Blessed by Night

- 2 Months Later…

"Okay, okay… one more time."

Nyx straightened her posture and adjusted the bouquet of flowers in her hand.

She looked into the mirror with a straight, steely eyed gaze and spoke in a very business-like manner.

"Aubrey… I know that it has taken me a long time, but I wanted to come to you and apologize, because I-"

"Too formal." Nemesis dismissed. "Start again, mother."

"FUCK!"

Beside Nemesis, her brother Geras, the withered personification of old age, also shook his head.

"I-I fear she may be right, mother. Your words convey too much restraint and are not nearly heartfelt enough."

"If I speak too much with my heart I will start crying again and I can't control my emotions!" Nyx reminded.

"Yes, we know. We spent the prior forty-two attempts reminding you of that very thing." Nemesis said flatly.

"I-It hasn't been that many, has it?"

"Indeed it has." Geras nodded. "Sister Keres has already fallen asleep."

The old man pointed towards an ottoman in the bathroom where one of Keres' many selves lay face down.

"So on top of everything else my apology is boring too?!" Nyx was just about ready to tie a rope around her neck and jump off a bridge.

Not that it would have done anything…

"This is hopeless…" Nyx deflated like a popped balloon.

"Aubrey is never going to forgive me for the things that I have done and Malachi will not forgive me for shutting him out so coldly.

And why should they? I've done nothing but bring harm to them. This is all one big waste of effort… they are better off without me."

Nyx threw aside the flowers she'd been holding onto and fell to her knees on the floor.

Even though she felt broken hearted, Nyx couldn't muster the energy to cry. Probably because she'd already shed so many tears without even meaning to.

Nemesis brushed her fingers through her red hair as she shuffled her feet awkwardly.

She could rack her brain for thirty years if she was given the time, but she still wouldn't have anything to say.

Luckily, the withered Geras was there to showcase the wisdom of old age.

He placed a trembling hand on his mother's shoulder and passed her a tissue to wipe her eyes.

"I don't know if you are being fair to yourself here, mother. You have loved those two honestly for as long as they have been alive."

"And look at what my love has made me do… I kept their family from them so that I could play their mother…"

Geras shook his head. "I am not saying that you haven't made mistakes.

But the children should be the ones to decide whether or not they are too great.

If you back out of this because of your own guilt, then you are taking another choice from them yet again. And I don't believe that is what you truly want."

Nemesis chose that moment to pick up the flowers Nyx had discarded.

She too kneeled beside her mother and brought them back to her.

Nyx took them begrudgingly after wiping her eyes a final time.

"…What will become of me if they do not forgive me?" Nyx asked her children and herself.

"You shouldn't do this because you want them to have a specific reaction to you, mother. You should only apologize with the sole purpose of expressing your regret. The rest has to be up to them."

Nyx knew that Geras was right, but what was she to do?

Her fear felt as if it was ruling her. It was like being paralyzed by an invisible force that kept her tightly bound under lock and key. Unable to take even a single step forward.

She didn't want to see the scornful face of her daughter. She was afraid to hear her say what she already knew.

She was not their mother.

"Come now, let's get you up."

Geras used his feeble strength to help his mother get back into her feet.

"Go to them, mother. Our family has far too many fractures as it is."

- Earth: The United States of America, Alabama.

It had been a while since Nyx had returned to the base.

So as she flew over the mountain range, she was surprised to find it sparsely populated compared to before.

Even before entering, she could already sense the lack of presences within.

But it didn't matter, since the one person she wanted to see was here.

Nyx phased through the mountain and followed her senses until she arrived within the nursery.

There, she almost teared up immediately when she saw the one she had come to see.

She was no less beautiful and precious than the last day she'd seen her.

Aubrey's soft chocolate skin was wrapped in the exquisite packaging of a white sleeveless crop top and dark denim shorts. The curly gray hair she had come to adore was tied up in a ponytail while she worked.

Her stomach was exposed to display the sheen of sweat accumulated from moving things around.

Nyx was completely floored.

Aubrey looked so… radiant.

And not just because she was laughing and smiling with Celeste.

Her nails and toes were freshly painted, her eyelashes had been done, she was sporting a new piercing on her navel, and she even smelled of a sweet new perfume.

She looked like a normal, cheerful young woman who should have been entering her second year of college.

Not the daughter of a goddess.

Not the descendant of a monster race.

Just a normal, well above-average looking girl living in the south.

And… Nyx wanted her to have that. This normalcy. She deserved it.

"Mom..?"

Nyx felt her metaphorical heart seize up.

She hadn't noticed Aubrey begin looking around at some point.

Her eyes couldn't actually see anything within the room, but she could tell something was there.

It was a familiar, reassuring feeling that only three people in the world were capable of giving her.

And since one wasn't even in this world at the moment, and the other was on the opposite side of the country, that left only one.

"Mom… can you say something please so Celeste doesn't think I'm crazy..?"

Celeste didn't say anything, but she was indeed beginning to give her young friend a sideways look.

Aubrey put down the refrigerator that she was carrying and slowly turned around the room in circles.

"…I know you're here. O-Or atleast I think I do… can you… say something..? Anything??"

Aubrey waited and waited for so long that even she thought she had gone crazy.

Embarrassed, she lowered her head in shame.

That was when the saw them.

A bouquet of roses dyed in black; lain directly at her feet.

On top of them was a small white card with words written in the most beautiful handwriting.

They were short, simple, but unquestionably impactful.

I'm sorry. I love you. I'm always thinking of you.