Chapter Text
Blondie was still shaken as Cupid all but carried her into the house. Her mind was attempting to process what she had just witnessed and nothing was lining up. Cupid being an otherworldly being made sense because despite how close they were Blondie didn’t have a history with her. She and Ashlynn had been friends since freshman year and had bonded instantly. How had Blondie not noticed?
Cupid lead Blondie to her bedroom, rubbing her arms to make sure she was okay. Not too long after, Goldie knocked on the door and declared that Cupid’s room was ready. Cupid gave Blondie a reluctant look but Blondie only smiled.
“Go ahead I’m fine,” she lied and when her friend left, Blondie ran on autopilot to get ready for bed. She brushed her hair and her teeth, put on her nightgown, and crawled beneath the sheets. Her mother’s voice was distant, muffled, but she could hear her speaking gently to Cupid.
That was good, really, it was. But all Blondie saw when she closed her eyes was Ashlynn bursting into flames, and Cupid turning into shade and pulling the man deep within. I’m going to eat him, Cupid had vowed.
Had she?
She tossed and turned and tried to fall asleep. She would drift off for thirty minutes only to jolt awake at every little creak and moan. The thing was, Blondie wasn’t sure what she was scared of, really. Cupid could have gobbled her up long before now. They’d shared a bed together, and even before that when Blondie had been wandering in the house with nothing but a flashlight and a phone, Cupid could have wrapped both hands around her throat.
She didn’t, she wouldn’t. Blondie’s common sense might not have been the best, as the last 50 or so hours had proven, but she trusted her gut instinct. It was a reporter’s number one tool, after all. And all her gut was telling her about Cupid was that she wasn’t dangerous...to Blondie. Or her friends and family. As for humanity at large that still remained to be seen.
The restlessness continued until Blondie’s phone shrieked its alarm, right alongside her mother’s. Blondie swiped it silent and turned her face into the cool pillow, groaning. She felt absolutely awful, inside and out. Her head and eyes ached from a distinct lack of sleep and her stomach felt like it was full of rocks.
Blondie, for the first time, didn’t know if she was ready to tackle school. Not just because of everything that had happened last night, but also because she didn’t have her world history paper and she definitely didn’t want to end up attending Mr. Stein’s class and hear him shriek about her getting a 0 for it.
Blondie stayed in bed long enough for her mother to creep in, quietly. She heard the woman pad over the carpet and felt her bed dip as Goldie sat on it.
“It’s a mental health day, isn’t it?” Goldie’s voice was calm and lacking judgement. Blondie teared up almost immediately and let out a soft whimper, nodding her head because she didn’t trust herself to talk. “Okay, baby. You earned it.”
Blondie felt her mother kiss the crown of her head. “Dad and I are going to get Cupid set up at school and get her a few supplies. Do you want me to keep her out of the house?”
Blondie thought about it, and felt her stomach turn even worse. She could just imagine how Cupid would feel; on some level, Blondie knew that Cupid was scared she’d ruined the strange foundation of their friendship. Despite her promise, Cupid might just decide to leave anyway, and crawl back into hiding. Maybe she’d hide so well that no one would ever stumble across her secrets ever again, and she’d be all alone all over again.
“No,” Blondie said in a whisper. “If she wants to come back home then I...I think I could use the company.”
Goldie gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Alright. We’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes. You just catch up on some sleep, okay?”
“Mmhm,” Blondie mumbled. Her mom left without closing the door and Blondie turned her head. Cupid hovered just outside. When their eyes met, she looked down at her shoes awkwardly. Blondie made a noise and sat up in her bed. When Cupid looked up again, Blondie held out her arms.
Cupid approached slowly; she was clearly unsurprised for the hug Blondie drew her in because she was very tense, holding her breath.
“When you come home,” Blondie whispered, “we really need to talk, okay? I need you to be honest about what happened last night.”
Cupid blew out a breath. “Are you going to ask me to leave, after all?”
“Nope.” Even if Cupid responded yeah, I ate that guy and enjoyed it, Blondie wasn’t about to turn her out. Or, well, turn her loose. “I just need to...I need to know, or it’ll haunt me.”
“Okay,” Cupid said, and breathed out. “Okay.”
Then Cupid hugged her back, and Blondie gave her a comforting squeeze. Soon her mother called for Cupid to come down, and Blondie was all alone in the house. The first thing she did was to brush her teeth, take a Tylenol, and flop back into her bed. She crashed for a solid three and a half hours, which was enough to take away the headache and leave her suitably prepared to handle the rest of the day at that.
Blondie handled it quite lazily. She didn’t change out of her pajamas, went down into the living room, and turned Netflix. For lunch she had leftover ham and mashed potatoes, and loaded up the recording of her encounter with Cupid to her computer to free up space in her phone. She had a message from Holly, asking if she’d changed her mind about the article--Blondie replied that she had, and she apologized for any trouble--and put her computer away. Netflix was a handy distraction. She got through half a season of an old sitcom before she heard the garage door opening, and someone came into the house.
Blondie paused her show and stood up. Cupid came through the kitchen and into the living room, carrying a wealth of plastic bags.
“Your mother said she was going to work.” Cupid breathed in, nervous. “I, um. I’m in your arithmetic class.”
Blondie paused. “Calculus. It’s calculus, Cupid.”
“Right.”
She’d changed out of her borrowed look, Blondie noticed. In a pink and white sundress that reached below her knees, and a cream colored crop jacket with a faded heart print, she was…
Still really, really cute. And way out of her league, at least in terms of physical appearance; Blondie was all the more aware of her soft blue nightgown and how faded it was from years of washing, and felt a little embarrassed. She sat down and pulled the couch’s throw over her lap, then patted the cushions.
“Sit,” Blondie encouraged. “Please?”
Cupid set down her bags and carefully sat.
“Oh, come on,” she said after a moment of tense silence. “I’m not going to bolt away. What did you do with him?”
Cupid closed her eyes, and swallowed. “He’s in a...very unpleasant place.”
“ Where, Cupid?”
“Tartarus.” Cupid played with her fingers as Blondie stared. “I would have taken him home home if I knew how to get back, but dropping him off at my uncle’s is all I could do.”
“You--he’s in Greek hell? ” Blondie’s hands went to her hair. “Cupid! Oh my god, you can’t just throw someone in--in hell!”
“You didn’t hear what he wanted to do to you,” Cupid snarled, rage breaking through the facade of her humanity in the briefest, most terrifying flashes Blondie had seen. It was only a split second’s worth; a slight waver of light, and Cupid’s mouth was full of teeth, and then it was back to normal. “I was just going to scare him a little. But humans have no filter in their thoughts--I heard them, when we were in the dark, and I heard what he was going to do to you, and Ashlynn, and…”
Cupid shook her head, pink curls swirling. “He deserved far worse,” she said at last, “but judgement of sin isn’t in my jurisdiction.”
“And--and kidnapping a guy and throwing him in, in hell is ?”
“No! I wasn’t even--I’m not allowed there anymore either!” Cupid gnawed at her knuckles, eyes shut. “I’m sorry that I scared you, Blondie, I am. But I’m not sorry I threw him to my uncle. I’ll never be sorry for that.”
There was a heavy moment of silence that carried between them. Blondie swallowed the lump in her throat and Cupid breathed hard, her fingers curling against the sofa. They both trembled, balanced on some form of edge; one wrong move and they were both going to fall, one way or another. Blondie swallowed again.
“If Ashlynn hadn’t…” Blondie trailed off. “If we’d all been...human, completely, then what would…”
Cupid’s face contorted in pain and disgust. She looked away, unable to speak; it was all Blondie needed. It hadn’t been a senseless slaughter, or an overreaction. Cupid had been ready to let him live. Blondie reached out, very slowly, and drew Cupid into another hug.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “And thank you. Thank you, Cupid.”
Was his blood on her hands? Blondie didn’t know how she felt about it, or how she should feel. He must have had family, somewhere. Those types always did. Then she thought about how Ashlynn’s mother would have been, never seeing her daughter again; how her own parents would have reacted. Had Ashlynn been human, had Cupid been human, they all would have…
“I won’t say that--you did the right thing. I don’t think I can,” Blondie managed to say, her voice hoarse. “But thank you. For saving us.”
Cupid sighed against her. It was enough, and it wasn’t, but the tension in Blondie’s stomach bled out as she sat back, holding Cupid’s shoulders with a small, but genuine grin. Cupid returned it, and they both began to laugh in small, short--semi hysteric--bursts. They hugged again, tighter this time, and Blondie might have cried just a little onto Cupid’s new jacket, but it was cathartic and it helped.
“New rule,” Blondie sniffled, pulling back from the embrace. “You don’t have to tell me what they are, but you have to inform me if someone is something that’s not one hundred percent human. Just so I can be prepared, okay?”
“Alright,” Cupid said, nodding. “Okay. I will.”
“Good!” Blondie held up her phone. “Let’s call Ashlynn and check on her. Wait, is she at school, or--”
“I’d be surprised if she was,” Cupid said. “It takes a day or two for a phoenix to recover from a resurrection. She’s probably got the sniffles.” She booped Blondie on the nose. “Like someone else I know.”
“These are tear sniffles!” Blondie pulled up her contacts and called Ashlynn, putting the phone on speaker. After four rings the girl in question picked up, her voice scratchy and congested, like she had a seriously bad cold.
“Hey,” Ashlynn croaked. “You waited to call a lot longer than I thought you would. When’s my interview? Are you gonna make me a cover girl for your blog, or is Cupid going to be the new face of Spectral.”
“You’re on speaker,” Cupid said dryly, which made Ashlynn squeak. “Take care of what you say, phenix. “
Ashlynn replied to that in throaty Greek, which threw Blondie for yet another loop. That Cupid easily responded in kind wasn’t as surprising, but Ashlynn giggling after was. Blondie looked between her phone and Cupid, not sure why she felt weirdly jealous.
“I’m fine, Blondie,” Ashlynn told her friend through the device before breaking in a coughing fit. “Honest. Charlie probably told you that.”
“Charlie?” Blondie looked to Cupid who’s hair fluffed up at the sound of the nickname. Cupid said something else in Greek, this time with a snarl, but Ashylnn’s giggles turned coughs told Blondie it probably wasn’t that serious.
“Were you able to send that paper to school?” Ashlynn asked and the groan that escaped Blondie’s lips told her everything she needed to know. “After I stopped shaking, I sent Briar a text. She told me she’d take care of it. I figured you would need a day off after last night.”
Blondie sagged with relief. “I owe her so much coffee.”
“Start paying her back tomorrow. I’ll probably still be out of school.” There was a moment of silence, and Ashlynn asked, “Can you take me off speaker? I need to talk to you, just. Girl to girl.”
Cupid gave her a wink and picked up her bags, moving for the stairs to her room. Blondie mouthed her thanks and took Ashlynn off of speakerphone, raising it to her ear. “You’re good now, Ash.”
“Are we good?”
Blondie blinked rapidly. “I...yes?”
“I just…” Ashlynn was probably biting her lip. “Usually Mom would make us move after a resurrection, but only you and Cupid saw it, so she’s willing to stay. She really trusts you, Blondie. So do I.”
“T-thanks,” Blondie said slowly. “But what does this have to do with us being cool? Yeah, you’re...possessed, or something, I don’t really understand that but--but, that doesn’t change us being friends. D-does it?”
“No! God, no. I adore you, Blondie.” Ashlynn’s stuffy nose proceeded to worsen, her voice coming out in clogged hiccups. “I was just so worried you’d...treat me differently, now that you know what's inside of me. But, but I’m still me.”
“You’re still you,” Blondie agreed, feeling her eyes tear up in sympathy. “You’re still my BFF. I promise, Ash, this doesn’t change anything. But... I guess now we know the truth about gingers, though.”
“....What?”
“You guys have a fire-y personality!”
Ashlynn hung up after her pun. Her departure was followed by a text message full of heart emojis, letting Blondie know that it had been a massive success. She laughed herself silly and set her phone aside, stretching out her legs as she scrubbed at her face.
She still didn’t know how she felt about Cupid’s methods of protection, and she was aching with curiosity about Ashlynn--how did one become possessed by a phoenix in the first place? Was her mother the same way? How did they know Cupid? And Charlie? What was up with that familiarity?--but Blondie felt better. She sent her mother a text to let her know the good news, and five minutes later her mother sent her a smile and an I love you sweetie.
With a sigh that turned into a yawn, Blondie stretched out on the couch and smiled. Blondie had fallen asleep, she realized, when Cupid gently shook her awake hours later.
“Your mom said dinner’s ready.” Cupid told her. Rubbing sleep out of her eye and regaining her bearings in the waking world, Blondie looked her friend up and down. Gone was the first dress and jacket, now replaced with a comfy looking baby doll dress in black and pink lace. “Do you see something you like?”
Blondie flushed as Cupid winked at her. Mouth agape, Blondie reached around and threw a couch pillow at Cupid. Cupid caught it almost expertly and laughed before exiting. Rolling her eyes, Blondie got up and headed into the dining room. She kissed her parents’ foreheads in greeting before taking the seat across Cupid.
“Did everything check out okay with the school?” Blondie asked curiously. Her father was the one to answer her.
“Yup! A big saving grace was Cupid here having all the necessary documents. Starting tomorrow she’s a student at AfterEver High. Also here’s a little scoop for you, Blondie!”
Blondie immediately perked up, her attention now fully on her father now. He grinned widely, always amused at her excitement over gossip even if it wasn’t supernatural related.
“Cupid isn’t the only incoming student! Looks like the school’s going to get an exchange student all the way from Ireland. She should be flying in tomorrow!”
Blondie’s eyes seemed to sparkle! Wasn’t Briar from Ireland? Now she had even more reason to text her later and get her thoughts on this new mystery student.
“And how was shopping with my mom, Cupid?” Blondie asked as she went to fork some food in her mouth.
“You’re mom is like some sort of fashion goddess.” Blondie choked on her food as she glared at Cupid who was smiling at her mother. “Honestly, I’ve never seen someone get such high quality clothes for so little; it was practically divine.”
“Oh it was nothing so grand, honest. We Lockes just know how to haggle just right is all.” Goldie said with a wave of her hand and a giggle.
They finished dinner quickly, trading little jokes all the while. Once the last plate was cleared, Barry declared that it was his turn for dishes, and Goldie volunteered to dry them.
“I’ve got to get some studying done, anyway,” Blondie said. “Do you want to look over my notes, Cupid?”
“Sure!”
“Keep your door open, young lady,” Goldie called out as they made for the stairs. Blondie felt her neck heat and she sputtered at her mother. Cupid had the gall to quietly snicker behind a hand, eyes twinkling with mischief.
It got even worse as Barry looked up from the sink, blinking. “Why are you worried? They’re both girls, honey.”
Goldie simply gave him a look. Cupid’s snickers turned into stifled giggles and Blondie felt herself break into a sweat. Realization flared in her father’s eyes as his bushy brows shot up, and he gave Blondie a serious stare.
“Door open,” he grunted.
“Oh, my,” Cupid said around her laughter.
“You two are so--ugh! Ugh!” Blondie shoved Cupid up the stairs. “We’re just friends!”
“That’s how it usually starts,” Goldie called after them. Blondie ignored her and Cupid simply continued to laugh at her expense. Once comfortable in her room, door halfway open out of spite, Blondie turned on reporter mode. Cupid’s smile tightened ever so slightly at what was beginning to become a familiar look.
“What do you want to know?” Cupid asked her.
“You’ll tell me anything I want to know?”
“Cross my seventh heart and stick a needle in my tenth eye.” Cupid grinned at Blondie’s confused look.
“How long have you known Ashlynn? And how did she and her mom get possessed by a phoenix? How is that even possible? ” Blondie opened up the notepad app on her computer and started to organize the questions and future answers together, bit by bit.
Cupid’s smile grew wry. “You know, I was kind of hoping you’d ask just about me.”
Blondie’s eyes flashed. “Are you jealous?”
A low hum was sent her way in reply, edging on coy. “A little, but can you blame a girl?” Cupid giggled again. “I came upon Ashlynn and her mother before Germania came back under Roman control, thanks to Germanicus. Our mythos and pantheon were growing, and converging at once; father warned me not to pick favorites or show my favor so soon, but something about her caught me.”
Cupid’s voice was soft with nostalgia, and her eyes looked far away. Blondie found herself leaning in, enraptured by the story. Cupid’s form began to change, her cheekbones moving higher and her jawline going sharp; her hair lengthened, wild pink curls bouncing with each little movement of her head. It was simple, so fluid and unconsciously done that Blondie had to blink rapid fire to make sure she wasn’t just seeing things.
“Caught you?” Blondie echoed, and felt herself prickle.
“She had no father, no home, and only her mother to cling to and guide her,” Cupid murmured, eyes going dark. Even her voice began to change, growing deeper and accented. Her skin deepened in color until it was almost black, making the brightness of her eyes all the more apparent. “So I guided the both of them as best I could, until they came upon a temple and a hidden enclave to my father. They were accepted, and began to worship. I believe Augustus was still in power then, or just about to fall--about ten BC. Ashlynn was fourteen.”
Blondie’s breath blew out of her with a little puh. “That would make her t...t-”
“Two thousand and two and a half years old, yes.” Cupid smiled enchantingly. “And just think, I’ve been around even longer.”
Blondie stared. She couldn’t help it. “Wow,” is all she could muster. “Oh, wow.”
“I look good for my age, don’t I?” Cupid posed on her bed, her limbs longer. It hit Blondie that this could have been the form Cupid had chosen so long ago, which explained why Ashlynn hadn’t recognized her from the get go.
“How...How did the phoenix bit come about?” Blondie weakly typed they’re over 9000 wow no Blondie no memes this is serious 2000 under the first question as its answer as she asked the second bit.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t really know that much.” Cupid mulled it over. “Ashylnn was only in my service for three years; I left to stay with my mother for a few centuries, at the behest of my father. I have a few theories, but you’d really have to ask her about it. The phenix were a rare breed, even back then. Ashylnn or her mother must have courted the favor of one through a great sacrifice, and so it blessed the family line with longevity. I thought she’d died long ago, to be honest.”
“Why the hostility last night?” Blondie set her computer aside, staring blatantly at Cupid now. “The two of you looked like you hated each other.”
“I’m immortal,” Cupid said with a giggle, “but I don’t have the most perfect memory, Blondie. It helped that we both knew each other under different names--Ashlynn was not even her quaint Aschenputtel then, and I was not ‘Cupid’ either. The names are long dead, if you’re about to ask, and it would sound like death to you if I spoke them. It was because we both sensed something amiss about the other, but could not determine what it was.”
A thought niggled at her, and Blondie pursued it. “You spoke about staying with your mother; the same one who went all Call of Cthulu on my phone?”
Cupid laughed outright, and her form changed into the familiar, younger version of herself. “That’s the nature of talking to dead things,” she said with a grin. “Mortal ears are incapable of hearing them. Why do you think ghosts communicate through the oujia, or through electricity? Rule of thumb; if you contact the dead, and it speaks, it's not actually dead. It's a demon.”
Blondie typed down the note for her own merit, then pursued the next question that rose to her mind. “Your mother is dead? ”
“Yes, and no. In her mythos, Enekpe dies in sacrifice to save her people. But can something like a goddess really die, if you believe in it?” Cupid smiled, and it held all the secrets of the world. “Don’t you know, Blondie? Why gods and monsters alike adore humans so? It’s because you believe so strongly. Believing that something is real is half the creation of faith.”
Blondie’s head was spinning, and Cupid must have sensed that she was beginning to near the limit, because she patted her knee with a sigh.
“How about you shower, hm? We have a big day at school tomorrow, after all.” Cupid rose and headed to the doorway before stopping and looking back, “Unless you need assist-”
A white teddy came rocketing out of the room at Mach 5.