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we were on Earth, Hades came up from his Underground
Domain and saw Persephone picking some of her favorite flowers. He
fell in love with her and dragged her with him to his palace.
Demeter was frantic with fear that her daughter was harmed and
sought our help. We finally discovered that Hades was keeping her
in his palace against her will. We tried to talk Hades into sending
her back to Demeter, but he was insistent on having his way and
refused.”
    Ares sighed with regret. “We almost had a
terrific war over it, but Zeus decided to assert his authority as
the head god and force Hades to free Persephone. That war would
have been more famous than the war at Troy.”
    “The rest of us were relieved it could be
peacefully resolved,” Apollo continued. “Hermes went to get her and
found her eating a pomegranate. Unfortunately, we are bound by the
rules of hospitality. As soon as she ate at Hades’ house, she was
condemned to spend her life with him.”
    “Demeter was distraught,” Zeus recalled. “She
sent a bitter wintery blast through Atlantis that year. I went to
see Hades, and he showed me the pomegranate Persephone had eaten.
When I realized she had only eaten six of the twelve seeds, I
brought Hades and Demeter together for a compromise. They finally
agreed Persephone would spend six months with her husband and six
months with her mother.”
    “She loved Hades,” Aphrodite inserted. “She
was glad to stay with him, even if it was for half a year at a
time.”
    Hera scoffed. “Glad? She was forced into
eating the fruit. The poor girl was hungry, and she’d been there
for a long time. She was devastated to learn she had to be Queen of
the Underworld. She is happier when she’s with her mother, enjoying
the sweet smelling flowers.”
    “I like my version better,” Aphrodite pouted,
crossing her arms. “It’s much more romantic.”
    Amanda watched their dialogue with great
interest. If only she and her sister could experience such fun
conversations. It seemed all they did was argue. She wondered what
she ever did to upset Katherine so much.
    The doorbell to the Ivory Palace chimed a
whimsical melody.
    “Pardon me, Queen Amanda,” Zeus said. “I will
be right back.”
    She nodded.
    “We used to have Hephaestus do all the menial
tasks for us,” Hera began, “but we learned he is equal to us, even
if he is deformed. It was a lesson in humility we acquired on one
of your mother’s many adventures.”
    “Yes,” Apollo said. “We had lost out
immortality for a few days and had to experience the limitations of
imperfection.” He shivered in horror at the memory. “Thanks to your
mother, that was a temporary experience.”
    “Your mother has done a lot for us over the
years of her reign,” Hera replied. “We are pleased to have you
here. You look a lot like your father, but I can see traces of your
mother in you.”
    Before Amanda could respond, Zeus came out
with Matthew.
    Amanda blinked in surprise. “Matthew? What
are you doing here?”
    “The Augurs have requested to speak with
you,” Matthew said, out of breath from his long trek up the palace
steps that he had to climb to get to the front door.
    “Is it urgent?” she asked, hating to leave
her luxurious vacation ahead of schedule.
    “They said it was. Atlantis has risen again,
and it could be fatal to their planet.”
    The gods and goddesses gasped.
    “Atlantis? Why has it risen?” Zeus asked.
    “What year is it on Earth?” Hera softly
asked, her eyes wide.
    Apollo had to think her question over before
he was able to answer her.
    “We set for Atlantis to rise again in this
year,” she said.
    “That’s right,” Zeus added, his face pale.
“This is bad.”
    “Why?” Amanda asked, alarmed as she stood
up.
    “In case of our demise or absence,” Zeus
began, “we designed the city’s technology to release our genetic
information into human-size chambers where our replacements will
develop and take over.”
    “And if they succeed