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???

The air hung heavy with the scent of damp earth and pine needles. The forest, usually a comforting embrace, felt like a suffocating cage tonight. Ayden, his back to me, was a silhouette against the pale moonlight filtering through the canopy. His shoulders slumped, and every step he took was measured, deliberate, as if the weight of the world rested on his young shoulders.

He had been talking to Nyx, his mother, a goddess of the night, her presence a palpable chill in the air. She was gone now, vanished into the shadows like wisps of smoke. I watched Ayden's retreating figure, his confusion and fear showing in the night. It mirrored my own, a constant ache in the pit of my stomach.

A rustle in the undergrowth broke the silence. I stiffened, my hand instinctively reaching for the dagger tucked into my belt. A chuckle, low and unsettling, slithered through the air, and I spun around, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Nyx stood before me, a shadow sculpted into a goddess. Her eyes, pools of starlight, held a cruel amusement.

"How was your meeting with your mother, Haruki?" she asked, her voice a whisper that carried the weight of the ages.

My jaw clenched. It was a pointless conversation, something about justice that doesn't really make sense.

"It was... enlightening," I managed, my voice strained.

Nyx laughed, a sound that echoed through the trees, a sound that spoke of power and malice. "You're a good boy, Haruki. A dutiful son."

"You shouldn't have brought Ayden into this mess," I said, my voice raw with anger. "He doesn't deserve this, he is a fucking child, grandma!" The title I called her made me want to stab myself with the dagger.

Nyx's laugh echoed again, louder this time, filled with a chilling mirth. "Oh, Haruki, you worry too much. My child is strong. He knows his place in this world."

"He's just a boy!"

"He's a demigod, Haruki. He was born for this." Her gaze hardened, the amusement fading from her eyes. "And you, Haruki, you are a pawn in a grander game. There are promises to be kept, sacrifices to be made."

My hand instinctively went to my eye. The left one, an eye that would be taken days from now on. A mark of my heritage, a pledge to my mother, Nemesis.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about my child," Nyx said, a cruel edge to her voice. "Worry about your own. That eye of yours, Haruki, will be needed soon. It will be your promise, your bond to your mother. It will be the key to your service in this battle."

As she spoke, a tendril of shadow licked out, wrapping around my eye. A searing pain shot through my head, a reminder of the power that resided within me, a power I wasn't sure I could control, let alone wield.

"Don't test me, Haruki," Nyx rasped, her voice a venomous hiss in the darkness. "Your mother is counting on you. And so am I."

Then, with a silent rustle, she was gone, dissolving into the night like a phantom.

I was left alone, the chill from her presence lingering in the air. My hand went to my eye, feeling the throb of power pulsing beneath my skin. The forest was silent, the only sound my ragged breaths. I couldn't shake the feeling of being a puppet, a pawn in a game I didn't understand.

˜"*°• Author's note •°*"˜
Sorry not sorry, comedies in the other upcoming chapters <3

Also haruki is exactly like Ethan nakamura (ifykyk), since he is the son of nemesis, ethan traded his eye for his chance at getting revenge on all those who have wronged him. Haruki in his case wanted to protect the people he is close with, so it was a big shock for him when he watched ayden's interaction with nyx.