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.