The Passion of Hades - Eliza Raine Page 0,24

we were.

We were entering one of the tunnels I had seen earlier that connected the domes of Aquarius. And it was truly breathtaking.

The whole tunnel was clear, offering an unhindered view of the glowing gold domes all around us. I could see much more clearly what was inside the closest one now; white and bronze buildings surrounding a bustling courtyard filled with stalls. Most of the people I could make out were humans and they were wearing Asian style clothing, brightly colored saris and fabric everywhere.

'Aquarius is famous for jewelry markets,' Hecate said, stopping to let me stand and stare. 'We're on the east side, which is the shopping district. The west side of the city is more formal, all meeting halls and grand temples. And in the north the domes get bigger and more sparse because they're all farms.'

'Farms?'

'Yeah. Poseidon likes to be self-sustaining down here, so he has farms. I don't know how much of his power it uses growing stuff down here, but that's what he does. He doesn't trust the other gods.'

'He doesn't trust me either,' I mumbled, staring through the water at the beautiful underwater city. 'Why is he so moody?'

'I'm guessing being Zeus' brother will do that to anyone after an eternity. Hades-' she started, but stopped. I turned to her and she bit down on her lip.

'Go on...'

'Hades deals with Zeus in a different way,' she said slowly. 'And he has more reason to dislike Zeus than Poseidon ever has.'

'Why?'

Hecate sighed.

'It really should be Hades telling you this,' she said, but continued. 'When Zeus rescued his siblings from Cronos and led the war against the Titans he became Lord of the Gods by default. And when handing out almighty roles in the new world, he made sure he became ruler of the Skies. The two most powerful remaining realms he gave to his brothers. The Ocean and the Underworld. One a place of life-giving, flowing power, the other a place of dark and terrifying misery.'

'Hades didn't choose to be King of the Underworld?' I breathed. Hecate shook her head sadly.

'No. He didn't. Zeus made the decisions. The three brothers took on the epic powers required of them to rule their domains. Poseidon gained ultimate control of water, Zeus of storms and sky and Hades... He is not a god of death. Thanatos is the god of death. But Hades was forced to become the only thing that could rule over and control the kingdom of the dead.'

'A monster,' I whispered, the hairs on my arms standing on end.

'Yes. He had to become more feared than any other god. It's not just the dead that reside in the Underworld, it's also home to the world’s most dangerous gods and monsters, who have been trapped in Tartarus. If they or the dead rose... Olympus would fall.'

My mind was spinning as I tried to imagine a Hades who wasn't surrounded by smoke and death, a Hades who ruled the seas or the skies instead of the Underworld. Would he be different? Hell, I hardly knew anything about him now, how would I even know? And it wasn't like Zeus and Poseidon weren't terrifying in their own right. To an extent, they were all monsters.

'So, does he hate his brothers?' I asked. Was he an outcast? Memories of crying in my bunk in my parents' trailer flickered through my mind unbidden. I knew how it felt to be an outcast. I knew how differently people treated you.

'You'd have to ask him that. I certainly wouldn't call them friends. But Hades isn't stupid. Over the years he's aligned himself with the few beings in this world stronger than Zeus.'

'Oceanus?' I said, remembering what Skop had told me about Zeus being pissed that the ocean god was back.

Hecate looked at me in surprise.

'Yes. How'd you know that?'

'Skop. Oceanus is a Titan, right? Like you?'

'Yeah, except like a bazillion times more powerful than me. He, Prometheus, Atlas, Nyx, Helios, and a bunch of other Titans stayed neutral in the war. They mostly keep a low profile or have vanished though. Zeus despises Titans. But Oceanus returned recently.'

'So how come he hasn't taken the sea back from Poseidon?'

'It doesn't work like that,' Hecate said, and began walking down the tunnel. I followed after her. 'Poseidon rules this realm, not all the oceans. Sure, he has power over water, but he doesn't own it. Hephaestus' realm is under the sea too, made up of huge volcanic forges.'

'Oh. Can a god have more