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They would be content.
Beyond the tree were the lush banks of the River Styx, and waiting in his ferry boat was Charon, a bright beacon against the dark waters.
He grinned as they approached.
“Welcome, welcome! Come, let’s get you all home,” Charon said, and he stepped into the crowd, choosing the souls who would be first to board the boat. He stopped at only five. “No more,” he said. “I will return.”
Persephone looked at Hades, confused. “Why did he not take more?”
“Remember when I said the souls made this journey to accept death? Charon will not take them until they have.”
“What if they don’t?”
“Most do.”
“And?” she persisted. “What about the rest?”
“It is a case-by-case basis. Some are allowed to see how the souls live in Asphodel. If that does not encourage them to adjust, they are sent to Elysium. Some must drink from the Lethe.”
“And how often does that happen?”
“It is rare, but inevitably, in times like these, there is always someone who struggles.”
Like Lola’s father, who remained on the bank of the river.
“Lola,” said Charon, extending his hand. “It is time.”
“No!” Her father knelt and gathered her into his arms. “She doesn’t go alone. She can’t.”
“She can,” said Charon. “It is you who cannot.”
“We go together or not at all!”
“What are you afraid of?” Persephone asked.
The man held her gaze, almost comforted by her presence. “I left my wife and son behind.”
“And do you not trust, after all that you have seen here, that you will see them again?”
“But—”
“Your wife will have comfort because you are here with Lola, and she will wait to be reunited with you both here in the Underworld. In Asphodel. Do you not wish to make a space for them? To welcome them when they come?”
Her words sent chills down Hades’s spine. In all his years as God of the Underworld, he had never convinced a soul to enter Asphodel in this manner. It was kind, compassionate, and thoughtful. It was exactly why he loved her.
As she spoke, the man started to cry, and he kept crying.
Charon and Hades exchanged a look, but Persephone waited patiently until he was finished and announced he was ready.
Charon smiled.
“Then welcome to the Underworld,” he said, and the two clambered into the boat. Hades and Persephone followed.
It was a journey Persephone had made once before when she had wandered into the Underworld and fallen into the Styx, though he imagined this was far more pleasant, given that she was safe within Charon’s boat, where the souls that swam beneath the surface could not reach her.
He recalled that time with some discomfort.
It was her first visit to the Underworld, the first time he had felt responsible for her, especially when he discovered she had been injured. It was the first time she’d met Hermes—though not the first time he’d tossed the God of Trickery across the Underworld.
