"Young man, why do you gaze at the ocean with such a troubled expression?"
Poseidon emerged from the waves and asked Aeacus with concern.
The young Aeacus felt a sense of closeness to the stranger in the cloak and, without much defense, confided his nascent feelings.
"I have fallen in love with a sea goddess, Psamathe, one of the fifty daughters of Nereus. The appearance of that blue-haired goddess has given me my sole desire."
Psamathe was the daughter of Nereus, the friend of the sea. These sea nymphs, led by their eldest sister Thetis, guided fishermen at sea and were widely respected among humans.
"I once begged the goddess to grant me her love, but she merely smiled at me and never appeared again."
The youth's dejection was evident, stirring Poseidon's paternal instincts. He was the king of the deep sea, the nominal leader of the conceptual sea gods. Perhaps out of a desire to compensate or out of guilt, Poseidon resolved to make Psamathe, daughter of Nereus, his son's wife.
Leaving her lake dwelling, Aegina also lost her divine radiance. This was why Aeacus, though inheriting the bloodline of his parents, was only a demigod.
The divine blood from Poseidon and Oceanus allowed the youth to walk freely on water unharmed. Aeacus also searched for Psamathe's traces, but the nymph always fled before Aeacus could approach.
Poseidon's encouragement rekindled the youth's confidence. Under the guidance of Poseidon and Apollo, Aeacus gathered the courage to pursue the figure of his beloved.
Apollo, hidden in the clouds, cast a ray of light to guide Aeacus, leaving Psamathe, the sea nymph, nowhere to escape. She looked with annoyance at the persistent youth and raised a wave, intending to make Aeacus retreat.
The god of tidal waves calmed the continuous waves. Psamathe tried every means to avoid this human. She attempted to transform into a female snake and a swan, but under Apollo's guidance, she could not escape.
Finally, Psamathe transformed into a seal and hid among a group of seals. This even stumped Apollo in the sky. Aeacus did not give up. Since he could not distinguish which seal was Psamathe, he decided to try them one by one.
Apollo watched the youth pour out his heart to a group of seals and felt a sense of shared misfortune. Love sought but not obtained was lonely yet joyful. Apollo sincerely hoped Aeacus would receive a response from his beloved.
The god of inspiration played his lyre, and the beautiful music made the seals clap their flippers in accompaniment. Only one of them, sensing danger, tried to slip back into the sea.
Aeacus quickly stepped forward to block this seal, "Psamathe, nymph of the sea, please listen to my words. If, after hearing my plea, you still refuse me, I will leave with gratitude."
The seal stopped fleeing and raised its head to meet the youth's gaze.
"The love of mortals is as fleeting as flowers to you, but please look at me, look at the sincerity and hope in my eyes. I swear by all the gods that I will love you forever; if I break this vow, then take my life."
Aeacus's gaze was so sincere that it touched Psamathe. Her hesitation gave the youth a glimmer of hope. The sea nymph shed her seal disguise and revealed her beautiful true form. She accepted Aeacus's proposal and gave him the seal skin as a token of their love.
Aeacus went before Poseidon and Apollo, wishing to repay their help.
Apollo also revealed their purpose for being there. The youth, immersed in joy, immediately agreed to go to the land to build the indestructible walls. After these walls were erected, Dardanus came to hold a grand sacrifice for the two deities. In the square before the temple, Dardanus announced the new name of the city-state—Troy.
From the depths of the world's origin, the primordial god Chaos let out a final wail as his majestic form completely disintegrated.
The establishment of Troy marked the beginning of human civilization's prosperity. The vigorous vitality caused the laws to become unprecedentedly active. The primordial gods, who had been in a stalemate with the creator Chaos for a long time, survived this protracted struggle.
Chaos's shattered body became the greatest impetus for the world's advancement. Just as humanity celebrated the birth of its first kingdom, the world's ascension was also quietly underway. Under the influence of the domains and laws of the five primordial gods, invisible fluctuations spread throughout this prosperous world. Zeus, who had been alerted early on Mount Olympus, seized this opportunity to merge the divine offices of growth and others into one. The divine office of life, carrying the king of the gods, crossed the boundary that made the gods sigh.
The primordial god representing life descended, seizing the first primordial divine position after the world's ascension. Phoebe on the island of Delphi also felt the urge. The goddess of prophecy, representing the future, was very apprehensive. The domain of fate was not as exclusively held by Zeus as the domain of life. Tyche's opportunities and choices, and Styx's predestination, occupied a significant portion.
However, who knew if such an opportunity would ever arise again? With all preparations made, Phoebe's gaze was resolute, and she resolutely took the final step.
Just as the gods were stunned by Zeus's powerful breakthrough, another force from the domain of life attracted their attention. However, Phoebe's situation was far more perilous than Zeus's. The divine king's status was no less than that of a primordial god, and Zeus also had the careful planning of Tyche to support him. Yet, even so, the ascension process required such caution. Phoebe's ascension with an incomplete domain of fate likely lacked sufficient certainty.
Under the anxious gaze of Leto, the goddess of fortune, and Asteria, the goddess of the starry night, the anomaly on the island of Delphi ceased its expansion. However, Phoebe's aura did not disappear; her ascension was still ongoing!
Zeus descended into the depths of the laws to stand alongside his mother. The newly ascended primordial god arrived in time to partake in the division of Chaos's legacy.
Beneath the flourishing World Tree, the essence of the primordial god Chaos was divided among the six primordial gods. Considering Zeus's bravery in the war against Typhon and out of consideration for Tyche, the four primordial gods reluctantly left Zeus his rightful share of supreme divinity.
The largest portion of the cake had been divided, and the atmosphere among the six primordial gods began to become somewhat delicate. As Tyche had predicted, this world ascension yielded enough resources to support two primordial gods, one of which was obtained by Zeus. This was an undeniable fact that the primordial gods could do nothing about. As the king of the gods, Zeus possessed glory equal to that of a primordial god, and he rightfully deserved to claim this fruit.
However, they all had their own plans for the remaining primordial god position. The weak primordial goddess of love wanted to secure it for her ally Pontus, but Tartarus would not be willing to see himself as the only solitary primordial god. Tyche and her son had already secured one primordial god position. If they coveted the remaining one, it was likely that Nyx, who shared a hometown with Tyche, would distance herself from her or even fall out with her over it. However, the god of darkness and the goddess of night did not have allies or offspring capable of seizing a primordial god position. The Abyss, in a similar situation to Nyx and her husband, was also observing. Tartarus, who suffered the most damage in the Typhon rebellion, was bound to fall behind in the future race. Most of his current gains would be used to compensate for the essence that Typhon had taken from him.