Chapter 2: Legacy of Loss
The newly formed cosmos was still malleable, a canvas upon which the gods would paint their stories. But Erebus felt… empty. The echoes of John Smith persisted, a nagging reminder of a life lived and lost. He remembered the warmth of the sun on his skin, the taste of coffee, the sound of laughter. These human sensations, so fleeting and fragile, haunted him.
He tried to reconcile John Smith with Erebus. Was he a god with human memories? Or a human trapped in a god's existence? The answer remained elusive, lost in the swirling chaos of the nascent universe.
Nyx, perceiving her brother's torment, approached him with a silent understanding. She shared the darkness within him, the weight of the Void, but she also embraced it.
"Do not cling to what was, Erebus," she murmured, her voice a whisper in the boundless expanse. "Embrace what is. We are the foundations of this world. Our sorrow, our longing, shapes its very being."
Her words offered a sliver of solace, but the grief remained, a constant undercurrent in the depths of his divine consciousness. This grief, this lingering residue of John Smith, became a part of Erebus, influencing his actions, his decisions, his very nature.
He decided to create something, not from loneliness this time, but from a desire to understand, to process the lingering trauma. He created the realm of Erebus, the dark pit beneath Hades where souls would eventually wander, a reflection of the darkness within himself.