Erebus struggled not to roll his eyes. He wanted to try and find some common ground. When Nyx’s walls were up, it was a tough act to try and penetrate.
“What did you think of what they had to say?”
“Did you speak to them?” Nyx’s voice was quick. She had left Elysium willingly and had turned a blind eye to the gods after her departure. Now, she was morbidly curious if Erebus had joined them.
“Yes.” Erebus nodded solemnly, knowing that it would likely anger Nyx, but he insisted on not hiding anything from her. An awkward silence settled over them.
“Did they try once again to convince you to join their cause?” He could hear the tension in her voice, as though she was struggling not to crack herself.
“They did. I told them of your answer.”
Silence.
Erebus could almosthearNyx’s surprise.
“Of my answer?”
“I told you once that I would never speak against you to another god, man, or immortal. That is still true. No matter what is happening between us, Nyx.”
“You mean it?” Nyx’s voice took on another tone, one that was almost hopeful. The darkness began to whirl around Erebus, and he dared to pray that she would appear in front of him. He wouldn’t be able to breathe if he knew that she didn’t have the space to be vulnerable with him, the space that she had grown into needing more and more over the years.
“I meant it then and I mean it now, Nýchta.” Erebus couldn’t resist the use of her nickname.
“What did you tell them?”
The atmosphere spun a little more, and he could almost see her feet.
“I told them the truth. That I saw some merits to Zeus’s approach, but I respected you. Your answer was enough for us all…” His voice was honest—raw—and for once, he didn’t stop the burgeoning tears. He needed this. She needed to see him like this.
The whirlwind touched the earth, and Erebus saw the edges of Nyx’s body beginning to come together. He continued.
“I reminded Hades of his place. Well… I nearly choked him out.” Erebus stopped and couldn’t help but laugh at the memory. “I left Hades and Poseidon in Elysium. I gave them no further answer other than what you had said. When you speak, you speak for me, Nyx.” There was a soft sound from the clouds, like a breath catching. Nyx had almost materialized entirely in front of him.
“Will they try and convince you again?” Nyx’s question hung in the air between them. Erebus knew why she was asking. If he was honest with her, then he knew that he should say yes. If he said no, she would surely know the truth anyway. This was a complicated matter, and everyone was going to be pitching for their sides until the conflict was over. He breathed deeply, knowing that there was a lot at stake based on how he answered her question.
“Yes. They will. The brothers will undoubtedly only focus on the fact that I said I sawsome meritsto the idea of overthrowing Kronos.”
Nyx materialized. Her eyes were bright, and she found herself eagerly pouring over Erebus’s face, searching for any sign that he was lying to her. When she found none, it was like a dam had broken.
Night and Darkness went colliding into one another, seeking a refuge in one another’s arms that they had not found in over a year. Their collision sent rolling waves of thunder over the entire Underworld, causing Hecate to look up at the sky with a smile from her courtyard. Hades chuckled from his throne room, momentarily distracted from flirting once more with the Fates. Thanatos and Hypnos grimaced, knowing the sound of their parents. The fields of Elysium and meadows of Asphodel were drenched in blackness, a rich, endless obsidian wave that blanketed everything under the earth. There was a peace in the void that had been absent from the Underworld since Night and Darkness had begun to separate, now crashing into one another once more with abandon.
As soon as they came together with a driving force, both Erebus and Nyx immediately vanished once more into their boundless bodies. In those forms, they could be completely enmeshed in one another, and they ceased to ask where one of them ended and the other began. The night was all consuming and the shadows of the darkness cradled it, stretched its power out even farther. Nyx and Erebus were one body and they wept from the pleasure of their homecoming.
It was not perfect, but it was home.
Erebus had denied a direct request from the gods; he had been honest with Nyx about his thoughts and intentions. Most importantly, he had refused to speak against her wishes. This mattered to Nyx most of all, that any discussion they had between the two of them could get as calamitous as it needed to, but to the world, there should never be any known separation between the two.
Nyx took the two of them hurtling deeper and deeper into Tartarus where their tears of joy and cries of pleasure could only be heard and amplified by their shadows. She wept… and wept… and wept… that her safe place had come back to her.
They both went crashing to the ground, and the air spun with how quickly they transcended into their physical bodies. Erebus was on Nyx in a second, his hands tangling in her hair as he pulled her to him.
“It’s been too long.” His voice was guttural and sent goosebumps erupting down Nyx’s skin. She molded herself to him, pressing as close as she could, as though she wanted to disappear once more into him.
“I know.” Nyx’s agreement was quiet, spoken against Erebus’s lips as he kissed her. There was nothing tentative about it; both poured their frustrations and tensions into the embrace. It was all teeth, tongues, and desperate breathing as Nyx’s hips began canting up against his. Erebus growled and their clothes vanished as he lowered them down to the earth. Nyx lied down against the soil of Tartarus, feeling it ground her as Erebus’s shadows began pouring from his body. They covered them both like a blanket, caressing, pulling,touching.His hands started trailing down her body as he kept kissing her. Her temple, her jaw, her neck…
Nyx fought to keep her eyes open as she tilted her head to look at Erebus. It was her favorite sight in all the cosmos. His dark curls were starting to stick to his forehead with strength, the tanned, taut lines and muscle of his body corded and tense. She knew by the way the muscles in his thighs and ribs twitched that he was already close, but so was she. Erebus seemed content in that moment to soak Nyx in, to keep roaming his hands over her body as he kissed down her centerline, like he needed to convince himself she was real. His hips ground down into hers and she felt him, hard and ready against her, and decided that Erebus was taking too long.
Nyx threw one leg around Erebus’s waist, and in one svelte movement, rolled them both over.
