My Tattered Bonds (35 page)

“Being away from her family seems to drain her,” Hades observed. “Let us give her time.
 
Surely she will grow accustomed to being here and she will rally.”

“But her light grows faint,” Persephone replied.
 
“I can sense it around her and the energy around the palace that she brought with her is fading.
 
Surely you can see that.”

“I can,” Hades admitted. “But she is strong.
 
She has always recovered, no matter what life has thrown at her.
 
I am certain this will be no different.”

Don’t be so certain
, I thought.

At dinner that evening, Hades casually asked me if I had seen my family through the mirror recently.

“No,” I admitted limply, shoving my food around on my plate.
 
“I cannot bring myself to do it.”

“But you should,” Hades encouraged me.
 
“If you but see them, you will feel much better.
 
I am certain.”

“Don’t be,” I answered sharply.
 
“You’ve taken them from me.
 
Don’t feel that you can force me to watch them from here.
 
It is too heartbreaking.
 
It will only make things worse.”

“Well, I’ll leave that to you,” he replied quickly.
 
“You know what you need more than anyone.”

“I need my family,” I answered quietly.
 

“Well, you can’t have them!” he thundered, pushing away from the table and throwing his chair across the room.
 
It smashed into a shelf of crystal vases, shattering them.
 
“You know the price!”

He stormed from the room without looking back.
 
I was left staring after him.
 
It was the first time I had ever seen him lose his temper.
 
He was always carefully composed.

“You must recover,” Persephone told me quietly.
 
“You will fade away, Harmonia.”

“No, I will not,” I snapped.
 
“No one dies of a broken heart.
 
Those are just romantic stories. But trust me, it isn’t romantic at all if it is happening to you.”

“Take him up on his bargain,” she suggested.
 
“It will end this. You will be returned to them and Hades will be happy.”

I looked at her, appalled. “This, coming from his wife?”

She shook her head.
 
“I will always be the most important to him.
 
That is what matters. I wish to see him happy and I hate seeing you wasting away.
 
Pay his price.”

She looked at me sadly before she continued eating and we finished our meal in silence.

After I returned to my rooms, I sat limply on my bed for what seemed like hours before I finally uncovered the mirror.

“Show me my family,” I whispered hesitantly.
 
Immediately, I saw Raquel and Aphrodite on a beach.
 
Raquel was flying a bright red kite with yellow bows on the string and she left little footprints in the sand as she ran.
 
Aphrodite followed behind her, as beautiful and perfect as always.
 
But her face was sad as she watched my daughter.

I kept watching as Raquel splashed into the surf, but was surprised to see Aphrodite look around warily. Confusion was etched on her face and she appeared to search for someone.
 
And then she met my gaze through the mirror. She sensed my presence, I realized with a start.
 

“Be patient, Harmonia,” she whispered.
 
“We love you and we are doing all that we can.
 
Your sadness is affecting the mortal world, unhappiness has descended upon it like a fog.
 
We are trying to reason with Zeus, to show him that he is truly needed to right these wrongs or everyone will suffer.
 
Hang on, my sweet.
 
We are coming.”

I knew she couldn’t see me, but I nodded anyway as tears filled my eyes.
 
My sadness was affecting the mortal world?
 
I guessed it made sense. I was the goddess of peace and contentment.
 
If my positive energy faded, then it made sense that the world would suffer.
 
If that was the case… then what would happen if I gave up trying?
 
What if I gave in to my depression?
 
Would it affect the mortal world in a way that would truly make Zeus see that he needed to return?
 
Because if he returned, perhaps he could save us all.

It was worth a try.
 

And honestly, it wasn’t difficult.
 
I was so very tired.
 
The weight of the world had rested upon my shoulders for more times than I could count. It was time to set that weight down.
 
I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin, closing my eyes.

The darkness was comforting. Soft and warm like a favorite blanket, it closed around me and lingered.
 
I drifted down, down, down, until I felt as though I were floating.
 
Either in a body of water or midair—I floated away from reality.
 
My pain and sorrow came with me and I didn’t fight it.
 
I dwelled in it.
 

At some point, maybe hours or maybe days later, I heard vague voices around me, distant and quiet, as though someone was speaking through a veil.

“Her despair is turning the world black,” a voice whispered.
 
“We must do something, Hades.”

“There is nothing to do,” he answered.
 
“She must return to herself.
 
That is the only way.”

“Return her to her family,” a voice suggested.
 
Persephone?
 
“That is a way.”

“Unthinkable!” he roared. “What message would that send?”

“It would send the message that you care what happens outside of the Underworld!”

I stopped listening.
 
My plan was working.
 
My depression was affecting the world. I felt sorry for the mortal world, sorry for the part I was playing in making them unhappy. But it was the only thing I could think of that might help.
 

So I drifted further away.

Through the black mists surrounding me, I heard voices sometimes, not voices standing next to my body, but voices echoing in my head.

Cadmus’ husky whisper, “I love you.
 
Please hold on.”

Aphrodite murmured, “Harmonia, all will be fine.
 
Continue with what you are doing.
 
It is working. We love you.”

“We love you.”

“We love you.”

Those words echoed in my black thoughts and I pushed them away.
 
I couldn’t dwell on positive things- I had to keep my energy black.
 
It was against my nature and it was difficult, but I found that if I focused, I could do it.

At one point, I heard Ares.
 
“You are strong, daughter.
 
We love you.”

I knew I had to move away from the loving thoughts- past the point where I could hear them.
 
I pushed myself further away, drifting on the depression. My surroundings turned blacker.
 
Days passed.
 

Then weeks.

Time was nothing to me.
 
It ran together like water.
 
I had finally managed a way to suspend myself away from reality and I knew that I was in a strange, hypnotic state.
 
I had tricked my own mind. It was unfathomable.
 
But in my desperation, I had done it.

And then came his voice. The only voice that had mattered for thousands of years.

“We’re coming.”

I withdrew from the darkness in an instant, my eyes popping open.
 

Persephone sat by my bed, reading quietly.
 
As I stirred, her eyes flew to my face.
 

“You’re back,” she breathed.
 
“I must get Hades.”

I reached out a weak arm.
 
Lying motionless in a bed had taken a toll.
 

“Don’t,” I pleaded in a whisper.
 
“I need to get dressed.
 
Please.
 
Can you help me?”

She took one look at my face and relented.
 

“Of course,” she said kindly. “We can get Hades afterward.
 
Come, let me help you up.”

She put her arms behind me and helped me sit.
 
The room spun in a whirl, but after a moment, it stilled.
 

“How long have I been sleeping?” I asked.
 

“Two months,” she answered grimly.
 
“You have no idea of the ramifications.
 
Your sadness has affected the world.”

I didn’t tell her that I knew.
 
I simply allowed her to help me into a loose tunic and sat calmly while she brushed my hair and braided it over my shoulder.

“I’m glad that you have returned to us,” she said quietly.
 
“I was worried about you.
 
I have never seen such a thing.”

“Neither have I,” I whispered.
 
And I hoped to never again.
 
It had left me feeling incredibly weak, absolutely drained of energy.
 
I reached up and grasped my bloodstone.
 
It wasn’t helping me now.

“If it helps, your family has been here several times,” she offered quietly. “Ares, Aphrodite and Cadmus. They came several times to see you, but the guards wouldn’t let them pass.”

“Was anyone hurt?” I asked quickly. She shook her head.
 

“No.”

Before I could say anything else, an amazingly loud bellow rang in my ears and vibrated the walls of the palace.

“HADES!”

It was so loud that it left my ears ringing.
 

Persephone and I stared at each other in alarm, before I got shakily to my feet.
 
I remembered Cadmus’ words.
 
We’re coming.

They were here.

“We should go,” I suggested. I took her arm and we hurried as fast as we could to the main floor of the palace.
 
With each step, I felt stronger and by the time we arrived in the foyer, I was standing on my own.
 
We arrived at the same time as Hades.

“Hades!” The voice resounded again and this time, I knew in my heart it was Zeus.
 
He had come after all. Joy flooded my heart.
 
He was here.
 
“Open the gates!”

Hades sucked on his lip for a moment and then nodded, motioning to a guard. The guard disappeared outside and within moments, the drawbridge was lowered.
 
I rushed to the window.
 
The Olympians stood outside, along with my husband.
 
They had truly come.
 
It was a sight to behold.

Zeus stood in the front and he held Hades’ helm of darkness.
 
His eyes flashed silver and were fierce and proud.
 
He had returned to himself, I could see it in his expression.
 
I had never felt so relieved.