Desolation [manxman] DRAFT

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When I was born there were little other gods and goddesses and even less spheres containing the different pantheons. In our sphere it was mostly my parents, my siblings and me. Back then our sphere had just come into existence and it was still beautiful. A fresh blank slate ready to be filled with endless numbers of lives. We didn't have a sun since Apollo hadn't been born yet, everything just kind of glowed. Young me didn't know that it was a form of bioluminescence. It just adored the way the plants and bodies of water glowed and quite frankly I had been a little jealous because I wasn't able to do that.

The grounds were made of black earth and covered in deep blue moss that made it feel like heaven to walk on it barefoot. It was one of the softest materials back then. Over your head would tower ebony trees with spikey leaves and fruits that would emit a soothing white light and tasted like a mixture of honey and yogurt. Once in a while you'd stumble upon a nymph tree and the creature would play with you or sing you the strangest most enchanting songs. Sometimes a harpy would chime in. Unless you tried to eat one of the tree's apples. Then the nymph would wreak havoc on you and try to rip you into pieces. And being the little shit I had been, I tried. Several times. Learning effect, what's that?

The animals had been different back then as well. Snakes with heads as big as a grown man, each easily spanning a few hundred meters, black scales and glowing turquois eyes. Wolflike creatures the size of a grown elephant lacking eyes with ragged fur as black as the night that would imitate the voices of your loved ones so you'd go outside for them to hunt you. Large sea monsters as black as the seas surrounding the land and weirdly empty blue eyes, chasing merpeople. Dark blue colored griffins and hippocampi soaring through the sky covered in stars and making you wish you could fly too. Hydras and Manticores the size of a guinea pigs attacking you when you accidentally stepped on their black tail. Deer with black fur and a single horn in the middle of the head that would stop by in the distance. I even had a pet phoenix which would burst into blue flames just to be reborn in its original black state. Everything had been eerily beautiful and so awesome.

Yet when I was born none of these was the first thing I had seen. One moment I was part of the chaos that spit out our universe and the next moment I was being slammed into a body. I had been very confused. Being part of chaos, you had known everything that had happened, was happening and would be happening and now that the connection was cut I was on my own. I had to make my own decisions, deal with the consequences and it was scary.

I had opened my eyes and looked into the most beautiful silver eyes I had ever seen. Also, the first pair I had ever seen for that matter. My brother had been so happy to see me and had pulled me into a bone crushing hug.

"Welcome."

Still kind of puzzled I had looked at him with big silver eyes myself. He had laughed at me and ruffled my hair. I had barely reached his hip being a toddler and clung to his leg. He then greeted my twin brother Hypnos.

"Your family can't wait to meet you two." He had told us, smiling excitedly.

I hadn't yet known what a family was but I had been so excited to meet them. I had willingly let him pick me up and carry me together with my twin over to a cavern hidden between bushes at the side of a mountain. They had collected the glowing moss and decorated the walls with it to have some source of light as well as covering the ground with it. I had clung to Aether's shoulders as he continued carrying us to the end of it where it had opened up to a wide opening.

My parents were Nyx and Erebus. Most of my siblings had yet to born but the three fates, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos were already. As soon as they had seen us they came over to greet me and swoon over me. They had shown me my sleeping site which had been heavily decorated with rocks and moss and black leaves, given me presents, cuddled me and played with me. My parents had told me how proud they were of me and how they couldn't wait for me to grow up.