He really didn't understand this at all. This girl he was supposed to be looking for, what was so darn special about her, huh? Yes, there were the rumors that her peers likened her to Venus, but in this day and age, who cared? The people had long since ignored the gods and their doings, opting instead for modern notions of Christianity and a single God. Although he did question their idea of monotheism. They worshiped three beings. Didn't that make them polytheistic?

But still, being compared to an ancient goddess held no meaning now. So why exactly did his mother care so much? Ah, it must just be her egotism resurfacing again. He had seen enough of it throughout the centuries now that he generally ignored it. Most of the other gods did as well. It was something she could act upon in ancient times, but today it was mostly ignored for she could do nothing about it.

Except , of course, send her son to bring the downfall of a girl being compared to her. He signed, looking about the park once more. In all honesty, he had no clue what she looked like. Aphrodite had shown him a picture of her, but he was distracted by the thought of how stupid this was. He had listened to the description of the girl, so he did in fact have a general idea of what he was looking for. Just not a concrete image.

The thing was that a lot of girls matched the description he was given. Sure, some where way too young, some too old, but many of the girls walking in the park his mother instructed him to observe were just the right age, at least to his eyes. She had set it up perfectly, so all he’d have to do was point and shoot, as long as no one was looking this time, of course.

What he couldn’t figure out was why Aphrodite had insisted that this girl fall in love with some ugly looking boy. In these times, looks didn’t matter all that much. She wouldn’t be shunned for having a boyfriend and husband that didn’t look normal anymore. His mother was still stuck in ancient times, though, and he couldn’t argue with her. She seemed to have this whole plan planned out, and nothing was going to make her deviate from it.

Which is where he came in. Another sigh escaped his lips. And he couldn’t well dishonor her, since she was his mother. Perhaps it was the modern mind effecting him, but he felt he had an obligation to her. Whatever she wanted, he usually got it for her.

So, there he was, sitting on a park bench, looking for a college-aged girl who looked something like his mother. It was just his luck, he figured.

He slid the book he was reading in order to make himself invisible, although he had that capability as well, to see if he could spot the girl yet. And, judging from the description, there she was. Brown hair, blue eyes, nose in a book while ignoring the chattering of her friends around her. And, he looked around quickly, there was that guy he was supposed to have her fall in love with. Yes, this should be a quick job, he figured.

However, just as he was about it, she lowered her book as well, and seemed to look directly at him. He stopped in mid-movement, his jaw dropping a little at the full sight of her. What her peers said was true, then. Except she looked much better than his mother ever could. She had an air of innocence about her, something that made the plain looking girl look radiant. She was smiling embarrassed at something a friend to her right had said, and it had only made her more beautiful.

He sat down at the brilliance of her being, and jumped back up quickly. He glanced down at the bench, and let out a small groan. He had sat on the arrow he had dropped upon looking at the girl. Well, this was an unexpected turn of events, he figured. He took one final glance at the fleeting shadow of the girl before deciding to head home. Aphrodite didn’t have to know about this.

Psyche Tomopolis sat outside her last class of the day. Watching the people gather as they, like herself, waited for the class before them to be allowed out. She sat by herself, not an uncommon occurrence for this class. Her friends were elsewhere, majoring in something a little different that psychology. She didn’t blame them, since it was only she that liked to look into other people’s minds.

It didn’t really help that her Greek father insisted he name her Psyche. It seemed that that name alone made people think she was supposed to be a natural at that sort of thing. Of course, she was, but for once in her life, she wanted to be considered normal. She didn’t appreciate complete strangers coming up to her for advice for their lives.

And it also didn’t help that both of her elder sisters had been considered more than normal. They had been ‘popular’ in high school, and very successful in college. The oldest had married well right out of college, while the other had a perfect boyfriend for herself. What was odd was that each seemed to be declining in wealth.

Which pretty much left Psyche boyfriendless, and most likely to marry well below herself. Not like it mattered, for she planned to be self sustaining. And with a job like psychologist, money problems weren’t an issue. But it would be nice not to have her sisters make fun of her all the time.

The class let out in a horde of students eager to leave, and Psyche, along with the rest of her class, entered in order to make sure they got their usual spots. Not like it mattered, although it was early in the semester, a seating arrangement had been set quite early. Psyche sat in her usual spot, in the middle row. But in the second seat as not to make herself noticed.

A piece of paper was lying on the desk when she sat down, folded up. She figured someone from the previous class had left it, and thought perhaps it was the assignment for the day. Carefully, she opened it, slightly intrigued.

Psyche blinked, and read over it again. Obviously, this was for someone else. She turned it over, looking for the recipient’s name, and one word on the back blazed at her: Psyche.

So it was for her. Who would want to meet her in the park? Her mind, usually so sharp, couldn’t comprehend this at all. And just who the hell was E? She didn’t know anyone with that initial.

Well, she figured as the professor stood in front of the class to begin, there was one way to find out.

Four-thirty found Psyche standing by the large statue in the park. She really had no idea what she was doing there. This wasn’t the sort of thing someone like her would just do. But she was curious to see who this E was, and really didn’t hesitate to come. Besides, worse come to worse, she was in a wide open space, and she would run fairly fast if she wanted to.

The wind picked up, and Psyche shrived a bit, although it was early fall. The wind started to pull on her hair, and she, annoyed, pushed it back behind her ears. A storm was approaching the town, and the wind was just a cause of that. It had been windy for the past few days, and Psyche was getting sick of it. It was nice a few times, when the heat of the day was only a bit uncomfortable, and the wind was a welcome change. But today was a typical early autumn day, when the heat of the day was nonexistent.

A car pulled up in the roadway beside the statue. It was a limo, actually, a nice black one that seemed of a normal size. Psyche hated the way those stretch SUV limos looked, and preferred the shorter limos to stretch limos anyway.

She was quite taken back when a door opened, and a man in a suit stepped out. She took a moment to notice the obscenity of this. The man had a stuffy look to him, and looked like the stereotypical British butler. “Miss Tomopolis?”

“Yes,” she answered, a bit confused.

The man nodded back at her. “The Master wishes to see you,” and he opened to passenger door for her, gesturing to her to enter.

“Who’s your master?”

The butler shook his head. “No, m’lady, that is something you’ll just have to find out.” She could have been mistaken, but he seemed to smile for a second.

Deciding to take a chance, Psyche did as she was told, and entered the limo. She just hoped she would be back in time to study for a test she had that Monday.

She felt the limo jerk as they started down the road again, but realized the windows were all tinted so she couldn’t see out of them. Disappointed, since she did like to watch the scenery go by as she drove, she settled herself in for a long drive. It was a bit weird when the seat under her stopped vibrating, and yet, she could tell they were still moving, but she tried not to think too much about that.

Psyche had actually dozed off to the soft music that had been coming out of the speaker next to her before she was awoken by the door opening again. She snorted softly, and looked at the butler a little embarrassed at having fallen asleep. She knew she shouldn’t be, since there had been nothing else to do during the trip.

The butler said nothing, however, and merely led Psyche out of the car, and up the long stairs to the front door. The house they had arrived at was nothing like Psyche had ever seen before. It was a fair good size, much larger than another she had seen, and yet, it was a comfortable feel to it. The columns that guarded the front porch were huge, she observed as she walked by them, and they reminded her greatly of Roman coliseums, or Greek temples. She was too much in awe to really take in what was going on, or where she was being lead

The foyer of the mansion matched the outside perfectly. There was an ancient feeling to the place, and Psyche felt like she was making sacrilege for simply breathing. The foyer was a very good size, and she thought she could fit her whole apartment in there quite easily. There were columns about this place as well.

Her brain didn’t quite register why someone with this much wealth would want to see her. She was just enjoying the view at this point.

Psyche followed the butler up another staircase, which was much wider than the outside one, and just as worn. There was, in fact, a very lived in feeling in the mansion, something Psyche wouldn’t except in such a large place. But, after all, it did seem old, so it did make a little sense to the awe struck Psyche.

She was led down a long hallway, and then a door was opened for her. “Your room, Miss Tomopolis.”

It took a few seconds for her mind to come back to her. “My what? I can’t stay here.”

The butler regarded her with a wary look. “The master requests it.”

The master… “Who is your master, anyway? Why has he brought me here?”

The butler cocked his head. “That is for the master the answer, and only he can answer it. Now, if you would, Miss Tomopolis…” He gestured into the room, and Psyche had no other choice but to enter if she wanted answers.

Psyche spent the next few hours working on homework as she had nothing better to do. No one had come to allow her to explore the mansion further, and her room lacked any entertainment itself. She found it odd that it barely had oil lamps, and really hadn’t expected it to have a television. That would have been nice, though. She was finished with her homework, and had eaten the meal that was given to her.

What she really wanted to do was find out who E was. A number of names had come across her mind, but none of them really stayed long. Which in itself was strange. Sighing as she closed her last book, Psyche looked at her watch, which told her it was 9:15. She then spent the next several minutes exploring her room a bit more.

It was spacious, all right. A bit smaller than the foyer, but a vast improvement form her own room. For one thing, there was a canopy over the bed. Psyche had never had a canopy on any bed she had slept on. Upon entering, she had been fascinated by the object, and the many ivy leaves craved into the base. The bed itself had been made with a fancy bedcover, and with many fancy pillows. The Tomopolis could never afford such luxuries.

Other than that, the room contained a sitting area with a love seat and a matching armchair, a dresser, a vanity, a full length mirror, and two bed side dressers, Psyche, realizing there really wasn’t much to the room, decided to sit on the window box in front of the bay window.

She gasped at the view it offered. It was quite dark, but lamps lit up the labyrinth below. At least that’s what Psyche first thought it was upon glancing at it. Upon further inspection, she found it was a garden, with different varieties of plants crisscrossing throughout it. She saw the butler down there talking to another man, but she was too far up to see either properly.

Psyche stared at the two men, wondering what they were doing before she turned away from the scene entirely. She suddenly became disgusted with herself. Here she was, gawking at the new sights around her, and she had no idea why she was brought here. Was this a kidnapping? No, no, they wouldn’t be treating her as well if that was the case. Then what? Nothing came clearly to mind.

Sighing again, something she did a lot in the course of the few hours, she stood up, and made her way to the door. Well, she wasn’t really being kept here against her will. She had, after all, gone to meet this E guy on her own free will, and she really didn’t have to go into that car. So maybe they would allow her to explore the mansion without penalty?

Resolved, Psyche opened the door a creak, still a bit scared of being alone in a strange place. She had taken off her shoes, and her socked feet padded softly down the hallway as she stealthfully made her way down the hall. She got a sudden thrill out of this; she felt like she was in an action movie and trying to find out where the bad guys hide the jewels or money or whatever it was they had stolen. She grinned to herself, and that made her feel a bit more confident about going on.

She explored many rooms in this fashion. All were quite large, including the linen closet she nearly locked herself into. Each and every room was as grand as the last one, and that made Psyche question even further who E was, and why he wanted her of all people. Surely her sisters were a better choice. Even her friends were more sociable than she was. Many this guy needed someone to talk to about his problems? Because, if he wanted anything to do with Psyche Tomopolis, then he did have problems.

She paused. But wait, a thought suddenly crossed her mind. What is E was actually a girl? Yes, that would make more sense. She needed a female to talk to. Yes, but Psyche was hardly one to know how females should act properly. But that would explain why E hadn’t shown her face. She was embarrassed about wanting help!

Yes, so now Psyche felt she needed to find this E to help her. The sooner the better, so she could study for that test. She wanted to make sure she had plenty of time to do it, and she really wanted to be out of here before it got too late. How rude of E, making her wait all this time! She was definitely going to have to have a few words with this girl.

She stumbled into the library, and was just as amazed about this place as the others. Even more so, for the bookshelves were beyond anything she had ever seen before. If she had her way, she’d lived in a library, to tell the truth. She gaped at the numerous books before pulling her feet off the ground, and going to check out some of the titles.

All were definitely in her interest level. At least the ones right in front of her. She felt overwhelmed. Which book she should take? She wanted to read them all. Gone from her mind were who E was, and the reason he kept her there. All she wanted to do was spend the rest of her life in that library, reading until there were no more books to read. And then start over.

She pulled one off the shelf that looked interesting to her. The original version of Beauty and the Beast. Ah, yes, this will do. Her favorite fairy tale.

“Hello there.”

Psyche jumped at the sound, not realizing the library had been occupied. She looked around, and realized why she hadn’t. There was in fact another body, a male body, judging from the voice, but he had conveniently covered himself with shadows. “Hello,” she answered timidly, not really sure how to address this.

“You must be Psyche?”

“Yes, I am.”

The figure stood up, but not enough for her to see his face. “I am Eros,” and he bowed.

Psyche chuckled. Eros tilted his head. “What’s so funny?”

“I see I’m not the only one to suffer from ancient names,” she shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

He just remained where he was for a moment before settling back down. She had clearly perplexed him. “I guess you’re wondering why I brought you here.”

“Naturally, yes, but all my guesses are invalid now that you aren’t a girl.”

“A girl! Why...never mind. I brought you here because I am lonely.”

It was weird having a conversation with someone you couldn’t see clearly. She was used to see people’s expression when she talked. “Lonely?”

“Yes, lonely, and I have the need for intelligent conversation, if you’ll understand my meaning.”

This was the point the Psyche realized she was still standing by the book shelf, holding open the book. She moved to place it back. “No, no, you can have it.” She looked up at Eros, and put the book under the arm.

“I do understand you’re meaning. However, I don’t see why I should make your conversations, um, intelligent.”

He simply waved her off. “There is no reason to question your own mind, my dear. But it is getting rather late, is it not? You should be in your room,” he told her in such a tone that Psyche felt the need to obligate.

The next two days followed like that Friday, although Psyche did find that Eros had a TV room, and was able to entertain herself that way a few times. Poor guy, though, to be named after the Greek god of love. At least that’s what she thought he was. After all, all those myths her father had told her as bedtime stories had started to merge on her. Who was who and what was what was distorted in her mind. And she really didn’t need them, so she never worried about them.

Psyche never actually saw Eros, but she didn’t mind all that much. His presence was enough for her. He was certainly different from the other males she knew. He seemed to know exactly what sort of subjects to bring up to capture her attention, and they spent long hours arguing and discussing the finer points of society.

There was one conversation she dreaded talking to him about, and she found her opportunity Sunday afternoon, while she was spread out on the library room’s floor, her notes in front of her, as she studied for her impeding test that next day.

She hadn’t seen him enter, but she did feel his presence on his usual shadowy spot. What are you doing?” he asked with a bit of confusing in his voice.

“I’m studying. I have a test tomorrow.”

He seemed to be considering this. “I suppose you’ll want to go back to attend your class, would you not?”

Psyche sat up. This was it. “Yes, I really need to go. I’ll fail otherwise, and I need this class to graduate in the spring.”

“Ok.”

Psyche wasn’t sure what to do. She had been preparing herself for an argument, because she was certain he wouldn’t want her to leave him. He did say he was lonely, did he not? “Ok?”

“One, um, two conditions, though. You must not tell anyone where you have been.” That wasn’t that hard. She herself didn’t know.

“And the second one?”

“You come back to the statue in the park Friday afternoon to come back here.” That was just a reasonable.

“So you’re not making me stay the whole week?”

He shrugged. “I’d imagine girls like yourself have better things to do that stay cooped up in one place for a week. You’ve your classes to attend and that sort of thing.”

She smiled up at him. “Thank you!”

She could almost see him smile back at her.

Psyche found herself in a sort of routine. During the week, she acted normal, attending classes, and being a normal college girl. She felt she needed to keep up with her studies, so she never had a job, and she was doing well in her classes. On the weekend, the part of the week she looked forward to, she spent at Eros’ mansion, in a place she had no clue where it was. She never minded, because Eros had started to bring things that entertained her when he couldn’t, and allowed her outside more often. Wherever the mansion was, it was a lot warmer than where she was currently.

Slowly, her peers started to question where Psyche would go on the weekends. But Psyche kept her promise, and never told anyone. Despite being a poor liar, she’d come up with great excuses to her whereabouts, sometimes with the help of Eros. They did start to have a bit of fun with it, coming up with extravagant adventures for her to have. But, at the end of the weekend, she’d have a proper excuse enough to satisfy her friends.

The people that questioned her the most were her sisters. Both of them knew Psyche enough to tell she was lying, and, upon a weekend visit home for both of them, they cornered her.

“Tell us, Psyche, where exactly you’ve been going during the weekend.” Her oldest sister bored down on her.

While both were consisted pretty, they were both a bit heavier than Psyche, and bore down on the youngest in a frightful way. Psyche was never one to be that strong with secrets against the two of them, and she was shaking. “But I’ve told you...”

“No, we want the truth, Psyche.”

She looked around for an escape. Should she tell? Maybe a little white lie would get them off her back. “I’ve been, um, seeing someone.”

That caused both girls to laugh. “You, seeing someone? You, who has never had a date in her life? Ha, that’s funny!” The oldest one did back off, but the other bore down further.

“What does he look like?” An evil gleam was in her eye. Psyche knew she was in trouble.

“Well, he’s quite handsome. Much better looking than your guys.” That might work, although she had just insulted them.

“Describe him.” Realizing she was trapped, Psyche started stammering.

“Well, he, um, is very tall, with, um, brown hair, and um...” she stopped when she noticed her sisters weren’t buying it.

“Never seen him, have you? You’re usually good on details.”

Psyche ducked her head. “No, I haven’t.”

“Then how do you know he isn’t...” she paused and looked at the other. “Did Father ever tell you about the future teller he went to before you were born?”

“Why would Papa tell me that? He knows I don’t believe in that sort of thing.”

The sister shook her head. “She told him that his youngest and most dearest would fall in love with a monster, and have little monster children.”

“What? That’s the most ridiculous...”

“Ah, but you don’t know what your mystery guy looks like. He may just be that monster!” And they walked off, laughing at some inside joke, leaving Psyche perplexed.

What did it matter what he looked like? He was nice and kind and seemed interested in her. So what if he were a monster? At least he was nicer than her sisters.

She returned to Eros quite confused, so much so that she was quite distracted as well. Eros, having seen the interaction between the sisters, was a bit worried about what she was thinking, but really, she was wondering what she had done in a past life to deserve sisters that were so mean to her.

Eros attempted to sooth his worrying guest with a few things he knew she liked, but she seemed not to be sedated. He didn’t really want to leave her alone that night, in fear that she would do something stupid. However, that night passed without incident, although he did keep a close watch on Psyche, just in case.

The following day, Psyche started avoiding Eros, and he feared it was because she had decided to believe her sisters. She, quite opposite as she was doing that weekend, was worried that Eros would discover she hadn’t kept where she was going totally secret, and would punish her somehow. Finally, unable to stand herself, she just blurted it out to him.

Eros was quite taken back. “I beg your pardon?”

Psyche faltered. “I...I...I, well, I...” She was stopped.

“Is that all? I wouldn’t worry about such a trivial thing, if I were you. There was no harm done, was there?”

“But I said I’d never tell anyone!”

He waved her off again. “No need to worry, I say. All you said was you were seeing someone, am I correct. You never told there where.”

“Yes, well, I...wait, how did you know what I said?”

Eros chocked, and stuttered, which he had never done before. “A guess my dear, a mere guess!” And, before Psyche could say another further, he was gone. Which left Psyche ever more confused, but not as worried.

She was left to her own means that night, but she found she couldn’t sleep. A little voice in the back of her head said that what she did wasn’t right, and that she had to make it right with Eros. She tossed and turned, and couldn’t find a comfortable position. Fed up with trying, she slipping out of bed, she decided for go with her usually insomniac habit, and headed to the library.

Candle in hand, because she had yet to discover where they had stashed the flashlights, Psyche padded softly to the library. Proud of herself for not disturbing anyone, she entered.

On the couch she usually sat on, still covered in shadows, was a sleeping form she recognized, somehow, as Eros. Smiling softly, she realized his blanket had fallen on the floor. Feeling maternal, she bent down to pick it up, and lay it across him. Doing so one handed was difficult but she kept the candle in her other hand. The flickering light revealed the sleeping form to her, and she gasped.

He was in fact not a monster, she could safely tell her sisters. He was a Grecian look to him, with sun bleached blond hair, and a very handsome face, he was so beautiful sleeping there, like a little angel. She bent down to kiss his cheek, taken up with sudden emotion.

However, the candle, having burned a while now, dripped just as she leaned up, and the drop fell where Psyche didn’t want it to. Eros jerked awake, and disappeared before she had a chance to apologize.

Psyche wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but she suddenly found herself at home again, the one place she wanted to be least of all. She wasn’t sure how she had gotten home, either, for everything was really a blur now. She was miserable, though, having lost the one person she found a true friend in. And now she felt as if she had lost his trust forever.

Because, obviously, he hadn’t wanted her to see him, for whatever reason it was, and she had just done that. At least he wasn’t a monster. Her sisters had laughed, and told her how stupid she was when she mentioned that, claiming that monsters could change forms. Psyche hated her sisters less up until that moment, and now she went out of her way to be out of their presence.

Psyche went on from day to day, not really living, for the next week. Classes kept her occupied, but she only put half her heart into it, and her was miserable. Her friends attempted to cheer her up by the usual methods, but they hadn’t realized her heart had been broken. That was something they never had to fix in Psyche before.

Once again, it was the last class of the day, Psychology for Psyche, for the week. For once in what seemed like forever now, she was not looking forward to the weekend. She didn’t feel comfortable doing the normal things she used to anymore. In fact, her friends had planned an outing for the next day, but excluded Psyche, knowing what her normal answer would be. As such, Psyche had nothing planned for the weekend other than starting a few projects due at the end of the semester.

And, once again, there was a note sitting on her desk. Her heart leap, and she almost attacked the note in her eagerness to read it.

Psyche blinked at this note, which had no signature other than a little drawing of what looked liked pan-pipes. This note was definitely more cryptic than the first note, and she slipped into her pocket for later analysis as the professor walked in to start the class again.

Meanwhile, off in a forgotten place, Eros sat on his mother’s bed, watching the goddess pace and remorse the evil that was mortals. He was merely glaring at her, not wanting to upset her ranting, but also feeling quite annoyed at it at the same time. Really, he hadn’t meant for her to see him. He hadn’t really meant to disappear, either. He had just been taken by surprise at the burn that he had accidentally transported here of all places.

That, naturally, had been his biggest mistake. Because, naturally, Aphrodite knew all about what he had been doing, although a bit powerless to stop it. So she berated him for the nonsense, and berated Psyche for everything. It wasn’t really her fought, he thought. Truthfully, it was Aphrodite’s, for being so egotistical to send him out in the first place.

Why did he have to be the dutiful son and actually pay attention to his mother? She had other children, but none as loyal as he, which he may have to change in the future.

Eros was brought up short when Aphrodite suddenly spun to face him. She stared intently into his eyes, and he tried not to blink. “What?”

Aphrodite shook a finger at him. “I’ll make sure that girl will pay for what she did to you.”

Eros tried not to roll his eyes. “Really, you don’t have to.”

But she wasn’t in a listening mood. “She’s a horrible mortal. I don’t particularly blame you for getting involved with her, but perhaps you should have thought it over more. In fact, if you had just gone though with my thoughts…”

This time he couldn’t stop the eye roll. “Mother, please. Not this again.”

She crossed her arms. “Ok, but I’m still going to make her pay. Tell me where she is.”

Eros glared at her. “No.”

She glared back. “Yes.”

He had to stand up to her. “No,” he said more firmly this time.

The goddess sighed. “Fine, then I’ll find her myself.” And she walked out of her room.

Well, this wasn’t going to be good, he thought to himself as he jumped up to follow her. He had to see what she was up to.

Actually, he wasn’t all that surprised to find her appealing to Zeus already. Aphrodite wasn’t really a patient goddess. Yes, definitely not going to be good.

He didn’t go in, but he stood near the door, and listened in on the conversation. From the sound of it, Zeus had agreed after listening to her side of the story, which wasn’t at all fair to Psyche, not having put in her side as well, and was going to send a messenger to get the girl.

Aphrodite looked at her son in triumphant as she left, and Eros just hung his head, embarrassed for the goddess.

Psyche was wondering around the park, watching to snow gather on the slight hilltops, having nothing better to do. Being outside helped, because she did feel like she was doing something. The chill in the air helped calm her down, and the wide open spaces took the claustrophobia she had been experiencing lately out of her system. Still, she felt lonely, and there didn’t seem to be any cure for that.

It took her a few moments to realize the man on the grass was following her, and almost leering at her.

“Um, hello?”

The man almost fluttered up to her. It was really strange to see, but Psyche couldn’t explain it any other way. “An audience is requested of you.”

“An audience? With who?” Psyche had no idea what was going on.

The man shook his head. “Merely an audience. If you’ll come with me…” And he grabbed her arm, and Psyche gasped in shock at the bold gesture. But she had no time to explain, for suddenly she wasn’t in the park. She was, well, elsewhere, and she had no idea where.

The room reminded her of Eros’ mansion, and her heart, although beating rather fast due to the speedy journey, dropped a little at that thought. But the man was gone, and a very beautiful woman stood in the center of the room.

She looked a lot like Eros, right down to the Grecian look to her. She walked toward the stunned Psyche, hips swaying a little. “Do you know why you were brought her, child?”

Psyche shook her head. “No, madam, I don’t even know where here is. Nor do I know you.”

The woman laughed. “Don’t know me? Why, I am to goddess of love herself!”

Psyche just stared at her like she was crazy. Maybe this was the reason Eros had really brought her to his mansion. To check out whoever this was, and possibly send her to a metal institution.

“Come, child, surely you’ve heard of me.”

“I have, but only in stories. There are no such things as gods and goddesses.”

Aphrodite made a odd sound in the back of her throat. “Please. We’re as real as you are standing there.”

Psyche still didn’t believe her, but decided to see what she wanted, and go along with it. “Ok, so you’re a goddess. Why would you want to see me?”

“Because, dear child,” she said with a bit of acid in her voice, “you have hurt my son, and for that, you’ll have to pay.”

“Your son?” Wait, if this was the goddess of love, meaning Aphrodite since she looked Greek, then, recalling those myths she had heard, her son was…Eros, of course. “Oh, crap.”

So, if this woman was really Aphrodite as she claimed, she was really a goddess, that would make Eros as god. How did this happen? It would explain his desire to remain invisible. And his sudden disappearing act. But, still, this woman could have named her son Eros simply because her name was Aphrodite.

“Yes, ‘oh crap’. As you’ve made him suffer, so I shall do to you.”

“What will I have to do?”

The ‘goddess’ obviously hadn’t thought that much though. She stood for a moment. “Go to the granary, and you’ll fine a pile of mixed grains. Sort them.”

“Where’s the granary?”

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “I’ll send someone to show you.”

Psyche followed the man out of the mansion, and into the silo, and indeed found a pile of grains. Left by herself, she stared at the pile, and attempted to problem solve this. “Ok, I think I need a sifter of some kind. I think. Not like I’ve ever done anything like this. Papa, I think, was a farmer, and I think he told me he shifted the grains.” But she had no clue what a shifter would look like.

So Psyche sat down, and stared at the grains some more. “Might as well get to work.” She picked up a grain, and put it in its own pile.

She worked at this for a half and hour before she saw the stream of ants crawling into the silo, and under the grains. “Eww, go away!”

She watched in wonder, though, as the ants emerged from the back of the pile, and start piles of their own before heading back. “Ok, this is definitely too weird for me.”

When Aphrodite came the next morning to check on her, the grains were sorts about her, and not an ant was in sight. “How did you…never mind. I have another task for you, anyhow.”

Psyche, having had a great night sleep while the ants worked, felt ready to do anything. “What this time?”

“There is a river nearby where sheep with golden fleece graze. Collect some of their wool for me.”

Once again, Psyche was shown where this was, and the servant looked all too eager to leave her alone.

Psyche, although she never admitted it to anyone, loved sheep. Her room was covered in sheep things. Sheep toys, sheep figurines, even sheep bed sheets from time to time. But these sheep, well, Psyche was terrified of. These sheep were rather violent and frenzied, and Psyche just watched, in shock.

She hadn’t realized how long she had been standing there. The activity of the sheep had kept her mind occupied for a while, and she hadn’t even noticed their leaving to riverbank. Cursing herself for being too slow, she started to walk away in defeat, missing where the sheep had gone, before she noticed something glittering on the bushes by the banks.

It was golden wool! She slapped herself for not thinking of that, and gathered up as much of the wool that had attached it self to the vegetation as possible. She walked up happily, without a mark on her other than the few scraps the bushes gave her, to Aphrodite’s mansion.

Aphrodite, needless to say, was quite furious. “How did you get that, child?”

Psyche shrugged. “From the sheep. Sheep are so cute, don’t you think? I want to visit England and Scotland someday, because I was told their mountains were filled with sheep.” Psyche smiled at the goddess, feeling good about besting her at her own game.

Seething, it took Aphrodite a few minutes to gather her thoughts and send Psyche elsewhere. She pointed out a window. “Go there. Get water in this jar.” She pulled a jar out of nowhere, and Psyche just stared at it.

Wondering how she got herself in this mess, Psyche soon found herself looking up at the mountain. Was she to do this in a certain amount of time? Because, sure, she liked rock climbing in a local gym, but climbing a mountain for the first time was something entirely different.

And that flame coming out of the mountain didn’t look promising. Psyche gulped, and started her way up, wondering what that flame was.

Once again, a half an hour up, an eagle swooped down on her, almost attacking the frightened girl. The bird snatched the jar out of Psyche’s hand, and she almost tumbled off the mountain. Surely this was Aphrodite’s plot to keep her away from her son!

As Psyche sat on a ledge near where she was attacked, she started to feel bad again. This was entirely too much too soon. Granted, she did have something to do over the weekend, but, even now, she had no clue how much time had gone by since Aphrodite had brought her to this place. It seemed like the day before, but she also knew that time seemed to flow differently here. For one thing, her watch had stopped upon arrival. And it was a new battery.

Nightfall was fast approaching, and Psyche laid down, wondering if she could find another jar fast enough. She was quite shocked, just as she was closing her eyes, though, to find that eagle coming at her again. “Shoo, go away!”

But the eagle landed on the ledge, and left the jar before taking off again. Overjoyed at the sight of the jar and the thought of continuing the journey, Psyche pounced on it.

And discovered it was filled with chilly water! Psyche was amazed. If she had any doubts about gods and goddesses here, the left her now.

She decided it was too late in the day to head back down the mountain and though the forest to the mansion again, and found herself once again having a great night sleep. Psyche hated sleeping outdoors, hated camping, so this took her by surprise the next morning.

Aphrodite was furious, even more so than before. And yet, somehow, even become red didn’t take the beauty out of the woman. But, this time, she calmed down long enough to give her final task.

“Child, go to the Underworld, if you can, and persuade dearest Persephone to get me some of her beauty in this box.” She handed Psyche a rather elaborate box.

“Beauty from the goddess of death for the goddess of love? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

Aphrodite glared at her. “No, just go.”

Psyche had no clue how to get to the Underworld. She knew heroes did it all the time in myths, but this was real life. How was she, who was no hero, to get into the Underworld?

Well, actually, she would think of one way. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure if she’d get into the right Underworld, or if she’d ever be able to return.

Deciding jumping was the best method, she climbed the highest tower of the mansion, and, griping the box and praying to whichever god could help her, she prepared to jump.

“Go though the mountain stream.”

Psyche nearly fell off the ledge upon hearing the soft whisper. It sounded familiar, and yet, not familiar.

“Go though the mountain stream, and take something for Cerberus, and some coins for Charon. Then you can ask to seek and audience with Persephone.”

She looked around for the source of the whisper. “How am I to get to the mountain stream?”

She heard a sigh, and then there was a pause. And the eagle from the day before came out of nowhere, and lifted her from the ledge. She let out a small scream of terror, which she quietly checked.

“Thank you, Mister Eagle Person.”

This was definitely the way to fly, she thought. She hated flying in general, but this was sort of fun, hanging from your shoulders by a bird who took you higher and over the mountain. She just held onto the box, and allowed her mind not to dwell on where she was.

The eagle actually threw her into the stream, and Psyche felt herself being carried off somewhere. She bobbed to the surface a few times, gasping for air before she was thrown back under. She tried to gain some ground, but she was also trying not to loose the fancy box, and that was prohibiting her progress.

All too soon, Psyche was suddenly thrown to the shore of the river. Groaning and shaking what little water she could from herself, she straightened, now cold as well as wet. And the sight that befell her made her all the most colder.

It was a dog a bit bigger than a normal dog, with three heads. The legendary Cerberus. She realized she hadn’t had time to grab something for him to chew on while she snuck by, and she developed a sense of fear.

There was wiggling in her shirt that distracted her, and she pulled out a fish. Blushed at where it had been, she knew what to do with it, and flung it in the direction of Cerberus. All three heads wanted the fish, and it was easily distracted.

Psyche made a run for it, and almost fell into another river.

She looked for the ferryman, and ran over to him, fishing out a few coins from her pockets. “Will this do for you to take me to Persephone?”

Charon, almost faceless, regarded the coins, and nodded. Psyche climbed in the boat, and tried not the think of where she was.

Actually, it wasn’t all bad. In fact, she was almost positive that the horrible look to the walls was just something to look at before you reached Hades. Something to make you terrified, and then grateful to be somewhere pleasant.

Charon took her to a dark castle, and just about shoved her onto the dock. Cautiously, Psyche made her way to the castle.

“Are you the one Aphrodite sent?”

Once again, Psyche jumped at the unexpected voice. “Yes?”

And a woman materialized right next to her. She looked a bit like Aphrodite, but with a younger look, and more normal. Her beauty came from within, it seemed, rather than from the skin. Persephone took the box, peered into it, and handed it back to Psyche. “Now, child, don’t look into that, you hear me?” And Psyche was shoved back into the boat.

Feeling accomplished now, Psyche ignored the cruel walls, and even patted Cerberus as she left. Actually, he was quite a soft dog. She should get one of those. If they came in a one headed version, that is.

With a new confidence in her step, for she ousted Aphrodite again, Psyche made her way to the mountain river, which she hoped she could follow out of the Underworld. However, being herself, she tripped on a rock, which sent her tumbling. She hit the ground on her stomach, and air knocked out of her. But she wasn’t concerned about that. The box had flipped open, and she scrambled to close it lest the beauty came out. How would she explain that to Persephone?

Unfortunately, the box had flipped open facing her, and Psyche passed out from the Sleep of the Dead.

Eros flexed the shoulder than had been burned, testing it to see if it was really healed or not. He let out his wings, and found they weren’t bothering him anymore. Grinning, since that had been his problem from the start, and the reason he started in his mother’s room, he tested them out a bit, and was quite satisfied with the results.

Now he just needed to rescue Psyche from whatever his mother had her doing. This definitely was not going to be good, if he knew his mother. And he did.

However, no matter where he looked for her, in the usual stops that his mother sent mortals to face their dooms in failure, he couldn’t find her. Fearing the worst, he headed for the one place he knew he couldn’t look easily.

However, he hadn’t need to go far before he found her. Landing near her sleeping form, he shook his head. She had obviously been there awhile, and she was on her stomach, drooling a bit and snoring softly. Finding the source of the unnatural slumber, he quickly shut it.

She snorted, and wrinkled her forehead as she came to. Opening her eyes, Psyche was greeted with a blurry image of Eros.

She pulled herself up. “Hello.”

“Hello.”

The moment was a bit awkward, and he had no clue how to amend it. “How’s your shoulder?”

He flexed it again. “All right.”

Psyche was silent as she pulled herself into a sitting position. “Is what your mother said true? Are you really a god?”

Mentally, he cursed his mother and her mouth. But he sighed, and let out his wings again.

She gave a soft gasp. Her usually large eyes become a bit larger at the sight, but she proved his mother wrong, and merely reached to pick up the box. “I guess I should give this to her, huh?”

Eros gave her an odd look. “What?”

“You aren’t going to comment on the wings?”

She shook her head. “No. I mean, I didn’t think gods and goddesses existed, but this whole thing has changed my view on things. I’m not at all surprised, but you being a god doesn’t really change who you are. I’d still like you even if you were, say, a monster.”

“A monster!”

She smiled up at him. “Don’t ask. Something my sisters told me.”

He returned her smile, and picked her up with ease. “So, shall we head back?”

She grabbed at him, not expecting to be picked up. “Yes, let’s.”

He formed a determined look on his face. “And then we’ll get married.”

She looked up at him, startled, but then chuckled. “Ok, but only if I get to finish my education.”

“Naturally, my dear.” And he leaned down to give her her first kiss.

And, as it should be, they happened to live happily ever after.