Chapter 210
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: Nyx (2)
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I've lived three times across different worlds, each with a different name and body, but I've never once had a mother or a father.
The oldest memory from my first life was a chaotic orphanage swarming with kids my age.
In my second life, I was dropped into a fully formed body, with no chance to even wonder who my parents might be.
This time was the same.
One day, I opened my eyes in the Zeus temple on Pasos Island, and I've been living ever since with a completely unfamiliar name and body.
What would it have been like if I'd had a mom and dad? What if I'd been born into an ordinary family with parents?
In that first life, I must have envied and longed for that typical family setup, lost in endless questions and hypotheticals. But now? It was just something that didn't matter anymore.
And yet.
Suddenly, a being appeared, introducing herself as my mother.
A goddess so vast I thought she was a celestial body herself, lounging with her arm propped up on the Milky Way like a pillow, gazing down at me fondly and calling herself my mom.
"...."
[Surprised, are you? You look surprised!]
Honestly, I had no idea what to say.
Her sheer size made it feel less like a son meeting his mother for the first time and more like a human staring up at a hamster.
Despite my stiff reaction, the goddess—propped on her chin, grinning from ear to ear—kept gazing down at me like it was the best thing ever.
Her eyes, expectant like a mother waiting for her child to speak, finally coaxed the words out of me with effort.
"...Should I call you Mother, then?"
[So stiff~ You're so stiff~ Well, it's better than prostrating and praising me out of nowhere, I suppose?]
Nyx shook her head with a light laugh, her tone oddly reminiscent of Eris.
[Don't box us in with human words like mom, dad, friend, comrade, lover, and so on. Those concepts are useless to us.]
A massive hand twinkling like the North Star swept across the sky toward me, then gently stroked my head.
Her finger alone dwarfed my head, making me flinch inwardly, but with nowhere to dodge, I let it rest there obediently.
[Mother, though... Yeah, there's no better word for what you and I share.
Is that all you wanted to say?]
"...."
[Doesn't seem like it. Take your time—there's no eavesdroppers passing by or time rolling endlessly onward here.]
The goddess of the night, mirroring the cosmos itself, smiled softly like she was soothing a child, waiting patiently for me to speak again.
Even as I beheld the awe-inspiring sight of celestial bodies singing in chorus, the serene atmosphere calmed my racing mind bit by bit.
With a clearer head, I slowly took in my surroundings. I didn't know where or what this place was, but somehow, I realized I already felt deeply familiar and at ease here.
Like home.
Is this what home—a place never granted to me—feels like?
"Where is this place?"
[That stiff speech—did you pick it up from Nemesis? Thanatos too, and the triplets. They all revere me too much! Why can't you be sweet like Rhea's kids, calling me 'Mom~' or 'Granny~'?]
A goddess shaped like a mountain range in the sky pouted down at me, grumbling.
It was a mind-bending sight.
She was so vast and beautiful it was hard to imagine words would even work, yet she approached without any pretense, leaving me speechless instead.
She resembled a human but wasn't one, closing the gap so casually that it created an odd disconnect.
[Eris is perfect. When she's bored, she climbs into my hand and whines for me to let her nap. She loves sliding down my hair too. So adorable!]
Good lord.
Sliding down those Milky Way-tossed locks like a playground slide?
Napping in that massive stellar hand?
The gods of the mainland really are on another level, huh?
I pictured Eris zipping carefree through the cosmos, screaming in delight, and my jaw dropped.
Maybe I'd been underestimating my baby sister.
[Hee hee. Even adding up your past-past life, past life, and this one, you're still younger than Eris, yet your soul's aged like an old prune.
No matter how long you lived as a human, it's time to shed that childhood phase.]
"How did you know that...? Don't tell me—you're the one who brought me here?"
Three lives, three bodies.
Even Neris, whom I'd known longest in Greece, didn't know that secret. So Nyx was the one who started this life for me?
Nyx grinned cutely at my words, then shook her head.
[I don't summon people, you know. Though I might give a nudge to a lost child.]
Teasing me like a playful pet, Nyx wagged her finger in front of me with a mischievous smile.
[Curious? You are, aren't you? Try calling me 'Mom~' or 'Mama~'. Then I'll tell you.]
"...."
[...Sorry. Don't look at me like I'm so pitiful? It's just been ages since a guest ventured this deep.]
The Abyss. The Abyss.
In Greece, the Abyss or Pit usually pointed to one place.
And the home of Protogenoi, the primordial Night Mother, was just one place too.
"This is... Tartarus?"
In Greece, Tartarus was akin to Avici Hell or the Black Victory Hell of Buddhism—an endless pit where Titans and gods who defied Zeus's order and sinned against the divine regime were cast down.
"But this place is Tartarus...?"
I usually held my tongue, but wrapping this majestic, wondrous celestial realm in the same name as Tartarus? It just didn't compute.
[Hee hee. Those who've only lived in the light truly can't see it. It's in the far darkness that you behold even farther, even more. You've already begun to grasp how to witness the dark—such a good child, such a good child.]
Her massive finger stroked my head once more.
[Three lives across different worlds could have left you confused, or driven to despair and suicide.
Yet you didn't yield to fate, feared not the world's trials, lived steadfast and joyfully, and now stand before me again.
I'm so proud—I want to reward you. A kiss? Or a big hug?]
Eyes cradling the universe and peering down on fate gazed at me.
From them overflowed boundless affection—limitless like a mother's love, passionate like a lover's.
Had anyone ever looked at me with such intense, loving eyes?
Was she truly my mother, this goddess embracing countless celestial bodies?
"...I'll politely decline."
Even if so, the idea of "mother" was too unfamiliar—I opted to step back a pace.
[...Sigh. Kids will be kids. So much work.]
-Bonk!
Ouch.
This time, a fingernail lightly flicked my forehead.
[I went out of my way to bless you and warned the twins not to touch you. Boys are just so rigid!]
"Haha..."
Unhappy with my retreat, Nyx pouted and grumbled.
Her face was identical to Eris when she whined about being treated too harshly.
[It's fine. I've got plenty of time. Next time, I'll make you call me Mother.]
Shall we get to the main point, then?
Her finger drifted surrealistically close, slowly approaching my heart.
As if afraid it might vanish, Nyx gently pressed it there like a feather, closed her eyes, and whispered softly, listening to the heartbeat.
[Let me see. Yes, I remember this fragment. The piece I bestowed on the child who inherited Hemera's name long ago. It's circled back to you at last. Worth sending you to Greece after all.]
"Wait—you said you didn't summon me..."
[I didn't summon you, but I shaped your flesh and sent you to Greece with my power. So you should call me Mom.]
Wait, is that the important part right now?
So she reincarnated me, at least—not just the past life?
A flood of questions surged, but her playfully raised finger silenced me.
[Let me see. The seed cracked ages ago, and now it's sprouting fully. Means you're ready to set out on your journey.]
"Journey...?"
[Yes, a journey. Don't kids need to travel? You've just started toddling, so I pulled you here to hold your hand a bit. But no need anymore.]
Nyx drooped regretfully but soon shook her head and lifted her face.
[Wanting you to stay a child forever is just my selfishness. But next time, I want to chat leisurely in a warmer vibe. You seem like you'd be great company.]
"No, wait—right now, I'm..."
-Shh!
As if issuing an abrupt dismissal, I hurriedly spoke up, but Nyx pressed a finger to her lips, hushing me.
[Just go enjoy and savor this world ahead. Do what you must, meddle where you shouldn't. Shake up this world you remember but isn't the one you knew. Its endlessly repeated glories and splendors were starting to bore me anyway.]
"Uh? Wha—?"
Before I knew it, Nyx cupped her massive hands beneath me, lifting my flailing form.
She pulled me close—nose-to-nose—and whispered.
[At journey's end, may you truly find freedom.]
-Mwah!
With the goddess's blessing-kiss, my body slipped from her hands and began floating upward.
"Wait—no—You said I could ask anything!"
[Call me Mom next time~]
Protogenoi.
Night Goddess Nyx.
True to her name, the unpredictable colossal goddess waved farewell as I soared endlessly upward.