4. The Origin

Seven thousand years ago, the moon goddess was in trouble. Her strength is starting to weaken and she has not found the right vessel to channel the energy.

"What about your children? Is none suitable?"

Hecate shook her head weakly. Her grief made dark clouds fill the night sky. "Rhea said there is only this one way for me to try."

"What is it?"

"Melding myself and my strength with Naitura."

Naitura is a sacred and eternal tree on Olympus. Precisely on the southwest side of the main palace. The tree trunk was solid, shiny, as if there were gold dust in it. Then the leaves are bright green, even if it is dark, they will shine. Naitura flowers are sparkling silver. Beautiful, but this tree is untouched.

It is said in a book, because of the sanctity of this tree, demigods cannot touch it. In fact, if they insisted on standing near Naitura, they would melt and become natural fertilizer for this tree.

Naitura only accepts purity. There can't be any flaws. If he succeeds in persuading and being kind to this tree, then he will grant the requester's request.

"Are you crazy?!" she shrieked. "No, no! There must be another way."

"Selenaaa," coaxed Hecate. "If I'm gone, you will replace me. Isn't that a good thing?"

"You think it's easy to be a moon goddess? Determining one's destiny, determining the mate of several beings, and controlling where the moon goes? It's not easy, Hecate!"

"But also not difficult, right?"

"The fate of my power continues later, I myself will determine. You don't need to be afraid. If he is really born, then he is special, and we just treat him like my other children."

Selena could no longer reply to her predecessor's words. She just sat quietly on this golden expanse of grass. Selena is afraid that she can't carry out the task properly. After three minutes of silence, Hecate stood up and walked gracefully towards where Naitura was.

Hecate had made up her mind and no one else could break it. Every footprint of the moon goddess, leaving a red color on the grass.

She took ten meters away to observe. Fulfilling a thousand determinations to merge with Naitura. His footsteps were made as slow as possible when she stepped. Hecate broke through the bubble barrier with ease, then she let go of the silk clinging to her body.

Hecate, with her innocent body, stretched her hands and let Naitura suck her essence of strength. Tiny lights shifted from Hecate's body to Naitura. Beautiful, but painful.

Finally, after all her energy was drained away, the moon goddess looked up and begged for her wish to be granted in person. Naitura splits in two, as if asking the goddess to enter immediately. Sure enough, Hecate immediately stepped up and was swallowed up by Naitura. The tree shone brightly for a few moments and then returned to its original state.

On the other hand, Selena was crying and sobbing. Slowly the girl got up and walked hastily towards Naitura. Half ran so she could quickly get there. In silence, she stared at the sacred tree. Waiting and guessing whether Hecate's wish was granted or not.

Then, after hours of waiting and nothing, Selena returned to meet Zeus. God of all gods.

Nothing hurts more than a loss. Selena wasn't even ready to replace Hecate yet. However, whether Selena is ready or not, she still has to replace that position. She wouldn't let the position of the moon goddess fall to another—an irresponsible one.

"Selena?" he said.

"How can you just keep quiet? I'm sure that you know about this, right?" demanded Selena, excited.

Athena was furious with the girl down there who didn't know manners. She was about to reply, but a tap of Zeus's finger on his shoulder kept him from doing so. "It will work, Selena. However, it will take time for Naitura to absorb Hecate's immense power. It will take months or even years. Please be patient."

"After the fruit is born, I will appoint you to replace Hecate's position. While waiting, you can soak in the Iglasios River," continued Zeus.

Selena sighed. Zeus was right, she needed peace of mind urgently. Finally, the girl bowed and quickly left.

***

A month, two months, even a year had passed. Today, all the gods were shocked by the appearance of the rune-rune that adorned their skies. The rune was golden purple with a silver glow as it faded.

Zeus didn't even know what was coming. In a few minutes, the snow that never greeted Olympus, now fell to fill the golden grass. The snow was not white, but silver with gold around the edges.

Again, the gods chuckled in awe. Then a gust of wind came up, sending the snow flying back into the air in a dramatic fashion. Exactly ten minutes later, everything stopped in place. The snow stopped in midair, even a gust of wind could be seen with the eye. The rune-rune that had sprung up in the sky also stopped. Leaving behind a silver glow that makes the night light warmer.

Zeus realized something, he ran a little towards Naitura. It was followed by other gods, including Selena. They all crowded outside the bubble barrier.

As predicted by Zeus, it happened. The flowers blooming in Naitura fell, piled together, and then the petals slowly fell off. It was in the air beautifully, as if dancing.

The petals form something. The sudden burst of light made the gods narrow their eyes. Until the thing you've been waiting for lands perfectly on Naitura's roots.

A baby girl.

The baby is the power set of Hecate. His physical, mental, destiny, life, and partner, were determined by Hecate. The baby's name is Cia.