“My darling,” Hades soothed, rubbing her back. “We don’t have much time.”
She barely heard him, but felt his magic cradling her. They teleported and she found herself on the bank of the Styx. She pulled away, her face was soaked, and the pressure that had built in her nose and behind her eyes made her head hurt.
“Hades, what are we—?”
Her question died on her lips when she spotted Charon’s ferry crossing the black river. The daimon was ignited like a torch against the muted landscape. Behind him, sitting with her knees drawn to her chest, was Lexa.
She looked pale but unafraid, and when Persephone spotted her, a raw sob escaped her. She clasped a hand over her mouth to suppress them.
Charon docked and helped Lexa to her feet. As she stepped onto the pier, she embraced Persephone so tightly, she thought her bones would break.
They cried together.
“I’m sorry, Seph,” Lexa whispered.
Persephone pulled away and met her gaze. It was strange to see her blue eyes in the Underworld. Beneath the muted sky, they were bright and...lively.
“I don’t understand,” Persephone said. “I thought you were...better.”
Pain erupted in Lexa’s eyes. “I...tried.”
Persephone swallowed a thick lump in her throat, and then a horrifying thought occurred to her. She turned to Hades, alarmed and afraid.
“Where is she going?”
Hades looked just as distressed as Lexa.
“Seph,” Lexa whispered, drawing her attention. “It’s going to be okay.”
But it wasn’t going to be okay.
Persephone understood what had happened now.
Lexa had taken her own life. She was a suicide. She was going to drink from the Lethe, which meant she would forget everything, include her.
“Why?” Persephone’s voice quacked; her mouth quivered.
Lexa just shook her head, as if she couldn’t explain.
Your actions have condemned Lexa to a fate worse than death.
“I did this,” Persephone wailed.
She’d bargained to heal Lexa, brought her broken soul back to occupy a body it didn’t want, to a life it had finished. In doing so, she’d set her best friend up for another devastating end.
“Persephone,” Lexa said, taking her shaking hands. “This was my choice. I am sorry it had to be this way, but my time in the Upperworld was over. I accomplished what I needed to.”
“What was that?”
She smiled. “Empower you.”
That made Persephone cry harder, and they embraced again
.
They didn’t part until Thanatos arrived, marking an end to their reunion.
“Are you ready?” he asked, his magic was calming, comforting, and for the first time in a long time, Persephone was thankful for it.