The forbidden process was long, and when it was finally finished, Hades felt miserable. Yet, when he looked down upon the small form before him, he couldn't help but think that it was worth it. Tiny black hairs curled upon the babe's head, crowning his chubby face.

Creating life was a difficult process to begin with, let alone life as powerful as the child he now held. In his own loneliness, Hades knew he would gladly pay the price again if it meant keeping the boy. His boy.

Collapsing from the relief, Hades cradled his creation against his chest. He was no longer alone; he had someone to love him and for him to love back, a child to depend upon him and to trust him. He was going to be a damn good father.

"My lord," One of his castle guards approached cautiously. The man wasn't sure what would unsettle the god this much. "Sire, are you alright?"

"I'm better than alright." When he met the guard's eyes, the man shifted uncomfortably under the emotional gaze of the god. Hades was never cruel, not really, but none would say he wasn't stern. So distracted as he was, he almost missed when Hades spoke again.

"What do you think?" Hades cooed. It was then that he noticed the babe, almost completely covered by the dark cloak around his master's figure. Was this what had his master out of sorts? What a child!

"Whose child, if I may ask?" The slip of the honorific was ignored as the grim lord laughed.

"Mine, he's mine." The poor man could only stare in shock. Finally gathering his wits, he ventured further.

"Forgive me, but I don't understand. How is this possible?" Hades scoffed, and he though he heard him mutter something that sounded like 'hell if I need to explain that'. He took the following silence as his answer.

"And his name, sire?"

"Merlin."

The next several weeks were filled with coos and gurgling. The child was strange, and so very unlike humans. He needed no steady nourishment, cried very little, and was growing quicker than average.

Philip, for that was the guard's name given in death, found himself moved from his position in the council room to the privilege of guarding the princeling. Barely a month old, and already the tiny bundle worked his way into the souls of many. Hades himself was in better spirits than any had ever seen him.

Weathered lines from serval millennia of stress and loneliness seemed to melt away when the immortal looked upon his son. Philip never realized how blue his lord's eyes were until he saw them mirrored in the child's gaze.

No one was surprised that little Merlin looked exactly like his father. Philip had known that it was not a conventional birth, though he didn't exactly share it with his peers. How unusual the little prince was was not wasted on him. There was no mother, no womb. The child had only one parent.

Merlin was no mere demigod.

It seemed that other were beginning to make that connection. Some regarded the prince with outright fear, others with adoration. Philip just wondered what would happen once the other gods found about this. It was no doubt forbidden, else there would be thousands of immortals. It would be used to gain political and physical power over each other.

Yet when Hades looked upon his son, it wasn't with lust for power or gain, it was a pure look: soft in nature and with a certain gentleness that spoke volumes of intimacy and love.

It was in these moments than Philip felt like an intruder. It was easy to forget that this wasn't any mortal man, not a dead man walking the halls in the dead palace of the dead god. No, this was the dead god himself. He wondered if Hades too forgot in these moments.

After another month passed, Hades brought his son with him to sit on his lap as he judged the souls of the dead. The affair became so casual with just that one addition, and souls coming through were much more relaxed due to it. Merlin loved to grab his father's hand and put it in his mouth, which he was currently occupied doing.

There was a young woman being judged, in the loosest meaning of the word.

"You're a spirited and audacious young lady, and one with a sense of self-righteousness at that. You died at age 21 when you were caught stealing and immediately ran through by the landowner. Why were you stealing?" Hades knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"My son was starving, I needed to feed him and I had no money after taxes. Is he alright? Do you know what's happening to him now that I'm gone?" Her long hair stuck to her face, following the flow of tears, now dried and cracked against her face.

"He died." She fell on her knees and wept. Looking down upon his own child, he knew that there was little he wouldn't do for him. The woman had done very little other than try to keep her and her son alive. The father had abandoned her, that he knew, but she was so determined for her son's life to care for her own troubles. Spirited indeed.

"My lord!" A guard called out to him as he ran into the room, thoroughly breaking through Hades' musing.

"Speak."

"Your brother comes-"

"Which one?" Hades didn't remember standing up.

"Poseidon, my lord. He seeks audience with you."

Hades looked upon the woman, then at the door, his plan decided.

"Stand, you will serve my household like the men you see around you. Your name will be Hunith. Take the child and any one of the guards to guide you. Hide him, and keep him quiet." Then Hades relinquished his tight grip on the prince and handed him to Hunith. She adjusted the child, then ran, grabbing the wrist of the closest guard and practically dragging him along with her.

Hades set his shoulders and sat back down on his throne, regal and very angry. When the door opened, Poseidon strutted in.

His wavy, sandy brown hair fell to his shoulders, and blue green eyes seemed to light up and sparkle like ocean waves. As he walked, the cloak around his broad shoulders waved, it's moving pattern like water over sand. He had an attractive face, strong and thin, and he was lean, yet muscular enough.

Hades hated him.

"To what do I owe this... pleasure, Lord Poseidon?" Hades drawled.

"Zeus wanted to check up on you."

"How kind of our dear brother to worry for me." The sarcasm dripped like honey, sweet and sticky and sickening. Poseidon had the decency to shift uncomfortably.

"He felt a dip in your presence, felt your sudden weakness."

"Ah, and therein lays the true reason. Either Zeus is testing whether I am weak enough for him to overpower, or he fears for what could weaken a god so quickly. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

"What did weaken you?"

"None of your concern, and you can tell Zeus he can shove his worry up his-" Crying, loud and childish, reached his ears.

"Is that a babe's cry?"

"Just a young soul-"

"Brother." Poseidon sighed knowingly, with a tiny, sad smile, and for a moment Hades almost wanted to laugh, wanted to forget the thousand lifetimes of rivalry and betrayal. He couldn't forget who was really here, though.

"Run back to Zeus, brother."

"I want to know-"

"Zeus. Zeus wants to know. For the lord over the great, untamable sea, you bind yourself so easily to the will of that selfish prat. I will say this once again, leave me." Poseidon had nothing to say to the bitter words spat at him

"As you wish, but I'm no fool. That child is yours, but it's power is not mortal." With those terrible words spoken, Poseidon left, a speechless Hades in his wake.

Hunith, in the meanwhile, had started out running as fast as she could, the babe bouncing along with her. Soon, however, she realized she couldn't keep that pace and she had no idea where she was going.

"Sir," Hunith turned to the man she dragged along.

"Call me Balinor." His deep voice caused her to double take. He was quite attractive, but Hunith had a mission now. She could think about men another time.

"Balinor, where am I to hide? Where's the best place?" The young man rubbed his face, contemplating.

"There are plenty of unoccupied rooms in this wing, and I doubt any one is better than its neighbor. I suggest going further and making a right turn, that'll bring us to a more obscure area."

"If it's so obscure, how do you know of it?" Balinor faltered under her heated gaze. It wasn't angry, nor flirtatious, just challenging and curious. She smiled after a couple of seconds, and darted off again. The young guard now knew what his lord meant by having audacity. What a strange woman!

After making the right turn like Balinor had suggested, Hunith hid in one of the rooms. It was dank, and there were webs strung across the ceiling and walls. Dust covered every surface, and the only light streamed in through the open door.

Balinor, knowing what to expect, lit his torch off of one in the hall. When he entered, he closed the door behind them, sealing them in. Hunith met his eyes and shivered; it was quite cold, despite it being hell. She almost laughed at that thought.

She used her foot to brush some of the dust away, then sat down, her modest dress rumpling around her legs. Balinor sat across from her, the torch in between them. One of the webs draped across her shoulder and she shrugged it off annoyed.

"Why are there spiders living here?"

"They don't. Nothing lives here because nothing here is alive." Balinor's straight face threatened to waver, and Hunith smiled warmly.

"Whose child is this?" Hunith whispered.

"Hades'," Balinor answered, "Though, Merlin is not only a god's son, but he is a god himself."

Hunith realized the implications, and instantly froze.

"And Hades trusts me with his own son?" She hissed out in disbelief.

"It was that, or trust that Poseidon wouldn't say anything." Balinor retaliated, "I know who I would choose."

Feeling the nervousness between the two young adults, Merlin began to whine. Hunith immediately switched her attention to him, but the noise grew in volume until he was screaming. Tears streaked down the prince's face, and no bouncing or shushing from the poor woman could calm him down.

"Let me," Balinor beckoned for her to hand Merlin over, and she reluctantly did. With Balinor's help, they both finally got the babe to calm down, but the damage was already done.

"They would've heard that in the throne room." How right he was.

An hour later, Hades tracked them down and took his son back from the couple.

"My lord," Hunith began pleading, "I tried to calm him, we tried, but he would not-"

"Peace, I understand. What's done is done, and for as quickly as Poseidon guessed, I wonder if he did not already know."

"What will you do, sire?" Balinor ventured to ask.

"I must hide him, permanently. Zeus will no doubt seek to destroy him, and who would fight with me? Brother will side with him despite morality. Athena will side with her father, and the most hated? I will have no allies in this." Hades sarcastically intoned. "No, the child will be sent away, to live among mortals. Poseidon could sense him, so his powers must be bound."

"Can you bind a god's power?" Hunith questioned.

"Not fully, the boy would still be more powerful than any mortal, but that power could be expressed in any way. Mortal men can still use magic, correct? That ability was gifted to them by Persephone, and perhaps he could go unnoticed. Tell me, Hunith, if you've ever seen a sorcerer do magic, what outs them?"

"A magic user's eyes flash gold when they utter spells, my lord."

"Then so shall Merlin's."

"Why have you told us all this, is it not dangerous for more people to know?" But Hades did not answer.

It took several days to bind Merlin's godliness, for Hades decided it was better for Merlin, and easier for himself, to do it slowly and little by little. Yet, with each passing day, his anxiety grew. It was only a matter of time before Zeus stormed in, demanding that Merlin be handed over.

Finally, he finished with the last alteration. Any time Merlin would release the little power left free, his eyes would glow golden.

"Hunith, Balinor, I have need of you both."

Over the past days, Hades had noticed that they seemed to gravitate towards each other. He was no fool, after all.

"Merlin's binding is done, and he is ready to be hidden. Can I trust the both of you to take care of him?"

"We're going to live as mortals again?" Hunith's eyes shine with surprise. Balinor, on the other hand, had suspected it. He didn't blame her for her excitement, however. She was only a few weeks dead.

"Yes, you will claim to be his parents. Balinor, I trust you to protect both of them. While Merlin will not die, he can be harmed, and worst of all, noticed. I give you my gift to humanity: you have dominion over dragons, a dragonlord you will be called."

"Dragons, sire? I wasn't aware they were your creation."

"They are, with flames as hot as the deepest of pits here, and scales impenetrable, they are mine. Merlin will gain this power in your death, to continue the ruse should anyone question it. If you were to sire a son," Hunith blushed, and even Balinor turned his face away, unable to meet the eyes of his master. "Oh for- I'm not fool. The first son you sire will also have this power, so be careful."

Hades turned and handed Hunith a stack of blank parchment.

"You can write to me with this, to tell me of my son's wellbeing. Just burn them away from prying eyes and they will reach me. If either of you are suspected, or Merlin noticed, do not attempt to contact me immediately. Move, run away if you must, and hide as best as you can. Merlin has a natural shroud over him, a power to be passed over unnoticed. Use it to your advantage, but don't rely on it."

When Hades held Merlin for the last time, the couple adverted their eyes. Father and son stared at each other, blue on blue. One was full of pain and anger, the other warm and innocent. Placing a kiss up on his brow, Hades handed his only son to Balinor. The finality if the action expressed all they needed to know.

"Goodbye, my Merlin."