The Daughter of Demeter

Based on the characters from Disney’s “Hercules” film & TV show

Epilogue – The Prophecy

Hecate sat back, staring hard at her cage of tail-less lizards, filing her nails. She had settled into to yet another corner of Tartarus - she moved camp up to three times a year to keep Hades off of her back. She liked to remain hidden, and to have her privacy - there was a certain reward in being able to remain enigmatic.

Her two wolves dozed upon the floor, their ears twitching every now and then.

She growled to herself, and flung her nail file ferociously against the lizard cage. There was a ‘clang’ as it hit the barred enclosure, stirring the lizards, and awaking the two wolves with a start. Her winged hounds sat up alertly, their ears pricking up sharply. They looked about everywhere until they realised exactly what was going on.

“I can’t believe how this has turned out!” Hecate snarled irritably, storming up onto her feet, and walking about the inside of her latest abode. Her home wasn’t too different from the various other homes that she’d had before – it was just another cave; one wasn’t spoilt for choice of locations when it came to living in the Underworld.

The two wolves watched their mistress warily, their ears shooting backward. They crept low under a nearby table, keeping out of her way in fear of her wrath.

The Witch thundered out of her home, and walked out into the wilderness of Tartarus.

Her two wolves watched the space where she had been for a few seconds, confused as to what precisely was happening in such a short expanse of time, before eventually deciding to skulk out and follow her.

Hecate walked blindly about the twisting tunnels and caverns of the lower world, her mind buzzing with hatred - she still was incredibly wound up over the Hades-Persephone scenario. She couldn’t believe that that little brat of a goddess had betrayed her! No one betrayed Hecate and got away with it! Especially after all that hard work she’d done, making that potion and all...

“She will pay!” she growled inconspicuously to herself, marching along speedily, “She will - oooff!”

Hecate was forced to halt, having walked into something.

Or someone...

The witch’s two wolves wined in fear behind her, backing away. It was the Fates.

“Hecate!” Clotho snapped, straightening her black cowl back over her head.

“Watch where you’re going!” Lachesis continued on, folding her spindly arms.

Atropos just nodded in emphasis, currently holding their one eye within her head.

Hecate had been in a foul mood for the past few days, and even the Fates weren’t going to stop her from being irate; “Oh, come on, ladies! You do know everything! You should know to watch your step!”

The Fates were skilled at going off on a tangent, “Angry are we, Hecate?” Atropos asked hoarsely, pointing a stubby finger toward the witch.

Hecate blinked blankly at them, “You think...?” she asked them curtly, folding her arms.

“Over Hades and Persephone, I feel...” Clotho deduced, ignoring Hecate and her insolence.

Hecate rolled her eyes, “Nice meeting you ladies...” she said hastily, hoping to get away. She pushed passed them impolitely, her wolves bounding on ahead, being more than ready to get away from the three formidable Fates.

The Fates turned and listened as Hecate mooched off - and just when they predicted:

“Actually, Ladies!” Hecate suddenly said, stopping in her tracks, and slowly turning back round to look at them, her voice lightening, “Perhaps you could help me with something...?”

The three sisters looked at one another uncertainly, then back to Hecate, “You wish for our help now, do you?” Lachesis asked gruffly.

“Yes...” Hecate smiled in a sycophant-like manner.

Her two wolves skidded to a stop ahead, confused as to why their mistress had suddenly changed moods. It was clear that she wanted something, and whatever it was would make her exceedingly happy...

Hecate slid back up toward the Fates, and placed her hands together lightly, “I’d very much appreciate a favour, ladies... you know, we have had alot of bridge nights...” (‘Which you’ve won because you know everything’ she thought swiftly afterwards.)

The Fates looked toward one another, “And what would this ‘favour’ involve, Hecate?” Atropos queried suspiciously.

Hecate held her grin, “Just a teensy-weensy little prediction of the future... you know, a little hint to get me rolling...”

The Fates mumbled amongst themselves; “For what exactly?” Lachesis asked on behalf of them all.

“Just a bit of revenge... c’mon, girls, you should know!” Hecate went on, gesturing firmly with her hands.

They turned to one another again disapprovingly; “We don’t know...” Clotho said indecisively.

‘Not often they say that…’ Hecate noted mentally.

“Ladies, please!” she asked them compellingly, “Everyone knows how often you have favoured Hades with your predictions in the past! Why should I not be allowed a little hint of the future?”

They all considered her proposal at once, then Atropos, sighed, “Well... alright... I suppose it is fated to happen...”

Hecate rolled her eyes again.

“Specify your query, Hecate…” Clotho said, “What exactly do you want to know?”

“Look, I won’t beat about the bush - Persephone has betrayed me by falling for Hades, and the two are both my sworn enemies now. What can I do to get back at them? Is there any way I can overthrow the pair of them? I just need a slight hint! To know where to start!”

The Fates mumbled amongst themselves again, before Atropos stepped forward and said, “You ask a lot of us, Hecate... but never do we reveal the future. If ever, we only present clues to it... hints. But fate takes its own course, and what we say may not be clear to you... and you may interpret it wrongly...”

“Okay! Okay! Hecate said hastily, “I’ve read the fine print - now get to the point! Offer me this clue!”

Lachesis and Clotho turned to Atropos, and the smallest Fate released her eye, and let it hover up before her:

“Love has taken hold of Persephone,
And in 15 months at least, a mother she’ll be.”

Hecate nodded, watching the Fates’ eye glow, and flicker with slight images of the future: she wasn’t sure how this was helping her.

“The offspring she’ll yield, we have foretold,
Will be sired by the Lord of the Underworld.”

“Yeah… like that’s a surprise…” the witch noted to herself.

“A new Bond this is, in the chain they share,
And a weakness, too, we do declare.”

“Ahh, I see…” Hecate hissed, her eyes glowing. She would get to these two gods through their progeny.

“Breaking a bond will end victoriously this tale,
but, choose the wrong bond to break, and you will fail…”

And with that, they were gone.

Hecate watched the space they’d been in for a few seconds, blinking blandly. Her two wolves, still some distance away, waited patiently for her to say something, or to make some form of reaction.

The witch sneered, “Only hints, they say?” she chuckled, “They say hints when they give me a plain answer. The way I will overthrow them is through their child! Oh, how deliciously evil…”

She turned about, taken up by her own thoughts, “How interesting… the lord of the dead will become a father. Ironic that I know before him. ‘In 15 months at least’… that means that there is sometime to go yet, and there’s plenty of time to make a plan before then! I do have all the time in the world! Or, in the underworld, as the case may be!”

She laughed at her own little joke, looking back to her wolves, “Come, you two… fate is on our side!” she said. Her mood was increasingly better now that she knew she had a chance to overthrow the lord and future lady of the dead.

But Fate is never certain.

“Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur”