Love is War

Sayo and Psyche talked like they were friends, and Rexis occasionally pops in every now and then to comment something that Sayo had overlooked. They agreed beforehand to tell Psyche the general overview of how things might've played out if she didn't put her faith in Eros – that she will accidentally hurt him and he will leave her to seek the healing of his wounds.

They also told Psyche about Aphrodite's curse upon her, and the things the Goddess will do once she finds out about her almost killing her son, Eros. At first, Psyche can't comprehend them, because all of the scenarios they are talking about seem to be so far-fetched. 'How could they know all of these?!'

But later on, she was convinced by Sayo, who argued with her regarding the possibility of her giving into her sisters' shit-talking and eventually forcing herself to get a glimpse of Eros.

"I'm ten billion percent sure you'll crack." The girl told her.

Sayo and Rexis never told her about all the details though, as well as the relevance of what they are doing to their own special quest. They never mentioned about going to the Underworld. For sure, Psyche will freak out on that one. But they still drilled into their mind their mission – that they should anger the Goddess so that they will be sent there, so they can retrieve what they ought to retrieve from there. Most of all, they never told her they are not from this timeline – that's already a given.

Currently, they are at a loss of how they will be able to pull that off. 'How?!'

Later on, they reached the point of the conversation where they need to plan on what to do to convince Eros that Psyche and him are already cool.

"Can you message the Lord of this House right now? We need to talk to him, ASAP." Sayo told the invisible servant. "Tell him that Psyche already knows."

It took them a while before the servant followed their command, because she is unwilling to do it first. Only after the few pleads of Psyche, that she finally agreed to do it. The servant was obviously nervous as she sent the message to Eros, which only contained a single sentence.

"My lady already knows about you, so please hurry over."

Eros, who is currently in field duty in Athens, received the Messenger Orb from his servant, and his eyes widened after reading the mail's contents, and the arrow he aimed for a certain male to fall in love with a female accidentally landed on another male. "WHAT?! BUT HOW?!"

He immediately fled from the scene, not bothering to re-do his job, as he said to himself, "There's nothing wrong about it, anyway."

It didn't take long for him to arrive at his house. Usually, he returns home by nightfall, so that the darkness will somehow cloak his presence and Psyche won't be able to see him. But in this broad afternoon daylight, there was no way of hiding his presence. The best disguise he can come-up with is by utilizing his white handkerchief, making it cover his nose and mouth like a mask as if he's stuck in a pandemic.

"I don't look so good. I'm like a sick hoodlum." He said after he examined himself.

Eros retracted his wings when he reached the door to his house, and nervously turned the knob over to allow himself entry to their humble abode.

--

The three figures of Psyche, Sayo and Rexis awaited eagerly for the God of Love's arrival. When the knob started to sound, they braced themselves for whoever was coming in. Psyche even felt the need to change her green peplos earlier into a purple one – the richest color for mortals in Ancient Greece.

When the door opened, the first thing they saw was light – brilliant light – and when their vision began to adjust, a tall, sexy man in white chiton and golden sandals appeared before them. The muscles in his arms and legs were very toned and suited for his body type. His short-cropped, wavy light brown hair was styled gorgeously and his pair of melted chocolate brown eyes captured Psyche's purple ones. His face, however, was stubbornly covered by a piece of cloth, but the glory of his features cannot be overlooked. From the bow and quiver of arrows slung along his shoulder, they cannot be mistaken about the identity of the guy before them. This guy could only be….

"My….Eros." Psyche said, awestruck by what she's seeing. She then absentmindedly strolled towards Eros, and removed his mask, to fully see his face. He is so flawless and so beautiful.

Sayo's mouth formed an 'O', and Rexis touched his forehead, looking for an acne. "Toldja Rex, this guy isn't a cherub in diapers. Look at that, holy smokes." Sayo hurriedly whispered.

The couple then publicly displayed their affection despite the audience currently present, and kissed each other passionately in the lips.

"Geeez, get a room." Sayo finally snapped out from her daze and scolded the two, who immediately stopped upon realizing that they aren't the only ones present in the room.

"My Psyche…." Eros replied, caressing Psyche's soft lips which previously met his.

Psyche knew it – and she praised herself for making the right decision of putting her trust to Eros. She hit the jackpot, and no, she won't be letting this man hate her for a stupid betrayal of lover's trust.

Rexis audibly cleared his throat, and finally the couple's attention was towards them. "Yo, sup, wanna hear us out, yeah? Before you make out, no?"

The two blushed from embarrassment but whether they are aware of it or not, they continued to hold on to each other's hands. Truly, love is in the air, and Sayo was covering her nose, afraid to inhale its scent.

Rexis continued, without further ado, "Uhm, Cupid – er – Lord Eros, we need to talk to your mother."

Eros, who is so happy to finally meet Psyche face to face, didn't seem to hear what Rexis just said. Actually, the two looked like they are still lost in each other's worlds, so Sayo repeated the statement, more forcefully this time, as she pounded her fist once in the center table. ���LORD EROS, WE NEED TO TALK TO YOUR MOTHER."

Now that got the God of Love's attention, and he wished his hearing was incorrect on that one. "Come again?" He said.

"WE NEED TO TALK TO YOUR MOTHER – THE GODDESS OF BEAUTY." Her initial stun from seeing Eros in full glory has now fully subsided.

Eros paled after hearing it, because it's the last thing he wanted to do after experiencing this fleeting moment of bliss with his wife. "No – no, no, no, no, no."

"Huh? You aren't scared of her, are you?"

Truth is, he is. His mother after all, has greater powers than him. One wrong move, and Psyche might be gone from him, and ends up falling deeply inlove with someone else.

"Why would you want to talk to her?"

"We'll wage a war against her." Rexis looked at her, because he really didn't like that idea of hers they discussed earlier.

'What kind of war could she possibly start? Hopefully not as severe as Troy? Is she really thinking straight? What if this can get worse? Dammit, Sayo.' He wanna lash out to her about this but decided to just play along for now and confront her later. Maybe Aphrodite isn't around to spy at their plans that are yet to be fleshed out.

Eros now came to a conclusion that this strangely clothed young woman before him has some loose screws in her head. Why would anyone want to get the wrath of someone like Aphrodite, whose powers made even the Lord of the Underworld succumb to the universal force of love and romance? No, he's definitely not giving them her contact details. "War?!"

Sayo was expecting the God's response, and she just had the perfect plan to throw him more off his balance. "Oh yes, Lord Eros, this is a 'fight for your love' scenario. But we'll spare you the participation in this battle. We will be your substitute warriors. Because love is war, baby boy."

By this time, Rexis was shaking his head vigorously, also convinced that Sayo is losing her mind. 'Just what the hell, Sayo?'

She continued, "Who knows? Maybe she can see us now and we don't need your participation anymore and she'll come her herself." Rexis was definitely having a bad feeling about this, like a paranormal expert saying he's feeling something odd and off about a certain place.

Little did they know, this ominous thoughts actually aren't baseless, as the invisible servant of the House of Eros, who heard the entire conversation, hurriedly sprinted to the fountain outside, and made the Vision Call leading to Aphrodite's chamber in Olympus.

The Goddess was outraged from hearing the news. She immediately turned her Vision channel to the password-protected access to the House of Eros, and after bypassing the system by threatening to spoil Hecate's daily skincare routine, her blood boiled in anger at what she saw and heard from the absurd ensemble of mortals in the House of a God.

Who are those despicable mortals?! The audacity of that woman to seduce her Eros! And how dare her son defy her wishes?! This is incredulous!

She stood up from her seat and summoned her dove-drawn chariot, lightly dabbing on some powder before heading outside, all the way to the House of Eros. She checked her reflection for the last time, and then hopped on for her trip.

"You want war? I'll give you war." Her punishments in mind are all sorted for the stubborn mortals who dared to anger her.