“I didn’t…” Nyx could almost see him shrugging. “…but I will never defy you in the presence of others,Nýchta.”
Nyx’s heart swelled, and she pulled them both further down into hell, letting the darkness crush them both into one.
7
Nyx left Gaia in the depths of the Earth, moving silently back towards Asphodel. She needed to follow up with Hecate and see how the conversation with Hermes had gone. Nyx could sense that Hermes had left but was curious how Hecate had gotten him to leave.
Damn trickster.
When she stepped through the gates to the witch’s home, she noticed that the columns were already repaired.
Well. At least Hecate forced him to have some manners.
“I did make Hermes clean up his mess before he left,” Hecate spoke from inside as she sensed both Nyx and her thoughts. Nyx didn’t respond and walked quietly inside the house, stepping into the kitchen, and saying nothing as she sat herself once more in front of the fire. If there was one constant in the world, it was Hecate’s kitchen. The fire was always full, the smell of rosemary and pine, the ever-present movements of Hecate at her worktable.
Hecate noticed her friend’s somber expression and once more said nothing as Nyx entered, resuming the work that she was doing at her table. It was becoming a common tableau that frightened Hecate. Nyx, who was so full of energy, consistently had the air of someone who had already been defeated. It was utterly unlike her. One of her dogs came up and sniffed at Nyx’s hand before making a pitiful whining sound and settling at her feet. There were a few more moments before Nyx spoke.
“Did Hermes have anything else to say?” She turned and looked at her friend directly for the first time.
“Nothing of consequence.” Hecate shrugged it off, putting down a bundle of herbs that she had been wrapping. “Erebus was looking for you, though.”
“Was he?” Nyx cursed her heart for skipping a beat. “Did he come here?”
“Darkness rolled through shortly after you left.” Hecate gave her friend a playful smile. “It nearly scared the chiton off Hermes. I don’t think he had ever felt Erebus in his truest form.” Nyx couldn’t help but let out a deep, all-consuming laugh at the image.
“Not many people have.” She grinned, the thought of a terrified trickster cracking her facade and forcing a smile.
“Hermes got your response, don’t you worry. Although, you’ll likely have to contend with the fallout.”
Nyx waved a hand in front of her face as though that was inconsequential. “I’m much more concerned about the fallout with Erebus. If that hasn’t already happened.” Hecate’s expression softened. She moved silently over to where Nyx was sitting, sliding next to her and wrapping her up in her arms. It wasn’t often that Nyx allowed herself to be embraced—a position that was typically reserved for Erebus entirely—but the dawning that he wasn’t an option broke her chest open. Nyx fell into her friend’s embrace and cried.
It was sometime later when Nyx pulled herself from Hecate, lost to the wave of loneliness that she had never experienced. Her face was somber, the telltale darkness appearing around her feet as she prepared to leave.
“Do you know where he went?” Nyx couldn’t meet Hecate’s gaze.
Hecate was overcome with the impulse to roll her eyes. She knew that the pair were going through some things, but Nyx could find Erebus in a heartbeat. She could sense him, wherever he was in the world. Nyx was denying herself if she wanted to pretend that that wasn’t true.
“Find him,” Hecate said simply, standing and walking back over to her worktable. She picked up another jar without a care in the world, and Nyx knew that she had been dismissed. One of the reasons that women prayed endlessly to Hecate was for her defensive, loyal spirit to the feminine souls across existence, but she also refused to let them sit needlessly in their suffering. Nyx nodded, giving one of Hecate’s dogs a scratch on the ears, before she dissipated in a wave of shadows and disappeared from the kitchen.
“Show off.” Hecate chuckled, hoping that Nyx pulling some of her old tricks was a good sign.
???
Nyx landed in Elysium,keeping an eye on the horizon. It was still quiet in the tall grasses; the great heroes of man had yet to populate it. Asphodel was noisy with the souls of the departed, and she couldn’t imagine speaking to Erebus in her sanctuary of Tartarus now. The truly evil souls ceased to exist at all upon their death, a fact that man would never be able to comprehend. It was one of the reasons they so easily believed Zeus’s new lies about Tartarus.
It was here, in Elysium, that Nyx waited for Erebus. She assumed her mortal form and let her hands run across the fields of narcissus, the blooms brushing up against her legs.
She was lost in her thoughts when the sky dimmed, flickering like a dying fire, as blackness wrapped around itself, and Erebus touched down. His face was unreadable. He stood a good ten feet off from Nyx as if the distance was going to have any effect on buffering their conversation. Both were dressed in their traditional black, Nyx’s chiton longer than Erebus’s and tangled amongst the flowers. Her face was stoic as she looked upon him, trying to forget the feeling of his curls running through her fingers. The wind picked up around them as if it sensed the confrontation.
“You look well.” His voice was always warm when he looked upon Nyx. It was like a reflex, and he couldn’t help it. Nyx let out a sad, small laugh.
“I lookwell.Is that what we have deteriorated to?” She ran a hand up her arm as if to self-soothe. Erebus caught it. He knew her tells, even if she didn’t admit them to herself. At this moment, she was every inch the titan of the night, not the woman who once gave him permission to cradle her. He reacted appropriately.
“I will always respect you, Nýchta.”
Nyx laughed harder, but it was a cruel sound.
“Tell me, why does that feel like a downgrade?”
