Chapter Eleven
Death

It was sort of funny how I thought that that little experience I had with Eros that week I should be been in Greece celebrating my cousin’s wedding was eventually going to fade into a pleasant, but distant, memory.  I knew it was going to be a life altering experience when I agreed to stay, but I guess I never really realize just how altering it was.  I expected it to be some normal experience where a girl agreed to stay with a guy just for the hell of it, and that’d be the end of that.  Sure, I’d pine over the guy, but given how Eros looked, that was basically just a given.  I didn’t want to fall for him, but the sad conclusion was that I did, despite only knowing him for literally a week.  But I think that was just a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome or something, falling for you captor because he happened to be kind to you.  And, you know, irresistibly hot in my case.

And at first, that seemed to be the case.  My problems involving Eros seemed to be simple teenage girl issues, which wasn’t something I really had before.  Between school and my own antisocial tendencies, I never felt I had time to fall in love before, and I thought the relationship roller coasters that I watched Penny and Phoebe’s friends – as well as my own peers – go through seemed like it wasn’t worth the hassle.  People threw love around like it was going out of style, and I had seen what true love really was.  True love wasn’t about having eth cutest guy and the best kisser – it was about putting up with annoying quirks and placing little Post-It notes around the house to help reassure the one you love.  It was about swallowing you fears and just going for it – to hell with the consequences – just to be with the one you loved.

True love wasn’t something you faked.  It was something well sought after and adequately rewarded.  I knew that much.  The problem was always in the search.

Not like I had though Eros was my One True Love, or anything like that.  It was mostly just that I was trying to deal with feelings I had never experienced before, on top of trying to discover the secret about where Mom and Papa thought I had gone that week so I could stop pretending.  Add trying to get through my first year in college, and dealing with my sisters and their reality show, and sometimes I wondered why the hell I didn’t crack under the pressure.

But this, this was just going too far.

The one thing I never would have expected from my decision to stay was that I would somehow become involved with Greek gods.  The idea of them still existing in the world – that they existed in the first place – was so outrageously far-fetched that I wondered how I was so accepting of the idea.  But there, in the back of my mind, was a little voice telling me well, sure, Greek gods exist, and have existed since the dawn of time.  It was just so obvious that it seemed stupid to me not to think they would be.  Despite the fact that I had seen it with my own eyes, I knew I shouldn’t believe so easily. 

And what was more, knowing the true nature of what Eros was, was that I had to wonder if I was in fact in love with him, or if that was completely his doing,  Everything that happened in his mansion made sense now, from the way it was completely empty, to the way he and Zephyr both seemed to appear and disappear on a whim.  And I had little doubt that Zephyr spent the entirety of my visit locked in his room, doing whatever it was he did for fun.  It seemed unlikely that he’d be doing all the cooking on top of everything else Eros claimed to have him doing. 

But I was pretty sure Eros hadn’t actually done anything to me.  I knew that a mortal, and sometimes an immortal, had to be struck by one of his arrows in order to fall in love by force, and he even prevented me from piercing my skin with one.  Because, like everything else, I just knew that the arrows in the statue’s head happened to be his love arrows.

I did have to admit, though, that this certainly explained his dislike of the cherub Cupid image.  He was, after all, a grown man that was being associated with either a nude baby, or one wearing nothing but a diaper.  It was really enough to get anyone rather pissed, I thought.  I still had no idea why he left the statues sitting around his mansion, but at least his violence towards them was certainly justifiable now.

It was rather ironic that, just as I was getting to the point where I wasn’t thinking about Eros constantly, I somehow get sucked back in, and started thinking about him more, since suddenly, a lot of what happened that week made sense.  How it seemed like I was only on the plane for an hour, how Eros seemed to know so much about me before I even told him, how he was able to send an email reassuring Mom and Papa that I was fine.  Even the fact that he was interested in me in the first place made sense.  Clearly, he had seen my name in some tabloid somewhere, and that caught his attention at first.  And then he paid closer attention to me, getting to the point where he did want to meet me and get to know me better.  He had been lying when he said that it was my looks that caught his attention; it had been my name, and not for the reasons that I thought.

Of course, that also brought up the question of where his wife Psyche was.  Papa always made sure to point out that, after Eros rescues Psyche from the Sleep of Death, Aphrodite forgives Psyche, and accepts her once she was made a goddess.  Psyche wasn’t one of those numerous mortals who died because they fell for a god; she was one of the lucky few that benefited from it.  So why was Eros so interested in me right now?  The Cupid and Psyche myth had to be the most romantic of the Greek myths, so I just figured they’d end up together forever.  After all, there’s really no other stories of Eros cheating on his wife like all the other gods.

So that brought on new worry, since that meant that not only would I have Aphrodite breathing down my neck to stay away from her son, but also the goddess Psyche breaking down my door in order to keep me from her husband.  And I certainly didn’t want to be the other woman.  That might have been fine and dandy back when the gods were in power, but that wasn’t going to fly today.

While I was able to handle thinking my situation was somewhat normal, and I was able to fool Mom and most importantly Papa, the fact that Greek gods were involved just tipped it over the edge, and I think even Penny could tell there was something wrong with me.  Not that it meant she suddenly became the compassionate sister I had always hoped for or anything.  It just meant she wasn’t as quick with an insult as she normally was.

Of course, if Penny knew something was wrong with me, that meant Papa really know.  It took him a few days to have a free moment or two, though, when I happened to me around.  I knew I was in for when our butler came to inform me that Papa was looking for me, and wanted to have a word.

I almost ran.  But I knew my father well, and knew he wouldn’t give up that easily.  If I ran, he’d know something was up, and he’d hunt me down himself.  When he sought you out after sending someone else to do it first, you knew you were in trouble.  And things would be much worse for me, I knew that much.  So I sort of slunk to his office, feeling a little strange to be reluctant to see him.  I always wanted to see my father.

I was never that good an actor, at least to the point where Papa couldn’t see right through me when he wanted to, but I still took a deep breath and plastered on what I hoped was an easy going smile, before poking my head into his office.  He was alone, naturally, but he was sort of yelling at someone on the phone.  I took that to mean he wasn’t quite ready for me yet, and was able to withdraw to hang out outside his office door when he caught me.

“Oh wait,” he said in the middle of his tirade.  “I’ve got something more important to deal with right now.  I’ll call you back shortly, and don’t think for a moment that you’re out of the woods.”

He sort of gestured for me to enter, and I slipped in.  “I’m not interrupting anything important, am I?”

“Never,” he insisted as I took my seat.  I was trying to act casual, but it always unnerved me to see Papa yelling at anyone in his company.  Usually he was so jovial, especially to his employees, that it was strange to see him irritated.  And that was certainly breaking my control. 

“I’m, er, assuming you don’t have all day.  What did you want to talk about?”

“I chose to work from home so I can talk to you, koritsáki mou,” he chuckled.  “I always have time for you.  I’m just wondering if there was anything you wanted to talk to me about.”

“Er?” I asked unintelligently.  “Um, not really?  I mean, unless you’re seriously thinking about kicking Penny and Phebes and their dumb reality show out.  That’s the only thing I can think of that’s going wrong in my life.”

“Psyche,” he said carefully, using a tone that suggested that he knew I wasn’t telling the truth.  “I may not be around as much as I’d like thanks to my position, but I do still know you extremely well, and I know you’ve been acting out of sorts lately.  Your behavior is something I’d expect from your sisters, not you.  Care to elaborate on anything else that’s bothering you.”

I stared at him, wondering how I was going to get out of this one.  I could tell him, but that would most likely involve a manhunt of epic proportions, as well as my father believing in insane for spouting nonsense about Greek gods.  “What else is there?” I asked innocently.  “I don’t know; I thought maybe the reality show would just sort of disappear on its own when Penny and Phebes couldn’t get what they wanted, but it’s gone on far too long now.  I suppose it’s just finally getting to me, that’s all.”

He nodded at me, as though he could tell I wasn’t completely telling him the truth.  “There’s not much I can do in that case, Psyche.  They grew up here, and it would be wrong of me to deny them access to the house for whatever purpose they deemed worthy.  Yes, I could ban them from filming here, but to be honest, you and I both know that they’ll just make fools of themselves elsewhere.  At least here, your mother and I can keep an eye on them.”

“Wait, so you’re allowing them to film here and act like total sluts because you don’t want them doing it public?”

“You know your sisters want to make a spectacle out of themselves.  They can’t do that at their own homes, so in actuality, if I did ban them from here, they’d just go out into the world and embarrass themselves further somewhere else.  And they might hurt some bystander in the process.  I know they’re merely doing this because they want to get your goat, but you’re actually doing this world a favor by simply putting up with it.”

“I…I never thought about it that way,” I admitted.  “I thought you were allowing them to stay here just because you were still trying to spoil them.”

“I’ve given up on your sisters a long time ago,” he chuckled.  “I was raised to believe that mothers took care of daughters, and fathers took care of sons.  I didn’t invest as much time and energy as I should have their first few years, since I was still waiting for my chance with a son.  I realized my mistake far too late to make a difference.  I suppose it does seem like I’m spoiling them, but really, all I’m doing is making sure they don’t ruin the Karalis name.”

“I think it might be too late for that,” I grinned.  “People hear the name, and they compare us to Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe.  Which, I have to say, is really annoying.”

“It’s unfortunately, but believe me, it could be a lot worse.  You could be just as spoiled as they could, you know.  You could be a lot worse.”

“Aw, Papa, you know you’re not supposed to play favorites with your daughters,” I teased. 

He grinned at me, and I thought I had managed to defuse the situation.  “Is there anything else?”

“I, um…what?”

This time he shook his head.  “I told you, I know you, koritsáki mou.  They way you’ve been acting is not the result of your sisters getting to you.  They’ve done far worse to you, and you don’t even bat an eye.  Is this about a boy?”

“A…a boy?” I asked, since that seemed out of the blue.  Really, he had no idea how much this was about a boy.

He nodded his head at me.  “Where did you get that necklace?  I’ve noticed that you’ve been wearing it nearly every day.  You’ve never really been attached to jewelry enough to wear the same piece day after day.”

I fingered it.  “I, well, I…” I started, prepared to tell him I bought it because I really liked it.  He’d have to buy it, since he wasn’t exactly aware of my spending habits.  That was something he steered clear of.

“Did Filipe give that to you?”

“Felipe?” I asked, totally confused.

Felipe Escárcega?  Eros hooked me up with Felipe Escárcega?  God, that, sadly, made sense.  Felipe Escárcega was the son of a wealthy Spanish merchant who had been making headlines in Europe since before I was born.  He was about the same age I was, the fifth child of his father, and had chosen to go to the same college I had merely because I was going.  He figured if the college was good enough for the daughter of Nik Karalis, it’d be just as good for him.

And he was in some of my classes, mostly by pure coincidence.  I had been excited, at first, to have a fellow socialite in my classes, but quickly discovered that Felipe was not my type.

I was generally very tolerant of people.  Thanks to my second sense on people, I could usually judge a person on their character rather than looks, and I knew even the strangest of people could have a heart of gold.  Felipe, though, took weird to an entirely new level.  If I thought Eros was a rich pretty Playboy bachelor, he had nothing on Felipe.

But it sort of worked out for me as an alibi.  Felipe, despite his oddness, was a good student, but he had a habit of growing bored with his classes, and jet setting for a quick vacation from time to time without informing anyone.  As luck would have it, he happened to take one of those vacations the same week I did.  The story was probably that Felipe just happened to have invited me along, and I decided that, since I had already made arrangements, I’d take a vacation from my sisters as well.

It made sense.  After all, when we were making plans to go to Greece, the reality show hadn’t been factored him.  I guess they figured I decided to spend the week with Felipe rather than get caught up in the reality show nonsense.

I tried my hardest to keep a straight face, glad to finally know my alibi.  “No!  No,” I said hastily.  “No, he didn’t give this to me.  I know better than to accept an expensive gift from someone I barely knew.  No, I, um, bought it in the little village we were staying in, and it’s just really pretty.”

He gave me something of a knowing look.  “So is this about Felipe?”

This time I did make a face, but I decided to sort of run with it.  “Sort of,” I said, acting like I was caught in my lie.  “I’m trying not to think about it, but…I don’t know.  I’ve heard rumors that he’s thinking about asking me to go with him again, and I just…I just don’t know how to respond.”

“Well, would you want to go?”

“Papa, have you seen Felipe?” I asked, giving him a suffering look.  “I mean, sure, he’s nicer than he looks,” this, actually, I knew for a fact, since I have talked to him, and we mutually decided to ignore each other unless necessary, “but he’s still sort of…weird.”

“I think you should give the boy more of a chance,” Papa said, leaning back in his chair and looking amused.

“Papa, please don’t tell me your trying to hook me up with Felipe Escárcega for business reasons,” I said dryly.

He laughed.  “No, no, of course not,” he insisted genuinely.  “It’s just that I’ve noticed a lack of boys actually chasing you, which has always been a surprise to me.  I always thought that you’d be stringing you boys along, and you haven’t even had one boyfriend yet.”

“I guess I just take after my father,” I said shrugging.  “I mean, you didn’t have a girlfriend until you were twenty-one.  And need I remind you that you ended up marrying her after only a year?”

“Touché,” he laughed.

Still, it was nice to finally know my alibi, since it took one worry off my mind.  The problem was, of course, all the other crap that was on my mind. 

Papa still seemed highly suspicious of me despite our talk, since I had a feeling he did know what Felipe was really like, and even the temptation of not dealing with the show wouldn’t be enough for me to decide to spend the week with him rather than my own family.  But I think he also realized that, if I wanted to tell him, I’d tell him when I was ready.  For now, he was giving me a respectful distance.  Which was a little more than Maddie was giving me.

But with Maddie, I could tell her that Eros’ mother contacted me, and warned me to stay away from her son.  I thought about going ahead and letting her know that he was the real Eros, but I didn’t think that would sit well with her, either.  It was still nice, since I was able to sort of discuss my situation with someone, although Maddie’s solution to my problem seemed strange knowing his mother was really Aphrodite.

Things got even stranger, though, when I came home from school one day a little earlier than normal one day because Maddie had to deal with yet another group project.  I was about ten steps from the door when the door bell rang, causing me to jump.  After all, no one had been behind me when I walked in.  Since I was closest, I was the one who opened to door.

There stood a girl, not much older than me, with pale olive skin, hair almost as dark as mine but straighter than I could ever imagine, and a cheerful smile.  “Um, hello,” I said carefully.

“Hi!” she said happily as she stepped into my house without invitation.  “Wow, what a lovely house you have.”

Mom, curious about the door, appeared suddenly, glancing between me and the girl.  “Psyche, whose our visitor?”

The girl didn’t hesitate.  “Hi, I’m Stephanie Hayden,” she said with a bright smile.  “I’m working on a project in Psychology with Psyche.”

I wanted to question her, but I could tell this wasn’t something to ask in front of my mother.  I didn’t remember any group projects in Psychology, or even that this girl was in my class, but I sort of shrugged.  “Oh, wonderful!” Mom said happily.  “Psyche never has any classmates over.  I’ll let your sisters know that you have a guest.”

“Mom, please don’t,” I said, glancing at Stephanie.  “That’ll make it worse.”

“Oh, why’s that?” Stephanie asked, glancing at me.

I rolled my eyes.  “My sisters hate me, and are trying to make my life hell.  If they know I have a guest, they’ll annoy me even more.  They’re filming their reality show here.  Oh, I guess you wouldn’t know that, though.  They’re calling it Life with the Karalis Sisters.”

“Sounds fun,” she said dryly.  “I wouldn’t mind avoiding that, thank you.”

“Oh, good,” I said, laughing slightly.  “Um, I guess we’ll be in my room?”

“Psyche, that’s rude.  Why don’t you see if your guest would like a snack first?”

“Oh, that’s quite all right, Mrs. Karalis,” Stephanie insisted.  “I didn’t come here to eat your food.  I came here to work on our project.”

“Oh, well…okay then,” Mom said, a little surprised.  “Have fun, I guess.  And if you’re still here, you’re more than welcome to stay for dinner.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Karalis,” Stephanie said brightly as I lead her up to my room.

Unlike Aphrodite, Stephanie sort of grinned at our Greek statues.  “Your father is Greek, right?  He’s really into his heritage.”

“Not really,” I admitted.  “I mean, he’s not obsessive or anything like that.  Mom’s more into the Greek culture, actually, since she feels like she’s still trying to get on her in-laws good side.  Papa’s way into Greek mythology, though, so he and Mom made a compromise that she could only put up statues of the Greeks.”

“Ah.  I’d imagine that you’re into the myths as well.  What do you think of the one where Hades abducts Persephone?”

“Creepy, but romantic in a way,” I admitted.  “It’s not my favorite, but it’s got a strange sense of charm to it.  I avoided anything with pomegranate for like six months after Papa told me that one, though, thinking that they’d somehow trap me in the Underworld.”

“Well, it wasn’t the fact that she ate pomegranate that kept her there, but rather that she ate anything at all,” she chuckled.  “But you find it romantic?”

“Not the actual story, since I find that sad.  But, for some reason, I like to think that Persephone and Hades did end up loving each other, and pretty much lived happily ever after once the story was finished.”

She smiled at me.  “Aw, that’s sweet,” she said. 

“I take it your into mythology as well?”

“A little bit,” she admitted.  “The Olympians were so messed up, weren’t they?”

“I’ll say,” I muttered.

She took the time to admire my room properly before taking the seat I offered her.  “I do have to admit,” I said once I closed the door.  “I don’t really remember any project in Psychology.”

“I would imagine you wouldn’t,” she said, grinning at me.  “I’m not in your Psychology class, Psyche, although I sort of wish I were.”

I glared at her.  “So is this a publicity stunt?  You figured you could lie your way into meeting with me?”

“Yes,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.  “But not because I wanted fame, or even because you’re a Karalis.  I’m here because of another visitor you have recently.”

I felt myself go red as she glanced at me dead in the eye, and I saw that her eyes were the same pale crystal blue as the other gods I knew.  “Who…?” I started to ask, taking a step back.

She smiled at me.  “I’m not here to harm you, Psyche, nor am I here to berate you or warn you to stay away from Eros.  I’m here as your friend.”

“But…who are you?”

She blinked at me.  “I thought it’d be fairly obvious,” she admitted.

She, like Aphrodite, was beyond gorgeous, although her features were understated.  She was the palest god I had seen, empathized by the light colored clothes she was wearing.  They seemed a little bright for the time of year, but at the same time, they sort of suited her.  She looked like a cheery person, the sort of girl who wouldn’t let anything get her down.  The opposite of goth, really.  But that would not explain the skull and cross bone earrings she was wearing.

“Wait a second…you’re Persephone?”

She preened slightly.  “Naturally.”

“But…isn’t it a little early for you to be out of the Underworld.”

“Oh, that,” she said, waving me off.  “Yes, I started off spending six months up and six months down.  And it was rather nice.  I got to spend time with both Mama and Hades equally.  But coming up slowly became harder and harder, since you’re right; I did come to love my husband over time.  And, like most children, I had come to realize that I didn’t need my mother anymore.  So we came to an arrangement: Mama would continue to keep the seasons as they were, and I would be allowed to come and go from the Underworld as I pleased.  She had a hard time letting me go, but in time, she realized it was the right decision.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, admittedly, I had been expecting to come up for yearly visits, but I haven’t really felt compelled to since the gods fell from power,” she said, glancing around my room.  “Things have certainly changed around here.”

“So wait, you’ve been in the Underworld for the past thousand years?”

She thought for a moment.  “Give or take, really.  I’m immortal, Psyche.  Time had no meaning for me.”

“I…,” I started to say, unsure why that didn’t sit well with me.  “Why have you come up now?”

“Because, you need me.  You need an ally.”

“An ally?” I asked.  “An ally in what?”

“You honestly think that this is the first time Aphrodite’s flipped her shit over someone Eros is interested in?  Yes, Aphrodite has many children, but only one favorite.  He’s the only one of her children that shares her domain, and that allowed them to create a special connection.  She’s protective of him, although he’s proven again and again that he’s more than capable of taking care of himself.  It’s not fair to you, Psyche.”

“Well, one thing I’ve certainly learned from all those myths is that life just isn’t fair once mortals get involved in the story,” I muttered.  “I’ve made my choice, and I’m going to face the consequences, no matter what they are.”

“Times have changed, Psyche.  What was once completely acceptable is completely wrong, even in our eyes.  You made that choice without the proper information.  I doubt you’d make it again knowing the truth.”

“Wouldn’t I?  He’s the god of Love, after all.”

“You know as well as I that Eros isn’t like that,” she said, shaking her head.  “He doesn’t have the ability to make anyone fall for him without the assistance of his arrows.  Only Aphrodite has that ability.  And he doesn’t want to force you to love him.  He’s experiences firsthand what natural love feels like, and he craves that rather than the artificial love he creates.”

“I’m just…confused, that’s all,” I admitted.  “I mean, why would you want to be my ally?”

“Psyche and I – the original Psyche – were good friends.  She never forgot how I tried to defy Aphrodite for her.  Really, though, it was just a sisterly spat.  That task she sent her on, wanting me to put my beauty in a box?  She was being sarcastic, since she didn’t think it was a task that could be done.  After all, my realm of influence was now death just like Hades, and there’s no way someone who oversaw the Realm of the Dead could possibly have any beauty.”  She said this bitterly. 

“I think you’re pretty.  At least as pretty as my mother.”

She ginned at me.  “Even in the realm of the gods, your mother is known for her beauty, so I thank you.  Of course, the sleep was just payback.  The idea was that it would put Aphrodite to sleep, and when I came to wake her, I’d tell her that the only way she’s be a beautiful as me was if she got plenty of beauty sleep.  That backfired nicely, though, but it worked out.  And then I found myself with a shadow, since Psyche seemed to think I did it for her.”

“Oh.  So it was a sympathy friendship?”

“Not at all.  All that time she spent trying to thank me allowed me to get to know her, and before I knew what was happening, I was actually inviting her down for tea.”  I gave her a questioning look.  “It’s…complicated how that works, but since Psyche was born mortal and turned goddess, the eating something in the Underworld and being trapped there didn’t work on her, since her soul was no longer allowed in.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” she chuckled.  “And since you’re going through the same thing she is right now, I vowed that I would help you like Psyche thought I did for her.  In honor of our friendship.”

“That’s…nice of you,” I said stiffly.  “I’m not sure what you can do to help me.  I mean, so far, Aphrodite hasn’t done anything to me, but I think that’s because I haven’t seen Eros since that week I met him.  And I doubt that I’m going to.”

“I wouldn’t doubt anything when it comes to Eros, trust me,” she muttered.  “When the time comes, and you need a champion, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“How in the hell am I supposed to do that?”

She waved her hand and an Easter Lily, strangely enough, appeared in her hand.  “I may be the Queen of the Underworld, but I am also the Goddess of Spring.  Any flower would do, but I have a special connection with this one.  Merely speak into it, and I shall hear your plea.”

“Um, speak into a flower?”

“Well, if you’re desperate enough, it won’t seem so strange,” she said, grinning at me before handing me the flower.  I sat there awkwardly holding it, unsure what I was supposed to do with it right now.  She just continued to smile sweetly at me.

I honestly had no idea what the hell I did to deserve this craziness in my life, all these Greek gods suddenly appearing.  I wanted to smack some past carnation of myself for whatever they did to bring this upon me.  But I was grateful to Persephone, going out of her way to help me.  I just hoped I wouldn’t need to call on her to become my champion.

But considering how mangry Aphrodite was at me, I had a feeling I was going to need her sooner rather than never.

Chapter Ten

Modern Day Cupid Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve