Chapter 32 Eros
Eros
The darkness under his emerald eyes was pooling, deep and bruised, similar to the storm clouds looming over Elythra. He could not keep count of how many hours had passed since he had slept, but he could undoubtedly count the hours he had spent without his bonded.
He’d had no visitors for hours, not since he had ordered Artemis to leave his home after she had kept him from using the Oracle’s Stone. The rage he felt at that moment was still remembered by every cell in his body. He could feel it feeding the darkness that had begun growing again inside him.
Eros tilted his head, quickly trying to dismiss those thoughts.
Please talk to me. Tell me that you can hear me, Charisma, he thought, but he was only met by a wall of nothingness.
He knew he could not reach her through their bond, yet he still tried.
Separated too soon, they never had the chance to forge the bond to the lengths that would allow them to communicate mind-to-mind.
Yet he still hoped to hear her voice through the madness of his mind, but she was nowhere to be found.
Even after she was taken away, the only thing that remained with him was the rhythm of her heart, and it was still beautifully synced with his own.
With his fingers gripping the edge of the marble balcony, he brought a hand to his chest, closing his eyes and feeling each heartbeat resonate against his palm. He focused his attention on it.
The loud sound of thunder came at the same time a sigh escaped his mouth.
Slowly opening his eyes, he gazed toward the sky, and somewhere within him the fleeting thought of Zeus’s disappearance also came into his mind.
As he remembered, his anger escalated to a dangerous level, fueled by the relentless thought that Zeus’s absence could mean another moment of suffering for his bonded.
Without a doubt, Zeus was causing her agony.
He could detect her heart rate fluctuating, occasionally speeding up as though she were terrified or experiencing an immense amount of pain.
We tried everything, the thought echoed within his head, overriding his other thoughts and effectively denying him any respite. Experiencing such a state of disorientation for the first time was a novel feeling for him, as he found himself completely overwhelmed.
Was there a possibility that we had overlooked something?
But in an instant, he recalled how Athena had spent the past two days examining every scroll, book, and note, and she was still unable to find even a hint regarding Zeus’s secret location.
Artemis had also coordinated all the creatures and animals of the forest to look for Charisma, yet their search yielded nothing.
He also hadn’t stopped using his wings to fly through every layer of their world, and he even reached out to Kosmos, desperate to get a sign of her.
Even with all that effort, they still hadn’t found her. There was nothing to aid in his search for her. Nothing.
They had even gone to the trouble of summoning Nytherae’s Cyclops and offered him the eye of a nymph in an attempt to persuade him to reveal the location of where Zeus was keeping Charisma.
The instant the beast heard their question, it cut open its own throat, and blood began to spill onto the ground in front of them.
Eros knew he had to take the greatest revenge on Zeus.
Not only did he want him dead, but he wanted him to suffer—to at least try to make him feel how he had been feeling the last few days.
As he entertained these thoughts, his fingers curled around the fabric of the shirt he was wearing, and his feet moved, guiding him back inside his bedroom.
He moved toward the wall on the other side of his bed, and as he touched the area with the darkest shade of red, the wall turned, revealing his secret chamber.
If I possess a hidden chamber, surely one might exist within Zeus’s home as well.
A pleased smile touched his lips as he reached for the golden crown sitting on the glass pedestal. The Veiled Crown. The moment he put it on his head, his golden wings sprung out of his back.
We certainly tried everything, but not this.
He exited the chamber, moving the wall back into place and proceeding to the window.
He sprang from the balcony and soared into the dry air, noticing a glint of color over Olympus as he felt the mere hope growing inside his soul.
Although he was aware of the subtle color, he was also conscious that their world was on the brink of collapse.
He paid no attention to it. Finding his bonded and getting his revenge were the only things on his mind.
The thought lingering in his mind was that he might’ve had the chance to discover something that would persuade Zeus to bring Charisma back alive.
He flew toward the Temple of Zeus with his wings wrapped tightly around him as he picked up speed.
When the air touched his skin, he instinctively placed his hands on his chest, driven by an overwhelming urge to feel the rhythm of his bonded’s heart.
Every fiber of his being demanded the reassurance that she was still alive.
A languid rhythm moved her heartbeat, with each thump echoing through him like a deliberate distant drum.
What are you up to at this moment, bonded? Are you trying to maintain your composure while pondering escape? That would explain why your heart is so calm now.
He began talking to his lover and was yet again met by the same nothingness.
Despite his rational understanding that it was improbable, he harbored the hope that their connection could grow even with the distance between them.
He felt a persistent urge to try, even though the odds were against him.
The bond compelled him to act against his knowledge and morals, and it was an impulse he found impossible to suppress.
He arrived at the Temple of Zeus and as he stepped onto the stairs, he noticed the marble steps had long lost their golden appearance.
The pain he felt had drained the world around them of any vibrancy, and he knew that if anything were to happen to Charisma, he would completely obliterate everything—without feeling any guilt for it.
The cold, vacant air of the building engulfed him the moment he stepped inside, creating an atmosphere of emptiness.
The walls held no sounds of murmuring, as there were no gods or creatures present.
Only a hollow space was all that remained, ready to be consumed by the god who held Elythra completely at his will.
Even amid the oppressive quiet, he knew Zeus’s flawless home was maintained by various servants and creatures.
He was aware his house would not be unorganized, and he was certain that he could find a moirai or a nymph who could assist him in carrying out his plan—or better yet, who would be the perfect victim of his crown of manipulation.
His footsteps echoed and became more distinct as he walked through the tall marble columns and headed toward the wing of the building that housed Zeus’s private rooms. As his wings folded and disappeared into his back, he reached for the massive door that was inscribed with dozens of fading runes.
The crown’s golden glimmering indicated that there was a vulnerable creature close to its master, and Eros understood the significance of it.
“Show yourself,” he demanded, his voice full of amusement as he knew the enchanted crown’s spell had the power to make anyone who was under the veil of invisibility to show themselves.
The compelling magic that it possessed was so strong that no creature could resist its effects.
A high-pitched, startled voice caught his attention. “B-but how . . . Please, god, do not tell the king that I had shown myself to you!”
As his eyes drifted, they came to rest upon the small nymph.
Her hands covered her mouth, almost as if she wanted to take back the words she had spoken.
With her eyebrows trembling, she swiftly surveyed her surroundings, presumably trying to comprehend how she had broken the invisibility spell Zeus had forced her to put into place.
It was almost pathetic that he had left such a vulnerable creature in charge of protecting his private wing.
“I shall require something of you if you want to avoid me informing your king of your wrongdoings, but you will comply with my commands regardless,” Eros spoke, his words carrying a strange confidence.
Her lips formed a thin line as she nervously moved her fingers, anticipating the next order from the god standing before her.
“Show me the chamber that your king has forbidden entry to,” Eros demanded, and the nymph’s fleeting glances revealed that she knew exactly where to take him.
She promptly opened the door and stepped over the threshold, her swift movements reflecting her eagerness to complete his instructions. They proceeded down the lengthy ornamented corridors adorned with ivy leaves that had once been green and filled with portraits of Zeus.
After three intense days, he finally felt that he might have a chance to get his bonded back, and he was eager to do everything within his ability to keep her safe.
“I-I don’t know why I follow your orders,” she stammered, her voice shaking with frustration.
“Your only requirement is to understand that you do,” he stated as he continued to walk behind her with a smirk displayed on his face.
“The king is going to kill me,” she continued, her steps quickening as she reached for the end of the hallway.
A burst of laughter escaped from Eros’s lips. “Only if he lives.”
The nymph’s eyes flickered toward him briefly, her eyebrows shooting up in an expression of complete and utter shock.
However, she didn’t say a word and began knocking on the enormous wall that stood before them.
Her knocks appeared to be carefully planned, as though she understood precisely the rhythm required for them to echo through the space.