II
o0o.
The children were cast into a dark chamber, dropped into it as unceremoniously by their sire as he would toss bones away from the table when he had his meals.
There were no lamps, but here the first of Hades' Gifts made itself apparent. He'd always been able to see well at night, but now he could see in complete darkness. They were somewhere under the earth, that much he was able to deduce. The ground and walls were made of crystal, but not the natural kind he'd seen before when Prometheus brought quartz and other crystals to show his nephew and niece.
These crystals were impossibly hard, and it was unthinkable that a grown man should be able to break through them, much less two young children, and they felt cold to the touch.
At first, he thought he was being punished, and so did Hestia. For what, they could not surmise. Time passed by, and they waited. No one came for them, and there was no way out.
Days went by, then weeks and months. He cried for his mother, and Hestia did her best to comfort him, but then she would cry as well. They would scream and beg to be let out, but no one ever responded to their cries for help.
Gods don't die when they're without food, but a god is still made of flesh, and the flesh, mortal or not, has needs. After a while, he simply stopped feeling hungry or thirsty, and ceased talking.
o0o
After what seemed like almost forever, another child was thrown in, a girl with wavy hair the color of ripe wheat, something Hades barely remembers after his time in the darkness. He did not speak, but Hestia did, her voice barely a whisper after being silent for so long.
Demeter was was inconsolable at first, missing her mother and frightened of the darkness. But in time, like her older siblings, she fell silent, withering like a flower denied sunlight.
o0o
Poseidon was next, and then Hera. Despite being stunted by their lack of food and sunlight, they manage to grow. Hestia is the first to develop a Gift that really helps them. It is one of the things that will later give her the position of Goddess of the Hearth, her ability to produce a flame, and from this, light. Hades already knows what everyone else looks like because of his ability to see in the darkness, but for the others, it is their first time seeing one another.
Like his older brother, Poseidon has black hair, but it is curly like their father's. However, his eyes are sea-blue, not black. Hera has dark brown hair, like freshly-turned earth, and her eyes are the same rich brown as their mother's. Demeter's eyes were green like grass, and Hestia has eyes the color of dark gold. These eyes blink rapidly at the first light they've seen in years.
A flame normally does not take much power to create, but for Hestia, it takes much of what little strength she does have. She is unable to keep it going all the time, but even intermittent respites from the darkness are welcome, and the small light fills them with hope. They are still silent much of the time, but the silence is occasionally broken by conversation, of the things they miss, the mother they want to see again, and the father who condemned them to this fate.
o0o
Hades learns that he can feel things in the shadows. His hearing is not quite as acute as the others' because he is able to see in the darkness and didn't come to rely on his hearing to the degree that his siblings had to. However, when he closed his eyes, he realized he could still tell where the others were, his senses expanding into the void of darkness, the shadows becoming almost an extension of himself, as palpable and receptive as the nerves under his skin.
o0o
Demeter is next to manifest her Gift. Where Hades was able to see and use the darkness, his sister does almost the opposite. At first the life-energy came to them as sparingly as a drop of rain in the desert, but Demeter became more adept in the use of her Gift. The drips become a trickle as Demeter became able to sense, and pull in more life-energy from the world above them. Hestia's flame appeared oftener, and more strongly.
When Poseidon sensed water under their prison, Hades managed to control the shadows enough to create a crack in the floor, bringing the water to them and giving them the first material nourishment they have had since they were thrown into this pit.
Hades became blissfully aware that if he was able to accomplish this feat, he should in time be able to free himself and his siblings, although it will take time for him to build up enough strength to do so.
o0o
Hera sometimes had strange dreams, visions of their parents, and the world that they were cut off from. She also saw things that have never occured, like Hades sitting on a dark throne surrounded by ethereal beings, Demeter in the sunlight, surrounded by a sea that shares the same dark golden hue of her hair, or Poseidon riding the waves, with the wind blowing against a healthy, tanned face.
Hestia has her own visions, through flame. When she looked into her own fire, she was sometimes able to see other things, through the flames on the surface world, mortals praying and making sacrifices, begging for mercy and kindness, for justice and peace. Through bits and pieces, the offspring of Kronos were able to put together a picture of the world, and the state that their father had put it in. The other Titans were cowed before him, some of them prisoners as well.
o0o
Thanks to the nourishment that his siblings gave him, Hades finally gained enough strength to break through the confines that Kronos would keep them in forever. The sunlight nearly blinded them all, and the fresh air felt like it was burning their lungs.
Though they wanted to take refuge in the nearest spot that seemed safe, Hera insisted that they continue searching until she was satisfied. They were almost like babies, having to learn how to walk on varying terrain, being curious and mystified about this and that, tasting vegetables and roots and berries for the first time in years. Demeter's Gift especially flourished when she learned that she could command plants to grow rapidly, providing them with the food they needed so long as they could find seeds.
In time, a few nymphs started coming to their aid after sensing Demeter's use of her Gift. They taught her the secrets of Nature, and took great risks in hiding them and moving them from place to place, telling them of their father's cruelty, how he was a feared and despised ruler. His power was terrifying, and all of Hellas lived in fear that he might one day go so far as to destroy it all. Even his own mother was unable to stop him. If mighty Gaea could not end his rule, what hope was there?
o0o
Years went by in hiding, with each of the siblings coming into and mastering their powers the best they can. Kronos searched for them, but they kept themselves hidden with their Gifts. Poseidon took refuge in the ocean, and Demeter went with him. Hades used the darkness to keep Hestia and Hera safe, taking refuge in the mountains and finding caves which suited his purpose. He used the darkness to keep them hidden without, and Hestia offered illumination from within.
Even without Demeter and her mastery over plants, they were still able to keep themselves nourished, for Hades had become an adept hunter, and he would bring his sisters out at night to forage.
Through the nymphs that sparsely populated the mountains, Hades was able to keep abreast of knowledge that Hestia was unable to access through her flame. The nymphs were all too eager to give him all the knowledge they possessed, for they too wanted the reign of Kronos to end. Kronos' increasingly twisted reign had thrown Nature out of balance, affecting god, nymph, and mortal alike.
No one knew the exact nature of Kronos' Gift, but whatever it was, it kept the other gods from facing, much less defeating him. It was rumored that his Gift allowed him to steal energy from others, and suck life from them. There was no one to confirm this grisly story, but the imbalance that Demeter sensed in nature did give credence to the theory.
Whatever the truth was, Hades knew that he and his siblings would have to truly master their Gifts, and amass an incredible amount of energy if they had any hope of ending their father's tyranny.