The Underworld,
Temple of Hecate.
Magic-created mini-suns illuminated the quiet temple.
This goddess's temple was even more deserted than Hephaestus's had been, as typically, it housed only one deity Hecate herself.
dea, clad in a light purple magician's robe, learning the magic of the gods from the great goddess, sat listlessly on the steps of the temple.
It had been over half a month since she last saw Promise, and that eting made the normally tolerable solitude of the temple unbearable for her.
Even the flowers around had wilted quite a bit.
After all, she was just a girl about Promise's age, not like her teacher who could comfortably stay secluded for centuries if needed.
Hecate had always watched dea's reactions closely.
Although it annoyed her that that troubleso fellow had indeed captivated her student's spirit, given dea's growing lack of vitality, Hecate had no choice but to compromise. "dea, dea... dea!"
After calling softly twice and getting no response, Hecate resorted to using her staff to sharply tap on her head.
Painfully clutching her head, dea finally snapped back to reality and tilted her head in confusion.
Upon seeing it was Hecate, she imdiately stood up, excitedly exclaiming, "Teacher! It's been so long. You're out early this ti; it's only been half a month!"
Even Hecate felt sowhat embarrassed and turned her head away.
dea's desire to leave wasn't unreasonable, as normally, even staying inside this temple, it could be a month or two without seeing anyone.
And even when they did et, it usually didn't last more than an hour...
"Hey, dea, do you want to go out?" Hecate said with a light cough.
Seeing dea in front of her was stunned, she continued: "But I am not asking you to abandon your studies; instead, you could go to Circe. She will continue to teach you."
Circe is dea's senior sister, the original student of the goddess Hecate, and also dea's aunt.
Located on the island of Aeaea in ancient Greek mythology, she is a famous witch of temptation and fall in mythology, and also a demigod in charge of the moon and love.
"This... this..." dea was sowhat surprised, but at the sa ti seed flustered and at a loss, saying: "Respected and great goddess Hecate, may I ask if I have done anything wrong to make you angry?"
"That's not the case. It's just that after you t that guy nad Promise, you are now completely focused on him."
Hecate pointed it out bluntly, completely ignoring her student's wide-eyed, reddened face, and said depressedly: "I don't understand what's so good about that guy, pushing a bunch of goddess to fight for him... Forget it, it has nothing to do with anyway!"
"Do you want to leave or not?"
dea hesitated for a mont, then cautiously looked at Hecate and asked, "Teacher, are you really not angry?"
"When have I ever lied to you?" The latter replied, half exasperated, half amused by her endearing student.
"Then... then I'll go to my aunt... ah, no, I an, Sister Circe," dea decided, correcting herself with so determination.
Circe notably disliked being referred to as 'aunt' by dea, probably because Circe, a 'perpetual maiden' notorious for her jealousy and unrequited love, had yet to be fully loved by soone and remained single.
Hecate wasn't surprised by dea's decision and nodded, "Well, if that's the case, I'll have that fellow Promise escort you."
"Eh?" dea was initially startled, then replied with excitent, "I get to see Promise again?!"
"Yes, and... it's not just a eting this ti," Hecate said with a mysterious smile.
Suddenly, the magical circle laid out on the ground lit up, and a swarm of underworld butterflies erged, whisking her and dea away from the temple.
When dea, who had instinctively closed her eyes, opened them again, she had left the Underworld and arrived on the barren surface of the Earth.
But as soon as she arrived on the ground, what greeted dea was not the blue sky she had not seen for a long ti, but dark, ominous clouds.
Just then, she heard a harsh, unusual roar of a beast, prompting her to look in its direction.
Soon, the horrifying figure of the Chira, with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a python, ca into dea's view.
Fire blazed around the landscape, engulfing everything in flas and sending black smoke into the cloud-filled sky - the Chira left desolation in its wake.
As dea stared at this scene, she noticed the creature's three heads roaring skyward.
Naturally, she followed their gaze to the sky nearby.
And finally saw the young man she had briefly encountered in the temple.
The Pegasus spread its holy wings and hovered above the monster Chira, undaunted by the roars below.
Promise, positioned atop the steed, was drawing a celestial bow to its full arc, aiming at the monstrous creature below.
This Skyfall Bow, a gift from the Moon Goddess Artemis to her follower Atalanta, was now in his hands as he had borrowed it to face the Chira.
It would have been difficult for Promise to draw an ordinary divine bow, but this was a weapon bestowed by God, so he only needed God's permission.
The setting sun's residual light illuminated Promise, with the wind blowing through his hair, his erald eyes clear and bright as they focused on the fearso beast below.
dea, who witnessed this scene, was completely stunned.
She was an intelligent person so even though she only t Promise for half a day, dea
always understood that he must be a very extraordinary person.
After all, in just half a day, she had heard about him from her teacher, eting different gods
one after the other.
But hearing about it is certainly not as good as seeing it with her own eyes!
"...It's always so lively around him," Hecate, who had known the situation for a long ti, or
to be more precise, had been watching it all the ti, glanced around and felt the presence of several gods, and couldn't help but sigh..
"Teacher..." dea, still wide-eyed and slow to recover, pointed at the scene in front of her and asked Hecate, "What... what is this?!"
"Just like that painting I took you to see the other night," Hecate smiled and responded to dea, "It's a gift the young man offers to the gods.
That's the glory he offered to his goddess, Hera, the most venerable among gods. Haven't you always been curious about him?"
"Then see for yourself."
With these words, Hecate thought back to when Promise had brought Persephone before
Hades.
Although the scale of the current scene couldn't compare to that mont, for dea, it was
evidently more than enough.
"See for yourself.
He might be a troubleso fellow, but I believe he's also the brightest star of this era."
...
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