I sat in the cool of Nyx’s calm night, thinking about Themis’s question. Did I feel complete? Was I finished creating? Was there still something missing?
“What is troubling you?” Nyx asked, approaching.
“Oh,” I said, glancing at her. “I just have something on my mind.”
“What is it? How did it get there?”
“It came from a question.”
“What question?”
“Creating.”
“Yes,” Nyx smiled. “That is your nature.”
“I am wondering if I am finished creating.”
“Are you?”
“I do not know. Do you plan to create more with Erebos?”
“Erebos is finished creating,” Nyx said. “But I do not know if I am finished yet. Perhaps I will find another who will create with me. Would you want to create more with Pontos or with Ouranos?”
“Pontos has what he wants,” I said. “I do not think he wants to create any more. I am not interested in creating more things for the sea. Ouranos? He has what he wants too, but I do not know if he is finished creating. He says we have created too much.”
“Why does he say that?”
“I do not know,” I said. I realized I didn’t give him much of a chance to explain.
“Do you like Ouranos? Do you regret allowing him to surround your earth?”
“He is very different from Pontos. Pontos was willing to create with me, but Ouranos feels different. We have created things not just for his heavens.”
“Yes. Your recent creations are interesting,” Nyx said. “They are not like your other children. Why did you form them that way?”
“I created them to protect the earth and my children.”
“From what?”
“From Khaos.”
“You are really quite afraid of Khaos, aren’t you?”
“If he had ripped apart your creations the way he did mine, I think you would feel the same.”
“Perhaps you are right.”
Nyx was quiet for a moment.
“How will the new ones protect you against Khaos?” she asked.
“By watching and holding and making things,” I said.
Nyx tilted her head slightly.
“I understand watching,” she said, nodding. “Yes, you do need to watch for Khaos. But you cannot hold him. If he were to touch your creations, they would come apart.”
“True,” I said, realizing I hadn’t thought things through very well. “Maybe they would not touch Khaos, but maybe they could help rebuild what Khaos pulls apart.”
“You created builders who could repair your earth?”
I frowned.
“No, not exactly,” I said. “I was thinking more of having enough hands to stop Khaos, but — but I see now that would not work because at Khaos’s touch, their arms would come undone.”
“You said you made some who can make things. Are they perhaps the builders who could repair your earth?”
“No,” I said, wishing I had a different answer. “They are good at making things out of metal.”
“What metal things would they make?”
“Uh, things for fighting,” I said, feeling instantly foolish.
“Those will do nothing against Khaos,” Nyx said.
“Ouranos said something like that. I realize now I did not really listen to him. I was worried about my children. I wanted something that would help them be safe. I — I felt sure that these fearsome creatures would help, but now I feel like they will be no help.”
“Do you think Ouranos understands how to defeat Khaos?”
“I do not know.”
“Ouranos is the only one who has truly kept Khaos away from your earth,” she said thoughtfully.
That was true. Ouranos would likely understand Khaos much better than any of us. I only knew that Khaos took my elements apart. Ouranos knew how to stop him.
“You are right,” I said. “I feel foolish for not seeing it before. Sometimes Ouranos talks just like Khaos. He complains about similar things and is worried about similar things.”
“Maybe he is like Khaos,” Nyx said. “I am like the void, though I am not the same. I am dark, but I am not nothing. I have the power to create.”
“True,” I said thinking. “But how would Ouranos be like Khaos but not be the same as Khaos? It is very confusing.”
“It is,” Nyx agreed. “And I do not have the answer.”
We sat in silence for a while.
“Was it hard for you to create your children?” I asked.
“No,” Nyx said. “You saw their creation.”
“Yes, I know, but did it require a lot of energy?”
“Not really.”
“Why did you decide to create?” I asked.
Nyx smiled.
“I wanted something more,” she said. “I was inspired by you.”
“Me?” I smiled. “Then Khaos is right. I am to blame for all of this mess, these creations.”
“You are meant to create, Gaia,” Nyx said. “The question is what will you create next?”
“That is the question, I think. I am either finished creating, or I must think about what I need to create next.”
“Will you create with Ouranos or will you find another?”
“I do not want another,” I said. “But I do not know whether Ouranos will want to create more. These co-creators are so difficult. Is Erebos very difficult?”
“Not usually. But the darkness is less complicated than the light. I have heard Hemera struggling with Aether.”
“Is she a creator with him?” I asked.
“Not yet, but I wonder if it is starting,” Nyx said.
“How does it start? Do you know? I think my children will want to create too, but I am not sure how to explain.”
“I think it starts with desire. You both have to want something and you do it together. Sometimes the thing you want is the same. Sometimes it is different, but it will be connected somehow. For me and Erebos, it started when I wanted to create and he wanted to comfort me.”
“Hmm,” I said, thinking. “I do not think Ouranos desires to create anymore.”
“Maybe you can help him,” she said.
“Help him?”
“If he does not have a desire of his own, you can be the thing he desires,” she said. “If he desires you, he will help you create what you wish.”
“What could I do to make him desire me?” I asked.
“I do not know. Perhaps you will think of something when you are together,” Nyx said, walking away. “Pay attention and you will see it.”
I watched her go as she traded places with Hemera. I was grateful to her. She had been there from the beginning. She knew things even the more intelligent ones didn’t know.
If I Had Words 
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