted that her mother would be so pleased if she knew what the daughter of Cephus had done not long ago. If her mother knew that, near the frontier she so feared Perse would be close to, her beloved nymph had separated from her, someone would certainly lose some respect with a certain goddess, perhaps even more than just respect.

As much as the thought pleased her for a moment, Perse soon regained her senses. Kalliageneia had practically raised her, even if with some reluctance, was always there for her mother, and was like a leader to most of the nymphs in the meadow. She didn't deserve that.

Or did she?

But that wasn't even the only point, Perse couldn't let his mother know about what had happened. He couldn't let the goddess know about the breach. He couldn't let her know his little secret.

It could have been madness, a hallucination to distract her mind from what was happening, but at that moment Perse could swear she saw a black swan, the same one from when she was just a little goddess, looking at her from outside the house. 

In the blink of an eye, it was gone.

“Mom, I'm sorry,” said Perse, her voice rushing after the shock, the betrayal, passed. She needed to fix this, she needed to make her mother believe that she didn't mean anything by it. She couldn't bear it if her mother, for whatever reason, was unhappy with her, if she thought Perse didn't love her. “You have to believe that I—”

“I believe it's time for you to meet your father.”