"OK... so what now?" Luck asked after he had accepted the goddess's offer.
Nyx exhibited a small smile. "Do you know the difference between a blessed and an apostle, my dear Luck?"
Luck shook his head in response. The gods seldom revealed their affairs in the mortal realms, and individuals who had a hint of understanding guarded their knowledge closely.
It meant that information about the gods was limited.
Well, it didn't matter because the goddess would explain, anyway.
And he was right.
"A Blessed is someone who has been... well, blessed by a divine being. Using any of the concepts they rule over, he/she can grant a power of their authority.
For example, apart from my prominent divinity, Night, I am also the Goddess of Concealment. Nothing escapes my eye, while I can hide anything I do not want to be revealed.
If I granted you the Blessing of Concealment, that is what you would gain. You would make a terrific assassin and informant, able to hide practically anywhere while learning virtually anything about the enemy with merely a glance. But that's it. Your blessing only applies to that, and the blessing itself is just a small portion of a god's power, which can be taken away if the god wills it.
The blessed do not directly affiliate with the gods who grant them their power. A baby can be born with the blessing of Hestia, the goddess of Hearth, and he/she would live their whole life without praying or even knowing that she exists."
"So in exchange for less power, they gain freedom of association from the god."
"Yes," Nyx affirmed. "This usually happens when gods are mildly interested in a person. They grant blessings to those they see with potential and watch them grow from afar. Think of it as an 'investment opportunity' by the gods."
"Well, that's fair." Luck said flatly. "Less power in exchange for freedom of association."
Nyx shrugged in response. 'In a way, you're correct.
Apostles, on the other hand, inherit all the divinities and concepts the said god, albeit with a slightly lesser quality.
"So they're basically your avatars," Luck said with a slight frown.
"No, they're more complicated than that. For one, avatars lack free will. They're basically puppets that we used to handle matters in the mortal realm.
Apostles are like the Blessed; we see potential in them, but the difference is that their talent is enough for a god to want them on their side completely, and in return for the power bestowed upon them, all we ask is for devotion.
Unlike Blessed, though, the Apostle's soul cannot lose divinities. Only by dying will they lose their status as Apostles. Understand now?"
"Mm," Luck nodded. "How do we go about this, then?"
"It's simple, really. It's simple, really. Fusing my divinity to your soul will connect you and me on an intricate level, and then, Voila."
Nyx opened her palm as several objects appeared.
A moon.
A mask.
A candle.
A scythe.
A tear drop.
A wheel and a spear.
"All these represent the concepts contained in my divinity," Nyx said as the constructs began to rotate slowly around the moon.
The spear represents Strife.
The wheel, Fortune.
Tear, Misery.
Scythe, Death.
Candle. Sleep
Mask. Concealment.
All these make up and complement my key concept, the moon, which is the Night and Darkness. Although I did share most of these between my children, they are still a part of me, just a little less in quality."
"In which I will get even less." Luck remarked dryly.
"Nyx pouted. "How ungrateful."
"Me? Never!"
Nyx chuckled absently. (This boy really is special. His reaction is so unexpected from how I expected it to be that all my plans went down the drain. It isn't a bad feeling, though. It's refreshing in a way.)
Nyx's face turned serious again. "I will meld these concepts to your soul. I warn you, though. The concepts entailed in my divinity are as heavy as they are numerous. Fortunately, your soul seems to be strong enough, but be prepared to feel pain.
"Wait, why are you just te-!"
Nyx's divinity entered his body, essentially cutting off any reasoning Luck was trying to put through.
Luck began to feel warm. It started with his chest, till it worked its way to his limbs, and soon covered his entire body. It was pleasant, like the sun was shining gently on him.
The pleasurable feeling died there. The sudden warmth quickly disappeared, leaving a feeling of emptiness in its wake. An emptiness so resounding that it threatened to swallow him whole.
He managed to contain the feeling quickly (much to the surprise of Nyx, who stood with a worried gaze), but that gave room for a myriad of different more, each representing the concepts the goddess of the Night ruled over, with each one being as dangerous as the last.
Luck tried to scream in pain. All that came out was something akin to a tired sigh. It was evident that trying to digest Nyx's concepts was taking everything out of him.
(Focus Luck.) Nyx's voice unexpectedly appeared in his head. (Focus, or my divinity will swallow you whole. I've already tried to ease your pain, but you have to persevere.)
She was right, though. Luck was feeling more than overwhelmed. He had left that station hours ago, or what he thought to be hours. Experiencing the pain akin to a thousand teeth ripping out your innards messes up your sense of time.
Luck bore this excruciating pain as he slowly compressed the concepts 'within' him until they had taken a manageable portion in his chest, or more correctly, his soul.
Then, and only then, could he breathe a sigh of relief, a breath he was thankful for that did not feel like sulphur.
Luck looked at Nyx, who was looking at him with a wide smile, which was understandable, since she had managed to make him her Apostle.
But why did Luck feel like there was more to her smile? Like she was feeling satisfied after accomplishing something she'd never done before.
That was when Luck felt the changes in himself.
Luck felt good. Better than he had ever felt in his short years of life. He felt that if he faced the goblin chief now, he would win with minor struggle. It was weird and disconcerting, since he hadn't felt himself rise in rank.
(I guess being Nyx's apostle is that big of a boon.)
But... Luck looked at Nyx, who began to giggle as if something had caught her amusement, causing his eyes to narrow.
His perception told him that the Goddess of the Night did more than they had discussed.
Seeing Luck's gaze and feeling the thoughts he was having, Nyx sighed. A disconcerting sight, since she had been laughing just half a second ago.
"In a way, I should have known I couldn't hide anything from you. After all, that man 'gifted' you with his senses." Nyx sighed again as she looked at Luck with a blank look. "First, I would like to apologize. Yes, I did more than just make you my Apostle. I fused my divinity so intricately with your soul that it is actually your soul now. Basically, I altered your already complex existence."
Luck's face began to distort with obvious rage, but Nyx immediately continued before she lost the chance.
"But what I did wasn't with the intention to harm you. No god has ever done this with a mortal, and through countless trials and errors, I managed to find a way to do without permanently shattering a mortal's soul, since everything about us is of a higher quality, which you could not handle."
"Was that the reason for the pain?" Luck asked dryly.
Nyx nodded. "Normally, the process is a painless endeavour, and the victim sometimes won't even know that it has happened."
(After all, gods have made unborn children Apostles.) Nyx added internally, but didn't say out loud. It was unimportant.
"The pain wasn't without gain, though." Nyx continued with a smile. Your soul has gone through a substantial qualitative change. In other words, congratulations, you have succeeded in gaining a demigod soul with a mortal body."
Luck's eyes widened in shock, making Nyx smirk a little. She was happy she told him the truth, since she didn't want to strain her relationship with him if he managed to find out for himself.
Plus, she was satisfied with his surprised expression.
But she still felt a little guilty.
A dark object, a shadow left Nyx's feet as it quickly made its way towards Luck, melding into his body.
Luck raised a brow in question. "What is this?"
Nyx smiled. She was happy that he wasn't looking at her with suspicion now. Take it as a gift for my sneaky behaviour. Now, bye for now."
Luck saw his body beginning to disappear. Luck smiled lightly as he raised his hand in farewell.
Like it or not, he was grateful for having his life saved.
As he continued to disappear, Nyx's face turned serious once more.
"One more thing, Luck."
"..." Luck waited for her to continue.
"Never trust any other god than me. They will come for you for what you are, so please don't die."
Luck's eyes widened at the information, but he quickly nodded his head in affirmation.
Nyx sighed in relief. "Good."