(Greek Mythology) The Abyss of the Underworld
Chapter 47
It's said that distance makes the heart grow fonder. Nyx, who had only seen his father Chaos at birth, undoubtedly held him in the highest esteem. He envied his sister Amy's ability to make food that their father would eat. Years later, Nyx once again challenged himself to cook.
Amy: I have absolutely no desire to cook for Father. Who the hell wants to be a cook?
Tartarus and Amy, the only two who knew the truth, maintained a tacit, unwavering silence in the face of their enthusiastic sister/older sister, for the sake of Nyx's idealized image.
Tartarus and Amy: We'll just watch. We won't say a word.
To be able to make food that suits Father's tastes, Nyx began a daily routine of pestering Amy for lessons, behaving with a particularly unrestrained and carefree attitude.
Having been enlightened by Nyx's "amazing" culinary talent, Aimi didn't really want to agree, but ultimately succumbed to Nyx's unrestrained pleading and starry-eyed gaze.
Aimi, startled by her sister's behavior, thought: "Fine, whatever makes you happy."
Hades then surprisingly discovered that some of the gods of the underworld had recently become exceptionally diligent and efficient.
These gods shared a common characteristic: they were all Nyx's children.
Under the scrutinizing gaze of their superior, the Gemini gods, the most obvious targets of Hades's attention, awkwardly smiled, determined to remain silent. How could they possibly bring themselves to say they didn't want to eat their mother's disastrous cooking?
Some gods can use work as an excuse to escape, but others can't. For example, the original trio of gods—Tartarus, Amyr, and Erebus—have no work at all; Aether, Hemera, and the Tarasa family are unable to interfere in the affairs of the underworld due to their incompatible attributes; and Eris, who has recently been kept by Nyx as a clothes hanger and constantly having her clothes changed.
Oh, and there's also Hades, the god of the underworld, who came looking for Tartarus but was unfortunately detained.
In the silence, the sounds coming from the kitchen were particularly clear. The atmosphere in the temple was rather heavy, and Erebus was the most restless among them.
His older brother and Nicol could choose not to eat if they didn't want to, and the other gods could only taste a little, but he would definitely be forced to finish it all. In the end, he'd be the only one who suffered, right? Thinking of this, Erebus's expression became even more miserable.
"Nicole, do you know what Nix is making?" After a period of learning, Nix decided to cook for herself and let everyone taste her skills, so she dismissed the other gods from the kitchen. Therefore, Erebus had no idea what Nix was making.
"I only taught you how to make glutinous rice balls." Glutinous rice balls were the simplest and easiest food to make, chosen by Ai Miye after careful consideration. Although she hadn't demonstrated step-by-step, this kind of food, which only requires wrapping the filling in dough and boiling it in water, doesn't require much culinary skill. It shouldn't taste too bad no matter how it's made.
Even if Nix couldn't even wrap glutinous rice balls properly, it wouldn't matter. As long as they were cooked, they could just be eaten as boiled glutinous rice dumplings.
"Really? But why do I still have a bad feeling?" Although Ai Miye's answer was reassuring, Erebus's unease remained unabated.
"Just try a little of what Nyx made later, but it's best not to touch it." After listening to Erebus and Amyr's conversation, Tartarus hesitated for a moment, but still decided to remind Hades, who was still unaware of the truth. Although it was disrespectful to Nyx, Hades had been detained because he came to see him, and he felt a little guilty if he were caught off guard.
"Okay." Hades accepted Tartarus's kindness, a hint of curiosity rising in his heart. For Tartarus to say something like that, just how bad was Prince Nyx's cooking?
"Where's Hemera?" Erebus decided not to think about the potentially disastrous events that were about to unfold.
"She wanted to try cooking fish, so she just went fishing," Ether replied.
To avoid a repeat of the previous mix-up, Hemera specifically asked where the fish were before setting off. Of course, given Hemera's terrible sense of direction, she brought her daughter, Tarasa, along.
"Aren't you coming along?" Erebus asked, somewhat puzzled.
"She said she'd do it all herself." Cooking was one of the few things that truly showed Hemera and Nix were mother and daughter; this similarity manifested in many ways, such as both being terrible cooks and insisting on doing it themselves despite their poor skills.
The ignored Tarasa: So am I invisible? (Don't say that, how could you be invisible? You're clearly a GPS navigator!)
"Nicholas, I haven't tried your cooking yet. You can grill the fish Hemera caught later."
As long as Amyye took action, the amount of food ravaging everyone's stomachs would be halved. Tartarus's suggestion was immediately unanimously approved, and Amyye herself had no objections.
While they were talking, Nix had already finished making the glutinous rice balls, and they looked surprisingly good.
More than good, compared to the increasingly bizarrely colored things Nix usually made, today's glutinous rice balls were incredibly beautiful, enough to make one overlook their very uneven size.
In short, everyone's expectations were as low as they could possibly be; if it looked like a glutinous rice ball, they'd genuinely consider it to be quite appealing.
As for the taste… seeing the other gods' amazed expressions, Tartarus wisely abandoned the idea of trying it himself. Judging from their reactions, he figured it was best not to test it on himself.
"Mother Goddess, there's a bit too much vinegar."
"Mother Goddess, did you mix up the salt and sugar?"
Aether and Eris spoke simultaneously. Erebus said nothing, but judging from his action of gulping down a large cup of water because of the spiciness, there was no need for him to say anything.
Hades also remained silent, because like Tartarus, he hadn't even touched the bowl containing the glutinous rice ball.
The different reactions led to a moment of silence. Damn it, this isn't how the script is supposed to go! What happened to the shared misery? The glutinous rice ball didn't taste good, so what's the point of a pleasant group吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for complaining/criticizing)?
"How does it taste? I specially made many different flavored glutinous rice balls and mixed them together to ensure every bite is a different experience," Nix said enthusiastically, trying to recommend it to everyone.
"Hmm...it's alright," Ai Miya mumbled, biting into a glutinous rice ball.
This startling comment caused a burst of coughing. Eris, unfortunately sitting opposite Erebus, frowned at the bowl splattered with a suspicious liquid, promptly tossed aside her spoon, and left.
Of course, whether Eris secretly breathed a sigh of relief is unknown.
"Really?" Nix's face, which had just been clouded with worry, suddenly brightened, and little flowers seemed to float behind him.
"Yes, really." Ai Miya, without changing her expression, scooped up another glutinous rice ball and put it in her mouth, proving the truth of her words with her actions.
"Then eat more. I'll make more if you're not full," Nix said, displaying his considerate and virtuous nature.
Thus, Erebus, with his severe henpecked nature, had no choice but to reluctantly finish the bowl of glutinous rice balls under his wife's watchful gaze, with a death-defying resolve and fearless courage.
Everyone pretended not to see Erebus secretly taking his stomach medicine, after all, his bowl of glutinous rice balls was indeed overflowing with chili-filled filling. (Could it be that Nexus did it on purpose?)
In stark contrast to Erebus's miserable expression was Amy's incredibly calm demeanor. Her ability to accept Nexus's culinary monstrosity so readily left the other gods utterly bewildered.
Ether maintained his usual golden silence, quietly eating his rice balls. Of course, it would be even better if one could ignore the fact that it took him ten minutes to finish just one.
It seems even Ether couldn't stand Nexus's terrible cooking and was trying to stall for time, and he successfully stalled until Hermes returned.
Chapter 47