136. A Nymph Amongst Gods
A Nymph Amongst Gods
Frozen, none of us spoke.
Hyperion, our jovial uncle,
finally cleared his throat.
‘Well?’ he asked, looking at Notus,
who just shrugged impudently,
then disappeared into a storm cloud.
Wise child, I thought wryly.
Why bother to stay in such
precarious situations if you could escape?
I looked to Hyperion, not daring
to gaze upon Nyx. ‘We are looking
for a Titan, one like us.
Atlas told us she came to see you.’
Nyx’s booming voice resounded.
‘YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR YOUR SISTER.’
I turned slowly to face her.
Of course she would know.
She was the first of Chaos’s children,
the oldest of all. She knew
that Metis was Oceanus’s daughter.
Her eyes glittered as she looked at me.
‘SHE WAS HERE.’
From the corner of my eye,
I saw Hyperion shift uncomfortably.
Then he said to Nyx quietly,
‘I told you that no good would come
of giving that child the apple.’
Hyperion was the only God capable
of looking Nyx in the eye.
Not because he was as powerful as her,
but because they had to work together.
For this, he needed a daily courage.
Nyx’s eyes narrowed slightly at him.
‘I DO NOT RECALL ASKING
YOUR PERMISSION TO GIVE
HER ANYTHING.’ He grew quiet.
I spoke up quickly, before I lost
my own courage to speak.
‘Please tell us where she went.’
Nyx looked at me,
then at Asteria. ‘COME FORWARD.’
All five of us moved to approach her,
but she shook her head and pointed
at me and Asteria.
‘JUST YOU TWO.’ The others stepped back.
For what felt like a long time,
she simply gazed at Asteria and me,
as we stood in awe before her.
Then she said thoughtfully,
‘IN EVERY GENERATION
THERE ARE SOME LIKE US.’
Asteria and I exchanged a quick glance.
We knew she meant our strange powers.
Our consorts, however, did not.
Finally, as though her appraisal
of us had borne some truth to her,
she said, ‘YOUR SISTER…’
she paused, her eyes contemplating.
‘YOUR SISTER ASKED FOR
A GOLDEN APPLE. SHE NEEDED
ITS SEEDS. METIS TOLD ME
SHE WAS GOING TO AIGAION.’
I was startled by this. No God lived there.
‘To Aigaion? Why would she go—’
Nyx raised her hand. ‘YOU HAVE
YOUR ANSWER. IT IS TIME TO LEAVE.’
Even I, with all my impatience and ire,
did not have it in me to question
the Goddess of the Night.