And Nyx was gone.
Scott spent the night researching the Goddess Nyx.
One website said that Homer called her a “subduer of gods and men…Zeus himself stood in awe of her.” And that the Keres were just some of her many children.
(The Night Before)
Amanda was trembling with her knees drawn to her chin. Every shadow was a threat. A lurking man of Greek appearance was in one corner. The ghost of her would-be love was in another.
She pushed herself off the bed and went to her kitchen to fix some tea. Though every space seemed a potential harbor of spirits, she willed herself to make a brew.
Morpheus’s haunting continued. He could use the voice of her love.
“You’re so beautiful. God, you’re beautiful. I can’t believe you are going to be mine…”
The whispered words hurt. Morpheus was cruel. Before her love could even say hello, before their lips could even meet, then why show him to her?
“Leave me… Leave me… Leave me,” Amanda said through her teeth.
The whispering stopped.
A fragrance hit her nose. Floral but not too sweet. Enticing fruit. It made her think of the word ambrosia.
A slight tingling happened under her skin. Even through this, Amber continued to remove the tea bag and pour in the milk. As though someone shouted for her, she went back into her bedroom. She placed the hot drink on the sideboard and lay down.
There were fingers threading through her hair, nails running down her scalp. It wasn’t like the heavy sedation that had attacked her before once the night lady left.
“Daughter, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to see you. But now it appears you have attracted a primordial one.”
Mother?
Amanda had always dreamed of her mother being gorgeous, but this was beyond anything she could have imagined. The warm colors lit up her shadowy room. The lady was all soft textures and comfort. Tawny, golden, and ruby-hued.
“I love what you do, by the way. Weddings.” Aphrodite’s hazel eyes glowed with pride, then her supposed mother’s voice changed when she looked to the corners of Amanda’s room.
“You. Show yourself, Oneiroi leader.”
The one called Morpheus emerged.
“Stunning Aphrodite. Whatever can I do for you?” Morpheus spoke in playful tones.
“I would know why you play a cruel trick on my daughter. Is it not enough that she suffers? That jealous Hephaestos marked and called the Keres to murder her father as well the male she was destined to love?”
Morpheus gave Aphrodite a closed mouth smile.
The Oneiroi leader remained silent.
So she spoke again.
“How goes never being able to feel touch, Morpheus? How goes your loneliness? Do you know I could make beautiful women worship you, love you with an intensity that would rival that of the greatest known physical encounters? The greatest pleasures begin in the mind. Do they not? I’ve always valued you, Morpheus. But I must demand to know what you are doing here, what part you are playing.”
Morpheus spoke, “Beautiful Aphrodite, you flatter me. Hephaestos, though he can come up with the greatest instruments of destruction, summoned the Keres to murder one of your lovers, the father of this child. And in a continuation of his wrathful jealousy, rivaling even Hera, he cursed the potential loves of your daughter. To choke the happiness out of those in your line. So much like great Ares was her father, the Fire God’s envy extended into a summoning not of weaponry or tricks, but of the violent death spirits themselves.”
Amanda lay listening, all the while the goddess Aphrodite’s hand lay protectively on her back.
“Aren’t you and Ares…” Amanda began, questioning Aphrodite’s, her mother’s, history.
And the Love Goddess’s voice came out, “Ares is who I would have chosen once upon a time. That all happened long before you were born. Hephaestos sought to best Ares with cleverness. Existence is cruel to us as well.”
Then Amanda said, “And the one who you picked for me to love is dead.” She knew it. Morpheus had played the part of the ghost of her would-be love.
Aphrodite stood and began to pace. She flung her hands in the air, wringing her delicate fingers together. Her legs revealed themselves between the floating slits of her long red gown. Her flesh was shining and glorious.
Despair rang out in her voice.
“I tried not to mark him in any noticeably way. And any god or goddess would be able to see it. But I liked him. I couldn’t have just any person for you. You will bear my descendants! I would have this world overrun with true love. Never mind Ares and all his bloody battles! I tried not to reveal any intention to gift the man to you, but he had the call of Ares to War. And Hephaestos had to do little but call the Keres upon recognizing him. There is much machinery and metal work now in war. I…” The goddess’s eyes shone with tears as she addressed Amanda. “I loved your father, as much as a Goddess can, but I could not protect him.”
Aphrodite released a weary sigh and sat down. “I would spare my children such pain, if I could. But I haven’t the power to prevent Hades from collecting his souls, once a life’s thread has been cut. Only a truly ancient primordial could have such sway. To erase the grave and rebuild living futures. Tell me, Morpheus, is Nyx capable of this?”
The God of Dreams’ whisper carried through Amanda’s flat. “Dawn approaches. You underestimate powerful Nyx. Hades, Ares, Hephaestos, and Zeus combined could not deter the dark daughter of Khaos. He lives life anew, your dearest love. His name I will give you in a dream. Forgive my trickery, dear Amanda.”
Then, Morpheus’ voice raised slightly, to a polite, more business-like tone, when he addressed Aphrodite.
“Love and desire are common place in the minds of mortals, dearest Aphrodite. I have made use of such things as I lay out the dreams of sleeping mortals. I mean no harm…not really.”
Again his mouth curved upwards. He bowed and disappeared.
Amanda turned to her mother. “I can’t tell if he is good or bad.”
Aphrodite smiled and reached out to touch the side of Amanda’s face. “He flows in and out of many a mortal’s subconscious. He knows the deepest origins of your thoughts and desires. He has to perform for the purposes of good as well as evil. Simply because both exist within all of us.”
Amanda’s mother adjusted herself. The bangles on Aphrodite’s wrists and ankles made a tinkling sound, like tiny sweet bells. “I don’t think you need to worry now. I will speak to dark Nyx. For now, you are free to sleep. Sleep, my daughter.”
Amanda closed her eyes. The tinkling noise was just beginning to fade as her mother’s soft lips rested themselves on her forehead.
Perhaps all this has been a dream, Amanda thought, beginning to drift off. The bells infused into her blood, bringing tingles just behind her scalp.
Before her eyes was a man with cropped light brown hair that was still wet. His body rested on ebony cotton sheets. She could hear the fabric rustling as he adjusted himself. She could hear his heartbeat.
It’s him. It’s really him.
Amanda smiled in her sleep, turned over, and whispered a name.
“Scott...”
(Sunset, Two Evenings Later)