Chapter 67: The Bow of Cupid

As the days and weeks passed, I went around, doing my normal business. I was making a small amount of money by doing chores for people, mainly Sir Amik Varze. I helped around in Irish's steel shop, gathering supplies, and occasionally I helped exterminate rodents, which was difficult, since they were usually possessed.

All through all this time, I was wary. Crime was rising steadily. The streets didn't feel that safe any more. Since that terrible storm when I had a horrific vision, the weather was getting steadily worse. It wasn't even seasonal- it was unnatural. There were thunderstorms every other night, and the sun rarely shone.

Everybody was busy with their own thing now. As a white knight, Capablanca was always busy with his newly re-acquired job. Osrie1 was doing what I was doing- helping around with odd chores. Slinky and Aaron were constantly in Goblin Village, keeping the disgusting green creatures in check. The only one who wasn't busy was Amy11.

The poor girl wasn't recovering very well from being kidnapped and tortured. She spent long amounts of time in her room. She also seemed to be edgy around other people, especially me. Her answers were short, and she constantly looked worried.

One day, I was shopping in the shopping street in Falador. It was late afternoon, and the sun had decided to come out today. There was a beautiful sunset in the distance, shining deep yellows, pinks and purples over the city of Falador. I didn't understand why, but I could see a lot more happy couples at this time of the year. I stared enviously as a rather young couple sat down on the bench, holding hands.

There was a newspaper on the floor. I picked it up, and scanned the front page. I tensed up.

Young woman found on the streets, with stomach ripped open.

Yesterday night, the body of a young woman was discovered near the white Knight Castle moat. The body was literally ripped open- all major intestines were spread out nearby, and the whole body was drained of blood. Experts are baffled. More news on this as it develops.

I cringed in disgust at the picture that the article had to offer of the remains. Whatever killed this poor young lady can't have been human. To be honest, the style of killing looked familiar….

I was supposed to be meeting Osrie1 outside the baker's shop. I was chewing on a mini meat pie, when I saw Osrie1 exit the shop, pockets jangling with his pay. He was hired as a temporary chef, cooking pies mainly.

"I'm going back to the house to rest, Osrie1. Are you coming?" I said casually, finishing the rest of my pie in a gulp. He thought for a moment.

"Nah, I'll stay here," he decided. I nodded.

When I got back, I had no intention to rest. I just wanted to check in on Amy11. I stepped into the living room, and she was spread on the couch, looking miserable. She sat up, and when she saw me, she smiled for a moment.

"Hello," I said softly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Amy1 replied, sighing. There was an awkward pause.

Meanwhile, outside the window, a small creature was hovering, looking at the scene before him. The creature looked like a young baby boy with small white angel wings with some white rags draped over him. The baby boy held a golden bow and a golden quiver of golden arrows. There arrows were enchanted by the baby himself to help people fall in love. The baby was commonly known as Cupid.

The baby was a god of love, and he looked on sadly at the awkward couple in the room he was surveying. They couldn't see him, since he was invisible to all humans. He could very easily recognise love between this young boy and girl. He thought he'd poke them in the correct direction. The effect of his arrows wouldn't last forever- in a loveless relationship, they'd only last a day or so. But, there was love here, so his arrows would only help the young couple see that. With a twang of a bowstring, a golden arrow flew towards Mainiac97.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Amy11 curiously, since I was sure I could hear a bowstring twang. All of a sudden, I felt giddy. My vision was blurring over, but when it cleared, I saw Amy11 in a different light.

I was admiring things about her I hadn't seen before- her cute curves, her long blonde hair; her beautiful little smile… my mouth was agape as I noticed true beauty before my very eyes.

Cupid grinned. It was working! The boy had seen the light of love. Cupid's arrows usually forced love in between a boy and a girl, but in this case it seemed to be more of a blindfold remover. With another twang, a golden arrow flew towards Amy11.

"Erm, you look nice today," I stuttered. Amy11 seemed to grin shyly. "I was wondering, are you hungry?" I asked.

"Yes, I am getting hungry," Amy11 admitted. I smiled. This was my chance! I'd never seen Amy11 like this before-she was beautiful, she was friendly, she was caring, and she was everything I wanted.

"Do you want to go for a meal with me?" I asked. Amy11's eyebrows shot up.

"You mean, like a date?" she said. I nodded shyly.

"If you want to call it that," I confirmed. She stood up eagerly; looking happier then I'd ever seen her before. I offered her my arm.

"Shall we?" I asked in the most polite voice I could muster. Amy11 giggled. I blushed furiously- her giggle was so cute! She took my arm, and seemed to frogmarch me out the door.

"Where shall we eat?" I asked. She shrugged. I wandered into the Falador square. I saw more happy couples, and it made me wonder why there was so much love blossoming today specifically. I looked around, and saw a bar. It was called the 'Rising Sun Inn'. I walked in there.

Inside, the floors and walls were made of marble, like almost everything else in this city. There were polished mahogany chairs and tables everywhere, and there was a rather long bar following the opposite side of the wall. There were two ladies behind this bar. We sat down by the bar. We were sitting by a man in brown overalls. A barmaid walked up to us.

"Can I take your orders?" she asked cheerfully. I nodded.

"I'll buy on of your finest meat sandwiches, please," I replied. "What about you, Amy?" I asked her. She thought for a moment.

"I'll have some vegetable soup please," she said. The barmaid nodded, and went to get our orders. The other barmaid was having a hushed conversation with the man in brown overalls.

"So, Tina, what happened to that other barmaid?" he asked in a whispered voice.

"You mean Emily?" Tina the barmaid replied. The man in brown overalls nodded. "I don't know, to be honest. It's like she disappeared off the face of the earth. I'm concerned for her."

They were going to talk some more on the subject, when they were distracted by the other barmaid arriving with our orders. I licked my lips at the warm, juicy meat sandwich in front of me, and I began chewing on it ravenously.

Within minutes I'd finished my food. Amy11 was taking her time with the vegetable soup, one spoonful at a time. After a few minutes of slow eating, she was finished.

I was about to call a barmaid over so I could order drinks and more food, when I heard cheering as a lot of people filled the bar suddenly. They all seemed drunk, and there was a lot of shouting. Amy11 looked uncomfortable.

"Let's go somewhere a bit more peaceful," I suggested. She nodded, and took my arm. We left.

It was getting late now. The moon was full, illuminating the whole city in a beautiful light. I stared at Amy11 as we walked. She looked so happy, so content. I was glad she was cheering up. Maybe she'd make a full recovery. I was still baffled why there was love today specifically. I followed a path and I ended up at the Falador gardens.

The gardens were dazzling in the moonlight. Flowers of literally every colour in the rainbow were planted everywhere, and the grass was the greenest grass I'd ever seen in my life. There was a small pond nearby with several ducks quacking away inside. The gardens were almost deserted, apart from a farmer on the far end of the garden, and a couple sitting on a bench opposite us.

"Do you want to sit down?" I asked Amy11 calmly. She nodded, and we sat down on a nearby bench.

"It's beautiful," she commented, referring to the garden.

"Almost as beautiful as you," I whispered, partially to myself. She heard though, and she blushed.

"Do you really feel that way about me?" she asked me silently. I hesitated, and then nodded. "Wow, that's so sweet. Nobody's ever told me I'm beautiful before. Thanks," she said. She bent forward, and put her head on my shoulder. I sighed blissfully.

She sat up, and looked me in the eyes. A shiver ran down my spine. She bent forward, and her lips were about to touch mine.

At that moment, the ground shook violently. We jumped apart, alarmed. A massive rip appeared in the ground, and a huge, furry paw with massive claws came from it. The couple opposite screamed, and ran off. The floor was almost literally ripped open under our feet by the creature underneath. I managed to jump to safety, but Amy11 was on the verge of falling. I looked down into the pit created by this beast.

A huge, huge, HUGE mole sat there. I could smell earth. The mole's eyes were a deep red, and its claws were flying everywhere, causing shockwaves in the ground. A massive pink nose vibrated as the creature smelt us, our flesh. There was roar, and the gigantic mole opened its mouth. Filthy teeth gnashed thin air. If Amy11 fell in there, it'd be like falling into a giant blender. Yelling, I jumped across the hole, and pushed Amy11 to safety. But, unfortunately, I couldn't say the same about myself. Screaming, I fell into the hole.

A figure swooped down, scooped me up, and pushed me to safety. I looked up at my saviour, and a boy just a bit older then I stood there, looking down at me. He had short white hair, swept coolly over his left eye. He wore mithril armour, and he held a bronze scimitar. His eyes were bloodshot. He gave me a grimace, and turned around to face the hole.

"Be gone, mole!" he yelled, and he took a mithril throwing dagger from his pocket. He sent it flying down to the mole, and it struck the mole's eye. With a roar that shook the whole garden, the mole disappeared in a tornado of filth, earth and dust.

"You saved me again!" Amy11 cried. She jumped into my arms, and smothered my face in kisses. I stuttered, and the white-haired man's eyebrows shot up. I looked down at her once she was finished.

"Of course," I said. "I can't go letting you die, can't I? Plus it was this man that saved us both." Amy11 smiled. I knew in my heart that our relationship would soar above the clouds. I turned to my saviour.

"What's your name?" I asked. The man smiled.

"My name?" he said. "My name is Dream Decay."

Meanwhile, far above, Cupid was watching the scene happily. He'd done his job today. He'd spread the love around. Maybe this universe didn't celebrate Saint Valentine's Day, but Cupid would make sure that the love would be shared everywhere.

I bade Dream Decay farewell, thanking him and promising to meet him again sometime. I walked back to Capablanca's house, arm in arm with Amy11. When I arrived back, everyone was in the living room, chatting and drinking glasses of beer. When I walked into the room with amy11, we were showered with wolf-whistles.

I surveyed the room. Everyone was here, except for Aaron. "Where's Aaron?" I asked curiously. Everyone shook their heads.

I decided to straight up to my room to go to sleep. I walked into my room, and made sure the sleeping figure of Eek was by my bedside table. I stared out the window at the full moon. Today had been so fun. I'd really enjoyed my 'date' with Amy11, and my eyes had been opened up by some unknown power at her true beauty. But where was Aaron? I gave the full moon a final glance, and went to bed. As I was dozing off, I heard the howl of a wolf in the distance.

Hello! Hope you liked that Valentine's day special! It's probably not my best piece of work, because romance really isn't my thing. So, what are you all doing for valentine's day? I'm spending it alone! Can anyone guess where Aaron was at the end of this chapter? find out soon! let me assure you I'm not greek, and I don't worship Cupid. I just thought he'd be a good character for this chapter.

The dissappearence of emily the barmaid and Dream Decay are all part of the shared universe I'm doing with Haseo thr terror of death, which was explained in detail in last chapter's author notes. For Dream decay's past, please read 'The sphere of Varrock' by haseo the terror of death. I assure you, it's good! His story is set a year before mine, so the Dream in his story is the same Dream in mine, except the one here is a year older.

Next chapter....we see the truth behind the giant mole's unusual behaviour...

Until next time, toodles!