Mother, let me tell you a secret
Your flowers always died in my hands
And I hated being the goddess of spring
Something you could never understand
And I know how you see me
Your broken, corrupted child of light
But mother, I wanted pomegranates...
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"I'm so glad that I was able to convince Principal Weems to let you carry out your punishment with me." Miss Thornhill exclaims as she enters the greenhouse with Persephone. "I have so many things that need tending to and I feel I can only trust a true expert in plants like you." She smiles fondly at the girl.
"It certainly isn't the worst punishment I could've been given." Persephone laughs weakly, shrugging her shoulders as Miss Thornhill nods in agreement.
"I feel as though we haven't really had as much time together as I would've liked this semester." Thornhill frowns at the girl, adjusting her glasses through the process. "You've been spending most of your time getting into trouble with Wednesday and her brother. That doesn't seem like you."
"Well, maybe you don't know me very well." Persephone replies, detecting the malice in her teacher's voice as she avoids saying Hades' name. Miss Thornhill is taken aback by the response.
"Or maybe they've changed you." She suggests, stepping towards Persephone to place a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Maybe they've manipulated you... tricked you... twisted you into being a pawn in their game."
Persephone was very confused by her teacher's behaviour. It almost reminds her of Tyler's drastic personality change at the police station. The way her eyes darkened with each word she spoke, her voice low and haunting. She bravely opens her mouth to retort, "Or maybe it's someone else doing the manipulating." Miss Thornhill's face drops before she composes herself and her usual mask slips back into place. She was trying to influence Persephone, convince her that Hades and Wednesday are the villains. But Persephone is more intelligent than that. "I thought you were saying that you had so many things that needed tending to... We're wasting time just standing here doing nothing." Persephone's voice is devoid of any humour as she tries to move on from this strange conversation.
"Oh yes, of course." Miss Thornhill turns away from the girl, mentally cursing that her plan was not working. "You've always had a sharp mind. Let's finish weeding this wolfsbane over here."
◇ ◇ ◇
"That night in the woods, someone set fire to that cave."
"Yes, Dr. Kinbott."
"It's so crazy that it was her. I don't really remember any of it. I just saw someone wearing black and those boots."
"What about her boots?"
"There was an explosion of light and just for a moment, I saw that they weren't black. They were red."
◇ ◇ ◇
Miss Thornhill had been making conversation with Persephone while they completed their tasks as the girl gave very vague and polite answers. She was still suspicious after the teacher's comments earlier but had very little reason to call her out on it. Finally, Miss Thornhill steered the conversation towards the true reason she had offered to carry out Persephone's punishment.
