III
o0o
Hera had visions of a young god wielding lightning, his eyes as blue as the sky. Hestia confirmed the existence of such a person, seeing him through the fires of the nymphs that had raised Zeus in secret. The resemblance between him and Poseidon was unmistakable, and Hades wondered how it was that Kronos had not sent him to the same fate he would condemn his other children.
Suddenly, he remembered. It had been after Hera had been cast into the pit with her older siblings. Something had been thrown into the pit, and at first, they had all thought it was another sibling, but Hades was the first to see that whatever it was, it was not alive, because it had made a thudding sound that flesh could not.
It revealed itself to be a rock in the form of a baby, swaddled in a blanket. This object had mystified them back then, but now thinking about it, it made perfect sense. He did not know how Rhea had managed to fool Kronos into thinking this was his sixth and youngest child, but her success was apparent in the fact that Zeus was thriving in his adoptive environment.
His existence was a closely-guarded secret; even the nymphs that regularly brought news to Hades were not aware of him. The fact that Hestia and Hera were able to see him was no small feat, and Hades instinctively knew that adding the strength of this young god to their own was necessary for victory.
o0o
Hades decided to observe him first, to see what kind of person he was, and to be sure that he was really his brother. He'd heard often enough from the nymphs about Kronos' craftiness, and how he laid traps to catch anyone who might oppose or betray him.
Zeus had been hidden far away from Kronos, taken across the sea to the island of Crete on the very night that Rhea had plied her husband with so much drink that he mistook a rock for his youngest child.
Rhea and Gara wove many spells around the island and around Zeus himself, to keep him hidden from his father. Hades was able to sense these powerful magics, but he was able to slide through the shadows, an use of his Gift he had learned to master while eluding his father's dread sorcery.
Unlike Hellas, Crete was free of Kronos' influence, though that would change in due time as the sphere of Kronos' influence expanded, slowly but surely.
The island was a happy and pastoral place, where shepherd tended to their sheep and farmers eked out a living from the land. This was long before Crete had kings, and before there was even a need for one.
He remained in the shadows at first, observing his brother and the trio of nymphs assigned to his care. There was Adamanthea, the eldest of the trio, and her sisters, Cynosura and Melissa. It was hard for Hades to not feel a twinge of envy at the fact that Zeus spent his childhood in this place, cared for by nymphs while his elder siblings spent their own youth in a prison devoid of any warmth or comfort.
