Chapter 4: Guilt and Regret

'Rye was a strong man! He wasn't a boy! He could've married someone! Someone like me! But I was too late!' Psyche screamed in the television. Aphrodite chuckled, 'I love seeing that scene, that girl suffer!'

Eros however, was attempting to hit targets with his arrows, a task his mother set for him. He aimed, pulled the bow and released it. Unfortunately, it landed outside of the ring. The Lady of Love turned to see Eros' process. She yelped. 'You haven't shot an arrow on the target yet, much less bullseye!' she said.

'I'm trying my best, mom,' he said, not trying to get irritated. 'Well, your best,' Aphrodite told him in a concerned tone, 'is horrible! I might have to get the scrawny virgin, Artemis, to help you.'

Well, that couldn't be worse than spending quality time with you, mom, he thought. 'Now,' Aphrodite clapped her hands, 'I teach you how increase the size of your wings and decrease them.'

For increasing the size of his wings, Aphrodite told Eros to think of a time when he was upset, angry or guilty. Eros thought of all three...

Flashback

Eros looked through the glass window. The boy who insulted Eros' mum lay there, on a grand, golden bed. His messy, chocolate-brown hair lay on a light azure pillow, with the rest of his body lying under a light azure blanket. He snored softly.

Eros didn't want to do it. To kill an innocent boy who mistakenly insulted his mother. But he didn't want to feel his mother's wrath either. He knew that made him selfish, but the boy would go to The Fields of Asphodel, not The Fields of Punishment or Tartarus. Obviously not Elsyium or the Isles of the Blest, but, better than the Furies. Eros shuddered at the thought of Alecto and her two bat-like sisters.

He gulped. You can't, said a gentle voice in his head. You have to! Do you want your mother to kill you, asked another voice, this one harsher.

Do you want this in your conscience?

Do you want to die?

The bickering inside his head was too much for Eros.

'Shut up!'

He quickly clamped his hand onto his mouth, aware of the possibility that the boy could wake up. He quickly regained composure and picked an arrow from his quiver. He put it onto the bow, and pulled the string back. He was aware of what he was going to do.

He could almost hear the second voice saying, 'I told you so.'

He released the arrow. He turned away, not wanting to look at the repurcussions of the event. He flew back to Mount Olympus, where his mother would be waiting for results.

He dreamed he was now inside his head. Two figures stood in front of him.

One of the figures was a woman, about in her twenties. She had white hair, braided down her back. She had white eyes, almost invisible. She wore a simple, white dress and wore glass slippers.

The other was a lean man. He had midnight black hair and darker than dark itself eyes. He wore a black tuxedo with, underneath a black buttoned-up shirt and black trousers. He wore black sneakers.

The two were bickering about several things, whether Eros did this for love or hate or if he did that for hate or love. Eros recognised the voices as the ones who were arguing in Eros' head before.

'He obviously did that for hate!'

'That was for Eris! Hate herself! He gave her an apple! How his that for hate?'

'Well maybe, if Athena hadn't shown up, Eris might've eaten the apple and died! It could have been poisoned!'

'Oh, well do you think the personification of love would poison an apple?'

'Exactly!'

'You're so difficult!'

'Thank you.'

'Rrr!'

'Shut up, both of you!' Eros screamed.

'Oh, Eros, its a pleasure to see you.' the lady said.

'It would be even more of a pleasure not to see you.' the man muttered.

'Why do you have to be so negative?'

'I am hate.'

'No you're not!' Eros shouted. 'Eris is!'

'Eris and Eros, you, only appears in mortal minds! Me and him,' when she said "him", she said it in a disgusted tone, 'are for immortals! We are simply known as Love and Hate!'

'I guess you can find out who is who.' Hate muttered. Love stuck her tongue out at him.

'You're not acting like love.' Eros reasoned. Love's face turned redder than Aphrodite's roses. 'I try my best.' she spluttered.

Suddenly, Eros' appearance began to disappear, like a TV with a bad connection.

'The Fates are mean,' Love said kindly, 'They're making you not listen to what we have to say.'

'I hate them.' Love stated.

'I love them!' Hate countered.

The two began bickering again, making Eros have a headache.

'Shut uuuupppppppppppppppp...' Eros' command became nothing but a distorted sound as his mind came back to the real world.

'Eros,' Aphrodite said in a irritated tone, 'Your wings were just enlarging!'

'Oh well. Let us begin with decreasing your wings.'

'So,' began Aphrodite, 'When you faint or sleep, your wings decrease into nothing. When you wake, you can enlarge them to normal size...'

Eros wasn't listening because he still felt guilty. The information his mother was about to give him would be vital for the future, but he didn't listen to anything except Love scolding him.