Sometimes the happiest people are the saddest on the inside.

…

Hades was disappointed with his current fate.

After the death of Kronos, he and his two brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, drew lots for the realms to rule. It was by his horrible luck that he received the Underworld, the unseen realm to which the souls of the dead go upon leaving the world as well as any and all things beneath the earth. To make matter worse, Zeus somehow managed to convince their other siblings that Hades to be barred from Olympus due to his 'dangerous' status as the ruler of the Underworld and yet still allows Poseidon to be with them, even though the newly inducted God of the Seas is far more capricious than him.

Hades was hurt. He was stuck to rule in the darkest and mysterious realm, his siblings turned away from him, and he was all alone. It felt just like the time when he was stuck in Kronos's stomach, only this time he had none of his siblings with him.

He hates Underworld. He hates his siblings. He hates Zeus. He hates himself. He—

Wait.

A sudden thought comes through his mind. Why should he waste his time and energy to hate them? If he keeps doing that and suddenly grow violent toward them, wouldn't that prove that Zeus is right to alienate him? Why should he hate Underworld? It's his realm now. At least he has his own domain to rule. Maybe he can change few things in Underworld to make it a better place for him to stay. Why should he hate Zeus? Yes, that guy is arrogant, and he was smug when he managed to throw him away from Olympus, despite of him being his brother. Why should he waste his time to hate that overbearing idiot? Hades somehow had premonition that Zeus will fall thanks to his cockiness in near future without Hades doing.

For the first time since his arrival to Underworld, Hades was smiling. Instead of feeling cold and bitter about his fate, he felt warm and calm about what he had. He is the King of Underworld, not its prisoner. He is a god who rule the realm, not a frightened mortal stuck in Underworld. Also, shouldn't he be thankful that his siblings at least are all right? They don't need to see the horror of Underworld. Hades finally decided that he was glad that he is the one to be here instead of his siblings or one of them.

Hades was happy. All his supposedly hatred was gone. His bitterness had fading away. He had no reason to hold grudge against everyone. He was satisfied with his life.

Hades was content.

It's been years since Hera last saw her eldest brother Hades, and to be fair she is quite anxious. She had heard rumors of what Hades was like from several gods, that her brother is a bitter and hateful god, who had frightened few younger gods with his status as the King of the Underworld. Hearing that had made Hera feels guilty for agreeing with Zeus along with their siblings to alienated Hades.

They are about to meet Hades again on this important event. Zeus and Hera's wedding. It was Hestia's idea for them to invite Hades as well, since he is after all their brother—and for some reason, Zeus was against this. Poseidon and Demeter had expressed of wanting to see Hades again and Hestia was positively brightened at the prospect of having their family whole again.

But Zeus was the only one frowned at this, much to Hera's confusion but she guessed it probably because Zeus is still sore of being the youngest from them even though he is the King of the Gods.

"I don't care if Hades is our brother, but it's been too long since we last see him. Aren't you worried if he succumbed to Underworld's influence yet?" Zeus reasoned.

That brought nervousness among them, until Hestia scolded Zeus.

"Where do you get that kind of thought?" She retorted. "I always visited him, when none of you ever think to do that. He's not evil and dark god as you painted him, Zeus."

Zeus shrunk from his seat as several appalled looks aimed to him.

…

The wedding reception in Olympus was great, as expected. They soon forgot of their conversation about Hades and enjoyed the grand party, much to Zeus's relief. Although Hestia still glared at him occasionally.

That is, until a very nervous nymph announced to them that Hades has arrived—albeit very late. But that is not the most shocking part.

To every god shock—and Zeus was pale, Hades doesn't look what they expected. In fact, the supposedly pale, bitter, and dark god comment doesn't exactly describe Hades.

Hades was tanned and lean as if he never spends that much time in Underworld like what Zeus had told them (yes, he's the one who spread that horrible rumor about Hades), he looked like he had been traveling a lot. He seems to smile a lot and his dark onyx eyes never dull as if he never feels depressed or brooding. He didn't wear black robe like the rumor described him, instead he wore dark purple chiton and the only thing scary from him is his Helmet of Darkness, which is tied in his belt like pouch bag.

He smiled even brighter as he approached his stunned siblings. "Brothers! Sisters! I'm sorry for being late, but I am here now."

Hestia was the first to react as she run to embraced him, followed by a now conscious Demeter, who offered him a small smile.

"Hades, I'm glad to finally see you!" Poseidon grinned. "and you looked… well. How are you?" The thought of Hades being a scary god immediately gone from everyone's mind, much to Zeus's annoyance.

"Doing fine with the Underworld's business, thank you for asking," Hades replied. "although I've decided to let Thanatos to judge several souls after I found out that I could never finish today job to attend here. And Hera, you looked quite stunning tonight. Zeus is very lucky to have you."

Hera looked happy with that compliment. "Thank you, brother."

"I am very relieved to see you well, Hades," Demeter finally said. "I've heard several terrible rumors about you and I was quite nervous before you arrived. But now that you are here, I am happy that those rumors are false."

Hades raised his eyebrows. "Rumors? What rumors?"

"Oh, someone told—" Demeter leveled a glare toward Zeus. "—that you are evil, dark, and bitter god. That you preferred to sulk in your realm and that you eat mortal corpses for dinner. That you are as pale as skeleton and that you sneer a lot."

Hades blinked at that. And then blinked twice to process of what he just heard. He then, to everyone's surprise, laughed. His laugh apparently was infectious as soon, his siblings and everyone who attends at the reception laughed together—except Zeus (what do you expect?)

"That… that's hilarious! How in Gaia someone can came up that kind of drivel?! I don't think I can sulk around in my realm that much. I preferred to sight-seeing around the mortal world, thank you very much."

"Sight-seeing? You should visit my realm, as it has some hidden underwater beauty and beautiful sea creatures. You will love it!" Poseidon said, eagerly.

"Oh, I would definitely visit," Hades then turned to Demeter. "Demeter, do you have any tips for gardening? I am currently starting on cultivating my own flower garden, but I am still clueless of how to tend them and of course, trying not to cause them to wither and die."

Demeter looked excited. "Of course! You need to make sure that your flowers are planted in a place with constant sun rays and in a good soil. You also need to water them constantly, to make sure they're hydrated. You can visit my temple if you need any more help."

"Ah, I happen to find a really great place to plant near the Gates of Underworld. Maybe I can visit you sometimes when I'm not busy," he then turned to Hera. "Hera, I hope you are alright? If anything happens to you and you need my help, my door is open—um, well after you walk pass Cerberus. He's my guard dog, you see."

Hera smiled. "Thank you for the offer, Hades."

Soon they began to talk more about their days, the funny stories that happened in their jobs on maintaining their domains, the strange mortals that they encountered, and many more.

Zeus just sulked throughout the rest of the reception, but he felt comforted over the fact that as soon as the party is over, Hades will leave Olympus. Yes, he never like his eldest brother and found Hades to be very intimidating and no doubt powerful enough to overthrown Zeus if he wishes. That's why Zeus spread that rumors. He wants everyone to fear Hades, to make the God of Underworld feels separated and bitter enough, so Zeus can declare him too dangerous to be let to walk on the surface when Hades snapped. Apparently, that is not working. Still, younger gods and godlings are easy enough to be manipulated. Zeus can continue to make Hades looks bad in front of them, but maybe when his siblings and some adult gods are not around.

AUTHOR NOTE: This will be in two-shot, probably more but I'm not sure. To anyone wondering if I will update 'The Switched Kings', well as soon as I find my inspiration again, I will continue it. But right now, it's in hiatus.

This will be HadesXPersephone, to anyone who are wondering.