Erebus pulled Nyx down to the ground, and they poured their adoration out on one another until the shadows came between them, begging for a rest.
11
Erebus and Nyx were pulled from their slumber when a ripple of power went through the Underworld. It could hardly be sensed deep in Tartarus, but nothing escaped Nyx when it happened on her domain. The couple shifted with a groan, annoyed at the intrusion.
“It seems that Zeus is going to ask us personally,” Erebus said with a raised brow, sensing the god’s call.
“I doubt that it will be an ask.” Nyx rolled her eyes, standing up from where she had been nestled into Erebus’s side. “Shall we?” she asked Erebus as she began to slip away into her primordial form once more. His answering laugh was rich and mischievous.
“You know how much I love watching you work.” He grinned, and the shadows overtook him, collapsing his form into shadows.
“Then this will be fun.” Nyx’s response echoed through the dark skies as the thunder hid their laughter. They made their way undetected through the Underworld, over the mortal realm, and stepped down into their bodies at the base of Mt. Olympus once more.
There was a somber attitude over the mountain; the torches that were normally lit up the path to Zeus’s palace were extinguished. Typically, whenever Nyx had to visit, you could hear women laughing and Dionysus raiding the wineries to descend to Greece from miles away. This time, there was silence. Nyx turned to look at Erebus, who shrugged to acknowledge the silence and agreed that it was strange. He stepped a little closer to Nyx, and his shadows wrapped around him, materializing into a sword at his belt. She chuckled, feeling his protective instincts behind her.
“I’m sure that isn’t necessary.” Nyx’s smile was teasing as they crept higher up the mountain, not so secretly enamored with once again having Erebus at her back.
“The Night’s Sword, remember?” Erebus leaned over her shoulder from behind her, whispering it in her ear in such a way that made her blush.
“You say that as if I could forget who gave you that title.”
“You are not a forgetful woman.”
Nyx turned, a devilish glint in her eye, and pressed him up against the mountainside. A dagger of black magic and starlight appeared in her hand as she pressed it up against his throat with a wink.
“I’m not a woman at all, Erebus.” Her voice was like velvet and smoke. “I’m night.” Erebus smiled in response, shuffling slightly against the wall.
“You’re going to have to warn me before you pull a blade on me,” his expression was mischievous, “Or I’m going to need to cool down before walking into a court of other gods.” Nyx let the dagger vanish as her head fell back in laughter.
“Let them be intimidated.” She moved up the steps once more. By the time the couple had made it to the top, it was desolate. There was no one moving about, and the general chaos of Mt. Olympus was nowhere to be found. Nyx moved confidently forward, taking in the scene with a calculating eye as she disappeared through the front steps of Zeus’s hall. Erebus was a step behind her when he felt a cool hand on his shoulder. He whipped around, hand on his sword as his shadows flew out from him only to see Hades stepping out from behind a column.
“What are you doing, Hades?” Erebus’s voice was distrustful. “Other than lurking around on Zeus’s front steps and hiding behind columns, that much is apparent.”
The Lord of the Underworld shrugged, dusting a shadow off his robes. His expression was unreadable, which was rare. Hades was a god with very little to hide, even though he took his privacy very seriously and very seldom appeared stoic.
“I’m trying to let you know what you are about to walk into.” His brow furrowed as he crossed his arms across his broad chest, half exposed.
“You’re trying to letmeknow. Not Nyx.” Erebus’s tone was dark, but Hades only rolled his eyes.
“Yes. We know what Nyx will say. You, on the other hand, said that you saw some merits to overthrowing Kronos.”
“I did say that,” Erebus deadpanned, not inviting any more room for conversation. Hades shifted his weight between his legs. It was unnerving—even for Erebus—to see him so off his game.
“Zeus is going to try and give Nyx an ultimatum,” Hades hissed, leaning in closer as the shadows pushed against him. “Do you understand what that means?”
“Doyou?”Erebus’s shadows exploded, wrapping all around the front steps and securing Hades to one of the columns. He struggled to keep his voice down as he leaned in, a breath away from the God of the Underworld’s face. “Zeus has gone mad. Nyx will side with neither Kronos nor Zeus, and an ultimatum cannot sway her.”
“He doesn’t seem to understand that,” Hades hissed, the shadows tightening around his throat once more. “Zeus assumes that if she isn’t going to side with him, that she is going to side with Kronos.”
“She doesn’t want to be involved at all.” Erebus’s voice dropped to a growl and the power in it reverberated off the stone columns around them. The darkness crept closer and closer to the edges of the steps, threatening to spill over and consume Mt. Olympus.
“This is happening. Accept it. You both cannot hide your heads in the sand.”
“We aren’t hiding.” Erebus let the shadows tighten around Hades ever so slightly. “You lot are the ones who are insisting that we repeat ourselves over and over. We are not joining this fight.”
“I see we’re using the royalweagain, aren’t we?” Hades’ voice dropped to a lower tone, even though it still couldn’t match the God of Darkness. “No more trouble in paradise?”
Erebus’s power threatened to pull the columns down as he stepped forward, fisting Hades’s chiton in his hand. He ripped the god towards him, letting his shadows obscure Hades’s entire body in blackness.
