Valentine's Day (2018)

Valentine’s Day.

Those two words didn’t make the most pleasant impressions for Argos. In the world of Mortals, it’s quite simple with that. Postcard, bouquet, kiss, and you can be free, but not in the pantheon of love.

Argos had overslept the previous Valentine’s Day, but this time slumber was prevented by something. The morning horn howled much louder than usual, and the recondite moves began. It’s common knowledge that Сupids below the third rank would come to the world of Mortals for their habitual work, but this day they would gain points for that. Argos, who was the winner of this sorrowful event in throwing arrows into earthborn asses, was promoted and could gain more fame or perhaps a new home. The cat wasn’t interested in fame, but was the home. He imagined himself wearing a gold wreath and walking toward the square under the screams of the first-rank of peri girls... Ah, and that jealousy in the eyes of other cupids. More beautiful than that could only be the new house. In common rooms renovations are restricted, and that’s why they look like rooms for little sissies. That drove Argos wild, because he had lived there for 2 years.

– ”I’ll steal the wallpapers from an ordinary world and make a normal, habitable and beautiful-to-the-eye house… Yee-ees.” The Cat started getting ready for the journey under those sweet dreams.

The event’s point was simple. Under the direction of a lance-corporal, the group of cupids were sent to one of the liveliest areas of the city on that day. The Missioners of Aphrodite sweat blood, and at the end of the day, their points were counted after returning to the “garden.” Argos sat on the bed, tying his shoelaces and waited ‘till the time came. He didn’t want his team to lose, because the cat wasn’t a good bowman, and even more he wasn’t good at leading. The orchestra started to play somewhere far away: Five more minutes, thought Argos, and checked his readiness. The cat left the room and went down the stairs after first closing the door. It was a parade of fragrant flowers and the valentines fell from the sky. They disappeared after they had reached the ground, but their rain continued. Everyone was excited about this. Argos went to the main square with the others, where Captains performed in full view. They wished to achieve success and congratulations with the Valentine’s Day. Aphrodite’s family began working in the archive after showing their faces on the main square. Two peri* girls were quietly chatting with each other, discussing the Godess’ new dress.

– “Oh, when will the Valentine come? I’m tired of listening to this downer.” one of them remarked.
"Valentine?" Argos echoed in his head. Wait, "THE VALENTINE OF VALENTINE’S DAY?!" Argos twitched suddenly, shaking himself from the numbing thought. He leaned toward the peri and demanded clarification, not trusting fully. – “Is that the same Valentine that held secret weddings in some earthborn age?”
– “When did you wake up?! Of course, he is!” one of girls replied with some bitterness.
– “Are you a lance-corporal?” the second one continued. “All the lance-corporal groups must be on the left side.”

Something shrank inside Argos, and he remembered the reason why he hated the “peri-butterflies.” He wanted to answer rudely, but he didn’t want to cause any attention toward him. He tore apart those bitches wings in his thoughts and smoothly headed to the right side of square. He almost reached the column, with intent to hide behind it until the half of the attendees would set out for the world of mortals. A loud voice stated, echoing from the center of the squire: – “And now we are ready to meet our dearest person, an extramundane soul, our Captain and today’s living symbol - Valentine!” Argos flew up with dozens of other Pantheon residents just to see this phenomenon. Soft pink light opened in the center of the square like a flower and then sparkled with white stars, followed by a flash.
– "Welcome, Valentine!" one welcoming voice rang out amidst applause to greet the Captain. Argos couldn’t see the hero of the occasion from his side, and could only imagine his appearance.

Maybe it’s a beautiful snow leopard with thick mane and beard, he thought to himself, or maybe it’s a gryphon with wise and watchful eyes? What if he’s a coyote, fast and great, like a phoenix in the sky? Or maybe it’s a cat? You never know.

Argos flew closer and froze in perplexity.

– “W-what? Is that an otter?” he mused aloud.

And indeed, it turned out that Valentine was a sea otter. He was short, and that’s why it had been hard to see him from a distance among the high generals and captains. The Valentine’s traditions and history wasn’t mysterious. When he was mortal, he used to marry warriors to their brides in secret, and for that cause he was executed by a cruel emperor. The power of love didn’t let his soul sink into darkness, but he also couldn’t be reborn. Love took Valentine, and he could return to the world one day a year to lead troops of young cupids.

Argos began to move toward the portals after the disappointing truth behind his fantasy came out. The crowd was too tiresome, and he wanted to come home as soon as possible. Argos spotted some nearby portals, but had to fly alone because the troops were already formed. The Cupids moved forward on the bridge, getting closer and closer to the blue funnel that everyone should jump into. Only a couple of animals were left and… Argos was hailed by a low, but insanely velvet voice.

–  “Young one, would you accompany me on this flight?” The feline turned, but he could see only a redheaded peri-girl. “I’m down here, beneath you,” the velvet voice came again, and Argos lowered his eyes and froze completely. It was little Valentine, who looked at the cat with apathetic, but wise sight. If this had been in the medieval era, Argos would kneel, but things had changed with time. The feline couldn’t come up with a better reply than: – “What should I do then?” The answer was direct and simple: “Carry me onward,” after which Valntine jumped on Asgor’s hands and pulled him down. Almost turning over, the cat unfolded two massive wings and entered the air stream. The flight took almost twenty minutes and Argos had to carry on the old otter on his hands.
– “You are a lance-corporal,” Valentine observed. – “Why are you flying without your team?”
– "Here we go again…" Argos’s grumbled in his head.
–  “I was late, and they didn’t want to take me onto the team,” he lied.
– “Or you didn’t want to take the team...” Valentine offered, raising his eyebrow. – “Why?”
– "Why what?" He thought.
– "Because!" Argos rolled his eyes, thinking about something.
– “Strange, you have such strong wings, but you don’t lead the youngsters. Do you have any problems?” Valentine continued.
– “Everything is fine!” the feline answered nervously.

The Captain kept silence, and Argos didn’t want to discuss his problems with him. The veteran cupid tried not to look at his captain, but noticed his chief’s waggish mustache. At any rate, mustaches were normal, but this one had star dust on it. It was also normal hat dust would settle on hair, but since the captain was functionally "bald," it had apparently decided to stick to his mustache. It seemed funny to cat. The lane of the stream ended and the blue sky of the mortal world was already visible in the distance. “Everyone, Get ready!” Valentine shouted to the others, and the lance-corporal’s ears laid back. The portal threw Argos into the open sky with Valentine and another hundred cupids flying with them. Then came the "heat".
Despite the winter month, the weather was fresh and even bore a delicate spring scent. Argos wanted to make off quietly and hide somewhere, which would have been easy if Valentine wasn’t on his hands.

– “Em… Sir, we’ve reached the destination…” Argos said awkwardly.
– “I see,” Valentine answered calmly.
– “Maybe I'll go do the job, and then Lartur will complain about me again, he-heh…” the cupid continued ironically.
– “Why? You don’t know how to shoot a bow,” Valentine replied to Argos with his velvet voice.

With these words Argos realized that today he couldn’t slip away at all. The Captain finally transformed his wings. To the cat’s surprise, it was four not-quite-large wings, and that had been the reason why the Captain couldn’t make it through the portal alone.

– “Welp, you’re on my team now,” Valentine said.
– “I already understood as much,” Argos muttered hopelessly.

The cat spent the rest of the day under the watchful eye of the Captain while other cupids earned their points and entertained somewhere in the city. Argos felt like a bad student forced to stay for extra class. Valentine explained everything quite well, but that only mattered if only someone had actually listened to him. The cat’s thoughts were only about how to end end the day as soon as possible.

– "...Man, you aren’t a mortal, you’re a cupid! That means that you should take aim using your heart, not your eyes. Believe me, if you’re using your heart, your arrows will fly into the target themselves. The main thing is to feel... are you even listening to me?” Valentine had turned to Argos, was looking absently at his brilliant mustache.
– “Ye-yes. Heart. Arrows. Feelings. Got it," the lance-corporal replied evasively.
– "Well, then listen further..." Valentine continued.

Apparently this day would never end…