Tales are told and weaved throughout time
to one day join the archive of all.
Listen to this tale told long after Queen Serenity
and her beloved Silver Millennium,
long after Uther's son and his violent descent to Avalon,
long after the reign of King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity
and their precious Crystal Tokyo
and so long after the remembrance of time
in which our senshi have become mere shadows,
promoted to the wretched position of deities
from what they once were.
Where another figure of power is rising,
reborn in a time so familiar yet so alien.
Where the line of enemy and ally have been redefined,
where the rebirth of our heroes
is either a curse or a saving grace.
Temples of False Promise
Chapter Three: To Sing a Death
Retold by Hel
Arthur realized there and then he was a naive young man without the basic understanding of a women's anatomy. He had seen many nude bodies in the temple, but all those were male. Aphrodite was one hundred and one percent female. (If he had been a man who had seen many women and something to compare Aphrodite to, he probably would thought she was much closer to two-hundred percent.) Any male dancing seductively on that beach would not have fazed him, but seeing Aphrodite naked was a bit unnerving and not all together unpleasant. He realized that he actually liked and appreciated seeing Aphrodite in all her born glory. What was wrong with him?
"Arthur, I know you are there, come out," Aphrodite said slightly irritated. She wasn't dancing anymore, the look on her face sent shivers down Arthur's body and not because it was a pleasant one.
He pretended that he wasn't there; maybe she was only guessing that he was watching her. He then realized he was naive and stupid.
"Arthur, am I going to have to come in there and get you?" she threatened. If she were going to come in there and get him, then he would probably die of fear. To be that close to a female nude body? He couldn't imagine it; he didn't want to imagine it. Then again...
"Please don't make me," he whimpered using all the courage and childish he had as an eight year old. He wasn't looking at her anymore; he was staring at his new leather boots that Byron had given him. He decided then and there he never wanted to see a women naked again.
"Come out here this second or I'll tear your..." she stopped mid-sentence and a look of understanding lightened her face. She was grinning when she said, "I get it. If I put some clothes on will you will please come out of those bushes?"
He nodded, hoping she would see him. After a few moments she told him it was safe to come out and so he did. The monks had beaten him often so he was ready for any punishment she would bestow.
"I'm not going to hurt you so stop looking like a frightened mouse in a trap," she said exasperated and rolled her eyes heavenward. "I'm proud of my body and I don't mind people looking, just as long as they ask first."
"I really don't...I mean you...no...," he stumbled over the words and finally just quite trying to talk. He really didn't want to see her naked body again.
"You're a guy, a young child really, but all the same you're male. It's okay to be interested," she explained. He still felt ashamed.
Aphrodite wanted to cheer the boy up. Of course, earlier that day she had clearly been mean to him, but then she had been in a crabby mood. Now, she was refreshed after her swim and was quite happy at the moment and willing to help the boy Byron cared about so much. She would do anything for Byron.
"Do you swim?" she asked gently. Arthur just shook his head. At the temple the deepest water had been the spring and fountain out in the courtyard.
"Oh, I thought maybe you would want to swim out to the temple with me," she said disappointed. Even if she tried to teach the boy he wouldn't learn enough to swim to the middle of the river where a small island lay, which is where she had wanted to take him.
"What temple?" he asked, curious as all young children are.
"Out on the island in the middle of this wide part of the river. It's a beautiful place," she said dreamily. The boy just scrunched up his noise, Cronus's temple had not been a beautiful place. There was no way Arthur could imagine a beautiful temple.
"Wait I think there is an old wooden bridge a few yards south of here," she exclaimed and started walking off without even making sure Arthur was behind her.
"Wait up!" He shouted after her. His short legs could nowhere near match her long stride. Even when she was walking it seemed like she was in a fast quick dance motion that was graceful and light. Arthur was sure that in a foot race she would probably win against many men.
The bridge was definitely old. It was rotted away in more then a dozen places and planks were missing everywhere, which made for huge holes. Arthur wasn't sure he would be able to get across it. The water wasn't that fast, but then again he could not swim. What if Aphrodite didn't reach him to save him in time or what if when he fell he broke his head open on one of the rocks? He really didn't want to imagine the possibilities any longer. A sickening feeling began working it's way up his gut and to his throat.
Aphrodite began nimbly hopping her way across from board to solid board. Arthur looked at her in surprise, there was no way he could have done that. She seemed to be able to always jump to a board that wasn't soft and dangerous. Everything she did was with a grace and beauty few could even begin to match.
At about this time Arthur froze, he couldn't jump without possibly killing himself and he couldn't walk away without losing her respect. What did she think he was, a monkey? One of the very few and very far between traders at the temple had once brought one with him. It was small with furry gold fur that grew thicker around its neck and face. All the boys had been amazed at its agility and quickness at swinging from place to place. Arthur was not and in no way came close to being a monkey.
"What are you waiting for, chickens to nest in your hair," she teased. He realized he had not moved a muscle in the last few minutes. He gulped and stepped out on the first board, the only one he knew was solid. He was not going to act like a baby in front of Aphrodite.
Arthur did not want to go across the weak bridge, but he so desperately wanted to see the temple, which Aphrodite had praised so highly.
A slight buzzing sound filled his eardrums and his sight went completely black. As he teetered on the edge of the board he felt something happening deep inside his being. In those few seconds something extraordinary went through his mind and spirit, trust in his own ability. It was the same feeling he had had when he prophesied the old monk's downfall and cursed hid false gods.
So on that bridge in the dark twilight of the early night, he closed his dark violet eyes and jumped from one board to the next with more agility then that monkey and more grace then even Aphrodite. A purely remarkable feat that nobody should have ever be able to accomplish.
At the end he jumped into Aphrodite's arms with a slight whoosh of the air and a balanced fall. She held him lightly with her soft slim arms and righted him back up
after a few moments. She looked deep into his eyes and an awed look crossed her face, Arthur was not just an eight-year-old boy right now, he was a legend.
"Arthur you truly are amazing," she said, her voice full of the fear her heart was twisted around. "Are you truly human or a reincarnation of a god?" She had seen him close his eyes, she had seen him cross the bridge, and mostly it was his eyes that told her he was extraordinary.
"If either of us is or ever was a rebirth of a god, you are," he stated. His voice cared the same dazed tone it had in the temple with the old monk. His words came out of his mouth before he even had time to comprehend the meaning.
"Is that the temple?" he whispered before she had time to remark on the statement he had just said. Aphrodite nodded; she was deathly scared of the small child standing next to her.
Through ancient eyes Arthur saw the temple. It was so different from the one he had grown up in. This one was just four white pillars and a roof all made of a marble that had been softened through the centuries. Underneath was an altar for offerings and strange runes were etched into the stone on the bottom part of the altar.
"Neptune," was all Aphrodite had to say and Arthur immediately understood what she meant. Of course the great Goddess of the Water would have her followers build her a temple on a spot of land so engulfed in water.
"Tell me about Neptune," the boy pleaded in that dazed way. Aphrodite inched away from him and sat on the sandy beach in front of the temple. Her eyes traveled up to the smooth pillars and hesitated when turning to Arthur. He nodded for her to begin. To anyone else it would be strange to see a young woman of great skill and gifts to be asking permission from a small child, but right then and there it was a completely natural act.
"Neptune was a beautiful goddess, not as beautiful as Venus, but an exotic beauty that matched her deep love for all water. She could be warm and loving like when a river is gentle and flowing or be cold and calculating like a great ocean during a storm. Sometimes she could be almost ruthless. There is one story that describes how she earned her powers. She was born a young maiden, child of some sea god. The only gift her father ever bestowed on her was to make her immortal then he never bothered to see her again. He had many children and seldom paid any close attention to a single one. Neptune also was blessed with the gift to play enchanting music on any instrument put into her skilled fingers. A young man named Orpheus, the only other musician ever to match her talent, fell in love with her the moment he saw her playing for the great god Endymion himself at the Harvest Moon banquet when she was bought a young lass of sixteen years. There was nothing Orpheus could do to win her heart, Neptune seemed to spurn all her lovers, and some say she preferred the company of Uranus, the ground-shaker goddess, but of course that is a whole other tale. Orpheus pursued her then after and she ran from the foolish mortal, but no matter where she went he was right on her heels. His lust for her became so great he tried to force himself on her once when he had finally caught her. She screamed out to Uranus, her closest friend, and the goddess came raging down on Orpheus, killing him, but in her anger she had also slain the young maiden. Uranus had no wish to live without Neptune, but being a goddess there was little she could do. In her sorrow she became desperate and went to see Endymion, the healer of the gods, and implored him for his help. He agreed to bring Neptune back on one condition, that she always be on the look out for a woman above all others. Endymion was considered by many to be the ruler and protector of Earth. Beryl, goddess of all human troubles and evils, put a curse on him for spurning her love she had for the handsome god. She condemned him never to find his true love until the world was encased in a blanket of the elements. Endymion scorned her curse and since has searched for his love to make his bride and rule with him. Endymion knew without a doubt then when someone saw his goddess they would know she was meant for him. Uranus agreed and he healed Neptune's broken body, making her the goddess of water. She is in a perfect position to keep a look out for the women that Endymion so badly craved, her water flows around the world, but even to this day she has not found the mysterious women. She continues to search in vain for her friend and savior Endymion's sake."
By the end of the tale Aphrodite's voice became smoother and the words followed easier. She forgot about the strange boy standing over her and even forgot about Neptune's shrine in front of her. The dramatized romantic tale carried her far away so she almost felt like she belonged to the world gods, heroines, and creatures of old. Aphrodite believed in all the gods and goddesses wholeheartedly. She considered herself a storyteller as
well as a singer of the ballads and such of the deities. She sang, danced, and told stories for her clan and the people they entertained from city to town to village.
"Do you ever wonder if the gods are real?" Arthur asked quietly, but it was just enough to break Aphrodite out of her train of thought. She looked with surprise and awe at the young boy; he was questioning the divine powers? That was blasphemy!
"Arthur, you mustn't!" she pleaded. What if one of them heard him? Somewhere over the past day spent with the naive and foolish child had made her care about him deeply. When it had happened she didn't know when, maybe it was right away in that clearing when Byron had introduced him or maybe it was when she had caught the little imp peeking through the bushes when she was in all her glory. It was well known that to talk bad about the gods was to invite their wrath upon your personage.
"I don't think the gods are real," the boy said simply and firmly. Aphrodite couldn't believe what she was hearing, it was a new evil thought and the boy had let it enter mind. She knew that she would lay awake at night thinking and pondering on that one little thought. It opened doors of doubts and questions in her mind.
"Dam it!" she exclaimed and Arthur's face became less of that dazed wise look and more of the eight year old boy he was suppose to be. "What if Neptune hears you? We are so near to her watery kingdom. How about Jupiter? The goddess of protection and the fighting arts is often known to roam the forests during the twilight hours. Any god or goddess could come right up and strike you mad or even dead for saying such things!"
Arthur turned away from her and it was then that she caught a glimpse of the man he would someday be. The person would be strong and good with a fierce heart. He would not accept things as they were, but what they could be. He would question everything and everyone to find the truth buried under false promises. The Arthur of the shadows of tomorrow was much needed in this evil world. How much Aphrodite wouldn't discover until years later.
"Who do you love most in the world?" Arthur asked, changing the subject so rapidly she had to think over his question for a few moments just to understand its meaning. His voice filled with wisdom and gentleness beyond his years. Aphrodite knew that after the way Arthur had been acting and how he jumped blind across that treacherous bridge nothing else could surprise her, not even a strange question as he asked, she was just doubtful where he was getting at with it.
"I...I don't know," she stammered. Unwanted tears bloomed from the corner of her enchanting eyes. An eight-year child had looked deep into her soul and demanded answers for the things he had found there. How could he do that? She had dark secrets that he had found and questioned about.
"You love yourself only," Arthur accused venomously. She was ready to protest, but then caught his eyes. His deep violet eyes, the color of the sky right above the setting sun, they were absorbing orbs that knew when she lied and when she uttered the truth. To say anything in her defense was useless, he was the judge, jury, and executioner, and her death sentence was impending.
"You can't do this!" she screamed, her once enchanting voice broken and cracked. She sounded like a banshee as she screamed and wailed at the gods-forsaken boy.
"Why can't I," he asked innocently like a young child would, but there was nothing innocent in the statement. He hadn't questioned her he had told her exactly what he thought and this just brought her into more of a frenzy. "You play with other people's hearts, just as Venus did. Venus never was punished for her wrong doings and she should have been. Can you possibly think that one day your actions won't catch up with you? Venus is one of the all-powerful goddess, the bitch in heat of love. How can she be real, she never cried over her own self-obsession, you do. Goddess's are fakes. They cannot possibly be real for reality is you standing here, not living peacefully out your life and completely ignoring all your mistakes and to be praised for it? If you continue to follow Venus's path you will eventually be condemned."
"Venus is a goddess, she is higher then us, she has the power to change things to her wishes!" Aphrodite screamed.
"Except it, Aphrodite, the goddess Venus never existed, she is a figment of foolish people's imaginations, to explain their adulterous actions, their animal frenzies, and their unexplainable feelings," his voice rose in intensity as he began his campaign. "Join me on a quest to prove the falseness of these religions and their temples," he said. Long ago Aphrodite had forgotten that Arthur was just a boy, he was also something else, something more, and that was what was in control right now. To fight him and his words would be like fighting herself, everything he said was true, but to admit to it would shatter her world.
Aphrodite leaped up from her lotus position on the ground and into the cool fresh water of the river, clothes and all. The demon, Arthur, could find his own way back, she thought as she swam away from all her troubles. Just as the tale of Venus being born from the sea foam and raised by sea nymphs, Aphrodite returned to the water where her beloved goddess had come from a goddess who was just as real as Aphrodite, Endymion, Uranus, and all the others.
Not even Arthur was positively sure how he made it back to camp that night, but Byron scolded him heavily for staying out too late. He took it all in stride. At the temple he had been scolded by imbecile monks that cared more about apiece of meat then about him. Byron genially cared for him and that the feeling was never one that Arthur had experienced before, another person cared about him enough to yell at him, the world was odd.
"As he lay in his cot in a tent he shared with Byron he thought about the events of that evening by the temple. How foolish he had been, the gods and goddesses gave their mortal servants everything, he had no right to question their existence. Aphrodite had been right; he just hoped the deities would forgive him. He was a boy, they would probably be less harsh on him, he knew his mistakes and said extra prayers the night, especially to Venus and Neptune.
Arthur slept his first night ever in a peaceful dream state in the first place ever in his short life he was able to call home.
Chia stepped nervously from foot to foot. She was waiting to enter the room, but she had waited out here so long. Where were those damn monks? If she failed then he would not have faith in her any longer. She would do anything for him. She was only six years old, but he had trusted her on this mission. She would not fail.
"Enter," a deep voice rang from the room as the door slowly swung open. Chia took one more deep breath and then entered the domain of the monks of Cronus.
"Who sends a female child unto Cronus's sacred ground?" one of the dozen monks in the room demanded. He was an ancient one, Chia looked at him closer, he was weak; she could wipe him out with one swipe of her smallest finger.
"The one who has sent me demands back what he lent to your temple so long ago," the girl said simply. She grinned at the old monk; her straight white pearly teeth made her look like an innocent young child, but the monk knew what she really was and what she was capable of accomplishing.
"The boy died of pneumonia," the monk said coolly. Chia looked into his dark brown eyes and saw the truth; he was lying to her, as she had thought he would.
"The boy was given to you on the day of his birth. The one who gave him to your temple demanded that you take care of the boy until the boy's guardian wished him back. You have not done your duty," the girl hissed. Her sweet childish high-pitched voice cared the message of death and destruction for the monk and his precious temple. She saw some of the younger men looking around nervously. Fools, Chia thought, they don't deserve to live.
"The boy might still be alive, we believe that either Cronus took him away to serve in his escape from the Mists of Time or that the boy is alive outside the temple walls. You would be wise to search there," the weasel of a monk suggested.
"How dare you tell me what you think is wise. Your god Cronus is a weakling compared to the Goddess. You would do well to remember that when you die today," Chia stated calmly. Many of the monks were now looking scared. Chia smiled inwardly, these infidels were much too easy prey.
"Wait!" a young monk barely past manhood stepped forward and threw his body down in front of the young girl-child, practically kissing the floor in front of her. "Oh just and beautiful Lady, your goddess speaks to me in foreign tongue, but I understand the meaning. She wants me to convey to you the truth. The boy was to be sacrificed this morning for the annual Wintertide ceremony. The elderly monk whom you conversed with early demanded it in retaliation for a past mistake that the boy had done when he accidentally spilt a bit of blood on the man's robes. Many of us, including me, wanted the boy to live, we knew of the burden that your Lordship had put on us and wanted to fill it out, but the elderly monk is mad and insisted. A few more were on his side and my friends and I could do nothing about it. I saw the boy escape with my own eyes, I was on guard duty and he sprinted right past me, I tried to follow, but the small body of the boy was lost in the crowd of people that live in this city."
Chia looked at him like he was a cow going to the butcher's knife and said, "Liar."
"No!" the man screamed as the girl opened her mouth and a long high musical note came streaming out. The monks covered their ears at the sound of her voice, but to no avail, it echoed and repeated in their minds.
One by one the monks drew their last few seconds of air on Earth. It started on the men's arms and legs, the skin started peeling and cracking and turning a bright magenta, almost like sunburn, but much hotter. The skin peeled right back and then turned to ash as tendons, bones, and organs were shone. When the man was but a skeleton he fell over and disappeared, still screaming in agony.
This all happened because of a young girl's singing voice.
"What did you do?" a quavering voice asked from across the now almost empty room. It was the old monk.
"He asked to speak to you personally. If I had my way you would be in the same hell that your comrade monks are now wallowing in," the girl said acidly. The monk knew better then to say anything, his skinned turned white and his mouth got very dry as he looked at the young harmless looking child front of him. What he saw was a demoness spawn.
"Time to go," the girl's voice was back to its perky childish self. She skipped out of the room, singing to herself a song with a generic tune.
"The monks had to die.
The monks had to die.
The monks had to die today.
Today the infidels met their death.
Oh, what a wonderful day
The monks had to die..."
She giggled like the child she was, her simple song pleased her. The tune echoed in the old monks head as he wobbled after the young monster.
to one day join the archive of all.
Listen to this tale told long after Queen Serenity
and her beloved Silver Millennium,
long after Uther's son and his violent descent to Avalon,
long after the reign of King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity
and their precious Crystal Tokyo
and so long after the remembrance of time
in which our senshi have become mere shadows,
promoted to the wretched position of deities
from what they once were.
Where another figure of power is rising,
reborn in a time so familiar yet so alien.
Where the line of enemy and ally have been redefined,
where the rebirth of our heroes
is either a curse or a saving grace.
Temples of False Promise
Chapter Three: To Sing a Death
Retold by Hel
Arthur realized there and then he was a naive young man without the basic understanding of a women's anatomy. He had seen many nude bodies in the temple, but all those were male. Aphrodite was one hundred and one percent female. (If he had been a man who had seen many women and something to compare Aphrodite to, he probably would thought she was much closer to two-hundred percent.) Any male dancing seductively on that beach would not have fazed him, but seeing Aphrodite naked was a bit unnerving and not all together unpleasant. He realized that he actually liked and appreciated seeing Aphrodite in all her born glory. What was wrong with him?
"Arthur, I know you are there, come out," Aphrodite said slightly irritated. She wasn't dancing anymore, the look on her face sent shivers down Arthur's body and not because it was a pleasant one.
He pretended that he wasn't there; maybe she was only guessing that he was watching her. He then realized he was naive and stupid.
"Arthur, am I going to have to come in there and get you?" she threatened. If she were going to come in there and get him, then he would probably die of fear. To be that close to a female nude body? He couldn't imagine it; he didn't want to imagine it. Then again...
"Please don't make me," he whimpered using all the courage and childish he had as an eight year old. He wasn't looking at her anymore; he was staring at his new leather boots that Byron had given him. He decided then and there he never wanted to see a women naked again.
"Come out here this second or I'll tear your..." she stopped mid-sentence and a look of understanding lightened her face. She was grinning when she said, "I get it. If I put some clothes on will you will please come out of those bushes?"
He nodded, hoping she would see him. After a few moments she told him it was safe to come out and so he did. The monks had beaten him often so he was ready for any punishment she would bestow.
"I'm not going to hurt you so stop looking like a frightened mouse in a trap," she said exasperated and rolled her eyes heavenward. "I'm proud of my body and I don't mind people looking, just as long as they ask first."
"I really don't...I mean you...no...," he stumbled over the words and finally just quite trying to talk. He really didn't want to see her naked body again.
"You're a guy, a young child really, but all the same you're male. It's okay to be interested," she explained. He still felt ashamed.
Aphrodite wanted to cheer the boy up. Of course, earlier that day she had clearly been mean to him, but then she had been in a crabby mood. Now, she was refreshed after her swim and was quite happy at the moment and willing to help the boy Byron cared about so much. She would do anything for Byron.
"Do you swim?" she asked gently. Arthur just shook his head. At the temple the deepest water had been the spring and fountain out in the courtyard.
"Oh, I thought maybe you would want to swim out to the temple with me," she said disappointed. Even if she tried to teach the boy he wouldn't learn enough to swim to the middle of the river where a small island lay, which is where she had wanted to take him.
"What temple?" he asked, curious as all young children are.
"Out on the island in the middle of this wide part of the river. It's a beautiful place," she said dreamily. The boy just scrunched up his noise, Cronus's temple had not been a beautiful place. There was no way Arthur could imagine a beautiful temple.
"Wait I think there is an old wooden bridge a few yards south of here," she exclaimed and started walking off without even making sure Arthur was behind her.
"Wait up!" He shouted after her. His short legs could nowhere near match her long stride. Even when she was walking it seemed like she was in a fast quick dance motion that was graceful and light. Arthur was sure that in a foot race she would probably win against many men.
The bridge was definitely old. It was rotted away in more then a dozen places and planks were missing everywhere, which made for huge holes. Arthur wasn't sure he would be able to get across it. The water wasn't that fast, but then again he could not swim. What if Aphrodite didn't reach him to save him in time or what if when he fell he broke his head open on one of the rocks? He really didn't want to imagine the possibilities any longer. A sickening feeling began working it's way up his gut and to his throat.
Aphrodite began nimbly hopping her way across from board to solid board. Arthur looked at her in surprise, there was no way he could have done that. She seemed to be able to always jump to a board that wasn't soft and dangerous. Everything she did was with a grace and beauty few could even begin to match.
At about this time Arthur froze, he couldn't jump without possibly killing himself and he couldn't walk away without losing her respect. What did she think he was, a monkey? One of the very few and very far between traders at the temple had once brought one with him. It was small with furry gold fur that grew thicker around its neck and face. All the boys had been amazed at its agility and quickness at swinging from place to place. Arthur was not and in no way came close to being a monkey.
"What are you waiting for, chickens to nest in your hair," she teased. He realized he had not moved a muscle in the last few minutes. He gulped and stepped out on the first board, the only one he knew was solid. He was not going to act like a baby in front of Aphrodite.
Arthur did not want to go across the weak bridge, but he so desperately wanted to see the temple, which Aphrodite had praised so highly.
A slight buzzing sound filled his eardrums and his sight went completely black. As he teetered on the edge of the board he felt something happening deep inside his being. In those few seconds something extraordinary went through his mind and spirit, trust in his own ability. It was the same feeling he had had when he prophesied the old monk's downfall and cursed hid false gods.
So on that bridge in the dark twilight of the early night, he closed his dark violet eyes and jumped from one board to the next with more agility then that monkey and more grace then even Aphrodite. A purely remarkable feat that nobody should have ever be able to accomplish.
At the end he jumped into Aphrodite's arms with a slight whoosh of the air and a balanced fall. She held him lightly with her soft slim arms and righted him back up
after a few moments. She looked deep into his eyes and an awed look crossed her face, Arthur was not just an eight-year-old boy right now, he was a legend.
"Arthur you truly are amazing," she said, her voice full of the fear her heart was twisted around. "Are you truly human or a reincarnation of a god?" She had seen him close his eyes, she had seen him cross the bridge, and mostly it was his eyes that told her he was extraordinary.
"If either of us is or ever was a rebirth of a god, you are," he stated. His voice cared the same dazed tone it had in the temple with the old monk. His words came out of his mouth before he even had time to comprehend the meaning.
"Is that the temple?" he whispered before she had time to remark on the statement he had just said. Aphrodite nodded; she was deathly scared of the small child standing next to her.
Through ancient eyes Arthur saw the temple. It was so different from the one he had grown up in. This one was just four white pillars and a roof all made of a marble that had been softened through the centuries. Underneath was an altar for offerings and strange runes were etched into the stone on the bottom part of the altar.
"Neptune," was all Aphrodite had to say and Arthur immediately understood what she meant. Of course the great Goddess of the Water would have her followers build her a temple on a spot of land so engulfed in water.
"Tell me about Neptune," the boy pleaded in that dazed way. Aphrodite inched away from him and sat on the sandy beach in front of the temple. Her eyes traveled up to the smooth pillars and hesitated when turning to Arthur. He nodded for her to begin. To anyone else it would be strange to see a young woman of great skill and gifts to be asking permission from a small child, but right then and there it was a completely natural act.
"Neptune was a beautiful goddess, not as beautiful as Venus, but an exotic beauty that matched her deep love for all water. She could be warm and loving like when a river is gentle and flowing or be cold and calculating like a great ocean during a storm. Sometimes she could be almost ruthless. There is one story that describes how she earned her powers. She was born a young maiden, child of some sea god. The only gift her father ever bestowed on her was to make her immortal then he never bothered to see her again. He had many children and seldom paid any close attention to a single one. Neptune also was blessed with the gift to play enchanting music on any instrument put into her skilled fingers. A young man named Orpheus, the only other musician ever to match her talent, fell in love with her the moment he saw her playing for the great god Endymion himself at the Harvest Moon banquet when she was bought a young lass of sixteen years. There was nothing Orpheus could do to win her heart, Neptune seemed to spurn all her lovers, and some say she preferred the company of Uranus, the ground-shaker goddess, but of course that is a whole other tale. Orpheus pursued her then after and she ran from the foolish mortal, but no matter where she went he was right on her heels. His lust for her became so great he tried to force himself on her once when he had finally caught her. She screamed out to Uranus, her closest friend, and the goddess came raging down on Orpheus, killing him, but in her anger she had also slain the young maiden. Uranus had no wish to live without Neptune, but being a goddess there was little she could do. In her sorrow she became desperate and went to see Endymion, the healer of the gods, and implored him for his help. He agreed to bring Neptune back on one condition, that she always be on the look out for a woman above all others. Endymion was considered by many to be the ruler and protector of Earth. Beryl, goddess of all human troubles and evils, put a curse on him for spurning her love she had for the handsome god. She condemned him never to find his true love until the world was encased in a blanket of the elements. Endymion scorned her curse and since has searched for his love to make his bride and rule with him. Endymion knew without a doubt then when someone saw his goddess they would know she was meant for him. Uranus agreed and he healed Neptune's broken body, making her the goddess of water. She is in a perfect position to keep a look out for the women that Endymion so badly craved, her water flows around the world, but even to this day she has not found the mysterious women. She continues to search in vain for her friend and savior Endymion's sake."
By the end of the tale Aphrodite's voice became smoother and the words followed easier. She forgot about the strange boy standing over her and even forgot about Neptune's shrine in front of her. The dramatized romantic tale carried her far away so she almost felt like she belonged to the world gods, heroines, and creatures of old. Aphrodite believed in all the gods and goddesses wholeheartedly. She considered herself a storyteller as
well as a singer of the ballads and such of the deities. She sang, danced, and told stories for her clan and the people they entertained from city to town to village.
"Do you ever wonder if the gods are real?" Arthur asked quietly, but it was just enough to break Aphrodite out of her train of thought. She looked with surprise and awe at the young boy; he was questioning the divine powers? That was blasphemy!
"Arthur, you mustn't!" she pleaded. What if one of them heard him? Somewhere over the past day spent with the naive and foolish child had made her care about him deeply. When it had happened she didn't know when, maybe it was right away in that clearing when Byron had introduced him or maybe it was when she had caught the little imp peeking through the bushes when she was in all her glory. It was well known that to talk bad about the gods was to invite their wrath upon your personage.
"I don't think the gods are real," the boy said simply and firmly. Aphrodite couldn't believe what she was hearing, it was a new evil thought and the boy had let it enter mind. She knew that she would lay awake at night thinking and pondering on that one little thought. It opened doors of doubts and questions in her mind.
"Dam it!" she exclaimed and Arthur's face became less of that dazed wise look and more of the eight year old boy he was suppose to be. "What if Neptune hears you? We are so near to her watery kingdom. How about Jupiter? The goddess of protection and the fighting arts is often known to roam the forests during the twilight hours. Any god or goddess could come right up and strike you mad or even dead for saying such things!"
Arthur turned away from her and it was then that she caught a glimpse of the man he would someday be. The person would be strong and good with a fierce heart. He would not accept things as they were, but what they could be. He would question everything and everyone to find the truth buried under false promises. The Arthur of the shadows of tomorrow was much needed in this evil world. How much Aphrodite wouldn't discover until years later.
"Who do you love most in the world?" Arthur asked, changing the subject so rapidly she had to think over his question for a few moments just to understand its meaning. His voice filled with wisdom and gentleness beyond his years. Aphrodite knew that after the way Arthur had been acting and how he jumped blind across that treacherous bridge nothing else could surprise her, not even a strange question as he asked, she was just doubtful where he was getting at with it.
"I...I don't know," she stammered. Unwanted tears bloomed from the corner of her enchanting eyes. An eight-year child had looked deep into her soul and demanded answers for the things he had found there. How could he do that? She had dark secrets that he had found and questioned about.
"You love yourself only," Arthur accused venomously. She was ready to protest, but then caught his eyes. His deep violet eyes, the color of the sky right above the setting sun, they were absorbing orbs that knew when she lied and when she uttered the truth. To say anything in her defense was useless, he was the judge, jury, and executioner, and her death sentence was impending.
"You can't do this!" she screamed, her once enchanting voice broken and cracked. She sounded like a banshee as she screamed and wailed at the gods-forsaken boy.
"Why can't I," he asked innocently like a young child would, but there was nothing innocent in the statement. He hadn't questioned her he had told her exactly what he thought and this just brought her into more of a frenzy. "You play with other people's hearts, just as Venus did. Venus never was punished for her wrong doings and she should have been. Can you possibly think that one day your actions won't catch up with you? Venus is one of the all-powerful goddess, the bitch in heat of love. How can she be real, she never cried over her own self-obsession, you do. Goddess's are fakes. They cannot possibly be real for reality is you standing here, not living peacefully out your life and completely ignoring all your mistakes and to be praised for it? If you continue to follow Venus's path you will eventually be condemned."
"Venus is a goddess, she is higher then us, she has the power to change things to her wishes!" Aphrodite screamed.
"Except it, Aphrodite, the goddess Venus never existed, she is a figment of foolish people's imaginations, to explain their adulterous actions, their animal frenzies, and their unexplainable feelings," his voice rose in intensity as he began his campaign. "Join me on a quest to prove the falseness of these religions and their temples," he said. Long ago Aphrodite had forgotten that Arthur was just a boy, he was also something else, something more, and that was what was in control right now. To fight him and his words would be like fighting herself, everything he said was true, but to admit to it would shatter her world.
Aphrodite leaped up from her lotus position on the ground and into the cool fresh water of the river, clothes and all. The demon, Arthur, could find his own way back, she thought as she swam away from all her troubles. Just as the tale of Venus being born from the sea foam and raised by sea nymphs, Aphrodite returned to the water where her beloved goddess had come from a goddess who was just as real as Aphrodite, Endymion, Uranus, and all the others.
Not even Arthur was positively sure how he made it back to camp that night, but Byron scolded him heavily for staying out too late. He took it all in stride. At the temple he had been scolded by imbecile monks that cared more about apiece of meat then about him. Byron genially cared for him and that the feeling was never one that Arthur had experienced before, another person cared about him enough to yell at him, the world was odd.
"As he lay in his cot in a tent he shared with Byron he thought about the events of that evening by the temple. How foolish he had been, the gods and goddesses gave their mortal servants everything, he had no right to question their existence. Aphrodite had been right; he just hoped the deities would forgive him. He was a boy, they would probably be less harsh on him, he knew his mistakes and said extra prayers the night, especially to Venus and Neptune.
Arthur slept his first night ever in a peaceful dream state in the first place ever in his short life he was able to call home.
Chia stepped nervously from foot to foot. She was waiting to enter the room, but she had waited out here so long. Where were those damn monks? If she failed then he would not have faith in her any longer. She would do anything for him. She was only six years old, but he had trusted her on this mission. She would not fail.
"Enter," a deep voice rang from the room as the door slowly swung open. Chia took one more deep breath and then entered the domain of the monks of Cronus.
"Who sends a female child unto Cronus's sacred ground?" one of the dozen monks in the room demanded. He was an ancient one, Chia looked at him closer, he was weak; she could wipe him out with one swipe of her smallest finger.
"The one who has sent me demands back what he lent to your temple so long ago," the girl said simply. She grinned at the old monk; her straight white pearly teeth made her look like an innocent young child, but the monk knew what she really was and what she was capable of accomplishing.
"The boy died of pneumonia," the monk said coolly. Chia looked into his dark brown eyes and saw the truth; he was lying to her, as she had thought he would.
"The boy was given to you on the day of his birth. The one who gave him to your temple demanded that you take care of the boy until the boy's guardian wished him back. You have not done your duty," the girl hissed. Her sweet childish high-pitched voice cared the message of death and destruction for the monk and his precious temple. She saw some of the younger men looking around nervously. Fools, Chia thought, they don't deserve to live.
"The boy might still be alive, we believe that either Cronus took him away to serve in his escape from the Mists of Time or that the boy is alive outside the temple walls. You would be wise to search there," the weasel of a monk suggested.
"How dare you tell me what you think is wise. Your god Cronus is a weakling compared to the Goddess. You would do well to remember that when you die today," Chia stated calmly. Many of the monks were now looking scared. Chia smiled inwardly, these infidels were much too easy prey.
"Wait!" a young monk barely past manhood stepped forward and threw his body down in front of the young girl-child, practically kissing the floor in front of her. "Oh just and beautiful Lady, your goddess speaks to me in foreign tongue, but I understand the meaning. She wants me to convey to you the truth. The boy was to be sacrificed this morning for the annual Wintertide ceremony. The elderly monk whom you conversed with early demanded it in retaliation for a past mistake that the boy had done when he accidentally spilt a bit of blood on the man's robes. Many of us, including me, wanted the boy to live, we knew of the burden that your Lordship had put on us and wanted to fill it out, but the elderly monk is mad and insisted. A few more were on his side and my friends and I could do nothing about it. I saw the boy escape with my own eyes, I was on guard duty and he sprinted right past me, I tried to follow, but the small body of the boy was lost in the crowd of people that live in this city."
Chia looked at him like he was a cow going to the butcher's knife and said, "Liar."
"No!" the man screamed as the girl opened her mouth and a long high musical note came streaming out. The monks covered their ears at the sound of her voice, but to no avail, it echoed and repeated in their minds.
One by one the monks drew their last few seconds of air on Earth. It started on the men's arms and legs, the skin started peeling and cracking and turning a bright magenta, almost like sunburn, but much hotter. The skin peeled right back and then turned to ash as tendons, bones, and organs were shone. When the man was but a skeleton he fell over and disappeared, still screaming in agony.
This all happened because of a young girl's singing voice.
"What did you do?" a quavering voice asked from across the now almost empty room. It was the old monk.
"He asked to speak to you personally. If I had my way you would be in the same hell that your comrade monks are now wallowing in," the girl said acidly. The monk knew better then to say anything, his skinned turned white and his mouth got very dry as he looked at the young harmless looking child front of him. What he saw was a demoness spawn.
"Time to go," the girl's voice was back to its perky childish self. She skipped out of the room, singing to herself a song with a generic tune.
"The monks had to die.
The monks had to die.
The monks had to die today.
Today the infidels met their death.
Oh, what a wonderful day
The monks had to die..."
She giggled like the child she was, her simple song pleased her. The tune echoed in the old monks head as he wobbled after the young monster.