I've been waiting all my life

She stormed away from the red woman, ears slicked back against her skull, teeth bared in her own frustration. Persephone was no stranger to anger; the emotion wrapped around her like an old friend giving her a hug, familiar and warm. The memory of her anger was shocking, yet validating and reassuring, a feeling welling up in her that made her want to hurt something. She didn't, she wouldn't but she desperately wanted to.

Tears burned at her eyes, her stride lengthening until she was running blindly through the trees. What if Hades had kept it from her? What if he'd known and he just... omitted it? What if he hadn't remembered but did upon seeing the wretched creature? What if he chose her?

Persephone ran faster, faster, as quick as her tiny paws would carry her, tears staining the fur of her muzzle.

---

@Eros

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The cupid had awoken not to long ago in a daze -- confused, cold, parched, drowsy, wet, wet, wet. It was raining now. Not even a shake of his pelt (that he worked rather hard to keep tidy) could help him in this situation. So he'd, begrudgingly,  continue his journey through this foreign terrain.

It was strange, actually,  for Eros hadn't remembered taking a visit to the mortal realm recently -- so why was he here? In the form of a....dog? Wolf? Fox? (There wasn't really any time to look at your reflection when you've woken up cold and soaking wet to be honest), and why couldn't he change back to his humanoid form? For the love of the gods, he couldn't even transport back to Olympus! 

Just what in Gaia's name was going on here?

Eros' train of thought was quick to rupture as a blur of yellow quickly sped past him -- if he'd been any closer, the boy would've practically crashed into them. Who was this them, anyhow? Best find out for himself.

Stepping out of the foliage and facing where the young girl had run of to, the archer called out as loud as the rainstorm allowed him to. "E...Excuse me!"

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It was raining. Of course it was. It was just her luck that the moment her world felt like it was crashing down around her, it ripped her sunshine away too. And yet the tears that mixed with raindrops weren't of sadness but anger. A deep, unfathomable rage that scared her at times, though it comforted her now.

A familiar voice. She hadn't even noticed anyone. Should she stop? She should stop. At least it was raining, so they couldn't see that she was crying. Slowing to a halt, Persephone sighed, breath hitching a moment before she turned and --

“E-Eros!” She didn't know how she knew but she did. She just knew and she was suddenly racing back to him, burying her face in his chest and letting go.

It was raining.

Of course it was.
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'Eros' -- the name stuttered from trembling lips that crafted the voice of someone farmiliar; gentle. It was not until the small woman came running towards him to bury her head into his chest that he'd finally recognize who it was.

"Persie....Persie, is that you?" he worded in disbelief, lifting a forepaw to place at the back of the delicate woman's head and pull her back into a hug. So she had taken this wolven form too -- what of the others, then? And what had she been running away from in the first place?

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She cried, sobbed into his fur, not realizing he had just awoken, that he was disoriented and confused. No doubt that was only compounded by the tearful girl that failed to answer his question. She clung to him though, desperate for the comfort that she could not find through her own anger.
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If there was one correct assumption about this situation, it's that Eros was, indeed, confused about everything  going on here. From his missing wings to his inability to shift back to normal. Even the spring-weaving girl looked to be in the same physical condition he'd been in -- though that was not the important part about all this. She was crying -- she was in pain -- and the cupid's new Priority right now was to find out why.

The paw that held his dear friend close to him slid underneath her chin to gently lift it up and look at her, sitting himself down and speaking in a soft, therapeutic voice. "Persie darling, why do you weep?"

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“Oh, Eros,” She cried, sniffling as she looked up at him, kunzite eyes glassy and red. “I don't know what to do.” Rocking back onto her haunches, Persephone sat in the rain, breath hitching again as she tried to string together the right words to tell him.

“There's a man, I think I... I know I like him and there's another woman and I don't know if he didn't remember to tell me or he just... didn't realize or if I'm just. Completely reading into things and he doesn't like me like that even though he asked me to be h-his Queen.” The words spilled out of her, stumbling and stuttering where her tongue tangled over them. Was she an idiot? Was she just some dumb village girl that let herself be wrapped up in some crazy circumstance? Was she just a placeholder until the red wretch had shown up to take her place?

Had... it ever been her place?
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A man...another woman, and a promise to become his queen? These words didn't make much sense to him, and along with a lot of things right now it felt as if the world itself was becoming hard to grasp. Regardless -- it was the fact that Persephone carried heartbreak on her sleeve like an open book that made him worry the most. Heartbreak; perhaps one of the worst feelings in the universe -- how could such a terrible thing happen to someone so innocent?

"Everything will be okay, Persephone. There is no need to shed your tears....." The sire said calmly with a soft smile, scooting closer to her as she sat. If Eros still had his wings, he'd use them to shield the damsel from the ongoing storm, though the only thing he could do to comfort her right now was to be by her side in what the cupid beleived to be a vital moment in her life. "Who is this man you speak of? This other woman?"

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Would it be okay? She wanted to believe that it would, but what reason did she have to believe that? Prior to now, it had been a fight just to have friends of her choosing and not her mother's. Eros had been @Demeter's begrudging allowance to the girl, on the agreement that she did not ever leave or go anywhere with him. There was no reason to think that life would tilt in her favor, not then, and not now. Despairing, Persephone found herself not wanting to even speak his name, and she didn't know the woman's name, so... She was left to shrug at her friend, though of course, guilt plagued her immediately. He was just trying to help.

“It's Hades,” She finally answered softly, ready for the reaction she was expecting: disappointment, anger, and a good smattering of disbelief. As if she could ever attract the attention of a King like that. “I don' t know her name. She was... She was awful, though.”
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At first, the sire wasn't sure if the woman would tell him what he asked -- which was okay. It's best not to force words out during a time like this, and he would never have the goddess speak when she was in this state if she didn't wish to. Except.....she did, and the answer was something that almost made him ask her to repeat.

"I......what?" Hades? As in, king of the underworld? Surely there was some kind of strange bug in his ear to make him hear such a thing.....right?

He turned his head back to the young goddess, placing his paws on her shoulders as he took a moment to sit down in front of her. This was a lot to take in, and though he'd definitely deal with the matter of whatever witch had made her friend cry, the first course of action was to decide whether or not he should be suprised, shocked, fearful, excited -- or all 4 -- upon hearing this. "The king of the underworld has asked you to be his queen Persie?? I...how much have I missed out on, I don't even remember how I got here...."

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His paws on her shoulders was... disorienting. For a moment, Persephone didn't see a wolf but... a _man_, his face full of concern. The image was super imposed over the wolven muzzle that stared down at her then. “I...” She struggled then to not get defensive. “Yes... We found each other when we woke up here and we get along very well. He's..” She looked away, flustered suddenly. “He's kind and he acts like he's interested in whatever nonsense I have to say and he's handsome and we just... We clicked.” She didn't really have another way to explain it, and so huffed softly, turning that soft, still glassy gaze back to her best friend.

“Did you just wake up, Eros?”
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Eros........wasn't sure how to respond to any of this.

And when Persephone had finished her words, the only thing he could release from his lips was a sigh. His question was basically answered indirectly; too much has happened while he's been away. After a few seconds to recollect his thoughts, the archer's paws receded from his friend's shoulder's and back onto the muddied ground, heavy raindrops falling down his blonde head as he sat there in silence.

Then, he'd speak up again; "I am not sure if I can...trust Hades the same way you do..." the boy said, metallic eyes looking off to the side with clear uncertainty spilling through his voice. Still, a part of his being wanted to trust this information, solely because it was coming from someone he loved and cared for. "But If what you say is true, and he treats you the way you say he does, with kindness -- then I trust you." He finished with a soft chuckle, which was most definitely let out from nervousness...

Eros meant it with as much sincerity as was possible. Besides, why would Kore lie to him? She was his best friend.


He angled his head to the side a bit, letting some of the downpour drain off his muzzle and away from his eyes before answering the girl's question with a whimper. "Yes, I have just woken up. Now I am in the body of some sort of canine and I can't even tell whether or not I'm still as gorgeous as before." The statment was meant to add humor really, though it did hold the truth that Eros still didn't have a clue in Olympus as to what was going on. "I'm very confused. Care to let me in?"

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Crestfallen. It was the only way to describe her expression when Eros said he didn't trust the man that had effectively whisked her off her feet. A deeply offended and defensive part of her wanted to get angry but Persephone knew it was not the way to react. Not to Eros. He had to have had his reasons and seeing as what he said afterwards didn't really make her feel at all better, Persephone was determined to find out. Maybe not right this second though.

She shook her head, dispelling some of the water that had gathered there before speaking again, a watery smile pulling at her weary expression. “Of course you're still beautiful. The picture of perfection.” And despite her mood, the statement wasn't at all sarcastic but implicitly sincere. Another sniffle, far less frequent now that she had told someone rather than bottling it up. “There's not much to fill you in on. We woke up here with patchwork memories. There's others too. Poseidon, Hebe, Hera, even Styx and Hecate. I think they're all staying with us until we can sort ourselves out. You're more than welcome to stay with us too.”
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His brows furrowed in worry upon seeing the little goddess' frown, and a part of him immediately wished to take back what he said -- but he knew he couldn't. He wouldn't lie to Persephone and tell her that Hades wasn't a red flag in his mind, but that did not mean he didn't wish to be there for her regardless. He used his muzzle to bump the girl's shoulder with a soft whine, his own silent way of saying 'I'm sorry'. It totally felt weird to do, bumping his head against someone like that, but felt almost natural in this wolven form.

After a while the cupid would back his head away to listen to Persephone again, ears perking and shifting directions as he listened to every word with a serious yet slightly confused expression. It appeared that him and Persephone (and Hades) were not the only deities that appeared in this land, and Eros wasted no time wanting find out more. "Why of course! If we can find and gather many more, then we can figure out what's going on here sooner..."

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The distraction from the red wench was welcome, tail waving gently behind her as Eros accepted her invitation. With a soft nudge to his shoulder, Persephone led him into the forest, burying all the upset and pain down below her surface level thoughts. She didn't want to think about it, so she'd ignore it until she felt ready to examine her feelings, and Eros' immediate hesitation at who Persephone had thrown her lot in with.

Fade
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