More Family

{Universal Dreamscape}

"So why exactly did you drag me in here?" I asked cocking my head to the side.

"I thought it was about time that I met you after all you are my brother-husband's son and therefore you are my own as well."

"You are taking this much better than I thought you would have." I replied sincerely after all if your husband from the beginning you of time, ended up having a mortal kid with another woman I think almost anyone would be mad about that.

"Oh don't worry Ozzy." Nyx said her form becoming smaller until she was almost the same height as me, placing her stone cold hand on my head. Feeling her hand through my hair I didn't know how I knew but I knew if she wanted to kill me no one not even my father would be able to stop her.

"Mother can I go now!" Hypnos whined behind her.

With a tied sight my step mother replied with an almost tired sigh "Fine Hypnos you can leave us, still we will have a talk later."

"Cool," he replied making finger guns "Nice to meet you bro, but I have some kids to put to sleep."

Hypnos' boyish form was encircled by his eagle like wings, dissipating into a puff of smoke.

"Seriously when is he going to grow up." Nyx said shaking her head at the god's of sleep childlike demeanor.

"Just wondering but is he gonna torment some children's sleep?" I asked after all the god's last sentence was disturbing to say the least.

"Oh look at you so worried about the mortals, but no isn't going to torment mortal children, he calls all mortals children after all compared to us and our lifespan even the oldest of mortals would be no more than a baby."

"Well then let's stop talking about Hypnos after all I came all this way from my house in Tartarus to visit you." Nyx added a smile gracing her lips, making her look more beautiful than before, honestly I wondered if even Aphrodite could compare to her beauty.

'Don't think like that Ozzy, that's what started the Trojan War.' I thought bringing my head back to the words of the woman in front of me.

"So Ozzy, what are you doing in the Labyrinth after all it isn't some place most mortals come to by choice."

"Labor from dad." I replied concisely almost instantaneously, not wanting to do anything that could earn her ire.

"Ahh, one of the two reasons mortals come in here I see, but don't worry about the labyrinth after all, the labyrinth and fate are closely intertwined if the thing you are searching for is here then you'll find it, if not …" she trailed off, her hand still stroking my hair, in a rhythmic manner.

She then began asking me questions exactly the same as the ones my actual mother had asked me. Though there were moments that I had to tread closely when she asked me about Akhlys but even she seemed to not mind her daughter's death, or temporary death for that matter after all there was almost no way ti actually kill a primordial without the help of another primordial.

"A little advice from step-mom, the Labyrinth is filled with malice, yet it is also filled with monsters and darkness use those to your advantage after all in the Labyrinth only night exists."

With that final piece of advice she snapped her slender fingers, the space shattered around us I saw how a house of draknsss with heads of different monsters and daimons appeared behind Nyx before she entered, and when I rose again I was back in the labyrinth, Lailaps and Swiper by my side.

"Well that was something." I muttered going my head laying against Lailaps' back.

"Master are you okay!" Lailaps woofed, "Yeah I'm fine just some run in with the family."

"Oh did grand master call you." Swiper asked his ears perching up at my words.

"No it was someone else, but that doesn't matter after all what happened has already happened." I slowly stood up still feeling wobbly probably because of being forcefully taken into a dream that wasn't my own.

"Alright, guys," I said, once more getting on Lailaps' back. "Let's keep moving."

— —

The Labyrinth was a sprawling, ever-changing maze. Walls shifted and floors tilted, creating new paths and dead ends at a whim. We had been walking for what felt like hours when we stumbled upon something unusual. The stone corridor opened into a vast cavern, and in the center of it was a strange, almost village-like setup.

The houses were made of twisted wood and stone, meticulously put together. Almost like someone had had too much time on their hands. The air was thick with the scent of hay and something else something metallic and salty, blood.

As we stepped closer, I noticed what seemed to be the only inhabitants. Horses roamed freely, their eyes glinting with a hunger taht mirrored the red auras surrounding them. Their coats were matted, their hooves cracked and stained. They moved in packs, teeth bared,snarling at their companions trying to take bites out of each other some even succeeded.

Suddenly, a man appeared from behind one of the structures. His eyes widened in shock, his reddish aura flared and he yelled, "Intruder!"

Before I could react, dozens of wild-looking men and women materialized out of thin air, some riding the horses I had been avoiding, other son the top of structures weapons in hand. They were dressed in regal clothing, still their eyes were feral, like they hadn't seen the sun in years. Weapons made of bone and metal gleamed in their hands as they encircled us.

A man with sunken eyes, literally I mean the dude had no eyes simply sockets with bloodied tears stretching down his face, yelled his voice thundering across the makeshift village "ODYSSEUS IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG!!"

[Greek Myth Fact: Hypnos was the god or personified spirit of sleep. He dwelt in Erebus, the land of eternal darkness beyond the gates of the rising sun, and rose into the sky each night in the train of his mother Nyx (Night). Hypnos was often paired with his twin brother Thanatos (Peaceful Death), and the Oneiroi (Dreams) were his brothers or sons.

Hypnos was depicted as a young man with wings on his shoulders or brow. His attributes included either a horn of sleep-inducing opium, a poppy-stem, a branch dripping water from the river Lethe (Forgetfulness), or an inverted torch.]

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