Rahab placed a pale hand on the girl's dark hair and patted it with maternal affection, her yellow eyes softening as she gazed down at her.
"I should have introduced you properly. This is one of the replicas I made sometime ago. I created several of them, you see, as backups. Contingencies. In case I ever lost my original body in a battle or an accident, I would have a vessel ready to receive my soul and continue my existence without interruption."
Rahab paused, her hand still resting on Nyx's head, and her expression grew thoughtful.
"Unfortunately, the best one out of all of them—the one I poured the most care and energy into—developed a mind of her own. She turned sentient on her own, without my intervention or my intention."
"Unfortunately?" Benjamin made an awkward expression at the wording.
Rahab continued: "And she has been calling me mother for about a century now, ever since she first opened her eyes and looked at me."
