Demeter nods. “I believe so.”

“We will break him to our will,” I vow. “And when the time comes, he will break her.”

Epilogue - Part Two

Persephone

Thirteen years. Our daughters are thirteen today.

We visit the Moirai once a month on the first day of the full moons. In the cauldron, we see our girls grow in real time.

They are beautiful and healthy and happy. Sophia’s life is perhaps more luxurious than Lilith’s, who suffered the loss of her father last year. Financially, her mother suffers, and she feels it. But despite the struggles, both girls are deeply loved. Both girls are developing a deep sense of affection for humanity that, every day seems to be a little more lost.

The world is falling apart, slowly but steadily. I keep reminding myself that the day will come when it will all be better.

My heart is always so incredibly heavy today, even though the Underworld celebrates. Outside the balcony, I can see the fireworks Hydra launches in the sky.

The party is always grand, but after our visit to the Moirai, I never stay long. Still, we always make an appearance to celebrate their life. Only Hades and I know who our daughters are in the Living Realm. Their identities are shaded from the realm ofGods, who would see to their destruction if they learned of their existence.

Leuce and Minthe work diligently in the Living Realm, cloaked under the protections of the Moirai, to ensure their safety from afar. After Leuce’s sacrifice for me in Olympus, there is no one I would trust more with the honor of guarding the two most important souls in the path to guiding us all to unity.

The warmth of Hades at my back in the moments before he tugs me into the circle of his arms raises the hairs on the back of my neck. Sparks of fire rain from the sky as Hydra soars overhead and the cheers of the realm rise from below.

“They are loved,” Hades reminds me as he reminds me every year.

“Lilith is hurting.”

He sighs. “Her hurt now will make her stronger.”

“I have a terrible feeling that she is going to need to be far too strong. Stronger than anyone should ever have to be.”

“Yes.” Hades sighs. “I fear this as well.”

“But we’ll be there to help them, when they need us. Won’t we?”

He turns me in his arms. “When they need us, yes.”

Circling my arms around his neck, I stretch up to press my lips to his. “Thank you for loving me, Hades. Thank you for never giving up on me. For always searching for me.”

“Always, little goddess.”

I feel the flames burst warm in the galaxy of my Goddesses’ eyes. “Thank you for letting our story be told. The true story of us.”

He kisses me deep, lighting the fire that always simmers for him deep inside me. “Our story may be finished for now, but it’s not over.”

“No, I suppose it’s not over, is it.”

He shakes his head, flames dancing in his eyes, too. “Our story will last until the end of eternity.”

“And beyond.”

The End.

For now.