Andy smiled; Robin's happiness was contagious. He'd been whistling and laughing all afternoon and insisted that they eat dinner early. When Nasim had asked him why, Robin had smiled secretly and said, "I've something to show you both."

After dinner, Robin had hurried them up onto deck.

"Robin, it's getting dark," Andy whined. "Soon we won't be able to see... whatever it is you want us to see."

Robin had laughed at that and ushered them to the port side of the ship.

"Okay, it's even darker over here," Nasim said. "Should I summon a light?"

"No!" Robin said, flashing a smile. "Tell me, what do you see over there?"

"Um, water," Andy said. "A lot of it." Andy frankly found the vast expanse of dark, smoky-grey water to be somewhat frightening.

"Dark sky," Nasim said. That was certainly true; the sky off to the east was darkening, but the sun behind them had not fully set, leaving just enough dusky blue to make Andy wonder whether it was night or day.

"Yes!" Robin said. "That's it! Here, take my hand." Andy took Robin's offered hand but Nasim hesitated.

"I don't want to take your hand," Nasim said. "I'm not... you know."

"Oh, for the love of the gods, just take his hand!" Andy said. Nasim groaned and gave Robin his hand, looking uncomfortable.

"Now look back," Robin told them. "And look."

Andy looked back, not expecting anything to be different. She gasped and felt Robin's hand tighten on her own.

The water had not changed, but the sky had radically altered. It seemed as though the dark in the sky and the remaining blue had separated like olive oil and water. The darkness was concentrated on the far horizon, but it stretched up and arched, following the dome of the sky.

But the darkness didn't end in a straight line; the line changed direction several times and flowed in smooth curves, forming the outline of an enormous, shadowy bird whose wings began to cover the sea. As Andy watched, the darkness seemed to deepen and the traces of stars began to shimmer.

"What is that?" Nasim asked.

"Nyx, goddess of the Night," Robin told them, his voice warm and full of awe.

"But... it's a bird," Andy said stupidly.

"It was only later representations that depicted Nyx as a woman," Robin explained. "All crows, ravens, and blackbirds find their origin in her night-velvet wings."

As they watched, the bird advanced slowly across the sky. Andy had the impression that the wings were closing over them like a mother bird's wings over her chicks. Or something that was flying between her and the sun, chocking off all light.

"Robin, how did you do that?" Nasim asked.

"We did it, together," Robin said. "We couldn't have done it separately. Nasim's magic helped to dissipate the the Mist and allow us to see clearly. Andy, you were able - through your unique ability - to remove the filter that covers our mind, which makes it difficult for most people to accept what they are seeing. I believe such a skill is often called 'imagination'. And I... I simply showed you where to look."

Suddenly the image flickered and then faded. The line between night and day blurred together and the stars winked out. It was, after all, too early for stars.

Andy blinked and looked sideways. Nasim had dropped Robin's hand; that's why the Mist had moved back over their vision and blurred their sight to make it seem like a regular night sky.

But Andy knew, that somewhere up above, Nyx continued to fly over the sea towards the land, which she would likewise cover with her raven-black wings.

That night, they camped on the deck, watching the stars wink back into existence. But as they watched, something moved between them and the stars and this time, it wasn't Nyx. It was a cloud.

"A storm is coming," Robin remarked.

Andy frowned, "Will we still be able to sleep out of here?"

"Yes, it won't be here until tomorrow," Robin reassured her. As soon as he said that, the cloud passed the face of the moon and then moved away out of sight.

Andy shivered slightly. She'd changed into her pink and grey pj's and was a little chilled by the night wind. Robin noticed and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

A/N: Footnotes:

Nyx: the primordial goddess of the night, the mother of all that is dark

Another note, I don't know how many are still reading, but I'm afraid I've got to take a break for a few days. New posts should be coming up in about a week.