“Excu— huh?” Risa completely lost her train of thought at the sudden shift in conversation, the mention of Leo shocking her into a blush. “What does he have to do with this?”

“Well,” Eva leaned forward, obviously excited for an opportunity to gossip, “he has never let a Queen down here before.”

Risa blinked, partially from the knowledge that Eva was old enough to know that and partially because of Leo. He had never let a Queen down there before? Granted, she had found the place on her own and he hadn’t seemed particularly happy about it, but…

“He didn’t, know. I found it on my own.”

Eva was shaking her head before she even finished. “No, others have found their way here before, once they were fully of the Underworld unlike you. But they were prohibited from coming here.”

Risa’s head was spinning. She hadn’t be prohibited from going anywhere at all. “I think he just didn’t bother,” she amended, glancing up at Eva. “I mean, I can’t see the portals, so…”

“And then he let you stay.” Eva cut Risa off to finish, the final fact destroying her counter argument. Eva cocked her head to the side, her long ponytail falling over her shoulder. “I think that settles it, then.”

Risa felt a small smile trying to form, but bit down on her lip. Leo seemed to have the most control over everything in the underworld, and he still refused to let her see Hades. Soon, she would have to insist. “I suppose it does,” Risa replied, and then pushed herself to her feet. “But I shouldn’t overstay my welcome.” He hadn’t let anyone else here, after all. “I’ll go now. But… can I come again?”

A pot fell to the ground in the background, and then picked itself up to plop into the sink. Eva smiled.

“Anytime.”

********

The next morning, Risa escaped and went straight to the fields. She didn’t see either Leo or Ravi as she went, to her relief, and quickly lost herself in the sunny paths and bright flowers.

She couldn’t tell how many days she had been there, what with the the forever sun, but her guess was near a week at least. She didn’t know how long she was sleeping, or how long she was awake. Regardless, she had spent a lot of that time with the flowers.

There were countless paths through the fields, some that were made of flat thin stones and some that were only of trodden dirt, and she explored them all with equal relish. She was happy to find that it wasn’t just flowers and plants living there, but any sort of other creatures as well; the underworld wasn’t as dead as she feared. The other day she had seen a cute mouse, as well as a beetle or worm here and there. She liked it.

She had a headache, but the sun was helping, so as soon as she found a grassy area that was flower-free she sat down. The breeze rustled her hair and she closed her eyes as she appreciated the sensation

“You went awful far today.”

She didn’t bother to open her eyes despite her surprise, because she knew that voice better than she knew her own. Ravi plopped down next to her and she smiled leisurely.

“Not really, just wandered a bit.” She was sitting on a slight hill, so it was no surprise that Ravi had been able to spot her. “How are you feeling?”

She had taken to asking him regularly after the scare on their first day. “Fine,” he responded, which he always did, but that didn’t make her anymore nervous. It was time to finally say what was on her mind.

“That's good…” She started, but was unsure of where to go. Her smile seemed frozen on her face. How could she tell her best friend that he had to go back alone, that once he did she would never see him again? Still, he couldn’t stay in the underworld much longer. Risa didn’t know what Leo was doing to keep him alive but she wasn’t going to test it. “Ravi, I talked to Leo. You can go back home.”

She still kept her eyes closed. Partially because she didn’t want to see his expression and partially because this conversation was already making her head hurt worse. She hadn’t slept well the night before, her dreams filled with wild kitchen knives and dancing brooms.

She let the silence roll on and on as Ravi thought, minutes passing by until he finally answered.

“No.”

Risa let out a snort; so much time for such a short answer? But she heard the waver in his voice regardless.

“Ravi, you don’t have a choice. You have to go back. You didn’t eat the fruit of the underworld; or rather, you had too little. Only one pomegranate seed won't keep you alive here. It’s why you got sick in the first place.” Still, she kept her eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun disappear as Ravi stood and captured her in his shadow.

“I don’t want to go. I won’t leave you here alone.” Suddenly, he sounded like a child again, scared of the dark. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to leave her alone; it was that he didn’t want to be alone. Risa opened her eyes.

Ravi was standing above her, the halo of the sun around his head making his expression unreadable. It didn’t matter. She stood and pulled him into her arms, all of her questions finding answers as his tall form crumpled into her.

“It’s alright,” she said as he tried to keep himself together. Somewhere inside he, too, knew that he had to go. “I’ll see you in a few months,” she lied. “And every summer. You know what's happening here, too; you don’t need to worry about me.” He quivered just a bit, and she ran her hand over his broad back. “I’m going to be sitting here, surrounded by flowers. Imagine how tan I’ll be when I get back!” Risa said, grinning despite herself. She was on the verge of tears too.