Ch 1 Pale Sun, Crescent Moon

"… and he scares me, but I want him by my side…"

            Yue stood, arms crossed, in the temple atrium.  Where his bare feet, the tail of his long braid, and the tips of his wings touched the smooth marble floor, he was reflected like another alabaster statue.  With his stern and cold expression, he looked as unyeilding as the carved figures spaced between the temple columns, but his goddess-given beauty set him apart.  No mortal hand could carve male features as inhumanly perfect.  In the pale light of pre-dawn, his silvery hair was like undyed silk, his wings just a tint darker, and his skin glowed like moonlight.

            He was unaware or unbothered by the hidden eyes that assessed him.  The newest temple novice stood behind one of the temple statues, peeking at the winged god.  She held with one hand the fall of her dark, straight hair to keep it from betraying her against the paleness of the temple stone.  She had been on her way back from collecting fresh flowers for Kythere's altar – a task newly assigned, and one that showed that she was favored by the High Priestess – when she glimpsed the winged god, and paused, hidden, for a better look.  This was the first time that she had seen an Erote, one of the angels of Kythere, and his magnificence surpassed his description.

            Just as the novice had decided to hurry on the completion of her task, the winged god was joined by a second figure, as brightly colored as he was pale.  The newcomer, dressed in the rose-colored robes of a high level priestess, approached with trepidation.  The novice leaned more closely against the statue that obscured her and spied on their meeting.

            Quietly, the auburn-haired priestess stood a careful distance from Yue, waiting to catch his attention.  The priestess and the novice were of the same youthful age, and the novice admired the other girl's bravery.  At first, the angel seemed to take no notice of the priestess, but the novice noticed that his hyacinth eyes flickered her way long before he spoke.

            "Do you have need of me, Priestess Sakura?" he asked.  His voice was like the whispering of a veil.

            "Lord Anteros," began the priestess, with a slight quaver in her voice, "will you grace us at the dawn ceremony?  High Priestess Yelan begs your presence."

            "The Dawn Celebration is more fitting to my other self… …however," answered the winged god, "I will follow."  He waited for Sakura to lead the way into the temple proper, and then strode calmly in her wake.

            The novice followed quickly after.  She sprinted down a peripheral corridor, taking a shortcut to make up for her wasted time.  If the Erote was kept waiting, she would certainly be punished.  In her first few days of being pledged to the goddess Kythere, the girl had earned the approval of High Priestess Yelan, and had each day been given greater and more important duties.  She did not want to lose her favor because of a moment's idle curiousity!  Holding the basket of delicate blossoms carefully against her body, the novice pushed herself to run as fast as her racing thoughts.

            She succeeded in getting to the altar room in time, and breathlessly helped the waiting priestesses arrange the flowers.  The other girls pledged to the temple were as young as she, and conspiritorily hid her delayed arrival when the High Priestess arrived to review their work.

            Unlike the other priestesses, High Priestess Yelan was not a girl.  She was a woman of an unguessable age, past the blush of youth but without any of the damages of time.  Her manner was almost as imposing as the Erote Yue.  Her robes were persimmon red, as if color had saturated the cloth over time, staining from novice-white and deepening through attained rank.  Her robes trailed across the marble floor like plumage as she glided toward the group of girls.

            A composed smile touched her lips when she was done surveying the preparations.  "Well done, Tomoyo," she said to the novice.  "Well chosen."

            The novice bowed her head.  "Thank you, High Priestess."  Tomoyo had noticed that Priestess Sakura had entered the room with the angel Yue only a moment after the High Priestess, whose manner was deferential only to the winged god.  That she had spared a moment to notice Tomoyo was a great honor, for after that brief pause, her attention returned to Yue, and to the impending dawn.

            "To honor our Great and Benevolent Goddess," began Yelan in a resounding voice, "Kythere, who is Love, we greet the dawn."  The High Priestess raised her arms to the altar, making her bracelets of gold sing against each other.  "As at dawn, the sea bore her forth."  The first bands of true sunlight began to streak across the marble floor, lighting the room in rose and gold.

            At the voicing of Kythere's name, Yue's countenance softened somewhat, evidence that even Love Unrequited held affection for his own mother.  It was the nature of Yue, as the Lord Anteros, to be seemingly indifferent, and yet, he had gone to this rural temple in obedience of the goddess's will.  He continued to stay, despite the lack of company beyond a handful of mortals, because she had asked him to wait for her in this place.  He thought that the waiting would be over soon; he had been here, restless, for a full season.  Spring was newly in the surrounding meadows now, dotting them with a confetti of wildflowers, like the ones on Kythere's altar.  The goddess was fond of wide meadows, and leafy glades; surely she would be visiting this country temple in the next few days.

            Yelan finished the simple ceremony as the disc of the sun formed fully above the horizon.  The girl priestesses began to smile among themselves, and Yue overheard the words, "now we can eat!" whispered among their number.  He pressed his lips together in disapproval.  These girls were too young, he thought, to take their duties seriously.  His glance was cold when Priestess Sakura once again approached him, and she shied when he looked at her.  It was exasperating.  After months, her  reaction was always the same.  She seemed afraid of him, and he found her reaction baffling.

            "Will you join us in breaking our fast?" she asked timidly.

            "I do not eat," he answered, stating a fact that she knew well.

            "We would welcome your company," she insisted boldly.  "I know that our conversation is the simple noise of country girls, and not very entertaining to hear, but… " she hesitated with returning shyness, "…it saddens me to see you alone."

            "Lord Anteros does not need to be bothered by mortal chatter," said High Priestess Yelan as she walked up behind Sakura.  "Forgive the intrusion, my Lord."

            "There is nothing to be forgiven," said Yue, and strode away, outside into the new sunlight.

            Yelan turned her head to Sakura.  "Oversee the others," she said firmly.  As the girl obeyed, the High Priestess beckoned Tomoyo away from the other girls.  The novice clasped her hands and waited attentively.  "Tomoyo, I will give you an honor above others.  You will attend Lord Anteros; see to anything he requires.  And if he requires nothing," she continued archedly, "then you will leave him to his solitude."  She indicated that the novice should follow after the angel of their goddess, and then Yelan left to join the junior priestesses.

            It was a great honor, Tomoyo understood, but she was hungry also.  She did as she was bade sadly, walking out into the wild, tree-filled garden.   The Erote was easy to find; he was standing silently under a tree's shade, in the same pose as when she had first seen him.  When he saw her, however, standing away from him at an attentive distance, he did something that she had not seen before.  He brought his wings up around his body, and when they pulled away and disappeared, another person stood in his place.  This new person smiled her way, warmly but with a hint of mischief.

            "Lord Anteros…?" questioned the novice uncertainly.

            The man made a slight bow.  "Lord Eros," he corrected kindly.  "But you can call me Yukito."

            This, Tomoyo reasoned, was what the Erote had meant when he had referred to his "other self."  Eros was the god of passionate love; Anteros was the god of love unrequited.  Unlike the other angels of the goddess, these two shared one body.  She hid her surprize by returning his bow.

            Yukito looked around, noting the earliness of the morning.  "Where are the others?" he asked.

            "My Sisters are attending to their breakfasts, my Lord," said Tomoyo.

            His face brightened even more at the mention of food.  "And why aren't you at breakfast, then?"

            "I attend to you, my Lord," was the girl's soft answer.

            "Well, then…" said the Erote, with a light chuckle, "why am I not at breakfast?  Come with me," he beckoned.  He waited until Tomoyo waited beside him, and then led the way to the open courtyard where the priestesses took their meals.

            As they walked through the trees, Yukito openly studied the young girl.  "You are new here," he said in friendly manner.  "I don't recall seeing you before."

            "I was pledged three days ago," explained Tomoyo.  "My mother seeks favor with the goddess, and other girls from my village have also been pledged here."

            "It's good to have friends in a new place," the Erote commented.

            Tomoyo's pace slowed slightly.  "It would be good to have friends here," she said quietly.

            The Erote's look became speculative.  "In a temple to Love, there is no love here for you?" he asked in amused tones.

            "No," answered the novice simply.

            "That can be remedied," the young god mused aloud.  Tomoyo cast him a questioning look, but he was otherwise distracted.  "Ah, that looks delicious!" he exclaimed as the table came into view.  With spring, a new bounty of early vegetables and fruits filled the serving baskets at meals.  Foraged mushrooms, fern heads, and sprouts enhanced the dishes of prepared foods.  Lord Eros approached the humble feast enthusiastically, and Tomoyo increased her stride to keep up with him.

. . .