Jea woke up after a specifically rough road bomb the bus hit.
The night sky littered with countless stars almost made life seem... serene.
The street lights partially illuminateing the long empty streets looked endless.
The bus halted, and its doors screeched open as someone got on.
Jea's eyebrows furrowed slightly as the stranger sat on the seat, opposing his.
The awkward silence soon filled the bus as it started up again.
Only the rumbling of the engine and occasional coughing from the other passengers were heard.
"Escuse me, sir."
Jea turned his head to face the stranger who had suddenly begun speaking to him.
The stranger continued talking when they realized they'd now had Jea's attention.
"Do you know where this bus goes to?"
"..."
Jea held back his rude response to the strangers rather idiotic question.
" It's heading to Valcan, City."
"Ah, thank you."
The stranger smiled at Jea. Who only nodded his head.
"..."
"..."
"... So~ the sky looks pretty tonight, don't you think."
"... Yes."
"The stars are always the best part of the night sky."
"..."
"In my opinion, of course! It's fine if you think it's not!"
" The stars do look nice in contrast to the dark sky."
The strangers blue eyes lit up at hearing Jea's words.
"I'm Nyx. Sorry if I forgot to mention that earlier."
Jea's jaw clenched at the realization of who he had been talking to.
Nyx is one of the great goddesses of night.
"I see..."
Jea responded, trying his best not to show his disgust towards the goddess.
"Are you perhaps... disgusted by the thought of us?"
Nyx's question made Jea flinch.
It wasn't like Jea was ashamed of his opinion on the topic, nor was it out of fear of what the goddess would do.
Rather, he felt torn on what to say. He'd read countless tales of heroic gods. And yet...
It felt wrong. Those tales seemed to be painted with lies.
But, he wanted to believe. He wanted to believe just for a moment that the beings people cherished were good.
"No..."
"Ha... I won't be hurt if you say you do."
"..."
"... I'm assuming you don't appreciate this question all that much?"
"... You're correct."
"Haha. Well, let's change the question then. What's your name?"
"Jace."
"It's nice to meet you, Jace."
Jea frowned slightly at the almost robotic response from Nyx.
Though he couldn't judge seeing as he had blatantly lied to her.
"Do you perhaps... already have a pact with someone?"
"No."
"Would you like to -"
"I apologize, Nyx. But I have no interest in that."
"Ah, but I'll be able to sponsor you and grant you - Wait, perhaps Mr. Jace doesn't fancy women."
" Please don't get the wrong idea of me, Ms. Nyx."
"Then why would you turn down such a great offer? You must be -"
"Ms. Nyx, I'm not attracted to men!"
Jea looked away flustered after his confession. But a little embarrassment would be better than a misunderstanding, right?
The sudden feeling of being watched settled in when Jea looked around.
"Ha... I'll get off here. Goodbye."
As Jea pressed a button for the bus to stop. Nyx shoved a paper in his hand before he left.
"I hope you'll rethink my offer."
As Jea stood their watching the bus drive away, he let out a heavy sigh.
'Why does this always happen to me?'
Jea thought as he threw the paper onto the ground.
It wasn't unusual for people to give him their number, but he still found it bothersome.
***
The sun had no right being so bright that day, yet here it was.
'Why is this happening?'
Was the only thought Jea had as he sat facing Nyx, the sun hitting his hazel eyes, making them shine.
"Well, Mr. Jace, have you considered my offer?"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Nyx, but I have to turn down your offer."
Nyx didn't seem bothered at Jace's refusal despite being insistent on him taking her offer.
"Please reconsider. There's an upcoming event, and you -"
Nyx was cut off by a group of people bursting through the front door.
It was chaotic. No chaotic would have been an understatement.
The shouts that seemed to drown each other out filled Jea's house.
"haizz."
Nyx sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to ease her headache.
"Shut up!"
Someone yelled, and all the commotion halted.
A kid with short brown hair trotted over towards Jea, the kid's red eyes looked him up and down.
"It's true."
The kid mumbled
Jea's eyebrow rose as he continued staring at the kid who smiled at him gleefully.
"Mr. Jea! Welcome back, Mr Jea!"
The kid grabbed one of Jea's hands, running their fingers along the creases.
"Are you doing well, Mr. Jea? Has the human realm been treating you well? What's it like in the human realm?"
The kid's questions were cut off when Nyx picked them up by the collar.
"You brat! You weren't meant to say his real name!"
As Nyx scolded the kid, Jea sat there, his mind completely blank.
'Just what kind of situation was this?'
"Apologies for the lack of courtesy, Mr. Jea."
"We just wish to speak with you."
A few of the people spoke up, once realizing the kid had been taken care of.
"We have come on behalf of Lord Behemoth."
Jea didn't respond. His mind was still trying to process what was going on.
"Our lord wishes to sign a -"
"He's not interested."
Nyx cut the people off before they could finish speaking.
"Goddess of night. Please stay out of Lord Behemoth's business."
The two parties glared at each other. Both seemed to be provoking the other.
"It's rather rude to start a fight with
the host. Let alone the fact you came in without an invitation."
Nyx held her head high as she spoke, almost as if she had already won the argument.
"Goddess of night, It's selfish to be not share Mr. Jea's soul, No? What to do if *he* was to find out about this."
Nyx's pride shattered at that very moment as she lowered her head, somewhat admitting defeat
"Seeing as he hasn't come yet, I'll assume you haven't reported to the palace."
There seemed to be a sense of fear and relief in Nyx's voice as she spoke.
Though that was a given as even Gods would fear death.
"I don't wish to make a pact with anyone."
When Jea finally spoke up, his words only made everyone's expression twisted into rage.
"You entitled bastard! Just because two people fight over you. You see yourself so highly."
"Retarded Where's just planning to leach off someone."
Behemoth's servents began throwing tantrums. Spewing curses left and right some more detrimental than others.
" I'm entitled?"
Jea repeated the words astonished at how they would act so shamlessly. This made Behemoth's servents shut up instantly.
"You waltzed in, expecting me to abide to you all because you have some sort of status; and yet! Act like a child the moment you're denied."
The room fell silent. Everyone at a loss for words after Jea snapped.
"Please leave."
Jea sat back down, awaiting for them to leave.
Suddenly, one of the Behemoth's servents dropped to their knees. Then another, and another.
They began kneeling down to Jea as though he was someone who needed to be worshiped.
"I Apologize, Mr Jea. "
A voice of a man was heard. Someone with thick brown hair walked through the doorway. And kneeled down on one knee.
He was massive. Barley even fitting through the door .
If it weren't for Jea's past experiences, he'd be terrified.
"I'm Lord Behemoth, and I'd like to sincerely apologize for my underlings insolence."
It would've been hard to tell if Behemoth was genuine if it weren't for his tone of voice.
The man's expression seemed more agitated rather than apologetic.
But the way he spoke was sullen, like a kid admitting his wrongdoing out of guilt.
Nyx stared at Behemoth, her eyes wide open as though her mind was ready to blow.
The prideful Behemoth lowering his head to someone was a rare sight, to say the least.
"I won't let you live this down."
Nyx mouthed the words while staring at Behemoth greedily.
"Behemoth. To what do I owe to this visit?"
"No need to speak so formally, Mr. Jea. Though it would be rude for me to not visit my friend"
"Your friend? How funny for you to refer to me like that."
"Am I wrong, Mr. Jea? After all, I waited this long to speak to you again, and"
"Heyy Behemoth, why don't we talk for a minute?"
Nyx cut Behemoth off and dragged him off to a separate room, ensuring Jea couldn't hear.
"You dunce! If you ramble on about the past, then the seal might break!"
Nyx jabbed her finger into Behemoth's chest; causing him to frown.
"It's not my fault your faulty magic is so weak!"
"Weak?! Ha! At least I actually tried!"
Behemoth and Nyx fought their voices gradually, getting louder.
"Haiz."
Jea stood by the entrance of the room and sighed.
He didn't want to interfere with their petty little argument as he was unsure of what exactly it was about.
But stepping in seemed inevitable as their argument only escalated.
'It's too early for this shit.'
Jea thought, still watching the two bicker back and forth.
*knock*
The faint knock caught Jea's attention despite it being muffled by the two people yelling.
'Who might it be now?'
Jea began thinking as he made his way towards his front door.
The moment he opened the door, he met face to face with what seemed to be hundreds of lords and gods.
'Fucking dammit.'
Was the only thought Jea had as he realized the massive headache that he was about to get.