Nyx’s POV

“Why did you want to meet me, mother?” came a deep voice from the darkness.

I stiffened slightly, despite having realised Hypnos was there long before he talked. I turned around to face him, and inclined my head in greeting.

“Can’t a mother just want to see her son? Not everyone wants something from everyone.” I looked at him pointedly.

“If you’re talking about my joining Kronos for this war, then I have no idea what you are talking about.” Hypnos’s dark eyes flashed in amusement as he said this. He adjusted his stance, as if he was expecting an attack, and a few strands of his black hair fell across his face.

I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t lie to me, Hypnos. I know exactly what Kronos has promised you, and I know he won’t deliver it. He’s a lying bastard, who won’t give you the time of day if he wins the war. If he hasn’t killed you by then.”

Hypnos stared at me coldly. “And what makes you think he’s going to kill me, mother? You haven’t met him in the last millenia,” he pointed out. “Not even when he wanted to peacefully ask you to support him.”

I snorted. “First of all, there’s nothing peaceful about war, and second of all, he doesn’t particularly like me, or anything to do with me, so why wouldn’t he kill you? He’s greedy and I can’t really see him sharing power with anyone.”

Hypnos tilted his chin arrogantly. “I can protect myself if he does try to kill me,” he said, glaring at me.

I sighed. "Hypnos, this is not what I came here to talk abou- wait never mind it sort of is. But can we take this somewhere more private?" I looked around anxiously at the alley we were standing in.

He frowned, still slightly upset but answered. “How about we go to your mansion?”

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I nodded and held my arm out. He took it and I teleported us to one of the rooms in my mansion. I walked over to a chair that was in front of a fireplace, and sat down. Hypnos sat in the chair next to it.

We were both silent for a few minutes, staring into the flames. Then I started speaking, “So, I heard some rumours you and Morpheus are planning to put the whole of Manhattan to sleep. Are they true?”

Hypnos looked surprised. “So that’s what this is about? Why would you even care? You’re neutral.”

I gritted my teeth. “Answer the question, Hypnos.”

He had the decency to look ashamed. “Yes, Kronos has asked us to do that.”

“Well, I’m going to have to ask you to not do that.” I glared at him.

He just looked at me coolly. “Why would I do that? I would be hunted down and killed by Kronos if I even tried. And I want to be on the winning side. Which is not going to be the Olympians' side.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know that?”

Hypnos snorted. “You think Kronos doesn’t know that Perseus Jackson is dead? And that an untrained, unskilled, daughter of Hades is the child of the prophecy. We do have spies, you know. And we also know for sure that the Olympians are going to lose.”

I let out an exasperated breath. “Fine then. I order you to withdraw your support from Kronos, and hide yourself from him so he doesn’t find you.”

Hypnos looked at me incredulously. “Since when can you order me around? I don’t have to do that!”

I stood up and looked at him coldly. “I’ve been able to order you around since the day you swore your loyalty oath to me. I have total control over you, Hypnos. Total. Control. Or did you forget?”

Hypnos swallowed nervously. Apparently he had forgotten. “So that’s it then? You’re just going to take away my free will? You’re going to force me to do something I don’t even want to do.”

I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “Glad you understand, then.”

He clenched his fists together in fury. “And you call yourself a mother. You’re nothing but a monster, like Kronos. Fucking bitch,” he spat at me.

I blinked in suprise. “Go to your room, Hypnos.” When he made to protest, I added, “Now.”

He knew better than to argue.

When he had left, I sat down on the chair again, and stared pensievely into the fire again. I was a bit hurt by what he said, but it was true. I was a monster. Even I couldn’t argue that.

But there was one more thing. I maybe be a monster, but I would be even worse when it came to protecting the ones I loved. And that time was sure to come soon. I would do anything.

I was the worst monster out there.