‘My throat… is dry.’

The consistently silent river began to whisper sounds into Livia’s ears at some point.

She had heard that the River of Oblivion was called the River of Silence. And that when one let their guard down, it would flow with quiet water sounds like a lullaby… If that was the case, she wondered if this might be the River of Oblivion, Lethe.

‘The smell of water…’

As she could smell the strong scent of water nearby, Livia felt her throat increasingly constricted by thirst.

With her protruding belly making it uncomfortable to sit curled up, Livia leaned against Mumu and gazed painfully at the cave entrance where the water flowed.

Though the underworld typically had blurred boundaries between day and night, today the outside of the cave appeared unusually dark. Looking at the darkened exterior that seemed like night, Livia slowly closed and opened her heavy eyelids.

She had never been particularly weak physically, but lately she wondered why drowsiness overcame her so easily.

Her belly was growing, her limbs felt numb, and sometimes even breathing overwhelmed her. Every time she felt her body changing, a strong sense of fatigue would rise.

She couldn’t tell if this happened because of her pregnancy, because she had come to the underworld while still alive, or if some other reason caused it.

As she repeatedly closed and opened her heavy eyelids slowly, Livia’s eyes finally surrendered to their weight and closed completely.

The sound of water tormented her, but she also wanted to escape into sleep, comforted by Mumu’s warmth.

Even while falling asleep, Livia felt thirst, but she forcibly kept her eyes tightly closed. The throbbing pain had helped suppress her thirst, but now even that power seemed to have weakened.

‘Or perhaps… now you want water too.’

Livia unconsciously rubbed her belly as she drifted into sleep. Sleep soon led to dreams.

She opened her eyes in the midst of a pile of bone-dry sand. Even as she opened her eyes, she sensed this was a dream, so she wasn’t particularly afraid.

Looking around with dry eyes, she saw nothing but sand everywhere.

Just as she thought the landscape seemed somehow familiar, something tapped her hand. Startled, she looked down to see a small scorpion touching her.

“You… Tuktuki?”

She stared at the small scorpion before her with wide, surprised eyes. Seeing the sunken wound on its back, she had no doubt it was the scorpion she knew.

The small scorpion, staring intently at Livia, curved its tail into a circle and trembled the stinger at the end. Livia knew this tiny creature’s gesture displayed showing off.

‘Weren’t you an illusion shown by Triton? And…’

Livia reached out and touched Tuktuki’s tail.

‘Tuktuki had died…?’

She vividly remembered burying the small creature with her own hands, yet how had it come to find her again?

The feeling of both wonder and nostalgia made Livia’s heart swell.

That small creature had helped her endure through those harsh trials. Of course, it had also broken her down…

In any case, she felt quite happy to see it again. The vigorously trembling tail tip still looked cute, and she unconsciously let out a gentle smile.

How long had it been since she had smiled?

As Livia awkwardly traced her unconsciously upturned lips, Tuktuki tapped her leg and scurried forward. Following the gesture to come along, Livia set off after the scorpion. Wondering where they were going, she realized it was the very cave where they had once made their home.

‘Whether in reality or in dreams, I can’t escape caves.’

Smirking, she entered deeper and saw the landscape she remembered. The ceiling with its slanted hole, the small spring reflecting light that leaked through that ceiling, the lush green grass growing around it, and the small scorpions hiding among them…

Everything appeared exactly as she remembered. As she slowly looked around, filled with a sudden surge of nostalgia, she heard a splash. Turning around, she saw Tuktuki struggling after falling into the water.

“…Wait, why did it fall in there?”

Rushing to the spring in confusion, she saw the scorpion struggling seemingly calling for help. She watched with bewildered eyes as it splashed vigorously with its pincers. That spring… it didn’t seem that deep, did it? And why did the small scorpion increasingly look like a child?

“Help me! Save me!”

As she rubbed her eyes, wondering if they deceived her, the child cried out.

“……!”

Livia stepped back in shock. The child, which had been a small black scorpion, had somehow become a young child with dazzling silver-blue hair, struggling in the water. The moment she confirmed the color of the child’s hair, Livia’s entire body froze stiff.

Could it be, that child…

As she stood dazed, trembling all over, the sobbing child let out a scream.

“Save me! Please, save me!”

Startled, Livia’s body moved instinctively. Though Triton’s child would never drown, she had no rational thought for such considerations. She moved her legs with only the thought of rescuing the child as soon as possible.

‘I’ll save you, I’ll rescue you!’

Livia whispered urgently as she ran toward the spring. Just as she prepared to take one more step to enter the spring, someone firmly grabbed her wrist.

“Let go! Let go of this! I have to go, I have to save them!”

Not knowing who had grabbed her, Livia struggled.

“…via.”

She heard crying loud enough to tear a throat. The child cried, having fallen into the water. Crying to be saved.

Begging to be saved, to be rescued.

‘The child… my child!’

As Livia twisted her body, struggling forcefully to break free, someone’s voice crashed into her consciousness like lightning.

“LIVIA!!!”

Simultaneously, a white flash blinded her, and her consciousness completely shook. The desert cave crumbled before Livia’s eyes. Her eyes snapped open, and her sleep-drunk mind instantly regained its senses.

“Livia! Are you conscious?”

Livia stared at the scene before her with a dazed face. The sound of water sang a sweet lullaby in her ears. Startled, she turned her head in all directions and saw the River of Silence rippling right in front of her.

Her toes were wet from splashed water droplets. She had been one step away from falling into the river. Startled, she stepped back, and her back touched a solid body. Livia slowly turned around with a pale face.

“If you fall in there, you’ll forget everything. Do you still want to enter?”

Zagreus, with enormous raven wings, asked while holding her. As Livia regained her senses, her face gradually filled with astonishment.

“How did you get here…?”

Finding Livia’s question quite amusing, Zagreus gave a thin smile.

“If I could find your brother whom Chrysaor had hidden so well, would I not be able to find you?”

Though Iason had become the underworld’s ferryman, it seemed he couldn’t completely escape the eyes of Zagreus, a god of this place. Well, no matter how they had evaded the ravens’ pursuit, if someone had searched the area where they disappeared, finding them wouldn’t have been difficult…

‘Then what about Iason?’

As that thought occurred to her, she remembered her brother fighting with a scythe to hide her. Livia urgently grabbed Zagreus and asked:

“Have you seen Charon around here?”

“I did. He was desperately trying to divert the ravens’ attention.”

“What happened? You didn’t harm him, did you?”

At her desperate question, Zagreus held Livia’s cheek and gazed down at her quietly. His black hair cascaded over her face.

His cold fingertips caressed her warm skin in circular motions. After looking down at her for a long time with an expression that appeared choked or thirsty, he smiled and asked:

“Your brother?”

At Zagreus’s words, Livia’s heart sank. Charon had said he must not reveal his identity.

If his identity were discovered… she couldn’t even imagine what disadvantages might befall him. Livia shook her head with a despairing expression.

“No, no! We just… just met by chance. My brother? How could he be my brother…!”

“It’s okay, Livia. You can tell me everything.”

Zagreus whispered in a sweet voice, reassuring her.

“I’m on your side, after all.”

“…Zagreus.”

“Even if you’re not mine, I’ve given myself to you.”

His voice sounded ominous. Though his outward appearance didn’t seem particularly different, something had changed.

His wings seemed to have grown larger, and the black clouds and lightning flashing in his eyes also appeared stronger.

“Ugh…”

At that moment, her belly began to ache again. Simultaneously, the thirst that had felt subtle until now rose strongly. A burning pain surged through her throat, comparable to swallowing a fireball.

“…My throat, my throat is dry.”

“What’s wrong, Livia?”

“I want water. Give me water…”

Livia’s vision blurred once more.

Zagreus’s voice right in front of her grew distant, and all she could hear was the quiet sound of water flowing in apparent silence.

She wanted to fall into it. Just as the thought of wanting to immerse herself deeply in that water bubbled up:

“I can give you water. But… if you drink the water of the underworld, you’ll have to stay here from now on. Is that okay?”

Zagreus whispered kindly, seemingly seeking Livia’s consent. His calm, gentle tone almost made her nod in agreement, but she gritted her teeth just in time.

No, she couldn’t lose her memories. No matter how painful and burdensome they were, they belonged entirely to her.

Rather than not remembering Triton’s love, she would prefer eternal death. Enduring love and forgetting it represented fundamentally different matters.

Livia shook her head firmly. At that moment, the constricting pain in her womb intensified. Along with a tingling sensation resembling an electric current flowing through her ut*rus, she felt something swelling tightly.

“…Ah! Aagh!”

Gritting her teeth to endure the pain, Livia clutched Zagreus tightly. Zagreus embraced Livia’s shoulders as she broke into a cold sweat and made a shushing sound.

Then, black smoke rose over his shoulder and covered Livia’s eyes, and her eyes, which had barely held onto consciousness, slowly closed. Her small, thin body collapsed into Zagreus’s arms.

“…You must have suffered a lot, Livia.”

Because of that d*mn shark b*stard.

Zagreus, holding the collapsing Livia in his arms, quietly kissed her forehead, while staring with cold eyes at Livia’s round belly that emitted a pale bluish light.

—

T/N: ZAGREUS, YOU BETTER NOT!