Cupid Inc.

"Meet me at—OW!"

The mystical being flinched in pain, clutching his injured arm to his chest as he glared at my figure taking advantage of the situation and running off. Some would call it rude to bite someone's arm while they were on the phone, but I'd like to call it a fight for my survival.

"Gosh, gosh, gosh!" I screeched as I flew down the shadow-clad streets. Warm lights flooded every corner, setting a comforting tone for my contrasting hasty escape.

Just as I rounded a corner and felt the tip of success—BAM!

"You mortals are so bold."

I winced as I clutched my face, staring up at glaring golden eyes through the bars of my fingers. There was a whipping in the air that felt like suppressed anger as the man approached me with a raised brow, assessing my figure critically.

"I-I'm sorry," I gulped as I backed away.

Wrrng!

With a sharp whistle and heaven-pointed finger, my back straightened and the man in front of me grinned at my forced obedience. It was like I was chained into submission by an invisible force and that's when I realized I was rightfully fucked.

"On movie night too," I grumbled under my breath as my eyes looked down in disbelief and defeat.

"You're going to need to learn to listen if you want my help, mortal girl," He spoke, circling me as if assessing work that needed to be done. "Hmm, I can work with this. Brown hair, dark eyes, cupid-bow lips, and doe eyes—a classic that would make any man swoon."

Involuntarily I blushed at his compliment and then reeled at the realization that I had become a degenerate. What kind of woman feels flattered by a compliment from her captor? Let me tell you—a dead one. I couldn't see myself making it out alive from this exchange, why would a being that defied the laws of nature spare the life of a, in his words, mortal girl?

"Y-you're not gonna kill me, are you?" I asked for my own conscience. Then, it suddenly sunk in, he didn't want to kill me! "Oh gosh, oh gosh-Oh gosh! You're a trafficker! Oh god! You're gonna sell me to the highest bidding pervert, aren't you?"

He didn't seem amused by my accusations as evidenced by the stone-faced glare he returned. "Don't be dramatic now, it ruins your look, besides, no man wants a woman who's overdramatic."

I whimpered at his words. He was worse than a human trafficker, he was a sexist!

"Well, now that I've seen the physical, it's time for the personal." He snapped his fingers once, a gesture that had me staring intently as a clipboard and pen suddenly materialized out of thin air into the clutch of his hand.

"What the fu-"

"Your name is Camille Calinao, your mother is an immigrant from the Philippines who first came to America as an overseas filipino worker to a wealthy family in this lovely town. You're the oldest in your family of four mother, and three daughters. Hardworking girl who's trying to make ends meet so your family lives a better life in this star-spangled country—ahh, men love women who are desperate for money, this can give you an advantage on wooing the one. Now, it says here you're a die-hard romantic whose favorite movie is how to lose a guy in ten days and you hope to one day write a best-selling erotic novel."

I blushed heavily with both anger and embarrassment as he read my life out loud. There wasn't anything more scary to me than my life being displayed for all to see as if the time I spent rotting away in my room away from society did not matter.

I could no longer swallow the disrespect that was being blatantly spoken by the stranger any longer. My tongue worked faster than my mind as it opened to say-

"You're just a big asshole."

The silence of the night was piercingly loud now as the strange man stopped moving, specks of gold raising from the ground in a slow upward blow. My hair whipped around my face in my paralyzed state yet my eyes remained still on the man who had claimed to be a god.

"Again, little girl, the name is Eros," He hissed as more specks of gold began raising now. "Since it seems as if you don't know the real definition of an asshole, I'll show you."

He raised a single finger, a gesture just as entrancing as he spun on his heel, the finger following suit, and changing the landscape drastically. I felt the air leave my body as if falling before stopping abruptly, a strangled yelp escaping my lips as we fell into another corner of the world.

"Eyes wide and alert," He instructed as he began to walk, finger still raised.

My eyes widened, suddenly, in the realization that his gestures meant something. As he walked so did my body, being dragged against the floor upright as he walked around.

"What the-"

"Look around you," Eros repeated, looking over his shoulder and glaring with contempt. "This currently belongs to a real asshole."

I frowned but obeyed. No one wants to mess with a man who had control over your body. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought.

"Oh," I breathed as my eyes finally took notice of our surroundings.

I was reminded of the episode in Demon Slayer where the slayers were all transported into Muzan's hiding place, the infinity castle. It was like those fantasy books where the main character got thrown into the headquarters that housed the operations of powers beyond human comprehension.

The walls and ceilings were endless and wirey things, spirals leading to nowhere. Below and above where the same. Inside thise long spiney pillars were carved out holes where papers were placed in an unorganized manner with winged beings flying in and out of them in quick flurries. Sometimes my eyes would catch the vision of something that resembled a workplace, a platform with work offices seated on top and people typing away on modern computers.

"This is-"

"Magnificent?" Eros offered, cutting me off for the second time. He didn't wait for my reply or agreement. "Of course it is, I created this space for my operations."

"What oper-"

"Of course, people thought since I created this space it means I want someone to take it from me," He grumbled in annoyance, once again, cutting me off. Letting out a deep sigh of burden, he said, "You would think I would go unopposed as the god of love, but no, my own shadow thought that he could usurp my position!"

"So you really are Er-"

"Now look at what he's done with the place!" Eros screeched, spinning around with his arms out in disbelief. In turn, my body spun like a beyblade, following the accidental command of his fingers.

I felt myself barf in the inside as Eros composed himself, shaking the crazy from his eyes. "Modern office clashes with Corinthian order, what was he thinking. Anyways, it doesn't matter, he won't have that seat for long."

"They can't see us," I murmured as a winged creature, resembling a goat, flew close by without giving us even a sparing glance.

Eros hummed in acknowledgment. "Yes, astral projections are normally invisible to the eyes of people. It takes a great mage years to develop the skill but for divine beings we're privileged enough to be born with it."

I hummed back in confused acknowledgment, lips pursed as I tried not to look down. Since noticing that up and down were mirrored in this dimension, I had been trying to keep my focus elsewhere.

At a young age a fear of heights had been solidified into my mind ever since my dad dragged me to a famous carnival ride known as a ferris wheel. The experience from start to finish was a nightmare as my shirt got caught in the door without anyone noticing to the door flying open as we reached the highest peak. I was the only one in that carriage who didn't find it funny when my dad shook us back and forth to show that it was stable, well, besides my stomach who showed its agreement through grosser means.

I shivered at the memory, keeping my eyes focused on Eros as he continued to walk and survey the area. "My enemy always been jealois of my godly talents, the mimic that he is he could never mimic the gifts of fate."

I look up ahead and noticed an unusual sight. Everything here was out of the ordinary but the floating door in the middle of all endless architectural impossibilities was the cherry on top. On the door it in golden plaque it read Cupid's Office.

"Cupid," I breathed out in disbelief.

Eros looked over his shoulder at me with a deadpan look. "Yes?"

"N-No, I mean-" I continued to blubber like a fish, a hot blush on my cheeks as I tried to correct myself. "The door!"

Eros looked back towards my mention and scoffed. "That's where the bastard is right now, I can feel it."

We floated closer to it and I started to feel queasy with every second that passed. There was one question on my mind that I knew I had to ask, one that I still hadn't yet should've the second he captured me.

"Why are you doing this to me?" My voice was small, seeking for an answer.

Eros paused, looked back at me, shrugged, and continued pulling us in the direction of the door. "A soulmark is a rare thing. It hadn't always been so, but now in this era of quick hookups and fast connections, a genuine connection between two souls has become scarce."

"I don't understand."

"I am the god of love," Eros spoke, tone firm and confident. "Though my position has been questioned as of late, that fact remains true and I just need to prove that my purpose remains unwavering. That soulmark on your arm is my ticket to the courthouse. It's evidence that there's still hope for this generation and the only one who can save it is me."

The answers that I had were yet to be properly put to sleep. I debated on whether asking again but Eros beat me to it.

"My shadow, Anteros, has taken my spot as this world's only matchmaker. I am the being that heralds fates design, the one who assures that fates neverending tapestry is fulfilled. My performance hasn't been the best in these last few centuries and others saw a need in my title to be transferred, but I want to show them that a decision like that is not worthy to be weaved by the fates."

"So you're using me to prove a point." The dots connected easily in my head as I stared down at the engraving burnt into my skin. I hissed at the thought of the permanent scar.

"Precisely," He grinned, clicking his tongue. "I hesitate on giving you that point since I basically spelt it out for you but you mortals are nothing without gods, it's in your nature so I'll have mercy. Anyways, by proving that soulmates still exist and that only one person can see to the fulfillment of these minor prophecies, my shadow will once again be tethered to me and all life will be brought back into balance—Oh! Here's that little traitor now."

A gush of wind suddenly pounced out of the floating door as it opened. I bent my neck down to avoid getting whipped in the face by the sharp air but still I could see from the corner of my eye a being walking out.

His hands tapped rapidly against the screen of his ipad, brows knitted together in concentration as he floated through our bodies. His actions illicited a gasp from me as he walked through us.

"Look at his smug face," Eros sneered, crossing his arms.

My brows furrowed together as I observed the blurry mass in front of me. Tilting my head I noticed the familiar and similar features to the being who had entrapped me.

"He's...like you but blurry," I murmured as I squinted my eyes. The being looked deeply concentrated on what he was doing on his gadget that it seemed like he didn't notice us instead of not seeing us.

"He's a shadow," Eros grumbled, a look of disdain on his face as he circled the man. "My shadow who thinks he can replace me. Things like him...creatures...should never ambition so shamelessly."

In an instant, the endless voice melted away like a painting as the streets of Quartz Grand began to fill my vision once again. We were no longer at Eros' headquarters and were back to where I had been captured.

I felt my breath returning as my feet touched solid ground. Control returned and Eros scoffed as a grin of relief painted across my face.

"I'll return to you, rude mortal," Eros announced, swiping at his cheek. "For now, I need to debrief my grandson."

"Excuse you, mister," I scoffed, crossing my arms. A nee sense of courage flooded me. It was probably due to the fact I was no longer bound by a nasty spell cast by a mythological being. "Just cause you can do that little wave of your hand trick doesn't mean you can boss me aro-"

Wrrngg

I pursed my lip into a thin line and glared at the smug look on Eros' face. Once again, I was trapped by his finger.

"Whatever," I grumbled under my breath.

Eros clapped his hands together in joy, grinning widely as he spoke, "Good. That settles it, I will return in a couple of days and I'll brief you on your role."

"Whatever," I grumbled again. I spun on my heel, ready to call it a day and just analyze what had happened in the comfort of my room when-

I felt a warm hand grab my elbow, spinning me around and pulling my side into a chest. I gulped as my eyes trailed up to meet golden ones.

Eros was smiling down gently at me, a look of thankfulness in his eyes. "You are my key to getting my life back, Camille, for that alone you are important to me, no power would cause you harm as long as you remain as such."

I gulped. There was a glint of promise in his eyes that made me feel safe yet uncomfortable, a duality I couldn't shake.

"And if I don't?"

His eyes darkened at my words, a low growl forming in his throat.

"One way or another, I will use you to get back to Olympus."