Eros and Psyche
The Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, looked down upon the earth. Her brows creased for a second and then they smoothed, as she didn't want to get wrinkles.
There seemed to be a great procession. People leaned out of their windows to watch it and everything stopped as the parade passed by. The people were following a young woman around and throwing flowers in her path for her dainty feet to tread upon. The followers were shouting and the Goddess heard their cries.
"Here is the great Aphrodite herself on earth!"
"Worship Psyche!"
When they came to her ears, Aphrodite flew into a rage, thinking Psyche as vain and stupid to compare herself with Aphrodite.
Aphrodite thought quickly, and finally summoned her son, Eros.
He entered the room a moment later and stood before her. She looked up at him, marveling how quickly he had grown since that accident with Apollo.
"Son, I have a task for you. Down on earth is a mortal who dares think her beauty rivals my own. After you finish your daily rounds today I want you to go into the home of Psyche and slay her." After she had finished Aphrodite smirked.
Her son nodded and his wings twitched.
"Yes mother." He then went out of the room to do his rounds.
There had been a few incidents, like Narcissus, who fell in love with the first person he saw, which incidentally had been his own reflection. He had meant to fall in love with Echo but sometimes these things couldn't be helped.
There was a very awkward incident with his 'Love at First Sight' arrows, as his mother so fondly called them, where the first person a man had seen was … another man. Boy, was that a mess.
As he flew over Psyche's kingdom, after the rounds, he was wondering what the next incident would be, he was very interested in seeing it.
Love is blind, was a very common saying in the future, he was told, which confused him because his mother could see perfectly, and he wasn't exactly the God of love, he was the God of Falling in Love.
He was over the King's palace now so he descended slowly, landing in a balcony outside a bedroom. His feet made no sound as he walked into the dark inside of the palace.
It was warm inside and he could hear the gentle breathing of someone in the middle of the room.
Being a God, Eros could see in the dark. He saw a dainty figure lying on the bed. He walked over to her and had a hand resting on the bottle of poison at his waist.
Eros leaned over and saw her face for the first time.
Slowly, without his notice, one of his magical arrow slid out of the quiver and struck him in his foot.
He jumped back and stared at the arrow sticking out of his foot.
"Oh no." he muttered. He bent down to pull the arrow out of his foot.
Once removed he threw it to the side and again leant over Psyche. Eros felt he could not kill her, for he was in love with her.
She sighed and shifted, as if feeling she was being watched. Eros watched over her for the rest of the night and when day dawned flew out of the window.
That day, Aphrodite looked down on the king's palace to see if Psyche was dead and to her astonishment Psyche was lazing about her room brushing and preparing her hair.
Aphrodite grew into such a rage that she made Psyche's hair become unmanageable and infested all of her best robes with moths.
The Goddess did so many things to the poor Psyche that after an hour the girl was reduced to tears on her bed.
After that, Aphrodite called for her son. He flashed into the room in a shower of sparkles.
"Eros, why is Psyche still alive?" She was fiddling with the belt around her waist.
"I could not kill her, I had no means of doing so." He answered calmly.
"Then what are those things on your back?" She said, her voice becoming high-pitched. Eros raised a hand and gently touched the arrows on his back.
"These are for creating love and, in some instances, life. Not for destroying it." he shook his head.
"Find a means of killing her then and finish the job tonight!" Eros turned away in a huff, losing a few feathers in the process.
He would not kill Psyche, but he would finish the job.
That night, two figured entered Psyche's bedroom. Eros and Hypnos. They padded silently toward Psyche's bed and Hypnos slowly passed his hand over her face, putting her into a deep sleep.
Eros tucked his arms under Psyche's slight form and held her head against his chest. Her breath tickled the spray of hair on his chest and he smiled down at her, more in love with her than ever.
He looked up at Hypnos and nodded.
"We'll talk about your selection tomorrow." Eros stepped out onto the balcony, unfurled his wings and took flight.
The journey was long and lasted the best part of an hour but Eros eventually got to his haven.
The island was small, but filled with luscious flowers, beautiful waterfalls and cascades. In the centre of it all was his palace.
It was large, wide and gleaming marble in the sun. It was two storeys high and with an outdoor courtyard and all the modern conveniences.
He flew into the courtyard and landed softly, not wanting to disturb Psyche. Eros carried her up to the main bedroom, where he laid her out on the bed.
He picked up a blindfold from the bedside and lifted her head. The thick strip of cloth was tied around her head and Eros let his fingers linger in her wavy dark curls. He lifted some to his nose and smelled.
She shifted in his grip and he shushed.
"Where am I?" she said, her voice sounding like honey.
"It is of no importance." He replied, trailing his fingers from her chin to the base of her neck. She slapped away his hand.
"Who are you?" she pulled back away from him and tugged at the blind fold.
"Do not take it off!" she dropped her hand and moved away so she was pressing against the wall.
He crawled over to her and kissed her.
Eros awoke before first light and slowly moved out of bed, leaving his satisfied lover gently breathing on the other side. He loathed to get up but he did not want her to see him.
He walked to the window and flew off to Mount Olympus.
When Psyche awoke it was dark. Mainly because of her bandage which she hurriedly took off.
It was day and the sun was high in the sky. She slid out of bed and yawned, looking at her surroundings as she did so. The room was all bright and shiny and she knew that her lover was rich, which she was glad for.
As she explored the room more extensively she found a feather on the pillow next t where she was. That interested her.
She picked it up and stroked it, marveling at it's softness. She tucked it into her hair and then went outside of the room to explore the grounds and find some food.
When she came out of the room she was suddenly in a great hall where there were many grand things. She could see gold and marble statues around the hall and various other things around the room.
The next room was a dining room where the table was laden with rich and rare delicacies, many of which even she, a princess, had never seen nor tried.
Psyche sat down at a chair and filled her plate with all the recogniseable foods and then sat down in the nearest chair.
After eating 'til she was full, Psyche felt she needed to walk and burn off some of the fat she had gained from eating all of that food so she walked around the palace until she had come to an exit.
She went outside and walked through avenues of trees, fountains and flowers. After many hours she had discovered many ways to enjoy herself during the day.
But still, she longed for her nocturnal lover to return.
Aphrodite gazed upon Psyche's previous home and grinned. The whole family was in tears and many of the people in the street were too. The King himself had declared a day of mourning and the whole house was in uproar and disorder.
She wondered if Discordia was enjoying herself.
When night came and Psyche had once again eaten her full she went to her bedroom where she tied the blindfold around her head and waited for her lover to come.
When she was about to fall asleep he came. She could hear the door open and she turned over to face where she thought he was.
"Is everything to your liking?" he asked.
"Yes, I enjoyed it very much. Although I was very lonely." She bowed her head and Eros felt sympathy.
"I know, my love, but it cannot be helped. No one must know you are here and you must not see me without the blindfold."
"I know." She felt her eyes sting and tears trickled down her cheeks and along the sides of her nose.
"Dear Psyche, please do not cry." He went to her and held her hand.
This went on for months and Psyche's previous home thought her dead as did Aphrodite. Psyche became lonely during the day, longing for the night and Eros became sad for her and a little guilty himself.
Then Psyche began to have worries. What if her lover wasn't really a man but a hideous monster? When these doubts came to mind she pushed them back, wanting to believe that he was a handsome man.
One night, her curiosity got the better of her.
When she knew her lover was sleeping she slipped out of bed and lit the candle beside the bed. She lifted it up and held it over his head. The sigh she saw almost made her drop the candle.
Her lover was Eros.
His blonde, wavy hair was strewn, as much as it could be, over the cushions. He was sleeping on his side, with his wings furled up tightly. She remembered the feather on the pillow and gasped.
She reached out her hand toward him, but drew it back. She should no touch him. She had promised not to see him, but now that she had she could not look away.
Slowly, almost as if it was slithering, a drop of molten wax slipped off the top of the candle, and slid down the candle stick before, ever so slowly, falling on to Eros.
His eyes shot open and Psyche saw striking blue eyes before they became an angry green. He clutched his shoulder and sat up, sliding away from her.
"My love …" she began, reaching toward him. She wanted to see those sky blue eyes again.
"You promised." And with that, Eros flew out of the window, taking her heart with him. She put her hands to her face and wept until morning.
When sunlight peeked over the window sill Psyche got up and dressed into a black tunic, wore her hair plainly and then went straight out to the garden, missing breakfast.
As she stepped out of the house the ground under her feet became rocks and spread around her, after about five minutes the beautiful garden and palace had disappeared, replaced with rocky wilderness.
She closed her eyes but all she saw was blue, sky blue eyes, but then they turned green and she opened her eyes. She knew what she must do.
Psyche turned toward the north and began to walk, heading toward Mount Olympus, home of the Gods.
When she was but one mile along the journey she came across Demeter. She saw young Persephone weeping and came to her.
"What is the matter?" she asked.
"I must find Eros." Psyche answered. She then proceeded to tell Demeter her tale and after that Demeter felt for the girl, for she had felt that way when her brother, Hades had stolen her daughter.
"Eros is with Aphrodite. He is sad and weeping also. Aphrodite tells me his shoulder is a little burnt but he suffers much more greatly from a broken heart." Psyche started crying again and Demeter touched her on the shoulder.
"Ask Aphrodite for forgiveness. She was angry with you because you were more beautiful than her, but now she is furious because you have taken her son from her. Eros never speaks now, he doesn't eat or sleep. He suffers more greatly than you."
"I was a fool! I had Pandora's curiosity and when I opened the box, It tore my heart in two."
"I will speak to her and she will come to you and tell you whether or not she shall forgive you." Demeter disappeared in a shower of glitter.
Psyche sat down on a low stone wall and waited.
Another shower of sparkles appeared and Psyche knelt upon the ground.
"Most high Goddess, Aphrodite, please do not be angry with me." Psyche cowered on the ground as Aphrodite looked down on her wrathfully.
"I cannot forgive you for what you have done to my son, mortal."
"I shall become your servant, Goddess, wouldn't it be revenge enough to have the most beautiful mortal," she saw Aphrodite turn up her nose and began to turn. "whose beauty cannot compare to your own, as your servant?"
Aphrodite looked like she was considering the proposal. Her mouth turned into a large smile that made Psyche back away a few feet.
"Yes, you shall be my servant, and your first task shall be …" she wondered for a moment before smiling that smile again.
Aphrodite took Psyche's shoulder and they both disappeared into a large room filled with grains of all types. Psyche's sandals filled with grains but Aphrodite floated a foot above the grains. The grains came up to Psyche's knees.
"Sort out these grains and be finished by sundown. Only one who can do this is worthy of my son." She left the room and Psyche at once began to cry.
After several hours she saw the grains moving. She gasped and saw that they moving because the ants were sorting out the grains.
"Thank you!" she gasped out croakily. The ants finished before Aphrodite came and Psyche stood proudly as Aphrodite came to see her.
The Goddess looked around the room in amazement ant the seemingly impossible task.
"You did not do this!" she yelled. She grabbed Psyche and threw her into a cell after she had moved them there. She threw in a crust of bread after her.
Huddled against one corner of the cell, Psyche slowly chewed on her crust. This must be unhealthy, she thought, one day she was surrounded in splendour and magnificence and the next, a dirty, scungy, slimy cell.
At last, after a few fitful turns, she fell asleep and was awoken early the next morning by the Goddess.
Aphrodite set difficult tasks for Psyche every day after, throwing her in the cell every night and waking her not long after that.
The tasks were almost always impossible, but every time she could charm the animals and nature around her to help achieve the goal.
Once she had to fetch an urn of water from a sacred spring, only to find it guarded by a massive dragon which snorted flames at her and swiped it's tail in her path.
She sat down weeping on a rock by the path and set the urn beside her. She covered her eyes as she wept. She knew she could never get past that dragon, it seemed that she would never see Eros again.
Psyche wept for half an hour until she pulled herself together. When she looked down at the urn, it was full of iridescent water and a raven was perched along the rim of it.
"Thank you so much! I love you!" she stroked the raven and it flew off.
When Aphrodite came back Psyche was sitting proudly by the urn. Aphrodite took a sip and wrinkled her nose.
"It is from the sacred spring." She threw it on the ground and the urn smashed into tiny shards.
"One more task." The Goddess said angrily.
"That's what you said last time. I need to see Eros." Psyche pleaded.
"One more!" Aphrodite grabbed her arm and Psyche was deserted in the cell again.
Eros lay on the bed near the balcony and stared at the sky outside. He had one hand across his chest while the other felt the burn on his shoulder.
" … need another task for that wretched girl …" he heard his mother mutter from the next room.
He sat up slowly and padded across the floor to hear his mother's conversation.
" … blasted girl always finishes them. I might try … no, that wouldn't do. I think Hercules has done that already. Damn that wretched man. What I need is a real challenge, life threatening preferably." A pause, and then more talking, but not from Aphrodite.
"I wouldn't know, Hercules has done all the actual life-threatening ones. Maybe you should just kill Psyche." Eros walked into the room.
"Where is she? Mother?" In the room was Aphrodite talking with his aunt Discordia.
"Who, dearest son?" Aphrodite played dumb.
"Psyche, she's here somewhere isn't she? I demand to know!" his eyes blazed green and he folded his arms. He would not be denied.
Aphrodite dissolved under the stare.
"She's in the dungeon."
Psyche crouched in the corner, trying to avoid the rats. She wondered about the rats, she was undoubtedly on Mount Olympus. Maybe Aphrodite waned to add a little atmosphere to the dungeon.
The door slammed open but the light was once again eclipsed by the unmistakable figure of a man. With folded wings.
Psyche stared in amazement and as she watched the wings unfurled and his arms were stretched out towards her. It must be another dream.
Eros came toward her held her in his arms and then she knew she wasn't dreaming.
"I'm so sorry." She said hoarsely. He said nothing, but held her tighter and then kissed her.
Psyche was married to Eros by Zeus in front of the whole Pantheon and made a Goddess to live with Eros for the rest of her life and eternity.