Chapter 29
Persephone
Agong sounded, and relief smacked into me so strong I actually felt my legs give out as the world around me shimmered. My knees banged against the cold marble of the hall and a desperate urge to lay down on the cool stone swamped me.
I took a huge gulp of cool air as a satyr trotted up to my kneeling form and handed me a large mug of water. I gulped it down gratefully, and wiped the sweat from my forehead on my arm, only to find my arm wasn't much drier.
It briefly crossed my mind that I must look a hot mess, literally, with my hair plastered down with sweat and my dress torn to shreds, but the sheer fact that I wasn't burning alive dispelled my concerns quickly.
“My realm, Capricorn, is known for seasonal extremes, and I'm known for heat,” Apollo said, a rich seductive tone to his voice. I looked up at him from where I knelt, my body still burning hot and skin stinging and singed.
I summoned up my healing power, but instead of concentrating on a wound, I tried to focus on my skin as a whole.
A pleasurable tingle danced over me, followed by the feeling of cool water lapping gently at me, first over my face, then my arms and chest and back.
It felt so good a long sigh escaped my lips.
Apollo's eyes darkened. “I could do that for you,” he said quietly. I pushed myself to my feet quickly, the predatory look in his eyes feeling nothing like when Hades looked at me that way.
“Thank you, but I'm fine. Just thirsty.” I felt a touch on my leg through my shredded skirt, and looked down to see the satyr holding up a refilled mug. “You're an angel,” I told him as I took it and drained it.
Two tests down, two seeds safe. Two more to go.
“Where to next, Persephone?” boomed the commentator. I looked wearily down the line, then back. Between Poseidon and Apollo sat Apollo's twin, Artemis, her young and eager face infinitely appealing.
“Artemis,” I said, stepping towards her. A bow as large as she was lay tucked into the side of her throne, and her hair was as gold as her brother’s skin.
She was wearing leather fighting garb similar to what I had back in my wardrobe, and I felt a pang of jealousy. A ballgown and sandals had to be the least practical thing in the world to perform these sadistic damned tests in.
Artemis was short, and she had to lean quite far forward to offer me her goblet.
“Drink from the cup of the hunt and see if you shall be tested.” She sounded no older than a teenager. I took the cup from her, and took a sip, the word 'hunt' wafting through my mind and setting alarm bells ringing.
The liquid tasted earthy, like beetroot, and as I lowered the cup my limbs shivered involuntarily. Was this a delayed reaction to the heat? I looked up at Artemis, her innocent eyes now glowing with a wicked gleam. Shit. This was another test.
The world around me flickered once more, and an endless, hilly moor materialized under my feet. The grass was brown-tinged green and reached my knees, and the air smelled faintly dusty. It felt like it hadn't rained in a while.
My green vines were itching at my palms, the desire to nurture and grow the needy life surrounding me almost overwhelming. But that shivering feeling took me once more, and this time I could actually feel something skittering across my skin. My breath skipped in my chest as the gong sounded.
“Ten minutes,” the commentator’s voice boomed, and I stared down at myself in horror as thousands of spiders scuttled from the grass and up my body.
A strangled noise crawled out of my throat as I started waving my arms wildly, vines bursting from my palms and whipping through the air as my panic grew.
Within seconds the things had reached my chest and were on my bare skin, and I shook myself harder as I stumbled through the grass, slapping at my arms and body, trying to get them off me.
“They're more scared of you than you are of them,” I panted desperately, repeating the words my mom had told me every time I found a spider in the trailer. But they'd reached my neck now and my skin felt like it was alive and I couldn't stand it.
My own vine smacked hard into my shoulder as I beat at myself, and the force made me fall onto my ass. The moment’s pause was long enough for me to take in my once red skirt, now almost black with hundreds of spiders, most tiny, but some enormous.
A beast with red stripes and massive hairy legs skittered up my skirt towards my bodice and I shrieked as I bat my vines at it, again hitting myself in the process. My heart was hammering so fast in my chest I wasn't sure it could take much more.
I'd have a heart attack and drop down dead under a mountain of fucking spiders.
I struggled back to my feet and started chanting again as I spun on the spot, looking for any sort of refuge. There was nothing, not even a tree on the horizon, just a sea of dry moorland grass. I felt the tickle of legs on my bottom lip and whimpered as I clamped my mouth shut.
They won't kill you, it's an endurance test, I told myself, employing the same tactic that had worked when I'd been over the volcano. Just ride it out.
But my skin was crawling with spiders and it was impossible to ignore them, panic and disgust battering at my willpower like colossal tidal waves.
I wanted the things off me, I wanted to be anywhere but here.
They were crawling up the side of my face now and I knew they would be in my hair.
I felt a hot tear slid down my cheek as I squeezed my eyes closed, the contrast to the skittering spiders stark.
Revulsion gripped my gut as I felt something inside my ear, and I almost opened my mouth to give up.
I had two seeds safe, I could afford to lose one.
Don't you dare! My fierce voice was back inside my head, and I tried to shift my focus to it, tried to ignore the feeling that the spiders were burrowing into my head now, through my ears.
If I lost a seed then I had to win one in every other Trial, which seemed highly unlikely. And whether I liked it or not, something inside me had changed.
I wanted to win. I wanted to have a choice at the end of all this, I wanted there to be a possibility that I could stay in Olympus.
Stay with Hades.
Come on Persy, what can you do? I channeled determination through myself, trying to focus. Were my powers any use here? The vines were shit at keeping the spiders off me, but there was grass here.
I willed my green vines to connect with the earth beneath me, still keeping my mouth and eyes clamped shut, my body frozen in place. The creatures were moving up my nose now, and I was having to breath hard through my nostrils to dislodge them.
I felt sick.
Until my vines hit the ground.
Happiness coursed through my entire body, the sense of space and life surrounding me forcing out the fear of the spiders just a little. I sent the eager magic I could feel building inside me towards the earth, willing it to find the grass, to fill it with what it needed to flourish.
I didn't dare open my eyes to see what was happening, but now I could only feel the spiders that were still trying to burrow their way through my ears and nose, and the ones that had gotten under my corset. The rest I was able to block out. How long had I been here?
Taking as deep breaths as was possible, I channeled my fear into the ground as life for the yellowing grass, the joy from doing so offsetting the revulsion just enough that I could hold myself together.
When I finally heard the gong I made the mistake of opening my mouth in a relieved gasp. I just saw the hall fading into existence around me as spiders flooded into my mouth.
I coughed and choked, my vines vanishing as I clawed at my tongue, but the spiders kept coming.
More tears streaked down my face as a sob was ripped from my throat, then I felt a cascade of something warm and soothing pour over my entire body, washing the spiders away with it.
Weird tingles flowed through my nose and mouth, and when they stopped, I couldn't feel any more scurrying feet.
I looked up, still frantic, and saw that Artemis was standing up in front of me, a lop-sided smile on her face.
“I think that's got them all,” she said gently. “And thanks, for sorting out my meadow. Sagittarius could do with some more flowers.”
“Flowers?” I stammered, trying to stop my body shaking and keep my dinner down. She nodded at me, and gestured behind her.
A shimmering portal opened up, and through it I could see a meadow brimming with wildflowers, some taller than me and in every color I could think of. The grass was a lush deep green, and dotted with tiny daisies.
“Did- did I just do that?”
“You did. And you endured my test. Well done.” Artemis sat back down and I took another shuddering breath, still rubbing at my arms and chest sub-consciously, and batting at my ears.
I believed her that they were gone, but it still felt like I was covered in spiders. I would be burning this damned dress if I got through this. The satyr trotted up again and this time his tray had a small tumbler on it, filled with liquid. I took it carefully in my shaking hands and sipped.
It was nectar. Immediately the shudders through my chest and limbs lessened.
I felt my legs strengthening, and my pulse slowing.
I looked away from the gods, towards the crowd, and saw Hecate at the front, giving me an over the top thumbs up, her thumb dancing with blue flame.
Skop was sitting beside her, his tail wagging.
Three tests done, and three seeds safe. Just one more to endure, and I was getting in my damned shower for the rest of time.
“One more test to find, Persephone, which god will it be?” The commentator’s voice was jarring, and I put the tumbler down on the satyr’s tray.
I looked along the row of gods, and they were all facing me. My gaze settled on Hermes’ twinkling eyes and red beard, where he was sitting between Dionysus and Zeus.
“Hermes,” I said, and strode towards him with as much dignity as I could muster. The gods only knew what my hair looked like now, but it really didn't matter. What mattered was getting this Trial over and done with.
“Drink from the cup of tricksters and see if you shall be tested,” beamed Hermes, handing me a goblet. The liquid inside looked like mud, but when I hesitantly sipped from it, it tasted like cherries.
I held my breath as I waited, but nothing happened. I let go of the sigh as I handed the messenger god his cup back, and felt a little buoyed by his encouraging expression.
I had Zeus, Ares and Hephaestus left. Frissons of nerves rippled through me as I thought about my choice.
It seemed very, very unlikely that Zeus would let the round end without getting involved.
Surely the King of the Gods was hiding my last test?
If he was, I wanted to find out now, and get it done.
“Zeus,” I said, stepping to my left so that I was in front of the god. A slow smile crossed his face and his formal visage rippled and morphed into the gorgeous blond from the coffee shop.
“Drink from the cup of the skies and see if you shall be tested,” he drawled and handed me a goblet. I took the cup and started when electricity sparked through my fingertips.
Oh, this was going to be a test alright.
I looked into his eyes as I sipped the sweet liquid, and his lips parted.
“I'm afraid this might hurt a bit,” he whispered, and the hall vanished.