Heaven's Gardens

Polaris

High above the surface, Polaris saw the people formed in the hands of Tyr and the Spirit at his side. It took much time and concentration before he managed to listen hard enough to hear the bearded man addressed as Oceanus. He watched the two figures work relentlessly, fascinated by every motion.

While he watched and lingered in the sparkling garden, most of the other Stars began to filter back into the spreading darkness. Where before they had appeared almost at random, just like the bubbling laughter of Nyx had appeared at random, now the sparks of light took a new appearance. While they had worked to create the marvelous gardens, they had all spent time together and some had formed bonds of friendship. Those bonds extended to where they now decided to appear in the sky. They spun and moved until settling in spreading pictures in the sky, the groups of friends staying together.

There were only a couple exceptions to this. Polaris had stayed in the gardens to continue helping Nyx, as he would have done even had she not specifically asked it of him. And then there was the warm lighted Sol, who had expressed that he felt far more at ease in the warm, orange light of the Western garden than he had in the darkness above, and so he stayed, tending the flowers he had labored to create.

The few times Polaris ventured to the brighter garden, he had been pleased to see the smile that never seemed to leave Sol's face. Those were the moments the two Stars watched the surface grow and change together, marveling at the humans as they grew and spread. Together they learned how to better listen to the words spoken upon the ground, and were amazed when the voices of the humans began to call out to them with requests, fears, sorrows, and wishes.

Their power grew, and the Stars above sparkled brighter for the belief that was being focused on them. All of them shone the brighter for each and every prayer granted to them.

Polaris's focus was only interrupted when Nyx needed his help, which seemed to come more frequently as time moved forward. It seemed as though every time his gaze turned toward her dark figure, it had swollen even more with what was growing within her. As soon as she called, or he thought she may need him, he was at her side just as quickly as he was able to move.

At her need, Polaris had carefully coaxed a small bump out of the smooth surface just like the small outcrops of rock he had seen on the surface. It gave Nyx a surface to lean against as she rested. Worry filled him as he watched her sleep like the humans down on the surface, only far more than they seemed usually to do.

This was even more worrying than the fact Nyx had confessed she could no longer release her physical form, for Polaris had never even seen her pause longer than to take a deep breath before she came back from Tyr. She had been filled with such a vibrant energy that she had passed on to the Stars in the form of their bright, sparkling light. Now it seemed all of that energy was being focused inward, to the center of her swelling stomach.

Polaris feared she would soon explode! Surely whatever her power was being focused into must be ready soon. There were even moments he could have sworn that he had seen light shining through her dark skin, beyond the glimmering echoes of the stars that were a part of her.

Nyx lay so still against the rise, her skin seeming to absorb the soft silver shine of the flowers brushing against it. Polaris feared that she had completely run out of Power to continue in any way at all. At the merest sigh of her breath brought the Lord of Stars to his knees by her side, cradling her hand in his own.

So it was that as he held her hand gently, Nyx's dark eyes flew open as she gasped. Her other hand flew to the swell of her stomach. "Polaris," she breathed, looking to him with what looked to be a mix of fear and excitement. "It is time."

Panic spiked through Polaris, his grip on her hand becoming much firmer than it had been a moment before. He had been watching the human females giving birth, and if that was happening for Nyx now, as it appeared to be, he did not know what to do to help her. "Tell me what to do, Nyx," he said softly, not quite begging her but coming close.

A gentle smile found its way to Nyx's lips as she looked to him with tired, dark eyes. "Do not look so worried, my Star," she said gently before a deep sound of pain welled up from deep inside her chest. It seemed even though she seemed unperturbed by what was happening, that did not mean she was not feeling pain. "It will not take long before they spring forth. Just be patient as I have."

A snort was Polaris's first response before he reached up to brush the dark locks of Nyx's hair away from where they had fallen in front of her eyes. "I can be patient when it does not mean your suffering," he replied, moving his hand to rest upon the one she had on her abdomen. The skin under his hand was flaming hot, just like the one time he had touched Sol when the Star had released his physical form.

"They will be out soon, and then I can rest. You will care for them?" Nyx requested, only a hint of her normal energy glinting behind her words. "I fear when this is over, I will need to rest. But with you...With you and Sol they will be safe to shine brightly for those down below."

"You speak nonsense, Nyx," Polaris insisted. This was beginning to feel more like a farewell than the start of something new. "You will be there to care for them yourself. You will continue to shower us all in love and light."

"I give all my light unto you all, my children, and the world below. And now it is time for me to rest. I have more than earned it," Nyx said, freeing her hand from his grip. It trembled slightly as she touched his pale cheek. "It is time for you to lead your brothers fully. I know I leave everything in capable hands. I have seen the care in your eyes looking on me and the surface below."

When Polaris opened his mouth to debate what she was saying, Nyx shifted her hand to touch a finger to his lips, silencing any words he may have spoken.

"I will still be here with you Polaris, in the shadows that deepen between the light of the Stars, and in the shadows the light of your flowers cast, for I am the Nothingness between all. I have gifted the world with more than myself, more than I ever thought possible, just from a simple thought. Now I sleep."

Nyx lay her head back against the swell of the ground behind her, eyes falling closed with a heavy release of breath. As her hand fell away from Polaris's face, her physical form dissipated.

A cry of grief left Polaris, the flowers surrounding him blinking into darkness at once. His distress was interrupted by a near blinding light searing through his closed eyelids. What?

On the ground, nestled in the dark blossoms were two shining babes. 

Nyx's great gifts to the world.