“So this… underworld food? Pomegranate seeds. I didn’t have enough. Can I have another and fix it?” Why hadn’t he already suggested that? She was about to continue on with her idea but Leo was already shaking his head. 

“It only works once, and only with pomegranate seeds. You must eat them while you are completely living, all at once, in order to gain the ability to enter the underworld without dying. Any more than six, and you would die immediately in the human world; any less, and you’ll slowly die here.”

Risa slumped into the bed, taking this information in. How many other girls had come as Persephone before her? Had any ever had this problem before? Was this what had happened to Emily?

“But Ravi… you said he could go back, and he ate one.”

Leo nodded, but paused before speaking, appearing to contemplate the best way to explain. “But he only at one.” He said, as though that would explain it. When you looked confused, he sighed and continued. “I was able to purge it, because it was only one. Any more and he would have been dead before I even had a chance to get there.”

Risa shivered at the thought, suddenly terrified for how close he had come to death. She wrapped her arms around her, everything moving just a little too fast. The thought of food— any food— was making her hungry, and with everything going on she couldn’t remember when she had last eaten.  

“So…” she trailed off as she gathered her thoughts. “Now what? I can’t eat here, can I? What happens if I eat another seed?”

Leo looked at her, then stood from his chair. “You seem alright now, so I’ll be going. Please change,” he motioned to a wardrobe on the side of the room, “and then come downstairs. Your friend is waiting.” 

Risa gaped at him as he made to leave, then flipped back to the covers. She grabbed his arm just as he was about to go through the door. 

“You have to tell me! What happens if I eat a pomegranate seed now, when I'm already here? If I eat in general? I need to eat!”  Risa refused to let go until she had an answer. Screw fearing the underworld; she was already here, and the second she accepted those seeds in the first place she knew she wouldn’t really be back. A few months, sure, but that was it.

Leo paused, and then turned back to her; she let go of her grip on his sleeve, being that he was no longer trying to run away, and took a step back. “You can eat regular food without any repercussions. But if you have a pomegranate seed, the fruit of the dead…” he shook his head. “You will still live, but you won’t be able to go back to the world of the living ever again. You will give up all of your time back in the valley.”

The world spun in front of her, and it was all she could do not to grab his sleeve again to keep herself unright. “And if I do nothing?” She asked. “If I don’t eat it, what happens?”

Leo looked at her, something like sadness or pity in his eyes. “If you don’t eat it, then you’ll slowly weaken and die.”

Risa closed her eyes. Her memory filtered her back to her dream, to the counting. She suddenly understood. “And how long will that take?”

“Five months.”

Either way, she would never see her family again. 

She wasn’t sure how to respond, so she didn’t. She opened her eyes and Leo was still looking in her in that way that made her want to believe that he knew how she felt. He nodded once, and then walked out, leaving her to get dressed or mourn as she saw fit.

Risa sat on the edge of the bed. It was true, she had prepared herself for the worst when she was chosen, the possibility of never going back. But if she was honest with herself then she would admit that the only things that kept her feet moving as she walked out of the door in the first place was the promise of going home later.

Slightly numb but wanting to see Ravi, she went over to the wardrobe and began to pick through the clothes inside. What would clothes in the underworld look like? Much to her disappointment they were nearly the same as what she was wearing, a light shift over pants, though there were also some simple dresses there as well. Risa pulled one out, admiring the way the simple warm fabric swayed, and changed into it quickly. Something different from usual to suit her new life.

She wanted to hide in her room, but knew that Ravi was waiting. And despite her lack of appetite her body was craving food. With a sigh she glanced around one more time, found nothing more of interest in the very normal room, and then headed to the door. 

While her room was normal, simply made with a small bed and window, desk and wardrobe, the hallway outside served to remind her yet again that she was no longer at home. The same seamless stone greeted her as when she had met Leo, the long single hallway appearing without any flaws. Risa ignored it and walked on. 

Eventually the hallway came to a stairwell, as clean and seamless as everything before it, and she made we way down carefully. The spiraling stairs had her concerned about tripping on her dress, so she held the edge and made her way slowly down, step by step. She counted those too. Finally, she reached the bottom.