Are you… really Phaethon?

After saying goodbye to Death and Sleep, Phaethon and Circe walked along the road leading to the Elysian Fields. Circe couldn't help but ask:

"Brother! Are you really not going to take Hypnos' advice?"

In the world of Greek mythology, it was pretty common to adopt someone else's child or even claim a more powerful god as your father.

Take Zeus, for example. His illegitimate children with mortal princesses were often raised by other men, who treated them as their own sons.

And when these men died, they would even leave their wealth and thrones to Zeus' illegitimate offspring.

King Oedipus of Thebes, abandoned by his birth parents at birth, was adopted by the childless royal couple of Corinth and eventually became the heir to the Corinthian throne.

As for claiming a more powerful god as your father—

Theseus, the king of Athens, was originally born as an illegitimate child.

To protect his daughter and grandson, Theseus' grandfather declared that Theseus was the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea.

Later, when Theseus became king of Athens, after his second wife killed herself out of love for his eldest son, Theseus actually prayed to Poseidon as if he were his real father.

And Poseidon didn't punish Theseus for this bold claim. Instead, he granted Theseus' wish and killed his eldest son.

"Circe! Do you really want me to stay in the Underworld just to survive?"

Before Circe could respond, Phaethon continued, "The Underworld is a place of eternal darkness, and I am the god who brings light to the world! If I choose to stay here, my divine power over light will be stripped away. Without that, not only will I lose any chance of becoming one of the supreme gods, but I'll also weaken from a greater god to just an intermediate one. I'd rather die than lose the power I have now, so I will never choose to stay in the Underworld."

"Brother…"

Circe seemed shaken by Phaethon's resolve. Her eyes widened, and she gazed at him with admiration as she said:

"I want you to become as powerful as Father, to stand by his side and protect our family."

In the blink of an eye, Phaethon and Circe arrived at the Elysian Fields, the dwelling place of the gods of the Underworld.

The Elysian Fields, home to the gods of the Underworld, should have been a peaceful and serene paradise, as beautiful as Mount Olympus.

But since Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, had not yet been taken to the Underworld by Hades, the Elysian Fields were still a barren, gray plain, devoid of any plant life, much like the Fields of Truth.

The temple of the goddess Hecate stood at the edge of the Elysian Fields.

And between the Elysian Fields and the deep abyss of Tartarus, there loomed a temple even larger than the palace of the sun god.

There was no doubt that the owner of this temple was the gatekeeper of Tartarus—the ruler of the Underworld, Hades, who kept watch over the first generation of Titans.

"Brother! Are you thinking of going to Hades' temple?"

Seeing Phaethon's gaze fixed on the temple, Circe's expression grew serious as she said, "We can't enter Hades' temple without his permission."

Phaethon snapped out of his thoughts and quickly shook his head, explaining, "Circe! I have no intention of entering Hades' temple. It's just that we're so close to one of the three great kings of the gods, and I'm curious about how powerful Hades must be."

"You actually want to approach Hades? Well, I guess that's no surprise coming from the guy crazy enough to drive the Sun Chariot!" A teasing, playful voice of a young woman suddenly echoed from a distance.

Phaethon and Circe turned to see a tall goddess standing at the entrance of Hecate's temple. She wore a flowing purple gown, her long black hair cascading loosely over her shoulders, and her delicate, flawless face bore a lazy, almost indifferent expression.

"Hecate!" Circe called out joyfully when she saw the dark-haired goddess, then quickly ran toward her.

"That's Hecate, daughter of the second-generation Titan Perses, god of destruction, and Asteria, goddess of falling stars?" Phaethon thought to himself, surprised that Hecate had come out of her temple to greet them. He widened his eyes in astonishment before following Circe toward the temple.

When they reached the entrance, Circe immediately pushed Phaethon forward, as if showing off, and said, "Hecate! Let me introduce you to my brother, Phaethon! He's broken free from the fate of death and is standing here, alive, right in front of you!"

As the granddaughter of Phoebe, the first-generation Titan goddess of prophecy, Hecate, like her cousin Apollo, possessed the power to foresee the future.

After Circe finished her boastful introduction, Hecate's expression remained calm as she said, "Circe, don't celebrate too soon. Thanatos, the god of death, already told you that the shadow of death still looms over Phaethon. His words are far more accurate than any future we can foresee."

"Hecate! If even you're saying that, then do you have any way to help my brother escape his fate of death for good?"

"There are ways, of course! The best option would be to stay here in the Underworld, like me, far away from the conflicts of the gods. The second option is to give up your divine power over light and submit to the Olympian gods, like your eldest brother Aeëtes."

After hearing Hecate's two options, Phaethon couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. "Hecate, staying in the Underworld would mean I'd be forced to give up my power over light. So, both of your options require me to abandon my divine essence. I can't accept either of those choices. Especially the second one—do you really think I'd find happiness by submitting to the Olympians?"

In the original course of events, Helios, the sun god, had shown goodwill toward Zeus by marrying off his youngest daughter, Pasiphaë, to Minos, the son of Zeus and Europa, who ruled Crete.

But what did that goodwill get him? The Olympians humiliated Pasiphaë, leading to her giving birth to the Minotaur, a monstrous creature.

Aeëtes, Phaethon's eldest brother, chose to submit to the Olympians, and what did he get in return? His daughter Medea was bewitched by Aphrodite's power and fell in love with Jason, and his son Absyrtus was killed by Jason as well.

Phaethon knew all too well that even if he submitted to the Olympians to save his life, he would still face endless humiliation, just like his father Helios and his brother Aeëtes.

Hearing Phaethon's sharp response, Hecate sighed and said, "Phaethon, from my perspective, giving up your power over light is the only way to avoid death. If you don't want to stay in the Underworld and you refuse to submit to the Olympians, are you really considering a third option?"

Though Hecate didn't say it outright, both she and Phaethon knew what the third option was: to openly defy the Olympians—specifically, to challenge Zeus himself.

"If Zeus won't give me any other choice, then yes, I'll have to take that path," Phaethon replied.

Hecate's eyes immediately sharpened as she stared into Phaethon's. "Are you… really Phaethon?"

"The future shows that Phaethon will die after failing to control the Sun Chariot. That's because, while he has the potential to succeed, he lacks the strength of will to fully master it. After all, Phaethon is still just a boy, not even twenty years old. But you… the person standing before me now, your will is far too mature, far too strong. This isn't the Phaethon I know."

"Hecate, what are you talking about?" Circe blinked her beautiful, golden eyes in confusion. "Who else could this be if not my brother Phaethon? Are you suggesting that his soul has been replaced?"

"That's… a possibility," Hecate admitted.

Circe's eyes widened in shock, but Hecate continued, "But if even Helios, whose power far surpasses mine, hasn't suspected that Phaethon's soul has changed, then my guess is probably wrong."