Heroes Also Like the Night

"Hermes, since the person has been brought here, you may return now." A melodious voice drifted from within the palace.

"Noble Goddess Nyx, but I am supposed to bring this child back! Athena and Hera both gave me specific instructions; if I fail to bring him back, my fate will be absolutely miserable." Hermes bowed respectfully and replied earnestly.

It seemed that even Hermes, notorious for courting death, dared not act out in front of this great deity.

In the presence of an elder of this caliber, Hermes' status was simply not enough to show off.

"Mm, I know. Now you may return." The voice came again, though this time, it sounded slightly impatient.

"Very well, I shall depart at once, noble Goddess Nyx." Hermes replied, then turned and whispered to Thaumas:

"Thaumas, you heard her—the rest of the way, you must walk on your own! By the way, you are absolutely forbidden from reporting this to Hera and the others! Otherwise, my fate will truly be miserable. Well then, farewell!"

Having said that, he donned his Winged Boots and vanished like a gust of wind, arriving quickly but departing even faster.

He left only Thaumas standing bewildered before the palace.

"Respected Goddess of Night, I have come here to ask a favor of you. Might you be able to help me?" Thaumas went straight to the point.

It appeared that Nyx already knew the situation, but Thaumas had to go through the motions; asking and not asking were two different things. This was necessary, lest he lose face for the Goddess.

No sound came from the palace again, and Thaumas dared not act rashly, so he stood at the entrance, waiting for the Goddess's response.

After a while, An elderly man with wings and a beard emerged, wearing a helmet and holding a sword.

But upon seeing Thaumas, he hesitated for a moment, then transformed into a beautiful youth with silver hair, holding a sword, and possessing dark wings.

He looked at himself, then gazed at Thaumas, before finally speaking: "You are indeed very beautiful, hmm..."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing:

"More beautiful than my brother and me."

Thaumas quickly said: "You are too kind. May I ask who you are?"

"My name is Thanatos. They all call me the God of Death, though I don't particularly like that title, nor do I have such great power, nor am I that cruel. I am just a collector of corpses," the beautiful youth replied.

Then Thanatos continued:

"I am the son of Nyx. Mother sent me to fetch you. Come with me!"

"Mm, very well, thank you for the trouble," Thaumas nodded respectfully.

Why did he suddenly have the feeling of being haunted and dragged off to the underworld?

Forget it, don't think about that. For now, he still needed to meet Goddess Nyx.

Along the way, Thanatos and Thaumas did not exchange a word.

Thanatos carried a cold aura, radiating a vibe that warned strangers to keep their distance.

How should one put it? Thanatos appeared to be a cold and aloof person, and he could make you just as "cold" as he was, in every sense of the word.

It was no wonder there were rumors that he was a cruel deity.

Accustomed to the enthusiasm of other gods, Thaumas had almost assumed all deities were the same.

Finally, after walking through a long corridor, "Alright, we are here. Go on in. I will not be joining you," Thanatos said without a trace of emotion.

"Thank you, Lord Thanatos, for guiding me," Thaumas bowed to him and walked straight into the room.

"Hmm... 'thank you'? It seems this is the first time a human has thanked me? After all, no one ever thanks the God of Death. Well then, I thank you as well, little one," Thanatos said softly, then stood guard at the door, motionless.

Inside the room, A young woman sat on a chair. When she saw Thaumas, she smiled faintly and said: "Child, come here, sit."

Nyx pointed to the seat beside her.

"Very well, respected Goddess Nyx." Thus, Thaumas did not act reserved or coy; he sat down gracefully.

This made Nyx even more pleased.

Having dealt with many deities, he had fully adapted to such occasions.

At times like these, one simply had to follow the wishes of the gods.

"Child, I already know the reason for your visit. That little horse Phlegon has already arrived here. By the time the sun sets today, he will be able to gallop through the starry sky and the night with me," Nyx said gently.

Look!

Everyone, look!

This is what you call reliable!

This is what you call answering a request!

Hermes, that fool Cerberus was right—you really are a piece of trash. At best, you're only good for being a mode of transportation.

You are only fit to be a public bus!

"I am truly grateful to you, great Goddess of Fate Nyx! You are the most reassuring deity I have ever met!" Thaumas said sincerely.

"Hehe (˵¯͒¯͒˵), it's not that exaggerated." Nyx waved her hand, saying shyly:

"You are also a very excellent child! Besides, I have been watching over you all along."

Ah, she truly is a beautiful goddess.

Every movement is so graceful, every smile so moving.

Praise the great Goddess of Fate Nyx!

He suddenly felt like changing his faith. Thinking about it, Goddess of Fate Nyx actually seems quite wonderful!

But then, he thought of Hera's petty, vengeful nature...

Better to just leave it as a thought!

"Beautiful Goddess of Fate Nyx! I am very grateful for your help; if you hadn't been willing to assist, I would have been in a very difficult spot this time. By the way, you mentioned earlier that you were watching over me—was there something about me that caught your eye?" After expressing his gratitude, Thaumas asked curiously.

"It was my daughter, 'Fate,' who told me. Only then did I discover the changes in the fixed numbers and thus noticed you," Nyx said slowly.

These words made Thaumas's heart sink.

He had forgotten this detail; although gods might not necessarily see his destiny, he had already changed the paths of many people and even gods.

"Don't worry. As long as you are human, you are a child of the gods. As long as you don't do evil, we won't interfere with you too much. Retribution and causality have told me that you are a good child! Even Zeus will not make things difficult for you."

Nyx patted Thaumas on the head, looking at him with doting eyes, as if soothing a frightened little kitten.

"As for when I started watching you? It was when you met Hera. After all, you changed the fixed number of that child, Jason, didn't you?"

Nyx is regarded as the supreme goddess of the Triple Goddess, simultaneously possessing three different transcendent identities: she can be the Goddess of Fate Ananke, the Goddess of Retribution Adrasteia, and the Goddess of Causality Heimarmene.

Supported by these three transcendent personas, Nyx is terrifyingly powerful.

"By the way, my daughter is also very interested in you. If you have time, you can go see her; consider it a reward for the help I've given you."

As expected, no help from a god is free; there is no such thing as a free lunch in the heavens.

"No problem, but may I ask, is it the Goddess of Fate?" Thaumas asked.

"Mm-hmm, that's right! What a smart child." Nyx then patted Thaumas's head as if rewarding him.

It's just hard to tell whether, for Nyx, this was rewarding Thaumas or rewarding herself.

Legend has it that the Moirai are:

Atropos, the eldest sister, who manages death and is responsible for cutting the thread of life.

Lachesis, the second sister, who is responsible for determining the length of the thread of life.

Clotho, the youngest of the three sisters, who manages the future and spins the thread of life.

These three goddesses are the embodiment of fate, and they jointly govern the destiny of every mortal.

The three sisters have clear divisions of labor, each possessing different responsibilities, together constituting the whole of fate.

However, there are many theories regarding their origins.

The Moirai are the daughters of Zeus and his second wife, Themis. Themis is the goddess representing justice and law among the Titan race, and she and Zeus together conceived the Moirai.

In this relationship, the Moirai are seen as more sacred and powerful because their mother is Zeus's aunt.

Another theory is that the Moirai are the daughters of Zeus and Metis. Metis is the original Goddess of Wisdom and also Zeus's first wife.

But in Orphism, the origin of the Moirai is Nyx.

(Regarding this point, neither the Nasuverse nor Ancient Greek mythology has made it clear. I am really in a difficult position now, so I have decided not to bother! I will adopt all three theories; just give one to each, and that way everyone gets a share. This also fits the fine tradition of chaos in Ancient Greece.)

And today, Thaumas felt he had finally solved this problem.

"Since it is the Moirai, then it is naturally my honor!" Thaumas smiled.

"No, not the Moirai, but the Goddess of Fate!" Nyx shook her head and said slowly.

"Eh? Why is that?" Thaumas was puzzled.

"Clotho is my own child. My aspect as the Goddess of Fate Ananke conceived her, who spins the future—after all, the future can also be a kind of fixed number. As for the other two, Atropos and Lachesis, they are the children of Themis and Metis respectively, and they are also both children of Zeus. Don't get them mixed up!" Nyx explained patiently.

What a tangled web.

So, this version of the Moirai are sisters of different origins?

PS:

I wonder what you all think of how I handled this. I believe Ancient Greek mythology is already chaotic, so a little more chaos doesn't really matter. I really revised this chapter over and over, and it took me a long time. I was struggling with whose children the Moirai should be, so I decided: let them all be. That way, not many people should be able to argue with me.