Mini-story: The one that got away

Chapter 5 * Opening up

"Nike! Are you there?" The voice of Bia called out.

Nike groaned, slowly opening her eyes. Did she sleep again? It surely looked a lot like it. But then why was she still so tired?

"Nike!"

The angel threw the blanket she was laying underneath over her head. She didn't want to open the door and hear her sister's way too cheery voice. As a matter of fact she didn't even want to get up.

"I don't think she's there."

"Oh she's there. She hasn't left the castle for weeks." The floaty voice of Styx said to Bia.

"For weeks? But the gods have been holding all sorts of contests and wars." The goddess of strength countered.

"I don't know what got into her, but whatever it is needs to end. Now you run along my love, I'm sure you have a job to do."

"Yes mother." Bia obeyed.

'Oh great...' Nike thought to herself.

Why, out of all the deities in the castle, was her mother the one who was coming in to talk to her. On the other hand, she had deflected anyone who tried to enter her room. They had asked multiple times, but the victory goddess had always come up with an excuse.

"Nike." Styx asked through the dark wooden door.

Judging by the fact that her mother's voice sounded way less floaty the angel assumed she had materialized in the hallway.

"Will you let me in dear?"

Although it was phrased as a question, Nike was raised to know this was a hidden command. She let the time pass and kept her mouth shut. Lying to Styx was a terrible idea and getting up from the comfortable mess of her blankets was an even worse idea.

No, she would stay here. Drowning in her thoughts and in her own sorrows.

"Nike." Styx asked, more stern now.

Still the victory goddess refused.

"You leave me no choice, love."

Nike took her head from underneath the blanket just in time to see the water trickle underneath the door. It streamed into the room where it reshaped itself into the figure of her mother.

Styx took a moment and eyed her daughter. Something seemed to click inside her mind. The goddess of the chtonic river gracefully walked across the room towards Nike's bed. The latter however turned around, not wanting to speak to her mother.

The victory goddess felt Styx sit on the edge of her bed. Nike pulled the blanket over her head once more, turning herself into an angelic burrito.

"Darling, I understand that you might not want to see anyone, but it has been weeks. Could you at least tell me what is going on?"

Nike just hummed.

"Please, my love. I'm worried about you. We all are."

"Will you tell anyone else?" The victory goddess asked her mother in a raspy voice.

"Of course not. Not unless you want me to." Styx stated.

"Do you swear?"

"What? You want me to swear it, on my own river?"

Nike nodded. Styx rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Fine." She muttered.

"I swear to my own river that I will not tell anyone else a word about the information you entrust me with, unless you ask me to."

"Thank you." The angel mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper.

She let go of her burrito form and turned around, placing her head in her mother's lap. Styx combed her long fingers through her daughter's hair.

Sometimes Nike wondered how she was a child of her parents. Her hair was blond where theirs was black. She was light and loved the upper world, they were dark and adored the underworld. She was gold and they were silver.

Part of the victory goddess wondered what would happen if she told her mother what was bothering her. They were so different already, what if her mother didn't understand the way she looked at the things. But then again, Styx tended to surprise her in many ways.

"You know how I used to go to the upper world every day and stay there until Selene made her way across the sky in her moon chariot?"

"Way too well." Styx grimaced, remembering the lectures she had given her daughter.

"I had met someone there."

Nike could feel her mother stiffen as her nails gently dug into the angel's scalp.

"You did now?"

The victory goddess noticed her mother's skepticism.

"A titaness, Metis. We easily became friends and met each other every day."

 Even Nike heard the melancholy in her own voice.

"Let me guess, something happened between the two of you." Styx predicted.

"On the contrary, nothing happened at all. I liked her, but even if I had dared act upon it-"

"She was with someone else."

Nike nodded.

"One day she just stopped showing up. No warning, no goodbye... Just nothing."

The silence that followed made Nike believe that her mother was deep in thought. Perhaps contemplating.

"What did you say her name was again?"

The angel turned her head up towards her mother to see a pained look on her face.

"Metis... Why?" Nike asked after a moment of studying Styx's face.

"I'm afraid it is not my place to say love."

The victory goddess could see the storm of emotions behind her mother's eyes which led her to assume an oath had been sworn in her name.

"Can someone else tell me what happened to her?"

"If they value their life, then no." Styx stated.

Nike swallowed. An oath had indeed been sworn. She didn't want to bring whoever knew what happened to Metis in trouble, but she had to know.

"Couldn't you make an exception mother?"

"Absolutely not! If I do this for you I might as well do it for Kratos or Zelos and others. Where will I draw the line then?"

"But-"

"Nike, careful..." Styx said as her eyes glinted, her voice full of warning.

The angel turned her head away from her mother once more.

"I only wish to understand what happened to my only best friend." She muttered.