Freedom

"So what do you say? Will you take my offer?"

"Who.. who are you."

"As I said, madam. I'm Peter, a simple messenger of the gods."

Persephone stayed firm with her vigilance.

She questioned herself whether to trust this man or not. But she can't help but be lured in by his interesting offer.

'Only gods can know... become a dungeon master.'

Her mother told her stories about them.

Dungeons, elaborate labyrinths concocted by the genius inventor, Daedalus herself.

With the help of Hephaestus, the creation of the labyrinths further helped ensure the strength of the newly arrived.

Persephone was always intrigued by these dungeons.

Places that houses other-worlders, people that came from another world.

Her wish was to these people, to listen to their stories and learn about their home.

Being isolated for centuries without a friend to talk to was very lonely, even for a god.

But, despite being controlled all her life, she was given something her mother could not interfere with.

Dreams.

On her 10th birthday, the first dream she ever had was about a man with black hair and golden orange eyes.

She was immediately stricken with curiosity. Looking at someone beside her mother, the 10-year-old Persephone was simply in awe.

From that day on she would dream about that man every day.

Each dream a different one from before.

In those dreams, she would be together with this black-haired man, going out to see the world, meeting new people, and making friends along the way.

She never questioned why she had those dreams, she thought that maybe it was her brain making it up to allude her away from her lonesome.

However, as she continued to dream she believed that maybe those weren't a figment of her imagination.

So instead she looked forward to them, thinking that they were sent to her to accommodate her of her boring life, since those dreams comforted her when she was always alone.

But as she grew up she started to long for those dreams to come to reality.

To meet the man and to see the world with her own eyes.

So those simple adventures when she would leave the island, she always kept in mind that maybe a fateful encounter would change her life.

But as she looked at the white-haired man dressed in black, she couldn't help but compare the two contrasting men.

The one in her dream seemed kind and nice, but this man in front of her seemed cunning and mysterious.

However, she couldn't help but feel excited, just like in her dreams, she met a man offering her the job she wanted.

"Fine... I'll accept."

Hearing her words, the man had a gentle smile on his face.

But his eyes, his eyes had a hidden glint within them.

"Great! Here let me get it real quick."

Peter pulled out a small pouch from his waist and placed his hand inside. He fiddled around for a bit before pulling out a piece of paper.

"Well, madam. Here's the contract for the job. Please read carefully in case you don't like what you see.

Oh and you can always offer up your conditions if you like as well."

He smiled, grabbed a pen in thin air, and handed it to Persephone.

[1. The contractee is obligated to uphold their responsibilities at all times.

- Responsibilities range from teaching the recruits.

- Coercing them to join Olympus.

- And the quality of recruits must be high.

2. Olympus will keep resources readily available for use, if necessary.

- Such resources are only available to top-ranking recruits.

- Misuse of resources can be a violation of this condition and apprehension will be upheld upon completion of the dungeon, for the resources allocated will be confiscated, and the recruit will be terminated.

3. Power is handed to the dungeon master to easily handle situations judged to be too difficult to handle.

- However, any misuse of power, outside of the dungeon will be an immediate punishment proportionate to the master's actions.]

She read the contract thoroughly, and even though this was her first time, her mother taught her various things if such events like this were to happen.

But one condition kept her hesitant.

'If the contractee were to break any agreements.

A consequence proportion to that condition must be met.

Punishments are enacted by the God-King, Zeus.'

Her mother warned her obsessively about this man.

She was told to never be in contact with him, and no matter what she must never trust anything he says.

But the poor naive Persephone was too innocent to figure out that the man in front of her was the very man her mother warned her all her life about.

"Have you read it through miss?"

"Yes..."

"Lovely! If you have any questions about the conditions please just ask me."

"The rest are fine... but why is Zeus the one doing the punishment?"

"Well, that's quite simple. Zeus is the head honcho of the operation. He's the one who's controlling the Greek branch, so obviously he's the one who handles the punishments."

"Don't worry there's a lot of gods out there that thought the same thing, but don't worry.

Their punishments are like a slap on the wrist, it all doesn't matter.

Just as long as results are satisfactory, of course."

"Hmm. Fine."

Persephone signed the contract, a beautiful signature on the line below, and the paper disappeared in her hands.

The man looked at her with indifferent eyes but beneath his benign smile, was something deeply sinister.

As Persephone stayed in her place, the man vanished into thin air.

But as the man disappeared another being arrived.

"Persephone! What are you doing here!"

"M-Mother! I-I just wanted to..."

Startled, she stuttered her words surprised by both the man disappearing and her mother appearing out of nowhere.

"I don't care! I told you no matter what to never leave the island! The outside world is far too dangerous for you.

I never wanted to leave you alone, Seph, and you know it."

"I'm trying my best to keep you safe my daughter, and I'm sorry for always leaving you.

But it's for your own good."

Persephone shook her head and strengthened her resolve, for the first time, she stood against her mother as she voiced her hidden thoughts.

"That wasn't keeping me safe Mother... that was not living..."

"And I don't care about the dangers of this world. I can take care of myself! I'm 500 years old now. Just how long can I be alone on that boring island?"

Demeter was stunned by Persephone's words.

She couldn't tell if she was mad or disappointed that her daughter lied to her about sneaking out of the island or disobeying her rules.

But something else felt amiss.

"Persephone, what did you do?"

Persephone hesitated, she didn't know what to say. She always knew that her mother was aware of what she was doing.

But, most importantly she knew her mother always had a strong instinct about everything.

Right now that instinct is telling her something was wrong.

"Persephone. Answer me. What did you do."

"I-I got a job."

"YOU WHAT?!"

At that moment Persephone came to understand the true power her mother has.

Demeter sent her daughter back to the island and immediately flew to Olympus.

Her enraged visit nearly shook the entire mountain itself, eliciting every god to come out of their duties.

Zeus however expected this to happen.

But as soon as Persephone signed the contract with her own will, he knew that Demeter couldn't do anything about it.

As Demeter stormed through the palace of the gods.

"ZEUS! How dare you go near my daughter!"

"Relax dear sister. I didn't do anything.

I simply gave her what she always wanted."

"Freedom."