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Arrows and Roses - Chapter 1

A daughter of Cupid and a son of Death are fated to be together, tired of waiting for the other, the two of them go about secretly courting the other.

By The Water LilyPublished 5 years ago 8 min read
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It all starts when a daughter of Eros realises she wants what her parents have.

Chapter 1

Eros. The god of love. Son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, passion, and beauty. A lot of people believed that, for the longest time, Eros was a cherub, a winged baby with a bow and arrow. He never bothered to dispute it. So for centuries, my father was imagined as a small baby flying over people and aiming heart tipped arrows at everyone.

My name is Erosa. I am one of seven children of Eros and his lovely wife, my mother, Psyche.

I am a minor goddess of love.

There are seven types of love described by the greeks. Seven loves, Seven kids, not that we let it define us.

There is the romantic, sexual love, a love most common when starting relationships. It’s powerful and can be fleeting like a fire that’s been forgotten to be stoked.

There’s affectionate love, a love that is common between and among friends. (Did you know that if you have a crush on your friend but you desire nothing more than friendship, this is called a "squish?" I didn’t realise until a few years ago. You humans are constantly inventing new names for things. It was only by chance my brother happened to mention this. He just told me randomly out of the blue. I was in the kitchen doing some paperwork with him and he just dropped the word. But I digress.)

Another form of love is the love for a child. Maternal love. It’s found between a mother and her child. (my mother loves us too much… she says that we need it. Pfff, we’re cupids?)

Then there’s selfless love. A love with no expectations of receiving any in return. Many experience selfless love when they love nature or contribute to charity. If you think you haven’t experienced selfless love, I can prove you wrong. Have you ever seen someone struggling with someone and without any concern for yourself, you have rushed over to help them? Or how about when you stopped to admire the sunset or to appreciate the view of nature? You know that nature doesn’t love you back, but you love it anyway. Or when your roomba speeds past you to clean up the dust and you experience a sudden urge to reach down and pet it, knowing it is a robot without feeling, but you change its batteries anyway while talking to it? I’ve done that a few times myself. (My roomba’s name is Mr. Shiny. Cause he keeps my floor shiny… and also because he’s very shiny. )

There’s also playful love, which can only be described as flirting and seduction with no commitment.

Long-lasting love is my favourite. That’s one of the strongest love there is, and it always makes me sigh when I see it in real life.

And finally, the love that everyone needs in life. Love of Self. Self love… there isn’t enough in the world and it always makes me sad. Because if we love ourselves and treat ourselves right, that would be a good step to world peace… I’m just joking, there’s no such thing. As long as my grandfather (You know Ares? The pigheaded god of war? Yeah that guy...) exists, there will always be war. And that’s why people call Love a Slice of Heaven. They clearly have not tasted my mom's Christmas cookies.

My siblings and I are in charge of these different kinds of love.

We are Cupids. And we are many. There are hundreds of cupids in this world.

My siblings and I are the only ones who are the direct children of Eros. I’m not saying my father has gone around and sired hundreds of children with random women.

My mother would be reaching for a knife. No, no, no… My father went around and found hopeless romantics and passionate people who he then offered a job. A job to make a tiny difference in the world.

With the help of the fates (who are by the way, scary women) and our steady aim, we cupids fly around the world ensuring that there is enough love to go around.

Unfortunately for us though, our own love life is complicated. It is the fate of any cupid.

If a cupid were to fall in love, it would be difficult and almost impossible to pursue. I have only heard of a few cupids who have managed find the love of their life, but because it’s so close to unattainable, many cupids don’t bother.

Why bother getting your heart broken when you can watch people fall in love and get almost the same rush? I’m only assuming it’s almost the same. I don’t know exactly because I’ve never been in love. Regardless, I’m sure that it’s powerful stuff.

Anyway, I guess I, myself, am curious as to what that kind of love would feel like. I’ve had crushes in my life and dated around, but nothing serious.

I mean, I’m like thousands of years old. I haven’t even graduated from flight school. (I know, I’m a joke. The other cupids would laugh at me if they didn’t know who my father is. In fact, they probably do, just not when I’m around).

Anyway, on with my journey of “self discovery” (lol did you read that with sarcasm? Because I meant it with sarcasm). I guess it all starts when the man I’ve had feelings for, for centuries, comes waltzing into my house, dressed in a three piece suit and looking fine, like he was fresh off the runway.

I picked up the knife to help cut the brownies when a familiar voice laughed behind me. I knew that laugh. I whirled around and saw Apollo sporting a cheeky grin that supermodels would fall for.

“Apollo,” my mom smiled at him like a mother humouring her child that was holding a frog freshly caught from the pond.

“What an unexpected surprise,” she placed a small plate in front of him and dished out a brownie. I rolled my eyes at her. She was always a sucker for that idiot. He could literally do no wrong, like my youngest brother. I guess it’s because they look similar. Same mischievous eyes, same cheeky grin, same puppy expression that gets them out of trouble.

“I thought I might pop in for a visitation... And cause I got a message from your son that you made brownies,” he winked and my mom’s brows furrowed.

“Which one? I have five of them.” She lifted a brow at him when the devil himself walked him. Julian, Apollo’s best friend for centuries walked in, his nose guiding him towards the freshly baked goods.

"Five of what now?” he asked. He swiped the brownie off Apollo’s plate and munched on it, closing his eyes. “Nothing beats mom’s brownies. She puts everything I like in them.” He moaned.

“You like nuts?” It was my turn to lift an eyebrow at him.

“You know I love nuts.” He grinned with a mouthful of food, which you can only imagine what that looked like.

Mom put another brownie on Apollo’s plate who smiled appreciatively at my mother.

“So Erosa… did you know that Jason is free again?” My mom said it like she would say that our neighbours dog got hit by a car… again.

I popped a grape in my mouth before nodding. That relationship was a mess and I refused to get in the middle of that. Jason and Medea have been fighting for centuries. I offered couples counselling, but after a few sessions Medea turned my wings green for a year. It was a terrible colour. It didn’t go with any of my wardrobe.

“So I’ve heard. Problems in bed apparently.” I tried to hide my smirk, but Apollo’s snort didn’t help me.

"Well maybe you can talk to him about that.” my mother suggested.

“Mom…” I did not want to hear this again. “We spoke about this.” I looked at her with what I could only imagine was an expression of "don’t start this again."

Apollo snickered behind me and I glared at him,

“I know, but it’s been awhile since you’ve been on a date. You’re 4,000 years old and I want to see you with someone.”

“Mom, I’m happy on my own.”

My mother let out a sigh, which made me feel a little bit bad. From her perspective, I guess, I seemed lonely. Not that I was. I had plenty of companionship, my cats and my dog saw to that. Now that I think about it, it did seem a little sad.

“Okay, I’ll let it go for now.”

A knock at the door made me jump a little and my brother dashed off to answer it.

When he came back, my heart did a little backflip. Following behind him was the God who stole my heart and didn't even realise he had it.

Thanatos.

fantasy
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About the Creator

The Water Lily

I was given a prompt and now I give you another side to our world.

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