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Esther hiccupped drunkenly as she looked around the place she was in. From what the girl understood, it was something like a tavern, only outdoors and called something else. Right now she definitely couldn’t remember what it was called—her head was spinning far too much.
The little star sat in the farthest corner of the place at one of the tables, holding an almost empty bottle of ambrosia in her hands. Honestly, at first she had only wanted to take a small sip and give the rest to her brother, but after one swallow the demigoddess hadn’t noticed how she had drunk almost the entire drink.
Melinoë had given it to her. She was still bothering Esther and trying to befriend her somehow. The girl still didn’t understand why, but she chalked it up to Hades’s daughter wanting to befriend Heracles through her. During one of those meetings, Melinoë had given the little star that very bottle of ambrosia.
Yes, the demigoddess remembered perfectly well her brother’s words that she shouldn’t take anything from the hands of the young witch. Yes, she knew perfectly well that ambrosia was still alcohol, and according to him, his sister definitely shouldn’t drink. But she had heard so much about the drink of the gods. So many legends and so much praise for that liquid. Considering her work, such a chance came once in a millennium! It would simply have been foolish to refuse something like that.
So, taking the bottle and quickly thanking Melinoë, the girl decided to drink it at the crossroads—to feel the atmosphere and so that, if anything happened, someone could help her. After all, it was her first time drinking alcohol, and it wasn’t clear what would happen to her.
With a sad sigh, Esther looked at the surrounding shadows. The atmosphere was cozy, of course, but for some reason she really wanted to cry. She didn’t even know why—her mind simply refused to work—but the urge was strong.
Suddenly something black flashed before the little star’s eyes, and someone slowly sat down beside her.
“What has brought you to this guiding place, child of paths?”
A sweet voice was heard. The demigoddess blinked and squinted, trying to focus on the owner of that pleasant voice. It was Nyx. She sat beside the girl, resting her head on her hand. Noticing the gaze on her, the woman smiled.
“My children told me you rarely appear in a place like this,”
she continued.
The little star blinked slowly, trying to think of something. She glanced at the bottle, which had only a little ambrosia left, and held it out to the goddess.
“This is all I have,”
the girl murmured quietly.
Night only huffed softly and narrowed her eyes.
“Oh, thank you for that, child, but I think I’ll decline. I have too much work waiting for me, and I’d like to remain in my right mind.”
“Okay,”
Esther nodded, pulling the bottle back toward herself.
Nyx was silent for a while, studying her companion, then spoke again.
“Little star, may I ask you a question?”
she asked, tilting her head to the other side.
The girl nodded slowly.
“Of course,”
she murmured.
Night smiled at that reaction.
“Are you always this shy with me and try to hide your darker desires? I wonder why.”
The little star awkwardly shrugged, leaning over the ambrosia.
“Well… um… it’s… wrong…”
she answered, swaying slightly from side to side. The goddess raised one eyebrow.
“Wrong? Hmm… in what sense exactly?”
Esther shifted her shoulders in embarrassment.
“Well… you’re a woman… It’s, um… not very good when women… well… um… with each other…”
she muttered, continuing to sway. Nyx raised her other eyebrow.
“Oh, so you think it’s bad? What a surprising mindset for these times.”
Then the woman moved a little closer and lowered her voice.
“Child, why did you decide that loving someone—even of the same sex—is bad? What if your attraction to someone isn’t to their body, but to their essence?”
“No, but…”
the little star tried to protest, but there wasn’t a single coherent answer in her head. The goddess kept leaning closer as she blushed.
“And what if someone is attracted to you? Wants to know you better? To become closer to you—but, unfortunately, they’re the same sex as you?”
“But… you surely have a partner,”
Esther said, hunching slightly.
Nyx blinked. Her eyes widened, and for a few seconds she was silent, trying to process what had been said. After a long silence, in the girl’s opinion, the woman suddenly burst out laughing loudly. The shadows around, busy with their own business, flinched and looked toward their table in concern.
Night laughed with her eyes closed, covering her mouth with her hand. The demigoddess hunched even more, continuing to blush in embarrassment. After a few minutes, Nyx calmed down, breathing heavily but smiling.
“Oh, my dear little star. You know so little about me!”
she said cheerfully.
Esther sighed and nodded.
“Let me ask you another question. How was I born?”
“Well… um… you were created by the primordial Chaos,”
the girl answered very quietly.
Night nodded, squinting.
“Correct. That means I did not come into being the way ordinary mortals or gods do. Another question: who, in your opinion, could earn my trust enough for me to allow them to share my bed for the birth of children? And what kind of status would they need for me even to consider such a thought?”
“I don’t know…”
Esther said awkwardly, lowering her head.
The woman only huffed.
“Did the thought never occur to you that they could have appeared without a man’s involvement?”
Nyx was now very close, almost whispering into her ear.
“Undoubtedly, considering how old I am, I’ve had partners—and quite varied ones—but nothing interesting ever came of it. Just amusement in bed. And that was so long ago. Before Nemesis was born.”
“Uh… um…”
the little star tried to respond somehow, but her head was spinning too much from the information, and the ambrosia was affecting her mind more strongly.
The goddess smiled, tucking a strand of the girl’s glowing hair behind her ear.
“And now imagine: what if I offered you something more? Something you’ve long wanted to receive from me.”
She placed a hand on her companion’s leg, slowly sliding upward toward the edge of her chiton.
“To become my partner—not for one night. To be my equal, and perhaps for all eternity to become one whole with me.”
Esther suddenly grabbed the ambrosia and drank the last drops. She slammed the bottle down loudly, muttered something incoherent, and fell face-first onto the table. Nyx stared at this in surprise for a moment, then sighed and smiled warmly.
“I suppose we’ll postpone this conversation for later.”
She stood up and, carefully taking the girl by the hand, lifted her from the table. Luckily, with her control weakened, Esther was unconsciously levitating a little.
“My dear, you are surprisingly weak to alcohol. I’ll remember that… for the future,”
Nyx said, wrapping an arm around the little star’s waist.
She cast a frightening glance at the shadows for a moment, and they quickly looked away, understanding that, unfortunately, they would not be telling anyone about this. The woman continued chatting as she led the demigoddess somewhere.
“Come, I’ll take you home. Hecate might not mind sheltering you for a while, but it’s still better for you to be somewhere without prying eyes.”
***
Esther groaned softly, trying to open at least one eye. Her head hurt terribly, and her mouth felt as dry as the Argolid. She wanted to sink back into blissful sleep, but no matter how hard she tried, it didn’t work.
She slowly sat up on her improvised bed, throwing off the blanket she’d been well wrapped in. The little star grabbed her head, trying to remember something. She had a vague feeling that something important had happened yesterday. Something she could hardly have dreamed of—but, unfortunately, the headache wouldn’t let her remember what it was.
With a heavy sigh, the demigoddess slowly and very carefully got to her feet. She needed to get herself in order. She’d have to bathe in the river or in a hot spring if she asked Melinoë nicely. She also needed to find the little jar that had been left from the ambrosia. It seemed she’d put it somewhere yesterday, though Esther would like to keep it. It was too beautiful—she could reuse it somewhere.
Thinking all this over, the girl didn’t notice that in the room, where objects connected to Nyx had been arranged, those very objects had been slightly moved. And how fortunate it was that there wasn’t a single mirror among them—otherwise she would definitely have noticed the lipstick mark on her forehead.