|| This chapter has been edited. ||
Fate had never been fair to me.
It was bad enough that I looked the most like my father out of my brothers. Being seen as similair to Kronus, one of the worst the universe had known, wasn't exactly something that helped advance me in life.
Then came to drawing lots. Naturally, Zeus would have drawn the greatest and most beautiful realm out of the three. He had always had more luck than anyone should be allowed, and hadn't expected anything less but to be King of Olympus. I, personally, wanted the sea, and desperately, but that went to Posideon. Which left me with the worst place of all- the Underworld.
I glanced out the window besides my desk, taking in the dark sky outside. I leaned back in my chair, lost in thought. It wasn't so bad, really. The Underworld certainly had some horrible and scary places, but for the most part, it had its own kind of dark beauty. And being perfectly honest, I don't think I could've sat around and partied for an eternity like my brothers were content to do. Running the Underworld meant doing a lot of work, but I enjoyed it.
I grimaced, my thoughts pulled back to reality. The realm was normally not so doom-and-gloom, but as time went on and I spent almost every moment here, the world around me became attached to my mood. When I was happy- or, more realistically, content with life- it was almost as bright as above ground- but when I was angry or upset, it became a fierce storm. Currently, it was just overcast and rainy. I groaned, rolling my eyes as I stood from my desk. "Rain means sad, I suppose?" I asked the sky under my breath, more than a bit sarcastically before leaving my workroom and wandering down the hall.
The castle itself was a dark beauty all its own, made of dark obsidian with thousands of various jewels shining from every crevice. There was little that grew that was not wild, aside from the bright flowers that grew all along the palace and created an expansive maze and garden in the front.
The tips of my ears turned red as I spotted the garden out the expansive corridor windows. The garden was a relatively new addition, and while I loved it, I would never admit to anyone why I had planted it.
I had planted it by hand after a visit to Olympus- a change that had changed me, although I was embarrassed to admit it. I sighed, a small smile coming to my face as I watched the flowers sway in the wind.
I stood there for a long while, just studying the flowers, and probably would've stayed there all day if a cough hadn't pulled me from my thoughts. Startled, I looked up quickly to see my secretary leaning against the window, watching me with an eyebrow raised in amusement. Hecate was the Goddess of Magic and the Occult- but most days, she was the reason this place ran as efficiently as it did.
"Sorry, my Lord- have I pulled you from a nice daydream?" She asked teasingly. I cleared my throat as I tried to force myself not to blush- probably unsuccessfully. "Ah- no. Not at all. Do you need something?"
Hecate smirked, putting her pen down. "You saw her again, didn't you?"
I studied the woman for a long moment, trying to figure out how she knew all my secrets before giving a chuckle, my attention turning to the delicate flowers outside again. Already, the rain had cleared away, my thoughts turning more positive.
"No," I answered softly. I had been to Olympus that day, but I hadn't seen her. "I didn't see her today. But seeing these flowers reminds me of her, and that's enough for now."
While nobody on Olympus knew of my secret admiration for one of Olympus's goddesses, it was no secret in the Underworld. Hecate knew full-well that it was the hottest gossip around, and everybody was dying to know who the mysterious girl was- not that she'd ever say. She was a matchmaker, and I figured she was trying to set things up so that I had a decent chance with the girl before my shades got involved.
Disgusted and easily annoyed, Hecate rolled her eyes and looked back down at the paperwork she held. "I have some things to attend to tonight- perhaps you should invite Aphrodite in for a few lessons on courting someone, particularly someone so inexperienced." She looked up, giving me a stern look. "You've liked this girl for over a century, Hades. It's time to get the courage to say something, before someone else does."
With that, she left the grand hall, disappearing into one of its many corridors.
I watched her leave, keeping silent as she disappeared before sighing, pinching the bridge of my nose. I knew I was running out of time before there were rivals involved, if there weren't already, and I knew that everyone was anxious for a queen at last.
My eyes flickered to the flowers, my heart panging painfully. "But that's next to impossible, isn't it?" I asked myself softly. The Underworld was a dark place at the end of the day, and hardly anyone could handle staying here.
"And we expect the Goddess of Spring to cope with it?" I asked myself wryly before giving a grim chuckle. "A sweet girl that has never known anything but springtime and meadows, locked away in this dreary place. That's a joke almost good enough for Momus."
And even though I know that, I still couldn't take my mind away from her. "Just another way Fate has been cruel to me," I thought bitterly.