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Without a word from her, they began to move as if a herd of cattle back to the entrances of the Underworld, stumbling and looking over their shoulders.
Clarity slowly returned to their eyes.
The wraiths not currently enjoying a snack followed at their heels the whole way back to the entrance, trailing behind like herding dogs.
In the crush, Thanatos released his wings and launched himself into the air to follow. She trusted he would assure the beasts stayed put and get everything back to rights.
She pulled her wraiths back in, a tedious job since none of them wanted to return to the Underworld. After the last wraith was returned to the depths of Tartarus and her guards moved the last soulless beast to the river, they too returned to shadows at her command.
She turned to the souls that cowered in a corner and let her fire die out, her eyes and skin returning to normal.
Once she looked human, she crept carefully to the souls shaking in fear. In their group was one still, strong form.
Devon had already gone to them while she had rid the area of beasts.
She watched as he calmed them. Watched as some of his power cocooned them and soothed their souls in a way she envied.
Where she used her power as an authoritarian, he had an almost nurturing element to his.
There were souls of all ages among the group of a dozen or so, the young ones hiding behind the older souls.
Persephone stepped forward but paused when she caught the winces across the group as they saw her approach. Devon noticed and joined her side in a show of unity, of trust.
She could have kissed him when she saw the souls marginally relax at his action. Such a simple demonstration and he proved she was not a threat to them. She clasped her hands in front of her as she felt Devon’s power continue calming the souls.
Did he realize he had done that?
When she looked at him, he just shrugged and together they approached the souls. In all her years, she’d never accepted souls at the gates, never tasted their fear in this dank, unknown place. The chaos of the battle still simmered in the air and she could only imagine how terrifying this must have been for them.
She could let Devon handle this or call Thanatos back, but something deep inside of her needed to do this. She needed to be the one to help them through the gates.
Her domain had been violated, and she needed that power back. Needed to know she could make it safe again.
“It is safe now,” she whispered, and their attention shifted from Devon to her. “I understand that you are probably confused and scared, but it is my job to protect you, and I swear on the Styx that is what I will do. My name is Persephone and I guard the souls of the Underworld.”
She waved her hand to the gates where Cerberus still waited, shuffling around in his demon form before he calmed enough to shift to a Labrador-like dog.
“I will escort you through the gates myself and keep you safe from any beasts. We will shut the gates behind us and, as you saw, my hound is incredible at guarding it.”
She looked back at Cerberus, who gave a cheerful bark and a tail wag. His centuries around the newly dead must have told him it was not the time to be intimidating, because he started bouncing playfully, his ears flopping around.
His little display made a small girl giggle and Persephone felt the palpable fear in the air begin to lessen.
She spotted the young girl, who flinched at being singled out by the Goddess. Persephone
slowly crouched down to the girl’s level.
“Hello, darling,” she greeted as she read the girl’s soul. She knew they would send her to Elysium. There was no way this child would go anywhere else.
“I can tell you’ve been such a good girl in life. Would you like to see a peacock? My sister leaves them here for me all the time, so I bet you can find one.” Persephone didn’t mention Hera only did it to aggravate her. When she saw the interested shine in the girl’s eyes, she knew she was on the right course to help these people.
Begrudgingly, she mentally accepted her sister’s attempt at being a pain had turned out to be
the saving grace in a dark moment.
Persephone thought maybe that was something even mortal siblings dealt with, and the thought made her smile. Maybe she was more like humans than she had thought all these years. Perhaps even more capable of emotional intelligence than she had let herself believe.
The little girl moved forward, hesitant. After a moment, she looked up at an older grandmotherly woman who nodded to her in permission to move toward Persephone. The girl gave a slow nod and then slowly, a grin.
