"Eros?"
Hebe felt a flicker of confusion. In the myths of the future, Eros was known as the son of Aphrodite—her current sister-in-law—born from her illicit union with Ares. He was depicted as the winged, boyish god of love. Yet, Nyx referred to him as a "brother," which brought to mind a far older, more shadowed legend: that Eros was the fifth Primordial to emerge from Chaos, the original master of the Laws of Lust.
Nyx's gaze remained distant and cold. "I have perceived the tracks of Fate. Another disaster is brewing upon the earth. The King's will shall see this generation of mankind extinguished, but a new race will be born in pairs. This surging power of desire is the ultimate nourishment for Eros. His divinity is beginning to stir."
"...Lady Nyx, do you mean for me to assist Lord Eros in reclaiming his Mandate?" Hebe asked, unsure of the relationship between the two Primordials. She assumed Nyx wanted her to help him recover.
Nyx did not answer directly. Instead, she continued her narration. "At the dawn of the world, our father, Chaos, created this realm and us. He then fell into a near-eternal slumber, having exhausted his essence. Eros was our youngest brother—and the first King of the Gods chosen by Chaos himself."
As the veil of history was pulled back, Hebe's expression became profoundly subtle. Within her, the Godhead of History reacted to these ancient secrets. Grains of golden sand began to swirl, and blurry, distant images flashed with sudden clarity.
The Godhead was ascending. She hadn't expected that listening to primordial gossip would yield such substantial benefits.
"Eros was the embodiment of Primordial Lust, possessing the power to manipulate the soul. Under his influence, Gaia and I were driven to birth countless deities to complete this fledgling world. You are a goddess; you understand the price a mother pays for such procreation."
Hebe nodded. While the world granted new Godheads, the physical form and divine power of a child were drawn from the mother. A goddess of lesser strength could be stripped of her essence—or even perish—during the birth of a powerful scion.
"We grew weary of a life defined by perpetual breeding," Nyx said, her tone as light as a breeze despite the horror of her words. "Desire should be free. Procreation should be our choice, not a mechanical byproduct of a savage, primitive law. And so, we united... and we killed him."
"You killed the Master of Lust, the Primordial Eros?" Hebe's voice was barely a whisper. She had stumbled upon a secret of cosmic proportions.
"Indeed," Nyx confirmed. "We shattered him back into his primal essence and scattered him across the omnipresent Laws. Since then, Lust has remained masterless. Of course, slaying a Primordial demanded a steep price from us all. We no longer have the strength to pay that price to destroy him a second time."
"Then why not simply snuff out the opportunity for his rebirth?"
Nyx shook her head. "No. Though we despise his power over the mind, to the World, he is a contributor who completed the Laws. For eons, the Laws have sought to bring him back. Even if we destroyed his current vessel, he would find another mother—or another way—to return."
"And the vessel Eros has chosen is..." Hebe already knew the answer.
"Star-Crowned Uranus," Nyx replied. "Ever since the symbol of his virility fell into the sea, the Laws of Lust have been coiled around it. The goddess born from the flesh of the Sky-King—Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty—is the perfect vessel. Eros shall be reborn through her."
So that was it. Aphrodite was merely a tool selected by the Laws. It explained why her command over the Laws of Lust often seemed clumsy and superficial, while her beauty was her true claim to fame. The Laws never intended to give her the Mandate of Desire; they were merely using the Sky-King's flesh to forge a path for the true God of Love.
"Then, Lady Nyx, what is your plan?" Hebe asked, still somewhat dazed. Nyx wanted to stop Eros but couldn't kill him due to the World's Will. What could a Primary Deity like Hebe do that a Primordial could not?
"Under normal circumstances, this would be a minor grievance," Nyx explained. "The World's Primal Essence is finite. After two Great Wars, the world was damaged, and there wasn't enough essence left to support another Primordial. Even if Eros were reborn, he would be a mere deity of limited power, no threat to us."
Nyx paused, looking at Hebe with a complex, almost ironic expression.
"But because of you and that little one, Phagos—because Winter completed the cycle of the seasons, the Sun of the Dead perfected the Underworld, and Reincarnation gave the world a new engine of growth—the World is about to ascend. Once that happens, Primal Essence will flood the realm once more. It will be more than enough to sustain a new Primordial."
So, I'm the one responsible for this mess? Hebe thought wryly.
"So you want me to seize that Primordial seat before Eros can reclaim it?"
"Precisely," Nyx nodded.
"...Very well. I accept," Hebe replied. She didn't have to think long. Having heard such a dangerous secret, she doubted she would leave the temple alive if she refused. Furthermore, the benefits were incalculable. If she succeeded, she would have four Primordials standing behind her. As long as she didn't cross their interests, she would be untouchable.
Let Zeus try to strike her then; he would have to see if his lightning was hot enough to burn the very foundation of the world.
"A wise and far-seeing goddess," Nyx said, satisfied. "You will not regret this."
The atmosphere in the hall lightened. Hebe, no longer fearing for her life, asked one more question. "Lady Nyx, given Aphrodite's rank, even with her seat as a Primary Deity, Eros should only be born with First-Tier power. How could he possibly ascend to a Primordial rank so quickly?"
Nyx's beautiful face held a touch of amusement. "That, Lady Hebe, is actually quite a fortunate thing for you."
"Fortunate?"
"I told you Eros was the first King chosen by Chaos, but he never took the throne. Instead, Uranus, son of Gaia, became the first. Every god who has sat upon the throne of the King since then owes a debt to Eros. Previously, the debt went unpaid because the creditor was gone. But now that he is returning, it is time to collect. Eros does not target a specific god; he targets the holder of the Mandate of the King."
Hebe's eyes widened. "Zeus?"
"Yes. Do not underestimate your father. Aside from his wit and cruelty, he is the strongest among his siblings. Before you arrived, he was the one most likely to break through the rank of Primary Deity and reach our level." Nyx's eyes shimmered with the threads of destiny once more. "When Eros is born, the Laws will grant him two artifacts: a Golden Bow of Love and a quiver of two types of arrows—Golden and Lead. Those struck by the gold fall into a feverish love with the first person they see; those struck by lead feel a deep revulsion."
Nyx continued, "Within that quiver are twelve Golden Arrows of Fate, forged from the karmic bond between the King and Eros. They represent twelve grand passions that the King of Gods must endure."
Zeus and his twelve mortal lovers! Hebe realized. So that's where the legends came from. It wasn't just Zeus's own philandering—though that certainly helped—it was a divine debt.
"Every time Zeus completes one of these romances, Eros will extract a portion of the King's divine power and potential," Nyx said, her voice chillingly calm. "This power, combined with the faith of humanity's procreation, will allow Eros to bridge the gap to the Primordial rank with ease."
Nyx looked at Hebe. "Therefore, you must reach that rank before he does."
The Fall of the Moon
While Hebe and Nyx were locked in secret negotiations, chaos erupted once more on Olympus. This time, it had nothing to do with Hebe, but with Selene, the Full Moon Goddess. She had violated the laws of the mountain through a dereliction of duty, and Zeus intended to judge her.
It began with her obsession with Endymion. Every night, the moon-crowned goddess descended to the mortal realm to kiss her sleeping lover. At first, she was satisfied with these brief, silent encounters. But the fire of her passion grew, fueled by an unseen influence, until she began to lose her reason.
One night, as she touched the youth's golden hair, Endymion awoke. He had long suspected a presence in his sleep. He had seen her—not a nymph or a water-spirit, but a goddess draped in moonlight. He had fallen as deeply in love with her as she had with him.
As she prepared to leave, the handsome shepherd caught her hand. They stared at one another as a shooting star streaked across the sky.
"My Goddess, do not go," Endymion whispered. "Though I have only just woken, I have called your name a thousand times in my dreams. That star was not a coincidence; it was my gift to you. It lost its light to find its home, just as my heart has found its end in you."
His words finally shattered Selene's last shred of restraint. She chose to stay.
That night, the mortals looked up to find the moon missing. The sky was a void, save for a few sparse stars. The Moon had fallen from the heavens, shining all night long upon Mount Latmus in Asia Minor.
Such a blatant abandonment of duty could not be hidden. Apollo, under Zeus's orders, captured the love-struck Selene and brought her before the High Council for judgment.
In a corner of the Great Temple, Eos, the Dawn Goddess, watched her sister kneeling on the floor. She closed her eyes in despair. She knew then that this was not a simple mistake—it was an inescapable trap.