She groaned at the idea of pushing Helios out of the sky without Erebus behind her. It could be done, that wasn’t the question, but it would pull her focus. Her attention would be ripped from the stardust and the moon’s tears, entirely pinpointed on dragging that blanket of obsidian across the sky. There would be no artistry, no intuition, and even the constellations wouldn’t shine as bright. There was no being alive as powerful as Nyx, picking up Erebus’s mantle wouldn’t diminish her, but it tore her from her essence. It would turn her into both the judge and executioner, neither job being done entirely to completion.
There was a soft ripple of power in the darkness that pulled Nyx from her thoughts. Her breath caught as she peered out into the void, waiting to sense or to see who had managed to find her in the deepest parts of the world. Even Hades, God of the Underworld as he claimed, couldn’t sense her here. Yet, there it was, a soft song of power that echoed throughout the sky that stuck to it like tar.
Erebus.
Nyx should have known that only he would ever be able to find her here. When she hid in the darkness, there was no place that Erebus wouldn’t be able to follow. Her heart leaped in her chest as she recognized him, only to curse herself a moment later for her weakness.
“Nýchta?” Erebus’s voice was melodic. It was always amplified and its most resonant when it was in the depths, calling out to her. Nyx felt her soul twist at his call and kept her mouth shut, entirely unsure what to say, even though she knew he could sense her, too.
“Nýchta.” There it was again, softer this time, but closer and no longer a question. Nyx watched as Erebus descended into his body, a peace offering of sorts. He stood there in the darkness, peering out into it as if he could see her, and she knew that he could. Even as she was barely more than ether, Nyx knew that he was the only person who would always see her.Couldalways see her. Regardless of the form that she took or how deeply she retreated, only Erebus would be able to bring himself to her. She waited for a moment and watched him standing in the deepest pit of Tartarus, unperturbed and patient. A deep well of fresh heartbreak spread in her chest as she forcibly reminded herself that this was the man that had betrayed her.
She replayed the scene of Erebus and Zeus over and over in her head, refusing to take her attention off it, until the pain was swallowed up by anger. Only then did Nyx follow suit and dropped down into her body.
“Erebus.” She answered him coldly, taking one step towards her lover, stardust dripping down her dark hair like water. She stopped a few feet short of him, her face settled into a stony look. Nyx studied him closely, taking in his expression. He was in the same black clothing that he always wore; his hair was curling around his temples as if he had been running his hands through it too often.
Erebus sensed this and held his hands out by his sides; something about his reaction only infuriated Nyx further. She sucked in a breath, preparing to cast him out of the Underworld, when he spoke first.
“I need to tell you. I need you to understand…” Erebus’s voice cracked, and his eyes filled with tears as he stared at Nyx, watching each movement of her face as if he was predicting her next steps. The sadness that poured from him startled Nyx, her brow furrowing as she watched him. She had expected a petulant Erebus, maybe even an angry or stubborn Erebus, but notthis.He looked like he was ripping himself in two from the inside—in that moment, Nyx realized that chest-cleaving sorrow was the only thing that they now shared.
“Tell me what, Erebus? What do you think that you could possiblyhave kept from me?”Nyx felt herself melting into hatred, and she did nothing to stop it. Erebus’s eyes got wide as he realized that she knew.
“N-no, look…you must believe me. I wanted to tell you myself. I’ve come to tell you myself.”
“Say the words,” Nyx growled, taking a step towards him as the heat in her veins began to spark, flickers of black magic running up and down her arms like goosebumps. Her hair started to levitate, shooting stars like fissures hanging off the ends and electrifying the air around her. She stared at him with an unholy halo of black and purple magic illuminating her head.
Erebus’s shadows reacted on instinct, not recognizing the threat as his consort, and began shooting out of him at all angles. Tendrils and tentacles of black, thick smoke poured from his body, rushing around the couple, forcing them in the center of a tornado of shadows. The wind created by the current pushed the two of them even closer together, brows furrowed and ancient, primordial power clashing in the eye of a storm. It was lucky that Nyx had retreated to the deepest circle of Tartarus. If this confrontation had taken place anywhere else in the realms above or below, it would’ve caused utter destruction.
“Say the words,” Nyx screamed, her finger flying up to Erebus’s face as she accused him. “If you were bold enough to do it, you should be bold enough tosay it!”
Erebus growled, his eyes growing even darker as his body went tense. His lip curled in a snarl as he took another step closer to Nyx, leaving no space between them. If either one of them moved, they would be touching.
“I’ve joined Zeus.” His tone was factual as if he was reporting on the weather and not betraying Nyx with every step he took towards her.
“Get out of my sight.” Nyx dismissed him with a wave of her arm as she felt herself preparing to strike. The words rang around in her head, and the only thing that she could see was Zeus tossing Erebus his ring.
“Do you not want to listen to what I have to say? Or do you want to have a tantrum and ask questions later?”
“Listen,” Nyx shrieked, comets falling from the hem of her chiton. “Listen to you like you said you would listen to me?”
“Circumstances have changed!”
“Oh,enlightenme, Darkness!”Nyx started laughing manically, her eyes beginning to go black.
“Everything that I have done, I have done for you!”Erebus’s voice dropped lower as he grabbed Nyx’s wrist, pulling her finger out of his face. “Have you considered trusting someone for once in your long life?”
“Trust! You want to talk to me about trust?” Nyx attempted to pull her wrist free but only managed to pull herself closer to Erebus. They were both breathing hard, swirls of dark magic and shadows circling around them.
“I do since you can’t seem to trust a single decision that I make.”
“It’s not your decisions I don’t trust. It’s your logic behind them!”
“Have you really started to believe I don’t want the best for you? What would be so terrible about knowing that I’d go to war for you? Die for you?”
Nyx recoiled as if she had been struck, her chest heaving as she grit her teeth. Erebus refused to let her budge as one of his arms dropped around her waist, anchoring her to him. He leaned down and closed the distance between them until his lips almost grazed hers. There was pain in his eyes, so apparent that it almost overrode Nyx’s anger. She battled the crippling desire to comfort him like she had always done.
“I’ll repeat myself. What would be so terrible about knowing that I’m going to war for you?”
“You could DIE, Erebus!” Nyx screamed, finally letting her tears fall as power crested uncontrollably around them. She laid it out on the table, pushing aside her concerns about Zeus and the human world, terrified that the prophecy might extend to him, too. Erebus pulled back only briefly in shock, staring at the brokenness on Nyx’s face as she struggled to contain herself. She opened her mouth again to speak, but Erebus closed the gap between them, crushing his lips to hers, silencing them both.
