Chapter 1- Hades' Loneliness

The days and nights blended together, that is unless he took a peak from the world above, Hades would never know what time it was. He didn't seem to mind, he had been used to it, even from birth. Hades had been shut up inside the belly of his father, Cronus, and inside was a dark and lonely place, until his brother, the all and mighty Zeus, had freed him along with his other siblings. This simple act had made Zeus believe that he could just take the heavens from Hades, who as the oldest had deserved the right to. But Hades knew that Zeus was too ambitious and too power-stricken that he would never give it up, as well as all of Olympus was on his side, so he could never challenge his brother.

In the darkness below the earth, Hades had the greatest kingdom of all, the kingdom of the dead. He judged which souls would enter one of the three levels of the underworld; Tartarus, where no one, but the worst would be punished to; Asphodel Meadows, where those who did neither great nor evil deeds were forced to roam; and lastly, Elysian Fields, where those who have lived by the Gods and worked efficiently were granted everlasting peace there.

He was always seen as a terrifying image in the eyes of the mortals, the dark god who will steal your life, but he was far from that. He had never played tricks upon the mortals as the other gods, namely Zeus, especially when it came to women. Zeus took advantage as he always had, but Hades could bear the idea of hurting others. He had no quarrel with the mortals, except when they would try to escape his kingdom, and that he would not allow. He forbid anyone who was meant to stay in the underworld to venture back, and woe to those who tried to deceive him. This made him the most feared, as well as the most unloved of all the gods.

Hades' kingdom grew in multitude as the earth grew older, therefore making his kingdom the greatest of all the Gods, and yet, he was unhappy.

Hades often wander around his kingdom when he was not asked to pass judgment, just wandering around to find a small bit of joy of happiness for himself, and yet, all it did was make him long for things he had no idea about, longings for the happiness of another.

When it came to judgment, it was fun in the beginning, but now it had become just something to do to pass the time. One day, he was passing judgment, when a young woman, was crying at his feet, begging to be given mercy. It had seemed that she was struck down by one of the Goddess because the Goddess' lover desired this mortal. He knew that he would catch hell by the Goddess if he didn't put her in Tartarus, but he saw in this girl, a love for her lover that had died in battle and remained faithful to him, even after his death. She choosed to keep the memory of her lover, even at the price of her own life. How could he reject this dear girl, who had such a devoted love that he had longed for in another, and so, he let her join her dead lover in the Elysian Fields. She thanked him and when she saw her lover, she ran with arms out wide and held tight to him.

Why couldn't anyone love him as they had loved? Did he have no heart to be loved; did he have no soul that needed to be completed? He wished he could at least cry his sorrows out, but he couldn't even do that.

After the judgment, Hades walked around his world, reaching areas that he had almost forgotten were here, and it was here, that he had heard music. The cave walls echoed with the sound of sweet melodies, haunting and beautiful. He had thought it a bird that had somehow been trapped underneath the earth, but as he neared to a dead end, he had pressed his ear to the cave walls, and found that it was coming from the world above. Curious, he started to tear apart the walls, only enough for his eyes to see out into the world.

At first, the light of the sun had hurt his eyes, for he had longed since seen the sun, but then, his eyes averted to another, more dazzling sight. The glorious sound of which he had heard was not from a bird at all, but a girl.

She was not yet twenty, and the most beautiful of all the creatures he had seen. She had long wavy auburn hair, that in the sun it would glisten like little bits of gold; her eyes was as green as the earth that she sat upon, making a flower crown; her skin was white with a shine like marble. She was no ordinary human, she was special, and he was feeling warmth that he had never felt before.

She continued to sing an old folk song, making his heart feel as if the ice was melting away. It was all so perfect, but then a voice had to ruin the moment. "Persephone!" The girl turned her head toward the sound, Hades now knew the name of this maiden, and this made his heart beat faster. "Persephone! Dearest, come home now."

He recognized that voice, it was his sister Demeter. What was she doing with this beautiful maiden?

"Coming mother!"

Mother? Persephone, she is Demeter's daughter? He had almost forgotten that she had a daughter, not surprising, since she had always kept the girl locked up away from all eyes. All eyes, except Hades. Persephone sat up, forgetting her crown of flowers and hurried off to her mother. When she was gone, Hades let his hand sneak up and took the flower crown, as a souvenir. He closed up the tiny bit of the earth and gazed upon the flowers. They were a great assortment of colors, and they were lucky to have had such a lovely hand to pluck them.

He just sat in that dead end, looking and caressing the flowers, wondering what he was doing. He was pinning over a girl that would never come to live with him in his dark world, never would even look upon him. He wasn't handsome, not like his brother, with tanned skin and golden hair and brown eyes; he was the darkness itself, and what it would be like to be without it for so long without sun. Pale and dark, even his eyes were white, with only his pupils being the one thing that proved his could see.

Instead, Hades had only put the flower crown into his box, a box only meant for him, and forced himself to think of this chance, one sided meeting to be all that it was and leave it alone. He was ready to do so, but as the week went by, he couldn't stop thinking of her voice, of her beauty, how her gentle nature seemed to touch his heart, and this affected him greatly. He had lacked in his work, with piles of souls waiting to seal their fate, he was forgetful to eat and sleep would not come to him, as her voice bounced on the walls of his mind.

After the week was out, he couldn't take it, he had to see her again. He hurried to his dead end and broke open the earth as he did the last time, and found that there were two other girls, the nymphs, Cyane and another Oceanid. They were pretty, but nothing to be compared with Persephone, who soon came into view, chasing the two other girls. He watched with joy as she smiled and laughed chasing and being chased.

This one-sided affair went on for a whole month, and with each time Hades watched Persephone, he was falling more and more in love with her. He learned more about her, such as her respect for life, how smart and wise she was, and one day, he learned something about her that made him take the next step forward.

One day while playing in the fields, Cyane had cried out when she saw an ugly beast, a lizard creature with fur, a long scaly tongue and a prickly tail. It was one of Hades' creatures, one that had somehow escaped, but Persephone wasn't afraid, more curious. She petted the little creature, and giggled when she heard it purr in its unusual way. "Oh look, Cyane. He is such a gentle creature. There is no need to fear this ugly little creature."

This gave Hades hope, if she could see the gentleness of this creature, despite its ugliness, then perhaps she could see pass the horribleness of Hades. This gave him hope, and with that, he took a shortcut to Olympus, to see his brother.

Well, what do you think? The good stuff will be coming, so stay tune.