A Touch of Ruin

Persephone Rosi is in the Underworld, a dark, mountainous realm, walking along the River Styx with a companion, a soul named Yuri. She recalls how she once drowned in the river, dragged down by the souls of the dead that floated within it, but Hades rescued her and healed her wounds. He challenged her to grow something in his garden, a bargain that led to them falling in love.

Persephone sees newly arrived souls and greets them, moved by their fear about entering the Underworld. She realizes that the Underworld’s reputation has changed since antiquity. At Yuri’s suggestion, Persephone shows her divine form, though she is still learning to control her magic. Though they are back together after a recent breakup, Persephone feels uncertain about her relationship with Hades and is jealous about his past lovers, one of whom, his assistant Minthe, she turned into a mint plant.

Persephone makes decisions about the upcoming solstice celebrations and then reads in the library, where Hades appears. He doesn’t like that she is having doubts about their relationship. Persephone asks if he would still want her if the Fates hadn’t decreed that they would be together.