69. Hades Led Us Quietly
Hades Led Us Quietly
It was easy to forget
that we were following him.
His footsteps were so soft.
I had learned his story
from my mother years ago,
when we were still at war.
Hades was the youngest
of the three Olympian brothers,
children of the once-ruling Titans,
Rhea, the mother Goddess,
and Kronos, God of Time
and God-King of the world.
But Kronos had a madness,
a sickness no one could cure.
His father had cursed him
and told him that someday
one of his own children
would steal his throne.
To prevent this from happening,
Kronos ate every one
of his five offspring.
Rhea, pregnant with her sixth
and consumed with grief,
found a way to protect her child.
Zeus grew up in secret
and returned to defeat Kronos,
releasing his sisters and brothers
from the stomach-prison of the old God.
They arrived in reverse order
of their original births.
First it was Hera, then Poseidon,
then Demeter, Hades and finally,
Hestia. After which the three brothers
looked upon the realms of the sky,
the sea and the Underworld
and chose which one to rule.
But to be ruler of the Underworld
you must choose never to live
on Olympus with the other Gods.