Spring will soon come to the surface. Spring is Persephone’s season…. Before being the queen of the underworld, Persephone is the daughter of earth. It seemed the goddess of earth would hold a festival for her daughter as spring arrived.

Though uncertain how to get there, Livia nodded without hesitation. She would find a way somehow. Somehow.

“I’ll go, I’ll definitely go. Will you bring Lete’s soul then?”

When Zagreus nodded, Livia, unable to contain her excitement, hugged him impulsively.

“Thank you, Zagreus. Thank you….”

She could never have found Lete’s soul hidden by Echidna on her own. If it weren’t for Zagreus, she would have been helplessly manipulated by Echidna who was holding Lete hostage….

Livia decided to completely forget the fact that Zagreus had tried to kill her at their first meeting. Though she would still be wary, if he just helped her meet Lete again, she could forgive him even if he killed her once and brought her back to life.

Zagreus, who had been stiff, gently embraced Livia’s back in return. Unlike before, perhaps remembering how Livia had said she couldn’t breathe, he wrapped her with a gentle force. Then, just as Livia had done, he softly patted her back. It was as if he had learned tenderness from Livia. Then, as if he couldn’t hold back anymore, he suddenly hugged her tightly again.

It was a bit hard to breathe, but she decided to endure it for a moment. Suddenly, he said.

“You know what, I’ll collect that kiss then.”

“…Huh?”

“You promised me. If I found your sister, you’d give me a kiss.”

Come to think of it, she had made such a promise…. Since a promise was a promise, Livia nodded saying okay. At that, Zagreus’s smile brightened.

That’s when it happened. Suddenly, she felt a pain as if one shoulder was being torn apart. Livia unknowingly screamed and collapsed, and Zagreus quickly grabbed her waist and pulled her into his arms.

“What’s wrong?”

“My, my shoulder suddenly….”

Livia’s eyes, which had been wincing in pain, suddenly went wide. That intense pain had suddenly vanished completely, as if washed away.

“Your shoulder…?”

“…It was killing me just a moment ago, but now it doesn’t hurt at all. What’s going on?”

Zagreus carefully turned Livia around as she touched her shoulder with a bewildered expression. Gathering her abundant red hair to one side and moving it to the front of her shoulder, he examined the area she had been covering with her hand.

“How is it? Is there something wrong with my shoulder?”

Zagreus silently looked up at the sky while holding Livia’s shoulder. His lips twisted into a sneer as he glared somewhere with narrowed eyes.

“They noticed.”

“What do you mean? Who noticed wha- ugh!”

As Livia tried to turn toward Zagreus, she was startled by a thunderous sound and crouched down. When she hurriedly looked around, everything was shaking. In the sky, gray storm clouds rapidly gathered among the white cumulus clouds.

“Wh-what? Why is the weather suddenly like this?”

However, unlike the confused Livia, Zagreus remained calm as he stared at one corner of the sky.

“Livia, I’m afraid I have to go back now, though it’s regrettable.”

After saying that, Zagreus suddenly pressed his lips to the spot below Livia’s shoulder. It was exactly where Livia had felt pain moments ago. As Livia turned around in surprise, black wings spread wide behind Zagreus’s back.

“…Zagreus?”

His black wings fluttered, stirring up a whirlwind. At the same time, the sky seemed to split as tremendous rain began to fall.

“My prey, see you then.”

It was a strange way to address her, but it was too late to object as Zagreus had already flown too high. Livia’s eyes, which had been blankly staring at the sky, suddenly grew wide.

A giant fish was flying across the sky.

No. Looking closely, it wasn’t a fish but….

“…A shark?”

***

Cool fingertips gently rubbed the scar on Livia’s shoulder blade as she slept face down. The more he touched it, the more the rough scar irritated Triton’s mood strangely.

…What is this unpleasant scar?

A dark and gloomy energy emanated from what appeared to be an arrow wound. Even when he poured in the power of regeneration and healing, the scar wouldn’t disappear. Should he just cut out this piece of skin entirely?

Just as he was about to apply pressure with his fingertips, black thread-like substance leaked out from the scar and swirled around it, releasing black smoke as if protecting it. Triton’s expression immediately hardened. He could sense the energy of death. Probably something from the underworld….

“…When exactly did you get marked with something like this, Livia?”

First she came back smelling of a young goat, and now with the energy of death.

She seems to be hovering around him all day, but when exactly did she meet such beings?

Perhaps she got this during her recent death? Just how busy was she during that brief time in the underworld? First Persephone, and now another god.

She was truly a remarkable woman. Especially talented at enticing gods, it seemed.

“That won’t do, Livia.”

I should be your only god….

Triton smiled frighteningly as he carved out the scar on Livia’s shoulder with his fingertip. Though it was flesh blessed by the Styx, it wasn’t strong enough to resist Triton’s power. It wasn’t Styx herself opposing him, just her mere blessing.

Triton’s fingertip dug into Livia’s flesh.

“Ah, uh…!”

Livia’s body trembled like it was having a seizure, seemingly feeling the pain. After he took measures to prevent her from feeling pain, Livia’s face, which had been grimacing and shuddering, finally relaxed.

What a merciful god he was…. But you wouldn’t know that, would you? Perhaps you don’t even want to know.

He gently rubbed Livia’s shoulder where the flesh had been carved out, looking quite regretful. The area where he had scraped away the flesh to reveal raw red meat healed with just one touch from him. The problem was….

“……”

That the ‘mark’ reappeared on the healed skin.

Triton’s eyes turned frighteningly cold. A scar that wouldn’t disappear even when the flesh was carved out meant it was evidence of a god’s power. He had suspected when the unpleasant energy flowed out, but another god had indeed carved their mark into Livia’s body.

…Who dares to place their mark on my human?

Triton stared at the black scar reappearing with a hardened face. The scar, growing darker, was much more distinct than before. For a moment, he thought he could see a pattern.

‘…A bull?’

Though it had short pointed horns on its head, it didn’t look like a goat.

Who could it be? A god who uses the bull as their symbol…. While there are countless gods in the world, those with symbols are rare. Various gods with similar patterns flashed through Triton’s mind, but none matched this exact shape.

A lesser-known god connected to the underworld. Among those, one who could place marks…. If he focused on those points, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find them.

Underworld, underworld….

Underground, death, darkness, sleep…. Dreams.

At that moment, Triton’s brow twitched. Could it be…

He reached out and placed his hand on Livia’s head. Though dreams were another god’s domain and difficult to intrude upon, Livia was an exception for Triton. The rules had exceptions for those who give ‘trials’ and those who undergo them.

He closed his eyes and infiltrated Livia’s unconscious mind.

Where are you, Livia?

He went deeper into her inner mind, searching for her. And finally discovered a suspicious space surrounded by a massive black barrier.

…Interesting.

Triton smiled fiercely and lightly kicked it with his foot. Though his action was light, its power was not, and the space ruled by the god of death shook completely.

Like well-fired pottery breaking, the black barrier began to crack and crumble bit by bit. When he kicked it one more time, he found her under a blue sky with rather cute white clouds. Though of course, there was no longer any blue sky or white clouds now.

Livia seemed to notice him too, as she opened her eyes wide and moved her luscious red lips.

Though he couldn’t hear what she was saying, it didn’t really matter.

Triton reached out toward Livia as she hesitated and tried to back away.

***

Livia opened her eyes with a start and gasped for breath. Gulp, cold sweat ran down her back as she swallowed dryly.

‘What was that just now?’

Tense, she slowly glanced around from the corner of her eye. Beyond her dim vision, she could see Triton’s bedroom scene. Though there was no light or even the sound of bubbles popping, Livia instinctively sensed that the world’s fiercest fish was nearby.

‘…What exactly happened?’

First Zagreus appeared in her dream, then after him came Triton. It seemed too vivid to be just a simple dream. However, everything was too sudden to say it was truly caused by divine power.

The memory of flying in the sky behind Zagreus transformed into an eagle, the green undulating fields, and the sky that collapsed along with the downpour that fell as if the world was crumbling.

A giant shark appeared above that broken sky. A beautiful shark with a silver body like sunlight reflecting off waves at noon, and eyes like blue jewels….

Livia recalled that image from her dream again. Such overwhelming beauty that she never thought she’d feel toward a massive predator. In the dream, Livia didn’t even want to blink.

Then, unable to bear the falling rain, she wiped the moisture from her face, and in that moment, the giant silver shark that had been covering her sky approached her with its huge mouth wide open. She was so mesmerized that even though she thought she was going to be eaten, she couldn’t run away.

Only after being trapped in its mouth did she belatedly realize she had been caught by the shark and struggled. Then the form of what was holding her changed.

The sharp teeth had disappeared and were replaced by an enormous hand. In that moment, the memory of being crushed in Triton’s hand came rushing back.

When Livia screamed and struggled as if having a seizure, the grip loosened. Through the slightly opened fingers, she could see the face of the one holding her tightly. It was Triton.

So, that beautiful shark that had taken her breath away was him all along.

Livia was confused about why she kept seeing him as a shark. Though his fierce and violent energy did perfectly match a shark’s….

While she was briefly lost in thought, a cool fingertip firmly pressed against the back of the silent Livia as he whispered.

“Who did this to you, Livia?”