Chapter 3 ~ The Light in the Dark

Present – Hestia

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Her sibling's fate haunted Hestia. Knowing she could not rescue them from the caustic waters wasn't enough to assuage her guilt. It sat thick in her throat, choking tears from her at night when her sisters were asleep and couldn't bear witness. Even praying for the child to live could not alleviate her guilt, for if they still lived, they would suffer for every waking moment…

Over time the sea of acid had darkened. It churned in a sick green froth, spewing bubbles that burst with foul-smelling air. Their little platform rocked with the roiling waves, and an unnatural chill demanded Hestia to summon more power to fuel their campfire.

Kronos rebelled against the poisonous liquid, but it sapped his strength. The usually divinity-empowered flesh now felt robbed of its vitality, reduced to a mortal's fragility.

Unable to rely on his regeneration, Kronos's body had solidified to stem the damage. His stomach's walls had grown so hard as to be impenetrable, which prevented Hestia and her sisters from carving out more flesh to act as land for their platform.

Sometimes, she awoke from her fitful slumber in a cold sweat, the distant, half-remembered echo of a scream drifting to her ears from the horizon.

It was demoralizing. Hestia so dearly wished she could seek out her ailing sibling and offer her aid. Was this what her mother felt when Hestia and her siblings were snatched up by Kronos?

For the first time, Hestia was disappointed in her siblings. Neither Demeter nor Hera was as concerned with their youngest sibling's fate as Hestia. Even if the subject was uncomfortable for them to contemplate, they had no desire to seek out the babe and rescue them from their fate.

What little security and comfort they had managed to get out of this torturous existence was broken. They spent their days and night in quiet mourning and terrified whispers.

And then, suddenly, everything changed.

While asleep one night, Hestia was awoken by the sound of splashing. At first, not paying it any mind, it continued to grow louder. Finally, when she realized what the sound implied, she sat up in alarm and realized that her sisters had noticed the same thing.

Whatever it was, it was near.

She hurriedly climbed to her feet, and her sisters not far behind. Like frightened lambs, they huddled to her. She ignored them to look out into the darkness that shrouded the ocean.

She summoned a portion of her essence to create a small flame in her hands. When that did not provide enough light, Hestia fed more of her essence to the flame, creating a potent torch, and then held the flame high to provide light from which she could see out into the darkness.

In the distance, the sound of splashing continued, growing ever closer. Hestia raised the flame aloft, hoping to catch a glimpse of the intruder as they approached.

A figure with the hard lines of a man's body emerged from the shadows. They had none of the soft curves and supple flesh of a woman's body she was so familiar with. This, she concluded, was the shape of a man's body. Only once had she witnessed something similar – her father, Kronos. While she couldn't be sure, Hestia felt confident in her deduction.

The intruder stood nearly two meters in height, with long black hair and pale skin. In the shadows, he looked positively ghoulish, haggard, and sickly. However, the man gained definition and color in the light of her flames.

His head hung tiredly from his shoulders, his matted locks framing his hollow face. His feet seemed to glide across the caustic waters, only making the barest contact.

He suddenly became aware of Hestia and her sisters, his head jerking violently up as he lifted his face to lock his eyes onto them. His intense gaze froze all three sisters in place.

Where usually the whites of the sclera could be found were instead pitch black. So deep that the light seemed to drown in their pools. Both his pupils and iris glowed the same, iridescent purple, so bright that they seemed to burn and sparkle beneath the flame's light. An unnatural chill seemed to waft from him, carrying the promise of certain death. It seemed to cling onto his shoulders like a black veil, almost a physical blanket that was as much spiritual as it was physical.

His breaths were a labored, torturous thing. His chest seemed to rattle with the effort. So loud and frantic was the sound that Hestia became alarmed when he stopped breathing entirely in favor of gazing at her flames.

He took an aborted step that almost saw him spilling into the waters before scrambling up to their little island's shore. Then, after he rightened himself back up, he stumbled forwards.

Both Hera and Demeter were nearly glued to Hestia's side. As he reached out, she panicked and attempted to ward him away by flinging the fire at him. But her attempts to fight him off were ignored as he continued his approach.

Seeing this, Hestia summoned her flames from deep within her essence and hurled them in his face. But the inferno seemed to part around his figure, distorting under the unnatural coldness that clung to his body. Then, with a lunging step…!

…He cupped his hands around hers, almost cradling the fire she made manifest. Not even the slightest bit singed by her fire. Instead, as she searched his face, he seemed to behold her fire with almost longing.

All four of them stood there in awkward silence—her sisters in disbelief, and she in far more hopeful spirits. The interloper stood several heads taller than Hestia and her sisters and was nearly curled in half around them.

Briefly, Hestia wondered if Kronos had sent an assassin to be rid of them…but no, she disregarded such notions as she gazed upon the stranger's face and beheld his expression.

He was captivated by the flames with a newborn's fascination.

She wondered at the sight. How long had it been since her father swallowed her brother? Could this man be the child she'd failed? But no, that made no sense! Her sisters took nearly two decades to grow to adulthood. How could he have grown so much in such a short time frame? And yet…

"Brother?" she questioned, an impossible hope blossoming in her breast. She could feel her sisters startle at the suggestion.

Her question drew the man's gaze for the first time, dragging his attention away from the flames he was so fascinated by. His eyes scanned over them each, and she could see the thoughts churning in his mind.

Not even a decade had passed, yet he was already full grown. She wondered at the reasons…

Perhaps, her brother had been forced to adapt to his environment, growing and aging to survive the acidic seas better. Hestia and her sisters had been lucky enough to retreat to their island to grow normally, so she couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been for a child to survive in those waters.

But unfortunately, the seas had worsened since Kronos had swallowed his firstborn son.

Hestia commanded her fire to remain floating in place as she slowly placed her hands on her chest and spoke her name. "Hestia," she introduced and locked gazes with her sisters meaningfully.

Hestia never knew the names of her siblings until they were old enough to tell her. But thankfully, each of them could remember the names given to them by their mother, if nothing else.

Despite Hestia's urging, her sister Demeter continued to remain in uncertain silence. Her brother (for who else could he be?) idly swirled the flames in Hestia's fire while eying the blonde with a curious eye.

Finally, at Hestia's insistence, Demeter took a step forward and stuttered "D-Demeter" in the introduction before retreating behind Hestia's figure again.

Hera followed her sister promptly, managing far more confidence than her sister as she introduced herself. "I am Hera," she said quietly yet without the fear that her sister Demeter possessed.

Minutes passed in silence. Her brother stood there, his eyes furrowed, working his mouth thoughtfully. Hestia shared a significant look with her sisters, wondering if this meant he couldn't speak.

Eventually, he removed his unblemished hands from the fire, placing one against his chest and the other to his side, and performed a slight bow.

His body twitched in protest at the action while he attempted to move his mouth. She assumed he was trying to smile, considering how the corners of his lips curled upwards, but he could only manage a grimace that showed off his teeth.

Almost too quiet to hear, if it wasn't for how deep his voice was, he said, "H-H-Hades," So deep was his voice that they could feel the sound rumbled deep down to their bones.

–Well, he was indeed a character. Hestia shook her head and traded looks with her sisters. Demeter seemed unenthused, and Hera wore a blank expression.

Certainly, Hestia could see why her father was so desperate to swallow her brother. She could tell her brother was monstrously powerful even with as little interaction as they had managed. With a king as paranoid as Kronos was, he would doubtlessly wish to remove any threats to his rule. And her brother was the worst kind of threat you could find, something she believed was impossible for a God at the time.

Existential. A threat to your very existence.

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Hades

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'Well, at least they've begun to relax,' I shouldn't have been so careless. If I'd been more careful, I could have avoided needless drama, but I'd been so desperate that I hadn't considered the consequences of my actions.

I probably shouldn't have stuck my hands into Hestia's fire. I don't know what came over me, but the second I saw the flames, all I wanted to do was stick my hands in them and basked in their warmth.

After confirming I was their brother, I noticed how young Hestia looked. I knew she was the oldest, yet she looked like she was the youngest of the three sisters. Demeter looked the oldest and distinctively more mature than her two sisters. Hera at least had the good fortune to look her age, appearing to be a teenager.

They each gave a nervous introduction, so I attempted to relax the tension by playing up the humorous little gentlemen stance and gave a shaky bow. It was so challenging to move about on solid ground since I was only used to floating on the acid, so it was painful to move my body in the correct ways I remembered. Hopefully, it wasn't too awkward.

Over the next few weeks, I would learn more about my siblings. At least in that time, I overcame my fascination with fire. This was a good thing. I'd been worried that I'd been reborn as a pyromaniac for a while there.

Although, now that I was free of stomach acid, I could focus entirely on developing my abilities. Hopefully, I could get us out of here without needing Zeus to free us in decades time.