Lore Olympus: Volume One

Persephone is nervous about the party. She worries the other guests will think she is uncool or uncultured. Artemis tries to boost her confidence, promising they can leave after one drink.

Meanwhile, at the party, Hades asks Zeus if he can leave after one drink. Zeus and Poseidon tease Hades for his glum attitude. Poseidon gets angry when he sees Odysseus, who Zeus invited to annoy Poseidon. Odysseus bumps into Persephone when he flees from Poseidon.

Hades sees Persephone for the first time, and he is struck by her beauty.

Hades’s heart pounds as he watches Persephone from across the room. Artemis helps her up. From Persephone and Odysseus’s body language, it is evident that Odysseus is apologizing profusely. Hades asks who she is; Zeus calls her “Pinky” (due to her color palate) and introduces her as Persephone, the Goddess of Spring and daughter of Demeter, Goddess of Agriculture. Hades, who is short-sighted, dons his glasses for a better look.

Hades asks why he never heard Demeter had a daughter. Zeus smugly explains that Demeter does not like the way Zeus runs things—she thinks he is morally corrupt. Demeter does her duties in the moral realm and raised Persephone there. Zeus is surprised Demeter let Persephone come to the city.

Hades stares intently at Persephone’s figure. Smiling, he tells his brothers, “Honestly, I think she puts Aphrodite to shame” (7). Unfortunately, Aphrodite overhears this remark. Offended, she texts her son, Eros, to come to the party.

Zeus volunteers to distract Artemis, who hates Hades, so his brother can have an opening to talk to Persephone. Zeus teases Artemis that her brother Apollo is a better marksman, appealing to her competitive side. However, Eros gets to Persephone first, enticing her away. Having missed his opportunity, Hades is in a foul mood. He does not know where she went.

Eros takes Persephone to a secluded area and encourages her to drink heavily. Persephone feels awful; she wants to go home. Instead of feeling happy after meeting new people, she feels lonelier than ever. After accepting another drink from Eros, she passes out. Eros apologizes to her, but he must obey Aphrodite.

Persephone wakes up the next morning in Hades’s home in the dark Underworld.

In a flashback to the night of the party, Eros is uncomfortable with what Aphrodite is making him do. He is annoyed his mom made him leave an orgy for petty revenge; holding Persephone’s unconscious body, he challenges why Aphrodite should be jealous of an innocent, adorable girl. Aphrodite uses Eros’s relationship with the mortal woman Psyche to persuade him to go along with her plan. She says her vendetta is about respect. She plans to leave Persephone in Hades’s car, figuring she will go home with him if she is drunk enough to lower her inhibitions. She expects Persephone will embarrass herself, making Hades admit she isn’t as attractive as he initially thought, and that Persephone will think Hades took advantage of her. Eros is embarrassed for Aphrodite’s distorted view of people.

Hades discovers Persephone, asleep in his car, as he drives home. He wonders when he became so cynical.

Hades carries Persephone inside his home. They are greeted by his dog, the hellhound Cerberus. Hades gives Persephone some water and tucks her into a guest bed, removing her shoes first. In her sleep, Persephone reaches out and touches his face. Persephone asks Hades to keep how drunk she got a secret from Demeter. Hades says he is not a snitch and promises things will be better in the morning. In the dark hallway, he blames himself for the situation.

Persephone dreams of her mother locking her in a greenhouse without a door. The pastel colors of the dream turn into a red and black nightmare as Demeter refuses to let her out.

Persephone wakes up, wondering where she is.