Cursed

««Prologue»»

Aphrodite

Aphrodite appeared to be floating, as she walked barefoot across the stepping stones scattered throughout her garden . She took this time every day to admire her roses glistening in the morning dew. Mount Olympus may be the abode of the Gods, but in Aphrodite's mind it was all for her. The fields of roses she nurtured went far past the comprehension of any mortal's eyes. Every particle of air was filled with the flower's powerful scent. If the Goddess of Love wasn't enticing enough on her own, the rose's intoxicating aroma put those who dared to enter her realm into a trance. Luring them away, into her castle of pleasures and exquisite pain. For even though she was the Goddess of Love, she showed no mercy to those who dared to trespass on her lands.

The Goddess shed her silk kimono like a snakeskin, and patrolled the rest of her garden naked. Her pale skin was luminescent against the dark reds of the roses. For Aphrodite, pleasure and pain were all but one intense emotion. Which is why she sought out to get high off both feelings. She loved the way the thorns protruded from the green stalks of each rose, how something could be equally beautiful and violent. She dove straight into the thorny bramble, her body disappeared into the thick tangle of roses.

Behind a maidservant approached and gathered the silk robe off the grass. She held it up in front of her, shielding her eyes from where she last saw Aphrodite. She knew that by looking directly into the eyes of a God or Goddess she would be cursed to return to her homeland, the mortal realm. Never again would she know the neon pinks and reds of Aphrodite's garden or the ecstasy her body felt waking up each day in paradise. She was just as addicted to the smell of the roses as she was to the Goddess herself.

Aphrodite heard the servant breathing nervously behind her, so she used her powers to raise herself from her bed of thorns. She drifted down to land in front of the servant, blood dripped off the end of her toes. Every inch of her white pearly flesh was covered with tiny beads of blood. The surface of her skin glistened as bright red droplets trickled down her arms and legs. She laughed at the shocked expression on her favorite servant's face. The Goddess smiled and brought her wrist to her mouth, gently sucking the blood from her punctured skin. She offered her arm forward, whispering into the servant's mind. Would you like a taste of me, Saphene? Seeing the innocent longing look on her servant's face gave her great pleasure. She giggled and licked her lips with a sigh at the delicious taste of her own blood, like cinnamon spice and brown sugar.

Aphrodite closed her eyes while she worked her magic into a pink aura that surrounded her body. After she'd finished the healing, there wasn't even a trace of blood left on her freshly healed skin.. Now she was ready to hear whatever it was that Saphene needed to interrupt her morning for. 

She walked up to Saphene and allowed the servant to slip the silk kimono back over her shoulders. Saphene looked timidly from side-to-side so as not to stare directly into the Goddesses eyes. Aphrodite picked a ripe peach from a golden bowl on a table nearby, and began walking up the stone stairs of her white marble palace. She sucked the juice from the fruit as the sticky, sweet, nectar ran gushed around her mouth.

"Walk with me and speak quickly Saphene. I have many other tasks that I must tend to."

"There is word, from Zeus."

"Oh, and what might that be?"

"He's under attack, the Titans are invading the walls as we speak."

"I assume this attack has something to do with his brother Hades?"

Saphene nodded silently, never once making eye contact. Aphrodite sighed with annoyance.

"Those brothers with their constant bickering are so maddening to me! This is the last time I intervene in their absurd brawl. Saphene, bring me my best dress. It's time to go pay the Lord of the Underworld a visit."