All in the Family

When it comes to dysfunctional families, the Greek gods set the gold standard. As is the case with mortals, problems more often than not can be traced back to the head of the family, and Zeus fits the pattern. Worshiped as the king of the gods, Zeus was also the chief philanderer. His sister Hera was well aware of his deplorable proclivities. She grudgingly agreed to marry him to spare herself further embarrassment after he seduced her. Zeus apparently loved nothing so much as shapeshifting into another appearance so he could cavort with mortal maidens. For her part, Hera's acts of jealousy and vengeance are legendary. There's more than a hint of Zeus in Astrena. Her rightful domain is the stars, but she prefers to live on Earth. Like Zeus, she's fascinated by mortals, but in Astrena's case, the consequences for her victims are deadly. So far, she's managed to keep her family spats out of view. That's about to change, and it begins in Night Howls on the Hudson.

Warning for minor spoilers to Night Howls on the Hudson

Astrena is currently masquerading as Electra, owner of a bookstore in New Haven, Connecticut. She has several handmaidens whom she calls her sisters but they're not true gods. Instead, they're mortal women who were elevated to the status of demigods by Astrena. And as Maia discovers, what is given can also be taken away. Astrena's relations with Maia have been rocky recently but they're nothing compared to the epic battles of Astrena's fellow gods and goddesses. So I began stirring the cauldron to conjure up a family for Astrena.

I'd created Astrena from scratch. For her brother and father, I appropriated historical gods. Her father is Erebus. In Greek mythology, Erebus is one of the five gods who were created from Earth's primordial state of Chaos. Erebus represents darkness. From his union with Nyx (night), Thanatos (death) and Hypnos (dreams) were born. In Crossed Lines, I added an elder sister—Astrena. In my adaptation, I simplified the family to a triad. Astrena originally was supposed to remain in the heavens, hence her title of Queen of the Stars. Thanatos was designated by his father to rule over Oblivion, a subset of Hades where dwell the souls of vampires, witches, and vengeful spirits. The inspiration for Oblivion came from Supernatural canon. In the episode "Of Grave Importance," Bobby explains that he believes ghosts go into oblivion after their bones are burned. From that, I extrapolated a separate realm within the underworld.

Sibling rivalry between divine entities is a common issue in Supernatural. The feuds between archangels Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel rival those of the Greek gods. In Crossed Lines, Maia divulged that during an early tiff, Thanatos and Astrena caused Mt. Vesuvius to erupt. Now Maia is attempting to make Astrena believe that Thanatos was responsible for severing her links to Neal, Sam, and Maia. What would happen if Thanatos was actually around? We'll soon find out.

Night Howls on the Hudson on Archive of Our Own
Night Howls on the Hudson on FanFiction