as told to me by Orpheus after a night of wine and song

all praise be to almighty Nyx, for she is the beautiful goddess of night, one of the first of the many gods to take form from the fabric of being

listen to her augeries, chanted and sprung to life in her adyton in Tartatus, as far beneath Hades as Heaven is above Earth

and behold the dancing of the cosmos, swept along currents to her rhythmic chants, as Adrasteia plays her tympanon in accompaniment

all through the day she chants, as Khronos sleeps in chains bound on the floor beside her, drunk on honey dreaming of the prophecies she foretells

her back adorned by a set of jet black wings, letting her fly amongst the heavens themselves, her mists darkenening the light of heaven from man

she dances in her long flowing robes of onyx, telling the tales of the beginning, and singing the visions of what would be the end

as Khronos lays bound in his fitful sleep, her words all be in his dreaming mind, he listens as she recounts the days before man and gods

in the beginning there was just Khaos the gap between things, Khaos brought forth Gaia the Mother Earth herself, and Tartarus the pit beneath

then Khaos gave form to two children, first came Nyx aflight on ebony wings, and Erebus the embodiment of the darkness itself

Gaia fearful of the dark, Khaos cloaked her with protection on all sides, bringing Aether the light and then Ouranos the heavens

Nyx set forth to fly through the heavens, casting her mists into the skies, shielding the lights of Aether from Gaia below til only Ouranos shimmered in the skies

soon Khronos the embodiment of time, and Aion of eternity joined the growing family of primordial gods, and slowly the universe formed around them

Nyx was aloof and carried malice for all but her brother Erebus, and she carried an egg which she placed in the darkness, from which Eros was born

Eros the two faced and two sexed god went to Gaia, and from him procreation was made, and soon life florished on Gaia’s ample bosoms

and the life upon Gaia feared the darkness and the night, Erebus and Nyx had another child, sweet Hemera the day who shares the skies with her mother

as Nyx was feared Hemera was beloved by all, and with Eros and Hemera Gaia was soon filled with an abundance of life of all types and manner

Gaia and Ouranos gave birth to the Titans, and soon their stories and conquests filled the ever expanding universe with heroes and villians, but only fear for Nyx herself

angry at this intrusion, Nyx soared on black wings throughout the world, shocked at the daring and ignorance of God and man

her fury gave birth to Thanatos, and he the god of death brought ruin to paradise, reigning in man’s insatiable thirst for more

not content she birthed Hypnos, the god of sleep to further slow both man and God, forcing them to rest as she governed the night sky

and to torment their rest she brought forth Oneiroi, who gave them dreams once Hypnos pulled them to sleep, of unattainable things and fear

and she watched the fearful mortals, as they built great temples of worship upon Gaia’s back, as they praised the light and life

but she was not content in her actions, as man still showed her no respect, only fear and loathing of which she could not stand to allow

she gave birth to more children with her anger, Geras was born and brought old age and brittle bodies, forcing men to age so Thanatos could snatch them up easily

Oizys the goddess of pain, the embodiment of her mother’s rage inflicted torment, working hand in hand with her twin Momos god of blame

still man stood strong in worship of the gods, so she birthed Moros the doom, and Keres the destruction to tear down the cities of man

her son Philotes fled her spiteful anger, the god of friendship took shelter with Hemera to help man, much to his mother’s distaste

her other children stood by their mother, seeking to undo Philotes gift of friendship, to prove to mortals that life was no gift but pain

Apate the goddess of deceit, the mother of lies whispering into man’s ears, seeking to drive them apart with her wickedness

and Eris of dischord with her golden apple of dischordia, seeking to ruin the great kingdoms of man, planting seeds to tear them down from within

the gods feared and hated her and united to seal her children, all but Philotes and Hemera into a jar wrought by Hephaestus, sealed away forever

and all was well on Gaia for God and man, but while Nyx was filled with rage at the imprisonment of her children, the gods grew callous and mean

they thought to have removed Nyx’s influence from Gaia, and played the games of god of man, until the day Hades came and swept Kore away to be his bride

and Demeter’s anger was paramount, and the world itself fell into a harsh frozen winter, man suffered and died as the chill winds encompassed the globe

so it was that Prometheus the Titan begged the gods for mercy, and of course they had none and laughed at the Titan, so he had no choice but to act

Prometheus stole the secret of the gods, knowing it was a sentence worse than death, but unable to bear the suffering, he gave man the gift of fire

enraged at the audacity of the old Titan, the gods created woman from dust, the first of her kind and tasked her with guarding the jar Hephaestus had wrought

Pandora was no evil beauty as they had hoped to craft, she was intelligent and beautiful, but guileless and unaware of the games of the immortals

sensing her chance to free her children, Nyx came to her in disguise as black cat, and soon they struck up a friendship of sorts

Nyx innocently asked of the jar Pandora was sworn to not open, laughing when Pandora said it contained great evil, Nyx bade her to take a small peek

why would the great gods put all of the evils in one jar, she asked with great humor, and Pandora had no answer to that as it made no sense

they seek to trick you and make you a fool, this is the type of game the gods love most, laughing at man’s expense from Mount Olympus

just a look to see if they lie or not, barely open the lid a crack, these great evils should not be able to escape so small an opening

and Pandora listened to Nyx, as she was her first and only friend, and with great trepidation she removed the stopper just a little to peer inside

and like that all of Nyx’s children were free, flying out into the world for the first time in centuries, at last able to bring suffering to man

and Nyx found herself torn, in order to free her children that she loved so dearly, she was forced to betray what she was surprised to find one she found as a friend

Nyx fled back to Tartarus, as she grappled with this new sense of understanding, and she sought to find a way to make it right again

none of the gods knew of her involvement, they thought themselves clever, for this is why they created the woman that unleashed pain and torment on man

and Nyx was responsible for it, the gods belittled and spoke badly of women, each taking credit for the actions that opened the jar

and she watched from the skies as the world beneath her changed, yet something stayed with her, a feeling she could not quite understand

and the games of gods and man played on without her, as she wrestled with understanding on cause and effect, Hera snared her son Hypnos into her petty squabbles

Hera bade Hypnos lure Zeus to sleep so she could hatch out her plans, for she wanted to make the foolish oaf Hercules suffer, and used Hypnos power to fulfill her end game

and when Zeus awoke with terrible anger, he pursued Hypnos across the world, and Hypnos fled to his mother knowing she would protect him

as Zeus arrived in Tartarus, shaking with rage at having been cast to sleep, he backed down at the sight of beautiful Nyx

for she was of the undying gods from before time itself, he bowed to her and accepted Hypnos apology, and Nyx saw in Hera and Zeus her own folly

she realized she was no better than the ones she despised, and it filled her with a new rage, but this was directed inwards at her own failings

so Nyx in her shame at her actions, unable to reconcile the rage she felt and the remorse coursing through her, stayed in Tartatus except to spread the mists of night

there she gave birth to her triplet sisters, granting them powers to stitch a tapestry of destiny, Clotho Lachesis and Aptropos the sisters of Fate

she hoped they would be able to help man see the interference of the gods, to help those she had only sought to hurt, to make up for her betrayal for her children

and with this first and last gift to man, Nyx allowed herself to fade from the minds of man, to dance and cast auguries to send to the Oracles

even this was done in secret, as the Oracles at Delphi were thought to be vessels of Apollo the Sun God, yet received their wisdom from a small adyton linked to her own

decades passed and Nyx remained alone with chained Kronos, doing her best to help the humans she had so despised, seeking always to right a wrong she could not fix

and as time passed and the power of the gods waned, there was still a primal fear of the night, of the things that hunt and kill in time of darkness

for all her efforts done in vain, Nyx knew that this ingrained mistrust would never fade, her feathery black wings on shoulders slumped in defeat

as new gods rose and stole the tales of the elders, man still painted women as the source of all evil and pain, and Nyx knew it to be her fault

for she had given birth to blame and deceit, to depression and death, destruction and nightmares were her children’s to purvey

in seeking to make mankind fear her and show respect, she tarnished the chance to find their love, and knew that was the hubris she must bear

all alone in her adyton to this day, still dancing and singing prophecy, as Khronos dreams drunk on honey at her feet

as Adrasteia plays along to the rhythm, and the entirety of the cosmos dances with her words, a prisoner of her own doing with no solace to be found

all praise be to almighty Nyx,for she is the beautiful goddess of night, one of the first of the many gods to take form from the fabric of being

mother of friendship and fate, of the morning that washes away the fear of the night, all seeing and all knowing goddess filled with sorrow and shame