The Zeal of Eros

If don't come, I made a mistake and I'll never bother you again. But if you do... His words kept flitting around in my head. He knew I was a curious soul, even in the short time that we had met. Why did he have to taunt me?

Well, I could just stay in my room and not know a thing, dismiss everything I had just seen. Bonus, Coop would leave me alone. That wretched at my heart though. I can't.

I knew I couldn't. I t was just too tempting not to take the chance. I wiped my face slightly and winced in pain at my shoulder. My stomach churned slightly at the thought of the snake bite. I took a deep breath and sighed softly. I had been through enough the last couple of days.

As much as I hated the quiet, I hated the fact that I could be so easily manipulated because of my curiosity. I stared out the window, trying to make connections. Psyche was the main one. I should know Psyche. It was in the back of my mind. Why couldn't I recall who she was? She was apparently the reason that Coop took an interest in me. And monsters.

God, I need to stop thinking about that. But with Psyche came questions. Questions about the cheerleaders and that creature that had attacked me. I looked up at the ceiling where the creatures back had rubbed against it. I furrowed my eyebrows. There were big chunks missing from the ceiling.

They didn't notice that? Time passed slowly. The more I sat there, thinking, I hadn't noticed how fast it was becoming dark.

I looked back and almost gasped. It was 10:00 on the analog clock on the wall. I got out of my bed, cursing to myself about how late I probably was. I bolted out of my room, past the unattended nurse's station. I blinked slightly, unsure of the situation that a nurse wasn't there. Maybe they were attending someone. I headed out of the sliding doors. Past the sliding doors was a well taken care of garden. Tall hedges surrounded a courtyard. When I came to it, I didn't really see anyone.

Am I too late?

“Aria...” I nearly jumped out of my skin at that point. I was surprised to turn around and see Coop coming out of hedges. “You came.”

I guess he doubted it. There was a churning in my stomach again.

“Of course I came. I want answers.” Coop came over to me.

“Psyche...” A part of my heart leapt at hearing his smooth voice call that name. I furrowed my eyebrows, looking at him.

“My name is not Psyche. My name is Aria.” Coop looked pained. And I, of course, felt worse. God dammit, why did he have to do that? Coop started to walk and I reached forward. “Coop...”

He looked back at me. There was this sadness in his eyes.

“I'm sorry Aria...” He came toward me and pulled me close.

“Coop... Um...” I felt awkward. He pulled away.

“I've wanted to tell you the truth since the first day.”

“Are you not going to tell me?” I was starting to get cold, rubbing my arms when I realized I was in just a hospital gown.

Coop slipped off his jacket and put it around me.

“I told you... I'll tell you everything.” He lead me over to a seat near some rose bushes. When I raised my eyebrow, he shook his head. “In case you don't feel well after what is said and shown.”

Coop sat next to me.

“How much do you know from Greek and Roman mythology?” I knit my eyebrows together.

“I don't remember a lot of them...” Coop sighed softly.

“Well, what about the God of Love?”

God of Love? What was he talking about? That's when my mind finally clicked. White wings, ultimately attractive, always making others fall in love, especially with him. I blinked.

“Oh no. No. No. No.” I got up, shaking more and stepping away from Coop. He looked at me, tilting his head. He started to get off the bench until I put my hand up. “No. You stay right there, whoever you are.”

Coop narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I think you know exactly who I am, Aria.”

“No. You are delusional. You think you're a winged man. You think you're...a....” I couldn't even say it.

“A god?” He suggested so calmly that I wanted to punch him in the face.

“You're not a god...” Coop or whoever he was, stoop up. His eyes flared red.

“I'm afraid that I am a god. As were you going to be. At one point.” I didn't hear the rest. Though, that was because I ran back to the hospital.

He's completely delusional. A god? He's just a kid.

Think again, my mind said. After the cheerleaders came at me, which I still didn't understand, or the creature that had seemed to come from no where, and Coop's wings. My mind couldn't fully process it all. I didn't stop running till I was halfway down the hallway. I stood there, lost in my own thoughts.

He is something abnormal.
“Aria...” I nearly jumped out of my skin again. I jumped forward and turned like a scared cat. “Aria, please. Let me explain...”

My heart was pounding.

“You're saying you're a god.”

“I am.” He said it calmly, like my hysteria was not troubling.

“And you're...”

“Cupid?” he suggested really calmly, staying steady as my worries start to escalate.

“Cupid.” I tried not to sound more scared. I already was. “Why me?”

He tilted his head curiously.

“Why you?” His eyes slowly realized what I meant. “Oh...” Cupid looked at me. “Because I realized that you held Psyche. A reincarnation of Psyche.”

“Who is Psyche?” Cupid watched me curiously.

“You know who I am, but you don't know my story, huh?” He sighed softly.

“I just told you that I don't remember a lot of mythology.” Cupid sighed again and gently grabbed my arm, leading me over to a seat, sitting next to me.

“Aria...” He stopped himself. I hated waiting and this was driving me up the wall. “Psyche was the most beautiful girl in the world. She had many suitors and Aphrodite, my mother, grew jealous because everyone thought that Psyche was the most beautiful and even outshone the great goddess Aphrodite in beauty. My mother became furious and sent me on Earth. I was sent to make her fall in love with the ugliest creature on Earth.”

Cupid looked down.

“You didn't.” Cupid shook his head.

“No. I... uh...” He furrowed his eyebrows, as if to recollect those memories. “I dropped an arrow and struck myself, falling in love with Psyche. I don't even know how it happened. I didn't think a mortal could be so beautiful. Maybe I became enamored and decided to take the risk after the arrow struck me. Or it was just the arrow.”

I was starting to remember the story.

“Then you demanded, as a monster, that she be brought to you. You made one rule, that she never see you.”

“I was not allowed to, to coin a term, “date” a mortal, I kept her a secret. I gave her everything and she went against my most simple request. She burned my shoulder with oil and I kept it somewhat hidden until my mother tried to heal it. Psyche felt bad and went to seek my mother's help. My mother gave her several challenges to prove that she loved me. I still loved her and helped her, going to Zeus afterward to make her my wife. Hera didn't approve.” He took a shaky breath.

“On the night you... she was suppose to become a goddess, Hera came to her and put a hex on her. Psyche was meant to die in every human host she took, wouldn't recognize me when I tried to save her, and she would always be within my reach and yet...” He clenched his hand slightly. “Love and the soul have become so faint.” He clutched his chest slightly at the thought.

“So Dr. Hecate....” Cupid looked at me.

“Goddess of Magic. She's been keeping me alive for centuries.” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

“Keeping you alive?” Cupid sighed softly.

“I am dying, Aria. I haven't even told my mother, Aphrodite. Haven't explained my situation. My soul has been deteriorating for three-thousand years. Ever since Psyche was taken from me.”

There was so much pain in his voice that I kind of felt bad. He had been waiting 3,000 years for this Psyche while he was dying.

“If you die...” Cupid looked at me, most of the sadness lingering in his eyes.

“Love will die with me. I was the deliverer of love.”

“Was...?”

“I've been shirking my responsibilities. And not a lot of people believe in love.” I bit my lip.

Like me.

“Why do you believe that I'm Psyche?” Cupid looked at me.

“At first, I couldn't be sure. You seemed to want nothing to do with me. Even my aura seemed to do nothing. Then the Empousai followed you. And I knew.”

“The Empousai?”

“They are followers of Hecate, but they have their own kind of agenda.” I gulped slightly.

“How much time do you have?”

Cupid whispered, “A few months.”

I looked at him, staring at his chest. He followed my gaze and started to undo his shirt. I recoiled.

“What are you doing?” Cupid looked at me and unbuttoned it to the point that I could see his chest.

“Showing you.” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

He exposed his chest and I nearly gagged at the sight of it. In the center of his chiseled chest, there was a black hole and around the edges, the skin was bubbling black and seemed to be eating him away from the center. The Greek statue was starting to fall apart. I felt more sad. He started to rebutton his shirt before I stopped his hands. He looked at me, more confused. I bit my lip and opened his shirt again, looking at the bubbling substance on his chest.

“Is there nothing that Hecate can do?” Cupid shook his head.

“She's only been able to slow it down.”

“Cupid...” He put a finger on my lips.

“Call me Coop. Keep my identity on the low key, ok?” I bit my lip. “Plus, it's a name you are more familiar with.”

I let go of his shirt as he buttoned it back up and leaned back as he repositioned himself.

“What happens now?” Coop/Cupid sighed. In his more relaxed state, he could have been considered a corpse as under the hospital lighting, he looked more and more pale.

He closed his eyes and whispered, “I don't know Aria. But for now, we'll wait. I will go back and try to appease Hera and my mother. I don't want you hurt.” He opened his eyes and looked at me with the grayest eyes in the world. “Aria... Psyche...”

He reached forward and touched my cheek. He looked in my eyes and leaned forward. I blinked and pulled away, feeling my heart in my throat as I looked away.

“I'm sorry...” I heard him sigh.

“It's alright, Aria.” It didn't sound like it was. “Let's get you back to your room. I'll be here until you leave.”

I looked at him as he stood up and offered me his hand. I gently took it and he walked me to the hospital room. Never did think that this was going to happen.

“Aria...” I looked up at him.

“Yes?” I was already shaking from all the information I had been taking.

“Don't tell anyone about me, OK?”

I gripped his hand and whispered, “I promise.”