Play a Little Longer
All right, I'm on a semi-roll right now, so I'm going to keep this introduction short, with thanks to the following for their reviews: Destiny's Lot, Shadow of Arashi, Ginzai and Split Persona.
Notices: A reference is made to Helen and Paris, a famous story from the ancient Greek Culture in which Paris steals away Helen, the wife of Menelaus and the most beautiful woman in the world. Aphrodite helps Paris in this feat because he had proclaimed her as the fairest goddess (another story, The Golden Apple), but she couldn't stop the Greeks from declaring a war on Paris's people, the Trojans. This war lasted ten years until a wooden horse, created by Odysseus, was able to get through the Trojan defenses. This information is considered sketchy because only a few poets write about this amazing time period and our main source of information comes a blind poet, Homer, who lived five hundred years AFTER the supposed Trojan War. However, here is some food for thought: Troy has supposedly been found, on a hill called Hissarlik in Turkey.
Oh yeah….crap!! I put up the wrong chapter for the third one!!! I'm so embarrassed….
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Aphrodite sighed heavily as she watched the bearer of the armor Torrent turn away from her. That was too close, her presence had almost been detected. According to Zeus, she wasn't supposed to allow that to happen for a while yet. And personally, she did not wish to be discovered for a while.
Giving another sigh of relief, she then stepped forward slightly in an attempt to collect a small amount of data about the bearer of Hardrock and Torrent that sat in front of her. Barely a moment into her observations, she suddenly heard a small voice say something…Torrent had said something playful to Hardrock, and the other boy was smiling. Smiling herself, Aphrodite waited to see what would happen.
She watched as the two leaned closer together, as if they were about to share an intimate secret. Considering this, Aphrodite took a step closer to see if she could hear or understand the secret…all too soon, Aphrodite wished she had stayed in her corner of the living room as she saw Hardrock lay a feathery kiss on Torrent's lips, then watched as Torrent took measures to deepen the kiss. Shuddering, she withdrew from the sight, not understanding entirely what she had seen.
Aphrodite turned away for a moment from the sight, taking the time to control her own feelings. She was the goddess of love and she didn't have to probe the situation very far to realize that the bearer of Hardrock and Torrent…were in love.
She pondered this situation for a little while, having now acknowledged the relationship between Torrent and Hardrock. Deep down, she knew that she felt a small flicker of pride for the two boys. Even after she had been gone for more than a millennium, there were still thousands of people who had not succeeded in finding true love. In a way, she felt sorry for the mortal population…in another way, she was pleased, for it meant she still had meaning in the world.
"A sacred pair, to have found such love." Aphrodite murmured as she took a step closer to the pair that were now eating their lunch. Time seemed to slow down as she reached down to touch their foreheads with her thumb. She knew that by doing so, she would leave her mark on them, making their love sacred and one to never be intruded upon. At the last moment, repulsed by her own actions, she drew back. There was no way she could allow something like this…love between two males was an abomination to the name of love.
However, she couldn't help but feel slightly happy at finding such a couple on her first day. She also knew at the same time that she wasn't entirely thrilled. This couple, for starters, was far from her greatest work. That work was none other than the matching of the beautiful Helen of Sparta to her Prince Paris of Troy. She smiled just in remembering the legendary love that had forced the Greeks to declare a ten-year war on the Trojans. Although she didn't like wars, it was glorious to participate in it and even more glorious to see the love created between her two chosen ones with only a little of her help.
A different voice had added to the two that belonged to Hardrock and Torrent so Aphrodite forced herself from her thoughts to see who it might be. When she looked up, she saw a teen that was slightly short for his age and his raven black hair seemed almost unkempt as it rested gracefully on his head. He had incredibly blue eyes and a fiery spirit that Aphrodite was sure the gods could feel from Olympus themselves. "Truly, this is the one called Wildfire." Aphrodite thought to herself, but she stayed in the corner and away from this new boy. It had been a close call when Torrent had almost discovered her; she didn't need to risk herself like that again so soon.
The relationship for Wildfire to Torrent and Hardrock was nothing more than what friends should be and Aphrodite quickly tired of listening to what seemed like a pointless conversation. She made a few final mental notes before turning and walking silently through the living room doorway. She paused shortly, considering who else she had to find. She could not feel the seasonal armors for the moment. However, just above her she could feel two spirits, one that was calm as if caught in sleep and the other was worrying about something, perhaps pertaining it to the previous spirit she had felt. Although she was unsure if they could be two spirits belonging to the armors, she decided to investigate. She slowly floated upward, melding through the ceiling and appearing in the hallway upstairs.
Aphrodite closed her eyes once she appeared in the hallway so she could sense
where the two spirits were. After a moment of searching she opened her eyes,
now knowing exactly where the two spirits could be found. However, her eyes
quickly widened in surprise to see a boy with dark blue hair and even darker
eyes heading right towards her.
'Have I been seen?' Aphrodite thought quickly, trying to come up with a story to feed this mortal should he confront her. However, the young boy had his eyes averted elsewhere, lost deep in thought. He walked through her like she was a ghost and Aphrodite smiled as she got a more accurate reading on his soul than ever before. As he headed downstairs, still lost in thought, she smiled. "So that one is the bearer of Artemis's armor, the Armor of Strata…" She mused, then turned to the room that he had stepped out of, knowing for some odd reason that this was where the last Elemental Armor resided for now.
As she stepped up to the door, however, she heard rustling from behind it and hesitated to glide through. She waited for a moment and heard an obvious curse (for this century) on the other side and then a thump as the armor bearer must have fallen off his bed. She was confused, thinking his choice for a curse wasn't appropriate since there was no sexual behavior occurring right now in this household. After all, she WAS the goddess of love…she prided herself on knowing these things.
She didn't have to wait much longer as the doorknob slowly turned and out stepped a young blond, his hair mussed with recent sleep and his eyes unfocused and clouded. His eyes were cast towards the floor as he turned slightly to shut the door after him, then they were squeezed shut again as he suppressed a yawn. Aphrodite, however, cared nothing of this…all she knew was that one of the Greeks ideal men had come to life through this boy.
He brushed past her, not even feeling her or knowing that she existed. She felt a pain in her chest that she had not been noticed by this perfection…hadn't it been her Paris to claim she was the fairest lady, even above Helen? Her stomach did flops as she crept back up next to the perfection, breathing in his scent of crushed mint and sandalwood.
"Good afternoon, sleepy-head!" A chorus greeted him as he entered the living room. Aphrodite was sure to follow him, but now she drifted ahead so she could see his reaction. She watched a sheepish smile cross his face then smiled herself as the room laughed when the blond yawned. She knew from her brush with Strata that seeing Halo sleepy was a rare occasion and that he was a morning person, one to rise and set with the sun.
The blond delicately picked his way across the wires by a couch, settling on another couch with the young, blue haired man that she had seen in the hallway upstairs earlier. He glowed slightly to have Halo sit next to him, but it was soon lost in his musings. Aphrodite hardly noticed; her eyes seemingly glued to the blond.
She heard a soft laugh behind her and was going to ignore it until she heard the flutter of wings that accompanied the laugh.
"Eros!" Aphrodite gasped, turning around to see her son. "What are you doing here? I was the one sent to gather information on the armor bearers." The young god smiled as he flew close to her, looking into her eyes.
"Careful mother, you might alert these boys to your presence." The boy's voice was normally very soothing, but Aphrodite found it grating on her nerves right now. Also, his appearance was normally enough to light up the room, but now she found that the light in the room was coming from the bearer of Halo. With an angry humph, she turned back to the piece of art that had so far captured her sight and attention for so long.
Eros, once he noticed that he had lost his mother's interest sighed heavily.
"Mother, what is it that captures your attention so?" Eros asked, flying forward so as to hover next to her shoulder. He followed her gaze until he too noticed the blond that was relaxing on the couch across from them. A lazy smile now graced the blonde's lips, and his eyes were still heavy with sleep. He looked as if he was going to fall asleep again any minute. However, the blond contained a grace and perfection that Eros had rarely seen. The young god felt his heart thunder its response to the beauty even though he had never liked a man in such a way before. Smiling and trying to bury his feelings of lust and love, he turned to his mother, saying, "Oh, he is a handsome one, isn't he?"
"Shush!" Aphrodite reprimanded her son, but not before Eros saw her pale cheeks turn slightly red. He smiled in self-satisfaction as Aphrodite tried to hide her embarrassment. "W-we should head back to, uh…to Olympus now…we need to report what we have found out." She didn't wait for her son's consensus before she slowly faded, returning to Olympus without another word. Eros, however, took one last look at the blond, whose head rested on a blue-haired man's shoulder before returning to Olympus with his mother.
Sage merely sighed slightly, hearing the conversation between the two gods. He dismissed it as a dream and snuggled closer to the man he loved and slipped into a deeper sleep and a new dream…one where he was finally able to tell Rowen how he felt.
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Mount OlympusAphrodite waited only a few seconds for her son to appear before launching into a report, trying to hide her thoughts and feelings from the all-knowing gods through her report.
"The bearer of Wildfire, Ryo, is what I gathered to be their leader. He is hotheaded and quick to make decisions but he also cares deeply for his friends and would never allow any true harm to come to them. Next, the bearer of Torrent, Cye, is kind and tends to be the cook for the group. He and Hardrock apparently have a…relationship…"
"Relationship?" Demeter asked, looking confused. "I thought all the bearers were men."
"That is true, Demeter." Aphrodite said, her voice soft and silky as ever before.
"Then how is there a relationship?" Demeter continued to ask, but Aphrodite only shrugged her shoulders.
"I am unsure of how such a relationship occurred…mayhap we should inquire to the great Achilles, who was known to have a male lover…or maybe, we should inquire to one of our own about what could attract a male…to a male?" The last part made Aphrodite's voice lower dangerously and she threw a look over her shoulder towards Zeus, making the entire assembly of gods and goddesses turn towards him.
"That is quite enough, Aphrodite! I don't remember ever asking for critiques on fellow immortals behavior, just that I get your opinion on some of the bearers of the mystical armor that we helped create so long ago!" Zeus's voice thundered, echoing up to the ceiling. Electricity spiked in the air, shocking a few unwary gods if they hadn't been paying enough attention. Aphrodite and Zeus stared each other down for a few minutes, but it was Aphrodite who turned away first, starting to resume her report once again.
"The one that bears the armor of Hardrock, Kento, is very large because of his structure, but he is self-confident and tends to rely on jokes to communicate with his fellow warriors. As far as I can tell, he loves the bearer of Torrent as much as Torrent loves him. Rowen is the bearer of Strata and somehow has natural blue hair with blue eyes. He is also the resident genius for the group and is the one to often come up with a strategy should it be needed at the last minute. The final one that I was able to study was the bearer of Halo, whose name is Sage. He is an apparent healer, but seems cold and distant because of his upbringing. However, when his friends are around him, he can be a completely different person." Aphrodite forced herself to stop her report even as her mind rambled on about the blond beauty.
Dimly she was aware that Eros stood up from his seat, opening his mouth as if to add something to her report. Swallowing her fear at what the little mischief-maker could do she appeared next to him with a mere thought. Placing her hand on his shoulder before he went to the audience area, she communicated one simple thought to him through their contact. *Do not do anything foolish, my son. *
Eros gave her a disapproving look and gently shook the hand from his shoulder before fluttering quickly and easily to the audience area below. Fear filling her heart but not wanting to make a scene, Aphrodite slowly lowered herself into her own nearby seat, her eyes fixed on the scene unfolding below.
To her great relief, Eros said nothing more about the Elemental Armors or their bearers…instead he talked about the four Seasonal Armors. Zeus had apparently given him the second half of her responsibility when he sensed that she might be delayed getting information from the first five.
"The four seasonal armors, winter, spring, summer, and autumn, do not have the pure hearts that show strongly amongst the elemental armors. They live in a world very few mortals know about, called the Youja-kai, also known as the Demon's World or Netherworld. The bearers' names are Kale, Anubis, Dais and Sekhmet. These four have been in contact with their armor later and were much more aware of their thoughts, feelings and surroundings. Therefore, I might not have gotten an accurate reading on the bearers, but I collected what I could." Eros waited for a nod from Zeus, which told him to continue with his report.
"Kale is the bearer of Winter, also called the armor of
darkness since its corruption four-hundred years ago. He seems moody and won't
often let anyone underneath his shell. However, he is like Sage in that matter
for his friends can break through to him just by including him in their
activities. The next, Anubis, is the
bearer of the Spring armor, which was turned into the armor of corruption four
hundred years ago. This man, Anubis, has a love for nature and is happiest when
among wildlife. He is also one who had died in a battle that took place a
couple years ago, but Hades was sacrificed to, although under a different name.
Even though Hades was dormant at the time, Anubis spirit was released and has
been living among the warlords for the past year now, quite content. Dais is
the bearer of the Summer armor and the Summer was changed into the armor of
Illusion when it was corrupted. He is extremely wise and seems to gain more
knowledge merely by keeping his eyes and ears open to all possibilities. He
seems very easy-going and willing to listen to someone's problems when he
thinks he might have an answer. The final armor, Autumn, belongs to the man
named Sekhmet. He is quick to anger and even faster to strike, but he also has
a gentle side that only one other person knows about. That other person is Dais
and I believe that the four hundred years these four have had together allowed
something deeper than friendship to grow between Dais and Sekhmet. I do believe
they are in love."
There was a startled commotion that immediately rose from the assembled gods,
but Eros seemed undisturbed by the reaction. Indeed, he waited calmly in the
center of the audience-area for everyone to calm down before announcing his
last bit of news.
"The last thing that I have found important enough to report on would be that the bearers are completely separate from the armors, unmarked by those who created the armors. As for me, I have already marked Cye and Kento as well as Dais and Sekhmet with my sacred emblem in love. They are NOT to have that love broken for any other reason unless one of you dares to cross me." Eros gave a stern look around the room. Although looks of shock adorned many of the younger gods, some of the older ones were giving nods of agreement, promising in their own way to leave the four mentioned alone.
Zeus dismissed the council with a wary glance towards Eros. All Eros did in response to Zeus's look was give him a grin. That grin, although extremely simple in nature was able to completely unnerve Zeus. Zeus, out of all of the gods, knew what true power and hidden dangers could lie within love.
After Zeus dismissed the assembly and he too had left the meeting area, Aphrodite slowly approached her son, a frown only slightly marring her radiant beauty. Eros, seeing the frown, knew he was about to be reprimanded for something but he held his ground.
"Eros." Her voice cut like poison into him, already an accusation hidden within.
"Yes, mother?" Eros cut off the accusation that would have followed had he allowed it. Instead, he turned to her, batting his lashes at her, putting forth an innocent mask. Full charm might get him out of this mess. However, by the look hidden in his mother's eyes, he knew it was a dying hope that would never learn to fly.
"May I ask why you felt the need to bless the union of those abominations?" Her voice had a grinding edge to it, as if she wished to crush her son between them for what he had done. However, Eros only sighed in exasperation. Now that he knew why she was mad, he also knew how to fight her back.
"Because, Mother, love is love. It doesn't matter where it is found! Whether it exists between Man and Woman, Parent to Child, Sibling to Sibling…or, even, in a love between two of the same sex. It really doesn't matter because love is the same all the way around and we are supposed to be the protectors of this sacred thing that we call love. We cannot stop new forms or expressions of love just because we do not approve…we are only supposed to stop the abuse of love.
"Out of all the gods on Olympus, I thought my mother,
Aphrodite, goddess of love herself!…would be able to understand what I saw at
first glance. I guess I was wrong to place you in such a position of honor."
Without another word, Eros vanished, leaving Aphrodite to stew over her own thoughts and feelings.
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Well, that's it for now…please be patient as I try to crank out the next chapter. Like I thought, these chapters are getting harder with each passing so ANY ideas that you have, please feel free to mention them! I'd be very appreciative.
As for the next chapter, I figured you might want a bit of a spoiler because the next chapter might be my longest one. I can assure you that it will definitely get extremely interesting from that point forward. Love triangles will abound around the five unmarked by Eros, but what they don't expect is for three goddesses to be dragged into the love as well. And did you wonder what trouble Eros would cause if someone was silly enough to really cross Aphrodite's helper of love? Well, keep your eyes peeled then for the next chapter! Later then!