And so Tenebris sat, locked away from the world. Glittering like a jewel, the huge dome protected all within, but also kept them trapped. Many tried to break the barrier to see what lay within, but their efforts were in vain. Shadow glass only recedes for certain reasons, and vandals and busybodies had no business inside.

Years, decades, millennia passed. Nothing moved, nothing breathed, nothing changed. Tenebris Paradiso became a fairytale, something the residents of the Isles of the Blessed dreamed of, something the victims of the Furies told themselves to make their existence less horrible.

Until one day, a young man appeared right outside the gate of the garden. Looking up, amazement was evident on his face. He reached to touch the glass, but was stopped by a voice.

“It won’t open.”

The man whirled, turning to see a fair nymph standing beside a laurel tree, smiling innocently at him.

“It hasn’t melted for any reason…it won’t for you.” She pushed off against the tree, gracefully making her way over to put a hand on him.

“But I need to get in there,” the man said earnestly.

“There’s no use,” the nymph twined herself around the man, “You’re better off staying here…with me.” She smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes at him.

The man removed himself from her, reaching again for the glass, “No…I need to be in there.”

The nymph humphed, then strode off, miffed at being dismissed so thoroughly for a black wall.

The man came close to the glass. Nothing was visible, and so he put his nose to it to try and see better. Upon doing so, it melted away from his touch, letting him fall to the ground inside. Then it sealed around him, locking him inside the glass prison. He stood, brushing himself off. The inside was eerie, so quiet, so still. The outside light made it visible, just full of shadows. But the strangest thing was the roses, roses everywhere.

These roses seemed so strange to him; they were like none that he'd ever seen before. As he walked through, they curled towards him, unfurling their leaves and vines to grab at him gently. The pale-swirled, mahogany-petaled, buds almost seemed to preen under his gaze. They grew from everywhere, coming straight up from the ink glass. 

The man continued through this strange world of glass and roses, amazed. Everything was frozen in a sheen of black, the details etched into in. The leaves of the trees and plants seemed to sway in some invisible breeze. The animals that the man could see were stopped in their very movements, stopped in time. One could even imagine that the brook was burbling, so perfectly preserved it was. 

Then he came to a wide clearing, where a curious scene was laid before him. Amid the stilled whispergrass were predatorial wraith animals, all locked in a stiff vigil. In the trees the man could see birds of prey, eyes glazed over by the blackness. On the ground, he walked past wolves, and foxes. Getting closer to the center, he brushed his fingers over the heads of big cats; tigers, lions, panthers. 

When the man saw what the horses, Chaos and Destruction, were guarding, he gasped.

"No...," he sank to his knees in front of the serene statue of the woman, who still had frozen tears sliding down her cheeks. 

"No...no, no, no...," he murmured, letting tears of his own slip from his eyes. 

He reached out a hand to trace her hair, her cheek. They felt smooth to the touch, cold as ice. He moved to sit beside her, putting his arms around her, as if his warmth could thaw her. He laid his head in the crook of her neck, pressing his face to her sculpted shoulder. There he stayed for awhile, letting his sorrow match hers.

Standing up, he moved to pick a few roses, laying them in her lap, a gift for her. He turned, intending to go and try a last effort to speak with the gods on what might possibly reverse the effects of the ink glass.

As a last minute thought, he pivoted to press a gentle kiss to her brow, leaving her with a token. The he started off, walking slowly. He didn't want to leave her, but he had to try and save her. 

All of a sudden, he heard vicious cracking. Whipping around, his heart stopped beating upon his seeing the cracks running all down her body and through the ground. He rushed to her side, falling beside her, his hands coming to rest on her face.

Slowly, the ink came to life, rippling. It dripped off her, running down her body into the ground. All around, the same thing was occurring to everything around them. Tenebris was waking up. The plants and animals stretched, brushing off the ink. The special roses shrunk away too, disappearing into the ground like the remains of the glass.

The man kept her face cupped in his palms. She blinked, life returning to her limbs. The man smiled.

"Hi. I'm Antony." 

Fleeing from the mountain paradise, from the place where every hellish thing that she had ever done had taken place, Calipsia went back to the only place where she had ever felt at home, felt peace, felt love. Tenebris Paradiso. The place of living death where she had thought she could atone for the things she had done. She passed through the gate, throwing herself into Charon’s gondola. He spoke no words, the only sound being that of the oar slipping into the waters of Styx. Reaching the shores, she slipped out, cloak masking her from everything. Cerebus slunk away from her, whining softly. Only when she stepped across the gate of the deadly garden did she remove her cloak and stuff it back into the hat. Then she walked softly through the garden, boots making no sound in the soft earth. Remembering every night with the boy. Looking around, though it was vibrant as never before, it seemed empty to Calipsia. The boy wasn’t waiting by the wicker swing for her, wasn’t leaning against one of the neverwood trees in the forest, wasn’t laying in the whispergrass.

“And he never will again,” whispered Calipsia softly. The whisper echoed across Tenebris, growing strength until it boomed in the rest of Hades. It was the sound of utmost misery, of utmost loss. She sank to her knees, tears as black and shiny as the swirling marks of her skin slid down her pale and cold cheeks, hitting the soft ground.

The wraith animals came a few minutes later, feeling their mistress in distress and back in Tenebris. They sat around, not understanding, but loyally staying with her. The birds of prey perched in the neverwood trees around her. The wolves sat on their haunches, heads bowed. The little foxes curled their tails around themselves, heads on their paws. The cats followed suit, though they sat closer in to Calipsia, still on alert as though someone might dare step foot into this place of despair, might dare to disturb the lady of the night, of sorcery. Chaos and Destruction, the twin black horses, lay on either side of Calipsia, shielding her from the world with their massive bodies. Only the ravens weren’t present, weren’t among the mourning animals.

As much as Calipsia took comfort in their support, they could not ease her sorrow. Not this time. And so they stayed, all in their mutual grief for Calipsia’s loss. The animals may not have liked the boy at first, but over time, they had come to accept his presence, accept that he made their mistress glow.

They would have stayed like that, forever and always, had the appearance of the ravens not caught their attention. At first, they were only a far off speck, visible to only the cats and Calipsia. But as they neared, it became clear that they carried something with them.

Twisting overhead, they dropped a small bundle into Calipsia’s lap, landing in the neverwoods with the other birds.

Calipsia unwrapped the bundle, revealing one of the bloodroses that grew in her greenhouse. But it wasn’t any bloodrose. This one was a rich mahogany, with striations of pale tortoiseshell and swirls of pearl running through the petals. This was not grown from Calipsia’s blood, nor any of the animals; it was not any grown from the gods, for she knew all of their bloodpatterns. No, this was a new one, one she had never seen before. But looking upon it, she knew who had produced such a beauty. She remembered the one time she had grown a batch from Janus’s blood, when the boy was there with her. She recalled showing him the special process to make the seeds for them. Shock reverberated through her heart, her soul. He had done it...the boy had perfected the process…with his own bloodpattern. She lifted the delicate blossom, inhaling softly. The rose smelled of him, but not in the way one might think. It smelled of sunshine, of laughter. Of running across fields, of making homemade cookies, of night air on a front stoop in his city. It smelled of clasped hands, of sweet blushes, innocent gazes.

Calipsia lowered the flower to the ground, unable to think on his. She dug in the dirt for a moment, dirt staining her fingers, and the gloves on her palms. Then she pushed the stem into the ground, covering it back up. Leaning back on her heels, she looked at the now planted flower. She gently nudged it upright, but it continued to droop. It was fading right before her eyes. She started looking around frantically, starting to sing a rushed lullaby as she searched through her hat for anything that might save it. She crooned to it, watered it, even magicked it, but to no avail. It stiffened, and then crumbled, the ash blowing away in the wind. Calipsia watched it, new tears falling from her strange eyes.

The tears flowed down her clothes, hitting the earth and, upon touching it, turned into glass, black as night, and smooth and hard as the finest china. They continued across the glass, the black spreading outwards. The animals did not move, and so the ink continued over them, locking them into a cold and unyielding prison. It swept across the garden, freezing any animal, any plant, anything in its embrace. Reaching the gate, and the border of the garden, however, it moved upward, building a black, impenetrable wall around the area, letting none in. It continued, sealing Tenebris Paradiso away from Hades, from the world.

All the while, Calipsia continued mourning, tears flowing freely. They began to climb her, freezing her body in the same inky glass. Realizing it, she gave one final, melancholy smile as Tenebris was sealed off completely and the glass froze her completely.

“So be it.” 

Once Calipsia reached the hall, she brushed aside her cloak and steeled herself to become the cold, vicious creature she would have to be in order to get her love back. Then she walked down the hall, boots clacking, and threw open the doors once again. The gods inside all flinched, and Aphrodite was visibly cowering.

"Well?" Calipsia gathered her purple smoke around her, voice echoing through the hall.

They all looked at each other, all eyes coming to look at Zeus. Calipsia leveled her piercing gaze at him.

"Zeus," Calipsia smiled a cruel smile at him, "Well? Where is the boy?" 

Zeus gulped, Adam's apple bobbing "We cannot return him Calipsia...He is among the millions in Hades."

She cocked her head, turning to look at Hades, "And you, the lord of the Underworld, cannot find one of your own?"

Hades looked down "No...he has vanished."

Calipsia looked around at the Council, face devoid of emotion. "What am I to do, with such a lot of...," she threw her arms out, thunder sounding, lightning flashing, smoke and shadows filling the halls, "FOOLS?!"

Then she walked calmly to Hera, who was cowering, holding on to Zeus for all he was worth. She stood in front of her, smiling at Zeus.

"I think I'll start with you." She blew purple smoke towards Hera, all the while watching Zeus, who sat frozen. Hera inhaled the smoke, and fell back into her chair, coughing and shaking her head.

"What did you do to her?!" Zeus cried out, reaching to grab her. 

Calipsia's smile grew sickly sweet, "Nothing physical...I just reversed the love spell from Aphrodite."

Zeus looked at Calipsia, horrified, "What have you done...she'll loathe me!" He cradled his wife, who was waking up. Upon seeing him, she shoved him away and started hissing in rapid Greek at him. 

Calipsia then turned to Aphrodite, who was begging and pleading for her two loves. She conjured up the two white lights from before, holding them in her hands.

"Please...please...I'll do anything," Aphrodite whispered through her tears, voice barely audible.

"The only reason I'm not killing them," Calipsia smiled wanly, "Is not for your snivelling." She looked around at them all, stalking to the middle of the hall, "The reason I'm sparing these souls, why I will never kill again, is because of a promise. A promise to my beloved who--thanks to a certain few of you--you all will never have the honor of meeting. But make no mistake, Aphrodite will be punished." She turned to the goddess, and her smile went cold and cruel. Holding up the hand with the lights, she touched each of them, infusing the lights with a pale, smoky blue.

"What I have done is erased any and ALL memories from these two of you Aphrodite. They will not remember anything about you. Nor will they be able to, for a spell infused with the river Lethe can only be undone by one thing: forgiveness. My forgiveness. Something you will never get." With that, Calipsia blew the two lights to Aphrodite, where they winked out above her. Aphrodite fell to the floor, face pale and blank with pain.

"Let this be a warning to you all," Calipsia continued softly, letting a small touch of pain and misery grace her voice, "That you should never mess with an innocent soul, another's true soulmate. For if you do," Calipsia's eyes went black, and roiling purple and black flames sprung up around the hall, "I will make sure that you never forget it." Then she stormed from the hall, sweeping her cloak around her and disappearing into the mist. 

Once Calipisa left the hall, and got a safe distance away from Mt. Olympus, she let the tears that she had been holding back flow. Her love was dead, and there was virtually no possibility of bringing him back and restoring him to his world. In her sadness she did not see where she was going, and so she ended up back at the boy’s house. She could feel that there were lots of people in his house, and so she just sat outside on the front stoop. She let the droplets slide down her face, silently proclaiming her defeat to the world. She would never forgive Aphrodite, or Zeus, for what they had done.

‘Let them see how they fare in the next war,’ she thought bitterly to herself.

“Excuse me dear, are you lost?” An older woman had come out and was looking down at Calipsia.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry…I was just on my way.” Calipsia stood, brushing herself off.

“Oh no, you’re fine honey…this place is a good place for a sob.” The woman heaved a huge sigh and sat in one of the wicker chairs that was crammed onto the tiny veranda.

Timidly, Calipsia sat down in the other chair beside her, not wanting to intrude, but since she had been invited, she didn’t want to be rude.

“Inside that house is suffocating…too many people crying about and looking at pictures of my grandson.” The woman sipped her ice tea, “Seems like just yesterday he was sitting out here with me, discussing all the problems in this city…and then the next he’s in the ground next to my husband. Too young, too young.”

“I’m sorry,” Callipsia murmured, “I can’t even begin to imagine.” She looked at the woman, curious to hear her take on the boy, “What was he like?”

The woman proceeded to recall all of the fond memories of her grandson, from when he was a toddler, to when he started school, to when he started turning the city into a better place, to—just recently—when he met a girl that he wouldn’t tell her about, but who she knew was someone special. Interspersed with the conversation were burst of laughter, and mists of tears.

“So, my child, what were you doing out here on the stairs?” The old woman was curious about this oddly dressed young lady who had been crying so bitterly on her stairs.

“I lost my heart…he’s in a different world.” Calipsia said softly, trying not to divulge any secrets.

“I’m sorry child.” The woman scooted to pull her into her embrace.

“Its just…,” tears began to flow again, “it sounds crazy, but I don’t even know much about his life, or even his name…but I knew HIM.” She whispered, “We were deeply in love…and someone sabotaged it.”

“I know how hard it is," whispered the woman. "I know what it's like." She rubbed Calipsia's back, and stroked her hair. 

"I feel as though a piece of me, a piece of my soul, has been ripped away," Calipsia choked out. 

They sat there for awhile, united in their grief. The city raged on around them, cars whizzing by, lights flashing, people talking and shouting, as day turned into night. Finally a man came out.

"Mother...it's late." He spoke softly, "Let's go to bed." Then he noticed Calipsia, "Hello."

"Greetings," she murmured back. The older woman gave her one last squeeze.

"Goodnight child," and pulling away, "come again...maybe when things are not so sorrowful for the both of us." With that, she went inside. Calipsia stood up, nodding to the man.

"You have a wonderful mother."

The man smiled wistfully, "I do at that." He reached for Calipsia's hand, "Goodnight, Miss...?"

"Callie." She took his hand, "My name is Callie...goodnight to you sir." 

The man gave her one last smile and headed into the house after his mother. Calipsia walked out into the street, pulling from her hat and donning her shadow cloak. Before leaving, however, she flicked a hand out, sending a sheen of purplish smoke around the house, which glimmered for a moment before fading.

'At the very least, I can protect those that he loved,' she thought to herself. The spell she had cast was a warding, a powerful warding that would keep all evil and misfortune away. Then she turned, flying back up to Olympus to see if the gods had found a solution.

Several days passed, and the boy had not come back. The girl wanted to cry, to scream, to go and find him and ask him if the previous events and words meant nothing.

‘How could he just abandon me? Where is he? Is something wrong?’ Thoughts kept running through her head. And so she decided to do something that was very forbidden, very much against the rules of her imprisonment in Tenebris Paradiso.

She took from her hat a deep purple cloak, one that seemed to swallow all of the light around it. She threw it over her shoulders and disappeared underneath it, blending in perfectly with the shadows. Then she slipped out the gate, and into the confines of the Underworld, making her way towards Styx. She passed Sisyphus, the Furies, even Cerberus, and none of them noticed her, although Cerberus took a big sniff in her direction. However, once she got to Styx, she had to talk to Charon.

“I know that there are two of us on this boat.” His voice was raspy with age.

“Yes Charon. Will you accept payment for taking me across and keeping my presence a secret for as long as possible?” She held out two drachma.

He nodded, taking them, and she settled in the boat. He took her to the entrance of the Underworld, where she jumped out before the rush of the newly dead came forth like a tidal wave. She hurried along the passageway; when she reached the top she shoved open the heavy door, letting in the bright sunshine. It was normal sunshine, and it shined gently down on her face, something she had not felt since the last time she had been on the surface and her curse had wreaked havoc on it.  But things were very different from her times in England and even more so from her times in Greece.

There were no horses, or people in full dresses, or sooty skies; no, there were these big metal boxes hurtling along the streets, and people—of all the horrors—were wearing nothing but knickers and short nightshirts around, and the skies were a baby blue. There were all sorts of new noises that she had never encountered before. But where she was the people had funny accents, and so she knew that she was in a new place…the doorway usually opened to wherever you needed to be. She steeled herself and walked up to one of the men standing on the street, selling some sort of cold something or other.

“Sir?” He swiveled his head towards her, “Can you tell me where I am? What country is this?”

He laughed, but then realizing she was serious he looked at her funny.

“Uh…America…this is New York City.”

The girl inwardly cheered. The boy had said that he lived in that place, on a small street. She asked where it was, and got a pretty good set of directions. Before she left though, he stopped her.

“Did you want some ice cream? I have some I can spare.”

“Um, sure.” The girl didn’t really want that cold stuff, ice cream she now knew, but she didn’t want to refuse his curtesy. He handed her a cone thing with a big scoop of white goop. She tasted it and boy was it COLD! But she found that it was very sweet, and creamy, like the cream mix that people used to make in Greece. She walked along, looking for the boy’s street. She found his house, and slipped the shadow cloak on before picking the lock. Inside, nobody was home. She walked along looking in doors, finding more new things that she had never seen before, until she came to a room that had paintings that weren’t really paintings of the boy and a bunch of other boys in it. They had some funny black and white ball in some pictures, while in others they were dressed up in black clothes. There was a huge bookshelf, a bed, and a desk with a wide, metal, box-like thing on it. But there was no boy. In fact, as the girl looked closer it seemed as if there hadn’t been an occupant in some time, as everything was coated with a layer of dust. She went back out into the sitting room, where there was something she recognized with great joy. A piano! Although black and shiny, the basic structure was still there. She sat, and began to plink out a tune that she had heard the boy hum before.

Suddenly the door slammed open; the girl barely had enough time to get into a corner before a couple of boys and girls came in.

“I can’t believe this.”

“Yeah…I hate it. But at least we can pack his things for his mom.”

“What is this city going to be like without him here?”

“I don’t know…but let’s just get this over with; he’s gone.”

They moved into the room that the girl had left, carrying boxes.

‘Gone? Where is he gone?’ The girl looked after them, then looked in the mirror.

When she did, she was taken aback for a moment before becoming very, very angry. There, shining in the mirror, were the past reflections of Zeus and Hades, who looked grim. Aphrodite was there as well, looking happy as a little lark.

‘They were here…they had a hand in this.’

With that the girl went out, slamming the door and scaring the people inside, before rocketing up into the sky, heading for Olympus. People on the street could have sworn that there was a person flying, but they only would have seen a dark shape in their memories.

When she got there, she ripped off her cape and shoved it in her hat, stalking down the hallway, boots clicking, towards the throne room. She threw the doors, open, interrupting a meeting.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” She screamed at Zeus, “WHERE IS HE?!”

He went pale “Whom? And how are you not torn apart?”

“DON’T PLAY FOOLS WITH ME, OR SWITCH THE SUBJECT.” She hissed “THE BOY. WHERE IS HE?”

Zeus and Hades had the grace to look down, “The terms of the deal have been fulfilled Calipsia. I’m sorry.”

She stood stock still. Then she let her temper get the best of her. Purple smoke drifted in, and static crackled around her. “THE DEAL?! WHAT DEAL?!”

“The one Aphrodite made with me.” Zeus looked shamed, “She has promised me eternal love from Hera, no matter what, in exchange for my letting her destroy your happiness and letting her rip your soul apart. I’m sorry Calipsia. There is nothing I can do.” 

She turned to Aphrodite “Is this true?”

She smirked “Now we’re square…you messed up my love story, now I’ve messed up yours.”

“THIS IS ABOUT HELEN?!” The girl, Calipsia, screams at her, “HELEN DID NOT BELONG TO TROY, AND THAT FOOL PARIS!! SHE WAS PROMISED TO GREECE!! TO A MAN WHO LOVED HER, AND TREATED HER RIGHT FOR THE BRAINLESS THING SHE WAS!!”

Aprhodite frowns “Helen was not brainless! She just…ignored it. And she and Paris were so cute!”

Calipsia frowns, “AND YET THAT WAS A GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO KILL AN INNOCENT BOY?!”

Aphrodite shrugs “He wasn’t innocent. He fell in love with you.” She smirks, “Morpheus and I just gave him a little nudge that’s all…sooner or later you two would’ve met. And big deal, humans die all the time.”

Calipsia walks slowly over to her, letting the smoke curl around her. She stands right in front of Aphrodite. “So you killed him just to get back at me?” Her voice is like cold, hard, steel.

Aphrodite, now a little scared but not backing down, “Of course.”

Calipsia smiles, a grimly sweet one. Then she lashes out at Aphrodite’s chin, her fingernails digging up into the soft flesh of her throat.

“Let me remind you all of who you allied yourself with to destroy Hecate.” She drags the screaming goddess down to the center of the room. “Let me remind you that none of you,” she gestures around, “were powerful enough to defeat her, and why you had to have her own daughter take her magic. Let me remind you why you all were secretly happy to have me go peacefully down to my solitude in Tenebris Paradiso.”

She throws the goddess on the floor, and uses the smoke to create a model of the earth. Little pink and red dots show up everywhere, along with two little white dots.

“Look at our Earth. See how many pink and red dots there are? The pink are those new, innocent loves, that are starting out. The red are those deep, strong loves.” She snaps her fingers and the dots grow purple inside of them. “I can poison every single one of their hearts.”

Then she looks down at Aphrodite, “Those white dots are the people you, my dear Aphrodite, would do anything for. One must be Eros,” she smirks, “But could the other one be this new man, the one I’ve been hearing about?” She looks down at Aphrodite, who is cowering on the floor. “Ahh yes…Aden.”

She pulls the white dots from the globe and it disappears. The dots fly to her hand, and she kneels down to look directly at Aphrodite.

“I could crush them like bugs.” She hisses, squeezing her hand shut, “You’d do well to remember that before you challenge the goddess of pure, unbridled power.”

With that she stands up, “You all had better fix this…or pay the price.” With that, she walks out of the hall, slamming the doors shut.

The boy lay sick all day again, able to do nothing in the hospital bed. The doctors had done everything that was in their power, and yet still his health declined. When night came and the boy could fall asleep he was grateful for the release that it gave him, even if he did die a horrible death at the end. He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep, opening his eyes to the gates of the garden.

It seemed that while he declined, everything in the garden flourished. The roses were darker, fuller; the grass was greener and swaying; every the brook burbled happier. The boy walked quickly to the swing, where he and the girl had decided a long time ago to meet. He saw her there, sitting on the swing. He came up behind her and pushed gently, waking her from a daydream as the swing started to move. She smiled, something she didn’t do unless he was there, and while he was there it never faded.

“Hi.” His breath tickled her ear as she came backwards and he gave her another push.

“Hello yourself,” she replied, smirking.

“What adventure are we having today? A stroll through the deadly woods? A walk through the poisonous greenhouse? A swim in the venomous lake?” He smirked right back.

“I thought we could stay right here,” the girl murmured, stopping the swing and leaning against his chest, “And avoid the horrible death experiences.” She stood up and spread a blanket that sat next to a tree out in the grass. The she laid out on it, looking up at the sky.

The boy joined her, and together they watched the clouds go by, although these were purple, not your average white. They pointed out shapes, and laughed to each other as they got sillier and sillier.

“I think you win,” The girl choked out in between gasps.

“Do I now? And what’s my prize?” The boy smiled innocently at her, leaning up to look down at her. Her blondish hair was spread out in a halo around her, cheeks flushed pink, eyes bright with held in snickers.

The girl cocked her head, deep in thinking, “I’m not sure…this world doesn’t have much to offer in terms of a prize.”

The boy smirked, “I know of one thing.” The girl looked at him questioningly as he gathered his courage and kissed her. It was soft, sweet, innocent; and quick as well. When he pulled away her cheeks were burning, and he smiled down at her.

“Wha…what was that for?” She whispered, looking down.

“I wanted to…have wanted to.” He used a hand to lift her 

chin, “should I not have?”

The girl blushed deeper “I…I didn’t mind.”

With that, the boy smiled “You have feelings for me?”

She nodded, “And you for me?” He nodded, then leaned down to kiss her again.

It was full of passion this time, of untold love. But the world started fading away, like at the end of the boy’s dreams.

“No!” He shouted, and they both tried to grab each other so as not to be pulled away. But it was too late. The world faded to nothing, just blackness.

This time, the boy did not wake up to his room, or the hospital room. He did not wake at all. 

He was immediately hit with a wall of stream, and so could not see for a few seconds. But when he could see, the sight was breathtaking.

Plants of all colors grew everywhere, the walls, the floor, the CEILING, were all covered with vines and flowering shrubs and such. Berries of all different shapes and sizes flourished in tantalizing clusters. The boy reached out for a bright purple color, wanting to taste and see if the flavors would be just as exotic, but the girl snatched the berry and held it up.

"Don't eat anything." Then she proceeded to pop the berry in her own mouth, sucking on it before swallowing it.

"Why not?" The boy was puzzled, and a bit irritated, that she had taken his berry. "You ate it."

The girl let out a sigh, "They're deadly." With that she turned back, walking off again. The boy followed, grumbling about the unfairness. They reached the other side of the building, where the girl went to a small shed and pulled out gloves, shears, and a small pot.

"Put these on," she told the boy, who complied; this time without complaining. Then she headed for an artificial waterfall towards the one side of the greenhouse. There she filled the pot with dirt from a bag that was falling over, spilling the contents across the floor. Weeds had grown into it, so long that it had lain there. Then she set the pot aside, along with her hat. Leaning over under the waterfall, she drank from the crystal clear waters. Then she pulled back, sitting on the rocks beside it.

"This water is probably the only thing that you can let pass your lips." She stated calmly, "Go ahead, drink your fill."

Rolling his eyes slightly at the girl's mysterious words, the boy mimicked her, drinking from the falls. When he had his fill, he sat across from her.

"What is this place?"

The girl smirked, "A greenhouse. Duh."

The boy smirked right back, "Right. And where is this greenhouse?"

It was then that the girl sighed, but she reluctantly replied.

"There are many names for this place. It's been known in the past as Paradise; I haven't caught up to what people call it in your time." The girl shook her head, "But Paradise is not a good name for it. Have you heard the story of Calypso?"

The boy nodded, "She was sent to an island for supporting the Titans in the Titan wars. It's all just myths, but apparently she was cursed to fall in love with all men who washed up on her shores, but they would all decide to return to their worlds."

The girl whipped her head around, eyes smoking at the boy as she stood up.

"It is not a myth. None of it is." She hissed, voice very low. "You dare to mock the fates of those people? Of me?" Then she stalked away, boots clacking angrily on the floor.

"Wait!" The boy called, running after her, but he tripped over a root. He got up, only to be tripped again. It was then that he noticed that the plants were moving, sliding, and it was towards him. He scrambled back to the rocks, until he could back no further. The vines wrapped him, up, and he could feel one squeezing around his throat. He began to lose consciousness, and fell into darkness.

He sat up, sweating and breathing hard, heartbeat racing. He was in his bed, the sheets tangled up around him. He looked at the clock seeing that it was early in the morning, and he lay back, trying to fall to sleep once more.