Going to see Nyx had never been difficult before, but this time, my head hung in shame. I felt guilty and I knew I really shouldn’t. It wasn’t my fault Melinoe was playing some trick on me. Could I help it if she somehow controlled me to sleep for three months? I mean, it was a good trick and all, but it’s really messed with things. After I straighten things out with Nyx, I will find Melinoe and get down to the bottom of this nonsense.
I looked for Nyx in the obvious places: her apartments in Tartarus, the OA Building, Nox and Whole Latte Love. But after thinking about it, those places are for the mortals. By Zeus, it had been forever since she was mad with me. Where could she have gone? This was going to require some thought. I drove around in circles for hours, beating my head against the steering wheel and then it came to me. Of course!! It had been awhile since I joined her there, but it was a special place to her. The Elysium Fields.
Elysium was quiet and serene at the earth’s edge, with mossy beds of the greenest grass and crystal streams . I found Nyx resting in a field, lying on her back and staring up at the sky. I’m sure she was contemplating all the ways she could hurt me. Her silver/white hair was not in its usual ponytail, but spread all around her. I stayed back, but could see that her dark blue eyes were cold. She didn’t even look at me, she didn’t need to. She knew I was there.
“You came back.”
“Nyx―dear―” I tried speaking.
“Don’t dear me.”
“You must let me explain.” I tried speaking rationally with her. I would not beg. I must not beg.
“You have a lot of nerve to tell me I have to do something.” Her voice was filled with disdain.
“I didn’t just leave, if that’s what you’re thinking. I wouldn’t do that to you. You know that when I leave on my surfing trips, I always tell you. This was something different.”
Nyx continued to look into the sky at Hemera. I was thankful she was the only one here to witness this. I had a reputation I had to think of.
“It was Melinoe; she put me in some sort of nightmare. I was asleep for three months, Nyx. I didn’t even know you were trying to get a hold of me. I wasn’t awake. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Nyx snorted, pushing herself forward onto her elbows and turned to look at me pointedly.
“I’m not interested in whatever lame excuses you have to offer. Sign the papers and that will be all.” She lay back down into the green field beneath her.
“What if I can prove it?” I folded my arms and leaned back on my heel.
Nyx stood, her large black and gold tipped wings spread out. She was pissed.
“Erebus, I tried to get a hold of you every day for three months. You made me look foolish, you hurt me. I will not put up with that kind of treatment ever. Furthermore, this goes beyond the last three months. I don’t feel the same as I used to for you. I need something new, and it cannot be you.”
“Not me?” I was shocked. After centuries of bickering back and forth, going wing to wing, and even nose to nose, we still always had one another’s back. Nyx wanted to end it? When I thought about all the Gods and Goddesses that came after us; all the lusting and cheating, I was always proud that I had never fallen into that category. We had something so strong, it would last the test of time. Or so I thought.
“It’s a new millennium, and now that we are back among the mortals, I have never felt more empowered by these human women. They have shown me there is more to myself, more for me to explore and love, and you – you’re basically dead weight.”
My mouth dropped along with my own wings. Dead weight, ME? The darkness inside tickled at my sides, begging to be unleashed. I could feel my immortal shell vibrating.
“I am not dead weight.”
“Oh Erebus, quit your pouting, it will be good for us. You can’t tell me you’ve been happy all these years.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was afraid to speak. My family had always been everything to me― the good and the bad. What would I do without Nyx by my side? My dark shadows slowly crept out, pouring down my limbs and filling out my wings. I could feel the twitch in my eye. My head was pounding; I needed to release soon, before I would explode. I couldn’t do that to Nyx. Divorce or not, she would always be family.
“Sign the papers, Erebus.”
Nyx took off into the sky, her wings spread out, reaching as far as the eye could see. I watched her as she flew away. My chest aching. My release only came after she was well out of sight. The day sky grew unnaturally dark, my shadows spreading across the peaceful, mossy fields turning everything in Nyx’s sanctuary black. I thrummed with rage. The dark clouds spilled over every last petal; the crystal streams lost their sparkle and looked like pools of black blood. Among the dark billowing shadows, I stood there admiring my work: the promise of a dark world hanging in front of me. I felt the corners of my mouth turn into a slow smile. I would spread my wrath and darkness, but this was not the place to do that. Reining back my anger, the sky returned to its natural colour. It was time to deal with the mess Melinoe had created. Goddess of nightmare and insanity be damned, you don’t mess with Erebus.
Erebus is portrayed fiction writer MK Stoddart. A resident in central Canada, Melissa writes when she can find the time between spending time at the lake and working as a secretary. She is a wife and mother of one.In 2010 Melissa lost a friend when a drunk driver claimed her life. This tragedy inspired Melissa to write her first novel, Living Secrets which will be published in the spring of 2020 by Sandspress Publishing.
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