This one-shot was made at the request of my close friend (You know who you are). I would like to wish her a Happy Early Birthday.

The one-shot is based on the unpopular myth of Hades looking different to every person who looks at him.

I would also like to point out that sibling rivalry is old and over used so there won't be any in this story. Besides, I like stories where siblings are close.

Disclaimer: I'm not nearly old enough to own Greek Mythology.

He stood before the clear, smooth surface of the mirror.

In truth, he wasn't sure what he expected to see. Maybe a tall, dark man with red eyes and sharp features; maybe sly eyes dark as coal and a pale, bony face. Perhaps even the face of a monster, with horns growing out the top of his brow and a deformed, decaying body.

He just knew he expected to see something.

When Hades looked into the mirror, he saw nothing.

Hades stood, momentarily stunned, unable to comprehend the revelation.

Hades, whom was the reflection of the soul, saw nothing when he looked at himself.

Did this mean he had no soul? That he was so devoid of emotion and moral that he could not have a reflection within the mirror to look upon himself? Was it meant to be this way? Was there a mistake with the Fates?

Hades cursed himself for his own stupidity. A mistake? With the Fates? Preposterous.

But then...where was his reflection?

Why could he, Hades, the Lord and Master of all that is dead and dying; the King of the Underworld and all its inhabitants, the God of wealth and wealthy; why could he not see himself?

Why could he not see himself when even Zeus, who stole many a woman, could see something?

Hades placed a hand on the clear glass; a reflection did not meet his hand.

Why?

Why didn't he see himself?

Was it, maybe, because he had no true form? Was it because he was the reflection of the soul? Was there an actual reason why he couldn't see himself? Was it because, if he did have one, his true form was supposed to be unknown to all?

What was he?

Who was he?

Was he really nothing at all? Was that was his reflection, or lack of a reflection, meant?

He was nothing, that had to be it.

His father, he remembers, had said the same thing to all of his siblings. But, unlike him, every last one of his siblings saw something when they looked at him.

A Hades pauses, then licks his lips.

What did his mother see? What did she see before he and Hestia (His older twin, not many know this) were eaten by their father? What did she see before he became the reflection of the soul? What did she see when he was a normal child for those brief few seconds?

Did she even see anything? Was his tiny body invisible to the eye even at such an early age?

Did Hestia see something? No; she was only a babe, she probably hadn't even open her eyes yet.

Then his mother was the only one who saw him; his mother and his father. But his father wasn't exactly going to say anything anytime soon. So only his mother ever saw what he truthfully looked like. But he was only a babe, a babe that didn't open his eyes; and his mother only had him for mere seconds.

Only the Fates know.

The Fates would not tell him, he knew. The Fates spoke in riddles when they told you what they wanted you to know; when they didn't want you to know anything they said nothing at all.

Hades knows better than to question the Fates.

That kind of bold, rash thinking was for his brothers; not him.

So he would never see himself. And he would never know who, or what he truly was.

Who was he?

Hades confided his thoughts (he refused to call them feelings) to Hestia (who he was closest to).

She had shown sympathy, she had understood his concerns in a way that his other siblings couldn't.

Perhaps it was because they were twins; maybe it's that she was wise beyond her years. But it was something and he was glad it was there.

So Hestia held him, she never whispered soft, comforting words in his ear (she was a self selected muted after all); but he knew the words were there, on the edge of her lips, ready to be spoken.

It didn't matter to Hestia if he was nothing, he was something to her. Even if he showed both the best and the worst parts of her soul, he was her brother and would always be something to her.

And that's all Hades needs from the Goddess.

They say that, sometimes, Hades is so ugly that many men cannot look upon him; and other times he is so beautiful that none can deny him.

In his experience, Hades has found that to be all too true.

He once visited a powerful king who was known for his kindness, he doesn't remember why he went to meet the king, and he just knows that the reasoning was very logical at the time.

The king saw a woman so beautiful he thought her to be Aphrodite upon his first look.

Hades had told the King his name was Callista, he told the King that her small village had been burned and she escaped. Hades made up a story about her kindly mother and father, he told of a brave little brother and a wise grandmother, he told of their dead and departure at the hands of bandits, of these bandits robbing their home and stealing the crops. He told of traveling for days to reach the nearest kingdom, the Kings palace.

The Kind King felt for Callista, he let the girl have her own room and stay in the palace till she could find a more permeate solution.

Hades stay in the palace for a week, the Kind King had come to visit Callista many times during that period.

Hades was not a man of many emotions, if he was he probably would have noticed the kings growing feelings for Callista.

It was at the end of that week that the King asked Callista to be his queen.

Hades had said no.

The King had taken the rejection so unwell that he had attempted to take Callista/Hades by force.

Hades form must have changed midway, for the King had suddenly grown pale and his face show pure horror.

Hades told the king who he was, he told the king why he saw whatever he saw, and he told the king everything.

The Kind King outlaws rape the next day.

The King never looked at Callista/Hades again.

Hades knows he is not perfect. He also knows that no one else is.

Hades looks at the word and knows his reflection isn't there. But he does know that everyone else has a reflection in him.

Hades is like a one-sided mirror, he knows (though real one-sided mirrors haven't been invented yet).

Years and years after he looked in the mirror, his brothers take him and drag him to a party with them.

The party is full of nymphs, and not one nymph will approach him. They all prefer to spend time with his more handsome brothers.

His brothers try, at some-point, to get a nymph to notice their brother. The nymph in question only replied, "Why court death? Why lay with a soulless man?"

Hades is upset by this, and apparently his brothers are too. His brothers approach him and each throw a comforting arm around him; they leave the party a few moments later. The nymph they talked to stands stunned and alone.

Hades will admit this to no one, but he's glad his brothers' chose him over nymph (Especially since Zeus just married Hera...).

Hades wonders the Underworld without worry.

He is king here, he is both feared a beloved by all. He is a fair King, he believes.

He sets out to work (The Underworld is a busy place and someone has to keep things in line), and is too busy to think about the empty mirror in the bathing room.

After all, it doesn't matter.

He doesn't need a reflection.

Others have one for him.