He doesn’t so much as bat an eyelid. ‘Mine?’
‘Of course not. What would I want that for? So that I can hide out in this house and ignore the rest of the world like you do? No, the other gods of Olympus control everything under the sun – including the actual bloody sun – but what do they care about?’
Hades snorts. ‘Sex?’
‘Pretty much actually, yeah,’ I agree, to his surprise. ‘Who’s having sex with who is their be-all and end-all. And sure they’re interested in which gods are getting together or which nymph they’re all fawning over – but honestly that’s old news, because right now they’re obsessed with humans. It’s like they’re using the humans to further their own legacies. Cyrene, Europa, Alcmene – these mortals they’re chasing are founding cities, and their offspring are heroes. The gods are utterly besotted. Humans are their route to power and they want to know who they can seduce or favour, make a hero or a king, use to destroy cities or found new ones in their names. Humans are everything to them.’
‘Yes, and sometimes they just want a mortal plaything tomake their immortal lives more interesting,’ Hades says, lips twisting with disgust. ‘You aren’t wrong but what exactly does this have to do with my realm?’
‘I’m getting to that. The humans worship the gods and imitate them, copy all their worst behaviour because if their idols are doing it then why shouldn’t they? They end up hurting each other more than the gods do. But if we show them that there are eternal consequences for those actions then they might change. If the good are rewarded and the bad are punished then maybe they’ll stop hurting each other quite so much. And if the humans are too scared of eternal punishment in the afterlife to kill and rape and cause such pain, then why would they worship gods who regularly do all these things? Maybe they’ll stop caring for gods that play so recklessly with their lives.’
‘The gods will have to change if they still want to be worshipped,’ Hades realizes. ‘Which they will, because they’re gods.’
I nod. ‘Exactly. What’s a god without followers? I’m doing this to help the humans, but taking away the power of the gods? Forcing Olympus and Oceanus to be better? Well, it’s some extra motivation to make it work.’
I’m not sure I explained that well enough, and I hold my breath waiting for his reaction. I’m not sure why it matters so much to me but it does.
His forehead creases as he thinks and I can almost see each thought land. After a second he looks at me in a way that makes me squirm. He’s seeing me again. No pretence, no bitten tongue and no fear of consequence. Maybe that’s why every millisecond without an answer hurts.
‘It’s brilliant. It’s genius,’ he says. When he looks at me, it’s with something close to awe. And when he smiles I find myself mirroring him.
‘So you’re in?’
‘I’m in.’ He stands and offers me his hand. ‘Let’s go divide the realm.’
IT DOESN’T WORK.
Which shouldn’t be a surprise, but it hurts anyway.
I don’t think I’d everreallybelieved I would be able to split the Underworld in half, but I had definitely been hoping. And now that hope comes crashing down.
I crouch on a ledge overlooking the humans and bury my fingers in the dirt. I can feel it, the realm pulsing beneath my fingertips. It’s so similar to the connection I feel with the flowers that, overconfident, I urge the whole thing to just ‘move’.
All I get are tremors.
‘Well, that’s new,’ Hades says as the ground shakes beneath us.
I grit my teeth. It’s one thing to fail, another to fail while he stands there.
I close my eyes and try again. This time a crack runs towards the souls, a couple inches deep at most. Nowhere near deep enough to be of use.
I stumble back, gasping for breath. A strange sort of tiredness washes over me, like I’ve run the length of my island andcollapsed on the sands at the furthest edge. It’s a weariness so strong I can hardly lift my heavy limbs twinned with a heady exhilaration that leaves me breathless.
‘What are you doing?’ Styx stage-whispers behind us.
‘She’s taken an interest in the humans,’ Hades says. I try to ignore them and concentrate. Whatever grip I had on the realm has slipped and I’m desperate to find it again. ‘And she has decided to divide the Underworld in two.’
‘She can do that?’
‘That remains to be seen,’ he says. ‘But she’s made an impressive start for a goddess of flowers.’ From the corner of my eye, I see Hades gesture towards the crevice.
I shut my eyes, trying to focus on the land before me, but the disbelief in Styx’s voice pushes through. ‘I don’t think flowers should be able to do that,’ she says. ‘Kore, love, are you all right?’
‘Don’t call her that,’ Hades says quietly but I still catch it.
‘Love?’
‘Kore. She doesn’t like that name.’
