Every slight abnormality in her beloved daughter fell under the Night Goddess's gaze.
Though she did not yet know the specifics, she also knew that since her daughter had not spoken plainly, there must be her own reasons.
So she said no more, merely taking her hand and introducing her to the three newborn younger sisters.
Yet in the course of the introductions, Nyx felt all the more astonished.
She found that her beloved eldest daughter reacted quite normally toward Hecate.
But when she looked upon Nemesis and Tyche, something in her expression was amiss.
Though nothing seemed different on her daughter's face, as the Mother who had lived with her for countless ages, Nyx could naturally see the faint complexity hidden in those eyes.
Hemera's feelings were, of course, complicated.
Those two "sisters" before her seemed… not really… quite sisters—
The conception of "cause-and-effect retribution" and "random fortune" was not only the power of the God-King and Night, but also included the essence of "Day," which coexists and co-arises with Night.
By that reckoning…
The Night Goddess temporarily pressed her doubts to the bottom of her heart. Taking advantage of the family reunion, after the introductions she once more held a happy family feast so that her beloved children might quickly draw close to one another.
When the children had grown familiar with each other, Nyx, while they still enjoyed the banquet, quietly drew Hemera aside.
A veil of invisible night quietly screened them from the other children's eyes.
The goddess Nyx looked upon her daughter, whose expression seemed to carry a deep guilt.
In a voice unspeakably gentle she said, "Hemera, my most cherished treasure, what is it that troubles you? Before your Mother, you may speak of anything at all."
"Whatever happens, your Mother will forever be your firmest support."
Here the Lady of Night paused slightly, then continued, "Even if some matters are beyond your Mother…"
She allowed herself a faint, confident smile. "There is still your great Father Zeus. Your Mother need only ask him. You must know—there is no problem in this world your Father cannot solve!"
It would have been better had the Night Goddess not said this. Once she did, Hemera felt a hundred thousandfold embarrassment at once.
She lowered her head deeply, her jade hands twisting a lock of the pure-white hair at her breast over and over. She could not manage a word.
Seeing this, Nyx's doubt only grew. She lightly clasped her daughter's cool little hand—cold from nerves—and said warmly, "Hemera, my dear child, do not be nervous. You can tell me anything. Before your Mother, what is there that cannot be said?"
At that, Nyx's expression suddenly changed.
A cold, sharp light flashed through her deep, beautiful eyes. "Could it be someone has bullied you?! Speak out without fear! Whoever it is, I will make them pay the heaviest price!"
Now, when the Lady of Night spoke, she was full of boundless confidence.
Night today was no longer that god-lineage the Ouranian gods could insult and ignore at will!
I have a god above me! If I wish, I can even press him beneath me!
Hemera's fair face, still lowered, was already suffused with a lovely blush.
Even her long, pure neck had turned rosy, like a flawless canvas splashed with the brightest pink.
She struggled to build up her courage, but in the end still could not speak it aloud.
At last she lifted her head suddenly. Her shy look, bright as dawn, surprised even Nyx.
The Daylight Goddess gripped the Lady of Night's jade hand tight, drew a deep breath, and stammered, "Mother, please—please feel my divinity!"
As she spoke, she completely lifted her defenses and actively led the Lady of Night's mind into the source of her divinity—and into that singular, most special memory.
Every change, every thought, was in that instant laid utterly bare within the Night Goddess's perception.
After carefully probing all that had happened in the depths of her daughter's divine source, even the proud and mighty Night Goddess was stunned on the spot and did not return to herself for a long while.
At last she fully understood the cause.
For the moment, she could only groan inwardly. It felt as though her very spirit were a tangled skein, and she had no idea what to do.
This matter…
She truly could not blame her daughter.
Night and Day themselves are mutually interdependent, mutually generating and restraining—one might even say two faces of a single whole.
What Night loves deeply, Day is drawn to as well; this is the inevitability of the laws.
When her essence as "Night" was completely stirred by the God-King's divinity, the "Day" connected to her source would likewise be powerfully affected—this too was inevitable.
But!
Even if their essences are two faces of a whole, Hemera is still a goddess with truly independent divinity and self-awareness!
Different is different!
Not the same god means never the same god!
What was to be done?
She could hardly force her daughter to abandon her inborn law-essence, tear out her divinity, and exchange it for some other law, could she?
Nyx groaned inwardly without end. What was she to do?
Whatever Zeus wished to do with her, she would accept it gladly.
However he asked, however she must yield and fit herself to him—she would find it sweet.
But… however much she was willing to give everything for him, this…
Hemera was, in the end, her…
What propriety was this!
What propriety was this!
If this matter truly spread abroad, she would have not a shred of face left in this universe!
All this talk of the primordial goddess's dignity—before her beloved God-King, none of that mattered.
But before the other gods, it still mattered very much!
For the first time the Night Goddess felt such helplessness and confusion; she truly did not know what to do.
Moreover, the issue was not merely mutual influence at the level of essence.
She could clearly sense, within her beloved eldest daughter's divinity, that deep-rooted admiration and devotion for the majestic God-King.
Hemera too was deeply drawn to the God-King, invincible in the universe.
Nyx slowly drew her hand from her daughter's—cool with nervousness.
She rubbed her brow, weary, this great primordial Mother even feeling a dull ache begin in her head.
At the same time she thought of a graver question.
Perhaps this was no longer a matter of Hemera's personal choice at all.
Once she and the God-King had completely united, Hemera had no choice left.
When she and her beloved God-King mingled at the deepest source, Nyx could clearly feel, beneath Zeus's gentle and compassionate divinity, an absolute, unquestionable possessiveness.
The God-King is the God-King!
He is the universe's one and only supreme sovereign!
The sole master of everything!
He will never permit his beloved goddess to be encroached upon by any other god!
She herself was now Zeus's goddess, and would only ever be Zeus's goddess.
This possessiveness of her beloved God-King's—she liked it very much.
But now, that possessiveness decided that Hemera had no choice at all.
Before this, neither she nor her daughter had any experience in such matters, and they truly did not know that Hemera would be so greatly affected because of her.
Then, the other way round, she herself might also be affected by Hemera.
In such a case, how could that possessive God-King possibly allow any other god to lay a finger upon Hemera?
No—never mind that her beloved God-King would not allow it, she herself would not allow it!
The radiant Goddess of Day looked anxiously at her revered Mother.
She waited for Mother's final decision, her heart at once eager and afraid.
In this brief time it felt to her like bearing a vast pressure between life and death.
Every moment seemed as hard to endure as the endless, lonely ages of the past.
Nyx pondered long, then at last decided—to hell with it. Come what may!
Her own happiness mattered most! Her daughter's happiness mattered just as much! The children's happiness all mattered!
And the future development of the lineage of Night in this universe mattered as well!
There were far too many little minxes upon Mount Olympus, and the Night gods had only a handful of outstanding goddesses; they were always outnumbered before Olympus.
Though Nyx had confidence that her deep Night possessed an infinite allure to sink all things,
She had to admit that what Olympus lacked least today were those goddesses of endless charm—beautiful and strong.
The Night Goddess raised her head slightly. Her gaze pierced the layers of void to the dazzling moonlight that seemed to brighten the entire world!
The God-King had barely left the Underworld before those little minxes on Olympus had entangled him again!
Moreover, Nyx could clearly sense that her beloved God-King was a thorough rake—greedy for flowers and love.
And in the deepest source of his divinity, the goddess he loved most seemed, probably, perhaps, maybe—not to be herself.
At this, the Night Goddess's heart grew painfully sour; whenever she thought of it, it felt as if her heart would break.
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