Abernathy, Lydia Mercer: September 2015

Life can not exist without death, just as death can not exist without life. A story about growth, rebirth and balance.

It's basically Miyazaki settings meets Beauty and the Beast romance meets Greek mythology???

~A WORKING OUTLINE OF HOW THIS STORY WILL WORK IN MY HEAD THIS WILL CHANGE CONSTANLY!!!~

Persephone and her mother, Demeter, run their magical apothecary in the mountain crevice for the benefit of the townspeople in the valley below. Demeter, who is the embodiment of growth, spring and life, is considered a sacred benevolent magical woman who is revered and loved by many. To her daughter however, she is over-bearing (simply bc she has an entire town to help run) but is genuine in her love for her daughter. Persephone, who has just as much talent and proficiency in growth magic, loves her mother and her duty to the townspeople, but feels dissatisfied with her life and her utilization. Persephone would much rather re-appropriate weird and dead objects to create and bring new meaning to, but her mother thinks she is not using her abilities to actually help anyone.Persephone then travels into the mountains, With her mothers raven as usual (either bc she is upset or because she was sent to pick up flowers/supplies). Persephone then stumbles across (or falls and finds) an inconspicuous entrance way to the Underworld (unbeknownst to her) She crosses the river Styx on a found boat and becomes neither mortal or immortal due to her already magical lineage. (I like to think a mortal would not have been able to find the entrance/if they did they would die when crossing the river) and can not find her way back/way back disappears.

The raven can not continue with Persephone and reports back to her mother that Persephone has been kidnapped? no longer mortal? dead? This sends her mother to search for her and throws herself into turmoil and eventually as Persephone is gone, her depression fully and completely destroys the greenery and liveliness of the town and the surrounding setting. (unbeknownst to Persephone)

As Persephone descends deeper into the underworld, in awe of the grand caverns that the Underworld possesses, she meets the initially hostile Cerberus. Cerberus, whose personality is split between his three heads, changes his minds and decides to encourage Persephone to follow him deeper into the winding tunnels. As they quickly pass and wind through the many different aspects of the Underworld, Persephone is astounded and sees that it is not in fact as negative as the many myths she knows. Somehow, either through chance or accident, Persephone winds up in the wrong sector of the Underworld and becomes overwhelmed by the many restless souls leeching off her life giving power.

Enter big damn anti-hero Hades, nNot quite man not quite spirit, ALL rules. Hades, whose brothers are all about rule-breaking, holds his abilities and his power accountable. This can make him come off as cold or as controlling, in reality he has so many souls that he is responsible for and feels the weight of that responsibility and is actually a big ol' lonely anxious derp. Like he named his dog spot...he gardens. I didn't even make those parts up. Sensing/Seeing the hoards of souls gathering in an unusual way leads Hades to investigate. When he arrives to save the maiden, he is cloaked in dark wool and an intimidating mask and is indistinguishable from spirit or man in the light.

Despite not knowing her savior, Persephone has heard the myths of the three eternal brothers, and the darkness that supposedly consumed the youngest. She is scared but to her, this place is magical, lifeless (but not w/o beauty) and dark in a way she has never seen before. As she meets this dark spirit figure, she is not scared but demands to know where she is. Hades, who is easily the more socially inept in the duo, has difficulty expressing in front of this beautiful, lively woman and makes an ass of himself almost immediately. Instead of talking, he leads Persephone to the throne room where they can try and communicate in safety.

As Persephone learns that her time in the Underworld is undetermined, she begins to accept and embrace her ‘unfortunate’ fate. Over the course of year, Persephone begins to take on responsibilities of the underworld and Hades and her start to form a respected friendship. As she starts to learn more and more about the restlessness of the captive souls and the strict guidelines in place , she tries implementing new rules for the soul judgments without Hades knowledge. This leads to the more evil souls to take advantage of Persephone’s kindness and subsequently causes chaos in the Underworld. When Hades find out he is furious and tries to instill the importance of the rules of the Underworld. Despite the obvious negative repercussions, Persephone still holds true to her stance on opportunity to better yourself in the afterlife. She believes that these souls still exist here for a purpose and should have the chance to better themselves despite what they did in the living world. Death is not without life, it exists with a purpose.

Despite the rift causes in their relationship, Hades sees the value in Persephone’s ideas and eventually tries to implement different ways to enact judgment on the souls by giving them opportunities to change. As their time together grows, so does their mutual respect and love for each other's role in their lives. Even though neither of them have admitted it, they have an unspoken romantic connection.

While Persephone and Hades continue to live in the Underworld, Demeter has spiraled into an uncontrollable depression that has affected the surrounding landscape and town. This onslaught of winter, something the land has never seen before, brings about disease and famine that ultimately begins to kill the townspeople. As the deceased townspeople begin to enter the Underworld for judgment, Persephone recognizes the people her and her mother used to sell to. Upon questioning the mysterious mass circumstances of their death, she learns of her mothers depression and the subsequent damage to the townspeople and their life.

With this knowledge Persephone is overly distraught and worried for her only family. Hades, seeing the depression it causes his love, finally reveals that there is in fact a way to return back to the living world. By eating the pomegranate seeds of the Underworld grove, you can never return to the Underworld (unless dead I guess). Despite being initially upset Hades didn’t reveal this information in the first place, she asks to see the grove. While it is beautifully dark, the grove itself is relatively sparse with only a few varying trees and plants. Hades admits that he picked up gardening after meeting Persephone and that the properties of the fruits make them impossible for him to eat (because love brings life and he cant be alive? Even though he’s in love??). Persephone, unsure of the divided feelings she has for her mothers world and Hades world, admits that she feels like she has purpose in the Underworld, but an unspoken duty to her mother and the town. Hades then gives her a pomegranate, respecting whatever decision she will make, and leaves her to think.

As days pass and she sees more and more deceased residents of the town, Persephone feels more and more conflicted in her decision. Hades, sensing her distress, eventually admits his romantic feelings for her to make her stay and there is a triumphant moment of clarity between them. Understanding that she is torn between two people that she loves, Persephone makes the decision (without telling Hades??) to eat only 6 of the 12 pomegranate seeds. She asks Hades to bring her to the entrance she came through and eats the seeds in front of him, (crying telling him that she loves him, idk man cheesy ?). Hades is initially distraught and upset, but realizes that she has only eaten part of the fruit. She promises to come back, to stay with him part of the year and that she loves him just as much as he loves her. Upset but relieved they part ways, eager to return to each other soon. Persephone returns to her mother, relieving the unbearable winter and explaining to her that she is dedicated to the two parts of her life, Hades and Demeter, life and death, duty and love.