The eternal union, forcibly completed by the divine power of Eros, formed a twisted and static force field in the deepest part of Hades.
The pink light was like frozen amber, enveloping Hades and Metis, their divine bodies tightly bound, their consciousnesses rising and falling in the confrontation between the forced current of eros and the cold will.
Here, the concept of time lost its meaning. Perhaps it was an instant, perhaps a thousand years.
In this extreme contradiction and confrontation, an unexpected variable was born.
An incredible creation, forged by divine power, will, twisted love, and cold reason in their ultimate collision.
A core of pink light, pure, cold moonlight, quietly began to shine, gradually dispersing the sweet and cloying breath of eros.
The light coalesced and finally transformed into the form of a young girl, suspended between Hades and Metis.
She had silver-white curly hair, like the waters of the Styx under moonlight, her skin fair and almost translucent, her eyes closed, yet she naturally radiated a calmness that soothed the soul.
Her body was graced with clear divine fluctuations—[Dark Moon], symbolizing the unique light of the Underworld, cold and guiding souls;
[Purity], a rare quality capable of cleansing filth and stabilizing the mind;
and [Underworld Waters], which connected the Underworld and the water veins deep within the earth, symbolizing potential flow and life force.
She was Catia, the Princess of the Underworld, born as a miracle from imprisonment and confrontation.
Metis was the first to awaken from the twisted sinking.
She looked at the suspended girl, sensing the divine lineage emanating from her and Hades's bloodline, yet incomparably pure, as if it could purify everything. Confusion flickered in her eyes, then was overwhelmed by a surging and complex maternal instinct.
This was her daughter, a testament to her 'eternal' bond with Hades, seemingly the perfect fruit of the ultimate power of Eros.
She reached out and gently took Catia into her arms. The [Pure] divine aura slightly calmed her restless soul.
"Catia... My daughter..."
Metis called out in a low voice, a faint choke in her voice.
She looked at Hades, who still lay in the center of the force field, seemingly exhausted by the 'birth' and sunk into a deeper 'slumber'. The paranoid possessiveness in her heart was temporarily softened by the gentleness of the small life in her arms.
However, she did not know that deep within Catia's flawless body, the vast majority of Hades's sober will lay hidden.
After his encounter with Cronus, Hades had made an extremely risky decision.
He wanted to use this grand gamble to confirm his suspicions.
When Metis used the divine power of Eros, he applied his deep understanding of the power of [Soul] and the new power of [Secrecy] to skillfully transfer his main consciousness and the greater part of his divine power core into the body of this new goddess, [forged] by the divinity of him and Metis.
What remained in place was no more than an empty shell of divine power, containing basic instincts and sustaining life reactions, like a fragile puppet bearing the appearance of the 'eternal union' of Eros's divine power.
Catia—or rather, Hades—opened her eyes in Metis's arms.
These eyes were pure silver, like the light of the dark moon, untainted by the slightest dust, curiously 'looking' at the world and at the 'mother' holding her.
"Mother... Dear..." From Catia's lips came a childish, clear voice, with a hint of the natural aloofness of a divine being.
Metis was startled, looking into her daughter's pure eyes, and the last trace of doubt in her heart disappeared.
This was her flesh and blood, her continuation with Hades. She held Catia tightly, as if grasping the only log in the darkness.
A few days later.
In the Queen of the Underworld's chambers, Metis watched Catia, who was quietly playing around her, radiating pure moonlight from her entire body, and then looked at the silent Hades in the center of the force field, still 'bound' to her at the level of divine power.
An inexplicable feeling of irritability arose in her mind.
The birth of her daughter brought comfort, but also served as a mirror, reflecting the madness and unbearable nature of her past behavior.
Whenever she saw Catia's pure and innocent eyes, and then looked at Hades, forcibly bound by her power of Eros, she was seized by a strong sense of self-loathing and a desire to escape this scene.
She needed space, time, to digest all this and face her distorted actions alone.
Finally, on a 'night' when the moon hung high (a silver moon that occasionally appeared in the underworld sky under the influence of Catia's divinity), Metis made a decision.
She picked up Catia, who was quietly observing a point of light, and walked towards the massive stone door leading out of the underworld sleeping chamber.
Her movements were filled with resolve.
"Catia, my dear daughter," Metis's voice tried to be as gentle as possible, but it was difficult to hide the note of weariness and escape.
"The Underworld outside is the world you should become familiar with. Go out there and learn about your kingdom... You are not needed here for now."
As she spoke, she almost roughly pushed little Catia out of the door of the sleeping chamber.
"Boom!"
The heavy stone door slammed shut behind her, isolating inside from outside, as if isolating Metis from this unbearable memory.
Catia, 'expelled' from the palace, stood firmly on the cold underworld soil.
She brushed off the non-existent dust on her body, raised her head, and in her silver, originally pure and flawless eyes, a spark of wisdom and coldness belonging to Hades flickered.
She (he) glanced at the closed palace door, and the corner of her mouth curled into a barely perceptible arc.
Free at last.
Although in the body of his young daughter, he, Hades, the true lord of the Underworld, had finally emerged.
"Catia" raised her small hand, feeling the divinities of [Dark Moon], [Purity], and [Underworld Waters] she had accidentally obtained, as well as the deeper, perfectly hidden power of [Hades] belonging to Hades and countless other gods.
Hades had not expected the law to grant this 'false goddess' true divinity. Perhaps it meant that the world, too, had been fooled by Hades's disguise...
Or... was this also fate?
This body was both a constraint and the best camouflage.
She took small steps towards the dark yet vast Hades.
Thanatos and Hypnos might be puzzled, Themis would cast a sharp glance, and Mnemosyne's sphere of light would pause... But no matter what, he had returned.
As Catia, the Princess of the Underworld, she had regained her freedom through the action of being 'pushed away' by Metis's own hands.
In the sleeping chamber, Metis leaned against the cold stone door and sat on the ground, as if the pure breath of her daughter still lingered in her arms.