"Now that the gift has been delivered, I will not impose any longer. From this day forward, this city shall always open its gates to you both."
Dawn was breaking on the horizon, and the moonless night had finally passed. Helios, driving his Sun Chariot, brought light to the land, and on Mount Olympus, the Divine King likewise felt the call of distant bloodlines.
The Fertility Divine Authority told him that his two children had been born there.
Hera's dominion was broken, and Zeus wasn't actually surprised, for when Hecate used the power he once promised to lift Hera's dominion, the Divine King had already sensed it and, in fact, was pleased to see it happen.
Delaying the birth of his offspring was to appease the goddess best suited to sit upon the throne of the Heavenly Empress, not genuinely for the sake of who bore his firstborn. Gods do not die, nor do they need heirs; the firstborn is more of a symbolic title, and to the Divine King, it hardly mattered who the mother was.
Thus, when Hecate removed this shackle, Zeus merely looked forward to the true power of his offspring.
Now, following the bloodline connection, the Divine King fully discerned the innate Divine Authority of those two children. They were True Gods, not Demigods, of this there was no doubt, and that highly-anticipated firstborn possessed the Godhood of Light, naturally endowed with the potential to wield formidable Divine Power.
Light, that was Ancient Titan God Theia's Divine Authority, and its presence in his firstborn not only brought a powerful deity to the Divine Court but also signified the diminishing of that Ancient Titan God's power. Zeus felt immense joy witnessing this, his only regret being that this moment was not immediately known to all.
If this were the Second Era, the miraculous signs of a god's birth would have already spread across the world, celebrating the arrival of this new deity, but in the Third Age, separated by vast distances, the Divine King didn't even know the name of his firstborn son.
"And my daughter... her power may be lesser, but it is enough."
With focused perception, the sensation from the Divine Authority informed Zeus that, though his daughter was slightly inferior, her power leaned towards the wildness and Chaos of nature, which was by no means weak. Just like the God of Sun Helios, with sufficient faith, she too could break the innate limits of her Godhood and step into the realm of powerful Divine Power.
"Perhaps I should prepare some followers for her in advance; after all, I don't have much time... That's settled then."
Contemplating quietly and making his decision, Zeus prepared to pay a visit to Hera. He could guess that the Heavenly Empress needed his comfort to avoid irrational actions that might affect the growth of his children. However, at the moment when the deities' births concluded, the previously joyful Divine King abruptly rose, his expression turning somewhat unpleasant as he looked into the distance.
He couldn't actually see what was happening there; the only reason he could sense the birth of his children was thanks to the Fertility Divine Authority and the bloodline connection. But as the guardian of oaths, Zeus suddenly discovered that the connection between him and his newborn daughter was partially severed by an oath.
Although it wasn't an oath he had sworn and the bloodline connection still existed, the link between his daughter and Leto seemed to have been transformed by this oath, attaching instead to another being.
Originally, Zeus wasn't in a hurry to meet those two children. Leaving them in Leto's care, he believed they would surely become loyal and aspiring deities to him, becoming powerful aids in his rule over the world. But if Leto was no longer responsible for raising them, the outcomes became uncertain.
Zeus certainly did not trust in bloodline alone, and few among the gods did.
"Hecate, was it you?"
With a fluctuating expression, Zeus felt it was time for a serious conversation with the goddess who had once assisted him, but whose attitude remained elusive.