Persephone the Grateful

by Joan Holub

  Poof! To her surprise, it disappeared in a puff of black smoke. “Well, that was easy,” she said, pleased.

  Unfortunately, it became clear that the serpent wasn’t the only thing holding the boys to the bench. “Oomph. Umph,” they groaned as they attempted to rise. Though they could move their arms and legs, it was as if their rear ends were glued to the bench!

  Suddenly Persephone heard the flapping sound of wings overhead. Fearing that the Furies had spied the mortal boys and were coming for them, her heart leaped into her throat. She looked up and then breathed a sigh of relief. It was only Antheia and Makhai.

  “Yoo-hoo! Looks like you found them!” Antheia called out as she and Makhai settled to the ground in their winged sandals. “Guess who else just arrived in the Underworld?”

  “Team One?” asked Persephone, figuring the brainy Athena’s team wouldn’t be far behind theirs.

  “Bingo!” said Makhai, his voice worried and a little accusing. “We saw them heading for the River Cocytus just a few minutes ago. So if we’re still going to win this competition, we need to get a move on!” He waved at the two boys on the bench. “Get up, you troublemakers. C’mon. What’s wrong with you? We need to get going.”

  Theseus and Pirithous stared blankly at Makhai. “Who are you?” Theseus asked. “And what’s a troublemaker?” asked Pirithous.

  Persephone frowned. “Uh, we have a slight problem.” As quickly as possible, she and Hades explained about the Chair of Forgetfulness and how the two mortals from their team were stuck to it.

  “Can’t we pull them free?” Makhai suggested.

  Hades shrugged. “We can try.” He didn’t sound hopeful, however.

  “So, has this happened before to others?” Persephone asked him, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

  He sighed. “Uh-huh.”

  “What did you do to free them?” asked Antheia.

  “Well… you’re not going to like this…,” said Hades. “Before I found all the others, they just sat here so long that they wasted away to dust.”

  Persephone gasped. “No! We can’t let that happen! We’ve got to figure out a way to save them! Let’s try to pull them off.”

  Makhai and Antheia each took hold of one of Theseus’s arms, while Hades and Persephone grabbed Pirithous’s. “One, two, three, pull!” Makhai shouted. The two goddessgirls and two godboys gritted their teeth and tugged as hard as they could. But the mortal boys’ butts barely budged.

  “Too bad we’re not stronger,” said Antheia.

  Persephone snapped her fingers. “Hey! That’s it! You said Team One is here. Heracles is on that team, and he’s super strong. I’m sure he’ll help. After all, he’ll want to rescue his cousin,” she said, pointing at Theseus.

  Theseus’s face lit up in a big smile. “I have a cousin?”

  “Yup,” said Persephone. The others rolled their eyes.

  “What’s a cousin?” asked Pirithous. The two mortal boys looked at each other in question, then raised and lowered their shoulders, totally clueless.

  “Heracles is mortal, though,” Hades reminded Persephone. “No mortals allowed in the Underworld, no exceptions, remember? I hope he obeyed my signs and is waiting on the other side of my fence.”

  “Can’t you please make this one teeny exception for him? It’s an emergency,” said Persephone.

  After gazing for a few seconds at the two boys, whose expressions remained sweetly vacant and goofy, Hades was finally won over. He nodded. “I guess it’s okay this one time. But keep watch for the Furies, everybody.”

  Just as they were discussing who should go fetch Heracles (and the rest of Team One), a boy gave an angry shout from above. They all looked up.

  “Hey!” yelled Kydoimos. Purple cloak flapping, he, Iris, and Ares zoomed down to land among them. “Did you guys steal the container we were supposed to find at the river?” Kydoimos accused.

  Persephone and Antheia exchanged a look of startled realization. Ye gods! Minthe had been holding on to the dog-shaped box when Persephone had changed her to mint. That box and its contents must have gotten transformed into mint too. But that explanation could wait until later. Right now there was a more immediate problem to solve. If the Furies got here before Heracles, Theseus and Pirithous really might have to stay butt-benched in the Underworld forever!

  12

  To the Rescue!

  WE DIDN’T STEAL THE CONTAINER,” Persephone assured Kydoimos as he and his two teammates laced the wings at their sandals’ heels to still them.

  Straightening, he scowled at her as if he didn’t believe her. “Then where is—”

  “Never mind about that right now,” she said, interrupting. “We need help!” Quickly, she and her teammates explained about the Chair of Forgetfulness and how Theseus and Pirithous had sneaked under Hades’ fence and gotten stuck to it. “Heracles’ strength is probably our best bet for freeing them,” Persephone breathlessly finished.

  “But he and Athena stayed back at the River Styx,” Ares said. “On account of Heracles being mortal. Athena decided to keep him company while the rest of us flew to the Cocytus.”

  Hades looked around the group. “Well? Go get him, someone! Since it’s an emergency, I’ll allow him to enter the Underworld this once. But we’ll all need to keep an eye out for the Furies. If they find out mortals sneaked under my fence into the Underworld, these two boys are toast.”

  “I can bring Heracles and Athena here in a snap,” Iris offered. After speedily conjuring a ball of rainbow magic, she wound up and threw it. Brrrng! Instantly a pretty, sparkling rainbow arched from where she stood to a place unseen in the distance, which Persephone guessed must be the far bank of the River Styx. Iris’s aim was that good. “Back in a jiff,” Iris called out. Then she slid up and over the rainbow bridge she’d created and out of sight.

  While Iris was fetching Heracles and Athena, Persephone and Antheia finally told the others about their encounter with Minthe. “She was holding on to the box that contained the fourth-clue objects when I transformed her into a plant. Which I had to do to rescue Antheia,” Persephone explained when she and Antheia reached that part of their story.

  Antheia nodded, and then added, “I’m guessing the box and objects must have become mint too.”

  Persephone nodded in agreement. She’d been watching Hades’ face while she and Antheia spoke. Most of the way through their story, he’d frowned. Clearly, he was not happy with what had happened. But was he unhappy on their behalf? Or on Minthe’s? Or both? Persephone felt a knot in the pit of her stomach. What if he was angry at her for transforming that nymph into a plant? And also for not telling him about it right away? She wished she knew what he was thinking. But she didn’t want to ask him with others around.

  While listening to the girls’ story, Ares had been skipping rocks across the waters of the Lethe. Seemingly mesmerized, Theseus and Pirithous watched his game from the Chair of Forgetfulness. Now Ares stopped throwing rocks and turned toward the girls. “Sorry, but I think our team kind of stomped all over her while we were trying to find the box. Oops.”

  “That mint stuff you created smelled sweet,” Kydoimos added to Persephone. “It really helped mask the nasty sulfur smell.”

  To her surprise, he smiled at her. Whoa! Had Kydoimos meant his remark as a compliment to her? she wondered. Then again, he might have meant it as an insult to the Underworld and Hades. If so, the insult wouldn’t succeed, since Hades thought the Underworld was perfect just the way it was.

  And indeed, Hades didn’t react to Kydoimos’s statement at all. Instead he said, “Whether or not Heracles is able to free Theseus and Pirithous, I’m going to need to get over to the River Cocytus soon.” With a sidelong glance at Persephone that she found hard to interpret, he added, “After I restore Minthe to her former self, I’ll see what she has to say for herself.”

  Feeling guilty that her transformation of Minthe had resulted in more work for her crush, Persephone said, “Shall I go wi
th you?”

  Hades flashed her a smile. “I’d like that.” Phew, she thought. He must not be angry with her after all.

  Seconds later, Iris, Heracles, and Athena came sliding over the rainbow. As soon as they landed, Heracles sprang into action. “Let’s get you off this bench, cuz,” he said to Theseus. “And you too,” he told Pirithous.

  Theseus’s face lit up. “You’re my cousin? Hey! I like that thing you’re wearing. What is it?” he added, pointing to Heracles’ cape.

  “It’s my lion cape,” Heracles informed him.

  “I like it too,” said Pirithous. “Can I borrow it sometime?”

  “No,” Heracles said brusquely.

  Persephone and the others quickly formed a semicircle in front of the bench so they’d be ready to help if necessary as Heracles moved to stand behind the two bench-bound boys. He reached under their shoulders and wrapped one of his hugely muscled arms around each boy’s waist. “Brace yourselves. I’ll try to tug you both loose at the count of three,” he told them.

  “Okay,” they sing-songed calmly.

  “They’ve both lost their memories,” Persephone whispered to Athena, who had come to stand beside her. “They probably don’t know enough to be afraid that this could hurt.”

  Athena nodded. “Iris told us. I hope their memories will return once they’re off that bench.”

  “One, two, three!” counted Heracles. His feet were planted wide and his muscles tensed as he began to pull. “Umph. Omph,” he grunted through gritted teeth.

  The others all held their breath as Heracles strained to release Theseus and Pirithous from the bench. If anyone could succeed at the task, it would be this superstar strongboy. According to Athena, who had been with him at the time, Heracles had once uprooted a stand of huge trees with his bare hands and tossed them into a pile to create a dam. And it had cost him very little effort. Still, for a few moments it seemed as if his famed strength would not be enough to free his cousin and Pirithous. But then… Rrrippp!

  All of a sudden Heracles stumbled backward with a boy locked under each arm. Luckily, he managed to catch his balance before all three could tumble to the ground.

  “Heracles? What’s up?” Theseus asked as his cousin released him and Pirithous.

  “I think he’s regained his memories,” Persephone whispered to Athena, who nodded.

  Pirithous rubbed his eyes. Then, noticing that he was being stared at, particularly by Ares and Hades, who were standing slightly in back of him, he asked, “Wha… what’s going on?”

  “Dudes!” Ares said in a rush to both boys. “You might want to cover your backsides. Feeling a bit breezy back there?”

  “Huh?” Theseus and Pirithous said at the same time.

  “Seems your behinds left something behind!” Grinning, Heracles pointed to the bench, where two big, round patches of cloth that matched the tunics of Theseus and Pirithous remained firmly attached. As they’d been pried up, the seat of each boy’s tunic had ripped off to remain on the bench!

  After glancing over their shoulders, the two mortal boys turned a brighter red than Persephone’s hair. Meanwhile, the four girls in the group looked at one another and then burst into giggles.

  Pirithous scowled at them as he and Theseus hastily tried to pull back the sides of their tunics to cover any bareness. “It’s not funny!”

  “S’okay, bro,” Theseus said to Pirithous good-naturedly. “It actually is sort of funny.” He glanced over at Hades. “And it’s probably what we deserve for disobeying your rules and tunneling into the Underworld.”

  “Yeah,” Hades agreed, chuckling. “It kind of is.”

  Makhai slipped off his purple cloak and held it out to Theseus. “Here,” he said gruffly. “No one wants to see your butt hanging out.” He glanced over at Kydoimos. “How about letting Pirithous borrow yours?”

  Kydoimos stared at Makhai, a look of surprise on his face. He probably wasn’t used to Makhai taking the lead on anything, thought Persephone. Especially to suggest he do something nice. Kydoimos’s jaw dropped open, but then he closed it. “Oh, all right,” he said. He shrugged off his cloak and handed it to Pirithous.

  Pirithous smiled at him and whipped it on. “Hey, thanks!”

  Kydoimos scowled at him. “Just don’t go telling any of your mortal friends that I let you wear it. That’d ruin my reputation!”

  Huh? thought Persephone. He liked being known as a bully? That was crazy! Athena caught her eye and shrugged. I know what you’re thinking and I agree, her look seemed to say.

  Seconds later a faint screech came from somewhere overhead. Antheia pointed up at the sky. “Whoa! Look at those huge birds winging toward us,” she asked. “Oh, wait. Are they—”

  “Leaping Olympians!” Persephone interrupted. “The Furies are coming!” Though they were still too far away to see clearly which Fury was which, she could make them out well enough.

  “Quick!” Iris shouted. “My rainbow will take the three mortals to safety much faster than winged sandals. In fact, we can all slide over it.”

  Kydoimos frowned. “But our team still needs an object of proof from this location!”

  Overhearing, Antheia urged, “No time. We can explain what happened to Muse Urania and ask if we can share our team’s fourth object with you guys.”

  “Sounds good to me,” said Athena. She grabbed Heracles’ hand and dragged him over to Iris’s rainbow. As Antheia started to do the same with Theseus, he called out, “And we can ask her to declare a tie between our two teams.”

  Kydoimos grunted, seemingly satisfied at this.

  Makhai and Pirithous frowned at the idea, but, as they both knew, without Heracles’ rescue, Theseus and Pirithous would still be stuck to the Chair of Forgetfulness. Asking Muse Urania to declare a tie was the least their team could do!

  Persephone slipped off her backpack and ran over to hand it to Antheia. “All our proof objects and three of our team’s scroll-gadgets are inside. Plus a few apples, if you’re hungry,” she told her teammate. “I’m going to stay behind for a while to help Hades.”

  “Thanks,” Antheia told her. “After our two teams see Muse Urania and give her the proof objects and gadgets, I’ll leave your backpack in Aphrodite’s room so you can get it from her later.” The two gave each other a quick hug before parting.

  Pirithous had trailed Theseus and Antheia over to the rainbow. But when he came up to Persephone, he stopped and just stood there gazing at her. “Go!” she urged him, peeking nervously at the fast-approaching Furies. Already Athena, Heracles, Antheia, and Theseus were slipping over Iris’s rainbow bridge. For a moment she wondered if Pirithous was afraid of it for some reason.

  But then he grinned at her. “I’ll go, but only if you change your mind about staying and come with me.”

  Argh! His crush on her was one memory Persephone had hoped would not come back to him! Seeking support, she glanced over at Hades. However, he gave no sign of having heard Pirithous. His head was tilted back and his gaze was upward as he kept a concerned eye on the approaching Furies. He already had to deal with a nymph turned into a plant and a hole under his fence. Having to face a trio of furious Furies was probably not something he wanted to add to his to-do list right now!

  Luckily, Iris came to the rescue. “Come on,” she said, tugging on Pirithous’s arm. “It’s fun. I’ll go with you!”

  Brightening, Pirithous smiled at Iris and took her hand. “Hey, cool hair! What’s your name?” he asked her. As they stepped onto the rainbow and began to slide up and over its arch, he let out a whoop. “This is fun!”

  Maybe he’d transfer his crush to the goddess of rainbows, Persephone thought. Though this would be a relief, she’d feel a little sorry for Iris. Because she already had a crush who liked her back—the godboy Zephyr, who controlled the warm west wind of spring. However, Iris would probably be able to handle Pirithous. After all, not so long ago she’d managed to trick and capture a windbag giant named Typhon, who had terrorized and
destroyed villages and towns throughout Greece.

  Although Ares, Kydoimos, and Makhai didn’t need to rush off—they were godboys, not mortals subject to the Furies’ wrath—they soon followed the others over the rainbow bridge. When it vanished, Persephone knew that her three teammates, plus all of Team One, must’ve landed safely on the far side of the River Styx. They were out of the Underworld.

  “That was close,” said Hades, heaving out a relieved breath. They both gazed upward. The Furies had changed course. Instead of continuing toward her and Hades, they were now doubling back the way they’d come.

  “Do you think they saw Theseus and Pirithous, or they just suspected mortals were somewhere around here?” Persephone asked Hades as the two of them climbed onto the back of his black stallion.

  “Hard to say. I’m just glad it’s over. Now on to the next problem.” He patted his horse’s neck. “To the River Cocytus!” he called.

  Persephone held on to Hades, clasping her hands around his waist, as his stallion soared into the air. He was silent during the journey, and as they drew closer to the river, Persephone began to wonder again if he might be upset with her—even just a little bit—for transforming Minthe.

  Finally she blurted out, “I didn’t change Minthe into a plant because she was crushing on you!”

  Hades whipped his head around to look back at her. “Huh? You thought she was crushing on me? Why would you think… oh, wait…” He wrinkled his brow, looking thoughtful. “So that’s why she’s been acting so needy lately. Well, even if you’re right about that crush, I know you’d never have transformed her if you hadn’t been truly worried about Antheia’s safety.”

  Persephone smiled at him. She felt grateful that he accepted without doubt her explanation for why she’d changed Minthe. Because if she was being honest, there was a teensy little part of her that still wondered if her motives had been completely pure.