I awoke in utter fright. I was floating in my room high above my bed. I’ve never awakened floating in the air before. Looking around me, I could see that my balcony doors were open. I took off at full speed, sobbing. I was upset while flying, kinda like crying and driving, a very dangerous combination. It was dark, but the stars were out. As I was flying, you must have heard me, because I heard your voice calling me. “Nike…Nike, dear one, stop now! What is it ?” Your voice reached out to me from the void of the darkness.

Then just like that, I stopped in mid-flight…your face and hand formed, and you were visible. You were larger than your mortal form…I hovered there as you wiped the tears from my cheek. “Come now, little one,” you said in a soft-spoken voice. “What is it? What has made you take flight during the darkest hours of the night?” 

“I…I…” My head bowed, tears still sliding down my face. You put your arms around me and we floated to the ground, to a nearby park. You took me up in your arms and held me. 

“There, there, little one, tell me now what has happened,” you asked me as you stroked my wings. I told you of the events of the last two days, the lustful thoughts, the feeling of not being in control of myself. You held me and rocked me, as if to put me to sleep. 

“Shhh, hush now, my sweet little night flyer. This is all normal and part of your nature. It is normal to feel these things. Shhh now.” You saw a new patch of grass and laid me there, covering me in a sheet of thin moss. “Rest now, little one. You will see.”

Nyx stayed with Nike till daybreak. She called an UBER and carried Nike to the car when it arrived. Handing the driver $100, she said, “Take her straight to that address. Someone will come out for her. If any harm befalls this Goddess, you will answer to me.” The driver nodded; he fully understood.  He drove Nike to the Olympus Administration building. 

Nyx called Athena and told her what had happened. When the UBER arrived, Athena was downstairs and picked up her little sister and carried her up to her room.

I woke up just before midday, thinking I had just dreamt of this beautiful vision of my dear cousins taking care of me, but I noticed the glass of stardust on my nightstand and I knew I hadn’t dreamed that part of my evening. I brought my knees up to my chest. I thought of all the things that had been happening. I thought about what everyone had told me about these feelings and sensations. I heard my mother’s voice, not Lady Hera, but my mother, Styx. She had said to me, “One day, my little one, you will be all grown up, and I am sorry I will not be with you when this happens. I want you to know that I will always love you and I am always with you.” She had placed her hand on my heart. Tears formed in my eyes.

“I will never grow a day without you, Mother.”

“Shhh, my little one, do not be afraid of what’s to come for you.” She lifted my chin and kissed my forehead as she said this. “You are all my prize, and I am honored to have borne you. Everything will be alright, you will see.” She faded from me. I sat there and just cried. 

“Mother, please don’t go. Now, what’s going to happen to me?” I said, crying into my pillow.

Nike (Nikki Crump-Hansted)
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