AN: Just wanted to quick reference some things. The description of Cupid's home was pieced with elements from one of the versions of the Cupid and Psyche myths. Since I was using those characters, I really wanted to incorporate more elements from their story. Also found a bunch of stuff about flora and fauna that have connections to love and romance for Valentine Town. Now, lets' see what Jack and Sally think of this place!
Chapter 2: Stupid Cupid
Valentine Town…
"Oh thank you, sir! I almost strangled Gregory for the error. I promise, it will not happen again."
"Brandy, you must try to control yourself," Valentine stated as he signed the last of the forms. Handing her the papers, he adjusted his glasses. "I understand your principles but I will not have one of my staff become frazzled over insignificant details like this.
The woman now speaking with Valentine had been the first person Jack and Sally had encountered when they stepped through the heart-shaped Holiday Door. As it happened, the door brought them into Valentine's personal office. He told Jack and Sally that the door had been relocated a few years back to make trips between the Christmas and St. Patrick's Door. The three saints had known each other long and made a habit of meeting ever few years or so to catch up. Once the three of them were out of the office, Jack and Sally did not see anyone until after they rode the elevator down to the lobby. There they encountered this young woman Valentine had called Brandy. Unlike Valentine, Brandy was dressed in a white lab coat that revealed a black tank top, a red plaid mini skirt and black thigh-high boots. Her long silver hair was tied back in a high ponytail and she wore black and red glasses over her violet eyes. She had practically jumped on Valentine the moment the elevator doors opened, complaining about an error down at one of the factories.
With a few signatures and some reassurance that everything would be fine, Brandy skipped off and Valentine led his guests out of the building into town.
"My apologies for the delay," Valentine stated as they walked through the streets. "Brandy is the head of our candy hearts factory, and she becomes terribly perturbed if the wording is illegible. She's a stickler for grammar."
"Not a problem, Valentine," Jack replied. Admittedly, both he and Sally were more caught up with their surroundings than when Valentine had been approached by one of the residents.
There was just so much to look at. The sky above was a brilliant blue instead of gray and there was so much color, even more than what Jack had seen in Christmas Town. The only difference was that instead of a quaint little town, Valentine Town was like an enormous city. There were large buildings and factories, and a few small shops placed here and there. Everyone was dressed in variety of clothing. Some wore business attire like Valentine, while others wore more casual clothing like Brandy, and then there were those, mostly the people closer to the smaller shops, who wore Grecian style clothing similar to what Jack had seen Eros wear the last time they met. Yet, no matter how many people they saw, they all seemed to be busy working and everyone was paired off with a partner.
As they walked through the city they would occasionally be stopped by one of the citizens bringing more problems to Valentine. From what Jack could gather from the snippets of conversation, it appeared that every building in Valentine Town that was not a factory served as a research facility to better improve romance scenarios. There were even a few buildings for dealing with break ups and how to move on from a bad relationship. Both the Halloween citizens were quite impressed now that they could see all the work Valentine dealt with. Even Jack was surprised at how calm and collected Valentine seemed as each new dilemma was brought to his attention. He would patiently write them down and then give directions on what was to be done, but more often he would apologize and state he would resolve the matter at a later date. No one even seemed to notice the skeleton and rag doll walking behind him.
Jack leaned close to Sally, whispering to her, "Could you imagine what the Mayor would think about all this?"
"Oh dear, I'd rather not," she replied. "No offense to him, but he doesn't exactly handle pressure very well."
Jack chuckled. "None taken, Sally. He does worry over every little thing, especially if I'm not around to keep his head from spinning off his shoulders."
Sally laughed and swatted his arm playfully. "Jack, you're terrible."
As they walked toward the outskirts of town, they approached what seemed like a forrest. When Valentine started to lead them through a grove of impressive trees, Jack began to wonder just how far Eros lived from the town. Even Valentine had stated that he himself lived at the top of the tallest building to be closer to his factories and workers. That appeared to be the opposite for Eros.
"Well, here we are," Valentine stated as they walked. "Eros's home. Honestly, he is far too into theatrics."
Meanwhile, Jack and Sally were both in awe. They were walking through an enormous garden of beautiful flowers, particularly lovely roses. There were also elaborate white marble fountains with crystal blue waters shooting out in a fantastic display. Beyond that was Eros's home, though "home" was understated; it was a palace! Now Sally had never seen such a grand home before, other than Jack's manor, but Jack had been in the human world. The architectural layout of the palace before them reminded him of the Phaistos Palace in Crete, Greece. The only difference was that this building was not in ruins.
They nearly lost pace with their guid as he began walking up the steps without them. When they finally caught up, Valentine was having a heated discussion with an odd man at the door. He stood just two feet shorter than Valentine and he was wearing a postal uniform. He would have seemed normal by Jack's standards had Sally not pointed out his shoes. Surprisingly, tiny golden wings were fluttering on both heels of either shoe.
"Hermes, I've told you, stop delivering this rubbish," Valentine ordered, gesturing to the pile of boxes. "This is not helping in the slightest."
"Hey, I'm just the messenger," the other man replied angrily. His winged shoes began to flutter rapidly and he flew up so that he was eye-level with the Holiday Leader. "Someone needs a message or delivery, I take it; that's my job. You want me to stop, then get the kid to stop calling Big D for the wine and chocolate."
Valentine simply adjusted his glasses and sent the strange man on his way. He then turned to Jack and Sally. "Terribly sorry about that," he replied and gestured to the boxes. "But this is part of the problem. Unfortunately, Dionysus is far too fond of the boy and sends him plenty of that ambrosia whenever he get likes this."
"What is this?" Jack crept closer and inspected the labels on the boxes. Some of the contents were familiar and others were some Jack had never even heard of. There were heart-shaped boxes of assorted chocolates, chocolate bonbons, sappy romance movies, and tissues. There was even a particularly large crate that contained chocolate whine.
"What is it all for?" Sally asked, rather curious about the contents herself.
"It's Eros's way for dealing with his problems." Without another word, Valentine pulled on a golden cord by the front door. The sound emitted was like the tune of wedding bells.
They waited a few moments before the door opened. Standing there was a beautiful young woman. The first thing noticeable about her was the butterfly wings fanning behind her in an array of purple, blue, and fuchsia hues. They gave off a similarity of a stained glass window as the light past through them. The young woman also had ivory skin and long waves of golden hair that reached down to her hips. Her large eyes were even bluer than the sky framed by long eyelashes, and her lips were pink as flower petals.
"Hermes, I thought I told you… Oh! Valentine, thank goodness!" the woman replied, eyes filled with worry. She reached for Valentine's hand and all but dragged him inside. "Hurry! Eros already went through all the ice-cream and now he's demanding even more chocolates. I can't snap him out of it."
Jack and Sally quickly rushed to keep up. They barely had time to notice all the interior designs of the palace—golden pillars supporting a vaulted roof, walls enriched with rural carvings and paintings that were pleasing to the eye; rooms filled with treasures of art and flora—as they kept pace with Valentine and the young woman. For someone of her size, it was surprising that she could be dragging Valentine over the foyer and up the grand staircase. All the while Valentine was doing his best to calm the woman.
"Please! You have to do something!" she shouted.
"Now Psyche, I've told you to stop indulging him like a child," Valentine warned, pulling his hand from her grasp. "You are his wife, not his mother."
"You think I don't know that!" she shouted. "Even my patience is running out, and I've tried everything to snap him out of this. I even went as far as modeling that French bikini he got me last spring. He wouldn't even look at me! All he did was ask me to leave him be and then he called that damn Hermes again!"
"Perhaps we came at a bad time…" Sally whispered to Jack.
He nodded in agreement. "It would appear so, but Valentine needs our help."
"Now Psyche, please try to control yourself," Valentine continued. He gestured to Jack and Sally. "After all, we have guests."
It was then the young lady noticed the two Halloween visitors. "Oh! Sorry," she apologized. "I'm normally much more polite, but with my husband off on another one of his fits, it's hard to focus on anything else."
"Oh, please don't worry about it," Sally insisted.
"It is perfectly all right," Jack added. "I just hope we will be able to help."
"Judging by that ring on your lady's finger, I'd say you are more than qualified." She gave them a smile and extended her hand. "My name is Psyche. I am Eros's wife."
"Pleasure to meet you," Jack said, shaking her hand. "I am Jack Skellington from Halloween Town. And this haunting beauty is my fiancé, Sally."
"It is nice to meet you," Sally greeted. She was blushing slightly at Jack's comment.
Psyche shook both their hands. "Always a pleasure to see a young couple in love," she said, "and the timing could not be better. I'm sure once my husband sees you two lovebirds, he'll come out of this episode."
"Let's hope so," Valentine added. "Now then, where is he?"
Psyche sighed. "At the Looking Glass, where else?" She directed her attention to Jack and Sally to explain. "That's how Eros finds all the people on Valentine's list of matches. It lets us see anyone in the world."
"Fascinating!" Jack whispered. "Perhaps once we've helped Eros, we might have a chance to see how this strange looking glass works."
"Don't get any ideas, Jack," Sally warned, knowing his curiosity usually led to trouble. Jack gave her a nervous smile.
They followed Psyche until they reached a large door that was partially propped open. Psyche motioned for them to remain quiet as she entered the room. It was very dark, but there was a faint light coming from somewhere near the back. After a moment, Psyche waved her hand for the others to follow her inside. As the group got closer, they saw what could only be described as a large waterfall. The water was crystal clear and silent, but the light coming from behind it only highlighted the image being displayed. The scene depicted a young woman sitting at a bar talking with a man standing nearby. They were laughing and teasing each other, and the young lady was smiling with a light blush crossing her tanned cheeks. She tucked part of her long dark hair behind her ear and batted her eyelashes at the young man.
"LOOKS AT THIS! THIS! This is what I was trying for! The love between Kat and Val has never been seen before! This-THIS is what I wanted for her and SHE… SHE THROWS ALL MY HARD WORK OUT THE WINDOW LIKE IT WAS A DIRTY TRASHCAN FULL OF POOP! Woe! Woe to the highest misery!"
The sudden outburst was instantly followed by an onslaught of hysterical sobbing, and murmurs of self loathing. From behind him, Jack could hear Valentine groan. "Is something the matter?" he asked.
"For heaven's sake, Psyche, how long has he been watching last night's matches?" Valentine questioned, turning to Psyche.
"This is new," she whispered back. "First, he just stuck to cheap romance flicks, then the break up films. I am not sure when he grabbed these."
"Pardon me, but what exactly are we watching?" Sally inquired, glancing back at the screen. "Will and Al once told me about movies, but it sounds like this is not one of those."
"Indeed," Valentine replied. "As you can see, this is a recording from one of the matches Eros arranged last night. The Looking Glass can peer at anyone in the world, anywhere and at anytime. We use it to ensure the happiness of couples, while also as a means to alert us when something goes wrong."
"This is quite interesting," Jack said, "but what does this have to do with Eros's condition?"
"That is what we are going to find out." Valentine then walked to the other side of the room and flicked a small switch that turned on the lights, revealing the light creme colored room. For a moment, Jack had thought they had stepped through another portal and entered to a world on an exotic beach oasis. A few steps from the marble floors became golden sands. There was also more plant life and many animals roaming about. Up on the shore, beautiful white doves nested in tall apple trees. Some horses were grazing below on the lush green grass. He glanced over at Sally and found she was looking at something on her hand. Looking closer, Jack awed at a small insect that had perched itself on his beloved's index finger. This bug was not like any he had seen in Halloween Town. This round little creepy-crawly was bright red with black spots along its back.
Psyche noted the quietness of her guests, and turned to find Jack and Sally staring at the little bug. She giggled. "Look at that, you made a friend," she said, pointing at the little creature. "You're in luck, Miss Sally. Ladybugs are known for being bringers of good luck, though in Asia they're believed to be little love messengers."
"Love messengers?" Jack asked, looking at Psyche. "They speak?"
"No no. The belief is that if caught and then released, the Ladybug will faithfully fly to your true love and whisper your name in their ear so then they will hurry to your side," Psyche explained. "If one lands on you and you make a wish, the number of spots on the Ladybug's back will tell how many months it will take for your wish of love to come true."
"Oh!" Sally gasped as the little bug flew off from her finger. It then landed on Jack's shoulder and stayed for a moment before flying off again, this time disappearing beyond the waterfall.
From where the waterfall fell, a large pool filled with champagne waters stretched over the floor. At the center was a sort of island accessible by a floating bridge made of oyster shells. Psyche motioned Jack and Sally to follow her. She led them across the bridge, allowing the couple to take a few moments to absorb their surroundings. The water teamed with different creatures: pink dolphins, starfish of many colors, and on the surface, pristine white swans glided across the water's surface in a water ballet. By the time they reached the island, voices could be heard coming from the center. They edged closer, the voices becoming clearer to reveal Valentine, quite livid, standing off to the side and shouting down at a mound of pillows.
"You're behaving irrationally, Eros. How many times must I tell you the indisputable fact! The matters of the heart cannot be forced. Furthermore, you were supposed to give me these reports last night! You know the rules!"
"Oh, but Vally, you just don't get it! I had everything set so perfect! The atmosphere, the setting; everything should have worked perfectly. But that darn, stubborn girl!"
"I don't care if it was Adam and Eve!" Valentine retorted. "What's done is done. You cannot change time. Now, I want you to pull yourself together as a holiday representative. This is hardly dignified. And to further the matter, we have guests, so I suggest you show some etiquette."
As they finally caught up with Valentine, Jack and Sally got a proper look at Eros. Valentine had not been exaggerating; Eros was a mess!
The Valentine angel was slumped against a mountain of red, pink and purple heart-shaped pillows. On the left were countless mounds of tissues and on the right were endless empty cartons of all manor of sweets. Eros himself was looking worse for wear. Instead of his Grecian clothing, he wore a red wine satin smoking jacket that had been lengthened to reach his ankles. The robe also had a black furred collar with gold piping and a gold male symbol embroidered to the left breast pocket. His feet, which were usually bare, were now adorned with fuzzy pink bunny slippers. His usual bright blue eyes were dull and had dark circles under them. His hair was limp and lifeless, as though it had not seen a comb or brush in months. His mouth was completely coated in chocolate that made him resemble a toddler eating a chocolate cake.
Psyche pulled away from the group and knelt down at Eros's side. "You big idiot, I told you not to mix ambrosia with the truffles. You know what that stuff does to you!"
"Leave me be," Eros groaned, pushing her aside. "I don't want you to see me like this."
"Enough of the dramatics, Eros," Valentine said. "You have been moping since last night." Eros only responded by pouting, folding his arms across his chest in a childish manor.
Jack decided to try talking with him. "Eros, Valentine told us you were having some…difficulties. Sally and I were hoping that we might be able to assist you. We are happy to help in any way we can."
"Oh yes," Sally added, coming up beside Jack. "He even told us you like to plan weddings. To be honest, Jack and I are still having trouble deciding on a few things. We were hoping to get your opinion?"
Psyche perked up, leaning against her husband's arm. "Oh Love, doesn't that sound nice?" she said, trying to look Eros in his eye. "You adore weddings. And for the leaders of Halloween Town no less. Just think of all the possibilities you could do."
"Psyche…" Eros patted his wife on the arm but did not return her smile. "Oh my sweet little wife, perhaps the man you knew could be singing praises for the chance at turning such a frightful place into a wedding befitting royalty… Alas, I fear that man is no more."
"What is it this time?" Valentine groaned.
Suddenly, Eros rose from his seat, grabbing a long golden bow. As he he pulled back on the string, an arrow made of radiant of light appeared. There was only a moment to behold its lavender light when Eros fired. The shot hit the center of the waterfall.
"What was that?" Sally asked, memorized by the bright lights.
"Oh, that's one of Eros's light arrows," Psyche whispered. "That's how he finds people on earth. He thinks of the person's name, then fires an arrow at the Looking Glass, and then that person can be seen so Eros can find them."
"Oh, how interesting."
"Not really. He just likes to show off. All he really had to do was toss a Memory Pearl into the Looking Glass like what with the couple at the bar."
"What's a memory pearl?" Sally asked.
Psyche quickly ran and plucked something from the water. When she returned, she held out an oyster. She then opened the shell to reveal a polished pink pearl inside. Sally awed at the pristine little gem. "This is a Memory Pearl," Psyche explained. "Each one is the memory of the people Valentine and Eros have brought together. After Eros shoots the people with one of his golden arrows, a pearl appears in the side pocket of his quiver. Eros then gives them to Valentine to store for later use."
"Sorry to interrupt, ladies," Jack said, pointing towards the Looking Glass, "but should the waterfall be doing that?"
They all turned to see the image of the young couple ripple and change. Now, instead of a bar, it showed a bedroom. The walls were painted a light orchid and the furniture was a Victorian styled vanity, dresser, and bed. Sunlight poured in from the open window onto the bed, where a young woman was lounging and reading a book. Jack recognized her the moment the light reflected the red highlights of her golden hair.
"That's Will!"
"What on earth…" Valentine looked closer. He frowned and glared over at his partner. "You're kidding me? This is why you've been moping for the past day?!"
Eros huffed. "Well, what did you expect?" he asked, crossing his arms and turning to face away. "I find her the perfect match and she completely ruins it!"
Valentine sighed, another migraine coming on at his colleague's persistent whining. "That is not how it works, you damn idiot," he stated. "I told you before. I place the matches and you bring the couples together. I thought you would've learned that lesson after the Hades and Persephone incident."
"Excuse me, but those two are married, aren't they?" Eros argued.
"Yes but they only see one another four months out of the year!"
"He does have a point, Love," Psyche added. "Do I need to remind you how difficult it was for us to get married? Your mother nearly tried to kill me."
Eros opened his mouth to argue, but his eyes then widen before he closed it again, instead jutting out his lip and pouted. "But it should have been perfect!"
"Now darling, try not to be so upset," Psyche cooed. She walked up behind him and began rubbing his shoulders. "I know you meant well."
"Excuse me," Jack interrupted. He was completely perplexed by everything that was happening. "I am sorry but, I couldn't help wondering, what does Will have to do with all this?"
"I was wondering that myself?" Sally added, nervously wringing her hands together.
However, both Eros and Psyche were too distracted to hear the question. With a sigh, adjusting his glasses once more, Valentine stepped closer to Jack and Sally. "As I mentioned before, for sometime Eros has been choosing one person to be his special Valentine target, as he puts it."
Jack and Sally nodded.
"And you recall how Eros behaved around Miss Willa at the New Year's party you hosted, correct? How he seemed to take too much interest in how she would take to that young vampire, Puck."
"Oh yes, I remember that," Jack said grimly. "Puck is related to the Vampire Brothers, if I'm not mistaken. He really did bother Will a lot that night. His actions toward her were a bit…excessive."
Sally's eyes widened. "Oh dear… Will was very upset after the party but she wouldn't tell me what was bothering her. Then a few days ago the Vampire Brothers told me she had come to them very late at night to ask them questions about vampires, specifically their weaknesses. Then Helgamine and Zeldaborne told me Will even came by their shop and bought severe cloves of garlic."
"I guess Puck has been bothering Will back in her world," Jack said.
"Not surprised if that idiot was giving the boy advice…" Valentine muttered. "Well, despite my talks with him, I'm afraid Eros has been obsessed with matching your friend and the young vampire."
"HEY!"
The three of them looked up to see Eros looking at them.
"None of this would've happened if Willa had just cooperated in the first place," Eros shouted. "I go out of my way to make others happy, but what this girl did was just-just… It was unforgivable!"
"For crying out load," Valentine groaned. "Would you cut the dramatics and get to the point!"
"Very well." Eros reached into his left breast pocket and pulled out a pink pearl. "This is the Memory Pearl from last night. Everything you want to know is recorded in here."
Eros then threw the pearl at the Looking Glass. Once again, the waters rippled and the image changed to reveal the events of the previous day. Finally, everyone would learn the cause to all of Eros's desolation.