Blessed by Night

Nyx had famously never cared for a human in her entire existence.

Though this wasn't really all that surprising, since most gods around her age didn't care about humans either.

But Nyx had the rare disposition of being even less fond of them than others.

This was in part because of Keres.

Since her daughter was the spirit of violent death, she saw the worst of the mortal world and often confided in her mother about her exploits.

As if that weren't enough, most of her other children who embodied negative emotions were in possession of similar stories.

The more that Nyx heard, the more disillusioned she became, and she saw humanity as little more than savages subsisting on treachery and brutality.

As Nadine had told Malachi, there was a day where the gods convened a meeting for the relocation of the various species of monsters dwelling on earth.

That day, Nyx had no real interest in the proceedings and barely recalled the actual vote count.

To alleviate her boredom, she made an off-handed comment to Erebus that they should have been voting whether or not to dispel the humans instead, since even the most ravenous monster was better behaved than an ordinary human.

While he laughed and overlooked her seemingly lighthearted jest, Nyx continued to think about it, over and over again.

Eternity is a very, very, long time.

As such, it isn't uncommon for gods to grow bored with their run of the mill routines and direct their attention to more 'exciting' avenues.

Nyx of course was one such goddess, and her boredom had long reached a level that very few experiences could ever hope to induce.

So of course, now that she had actually thought of something that could alleviate her boredom, she was going to jump at the chance.

She talked to Keres and only Keres about the plan she had in mind, and of course her daughter tried to talk her out of it.

Primordial gods have lots of freedoms and can do just about whatever they set their minds to, but even they have limits.

For instance, interfering in a decision made by the collective body of gods in any capacity, is highly forbidden.

Punishment need not be mentioned now, but it is severe enough that even Nyx does not act too rashly.

But this, she considered to be harmless.

As such, it took Nyx relatively little time to convince Keres to participate in this wager of hers.

With both of their minds made up, the next thing to do was to find a monster who would be the center of her little experiment.

So as to give herself the greatest chance of secrecy, she decided not to use a greek monster for her experiment.

Which meant she had to turn to the other pantheons for examples.

After glossing over Mesopotamian and Shinto cryptids, she finally settled on one no one would have expected her to pick.

Xhosa.

With her pantheon selected, deciding which monster to pick was actually a no-brainer.

There are tales of a kind of serpent dwelling within the jungles of South Africa.

Legends around it were so wide and varied that even she herself barely knew about it.

Some say it has one head, others claim to have seen many.

Locals claim that it brings with it tornadoes and thunderstorms whenever it takes to the sky; seeking to find a mate.

But it's temperament is the most widely disputed thing.

In some stories the creature is fearsome; engaging any and everything that moves with extreme aggression.

In others, it is a protector of it's habitat, who eats only the wicked.

Nyx found the creature after almost a full night of searching.

There, she was able to get her first look at her prized inkanyamba.

Unlike the legends suggested, it was an eel-like snake with only one head and no wings.

It had very dark green scales that could be easily mistaken for black, and odd glowing purple eyes that seemed to see through one's very soul.

Once she actually found her desired creature, the next step was simple, but unthinkable.

She transformed the monster into a human.

So that there would be nothing about it that would make the gods look twice at it, she made it completely ordinary.

Average looks, average intelligence, athleticism, you name it.

Once she was done, she left the newly transformed human in the middle of the lake that it'd once called home with a single message implanted in their mind, but no memories.

'Live well.'

The first few years of Nyx and Keres' observations went by somewhat slowly.

Gods can sometimes be impatient after all, and not every development of theirs is monumentally exciting after all.

So in the same way that you might put down a show when it stops being exciting and come back to it a few days later, Nyx did the same.

Only she waited years on accident.

When she finally remembered her little pet project, the woman she'd left behind had grown up well into old age, and was seen as a divine healer in her tribe.

Nyx felt a bit like she had missed out.

How had this one little monster wearing the skin of a human acquired all of these connections, become so renowned, and most importantly, how had she done it all without showcasing any of that vicious nature?

Unfortunately, it was impossible for her to go back and watch things at the beginning again.

But there were ways around it.

When the woman finally died, Nyx had Thanatos bring her the soul.

Once she had it, Nyx communicated with the woman so that she could hear her entire life story from A-Z.

And somehow, the strangest thing happened.

Nyx found herself intrigued.

The highs, the lows, the elevations and the pitfalls are all so compelling to hear.

The life that her creation lived wasn't pretty, but her responses in and of themselves were miraculous.

At every turn, she met the brutality inflicted by the world and the people around her with grace.

When Nyx asked her why, she could give no answer.

The goddess developed her own theories pertaining to this, but she never voiced them out loud as she felt no need.

When she heard the full weight of her creation's life story, she was met with a bow and a surprisingly bold request.

'Please, continue to watch over the children I left behind.'