A New Realm:
"Mom? Why can't I go outside?" Nyx turned to watch her mother sort through some plants.
"Hush Nyx." She said calmly and the small viscet sighed. To call Khaos a mother wasn't exactly correct but she had grown up with the viscet being around as long as she could remember. She watched Khaos and determined that she was too focused on her task to notice her slipping out the cave entrance. She padded out onto the grass and looked up at the night sky. The stars and moon were so bright that she had to squint a bit until her eyes became adjusted. She didn't know why Khaos kept her locked up in that cave other than what was always repeated to her,
The mortal world is a dangerous place. Nyx sighed and looked around. How dangerous could this place be?
"Nyx? Nyx where are you?" Khaos called from the cave and Nyx sighed, her chance to look at the moon was over. She slipped back into the cave and gave a sheepish smile to the viscet who just frowned. "Heavens child. You spend more time trying to sneak out to look at the stars than listening!"
"I'm sorry mother," Nyx said, kicking at some dirt with her foot before following Khaos further into the cave, "Mother? Where are we going?"
"I think it is about time you met Hades. He will take over your care." Khaos spoke, muttering something that sounded like "cause I am getting too old for this" afterwards before vanishing into the shadows.
"Mother? I can't see. Where did you go?" Nyx cried out, suddenly scared and feeling alone.
"Oh stop it. Just walk forward." Khaos's voice was cold which Nyx knew meant she was not all too happy about Nyx's little excursion outside, again.
Nyx stumbled forward, feeling for the cave wall and then following it in the direction that Khaos had gone. It felt like they had walked forever in the dark caves and Nyx’s eyes began to adjust to the pitch black surrounding them.
“Mother? Who is Hades?” Nyx asked, once she could see the figure of Khaos up ahead.
“Hades is the lord of the underworld. He is the ruler of all the demons and Angels of this realm and is the god of death.” Khaos spoke quickly and Nyx knew better than to ask more questions when she was in this type of mood.
They walked in silence and Nyx could hear the growing sound of water running. She quickened her pace to catch up to Khaos and could see a faint glow up ahead. A river glowing blue blocked their path ahead and only a lone boat stood on its banks. Focused on the boat, Nyx almost didn’t see the three headed dog standing just beside the river until it growled low in its chest. Nyx jumped but Khaos just waved for the dog to back off and it stopped.
“Wh… Mother? What is that?” Nyx asked, her eyes glowing with interest.
“That is Cerebus. He guards the underworld. And that is Charon, he is the ferryman to the dead. He ferries them across the river Styx.” Khaos walked up to the boat and boarded it without a work to the ferryman who bowed to her. When Nyx walked by Charon looked up at her and winked.
“To Hades Miss Khaos?” Charon asked as he climbed aboard and pushed off from the bank. Khaos simply nodded, not saying a word to the man as he guided the boat through the river. Nyx stole a look into the water and immediately backed away as the glowing had shifted to a purplish color and all she could see were souls screaming.
“Trapped here by their hate.” Charon said, noticing Nyx’s abrupt retreat.
She focused her gaze on the rest of the underworld which was just coming into view. In the center of the land was a massive castle that seemed to be made of obsidian and marble. The river flowed right into the castle and seemed to merge with another river there. Before the castle was a massive field filled with souls, wandering among groves of trees that looked to be made out of metal. Despite nothing being alive, Nyx found it quite beautiful. As they got closer to the castle, Nyx noticed details such as the gargoyles were all representations of different demons here in the underworld. She could see a depiction of Cerebus and a few others she recognized from the stories Khaos rarely told. It went dark as the river took them into the castle, with only the now faint glow as light.
Charon tossed out a rope which caught something up ahead and used it to pull the boat towards the edge. He offered his hand to Khaos who ignored it and then to Nyx who gratefully used it as the ledge was fairly high. Once they were on the castle floor, he bowed again and retreated back into his boat to return to his post. When Khaos wasn’t looking however, he smiled and waved goodbye to Nyx who waved in return.
Khaos didn’t hesitate to begin climbing the stairs to the main floor and Nyx had to jog to catch up to her. As they walked the hallways, Nyx noticed statues lining portions of the hall like she had seen suits of armor in the mortal realm. All these statues were of different viscets in armor and had angel wings. She paused a moment to look at one that did not have a helmet on and noticed it had an earring in the shape of a wing in his ear. Before she could look anymore, she heard Khaos clear her throat and Nyx scurried to catch back up to her.
“Why I saved you, I will never know. But soon you will be his problem to deal with.” Khaos growled before moving forward again. Nyx lowered her head a bit as she had heard that statement all the time.
Why I ever saved you, I will never know. Nyx had never been told the story of how Khaos had found her but the reality was that Nyx was found close to death and Khaos had rescued the child to raise as her own.
“Ah, Khaos. I was beginning to think you had gotten lost.” A voice called from ahead and Nyx jumped.
A dark viscet walked towards them wearing black armor. He touched the armor and it melted away into shadows. Nyx realized she had her mouth open in shock so she quickly shut it and stood beside Khaos who had now crossed her arms.
“Oh yes. Like I get lost often.” Khaos’s cold voice was very different than the joking tone that the dark viscet had used.
“Lighten up Khaos. Not everything in the underworld has to be so icy.” The dark viscet sighed and then his eyes rested on Nyx, “oh, who is this?”
Nyx lowered her head and Khaos spoke, “your newest recruit. Congrats”
“Recruit? She is awfully young.” He spoke, looking back at Khaos confused. So this was Hades? Nyx had expected someone much scarier from how Khaos had spoken but this viscet seemed awfully kind.
“She was a lot younger than she is now when I got her. So now she is your problem.” Khaos turned and began to walk away but Hades called out to her.
“That’s it? You aren’t even going to say goodbye to the kid?”
“Nah. I am good.” Khaos vanished down the corridor and left Nyx standing there with the god of death, alone.
Hades turned his gaze back to Nyx and knelt down in front of her, “Hello.”
Nyx just stood there quietly,
What are you even supposed to say to the god of death?“Do you have a name?” Hades asked and Nyx gathered up her courage.
“Nyx.” Was all she could squeak out but she was met by a smile from Hades.
“Oh, that is a very nice name. It means Goddess of Night. Did you know that?” Nyx shook her head, she had no idea what her name meant until now, “Do you know who I am?”
Nyx nodded and spoke quietly, “Yes, you are Hades. And I guess I am now your problem?”
Hades frowned, “Come on kid. You are no one’s problem. If anything, you are a gift. I can tell that your soul is a good one. But you must be tired. Let me show you to your room so you can rest.”
Nyx and Hades walked down some hallways until they reached a door. Hades waved his hand and ‘Nyx’ was burned into the wood of the door, claiming it as hers. Nyx turned and looked at some of the doors nearby to see names burned into them. Names like Hermes and Abaddon, stark black against the natural wood grain. Hades opened the door for Nyx and she walked into the room. It was a plain room, nothing special about it besides all the materials were marbles and obsidians and other valuable materials.
Nyx walked to the bed and found it to be much comfier than she had imagined. She sank onto it and heard Hades leaving, closing the door behind him. Nyx figured she could catch some sleep and drifted off without too much trouble. She only woke when she heard voices moving past her room.
“Come on Abaddon, you don’t have to be so cold to me all the time! We are both Angels under Hades after all”
“Oh shut it Hermes.”
Nyx stood and went to the door, cracking it open to see two viscets walking down the hall past her room. She started to follow them when one turned at the sound of her footsteps.
“Well, who do we have here?” He smiled at the small viscling while his companion merely looked at her blankly.
“I am Nyx.” Her voice wavered slightly but the friendly nature of the first viscet made it easier for her, “Are you two really angels?”
The first stood straight and nodded, “Yes we are. I am Hermes and this is Abaddon. You should steer clear of him as he is kinda the angel of destruction.”
Abaddon narrowed his eyes at Hermes but said nothing. Nyx looked at the pair, “and what are you the angel of?”
Hermes chuckled, “I’m not quite an angel but more a messenger for Hades. I spend most of my time in the mortal realm and send messages down to Hades using my little bat here.”
Nyx jumped at the movement from Hermes’s hood as a small little bat poked out. She smiled at him before her nestled back into the fabric to go back to sleep.
“You must be heading to dinner now, right?” Hermes asked Nyx and she nodded.
He bowed slightly and motioned for her to go ahead, “Well, why don’t you accompany us then Miss Nyx?”
Nyx giggled softly and walked between the two angels, mindful to give Abaddon his space so he would destruct her or anything. His mood reminded her of Khaos so she made a note to stay on his good side. The pair of viscets led her to a massive dining hall where there were clusters of viscets all sitting around and eating. Nyx spotted Hades, walking among the viscets and talking to each of them personally. He noticed the group enter and Abaddon immediately split off to go sit on his own. Hermes walked with Nyx towards Hermes and they took a seat together at one of the empty tables.
“So Nyx, how did you sleep?” Hades asked as he waved his hand over the table, summoning plates of food for her.
“Oh. Thank you. I slept well. The bed was very comfortable.” Nyx said as she started to eat slowly.
“And you like your room?” Hades asked and Nyx shrugged.
“I like having a room, but I just don’t feel like it is mine.” Nyx said, eating a bit slower as she thought of the mortal world, “I kind of miss seeing the sky.”
Hades frowned, “I do sometimes as well. You can always visit you know. I am sure Hermes wouldn’t mind you accompanying him occasionally.”
Nyx smiled at the idea and saw Hermes nodding, “I would love to take you up!”
Hades smiled back at the little viscet, “Is there anything I can do to help the room feel more like yours?”
Nyx shrugged, “I don’t know what you can do…”
Hades was about to respond when a few viscets drew his attention away. Hermes and Nyx finished their dinner and chatted amongst some of the other angels before Nyx dismissed herself. She turned down the hallway that she had remembered contained her room and spent a little while looking for the door with her name on it. Once she reached it, she pushed open the door and was met with a strange glow.
She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted and then realized what it was. Her ceiling reflected the night sky, stars, galaxies and even the moon. She couldn’t help but gasp at the perfect recreation and even saw the stars moving ever so slightly. She looked around more and saw a few silver trees placed around her room, helping to make the room feel more welcoming and even a small waterfall in the corner that led to a trickle of a stream behind her bed. After she had spent a long time staring at all the little details, she noticed a note on the bed.
Picking it up it read, “Dear Miss Nyx,
I hope these changes help make this room feel more like home for you. The sky you see is a reflection of the actual night sky and will change with the seasons. If it is too bright, the dial by the bed will dim the glow for you. I added in the trees and waterfall as I know there is one near the cave you were living in with Khaos and thought they may connect you back home. Please let me know if you would like me to remove anything and I hope you enjoy.
Sincerely,
Hades”
Nyx smiled at the thoughtfulness and looked up at the moon once more. Sitting here on the bed, hidden away in the castle of the lord of death, tucked in the deepest cave and surrounded by demons and nothing she knew, Nyx finally felt at home.
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