The creature got closer to the god, its moonlit antlers glowing as the moon caressed them with its gleaming light. His furry coat reflected the light as if silver liquid dripped from each strand. His eyes, pools of pure white, focused on Eros, carefully assessing him.
With a cautious movement, he tilted his head, inviting Eros to pat him, and he let out a vague, soft whisper that rolled through the woods. Eros’s hand gently caressed the silky strands of hair covering his head, and the stag closed his eyes, enjoying the touch of the god.
What a heartwarming scene but I am not here to see you petting magical creatures—I want to see the reasoning behind your strange behavior.
Eros’s lips coiled into a tender smile as he resumed his walk toward Artemis’s mansion.
Finally.
Moving past the tall trees, his vision fixed on a building not far ahead. Situated in the heart of the forest, her house was enormous, old, and surprisingly, vibrantly alive.
Distinct from the other gods’ houses, Artemis’s residence possessed high columns of pale stone that gleamed like the bones of the earth itself. The dark green ivy coiled up around them, while every wall seemed to hum with the wild rhythm of the forest surrounding it. This was the temple and refuge of the Goddess of the Hunt and the Wild herself, and although it was not the typically opulent palace that most of the other gods owned, it was indeed a sacred place.
Eros made his way into the house without knocking, and Shadow trailed behind him, ready to devour any secret that he and Artemis were keeping.
Without waiting for anyone to greet him, Eros walked through the vast corridor that stretched under the arched ceilings sculpted from the same pale marble as the columns that towered outside, each vault engraved with running stags and starlight patterns.
The mysterious nuances of deep forest greens and midnight blues lined the walls. The tall shelves that hung along the hallway held Artemis’s ancient scrolls, hunting tools, and various relics of the wilds.
Eros didn’t pay attention to any of it. He knew her house better than anyone, but when he reached the end of the shelves, he stopped briefly. His gaze narrowed as he reached for thestatue of the silver stag, and the moment he rotated it on the shelf, he vanished beyond the confines of the shelves.
The secret room—I almost forgot about it.
Shadow made it through the rough walls, only to be met by the most bizarre godly encounter he had ever thought of.
At the mahogany table’s head sat Hades.
On his right, Athena was analyzing some ancient papyri. Her owl gently stood on her shoulder as if it was also helping her.
On his left, Artemis stood up from her chair and greeted Eros with a delicate wave of her hand, offering him a gentle smile. “Excellent. You’re finally here.”
I would never have expected that Hades, Athena, Artemis, and Eros would be involved in anything together.
This is a scheme of considerable sophistication.
Hades pierced Eros with his infinite eyes and kept his posture straight against his chair. “Welcome, Eros,” he spoke, his voice reverberating throughout the room.
“Cease with these welcoming formalities,” Athena stated, the seriousness of her voice betraying a hint of anger intertwined with tension. “Given the constraints on our time, let us proceed to the important matters on the agenda now that everyone is finally here.”
Artemis subtly gestured toward Eros as though apologizing for the unsettling atmosphere he had just entered.
Agreed.
After taking a seat beside Artemis, Eros glanced at the papyri that Athena had spread out on the table. As curiosity took hold of him, Shadow moved closer, keeping a safe distance from the gods.
The Deathbounds.
What is the reason for needing the Deathbounds?
These beings were always summoned to complete unfinished business and retrieve old relics, yet they would always demandan object that they had possessed in their past life as compensation. Should the requested object not be offered, an unending haunting will begin, ultimately resulting in the summoner’s descent into madness.
“Athena, I do not agree,” Eros asserted decisively once he finally figured out what they were up to.
The goddess raised her eyes toward him, her eyebrows meeting in a gentle furrow. “This is the only way to make sure our plan succeeds. I must do this.”
With a scoff, Eros took the paper, carefully examining its script. “A different method could be used, rather than you summoning these manipulative beings.”
“I tried to convince her it’s not a good idea already. She won’t listen.” Artemis jumped into the discussion, darting her gaze toward Athena as if she tried to beg her not to go further with her plan.
