Look At Us Now

 Minthe woke in a familiar forest and let out a string of curses so vehement it set birds a flight and rustling critters running.

 Not. Again.

 Having separated from the Underworld King once more after a tenuous bit of travel, the she-wolf settled as far away from the lush sentinels as she could, choosing to avoid the memories and the people who stirred them.

 Hoping to avoid meeting anyone, Minthe shook herself with wince and slunk to the edges of trees only to find water on the other side. On all sides.

 “What the absolute fuck.”

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I wasn't expecting to bring Perse back so soon but uh. Reading this thread made me want to. So hi! Also reusing part of my first first post with her for this post bc something something symmetry something weird artsy farty ideas something.

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The touch of cold water upon her paws, the distant call of songbirds in the morning light, the gentle breeze shifting the fur of the honey-dappled form; all of it served to pull her, gently, from her nightmare — a barren place where there was no color, no life, heat beating down on her small form in such a way that she could not escape it. The was no shade, no shelter, no safety, and despite the vast landscape, Persephone could feel her pulse quicken as the word trapped repeated over and over in her head.

A small gasp left her as her eyes flew open, sitting up with a sharp movement; disoriented and bewildered, it took some moments for her to realize that she was not trapped, nor was she anywhere even remotely similar to her dream. In fact... Where... was she? Getting to her feet, the petite wolf cast her gaze about the area, brows furrowed in the gentlest manner of confusion. She didn't recognize anything. Couldn't smell anything familiar, either. Where was mother? Daphne? How had —

Wait.

Not mother, or Daphne, but Hades. Stolidi. Persephone might have gone searching for them, had she not heard a sound, a voice behind her. A voice that sounded familiar.

“Minthe?” She turned, seeing the other female standing on the same beach as she, though the Red Woman looked... quite unhappy with her... their predicament. Persephone couldn't find it in herself to disagree. “Did you just wake up, too?”

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 The Gods of this world were a particular brand of unusual and cruel.

 Her head swung. “Hello, Sunshine.”

 Because what would this hell be without the worst kind of company?

 “And of course I did - as if I would come back here by choice.” Minthe stared down at the golden girl. “I see the beauty rest didn’t help you any.”

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She frowned then, eyes seemingly shifting to a deeper red — a trick of the light, of course, but it certainly projected the sudden dourness of her mood. If she had been a flower, her thorns would have bristled; as it were, her hackles shifted just slightly and the petite, gentle, harmless little wolf of gold decided, for once, to respond in kind.

“You don't always have to be such a harpy, Minthe. It's bad enough that you look like one.”

With a huff, the girl got to her feet and took a moment to stretch before she looked around; she didn't remember water at the edge of their forest, didn't remember a half-baked beach, either. The gods were up to something again, certainly so putting her here with a woman that had a stick shoved so far up her--

“Just save your breath and go. I don't care to argue with a petulant child.” It was likely the nicest thing she could have said then, boredom lacing her voice as she looked back to the other and waited for her to vacate the forest's grasp.

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 Minthe scoffed and smiled, seeing the character of the sun-spot as plainly as she had the first time she’d woken up. “And you’re still the ever-hospitable queen.”

 Kind to those that served, indifferent to those that didn’t, but an unapologetic cunt to anyone that got in the way of her rosy-colored view.

 Turning away from the beach, she trotted off - obeying her majesty and heading to what she hoped was the opposite edge of the forest.

-exit Minthe-

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And of course, she just had to have the last word. Persephone's eyes rolled, huffing again as the woman did exactly the opposite as asked and walked deeper into the forest. “No surprise there,” the flowery queen muttered, flicking her tail as she watched the harpy disappear from view. Whatever. She'd have Hades speak to her and make her leave. Persephone didn't feel like dealing with it.

Now, to figure out just what the heck was going on here.

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