Later that night, the Underworld was quiet in a way the mortal realm could never be.
No wind, no insects, only the faint hum of magic that wove itself through the very air.
Hades walked with Nekyria along the winding path to the River Lethe, her small hand wrapped around two of his fingers.
The moonlight from the upper world didn't reach this deep, but the river didn't need it, each ripple shimmered with a soft silver-blue glow, as though the water itself remembered the fallen stars.
Nekyria crouched at the edge, peering into the current. "Papa… does it really make you forget?"
"Yes," Hades replied, his voice low but not unkind. "A single sip, and memories you've carried for centuries could vanish forever."
She tilted her head. "Wouldn't that be… scary?"
"For some," he said, watching the way the light bent over the waves. "But for others… it can be a mercy."
Nekyria reached out, her fingers just above the surface. "If I forgot everything… would I forget you too?"
