3 Chapter 2 - True Colors

"Kore Persephone, what do you think your doing." I turn around to see my mother staring down at me with fire in her eyes and a smile. Oh no. . .

"Uhm. . . j-just getting s-some more books. . ." I say trying to sound convincing but fail as she grabs the one I had recently read.

"One about me, huh?" She begins to skim through the book and puts it back, her eyes looking into mine.

"Let me guess, Rosetta?" She smiles and lets out a laugh. It send chills down my spine. She grips my arm and drags me back to the fields.

"Mom, I'm sorry! Dont hurt Rosetta!!!" She stops in her steps and turns around with her eyebrows furrowed and grips my wrist tighter.

"Oh, I wont hurt her Sweety. But you are never leaving our fields again." The nymphs around us watch as my mother drags me back. I dig my feet in the ground and yank my arm back to my side. I clench my hands into a fists.

"I'm twenty two years old mom! You cant keep me here forever!!!" I scream at her as she tries grabbing my arm again. I slap her hand away clenching my teeth.

"KORE PERSEPHONE!" Her voice begins to boom making the flowers all around us blow back.

"YOU WILL STAY HERE AS LONG AS I WANT YOU TOO! IM JUST TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE!!!" She screams at me, her voice becoming shrill and louder. This isnt living!

"YOUR NOT PROTECTING ME BY NOT LETTING ME LIVE MY OWN LIFE. IM LEAVING!" She grabs my arm and throws me into our house.

"You are not going anywhere Kore." She holds my arm tightly and opens a hatch below the rug in our living room. My heart begins to pound against my chest as I see all the flower nymphs watch in terror. There bodies shiver in fear and I see Rosetta with her eyes wide open trembling. She bites her lip right before bringing her hands to her mouth gasping.

"Let me go!" I scream while thrashing at my mother.

She just grips my arm tighter tossing me into the little room below the ground.

"Tomorrow, I'll show you your new home!!!" I look over at Rosetta as my mother whips her head around towards her.

"I knew it was you, you snake!" She begins to walk towards Rosetta with her fists clenched.

"MOM, NO! STOP PLEASE!" I scream scared of what might happen to Rosetta. As my mom lifts her hand I press my palms to the ground. I feel my blood pumping and my eyes begin to brighten up making my sight easier. My hair floats gently off my shoulders. In fear of what my mom would do to Rosetta I think of the only way to save us both. The ground begins to shake violently as the magic from my veins flows through my fingertips to the ground. Thick vines break through the ground shooting towards my moms arms and legs. I pull my arms back clenching my fists making my mom fall to the ground being held tightly.

"RUN ROSETTA!!!" I scream as I feel my mom beginning to fight back. Rosetta looks from my mom to me, her body shivering.

"ILL BE FINE, JUST RUN." She quickly looks at the other nymphs who nod there heads. Without waiting another second, Rosetta runs off as fast as she can along with all the other nymphs. My mom looks back at me with rage. She pushes herself off the ground slowly making me struggle. I shut my eyes tightly and clench my teeth trying to hold her down just a little longer. Suddenly, I feel everything break. My bones begin to burn as I hear tearing and ripping. I open my eyes to see my mother towering above me. She lifts my head by placing a finger under my chin then blows into my face. I begin to feel light headed and everything seems to start circling around me. No, dont fall asleep. I grab the staircase and stand up. She grabs my arm and whispers in my ear.

"Rest well and take your time. When you wake up. . . you'll be in your new home." I grip her arms tightly digging my nails into her skin. A warm liquid begins to tingle down and between my fingers before my legs buckle beneath me and darkness overcomes me completely.

I wake to the sound of dripping and look over to my side. Water is dripping from the roof. I begin to feel a large cold breeze brush against my bare skin making me shiver. I rub up and down on my arms trying to warm up while I stand up and look around. Where am I? The walls are rigid and stone along with the floor and wall. It smells horrific, making me breath through my mouth but it only makes it worse. I open my hand and focus on making a rose sprout. It gives off a scent that overpowers the smell of rotting fish in turn comforting my nose. Its hard to see but I feel around against a wall walking down a pretty long wall. I hear curmblig and rocks falling on the ground all around me making me jump. I squint my eyes to see a large beast in front of me through something. . . . I press my hand against the dim glowing bars shocking myself.

"OW!!!" I flinch back gripping my hand which is now burnt. Thunder bolts? I examine it closely and the thing behind it.

"Uhm, hello?" I hear it breathing slowly. It seems to be sleeping.

"Uhm, excuse me?" I say yelling just gently not to upset them. I hear a yawn as the shadow of the beast moves making more rocks crumble to the floor.

"Hm?" The objects face approaches me showing two big gentle eyes surrounded by rocks. Dim lava begins to flow between the rocks.

"Uhm, hello. Do you have any clue where we are?" I smile and brush my hair out of my face.

"Tartarus." The voice speaks sternly and low. Its sounds like a male as its voice is rigid.

"Where is Tartarus sir?" I ask gently trying not to annoy him.

"In the underworld. Its jail of the titans, how do you not know this?" Tartarus? Jail?! TITANS!

"Oh no, this must be a mistake." I spot dimly lit lightning bolts as bars looking like the exit. I run up to it and gently touch it. It sends a sharp pain throughout my hand leaving another black mark.

"You can't get threw like that, it'll incinerate you. Made by Zeus himself." The deep voice states

"Zeus?" I walk back over as the object shrinks to a normal beings size.

"Zeus, the ruler of Olympus." Oh yeah.

"Yes, that one. I read of him. Eldest brother of three."

"Why so many questions about this stuff? And why are you even here young lady?" Suddenly, I remember what had happened. 'youll wake up in your new home'. Those words just flash in my mind. No-no-no. I pound my fist against the wall in anger.

"MOM! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" I yell at the top of my lunges making my throat burn.

"You never answered my question pretty princess." The name catches me of guard. The beast leans against the wall with his arms crossed. I see all the cracks the lava is flowing through.

"My mom. . . Goddess Demeter put me down here."

"Woah! Mommy issues, huh?" I nod my head and kneel onto the floor. I press my hands against the floor trying to break through small cracks with plants but completely fail at it.

"What are you trying to do??" He crouches down next to me on the other side of the lightning bars with curiosity in his voice.

"I'm trying to break through the walls with plants but it isnt seeming to work." He chuckles gently and sighs.

"For one, I wanna know about the whole mother Demeter story because I dont think ANYONE knows who you are. Two, magic wont work on anything around you or else it would be a pretty lousy jail." I arch my eyebrows in confusion. . . oh yeah, my mom kept me secret. I sit against the wall and blow into my cupped hands. A flower blooms giving off brightly colored lights that float up into air between us. I can completely see him now so I sit directly across from him.

"Wow, thats some nice red hair you got there." I smile pulling my hair over my shoulder. I begin to tell him about the whole story and reasoning between my mother hiding me from the outside world and what I did and how I ended up there. He listened to every word while looking intently into my eyes. After explaining it all he nods his head and sighs.

"That's really rough, what are you gonna do now?"

"I have no clue. I dont even know when she is coming back for me. Anyways, you know about me. Now time for you to talk." He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"You see, I'm a titan." A TITAN?! I break out laughing and fall over onto my side.

"Y-you?!?! YOUR SO TINY!!!" I clutch my chest as my lungs begin to burn. I'm laughing so much im unable to catch a breath and begin wheezing.

"Excuse me, so rude. Anyways." I clear my throat sitting back up and listening intently.

"We got put in here for trying to overtake olympus and etc. We've been in here for hundreds of years without no contact to anyone else."

"Wait so, where are the others? It doesnt seem like anyone else is here."

"You really are new to this thing." He nods his head understanding situation.

"As you can see, I can grow bigger into my natural titan form and shrink into a normal mortal looking form. I can even make myself look mortal. Anyways, a titans life here is cursed to be lonely. We were all locked up seperatly in case we found a way to escape." I nod my head listening intently. I wish I had my notebook so I could jot this down.

"So, you were put in here because you tried taking over Olympus by ridding of some gods. You guys were all seperated to prevent escape plans and now, you have me to talk to." I smile and he returns it.

"You said you could look completely mortal. I wanna see." He rubs the back of his head akwardly and shakes it.

"I dont have any clothes so I'm gonna have to reframe from it little princess." I laugh at the nickname he had given me.

"Oh yeah! Lately, Cerberus has been coming down to check on us titans for Hades." Cerberus. . . Cerberus. . . I know this one. . . I think hard and long trying to figure out how that name is so familiar.

"The three headed dog thats usually guards the gates to keep the undead from escaping the hell. He is pretty big about as big as me in this form." I nod my head. Cerberus the three headed dog.

"Yeah, here is pretty boring." He says with a sigh and lays down on the floor yawning.

"How havent you just tried killing yourself with these lightning bolt things?" He smiles and touches the lightning bolt. It burns away at the rock and lava on his hand. After a few seconds he pulls his hand back to his body then holds it up to the light showing it charred. After a few minutes, the lava begins to flow again in the area.

"So titans have fast healing capabilities?" He chuckles and I watch as a smirk grows across his face.

"Only me, I increase the flow of lava and increase the amount of healing hormones my lava is carrying."

"Ah! Thats so cool!!!" Without thinking I reach my arms through the bars snatching at his hand. My finger slips into one of the lava cracks burning my finger. I yank my hand back clenching my teeth.

"Oh! Sorry!!!" He chuckles putting one of his arms under his head for support.

"Its fine." After a few moments of silence I break it.

"If you can heal so easily, why dont you just escape? If you think about it, if your able to increase lava flow you can let it overflow off of your hands and press it against where the lightning bolts are coming out. The lava will undoubtedly quickly dry up and due to the healing hormones, it should patch the rock back up faster than the lightning would be able to damage it if there is enough." He jolts up eyes wide open.

"How did that just come to your head?!" He says shocked. It was actually pretty easy. . . I shrug my shoulders.

"It wasnt even that hard. But can you really give off that much lava? It will have to be a lot and you'll have to squeeze through the hole." He nods his head.

"Lets try it here first just to make sure it works and we dont get caught." I step back from the lightning bolts. His arms flex making his muscles appear bigger as he presses his hands next to the lightning bolt bars. Lava begins to spill from his arms covering up the lightning bars. At first the lightning bolt just breaks through the lava but it ends up cooling and piling up stopping the lightning bars begin forming again. The lava stops flowing through his arms and he shakes them off gently then reaches his arm through the hole. I grab it and crawl through gently. The cooled down rock begins to burn me making me wince and clench my teeth holding in screams. He yanks me through making me fall on top of him. I feel heat rush to my face and i quickly roll off. He finished blocking up the whole making sure we don't get caught.

"Well, were gonna have to wait until tomorrow to escape. Cerberus will be-" he is suddenly caught off by footsteps. He shoves his hands over my mouth and shushes me quietly.

"Is that your mom???" He whispers while removing his hands from my mouth. I shake my head feeling some fear rattle in my bones.

"Fuck!" He whispers as a yell then begins building a small wall behind me.

"Hide behind there so we arent caught, hurry!" He whispers shoving me behind it. I get on my knees and elbows covering my head with my hands. I pull myself in a tight ball as the footsteps stop.

"H-Hades?" The Lava Titan says with confusion filling his voice.

"Hello Cronus. How have you been?" Hades asks sounding sincere.

"Oh-uh good." He replies. So his name is Cronus?

"I've decided that since you. . . who is that?" He immedietly cuts himself off with a question. I pull myself into a tighter ball. DID HE SEE ME?! My heart begins to pound against my chest as the fear rattling between my bones becomes a earthquake inside my body.

"Fuck. . . Come on out." Cronus sighs while looking down at the floor then bowing in front of Hades. I peek behind the wall making Hades eyes immedietly shoot widely. He is tall and has broad shoulders. He is wearing a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up just below his elbows. He has a neatly toned body shape. His veins pop out on his arms slightly.

"Who is she?! CRONUS!!!" His voice begins to pound and echoe through the walls.

"kore Persephone, daughter of Demeter." I say standing up slowly. I roll my shoulders back and stand up straight trying to look more intimidating.

"Cut the bullshit, we all know Demeter doesnt have a daughter." I shake my head and look down at my feet feeling ashamed.

"My mother hid me in the mortal realm from the outside world. . ." I give him a short explanation and he shakes his head in disbelief.

"Who are you?! I wont ask again!!!" He yells at me filling me with anger. Who does he think he is?!

"You have no right to raise your voice at me!!! Im not scared of you!!!" I yell stepping forward and standing up straight while looking up at him directly in the eyes.

"Who do YOU think you are talking to ME like that?! Clearly you dont know your place little, girl!" He spat out girl. The anger flushes throughout my whole body overpowering me. I reach up snatching his collar through the lightning bolt bars and pull his face down to my level.

"This little girl can surely teach you some respect, young, man." I spit back. He shoves me back behind the bars with his eyes wide for a split second but then immedietly has a 180 expression change. His eyes are fierce and I see a blue fire raging in his pupils. His black hair begins to wave as if there was a breeze. He walks up to me making me stumble back. He walks through the bars with no problem what so ever. A long scythe appears in his hand and he puts the blade right under my throat.

"So you are a goddess. But daughter of Demeter? Hmmm." I take a large gulp before Cronus forces Hades scythe down away from my neck and bows respectfully.

"Sorry King Hades." Cronus says while bowing.

"It isnt your fault Cornus." He says glaring over at me.