Chapter 104

The One With A Goddess

NATE

We’re standing outside a museum. It was Zara’s idea to come here, despite Chase’s many very vocal reservations about it. However, she insisted we experience something other than partying, so here we are.

Currently, we’re waiting for our guide, Alex, to come back and start the tour. We’re standing in a group just outside, high up on a hill that overlooks the sea. Everyone else is deep in conversation, but I’m having a hard time focusing because Arielle is a couple steps off the group where she’s leaning over the railing as she peers out at the view.

It’s so fucking hard to not stare at Arielle like a fucking psychopath. I can’t help it, she looks beyond gorgeous in her long white skirt with red polka dots and her red cropped top. The skirt features an opening in the front that reaches just above her knee and has ruffles on either side. The top is off the shoulder, having these small cuffs and with her hair falling down in soft waves against her bare shoulders, it’s difficult to tear my eyes off her.

Fuck the view that people pay millions to see when she’s standing here looking the way she does.

While everyone else is chatting about some statue out front, facing in the direction of it while discussing what it could be, I wander off. I lift my phone from my pocket and discreetly snap a photo of Arielle as she looks. I can’t help it, she looks stunning and with the view behind her, it’s right out of a magazine.

I’m not sure why I feel the need to hide it, but I do, pleased with the way the picture looks—her hair billowing out behind her in a gust of wind, her smooth leg peeking out from the slit in her skirt, her eyes wide in wonder. I quickly make the new picture my background and move to rejoin the group as she does the same.

Alex begins the tour by walking us into the first room where a large statue sits in the middle. He points to it, explaining, “This is Philemon and Baucis.” I study the two nearly-nude people who stand together—the man stands behind the woman, a single hand wrapped around her waist. They’re extending an arm towards the ceiling, where their arms gradually morph into what appears to be the branches of a tree.

It’s striking.

“Philemon and Baucis were a couple who weren’t very wealthy,” Alex tells us. “One day, Zeus and Hermes disguised themselves as wayfarers in need of shelter. All of the richer neighbours turned them away, but Philemon and Baucis welcomed them into their home.”

As he begins telling their story, I find myself glancing over at Arielle, observing her as she listens intently. She looks so fucking beautiful.

“As a reward for their generosity, they were saved from a flood that drowned everyone else. Their quaint cottage was also turned into a temple and they became priest and priestess. As their last wish, they asked to die together, at the same moment, and to ultimately, be turned into trees.” He extends a hand, pointing at the area where their joined hands form into the beginnings of a branch.

I can’t help that the sound of that makes me think of Arielle. To die together—to not have to live a day without one another—and be turned into something that’s not only beautiful, but brings life to other things, sounds ethereal. To be immortalized in something with strong roots sounds like a dream.

I approach Arielle from behind, reaching my left arm forward to place it parallel to the outside of hers. I intertwine our fingers, just like the statue, as if we’re anchored in one another. Because I believe we are.

She leans backwards into my chest, relaxing as we stare at the statue. I press a kiss to her hair, sighing in content. I’ve missed moments like this more than I could ever express. I really don’t care what we’re doing, it’s just nice to be able to safely spend time with Arielle without constantly looking over our shoulders.

Arielle and I pull apart as Alex leads us into the second room where another single statue rests in the middle. This one appears to be of a woman. She has a sword raised in the air, a shield in the other hand, and she’s yelling to the sky. She wears an ornate headpiece and the fabric of her robe billows off to the right, where it partially conceals a cobra that is ready to strike.

“This, is Enyo.”

Before he even begins telling us her story, I know she likely wasn’t good. There’s no way the snake can be a positive thing. Is there any snake in mythology that was a good guy? In literally any story?

“She was the Goddess of Destruction. Goddess of War. She was the daughter of Zeus and Hera.”

“That cobra looks fuckin’ deadly,” Chase comments, leaning in to get a closer look.

“She enjoyed war and destruction, especially when it came to bloodshed and demolition of entire cities.”

Sounds a bit like Vivien, doesn’t it?

I take a closer glance at the face, not surprised that Enyo even shares similar features as the late Vivien. Vivien seemed to get off on making other people suffer, as Ezra does. However, I honestly think a lot of the shit Ezra did had Vivien’s puppeteering in the background. I think she was pulling those strings and making that puppet fucking dance for her and laughing about it all along. He was her human shield and she did it well.

Until, well, she didn’t.

The guide then leads us to another ivory form on the far side of the room of two nude people, each atop separate columns. The man is squatting, with his knees brought to his chest where he has his face tucked behind his arm, almost as if he’s hiding from the woman. The woman is also squatting, with one hand set on her thigh and the other flat to the surface beneath her feet. Her neck is twisted as she glances in his direction, her braid flowing down her bare back.

“Echo and Narcissus,” Alex informs the group. “Echo fell in love with Narcissus. However, despite how much Echo tried, Narcissus never felt the same because he was far too into himself. Narcissus—narcissist. Echo pined over him until eventually, her body withered away to nothing and all that was left was her voice.”

I’ll admit, Echo sounds a bit like QuickDraw. He was obsessed with Arielle, even though she never returned those affections. Sure, she humoured him at the start, but she never felt anything serious towards him.

Nothing but anger, anyways.

Even Narcissus sounds a bit like him. He can be so self-absorbed, it’s fucking wild. It’s fucking exhausting.

I mean, I don’t blame him. Arielle is someone I’ve fake died for. With a woman as incredible as her, it’s no wonder he’s captivated.

I’ve zoned out, missing conversation shared between Chase, James, Jin, and Arielle. She’s smiling, laughing in this magnificently beautiful way and I can’t help but snap another sneaky photograph.

Jesus, never mind QuickDraw, I’m obsessed with her.

The next piece of art we see is the first one that isn’t of obvious humans. It appears to be two almost gargoyle-looking forms. They squat on the balls of their feet, with their hands formed in fists that are pressed to the ground in front of them. They have horns and wear expressions that make it clear that they’re up to no good.

“Deimos—” Alex points to the left guy, then the right, “—and Phobos.”

“They were the sons of Ares and Aphrodite. Deimos was the God of Panic, while Phobos was the God of Terror and Fear. The two of them had a wicked cruel streak, reveling in bloodshed and mass slaughter. One of their key indicators was the fact that they often rendered soldiers incapable of fighting to make it easier to kill them.”

Vivien.

That’s fucking Vivien to a tee. Loved creating panic and fear, but particularly that last line—rendered soldiers incapable of fighting to make it easier to kill them. She literally poisoned Ezra in order to weaken him. She was doing whatever she could to make him unable to fight back.