Time in the Underworld flowed slowly amidst the growth and waning of its moon. Catia, the small body carrying the will of Hades, attracted the attention of many gods in the Underworld.
The first to approach her was Hecate.
This goddess, who held a torch, controlled paths, magic, and ghosts, occupying a unique place in the Underworld.
Perhaps from subtle hints by Thanatos, or from her own magical intuition, she volunteered to become a companion to the young princess.
Hecate, carrying her iconic torch, found Catia on the banks of the Styx where the moon shone, as Catia played with silver flowers using her small hands.
The two figures—one tall and mysterious, the other young and pure—formed an unusual picture.
"You are the little princess of the King of Hades?" Hecate's voice carried a natural aloofness and curiosity, her gaze sharp, as if capable of piercing through appearances.
Catia looked up, her silver eyes crystalline clear: "Sister Hecate. Your fire is warm."
She meant the magical torch that could guide the dead and burn malevolent spirits.
Hecate crouched down and looked at Catia at eye level.
She was not easily fooled by the [Pure] divinity like other gods.
Her magical nature allowed her to perceive something deeper—an unfathomable darkness, completely different from this pure exterior, and... a sense of familiarity?
As if in awe before another Supreme Being.
They roamed the Underworld together.
Hecate showed Catia how magic could illuminate the mist and how to soothe lost ghosts.
Catia, in turn, 'inadvertently' pointed out forgotten nodes of the Underworld, or asked 'naive' questions about some magical structure, but always got to the heart of the matter.
Hecate's doubts grew, but she decided to remain silent, simply observing this peculiar 'playmate' more closely.
Their relationship, on the surface, was more like a silent temptation and a silent complicity.
Hecate, the torch-bearing goddess, was like a dark and sharp shadow around Catia.
Their way of communicating was very unusual.
On the surface, it was the elder goddess leading the young princess to understand the world, but in essence, it was more of a silent and continuous mutual temptation and observation.
They wandered along the banks of the Styx. Hecate illuminated the howling ghosts on the river with her magical torch, while Catia watched them with her cold silver eyes.
Sometimes, when she extended a finger and pointed at a particularly restless soul, that soul would strangely calm down, as if soothed by an invisible moonlight.
Hecate noticed that this pacification did not come from the passive emanation of the [Pure] divinity, but was more like a precise, willful 'operation' of intervention.
Once, while walking through a circular mist of the Underworld, Hecate couldn't help but ask.
"Do you like this mist? It can make living beings lose their way and conceal secrets."
Catia touched a dark blue mushroom glowing in the mist with her small hand and replied without looking up:
"The mist is good, sister Hecate. But it shouldn't just be a camouflage... It could also be a road, leading to where Father wants to go."
Hecate's heart suddenly leaped. 'Father'? Did that mean Hades?
But His Majesty Hades should still be in His Majesty's sleeping chambers at this moment...
What did her words mean? Was it a child's whisper, or some kind of... hint?
Hecate tightly gripped the torch in her hand, feeling as if the flame swayed because of these meaningful words.
She did not ask questions, but simply buried this doubt deeper in her heart, like a seed ready to sprout.
Just as Hecate's doubts intensified, another 'companion' was ordered to come to Catia.
In the palace of the Queen of the Underworld, Metis, suffering from inner torment, regained the upper hand after a short period of maternal instinct.
She couldn't watch Catia all the time, nor was she entirely happy for her to be alone in the Underworld.
So she thought of Perses, the god of destruction, who had been active in his loyalty but had never received a specific duty from Hades.
A cold thought, containing the authority of the Underworld, reached the temple where Perses resided.
"Perses, in the name of the Queen of Hades, I command you to protect Princess Catia, ensure her absolute safety, and report all her movements to me at any time."
Perses, who had always felt marginalized and had no opportunity to display his power, received this order.
The power of destruction used for protection?
He felt a slight absurdity, but in the end, it was a direct order from the Queen of the Underworld, and also an opportunity for him to integrate into the core power of the Underworld.
And so, when Catia and Hecate were strolling along the Styx, a tall figure, surrounded by the breath of silence ending everything, appeared not far behind them, like a silent shadow.
He approached Catia, his tall, finality-bringing figure sharply contrasting with Catia, who was miniature and radiating pure moonlight.
Hecate frowned slightly. Although he was her father-god, she was instinctively wary of the god of destruction.
"Princess." Perses's voice was hoarse and cold, like two millstones grinding against each other.
He knelt on one knee and lowered his destructive head, adopting a respectful posture, but with a palpable sense of awkwardness.
Catia looked at him. In her silver eyes flashed a faint, almost elusive clarity—the will of Hades recognized the value of Koios's son, whom he had personally accepted, and saw through some qualities beneath his cold exterior.
"Perses," Catia called him, her voice immature but clear, "will you come with me to explore? Sister Hecate said the Underworld outside is very vast."
Perses stiffly nodded. Guardianship meant following wherever she went.
As a result, a strange trio was formed: the pure and innocent princess of the Underworld, the sensitive and solitary goddess of magic and roads, and the silent and ruthless god of destruction.
The combination began to move through the Underworld, and Hecate acutely noticed that when Perses was nearby, sometimes the depth beyond her years was deliberately restrained, and she behaved more like a truly curious little girl.
This further convinced her that this princess was not at all as simple as she appeared.