Love in Tellora
She was beautiful, the epitome of grace, gentility, femeninity. Her movements, the way her hair fell around her face, the sparkle in her bright blue eyes. Her markings were that of a peafowl and her tail had the radiant emerald green and eye like spots typical of those birds. She was perfect and as I inhaled the fragrant scent that followed her I heaved a great sigh. I knew she wasn't mine, I knew she was never meant to be mine, but oh how I longed for her. She ran a small shop in the center of town, selling flowers and oranges, and the sweet scent followed her long after the shop was closed. Because of this a small crowd of butterflies seemed to follow her about attracting customers during the day and lulling her to sleep at night. Her name was Allondra and she was known as the most beautiful girl in the whole town of Tellora.
I felt that I loved her, I
knew that I loved her and no one could convince me otherwise. She did not know of me. I was invisible to her and her kind, the mortals. I was an immortal, an angel and by their standards some kind of god. I was Cupid, The Master of Love. Well....not a master, not yet anyway. I was still in training as a member of the Celestial order of Love. My mentor, Eros, had decided to retire after thousands of years of matchmaking. As for myself I was nothing of what was typically thought of as a Love Arrow. I was not white or pink or elegant. I was clay brown with scribbling swirls over my body with dull teal flashing and flowing through my swirls of brown. I had jarringly blue eyes, one of which was hidden by my curtain of purple hair that flowed to my shoulders. I had my ribs wrapped from an accident I had when first learning to use my wings and I chose to keep them that way, having gotten used to the wraps.
With my arrows on my back I sat up in a tree above her stand admiring her for hours on end. Being still in training I was only assigned to take care of the love in a small town known as Tellora. A random girl came upon the shop and I recognised her as the girl I had been waiting for, soon a boy about her age was going to show up, trip upon a rock and fall head long into Shanira, who was meant to be his soul mate, the girl he would spend the rest of his life with. She made small chat with Allondra as she looked over the oranges and flowers. Suddenly the thudding footsteps of a running man could be heard and I readied my bow and arrow, turning my head to watch as the boy came running full speed towards the unsuspecting girl. A crash and a scream later and I let loose my arrow onto the fallen couple below, just for them to discover they had fallen ontop of eachother, kissing. They blushed heavily and exchanged apologies and the boy, named Erim, offered to walk Shanira home. I heaved a sigh and gave a slight chuckle as I watched the new couple walk away knowing their fate right to the end of their days.
Erim [♂] ~~~ Shanira [♀]
I settled back down on my perch planning to watch my lady love when a sudden breeze came up and a blonde fairy whooshed by me and I turned to find myself facing my mentor, Eros. Eros was tall and lean yet muscled enough to not be lanky. He was white with elegant golden scrolls running across his lithe body. A pair of thin framed glasses resting low upon the bridge of his aristocratic nose, barely hiding his bright, hot pink eyes. He had gold tinted, wing like fur tufts that rested at the base of his ears enhancing has already angel like apprearance. He was a high ranking Love Arrow, as we were called, and he had assistants that followed him to prove it. The Holy Wolfkin was his first awarded companion the small white wolf gave a presence of peace and kindness wherever he went. The Vallenleo, a small heart spotted leopard, aided in bringing soul mates together, giving them the overwhelming feeling to be together. Lastly but far from least was the Love Fairy, who grants her companion the ability to be able to send a love arrow anywhere in the world condensing a great deal of time.
"It's becoming late Cupid, you should be heading home," said Eros in his typical slightly aloof tone. His fairy flew around my head and gently tugged upon my earring repeating "Go home, Kewpie" several times. I swatted at the little sprite gently with a laugh.
"I feel fine, I havn't been out that long," I glanced quickly over my shoulder. "Plus, I still have another couple to match before I'm done for a day or two." The thought of not seeing Allondra for so long tugged at my heart but I knew it would look suspicious as our kind were never allowed to be with the mortals.
"It's time you head home, you need to pace yourself, I can take care of them," Eros said, his voice gentler than before. Eros had raised me and he had become a father to me.
"If you feel it's what I need," I gave a slight bow and gave the vallenleo and holy wolfkin a pat and walked off into the cloud of transportation that was always visible to our kind.
♥ ~~~~~ ♥
As the etherial mist began to clear I found myself in the Cloud City of the Celestial Order. A place where the immortals of the world resided, where you could find the seasons and the elements, the ladies of dreams and nightmares, as well as myself and Eros to name a few. All of the creatures here brought feeling, emotion, and sensation to the mortal world below. As I padded towards the grand stone house that was my home I heard excited squeals and giggles coming from behind me and I braced myself for the double tackle I knew was speeding my way. The Sleep Sisters ruled the mortals world of dreams, one of the sweet dreams and one of the nightmares, both of them were sweet girls, one a bit louder than the other. They pounced me laughing and talking all at once and I volunteered to collapse under their weight knowing they wouldn't be satisfied till I had.
Mari ♥ ~~~ ♥ Melaina
"CUPID!!!" screamed Melaina, the controller of nightmares.
"Oh, you're home," said mari in her gentle soothing voice. "We've been waiting for you, silly!"
Mari gave my cheek a peck of a kiss as we laughed and Melaina started talking about how she got to scare "the silly" out of some mortal, who had been mean to his little sister, and how she just loved karma. Eventually Mari hushed her exhuberant sister and said that I should be getting rest. I had been out arrowing for a week straight, a short time for a high level arrow like Eros, but the girls ushered me into the house and Mari began to make me a hearty dinner.
"Hey Cupid," Melaina said with a wide grin on her face. "What do you want for your birthday?"
I noticed Mari send her a shooting glance and I suspected they had already obtained my gift. I thought longingly of the golden haired beauty that held my heart but I knew if I mentioned such a thing that nothing good would happen.
"I, uh, I havn't thought about it. As a matter of fact I had forgotten all about it really," I gave a weak laugh and a sorry look to the girls.
Melaina gave me a shocked look and Mari took the opportunity to change the topic. I let the girls talk as I fell into thought of my life in the Cloud City. Being an immortal I don't really have parents, as a matter of fact it's very rare that immortals do. We just sort of descend from above and get taken in by one of the older immortals. It is said that only when an immortal becomes tired of his or her current post does a new child arrive destined to replace the weary immortal. In the end this means that eventually all immortals are allowed the chance to raise a child in a sense. I had been taken in by Eros, who was known for being weary of his job long before I appeared. Not many knew that this was solely because Eros was lonely and wanted a love of his own, his job mearly poking and proding at the empty space in his heart. The girls were our neighbors and they helped Eros raise me, I can't think of a time they weren't in my life. As a child I had developed a crush on Mari, though being young it became a family joke and I grew up simply assuming it was never meant to be. Even now, if I was to admit it to myself, I am still very dedicated to Mari, but love her? The girl who helped raise me? She has watched me grow and remained a constant in my life but I felt it was a silly thought for us to be together. She was my dearest friend but to her I was just a little brother and I was satisfied with that I thought.
"Here's you're meal Cupid," said the gentle, soothing voice of Mari as she set down a plate heaped with food, she was the cook in the family.
"Aww and nothing for me?" Melaina was known for enjoying food.
"Here, share mine, I won't be able to finish all of it anyway and you know it."
We all had a laugh and after filling myself, I retired to my room to rest. I had very little idea as to what would happen to me or how my life would change.
♥ ~~~~~ ♥
It was several weeks before I got my next match making notice. I had three couples to match, two today and one tomorow. I was so excited to see Allondra again and honestly, I was excited to match more couples. I had been working on my training for 25 years and I was begining to truely love my job. I had only been going the job alone for five years and every time I suited up to leave I remembered how nervous I was the first day I went alone. I finished packing and I waved the girls a goodbye, Eros was up in his tower, matching the rest of the worlds couples.
I entered the mist of teleportation and found myself at the outskirts of town. This was unusual as it was the farthest I've even been from the center of town, where I usually matched couples that browsed Allondras stall. I sat upon the high, gray stone wall that surrounded the small town and I leaned over the edge knowing my wings would keep me from any danger. As I looked around waiting for some obvious sign of life I noticed a rustling sound in the underbrush and my eyes scanned a large clump of bushes up the beaten dirt road that led to my city. I watched the bushes for a great deal of time and unsatisfied with the lack of seeable life I desended toward them, my wings allowing me to glide down and land noislessly. I peered through the bushes to find a small tan rabbit covered in brown spots. He was nibbling on some clover he had found and would occasionally hop about aimlessly out of boredom, or fun, I wasn't quite sure which. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a second rabbit, smaller with darker browns. She hopped slowly about, eyes darting wildly, as though she was lost and scared. I was curious as to how they would interact with eachother.
Fredrick [♂] ♥ ~~~ ♥ Amabella [♀]
"Mi' Lady, Is there anything I can do to assist you?" the male rabbits tone was gentle and quiet, as though he could feel her fear.
"Please, where am I?!" panic was evident in her voice and she frequently looked behind herself, like she was waiting for the world to well up and fall upon her.
"My name is Fredrick and you are now with me," he took several steps closer to her. "No harm shall come to you." His accent was not from around here to my surprise.
"R-really?" she relaxed for a moment but tensed up again. "But the hunters and my mother, she's gone. What will I do? What will I
do?" she collapsed into sobs and he held her tightly.
Fredrick spoke to her gently untill she stopped crying and she told him her name. He told her that he would take care of her and that she would never be alone again. Silently my arrow flew and landed gently upon the new couple. My heart was heavy from the thought of what had happened to her yet glad knowing what her future was to bring. I flew off into town looking for my next couple and found myself once again at the fruit and flower stand of my beautiful Allondra. Her hair was blowing gently in the light breeze and her eyes sparkled as she watched the young children run about the fountain in the center of the town square. A pair of attractive cats walked up to Allondras stall and browsed. They made a handsome pair, though clearly poor, and she blatently flirted with him even though they were not an item. He did not discourage this behavior nor did he acknowledge it telling anyone looking that he too liked her but was afraid to admit it to his affectionate friend. I drew my arrow and let it fly as she curled her arms about one of his with a sweet laugh.
Penny [♀] ♥ ~~~ ♥ Cloud [♂]
Rather suddenly he took her by the hand and gently kissed her and they walked off with the biggest grins I think I had ever seen. I settled up in my usual perch and watched Allondra and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a brutally handsome man walking towards her stand. His hair hid most of his face but what you could see was attractive and sly but he had a hateful spark in his deep red eyes. He was white with demented red swirls across his body. He had two tattoos that displayed hearts, one was on his arm with piercing thorns and another, on his shoulder, was black as midnight. The black heart was just below a large deep scar. He had several piercings and he wore a collar with a broken heart pendant dangling weakly from it.
He had swagger, attitude, he walked with purpose and he made me nervous. The closer he got the tighter the knots in my stomach became. Allondra looked up and at first her face was absolutly thrilled to see him but as he became closer she saw the hatred that clouded his face and she shrank away from his oncoming figure.
"Why arn't you home?!" he asked with a demanding voice.
"I'm working Percivius, I always work at this hour, remember?" her voice was quiet and pleading, as though she was begging to him, not reasoning with him.
"And I expect you to be home when I come home,
remember?" he spoke his words in an angry, mocking tone.
"I didn't know you were going to be home till tomorow Percivius. How could I have known you would be home early?"
Suddenly the seething man grabbed Allondra by the arm and pulled her from her stall, giving quick glances around him to make sure no one was watching.
"I don't give a
damn what you know or thought you knew all I care is that I know where you are," he threw Allondra back onto the ground behind her stall and her shouler gave a soft crack as she landed.
Wide eyed and shaking she dared not move nor look the man in the eyes. He told her to stay where she was till he came back to get her at the end of the day. After he left she started crying softly and I wanted to join her when I heard a voice call my name. I turned to find the travel mist opened wide with Melaina at the mouth of the entrance. Her face was panic stricken and I rushed towards her.
"What's wrong?!" I didn't know what was wrong but my voice had seemingly absorbed her panic.
"Quickly Cupid, we need you home. They've attacked again and Eros is hurt, badly."
"Please Cupid," from the mist I heard the voice of Mari but I couldn't see her. Her voiced sounded weak instead of soft.
Melaina ran into the mist and I believe I had heard her saying somthing to Mari about her walking around while being hurt. I ran after them afraid of what I'd see when I got through the other side.
♥ ~~~~~ ♥
As I ran through the mist into the Cloud City I smelt the acrid sting of smoke and I emerged into a city of chaos. There were buildings on fire, cracked walk ways, broken statues, people crying and some of them were bleeding, including Mari. Melaina was leading Mari back to my house, as theirs had been burnt. The elementals of Fire and Water were working together to put out the fires with there wives, Winter and Summer, helping people to safety.
I was amazed watching the elementals weild their powers. The Fire Elemental would pull the fire out of the buildings and his brother, the Water Elemental, would draw water from the fountain and drown out the wild flames. Their wives found this artful display to be totaly normal and went on talking amongst themselves as they directed people to the city hall and made foods for the people there to eat. Satisfied that everything was under control outside I hurried into my house to find Mari laying on the couch. I exchanged words with Melaina and we decided to move her to my room, to rest more comfortably. I picked up her weak, half asleep body and carried her to my room. Melaina was scurrying around pulling down bed covers, holding doors, getting more bandages, and other things she felt would help. I set Mari down gently and covered her to keep her warm. She mumbled slightly and looked up into my eyes. My heart ached at the sight of my dear Mari in such a state and I knelt by her side stroking her hair gently till she fell back asleep. I closed the door behind me quietly and walked into the kitchen.
"how is she?" Melaina was still outwardly shaken by the events and I had her lay on the couch and relax.
"She's fine and will be, she just needs some rest is all. How is Eros? His door is closed." I knew Eros was strong and could handle himself but Melainas words earlier made me nervous.
"He's fine now but he's not allowed to leave his bed till I say so," She said this in a very matter of fact, determined way and I knew Eros had tried his "strong man" act on her to get back to work.
"Hahaha, you two better get along now," I gave her a wink and she playfully hit me. Eros and Melaina had never been unfriendly but they had a tendancy to disagree.
"Mmm like wet cats in winter," her voice said this in a sarcastic monotone making me laugh. "How long are you going to stay Cupid?"
"Probably till tomorow, I only have one couple to match tomorow. I'll come back right after though," I gave her a smile and a hug and told her to get some rest.
The Sins had come and attacked us. This was not unusual news honestly but it had never been done with such cruelty. The Sins had lived with my people once for in fact they were one of us. Their jobs were that of the negative effects on humans and in time it drove us appart as they weren't satisfied with our rules and peaceful way of living. So the seven of them left and found a place of their own to stay. They would occasionally pop up and cause a ruckus but never to the point of such violence.
The seven Sins were known to be run by Luster, who was known for being madly in love with Eros. Lately it was rumored that Rasparrow, known for his extreme anger and cruelty, had over thrown Luster and had taken control of this small band of unruly outlaws. If this was the truth then that would explain the unusual violence that took place while I had been gone.
Suddenly my thoughts went back to Allondra and the man, Percivius. She was dating him, I could sense those kinds of things, but she wasn't happy. Even when she looked happily at him in the face before she was afraid, she wasn't truely happy. I wanted to make her happy, I wanted to protect her. I was excited to go back to Tellora, I was excited to see her again.
♥ ~~~~~ ♥
I woke up early the next morning and tried to sneak out of the house before anyone else was awake, or atleast thats what I wanted to do.
"Cupid, is that you? Please come here," Mari called to me softly, her voice like a soft breeze on a summer day.
"Ofcourse but I do need to leave soon," I was still thinking of Allondra, that terrified look in her eyes.
"I won't take too much of your time, I just wanted to give you something," she pulled a string that held a pendant around her wrist like a bracelet and tied it around my neck. "It'll protect you," she said the words in a gentle whisper that made the hair on the back of my neck shiver.
"Don't worry Mari, I'll be back later," I gave her forehead a quick kiss and walked out of the house.
The smell of smoke still weakly clung to the air but for the most part everything had cleared up. The fires had been succesfully put out and most of the rubble picked up. I jumped into the teleportation mist and quickly worked my way to Tellora.
♥ ~~~~~ ♥
