Hades was the God of the Underworld,
A powerful god who ruled over the Dead with a great hand.
He was a cunning god, not only in how he deceived his enemies and even his wife,
But how he used what came to him.
This is the story of the Hadean Children,
Hades’ own creation,
A people with greater powers than any humans,
And with a curse that is said to go on till this day.

Once, Hades woke from a black sleep that is unique only to him,
And was seized with a strange desire to go to the deepest, remotest, and most desolate
Part of the Underworld,
Tartarus,
Where creatures such as the Imprisoned Titans, the Giants, and the Demon Typhon,
Are held captive for all eternity.

Over the barren landscape of the Underworld Hades flew in a winged chariot,
Over mountains and fields and past the winding River Styx,
To a gorge where Tartarus was.
At the bottom Hades walked past cells upon cells,
Where Giants yelled threats,
Monsters with fifty heads roared their anger,
And Titans pleaded with their nephew to free them.

But Hades ignored all of them,
Curious as to why he wanted to visit this melancholy place.
For in all his cunning he could not figure out why he had desired to come to this place.
Finally, he came to the last cell,
A pit with lightning bars covering its only occupant,
The Demon Typhon,
A creature made entirely of fire and ash,
His large yellow eyes staring directly at Hades.
And finally Hades felt like he had found what he had come for,
Something to do with the dastardly Typhon.
Typhon laughed his wicked, terrifying laugh,
And the walls shook at the sound.
“Hello, my dear nephew.” said Typhon.
“Have you come to receive what I give to you?”
“I do not understand what you say, my vile uncle.”
Hades replied. “I come here not knowing what I want.
But by your mysterious words, I surmise you do know.”

Typhon laughed again, and said,
“Just as mysterious Night bore in Death’s black bosom a child named Love,
From which everything else came, including Earth, the Titans, your kin, and me,
I have bore down here in my pit many children.
But all are so evil that they cannot pass through the bars of my cell,
Which through no evil may pass through.

“However, yesterday evening, as you fell asleep in your dark palace,
I bore something that I never knew that I would bore,
A power that can pass through the bars and inhabit the Earth.
But I cannot control this power, as it has no mind of its own and cannot be manipulated.
Even Love, which Aphrodite and Eros are gods of,
Cannot claim dominance, for they are susceptible to Love too.

“So, my dear nephew, I give it to you.
Do what you must with it.
I do not care what you do.
Only know this, nephew:
Whatever you do with this power,
It’ll eventually come back to haunt not only you, but the rest of the world.”

And as Typhon said these lasts words,
From his flaming back rose a pure white orb,
Made of something akin but not water.
And at its core was a glowing light.

And Hades sensed that this core,
As it and its casing passed through the bars,
Was the power that Typhon had spoken of.
He took it in his arms and like an electric shock,
He knew its power could rival the gods if not used right.

He took the power immediately to Olympus,
Where to Zeus, his brothers and sisters, and the gods,
He explained its origins.
Zeus thought carefully, and then an idea occurred to him.
“Hades,” he said, “find someone who you can trust with this power.
Teach them to use it to help the gods. Perhaps Typhon’s prediction of haunting
Will not come true.”

With this in mind Hades traveled to Earth and searched for the right person.
To his surprise, he not only quickly found the right person,
But two people! For Hades’ choice were two twin boys,
Just born into the world, sons of King Mitus of the hidden city of Ruga
And Lydia the sea nymph.
He split the power in half,
And right there in the nursery,
He split the power in half and gave each brother a half.
To the older brother Amun, he gave the right half,
And to the younger Shet, he gave the left.

Now Ruga, a city only found by those wise and clever enough to follow a secret path
To its destination,
Was a glorious city filled with many artists, philosophers, and teachers,
The descendants of Ruga’s founders and the family of the clever ones who find the city.
Within this golden city, Hades would go to disguised everyday as an old teacher,
And teach the boys how to use the power he gave them.

The elder brother, Amun, who delighted in using his powers, showed great aptitude,
And developed many uses for the power,
Manipulating the power so that Hades believed he had the makings of a god.
For Hades could move from one place to another without taking a step,
Move things just with a flick of his hands,
Create lightning bolts from his fingers,
And many things besides.

The younger brother, Shet, was more reserved in his liking for powers,
And was often reluctant to use his powers in his lessons.
Hades, for all his greatness, misunderstood the reluctance for inaptitude,
And therefore focused more on Amun,
Who delighted in not only his powers, but the attention Hades lavished on him.

The brothers turned from children to adolescents, and from adolescents to men.
And with age, the boys changed. Quiet Shet became a teacher and philosopher,
Teaching Ruga’s boys many things that they would need later in life.
Amun, the elder, however, did not lead such a lovely life.
He became a rogue and a thief,
Using his powers to rob the rich and the poor alike not only in Ruga but in all the cities.

Once, Hades caught Amun trying to attack Persephone, his wife,
And was about to kill for his sin when Amun disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Hades traveled immediately to Ruga, and along with Shet, tried to confront Amun.
A fierce argument broke out between the three,
And Hades raised his hand to slay Amun.
Suddenly, Amun changed before Shet and Hades’ eyes:
His hair stood on end,
Veins appeared all over his face,
And his eyes, from the pupil to the iris,
Became black as death.

He yelled to the awestruck onlookers, his teacher and his brother,
“You have not done as you tried, my dear teacher.
The half you gave me of Typhon’s power was the dark half,
While my brother’s was the light half.
Together, the halves were neutral, and therefore Typhon could not use it.
But by splitting it in half, you awakened the two separate forces within.

“Typhon foresaw this, and now his plan has reached fruition:
You have created a harbinger of doom,
A demon to rival the gods.
I shall create an army, and release Typhon and his brood from their dark prison.
Hell on Earth and all worlds shall become the norm.”

And with that, he disappeared.
Hades was devastated, that his prized student had become an avatar for Typhon,
And he had failed in his duty as a god and a teacher.
But Shet comforted him and said,
“Do not fear, my lord, for I was not incompetent as you thought,
But merely did not use my powers, knowing their origins.
In truth, I am as strong as my brother, and will defeat him in a duel.
I love my brother, but I must do this, and alone too,
For although you may want to stop my brother too,
We share a power with different forces motivating it,
And shall take care of him myself.”

Shet left Hades, and traveled to where his brother was, the island of Crete.
There they dueled nonstop, using all powers at their disposal.
But after a full day of fighting, Shet distracted his brother with a false image of himself,
And while Amun was distracted, Shet finished the duel with a giant ball of energy.

As Amun lay weak and dying, he said to his brother,
“You are foolish, Shet. You have not defeated me yet.
For Persephone was not the only one I went after.
I have a child, and someday, many generations from now,
A descendant of mine shall rise and finish what I started.
Hell on Earth shall rise someday.”

And with this last dying prophecy,
For Shet sensed the power of unbreakable prophecy was in the words,
Amun died, and instead of to the Underworld, Amun went directly to Typhon’s cell,
And merged his soul with Typhon.

No one knows, many years after the battle of the brothers took place,
If what Amun said was actually a true prophecy or not.
Shet went to Macedonia, where he started a family,
And his children had powers too.
As the generations passed, children, descendants of Shet,
Had the possibility to be born with his powers, and some did,
Many appearing in each generation.

As for Amun’s claim of a child, not a child, or its mother, could be found.
Many of the people on the isle of Crete reported seeing a woman with golden hair,
Fleeing the scene of the duel after Amun was killed.
Some say it was a young woman in the midst of pregnancy,
Others say the woman had a baby in her arms,
And yet others say it couldn’t have been a girl more than six years old.

Did Amun’s child exist?
And if so, did it carry the burden of the black prophecy on its back?
And through it, the child’s descendants?
Not even the gods know.
So Shet’s descendants, known today as the Hadean Children,
For Hades is responsible for giving them their powers and their fame,
Continue to exist.
Although the story of Shet and Amun is true,
Many differ on whether or not Amun’s descendants exist.
And if they do, whether or not one of them will someday be born,
With the potential to release Typhon,
And destroy the world.