Iris smiled faintly at the sight of all the flowers around the shop. She loved the colours, loved the feeling they filled her with. It seemed as though Persephone had found herself a nice place in the world. She waited while the other woman locked up, feeling a bit of a guilty twinge, but also pleased that they wouldn’t be disturbed. As she answered Persephone, Iris opened her bag and started flipping through the organized pockets.
“I’m just fine, I don’t need anything. Thank you. I’m sure….you must know why I’m here. I came to deliver something to you.” Until her job was done, she couldn’t stop to talk, couldn’t sit pleasantly and catch up. It was a drawback, especially since after delivering her message, Iris was rarely welcome to sit and chat. She’d lost quite a few opportunities to be social.
Iris found what she’d been looking for, and pulled a crisp white envelope out of her bag. She held it just long enough to ensure it was the one she wanted before holding it out to Persephone. “I have a message for you. From Pallas Athena.”
It was the one useful thing she’d managed to do for Athena so far, and she knew every word of the letter by heart, just in case she’d had to deliver it verbally. She had committed it all to memory, and the words ran through her mind just as though the open letter was in her hand.
Persephone, Sister, it is with a heavy heart that I learn what has driven you into hiding, and with much trepidation that I write to you now, for I wish with all my heart that you would remain in safety and freedom. But I fear for the future of all our lives, and so it is not as a sister that I write to you, nor as a friend, but as the goddess of war and wisdom.
You reigned for millennium as the Queen of the Underworld, and it is in this capacity that I must appeal to you. I know that you are wary of Hades, and that he has treated you cruelly, but I also believe that there is a place for him inside your heart. I know that despite his many indiscretions and his barbarism, he has never forgotten you.
He is stronger now, Persephone. Stronger than he's ever been. If he finds you in hiding, I fear for you. If you come to him, along with me and others who will inform him of the fact that his false rule is at an end, if you appeal to him to cease this foolishness -- I believe that you will be able to set your own terms. I will not leave you to his whims. He has already sought to change the terms of his agreement with Zeus and turn your marriage into a year-long partnership. We need to act now before this has a chance to take hold.
Iris will keep this in secret, as she has ever done. I will move without you if I do not hear from you, but I hope that I do as I believe your presence, Majesty, will be the surest guarantee of our success.