“Not really, that is more a twist humans have placed on this tale to make Hades more a tyrant than he really is. You see, as Zeus and Poseidon gained power with the love and worship of their people, Hades’ power had transformed and started to grow with the tortured pain of every soul that had departed from the living world. What better way for him to gain in power than by splitting the souls, ensuring that not only would he have twice the amount of suffering, but they would suffer all the more by being incomplete? He also knew that by being incomplete, the people would turn away from the gods in their search for their alma xemelga thus depleting the power base of his enemies.”
“That’s a terrible thing to do. Hades is kind of a dick. What does alma xemelga mean?”
Raif’s mouth split into a grin. “Yes, well, I guess he could be defined in such terms, but then so could the other gods. Alma xemelga means ‘soul mate’ or ‘my other half’ in Atlantean. May I continue?” I nodded, smiling to myself as he started putting bacon and eggs on plates. It was such a normal thing; I almost forgot we were talking about ancient Greek mythology as if it were actual fact. “The arrangement with the fates created chaos. The fates thrived on chaos, relishing in every moment that they could make the gods’ lives miserable.” He looked up at me, his teal eyes piercing into mine with a flare of anger I didn’t expect. It did weird things to my insides, none of which belonged to fear. “Life has always been nothing more than a game to the fates. They have never been alive nor dead, they have just always been. However, they did create stipulations to maintain some semblance of fairness. While they enjoyed chaos, they were careful to maintain a balance in power. It has never been said that the fates favored a certain god. The stipulations to this arrangement were that each soul would only spend a hundred years in Tartarus, the place your people call Hell, at which time they were allowed to be reborn to search for their mate again. There is no limit on how many times a soul can be reborn, just that, until it finds its mate, it is to suffer. Once a soul found its mate, they would pass over the underworld to enter into the Summerland to live in peace. This was agreeable to Hades, as he knew the souls would suffer that much more each time they returned to him.
“Hades was tricked this time by his own arrangement, for he is also a living being, as are all the other gods. By his own specifications, all living souls were to divide, leaving both man and god in search for their other half. As Hades has no contact with any living being, he will never be able to combine his soul. You can only merge with your mate if you both still live.”
“So, what about Persephone? I know you said that was a twist, but what does that mean? Hades has no chance to find his mate? That seems rather unfair, even if he was being a jerk to start all this.”
“Persephone is Hades’ wife. They were married prior to the soul split. For thousands of years she split her time between the living and the dead, but she has since found her mate and no longer travels to the underworld. Hades remains alone. I am uncertain if he has any way of recognizing his mate, or if that was the cost of the curse he chose to place upon his brothers and the world.”
We ate in silence for a moment. I thought about what Hades had done, if his punishment was justified. To never have the opportunity to find your other half? It was unimaginable pain. But to have been the cause—I wasn’t sure if that was fair or not. It wasn’t my place to decide, and for that I was grateful. Raif started again in a softer tone.
“It is said that once the soul has mated, it shares the body of the two until the physical beings depart from this world. Usually the deaths occur very close together or simultaneously as the bodies have become attached at a deeper level than if the soul had not merged. The soul needs constant physical affirmation of acceptance to maintain its connection. Although, if that is true than Cleito has truly gone mad.” He trailed off for a moment and we ate in silence.
“Who’s Cleito?” I finally asked. I felt troubled, but not for myself. It was as if I was feeling a muted version of the turmoil going on inside Raif. Which was weird and I dismissed it as some funky thing that happens in Atlantis.
“When the dividir alma occurred, gods and mortals felt it. There was an instantaneous rumble across the entire earth that echoed into the heavens. I am told that the split sent many into madness. You can surely understand how a person would feel at having part of his essence ripped from him.” He shuddered. “Zeus decided it would be better for the gods to find their mates if the lands were split, and created into images of what that particular god desired. People, he had discovered over the years, were generally born into a land where they would thrive. He deduced that in order to become whole again, he would have to rule and live in a place where his soul would be reborn, a place where he thrived. He divided the lands so each god could search for their mates, for having incomplete gods was not acceptable.
“When Poseidon was allotted this particular piece of land, he was pleased. It was still young in its formation, so he was able to bend every part
