"No! Stop! Brother! I beg you!" Hades screamed on his hands and knees in front of his brother, the king of Olympus. Said king was laying on a couch of clouds holding a small baby with ash skin and black hair.


    Zeus didn''t speak, his electric yellow eyes coldly staring at the king of the underworld before turning to the baby. Lightning crackled across the the thunder bringer''s arms until it reached the child before it flared into a beacon of electricity.  Screams echoed into Hades'' ears.


    "NOOOO!" The underworld''s king screamed as tears streamed down his eyes, hearing someone calling his name.


    "Dear?" He heard the voice again. Persephone? He thought. Where? "Wake up! Hades, wake up!"


    xxxxxxXxxxxxx


    Hades woke up in a cold sweat, panting for breath. "It''s just a bad dream." He heard his wife''s voice beside him. Her wintery silver hair starting to show some green strands. Seeing his wife, Hades quickly calmed down. "What kind of dream did you have for you to be so shaken?" She asked softly as she caressed his cheek.


    Hades smiled. "I''ll tell you soon." He said, gently leaning on his wife''s hand as his eyes stayed locked onto his wife''s hair with its green strands. "It''s getting closer, the end of winter. The day you need to leave."


    "And I''ll come back to you in due time." Persephone replied softly. "Now, we have a child to attend to." She added giddily. Hades chuckled at her attitude before a serious expression appeared on his face.


    "Dear, I think we should teach our daughter to use her powers." The king said bluntly. Persephone blinked. "I think my brother, Zeus might be trying to kill her."


    The queen of the underworld paused before bursting into laughter. Seeing her husband not laughing with her, her expression became visibly worried. "Is this because of yesterday? He just called us to congratulate us for becoming parents."


    "Right before she was attacked." Added Hades with a frown, caressing his beard. Persephone paused.


    "You''re right. That is...suspicious. But why? Why would he go after her?" She asked with a frown.


    "I don''t know." Replied the king with a sigh. "But it doesn''t matter why. What matters is that we teach her how to protect herself."


    Persephone closed her eyes with a contemplative expression. She took a deep breath and nodded firmly. Hades smiled before the couple heard a terrified scream coming from Tephra''s room. "TEPHRA!" Screamed Persephone in a panic before Hades loudly burst into laughter.


    "Don''t worry, honey." He said barely holding in his laughter. "Let us get dressed." Persephone blinked before getting out of bed. Her sleepwear was immediately replaced with a regal aquamarine colored dress and Hades now wore red robes that went over his left shoulder.


    Persephone raised a brow at her husband''s attitude as he gestured for her to follow. The two walked leisurely towards their daughter''s room. As soon as they opened the door and Persephone gazed upon the scene inside, she burst into laughter like her husband. Both having tears in their eyes from laughter.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    "Stop laughing! This is serious!" Tephra exclaimed as she hid in the corner of the room from a cat sized spider. She wore a small and light black robes and despite being a baby, her jet black hair was already reaching her shoulders. "Get rid of it please!" She pleaded. Hades flicked his finger and the spider disappeared as if it was never there.


    "I don''t think I''ve laughed like this in decades!" Said Hades holding his stomach as his daughter glared at him. "Sorry. Sorry. Speaking of...terrifying things-" The royal couple snickered at the last part, causing Tephra to frown. "We''re teaching you how to use your powers today!"


    As if on cue, Persephone spawned two bouquets of flowers from her palms like confetti. "Did something happen?" Tephra asked raising a brow, causing the two gods to sweatdrop.


    "W-what makes you say that?" Asked the queen of the underworld with a nervous chuckle.


    "You have that tone in your voice that says you wanna fix a problem without the kids knowing." Explained Tephra in an expressionless tone. "It happened at one of the foster homes I went to when they suddenly had money problems."


    "What''s a foster home?" Asked Hades raising a brow before noticing the oddly expressionless attitude from Tephra. "Never mind. Let''s talk powers, shall we?" He said extending his hand towards his daughter. Tephra hesitated for a second before taking said hand. The family of three, lead by Hades, walked through the halls of the palace and into a flowery garden in the back. "Now tell me, how do you think our powers manifest? How am I the god of the underworld and your mother the goddess of spring?"


    "You...chose it?" She asked with a shrug and Hades chuckled.


    "That''s only part of it. Some powers are found in all of us but the specific ones come from epithets." Persephone chirped in. "It''s what you''re known for. Your existence manifest. In fact, you already have an epithet. Ash."


    Tephra frowned. "Isn''t that bad?" She asked and Hades blinked. "I mean, ash doesn''t have the best connotations. Some ash is downright a pollutant, can cause diseases and-"


    "No! No! There''s nothing bad about you!" Exclaimed Persephone hurriedly. "Everything can be good and bad. Ash can be a very good fertilizer. Can make lands grow lush and green! Your epithet is beautiful."


    "Rich coming from the goddess of spring." Muttered Hades, earning a playful elbow to the stomach from his wife. Persephone cleared her throat, staring at her unconvinced daughter before taking a deep breath before singing.


    "Oh, it''s true! The things ash can do! Can turn a desert to a flower! Can fill the earth with power! It can make a field glow, it can make a world grow! The things ash can do!" She sang grabbing her daughter by the hands, flowers blooming around them as two sets of sky blue eyes locked. Tephra paused before a frown overtook her face.


    "But what about the death? What about the poison?" Tephra sang the question as she stared at her hands with a disturbed frown. "It can take your breath! It can be blinding! Oh, the things ash can do! The water that was blu~e is now tainted and dark! Ash and coal now make their mark! Snuffing every spark! Leaving the world dark! The things ash can do~!"


    Persephone opened her mouth to speak before a frown formed on her face. Hades saw this and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Fire is a gift. It warms the night, it brings us light. It can burn your world, it can eat your soul. You ha~ve a gift. You have the choice. You~ can decide, the things it can do! Oh, it''s true. You can now decide the things ash can do~!" He sang kneeling to Tephra''s level with a smile. "So? Ready to choose?" Tephra didn''t answer, her mind conflicted. Hades saw that and gently grabbed her arm before he straightened it forwards. Tephra''s eyes glimmered with a faint glow of excitement as she felt power course through her veins. "Strike your hand forward, let the power course through! Show the world all the things ash can do~!"


    Ash burst from her hands as if flaking off her skin only to replaced by another layer. The royal couple stared with anticipation, waiting for a performance from their daughter and nothing happened aside from a frivolous rain of gray ash. Tephra''s shoulders dropped as she stared at her work in disappointment.


    "Hey, even if you can''t take down the Minotaur, you''re still our daughter." Said Persephone placing a hand on Tephra''s shoulder as her husband placed his hand on the other.


    "Yes. Nothing will change that." He added with a smile as Tephra bit her lips. She clenched her fists, digging into her flesh with her nails.


    "I...I''m going to my room." Said the little girl with an expressionless face. Hades'', paused, staring at the girl with pity in his eyes before his shoulders dropped.


    "Alright. Just call us if you need anything." The king said with a soft smile. Tephra nodded before walking away calmly.


    "Is she okay?" Persephone asked in a whisper, staring at her baby''s back as she walked away.


    "No." Replied Hades bluntly. "That expressionless face. She makes it when she''s agitated. We must''ve gotten her hopes up for nothing." He added as he sat down on the blue grass below, his wife following him a second after.


    "Are we...bad parents?" Asked Persephone with a solemn expression. Hades chuckled, causing Persephone to smile before even hearing him out.


    "It''s our first go at this and we''re already doing better than Zeus. I call that a win." He joked, causing his wife to smirk. "We can''t force her to use her powers. We should be thinking of other ways to keep her safe."


    Persephone paused, her eyes falling onto a green strand of her hair. "We can introduce her to mother." Hades flinched. "If she gets as attached to her as she is to me, she''d be safe. Father wouldn''t dare to act against the goddess of all harvest."


    "Do we have to?" Hades asked with a comically deep frown. "I don''t think the world would appreciate TWO winters just so I can see my family." Persephone winced.


    "...what other choice do we have?"