CUPID | (ONC 2024)

CHAPTER VI

Know that I would gladly be. The Icarus to your certainty. Oh, my sunlight, sunlight, sunlight
Strap the wing to me. Death trap clad happily. With wax melted, I'd meet the sea. Under sunlight, sunlight, sunlight.

-Hozier

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"I swear it on my honor, on my blood, and the Gods," Xene screams into the inky black ocean. Agonizing emotions rip apart his insides. Furiously, he has been storming up and down the beach, trying to think of a way to get Kore back from Cupid.

The same scene has been playing over and over in his head. Xene's hands flew to his hair while trying to forget the way Kore had looked with the arrow stuck in her side. A scream escapes his lungs. Nobody is around to hear him, as it is past midnight.

His arms feel so bare. Just a day ago he had Kore's lively body with his. The moment of Kore's lifeless body in his arms comes to mind once again. Sand covers Xene's body from where he's been tumbling in the sand. He's done everything including praying - and cursing - the Gods for help, finding evidence of where Kore had gone, and keeping an eye open for Cupid at all times.

His wedding day was going to be perfect. His whole life with Kore was going to be perfect. It all fell apart when that devil of a God crashed their wedding and shot the love of his life. Xene was going to save her, too. He was so close to doing so. Xene hadn't hesitated to pick Kore's hurt body into his arms and rush her to safety, but Cupid had interfered.

During that day, Xene had never run faster than he was. But even so, a winged man is still faster. Cupid had followed Xene out of the wedding and was looming over his shoulder. Xene tried to lose him down many streets, but he was much slower with a body in his arms.

He was so close to saving Kore, but Cupid had stanched her from his arms. In one motion, Xene's arms were empty.

The man's heart tears apart every time he thinks of the way Cupid held her. With no mercy. Up in the sky, he flew away with Kore and since then Xene has been plotting ways to get Cupid back.

Not knowing where Kore is, if she's safe, or even alive, hurts Xene extremely. He hasn't slept since she's been gone and he has eaten little. Now and then, Xene believes he sees Cupid in some shadows, but it's only his hallucinations.

After running around like a seagull without a head for hours, Xene collapsed on the beach. Sleep finally took him in and took his worries away from his body for a few hours.

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The morning comes roughly. Xene sleeps in until noon. None of the locals disturb him as they walk along the coast. An energy of depression had covered the whole town. With sand stuck to Xene's skin and his hair twisted frighteningly, nobody dared to approach him anyway.

Except for one lady.

She was on the older side and it took her a moment to waddle over to Xene. He did not hear her shuffle up to the dune he was lying on, so she shook him awake. He didn't move for a solid minute. The woman keeps poking him, knowing that he's not dead.

With a groan, Xene rolls over in the sand. A sea shell sticks to his forehead right above his eyebrow. The woman takes in his awful state but continues to sit down next to him. She digs around in her bag while Xene takes a moment to adjust to the bright sun.

The older lady, filled with knowledge, notices the way the boy's skin is pale and dried up from dehydration. His clothes are tattered and a strong stench emits from them. Eventually, Xene notices the stranger sitting next to him. He doesn't recognize her, but that may be because he's tired and nothing makes sense right now.