Nix opened her eyes, she had no idea where she was, all around her was an infinite nothingness. The cold oppressive grey surrounded her, making even her breathing became labored in this endlessness. She unfurled her wings and attempted to take flight, but it was like trying to fly through water, and in the sensory depravity of the situation she had no way of knowing if she was moving forward at all. “Hello?”  she called out, and was more than a little annoyed that she could hear the fear in her voice, there was a small lump in her throat, and it seemed to correspond with the knot in her gut.

“Hello,”  Asherah answered back, and even if she was more than a little pissed at the situation, she was relieved to hear a voice, any voice even if it was the voice of the person she was pretty sure had placed her here.

At least she was not alone.

She looked around, in any and every direction but could not see hide nor tail of Asherah. “Don't bother looking,” Asherah’s voice whispered right next to Nix’s causing her to turn in circles. “You are a guest of my realm, I am everywhere and nowhere, I am nothing and everything.” she giggled, the sound echoing around in the nothingness. “I once told a man this, and here I find it just as relevant; I have gone by many names, Ashratum, Ashratu, Asherdu,  Ashertu, Aṯirat yammi, I have been called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the world goes dim and cold.”

“What do you want?” Nix whispered, her eyes were wide, she had heard some of those names before, those were not the names of some small time nature goddess, those were the names of the first nature goddess.  If what she was saying was the truth… then nix was already dead.

“What do I want?”  the voice asked, and Nix looked over to see a clutch of butterflies fly together and form a vaguely human shape that started to walk her way, with each step she took as she descended to Nix’s position hundreds of plants would spawn, reaching out there long leaves and flowers towards her like she was the sun in the sky.

With every step she formed a ground, complete with creeks, and a multitude of plants all of which seemed to sway and bow as she paced.  The butterflies flew away revealing the woman underneath.  She was stark naked, her golden hair and eyes in stark contrast of her bronze skin.  With one hand she lightly brushed a blue flower, and it grew up her arm and wrapped around her torso, before forming into a royal blue robe with a floral pattern on it.

With every step Nix became more and more sure.

She had fucked up.

“Do you know the significance of the property of mine that you destroyed?” she whispered softly, walking around Nix, and as Nix tried to move she found her feet restrained with a single blade of grass, but try as she might she could not break free.  Ashy circled around, coming back to face her, and even if her face was calm she had a fire in her eyes.

“I-”  Nix started, but before the words could come out of her mouth Ashy backhanded her.

Hard.

“That flower was dear to me.”  she whispered as Nix recovered, the slap discoloring her greyish skin to a dark almost blue color. “It was a reminder of a dear friend, one of my sisters who has passed from existence. You killed the flower of Aster, do you know the myth mankind has created of this flower?”

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Nix didn't say a word, she simply shook her head, her eyes wide with fear.

“When the god Jupiter decided to flood the earth to destroy the warring men, the goddess Astraea was so upset she asked to be turned into a star. Her wish was granted, but when the flood waters receded she wept for the loss of lives. As her tears turned to stardust and fell to earth, the beautiful aster flower sprung forth.” Asherah whispered.  “This is what they say, and they are almost correct… there was only one aster flower, the one that formed where her tears fell to the earth, all the rest were copies I made, duplicates.”

“I’m-” it was hard for Nix to say, she was a goddess of war and death, she dealt with loss everyday, it seemed strange to idolize an object like Asherah was doing with this little plant.  It made no sense to her, but she was not a dumb goddess, she knew apologizing was the proper way to go about this. “I am sorry.”  she said, in the most convincing voice she could muster.  Asherah looked deep into her eyes, each eye filled with four burning pupils, of searing gold as they searched Nix deeply.

Asherah sighed, “it is too bad...” she shook her head, pulling away from Nix. “Had your apology been heartfelt, I would have accepted it, your mission and hot temper along with the fear of not stacking up to your sister’s expectations caused you to act brashly.”  Nix opened her mouth to speak, but a vine sprung up and gagged her. “However the blame is not theirs, but yours.  They did not destroy my gate, or crush my flower, you did.” she looked over at Nix with pitying eyes. “If only you had been sincere...” she sighed one last time.  “Very well, I strip you of your wings,”  and as she said it vines wrapped around her wings, tightening them until the bones groaned, and asherah touched them, they disappeared in a flash of light, as a searing pain like a hot fire touched her back. She screamed out, but the gag prevented anything but a small groan to escape.

It felt like she had lost an arm or some other necessary limb.

“And I strip you of your divinity.”  Nix’s eyes widened she was able to get the gag out of her mouth as she struggled.

“You can't! My sisters-”

“I know who your sisters are.”  Asherah stopped her “Lady Astreai queen of time, and Ritrys the mother of life.”

“Then you know they will not stand for this!”  she called out, hoping against hope that her sister’s names would scare this woman into submission.

“They already know,”  Asherah laughed. “I wanted something harsher, this was a compromise we came to.”

“No-”  Nix’s gray face drained of all color turning ashen.

Her sisters, they were abandoning her?

“As I was saying, I strip you of your divinity.”  she touched Nix lightly on the head, a deep pain far worse than anything the goddess had ever felt tore her soul in two, she almost passed out right then and there. Tears running down her face she looked up pleadingly at Asherah. “You wish me to release you? Very well.”  she said, and with a wave of her hand Nix found herself and Asherah above the ground thousands of feet up, “You are released.”  Asherah said, and the vines holding Nix let her go.

She went cascading towards the ground, desperation made her attempt to flap her wings, only to bring back a searing pain and despair when she realised she no longer had any wings. She saw the tops of trees coming up to meet her, and her shock and frantic mind found it could no longer take it.

She passed out several hundred feet above the treetops.

Had she been awake she would have seen the strange sight of the trees reaching out and catching her in soft leafy branches, laying her gently on the ground, completely unharmed.  Asherah landed near her, and looked at the woman laying at her feet. There was no hatred in her eyes anymore, just sadness and a touch of a motherly gaze. “You poor child, you who has never known anything but death and war, you who has never felt love you cannot even comprehend my reasons for being upset, this was your downfall.”  she touched her arm, and a mark appeared on it much like the one on her own and Dan’s, but this one was a different color and had a few extra marks.

It was the mark of a servant of her house.

“You will learn of it, the joys and pains of love, it is a feeling everyone should know, even you young goddess of war and death, and once you have learned it i will restore you, if you choose to return to your ways then that will be your choice. ”  she scooped up the woman, she needed to go talk to Dan, it would seem like his life was about to get even more interesting, she smiled as she could already hear the demigod’s sighs.

A truly interesting life for a truly interesting being…

Indeed…