Eros

Chapter 29: Fall

Mytikas. It was the highest point of Mount Olympus where the gods supposedly gathered round for who knows what. She still couldn't put from her mind the haunting doubt of ever finding Eros. How stupid could she be, to believe to find him here? Of all places, really.

Well, it did make logical sense, but then again, looking all around, there was nothing but dry, gray rock. They had passed the tree line long ago.

Her legs trembled with every step and her body ached. How disappointing. She hadn't seen any sign of Eros. Not even a feather from those magnificent wings of his. Not even his presence or his whisper in the breeze. Nothing. A dark seedling stirred inside her chest, but she stamped it down, focusing on her surroundings. Lingering clouds lathered the mountain peaks, despite the lashing winds.

Angie sighed and slumped to the ground with desperate relief. Everyone stood around laughing, snapping photos, and drinking water.

Not Angie. She pouted as she stared at the beautiful plateau smothered with soft fog. Only then did she turn to this dark seedling. Fed by an ounce of her thought made it spring upward and outward, its leaves unfurling their flat surfaces to the warmth of her sorrow. Its roots twisted deep into her heart and choked its tenderness into thin hopelessness.

Tears clogged her eyes and her throat fell together. She could feel the moisture in her vision with so much pressure it hurt her nose. Slowly, the hottest tears ever possible seared down her face. Her heart was heavy and knotted with grief.

"I'm never going to see you again, Eros, aren't I?"

Whatever resolve held her, melted her into a storm of dissolving sobs. She couldn't help the deep ache as it devoured her whole. All was hopeless. He wasn't here. He was nowhere. There was nothing but smooth and craggy mountain rock alike, mocking her. The silence gnawed her ears. She couldn't take it anymore. It killed her.

And the pain in her heart. The dark empty hole . . .

A heavy, comforting arm wrapped around her shoulders and then a light head on her cheek. Another and another. Soon, she was surrounded by many people who crouched beside her, others with hands over their mouths and tears sparkling in their gazes.

Angie covered her face, too miserable to care. "I'm never going to find him. I'm never going to find him. What was I thinking?" Her voice was bleary and choked.

The crowd hushed, several women sobbed.

The person who hugged her first, cleared his throat. "Who are you looking for?" It was the guide.

Angie lost her voice when a sob stabbed her chest. She struggled with the words, but they wouldn't come. She rocked back and forth, shaking her head.

"Did you lose someone?"

She nodded, her face wrinkled as she struggled to keep her wails under control. Angie heard someone burst out in tears and it only made her cry more. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry—I don't usually cry in front of people."

"Wh-where did you lose him, sweetie?" the woman who hugged her on the other side asked, her voice soft.

Angie felt lightning bolts split her heart, and pressed a fist to her chest. She remembered the pain on Eros' face. How he had tried to reach out to her. How she callously held back. She dissolved into more tears, curling up tighter into a ball.

"What was his name? I can see if we can find him."

"No, you can't. He—they took him away. He's gone. He was here and now I can't find him."