. . . there is a pocket of the world untouched by time and the hands of man, god or monster; an oasis of sweet-smelling blooms and pools of water as clear as crystal. where the nymphs dance, and the birds and beasts meander without fear—
or, at least, there was such a place.
—while it lasts, it is home to the god of spring, sole child of the harvest goddess. a young god, guarded jealously by his mother from the world she perceives will wish to do him harm. and perhaps she is not so wrong; he overflows with life and light. flowers bloom in his wake, grass pushes through the driest of earth; he brings life wherever he goes.
his mother is wise enough to hide him from most of the other gods, seen only on a very rare occasion.
until she loses her wisdom.
it is her tongue that curses not herself, but her son; she dooms him with a declaration that he is the loveliest creature that walks the earth, uttered to the goddess of love and beauty herself. aphrodite's pride and anger know no bounds.
if eric is the loveliest creature, then he must no longer.
and so unbeknownst to the young god dragged into his mother's quarrel, the goddess begins to scheme with her own son.
☽ ☾
. . . he is seated beside one of the crystalline pools in his meadow, gazing up into the sky washed with the colors of dawn and breathing in the cool morning air, when the grass stirs with the warning of a strange presence within the meadow. perhaps it is his own folly to dismiss it, for there is no one who could find his mother's meadow; eric knows how carefully she has hidden him.
but alas, he is wrong.
he breathes in, unwittingly drawing tainted air into his lungs, and gazes down at the pool he sits beside. his reflection gazes back, a youthful god surrounded by idly blooming flowers; his vision blurs, and eric blinks, shaking his head.
all at once, he feels weary, his limbs as heavy as lead.
the last thing he remembers are the alarmed whispers of the flowers, speaking of something carried on the wind.
☽ ☾
. . . eric's eyes flutter open, only to be greeted by darkness and the flickering of candles, all that illuminates the room he's been left in. dark silk slides beneath his palms when he slowly pushes himself upright, gazing around him at the dim room—a bedchamber, a thing eric has never been in.
he is no longer in his meadow.
that alone is grounds for terror.
something pallid flickers in the corner of his eye, there and then gone when the young god's head snaps toward it. slowly, he slips down from the bed he awoke on, stone floor cold against bare feet. he takes a few steps, reaching out for the door handle when he sees another flicker of movement in the corner of his eye.
when he turns, whatever it is has disappeared again.
uneasy, the spring god pushes at the doors, listening to the creak echo down the dark corridor that stretches out ahead of him.
@･ﾟ✧ eric sohn the god of the underworld considered himself more cunning than the rest of his kin and hundred times more rational than his petty siblings. he wouldn't cross paths with them unless he was bored to death with the whining deads swarming around his region and he scarcely received any visitors. nobody dared signing up for a death contract.
jaehyun wasn't kind to the living world.
"sir, it's that 's son requesting access to the underworld," said one minion, annoyed.
everyone knew who it was. just like their master, the servants also disliked the people from the above — as more than half of the souls in servitude were results of each god's envy. irrational envy, that is.
"send him in."
he didn't like getting visitors himself. they rarely were upto any good and whenever they seek him out, it was to use him as a pawn in the game born out of their fragile ego shattered to pieces.
but he couldn't deny the promise of amusement it offered as well.
the lord of the underworld, jaehyun, could handle anything.
____☽?☾____
it wasn't the egging that got him out and about taking a risk that was invading the lovely garden under the goddess of harvest — jaehyun's enemy. the two of them could never coexist, not that jaehyun wanted to have anything to do with that insolent creature as well. just because the power of nature was under their command and they hated the gloom and darkness that made up the underworld, they refused to let his region prosper.
jaehyun could appreciate the sight of some beautiful blooms in his darkened space. especially some bright carnivorous plants popping along the pathway — he needed some natural decoration anyways but they refused him.
he was told there would be blooms in his deserted land if he were to bring one person to the underworld.
jaehyun had nothing but time on his hand. he set off.
____☽?☾____
was he supposed to feel something beside greed?
he eyed the single being enjoying the early morning sunshine, surrounded by iridescent blooms and soothing greens, the mist in the air drawing up a veil of translucent curtain around them. the person appeared otherworldly — rich coming from a man that was immortal himself.
".....pretty."
why not take them back to your place? before your siblings take the thing away from you.
"right."
he should follow his heart.
(he failed to notice that his heart never would spout such nonsense under normal circumstances.)
jaehyun opened the leather pouch hanging by his waist, brought out a fistful of green and purple and stardust combined. with a gentle blow, the breeze carried the contents into the air, settled down as they reached their destination.
jaehyun waited. waited for sleep claiming that person.
[ they will make your garden bloom, jaehyun. see for yourself. ]
it was solely because he wanted flowers (deranged carnivorous) in his land.
once the person passed out unconscious on the ground, jaehyun picked the sleeping beauty up and made a hasty return to his place.
"look after him. call me when he wakes up."
jaehyun had business to attend to and the effect of the drug would last at least more than hours.
