Blessed by Night

For a moment after the initial revelation, there was only silence in the room.

Nyx was afraid to say or do anything that might worsen how her daughter envisioned her as a mother.

Aubrey was still unsure what exactly she had walked in on.

And Hemera was too afraid to move out of fear that if she took a step Jasmine might behead her.

"What's... going on here?" Aubrey set her purse down on the counter and wandered further into the living room.

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Nyx ushed forward to try to block her. "A-Aubrey-honey, why don't you come into the next room with me, and-"

Aubrey frowned at her mother and gently placed her hands in hers. "Human, not a baby, mom. Remember that?"

"I-It's all the same to me, really..."

"Mom."

Nyx gritted her teeth awkwardly. She knew what her daughter was insisting on, but she didn't know if she should allow it.

In fact, she was positive that she shouldn't. The absolute worst-case scenario was all that she could think about.

Just this once, she had to put her foot down.

"I-I don't-"

'You make that mistake, and you will regret it for the rest of your very long life.'

Nyx glared at Jasmine hard enough to smite her out of existence.

'Butt out of this, dragon. This is a family matter and you're not-'

'Last I checked, I am also scheduled to say my vows to Aubrey as well. Won't that make me your daughter too?'

'Then the first lesson you should learn is that I like to be listened to.'

'Noted, but I'm the same.' Jasmine quipped back. 'So you should listen to me when I say that Aubrey loves you tremendously. But she also doesn't have any delusions about what you are. Let. Her. Go.'

Nyx knew Jasmine well. She had a rather strong friendship with her mother.

Perhaps that was why she felt her wall of obstinacy beginning to crumble.

Meanwhile, Hemera had suddenly gotten the courage to speak. Though her voice was a lot quieter than before.

"That's why The Creator decided to end the games… you leveraged your relationship with his hunting dog..!"

Just for a moment, Jasmine's eyes shone dangerously. "Let's not resort to name calling, alright? I'm afraid any slander directed towards my Emperor comes with a heavy toll."

Jasmine's not-so veiled threat accidentally tripled the tension in the room.

At least it did until Aubrey poked a manicured nail into her cheek.

"Dial it back a bit, hun. She's family too, remember?"

Everyone seemed surprised by Aubrey's response. Hemera even more so.

Aubrey walked around her mother and came to stand in front of Hemera. Only now did the golden haired goddess notice the small bump in her stomach.

"Do you have a moment to talk? I just realized that we've never been properly acquainted."

-

The black garden is a section of Nyx's home that she put in back when Malachi and the others were still living with her.

In an open greenhouse with a perfect view of Nyx's bright, starry sky overhead.

Rows of dark roses with verdant green stems were planted and maintained with a gentle hand.

Hemera honestly couldn't believe that she had found something like this inside of her mother's realm.

"Perhaps she's being impersonated…" Hemera murmured.

She hadn't spoken in upwards of five minutes, so Aubrey was more than a little surprised that her first words would be that.

"Our mom..?"

Hemera felt the urge to scoff again at that word. Mom.

The affection behind it spoke loudly of a sentiment that came from a different life lived than her own.

"…She would have never construed something like this in the days of old. Nurturing things that yield no gratification is something she considers beneath her."

Aubrey reflexively placed a hand on her stomach as she sat down on the edge of the nearest flowerbed.

"You guys must have a lot of history together. Not all of it pretty, huh?"

Hemera scoffed. "She's hated me from the moment that I was born. I was never showered with the same kind of love that she gave to Keres or the others. Or that she gives to you and your brother."

Aubrey didn't exactly know what to say to that. She didn't doubt that her mother had been a much cold and difficult person all those eons ago.

She did know that Nyx had put in a lot of work towards changing, but she couldn't just ask Hemera to cast aside her previous experiences with her mother in favor of this new version she presented herself to be.

It was disingenuous. And rather selfish of her too.

No, rather the best thing to do now… was listen.

"Can you tell me about what it was like back then?"

Aubrey patted the seat next to her in hopes that Hemera would sit down.

For a moment, the goddess seemed to take her time weighing her options.

Of course she didn't have to entertain any part of this conversation.

She could leave right now and none would pursue her. Nyx would probably be glad that she was gone.

So despite everything, why did she feel herself sitting down and spilling all of her most personal stories with a girl not even a fraction of her age.

-

Nyx and Jasmine were standing in the house while the girls talked for the first time.

Nyx was pacing back and forth nervously while chewing on her nails. She had already bitten them down to the nubs.

Jasmine was just kind of standing by, waiting and trying her best to keep Nyx from breaking her word and eavesdropping on the conversation.

"This is all a mistake… I'm going to stop this." Nyx decided.

"No you're not." Jasmine replied without looking up from her phone. "That's not what good mothers do."

"How would you know?"

Jasmine pulled out a book for new mothers that she was about halfway finished with.

"…Don't patronize me, red-head." Nyx rolled her eyes.

She kept her gaze affixed to the garden outside the window, where the daughter she loved more than anything was having a conversation with the source of her greatest shame.

"…Want to talk about it?" Jasmine asked.

"… It may cause you to question everything that you know about me."

"Good thing I don't know all that much." She lied.

Nyx almost laughed. Almost.

Her chest tightened as she continued to stare at Aubrey through the glass and let her mind drift towards her absent son.

"I suppose it all started when she was born. And I , an endless darkness devoid of light, produced two children that were ever brighter than myself."