On the rare occasions I saw my many relatives, I was told time and
again how I had been such a good baby, had never thrown tantrums, had cried
so little, on and on it went. My family never sounded as surprised as I
thought they should have, because believe me. I had plenty to cry about.
First off Father was off being king all the time, so I hardly ever saw him.
Even when I did, he made it quite clear that there was no way the Lord of
the Underworld was going to spend his time with a little boy. Mother was a
whole different story. She really did her best, and she did love me. But I
suppose it is hard to be an ideal mother when you are away half the year
being Goddess of the Harvest. Even when she was with me, there was a part
of her that was constantly grieving for the sunlit world she always called
"home" until she left again. From her tales, nothing like the cavernous,
damp maze of torchlit rivers and echoing walls of stone. I guess it is all
right for her to miss her mother and the place she grew up in, but did she
have to look so happy every time she left me?
The problems really started when I was eight. You see, immortals grow at a pace with the mortals until we are mature and get our power, then aging slows to almost a halt. But anyways, Mother thought I was old enough then to go with her when she left so I could see the world above. Father was adamant that I would stay in his realm. They argued for months, and eventually took the matter to Uncle Zeus. Not like anybody bothered to ask what I wanted. So while they were on Olympus I came to the slightly nonsensical conclusion that all the dissent was my fault. I may have been little more than a child, but gods make precocious children. So since it was all my fault, everything would be all right again once I ran away.
Of course, running away might make things better for my parents but I was not quite sure I liked it. I was going to miss Cerebrus. She- yes, she- always had at least one sympathetic ear to lend on account of having so many in the first place. Since I had been given free reign of the Underworld I had made friends with some of the souls. I actually liked the people under the Erinyes better than those in the Elaysian fields. The "great sinners" were more interesting than the heroes frankly. But I could not tell anyone I was going. You see, in my father's kingdom no secret was safe if he deemed it important enough to warrant his attention.
The problems really started when I was eight. You see, immortals grow at a pace with the mortals until we are mature and get our power, then aging slows to almost a halt. But anyways, Mother thought I was old enough then to go with her when she left so I could see the world above. Father was adamant that I would stay in his realm. They argued for months, and eventually took the matter to Uncle Zeus. Not like anybody bothered to ask what I wanted. So while they were on Olympus I came to the slightly nonsensical conclusion that all the dissent was my fault. I may have been little more than a child, but gods make precocious children. So since it was all my fault, everything would be all right again once I ran away.
Of course, running away might make things better for my parents but I was not quite sure I liked it. I was going to miss Cerebrus. She- yes, she- always had at least one sympathetic ear to lend on account of having so many in the first place. Since I had been given free reign of the Underworld I had made friends with some of the souls. I actually liked the people under the Erinyes better than those in the Elaysian fields. The "great sinners" were more interesting than the heroes frankly. But I could not tell anyone I was going. You see, in my father's kingdom no secret was safe if he deemed it important enough to warrant his attention.