Editor: Bekah Caden

Released: 12 August 2018

Content warning: implied abuse, implied trauma

As a little boy, Hades went by the name Aidoneus. His mother, Rhea, is a titan, so large that a sleeping Aidoneus fits in the palm of her hand. Aidoneus is very tired from his powers developing, and demonstrates those powers by creating a handful of gemstones for his mother. 

“I’ve been a live for 2190 days! That’s a long time.”

Hades

“Little one, I think you’ll find that’s not much time at all.”

Rhea

Rhea asks what he wants to call them, and Aidoneus responds that he wants to call them shiny rocks. Rhea laughs and says he’s much smarter than that. She places him on her shoulder and tells him that today is his sixth birthday. Rhea points out Helios, the Titan God of the Sun, who travels around the earth once a day. She asks him if there’s anything he wants, but is interrupted by an angry voice calling out for her. It’s Kronos, King of the Titans, and father of Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. 

“Motherhood has made you weak, Rhea.”

Kronos

Rhea quickly puts Aidoneus down and tells him to hide. Kronos approaches Rhea and asks for Aidoneus. Rhea tries to distract him, but he insists, saying that motherhood made her weak. He reminds her of a prophecy from Gaia, that if they let their son live, he could destroy them. Rhea lies and says she doesn’t know where Aidoneus is, but Kronos sees him clinging to a nearby branch, and grabs him. Rhea is horrified, and Aidoneus cries out for his mother as his father swallows him.

Hades wakes up and realizes he was having a nightmare. He reminds himself that Kronos can’t hurt him, because the titan is locked up in Tartarus. Cerberus whines, and Hades promises to meet with his therapist. He checks his phone and sees that it’s 2:00 a.m., and he’s received another text from the same unknown number as earlier. He realizes it’s Persephone, and horrified that he ignored her all day, he decides to call her.

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