Nyx is a goddess with a terrible reputation.

She is cold. Homicidal. Short tempered and prone to throwing horrible tantrums when she doesn''t get her way.

The list of deities who have a positive impression of her is somewhat relegated to those who she''s pushed out of her body. And even then you won''t get a unanimous endorsement...

Izanami was one of those deities who didn''t really carry too much of a positive outlook on the night goddess.

Among many other things, she found her to be flippant. Hard to deal with. And just an all around bitch.

And yet, that very same goddess was now here. Consoling her as she wept with no end in sight.

Perhaps because of Nyx''s close relationship to the architect of Izanami''s misery, she wanted to hear everything about what her mother had done.

And because Izanami was in dire need of some form of an outlet, she divulged to her what she could.

If she were honest, she weren''t even sure if Nyx understood everything because of her crying.

But Izanami told her everything anyway. And hearing these experiences that weren''t even real out of her own mouth, Izanami felt even worse.

The more she heard, the more certain that Nyx was about what her mother had done.

Izanami didn''t have a dream or get trapped in an illusion. She was practically shoved into an entirely different timeline of her mother''s own creation.

But unlike the fully fleshed out ones that Yesh creates, this universe was only devoted to making Izanami feel the utmost pleasure and infatuation.

That way, it would be that much harder for her to leave. And she would be willing to do anything to get back to her ''dream''.

"The things that they said... the way they made me feel, a-and our son...!" Izanami covered her mouth as she began to get choked up once again.

Nyx reached for more tissues only to realize that they ran out probably ten minutes ago.

She resorted to tearing off pieces of her own dress so that Izanami could wipe her eyes and blow her nose.

"How am I supposed to just move on after that..?" Izanami asked, her eyes bloodshot and tired. "How do I just pretend that none of that happened..?"

Nyx smiled at her pitifully. A suggestion was on the tip of her tongue, but she almost dared not vocalize it.

Eventually, she decided that the choice was better left up to the one affected.@@@@

"Mnemosyne owes me a favor or two... I''m sure she would be willing to take the memory of what''s happened to you if I ask."

For some reason, Izanami shuddered at the mention of the Greek memory goddess.

Was that her only solution? To forget everything that had transpired?

Did she even want that..?

To go back to not knowing the sweet sound of Abaddon''s voice in the morning?

To not know the vision that was Eris'' slender body fresh out of the shower..?

Or never hear the laughter of their son ever again..?

''My scanners don''t detect...'' Shin''s words trailed off and he seemed to become even more irritated somehow.

''You should get your money back. Do you come with a warranty like any good household appliance?''

''Fuck you. Get out of my head.''

Shin slowed his flight to a hover and the rest of his men followed suit.

He made a series of hand singals and his men nodded in understanding- drawing their weapons from their holsters and switching off any safetys.

At that moment, Shin looked behind him and noticed that the dragons were nowhere to be found.

In his mind he knew they were there, but he could neither see, sense, or track them.

''Warning me about the threat so that you don''t have to do any heavy lifting?'' He mocked.

''You are in the lead. If I hadn''t said anything and let you approach as you were, you would''ve accused me of withholding information.

I hide my body so that you and everyone who works for you does not go insane at the sight of me.

If you can only focus on picking with me whenever the need arises, then stand aside. I''ll happily end our adversary before you start to rust.''

Shin clinched his jaw so hard that he nearly broke it.

''I think not, beast! No one here needs the pinnacle of sexual depravity for anything!''

Shin gestured for his men to go forward. And Abaddon silently wondered if it would be ethical for him to root for the enemy just this once.

The order finished their preparations and continued their approach- albeit more slowly than before.

Roughly ten miles later, they arrived at the edge of a large waterfall.

The cavern had opened up to reveal a scene pulled straight from middle-earth. A series of floating islands took up most of the vast space, with each of them being no more inferior than the last.

On one of the islands, there was a strange glowing altar that resembled a slab of shining stone. One couldn''t get too much of a good look before the man nearby stepped into view.

"Well, well... I thought I smelled humans..!"

The demon waiting for them was a monster if Shin had ever seen one.

At eight feet tall, he was almost as tall as a Nevi''im.

He wore a set of thick, yet regal red, black, and golden armor that obscured his entire body except for his head.

His skin was a mottled grey twinged with a shade of green, and a strange mask covered his eyes and cheekbones.

He had a total of five horns coming out of his head, and his wings were just a tiny bit misshapen- being twisted upside down and jutting out of his lower back.

The demon waived at the humans as he drew an impossibly large sword and pointed it at the group.

When he smiled, every one of his teeth were revealed to be pointed and encased in gold.

"You all aren''t the ones I''m waiting for... but you''ll do in a pinch. Come and give this old demon a reason to exercise again!"