Swaying her hips lazily like a serpent's sidewinding movement, the tips of Aphrodite's fingers petted the electrical whip in her hands. Each step she took around the dark cell, the lengthy whip would trail after her as if she was walking her feathered peacock.
"Final chance. Will you or will you not hand her soul over?" With a tongue as thin and venomous as a snake's stoned heart, she hissed violently at Eros. Willfully lashing the whip back and forth for entertainment, she let the weapon spark up in circular movements on the ceiling; clouded fog began smoking up the space.
Instantaneously, the ceiling no longer revealed sticky cobwebs with occupied spiders nor the endless abyss. A graphite sky with white crackled rips soared across the top, immersing him in a deadly nightmare. Crazy zig-zags of bolts and loud shreds reverberated like destructive hornets brutally snagging an army of bees - popping its heads out of its bodies.
"No matter what you do to me, my answer remains the same." Lifting his gaze skyward, Eros felt his calm pulse tighten in determination to win the war against his mother. His blood boiled beyond molten aluminum as he answered straightforwardly.
Shutting his eyes closed, his eyelashes landed leisurely on his high cheeks; he was prepared for her haste madness. The whipping waves of illuminated cuts slashed the inky gloom clouds above. With whistles of agony whooshing lashes to the stone walls beside him, his body remained unmoved from her threats.
Growing repugnance drowned every inch of his rationality in indelible ink as the end of her whips slammed whispers to his ears. These words he heard were Aphrodite's darkest desires to capture his wife and burn her for eternity. To achieve her goals, she would sacrifice anyone blocking her path. Hatred surged through his mind as he heard abhorrent thoughts straight from her darkened soul.
Her most effective tactic had failed, and Aphrodite was unsatisfied by his response. Lightning began engulfing Eros' area. Silence crept in thin air for split seconds before slanted strokes carved out his ribcage in penetrative thrusts. Twelve clean stripes patterned his skin after the whip teared up his flesh.
As she retracted the whip, small bits of his broken skin forcibly peeled away. Gasping in silent agony, blood gushed out of the unsightly wound on his torso. Cold sweat drenched in smeared shimmering droplets under the thunderous lightning above.
"Regret it now? Another whip and your body will slice in half. Without your soul force, you're seeking death with no chances of reincarnation. You know that right?" Peeling off a piece of his bloody skin off the whip, she smudged it between her index finger and thumb.
She brought her hand forward, controlled the movements of his broken skin with squinting eyes and let it float in air in front of him. Lifting her finger in a slow bobbing manner, she forced his ghastly pale face to tilt upwards. With his gaze on the piece of flesh, her eyes squinted and a fire burnt the flesh to ashes in less than a second.
Watching his skin wither away like his wife's body, a smirk appeared above his chin. "Even if I die, I am accompanying my wife. Just like her remains... I, too, will wither away. If you want to kill, then make your move. Spouting nonsense and posing pointless threats will not give you the response you desire."
No begging, beseeching nor begging - it was completely contrasting what she had in mind!
Flashes of glints burned arrogantly in her dark pupils as lightning flickered occasionally from a close distance. Facing his unyielding stares, his willfulness dug an eternal hole through her chest. His feelings for Psyche angered her!
"Why?! She is only a human! If you want beauties, we have plenty amongst goddesses. Why does it have to be her? If you like, you could marry all goddesses you like! But you had to choose my sworn enemy! And you have the audacity to tell me she wasn't competing with me?"
Her fingers curled into firm-like stones as she writhed in suppressed fury.
"Because Psyche is Psyche. She is the only one I love. My heart and eyes are only that narrow to fill her in it. She is the only woman I would ever entrust my life to. You keep saying she is competing with you, but when has she ever done anything to provoke you? From the very beginning, it has always been you nailing her as your target. Think about it carefully yourself."
Creasing the center of his brows deeply, an internal burn spewed out his chest and spread to his limbs. Lifting his gaze to greet his mother's ugly expression, pressure stomped against his heaving chest. After a blink's time, he found her fingers pinning specific points on his throat; she was pressing down on his airways.
As he suffocated, he heard her sinful whispers to his ears. "You said she was the only woman you loved. You said she was your wife. Then, let me destroy the last traces of her from your body. I'll have you witness how I put an end to your connection. All I need to do is remove the love roots in your system, and you'll forever forget her. She will also forget you. I'll have you kill her with your own hands after this. Shall we see how your love for her could break through my power?"
She cupped his head and settled her palm on his forehead. Muttering words to herself, she chanted a spell. Flashbacks of every moment with Psyche fast forwardly rewind to the beginning in his mind. Aphrodite's daring words evoked a strong sense of protection to lock up his heart.
Recalling every second, he had spent with Psyche; he saw her smile and heard her warm voice to his ears. Closing his eyes with a lopsided smile on his face, he remembered how everything began and how deeply they've loved one another. At the end, kindness resulted in her death and endless pain. Where did it go wrong?
He only loved her and wanted to protect her. All they ever wished for was a joyful life after marriage but this wish was shattered by her - Aphrodite!
An utterly monstrous rage flared his damaged organs and nerves. 'That's right. My love for her wasn't wrong. The one who is at fault is her! She is the culprit of our broken path. She is the evil!' As a deep voice rumbled into his ears, he opened his eyes wide.
His eyes dyed red, and the chains locking him in place had fragmented to pieces. Startled, Aphrodite jolted backwards, tripping on her own weapon. Her eyes enlarged as she stuttered in shock. "Impossible! Your soul force was already ruined to dust! How could...How...your power.."
He stretched his arms sideways with his fingers straightened up. Suddenly, a dim globe swirled between his ribcage, swirling an open passage as if it was retrieving an item.
At the same time, the Oracle stood in front of a delivery portal. When the swirl grew large enough, he took out Eros' soul force and chanted a spell. As his low whispers escaped between his lips, a protective shield surrounded the soul force. Once he finished casting the spell, he spoke.
"It's time to return to your owner. Go."